Search results for: mortar/ natural mineral fiber

Authors: Sukwoong Kang

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Background: The application of light-emitting diode (LED)-dependent photobiomodulation (PBM) in promoting post-tendon injury healing has been recently reported. Despite the establishment of a theoretical basis for ligament restoration through PBM, the lack of any empirical evidence deems this therapeutic strategy contentious. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the potency of LED-based PBM in facilitating tendon healing in a murine model. Methods: Migration kinetics were analyzed at two specific wavelengths: 630 and 880 nm. The Achilles tendon in the hind limbs of Balb/c mice was severed via Achilles tendon transection. Subsequently, the mice were randomized into LED non-irradiation and LED irradiation groups. Mice with intact tendons were employed as healthy controls. The wounds were LED-irradiated for 20 min daily for two days. Histological properties, tendon healing mediators, and inflammatory mediators were screened on day 14. Results: The roundness of the nuclei and fiber structure, indicating the degree of infiltrated inflammatory cells and severity of fiber fragmentation, respectively, were considerably lower in the LED irradiation group than in the LED non-irradiation group. Immunohistochemical analysis depicted an increase in tenocytes (SCX+ cells) and a recovery of wounds with reduced fibrosis (lower collagen 3 and TGF-β1) in the LED irradiation group during healing; conversely, the LED non-irradiation group exhibited tissue fibrosis. The ratio of M2 macrophages to total macrophages was higher in the LED irradiation group than in the injured group. Conclusion: LED-based PBM in the Achilles tendon rupture murine model effectuated a rapid restoration of histological and immunochemical outcomes. The aforementioned findings suggest that LED-based PBM presents remarkable potential as an adjunct therapeutic for tendon healing and warrants further research to standardize various parameters to advance and establish it as a reliable treatment regime.

Keywords: photobiomodulation, light-emitting diode, tendon, regeneration

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Authors: Gyan Shrivastava

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Civil Engineering education, at undergraduate and graduate levels, commenced at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in 1961, in collaboration with Imperial College in London. From its inception, it has concentrated on natural hazard resistant design of structures, given the occurrence of earthquakes, hurricanes and volcanic eruption in the Commonwealth Caribbean Islands. Against this background, a number of international students, from Botswana, Canada, Germany, India, Nigeria and South Africa, have studied Civil Engineering at UWI over the years. This paper outlines the author’s experience in teaching Fluid Mechanics and Engineering design to the said students, and in so doing highlights their strengths and weaknesses.

Keywords: Caribbean, civil engineering, education, natural hazards

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Authors: Nor Diana Ahmad, Eric Atwell, Brandon Bennett

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Text processing techniques for English have been developed for several decades. But for the Malay language, text processing methods are still far behind. Moreover, there are limited resources, tools for computational linguistic analysis available for the Malay language. Therefore, this research presents the use of natural language processing (NLP) in processing Malay translated Qur’an text. As the result, a new language resource for Malay translated Qur’an was created. This resource will help other researchers to build the necessary processing tools for the Malay language. This research also develops a simple question-answer prototype to demonstrate the use of the Malay Qur’an resource for text processing. This prototype has been developed using Python. The prototype pre-processes the Malay Qur’an and an input query using a stemming algorithm and then searches for occurrences of the query word stem. The result produced shows improved matching likelihood between user query and its answer. A POS-tagging algorithm has also been produced. The stemming and tagging algorithms can be used as tools for research related to other Malay texts and can be used to support applications such as information retrieval, question answering systems, ontology-based search and other text analysis tasks.

Keywords: language resource, Malay translated Qur'an, natural language processing (NLP), text processing

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Authors: J. O. Alabi

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Biogas is a clean burning, easily produced natural fuel that is an important source of energy for cooking and heating in rural areas and third world countries. Anaerobic bacteria inside biodigesters break down biomass to produce biogas. (Which is 70% methane)? Currently there is no simple way to compress and store biogas. So, in order to use biogas as a source of energy, a direct feed from biodigeser to the store tap or heater must be made. Any excess biogas is vented into the atmosphere, which is wasteful and car have a negative effect on the environment, we have been tasked with designing a system that will be able to compress biogas using an off-grid power supply, making the biogas portable and makes through the use of large-scale, shared biodigester. Our final design is a system that maximizes simplicity and safety while minimizing cost.

Keywords: biogas, biodigesters, natural fuel, bionanotechnology

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Authors: Archit Yajnik

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Part of Speech Tagging has always been a challenging task in the era of Natural Language Processing. This article presents POS tagging for Nepali text using Hidden Markov Model and Viterbi algorithm. From the Nepali text, annotated corpus training and testing data set are randomly separated. Both methods are employed on the data sets. Viterbi algorithm is found to be computationally faster and accurate as compared to HMM. The accuracy of 95.43% is achieved using Viterbi algorithm. Error analysis where the mismatches took place is elaborately discussed.

