Search results for: electric field distribution

Authors: Nicola Colaninno, Eugenio Morello

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The urban environment affects local-to-global climate and, in turn, suffers global warming phenomena, with worrying impacts on human well-being, health, social and economic activities. Physic-morphological features of the built-up space affect urban air temperature, locally, causing the urban environment to be warmer compared to surrounding rural. This occurrence, typically known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI), is normally assessed by means of air temperature from fixed weather stations and/or traverse observations or based on remotely sensed Land Surface Temperatures (LST). The information provided by ground weather stations is key for assessing local air temperature. However, the spatial coverage is normally limited due to low density and uneven distribution of the stations. Although different interpolation techniques such as Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), Ordinary Kriging (OK), or Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) are used to estimate air temperature from observed points, such an approach may not effectively reflect the real climatic conditions of an interpolated point. Quantifying local UHI for extensive areas based on weather stations’ observations only is not practicable. Alternatively, the use of thermal remote sensing has been widely investigated based on LST. Data from Landsat, ASTER, or MODIS have been extensively used. Indeed, LST has an indirect but significant influence on air temperatures. However, high-resolution near-surface air temperature (NSAT) is currently difficult to retrieve. Here we have experimented Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) as an effective approach to enable NSAT estimation by accounting for spatial non-stationarity of the phenomenon. The model combines on-site measurements of air temperature, from fixed weather stations and satellite-derived LST. The approach is structured upon two main steps. First, a GWR model has been set to estimate NSAT at low resolution, by combining air temperature from discrete observations retrieved by weather stations (dependent variable) and the LST from satellite observations (predictor). At this step, MODIS data, from Terra satellite, at 1 kilometer of spatial resolution have been employed. Two time periods are considered according to satellite revisit period, i.e. 10:30 am and 9:30 pm. Afterward, the results have been downscaled at 30 meters of spatial resolution by setting a GWR model between the previously retrieved near-surface air temperature (dependent variable), the multispectral information as provided by the Landsat mission, in particular the albedo, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), both at 30 meters. Albedo and DEM are now the predictors. The area under investigation is the Metropolitan City of Milan, which covers an area of approximately 1,575 km2 and encompasses a population of over 3 million inhabitants. Both models, low- (1 km) and high-resolution (30 meters), have been validated according to a cross-validation that relies on indicators such as R2, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). All the employed indicators give evidence of highly efficient models. In addition, an alternative network of weather stations, available for the City of Milano only, has been employed for testing the accuracy of the predicted temperatures, giving and RMSE of 0.6 and 0.7 for daytime and night-time, respectively.

Keywords: urban climate, urban heat island, geographically weighted regression, remote sensing

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Authors: Ahmed Elaksher

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Over the last few years, significant progresses have been made and new approaches have been proposed for efficient collection of 3D spatial data from Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with reduced costs compared to imagery from satellite or manned aircraft. In these systems, a low-cost GPS unit provides the position, velocity of the vehicle, a low-quality inertial measurement unit (IMU) determines its orientation, and off-the-shelf cameras capture the images. Structure from Motion (SfM) and photogrammetry are the main tools for 3D surface reconstruction from images collected by these systems. Unlike traditional techniques, SfM allows the computation of calibration parameters using point correspondences across images without performing a rigorous laboratory or field calibration process and it is more flexible in that it does not require consistent image overlap or same rotation angles between successive photos. These benefits make SfM ideal for UAVs aerial mapping. In this paper, a direct comparison between SfM Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and those generated through traditional photogrammetric techniques was performed. Data was collected by a 3DR IRIS+ Quadcopter with a Canon PowerShot S100 digital camera. Twenty ground control points were randomly distributed on the ground and surveyed with a total station in a local coordinate system. Images were collected from an altitude of 30 meters with a ground resolution of nine mm/pixel. Data was processed with PhotoScan, VisualSFM, Imagine Photogrammetry, and a photogrammetric algorithm developed by the author. The algorithm starts with performing a laboratory camera calibration then the acquired imagery undergoes an orientation procedure to determine the cameras’ positions and orientations. After the orientation is attained, correlation based image matching is conducted to automatically generate three-dimensional surface models followed by a refining step using sub-pixel image information for high matching accuracy. Tests with different number and configurations of the control points were conducted. Camera calibration parameters estimated from commercial software and those obtained with laboratory procedures were comparable. Exposure station positions were within less than few centimeters and insignificant differences, within less than three seconds, among orientation angles were found. DEM differencing was performed between generated DEMs and few centimeters vertical shifts were found.

Keywords: UAV, photogrammetry, SfM, DEM

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Authors: Marielle Leijten, Catherine Meulemans, Sven De Maeyer, Luuk Van Waes

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For the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a large variety of neuropsychological tests are available. In some of these tests, linguistic processing - both oral and written - is an important factor. Language disturbances might serve as a strong indicator for an underlying neurodegenerative disorder like AD. However, the current diagnostic instruments for language assessment mainly focus on product measures, such as text length or number of errors, ignoring the importance of the process that leads to written or spoken language production. In this study, it is our aim to describe and test differences between cognitive and impaired elderly on the basis of a selection of writing process variables (inter- and intrapersonal characteristics). These process variables are mainly related to pause times, because the number, length, and location of pauses have proven to be an important indicator of the cognitive complexity of a process. Method: Participants that were enrolled in our research were chosen on the basis of a number of basic criteria necessary to collect reliable writing process data. Furthermore, we opted to match the thirteen cognitively impaired patients (8 MCI and 5 AD) with thirteen cognitively healthy elderly. At the start of the experiment, participants were each given a number of tests, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination test (MMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the forward and backward digit span and the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI). Also, a questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic information (age, gender, eduction) of the subjects as well as more details on their level of computer literacy. The tests and questionnaire were followed by two typing tasks and two picture description tasks. For the typing tasks participants had to copy (type) characters, words and sentences from a screen, whereas the picture description tasks each consisted of an image they had to describe in a few sentences. Both the typing and the picture description tasks were logged with Inputlog, a keystroke logging tool that allows us to log and time stamp keystroke activity to reconstruct and describe text production processes. The main rationale behind keystroke logging is that writing fluency and flow reveal traces of the underlying cognitive processes. This explains the analytical focus on pause (length, number, distribution, location, etc.) and revision (number, type, operation, embeddedness, location, etc.) characteristics. As in speech, pause times are seen as indexical of cognitive effort. Results. Preliminary analysis already showed some promising results concerning pause times before, within and after words. For all variables, mixed effects models were used that included participants as a random effect and MMSE scores, GDS scores and word categories (such as determiners and nouns) as a fixed effect. For pause times before and after words cognitively impaired patients paused longer than healthy elderly. These variables did not show an interaction effect between the group participants (cognitively impaired or healthy elderly) belonged to and word categories. However, pause times within words did show an interaction effect, which indicates pause times within certain word categories differ significantly between patients and healthy elderly.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, keystroke logging, matching, writing process

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Authors: Shazi Farooqui, Anupam Sharma

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The Mahi River (~600km long) is an important west flowing the river of Central India. It originates in Madhya Pradesh and starts flowing in NW direction and enters into the state of Rajasthan. It flows across southern Rajasthan and then enters into Gujarat and finally debouches in the Gulf of Cambay. In Gujarat state, it flows through all four geomorphic zones i.e. eastern upland zone, shallow buried piedmont zone, alluvial zone and coastal zone. In lower reaches and particularly when it is flowing under the coastal regime, it provides an opportunity to study – 1. Land–Sea interaction and role of relative sea level changes, 2. Coastal/estuarine geological process, 3. Landscape evolution in marginal areas and so on. The Late Quaternary deposits of Mainland Gujarat is appreciably studied by Chamyal and his group of MS University of Baroda, and they have established that the 30-35m thick sediment package of the Mainland Gujarat is comprised of marine, fluvial and aeolian sediments. It is also established that in the estuarine zone, the upper few meter thick sediments package is of marine nature. However, its thickness, characters and the depositional environment including the role of climate and tectonics is still not clearly defined. To understand few aspects of the above mentioned, in the present study, a 17m subsurface sediment core has been retrieved from the estuarine zone of Mahi river basin. The Multiproxy studies which include the textural analysis (grain size), Loss on ignition (LOI), Bulk and clay mineralogy and geochemical studies have been carried out. In the entire sedimentary sequence, the grain size largely varies from coarse sand to clay; however, a solitary gravel bed is also noticed. The lower part (depth 9-17m), is mainly comprised of sub equal proportion of sand and silt. The sediments mainly have bimodal and leptokurtic distribution and deposited in alternate sand-silt package, probably indicating flood deposits. Relatively low moisture (1.8%) and organic carbon (2.4%) with increased carbonate values (12%) indicate that conditions must have to remain oxidizing. The middle part (depth 9–6m) has a 1m thick gravel bed at the bottom and overlain by coarse sand to very fine sand showing fining upward sequence. The presence of gravel bed suggests some kind of tectonic activity resulting into change in base level or enhanced precipitation in the catchment region. The upper part (depth 6–0m; top part of sequence) mainly comprised of fine sand to silt size grains (with appreciable clay content). The sediment of this part is Unimodal and very leptokurtic in nature suggesting wave and winnowing process and deposited in low energy suspension environment. This part has relatively high moisture (2.1%) and organic carbon (2.7%) with decreased carbonate content (4.2%) indicating change in the depositional environment probably under estuarine conditions. The presence of chlorite along with smectite clay mineral further supports the significant marine contribution in the formation of upper part of the sequence.

