Search results for: mass removal phenomena

Authors: Álvaro Ramírez Vidal, Martín Muñoz Morales, Francisco Jesús Fernández Morales, Luis Rodríguez Romero, José Villaseñor Camacho, Javier Llanos López

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In recent times, environmental problems have led to the extensive use of biological systems to solve them. Among the different types of biological systems, the use of plants such as aquatic macrophytes in constructed wetlands and terrestrial plant species for treating polluted soils and sludge has gained importance. Though the use of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment is a well-researched domain, the slowness of pollutant degradation and high biomass production pose some challenges. Plants used in CW participate in different mechanisms for the capture and degradation of pollutants that also can retain some pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) that are very persistent in the environment. Thus, these systems present advantages in line with the guidelines published for the transition towards friendly and ecological procedures as they are environmentally friendly systems, consume low energy, or capture atmospheric CO₂. However, the use of CW presents some drawbacks, as the slowness of pollutant degradation or the production of important amounts of plant biomass, which need to be harvested and managed periodically. Taking this opportunity in mind, it is important to highlight that this residual biomass (of lignocellulosic nature) could be used as the feedstock for the generation of carbonaceous materials using thermochemical transformations such as slow pyrolysis or hydrothermal carbonization to produce high-value biomass-derived carbons through sustainable processes as adsorbents, catalysts…, thereby improving the circular carbon economy. Thus, this work carried out the analysis of some PPCPs commonly found in urban wastewater, as salicylic acid or ibuprofen, to evaluate the remediation carried out for the Phragmites Australis. Then, after the harvesting, this biomass can be used to synthesize electrodes through hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and produce high-value biomass-derived carbons with electrocatalytic activity to remove heavy metals and persistent pollutants, promoting circular economy concepts. To do this, it was chosen biomass derived from the natural environment in high environmental risk as the Daimiel Wetlands National Park in the center of Spain, and the rest of the biomass developed in a CW specifically designed to remove pollutants. The research emphasizes the impact of the composition of the biomass waste and the synthetic parameters applied during HTC on the electrocatalytic activity. Additionally, this parameter can be related to the physicochemical properties, as porosity, surface functionalization, conductivity, and mass transfer of the electrodes lytic inks. Data revealed that carbon materials synthesized have good surface properties (good conductivities and high specific surface area) that enhance the electro-oxidants generated and promote the removal of PPCPs and the chemical oxygen demand of polluted waters.

Keywords: constructed wetlands, carbon materials, heavy metals, pharmaceutical and personal care products, hydrothermal carbonization

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Authors: Cristiano Giordani, Marco Diociaiuti, Cecilia Bombelli, Laura Zanetti-Polzi, Marcello Belfiore, Raoul Fioravanti, Gianfranco Macchia

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We investigated induced functional effects by evaluating Ca2+-influx in liposomes and cell viability in HT22-DIFF neurons. Only solutions rich in unstructured Prefibrillar-Oligomers (PFOs) were able, in the presence of Monosialoganglioside-GM1 (GM1), to induce Ca2+-influx and were also neurotoxic, suggesting a correlation between the two phenomena. Thus, in the presence of GM1, we investigated the protein conformation and liposome modification due to the interaction. Circular Dichroism showed that GM1 fostered the formation of β-structures and Energy Filtered-Transmission Electron Microscopy that PFOs formed “amyloid-channels” as reported for Aβ. We speculate that electrostatic forces occurring between the positive PFOs and negative GM1 drive the initial binding, while the hydrophobic profile of the flexible PFO is responsible for the subsequent pore formation. Conversely, the rigid β-structured mature/fibers (MFs) and proto-fibers (PFs) were unable to induce membrane damage and Ca2+- influx.

Keywords: amyloid proteins, neurotoxicity, lipid-rafts, GM1

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Authors: Haitham A. Hussein, Rozi Abdullah, Issa Saket, Md. Azlin

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The gravitational effect has been extensively applied to separate oil from water in water and wastewater treatment systems. The maximum oil globules removal efficiency is improved by obtaining the best flow uniformity in separator tanks. This study used 2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to investigate the effect of different inlet baffle positions inside the separator tank. Laboratory experiment has been conducted, and the measured velocity fields which were by Nortek Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) are used to verify the CFD model. Computational investigation results indicated that the construction of an inlet baffle in a suitable location provides the minimum recirculation zone volume, creates the best flow uniformity, and dissipates kinetic energy in the oil and water separator tank. Useful formulas were predicted to design the oil and water separator tanks geometry based on an experimental model.

Keywords: oil/water separator tanks, inlet baffles, CFD, VOF

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Authors: P. Wlodarczak, J. Soar, M. Ally

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The dramatic rise in the use of Social Media (SM) platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide access to an unprecedented amount of user data. Users may post reviews on products and services they bought, write about their interests, share ideas or give their opinions and views on political issues. There is a growing interest in the analysis of SM data from organisations for detecting new trends, obtaining user opinions on their products and services or finding out about their online reputations. A recent research trend in SM analysis is making predictions based on sentiment analysis of SM. Often indicators of historic SM data are represented as time series and correlated with a variety of real world phenomena like the outcome of elections, the development of financial indicators, box office revenue and disease outbreaks. This paper examines the current state of research in the area of SM mining and predictive analysis and gives an overview of the analysis methods using opinion mining and machine learning techniques.

