Search results for: net present cost (NPC)

Authors: Diego Roberto Goncalves De Pontes, Sergio Donizetti Zorzo

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Studies show that most users do not read privacy policies from the online services they use. Some authors claim that one of the main causes of this is that policies are long and usually hard to understand, which make users lose interest in reading them. In this scenario, users may agree with terms without knowing what kind of data is being collected and why. Given that, we aimed to develop a model that would present the privacy policies contents in an easy and graphical way for the user to understand. We call it the Privacy Label. Using information recovery techniques, we propose an architecture that is able to extract information about what kind of data is being collected and to what end in the policies and show it to the user in an automated way. To assess our model, we calculated the precision, recall and f-measure metrics on the information extracted by our technique. The results for each metric were 68.53%, 85.61% e 76,13%, respectively, making it possible for the final user to understand which data was being collected without reading the whole policy. Also, our proposal can facilitate the notice-and-choice by presenting privacy policy information in an alternative way for online users.

Keywords: privacy, policies, user behavior, computer human interaction

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Authors: Michelle Belinda S. Weerawardana, Gobika Thiripuranathar, Priyani A. Paranagama

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Most of fresh vegetables and fruits available in the retail markets undergo a physiological disorder in its appearance and coloration, which indeed discourages consumer purchase. A loss of millions of dollars yearly to the food industry had been due to this pronounced color reaction called Enzymatic Browning which is driven due to the catalytic activity by an oxidoreductase enzyme, polyphenol oxidase (PPO). The enzyme oxidizes the phenolic compounds which are abundantly available in fruits and vegetables as substrates into quinones, which could react with proteins in its surrounding to generate black pigments, called melanins, which are highly UV-active compounds. Annona muricata (Katu anoda) and Musa acuminata (Ash plantains) is a fruit and a vegetable consumed by Sri Lankans widely due to their high nutritional values, medicinal properties and economical importance. The objective of the present study was to evaluate and determine the effective natural anti-browning inhibitors that could prevent PPO activity in the selected fruit and vegetable. Enzyme extracts from Annona muricata (Katu anoda) and Musa acuminata (Ash plantains), were prepared by homogenizing with analytical grade acetone, and pH of each enzyme extract was maintained at 7.0 using a phosphate buffer. The extracts of inhibitors were prepared using powdered ginger rhizomes and essential oil from the bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum. Water extracts of ginger were prepared and the essential oil from Ceylon cinnamon bark was extracted using steam distillation method. Since the essential oil is not soluble in water, 0.1µl of cinnamon bark oil was mixed with 0.1µl of Triton X-100 emulsifier and 5.00 ml of water. The effect of each inhibitor on the PPO activity was investigated using catechol (0.1 mol dm-3) as the substrate and two samples of enzyme extracts prepared. The dosages of the prepared Cinnamon bark oil, and ginger (2 samples) which were used to measure the activity were 0.0035 g/ml, 0.091 g/ml and 0.087 g/ml respectively. The measurements of the inhibitory activity were obtained at a wavelength of 525 nm using the UV-visible spectrophotometer. The results evaluated thus revealed that % inhibition observed with cinnamon bark oil, and ginger for Annona muricata was 51.97%, and 60.90% respectively. The effects of cinnamon bark oil, and ginger extract on PPO activity of Musa acuminata were 49.51%, and 48.10%. The experimental findings thus revealed that Cinnamomum zeylanicum bark oil was a more effective inhibitor for PPO enzyme present in Musa acuminata and ginger was effective for PPO enzyme present in Annona muricata. Overall both the inhibitors were proven to be more effective towards the activities of PPO enzyme present in both samples. These inhibitors can thus be corroborated as effective, natural, non-toxic, anti-browning extracts, which when added to the above fruit and vegetable will increase the shelf life and also the acceptance of the product by the consumers.

Keywords: anti-browning agent, enzymatic browning, inhibitory activity, polyphenol oxidase

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Authors: C. I. Boshoff, S. Steenkamp-Jonker

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Cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by Echinococcus granulosus is an important parasitic infection in livestock worldwide, with severe zoonotic potential. It is important to understand the variability of Echinococcus granulosus, as genotype variations may influence lifecycle patterns, development rate, and transmission. Cystic Echinococcus samples were collected from domestic animals in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A molecular study was performed on 14 hydatid cysts obtained from caprine, ovine and bovine livers in order to determine the Echinococcus granulosus strain present in these hosts. The sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (coxI) gene of the hydatid cysts produced sequences of 400 bp for each sample analysed. These sequences were aligned with those present in GenBank and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. Based on coxI genotype the isolates could be grouped into E. granulosus sensu stricto. The findings of the study represent a pilot molecular study on Echinococcus from domestic animals undertaken in South Africa.

Keywords: Echinococcus granulosus, genotypes, livestock, South Africa

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Authors: Ghulamhossein Nezami

