Search results for: peace water pipeline project

Authors: Farzana Rahman, Mohammed Hossain Ezaz, Dipak Halder, Proshanta Mondal

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Site safety is an important function regardless of project size. A key goal, which must be met for a successful project, is to finish the project with a good safety record. Construction safety is an important issue in all over the world. Today, developed countries strictly follow the safety procedure to avoid any hazard, accident or fatality. However, for a least developed country like Bangladesh, still accidents and fatalities are quite high due to lack of safety management. With the increased volume of construction work in Bangladesh, the need for proper attention in safety issues has become essential for human, economic and other consideration. Recently lots of accidents are taking place in construction sites of Bangladesh causing severe injury to death to the workers and pedestrians. There are a number of reasons/factors that these high numbers are widespread to the construction industry that are not found in most other businesses. The objective of this research work is to identify and explore the various factor that affect the construction site safety in Bangladesh. A questionnaire surveys was conducted to the reputed construction companies of Bangladesh to examine the present safety situation in construction sites. Nine factors were selected for the survey. The finding shows that 78% of organizations’ from the respondents are conscious about the safety procedure and they usually provide safety measures for the workers. Promotion of safety measures at the working site results in a better working environment, higher productivity and greater contentment among the workers.

Keywords: construction sites, fatalities, safety issues, safety situation

Procedia PDF Downloads 551

Authors: Alberto Azevedo, Ricardo Martins, André B. Fortunato, Anabela Oliveira

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Water is under severe threat today because of the rising population, increased agricultural and industrial needs, and the intensifying effects of climate change. Due to sea-level rise, erosion, and demographic pressure, the coastal regions are of significant concern to the scientific community. The Water Monitoring Sentinel Cloud platform (WORSICA) service is focused on providing new tools for monitoring water in coastal and inland areas, taking advantage of remote sensing, in situ and tidal modeling data. WORSICA is a service that can be used to determine the coastline, coastal inundation areas, and the limits of inland water bodies using remote sensing (satellite and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - UAVs) and in situ data (from field surveys). It applies to various purposes, from determining flooded areas (from rainfall, storms, hurricanes, or tsunamis) to detecting large water leaks in major water distribution networks. This service was built on components developed in national and European projects, integrated to provide a one-stop-shop service for remote sensing information, integrating data from the Copernicus satellite and drone/unmanned aerial vehicles, validated by existing online in-situ data. Since WORSICA is operational using the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) computational infrastructures, the service can be accessed via a web browser and is freely available to all European public research groups without additional costs. In addition, the private sector will be able to use the service, but some usage costs may be applied, depending on the type of computational resources needed by each application/user. Although the service has three main sub-services i) coastline detection; ii) inland water detection; iii) water leak detection in irrigation networks, in the present study, an application of the service to Óbidos lagoon in Portugal is shown, where the user can monitor the evolution of the lagoon inlet and estimate the topography of the intertidal areas without any additional costs. The service has several distinct methodologies implemented based on the computations of the water indexes (e.g., NDWI, MNDWI, AWEI, and AWEIsh) retrieved from the satellite image processing. In conjunction with the tidal data obtained from the FES model, the system can estimate a coastline with the corresponding level or even topography of the inter-tidal areas based on the Flood2Topo methodology. The outcomes of the WORSICA service can be helpful for several intervention areas such as i) emergency by providing fast access to inundated areas to support emergency rescue operations; ii) support of management decisions on hydraulic infrastructures operation to minimize damage downstream; iii) climate change mitigation by minimizing water losses and reduce water mains operation costs; iv) early detection of water leakages in difficult-to-access water irrigation networks, promoting their fast repair.

Keywords: remote sensing, coastline detection, water detection, satellite data, sentinel, Copernicus, EOSC

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Authors: Satish Kumar Dewangan, Santosh Kumar Senapati

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The present work focuses on the investigation of the effect of non-Newtonian behavior on the oil-water stratified flow in a horizontal channel using ANSYS Fluent. Coupled level set and volume of fluid (CLSVOF) has been used to capture the evolving interface assuming unsteady, coaxial flow with constant fluid properties. The diametric variation of oil volume fraction, mixture velocity, total pressure and pressure gradient has been studied. Non-Newtonian behavior of oil has been represented by the power law model in order to investigate the effect of flow behavior index. Stratified flow pattern tends to assume dispersed flow pattern with the change in the behavior of oil to non-Newtonian. The pressure gradient is found to be very much sensitive to the flow behavior index. The findings could be useful in designing the transportation pipe line in petroleum industries.

Keywords: oil-water stratified flow, horizontal channel, CLSVOF, non–Newtonian behaviour.

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Authors: Eworo David

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It is dearly evident that a company which does not and will not innovate faces the grave danger of being pushed out of existence. The purpose of this study is to bring to knowledge of companies the significance of capital budgeting in viable project implementation and for proper investment appraisal as regards steps involved in effective investment strategies. The study examines investment policies of Nigeria companies. It deals with an overview of capital budgeting. The analysis covers the data gathered from two multi-national companies in Nigeria. The population of the study was the senior managers and the top management staff of the companies. The system of capital budgeting structure and project implementation styles were compared and contrasted to determine whether the system has MADE or MARRED the development of the organizations. The recommendations contribute towards Nigeria companies to remain and survive in business through the use of capital budgeting.

