Search results for: protected natural area

Authors: Imessaoudene Y., Mouhouche B., Sengouga A., Kadir M.

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The objective of this work is to determine the virtual water of main crops grown in the province of Djelfa and water use efficiency (W.U.E.), Which is essential to approach the application and better integration with the offer in the region. In the case of agricultural production, virtual water is the volume of water evapo-transpired by crops. It depends on particular on the expertise of its producers and its global production area, warm and dry climates induce higher consumption. At the scale of the province, the determination of the quantities of virtual water is done by calculating the unit water requirements related to water irrigated hectare and total rainfall over the crop using the Cropwat 8.0 F.A.O. software. Quantifying the volume of agricultural virtual water of crops practiced in the study area demonstrates the quantitative importance of these volumes of water in terms of available water resources in the province, so the advantages which can be the concept of virtual water as an analysis tool and decision support for the management and distribution of water in scarcity situation.

Keywords: virtual water, water use efficiency, water requirements, Djelfa

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Authors: Khosru M. Salim, Md. Jasim Uddin, Mohammad Rejwan Uddin

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Developing countries like Bangladesh has huge population lives in the rural areas out of electricity. They are using manually operated tube well for collecting underground water to meet their daily demand. A human labour is required to lift water from tube well. Sometimes, it is impossible for a elementary school going child to operate a tube well in the school. Solar powered water pump could be a sustainable water pumping solution in the rural area of Bangladesh. To minimize the cost, a 0.5 horse power solar water pump is designed considering the requirement of water for a typical house hold in this research. A prototype of the 0.5 hp capacity system is implemented and tested in the rooftop of the university lab to validate the performances. Based on the experimental data, the performance of the system is analyzed and presented in this paper.

Keywords: water pump, solar photovoltaic module, performance analysis, feasibility study

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Authors: Shazia Shamim, Pallavi Gautam

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

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

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Authors: G. R. Kavitha, T. S. Indumathi

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With the constantly rising demands of the multimedia services, the requirements of long haul transport network are constantly changing in the area of optical network. Maximum data transmission using optimization of the communication channel poses the biggest challenge. Although there has been a constant focus on this area from the past decade, there was no evidence of a significant result that has been accomplished. Hence, after reviewing some potential design of optical network from literatures, it was understood that optical signal to noise ratio was one of the elementary attributes that can define the performance of the optical network. In this paper, we propose a framework termed as ECON (Enhanced Constraint-based Optical Network) that primarily optimize the optical signal to noise ratio using ROADM. The simulation is performed in Matlab and optical signal to noise ratio is extracted considering the system matrix. The outcome of the proposed study shows that optimized OSNR as compared to the existing studies.

Keywords: component, optical network, reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer, optical signal-to-noise ratio

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Authors: Hasrat Arjjumend, Sabiha Alam

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The Nagoya Protocol is landmark international legislation governing access to genetic resources and benefit sharing from utilization of genetic resource and traditional knowledge. The field implications of the international law have been assessed by surveying academic/ research institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs) and concerned individuals, who gave their opinions on whether the provider parties (usually developing countries) would ensure effective participation of Indigenous people and local communities (ILCs) in establishing the mechanisms to inform the potential users of traditional knowledge (TK) about their obligations under art. 12.2 of Nagoya Protocol. First of all, involvement and participation of ILCs in suggested clearing-house mechanisms of the Parties are seldom witnessed. Secondly, as respondents expressed, it is doubtful that developing countries would ensure effective participation of ILCs in establishing the mechanisms to inform the potential users of TK about their obligations. Yet, as most of ILCs speak and understand local or indigenous languages, whether the Nagoya Protocol provides or not, it is a felt need that the Parties should disclose information in a language understandable to ILCs. Alternative opinions indicate that if TK held by ILCs is disclosed, the value is gone. Therefore, it should be protected by the domestic law first and should be disclosed then.

Keywords: genetic resources, indigenous people, language, Nagoya protocol, participation, traditional knowledge

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Authors: Aysegul Sener, Gonca Tuncel Memis, Mirac Kamislioglu

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Chaos theory is one of the new paradigms of science since the last century. After determining chaos in the weather systems by Edward Lorenz the popularity of the theory was increased. Chaos is observed in many natural systems and studies continue to defect chaos to other natural systems. Acid rain is one of the environmental problems that have negative effects on environment and acid rains values are monitored continuously. In this study, we aim that analyze the chaotic behavior of acid rains in Turkey with the chaotic defecting approaches. The data of pH degree of rain waters, concentration of sulfate and nitrate data of wet rain water samples in the rain collecting stations which are located in different regions of Turkey are provided by Turkish State Meteorology Service. Lyapunov exponents, reconstruction of the phase space, power spectrums are used in this study to determine and predict the chaotic behaviors of acid rains. As a result of the analysis it is found that acid rain time series have positive Lyapunov exponents and wide power spectrums and chaotic behavior is observed in the acid rain time series.

