Search results for: wild plants

Authors: Manqhai Kraai, Adrian M. Shrader, Peter F. Scogings

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For animals living in herds, competition between group members increases as herd size increases. The intensity of this competition is likely greater across poor quality landscapes and during the dry season. In contrast to wild herbivores, herd size in domestic livestock is determined by their owners. This then raises the question, how do domestic livestock, like goats, reduce competition for food within these defined herds? To explore this question, large-scale foraging behaviour of both small (12 to 28 individuals) and large (42 to 83 individuals) herds of free-ranging goats were recorded in Tugela Ferry, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study was conducted on three different landscapes that varied in both food quality and availability, during the wet and dry seasons of 2013-2014. The goats were housed in kraals overnight and let out in the mornings to forage unattended. Thus, foraging decisions were made by the goats and not by herders. The large-scale foraging behaviours focussed on included, (i) total distance travelled by goats while foraging, (ii) distance travelled before starting to feed, (iii) travel speed, and (iv) feeding duration. This was done using Garmin Foretrex 401 GPS devices harnessed to two goats per herd. Irrespective of season, there was no difference in the total distance travelled by the different sized herds across the different quality landscapes. However, both small and large herds started feeding farther from the kraal in the dry compared to the wet season. Despite this, there was no significant seasonal difference in total amount of time the herds spent feeding across the different landscapes. Finally, both small and large herds increased their travel speed across all the landscapes in the dry season, but large herds travelled faster than small herds. This increase was likely to maximise the time that large herds could spend feeding in good areas. Ultimately, these results indicate that both small and large herds were affected by declines in food quality and quantity during the dry season. However, as large herds made greater behavioural adjustments compared to smaller herds (i.e., feeding farther away from the kraal and travelling faster), it appeared that they were more affected by the seasonal increases in intra-herd competition.

Keywords: distance, feeding duration, food availability, food quality, travel speed

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Authors: Mark Morgan, Christine Li, Shuangyu Xu, Jenny McCarty

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The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the U.S. Congress in 1968 (Public Law 90-542; 16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.) to preserve outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values of some U.S. rivers in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations. This Act is notable for safeguarding the special character of these rivers while supporting management action that encourages public participation for co-creating river protection goals and strategies. This is not an easy task. To meet the challenges of modern ecosystem management, federal resource agencies must address many legal, environmental, economic, political, and social issues. The U.S. Forest Service manages a 44-mile section of the Eleven Point National Scenic River (EPR) in southern Missouri, mainly for outdoor recreation purposes. About half of the acreage is in private lands, while the remainder flows through the Mark Twain National Forest. Private land along the river is managed by scenic easements to ensure protection of scenic values and natural resources, without public access. A portion of the EPR lies adjacent to a 16,500-acre tract known as the Irish Wilderness. The spring-fed river has steep bluffs, deep pools, clear water, and a slow current, making it an ideal setting for outdoor enthusiasts. A 10-month visitor study was conducted at five access points along the EPR during 2019 so the US Forest Service could update their river management plan. A mail-back survey was administered to 560 on-site visitors, yielding a response rate of 53%. Although different types of visitors use the EPR, boating and fishing were the predominant forms of outdoor recreation. Some river use was from locals, but other visitors came from farther away. Formulating unbiased policies for outdoor recreation is difficult because managers must assign relative values to recreational activities and travel distance. Because policymaking is a subjective process, management decisions can affect user groups in different ways (i.e., boaters vs. fishers; proximate vs. distal visitors), as seen through a GIS analysis.

Keywords: activity selection, forest recreation, policy, travel distance

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Authors: Dmitry V. Fomichev, Vladimir I. Solonin

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In this paper, experimental and numerical study of hydrodynamic characteristics of the air coolant flow in the test wire-wrapped assembly is presented. The test assembly has 37 rods, which are similar to the real fuel pins of the BREST-OD-300 fuel assemblies geometrically. Air open loop test facility installed at the “Nuclear Power Plants and Installations” department of BMSTU was used to obtain the experimental data. The obtaining altitudinal distribution of static pressure in the near-wall test assembly as well as velocity and temperature distribution of coolant flow in the test sections can give us some new knowledge about the mechanism of formation of the turbulence flow structure in the wire wrapped fuel assemblies. Numerical simulations of the turbulence flow has been accomplished using ANSYS Fluent 14.5. Different non-local turbulence models have been considered, such as standard and RNG k-e models and k-w SST model. Results of numerical simulations of the flow based on the considered turbulence models give the best agreement with the experimental data and help us to carry out strong analysis of flow characteristics.

Keywords: wire-spaces fuel assembly, turbulent flow structure, computation fluid dynamics

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Authors: Mujahid S. Alharbi

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The construction of process plants in oil and gas-producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia, necessitates substantial investment in design and building. Each new plant, while unique, includes common building types, suggesting an opportunity for design standardization. This study investigates the adoption of standardized Issue For Construction (IFC) packages for non-process buildings in Saudi Aramco. A SWOT analysis presents the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of this approach. The approach's benefits are illustrated using the Hawiyah Unayzah Gas Reservoir Storage Program (HUGRSP) as a case study. Standardization not only offers significant cost savings and operational efficiencies but also expedites project timelines, reduces the potential for change orders, and fosters local economic growth by allocating building tasks to local contractors. Standardization also improves project management by easing interface constraints between different contractors and promoting adaptability to future industry changes. This research underscores the standardization of non-process buildings as a powerful strategy for cost optimization, efficiency enhancement, and local economic development in process plant construction within the oil and gas sector.