Keywords: social media, text mining, knowledge discovery, predictive analysis, machine learning

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Authors: Loganathan Kumaresan, Velusamy Chidambaram, Arumugam Velayutham Karthikeyani, Alex Cheru Pulikottil, Madhusudan Sau, Gurpreet Singh Kapur, Sankara Sri Venkata Ramakumar

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Environmentally driven regulations throughout the world stipulate dramatic improvements in the quality of transportation fuels and refining operations. The exhaust gases like CO, NOx, and SOx from stationary sources (e.g., refinery) and motor vehicles contribute to a large extent for air pollution. The refining industry is under constant environmental pressure to achieve more rigorous standards on sulphur content in the fuel used in the transportation sector and other off-gas emissions. Fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) is a major secondary process in refinery for gasoline and diesel production. CO-combustion promoter additive and gasoline sulphur reduction (GSR) additive are catalytic systems used in FCCU to assist the combustion of CO to CO₂ in the regenerator and regulate sulphur in gasoline faction respectively along with main FCC catalyst. Effectiveness of these catalysts is governed by the active metal used, its dispersion, the type of base material employed, and retention characteristics of additive in FCCU such as attrition resistance and density. The challenge is to have a high-density microsphere catalyst support for its retention and high activity of the active metals as these catalyst additives are used in low concentration compare to the main FCC catalyst. The present paper discusses in the first part development of high dense microsphere of nanocrystalline alumina by hydro-thermal method for CO combustion promoter application. Performance evaluation of additive was conducted under simulated regenerator conditions and shows CO combustion efficiency above 90%. The second part discusses the efficacy of a co-precipitation method for the generation of the active crystalline spinels of Zn, Mg, and Cu with aluminium oxides as an additive. The characterization and micro activity test using heavy combined hydrocarbon feedstock at FCC unit conditions for evaluating gasoline sulphur reduction activity are studied. These additives were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction, NH₃-TPD & N₂ sorption analysis, TPR analysis to establish structure-activity relationship. The reaction of sulphur removal mechanisms involving hydrogen transfer reaction, aromatization and alkylation functionalities are established to rank GSR additives for their activity, selectivity, and gasoline sulphur removal efficiency. The sulphur shifting in other liquid products such as heavy naphtha, light cycle oil, and clarified oil were also studied. PIONA analysis of liquid product reveals 20-40% reduction of sulphur in gasoline without compromising research octane number (RON) of gasoline and olefins content.

Keywords: hydrothermal, nanocrystalline, spinel, sulphur reduction

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Authors: Sukla Saha, Alok Sinha

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Acid mine drainage (AMD) refers to the production of acidified water from abandoned mines and active mines as well. The reason behind the generation of this kind of acidified water is the oxidation of pyrites present in the rocks in and around mining areas. Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, which is a sulfur oxidizing bacteria, helps in the oxidation process. AMD is extremely acidic in nature, (pH 2-3) with high concentration of several trace and heavy metals such as Fe, Al, Zn, Mn, Cu and Co and anions such as chloride and sulfate. AMD has several detrimental effect on aquatic organism and environment. It can directly or indirectly contaminate the ground water and surface water as well. The present study considered the treatment of AMD with metallurgical slag, which is a waste material. Slag helped to enhance the pH of AMD to 8.62 from 1.5 with 99% removal of trace metals such as Fe, Al, Mn, Cu and Co. Metallurgical slag was proven as efficient neutralizing material for the treatment of AMD.

Keywords: acid mine drainage, Heavy metals, metallurgical slag, Neutralization

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Authors: Jarek Krajewski, Andre Wittenborn, Martin Sauerland

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This abstract describes a promising approach for estimating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on prosodic speech characteristics. It illustrates the validity of this method by briefly discussing results from an Arabic refugee sample (N= 47, 32 m, 15 f). A well-established standardized self-report scale “Reaction of Adolescents to Traumatic Stress” (RATS) was used to determine the ground truth level of PTSD. The speech material was prompted by telling about autobiographical related sadness inducing experiences (sampling rate 16 kHz, 8 bit resolution). In order to investigate PTSD-induced speech changes, a self-developed set of 136 prosodic speech features was extracted from the .wav files. This set was adapted to capture traumatization related speech phenomena. An artificial neural network (ANN) machine learning model was applied to determine the PTSD level and reached a correlation of r = .37. These results indicate that our classifiers can achieve similar results to those seen in speech-based stress research.

Keywords: speech prosody, PTSD, machine learning, feature extraction

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Authors: Louis Nwachi

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Urban planning systems in most countries still rely on expert-driven, top-down technocratic plan-making processes rather than a public and people-led process. This paper set out to evaluate the need for public participation in the plan-making process and to highlight the factors that affect public participation in the plan-making process. In doing this, it adopted a qualitative approach based on document review and interviews taken from real-world phenomena. A case study strategy using the Metropolitan Area of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, as the study sample was used in carrying out the research. The research finds that participation is an important tool in the plan-making process and that public engagement in the process contributes to the identification of key urban issues that are unique to the specific local areas, thereby contributing to the establishment of priorities and, in turn, to the mobilization of resources to meet the identified needs. It also finds that the development of a participation model by city authorities encourages public engagement and helps to develop trust between those in authority and the different key stakeholder groups involved in the plan-making process.

