Search results for: heavy sulphide zone

Authors: Oyewole Charles Iledun, Shuaib Harira, Ezeogueri-Oyewole Anne Nnenna

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Due to high population pressure/human activities competing for agricultural land, the need to maximize the productivity of available land has become necessary; this has not been achievable in the tropics with monoculture systems where a single harvest per season is the practice. Thus, this study evaluates intercropping combination and tillage practice on yield and yield components of groundnut in a mixture with maize. The trial was conducted in the rainy seasons of 2020 and 2021 at the Kogi State University Students’ Research and Demonstration Farm, Latitude 70 301 and Longitude 70 091 E in the Southern Guinea Savannah agro-ecological zone of Nigeria. Treatment consisted of three tillage practices [as main plot factor] and five intercropping combinations [subplot factor] assigned to a 3 x 5 Factorial experiment replicated four times. Data were collected for growth, development, yield components, and yield of groundnut. Data collected were subjected to Statistical Analysis in line with Factorial Experiments. Means found to be statistically significant at 5 % probability were separated using the LSD method. Regarding yield components and yield related parameters in groundnuts, better performance was observed in cole cropped groundnut plots compared to the intercropped plots. However, intercropping groundnut with maize was generally advantageous, with LER greater than unity. Among the intercrops, the highest LERs were observed when one row of maize was cropped with one row of groundnut, with the least LER recorded in intercropping two rows of maize with one row of groundnut. For the tillage operations, zero tillage gave the highest LERs in both seasons, while the least LERs were recorded when the groundnut was planted on ridges. Since the highest LERs were observed when one row of maize was intercropped with one row of groundnut, this level of crop combination is recommended for the study area, while ridging may not be necessary to get good groundnut yield, particularly under similar soil conditions as obtained in the experimental area, and with similar rainfall observed during the experimental period.

Keywords: canopy height, leaf number, haulm yield / ha, pod yield / ha, harvest index and shelling percentage

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Authors: Lingxiao Yang, Xin Wang, Bo Xu, Zhenqian Chen

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Due to its outstanding environmental performance, higher heating temperature and excellent low-temperature performance, transcritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) heat pumps are receiving more and more attention. However, improperly set operating parameters have a serious negative impact on the performance of the transcritical CO₂ heat pump due to the properties of CO₂. In this study, the heat transfer characteristics of the gas cooler are studied based on the modified “three-stage” gas cooler, then the effect of three operating parameters, compressor speed, gas cooler water-inlet flowrate and gas cooler water-inlet temperature, on the heating process of the system are investigated from the perspective of thermal quality and heat capacity. The results shows that: In the heat transfer process of gas cooler, the temperature distribution of CO₂ and water shows a typical “two region” and “three zone” pattern; The rise in the cooling pressure of CO₂ serves to increase the thermal quality on the CO₂ side of the gas cooler, which in turn improves the heating temperature of the system; Nevertheless, the elevated thermal quality on the CO₂ side can exacerbate the mismatch of heat capacity on both sides of the gas cooler, thereby adversely affecting the system coefficient of performance (COP); Furthermore, increasing compressor speed mitigates the mismatch in heat capacity caused by elevated thermal quality, which is exacerbated by decreasing gas cooler water-inlet flowrate and rising gas cooler water-inlet temperature; As a delegate, the varying compressor speed results in a 7.1°C increase in heating temperature within the experimental range, accompanied by a 10.01% decrease in COP and an 11.36% increase in heating capacity. This study can not only provide an important reference for the theoretical analysis and control strategy of the transcritical CO₂ heat pump, but also guide the related simulation and the design of the gas cooler. However, the range of experimental parameters in the current study is small and the conclusions drawn are not further analysed quantitatively. Therefore, expanding the range of parameters studied and proposing corresponding quantitative conclusions and indicators with universal applicability could greatly increase the practical applicability of this study. This is also the goal of our next research.

Keywords: transcritical CO₂ heat pump, gas cooler, heat capacity, thermal quality

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Authors: Muhammad Ali Siddiquee, Md. Alauddin, Md. Omar Faruque, Zakir Hossain Howlader, Mohammad Asaduzzaman

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Rice bran (RB) and rice bran oil (RBO) are explored as prominent food components worldwide. In this study, fermented rice bran (FRB) was produced by employing edible gram-positive bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and Bifidobacterium bifidum) at 125 x 10⁵ spore g⁻¹ of rice bran, and investigated to evaluate nutritional quality. The crude rice bran oil (CRBO) was extracted from RB, and its quality was also investigated compared to market-available rice bran oil (MRBO) in Bangladesh. We found that fermentation of rice bran with lactic acid bacteria increased total proteins (29.52%), fat (5.38%), ash (48.47%), crude fiber (38.96%), and moisture (61.04%) and reduced the carbohydrate content (36.61%). We also found that essential amino acids (methionine, tryptophan, threonine, valine, leucine, lysine, histidine, and phenylalanine) and non-essential amino acids (alanine, aspartate, glycine, glutamine, proline, serine, and tyrosine) were increased in FRB except methionine and proline. Moreover, total phenolic content, tannin content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity were increased in FRB. The RBO analysis showed that γ-oryzanol content (10.00mg/g) was found in CRBO compared to MRBO (ranging from 7.40 to 12.70 mg/g) and Vitamin-E content 0.20% was found higher in CRBO compared to MRBO (ranging 0.097 to 0.12%). The total saturated (25.16%) and total unsaturated fatty acids (74.44%) were found in CRBO, whereas MRBO contained total saturated (22.08 to 24.13%) and total unsaturated fatty acids (71.91 to 83.29%), respectively. The physiochemical parameters were found satisfactory in all samples except acid value and peroxide value higher in CRBO. Finally, animal experiments showed that FRB and CRBO reduce the body weight, glucose, and lipid profile in high-fat diet-induced animal models. Thus, FRB and RBO could be value-added food supplements for human health.

