Search results for: sustainable food system

Authors: Petrus Louis Nolte

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University sport in South Africa is not isolated from the complexity of globalization and professionalization of sport, as it forms an integral part of the sport development environment in South Africa. In order to align their sport programmes with global and professional requirements, several universities opted to develop elite sport programmes; recruit specialized personnel such as coaches, administrators and athletes; provide expert coaching; scientific and medical services; sports testing; fitness, technical and tactical expertise; sport psychological and rehabilitation support; academic guidance and career assistance; and student-athlete accommodation. In addition, universities provide administrative support and high-quality physical resources (training facilities) for the benefit of the overall South African sport system. Although it is not compulsory for universities to develop elite sport programmes to prepare their teams for competitions, elite competitions such as the annual Varsity Sport, University Sport South Africa (USSA) and local club competitions and leagues within university international competitions where universities not only compete but also deliver players for representative national netball teams. The aim of this study is therefore to describe the perceptions of players of the university elite netball programmes they were participating in. This study adopted a descriptive design with a quantitative approach, utilizing a self-structured questionnaire as research technique. As this research formed part of a national research project for NSA with a population of 172 national and provincial netball players, a sample of 92 university netball players from the population was selected. Content validity of the self-structured questionnaire was secured through a test-retest process, with construct validity through a member of the Statistical Consultation Services (STATCON) of the University of Johannesburg that provided feedback on the structural format of the questionnaire. Reliability was measured utilising Cronbach Alpha on p<0.005 level of significance. A reliability score of 0.87 was measured. The research was approved by the Board of Netball South Africa and ethical conduct implemented according to the processes and procedures approved by the Ethics Committees of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg with clearance number REC-01-30-2019. From the results it is evident that university elite netball programmes are professional, especially with regards to the employment of knowledgeable and competent coaches and technical officials such as team managers and sport sciences staff. These professionals have access to elite training facilities, support staff, and relatively large groups of elite players, all elements of an elite programme that could enhance the national federation’s (Netball South Africa) system. Universities could serve the dual purpose of serving as university netball clubs, as well as providing elite training services and facilities as performance hubs for national players.

Keywords: elite sport programmes, university netball, player experiences, Varsity Sport netball

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Authors: Ibtissam Mharzi Alaoui, Camélia Sehaqui

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The success of a bank depends upon its effective risk management. With the growing complexity and diversity of financial products and services, as well as the accelerating pace of globalization over the past decade, risk management is becoming increasingly difficult. thus, all measurement and monitoring functions must be much more vigorous, relevant and adequate. The Shariah non-compliance risk is specific aspect of Islamic finance which ipso facto, deserves particular attention. It affects the validity of all Islamic financial contracts and it turns out to be likely to result in considerable losses on the overall Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). The purpose of this paper is to review the theoretical literature on Shariah non-compliance risk in order to give a clearer understanding of its sources, causes and consequences. Our intention through this work is to bring added value to the Islamic finance industry all over the world. The findings provide a useful reference work for the Islamic banks in structuring (or restructuring) of their own system of shariah risk management and internal control.

Keywords: Shariah non-compliance, risk management, financial products, Islamic finance.

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Authors: DaeHae Kim, MinJun Kwon, Sewon Kim

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This study is aimed to develop ultra-low NOₓ burner using the internal recirculation of flue gas inside the combustion chamber that utilizes the momentum of intake fuel and air. Detailed experimental investigations are carried out to study these fluid dynamic effects on the emission characteristics of newly developed burner in industrial steam boiler system. Experimental parameters are distance of Venturi tube from burner, Coanda nozzle gap distance, and air sleeve length at various fuel/air ratio and thermal heat load conditions. The results showed that NOₓ concentration decreases as the distance of Venturi tube from burner increases. The CO concentration values at all operating conditions were negligible. In addition, the increase of the Coanda nozzle gap distance decreased the NOₓ concentration. It is experimentally found out that both fuel injection recirculation and air injection recirculation technique was very effective in reducing NOₓ formation.

Keywords: Coanda effect, combustion, burner, low NOₓ

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Authors: Tasawar Nawaz

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Promotion of socioeconomic justice through redistribution of wealth is one of the most salient features of Islamic economic system. Islamic financial institutions known as Islamic banks are used to implement this in practice under the guidelines of Islamic Shariah law. Islamic banking systems strive to promote and achieve financial inclusion among the society by offering interest-free banking and risk-sharing financing solutions. Shariah-compliant micro finance is one of the most popular financial instruments used by Islamic banks to enhance access to finance. Benevolent loan (or Qard-al-Hassanah) is one of the popular financial tools used by the Islamic banks to promote financial inclusion. This aspect of Islamic banking is empirically examined in this paper with specific reference to firm’s resources, largely defined here as intellectual capital. The paper finds that Islamic banks promote financial inclusion by exploiting available resources especially, the human intellectual capital.