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Civilizations based in Iran, especially in the south, have always realized the all-around importance of the Persian Sea and for various reasons, have paid full attention to it. The first of these was the pre-Aryan government, Ilam in the coastal province of Sharihum and the city of Lian (now the port of Bushehr) in terms of trade, defense and religion. With the establishment of the Achaemenids on the entire plateau of Iran to the center of Persia, they created several communication routes from Parseh to the shores of the Persian Gulf, which ended in the present Bushehr province. This coastal area was extended by a road in the coastal plain to the more southern parts of the ports of Ausinze - according to Ptolemy the port of Siraf before the Sassanids - and Epstane and Hormozia in the present-day Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, the ancient city of Temukknana, whose new historical documents testify to its extraordinary importance in the Achaemenid period, especially Darius I of the Achaemenids, from a strategic position with the coastal areas, the coasts and on the other hand with the gamers, the political center. - Achaemenid administration, had. New archeological evidence, research, and excavations show that both the famous Achaemenid kings and courtiers paid special attention to Tamukknana. The discovery of a tomb and three Achaemenid palaces from before the reign of Cyrus to Xerxes in this region showed the importance of the strategic, security-defense and commercial position of this region, extraordinary for the Achaemenids. Therefore, the city of Temukkana in the Dashtestan region of present-day Bushehr province became an important Achaemenid center on the Persian Gulf coast and became the political-economic center of gravity of the Achaemenids and the regulator of communication networks on the Persian Gulf coast. This event showed that the Achaemenids attached importance to their economic goals and oversight of their vast territory by the Persian Gulf. Methods: Book resources and field study.

Keywords: Achaemenids, Bushehr, Persian Gulf, Tamukkana

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Authors: Abdullah A. Al Orainy

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Small cell backhaul solutions need to be cost-effective, scalable, and easy to install. This paper presents an overview of small cell backhaul technologies. Wireless solutions including TV white space, satellite, sub-6 GHz radio wave, microwave and mmWave with their backhaul characteristics are discussed. Recent research on issues like beamforming, backhaul architecture, precoding and large antenna arrays, and energy efficiency for dense small cell backhaul with mmWave communications is reviewed. Recent trials of 5G technologies are summarized.

Keywords: backhaul, small cells, wireless, 5G

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Authors: Jang-Hwan Yin, Hae-Jeong Jeong, Hyo-Geun Jeong

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K-water (Korea Water Resources Corporation) conducted basic and working design about floating PV generation system installed above water in the upstream of dam to develop clean energy using water with importance of green growth is magnified ecumenically. PV Generation System on the ground applied considerably until now raise environmental damage by using farmland and forest land, PV generation system on the building roof is already installed at almost the whole place of business and additional installation is almost impossible. Installation space of PV generation system is infinite and efficient national land use is possible because it is installed above water. Also, PV module's efficiency increase by natural water cooling method and no shade. So it is identified that annual power generation is more than PV generation system on the ground by operating performance data. Although it is difficult to design and construct by high cost, little application case, difficult installation of floater, mooring device, underwater cable, etc. However, it has been examined cost reduction plan such as structure weight lightening, floater optimal design, etc. This thesis described basic and working design result systematically about K-water's floating PV generation system development and suggested optimal design method of floating PV generation system. Main contents are photovoltaic array location select, substation location select related underwater cable, PV module and inverter design, transmission and substation equipment design, floater design related structure weight lightening, mooring system design related water level fluctuation, grid connecting technical review, remote control and monitor equipment design, etc. This thesis will contribute to optimal design and business extension of floating PV generation system, and it will be opportunity revitalize clean energy development using water.

Keywords: PV generation system, clean energy, green growth, solar energy

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Authors: Adeaga Ibiyemi Iyabo, Adeaga Oyetunde Adeoye

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Interestingly, mechanical drying methods has played a major role in the commercialization of agricultural and agricultural allied sectors. In the overall, drying enhances the favorable storability and preservation of agricultural produce which in turn promotes its producibility, marketability, salability, and profitability. Recent researches have shown that solar drying is easier, affordable, controllable, and of course, cleaner and purer than other means of drying methods. It is, therefore, needful to persistently appraise solar dryers with a view to improving on the existing advantages. In this paper, mathematical equations were formulated for solar dryer using mass conservation law, material balance law and least cost savings method. Computer codes were written in Visual Basic.Net. The developed computer software, which considered Ibadan, a strategic south-western geographical location in Nigeria, was used to investigate the relationship between variable orientation angle of flat plate collector on solar energy trapped, derived monthly heat load, available energy supplied by solar and fraction supplied by solar energy when 50000 Kg/Month of produce was dried over a year. At variable collector tilt angle of 10°.13°,15°,18°, 20°, the derived monthly heat load, available energy supplied by solar were 1211224.63MJ, 102121.34MJ, 0.111; 3299274.63MJ, 10121.34MJ, 0.132; 5999364.706MJ, 171222.859MJ, 0.286; 4211224.63MJ, 132121.34MJ, 0.121; 2200224.63MJ, 112121.34MJ, 0.104, respectively .These results showed that if optimum collector angle is not reached, those factors needed for efficient and cost reduction drying will be difficult to attain. Therefore, this software has revealed that off - optimum collector angle in commercial solar drying does not worth it, hence the importance of the software in decision making as to the optimum collector angle of orientation.

Keywords: energy, ibadan, heat - load, visual-basic.net

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Authors: Tabussam Tufail

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Purpose: The core purpose of the current review article is to elaborate the phytochemicals present in turnip (brassica rapus l.) and also allied health claims. Plant-based foods contain a significant amount of bioactive compounds which provide desirable health benefits beyond the basic nutrition. Epidemiological evidence suggests that consumption of a diet rich in vegetables and fruits has positive implications for human health. Design: Potential of turnip peroxidase (TP) for the treatment of phenolic-contaminated solutions has been reviewed. However, issues of taste along with behavioral nutrition ought to be considered. So in the last decades, special attention has been paid towards edible plants, especially those that are rich in secondary metabolites (frequently called phytochemicals) and nowadays, there is an increasing interest in the antioxidant activity of such phytochemicals present in the diet. These chemicals favor nutritional and phytotherapy that is emerging as new concepts of health aid in recent years. Turnip is rich in these valuable ingredients though it can be employed as having health promoting and healing properties. Findings: Numerous bioactive components i.e. organic acids, phenolic compounds, turnip peroxidase, kaempeferol, vitamin-K, etc. are present in turnip. The review focused on the significance of plant derived (especially turnip) phenolic compounds as a source of certain beneficial compounds for human health. Owing to the presence of bioactive moieties, the turnip has high antioxidant activity, positive role in blood clotting, effectual in phenobarbital-induced sleeping time, effective against hepatic injury in diabetics and also have a good hepatoprotective role. Strong recommendations for consumption of nutraceuticals from turnip have become progressively popular to improve health, and to prevent from diseases.

