Search results for: cost assessment

Authors: G. Dottavio, M. F. Andrade, F. Renard, V. Cheutet, A.-L. Ladier, S. Vercraene, P. Hoang, S. Briet, R. Dachicourt, Y. Baizet

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An important number of technological equipment and high-skilled workers over long periods of time have to be mobilized during nuclear decommissioning processes. The related operations generate complex flows of waste and high inventory levels, associated to information flows of heterogeneous types. Taking into account that more than 10 decommissioning operations are on-going in France and about 50 are expected toward 2025: A big challenge is addressed today. The management of decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear installations represents an important part of the nuclear-based energy lifecycle, since it has an environmental impact as well as an important influence on the electricity cost and therefore the price for end-users. Bringing new technologies and new solutions into decommissioning methodologies is thus mandatory to improve the quality, cost and delay efficiency of these operations. The purpose of our project is to improve decommissioning management efficiency by developing a decision-support framework dedicated to plan nuclear facility decommissioning operations and to optimize waste evacuation by means of a logistic approach. The target is to create an easy-to-handle tool capable of i) predicting waste flows and proposing the best decommissioning logistics scenario and ii) managing information during all the steps of the process and following the progress: planning, resources, delays, authorizations, saturation zones, waste volume, etc. In this article we present our results from waste nuclear flows simulation during decommissioning process, including discrete-event simulation supported by FLEXSIM 3-D software. This approach was successfully tested and our works confirms its ability to improve this type of industrial process by identifying the critical points of the chain and optimizing it by identifying improvement actions. This type of simulation, executed before the start of the process operations on the basis of a first conception, allow ‘what-if’ process evaluation and help to ensure quality of the process in an uncertain context. The simulation of nuclear waste flows before evacuation from the site will help reducing the cost and duration of the decommissioning process by optimizing the planning and the use of resources, transitional storage and expensive radioactive waste containers. Additional benefits are expected for the governance system of the waste evacuation since it will enable a shared responsibility of the waste flows.

Keywords: nuclear decommissioning, logistical optimization, decision-support framework, waste management

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Authors: Adriana Diaz Triana, Wolfgang Wimmer, Sebastian Glaser, Rainer Pamminger

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SUSTAINEXT is a pioneer initiative in Extremadura, Spain under the EU Biobased industries. SUSTANEXT will scale-up and validate an industrial facility to produce botanical extracts, based on three key pillars. First, the whole valorization of bio-based feedstocks with a zero-waste and zero-emissions ambition. SUSTAINEXT will be deployed with six feedstocks. Three medicinal and aromatic plants (Rosemary, Chamomile, and Lemon verbena) will be locally sourced from disused tobacco fields with installed agri-voltaics; and three underexploited agro-industrial side streams will be further valorized (Olive, artichoke-cardoon, and pomegranate). Second, a dynamic, analytical biorefinery (DYANA) will isolate polyphenol and tri-terpenes from feedstocks in a disruptive and circular way. SUSTAINEXT explores 12 valorization routes (VRs) to extract and purify 46 functional ingredients, of which 13 are new in the market and 12 are newly produced in Europe. Third, the integrated and versatile value chain engages all actors, from feedstocks suppliers to extract users in the industries of food, animal feed, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, chemical performance, soil enhancers and fertilizers. This paper addresses SUTAINEXT activities towards zero impacts and full regulatory compliance. A comprehensive Life Cycle Thinking approach is proposed, with four complementary assessments running iteratively along the project duration (4,5 years). These are the Life Cycle Cost (LCCA), Life Cycle (LCA), Social Life Cycle (S-LCA) and Circularity (CA) assessments. The LCA will help evaluate the feedstock suitability parameters and intrinsic characteristics that quantify the feedstock´s grade for a determined use, and the feedstock´s suitability index for a specific VR. The LCA will also study the emissions, land use change, energy generation and consumption, and other environmental aspects and impacts of the VRs, to identify the most resource efficient and less impactful distribution of products from the circular biorefinery model used in SUSTAINEXT. Challenges to complete the LCA include the definition of the system boundaries, carrying out a robust inventory, and the proper allocation of impacts to the different VRs.

Keywords: biorefinery, botanical extracts, life cycle assessment, valorization routes.

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Authors: G. M. Cappucci, C. Losi, P. Neri, M. Pini, A. M. Ferrari

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Waste treatment and many production processes cause significant emissions of odors, thus typically leading to intense debate. The introduction of odorimetric units and their units of measurement, i.e., U.O. / m3, with the European regulation UE 13725 of 2003 designates the dynamic olfactometry as the official method for odorimetric analysis. Italy has filled the pre-existing legislative gap on the regulation of odorous emissions only recently, by introducing the Legislative Decree n°183 in 2017. The concentration of the odor to which a perceptive response occurs to 50% of the panel corresponds to the odorimetric unit of the sample under examination (1 U.O. / m3) and is equal to the threshold of perceptibility of the substance (O.T.). In particular, the treatment of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) by Mechanical-Biological Treatment (MBT) plants produces odorous emissions, typically generated by aerobic procedures, potentially leading to significant environmental burdens. The quantification of odorous emissions represents a challenge within a LCA study since primary data are often missing. The aim of this study is to present the preliminary findings of an ongoing study whose aim is to identify and quantify odor emissions from the Tre Monti MBT plant, located in Imola (Bologna, Italy). Particularly, the issues faced with odor emissions in the present work are: i) the identification of the components of the gaseous mixture, whose total quantification in terms of odorimetric units is known, ii) the distribution of the total odorimetric units among the single substances identified and iii) the quantification of the mass emitted for each substance. The environmental analysis was carried out on the basis of the amount of emitted substance. The calculation method IMPact Assessment of Chemical Toxics (IMPACT) 2002+ has been modified since the original one does not take into account indoor emissions. Characterization factors were obtained by adopting a preliminary method in order to calculate indoor human effects. The impact and damage assessments were performed without the identification of new categories, thus in accordance with the categories of the selected calculation method. The results show that the damage associated to odorous emissions is the 0.24% of the total damage, and the most affected damage category is Human Health, mainly as a consequence of ammonia emission (86.06%). In conclusion, this preliminary approach allowed identifying and quantifying the substances responsible for the odour impact, in order to attribute them the relative damage on human health as well as ecosystem quality.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, municipal solid waste, odorous emissions, waste treatment

