Search results for: waterway tourism route

Authors: Sergey Nikitenko, Vladimir Klishin, Yury Malakhov, Elena Goosen

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Transition to renewable energy sources (solar, wind, bioenergy, etc.) and launching of alternative energy generation has weakened the role of coal as a source of energy. The Paris Agreement and assumption of obligations by many nations to orderly reduce CO₂ emissions by means of technological modernization and climate change adaptation has abridged coal demand yet more. This paper aims to assess current resilience of the coal industry to stress and to define prospects for coal production optimization using high technologies pursuant to global challenges and requirements of energy transition. Our research is based on the resilience concept adapted to the coal industry. It is proposed to divide the coal sector into segments depending on the prevailing value chains (VC). Four representative models of VC are identified in the coal sector. The most promising lines of upgrading VC in the coal industry include: •Elongation of VC owing to introduction of clean technologies of coal conversion and utilization; •Creation of parallel VC by means of waste management; •Branching of VC (conversion of a company’s VC into a production network). The upgrade effectiveness is governed in many ways by applicability of advanced coal processing technologies, usability of waste, expandability of production, entrance to non-rival markets and localization of new segments of VC in receiving regions. It is also important that upgrade of VC by means of formation of agile high-tech inter-industry production networks within the framework of operating surface and underground mines can reduce social, economic and ecological risks associated with closure of coal mines. Such promising route of VC upgrade is application of methanotrophic bacteria to produce protein to be used as feed-stuff in fish, poultry and cattle breeding, or in production of ferments, lipoids, sterols, antioxidants, pigments and polysaccharides. Closed mines can use recovered methane as a clean energy source. There exist methods of methane utilization from uncontrollable sources, including preliminary treatment and recovery of methane from air-and-methane mixture, or decomposition of methane to hydrogen and acetylene. Separated hydrogen is used in hydrogen fuel cells to generate power to feed the process of methane utilization and to supply external consumers. Despite the recent paradigm of carbon-free energy generation, it is possible to preserve the coal mining industry using the differentiated approach to upgrade of value chains based on flexible technologies with regard to specificity of mining companies.

Keywords: resilience, resilience concept, resilience indicator, resilience in the Russian coal industry, value chains

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Aboli Gore, Aritra Das, Sunil Sonthalia, Tanmay Mahapatra, Sridhar Srikantiah, Hemant Shah

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AMANAT is an initiative, taken in collaboration with the Government of Bihar, aimed at improving the Quality of Maternal and Neonatal care services at Bihar’s public health facilities – those offering either the Basic Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal care (BEmONC) or Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal care (CEmONC) services. The effectiveness of this program is evaluated by conducting cross-sectional assessments at the concerned facilities prior to (baseline) and following completion (endline) of intervention. Direct Observation of Delivery (DOD) methodology is employed for carrying out the baseline and endline assessments – through which key obstetric and neonatal care practices among the Health Care Providers (especially the nurses) are assessed quantitatively by specially trained nursing professionals. Assessment of vitals prior to delivery improved during all three phases of BEmONC and all four phases of CEmONC training with statistically significant improvement noted in: i) pulse measurement in BEmONC phase 2 (9% to 68%), 3 (4% to 57%) & 4 (14% to 59%) and CEmONC phase 2 (7% to 72%) and 3 (0% to 64%); ii) blood pressure measurement in BEmONC phase 2 (27% to 84%), 3 (21% to 76%) & 4 (36% to 71%) and CEmONC phase 2 (23% to 76%) and 3 (2% to 70%); iii) fetal heart rate measurement in BEmONC phase 2 (10% to 72%), 3 (11% to 77%) & 4 (13% to 64%) and CEmONC phase 1 (24% to 38%), 2 (14% to 82%) and 3 (1% to 73%); and iv) abdominal examination in BEmONC phase 2 (14% to 59%), 3 (3% to 59%) & 4 (6% to 56%) and CEmONC phase 1 (0% to 24%), 2 (7% to 62%) & 3 (0% to 62%). Regarding infection control, wearing of apron, mask and cap by the delivery conductors improved significantly in all BEmONC phases. Similarly, the practice of handwashing improved in all BEmONC and CEmONC phases. Even on disaggregation, the handwashing showed significant improvement in all phases but CEmONC phase-4. Not only the positive practices related to handwashing improved but also negative practices such as turning off the tap with bare hands declined significantly in the aforementioned phases. Significant decline was also noted in negative maternal care practices such as application of fundal pressure for hastening the delivery process and administration of oxytocin prior to delivery. One of the notable achievement of AMANAT is an improvement in active management of the third stage of labor (AMTSL). The overall AMTSL (including administration of oxytocin or other uterotonics uterotonic in proper dose, route and time along with controlled cord traction and uterine massage) improved in all phases of BEmONC and CEmONC mentoring. Another key area of improvement, across phases, was in proper cutting/clamping of the umbilical cord. AMANAT mentoring also led to improvement in important immediate newborn care practices such as initiation of skin-to-skin care and timely initiation of breastfeeding. The next phase of the mentoring program seeks to institutionalize mentoring across the state that could potentially perpetuate improvement with minimal external intervention.

Keywords: capacity building, nurse-mentoring, quality of care, pregnancy, newborn care

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Michael Mederle, Heinz Bernhardt

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The Management of machine fleets or autonomous vehicle control will considerably increase efficiency in future agricultural production. Especially entire process chains, e.g. harvesting complexes with several interacting combine harvesters, grain carts, and removal trucks, provide lots of optimization potential. Organization and pre-planning ensure to get these efficiency reserves accessible. One way to achieve this is to optimize infield path planning. Particularly autonomous machinery requires precise specifications about infield logistics to be navigated effectively and process optimized in the fields individually or in machine complexes. In the past, a lot of theoretical optimization has been done regarding infield logistics, mainly based on field geometry. However, there are reasons why farmers often do not apply the infield strategy suggested by mathematical route planning tools. To make the computational optimization more useful for farmers this study focuses on these influencing factors by expert interviews. As a result practice-oriented navigation not only to the field but also within the field will be possible. The survey study is intended to cover the entire range of German agriculture. Rural mixed farms with simple technology equipment are considered as well as large agricultural cooperatives which farm thousands of hectares using track guidance and various other electronic assistance systems. First results show that farm managers using guidance systems increasingly attune their infield-logistics on direction giving obstacles such as power lines. In consequence, they can avoid inefficient boom flippings while doing plant protection with the sprayer. Livestock farmers rather focus on the application of organic manure with its specific requirements concerning road conditions, landscape terrain or field access points. Cultivation of sugar beets makes great demands on infield patterns because of its particularities such as the row crop system or high logistics demands. Furthermore, several machines working in the same field simultaneously influence each other, regardless whether or not they are of the equal type. Specific infield strategies always are based on interactions of several different influences and decision criteria. Single working steps like tillage, seeding, plant protection or harvest mostly cannot be considered each individually. The entire production process has to be taken into consideration to detect the right infield logistics. One long-term objective of this examination is to integrate the obtained influences on infield strategies as decision criteria into an infield navigation tool. In this way, path planning will become more practical for farmers which is a basic requirement for automatic vehicle control and increasing process efficiency.

Keywords: autonomous vehicle control, infield logistics, path planning, process optimizing

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Gina Longo

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Social media, internet technology, and affordable travel have created avenues like tourism and internet chatrooms for Western women to meet foreign partners without paid, third-party intermediaries in regions like the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where men from mid-level developing countries meet and marry Western women and try to relocate. Foreign nationals who marry U.S. citizens have an expedited track to naturalization. U.S. immigration officials require that “green card” petitioning couples demonstrate that their relationships are “valid and subsisting” (i.e., for love) and not fraudulent (i.e., for immigration papers). These requirements are ostensibly gender- and racially-neutral, but migration itself is not; black and white women petitioners who seek partners from these regions and solicit advice from similar others about the potential obstacles to their petitions’ success online. Using an online ethnography and textual analysis of conversation threads on a large on-line immigration forum where U.S. petitioners exchange such information, this study examines how gendered and racialized standards of legitimacy are applied to family and sexuality and used discursively online among women petitioners differently to achieve “genuineness” and define “red flags” indicating potential marriage fraud. This paper argues that forum-women members police immigration requests even before cases reach an immigration officer, and use this social media platform to reconstruct gendered and racialized hierarchies of U.S. citizenship. Women petitioners use the formal criteria of U.S. immigration in ways that reveal gender and racial ideologies, expectations for conformity to a gendered hegemonic family ideal, and policing of women’s sexual agency, fertility, and desirability. These intersectional norms shape their online discussions about the suitability of marriages and of the migration of non-citizen male partners of color to the United States.