Keywords: grain size, statistical analysis, clay minerals, late quaternary, LOI

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Authors: Youlu Huang, Huanjun Jiang

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A large number of old masonry buildings built in the last century still remain in the city. It generates the problems of unsafety, obsolescence, and non-habitability. In recent years, many old buildings have been reconstructed through renovating façade, strengthening, and adding floors. However, most projects only provide a solution for a single problem. It is difficult to comprehensively solve problems of poor safety and lack of building functions. Therefore, a comprehensive functional renovation program of adding reinforced concrete frame story at the bottom via integrally lifting the building and then strengthening the building was put forward. Based on field measurement and YJK calculation software, the seismic performance of an actual three-story masonry structure in Shanghai was identified. The results show that the material strength of masonry is low, and the bearing capacity of some masonry walls could not meet the code requirements. The elastoplastic time history analysis of the structure was carried out by using SAP2000 software. The results show that under the 7 degrees rare earthquake, the seismic performance of the structure reaches 'serious damage' performance level. Based on the code requirements of the stiffness ration of the bottom frame (lateral stiffness ration of the transition masonry story and frame story), the bottom frame story was designed. The integral lifting process of the masonry building was introduced based on many engineering examples. The reinforced methods for the bottom frame structure strengthened by the steel-reinforced mesh mortar surface layer (SRMM) and base isolators, respectively, were proposed. The time history analysis of the two kinds of structures, under the frequent earthquake, the fortification earthquake, and the rare earthquake, was conducted by SAP2000 software. For the bottom frame structure, the results show that the seismic response of the masonry floor is significantly reduced after reinforced by the two methods compared to the masonry structure. The previous earthquake disaster indicated that the bottom frame is vulnerable to serious damage under a strong earthquake. The analysis results showed that under the rare earthquake, the inter-story displacement angle of the bottom frame floor meets the 1/100 limit value of the seismic code. The inter-story drift of the masonry floor for the base isolated structure under different levels of earthquakes is similar to that of structure with SRMM, while the base-isolated program is better to protect the bottom frame. Both reinforced methods could significantly improve the seismic performance of the bottom frame structure.

Keywords: old buildings, adding story, seismic strengthening, seismic performance

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Authors: Narayan Bhattarai, Arjun Bhattarai, Kabi Raj Paudyal, Lalu Paudel

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Palung granite is leucocratic, alkali feldspar granite, which is one of the six major granite bodies of the Lesser Himalaya of Nepal. The Cambro-Ordovician granite body has intruded on the Palaeozoic metasedimentary rock of the Kathmandu Complex in Central Nepal. The granite crystallized from magma that was mainly generated by anatexis of the Precambrian continental crust. The magma is heterogeneous with respect to the primary ages and/or metamorphic histories of the magma source rocks. This indicates either a derivation from (meta-) sediments or an intense mixing of different crustally derived magmas. The genesis of the Palung granite is possibly related to an orogeny which affected the Indian shield in lower Paleozoic times. The granite body has been mapped into different zones with visual inspection and petrographical study: i. Quartz rich granite: Quartz is smokey to grayish, euhedral to subherdal, 0.2 to 0.7 cm, and constitutes 30 to 40%. Feldspar is white to brownish, subhedral to euhedral, more than 3 cm, and constitutes 20–30%. Tourmaline is black, 0.1 to 0.2 cm in size, and consists of 10 to 20%. Biotite is black flakes up to o.2 cm, representing 5-8%. ii. Feldspar rich granite: white to grayish, medium to coarse-grained, containing feldspar, quartz, biotite, muscovite and tourmaline. Feldspar porphyritic crystals up to 2.5 cm subherdral represent 50–60%, quartz is smokey transparent and represents 30–40%, biotite is dark brown to black, crystals are irregular, 0.5 cm and represent 8–20%, tourmaline is black fractured, small needles represent 5–10%, and muscovite is white to brown and represents 1-4%. iii. Biotite granite: grey to white, medium to coarse-grained, containing quartz, feldspar, biotite and tourmaline. Feldspar crystals up to 2.5 cm represent 40–50%, quartz is smokey, representing 30–40%, biotite is dark brown to black, crystal size 0.5cm, representing 10–20%, tourmaline is black, small needle, 5–10%, and muscovite is white to brown, representing 3-5%. and iv. Muscovite granite: medium-coarse-grained, brown and gray, containing quartz, feldspar, muscovite and tourmaline. Feldspar is white to brown; crystal sizes 0.2–0.4 cm represents 40–50%; quartz is brown and white, transparent, crystals up to 1 cm represent 35–50%; tourmaline is black, opaque, needle shaped; size up to 7–20%; and muscovite is brownish to white, with flakes up to 0.3 cm representing 5–10%. The xenoliths are very common and are not genetically related. Xenoliths are composed mostly of fine-grained, grayish quartz biotite (muscovite) schist and garnetiferous quartz mica schist.

Keywords: leucocratic granite, cambro-ordovician granite, lesser himalayan granite, pegmatite

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Authors: Athina Puype, Lorenzo Malerba, Nico De Wispelaere, Roumen Petrov, Jilt Sietsma

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Reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels like EUROFER97 are primary candidate structural materials for first wall application in the future demonstration (DEMO) fusion reactor. Existing steels of this type obtain their functional properties by a two-stage heat treatment, which consists of an annealing stage at 980°C for thirty minutes followed by quenching and an additional tempering stage at 750°C for two hours. This thermal quench and temper (Q&T) treatment creates a microstructure of tempered martensite with, as main precipitates, M23C6 carbides, with M = Fe, Cr and carbonitrides of MX type, e.g. TaC and VN. The resulting microstructure determines the mechanical properties of the steel. The ductility is largely determined by the tempered martensite matrix, while the resistance to mechanical degradation, determined by the spatial and size distribution of precipitates and the martensite crystals, plays a key role in the high temperature properties of the steel. Unfortunately, the high temperature response of EUROFER97 is currently insufficient for long term use in fusion reactors, due to instability of the matrix phase and coarsening of the precipitates at prolonged high temperature exposure. The objective of this study is to induce grain refinement by appropriate modifications of the processing route in order to increase the high temperature strength of a lab-cast EUROFER RAFM steel grade. The goal of the work is to obtain improved mechanical behavior at elevated temperatures with respect to conventionally heat treated EUROFER97. A dilatometric study was conducted to study the effect of the annealing temperature on the mechanical properties after a Q&T treatment. The microstructural features were investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Additionally, hardness measurements, tensile tests at elevated temperatures and Charpy V-notch impact testing of KLST-type MCVN specimens were performed to study the mechanical properties of the furnace-heated lab-cast EUROFER RAFM steel grade. A significant prior austenite grain (PAG) refinement was obtained by lowering the annealing temperature of the conventionally used Q&T treatment for EUROFER97. The reduction of the PAG results in finer martensitic constituents upon quenching, which offers more nucleation sites for carbide and carbonitride formation upon tempering. The ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) was found to decrease with decreasing martensitic block size. Additionally, an increased resistance against high temperature degradation was accomplished in the fine grained martensitic materials with smallest precipitates obtained by tailoring the annealing temperature of the Q&T treatment. It is concluded that the microstructural refinement has a pronounced effect on the DBTT without significant loss of strength and ductility. Further investigation into the optimization of the processing route is recommended to improve the mechanical behavior of RAFM steels at elevated temperatures.

