Search results for: black/green tea

Authors: Domenico Chizzoniti, Monica Moscatelli, Letizia Cattani, Luca Preis

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A primary healthcare facility in developing countries should be a multifunctional space able to respond to different requirements: Flexibility, modularity, aggregation and reversibility. These basic features could be better satisfied if applied to an architectural artifact that complies with the typological, figurative and constructive aspects of the context in which it is located. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify a procedure that can define the figurative aspects of the architectural structure of the health prototype for the marginal areas of developing countries through a critical approach. The application context is the rural areas of the Northeast of Bahia in Brazil. The prototype should be located in the rural district of Quingoma, in the municipality of Lauro de Freitas, a particular place where there is still a cultural fusion of black and indigenous populations. Based on the historical analysis of settlement strategies and architectural structures in spaces of public interest or collective use, this paper aims to provide a procedure able to identify the categories and rules underlying typological and figurative aspects, in order to detect significant and generalizable elements, as well as materials and constructive techniques typically adopted in the rural areas of Brazil. The object of this work is therefore not only the recovery of certain constructive approaches but also the development of a procedure that integrates the requirements of the primary healthcare prototype with its surrounding economic, social, cultural, settlement and figurative conditions.

Keywords: architectural typology, developing countries, local construction techniques, primary health care.

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Authors: N. Ouslimani, M. T. Abadlia, S. Yakoub, F. Tebbani

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Water has always been synonymous with life and growth. Blue gold is first essential to the survival of the human being whose body consists of more than 65% with the development of industrialization and consumption patterns; volumes of wastewater discharges have increased considerably whether industrial or domestic, waste water must be purified before discharge. Treatment, therefore, aims to reduce the pollution load which contain. The resources in Algeria are limited and unevenly distributed. Thus, to meet all the water needs of the country and to preserve the waters of good quality drinking water supply, one solution would be to use them according to their quality and to irrigate crops for the food or be directed to the irrigation of green areas or sports complex. The purification performance of this STEP has been established since the pH analyzed pollution criteria (7.36) and temperature (16°C), MES (10 mg / l), electrical conductivity (1122 / µs / cm), DBO5 (6mg / l), DCO (15mg / l) meet the discharge standards. Arguably the purified water discharged out of the boumerdes STEP comply with Algerian regulations and can be reused in agriculture. COD biodegradability of the coefficient / BOD5 is 2.5 (less than 3) indicates that of the effluent are biodegradable hence their urban origin.

Keywords: irrigation, recovery, treated, wastewater

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Authors: Daniela Tapusi, Adrian Andronic, Naomi Tufan, Ruxandra Erbașu, Ioana Teodorescu

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The proposed theme of this article falls within the policy of reducing carbon emissions imposed by the ‘Green New Deal’ by replacing structural elements made of energy-intensive materials with ecological materials. In this sense, wood has many qualities (high strength/mass and stiffness/mass ratio, low specific gravity, recovery/recycling) that make it competitive with classic building materials. The topological optimization of the linear glulam elements, resulting from different types of analysis (Finite Element Method, simple regression on metamodels), tests on models or by Monte-Carlo simulation, leads to a material reduction of more than 10%. This article proposes a method of obtaining topologically optimized shapes for different types of glued laminated timber beams. The results obtained will constitute the database for AI training.

Keywords: timber, glued laminated timber, artificial-intelligence, environment, carbon emissions

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Authors: Zahra Khoshnood, Reza Khoshnood

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The aim of present study was to monitor the presence of Trichodina sp. in Rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss collected from various fish farms in the western provinces of Iran during January, 2013- January, 2014. Out of 675 sampled fish 335, (49.16%) were infested with Trichodina. The highest prevalence was observed in the spring and winter followed by autumn and summer. In general, the intensity of infection was low except in cases where outbreaks of Trichodiniasis endangered the survival of fish in some ponds. In light infestation Trichodina is usually present on gills, fins and skin of apparently healthy fish. Clinical signs of Trichodiniasis only appear on fish with heavy infections and cases of moderate ones that are usually exposed to one or more stress factors including, rough handling during transportation from ponds, overcrowdness, malnutrition, high of free ammonia and low of oxygen concentration. Clinical signs of Trichodiniasis in sampled fish were sluggish movement, loss of appetite, black coloration, necrosis and ulcer on different parts of the body, detached scales and excessive accumulation of mucous in gill pouches. The most obvious histopathological changes in diseased fish were sloughing of the epidermal layer, aggregation of leucocytes and melanine-carrying cells (between the dermis and hypodermis) and proliferative changes including hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the epithelial lining cells of gill filaments which resulted in fusion of secondary lamellae. Control of Trichodiniasis, has been achieved by formalin bath treatment at a concentration of 250 ppm for one hour.