Keywords: financial inclusion, intellectual capital, Qard-al-Hassanah, Islamic banking

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Authors: Md. Fazlul Karim, Ahmad Izani Md. Ismail, Mohammed Ashaque Meah

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This paper focuses on the development of a 2-D Boundary Fitted and Nested Grid (BFNG) model to compute the tsunami propagation of Indonesian tsunami 2004 along the coastal region of Penang in Peninsular Malaysia. In the presence of a curvilinear coastline, boundary fitted grids are suitable to represent the model boundaries accurately. On the other hand, when large gradient of velocity within a confined area is expected, the use of a nested grid system is appropriate to improve the numerical accuracy with the least grid numbers. This paper constructs a shallow water nested and orthogonal boundary fitted grid model and presents computational results of the tsunami impact on the Penang coast due to the Indonesian tsunami of 2004. The results of the numerical simulations are compared with available data.

Keywords: boundary fitted nested model, tsunami, Penang Island, 2004 Indonesian Tsunami

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Authors: Anahita Aris

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Geometry always plays a key role in natural structures, which can be a source of inspiration for architects and urban designers to create spaces. By understanding formative principles in nature, a variety of options can be provided that lead to freedom of formation. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the geometrical order found in pomegranate to find formative principles explaining its complex structure. The point is how spherical arils of pomegranate pressed together inside the fruit and filled the space as they expand in the growing process, which made a self-organized system leads to the formation of each of the arils are unique in size, topology and shape. The main challenge of this paper would be using advanced architectural modeling techniques to discover these principles.

Keywords: advanced modeling techniques, architectural modeling, computational design, the geometry of natural formation, geometrical analysis, the natural order of pomegranate, voronoi diagrams

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Authors: Shailaja Grover, Purvi Tiwari, Vigneshwaran S. R., U. Dinesh Kumar

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In India, grapes are one of the most important horticulture crops. Grapes are most vulnerable to downy mildew, which is one of the most devasting diseases. In the absence of a precise weather-based advisory system, farmers spray pesticides on their crops extensively. There are two main challenges associated with using these pesticides. Firstly, most of these sprays were panic sprays, which could have been avoided. Second, farmers use more expensive "Preventive and Eradicate" chemicals than "Systemic, Curative and Anti-sporulate" chemicals. When these chemicals are used indiscriminately, they can enter the fruit and cause health problems such as cancer. This paper utilizes decision trees and predictive modeling techniques to provide grape farmers with customized advice on grape disease management. This model is expected to reduce the overall use of chemicals by approximately 50% and the cost by around 70%. Most of the grapes produced will have relatively low residue levels of pesticides, i.e., below the permissible level.

Keywords: analytics in agriculture, downy mildew, weather based advisory, decision tree, predictive modelling

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Authors: Galit Harel

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This article describes the long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy of a young woman who had experienced trauma during her childhood. The details of the trauma were unknown, as all memory of the trauma had been repressed. Past trauma is analyzable through a prism of transference, dreaming and dreams, mental states, and thinking processes that offer an opportunity to explore and analyze the influence of both reality and fantasy on the patient. The presented case describes a therapeutic process that strives to discover hidden meanings through the unconscious system and illustrates the movement from unconscious to conscious during exploration of the patient’s personal trauma in treatment. The author discusses the importance of classical and contemporary psychoanalytic models of childhood sexual trauma through the discovery of manifest and latent content, unconscious fantasies, and actual events of trauma. It is suggested that the complexity of trauma is clarified by the tension between these models and by the inclusion of aspects of both of them for a complete understanding.

Keywords: dreams, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, thinking processes, transference, trauma

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Authors: G. Çelik Gül, F. Kurtuluş

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Rare earths containing complex metal oxides have drawn much attention due to physical, chemical and optical properties which make them feasible in so many areas such as non-linear optical materials and ion exchanger. We have researched a systematic study to obtain rare earth containing zirconium molybdate compound, characterization, investigation of crystal system and calculation of unit cell parameters.  After a successful synthesis of Nd₂Zr₃(MoO₄)₉ which is a member of rare earth metal containing complex oxides family, X-ray diffraction (XRD), High Score Plus/Rietveld refinement analysis, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) were completed to determine the crystal structure. Morphological properties and elemental composition were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Thermal properties were observed via Thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA).

