Search results for: population density

Authors: M. Firoz Kalam, Wilfried Schuetz, Jan Hendrik Bredehoeft

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In this research, diesel oil properties, such as aniline point, density, diesel index, cetane index and cetane number before and after treatment were studied. The investigation was considered for diesel oil samples after batch adsorption process using powdered activated carbon. Batch distillation process was applied to all treated diesel oil samples for separation of the solid-liquid mixture. The diesel oil properties were studied to observe the impact of adsorptive desulfurization process on fuel quality. Results showed that the best cetane number for desulfurized diesel oil was found at the best-operating conditions 60℃, 10g activated carbon and 180 minute contact time. The best-desulfurized diesel oil cetane number was obtained around 51 while the cetane number of untreated diesel oil was 34. Results also showed that the calculated cetane number increases as the operating temperature and amounts of adsorbent increases. This behavior was same for other diesel oil properties such as aniline point, diesel index, cetane index and density. The best value for all the fuel properties was found at same operating conditions mentioned above. Thus, it can be concluded that adsorptive desulfurization using powdered activated carbon as adsorbent had significantly improved the fuel quality of diesel oil by reducing aromatic contents of diesel oil.

Keywords: activated carbon, adsorption, desulfurization, diesel oil, fuel quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: R. E. Fat-Helbary, A. A. Abdel-latief, M. S. Arfa, Alaa Mostafa

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The Egyptian Government proposed a general plan, aiming at constructing new settlements for Nubian in south Aswan in different places around Nasser Lake, one of these settlements in Kurkur area. The Nubian habitations in Wadi Kurkur are located around 30 km southwest of Aswan City. This area are affecting by near distance earthquakes from Kalabsha faults system. The shallow seismic refraction technique was conducted at the study area, to evaluate the soil and rock material quality and geotechnical parameters, in addition to the detection of the subsurface ground model under the study area. The P and S-wave velocities were calculated. The surface layer has P-wave, velocity ranges from 900 m/sec to 1625 m/sec and S-wave velocity ranges from 650 m/sec to 1400 m/sec. On the other hand the bedrock has P-wave velocity ranges from 1300 m/sec to 1980 m/sec and S-wave velocity ranges from 1050 m/sec to1725 m/sec. Measuring Vp and Vs velocities together with bulk density are calculated and used to extract the mechanical properties and geotechnical parameters of the foundation material at the study area. Output of this study is very important for solving the problems, which associated with the construction of various civil engineering purposes, for land use planning and for earthquakes resistant structure design.

Keywords: shallow seismic refraction technique, Kurkur area, p and s-wave velocities, geotechnical parameters, bulk density, Kalabsha faults

Procedia PDF Downloads 427

Authors: Yasser Rammah, Wolf-Christian Mueller

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Nonlinear triad interactions in incompressible three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (3D-MHD) turbulence are studied by analyzing data from high-resolution direct numerical simulations of decaying isotropic (5123 grid points) and forced anisotropic (10242 x256 grid points) turbulence. An accurate numerical approach toward analyzing nonlinear turbulent energy transfer function and triad interactions is presented. It involves the direct numerical examination of every wavenumber triad that is associated with the nonlinear terms in the differential equations of MHD in the inertial range of turbulence. The technique allows us to compute the spectral energy transfer and energy fluxes, as well as the spectral locality property of energy transfer function. To this end, the geometrical shape of each underlying wavenumber triad that contributes to the statistical transfer density function is examined to infer the locality of the energy transfer. Results show that the total energy transfer is local via nonlocal triad interactions in decaying macroscopically isotropic MHD turbulence. In anisotropic MHD, turbulence subject to a strong mean magnetic field the nonlinear transfer is generally weaker and exhibits a moderate increase of nonlocality in both perpendicular and parallel directions compared to the isotropic case. These results support the recent mathematical findings, which also claim the locality of nonlinear energy transfer in MHD turbulence.

Keywords: magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, transfer density function, locality function, direct numerical simulation (DNS)

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Authors: Myriam Roy

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The perspectives of the Togolese public towards mental illness were assessed, looking at religious affiliation, personal knowledge of someone with a mental illness, and education level as influencers. The goal was to observe which factors influenced most strongly the general public’s attitudes towards mental illness. The Togolese population was surveyed within the context of mental health awareness workshops and involved college and university students, rural community members, and company employees. Taylor and Dear’s Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) questionnaire was used to assess these influencers and includes four dimensions of community attitudes towards mental illness: authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, and community mental health ideology (CMHI). Demographic questions were also included, tailored to the various realities of the Togolese population. These questions looked, among others, at religious, ethnical (region of origin within Togo), and educational background. It was found that religious affiliation and personal knowledge did not correlate significantly with changes in the four dimensions of the CAMI scale. It suggests that public perspectives towards mental illness might not be as associated with these variables as was previously thought. The dimensions, however, did correlate with themselves as was expected. Authoritarianism was associated positively with social restrictiveness, benevolence was associated negatively with social restrictiveness and positively with CMHI, and CMHI was associated negatively with social restrictiveness, indicating the CAMI did not suffer from reliability and validity issues when used with this population. Interestingly, level of education significantly impacted authoritarianism level, with higher education associated with a decrease in authoritarianism. This finding would support the notion that education is likely to provide access to a wide array of information as well as interaction with people from various backgrounds and situations. Providing increased awareness regarding mental health and illness in schools could be beneficial to favor the impact that education appears to have on public perspectives towards mental illness in Togo. Future studies could assess which mental health interventions in schools would be the most useful in Togo.