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Authors: Pongthep Bunrueng

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This action research accentuates the outcome of a development in English pronunciation, using principles of phonetics for English major students at Loei Rajabhat University. The research is split into 5 separate modules: 1) Organs of Speech and How to Produce Sounds, 2) Monopthongs, 3) Diphthongs, 4) Consonant sounds, and 5) Suprasegmental Features. Each module followed a 4 step action research process, 1) Planning, 2) Acting, 3) Observing, and 4) Reflecting. The research targeted 2nd year students who were majoring in English Education at Loei Rajabhat University during the academic year of 2011. A mixed methodology employing both quantitative and qualitative research was used, which put theory into action, taking segmental features up to suprasegmental features. Multiple tools were employed which included the following documents: pre-test and post-test papers, evaluation and assessment papers, group work assessment forms, a presentation grading form, an observation of participants form and a participant self-reflection form. All 5 modules for the target group showed that results from the post-tests were higher than those of the pre-tests, with 0.01 statistical significance. All target groups attained results ranging from low to moderate and from moderate to high performance. The participants who attained low to moderate results had to re-sit the second round. During the first development stage, participants attended classes with group participation, in which they addressed planning through mutual co-operation and sharing of responsibility. Analytic induction of strong points for this operation illustrated that learner cognition, comprehension, application, and group practices were all present whereas the participants with weak results could be attributed to biological differences, differences in life and learning, or individual differences in responsiveness and self-discipline. Participants who were required to be re-treated in Spiral 2 received the same treatment again. Results of tests from the 5 modules after the 2nd treatment were that the participants attained higher scores than those attained in the pre-test. Their assessment and development stages also showed improved results. They showed greater confidence at participating in activities, produced higher quality work, and correctly followed instructions for each activity. Analytic induction of strong and weak points for this operation remains the same as for Spiral 1, though there were improvements to problems which existed prior to undertaking the second treatment.

Keywords: action research, English pronunciation, phonetics, segmental features, suprasegmental features

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Authors: Md. Shakhawat Hossain, Jimma Hossain, Md. Naushad Ali

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Acute pancreatitis is a dangerous medical emergency in the practice of gastroenterology. Management of acute pancreatitis needs multidisciplinary approach with support starts from emergency to ICU. So, there is a chance of mismanagement in every steps, especially in low resource settings. Other factors such as patient’s financial condition, education, social custom, transport facility, referral system from periphery may also challenge the current guidelines for management. The present study is intended to determine the clinico-pathological profile, severity assessment and challenges of management of acute pancreatitis in a government laid tertiary care hospital to image the real scenario of management in a low resource place. A total 100 patients of acute pancreatitis were studied in this prospective study, held in the Department of Gastroenterology, Rangpur medical college hospital, Bangladesh from July 2017 to July 2018 within one year. Regarding severity, 85 % of the patients were mild, whereas 13 were moderately severe, and 2 had severe acute pancreatitis according to the revised Atlanta criteria. The most common etiologies of acute pancreatitis in our study were gall stone (15%) and biliary sludge (15%), whereas 54% were idiopathic. The most common challenges we faced were delay in hospital admission (59%) and delay in hospital diagnosis (20%). Others are non-adherence of patient party, and lack of investigation facility, physician’s poor knowledge about current guidelines. We were able to give early aggressive fluid to only 18% of patients as per current guideline. Conclusion: Management of acute pancreatitis as per guideline is challenging when optimum facility is lacking. So, modified guidelines for assessment and management of acute pancreatitis should be prepared for low resource setting.

Keywords: acute pancreatitis, challenges of management, severity, prognosis

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Authors: Claire Biasco, Thaier Hayajneh

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A smart city is the integration of digital technologies in urban environments to enhance the quality of life. Smart cities capture real-time information from devices, sensors, and network data to analyze and improve city functions such as traffic analysis, public safety, and environmental impacts. Current smart cities face controversy due to their reliance on real-time data tracking and surveillance. Internet of Things (IoT) devices and blockchain technology are converging to reshape smart city infrastructure away from its centralized model. Connecting IoT data to blockchain applications would create a peer-to-peer, decentralized model. Furthermore, blockchain technology powers the ability for IoT device data to shift from the ownership and control of centralized entities to individuals or communities with Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). In the context of smart cities, DAOs can govern cyber-physical systems to have a greater influence over how urban services are being provided. This paper will explore how the core components of a smart city now apply to DAOs. We will also analyze different definitions of DAOs to determine their most important aspects in relation to smart cities. Both categorizations will provide a solid foundation to conduct a cybersecurity assessment of DAOs in smart cities. It will identify the benefits and risks of adopting DAOs as they currently operate. The paper will then provide several mitigation methods to combat cybersecurity risks of DAO integrations. Finally, we will give several insights into what challenges will be faced by DAO and blockchain spaces in the coming years before achieving a higher level of maturity.