Keywords: Nd₂Zr₃(MoO₄)₉, powder x-ray diffraction, solid state synthesis, zirconium molybdates

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Authors: Kathleen Frances Haigh, Mieke Nieder-Heitmann, Somayeh Farzad, Mohsen Ali Mandegari, Johann Ferdinand Gorgens

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Lignocellulose can be converted to a range of biochemicals and biofuels. Where this is derived from agricultural waste, issues of competition with food are virtually eliminated. One such source of lignocellulose is the South African sugar industry. Lignocellulose could be accessed by changes to the current farming practices and investments in more efficient boilers. The South African sugar industry is struggling due to falling sugar prices and increasing costs and it is proposed that annexing a biorefinery to a sugar mill will broaden the product range and improve viability. Process simulations of the selected chemicals were generated using Aspen Plus®. It was envisaged that a biorefinery would be annexed to a typical South African sugar mill. Bagasse would be diverted from the existing boilers to the biorefinery and mixed with harvest residues. This biomass would provide the feedstock for the biorefinery and the process energy for the biorefinery and sugar mill. Thus, in all scenarios a portion of the biomass was diverted to a new efficient combined heat and power plant (CHP). The Aspen Plus® simulations provided the mass and energy balance data to carry out an economic assessment of each scenarios. The net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and minimum selling price (MSP) was calculated for each scenario. As a starting point scenarios were generated to investigate the production of ethanol, ethanol and lactic acid, ethanol and furfural, butanol, methanol, and Fischer-Tropsch syncrude. The bypass to the CHP plant is a useful indicator of the energy demands of the chemical processes. An iterative approach was used to identify a suitable bypass because increasing this value had the combined effect of increasing the amount of energy available and reducing the capacity of the chemical plant. Bypass values ranged from 30% for syncrude production to 50% for combined ethanol and furfural production. A hurdle rate of 15.7% was selected for the IRR. The butanol, combined ethanol and furfural, or the Fischer-Tropsch syncrude scenarios are unsuitable for investment with IRRs of 4.8%, 7.5% and 11.5% respectively. This provides valuable insights into research opportunities. For example furfural from sugarcane bagasse is an established process although the integration of furfural production with ethanol is less well understood. The IRR for the ethanol scenario was 14.7%, which is below the investment criteria, but given the technological maturity it may still be considered for investment. The scenarios which met the investment criteria were the combined ethanol and lactic acid, and the methanol scenarios with IRRs of 20.5% and 16.7%, respectively. These assessments show that the production of biochemicals from lignocellulose can be commercially viable. In addition, this assessment have provided valuable insights for research to improve the commercial viability of additional chemicals and scenarios. This has led to further assessments of the production of itaconic acid, succinic acid, citric acid, xylitol, polyhydroxybutyrate, polyethylene, glucaric acid and glutamic acid.

Keywords: biorefineries, sugar mill, methanol, ethanol

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Authors: Ruijia Hu, Susanna T.Y. Tong

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Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and four-channel red, green, blue, and near-infrared (RGBI) remote sensed imageries allow an accurate quantification and contiguous measurement of vegetation characteristics and forest structures. This information facilitates the generation of habitat structure variables for forest species distribution modelling. However, applications of remote sensing data, especially the combination of structural and spectral information, to support evidence-based decisions in forest managements and conservation practices at local scale are not widely adopted. In this study, we examined the habitat requirements of pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) (PW) in Hamilton County, Ohio, using ecologically relevant forest structural and vegetation characteristics derived from LiDAR and RGBI data. We hypothesized that the habitat of PW is shaped by vegetation characteristics that are directly associated with the availability of food, hiding and nesting resources, the spatial arrangement of habitat patches within home range, as well as proximity to water sources. We used 186 PW presence or absence locations to model their presence and absence in generalized additive model (GAM) at two scales, representing foraging and home range size, respectively. The results confirm PW’s preference for tall and large mature stands with structural complexity, typical of late-successional or old-growth forests. Besides, the crown size of dead trees shows a positive relationship with PW occurrence, therefore indicating the importance of declining living trees or early-stage dead trees within PW home range. These locations are preferred by PW for nest cavity excavation as it attempts to balance the ease of excavation and tree security. In addition, we found that PW can adjust its travel distance to the nearest water resource, suggesting that habitat fragmentation can have certain impacts on PW. Based on our findings, we recommend that forest managers should use different priorities to manage nesting, roosting, and feeding habitats. Particularly, when devising forest management and hazard tree removal plans, one needs to consider retaining enough cavity trees within high-quality PW habitat. By mapping PW habitat suitability for the study area, we highlight the importance of riparian corridor in facilitating PW to adjust to the fragmented urban landscape. Indeed, habitat improvement for PW in the study area could be achieved by conserving riparian corridors and promoting riparian forest succession along major rivers in Hamilton County.

