Search results for: climate change risks

Authors: Mohamed Hafid, Marcel Lacroix

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This study presents an inverse analysis for predicting the thermal conductivities and the heat flux of a high-temperature metallurgical reactor simultaneously. Once these thermal parameters are predicted, the time-varying thickness of the protective phase-change bank that covers the inside surface of the brick walls of a metallurgical reactor can be calculated. The enthalpy method is used to solve the melting/solidification process of the protective bank. The inverse model rests on the Levenberg-Marquardt Method (LMM) combined with the Broyden method (BM). A statistical analysis for the thermal parameter estimation is carried out. The effect of the position of the temperature sensors, total number of measurements and measurement noise on the accuracy of inverse predictions is investigated. Recommendations are made concerning the location of temperature sensors.

Keywords: inverse heat transfer, phase change, metallurgical reactor, Levenberg–Marquardt method, Broyden method, bank thickness

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Authors: Swati Sundararajan, Asit B. Samui, Prashant S. Kulkarni

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Polymeric ionic liquids combine the properties of ionic liquids and polymers into a single material which has gained massive interest in the recent years. These ionic liquids offer several advantages such as high phase change enthalpy, wide temperature range, chemical and thermal stability, non-volatility and the ability to make them task-specific. Separation of CO2 is an area of critical importance due to the concerns over greenhouse gasses leading to global warming. Thermal energy storage materials, also known as phase change materials absorb latent heat during fusion process and release the absorbed energy to the surrounding environment during crystallization. These materials retain this property over a number of cycles and therefore, are useful for bridging the gap between energy requirement and use. In an effort to develop materials, which will help in minimizing the growing energy demand and environmental concerns, a series of dicationic poly(ethylene glycol) based polymeric ionic liquids were synthesized. One part of an acrylate of poly(ethylene glycol) was reacted with imidazolium quarternizing agent and the second part was reacted with triazolium quarternizing agent. These two different monomers were then copolymerized to prepare dicationic polymeric ionic liquid. These materials were characterized for solid-liquid phase transition and the enthalpy by using differential scanning calorimetry. The CO2 capture studies were performed on a fabricated setup with varying pressure range from 1-20 atm. The findings regarding the prepared materials, having potential dual applications in the fields of thermal energy storage and CO2 capture, will be discussed in the presentation.

Keywords: CO2 capture, phase change materials, polyethylene glycol, polymeric ionic liquids, thermal energy storage

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Authors: Shazi Farooqui, Anupam Sharma

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The Mahi River (~600km long) is an important west flowing the river of Central India. It originates in Madhya Pradesh and starts flowing in NW direction and enters into the state of Rajasthan. It flows across southern Rajasthan and then enters into Gujarat and finally debouches in the Gulf of Cambay. In Gujarat state, it flows through all four geomorphic zones i.e. eastern upland zone, shallow buried piedmont zone, alluvial zone and coastal zone. In lower reaches and particularly when it is flowing under the coastal regime, it provides an opportunity to study – 1. Land–Sea interaction and role of relative sea level changes, 2. Coastal/estuarine geological process, 3. Landscape evolution in marginal areas and so on. The Late Quaternary deposits of Mainland Gujarat is appreciably studied by Chamyal and his group of MS University of Baroda, and they have established that the 30-35m thick sediment package of the Mainland Gujarat is comprised of marine, fluvial and aeolian sediments. It is also established that in the estuarine zone, the upper few meter thick sediments package is of marine nature. However, its thickness, characters and the depositional environment including the role of climate and tectonics is still not clearly defined. To understand few aspects of the above mentioned, in the present study, a 17m subsurface sediment core has been retrieved from the estuarine zone of Mahi river basin. The Multiproxy studies which include the textural analysis (grain size), Loss on ignition (LOI), Bulk and clay mineralogy and geochemical studies have been carried out. In the entire sedimentary sequence, the grain size largely varies from coarse sand to clay; however, a solitary gravel bed is also noticed. The lower part (depth 9-17m), is mainly comprised of sub equal proportion of sand and silt. The sediments mainly have bimodal and leptokurtic distribution and deposited in alternate sand-silt package, probably indicating flood deposits. Relatively low moisture (1.8%) and organic carbon (2.4%) with increased carbonate values (12%) indicate that conditions must have to remain oxidizing. The middle part (depth 9–6m) has a 1m thick gravel bed at the bottom and overlain by coarse sand to very fine sand showing fining upward sequence. The presence of gravel bed suggests some kind of tectonic activity resulting into change in base level or enhanced precipitation in the catchment region. The upper part (depth 6–0m; top part of sequence) mainly comprised of fine sand to silt size grains (with appreciable clay content). The sediment of this part is Unimodal and very leptokurtic in nature suggesting wave and winnowing process and deposited in low energy suspension environment. This part has relatively high moisture (2.1%) and organic carbon (2.7%) with decreased carbonate content (4.2%) indicating change in the depositional environment probably under estuarine conditions. The presence of chlorite along with smectite clay mineral further supports the significant marine contribution in the formation of upper part of the sequence.

Keywords: grain size, statistical analysis, clay minerals, late quaternary, LOI

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Authors: Ruth Elvish, Alex Turner, Jen Wells

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Over recent years there has been an increasing interest in the topic of well-being at work, and staff support is an area of continued growth. The present qualitative study explored the impact of a staff well-being service that was specifically attached to a five-year multi-site research programme (the Neighbourhoods and Dementia Study, funded by the ESRC/NIHR). The well-being service was led by a clinical psychologist, who offered 1:1 sessions for staff and co-researchers with dementia. To our knowledge, this service was the first of its kind. Methodology: Interviews were undertaken with staff who had used the service and who opted to take part in the study (n=7). Thematic analysis was used as the method of analysis. Findings: Themes included: triggers, mechanisms of change, impact/outcomes, and unique aspects of a dedicated staff well-being service. Conclusions: The study highlights stressors that are pertinent amongst staff within academic settings, and shows the ways in which a dedicated staff well-being service can impact on both professional and personal lives. Positive change was seen in work performance, self-esteem, relationships, and coping. This exploratory study suggests that this well-being service model should be further trialled and evaluated.

