Search results for: floating photobioreactor
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 247

Search results for: floating photobioreactor

67 FEDBD Plasma, A Promising Approach for Skin Rejuvenation

Authors: P. Charipoor, M. Khani, H. Mahmoudi, E. Ghasemi, P. Akbartehrani, B. Shokri

Abstract:

Cold air plasma could have a variety of effects on cells and living organisms and also shows good results in medical and cosmetic cases. Herein, plasma floating electrode dielectric barrier discharge (FEDBD) plasma was designed for mouse skin rejuvenation purposes. It is safe and easy to use in clinics, laboratories, and homes. The effects of this device were investigated on mouse skin. Vitamin C ointment in combination with plasma was also used as a new method to improve FEDBD results. In this study, 20 Wistar rats were evaluated in four groups. The first group received high-dose plasma, the second group received moderate-dose plasma (with vitamin C cream), the third group received low-dose plasma (with vitamin C cream) for 6 minutes, and the fourth group received only vitamin C cream. This process was done 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Skin temperature was monitored to evaluate the thermal effect of plasma. The presence of reactive species was also demonstrated using optical spectroscopy. Mechanical assays were performed to evaluate the effect of plasma and vitamin C on the mechanical strength of the tissue, which showed a positive effect of plasma on the treated tissue compared to the control group. Using pathological and biometric skin tests, an increase in collagen levels, epidermal thickness, and an increase in fibroblasts was observed in rat skin, as well as increased skin elasticity. This study showed the positive effect of using the FEDBD plasma device on the effective parameters in skin rejuvenation.

Keywords: plasma, skin rejuvenation, collagen, epidermal thickness

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66 The Relationship between Operating Condition and Sludge Wasting of an Aerobic Suspension-Sequencing Batch Reactor (ASSBR) Treating Phenolic Wastewater

Authors: Ali Alattabi, Clare Harris, Rafid Alkhaddar, Ali Alzeyadi

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Petroleum refinery wastewater (PRW) can be considered as one of the most significant source of aquatic environmental pollution. It consists of oil and grease along with many other toxic organic pollutants. In recent years, a new technique was implemented using different types of membranes and sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) to treat PRW. SBR is a fill and draw type sludge system which operates in time instead of space. Many researchers have optimised SBRs’ operating conditions to obtain maximum removal of undesired wastewater pollutants. It has gained more importance mainly because of its essential flexibility in cycle time. It can handle shock loads, requires less area for operation and easy to operate. However, bulking sludge or discharging floating or settled sludge during the draw or decant phase with some SBR configurations are still one of the problems of SBR system. The main aim of this study is to develop and innovative design for the SBR optimising the process variables to result is a more robust and efficient process. Several experimental tests will be developed to determine the removal percentages of chemical oxygen demand (COD), Phenol and nitrogen compounds from synthetic PRW. Furthermore, the dissolved oxygen (DO), pH and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of the SBR system will be monitored online to ensure a good environment for the microorganisms to biodegrade the organic matter effectively.

Keywords: petroleum refinery wastewater, sequencing batch reactor, hydraulic retention time, Phenol, COD, mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS)

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65 Capacity Building for Tourism Infrastructure: A Case of Tourism Influenced Regions in Uttar Pradesh, India

Authors: Sayan Munshi, Subrajit Banerjee, Indrani Chakraborty

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Tourism is a prime sector in the economic development of many countries in particular the Indian sub-continent. Tourism is considered an integral pillar in the Make in India Program under the Government of India. The statistics of tourism in India had evolved from a past with the formation of History. The sector had shown dynamic changes in the statistics since 1980. With the evolving tourism along with destinations, this sector has been converted into the prime industry, as it not only impacts the destination but on the other hand supports the periphery of the destination. Tourism boost revenue and creates varied economic possibilities for the residents. Due to the influx of tourism in the cities, a load on the infrastructure and services can be observed, specifically in the Physical Infrastructure sectors. Due to the floating population in the designated tourism core of the Urban / Peri-Urban area, issues pertaining to Solid waste management and Transportation are highly observed. Thus, a need for capacity building arises for the infrastructure impacted by tourism, which may result in the upgradation of the lifestyle of the city and its permanent users. As tourism of a region has a dependency on the infrastructure, the paper here focuses on the relationship between tourism potential of a region and the infrastructural determinants of the city or region and hence to derive a structural equation supporting the relationship, further determine a coefficient and suggest the domain of in need of upgradation or retrofitting possibilities. The outcome of the paper is to suggest possible recommendations towards the formation of policies on an urban level to support the tourism potential of the region.

Keywords: urban planning, tourism planning, infrastructure, transportation, solid waste management

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64 Effect of Papaverine on Neurospheres

Authors: Noura Shehab-Eldeen, Mohamed Elsherbeeny, Hossam Elmetwally, Mohamed Salama, Ahmed Lotfy, Mohamed Elgamal, Hussein Sheashaa, Mohamed Sobh

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Mitochondrial toxins including papaverine may be implicated in the etiology and pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. The aim was to detect the effect of papaverine on the proliferation and viability of neural stem cells. Rat neural progenitor cells were isolated from embryos (E14) brains. The dispersed tissues were allowed to settle, then, The supernatant was centrifuged at 1,000 g for 5 min. The pellet was placed in Hank’s solution cultured as free-floating neurospheres Dulbecco’s modified Eagle medium (DMEM) and Hams F12 (3:1) supplemented with B27 (Invitrogen GmBH, Karlsruhe, Germany), 20 ng/mL epidermal growth factor (EGF; Biosource, Karlsruhe, Germany), 20 ng/mL recombinant human fibroblast growth factor (rhFGF; R&D Systems, Wiesbaden-Nordenstadt, Germany), and penicillin and streptomycin (1:100; Invitrogen) at 37°C with 7.5% CO2 . Differentiation was initiated by growth factor withdrawal and plating onto a poly-d-lysine/ laminin matrix. The neurospheres were fed every 2-3 days by replacing 50% of the culture media with fresh media. The culture suspension was transferred to a dish containing 16 wells. The wells were divided as follows: 4 wells received no papaverine (control), 4 wells 1 u, 4 wells 5 u and 4 wells 10 u of papaverine solution. In the next 2 weeks, photography (0,4,5,11days) and viability test were done. The photographs were analysed. Results : papaverine didn't affect proliferation of neurospheres, while it affected viability compared to control , this was dose related. Conclusion: This indicates the harmful effect of papaverine suggesting it to be a candidate neurotoxin causing Parkinsonism.

