Search results for: heavy precipitation

Authors: Attef Kouadria, Yehya Bouteghrine, Amar Manaa, Tarek Mouats, Djalel Eddine Tria, Hamid Abdelhafid Ghouti

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Personal protection systems have been used in several forms for centuries. The need for light-weight composite structures has been in great demand due to their weight and high mechanical properties ratios in comparison to heavy and cumbersome steel plates. In this regard, lighter ceramic plates with a backing plate made of high strength polymeric fibers, mostly aramids, are widely used for protection against ballistic threats. This study aims to improve the ballistic performance of ceramic/composite plates subjected to ballistic impact by reducing the back face deformation (BFD) measured after each test. A new hybridization technique was developed in this investigation to increase the energy absorption capabilities of the backing plates. The hybridization consists of combining different types of aramid fabrics with different linear densities of aramid fibers (Dtex) and areal densities with an epoxy resin to form the backing plate. Therefore, several composite structures architectures were prepared and tested. For better understanding the effect of the hybridization, a serial of tensile, compression, and shear tests were conducted to determine the mechanical properties of the homogeneous composite materials prepared from different fabrics. It was found that the hybridization allows the backing plate to combine between the mechanical properties of the used fabrics. Aramid fabrics with higher Dtex were found to increase the mechanical strength of the backing plate, while those with lower Dtex found to enhance the lateral wave dispersion ratio due to their lower areal density. Therefore, the back face deformation was significantly reduced in comparison to a homogeneous composite plate.

Keywords: aramid fabric, ballistic impact, back face deformation, body armor, composite, mechanical testing

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Authors: Joseph Omeiza Alao

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The wobbly state of waste management and the high level of environmental irresponsibility is a threat to environmental security, which invariably endangered public health, regional groundwater systems and atmospheric condition. The dumping of waste materials in water bodies and gutters and the frequent burning of waste materials heaped at dumpsites as well depict the highest level of environmental indiscipline. These unruly human factors have compelled this study to apply four different techniques for environmental impact assessment and the possible public health risks of poor waste management in Nigeria. The techniques include a geophysical survey (resistivity data acquisition), dispatched questionnaire surveys, physiochemical water analysis and a physical survey of several dumpsites. While the resistivity data indicates high-level dumpsite leachate invading the ground soil down to the water table, the physiochemical water analysis depicts high content of BOD (401 – 711) mg/l, COD (731 – 1312) mg/l, TDS (419 – 1871) mg/l and heavy metals (0.014 – 1.971) mg/l present in the regional groundwater systems, which have altered the chemistry of the regional groundwater. The resistivity data shows that the overburdened soil layer overlaying the regional groundwater systems was very low (4.5 Ωm – 151 Ωm) as against the existing data (180 Ωm – 3500 Ωm). However, the physical surveys and the dispatched questionnaire surveys explore the depth of environmental irresponsibility among the citizen. While the imprints of gross environmental indiscipline may be absolutely irreversible, adequate knowledge of the environmental implications of careless waste disposal. After a critical examination of the current waste management strategies in Nigeria, the study suggests a future direction for environmental security and sustainability. Several influential regional factors, such as geology, climatic conditions, and hydrology, were also discussed.

Keywords: groundwater, environmental indiscipline, waste management, water analysis, leachate plumes, public health

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Maria Manzoor, Iram Gul, Muhammad Arshad

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Bacterial strains were isolated from contaminated soil collected from Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The strains were investigated for lead resistance and their effect on Pb solubility and PGPR activity. Incubation experiments were carried for inoculated and unoculated soil containing different levels of Pb. Results revealed that few stains (BTM-4, BTM-11, BTM-14) were able to tolerate Pb up to 600 mg L-1, whereas five strains (BTM-3, BTM-6, BTM-10, BTM-21 and BTM-24) showed significant increase in solubility of Pb when compared to all other strains and control. The CaCl2 extractable Pb was increased by 13.6, 6.8, 4.4 and 2.4 folds compared to un-inoculated control soil at increased soil Pb concentration (500, 1000, 1500 and 200 mg kg-1, respectively). The selected bacterial strains (11) were further investigated for plant growth promotion activity through PGPR assays including. Germination and root elongation assays were also conducted under elevated metal concentration in controlled conditions to elucidate the effects of microbial strains upon plant growth and development. The results showed that all the strains tested in this study, produced significantly varying concentrations of IAA, siderophores and gibberellic acid along with ability to phosphorus solubilization index (PSI). The results of germination and root elongation assay further confirmed the beneficial role of the microbial strains in elevating metal stress through PGPR activity. Among all tested strains, BTM-10 significantly improved plant growth. 1.3 and 2.7 folds increase in root and shoot length was observed when compared to control. Which may be attributed to presence of important plant growth promoting enzymes (IAA 74.6 μg/ml; GA 19.23 μg/ml; Sidrophore units 49% and PSI 1.3 cm). The outcome of this study indicates that these Pb tolerant and solubilizing strains may have the potential for plant growth promotion under metal stress and can be used as mediator when coupled with heavy metal hyperaccumulator plants for phytoremediation of Pb contaminated soil.

Keywords: Pb resistant bacteria, Pb mobilizing bacteria, Phytoextraction of Pb, PGPR activity of bacteria

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Maryam Ehsanpour, Maryam Malekpour, Rastin Afkhami

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Today, industry is one of the indices of growth and development of countries and is a suitable applicable criterion to compare the countries. Bandar Abbas has a high industrial centralization in term of geographical redundancy of industries in comparison with other rural and urban places of Hormozgan province. Most important and major industries of the province are located in Bandar abbas eighth refinery, power plant, zinc melting company, Almahdi Aluminium, Hormozgan steel, south steel, which are the most important of these industries. So, it is necessary to study pollution from these industries and their destructive effects on environment of region. In respect of these things, general purpose of this research is codling and presenting managing solution of Almahdi Aluminium factory in them of measuring of air (atmosphere) parameters. For gaining this purpose it is necessary to determine measure of heavy metals suspension in the air (atmosphere) in the neighborhood of industries and also in residential regions close to them as partial purposes. So, for achieving the purposes above, operation of sampling from the air in two hot and cold seasons of the year (2010-2011) was performed, after field reviews to recognize the sources of effluence and to choose place of sampling stations. Sampling and preparation way to read was based on EPA and NIOSH. Also, decreasing process was included Fe>Al>Cd>Pb>Ni respectively, in term of results gaining from sampling of ingredients existing in the air (atmosphere). Also Ni and Fe elements in samples of air were higher than permissive measure in both of cold and hot season. Average of these two metals was 34% and 33% in cold season and 44% and 34% micrograms/m3 in hot season. Finally, suitable managing solutions to improve existing situation is presented in term for all results.

