Search results for: Potential Sites

Authors: Syeda Fatima Manzelat

Abstract:

The present study aims to study the groups of algal genera that are responsible for the biodeterioration, biodegradation, and biological pollution of the structures and features of the two historic parks of the UK. Different sites of Campbell Park and Great Linford Manor Park in Milton Keynes are selected to study the morphological, aesthetic, and physical effects of the algal growth. Specimens and swabs were collected mechanically from selected sites. Algal specimens are preserved in Lugol’s solution and labelled with standard information. Photomicrograph analysis of slides using taxonomic keys and visual observation identified algal species that are homogenously and non-homogenously mixed in the aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic habitats. A qualitative study revealed seven classes of Algae. Most of the algal genera isolated have proven records of potential biodegradation, discoloration, and biological pollution. Chlorophyceae was predominantly represented by eleven genera: Chlorella, Chlorococcum Cladophora, Coenochloris Cylindrocapsa, Microspora, Prasiola, Spirogyra, Trentepholia, Ulothrix and Zygnema. Charophyceae is represented by four genera: Cosmarium, Klebsormidium, Mesotaenium, and Mougeotia. Xanthophyceae with two genera, Tribonema and Vaucheria. Bacillariophyceae (Diatoms) are represented by six genera: Acnanthes, Bacillaria, Fragilaria, Gomphonema, Synedra, and Tabellaria, Dinophyceae with a Dinoflagellate. Rhodophyceae included Bangia and Batrachospermum, Cyanophyceae with five genera, Chroococcus, Gloeocapsa, Scytonema, Stigonema and Oscillatoria. The quantitative analysis by statistical method revealed that Chlorophyceae was the predominant class, with eleven genera isolated from different sites of the two parks. Coenochloris of Chlorophyceae was isolated from thirteen sites during the study, followed by Gloeocapsa of Cyanophyceae, which is isolated from 12 sites. These two algae impart varying shades of green colour on the surfaces on which they form biofilms. Prasiola, Vaucheria, and Trentepholia were isolated only from Great Linford Park. Trentepholia imparted a significant orange colour to the walls and trees of the sites. The compounds present in algae that are responsible for discoloration are the green pigment chlorophyll, orange pigment β-carotene, and yellow pigment quinone. Mesotaenium, Dinoflagellate, Gomphonema, Fragilaria, Tabellaria and two unidentified genera were isolated from Campbell Park only. Largest number of algal genera (25) were isolated from the canal of Campbell Park followed by (21) from the canal at Great Linford Manor Park. The Algae were found to grow on surfaces of walls, wooden fencings, metal sculptures, and railings. The Algae are reported to induce surface erosion, natural weathering, and cracking, leading to technical and mechanical instability and extensive damage to building materials. The algal biofilms secrete different organic acids, which are responsible for biosolubilization and biodeterioration of the building materials. The aquatic algal blooms isolated during the study release toxins which are responsible for allergy, skin rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, muscle spasms, and lung and throat infections. The study identifies the places and locations at the historic sites which need to be paid attention. It provides an insight to the conservation strategies to overcome the negative impacts of bio colonization by algae. Prevention measures by different treatments need to be regularly monitored.

Keywords: algae, biodegradation, historic gardens, UK

Procedia PDF Downloads 43

Authors: Syeda Fatima Manzelat

Abstract:

The present study aims to study the groups of algal genera which are responsible for the biodeterioration, biodegradation and biological pollution of the structures and features of the two historic parks of UK. Different sites of Campbell Park and Great Linford Manor Park in Milton Keynes are selected to study morphological, aesthetic and physical effect of the algal growth. Specimens and swabs were collected mechanically from selected sites. Algal specimens are preserved in Lugol’s solution and labelled with standard information. Photomicrograph analysis of slides using taxonomic keys and visual observation identified algal species that are homogenously and non-homogenously mixed in the aerial, terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Qualitative study revealed seven classes of Algae. Most of the algal genera isolated are with proven records of potential biodegradation, discoloration and biological pollution. Chlorophyceae was predominant represented by eleven genera Chlorella, Chlorococcum Cladophora, Coenochloris Cylindrocapsa. Microspora, Prasiola, Spirogyra, Trentepholia, Ulothrix and Zygnema. Charophyceae is represented by four genera Cosmarium Klebsormidium, Mesotaenium and Mougeotia. Xanthophyceae with two genera Tribonema andVaucheria. Bacillariophyceae (Diatoms) represented by six genera Acnanthes, Bacillaria, Fragilaria, Gomphonema, Synedra and Tabellaria. Dinophyceae with a Dinoflagellate. Rhodophyceae included Bangia and Batrachospermum. Cyanophyceae with five genera, Chroococcus, Gloeocapsa, Scytonema, Stigonema and Oscillatoria. The quantitative analysis by statistical method revealed that Chlorophyceae was the predominant class with eleven genera isolated from different sites of the two parks. Coenochloris of Chlorophyceae was isolated from thirteen sites during the study followed by Gloeocapsa of Cyanophyceae which is isolated from 12 sites. These two algae impart varying shades of green colour on the surfaces on which they form biofilms. Prasiola, Vaucheria and Trentepholia were isolated only from Great Linford Park. Trentepholia imparted a significant orange colour to the walls and trees of the sites. The compounds present in algae that are responsible for discoloration are the green pigment chlorophyll, orange pigment β-carotene and yellow pigment quinone. Mesotaenium, Dinoflagellate, Gomphonema, Fragilaria, Tabellaria and 2 unidentified genera were isolated from Campbell Park only. Largest number of algal genera (25) were isolated from the canal of Campbell Park followed by (21) from the canal at Great Linford Manor Park. The Algae were found to grow on surfaces of walls, wooden fencings, metal sculptures and railing. The Algae are reported to induce surface erosion, natural weathering and cracking leading to technical and mechanical instability and extensive damage to building materials The algal biofilms secrete different organic acids which are responsible for bio solubilization and biodeterioration of the building materials. The aquatic algal blooms isolated during the study release toxins which are responsible for allergy, skin rashes, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, muscle spasms, lung and throat infections The study identifies the places and locations at the historic sites which need to be paid attention. It provides an insight to the conservation strategies to overcome the negative impacts of bio colonization by algae. Prevention measures by different treatments need to be regularly monitored.