Keywords: building, construction, management, project, standardization

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Authors: Yu-Lin Shen, Ming-Kuen Chang

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In addition to a considerable amount of machinery and equipment, intricacies of the transmission pipeline exist in Petrochemical plants. Long term corrosion may lead to pipeline thinning and rupture, causing serious safety concerns. With the advances in non-destructive testing technology, more rapid and long-range ultrasonic detection techniques are often used for pipeline inspection, EMAT without coupling to detect, it is a non-contact ultrasonic, suitable for detecting elevated temperature or roughened e surface of line. In this study, we prepared artificial defects in pipeline for Electro Magnetic Acoustic Transducer Testing (EMAT) to survey the relationship between the defect location, sizing and the EMAT signal. It was found that the signal amplitude of EMAT exhibited greater signal attenuation with larger defect depth and length.. In addition, with bigger flat hole diameter, greater amplitude attenuation was obtained. In summary, signal amplitude attenuation of EMAT was affected by the defect depth, defect length and the hole diameter and size.

Keywords: EMAT, NDT, artificial defect, ultrasonic testing

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Authors: Gema Gómez-Casado, Alba Rodríguez-Muñoz, Virginia Mela-Rivas, Pallavi Kompella, Francisco José Tinahones-Madueña, Isabel Moreno-Indias, Almudena Ortega-Gómez

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Obesity is a high-priority health problem worldwide due to its high prevalence. The proportion of obese and overweight subjects in industrialized countries exceeds half of the population in most cases. Beyond the metabolic problem, obesity boosts inflammation levels in the organism. The gut microbiota, considered an organ by itself, controls a high variety of processes at a systemic level. In fact, the microbiota interacts closely with the immune system, being crucial in determining the maturation state of neutrophils, key effectors of the innate immune response. It is known that changes in the diet exert strong effects on the variety and activity of the gut microbiota. The effect that those changes have on the axis microbiota-immune response is an unexplored field. In this study, 10 patients with obesity (weight 114,3 ± 14,5Kg, BMI 40,47±3,66) followed a Mediterranean-hypocaloric diet for 3 months, reducing their initial weight by 12,71 ± 3%. A transplant of microbiota from these patients before and after the diet was performed into wild type “germ-free” mice (n=10/group), treated with antibiotics. Six weeks after the transplant, mice were euthanized, and the presence of cells from the innate immune system were analysed in different organs (bone marrow, blood, spleen, visceral adipose tissue, and intestine) by flow cytometry. No differences were observed in the number of myeloid cells in bone marrow, blood, spleen, or visceral adipose tissue of mice transplanted with patient’s microbiota before and after following the Mediterranean diet. However, the intestine of mice that received post-diet microbiota presented a marked decrease in the number of neutrophils (whose presence is associated with tissue inflammation), as well as macrophages. In line with these findings, intestine monocytes from mice with post-diet microbiota showed a less inflammatory profile (lower Ly6Gˡᵒʷ proportion of cells). These results point toward a decrease in the inflammatory state of the intestinal tissue, derived from changes in the gut microbiota, which occurred after a 3-month Mediterranean diet.

Keywords: obesity, nutrition, Mediterranean diet, gut microbiota, immune system

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Authors: Levylee Bautista, Dawn Grace Santos, Aishwarya Veluchamy, Jesusa Santos, Ghafoor Haque, Jr. I, Rodolfo Rafael

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Sesbania grandiflora is widely used in traditional medicine to treat a wide range of ailments. Assessment of its toxic properties is hence crucial when considering public health protection because exposure to plant extracts may pose adverse effects on consumers. This study aimed to investigate the acute intraperitoneal toxicity of S. grandiflora flower methanolic extract (SGFME) in Swiss albino mice. Four different concentrations (11.25, 22.5, 40, and 90 mg/kg) of SGFME were administered intraperitoneally and immediate behavioral and clinical signs were observed. All concentrations of SGFME-treated mice exhibited gasping and faster respiratory rate, writhing, reddening and fanning of the ears, paralysis of the hind leg, and mortality. Such reactions may be attributed to the histamine and saponin content of S. grandiflora. Results of this study suggests that intraperitoneal administration of SGFME produced significant adverse effect in mice, therefore, caution should be exercised in using it as herbal remedy since there is little control over its quality.