Keywords: CAMI questionnaire, cross-cultural psychology, stigma towards mental illness, West African psychology

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: K. Saravanan, K. A.Rameshkumar, P. Maadeswaran

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The depletion of fossil resources and the rise in global temperatures are two of the most important concerns we confront today. There are numerous renewable energy sources like solar power, tidal power, wind energy, radiant energy, hydroelectricity, geothermal energy, and biomass available to generate the needed energy demand. Engineers and scientists around the world are facing a massive barrier in the development of storage technologies for the energy developed from renewable energy sources. The development of electrochemical capacitors as a future energy storage technology is at the forefront of current research and development. This is due to the fact that the electrochemical capacitors have a significantly higher energy density, a faster charging-discharging rate, and a longer life span than capacitors, and they also have a higher power density than batteries, making them superior to both. In this research, electrochemical capacitors using the Nd2O3/Mn3O4/ N-rGO electrode material is chosen since the of hexagonal and tetragonal crystal structures of Nd2O3 and Mn3O4 and also has cycling stability of 68% over a long time at 50mVs-1 and a high coulombic efficiency of 99.64% at 5 Ag-1. This approach may also be used to create novel electrode materials with improved electrochemical and cyclic stability for high-performance supercapacitors.

Keywords: Nd2O3/Mn3O4/N-rGO, nanocomposites, hydrothermal method, electrode material, specific capacitance, use of supercapacitors

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Authors: G. Gnanachandrasamy, Y. Zhou, S. Venkatramanan, T. Ramkumar, S. Wang

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The natural resources of groundwater are the most precious resources around the world that balances are shrinking day by day. In connection, there is an urgency need for demarcation of potential groundwater zone. For these rationale integration of geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing techniques (RS) for the hydrological studies have become a dramatic change in the field of hydrological research. These techniques are provided to locate the potential zone of groundwater. This research has been made to indent groundwater potential zone in Ariyalur of the southern part of India with help of GIS and remote sensing techniques. To identify the groundwater potential zone used by different thematic layers of geology, geomorphology, drainage, drainage density, lineaments, lineaments density, soil and slope with inverse distance weighting (IDW) methods. From the overall result reveals that the potential zone of groundwater in the study area classified into five classes named as very good (12.18 %), good (22.74 %), moderate (32.28 %), poor (27.7 %) and very poor (5.08 %). This technique suggested that very good potential zone of groundwater occurred in patches of northern and central parts of Jayamkondam, Andimadam and Palur regions in Ariyalur district. The result exhibited that inverse distance weighting method offered in this research is an effective tool for interpreting groundwater potential zones for suitable development and management of groundwater resources in different hydrogeological environments.

Keywords: GIS, groundwater potential zone, hydrology, remote sensing

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Authors: Leo Latasch, Mario Di Gennaro

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Introduction: The goal of this project was to increase the resilience of the population as well as rescue organizations to make both quality and time-related improvements in handling crises. A helper network was created for this purpose. Methods: Social questions regarding the structure and purpose of helper networks were considered - specifically with regard to helper motivation, the level of commitment and collaboration between populations and agencies. The exchange of information, the coordinated use of volunteers, and the distribution of available resources will be ensured through defined communication and cooperation routines. Helper smartphones will also be used provide a picture of the situation on the ground. Results: The helper network was established and deployed based on the RESIBES information technology system. It consists of a service platform, a web portal and a smartphone app. The service platform is the central element for collaboration between the various rescue organizations, as well as for persons, associations, and companies from the population offering voluntary aid. The platform was used for: Registering helpers and resources and then requesting and assigning it in case of a disaster. These services allow the population's resources to be organized. The service platform also allows for a secure data exchange between services and external systems. Conclusions: The social and technical work priorities have allowed us to cover a full cycle of advance structural work, gaining an overview, damage management, evaluation, and feedback on experiences. This cycle allows experiences gained while handling the crisis to feed back into the cycle and improve preparations and management strategies.

Keywords: coordination, disaster, resilience, volunteers

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Authors: Leila Kargar, Homa Abri, Golsa Safai

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The occurrence of chest pain among geriatrics could be considered as a predictor of heart issues. There is a need for attention to this pain among this population. This review paper has tried to collect the recent data with attention to the chest pain among geriatrics. This review paper has focused on specific keywords, including chest pain, heart issues, and geriatrics, among published papers from 2015 till 2020. To collect data for this purpose, Scopus, Web of Sciences, and PubMed were used. After inserting related papers to the Endnote, an independent researcher checked the abstract, and papers with unclear methods or non-English language were excluded. Finally, 7-papers were included in this review paper. The findings of those papers showed that chest pain could be a predictor for heart issues, and also, there is a direct relationship between chest pain and heart issues among geriatrics. So, early detection and an accurate decision could be helpful to prevent heart issues in this population.