Keywords: neurospheres, neural stem cells, papaverine, Parkinsonism

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63 Performance Evaluation of Filtration System for Groundwater Recharging Well in the Presence of Medium Sand-Mixed Storm Water

Authors: Krishna Kumar Singh, Praveen Jain

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The collection of storm water runoff and forcing it into the groundwater is the need of the hour to sustain the ground water table. However, the runoff entraps various types of sediments and other floating objects whose removal are essential to avoid pollution of ground water and blocking of pores of aquifer. However, it requires regular cleaning and maintenance due to the problem of clogging. To evaluate the performance of filter system consisting of coarse sand (CS), gravel (G) and pebble (P) layers, a laboratory experiment was conducted in a rectangular column. The effect of variable thickness of CS, G and P layers of the filtration unit of the recharge shaft on the recharge rate and the sediment concentration of effluent water were evaluated. Medium sand (MS) of three particle sizes, viz. 0.150–0.300 mm (T1), 0.300–0.425 mm (T2) and 0.425–0.600 mm of thickness 25 cm, 30 cm, and 35 cm respectively in the top layer of the filter system and having seven influent sediment concentrations of 250–3,000 mg/l were used for the experimental study. The performance was evaluated in terms of recharge rates and clogging time. The results indicated that 100 % suspended solids were entrapped in the upper 10 cm layer of MS, the recharge rates declined sharply for influent concentrations of more than 1,000 mg/l. All treatments with a higher thickness of MS media indicated recharge rate slightly more than that of all treatment with a lower thickness of MS media respectively. The performance of storm water infiltration systems was highly dependent on the formation of a clogging layer at the filter. An empirical relationship has been derived between recharge rates, inflow sediment load, size of MS and thickness of MS with using MLR.

Keywords: groundwater, medium sand-mixed storm water filter, inflow sediment load

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62 Water Treatment Using Eichhornia crassipes and Avifauna Control in The "La Mansión" Pond

Authors: Milda A. Cruz-Huaranga, Natalí Carbo-Bustinza, Javier Linkolk López-Gonzales, K. Depaz, Gina M. Tito T., Soledad Torres-Calderón

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The objective of this study was to improve water quality in the “La Mansión” pond in order to irrigate green spaces on the Peruvian Union University campus (Lima, Peru) using the aquatic species Eichhornia Crassipes. Furthermore, tree trimming and cleaning activities were performed that reduced water pollution caused by organic deposits and feathers from wild birds. The impaired waterbody is located on the campus of the Peruvian Union University, 580 meters above sea level, with a volume of 6,405.336 m3, an area of 3,050.16 m2, 256.81 m perimeter, and 0.12 m3/s input flow. Seven 1.8 m2 floating systems were implemented, with 12 common water hyacinth plants in each system. Before implementing this system, a water quality analysis was performed to analyse the physical-chemical, microbiological, and organoleptic parameters. The pre-analysis revealed the pond’s critical condition, with electrical conductivity: 556 mg/l; phosphate: < 0.5; pH: 7.06; total solids: 412 mg/l; arsenic: <0.01; lead: 0.115; BOD5: 14; COD: 16.94; dissolved oxygen: 13; total coliforms: 24000 MCL/100 ml; and thermo-tolerant coliforms: 11000 MCL/100 ml. After implementing the system, the following results were obtained: EC: 495 mg/l; DO:9.2 mg/l; TS: 235 mg/l; BOD5: 7.7; COD: 8.47; Pb: 0.001 mg/l; TC: 460 MCL/100 ml; FC: 240 MCL/100 ml. Thus, we confirmed that the system is 78.79% efficient regarding the Peruvian ECA (Environmental Quality Standards) established for water according to DS #015-2015-MINAM. Therefore, the water is suitable for plant irrigation. Finally, we concluded that treating wastewater with the species Eichhornia Crassipes is efficient since an improvement was achieved in the impaired waterbody.

Keywords: Eichhornia crassipes, plantlets, cleaning, impaired waterbody, pond

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61 Subsea Processing: Deepwater Operation and Production

Authors: Md Imtiaz, Sanchita Dei, Shubham Damke

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In recent years, there has been a rapidly accelerating shift from traditional surface processing operations to subsea processing operation. This shift has been driven by a number of factors including the depletion of shallow fields around the world, technological advances in subsea processing equipment, the need for production from marginal fields, and lower initial upfront investment costs compared to traditional production facilities. Moving production facilities to the seafloor offers a number of advantage, including a reduction in field development costs, increased production rates from subsea wells, reduction in the need for chemical injection, minimization of risks to worker ,reduction in spills due to hurricane damage, and increased in oil production by enabling production from marginal fields. Subsea processing consists of a range of technologies for separation, pumping, compression that enables production from offshore well without the need for surface facilities. At present, there are two primary technologies being used for subsea processing: subsea multiphase pumping and subsea separation. Multiphase pumping is the most basic subsea processing technology. Multiphase pumping involves the use of boosting system to transport the multiphase mixture through pipelines to floating production vessels. The separation system is combined with single phase pumps or water would be removed and either pumped to the surface, re-injected, or discharged to the sea. Subsea processing can allow for an entire topside facility to be decommissioned and the processed fluids to be tied back to a new, more distant, host. This type of application reduces costs and increased both overall facility and integrity and recoverable reserve. In future, full subsea processing could be possible, thereby eliminating the need for surface facilities.

Keywords: FPSO, marginal field, Subsea processing, SWAG

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60 The Development of Digital Commerce in Community Enterprise Products to Promote the Distribution of Samut Songkhram Province

Authors: Natcha Wattanaprapa, Alongkorn Taengtong, Phachaya Chaiwchan

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This study investigates and promotes the distribution of community enterprise products of Samut Songkhram province by using e-commerce web technology to help distribute the products. This study also aims to develop the information system to be able to operate on multiple platforms and promote the easy usability on smartphones to increase the efficiency and promote the distribution of community enterprise products of Samut Songkhram province in three areas including Baan Saraphi learning center, the learning center of Bang Noi Floating market as well as Bang Nang Li learning center. The main structure consists of spreading the knowledge regarding the tourist attraction in the area of community enterprise, e-commerce system of community enterprise products, and Chatbot. The researcher developed the system into an application form using the software package to create and manage the content on the internet. Connect management system (CMS) word press was used for managing web pages. Add-on CMS word press was used for creating the system of Chatbot, and the database of PHP My Admin was used as the database management system. The evaluation by the experts and users in 5 aspects, including the system efficiency, the accuracy in the operation of the system, the convenience and ease of use of the system, the design, and the promotion of product distribution in Samut Songkhram province by using questionnaires revealed that the result of evaluation in the promotion of product distribution in Samut Songkhram province was the highest with the mean of 4.20. When evaluating the efficiency of the developed system, it was found that the result of system efficiency was the highest level with a mean of 4.10.

