Search results for: soil seed bank

Authors: Kun Liang Ang, Eng Toon Saw, Wei He, Xuecheng Dong, Seeram Ramakrishna

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Ester solvents are widely used in pharmaceutical, printing and flavor industry due to their good miscibility, low toxicity, and high volatility. Through pervaporation, these ester solvents can be recovered from industrial wastewater. While metal-doped silicalite 1 zeolite membranes are commonly used in organic solvent recovery in the pervaporation process, these ceramic membranes suffer from low membrane permeation flux, mainly due to the high thickness of the metal-doped zeolite membrane. Herein, a simple method of fabricating an ultrathin tin-silicalite 1 membrane supported on alumina tube is reported. This ultrathin membrane is able to achieve high permeation flux and separation factor for an ester in a diluted aqueous solution. Nanosized tin-Silicalite 1 seeds which are smaller than 500nm has been formed through hydrothermal synthesis. The sn-Silicalite 1 seeds were then seeded onto alumina tube through dip coating, and the tin-Silicalite 1 membrane was then formed by hydrothermal synthesis in an autoclave through secondary growth method. Multiple membrane synthesis factors such as seed size, ceramic substrate surface pore size selection, and secondary growth conditions were studied for their effects on zeolite membrane growth. The microstructure, morphology and the membrane thickness of tin-Silicalite 1 zeolite membrane were examined. The membrane separation performance and stability will also be reported.

Keywords: ceramic membrane, pervaporation, solvent recovery, Sn-MFI zeolite

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Authors: Franklin Nantui Mabe, Gideon Danso-Abbeam, Dennis Sedem Ehiakpor

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In order for the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to motivate farmers to adopt improved agricultural technologies, expand their farms and encourage youth to enter into agricultural production so as to increase crop productivity, “Planting for Food and Jobs” (PFJ) programme was launched in April 2017. The PFJ programme covers five pillars, namely, provision of subsidized and improved seeds; subsidized fertilizer; agricultural extension services; establishment of markets; and e-agriculture. This study assesses the awareness of farmers about the packages of these pillars using the Likert scale, paired t-test and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The study adopted a mixed research design. A semi-structured questionnaire and checklist were used to collect data. The data collection was done using interviews and focus group discussions. The PFJ pillar farmers are much aware is a subsidy on fertilizer followed by a subsidy on improved seeds. Electronic agriculture is a pillar with the lowest level of awareness. There is a strong positive correlation between awareness of fertilizer and seed packages suggestion their complementarities. Lack of information/awareness of the packages of the programme can affect farmers’ participation in all the pillars. Farmers, in particular, should be educated for them to know what they are entitled to in each of the pillars. The programme implementation plan should also be made available to farmers as a guide.

Keywords: awareness, planting for food and jobs, programme, farmers, likert scale

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Authors: Isa Muhammad Zumo

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The African Great Green Wall (GGW) is a significant initiative in northern Nigeria because it promotes land restoration and conservation utilizing both commercial and species of forest trees while also helping to mitigate desertification and hazards from the sand dunes and shifting Sahara deserts. Conflicts and weather, however, pose a significant danger to the achievement of these goals. The scientific method for monitoring the vegetation dynamics since inception has not received the required attention, despite the African Development Bank (ADB)'s help in funding the project and its integration into the state's development plans for GGW initiatives. This study will monitor the changes in the vegetation cover of the great green wall within Yobe State Nigeria from 2014 to 2023. The vegetation dynamics will be monitored using Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) for 6 years at 2 years intervals. The result will show the fluctuations in the vegetation cover density within the period of study. This will guide the design and implementation of policies of the GGW in achieving its objectives. The result can also contribute to the realization of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.

Keywords: monitoring, green wall, Landsat 8, Nigeria

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Authors: Leesa Mohanty, Ashok Banerjee

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Better audit quality signifies the financial statements of the auditee firm reflect true and fair view of their actual state of affairs, which reduces information asymmetry between management and shareholders, as a result, helps protect interests of shareholders. This study examines the impact of joint audit on audit quality. It is motivated by the ongoing debate where The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the regulatory body governing auditors, has advocated the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the mandatory use of joint audit in private banks to enhance the quality of audit. Earlier, the Government of India had rejected the plea by ICAI for mandatory joint audits in large companies stating it is not a viable option for promoting domestic firms. We introduce a new measure of audit quality. Drawing from the domain of text analytics, we use relevant phrases in audit reports to gauge audit quality and demonstrate that joint audit improves audit quality. We also, for robustness, use prevalent proxy for audit quality (Big N Auditor, ratio of audit fees to total fees) and find negative effect of joint audit on audit quality. We, therefore highlight that different proxy for audit quality show opposite effect of joint audit.