Keywords: plan-making, participation, urban planning, city

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Authors: Gentiana Shegani

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Coagulation is a process that sanitizes leather effluents. It aims to reduce pollutants such as Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), chloride, sulphate, chromium, suspended solids, and other dissolved solids. The current study aimed to evaluate coagulation efficiency of tannery wastewater by analysing the change in organic matter, odor, colour, ammonium ions, nutrients, chloride, H2S, sulphate, suspended solids, total dissolved solids, faecal pollution, and chromium hexavalent before and after treatment. Effluent samples were treated with coagulants Ca(OH)2 and FeSO4 .7H2O. The best advantages of this treatment included the removal of: COD (81.60%); ammonia ions (98.34%); nitrate ions (92%); chromium hexavalent (75.00%); phosphate (70.00%); chloride (69.20%); and H₂S (50%). Results also indicated a high level of efficiency in the reduction of fecal pollution indicators. Unfortunately, only a modest reduction of sulphate (19.00%) and TSS (13.00%) and an increase in TDS (15.60%) was observed.

Keywords: coagulation, effluent, tannery, treatment

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Authors: Roberto Pili, Alessandro Romagnoli, Hartmut Spliethoff, Christoph Wieland

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Internal combustion engines (ICE) are today the most common energy system to drive vehicles and transportation systems. Numerous studies state that 50-60% of the fuel energy content is lost to the ambient as sensible heat. ORC offers a valuable alternative to recover such waste heat from ICE, leading to fuel energy savings and reduced emissions. In contrast, the additional weight of the ORC affects the net energy balance of the overall system and the ORC occupies additional volume that competes with vehicle transportation capacity. Consequently, a lower income from delivered freight or passenger tickets can be achieved. The economic feasibility of integrating an ORC into an ICE and the resulting economic impact of weight and volume have not been analyzed in open literature yet. This work intends to define such a benchmark for ORC applications in the transportation sector and investigates the current situation on the market. The applied methodology refers to the freight market, but it can be extended to passenger transportation as well. The economic parameter X is defined as the ratio between the variation of the freight revenues and the variation of fuel costs when an ORC is installed as a bottoming cycle for an ICE with respect to a reference case without ORC. A good economic situation is obtained when the reduction in fuel costs is higher than the reduction of revenues for the delivered freight, i.e. X<1. Through this constraint, a maximum allowable change of transport capacity for a given relative reduction in fuel consumption is determined. The specific fuel consumption is influenced by the ORC in two ways. Firstly because the transportable freight is reduced and secondly because the total weight of the vehicle is increased. Note, that the generated electricity of the ORC influences the size of the ICE and the fuel consumption as well. Taking the above dependencies into account, the limiting condition X = 1 results in a second order equation for the relative change in transported cargo. The described procedure is carried out for a typical city bus, a truck of 24-40 t of payload capacity, a middle-size freight train (1000 t), an inland water vessel (Va RoRo, 2500 t) and handysize-like vessel (25000 t). The maximum allowable mass and volume of the ORC are calculated in dependence of its efficiency in order to satisfy X < 1. Subsequently, these values are compared with weight and volume of commercial ORC products. For ships of any size, the situation appears already highly favorable. A different result is obtained for road and rail vehicles. For trains, the mass and the volume of common ORC products have to be reduced at least by 50%. For trucks and buses, the situation looks even worse. The findings of the present study show a theoretical and practical approach for the economic application of ORC in the transportation sector. In future works, the potential for volume and mass reduction of the ORC will be addressed, together with the integration of an economic assessment for the ORC.

Keywords: ORC, transportation, volume, weight

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Authors: Thomas Kipkurgat, Silahs Chemwaina

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Communication and ICT is a crucial component in realization of vision 2030, radio has played a key role in dissemination of information to mass audience. Since time immemorial, mass media has played a vital role in passing information on agricultural development issues both locally and internationally. This paper aimed at assessing the role of community radio stations in enhancing agricultural development in Kenya. The paper sought to identify the main contributions of KASS FM radio in the agricultural development especially in rural areas, the study also aimed to establish the appropriate adjustments in editorial policies of KASS FM radio in helping to promote agricultural development related programmes in rural areas. Despite some weaknesses in radio programming and the mode of interaction with the rural people, the findings of this study showed that the rural communities are better off today than in the old days when FM radios were non-existent. KASS FM has come up with different developmental programmes that have positively contributed to changing the rural people’s ways of life. These programmes include farming, health, marital values, environment, cultural issues, human rights, democracy, religious teachings, peace and reconciliation. Such programmes feature experts, professionals and opinion leaders who address numerous topics of interest to the community. The local people participate in the production of these programmes through letters to the editor, and phone-ins, among others. Programmes such as political talk shows, which feature in KASS FM, has become one of the most important ways of community participation. The interpretation and conclusions are based on the empirical data analysis and the theories of development advanced by international development communication scholars, as presented in the paper. The study ends with some recommendations on how KASS FM can best serve the interests of the poor people in rural areas, and helps improve their lives.

