Search results for: area calculation

Authors: Yakubu Suleiman, S. A. Musa

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Nigeria is the largest cowpea producer in the world, accounting for about 45%, followed by Brazil with about 17%. Cowpea is grown in Kano, Bauchi, Katsina, Borno in the north, Oyo in the west, and to the lesser extent in Enugu in the east. This study was conducted to determine the input–output relationship of Cowpea production in Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa states of Nigeria. The data were collected with the aid of 1000 structured questionnaires that were randomly distributed to Cowpea farmers in the three states mentioned above of the study area. The data collected were analyzed using regression analysis (Cobb–Douglass production function model). The result of the regression analysis revealed the coefficient of multiple determinations, R2, to be 72.5% and the F ration to be 106.20 and was found to be significant (P < 0.01). The regression coefficient of constant is 0.5382 and is significant (P < 0.01). The regression coefficient with respect to labor and seeds were 0.65554 and 0.4336, respectively, and they are highly significant (P < 0.01). The regression coefficient with respect to fertilizer is 0.26341 which is significant (P < 0.05). This implies that a unit increase of any one of the variable inputs used while holding all other variables inputs constants, will significantly increase the total Cowpea output by their corresponding coefficient. This indicated that farmers in the study area are operating in stage II of the production function. The result revealed that Cowpea farmer in Kano, Jigawa and Katsina States realized a profit of N15,997, N34,016 and N19,788 per hectare respectively. It is hereby recommended that more attention should be given to Cowpea production by government and research institutions.

Keywords: coefficient, constant, inputs, regression

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Authors: Morteza Esfandiari, Shabnam Jabari, Heather MacGrath, David Coleman

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Flood is a severe issue in different places in the world as well as the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. The downtown area of Fredericton is close to the Saint John River, which is susceptible to flood around May every year. Recently, the frequency of flooding seems to be increased, especially after the fact that the downtown area and surrounding urban/agricultural lands got flooded in two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019. In order to have an explicit vision of flood span and damage to affected areas, it is necessary to use either flood inundation modelling or satellite data. Due to contingent availability and weather dependency of optical satellites, and limited existing data for the high cost of hydrodynamic models, it is not always feasible to rely on these sources of data to generate quality flood maps after or during the catastrophe. Height Above the Nearest Drainage (HAND), a state-of-the-art topo-hydrological index, normalizes the height of a basin based on the relative elevation along with the stream network and specifies the gravitational or the relative drainage potential of an area. HAND is a relative height difference between the stream network and each cell on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM). The stream layer is provided through a multi-step, time-consuming process which does not always result in an optimal representation of the river centerline depending on the topographic complexity of that region. HAND is used in numerous case studies with quite acceptable and sometimes unexpected results because of natural and human-made features on the surface of the earth. Some of these features might cause a disturbance in the generated model, and consequently, the model might not be able to predict the flow simulation accurately. We propose to include a previously existing stream layer generated by the province of New Brunswick and benefit from culvert maps to improve the water flow simulation and accordingly the accuracy of HAND model. By considering these parameters in our processing, we were able to increase the accuracy of the model from nearly 74% to almost 92%. The improved model can be used for generating highly accurate flood maps, which is necessary for future urban planning and flood damage estimation without any need for satellite imagery or hydrodynamic computations.

Keywords: HAND, DTM, rapid floodplain, simplified conceptual models

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Authors: Pegah Farshadmanesh, Jamshid Mohammadi, Mehdi Modares

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In nearly all earthquakes of the past century that resulted in moderate to significant damage, the occurrence of postearthquake fire ignition (PEFI) has imposed a serious hazard and caused severe damage, especially in urban areas. In order to reduce the loss of life and property caused by post-earthquake fires, there is a crucial need for predictive models to estimate the PEFI risk. The parameters affecting PEFI risk can be categorized as: 1) factors influencing fire ignition in normal (non-earthquake) condition, including floor area, building category, ignitability, type of appliance, and prevention devices, and 2) earthquake related factors contributing to the PEFI risk, including building vulnerability and earthquake characteristics such as intensity, peak ground acceleration, and peak ground velocity. State-of-the-art statistical PEFI risk models are solely based on limited available earthquake data, and therefore they cannot predict the PEFI risk for areas with insufficient earthquake records since such records are needed in estimating the PEFI model parameters. In this paper, the correlation between normal condition ignition risk, peak ground acceleration, and PEFI risk is examined in an effort to offer a means for predicting post-earthquake ignition events. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate how such correlation can be employed in a seismic area to predict PEFI hazard.

Keywords: fire risk, post-earthquake fire ignition (PEFI), risk management, seismicity

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Authors: Min-Hae Park, Ju-Na Hwang, Cheong-won Seo, Ji-Ho Kim, Kee-Joe Lim

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Polymeric insulators are high hardness, corrosion resistant, lightweight and also good dielectric strength in electric equipment. For such reasons, the amount of polymeric insulators is increased consistently abroad. The current outdoor insulators are replaced by polymeric insulators. Silicone rubber of polymeric insulators is widely used in insulation materials for outdoor application since it has excellent electrical characteristics and high surface hydrophobic. However, it can be evade exposure to pollutant on surface using at outdoor. It also improve the pollution for dust and smoke due to the large are increasing, because most of the industrial area in which the electric power loads are concentrated are located at the coastal area with salt attack. Thus it is important to detect the main cause of the deterioration for outdoor insulation materials. But there has no standards for valuation to apply reliably and determine accurately deterioration under DC, still lacks DC characteristic researches in proportion to AC. In addition, a lot of ATH was added to improve tracking resistivity of silicone rubber, although the problem has been brought up about falling sharply mechanical properties. Therefore, we might compare surface resistivities of silicone rubber compounding of three kinds of filler. In this paper, specimens of silicone rubber composite usable as outdoor insulators were prepared. Micro-silica (SiO2), nano- alumina (Al2O3) and nano-ATH (Al(OH)3) were used in additives. The study aims to investigate properties of DC surface insulation on silicone rubber composite which were filled with various fillers from surface resistivity measurement and salt-fog test.