Keywords: audit fees, audit quality, Big N. Auditor, joint audit

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Authors: Kalat P. Duniya

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A number of technologies expected to increase maize productivity have been introduced by several research programs at national and international level. To this end, the study sought to identify the factors influencing adoption intensity of certified maize varieties. The data used were obtained from a sample household survey of 406 maize farmers, conducted in the northern guinea savannah of Nigeria through multistage stratified sampling, structured questionnaire. A triple hurdle model was adopted to estimate the determinants of adoption intensity; considering awareness, adoption, and intensity as three separate stages. The result showed that the drivers of farmers’ awareness, adoption, and intensity of usage may not necessarily be the same, and where they are, not of the same magnitude and direction. However, factors which were found to be statistically significant were age, education, membership of association and frequency of extension advice. In addition, awareness and adoption of the technologies were likely to be increased with male respondents. Farmers that were members of either community organizations or cooperative organizations had a higher tendency of being aware and adopting certified maize seed varieties. It was also discovered that though some of the farmers were fully aware of the existence of some certified maize varieties, majority lacked detailed knowledge and technical know-how. There is a need for creation of awareness through an excellent trained extension and restructuring of the educational sector to improve on the adoption process as well as improve maize productivity in the country.

Keywords: adoption, awareness, maize farmers, Nigeria, regression

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Authors: Saima Ali, Pathamanathan Rajeev, Imteaz A. Monzur

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In this paper, a brief review of the corrosion mechanism in buried pipe and modes of failure is provided together with the available corrosion models. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis is performed to understand the influence of corrosion model parameters on the remaining life estimation. Further, the probabilistic analysis is performed to propagate the uncertainty in the corrosion model on the estimation of the renaming life of the pipe. Finally, the comparison among the corrosion models on the basis of the remaining life estimation will be provided to improve the renewal plan.

Keywords: corrosion, pit depth, sensitivity analysis, exposure period

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Authors: E. O. George, P. Ojeaga, D. Odejimi, O. Mattehws

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Has macroeconomic management succeeded in making privatization promote growth in Africa? What are the probable strategies that should accompany the privatization reform process to promote growth in Africa? To what extent has the privatization process succeeded in attracting foreign direct investment to Africa? The study investigates the relationship between macroeconomic management and privatization. Many African countries have embarked on one form of privatization reform or the other since 1980 as one of the stringent conditions for accessing capital from the IMF and the World Bank. Secondly globalization and the gradually integration of the African economy into the global economy also means that Africa has to strategically develop its domestic market to cushion itself from fluctuations and probable contagion associated with global economic crisis that are always inevitable Stiglitz. The methods of estimation used are the OLS, linear mixed effects (LME), 2SLS and the GMM method of estimation. It was found that macroeconomic management has the capacity to affect the success of the privatization reform process. It was also found that privatization was not promoting growth in Africa; privatization could promote growth if long run growth strategies are implemented together with the privatization reform process. Privatization was also found not to have the capacity to attract foreign investment to many African countries.

Keywords: Africa, political economy, game theory, macroeconomic management and privatization

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Authors: Mary Cruz

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Founded from 1496 to 1502, Santo Domingo is the oldest European settlement in the Americas, inhabited without any discontinuity and was the first seat of Spanish power in the new world. Capital of the country since 1932.In this text, we discover Santo Domingo as an international tourist center, Urban Structure, Eco-tourism, Contamination and other issues related to tourism and development of this city. Founded from 1496 to 1502, Santo Domingo is the oldest European settlement in the Americas, inhabited without any discontinuity and was the first seat of Spanish power in the new world. Capital of the country since 1932. Encouraged by the United Nations and the World Bank, many Caribbean governments have encouraged tourism from the 1950s to boost their Third World economies. In this text, we discover Santo Domingo as an international tourist center, Urban Structure, Eco-tourism, Contamination and challenges of the first tourist destination in the Caribbean.

Keywords: eco-tourism, urban structure, contamination, development

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Authors: Shienna Marie Esteban

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The economic growth experience of the Philippines is one of the fastest in Asia. However, the said growth has not yet trickled down to every Filipino. This is evident to agricultural-dependent population. Moreover, the contribution of the agriculture sector to GDP has been dwindling while large number of labor force is still dependent on a relatively small share of GDP. As a result, poverty incidence worsened among rural poor causing hunger and malnutrition. Therefore, the existing agricultural policies in the Philippines are pushing to achieve greater food production and productivity to alleviate poverty and food insecurity. Through a review of related literature and collection and analysis of secondary data from DA, DBM, BAS - CountrySTAT, PSA, NSCB, PIDS, IRRI, UN-FAO, IFPRI, and World Bank among others, the study revealed that Philippines is still far from its goals of poverty reduction and food security. In addition, the agricultural sector is underperforming. The productivity growth of the sector comes out mediocre. The common observation is that weakness is attributed to the failures of policy and institutional environments of the agriculture sector. The policy environment failed to create a structure appropriate for the rapid growth of the sector due to institutional and governance weaknesses. A recommendation is to go through institutional and policy reforms through legislative or executive mandates should take form to improve the implementation and enforcement of existing policies.