Keywords: marriage fraud, migration, online forums, women

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Javad Sadidi, Ehsan Babaei, Hani Rezayan

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The advent of web 2.0 gives a possibility to scale down the costs of data collection and mapping, specifically if the process is done by volunteers. Every volunteer can be thought of as a free and ubiquitous sensor to collect spatial, descriptive as well as multimedia data for tourist services. The lack of large-scale information, such as real-time climate and weather conditions, population density, and other related data, can be considered one of the important challenges in developing countries for tourists to make the best decision in terms of time and place of travel. The current research aims to design and implement a spatiotemporal web map service using volunteer-submitted data. The service acts as a tourist-guide service in which tourists can search interested places based on their requested time for travel. To design the service, three tiers of architecture, including data, logical processing, and presentation tiers, have been utilized. For implementing the service, open-source software programs, client and server-side programming languages (such as OpenLayers2, AJAX, and PHP), Geoserver as a map server, and Web Feature Service (WFS) standards have been used. The result is two distinct browser-based services, one for sending spatial, descriptive, and multimedia volunteer data and another one for tourists and local officials. Local official confirms the veracity of the volunteer-submitted information. In the tourist interface, a spatiotemporal search engine has been designed to enable tourists to find a tourist place based on province, city, and location at a specific time of interest. Implementing the tourist-guide service by this methodology causes the following: the current tourists participate in a free data collection and sharing process for future tourists, a real-time data sharing and accessing for all, avoiding a blind selection of travel destination and significantly, decreases the cost of providing such services.

Keywords: VGI, tourism, spatiotemporal, browser-based, web mapping

Procedia PDF Downloads 98

Authors: Bernard Polednik, Adam Piotrowicz, Lukasz Guz, Marzenna Dudzinska

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Transportation is considered to be responsible for increased exposure of road users – i.e., drivers, car passengers, and pedestrians as well as inhabitants of houses located near roads - to pollutants emitted from vehicles. Accurate estimates are, however, difficult as exposure depends on many factors such as traffic intensity or type of fuel as well as the topography and the built-up area around the individual routes. The season and weather conditions are also of importance. In the case of inhabitants of houses located near roads, their exposure depends on the distance from the road, window tightness and other factors that decrease pollutant infiltration. This work reports the variations of particle concentrations along a selected road in Lublin, Poland. Their impact on the exposure for road users as well as for inhabitants of houses located near the road is also presented. Mobile and fixed-site measurements were carried out in peak (around 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.) and off-peak (12 a.m., 4 a.m., and 12 p.m.) traffic times in all 4 seasons. Fixed-site measurements were performed in 12 measurement points along the route. The number and mass concentration of particles was determined with the use of P-Trak model 8525, OPS 3330, DustTrak DRX model 8533 (TSI Inc. USA) and Grimm Aerosol Spectrometer 1.109 with Nano Sizer 1.321 (Grimm Aerosol Germany). The obtained results indicated that the highest concentrations of traffic-related pollution were measured near 4-way traffic intersections during peak hours in the autumn and winter. The highest average number concentration of ultrafine particles (PN0.1), and mass concentration of fine particles (PM2.5) in fixed-site measurements were obtained in the autumn and amounted to 23.6 ± 9.2×10³ pt/cm³ and 135.1 ± 11.3 µg/m³, respectively. The highest average number concentration of submicrometer particles (PN1) was measured in the winter and amounted to 68 ± 26.8×10³ pt/cm³. The estimated doses of particles deposited in the commuters’ and pedestrians’ lungs within an hour near 4-way TIs in peak hours in the summer amounted to 4.3 ± 3.3×10⁹ pt/h (PN0.1) and 2.9 ± 1.4 µg/h (PM2.5) and 3.9 ± 1.1×10⁹ pt/h (PN0.1) or 2.5 ± 0.4 µg/h (PM2.5), respectively. While estimating the doses inhaled by the inhabitants of premises located near the road one should take into account different fractional penetration of particles from outdoors to indoors. Such doses assessed for the autumn and winter are up to twice as high as the doses inhaled by commuters and pedestrians in the summer. In the winter traffic-related ultrafine particles account for over 70% of all ultrafine particles deposited in the pedestrians’ lungs. The share of traffic-related PM10 particles was estimated at approximately 33.5%. Concluding, the results of the particle concentration measurements along a road in Lublin indicated that the concentration is mainly affected by the traffic intensity and weather conditions. Further detailed research should focus on how the season and the metrological conditions affect concentration levels of traffic-related pollutants and the exposure of commuters and pedestrians as well as the inhabitants of houses located near traffic routes.

Keywords: air quality, deposition dose, health effects, vehicle emissions

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: Esra Yuksel, Dilek Duman, Levent Yeniay, Sezgin Ulukaya

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Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a minimal invasive technique with lower morbidity in axillary staging of breast cancer. Isosulfan blue stain is frequently used in SLNB and regarded as safe. The present case report aimed to report severe decrement in SpO2 following isosulfan blue administration, as well as skin and urine signs and inconsistency with clinical picture in a 67-year-old ,77 kg, ASA II female case that underwent SLNB under general anesthesia. Ten minutes after subcutaneous administration of 10 ml 1% isosulfan blue by the surgeons into the patient, who were hemodynamically stable, SpO2 first reduced to 87% from 99%, and then to 75% in minutes despite 100% oxygen support. Meanwhile, blood pressure and EtCO2 monitoring was unremarkable. After specifying that anesthesia device worked normally, airway pressure did not increase and the endotracheal tube has been placed accurately, the blood sample was taken from the patient for arterial gas analysis. A severe increase was thought in MetHb concentration since SpO2 persisted to be 75% although the concentration of inspired oxygen was 100%, and solution of 2500 mg ascorbic acid in 500 ml 5% Dextrose was given to the patient via intravenous route until the results of arterial blood gas were obtained. However, arterial blood gas results were as follows: pH: 7.54, PaCO2: 23.3 mmHg, PaO2: 281 mmHg, SaO2: %99, and MetHb: %2.7. Biochemical analysis revealed a blood MetHb concentration of 2%.However, since arterial blood gas parameters were good, hemodynamics of the patient was stable and methemoglobin concentration was not so high, the patient was extubated after surgery when she was relaxed, cooperated and had adequate respiration. Despite the absence of respiratory or neurological distress, SpO2 value was increased only up to 85% within 2 hours with 5 L/min oxygen support via face mask in the surgery room as the patient was extubated. At that time, the skin of particularly the upper part of her body has turned into blue, more remarkable on the face. The color of plasma of the blood taken from the patient for biochemical analysis was blue. The color of urine coming throughout the urinary catheter placed in intensive care unit was also blue. Twelve hours after 5 L/min. oxygen inhalation via a mask, the SpO2 reached to 90%. During monitoring in intensive care unit on the postoperative 1st day, facial color and urine color of the patient was still blue, SpO2 was 92%, and arterial blood gas levels were as follows: pH: 7.44, PaO2: 76.1 mmHg, PaCO2: 38.2 mmHg, SaO2: 99%, and MetHb 1%. During monitoring in clinic on the postoperative 2nd day, SpO2 was 95% without oxygen support and her facial and urine color turned into normal. The patient was discharged on the 3rd day without any problem.In conclusion, SLNB is a less invasive alternative to axillary dissection. However, false pulse oximeter reading due to pigment interference is a rare complication of this procedure. Arterial blood gas analysis should be used to confirm any fall in SpO2 reading during monitoring.