Keywords: Almahdi aluminium factory, Bandar Abbas, scarce metals, atmosphere

Procedia PDF Downloads 567

Authors: Alemayehu Agizew Woldeamanuel, Mekonnen Maschal Tarekegn, Raj Mohan Balakrishina

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Composting is one of the conventional techniques adopted for organic waste management, but the practice is very limited in emerging cities despite the most of the waste generated is organic. This paper aims to examine the viability of composting for organic waste management in the emerging city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by addressing the composting practice, quality of compost, and application of compost in urban agriculture. The study collects data using compost laboratory testing and urban farm households’ survey and uses descriptive analysis on the state of compost production and application, physicochemical analysis of the compost samples, and regression analysis on the urban farmer’s willingness to pay for compost. The findings of the study indicated that there is composting practice at a small scale, most of the producers use unsorted feedstock materials, aerobic composting is dominantly used, and the maturation period ranged from four to ten weeks. The carbon content of the compost ranges from 30.8 to 277.1 due to the type of feedstock applied, and this surpasses the ideal proportions for C:N ratio. The total nitrogen, pH, organic matter, and moisture content are relatively optimal. The levels of heavy metals measured for Mn, Cu, Pb, Cd and Cr⁶⁺ in the compost samples are also insignificant. In the urban agriculture sector, chemical fertilizer is the dominant type of soil input in crop productions but vegetable producers use a combination of both fertilizer and other organic inputs, including compost. The willingness to pay for compost depends on income, household size, gender, type of soil inputs, monitoring soil fertility, the main product of the farm, farming method and farm ownership. Finally, this study recommends the need for collaboration among stakeholders’ along the value chain of waste, awareness creation on the benefits of composting and addressing challenges faced by both compost producers and users.

Keywords: composting, emerging city, organic waste management, urban agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 278

Authors: Juan Alfredo Guevara Carrio, Swamy Toolahalli Thipperudra, Riddhi Naik Dharmeshbhai, Sergio Graniero Echeverrigaray, Jose Vitorio Emiliano, Antonio Helio Castro

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In order to advance the hydrogen economy, several industrial sectors can potentially benefit from the trillions of stimulus spending for post-coronavirus. Blending hydrogen into natural gas pipeline networks has been proposed as a means of delivering it during the early market development phase, using separation and purification technologies downstream to extract the pure H₂ close to the point of end-use. This first step has been mentioned around the world as an opportunity to use existing infrastructures for immediate decarbonisation pathways. Among current technologies used to extract hydrogen from mixtures in pipelines or liquid carriers, membrane separation can achieve the highest selectivity. The most efficient approach for the separation of H₂ from other substances by membranes is offered from the research of 2D layered materials due to their exceptional physical and chemical properties. Graphene-based membranes, with their distribution of pore sizes in nanometers and angstrom range, have shown fundamental and economic advantages over other materials. Their combination with the structure of ceramic and geopolymeric materials enabled the synthesis of nanocomposites and the fabrication of membranes with long-term stability and robustness in a relevant range of physical and chemical conditions. Versatile separation modules have been developed for hydrogen separation, which adaptability allows their integration in industrial prototypes for applications in heavy transport, steel, and cement production, as well as small installations at end-user stations of pipeline networks. The developed membranes and prototypes are a practical contribution to the technological challenge of supply pure H₂ for the mentioned industries as well as hydrogen energy-based fuel cells.

Keywords: graphene nano-composite membranes, hydrogen separation and purification, separation modules, indsutrial prototype

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Manon Ghislain, Timothée Bonnet, Olivier Gimenez, Olivier Dehorter, Pierre-Yves Henry

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Climatic fluctuations affect the demography of animal populations, generating changes in population size, phenology, distribution and community assemblages. However, very few studies have identified the underlying demographic processes. For short-lived species, like common passerine birds, are these changes generated by changes in adult survival or in fecundity and recruitment? This study tests for an effect of annual climatic conditions (spring and winter) on annual, local adult survival at very large spatial (a country, 252 sites), temporal (25 years) and biological (25 species) scales. The Constant Effort Site ringing has allowed the collection of capture - mark - recapture data for 100 000 adult individuals since 1989, over metropolitan France, thus documenting annual, local survival rates of the most common passerine birds. We specifically developed a set of multi-year, multi-species, multi-site Bayesian models describing variations in local survival and recapture probabilities. This method allows for a statistically powerful hierarchical assessment (global versus species-specific) of the effects of climate variables on survival. A major part of between-year variations in survival rate was common to all species (74% of between-year variance), whereas only 26% of temporal variation was species-specific. Although changing spring climate is commonly invoked as a cause of population size fluctuations, spring climatic anomalies (mean precipitation or temperature for March-August) do not impact adult survival: only 1% of between-year variation of species survival is explained by spring climatic anomalies. However, for sedentary birds, winter climatic anomalies (North Atlantic Oscillation) had a significant, quadratic effect on adult survival, birds surviving less during intermediate years than during more extreme years. For migratory birds, we do not detect an effect of winter climatic anomalies (Sahel Rainfall). We will analyze the life history traits (migration, habitat, thermal range) that could explain a different sensitivity of species to winter climate anomalies. Overall, we conclude that changes in population sizes for passerine birds are unlikely to be the consequences of climate-driven mortality (or emigration) in spring but could be induced by other demographic parameters, like fecundity.

Keywords: Bayesian approach, capture-recapture, climate anomaly, constant effort sites scheme, passerine, seasons, survival