Keywords: community enterprise, digital commerce, promotion of product distribution, Samut Songkhram province

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59 Innovative Technologies for Aeration and Feeding of Fish in Aquaculture with Minimal Impact on the Environment

Authors: Vasile Caunii, Andreea D. Serban, Mihaela Ivancia

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The paper presents a new approach in terms of the circular economy of technologies for feeding and aeration of accumulations and water basins for fish farming and aquaculture. Because fish is and will be one of the main foods on the planet, the use of bio-eco-technologies is a priority for all producers. The technologies proposed in the paper want to reduce by a substantial percentage the costs of operation of ponds and water accumulation, using non-polluting technologies with minimal impact on the environment. The paper proposes two innovative, intelligent systems, fully automated that use a common platform, completely eco-friendly. One system is intended to aerate the water of the fish pond, and the second is intended to feed the fish by dispersing an optimal amount of fodder, depending on population size, age and habits. Both systems use a floating platform, regenerative energy sources, are equipped with intelligent and innovative systems, and in addition to fully automated operation, significantly reduce the costs of aerating water accumulations (natural or artificial) and feeding fish. The intelligent system used for feeding, in addition, to reduce operating costs, optimizes the amount of food, thus preventing water pollution and the development of bacteria, microorganisms. The advantages of the systems are: increasing the yield of fish production, these are green installations, with zero pollutant emissions, can be arranged anywhere on the water surface, depending on the user's needs, can operate autonomously or remotely controlled, if there is a component failure, the system provides the operator with accurate data on the issue, significantly reducing maintenance costs, transmit data about the water physical and chemical parameters.

Keywords: bio-eco-technologies, economy, environment, fish

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58 Bifurcations of a System of Rotor-Ball Bearings with Waviness and Squeeze Film Dampers

Authors: Sina Modares Ahmadi, Mohamad Reza Ghazavi, Mandana Sheikhzad

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Squeeze film damper systems (SFD) are often used in machines with high rotational speed to reduce non-periodic behavior by creating external damping. These types of systems are frequently used in aircraft gas turbine engines. There are some structural parameters which are of great importance in designing these kinds of systems, such as oil film thickness, C, and outer race mass, mo. Moreover, there is a crucial parameter associated with manufacturing process, under the title of waviness. Geometric imperfections are often called waviness if its wavelength is much longer than Hertzian contact width which is a considerable source of vibration in ball bearings. In this paper, a system of a flexible rotor and two ball bearings with floating ring squeeze film dampers and consideration of waviness has been modeled and solved by a numerical integration method, namely Runge-Kutta method to investigate the dynamic response of the system. The results show that by increasing the number of wave lobes, which is due to inappropriate manufacturing, non- periodic and chaotic behavior increases. This result reveals the importance of manufacturing accuracy. Moreover, as long as C< 1.5×10-4 m, by increasing the oil film thickness, unwanted vibrations and non-periodic behavior of the system have been reduced, On the other hand, when C>1.5×10-4 m, increasing the outer oil film thickness results in the increasing chaotic and non-periodic responses. This result shows that although the presence of oil film results in reduction the non-periodic and chaotic behaviors, but the oil film has an optimal thickness. In addition, with increasing mo, the disc displacement amplitude increases. This result reveals the importance of utilizing light materials in manufacturing the squeeze film dampers.

Keywords: squeeze-film damper, waviness, ball bearing, bifurcation

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57 Ageing Patterns and Concerns in the Arabian Gulf: A Systematic Review

Authors: Asharaf Abdul Salam

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Arabian Gulf countries have norms and rules different from others: having an exodus of male immigrant labor contract holders of age 20-60 years as a floating population. Such a demographic scenario camouflages population ageing. However, it is observed on examining vigilantly, not only in the native population but also in the general population. This research on population ageing in the Arabian Gulf examines ageing scenario and concerns through analyses of international databases (US Census Bureau and United Nations) and national level databases (Censuses and Surveys) apart from a review of published research. Transitions in demography and epidemiology lead to gains in life expectancy and thereby reductions in fertility, leading to ageing of the population in the region. Even after bringing adult immigrants, indices and age pyramids show an increasing ageing trend in the total population, demonstrating an ageing workforce. Besides, the exclusive native population analysis reveals a trend of expansive pyramids (pre-transitional stage) turning to constrictive (transition stage) and cylindrical (post-transition stage) shapes. Age-based indices such as the index of ageing, age dependency ratio, and median age confirm this trend. While the feminine nature of ageing is vivid, gains in life expectancy and causes of death in old age, indicating co-morbidity compression, are concerns to ageing. Preparations are in demand to cope with ageing from different dimensions, as explained in the United Nations Plans of Action. A strategy of strengthening informal care with supportive semi-formal and supplementary formal care networks would alleviate this crisis associated with population ageing.

Keywords: total versus native population, indices of ageing, age pyramids, feminine nature, comorbidity compression, strategic interventions

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56 Phytobeds with Fimbristylis dichotoma and Ammannia baccifera for Treatment of Real Textile Effluent: An in situ Treatment, Anatomical Studies and Toxicity Evaluation

Authors: Suhas Kadam, Vishal Chandanshive, Niraj Rane, Sanjay Govindwar

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Fimbristylis dichotoma, Ammannia baccifera, and their co-plantation consortium FA were found to degrade methyl orange, simulated dye mixture, and real textile effluent. Wild plants of Fimbristylis dichotoma and Ammannia baccifera with equal biomass showed 91 and 89% decolorization of methyl orange within 60 h at a concentration of 50 ppm, while 95% dye removal was achieved by consortium FA within 48 h. Floating phyto-beds with co-plantation (Fimbristylis dichotoma and Ammannia baccifera) for the treatment of real textile effluent in a constructed wetland was observed to be more efficient and achieved 79, 72, 77, 66 and 56% reductions in ADMI color value, chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, total dissolve solid and total suspended solid of textile effluent, respectively. High performance thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Ultra violet-Visible spectroscopy and enzymatic assays confirmed the phytotransformation of parent dye in the new metabolites. T-RFLP analysis of rhizospheric bacteria of Fimbristylis dichotoma, Ammannia baccifera, and consortium FA revealed the presence of 88, 98 and 223 genera which could have been involved in dye removal. Toxicity evaluation of products formed after phytotransformation of methyl orange by consortium FA on bivalves Lamellidens marginalis revealed less damage in the gills architecture when analyzed histologically. Toxicity measurement by Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique revealed normal banding pattern in treated methyl orange sample suggesting less toxic nature of phytotransformed dye products.