Keywords: deadwood detection, generalized additive model, individual tree crown delineation, LiDAR, pileated woodpecker, RGBI aerial imagery, species distribution models

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Authors: Binyamien Rasoul

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Portland cement is one of the most widely used construction materials in the world today; however, manufacture of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) emission significant amount of CO2 resulting environmental impact. On the other hand, rice husk ash (RHA), which is produce as by product material is generally considered to be an environmental issue as a waste material. This material (RHA) consists of non-crystalline silicon dioxide with high specific surface area and high pozzolanic reactivity. These RHA properties can demonstrate a significant influence in improving the mechanical and durability properties of mortar and concrete. Furthermore, rice husk ash can provide a cost effective and give concrete more sustainability. In this paper, chemical composition, reactive silica and fineness effect was assessed by examining five different types of RHA. Mortars and concrete specimens were molded with 5% to 50% of ash, replacing the Portland cement, and measured their compressive and tensile strength behavior. Beyond it, another two parameters had been considered: the durability of concrete blended RHA, and effect of temperature on the transformed of amorphous structure to crystalline form. To obtain the rice husk ash properties, these different types were subjected to X-Ray fluorescence to determine the chemical composition, while pozzolanic activity obtained by using X-Ray diffraction test. On the other hand, finesses and specific surface area were obtained by used Malvern Mastersizer 2000 test. The measured parameters properties of fresh mortar and concrete obtained by used flow table and slump test. While, for hardened mortar and concrete the compressive and tensile strength determined pulse the chloride ions penetration for concrete using NT Build 492 (Nord Test) – non-steady state migration test (RMT Test). The obtained test results indicated that RHA can be used as a cement replacement material in concrete with considerable proportion up to 50% percentages without compromising concrete strength. The use of RHA in the concrete as blending materials improved the different characteristics of the concrete product. The paper concludes that to exhibits a good compressive strength of OPC mortar or concrete with increase RHA replacement ratio rice husk ash should be consist of high silica content with high pozzolanic activity. Furthermore, with high amount of carbon content (12%) could be improve the strength of concrete when the silica structure is totally amorphous. As well RHA with high amount of crystalline form (25%) can be used as cement replacement when the silica content over 90%. The workability and strength of concrete increased by used of superplasticizer and it depends on the silica structure and carbon content. This study therefore is an investigation of the effect of partially replacing Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with Rice hush Ash (RHA) on the mechanical properties and durability of concrete. This paper gives satisfactory results to use RHA in sustainable construction in order to reduce the carbon footprint associated with cement industry.

Keywords: OPC, ordinary Portland cement, RHA rice husk ash, W/B water to binder ratio, CO2, carbon dioxide

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Authors: Yeongyu Choi, Ju H. Park, Ho-Youl Jung

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In this paper, we propose labeling based RANSAC algorithm for lane detection. Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have been widely researched to avoid unexpected accidents. Lane detection is a necessary system to assist keeping lane and lane departure prevention. The proposed vision based lane detection method applies Canny edge detection, inverse perspective mapping (IPM), K-means algorithm, mathematical morphology operations and 8 connected-component labeling. Next, random samples are selected from each labeling region for RANSAC. The sampling method selects the points of lane with a high probability. Finally, lane parameters of straight line or curve equations are estimated. Through the simulations tested on video recorded at daytime and nighttime, we show that the proposed method has better performance than the existing RANSAC algorithm in various environments.

Keywords: Canny edge detection, k-means algorithm, RANSAC, inverse perspective mapping

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Authors: Sofie Verstraete, Stijn Debruyne, Frederik Desplentere

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Considering environmental issues, the interest to apply sustainable materials in industry increases. Specifically for composites, there is an emerging need for suitable materials and bonding techniques. As an alternative to traditional composites, short bio-fiber (cellulose-based flax) reinforced Polylactic Acid (PLA) is gaining popularity. However, these thermoplastic based composites show issues in adhesive bonding. This research focusses on analyzing the effects of the fibers near the bonding interphase. The research applies injection molded plate structures. A first important parameter concerns the fiber volume fraction, which directly affects adhesion characteristics of the surface. This parameter is varied between 0 (pure PLA) and 30%. Next to fiber volume fraction, the orientation of fibers near the bonding surface governs the adhesion characteristics of the injection molded parts. This parameter is not directly controlled in this work, but its effects are analyzed. Surface roughness also greatly determines surface wettability, thus adhesion. Therefore, this research work considers three different roughness conditions. Different mechanical treatments yield values up to 0.5 mm. In this preliminary research, only one adhesive type is considered. This is a two-part epoxy which is cured at 23 °C for 48 hours. In order to assure a dedicated parametric study, simple and reproduceable adhesive bonds are manufactured. Both single lap (substrate width 25 mm, thickness 3 mm, overlap length 10 mm) and double lap tests are considered since these are well documented and quite straightforward to conduct. These tests are conducted for the different substrate and surface conditions. Dog bone tensile testing is applied to retrieve the stiffness and strength characteristics of the substrates (with different fiber volume fractions). Numerical modelling (non-linear FEA) relates the effects of the considered parameters on the stiffness and strength of the different joints, obtained through the abovementioned tests. Ongoing work deals with developing dedicated numerical models, incorporating the different considered adhesion parameters. Although this work is the start of an extensive research project on the bonding characteristics of thermoplastic bio-fiber reinforced composites, some interesting results are already prominent. Firstly, a clear correlation between the surface roughness and the wettability of the substrates is observed. Given the adhesive type (and viscosity), it is noticed that an increase in surface energy is proportional to the surface roughness, to some extent. This becomes more pronounced when fiber volume fraction increases. Secondly, ultimate bond strength (single lap) also increases with increasing fiber volume fraction. On a macroscopic level, this confirms the positive effect of fibers near the adhesive bond line.