Keywords: hidden markov model, natural language processing, POS tagging, viterbi algorithm

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Authors: Andi Setiawan, Annisa Ulfah Pristya

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Indonesian rubber plant area reached 2.9 million hectares with productivity reached 1.38 million. High rubber productivity is directly proportional to the amount of waste produced rubber processing industry. Rubber industry would produce a negative impact on the rubber industry in the form of environmental pollution caused by waste that has not been treated optimally. Rubber industrial wastewater containing high-nitrogen compounds (nitrate and ammonia) and phosphate compounds which cause water pollution and odor problems due to the high ammonia content. On the other hand, demand for NPK fertilizers in Indonesia continues to increase from year to year and in need of ammonia and phosphate as raw material. Based on domestic demand, it takes a year to 400,000 tons of ammonia and Indonesia imports 200,000 tons of ammonia per year valued at IDR 4.2 trillion. As well, the lack of phosphoric acid to be imported from Jordan, Morocco, South Africa, the Philippines, and India as many as 225 thousand tons per year. During this time, the process of wastewater treatment is generally done with a rubber on the tank to contain the waste and then precipitated, filtered and the rest released into the environment. However, this method is inefficient and thus require high energy costs because through many stages before producing clean water that can be discharged into the river. On the other hand, Indonesia has the potential of pineapple fruit can be harvested throughout the year in all of Indonesia. In 2010, production reached 1,406,445 tons of pineapple in Indonesia or about 9.36 percent of the total fruit production in Indonesia. Increased productivity is directly proportional to the amount of pineapple waste pineapple leaves are kept continuous and usually just dumped in the ground or disposed of with other waste at the final disposal. Through Eco-Nanofiltration Membrane-Based Fiber Pineapple leaves Waste so that environmental problems can be solved efficiently. Nanofiltration is a process that uses pressure as a driving force that can be either convection or diffusion of each molecule. Nanofiltration membranes that can split water to nano size so as to separate the waste processed residual economic value that N and P were higher as a raw material for the manufacture of NPK fertilizer to overcome the crisis in Indonesia. The raw materials were used to manufacture Eco-Nanofiltration Membrane is cellulose from pineapple fiber which processed into cellulose acetate which is biodegradable and only requires a change of the membrane every 6 months. Expected output target is Green eco-technology so with nanofiltration membranes not only treat waste rubber industry in an effective, efficient and environmentally friendly but also lowers the cost of waste treatment compared to conventional methods.

Keywords: biodegradable, cellulose diacetate, fertilizers, pineapple, rubber

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Authors: Byung Il You, Ryun Oh, Gyo Woo Lee

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Manhole refers to facilities that are accessible to the people cleaning and inspection of sewer, and its covering is called manhole lid. Manhole lid is typically made of a cast iron material. Due to the heavy weight of the cast iron manhole lids their installation and maintenance are not easy, and an electrical shock and corrosion aging of them can cause critical problems. The manhole body and the lid manufacturing using the fiber-reinforced composite material can reduce the weight considerably compared to the cast iron manhole. But only the fiber reinforcing is hard to maintain the heavy load, and the method of the iron frame with double injection molding of the composite material has been proposed widely. In this study reflecting the situation of this market, the structural design of the iron frame for the composite manhole lid was carried out. Structural analysis with the computer simulation for the effectively distributed load on the iron frame was conducted. In addition, we want to assess manufacturing costs through the comparing of weights and number of welding spots of the frames. Despite the cross-sectional area is up to 38% compared with the basic solid form the maximum von Mises stress is increased at least about 7 times locally near the rim and the maximum strain in the central part of the lid is about 5.5 times. The number of welding points related to the manufacturing cost was increased gradually with the more complicated shape. Also, the higher the height of the arch in the center of the lid the better result might be obtained. But considering the economic aspect of the composite fabrication we determined the same thickness as the frame for the height of the arch at the center of the lid. Additionally in consideration of the number of the welding points we selected the hexagonal as the optimal shape. Acknowledgment: These are results of a study on the 'Leaders Industry-university Cooperation' Project, supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Keywords: manhole lid, iron frame, structural design, computer simulation

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Authors: Ramita Vongrat, Pornsri Sapsrithong, Manit Nithitanakul

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In this work, blends of polyamide 6 (PA6) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) were successfully prepared. The effect of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR-25) and n butyl acrylate glycidyl methacrylate ethylene (EBa-GMA) as a compatibilizer on properties of PA6/PBT blends was also investigated by varying amount of ENR-50 and EBa-GMA, i.e., 0, 0.1, 0.5, 5 and 10 phr. All blends were prepared and shaped by using twin-screw extruder at 230 °C and injection molding machine, respectively. All test specimens were characterized by phase morphology, impact strength, tensile, flexural properties, and hardness. The results exhibited that phase morphology of PA6/PBT blend without compatibilizer was incompatible. This could be attributed to poor interfacial adhesion between the two polymers. SEM micrographs showed that the addition of ENR-25 and EBa-GMA improved the compatibility of PA6/PBT blends. With the addition of ENR-50 as a compatibilizer, the uniformity and the maximum reduction of dispersed phase size were observed. Additionally, the results indicate that, as the amount of ENR-25 increased, and EBa-GMA increased, the mechanical properties, including stress at the peak, tensile modulus, and izod impact strength, were also improved.