Keywords: phytochemicals, turnip, antioxidants, health benefits

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Authors: Hamed Reza Heshmat Mohajer, Lan Ding, Mattheos Santamouris

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One of the worst environmental dangers for people who live in cities is the Urban Heat Island (UHI) impact which is anticipated to become stronger in the coming years as a result of climate change. Accordingly, the key aim of this paper is to study the interaction between the urban configuration and mitigation strategies including increasing albedo of the urban environment (reflective material), implementation of Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) and/or a combination thereof. To analyse the microclimate models of different urban categories in the metropolis of Sydney, this study will assess meteorological parameters using a 3D model simulation tool of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) named ENVI-met. In this study, four main parameters are taken into consideration while assessing the effectiveness of UHI mitigation strategies: ambient air temperature, wind speed/direction, and outdoor thermal comfort. Layouts with present condition simulation studies from the basic model (scenario one) are taken as the benchmark. A base model is used to calculate the relative percentage variations between each scenario. The findings showed that maximum cooling potential across different urban layouts can be decreased by 2.15 °C degrees by combining high-albedo material with flora; besides layouts with open arrangements(OT1) present a highly remarkable improvement in ambient air temperature and outdoor thermal comfort when mitigation technologies applied compare to compact counterparts. Besides all layouts present a higher intensity on the maximum ambient air temperature reduction rather than the minimum ambient air temperature. On the other hand, Scenarios associated with an increase in greeneries are anticipated to have a slight cooling effect, especially on high-rise layouts.

Keywords: sustainable urban development, urban green infrastructure, high-albedo materials, heat island effect

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Authors: Md. Shoffikul Islam, Hongqing Hu

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Immobilizing trace elements by reducing their mobility and bioavailability through amendment application, especially biochar (BC), is a cost-effective and efficient method to address their toxicity in the soil environment. However, the low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) in the rhizosphere could affect BC's efficiency to immobilize trace metals as the LMWOAs could either mobilize or fix metals in the soils. Therefore, understanding the BC's and LMWOAs' interaction mechanisms on metals stabilization in the rhizosphere is crucial. The present study examined the impact of BC derived from rice husk, tartaric acid (TA), and oxalic acid (OA), and the combination of BC and TA/OA on the changes of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) among their geochemical forms through incubation experiment. The changes of zeta potential and X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of BC and BC-amended soils to investigate the probable mechanisms of trace elements' immobilization by BC under the attacks of TA and OA were also examined. The rice husk BC at 5% (w/w) was mixed with the air-dry soil (an Anthrosols) contaminated with Cd, Pb, and Zn in the plastic pot. The TA and OA each at 2, 5, 10, and 20 mM kg-1 (w/v) were added separately into the pot. All the ingredients were mixed thoroughly with the soil. A control (CK) treatment was also prepared without BC, TA, and OA addition. After 7, 15, and 60 days of incubation with 60% (w/v) moisture level at 25 °C, the incubated soils were determined for pH and EC and were sequentially extracted to assess the metals' transformation in soil. The electronegative charges and XRD peaks of BC and BC-amended soils were also measured. The BC, low level of TA (2 mM kg-1 soil), and BC plus the low concentration of TA (BC-TA2) addition considerably declined the acid-soluble Cd, Pb, and Zn in which BC-TA2 was found to be the most effective treatment. The trends were reversed concerning the high levels of TA (>5-20 mM kg-1 soil), all levels of OA (2-20 mM kg-1 soil), and the BC plus high levels of TA/OA treatments. BC-TA2 changed the highest amounts of acid-soluble and reducible metals to the oxidizable and residual fractions with time. The most increased electronegative charges of BC-TA2 indicate its (BC-TA2) highest metals' immobilizing efficiency, probably through metals adsorption and fixation with the negative charge sites. The XRD study revealed the presence of P, O, CO32-, and Cl1- in BC, which might be responsible for the precipitation of CdCO3, pyromorphite, and hopeite concerning Cd, Pb, and Zn immobilization, respectively. The findings demonstrated that the low level of TA increased metals immobilization, while the high levels of TA and all levels of OA enhanced their mobilization. The BC-TA2 was the best treatment in stabilizing metals in soil.