Keywords: gill, histopathology, rainbow trout, Trichodina

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Authors: Ya-Chuan Tseng, Hsin-Yi Liu, Meei-Fang Lou, Guey-Shiun Huang

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Purpose: Sensory impairments are common in older adults. Hearing and visual impairments affect their physical and mental health and quality of life (QOL) adversely. However, systematic reviews of the relationship between hearing impairment, visual impairment, dual sensory impairment and quality of life are scarce. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the relationship between hearing impairment, visual impairment, dual sensory impairment and quality of life. Methods: Searches of EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library and Airiti Library were conducted between January 2006 and December 2017 using the keywords ‘quality of life,’ ‘life satisfaction,’ ‘well-being,’ ‘hearing impairment’ and ‘visual impairment’ Two authors independently assessed methodologic quality using a modified Downs and Black tool. Data were extracted by the first author and then cross-checked by the second author. Results: Twenty-three studies consisting mostly of community-dwelling older adults were included in our review. Sensory impairment was found to be in significant association with quality of life, with an increase in hearing impairment or visual impairment severity resulting in a lower quality of life. Quality of life for dual sensory impairment was worse than for hearing impairment or visual impairment individually. Conclusions: A significant association was confirmed between hearing impairment, visual impairment, dual sensory impairment and quality of life. Our review can be used to enhance health care personnel’s understanding of sensory impairment in older adults and enable healthcare personnel to actively assess older adults’ sensory functions so that they can help alleviate the negative impact of sensory impairments on QOL in older adults.

Keywords: nursing, older adults, quality of life, systematic review, hearing impairment, visual impairment

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Authors: Miraz Hafiz Rossy

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As part of planning to address shortfalls in fresh water supply for the world, Sea water can be a huge source of fresh water. But Desalinating sea water to get fresh water could require a lots of fossil fuels. To save the fossil fuel in terms of save the green world but meet the up growing need for fresh water, a very useful but energy efficient method needs to be introduced. Vacuum desalination of sea water using only the Renewable energy can be an effective solution to this issue. Taking advantage of sensitivity of water's boiling point to air pressure a vacuum desalination water treatment plant can be designed which would only use sea water as feed water and solar energy as fuel to produce fresh drinking water. The study indicates that reducing the air pressure to a certain value water can be boiled at very low temperature. Using solar energy to provide the condensation and the vacuum creation would be very useful and efficient. Compared to existing resources, desalination is considered to be expensive, but using only renewable energy the cost can be reduced significantly. Despite its very few drawbacks, it can be considered a possible solution to the world's fresh water shortages.

Keywords: desalination, scarcity of fresh water, water purification, water treatment

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Authors: Ni̇sa Yeni̇kalayci, Türkan Aybi̇ke Akarca

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The ability of correlation the number and space relations, one of the basic scientific process skills, is being used in the transformation of a two-dimensional object into a three-dimensional image or in the expression of symmetry axes of the object. With this research, it is aimed to determine the ability of science students to establish number and space relations. The research was carried out with a total of 90 students studying in the first semester of the Science Education program of a state university located in the Turkey’s Black Sea Region in the fall semester of 2017-2018 academic year. An ‘Integrative Perception Test (IPT)’ was designed by the researchers to collect the data. Within the scope of IPT, the courses and workbooks specific to the field of science were scanned and the ones without symmetrical structure from the visual items belonging to the ‘Physics - Chemistry – Biology’ sub-fields were selected and listed. During the application, it was expected that students would imagine and draw images of the missing half of the visual items that were given incomplete in the first place. The data obtained from the test in which there are 30 images or pictures in total (f Physics = 10, f Chemistry = 10, f Biology = 10) were analyzed descriptively based on the drawings created by the students as ‘complete (2 points), incomplete/wrong (1 point), empty (0 point)’. For the teaching of new concepts in small aged groups, images or pictures showing symmetrical structures and similar applications can also be used.