Keywords: acute toxicity test, histamine, medicinal plants, Sesbania grandiflora

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Authors: Lu Yanru, Handojo Djati Utomo, Yin Xi Jiang, Li Xiaodong

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Insulation plays a key role in the sustainable building due to the contribution of energy consumption reduction. Without sufficient insulation, a great amount of the energy used to heat or cool a building will be lost to the outdoors. In this study, we developed a highly efficient thermal insulation paint with the incorporation of silica aerogel. Silica aerogel, with a low thermal conductivity of 0.01 W/mK, has been successfully prepared from the solid waste from the incineration plants. It has been added into water-based paints to increase its thermal insulation properties. To investigate the thermal insulation performance of silica aerogel additive, the paint samples were mixed with silica aerogel at different sizes and with various portions. The thermal conductivity, water resistance, thermal stability and adhesion strength of the samples were tested and evaluated. The thermal diffusivity measurements proved that adding silica aerogel additive could improve the thermal insulation properties of the paint significantly. Up to 5 ˚C reductions were observed after applying paints with silica aerogel additive compare to the one without it. The results showed that the developed thermal insulation paints have great potential for an application in green and sustainable building.

Keywords: silica aerogel, thermal insulation, water-based paints, water resistant

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Authors: Ruslan Safarov, Zhanat Shomanova, Yuri Nossenko, Zhandos Mussayev, Ayana Baltabek

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Geochemical maps of distribution of polluting elements V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, Cd, Pb on the territory of the Pavlodar city (Kazakhstan), which is an industrial hub were designed. The samples of soil were taken from 100 locations. Elemental analysis has been performed using XRF. The obtained data was used for training of the computational model with gradient boosting algorithm. The optimal parameters of model as well as the loss function were selected. The computational model was used for prediction of polluting elements concentration for 1000 evenly distributed points. Based on predicted data geochemical maps were created. Additionally, the total pollution index Zc was calculated for every from 1000 point. The spatial distribution of the Zc index was visualized using GIS (QGIS). It was calculated that the maximum coverage area of the territory of the Pavlodar city belongs to the moderately hazardous category (89.7%). The visualization of the obtained data allowed us to conclude that the main source of contamination goes from the industrial zones where the strategic metallurgical and refining plants are placed.

Keywords: Pavlodar, geochemical map, gradient boosting, CatBoost, QGIS, spatial distribution, heavy metals

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Authors: Yun Zhang

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Urban housing in China is typified by residential districts that occupy 25 to 40 percentage of the urban land. In residential districts, squares, roads, and building facades, as well as plants, usually form a four-grade spatial structure: district entrances, central landscapes, housing cluster entrances, green spaces between dwellings. This spatial structure and its elements not only compose the visible residential landscape but also play a major role of carrying rain water. These elements, therefore, imply ecological significance to urban fitness. Based upon theories of landscape ecology, residential landscape can be understood as a pattern typified by minor soft patch of planted area and major hard patch of buildings and squares, as well as hard corridors of roads. Use five landscape districts in Hangzhou as examples; this paper finds that the size, shape and slope direction of soft patch, the bend of roads, and the form of the four-grade spatial structure are influential for adapting to natural rainwater circulation.

Keywords: Hangzhou China, rainwater, residential landscape, spatial character, urban housing

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Authors: Raquel Salazar Moreno, Uwe Schmidt, Efrén Fitz Rodríguez, Dennis Dannehl, Abraham Rojano Aguilar, Irineo López Cruz, Gilberto Navas Gómez

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As urban areas expand, strategic and protected water reserves become more critical. In this study we investigate the water problems in Mexico City and its Metropolitan area. This region faces a complex water problem that concerns not only Mexican boundaries but also international level because is one of the biggest human concentrations in the World. The current water shortage situation raises the necessity of importing surface and groundwater from the Cutzamala River and from the Alto Rio Lerma System respectively. Water management is the real issue in this region, because waste water generation is more than aquifer overexploitation, and surface water loss in the rainfall period is greater than water imported from other regions. However, the possible solutions of the water supply schemes are complicated, there is a need to look for alternatives socially acceptable and environmentally desirable, considering first the possible solutions on the demand side. Also, it is necessary more investment in water treatment plants and hydraulic infrastructure to ensure water supply and decrease the environmental problems in the area. More studies need to be done related to water efficiency in the three sectors.

Keywords: megacities, aquifer overexploitation, environmental problems, vulnerability

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Authors: Adeyemi A. Ajisebiolola

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This study examined people’s responses to demand and consumption of herbal medicines in Nigeria. It also assessed people’s evaluation of the effectiveness of the existing medicines on the treatment of ailments and encouraging forest products utilization for greener future in terms of healthcare delivery. Two Local Government Areas, namely Ido and Ibadan Northwest were adopted for the study; Ido is characterized by rural populace and Ibadan Northwest by urban populace. Out of 500 questionnaires randomly administered to the households in the two local government areas of study, 481 (96.2%) were recovered. Statistical analysis employed showed that people were beginning to understand the importance of herbal medicines in Nigeria as majority of the households use herbal medicines to treat various ailments. Among the major problems encountered by the respondents are lack of precise dosage and adequate preservation methods. It was recommended that Forestry Research Institutes in Nigeria should be deeply involved in the findings on medicinal plants, package them into products and make them available to the society for sustainable healthcare management and greener future of the nation.