Keywords: blockchain, IoT, smart city, DAO

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Authors: Horia Păunescu

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Purpose: The study aimed to assess the depressant or antidepressant effects of several Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) in mice: the selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor meloxicam, and the non-selective COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitors lornoxicam, sodium metamizole, and ketorolac. The current literature data regarding such effects of these agents are scarce. Materials and methods: The study was carried out on NMRI mice weighing 20-35 g, kept in a standard laboratory environment. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy „Carol Davila”, Bucharest. The study agents were injected intraperitoneally, 10 mL/kg body weight (bw) 1 hour before the assessment of the locomotor activity by cage testing (n=10 mice/ group) and 2 hours before the forced swimming tests (n=15). The study agents were dissolved in normal saline (meloxicam, sodium metamizole), ethanol 11.8% v/v in normal saline (ketorolac), or water (lornoxicam), respectively. Negative and positive control agents were also given (amitryptilline in the forced swimming test). The cage floor used in the locomotor activity assessment was divided into 20 equal 10 cm squares. The forced swimming test involved partial immersion of the mice in cylinders (15/9cm height/diameter) filled with water (10 cm depth at 28C), where they were left for 6 minutes. The cage endpoint used in the locomotor activity assessment was the number of treaded squares. Four endpoints were used in the forced swimming test (immobility latency for the entire 6 minutes, and immobility, swimming, and climbing scores for the final 4 minutes of the swimming session), recorded by an observer that was "blinded" to the experimental design. The statistical analysis used the Levene test for variance homogeneity, ANOVA and post-hoc analysis as appropriate, Tukey or Tamhane tests.Results: No statistically significant increase or decrease in the number of treaded squares was seen in the locomotor activity assessment of any mice group. In the forced swimming test, amitryptilline showed an antidepressant effect in each experiment, at the 10 mg/kg bw dosage. Sodium metamizole was depressant at 100 mg/kg bw (increased the immobility score, p=0.049, Tamhane test), but not in lower dosages as well (25 and 50 mg/kg bw). Ketorolac showed an antidepressant effect at the intermediate dosage of 5 mg/kg bw, but not so in the dosages of 2.5 and 10 mg/kg bw, respectively (increased the swimming score, p=0.012, Tamhane test). Meloxicam and lornoxicam did not alter the forced swimming endpoints at any dosage level. Discussion: 1) Certain NSAIDs caused changes in the forced swimming patterns without interfering with locomotion. 2) Sodium metamizole showed a depressant effect, whereas ketorolac proved antidepressant. Conclusion: NSAID-induced mood changes are not class effects of these agents and apparently are independent of the type of inhibited cyclooxygenase (COX-1 or COX-2). Disclosure: This paper was co-financed from the European Social Fund, through the Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013, project number POSDRU /159 /1.5 /S /138907 "Excellence in scientific interdisciplinary research, doctoral and postdoctoral, in the economic, social and medical fields -EXCELIS", coordinator The Bucharest University of Economic Studies.

Keywords: antidepressant, depressant, forced swim, NSAIDs

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Authors: Jairson Barbosa Rodrigues, Paulo Romero Martins Maciel, Germano Crispim Vasconcelos

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This paper presents an investigation of the performance impacts regarding the variation of five factors (input data size, node number, cores, memory, and disks) when applying a distributed implementation of Naïve Bayes for text classification of a large Corpus on the Spark big data processing framework. Problem: The algorithm's performance depends on multiple factors, and knowing before-hand the effects of each factor becomes especially critical as hardware is priced by time slice in cloud environments. Objectives: To explain the functional relationship between factors and performance and to develop linear predictor models for time and cost. Methods: the solid statistical principles of Design of Experiments (DoE), particularly the randomized two-level fractional factorial design with replications. This research involved 48 real clusters with different hardware arrangements. The metrics were analyzed using linear models for screening, ranking, and measurement of each factor's impact. Results: Our findings include prediction models and show some non-intuitive results about the small influence of cores and the neutrality of memory and disks on total execution time, and the non-significant impact of data input scale on costs, although notably impacts the execution time.

Keywords: big data, design of experiments, distributed machine learning, natural language processing, spark

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Authors: Rasaq Adekunle Olabomi

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More than 30% of the global building energy consumption is attributed to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) due to increasing urbanization and the need for more personal comfort. While heating is predominant in the temperate regions (especially during winter), comfort cooling is constantly needed in tropical regions such as Nigeria. This makes cooling a major contributor to the peak electrical load in the tropics. Meanwhile, the high solar energy availability in the tropical climate region presents a higher application potentials for solar thermal cooling systems; more so, the need for cooling mostly coincides with the solar energy availability. In addition to huge energy consumption, conventional (compressor type) air-conditioning systems mostly use refrigerants that are regarded as environmental unfriendly because of their ozone depletion potentials; this has made the alternative cooling systems to become popular in the present time. The better thermal capacity and less pumping power requirement of chilled water than chilled air has also made chilled water a preferred option over the chilled air cooling system. Radiant floor chilled water cooling is particularly is also considered suitable for spaces such as meeting room, seminar hall, auditorium, airport arrival and departure halls among others. This study did the analysis of the feasibility and energy efficiency of solar thermal chilled water for radiant flood cooling of an office apartment in a tropical climate city in Nigeria with a view to recommend its up-scaling. The analysis considered the weather parameters including available solar irradiance (kWh/m2-day) as well as the technical details of the solar thermal cooling systems to determine the feasibility. Project cost, its energy savings, emission reduction potentials and cost-to-benefits ration are used to analyze its energy efficiency as well as the viability of the cooling system. The techno-economic analysis of the proposed system, carried out using RETScreen software shows that its viability in but SWOT analysis of policy and institutional framework to promote solar energy utilization for the cooling systems shows weakness such as poor infrastructure and inadequate local capacity for technological development as major challenges.