Keywords: acid rains, chaos, chaotic analysis, Lypapunov exponents

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Authors: Nicholas Freer

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Rhythmic complexity in progressive metal is a developing area of analysis, particularly the interpretation of hyper-metric time spans as hierarchically significant rhythmic units of compositional organisation (Pieslak 2007, Charupakorn 2012, Capuzzo 2018, Calder 2018, Lucas 2018, Hannan 2020). This paper adds to this developing area by considering the relationships between the concepts of tactus, metric imposition, polymeter and rhythmic parallax in the Meshuggah composition “Do Not Look Down”. By considering an architectonic rhythmic framework within “Do Not Look Down” as the controlling organisation mechanism, an exploration of the interaction between distinct rhythmic layers and the composition’s formal segmentation and harmony (as riffs), reveals a pervasive structural misalignment between these elements. By exhibiting how Meshuggah’s manipulations of rhythmic complexities deliberately blur structural boundaries, creating misalignments in a flat approach to temporal partitioning (Nieto 2014), rhythmic characteristics of Meshuggah and the genre of Djent are exposed.

Keywords: hypermeter, rhythmic parallax, meshuggah, temporal partitioning

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Authors: Nongcebo Ngcobo

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This research explores the importance of including a multitude of voices in the cultural heritage narrative, particularly in South Africa. The Mashishing project is an extension of and builds on the existing ‘Biesje Poort project’ which is a rock art project that was funded by the National Heritage Council in 2010 - 2013. Hence, the Mashishing marking memories project applies comparable Biesje Poort project objectives, though in a different geographical area. The wider project objectives are to transfer skills, promote social cohesion and empowerment, and lastly to add to the knowledge base of the Mashishing region and the repository of the local museum in the Lydenburg museum. This study is located in the Mashishing area, in Mpumalanga, South Africa. In this area, there were no present multi-vocal heritage projects. This research assesses the Mashishing marking memories project through the culture-centered approach for communication for social change, which examines the impact that the diverse participants have on the operations of the Mashishing project and also investigates whether the culturally diverse participants facilitates or hinders effective participation within the project. Key findings of this research uncovered the significance of participation and diverse voices in the cultural heritage field. Furthermore, this study highlights how unequal power relations affect effective participation. As a result, this study encourages the importance of bringing the researcher and the participant in a safe space to facilitate mutual learning. It also encourages an exchange of roles, where the researcher shifts from being an authoritarian figure to being in the role of a listener.

Keywords: culture, heritage, participation, social change

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Authors: Anugrah Tripathi, H. S. Ginwal, Charul Kainthola

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Bamboos are considered as valuable resources which have the potential of meeting current economic, environmental and social needs. Bamboo has played a key role in humankind and its livelihood since ancient time. Distributed in diverse areas across the globe, bamboo makes an important natural resource for hundreds of millions of people across the world. In some of the Asian countries and northeast part of India, bamboo is the basis of life on many horizons. India possesses the largest bamboo-bearing area across the world and a great extent of species richness, but this rich genetic resource and its diversity have dwindled in the natural forest due to forest fire, over exploitation, lack of proper management policies, and gregarious flowering behavior. Bamboos which are well known for their peculiar, extraordinary morphology, show a lot of variation in many scales. Among the various bamboo species, Dendrocalamus strictus is the most abundant bamboo resource in India, which is a deciduous, solid, and densely tufted bamboo. This species can thrive in wide gradients of geographical as well as climatic conditions. Due to this, it exhibits a significant amount of variation among the populations of different origins for numerous morphological features. Morphological parameters are the front-line criteria for the selection and improvement of any forestry species. Study on the diversity among eight important morphological characters of D. strictus was carried out, covering 16 populations from wide geographical locations of India following INBAR standards. Among studied 16 populations, three populations viz. DS06 (Gaya, Bihar), DS15 (Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh), and DS16 (Bhogpur, Pinjore, Haryana) were found as superior populations with higher mean values for parametric characters (clump height, no. of culms/ clump, circumference of clump, internode diameter and internode length) and with the higher sum of ranks in non-parametric characters (straightness, disease, and pest incidence and branching pattern). All of these parameters showed an ample amount of variations among the studied populations and revealed a significant difference among the populations. Variation in morphological characters is very common in a species having wide distribution and is usually evident at various levels, viz., between and within the populations. They are of paramount importance for growth, biomass, and quick production gains. Present study also gives an idea for the selection of the population on the basis of these morphological parameters. From this study on morphological parameters and their variation, we may find an overview of best-performing populations for growth and biomass accumulation. Some of the studied parameters also provide ideas to standardize mechanisms of selecting and sustainable harvesting of the clumps by applying simpler silvicultural systems so that they can be properly managed in homestead gardens for the community utilization as well as by commercial growers to meet the requirement of industries and other stakeholders.