Keywords: integrative perception, number and space relations, science education, scientific process skills

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Authors: M. M. Ali, Ahmed Al- Ani, Derek Eamus, Daniel K. Y. Tan

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In this glasshouse study, we developed the new image-based non-destructive technique for detecting leaf P status of different crops such as cotton, tomato and lettuce. Plants were allowed to grow on nutrient media containing different P concentrations, i.e. 0%, 50% and 100% of recommended P concentration (P0 = no P, L; P1 = 2.5 mL 10 L-1 of P and P2 = 5 mL 10 L-1 of P as NaH2PO4). After 10 weeks of growth, plants were harvested and data on leaf P contents were collected using the standard destructive laboratory method and at the same time leaf images were collected by a handheld crop image sensor. We calculated leaf area, leaf perimeter and RGB (red, green and blue) values of these images. This data was further used in the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to estimate leaf P contents, which successfully classified these plants on the basis of leaf P contents. The data indicated that P deficiency in crop plants can be predicted using the image and morphological data. Our proposed non-destructive imaging method is precise in estimating P requirements of different crop species.

Keywords: image-based techniques, leaf area, leaf P contents, linear discriminant analysis

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Authors: Mingbao Chen

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After Rio+20, the blue economy rises all over the world, and it has become the focus field of national development. At present, the blue economy has become a new growth point in the field of global economy and the direction of the development of ‘green’ in the ocean. However, in fact, the key factors affecting the development of the blue economy have not been explored in depth, and the development policies and performance of the blue economy have not been scientifically evaluated. This cannot provide useful guidance for the development of the blue economy. Therefore, it is urgent to establish a quantitative evaluation framework to measure the performance of the blue economic development. Based on the full understanding of the connotation and elements of the blue economy, and studying the literature, this article has built an universality and operability evaluation index system, including ecological environment, social justice, sustainable growth, policy measures, and so on. And this article also established a sound evaluation framework of blue economic development performance. At the same time, this article takes China as a sample to test the framework of the adaptability, and to assess the performance of China's blue economic.

Keywords: Blue economy, development performance, evaluation framework, assess method

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Authors: Sang-Ryong Lee, Min-Woon Jung, Deugwoo Han, Kiyong Kim

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This study laid an emphasis on the possible employment of biochar generated from pyrolysis of animal excreta to establish a green platform for producing biodiesel. To this end, the pseudo-catalytic transesterification reaction using chicken manure biochar and waste cooking oil was investigated. Compared with a commercial porous material (SiO2), chicken manure biochar generated from 350 C showed better performance, resulting in 95.6% of the FAME yield at 350C. The Ca species in chicken manure biochar imparted strong catalytic capability by providing the basicity for transesterification. The identified catalytic effect also led to the thermal cracking of unsaturated FAMEs, which decreased the overall FAME yield. For example, 40–60% of converted FAMEs were thermally degraded. To avoid undesirable thermal cracking arising from the high content of the Ca species in chicken manure biochar, the fabrication of chicken manure biochar at temperatures ≥350C was highly recommended.

Keywords: Trasesterification, Animal excreta, FAME, Biochar, Chicken manure

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Authors: L.Vaz, L. Ferreira, R. Aparício, J. Pedro, M. Franco

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This article concerns a qualitative analysis, through an interview, regarding “Sustainability Adoption Barriers in SMEs.” To begin with, the article provides a state-of-the-art overview through fifty-seven articles initially extracted from the Scopus database. The articles were analyzed, and four main clusters emerged in the literature: 1) sustainability and small and medium-sized companies; 2) sustainable business models; 3) sustainability practices adoption procedures, and 4) adoption difficulties on sustainability practices. Utilizing interviews as a methodology, the article seeks to strengthen knowledge regarding sustainability practices, their barriers and the sustainable procedures adopted by SMEs in a Portuguese context. The results demonstrate that the literature agrees with this case study, where there are numerous sustainable practices, yet, due to financial, political, cultural, and technological factors, barriers emerge in the adoption process. By comparing the literature findings with the conducted interviews of interior Portuguese SMEs, this article develops a contribution to the scientific community through a captivating, intuitive and motivating way.

Keywords: barriers, practices, business model, green

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Authors: Nurul Ain Haron, Saiful Hazmi Bachek, Hafez Zainudin

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This study is aimed to establish the importance and contribution of Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) in Malaysian Furniture Industry and to close the gap between the players in the industry. The study confirms that today’s furniture industry favor Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) basis. Thus, resulting in the local industry lacking the expertise of designing furniture to a state of no contest. This study method used consists of literature reviews, observation, questionnaire and sessions of interviews. The result shows that the public has from minimum to almost no knowledge of the term Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) concept and the impact towards our current future industry. The manufacturers however, prefers Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) concept due to its easy and fast investment returns with the need of product designing process, while the interviews carried out with the authorized council had some convincing urges of doing their part promoting the awareness through trainings and seminars. Findings show that, in the rush of archiving ODM status needs extensive cooperation from many parties that are authorized council, furniture manufacturers, designers and also the public perceptions of labeling local made goods as the black goat. The current mind set of OEM manufacturers need to be change for industry’s future. As Malaysia’s living status constantly increases, so will the demands of a better salary. If these current issues are not resolved, OEM international buyers will definitely have to shift to some other lower cost manufacturer like China or Taiwan. When vendors stopped to order, today’s OEM manufacturers will no longer exist in the future.

