Search results for: illegal organ harvesting

Authors: Levent Basayigit, Sinan Demir, Burhan Kara, Yusuf Ucar

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Cannabis is mostly used for drug production. In some countries, an excessive amount of illegal cannabis is cultivated and sold. Most of the illegal cannabis cultivation occurs on the lands far from settlements. In farmlands, it is cultivated with other crops. In this method, cannabis is surrounded by tall plants like corn and sunflower. It is also cultivated with tall crops as the mixed culture. The common method of the determination of the illegal cultivation areas is to investigate the information obtained from people. This method is not sufficient for the determination of illegal cultivation in remote areas. For this reason, more effective methods are needed for the determination of illegal cultivation. Remote Sensing is one of the most important technologies to monitor the plant growth on the land. The aim of this study is to monitor cannabis cultivation area using satellite imagery. The main purpose of this study was to develop an applicable method for monitoring the cannabis cultivation. For this purpose, cannabis was grown as single or surrounded by the corn and sunflower in plots. The morphological characteristics of cannabis were recorded two times per month during the vegetation period. The spectral signature library was created with the spectroradiometer. The parcels were monitored with high-resolution satellite imagery. With the processing of satellite imagery, the cultivation areas of cannabis were classified. To separate the Cannabis plots from the other plants, the multiresolution segmentation algorithm was found to be the most successful for classification. WorldView Improved Vegetative Index (WV-VI) classification was the most accurate method for monitoring the plant density. As a result, an object-based classification method and vegetation indices were sufficient for monitoring the cannabis cultivation in multi-temporal Earthwiev images.

Keywords: Cannabis, drug, remote sensing, object-based classification

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Authors: Louise Bernier

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Under some jurisdictions (including Canada), eligible patients can request and receive medical assistance in dying (MAiD) through lethal injections, inducing their cardiocirculatory death. Those same patients can also wish to donate their organs in the process. If they qualify as organ donors, a clinical and ethical rule called the 'dead donor rule' (DDR) requires the transplant teams to wait after cardiocirculatory death is confirmed, followed by a 'no touch' period (5 minutes in Canada) before they can proceed with organ removal. The medical procedures (lethal injections) as well as the delays associated with the DDR can damage organs (mostly thoracic organs) due to prolonged anoxia. Yet, strong scientific evidences demonstrate that operating differently and reconsidering the DDR would result in more organs of better quality available for transplant. This idea generates discomfort and resistance, but it is also worth considering, especially in a context of chronic shortage of available organs. One option that could be examined for MAiD’ patients who wish and can be organ donors would be to remove vital organs while patients are still alive (and under sedation). This would imply accepting that patient’s death would occur through organ donation instead of lethal injections required under MAiD’ legal rules. It would also mean that patients requesting MAiD and wishing to be organ donors could aspire to donate better quality organs, including their heart, an altruistic gesture that carries important symbolic value for many donors and their families. Following a patient centered approach, our hypothesis is that preventing vital organ donation from a living donor in all circumstance is neither perfectly coherent with how legal mentalities have evolved lately in the field of fundamental rights nor compatible with the clinical and ethical frameworks that shape the landscape in which those complex medical decisions unfold. Through a study of the legal, ethical, and clinical rules in place, both at the national and international levels, this analysis raises questions on the numerous inconsistencies associated with respecting the DDR with patients who have chosen to die through MAiD. We will begin with an assessment of the erosion of certain national legal frameworks that pertain to the sacred nature of the right to life which now also includes the right to choose how one wishes to die. We will then study recent innovative clinical protocols tested in different countries to help address acute organ shortage problems in creative ways. We will conclude this analysis with an ethical assessment of the situation, referring to principles such as justice, autonomy, altruism, beneficence, and non-malfeasance. This study will build a strong argument in favor of starting to allow vital organ donations from living donors in countries where MAiD is already permitted.