Keywords: adhesive bonding, bio-fiber reinforced composite, flax fibers, lap joint

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Authors: Sherine S. Aly, Fahd A. Hemeida, Mohamed A. Elshamy

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In the face of rapid urbanization and the myriad challenges posed by climate change, population growth, and socio-economic disparities, fostering urban resilience has become paramount. This abstract offers a comprehensive overview of the study on "Urban Resilience Challenges," exploring the background, methodologies, major findings, and concluding insights. The paper unveils a spectrum of challenges encompassing environmental stressors and deep-seated socio-economic issues, such as unequal access to resources and opportunities. Emphasizing their interconnected nature, the study underscores the imperative for holistic and integrated approaches to urban resilience, recognizing the intricate web of factors shaping the urban landscape. Urbanization has witnessed an unprecedented surge, transforming cities into dynamic and complex entities. With this growth, however, comes an array of challenges that threaten the sustainability and resilience of urban environments. This study seeks to unravel the multifaceted urban resilience challenges, exploring their origins and implications for contemporary cities. Cities serve as hubs of economic, social, and cultural activities, attracting diverse populations seeking opportunities and a higher quality of life. However, the urban fabric is increasingly strained by climate-related events, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and social inequalities. Understanding the nuances of these challenges is crucial for developing strategies that enhance urban resilience and ensure the longevity of cities as vibrant and adaptive entities. This paper endeavors to discern strategic guidelines for enhancing urban resilience amidst the dynamic challenges posed by rapid urbanization. The study aims to distill actionable insights that can inform strategic approaches. Guiding the formulation of effective strategies to fortify cities against multifaceted pressures. The study employs a multifaceted approach to dissect urban resilience challenges. A qualitative method will be employed, including comprehensive literature reviews and data analysis of urban vulnerabilities that provided valuable insights into the lived experiences of resilience challenges in diverse urban settings. In conclusion, this study underscores the urgency of addressing urban resilience challenges to ensure the sustained vitality of cities worldwide. The interconnected nature of these challenges necessitates a paradigm shift in urban planning and governance. By adopting holistic strategies that integrate environmental, social, and economic considerations, cities can navigate the complexities of the 21st century. The findings provide a roadmap for policymakers, planners, and communities to collaboratively forge resilient urban futures that withstand the challenges of an ever-evolving urban landscape.

Keywords: resilient principles, risk management, sustainable cities, urban resilience

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Authors: Jose M. Gallardo, Nieves Jimenez, Andres Jimenez-Losada, Esperanza Lebron

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A game with a priori incompatibilities is a triple (N,v,g) where (N,v) is a cooperative game, and (N,g) is a graph which establishes initial incompatibilities between some players. In these games, the negotiation has two stages. In the first stage, players can only negotiate with others with whom they are compatible. In the second stage, the grand coalition will be formed. We introduce a value for these games. Given a game with a priori incompatibility (N,v,g), we consider the family of coalitions without incompatibility relations among their players. This family is a normal set system or coalition configuration Ig. Therefore, we can assign to each game with a priori incompatibilities (N,v,g) a game with coalition configuration (N,v, Ig). Now, in order to obtain a payoff vector for (N,v,g), it suffices to calculate a payoff vector for (N,v, Ig). To this end, we apply a value for games with coalition configuration. In our case, we will use the dual configuration value, which has been studied in the literature. With this method, we obtain a value for games with a priori incompatibilities, which is called the Owen value for a priori incompatibilities. We provide a characterization of this value.

Keywords: cooperative game, game with coalition configuration, graph, independent set, Owen value, Shapley value

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Authors: Naima Umar

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

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

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Authors: Asma Rebaya, Imen Amari, Kaouther Gasmi, Salem Hasnaoui

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Over these last years, the number of cores witnessed a spectacular increase in digital signal and general use processors. Concurrently, significant researches are done to get benefit from the high degree of parallelism. Indeed, these researches are focused to provide an efficient scheduling from hardware/software systems to multicores architecture. The scheduling process consists on statically choose one core to execute one task and to specify an execution order for the application tasks. In this paper, we describe an efficient scheduler that calculates the optimal number of cores required to schedule an application, gives a heuristic scheduling solution and evaluates its cost. Our proposal results are evaluated and compared with Preesm scheduler results and we prove that ours allows better scheduling in terms of latency, computation time and number of cores.