Keywords: design manufacturing, furniture design, original design manufacturing, original equipment manufacturing

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Authors: Hamed Hakim, Roderic Archambault, Charles J. Kibert, Maryam Mirhadi Fard

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Changes in the patterns of life in the late 20th and early 21st century have created new challenges for educational systems. Greening the physical environment of school buildings has emerged as a response to some of those challenges and led to the design of energy efficient K-12 school buildings. With the advancement in knowledge and technology, the successful construction of Net Zero Energy Schools, such as the Lady Bird Johnson Middle School demonstrates a cutting edge generation of sustainable schools, and solves the former challenge of attaining energy self-sufficient educational facilities. There are approximately twenty net zero energy K-12 schools in the U.S. of which about six are located in Climate Zone 5 and 6 based on ASHRAE climate zone classification. This paper aims to describe and analyze the current status of energy efficient and NZE schools in Canada. An attempt is made to study existing U.S. energy neutral strategies closest to the climate zones in Canada (zones 5 and 6) and identify the best practices for Canadian schools.

Keywords: Canada K-12 schools, green school, energy efficient, net-zero energy schools

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Authors: Ahmed El-Banbi, Ahmed El-Maraghi

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PVT properties are needed as input data in all reservoir, production, and surface facilities engineering calculations. In the absence of PVT reports on valid reservoir fluid samples, engineers rely on PVT correlations to generate the required PVT data. The accuracy of PVT correlations varies, and no correlation group has been found to provide accurate results for all oil types. The effect of inaccurate PVT data can be significant in engineering calculations and is well documented in the literature. Bubble point pressure can sometimes be obtained from external sources. In this paper, we show how to utilize the known bubble point pressure to improve the accuracy of calculated PVT properties from correlations. We conducted a systematic study using around 250 reservoir oil samples to quantify the effect of pre-knowledge of bubble point pressure. The samples spanned a wide range of oils, from very volatile oils to black oils and all the way to low-GOR oils. A method for shifting both undersaturated and saturated sections of the PVT properties curves to the correct bubble point is explained. Seven PVT correlation families were used in this study. All PVT properties (e.g., solution gas-oil ratio, formation volume factor, density, viscosity, and compressibility) were calculated using the correct bubble point pressure and the correlation estimated bubble point pressure. Comparisons between the calculated PVT properties and actual laboratory-measured values were made. It was found that pre-knowledge of bubble point pressure and using the shifting technique presented in the paper improved the correlation-estimated values by 10% to more than 30%. The most improvement was seen in the solution gas-oil ratio and formation volume factor.

Keywords: PVT data, PVT properties, PVT correlations, bubble point pressure

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Authors: Agustinus Rudatyo Himamunanto, Anastasia Rita Widiarti

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Transliteration using Javanese manuscripts is one of methods to preserve and legate the wealth of literature in the past for the present generation in Indonesia. The transliteration manual process commonly requires philologists and takes a relatively long time. The automatic transliteration process is expected to shorten the time so as to help the works of philologists. The preprocessing and segmentation stage firstly done is used to manage the document images, thus obtaining image script units that will compile input document images free from noise and have the similarity in properties in the thickness, size, and slope. The next stage of characteristic extraction is used to find unique characteristics that will distinguish each Javanese script image. One of characteristics that is used in this research is the number of black pixels in each image units. Each image of Java scripts contained in the data training will undergo the same process similar to the input characters. The system testing was performed with the data of the book Hamong Tani. The book Hamong Tani was selected due to its content, age and number of pages. Those were considered sufficient as a model experimental input. Based on the results of random page automatic transliteration process testing, it was determined that the maximum percentage correctness obtained was 81.53%. The percentage of success was obtained in 32x32 pixel input image size with the 5x5 image window. With regard to the results, it can be concluded that the automatic transliteration model offered is relatively good.