Keywords: altruism, autonomy, dead donor rule, medical assistance in dying, non-malfeasance, organ donation

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Authors: ȘercăIanu Mihai, Aldea Mihaela, Iacoboaea Cristina, Luca Oana, Nenciu Ioana

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The emergence and neutralization of illegal waste dumps represent a global concern for waste management ecosystems with a particularly pronounced impact on disadvantaged communities. All over the world, and in this particular case in Romania, a relevant number of people resided in houses lacking any legal forms such as land ownership documents or building permits. These areas are referred to as “informal settlements”. An increasing number of regions and cities in Romania are struggling to manage their waste dumps, especially in the context of increasing poverty and lack of regulation related to informal settlements. An example of such informal settlement can be found at the terminus of Bistra Street in Câlnic, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Reșița in Caras Severin County. The article presents a case study that focuses on employing remote sensing techniques and spatial data to monitor and map illegal waste practices, with subsequent integration into a geographic information system tailored for the Reșița community. In addition, the paper outlines the steps involved in devising strategies aimed at enhancing waste management practices in disadvantaged areas, aligning with the shift toward a circular economy. Results presented in the paper contain a spatial mapping and visualization methodology calibrated with in situ data collection applicable for identifying illegal landfills. The emergence and neutralization of illegal dumps pose a challenge in the field of waste management. These approaches, which prove effective where conventional solutions have failed, need to be replicated and adopted more wisely.

Keywords: waste dumps, waste management, monitoring, GIS, informal settlements

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Authors: Salesabil Labihi, Adil Eddiai, Mounir El Achaby, Mounir Meddad, Omar Cherkaoui, M’hammed Mazroui

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Piezoelectric materials provide a promising renewable energy source by converting mechanical energy into electrical energy through pressure and vibration. This study focuses on improving the conversion performance of poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) by incorporating graphene oxide (GO) and lead zirconate titanate (PZT). The dispersion of PZT and GO within the PVDF-HFP matrix was found to be homogeneous, resulting in high piezoelectric performance with an increase in the β-phase content. The thermal stability of the PVDF-HFP polymer also improved with the addition of PZT/GO. However, as the percentage of PZT/GO increased, the young's modulus of the composite decreased significantly. The developed composite demonstrated promising performance as a potential candidate for energy harvesting applications.

Keywords: energy harvesting, mechanical conversion, piezoelectric composite, solvent casting method

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Authors: Olakanmi Oladayo Olufemi, Bamifewe Olusegun James, Badmus Yaya Opeyemi, Adegoke Kayode

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The wireless sensor network (WSN) has made a significant contribution to the emergence of various intelligent services or cloud-based applications. Most of the time, these data are stored on a cloud platform for efficient management and sharing among different services or users. However, the sensitivity of the data makes them prone to various confidentiality and performance-related attacks during and after harvesting. Various security schemes have been developed to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the WSNs' data. However, their specificity towards particular attacks and the resource constraint and heterogeneity of WSNs make most of these schemes imperfect. In this paper, we propose a secure variance-aware routing and authentication scheme with two-tier verification to collect, share, and manage WSN data. The scheme is capable of classifying WSN into different subnets, detecting any attempt of wormhole and black hole attack during harvesting, and enforcing access control on the harvested data stored in the cloud. The results of the analysis showed that the proposed scheme has more security functionalities than other related schemes, solves most of the WSNs and cloud security issues, prevents wormhole and black hole attacks, identifies the attackers during data harvesting, and enforces access control on the harvested data stored in the cloud at low computational, storage, and communication overheads.

Keywords: data block, heterogeneous IoT network, data harvesting, wormhole attack, blackhole attack access control

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Authors: Meriam Khelifa

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In recent years, many studies have focused on the harvesting of the vibrations energy to produce electrical energy using contact separation (CS) triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG). The simplest design for a TENG consists of a capacitor comprising a single moving electrode. The conversion efficiency of vibration energy into electrical energy can, in principle, reach 100%. But to actually achieve this objective, it is necessary to optimize the parameters of the TENG, such as the dielectric constant and the thickness of the insulator, the load resistance, etc. In particular, the use of a switch which is actioned at optimal times within the TENG cycle is essential. Using numerical modeling and experimental design, we applied a methodology to find the TENG parameters which optimize the energy transfer efficiency (ETE) to almost 100% for any vibration frequency and amplitude. The rather simple design of a TENG is promising as an environment friendly device. It opens the doors for harvesting acoustic vibrations from the environment and to design effective protection against environmental noise.

Keywords: vibrations, CS TENG, efficiency, design of experiments

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Authors: Gaurav Prabhudesai, Shaurya Kaushal, Pulkit Dubey, B. D. Pant

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The current race of miniaturization of circuits, systems, modules and networks has resulted in portable and mobile wireless systems having tremendous capabilities with small volume and weight. The power drivers or the power pack, electrically driving these modules have also reduced in proportion. Normally, the power packs in these mobile or fixed systems are batteries, rechargeable or non-rechargeable, which need regular replacement or recharging. Another approach to power these modules is to utilize the ambient energy available for electrical driving to make the system self-sustained. The current paper presents an overview of the different MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) based techniques used for the harvesting of vibration energy to electrically drive a WSN (wireless sensor network) or a mobile module. This kind of system would have enormous applications, the most significant one, may be in cell phones.