Keywords: EBa-GMA, epoxidized natural rubber-25, polyamide 6, polybutylene terephthalate

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Authors: Sri E. Wati, D. Roswidyatmoko, N. Maslahatun, Gunawan, Andhika B. Taji

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Natural resource is the main sources to fulfill human needs. Its utilization must consider not only human prosperity but also sustainability. Balance of natural resources is a tool to manage natural wealth and to control land use change. This tool is needed to organize land use planning as stated on spatial plan in a certain region. Balance of natural resources can be calculated by comparing two-series of natural resource data obtained at different year. In this case, four years data period of land and forest were used (2010 and 2014). Land use data were acquired through satellite image interpretation and field checking. By means of GIS analysis, its result was then assessed with land use plan. It is intended to evaluate whether existing land use is suitable with land use plan. If it is improper, what kind of efforts and policies must be done to overcome the situation. Subosukawonosraten is rapid developed areas in Central Java Province. This region consists of seven regencies/cities which are Sukoharjo Regency, Boyolali Regency, Surakarta City, Karanganyar Regency, Wonogiri Regency, Sragen Regency, and Klaten Regency. This region is regarding to several former areas under Karasidenan Surakarta and their location is adjacent to Surakarta. Balance of forest resources show that width of forest area is not significantly changed. Some land uses within the area are slightly changed. Some rice field areas are converted into settlement (0.03%) whereas water bodies become vacant areas (0.09%). On the other hand, balance of land resources state that there are many land use changes in this region. Width area of rice field decreases 428 hectares and more than 50% of them have been transformed into settlement area and 11.21% is converted into buildings such as factories, hotels, and other infrastructures. It occurs mostly in Sragen, Sukoharjo, and Karanganyar Regency. The results illustrate that land use change in this region is mostly influenced by increasing of population number. Some agricultural lands have been converted into built-up area since demand of settlement, industrial area, and other infrastructures also increases. Unfortunately, recent utilization of more than a half of total area is not appropriate with land use plan declared in spatial planning document. It means, local government shall develop a strict regulation and law enforcement related to any violation in land use management.

Keywords: balance, forest, land, spatial plan

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Authors: Saruhan Kartal, Ilker Kalkan

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The present paper reports the cracking moment estimates of a set of steel-reinforced, Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP)-reinforced and hybrid steel-FRP reinforced concrete beams, calculated from different analytical formulations in the codes, together with the experimental cracking load values. A total of three steel-reinforced, four FRP-reinforced, 12 hybrid FRP-steel over-reinforced and five hybrid FRP-steel under-reinforced concrete beam tests were analyzed within the scope of the study. Glass FRP (GFRP) and Basalt FRP (BFRP) bars were used in the beams as FRP bars. In under-reinforced hybrid beams, rupture of the FRP bars preceded crushing of concrete, while concrete crushing preceded FRP rupture in over-reinforced beams. In both types, steel yielding took place long before the FRP rupture and concrete crushing. The cracking moment mainly depends on two quantities, namely the moment of inertia of the section at the initiation of cracking and the flexural tensile strength of concrete, i.e. the modulus of rupture. In the present study, two different definitions of uncracked moment of inertia, i.e. the gross and the uncracked transformed moments of inertia, were adopted. Two analytical equations for the modulus of rupture (ACI 318M and Eurocode 2) were utilized in the calculations as well as the experimental tensile strength of concrete from prismatic specimen tests. The ACI 318M modulus of rupture expression produced cracking moment estimates closer to the experimental cracking moments of FRP-reinforced and hybrid FRP-steel reinforced concrete beams when used in combination with the uncracked transformed moment of inertia, yet the Eurocode 2 modulus of rupture expression gave more accurate cracking moment estimates in steel-reinforced concrete beams. All of the analytical definitions produced analytical values considerably different from the experimental cracking load values of the solely FRP-reinforced concrete beam specimens.

Keywords: polymer reinforcement, four-point bending, hybrid use of reinforcement, cracking moment

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Authors: Widari

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This study aims to determine the relationship of fast food consumption preferences with macro and micro nutrient adequacy students of SMP Negeri 5 Padang. This study used a cross sectional study conducted on 100 students of SMP Negeri 5 Padang. The variables studied were fast food preferences, nutrition adequacy macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat, fiber) and micro nutrients (sodium, calcium, iron). Confounding factor in this study was the physical activity level because it was considered quite affecting food consumption of students. Data collected by using a questionnaire food recall as many as 2 x 24 hours to see the history of the respondents eat at school day and on holidays. Then, data processed using software Nutrisurvey and Microsoft Excel 2010. The analysis was performed on samples that have low and medium category on physical activity. The physical activity was not analyzed with another variable to see the strength of the relationship between independent and dependent variables. So that, do restrictions on physical activity variables in an attempt to get rid of confounding in design. Univariate and bivariate analyzes performed using SPSS 16.0 for Windows with Kolmogrov-Smirnov statistical tests, confidence level = 95% (α = 0,05). Results of univariate analysis showed that more than 70% of respondents liked fast food. On average, respondents were malnourished macro; malnourished fiber (100%), carbohydrates (72%), and protein (56%), whereas for fat, excess intake of the respondents (41%). Furthermor, many respondents who have micronutrient deficiencies; 98% for sodium, 96% for iron, and 91% for calcium. The results of the bivariate analysis showed no significant association between fast food consumption preferences with macro and micro nutrient adequacy (p > 0,05). This happens because in the fact not all students who have a preference for fast food actually eat them. To study better in the future, it is expected sampling really like and eat fast food in order to obtain better analysis results.