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Abdolrasoul Daneshjoo

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The purpose of this research was to study the effect of aerobic exercises with 75% heart beats on the amount of urea, uric acid and creatine in blood of Iranian soccer national U-23 players. 27 players were selected according to the following demographic specifications: age: 21.4±1.60 years old; weight: 68±9.4 kg; height: 174.2±8.6 cm. Urea, uric acid and creatine in blood are considered as dependent variations where as 40 minutes running on a track with maximum 75% heart beats are independent variations. Heart beat and blood pressure in rest time, age, height, and weight are considered as the controlled variations. Maximum heart beats are recorded under maximum exercises (8 minutes and 150-250 watt energy) on ergo meter. Then, in order to determine independent variations, 75% maximum heart beats are considered for each player. Blood is taken twice (before and after determining independence variation). Moreover, the players are given a few instructions to be fulfilled 24 hours before the main exercises. Laboratory analysis method for blood urea sample is deacetyl ammoniom, for uric acid Karvy test and for creatine pyric acid. 'T' formula is applied for analyzing statistical data in dependent groups with degree of freedom 7 (d.f=7) urea and uric acid contain P>0.01 and P>0.05 for creatine. 1. Aerobic exercise can effect on the concentration of urea of blood as well as uric acid and creatine in blood serum and increase the amount of them. 2. Urea of blood serum increases from 26.75±2.59 to 28.9±2.67 (25%) with 40 minutes running and 75% heart beat. 3. Aerobic exercise causes uric acid increase 12.5% from 5.7±0.52 (before exercise) to 6.1±0.71 (after exercise). Creatine of blood serum increases from 1.36±0.27 (before exercise) to 1.85±0.49 (after exercise). We came to this result that during aerobic exercise catabolism of protein substrate increases. Moreover, augmentation of urea, uric acid and creatine in blood serum as metabolic poisons causes disorder in kidney. Also, tendons and joints are affected by these poisons. Appropriate diet and exercise can prevent production of these poisons resulted from heavy exercise.

Keywords: aerobic exercise, urea, uric acid, creatine, blood, soccer national players

Procedia PDF Downloads 509

Authors: Olga Shuvaeva, Tamara Romanova, Sergey Volynkin, Valentina Podolinnaya

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Green chemistry concept is focused on the prevention of environmental pollution caused by human activity. However, there are a lot of contaminated areas in the world which pose a serious threat to ecosystems in terms of their conservation. Therefore in accordance with the principles of green chemistry, it should not be forgotten about the need to clean these areas. Furthermore, the waste material often contains the valuable components, the extraction of which by traditional wet chemical technologies is inefficient both from the economic and environmental protection standpoint. Wherein, the plants may be successfully used to ‘scavenge’ a range of metals from polluted land sites in an approach allowing to carry out both of these processes – phytoremediation and phytomining in conjunction. The goal of the present work was to study bioaccumulation ability of floating macrophytes such as water hyacinth and pondweed toward Hg, Ba, Cd, Mo and Pb as pollutants in aquatic medium and terrestrial plants (birch, reed, and cane) towards gold and silver as valuable components. The peculiarity of ongoing research was that the plants grew under extreme conditions (pH of drainage and pore waters was about 2.5). The study was conducted at the territory of Ursk tailings (Southwestern Siberia, Russia) formed as a result of primary polymetallic ores cyanidation. The waste material is mainly presented (~80%) by pyrite (FeS₂) and barite (BaSO₄), the raw minerals included FeAsS, HgS, PbS, Ag₂S as minor ones. It has been shown that water hyacinth demonstrates high ability to accumulate different metals, and what is especially important – to remove mercury from polluted waters with BCF value more than 1000. As for the gold, its concentrations in reed and cane growing near the waste material were estimated as 500 and 900 μg∙kg⁻¹ respectively. It was also found that the plants can survive under extreme conditions of acidic environment and hence we can assume that there is a principal opportunity to use them for the valuable substances extraction from an area of the mining waste dumps burial.

Keywords: bioaccumulation, gold, heavy metals, mine tailing

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

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

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: T. Sadunishvili, L. Kutateladze, T. Urushadze, R. Khvedelidze, N. Zakariashvili, M. Jobava, G. Kvesitadze

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Multiple repeated soil-climatic zones in Georgia determines the diversity of microorganisms. Hundreds of microscopic fungi of different genera have been isolated from different ecological niches, including some extreme environments. Biosynthetic ability of microscopic fungi has been studied. Trichoderma ressei, representative of the Ascomycetes secrete cellulolytic and xylanolytic enzymes that act in synergy to hydrolyze polysaccharide polymers to glucose, xylose and arabinose, which can be fermented to biofuels. The other mesophilic strains producing cellulases are Allesheria terrestris, Chaetomium thermophile, Fusarium oxysporium, Piptoporus betulinus, Penicillium echinulatum, P. purpurogenum, Aspergillus niger, A. wentii, A. versicolor, A. fumigatus etc. In the majority of the cases the cellulases produced by strains of genus Aspergillus usually have high β-glucosidase activity and average endoglucanases levels (with some exceptions), whereas strains representing Trichoderma have high endo enzyme and low β-glucosidase, and hence has limited efficiency in cellulose hydrolysis. Six producers of stable cellulases and xylanases from mesophilic and thermophilic fungi have been selected. By optimization of submerged cultivation conditions, high activities of cellulases and xylanases were obtained. For enzymes purification, their sedimentation by organic solvents such as ethyl alcohol, acetone, isopropanol and by ammonium sulphate in different ratios have been carried out. Best results were obtained with precipitation by ethyl alcohol (1:3.5) and ammonium sulphate. The yields of enzyme according to cellulase activities were 80-85% in both cases. Cellulase activity of enzyme preparation obtained from the strain Trichoderma viride X 33 is 126 U/g, from the strain Penicillium canescence D 85–185U/g and from the strain Sporotrichum pulverulentum T 5-0 110 U/g. Cellulase activity of enzyme preparation obtained from the strain Aspergillus sp. Av10 is 120 U/g, xylanase activity of enzyme preparation obtained from the strain Aspergillus niger A 7-5–1155U/g and from the strain Aspergillus niger Aj 38-1250 U/g. Optimum pH and temperature of operation and thermostability, of the enzyme preparations, were established. The efficiency of hydrolyses of different agricultural residues by the microscopic fungi cellulases has been studied. The glucose yield from the residues as a result of enzymatic hydrolysis is highly determined by the ratio of enzyme to substrate, pH, temperature, and duration of the process. Hydrolysis efficiency was significantly increased as a result of different pretreatment of the residues by different methods. Acknowledgement: The Study was supported by the ISTC project G-2117, funded by Korea.

