Search results for: head wind

Authors: Wondmnew Derebe Yohannis

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Farming irrigation plays a crucial role in rural development strategies, impacting both annual household income and livelihood. This research aims to evaluate the factors influencing irrigation participation and assess the impact of small-scale irrigation on rural households' annual income. The study collected data from 287 farmers in the Dahana district of northern Ethiopia. The research investigates the driving forces behind farmers' decisions to adopt small-scale irrigation and its effect on annual income gain. The findings reveal that several factors positively influence the probability of adoption, including access to credit, cultivated land size, livestock holding, extension contact, and the education level of the household head. Conversely, the distance to local markets and water schemes negatively affects the likelihood of adoption. To understand the differences in annual income between farm households that adopted irrigation and those that did not, a simultaneous equations model with endogenous switching regression is estimated. This accounts for the heterogeneity in the adoption decision and unobservable characteristics of farmers and their farms. The analysis compares the expected income gain under actual and counterfactual scenarios, considering whether the farm household adopted irrigation or not. The study reveals that the group of farm households that adopted irrigation has distinct characteristics compared to those that did not adopt it. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that the adoption of irrigation practices leads to an increase in annual income. Interestingly, the impact of small-scale irrigation on annual income is greater for the farm households that actually adopted irrigation compared to those in the counterfactual scenario where they did not adopt. Based on the findings, the researcher concludes that small-scale irrigation is a practical solution for meeting household financial needs in the study area. It is recommended that investments in small-scale irrigation continue to further improve the livelihoods of rural farming communities by enhancing annual income gains.

Keywords: small-scale irrigation, income, rural farm households, endogenous switching regression, user, non-user

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Authors: S. M. Ali, S. I. Mohamed

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Reduction of feed cost for broiler production is at most importance in decreasing the cost of production. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the use of synthetic amino acids (L-lysine – DL-methionine) instead of super concentrate and groundnut cake versus meat powder as protein sources. A total of 180 male broiler chicks (Cobb – strain) at 15 day of age (DOA) were selected according to their average body weight (380 g) from a broiler chicks flock at Elbashair Farm. The chicks were randomly divided into six groups of 30 chicks. Each group was further sub divided into three replicates with 10 birds. Six experimental diets were formulated. The first diet contained groundnut cake and super concentrate as the control (GNC + C); in the second diet, meat powder and super concentrate (MP + C) were used. The third diet contained groundnut cake and amino acids (GNC + AA); the forth diet contained meat powder and amino acids (MP + AA). The fifth diet contained groundnut cake, meat powder and super concentrate (GNC + MP + C) and the sixth diet contained groundnut cake, meat powder and amino acids (GNC + MP + AA). The formulated rations were randomly assigned for the different sub groups in a completely randomized design of six treatments and three replicates. Weekly feed intake, body weight and mortality were recorded and body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were calculated. At the end of the experiment (49 DOA), nine birds from each treatment were slaughtered. Live body weight, carcass weight, head, shank, and some internal organs (gizzard, heart, liver, small intestine, and abdominal fat pad) weights were taken. For the overall experimental period the (GNC + C +MP) consumed significantly (P≤0.01) the highest cumulative feed while the (MP + AA) group consumed the lowest amount of feed. The (GNC + C) and the (GNC + AA) groups had the heaviest live body weight while (MP + AA) had the lowest live body weight. The overall FCR was significantly (P≤0.01) the best for (GNC + AA) group while the (MP + AA) reported the worst FCR. However, the (GNC + AA) had significantly (P≤0.01) the lowest AFP. The (GNC + MP + Con) group had the highest dressing % while the (MP + AA) group had the lowest dressing %. It is concluded that amino acids can be used instead of super concentrate in broiler feeding with perfect performance and less cost and that meat powder is not advisable to be used with amino acids.

Keywords: broiler chickens, DL-lysine, methionine, performance

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Authors: K. Akutsu, S. Mori, T. Hanashima

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Fluorescent probes are useful for the selective detection of trace amount of ions and biomolecular imaging in living cells. Various kinds of metal ion-selective fluorescent compounds have been developed, and some compounds have been applied as effective metal ion-selective fluorescent probes. However, because competition between the ligand and water molecules for the metal ion constitutes a major contribution to the stability of a complex in aqueous solution, it is difficult to develop a highly sensitive, selective, and stable fluorescent probe in aqueous solution. The micelles, these are formed in the surfactant aqueous solution, provides a unique hydrophobic nano-environment for stabilizing metal-organic complexes in aqueous solution. Therefore, we focused on the unique properties of micelles to develop a new fluorescence analysis system. We have been developed a fluorescence analysis system for Sr(II) by using a Sr(II) fluorescent sensor, N-(2-hydroxy-3-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-phenyl)-1-aza-18-crown-6-ether (BIC), and studied its complexation behavior with Sr(II) in micellar solution. We revealed that the stability constant of Sr(II)-BIC complex was 10 times higher than that in aqueous solution. In addition, its detection limit value was also improved up to 300 times by this system. However, the mechanisms of these phenomena have remained obscure. In this study, we investigated the structure of Sr(II)-BIC complex in aqueous micellar solution by combining use the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and neutron reflectivity (NR) method to understand the unique properties of the fluorescence analysis system from the view point of structural chemistry. EXAFS and NR experiments were performed on BL-27B at KEK-PF and on BL17 SHARAKU at J-PARC MLF, respectively. The obtained EXAFS spectra and their fitting results indicated that Sr(II) and BIC formed a Sr(18-crown-6-ether)-like complex in aqueous micellar solution. The EXAFS results also indicated that the hydrophilic head group of surfactant molecule was directly coordinated with Sr(II). In addition, the NR results also indicated that Sr(II)-BIC complex would interact with the surface of micelle molecules. Therefore, we concluded that Sr(II), BIC, and surfactant molecule formed a ternary complexes in aqueous micellar solution, and at least, it is clear that the improvement of the stability constant in micellar solution is attributed to the result of the formation of Sr(BIC)(surfactant) complex.