Keywords: Dendrocalamus strictus, homestead garden, gregarious flowering, stakeholders, INBAR

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Authors: L. K. Shitole

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Usually on the face of it, personality is regarded as the external appearance of an individual. In psychology, the personality is not viewed merely as self or external appears, but it adds much more. Human resources development encompasses the personality development of the students. The student’s development starts right from the childhood and gradually continues right up to the completion of education in professional courses. This paper attempts to find out the role of the educational institutions in shaping the personality of the students from the rural area. Schools and colleges have infrastructural limitations, obtaining good quality and devoted teaching staff poses problems and even outside the school environment there are no private classes which may take care of this deficiency. The researcher has used the standardized test namely “Vyaktitva Shodhika” developed by Gyan Prabodhini, Pune for the students in Daund Taluka. There are 68 objective types of questions in the said questionnaire. Totally a sample size of 4191 students was selected. The sample was quite representative. It is observed that by and large the response indicates that the educational institutions are taking sincere efforts in shaping the personality of the students. In the semi-urban area i.e. at educational institutions of all levels, the performance on this front is excellent and at rest of Daund Taluka there is scope for improvement. Educational institutions of all levels are showing excellent performance in ensuring availability of the requisite infrastructure conducive for the development of the personality of the students. In rest of Daund Taluka there is ample scope for improving the situation. As far as data relating to role of co-curricular activities and sports programs in mental and physical development at various educational institutions is concerned Daund educational institutions have repeated their performance in securing “A” category, while in the rural area of Daund Taluka, there is need to step up the efforts in this regard. In today’s world of knowledge industry, one cannot ignore the importance of education and thereby the personality growth of the students. Accordingly, the educational institutions should undertake consistent research and extension activities in the area of personality development.

Keywords: personality, attitude, infrastructure, quality of education, learning environment, teacher’s contribution, family and society’s role

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Authors: Areej A. Alzarqaa, Shahira S. Roushdy, Ali A. Alderfasi, Fahad A. AL-Yahya, Ahmed A. Dawaba

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The resistance of mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczeck) and its physiological responses to drought stress was studied in a greenhouse pot experiment. A randomized complete block Design (RCBD) with factorial arrangement having three replications of each treatment was used. Treatments included three water deficit samples (80%, 40% and 20% of field capacity), two mungbean genotypes (Kawmay-1 and VC2010) and two root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) infection levels (infected and non-infected). Results showed that water deficit stress significantly hampered most of the studied parameters, except for the shoot water content, whereas genotypes showed highly significant differences for stomatal conductance, shoot dry weight and leaf area. Shoot water content was found to be non-significant in relation to chlorophyll b, shoot dry weight and leaf area, whereas highly significant but negatively correlated with chlorophyll a and stomatal conductance. However, all other possible correlations among studied parameters were found to be highly and positively significant. Results also showed that VC 2010 surpassed Kawmay-1 in most of studied characteristics. In the present study, genotypic variation was observed for these parameters and can be used as a basis for selection of the most promising variety under drought conditions.

Keywords: drought stress, Meloidogyne javanica, mungbean, stomatal conductivity, leaf area, root-knot nematode, shoot water content

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Authors: Ciro Cursio, Giulia Cursio, Pio Luigi Cursio, Luigi Cursio

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Communication between practitioner and patient is of the utmost importance in aesthetic medicine: as of today, images of previous treatments are the most common tool used by doctors to describe and anticipate future results for their patients. However, using photos of other people often reduces the engagement of the prospective patient and is further limited by the number and quality of pictures available to the practitioner. Pre-existing work solves this issue in two ways: 3D scanning of the area with manual editing of the 3D model by the doctor or automatic prediction of the treatment by warping the image with hand-written parameters. The first approach requires the manual intervention of the doctor, while the second approach always generates results that aren’t always realistic. Thus, in one case, there is significant manual work required by the doctor, and in the other case, the prediction looks artificial. We propose an AI-based algorithm that autonomously generates a realistic prediction of treatment results. For the purpose of this study, we focus on hyaluronic acid treatments in the facial area. Our approach takes into account the individual characteristics of each face, and furthermore, the prediction system allows the patient to decide which area of the face she wants to modify. We show that the predictions generated by our system are realistic: first, the quality of the generated images is on par with real images; second, the prediction matches the actual results obtained after the treatment is completed. In conclusion, the proposed approach provides a valid tool for doctors to show patients what they will look like before deciding on the treatment.

Keywords: prediction, hyaluronic acid, treatment, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Dewi Liesnoor Setyowati, Puji Hardati, Tri Marhaeni Puji Astuti, Muhammad Amin

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Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) is a university with a vision of conservation. The impact of the UNNES conservation is the existence of a positive response from the community for the effort of greening the campus and the planting of conservation value in the academic community. But in reality,  energy consumption in UNNES campus tends to increase. The objectives of the study were to analyze the energy consumption in the campus area, to analyze the absorption of emissions by trees and the awareness of UNNES citizens in reducing emissions. Research focuses on energy consumption, carbon emissions, and awareness of citizens in reducing emissions. Research subjects in this study are UNNES citizens (lecturers, students and employees). The research area covers 6 faculties and one administrative center building. Data collection is done by observation, interview and documentation. The research used a quantitative descriptive method to analyze the data. The number of trees in UNNES is 10,264. Total emission on campus UNNES is 7.862.281.56 kg/year, the tree absorption is 6,289,250.38 kg/year. In UNNES campus area there are still 1,575,031.18 kg/year of emissions, not yet absorbed by trees. There are only two areas of the faculty whose trees are capable of absorbing emissions. The awareness of UNNES citizens in reducing energy consumption is seen in change the habit of: using energy-saving equipment (65%); reduce energy consumption per unit (68%); do energy literacy for UNNES citizens (74%). UNNES leaders always provide motivation to the citizens of UNNES, to reduce and change patterns of energy consumption.