Keywords: pain, heart issue, geriatrics, health

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Yun Yu Stephanie Law

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Sociometer Theory is well tested among young adults in western population, however, limited research is found for other age groups, like adolescent and middle-adulthood in Asia population. Thus, one of the main purposes of this study is to verify the validity of Sociometer Theory in different age groups among Asian. To be specific, we hypothesized that an increase in one’s perceived social rejection is associated to a decrease in his/her state self-esteem among all age groups in Asian population. And we expected that this association can be found among all age groups including adolescent, young adults and middle-adults group in our first study. In this way, we can verify the validity of Sociometer Theory across different age groups as well as its significance in Asian population. Furthermore, those participants who received rejection about ‘mate-role’ would also receive some negative feedbacks regarding their current/future capacity of being a good mate. Results suggested that participants’ state self-esteem sensitivity for mating-capacity rejection is higher when comparing to that of friend-capacity rejection, i.e. greater drop in state self-esteem when receiving mating-capacity feedbacks then receiving friend-capacity feedbacks. These results, however, is just applicable on young adults. Thus, the main purpose of study two would be testing the state self-esteem sensitivity towards social rejection in different domains among three age groups. We hypothesized that group differences would be found for three age groups regarding state self-esteem sensitivity. Research question 1: perceived social rejection is associated to decrease in state self-esteem, is applicable among different age groups in Asia population. Research question 2: there are significant group differences for three age groups regarding state self-esteem sensitivity. Methods: 300 subjects are divided into three age groups, adolescents group, young adult group and middle-adult group, with 100 subjects in each group. Two questionnaires were used in testing this fundamental concept. Subjects were then asked to rate themselves on questionnaire in measuring their current state self-esteem in order to obtain the baseline measurements for later comparison. In order to avoid demand characteristics from subjects, other unrelated tasks like word matching were also given after the first test. Results: A positive correlation between scores in questionnaire 1 and questionnaire 2 among all age groups. Conclusion: State self-esteem decrease to both imagined social rejection (study1) and experienced social rejection (study2). Moreover, level of decrease in state self-esteem vary when receiving different domains of social rejection. Implications: a better understanding of self-esteem development for various age group might bring insights for education systems and policies for teaching approaches and learning methods among different age groups.

Keywords: state self-esteem, social rejection, stage theory, self-feelings

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: Bambang Heliyanto, Rully Dyah Purwati, Hasnam, Fadjry Djufry

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Jatropha curcas L., a drought tolerant and monoecious perennial shrub, has received attention worldwide during the past decade. Realizing the facts, the Indonesian government has decided to option for Jatropha and palm oil for in country biofuel production. To support the program development of high yielding jatropha varieties is necessary. This paper reviews Jatropha improvement program in Indonesia using mass selection and hybrid development. To start with, at the end of 2005, in-country germplasm collection was mobilized to Lampung and Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) provinces and successfully collected 15 provenances/sub-provenances which serves as a base population for selection. A significant improvement has been achieved through a simple recurrent breeding selection during 2006 to 2007. Seed yield productivity increased more than double, from 0.36 to 0.97 ton dry seed per hectare during the first selection cycle (IP-1), and then increased to 2.2 ton per hectare during the second cycles (IP-2) in Lampung provenance. Similar result was also observed in NTB provenance. Seed yield productivity increased from 0.43 ton to 1 ton dry seed per hectare in the first cycle (IP-1), and then 1.9 ton in the second cycle (IP-2). In 2008, the population IP-3 resulted from the third cycle of selection have been identified which were capable of producing 2.2 to 2.4 ton seed yield per hectare. To improve the seed yield per hectare, jatropha hybrid varieties was developed involving superior provenances. As a result a Jatropha Energy Terbarukan (JET) variety-2 was released in 2017 with seed yield potential of 2.6 ton per hectare. The use of this high yielding genotypes for biofuel is discussed.

Keywords: Jatropha curcas, provenance, biofuel, improve population, hybrid

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Iyad Al-Attar

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Air filters are widely used in gas turbines applications to ensure that the large mass (500kg/s) of clean air reach the compressor. The continuous demand of high availability and reliability has highlighted the critical role of air filter performance in providing enhanced air quality. In addition to being challenged with different environments [tropical, coastal, hot], gas turbines confront wide array of atmospheric contaminants with various concentrations and particle size distributions that would lead to performance degradation and components deterioration. Therefore, the role of air filters is of a paramount importance since fouled compressor can reduce power output and availability of the gas turbine to over 70 % throughout operation. Consequently, accurate filter performance prediction is critical tool in their selection considering their role in minimizing the economic impact of outages. In fact, actual performance of Efficient Particulate Air [EPA] filters used in gas turbine tend to deviate from the performance predicted by laboratory results. This experimental work investigates the initial pressure drop and fractional efficiency curves of full-scale pleated V-shaped EPA filters used globally in gas turbine. The investigation involved examining the effect of different operational conditions such as flow rates [500 to 5000 m3/h] and design parameters such as pleat count [28, 30, 32 and 34 pleats per 100mm]. This experimental work has highlighted the underlying reasons behind the reduction in filter permeability due to the increase of flow rates and pleat density. The reasons, which led to surface area losses of filtration media, are due to one or combination of the following effects: pleat-crowding, deflection of the entire pleated panel, pleat distortion at the corner of the pleat and/or filtration medium compression. This paper also demonstrates that the effect of increasing the flow rate has more pronounced effect on filter performance compared to pleating density. This experimental work suggests that a valid comparison of the pleat densities should be based on the effective surface area, namely, the area that participates in the filtration process, and not the total surface area the pleat density provides. Throughout this study, optimal pleat count that satisfies both initial pressure drop and efficiency requirements may not have necessarily existed.