Keywords: demand and consumption, forest products, herbal medicines, Nigeria

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Authors: Espinosa-Garza G., Loera-Hernandez I., Antonyan N.

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To innovate, it is necessary to perform projects directed towards the search of improvement. The agricultural technique and the design of greenhouses have been studied by undergraduate engineering students from the Tecnológico de Monterrey using the campus areas. The purpose of this project was to incite students to create innovations and help rural populations of the state to solve one of the problems that they are dealing with nowadays. The main objective of the project was to search for an alternative technique that will allow the planting of the “chile piquín” plant, also known as Capsicum annuum, to grow quicker as it germinates. The “chile piquín” is one of the original crops of Mexico and forms the basis of the Mesoamerican cultures’ diet since the pre-hispanic era. To fulfill with today’s demand, it is required to implement new alternative methods to increase the “chile piquín’s” growth. The project lasted one semester with the participation of engineering students from multiple majors. The most important results from this academic experience were that, from the proposed goal, the students could analyze the needs of their town and were capable of introducing new and innovative ideas with the aim of resolving them. In the present article the pedagogic methodologies that allowed to carry out this project will be discussed.

Keywords: academic experience, chile piquín, engineering education, greenhouse design, innovation

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Authors: Shikha Masand, Sudesh Kumar Yadav

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Certain protein kinases have been shown to be crucial for plant cell signaling pathways associated with plant immune responses. Here we identified a horsegram [Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc.] malectin-like leucine rich receptor-like protein kinase (RLK) gene MuRLK. The functional MuRLK protein preferentially binds to mannose and N-acetyl glucosamine residues. MuRLK exists in the cytoplasm and also localizes to the plasma membrane of plant cells via its N-terminus. Over-expression of MuRLK in Arabidopsis enhances the basal resistance to infection with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, Alternaria brassicicola and Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis, are associated with elevated ROS bursts, MAPK activation, thus ultimately leading to hypersensitive cell death. Moreover, salicylic acid-dependent and jasmonic acid-dependent defense responses are also enhanced in the MuRLK-overexpressed plants that lead to HR-induced cell death. Together, these results suggest that MuRLK plays a key role in the regulation of plant cell death, early and late defense responses after the recognition of microbial pathogens.

Keywords: horsegram, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, MuRLK, ROS burst, cell death, plant defense

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Authors: Eke Bala Sophie Michelle

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The renewable resource character of NTFPs is an opportunity to its sustainability, this study analyzed the role of social capital in the adoption of sustainable management practices of NTFPs by households in the community forest (CF) Morikouali-ye. The analysis shows that 67% of households surveyed perceive the level of degradation of NTFPs in their CF as time passes and are close to 74% for adoption of sustainable management practices of NTFPs that are domestication, sustainable management of the CF, the logging ban trees and uprooting plants, etc. 26% refused to adopt these practices estimate that, at 39% it is better to promote logging in the CF. The estimated probit model shows that social capital through trust, solidarity and social inclusion significantly influences the probability of households to adopt sustainable NTFP management practices. In addition, age, education level and income from the sale of NTFPs have a significant impact on the probability of adoption. The probability of adoption increases with the level of education and confidence among households. So should they be animated by a spirit of solidarity and trust and not let a game of competition for sustainable management of NTFPs in their CF.

Keywords: community forest, social capital, NTFP, trust, solidarity, social inclusion, sustainable management

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Authors: Qianqian He, Naian Liu, Xiaodong Xie, Linhe Zhang, Yang Zhang, Weidong Yan

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In the wild, the vegetation layer with exceptionally complex fuel composition and heterogeneous spatial distribution strongly affects the rate of fire spread (ROS) and fire intensity. Clarifying the influence of fuel bed structure on fire spread behavior is of great significance to wildland fire management and prediction. The packing ratio is one of the key physical parameters describing the property of the fuel bed. There is a threshold value of the packing ratio for ROS, but little is known about the controlling mechanism. In this study, to address this deficiency, a series of fire spread experiments were performed across a discrete fuel bed composed of some regularly arranged laser-cut cardboards, with constant wind speed and different packing ratios (0.0125-0.0375). The experiment aims to explore the relative importance of the internal and surface heat transfer with packing ratio. The dependence of the measured ROS on the packing ratio was almost consistent with the previous researches. The data of the radiative and total heat fluxes show that the internal heat transfer and surface heat transfer are both enhanced with increasing packing ratio (referred to as ‘Stage 1’). The trend agrees well with the variation of the flame length. The results extracted from the video show that the flame length markedly increases with increasing packing ratio in Stage 1. Combustion intensity is suggested to be increased, which, in turn, enhances the heat radiation. The heat flux data shows that the surface heat transfer appears to be more important than the internal heat transfer (fuel preheating inside the fuel bed) in Stage 1. On the contrary, the internal heat transfer dominates the fuel preheating mechanism when the packing ratio further increases (referred to as ‘Stage 2’) because the surface heat flux keeps almost stable with the packing ratio in Stage 2. As for the heat convection, the flow velocity was measured using Pitot tubes both inside and on the upper surface of the fuel bed during the fire spread. Based on the gas velocity distribution ahead of the flame front, it is found that the airflow inside the fuel bed is restricted in Stage 2, which can reduce the internal heat convection in theory. However, the analysis indicates not the influence of inside flow on convection and combustion, but the decreased internal radiation of per unit fuel is responsible for the decrease of ROS.