Keywords: computation time, hardware/software system, latency, optimization, multi-cores platform, scheduling

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Authors: Soheil Mohtaram, Wu Weidong, Yashar Aryanfar

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This research investigates the points with heat recovery potential in a triple-pressure cogeneration combined cycle power plant and determines the amount of waste heat that can be recovered. A modified cycle arrangement is then adopted for accessing thermal potentials. Modeling the energy system is followed by thermodynamic and energetic evaluation, and then the price of the manufactured products is also determined using the Total Revenue Requirement (TRR) method and term economic analysis. The results of optimization are then presented in a Pareto chart diagram by implementing a new model with dual objective functions, which include power cost and produce heat. This model can be utilized to identify the optimal operating point for such power plants based on electricity and heat prices in different regions.

Keywords: heat loss, recycling, unused energy, efficient production, optimization, triple-pressure cogeneration

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Authors: Md. Nazmul Haque, Mahinur Rahman

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The objective of the research is to determine the quantity of household waste generated and forecast the future condition of Ward No 24 (Nirala). For performing that, three core issues are focused: (i) the capacity and service area of the dumping stations; (ii) the present waste generation amount per capita per day; (iii) the responsibility of the local authority in the household waste collection. This research relied on field survey-based data collection from all stakeholders and GIS-based secondary analysis of waste collection points and their coverage. However, these studies are mostly based on the inherent forecasting approaches, cannot predict the amount of waste correctly. The findings of this study suggest that Nirala is a formal residential area introducing a better approach to the waste collection - self-controlled and collection system. Here, a forecasting model proposed for waste generation as Y = -2250387 + 1146.1 * X, where X = year.

Keywords: eco-friendly environment, household waste, linear regression, waste management

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Authors: Amien Rahardjo, Faiz Husnayain, Iwa Garniwa

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PLN used the kWh meter to determine the amount of energy consumed by the household customers. High precision of kWh meter is needed in order to give accuracy results as the accuracy can be decreased due to the presence of harmonic. In this study, an estimation of active power consumed was developed. Based on the first year study results, the largest deviation due to harmonics can reach up to 9.8% in 2200VA and 12.29% in 3500VA with kWh meter analog. In the second year of study, deviation of digital customer meter reaches 2.01% and analog meter up to 9.45% for 3500VA household customers. The aim of this research is to produce an estimation system to calculate the total energy consumed by household customer using analog meter so the losses due to irregularities PLN recording of energy consumption based on the measurement used Analog kWh-meter installed is avoided.

Keywords: harmonics estimation, harmonic distortion, kWh meters analog and digital, THD, household customers

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Authors: Ehsan Gholami, Vincent Demers

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Low-pressure powder injection molding is an emerging technology for cost-effectively producing complex shape metallic parts with the proper dimensional tolerances, either in high or in low production volumes. In this study, the molding properties of cobalt-chrome-based feedstocks were evaluated for use in a low-pressure powder injection molding process. The rheological properties of feedstock formulations were obtained by mixing metallic powder with a proprietary wax-based binder system. Rheological parameters such as reference viscosity, shear rate sensitivity index, and activation energy for viscous flow, were extracted from the viscosity profiles and introduced into the Weir model to calculate the moldability index. Feedstocks were experimentally injected into a spiral mold cavity to validate the injection performance calculated with the model.

Keywords: binder, feedstock, moldability, powder injection molding, viscosity

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Authors: Sigal Portnoy, Jason Friedman, Eitan Raveh