Keywords: composite, silicone rubber, surface insulation, HVDC

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Authors: C. A. Anser Pasha

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In this paper, a new Vehicular Speed Detection Camera System that is applicable as an alternative to traditional radars with the same accuracy or even better is presented. The real-time measurement and analysis of various traffic parameters such as speed and number of vehicles are increasingly required in traffic control and management. Image processing techniques are now considered as an attractive and flexible method for automatic analysis and data collections in traffic engineering. Various algorithms based on image processing techniques have been applied to detect multiple vehicles and track them. The SDCS processes can be divided into three successive phases; the first phase is Objects detection phase, which uses a hybrid algorithm based on combining an adaptive background subtraction technique with a three-frame differencing algorithm which ratifies the major drawback of using only adaptive background subtraction. The second phase is Objects tracking, which consists of three successive operations - object segmentation, object labeling, and object center extraction. Objects tracking operation takes into consideration the different possible scenarios of the moving object like simple tracking, the object has left the scene, the object has entered the scene, object crossed by another object, and object leaves and another one enters the scene. The third phase is speed calculation phase, which is calculated from the number of frames consumed by the object to pass by the scene.

Keywords: radar, image processing, detection, tracking, segmentation

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Authors: Yun Sun, Meng Xun, Jingtao Zhou, Ming Li, Qiang Kan, Zhi Jin, Xinyu Liu, Dexin Wu

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Higher speed short-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) working at high temperature are required for future optical interconnects. In this work, the high-speed 850 nm VCSELs are designed, fabricated and characterized. The temperature dependent static and dynamic performance of devices are investigated by using current-power-voltage and small signal modulation measurements. Temperature-stable high-speed properties are obtained by employing highly strained multiple quantum wells and short cavity length of half wavelength. The temperature dependent photon lifetimes and carrier radiative times are determined from damping factor and resonance frequency obtained by fitting the intrinsic optical bandwidth with the two-pole transfer function. In addition, an analytical theoretical model including the strain effect is development based on model-solid theory. The calculation results indicate that the better high temperature performance of VCSELs can be attributed to the strong confinement of holes in the quantum wells leading to enhancement of the carrier transit time.

Keywords: vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, high speed modulation, optical interconnects, semiconductor lasers

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Authors: Rubab Zafar Kahlon, Ibtisam Butt

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Forest resources are deteriorating and experiencing decline around the globe due to unsustainable use and over exploitation. The present study was an attempt to determine the relationship between human activities, forest resource utilization, extraction methods and practices of forest resource exploitation in the district Jhelum of Pakistan. For this purpose, primary sources of data were used which were collected from 8 villages through structured questionnaire and tabulated in Microsoft Excel 365 and SPSS 22 was used for multiple linear regression analysis. The results revealed that farming, wood cutting, animal husbandry and agro-forestry were the major occupations in the study area. Most commonly used resources included timber 26%, fuelwood 25% and fodder 19%. Methods used for resource extraction included gathering 49%, plucking 34% trapping 11% and cutting 6%. Population growth, increased demand of fuelwood and land conversion were the main reasons behind forest degradation. Results for multiple linear regression revealed that Forest based activities, sources of energy production, methods used for wood harvesting and resource extraction and use of fuelwood for energy production contributed significantly towards extensive forest resource exploitation with p value <0.5 within the study area. The study suggests that effective measures should be taken by forest department to control the unsustainable use of forest resources by stringent management interventions and awareness campaigns in Jhelum district.

Keywords: forest resource, biodiversity, expliotation, human activities

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Authors: Yuan-Ching Chiang, Chien-Yeh Hsu, Chen Chih-Hao, Sih-Li Chen

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The p-n junction temperature of LEDs directly influences their operating life and luminous efficiency. An excessively high p-n junction temperature minimizes the output flux of LEDs, decreasing their brightness and influencing the photon wavelength; consequently, the operating life of LEDs decreases and their luminous output changes. The maximum limit of the p-n junction temperature of LEDs is approximately 120 °C. The purpose of this research was to devise an approach for dissipating heat generated in a confined space when LEDs operate at low temperatures to reduce light decay. The cooling mode of existing commercial LED lights can be divided into natural- and forced convection cooling. In natural convection cooling, the volume of LED encapsulants must be increased by adding more fins to increase the cooling area. However, this causes difficulties in achieving efficient LED lighting at high power. Compared with forced convection cooling, heat transfer through water convection is associated with a higher heat transfer coefficient per unit area; therefore, we dissipated heat by using a closed loop water cooling system. Nevertheless, cooling water exposed to air can be easily influenced by environmental factors. Thus, we incorporated a ground heat exchanger into the water cooling system to minimize the influence of air on cooling water and then observed the relationship between the amounts of heat dissipated through the ground and LED efficiency.