Keywords: ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT), EUROFER, reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels, thermal treatments

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Authors: A. G. Gashua, T. T. Bello, I. Alhassan, K. K. Gwiokura

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Weeds are known to interfere seriously with crop growth, thereby affecting the productivity and quality of crops. Crops are also known to compete for natural growth resources if they are not adequately spaced, also affecting the performance of the growing crop. Farmers grow cowpea in mixtures with cereals and this is known to affect its yield. For this reason, a field experiment was conducted at Yobe State College of Agriculture Gujba, Damaturu station in the 2014 and 2015 rainy seasons to determine the appropriate intra row spacing and weeding regime for optimum growth and yield of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) in pure stand in Sudan Savanna ecology. The treatments consist of three levels of spacing within rows (20 cm, 30 cm and 40 cm) and four weeding regimes (none, once at 3 weeks after sowing (WAS), twice at 3 and 6WAS, thrice at 3WAS, 6WAS and 9WAS); arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. The variety used was the local cowpea variety (white, early and spreading) commonly grown by farmers. The growth and yield data were collected and subjected to analysis of variance using SAS software, and the significant means were ranked by Students Newman Keul’s test (SNK). The findings of this study revealed better crop performance in 2015 than in 2014 despite poor soil condition. Intra row spacing significantly influenced vegetative growth especially the number of main branches, leaves and canopy spread at 6WAS and 9WAS with the highest values obtained at wider spacing (40 cm). The values obtained in 2015 doubled those obtained in 2014 in most cases. Spacing also significantly affected the number of pods in 2015, seed weight in both years and grain yield in 2014 with the highest values obtained when the crop was spaced at 30-40 cm. Similarly, weeding regime significantly influenced almost all the growth attributes of cowpea with higher values obtained from where cowpea was weeded three times at 3-week intervals, though statistically similar results were obtained even from where cowpea was weeded twice. Weeding also affected the entire yield and yield components in 2015 with the highest values obtained with increase weeding. Based on these findings, it is recommended that spreading cowpea varieties should be grown at 40 cm (or wider spacing) within rows and be weeded twice at three-week intervals for better crop performance in related ecologies.

Keywords: intra-row spacing, local cowpea, Nigeria, weeding

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Authors: Raphael M. Rettig, Tessa C. Flatten

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This empirical study answer calls for research on Absorptive Capacity and Process Innovation. Due to the fourth industrial revolution, manufacturing companies face the biggest disruption of their production processes since the rise of advanced manufacturing technologies in the last century. Therefore, process innovation will become a critical task to master in the future for many manufacturing firms around the world. The general ability of organizations to acquire, assimilate, transform, and exploit external knowledge, known as Absorptive Capacity, was proven to positively influence product innovation and is already conceptually associated with process innovation. The presented research provides empirical evidence for this influence. The findings are based on an empirical analysis of 732 companies from seven leading and emerging countries: Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, and the United States of America. The answers to the survey were collected in February and March 2018 and addressed senior- and top-level management with a focus on operations departments. The statistical analysis reveals the positive influence of potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity on successful process innovation taking the implementation of new digital manufacturing processes as an example. Potential Absorptive Capacity covering the acquisition and assimilation capabilities of an organization showed a significant positive influence (β = .304, p < .05) on digital manufacturing implementation success and therefore on process innovation. Realized Absorptive Capacity proved to have significant positive influence on process innovation as well (β = .461, p < .01). The presented study builds on prior conceptual work in the field of Absorptive Capacity and process innovation and contributes theoretically to ongoing research in two dimensions. First, the already conceptually associated influence of Absorptive Capacity on process innovation is backed by empirical evidence in a broad international context. Second, since Absorptive Capacity was measured with a focus on new product development, prior empirical research on Absorptive Capacity was tailored to the research and development departments of organizations. The results of this study highlight the importance of Absorptive Capacity as a capability in mechanical engineering and operations departments of organizations. The findings give managers an indication of the importance of implementing new innovative processes into their production system and fostering the right mindset of employees to identify new external knowledge. Through the ability to transform and exploit external knowledge, own production processes can be innovated successfully and therefore have a positive influence on firm performance and the competitive position of their organizations.

Keywords: absorptive capacity, digital manufacturing, dynamic capabilities, process innovation

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Authors: Jianuo Sun, Jinghan Wang, Sirui Zhang, Chenhan Xu, Hongxia Hao, Hong Zhou

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In recent years, the diversification and industrialization of drug-related crimes have posed significant threats to public health and safety globally. The widespread and increasingly younger demographics of drug users and the persistence of drug-impaired driving incidents underscore the urgency of this issue. Drug detection, a specialized forensic activity, is pivotal in identifying and analyzing substances involved in drug crimes. It relies on pharmacological and chemical knowledge and employs analytical chemistry and modern detection techniques. However, current drug detection methods are limited by their inability to perform semi-quantitative, real-time field analyses. They require extensive, complex laboratory-based preprocessing, expensive equipment, and specialized personnel and are hindered by long processing times. This study introduces an alternative approach using nucleic acid aptamers and Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) technology. Nucleic acid aptamers, selected artificially for their specific binding to target molecules and stable spatial structures, represent a new generation of biosensors following antibodies. Rapid advancements in AIE technology, particularly in tetraphenyl ethene-based luminous, offer simplicity in synthesis and versatility in modifications, making them ideal for fluorescence analysis. This work successfully synthesized, isolated, and purified an AIE molecule and constructed a probe comprising the AIE molecule, nucleic acid aptamers, and exonuclease for cocaine detection. The probe demonstrated significant relative fluorescence intensity changes and selectivity towards cocaine over other drugs. Using 4-Butoxytriethylammonium Bromide Tetraphenylethene (TPE-TTA) as the fluorescent probe, the aptamer as the recognition unit, and Exo I as an auxiliary, the system achieved rapid detection of cocaine within 5 mins in aqueous and urine, with detection limits of 1.0 and 5.0 µmol/L respectively. The probe-maintained stability and interference resistance in urine, enabling quantitative cocaine detection within a certain concentration range. This fluorescent sensor significantly reduces sample preprocessing time, offers a basis for rapid onsite cocaine detection, and promises potential for miniaturized testing setups.

Keywords: drug detection, aggregation-induced emission (AIE), nucleic acid aptamer, exonuclease, cocaine

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Authors: Albert Kwabena Osei Konadu

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One of the endemic forest species of the savannah transition zones enlisted by the Convention of International Treaty for Endangered Species (CITES) in Appendix II is the Rosewood, also known as Pterocarpus erinaceus or Krayie. Its economic viability has made it increasingly popular and in high demand. Ghana’s forest resource management regime for these ecozones is mainly on conservation and very little on resource utilization. Consequently, commercial logging management standards are at teething stage and not fully developed, leading to a deficiency in the monitoring of logging operations and quantification of harvested trees volumes. Tree information form (TIF); a volume estimation and tracking regime, has proven to be an effective sustainable management tool for regulating timber resource extraction in the high forest zones of the country. This work aims to generate TIF that can track and capture requisite parameters to accurately estimate the volume of harvested rosewood within forest savannah transition zones. Tree information forms were created on three scenarios of individual billets, stacked billets and conveying vessel basis. The study was limited by the usage of regulators assigned volume as benchmark and also fraught with potential volume measurement error in the stacked billet scenario due to the existence of spaces within packed billets. These TIFs were field-tested to deduce the most viable option for the tracking and estimation of harvested volumes of rosewood using the smallian and cubic volume estimation formula. Overall, four districts were covered with individual billets, stacked billets and conveying vessel scenarios registering mean volumes of 25.83m3,45.08m3 and 32.6m3, respectively. These adduced volumes were validated by benchmarking to assigned volumes of the Forestry Commission of Ghana and known standard volumes of conveying vessels. The results did indicate an underestimation of extracted volumes under the quotas regime, a situation that could lead to unintended overexploitation of the species. The research revealed conveying vessels route is the most viable volume estimation and tracking regime for the sustainable management of the Pterocarpous erinaceus species as it provided a more practical volume estimate and data extraction protocol.