Keywords: constructed wetland, phyto-bed, textile effluent, phytoremediation

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55 Beliefs and Rituals among the Urak Lawoi Sea Gypsies in the Bulon Archipelago, Satun Province

Authors: Srisuporn Piyaratanawong, Suchai Assawapantanakul

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This study aims to reflect changes in beliefs and rituals among the Urak Lawoi sea gypsies on the Bulon archipelago of Satun Province that are related to changes of society according to each dimension of time. The historical study was conducted using an oral history approach. The study found that the traditional way of life as itinerants who moved seasonally resulted in their dependence on nature and beliefs in supernatural power, and mysterious powers and superstitions in the belief of ghosts, ancestors, guardian spirits, large banyan trees, life and living, treatment of diseases, king of nagas, and other beliefs. They displayed their respect to supernatural powers through rituals by worshiping, making offerings to spirits and performing Rongeng dance for spirits in return for fulfilling their vows. After World War II (1945), the Urak Lawoi sea gypsies on Bulon archipelago changed their itinerant way of life to permanent settlements. However, their beliefs in supernatural powers and ritual performances remained in existence. Until 1987, when tourism began to spread to the archipelago, some of them gradually turned to make a living with tourism. Moreover, during the last 20 years (from around 1994), Islam has spread among the people. With this social context, the traditional beliefs in supernatural powers have changed to beliefs according to the religion and the way of life that has changed. Thus, when the traditional beliefs and rituals can no longer fulfil the new way of life, they slowly disappear, such as the floating the boat ceremony that has been replaced with new beliefs and rituals according to Islam. Nevertheless, some beliefs and rituals still exist, such as beliefs about treatment of diseases and Rongeng dance for spirits in return for vow fulfilling. In conclusion, the traditional beliefs and rituals of the Urak Lawoi sea gypsies on the Bulon archipelago cannot fulfil the new way of life, and have, thus, brought about changes in beliefs and rituals that are congruent with the current society.

Keywords: belief, ritual, Urak Lawoi, sea gypsy, Bulon Archipelago

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54 Self-Determination and Mental Disorders: Phenomenological Approach

Authors: Neringa Bagdonaite

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Background: The main focus of this paper is to explore how self-determination interplays in suicidal and addictive context leading one to autonomously choose self-destructive addictive behaviour or suicidal intentions. Methods: Phenomenological descriptions of the experiential structure of self-determination in addiction and suicidal mental life are used. The phenomenological method describes structures of mental life from the first-person-perspective, with a focus on how an experienced object is given in a subject’s conscious experience. Results: A sense of self-determination in the context of suicidal and addictive behaviour is possibly impaired. In the context of suicide, it's proposed that suicide is always experienced at least minimally self-determined, as it's the last freely discovered self-efficient behaviour, in terms of radically changing one's desperate mental state. Suicide can never be experienced as fully self-determined because no future retrospective re-evaluation of behaviour is possible. Understanding self-determination in addiction is challenging because addicts perceive themselves and experience situations differently depending on: (I) their level of intoxication; (II) whether the situation is in the moment or in retrospect; and (III) the goals set out in that situation. Furthermore, within phenomenology addiction is described as an embodied custom, which‘s acquired and established while performing 'psychotropic technique'. The main goal of performing such a technique is to continue 'floating in an indifference state' or being 'comfortably numb'. Conclusions: Based on rich phenomenological descriptions of the studied phenomenon, this paper draws on the premise that to experience self-determination in both suicide and addiction, underlying desperate or negative emotional states are needed. Such underlying desperate or negative mental life experiences are required for one to pre-reflectively evaluate suicide or addictive behaviours as positive, relieving or effective in terms of changing one's emotional states. Such pre-reflective positive evaluations serve as the base for the continuation of behaviour and later are identified reflectively.

Keywords: addiction, phenomenology, self-determination, self-effectivity, suicide

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53 A Ku/K Band Power Amplifier for Wireless Communication and Radar Systems

Authors: Meng-Jie Hsiao, Cam Nguyen

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Wide-band devices in Ku band (12-18 GHz) and K band (18-27 GHz) have received significant attention for high-data-rate communications and high-resolution sensing. Especially, devices operating around 24 GHz is attractive due to the 24-GHz unlicensed applications. One of the most important components in RF systems is power amplifier (PA). Various PAs have been developed in the Ku and K bands on GaAs, InP, and silicon (Si) processes. Although the PAs using GaAs or InP process could have better power handling and efficiency than those realized on Si, it is very hard to integrate the entire system on the same substrate for GaAs or InP. Si, on the other hand, facilitates single-chip systems. Hence, good PAs on Si substrate are desirable. Especially, Si-based PA having good linearity is necessary for next generation communication protocols implemented on Si. We report a 16.5 to 25.5 GHz Si-based PA having flat saturated power of 19.5 ± 1.5 dBm, output 1-dB power compression (OP1dB) of 16.5 ± 1.5 dBm, and 15-23 % power added efficiency (PAE). The PA consists of a drive amplifier, two main amplifiers, and lump-element Wilkinson power divider and combiner designed and fabricated in TowerJazz 0.18µm SiGe BiCMOS process having unity power gain frequency (fMAX) of more than 250 GHz. The PA is realized as a cascode amplifier implementing both heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) and n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (NMOS) devices for gain, frequency response, and linearity consideration. Particularly, a body-floating technique is utilized for the NMOS devices to improve the voltage swing and eliminate parasitic capacitances. The developed PA has measured flat gain of 20 ± 1.5 dB across 16.5-25.5 GHz. At 24 GHz, the saturated power, OP1dB, and maximum PAE are 20.8 dBm, 18.1 dBm, and 23%, respectively. Its high performance makes it attractive for use in Ku/K-band, especially 24 GHz, communication and radar systems. This paper was made possible by NPRP grant # 6-241-2-102 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Keywords: power amplifiers, amplifiers, communication systems, radar systems

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52 Induction of Adaptive Response in Yeast Cells under Influence of Extremely High Frequency Electromagnetic Field

Authors: Sergei Voychuk

Abstract:

Introduction: Adaptive response (AR) is a manifestation of radiation hormesis, which deal with the radiation resistance that may be increased with the pretreatment with small doses of radiation. In the current study, we evaluated the potency of radiofrequency EMF to induce the AR mechanisms and to increase a resistance to UV light. Methods: Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains, which were created to study induction of mutagenesis and recombination, were used in the study. The strains have mutations in rad2 and rad54 genes, responsible for DNA repair: nucleotide excision repair (PG-61), postreplication repair (PG-80) and mitotic (crossover) recombination (T2). An induction of mutation and recombination are revealed due to the formation of red colonies on agar plates. The PG-61 and T2 are UV sensitive strains, while PG-80 is sensitive to ionizing radiation. Extremely high frequency electromagnetic field (EHF-EMF) was used. The irradiation was performed in floating mode and frequency changed during exposure from 57 GHz to 62 GHz. The power of irradiation was 100 mkW, and duration of exposure was 10 and 30 min. Treatment was performed at RT and then cells were stored at 28° C during 1 h without any exposure but after that they were treated with UV light (254nm) for 20 sec (strain T2) and 120 sec (strain PG-61 and PG-80). Cell viability and quantity of red colonies were determined after 5 days of cultivation on agar plates. Results: It was determined that EHF-EMF caused 10-20% decrease of viability of T2 and PG-61 strains, while UV showed twice stronger effect (30-70%). EHF-EMF pretreatment increased T2 resistance to UV, and decreased it in PG-61. The PG-80 strain was insensitive to EHF-EMF and no AR effect was determined for this strain. It was not marked any induction of red colonies formation in T2 and PG-80 strain after EHF or UV exposure. The quantity of red colonies was 2 times more in PG-61 strain after EHF-EMF treatment and at least 300 times more after UV exposure. The pretreatment of PG-61 with EHF-EMF caused at least twice increase of viability and consequent decrease of amount of red colonies. Conclusion: EHF-EMF may induce AR in yeast cells and increase their viability under UV treatment.

Keywords: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, EHF-EMF, UV light, adaptive response

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51 Geometric Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of Cylindrical Composite Sandwich Shells Subjected to Underwater Blast Load

Authors: Mustafa Taskin, Ozgur Demir, M. Mert Serveren

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The precise study of the impact of underwater explosions on structures is of great importance in the design and engineering calculations of floating structures, especially those used for military purposes, as well as power generation facilities such as offshore platforms that can become a target in case of war. Considering that ship and submarine structures are mostly curved surfaces, it is extremely important and interesting to examine the destructive effects of underwater explosions on curvilinear surfaces. In this study, geometric nonlinear dynamic analysis of cylindrical composite sandwich shells subjected to instantaneous pressure load is performed. The instantaneous pressure load is defined as an underwater explosion and the effects of the liquid medium are taken into account. There are equations in the literature for pressure due to underwater explosions, but these equations have been obtained for flat plates. For this reason, the instantaneous pressure load equations are arranged to be suitable for curvilinear structures before proceeding with the analyses. Fluid-solid interaction is defined by using Taylor's Plate Theory. The lower and upper layers of the cylindrical composite sandwich shell are modeled as composite laminate and the middle layer consists of soft core. The geometric nonlinear dynamic equations of the shell are obtained by Hamilton's principle, taken into account the von Kàrmàn theory of large displacements. Then, time dependent geometric nonlinear equations of motion are solved with the help of generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) and dynamic behavior of cylindrical composite sandwich shells exposed to underwater explosion is investigated. An algorithm that can work parametrically for the solution has been developed within the scope of the study.

Keywords: cylindrical composite sandwich shells, generalized differential quadrature method, geometric nonlinear dynamic analysis, underwater explosion

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50 Assessing the Macroeconomic Effects of Fiscal Policy Changes in Egypt: A Bayesian Structural Vector Autoregression Approach

Authors: Walaa Diab, Baher Atlam, Nadia El Nimer

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Egypt faces many obvious economic challenges, and it is so clear that a real economic transformation is needed to address those problems, especially after the recent decisions of floating the Egyptian pound and the gradual subsidy cuts that are trying to meet the needed conditions to get the IMF support of (a £12bn loan) for its economic reform program. Following the post-2008 revival of the interest in the fiscal policy and its vital role in speeding up or slowing down the economic growth. Here comes the value of this paper as it seeks to analyze the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy in Egypt by applying A Bayesian SVAR Approach. The study uses the Bayesian method because it includes the prior information and no relevant information is omitted and so it is well suited for rational, evidence-based decision-making. Since the study aims to define the effects of fiscal policy shocks in Egypt to help the decision-makers in determining the proper means to correct the structural problems in the Egyptian economy, it has to study the period of 1990s economic reform, but unfortunately; the available data is on an annual frequency. Thus, it uses annual time series to study the period 1991: 2005 And quarterly data over the period 2006–2016. It uses a set of six main variables includes government expenditure and net tax revenues as fiscal policy arms affecting real GDP, unemployment, inflation and the interest rate. The study also tries to assess the 'crowding out' effects by considering the effects of government spending and government revenue shocks on the composition of GDP, namely, on private consumption and private investment. Last but not least the study provides its policy implications regarding the needed role of fiscal policy in Egypt in the upcoming economic reform building on the results it concludes from the previous reform program.

Keywords: fiscal policy, government spending, structural vector autoregression, taxation

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49 Variation of Manning’s Coefficient in a Meandering Channel with Emergent Vegetation Cover

Authors: Spandan Sahu, Amiya Kumar Pati, Kishanjit Kumar Khatua

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Vegetation plays a major role in deciding the flow parameters in an open channel. It enhances the aesthetic view of the revetments. The major types of vegetation in river typically comprises of herbs, grasses, weeds, trees, etc. The vegetation in an open channel usually consists of aquatic plants with complete submergence, partial submergence, floating plants. The presence of vegetative plants can have both benefits and problems. The major benefits of aquatic plants are they reduce the soil erosion, which provides the water with a free surface to move on without hindrance. The obvious problems are they retard the flow of water and reduce the hydraulic capacity of the channel. The degree to which the flow parameters are affected depends upon the density of the vegetation, degree of submergence, pattern of vegetation, vegetation species. Vegetation in open channel tends to provide resistance to flow, which in turn provides a background to study the varying trends in flow parameters having vegetative growth in the channel surface. In this paper, an experiment has been conducted on a meandering channel having sinuosity of 1.33 with rigid vegetation cover to investigate the effect on flow parameters, variation of manning’s n with degree of the denseness of vegetation, vegetation pattern and submergence criteria. The measurements have been carried out in four different cross-sections two on trough portion of the meanders, two on the crest portion. In this study, the analytical solution of Shiono and knight (SKM) for lateral distributions of depth-averaged velocity and bed shear stress have been taken into account. Dimensionless eddy viscosity and bed friction have been incorporated to modify the SKM to provide more accurate results. A mathematical model has been formulated to have a comparative analysis with the results obtained from Shiono-Knight Method.