Keywords: algae, biodeterioration, historic gardens, UK

Procedia PDF Downloads 20

Authors: Muhammad Shahzad Iqbal, Zobia Sarwar, Salah-ud-Din

Abstract:

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) belongs to the genus Tospoviruses (family Bunyaviridae). It is one of the most devastating pathogens of tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) and heavily damages the crop yield each year around the globe. In this study, we retrieved 329 mature miRNA sequences from two microRNA databases (miRBase and miRSoldb) and checked the putative target sites in the downloaded-genome sequence of TSWV. A consensus of three miRNA target prediction tools (RNA22, miRanda and psRNATarget) was used to screen the false-positive microRNAs targeting sites in the TSWV genome. These tools calculated different target sites by calculating minimum free energy (mfe), site-complementarity, minimum folding energy and other microRNA-mRNA binding factors. R language was used to plot the predicted target-site data. All the genes having possible target sites for different miRNAs were screened by building a consensus table. Out of these 329 mature miRNAs predicted by three algorithms, only eight miRNAs met all the criteria/threshold specifications. MC-Fold and MC-Sym were used to predict three-dimensional structures of miRNAs and further analyzed in USCF chimera to visualize the structural and conformational changes before and after microRNA-mRNA interactions. The results of the current study show that the predicted eight miRNAs could further be evaluated by in vitro experiments to develop TSWV-resistant transgenic tomato plants in the future.

Keywords: tomato spotted wild virus (TSWV), Solanum lycopersicum, plant virus, miRNAs, microRNA target prediction, mRNA

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Yung-Chung Chuang

Abstract:

The cultural layers of archaeological sites are mainly affected by surface land use, land cover, and root system of surface vegetation. For this reason, continuous monitoring of land use and land cover change is important for archaeological sites protection and management. However, in actual operation, on-site investigation and orthogonal photograph interpretation require a lot of time and manpower. For this reason, it is necessary to perform a good alternative for surface vegetation survey in an automated or semi-automated manner. In this study, we applied semi-automatic digital aerial survey technology and canopy characters classification with very high-resolution aerial photographs for surface vegetation interpretation of archaeological sites. The main idea is based on different landscape or forest type can easily be distinguished with canopy characters (e.g., specific texture distribution, shadow effects and gap characters) extracted by semi-automatic image classification. A novel methodology to classify the shape of canopy characters using landscape indices and multivariate statistics was also proposed. Non-hierarchical cluster analysis was used to assess the optimal number of canopy character clusters and canonical discriminant analysis was used to generate the discriminant functions for canopy character classification (seven categories). Therefore, people could easily predict the forest type and vegetation land cover by corresponding to the specific canopy character category. The results showed that the semi-automatic classification could effectively extract the canopy characters of forest and vegetation land cover. As for forest type and vegetation type prediction, the average prediction accuracy reached 80.3%~91.7% with different sizes of test frame. It represented this technology is useful for archaeological site survey, and can improve the classification efficiency and data update rate.

Keywords: digital aerial survey, canopy characters classification, archaeological sites, multivariate statistics

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Tharntip Tawnie Chutikulrungsee, Oliver Kisalay Burmeister, Maumita Bhattacharya, Dragana Calic

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Sharing on social network sites (SNSs) has rapidly emerged as a new social norm and has become a global phenomenon. Billions of users reveal not only their own information (self disclosure) but also information about others (other-generated disclosure), resulting in a risk and a serious threat to either personal or informational privacy. Self-disclosure (SD) has been extensively researched in the literature, particularly regarding control of individual and existing privacy management. However, far too little attention has been paid to other-generated disclosure (OGD), especially by insiders. OGD has a strong influence on self-presentation, self-image, and electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Moreover, OGD is more credible and less likely manipulated than SD, but lacks privacy control and legal protection to some extent. This article examines OGD in depth, ranging from motivation to both online and offline impacts, based upon lived experiences from both ‘the disclosed’ and ‘the discloser’. Using purposive sampling, this phenomenological study involves an online survey and in-depth interviews. The findings report the influence of peer disclosure as well as users’ strategies to mitigate privacy issues. This article also calls attention to the challenge of OGD privacy and inadequacies in the law related to privacy protection in the digital domain.

Keywords: facebook, online privacy, other-generated disclosure, social networks sites (SNSs)

Procedia PDF Downloads 227

Authors: Shang-Hsin Ou, Yang-Chun Lin, Ke-Hao Cheng

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The year 2021 marked a historic drought in Taiwan, posing unprecedented challenges due to record-low rainfall and inadequate reservoir storage. The central region experienced water scarcity, leading to the implementation of "Groundwater Utilization at Construction Sites" for drought-resilient livelihood water supply. This study focuses on the establishment process of temporary groundwater treatment plants at construction sites in Taichung City, serving as a reference for future emergency response and the utilization of construction site groundwater. To identify suitable sites for groundwater reuse projects, site selection operations were carried out based on relevant water quality regulations and assessment principles. Subsequently, the planning and design of temporary water treatment plants were conducted, considering the water quality, quantity, and on-site conditions of groundwater wells associated with construction projects. The study consolidates the major water treatment facilities at each site and addresses encountered challenges during the establishment process. Practical insights gained from operating temporary groundwater treatment plants are presented, including improvements related to stable water quality, water quantity, equipment operation, and hydraulic control. In light of possible future droughts, this study provides an outlook and recommendations to expedite and improve the setup of groundwater treatment plants at construction sites. This includes considering on-site water abstraction, treatment, and distribution conditions. The study's results aim to offer practical guidelines for effectively establishing and managing such treatment plants, while offering experiences and recommendations for other regions facing similar emergencies, water shortages, and drought situations. These endeavors contribute to ensuring sustainable water supply for drought-resilient livelihoods and maintaining societal stability.