Keywords: isosulfan blue, pulse oximetry, SLNB, methemoglobinemia

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Anna Krukowska, Tomasz Klimczuk, Adriana Zaleska-Medynska

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Photoactive materials have attracted attention due to their potential application in the degradation of environmental pollutants to non-hazardous compounds in an eco-friendly route. Among semiconductor photocatalysts, tantalates such as potassium tantalate (KTaO3) is one of the excellent functional photomaterial. However, tantalates-based materials are less active under visible-light irradiation, the enhancement in photoactivity could be improved with the modification of opto-eletronic properties of KTaO3 by doping rare earth metal (Er) and further photodeposition of noble metal nanoparticles (Pt). Inclusion of rare earth element in orthorhombic structure of tantalate can generate one high-energy photon by absorbing two or more incident low-energy photons, which convert visible-light and infrared-light into the ultraviolet-light to satisfy the requirement of KTaO3 photocatalysts. On the other hand, depositions of noble metal nanoparticles on the surface of semiconductor strongly absorb visible-light due to their surface plasmon resonance, in which their conducting electrons undergo a collective oscillation induced by electric field of visible-light. Furthermore, the high dispersion of Pt nanoparticles, which will be obtained by photodeposition process is additional important factor to improve the photocatalytic activity. The present work is aimed to study the effect of photocatalytic process of the prepared Er-doped KTaO3 and further incorporation of Pt nanoparticles by photodeposition. Moreover, the research is also studied correlations between photocatalytic activity and physico-chemical properties of obtained Pt/Er-KTaO3 samples. The Er-doped KTaO3 microcomposites were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Then photodeposition method was used for Pt loading over Er-KTaO3. The structural and optical properties of Pt/Er-KTaO3 photocatalytic were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), volumetric adsorption method (BET), UV-Vis absorption measurement, Raman spectroscopy and luminescence spectroscopy. The photocatalytic properties of Pt/Er-KTaO3 microcomposites were investigated by degradation of phenol in aqueous phase as model pollutant under visible and ultraviolet-light irradiation. Results of this work show that all the prepared photocatalysis exhibit low BET surface area, although doping of the bare KTaO3 with rare earth element (Er) presents a slight increase in this value. The crystalline structure of Pt/Er-KTaO3 powders exhibited nearly identical positions for the main peak at about 22,8o and the XRD pattern could be assigned to an orthorhombic distorted perovskite structure. The Raman spectra of obtained semiconductors confirmed demonstrating perovskite-like structure. The optical absorption spectra of Pt nanoparticles exhibited plasmon absorption band for main peaks at about 216 and 264 nm. The addition of Pt nanoparticles increased photoactivity compared to Er-KTaO3 and pure KTaO3. Summary optical properties of KTaO3 change with its doping Er-element and further photodeposition of Pt nanoparticles.

Keywords: heterogeneous photocatalytic, KTaO3 photocatalysts, Er3+ ion doping, Pt photodeposition

Procedia PDF Downloads 360

Authors: Mudasir Ahmad Syed, Raashid Ahmd Wani, Mashooq Ahmad Dar, Uneeb Urwat, Riaz Ahmad Shah, Nazir Ahmad Ganai

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Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (Salmonella Typhimurium) is a primary avian pathogen responsible for severe intestinal pathology in younger chickens and economic losses. However, the Salmonella Typhimurium is also able to cause infection in humans, described by typhoid fever and acute gastro-intestinal disease. A study was conducted at days to investigate pathological, histopathological, haemato-biochemical, immunological and expression kinetics of NRAMP (natural resistance associated macrophage protein) gene family (NRAMP1 and NRAMP2) in broiler chickens following experimental infection of Salmonella Typhimurium at 0,1,3,5,7,9,11,13 and 15 days respectively. Infection was developed in birds through oral route at 2×108 CFU/ml. Clinical symptoms appeared 4 days post infection (dpi) and after one-week birds showed progressive weakness, anorexia, diarrhea and lowering of head. On postmortem examination, liver showed congestion, hemorrhage and necrotic foci on surface, while as spleen, lungs and intestines revealed congestion and hemorrhages. Histopathological alterations were principally observed in liver in second week post infection. Changes in liver comprised of congestion, areas of necrosis, reticular endothelial hyperplasia in association with mononuclear cell and heterophilic infiltration. Hematological studies confirm a significant decrease (P<0.05) in RBC count, Hb concentration and PCV. White blood cell count showed significant increase throughout the experimental study. An increase in heterophils was found up to 7dpi and a decreased pattern was observed afterwards. Initial lymphopenia followed by lymphocytosis was found in infected chicks. Biochemical studies showed a significant increase in glucose, AST and ALT concentration and a significant decrease (P<0.05) in total protein and albumin level in the infected group. Immunological studies showed higher titers of IgG in infected group as compared to control group. The real time gene expression of NRAMPI and NRAMP2 genes increased significantly (P<0.05) in infected group as compared to controls. The peak expression of NRAMP1 gene was seen in liver, spleen and caecum of infected birds at 3dpi, 5dpi and 7dpi respectively, while as peak expression of NRAMP2 gene in liver, spleen and caecum of infected chicken was seen at 9dpi, 5dpi and 9dpi respectively. This study has role in diagnostics and prognostics in the poultry industry for the detection of salmonella infections at early stages of poultry development.

Keywords: biochemistry, histopathology, NRAMP, poultry, real time expression, Salmonella Typhimurium

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Masooma Al-Balushi, Tamer Mohamed Atef

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The Sultanate of Oman is located on the South-eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea and has borders with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Arabic is the official language. Islam is the official religion. Islam has a great impact on most Omanis, Shari’a law is the law of Oman. The tribal structure plays an essential role in the lives of Omanis. Most people in the Gulf States bear a tribal name rather than a family name. Religion, tribe, and family are highly influential in shaping individuals’ values and behaviors, and have a very noticeable influence on a person’s career choices. Tourism development has been given special attention by the Sultanate of Oman’s government aspiring that the industry would assist in creating direct job opportunities as well as boost the economy through provision of hard currency to improve the balance of payments. This study aims to assess the impact of socio-cultural and religious factors on Omanis employment in the hotel sector. The socio-cultural and religious factors have serious impacts on Omani employment in the hotel sector. Some employees are concerned about the source of income because of the idea that since the hotel business is based on activities such as serving alcohol and pork, gambling, and accommodating unmarried couples, their source of income would be questionable religion wise. For females, the designated job uniform and the interaction with males are major concerns. Ability to fulfil family obligations for married Omanis, and marriage opportunity for singles were other raised concerns. Whilst the future prosperity of the hotel industry depends on the quality of its people, in Oman, the hospitality industry has failed, for a number of reasons, to project an image that could generate interest amongst Omanis. Furthermore, the characteristics and the very nature of the hotel sector are in direct conflict with Islamic doctrines which are embedded in Omani life and society.

Keywords: culture, society, hotel, hospitality, Islam, Oman

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Mathias U. Bonet, Pericles Pilidis, Georgios Doulgeris

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A gas turbine-powered cruise Liner is scheduled to transport pilgrim passengers from Lagos-Nigeria to the Islamic port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Since the gas turbine is an air breathing machine, changes in the density and/or mass flow at the compressor inlet due to an encounter with variations in weather conditions induce negative effects on the performance of the power plant during the voyage. In practice, all deviations from the reference atmospheric conditions of 15 ^oC and 1.103 bar tend to affect the power output and other thermodynamic parameters of the gas turbine cycle. Therefore, this paper seeks to evaluate how a simple cycle marine gas turbine power plant would react under a variety of scenarios that may be encountered during a voyage as the ship sails across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea before arriving at its designated port of discharge. It is also an assessment that focuses on the effect of varying aerodynamic and hydrodynamic conditions which deteriorate the efficient operation of the propulsion system due to an increase in resistance that results from some projected levels of the ship hull fouling. The investigated passenger ship is designed to run at a service speed of 22 knots and cover a distance of 5787 nautical miles. The performance evaluation consists of three separate voyages that cover a variety of weather conditions in winter, spring and summer seasons. Real-time daily temperatures and the sea states for the selected transit route were obtained and used to simulate the voyage under the aforementioned operating conditions. Changes in engine firing temperature, power output as well as the total fuel consumed per voyage including other performance variables were separately predicted under both calm and adverse weather conditions. The collated data were obtained online from the UK Meteorological Office as well as the UK Hydrographic Office websites, while adopting the Beaufort scale for determining the magnitude of sea waves resulting from rough weather situations. The simulation of the gas turbine performance and voyage analysis was effected through the use of an integrated Cranfield-University-developed computer code known as ‘Turbomatch’ and ‘Poseidon’. It is a project that is aimed at developing a method for predicting the off design behavior of the marine gas turbine when installed and operated as the main prime mover for both propulsion and powering of all other auxiliary services onboard a passenger cruise liner. Furthermore, it is a techno-economic and environmental assessment that seeks to enable the forecast of the marine gas turbine part and full load performance as it relates to the fuel requirement for a complete voyage.