Keywords: bed friction, depth averaged velocity, eddy viscosity, SKM

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48 Community Participation in Planning Whale Shark Tourism in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara-Indonesia

Authors: Maulita Sari Hani, Abraham B. Sianipar, Abdi Hasan, Erfa Canistya, Ismail Alaydrus, Asril Djunaidi

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Whale shark tourism offer potential benefits to support economic alternative livelihood. Since 2017, Conservation International Indonesia worked in Sumbawa to monitor whale shark distribution and identified species aggregation in Teluk Saleh. We conducted a survey on May 23th-27th, 2018 and involved 86 local community from five hamlets in Labuan Jambu village. Furthermore, forum group discussion (FGD) held with 20 village representative on July 30th, 2018. The result of frequency distribution demonstrated 95% of respondents show positive perceptions towards sustainable development of whale shark tourism with 40% willing to participate in boat rental services. The community also proposes to participate in providing other tourism services including the local guide (12%), food and beverage or F&B (8%), local transport (8%), and homestay (6%). 34% of respondents agreed to establish a new institution (under village officials) to coordinate tourism services provided by the local community. We also conducted participatory mapping with 15 key informants where the result confirmed 13 areas of whale shark aggregation with all-year-round sightings. The FGD results in 20 participants ready to start the pilot project of community-based whale shark tourism in August 2018, including 4 boat rental (3 speedboats and 1 floating cage boat), 6 homestays, 4 car rentals, 1 F&B, 1 gear rental, 2 guides, and 2 local products. In addition, we facilitate village official in establishing policy and regulations for whale shark conservation and sustainable community-based tourism through village regulation, code of conduct, best practices, and capacity building program.

Keywords: marine wildlife tourism, elasmobranch, conservation, sustainable tourism, co-management

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47 Designing Function Knitted and Woven Upholstery Textile With SCOPY Film

Authors: Manar Y. Abd El-Aziz, Alyaa E. Morgham, Amira A. El-Fallal, Heba Tolla E. Abo El Naga

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Different textile materials are usually used in upholstery. However, upholstery parts may become unhealthy when dust accrues and bacteria raise on the surface, which negatively affects the user's health. Also, leather and artificial leather were used in upholstery but, leather has a high cost and artificial leather has a potential chemical risk for users. Researchers have advanced vegie leather made from bacterial cellulose a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). SCOBY remains a gelatinous, cellulose biofilm discovered floating at the air-liquid interface of the container. But this leather still needs some enhancement for its mechanical properties. This study aimed to prepare SCOBY, produce bamboo rib knitted fabrics with two different stitch densities, and cotton woven fabric then laminate these fabrics with the prepared SCOBY film to enhance the mechanical properties of the SCOBY leather at the same time; add anti-microbial function to the prepared fabrics. Laboratory tests were conducted on the produced samples, including tests for function properties; anti-microbial, thermal conductivity and light transparency. Physical properties; thickness and mass per unit. Mechanical properties; elongation, tensile strength, young modulus, and peel force. The results showed that the type of the fabric affected significantly SCOBY properties. According to the test results, the bamboo knitted fabric with higher stitch density laminated with SCOBY was chosen for its tensile strength and elongation as the upholstery of a bed model with antimicrobial properties and comfortability in the headrest design. Also, the single layer of SCOBY was chosen regarding light transparency and lower thermal conductivity for the creation of a lighting unit built into the bed headboard.

Keywords: anti-microbial, bamboo, rib, SCOPY, upholstery

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46 Phytotechnologies for Use and Reconstitution of Contaminated Sites

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

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45 Evaluation of Molasses and Sucrose as Cabohydrate Sources for Biofloc System on Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Performances

Authors: A. M. Nour, M. A. Zaki, E. A. Omer, Nourhan Mohamed

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Performances of mixed-sex Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings (11.33 ± 1.78 g /fish) reared under biofloc system developed by molasses and sucrose as carbon sources in indoor fiberglass tanks were evaluated. Six indoor fiberglass tanks (1m 3 each filled with 1000 l of underground fresh water), each was stocked with 2kg fish were used for 14 weeks experimental period. Three experimental groups were designed (each group 2 tanks) as following: 1-control: 20% daily without biofloc, 2-zero water exchange rate with biofloc (molasses as C source) and 3-zero water exchange rate with biofloc (sucrose as C source). Fish in all aquariums were fed on floating feed pellets (30% crude protein, 3 mm in diameter) at a rate of 3% of the actual live fish body, 3 times daily and 6 days a week. Carbohydrate supplementations were applied daily to each tank two hrs, after feeding to maintain the carbon: nitrogen ratio (C: N) ratio 20:1. Fish were reared under continuous aeration by pumping air into the water in the tank bottom using two sandy diffusers and constant temperature between 27.0-28.0 ºC by using electrical heaters for 10 weeks. Criteria's for assessment of water quality parameters, biofloc production and fish growth performances were collected and evaluated. The results showed that total ammonia nitrogen in control group was higher than biofloc groups. The biofloc volumes were 19.13 mg/l and 13.96 mg/l for sucrose and molasses, respectively. Biofloc protein (%), ether extract (%) and gross energy (kcal/100g DM), they were higher in biofloc molasses group than biofloc sucrose group. Tilapia growth performances were significantly higher (P < 0.05) with molasses group than in sucrose and control groups, respectively. The highest feed and nutrient utilization values for protein efficiency ratio (PER), protein productive (PPV%) and energy utilization (EU, %) were higher in molasses group followed by sucrose group and control group respectively.

Keywords: biofloc, Nile tilapia, cabohydrates, performances

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44 Hybrid Reusable Launch Vehicle for Space Application A Naval Approach

Authors: Rajasekar Elangopandian, Anand Shanmugam

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In order to reduce the cost of launching satellite and payloads to the orbit this project envisages some immense combined technology. This new technology in space odyssey contains literally four concepts. The first mode in this innovation is flight mission characteristics which, says how the mission will induct. The conventional technique of magnetic levitation will help us to produce the initial thrust. The name states reusable launch vehicle shows its viability of reuseness. The flight consists miniature rocket which produces the required thrust and the two JATO (jet assisted takeoff) boosters which gives the initial boost for the vehicle. The vehicle ostensibly looks like an airplane design and will be located on the super conducting rail track. When the high power electric current given to the rail track, the vehicle starts floating as per the principle of magnetic levitation. If the flight reaches the particular takeoff distance the two boosters gets starts and will give the 48KN thrust each. Obviously it`ll follow the vertical path up to the atmosphere end/start to space. As soon as it gets its speed the two boosters will cutoff. Once it reaches the space the inbuilt spacecraft keep the satellite in the desired orbit. When the work finishes, the apogee motors gives the initial kick to the vehicle to come in to the earth’s atmosphere with 22N thrust and automatically comes to the ground by following the free fall, the help of gravitational force. After the flying region it makes the spiral flight mode then gets landing where the super conducting levitated rail track located. It will catch up the vehicle and keep it by changing the poles of magnets and varying the current. Initial cost for making this vehicle might be high but for the frequent usage this will reduce the launch cost exactly half than the now-a-days technology. The incorporation of such a mechanism gives `hybrid` and the reusability gives `reusable launch vehicle` and ultimately Hybrid reusable launch vehicle.