Keywords: fast food, nutritional adequacy, preferences, students

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Authors: Nabeel Safdar, Qian Aimin

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Corporate philanthropy is important, as the donations have been considered as a source to improve the image of business entity in modern era of high competition. We used data on annual basis from 2000 to 2014 for 1,248 firms listed at Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Results for giving firms reveal that there is curve linear relation of profitability and CP, as profitable firms utilize cash in an efficient way and have fewer amounts of slack resource and tradeoff among stakeholder and agency cost made it more justifiable. We found that more profitability does not mean that the cash flows are available, actually good performing firms or profitable firm also good at cash management. Cash is utilized in an effective way by profitable firms, and have fewer extents of slack resources which generate curvilinear relationship of profitability with Corporate Philanthropy. We found that the trend of Corporate Philanthropy also got affected due to natural disasters. Analysis made by innovation, slack resources and directors salary revealed the positive significant relationship. It is not compulsory that firm should be only profitable for engaging in philanthropy rather they should have abundant slack resources to donate.

Keywords: corporate philanthropy, free cash flows, natural disasters, profitability

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Authors: James Katungyi

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The Steady State thermal comfort model which dominates thermal comfort practice and which posits the ideal thermal conditions in a narrow range of thermal conditions does not deliver the expected comfort levels among occupants. Furthermore, the buildings where this model is applied consume a lot of energy in conditioning. This paper reviews significant literature about thermal comfort in dynamic indoor conditions including the adaptive thermal comfort model and alliesthesia. A major finding of the paper is that the adaptive thermal comfort model is part of a trend from static to dynamic indoor environments in aspects such as lighting, views, sounds and ventilation. Alliesthesia or thermal delight is consistent with this trend towards dynamic thermal conditions. It is within this trend that the two fold goal of increased thermal comfort and reduced energy consumption lies. At the heart of this trend is a rediscovery of the link between the natural environment and human well-being, a link that was partially severed by over-reliance on mechanically dominated artificial indoor environments. The paper concludes by advocating thermal conditioning solutions that integrate mechanical with natural thermal conditioning in a balanced manner in order to meet occupant thermal needs without endangering the environment.

Keywords: adaptive thermal comfort, alliesthesia, energy, natural environment

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Authors: Chia Han Lee

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Without energy, the economy would grind to a halt. Germany's prosperity and security depend on a reliable and affordable energy supply. In recent years, Germany's energy policy has undergone major changes. Due to the sharp turn in energy, Germany cannot extend the service of nuclear power plants and can only find a rapid transition energy source: natural gas for a limited time. This study attempts to use processes of decision entrapment behavior and document analysis to explain research questions. Through primary and secondary information such as official reports, parliamentary minutes, media interview records, and speech records, the author sorted out the important events experienced by the three coalition governments (Gerhard Schröder, Angela Merkel, and Olaf Scholz) and the relationship between Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 with primary and secondary sources. Also, compare it with the processes of decision entrapment behavior, which designed in this study, and divide it into four stages to explore its key elements one by one. In this regard, the following conclusions are drawn: First, from the perspective of processes of decision entrapment behavior, Merkel’s government firmly believes that she can overcome difficulties because of her past experience in crisis management capabilities. However, the outbreak of war between Ukraine and Russia was beyond Merkel's planning. Second, in the face of the crisis, the Scholz’s government increased the import of natural gas from other countries and began to import liquefied natural gas to make up for the energy gap of Russian natural gas.

Keywords: german research, nord stream gas pipeline, energy policy, processes of decision entrapment behavior

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Authors: Parvin Mirmiran, Zahra Bahadoran, Sahar Mirzae, Fereidoun Azizi

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Background and aim: Lifestyle factors, especially dietary intakes play an important role in metabolism of lipids and lipoproteins. In this study, we assessed the association between dietary factors and 3-year changes of serum triglycerides (TG), HDL-C and the atherogenic index of plasma among Iranian adults. This longitudinal study was conducted on 1938 subjects, aged 19-70 years, who participated in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. Demographics, anthropometrics and biochemical measurements including serum TG were assessed at baseline (2006-2008) and after a 3-year follow-up (2009-2011). Dietary data were collected by using a 168-food item, validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire at baseline. The risk of hypertriglyceridemia in the quartiles of dietary factors was evaluated using logistic regression models with adjustment for age, gender, body mass index, smoking, physical activity and energy intakes. Results: Mean age of the participants at baseline was 41.0±13.0 y. Mean TG and HDL-C at baseline was 143±86 and 42.2±10.0 mg/dl, respectively. Three-year change of serum TG were inversely related energy intake from phytochemical rich foods, whole grains, and legumes (P<0.05). Higher intakes compared to lower ones of dietary fiber and phytochemical-rich foods had similar impact on decreased risk of hyper-triglyceridemia (OR=0.58, 95% CI=0.34-1.00). Higher- compared to lower-dietary sodium to potassium ratios (Na/K ratio) increased the risk of hypertriglyceridemia by 63% (OR=0.1.63, 95% CI= 0.34-1.00). Conclusion: Findings showed that higher intakes of fiber and phytochemical rich foods especially whole grain and legumes could have protective effects against lipid disorders; in contrast higher sodium to potassium ratio had undesirable effect on triglycerides.