Keywords: helical ground heat exchanger, high power LED, ground source cooling system, heat dissipation

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Authors: Husham Mahmood Ahmed

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For so many reasons, fresh water scarcity is one of major problems facing the world and in particularly in the third world in the Northern Africa, the Middle East, the Southwest of Asia, and many other desert areas. Solar distillation offers one of the most promising solutions of renewable energy to this aggravated situation. The main obstacle hindering the spread of the use of solar technology for fresh water production is its low efficiency. Therefore, enhancing the solar stills performances by studying the parameters affecting their productivity and implementing new ideas and a different design are the main goals of the investigators in recent years. The present research is experimental work that tests a new design of solar still with a hemispherical top cover for water desalination with and without external reflectors under the climate of the Kingdom of Bahrain during the autumn season. The hemispherical cover has a base diameter of 1m and a depth of 0.4m, die cast from a 6 mm thick Lexan plastic sheet. The net effective area was 0.785 m2. It has been found that the average daily production rate obtained from the hemispherical top cover solar still is 3.610 liter/day. This yield is 11.1% higher than the yield of a conventional simple type single slope solar still having 20ᴼ slope glass cover and a larger effective area of 1 m2 obtained in previous research under similar climatic conditions. It has also been found that adding 1.2m long by 0.15 curved reflectors increased the yield of the hemispherical solar still by 5.5 %, while the 1.2 long by 0.3m curved reflector increased the yield by about 8%.

Keywords: hemispherical solar still, solar desalination, solar energy, the Northern Africa

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Authors: Luana N. Cardozo, Debora A. S. Coutinho, Fabiola Lagher, Bruno J. G. Silva, Ivonilce Venture, Mainara Tesser, Graciela Venera

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Ostrich oil is used as food in Brazil, and it has been the subject of scientific research because it contains essential fatty acids (Omega 3, 6, 7, and 9), which provide benefits to human health. Alkylglycerols are lipid ethers consisted of a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon chain joined by ether-type bonding to one of the glycerol hydroxyls. It is known that supplementation with alkylglycerols can act significantly on the functioning of immune system cells, both in pathological situations and in homeostasis. Objective: Analyze the presence of alkylglycerols in ostrich oil. Methods: The ostrich oil was bought from an industry that manufactures the product for sale as food, located in Mirante da Serra, northern Brazil. The samples were sent for analysis to the chemistry department of the Federal University of Paraná, where they were analyzed by the gas chromatography method. Results: The analysis of the ostrich oil presented alkylglycerols in area 514505154. Comparison, it is possible to observe that shark liver oil contains the area 26190196, and the difference between both is highly significant. Conclusion: The importance of alkylglycerol supplementation for the immune system is known. The analysis of the results made it possible to verify the presence of alkylglycerols in the ostrich oil, which is five times higher than in the shark liver oil, that would be the largest source food, but was surpassed by the ostrich oil until the present time. The present study emphasizes that ostrich oil can be considered a food source of alkylglycerols and may play a promising role in the immune system because it contains such substance, but further studies are needed to prove its performance in the body.

Keywords: ostrich oil, nutritional composition, alkylglycerols, food

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Authors: Melissa Hachem, Lynda Bensefa-Colas, Isabelle Momas

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We evaluated the impact of the first lockdown restriction measures (March-May 2020) in the Paris area on (1) the variation of in-vehicle ultrafine particle (UFP) and black carbon (BC) concentrations between pre-and post-lockdown period and (2) the professional drivers working conditions and practices. The study was conducted on 33 Parisian taxi drivers. UFP and BC were measured inside their vehicles with DiSCmini® and microAeth®, respectively, on two typical working days before and after the first lockdown. The job-related characteristics were self-reported. Our results showed that after the first lockdown, the number of clients significantly decreased as well as the taxi driver's journey duration. Taxi drivers significantly opened their windows more and reduced the use of air recirculation. UFP decreased significantly by 32% and BC by 31% after the first lockdown, with a weaker positive correlation compared to before the lockdown. The reduction of in-vehicle UFP was explained mainly by the reduction of traffic flow and ventilation settings, though the latter probably varied according to the traffic condition. No predictor explained the variation of in-vehicle BC concentration between pre-and post-lockdown periods, suggesting different sources of UFP and BC. The road traffic was not anymore the dominant source of BC post-lockdown. We emphasize the role of traffic emissions on in-vehicle air pollution and that preventive measures such as ventilation settings will help to better manage air quality inside a vehicle in order to minimize exposure of professional drivers, as well as passengers, to air pollutants.