Keywords: academic, service, staff, support, well-being

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Authors: A. Kaddour, S. M. A. Bekkouche

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Limiting heat losses during ventilation of indoor building spaces has become a basic aim for architects. Much experience has been gained in terms of ventilation of indoor spaces. Nevertheless, due to the complex applications, attempts to create a theoretical base for solving the problems related to the issue are limited, especially determining the minimum ventilation period required within a designated space. In this paper we have approached this matter, both theoretically and computationally. The conclusion we reached was that controlled ventilation of spaces through vent holes that successively open and close at regular time intervals can limit the excessive circulation of air masses, which in turn limits heat losses. Air change rates through open and tilted windows in rooms of residential buildings driven by atmospheric motions are investigated to evaluate natural ventilation concepts. Model of thermal building simulations is used. A separated sample storey and a sample single room in larger scales were used to measure air transport through window openings under the influence of the external pressure distribution.

Keywords: natural ventilation, temperature factor, air change rates, air circulation

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Authors: M. Roberts

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We Are Undefeatable - is a mass marketing behaviour change campaign that aims to support the least active people living with long term health conditions to be more active. This is an important issue to address because people with long term conditions are an historically underserved community for the sport and physical activity sector and the least active of those with long term conditions have the most to gain in health and wellbeing benefits. The campaign has generated a significant change in the way physical activity is communicated and people with long term conditions are represented in the media and marketing. The goal is to create a social norm around being active. The campaign is led by a unique partnership of organisations: the Richmond Group of Charities (made up of Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Asthma + Lung UK, Breast Cancer Now, British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross, Diabetes UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, Rethink Mental Illness, Royal Voluntary Service, Stroke Association, Versus Arthritis) along with Mind, MS Society, Parkinson’s UK and Sport England, with National Lottery Funding. It is underpinned by the COM-B model of behaviour change. It draws on the lived experience of people with multiple long term conditions to shape the look and feel of the campaign and all the resources available. People with long term conditions are the campaign messengers, central to the ethos of the campaign by telling their individual stories of overcoming barriers to be active with their health conditions. The central messaging is about finding a way to be active that works for the individual. We Are Undefeatable is evaluated through a multi-modal approach, including regular qualitative focus groups and a quantitative evaluation tracker undertaken three times a year. The campaign has highlighted the significant barriers to physical activity for people with long term conditions. This has changed the way our partnership talks about physical activity but has also had an impact on the wider sport and physical activity sector, prompting an increasing departure from traditional messaging and marketing approaches for this audience of people with long term conditions. The campaign has reached millions of people since its launch in 2019, through multiple marketing and partnership channels including primetime TV advertising and promotion through health professionals and in health settings. Its diverse storytellers make it relatable to its target audience and the achievable activities highlighted and inclusive messaging inspire our audience to take action as a result of seeing the campaign. The We Are Undefeatable campaign is a blueprint for physical activity campaigns; it not only addresses individual behaviour change but plays a role in addressing systemic barriers to physical activity by sharing the lived experience insight to shape policy and professional practice.

Keywords: behaviour change, long term conditions, partnership, relatable

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Authors: Zuoji Huang, Jinyan Sun, Chunlin Wang, Haiming Qian, Nan Xu

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The spatial extent and area of central river bars can always vary due to the impact of water level, sediment supply and human activities. In 2016, a catastrophic flood disaster caused by sustained and heavy rainfall happened in the middle and lower Yangtze River. The flood led to the most serious economic and social loss since 1954, and strongly affected the central river bar. It is essential to continuously monitor the dynamics change of central bars because it can avoid frequent field measurements in central bars before and after the flood disaster and is helpful for flood warning. This paper focused on the dynamic change of central bars of Phoenix bar and Changsha bar in the Yangtze River in 2016. In this study, GF-1 (GaoFen-1) WFV(wide field view) data was employed owing to its high temporal frequency and high spatial resolution. A simple NDWI (Normalized Difference Water Index) method was utilized for river central bar mapping. Human-checking was then performed to ensure the mapping quality. The relationship between the area of central bars and the measured water level was estimated using four mathematical models. Furthermore, a risk assessment index was proposed to map the spatial pattern of inundation risk of central bars. The results indicate a good ability of the GF-1 WFV imagery with a 16-m spatial resolution to characterize the seasonal variation of central river bars and to capture the impact of a flood disaster on the area of central bars. This paper observed a significant negative but nonlinear relationship between the water level and the area of central bars, and found that the cubic function fits best among four models (R² = 0.9839, P < 0.000001, RMSE = 0.4395). The maximum of the inundated area of central bars appeared during the rainy season on July 8, 2016, and the minimum occurred during the dry season on December 28, 2016, which are consistent with the water level measured by the hydrological station. The results derived from GF-1 data could provide a useful reference for decision-making of real-time disaster early warning and post-disaster reconstruction.

Keywords: central bars, dynamic change, water level, the Yangtze river

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Authors: Rishindra M. Sarviya, Ashish Agrawal

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Solar energy is available abundantly in the world, but it is not continuous and its intensity also varies with time. Due to above reason the acceptability and reliability of solar based thermal system is lower than conventional systems. A properly designed heat storage system increases the reliability of solar thermal systems by bridging the gap between the energy demand and availability. In the present work, two dimensional numerical simulation of the melting of heat storage material is presented in the horizontal annulus of double pipe latent heat storage system. Longitudinal fins were used as a thermal conductivity enhancement. Paraffin wax was used as a heat-storage or phase change material (PCM). Constant wall temperature is applied to heat transfer tube. Presented two-dimensional numerical analysis shows the movement of melting front in the finned cylindrical annulus for analyzing the thermal behavior of the system during melting.