Keywords: biochar, immobilization, low molecular weight organic acids, trace elements contaminated soil

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Authors: Aparna Soni

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The much-celebrated foretold story of Indian city engines driving the growth of India has been scrutinized to have serious consequences. A wide spectrum of scholarship has brought to light the un-equalizing effects and the need to adopt a rights-based approach to development planning in India. Notably, these concepts and discourses ubiquitously entail the study of land struggles in the making of Urban. In fact, the very progression of the primitive accumulation theory to accumulation by dispossession, followed by ‘dispossession without development,’ thereafter Development without dispossession and now as Dispossession by financialization noticeably the last three developing in a span of mere three decades, is evidence enough to trace the centrality and evolving role of land in the making of urban India. India, in the last decade, has seen its regional governments actively experimenting with alternative models of land assembly (Amaravati and Delhi land pooling models, the loudly advertised ones). These are publicized as a replacement to the presumably cost and time antagonistic, prone to litigation land acquisition act of 2013. It has been observed that most of the literature treats these models as a generic large bracket of land expropriation and do not, in particular, try to differentially analyse to granularly find a pattern in these alternatives. To cater to this gap, this research comparatively studies these alternative land, assembly models. It categorises them based on their basic architecture, spatial and sectoral application, and governance frameworks. It is found that these alternatives are ad-hoc and fragmented pieces of legislation. These are fit for profit models commodifying land to ease its access by the private sector for real estate led growth. The research augments the literature on the privatization of land use planning in India. Further, it attempts to discuss the increasing role a landowner is expected to play in the future and suggests a way forward to safeguard them from market risks. The study involves a thematic analysis of the policy elements contained in legislative/policy documents, notifications, office orders. The study also derives from the various widely circulated print media information. With the present field-visit limitations, the study relies on documents accessed open-source in the public domain.

Keywords: commodification, dispossession, land acquisition, landowner

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Authors: Yagya Sharma, Basanta K. Rana, Arup K. Das

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Rotary entrainment is a phenomenon in which the interfaces of two immiscible fluids are subjected to external flux in the form of rotation. Present work reports the experimental study on rotary motion of a horizontal cylinder between the interface of air and water to observe the penetration of gas inside the liquid. Experiments have been performed to establish entrainment of air mass in water alongside the cylindrical surface. The movement of tracer and seeded particles have been tracked to calculate the speed and path of the entrained air inside water. Simplified particle image velocimetry technique has been used to trace the movement of particles/tracers at the moment they are injected inside the entrainment zone and suspended beads have been used to replicate the particle movement with respect to time in order to determine the flow dynamics of the fluid along the cylinder. Present paper establishes a thorough experimental analysis of the rotary entrainment phenomenon between air and water keeping in interest the extent to which we can intermix the two and also to study its entrainment trajectories.

Keywords: entrainment, gas-liquid flow, particle image velocimetry, stratified layer mixing

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Authors: Nan Hu, Chao Wang, Xi Li, Xuehai Zhou

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The field-programmable gate array (FPGA) has been widely adopted in the high-performance computing domain. In recent years, the embedded system-on-a-chip (SoC) contains coarse granularity multi-core CPU (central processing unit) and mobile GPU (graphics processing unit) that can be used as general-purpose accelerators. The motivation is that algorithms of various parallel characteristics can be efficiently mapped to the heterogeneous architecture coupled with these three processors. The CPU and GPU offload partial computationally intensive tasks from the FPGA to reduce the resource consumption and lower the overall cost of the system. However, in present common scenarios, the applications always utilize only one type of accelerator because the development approach supporting the collaboration of the heterogeneous processors faces challenges. Therefore, a systematic approach takes advantage of write-once-run-anywhere portability, high execution performance of the modules mapped to various architectures and facilitates the exploration of design space. In this paper, A servant-execution-flow model is proposed for the abstraction of the cooperation of the heterogeneous processors, which supports task partition, communication and synchronization. At its first run, the intermediate language represented by the data flow diagram can generate the executable code of the target processor or can be converted into high-level programming languages. The instantiation parameters efficiently control the relationship between the modules and computational units, including two hierarchical processing units mapping and adjustment of data-level parallelism. An embedded system of a three-dimensional waveform oscilloscope is selected as a case study. The performance of algorithms such as contrast stretching, etc., are analyzed with implementations on various combinations of these processors. The experimental results show that the heterogeneous computing system with less than 35% resources achieves similar performance to the pure FPGA and approximate energy efficiency.

Keywords: FPGA-CPU-GPU collaboration, design space exploration, heterogeneous computing, intermediate language, parameterized instantiation

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Authors: M. S. Abd El-Sadek, M. A. Omar, Gharib M. Taha

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In recent years, photocatalytic degradation of various kinds of organic and inorganic pollutants using semiconductor powders as photocatalysts has been extensively studied. Owing to its relatively high photocatalytic activity, biological and chemical stability, low cost, nonpoisonous and long stable life, Tin oxide materials have been widely used as catalysts in chemical reactions, including synthesis of vinyl ketone, oxidation of methanol and so on. Tin oxide (SnO₂), with a rutile-type crystalline structure, is an n-type wide band gap (3.6 eV) semiconductor that presents a proper combination of chemical, electronic and optical properties that make it advantageous in several applications. In the present work, SnO₂ nanoparticles were synthesized at room temperature by the sol-gel process and thermohydrolysis of SnCl₂ in isopropanol by controlling the crystallite size through calculations. The synthesized nanoparticles were identified by using XRD analysis, TEM, FT-IR, and Uv-Visible spectroscopic techniques. The crystalline structure and grain size of the synthesized samples were analyzed by X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and the XRD patterns confirmed the presence of tetragonal phase SnO₂. In this study, Methylene blue degradation was tested by using SnO₂ nanoparticles (at different calculations temperatures) as a photocatalyst under sunlight as a source of irradiation. The results showed that the highest percentage of degradation of Methylene blue dye was obtained by using SnO₂ photocatalyst at calculations temperature 800 ᵒC. The operational parameters were investigated to be optimized to the best conditions which result in complete removal of organic pollutants from aqueous solution. It was found that the degradation of dyes depends on several parameters such as irradiation time, initial dye concentration, the dose of the catalyst and the presence of metals such as silver as a dopant and its concentration. Percent degradation was increased with irradiation time. The degradation efficiency decreased as the initial concentration of the dye increased. The degradation efficiency increased as the dose of the catalyst increased to a certain level and by further increasing the SnO₂ photocatalyst dose, the degradation efficiency is decreased. The best degradation efficiency on which obtained from pure SnO₂ compared with SnO₂ which doped by different percentage of Ag.