Keywords: micell, fluorescent probe, neutron reflectivity, EXAFS

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Authors: Jordan Gallant

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In the compound word processing literature, much attention has been paid to the relationship between a compound’s denotational meaning and that of its morphological whole-word constituents, which is referred to as ‘semantic transparency’. However, the parallel relationship between a compound’s connotation and that of its constituents has not been addressed at all. For instance, while a compound like ‘painkiller’ might be semantically transparent, it is not ‘affectively transparent’. That is, both constituents have primarily negative connotations, while the whole compound has a positive one. This paper investigates the role of affective transparency on compound processing using two methodologies commonly employed in this field: a lexical decision task and a typing task. The critical stimuli used were 112 English bi-constituent compounds that differed in terms of the effective transparency of their constituents. Of these, 36 stimuli contained constituents with similar connotations to the compound (e.g., ‘dreamland’), 36 contained constituents with more positive connotations (e.g. ‘bedpan’), and 36 contained constituents with more negative connotations (e.g. ‘painkiller’). Connotation of whole-word constituents and compounds were operationalized via valence ratings taken from an off-line ratings database. In Experiment 1, compound stimuli and matched non-word controls were presented visually to participants, who were then asked to indicate whether it was a real word in English. Response times and accuracy were recorded. In Experiment 2, participants typed compound stimuli presented to them visually. Individual keystroke response times and typing accuracy were recorded. The results of both experiments provided positive evidence that compound processing is influenced by effective transparency. In Experiment 1, compounds in which both constituents had more negative connotations than the compound itself were responded to significantly more slowly than compounds in which the constituents had similar or more positive connotations. Typed responses from Experiment 2 showed that inter-keystroke intervals at the morphological constituent boundary were significantly longer when the connotation of the head constituent was either more positive or more negative than that of the compound. The interpretation of this finding is discussed in the context of previous compound typing research. Taken together, these findings suggest that affective transparency plays a role in the recognition, storage, and production of English compound words. This study provides a promising first step in a new direction for research on compound words.

Keywords: compound processing, semantic transparency, typed production, valence

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Authors: Paul Rowley, Adam Thirkill, Nick Doylend, Philip Leicester, Becky Gough

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The dynamic performance of all energy generation technologies is impacted to varying degrees by the stochastic properties of the wider system within which the generation technology is located. This stochasticity can include the varying nature of ambient renewable energy resources such as wind or solar radiation, or unpredicted changes in energy demand which impact upon the operational behaviour of thermal generation technologies. An understanding of these stochastic impacts are especially important in contexts such as highly distributed (or embedded) generation, where an understanding of issues affecting the individual or aggregated performance of high numbers of relatively small generators is especially important, such as in ESCO projects. Probabilistic evaluation of monitored or simulated performance data is one technique which can provide an insight into the dynamic performance characteristics of generating systems, both in a prognostic sense (such as the prediction of future performance at the project’s design stage) as well as in a diagnostic sense (such as in the real-time analysis of underperforming systems). In this work, we describe the development, application and outcomes of a new approach to the acquisition of datasets suitable for use in the subsequent performance and impact analysis (including the use of Bayesian approaches) for a number of distributed generation technologies. The application of the approach is illustrated using a number of case studies involving domestic and small commercial scale photovoltaic, solar thermal and natural gas boiler installations, and the results as presented show that the methodology offers significant advantages in terms of plant efficiency prediction or diagnosis, along with allied environmental and social impacts such as greenhouse gas emission reduction or fuel affordability.

Keywords: renewable energy, dynamic performance simulation, Bayesian analysis, distributed generation

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Authors: Ntokozo Mthembu

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Access to relevant health indicates people’s likelihood of survival, including craft of indigenous healing and its related practitioners- izinyanga. However, the emergence of a dreaded novel corona virus - COVID-19 that has engulfed almost the whole world has necessitated the need to revisit the state of traditional healers in South Africa. This circumstance tended to expose the reality of social settings in various social structures and related policies including the manner coloniality reveal its ugly head when it comes treatment between western and African based therapeutic practices in this country. In attempting to gain a better understanding of such experiences, primary and secondary sources were consulted when collecting data that perusal of various literature in this instance including face-to-face interviews with traditional healers working on the street of Tshwane Municipality in South Africa. Preliminary findings revealed that the emergence of this deadly virus coincided with the moment when the government agenda was focussed on fulfilment of its promise of addressing the past inequity practices, including the transformation of medical sector. This scenario can be witnessed by the manner in which government and related agencies such as health department keeps on undermining indigenous healing practice irrespective of its historical record in terms of healing profession and fighting various diseases before times of father of medicine, Imhotep. Based on these preliminary findings, it is recommended that the government should hasten the incorporation of African knowledge systems especially medicine to offer alternatives and diverse to assess the underutilised indigenous African therapeutic approach and relevant skills that could be useful in combating ailments such as COVID 19. Perhaps, the plural medical systems should be recognized and related policies are formulated to guarantee mutual respect among citizens and the incorporation of healing practices in South African health sector, Africa and in the broader global community.

Keywords: indigenous healing practice, inyanga, COVID-19, therapeutic, urban, experience

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Authors: Young-Taeg Kim, Gwang Ho Seo, Hyungju Oh, Ho Kyung Ha, Kuk Jin Kim

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Kim et al., hypothesized an increase in volume transport in the Korea Strait based on the concurrent increase in water temperature and mean sea level observed by the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency (KHOA) in the vicinity of the Korea Strait from 2000 to 2009. Since then, to our best knowledge, no definitive studies have been reported on the increase in volume transport through the Korea Strait, but the observed water temperature (2000-2021) and sea level (1989-2021) in the Korea Strait and East Sea have been found to be increasing. In particular, the rapid increase rate in the mean sea level rise (2.55~3.53 mm/y) in these areas cannot be explained by only steric effect due to the increased water temperature. It is more reasonable interpretation that the sea level rise is due to an increase in the volume transport of warm and salty currents. If the increase in the volume transport is explained by the geostrophic equation without considering the sea level rise in the Korea Strait, the current velocity should increase. However, up to now, there are no reports of an increase in current velocity from direct observations using ADCP (e.g., observations of Camellia) or from various numerical models. Therefore, the increase in volume transport cannot be explained by the geostrophic equation. Another possible explanation for the increase in the volume transport is the effect of wind. Although Korea is dominated by monsoon, it is affected by winds according to El Niño and La Niña, which have a cycle of about 3 to 4 years. During El Niño (La Niña), northerly winds (southerly winds) prevail in Korea. Consequently, it is inferred that the transported volume in the Korea Strait slowly increases interannually. However, in this study, it was difficult to find a clear correlation between annually-averaged mean sea level and El Niño (or La Niña) during 1989-2021. This is probably due to the interactions of the PDO (Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and AO (Arctic Oscillation) along with the ENSO (El niño-Southern Oscillation). However, it is clear that the interannual variability of winds is affecting the volume transport in the Korean Strait. On the other hand, the effect of global sea level rise on the volume transport in the Korea Strait is small compared to the interannual variability of the volume transport, but it seems to play a constant role.