Keywords: energy consumption, carbon emission absorption, emission reduction, energy literation

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Authors: Md. Nazmul Haque, Mahinur Rahman

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The objective of the research is to determine the quantity of household waste generated and forecast the future condition of Ward No 24 (Nirala). For performing that, three core issues are focused: (i) the capacity and service area of the dumping stations; (ii) the present waste generation amount per capita per day; (iii) the responsibility of the local authority in the household waste collection. This research relied on field survey-based data collection from all stakeholders and GIS-based secondary analysis of waste collection points and their coverage. However, these studies are mostly based on the inherent forecasting approaches, cannot predict the amount of waste correctly. The findings of this study suggest that Nirala is a formal residential area introducing a better approach to the waste collection - self-controlled and collection system. Here, a forecasting model proposed for waste generation as Y = -2250387 + 1146.1 * X, where X = year.

Keywords: eco-friendly environment, household waste, linear regression, waste management

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Authors: Felicia Wong Yen Myan, James Walker

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Development of micro topographies usually begins with the fabrication of a master stamp. Fabrication of such small structures can be technically challenging and expensive. These techniques are often used for applications where patterns only cover a small surface area (e.g. semiconductors, microfluidic channels). This research investigated the use of benchtop lithography to fabricate patterns with average widths of 50 and 100 microns on silicon wafer substrates. Further development of this method will attempt to layer patterns to create hierarchical structures. Photomasks consisted of patterns printed onto transparency films with a high resolution printer and a fully patterned 10cm by 10cm area has been successfully developed. UV exposure was carried out with a self-made array of ultraviolet LEDs that was positioned a distance above a glass diffuser. Observations under a light microscope and SEM showed that developed patterns exhibit an adequate degree of fidelity with patterns from the master stamp.

Keywords: lithography, antifouling, marine, microtopography

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Authors: Abdessalam Hijab, Eric Henry, Hafida Boulekbache

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The complexity of the city makes sustainable management of the urban environment more difficult. Managers are required to make significant human and technical investments, particularly in household waste collection (focus of our research). The aim of this communication is to propose a collaborative geographic multi-actor device (MGCD) based on the link between information and communication technologies (ICT) and geo-web tools in order to involve urban residents in household waste collection processes. Our method is based on a collaborative/motivational concept between the city and its residents. It is a geographic collaboration dedicated to the general public (citizens, residents, and any other participant), based on real-time allocation and geographic location of topological, geographic, and multimedia data in the form of local geo-alerts (location-specific problems) related to household waste in an urban environment. This contribution allows us to understand the extent to which residents can assist and contribute to the development of household waste collection processes for a better protected urban environment. This suggestion provides a good idea of how residents can contribute to the data bank for future uses. Moreover, it will contribute to the transformation of the population into a smart inhabitant as an essential component of a smart city. The proposed model will be tested in the Lamkansa sampling district in Casablanca, Morocco.

Keywords: information and communication technologies, ICTs, GeoWeb, geo-collaboration, city, inhabitant, waste, collection, environment

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Authors: Huseyin Sinan Gunesli

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Process Safety Management is a disciplined framework for managing the integrity of systems and processes that handle hazardous substances. It relies on good design principles, well-implemented automation systems, and operating and maintenance practices. Alarm Management Systems play a critically important role in the safe and efficient operation of modern industrial plants. In that respect, Alarm Management is one of the critical factors feeding the safe operations of the plants in the manner of applying effective process safety principles. Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which extends from the Caspian Sea to Italy. TANAP transports Natural Gas from the Shah Deniz gas field of Azerbaijan, and possibly from other neighboring countries, to Turkey and through Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Pipeline to Europe. TANAP plays a crucial role in maintaining Energy Security for the region and Europe. In that respect, the application of Process Safety principles is vital to deliver safe, reliable and efficient Natural Gas delivery to Shippers both in the region and Europe. Effective Alarm Management is one of those Process Safety principles which feeds safe operations of the TANAP pipeline. Alarm Philosophy was designed and implemented in TANAP Pipeline according to the relevant standards. However, it is essential to manage the alarms received in the control room effectively to maintain safe operations. In that respect, TANAP has commenced Alarm Management & Rationalization program as of February 2022 after transferring to Plateau Regime, reaching the design parameters. While Alarm Rationalization started, there were more than circa 2300 alarms received per hour from one of the compressor stations. After applying alarm management principles such as reviewing and removal of bad actors, standing, stale, chattering, fleeting alarms, comprehensive review and revision of alarm set points through a change management principle, conducting alarm audits/design verification and etc., it has been achieved to reduce down to circa 40 alarms per hour. After the successful implementation of alarm management principles as specified above, the number of alarms has been reduced to industry standards. That significantly improved operator vigilance to focus on mainly important and critical alarms to avoid any excursion beyond safe operating limits leading to any potential process safety events. Following the ‟What Gets Measured, Gets Managed” principle, TANAP has identified key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to manage Process Safety principles effectively, where Alarm Management has formed one of the key parameters of those KPIs. However, review and analysis of the alarms were performed manually. Without utilizing Alarm Management Software, achieving full compliance with international standards is almost infeasible. In that respect, TANAP has started using one of the industry-wide known Alarm Management Applications to maintain full review and analysis of alarms and define actions as required. That actually significantly empowered TANAP’s process safety principles in terms of Alarm Management.