Keywords: cruise ship, gas turbine, hull fouling, performance, propulsion, weather

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Saheli Mitra, Ramesh Karri, Praveen K. Mylapalli, Arka. B. Dey, Gourav Bhattacharya, Gouriprasanna Roy, Syed M. Kamil, Surajit Dhara, Sunil K. Sinha, Sajal K. Ghosh

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The most well-known structures of lyotropic liquid crystalline systems are the two dimensional hexagonal phase of cylindrical micelles with a positive interfacial curvature and the lamellar phase of flat bilayers with zero interfacial curvature. In aqueous solution of surfactants, the concentration dependent phase transitions have been investigated extensively. However, instead of changing the surfactant concentrations, the local curvature of an aggregate can be altered by tuning the electrostatic interactions among the constituent molecules. Intermediate phases with non-uniform interfacial curvature are still unexplored steps to understand the route of phase transition from hexagonal to lamellar. Understanding such structural evolution in lyotropic liquid crystalline systems is important as it decides the complex rheological behavior of the system, which is one of the main interests of the soft matter industry. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is an anionic surfactant and can be considered as a unique system to tune the electrostatics by cationic additives. In present study, imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) with different number of carbon atoms in their single hydrocarbon chain were used as the additive in the aqueous solution of SDS. At a fixed concentration of total non-aqueous components (SDS and IL), the molar ratio of these components was changed, which effectively altered the electrostatic interactions between the SDS molecules. As a result, the local curvature is observed to modify, and correspondingly, the structure of the hexagonal liquid crystalline phases are transformed into other phases. Polarizing optical microscopy of SDS and imidazole-based-IL systems have exhibited different textures of the liquid crystalline phases as a function of increasing concentration of the ILs. The small angle synchrotron x-ray diffraction (SAXD) study has indicated the hexagonal phase of direct cylindrical micelles to transform to a rectangular phase at the presence of short (two hydrocarbons) chain IL. However, the hexagonal phase is transformed to a lamellar phase at the presence of long (ten hydrocarbons) chain IL. Interestingly, at the presence of a medium (four hydrocarbons) chain IL, the hexagonal phase is transformed to another hexagonal phase of direct cylindrical micelles through the lamellar phase. To the best of our knowledge, such a phase sequence has not been reported earlier. Even though the small angle x-ray diffraction study has revealed the lattice parameters of these phases to be similar to each other, their rheological behavior has been distinctly different. These rheological studies have shed lights on how these phases differ in their viscoelastic behavior. Finally, the packing parameters, calculated for these phases based on the geometry of the aggregates, have explained the formation of the self-assembled aggregates.

Keywords: lyotropic liquid crystals, polarizing optical microscopy, rheology, surfactants, small angle x-ray diffraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: A. Chiker, A. Benamor, A. Haddad, Y. Hadji, M. Hadji

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Metal matrix composites (MMCs) have been of big interest for a few decades. Their major drawback lies in their enhanced mechanical performance over unreinforced alloys. They found ground in many engineering fields, such as aeronautics, aerospace, automotive, and other structural applications. One of the most used alloys as a matrix is nickel alloys, which meet the need for high-temperature mechanical properties; some attempts have been made to develop nickel base composites reinforced by high melt point and high modulus particulates. Among the carbides used as reinforcing particulates, chromium carbide is interesting for wear applications; it is widely used as a tribological coating material in high-temperature applications requiring high wear resistance and hardness. Moreover, a set of properties make it suitable for use in MMCs, such as toughness, the good corrosion and oxidation resistance of its three polymorphs -the cubic (Cr23C6), the hexagonal (Cr7C3), and the orthorhombic (Cr3C2)-, and it’s coefficient of thermal expansion that is almost equal to that of metals. The in-situ synthesis of CrC-reinforced Ni matrix composites could be achieved by the powder metallurgy route. To ensure the in-situ reactions during the sintering process, the use of phase precursors is necessary. Recently, new precursor materials have been proposed; these materials are called MAX phases. The MAX phases are thermodynamically stable nano-laminated materials displaying unusual and sometimes unique properties. These novel phases possess Mn+1AXn chemistry, where n is 1, 2, or 3, M is an early transition metal element, A is an A-group element, and X is C or N. Herein, the pressureless sintering method is used to elaborate Ni/Cr2AlC composites. Four composites were elaborated from 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt% of Cr2AlC MAX phase precursor which fully reacted with Ni-matrix at 1100 °C sintering temperature for 4 h in argon atmosphere. XRD results showed that Cr2AlC MAX phase was totally decomposed forming chromium carbide Cr7C3, and the released Al and Cr atoms diffused in Ni matrix giving rise to γ-Ni(Al,Cr) solid solution and γ’-Ni3(Al,Cr) intermetallic. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) of the elaborated samples showed the presence of nanosized Cr7C3 reinforcing particles embedded in the Ni metal matrix, which have a direct impact on the tribological properties of the composites and their hardness. All the composites exhibited higher hardness than pure Ni; whereas adding 15 wt% of Cr2AlC gives the highest hardness (1.85 GPa). Using a ball-on-disc tribometer, dry sliding tests for the elaborated composites against 100Cr6 steel ball were studied under different applied loads. The microstructures and worn surface characteristics were then analyzed using SEM and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that all the composites exhibited better wear resistance compared to pure Ni, which could be explained by the formation of a lubricious tribo-layer during sliding and the good bonding between the Ni matrix and the reinforcing phases.

Keywords: composites, microscopy, sintering, wear

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Authors: Lindsay Crystabelle A. Gillamac, Lemuel Roy Amarillo, Al Leonard Joseph B. Aca-Ac, Felipe V. Lula Jr.

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Hangover is the unpleasant psychological and physiologic effects after heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages. In awareness of the need to have a remedy for hangover occurrence in Iligan City, the authors aimed to determine the most preferred and effective local remedy to the hangover and inform people, bars and food establishments that there are available remedies to the hangover in the locality. The study utilizes qualitative data gathered through an interview on four different age groups with 50 random individuals each group as to what symptom determines they are experiencing the hangover. Then, quantitative data gathered through an online and written survey was done as to what local hangover remedy do they intake after drinking to ameliorate the most experienced symptom provided from the first assessment. After data tabulation of hangover symptoms on different age groups, we have found out that the most common determinant that you have a hangover has a headache. Thus, we queried the respondents again to what was effective the most in relieving them of a headache and their other felt symptoms depending on their varying age groups. The results of the evaluations showed that most respondents from different age groups preferred Halang-halang Soup, a spicy beef soup in the locality. As part of the hospitality industry concerned with welfare of customers, Bars in Iligan City should include on their menu these hang-over remedies in anticipation of guest needs given the fact that there are no more stores open at late hours in Iligan City. Placards should also be posted within the bar area to orient the guests about hang-over cures available inside the bar. Bartenders and other staff being directly in-contact with guests should take part in orienting guests about these aforementioned remedies. Added to that, we would like to promote Halang-halang Soup as a Health beneficial cuisine in the Philippines and help in the growth of the Tourism Industry of Iligan City by making the Halang-halang place a tourist destination.

Keywords: alcohol, alcohol consumption, alcohol hangover, anticipation of needs, bar, cure, hangover, headache, hospitality industry, local remedy, menu, menu development, menu improvement, remedy, Philippines

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Authors: Paola Millare, Nelinda Catherine Pangilinan

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Background and Aim: Cervical cancer is the most commonly diagnosed gynecological malignancy during pregnancy. Owing to the rarity of the disease, and the complexity of all factors that have to be taken into consideration, standardization of treatment is very difficult. Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy among women. The treatment of cancer during pregnancy is most challenging in the case of cervical cancer, since the pregnant uterus itself is affected. This report aims to present a case of cervical cancer in a pregnant woman and how to manage this case and several issues accompanied with it. Methods: This is a case of a 28 year-old, Gravida 4 Para 2 (1111), who presented with watery to mucoid, whitish, non-foul smelling and increasing in amount. Internal examination revealed normal external genitalia, parous outlet, cervix was transformed into a fungating mass measuring 5x4 cm, with left parametrial involvement, body of uterus was enlarged to 24 weeks size, no adnexal mass or tenderness. She had cervical punch biopsy, which revealed, adenocarcinoma, well-differentiated cervical tissue. Standard management for cases with stage 2B cervical carcinoma was to start radiation or radical hysterectomy. In the case of patients diagnosed with cervical cancer and currently pregnant, these kind of management will result to fetal loss. The patient still declined the said management and opted to delay the treatment and wait for her baby to reach at least term and proceed to cesarean section as route of delivery. Results: The patient underwent an elective cesarean section at 37th weeks age of gestation, with an outcome of a term, live baby boy APGAR score 7,9 birthweight 2600 grams. One month postpartum, the patient followed up and completed radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brachytherapy. She was advised to go back after 6 months for monitoring. On her last check up, an internal examination was done which revealed normal external genitalia, vagina admits 2 fingers with ease, there is a palpable fungating mass at the cervix measuring 2x2 cm. A repeat gynecologic oncologic ultrasound was done revealing cervical mass, endophytic, grade 1 color score with stromal invasion 35% post radiation reactive lymph nodes with intact paracolpium, pericervical, and parametrial involvement. The patient was then advised to undergo pelvic boost and for close monitoring of the cervical mass. Conclusion: Cervical cancer in pregnancy is rare but is a dilemma for women and their physicians. Treatment should be multidisciplinary and individualized following careful counseling. In this case, the treatment was clearly on the side of preventing the progression of cervical cancer while she is pregnant, however due to ethical reasons, the management deviates on the right of the patient to decide for her own health and her unborn child. The collaborative collection of data relating to treatment and outcome is strongly encouraged.