Keywords: appraisal, budgeting structure, capital budgeting, effective investment strategies

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Authors: Abram Zoltan

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Over the past hundred years, human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, have released enough carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to dissipate additional heat into the lower atmosphere and affect the global climate. Climate change affects many social and environmental determinants of health: clean air, safe drinking water, and adequate food. Our aim is to draw attention to the effects of climate change on the health and health care system. Improving climate awareness and the knowledge related to climate change's health impacts are essential among medical students and practicing medical doctors. Therefore, in their everyday practice, they also need some assistance and up-to-date knowledge of how climate change can endanger human health and deal with these novel health problems. Our activity, based on the cooperation of more universities, aims to develop new curriculum outlines and learning materials on climate change's health impacts for medical schools. Special attention is intended to pay to the possible preventative measures against these impacts. For all of this, the project plans to create new curriculum outlines and learning materials for medical students, elaborate methodological guidelines and create training materials for medical doctors' postgraduate learning programs. The target groups of the project are medical students, educational staff of medical schools and universities, practicing medical doctors with special attention to the general practitioners and family doctors. We had searched various surveys, domestic and international studies about the effects of climate change and statistical estimation of the possible consequences. The health effects of climate change can be measured only approximately by considering only a fraction of the potential health effects and assuming continued economic growth and health progress. We can estimate that climate change is expected to cause about 250,000 more deaths. We conclude that climate change is one of the most serious problems of the 21st century, affecting all populations. In the short- to medium-term, the health effects of climate change will be determined mainly by human vulnerability. In the longer term, the effects depend increasingly on the extent to which transformational action is taken now to reduce emissions. We can contribute to reducing environmental pollution by raising awareness and by educating the population.

Keywords: climate change, health impacts, medical students, education

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Authors: Mohammad Nazififard, Reihane Faghihi

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This paper is aimed at understanding convective heat transfer of enclosed phase change material (PCM) in the solar and low-temperature hot water radiant floor heating geometry. In order to obtain the best performance of PCM, a radiant heating structure of the energy storage floor is designed which places heat pipes in the enclosed phase change material (PCM) layer, without concrete in it. The governing equations are numerically solved. The PCM thermal storage time is considered in relation to the floor surface temperature under different hot water temperatures. Moreover the PCM thermal storage time is numerically estimated under different supply water temperatures and flow rate. Results show the PCM floor heating system has a potential of making use of the daytime solar energy for heating at night efficiently.

Keywords: solar floor, heating system, phase change material, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Rajkumar Ghosh

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The industrialization of coal mining and related activities has a significant impact on groundwater in the surrounding areas of the Damodar River. The Damodar River basin, located in eastern India, is known as the "Ruhr of India" due to its abundant coal reserves and extensive coal mining and industrial operations. One of the major consequences of collieries on groundwater is the contamination of water sources. Coal mining activities often involve the excavation and extraction of coal through underground or open-pit mining methods. These processes can release various pollutants and chemicals into the groundwater, including heavy metals, acid mine drainage, and other toxic substances. As a result, the quality of groundwater in the Damodar River region has deteriorated, making it unsuitable for drinking, irrigation, and other purposes. The high concentration of heavy metals, such as arsenic, lead, and mercury, in the groundwater has posed severe health risks to the local population. Prolonged exposure to contaminated water can lead to various health problems, including skin diseases, respiratory issues, and even long-term ailments like cancer. The contamination has also affected the aquatic ecosystem, harming fish populations and other organisms dependent on the river's water. Moreover, the excessive extraction of groundwater for industrial processes, including coal washing and cooling systems, has resulted in a decline in the water table and depletion of aquifers. This has led to water scarcity and reduced availability of water for agricultural activities, impacting the livelihoods of farmers in the region. Efforts have been made to mitigate these issues through the implementation of regulations and improved industrial practices. However, the historical legacy of coal industrialization continues to impact the groundwater in the Damodar River area. Remediation measures, such as the installation of water treatment plants and the promotion of sustainable mining practices, are essential to restore the quality of groundwater and ensure the well-being of the affected communities. In conclusion, the coal industrialization in the Damodar River surrounding has had a detrimental impact on groundwater. This research focuses on soil subsidence induced by the over-exploitation of ground water for dewatering open pit coal mines. Soil degradation happens in arid and semi-arid regions as a result of land subsidence in coal mining region, which reduces soil fertility. Depletion of aquifers, contamination, and water scarcity are some of the key challenges resulting from these activities. It is crucial to prioritize sustainable mining practices, environmental conservation, and the provision of clean drinking water to mitigate the long-lasting effects of collieries on the groundwater resources in the region.

Keywords: coal mining, groundwater, soil subsidence, water table, damodar river

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Authors: Taekyun Kim, Jongho Park, Jinwoong Choi, Sun-Kyu Park

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Recently, the abnormal climate phenomenon has enlarged due to the global warming. As a result, temperature variation is increasing and the term is being prolonged, frequency of high and low temperature is increasing by heat wave and severe cold. Especially for reinforced concrete structure, the corrosion of reinforcement has occurred by concrete crack due to temperature change and the durability of the structure that has decreased by concrete crack. Accordingly, the textile reinforced concrete (TRC) which does not corrode due to using textile is getting the interest and the investigation of TRC is proceeding. The study of TRC structure behavior has proceeded, but the characteristic study of the concrete used in TRC is insufficient. Therefore, characteristic of the concrete by changing mixing ratio is studied in this paper. As a result, mixing ratio with different water-binder ratio has influenced to the strength of concrete. Also, as the water-binder ratio has decreased, strength of concrete has increased.