Keywords: latent heat, numerical study, phase change material, solar energy

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Authors: Fanny Guay

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Building resilience, sustainable buildings, urbanization, climate change, resilient cities, are just a few examples of where the focus of research has been in the last few years. It is obvious that there is a need to rethink how we are building our cities and how we are renovating our existing buildings. However, the question remaining is how can we assure that we are building sustainable yet resilient cities? There are many aspects one can touch upon when discussing resilience in cities, but after the event of Grenfell in June 2017, it has become clear that fire resilience must be a priority. We define resilience as a holistic approach including communities, society and systems, focusing not only on resisting the effects of a disaster, but also how it will cope and recover from it. Cities are an example of such a system, where components such as buildings have an important role to play. A building on fire will have an impact on the community, the economy, the environment, and so the entire system. Therefore, we believe that fire and resilience go hand in hand when we discuss building resilient cities. This article aims at discussing the current state of the concept of fire resilience and suggests actions to support the built of more fire resilient buildings. Using the case of Grenfell and the fire safety regulations in the UK, we will briefly compare the fire regulations in other European countries, more precisely France, Germany and Denmark, to underline the difference and make some suggestions to increase fire resilience via regulation. For this research, we will also include other types of resilience such as technological resilience, discussing the structure of buildings itself, as well as community resilience, considering the role of communities in building resilience. Our findings demonstrate that to increase fire resilience, amending existing regulations might be necessary, for example, how we performed reaction to fire tests and how we classify building products. However, as we are looking at national regulations, we are only able to make general suggestions for improvement. Another finding of this research is that the capacity of the community to recover and adapt after a fire is also an essential factor. Fundamentally, fire resilience, technological resilience and community resilience are closely connected. Building resilient cities is not only about sustainable buildings or energy efficiency; it is about assuring that all the aspects of resilience are included when building or renovating buildings. We must ask ourselves questions as: Who are the users of this building? Where is the building located? What are the components of the building, how was it designed and which construction products have been used? If we want to have resilient cities, we must answer these basic questions and assure that basic factors such as fire resilience are included in our assessment.

Keywords: buildings, cities, fire, resilience

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Authors: Michele Paleologo, Marta Acampora, Serena Barello, Guendalina Graffigna

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Introduction: In the face of increasing demands for higher agricultural productivity with minimal environmental impact, participatory research approaches emerge as promising means to promote innovation. However, the complexities and ambiguities surrounding these approaches in both theory and practice present challenges. This Scoping Review seeks to bridge these gaps by mapping participatory approaches in agricultural contexts, analyzing their characteristics, and identifying indicators of success. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic Scoping Review, searching Scopus and Web of Science databases. Our review encompassed 34 projects from diverse geographical regions and farming contexts. Thematic analysis was employed to explore the types of innovation promoted and the categories of participants involved. Results: The identified innovation types encompass technological advancements, sustainable farming practices, and market integration, forming 5 main themes: climate change, cultivar, irrigation, pest and herbicide, and technical improvement. These themes represent critical areas where participatory research drives innovation to address pressing agricultural challenges. Participants were categorized as citizens, experts, NGOs, private companies, and public bodies. Understanding their roles is vital for designing effective participatory initiatives that embrace diverse stakeholders. The review also highlighted 27 theoretical frameworks underpinning participatory projects. Clearer guidelines and reporting standards are crucial for facilitating the comparison and synthesis of findings across studies, thereby enhancing the robustness of future participatory endeavors. Furthermore, we identified three main categories of barriers and facilitators: pragmatic/behavioral, emotional/relational, and cognitive. These insights underscore the significance of participant engagement and collaborative decision-making for project success beyond theoretical considerations. Regarding participation, projects were classified as contributory (5 cases), where stakeholders contributed insights; collaborative (10 cases), with active co-designing of solutions; and co-created (19 cases), featuring deep stakeholder involvement from ideation to implementation, resulting in joint ownership of outcomes. Such diverse participation modes highlight the adaptability of participatory approaches to varying agricultural contexts. Discussion: In conclusion, this Scoping Review demonstrates the potential of participatory research in driving transformative changes in farmers' practices, fostering sustainability and innovation in agriculture. Understanding the diverse landscape of participatory approaches, theoretical frameworks, and participant engagement strategies is essential for designing effective and context-specific interventions. Collaborative efforts among researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders are pivotal in harnessing the full potential of participatory approaches and driving positive change in agricultural settings worldwide. The identified themes of innovation and participation modes provide valuable insights for future research and targeted interventions in agricultural innovation.