Keywords: filter efficiency, EPA Filters, pressure drop, permeability

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: N. N. M. Pauzi, M. R. Karim, M. Jamil, R. Hamid, M. F. M. Zain

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The aim of this study is to conduct an experimental investigation on the influence of complete replacement of natural coarse aggregate with spherically-shape and crushed waste cathode ray tube (CRT) glass to the aspect of workability, density, and compressive strength of the concrete. After characterizing the glass, a group of concrete mixes was prepared to contain a 40% spherical CRT glass and 60% crushed CRT glass as a complete (100%) replacement of natural coarse aggregates. From a total of 16 types of concrete mixes, the optimum proportion was selected based on its best performance. The test results showed that the use of spherical and crushed glass that possesses a smooth surface, rounded, irregular and elongated shape, and low water absorption affects the workability of concrete. Due to a higher specific gravity of crushed glass, concrete mixes containing CRT glass had a higher density compared to ordinary concrete. Despite the spherical and crushed CRT glass being stronger than gravel, the results revealed a reduction in compressive strength of the concrete. However, using a lower water to binder (w/b) ratio and a higher superplasticizer (SP) dosage, it is found to enhance the compressive strength of 60.97 MPa at 28 days that is lower by 13% than the control specimen. These findings indicate that waste CRT glass in the form of spherical and crushed could be used as an alternative of coarse aggregate that may pave the way for the disposal of hazardous e-waste.

Keywords: cathode ray tube, glass, coarse aggregate, compressive strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Jiajia Yao, Guanlin Wu, Fang Liu, Junshuai Xue, Yue Hao

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As the production process of self-standing GaN substrates evolves, the commercialization of low dislocation density, large-scale, semi-insulating self-standing GaN substrates is gradually becoming a reality. This advancement has given rise to increased interest in GaN materials' homoepitaxial technology. However, at the homoepitaxial interface, there are considerable concentrations of impurity elements, including C, Si, and O, which generate parasitic leakage channels at the re-growth junction. This phenomenon results in leaked HEMTs that prove difficult to switch off, rendering them effectively non-functional. The emergence of leakage channels can also degrade the high-frequency properties and lower the power devices' breakdown voltage. In this study, the uniform epitaxy of AlGaN/GaN heterojunction with high electron mobility was accomplished through the surface treatment of the GaN substrates prior to growth and the design of the AlN isolation layer structure. By employing a procedure combining gallium atom in-situ cleaning and plasma nitridation, the C and O impurity concentrations at the homoepitaxial interface were diminished to the scale of 10¹⁷ cm-³. Additionally, the 1.5 nm nitrogen-rich AlN isolation layer successfully prevented the diffusion of Si impurities into the GaN channel layer. The result was an AlGaN/GaN heterojunction with an electron mobility of 1552 cm²/Vs and an electron density of 1.1 × 10¹³ cm-² at room temperature, obtained on a Fe-doped semi-insulating GaN substrate.

Keywords: MBE, AlGaN/GaN, homogenerous epitaxy, HEMT

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Authors: Astghik R. Sukiasyan

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The semidental sweet maize of Armenian population under drought stress and pollution by some heavy metals (HMs) in sites along the river Debet was studied. Accordingly, the objective of this work was to investigate the antioxidant status of maize plant in order to identify simple and reliable criteria for assessing the degree of adaptation of plants to abiotic stress of drought and HMs. It was found that in the case of removal from the mainstream of the river, the antioxidant status of the plant varies. As parameters, the antioxidant status of the plant has been determined by the activity of malondialdehyde (MDA) and Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP), taking into account the characteristics of natural drought of this region. The possibility of using some indicators which characterized the antioxidant status of the plant was concluded. The criteria for assessing the extent of environmental pollution could be HMs. This fact can be used for the early diagnosis of diseases in the population who lives in these areas and uses corn as the main food.

Keywords: antioxidant status, maize corn, drought stress, heavy metal

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: Foluke E. Sola-Ojo, Ibraheem A. Abubakar, Semiu F. Bello, Isiaka H. Fatima, Sule Bisola, Adesina M. Olusegun, Adeniyi C. Adeola

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The domesticated pigeon, Columba livia domestica, has many valuable characteristics, including high nutritional value and fast growth rate. There is a lack of information on its genetic diversity in Nigeria; thus, the genetic variability in mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of 150 domestic pigeons from four different locations was examined. Three haplotypes (HT) were identified in Nigerian populations; the most common haplotype, HT1, was shared with wild and domestic pigeons from Europe, America, and Asia, while HT2 and HT3 were unique to Nigeria. The overall haplotype diversity was 0.052± 0.025, and nucleotide diversity was 0.026± 0.068 across the four investigated populations. The phylogenetic tree showed significant clustering and genetic relationship of Nigerian domestic pigeons with other global pigeons. The median-joining network showed a star-like pattern suggesting population expansion. AMOVA results indicated that genetic variations in Nigerian pigeons mainly occurred within populations (99.93%), while the Neutrality tests results suggested that the Nigerian domestic pigeons’ population experienced recent expansion. This study showed a low genetic diversity and population differentiation among Nigerian domestic pigeons consistent with a relatively conservative COI sequence with few polymorphic sites. Furthermore, the COI gene could serve as a candidate molecular marker to investigate the genetic diversity and origin of pigeon species. The current data is insufficient for further conclusions; therefore, more research evidence from multiple molecular markers is required.