Keywords: Javanese script, character recognition, statistical, automatic transliteration

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Authors: Sahar Esmaeili, Ramezanali Ghaderi sanavi, Masoomeh Maarefvand, Samaneh Hosseinzadeh

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Introduction: Conducted researches reveal that nowadays, 60 percent of women around the world are the households. The adverse economic condition causes female-headed households and their children to be the most vulnerable people against social harm. Mainly a symptoms of mental illness such as depression, anxiety, obsession and aggression can be seen in female-headed households and their children are potentially exposed to issues such as crime-work, child labor in the black and informal jobs, education deprivation and malnutrition. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of Orem self-care education with the FGC technique on the public health of female-headed households. Methods: Sixty-four Female-headed householders who were supported by Saleh Foundation participated in a clinical trial study and were assigned to the case (n=32) and control (n=32) groups. The case group received 4-session Orem’s self-care education with family group conferencing technique. Data were collected using the demographic questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) prior to intervention and post-intervention. ANOVA was used to evaluate outcomes. Results: The results showed significant improvement of the intervention group in GHQ (P<0.001) and subscales of Physical Health (P<0.001) Agitation and Insomnia (P<0.001) and Social disorder (P<0.001) and Depression (P<0.001) compared with the control group after the intervention. Conclusion: The intervention of Orem’s self-care education with family group conferencing technique was effective in improving the General Health of Female-headed households

Keywords: orem’s self-care, female-headed households, general health, group

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Authors: Lucas Aerre, Wallesson Faria, Roberto Pimentel, Juliana Santos

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An extremely disturbing and irritating element in the lives of people and organizations is the noise, the consequences that can bring us has a lot of connection with human health as well as financial and economic aspects. In order to improve the efficiency of buildings in Brazil in general, a performance standard was created, NBR 15.575 in which all buildings are seen in a more systemic and peculiar way, while following the requirements of the standard. The acoustic performance present in these buildings is one such requirement. Based on this, the present work was elaborated with the objective of evaluating through acoustic measurements the acoustic performance of vertical internal fences that are under the incidence of aerial noise of a building in the city of Brasilia-DF. A short theoretical basis is made and soon after the procedures of measurement are described through the control method established by the standard, and its results are evaluated according to the parameters of the same. The measurement performed between rooms of the same unit, presented a standardized sound pressure level difference (D nT, w) equal to 40 dB, thus being classified within the minimum performance required by the standard in question.

Keywords: airborne noise, performance standard, soundproofing, vertical seal

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Authors: S. Rida, O. Saadani Hassani, Q. R’zina, N. Saadaoui, K. Fares

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Wastewater treatment stations create large quantities of sludge, whose treatment is poorly underestimated in the draft installation. However, chemical analysis of sludge reveals their important concentration in fertilizer elements including nitrogen and phosphorus. The direct application of sludge can reveal contamination of the food chain because of their chemical and organic micropollutants load. Therefore, there is a need of treatment process before use. The treatment by composting of this sludge mixed with three different proportions of sugar beet lime sludge (0%, 20%,30%) and green waste permits to obtain a stable compost rich in mineral elements, having a pleasant smell and relatively hygienic. In addition, the use of compost in agriculture positively affects the plant-soil system. Thus, this study shows that the supply of compost improves the physical properties of the soil and its agronomic quality, which results in an increase in the biomass of cultivated radish plants and a larger crop.

Keywords: agriculture, composting, soil, sugar beet lime, wastewater

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Authors: Michelle Micah Augustine

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Soap opera narrative creates a sense of community. Uzalo is a South African local soap opera television series. It is unique because Uzalo tells the story of black people and their everyday struggle centered in KwaMashu township community, which is an excellent example of how moving image culture has contributed in portraying township community that was once marginalized by the apartheid regime in contemporary South Africa. While soap opera importance and promotion of social change and behaviours have been extensively studied throughout history, little research has examined the importance of space and place in its narrative. This study explored the conventional community space and place, the core elements that drive soap opera narrative. By means of qualitative content analysis, the study investigated the construction of public meeting places in Uzalo, using a purposive sampling technique to collect data by choosing episodes. The result indicates that characters convergence in public meeting places in soap opera creates disequilibrium which drives the narrative; reveals that construction of a public meeting place is an important way of creating a minimum of homogeneousness among disparate characters, gives a sense of unified experience drawing on the notion of the particular characteristics or attitude generated from such place. The result shows that the use of camera angles, movements, editing, music and usual tricks (mise-en-scene) applied in the narrative setting function as a guide for viewers comprehension of emotional responses of the story and to connect with the space in which the narrative is set.