Keywords: participatory research, co-creation, agricultural innovation, stakeholders' engagement

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Authors: Sengly Sroy, Elodie Arnaud, Adrien Servent, Sokneang In, Sylvie Avallone

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In Cambodia, fish plays an important role for local community in term of food habits, preference and contribution to several nutritional intakes. Consumed on a daily basis, fishes and their derivatives products are good sources of proteins, essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins. They mainly obtain from the Tonle Sap Lake but, during the last decade, the fish population decreased drastically due to climate change and human activities as well. Contamination by agricultural residues and heavy metals were identified. However, fishes are currently used in several nutrition programs for children and pregnant women to improve their nutritional status. The aim of our work was to characterize the nutritional profile and contamination of 10 fish species consumed near the Tonle Sap Lake with a special attention to fatty acid and fat-soluble vitamin profiles. Fish samples were analyzed for their nutritional profiles (AOAC methods for macronutrients and micronutrients), their lipid content (Folch modified method), their Fatty acid (FAME method), their vitamin A (HPLC) and their heavy metals (ICP-MS). The total lipid contents ranged from 1.43 to 10.00% according to fish species. Lipid profile was mainly dominated by saturated fat (from 47.95 to 57.32%) but some fish species were particularly rich in ω-3 and ω-6 especially eicosapentaenoic acid EPA (3.05%) and docosahexaenoic acid DHA (2.82%). The more the fishes were fats, the more they contained vitamin A, DHA and EPA. Vitamin A is particularly abundant in small fishes (250.10 μg RE/100 g) compare to big ones (13.77 μg RE/100 g) because they are consumed as a whole with their organs (liver) and head. However, the contents of heavy metal in some species are higher than the maximum permitted level (MPL) from codex alimentarius, especially Mn. The results obtained provided important information on the most interesting fish in term of human nutrition and the potential risk of contaminants. The fatty acids are important for child development and pregnant women. These data are useful for supply chain stakeholders and the people in charge of nutrition program.

Keywords: fat-soluble vitamin, fatty acid, freshwater fish, lipid content, Tonle Sap Lake

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Authors: Kumar Kanudkuri, A. Sandhya

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Typically, in a MRI clinical setting, there are several protocols run, each indicated for a specific anatomy and disease condition. However, these protocols or parameters within them can change over time due to changes to the recommendations by the physician groups or updates in the software or by the availability of new technologies. Most of the time, the changes are performed by the MRI technologist to account for either time, coverage, physiological, or Specific Absorbtion Rate (SAR ) reasons. However, giving properly guidelines to MRI technologist is important so that they do not change the parameters that negatively impact the image quality. Typically a standard American College of Radiology (ACR) MRI phantom is used for Quality Control (QC) in order to guarantee that the primary objectives of MRI are met. The visual evaluation of quality depends on the operator/reviewer and might change amongst operators as well as for the same operator at various times. Therefore, overcoming these constraints is essential for a more impartial evaluation of quality. This makes quantitative estimation of image quality (IQ) metrics for MRI quality control is very important. So in order to solve this problem, we proposed that there is a need for a robust, open-source, and automated MRI image control tool. The Designed and developed an automatic analysis tool for measuring MRI image quality (IQ) metrics like Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), Signal to Noise Ratio Uniformity (SNRU), Visual Information Fidelity (VIF), Feature Similarity (FSIM), Gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), slice thickness accuracy, slice position accuracy, High contrast spatial resolution) provided good accuracy assessment. A standardized quality report has generated that incorporates metrics that impact diagnostic quality.

Keywords: ACR MRI phantom, MRI image quality metrics, SNRU, VIF, FSIM, GLCM, slice thickness accuracy, slice position accuracy

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Authors: Olivia R. Rendon

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More than half of the world population lives in cities, in the UK, for example, 82% of the population was urban by 2013. Cities concentrate valuable and numerous infrastructure and sectors of the national economies. Cities are particularly vulnerable to climate change which will lead to higher damage costs in the future. There is thus a need to develop and invest in adaptation measures for cities to reduce the impact of flooding and other extreme weather events. Recent flood episodes present a significant and growing challenge to the UK and the estimated cost of urban flood damage is 270 million a year for England and Wales. This study aims to carry out cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of a nature-based approach for flood risk management in cities, focusing on the city of Leeds and the wider Aire catchment as a case study. Leeds was chosen as a case study due to its being one of the most flood vulnerable cities in the UK. In Leeds, over 4,500 properties are currently vulnerable to flooding and approximately £450 million of direct damage is estimated for a potential major flood from the River Aire. Leeds is also the second largest Metropolitan District in England with a projected population of 770,000 for 2014. So far the city council has mainly focused its flood risk management efforts on hard infrastructure solutions for the city centre. However, the wider Leeds district is at significant flood risk which could benefit from greener adaptation measures. This study presents estimates of a nature-based adaptation approach for flood risk management in Leeds. This land use management estimate is based on generating costings utilising primary and secondary data. This research contributes findings on the costs of different adaptation measures to flood risk management in a UK city, including the trade-offs and challenges of utilising nature-based solutions. Results also explore the potential implementation of the adaptation measures in the case study and the challenges of data collection and analysis for adaptation in flood risk management.

Keywords: green infrastructure, ecosystem services, woodland, adaptation, flood risk

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Authors: Angelo Corallo, Maria Elena Latino, Marta Menegoli

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Agri-food value chain involves various stakeholders with different roles. All of them abide by national and international rules and leverage marketing strategies to advance their products. Food products and related processing phases carry with it a big mole of data that are often not used to inform final customer. Some data, if fittingly identified and used, can enhance the single company, and/or the all supply chain creates a math between marketing techniques and voluntary traceability strategies. Moreover, as of late, the world has seen buying-models’ modification: customer is careful on wellbeing and food quality. Food citizenship and food democracy was born, leveraging on transparency, sustainability and food information needs. Internet of Things (IoT) and Analytics, some of the innovative technologies of Industry 4.0, have a significant impact on market and will act as a main thrust towards a genuine ‘4.0 change’ for agriculture. But, realizing a traceability system is not simple because of the complexity of agri-food supply chain, a lot of actors involved, different business models, environmental variations impacting products and/or processes, and extraordinary climate changes. In order to give support to the company involved in a traceability path, starting from business model analysis and related business process a Framework to Manage Product Data in Agri-Food Supply Chain for Voluntary Traceability was conceived. Studying each process task and leveraging on modeling techniques lead to individuate information held by different actors during agri-food supply chain. IoT technologies for data collection and Analytics techniques for data processing supply information useful to increase the efficiency intra-company and competitiveness in the market. The whole information recovered can be shown through IT solutions and mobile application to made accessible to the company, the entire supply chain and the consumer with the view to guaranteeing transparency and quality.