Keywords: concrete, mixing ratio, textile, TRC

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Authors: Amit K. Mishra, Jaswant Singh

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The menace of plastic, which significantly pollutes the aquatic environment, has emerged as a global problem. There is an emerging concern about microplastics (MPs) accumulation in aquatic ecosystems. It is familiar to everyone that the ultimate end for most of the plastic debris is the ocean. Rivers are the efficient carriers for transferring MPs from terrestrial to aquatic, further from upstream to downstream areas, and ultimately to oceans. The root cause study can provide an effective solution to a problem; hence, tracing of MPs in the riverine system can illustrate the long-term microplastic pollution. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and distribution of microplastic contamination in surface water and sediment of the two major river systems of Uttar Pradesh, India. One is the Gomti River, Lucknow, a tributary of the Ganga, and the second is the Saryu River, the lower part of the Ghagra River, which flows through the city of Ayodhya. In this study, the distribution and abundance of MPs in surface water and sediments of two rivers were compared. Samples of water and sediment were collected from different (four from each river) sampling stations in the river catchment of two rivers. Plastic particles were classified according to type, shape, and color. In this study, 1523 (average abundance 254) and 143 (average abundance 26) microplastics were identified in all studied sites in the Gomati River and Saryu River, respectively. Observations on samples of water showed that the average MPs concentration was 392 (±69.6) and 63 ((±18.9) particles per 50l of water, whereas the sediment sample showed that the average MPs concentration was 116 (±42.9) and 46 (±12.5) particles per 250gm of dry sediment in the Gomati River and Saryu River, respectively. The high concentration of microplastics in the Lucknow area can be attributed to human activities, population density, and the entry of various effluents into the river. Microplastics with fibrous shapes were dominated, followed by fragment shapes in all the samples. The present study is a pioneering effort to count MPs in the Gomati and Saryu River systems.

Keywords: freshwater, Gomati, microplastics, Saryu, sediment

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Authors: Mario P. Walker, Masaaki Okuma

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Ships are subjected to motions which can disrupt on-board operations and damage equipment. Roll motion, in particular, is of great interest due to low damping conditions which may lead to capsizing. Therefore finding ways to reduce this motion is important in ship designs. Several techniques have been investigated to reduce rolling. These include the commonly used anti-roll tanks, fin stabilizers and bilge keels. However, these systems are not without their challenges. For example, water-flow in anti-roll tanks creates complications, and for fin stabilizers and bilge keels, an extremely large size is required to produce any significant damping creating operational challenges. Additionally, among these measures presented above only anti-roll tanks are effective in zero forward motion of the vessels. This paper proposes and investigates a method to reduce rolling by inducing Coriolis effect using water-flow in the radial direction. Motion in the radial direction of a rolling structure will induce Coriolis force and, depending on the direction of flow will either amplify or attenuate the structure. The system is modelled with two degrees of freedom, having rotational motion for parametric rolling and radial motion of the water-flow. Equations of motion are derived and investigated. Numerical examples are analyzed in detail. To demonstrate applicability parameters from a Ro-Ro vessel are used as extensive research have been conducted on these over the years. The vessel is investigated under free and forced roll conditions. Several models are created using various masses, heights, and velocities of water-flow at a given time. The proposed system was found to produce substantial roll reduction which increases with increase in any of the parameters varied as stated above, with velocity having the most significant effect. The proposed system provides a simple approach to reduce ship rolling. Water-flow control is very simple as the water flows in only one direction with constant velocity. Only needing to control the time at which the system should be turned on or off. Furthermore, the proposed system is effective in both forward and zero forward motion of the ship, and provides no hydrodynamic drag. This is a starting point for designing an effective and practical system. For this to be a viable approach further investigations are needed to address challenges that present themselves.

Keywords: Coriolis effect, damping, rolling, water-flow

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Authors: Dorota Winnicka-Jasłowska, Małgorzata Jastrzębska, Jan Kaczmarczyk, Beata Łaźniewska-Piekarczyk, Piotr Skóra, Beata Kobiałko, Agata Kołodziej, Błażej Mól, Ewelina Lasyk, Karolina Brzęczek, Michał Król