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Introduction: Sensory substitution is possible due to the capacity of our brain to adapt to information transmitted by a synthetic receptor via an alternative sensory system. Practical sensory substitution systems are being developed in order to increase the functionality of individuals with sensory loss, e.g. amputees. For upper limb prosthetic-users the loss of tactile feedback compels them to allocate visual attention to their prosthesis. The effect of adding vibrotactile feedback (VTF) to the applied force has been studied, however its effect on the allocation if visual attention during dual-tasking and the response during misleading visual feedback have not been studied. We hypothesized that VTF will improve the performance and reduce visual attention during dual-task assignments in healthy individuals using a robotic hand and improve the performance in a standardized functional test, despite the presence of misleading visual feedback. Methods: For the dual-task paradigm, twenty healthy subjects were instructed to toggle two keyboard arrow keys with the left hand to retain a moving virtual car on a road on a screen. During the game, instructions for various activities, e.g. mix the sugar in the glass with a spoon, appeared on the screen. The subject performed these tasks with a robotic hand, attached to the right hand. The robotic hand was controlled by the activity of the flexors and extensors of the right wrist, recorded using surface EMG electrodes. Pressure sensors were attached at the tips of the robotic hand and induced VTF using vibrotactile actuators attached to the right arm of the subject. An eye-tracking system tracked to visual attention of the subject during the trials. The trials were repeated twice, with and without the VTF. Additionally, the subjects performed the modified box and blocks, hidden from eyesight, in a motion laboratory. A virtual presentation of a misleading visual feedback was be presented on a screen so that twice during the trial, the virtual block fell while the physical block was still held by the subject. Results: This is an ongoing study, which current results are detailed below. We are continuing these trials with transradial myoelectric prosthesis-users. In the healthy group, the VTF did not reduce the visual attention or improve performance during dual-tasking for the tasks that were typed transfer-to-target, e.g. place the eraser on the shelf. An improvement was observed for other tasks. For example, the average±standard deviation of time to complete the sugar-mixing task was 13.7±17.2s and 19.3±9.1s with and without the VTF, respectively. Also, the number of gaze shifts from the screen to the hand during this task were 15.5±23.7 and 20.0±11.6, with and without the VTF, respectively. The response of the subjects to the misleading visual feedback did not differ between the two conditions, i.e. with and without VTF. Conclusions: Our interim results suggest that the performance of certain activities of daily living may be improved by VTF. The substitution of visual sensory input by tactile feedback might require a long training period so that brain plasticity can occur and allow adaptation to the new condition.

Keywords: prosthetics, rehabilitation, sensory substitution, upper limb amputation

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Authors: David Levy

Abstract:

The newly released Distributed System Interface 3 (DSI3) Bus Standard specification defines 3 modulation levels from which 16 valid symbols are coded. This structure creates power consumption variations depending on the transmitted data of a factor of more than 2 between minimum and maximum. The power generation unit has to consider therefore the worst case maximum consumption all the time and be built accordingly. This paper proposes a method to reduce both the average current consumption and worst case current consumption. The transmitter randomizes the data using several pseudo-random sequences. It then estimates the energy consumption of the generated frames and selects to transmit the one which consumes the least. The transmitter also prepends the index of the pseudo-random sequence, which is not randomized, to allow the receiver to recover the original data using the correct sequence. We show that in the case that the frame occupies most of the DSI3 synchronization period, we achieve average power consumption reduction by up to 13% and the worst case power consumption is reduced by 17.7%.

Keywords: DSI3, energy, power consumption, randomization

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Authors: S. A. Naeini, A. Khalili

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Nowadays, tunnels with different applications are developed, and most of them are related to subway tunnels. The excavation of shallow tunnels that pass under municipal utilities is very important, and the surface settlement control is an important factor in the design. The study sought to analyze the settlement and also to find an appropriate model in order to predict the behavior of the tunnel in Tehran subway line-3. The displacement in these sections is also determined by using numerical analyses and numerical modeling. In addition, the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) method is utilized by Hybrid training algorithm. The database pertinent to the optimum network was obtained from 46 subway tunnels in Iran and Turkey which have been constructed by the new Austrian tunneling method (NATM) with similar parameters based on type of their soil. The surface settlement was measured, and the acquired results were compared to the predicted values. The results disclosed that computing intelligence is a good substitute for numerical modeling.

Keywords: settlement, Subway Line, FLAC3D, ANFIS Method

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Authors: Zaid Jamal Saeed Almahmoud

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Smart Grid is the vision of the future power system that combines advanced monitoring and communication technologies to provide energy in a smart, efficient, and user-friendly manner. This proposal considers a demand response model in the Smart Grid based on utility maximization. Given a set of consumers with conflicting preferences in terms of consumption and a utility company that aims to minimize the peak demand and match demand to supply, we study the problem of aggregating these preferences while modelling the problem as a game. We also investigate whether an equilibrium can be reached to maximize the social benefit. Based on such equilibrium, we propose a dynamic pricing heuristic that computes the equilibrium and sets the prices accordingly. The developed approach was analysed theoretically and evaluated experimentally using real appliances data. The results show that our proposed approach achieves a substantial reduction in the overall energy consumption.

Keywords: heuristics, smart grid, aggregation, mechanism design, equilibrium

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Authors: N. G. Thangan, A. B. Deoghare, P. M. Padole

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Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) aids in modeling the prototype of a real world processes. CFD approach is useful in predicting the fluid flow, heat transfer mass transfer and other flow related phenomenon. In present study, hydrodynamic characteristics of gas-solid cylindrical fluidized bed is compared with conical fluidized beds. A 2D fluidized bed consists of different configurations of particle size of iron oxide, bed height and superficial velocities of nitrogen. Simulations are performed to capture the complex physics associated with it. The Eulerian multiphase model is prepared in ANSYS FLUENT v.14 which is used to simulate fluidization process. It is analyzed with nitrogen as primary phase and iron oxide as secondary phase. The bed hydrodynamics is assessed prominently to examine effect on fluidization time, pressure drop, minimum fluidization velocity, and gas holdup in the system.

