Search results for: natural gas regulation station

Authors: M. Rajasekar, K. Suresh

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Diosmin is a flavonoid, most abundantly found in many citrus fruits. As a flavonoid, it possesses a multitude of biological activities including anti-hyperglycemic, anti-lipid peroxidative, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-mutagenic properties. At this point, we established the anti-proliferative and apoptosis-inducing activities of diosmin in Hep-2 and KB cells. Diosmin has cytotoxic effects through inhibiting cellular proliferation of Hep-2 and KB cells, which leads to the induction of apoptosis, as apparent by an increase in the fraction of cells in the sub-G1phase of the cell cycle. Results exposed that inhibition of cell proliferation is associated with regulation of the Interleukins/STAT pathway. In addition, Diosmin treatment with Hep-2 and KB cells actively stimulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane depolarization. And also an imbalance in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio triggered the caspase cascade and shifting the balance in favor of apoptosis. These observations conclude that Diosmin induce apoptosis via Interleukins /STAT-mediated pathway.

Keywords: diosmin, apoptosis, antioxidant, STAT pathway

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: Kshanaprava Dhalsamant, Punyadarshini P. Tripathy, Shanker L. Shrivastava

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With present high global population, the need for rising food usage by minimizing food wastage and investment is highly necessary to achieve food security. The purpose of this study is to enlighten the effect of pre-drying treatment on rehydration, color, texture, nanohardness, microstructure and surface morphology of solar dried potato samples dried in the mixed-mode solar dryer. Locally bought potatoes were cleaned and cut into cylindrical pieces and pretreated with sodium metabisulfite (0.5%) for 10 min before placing them in natural convection solar dryer designed and developed in Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. Advanced quality characteristics were studied using Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and nanoindentation method, along with color, texture and water activity. The rehydration indices of solar dried potatoes were significantly biased by pretreatment followed by rehydration temperature. A lower redness index (a*) with a higher value of yellowness index (b*), chroma (C*) and hue angle (h*) were obtained for pretreated samples. Also, the average nanohardness (H) of untreated samples exhibited substantial lower value (18.46%) compared to pretreated samples. Additionally, a creep displacement of 43.27 nm during 20 s dwell time under constant load of 200

Keywords: pretreatment, nanohardness, microstructure, surface morphology

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Neha Tiwari

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Rights are prerequisite for individuals to pursue their aims and enrich themselves. Laski has said rights are, ‘conditions of social life without which no man can seek himself at his best.’ However with superior technology, rights of many individuals are at stake as well. One such sufferer is the babies born out of the practice of commercial surrogacy. Commercial surrogacy has emerged as the most viable option for the childless couples. The practice has garnered lot of debate in both academia and media. Some argue for a complete ban and some for strict rules and regulation. Most of the time the debate is regarding the rights of the surrogate, something which we cannot ignore. Equally important are the rights of the children born out of such arrangements. However, not much attention is being paid to them. Recently, a controversy emerged when a surrogate gave birth to twins. One of the babies, Gammy born with down syndrome was left behind by the couple. Gammy could die because his poor Thai surrogate mother may not be able to pay for his treatment. Even if he survives, he will never know his twin sister as her identity would never be disclosed. This is just one of many such cases where the future of such babies is being played with. If the rights of these children are not taken care of many of them will have to bear the brunt of society's ignorance and perhaps live with a scar which won't heal in their lifetime.

Keywords: babies, commercial surrogacy, rights, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Mariza Kaskara, Stella Girtsou, Maria Prodromou, Alexia Tsouni, Christodoulos Mettas, Stavroula Alatza, Kyriaki Fotiou, Marios Tzouvaras, Charalampos Kontoes, Diofantos Hadjimitsis

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Natural hazard assessment and monitoring are crucial in managing the risks associated with fires, floods, and geohazards, particularly in regions prone to these natural disasters, such as Greece and Cyprus. Recent advancements in technology, developed by the BEYOND Center of Excellence of the National Observatory of Athens, have been successfully applied in Greece and are now set to be transferred to Cyprus. The implementation of these advanced technologies in Greece has significantly improved the country's ability to respond to these natural hazards. For wildfire risk assessment, a scalar wildfire occurrence risk index is created based on the predictions of machine learning models. Predicting fire danger is crucial for the sustainable management of forest fires as it provides essential information for designing effective prevention measures and facilitating response planning for potential fire incidents. A reliable forecast of fire danger is a key component of integrated forest fire management and is heavily influenced by various factors that affect fire ignition and spread. The fire risk model is validated by the sensitivity and specificity metric. For flood risk assessment, a multi-faceted approach is employed, including the application of remote sensing techniques, the collection and processing of data from the most recent population and building census, technical studies and field visits, as well as hydrological and hydraulic simulations. All input data are used to create precise flood hazard maps according to various flooding scenarios, detailed flood vulnerability and flood exposure maps, which will finally produce the flood risk map. Critical points are identified, and mitigation measures are proposed for the worst-case scenario, namely, refuge areas are defined, and escape routes are designed. Flood risk maps can assist in raising awareness and save lives. Validation is carried out through historical flood events using remote sensing data and records from the civil protection authorities. For geohazards monitoring (e.g., landslides, subsidence), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and optical satellite imagery are combined with geomorphological and meteorological data and other landslide/ground deformation contributing factors. To monitor critical infrastructures, including dams, advanced InSAR methodologies are used for identifying surface movements through time. Monitoring these hazards provides valuable information for understanding processes and could lead to early warning systems to protect people and infrastructure. Validation is carried out through both geotechnical expert evaluations and visual inspections. The success of these systems in Greece has paved the way for their transfer to Cyprus to enhance Cyprus's capabilities in natural hazard assessment and monitoring. This transfer is being made through capacity building activities, fostering continuous collaboration between Greek and Cypriot experts. Apart from the knowledge transfer, small demonstration actions are implemented to showcase the effectiveness of these technologies in real-world scenarios. In conclusion, the transfer of advanced natural hazard assessment technologies from Greece to Cyprus represents a significant step forward in enhancing the region's resilience to disasters. EXCELSIOR project funds knowledge exchange, demonstration actions and capacity-building activities and is committed to empower Cyprus with the tools and expertise to effectively manage and mitigate the risks associated with these natural hazards. Acknowledgement:Authors acknowledge the 'EXCELSIOR': ERATOSTHENES: Excellence Research Centre for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment H2020 Widespread Teaming project.