Keywords: energy harvesting, WSN, MEMS, piezoelectrics

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Authors: Pandurang Balwant, Ashutosh Mishra, Jyothi V., Abhay Soni, Padmakar C., Rafat Quamar, Ramesh J.

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The sea water intrusion in the coastal aquifers has become one of the major environmental concerns. Although, it is a natural phenomenon but, it can be induced with anthropogenic activities like excessive exploitation of groundwater, seacoast mining, etc. The geological and hydrogeological conditions including groundwater heads and groundwater pumping pattern in the coastal areas also influence the magnitude of seawater intrusion. However, this problem can be remediated by taking some preventive measures like rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge. The present study is an attempt to identify suitable sites for rainwater harvesting in salt intrusion affected area near coastal aquifer of Jafrabad town, Amreli district, Gujrat, India. The physico-chemical water quality results show that out of 25 groundwater samples collected from the study area most of samples were found to contain high concentration of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) with major fractions of Na and Cl ions. The Cl/HCO3 ratio was also found greater than 1 which indicates the salt water contamination in the study area. The geophysical survey was conducted at nine sites within the study area to explore the extent of contamination of sea water. From the inverted resistivity sections, low resistivity zone (<3 Ohm m) associated with seawater contamination were demarcated in North block pit and south block pit of NCJW mines, Mitiyala village Lotpur and Lunsapur village at the depth of 33 m, 12 m, 40 m, 37 m, 24 m respectively. Geospatial techniques in combination of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) considering hydrogeological factors, geographical features, drainage pattern, water quality and geophysical results for the study area were exploited to identify potential zones for the Rainwater Harvesting. Rainwater harvesting suitability model was developed in ArcGIS 10.1 software and Rainwater harvesting suitability map for the study area was generated. AHP in combination of the weighted overlay analysis is an appropriate method to identify rainwater harvesting potential zones. The suitability map can be further utilized as a guidance map for the development of rainwater harvesting infrastructures in the study area for either artificial groundwater recharge facilities or for direct use of harvested rainwater.

Keywords: analytical hierarchy process, groundwater quality, rainwater harvesting, seawater intrusion

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Authors: Belgherbi Aicha, Hadjidj Ismahen, Bessaid Abdelhafid

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Interpretation of medical images benefits from anatomical and physiological priors to optimize computer-aided diagnosis applications. Segmentation of liver, spleen and kidneys is regarded as a major primary step in the computer-aided diagnosis of abdominal organ diseases. In this paper, a semi-automated method for medical image data is presented for the abdominal organ segmentation data using mathematical morphology. Our proposed method is based on hierarchical segmentation and watershed algorithm. In our approach, a powerful technique has been designed to suppress over-segmentation based on mosaic image and on the computation of the watershed transform. Our algorithm is currency in two parts. In the first, we seek to improve the quality of the gradient-mosaic image. In this step, we propose a method for improving the gradient-mosaic image by applying the anisotropic diffusion filter followed by the morphological filters. Thereafter, we proceed to the hierarchical segmentation of the liver, spleen and kidney. To validate the segmentation technique proposed, we have tested it on several images. Our segmentation approach is evaluated by comparing our results with the manual segmentation performed by an expert. The experimental results are described in the last part of this work.

Keywords: anisotropic diffusion filter, CT images, morphological filter, mosaic image, simultaneous organ segmentation, the watershed algorithm

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Authors: Tahere Fazilat

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Caspian red deer or maral (Cervus elaphus maral) is the largest type of deer in iran. Maral in the past has lived in the north forests of Iran from the Caspian sea coast, Alborz mountains chain and oak forest of Zagros margin from the Azarbaijan up to fars province. However, the generation of them was completely destroyed in the north west and west of Iran. According to reports about 50 years and out of reach of humans. In the present studies, data were collected from 2004 to 2014 in the Mazandaran state Hyrcanian forest by means of guard of environment and justiciary office of department of environment of Mazandaran in this process the all arrested illegal hunting of red deer and the population census, estimation and the correlation of these data was assayed. We provide a first evaluation of how suitable these methods are by comparing the results with population estimates obtained using cohort analysis, and by analyzing the within-season variation in number of seen deer. The data gave us the future of red deer in northern forest of Iran and the results of policy of department of environment in Iran in red deer conservation.