Keywords: agriculture, development, communication, KASS FM, radio, rural areas, Kenya

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Authors: Junyoung Kim, Shangwha Cha, Soomee Kang, Jake S. Byun

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This study shows the effect of parameter controls for livestock manure composting in waste recycling process for the development of a new design of a microorganism-oriented- composting system. Based on the preliminary studies, only the temperature control by changing mechanical mixing can reduce microorganisms’ biodegradability from 3 to 6 months to 15 days, saving the consumption of energy and manual labor. The final degree of fermentation in just 5 days of composting increased to ‘3’ comparing the compost standard level ‘4’ in Korea, others standards were all satisfied. This result shows that the controlling the optimum microorganism parameter using an ICT device connected to mixing condition can increase the effectiveness of fermentation system and reduce odor to nearly zero, and lead to upgrade the composting method than the conventional

Keywords: manure composting, odor removal, parameter control, waste recycling

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Authors: Victor Toom

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Albeit it is never possible to anticipate the full range of difficulties after a catastrophe, efforts to identify victims of mass casualty events have become institutionalized and standardized with the aim of effectively and efficiently addressing the many challenges and contingencies. Such ‘disaster victim identification’ (DVI) practices are dependent on the forensic sciences, are subject of national legislation, and are reliant on technical and organizational protocols to mitigate the many complexities in the wake of catastrophe. Apart from such technological, legal and bureaucratic elements constituting a DVI operation, victims’ families and their emotions are also part and parcel of any effort to identify casualties of mass human fatality incidents. Take for example the fact that forensic experts require (antemortem) information from the group of relatives to make identification possible. An identified body or body part is also repatriated to kin. Relatives are thus main stakeholders in DVI operations. Much has been achieved in years past regarding facilitating victims’ families’ issues and their emotions. Yet, how families are dealt with by experts and authorities is still considered a difficult topic. Due to sensitivities and required emphatic interaction with families on the one hand, and the rationalized DVI efforts, on the other hand, there is still scope for improving communication, providing information and meaningful inclusion of relatives in the DVI effort. This paper aims to bridge the standardized world of DVI efforts and families’ experienced realities and makes suggestions to further improve DVI efforts through inclusion of victims’ families. Based on qualitative interviews, the paper narrates involvement and experiences of inter alia DVI practitioners, victims’ families, advocates and clergy in the wake of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide which killed approximately 8,000 men, and the 9/11 in New York City with 2,750 victims. The paper shows that there are several models of including victims’ families into a DVI operation, and it argues for a model of where victims’ families become a partner in DVI operations.

Keywords: disaster victim identification (DVI), victims’ families, social science (qualitative), 9/11 attacks, Srebrenica genocide

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Authors: E. Wairimu Mwangi, Daniel Sarpong

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Background: Access to effective antiretroviral therapy in the United States has resulted in the rise in longevity in people living with HIV (PLHIV). Despite the progress, women living with HIV (WLWH) experience increasing rates of cardiometabolic disorders compared with their HIV-negative counterparts. Studies focusing on the predictors of metabolic disorders in this population have largely focused on the composite measure of metabolic syndrome (METs). This study seeks to identify the predictors of composite and individual METs factors in a nationally representative sample of WLWH. In particular, the study also examines the role of food security in predicting METs. Methods: The study comprised 1800 women, a subset of participants from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). The primary exposure variable, food security, was measured using the U.S. 10-item Household Food Security Survey Module. The outcome measures are the five metabolic syndrome indicators (elevated blood pressure [systolic BP > 130 mmHg and diastolic BP ≥ 85 mmHg], elevated fasting glucose [≥ 110 mg/dL], elevated fasting triglyceride [≥ 150 mg/dL], reduced HDL cholesterol [< 50 mg/dL], and waist circumference > 88 cm) and the composite measure - Metabolic Syndrome (METs) Status. Each metabolic syndrome indicator was coded one if yes and 0 otherwise. The values of the five indicators were summed, and participants with a total score of 3 or greater were classified as having metabolic syndrome. Participants classified as having metabolic syndrome were assigned a code of 1 and 0 otherwise for analysis. The covariates accounted for in this study fell into sociodemographic factors and behavioral and health characteristics. Results: The participants' mean (SD) age was 47.1 (9.1) years, with 71.4% Blacks and 10.9% Whites. About a third (33.1%) had less than a high school (HS) diploma, 60.4% were married, 32.8% were employed, and 53.7% were low-income. The prevalence of worst dietary diversity, low, moderate, and high food security were 24.1%, 26.6%, 17.0%, and 56.4%, respectively. The correlate profile of the five individual METs factors plus the composite measure of METs differ significantly, with METs based on HDL having the most correlates (Age, Education, Drinking Status, Low Income, Body Mass Index, and Health Perception). Additionally, metabolic syndrome based on waist circumference was the only metabolic factor where food security was significantly correlated (Food Security, Age, and Body Mass Index). Age was a significant predictor of all five individual METs factors plus the composite METs measure. Except for METs based on Fasting Triglycerides, body mass index (BMI) was a significant correlate of the various measures of metabolic syndrome. Conclusion: High-density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol significantly correlated with most predictors. BMI was a significant predictor of all METs factors except Fasting Triglycerides. Food insecurity, the primary predictor, was only significantly associated with waist circumference.

Keywords: blood pressure, food insecurity, fasting glucose, fasting triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein, metabolic syndrome, waist circumference, women living with HIV

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Authors: R. Chouatah, E. G. Filali, B. Zouzou

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It has been well established that there are no differences between microscale and macroscale flows of incompressible liquids. However, surface roughness has been known to impact the transport phenomena. The effect of structured roughness on the dynamics and heat transfer of water flowing through minichannel was numerically investigated in this study. Our study consists in characterizing the dynamic field and heat transfer aspect of a flow in circular minichannel equipped with structured roughness using CFD software, CFX. The study is performed to understand the effect of various roughness elements (rectangular, triangular), roughness height and roughness pitch on the friction factor and heat transfer coefficient. Our work focuses on a water flow inside a circular mini-channel of 1 mm in diameter and 10 cm in length. The speed entry into the mini-channel varies from 0.1 m/s to 25 m/s. The wall of the mini-channel is submitted to a constant heat flux; q=100,000 W/m². The simulations results are compared to those obtained with smooth minichannel and the existing experimental and numerical results in the literature.