Keywords: fermented rice bran, crude rice bran oil, amino acids, proximate composition, gamma-oryzanol, fatty acids, heavy metals, physiochemical parameters

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Authors: H. Aljabiry, L. Bailey, S. Young

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Qatar is a desert with an average temperature 37⁰C, reaching over 40⁰C during summer. Precipitation is uncommon and mostly in winter. Qatar depends on desalination for drinking water and on groundwater and recycled water for irrigation. Water consumption and network leakage per capita in Qatar are amongst the highest in the world; re-use of treated wastewater is extremely limited with only 14% of treated wastewater being used for irrigation. This has led to the country disposing of unwanted water from various sources in lagoons situated around the country, causing concern over the possibility of environmental pollution. Accordingly, our hypothesis underpinning this research is that the quality and quantity of water in lagoons is having an impact on the groundwater reservoirs in Qatar. Lagoons (n = 14) and wells (n = 55) were sampled for both summer and winter in 2018 (summer and winter). Water, adjoining soil and plant samples were analysed for multiple elements by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. Organic and inorganic carbon were measured (CN analyser) and the major anions were determined by ion chromatography. Salinization in both the lagoon and the wells was seen with good correlations between Cl⁻, Na⁺, Li, SO₄, S, Sr, Ca, Ti (p-value < 0.05). Association of heavy metals was observed of Ni, Cu, Ag, and V, Cr, Mo, Cd which is due to contamination from anthropological activities such as wastewater disposal or spread of contaminated dust. However, looking at each elements none of them exceeds the Qatari regulation. Moreover, gypsum saturation in the system was observed in both the lagoon and wells water samples. Lagoons and the water of the well are found to be of a saline type as well as Ca²⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻ type evidencing both gypsum dissolution and salinization in the system. Moreover, Maps produced by Inverse distance weighting showed an increasing level of Nitrate in the groundwater in winter, and decrease chloride and sulphate level, indicating recharge effect after winter rain events. While E. coli and faecal bacteria were found in most of the lagoons, biological analysis for wells needs to be conducted to understand the biological contamination from lagoon water infiltration. As a conclusion, while both the lagoon and the well showed the same results, more sampling is needed to understand the impact of the lagoons on the groundwater.

Keywords: groundwater quality, lagoon, treated wastewater, water management, wastewater treatment, wetlands

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Authors: Krunal Thakar

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Wire ropes combine high tensile strength and flexibility as compared to other general steel products. They are used in various application areas such as cranes, mining, elevators, bridges, cable cars, etc. The earliest reported use of wire ropes was for mining hoist application in 1830s. Over the period, there have been substantial advancement in the design of wire ropes for various application areas. Under operational conditions, wire ropes are subjected to varying tensile loads and bending loads resulting in material wear and eventual structural failure due to fretting fatigue. The conventional inspection methods to determine wire failure is only limited to outer wires of rope. However, till date, there is no effective mathematical model to examine the inter wire contact forces and wear characteristics. The scope of this paper is to present a computational simulation technique to evaluate inter wire contact forces and wear, which are in many cases responsible for rope failure. Two different type of ropes, IWRC-6xFi(29) and U3xSeS(48) were taken for structural strength evaluation and wear prediction. Both ropes have a double helix twisted wire profile as per JIS standards and are mainly used in cranes. CAD models of both ropes were developed in general purpose design software using in house developed formulation to generate double helix profile. Numerical simulation was done under two different load cases (a) Axial Tension and (b) Bending over Sheave. Different parameters such as stresses, contact forces, wear depth, load-elongation, etc., were investigated and compared between both ropes. Numerical simulation method facilitates the detailed investigation of inter wire contact and wear characteristics. In addition, various selection parameters like sheave diameter, rope diameter, helix angle, swaging, maximum load carrying capacity, etc., can be quickly analyzed.

Keywords: steel wire ropes, numerical simulation, material wear, structural strength, axial tension, bending over sheave

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Authors: Wenjun Zhang, Thao Thi Le, Dongyup Shin, Jong Min Kim

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Electrochemical hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) synthesis holds significant promise for decentralized environmental remediation through the electro-Fenton process. However, challenges persist, such as the absence of robust electrocatalysts for the selective two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e⁻ ORR) and the high cost and sluggish kinetics of conventional electro-Fenton systems in treating highly concentrated wastewater. This study introduces an efficient water treatment system for removing substantial quantities of organic pollutants using an advanced electro-Fenton system coupled with a high-valent NiO catalyst. By employing a precipitation method involving crystal facet and cation vacancy engineering, a trivalent Ni (Ni³⁺)-rich NiO catalyst with a (111)-domain-exposed crystal facet, named {111}-NivO, was synthesized. This catalyst exhibited a remarkable 96% selectivity and a high mass activity of 59 A g⁻¹ for H₂O₂ production, outperforming all previously reported Ni-based catalysts. Furthermore, an advanced electro-Fenton system, integrated with a flow cell for electrochemical H₂O₂ production, was utilized to achieve 100% removal of 50 ppm bisphenol A (BPA) in 200 mL of wastewater under heavy-duty conditions, reaching a superior rapid degradation rate (4 min, k = 1.125 min⁻¹), approximately 102 times faster than the conventional electro-Fenton system. The hyper-efficiency is attributed to the continuous and appropriate supply of H₂O₂, the provision of O₂, and the timely recycling of the electrolyte under high current density operation. This catalyst also demonstrated a 93% removal of total organic carbon after 2 hours of operation and can be applied for efficient removal of highly concentrated phenol pollutants from aqueous systems, which opens new avenues for wastewater treatment.

Keywords: hydrogen peroxide production, nickel oxides, crystal facet and cation vacancy engineering, wastewater treatment, flow cell, electro-Fenton

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Authors: C. Bejrananda, Y. Lee, T. Khamkaew

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With the rise of the importance of air transportation in the 21st century, the role of economics in airport planning and decision-making has become more important to the urban structure and land value around it. Therefore, this research aims to examine the relationship between an airport and its impacts on the distribution of urban land uses and land values by applying the Alonso’s bid rent model. The New Bangkok International Airport (Suvarnabhumi International Airport) was taken as a case study. The analysis was made over three different time periods of airport development (after the airport site was proposed, during airport construction, and after the opening of the airport). The statistical results confirm that Alonso’s model can be used to explain the impacts of the new airport only for the northeast quadrant of the airport, while proximity to the airport showed the inverse relationship with the land value of all six types of land use activities through three periods of time. It indicates that the land value for commercial land use is the most sensitive to the location of the airport or has the strongest requirement for accessibility to the airport compared to the residential and manufacturing land use. Also, the bid-rent gradients of the six types of land use activities have declined dramatically through the three time periods because of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Therefore, the lesson learned from this research concerns about the reliability of the data used. The major concern involves the use of different areal units for assessing land value for different time periods between zone block (1995) and grid block (2002, 2009). As a result, this affect the investigation of the overall trends of land value assessment, which are not readily apparent. In addition, the next concern is the availability of the historical data. With the lack of collecting historical data for land value assessment by the government, some of data of land values and aerial photos are not available to cover the entire study area. Finally, the different formats of using aerial photos between hard-copy (1995) and digital photo (2002, 2009) made difficult for measuring distances. Therefore, these problems also affect the accuracy of the results of the statistical analyses.