Keywords: earth observation, monitoring, natural hazards, remote sensing

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Authors: Ossama Abdelmotaal, Olfat Shaker, Tarek Salman, Lamiaa Nabeel, Mostafa Shabayek

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Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is an important worldwide health problem. Colonoscopy is used in detecting CRC suffer from drawbacks where colonoscopy is an invasive method. This study validates easier and less time-consuming techniques to evaluate the usefulness of detecting miRNA-21, miRNA-215 and miRNA-378 in the sera of colorectal cancer patients as new diagnostic tools. This study includes malignant (Colo Rectal Cancer patients, n= 64)) and healthy (n=27) groups. The studied groups were subjected to colonoscopic examination and estimation of miRNA-21, miRNA-215 and miRNA-378 in sera by RT-PCR. miRNA-21 showed the statistically significantly highest median fold change. miRNA-378 showed statistically significantly lower value (Both showed over-expression). miRNA-215 showed the statistically significantly lowest median fold change (It showed down-regulation). Overall the miRNA (21-215 and 378) appear to be promising method of detecting CRC and evaluating its stages.

Keywords: colorectal cancer, miRNA-21, miRNA-215, miRNA-378

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Authors: Ankur Bansal, Shashank Bishnoi

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Degradation of Sewage pipes, sewage pumping station and Sewage treatment plants(STP) is of major concern due to difficulty in their maintenance and the high cost of replacement. Most of these systems undergo degradation due to Biogenic sulphuric acid (BSA) attack. Since most of Waste water treatment system are underground, detection of this deterioration remains hidden. This paper presents a literature review, outlining the mechanism of this attack focusing on critical parameters of BSA attack, along with available models and software to predict the deterioration due to this attack. This paper critically examines the various steps and equation in various Models of BSA degradation, detail on assumptions and working of different softwares are also highlighted in this paper. The paper also focuses on the service life design technique available through various codes and method to integrate the servile life design with BSA degradation on concrete. In the end, various methods enhancing the resistance of concrete against Biogenic sulphuric acid attack are highlighted. It may be concluded that the effective modelling for degradation phenomena may bring positive economical and environmental impacts. With current computing capabilities integrated degradation models combining the various durability aspects can bring positive change for sustainable society.

Keywords: concrete degradation, modelling, service life, sulphuric acid attack

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Authors: Chinmayee Choudhury

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Human Melanocortin 4 Receptor (HMC4R) is one of the most potential drug targets for the treatment of obesity which controls the appetite. A deletion of the residues 88-92 in HMC4R is sometimes the cause of severe obesity in the humans. In this study, two homology models are constructed for the normal as well as mutated HMC4Rs and some phytochemicals present in Green Tea, Honey and Cinnamon have been docked to them to study their differential binding to the normal and mutated HMC4R as compared to the natural agonist α- MSH. Two homology models have been constructed for the normal as well as mutated HMC4Rs using the Modeller9v7. Some of the phytochemicals present in Green Tea, Honey, and Cinnamon, which have appetite suppressant activities are constructed, minimized and docked to these normal and mutated HMC4R models using ArgusLab 4.0.1. The mode of binding of the phytochemicals with the Normal and Mutated HMC4Rs have been compared. Further, the mode of binding of these phytochemicals with that of the natural agonist α- Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone(α-MSH) to both normal and mutated HMC4Rs have also been studied. It is observed that the phytochemicals Kaempherol, Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) present in Green Tea and Honey, Isorhamnetin, Chlorogenic acid, Chrysin, Galangin, Pinocambrin present in Honey, Cinnamaldehyde, Cinnamyl acetate and Cinnamyl alcohol present in Cinnamon have capacity to form more stable complexes with the Mutated HMC4R as compared to α- MSH. So they may be potential agonists of HMC4R to suppress the appetite.

Keywords: HMC4R, α-MSH, docking, photochemical, appetite suppressant, homology modelling

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Authors: Jihad S. Daba, Jean-Pierre Dubois, Georges El Soury

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Fifth generation wireless networks guarantee significant capacity enhancement to suit more clients and services at higher information rates with better reliability while consuming less power. The deployment of massive multiple-input-multiple-output technology guarantees broadband wireless networks with the use of base station antenna arrays to serve a large number of users on the same frequency and time-slot channels. In this work, we evaluate the performance of massive multiple-input-multiple-output systems (MIMO) systems in 5^th generation cellular networks in terms of capacity and bit error rate. Several cases were considered and analyzed to compare the performance of massive MIMO systems while varying the number of antennas at both transmitting and receiving ends. We found that, unlike classical MIMO systems, reducing the number of transmit antennas while increasing the number of antennas at the receiver end provides a better solution to performance enhancement. In addition, enhanced orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and beam division multiple access schemes further improve the performance of massive MIMO systems and make them more reliable.