Keywords: mean sea level, volume transport, El nino, La nina

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Authors: Parimalah Velo, Ahmad Zakaria

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Introduction: Monte Carlo simulations of preclinical imaging systems allow opportunity to enable new research that could range from designing hardware up to discovery of new imaging application. The simulation system which could accurately model an imaging modality provides a platform for imaging developments that might be inconvenient in physical experiment systems due to the expense, unnecessary radiation exposures and technological difficulties. The aim of present study is to validate the Monte Carlo simulation of thyroid phantom imaging using Geant4-GATE for Siemen’s e-cam single head gamma camera. Upon the validation of the gamma camera simulation model by comparing physical characteristic such as energy resolution, spatial resolution, sensitivity, and dead time, the GATE simulation of thyroid phantom imaging is carried out. Methods: A thyroid phantom is defined geometrically which comprises of 2 lobes with 80mm in diameter, 1 hot spot, and 3 cold spots. This geometry accurately resembling the actual dimensions of thyroid phantom. A planar image of 500k counts with 128x128 matrix size was acquired using simulation model and in actual experimental setup. Upon image acquisition, quantitative image analysis was performed by investigating the total number of counts in image, the contrast of the image, radioactivity distributions on image and the dimension of hot spot. Algorithm for each quantification is described in detail. The difference in estimated and actual values for both simulation and experimental setup is analyzed for radioactivity distribution and dimension of hot spot. Results: The results show that the difference between contrast level of simulation image and experimental image is within 2%. The difference in the total count between simulation and actual study is 0.4%. The results of activity estimation show that the relative difference between estimated and actual activity for experimental and simulation is 4.62% and 3.03% respectively. The deviation in estimated diameter of hot spot for both simulation and experimental study are similar which is 0.5 pixel. In conclusion, the comparisons show good agreement between the simulation and experimental data.

Keywords: gamma camera, Geant4 application of tomographic emission (GATE), Monte Carlo, thyroid imaging

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Authors: Seung Chul Lee, Jooyeong Kim, Ki Ok Ahn, Juok Park

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Background: Injuries caused by motorcycle crashes are one of the major public health burdens leading to high mortality, functional disability. The risk of death among motorcyclists is 30 times greater than that among car drivers, with head injuries the leading cause of death. The motorcycle helmet is crucial protective equipment for motorcyclists. Aims: This study aimed to measure the protective effect of motorcycle helmet use on intracranial injury and mortality and to compare the preventive effect in drivers and passengers. Methods: This is a cross-sessional study based on the Emergency Department (ED)–based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) database from 23 EDs in Korea. All of the trauma patients injured in motorcycle crashes between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2016 were eligible, excluding cases with unknown helmet use and outcomes. The primary and secondary outcomes were intracranial injury and in-hospital mortality. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of helmet use for study outcomes after adjusting for potential confounders. Using interaction models, we compared the protective effect of helmet use on outcomes across driving status (driver and passenger). Results: Among 17,791 eligible patients, 10,668 (60.0%) patients were wearing helmets at the time of the crash, 2,128 (12.0%) patients had intracranial injuries and 331 (1.9%) patients had in-hospital death. 16,381 (92.1%) patients were drivers and 1410 (7.9%) patients were passengers. 62.6% of drivers and 29.1% of passengers were wearing helmets at the time of the crash. Compared to un-helmeted group, the helmeted group was less likely to have an intracranial injury(8.0% vs. 17.9%, AOR: 0.43 (0.39-0.48)) and in-hospital mortality (1.0% vs. 3.2%, AOR: 0.29 (0.22-0.37)).In the interaction model, AORs (95% CIs) of helmet use for intracranial injury were 0.42 (0.38-0.47) in drivers and 0.61(0.41-0.90) in passengers, respectively. There was a significant preventive effect of helmet use on in-hospital mortality in drivers (AOR: 0.26(0.21–0.34)). Discussion and conclusions: Wearing helmets in motorcycle crashes reduced intracranial injuries and in-hospital mortality. The preventive effect of motorcycle helmet use on intracranial injury was stronger in drivers than in passengers. There was a significant preventive effect of helmet use on in-hospital mortality in driver but not in passengers. Public health efforts to increase motorcycle helmet use are needed to reduce health burden from injuries caused by motorcycle crashes.

Keywords: intracranial injury, helmet, mortality, motorcycle crashes

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Authors: Bibin Sagaram, Ronith Stanly, S. S. Suneesh

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Due to the dwindling supply of fuel reserves, engineers and designers now focus on fuel efficient designs for the solution of any problem; the transportation industry is not new to this kind of approach. Though the aerodynamic benefits of the dimples on a Golf-ball are known, it has never been scientifically tested on how such a design philosophy can improve the fuel efficiency of a real-life vehicle by imparting better aerodynamic performance. The main purpose of the paper is to establish the aerodynamic benefits of the Golf-ball-Inspired Dimpled Design in improving the fuel efficiency of a Super-mileage vehicle, constructed by Team Go Viridis for ‘Shell Eco Marathon Asia 2015’, and to predict the extent to which the results can be held valid for a road car. The body design was modeled in Autodesk Inventor and the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out using Ansys Fluent software. The aerodynamic parameters of designs (with and without the Golf-ball-Inspired Dimples) have been studied and the results are experimentally validated against those obtained from wind tunnel tests carried out on a 1:10 scaled-down 3D printed model. Test drives of the Super-mileage vehicle were carried out, under various conditions, to compare the variation in fuel efficiency with and without the Golf-ball-Inspired design. Primary investigations reveal an aerodynamic advantage of 25% for the vehicle with the Golf Ball Inspired Dimpled Design as opposed to the normal design. Initial tests conducted by ‘Mythbusters’ on Discovery Network using a modified road car has shown positive results which has motivated us to conduct such a research work using a custom-built experimental Super-Mileage vehicle. The content of the paper becomes relevant to the present Automotive and Energy industry where improving the fuel efficiency is of the top most priority.

Keywords: aerodynamics, CFD, fuel efficiency, golf ball

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Authors: E. Happ, A. Albert Tóth

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The aim of the research is to investigate the forms of the demands of leisure tourism in a West-Hungarian industrial city, Győr. Today, Győr is still a traditional industrial city, its industry is mainly based on vehicle industry, but the role of tourism is increasing in the life of the city as well. Because of the industrial nature and the strong economy of the city, the ratio of business tourists is high. It can be stated that MICE tourism is dominating in Győr. Developments of the last decade can help the city with new tourism products to increase the leisure tourism. The new types of tourism – besides business tourism – can help the providers to increase the occupancy rates and the demand at the weekends. The research demonstrates the theoretical background of the topic, and it shows the present situation of the tourism in Győr with secondary data. The secondary research contains statistical data from the Hungarian Statistical Office and the city council, and it is based on the providers’ data. The next part of the paper shows the potential types of leisure tourism with the help of primary research. The primary research contains the results of an online questionnaire with a sample of 1000 potential customers. It is completed with 10 in-depth interviews with tourism experts, who explained their opinions about the opportunities of leisure tourism in Győr from the providers’ side. The online questionnaire was filled out in spring 2017 by customers, who have already stayed in Győr or plan to visit the city. At the same time in-depth interviews were made with hotel managers, head of touristic institutions and employees at the council. Based on the research it can be stated that the touristic supply of Győr allows the increase of the leisure tourism ratio in the city. Primarily, the cultural and health tourism show potential development, but the supply side of touristic services can be developed in order to increase the number of guest nights. The tourism marketing needs to be strengthened in the city, and a distinctive marketing activity - from other cities - is needed as well. To conclude, although Győr is an industrial city, it has a transforming industrial part, and tourism is also strongly present in its economy. Besides the leading role of business tourism, different types of leisure tourism have the opportunity to take place in the city.