Keywords: heat transfer, laminar and turbulent flow, minichannel, structured roughness

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Authors: F. Allag, S. Bouharati, M. Belmahdi, R. Zegadi

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The rapid expansion of deserts in recent decades as a result of human actions combined with climatic changes has highlighted the necessity to understand biological processes in arid environments. Whereas physical processes and the biology of flora and fauna have been relatively well studied in marginally used arid areas, knowledge of desert soil micro-organisms remains fragmentary. The objective of this study is to conduct a diversity analysis of bacterial communities in unvegetated arid soils. Several biological phenomena in hot deserts related to microbial populations and the potential use of micro-organisms for restoring hot desert environments. Dry land ecosystems have a highly heterogeneous distribution of resources, with greater nutrient concentrations and microbial densities occurring in vegetated than in bare soils. In this work, we found it useful to use techniques of artificial intelligence in their treatment especially artificial neural networks (ANN). The use of the ANN model, demonstrate his capability for addressing the complex problems of uncertainty data.

Keywords: desert soil, climatic changes, bacteria, vegetation, artificial neural networks

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Authors: Siti Khadijah Che Osmi, Mohammed Ahmad Syed

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Underground tunnels are one of the most popular public facilities for various applications such as transportation, water transfer, network utilities and etc. Experience from the past earthquake reveals that the underground tunnels also become vulnerable components and may damage at certain percentage depending on the level of ground shaking and induced phenomena. In this paper a numerical analysis is conducted in evaluating the sensitivity of two types of circular shallow tunnel lining models to wide ranging changes in the geotechnical design parameter. Critical analysis has been presented about the current methods of analysis, structural typology, ground motion characteristics, effect of soil conditions and associated uncertainties on the tunnel integrity. The response of the tunnel is evaluated through 2D non-linear finite element analysis, which critically assesses the impact of increasing levels of seismic loads. The finding from this study offer significant information on improving methods to assess the vulnerability of underground structures.

Keywords: geotechnical design parameter, seismic response, sensitivity analysis, shallow tunnel

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Authors: S. Meziane, H. I. Faraoun, C. Esling

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Transition metal dichalcogenides have potential applications in power generation devices that convert waste heat into electric current by the so-called Seebeck and Hall effects thus providing an alternative energy technology to reduce the dependence on traditional fossil fuels. In this study, the thermoelectric properties of 1T and 2HTaX2 (X= S or Se) dichalcogenide superconductors have been computed using the semi-classical Boltzmann theory. Technologically, the task is to fabricate suitable materials with high efficiency. It is found that 2HTaS2 possesses the largest value of figure of merit ZT= 1.27 at 175 K. From a scientific point of view, we aim to model the underlying materials properties and in particular the transport phenomena as mediated by electrons and lattice vibrations responsible for superconductivity, Charge Density Waves (CDW) and metal/insulator transitions as function of temperature. The goal of the present work is to develop an understanding of the superconductivity of these selected materials using the transport properties at the fundamental level.

Keywords: Ab initio, High efficiency, Power generation devices, Transition metal dichalcogenides

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Authors: Oumaima Lahmar

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This paper aims to define a structured topography for finance researchers seeking to navigate the body of knowledge in their extrapolation of finance phenomena. To make sense of the body of knowledge in finance, a probabilistic topic modeling approach is applied on 6000 abstracts of academic articles published in three top journals in finance between 1976 and 2020. This approach combines both machine learning techniques and natural language processing to statistically identify the conjunctions between research articles and their shared topics described each by relevant keywords. The topic modeling analysis reveals 35 coherent topics that can well depict finance literature and provide a comprehensive structure for the ongoing research themes. Comparing the extracted topics to the Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification system, a significant similarity was highlighted between the characterizing keywords. On the other hand, we identify other topics that do not match the JEL classification despite being relevant in the finance literature.

Keywords: finance literature, textual analysis, topic modeling, perplexity

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Authors: KangQi Jin

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School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) seriously impacts the victim's physical and mental health and academic and employment prospects. Due to the lack of protective policies for sexual minority students in mainland China at present, the well-being of those students in China is seriously endangered by SRGBV, and their physical and mental health is at great risk. By analyzing the current situation of stigmatization of sexual minority students and the harm brought to them by gender violence, this study proposes some strategies to reduce SRGBV on sexual minorities. First, the nation should set laws to protect the rights and interests of sexual minorities, and second, universities should make multifaceted efforts to reduce these violent phenomena. The violence experienced by students of sexual minorities has a crucial impact on their future physiology and psychology, and through the research, in this paper, the author hope can provide suggestions for scholars who try to study related fields in the future.

Keywords: sexual minority, school-related gender-based violence, response, strategies

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Authors: Geoffrey Gilfillan, Peter Barham, Lisa Smallwood, David Harper

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The ‘Welland for People and Wildlife’ project aimed to improve the River Welland’s ecology and water quality, and to make it more accessible to the community of Market Harborough. A joint monitoring project by the Welland Rivers Trust & University of Leicester was incorporated into the design. The techniques that have been used to measure its success are hydrological, geomorphological, and water quality monitoring, species and habitat surveys, and community engagement. Early results show improvements to flow and habitat diversity, water quality and biodiversity of the river environment. Barrier removal has increased stickleback mating activity, and decreased parasitically infected fish in sample catches. The habitats provided by the berms now boast over 25 native plant species, and the river is clearer, cleaner and with better-oxygenated water.