Keywords: beam division multiple access, D2D communication, enhanced OFDM, fifth generation broadband, massive MIMO

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Authors: Y. Sarı Nayim, B. N. Nayim

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This research proposal includes the defining and evaluation of the semi-natural and cultural ecosystems at Bartın University main campus in Turkey in terms of landscape mosaics. The ecosystem mosaic of the main campus was divided into zones based on ecological classification technique. Based on the results from the study, it was found that 6 different ecosystem mosaics should be used as a base in the planning and design of the existing and future landscape planning of Kutlubeyyazıcılar campus. The first landscape zone involves the 'social areas'. These areas include yards, dining areas, recreational areas and lawn areas. The second landscape zone is 'main vehicle and pedestrian areas'. These areas include vehicle access to the campus landscape, moving in the campus with vehicles, parking and pedestrian walk ways. The third zone is 'landscape areas with high visual landscape quality'. These areas will be the places where attractive structural and plant landscape elements will be used. Fourth zone will be 'landscapes of building borders and their surroundings.' The fifth and important zone that should be survived in the future is 'Actual semi-natural forest and bush areas'. And the last zone is 'water landscape' which brings ecological value to landscape areas. While determining the most convenient areas in the planning and design of the campus, these landscape mosaics should be taken into consideration. This zoning will ensure that the campus landscape is protected and living spaces in the campus apart from the areas where human activities are carried out will be used properly.

Keywords: campus landscape planning and design, landscape ecology, landscape mosaics, Bartın

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Komal Ghafoor, Tauqir Ahmad, Murtaza Hanif, Hira Zaheer

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Assistive technology has been developed to support visually impaired people in their social interactions. Conversation assistive technology is designed to enhance communication skills, facilitate social interaction, and improve the quality of life of visually impaired individuals. This technology includes speech recognition, text-to-speech features, and other communication devices that enable users to communicate with others in real time. The technology uses natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to analyze spoken language and provide appropriate responses. It also includes features such as voice commands and audio feedback to provide users with a more immersive experience. These technologies have been shown to increase the confidence and independence of visually impaired individuals in social situations and have the potential to improve their social skills and relationships with others. Overall, conversation-assistive technology is a promising tool for empowering visually impaired people and improving their social interactions. One of the key benefits of conversation-assistive technology is that it allows visually impaired individuals to overcome communication barriers that they may face in social situations. It can help them to communicate more effectively with friends, family, and colleagues, as well as strangers in public spaces. By providing a more seamless and natural way to communicate, this technology can help to reduce feelings of isolation and improve overall quality of life. The main objective of this research is to give blind users the capability to move around in unfamiliar environments through a user-friendly device by face, object, and activity recognition system. This model evaluates the accuracy of activity recognition. This device captures the front view of the blind, detects the objects, recognizes the activities, and answers the blind query. It is implemented using the front view of the camera. The local dataset is collected that includes different 1st-person human activities. The results obtained are the identification of the activities that the VGG-16 model was trained on, where Hugging, Shaking Hands, Talking, Walking, Waving video, etc.

Keywords: dataset, visually impaired person, natural language process, human activity recognition

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Authors: A. Tereci, M. Atmaca

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Recreational spaces designed or build for refreshment of the users through natural riches and/or activities. Those places contribute to the quality of city life by providing relaxation point for citizens and maintaining the environmental equilibrium. The elements which constitute the recreational areas also promote long-term environmental and social sustainability of cities. Preservation and creation of the recreation open spaces are important for water and air quality, natural habitat and also social communication. On this point, it is also a good area for promoting the renewable energy sources through comprehension of the sustainable development which is possible only with using nature and technic together. Energy production is mainly technical issue, and architectural design of these elements to the site always ignores or avoid. The main problems for integration of renewable energy sources are the system suitability, security, durability, and resiliency. In this paper, one of the city recreational open spaces in Konya, Turkey was evaluated for integration of possible renewable energy sources. It shows that the solar energy potential is high and PV integration is the best option. On the other hand wind, energy power and area is not suitable for wind turbine, so wind belts were decided to integrate on the design. According to recreational activities, the chosen elements was designed for site application, and their performance was calculated. According to possible installation on the furniture, there is 50 MWh/a electricity production capacity.

Keywords: energy, integrated design, recreational space, renewables

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Jun Gao

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This paper combines the corpus-based and contrastive approaches, seeking to provide a systematic account of cataphora in English and Chinese natural conversations. Based on spoken corpus data, the first part of the paper examines a range of characteristics of cataphora in the two languages, including frequency of occurrence, patterns, and syntactic features. On the basis of this exploration, cataphora in the two languages are contrasted in a structured way. The analysis shows that English and Chinese share a similar distribution of cataphora in natural conversations in terms of frequency of occurrence, with repeat identification cataphora higher than first mention cataphora and intra-sentential cataphora much higher than inter-sentential cataphora. In terms of patterns, three types are identified in English, i.e. P+N, Ø+N, and it+Clause, while in Chinese, two types are identified, i.e., P+N and Ø+N. English and Chinese are similar in terms of syntactic features, i.e., cataphor and postcedent in the intra-sentential cataphora mainly occur in the initial subject position of the same clause, with postcedent immediately followed or delayed, and cataphor and postcedent are mostly in adjacent sentences in inter-sentential cataphora. In the second part of the paper, the motivations of cataphora are investigated. It is found that cataphora is primarily motivated by the speaker and hearer’s different knowledge states with regard to the referent. Other factors are also involved, such as interference, word search, and the tension between the principles of Economy and Clarity.