Keywords: cooling load, absorption cooling system, coefficient of performance, radiant floor, cost saving, emission reduction

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Authors: Guo-Hui Lu, Jing-Yi Cai, Ke-Yan Tan, Xiao-Cai Yin, Yu Zheng, Peng-Wei Shao, Yong-Liang Yang

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Soil erosion around abandoned mines is one of the important geological agents for pollutant diffuses to the lower reaches of the local river basin system. River loading of pollutants is an important parameter for remediation of abandoned mines. In order to obtain information on pollutant transport and diffusion downstream in mining area, the small tributary system of the Xiaxi River in Wanshan District of Guizhou Province was selected as the research area. Sediment and suspended matter samples were collected and determined for Pb, As, Hg, Zn, Co, Cd, Cu, Ni, Cr, and Mn by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS) with the pretreatment of wet digestion. Discussions are made for pollution status and spatial distribution characteristics. The total Hg content in the sediments ranged from 0.45 to 16.0 g/g (dry weight) with an average of 5.79 g/g, which was ten times higher than the limit of Class II soil for mercury by the National Soil Environmental Quality Standard. The maximum occurred at the intersection of the Jin River and the Xiaxi River. The potential ecological hazard index (RI) was used to evaluate the ecological risk of heavy metals in the sediments. The average RI value for the whole study area suggests the high potential ecological risk level. High Cd potential ecological risk was found at individual sites.

Keywords: heavy metal, risk assessment, sediment, suspended matter, Wanshan mercury mine, small tributary system

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Authors: Vibha Sinha, Sumedha Chakma

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Arsenic (As) contamination in drinking water is a serious concern worldwide resulting in severe health maladies. To tackle this problem, several hydrogel based matrix which selectively uptake toxic metals from contaminated water has increasingly been examined as a potential practical method for metal removal. The major concern in hydrogels is low stability of matrix, resulting in poor performance. In this study, the potential of hybrid hydrogel-biochar matrix synthesized from natural plant polymers, specific for As removal was explored. Various compositional and functional group changes of the elements contained in the matrix due to the adsorption of As were identified. Moreover, to resolve the stability issue in hydrogel matrix, optimum and effective mixing of hydrogel with biochar was studied. Mixing varied proportions of matrix components at the time of digestion process was tested. Preliminary results suggest that partial premixing methods may increase the stability and reduce cost. Addition of nanoparticles and specific catalysts with different concentrations of As(III) and As(V) under batch conditions was performed to study their role in performance enhancement of the hydrogel matrix. Further, effect of process parameters, optimal uptake conditions and detailed mechanism derived from experimental studies were suitably conducted. This study provides an efficient, specific and a low-cost As removal method that offers excellent regeneration abilities which can be reused for value.

Keywords: arsenic, catalysts, hybrid hydrogel-biochar, water purification

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Authors: D. Venu, N. V. Koteswara Rao

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Space – time adaptive processing (STAP) is an effective tool for detecting a moving target in spaceborne or airborne radar systems. Since airborne passive radar systems utilize broadcast, navigation and excellent communication signals to perform various surveillance tasks and also has attracted significant interest from the distinct past, therefore the need of the hour is to have cost effective systems as compared to conventional active radar systems. Moreover, requirements of small number of secondary samples for effective clutter suppression in bi-static passive radar offer abundant illuminator resources for passive surveillance radar systems. This paper presents a framework for incorporating knowledge sources directly in the space-time beam former of airborne adaptive radars. STAP algorithm for clutter mitigation for passive bi-static radar has better quantitation of the reduction in sample size thereby amalgamating the earlier data bank with existing radar data sets. Also, we proposed a novel method to estimate the clutter matrix and perform STAP for efficient clutter suppression based on small sample size. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified using MATLAB simulations in order to validate STAP algorithm for passive bi-static radar. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance for various applications which augments traditional active radars using cost-effective measures.

Keywords: bistatic radar, clutter, covariance matrix passive radar, STAP

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Authors: Anatoly Krivinsh

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The results of dissertation research "Preventing and combating corruption in public procurement" are presented in this publication. The study was conducted 2011 till 2013 in a Member State of the European Union, in the Republic of Latvia. Goal of the thesis is to explore corruption prevention and combating issues in public procurement sphere, to identify the prevalence rates, determinants and contributing factors and prevention opportunities in Latvia. In the first chapter the author analyses theoretical aspects of understanding corruption in public procurement, with particular emphasis on corruption definition problem, its nature, causes and consequences. A separate section is dedicated to the public procurement concept, mechanism and legal framework. In the first part of this work the author presents cognitive methodology of corruption in public procurement field, based on which the author has carried out an analysis of corruption situation in public procurement in Republic of Latvia. In the second chapter of the thesis, the author analyzes the problem of corruption in public procurement, including its historical aspects, typology and classification of corruption subjects involved, corruption risk elements in public procurement and their identification. During the development of the second chapter author's practical experience in public procurements was widely used. The third and fourth chapter deals with issues related to the prevention and combating corruption in public procurement, namely the operation of the concept, principles, methods and techniques, subjects in Republic of Latvia, as well as an analysis of foreign experience in preventing and combating corruption. The fifth chapter is devoted to the corruption prevention and combating perspectives and their assessment. In this chapter the author has made the evaluation of corruption prevention and combating measures efficiency in Republic of Latvia, assessment of anti-corruption legislation development stage in public procurement field in Latvia.

Keywords: prevention of corruption, public purchases, good governance, human rights

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Authors: Mehrdad Gholami, Shima Behkami, Sharifuddin B. Md. Zain, Firdaus A. B. Kamaruddin

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Starting from the first application of a microwave oven for sample preparation in 1975 for the purpose of wet ashing of biological samples using a domestic microwave oven, many microwave-assisted dissolution vessels have been developed. The advanced vessels are armed with special safety valve that release the excess of pressure while the vessels are in critical conditions due to applying high power of microwave. Nevertheless, this releasing of pressure may cause lose of volatile elements. In this study Teflon bottles are designed with relatively thicker wall compared to commercial ones and a silicone based polymer was used to prepare an O-ring which plays the role of safety valve. In this design, eight vessels are located in an ABS holder to keep them stable and safe. The advantage of these vessels is that they need only 2 mL of HNO3 and 1mL H2O2 to digest different environmental samples, namely, sludge, apple leave, peach leave, spinach leave and tomato leave. In order to investigate the performance of this design an ICP-MS instrument was applied for multi elemental analysis of 20 elements on the SRM of above environmental samples both using this design and a commercial microwave digestion design. Very comparable recoveries were obtained from this simple design with the commercial one. Considering the price of ultrapure chemicals and the amount of them which normally is about 8-10 mL, these simple vessels with the procedures that will be discussed in detail are very cost effective and very suitable for environmental studies.