Keywords: business tourism, Győr, industrial city, leisure tourism, touristic demand

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Razieh Zarei, Hassan zm, Abolghasem Ajami, Darush Moslemi, Narges Afsary, Amrollah Mostafa-zade

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Introduction: IL-23 is responsible for the differentiation and expansion of Th17/ThIL-17 cells from naive CD4+ T cells. Therefore, may be IL-23/IL17 axis involve in a variety of allergic and autoimmune diseases, such as RA, MS, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and asthma. TGF-β is also share for the differentiation Th17 producing IL-17 and CD4+CD25+Foxp3hiT regulatory cells from naïve CD4+ T cells which are involved in the regulation of immune response, maintaining immunological self-tolerance and immune homeostasis ,and the control of autoimmunity and cancer surveillance. Therefore, T regulatory cells play a key role in autoimmunity, allergy, cancer, infectious disease, and the induction of transplantation tolerance. Vitamin A and it's derivatives (retinoids) inhibit or reverse the carcinogenic process in some types of cancers in oral cavity,head and neck, breast, skin, liver, and blood cells. Shark is a murine organism and its cartilage has antitumor peptides to prevent angiogenesis, in vitro. Our purpose is whether simultaneous oral treatment vitamin A and shark cartilage can modulate IL-23/IL-17 and CD4CD25Foxp3 T regulatory cell/TGF-β pathways and Th1/Th2 immunity in patients with gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: First investigated an imbalanced supernatant of cytokines exist in patients with gastric cancer by ELISA. Associated with cytokines measuring such as IL-23,IL-17,TGF-β,IL-4 and γ-IFN, then flow cytometry was employed to determine whether the peripheral blood mononuclear cells such as CD4+CD25+Foxp3highT regulatory cells in patients with gastric cancer were changed correspondingly. Results: An imbalance between IL-17 secretion and TGF-β/Foxp3 t regulatory cell pathway and so, Th1 immunity (γ-IFN production) and TH2 immunity (IL-4 secretion) was not seen in patients with gastric cancer treated by vitamin A and shark cartilage. But, the simultaneously presented down-regulation of IL-23 indicated, at least cytokine level. Conclusion: Il-23, as a pro-angiogenesis cytokine, probably, help to tumor growth. Hence, suggested that down-regulation of IL-23, at least cytokine level, is useful for anti-tumor immune responses in patients with gastric cancer.

Keywords: IL-23/IL17 axis, TGF-β/CD4CD25Foxp3 T regulatory pathway, γ-IFN, IL-4, shark cartilage and gastric cancer

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Authors: Subhankar Kumar Sarkar

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Beetles of the subfamily Dynastinae under the family Scarabaeidae of the insect order Coleoptera are popularly known as ‘Rhinoceros beetles’ because of the characteristic horn borne by the males on their head. These horns are dedicated in mating battle against other males and have evolved as a result of phenotypic plasticity. Scarabaeidae is the largest of all families under Coleoptera and is composed of 11 subfamilies, of which the subfamily Dynastinae is represented by approximately 300 species. Some of these beetles have been reported to cause considerable damage to agriculture and forestry both in their larval and adult stages, while many of them are beneficial as they pollinate plants and recycle plant materials. Eastern Himalayas is regarded as one of the 35 biodiversity hotspot zones of the world and one of the four of India, which is exhibited by its rich and megadiverse tropical forests. However, our knowledge on the faunal diversity of these forests is very limited, particularly for the insect fauna. One such tropical forest of Eastern Himalayas is the ‘Buxa Tiger Reserve’ located between latitudes 26°30” to 26°55” North and Longitudes 89°20” to 89˚35” East of India and occupies an area of about 759.26 square kilometers. It is with this background an attempt has been made to explore the insect fauna of the forest. Insect sampling was carried out in each beat and range of Buxa Tiger Reserve in all the three seasons viz, Premonsoon, Monsoon, and Postmonsoon. Sample collections were done by sweep nets, hand picking technique and pit fall traps. UV light trap was used to collect the nocturnal insects. Morphological examinations of the collected samples were carried out with Stereozoom Binocular Microscopes (Zeiss SV6 and SV11) and were identified up to species level with the aid of relevant literature. Survey of the insect fauna of the forest resulted in the recognition of 76 scarab species, of which 8 belong to the subfamily dealt herein. Each of the 8 species represents a separate genus. The forest is dominated by the members of Xylotrupes gideon (Linnaeus) as is represented by highest number of individuals. The recorded taxa show about 12% endemism and are of mainly oriental in distribution. Premonsoon is the most favorable season for their occurrence and activity followed by Monsoon and Postmonsoon.

Keywords: Dynastinae, Scarabaeidae, diversity, Buxa Tiger Reserve

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Authors: Erwin Chan, Aravind Subramaniyan, Siti Abdullah Fatehah, Steve Lian Kuling

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Foam assisted lift technology is proven across the industry to provide efficient deliquification in gas wells. Such deliquification is typically achieved by delivering the foamer chemical downhole via capillary strings. In highly liquid loaded wells where capillary strings are not readily available, foamer can be delivered via batch injection or bull-heading. The latter techniques differ from the former in that cap strings allow for liquid to be unloaded continuously, whereas foamer batches require that periodic batching be conducted for the liquid to be unloaded. Although batch injection allows for liquid to be unloaded in wells with suitable water to gas (WGR) ratio and condensate to gas (CGR) ratio without well intervention for capillary string installation, this technique comes with its own set of challenges - for foamer to de-liquify liquids, the chemical needs to reach perforation locations where gas bubbling is observed. In highly scaled perforation zones in certain wells, foamer delivered in batches is unable to reach the gas bubbling zone, thus achieving poor lift efficiency. This paper aims to discuss the techniques and challenges for unloading liquid via batch injection in scaled perforation wells X and Y, whose WGR is 6bbl/MMscf, whose scale build-up is observed at the bottom of perforation interval, whose water column is 400 feet, and whose ‘bubbling zone’ is less than 100 feet. Variables such as foamer Z dosage, batching technique, and well flow control valve opening times are manipulated during the duration of the trial to achieve maximum liquid unloading and gas rates. During the field trial, the team has found optimal values between the three aforementioned parameters for best unloading results, in which each cycle’s gas and liquid rates are compared with baselines with similar flowing tubing head pressures (FTHP). It is discovered that amongst other factors, a good agitation technique is a primary determinant for efficient liquid unloading. An average increment of 2MMscf/d against an average production of 4MMscf/d at stable FTHP is recorded during the trial.