Keywords: community engagement, ecological monitoring, river restoration, water quality

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Authors: Aurica P. Chiriac, Vera Balan, Mihai Asandulesa, Elena Butnaru, Nita Tudorachi, Elena Stoleru, Loredana E. Nita, Iordana Neamtu, Alina Diaconu, Liliana Mititelu-Tartau

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The interest for studying ‘smart’ materials is entirely justified and in this context were realized investigations on poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate-co-3, 9-divinyl-2, 4, 8, 10-tetraoxaspiro (5.5) undecane), which is a macromolecular compound with sensibility at pH and temperature, gel formation capacity, binding properties, amphilicity, good oxidative and thermal stability. Physico-chemical characteristics in terms of the molecular weight, temperature-sensitive abilities and thermal stability, as well rheological, dielectric and spectroscopic properties were evaluated in correlation with further coupling capabilities. Differential scanning calorimetry investigation indicated Tg at 36.6 °C and a melting point at Tm=72.8°C, for the studied copolymer, and up to 200oC two exothermic processes (at 99.7°C and 148.8°C) were registered with losing weight of about 4 %, respective 19.27%, which indicate just processes of thermal decomposition (and not phenomena of thermal transition) owing to scission of the functional groups and breakage of the macromolecular chains. At the same time, the rheological studies (rotational tests) confirmed the non-Newtonian shear-thinning fluid behavior of the copolymer solution. The dielectric properties of the copolymer have been evaluated in order to investigate the relaxation processes and two relaxation processes under Tg value were registered and attributed to localized motions of polar groups from side chain macromolecules, or parts of them, without disturbing the main chains. According to literature and confirmed as well by our investigations, β-relaxation is assigned with the rotation of the ester side group and the γ-relaxation corresponds to the rotation of hydroxy- methyl side groups. The fluorescence spectroscopy confirmed the copolymer structure, the spiroacetal moiety getting an axial conformation, more stable, with lower energy, able for specific interactions with molecules from environment, phenomena underlined by different shapes of the emission spectra of the copolymer. Also, the copolymer was used as template for indomethacin incorporation as model drug, and the biocompatible character of the complex was confirmed. The release behavior of the bioactive compound was dependent by the copolymer matrix composition, the increasing of 3, 9-divinyl-2, 4, 8, 10-tetraoxaspiro (5.5) undecane comonomer amount attenuating the drug release. At the same time, the in vivo studies did not show significant differences of leucocyte formula elements, GOT, GPT and LDH levels, nor immune parameters (OC, PC, and BC) between control mice group and groups treated just with copolymer samples, with or without drug, data attesting the biocompatibility of the polymer samples. The investigation of the physico-chemical characteristics of poly(2-hydrxyethyl methacrylate-co-3, 9-divinyl-2, 4, 8, 10-tetraoxaspiro (5.5) undecane) in terms of temperature-sensitive abilities, rheological and dielectrical properties, are bringing useful information for further specific use of this polymeric compound.

Keywords: bioapplications, dielectric and spectroscopic properties, dual sensitivity at pH and temperature, smart materials

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Authors: Mehtab Alam, Mudiarasan Kuppusamy

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Image branding is the prominent and well-guided phenomena of managing tourism destinations. It examines the image of cities forming as brand identity. Transformation of cities into tourist destinations is obligatory for the current management practices to be used for foreign policy. The research considers the features of perception, destination accommodation, destination quality, traveler revisit, destination information system, and behavioral image for tourism destination management. Using the quantitative and qualitative research methodology, the objective is to examine and investigate the opportunities for destination branding. It investigates the features and management of tourism destinations in Abbottabad city of Pakistan through SPSS and NVivo 12 software. The prospective outlook of the results and coding reflects the significant contribution of integrated destination management for image branding, where Abbottabad has the potential to become a destination city. The positive impact of branding integrates tourism management as it is fulfilling travelers’ requirements to influence the choice of destination for innovative foreign policy.

Keywords: image branding, destination management, tourism, foreign policy, innovative

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Authors: Narasimhulu Korrapati

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The objective of this present study is to optimize the process parameters for batch biosorption of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) ions by Bacillus subtilis using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Batch biosorption studies were conducted under optimum pH, temperature, biomass concentration and contact time for the removal of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) ions using Bacillus subtilis. From the studies it is noticed that the maximum biosorption of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) was by Bacillus subtilis at optimum conditions of contact time of 30 minutes, pH of 4.0, biomass concentration of 2.0 mg/mL, the temperature of 32°C in batch biosorption studies. Predicted percent biosorption of the selected heavy metal ions by the design expert software is in agreement with experimental results of percent biosorption. The percent biosorption of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) in batch studies is 80% and 78.4%, respectively.