Keywords: agriculture, food security, policy, poverty

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Authors: Fitih Ademe, Kibebew Kibret, Sheleme Beyene, Mezgebu Getnet, Gashaw Meteke

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Pressing demands for agricultural products and its associated pressure on water availability in the semi-arid areas demanded information for strategic decision-making in the changing climate conditions of Ethiopia. Availing such information through traditional agronomic research methods is not sufficient unless supported through the application of decision-support tools. The CERES (Crop Environmental Resource Synthesis) model in DSSAT-CSM was evaluated for estimating yield and water productivity of maize under two soil types (Andosol and Luvisol) of the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. A six-year data (2010 – 2017) obtained from national fertilizer determination experiments were used for model evaluation. Pertinent statistical indices were employed to evaluate model performance. Following model evaluation, yield and rain-water productivity of maize was assessed for the baseline (1981-2010) and future climate (2050’s and 2080’s) scenario. The model performed well in predicting phenology, growth, and yield of maize for the different seasons and phosphorous rates. A good agreement between simulated and observed grain yield was indicated by low values of the RMSE (0.15 - 0.37 Mg/ha) and other indices for the two soil types. The evaluated model predicted a decline in the potential (23.8 to 26.7% at Melkassa and from 21.7 to 26.1% at Ziway under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate change scenarios, respectively) and water-limited yield (15 to 18.3% at Melkassa and by 6.5 to 10.5% at Ziway) in the mid-century due to climate change. Consequently, a decline in water productivity was projected in the future periods that necessitate availing options to improve water productivity in the region. In conclusion, the DSSAT-CERES-maize model can be used to simulate maize (Melkassa-2) phenology, growth and grain yield, as well as simulate water productivity under different management scenarios that can help to identify options to improve water productivity in the changing climate of the semi-arid central Rift valley of Ethiopia.

Keywords: andosol, CERES-maize, luvisol, model evaluation, water productivity

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Authors: S. A. Naeini, Z. Eftekhari

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Liquefaction phenomenon in sand is nowadays a classical soil mechanics subject. Using a cyclic triaxial test apparatus, we use non-woven geotextile reinforcement to improve the liquefaction resistance of sand. The layer configurations used are zero, one, two and three horizontal reinforcing layers in a triaxial test sample. The influences of the number of geotextile layers, and cyclic stress ratio (CSR) were studied and described. The results illustrated that the geotextile inclusion increases liquefaction resistance.

Keywords: liquefaction resistance, geotextile, sand, cyclic triaxial test, cyclic stress ratio

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Authors: Daniel M. Wolff, Patricia Gray, Rafael de la Parra Venegas

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An unsupervised machine listening system is constructed and applied to a dataset of 17,195 30-second marine hydrophone recordings. The system is then heuristically supplemented with anecdotal listening, contextual recording information, and supervised learning techniques to reduce the number of false positives. Features for classification are assembled by extracting the following data from each of the audio files: the spectral centroid, root-mean-squared values for each frequency band of a 10-octave filter bank, and mel-frequency cepstral coefficients in 5-second frames. In this way both time- and frequency-domain information are contained in the features to be passed to a clustering algorithm. Classification is performed using the k-means algorithm and then a k-nearest neighbors search. Different values of k are experimented with, in addition to different combinations of the available feature sets. Hypothesized class labels are 'primarily anthrophony' and 'primarily biophony', where the best class result conforming to the former label has 104 members after heuristic pruning. This demonstrates how a large audio dataset has been made more tractable with machine learning techniques, forming the foundation of a framework designed to acoustically monitor and gauge biological and anthropogenic activity in a marine environment.

Keywords: anthrophony, hydrophone, k-means, machine learning

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Authors: Joan O. Ogundele, Aladesanmi A. Oshodi, Adekunle I. Amoo

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Abstract In-vitro multi-enzyme protein digestibility (IVMPD) and some anti-nutritional factors (ANF) of five melon (egusi) seed flours (MSF) and their protein isolates (PI) were carried out. Their PI have potentials comparable to that of soya beans. It is important to know the IVMPD and ANF of these protein sources as to ensure their safety when adapted for use as alternate protein sources to substitute for cow milk, which is relatively expensive in Nigeria. Standard methods were used to produce PI of Citrullus colocynthis, Citrullus vulgaris, African Wine Kettle gourd (Lageneria siceraria I), Basket Ball gourd (Lagenaria siceraria II) and Bushel Giant Gourd (Lageneria siceraria III) seeds and to determine the ANF and IVMPD of the MSF and PI unheated and at 37oC. Multi-enzymes used were trypsin, chymotrypsin and peptidase. IVMPD of MSF ranged from (70.67±0.70) % (C. vulgaris) to (72.07± 1.79) % (L.siceraria I) while for their PI ranged from 74.33% (C.vulgaris) to 77.55% (L.siceraria III). IVMPD of the PI were higher than those of MSF. Heating increased IVMPD of MSF with average value of 79.40% and those of PI with average of 84.14%. ANF average in MSF are tannin (0.11mg/g), phytate (0.23%). Differences in IVMPD of MSF and their PI at different temperatures may arise from processing conditions that alter the release of amino acids from proteins by enzymatic processes. ANF in MSF were relatively low, but were found to be lower in the PI, therefor making the PI safer for human consumption as an alternate source of protein.

Keywords: Anti-nutrients, Enzymatic protein digestibility, Melon (egusi)., Protein Isolates.