Keywords: agriculture 4.0, agri-food suppy chain, industry 4.0, voluntary traceability

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Authors: Temenuzhka Spasova, Nadya Yanakieva

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Snow modulates the hydrological cycle and influences the functioning of ecosystems and is a significant resource for many populations whose water is harvested from cold regions. Snow observations are important for validating climate models. The accumulation and rapid melt of snow are two of the most dynamical seasonal environmental changes on the Earth’s surface. The actuality of this research is related to the modern tendencies of the remote sensing application in the solution of problems of different nature in the ecological monitoring of the environment. The subject of the study is the dynamic during the different seasons on Livingstone Island, South Shetland Islands in Antarctica and on Svalbard in Arctic. The objects were analyzed and mapped according to the Еuropean Space Agency data (ESA), acquired by sensors Sentinel-1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), Sentinel 2 MSI and GIS. Results have been obtained for changes in snow coverage during the summer-winter transition and its dynamics in the two hemispheres. The data used is of high time-spatial resolution, which is an advantage when looking at the snow cover. The MSI images are with different spatial resolution at the Earth surface range. The changes of the environmental objects are shown with the SAR images and different processing approaches. The results clearly show that snow and snow melting can be best registered by using SAR data via hh- horizontal polarization. The effect of the researcher on aerospace data and technology enables us to obtain different digital models, structuring and analyzing results excluding the subjective factor. Because of the large extent of terrestrial snow coverage and the difficulties in obtaining ground measurements over cold regions, remote sensing and GIS represent an important tool for studying snow areas and properties from regional to global scales.

Keywords: climate changes, GIS, remote sensing, SAR images, snow coverage

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Authors: Naser Ahmadi Sani, Karim Solaimani, Lida Razaghnia, Jalal Zandi

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In recent decades, rapid and incorrect changes in land-use have been associated with consequences such as natural resources degradation and environmental pollution. Detecting changes in land-use is one of the tools for natural resource management and assessment of changes in ecosystems. The target of this research is studying the land-use changes in Haraz basin with an area of 677000 hectares in a 15 years period (1996 to 2011) using LANDSAT data. Therefore, the quality of the images was first evaluated. Various enhancement methods for creating synthetic bonds were used in the analysis. Separate training sites were selected for each image. Then the images of each period were classified in 9 classes using supervised classification method and the maximum likelihood algorithm. Finally, the changes were extracted in GIS environment. The results showed that these changes are an alarm for the HARAZ basin status in future. The reason is that 27% of the area has been changed, which is related to changing the range lands to bare land and dry farming and also changing the dense forest to sparse forest, horticulture, farming land and residential area.

Keywords: Haraz basin, change detection, land-use, satellite data

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Authors: Dinesh K. S., D. R. C. V. Jayadevan

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Autism is the most prevalent of a subset of the disorders organized under the umbrella of pervasive developmental disorders. After the publication of Andrew Wakefield's paper in lancet, many critiques deny this connection even without looking in to the matter. The British Medical Journal even put an editorial regarding this issue. BMJ 2010; 340:c1807. But ayurveda has ample of evidences to believe this connectivity. Dysbiosis, yeast growth of the gut, nutritional deficiencies, enzyme deficiencies, essential fatty acid deficiencies, Gastro esophageal reflux disease, indigestion, inflammatory bowel, chronic constipation & its cascade are few of them to note. The purpose of this paper is to present the observed changes in the behavioural symptoms of autistic babies after a gut management protocol which is a usual programme of our autism treatment plan especially after dysbiotic changes after antibiotic administration. Is there any correlation between changes (if significant) in gut symptoms and behavioral problems of autistic babies especially after a dysbiosis induced by antibiotics. Retrospective analysis of the case sheets of autistic patients admitted in Vaidyaratnam P.S.Varier Ayurveda College hospital, kottakkal,kerala, india from September 2010 are taken for the data processing. Autistic patients are used to come to this hospital as a part of their usual course of treatment. We investigated 40 cases diagnosed as autistic by clinical psychologists from different institutions who had dysbiosis induced by antibiotics. Significant change in gut symptoms before and after treatment p<0.05 in most of its components Significant change in behavioral symptoms before and after treatments p<0.05 in most of the components Correlation between gut symptoms change and behavioral symptoms changes after treatment is + 0.86. Conclusion : Selected Polyherbal Ayurveda treatment has significant role to play to make changes abnormal behaviors in autistic babies and has a positive correlation with changes in gut symptoms induced by dysbiosis of antibiotic intake.

Keywords: ayurveda, autism, dysbiosis, antibiotic

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Authors: Mehmet Ozturk, Serdal Akyuz, Halit Turan

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By the evolving technology, the nature of the war has been changed since the beginning of the history. In the first generation war, the bayonet came to the fore in battlefields; successively; in the second-generation firepower; in the third generation maneuver. Today, in the fourth-generation, fighters, sides, and even fighters’ borders are unclear; consequently, lines of the battles have lost their significance. Furthermore, the actors in the battles can be state or non-state, military, paramilitary or civilian. In order to change the balance according to their interests, parties have utilized the urban areas as warfare. The main reason for using urban areas as a battlefield is the imbalance between parties. To balance the power strength, exploiting technological developments has utmost importance. There are many newly developed technologies for urban warfare such as change in the size of the unmanned aerial vehicle, increased usage of unmanned ground vehicles (especially in supply and evacuation purposes), systems showing the behind of the wall, simulations used for educational purposes. This study will focus on the technological equipment being used for urban warfare.