Keywords: black carbon, COVID-19, France, lockdown, taxis, ultrafine particles

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Tzu-Jung Tseng, Pei-Hsuen Han, Tsung-Hsueh Lu

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Background: Choropleth mortality map is commonly used to identify areas with higher mortality risk. However, the use of choropleth map alone might result in the misinterpretation of differences in mortality rates between areas. Two areas with different color shades might not actually have a significant difference in mortality rates. The mortality rates estimated for an area with a small population would be less stable. We suggest of bringing the 95% confidence intervals (CI) into the choropleth mortality map to help users interpret the areal mortality rate difference more properly. Method: In the first choropleth mortality map, we used only three color to indicate standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for each district in Tainan, Taiwan. The red color denotes that the SMR of that district was significantly higher than the Tainan average; on the contrary, the green color suggests that the SMR of that district was significantly lower than the Tainan average. The yellow color indicates that the SMR of that district was not statistically significantly different from the Tainan average. In the second choropleth mortality map, we used traditional sequential color scheme (color ramp) for different SMR in 37 districts in Tainan City with bar chart of each SMR with 95% CI in which the users could examine if the line of 95% CI of SMR of two districts overlapped (nonsignificant difference). Results: The all-causes SMR of each district in Tainan for 2008 to 2013 ranged from 0.77 (95% CI 0.75 to 0.80) in East District to 1.39 Beimen (95% CI 1.25 to 1.52). In the first choropleth mortality map, only 16 of 37 districts had red color and 8 districts had green color. For different causes of death, the number of districts with red color differed. In the first choropleth mortality map we added a bar chart with line of 95% CI of SMR in each district, in which the users could visualize the SMR differences between districts. Conclusion: Through the use of 95% CI the users could interpret the aral mortality differences more properly.

Keywords: choropleth map, small area variation, standardized mortality ratio (SMR), Taiwan

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Authors: Yoseph Gela Ali

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Inadequate quality and quantity diet is one of the major reasons for high levels of malnutrition in pregnant women. Across-sectional survey was conducted in Shashemene District, Southern Oromia Region. A two-stage cluster sampling technique was used to select a representative sample of 15190 pregnant women aged 20-50 years from four rural villages Energy and nutrient intakes from foods were calculated from one-day weighed food records on a sub-sample (n = 83). The result of the study showed that the intakes of most nutrients were lower than the recommended intake. The energy intake of the study participants both in 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy were 2,308 kcal and 1,420.5 kcal compared to the recommended 2,340 kcal and 2,452 kcal, respectively. Except iron, almost all micronutrient intakes were lower than the recommended intake. Vitamin A intake was 3 µg compared with the recommended 800 µg, while protein intake of the study respondents in 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy was 45.9 g and 31.5 g, respectively, compared with the recommended 71 g. Risk factors for under nutrition were multiple pregnancy and no consumption of cereal-based foods. This study revealed that the energy and nutrient intake of the pregnant women in the study area was below the recommended intakes. Furthermore, the situation might be aggravated by the high phytate content food consumption reported. Nutritional status of pregnant women in the study area was not adequate to support the increased energy and nutrient requirement of the participants.

Keywords: nutrition, pregnancy, protein, vitamin, energy

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Authors: Rafal Michalski, Jakub Zygadlo

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We present the concept and scientific methods and algorithms of our computation system called ATOMIC MATTERS. This is the first presentation of the new computer package, that allows its user to describe physical properties of atomic localized electron systems subject to electromagnetic interactions. Our solution applies to situations where an unclosed electron 2p/3p/3d/4d/5d/4f/5f subshell interacts with an electrostatic potential of definable symmetry and external magnetic field. Our methods are based on Crystal Electric Field (CEF) approach, which takes into consideration the electrostatic ligands field as well as the magnetic Zeeman effect. The application allowed us to predict macroscopic properties of materials such as: Magnetic, spectral and calorimetric as a result of physical properties of their fine electronic structure. We emphasize the importance of symmetry of charge surroundings of atom/ion, spin-orbit interactions (spin-orbit coupling) and the use of complex number matrices in the definition of the Hamiltonian. Calculation methods, algorithms and convention recalculation tools collected in ATOMIC MATTERS were chosen to permit the prediction of magnetic and spectral properties of materials in isostructural series.

Keywords: atomic matters, crystal electric field (CEF) spin-orbit coupling, localized states, electron subshell, fine electronic structure

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Authors: Magda Gorczyca, Zofia Nocoń

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Past and current studies from different countries showed that river engineering leads to environmental degradation and extinction of many species - often those protected by local and international wildlife conservation laws. Through the years, the main focus of rivers utilization has shifted from industrial applications to recreation and wildlife preservation with a focus on keeping the biodiversity which plays a significant role in preventing climate changes. Thus an opportunity appeared to recreate flooding areas and natural habitats, which are very rare in the scale of Europe. Additionally, river restoration helps to avoid floodings and periodic droughts, which are usually very damaging to the economy. In this research, the biodiversity of dragonflies and ground beetles was analyzed in the context of plant communities and forest stands structure. Results were enriched with data from past and current literature. A comparison was made between two parts of the Odra river. A part where oxbow lake and riparian forest were separated from the river bed by embankment and a part of the river with floodplains left intact. Validity assessment of embankments relocation was made based on the research results. In the period between May and September, insects were collected, phytosociological analysis were taken, and forest stand structure properties were specified. In the part of the river not separated by the embankments, rare and protected species of plants were spotted (e.g., Trapanatans, Salvinianatans) as well as greater species and quantitive diversity of dragonfly. Ground beetles fauna, though, was richer in the area separated by the embankment. Even though the research was done during only one season and in a limited area, the results can be a starting point for further extended research and may contribute to acquiring legal wildlife protection and restoration of the researched area. During the research, the presence of invasive species Impatiens parviflora, Echinocystislobata, and Procyonlotor were observed, which may lead to loss of the natural values of the researched areas.