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Creating economical, comfortable, and healthy buildings which respect the environment is a necessity resulting from legal regulations, but it is also a response to the expectations of a modern investor. Developing the concept of a residential house based on the 4E and the 2+2+(1) IDEAs is a complex process that requires specialist knowledge of many trades and requires adaptation of comprehensive solutions. IDEA 4E assumes the use of energy-saving, ecological, ergonomics, and economic solutions. In addition, IDEA 2+2+(1) assuming appropriate surface and functional-spatial solutions for a family at different stages of a building's life, i.e. 2, 4, or 5 members, enforces certain flexibility of the designed building, which may change with the number and age of its users. The building should therefore be easy to rearrange or expand. The task defined in this way was carried out by an interdisciplinary team of students of the Silesian University of Technology as part of PBL. The team consisted of 6 undergraduate and graduate students representing the following faculties: 3 students of architecture, 2 civil engineering students, and 1 student of environmental engineering. The work of the team was supported by 3 academic teachers representing the above-mentioned faculties and additional experts. The project was completed in one semester. The article presents the successive stages of the project. At first pre-design studies were carried out. They allowed to define the guidelines for the project. For this purpose, the "Model house" questionnaire was developed. The questions concerned determining the utility needs of a potential family that would live in a model house - specifying the types of rooms, their size, and equipment. A total of 114 people participated in the study. The answers to the questions in the survey helped to build the functional programme of the designed house. Other research consisted in the search for optimal technological and construction solutions and the most appropriate building materials based mainly on recycling. Appropriate HVAC systems responsible for the building's microclimate were also selected, i.e. low, temperature heating, mechanical ventilation, and the use of energy from renewable sources was planned so as to obtain a nearly zero-energy building. Additionally, rainwater retention and its local use were planned. The result of the project was a design of a model residential building that meets the presented assumptions. A 3D VR spatial model of the designed building and its surroundings was also made. The final result was the organization of an exhibition for students and the academic community. Participation in the interdisciplinary project allowed the project team members to better understand the consequences of the adopted solutions for achieving the assumed effect and the need to work out a compromise. The implementation of the project made all its participants aware of the importance of cooperation as well as systematic and clear communication. The need to define milestones and their consistent enforcement is an important element guaranteeing the achievement of the intended end result. The implementation of PBL enables students to the acquire competences important in their future professional work.

Keywords: architecture and urban planning, civil engineering, environmental engineering, project-based learning, sustainable building

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: T. O. Ajewole, K. S. Olorunmiaye, D. A. Animasaun, M. Okpeku

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Drought impact on the production of food crops for the benefit of mankind cannot be overemphasized. This study shows the different kind of genes expressed at various level of drought regimes on Basella alba and rubra using a real-time PCR machine. The planting was done in the screen house while the gene expression study was carried out in the laboratory. Sandy-loamy soil was collected and four levels of drought regime was used as treatment and a control experiment was set up for the two vegetables. Drought interval of 5, 10, 15 and 20 days were used as treatments while a control experiment which was not starved of water at any point was also set up, five replicates were set up for each treatment. Stress was introduced at 12 Weeks after planting (WAP). From the result of this study, Basella alba shows the highest amplicon size of 34.6 and 52.32 for GmPCS5 and HVA1 respectively which by implication means these genes were expressed the more as the stress period interval increases.

Keywords: water stress, basella alba, basella rubra, HVA1

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Authors: Farnaz Farhangi

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Many people in New Zealand believe that the access to water is inexhaustible, and it comes from a history of virtually unrestricted access to it. For the region like Hamilton which is one of New Zealand’s fastest growing cities, it is crucial for policy makers to know about the future water consumption and implementation of rules and regulation such as universal water metering. Hamilton residents use water freely and they do not have any idea about how much water they use. Hence, one of proposed objectives of this research is focusing on forecasting water consumption using different methods. Residential water consumption time series exhibits seasonal and trend variations. Seasonality is the pattern caused by repeating events such as weather conditions in summer and winter, public holidays, etc. The problem with this seasonal fluctuation is that, it dominates other time series components and makes difficulties in determining other variations (such as educational campaign’s effect, regulation, etc.) in time series. Apart from seasonality, a stochastic trend is also combined with seasonality and makes different effects on results of forecasting. According to the forecasting literature, preprocessing (de-trending and de-seasonalization) is essential to have more performed forecasting results, while some other researchers mention that seasonally non-adjusted data should be used. Hence, I answer the question that is pre-processing essential? A wide range of forecasting methods exists with different pros and cons. In this research, I apply double seasonal ARIMA and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), considering diverse elements such as seasonality and calendar effects (public and school holidays) and combine their results to find the best predicted values. My hypothesis is the examination the results of combined method (hybrid model) and individual methods and comparing the accuracy and robustness. In order to use ARIMA, the data should be stationary. Also, ANN has successful forecasting applications in terms of forecasting seasonal and trend time series. Using a hybrid model is a way to improve the accuracy of the methods. Due to the fact that water demand is dominated by different seasonality, in order to find their sensitivity to weather conditions or calendar effects or other seasonal patterns, I combine different methods. The advantage of this combination is reduction of errors by averaging of each individual model. It is also useful when we are not sure about the accuracy of each forecasting model and it can ease the problem of model selection. Using daily residential water consumption data from January 2000 to July 2015 in Hamilton, I indicate how prediction by different methods varies. ANN has more accurate forecasting results than other method and preprocessing is essential when we use seasonal time series. Using hybrid model reduces forecasting average errors and increases the performance.

Keywords: artificial neural network (ANN), double seasonal ARIMA, forecasting, hybrid model

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Authors: Nagini Sabbineni, Rajini T. V. Kanth, B. V. Kiranmayee

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India’s economy primarily depends on agriculture yield growth and their allied agro industry products. The agriculture yield prediction is the toughest task for agricultural departments across the globe. The agriculture yield depends on various factors. Particularly countries like India, majority of agriculture growth depends on rain water, which is highly unpredictable. Agriculture growth depends on different parameters, namely Water, Nitrogen, Weather, Soil characteristics, Crop rotation, Soil moisture, Surface temperature and Rain water etc. In our paper, lot of Explorative Data Analysis is done and various predictive models were designed. Further various regression models like Linear, Multiple Linear, Non-linear models are tested for the effective prediction or the forecast of the agriculture yield for various crops in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states.