Keywords: drought resilience, groundwater treatment, construction site, water supply

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: M. Yadegari, M. Nourbakhsh, N. Arbabzadeh

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The skeletal system injuries are of major importance. In addition, it is recommended to use materials for hard tissue repair in open or closed fractures. It is important to use complex minerals with a beneficial effect on hard tissue repair, stimulating cell growth in the bone. Materials that could help avoid bone fracture inflammatory reaction and speed up bone fracture repair are of utmost importance in the treatment of bone fractures. Similar to minerals, the inner eggshell membrane consists of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins with the high pH, high calcium absorptive capacity and with faster bone fracture repair ability. In the present radiographic survey, eggshell-derived bone graft substitutes were used for bone defect repair in 8 dog tibia, measuring bone density on the day of implant placement and 30 and 60 days after placement. In fact, the result of this study shows the difference in bone growth and misshapen bones between treatment and control sites. Cell growth was adequate in treatment sites and misshapen bones were less frequent here than in control sites.

Keywords: bone repair, eggshell powder, implant, radiography

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: Alaa G. M. Osman, Abd-El –Baset M. Abd El Reheem, Khaled Y. Abouelfadl, Usama M. Mahmoud, Mohsen A. Moustafa

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This study aimed to explore new sites of biomarker research and to establish the use of blood parameters in wild fish populations. Four hundred and twenty fish samples were collected from six sites along the whole course of the river Nile, Egypt. The mean values of erythrocytes, thrombocytes, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit value, and mean corpuscular volume were significantly lower in the blood of Nile tilapia and African catfish collected from downstream (contaminated) compared to upstream sites. In contrast, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration in the peripheral blood of both fish species significantly increased from upstream to downstream river Nile. The leukocytes count was significantly decreased in contaminated sites compared to upstream area. Hematological variables in the peripheral blood of Oreochromis niloticus niloticus and Clarias gariepinus exhibited significant (p<0.05) correlation with nearly all the detected chemical and physical parameters along the Nile course. In the present study, lower cellular and nuclear areas and cellular and nuclear shape factor were recorded in the erythrocytes of fish collected from downstream compared to those caught from upstream sites. This was confirmed by higher immature ratios of red cells in the blood of fish sampled from downstream river Nile. Karyorrhetic and enucleated erythrocytes were significantly correlated with physiochemical parameters in water samples collected from the same sites is being higher in the blood of fish collected from downstream sites. To see if there was any correlation between fish altered physiological fitness and environmental stress, we measured serum biochemical variables namely; total protein, cholesterol, triglycerides, calcium, chlorides, alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), uric acid activity, creatinine, and serum glucose. The level of all the selected biochemical variables in the blood of O. niloticus niloticus and C. gariepinus were recorded to be significantly higher (p<0.05) in downstream sites. According to the present results, nearly all the detected haematological and blood biochemical variables are suitable indicators of contaminant exposure in O. niloticus niloticus and C. gariepinus. Also the detected erythrocytes malformations in blood collected from Nile tilapia and African catfish were proven to be suitable for bio-monitoring aquatic pollution. The results revealed species-specific differences in sensitivities, suggesting that Nile tilapia may serve as a more sensitive test species compared to African catfish.

Keywords: biomarkers, water pollution, blood parameters, river nile, african catfish, nile tilapia

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Saurav Dhawan, Sanchit Bansal

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Background T-MACS is a computer-based decision aid that ‘rules in’ and ‘rules out’ ACS using a combination of the presence or absence of six clinical features with only one biomarker measured on arrival: hs-cTnT. T-MACS had 99.3% negative predictive value and 98.7% sensitivity for ACS, ‘ruling out’ ACS in 40% of patients while ‘ruling in’ 5% at the highest risk. We aim at benchmarking the use of T-MACS which could help to conserve healthcare resources, facilitate early discharges, and ensure safe practice. Methodology Randomized retrospective data collection (n=300) was done from ED electronic records across 3 hospital sites within MFT over a period of 2 months. Data was analysed and compared by percentage for the usage of T-MACS, number of admissions/discharges, and in days for length of stay in hospital. Results MRI A&E had the maximum compliance with the use of T-MACS in the trust at 66%, with minimum admissions (44%) and an average length of stay of 1.825 days. NMG A&E had an extremely low compliance rate (8 %), with 75% admission and 3.387 days as the average length of stay. WYT A&E had no TMACS recorded, with a maximum of 79% admissions and the longest average length of stay at 5.07 days. Conclusion All three hospital sites had a RAG rating of ‘RED’ as per the compliance levels. The assurance level was calculated as ‘Very Limited’ across all sites. There was a positive correlation observed between compliance with TMACS and direct discharges from ED, thereby reducing the average length of stay for patients in the hospital.