Keywords: lipid disorders, hypertriglyceridemia, diet, food science

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Authors: Bezzi Nacer

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The study focused on the qualitative and quantitative study of Trace elements contained in the natural phosphate ore of Djebel Onk layer and their behaviour to the various mineralurgic modes of treatment. The main objective is to locate the importance of these contents according to granulometry and their association with the existing mineralogical species and to define how the most appropriate treatment. The raw ore is in first submitted to a prior mechanical treatment consisting of homogenization operations, of grinding and of sifting, in order to separate it into three particle-size classes: fine <100 µm (F); medium 100-500 µm (I) and coarse > 500 µm (G), and then treated by calcination, washing and floatation. The identification of the different mineralogical phases, the chemical composition and the thermal behaviour of these samples were realized by various techniques: MEB, DRX, ATG-ATD, etc. The study of Trace elements, carried out by ICP-MS, identified thirty items, consisting mainly of rare earths and of transition metals. A close relation between trace elements and various minerals phases (apatite, dolomite and silicates), through operations of substitution. These elements are distributed between several mineralogical phases, in particular apatite (strontium, uranium, chrome, barium, cadmium) and silicates (strontium, sodium, nickel, zinc and copper).

Keywords: valorization of natural phosphate ore, heavy metals, qualitative and quantitative analysis, various mineralurgic

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Authors: Olaide Ruth Aderibigbe, Oluwatoyin Oluwole

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Pigeon pea is one of the minor leguminous plants; though underutilised, it is used traditionally by farmers to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. Pigeon pea is cultivated in Nigeria by subsistence farmers. It is rich in protein and minerals, however, its utilisation as food is only common among the poor and rural populace who cannot afford expensive sources of protein. One of the factors contributing to its limited use is the high antinutrient content which makes it indigestible, especially when eaten by children. The development of value-added products that can reduce the antinutrient content and make the nutrients more bioavailable will increase the utilisation of the crop and contribute to reduction of malnutrition. This research, therefore, determined the effects of different roasting temperatures (130 0C, 140 0C, and 150 0C) on the proximate, mineral and antinutrient component of a pigeon pea snack. The brown variety of pigeon pea seeds were purchased from a local market- Otto in Lagos, Nigeria. The seeds were cleaned, washed, and soaked in 50 ml of water containing sugar and salt (4:1) for 15 minutes, and thereafter the seeds were roasted at 130 0C, 140 0C, and 150 0C in an electric oven for 10 minutes. Proximate, minerals, phytate, tannin and alkaloid content analyses were carried out in triplicates following standard procedures. The results of the three replicates were polled and expressed as mean±standard deviation; a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Least Significance Difference (LSD) were carried out. The roasting temperatures significantly (P<0.05) affected the protein, ash, fibre and carbohydrate content of the snack. Ready-to-eat snack prepared by roasting at 150 0C significantly had the highest protein (23.42±0.47%) compared the ones roasted at 130 0C and 140 0C (18.38±1.25% and 20.63±0.45%, respectively). The same trend was observed for the ash content (3.91±0.11 for 150 0C, 2.36±0.15 for 140 0C and 2.26±0.25 for 130 0C), while the fibre and carbohydrate contents were highest at roasting temperature of 130 0C. Iron, zinc, and calcium were not significantly (P<0.5) affected by the different roasting temperatures. Antinutrients decreased with increasing temperature. Phytate levels recorded were 0.02±0.00, 0.06±0.00, and 0.07±0.00 mg/g; tannin levels were 0.50±0.00, 0.57±0.00, and 0.68±0.00 mg/g, while alkaloids levels were 0.51±0.01, 0.78±0.01, and 0.82±0.01 mg/g for 150 0C, 140 0C, and 130 0C, respectively. These results show that roasting at high temperature (150 0C) can be utilised as a processing technique for increasing protein and decreasing antinutrient content of pigeon pea.

Keywords: antinutrients, pigeon pea, protein, roasting, underutilised species

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Authors: Fatih Ercin Guney, Hami Karagol