Keywords: process safety principles, energy security, natural gas pipeline operations, alarm rationalization, alarm management, alarm management application

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Authors: Jin Yue

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Fresh produces especially fruits, vegetables, meats and aquatic products have limited shelf life and are highly susceptible to deterioration. Essential oils (EOs) extracted from plants have excellent antioxidant and broad-spectrum antibacterial activities, and they can play as natural food preservatives. But EOs are volatile, water insoluble, pungent, and easily decomposing under light and heat. Many approaches have been developed to improve the solubility and stability of EOs such as polymeric film, coating, nanoparticles, nano-emulsions and nanofibers. Construction of active packaging film which can incorporate EOs with high loading efficiency and controlled release of EOs has received great attention. It is still difficult to achieve accurate release of antibacterial compounds at specific target locations in active packaging. In this research, a relative humidity-responsive packaging material was designed, employing the electrospinning technique to fabricate a nanofibrous film loaded with a 4-terpineol/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes (4-TA/β-CD ICs). Functioning as an innovative food packaging material, the film demonstrated commendable attributes including pleasing appearance, thermal stability, mechanical properties, and effective barrier properties. The incorporation of inclusion complexes greatly enhanced the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of the film, particularly against Shewanella putrefaciens, with an inhibitory efficiency of up to 65%. Crucially, the film realized controlled release of 4-TA under 98% high relative humidity conditions by inducing the plasticization of polymers caused by water molecules, swelling of polymer chains, and destruction of hydrogen bonds within the cyclodextrin inclusion complex. This film with a long-term antimicrobial effect successfully extended the shelf life of Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp to 7 days at 4 °C. To further improve the loading efficiency and long-acting release of EOs, we synthesized the γ-cyclodextrin-metal organic frameworks (γ-CD-MOFs), and then efficiently anchored γ-CD-MOFs on chitosan-cellulose (CS-CEL) composite film by in situ growth method for controlled releasing of carvacrol (CAR). We found that the growth efficiency of γ-CD-MOFs was the highest when the concentration of CEL dispersion was 5%. The anchoring of γ-CD-MOFs on CS-CEL film significantly improved the surface area of CS-CEL film from 1.0294 m2/g to 43.3458 m2/g. The molecular docking and 1H NMR spectra indicated that γ-CD-MOF has better complexing and stabilizing ability for CAR molecules than γ-CD. In addition, the release of CAR reached 99.71±0.22% on the 10th day, while under 22% RH, the release pattern of CAR was a plateau with 14.71 ± 4.46%. The inhibition rate of this film against E. coli, S. aureus and B. cinerea was more than 99%, and extended the shelf life of strawberries to 7 days. By incorporating the merits of natural biopolymers and MOFs, this active packaging offers great potential as a substitute for traditional packaging materials.

Keywords: active packaging, antibacterial activity, controlled release, essential oils, food quality control

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Authors: Pedro Mauricio Acosta, Carlos Andrés Caro

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This research presents the regionalization of IDF curves for the department of Boyacá, Colombia, which comprises 16 towns, including the provincial capital, Tunja. For regionalization adjustment parameters (U and alpha) of the IDF curves stations referred to in the studied area were used. Similar regionalization is used by the interpolation of intensities. In the case of regionalization by parameters found by the construction of the curves intensity, duration and frequency estimation methods using ordinary moments and maximum likelihood. Regionalization and interpolation of data were performed with the assistance of Arcgis software. Within the development of the project the best choice to provide a level of reliability such as to determine which of the options and ways to regionalize is best sought. The resulting isolines maps were made in the case of regionalization intensities, each map is associated with a different return period and duration in order to build IDF curves in the studied area. In the case of the regionalization maps parameters associated with each parameter were performed last.