Keywords: SnO₂ nanoparticles, a sol-gel method, photocatalytic applications, methylene blue, degradation efficiency

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Authors: Amir Sina Fouladi, Arul Arulrajah, Jian Chu, Suksun Horpibulsuk

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Waste generation is a growing concern in many countries across the world, particularly in urban areas with high rates of population growth and industrialization. The increasing amount of waste generated from human activities has led to environmental, economic, and health issues. Improper disposal of waste can result in air and water pollution, land degradation, and the spread of diseases. Waste generation also consumes large amounts of natural resources and energy, leading to the depletion of valuable resources and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. To address these concerns, there is a need for sustainable waste management practices that reduce waste generation and promote resource recovery and recycling. Amongst these, developing innovative technologies such as Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) in construction materials is an effective approach to transforming waste into valuable and sustainable applications. MICP is an environmentally friendly microbial-chemical technology that applies microorganisms and chemical reagents to biological processes to produce carbonate mineral. This substance can be an energy-efficient, cost-effective, sustainable solution to environmental and engineering challenges. Recent research has shown that waste streams can replace several MICP-chemical components in the cultivation media of microorganisms and cementation reagents (calcium sources and urea). In addition to its effectiveness in treating hazardous waste streams, MICP has been found to be cost-effective and sustainable solution applicable to various waste media. This comprehensive review paper aims to provide a thorough understanding of the environmental advantages and engineering applications of MICP technology, with a focus on the contribution of waste streams. It also provides researchers with guidance on how to identify and overcome the challenges that may arise applying the MICP technology using waste streams.

Keywords: waste stream, microbially induced calcite precipitation, construction materials, sustainability

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Authors: Sadaoui Djaouida

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In this paper, the predictive control method is proposed to control the synchronization of two perturbed satellites attitude motion. Based on delayed feedback control of continuous-time systems combines with the prediction-based method of discrete-time systems, this approach only needs a single controller to realize synchronization, which has considerable significance in reducing the cost and complexity for controller implementation.

Keywords: predictive control, synchronization, satellite attitude, control engineering

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Authors: Dina M. Ezz El-Din

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A variety of sources on Ancient Egypt provides us with knowledge about its agricultural and eating habits. This wealth of information testifies that the ancient Egyptians disposed of a wide variety of food choices. Egyptian agricultural diet was complemented by livestock breeding (Cows, sheep, geese, ducks, quail, pigeons, pelicans, etc). Moreover, the ancient Egyptians planted and harvested large amounts of cereals and vegetables (onions, leeks, lettuces, garlic). They had a varied and well-balanced diet throughout their history. Like in modern times, their eating habits not only changed from one region to the other, but also these also differed according to social classes. The present research is a descriptive-analytical study that tackles eating habits and culinary experience of the ancient Egyptians in an attempt to revive and preserve Egyptians’ food heritage. It focuses on different meals that were prepared and consumed in different occasions, and the habits that can be traced in Egypt in modern times. It also suggests means of bringing to life the ancient Egyptians’ food experience through restaurants and other tourism activities.

Keywords: cultural heritage, ancient Egyptian food, eating habits, preserving food traditions

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Authors: Dimpi A. Patel, Pankaj Raina, Ramesh Chinnasamy, Sunetro Ghosal

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The herpetological fauna of Ladakh has been surveyed few times till 1999. In 2019, a rapid survey to document current herpetofaunal composition was undertaken in which a total of 6 species belonging to 2 orders and five families along with their altitudinal ranges were recorded. We present a revised checklist of reptiles found in Ladakh trans Himalayas based on historical records and recent field surveys. Records for erroneously reported species in literature are discussed and recommended for removal from the list from this region. For several species, new elevation range records have been recorded. This paper contributes to the present status of the richness of reptiles and amphibians in the region by documenting the composition and ecological distribution of the herpetofauna of unstudied sites. Species-specific temperature and humidity regimes were also recorded during the survey periods. Our study creates baseline information for future ecological and behavioral studies on the herpetofauna of the region by providing habitat preferences and distribution in detail.

Keywords: amphibians, distribution, diversity, reptiles, trans-Himalaya

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Authors: Kamran Yousefpour, Mojtaba Rostaghi-Chalaki, Jason Warden, Chanyeop Park

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There has been a rising trend in using impulse current generators to investigate the lightning strike protection of materials including aluminum and composites in structures such as wind turbine blade and aircraft body. The focus of this research is to present a new impulse current generator built in the High Voltage Lab at Mississippi State University. The generator is capable of producing component A and D of the natural lightning discharges in accordance with the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standard, which is widely used in the aerospace industry. The generator can supply lightning impulse energy up to 400 kJ with the capability of producing impulse currents with magnitudes greater than 200 kA. The electrical circuit and physical components of an improved impulse current generator are described and several lightning strike waveforms with different amplitudes is presented for comparing with the standard waveform. The results of this study contribute to the fundamental understanding the functionality of the impulse current generators and present a new impulse current generator developed at the High Voltage Lab of Mississippi State University.