Keywords: ACS, discharges, ED, T-MACS

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Carla Palencia-Aguilar

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In order to attain the 2050’s zero emissions goal, it is necessary to know the carbon dioxide changes over time either from pollution to attenuations in the mining industry versus at green zones to establish real goals and redirect efforts to reduce greenhouse effects. Two methods were used to compute the amount of CO2 tons in specific mining zones in Colombia. The former by means of NPP with MODIS MOD17A3HGF from years 2000 to 2021. The latter by using MODIS MYD021KM bands 33 to 36 with maximum values of 644 data points distributed in 7 sites corresponding to surface mineral mining of: coal, nickel, iron and limestone. The green zones selected were located at the proximities of the studied sites, but further than 1 km to avoid information overlapping. Year 2012 was selected for method 2 to compare the results with data provided by the Colombian government to determine range of values. Some data was compared with 2022 MODIS energy values and converted to kton of CO2 by using the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator by EPA. The results showed that Nickel mining was the least pollutant with 81 kton of CO2 e.q on average and maximum of 102 kton of CO2 e.q. per year, with green zones attenuating carbon dioxide in 103 kton of CO2 on average and 125 kton maximum per year in the last 22 years. Following Nickel, there was Coal with average kton of CO2 per year of 152 and maximum of 188, values very similar to the subjacent green zones with average and maximum kton of CO2 of 157 and 190 respectively. Iron had similar results with respect to 3 Limestone sites with average values of 287 kton of CO2 for mining and 310 kton for green zones, and maximum values of 310 kton for iron mining and 356 kton for green zones. One of the limestone sites exceeded the other sites with an average value of 441 kton per year and maximum of 490 kton per year, eventhough it had higher attenuation by green zones than a close Limestore site (3.5 Km apart): 371 kton versus 281 kton on average and maximum 416 kton versus 323 kton, such vegetation contribution is not enough, meaning that manufacturing process should be improved for the most pollutant site. By comparing bands 33 to 36 for years 2012 and 2022 from January to August, it can be seen that on average the kton of CO2 were similar for mining sites and green zones; showing an average yearly balance of carbon dioxide emissions and attenuation. However, efforts on improving manufacturing process are needed to overcome the carbon dioxide effects specially during emissions’ peaks because surrounding vegetation cannot fully attenuate it.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, MODIS, surface mining, vegetation

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Lucy Patricia Onundo, Wilfred Njoroge Mwema

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The tidal power potential available for electricity generation from Mombasa and Lamu sites in Kenya will be examined. Several African countries in the Western Indian Ocean endure insufficiencies in the power sector, including both generation and distribution. One important step towards increasing energy security and availability is to intensify the use of renewable energy sources. The access to cost-efficient hydropower is low in Mombasa and Lamu hence Ocean energy will play an important role. Global-Level resource assessments and oceanographic literature and data have been compiled in an analysis between technology-specific requirements for ocean energy technologies (salinity, tide, tidal current, wave, Ocean thermal energy conversion, wind and solar) and the physical resources in Lamu and Mombasa. The potential for tide and tidal current power is more restricted but may be of interest at some locations. The theoretical maximum power produced over a tidal cycle is determined by the product of the forcing tide and the undisturbed volumetric flow-rate. The extraction of the maximum power reduces the flow-rate, but a significant portion of the maximum power can be extracted with little change to the tidal dynamics. Two-dimensional finite-element, numerical simulations designed and developed agree with the theory. Temporal variations in resource intensity, as well as the differences between small-scale and large-scale applications, are considered.

Keywords: energy assessment, marine tidal power, renewable energy, tidal dynamics

Procedia PDF Downloads 546

Authors: Ezekiel Ejiofor Nnadi

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Nigeria construction industry is known for its active construction activities. This has earmarked the industry to be the key to economic growth of the nation. It has largest employer of labour and gives sustenance to other industries like manufacturing industry. While this is a sign of growth and prosperity; the waste generated by the industry has always been a problem and a serious concern. It results in wastage of economic gain and has resultant health effect on the populace apart from injury being sustained on sites. This work provides a platform to learn more about construction waste, its management strategy and how to reduce waste production in Nigeria construction industry. Construction sites, waste management authority and public health institutions in Lagos as the centre of most construction activities in Nigeria were selected, and a set of questionnaire was administered to using the systematic sampling technique. Descriptive statistics and relative importance index (RII) technique were employed for the analysis of the data gathered. The findings of the analysis show that excessive wastes reduce contractors’ profit margin and also that some construction wastes contain hazardous and toxic elements such as lead, asbestos or radioactive materials which required proper handling and effective disposal. The conclusion was drawn that the check on waste on construction sites starts with the designers to the contractors who execute on site.

Keywords: construction cost, construction industry, economic growth, materials wastes

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: Thomas F. Ducey, Kristin M. Trippe, James A. Ippolito, Jeffrey M. Novak, Mark G. Johnson, Gilbert C. Sigua

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The Oronogo-Duenweg mining belt –approximately 20 square miles around the Joplin, Missouri area– is a designated United States Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site due to lead-contaminated soil and groundwater by former mining and smelting operations. Over almost a century of mining (from 1848 to the late 1960’s), an estimated ten million tons of cadmium, lead, and zinc containing material have been deposited on approximately 9,000 acres. Sites that have undergone remediation, in which the O, A, and B horizons have been removed along with the lead contamination, the exposed C horizon remains incalcitrant to revegetation efforts. These sites also suffer from poor soil microbial activity, as measured by soil extracellular enzymatic assays, though 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) indicates that microbial diversity is equal to sites that have avoided mine-related contamination. Soil analysis reveals low soil organic carbon, along with high levels of bio-available zinc, that reflect the poor soil fertility conditions and low microbial activity. Our study looked at the use of several materials to restore and remediate these sites, with the goal of improving soil health. The following materials, and their purposes for incorporation into the study, were as follows: manure-based biochar for the binding of zinc and other heavy metals responsible for phytotoxicity, locally sourced biosolids and compost to incorporate organic carbon into the depleted soils, effective microorganisms harvested from nearby pristine sites to provide a stable community for nutrient cycling in the newly composited 'soil material'. Our results indicate that all four materials used in conjunction result in the greatest benefit to these mine-impacted soils, based on above ground biomass, microbial biomass, and soil enzymatic activities.