Keywords: illegal hunting, red deer, census, concervation

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Authors: Ali H. Daraji, Ye Jianqiao

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The micro electrical devices of the wireless sensor network are continuously developed and become very small and compact with low electric power requirements using limited period life conventional batteries. The low power requirement for these devices, cost of conventional batteries and its replacement have encouraged researcher to find alternative power supply represented by energy harvesting system to provide an electric power supply with infinite period life. In the last few years, the investigation of energy harvesting for structure health monitoring has increased to powering wireless sensor network by converting waste mechanical vibration into electricity using piezoelectric sensors. Optimisation of energy harvesting is an important research topic to ensure a flowing of efficient electric power from structural vibration. The harvesting power is mainly based on the properties of piezoelectric material, dimensions of piezoelectric sensor, its position on a structure and value of an external electric load connected between sensor electrodes. Larger surface area of sensor is not granted larger power harvesting when the sensor area is covered positive and negative mechanical strain at the same time. Thus lead to reduction or cancellation of piezoelectric output power. Optimisation of energy harvesting is achieved by locating these sensors precisely and efficiently on the structure. Limited published work has investigated the energy harvesting for aircraft wing. However, most of the published studies have simplified the aircraft wing structure by a cantilever flat plate or beam. In these studies, the optimisation of energy harvesting was investigated by determination optimal value of an external electric load connected between sensor electrode terminals or by an external electric circuit or by randomly splitting piezoelectric sensor to two segments. However, the aircraft wing structures are complex than beam or flat plate and mostly constructed from flat and curved skins stiffened by stringers and ribs with more complex mechanical strain induced on the wing surfaces. This aircraft wing structure bonded with discrete macro fibre composite sensors was modelled using multiphysics finite element to optimise the energy harvesting by determination of the optimal number of sensors, location and the output resistance load. The optimal number and location of macro fibre sensors were determined based on the maximization of the open and close loop sensor output voltage using frequency response analysis. It was found different optimal distribution, locations and number of sensors bounded on the top and the bottom surfaces of the aircraft wing.

Keywords: energy harvesting, optimisation, sensor, wing

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Authors: Oluseun A. Akinsorotan, Louise K. Gentle, Md. Mofakkarul Islam, Richard W. Yarnell

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High levels of anthropogenic activity such as habitat destruction, poaching and encroachment into natural habitat have resulted in significant global wildlife declines. In order to protect wildlife, many protected areas such as national parks have been created. However, it is argued that many protected areas are only protected in name and are often exposed to continued, and often illegal, anthropogenic pressure. In West African protected areas, declines of large mammals have been documented between 1962 and 2008. This study aimed to produce occupancy estimates of the remaining large mammal fauna in the third largest National Park in Nigeria, Old Oyo, and to compare the estimates with historic estimates while also attempting to quantify levels of illegal anthropogenic activity using a multi-disciplinary approach. Large mammal populations and levels of illegal anthropogenic activity were assessed using empirical field data (camera trapping and transect surveys) in combination with data from questionnaires completed by local villagers and park rangers. Four of the historically recorded species in the park, lion (Panthera leo), hunting dog (Lycaon pictus), elephant (Loxodonta africana) and buffalo (Syncerus caffer) were not detected during field studies nor were they reported by respondents. In addition, occupancy estimates of hunters and illegal grazers were higher than the majority of large mammal species inside the park. This finding was reinforced by responses from the villagers and rangers who’s perception was that large mammal densities in the park were declining, and that a large proportion of the local people were entering the park to hunt wild animals and graze their domestic livestock. Our findings also suggest that widespread poverty and a lack of alternative livelihood opportunities, culture of consuming bushmeat, lack of education and awareness of the value of protected areas, and weak law enforcement are some of the reasons for the illegal activity. Law enforcement authorities were often constrained by insufficient on-site personnel and a lack of modern equipment and infrastructure to deter illegal activities. We conclude that there is a need to address the issue of illegal hunting and livestock grazing, via provision of alternative livelihoods, in combination with community outreach programmes that aim to improve conservation education and awareness and develop the capacity of the conservation authorities in order to achieve conservation goals. Our findings have implications for the conservation management of all protected areas that are available for exploitation by local communities.