Keywords: cataphora, contrastive study, motivation, pattern, syntactic features

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Authors: Meenu S. Babu, K. Jayasankara Reddy

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Depression is a serious mental health concern that leads to significant distress and dysfunction in an individual. Due to the high physical, psychological, social, and economic burden it causes, it is important to study various bio-psycho-social factors that influence the onset, course, duration, intensity of depressive symptoms. The study aims to explore relationship between autobiographical memory (AM) functions, perceived control over stressful events and depressive symptoms. AM functions and perceived control were both found to be protective factors for individuals against depression and were both modifiable to predict better behavioral and affective outcomes. An extensive review of literatur, with a systematic search on Google Scholar, JSTOR, Science Direct and Springer Journals database, was conducted for the purpose of this review paper. These were used for all the aforementioned databases. The time frame used for the search was 2010-2021. An additional search was conducted with no time bar to map the development of the theoretical concepts. The relevant studies with quantitative, qualitative, experimental, and quasi- experimental research designs were included for the review. Studies including a sample with a DSM- 5 or ICD-10 diagnosis of depressive disorders were excluded from the study to focus on the behavioral patterns in a non-clinical population. The synthesis of the findings that were obtained from the review indicates there is a significant relationship between cognitive variables of AM functions and perceived control and depressive symptoms. AM functions were found to be have significant effects on once sense of self, interpersonal relationships, decision making, self- continuity and were related to better emotion regulation and lower depressive symptoms. Not all the components of AM function were equally significant in their relationships with various depressive symptoms. While self and directive functions were more related to emotion regulation, anhedonia, motivation and hence mood and affect, the social function was related to perceived social support and social engagement. Perceived control was found to be another protective cognitive factor that provides individuals a sense of agency and control over one’s life outcomes which was found to be low in individuals with depression. This was also associated to the locus of control, competency beliefs, contingency beliefs and subjective well being in individuals and acted as protective factors against depressive symptoms. AM and perceived control over stressful events serve adaptive functions, hence it is imperative to study these variables more extensively. They can be imperative in planning and implementing therapeutic interventions to foster these cognitive protective factors to mitigate or alleviate depressive symptoms. Exploring AM as a determining factor in depressive symptoms along with perceived control over stress creates a bridge between biological and cognitive factors underlying depression and increases the scope of developing a more eclectic and effective treatment plan for individuals. As culture plays a crucial role in AM functions as well as certain aspects of control such as locus of control, it is necessary to study these variables keeping in mind the cultural context to tailor culture/community specific interventions for depression.

Keywords: autobiographical memories, autobiographical memory functions, perceived control, depressive symptoms, depression, young adults

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Authors: Aniruddha Hore, Saptarshi Mitra, Sandip Ghosh, Sujoy Bose, Avijit Ghosh

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The Indian rupee is the official currency of India. With time, science and technology got advanced, and our society is slowly making its way to a cashless mode of transaction. But as India is still a developing country, a large part of our society still depends on transaction through cash. During times of pandemics, we came to understand that everything that we touch is not safe from microbial contamination. The Indian currency is also not an exception. The Indian currency is the modern-day medium of harmful bacterial as well as other microbial contaminations resulting in diseases in human bodies. Therefore, the need came to make the currency disinfectant to give our people a healthier lifestyle. The main focus of the study is to develop a solution that, when applied to the currency notes, will kill the persisting bacteria or microbes present in the notes. So various natural edible products were used in order to prepare the solution, which is highly effective against the presence of harmful bacteria such as E. coli and S. aureus. The antibacterial activity of these natural ingredients is not unknown to us, so extracts from those products were mixed together to form a solution which was made the Indian currency notes antibacterial for 20min approx. The solution was creating a layer on the surface of currency notes, therefore, making it antibacterial for a given duration of time, i.e., no bacterial growth was seen during the time period of 20 minutes, therefore, making it safe for the usage of human hands.

Keywords: Indian currency, antibacterial property of Indian currency, surface coating, currency disinfectant

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Authors: Dawei Xia, Benyan Jiang, Yong Li

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Split-type air conditioners is widely used for indoor temperature regulation in urban residential buildings in summer in China. The energy-related occupant behavior has a great impact on building energy consumption. Obtaining the energy-related occupant behavior data of air conditioners is the research basis for the energy consumption prediction and simulation. Relying on the development of sensing and control technology, this paper selects Zigbee intelligent electronic equipment to monitor the energy-related occupant behavior of 20 households for 3 months in summer. Through analysis of data, it is found that people of different ages in the region have significant difference in the time, duration, frequency, and energy consumption of air conditioners, and form a data model of three basic energy-related occupant behavior patterns to provide an accurate simulation of energy.

Keywords: occupant behavior, Zigbee, split air conditioner, energy simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Shubham Damke, Md Imtiaz, Sanchita Dei

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To stimulate the well and to enhance the production from the shaly formations, fracturing is essential. Presently the chiefly employed technology is Hydraulic Fracturing. However Hydraulic Fracturing accompanies itself with problems like disposing large volumes of fracturing wastewater, removal of water from the pores, formation damage due to injection of large amount of chemicals into underground formations and many more. Therefore embarking on the path of innovation new techniques have been developed which uses different gases such as Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, Frac Oil, LPG, etc. are used as a base fluid for fracturing formation. However LPG proves to be the most favorable of them which eliminates the use of water and chemicals. When using it as a fracturing fluid, within the surface equipment, it is stored, gelled, and proppant blended at a constant pressure. It is then pressurized with high pressure pumps to the required surface injection pressure With lowering the total cost and increasing the productivity, LPG is also very noteworthy for fracturing shale, where if the hydraulic fracturing is done the water ‘swells’ the formation and creates surface tension, both of which inhibit the flow of oil and gas. Also fracturing with LPG increases the effective fracture length and since propane, butane and pentane is used which are already present in the natural gas therefore there is no problem of back flow because these gases get mixed with the natural gas. LPG Fracturing technology can be a promising substitute of the Hydraulic Fracturing, which could substantially reduce the capital cost of fracturing shale and will also restrict the problems with the disposal of water and on the same hand increasing the fracture length and the productivity from the shale.