Keywords: locally effective microorganisms, biochar, remediation, reclamation

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: M. J. Matulino, Carissa Ganong, Mark Mills, Jazmine Harry

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Large Woody Debris (LWD), defined as wooden debris with a diameter of at least 10 cm and a length of 2 m, serves as a crucial resource and habitat for aquatic organisms. While research on the ecological impacts of LWD has been conducted in temperate streams, LWD's influence on tropical stream biodiversity remains understudied, making this investigation particularly valuable for future conservation efforts. The Sura River in La Selva Biological Station includes both LWD and open channel sites. We sampled paired LWD and open-channel sites using minnow traps, Promar traps, and dip nets. Vertebrates were identified as species, while macroinvertebrates were identified to order level. We quantified abundance, richness, and Shannon diversity at each. We captured a total of 467 individuals, including 2 turtles, 17 fishes, 1 freshwater crab, 39 shrimp, and 408 other macroinvertebrates. Total abundance was significantly higher in LWD sites. Species richness was marginally higher in LWD sites, but the Shannon diversity index did not differ significantly with habitat. Shrimp (Macrobrachium olfersi) length was significantly higher in LWD areas. Increased food resources and microhabitat availability could contribute to higher abundance, richness, and organismal size in LWD environments. This study fills a critical gap by investigating LWD effects in a tropical environment, providing valuable insights for conservation efforts and the preservation of aquatic biodiversity.

Keywords: large woody debris (LWD), aquatic organisms, ecological impacts, tropical stream biodiversity, conservation efforts

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Hasan Heydari

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In recent decades, locating urban services is one of the significant discussions in urban planning. Among these considerations, cities require more accurate planning in order to supply citizen needs, especially part of urban safety. In order to gain this goal, one of the main tasks of urban planners and managers is specifying suitable sites to locate firefighting stations. This study has been done to reach this purpose. Therefore effective criteria consist of coverage radius, population density, proximity to pathway network, land use (compatible and incompatible neighborhood) have been specified. After that, descriptive and local information of the criteria was provided and their layers were created in ArcGIS 9.3. Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) these criteria and their sub-criteria got the weights. These layers were classified regarding their weights and finally were overlaid by Index Overlay Model and provided the final site selection map for firefighting stations of Arak city. The results gained by analyzing in GIS environment indicate the existing fire station don’t cover the whole city sufficiently and some of the stations have established on the unsuitable sites. The output map indicates the best sites to locate firefighting stations of Arak.

Keywords: site-selection, firefighting stations, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), GIS, index overlay model

Procedia PDF Downloads 331

Authors: Nazma Sultana

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Social media has become an important part of our daily life. It has a significance influences on the people who use them in their daily life frequently. The number of people using social network sites has been increasing continuously. For this frequent utilization has started to affect our social life. This study examine whether the use of social network sites affects the psychosocial interaction between children and their parents. At first parents introduce their children to the internet and different type of device in their early childhood. Many parents use device for feeding their children by watching rhyme or cartoon. As a result children are habituate with it. In Bangladesh 70% people are heavy internet users. About 23 percent of them spend more than five hours on the social networking sites a day. Media are increasing pervasive in the lives of children-roughly the average child today spends nearly about 45 hours per week with media, compared with 17 hours with parents and 30 hours in school. According to a social learning theory, children & adolescents learn by observing & imitating what they see on screen particularly when these behaviors are realistic or are rewarded. The influence of the media on the psychosocial development of children is profound. Thus it is important for parents to provide guidance on age-appropriate use of all media, including television, radio, music, video games and the internet.

Keywords: social media, psychosocial, Technology, Parent, Social Relationship, Adolescents, Teenage, Youth

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: Javier Muro, Anja Linstadter, Florian Manner, Lisa Schwarz, Stephan Wollauer, Paul Magdon, Gohar Ghazaryan, Olena Dubovyk

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Monitoring the trade-off between biomass production and biodiversity in grasslands is critical to evaluate the effects of management practices across environmental gradients. New generations of remote sensing sensors and machine learning approaches can model grasslands’ characteristics with varying accuracies. However, studies often fail to cover a sufficiently broad range of environmental conditions, and evidence suggests that prediction models might be case specific. In this study, biomass production and biodiversity indices (species richness and Fishers’ α) are modeled in 150 grassland plots for three sites across Germany. These sites represent a North-South gradient and are characterized by distinct soil types, topographic properties, climatic conditions, and management intensities. Predictors used are derived from Sentinel-1 & 2 and a set of topoedaphic variables. The transferability of the models is tested by training and validating at different sites. The performance of feed-forward deep neural networks (DNN) is compared to a random forest algorithm. While biomass predictions across gradients and sites were acceptable (r2 0.5), predictions of biodiversity indices were poor (r2 0.14). DNN showed higher generalization capacity than random forest when predicting biomass across gradients and sites (relative root mean squared error of 0.5 for DNN vs. 0.85 for random forest). DNN also achieved high performance when using the Sentinel-2 surface reflectance data rather than different combinations of spectral indices, Sentinel-1 data, or topoedaphic variables, simplifying dimensionality. This study demonstrates the necessity of training biomass and biodiversity models using a broad range of environmental conditions and ensuring spatial independence to have realistic and transferable models where plot level information can be upscaled to landscape scale.