Keywords: camera trapping, conservation, extirpation, illegal grazing, large mammals, national park, occupancy estimates, poaching

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Authors: Mohd Zaki Hamzah, Roslan Rani, Ahmad Bazli Razali, Satiful Bahri Mamat, Abdul Hadi Ripin, Mohd Harun Esa

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Ever since 1901, forest management and silviculture practices in Malaysia have been frequently reviewed and updated to take into account changes in forest conditions, markets, timber demand/supply and technical advances that can be achieved in industrial processes, logging and forest harvesting, and currently, the forest management system practiced in Peninsular Malaysia is the Selective Management System (SMS) which was introduced in 1978. This system requires the selection of management regime (felling) based on Pre-Felling Forest Inventory (Pre-F) data to ensure economical harvesting and also ensuring adequate standing stands for subsequent rounds of felling, while maintaining ecological balance and environmental quality. SMS regulates forest harvesting through area and volume controls, with the cutting cycle 30 years. Most of the forest management units (FMU) (in Peninsular Malaysia) implementing SMS have been certified by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and/or Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), and one such FMU belongs to Kumpulan Pengurusan Kayu Kayan Terengganu (KPKKT). KPKKT, a timber management subsidiary of Golden Pharos Berhad (GPB), adopts the SMS to manage its 108,900 ha of timber concessionary areas in its role as logs’ supplier for the consumption of three subsidiaries of GPB. KPKKT is also responsible for the sustainable development and management of its concession in accordance with the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) standards to ensure that it addresses the loss of forest cover and forest degradation, forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits, and ecologically protecting forests while mobilising financial resources for the implementation of sustainable forest management planning, harvesting, monitoring and the marketing of products. This paper will detail out the management and harvesting guidelines imposed by the controlling government agency, and harvesting processes taken by KPKKT to comply with guidelines and eventually supplying timber to the relevant subsidiaries (downstream mills under GPB).

Keywords: sustainable forest management, silviculture, reduce impact logging, forest certification

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Authors: Sarita Kumari, Ranjit Kumar Upadhyay

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This paper deals with plankton-fish dynamics where the fish population is growing logistically and nonlinearly harvested. The interaction between phytoplankton and zooplankton population is considered to be Crowley-Martin type functional response. It has been assumed that phytoplankton grows logistically and is affected by a space-dependent growth rate. Conditions for the existence of a positive equilibrium point and their stability analysis (both local and global) have been discussed for the non-spatial system. We have discussed maximum sustainable yields as well as optimal harvesting policy for maximizing the economic gain. The stability and existence of Hopf –bifurcation analysis have been discussed for the spatial system. Different conditions for turning pattern formation have been established through diffusion-driven instability analysis. Numerical simulations have been carried out for both non-spatial and spatial models. Phase plane analysis, the largest Lyapunov exponent, and bifurcation theory are used to numerically analyzed the non-spatial system. Our study shows that spatial heterogeneity, the mortality rate of phytoplankton, and constant harvesting of the fish population each play an important role in the dynamical behavior of the marine system.

Keywords: optimal harvesting, pattern formation, spatial heterogeneity, Crowley-Martin functional response

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Authors: Iwona Kasior

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Purpose: Pelvic organ prolapse is the descent of pelvic organs into the vaginal opening. Currently, few trials have been conducted to determine the influence of pelvic floor muscle training in decreasing stage or symptoms associated with pelvic organ prolapse. The purpose of this case study is to determine whether pelvic floor muscle training can decrease the stage of pelvic organ prolapse and related symptoms. Case Presentation: This is the case of a 55-year-old female; recently diagnosed with midline cystocele, stage three. She has undergone corrective surgery that failed. She has now resorted to managing the condition with a home exercise regimen of voluntary pelvic floor muscle contractions, topical vaginal crème prescribed by her gynecologist, and slight lifestyle modifications. Methods: The patient was treated by a physical therapist for evaluation, vaginal exam, and educated in the ‘knack’ maneuver, lifestyle modifications, and proper technique of performing pelvic floor muscle contractions. The subject continued with a home exercise program with a specific regimen of pelvic floor muscle contractions and topical vaginal crème. Outcome: As determined by her physical therapist and the subject, her pelvic floor muscle strength had increased following the pelvic floor muscle training regimen and the use of the ‘knack’ maneuver. The subject reported a small decrease in the size of bulging prolapse and related symptoms of dryness, odor, vaginal discomfort, and the sensation of descent. Conclusion: Pelvic floor muscle training helped to lessen the degree of the prolapse, but not significantly enough to decrease the diagnosed stage.