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Day by day, humanity's energy needs increase, to facilitate access to energy sources by energy importing countries is of great importance in terms of issues both in terms of economic security and political security. The geographical location of the oil exporting countries in the Middle East (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar) today, it is observed that evaluated by emerging Arab Spring(from Tunisia to Egypt) and freedom battles(in Syria) with security issues arise sourced from terrorist activities(ISIS). Progresses related with limited natural resources, energy and it's transportation issues which worries the developing countries, the energy in the region is considered to how to transfer safely. North Region of the Black Sea , the beginning of the conflict in the regional nature formed between Russia and Ukraine (2010), followed by the relevant regions of the power transmission line (From Russia to Europe) the discovery is considered to be the east's hand began to strengthen in terms of both the economical and political sides. With the growing need for safe access to the west of the new energy transmission lines are followed by Turkey, re-interest is considered to be shifted to the Mediterranean and the Middle East by West. Also, Russia, Iran and China (three axis of east) are generally performing as carry out parallel policies about energy , economical side and security in both United Nations Security Council (Two of Five Permanent Members are Russia and China) and Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In addition, Eastern Mediterranean Region Tension are rapidly increasing about research new oil and natural gas sources by Israel, Egypt, Cyprus, Lebanon. This paper provides, new energy corridor(s) are needed to transfer sources (Oil&Natural Gas) by Europe from East to West. So The West needs either safe bridge country to transfer natural sources to Europe in region or is needed to discovery new natural sources in extraterritorial waters of Eastern Mediterranean Region. But in two opportunities are evaluated with secure transfer corridors form region to Europe in safely. Even if the natural sources can be discovered, they are considered to transfer in safe manner. This paper involved, Turkey’s importance as a leader country in region over both of political and safe energy transfer sides as bridge country between south and north of Turkey why natural sources shall be transferred over Turkey, Even if diplomatic issues-For Example; Cyprus membership in European Union, Turkey membership candidate duration, Israel-Cyprus- Egypt-Lebanon researches about new natural sources in Mediterranean - occurred. But politic balance in Middle-East is changing quickly because of lack of democratic governments in region. So it is evaluated that the alliance of natural sources researches may not be long-time relations due to share sources after discoveries. After evaluating over causes and reasons, aim to reach finding foresight about future of region for energy transfer periods in secure manner.

Keywords: Middle East, natural gas, oil, Turkey

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Authors: E. Mike Dison, T. Pathinathan

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Computing with Words (CWW) and Possibilistic Relational Universal Fuzzy (PRUF) are the two concepts which widely represent and measure the vaguely defined natural phenomenon. In this paper, we study the positional alteration of the phrases by which the impact of a natural language proposition gets affected and/or modified. We observe the gradations due to sensitivity/feeling of a statement towards the positional alterations. We derive the classification and modification of the meaning of words due to the positional alteration. We present the results with reference to set theoretic interpretations.

Keywords: appositive, computing with words, possibilistic relational universal fuzzy (PRUF), semantic sentiment analysis, set-theoretic interpretations

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Authors: Metahri Leyla

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Herbal medicine is one of the oldest medicines in the world. It constitutes an interesting alternative to treat and cure without creating new diseases. Despite the progress of medicine, the increase in the number of doctors, the creation of social security, many parents have resorted to herbal medicine for their children; they are increasingly asking for "natural remedies", "without risk" for their children. Herbal tea is a very accessible way to enjoy the benefits of herbal medicine. Accordingly; the objective of our study is to obtain detailed information on the composition and mode of administration of these herbal teas and to identify the different plants used; their beneficial effects, as well as their possible toxicity. The current research work represents an ethnobotanical survey spread over one month (from January 6, 2021, to February 19, 2021) carried out by means of an electronic questionnaire concerning 753 respondents involving single or multiparous mothers. The obtained results reveal that a total of 684 mothers used herbal teas for their infants, which revealed the use of 55 herbal remedies for several indications, the most sought after are the carminative effect and relief of colic, and which 9% of users noticed undesirable effects linked to the administration of herbal teas to their infants. As a conclusion, it has been asserted that the use of herbal teas as a natural remedy by Algerian mothers is a widely accepted practice, however, the "natural" nature of the plants does not mean that they are harmless.

Keywords: herbal medicine, herbal teas, children, mothers, medicinal plants

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Authors: C.W. Kan

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Softening applied on textile products based on several reasons. First, the synthetic detergent removes natural oils and waxes, thus lose the softness. Second, compensate the harsh handle of resin finishing. Also, imitate natural fibres and improve the comfort of fabric are the reasons to apply softening. There are different types of softeners for softening finishing of textiles, nonionic softener, anionic softener, cationic softener and silicone softener. The aim of this study is to illustrate the proper application of different softeners and their final softening effect in textiles. The results could also provide guidance note to the students in learning this topic. Acknowledgment: Authors would like to thank the financial support from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for this work.

Keywords: learning materials, softening, textiles, effect

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Authors: Hashim Zameer

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Effective tourism management plays a vital role in promoting sustainability and supporting ecosystems. A common principle that has been in practice over the years is “first pollute and then clean,” indicating countries need financial resources to promote sustainability. Financial development and the tourism management both seems very important to promoting sustainable development. However, without institutional support, it is very difficult to succeed. In this context, it seems prominently significant to explore how institutional quality, tourism development, and financial development could promote sustainable development. In the past, no research explored the role of tourism development in sustainable development. Moreover, the role of financial development, natural resources, and institutional quality in sustainable development is also ignored. In this regard, this paper aims to investigate the role of tourism development, natural resources, financial development, and institutional quality in sustainable development in China. The study used time-series data from 2000–2021 and employed the Bayesian linear regression model because it is suitable for small data sets. The robustness of the findings was checked using a quantile regression approach. The results reveal that an increase in tourism expenditures stimulates the economy, creates jobs, encourages cultural exchange, and supports sustainability initiatives. Moreover, financial development and institution quality have a positive effect on sustainable development. However, reliance on natural resources can result in negative economic, social, and environmental outcomes, highlighting the need for resource diversification and management to reinforce sustainable development. These results highlight the significance of financial development, strong institutions, sustainable tourism, and careful utilization of natural resources for long-term sustainability. The study holds vital insights for policy formulation to promote sustainable tourism.