Keywords: ecosystem services, grassland management, machine learning, remote sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Dhritilekha Deka, Deepak Patwa, Ravi K., Archana M. Nair

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Bioaccumulation of heavy metal contaminants due to intense anthropogenic interference degrades the environment and ecosystem functions. Conventional physicochemical methods involve energy-intensive and costly methodologies. Phytoremediation, on the other hand, provides an efficient nature-based strategy for the reclamation of heavy metal-contaminated sites. However, the slow process and adaptation to high-concentration contaminant sequestration often limit the efficiency of the method. This necessitates natural amendments such as biochar to improve phytoextraction and stabilize the green cover. Biochar is a highly porous structure with high carbon sequestration potential and containing negatively charged functional groups that provide binding sites for the positively charged metals. This study aims to develop and determine the synergy between sugarcane bagasse biochar content and phytoremediation. A 60-day pot experiment using perennial tussock vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides) was conducted for different biochar contents of 1%, 2%, and 4% for the removal of cadmium and zinc. A concentration of 500 ppm is maintained for the amended and unamended control (CK) samples. The survival rates of the plants, biomass production, and leaf area index were measured for the plant growth characteristics. Results indicate a visible change in the plant growth and the heavy metal concentration with the biochar content. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) in the plant improved significantly for the 4% biochar content by 57% in comparison to the control CK treatment in Cd-treated soils. The Zn soils indicated the highest reduction in the metal concentration by 50% in the 2% amended samples and an increase in the BCF in all the amended samples. The translocation from the rhizosphere to the shoots was low but not dependent on the amendment content and varied for each contaminant type. The root-to-shoot ratio indicates higher values compared to the control samples. The enhanced tolerance capacities can be attributed to the nutrients released by the biochar in the soil. The study reveals the high potential of biochar as a phytoremediation amendment, but its effect is dependent on the soil and heavy metal and accumulator species.

Keywords: phytoextraction, biochar, heavy metals, chrysopogon zizanioides, bioaccumulation factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 44

Authors: Sanaa I. Abu Alasal, Madleen M. Esbeih, Eman R. Fayyad, Rami S. Gharaibeh, Mostafa Z. Ali, Ahmed A. Freewan, Monther M. Jamhawi

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This research proposes a novel reconstruction protocol for restoring missing surfaces and low-quality edges and shapes in photos of artifacts at historical sites. The protocol starts with the extraction of a cloud of points. This extraction process is based on four subordinate algorithms, which differ in the robustness and amount of resultant. Moreover, they use different -but complementary- accuracy to some related features and to the way they build a quality mesh. The performance of our proposed protocol is compared with other state-of-the-art algorithms and toolkits. The statistical analysis shows that our algorithm significantly outperforms its rivals in the resultant quality of its object files used to reconstruct the desired model.

Keywords: meshes, point clouds, surface reconstruction protocols, 3D reconstruction

Procedia PDF Downloads 433

Authors: Yarra Sulina, Nunna Tagore Sai Priya, Ankhi Banerjee

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With the rapid growth in tourist arrivals, there has been a huge demand for the growth of infrastructure in the destinations. With the increasing preference of tourists to stay near attractions, there has been a considerable change in the land use around tourist sites. However, with the inclusion of certain regulations and guidelines provided by the authorities based on the nature of tourism activity and geographical constraints, the pattern of growth of built form is different for various tourist sites. Therefore, this study explores the patterns of growth of built-up for a decade from 2009 to 2019 through two-dimensional and three-dimensional analysis. Land use maps are created through supervised classification of satellite images obtained from LANDSAT 4-5 and LANDSAT 8 for 2009 and 2019, respectively. The overall expansion of the built-up area in the region is analyzed in relation to the distance from the city's geographical center and the tourism-related growth regions are identified which are influenced by the proximity of tourist attractions. The primary tourist sites of various destinations with different geographical characteristics and tourism activities, that have undergone a significant increase in built-up area and are occupied with tourism-related infrastructure are selected for further study. Proximity analysis of the tourism-related growth sites is carried out to delineate the influence zone of the tourist site in a destination. Further, a temporal analysis of volumetric growth of built form is carried out to understand the morphology of the tourist precincts over time. The Digital Surface Model (DSM) and Digital Terrain Model (DTM) are used to extract the building footprints along with building height. Factors such as building height, and building density are evaluated to understand the patterns of three-dimensional growth of the built area in the region. The study also explores the underlying reasons for such changes in built form around various tourist sites and predicts the impact of such growth patterns in the region. The building height and building density around tourist site creates a huge impact on the appeal of the destination. The surroundings that are incompatible with the theme of the tourist site have a negative impact on the attractiveness of the destination that leads to negative feedback by the tourists, which is not a sustainable form of development. Therefore, proper spatial measures are necessary in terms of area and volume of the built environment for a healthy and sustainable environment around the tourist sites in the destination.

Keywords: sustainable tourism, growth patterns, land-use changes, 3-dimensional analysis of built-up area

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Authors: Luca Bertola, Tom Cox, Pat Wheeler, Seamus Garvey, Herve Morvan

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Electromagnetic launch systems have been proposed for military applications to accelerate jet planes on aircraft carriers. This paper proposes the implementation of similar technology to aid civil aircraft take-off, which can provide significant economic, environmental and technical benefits. Assisted launch has the potential of reducing ground noise and emissions near airports and improving overall aircraft efficiency through reducing engine thrust requirements. This paper presents a take-off performance analysis for an Airbus A320-200 taking off with and without the assistance of the electromagnetic catapult. Assisted take-off allows for a significant reduction in take-off field length, giving more capacity with existing airport footprints and reducing the necessary footprint of new airports, which will both reduce costs and increase the number of suitable sites. The electromagnetic catapult may allow the installation of smaller engines with lower rated thrust. The consequent fuel consumption and operational cost reduction are estimated. The potential of reducing the aircraft operational costs and the runway length required making electromagnetic launch system an attractive solution to the air traffic growth in busy airports.