Keywords: Nigeria pigeon, COI, genetic diversity, genetic variation, conservation

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Rasheed F. G., Hassan H. A., Shehu F. A., Mukhtar M. M., Muhammad Y. Y., Ibrahim S. S., Shehu D., Abdulsalam K., N. Abdullahi

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A cross sectional randomized, descriptive cross sectional study was conducted on the frequency of GSTT1 null alleles in patients diagnosed with type-2-diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A total of 40 patients with T2DM and 10 non-diabetic controls were included in the study. GSTT1 null-alleles genotyping was carried out using multiplex PCR amplification to amplify GSTT1 gene (460bp) while using β-globulin (250bp) as an internal control. The results showed that 55% of T2DM patients had BMI within reference limits, 13% are overweight. Additionally, patients with T2DM were found to have significantly higher (p<0.05) serum levels of glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein. Furthermore, the presence of null genotype of GSTT1 (deletion in GSTT1) was observed in 28% of diabetic patients. Subjects with GSTT1 deletion have significantly higher (p<0.05) levels of serum glucose, low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol when compared with individuals without deletion (diabetic and non-diabetic). This results suggests that the deletion of GSTT1 gene might serve as a predisposing factor in the development of T2DM and dyslipideamia

Keywords: diabetes, glutathione-S-transferase, lipid profile, PCR, polymorphism.

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Authors: Gloria Ebere Amadi, Emeka Promise Ugwunwotti

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The study was carried out to determine the strategies for managing fake news for sustainable democracy in Enugu State, Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. A survey research design was used for the study. The population for the study consisted of 100 respondents (from Enugu state House of Assembly). Of the entire population, 24 elected law makers and 76 staff were used; hence there was no sampling since the population was manageable. A 28-item structured questionnaire developed by the researcher was used for data collection. The instrument entitled Managing Fake News Questionnaire (MFNQ) was validated by three experts, two from the Department of Computer Science and one from the Department of Maths and Statistics, all from Enugu State University of Science and Technology. Cronbach Alpha was used to determine the reliability coefficient of the two sections of the instrument, and they are 0.67 and 0.82, while the reliability coefficient of the whole instrument gave a value of 0.81. Mean with standard deviation was used to answer research questions, while the null hypotheses at 0.5 level of significance at 98 degrees of freedom were tested with a t-test. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents agreed that government and citizens-related strategies improve the management of fake news for sustainable democracy in Enugu State. Again, there was no significant difference between the mean response of the lawmakers and staff on government and citizens-related strategies for managing fake news for sustainable democracy in Enugu State. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that there should be regular workshops on the management of fake news for citizens.

Keywords: fake news, sustainability, democracy, management

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Mudasir Gani, Rakesh Kumar Gupta, Kamlesh Bali, Abdul Rouf Wani

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The gypsy moth (Lymantria obfuscata) and tent caterpillar (Malacosoma indicum) are serious pests that attack a wide range of fruit and forest trees in Jammu & Kashmir range of North-Western Himalayas in India. Investigations were carried out to isolate and bioprospect naturally occurring nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPVs) as potent biopesticides against these pests. The biological and molecular characterization of NPV isolates from different ecosystems was conducted, and the polh, lef-8 and lef-9 genes were sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis. The L. obfuscata NPV was more closely related to the L. dispar NPV, whereas M. indicum NPV was more closely related to the M. californicum NPV in the NCBI taxonomy database. Among different isolates, Bhaderwah isolates exhibited highest virus activity (LD₅₀ = 250 POBs/larvae) and speed of kill (ST₅₀ = 6.80 days) against L. obfuscata whereas Mahor isolates proved most virulent against M. indicum, with lowest LD₅₀ (257 POBs/larva) and ST₅₀ (6.80 days). The in vivo mass production for highest productivity and quality revealed that the optimum yield was obtained when 3rd instar larvae were inoculated with a viral dose of 1.44 × 105 POBs/larva and allowed to incubate for nine days for L. obfuscata. However, for M. indicum larvae, a viral dose of 2.88 × 10⁶ POBs/larva and incubation period of 10 days were found optimum. It was found that harvesting of moribund larvae yields good quality NPV. The field application of L. obfuscata NPV and M. indicum NPV against the respective host populations on apple and willow with the pre-standardized dosage of 1 × 10¹² POBs/acre reduced the larval population density up to 25-63%.

Keywords: baculoviruses, biopesticides, Lymantria obfuscata, Malacosoma indicum

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Authors: Deepak Jugran

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The last century has witnessed rapid scientific growth, and social policies mainly targeted to increase the “life expectancy” of the people. As a result of these developments, the aging as well as ailing population, is increasing by every day. Despite an increase in “life expectancy”, we have not recorded compression in morbidity numbers as the age of onset of the majority of health issues has not increased substantially. In recent years, the prevalence of chronic diseases along with the improved treatment has also resulted in the increase of people living with chronic diseases. The last decade has also focused on social policies to increase the life expectancy in the population; however, in recent decades, social policies and biomedical research are gradually shifting on the potential of increasing healthy life or healthspan. In this article, we review the existing framework of lifespan and healthspan and wish to ignite a discussion among social scientists and public health experts to propose a wholistic framework to balance the trade-offs on social policies for “lifespan” and “healthspan”.