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Authors: Maria Trimintziou, Michael Sakellariou, Prodromos Psarropoulos

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Nowadays, the exploitation of hydrocarbons reserves in deep seas and oceans, in combination with the need to transport hydrocarbons among countries, has made the design, construction and operation of offshore pipelines very significant. Under this perspective, it is evident that many more offshore pipelines are expected to be constructed in the near future. Since offshore pipelines are usually crossing extended areas, they may face a variety of geohazards that impose substantial permanent ground deformations (PGDs) to the pipeline and potentially threaten its integrity. In case of a geohazard area, there exist three options to proceed. The first option is to avoid the problematic area through rerouting, which is usually regarded as an unfavorable solution due to its high cost. The second is to apply (if possible) mitigation/protection measures in order to eliminate the geohazard itself. Finally, the last appealing option is to allow the pipeline crossing through the geohazard area, provided that the pipeline will have been verified against the expected PGDs. In areas with moderate or high seismicity the design of an offshore pipeline is more demanding due to the earthquake-related geohazards, such as landslides, soil liquefaction phenomena, and active faults. It is worthy to mention that although worldwide there is a great experience in offshore geotechnics and pipeline design, the experience in seismic design of offshore pipelines is rather limited due to the fact that most of the pipelines have been constructed in non-seismic regions (e.g. North Sea, West Australia, Gulf of Mexico, etc.). The current study focuses on the seismic design of offshore pipelines against active faults. After an extensive literature review of the provisions of the seismic norms worldwide and of the available analytical methods, the study simulates numerically (through finite-element modeling and strain-based criteria) the distress of offshore pipelines subjected to PGDs induced by active seismic faults at the seabed. Factors, such as the geometrical properties of the fault, the mechanical properties of the ruptured soil formations, and the pipeline characteristics, are examined. After some interesting conclusions regarding the seismic vulnerability of offshore pipelines, potential cost-effective mitigation measures are proposed taking into account constructability issues.

Keywords: offhore pipelines, seismic design, active faults, permanent ground deformations (PGDs)

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Authors: Marjan Golmaryami, Marzieh Behzadi

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Recent developments in stock exchange highlight the need for an efficient and accurate method that helps stockholders make better decision. Since stock markets have lots of fluctuations during the time and different effective parameters, it is difficult to make good decisions. The purpose of this study is to employ artificial neural network (ANN) which can deal with time series data and nonlinear relation among variables to forecast next day stock price. Unlike other evolutionary algorithms which were utilized in stock exchange prediction, we trained our proposed neural network with metaheuristic bat algorithm, with fast and powerful convergence and applied it in stock price prediction for the first time. In order to prove the performance of the proposed method, this research selected a 7 year dataset from Parsian Bank stocks and after imposing data preprocessing, used 3 types of ANN (back propagation-ANN, particle swarm optimization-ANN and bat-ANN) to predict the closed price of stocks. Afterwards, this study engaged MATLAB to simulate 3 types of ANN, with the scoring target of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The results may be adapted to other companies stocks too.

Keywords: artificial neural network (ANN), bat algorithm, particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO), stock exchange

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Authors: Zareen Khan

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Islamic Banking has experienced high growth in Pakistan in recent years and has successfully survived the economic downturn of 2009-2011. Despite the increase in branch network and expansion of services, it is unclear if Islamic banks are truly following the theory and practical application of Shariah Law. This paper explores the theological basis of Islamic finance and examines the discrepancies between the theory and practice of Islamic banking using Pakistan as a case study. It discusses areas where Islamic banks lack proper Shariah compliance and analyzes the financial weaknesses of Islamic banks in terms of the services offered. Furthermore, the paper offers plausible explanations for the clientele of Islamic banks. The case study has three major findings. Firstly, most of the employees of Islamic banks come from conventional banking backgrounds and the banks have to invest in additional trainings to specialize employees in Islamic Banking. Secondly despite the efforts of State Bank of Pakistan, there is a lack of accounting and auditing standards tailored for Islamic Banking. Thirdly, majority of the clients of Islamic banks in Pakistan are accustomed to conventional banking causing the bankers to “speak the conventional banking language.” Combined, these three factors can create gaps in the practical application of Islamic finance in Islamic banks in Pakistan.

Keywords: islamic finance, comparing theory with practice, islamic banking, Pakistan

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Authors: Nisreen Ardda

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Fenestrations are one of the main building envelope elements that play an important role in home social-ecological l factors. They play a vital role in providing natural lighting and ventilation, visual, thermal, and acoustical comfort, and also provide weather-tightness, privacy, a feeling of openness. In most home buildings, fenestrations are controlled manually by the occupants, which significantly impacts occupants' comfort and energy use. Culture plays a central role in the Palestinians window operation behavior. Improved windows design that provides the desired privacy while maintaining the appropriate function of fenestration (natural lighting, thermal comfort, and visual openness) is becoming a necessity. Therefore, this paper proposes a window typology to achieve the social and environmental factors in residential buildings in the West Bank. The window typology and reference building were designed in Rivet 2021, and natural ventilation was carried out in Design Builder 4.3.0.039. The results showed that the proposed typology provides the desired privacy and the feeling of openness without compromising natural ventilation as the existing window did.