Keywords: Kegel exercises, pelvic floor, pelvic organ prolapse, physical therapy

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Authors: P. Chambe, B. Canova, A. Balabanian, M. Pele, N. Coeur

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To avoid battery assisted tags with limited lifetime batteries, it is proposed here to replace them by energy harvesting systems, able to feed from local environment. This would allow total independence to RFID systems, very interesting for applications where tag removal from its location is not possible. Example is here described for luggage safety in airports, and is easily extendable to similar situation in terms of operation constraints. The idea is to fix RFID tag with energy harvesting system not only to identify luggage but also to supply an embedded microcontroller with a sensor delivering luggage weight making it impossible to add or to remove anything from the luggage during transit phases. The aim is to optimize the harvested energy for such RFID applications, and to study in which limits these applications are theoretically possible. Proposed energy harvester is based on two energy sources: piezoelectricity and electromagnetic waves, so that when the luggage is moving on ground transportation to airline counters, the piezo module supplies the tag and its microcontroller, while the RF module operates during luggage transit thanks to readers located along the way. Tag location on the luggage is analyzed to get best vibrations, as well as harvester better choice for optimizing the energy supply depending on applications and the amount of energy harvested during a period of time. Effects of system parameters (RFID UHF frequencies, limit distance between the tag and the antenna necessary to harvest energy, produced voltage and voltage threshold) are discussed and working conditions for such system are delimited.

Keywords: RFID tag, energy harvesting, piezoelectric, EM waves

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Authors: Juang R. Matangaran, Erianto I. Putra, Iis Diatin, Muhammad Mujahid, Qi Adlan

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Industrial plantation forest is the producer of logs in Indonesia. Several companies of industrial plantation forest have been successfully planted with fast-growing species, and it entered their annual harvesting period. Heavy machines such as forwarders are used in timber harvesting to extract logs from stump to landing site. The negative impact of using such machines are loss of topsoil and soil compaction. Compacted soil is considered unfavorable for plant growth. The research objectives were to analyze the soil bulk density, rut, and cone index of the soil caused by a forwarder passes, to analyze the relation between several times of forwarder passes to the increase of soil bulk density. A Valmet forwarder was used in this research. Soil bulk density at soil surface and cone index from the soil surface to the 50 cm depth of soil were measured at the harvested area. The result showed that soil bulk density increase with the increase of the Valmet forwarder passes. Maximum soil bulk density occurred after 5 times forwarder Valmet passed. The cone index tended to increase from the surface until 50 cm depth of soil. Rut formed and high soil bulk density indicated the soil compaction occurred by the forwarder operation.

Keywords: bulk density, forwarder Valmet, plantation forest, soil compaction, timber harvesting

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Authors: Hamida Hamed Said Al Harthi

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Background: Illegal drug use is a rising problem that affects Omani youth. This research aimed to study a group of young Omani men who were imprisoned more than once for illegal drug use, focusing on exploring their lifestyle experiences inside and outside the prison and whether these contributed to their early relapse and re-imprisonment. This is the first study of its kind from Oman conducted in a prison setting. Methods: 19 Omani males aged 18–35 years imprisoned in Oman Central Prison were recruited using purposive sampling. Focused ethnography was conducted over 8 months to explore the drug-related experiences outside the prison and during imprisonment. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with the participants yielded detailed transcripts and field notes. These were thematically analyzed, and the results were compared with the existing literature. Results: The participants’ voices yielded new insights into the lives of young Omani men imprisoned for illegal drug use, including their sufferings and challenges in prison. These included: entry shock, timing and boredom, drug trafficking in prison, as well as physical and psychological health issues. Overall, imprisonment was reported to have negatively impacted the participants’ health, personality, self-concept, emotions, attitudes, behavior and life expectations. The participants reported how their efforts to reintegrate into the Omani community after release from prison were rebuffed due to stigmatization and rejection from society and family. They also experienced frequent unemployment, police surveillance, accommodation problems and a lack of rehabilitation facilities. The immensity of the accumulated psychophysiological trauma contributed to their early relapse and re-imprisonment. Conclusion: This thesis concludes that imprisonment is largely ineffective in controlling drug use in Oman. Urgent action is required across multiple sectors to improve the lives and prospects of users of illegal drugs within and outside the prison to minimize factors contributing to early relapse. Key Words: illegal drugs, drug users, Oman, addiction, Omani culture, prisoners, relapse, re-imprisonment, qualitative research, ethnography.