Keywords: intensity duration, frequency curves, regionalization, hydrology

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Authors: Mandlenkosi Richard Mphatheni

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The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996 section 28(1) (d)) states, ‘Every child has the right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse, and degradation’. Qualitative research studied perceptions of the selected sample. Objectives of the research were to determine factors that influence perpetrators of sexual violence to target children, the risk factors of child sexual abuse, the effects of child sexual abuse on the development of the child, and the community prevention measures to minimize the risks of child sexual abuse. The research aimed to understand perspective and experiences of the Ngangelizwe community members on the problem of sexual violence against children and the perpetrator’s perceived motive for sexually abusing children. Convenience non-probability sampling technique was adopted to select 20 participants within the Ngangelizwe Township at Mthatha. Thematic analyses were used to analyse data. It was found that sexual abuse of children affects severely child and parents, while the community reported to be trivially affected by the sexual abuse of a child. The research revealed ignorance of some forms of sexual violence, as the commonly known form of sexual violence was rape. Therefore, ignorance of community members regarding various forms of sexual abuse means that such acts are either ignored, tolerated, or even regarded as acceptable. It thus means that community members cannot reject any actions or behaviour if they themselves are ignorant of what constitutes sexual violence. This study recommends that communities should be educated about different sexual offenses.

Keywords: child sexual abuse, community, childhood attachment, adult attachment

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Authors: Meftah M. Elsaraiti, Samir Milad Elsariti

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Steel slag is a by-product of the steel production and utilizing it potentially as new or substitute materials in road construction is advantageous regarding cost reduction and flattening improvement or properties pavement. Ease of use, low cost, and resource availability are some of few advantages of reuse and recycling of steel slag. This study assesses the use of Steel Slag Aggregates (SSA) as an alternative to natural road building aggregates. This paper discusses the basic characteristics of steel slag based on extensive laboratory tests, and to determine the possibilities of using steel slag in road construction. Samples were taken from the furnaces directly at different times and dates. Moreover, random samples were also taken from the slag field from various areas at different far distances from each other. A necessary analysis was performed through the use of (XRF). Three different percentages of SSA (0, 50 and 100%) were added as an alternative to natural aggregate in hot mix asphalt (HMA) production. The proposed design of the mix was made according to the Marshall mix design. The results of the experiments revealed that the percentages of iron oxide ranged from (9 to 26%) and that the addition of SSA has a significant improvement on HMA properties. It was observed that the Marshall stability obtained in the mix of 100% slag ranged from 600 to 800 N as a minimum, and the flow of Marshall obtained from 2.4 to 3.23 mm and the specification requires from 2 to 4 mm. The results may be showed possibilities to use steel slag as new or substitute materials in road construction in Libya.

Keywords: by-product material, properties, road construction, steel slag

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Authors: Sergio Saponara, Luca Fanucci, Riccardo Cassettari, Ruggero Piernicola, Marco Righetto

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The paper presents an innovative networked radar system for detection of obstacles in a railway level crossing scenario. This Monitoring System (MS) is able to detect moving or still obstacles within the railway level crossing area automatically, avoiding the need of human presence for surveillance. The MS is also connected to the National Railway Information and Signaling System to communicate in real-time the level crossing status. The architecture is compliant with the highest Safety Integrity Level (SIL4) of the CENELEC standard. The number of radar sensors used is configurable at set-up time and depends on how large the level crossing area can be. At least two sensors are expected and up four can be used for larger areas. The whole processing chain that elaborates the output sensor signals, as well as the communication interface, is fully-digital, was designed in VHDL code and implemented onto a Xilinx Virtex 6.

Keywords: radar for safe mobility, railroad crossing, railway, transport safety

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Authors: Nabat Gojaeva, Mikayil Naghiyev, Sultan Jafarov, Gular Mikayilova

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Chovdar ore area is located in the contact of Dashkesan caldera and Shamkir horst-graben uplift, which comprises the central part of Lok-Karabakh Island arcs of South Caucasus metallogenic province in terms of regional tectonics. One of the main structural features of formation of the Mereh and Aghyokhush group of low sulfidation epithermal gold deposits, locating in the north peripheric part of the ore area, is involving the crossing areas of ore-hosting and ore-forming Pan-Caucasian-direction structurally-compound faults with the meridional, rhombically shaped faults. In addition, another significant feature is the temporally two- or three-stage ore formation. In the first stage -an early phase of Upper Bathonian age, sulfides are the dominant minerals, in the second stage- late ‘productive’ phase of Upper Bathonian age, mainly gold mineralization is formed. Also, in the Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous ages, rarely-encountered Cu-polymetallic ore formations are documented. Finally, in the last stage, the re-dislocation of ore-formation is foreseen in the previously-formed mineralization areas. The faults in the strike and dip directions formed shearing, brecciation, sulfide mineralization aureoles, and hydrothermal alteration zones in the wall rocks along with the local depression blocks. The geological-structural analysis of the area shows that multiple and various morphogenetic volcano-tectonically fault systems have developed in the area. These fault systems have played a trap role for ore-formation in the intersected parts of faults mentioned above. Thus, in the referred parts, mostly predominance of felsic volcanism and metasomatic alteration (silicification, argillitic, etc.) of wall rocks, as well as the products of this volcanism, account for the inclusion of hydrothermal ore-forming fluids along these faults. It is possible to determine temporally and lithological-structural connection between the ore-formation along with local depression blocks and faults as borders for products of felsic volcanism of Upper Cretaceous-Lesser Jurassic ages, in the results of the replacement of hydrothermal alteration zones with relatively low-temperature metasomatic alterations while moving from the felsic parts to the margins, and due to being non-ore bearing intermediate and intermediate-felsic magmatic facies.