Keywords: Fracking, Shale, Surface Tension, Viscosity

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Authors: Jongsung Kim, Daegun Han, Myungjin Lee, Soojun Kim, Hung Soo Kim

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Recently, the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters are gradually increasing due to climate change. Especially in Korea, large-scale damage caused by heavy rainfall frequently occurs due to rapid urbanization. Therefore, this study proposed a Heavy rain Damage Risk Index (HDRI) using PSR (Pressure – State - Response) structure for heavy rain risk assessment. We constructed pressure index, state index, and response index for the risk assessment of each local government in Gyeonggi-do province, and the evaluation indices were determined by principal component analysis. The indices were standardized using the Z-score method then HDRIs were obtained for 31 local governments in the province. The HDRI is categorized into three classes, say, the safest class is 1st class. As the results, the local governments of the 1st class were 15, 2nd class 7, and 3rd class 9. From the study, we were able to identify the risk class due to the heavy rainfall for each local government. It will be useful to develop the heavy rainfall prediction function by risk class, and this was performed in this issue. Also, this risk class could be used for the decision making for efficient disaster management. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2017R1A2B3005695).

Keywords: natural disaster, heavy rain risk assessment, HDRI, PSR

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Authors: Adhithy Menon E., Biju C. A.

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In the 1960s, the concept of preserving heritage monuments was first introduced. During the 1990s, the concept of cultural landscapes gained importance, highlighting the importance of culture and heritage. Throughout this paper, we examine the second category of the cultural landscape, which is an organically evolving landscape as it represents a web of tangible, intangible, and ecological heritage and the ways in which they can be rejuvenated. Cultural landscapes in various regions, such as the Chettinad Village clusters, are in serious decline, which is identified through the Heritage Passport program of this area (2007). For this reason, it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of the factors that contribute to this degradation to ensure its protection in the future. An analysis of the cultural landscape of the Chettinad Village clusters and its impact on the community is presented in this paper. The paper follows the first objective, which is to understand cultural landscapes and their different criteria and categories. It is preceded by the study of various methods for protecting cultural landscapes. To identify a core area of intervention based on the parameters of Cultural Landscapes and Community Based Tourism, a study and analysis of the regional context of Chettinad village clusters considering tourism development must first be conducted. Lastly, planning interventions for integrating community-based tourism in Chettinad villages for the purpose of rejuvenating the cultural landscapes of the villages as well as their communities. The major findings include the importance of the local community in protecting cultural landscapes. The parameters identified to have an impact on Chettinad Village clusters are a community (community well-being, local maintenance, and enhancement, demand, alternative income for community, public participation, awareness), tourism (location and physical access, journey time, tourist attractions), integrity (natural factors, natural disasters, demolition of structures, deterioration of materials) authenticity (sense of place, living elements, building techniques, artistic expression, religious context) disaster management (natural disasters) and environmental impact (pollution). This area can be restored to its former glory and preserved as part of the cultural landscape for future generations by focusing on and addressing these parameters within the identified core area of the Chettinad Villages cluster (Kanadukathan TP, Kothamangalam, Kottaiyur, Athangudi, Karikudi, and Palathur).

Keywords: Chettinad village clusters, community, cultural landscapes, organically evolved.

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Authors: Michele C. Mesomo, Madeline de Souza Correa, Roberta L. Kruger, Luis R. S. Kanda, Marcos L. Corazza

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Natural extracts of plants have been used for many years for different purposes and recently they have been screened for their potential use as alternative remedies and food preservatives. Inflorescences of M. paradisiaca L., also known as the heart of the banana, have great economic interest due to its fruit. All parts of the banana are used for many different purposes, including use in folk medicine. The use of extraction via supercritical technology has grown in recent years, though it is still necessary to obtain experimental information for the construction of industrial plants. This work reports the extraction of Musa paradisiaca L. using compressed propane as solvent. The effects of the supercritical extraction conditions, pressure and temperature on the yield were evaluated. The raw material, inflorescences banana, was dried at 313.15 K and milled. The particle size used for the packaging of the extraction cell was 12 mesh (23.5%), 16 mesh (23.5%), 32 mesh (34.5%), 48 mesh (18.5%). The extractions were performed in a laboratory scale unit at pressures of 3.0 MPa, 6.5 MPa and 10.0 MPa and at 308.15 K, 323.15 K and 338.15 K. The operating conditions tested achieved a maximum yield of 2.94 wt% for the CO2 extraction at 10.0 MPa and 338.15 K, higher pressure and temperature. The lower yield, 2.29 wt%, was obtained in the condition of lower pressure and higher temperature. Temperature presented significant and positive effect on the extraction yield with supercritical CO2, while pressure had no effect on the yield. The overall extraction curves showed typical behavior obtained for the supercritical extraction procedure and and reached a constant extraction rate of about 80 to 100 min. The largest amount of extract was obtained at the beginning of the process, within 10 to 60 min.