Keywords: urban warfare, unmanned ground vehicles, technological developments, nature of the war

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Authors: Miraç Savaş Turhan, Ali Danişman

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Recently scholars of new institutional theory have used institutional logics perspective to explain the contradictory practices in modern western societies. Accordingly, distinct institutional logics are embedded in central institutions such as the market, state, democracy, family, and religion. They guide individual and organizational actors and constraint their behaviors in a particular organizational field. Through this perspective, actors are assumed to have a situated, embedded, boundedly intentional, and adaptive role against the structure in social, cultural and political context. On the other hand, over a decade, there is an emerging attempt focusing on the role of actors on creating, maintaining, and changing the institutions. Such attempts brought out the concept of institutional entrepreneurs to explain the role of individual actors in relation to institutions. Institutional entrepreneurs are individuals, groups of individuals, organizations or groups of organizations that are able to initiate some actions to build, maintain or change institutions. While recent studies on institutional logics perspective have attempted to explain roles of entrepreneurial actors who have resources and skills, little is known about the effects of multiple institutional logics on the ability of institutional entrepreneurs. In this study, we aim to find out that how multiple institutional logics affect the ability of institutional entrepreneurs during the process of institutional change. We examine this issue in the Turkish Education Field. While institutional logics were identified based on the previous studies in the education field, the actions taken by Turkish National Education Ministry from 2003 to 2013 was examined through content analysis The early results indicate that there are remarkable shift and contradictions in the ability of institutional entrepreneur in taking actions to change the field in relationship to balance of power shift among the carriers of institutional logics.

Keywords: institutional theory, institutional logics, institutional entrepreneurs, Turkish national education

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Authors: Farnaz Nazem

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Iranian architects had creative ways for constructing the buildings in each climate. Some of these architectural elements were made under the ground. Shovadan is one of these underground spaces in hot- humid regions in Dezfoul and Shoushtar city that had special functions and characteristics. In this paper some subjects such as the history of Shovadan, its elements and effective factors in the formation of Shovadan in Dezfool city are discussed.

Keywords: architecture, dezfoul city, Shovadan, south west of Iran

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Authors: Tu Shuyang, Zhang Xu, Zhou Xiang

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The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of short-term heat exchange decay of ground heat exchanger (GHE) on the ground source heat pump (GSHP) energy efficiency and capacity. A resistance-capacitance (RC) model was developed and adopted to simulate the transient characteristics of the ground thermal condition and heat exchange. The capacity change of the GSHP was linked to the inlet and outlet water temperature by polynomial fitting according to measured parameters given by heat pump manufacturers. Thus, the model, which combined the heat exchange decay with the capacity change, reflected the energy efficiency decay of the whole system. A case of GSHP system was analyzed by the model, and the result showed that there was risk that the GSHP might not meet the load demand because of the efficiency decay in a short-term operation. The conclusion would provide some guidances for GSHP system design to overcome the risk.

Keywords: capacity, energy efficiency, GSHP, heat exchange

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Authors: Sarika Bahadure

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Sustainability starts with conserving resources for future generations. Since human’s existence on this earth, he has been consuming natural resources. The resource consumption pace in the past was very slow, but industrialization in 18^th century brought a change in the human lifestyle. New inventions and discoveries upgraded the human workforce to machines. The mass manufacture of goods provided easy access to products. In the last few decades, the globalization and change in technologies brought consumer oriented market. The consumption of resources has increased at a very high scale. This overconsumption pattern brought economic boom and provided multiple opportunities, but it also put stress on the natural resources. This paper tries to put forth the facts and figures of the population growth and consumption of resources with examples. This is explained with the help of the mathematical expression of doubling known as exponential growth. It compares the carrying capacity of the earth and resource consumption of humans’ i.e. ecological footprint and bio-capacity. Further, it presents the need to conserve natural resources and re-examine sustainable resource use approach for sustainability.

Keywords: consumption, exponential growth, population, resources, sustainability

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Authors: I Putu Deny Arthawan Sugih Prabowo, Eko Nugroho, Rudy Hartanto

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Known, Green IT is a concept about how to use the technology (IT) wisely, efficiently, and environmentally. However, it exists as the consequence of the rapid-growth of the technology (especially IT) currently. Not only for the environments, the usage of Green IT applications, e.g. Cloud Computing (Cloud Storage) and E-Money (E-Cash), also gives its benefits for the organizational business strategy (especially the organizational product/service strategy) in order to gain the organizational competitive advantage (to be the market leader). This paper takes the case at E-Money as a Value-Added Services (VAS) of a telecommunication firm (company) in Indonesia which it also competes with the competitors’ similar product (service). Although it has been a popular telecommunication firm’s product/service, but its strategic values for the organization (firm) is still unknown, and therefore, the aim of this paper is for analyzing its strategic values for gaining the organizational competitive advantage. However, in this paper, its strategic value analysis is viewed by how to assess (consider) its strategic benefits and also manage the challenges or risks of its implementation at the organization as an organizational product/service. Then the paper uses a research model for investigating the influences of both perceived risks and the organizational cultures to the usage of Green IT Application at the organization and also both the usage of Green IT Application at the organization and the threats-challenges of the organizational products/services to the competitive advantage of the organizational products/services. However, the paper uses the quantitative research method (collecting the information from the field respondents by using the research questionnaires) and then, the primary data is analyzed by both descriptive and inferential statistics. Also in this paper, SmartPLS is used for analyzing the primary data by the quantitative research method. Besides using the quantitative research method, the paper also uses the qualitative research method, such as interviewing the field respondent and/or directly field observation, for deeply confirming the quantitative research method’s analysis results at the certain domain, e.g. both organizational cultures and internal processes that support the usage of Green IT applications for the organizational product/service (E-Money in this paper case). However, the paper is still at an infant stage of in-progress research. Then the paper’s results may be used as a reference for the organization (firm or company) in developing the organizational business strategies, especially about the organizational product/service that relates to Green IT applications. Besides it, the paper may also be the future study, e.g. the influence of knowledge transfer about E-Money and/or other Green IT application-based products/services to the organizational service performance that relates to the product (service) in order to gain the competitive advantage.