Keywords: carabidae, floodplains, middle Odra river, Odonata, oxbow lakes, riparian forests

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Authors: Sudha Shukla, Bablu Kumar, Gyan Prakash Gupta, U. C. Kulshrestha

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Air pollutants emitted from solid biofuels during cooking are the major contributors to poor air quality, respiratory problems, and radiative forcing, etc. in rural areas of most of developing countries. The present study reports the chemical characteristics and sources of ambient aerosols and traces gases during cooking and non-cooking hours emitted during biofuel combustion in a village in North-Central India. Fine aerosol samples along with gaseous species (Sox, NOx, and NH₃) were collected during September 2010-March 2011 at Khairatpur village (KPV) which is located in the Uttar Pradesh state in North-Central India. Results indicated that most of the major ions in aerosols and Sox, NOx, and NH₃ gases were found to be higher during cooking hours as compared to non-cooking hours suggesting that solid biofuel combustion is an important source of air pollution. Results of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that combustion of solid biofuel, vehicular emissions, and brick kilns were the major sources of fine aerosols and trace gases in the village. A health survey was conducted to find out the relation between users of biofuels and their health effects and the results revealed that most of the women in the village were suffering from diseases associated with biofuel combustion during cooking.

Keywords: ambient aerosols, biofuel combustion, cooking, health survey, rural area

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Authors: M. A. Grigoryev, A. N. Shishkov, D. A. Sychev

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The article defines the necessity of choosing the optimal power circuits scheme of the electric drive with field regulated reluctance machine. The specific weighting factors are calculation, the linear regression dependence of specific losses in semiconductor frequency converters are presented depending on the values of the rated current. It is revealed that with increase of the carrier frequency PWM improves the output current waveform, but increases the loss, so you will need depending on the task in a certain way to choose from the carrier frequency. For task of optimization by criterion of the minimum electrical losses regression dependence of the electrical losses in the frequency converter circuit at a frequency of a PWM signal of 0 Hz. The surface optimization criterion is presented depending on the rated output torque of the motor and number of phases. In electric drives with field regulated reluctance machine with at low output power optimization criterion appears to be the worst for multiphase circuits. With increasing output power this trend hold true, but becomes insignificantly different optimal solutions for three-phase and multiphase circuits. This is explained to the linearity of the dependence of the electrical losses from the current.

Keywords: field regulated reluctance machine, the electrical losses, multiphase power circuit, the surface optimization criterion

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Authors: Safaa M. Hassan; Safwat S. Gabr, Mohamed F. Sadek

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This study is proposed for the lithological and iron oxides detection in the old mine areas of El-Bahariya Depression, Western Desert, using ASTER and Landsat-8 remote sensing data. Four old iron ore occurrences, namely; El-Gedida, El-Haraa, Ghurabi, and Nasir mine areas found in the El-Bahariya area. This study aims to find new high potential areas for iron mineralization around El-Baharyia depression. Image processing methods such as principle component analysis (PCA) and band ratios (b4/b5, b5/b6, b6/b7, and 4/2, 6/7, band 6) images were used for lithological identification/mapping that includes the iron content in the investigated area. ASTER and Landsat-8 visible and short-wave infrared data found to help mapping the ferruginous sandstones, iron oxides as well as the clay minerals in and around the old mines area of El-Bahariya depression. Landsat-8 band ratio and the principle component of this study showed well distribution of the lithological units, especially ferruginous sandstones and iron zones (hematite and limonite) along with detection of probable high potential areas for iron mineralization which can be used in the future and proved the ability of Landsat-8 and ASTER data in mapping these features. Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF), Mixture Tuned Matched Filtering (MTMF), pixel purity index methods as well as Spectral Ange Mapper classifier algorithm have been successfully discriminated the hematite and limonite content within the iron zones in the study area. Various ASTER image spectra and ASD field spectra of hematite and limonite and the surrounding rocks are compared and found to be consistent in terms of the presence of absorption features at range from 1.95 to 2.3 μm for hematite and limonite. Pixel purity index algorithm and two sub-pixel spectral methods, namely Mixture Tuned Matched Filtering (MTMF) and matched filtering (MF) methods, are applied to ASTER bands to delineate iron oxides (hematite and limonite) rich zones within the rock units. The results are validated in the field by comparing image spectra of spectrally anomalous zone with the USGS resampled laboratory spectra of hematite and limonite samples using ASD measurements. A number of iron oxides rich zones in addition to the main surface exposures of the El-Gadidah Mine, are confirmed in the field. The proposed method is a successful application of spectral mapping of iron oxides deposits in the exposed rock units (i.e., ferruginous sandstone) and present approach of both ASTER and ASD hyperspectral data processing can be used to delineate iron-rich zones occurring within similar geological provinces in any parts of the world.

Keywords: Landsat-8, ASTER, lithological mapping, iron exploration, western desert

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Authors: V. Sulakatko, F. U. Vogdt, I. Lill

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Construction technology and on-site construction activities have a direct influence on the life cycle costs of energy efficiently renovated apartment buildings. The systematic inadequacies of the External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) which occur during the construction phase increase the risk for all stakeholders, reduce mechanical durability and increase the life cycle costs of the building. The economic effect of these shortcomings can be minimised if the risk of the most significant on-site activities is recognised. The objective of the presented ETICS economic assessment concept is to evaluate the economic influence of on-site shortcomings and reveal their significance to the foreseeable future repair costs. The model assembles repair techniques, discusses their direct cost calculation methods, argues over the proper usage of net present value over the life cycle of the building, and proposes a simulation tool to evaluate the risk of on-site activities. As the technique is dependent on the selected real interest rate, a sensitivity analysis is anticipated to determine the validity of the recommendations. After the verification of the model on the sample buildings by the industry, it is expected to increase economic rationality of resource allocation and reduce high-risk systematic shortcomings during the construction process of ETICS.