Keywords: lifespan, healthspan, chronic diseases, social policies

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Anjali Suresh

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Kerala is well known for its unique settlement pattern; comprising the most part, a continuous spread of habitation. The notable urbanization trend in Kerala is urban spread rather than concentration which points out the increasing urbanization of peripheral areas of existing urban centers. This has thrown a challenge for the authorities to cater the needs of the urban population like to provide affordable housing and infrastructure facilities to sustain their livelihood; which is a matter of concern that needs policy attention in fixing the optimum FSI value. Based on recent reports (Post Disaster Need Analysis –PDNA) from the UN, addressing the unsafe situation of the carpet FAR/FSI practice in the state showcasing the varying geological & climatic conditions should also be the matter of concern. The FSI (Floor space index- the ratio of the built-up space on a plot to the area of the plot) value is certainly one of the key regulation factors in checking the land utilization for the varying occupancies desired for the overall development of a state with limitation in land availability when compared to its neighbors. The pattern of urbanization, physical conditions, topography, etc., varies within the state and can change remarkably over time which identifies that the practicing FSI norms in Kerala does not fulfils the intended function. Thus the FSI regulation is expected to change dynamically from location to location. So for determining the optimum value of FSI /FAR of a region in the state of Kerala, the government agencies should consider the optimum land utilization for the growing urbanization. On the other hand, shall keep in check the overutilization of the same in par with environmental and geographic nature. Therefore the study identifies parameters that should be considered for assigning FSI within the Kerala context, and through expert surveys; opinions arrive at a methodology for assigning an optimum FSI value of a region in the state of Kerala.

Keywords: floor space index, urbanization, density, civic pressure, optimization

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Authors: Narendra Nath Patra

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Several recent studies reinforce the existence of a thick molecular disc in galaxies along with the dynamically cold thin disc. Assuming a two-component molecular disc, we model the disc of NGC 6946 as a four-component system consists of stars, HI, thin disc molecular gas, and thick disc molecular gas in vertical hydrostatic equilibrium. Following, we set up the joint Poisson-Boltzmann equation of hydrostatic equilibrium and solve it numerically to obtain a three-dimensional density distribution of different baryonic components. Using the density solutions and the observed rotation curve, we further build a three-dimensional dynamical model of the molecular disc and consecutively produce simulated CO spectral cube and spectral width profile. We find that the simulated spectral width profiles distinguishably differs for different assumed thick disc molecular gas fraction. Several CO spectral width profiles are then produced for different assumed thick disc molecular gas fractions and compared with the observed one to obtain the best fit thick disc molecular gas fraction profile. We find that the thick disc molecular gas fraction in NGC 6946 largely remains constant across its molecular disc with a mean value of 0.70 +/- 0.09. We also estimate the amount of extra-planar molecular gas in NGC 6946. We find 60% of the total molecular gas is extra-planar at the central region, whereas this fraction reduces to ~ 35% at the edge of the molecular disc. With our method, for the first time, we estimate the thick disc molecular gas fraction as a function of radius in an external galaxy with sub-kpc resolution.

Keywords: galaxies: kinematics and dynamic, galaxies: spiral, galaxies: structure , ISM: molecules, molecular data

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Authors: Mahsa Ghorbani Jazin

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The insurance industry has a prominent place in the economy of every country in the world. Fire insurance policies are types of non-life insurance, which protect insureds against financial losses of fire and related risks. In this paper, factors that are affecting the demand for fire insurance in Iran have been examined. Due to this reason, information and data have been collected during the period 1989-2019. In this research, the final model was estimated. The obtained results represent that as the population and literacy rate increase, people are more willing to purchase fire insurance. On the other hand, the actual per capita income has a negative influence on the demand for this type of insurance. Also, the amount of compensation that is paid in losses can be assumed as an indirect advertisement for fire insurance and attracts people to buy this policy. Finally, the new technology in the insurance industry is examined as a new underestimated way for increasing demand, especially in Iran.

Keywords: fire insurance, demand, per capita income, literacy rate, population, compensation paid, Insurtech

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Authors: Saeid H. Mobini, Monika Lulsdorf, Thomas D. Warkentin

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The length of the breeding cycle from seed to seed is a limiting factor in the development of improved homozygous lines for breeding or recombinant inbred lines (RILs) for genetic analysis. The objective of this research was to accelerate the production of field pea RILs through application of rapid generation technology (RGT). RGT is based on the principle of growing miniature plants in an artificial medium under controlled conditions, and allowing them to produce a few flowers which develop seeds that are harvested prior to normal seed maturity. We aimed to maintain population size and genetic diversity in regeneration cycles. The effects of flurprimidol (a gibberellin synthesis inhibitor), plant density, hydroponic system, scheduled fertilizer applications, artificial light spectrum, photoperiod, and light/dark temperature were evaluated in the development of RILs from a cross between cultivars CDC Dakota and CDC Amarillo. The main goal was to accelerate flowering while reducing maintenance and space costs. In addition, embryo rescue of immature seeds was tested for shortening the seed fill period. Data collected over seven generations included plant height, the percentage of plant survival, flowering rate, seed setting rate, the number of seeds per plant, and time from seed to seed. Applying 0.6 µM flurprimidol reduced the internode length. Plant height was decreased to approximately 32 cm allowing for higher plant density without a delay in flowering and seed setting rate. The three light systems (T5 fluorescent bulbs, LEDs, and High Pressure Sodium +Metal-halide lamp) evaluated did not differ significantly in terms of flowering time in field pea. Collectively, the combination of 0.6 µM flurprimidol, 217 plant. m-2, 20 h photoperiod, 21/16 oC light/dark temperature in a hydroponic system with vermiculite substrate, applying scheduled fertilizer application based on growth stage, and 500 µmole.m-2.s-1 light intensity using T5 bulbs resulted in 100% of plants flowering within 34 ± 3 days and 96.5% of plants completed seed setting in 68.2 ± 3.6 days, i.e., 30-45 days/generation faster than conventional single seed descent (SSD) methods. These regeneration cycles were reproducible consistently. Hence, RGT could double (5.3) generations per year, using 3% occupying space, compared to SSD (2-3 generation/year). Embryo rescue of immature seeds at 7-8 mm stage, using commercial fertilizer solutions (Holland’s Secret™) showed seed setting rate of 95%, while younger embryos had lower germination rate. Mature embryos had a seed setting rate of 96.5% without either hormones or sugar added. So, considering the higher cost of embryo rescue using a procedure which requires skill, additional materials, and expenses, it could be removed from RGT with a further cost saving, and the process could be stopped between generations if required.