Keywords: cellulase, xylanase, microscopic fungi, enzymatic hydrolysis

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Authors: D. Leibman, D. Wolf, A. Gal-On

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Viral diseases of tomato crops result in heavy yield losses and may even jeopardize the production of these crops. Classical tomato breeding for disease resistance against Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), leads to partial resistance associated with a number of recessive genes. To author’s best knowledge Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) genetic resistance is not yet available. The generation of viral resistance by means of genetic engineering was reported and implemented for many crops, including tomato. Transgenic resistance against viruses is based, in most cases, on Post Transcriptional Gene Silencing (PTGS), an endogenous mechanism which destroys the virus genome. In this work, we developed immunity against PepMV and TYLCV in a tomato based on a PTGS mechanism. Tomato plants were transformed with a hairpin-construct-expressed transgene-derived double-strand-RNA (tr-dsRNA). In the case of PepMV, the binary construct harbored three consecutive fragments of the replicase gene from three different PepMV strains (Italian, Spanish and American), to provide resistance against a range of virus strains. In the case of TYLCV, the binary vector included three consecutive fragments of the IR, V2 and C2 viral genes constructed in a hairpin configuration. Selected transgenic lines (T0) showed a high accumulation of transgene siRNA of 21-24 bases, and T1 transgenic lines showed complete immunity to PepMV and TYLCV. Graft inoculation displayed immunity of the transgenic scion against PepMV and TYLCV. The study presents the engineering of resistance in tomato against two serious diseases, which will help in the production of high-quality tomato. However, unfortunately, these resistant plants have not been implemented due to public ignorance and opposition against breeding by genetic engineering.

Keywords: PepMV, PTGS, TYLCV, tr-dsRNA

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Despoina Andrioti Bygvraa, Ida-Maja Hassellöv, George Charalambous

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Exhaust gas cleaning systems, also known as scrubbers, are today widely used to allow for the use of High Sulphur Heavy Fuel Oil and still comply with the regulations limiting sulphur content in marine fuels. There are extensive concerns about environmental consequences, especially in the Baltic Sea, from the wide-scale use of scrubbers, as the wash water is acidic (ca pH 3) and contains high concentrations of toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic substances. The aim of this feasibility study is to investigate the potential adverse effects on seafarers’ health with the ultimate goal of raising awareness of chemical-related health and safety issues in the shipping environment. The project got funding from the Swedish Foundation. The team will extend previously compiled data on scrubber wash water concentrations of hazardous substances and pH to include the use of strong base in closed-loop scrubbers, and scoping assessment on handling and disposing practices. Based on the findings (a), a systematic review of risk assessment will follow to show the risk of exposures, the establishment of the hazardous levels for human health as well as the respective prevention practices. In addition, the researchers will perform (b) a systematic review to identify facilitators and barriers of the crew on compliance with the safe handling of chemicals. The study will run for 12 months, delivering (a) a risk assessment inventory with risk exposures and (b) a course description of safe handling practices. This feasibility study could provide valuable knowledge on how pollutants found in scrubbers should be considered from a human health perspective to facilitate evidence-based informed decisions in future technology- and policy development to make shipping a safer, healthier, and more attractive workplace.

Keywords: health and safety, seafarers, scrubbers, chemicals, risk exposures

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Authors: Dona Ghosh, Zakir Husain

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In India, the increase in share of aged has generated many social and economic issues, of which health concerns is a major challenge that society must confront in coming years. Self-reported health (SRH) is a popular health measure in this regard but has been questioned in recent years due to its heavy dependence on the socioeconomic status. So, the validity of SRH, as a measure of health status during old age, is needed to be verified. This paper emphasizes on the self-reported health and related inconsistent responses among elderly in India. The objective of the study is bifurcated into two parts: firstly, to identify the socioeconomic determinants of subjective health status and its change over time; and secondly, to analyse the role of the socioeconomic components in providing inconsistent responses regarding the health status of elderly. Inconsistency in response can rise in two ways: positive response bias (if an individual has a health problem but reports his/her health as good) and negative response bias (if bad health is reported even if there is no health problem). However, in the present study, we focus only on the negative response bias of elderly individuals. To measure the inconsistencies in responses, self-reported health is compared with two types of physical health conditions – existence of chronicle ailment and physical immobility. Using NSS dataset of 60th and 71st rounds, the study found that subjective health has worsened over time in both rural and urban areas. Findings suggest that inconsistency in responses, related to chronic ailment, vary across social classes, living environments, geographical regions, age groups and education levels. On the contrary, variation in inconsistent responses regarding physical mobility is quite rare and difficult to explain by socioeconomic characteristics because most of the indicators are found to be insignificant in this regard. The findings indicate that in case of chronicle ailment, inconsistency between objective and subjective health status largely depends on socioeconomic conditions but the importance of such factors disappears for physical immobility.

Keywords: India, aging, self-reported health, inconsistent responses

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: G. Disciglio, F. Lops, A. Carlucci, G. Gatta, A. Tarantino, L. Frabboni, F. Carriero, F. Cibelli, M. L. Raimondo, E. Tarantino

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The Phelipanche ramosa is is an important crop whose cultivation in the Mediterranean basin is severely contained the phitoparasitic weed Phelipanche ramose. The semiarid regions of the world are considered the main center of this parasitic weed, where heavy infestation is due to the ability to produce high numbers of seeds (up to 500,000 per plant), that remain viable for extended period (more than 19 years). In this paper 12 treatments of parasitic weed control including chemical, agronomic, biological and biotechnological methods have been carried out. In 2014 a trial was performed at Foggia (southern Italy). on processing tomato (cv Docet), grown in field infested by Phelipanche ramosa, Tomato seedlings were transplant on May 5, 2014 on a clay-loam soil (USDA) fertilized by 100 kg ha-1 of N; 60 kg ha-1 of P2O5 and 20 kg ha-1 of S. Afterwards, top dressing was performed with 70 kg ha-1 of N. The randomized block design with 3 replicates was adopted. During the growing cycle of the tomato, at 56-78 and 92 days after transplantation, the number of parasitic shoots emerged in each pot was detected. At harvesting, on August 18, the major quantity-quality yield parameters were determined (marketable yield, mean weight, dry matter, pH, soluble solids and color of fruits). All data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA), using the JMP software (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA), and for comparison of means was used Tukey's test. Each treatment studied did not provide complete control against Phelipanche ramosa. However among the 12 tested methods, Fusarium, gliphosate, radicon biostimulant and Red Setter tomato cv (improved genotypes obtained by Tilling technology) proved to mitigate the virulence of the attacks of Phelipanche ramose. It is assumed that these effects can be improved by combining some of these treatments each other, especially for a gradual and continuing reduction of the “seed bank” of the parasite in the soil.