Keywords: foam, foamer, gas lift, liquid unloading, scale, batch injection

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Authors: Jegede Oluseye Oladayo

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The study mapped innovation activities in the formal and informal mining sector in Nigeria. Data were collected through primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected through guided questionnaire administration, guided interviews and personal observation. A purposive sampling method was adopted to select firms that are micro, small and medium enterprises. The study covered 100 (50 in the formal sector and 50 in the informal sector) purposively selected companies in south-western Nigeria. Secondary data were collected from different published sources. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Of the four types of technological innovations sampled, organisational innovation was found to be highest both in the formal (100%) and informal (100%) sectors, followed by process innovation: 60% in the formal sector and 28% in the informal sector, marketing innovation and diffusion based innovation were implemented by 64% and 4% respectively in the formal sector. There were no R&D activities (intramural or extramural) in both sectors, however, innovation activities occur at moderate levels in the formal sector. This is characterised by acquisition of machinery, equipment, hardware (100%), software (56), training (82%) and acquisition of external knowledge (60%) in the formal sector. In the informal sector, innovation activities were characterised by acquisition of external knowledge (100%), training/learning by experience (100%) and acquisition of tools (68%). The impact of innovation on firm’s performance in the formal sector was expressed mainly as increased capacity of production (100%), reduced production cost per unit of labour (88%), compliance with governmental regulatory requirements (72%) and entry on new markets (60%). In the informal sector, the impact of innovation was mainly expressed in improved flexibility of production (70%) and machinery/energy efficiency (70%). The important technological driver of process innovation in the mining sector was acquisition of machinery which accounts for the prevalence of 100% both in the formal and informal sectors. Next to this is training and re-training of technical staff, 74% in both the formal and the informal sector. Other factors influencing organisational innovation are skill of workforce with a prevalence of 80% in both the formal and informal sector. The important technological drivers include educational background of the manager/head of technical department (54%) for organisational innovation and (50%) for process innovation in the formal sector. The study concluded that innovation competence of the firms was mostly organisational changes.

Keywords: innovation prevalence, innovation activities, innovation performance, innovation drivers

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Authors: David Ugalde, Arturo Castillo, Leopoldo Breschi

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The Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) are an effective system for mitigating vibrations in building structures. These dampers have traditionally focused on the protection of high-rise buildings against earthquakes and wind loads. The Camara Chilena de la Construction (CChC) building, built in 2018 in Santiago, Chile, is a 21-story RC wall building equipped with a 150-ton TMD and instrumented with six permanent accelerometers, offering an opportunity to monitor the dynamic response of this damped structure. This paper presents the system identification of the CChC building using power spectral density plots of ambient vibration and two seismic events (5.5 Mw and 6.7 Mw). Linear models of the building with and without the TMD are used to compute the theoretical natural periods through modal analysis and simulate the response of the building through response history analysis. Results show that natural periods obtained from both ambient vibrations and earthquake records are quite similar to the theoretical periods given by the modal analysis of the building model. Some of the experimental periods are noticeable by simple inspection of the earthquake records. The accelerometers in the first story better captured the modes related to the building podium while the upper accelerometers clearly captured the modes related to the tower. The earthquake simulation showed smaller accelerations in the model with TMD that are similar to that measured by the accelerometers. It is concluded that the system identification through power spectral density shows consistency with the expected dynamic properties. The structural health monitoring of the CChC building confirms the advantages of seismic protection technologies such as TMDs in seismic prone areas.

Keywords: system identification, tuned mass damper, wall buildings, seismic protection

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Authors: Nisha Nandlal Sharma, Julaluk Carmai, Saiprasit Koetniyom, Bernd Markert

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Whiplash Injuries are usually associated with car accidents. The sudden forward or backward jerk to head causes neck strain, which is the result of damage to the muscle or tendons. Neck pain and headaches are the two most common symptoms of whiplash. Symptoms of whiplash are commonly reported in studies but the Injury mechanism is poorly understood. Neck muscles are the most important factor to study the neck Injury. This study focuses on the development of finite element (FE) model of human neck muscle to study the whiplash injury mechanism and effect of active muscle contraction on occupant kinematics. A detailed study of Injury mechanism will promote development and evaluation of new safety systems in cars, hence reducing the occurrence of severe injuries to the occupant. In present study, an active human finite element (FE) model with 3D neck muscle model is developed. Neck muscle was modeled with a combination of solid tetrahedral elements and 1D beam elements. Muscle active properties were represented by beam elements whereas, passive properties by solid tetrahedral elements. To generate muscular force according to inputted activation levels, Hill-type muscle model was applied to beam elements. To simulate non-linear passive properties of muscle, solid elements were modeled with rubber/foam material model. Material properties were assigned from published experimental tests. Some important muscles were then inserted into THUMS (Total Human Model for Safety) 50th percentile male pedestrian model. To reduce the simulation time required, THUMS lower body parts were not included. Posterior to muscle insertion, THUMS was given a boundary conditions similar to experimental tests. The model was exposed to 4g and 7g rear impacts as these load impacts are close to low speed impacts causing whiplash. The effect of muscle activation level on occupant kinematics during whiplash was analyzed.

Keywords: finite element model, muscle activation, neck muscle, whiplash injury prevention

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Authors: Jerry D. Johnson, Jason A. LaFrance, Matthew A. Ohlson, Shane C. Shope

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The public school system is the largest employer and most impactful factor in the local economy for many rural communities in the United States. The relationship between the school system and the community is symbiotic—they thrive together or decline together. Understanding the perceptions of rural school superintendents (the titular head of the local school district) with regard to rural development is foundational to understanding how the school and community interact and collaborate in key areas like economic development, community development, and workforce development. To investigate those perceptions as they manifest among superintendents in thriving rural communities, a collective case study was designed and conducted to disclose and characterize superintendent perceptions about rural development in three diverse rural settings in the U.S.: Florida, Kansas, and Ohio. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) served as the conceptual framework and supported a focus on identifying and describing assets and strategies/activities that helped explain the positive results in the communities of interest. Implementation of a criterion-based purposive sampling process (using extant data and a nomination process to identify rural superintendents in communities with vibrant economies and recognized the contribution by the schools in rural development) resulted in two superintendents from each of these state settings who participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts and relevant extant documents were coded and analyzed to produce individual cases with representative themes, after which a cross-case analysis was conducted to generate overarching themes. The overarching themes were then scrutinized and tested through the application of appropriate credibility techniques to promote the trustworthiness of the results. Findings include the importance of building and maintaining relationships that extend beyond the immediate collaboration activity, the importance of collaboration skills, intentionality of practice, and organizational systems/structures as facilitators/affordances. The results offer potential guidance for leveraging the potential for public schools to contribute to their rural development in the communities they serve.