Keywords: cancer, cervical, ethical, pregnancy

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Klara Strecker

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During times of globalization, socioeconomic systems have become connected across the world through global supply chains. As a result, consumption and production locations have increasingly become spatially decoupled. This decoupling leads to complex entanglements of systems and sustainability challenges across distances -entanglements which can be conceptualized as telecouplings. Through telecouplings, people and environments across the world have become closely connected, bringing challenges as well as opportunities. Some argue that telecoupling dynamics started taking shape during times of colonization when resources were first traded across the world. An example of such a telecoupling is that of the rose. Every third rose sold in Europe is grown in Kenya and enters the European market through the Dutch flower auction system. Many Kenyan farms are Dutch-owned, closely entangling Kenya and the Netherlands through the trade of roses. Furthermore, the globalization of the flower industry and the resulting shift of production away from the Netherlands and towards Kenya has led to significant changes in the Dutch horticulture sector. However, the sustainability effects of this rose telecoupling is limited neither to the horticulture sector nor to the Netherlands and Kenya. Alongside the flow of roses between these countries come complex financial, knowledge-based, and regulatory flows. The rose telecoupling also creates spillover effects to other countries, such as Ethiopia, and other industries, such as Kenyan tourism. Therefore, telecoupling dynamics create complex entanglements that cut across sectors, environments, communities, and countries, which makes effectively governing and managing telecouplings and their sustainability implications challenging. Indeed, sustainability can no longer be studied in spatial and temporal isolation. This paper aims to map the rose telecoupling’s complex environmental and social interactions to identify points of tension guiding sustainability-targeted interventions. Mapping these interactions will provide a more holistic understanding of the sustainability challenges involved in the Dutch-Kenyan rose trade. This interdisciplinary telecoupling approach reframes and integrates interdisciplinary knowledge about the rose trade between the Netherlands, Kenya, and beyond.

Keywords: Dutch-Kenyan rose trade, globalization, socio-ecological system, sustainability, telecoupling

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Authors: Cait M. Henry, Sarah Jackson

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Abstract-This study is built from the culmination of four years of research into the cultural interpretation of Civil War heritage at a National Park Service (NPS) site, namely the Manassas National Battlefield Park, within an increasingly contentious political landscape surrounding the U.S. Civil War. Originating as questions regarding the relevancy of historic battlefields to the current culture within the United States soon evolved into more philosophical questions about what it means to feel welcome at a battlefield site, and what are considered appropriate actions and behaviors at what was once a mass gravesite. In trying to answer these questions, this work aims to critically analyze the confluence between the cultural authority of the NPS and collective memories of the U.S. Civil War. Operationalizing trauma as repeated violent acts within public spaces, the authors posit that the normalization of violence from white or white-passing men partially stems from the glorification of heroic white masculinity at National Park Service Civil War battlefield sites—especially those which also commemorate Confederate military strategy and prowess. From here the study moves outward to focus on the prevalence of heroic white masculinity within the nation’s current social zeitgeist, and particularly the notion that to take back masculinity one must utilize violence as a means of symbolic restoration from perceptions of white victimhood. The study ends with case studies of dark tourism framing at international battlefields as models for expanding heritage interpretation at the NPS site to foster narratives of empathy and responsibility within an increasingly contentious political landscape within the United States of America. Visitors do not leave Manassas National Battlefield Park with answers about the social and moral implications of the U.S. Civil War, but the tools for championing their own (predominantly white) heroic masculinity. As such, it is only logical that one common reaction when masculinity is symbolically threatened is to enact violence against Others as a restorative force within the United States.

Keywords: confederate heritage, military history, national park service, trauma, United States civil war

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Authors: Lydia Booney Jyrwa, Rabindra Nath Bhuyan

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Chocolate Mahseer (Neolissochilus hexagonolepis) is one of the Mahseer species inhabiting the North-eastern region of India and is a native species to the state of Meghalaya since it can adapt and grow well under the agro climatic conditions of the region. The natural population of this fish has been declining over the years from this part of the country. The natural population of this fish has been declining over the years from this part of the country. The fish is considered as one of the endangered species of the Mahseer group, which is having tremendous scope for culture, sports and tourism. But non-availability of quality seed is a hindrance for the culture of this fish. Thus induced breeding of the fish by hormonal administration with pituitary gland and synthetic hormones is the only reliable method to procure the pure seed of the fish. Chocolate Mahseer was successfully bred at the Hatchery Complex, St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, Meghalaya by using pituitary extract and synthetic hormone viz. ovaprim, ovatide and gonopro-FH. The dose standardized is @ 4mg/kg body weight to both male and female as 1st dose and @ 7.9 mg/kg body weight only to female as 2nd dose for pituitary extract and single dose @ 0.8 ml/kg body weight to female and @ 0.3 ml/kg body weight to male of both ovaprim and ovatide, while a single dose @ 0.9 ml/kg body weight to female and @ 0.3 ml/kg body weight to male of gonopro-FH. The doses are standardized after a series of trial and error experiment performed. The fecundity of the fish was 3500 eggs/ kg body weight. The final hatching percentage achieved was 60%. The survival rate of hatchling was 50% up to fry stage. The use of synthetic hormone and positive response of the fish to the hormone will go in long way for production of quality seed of the fish which in turn help in culture of the species as the fish can be a very good candidate species for the culture in the state. This study will also help in the ranching of the fish in the natural habitat leading to conservation of the species. However, the study should be continued further for the large scale production of seeds.

Keywords: chocolate mahseer, induced breeding, pituitary extract, synthetic hormone

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Authors: Christiane Dumont

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This paper proposes to revisit foreign-language learning as a tool to increase motivation through advocacy and develop effective natural communication skills, which are critical leadership qualities. To this end, collaborative initiatives undertaken by advanced university students of French with local and international community partners will be reviewed. Close attention will be paid to the acquisition of intercultural skills, the reflective process, as well as the challenges and outcomes. Two international development projects conducted in Haiti will be highlighted, i.e., collaboration with a network of providers in the Haitian cultural heritage preservation and tourism sector (2014-15) and development of investigation and teacher training tools for a primary/secondary school in the Port-au-Prince area (current). The choice of community-service learning as a framework to teach French-as-a-second-language stemmed from the need to raise awareness against stereotypes and prejudice, which hinder the development of effective intercultural skills. This type of experiential education also proved very effective in identifying and preventing miscommunication caused by the lack of face-to-face interaction in our increasingly technology-mediated world. Learners experienced first-hand, the challenges and advantages of face-to-face communication, which, in turn, enhanced their motivation for developing effective intercultural skills. Vygotsky's and Kolb's theories, current research on service learning (Dwight, Eyler), action/project-based pedagogy (Beckett), and reflective learning (TSC Farrell), will provide useful background to analyze the benefits and challenges of community-service learning. The ultimate goal of this paper is to find out what makes experiential learning truly unique and transformative for both the learners and the community they wish to serve. It will demonstrate how enhanced motivation, community engagement, and clear, concise, and respectful communication impact and empower learners. The underlying hope is to help students in high-profile, and leading-edge industries become effective global leaders.