Keywords: airport development area, economic rents, spatial pattern, suvarnabhumi international airport

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Authors: Soumen Mitra, Aparna Saha

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The perceived link between the city and the countryside is evolving rapidly and is getting shifted away from the assumptions of mainstream paradigms to new conceptual networks where rural-urban links are being redefined. In this conceptual field, the fringe interface is still considered as a transitional zone between city and countryside, and is defined as a diffused area rather than a discrete territory. In developing countries fringe areas are said to have both rural and urban characteristics but are devoid of basic municipal facilities. Again, when the urban core areas envelopes the fringe areas along with it the character of fringe changes but services are not well facilitated which in turn results to uneven growth, rapid and haphazard development. One of the major services present in fringe areas is inter-linkages in terms of transit corridors. Planning for the appropriate and sustainable future of fringe areas requires a sheer focus on these corridors pertaining to transit facility, for better accessibility and mobility. Inducing a transit facility plan enhances the various facilities and also increases their proximity for user groups. The study focuses on the western fringe region of Kolkata metropolis which is a major source of industrial hub and housing sector, thus converting the agricultural lands into non-agricultural use. The study emphasizes on providing transit facilities both physical (stops, sheds, terminals, etc.) and operational (ticketing system, route prioritization, integration of transit modes, etc.), to facilitate the region as well as accelerate the growth pattern systematically. Hence, the scope of this work is on the basis of prevailing conditions in fringe areas and attempts for an effective transit facility plan. The strategies and recommendations are in terms of road widening, service coverage, feeder route prioritization, bus stops facilitation, pedestrian facilities, etc, which in turn enhances the region’s growth pattern. Thus, this context of transit facility planning acts as a catalytic agent to avoid the future unplanned growth and accelerates it towards an integrated development.

Keywords: feeder route, fringe, municipal planning, transit facility

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Authors: Zakiullah Kalwar, Shabeer Ahmed Abbasi

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This research encompasses the study of Cretaceous Sembar Formation Shale Gas potential at Hajipur area. This study has been done with the approach of geophysical data integration. The structure is NE – SW trending anticline with two map able compartments at Cretaceous Sembar level. The study area is located within proven petroleum system. Cretaceous Sembar/Goru formation is in a Wet gas window and Tertiary source is possibly in the oil window. Potential seals are present in Upper Ranikot shale beds and Intra-Lower Ranikot shales. The effectiveness and presence of source and reservoir rocks are favorable in the area of interest. Cretaceous Sembar Shale and Goru Shale beds with good organic content (TOC upto 4%, Type II/III) are currently in gas generation window in the area. Source rock intervals are also reported in Eocene Kirthar Group (TOC upto 8%, Type –II). Good reservoir quality Paleocene Lower Ranikot and Cretaceous Sembar shale beds exist in the area. The collision between Indian and Eurasian Plates during Tertiary initiated folding and thrusting. The first phase of thrusting involved ophiolite emplacement along the western margins of the Indian Plate (west of the area under review). The main phase of thrusting in the Sulaiman region was from Late Miocene to the present. The study area contains Permian to Recent clastics and carbonates. The succession generally is younger in the southeast than in northwest. Intraformational sedimentation breaks are pronounced in Permian and Jurassic. Sulaiman Range is bounded by the Western Sulaiman Transform Fault Zone (of which the Kingri Fault is the major fault) to the west and by the Domanda Fault to the east. The Domanda Fault also constitutes the western boundary of the Sulaiman Foredeep, lies in sulaiman foredeep where subsurface having prominent independent closure. Several reservoir horizons of Jurassic to Eocene are established hydrocarbon producers in the Hajipur area.

Keywords: enough size, good potential, shale gas, structure closure

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Authors: Amer Obaid Saud

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Water quality index (WQI) is considered as an effective tool in categorization of water resources for its quality and suitability for different uses. The Canadian version of water quality index (CCME WQI) which based on the comparison of the water quality parameters to regulatory standards and give a single value to the water quality of a source was applied in this study to assess the water quality of Euphrates river in Iraq at Babylon Governorate north of Baghdad and determine its suitability for aquatic environment (GWQI), drinking water (PWSI) and irrigation(IWQI). Five stations were selected on the river in Babylon (Euphrates River/AL-Musiab, Hindia barrage, two stations at Hilla city and the fifth station at Al-Hshmeya north of Hilla. Fifteen water samples were collected every month during August 2013 to July 2014 at the study sites and analyzed for the physico-chemical parameters like (Temperature, pH, Electrical Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids(TDS), Total Suspended Solids(TSS), Total Alkalinity, Total Hardness, Calcium and Magnesium Concentration, some of nutrient like Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate also the study of concentration of some heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu, Mn, and Cd) in water and comparison of measures to benchmarks such as guidelines and objectives to assess change in water quality. The result of Canadian version of(CCME .WQI) to assess the irrigation water quality (IWQI) of Euphrates river was (83-good) at site one during second seasonal period while the lowest was (66-Fair) in the second station during the fourth seasonal period, the values of potable water supply index (PWSI)that the highest value was (68-Fair) in the fifth site during the second period while the lowest value (42 -Poor) in the second site during the first seasonal period,the highest value for general water quality (GWQI) was (74-Fair) in site five during the second seasonal period, the lowest value (48-Marginal) in the second site during the first seasonal period. It was observed that the main cause of deterioration in water quality was due to the lack of, unprotected river sites ,high anthropogenic activities and direct discharge of industrial effluent.

Keywords: Babylon governorate, Canadian version, water quality, Euphrates river

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Authors: Godiya Pius Atsiya

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One of the most devastating impacts of terrorism on the Nigerian state is the danger it has posed on women, children and other vulnerable groups. The complexity of terrorism in Nigeria, especially in most parts of Northern Nigeria has entrenched unprecedented security challenges such as refugee crisis, kidnapping, food shortages, increase in death tolls, malnutrition, fear, rape and several other psychological factors. Of particular interest in this paper as it relates to terrorism is the high rate of Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs), with women, children and the aged being the most affected. Empirical evidence arising from recent development in Nigeria’s North-East geo-political zone shows that large numbers of refugees fleeing the Boko Haram attacks have doubled. The attendant consequences of this mass exodus of people in the affected areas are that the victims now suffer untold and unwarranted economic hardship. In another dimension, recent findings have it that most powerless women and young teenage girls have been forcefully conscripted into the Islamic extremist groups and used as shields. In some respect, these groups of people have been used as available tools for suicide bombing and other criminal tendencies, the result of which can be detrimental to social cohesion and integration. This work is a theoretical insight into terrorism discourses; hence, the paper relies on existing works of scholars in carrying out the research. The paper argues that the implications of terrorism on women gender have grounding effects on the moral psyche of women who are supposed to be home managers and custodians of morality in society. The burden of terrorism and all it tends to propagate has literally upturned social lives and hence, Nigeria is gradually being plunged into the Hobesian state of nature. As a panacea to resolving this social malaise, the paper submits that government and indeed, all stakeholders in the nation’s democratic project must expedite action to nip this trend in the bud. The paper sums up with conclusion and other alternative policy measures to mitigate the challenges of terrorism in Nigeria.