Keywords: impulse current generator, lightning, society of automotive engineers, capacitor

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Authors: Rahou Mohamed , Sebaa Fethi, Cheikh Abdelmadjid

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Manufacturing tolerancing is intended to determine the intermediate geometrical and dimensional states of the part during its manufacturing process. These manufacturing dimensions also serve to satisfy not only the functional requirements given in the definition drawing but also the manufacturing constraints, for example geometrical defects of the machine, vibration, and the wear of the cutting tool. The choice of positioning has an important influence on the cost and quality of manufacture. To avoid this problem, a two-step approach have been developed. The first step is dedicated to the determination of the optimum position. As for the second step, a study was carried out for the tightening effect on the tolerance interval.

Keywords: dispersion, tolerance, manufacturing, position

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Authors: N. Tochukwu, M. Mukhopadhyay, A. Mohamed

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It is no new that Nigeria faces a continual power shortage problem due to its vast population power demand and heavy reliance on nonrenewable forms of energy such as thermal power or fossil fuel. Many researchers have recommended using geothermal energy as an alternative; however, Past studies focus on the geophysical & geochemical investigation of this energy in the sedimentary and basement complex; only a few studies incorporated the remote sensing methods. Therefore, in this study, the preliminary examination of geothermal resources in the Middle Benue was carried out using satellite imagery in ArcMap. Landsat 8 scene (TIR, NIR, Red spectral bands) was used to estimate the Land Surface Temperature (LST). The Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) technique was used to classify sites with very low, low, moderate, and high LST. The intermediate and high classification happens to be possible geothermal zones, and they occupy 49% of the study area (38077km2). Riverline were superimposed on the LST layer, and the identification tool was used to locate high temperate sites. Streams that overlap on the selected sites were regarded as geothermal springs as. Surprisingly, the LST results show lower temperatures (<36°C) at the famous thermal springs (Awe & Wukari) than some unknown rivers/streams found in Kwande (38°C), Ussa, (38°C), Gwer East (37°C), Yola Cross & Ogoja (36°C). Studies have revealed that temperature increases with depth. However, this result shows excellent geothermal resources potential as it is expected to exceed the minimum geothermal gradient of 25.47 with an increase in depth. Therefore, further investigation is required to estimate the depth of the causative body, geothermal gradients, and the sustainability of the reservoirs by geophysical and field exploration. This method has proven to be cost-effective in locating geothermal resources in the study area. Consequently, the same procedure is recommended to be applied in other regions of the Precambrian basement complex and the sedimentary basins in Nigeria to save a preliminary field survey cost.

Keywords: ArcMap, geothermal resources, Landsat 8, LST, thermal springs, MLC

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Authors: Punit Kumar, Niraj Kumar

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The traction behavior of lubricants with the linear pressure-viscosity response in EHL line contacts is investigated numerically for smooth as well as rough surfaces. The analysis involves the simultaneous solution of Reynolds, elasticity and energy equations along with the computation of lubricant properties and surface temperatures. The temperature modified Doolittle-Tait equations are used to calculate viscosity and density as functions of fluid pressure and temperature, while Carreau model is used to describe the lubricant rheology. The surface roughness is assumed to be sinusoidal and it is present on the nearly stationary surface in near-pure sliding EHL conjunction. The linear P-V oil is found to yield much lower traction coefficients and slightly thicker EHL films as compared to the synthetic oil for a given set of dimensionless speed and load parameters. Besides, the increase in traction coefficient attributed to surface roughness is much lower for the former case. The present analysis emphasizes the importance of employing realistic pressure-viscosity response for accurate prediction of EHL traction.

Keywords: EHL, linear pressure-viscosity, surface roughness, traction, water/glycol

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Authors: Wint Wint Thu, Htet Ko Ko Win, Myat Mon San, Zaw Lin Tun, Nandar Than Aye, Khin Nyein Myat, Hayman Nyo Oo, Nay Aung Lin, Kusum Thapa, Kyaw Htet Aung

Abstract:

Background: In Myanmar, the intense political instability happened to start in Feb-2021, while the COVID-19 pandemic waves are also threatening the public health system, which subsequently led to severe health sector crisis, including difficulties in accessing maternal and newborn health care for vulnerable women and children. The Remote Pregnant and Newborn Care (RPNC) uses a telehealth approach United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Essential Health Project. Implementation: The Remote Pregnant and Newborn Care (RPNC) service has adapted to the MNCH needs of vulnerable pregnant women and was implemented to mitigate the risk of limited access to essential quality MNH care in Yangon, Myanmar, under women, and the project trained 13 service providers on a telehealth care package for pregnancy and newborn developed Jhpiego to ensure understanding of evidence-based MNCH care practices. The phone numbers of the pregnant women were gathered through the preexisting and functioning community volunteers, who reach the most vulnerable pregnant women in the project's targeted area. A total of 212 pregnant women have been reached by service providers for RPNC during the implementation period. The trained service providers offer quality antenatal and postnatal care, including newborn care, via telephone calls. It includes 24/7 incoming calls and time-allotted outgoing calls to the pregnant women during antenatal and postnatal periods, including the newborn care. The required data were collected daily in time with the calls, and the quality of the medical services is made assured with the track of the calls, ensuring data privacy and patient confidentiality. Lessons learned: The key lessons are 1) cost-effectiveness: RPNC service could reduce out of pocket expenditure of pregnant women as it only costs 1.6 United States dollars (USD) per one telehealth call while it costs 8 to 10 USD per one time in-person care service at private service providers, including transportation cost, 2) network of care: telehealth call could not replace the in-person antenatal and postnatal care services, and integration of telehealth calls with in-person care by local healthcare providers with the support of the community is crucial for accessibility to essential MNH services by poor and vulnerable women, and 3) sharing information on health access points: most of the women seem to have financial barriers in accessing private health facilities while public health system collapse and telehealthcare could provide information on low-cost facilities and connect women to relevant health facilities. These key lessons are important for future efforts regarding the implementation of remote pregnancy and newborn care in Myanmar, especially during the political crisis and COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Keywords: telehealth, accessibility, maternal care, newborn care