Keywords: the two JATO (jet assisted takeoff) boosters, magnetic levitation, 48KN thrust each, 22N thrust and automatically comes to the ground

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43 Heavy Sulphide Material Characterization of Grasberg Block Cave Mine, Mimika, Papua: Implication for Tunnel Development and Mill Issue

Authors: Cahya Wimar Wicaksono, Reynara Davin Chen, Alvian Kristianto Santoso

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Grasberg Cu-Au ore deposit as one of the biggest porphyry deposits located in Papua Province, Indonesia produced by several intrusion that restricted by Heavy Sulphide Zone (HSZ) in peripheral. HSZ is the rock that becomes the contact between Grassberg Igneous Complex (GIC) with sedimentary and igneous rock outside, which is rich in sulphide minerals such as pyrite ± pyrrhotite. This research is to obtain the characteristic of HSZ based on geotechnical, geochemical and mineralogy aspect and those implication for daily mining operational activities. Method used in this research are geological and alteration mapping, core logging, FAA (Fire Assay Analysis), AAS (Atomic absorption spectroscopy), RQD (Rock Quality Designation) and rock water content. Data generated from methods among RQD data, mineral composition and grade, lithological and structural geology distribution in research area. The mapping data show that HSZ material characteristics divided into three type based on rocks association, there are near igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and on HSZ area. And also divided based on its location, north and south part of research area. HSZ material characteristic consist of rock which rich of pyrite ± pyrrhotite, and RQD range valued about 25%-100%. Pyrite ± pyrrhotite which outcropped will react with H₂O and O₂ resulting acid that generates corrosive effect on steel wire and rockbolt. Whereas, pyrite precipitation proses in HSZ forming combustible H₂S gas which is harmful during blasting activities. Furthermore, the impact of H₂S gas in blasting activities is forming poison gas SO₂. Although HSZ high grade Cu-Au, however those high grade Cu-Au rich in sulphide components which is affected in flotation milling process. Pyrite ± pyrrhotite in HSZ will chemically react with Cu-Au that will settle in milling process instead of floating.

Keywords: combustible, corrosive, heavy sulphide zone, pyrite ± pyrrhotite

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42 Local Farmer’s Perception on the Role of Room for the River in Livelihoods: Case Study in An Phu District, An Giang Province, Vietnam

Authors: Hoang Vo Thi Minh, Duyen Nguyen Thi Phuong, Gerardo Van Halsema

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As one of the deltas which is extremely vulnerable to climate change, the Mekong Delta, Vietnam is facing many challenges that need to be addressed in strategic and holistic ways. In this study scope, a strategic delta planning is recently considered as a new vision of Adaptive Delta Management for the Mekong Delta. In Adaptive Delta Management, Room for the Rivers (RftR) has been formulated as a typical innovation, which is currently in need of careful consideration for implementing in the Mekong Delta’s planning process. This study then attempts to investigate the roles and analyze sociological aspects of the RftR as potential strategic 'soft' measure, in upstream of Hau River in An Phu district, An Giang province, especially in terms of its so-called multifunctions. The study applied social science approach embedded with a few qualitative methods including in-depth interviews and questionnaire distribution and conjoint analysis as a quantitative approach. The former mainly aims at gaining the local community’s perceptions about the RftR solution. The latter tries to gain farmers’ willingness to accept (WTA) with regard to their level of preference towards the three selected solutions which are considered as strategic plans for sustainably developing the MD. Qualitative data analysis shows that, farmers perceive RftR as very useful for their livelihoods due to its multifunctions as well as in terms of water management. The quantitative results illustrated that respondents expressed their WTAs on RftR as 84. 240 thousand VND / year. Amongst the three solutions that are analysed within this study (Floating rice for upper delta, Room for the Rivers for the Middle, and Shrimp-Mangrove integration for the coastal delta), RfrR was ranked as second preference from respondents. This result is not exactly reflecting the real values of these three mentioned solutions but showing a tendency that can be seen as a reference for the decision-makers in delta planning processes.

Keywords: strategic delta planning, room for the River, farmers’ perception, willingness-to-accept, local livelihoods

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41 The Effect of Artificial Intelligence on Petroleum Industry and Production

Authors: Mina Shokry Hanna Saleh Tadros

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The centrality of the Petroleum Industry in the world energy is undoubted. The world economy almost runs and depends on petroleum. Petroleum industry is a multi-trillion industry; it turns otherwise poor and underdeveloped countries into wealthy nations and thrusts them at the center of international diplomacy. Although these developing nations lack the necessary technology to explore and exploit petroleum resources they are not without help as developed nations, represented by their multinational corporations are ready and willing to provide both the technical and managerial expertise necessary for the development of this natural resource. However, the exploration of these petroleum resources comes with, sometimes, grave, concomitant consequences. These consequences are especially pronounced with respect to the environment. From the British Petroleum Oil rig explosion and the resultant oil spillage and pollution in New Mexico, United States to the Mobil Oil spillage along Egyptian coast, the story and consequence is virtually the same. Egypt’s delta Region produces Nigeria’s petroleum which accounts for more than ninety-five percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. Between 1999 and 2007, Egypt earned more than $400 billion from petroleum exports. Nevertheless, petroleum exploration and exploitation has devastated the Delta environment. From oil spillage which pollutes the rivers, farms and wetlands to gas flaring by the multi-national corporations; the consequences is similar-a region that has been devastated by petroleum exploitation. This paper thus seeks to examine the consequences and impact of petroleum pollution in the Egypt Delta with particular reference on the right of the people of Niger Delta to a healthy environment. The paper further seeks to examine the relevant international, regional instrument and Nigeria’s municipal laws that are meant to protect the result of the people of the Egypt Delta and their enforcement by the Nigerian State. It is quite worrisome that the Egypt Delta Region and its people have suffered and are still suffering grave violations of their right to a healthy environment as a result of petroleum exploitation in their region. The Egypt effort at best is half-hearted in its protection of the people’s right.