Keywords: Aghyokhush, fault, gold deposit, Mereh

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Authors: Mário Silva, Filipa Gomes, Filipa Oliveira, Simone Morais, Cristina Delerue-Matos

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Brown seaweeds are abundant in Portuguese coastline and represent an almost unexploited marine economic resource. One of the most common species, easily available for harvesting in the northwest coast, is Saccorhiza polyschides grows in the lowest shore and costal rocky reefs. It is almost exclusively used by local farmers as natural fertilizer, but contains a substantial amount of valuable compounds, particularly alginates, natural biopolymers of high interest for many industrial applications. Alginates are natural polysaccharides present in cell walls of brown seaweed, highly biocompatible, with particular properties that make them of high interest for the food, biotechnology, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Conventional extraction processes are based on thermal treatment. They are lengthy and consume high amounts of energy and solvents. In recent years, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) has shown enormous potential to overcome major drawbacks that outcome from conventional plant material extraction (thermal and/or solvent based) techniques, being also successfully applied to the extraction of agar, fucoidans and alginates. In the present study, acid pretreatment of brown seaweed Saccorhiza polyschides for subsequent microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of alginate was optimized. Seaweeds were collected in Northwest Portuguese coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean between May and August, 2014. Experimental design was used to assess the effect of temperature and acid pretreatment time in alginate extraction. Response surface methodology allowed the determination of the optimum MAE conditions: 40 mL of HCl 0.1 M per g of dried seaweed with constant stirring at 20ºC during 14h. Optimal acid pretreatment conditions have enhanced significantly MAE of alginates from Saccorhiza polyschides, thus contributing for the development of a viable, more environmental friendly alternative to conventional processes.

Keywords: acid pretreatment, alginate, brown seaweed, microwave-assisted extraction, response surface methodology

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Authors: Ashgar Ali Ali Mohamed, Farheen Baig Sardar Baig

Abstract:

In Malaysia, the Whistle-blower Protection Act 2010 provides protection to a person in an organization who exposes misconduct, alleged dishonest or illegal activity that violates the existing laws, among others. For example, alleged fraud, health and safety violations, and corruption, to name but a few. Undeniable, most whistle-blowers are internal to an organisation who report misconduct of a fellow employee or superior within their company and they frequently face reprisal at the hands of the organisation which they have accused. In fact, many people do not consider blowing the whistle because of fear of retaliation and losing their relationships at workplace. Although whistle-blowers are protected under law from employer retaliation, there have been many cases where punishment for whistleblowing has occurred, such as suspension, demotion, termination, or harsh mistreatment by other employees. Hence, this paper will analyse the adequacy of the legal protection available to employees who whistle-blow on their employers with reference to the Whistle-blower Protection Act 2010. Reference will also be made to the approach taken in other selected jurisdiction with a view of highlighting the adequacy of the Malaysian legislation on this subject besides strengthen employee whistle-blower protection. Further, reference is also made to the Islamic approach on this subject with particular reference to the concept of amr-bil-Ma’roof (ordering for acknowledged virtues) and nahi anil munkar (forbidding from sin). Allah (SWT) says: “And there should be a group amongst you who invite towards good, order for acknowledged virtues, forbid from sin and these it is that are the successful ones” (Al Imran(Chp 3), verse 104).

Keywords: whistleblower protection, employee whistleblower, detrimental and reprisal, Malaysian law

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Authors: Ali Raza, Rūta Rimašauskienė

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In the current work, the fused deposition modelling (FDM) technique is used to manufacture PLA reinforced with carbon fibre composite structures with two unique layer patterns, 0°\0° and 0°\90°. The purpose of the study is to investigate the dynamic characteristics of each fabricated composite structure. The Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) is embedded with 0°/0° and 0°/90° structures to investigate the effect of an MFC (M8507-P2 type) patch on vibration amplitude suppression under dynamic loading circumstances. First, modal analysis testing was performed using a Polytec 3D laser vibrometer to identify bending mode shapes, natural frequencies, and vibration amplitudes at the corresponding natural frequencies. To determine the stiffness of each structure, several loads were applied at the free end of the structure, and the deformation was recorded using a laser displacement sensor. The findings confirm that a structure with 0°\0° layers pattern was found to have more stiffness compared to a 0°\90° structure. The maximum amplitude suppression in each structure was measured using a laser displacement sensor at the first resonant frequency when the control voltage signal with optimal phase was applied to the MFC. The results confirm that the 0°/0° pattern's structure exhibits a higher displacement reduction than the 0°/90° pattern. Moreover, stiffer structures have been found to perform amplitude suppression more effectively.