Keywords: cubic volume formula, smallian volume formula, pterocarpus erinaceus, tree information form, forest transition and savannah zones, harvested tree volume

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Authors: Anthony Credoz, Nathalie Nief, Remy Hedacq, Salvador Jordana, Laurent Cazes

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Groundwater monitoring is classically performed in a network of piezometers in industrial sites. Groundwater flow parameters, such as direction, sense and velocity, are deduced from indirect measurements between two or more piezometers. Groundwater sampling is generally done on the whole column of water inside each borehole to provide concentration values for each piezometer location. These flow and concentration values give a global ‘static’ image of potential plume of contaminants evolution in the shallow aquifer with huge uncertainties in time and space scales and mass discharge dynamic. TOTAL R&D Subsurface Environmental team is challenging this classical approach with an innovative dynamic way of characterization of shallow aquifer groundwater. The current study aims at optimizing the tools and methodologies for (i) a direct and multilevel measurement of groundwater velocities in each piezometer and, (ii) a calculation of potential flux of dissolved contaminant in the shallow aquifer. Lab-scale experiments have been designed to test commercial and R&D tools in a controlled sandbox. Multiphysics modeling were performed and took into account Darcy equation in porous media and Navier-Stockes equation in the borehole. The first step of the current study focused on groundwater flow at porous media/piezometer interface. Huge uncertainties from direct flow rate measurements in the borehole versus Darcy flow rate in the porous media were characterized during experiments and modeling. The structure and location of the tools in the borehole also impacted the results and uncertainties of velocity measurement. In parallel, direct-push tool was tested and presented more accurate results. The second step of the study focused on mass flux of dissolved contaminant in groundwater. Several active and passive commercial and R&D tools have been tested in sandbox and reactive transport modeling has been performed to validate the experiments at the lab-scale. Some tools will be selected and deployed in field assays to better assess the mass discharge of dissolved contaminants in an industrial site. The long-term subsurface environmental strategy is targeting an in-situ, real-time, remote and cost-effective monitoring of groundwater.

Keywords: dynamic characterization, groundwater flow, lab-scale, mass flux

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Authors: Wisdom Robert Duruji, Moses Kanayochukwu Ifoh, Efeoghene Edward Esiemunobo

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This study examines the impact of natural and artificial disasters, lackadaisical and semantic approach in risk management, and mitigation implication for sustainable development goals in Nigeria, from 2009 to 2022. The study utilizes a range of research methods to achieve its objectives. These include literature review, website knowledge, Google search, news media information, academic journals, field-work and on-site observations. These diverse methods allow for a comprehensive analysis on the impact and the implications being study. The study finds that paradigm shift from remediating seismic, flooding, environmental pollution and degradation natural disasters by Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to political and charity organization; has plunged risk reduction strategies to embezzling opportunities. However, this lackadaisical and semantic approach in natural disaster mitigation, invariably replicates artificial disasters in Nigeria through: Boko Haram terrorist organization, Fulani herdsmen and farmers conflicts, political violence, kidnapping for ransom, ethnic conflicts, Religious dichotomy, insurgency, secession protagonists, unknown-gun-men, and banditry. This study also, finds that some Africans still engage in self-imposed slavery through human trafficking, by nefariously stow-away to Europe; through Libya, Sahara desert and Mediterranean sea; in search for job opportunities, due to ineptitude in governance by their leaders; a perilous journey that enhanced artificial disasters in Nigeria. That artificial disaster fatality in Nigeria increased from about 5,655 in 2009 to 114,318 in 2018; and to 157,643 in 2022. However, financial and material loss of about $9.29 billion was incurred in Nigeria due to natural disaster, while about $70.59 billion was accrued due to artificial disaster; from 2009 to 2018. Although disaster risk mitigation and politics can synergistically support sustainable development goals; however, they are different entities, and need for distinct separations in Nigeria, as in reality and perception. This study concluded that referendum should be conducted in Nigeria, to ascertain its current status as a nation. Therefore it is recommended that Nigerian governments should refine its naturally endowed crude oil locally; to end fuel subsidy scam, corruption and poverty in Nigeria!

Keywords: corruption, crude oil, environmental risk analysis, Nigeria, referendum, terrorism

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Authors: Suman Chaudhary, Rupinder K. Kanwar, Jagat R. Kanwar

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Azadirachta indica, also known as Neem belonging to the mahogany family is actively gaining interest in the era of modern day medicine due to its extensive applications in homeopathic medicine such as Ayurveda and Unani. More than 140 phytochemicals have been extracted from neem leaves, seed, bark and flowers for agro-medicinal applications. Among the various components, neem leaf protein (NLP) is currently the most investigated active ingredient, due to its immunomodulatory activities against tumor growth. However, these therapeutic ingredients of neem are susceptible to degradation and cannot withstand the drastic pH changes under physiological environment, and therefore, there is an urgent need of an alternative strategy such as a nano-delivery system to exploit its medicinal benefits. This study hypothesizes that guar gum (GG) derived biodegradable nano-carrier based encapsulation of NLP will improve its stability, specificity and sensitivity, thus facilitating targeted anti-cancer therapeutics. GG is a galactomannan derived from the endosperm of the guar beans seeds. Synthesis of guar nanocapsules (NCs) was performed using nanoprecipitation technique where the GG was encapsulated with NLP. Preliminary experiments conducted to characterize the NCs confirmed spherical morphology with a narrow size distribution of 30-40 nm. Differential scanning colorimetric analysis (DSC) validated the stability of these NCs even at a temperature range of 50-60°C which was well within the physiological and storage conditions. Thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis indicated high decomposition temperature of these NCs ranging upto 350°C. Additionally, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and the SDS-PAGE data acquired confirmed the successful encapsulation of NLP in the NCs. The anti-cancerous therapeutic property of this NC was tested on colon cancer cells (caco-2) as they are one of the most prevalent form of cancer. These NCs (both NLP loaded and void) were also tested on human intestinal epithelial cells (FHs 74) cells to evaluate their effect on normal cells. Cytotoxicity evaluation of the NCs in the cell lines confirmed that the IC50 for NLP in FHs 74 cells was ~2 fold higher than in caco-2 cells, indicating that this nanoformulation system possessed biocompatible anti-cancerous properties Immunoconfocal microscopy analysis confirmed the time dependent internalization of the NCs within 6h. Recent findings performed using Annexin V and PI staining indicated a significant increase (p ≤ 0.001) in the early and late apoptotic cell population when treated with the NCs signifying the role of NLP in inducing apoptosis in caco-2 cells. This was further validated using Western blot, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) aided protein expressional analysis which presented a downregulation of survivin, an anti-apoptotic cell marker and upregulation of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio (pro-apoptotic indicator). Further, both the NLP NC and unencapsulated NLP treatment destabilized the mitochondrial membrane potential subsequently facilitating the release of the pro-apoptotic caspase cascade initiator, cytochrome-c. Future studies will be focused towards granting specificity to these NCs towards cancer cells, along with a comprehensive analysis of the anti-cancer potential of this naturally occurring compound in different cancer and in vivo animal models, will validate the clinical application of this unprecedented protein therapeutic.

Keywords: anti-tumor, guar gum, nanocapsules, neem leaf protein

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Reyna Singh, David Lokhat, Milan Carsky

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The world crude oil demand is projected to rise to 108.5 million bbl/d by the year 2035. With reserves estimated at 869 billion tonnes worldwide, coal is an abundant resource. This work was aimed at producing a high value hydrocarbon liquid product from the Direct Coal Liquefaction (DCL) process at, comparatively, mild operating conditions. Via hydrogenation, the temperature-staged approach was investigated. In a two reactor lab-scale pilot plant facility, the objectives included maximising thermal dissolution of the coal in the presence of a hydrogen donor solvent in the first stage, subsequently promoting hydrogen saturation and hydrodesulphurization (HDS) performance in the second. The feed slurry consisted of high grade, pulverized bituminous coal on a moisture-free basis with a size fraction of < 100μm; and Tetralin mixed in 2:1 and 3:1 solvent/coal ratios. Magnetite (Fe3O4) at 0.25wt% of the dry coal feed was added for the catalysed runs. For both stages, hydrogen gas was used to maintain a system pressure of 100barg. In the first stage, temperatures of 250℃ and 300℃, reaction times of 30 and 60 minutes were investigated in an agitated batch reactor. The first stage liquid product was pumped into the second stage vertical reactor, which was designed to counter-currently contact the hydrogen rich gas stream and incoming liquid flow in the fixed catalyst bed. Two commercial hydrotreating catalysts; Cobalt-Molybdenum (CoMo) and Nickel-Molybdenum (NiMo); were compared in terms of their conversion, selectivity and HDS performance at temperatures 50℃ higher than the respective first stage tests. The catalysts were activated at 300°C with a hydrogen flowrate of approximately 10 ml/min prior to the testing. A gas-liquid separator at the outlet of the reactor ensured that the gas was exhausted to the online VARIOplus gas analyser. The liquid was collected and sampled for analysis using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Internal standard quantification methods for the sulphur content, the BTX (benzene, toluene, and xylene) and alkene quality; alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds in the liquid products were guided by ASTM standards of practice for hydrocarbon analysis. In the first stage, using a 2:1 solvent/coal ratio, an increased coal to liquid conversion was favoured by a lower operating temperature of 250℃, 60 minutes and a system catalysed by magnetite. Tetralin functioned effectively as the hydrogen donor solvent. A 3:1 ratio favoured increased concentrations of the long chain alkanes undecane and dodecane, unsaturated alkenes octene and nonene and PAH compounds such as indene. The second stage product distribution showed an increase in the BTX quality of the liquid product, branched chain alkanes and a reduction in the sulphur concentration. As an HDS performer and selectivity to the production of long and branched chain alkanes, NiMo performed better than CoMo. CoMo is selective to a higher concentration of cyclohexane. For 16 days on stream each, NiMo had a higher activity than CoMo. The potential to cover the demand for low–sulphur, crude diesel and solvents from the production of high value hydrocarbon liquid in the said process, is thus demonstrated.