Keywords: discrete fuel bed, fire spread, packing ratio, wildfire

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Authors: Md. Ruhul Amin

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The effects of CB1, CB3, CB5, CB8 and CB12 cotton varieties on the nutritional indices and biological parameters of armyworm Spodoptera litura were studied under laboratory conditions. The armyworm larvae showed the highest and lowest food consumption rates on CB8 and CB1 variety, respectively. The efficiency of the conversion of digested food, efficiency of conversion of ingested food, approximate digestibility rates were statistically higher and similar on CB5 and CB8, and lowest on CB1. The larvae reared on CB12 variety exerted the lowest feeding and growth indices, and the relative growth rate was highest on CB8. The survival rates of egg, larva, pupa and adult moths were found highest on CB8 and lowest on CB12. The development durations of the immature stages of the insect differed significantly and the time elapsed from egg-to-adult emergence, longevity of both male and female moths, and their lifecycle were shortest on CB12 variety. The nutritional indices and biological parameters of the armyworm indicated that the varieties CB5 and CB8 were suitable host plants for feeding and development of S. litura.

Keywords: gossypium hirsutum, spodoptera litura, food consumption, life history

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Authors: Bharat Rawat, Shekhar Rajbhandari, Yadav Bhatta, Jay Prakash Jaiswal, Shivaji Bikram Silwal, Rajiv Shrestha, Shova Sunuwar

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Introduction: The honey produced by the bees fed on Rhobdodendron species containing grayanotoxin is known as mad honey. Grayanotoxin is found in honey obtained from the nectar of Rhododendron species growing on the mountains of the Black Sea region of Turkey and also in Japan, Nepal, Brazil, parts of North America, and Europe. Although the incidence of grayanotoxin poisoning is rare, there is concern that the number of cases per year will rise with the increasing demand for organic products. Mad honey intoxication might present with mild symptoms of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and neurological systems or might also present with a life-threatening form with AV block and cardiovascular collapse. In this article, we describe the summary of five cases, which came to our hospital with mad honey related cardiac complications. Findings: In last one year, five cases presented in the emergency department with sudden onset of Loss of consciousness, dizziness, shortness of breath. They felt difficulty after the consumption of 1-3 teaspoonful of wild honey. The honey was brought from most of the rural parts of Nepal like khotang. Some of them also came with vomiting, dizziness, and loose stool. On examination, most of them had severe bradycardia and low blood pressure. No abnormalities were detected on systemic examinations. In one patient, ECG and cardiac enzymes showed features of the acute coronary syndrome, but his treadmill test done few days later was normal. All patients were managed with inj. Atropine, I/V normal saline, and other supportive measures and discharged in a stable condition within one or two days. Conclusions: Rhododendrons is the national flower of Nepal. The specific species of rhododendron found in Nepal which contains the toxin is not known. Bees feeding on these rhododendrons are known to transfer the grayanotoxin to the honey they produce. Most symptoms are mild and resolve themselves without medical intervention. Signs and symptoms of grayanotoxin poisoning rarely last more than 24 hours and are usually not fatal. Some signs of mad honey poisoning include Bradycardia, Cardiac arrhythmia, Hypotension, Nausea and Vomiting. They respond to close monitoring and appropriate supportive treatment. Normally, patients recover completely with no residual damage to the heart or its conduction system.

Keywords: rhobdodendron, honey, grayanotoxin, bradycardia

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Authors: Piyush Sharma, Devi Prasad Sharma, Sulabh Bansal

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Diseases are fairly common in fruits and vegetables because of the changing climatic and environmental circumstances. Crop diseases, which are frequently difficult to control, interfere with the growth and output of the crops. Accurate disease detection and timely disease control measures are required to guarantee high production standards and good quality. In India, apples are a common crop that may be afflicted by a variety of diseases on the fruit, stem, and leaves. It is fungi, bacteria, and viruses that trigger the early symptoms of leaf diseases. In order to assist farmers and take the appropriate action, it is important to develop an automated system that can be used to detect the type of illnesses. Machine learning-based image processing can be used to: this research suggested a system that can automatically identify diseases in apple fruit and apple plants. Hence, this research utilizes the hybrid SVM-RBN model. As a consequence, the model may produce results that are more effective in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 Score, with respective values of 96%, 99%, 94%, and 93%.