Keywords: fluidized bed, bed hydrodynamics, Eulerian multiphase approach, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Fathi Mohamed Abdrabbo, Khaled Esayed Gaaver, Musab Musa Eldooma

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This paper presents an attempt made to investigate the behavior of a single vertical steel hollow pile embedded in sand subjected to compressive inclined load at various inclination angles α through FEM package MIDAS GTS/NX 2019. The effect of the inclination angle and slenderness ratio on the performance of the pile was investigated. Inclined load caring capacity and pile stiffness, as well as lateral deformation profiles along with the pile, were presented. The global, vertical, and horizontal load displacements of pile head, as well as the deformation profiles along the pile and the pile stiffness, are significantly affected by α. It was observed that the P-Y curves of the pile-soil system are independent of α. Also, the slenderness ratios are markedly affecting the behavior of the pile. In addition, there was a noticeable effect of the horizontal load component of the applied load on the vertical behavior of the pile, whereas there was no influence of the presence of vertical load on the horizontal behavior of the pile.

Keywords: deep foundation, piles, inclined load, pile deformations

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Authors: Beth Jacobs

Abstract:

The landmark movement of Western clinical psychology in the 20th century was the development of psychotherapy. The landmark movement of clinical psychology in the 21st century will be the absorption of meditation practices from Buddhist psychology. While millions of people explore meditation and related philosophy, very few people are exposed to the materials of original Buddhism on this topic, especially to the Theravadan Abhidharma. The Abhidharma is an intricate system of lists and matrixes that were used to understand and remember Buddha’s teaching. The Abhidharma delineates the first psychological system of Buddhism, how the mind works in the universe of reality and why meditation training strengthens and purifies the experience of life. Its lists outline the psychology of mental constructions, perception, emotion and cosmological causation. While the Abhidharma is technical, elaborate and complex, its essential purpose relates to the central purpose of clinical psychology: to relieve human suffering. Like Western depth psychology, the methodology rests on understanding underlying processes of consciousness and perception. What clinical psychologists might describe as therapeutic improvement, the Abhidharma delineates as a specific pathway of purified actions of consciousness. This paper discusses the concept of 'path' as presented in aspects of the Theravadan Abhidharma and relates this to current clinical psychological views of therapy outcomes and gains. The core path in Buddhism is the Eight-Fold Path, which is the fourth noble truth and the launching of activity toward liberation. The path is not composed of eight ordinal steps; it’s eight-fold and is described as opening the way, not funneling choices. The specific path in the Abhidharma is described in many steps of development of consciousness activities. The path is not something a human moves on, but something that moments of consciousness develop within. 'Cittas' are extensively described in the Abhidharma as the atomic-level unit of a raw action of consciousness touching upon an object in a field, and there are 121 types of cittas categorized. The cittas are embedded in the mental factors, which could be described as the psychological packaging elements of our experiences of consciousness. Based on these constellations of infinitesimal, linked occurrences of consciousness, citta are categorized by dimensions of purification. A path is a chain of citta developing through causes and conditions. There are no selves, no pronouns in the Abhidharma. Instead of me walking a path, this is about a person working with conditions to cultivate a stream of consciousness that is pure, immediate, direct and generous. The same effort, in very different terms, informs the work of most psychotherapies. Depth psychology seeks to release the bound, unconscious elements of mental process into the clarity of realization. Cognitive and behavioral psychologies work on breaking down automatic thought valuations and actions, changing schemas and interpersonal dynamics. Understanding how the original Buddhist concept of positive human development relates to the clinical psychological concept of therapy weaves together two brilliant systems of thought on the development of human well being.

Keywords: Abhidharma, Buddhist path, clinical psychology, psychotherapeutic outcome

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Authors: Sumit Kumar Vishwakarma

Abstract:

The aim of the paper is to investigate the influence of inhomogeneity associated with the elastic constants and density of the orthotropic medium. The inhomogeneity is considered as exponential function of depth. The impact of gravity had been discussed. Using the concept of separation of variables, the system of a partial differential equation (equation of motion) has been converted into ordinary differential equation, which is coupled in nature. It further reduces to a biquadratic equation whose roots were found by using MATLAB. A suitable boundary condition is employed to derive the dispersion equation in a closed-form. Numerical simulations had been performed to show the influence of the inhomogeneity parameter. It was observed that as the numerical values of increases, the phase velocity of Rayleigh waves decreases at a particular wavenumber. Graphical illustrations were drawn to visualize the effect of the increasing and decreasing values of the inhomogeneity parameter. It can be concluded that it has a remarkable bearing on the phase velocity as well as damping velocity.

Keywords: Rayleigh waves, orthotropic medium, gravity field, inhomogeneity

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