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Authors: Nikola Vlahovic, Blazenka Knezevic, Petra Batalic

Abstract:

In this paper, we will present a research about feasibility of implementing unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as 'drones', in logistics. Research is based on available information about current incentives and experiments in application of delivery drones in commercial use. Overview of current pilot projects and literature, as well as an overview of detected challenges, will be compiled and presented. Based on these findings, we will present a conceptual model of business process that implements delivery drones in business to business logistic operations. Business scenario is based on a pharmaceutical supply chain. Simulation modeling will be used to create models for running experiments and collecting performance data. Comparative study of the presented conceptual model will be given. The work will outline the main advantages and disadvantages of implementing unmanned aerial vehicles in delivery services as a supplementary distribution channel along the supply chain.

Keywords: business process, delivery drones, logistics, simulation modelling, unmanned aerial vehicles

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Authors: M. Najafi

Abstract:

In the present paper, a large turbo-generator shaft train including a heavy-duty gas turbine engine, a coupling, and a generator is established. The method of analysis is based on finite element simplified model for lateral and torsional vibration calculation. The basic elements of rotor are the shafts and the disks which are represented as circular cross section flexible beams and rigid body elements, respectively. For more accurate results, the gyroscopic effect and bearing dynamics coefficients and function of rotation are taken into account, and for the influence of shear effect, rotor has been modeled in the form of Timoshenko beam. Lateral critical speeds, critical speed map, damped mode shapes, Campbell diagram, zones of instability, amplitudes, phase angles response due to synchronous forces of excitation and amplification factor are calculated. Also, in the present paper, the effect of imbalanced rotor and effects of changing in internal force and temperature are studied.

Keywords: rotor dynamic analysis, finite element method, shaft train, Campbell diagram

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Authors: Wen-Shu Lai, Yi-Ting Wang

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and clarify what are the essences of Colombian-born sculptor Doris Salcedo’s works. Under the frameworks of Buber’s dialogical philosophy of the “I-Thou relation” and Zurmuehlen’s philosophy of “Art as Presence” within the context of art praxis, Salcedo’s selected works are analyzed and interpreted. Salcedo’s sculptures and installations have expressed her concerns of the collective and personal memories within the context of Colombia’s violent, historical and political conflicts, especially the trauma inscribed onto her fellow people. Salcedo tried to rescue that memory though her work does not directly represent the violent incidents happened in Colombia. They are indirect portraits of the disappeared, the victims, and the lack of identity. What the viewers see is something in between vanishing and emergence, personal and collective. The work, the artist and the viewer are witnesses and also survivors of Columbia’s violent incidents. On the site, the work, the disappeared and the witness-survivors encounter each other, then mourning, memory and dialogue are unfolded, brought to present. Firstly, it is the power of encounter that allows the viewer-witness to recognize the effaced victims, repressive violence, and the profound mourning for the loss, then restore their existence through dialogues and bring them to present. In her sculptures and installations, the displacement of the fragments and the incoherent sites make these daily household objects become unfamiliar, arose feelings of uncanniness of the viewer. The feelings of alienation, confusion, displacement bring the viewer to here and now. The more one studies these objects and sites, the more hidden details begin to appear. And the more one looks at the details, the more absent memories or stories reveals themselves and becomes present. Salcedo’s work is about loss, displacement and alienation caused by violence. She expressed that words are no longer possible when one deals with violence. However, her installation translates the violence, memory, and loss of beloved ones into a place of dialogue, in which the visitors can immerse themselves in a twilight zone between knowing and not knowing, remembering and forgetting. The spaces are the sites or non-sites inhabited by the remains or traces of the victims, the wonders of the survivor-witnesses where they join together through encounter, remain present to others through genuine dialogue. In the moment, the past memory and the ongoing life merge, accept each other, and reconcile. Salcedo reconfigures the silent violence and repressive history in Colombia and transforms them into sites and installations. The victims, the viewer and the artist join together while contemplating and sharing the human situation of silent repression. In the moment of contemplating, a dialogue, spoken or not, occurs in the specific sites. People have become aware and present, and mutual understanding has achieved. This research concludes that encounter, presence and dialogue are the three essences embedded in Salcedo’s works.

Keywords: dialogue, Doris Salcedo, encounter, presence

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Authors: Alberto Veses, Olga Sanhauja, María Soledad Callén, Tomás García

Abstract:

The appropriate use of renewable sources emerges as a decisive point to minimize the environmental impact caused by fossil fuels use. Particularly, the use of lignocellulosic biomass becomes one of the best promising alternatives since it is the only carbon-containing renewable source that can produce bioproducts similar to fossil fuels and it does not compete with food market. Among all the processes that can valorize lignocellulosic biomass, pyrolysis is an attractive alternative because it is the only thermochemical process that can produce a liquid biofuel (bio-oil) in a simple way and solid and gas fractions that can be used as energy sources to support the process. However, in order to incorporate bio-oils in current infrastructures and further process in future biorefineries, their quality needs to be improved. Introducing different low-cost catalysts and/or incorporating different polymer residues to the process are some of the new, simple and low-cost strategies that allow the user to directly obtain advanced bio-oils to be used in future biorefineries in an economic way. In this manner, from previous thermogravimetric analyses, local agricultural wastes such as grape seeds (GS) were selected as lignocellulosic biomass while, waste tires (WT) were selected as polymer residue. On the other hand, CaO was selected as low-cost catalyst based on previous experiences by the group. To reach this aim, a specially-designed fixed bed reactor using N₂ as a carrier gas was used. This reactor has the peculiarity to incorporate a vertical mobile liner that allows the user to introduce the feedstock in the oven once the selected temperature (550 ºC) is reached, ensuring higher heating rates needed for the process. Obtaining a well-defined phase distribution in the resulting bio-oil is crucial to ensure the viability to the process. Thus, once experiments were carried out, not only a well-defined two layers was observed introducing several mixtures (reaching values up to 40 wt.% of WT) but also, an upgraded organic phase, which is the one considered to be processed in further biorefineries. Radical interactions between GS and WT released during the pyrolysis process and dehydration reactions enhanced by CaO can promote the formation of better-quality bio-oils. The latter was reflected in a reduction of water and oxygen content of bio-oil and hence, a substantial increase of its heating value and its stability. Moreover, not only sulphur content was reduced from solely WT pyrolysis but also potential and negative issues related to a strong acidic environment of conventional bio-oils were minimized due to its basic pH and lower total acid numbers. Therefore, acidic compounds obtained in the pyrolysis such as CO₂-like substances can react with the CaO and minimize acidic problems related to lignocellulosic bio-oils. Moreover, this CO₂ capture promotes H₂ production from water gas shift reaction favoring hydrogen-transfer reactions, improving the final quality of the bio-oil. These results show the great potential of grapes seeds to carry out the catalytic co-pyrolysis process with different plastic residues in order to produce a liquid bio-oil that can be considered as a high-quality renewable vector.

Keywords: advanced bio-oils, biorefinery, catalytic co-pyrolysis of biomass and waste tires, lignocellulosic biomass

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Authors: Nkechinyere Joy Olawuyi, Babajide Samuel Afolabi, Bola Ibitoye

Abstract:

This study collected a preprocessed dataset of chest radiographs and formulated a deep neural network model for detecting abnormalities. It also evaluated the performance of the formulated model and implemented a prototype of the formulated model. This was with the view to developing a deep neural network model to automatically classify abnormalities in chest radiographs. In order to achieve the overall purpose of this research, a large set of chest x-ray images were sourced for and collected from the CheXpert dataset, which is an online repository of annotated chest radiographs compiled by the Machine Learning Research Group, Stanford University. The chest radiographs were preprocessed into a format that can be fed into a deep neural network. The preprocessing techniques used were standardization and normalization. The classification problem was formulated as a multi-label binary classification model, which used convolutional neural network architecture to make a decision on whether an abnormality was present or not in the chest radiographs. The classification model was evaluated using specificity, sensitivity, and Area Under Curve (AUC) score as the parameter. A prototype of the classification model was implemented using Keras Open source deep learning framework in Python Programming Language. The AUC ROC curve of the model was able to classify Atelestasis, Support devices, Pleural effusion, Pneumonia, A normal CXR (no finding), Pneumothorax, and Consolidation. However, Lung opacity and Cardiomegaly had a probability of less than 0.5 and thus were classified as absent. Precision, recall, and F1 score values were 0.78; this implies that the number of False Positive and False Negative is the same, revealing some measure of label imbalance in the dataset. The study concluded that the developed model is sufficient to classify abnormalities present in chest radiographs into present or absent.

Keywords: transfer learning, convolutional neural network, radiograph, classification, multi-label

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Authors: Kaisa M. Herne, Hanna E. Björkstedt

Abstract:

Comparisons of online and laboratory environments are important for assessing whether the environment influences behavioral results. Trust game behavior was examined in three environments: 1) The standard laboratory setting with physically present participants (laboratory), 2) An online environment with an online meeting before playing the trust game (online plus a meeting); and 3) An online environment without a meeting (online without a meeting). In laboratory, participants were present in a classroom and played the trust game anonymously via computers. Online plus a meeting mimicked the laboratory in that participants could see each other in an online meeting before sessions started, whereas online without a meeting was a standard online experiment in which participants did not see each other at any stages of the experiment. Participants were recruited through pools of student subjects at two universities. The trust game was identical in all conditions; it was played with the same software, anonymously, and with stranger matching. There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment conditions regarding trust or trustworthiness. Results suggest that conducting trust game experiments online will yield similar results to experiments implemented in a laboratory.

Keywords: laboratory vs. online experiment, trust behavior, trust game, trustworthiness behavior

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Authors: Mostafa Amirjan

Abstract:

In the present study, the properties of Al-Al2O3 nanocomposite hollow sphere structures were investigated. For this reason, the Al-based nanocomposite hollow spheres with different amounts of nano alumina reinforcement (0-10wt %) and different ratio of thickness to diameter (t/D: 0.06-0.3) were prepared via a powder metallurgy method. Then, the effect of mentioned parameters was studied on physical and quasi static mechanical properties of their related prepared structures (open/closed cell) such as density, hardness, strength and energy absorption. It was found that as the t/D ratio increases the relative density, compressive strength and energy absorption increase. The highest values of strength and energy absorption were obtained from the specimen with 5 wt. % of nanoparticle reinforcement, t/D of 0.3 (t=1 mm, D=400µm) as 22.88 MPa and 13.24 MJ/m3, respectively. The moderate specific strength of prepared composites in the present study showed the good consistency with the properties of others low carbon steel composite with similar structure.

Keywords: hollow sphere structure foam, nanocomposite, thickness and diameter (t/D ), powder metallurgy

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