Keywords: banana, natural products, supercritical extraction, temperature

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Authors: G. Lancellotta, G. Di Salvo, A. Rigazio, A. Davout, V. Pastore, G. Tonoli, A. Martin, P. Jullien, R. Jagow-Klaff, R. Wernecke

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Artificial ground freezing (AGF) technique is a well-proven soil improvement approach used worldwide to construct shafts, tunnels and many other civil structures in difficult subsoil or ambient conditions. As part of the extension of Line 14 of the Paris subway, a passenger interchange tunnel between the new station at Porte de CI ichy and the new Tribunal the Grand Instance has been successfully constructed using this technique. The paper presents the successful application of AGF by Liquid Nitrogen and Brine implemented to provide structural stability and groundwater cut-off around the passenger interchange tunnel. The working conditions were considered to be rather challenging, due to the proximity of a hundred-year-old existing service tunnel of the Line 13, and subsoil conditions on site. Laboratory tests were carried out to determine the relevant soil parameters for hydro-thermal-mechanical aspects and to implement numerical analyses. Monitoring data were used in order to check and control the development and the efficiency of the freezing process as well as to back analyze the parameters assumed for the design, both during the freezing and thawing phases.

Keywords: artificial ground freezing, brine method, case history, liquid nitrogen

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Authors: Saeid Rabiei Majd, Motahareh Alvandi, Bahareh Asefi

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Extraction of maximum natural resources is one of the common policies of governments, especially petroleum resources that have high economic and strategic value. The incentive to access and maintain profitable oil markets for governments or international oil companies, causing neglects them to pay attention to environmental principles and sustainable development, which in turn drives up environmental and climate change. Significant damage to the environment can cause severe damage to citizens and indigenous people, such as the compulsory evacuation of their zone due to contamination of water and air resources, destruction of animals and plants. Hawizeh Marshes is a common aquatic and environmental ecosystem along the Iran-Iraq border that also has oil resources. This marsh has been very rich in animal, vegetative, and oil resources. Since 1990, the political motives, the strategic importance of oil extraction, and the disregard for the environmental rights of the Iraqi and Iranian governments in the region have caused 90% of the marshes and forced migration of indigenous people. In this paper, we examine the environmental degradation factors resulting from the adoption of policies and practices of governments in this region based on the principles of environmental rights and sustainable development. Revision of the implementation of the government’s policies and natural resource utilization systems can prevent the spread of climate change, which is a serious international challenge today.

Keywords: climate change, indigenous rights, petroleum operation, sustainable development principles, sovereignty on resources

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Authors: Jinhoa Lee

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The relationships between environmental quality, energy use and economic output have created growing attention over the past decades among researchers and policy makers. Focusing on the empirical aspects of the role of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and energy use in affecting the economic output, this paper is an effort to fulfill the gap in a comprehensive case study at a country level using modern econometric techniques. To achieve the goal, this country-specific study examines the short-run and long-run relationships among energy consumption (using disaggregated energy sources: Crude oil, coal, natural gas, and electricity), CO2 emissions and gross domestic product (GDP) for Iran using time series analysis from the year 1980-2010. To investigate the relationships between the variables, this paper employs the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test for stationarity, Johansen’s maximum likelihood method for cointegration and a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) for both short- and long-run causality among the research variables for the sample. All the variables in this study show very strong significant effects on GDP in the country for the long term. The long-run equilibrium in VECM suggests that all energy consumption variables in this study have significant impacts on GDP in the long term. The consumption of petroleum products and the direct combustion of crude oil and natural gas decrease GDP, while the coal and electricity use enhanced the GDP between 1980-2010 in Iran. In the short term, only electricity use enhances the GDP as well as its long-run effects. All variables of this study, except the CO2 emissions, show significant effects on the GDP in the country for the long term. The long-run equilibrium in VECM suggests that the consumption of petroleum products and the direct combustion of crude oil and natural gas use have positive impacts on the GDP while the consumptions of electricity and coal have adverse impacts on the GDP in the long term. In the short run, electricity use enhances the GDP over period of 1980-2010 in Iran. Overall, the results partly support arguments that there are relationships between energy use and economic output, but the associations can be differed by the sources of energy in the case of Iran over period of 1980-2010. However, there is no significant relationship between the CO2 emissions and the GDP and between the CO2 emissions and the energy use both in the short term and long term.

Keywords: CO2 emissions, energy consumption, GDP, Iran, time series analysis

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Authors: Palingba Aimé Marie Doilkom, Mahamadou Koïta, Jean-michel Vouillamoz, Angelbert Biaou

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Most African populations rely on groundwater in rural areas for their consumption. Indeed, in the face of climate change and strong demographic growth, groundwater, particularly in the basement, is increasingly in demand. The question of the sustainability of water resources in this type of environment is therefore becoming a major issue. Groundwater recharge can be natural or artificial. Unlike natural recharge, which often results from the natural infiltration of surface water (e.g. a share of rainfall), artificial recharge consists of causing water infiltration through appropriate developments to artificially replenish the water stock of an aquifer. Artificial recharge is, therefore, one of the measures that can be implemented to secure water supply, combat the effects of climate change, and, more generally, contribute to improving the quantitative status of groundwater bodies. It is in this context that the present research is conducted with the aim of developing artificial recharge in order to contribute to the sustainability of basement aquifers in a context of climatic variability and constantly increasing water needs of populations. In order to achieve the expected results, it is therefore important to determine the characteristics of the infiltration basins and to identify the areas suitable for their implementation. The geometry of the aquifer was reproduced, and the hydraulic properties of the aquifer were collected and characterized, including boundary conditions, hydraulic conductivity, effective porosity, recharge, Van Genuchten parameters, and saturation indices. The aquifer of the Sanon experimental site is made up of three layers, namely the saprolite, the fissured horizon, and the healthy basement. Indeed, the saprolite and the fissured medium were considered for the simulations. The first results with FEFLOW model show that the water table reacts continuously for the first 100 days before stabilizing. The hydraulic charge increases by an average of 1 m. The further away from the basin, the less the water table reacts. However, if a variable hydraulic head is imposed on the basins, it can be seen that the response of the water table is not uniform over time. The lower the basin hydraulic head, the less it affects the water table. These simulations must be continued by improving the characteristics of the basins in order to obtain the appropriate characteristics for a good recharge.