Keywords: window design, passive design, sustainable built environment, building material

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Authors: Jiang Xu, Daoping Wang, Qun Li, Yinghong Pan

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2,4-Epibrassinolide (EBR), which is a kind of plant hormone Brassinosteroids (BRs), is widely studied and applied in the global scale but the proteomic characteristics of EBR alleviating low temperature stress in rice seedling leaves are still not clear. In this study, seeding rice of Nipponbare were treated with EBR and distilled water, then stressed at 4℃ or 26 ℃, and analyzed by mass spectrometry analysis, verified by parallel reaction monitoring technique (PRM). The results showed that 5778 proteins were identified in total and 4834 proteins were identified with quantitative information. Among them, 401 up-regulated and 220 down-regulated proteins may be related to EBR alleviating low temperature stress in rice seedling leaves. The molecular functions of most of up-regulated proteins are RNA binding and hydrolase activity and are mainly enriched in the pathways of carbon metabolism, folic acid synthesis, and amino acid biosynthesis. The down-regulated proteins are mainly related to catalytic activity and oxidoreductase activity and are mainly enriched in the pathways of limonene and pinene degradation, riboflavin metabolism, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, and other metabolic pathways. PRM validation and literature analysis showed that NADP-malic acidase, peroxidase, 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, enolase, glyceraldehyde-3- phosphate dehydrogenase and pyruvate kinase are closely related to the effect of EBR on low temperature stress. These results also suggested that BRs could relieve the effect of low temperature stress on rice seed germination in many ways.

Keywords: 2, 4-Epibrassinolid, low temperature stress, proteomic analysis, rice

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Authors: Siraj Beyan Mohamed, Woldia University

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The study is accompanied in northern Ethiopian basement rocks, Finarwa area, and its surrounding areas, south eastern Tigray. From the field observations, the geology of the area haven been described and mapped based on mineral composition, texture, structure, and colour of both fresh and weather rocks. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) have conducted to analysis gold and base metal mineralization. The ore mineral under microscope are commonly base metal sulphides pyrrhotite, Chalcopyrite, pentilanditeoccurring in variable proportions. Galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and gold mineral are hosted in quartz vein. Pyrite occurs both in quartz vein and enclosing rocks as a primary mineral. The base metal sulfides occur as disseminated, vein filling, and replacement. Geochemical analyses result determination of the threshold of geochemical anomalies is directly related to the identification of mineralization information. From samples, stream sediment samples and the soil samples indicated that the most promising mineralization occur in the prospect area are gold(Au), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn). This is also supported by the abundance of chalcopyrite and sphalerite in some highly altered samples. The stream sediment geochemical survey data shows relatively higher values for zinc compared to Pb and Cu. The moderate concentration of the base metals in some of the samples indicates availability base metal mineralization in the study area requiring further investigation. The rock and soil geochemistry shows the significant concentration of gold with maximum value of 0.33ppm and 0.97 ppm in the south western part of the study area. In Finarwa, artisanal gold mining has become an increasingly widespread economic activity of the local people undertaken by socially differentiated groups with a wide range of education levels and economic backgrounds incorporating a wide variety of ‘labour intensive activities without mechanisation.

Keywords: gold, base metal, anomaly, threshold

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Authors: Felix Lankester, Alicia Davis, Safari Kinung'hi, Catherine Bunga, Shayo Alkara, Imam Mzimbiri, Jonathan Yoder, Sarah Cleaveland, Guy H. Palmer

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Achieving the London Declaration goal of a 90% reduction in neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by 2030 requires cost-effective strategies that attain high and comprehensive coverage. The first objective of this trial was to assess the impact on cost and coverage of employing a novel integrative One Health approach linking two NTD control programs: mass drug administration (MDA) for soil-transmitted helminths in humans (STH) and mass dog rabies vaccination (MDRV). The second objective was to compare the coverage achieved by the MDA, a community-wide deworming intervention, with that of the existing national primary school-based deworming program (NSDP), with particular focus on the proportion of primary school-age children reached and their school enrolment status. Our approach was unconventional because, in line with the One Health approach to disease control, it coupled the responsibilities and resources of the Ministries responsible for human and animal health into one program with the shared aim of preventing multiple NTDs. The trial was carried out in hard-to-reach pastoral communities comprising 24 villages of the Ngorongoro District, Tanzania, randomly allocated to either Arm A (MDA and MDRV), Arm B (MDA only) or Arm C (MDRV only). Objective one: The percentage of people in each target village that received treatment through MDA in Arms A and B was 63% and 65%, respectively (χ2 = 1, p = 0.32). The percentage of dogs vaccinated in Arm A and C was 70% and 81%, respectively (χ2 =9, p = 0.003). It took 33% less time for a single person and a dog to attend the integrated delivery than two separate events. Cost per dose (including delivery) was lower under the integrated strategy, with delivery of deworming and rabies vaccination reduced by $0.13 (54%) and $0.85 (19%) per dose, respectively. Despite a slight reduction in the proportion of village dogs vaccinated in the integrated event, both the integrated and non-integrated strategies achieved the target threshold of 70% required to eliminate rabies. Objective two: The percentages of primary school age children enrolled in school that was reached by this trial (73%) and the existing NSDP (80%) were not significantly different (F = 0.9, p = 0.36). However, of the primary school age children treated in this trial, 46% were not enrolled in school. Furthermore, 86% of the people treated would have been outside the reach of the NSDP because they were not primary school age or were primary school age children not enrolled in school. The comparable reach, the substantial reductions in cost per dose delivered and the decrease in participants’ time support this integrated One Health approach to control multiple NTDs. Further, the recorded level of non-enrolment at primary school suggests that, in remote areas, school-based delivery strategies could miss a large fraction of school-age children and that programs that focus delivery solely at the level of the primary school will miss a substantial proportion of both primary school age children as well as other individuals from the community. We have shown that these populations can be effectively reached through extramural programs.