Keywords: inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), PTFE vessels, Teflon bombs, microwave digestion, trace element

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Authors: M. O. Oke, T. S. Workneh

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Drying behaviour of blanched sweet potato in a cabinet dryer using different five air temperatures (40-80oC) and ten sweet potato varieties sliced to 5 mm thickness were investigated. The drying data were fitted to eight models. The Modified Henderson and Pabis model gave the best fit to the experimental moisture ratio data obtained during the drying of all the varieties while Newton (Lewis) and Wang and Singh models gave the least fit. The values of Deff obtained for Bophelo variety (1.27 x 10-9 to 1.77 x 10-9 m2/s) was the least while that of S191 (1.93 x 10-9 to 2.47 x 10-9 m2/s) was the highest which indicates that moisture diffusivity in sweet potato is affected by the genetic factor. Activation energy values ranged from 0.27-6.54 kJ/mol. The lower activation energy indicates that drying of sweet potato slices requires less energy and is hence a cost and energy saving method. The drying behavior of blanched sweet potato was investigated in a cabinet dryer. Drying time decreased considerably with increase in hot air temperature. Out of the eight models fitted, the Modified Henderson and Pabis model gave the best fit to the experimental moisture ratio data on all the varieties while Newton, Wang and Singh models gave the least. The lower activation energy (0.27-6.54 kJ/mol) obtained indicates that drying of sweet potato slices requires less energy and is hence a cost and energy saving method.

Keywords: sweet potato slice, drying models, moisture ratio, moisture diffusivity, activation energy

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Authors: Aurora Sheehy, Caitlin Prince

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Within current orthodox medical protocols, trauma and mental health issues are deemed to reside within the realm of cognitive or psychological therapists and are marginalised in these areas, in part due to limited drugs option available, mostly manipulating neurotransmitters or sedating patients to reduce symptoms. By contrast, this research presents examples from the clinical practice of how trauma can be assessed and treated physiologically. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are a tally of different types of abuse and neglect. It has been used as a measurable and reliable predictor of the likelihood of the development of autoimmune disease. It is a direct way to demonstrate reliably the health impact of traumatic life experiences. A second assessment tool is Allostatic Load, which refers to the cumulative effects that chronic stress has on mental and physical health. It records the decline of an individual’s physiological capacity to cope with their experience. It uses a specific grouping of serum testing and physical measures. It includes an assessment of neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems. Allostatic load demonstrates the health impact that trauma has throughout the body. It forms part of an initial intake assessment in clinical practice and could also be used in research to evaluate treatment. Examining medicinal plants for their physiological, neurological and somatic effects through the lens of Polyvagal theory offers new opportunities for trauma treatments. In situations where Polyvagal theory recommends activities and exercises to enable parasympathetic activation, many herbs that affect Effector Memory T (TEM) cells also enact these responses. Traditional or Indigenous European herbs show the potential to support the polyvagal tone, through multiple mechanisms. As the ventral vagal nerve reaches almost every major organ, plants that have actions on these tissues can be understood via their polyvagal actions, such as monoterpenes as agents to improve respiratory vagal tone, cyanogenic glycosides to reset polyvagal tone, volatile oils rich in phenyl methyl esters improve both sympathetic and parasympathetic tone, bitters activate gut function and can strongly promote parasympathetic regulation. Auricular Acupuncture uses a system of somatotopic mapping of the auricular surface overlaid with an image of an inverted foetus with each body organ and system featured. Given that the concha of the auricle is the only place on the body where the Vagus Nerve neurons reach the surface of the skin, several investigators have evaluated non-invasive, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) at auricular points. Drawn from an interdisciplinary evidence base and developed through clinical practice, these assessment and treatment tools are examples of practitioners in the field innovating out of necessity for the best outcomes for patients. This paper draws on case studies to direct future research.

Keywords: polyvagal, auricular acupuncture, trauma, herbs

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Authors: Randa Ismail Sharafeddine

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The Islamic economic system is distinctive in that it implicitly recognizes money as a separate, independent component of production capable of assuming risk and so entitled to the same reward as other Entrepreneurial Factors of Production (EFP). Conventional theory does not identify money capital explicitly as a component of production; rather, interest is recognized as a reward for capital, the interest rate is the cost of money capital, and it is also seen as a cost of physical capital. The conventional theory of production examines how diverse non-entrepreneurial resources (Land, Labor, and Capital) are selected; however, the economic theory community is largely unaware of the reasons why these resources choose to remain as non-entrepreneurial resources as opposed to becoming entrepreneurial resources. Should land, labor, and financial asset owners choose to work for others in return for rent, income, or interest, or should they engage in entrepreneurial risk-taking in order to profit. This is a decision made often in the actual world, but it has never been effectively treated in economic theory. This article will conduct a critical analysis of the conventional classification of factors of production and propose a classification for resource allocation and income distribution (Rent, Wages, Interest, and Profits) that is more rational, even within the conventional theoretical framework for evaluating and developing production and distribution theories. Money is an essential component of production in an Islamic economy, and it must be used to sustain economic activity.