Keywords: experiential learning, intercultural communication, reflective learning, effective leadership, learner motivation

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Authors: Stefano Zaninotto, Geoffrey Farrugia, Johan Debattista, Jason Gauci

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The need to reduce fuel and noise during taxi operations in the airports with a scenario of constantly increasing air traffic has resulted in an effort by the aerospace industry to move towards electric taxiing. In fact, this is one of the problems that is currently being addressed by SESAR JU and two main solutions are being proposed. With the first solution, electric motors are installed in the main (or nose) landing gear of the aircraft. With the second solution, manned or unmanned electric tow trucks are used to tow aircraft from the gate to the runway (or vice-versa). The presence of the tow trucks results in an increase in vehicle traffic inside the airport. Therefore, it is important to design the system in a way that the workload of Air Traffic Control (ATC) is not increased and the system assists ATC in managing all ground operations. The aim of this work is to develop an electric taxiing system, based on the use of autonomous tow trucks, which optimizes aircraft ground operations while keeping ATC in the loop. This system will consist of two components: an optimization tool and a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The optimization tool will be responsible for determining the optimal path for arriving and departing aircraft; allocating a tow truck to each taxiing aircraft; detecting conflicts between aircraft and/or tow trucks; and proposing solutions to resolve any conflicts. There are two main optimization strategies proposed in the literature. With centralized optimization, a central authority coordinates and makes the decision for all ground movements, in order to find a global optimum. With the second strategy, called decentralized optimization or multi-agent system, the decision authority is distributed among several agents. These agents could be the aircraft, the tow trucks, and taxiway or runway intersections. This approach finds local optima; however, it scales better with the number of ground movements and is more robust to external disturbances (such as taxi delays or unscheduled events). The strategy proposed in this work is a hybrid system combining aspects of these two approaches. The GUI will provide information on the movement and status of each aircraft and tow truck, and alert ATC about any impending conflicts. It will also enable ATC to give taxi clearances and to modify the routes proposed by the system. The complete system will be tested via computer simulation of various taxi scenarios at multiple airports, including Malta International Airport, a major international airport, and a fictitious airport. These tests will involve actual Air Traffic Controllers in order to evaluate the GUI and assess the impact of the system on ATC workload and situation awareness. It is expected that the proposed system will increase the efficiency of taxi operations while reducing their environmental impact. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the system will facilitate various controller tasks and improve ATC situation awareness.

Keywords: air traffic control, electric taxiing, autonomous tow trucks, graphical user interface, ground operations, multi-agent, route optimization

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Authors: Bastien Sanglard, Simon Cayez, Guillaume Viau, Thomas Blon, Julian Carrey, Sébastien Lachaize

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The need to develop clean production processes is a key challenge of any industry. Steel and iron industries are particularly concerned since they emit 6.8% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. One key step of the process is the high-temperature reduction of iron ore using coke, leading to large amounts of CO2 emissions. One route to decrease impacts is to get rid of fossil fuels by changing both the heat source and the reducer. The present work aims at investigating experimentally the possibility to use concentrated solar energy and carbon-free reducing agents. Two sets of experimentations were realized. First, in situ X-ray diffraction on pure and industrial powder of hematite was realized to study the phase evolution as a function of temperature during reduction under hydrogen and ammonia. Secondly, experiments were performed on industrial iron ore pellets, which were reduced by NH3 or H2 into a “solar furnace” composed of a controllable 1600W Xenon lamp to simulate and control the solar concentrated irradiation of a glass reactor and of a diaphragm to control light flux. Temperature and pressure were recorded during each experiment via thermocouples and pressure sensors. The percentage of iron oxide converted to iron (called thereafter “reduction ratio”) was found through Rietveld refinement. The power of the light source and the reduction time were varied. Results obtained in the diffractometer reaction chamber show that iron begins to form at 300°C with pure Fe2O3 powder and 400°C with industrial iron ore when maintained at this temperature for 60 minutes and 80 minutes, respectively. Magnetite and wuestite are detected on both powders during the reduction under hydrogen; under ammonia, iron nitride is also detected for temperatures between400°C and 600°C. All the iron oxide was converted to iron for a reaction of 60 min at 500°C, whereas a conversion ratio of 96% was reached with industrial powder for a reaction of 240 min at 600°C under hydrogen. Under ammonia, full conversion was also reached after 240 min of reduction at 600 °C. For experimentations into the solar furnace with iron ore pellets, the lamp power and the shutter opening were varied. An 83.2% conversion ratio was obtained with a light power of 67 W/cm2 without turning over the pellets. Nevertheless, under the same conditions, turning over the pellets in the middle of the experiment permits to reach a conversion ratio of 86.4%. A reduction ratio of 95% was reached with an exposure of 16 min by turning over pellets at half time with a flux of 169W/cm2. Similar or slightly better results were obtained under an ammonia reducing atmosphere. Under the same flux, the highest reduction yield of 97.3% was obtained under ammonia after 28 minutes of exposure. The chemical reaction itself, including the solar heat source, does not produce any greenhouse gases, so solar metallurgy represents a serious way to reduce greenhouse gas emission of metallurgy industry. Nevertheless, the ecological impact of the reducers must be investigated, which will be done in future work.

Keywords: solar concentration, metallurgy, ammonia, hydrogen, sustainability

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Authors: Iris Vural Gursel, Andrea Ramirez

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Effective utilization of lignin is an important mean for developing economically profitable biorefineries. Current literature suggests that large amounts of lignin will become available in second generation biorefineries. New conversion technologies will, therefore, be needed to carry lignin transformation well beyond combustion to produce energy, but towards high-value products such as chemicals and transportation fuels. In recent years, significant progress on catalysis has been made to improve transformation of lignin, and new catalytic processes are emerging. In this work, a techno-economic assessment of two of these novel conversion routes and comparison with more established lignin pyrolysis route were made. The aim is to provide insights into the potential performance and potential hotspots in order to guide the experimental research and ease the commercialization by early identifying cost drivers, strengths, and challenges. The lignin conversion routes selected for detailed assessment were: (non-catalytic) lignin pyrolysis as the benchmark, direct hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of lignin and hydrothermal lignin depolymerisation. Products generated were mixed oxygenated aromatic monomers (MOAMON), light organics, heavy organics, and char. For the technical assessment, a basis design followed by process modelling in Aspen was done using experimental yields. A design capacity of 200 kt/year lignin feed was chosen that is equivalent to a 1 Mt/y scale lignocellulosic biorefinery. The downstream equipment was modelled to achieve the separation of the product streams defined. For determining external utility requirement, heat integration was considered and when possible gasses were combusted to cover heating demand. The models made were used in generating necessary data on material and energy flows. Next, an economic assessment was carried out by estimating operating and capital costs. Return on investment (ROI) and payback period (PBP) were used as indicators. The results of the process modelling indicate that series of separation steps are required. The downstream processing was found especially demanding in the hydrothermal upgrading process due to the presence of significant amount of unconverted lignin (34%) and water. Also, external utility requirements were found to be high. Due to the complex separations, hydrothermal upgrading process showed the highest capital cost (50 M€ more than benchmark). Whereas operating costs were found the highest for the direct HDO process (20 M€/year more than benchmark) due to the use of hydrogen. Because of high yields to valuable heavy organics (32%) and MOAMON (24%), direct HDO process showed the highest ROI (12%) and the shortest PBP (5 years). This process is found feasible with a positive net present value. However, it is very sensitive to the prices used in the calculation. The assessments at this stage are associated with large uncertainties. Nevertheless, they are useful for comparing alternatives and identifying whether a certain process should be given further consideration. Among the three processes investigated here, the direct HDO process was seen to be the most promising.