Keywords: agriculture yield growth, agriculture yield prediction, explorative data analysis, predictive models, regression models

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Authors: Erica T. R. Mendonça, Caroline M. B. de Araujo, Filho, Osvaldo Chiavone, Sobrinho, Maurício A. da Motta

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Oil and gas exploration is an essential activity for modern society, although the supply of its global demand has caused enough damage to the environment, mainly due to produced water generation, which is an effluent associated with the oil and gas produced during oil extraction. It is the aim of this study to evaluate the treatment of produced water, in order to reduce its oils and greases content (OG), by using flotation as a pre-treatment, combined with oxidation for the remaining organic load degradation. Thus, there has been tested Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) using both Fenton and photo-Fenton reactions, as well as a chemical oxidation treatment using sodium ferrate(VI), Na₂[FeO₄], as a strong oxidant. All the studies were carried out using real samples of produced water from petroleum industry. The oxidation process using ferrate(VI) ion was studied based on factorial experimental designs. The factorial design was used in order to study how the variables pH, temperature and concentration of Na₂[FeO₄] influences the O&G levels. For the treatment using ferrate(VI) ion, the results showed that the best operating point is obtained when the temperature is 28 °C, pH 3, and a 2000 mg.L^-1 solution of Na₂[FeO₄] is used. This experiment has achieved a final O&G level of 4.7 mg.L^-1, which means 94% percentage removal efficiency of oils and greases. Comparing Fenton and photo-Fenton processes, it was observed that the Fenton reaction did not provide good reduction of O&G (around 20% only). On the other hand, a degradation of approximately 80.5% of oil and grease was obtained after a period of seven hours of treatment using photo-Fenton process, which indicates that the best process combination has occurred between the flotation and the photo-Fenton reaction using solar radiation, with an overall removal efficiency of O&G of approximately 89%.

Keywords: advanced oxidation process, ferrate (VI) ion, oils and greases removal, produced water treatment

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Authors: Nguyen Duc An

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To the movement towards learning community, creating friendly, positive and appropriate learning environments which best suit the local features is the most salient and decisive factor of the development and success of that learning society. With the aim at building such an English language learning community for the inhabitants in Moc Chau - the national tourist zone, Tay Bac University has successfully designed and deployed the program ‘English in Tourism’ in the project ‘English for Community’. With the strong attachment to the local reality and close knit to the certain communicative situations, this program which was carefully designed and compiled with interesting and practical activities, has greatly helped the locals confidently introduce and popularize the natural beauty, unique culture and specific characteristics of Moc Chau to the foreign tourists; in addition, reinforce awareness of the native culture of the local people as well as improve the professional development in tourism and service.

Keywords: English for community, learning society, learning community, English in tourism

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Authors: M. Ardelean, F. Manea, A. Pop, J. Schoonman

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The presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment and especially in water has gained increasing attention. They are included in emerging class of pollutants, and for most of them, legal limits have not been set-up due to their impact on human health and ecosystem was not determined and/or there is not the advanced analytical method for their quantification. In this context, the development of various advanced analytical methods for the quantification of pharmaceuticals in water is required. The electrochemical methods are known to exhibit the great potential for high-performance analytical methods but their performance is in direct relation to the electrode material and the operating techniques. In this study, two types of carbon-based electrodes materials, i.e., boron-doped diamond (BDD) and carbon nanofiber (CNF)-epoxy composite electrodes have been investigated through voltammetric techniques for the detection of naproxen in water. The comparative electrochemical behavior of naproxen (NPX) on both BDD and CNF electrodes was studied by cyclic voltammetry, and the well-defined peak corresponding to NPX oxidation was found for each electrode. NPX oxidation occurred on BDD electrode at the potential value of about +1.4 V/SCE (saturated calomel electrode) and at about +1.2 V/SCE for CNF electrode. The sensitivities for NPX detection were similar for both carbon-based electrode and thus, CNF electrode exhibited superiority in relation to the detection potential. Differential-pulsed voltammetry (DPV) and square-wave voltammetry (SWV) techniques were exploited to improve the electroanalytical performance for the NPX detection, and the best results related to the sensitivity of 9.959 µA·µM^-1 were achieved using DPV. In addition, the simultaneous detection of NPX and fluoxetine -a very common antidepressive drug, also present in water, was studied using CNF electrode and very good results were obtained. The detection potential values that allowed a good separation of the detection signals together with the good sensitivities were appropriate for the simultaneous detection of both tested pharmaceuticals. These results reclaim CNF electrode as a valuable tool for the individual/simultaneous detection of pharmaceuticals in water.