Keywords: field pea, flowering, rapid regeneration, recombinant inbred lines, single seed descent

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Authors: Man Kumar Tamang, Uday Narayan Yadav

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Background and objectives: Every country in the world is facing a demographic challenge due to drastic growth of population over 60 years. Adequate diet and nutritional status are important determinants of health in elderly populations. This study aimed to assess the nutritional status among the elderly population and factors associated with malnutrition at the community setting in rural Nepal. Methods: This is a community-based cross-sectional study among elderly of age 60 years or above in the three randomly selected VDCs of Morang district in eastern Nepal, between August and November, 2016. A multi stage cluster sampling was adopted with sample size of 345 of which 339 participated in the study. Nutritional status was assessed by MNA tool and associated socio-economic, demographic, psychological and nutritional factors were checked by binary logistic regression analysis. Results: Among 339 participants, 24.8% were found to be within normal nutritional status, 49.6% were at risk of malnutrition and 24.8% were malnourished. Independent factors associated with malnutrition status among the elderly people after controlling the cofounders in the bivariate analysis were: elderly who were malnourished were those who belonged to backward caste according to traditional Hindu caste system [OR=2.69, 95% CI: 1.17-6.21), being unemployed (OR=3.23, 95% CI: 1.63-6.41),who experienced any mistreatment from caregivers (OR=4.05, 95% CI: 1.90-8.60), being not involved in physical activity (OR=4.67, 95% CI: 1.87-11.66) and those taking medication for any co-morbidities. Conclusion: Many socio-economic, psychological and physiological factors affect nutritional status in our sample population and these issues need to be addressed for bringing improvement in elderly nutrition and health status.

Keywords: elderly, eastern Nepal, malnutrition, nutritional status

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: El Mehdi Haily, Lahcen Bih, Mohammed Azrour, Bouchaib Manoun

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The effects of xBi₂O₃-yBaO-zP₂O₅ (BBP) glass addition on the sintering, structural, and dielectric properties of BaTiO₃ ceramic (BT) are studied. The BT ceramic was synthesized by the conventional solid-state reaction method while the glasses BaO-Bi₂O₃-P₂O₅ (BBP) were elaborated by melting and quenching process. Different composites BT-xBBP were formed by mixing the BBP glasses with BT ceramic. For each glass composition, where the ratio (x:y:z) is maintained constant, we have developed three composites with different glass weight percentage (x = 2.5, 5, and 7.5 wt %). Addition of the glass helps in better sintering at lower temperatures with the presence of liquid phase at the respective sintering temperatures. The results showed that the sintering temperature decreased from more than 1300°C to 900°C. Density measurements of the composites are performed using the standard Archimedean method with water as medium liquid. It is found that their density and molar volume decrease and increase with glass content, respectively. Raman spectroscopy is used to characterize their structural approach. This technique has allowed the identification of different structural units of phosphate and the characteristic vibration modes of the BT. The electrical properties of the composite samples are carried out by impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 1 MHz under various temperatures from 300 to 473 K. The obtained results show that their dielectric properties depend both on the content of the glass in the composite and the Bi/P ratio in the glasses.

Keywords: phosphate, glasses, composite, Raman spectroscopy, dielectric properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Fatemehsadat Mousaviabarbekouh

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Population growth and changing consumption patterns have led to waste management becoming a significant global challenge. With projections indicating that nearly 67% of the Earth's population will live in megacities by 2050, there is a pressing need for smart solutions to address citizens' demands. Waste collection, facilitated by the Internet of Things (IoT), offers an efficient and cost-effective approach. This study aims to review the utilization of IoT for waste collection and explore technologies that promote eco-friendly waste management. The research focuses on information and communication technologies (ICTs), including spatial, identification, acquisition, and data communication technologies. Additionally, the study examines various energy harvesting technologies to further reduce costs. The findings indicate that the application of these technologies can lead to significant cost savings, energy efficiency, and ultimately reshape the future of waste management.

Keywords: waste collection, IoT, smart cities, eco-friendly, information and communication technologies, energy harvesting

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Wanchak Noichan, Phakchira Noichan, Nuntiya Noichun

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The objectives of this research were 1) to study the level of community engagement, 2) to compare community engagement level of motorcycle taxi drivers in Bangkok, Thailand, classified by personal factors. The sample population of this study was 400 motorcycle taxi drivers in Bangkok, Thailand, using the unknown size method of W. G. Cochran's population. The sample was chosen by probability-based randomization. A study using quantitative methods (quantitative research) use the research tools as a questionnaire. The statistics used in the research were the mean, standard deviation, t-test, and F-Test (One-Way ANOVA). The study found that (1) the sample groups have a high level of community engagement (x̄=3.65, S.D.=0.735). (2) The sample groups with different ages, education, status, and income have different levels of community commitment with statistical significance at the level of 0.05.