Keywords: activity-based cost estimating, cost estimation, ETICS, life cycle costing

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Authors: M. Attavanich, H. Kobayashi

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Moklen is a sub-group of ethnic minority in Thailand. In the past, they were vagabonds of the sea. Their livelihood relied on the sea but they built temporary shelters to avoid strong wind and waves during monsoon season. Recently, they have permanently settled on land along coastal area and mangrove forest in Phang Nga and Phuket Province, Southern Thailand. Moklen people have their own housing culture: the Moklen ethnic house was built from local natural materials, indicating a unique structure and design. Its wooden structure is joined by rattan ropes. The construction process is very unique because of using body-based unit of measurement for design and construction. However, there are several threats for those unique structures. One of the most important threats on Moklen ethnic house is tsunami. Especially the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami caused widely damage to Southern Thailand and Phang Nga province was the most affected area. In that time, Moklen villages which are located along the coastal area also affected calamitously. In order to recover the damage in affected villages, mostly new modern style houses were provided by aid agencies. This process has caused a significant impact on Moklen housing culture. Not only tsunami, but also modernization has an influence on the changing appearance of the Moklen houses and the effect of modernization has been started to experience before the tsunami. As a result, local construction knowledge is very limited nowadays because the number of elderly people in Moklen has been decreasing drastically. Last but not the least, restrictions of construction materials which are originally provided from accessible mangroves, create limitations in building a Moklen house. In particular, after the Reserved Forest Act, wood chopping without any permission has become illegal. These are some of the most important reasons for Moklen ethnic houses to disappear. Nevertheless, according to the results of field surveys done in 2013 in Phang Nga province, it is found out that some Moklen ethnic houses are still available in Tubpla Village, but only a few. Next survey in the same area in 2014 showed that number of Moklen houses in the village has been started to increase significantly. That proves that there is a high potential to conserve Moklen houses. Also the project of our research team in February 2014 contributed to continuation of Moklen ethnic house. With the cooperation of the village leader and our team, it was aimed to construct a Moklen house with the help of local participants. For the project, villagers revealed the building knowledge and techniques, and in the end, project helped community to understand the value of their houses. Also, it was a good opportunity for Moklen children to learn about their culture. In addition, NGOs recently have started to support ecotourism projects in the village. It not only helps to preserve a way of life, but also contributes to preserve indigenous knowledge and techniques of Moklen ethnic house. This kind of supporting activities are important for the conservation of Moklen ethnic houses.

Keywords: conservation, construction project, Moklen Ethnic House, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

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Authors: Md. Shakhawat Ullah Chowdhury

Abstract:

Mobile school is an innovative methodology in non-formal education to increase access to education for children during conflict through theatre for education for appropriate basic education to children during conflict. The continuous exposure to harsh environments and the nature of the lifestyles of children in conflict make them vulnerable. However, the mobile school initiative takes into consideration the mobile lifestyle of children in conflict. Schools are provided considering the pocket area of the street children with portable chalkboards, tin of books and materials as communities move. Teaching is multi-grade to ensure all children in the community benefit. The established mobile schools, while focused on basic literacy and numeracy skills according to traditions of the communities. The school teachers are selected by the community and trained by a theatre activist. These teachers continue to live and move with the community and provide continuous education for children in conflict. The model proposed a holistic team work to deliver education focused services to the street children’s pocket area where the team is mobile. The team consists of three members –an educator (theatre worker), a psychological counsellor and paramedics. The mobile team is responsible to educate street children and also play dramas which specially produce on the basis of national curriculum and awareness issues for street children. Children enjoy play and learn about life skills and basic literacy and numeracy skills which may be a pillar of humanitarian aid during conflict.

Keywords: vulnerable, children in conflict, mobile schooling, child-friendly

Procedia PDF Downloads 425

Authors: Chung-Hung Tsai, Ya-Ping Li

Abstract:

Tourism industry is highly depended on the natural environment and climate. Compared to other industries, it is more susceptible to environment and climate. Taiwan belongs to a sea island country and located in the subtropical monsoon zone. The events of climate variability, frequency of typhoons and rainfalls raged are caused regularly serious disaster. In traditional disaster assessment, it usually focuses on the disaster damage and risk assessment, which is short of the features from different industries to understand the impact of the restoring force in post-disaster resilience and the main factors that constitute resilience. The object of this study is based on disaster recovery experience of tourism area and to understand the main factors affecting the tourist area of disaster resilience. The combinations of literature review and interviews with experts are prepared an early indicator system of the disaster resilience. Then, it is screened through a Fuzzy Delphi Method and Analytic Network Process for weight analysis. Finally, this study will establish the tourism disaster resilience evaluation index system considering the Taiwan's tourism industry characteristics. We hope that be able to enhance disaster resilience after tourist areas and increases the sustainability of industrial development. It is expected to provide government departments the tourism industry as the future owner of the assets in extreme climates responses.