Keywords: electromagnetic launch, fuel consumption, take-off analysis, weight reduction

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Authors: A. Al Hinai, H. Jayasuriya, H. Kotagama

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Most Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with oil-based economy like Oman are looking for other potential revenue generation options as the crude oil price is regularly fluctuating due to changing geopolitical environment. Oman has advantage of possessing world-heritage nature tourism hotspots around the country and the government is making investments and strategies to uplift the tourism industry following Oman Vision 2040 strategies. Oman’s agriculture is not significantly contributing to the economy, but possesses specific and diversified arid cropping systems. Oman has modern farms; nevertheless some of the agricultural production activities are done with cultural practices and styles that would be attractive to tourists. The aim of this paper is to investigate the potentials for promoting agritourism industry in Oman; recognize potential sites, commodities and activities, and predict potential revenue generation as a projection from that of the tourism sector. Moreover, the study enables to foresee possible auxiliary advantages of agritourism such as, empowerment of women and youth, enhancement in the value-addition industry for agricultural produce through technology transfer and capacity building, and producing export quality products. Agritourism could increase employability, empowerment of women and youth, improve value-addition industry and export-oriented agribusiness. These efforts including provision of necessary technology-transfer and capacity-building should be rendered by the collaboration of academic institutions, relevant ministries and other public and private sector stakeholders.

Keywords: agritourism, nature-based tourism, potentials, revenue generation, value addition

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Authors: Siamak Feizi, Gunvor Baardvik

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Soil erosion has special consequences for landfills that are more serious than those found at conventional construction sites. Different potential heads between two sides of a landfill and the subsequent movement of water through pores within the soil body could trigger the soil erosion and construction instability. Such a condition was encountered in a landfill project in the southern part of Norway. To check the risk of internal erosion due to changes in the groundwater level (because of seasonal flooding in the river), a series of numerical simulations by means of Geo-Seep software was conducted. Output of this study provides a total picture of the landfill stability, possibilities of erosions, and necessary measures to prevent or reduce the risk for the landfill operator.

Keywords: erosion, seepage, landfill, stability

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Authors: Moti Zwilling, Srečko Natek

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This paper aims to present an innovative predictive analytics analysis in order to find the best combination between two consumers who strive to find their partner or in internet sites. The methodology shown in this paper is based on analysis of consumer preferences and involves data mining and machine learning search techniques. The study is composed of two parts: The first part examines by means of descriptive statistics the correlations between a set of parameters that are taken between man and women where they intent to meet each other through the social media, usually the internet. In this part several hypotheses were examined and statistical analysis were taken place. Results show that there is a strong correlation between the affiliated attributes of man and woman as long as concerned to how they present themselves in a social media such as "Facebook". One interesting issue is the strong desire to develop a serious relationship between most of the respondents. In the second part, the authors used common data mining algorithms to search and classify the most important and effective attributes that affect the response rate of the other side. Results exhibit that personal presentation and education background are found as most affective to achieve a positive attitude to one's profile from the other mate.

Keywords: dating sites, social networks, machine learning, decision trees, data mining

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Authors: Jameson McFarlane, Thorne J. McFarlane, Leon Bernard

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Social network sites (SNS) is an emerging phenomenon that is here to stay. The popularity and the ubiquity of the SNS technology are undeniable. Because most SNS are free and easy to use people from all walks of life and from almost any age are attracted to that technology. College age students are by far the largest segment of the population using SNS. Since most SNS have been adapted for mobile devices, not only do you find students using this technology in their study, while working on labs or on projects, a substantial number of students have been found to use SNS even while listening to lectures. This study found that SNS use has a significant negative impact on the grade point average of college students particularly in the first semester. However, this negative impact is greatly diminished by the end of the third semester partly because the students have adjusted satisfactorily to the challenges of college or because they have learned how to adequately manage their time. It was established that the kinds of activities the students are engaged in during the SNS use are the leading factor affecting academic performance. Of those activities, using SNS during a lecture or while studying is the foremost contributing factor to lower academic performance. This is due to “cognitive” or “information” bottleneck, a condition in which the students find it very difficult to multitask or to switch between resources leading to inefficiency in information retention and thus, educational performance.

Keywords: social network sites, social network analysis, regression coefficient, psychological engagement

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Authors: Engineer Dilnawaz Shah

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Solid Waste Management (SWM) is perhaps one of the most important elements constituting the environmental health and sanitation of the urban developing sector. The management system has several components that are integrated as well as interdependent; thus, the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire system are affected when any of its functional components fails or does not perform up to the level mark of operation. Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) is responsible for the management of solid waste in the entire city. There is a need to adopt the engineered approach in the redesigning of the existing system. In most towns, street sweeping operations have been mechanized and done by machinery operated by vehicles. Construction of Garbage Transfer Stations (GTS) at a number of locations within the city will cut the cost of transportation of waste to disposal sites. Material processing, recovery of recyclables, compaction, volume reduction, and increase in density will enable transportation of waste to disposal sites/landfills via long vehicles (bulk transport), minimizing transport/traffic and environmental pollution-related issues. Development of disposal sites into proper sanitary landfill sites is mandatory. The transportation mechanism is through garbage vehicles using either hauled or fixed container systems employing crew for mechanical or manual loading. The number of garbage vehicles is inadequate, and due to comparatively long haulage to disposal sites, there are certain problems of frequent vehicular maintenance and high fuel costs. Foreign investors have shown interest in enterprising improvement schemes and proposed operating a solid waste management system in Karachi. The waste to Energy option is being considered to provide a practical answer to be adopted to generate power and reduce waste load – a two-pronged solution for the increasing environmental problem. The paper presents results and analysis of a recent study into waste generation and characterization probing into waste-to-energy options for Karachi City.