Keywords: canine mediated human rabies, integrated health interventions, mass drug administration, neglected tropical disease, One Health, soil-transmitted helminths

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Authors: Mateus L. O. Freitas, Flávia H. de M. Libório, Letycia L. Ricardo, Patrícia da C. Zonetti, Graciene de S. Bido

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Weeds compete with agricultural crops for resources such as light, water, and nutrients. This competition can cause significant damage to agricultural producers, and, currently, the use of agrochemicals is the most effective method for controlling these undesirable plants. Morning glory (Ipomoea grandifolia [Dammer] O'Donell) is an aggressive weed and significantly reduces agricultural productivity making harvesting difficult, especially mechanical harvesting. The biggest challenge in modern agriculture is to preserve high productivity reducing environmental damage and maintaining soil characteristics. No-till is a sustainable practice that can reduce the use of agrochemicals and environmental impacts due to the presence of plant residues in the soil, which release allelopathic compounds and reduce the incidence or alter the growth and development of crops and weeds. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) is a forage with proven allelopathic activity, mainly for producing sorgholeone. In this context, this research aimed to evaluate the allelopathic action of sorghum fractions using hexane, dichloromethane, butanol, and ethyl acetate on the germination and initial growth of morning glory. The parameters analyzed were the percentage of germination, speed of germination, seedling length, and biomass weight (fresh and dry). The bioassays were performed in Petri dishes, kept in an incubation chamber for 7 days, at 25 °C, with a 12h photoperiod. The experimental design was completely randomized, with five replicates of each treatment. The data were evaluated by analysis of variance, and the averages between each treatment were compared using the Scott Knott test at a 5% significance level. The results indicated that the dichloromethane and ethyl acetate fractions showed bioherbicidal effects, promoting effective reductions on germination and initial growth of the morning glory. It was concluded that allelochemicals were probably extracted in these fractions. These secondary metabolites can reduce the use of agrochemicals and environmental impact, making agricultural production systems more sustainable.

Keywords: allelochemicals, secondary metabolism, sorgoleone, weeds

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Authors: Marco Khalaf Ayad Milhaail

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In thinking about the role of legal rules and their impact on social ethics and social structures, scholars have explored many issues related to gender, power, and ideology. First, it provides a framework for defining feminist legal studies through an overview of the field's evolution in terms of equality, rights, and justice. Secondly, it encourages those interested in equality, rights, and justice regarding women's issues to participate in international comparative law research. Third, we must emphasize that those seeking solutions to disability and discrimination must be aware of the need to confront the so-called undermining of culture. Therefore, an effective way for women to solve this problem is to rely heavily on international law, which establishes basic legal principles such as gender equality, rights, and justice and can help create a domestic environment. Woman has gained many advantages by adopting the law of Divorce in the Islamic Sharea. Any Egyptian woman can get divorce by letting her rightful rights and wealth to her husband in return for her freedom.

Keywords: stability, harsh environments, techniques, thermal, properties, materials, applications, brittleness, fragility, disadvantages, bank, branches, profitability, setting prediction, effective target, measurement, evaluation, performance, commercial, business, profitability, sustainability, financial, system, banks

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Authors: Vhuhwavho Gadisi, Rebecca Alowo, German Nkhonjera

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This article sets out to detail an investigation of groundwater management in the Juksei Catchment of South Africa through spatial mapping of key hydrological relationships, interactions, and parameters in catchments. The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) noted gaps in the implementation of the South African National Water Act 1998: article 16, including the lack of appropriate models for dealing with water quantity parameters. For this reason, this research conducted a drastic GIS-based groundwater assessment to improve groundwater monitoring system in the Juksei River basin catchment of South Africa. The methodology employed was a mixed-methods approach/design that involved the use of DRASTIC analysis, questionnaire, literature review and observations to gather information on how to help people who use the Juskei River. GIS (geographical information system) mapping was carried out using a three-parameter DRASTIC (Depth to water, Recharge, Aquifer media, Soil media, Topography, Impact of the vadose zone, Hydraulic conductivity) vulnerability methodology. In addition, the developed vulnerability map was subjected to sensitivity analysis as a validation method. This approach included single-parameter sensitivity, sensitivity to map deletion, and correlation analysis of DRASTIC parameters. The findings were that approximately 5.7% (45km2) of the area in the northern part of the Juksei watershed is highly vulnerable. Approximately 53.6% (428.8 km^2) of the basin is also at high risk of groundwater contamination. This area is mainly located in the central, north-eastern, and western areas of the sub-basin. The medium and low vulnerability classes cover approximately 18.1% (144.8 km2) and 21.7% (168 km2) of the Jukskei River, respectively. The shallow groundwater of the Jukskei River belongs to a very vulnerable area. Sensitivity analysis indicated that water depth, water recharge, aquifer environment, soil, and topography were the main factors contributing to the vulnerability assessment. The conclusion is that the final vulnerability map indicates that the Juksei catchment is highly susceptible to pollution, and therefore, protective measures are needed for sustainable management of groundwater resources in the study area.