Keywords: boron-doped diamond electrode, carbon nanofiber-epoxy composite electrode, emerging pollutans, pharmaceuticals

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Authors: J. Martin, A. Dannenberg, G. Detrell, R. Ewald, S. Fasoulas

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Microalgae-based photobioreactors (PBR) for Life Support Systems (LSS) are currently being investigated for future space missions such as a crewed base on planets or moons. Biological components may help reducing resupply masses by closing material mass flows with the help of regenerative components. Via photosynthesis, the microalgae use CO₂, water, light and nutrients to provide oxygen and biomass for the astronauts. These capabilities could have synergies with Earth applications that tackle current problems and the developed technologies can be transferred. For example, a current worldwide discussed issue is the increased nitrate and phosphate pollution of ground water from agricultural waste waters. To investigate the potential use of a biological system based on the ability of the microalgae to extract and use nitrate and phosphate for the treatment of polluted ground water from agricultural applications, a scalable test stand is being developed. This test stand investigates the maximization of intake rates of nitrate and quantifies the produced biomass and oxygen. To minimize the required energy, for the uptake of nitrate from artificial waste water (AWW) the Flashing Light Effect (FLE) and the adaption of the illumination spectrum were realized. This paper describes the composition of the AWW, the development of the illumination unit and the possibility of non-invasive process optimization and control via the adaption of the illumination spectrum and illumination cycles. The findings were a doubling of the energy related growth rate by adapting the illumination setting.

Keywords: microalgae, illumination, nitrate uptake, flashing light effect

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Authors: S. N. Al-Bahry, Y. M. Al-Wahaibi, S. J. Joshi, E. A. Elshafie, A. S. Al-Bimani

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Oman is one of the oil producing countries in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region. About 30-40 % of oil produced from the Gulf is transported globally along the seacoast of Oman. Oil pollution from normal tanker operations, ballast water, illegal discharges and accidental spills are always serious threats to terrestrial and marine habitats. Due to Oman’s geographical location at arid region where the temperature ranges between high 40s and low 50s Celsius in summers with low annual rainfall, the main source of fresh water is desalinated sea and brackish water. Oil pollution, therefore, pose a major threat to drinking water. Biosurfactants are secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms in hydrophobic environments to release nutrients from solid surfaces, such as oil. In this study, indigenous oil degrading thermophilic spore forming bacteria were isolated from oil fields contaminated soil. The isolates were identified using MALDI-TOF biotyper and 16s RNA. Their growth conditions were optimized for the production of biosurfactant. Surface tension, interfacial tensions and microbial oil biodegradation capabilities were tested. Some thermophilic bacteria degraded either completely or partially heavy crude oil (API 10-15) within 48h suggesting their high potential in oil spill bioremediation and avoiding the commonly used physical and chemical methods which usually lead to other environmental pollution.

Keywords: bacteria, bioremediation, biosurfactant, crude-oil-pollution

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Authors: Chandra Shekhar Maurya, Chiranjit Sarkar

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The transient response of rheological properties of a carbonyl iron (CI)-water-based magnetorheological fluid (MRF) was studied under shear rate, shear stress, and shear strain working mode subjected to step-change in an applied magnetic field. MR fluid is a kind of smart material whose rheological properties change under an applied magnetic field. We prepared an MR fluid comprising of CI 65 weight %, water 35 weight %, and OPTIGEL WX used as an additive by changing the weight %. It was found that the MR effect of the CI/water suspension was enhanced by using an additive. A transient shear stress response was observed by switched on and switched off of the magnetic field to see the stability, relaxation behavior, and resulting change in rheological properties. When the magnetic field is on, a sudden increase in the shear stress was observed due to the fast motion of magnetic structures that describe the transition from the liquidlike state to the solid-like state due to an increase in dipole-dipole interaction of magnetic particles. Simultaneously, the complete reverse transition occurs due to instantaneous breakage of the chain structure once the magnetic field is switched off.

Keywords: magnetorheological fluid, rheological properties, shears stress, shears strain, viscosity

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Authors: Flavio Campos, Patricia Masmo, Fernanda Yamamoto

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The report presents a research about teaching professional competencies through projects, considering the student as an active learner and curriculum development. Considering project based-learning, the report articulate the result of research about curriculum development for professional competencies and teaching-learning strategies to help the development of professional competencies in learning environments in the courses of National Learning Service in São Paulo, Brazil. There so, intend to demonstrate fundamentals to elaborate curriculum to learning environment, specific about teaching methodologies to enrich student-learning process, using projects. The practice that has been taking place since 2013 indicates the needs of rethinking knowledge and practice in courses that prepared students to labor.

Keywords: curriculum design, active learning, professional competencies, project based-learning

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Authors: Ahmed Khalil

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The discoveries in material sciences create an impulse in renewable energy transmission. Application techniques become more accessible by applied sciences. Variety of materials, application methods, and performance analyzing techniques can convert daily life functions to energy sources. These functions not only include natural sources like sun, wind, or water but also comprise the motion of tools used by human beings. In line with this, vehicles' motion, speed and weights come to the scene as energy sources together with piezoelectric nano-generators beneath the roads. Numerous application examples are put forward with repeated average performance, versus the differentiating challenges depending on geography and project conditions. Such holistic approach provides way for feed backs on research and improvement process of nano-generators beneath asphalt roads. This paper introduces the specific application methods of piezoelectric nano-generator beneath asphalt roads of Ahmadi Township in Kuwait.