Keywords: basement area, FEFLOW, infiltration basin, MAR

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Authors: Anas Rao, Hao Duan, Fanhua Ma

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The dependency on the fossil fuels can be minimized by using the hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG) in the transportation vehicles. However, the NOx emissions of HCNG engines are significantly higher, and this turned to be its major drawback. Therefore, the study of NOx emission of HCNG engines is a very important area of research. In this context, the experiments have been performed at the different hydrogen percentage, ignition timing, air-fuel ratio, manifold-absolute pressure, load and engine speed. Afterwards, the simulation has been accomplished by the quasi-dimensional combustion model of HCNG engine. In order to investigate the NOx emission, the NO mechanism has been coupled to the quasi-dimensional combustion model of HCNG engine. The three NOx mechanism: the thermal NOx, prompt NOx and N2O mechanism have been used to predict NOx emission. For the validation purpose, NO curve has been transformed into NO packets based on the temperature difference of 100 K for the lean-burn and 60 K for stoichiometric condition. While, the width of the packet has been taken as the ratio of crank duration of the packet to the total burnt duration. The combustion chamber of the engine has been divided into three zones, with the zone equal to the product of summation of NO packets and space. In order to check the accuracy of the model, the percentage error of NOx emission has been evaluated, and it lies in the range of ±6% and ±10% for the lean-burn and stoichiometric conditions respectively. Finally, the percentage contribution of each NO formation has been evaluated.

Keywords: quasi-dimensional combustion , thermal NO, prompt NO, NO packet

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Authors: Mohamed A. Morsy, Azza A. K. El-Sheikh, Abdulla Y. Al-Taher

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The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of resveratrol (RES) on methotrexate (MTX)-induced testicular damage. RES (10 mg/kg/day) was given for 8 days orally and MTX (20 mg/kg i.p.) was given at day 4 of experiment, with or without RES in rats. MTX decreased serum testosterone, induced histopathological testicular damage, increased testicular tumor necrosis factor-α level and expression of nuclear factor-κB and cyclooxygenase-2. In MTX/RES group, significant reversal of these parameters was noticed, compared to MTX group. Testicular expression of multidrug resistance protein (Mrp) 3 was three- and five-folds higher in RES- and MTX/RES-treated groups, respectively. In vitro, using prostate cancer cells, each of MTX and RES alone induced cytotoxicity with IC50 0.18 ± 0.08 and 20.5 ± 3.6 µM, respectively. RES also significantly enhanced cytotoxicity of MTX. In conclusion, RES appears to have dual beneficial effect, as it promotes MTX tumor cytotoxicity, while protecting the testes, probably via up-regulation of testicular Mrp3 as a novel mechanism.

Keywords: resveratrol, methotrexate, multidrug resistance protein 3, tumor necrosis factor-α, nuclear factor-κB, cyclooxygenase-2

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Authors: Geetakshi Arora, Danish Malhotra

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Diabetic wounds are serious health issues and often fail to heal, leading to limb amputation that makes the life of the patient miserable. Delayed wound healing has been characterized by an increase in matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). Thus research throughout the world has been going on to develop selective MMP-9 inhibitors for aiding diabetic wound healing. Bioactive constituents from natural sources always served as potential leads in drug development with high rates of success. Considering the need for novel selective MMP-9 inhibitors and the importance of natural bioactive compounds in drug development, we have screened a library of bioactive constituents from plant sources that were effective in diabetic wound healing on human MMP-9 (hMMP-9) using molecular docking studies. Screened constituents are ranked according to their dock score, ∆G value (binding affinity), and Ligand efficiency evaluated from FleXX docking and Hyde scoring modules available with drug designing platform LeadIT. Rhamnocitrin showed the highest correlation between dock score, ∆G value (binding affinity), and Ligand efficiency was further explored for binding interactions with hMMP-9. The overall study suggest that Rhamnocitrin is sufficiently decorated with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substitutions that perfectly block hMMP-9 and act as a potential lead in the design and development of selective hMMP-9 inhibitors.