Keywords: catalyst, coal, liquefaction, temperature-staged

Procedia PDF Downloads 648

Authors: I. Gupta, N. Setia

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Introduction. Buyer conduct is a progression of practices or examples that buyers pursue before making a buy. It begins when the shopper ends up mindful of a need or wish for an item, at that point finishes up with the buying exchange. Business visionaries can't generally simply shake hands with their intended interest group people and become more acquainted with them. Research is often necessary, so every organization primarily involves doing continuous research to understand and satisfy consumer needs pattern. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the present study is to examine the different behaviors of the consumer, including pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase behavior. Materials and Methods: In order to get results, face to face interview held with 80 people which comprise a larger part of female individuals having upper as well as middle-class status. The prime source of data collection was primary. However, the study has also used the theoretical contribution of many researchers in their respective field. Results: Majority of the respondents were females (70%) from the age group of 20-50. The collected data was analyzed through hypothesis testing statistical techniques such as correlation analysis, single regression analysis, and ANOVA which has rejected the null hypothesis that there is no relation between researching the consumer behavior at different stages and organizational performance. The real finding of this study is that simply focusing on the buying part isn't enough to gain profits and fame, however, understanding the pre, buy and post-buy behavior of consumer performs a huge role in organization success. The outcomes demonstrated that the organization, which deals with the three phases of research of purchasing conduct is able to establish a great brand image as compare to their competitors. Alongside, enterprises can observe customer conduct in a considerably more proficient manner. Conclusion: The analyses of consumer behavior presented in this study is an attempt to understand the factors affecting consumer purchasing behavior. This study has revealed that those corporations are more successful, which work on understanding buying behavior instead to just focus on the selling products. As a result, organizations perform good and grow rapidly because consumers are the one who can make or break the company. The interviews that were conducted face to face, clearly revealed that those organizations become at top-notch whom consumers are satisfied, not just with product but also with services of the company. The study is not targeting the particular class of audience; however, it brings out benefits to the masses, in particular to business organizations.

Keywords: consumer behavior, pre purchase, post purchase, consumer satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Gabriel Montague, Max Vilgalys, Catherine H. Crawford, Jorge Ortiz, Dava Newman

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There has never been so much publicly accessible atmospheric and environmental data. The possibilities of these data are exciting, but the sheer volume of available datasets represents a new challenge for researchers. The task of identifying and working with a new dataset has become more difficult with the amount and variety of available data. Datasets are often documented in ways that differ substantially from the common English used to describe the same topics. This presents a barrier not only for new scientists, but for researchers looking to find comparisons across multiple datasets or specialists from other disciplines hoping to collaborate. This paper proposes a method for addressing this obstacle: creating a knowledge graph to bridge the gap between everyday English language and the technical language surrounding these datasets. Knowledge graph generation is already a well-established field, although there are some unique challenges posed by working with Earth data. One is the sheer size of the databases – it would be infeasible to replicate or analyze all the data stored by an organization like The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the European Space Agency. Instead, this approach identifies topics from metadata available for datasets in NASA’s Earthdata database, which can then be used to directly request and access the raw data from NASA. By starting with a single metadata standard, this paper establishes an approach that can be generalized to different databases, but leaves the challenge of metadata harmonization for future work. Topics generated from the metadata are then linked to topics from a collection of English queries through a variety of standard and custom natural language processing (NLP) methods. The results from this method are then compared to a baseline of elastic search applied to the metadata. This comparison shows the benefits of the proposed knowledge graph system over existing methods, particularly in interpreting natural language queries and interpreting topics in metadata. For the research community, this work introduces an application of NLP to the ecological and environmental sciences, expanding the possibilities of how machine learning can be applied in this discipline. But perhaps more importantly, it establishes the foundation for a platform that can enable common English to access knowledge that previously required considerable effort and experience. By making this public data accessible to the full public, this work has the potential to transform environmental understanding, engagement, and action.

Keywords: earth metadata, knowledge graphs, natural language processing, question-answer systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Mernoosh Abouzari, Shahrokh Sahraei

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Electronic government is a way for governments to use new technology that provides people with the necessary facilities for proper access to government information and services, improving the quality of services and providing broad opportunities to participate in democratic processes and institutions. That leads to providing the possibility of easy use of information technology in order to distribute government services to the customer without holidays, which increases people's satisfaction and participation in political and economic activities. The expansion of e-government services and its movement towards intelligentization has the ability to re-establish the relationship between the government and citizens and the elements and components of the government. Electronic government is the result of the use of information and communication technology (ICT), which by implementing it at the government level, in terms of the efficiency and effectiveness of government systems and the way of providing services, tremendous commercial changes are created, which brings people's satisfaction at the wide level will follow. The main level of electronic government services has become objectified today with the presence of artificial intelligence systems, which recent advances in artificial intelligence represent a revolution in the use of machines to support predictive decision-making and Classification of data. With the use of deep learning tools, artificial intelligence can mean a significant improvement in the delivery of services to citizens and uplift the work of public service professionals while also inspiring a new generation of technocrats to enter government. This smart revolution may put aside some functions of the government, change its components, and concepts such as governance, policymaking or democracy will change in front of artificial intelligence technology, and the top-down position in governance may face serious changes, and If governments delay in using artificial intelligence, the balance of power will change and private companies will monopolize everything with their pioneering in this field, and the world order will also depend on rich multinational companies and in fact, Algorithmic systems will become the ruling systems of the world. It can be said that currently, the revolution in information technology and biotechnology has been started by engineers, large economic companies, and scientists who are rarely aware of the political complexities of their decisions and certainly do not represent anyone. Therefore, it seems that if liberalism, nationalism, or any other religion wants to organize the world of 2050, it should not only rationalize the concept of artificial intelligence and complex data algorithm but also mix them in a new and meaningful narrative. Therefore, the changes caused by artificial intelligence in the political and economic order will lead to a major change in the way all countries deal with the phenomenon of digital globalization. In this paper, while debating the role and performance of e-government, we will discuss the efficiency and application of artificial intelligence in e-government, and we will consider the developments resulting from it in the new world and the concepts of governance.

Keywords: electronic government, artificial intelligence, information and communication technology., system

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Taba Tath

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Arunachal Pradesh, located in the easternmost part of India, is known for its natural beauty and diverse tribal lifestyles. The state has the highest species richness and biological diversity among Northeast states in terms of flora, fauna, and tribal traditions and culture. The protection of nature and culture is a practice that is widely used by governments or nongovernmental organizations seeking to preserve the scenic beauty of landscapes and their natural resources in spaces that stand out for their natural and cultural value and have not been heavily impacted by human activity. The whole of Arunachal Pradesh comes under the purview of special permits such as the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and Protected Area Permit (PAP) for domestic and foreign travellers, respectively. Due to politically vibrant areas and naturally fragile in nature, the state needs to be protected, but at the same time, the demand for tourism activities is increasing gradually due to its unique blend of nature and socio-cultural richness. There are 13 protected areas in the state which is unexplored, and there are no tourism activities in these protected areas except for Namdapha National Park. Out of 13 protected areas, the Pakke Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the well-managed protected areas located near the Assam-Arunachal border, approximately 40km away from Tezpur town, Assam. The state has great potential for wildlife and nature-based tourism development, which can also indirectly support wildlife and nature-based livelihood options for the local inhabitants living in the peripheral of the sanctuary area due to its high richness in terms of flora and fauna. To promote the richness of the state, boost tourism, and the economic, social and environmental development of the area and local communities, a proper tourism management practice and framework are very much required. The research paper has made an attempt to study the role of stakeholders in preserving and promoting the Protected Areas for tourism development in a sustainable way. This is both a primary and secondary study conducted with field visits, interaction, questionnaire and observation with the various stakeholders and also conducted with the Government reports, magazines and other published sources available. Furthermore, this study will be relevant to all stakeholders for having knowledge and processes for promoting tourism in Protected Areas in a sustainable way. The results will provide relevant information and process for the management and promotion of the protected Areas and to strengthen the sustainable tourism activities in these areas.