Keywords: control methods, Phelipanche ramosa, tomato crop, mediterranean basin

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Authors: Jamal Almatawah, Hamad Matar, Abdulsalam Altemeemi

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized environmental noise as harmful pollution that causes adverse psychosocial and physiologic effects on human health. The motor vehicle is considered to be one of the main source of noise pollution. It is a universal phenomenon, and it has grown to the point that it has become a major concern for both the public and policymakers. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to investigate the Traffic noise levels and the contributing factors that affect its level, such as traffic volume, heavy-vehicle Speed and other metrological factors in Ishbiliyah as a sample of a residential area in Kuwait. Three types of roads were selected in Ishbiliyah expressway, major arterial and collector street. The other source of noise that interferes the traffic noise has also been considered in this study. Traffic noise level is measured and analyzed using the Bruel & Kjaer outdoor sound level meter 2250-L (2250 Light). The Count-Cam2 Video Camera has been used to collect the peak and off-peak traffic count. Ambient Weather WM-5 Handheld Weather Station is used for metrological factors such as temperature, humidity and wind speed. Also, the spot speed was obtained using the radar speed: Decatur Genesis model GHD-KPH. All the measurement has been detected at the same time (simultaneously). The results showed that the traffic noise level is over the allowable limit on all types of roads. The average equivalent noise level (LAeq) for the Expressway, Major arterial and Collector Street was 74.3 dB(A), 70.47 dB(A) and 60.84 dB(A), respectively. In addition, a Positive Correlation coefficient between the traffic noise versus traffic volume and between traffic noise versus 85th percentile speed was obtained. However, there was no significant relation and Metrological factors. Abnormal vehicle noise due to poor maintenance or user-enhanced exhaust noise was found to be one of the highest factors that affected the overall traffic noise reading.

Keywords: traffic noise, residential area, pollution, vehicle noise

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Authors: AbdelRahman A. Faragalla, Mohamed H. Alqhtani, Mohamed M. M.Ahmed

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Saudi Arabia has currently been beset by a barrage of bizarre assemblages of subterranean termite fauna, inflicting heavy catastrophic havocs on human valued properties in various homes, storage facilities, warehouses, agricultural and horticultural crops including okra, sweet pepper, tomatoes, sorghum, date palm trees, citruses and many forest domains and green lush desert oases. The most pressing urgent priority is to use modern technologies to alleviate the painstaking obstacle of taxonomic identification of these injurious noxious pests that might lead to effective pest control in both infested agricultural commodities and field crops. Our study has indicated the use of DNA fingerprinting technologies, in order to generate basic information of the genetic similarity between 3 predominant families containing the most destructive termite species. The methodologies included extraction and DNA isolation from members of the major families and the use of randomly selected primers and PCR amplifications with the nucleotide sequences. GC content and annealing temperatures for all primers, PCR amplifications and agarose gel electrophoresis were also conducted in addition to the scoring and analysis of Random Amplification Polymorphic DNA-PCR (RAPDs). A phylogenetic analysis for different species using statistical computer program on the basis of RAPD-DNA results, represented as a dendrogram based on the average of band sharing ratio between different species. Our study aims to shed more light on this intriguing subject, which may lead to an expedited display of the kinship and relatedness of species in an ambitious undertaking to arrive at correct taxonomic classification of termite species, discover sibling species, so that a logistic rational pest management strategy could be delineated.

Keywords: DNA fingerprinting, Western Saudi Arabia, DNA primers, RAPD

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Authors: Pamela Del Rosario, Elisabetta Palumbo, Marzia Traverso

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The building sector plays an important role in addressing pressing environmental issues such as climate change and resource scarcity. The energy performance of buildings is considerably affected by the external envelope. In fact, a considerable proportion of the building energy demand is due to energy losses through the windows. Nevertheless, according to literature, to pay attention only to the contribution of windows to the building energy performance, i.e., their influence on energy use during building operation, could result in a partial evaluation. Hence, it is important to consider not only the building energy performance but also the environmental performance of windows, and this not only during the operational stage but along its complete life cycle. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) according to ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006+A1:2018 is one of the most adopted and robust methods to evaluate the environmental performance of products throughout their complete life cycle. This life-cycle based approach avoids the shift of environmental impacts of a life cycle stage to another, allowing to allocate them to the stage in which they originated and to adopt measures that optimize the environmental performance of the product. Moreover, the LCA method is widely implemented in the construction sector to assess whole buildings as well as construction products and materials. LCA is regulated by the European Standards EN 15978:2011, at the building level, and EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, at the level of construction products and materials. In this work, the environmental performance of wooden windows was assessed by implementing the LCA method and adopting primary data. More specifically, the emphasis is given to embedded and operational impacts. Furthermore, correlations are made between these environmental impacts and aspects such as type of wood and window transmittance. In the particular case of the operational impacts, special attention is set on the definition of suitable maintenance scenarios that consider the potential climate influence on the environmental impacts. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted, and expert consultation was carried out. The study underlined the variability of the embedded environmental impacts of wooden windows by considering different wood types and transmittance values. The results also highlighted the need to define appropriate maintenance scenarios for precise assessment results. It was found that both the service life and the window maintenance requirements in terms of treatment and its frequency are highly dependent not only on the wood type and its treatment during the manufacturing process but also on the weather conditions of the place where the window is installed. In particular, it became evident that maintenance-related environmental impacts were the highest for climate regions with the lowest temperatures and the greatest amount of precipitation.

Keywords: embedded impacts, environmental performance, life cycle assessment, LCA, maintenance stage, operational impacts, wooden windows

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Authors: Azize Serap Tuncer

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Turkey is one of the most outstanding figures among the Mediterranean countries from the natural and historical point at view. It is relatively rich country as regards the flora and vegetation. But at the same time as a result of improper and unplanned usage of the land for centuries, its forests and fertile soils have been exposed to great damages. While rapid and uncontrolled urbanization has important effects on the environment, urban development legislations, have become very unsufficient for the protection of these areas. Some of them have been completely eradicated, and some others have lost their fertility. Besides Turkey has a high main land with a rough surface and its soils areas exposed to heavy erosion. On the other hand as a developing country, it is not willing to endanger the goals of industrialization and avoid foreign direct investment by implementing strict environmental policies. Although this kind of pressure on forestland resources threatens the stability of forest land and land use management, in recent years, there has been an obvious increase in public concern about environmental problems like over global warming, environmental pollution, deforestation and their potential effects on natural resources. To protect the ecological balance and prevention of naturel resources from the unplanned intervention of human-beıng is only possible establishing conservation areas wıth co-operation at the national and the internatıonal levels. This study was carried out to evaluate the relation between urbanization and forestry policies in Turkey. While it elaborates the normative arrangements resulting in power conflicts, it also addresses which shortages and discrepancies are responsible for the said conflicts. The present urban reconstruction and transformation practices and their aesthetic and functional aspects were studied with some examples in a country level and evaluated within the assistance of literature researches, analyses, and observations. Atatürk Forest Farm and ODTU Forest examples were negotiated as two famous cases. Obtained findings were supported by charts and photos.