Keywords: changing democratic state, policy measures, terrorism, women

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Authors: Yuvarani Naidu, Yasmeen Siddiqui, Mohd Yusof Rafii , Abu Seman Idris

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Sustainability of oil palm production in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia, is jeopardized by Ganoderma boninense, the fungus which causes basal stem rot (BSR) in oil palm. The root contact with unattended infected debris left in the plantations during replanting is known to be the primary source of inoculum. Abiding by the law, potentially effective technique of managing Ganoderma infected oil palm debris is deemed necessary because of the zero-burning policy in Malaysian oil palm plantations. White-rot hymenomycetes antagonistic to Ganoderma sp were selected to test their efficacy as log treatments in degrading Ganoderma infected oil palm logs and to minimize the survival of Ganoderma inoculum. Decay rate in terms of mass loss was significantly higher after the application of solid-state cultivation (SSC) of Trametes lactinea FBW (64% ±1.2), followed by Pycnoporus sanguineus FBR (55% ±1.7) in infected log block tissues, after 10 months of treatments. The degradation pattern was clearly distinguished between the treated and non-treated log blocks with the developed SSC formulations. The control infected log blocks showed the highest, whereas infected log blocks treated with either P. sanguineus FBR or T. lactinea FBW SSC formulations exhibited statistically lowest number of Ganoderma spp. recovery on Ganoderma Selective Medium (GSM), after 8 months of treatment. Out of that, the lowest recovery of Ganoderma spp. was reported in infected log blocks inoculated with the strain T. lactinea FBW (21% ± 0.9) followed by P. sanguineus FBR (33% ± 2.2), after 8 months, Further, no recovery of Ganoderma was noticeable, 10 months after treatment applications in log blocks treated with both of the formulations. This is the first nursery-base study to substantiate the initial colonization of white-rot hymenomycetes on oil palm log blocks previously infected with BSR pathogen, G. boninense. The present study has indicated that log blocks treatment with white-rot hymenomycetes significantly affected the mass loss of diseased and healthy log block tissues. This study provides a basis of biotechnological approaches inefficient degradation of oil palm-generated crop debris, under natural conditions with an ultimate aim of reducing the Ganoderma inoculum under heavy BSR infection pressure in eco-friendly manner.

Keywords: basal stem rot disease, ganoderma boninense, oil palm, white-rot fungi

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Authors: Imen Salhi, Salah Bouhlel, Bernrd Lehmann

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The Kebbouch South Pb-Zn deposit is located 20 km to the east of El Kef (NW) in the southeastern part of the Triassic diapir belt in the Tunisian Atlas. The deposit is composed of sulfide and non-sulfide zinc-lead ore bodies. The aim of this study is to provide petrographic results, mineralogy, as well as fluid inclusion data of the carbonate-hosted Pb-Zn Kebbouch South deposit. Mineralization forms two major ore types: (1) lenticular dolostones and clay breccias in the contact zone between Triassic and Upper Cretaceous strata;, it consists of small-scale lenticular, strata-or fault-controlled mineralization mainly composed of marcasite, galena, sphalerite, pyrite, and (2) stratiform mineralization in the Bahloul Formation (Upper Cenomanian-Lower Turonian) consisting of framboidal and cubic pyrite, disseminated sphalerite and galena. Non-metalliferous and/or gangue minerals are represented by dolomite, calcite, celestite and quartz. Fluid inclusion petrography study has been carried out on calcite and celestite. Fluid inclusions hosted in celestite are less than 20 µm large and show two types of aqueous inclusions: monophase liquid aqueous inclusions (L), abundant and very small, generally less than 15 µm and liquid-rich two phase inclusions (L+V). The gas phase forms a mobile vapor bubble. Microthermometric analyses of (L+V) fluid inclusions for celestite indicate that the homogenization temperature ranges from 121 to 156°C, and final ice melting temperatures are in the range of – 19 to -9°C corresponding to salinities of 12 to 21 wt% NaCl eq. (L+V) fluid inclusions from calcite are frequently localized along the growth zones; their homogenization temperature ranges from 96 to 164°C with final ice melting temperatures between -16 and -7°C corresponding to salinities of 9 to 19 wt% NaCl eq. According to mineralogical and fluid inclusion studies, mineralization in the Pb – Zn Kebbouch South deposit formed between 96 to 164°C with salinities ranging from 9 to 21 wt% NaCl eq. A contribution of basinal brines in the ore formation of the kebbouch South Pb–Zn deposit is likely. The deposit is part of the family of MVT deposits associated with the salt diapir environment.

Keywords: fluid inclusion, Kebbouch South, mineralogy, MVT deposits, Pb-Zn

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Authors: Jae Gon Kim, Yongchan Cho, Jungwha Lee

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Acid rock drainage (ARD) is generated by the oxidation of pyrite (FeS₂) contained in the excavated rocks upon its exposure to atmosphere and is an environmental concern at construction site due to its high acidity and high concentration of toxic elements. We developed the safe disposal method with the reduction of ARD generation by an alkali phosphate treatment. A pyrite rich andesite was collected from a railway construction site. The collected rock sample was crushed to be less than 3/8 inches in diameter using a jaw crusher. The crushed rock was filled in an acryl tube with 20 cm in diameter and 40 cm in height. Two treatments for the ARD reduction were conducted with duplicates: 1) the addition of 10mM KH₂PO₄_3% NaHCO₃ and 2) the addition of 10mM KH₂PO₄_3% NaHCO₃ and ordinary portland cement (OPC) on the top of the column. After the treatments, 500 ml of distilled water added to each column for every week for 3 weeks and then the column was flushed with 1,500 ml of distilled water in the 4th week. The pH, electrical conductivity (EC), concentrations of anions and cations of the leachates were monitored for 10 months. The pH of the leachates from the untreated column showed 2.1-3.7, but the leachates from the columns treated with the alkali phosphate solution with or without the OPC addition showed pH 6.7–8.9. The leachates from the treated columns had much lower concentrations of SO₄²⁻ and toxic elements such as Al, Mn, Fe and heavy metals than those from the untreated columns. However, the leachates from the treated columns had a higher As concentration than those from the untreated columns. There was no significant difference in chemical property between the leachates from the treated columns with and without the OPC addition. The chemistry of leachates indicates that the alkali phosphate treatment decreased the oxidation of sulfide and neutralized the acidic pore water. No significant effect of the OPC addition on the leachate chemistry has shown during 10-month experiment. However, we expect a positive effect of the OPC addition on the reduction of ARD generation in terms of long period. According to the results of this experiment, the alkali phosphate treatment of sulfide rich rock can be a promising technology for the safe disposal method with the ARD reduction.