Keywords: heavy metal ions, response surface methodology, biosorption, wastewater

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Authors: Johnson Opoku-Asante, Emmanuel Bobobee, Joseph Akowuah, Eric Amoah Asante

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In recent years, the issue of postharvest losses has become a serious concern in Sub-Saharan Africa. Postharvest technology development and adaptation need urgent attention, particularly for small and medium-scale rice farmers in Africa. However, to better develop any postharvest technology, knowledge of the mechanical properties of different varieties of paddy rice is vital. There is also the issue of the development of new rice cultivars. The objectives of this research are to (1) determine the mechanical properties of the selected paddy rice varieties at varying moisture content. (2) conduct a comparative analysis of the mechanical properties of selected rice paddy for different variety-moisture content interactions. (3) determine the significant statistical differences between the mean values of the various variety-moisture content interactions The mechanical properties of AGRA rice, CRI-Amankwatia, CRI-Enapa and CRI-Dartey, four local varieties developed by Crop Research Institute of Ghana are compared at 11.5%, 13.0% and 16.5% dry basis moisture content. The mechanical properties measured are Sphericity, Aspect ratio, Grain mass, 1000 Grain mass, Bulk Density, True Density, Porosity and Angle of Repose. Samples were collected from the Kwadaso Agric College of the CRI in Kumasi. The samples were threshed manually and winnowed before conducting the experiment. The moisture content was determined on a dry basis using the Moistex Screw-Type Digital Grain Moisture Meter. Other equipment used for data collection were venire calipers and Citizen electronic scale. A 4×3 factorial arrangement was used in a completely randomized design in three replications. Tukey's HSD comparisons test was conducted during data analysis to compare all possible pairwise combinations of the various varieties’ moisture content interaction. From the results, it was concluded that Sphericity recorded 0.391 mm³ to 0.377 mm³ for CRI-Dartey at 16.5% and CRI-Enapa at 13.5%, respectively, whereas Aspect Ratio recorded 0.298 mm³ to 0.269 mm³ for CRI-Dartey at 16.5% and CRI-Enapa at 13.5% respectively. For grain mass, AGRA rice at 13.0% also recorded 0.0312 g as the highest score and CRI-Enapa at 13.0% obtained 0.0237 as the lowest score. For the GM1000, it was observed that it ranges from 29.33 g for CRI-Amankwatia at 16.5% moisture content to 22.54 g for CRI-Enapa at 16.5% interactions. Bulk Density ranged from 654.0 kg/m³ to 422.9 kg/m³ for CRI-Amankwatia at 16.5% and CRI-Enapa at 11.5% as the highest and lowest recordings, respectively. It was also observed that the true Density ranges from 1685.8 kg/m3 for AGRA rice at 13.0% moisture content to 1352.5 kg/m³ for CRI-Enapa at 16.5% interactions. In the case of porosity, CRI-Enapa at 11.5% received the highest score of 70.83% and CRI-Amankwatia at 16.5 received the lowest score of 55.88%. Finally, in the case of Angle of Repose, CRI-Amankwatia at 16.5% recorded the highest score of 47.3o and CRI-Enapa at 11.5% recorded the least score of 34.27o. In all cases, the difference in mean value was less than the LSD. This indicates that there were no significant statistical differences between their mean values, indicating that technologies developed and adapted for one variety can equally be used for all the other varieties.

Keywords: angle of repose, aspect ratio, bulk density, porosity, sphericity, mechanical properties

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Authors: Hema Lattupalli

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Introduction: A bony bridge extends from the lateral mass of the atlas to postero medial margin of vertebral artery groove, termed as a posterior bridge of atlas or posterior ponticulus. The foramen formed by the bridge is called as arcuate foramen or retroarticulare superior. Another bony bridge sometimes extends laterally from lateral mass to posterior root of transverse foramen forming and additional groove for vertebral artery, above and behind foramen transversarium called Lateral bridge or ponticulus lateralis. When both posterior and lateral are present together it is called as Posterolateral ponticuli. Aim and Objectives: The aim of the present study is to detect the presence of such Bridge or Ponticuli called as Lateral, Posterior and Posterolateral reported by earlier investigators in atlas vertebrae. Material and Methods: The study was done on 100 Atlas vertebrae from the Department of Anatomy Narayana Medical College Nellore, and also from SVIMS Tirupati was collected over a period of 2 years. The parameters that were studied include the presence of ponticuli, complete and incomplete and right and left side ponticuli. They were observed for all these parameters and the results were documented and photographed. Results: Ponticuli were observed in 25 (25%) of atlas vertebrae. Posterior ponticuli were found in 16 (16%), Lateral in 01 (01%) and Posterolateral in 08(08%) of the atlas vertebrae. Complete ponticuli were present in 09 (09%) and incomplete ponticuli in 16 (16%) of the atlas vertebrae. Bilateral ponticuli were seen in 10 (10%) and unilateral ponticuli were seen in 15 (15%) of the atlas vertebrae. Right side ponticuli were seen in 04 (04%) and Left side ponticuli in 05 (05%) of the atlas vertebrae respectively. Interpretation and Conclusion: In the present study posterior complete ponticuli were said to be more than the lateral complete ponticuli. The presence of Bilateral Incomplete Posterior ponticuli is higher and also Atlantic ponticuli. The present study is to say that knowledge of normal anatomy and variations in the atlas vertebra is very much essential to the neurosurgeons giving a message that utmost care is needed to perform surgeries related to craniovertebral regions. This is additional information to the Anatomists, Neurosurgeons and Radiologist. This adds an extra page to the literature.