Keywords: illigal drugs, Prison, Omani culture lifestyle, post prison life

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Authors: Ishna Indika Jusi, Rifana Meika

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Terrorism financing method in Indonesia is developing at an alarming rate, to the point, it is now becoming more complex than before. Terrorists traditionally use conventional methods like robberies, charities, and courier services to fund their activities; today terrorists are able to utilize modern methods in financing their activities due to the rapid development in financial technology nowadays; one example is by hacking an illegal Fintech Company. Therefore, this research is conducted in order to explain and analyze the consideration behind the usage of an illegal fintech company to finance terrorism activities and how to prevent it. The analysis in this research is done by using the theory that is coined by Michael Freeman about the reasoning of terrorists when choosing their financing method. The method used in this research is a case study, and the case that is used for this research is the terrorism financing hacking of speedline.com in 2011 by Rizki Gunawan. Research data are acquired from interviews with the perpetrators, experts from INTRAC (PPATK), Special Detachment 88, reports, and journals that are relevant to the research. As a result, this study found that the priority aspects in terms of terrorist financing are security, quantity, and simplicity while obtaining funds.

Keywords: Fintech, illegal, Indonesia, technology, terrorism financing

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Authors: M. Abu Hanif, Anika Tabassum, Fuad Hasan Ovi, Ishrat Islam

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Water is essential for life. Enormous quantities of water are cycled each year through hydrologic cycle but only a fraction of circulated water is available each year for human use. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is the 19th mega city in the world with a population of over 14 million (World City Information, 2011). As a result the growth of urban population is increasing rapidly; the city is not able to manage with altering situations due to resource limitations and management capacity. Water crisis has become an acute problem faced by the inhabitants of Dhaka city. It is found that total water demand in Dhaka city is 2,240 million liter per day (MLD) whereas supply is 2,150 (MLD). According to Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority about 87 percent of this supply comes from groundwater resources and rest 13 percent from surface water. According to Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority it has been found that the current groundwater depletion rate is 3.52 meter per year. Such a fast depletion of the water table will result in intrusion of southern saline water into the groundwater reservoir, depriving this mega city of pure drinking water. This study mainly focus on the potential of Rainwater Harvesting System(RWHS) in Kazipara area of Dhaka city, determine the perception level of local people in installation of rainwater harvesting system in their building and identify the factors regarding willingness of owner in installing rainwater harvesting system. As most of the residential area of Dhaka city is unplanned with small plots, Kazipara area has been chosen as study area which depicts similar characteristics. In this study only roof top area is considered as catchment area and potential of rainwater harvesting has been calculated. From the calculation it is found that harvested rainwater can serve the 66% of demand of water for toilet flushing and cleaning purposes for the people of Kazipara. It is also observed that if only rooftop rainwater harvesting applied to all the structures of the study area then two third of surface runoff would be reduced than present surface runoff. In determining the perception of local people only owners of the buildings were. surveyed. From the questionnaire survey it is found that around 75% people have no idea about the rainwater harvesting system. About 83% people are not willing to install rainwater harvesting system in their dwelling. The reasons behind the unwillingness are high cost of installation, inadequate space, ignorance about the system, etc. Among 16% of the willing respondents who are interested in installing RWHS system, it was found that higher income, bigger size of buildings are important factors in willingness of installing rainwater harvesting system. Majority of the respondents demanded for both technical and economical support to install the system in their buildings. Government of Bangladesh has taken some initiatives to promote rainwater harvesting in urban areas. It is very much necessary to incorporate rainwater harvesting device and artificial recharge system in every building of Dhaka city to make Dhaka city self sufficient in water supply management and to solve water crisis problem of megacity like as Dhaka city.