Keywords: MMP-9, diabetic wound, molecular docking, phytoconstituents

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Authors: Jelena Vulić, Jasna Čanadanović-Brunet, Gordana Ćetković, Sonja Djilas, Vesna Tumbas Šaponjac

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Caneberries (raspberries and blackberries) are among the most popular berries in the world, which are consumed as fresh and processed to juice, jams, confitures and other products or as ingredients for different foods. These fruits are known as a rich source of phenolic compounds such as phenolic acids and anthocyanins. Antioxidant activity (AA) of caneberry juices was improved by addition of phenolic compounds which were extracted from two raspberry cultivars (Rubus idaeus, cv. 'Willamette' (RW) and 'Meeker' (RM)) and two blackberry cultivars (Rubus fruticosus, cv. 'Čačanka' (BC) and 'Thornfree' (BT)) pomace, a by-product in juice processing. The total phenolic contents in raspberry and blackberry pomace extracts were determined spectrophotometrically using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagens. The phenolic concentrations in caneberries (RW, RM, BC and BT) pomace extracts were 43.67 ± 2.13 mg GAE/g, 26.25 ± 1.18 mg GAE/g, 46.01 ± 3.26 mg GAE/g and 61.59 ± 1.14 mg GAE/g, respectively. In order to obtain enriched juices, phenolic compounds were applied at concentration of 0.05 mg GAE/ 100 ml. Antioxidant activities of caneberry juices and caneberry enriched juices were measured using stable 1.1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals. AADPPH of RW, RM, BC and BT juices and enriched juices with addition of 0.01 µg GAE/ml, changed from 37.12% to 93.01%, 23.26% to 91.57%, 53.61% to 95.65% and 52.06% to 93.13%, respectively, while IC50 values of RW, RM, BC and BT juices and enriched juices were diminished 6.33, 19.00, 6.33 and 4.75 times, respectively. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that phenolic enriched juices were significantly more effective on DPPH radicals. Caneberry juices enriched with waste material are a good source of natural pigments and antioxidants and could be used as functional foods.

Keywords: caneberry, enriched juice, phenolic antioxidant, DPPH radical

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Authors: S. Delpeux-Ouldriane, M. Gineys, S. Masson, N. Cohaut, L. Reinert, L. Duclaux, F. Béguin

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Nowadays, a wide variety of organic contaminants are present at trace concentrations in wastewater effluents. In order to face these pollution problems, the implementation of the REACH European regulation has defined lists of targeted pollutants to be eliminated selectively in water. It therefore implies the development of innovative and more efficient remediation techniques. In this sense, adsorption processes can be successfully used to achieve the removal of organic compounds in waste water treatment processes, especially at low pollutant concentration. Especially, activated carbons possessing a highly developed porosity demonstrate high adsorption capacities. More specifically, carbon cloths show high adsorption rates, an easily handling, a good mechanical integrity and regeneration potentialities. When loaded with pollutants, these materials can be indeed regenerated using an electrochemical polarization.

Keywords: nanoporous carbons, activated carbon cloths, adsorption, micropollutants, emerging contaminants, regeneration, electrochemistry

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Authors: Angelina Chiglintseva, Vladislav Shagapov

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We know from the geological data that quite sufficient gas reserves are concentrated in hydrates that occur on the Earth and on the ocean floor. Therefore, the development of these sources of energy and the storage of large reserves of gas hydrates is an acute global problem. An advanced technology for utilizing gas is to store it in a gas-hydrate state. Under natural conditions, storage facilities can be established, e.g., in underground reservoirs, where quite large volumes of gas can be conserved compared with reservoirs of pure gas. An analysis of the available experimental data of the kinetics and the mechanism of the gas-hydrate formation process shows the self-conservation effect that allows gas to be stored at negative temperatures and low values of pressures of up to several atmospheres. A theoretical model has been constructed for the gas-hydrate reservoir that represents a unique natural chemical reactor, and the principal possibility of the full extraction of gas from a hydrate due to the thermal reserves of the reservoirs themselves and the surrounding rocks has been analyzed. The influence exerted on the evolution of a gas hydrate reservoir by the reservoir thicknesses and the parameters that determine its initial state (a temperature, pressure, hydrate saturation) has been studied. It has been established that the shortest time of exploitation required by the reservoirs with a thickness of a few meters for the total hydrate decomposition is recorded in the cyclic regime when gas extraction alternated with the subsequent conservation of the gas hydrate deposit. The study was performed by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (project No.15-11-20022).

Keywords: conservation, equilibrium state, gas hydrate reservoir, rocks

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Authors: A. U. Ugwu

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Post-Apartheid South African education system had witnessed waves of curriculum reforms. Accordingly, there have been evidences of responsiveness towards local and global challenges of sustainable development over the past decade. In other words, the curriculum shows sensitivity towards issues of Sustainable Development (SD). Moreover, the paradigm of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was introduced by the UNESCO in year 2015. The SDGs paradigm is essentially a vision towards actualizing sustainability in all aspects of the global society. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in retrospect entails teaching and learning to actualize the intended UNESCO 2030 SDGs. This paper explores how teaching and learning of ESD can be improved, by drawing from local context of the South African schooling system. Preservice natural sciences and technology teachers in their 2nd to 4th years of study at a university’s college of education in South Africa were contacted as participants of the study. Using qualitative case study research design, the study drew from the views and experiences of five (5) purposively selected participants from a broader study, aiming to closely understating how ESD is implemented pedagogically in teaching and learning. The inquiry employed questionnaires and a focus group discussion as qualitative data generation tools. A qualitative data analysis of generated data was carried out using content and thematic analysis, underpinned by interpretive paradigm. The result of analyzed data, suggests that ESD pedagogy at the location where this research was conducted is largely influenced by contextual factors. Furthermore, the result of the study shows that there is a critical need to employ/adopt local experiences or occurrences while teaching sustainable development. Certain pedagogical approaches such as the use of videos relative to local context should also be considered in order to achieve a more realistic application. The paper recommends that educational institutions through teaching and learning should implement ESD by drawing on local contexts and problems, thereby foregrounding constructivism, appreciating and fostering students' prior knowledge and lived experiences.

Keywords: context, education for sustainable development, natural sciences and technology preservice teachers, qualitative research, sustainable development goals

Procedia PDF Downloads 164