Keywords: Green IT, competitive advantage, strategic value, organization (firm or company), organizational product (service)

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Authors: Chang Su Woo, Hyun Sung Park

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Useful lifetime evaluations of rail-pads were very important in design procedure to assure the safety and reliability. It is, therefore, necessary to establish a suitable criterion for the replacement period of rail pads. In this study, we performed properties and accelerated heat aging tests of rail pads considering degradation factors and all environmental conditions including operation, and then derived a lifetime prediction equation according to changes in hardness, thickness, and static spring constants in the Arrhenius plot to establish how to estimate the aging of rail pads. With the useful lifetime prediction equation, the lifetime of e-clip pads was 2.5 years when the change in hardness was 10% at 25°C; and that of f-clip pads was 1.7 years. When the change in thickness was 10%, the lifetime of e-clip pads and f-clip pads is 2.6 years respectively. The results obtained in this study to estimate the useful lifetime of rail pads for high speed trains can be used for determining the maintenance and replacement schedule for rail pads.

Keywords: rail pads, accelerated test, Arrhenius plot, useful lifetime prediction, mechanical engineering design

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Authors: Shivayogi Charantimath

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Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are effective for treating malignancies but are associated with side effects like oral mucositis. Chlorhexidine gluconate is one of the most commonly used mouthwash in prevention of signs and symptoms of mucositis. Evidence shows that chlorhexidine gluconate has side effects in terms of colonization of bacteria, bad breadth and less healing properties. Thus, it is essential to find a suitable alternative therapy which is more effective with minimal side effects. Curcumin, an extract of turmeric is gradually being studied for its wide-ranging therapeutic properties such as antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, antiseptic, chemo sensitizing and radio sensitizing properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical curcumin gel on radio-chemotherapy induced oral mucositis in cancer patients. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of curcumin gel in the management of oral mucositis in cancer patients undergoing radio chemotherapy and compare with chlorhexidine. The study was conducted in K.L.E. Society’s Belgaum cancer hospital. 40 oral cancer patients undergoing the radiochemotheraphy with oral mucositis was selected and randomly divided into two groups of 20 each. The study group A [20 patients] was advised Cure next gel for 2 weeks. The control group B [20 patients] was advised chlorhexidine gel for 2 weeks. The NRS, Oral Mucositis Assessment scale and WHO mucositis scale were used to determine the grading. The results obtained were calculated by using SPSS 20 software. The comparison of grading was done by applying Mann-Whitney U test and intergroup comparison was calculated by Wilcoxon matched pairs test. The NRS scores observed from baseline to 1^st and 2^nd week follow up in both the group showed significant difference. The percentage of change in erythema in respect to group A was 63.3% for first week and for second week, changes were 100.0% with p = 0.0003. The changes in Group A in respect to erythema was 34.6% for 1^st week and 57.7% in second week. The intergroup comparison was significant with p value of 0.0048 and 0.0006 in relation to group A and group B respectively. The size of the ulcer score was measured which showed 35.5% [P=0.0010] of change in Group A for 1^st and 2^nd week showed totally reduction i.e. 103.4% [P=0.0001]. Group B showed 24.7% change from baseline to 1^st week and 53.6% for 2^nd week follow up. The intergroup comparison with Wilcoxon matched pair test was significant with p=0.0001 in group A. The result obtained by WHO mucositis score in respect to group A shows 29.6% [p=0.0004] change in first week and 75.0% [p=0.0180] change in second week which is highly significant in comparison to group B. Group B showed minimum changes i.e. 20.1% in 1^st week and 33.3% in 2^nd week. The p value with Wilcoxon was significant with 0.0025 in Group A for 1^st week follow up and 0.000 for 2^nd week follow up. Curcumin gel appears to an effective and safer alternative to chlorhexidine gel in treatment of oral mucositis.

Keywords: curcumin, chemotheraphy, mucositis, radiotheraphy

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Authors: Maria Margoudi, Zacharoula Smyraniou

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The current paper presents the results of a conducted case study, which was part of the author’s master thesis. During the past few years the number of children diagnosed with Learning Difficulties has drastically augmented and especially the cases of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). One of the core characteristics of ADHD is a deficit in working memory functions. The review of the literature indicates a plethora of educational software that aim at training and enhancing the working memory. Nevertheless, in the current paper, the possibility of using for the same purpose free, online games will be explored. Another issue of interest is the potential effect of the working memory training to the core symptoms of ADHD. In order to explore the abovementioned research questions, three digital tests are employed, all of which are developed on the E-slate platform by the author, in order to check the level of ADHD’s symptoms and to be used as diagnostic tools, both in the beginning and in the end of the case study. The tools used during the main intervention of the research are free online games for the training of working memory. The research and the data analysis focus on the following axes: a) the presence and the possible change in two of the core symptoms of ADHD, attention and impulsivity and b) a possible change in the general cognitive abilities of the individual. The case study was conducted with the participation of a thirteen year-old, female student, diagnosed with ADHD, during after-school hours. The results of the study indicate positive changes both in the levels of attention and impulsivity. Therefore we conclude that the training of working memory through the use of free, online games has a positive impact on the characteristics of ADHD. Finally, concerning the second research question, the change in general cognitive abilities, no significant changes were noted.