Keywords: community, narrative, place, space, soap opera

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Authors: Youping Huang, Yang Liu

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Mountainous cities have unique landscape relationship, topography and urban spatial pattern different from plain cities, which put forward different requirements for greenway system planning strategy. Taking the greenway planning of Chengkou County in Chongqing as an example, this paper discusses the greenway system planning strategy of mountainous cities based on urban and rural green space, urban landscape resources, human resources and other factors. Through multi-angle maintenance of landscape pattern, multi-objective integration of urban resources, multi-level construction of greenway network, and multi-interactive development control, the sustainable development of mountain city landscape resources is realized, the new urban ecology is constructed, and the quality of life of urban and rural residents is improved.

Keywords: greenway planning, mountain city, landscape pattern, cultural resources, chongqing

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Authors: Karen de Andrade

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Literature is generally understood as an aesthetic creation, an artistic object that relates to the history and sociocultural paradigms of a given era. Moreover, through it, we can dwell on the deepest reflections on the human condition. It can also be used to propagate projects of domination, as Edward Said points out in his book Culture and Imperialism, connecting narrative, history and land conquest. Having said that, the aim of this paper is to analyse how Wole Soyinka elaborated his main theoretical work, Myth, Literature and African World, a collection of essays published in 1976, by comparing the philosophical, ideological and aesthetic practices of African, diasporic and European writers from the point of view of the Yoruba tradition, to which he belongs. Moreover, Soyinka believes that (literary) art has an important function in the formation of a people, in the construction of its political identity and in cultural regeneration, especially after the independence. The author's critical endeavour is that of attempting to construct a past. For him, the "African World" is not a mere allegory of the continent, and to understand it in this way would be to perpetuate a colonialist vision that would deny the subjectivities that cross black cultures, history and bodies. For him, comparative literature can be used not to "equate" local African texts with the European canon; but rather to recognise that they have aesthetic value and socio-cultural importance. Looking at the local, the particular and specific to each culture is, according to Soyinka, appropriate for dealing with African cultures, as opposed to abstractions of dialectical materialism or capitalist nationalism. In view of this, in his essays, the author creates a possibility for artistic and social reflection beyond the logic of Western politics.

Keywords: comparative literature, African Literature, Literary Theory, Yoruba Mythology, Wole Soyinka, Afrodiaspora

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Authors: Xiangrong Liu, Chuanhui Xiong

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With the concern of large pollution emissions from coal-fired power plants and new commitment to green energy, global solar power industry was emerging recently. Due to the advanced technology, the price of solar photovoltaic(PV) module was reduced at a fast rate, which arose an interesting but challenge question to solar supply chain. This research is modeling the inventory strategies for a PV supply chain with a PV manufacturer, an assembler and an end customer. Through characterizing the manufacturer's and PV assembler's optimal decision in decentralized and centralized situation, this study shed light on how to improve supply chain performance through parameters setting in the contract design. The results suggest the assembler to lower the optimal stock level gradually each period before price reduction and set up a newsvendor base-stock policy in all periods after price reduction. As to the PV module manufacturer, a non-stationary produce-up-to policy is optimal.

Keywords: photovoltaic, supply chain, inventory policy, base-stock policy

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Authors: Hasibe Caballero-Gomez, Richard Pepino

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Childhood lead poisoning is an issue that continues to plague major U.S. cities. Lead poisoning has been linked to decreases in academic achievement and IQ at levels as low as 5 ug/dL. Despite efforts from the Philadelphia Health Department to curtail systemic childhood lead poisoning, children continue to be identified with elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs) above the CDC reference level for diagnosis. This problem disproportionately affects low-income Black communities. At the moment, remediation is costly, and with the current policies in place, comprehensive remediation seems unrealistic. This research investigates community engagement policy and the ways pre-exisiting resources in target communities can be adjusted to decrease childhood lead poisoning. The study was done with two methods: content analysis and case studies. The content analysis includes 12 interviews from stakeholders and five published policy recommendations. The case studies focus on Baltimore, Chicago, Rochester, and St. Louis, four cities with significant childhood lead poisoning. Target communities were identified by mapping five factors that indicate a higher risk for lead poisoning. Seven priority zipcodes were identified for the model developed in this study. For these urban centers, 28 policy solutions and suggestions were identified, with three being identified at least four times in the content analysis and case studies. These three solutions create an interdependent model that offers increased community awareness and engagement with the issue that could potentially improve health and social outcomes for at-risk children.