Keywords: acid rock drainage, alkali phosphate treatment, pyrite rich rock, safe disposal

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Authors: Wen-Bin Chiou, Hsiao-Chiao Weng

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Social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter are low-cost tools that can promote the creation of social connections by providing a convenient platform that can be accessed at any time. In the current research, a laboratory experiment was conducted test the hypothesis that reminders of losing SNS would alter the impact of social events, especially those involving social exclusion. Specifically, this study explored whether losing SNS would intensify perceived social distress induced by exclusionary bogus feedback. Eighty-eight Facebook users (46 females, 42 males; mean age = 22.6 years, SD = 3.1 years) were recruited via campus posters and flyers at a national university in southern Taiwan. After participants provided consent, they were randomly assigned to a 2 (SNS non-use vs. neutral) between-subjects experiment. Participants completed an ostensible survey about online social networking in which we included an item about the time spent on SNS per day. The last question was used to manipulate thoughts about losing SNS access. Participants under the non-use condition were asked to record three conditions that would render them unable to use SNS (e.g., a network adaptor problem, malfunctioning cable modem, or problems with Internet service providers); participants under the neutral condition recorded three conditions that would render them unable to log onto the college website (e.g., server maintenance, local network or firewall problems). Later, this experiment employed a bogus-feedback paradigm to induce social exclusion. Participants then rated their social distress on a four-item scale, identical to that of Experiment 1 (α = .84). The results showed that thoughts of losing SNS intensified distress caused by social exclusion, suggesting that the loss of SNS has a similar effect to the loss of a primary source for social reconnections. Moreover, the priming effects of SNS on perceived distress were more prominent for heavy users. The demonstrated link between the idea of losing SNS use and increased pain of social exclusion manifests the importance of SNS as a crucial gateway for acquiring and rebuilding social connections. Use of online social networking appears to be a two-edged sword for coping with social exclusion in human lives in the e-society.

Keywords: online social networking, perceived distress, social exclusion, SNS

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Authors: Nadeem Munawar, Iftikhar Hussain, Tariq Mahmood

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The lesser bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis) is widely distributed and a serious agricultural pest in Pakistan. It has wide adaptation with rice-wheat-sugarcane cropping systems of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and wheat-groundnut cropping system of Pothwar area, thus inflicting heavy losses to these crops. Comparative efficacies of four food baits (onion, guava, potato and peanut butter smeared bread/Chapatti) were tested in multiple feeding tests for kill trapping of this rat species in the Pothwar Plateau between October 2013 to July 2014 at the sowing, tilling, flowering and maturity stages of wheat, groundnut and millet crops. The results revealed that guava was the most preferred bait as compared to the rest of three, presumably due to particular taste and smell of the guava. The relative efficacies of all four tested baits guava also scoring the highest trapping success of 16.94 ± 1.42 percent, followed by peanut butter, potato, and onion with trapping successes of 10.52 ± 1.30, 7.82 ± 1.21 and 4.5 ± 1.10 percent, respectively. In various crop stages and season-wise the highest trapping success was achieved at maturity stages of the crops, presumably due to higher surface activity of the rat because of favorable climatic conditions, good shelter, and food abundance. Moreover, the maturity stage of wheat crop coincided with spring breeding season and maturity stages of millet and groundnut match with monsoon/autumn breeding peak of the lesser bandicoot rat in Pothwar area. The preferred order among four baits tested was guava > peanut butter > potato > onion. The study recommends that the farmers should periodically carry out rodent trapping at the beginning of each crop season and during non-breeding seasons of this rodent pest when the populations are low in numbers and restricted under crop boundary vegetation, particularly during very hot and cold months.

Keywords: Bandicota bengalensis, efficacy, food baits, Pothwar

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Authors: M. Masroor Akhtar Khan, Moin Uddin, Lalit Varshney

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Recently, there has been a rapidly expanding interest in finding applications of natural polymers in view of value addition to agriculture. It is now being realized that radiation processing of natural polysaccharides can be beneficially utilized either to improve the existing methodologies used for processing the natural polymers or to impart value addition to agriculture by converting them into more useful form. Gamma-ray irradiation is employed to degrade and lower the molecular weight of some of the natural polysaccharides like alginates, chitosan and carrageenan into small sized oligomers. When these oligomers are applied to plants as foliar sprays, they elicit various kinds of biological and physiological activities, including promotion of plant growth, seed germination, shoot elongation, root growth, flower production, suppression of heavy metal stress, etc. Furthermore, application of these oligomers can shorten the harvesting period of various crops and help in reducing the use of insecticides and chemical fertilizers. In recent years, the oligomers of sodium alginate obtained by irradiating the latter with gamma-rays at 520 kGy dose are being employed. It was noticed that the oligomers derived from the natural polysaccharides could induce growth, photosynthetic efficiency, enzyme activities and most importantly the production of secondary metabolite in the plants like Artemisia annua, Beta vulgaris, Catharanthus roseus, Chrysopogon zizanioides, Cymbopogon flexuosus, Eucalyptus citriodora, Foeniculum vulgare, Geranium sp., Mentha arvensis, Mentha citrata, Mentha piperita, Mentha virdis, Papaver somniferum and Trigonella foenum-graecum. As a result of the application of these oligomers, the yield and/or contents of the active constituents of the aforesaid plants were significantly enhanced. The productivity, as well as quality of medicinal and aromatic plants, may be ameliorated by this novel technique in an economical way as a very little quantity of these irradiated (depolymerised) polysaccharides is needed. Further, this is a very safe technique, as we did not expose the plants directly to radiation. The radiation was used to depolymerize the polysaccharides into oligomers.

Keywords: essential oil, medicinal and aromatic plants, plant production, radiation processed polysaccharides, active constituents

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Authors: Amaal Ali Al-Gamde

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The Syrian revolution is a major issue in the Middle East, which draws in world powers and receives a great focus in international mass media since 2011. The heavy global reliance on cyber news and digital sources plays a key role in conveying a sense of bias to a wide range of online readers. Thus, based on the assumption that media discourse possesses ideological implications, this study investigates the representation of Syrian revolution in online media. The paper explores the discursive constructions of anti and pro-government powers in Syrian revolution in 1000,000-word corpus of Fars online reports (an Iranian news agency), issued between 2013 and 2015. Taking a corpus assisted discourse analysis approach, the analysis investigates three types of lexicosemantic relations, the semantic macrostructures within which the two social actors are framed, the lexical collocations characterizing the news discourse and the discourse prosodies they tell about the two sides of the conflict. The study utilizes computer-based approaches, sketch engine and AntConc software to minimize the bias of the subjective analysis. The analysis moves from the insights of lexical frequencies and keyness scores to examine themes and the collocational patterns. The findings reveal the Fars agency’s ideological mode of representations in reporting events of Syrian revolution in two ways. The first is by stereotyping the opposition groups under the umbrella of terrorism, using words such as (law breakers, foreign-backed groups, militant groups, terrorists) to legitimize the atrocities of security forces against protesters and enhance horror among civilians. The second is through emphasizing the power of the government and depicting it as the defender of the Arab land by foregrounding the discourse of international conspiracy against Syria. The paper concludes discussing the potential importance of triangulating corpus linguistic tools with critical discourse analysis to elucidate more about discourses and reality.