Keywords: ADHD, attention, impulsivity, online games

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Authors: Aghamolaei Teamur, Hosseini Zahra, Ghanbarnejad Amin

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Introduction: A diet rich in fruits and vegetables, especially for adolescents is of a great importance due to the need for nutrients and the rapid growth of this age group. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between decisional balance and self-efficacy with stages of change for fruit and vegetable consumption in high school students in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, the data were collected from 345 students studying in 8 high schools of Bandar Abbas were selected through multistage sampling. To collect data, separate questionnaires were designed for evaluating each of the variables including the stages of change, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy of fruit and vegetable consumption. Decisional balance was estimated by subtracting the perceived benefits and barriers. The data were analyzed using SPSS19 and one-way ANOVA. Results: The results of this study indicated that individuals’ progress along the stages of change from pre-contemplation to maintenance level was associated with a significant increase in their decisional balance and self-efficacy for fruit and vegetable consumption. (P < 0.001). The lowest level of decisional balance and self-efficacy regarding for fruit showed up in the pre-contemplation stage, and the highest level of decisional balance and self-efficacy was in the maintenance stage. The same trends were observed in the case of vegetable consumption. Conclusion: Decisional balance and self-efficacy should be considered in designing interventions to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables. There needs to be more emphasis in educational programs based on the Trans-theoretical Model (TTM) on the enhancement of perceived benefits and elimination of perceived barriers regarding consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Keywords: fruit, vegetable, decision balance, self-efficacy, trans-theoretical model

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Authors: Ifeanyi Adigwe, Thomas Van der Walt

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Digital media has been integrated into the social and entertainment life of young children, and as such, the impact of digital media appears to affect young people of all ages and it is believed that this will continue to shape the world of young children. Since, technological advancement of digital media presents adolescents with diverse contexts, platforms and avenues to engage with digital media outside the home environment and from parents' supervision, a wide range of new challenges has further complicated the already difficult tasks for parents and altered the landscape of parenting. Despite the fact that adolescents now have access to a wide range of digital media technologies both at home and in the learning environment, parenting practices such as active, restrictive, co-use, participatory and technical mediations are important in mitigating of online risks adolescents may encounter as a result of digital media use. However, these mediation practices only focus on the home environment including digital media present in the home and may not necessarily transcend outside the home and other learning environments where adolescents use digital media for school work and other activities. This poses the question of who mediates adolescent's digital media use outside the home environment. The learning environment could be a ''loose platform'' where an adolescent can maximise digital media use considering the fact that there is no restriction in terms of content and time allotted to using digital media during school hours. That is to say that an adolescent can play the ''bad boy'' online in school because there is little or no restriction of digital media use and be exposed to online risks and play the ''good boy'' at home because of ''heavy'' parental mediation. This is the reason why parent mediation practices have been ineffective because a parent may not be able to track adolescents digital media use considering the diversity of contexts, platforms and avenues adolescents use digital media. This study argues that due to the diverse nature of digital media technology, parents may not be able to monitor the 'whereabouts' of their children in the digital space. This is because adolescent digital media usage may not only be confined to the home environment but other learning environments like schools. This calls for urgent attention on the part of teachers to understand the intricacies of how digital media continue to shape the world in which young children are developing and learning. It is, therefore, imperative for parents to liaise with the schools of their children to mediate digital media use during school hours. The implication of parents- teachers mediation practices are discussed. The article concludes by suggesting that third party mediation by teachers in schools and other learning environments should be encouraged and future research needs to consider the emergent strategy of teacher-children mediation approach and the implication for policy for both the home and learning environments.

Keywords: digital media, digital age, parent mediation, third party mediation

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Authors: Christo Februanto Putra

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This paper presents risk identification that affects investment feasibility on toll road infrastructure in Indonesia using qualitative methods survey based on the expert practitioner in investor, contractor, and state officials. The problems on infrastructure investment in Indonesia, especially on KPBU model contract, is many risk factors in the investment plan is not calculated in detail thoroughly. Risk factor is a value used to provide an overview of the risk level assessment of an event which is a function of the probability of the occurrence and the consequences of the risks that arise. As results of the survey which is to show which risk factors impacts directly to the investment feasibility and rank them by their impacts on the investment.

Keywords: risk identification, indonesia toll road, investment feasibility

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Authors: Shazia Shamim, Pallavi Gautam

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The present study describes the presence of rare or endangered plants from Poonch Dist., which spread over 1674 Km sq. located between latitude 330 25' N to 340 01' N and longitude 730 58' E to 740 35' E forming a part of the Northwest Himalaya in Jammu and Kashmir state of India, with the aim of suggesting the strategy for the conservation and promotion of cultivation of rare and endangered medicinal plants, as well as developing traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. The main threats to biodiversity and ecosystem are overexploitation, global climate change, habitat loss, fragmentation, pollution, and invasion of alien species and disturbance of community structure. Surveys were carried out during 2015-2016 throughout the Poonch valley. During the field survey, various criteria of International Union for the conservation of nature for categorizing threatened plants, extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, probability of extinction, etc. were measured. The rarity of species was determined by field study, visual estimations, and literature. During the collection, it was observed that few rare and endangered species which were present in the study area, are also mentioned in the prescribed red data book of Indian plants, International Union for conservation of nature, list of threatened species and list of Botanical Survey of India presented by its Northern Regional Centre. The study was based on extensive surveys of the study area and then concluded by preparing a list of plant species occurring in different seasons, the photographs of all these plant species were collected. Actual threats to the population of a selected plant species in a given area were recorded by direct observation. The present paper provides information about 22 rare and endangered medicinal plant species belonging to 18 families that are used by the native of these areas. Information provided includes botanical name, family name, local name, habitat, part used, ethno medicinal uses and brief preparation of the reported plant species is presented in the present work.

Keywords: biodiversity, traditional knowledge, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Botanical Survery of India

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