Keywords: carbon fibre composite, MFC, modal analysis stiffness, stiffness

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Authors: Keziah Bazar

Abstract:

The effect of Brassica rapa leaf extracts on the growth of upland Ipomoea aquatica was investigated. One hundred grams Brassica rapa leaf were blended using a heavy duty blender. These were diluted with water to have final concentrations of 75% (T1), 50% (T2) and 25% (T3) that served as treatments of the study. Pure water (T0) that served as control was also included Upland Ipomoea aquatic were grown in pots. A 3-4 in water level was maintained during the whole duration of the study. Plant height, leaf area, fruit size and shoot height, were taken after 6 months. Results showed that plant height and shoot height was highest in T1 while T0 was the lowest. On the other hand, T2 had the highest leaf area and fruit size. The study suggests that T1 and T2 can be a good fertilizer for Ipomoea aquatica.

Keywords: Ipomoea aquatica, leaf extracts, growth, Brassica rapa

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Authors: Emma Serwaa Obobisa, Winifred Essaah

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Significant worldwide trends including urbanization, industrialization, globalization, and the impending digitization have all contributed to human prosperity. However, the majority of these advancements fail to take sustainability into account, which caused the earth to manifest its retaliation in many forms. Since the world is already well-advanced, mankind needs a mature development that instills sustainability in its acts. As a result, the United Nations established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which set forth guidelines for human behavior to ensure that the ecosystem and mankind coexist as a unified, autonomous system. The study investigates the role of eco-innovation, renewable energy consumption, human capital, environmental tax, and natural resources in achieving European Union countries' sustainable development goals. The results show that eco-innovation, renewable energy consumption, human capital, and environmental tax have a negative relationship with consumption-based CO₂ emissions but a positive relationship with natural resources. These findings suggest that governments in European Union countries commit to encouraging environmentally friendly technology advances and green investment. It also stresses the need to enforce regulations that regulate the activities of polluting firms in the region with strictness.

Keywords: sustainable development, Eco-innovation, renewable energy, CO₂ emissions

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Authors: Nicholas Okpe

Abstract:

As the world gets more and more engulfed in both man-made and natural disasters, the call for religious intervention becomes intrinsically louder to the extent that any religious inclination that does not devolve into societal or humanitarian adventures makes no meaning. Wars, conflicts, environmental disturbances have thrown new challenges hitherto unknown to the doorsteps of religious groups for intervention as the last hope of humanity. In Nigeria, since the last two decades, many things have fallen apart that have led to humanitarian crisis from the North to the South and from the East to the West. Over five million Nigerians live in internally displaced camps all over the country due to the various forms of social unrest as well as natural disasters, especially floods. These problems have brought forth the signifance of various religious groups who through their interventions have often shown to be the hope of the people. This paper examines the latent potentials of religion in not only making people to cope with difficult situations they find themselves in, but also giving sucure to the many who otherwise are despondent and at the edge of life. Many religious groups have well developed plans of interventions in various humanitarian situations. The efforts of religions such as christianity, Islam and the indigenous African religion is exrayed and assessed for proper evaluation. The paper finds out that the most potent and effective means of attending to humanitarian crisis today in Nigeria is through the various religious organization as governments at various levels have lost credibility in such exercises.

Keywords: humanitarianism, religion. nigeria, society, practice

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Authors: M. Akhlaque Ahmed, Sidra A. Shaikh, Maliha Afshan Siddiqui

Abstract:

Solar radiation studies of Sindh province have been studied to evaluate the solar energy potential of the area. Global and diffuse solar radiation on horizontal surface over five cities namely Karachi, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Chore and Padidan of Sindh province were carried out using sun shine hour data of the area to assess the feasibility of solar energy utilization. The result obtained shows a large variation of direct and diffuse component of solar radiation in winter and summer months. 50% direct and 50% diffuse solar radiation for Karachi and Hyderabad were observed and for Chore in summer month July and August the diffuse radiation is about 33 to 39%. For other areas of Sindh such as Nawabshah and Patidan the contribution of direct solar radiation is high throughout the year. The Kt values for Nawabshah and Patidan indicates a clear sky almost throughout the year. In Nawabshah area the percentage of diffuse radiation does not exceed more than 29%. The appearance of cloud is rare even in the monsoon months July and August whereas Karachi and Hyderabad and Chore has low solar potential during the monsoon months. During the monsoon period Karachi and Hyderabad can utilize hybrid system with wind power as wind speed is higher. From the point of view of power generation the estimated values indicate that Karachi and Hyderabad and chore has low solar potential for July and August while Nawabshah, and Padidan has high solar potential Throughout the year.

Keywords: global and diffuse solar radiation, province of Sindh, solar energy potential, solar radiation studies for power generation

Procedia PDF Downloads 256