Keywords: contamination, DRASTIC, groundwater, vulnerability, model

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Authors: Subir Kundu, Sukhendra Singh, Sumedha Ojha, Kanika Kundu

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The continuous decline of petroleum and natural gas reserves and non linear rise of oil price has brought about a realisation of the need for a change in our perpetual dependence on the fossil fuel. A day to day increased consumption of crude and petroleum products has made a considerable impact on our foreign exchange reserves. Hence, an alternate resource for the conversion of energy (both liquid and gas) is essential for the substitution of conventional fuels. Biomass is the alternate solution for the present scenario. Biomass can be converted into both liquid as well as gaseous fuels and other feedstocks for the industries.

Keywords: bioenergy, biomass conversion, biorefining, efficient utilisation of night soil

Procedia PDF Downloads 406

Authors: Jan M. Mari

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Safflower is a renowned drought tolerant oil seed crop. Previously its flowers were used for cooking and herbal medicines in China and it was cultivated by small growers for his personal needs of oil. A field study was conducted at experimental field, faculty of crop protection, Sindh Agricultural University Tandojam, during winter, 2012-13, to observe ecological effect on aphid population in safflower crop. Aphid population gradually increased with the growth of safflower. It developed with maximum aphid per leaf on 3rd week of February and it decreased in March as crop matured. A non-significant interaction was found with temperature of aphid, zigzag and hoverfly, respectively and a highly significant interaction with temperature was found with 7-spotted, lacewing, 9-spotted, and Brumus, respectively. The data revealed the overall mean population of zigzag was highest, followed by 9-spotted, 7-spotted, lace wing, hover fly and Brumus, respectively. In initial time the predator and prey ratio indicated that there was not a big difference between predator and prey ratio. After January 1st, the population of aphid increased suddenly until 18th February and it established a significant difference between predator prey ratios. After that aphid population started decreasing and it affected ratio between pest and predators. It is concluded that biotic factors, 7-spotted, zigzag, 9-spotted Brumus and lacewing exhibited a strong and positive correlation with aphid population. It is suggested that aphid pest should be monitored regularly and before reaching economic threshold level augmentation of natural enemies may be managed.

Keywords: aphid, ecology, population, safflower

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Kuo Chieh Chao, Thishani Amarathunga, Sangam Shrestha

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Rainfall induced slope failures are one of the most damaging and disastrous natural hazards which occur frequently in the world. This type of sliding mainly occurs in the zone above the groundwater level in silty/sandy soils. When the rainwater begins to infiltrate into the vadose zone of the soil, the negative pore-water pressure tends to decrease and reduce the shear strength of soil material. Climate change has resulted in excessive and unpredictable rainfall in all around the world, resulting in landslides with dire consequences to human lives and infrastructure. Such problems could be overcome by examining in detail the causes for such slope failures and recommending effective repair plans for vulnerable locations by considering future climatic change. The selected area for this study is located in the road rehabilitation section from Maubara to Mota Ain road in Timor-Leste. Slope failures and cracks have occurred in 2013 and after repairs reoccurred again in 2017 subsequent to heavy rains. Both observed and future predicted climate data analyses were conducted to understand the severe precipitation conditions in past and future. Observed climate data were collected from NOAA global climate data portal. CORDEX data portal was used to collect Regional Climate Model (RCM) future predicted climate data. Both observed and RCM data were extracted to location-based data using ArcGIS Software. Linear scaling method was used for the bias correction of future data and bias corrected climate data were assigned to GeoStudio Software. Precipitations of wet seasons (December to March ) in 2007 to 2013 is higher than 2001-2006 period and it is more than nearly 40% higher precipitation than usual monthly average precipitation of 160mm.The results of seepage analyses which were carried out using SEEP/W model with observed climate, clearly demonstrated that the pore water pressure within the fill slope was significantly increased due to the increase of the infiltration during the wet season of 2013.One main Regional Climate Models (RCM) was analyzed in order to predict future climate variation under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs).In the projected period of 76 years ahead from 2014, shows that the amount of precipitation is considerably getting higher in the future in both RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 emission scenarios. Critical pore water pressure conditions during 2014-2090 were used in order to recommend appropriate remediation methods. Results of slope stability analyses indicated that the factor of safety of the fill slopes was reduced from 1.226 to 0.793 during the dry season to wet season in 2013.Results of future slope stability which were obtained using SLOPE/W model for the RCP emissions scenarios depict that, the use of tieback anchors and geogrids in slope protection could be effective in increasing the stability of slopes to an acceptable level during the wet seasons. Moreover, methods and procedures like monitoring of slopes showing signs or susceptible for movement and installing surface protections could be used to increase the stability of slopes.

Keywords: climate change, precipitation, SEEP/W, SLOPE/W, unsaturated soil

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Alvarado M. Lady G., Ortiz V. Yaylenne, Quintero B. Quelbis R.