Keywords: biorefinery, economic assessment, lignin conversion, process design

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Authors: Jingjing Yan, Gengen He, Anahid Basiri

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The design of an indoor navigation system for fire evacuation support requires not only physical feasibility but also a relatively thorough consideration of the human factors. This study has taken a survey to investigate the fire response performances (FRP) of the indoor occupants in age of 20s, virtually in an environment for their routine life, focusing on the aspects of indoor familiarity (spatial cognition), psychological stress and decision makings. For indoor familiarity, it is interested in three factors, i.e., the familiarity to exits and risky places as well as the satisfaction degree of the current indoor sign installation. According to the results, males have a higher average familiarity with the indoor exits while both genders have a relatively low level of risky place awareness. These two factors are positively correlated with the satisfaction degree of the current installation of the indoor signs, and this correlation is more evident for the exit familiarity. The integration of the height factor with the other two indoor familiarity factors can improve the degree of indoor sign satisfaction. For psychological stress, this study concentrates on the situated cognition of moving difficulty, nervousness, and speed reduction when using a bending posture during the fire evacuation to avoid smoke inhalation. The results have shown that both genders have a similar mid-level of hardness sensation. The females have a higher average level of nervousness, while males have a higher average level of speed reduction sensation. This study has assumed that the growing indoor spatial cognition can help ease the psychological hardness and nervousness. However, it only seems to be true after reaching a certain level. When integrating the effects from indoor familiarity and the other two psychological factors, the correlation to the sensation of speed change can be strengthened, based on a stronger positive correlation with the integrated factors. This study has also investigated the participants’ attitude to the navigation support during evacuation, and the majority of the participants have shown positive attitudes. For following the guidance under some extreme cases, i.e., changing to a longer path and to an alternative exit, the majority of the participants has shown the confidence of keeping trusting the guidance service. These decisions are affected by the combined influences from indoor familiarity, psychological stress, and attitude of using navigation service. For the decision time of the selected extreme cases, it costs more time in average for deciding to use a longer route than to use an alternative exit, and this situation is more evident for the female participants. This requires further considerations when designing a personalized smartphone-based navigation app. This study has also investigated the calming factors for people being trapped during evacuation. The top consideration is the distance to the nearest firefighters, and the following considerations are the current fire conditions in the surrounding environment and the locations of all firefighters. The ranking of the latter two considerations is very gender-dependent according to the results.

Keywords: fire response performances, indoor spatial cognition, situated cognition, survey analysis

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Authors: Georges Ghazi, Magali Gelhaye, Ruxandra Botez

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Over the years, the Flight Management System (FMS) has experienced a continuous improvement of its many features, to the point of becoming the pilot’s primary interface for flight planning operation on the airplane. With the assistance of the FMS, the concept of distance and time has been completely revolutionized, providing the crew members with the determination of the optimized route (or flight plan) from the departure airport to the arrival airport. To accomplish this function, the FMS needs an accurate Aircraft Performance Model (APM) of the aircraft. In general, APMs that equipped most modern FMSs are established before the entry into service of an individual aircraft, and results from the combination of a set of ordinary differential equations and a set of performance databases. Unfortunately, an aircraft in service is constantly exposed to dynamic loads that degrade its flight characteristics. These degradations endow two main origins: airframe deterioration (control surfaces rigging, seals missing or damaged, etc.) and engine performance degradation (fuel consumption increase for a given thrust). Thus, after several years of service, the performance databases and the APM associated to a specific aircraft are no longer representative enough of the actual aircraft performance. It is important to monitor the trend of the performance deterioration and correct the uncertainties of the aircraft model in order to improve the accuracy the flight management system predictions. The basis of this research lies in the new ability to continuously update an Aircraft Performance Model (APM) during flight using an adaptive lookup table technique. This methodology was developed and applied to the well-known Cessna Citation X business aircraft. For the purpose of this study, a level D Research Aircraft Flight Simulator (RAFS) was used as a test aircraft. According to Federal Aviation Administration the level D is the highest certification level for the flight dynamics modeling. Basically, using data available in the Flight Crew Operating Manual (FCOM), a first APM describing the variation of the engine fan speed and aircraft fuel flow w.r.t flight conditions was derived. This model was next improved using the proposed methodology. To do that, several cruise flights were performed using the RAFS. An algorithm was developed to frequently sample the aircraft sensors measurements during the flight and compare the model prediction with the actual measurements. Based on these comparisons, a correction was performed on the actual APM in order to minimize the error between the predicted data and the measured data. In this way, as the aircraft flies, the APM will be continuously enhanced, making the FMS more and more precise and the prediction of trajectories more realistic and more reliable. The results obtained are very encouraging. Indeed, using the tables initialized with the FCOM data, only a few iterations were needed to reduce the fuel flow prediction error from an average relative error of 12% to 0.3%. Similarly, the FCOM prediction regarding the engine fan speed was reduced from a maximum error deviation of 5.0% to 0.2% after only ten flights.

Keywords: aircraft performance, cruise, trajectory optimization, adaptive lookup tables, Cessna Citation X

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Authors: Mohammad Rahim Rahnama, Amir Ali Kharazmi, Safiye Rokni

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The tourism industry will be the most important unlimited, sustainable source of income after the oil and automotive industries by 2020 and not only countries, but cities are striving to apprehend its various facets. In line with this objective, the present descriptive-analytical study, through survey and using a questionnaire, seeks to evaluate the probability of tourists’ return and their recommendation to their countrymen to travel to Mashhad, Iran. The population under study is a sample of 384 foreign tourists who, in 2016, arrived at Mashhad, the second metropolis in Iran and its biggest religious city. The Kaplan-Meier estimator was used to analyze the data. Twenty-six percent of the tourists are female and 74% are male. On average, each tourist has had 3.02 trips abroad and 2.1 trips to Mashhad. Tourists from 14 different countries have arrived at Mashhad. Kuwait (15.9%), Armenia (15.6%), and Iraq (10.9%) were the countries where most tourists originated. Seventy-six percent of the tourists traveled with family and 90% of the tourists arrived at Mashhad via airplane. Major purposes of tourists’ trip include pilgrimage (27.9%), treatment (22.1%) followed by pilgrimage and treatment combined (35.4%). Major issues for tourists, in the order of priority, include quality of goods and services (30.2%), shopping (18%), and inhabitants’ treatment of foreigners (15.9%). Main tourist attractions, in addition to the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza, include Torqabeh and Shandiz (Torqabeh 40.9% and Shandiz 29.9%), Neyshabour (18.2%) followed by Kalat, 4.4%. The average willingness to return among tourists is 3.13, which is higher than the mean 3, indicating satisfaction with the stay in Mashhad. Similarly, the average for tourists’ recommending to their countrymen to visit Mashhad is 3.42, which is also an indicator of tourists’ satisfaction with their presence in Mashhad. According to the findings of the Kaplan-Meier estimator, an increase in the number of tourists’ trips to Mashhad, and an increase in the number of tourists’ foreign trips, reduces the probability of recommending a trip to Mashhad by tourists. Similarly, willingness to return is higher among those who stayed at a relatives’ home compared with other patterns of residence (hotels, self-catering accommodation, and pilgrim houses). Therefore, addressing the issues raised by tourists is essential for their return and their recommendation to others to travel to Mashhad.

Keywords: international tourist, probability of return, satisfaction, Mashhad

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Authors: Debraj Gangopadhyay, Moumita Das, Ranjan K. Singh, Poonam Tandon

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Creatinine is a toxic chemical waste generated from muscle metabolism. Abnormally high levels of creatinine in the body fluid indicate possible malfunction or failure of the kidneys. This leads to a condition termed as creatinine induced nephrotoxicity. N-acetylcysteine is an antioxidant drug which is capable of preventing creatinine induced nephrotoxicity and is helpful to treat renal failure in its early stages. Taurine is another antioxidant drug which serves similar purpose. The kidneys have a natural power that whenever reactive oxygen species radicals increase in the human body, the kidneys make an antioxidant shell so that these radicals cannot harm the kidney function. Taurine plays a vital role in increasing the power of that shell such that the glomerular filtration rate can remain in its normal level. Thus taurine protects the kidneys against several diseases. However, taurine also has some negative effects on the body as its chloramine derivative is a weak oxidant by nature. N-acetylcysteine is capable of inhibiting the residual oxidative property of taurine chloramine. Therefore, N-acetylcysteine is given to a patient along with taurine and this combination is capable of suppressing the negative effect of taurine. Both N-acetylcysteine and taurine being affordable, safe, and widely available medicines, knowledge of the mechanism of their combined effect on creatinine, the favored route of administration, and the proper dose may be highly useful in their use for treating renal patients. Raman spectroscopy is a precise technique to observe minor structural changes taking place when two or more molecules interact. The possibility of formation of a complex between a drug molecule and an analyte molecule in solution can be explored by analyzing the changes in the Raman spectra. The formation of a stable complex of creatinine with N-acetylcysteinein vitroin aqueous solution has been observed with the help of Raman spectroscopic technique. From the Raman spectra of the mixtures of aqueous solutions of creatinine and N-acetylcysteinein different molar ratios, it is observed that the most stable complex is formed at 1:1 ratio of creatinine andN-acetylcysteine. Upon drying, the complex obtained is gel-like in appearance and reddish yellow in color. The complex is hygroscopic and has much better water solubility compared to creatinine. This highlights that N-acetylcysteineplays an effective role in reducing the toxic effect of creatinine by forming this water soluble complex which can be removed through urine. Since the drug taurine is also known to be useful in reducing nephrotoxicity caused by creatinine, the aqueous solution of taurine with those of creatinine and N-acetylcysteinewere mixed in different molar ratios and were investigated by Raman spectroscopic technique. It is understood that taurine itself does not undergo complexation with creatinine as no additional changes are observed in the Raman spectra of creatinine when it is mixed with taurine. However, when creatinine, N-acetylcysteine and taurine are mixed in aqueous solution in molar ratio 1:1:3, several changes occurring in the Raman spectra of creatinine suggest the diminishing toxic effect of creatinine in the presence ofantioxidant drugs N-acetylcysteine and taurine.