Keywords: deforestration, environmental policies, metropolitan, pollution, urbanization

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Authors: Maria Ghorbanian, Mohammad Ghahramani, Mahmood Abolghasemi

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Universities and institutions of higher education in Iran, like other higher education institutions in the world, have a heavy mission and task to educate students based on the needs of the country. Taking on such a serious responsibility requires having a good governance system for planning, formulating executive plans, evaluating, and finally modifying them in accordance with the current conditions and challenges ahead. In this regard, the present study was conducted with the aim of identifying the components of good governance in the Iranian higher education system by survey method and with a quantitative approach. In order to collect data, a researcher-made questionnaire was used, which includes two parts: personal and professional characteristics (5 questions) and the three components of good governance in the Iranian higher education system, including good management and leadership (8 items), continuous evaluation and effective (university performance, finance, and university appointments) (8 items) and civic responsibility and sustainable development (7 items). These variables were measured and coded in the form of a five-level Likert scale from "Very Low = 1" to "Very High = 5". First, the validity and reliability of the research model were examined. In order to calculate the reliability of the questionnaire, two methods of Cronbach's alpha and combined reliability were used. Fornell-Larker interaction and criterion were also used to determine the degree of diagnostic validity. The statistical population of this study included all faculty members of public universities in Tehran (N = 4429). The sample size was estimated to be 340 using the Cochran's formula. These numbers were studied using a randomized method with a proportional assignment. The data were analyzed by the structural equation method with the least-squares approach. The results showed that the component of civil responsibility and sustainable development with a factor load of 0.827 is the most important element of good governance.

Keywords: good governance, higher education, sustainable, development

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Authors: Yoftahe Nigussie Worku

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This report unveils a meticulous project focused on the design intricacies of a Fire Tube Boiler tailored for the efficient generation of saturated steam. The overarching objective is to produce 2000kg/h of saturated steam at 12-bar design pressure, achieved through the development of an advanced fire tube boiler. This design is meticulously crafted to harmonize cost-effectiveness and parameter refinement, with a keen emphasis on material selection for component parts, construction materials, and production methods throughout the analytical phases. The analytical process involves iterative calculations, utilizing pertinent formulas to optimize design parameters, including the selection of tube diameters and overall heat transfer coefficients. The boiler configuration incorporates two passes, a strategic choice influenced by tube and shell size considerations. The utilization of heavy oil fuel no. 6, with a higher heating value of 44000kJ/kg and a lower heating value of 41300kJ/kg, results in a fuel consumption of 140.37kg/hr. The boiler achieves an impressive heat output of 1610kW with an efficiency rating of 85.25%. The fluid flow pattern within the boiler adopts a cross-flow arrangement strategically chosen for inherent advantages. Internally, the welding of the tube sheet to the shell, secured by gaskets and welds, ensures structural integrity. The shell design adheres to European Standard code sections for pressure vessels, encompassing considerations for weight, supplementary accessories (lifting lugs, openings, ends, manhole), and detailed assembly drawings. This research represents a significant stride in optimizing fire tube boiler technology, balancing efficiency and safety considerations in the pursuit of enhanced saturated steam production.

Keywords: fire tube, saturated steam, material selection, efficiency

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Authors: Hannah S. Elizabeth, D. Gnanasekaran, M. R. Manju Gowda, Antony George

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Phytoremediation a new technology of remediating the contaminated soil, water and air using plants and serves as a green technology with environmental friendly approach. The main aim of this technique is cleansing and detoxifying of organic compounds, organo-phosphorous pesticides, heavy metals like arsenic, iron, cadmium, gold, radioactive elements which cause teratogenic and life threatening diseases to mankind and animal kingdom when consume the food crops, vegetables, fruits, cerals, and millets obtained from the contaminated soil. Also, directly they may damage the genetic materials thereby alters the biosynthetic pathways of secondary metabolites and other phytoconstituents which may have different pharmacological activities which lead to lost their efficacy and potency as well. It would reflect in mutagenicity, drug resistance and affect other antagonistic properties of normal metabolism. Is the technology for real clean-up of contaminated soils and the contaminants which are potentially toxic. It reduces the risks produced by a contaminated soil by decreasing contaminants using plants as a source. The advantages are cost-effectiveness and less ecosystem disruption. Plants may also help to stabilize contaminants by accumulating and precipitating toxic trace elements in the roots. Organic pollutants can potentially be chemically degraded and ultimately mineralized into harmless biological compounds. Hence, the use of plants to revitalize contaminated sites is gaining more attention and preferred for its cost-effective when compared to other chemical methods. The introduction of harmful substances into the environment has been shown to have many adverse effects on human health, agricultural productivity, and natural ecosystems. Because the costs of growing a crop are minimal compared to those of soil removal and replacement, the use of plants to remediate hazardous soils is seen as having great promise.

Keywords: cost effective, eco-friendly, phytoremediation, secondary metabolites

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Authors: Naveed Zahra, Zahid Kamran, Shakeel Ahmad

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Heat stress is one of the most important environmental stressors challenging poultry production worldwide. The detrimental effect of heat stress results in reduction in the productive performance of poultry with high incidences of mortality. Researchers have made efforts to prevent such damage to poultry production through dietary manipulation. Supplementation with Chromium (Cr) might have some positive effects on some aspect of blood parameters and broilers performance. Chromium (Cr) the element whose trivalent Cr (III) organic state is present in trace amounts in animal feed and water is found to be a key element in evading heat stress and thus cutting down the heavy expenditure on air conditioning in broiler sheds. Chromium, along with other essential minerals is lost due to increased excretion during heat stress and thus its inclusion in broiler diet is kind of mandatory in areas of hot climate. Chromium picolinate in broiler diet has shown a hike in growth rate including muscle gain with body fat reduction under environmental stress. Fat reduction is probably linked to the ability of chromium to increase the sensitivity of the insulin receptors on tissues and thus the uptake of sugar from blood increases which decreases the amount of glucose to be converted to amino acids and stored in adipose tissue as triglycerides. Organic chromium has also shown to increase lymphocyte proliferation rate and antioxidant levels. So, the immune competency, muscle gain and fat reduction along with evasion of heat stress are good enough signs that indicate the fruitful inclusion of dietary chromium for broiler. This promising element may bring the much needed break in the local poultry industry. The task is now to set the exact dose of the element in the diet that would be useful enough and still not toxic to broiler. In conclusion there is a growing body of evidence which suggest that chromium may be an essential trace element for livestock and poultry. The nutritional requirement for chromium may vary with different species and physiological state within a species.