Keywords: atlas vertebra, ponticuli, posterior arch, arcuate foramen

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Authors: Emmanuel Bernard, Rebecca L. Cordell, Akeem A. Abayomi, Rose Alani, Paul S. Monks

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This study investigates the prevalence and extent of BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene) contamination in Leicester, United Kingdom, and Lagos, Nigeria, through field measurements at roadside (RS) and urban background (UB) sites. Using thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS), BTEX concentrations were quantified. In Leicester, the average RS concentration was 24.9 ± 8.9 μg/m³, and the UB concentration was 12.7 ± 5.7 μg/m³. In Lagos, the RS concentration was significantly higher at 106 ± 39.3 μg/m³, and the UB concentration was 20.1 ± 8.9 μg/m³. The RS concentration in Lagos was approximately 4.3 times higher than in Leicester, while the UB concentration was about 1.6 times higher. These disparities are attributed to differences in road infrastructure, traffic regulation compliance, fuel and oil quality, and local activities. In Leicester, the highest UB concentration (20.5 ± 1.7 μg/m³) was at Knighton Village, near the heavily polluted RS Wigston roundabout. In Lagos, the highest concentration (172.1 ± 12.2 μg/m³) was at Ojuelegba, a major transportation hub. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive relationships between the concentrations of BTEX compounds in both cities, suggesting common sources such as vehicular emissions and industrial activities. The ratios of toluene to benzene (T:B) and m/p xylene to ethylbenzene (m/p X:E) were analysed to infer source contributions and the photochemical age of air masses. The T:B ratio in Leicester ranged from 0.44 to 0.71, while in Lagos, it ranged from 1.36 to 2.17. The m/p X:E ratio in Leicester ranged from 2.11 to 2.19, like other UK cities, while in Lagos, it ranged from 1.65 to 2.32, indicating relatively fresh emissions. This study highlights significant differences in BTEX concentrations between Leicester and Lagos, emphasizing the need for tailored pollution control strategies to address the specific sources and conditions in different urban environments.

Keywords: BTEX contamination, urban air quality, thermal desorption GC-MS, roadside emissions, urban background sites, vehicular emissions, pollution control strategies

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Authors: Madhalasa Iyer

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The increase in sustainable practices have encouraged the research and production of alternative fuels. New techniques of bio flocculation with the addition of yeast and bacteria strains have increased the efficiency of biofuel production. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis in previous research has indicated that yeast can serve as a plausible enhancer for microalgal lipid production. The research hopes to identify the yeast and microalgae treatment group that produces the largest algae biomass. The mass of the dried algae is used as a proxy for TAG production correlating to the cultivation of biofuels. The study uses a model bioreactor created and built using PVC pipes, 8-port sprinkler system manifold, CO2 aquarium tank, and disposable water bottles to grow the microalgae. Nannochloropsis sp., and Isochrysis galbanawere inoculated separately in experimental group 1 and 2 with no treatments and in experimental groups 3 and 4 with each algaeco-cultured with Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the medium of standard garden stone fertilizer. S. cerevisiae was grown in a petri dish with nutrient agar medium before inoculation. A Secchi stick was used before extraction to collect data for the optical density of the microalgae. The biomass estimator was then used to measure the approximate production of biomass. The microalgae were grown and extracted with a french press to analyze secondary measurements using the dried biomass. The experimental units of Isochrysis galbana treated with the baker’s yeast strains showed an increase in the overall mass of the dried algae. S. cerevisiae proved to be an accurate and helpful addition to the solution to provide for the growth of algae. The increase in productivity of this fuel source legitimizes the possible replacement of non-renewable sources with more promising renewable alternatives. This research furthers the notion that yeast and mutants can be engineered to be employed in efficient biofuel creation.

Keywords: biofuel, co-culture, S. cerevisiae, microalgae, yeast

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Authors: Trudon Kabangu Mpinga, Ruth Mutala, Shaloom Mbambu, Yvette Kalubi Kashama, Kabeya Mukeba Yakasham

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A mathematical model is developed to describe the contact dynamics between the landing gear wheels of an aircraft and a wet pavement during landing. The model is based on nonlinear partial differential equations, using the Yakam Matrix to account for the interaction between solid, liquid, and solid phases. This framework incorporates the influence of environmental factors, particularly water or rain on the runway, on braking performance and aircraft stability. Given the absence of exact analytical solutions, our approach enhances the understanding of key physical phenomena, including Coulomb friction forces, hydrodynamic effects, and the deformation of the pavement under the aircraft's load. Additionally, the dynamics of aquaplaning are simulated numerically to estimate the braking performance limits on wet surfaces, thereby contributing to strategies aimed at minimizing risk during landing on wet runways.

Keywords: aircraft, modeling, simulation, yakam matrix, contact, wet runway

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Authors: Hae-Yeoun Lee

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Mosaic refers to a technique that makes image by gathering lots of small materials in various colours. This paper presents an automatic algorithm that makes the photomosaic image using photos. The algorithm is composed of four steps: Partition and feature extraction, block matching, redundancy removal and colour adjustment. The input image is partitioned in the small block to extract feature. Each block is matched to find similar photo in database by comparing similarity with Euclidean difference between blocks. The intensity of the block is adjusted to enhance the similarity of image by replacing the value of light and darkness with that of relevant block. Further, the quality of image is improved by minimizing the redundancy of tiles in the adjacent blocks. Experimental results support that the proposed algorithm is excellent in quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis.

Keywords: photomosaic, Euclidean distance, block matching, intensity adjustment

Procedia PDF Downloads 280