Keywords: collaboration, leadership, rural development, rural schools

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Authors: Dieudonne Uwizeye

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Introduction: Diarrhoea is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among communities living in urban informal settlements of developing countries. It is assumed that mountainous environment introduces variations of the burden among residents of the same settlements. Design and Objective: A cross-sectional study was done in Kigali to explore the effect of mountainous informal settlements on diarrhoea risk variations. Data were collected among 1,152 households through household survey and transect walk to observe the status of sanitation. The outcome variable was the incidence of diarrhoea among household members of any age. The study used the most knowledgeable person in the household as the main respondent. Mostly this was the woman of the house as she was more likely to know the health status of every household member as she plays various roles: mother, wife, and head of the household among others. The analysis used cross tabulation and logistic regression analysis. Results: Results suggest that risks for diarrhoea vary depending on home location in the settlements. Diarrhoea risk increased as the distance from the road increased. The results of the logistic regression analysis indicate the adjusted odds ratio of 2.97 with 95% confidence interval being 1.35-6.55 and 3.50 adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval being 1.61-7.60 in level two and three respectively compared with level one. The status of sanitation within and around homes was also significantly associated with the increase of diarrhoea. Equally, it is indicated that stable households were less likely to have diarrhoea. The logistic regression analysis indicated the adjusted odds ratio of 0.45 with 95% confidence interval being 0.25-0.81. However, the study did not find evidence for a significant association between diarrhoea risks and household socioeconomic status in the multivariable model. It is assumed that environmental factors in mountainous settings prevailed. Households using the available public water sources were more likely to have diarrhoea in their households. Recommendation: The study recommends the provision and extension of infrastructure for improved water, drainage, sanitation and wastes management facilities. Equally, studies should be done to identify the level of contamination and potential origin of contaminants for water sources in the valleys to adequately control the risks for diarrhoea in mountainous urban settings.

Keywords: urbanisation, diarrhoea risk, mountainous environment, urban informal settlements in Rwanda

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Authors: Ameer A. Jebur, William Atherton, Rafid M. Alkhaddar, Edward Loffill

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Superstructures like offshore platforms, tall buildings, transition towers, skyscrapers and bridges are normally designed to resist compression, uplift and lateral forces from wind waves, negative skin friction, ship impact and other applied loads. Better understanding and the precise simulation of the response of batter piles under the action of independent uplift loads is a vital topic and an area of active research in the field of geotechnical engineering. This paper investigates the use of finite element code (FEC) to examine the behaviour of model batter piles penetrated in dense sand, subjected to pull-out pressure by means of numerical modelling. The concept of the Winkler Model (beam on elastic foundation) has been used in which the interaction between the pile embedded depth and adjacent soil in the bearing zone is simulated by nonlinear p-y curves. The analysis was conducted on different pile slenderness ratios (lc⁄d) ranging from 7.5, 15.22 and 30 respectively. In addition, the optimum batter angle for a model steel pile penetrated in dense sand has been chosen to be 20° as this is the best angle for this simulation as demonstrated by other researcher published in literature. In this numerical analysis, the soil response is idealized as elasto-plastic and the model piles are described as elastic materials for the purpose of simulation. The results revealed that the applied loads affect the pullout pile capacity as well as the lateral pile response for dense sand together with varying shear strength parameters linked to the pile critical depth. Furthermore, the pile pull-out capacity increases with increasing the pile aspect ratios.

Keywords: slenderness ratio, soil-pile interaction, winkler model (beam on elastic foundation), pull-out capacity

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Authors: Ali Ghorbanipour

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The aim of this study is to investigate the drug resistance pattern and the value of the MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration)method to reduce the impact of infectious diseases and the slow development of resistance. Method: The study was conducted on clinical specimens collected between 2018 to 2021. identification of isolates and antibiotic susceptibility testing were performed using conventional biochemical tests. Antibiotic resistance was determined using kibry-Bauer disk diffusion and MIC by E-test methods comparative with microdilution plate elisa method. Results were interpreted according to CLSI. Results: Out of 249600 different clinical specimens, 18720 different pathogenic bacteria by overall detection ratio 7.7% were detected. Among pathogen bacterial were Gram negative bacteria (70%,n=13000) and Gram positive bacteria(30%,n=5720).Medically relevant gram-negative bacteria include a multitude of species such as E.coli , Klebsiella .spp , Pseudomonas .aeroginosa , Acinetobacter .spp , Enterobacterspp ,and gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus.spp , Enterococcus .spp , Streptococcus .spp was isolated . Conclusion: Our results highlighted that the resistance ratio among Gram Negative bacteria and Gram positive bacteria with different infection is high it suggest constant screening and follow-up programs for the detection of antibiotic resistance and the value of MIC drug susceptibility reporting that provide a new way to the usage of resistant antibiotic in combination with other antibiotics or accurate weight of antibiotics that inhibit or kill bacteria. Evaluation of wrong medication in the expansion of resistance and side effects of over usage antibiotics are goals. Ali ghorbanipour presently working as a supervision at the microbiology department of Massoud medical laboratory. Iran. Earlier, he worked as head department of pulmonary infection in firoozgarhospital, Iran. He received master degree in 2012 from Fergusson College. His research prime objective is a biologic wound dressing .to his credit, he has Published10 articles in various international congresses by presenting posters.

Keywords: antimicrobial profile, MIC & MBC Method, microplate antimicrobial assay, E-test

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Authors: Melake Kuflom

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European power networks involve the use of multiple overhead transmission lines to construct a highly duplicated system that delivers reliable and stable electrical energy to the distribution level. The transmission line protection applied in the existing GB transmission network are normally independent unit differential and time stepped distance protection schemes, referred to as main-1 & main-2 respectively, with overcurrent protection as a backup. The increasing penetration of renewable energy sources, commonly referred as “weak sources,” into the power network resulted in the decline of fault level. Traditionally, the fault level of the GB transmission network has been strong; hence the fault current contribution is more than sufficient to ensure the correct operation of the protection schemes. However, numerous conventional coal and nuclear generators have been or about to shut down due to the societal requirement for CO2 emission reduction, and this has resulted in a reduction in the fault level on some transmission lines, and therefore an adaptive transmission line protection is required. Generally, greater utilization of renewable energy sources generated from wind or direct solar energy results in a reduction of CO2 carbon emission and can increase the system security and reliability but reduces the fault level, which has an adverse effect on protection. Consequently, the effectiveness of conventional protection schemes under low fault levels needs to be reviewed, particularly for future GB transmission network operating scenarios. The proposed paper will evaluate the transmission line challenges under high penetration of renewable energy sources andprovides alternative viable protection solutions based on the problem observed. The paper will consider the assessment ofrenewable energy sources (RES) based on a fully rated converter technology. The DIgSILENT Power Factory software tool will be used to model the network.