Keywords: broiler, chromium, heat stress, performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Mohammad Abbas Nejad

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Tuka Sabz service production company (private shares), with more than 30 years of history, is considered as one of the first holding companies of Tuka Foulad, which takes steps in the direction of increasing service quality and customer satisfaction. Manpower supply is one of the most important activities of Tuka Sabz company, in addition to car supply services; light and heavy transportation services; management of entertainment, sports, tourism and accommodation centers; design, creation and maintenance services of land space; preparing, cooking, distributing and serving all kinds of personal and ceremonial foods; design, construction, repair and reconstruction of non-industrial buildings; industrial laundry services; public and industrial cleaning services are also among other activities of Tuka Sabz. This company has a high capacity of specialized and committed human resources as the main pillar of its success and spent most of its years of activity in Mobarakeh steel company as one of the reliable contractors in the field of automotive service contracts, green space, industrial cleaning, management cultural, recreational and tourism places, consulting, maintenance and repair of buildings and facilities, industrial laundry, management of cooking centers and personnel transportation. The final result of this article states that Tuka Sabz company is trying to get the satisfaction of three main groups of stakeholders, i.e., employees, customers, and shareholders, for this purpose, by improving the competence and competence of employees, trying to establish a system of meritocracy and respecting the human status of employees. On the one hand, the implementation of quality management and assurance to employers with the timely and favorable implementation of contracts takes a step in this direction.

Keywords: Mubarakeh steel company, Tuka Sabz company, human resources, industrial laundry services

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Authors: Wei-Wen Hu, Yong-Zhi Zhong

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Depositing conductive polypyrrole (PPy) onto elastic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate can obtain a highly stretchable conductive film, which can be used to construct a bioreactor to cyclically stretch and electrically stimulate surface cells. However, how to completely harvest these stimulated muscle tissue to repair damaged muscle is a challenge. To address this concern, N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), a monomer of temperature-sensitive polymer, was added during the polymerization of pyrrole on PDMS so that the resulting P(Py-co-NIPAAm)/PDMS should own both conductivity and thermo-sensitivity. Therefore, cells after stimulation can be completely harvested as cell sheets by reducing temperature. Mouse skeletal myoblast, C2C12 cells, were applied to examine our hypothesis. In electrical stimulation, C2C12 cells on P(Py-co-NIPAAm)/PDMS demonstrated the best myo-differentiation under the electric field of 1 V/cm. Regarding cyclic stretching, the strain equal to or higher than 9% can highly align C2C12 perpendicular to the stretching direction. The Western blotting experiments demonstrated that the cell sheets harvested by cooling reserved more extracellular matrix (ECM) than cells collected by the traditional trypsin digestion method. Immunostaining of myosin heavy chain protein (MHC) indicated that both mechanical and electrical stimuli effectively increased the number of myotubes and the differentiation ratio, and the myotubes can be aligned by cyclic stretching. Stimulated cell sheets can be harvested by cooling, and the alignment of myotubes was still maintained. These results suggested that the deposition of P(Py-co-NIPAAm) on PDMS can be applied to harvest intact cell sheets after cyclic stretching and electrical stimulation, which increased the feasibility of bioreactor for the application of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Keywords: bioreactor, cell sheet, conductive polymer, cyclic stretching, electrical stimulation, muscle tissue engineering, myogenesis, thermosensitive hydrophobicity

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Authors: Tichaona Nharingo, Hope Tauya, Mambo Moyo

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Wood ash has been demonstrated to have favourable adsorption capacity for heavy metal ions but suffers the application problem of difficult to separate/isolate from the batch adsorption systems. Fabrication of wood ash beads using multifunctional group and non-toxic carbohydrate, alginate, may improve the applicability of wood ash in environmental pollutant remediation. In this work, alginate-wood ash beads (AWAB) were fabricated and applied to the removal of cadmium ions from aqueous systems. The beads were characterized by FTIR, TGA/DSC, SEM-EDX and their pHZPC before and after the adsorption of Cd(II) ions. Important adsorption parameters i.e. pH, AWAB dosage, contact time and ionic strength were optimized and the effect of initial concentration of Cd(II) ions to the adsorption process was established. Adsorption kinetics, adsorption isotherms, adsorption mechanism and application of AWAB to real water samples spiked with Cd(II) ions were ascertained. The composite adsorbent was characterized by a heterogeneous macro pore surface comprising of metal oxides, multiple hydroxyl groups and carbonyl groups that were involved in electrostatic interaction and Lewis acid-base interactions with the Cd(II) ions. The pseudo second order and the Freundlich isotherm models best fitted the adsorption kinetics and isotherm data respectively suggesting chemical sorption process and surface heterogeneity. The presence of Pb(II) ions inhibited the adsorption of Cd(II) ions (reduced by 40 %) attributed to the competition for the adsorption sites. The Cd(II) loaded beads could be regenerated using 0.1 M HCl and could be applied to four sorption-desorption cycles without significant loss in its initial adsorption capacity. The high maximum adsorption capacity, stability, selectivity and reusability of AWAB make the adsorbent ideal for application in the removal of Cd(II) ions from real water samples. Column type adsorption experiments need to be explored to establish the potential of the adsorbent in removing Cd(II) ions using continuous flow systems.

Keywords: adsorption, Cd(II) ions, regeneration, wastewater, wood ash-alginate beads

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Authors: N. Lakshmipathy, Ch. S. N. Murthy, M. Aruna

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The design of lighting systems for surface mines is not an easy task because of the unique environment and work procedures encountered in the mines. The primary objective of this paper is to identify the major problems encountered in mine lighting application and to provide guidance in the solution of these problems. In the surface mining reflectance of surrounding surfaces is one of the important factors, which improve the vision, in the night hours. But due to typical working nature in the mines it is very difficult to fulfill these requirements, and also the orientation of the light at work site is a challenging task. Due to this reason machine operator and other workers in a mine need to be able to orient themselves in a difficult visual environment. The haul roads always keep on changing to tune with the mining activity. Other critical area such as dumpyards, stackyards etc. also change their phase with time, and it is difficult to illuminate such areas. Mining is a hazardous occupation, with workers exposed to adverse conditions; apart from the need for hard physical labor, there is exposure to stress and environmental pollutants like dust, noise, heat, vibration, poor illumination, radiation, etc. Visibility is restricted when operating load haul dumper and Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) vehicles resulting in a number of serious accidents. one of the leading causes of these accidents is the inability of the equipment operator to see clearly people, objects or hazards around the machine. Results indicate blind spots are caused primarily by posts, the back of the operator's cab, and by lights and light brackets. The careful designed and implemented, lighting systems provide mine workers improved visibility and contribute to improved safety, productivity and morale. Properly designed lighting systems can improve visibility and safety during working in the opencast mines.