Keywords: resilience, Fuzzy Delphi Method, Analytic Network Process, industrial development

Procedia PDF Downloads 395

Authors: Taki Eddine Seghier, Mohd Hamdan Ahmad, Yaik-Wah Lim, Samuel Opeyemi Williams

Abstract:

The assessment of building sustainability to achieve a specific green benchmark and the preparation of the required documents in order to receive a green building certification, both are considered as major challenging tasks for green building design team. However, this labor and time-consuming process can take advantage of the available Building Information Modeling (BIM) features such as material take-off and scheduling. Furthermore, the workflow can be automated in order to track potentially achievable credit points and provide rating feedback for several design options by using integrated Visual Programing (VP) to handle the stored parameters within the BIM model. Hence, this study proposes a BIM-based tool that uses Green Building Index (GBI) rating system requirements as a unique input case to evaluate the building sustainability in the design stage of the building project life cycle. The tool covers two key models for data extraction, firstly, a model for data extraction, calculation and the classification of achievable credit points in a green template, secondly, a model for the generation of the required documents for green building certification. The tool was validated on a BIM model of residential building and it serves as proof of concept that building sustainability assessment of GBI certification can be automatically evaluated and documented through BIM.

Keywords: green building rating system, GBRS, building information modeling, BIM, visual programming, VP, sustainability assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Gannouni Sonia, Hammami Asma, Saidi Salwa, Rebai Noamen

Abstract:

Water resources in Tunisia have experienced quantitative and qualitative degradation, especially when talking about wetlands and Sbekhas. Indeed, the objective of this work is to study the spatio-temporal evolution of salinity for 29 years (from 1987 to 2016). A study of the connection between surface water and groundwater is necessary to know the degree of influence of the Sebkha brines on the water table. The evolution of surface salinity is determined by remote sensing based on Landsat TM and OLI/TIRS satellite images of the years 1987, 2007, 2010, and 2016. The processing of these images allowed us to determine the NDVI(Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), the salinity index, and the surface temperature around Sebkha. In addition, through a geographic information system(GIS), we could establish a map of the distribution of salinity in the subsurface of the water table of Chott Mariem and Hergla/SidiBouAli/Kondar. The results of image processing and the calculation of the index and surface temperature show an increase in salinity downstream of in addition to the sebkha and the development of vegetation cover upstream and the western part of the sebkha. This richness may be due both to contamination by seawater infiltration from the barrier beach of Hergla as well as the passage of groundwater to the sebkha.

Keywords: spatio-temporal monitoring, salinity, satellite images, NDVI, sebkha

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Strahinja Kovačević, Lidija Jevrić, Miloš Kuzmanović, Sanja Podunavac-Kuzmanović

Abstract:

In this paper, various derivatives of benzimidazole have been evaluated against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli. For all investigated compounds the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined. Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) attempts to find consistent relationships between the variations in the values of molecular properties and the biological activity for a series of compounds so that these rules can be used to evaluate new chemical entities. The correlation between MIC and some absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) parameters was investigated, and the mathematical models for predicting the antibacterial activity of this class of compounds were developed. The quality of the multiple linear regression (MLR) models was validated by the leave-one-out (LOO) technique, as well as by the calculation of the statistical parameters for the developed models and the results are discussed on the basis of the statistical data. The results of this study indicate that ADME parameters have a significant effect on the antibacterial activity of this class of compounds. Principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithms (HCA) confirmed that the investigated molecules can be classified into groups on the basis of the ADME parameters: Madin-Darby Canine Kidney cell permeability (MDCK), Plasma protein binding (PPB%), human intestinal absorption (HIA%) and human colon carcinoma cell permeability (Caco-2).

Keywords: benzimidazoles, QSAR, ADME, in silico

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Shanujah Mathuranayagam, William Fuentes, Samanthika Liyanapathirana

Abstract:

This paper introduces an enhanced version of the coupled hydro-mechanical hypoplastic model. The model is able to simulate volumetric collapse upon wetting and incorporates suction effects on stiffness and strength. Its mechanical constitutive equation links Bishop’s effective stress with strain and suction, featuring a normal consolidation line (NCL) with a compression index (λ) presenting a non-linear dependency with the degree of saturation. The Bulk modulus has been modified to ensure that under rapid volumetric collapse, the stress state remains at the NCL. The coupled model comprises eighteen parameters, with nine for the hydraulic component and nine for the mechanical component. Hydraulic parameters are calibrated with the use of water retention curves (IWRC) across varied soil densities, while mechanical parameters undergo calibration using isotropic and triaxial tests on both unsaturated and saturated samples. The model's performance is analyzed through the back-calculation of two experimental studies: (i) wetting under different vertical stresses for Lower Cromer Till and (ii) isotropic loading and triaxial loading for undisturbed loess. The results confirm that the proposed model is able to predict the hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils.