Keywords: discourse prosody, ideology, keyness, semantic macrostructure

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Authors: Jyoti Yadav, Rini Singh, Anoop M.D, Nisha Yadav, N. Srinivasa Rao, Fouran Singh, Takayuki Ichikawa, Ankur Jain, Kamlendra Awasthi, Manoj Kumar

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Nanocrystalline films exhibit defects and strain induced by its grain boundaries. Defects and strain affect the physical as well as topological insulating properties of the Bi2Te3 thin films by changing their electronic structure. In the present studies, the effect of Ni7+ ion irradiation on the physical and electrical properties of Bi2Te3 thin films was studied. The films were irradiated at five different fluences (5x1011, 1x1012, 3x1012, 5x1012, 1x1013 ions/cm2). Thin films synthesized using the e-beam technique possess a rhombohedral crystal structure with the R-3m space group. The average crystallite size, as determined by x-ray diffraction (XRD) peak broadening, was found to be 18.5 ± 5 (nm). It was also observed that irradiation increases the induced strain. Raman Spectra of the films demonstrate the splitting of A_1u^1 modes originating from the vibrations along the c-axis. This is by the variation in the lattice parameter ‘c,’ as observed through XRD. The atomic force microscopy study indicates the decrease in surface roughness up to the fluence of 3x1012 ions/cm2 and further increasing the fluence increases the roughness. The decrease in roughness may be due to the growth of smaller nano-crystallites on the surface of thin films due to irradiation-induced annealing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies reveal the composition to be in close agreement to the nominal values i.e. Bi2Te3. The resistivity v/s temperature measurements revealed an increase in resistivity up to the fluence 3x1012 ions/cm2 and a decrease on further increasing the fluence. The variation in electrical resistivity is corroborated with the change in the carrier concentration as studied through low-temperature Hall measurements. A crossover from the n-type to p-type carriers was achieved in the irradiated films. Interestingly, tuning of the Fermi level by compensating the bulk carriers using ion-irradiation could be achieved.

Keywords: Annealing, Irradiation, Fermi level, Tuning

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Authors: Xue Li, Hui Xu

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Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a clinical stage that occurs between normal aging and dementia. Although MCI increases the risk of developing dementia, individuals with MCI may maintain stable cognitive function and even recover to a typical cognitive state. An intervention to prevent or delay the progression to dementia in individuals with MCI may involve promoting social engagement. Social participation is the engagement in socially relevant social exchanges and meaningful activities. Older adults with MCI may encounter restricted cognitive abilities, mood changes, and behavioral difficulties during social participation, influencing their willingness to engage. Therefore, this study aims to employ qualitative research methods to gain an in-depth comprehension of the authentic social participation experiences of older adults with mild cognitive impairment, which will establish a foundation for designing appropriate intervention programs. A phenomenological research was conducted. The study participants were selected using the purposive sampling method in combination with the maximum differentiation sampling strategy. Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted among 12 elderly individuals suffering from mild cognitive impairment in a community in Zhengzhou City from May to July 2023. Colaizzi 7-step method was used to analyze the data and extract the theme. The real experience of social participation in older adults with mild cognitive impairment can be summarized into 3 themes: (1) a single social relationship but a strong desire to participate, (2) a dual experience of social participation with both positive and negative aspects, (3) multiple barriers to social participation, including impaired memory capacity, heavy family responsibilities and lack of infrastructure. The study found that elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment and one social interaction display an increased desire to engage in society. To improve social participation levels and reduce cognitive function decline, healthcare providers should work with relevant government agencies and the community to create a comprehensive social participation system. It is important for healthcare providers to note the social participation status of the elderly with mild cognitive impairment.

Keywords: mild cognitive impairment, the elderly, social participation, qualitative research

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Authors: Qikai Guan

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With the deepening of China's urbanization process, the development of urban industry has entered a new period, due to the gradual compounding and diversification of urban industrial functions, urban planning has shifted from the previous single industrial space arrangement and functional design to focusing on the upgrading of the urban structure, and on the diversified needs of people. As an important part of urban activity space, ‘slow moving space’ is of great significance in alleviating urban traffic congestion, optimizing residents' travel experience and improving urban ecological space. Therefore, this paper takes the slow-moving transportation system under the perspective of industry-city integration as the starting point, through sorting out the development needs of the city in the process of industry-city integration, analyzing the characteristics of the site base, sorting out a series of compatibility between the layout of the new industrial zone and the urban slow-moving system, and integrating the design concepts. At the same time, through the analysis and summarization of domestic and international experience, the construction ideas are proposed. Finally, the following aspects of planning strategy optimization are proposed: industrial layout, urban vitality, ecological pattern, regional characteristics and landscape image. In terms of specific design, on the one hand, it builds a regional slow-moving network, puts forward a diversified design strategy for the industry-oriented and multi-functional composite central area, realizes the coexistence of pedestrian-oriented and multiple transportation modes, basically covers the public facilities, and enhances the vitality of the city. On the other hand, it improves the landscape ecosystem, creates a healthy, diversified and livable superline landscape system, helps the construction of the ‘green core’ of the central city, and improves the travel experience of the residents.

Keywords: industry-city integration, slow-moving system, public space, functional integration

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Authors: Ji-yang Yu, Dan Huang, Guo-ping Feng, Xin Li, Lu-yuan Wang

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The navigation satellite network, especially the Beidou MEO Constellation, can relay data effectively with wide coverage and is applied in navigation, detection, and position widely. But the constellation has not been completed, and the amount of satellites on-board is not enough to cover the earth, which makes the data-relay disrupted or delayed in the transition process. The data-relay function needs to tolerant the delay or disruption in some extension, which make the Beidou MEO Constellation a delay/disruption-tolerant network (DTN). The traditional DTN designs mainly employ the relay table as the basic of data path schedule computing. But in practical application, especially in critical condition, such as the war-time or the infliction heavy losses on the constellation, parts of the nodes may become invalid, then the traditional DTN design could be useless. Furthermore, when transmitting the critical message in the navigation system, the maximum priority strategy is used, but the nodes still inquiry the relay table to design the path, which makes the delay more than minutes. Under this circumstances, it needs a function which could compute the optimum data path on-board in real-time according to the constellation states. The on-board critical message transmission design for navigation satellite delay/disruption-tolerant network (DTN) is proposed, according to the characteristics of navigation satellite network. With the real-time computation of parameters in the network link, the least-delay transition path is deduced to retransmit the critical message in urgent conditions. First, the DTN model for constellation is established based on the time-varying matrix (TVM) instead of the time-varying graph (TVG); then, the least transition delay data path is deduced with the parameters of the current node; at last, the critical message transits to the next best node. For the on-board real-time computing, the time delay and misjudges of constellation states in ground stations are eliminated, and the residual information channel for each node can be used flexibly. Compare with the minute’s delay of traditional DTN; the proposed transmits the critical message in seconds, which improves the re-transition efficiency. The hardware is implemented in FPGA based on the proposed model, and the tests prove the validity.