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The oil palm sector has seen significant growth in Colombia after the insertion of policies to stimulate the use of biofuels, which eventually contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) that deteriorate not only the environment but the health of people. However, the policy of using biofuels has been strongly questioned by the impacts that can generate; an example is the increase of other more harmful GHGs like the CH₄ that underlies the amount of solid waste generated. Casanare's department is estimated be one of the major producers of palm oil of the country given that has recently expanded its sowed area, which implies an increase in waste generated primarily in the industrial stage. For this reason, the following study evaluated the agronomic potential of the biochar obtained from empty fruit bunches and its nutritional contribution in cultivated soils with Elaeis guineensis in Casanare, Colombia. The biochar was obtained by slow pyrolysis of the clusters in a retort oven at an average temperature of 190 °C and a residence time of 8 hours. The final product was taken to the laboratory for its physical and chemical analysis as well as a soil sample from a cultivation of Elaeis guineensis located in Tauramena-Casanare. With the results obtained plus the bibliographical reports of the nutrient demand in this cultivation, the possible nutritional contribution of the biochar was determined. It is estimated that the cultivation requirements of nitrogen is 12.1 kg.ha⁻¹, potassium is 59.3 kg.ha⁻¹, magnesium is -31.5 kg.ha⁻¹ and phosphorus is 5.6 kg.ha⁻¹ obtaining a biochar contribution of 143.1 kg.ha⁻¹, 1204.5 kg.ha⁻¹, 39.2 kg.ha⁻¹ and 71.6 kg.ha⁻¹ respectively. The incorporation of biochar into the soil would significantly improve the concentrations of N, P, K and Mg, nutrients considered important in the yield of palm oil, coupled with the importance of nutrient recycling in agricultural production systems sustainable. The biochar application improves the physical properties of soils, mainly in the humidity retention. On the other hand, it regulates the availability of nutrients for plants absorption, with economic savings in the application of synthetic fertilizers and water by irrigation. It also becomes an alternative to manage agricultural waste, reducing the involuntary emissions of greenhouse gases to the environment by decomposition in the field, reducing the CO₂ content in the atmosphere.

Keywords: biochar, nutrient recycling, oil palm, pyrolysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Muhammad Babar Shahzad

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The purpose of our study is to investigate the relationship between perceived job autonomy and turnover intention in sales & marketing staff. Perceived job autonomy is considered one of most studied dimension of Job Characteristic Model. But still there is a confusion in scholars about predictive role of perceived job autonomy in turnover intention. In line of more complex research on this relation, we investigated the relationship between perceived job autonomy and turnover intention. Did nature of job have any impact on this relationship. On the call of different authors we take interactive effect of perceived job autonomy and procedural justice on turnover intention. Predictive role of distributive justice to employee outcomes is not deniable. But predictive role of distributive justice will be prone in different contextual influences. Interactive role of distributive justice and perceived job autonomy is also not tested before. We collected date from 279 marketing and sales managers working in financial institution, FMCG industries, Pharamesutical Industry & Bank. Strong and direct negative relation was found in perceived job autonomy, distributive justice & procedural justice on turnover intention. Distributive and procedural justice is also amplifying the negative relationship of perceived job autonomy and turnover intention. Limitation and future direction for research is also discussed.

Keywords: perceived job autonomy, turnover intention, procedural justice, distributive job

Procedia PDF Downloads 511

Authors: Luna Moni Das

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This paper is an attempt to study the channel dynamics in the area bounded by the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in the north, the Brahmaputra in the south and southeast and eastern side and the Subansiri River in the west. There are many streams in this region and only a few are perennial. There are two major anabranches of the Brahmaputra called Kharkutia Xuti and Charikoria. All of these makes it a very dynamic area. The analysis done in this paper is based on the remote sensing data and mapping of the channel planforms in GIS environment. The temporal trend of the change in channel planform has been produced. This study shows that, during the period from 1973 to 2013, the streams/rivers originating in the north have experienced a reduction in the total length. The other most important result is that even though the western edge of Majuli Island is eroding faster there is a formation of a larger island in between Charikoria and Brahmaputra, that comprises of Majuli island and parts of Dhakuakhana subdivision of Lakhimpur District along the south of Charikoria river. The field study shows that the Kharkutia Xuti, that divides Majuli from Dhakuakhana, do not experience any flow from the Brahmaputra for the major portion of the year and Charikoria has developed as a major anabranch of the Brahmaputra.

Keywords: channel dynamics, Brahmaputra river, Majuli Island, sinuosity

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Naveed Ghani, Samreen Javed

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In today’s heterogeneous network environment, there is a growing demand for distrust clients to jointly execute secure network to prevent from malicious attacks as the defining task of propagating malicious code is to locate new targets to attack. Residual risk is always there no matter what solutions are implemented or whet so ever security methodology or standards being adapted. Security is the first and crucial phase in the field of Computer Science. The main aim of the Computer Security is gathering of information with secure network. No one need wonder what all that malware is trying to do: It's trying to steal money through data theft, bank transfers, stolen passwords, or swiped identities. From there, with the help of our survey we learn about the importance of white listing, antimalware programs, security patches, log files, honey pots, and more used in banks for financial data protection but there’s also a need of implementing the IPV6 tunneling with Crypto data transformation according to the requirements of new technology to prevent the organization from new Malware attacks and crafting of its own messages and sending them to the target. In this paper the writer has given the idea of implementing IPV6 Tunneling Secessions on private data transmission from financial organizations whose secrecy needed to be safeguarded.

Keywords: network worms, malware infection propagating malicious code, virus, security, VPN

Procedia PDF Downloads 358