Keywords: financial capital, production theory, distribution theory, economic activity, riba avoidance, institution of participation

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Authors: Amena Omer Syeda, Harita Shyam

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Background: Anorexia a common symptom among patients with prolonged illness leading to anorexia-cachexia syndrome with a prevalence rate of 70%. In order to provide effective health care and better response to treatment, appetite should be assessed on admission and then periodically for earlier nutrition intervention. Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT) appetite scale is 12 questions, patient-rated, symptom specific measure for appetite, and distress from anorexia. It assigns a score ranging from 0 (worst response) to 4 (best response). Therefore, proposing a total score of ≤24 may be sufficient to make a diagnosis of anorexia. Objectives: To assess the FAACT scale by co-relating the scores with the Nutritional intake and BMI of Cancer Patients. Methods: The FAACT scores of 100 cancer in-patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation as treatment, their 24-hour calorie and protein intake and BMI were recorded. The data was then statistically analyzed. Results: The calorie and protein intake and FAACT scores both showed a significant positive co-relation (p<0.001), inferring that the patients with a FAACT score of ≤24 where not meeting their calorie as well as protein requirements, hence rightly categorizing them as anorexic. The co-relation between BMI and FAACT scores showed a weak co-relation and was not statistically significant (p > 0.05).The FAACT scale thus is not sensitive to distinguish patients being under-weight, normal weight or obese. Conclusion: The FAACT scale helps in providing better palliative and nutritional care as it correctly assessed anorexia /cachexia in cancer patients and co-related significantly with their nutrient intake.

Keywords: appetite, cachexia, cancer, malnutrition

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Authors: Sreejith Jayachandran, Mojtaba Ghods, Morteza Mohammadzaheri

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The modern busy world is running behind new embedded technologies based on computers and software; meanwhile, some people forget to do their health condition and regular medical check-ups. Some of them postpone medical check-ups due to a lack of time and convenience, while others skip these regular evaluations and medical examinations due to huge medical bills and hospital expenses. Engineers and medical experts have come together to give birth to a new device in the telemonitoring system capable of monitoring, checking, and evaluating the health status of the human body remotely through the internet for the needs of all kinds of people. The remote health monitoring device is a microcontroller-based embedded unit. Various types of sensors in this device are connected to the human body, and with the help of an Arduino UNO board, the required analogue data is collected from the sensors. The microcontroller on the Arduino board processes the analogue data collected in this way into digital data and transfers that information to the cloud, and stores it there, and the processed digital data is instantly displayed through the LCD attached to the machine. By accessing the cloud storage with a username and password, the concerned person’s health care teams/doctors and other health staff can collect this data for the assessment and follow-up of that patient. Besides that, the family members/guardians can use and evaluate this data for awareness of the patient's current health status. Moreover, the system is connected to a Global Positioning System (GPS) module. In emergencies, the concerned team can position the patient or the person with this device. The setup continuously evaluates and transfers the data to the cloud, and also the user can prefix a normal value range for the evaluation. For example, the blood pressure normal value is universally prefixed between 80/120 mmHg. Similarly, the RHMS is also allowed to fix the range of values referred to as normal coefficients. This IoT-based miniature system (11×10×10) cm³ with a low weight of 500 gr only consumes 10 mW. This smart monitoring system is manufactured with 100 GBP, which can be used not only for health systems, it can be used for numerous other uses including aerospace and transportation sections.

Keywords: embedded technology, telemonitoring system, microcontroller, Arduino UNO, cloud storage, global positioning system, remote health monitoring system, alert system

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Authors: Yanuar Tri Wahyu Saputra, Ramadhani Pamapta Putra

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Karimunjawa is one among Indonesian islands which is lacking of electricity supply. Despite condition above, Karimunjawa is an important tourism object in Indonesia's Central Java Province. Solar Power Plant is a potential technology to be applied in Karimunjawa, in order to fulfill the island's electrical supply need and to increase daily life and tourism quality among tourists and local population. This optimation modeling of Karimunjawa uses HOMER software program. The data we uses include wind speed data in Karimunjawa from BMKG (Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics), annual weather data in Karimunjawa from NASA, electricity requirements assumption data based on number of houses and business infrastructures in Karimunjawa. This modeling aims to choose which three system categories offer the highest financial profit with the lowest total Net Present Cost (NPC). The first category uses only PV with 8000 kW of electrical power and NPC value of $6.830.701. The second category uses hybrid system which involves both 1000 kW PV and 100 kW generator which results in total NPC of $6.865.590. The last category uses only generator with 750 kW of electrical power that results in total NPC of $ 16.368.197, the highest total NPC among the three categories. Based on the analysis above, we can conclude that the most optimal way to fulfill the electricity needs in Karimunjawa is to use 8000 kW PV with lower maintenance cost.

Keywords: Karimunjawa, renewable energy, solar power plant, HOMER

Procedia PDF Downloads 467

Authors: Abdul Kadir, L. Meily Kurniawidjaja

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Batik Madura workers are exposed to many Musculoskeletal Disorders risk factors, particularly Low Back Pain (LBP). This study was conducted as an early detection of ergonomic risk level on Workers Industrial Sentra Batik Madura in Dusun Banyumas, Klampar Subdistrict, Proppo Pamekasan, Madura, East Java. This study includes 12 workers who 11 workers had pain in the upper and lower part of the neck, back, wrist right hand, also 10 workers had pain in the right shoulder. This is a descriptive observational study with cross-sectional approach. Qualitative research by observing workers activity such as draw and putting the wax motif, fabric dyeing, fabric painting, discoloration, washing, and drying. The results are workers have identified ergonomic hazards such as awkward postures, twisting movements, repetitive, and static work postures. Using the method of REBA and QEC, the results get a very high-risk level of activity in each of Madura batik making process is the draw and putting the wax motif, coloring, painting, discoloration, washing, and drying. The level of risk can be reduced by improvement of work equipment include the provision of seats, strut fabric, high settings furnaces, drums, coloring basin, and washing tub.