Keywords: crude oil, fire, floating roof tank, lightning protection systemenvironment, exploration, petroleum, pollutionDuvernay petroleum system, oil generation, oil-source correlation, Re-Os

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40 Effect of Papaverine on Developmental Neurotoxicity: Neurosphere as in vitro Model

Authors: Mohammed Y. Elsherbeny, Mohamed Salama, Ahmed Lotfy, Hossam Fareed, Nora Mohammed

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Background: Developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) entails the toxic effects imparted by various chemicals on brain during the early childhood when human brains are vulnerable during this period. DNT study in vivo cannot determine the effect of the neurotoxins, as it is not applicable, so using the neurosphere cells of lab animals as an alternative is applicable and time saving. Methods: Cell culture: Rat neural progenitor cells were isolated from rat embryos’ brain. The cortices were aseptically dissected out and the tissues were triturated. The dispersed tissues were allowed to settle. The supernatant was then transferred to a fresh tube and centrifuged. The pellet was placed in Hank’s balanced salt solution and cultured as free-floating neurospheres in proliferation medium. Differentiation was initiated by growth factor withdrawal in differentiation medium and plating onto a poly-d-lysine/ laminin matrix. Chemical Exposure: Neurospheres were treated for 2 weeks with papaverine in proliferation medium. Proliferation analyses: Spheres were cultured. After 0, 4, 5, 11 and 14 days, sphere size was determined by software analyses (CellProfiler, version 2.1; Broad Institute). Diameter of each neurosphere was measured and exported to excel file further to statistical analysis. Viability test: Trypsin-EDTA solution was added to neurospheres to dissociate neurospheres into single cells suspension, then viability evaluated by the Trypan Blue exclusion test. Result: As regards proliferation analysis and percentage of viable cells of papaverin treated groups: There was no significant change in cells proliferation compared to control at 0, 4, 5, 11 and 14 days with concentrations 1, 5 and 10 µM of papaverine, but there is a significant change in cell viability compared to control after 1 week and 2 weeks with the same concentrations of papaverine. Conclusion: Papaverine has toxic effect on viability of neural cell, not on their proliferation, so it may produce focal neural lesions not growth morphological changes.

Keywords: developmental neurotoxicity, neurotoxin, papaverine, neuroshperes

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39 Experimental Studies on the Effect of Premixing Methods in Anaerobic Digestor with Corn Stover

Authors: M. Sagarika, M. Chandra Sekhar

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Agricultural residues are producing in large quantities in India and account for abundant but underutilized source of renewable biomass in agriculture. In India, the amount of crop residues available is estimated to be approximately 686 million tons. Anaerobic digestion is a promising option to utilize the surplus agricultural residues and can produce biogas and digestate. Biogas is mainly methane (CH4), which can be utilized as an energy source in replacement for fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, in other hand, digestate contains high amounts of nutrients, can be employed as fertilizer. Solid state anaerobic digestion (total solids ≥ 15%) is suitable for agricultural residues, as it reduces the problems like stratification and floating issues that occur in liquid anaerobic digestion (total solids < 15%). The major concern in solid-state anaerobic digestion is the low mass transfer of feedstock and inoculum that resulting in low performance. To resolve this low mass transfer issue, effective mixing of feedstock and inoculum is required. Mechanical mixing using stirrer at the time of digestion process can be done, but it is difficult to operate the stirring of feedstock with high solids percentage and high viscosity. Complete premixing of feedstock and inoculum is an alternative method, which is usual in lab scale studies but may not be affordable due to high energy demand in large-scale digesters. Developing partial premixing methods may reduce this problem. Current study is to improve the performance of solid-state anaerobic digestion of corn stover at feedstock to inoculum ratios 3 and 5, by applying partial premixing methods and to compare the complete premixing method with two partial premixing methods which are two alternative layers of feedstock and inoculum and three alternative layers of feedstock and inoculum where higher inoculum ratios in the top layers. From experimental studies it is observed that, partial premixing method with three alternative layers of feedstock and inoculum yielded good methane.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, premixing methods, methane yield, corn stover, volatile solids

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38 Phytoremediation of Pharmaceutical Emerging Contaminant-Laden Wastewater: A Techno-Economic and Sustainable Development Approach

Authors: Reda A. Elkhyat, Mahmoud Nasr, Amel A. Tammam, Mohamed A. Ghazy

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Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a unique group of emerging contaminants continuously introduced into the aquatic ecosystem at concentrations capable of inducing adverse effects on humans and aquatic organisms, even at trace levels ranging from ppt to ppm. Amongst the common pharmaceutical emerging pollutants detected in several aquatic environments, acetaminophen has been recognized for its high toxicity. Once released into the aquatic environment, acetaminophen could be degraded by the microbial community and adsorption/ uptake by the plants. Although many studies have investigated the hazard risks of acetaminophen pollutants on aquatic animals, the number of studies demonstrating its removal efficiency and effects on the aquatic plant still needs to be expanded. In this context, this study aims to apply the aquatic plant-based phytoremediation system to eliminate this emerging contaminant from domestic wastewater. The phytoremediation experiment was performed in a hydroponic system containing Eichhornia crassipes and operated under the natural environment at 25°C to 30°C. This system was subjected to synthetic domestic wastewater with the maximum initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 390 mg/L and three different acetaminophen concentrations of 25, 50, and 200 mg/L. After 17 d of operation, the phytoremediation system achieved removal efficiencies of about 100% and 85.6±4.2% for acetaminophen and COD, respectively.Moreover, the Eichhornia crassipes could withstand the toxicity associated with increasing the acetaminophen concentrations from 25 to 200 mg/L. This high treatment performance could be assigned to the well-adaptation of the water hyacinth to the phytoremediation factors. Moreover, it has been proposed that this phytoremediation system could be largely supported by phytodegradation and plant uptaking mechanisms; however, detecting the generated intermediates, metabolites, and degradation products are still under investigation. Applying this free-floating plant in wastewater treatment and reducing emerging contaminants would meet the targets of SDGs 3, 6, and. 14. The cost-benefit analysis was performed for the phytoremediation system. The phytoremediation system is financially viable as the net profit was 2921 US $/ y with a payback period of nine years.

Keywords: domestic wastewater, emerging pollutants, hydrophyte Eichhornia crassipes, paracetamol removal efficiency, sustainable development goals (SDGs)

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