Keywords: community engagement, motorcycle taxi drivers, Bangkok, Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Zhijun Wu

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While social living is considered to be an indispensable part of human life in today's ever-connected world, social distancing has recently received much public attention on its importance since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, social distancing has long been practiced in nature among solitary species and has been taken by humans as an effective way of stopping or slowing down the spread of infectious diseases. A social distancing problem is considered for how a population, when in the world with a network of social sites, decides to visit or stay at some sites while avoiding or closing down some others so that the social contacts across the network can be minimized. The problem is modeled as a population game, where every individual tries to find some network sites to visit or stay so that he/she can minimize all his/her social contacts. In the end, an optimal strategy can be found for everyone when the game reaches an equilibrium. The paper shows that a large class of equilibrium strategies can be obtained by selecting a set of social sites that forms a so-called maximal r-regular subnetwork. The latter includes many well-studied network types, which are easy to identify or construct and can be completely disconnected (with r = 0) for the most-strict isolation or allow certain degrees of connectivity (with r > 0) for more flexible distancing. The equilibrium conditions of these strategies are derived. Their rigidity and flexibility are analyzed on different types of r-regular subnetworks. It is proved that the strategies supported by maximal 0-regular subnetworks are strictly rigid, while those by general maximal r-regular subnetworks with r > 0 are flexible, though some can be weakly rigid. The proposed model can also be extended to weighted networks when different contact values are assigned to different network sites.

Keywords: social distancing, mitigation of spread of epidemics, populations games, networked social environments

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Naima Umar

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Mid-1960’s has been landmark in the history of Indian agriculture. It was in 1966-67 when a New Agricultural Strategy was put into practice to tide over chronic shortages of food grains in the country. This strategy adopted was the use High-Yielding Varieties (HYV) of seeds (wheat and rice), which was popularly known as the Green Revolution. This phase of agricultural development has saved us from hunger and starvation and made the peasants more confident than ever before, but it has also created a number of socio-economic and environmental implications such as the reduction in area under forest, salinization, waterlogging, soil erosion, lowering of underground water table, soil, water and air pollution, decline in soil fertility, silting of rivers and emergence of several diseases and health hazards. The state of Uttar Pradesh in the north is bounded by the country of Nepal, the states of Uttrakhand on the northwest, Haryana on the west, Rajasthan on the southwest, Madhya Pradesh on the south and southwest, and Bihar on the east. It is situated between 23052´N and 31028´N latitudes and 7703´ and 84039´E longitudes. It is the fifth largest state of the country in terms of area, and first in terms of population. Forming the part of Ganga plain the state is crossed by a number of rivers which originate from the snowy peaks of Himalayas. The fertile plain of the Ganga has led to a high concentration of population with high density and the dominance of agriculture as an economic activity. Present paper highlights the negative impact of new agricultural technology on health of the people and environment and will attempt to find out factors which are responsible for these implications. Karl Pearson’s Correlation coefficient technique has been applied by selecting 1 dependent variable (i.e. Productivity Index) and some independent variables which may impact crop productivity in the districts of the state. These variables have categorized as: X1 (Cropping Intensity), X2 (Net irrigated area), X3 (Canal Irrigated area), X4 (Tube-well Irrigated area), X5 (Irrigated area by other sources), X6 (Consumption of chemical fertilizers (NPK) Kg. /ha.), X7 (Number of wooden plough), X8 (Number of iron plough), X9 (Number of harrows and cultivators), X10 (Number of thresher machines), X11(Number of sprayers), X12 (Number of sowing instruments), X13 (Number of tractors) and X14 (Consumption of insecticides and pesticides (in Kg. /000 ha.). The entire data during 2001-2005 and 2006- 2010 have been taken and 5 years average value is taken into consideration, based on secondary sources obtained from various government, organizations, master plan report, economic abstracts, district census handbooks and village and town directories etc,. put on a standard computer programmed SPSS and the results obtained have been properly tabulated.

Keywords: agricultural technology, environmental implications, health hazards, socio-economic problems

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: H. Aburideh, Z.Tigrine, D. Ziou, S. Hout, R. Bellatreche, D. Belhout, Z. Belgroun, M. Abbas

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Faced with climate hazards in recent decades and the constant increase of the population, Algeria is making considerable efforts to provide water resources and water availability, both for its nascent industry, agriculture and for the drinking water supply of cities and arid region of the country. Following a remarkable worldwide technological breakthrough in seawater and brackish water desalination, known in recent years, the specialists have seen that the use of desalination of sea water in Algeria is a promising alternative as long as it has a coastline of 1200 km. Seawater is clean and virtually inexhaustible resource; mainly for population and industry that have high water consumption and are close to the sea. The purpose of this work is to present information on the number of sea water desalination stations and demineralization plants existing in Algeria. The constraints related to the operation of certain stations; those which are operational, those that are not operational as well as the seawater desalination program that was hired to cover 49 desalination plants across the country at the end of 2019 with the aim of increasing and diversifying water resources.

Keywords: desalination, water, membrane, demineralization

Procedia PDF Downloads 388