Keywords: fault level, protection schemes, relay settings, relay coordination, renewable energy sources

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Authors: Y. Jin, N. Zhang, X. Luo, W. Zhang

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China with annual increasing 0.5-0.6 billion squares city residence has brought in enormous energy consumption by HVAC facilities and other appliances. In this regard, governments and researchers are encouraging renewable energy like solar energy, geothermal energy using in houses. However, high cost of equipment and low energy conversion result in a very low acceptable to residents. So what’s the equilibrium point of eco-feedback to reach economic benefit and thermal comfort? That is the main question should be answered. In this paper, the objective is an on-site solar PV and heater house, which has been evaluated as a low energy building. Since HVAC system is considered as main energy consumption equipment, the residence with 24-hour monitoring system set to measure temperature, wind velocity and energy in-out value with no HVAC system for one month of summer and winter. Thermal comfort time period will be analyzed and confirmed; then the air-conditioner will be started within thermal discomfort time for the following one summer and winter month. The same data will be recorded to calculate the average energy consumption monthly for a purpose of whole day thermal comfort. Finally, two analysis work will be done: 1) Original building thermal simulation by computer at design stage with actual measured temperature after construction will be contrastive analyzed; 2) The cost of renewable energy facilities and power consumption converted to cost efficient rate to assess the feasibility of renewable energy input for residence. The results of the experiment showed that a certain deviation exists between actual measured data and simulated one for human thermal comfort, especially in summer period. Moreover, the cost-effectiveness is high for a house in targeting city Guilin now with at least 11 years of cost-covering. The conclusion proves that an eco-feedback of a low energy residence is never only consideration of its energy net value, but also the cost efficiency that is the critical factor to push renewable energy acceptable by the public.

Keywords: cost efficiency, eco-feedback, low energy residence, thermal comfort

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Authors: Jikhil Joseph, Satish Kumar S R.

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Cold-formed steel frames are preferable for framed constructions due to its low seismic weights and results into low seismic forces, but on the contrary, significant lateral deflections are expected under seismic/wind loading. The various factors affecting the lateral stiffness of steel frames are the stiffness of connections, beams and columns. So, by increasing the stiffness of beam, column and making the connections rigid will enhance the lateral stiffness. The present study focused on Structural elements made of rectangular hollow sections and fastened with screwed in-plane moment connections for the building frames. The self-drilling screws can be easily drilled on either side of the connection area with the help of gusset plates. The strength of screwed connections can be made 1.2 times the connecting elements. However, achieving high stiffness in connections is also a challenging job. Hence in addition to beam and column stiffness’s the connection stiffness are also going to be a governing parameter in the lateral deflections of the frames. SAP 2000 Non-linear static analysis has been planned to study the seismic behavior of steel frames. The SAP model will be consisting of nonlinear spring model for the connection to account the semi-rigid connections and the nonlinear hinges will be assigned for beam and column sections according to FEMA 273 guidelines. The reliable spring and hinge parameters will be assigned based on an experimental and analytical database. The non-linear static analysis is mainly focused on the identification of various hinge formations and the estimation of lateral deflection and these will contribute as an inputs for the direct displacement-based Seismic design. The research output from this study are the modelling techniques and suitable design guidelines for the performance-based seismic design of cold-formed steel frames.

Keywords: buckling, cold formed steel, nonlinear static analysis, screwed connections

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Authors: K. A. Ghazaryan, H. S. Movsesyan, N. P. Ghazaryan

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The present study was aimed in assessing the heavy metal pollution of the soils around Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex and related environmental risks. This mine complex is located in the south-east part of Armenia, and the present study was conducted in 2013. The soils of the five riskiest sites of this region were studied: surroundings of the open mine, the sites adjacent to processing plant of Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, surroundings of Darazam active tailing dump, the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 2”, and the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 3”. The mountain cambisol was the main soil type in the study sites. The level of soil contamination by heavy metals was assessed by Contamination factors (Cf), Degree of contamination (Cd), Geoaccumulation index (I-geo) and Enrichment factor (EF). The distribution pattern of trace metals in the soil profile according to Cf, Cd, I-geo and EF values shows that the soil is much polluted. Almost in all studied sites, Cu, Mo, Pb, and Cd were the main polluting heavy metals, and this was conditioned by Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex activity. It is necessary to state that the pollution problem becomes pressing as some parts of these highly polluted region are inhabited by population, and agriculture is highly developed there; therefore, heavy metals can be transferred into human bodies through food chains and have direct influence on public health. Since the induced pollution can pose serious threats to public health, further investigations on soil and vegetation pollution are recommended. Finally, Cf calculating based on distance from the pollution source and the wind direction can provide more reasonable results.

Keywords: Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, heavy metals, soil contamination, enrichment factor (EF), Armenia

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Authors: Morteza Khashehchi, Kamel Hooman

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Thermal effects on the dynamics and stability of the flow past a circular cylinder operating in the mixed convection regime is studied experimentally for Reynolds number (ReD) between 1000 and 4000, and different cylinder wall temperatures (Tw) between 25 and 75°C by means of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The experiments were conducted in a horizontal wind tunnel with the heated cylinder placed horizontally. With such assumptions, the direction of the thermally induced buoyancy force acting on the fluid surrounding the heated cylinder would be perpendicular to the flow direction. In each experiment, to acquire 3000 PIV image pairs, the temperature and Reynolds number of the approach flow were held constant. By adjusting different temperatures in different Reynolds numbers, the corresponding Richardson number (RiD = Gr/Re^2) was varied between 0:0 (unheated) and 10, resulting in a change in the heat transfer process from forced convection to mixed convection. With increasing temperature of the wall cylinder, significant modifications of the wake flow pattern and wake vortex shedding process were clearly revealed. For cylinder at low wall temperature, the size of the wake and the vortex shedding process are found to be quite similar to those of an unheated cylinder. With high wall temperature, however, the high temperature gradient in the wake shear layer creates a type of vorticity with opposite sign to that of the shear layer vorticity. This temperature gradient vorticity weakens the strength of the shear layer vorticity, causing delay in reaching the recreation point. In addition to the wake characteristics, the shedding frequency for the heated cylinder is determined for all aforementioned cases. It is found that, as the cylinder wall is heated, the organization of the vortex shedding is altered and the relative position of the first detached vortices with respect to the second one is changed. This movement of the first detached vortex toward the second one increases the frequency of the shedding process. It is also found that the wake closure length decreases with increasing the Richardson number.