Keywords: sustainability, tourism development, financial development, institutional quality

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Authors: Houda Jalali, Hassan Abbassi

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In this numerical work, natural convection and entropy generation of Al₂O₃–water nanofluid in square cavity have been studied. A two-dimensional steady laminar natural convection in a differentially heated square cavity of length L, filled with a nanofluid is investigated numerically. The horizontal walls are considered adiabatic. Vertical walls corresponding to x=0 and x=L are respectively maintained at hot temperature, T_h and cold temperature, T_c. The resolution is performed by the CFD code "FLUENT" in combination with GAMBIT as mesh generator. These simulations are performed by maintaining the Rayleigh numbers varied as 10³ ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁶, while the solid volume fraction varied from 1% to 5%, the particle size is fixed at dp=33 nm and a range of the temperature from 20 to 70 °C. We used models of thermophysical nanofluids properties based on experimental measurements for studying the effect of adding solid particle into water in natural convection heat transfer and entropy generation of nanofluid. Such as models of thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity which are dependent on solid volume fraction, particle size and temperature. The average Nusselt number is calculated at the hot wall of the cavity in a different solid volume fraction. The most important results is that at low temperatures (less than 40 °C), the addition of nanosolids Al₂O₃ into water leads to a decrease in heat transfer and entropy generation instead of the expected increase, whereas at high temperature, heat transfer and entropy generation increase with the addition of nanosolids. This behavior is due to the contradictory effects of viscosity and thermal conductivity of the nanofluid. These effects are discussed in this work.

Keywords: entropy generation, heat transfer, nanofluid, natural convection

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Authors: Laura Santagostini, Vittoria Guglielmi

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The meaning of the word 'Nature' (literally 'that which is about to be born') has accompanied researchers throughout their study of the environment and has led to the design of technical means to improve the properties of the soil, modifying its structure and/or consistency, thus favouring the emergence and growth of plants. These include soil improvers, i.e. any substance, natural or synthetic, mineral or organic, capable of modifying and improving the chemical, physical, biological and mechanical properties and characteristics of the soil. In particular, GCSCs (Green Composted Soil Conditioners) are soil conditioners produced through a controlled process of transforming selected organic green waste materials, such as clippings from the maintenance of ornamental greenery, crop residues and other plant waste. The use of GCSC in horticulture, fruit growing, industrial cultivation and nursery gardening is an active way to return organic carbon to the soil, thus limiting CO2 emissions and the production of greenhouse gases, and also to limit the environmental impact of peat extraction, which is normally used in these areas of application. With a view to distinguish between GCSC and peats and to assess what further contributions GCSC can provide to the soil and growing plants, we studied the behaviour of the two substrates by chromatographic techniques. After treating the individual soil improvers with different solvents, used individually or by applying a polarity gradient, the extracts obtained were analysed by HPLC and LCMS in order to assess their composition mainly from a qualitative point of view. Data obtained show in GCSC the presence of polyphenolic derivatives attributable to the degradation of plant material and potentially useful for the development and growth of young plants, while commercial peat-based products only sporadically showed the presence of recognisable molecules, confirming the lower complexity of the matrix under analysis. These results allowed us to distinguish the two different types of soil conditioner based on their chromatographic profiles.

Keywords: chromatographic profile, HPLC, polyphenols, soil conditioners

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Authors: M. Saidi, F. Ait Medjber, B. Safi, M. Samar

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This work is focused on the study of valuation of recycled concrete aggregates, by measuring certain properties of concrete in the fresh and hardened state. In this study, rheological tests and physic-mechanical characterization on concretes and mortars were conducted with recycled concrete whose geometric properties were identified aggregates. Mortars were elaborated with recycled fine aggregate (0/5mm) and concretes were manufactured using recycled coarse aggregates (5/12.5 mm and 12.5/20 mm). First, a study of the mortars was conducted to determine the effectiveness of adjuvant polycarboxylate superplasticizer on the workability of these and their action deflocculating of the fine recycled sand. The rheological behavior of mortars based on fine aggregate recycled was characterized. The results confirm that the mortars composed of different fractions of recycled sand (0/5) have a better mechanical properties (compressive and flexural strength) compared to normal mortar. Also, the mechanical strengths of concretes made with recycled aggregates (5/12.5 mm and 12.5/20 mm), are comparable to those of conventional concrete with conventional aggregates, provided that the implementation can be improved by the addition of a superplasticizer.

Keywords: demolition wastes, recycled coarse aggregate, concrete, workability, mechanical strength, porosity/water absorption

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Authors: Boukhris Lahouari

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Simulation of solar dryers with ANSYS has revolutionized the way in which drying processes are optimized and analyzed in various industries. This advanced software allows engineers and researchers to simulate the behavior of a solar dryer under different conditions, helping to improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption. This work presents a numerical study of a direct solar dryer, which uses radiation and natural convection to dry agricultural products. The simulations were made in order to determine the dynamic and thermal fields under the influence of the variation in the size of the inlet and outlet opening. The conservation equations based on the standard k-ε turbulence model are solved by the finite volume method using the ANSYS-Fluent commercial code.