Keywords: fruit plant disease, crop disease, machine learning, image processing, SVM-RBN

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Authors: Bedilu Tafesse

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The diversity and ecological analysis of vascular epiphytes was studied in Gera Forest in southwestern Ethiopia at altitudes between 1600 and 2400 m.a.s.l. A total area of 4.5 ha was surveyed in coffee and non-coffee forest vegetation. Fifty sampling plots, each 30 m x 30 m (900 m2), were used for the purpose of data collection. A total of 59 species of vascular epiphytes were recorded, of which 34 (59%) were holo epiphytes, two (4%) were hemi epiphytes and 22 (37%) species were accidental vascular epiphytes. To study the altitudinal distribution of vascular epiphytes, altitudes were classified into higher >2000, middle 1800-2000 and lower 1600-1800 m.a.s.l. According to Shannon-Wiener Index (H/= 3.411) of alpha diversity the epiphyte community in the study area is medium. There was a statistically significant difference between host bark type and epiphyte richness as determined by one-way ANOVA p = 0.001 < 0.05. The post-hoc test shows that there is significant difference of vascular epiphytes richness between smooth bark with rough, flack and corky bark (P =0.001< 0.05), as well as rough and cork bark (p =0.43 <0.05). However, between rough and flack bark (p = 0.753 > 0.05) and between flack and corky bark (p = 0.854 > 0.05) no significant difference of epiphyte abundance was observed. Rough bark had 38%, corky 26%, flack 25%, and only 11% vascular epiphytes abundance occurred on smooth bark. The regression correlation test, (R2 = 0.773, p = 0.0001 < 0.05), showed that the number of species of vascular epiphytes and host DBH size are positively correlated. The regression correlation test (R2 = 0.28, p = 0.0001 < 0.05), showed that the number of species and host tree height positively correlated. The host tree preference of vascular epiphytes was recorded for only Vittaria volkensii species hosted on Syzygium guineense trees. The result of similarity analysis indicated that Gera Forest showed the highest vascular epiphytic similarity (0.35) with Yayu Forest and shared the least vascular epiphytic similarity (0.295) with Harenna Forest. It was concluded that horizontal stems and branches, large and rough, flack and corky bark type trees are more suitable for vascular epiphytes seedling attachments and growth. Conservation and protection of these phorophytes are important for the survival of vascular epiphytes and increase their ecological importance.

Keywords: accidental epiphytes, hemiepiphyte, holoepiphyte, phorophyte

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Authors: Satya S. N. Narayana, P. Parthiban, T. Niranjan, N. Kannan

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Enterprises adopt methodologies to increase their business performance and to stay competent in the volatile global market. Lean manufacturing is one such manufacturing paradigm which focuses on reduction of cost by elimination of wastes or non-value added activities. With increased awareness about social responsibility and the necessary to meet the terms of the environmental policy, green manufacturing is becoming increasingly important for industries. Large plants have more resources, have started implementing lean and green practices and they are getting good results. Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) are facing problems in implementing lean and green concept. This paper aims to identify the key issues for implementation of lean and green concept in Indian SMEs. The key factors identified based on literature review and expert opinions are grouped into different levels by Modified Interpretive Structural Modeling (MISM) to explore the importance among the factors to implement lean and green manufacturing. Finally, Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) method has been used to determine the extent to which the main principles of lean and green manufacturing have been carried out in the six Indian medium scale manufacturing industries.

Keywords: lean manufacturing, green manufacturing, MISM, FANP

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Authors: N. R. Putra, A. H. Abdul Aziz, A. S. Zaini, Z. Idham, F. Idrus, M. Z. Bin Zullyadini, M. A. Che Yunus

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The content of omega-3 in soybean oil is important in the development of infants and is an alternative for the omega-3 in fish oils. The investigation of extraction of soybean oil is needed to obtain the bioactive compound in the extract. Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction is modern and green technology to extract herbs and plants to obtain high quality extract due to high diffusivity and solubility of the solvent. The aim of this study was to obtain the optimum condition of soybean oil extraction by modified supercritical carbon dioxide. The soybean oil was extracted by using modified supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) under the temperatures of 40, 60, 80 °C, pressures of 150, 250, 350 Bar, and constant flow-rate of 10 g/min as the parameters of extraction processes. An experimental design was performed in order to optimize three important parameters of SC-CO₂ extraction which are pressure (X₁), temperature (X₂) to achieve optimum yields of soybean oil. Box Behnken Design was applied for experimental design. From the optimization process, the optimum condition of extraction of soybean oil was obtained at pressure 338 Bar and temperature 80 °C with oil yield of 2.713 g. Effect of pressure is significant on the extraction of soybean oil by modified supercritical carbon dioxide. Increasing of pressure will increase the oil yield of soybean oil.