Keywords: protected area, inner line permit, protected area permit, management, government, nongovernmental organization, stakeholders, sustainable, natural resources

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Huayuan Lu, Chunfang Yang, Ma Zhu, Baojun Qi, Yaqiong Qiao, Jiangqian Xu

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Image geolocalization has great application prospects in fields such as autonomous driving and virtual/augmented reality. In practical application scenarios, the size of the image to be located is not fixed; it is impractical to train different networks for all possible sizes. When its size does not match the size of the input of the descriptor extraction model, existing image geolocalization methods usually directly scale or crop the image in some common ways. This will result in the loss of some information important to the geolocalization task, thus affecting the performance of the image geolocalization method. For example, excessive down-sampling can lead to blurred building contour, and inappropriate cropping can lead to the loss of key semantic elements, resulting in incorrect geolocation results. To address this problem, this paper designs a learnable image resizer and proposes an arbitrary-sized image geolocation method. (1) The designed learnable image resizer employs the self-attention mechanism to enhance the geometric features of the resized image. Firstly, it applies bilinear interpolation to the input image and its feature maps to obtain the initial resized image and the resized feature maps. Then, SKNet (selective kernel net) is used to approximate the best receptive field, thus keeping the geometric shapes as the original image. And SENet (squeeze and extraction net) is used to automatically select the feature maps with strong contour information, enhancing the geometric features. Finally, the enhanced geometric features are fused with the initial resized image, to obtain the final resized images. (2) The proposed image geolocalization method embeds the above image resizer as a fronting layer of the descriptor extraction network. It not only enables the network to be compatible with arbitrary-sized input images but also enhances the geometric features that are crucial to the image geolocalization task. Moreover, the triplet attention mechanism is added after the first convolutional layer of the backbone network to optimize the utilization of geometric elements extracted by the first convolutional layer. Finally, the local features extracted by the backbone network are aggregated to form image descriptors for image geolocalization. The proposed method was evaluated on several mainstream datasets, such as Pittsburgh30K, Tokyo24/7, and Places365. The results show that the proposed method has excellent size compatibility and compares favorably to recently mainstream geolocalization methods.

Keywords: image geolocalization, self-attention mechanism, image resizer, geometric feature

Procedia PDF Downloads 214

Authors: Jan Schmitt, Sophie Fischer

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After the Corona pandemic, climate change is a further, long-lasting challenge the society must deal with. An ongoing climate change need to be prevented. Nevertheless, the adoption tothe already changed climate conditionshas to be focused in many sectors. Recently, the decisive role of the economic sector with high value added can be seen in the Corona crisis. Hence, manufacturing industry as such a sector, needs to be prepared for climate change and adaption. Several examples from the manufacturing industry show the importance of a strategic effort in this field: The outsourcing of a major parts of the value chain to suppliers in other countries and optimizing procurement logistics in a time-, storage- and cost-efficient manner within a network of global value creation, can lead vulnerable impacts due to climate-related disruptions. E.g. the total damage costs after the 2011 flood disaster in Thailand, including costs for delivery failures, were estimated at 45 billion US dollars worldwide. German car manufacturers were also affected by supply bottlenecks andhave close its plant in Thailand for a short time. Another OEM must reduce the production output. In this contribution, a game-based learning approach is presented, which should enable manufacturing companies to derive their own strategies for climate adaption out of a mix of different actions. Based on data from a regional study of small, medium and large manufacturing companies in Mainfranken, a strongly industrialized region of northern Bavaria (Germany) the game-based learning approach is designed. Out of this, the actual state of efforts due to climate adaption is evaluated. First, the results are used to collect single actions for manufacturing companies and second, further actions can be identified. Then, a variety of climate adaption activities can be clustered according to the scope of activity of the company. The combination of different actions e.g. the renewal of the building envelope with regard to thermal insulation, its benefits and drawbacks leads to a specific strategy for climate adaption for each company. Within the game-based approach, the players take on different roles in a fictionalcompany and discuss the order and the characteristics of each action taken into their climate adaption strategy. Different indicators such as economic, ecologic and stakeholder satisfaction compare the success of the respective measures in a competitive format with other virtual companies deriving their own strategy. A "play through" climate change scenarios with targeted adaptation actions illustrate the impact of different actions and their combination onthefictional company.

Keywords: business strategy, climate change, climate adaption, game-based learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 207

Authors: Sina Abadzadesahraei, Stephen Déry, John Rex

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Climate research has repeatedly identified strong associations between anthropogenic emissions of ‘greenhouses gases’ and observed increases of global mean surface air temperature over the past century. Studies have also demonstrated that the degree of warming varies regionally. Canada is not exempt from this situation, and evidence is mounting that climate change is beginning to cause diverse impacts in both environmental and socio-economic spheres of interest. For example, northeastern British Columbia (BC), whose climate is controlled by a combination of maritime, continental and arctic influences, is warming at a greater rate than the remainder of the province. There are indications that these changing conditions are already leading to shifting patterns in the region’s hydrological cycle, and thus its available water resources. Coincident with these changes, northeastern BC is undergoing rapid development for oil and gas extraction: This depends largely on subsurface hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), which uses enormous amounts of freshwater. While this industrial activity has made substantial contributions to regional and provincial economies, it is important to ensure that sufficient and sustainable water supplies are available for all those dependent on the resource, including ecological systems. In this turn demands a comprehensive understanding of how water in all its forms interacts with landscapes, the atmosphere, and of the potential impacts of changing climatic conditions on these processes. The aim of this study is therefore to characterize and quantify all components of the water budget in the small watershed of Coles Lake (141.8 km², 100 km north of Fort Nelson, BC), through a combination of field observations and numerical modelling. Baseline information will aid the assessment of the sustainability of current and future plans for freshwater extraction by the oil and gas industry, and will help to maintain the precarious balance between economic and environmental well-being. This project is a perfect example of interdisciplinary research, in that it not only examines the hydrology of the region but also investigates how natural gas operations and growth can affect water resources. Therefore, a fruitful collaboration between academia, government and industry has been established to fulfill the objectives of this research in a meaningful manner. This project aims to provide numerous benefits to BC communities. Further, the outcome and detailed information of this research can be a huge asset to researchers examining the effect of climate change on water resources worldwide.

Keywords: northeastern British Columbia, water resources, climate change, oil and gas extraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Samantha Ramachandra, Avanthi Rupasinghe

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Demographic transition from lower to higher percentage of elderly population eventually coupled with epidemiological transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases (NCD). Higher percentage of NCD overload the health system as NCD survivors claims continuous health care. The demands are challenging to a resource constrained setting but reorganizing the system may find solutions. The study focused on the facilities available and their utilization at outpatient department (OPD) setting of the public hospitals of Sri Lanka for continuous medical care. This will help in identifying steps of reorganizing the system to provide better care with the maximum utilization of available facilities. The study was conducted as a situation analysis with secondary data at hospital planning units. Variable were identified according to the world health organization (WHO) recommendation on continuous health care for elders in “age-friendly primary health care toolkit”. Data were collected from secondary and tertiary care hospitals of Sri Lanka where most of the continuous care services are available. Out of 58 secondary and tertiary care hospitals, 16 were included in the study to represent each hospital categories. Average number of patient attending for episodic treatment at OPD and Clinical follow-up of chronic conditions shows vast disparity according to the category of the hospital ranging from 3750 – 800 per day at OPD and 1250 – 200 per clinic session. Average time spent per person at OPD session is low, range from 1.54 - 2.28 minutes, the time was increasing as the hospital category goes down. 93.7% hospitals had special arrangements for providing acute care on chronic conditions such as catheter, feeding tube and wound care. 25% hospitals had special clinics for elders, 81.2% hospitals had healthy lifestyle clinics (HLC), 75% hospitals had physical rehabilitation facilities and 68.8% hospitals had facilities for counselling. Elderly clinics and HLC were mostly available at lower grade hospitals where as rehabilitation and counselling facilities were mostly available at bigger hospitals. HLC are providing health education for both patients and their family members, refer patients for screening of complication but not provide medical examinations, investigations or treatments even though they operate in the hospital setting. Physical rehabilitation is basically offered for patients with rheumatological conditions but utilization of centers for injury rehabilitation and rehabilitation of survivors following major illness such as myocardial infarctions, stroke, cancer is not satisfactory (12.5%). Human Resource distribution within hospital shows vast disparity and there are 103 physiotherapists in the biggest hospital where only 36 physiotherapists available at the next level hospital. Counselling facilities also provided mainly for the patient with psychological conditions (100%) but they were not providing counselling for newly diagnosed patients with major illnesses (0%). According to results, most of the public-sector hospitals in Sri Lanka have basic facilities required in providing continuous care but the utilization of services need more focus. Hospital administration or the government need to have initial steps in proper utilization of them in improving continuous health care incorporating team approach of rehabilitation. The author wishes to acknowledge that this paper was made possible by the support and guidance given by the “Australia Awards Fellowships Program for Sri Lanka – 2017,” which was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia, and co-hosted by Monash University, Australia and the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration.