Keywords: solar dryer, CFD, solar radiation, natural convection, turbulent flow

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Authors: Yusef Hedjazi, Saeedeh Nazari Nooghabi

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New information and communication technologies (ICT) as one of the main needs of Faculty members in the process of teaching and learning has used in Irans higher education system since 2000.The main purpose of this study is to investigate the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in teaching performance of Agricultural and Natural Resources Faculties at University of Tehran. The statistical population of the study consisted of all 250 faculties in Agriculture and Natural Resources Colleges and a questionnaire was used to collect data. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by computing of Cronbachs Alpha coefficient at greater than .72. The study showed a significant relationship between agricultural Faculty members teaching performance and competency in using ICT. The results of the regression analysis also explained 51.7% of the variance, teaching performance. The six independent variables that accounted for the explained variance were experience in using educational websites or software, use of educational multimedia (e.g. film and CD, etc), making a presentation using PowerPoint, familiarity with online education websites, using News group to discuss on educational subjects with colleagues and students, and using Electronic communication (messengers) to solve studentsproblems.

Keywords: information and communication technologies, agricultural and natural resources, faculties, teaching performance

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Authors: Thierry Ganomanana, Dominique Hervé, Solo Randriamahaleo

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Management of Malagasy renewable natural re-sources allows, in the case of forest, the mobilization of several actors with norms and/or territory. The interaction in this socio-ecosystem is represented by a graph of two different relationships in which most of action chains, from individual activities under the continuous of forest dynamic and discrete interventions by institutional, are also studied. The fuzzy set theory is adapted to graduate the elements of the set Illegal Activities in the space of sanction’s institution by his severity and in the space of degradation of forest by his extent.

Keywords: fuzzy set, graph, institution, renewable resource, system

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Authors: Neway Adele, Adey Feleke

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Access to clean drinking water is a basic human right. However, an estimated 1.2 billion people across the world consume unclean water daily. Interest has been growing in natural coagulants as the health and environmental concerns of conventional chemical coagulants are rising. Natural coagulants have the potential to serve as alternative water treatment agents. In this study, Lupinus albus, Moringa stenopetala, Trigonella foenum-graecum and Vicia faba protein extracts were evaluated as natural coagulants for water treatment. The protein extracts were purified from crude extracts using a protein purifier, and protein concentrations were determined by the spectrophotometric method. Small-volume coagulation efficiency tests were conducted on raw water taken from the Legedadi water treatment plant. These were done using a completely randomized design (CRD) experiment with settling times of 0 min (initial time), 90 min, 180 min and 270 min and protein extract doses of 5 mg/L, 10 mg/L, 15 mg/L and 20 mg/L. Raw water as negative control and polyelectrolyte as positive control were also included. The optical density (OD) values were measured for all the samples. At 270 min and 20 mg/L, the coagulation efficiency percentages for Lupinus albus, Moringa stenopetala, Trigonella foenum-graecum and Vicia faba protein extracts were 71%, 89%, 12% and 67% in the water sample collected in April 2019 respectively. Similarly, Lupinus albus, Moringa stenopetala and Vicia faba achieved 17%, 92% and 12% at 270 min settling times and 5 mg/L, 20 mg/L and 10 mg/L concentration in the water sample collected from August 2019, respectively. Negative control (raw water) and polyelectrolyte (positive control) were also 6 − 10% and 89 − 94% at 270 min settling time in April and August 2019, respectively. Among the four protein extracts, Moringa stenopetala showed the highest coagulation efficiency, similar to polyelectrolyte. This study concluded that Moringa stenopetala protein extract could be used as a natural coagulant for water purification in both sampling times.

Keywords: coagulation efficiency, extraction, natural coagulant, protein extract

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Authors: Sara Hasani

Abstract:

This research focuses on natural sudden onset disasters characterised as ‘occurring with little or no warning and often cause excessive injuries far surpassing the national response capacities’. Based on the panel analysis of the historic record of 4,252 natural onset disasters between 1980 to 2015, a predictive method was developed to predict the human impact of the disaster (fatality, injured, homeless) with less than 3% of errors. The geographical dispersion of the disasters includes every country where the data were available and cross-examined from various humanitarian sources. The records were then filtered into 4252 records of the disasters where the five predictive variables (disaster type, HDI, DRI, population, and population density) were clearly stated. The procedure was designed based on a combination of pattern recognition techniques and rule-based clustering for prediction and discrimination analysis to validate the results further. The result indicates that there is a relationship between the disaster human impact and the five socio-economic characteristics of the affected country mentioned above. As a result, a framework was put forward, which could predict the disaster’s human impact based on their severity rank in the early hours of disaster strike. The predictions in this model were outlined in two worst and best-case scenarios, which respectively inform the lower range and higher range of the prediction. A necessity to develop the predictive framework can be highlighted by noticing that despite the existing research in literature, a framework for predicting the human impact and estimating the needs at the time of the disaster is yet to be developed. This can further be used to allocate the resources at the response phase of the disaster where the data is scarce.

Keywords: disaster management, natural disaster, pattern recognition, prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 153