Keywords: critical message, DTN, navigation satellite, on-board, real-time

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Authors: Sneha Singh, Abhimanyu Dev, Vinod Nigam

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The major issue which decides the impending use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in nanobiotechnological applications is their particle size and stability. Often the AuNPs obtained biomimetically are considered useless owing to their instability in the aqueous medium and thereby limiting the widespread acceptance of this facile green synthesis procedure. So, the use of nontoxic surfactants is warranted to stabilize the biogenic nanoparticles (NPs). But does the surfactant only play a role in stabilizing by being adsorbed to the NPs surface or can it have any other significant contribution in synthesis process and controlling their size as well as shape? Keeping this idea in mind, AuNPs were synthesized by using surfactant treated (lechate) and untreated (cell lysate supernatant) Bacillus licheniformis cell extract. The cell extracts mediated reduction of chloroauric acid (HAuCl 4) in the presence of non-ionic surfactant, Tween 20 (TW20), and its effect on the AuNPs stability was studied. Interestingly, the surfactant used in the study served as potential alternative to harvest cellular enzymes involved in bioreduction process in a hassle free condition. The surfactants ability to solubilize/leach membrane proteins and simultaneously stabilizing the AuNPs could have advantage from process point of view as it will reduce the time and economics involve in the nanofabrication of biogenic NPs. The synthesis was substantiated with UV-Vis spectroscopy, Dynamic light scattering study, FTIR spectroscopy, and Transmission electron microscopy. The Zeta potential of AuNPs solutions was measured routinely to corroborate the stability observations recorded visually. Highly stable, ultra-small AuNPs of 2.6 nm size were obtained from the study. Further, the biological efficacy of the obtained AuNPs as potential antibacterial agent was evaluated against Bacilllus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli by observing the zone of inhibition. This potential of AuNPs of size < 3 nm as antibacterial agent could pave way for development of new antimicrobials and overcoming the problems of antibiotics resistance

Keywords: antibacterial, bioreduction, nanoparticles, surfactant

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Authors: M. Budakoglu, M. Karaman

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Lake Acıgöl is located in area with limited influences from urban and industrial pollution sources, there is nevertheless a need to understand all potential lithological and anthropogenic sources of priority contaminants in this closed basin. This study discusses vertical and horizontal distribution pattern of major, trace elements of recent lake sediments to better understand their current geochemical analog with lithological units in the Lake Acıgöl basin. This study also provides reliable background levels for the region by the detailed surfaced lithological units data. The detail results of surface, subsurface and shallow core sediments from these relatively unperturbed ecosystems, highlight its importance as conservation area, despite the high-scale industrial salt production activity. While P2O5/TiO2 versus MgO/CaO classification diagram indicate magmatic and sedimentary origin of lake sediment, Log(SiO2/Al2O3) versus Log(Na2O/K2O) classification diagrams express lithological assemblages of shale, iron-shale, vacke and arkose. The plot between TiO2 vs. SiO2 and P2O5/TiO2 vs. MgO/CaO also supports the origin of the primary magma source. The average compositions of the 20 different lithological units used as a proxy for geochemical background in the study area. As expected from weathered rock materials, there is a large variation in the major element content for all analyzed lake samples. The A-CN-K and A-CNK-FM ternary diagrams were used to deduce weathering trends. Surface and subsurface sediments display an intense weathering history according to these ternary diagrams. The most of the sediments samples plot around UCC and TTG, suggesting a low to moderate weathering history for the provenance. The sediments plot in a region clearly suggesting relative similar contents in Al2O3, CaO, Na2O, and K2O from those of lithological samples.

Keywords: Lake Acıgöl, recent lake sediment, geochemical speciation of major and trace elements, heavy metals, Denizli, Turkey

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Authors: Thomas Ruppert, Shana Jones, J. Scott Pippin

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State and federal government agencies within the United States have recently invested substantial resources into studies of future flood risk conditions associated with climate change and sea-level rise. A review of numerous case studies has uncovered several key themes that speak to an overall incoherence within current flood risk assessment procedures in the U.S. context. First, there are substantial local differences in the quality of available information about basic infrastructure, particularly with regard to local stormwater features and essential facilities that are fundamental components of effective flood hazard planning and mitigation. Second, there can be substantial mismatch between regulatory Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) as produced by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and other 'current condition' flood assessment approaches. This is of particular concern in areas where FIRMs already seem to underestimate extant flood risk, which can only be expected to become a greater concern if future FIRMs do not appropriately account for changing climate conditions. Moreover, while there are incentives within the NFIP’s Community Rating System (CRS) to develop enhanced assessments that include future flood risk projections from climate change, the incentive structures seem to have counterintuitive implications that would tend to promote moral hazard. In particular, a technical finding of higher future risk seems to make it easier for a community to qualify for flood insurance savings, with much of these prospective savings applied to individual properties that have the most physical risk of flooding. However, there is at least some case study evidence to indicate that recognition of these issues is prompting broader discussion about the need to move beyond FIRMs as a standalone local flood planning standard. The paper concludes with approaches for developing climate adaptation and flood resilience strategies in the U.S. that move away from the social welfare model being applied through NFIP and toward more of an informed risk approach that transfers much of the investment responsibility over to individual private property owners.

Keywords: climate change adaptation, flood risk, moral hazard, sea-level rise

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Authors: Pomila Sharma

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The rapid urbanization in India was not accompanied by the establishment of waste water treatment facility at similar and same pace. The inland fresh water ecosystem is increasingly subjected to great stress from various human activities. Jalmahal Lake is located in Jaipur city of Rajasthan state; the lake was constructed about 400 years ago and surrounded by hills. The lake was approximately 139 hectare in full spread and has catchment area of 23.5 sq. kilometer. Out of the total catchment area approximate 40% falls inside dense urban area of Jaipur city. During the showers, the treated and untreated waste waters and runoff waters get mixed and enter the lake through the various influx channels, and the lake water quality gets affected by the inflow of waste water. The main objective of this work was to use the Moringa oleifera seeds as a natural adsorbent for the treatment of wastewater in lake. Moringa oleifera is a tropical, multipurpose tree whose seeds contain high-quality edible oil 40% by weight and water soluble, non-toxic protein that act as an effective coagulant for the removal of organic matter in water and waste water treatment. Laboratory Jar test procedure had been used for coagulation studies; an experiment runs using lake water. Water extracts/powder of Moringa seed applied to treat polluted water of lake. In present study various doses of Moringa oleifera seed coagulant viz. 100 mg/L, 200 mg/L, and 400 mg/L were taken and checked for the efficiency dose on treated and untreated polluted water. Turbidity and color removal is one of the important steps in a waste water treatment processes. The results indicate significant reduction in turbidity and color. Standard plate count was significantly reduced fecal coliform levels too. All parameters were reduced with the increased dose of Moringa oleifera. It was clear from the study Moringa oleifera seed was shown to be a potential bio-coagulant, for treatment of sewage laden polluted water in the lake.