Keywords: creatinine, creatinine induced nephrotoxicity, N-acetylcysteine, taurine

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Authors: Rebecca E. Dalli Gonzi, Joseph Falzon

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Background: Islands in the Mediterranean region offer opportunities for various industries to take advantage of the facilitation and use of versatile floating structures in coastal areas. In the context of dense land use, marine structures can contribute to ensure both terrestrial and marine resource sustainability. Objective: The aim of this paper is to present and critically discuss an array of issues that characterize the design process of a floating structure for coastal areas and to present the challenges and opportunities of providing such multifunctional and versatile structures around the Maltese coastline. Research Design: A three-tier research design commenced with a systematic literature review. Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders including a naval architect, a marine engineer and civil designers were conducted. A second stage preceded a focus group with stakeholders in design and construction of marine lightweight structures. The three tier research design ensured triangulation of issues. All phases of the study were governed by research ethics. Findings: Findings were grouped into three main themes: excellence, impact and implementation. These included design considerations, applications and potential impacts on local industry. Literature for the design and construction of marine structures in the Maltese Islands presented multiple gaps in the application of marine structures for local industries. Weather conditions, depth of sea bed and wave actions presented limitations on the design capabilities of the structure. Conclusion: Water structures offer great potential and conclusions demonstrate the applicability of such designs for Maltese waters. There is still no such provision within Maltese coastal areas for multi-purpose use. The introduction of such facilities presents a range of benefits for visiting tourists and locals thereby offering wide range of services to tourism and marine industry. Costs for construction and adverse weather conditions were amongst the main limitations that shaped design capacities of the water structures.

Keywords: coastal areas, lightweight, marine structure, multi purpose, versatile, floating device

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Authors: Xinrong Zong, Tao Zhang

Abstract:

Macau is known as the Oriental Monte Carlo and its economy depends on gambling heavily. The dealer is the key position of the gambling industry, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, there were over 24,000 dealers among the 56,000 full-time employees in gambling industry. More than half of dealers were female. The dealer is also called 'Croupier', the main responsibilities of them are shuffling, dealing, processing chips, rolling dice game and inspecting play. Due to the limited land and small population of Macao, the government has not allowed hiring foreign domestic dealers since Macao developed temporary gambling industry. Therefore, local dealers enjoy special advantages but also bear the high stresses from work. From the middle of last year, with the reduced income of gambling, and the decline of mainland gamblers as well as VIP lounges, the working time of dealers increased greatly. Thus, many problems occurred in this condition, such as the rise of working pressures, psychological pressures and family-responsibility pressures, which may affect job satisfaction as well. Because of the less research of dealer satisfaction, and a lack of standing on feminine perspective to analyze female dealers, this study will focus on investigating the relationship between working pressure and job satisfaction from feminine view. Several issues will be discussed specifically: firstly, to understand current situation of the working pressures and job satisfactions of female dealers in different ages; secondly, to research if there is any relevance between working pressures and job satisfactions of female dealers in different ages; thirdly, to find out the relationship between dealers' working pressures and job satisfactions in different ages. This paper combined qualitative approach with quantitative approach selected samples by convenient sampling. The research showed the female dealers from diverse ages have different kinds of working pressures; second, job satisfactions of the female dealers in different ages are dissimilar; moreover, there is negative correlation between working pressure and job satisfaction of female dealer in different ages' groups; last but not the least, working pressure has a significant negative impact on job satisfaction. The research result will provide a reference value for the Macau gambling business. It is a pattern to improve dealers' working environment, to increase employees' job satisfaction, as well as to offer tourists a better service, which can help to attract more and more visitors from a good image of Macau gaming and tourism.

Keywords: female dealers, job satisfaction, working pressure, Macau

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Authors: Fawad Hussain, Saleh Abdullah Saleh, Mohammad Basir B Saud, Mohd Azwardi Md. Isa

Abstract:

It is very important for a developing nation to develop their infrastursture on the prime priority because their infrastursture particularly their roads and transporation functions as a blood in the system. Almost 1.1 billion populations share the travel and transportation industry in India. On the other hand, the Pakistan transportation industry is also extensive and elevating about 170 million users of transportation. Indian and Pakistani specifically within bus industry have good interconnectivity within and between the urban and rural areas as well as connectivity between the two countries, which is dramatically helping the economic alleviation of both countries. Due to high economic instability, unemployment and poverty rate are among the reasons why both the governments are very committed and seriously taken further action to help boost their economy. They believe that any form of transportation development would play a vital role in the development of land, infrastructure which could indirectly support many other industries’ development, such as tourism, freighting and shipping businesses, just to mention a few. However, it seems that their previous transportation planning in the due course has failed to meet the fast growing demand. As with the spin of time, both the countries are looking forward for a reasonable, safe and economical long term solutions, which is from time to time keep appreciating and reacting according to other key economic drivers. Content analysis method and case study approach is used in this paper and secondary data from the bureau of statistic is used for case analysis. The paper centered on the mobility concerns of the lower and middle income people in India and Pakistan. The paper is aimed to highlight the weaknesses, opportunities and limitations resulting from low priority industry for government, which is making the either country's public suffer. The paper has concluded that the main issue is identified as the slow, inappropriate and unfavorable decisions which are not in favor of long term country’s economic development and public welfare as well as interest. The paper also recommends to future market sense public and private transportation, which has failed to meet the public expectations.

Keywords: bus transportation industries, transportation demand, government parallel initiatives, road and traffic congestions

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Anju Vaidya

Abstract:

Sanitation is concerned with proper disposal of human excreta, waste water and promotion of hygiene. Lack of sanitation impacts our environment affecting our finance, schooling, health, and thus exacerbating poverty, discrimination and exclusion of the marginalized group. Sanitation can be a route and one of the most important factor to reach the goals of all Millennium Development goals. This study aims at exploring what are the rights to sanitation of the people, how it is enacted and what challenges are being faced while implementing the right to sanitation in South-Asian countries (India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka) at government, non-government and international level. This study also aims at finding how right sanitation is interlinked with children rights. The available reports submitted by government and civil society organizations working in South-Asian countries from the website of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights that were submitted under International covenant on economic, social and cultural rights and Convention on rights of the child have been selected and analyzed. The study uses Literature review to analyze these UN documents submitted from 2000 to 2015 in the context of South-Asian countries. Preliminary insight reveals that sanitation is recognized as one of the important factor to attain adequate standard of living. It has been found that inadequate sanitation has been a major factor that affects all aspects of life and one of its devastating impacts is increased child mortality. Many efforts have been made at national and international level in South-Asian countries to improve the state of sanitation and sanitation services. Various approaches such as Community led Total Sanitation, School led Total Sanitation, establishing Open Defecation free zone, water supply services and other sanitation and hygiene awareness programs are being launched. Despite different efforts and programs being implemented, sanitation and hygiene practices and behavior change remains to be a big challenge. Disparity in access and imbalance between urban and rural services and geographical regions, inadequate financing, clear policy framework and fragile functionality are some of the significant challenges faced while implementing these programs. Children are one of the most vulnerable group that are affected to a large extent. The study brings into light varied approaches that are being made and challenges that are being faced by government, non-government and civil society organizations while implementing the programs and strategies related to sanitation. It also highlights the relation of sanitation as a human right with child rights. This can help the stakeholders and policymakers better understand that improving sanitation situation is a process that requires learning, planning and behavior change and achieving sanitation coverage targets and motivating behavior change requires additional tools based on participation, non-discrimination and process approaches for planning and feedback.

Keywords: challenges, child rights, open defecation, sanitation as a human right

Procedia PDF Downloads 281