Keywords: continuous care, outpatient department, non communicable diseases, rehabilitation

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: Karisma Karisma, Pardis Moslemzadeh Tehrani

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This study aims to conduct a high-level strategic dialogue on the lack of consensus, consistency, and legal certainty regarding blockchain-based energy prosumerism so that appropriate institutional and governance structures can be put in place to address the inadequacies and gaps in the legal and regulatory framework. The drive to achieve national and global decarbonization targets is a driving force behind climate goals and policies under the Paris Agreement. In recent years, efforts to ‘demonopolize’ and ‘decentralize’ energy generation and distribution have driven the energy transition toward decentralized systems, invoking concepts such as ownership, sovereignty, and autonomy of RE sources. The emergence of individual and collective forms of prosumerism and the rapid diffusion of blockchain is expected to play a critical role in the decarbonization and democratization of energy systems. However, there is a ‘regulatory void’ relating to individual and collective forms of prosumerism that could prevent the rapid deployment of blockchain systems and potentially stagnate the operationalization of blockchain-enabled energy sharing and trading activities. The application of broad and facile regulatory fixes may be insufficient to address the major regulatory gaps. First, to the authors’ best knowledge, the concepts and elements circumjacent to individual and collective forms of prosumerism have not been adequately described in the legal frameworks of many countries. Second, there is a lack of legal certainty regarding the creation and adaptation of business models in a highly regulated and centralized energy system, which inhibits the emergence of prosumer-driven niche markets. There are also current and prospective challenges relating to the legal status of blockchain-based platforms for facilitating energy transactions, anticipated with the diffusion of blockchain technology. With the rise of prosumerism in the energy sector, the areas of (a) network charges, (b) energy market access, (c) incentive schemes, (d) taxes and levies, and (e) licensing requirements are still uncharted territories in many countries. The uncertainties emanating from this area pose a significant hurdle to the widespread adoption of blockchain technology, a complementary technology that offers added value and competitive advantages for energy systems. The authors undertake a conceptual and theoretical investigation to elucidate the lack of consensus, consistency, and legal certainty in the study of blockchain-based prosumerism. In addition, the authors set an exploratory tone to the discussion by taking an analytically eclectic approach that builds on multiple sources and theories to delve deeper into this topic. As an interdisciplinary study, this research accounts for the convergence of regulation, technology, and the energy sector. The study primarily adopts desk research, which examines regulatory frameworks and conceptual models for crucial policies at the international level to foster an all-inclusive discussion. With their reflections and insights into the interaction of blockchain and prosumerism in the energy sector, the authors do not aim to develop definitive regulatory models or instrument designs, but to contribute to the theoretical dialogue to navigate seminal issues and explore different nuances and pathways. Given the emergence of blockchain-based energy prosumerism, identifying the challenges, gaps and fragmentation of governance regimes is key to facilitating global regulatory transitions.

Keywords: blockchain technology, energy sector, prosumer, legal and regulatory.

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Hasmik V. Zanginyan, Gayane S. Ghazaryan, Laura M. Hovsepyan

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Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that is induced in laboratory animals by developing an immune response against myelin epitopes. The typical clinical course is ascending palsy, which correlates with inflammation and tissue damage in the thoracolumbar spinal cord, although the optic nerves and brain (especially the subpial white matter and brainstem) are also often affected. With multiple sclerosis, there is a violation of lipid metabolism in myelin. When membrane lipids (glycosphingolipids, phospholipids) are disturbed, metabolites not only play a structural role in membranes but are also sources of secondary mediators that transmit multiple cellular signals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of ganglioside as a therapeutic agent in experimental multiple sclerosis. The biological activity of a ganglioside-containing medicinal preparation (Cronassial) was evaluated in an experimental model of multiple sclerosis in laboratory animals. An experimental model of multiple sclerosis in rats was obtained by immunization with myelin basic protein (MBP), as well as homogenization of the spinal cord or brain. EAE was induced by administering a mixture of an encephalitogenic mixture (EGM) with Complete Freund’s Adjuvant. Mitochondrial fraction was isolated in a medium containing 0,25 M saccharose and 0, 01 M tris buffer, pH - 7,4, by a method of differential centrifugation on a K-24 centrifuge. Glutathione peroxidase activity was assessed by reduction reactions of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and lipid hydroperoxides (ROOH) in the presence of GSH. LPO activity was assessed by the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the total homogenate and mitochondrial fraction of the spinal cord and brain of control and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis rats. MDA was assessed by a reaction with Thiobarbituric acid. For statistical data analysis on PNP, SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) package was used. The nature of the distribution of the obtained data was determined by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov criterion. The comparative analysis was performed using a nonparametric Mann-Whitney test. The differences were statistically significant when р ≤ 0,05 or р ≤ 0,01. Correlational analysis was conducted using a nonparametric Spearman test. In the work, refrigeratory centrifuge, spectrophotometer LKB Biochrom ULTROSPECII (Sweden), pH-meter PL-600 mrc (Israel), guanosine, and ATP (Sigma). The study of the process of lipid peroxidation in the total homogenate of the brain and spinal cord in experimental animals revealed an increase in the content of malonic dialdehyde. When applied, Cronassial observed normalization of lipid peroxidation processes. Reactive oxygen species, causing lipid peroxidation processes, can be toxic both for neurons and for oligodendrocytes that form myelin, causing a violation of their lipid composition. The high content of lipids in the brain and the uniqueness of their structure determines the nature of the development of LPO processes. The lipid layer of cellular and intracellular membranes performs two main functions -barrier and matrix (structural). Damage to the barrier leads to dysregulation of intracellular processes and severe disorders of cellular functions.

Keywords: experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, multiple sclerosis, neuroinflammation, therapy

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Golnoush Rostami, Farzam Kharvari

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In recent years, developments in the field of architectural education have resulted in a shift from conventional teaching methods to alternative state-of-the-art approaches in teaching methods and strategies. Criticism in architecture has been a key player both in the profession and education, but it has been mostly offered by renowned individuals. Hence, not only students or other professionals but also critics themselves may not have the option to experience buildings and rely on available 2D materials, such as images and plans, that may not result in a holistic understanding and evaluation of buildings. On the other hand, immersive environments provide students and professionals the opportunity to experience buildings virtually and reflect their evaluation by experiencing rather than judging based on 2D materials. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare the effect of experiencing buildings in immersive environments and 2D drawings, including images and plans, on architecture criticism and architectural education. As a result, three buildings that have parametric brick facades were studied through 2D materials and in Unreal Engine v. 24 as an immersive environment among 22 architecture students that were selected using convenient sampling and were divided into two equal groups using simple random sampling. This study used mixed methods, including quantitative and qualitative methods; the quantitative section was carried out by a questionnaire, and deep interviews were used for the qualitative section. A questionnaire was developed for measuring three constructs, including privacy regulation based on Altman’s theory, the sufficiency of illuminance levels in the building, and the visual status of the view (visually appealing views based on obstructions that may have been caused by facades). Furthermore, participants had the opportunity to reflect their understanding and evaluation of the buildings in individual interviews. Accordingly, the collected data from the questionnaires were analyzed using independent t-test and descriptive analyses in IBM SPSS Statistics v. 26, and interviews were analyzed using the content analysis method. The results of the interviews showed that the participants who experienced the buildings in the immersive environment were able to have a thorough and more precise evaluation of the buildings in comparison to those who studied them through 2D materials. Moreover, the analyses of the respondents’ questionnaires revealed that there were statistically significant differences between measured constructs among the two groups. The outcome of this study suggests that integrating immersive environments into the profession and architectural education as an effective and efficient tool for architecture criticism is vital since these environments allow users to have a holistic evaluation of buildings for vigorous and sound criticism.