Keywords: contrast, efficacy, illuminance, illumination, light, luminaire, luminance, reflectance, visibility

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Authors: A. Hamza, H. Kathyayini, N. Nagaraju

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Aluminophosphates, both amorphous and crystalline materials find applications as adsorbents, ceramics, and pigments and as catalysts/catalyst supports in organic fine chemical synthesis. Most of the applications are varied depending on the type of metal incorporated, particle size, surface area, porosity and morphology of aluminophosphate. The porous and surface properties of these materials are normally fine-tuned by adopting various preparation methodologies. Numerous crystalline microporous and mesoporous aluminophosphates and metal-aluminophosphates have been reported in literature, in which the synthesis has been carried out by using structure directing organic molecules/surfactants. In present work, amorphous aluminophosphate (AlP) and metal-aluminophosphates MAlP (M = Cu, Zn, Cr, Fe, Ce and Zr) and their mixed forms M-1M2AlP are prepared under a typical precipitation condition, i.e. at low temperature in order to keep the Von-Weirmann relative super saturation of the precipitating medium and obtain small size precipitate particles. These materials are prepared without using any surfactants. All materials are thoroughly characterised for surface and bulk properties by N2 adsorption-desorption technique, XRD, FT-IR, TG and SEM. The materials are also analysed for the amount and the strength of their surface acid sites, by NH3-TPD and CO2-TPD techniques respectively. All the materials prepared in the work are investigated for their catalytic activity in following applications in the synthesis of industrially important Jasminaldehyde via, aldol condensation of n-heptanal and benzaldehyde, in the synthesis of biologically important chalcones by Claisen-shmidth condensation of benzaldehyde and substituted chalcones. The effect of the amount of the catalysts, duration of the reaction, temperature of the reaction, molar ratio of the reactants has been studied. The porosity of pure aluminophosphate is found to be changed significantly by the incorporation of transition metals during preparation of aluminophosphate. The pore size increased from microporous to mesoporous and finally to macroporous by following order of metals Cu = Zn < Cr < Ce < Fe = Zr. The change in surface area and porosity of double metal-aluminophosphates depended on the concentration of both the metals. The acidity of aluminophosphate is either increased or decreased which depended on the type and valence of metals loaded. A good number of basic sites are created in metal-aluminophosphates irrespective of the metals used. A maximum catalytic activity for synthesis of both jasminaldehyde and chalcone is obtained by FeAlP as catalysts; these materials are characterized by decreased strength and concentration of acidic sites with optimum level basic sites.

Keywords: amorphous metal-aluminophosphates, surface properties, acidic-basic properties, Aldol, Claisen-Shmidth condensation, jasminaldehyde, chalcone

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Authors: Moh’d Anwer Al-Shboul

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The year 2011 was a challenging year for Jordanian economy, which felt a variety of effects from the Arab Spring which took place in neighboring countries. Since February, 5th 2012, the Arab Gas Supply Pipeline, which carries natural gas from Egypt through the Sinai Peninsula and to Jordan and Israel, has been attacked more than 39 times. Jordan imported about 80 percent of its necessity of natural gas (about 250 million cubic feet of natural gas per day) from Egypt to generate particularly electricity, with the reminder of being produced locally. Jordan has utilized multiple alternatives to address the interruption of available natural gas supply from Egypt. The Jordanian distributed power plants now rely on the use of heavy fuel oil and diesel for electricity generation, in this case, it costs Jordan about four times than natural gas. The substitution of Egyptian natural gas supplies by fuel oil and diesel, coupled with the 32 percent rise in global fuel prices, has increased Jordan’s energy import bill by over 50 percent in 2011, reaching more than 16 percent of the 2011 GDP. The increase in the cost of electricity generation pushed the Jordanian economy to borrow from multiple internal and external resource channels, thus increasing the public debt. The Jordanian government’s short-term solution to the reduced natural gas supply from Egypt was alternatively purchasing the necessary quantities from some Gulf countries such as Qatar and/or Saudi Arabia, which can be imported with two possible methods. The first method is to rent a ship equipped with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, which is currently operating. The second method requires equipping the Aqaba port with an LNG terminal, which also currently is operating. In the long-term, a viable solution to depending on importing expensive and often unreliable natural gas supplies from surrounding countries is to depend more heavily on renewable supply energy, including solar, wind, and water energy.

Keywords: energy supply resources, Arab spring, liquefied natural gas, pipeline, Jordan

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Authors: Ahmed Chouari

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Although research methods has been an integral part of the curriculum in Moroccan higher education for decades, it seems that the research methods teaching pedagogy that teachers use suffers from a serious absence of a body of literature in the field. Also, the various challenges that both teachers and students of research methods face have received little interest by researchers in comparison to other fields such as applied linguistics. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to remedy to this situation by exploring one of the major issues in teaching research methods – that is, the phenomenon of students’ dissatisfaction with the research methods course in higher education in Morocco. The aim is also to understand students’ attitudes and perceptions on how to make the research methods course more effective in the future. Three qualitative research questions were used: (1) To what extent are graduate students satisfied with the pedagogies used by the teachers of the research methods course in Moroccan higher education? (2) To what extent are graduate students satisfied with the approach used in assessing research methods in Moroccan higher education? (3) What are students’ perceptions on how to make the research methods course more effective in Moroccan higher education? In this study, a qualitative content analysis was adopted to analyze students’ views and perspectives about the major factors behind their dissatisfaction with the course at the School of Arts and Humanities – University of Moulay Ismail. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data from 14 respondents from two different Master programs. The results show that there is a general consensus among the respondents about the major factors behind the ineffectiveness of the course. These factors include theory-practice gap, heavy reliance on theoretical knowledge at the expense of procedural knowledge, and ineffectiveness of some teachers. The findings also reveal that teaching research methods in Morocco requires more time, better equipment, and more competent teachers. Above all, the findings indicate that today there is an urgent need in Morocco to shift from teacher-centered approaches to learner-centered approaches in teaching the research methods course. These findings, thus, contribute to the existing literature by unraveling the factors that impede the learning process, and by suggesting a set of strategies that can make course more effective.

Keywords: competencies, learner-centered teaching, research methods, student autonomy, pedagogy

Procedia PDF Downloads 238