Keywords: nano-generator pavements, piezoelectric, renewable energy, transducer

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Authors: K. Harrat, M. Hidjeb, M. T’kint

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The aim of the present research work is to characterize a cement palm date fiber composite in order to be used in isolation and in the manufacture of new structural materials. This technique may possibly participate seriously in the preservation of the environment and develop a growing need for plant products. On one hand, It has been shown that the presence of natural fiber in the composite materials manufacture, based on hydraulic binder, has improved the mechanical behaviour of the material. On the Other hand, It has been proven that the durability of composite materials reinforced with untreated fibers was largely affected by the presence of organic matter. In order to extract the organic material, the fibers were treated with boiling water and then coated with different types of products. A considerable improvement in the sensitivity to water of the fibers, as well as in the mechanical strength and in the ductility of the composite material was observed. The fiber being sensitive to water, the study put the emphasis on its dimensional stability.

Keywords: cement composite, durability, heat treatment, mechanical behaviour, vegetal fiber

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Authors: Herminio Martínez-García, Juan Gámiz, Yolanda Bolea, Antoni Grau

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This article presents an interactive system for data acquisition in vehicle testing according to the test process defined in automotive directive 2004/104/EC. The project has been designed and developed by authors for the Spanish company Applus-LGAI. The developed project will result in a new process, which will involve the creation of braking cycle test defined in the aforementioned automotive directive. It will also allow the analysis of new vehicle features that was not feasible, allowing an increasing interaction with the vehicle. Potential users of this system in the short term will be vehicle manufacturers and in a medium term the system can be extended to testing other automotive components and EMC tests.

Keywords: automotive process, data acquisition system, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, European Directive 2004/104/EC

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Authors: V. G. Cappellesso, D. M. G. da Silva, J. A. Arndt, N. dos Santos Petry, A. B. Masuero, D. C. C. Dal Molin

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Concrete elements are subject to cracking, which can be an access point for deleterious agents that can trigger pathological manifestations reducing the service life of these structures. Finding ways to minimize or eliminate the effects of this aggressive agents’ penetration, such as the sealing of these cracks, is a manner of contributing to the durability of these structures. The cementitious self-healing phenomenon can be classified in two different processes. The autogenous self-healing that can be defined as a natural process in which the sealing of this cracks occurs without the stimulation of external agents, meaning, without different materials being added to the mixture, while on the other hand, the autonomous seal-healing phenomenon depends on the insertion of a specific engineered material added to the cement matrix in order to promote its recovery. This work aims to evaluate the autogenous self-healing of concretes produced with different water/cement ratios and exposed to wet/dry cycles, considering two ages of crack openings, 3 days and 28 days. The self-healing phenomenon was evaluated using two techniques: crack healing measurement using ultrasonic waves and image analysis performed with an optical microscope. It is possible to observe that by both methods, it possible to observe the self-healing phenomenon of the cracks. For young ages of crack openings and lower water/cement ratios, the self-healing capacity is higher when compared to advanced ages of crack openings and higher water/cement ratios. Regardless of the crack opening age, these concretes were found to stabilize the self-healing processes after 80 days or 90 days.

Keywords: sealf-healing, autogenous, water/cement ratio, curing cycles, test methods

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Authors: T. Zhang, X. Liang, M. Lorin, C. Cheeseman, L. J. Vandeperre

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Cracks were observed when the magnesium silicate hydrate gel cement (prepared by 40% MgO/ 60% silica fume) was dried. This drying cracking is believed to be caused when unbound water evaporates from the binder. The shrinkage upon forced drying to 200 °C of mortars made up from a reactive magnesium oxide, silica fume and sand was measured using dilatometry. The magnitude of the drying shrinkage was found to decrease when more sand or less water was added to the mortars and can be as low as 0.16% for a mortar containing 60 wt% sand and a water to cement ratio of 0.5, which is of a similar order of magnitude as observed in Portland cement based mortars and concretes. A simple geometrical interpretation based on packing of the particles in the mortar can explain the observed drying shrinkages and based on this analysis the drying shrinkage of the hydration products at zero added solid is estimated to be 7.3% after 7 days of curing.

Keywords: magnesium silicate hydrate, shrinkage, dilatometry, gel cements

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Authors: Tracey Lion-Cachet

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Eating disorders typically manifest in adolescence and are notoriously difficult to treat. There are two notable reasons for this. Firstly, research consistently demonstrates that early intervention is a critical mediator of prognosis, with early intervention leading to a better prognosis. However, because eating disorders do not originate as full-syndrome diagnoses but rather as prodromal cases, they often go undetected; by the time symptoms meet diagnostic criteria, they have become recalcitrant. Another interrelated issue is motivation to change. Research demonstrates that in the early stages of an eating disorder, adolescents are highly resistant to change, and motivation increases only once symptoms have shifted from egosyntonic to egodystonic in nature. The purpose of this project was to design a prevention model based on the social psychology paradigm of Entertainment-Education, which embeds messages within the genre of film as a means of affecting change. The resulting project was a narrative screenplay targeting teenagers/young adults from diverse backgrounds. The goals of the project were to create a film script that, if ultimately made into a film, could serve to: 1) interrupt symptom progression and improve prognosis through early intervention; 2) incorporate techniques from third-wave cognitive behavioral treatment models, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and rational recovery (RR), with a focus on the effects of mindfulness as a means of informing recovery; 3) target issues to do with motivation to change by shifting the perception of eating disorders from culturally specific psychiatric illnesses to habit-based brain wiring issues. Nine licensed clinicians were asked to evaluate two excerpts taken from the final script. They subsequently provided feedback on a Likert-scale, which assessed whether the script had achieved its goals. Overall, evaluators agreed that the project’s etiological and intervention models have the potential to inspire change and serve as an effective means of prevention and treatment of eating disorders. However, one-third of the evaluators did not find the content developmentally appropriate. This is a notable limitation to the study and will need to be addressed in the larger script before the final project can potentially be targeted to a teenage and young adult audience.