Keywords: at-risk populations, community engagement, environmental justice, policy translation

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Authors: Lai Wenfang

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Tthis study will describe how to use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to build the user-oriented platform for integrated archival service. The platform will be launched in 2020 by the National Archives Administration (NAA) in Taiwan. With the progression of information communication technology (ICT) the NAA has built many systems to provide archival service. In order to cope with new challenges, such as new ICT, artificial intelligence or blockchain etc. the NAA will try to use the natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) skill to build a training model and propose suggestions based on the data sent to the platform. NAA expects the platform not only can automatically inform the sending agencies’ staffs which records catalogues are against the transfer or destroy rules, but also can use the model to find the details hidden in the catalogues and suggest NAA’s staff whether the records should be or not to be, to shorten the auditing time. The platform keeps all the users’ browse trails; so that the platform can predict what kinds of archives user could be interested and recommend the search terms by visualization, moreover, inform them the new coming archives. In addition, according to the Archives Act, the NAA’s staff must spend a lot of time to mark or remove the personal data, classified data, etc. before archives provided. To upgrade the archives access service process, the platform will use some text recognition pattern to black out automatically, the staff only need to adjust the error and upload the correct one, when the platform has learned the accuracy will be getting higher. In short, the purpose of the platform is to deduct the government digital transformation and implement the vision of a service-oriented smart government.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, natural language processing, machine learning, visualization

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Authors: D. Zahran, M. AlKhazindar, M. Khalil, E. T. A. Sayed

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Streptomyces scabies is a pathogenic actinomycete that infects potato crop causing severe production losses. Actinophages affect the composition and diversity of the bacterial population, thereby, can be used as a biological control. Samples of actinomycetes and phages were collected from different cultivated soils including farms of Faculty of Science, Faculty of Agriculture and different locations in Giza, Egypt. Actinomycetes were identified by using biochemical, morphological tests and molecular studies using 16S rRNA sequencing. Two specific phages (E1 and E2) against Streptomyces scabies and other hosts were isolated. Phages were identified using dilution end point (DEP), longevity in vitro (LIV), thermal inactivation point (TIP), host range and electron microscopy. PhageE1 was characterized by 10-8 (DEP),180 days(LIV), 95°C(TIP), narrow host range and electron microscopy showed ahead (59.9 nm) and neck (10.4nm). On the other hand phageE2 had 10-20 (DEP),180 days(LIV), 90°C(TIP), and the size of head was (67.2 nm) and tail (114nm). Antiviral activity was also studied using different chemicals (NaCL, KCL, CaCL2, BaCL2, CoCL2, AgNO3, ALCL3and HgCL2) with different concentrations and different plant extracts with different concentrations (star anise, tea, tillia, peppermint, ginger, cumin, chamomile, turmeric cinnamon, marjoram and black cumin). Both Phage E1and phage E2 were vulnerable to (cumin, ginger, chamomile, guavas leaves and star anise) but resistant to (Tillie, marjoram, fennelflower seeds, peppermint, and cinnamon).

Keywords: potato scab, actinophages, biological control, electron microscopy, TIP, DEP, LIV, antiviral activity

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Authors: Raphael de Oliveira Garcia, Samuel Rocha de Oliveira

Abstract:

We have developed a new computer program in Fortran 90, in order to obtain numerical solutions of a system of Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamics partial differential equations with predetermined gravitation (GRMHD), capable of simulating the formation of relativistic jets from the accretion disk of matter up to his ejection. Initially we carried out a study on numerical methods of unidimensional Finite Volume, namely Lax-Friedrichs, Lax-Wendroff, Nessyahu-Tadmor method and Godunov methods dependent on Riemann problems, applied to equations Euler in order to verify their main features and make comparisons among those methods. It was then implemented the method of Finite Volume Centered of Nessyahu-Tadmor, a numerical schemes that has a formulation free and without dimensional separation of Riemann problem solvers, even in two or more spatial dimensions, at this point, already applied in equations GRMHD. Finally, the Nessyahu-Tadmor method was possible to obtain stable numerical solutions - without spurious oscillations or excessive dissipation - from the magnetized accretion disk process in rotation with respect to a central black hole (BH) Schwarzschild and immersed in a magnetosphere, for the ejection of matter in the form of jet over a distance of fourteen times the radius of the BH, a record in terms of astrophysical simulation of this kind. Also in our simulations, we managed to get substructures jets. A great advantage obtained was that, with the our code, we got simulate GRMHD equations in a simple personal computer.