Keywords: waste to energy option, integrated approach, solid waste management, physical and chemical composition of waste in Karachi

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Authors: Parisa Alizadeh Oskuie, Shahram Baghban Ciruse

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The influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus(Glomus mossea) on plant growth and leaf-water potential of tomato (lycopersicum esculentum L.cv.super star) were studied in potted culture water stress stress period of 3 months in greenhouse conditions with the soil matric potential maintained at Fc1, Fc2, Fc3, and Fc4 respectively (0.8,0.7,0.6,0.5 Fc). Seven-day-old seedlings of tomato were transferred to pots containing Glomus mossea or non-AMF. AM colonization significantly stimulated shoot dry matter and leaf-water potential but water stress significantly decreased leaf area, shoot dry matter colonization and leaf-water potential.

Keywords: leaf-water potential, plant growth, tomato, VA mycorrhiza, water-stress

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Authors: M. Grifoni, G. Petruzzelli, M. Barbafieri, I. Rosellini, B. Pezzarossa, F. Pedron

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Evapotranspiration (ET) covers are an alternative cover system that utilizes water balance approach to maximize the ET process to reduce the contaminants leaching through the soil profile. Microcosm tests allow to identify in a short time the most suitable plant species to be used as alternative covers, their survival capacity, and simultaneously the transpiration and evaporation rate of the cover in a specific contaminated soil. This work shows the soil characterization and ET results of microcosm tests carried out on two contaminated soils by using Triticum durum and Helianthus annuus species. The data indicated that transpiration was higher than evaporation, supporting the use of plants as alternative cover at this contaminated site.

Keywords: contaminated sites, evapotranspiration cover, evapotranspiration, microcosm experiments

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Authors: Usman Bawa

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Macro-invertebrates have been used to monitor organic pollution in rivers and streams. Several biotic indices based on macro-invertebrates have been developed over the years including the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP). A new biotic index, the Gammarus:Asellus ratio has been recently proposed as an index of organic pollution. This study tested the validity of the Gammarus:Asellus ratio as an index of organic pollution, by examining the relationship between the Gammarus:Asellus ratio and physical-chemical parameters, and other biotic indices such as BMWP and, Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT) from lakes and streams at Markeaton Park, Allestree Park, and Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. Macro invertebrates were sampled using the standard five-minute kick sampling techniques physical and chemical environmental variables were obtained based on standard sampling techniques. Eighteen sites were sampled, six sites from Markeaton Park (three sites across the stream and three sites across the lake). Six sites each were also sampled from Allestree Park and Kedleston Hall lakes. The Gammarus:Asellus ratio showed an opposite significant positive correlations with parameters indicative of organic pollution such as the level of nitrates, phosphates, and calcium and also revealed a negatively significant correlations with other biotic indices (BMWP/ASPT). The BMWP score correlated positively significantly with some water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen and flow rate, but revealed no correlations with other chemical environmental variables. The BMWP score was significantly higher in the stream than the lake in Markeaton Park, also The ASPT scores appear to be significantly higher in the upper Lakes than the middle and lower lakes. This study has further strengthened the use of BMWP/ASPT score as an index of organic pollution. But, additional application is required to validate the use of Gammarus:Asellus as a rapid bio monitoring tool.

Keywords: Asellus, biotic index, Gammarus, macro invertebrates, organic pollution

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Authors: Kateryna Zhdanova, Evelyn Szeinbaum, Michelle Lo, Yeonjae Jo, Abel E. Navarro

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Alginate hydrogel beads (AB), spent peppermint leaf (PM), and a hybrid adsorbent of these two materials (ABPM) were studied as potential biosorbents of Cobalt (II) ions from aqueous solutions. Cobalt ion is a commonly underestimated pollutant that is responsible for several health problems. Discontinuous batch experiments were conducted at room temperature to evaluate the effect of solution acidity, mass of adsorbent on the adsorption of Co(II) ions. The interfering effect of salinity, the presence of surfactants, an organic dye, and Pb(II) ions were also studied to resemble the application of these adsorbents in real wastewater. Equilibrium results indicate that Co(II) uptake is maximized at pH values higher than 5, with adsorbent doses of 200 mg, 200 mg, and 120 mg for AB, PM, and ABPM, respectively. Co(II) adsorption followed the trend AB > ABPM > PM with Adsorption percentages of 77%, 71% and 64%, respectively. Salts had a strong negative effect on the adsorption due to the increase of the ionic strength and the competition for adsorption sites. The presence of Pb(II) ions, surfactant, and dye BY57 had a slightly negative effect on the adsorption, apparently due to their interaction with different adsorption sites that do not interfere with the removal of Co(II). A polar-electrostatic adsorption mechanism is proposed based on the experimental results. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that adsorbent has appropriate morphological and textural properties, and also that ABPM encapsulated most of the PM inside of the hydrogel beads. These experimental results revealed that AB, PM, and ABPM are promising adsorbents for the elimination of Co(II) ions from aqueous solutions under different experimental conditions. These biopolymers are proposed as eco-friendly alternatives for the removal of heavy metal ions at lower costs than the conventional techniques.

Keywords: adsorption, Co(II) ions, alginate hydrogel beads, spent peppermint leaf, pH

Procedia PDF Downloads 107