Keywords: adolescents, eating disorders, pediatrics, entertainment-education, mindfulness-based intervention, prevention

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Authors: Ndibarefinia Tobin

Abstract:

The UK construction industry has been under pressure for many years to produce economical buildings which offer value for money, not only during the construction phase, but more importantly, during the full life of the building. Whole life costing is considered as an economic analysis tool that takes into account the total investment cost in and ownership, operation and subsequent disposal of a product or system to which the whole life costing method is being applied. In spite of its importance, the practice is still crippled by the lack of tangible evidence, ‘know-how’ skills and knowledge of the practice i.e. the lack of professionals with the knowledge and training on the use of the practice in construction project, this situation is compounded by the absence of available data on whole life costing from relevant projects, lack of data collection mechanisms and so on. The aforementioned problems has forced many construction organisations to adopt project enhancement initiatives to boost their performance on the use of whole life costing techniques so as to produce economical buildings which offer value for money during the construction stage also the whole life of the building/asset. The management of knowledge in whole life costing is considered as one of the many project enhancement initiative and it is becoming imperative in the performance and sustainability of an organisation. Procuring building projects using whole life costing technique is heavily reliant on the knowledge, experience, ideas and skills of workers, which comes from many sources including other individuals, electronic media and documents. Due to the diversity of knowledge, capabilities and skills of employees that vary across an organisation, it is significant that they are directed and coordinated efficiently so as to capture, retrieve and share knowledge in order to improve the performance of the organisation. The implementation of knowledge management concept has different levels in each organisation. Measuring the maturity level of knowledge management in whole life costing practice will paint a comprehensible picture of how knowledge is managed in construction organisations. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify knowledge management maturity in UK construction organisations adopting whole life costing in construction project. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted a survey method and conducted by distributing questionnaires to large construction companies that implement knowledge management activities in whole life costing practice in construction project. Four level of knowledge management maturity was proposed on this study. Findings: From the results obtained in the study shows that 34 contractors at the practiced level, 26 contractors at managed level and 12 contractors at continuously improved level.

Keywords: knowledge management, whole life costing, construction industry, knowledge

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Authors: N. Piwpuan, J. Tosalee, N. Phonkerd

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Malachite green (MG), a synthetic dye, is used in industries and aquaculture and also disposed in the effluent. Use of wastewater in irrigation increases due to water shortage. However, wastewater containing dyes, MG, are toxic to biological systems. Therefore, effects of MG on growth of vegetables were evaluated in order to utilize dye-contaminated wastewater for irrigation. In this study, Pak choy (Brassica chinensis) and Chinese convolvulus (Ipomoea aquatica) were grown in growing material (mixture of soil, coconut fiber, and compost) for four weeks and afterward kept watering with 200 ml of tap water containing MG at the concentrations of 0 (control), 1, 2, 10, and 20 mg/L. At harvest, number of leaf and shoot and root dry weight of the treated plants were measured and compared with control. For both species, their biomass values were similar among treatments and did not differ from the control plants (dry weight were 0.6-1.0 and 1.1-1.7 g/plant for B. chinensis and I. aquatica, respectively). B. chinensis treated with 2, 10, and 20 mg/L of MG produced lower number of new leaf and had smaller and shorter leaf compared to control and treatment of 1 mg/L. These results indicate the different responses between plant species, which B. chinensis is more sensitive to contaminant compared to I. aquatica. There was no sign of MG and leucomalachite green (LMG) detected in root and shoot tissues of plants treated with MG at 20 mg/L, tested by thin layer chromatography. After plant harvest, toxicity of the growing material from all treatments was tested on mung beans. Percent germination (83-97%), seedling fresh weight (0.3-0.5 g/plant), and shoot length (11-12.5 cm) were similar to the control. These indicated that contaminant in growing material did not pose detrimental effect on mung beans. Based on these results, the water contaminated with low concentration of MG, such as discharge from aquaculture, may serve as ferti-irrigation water to compensate water shortage.

Keywords: ferti-irrigation, soil toxicity, triphenylmethane dye, wastewater reuse

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Authors: Ibrahim Can, Fatih Tosunoğlu

Abstract:

The flow duration curve (FDC) is an informative method that represents the flow regime’s properties for a river basin. Therefore, the FDC is widely used for water resource projects such as hydropower, water supply, irrigation and water quality management. The primary purpose of this study is to obtain synthetic daily flow duration curves for Çoruh Basin, Turkey. For this aim, we firstly developed univariate auto-regressive moving average (ARMA) models for daily flows of 9 stations located in Çoruh basin and then these models were used to generate 100 synthetic flow series each having same size as historical series. Secondly, flow duration curves of each synthetic series were drawn and the flow values exceeded 10, 50 and 95 % of the time and 95% confidence limit of these flows were calculated. As a result, flood, mean and low flows potential of Çoruh basin will comprehensively be represented.

Keywords: ARMA models, Çoruh basin, flow duration curve, Turkey

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