Keywords: heated cylinder, PIV, wake, Reynolds number

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Authors: Mohaammad Ahmadpanah, Amineh Akhondi, Mohammad Haghighi, Ali Ghaleiha, Leila Jahangard, Elham Salari

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Background: Working memory includes the capability to keep and manipulate information in a short period of time. This capability is the basis of complicated judgments and has been attended to as the specific and constant character of individuals. Children with attention deficit and hyperactivity are among the people suffering from deficiency in the active memory, and this deficiency has been attributed to the problem of frontal lobe. This study utilizes a new approach with suitable tasks and methods for training active memory and assessment of the effects of the trainings. Participants: The children participating in this study were of 7-15 year age, who were diagnosed by the psychiatrist and psychologist as hyperactive and attention deficit based on DSM-IV criteria. The intervention group was consisted of 8 boys and 6 girls with the average age of 11 years and standard deviation of 2, and the control group was consisted of 2 girls and 5 boys with an average age of 11.4 and standard deviation of 3. Three children in the test group and two in the control group were under medicinal therapy. Results: Working memory training meaningfully improved the performance in not-trained areas as visual-spatial working memory as well as the performance in Raven progressive tests which are a perfect example of non-verbal, complicated reasoning tasks. In addition, motional activities – measured based on the number of head movements during computerized measuring program – was meaningfully reduced in the medication group. The results of the second test showed that training similar exercise to teenagers and adults results in the improvement of cognition functions, as in hyperactive people. Discussion: The results of this study showed that the performance of working memory is improved through training, and these trainings are extended and generalized in other areas of cognition functions not receiving any training. Trainings resulted in the improvement of performance in the tasks related to prefrontal. They had also a positive and meaningful impact on the moving activities of hyperactive children.

Keywords: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, working memory, non-medical treatment, children

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Authors: Zhengming Wu

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NanoFrazor lithography systems were developed as a first true alternative or extension to standard mask-less nanolithography methods like electron beam lithography (EBL). In contrast to EBL they are based on thermal scanning probe lithography (t-SPL). Here a heatable ultra-sharp probe tip with an apex of a few nm is used for patterning and simultaneously inspecting complex nanostructures. The heat impact from the probe on a thermal responsive resist generates those high-resolution nanostructures. The patterning depth of each individual pixel can be controlled with better than 1 nm precision using an integrated in-situ metrology method. Furthermore, the inherent imaging capability of the Nanofrazor technology allows for markerless overlay, which has been achieved with sub-5 nm accuracy as well as it supports stitching layout sections together with < 10 nm error. Pattern transfer from such resist features below 10 nm resolution were demonstrated. The technology has proven its value as an enabler of new kinds of ultra-high resolution nanodevices as well as for improving the performance of existing device concepts. The application range for this new nanolithography technique is very broad spanning from ultra-high resolution 2D and 3D patterning to chemical and physical modification of matter at the nanoscale. Nanometer-precise markerless overlay and non-invasiveness to sensitive materials are among the key strengths of the technology. However, while patterning at below 10 nm resolution is achieved, significantly increasing the patterning speed at the expense of resolution is not feasible by using the heated tip alone. Towards this end, an integrated laser write head for direct laser sublimation (DLS) of the thermal resist has been introduced for significantly faster patterning of micrometer to millimeter-scale features. Remarkably, the areas patterned by the tip and the laser are seamlessly stitched together and both processes work on the very same resist material enabling a true mix-and-match process with no developing or any other processing steps in between. The presentation will include examples for (i) high-quality metal contacting of 2D materials, (ii) tuning photonic molecules, (iii) generating nanofluidic devices and (iv) generating spintronic circuits. Some of these applications have been enabled only due to the various unique capabilities of NanoFrazor lithography like the absence of damage from a charged particle beam.

Keywords: nanofabrication, grayscale lithography, 2D materials device, nano-optics, photonics, spintronic circuits

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Authors: Guillaume Richard, Sarra Zaied

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Marine waste quantities increase more and more, 5 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean every year. Their spatiotemporal distribution is never homogeneous and depends mainly on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the environment, as well as the size and location of the waste. As part of optimizing collect of marine plastic wastes, it is important to measure and monitor their evolution over time. In this context, diverse studies have been dedicated to describing waste behavior in order to identify its accumulation in ocean areas. None of the existing tools which track objects at sea had the objective of tracking down a slick of waste. Moreover, the applications related to marine waste are in the minority compared to rescue applications or oil slicks tracking applications. These approaches are able to accurately simulate an object's behavior over time but not during the collection mission of a waste sheet. This paper presents numerical modeling of a boat’s wake impact on the floating marine waste behavior during a collection mission. The aim is to predict the trajectory of a marine waste slick to optimize its collection using meteorological data of ocean currents, wind, and possibly waves. We have made the choice to use Ocean Parcels which is a Python library suitable for trajectoring particles in the ocean. The modeling results showed the important role of advection and diffusion processes in the spatiotemporal distribution of floating plastic litter. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated on real data collected from the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS). The results of the evaluation in Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) prove that the proposed approach can effectively predict the position and velocity of marine litter during collection, which allowed for optimizing time and more than $90\%$ of the amount of collected waste.

Keywords: marine litter, advection-diffusion equation, sea current, numerical model

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Authors: Kartikey Gupta

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Global warming and environmental degradation are at their peak today, with the years after 2000A.D. giving way to 15 hottest years in terms of average temperatures. In India, much of the standard temperature measuring equipment are located in ‘developed’ urban areas, hence showing us an incomplete picture in terms of the climate across many rural areas, which comprises most of the landmass. This study showcases data studied by the author since 3 years at Vatsalya’s Children’s village, in outskirts of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; in the midst of semi-arid topography, where consistently huge temperature differences of up to 15.8 degrees Celsius from local Jaipur weather only 30 kilometers away, are stunning yet scary at the same time, encouraging analysis of where the natural climatic pattern is heading due to rapid unrestricted urbanization. Record-breaking data presented in this project enforces the need to discuss causes and recovery techniques. This research further explores how and to what extent we are causing phenomenal disturbances in the natural meteorological pattern by urban growth. Detailed data observations using a standardized ambient weather station at study site and comparing it with closest airport weather data, evaluating the patterns and differences, show striking differences in temperatures, wind patterns and even rainfall quantity, especially during high-pressure zone days. Winter-time lows dip to 8 degrees below freezing with heavy frost and ice, while only 30 kms away minimum figures barely touch single-digit temperatures. Human activity is having an unprecedented effect on climatic patterns in record-breaking trends, which is a warning of what may follow in the next 15-25 years for the next generation living in cities, and a serious exploration into possible solutions is a must.

Keywords: climate change, meteorology, urban heat island, urbanization

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