Keywords: immersive environments, architecture criticism, architectural education, occupant-centric evaluation, pre-occupancy evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Teagan Fink, Lynn Chong, Michael Hii, Brett Knowles

Abstract:

Background: Telemedicine is a rapidly advancing field providing healthcare to patients at a distance from their treating clinician. There is a paucity of high-quality evidence detailing the safety and acceptability of telemedicine for postoperative outpatient follow-up. This randomized controlled trial – conducted prior to the COVID 19 pandemic – aimed to assess patient satisfaction and safety (as determined by readmission, reoperation and complication rates) of telephone compared to face-to-face clinic follow-up after uncomplicated general surgical procedures. Methods: Patients following uncomplicated laparoscopic appendicectomy or cholecystectomy and laparoscopic or open umbilical or inguinal hernia repairs were randomized to a telephone or face-to-face outpatient clinic follow-up. Data points including patient demographics, perioperative details and postoperative outcomes (eg. wound healing complications, pain scores, unplanned readmission to hospital and return to daily activities) were compared between groups. Patients also completed a Likert patient satisfaction survey following their consultation. Results: 103 patients were recruited over a 12-month period (21 laparoscopic appendicectomies, 65 laparoscopic cholecystectomies, nine open umbilical hernia repairs, six laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs and two laparoscopic umbilical hernia repairs). Baseline patient demographics and operative interventions were the same in both groups. Patient or clinician-reported concerns on postoperative pain, use of analgesia, wound healing complications and return to daily activities at clinic follow-up were not significantly different between the two groups. Of the 58 patients randomized to the telemedicine arm, 40% reported high and 60% reported very high patient satisfaction. Telemedicine clinic mean consultation times were significantly shorter than face-to-face consultation times (telemedicine 10.3 +/- 7.2 minutes, face-to-face 19.2 +/- 23.8 minutes, p-value = 0.014). Rates of failing to attend clinic were not significantly different (telemedicine 3%, control 6%). There was no increased rate of postoperative complications in patients followed up by telemedicine compared to in-person. There were no unplanned readmissions, return to theatre, or mortalities in this study. Conclusion: Telemedicine follow-up of patients undergoing uncomplicated general surgery is safe and does not result in any missed diagnosis or higher rates of complications. Telemedicine provides high patient satisfaction and steps to implement this modality in inpatient care should be undertaken.

Keywords: general surgery, telemedicine, patient satisfaction, patient safety

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Authors: Hsiao-Lan Wang, Chun-Han Chiang, I-Chen Chen

Abstract:

In Chinese Mandarin, lexical tones play an important role to provide contrasts in word meaning. They are pitch patterns and can be quantified as the fundamental frequency (F0), expressed in Hertz (Hz). In this study, we aim to investigate the influence of frequency discrimination on Chinese children’s performance of reading abilities. Fifty participants from 3rd to 4th grades, including 24 children with reading difficulties and 26 age-matched children, were examined. A serial of cognitive, language, reading and psychoacoustic tests were administrated. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was also employed to study children’s auditory sensitivity. In the present study, auditory frequency was measured through slide-up pitch, slide-down pitch and frequency-modulated tone. The results showed that children with Chinese reading difficulties were significantly poor at phonological awareness and auditory discrimination for the identification of frequency-modulated tone. Chinese children’s character reading performance was significantly related to lexical tone awareness and auditory perception of frequency-modulated tone. In our MEG measure, we compared the mismatch negativity (MMNm), from 100 to 200 ms, in two groups. There were no significant differences between groups during the perceptual discrimination of standard sounds, fast-up and fast-down frequencies. However, the data revealed significant cluster differences between groups in the slow-up and slow-down frequencies discrimination. In the slow-up stimulus, the cluster demonstrated an upward field map at 106-151 ms (p < .001) with a strong peak time at 127ms. The source analyses of two dipole model and localization resolution model (CLARA) from 100 to 200 ms both indicated a strong source from the left temporal area with 45.845% residual variance. Similar results were found in the slow-down stimulus with a larger upward current at 110-142 ms (p < 0.05) and a peak time at 117 ms in the left temporal area (47.857% residual variance). In short, we found a significant group difference in the MMNm while children processed frequency-modulated tones with slow temporal changes. The findings may imply that perception of sound frequency signals with slower temporal modulations was related to reading and language development in Chinese. Our study may also support the recent hypothesis of underlying non-verbal auditory temporal deficits accounting for the difficulties in literacy development seen developmental dyslexia.

Keywords: Chinese Mandarin, frequency modulation sweeps, magnetoencephalography, mismatch negativity, reading difficulties

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Authors: Flackson Tshuma, James Bennett, Pieter Andreas Swanepoel, Johan Labuschagne, Stephan van der Westhuizen, Francis Rayns

Abstract:

Amongst other things, tillage and synthetic agrochemicals can be effective methods of seedbed preparation and pest control. Nonetheless, frequent and intensive tillage and excessive application of synthetic agrochemicals, such as herbicides and insecticides, can reduce soil microbial enzyme activity. A decline in soil microbial enzyme activity can negatively affect nutrient cycling and crop productivity. In this study, the effects of four tillage treatments; continuous mouldboard plough; shallow tine-tillage to a depth of about 75 mm; no-tillage; and tillage rotation (involving shallow tine-tillage once every four years in rotation with three years of no-tillage), and two rates of synthetic agrochemicals (standard: with regular application of synthetic agrochemicals; and reduced: fewer synthetic agrochemicals in combination with bio-chemicals/ or bio-stimulants) on soil microbial enzyme activity were investigated between 2018 and 2020 in a typical Mediterranean climate zone in South Africa. Four different bio-stimulants applied contained: Trichoderma asperellum, fulvic acid, silicic acid, and Nereocystis luetkeana extracts, respectively. The study was laid out as a complete randomised block design with four replicated blocks. Each block had 14 plots, and each plot measured 50 m x 6 m. The study aimed to assess the combined impact of tillage practices and reduced rates of synthetic agrochemical application on soil microbial enzyme activity in a dryland cropping system. It was hypothesised that the application of bio-stimulants in combination with minimum soil disturbance will lead to a greater increase in microbial enzyme activity than the effect of applying either in isolation. Six soil cores were randomly and aseptically collected from each plot for microbial enzyme activity analysis from the 0-150 mm layer of a field trial under a dryland crop rotation system in the Swartland region. The activities of four microbial enzymes, β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and urease, were assessed. The enzymes are essential for the cycling of glucose, phosphorus, and nitrogen, respectively. Microbial enzyme activity generally increased with a reduction of both tillage intensity and synthetic agrochemical application. The use of the mouldboard plough led to the least (P<0.05) microbial enzyme activity relative to the reduced tillage treatments, whereas the system with bio-stimulants (reduced synthetic agrochemicals) led to the highest (P<0.05) microbial enzyme activity relative to the standard systems. The application of bio-stimulants in combination with reduced tillage, particularly no-tillage, could be beneficial for enzyme activity in a dryland farming system.

Keywords: bio-stimulants, soil microbial enzymes, synthetic agrochemicals, tillage

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Authors: Felix Schumann, Giorgia Carratta, Tobias Dauth, Liv Jaeckel

Abstract:

In the last few decades, the rapid growth of the use and disposal of plastic items has led to their overaccumulation in the environment. As a result, plastic pollution has become a subject of global concern. Today plastics are used as raw materials in almost every industry. While the recognition of the ecological, social, and economic impact of plastics in academic research is on the rise, the potential role of the ‘plastic industry’ in dealing with such issues is still largely underestimated. Therefore, the literature on sustainable plastic management is still nascent and fragmented. Working towards sustainability requires a fundamental shift in the way companies employ plastics in their day-to-day business. For that reason, the applicability of the business model concept has recently gained momentum in environmental research. Business model innovation is increasingly recognized as an important driver to re-conceptualize the purpose of the firm and to readily integrate sustainability in their business. It can serve as a starting point to investigate whether and how sustainability can be realized under industry- and firm-specific circumstances. Yet, there is no comprehensive view in the plastic industry on how firms start refining their business models to embed sustainability in their operations. Our study addresses this gap, looking primarily at the industrial sectors responsible for the production of the largest amount of plastic waste today: plastic packaging, consumer goods, construction, textile, and transport. Relying on the archetypes of sustainable business models and applying them to the aforementioned sectors, we try to identify companies’ current strategies to make their business models more sustainable. Based on the thematic clustering, we can develop an integrative framework for the plastic industry. The findings are underpinned and illustrated by a variety of relevant plastic management solutions that the authors have identified through a systematic literature review and analysis of existing, empirically grounded research in this field. Using the archetypes, we can promote options for business model innovations for the most important sectors in which plastics are used. Moreover, by linking the proposed business model archetypes to the plastic industry, our research approach guides firms in exploring sustainable business opportunities. Likewise, researchers and policymakers can utilize our classification to identify best practices. The authors believe that the study advances the current knowledge on sustainable plastic management through its broad empirical industry analyses. Hence, the application of business model archetypes in the plastic industry will be useful for shaping companies’ transformation to create and deliver more sustainability and provides avenues for future research endeavors.

Keywords: business models, environmental economics, plastic management, plastic pollution, sustainability

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