Keywords: soybean oil, SC-CO₂ extraction, yield, optimization

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Authors: N. Saki, S. Nalbantoglu, M. Akin, G. Arabaci

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Walnut has a great range of phenolic profile and it is used in Asia and Africa for treatment of many diseases and cancer. Phenolic compounds play a number of crucial roles in complex metabolism of plants and of also fruit trees. Consumption of certain phenolics in the food is considered beneficial for human nutrition. Phenolic compounds known as anti-radical inactivators with their high antioxidant activities and these activities play an important role in inhibition of multi-metal corrosion. Many common corrosion inhibitors that are still in use today are health hazards. Therefore, there is still an increased attention directed towards the development of environmentally compatible, nonpolluting corrosion inhibitors. The present study reports the total phenols content, antioxidant potentials and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the walnut (Juglans regia L.) produced in Turkey. The anti-tyrosinase activity was investigated for walnut at 2 h extraction time and all extracts exhibited tyrosinase activity. The results of this study suggested that walnut can be used as an excellent, easily accessible source of natural antioxidant.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, Juglans Regia, total phenols, tyrosinase activity

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Authors: B. J. Sonani, J. K. Ratnadhariya, Srinivas Palanki

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Cryogenic engineering is the fast growing branch of the modern technology. There are various applications of the cryogenic engineering such as liquefaction in gas industries, metal industries, medical science, space technology, and transportation. The low-temperature technology developed superconducting materials which lead to reduce the friction and wear in various components of the systems. The liquid oxygen, hydrogen and helium play vital role in space application. The liquefaction process is produced very low temperature liquid for various application in research and modern application. The air liquefaction system for oxygen plants in gas industries is based on the Claude cycle. The effect of process parameters on the overall system is difficult to be analysed by manual calculations, and this provides the motivation to use process simulators for understanding the steady state and dynamic behaviour of such systems. The parametric study of this system via MATLAB simulations provide useful guidelines for preliminary design of air liquefaction system based on the Claude cycle. Every organization is always trying for reduce the cost and using the optimum performance of the plant for the staying in the competitive market.

Keywords: cryogenic, liquefaction, low -temperature, oxygen, claude cycle, optimization, MATLAB

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Authors: Zahia Aliche, Fatiha Boudjema, Benyoucef Khelidj, Selma Mettai, Zohra Bouriahi, Saliha Mohammed Belkebir, Ridha Mazouz

Abstract:

The purpose of this work is the study of the viscoelastic behaviour formulating gels based plant extractions. The extracts of Zingibar officinale and Cinnamomum cassia were included in the gel at different concentrations of these plants in order to be applied in anti-inflammatory drugs. The yield of ethanolic extraction of Zingibar o. is 3.98% and for Cinnamomum c., essential oil by hydrodistillation is 1.67 %. The ethanolic extract of Zingibar.o, the essential oil of Cinnamomum c. and the mixture showed an anti-DPPH radicals’ activity, presented by EC50 values of 11.32, 13.48 and 14.39 mg/ml respectively. A gel based on different concentrations of these extracts was prepared. Microbiological tests conducted against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia colishowed moderate inhibition of Cinnamomum c. gel and less the gel based on Cinnamomum c./ Zingibar o. (20/80). The yeast Candida albicansis resistant to gels. The viscoelastic formulation property was carried out in dynamic and creep and modeled with the Kelvin-Voigt model. The influence of some parameters on the stability of the gel (time, temperature and applied stress) has been studied.

Keywords: Cinnamomum cassia, Zingibar officinale, antioxidant activity, antimicrobien activity, gel, viscoelastic behaviour

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Authors: F. Z. Aliyat, B. Ben Messaoud, L. Nassiri, E. Bouiamrine, J. Ibijbijen

Abstract:

The present study aims to assess the biological nitrogen fixation in the soybean tested in different Moroccan soils combined with the rhizobial inoculation. These effects were evaluated by the plant growth mainly by the aerial biomass production, total nitrogen content and the proportion of the nitrogen fixed. This assessment clearly shows that the inoculation with bacteria increases the growth of soybean. Five different soils and a control (peat) were used. The rhizobial inoculation was performed by applying the peat that contained a mixture of 2 strains Sinorhizobium fredii HH103 and Bradyrhizobium. The biomass, the total nitrogen content and the proportion of nitrogen fixed were evaluated under different treatments. The essay was realized at the greenhouse the Faculty of Sciences, Moulay Ismail University. The soybean has shown a great response for the parameters assessed. Moreover, the best response was reported by the inoculated plants compared to non- inoculated and to the absolute control. Finally, good production and the best biological nitrogen fixation present an important ecological technology to improve the sustainable production of soybean and to ensure the increase of the fertility of soils.

Keywords: biological nitrogen fixation, inoculation, rhizobium, soybean

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Authors: Rosna Mat Taha, Sakinah Abdullah, Sadegh Mohajer, Asmah Awal

Abstract:

Lycium barbarum L. (Goji) belongs to Solanaceae family and native to some areas of China. Ethnobotanical studies have shown that this plant has been consumed by the Chinese since ancient times. It has been used as medicine in providing excellent effects on cardiovascular system and cholesterol level, besides contains high antioxidant and antidiabetic properties. In the present study, some tissue culture work has been carried out to induce callus, in vitro regeneration from various explants of Goji and also some acclimatization protocols were followed to transfer the regenerated plants to soil. The main aims being to establish high efficient regeneration system for mass production and commercialization for future uses, since the growth of this species is very limited in Malaysia. The optimum hormonal regime and the most suitable and responsive explants were identified. It was found that leaves and stems gave good responses. Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L NAA and 0.5 mg/L BAP was the best for callus induction and MS media fortified with 1.0 mg/L NAA and 1.0 mg/L BAP was optimum for in vitro regeneration. The survival rates of plantlets after acclimatization was 63±1.5 % on black soil and 50±1.3 % on mixed soil (combination of black and red soil at a ratio of 2 to 1), respectively.