Keywords: activities of Madura's batik, ergonomic risk level, equipment, QEC (Quick Exposure Checklist), REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment)

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Yun-na Wu, Zhen Wang

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Due to the economic downturn and the deterioration of the living environment, the development of residential buildings as high energy consuming building is gradually changing from “extensive” to green building in China. So, the evaluation system of green building is continuously improved, but the current evaluation work has the following problems: (1) There are differences in the cost of the actual investment and the purchasing power of residents, also construction target of green residential building is single and lacks multi-objective performance development. (2) Green building evaluation lacks regional characteristics and cannot reflect the different regional residents demand. (3) In the process of determining the criteria weight, the experts’ judgment matrix is difficult to meet the requirement of consistency. Therefore, to solve those problems, questionnaires which are about the green residential building for Ningxia area are distributed, and the results of questionnaires can feedback the purchasing power of residents and the acceptance of the green building cost. Secondly, combined with the geographical features of Ningxia minority areas, the evaluation criteria system of green residential building is constructed. Finally, using the improved group AHP method and the grey clustering method, the criteria weight is determined, and a real case is evaluated, which is located in Xing Qing district, Ningxia. A conclusion can be obtained that the professional evaluation for this project and good social recognition is basically the same.

Keywords: evaluation, green residential building, grey clustering method, group AHP

Procedia PDF Downloads 397

Authors: Nimrod Bantigue

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The Department of Education is continuously providing safe teaching-learning facilities and hazard-free environments to the learners. To achieve this goal, teachers’ awareness of DepEd’s DRRM programs and activities is extremely important; thus, this descriptive correlational quantitative study was conceptualized. This research answered four questions on the profile and level of awareness of the 153 teacher respondents of Oriental Mindoro National High School for the academic year 2018-2019. Stratified proportional sampling was employed, and both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to treat data. The findings revealed that the majority of the teachers at OMNHS are female and are in the age bracket of 20-40. Most are married and pursue graduate studies. They have moderate awareness of the Department of Education’s DRRM programs and activities in terms of assessment of risks activities, planning activities, implementation activities during disaster and evaluation and monitoring activities with 3.32, 3.12, 3.40 and 3.31 as computed means, respectively. Further, the result showed a significant relationship between the profile of the respondents such as age, civil status and educational attainment and the level of awareness. On the contrary, sex does not have a significant relationship with the level of awareness. The Support School DRRM program with Utilization Guide on School DRRM Manual was proposed to increase, improve and strengthen the weakest areas of awareness rated in each DRRM activity, such as assessment of risks, planning, and implementation during disasters and monitoring and evaluation.

Keywords: awareness, management, monitoring, risk reduction

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Hafiz Muhammad Tayyab Bhatti, Munazza Usmani

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One of nature's most destructive occurrences, floods do immense damage to communities and economic losses. Nigeria country, specifically southern Nigeria, is known for being prone to flooding. Even though periodic flooding occurs in Nigeria frequently, the floods of 2022 were the worst since those in 2012. Flood vulnerability analysis and mapping are still lacking in this region due to the very limited historical hydrological measurements and surveys on the effects of floods, which makes it difficult to develop and put into practice efficient flood protection measures. Remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are useful approaches to detecting, determining, and estimating the flood extent and its impacts. In this study, NOAA VIIR has been used to extract the flood extent using the flood water fraction data and afterward fused with GIS data for some zonal statistical analysis. The estimated possible flooding areas are validated using satellite imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The goal is to map and studied flood extent, flood hazards, and their effects on the population, schools, and health facilities for each state of Nigeria. The resulting flood hazard maps show areas with high-risk levels clearly and serve as an important reference for planning and implementing future flood mitigation and control strategies. Overall, the study demonstrated the viability of using the chosen GIS and remote sensing approaches to detect possible risk regions to secure local populations and enhance disaster response capabilities during natural disasters.

Keywords: flood hazards, remote sensing, damage assessment, GIS, geospatial analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Zekun Lin, Xun Li

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Silicon photonics has gained much interest and extensive research for a promising aspect for fabricating compact, high-speed and low-cost photonic devices compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process. Despite the remarkable progress made on the development of silicon photonics, high-performance, cost-effective, and reliable silicon laser sources are still missing. In this work, we present a 1550 nm III-V/silicon laser design with stable single-mode lasing property and robust and high-efficiency vertical coupling. The InP cavity consists of two uniform Bragg grating sections at sides for mode selection and feedback, as well as a central second-order grating for surface emission. A grating coupler is etched on the SOI waveguide by which the light coupling between the parallel III-V and SOI is reached vertically rather than by evanescent wave coupling. Laser characteristic is simulated and optimized by the traveling-wave model (TWM) and a Green’s function analysis as well as a 2D finite difference time domain (FDTD) method for the coupling process. The simulation results show that single-mode lasing with SMSR better than 48dB is achievable, and the threshold current is less than 15mA with a slope efficiency of around 0.13W/A. The coupling efficiency is larger than 42% and possesses a high tolerance with less than 10% reduction for 10 um horizontal or 15 um vertical dislocation. The design can be realized by standard flip-chip bonding techniques without co-fabrication of III-V and silicon or precise alignment.

Keywords: III-V/silicon integration, silicon photonics, single mode laser, vertical coupling

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Gordon Newlove Asamoah

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This study’s objective is to determine the impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on Ghana using computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling. The trade data for the simulation was drawn from the standard GTAP database version 10. The study estimated the Ad valorem equivalent (AVE) of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) for the Ghanaian sectors which were used for the analysis. Simulations were performed to remove import tariffs and export taxes for 90% of the tariff lines as well as 50% of the NTMs for all the AfCFTA participating countries. The NTMs' reduction was simulated using these two mechanisms: iceberg costs, also known as import augmenting technological change (AMS), and exporter costs (AXS). The study finds that removing the tariffs and NTMs in the AfCFTA regions has a positive impact on Ghana’s GDP, export and import volumes, terms of trade and welfare as measured by the equivalent variations. However, Ghana recorded a deficit of US$4766.69 million as a trade balance due to its high importation bills. This is not by chance, as Ghana is an importer of high-value-added goods but an exporter of basic agricultural raw materials with low export earnings. The study also finds much larger positive impacts for the AfCFTA regions for both importers and exporters when the NTMs that work as iceberg costs and export costs are reduced. It further finds that by reducing the export cost that increases the cost of intermediate inputs, trade among the AfCFTA regions (intra-AfCFTA trade) is enhanced.