Keywords: hypoplastic model, volumetric collapse, normal consolidation line, compression index (λ), degree of saturation, soil suction

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Nesrine Frifita

Abstract:

In recent years, serious interest in underground sources has led to more intensive studies of depth, thickness, geometry and properties of aquifers. Geophysical method is the common technique used in discovering the subsurface. However, determining the exact location of groundwater in subsurface layers is one of problems that needs to be resolved. While the biggest problem is the quality of the groundwater which suffers from pollution risk especially with water shortage in arid regions under a remarkable climate change. The present study was conducted using electrical resistivity tomography at Jeffara coastal area in Southeast Tunisia to image the potential shallow aquifer and studying their physical properties. The purpose of this study is to understand the characteristics and depth of the Smar aquifer. Therefore, it can be used as a reference in groundwater drilling in order to guide the farmers and to improve the living of the inhabitants of nearby cities. The use of the Winner-Schlumberger array for data acquisition is suitable to obtain a deeper profile in areas with homogeneous layers. For that, six electrical resistivity profiles were carried out in Smar watershed using 72 electrodes with 4 and 5 m spacing. The resistivity measurements were carefully interpreted by a least-square inversion technique using the RES2DINV program. Findings show that the Smar aquifer has about 31 m thickness and it extends to 36.5 m depth in the downstream area of Oued Smar. The defined depth and geometry of Smar aquifer indicate that the sedimentary cover thins toward the coast, and the Smar shallow aquifer becomes deeper toward the West. While the resistivity values show a significant contrast even reaching < 1 Ωm in ERT1, this resistivity value can be related to the saline water that foretells a risk of pollution and bad groundwater quality. The ERT1 geoelectrical model defines an unsaturated zone, while under ERT3 site, the geoelectrical model presents a saturated zone, which reflect a low resistivity values indicate the locally surface water coming from the nearby Office of the National Sanitation Utility (ONAS) that can be a source of recharge of the studied shallow aquifer and more deteriorate the groundwater quality in this region.

Keywords: electrical resistivity tomography, groundwater, recharge, smar aquifer, southeastern tunisia

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: A. Oukaira, A. Lakhssassi, O. Ettahri

Abstract:

To make a good thermal management in an ABDM (Adapter Board Detector Module) card, we must first control temperature and its gradient from the first step in the design of integrated circuits ASIC of our complex system. In this paper, our main goal is to develop and validate the thermal stability in order to get an idea of the flow of heat around the ASIC in transient and thus address the thermal issues for integrated circuits at the ABDM card. However, we need heat sources simulations for ABDM card to establish its thermal mapping. This led us to perform simulations at each ASIC that will allow us to understand the thermal ABDM map and find real solutions for each one of our complex system that contains 36 ABDM map, taking into account the different layers around ASIC. To do a transient simulation under NISA, we had to build a function of power modulation in time TIMEAMP. The maximum power generated in the ASIC is 0.6 W. We divided the power uniformly in the volume of the ASIC. This power was applied for 5 seconds to visualize the evolution and distribution of heat around the ASIC. The DBC (Dirichlet Boundary conditions) method was applied around the ABDM at 25°C and just after these simulations in NISA tool we will validate them by COMSOL tool, wich is a numerical calculation software for a modular finite element for modeling a wide variety of physical phenomena characterizing a real problem. It will also be a design tool with its ability to handle 3D geometries for complex systems.

Keywords: ABDM, APD, thermal mapping, complex system

Procedia PDF Downloads 260

Authors: Sanja O. Podunavac-Kuzmanović, Lidija R. Jevrić, Strahinja Z. Kovačević

Abstract:

Benzimidazoles are a group of compounds with significant antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer activity. The studied compounds consist of the main benzimidazole structure with different combinations of substituens. This study is based on the two-dimensional and three-dimensional molecular modeling and calculation of molecular descriptors (physicochemical and lipophilicity descriptors) of structurally diverse benzimidazoles. Molecular modeling was carried out by using ChemBio3D Ultra version 14.0 software. The obtained 3D models were subjected to energy minimization using molecular mechanics force field method (MM2). The cutoff for structure optimization was set at a gradient of 0.1 kcal/Åmol. The obtained set of molecular descriptors was used in principal component analysis (PCA) of possible similarities and dissimilarities among the studied derivatives. After the molecular modeling, the quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) analysis was applied in order to get the mathematical models which can be used in prediction of pKb values of structurally similar benzimidazoles. The obtained models are based on statistically valid multiple linear regression (MLR) equations. The calculated cross-validation parameters indicate the high prediction ability of the established QSPR models. This study is financially supported by COST action CM1306 and the project No. 114-451-347/2015-02, financially supported by the Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological Development of Vojvodina.

Keywords: benzimidazoles, chemometrics, molecular modeling, molecular descriptors, QSPR

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Ali Almadan, Anoop Krishnan, Ajita Rattani

Abstract:

Facial recognition is a widely adopted technology in surveillance, border control, healthcare, banking services, and lately, in mobile user authentication with Apple introducing “Face ID” moniker with iPhone X. A lot of research has been conducted in the area of face recognition on datasets captured by surveillance cameras, DSLR, and mobile devices. Recently, face recognition technology has also been deployed on body-worn cameras to keep officers safe, enabling situational awareness and providing evidence for trial. However, limited academic research has been conducted on this topic so far, without the availability of any publicly available datasets with a sufficient sample size. This paper aims to advance research in the area of face recognition using body-worn cameras. To this aim, the contribution of this work is two-fold: (1) collection of a dataset consisting of a total of 136,939 facial images of 102 subjects captured using body-worn cameras in in-door and daylight conditions and (2) evaluation of various deep-learning architectures for face identification on the collected dataset. Experimental results suggest a maximum True Positive Rate(TPR) of 99.86% at False Positive Rate(FPR) of 0.000 obtained by SphereFace based deep learning architecture in daylight condition. The collected dataset and the baseline algorithms will promote further research and development. A downloadable link of the dataset and the algorithms is available by contacting the authors.

Keywords: face recognition, body-worn cameras, deep learning, person identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 158