Keywords: callus, acclimatization, in vitro culture, regeneration

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Authors: Habes Sameh, Bettahar Asma, Nezli Imad Eddine

Abstract:

The region of Touggourt is situated in the southern part is Algeria, it receives important quantities of waters, the latter are extracted from the fossil groundwater (the Intercalary Continental and the Terminal Complex). The mineralization of these waters of the Terminal Complex is between 3 and 6,5 g/l and for waters of Intercalary Continental is 1,8 and 8,7 g/l, thus it constitutes an obstacle as for its use. To highlight the origins of this mineralization, we used the hydrochemical tool. So the chemical analyses in our ownership, were treated by means of the software "Statistica", what allowed us to realize an analysis in main components (ACP), the latter showed a competition between sodic or magnesian chlorinated water and calcic bicarbonate water, rich in potassium for the TC, while for the IC, we have a competition between sodic or calcic chlorinated and magnesian water treated with copper sulphate waters. The simulation realized thermodynamics showed a variation of the index of saturation which do not exceed zero, for waters of two aquifer TC and IC, so indicating one under saturation of waters towards minerals, highlighting the influence of the geologic formation in the outcrop on the quality of waters. However, we notice that these waters remain acceptable for the irrigation of plants but must be treated before what are consumed by the human being.

Keywords: ACP, intercalary, continental, mineralization, SI, Terminal Complex

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Authors: Ilham Ihoume, Rachid Tadili, Nora Arbaoui

Abstract:

Recent innovations in economical heating systems have significantly boosted ‎agricultural production by effectively managing temperature drops in greenhouse ‎microclimates. These advancements enhance product profitability in terms of quality, ‎quantity, and growth duration. This study experimentally investigates the impact of a ‎solar heating system on the microclimate of an agricultural greenhouse, focusing on ‎zucchini (Cucurbita pepo). The System comprises a copper tube placed between double ‎roof glazing and a sensible heat storage system, converting solar energy during the day ‎and storing it for night-time release. A second control greenhouse without heating ‎allows for comparative analysis at various growth stages. During the cold season, the ‎experimental greenhouse showed a temperature increase of 3°C compared to the ‎control greenhouse and 5°C above external ambient air. The relative humidity in the ‎experimental greenhouse ranged from 69% to 70%, whereas the control greenhouse recorded 68% to 86%, and ambient air ‎was between 94% to 99%. The heating systems achieved an efficiency of 73%, and ‎zucchini plants in the experimental greenhouse developed fruit 13 days earlier than ‎those in the control greenhouse.‎

Keywords: solar energy, storage, energy managment, heating system

Procedia PDF Downloads 44

Authors: Viviane A. O. Silva, Angela M. Costa, Glaucia N. M. Hajj, Ana Preto, Aline Tansini, Martin Roffé, Peter Jordan, Rui M. Reis

Abstract:

Autophagy is a recycling and degradative system suggested to be a major cell death pathway in cancer cells. Autophagy pathway is interconnected with the endocytosis pathways sharing the same ultimate lysosomal destination. Lysosomes are crucial regulators of cell homeostasis, responsible to downregulate receptor signalling and turnover. It seems highly likely that derailed endocytosis can make major contributions to several hallmarks of cancer. WNK2, a member of the WNK (with-no-lysine [K]) subfamily of protein kinases, had been found downregulated by its promoter hypermethylation, and has been proposed to act as a specific tumour-suppressor gene in brain tumors. Although some contradictory studies indicated WNK2 as an autophagy modulator, its role in cancer cell death is largely unknown. There is also growing evidence for additional roles of WNK kinases in vesicular traffic. Aim: To evaluate the role of WNK2 in autophagy and endocytosis on glioma context. Methods: Wild-type (wt) A172 cells (WNK2 promoter-methylated), and A172 transfected either with an empty vector (Ev) or with a WNK2 expression vector, were used to assess the cellular basal capacities to promote autophagy, through western blot and flow-cytometry analysis. Additionally, we evaluated the effect of WNK2 on general endocytosis trafficking routes by immunofluorescence. Results: The re-expression of ectopic WNK2 did not interfere with autophagy-related protein light chain 3 (LC3-II) expression levels as well as did not promote mTOR signaling pathway alteration when compared with Ev or wt A172 cells. However, the restoration of WNK2 resulted in a marked increase (8 to 92,4%) of Acidic Vesicular Organelles formation (AVOs). Moreover, our results also suggest that WNK2 cells promotes delay in uptake and internalization rate of cholera toxin B and transferrin ligands. Conclusions: The restoration of WNK2 interferes in vesicular traffic during endocytosis pathway and increase AVOs formation. This results also suggest the role of WNK2 in growth factor receptor turnover related to cell growth and homeostasis and associates one more time, WNK2 silencing contribution in genesis of gliomas.

Keywords: autophagy, endocytosis, glioma, WNK2

Procedia PDF Downloads 370