Keywords: impact, AfCFTA, NTMs, Ghana, CGE

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Authors: Iveta Bryjova

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Recording of viscoelastic strain-vs-time curves with the aid of the suction method and a follow-up analysis, resulting into evaluation of standard viscoelastic parameters, is a significant technique for non-invasive contact diagnostics of mechanical properties of skin and assessment of its conditions, particularly in acute burns, hypertrophic scarring (the most common complication of burn trauma) and reconstructive surgery. For elimination of the skin thickness contribution, usable viscoelastic parameters deduced from the strain-vs-time curves are restricted to the relative ones (i.e. those expressed as a ratio of two dimensional parameters), like grosselasticity, net-elasticity, biological elasticity or Qu’s area parameters, in literature and practice conventionally referred to as R2, R5, R6, R7, Q1, Q2, and Q3. With the exception of parameters R2 and Q1, the remaining ones substantially depend on the position of inflection point separating the elastic linear and viscoelastic segments of the strain-vs-time curve. The standard algorithm implemented in commercially available devices relies heavily on the experimental fact that the inflection time comes about 0.1 sec after the suction switch-on/off, which depreciates credibility of parameters thus obtained. Although the Qu’s US 7,556,605 patent suggests a method of improving the precision of the inflection determination, there is still room for nonnegligible improving. In this contribution, a novel method of inflection point determination utilizing the advantageous properties of the Savitzky–Golay filtering is presented. The method allows computation of derivatives of smoothed strain-vs-time curve, more exact location of inflection and consequently more reliable values of aforementioned viscoelastic parameters. An improved applicability of the five inflection-dependent relative viscoelastic parameters is demonstrated by recasting a former study under the new method, and by comparing its results with those provided by the methods that have been used so far.

Keywords: Savitzky–Golay filter, scarring, skin, viscoelasticity

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: Claude Takenga, Rolf-Dietrich Berndt, Erling Si, Markus Diem, Guohui Qiao, Melanie Gau, Michael Brandstoetter, Martin Kampel, Michael Dworzak

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In patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), treatment response is increasingly evaluated with minimal residual disease (MRD) analyses. Flow Cytometry (FCM) is a fast and sensitive method to detect MRD. However, the interpretation of these multi-parametric data requires intensive operator training and experience. This paper presents a pipeline-software, as a ready-to-use FCM-based MRD-assessment tool for the daily clinical practice for patients with ALL. The new tool increases accuracy in assessment of FCM-MRD in samples which are difficult to analyse by conventional operator-based gating since computer-aided analysis potentially has a superior resolution due to utilization of the whole multi-parametric FCM-data space at once instead of step-wise, two-dimensional plot-based visualization. The system developed as a telemedical network reduces the work-load and lab-costs, staff-time needed for training, continuous quality control, operator-based data interpretation. It allows dissemination of automated FCM-MRD analysis to medical centres which have no established expertise for the benefit of an even larger community of diseased children worldwide. We established a telemedical network system for analysis and clinical follow-up and treatment monitoring of Leukaemia. The system is scalable and adapted to link several centres and laboratories worldwide.

Keywords: data security, flow cytometry, leukaemia, telematics platform, telemedicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 984

Authors: Riyadh Jamegh, AllaEldin Kassam, Sawsan Sabih

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In modern trends of market, organizations face high-pressure environment which is characterized by globalization, high competition, and customer orientation, so it is very crucial to control and know the weak and strong points of the supply chain in order to improve their performance. So the performance measurements presented as an important tool of supply chain management because it's enabled the organizations to control, understand, and improve their efficiency. This paper aims to identify supply chain performance measurement (SCPM) by using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (FAHP). In our real application, the performance of organizations estimated based on four parameters these are cost parameter indicator of cost (CPI), inventory turnover parameter indicator of (INPI), raw material parameter (RMPI), and safety stock level parameter indicator (SSPI), these indicators vary in impact on performance depending upon policies and strategies of organization. In this research (FAHP) technique has been used to identify the importance of such parameters, and then first fuzzy inference (FIR1) is applied to identify performance indicator of each factor depending on the importance of the factor and its value. Then, the second fuzzy inference (FIR2) also applied to integrate the effect of these indicators and identify (SCPM) which represent the required output. The developed approach provides an effective tool for evaluation of supply chain performance measurement.

Keywords: fuzzy performance measurements, supply chain, fuzzy logic, key performance indicator

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Jain Jyoti, Jain Shorab, Sinha Shishir

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In the field of material engineering, composites are in great concern for their nonbiodegradability and their cost. In order to reduce its cost and weight, plant derived fibers witnessed miraculous triumph. Plant fibers can be of different types like seed fibers, blast fibers, leaf fibers, etc. Composites can be reinforced with exclusively one type of natural fiber or also can be combined with two or more different types of natural or synthetic fibers to boost up their specific properties. Among all natural fibers, wheat straw, bagasse, kenaf, pineapple leaf, banana, coir, ramie, flax, etc. pineapple leaf fibers have very good mechanical properties. Being hydrophilic in nature, pineapple leaf fibers have very less affinity towards all types of polymer matrixes like HDPE, LDPE, PET, epoxy, etc. Surface treatments like alkaline treatment in different concentrations were conducted to improve its adhesion and compatibility towards hydrophobic polymer matrix i.e. epoxy resin. Pineapple leaf fiber epoxy composites have been prepared using hand layup method. Effect of fiber loading and surface treatments have been studied for different mechanical properties i.e. tensile strength, flexural strength and impact properties of pineapple leaf fiber composites. Analysis of fiber morphology has also been studied using FTIR, XRD. Scanning electron microscopy has also been used to study and compare the morphology of untreated and treated fibers. Also, the fracture surface has been reviewed comparing the reported literature of other eminent researchers of this field.

Keywords: composite, mechanical, natural fiber, pineapple leaf fiber

Procedia PDF Downloads 257