Keywords: finite volume methods, central schemes, fortran 90, relativistic astrophysics, jet

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Authors: Nurul-Akidah M. Yusak, Rahmah Mohamed, Noor Zuhaira Abd Aziz

Abstract:

The introduction of degradable plastic materials into agricultural sectors has represented a promising alternative to promote green agriculture and environmental friendly of modern farming practices. Major challenges of developing degradable agricultural films are to identify the most feasible types of degradation mechanisms, composition of degradable polymers and related processing techniques. The incorrect choice of degradable mechanisms to be applied during the degradation process will cause premature losses of mechanical performance and strength. In order to achieve controlled process of agricultural film degradation, the compositions of degradable agricultural film also important in order to stimulate degradation reaction at required interval of time and to achieve sustainability of the modern agricultural practices. A set of photodegradable polyethylene based agricultural film was developed and produced, following the selective optimization of processing parameters of the agricultural film manufacturing system. Example of agricultural films application for oil palm seedlings cultivation is presented.

Keywords: photodegradable polyethylene, plasticulture, processing schemes

Procedia PDF Downloads 510

Authors: Zs. Kovács, Zs. J. Viharos, J. Kodácsy

Abstract:

As a well-known conventional finishing process, the grinding is commonly used to manufacture seal mating surfaces and bearing surfaces, but is also creates twisted surfaces. The machined surfaces by turning or grinding usually have twist structure on the surfaces, which can convey lubricants such as conveyor screw. To avoid this phenomenon, have to use special techniques or machines, for example start-stop turning, tangential turning, ultrasonic protection or special toll geometries. All of these solutions have high cost and difficult usability. In this paper, we describe a system and summarize the results of the experimental research carried out mainly in the field of Magnetic Abrasive Polishing (MAP) and Magnetic Roller Burnishing (MRB). These technologies are simple and also green while able to produce twist-free surfaces. During the tests, C45 normalized steel was used as workpiece material which was machined by simple and Wiper geometrical turning inserts in a CNC turning lathe. After the turning, the MAP and MRB technologies can be used directly to reduce the twist of surfaces. The evaluation was completed by advanced measuring and IT equipment.

Keywords: magnetism, finishing, polishing, roller burnishing, twist-free

Procedia PDF Downloads 570

Authors: R. M. R. Hussein

Abstract:

Sustainable urban waterfront development is one of the most interesting phenomena of urban renewal in the last decades. However, there are still many cities whose visual image is compromised due to the lack of a sustainable urban waterfront development, which consequently affects the place of those cities globally. This paper aims to reimagine the role of waterfront areas in city design, with a particular focus on Egypt, so that they provide attractive, sustainable urban environments while promoting the continued aesthetic development of the city overall. This aim will be achieved by determining the main principles of a sustainable urban waterfront and its applications. This paper concentrates on sustainability assessment rating systems. A number of international case-studies, wherein a city has applied the basic principles for a sustainable urban waterfront and have made use of sustainability assessment rating systems, have been selected as examples which can be applied to the urban waterfronts in Egypt. This paper establishes the importance of developing the design of urban environments in Egypt, as well as identifying the methods of sustainability application for urban waterfronts.

Keywords: sustainable urban waterfront, green infrastructure, energy efficient, Cairo

Procedia PDF Downloads 459

Authors: T. Thompson, E. F. Zegeye

Abstract:

Bacterial Cellulose (BC) is a structural organic compound produced in the anaerobic process. This material can be a useful eco-friendly substitute for commercial textiles that are used in industries today. BC is easily and sustainably produced and has the capabilities to be used as a replacement in textiles. However, BC is extremely fragile when it completely dries. This research was conducted to improve the mechanical properties of the BC by reinforcing with an organic polymer and exfoliated graphite (EG). The BC films were grown over a period of weeks in a green tea and kombucha solution at 30 °C, then cleaned and added to an enhancing solution. The enhancing solutions were a mixture of 2.5 wt% polymer and 2.5 wt% latex solution, a 5 wt% polymer solution, a 0.20 wt% graphite solution and were each allowed to sit in a furnace for 48 h at 50 °C. Tensile test samples were prepared and tested until fracture at a strain rate of 8 mm/min. From the research with the addition of a 5 wt% polymer solution, the flexibility of the BC has significantly improved with the maximum strain significantly larger than that of the base sample. The addition of EG has also increased the modulus of elasticity of the BC by about 25%.

Keywords: bacterial cellulose, exfoliated graphite, kombucha scoby, tensile test

Procedia PDF Downloads 110