Keywords: coagulant, Moringa oleifera, plate count, turbidity, wastewater

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Authors: Mansour Rezvani, Mohammad Mahdi Mortaheb

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This study considers the employment of foreign workforce in Kish Free Trade and Industrial Zone and aims to investigate the productivity of foreign construction labours as compared to their local counterpart. Moreover, this study compares work skills and experience of foreign and local Iranian construction workers to optimize construction working conditions. The results and findings have been effectively applied to develop a training program to optimize and promote Iranian workforce productivity and effectiveness in construction industry in comparison with foreign workforce. It is hoped that the accumulated findings contribute to decrease demand for foreign workers and skills shortages in construction sectors. Therefore, job vacancies for local residents in Kish and other looking for job people in main lands will be increased. The method of collecting data has been conducted by distributing a questionnaire and interviewing most foreign construction workers, local Iranian construction works and the project managers of five mega projects in Kish Island including Mica mall, Basak, Persian, Damoon and Sarina mall. All data have been analyzed by SPSS and Excel software. A topic-related survey was conducted through a structured questionnaire including 54 employers, 20 contractors and 13 consultants. About 56 factors were identified. After implementing the context validity test, 52 factors were stated in 52 questions based on five major groups consist of: (1) economical, (2) social and cultural, (3) individual, (4) technical, (5) organizational, environmental and legal. Based on the quantified Relative Importance Index, the ten most important factors, ten less important factors, and three most important categories were identified. To date, there is not any comprehensive study that explores the important critical factors in mega construction projects on Kish Island to identify the major problems to decrease demand for foreign workers.

Keywords: cultural characteristics, foreign worker, local construction workers, productivity, technical training

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Authors: Afshan Golriz

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This paper addresses the nuances in the relationship between the rural community of Volcan, Costa Rica, and the presence of multinational pineapple giant Pineapple Development Corporation (PINDECO). The paper analyzes the continuous negotiation between the need for environmental protection in the face of pineapple monoculture and the socioeconomic dependencies of the community on the company. Drawing on eight years of ethnographic work in Volcan de Buenos Aires and relying on intergenerational interviews that document oral histories, this article provides a socio-historical account of the economic and environmental impact of the presence of PINDECO in the southern zone of the country. The paper draws on interviews and in-depth participant observation, conducted by the author in intermittent periods over eight years. The research sheds light on the tensions between the village and PINDECO, as simultaneous acceptance of and opposition to the company persist by different stakeholders in the region. In doing so, this paper examines the strikingly powerful affinity toward the company and the community's regard for PINDECO as the town patriarch despite social and environmental injustices. In demonstrating these tensions, the author problematizes the practice of conducting foreign environmental research in developing countries, and more importantly, proposing changes to environmental conservation and socioeconomic structures without understanding community reliance on the presence of corporations such as PINDECO and the threats that changes to existing structures could pose to community members' livelihoods. In complicating these common western academic practices, the author takes an anti-colonial approach to environmental research, refusing the assumption that the affinity toward the company by the community of Volcan is rooted in ignorance, lack of education, or lack of interest in environmental conservation. The author instead highlights local knowledge and agency, demonstrating the many ways in which the community itself is producing knowledge and taking action. Through this paper, common assumptions regarding the agency of such communities are contested, and the grassroots environmental initiatives of Volcan, Costa Rica are brought to life.

Keywords: environmental conservation, grassroots movements, local knowledge, agricultural multinational

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Authors: Gayathri Pramod, Sheeja K. P.

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Urban flooding has been seen rising in cities for the past few years. This rise in urban flooding is the result of increasing urbanization and increasing climate change. A resilient city design focuses on 'living with water'. This means that the city is capable of accommodating the floodwaters without having to risk any loss of lives or properties. The resilient city design incorporates green infrastructure, river edge treatment, open space design, etc. to form a city that functions as a whole for resilience. Sponge urbanism is a recent method for building resilient cities and is founded by China in 2014. Sponge urbanism is the apt method for resilience building for a tropical town like Aluva of Kerala. Aluva is a tropical town that experiences rainfall of about 783 mm per month during the rainy season. Aluva is an urbanized town which faces the risk of urban flooding and riverine every year due to the presence of Periyar River in the town. Impervious surfaces and hard construction and developments contribute towards flood risk by posing as interference for a natural flow and natural filtration of water into the ground. This type of development is seen in Aluva also. Aluva is designed in this research as a town that have resilient strategies of sponge city and which focusses on natural methods of construction. The flood susceptibility of Aluva is taken into account to design the spaces for sponge urbanism and in turn, reduce the flood susceptibility for the town. Aluva is analyzed, and high-risk zones for development are identified through studies. These zones are designed to withstand the risk of flooding. Various catchment areas are identified according to the natural flow of water, and then these catchment areas are designed to act as a public open space and as detention ponds in case of heavy rainfall. Various development guidelines, according to land use, is also prescribed, which help in increasing the green cover of the town. Aluva is then designed to be a completely flood-adapted city or sponge city according to the guidelines and interventions.

Keywords: climate change, flooding, resilient city, sponge city, sponge urbanism, urbanization

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Authors: Eric A. Morris, Xia Liu, Yee Ka Wong, Greg J. Evans, Jeff R. Brook

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Air quality monitoring stations tend to be widely distributed and are often located far from major roadways, thus, determining where, when, and which traffic-related air pollutants (TRAPs) have the greatest impact on public health becomes a matter of extrapolation. Compact, multipollutant sensor systems are an effective solution as they enable several TRAPs to be monitored in a geospatially dense network, thus filling in the gaps between conventional monitoring stations. This work describes two applications of one such system named AirSENCE for gathering actionable air quality data relevant to smart city infrastructures. In the first application, four AirSENCE devices were co-located with traffic monitors around the perimeter of a city block in Oshawa, Ontario. This study, which coincided with the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 and subsequent lockdown measures, demonstrated a direct relationship between decreased traffic volumes and TRAP concentrations. Conversely, road construction was observed to cause elevated TRAP levels while reducing traffic volumes, illustrating that conventional smart city sensors such as traffic counters provide inadequate data for inferring air quality conditions. The second application used two AirSENCE sensors on opposite sides of a major 2-way commuter road in Toronto. Clear correlations of TRAP concentrations with wind direction were observed, which shows that impacted areas are not necessarily static and may exhibit high day-to-day variability in air quality conditions despite consistent traffic volumes. Both of these applications provide compelling evidence favouring the inclusion of air quality sensors in current and future smart city infrastructure planning. Such sensors provide direct measurements that are useful for public health alerting as well as decision-making for projects involving traffic mitigation, heavy construction, and urban renewal efforts.

Keywords: distributed sensor network, continuous ambient air quality monitoring, Smart city sensors, Internet of Things, traffic-related air pollutants

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