Keywords: rainwater harvesting, water table, willingness, storm water

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Authors: Jeet Shende, Leonid Shpanin, Misko Abramiuk, Mattew Goodwin, Nicholas Pickett

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Energy harvesting on board the Unmanned Ariel Vehicle (UAV) is one of the most rapidly growing emerging technologies and consists of the collection of small amounts of energy, for different applications, from unconventional sources that are incidental to the operation of the parent system or device. Different energy harvesting techniques have already been investigated in the multirotor drones, where the energy collected comes from the systems surrounding ambient environment and typically involves the conversion of solar, kinetic, or thermal energies into electrical energy. The energy harvesting from the vibrated propeller using the piezoelectric components inside the propeller has also been proven to be feasible. However, the impact on the UAV flight performance using this technology has not been investigated. In this contribution the impact on the multirotor drone operation has been investigated at different flight control configurations which support the efficient performance of the propeller vibration energy harvesting. The industrially made MANTIS X8-PRO octocopter frame kit was used to explore the octocopter operation which was modelled using SolidWorks 3D CAD package for simulation studies. The octocopter flight control strategy is developed through integration of the SolidWorks 3D CAD software and MATLAB/Simulink simulation environment for evaluation of the octocopter behaviour under different simulated flight modes and octocopter geometries. Analysis of the two modelled octocopter geometries and their flight performance is presented via graphical representation of simulated parameters. The possibility of not using the landing gear in octocopter geometry is demonstrated. The conducted study evaluates the octocopter’s flight control technique and its impact on the energy harvesting mechanism developed on board the octocopter. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation results of the modelled octocopter in operation are presented exploring the performance of the octocopter flight control and structural configurations. Applications of both octocopter structures and their flight control strategy are discussed.

Keywords: energy harvesting, flight control modelling, object modeling, unmanned aerial vehicle

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Authors: H. H. Elewa, E. M. Ramadan, A. M. Nosair

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Rainfall water harvesting is considered as an important tool for overcoming water scarcity in arid and semi-arid region. Wadi Watir in the southeastern part of Sinai Peninsula is considered as one of the main and active basins in the Gulf of Aqaba drainage system. It is characterized by steep hills mainly consist of impermeable rocks, whereas the streambeds are covered by a highly permeable mixture of gravel and sand. A comprehensive approach involving the integration of geographic information systems, remote sensing and watershed modeling was followed to identify the RWH capability in this area. Eight thematic layers, viz volume of annual flood, overland flow distance, maximum flow distance, rock or soil infiltration, drainage frequency density, basin area, basin slope and basin length were used as a multi-parametric decision support system for conducting weighted spatial probability models (WSPMs) to determine the potential areas for the RWH. The WSPMs maps classified the area into five RWH potentiality classes ranging from the very low to very high. Three performed WSPMs' scenarios for W. Watir reflected identical results among their maps for the high and very high RWH potentiality classes, which are the most suitable ones for conducting surface water harvesting techniques. There is also a reasonable match with respect to the potentiality of runoff harvesting areas with a probability of moderate, low and very low among the three scenarios. WSPM results have shown that the high and very high classes, which are the most suitable for the RWH are representing approximately 40.23% of the total area of the basin. Accordingly, several locations were decided for the establishment of water harvesting dams and cisterns to improve the water conditions and living environment in the study area.

Keywords: Sinai, Wadi Watir, remote sensing, geographic information systems, watershed modeling, runoff water harvesting

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Authors: Tigist Girma Kedane

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The purpose of the current research work is to measure the physical properties of bamboo species in Ethiopia on the impact of age, harvesting seasons and culm height. Three representatives of bamboo plants are harvested in three groups of ages, 2 harvesting months, and 3 regions of Ethiopia. Research has not been done on the physical properties of bamboo species in Ethiopia so far. Moisture content and shrinkage of bamboo culm increase when the culm ages younger and moves from top to bottom position. The harvesting month of November has a higher moisture content and shrinkage compared to February. One year old of Injibara, Kombolcha, and Mekaneselam bamboo culm has 40%, 30%, and 33% higher moisture content, 29%, 24%, and 28% higher radial shrinkage, 32%, 37%, and 32% higher tangential shrinkage compared to 3 years old respectively. The bottom position of Injibara, Kombolcha, and Mekaneselam in November have 45%, 28%, and 25% higher moisture content, 41%, 29%, and 34% radial shrinkage, 29%, 28%, and 42% tangential shrinkage than the top position, respectively. The basic density increases as the age of the bamboo becomes older and moves from the bottom to the top position. November has the lowest basic density compared to February. 3 years old of Injibara, Kombolcha, and Mekaneselam at the age of 3 years have 32%, 50%, and 24% higher basic density compared to 1 year, whereas the top position has 35%, 26%, and 22% higher than the bottom position in February, respectively. The current research proposed that 3 years and February are suited for structural purposes and furniture making, but 1 year and November are suited for fiber extraction in the composite industry. The existence of water in the culm improves an easy extraction of the fibers without damage from the culm.

Keywords: bamboo age, bamboo height, harvesting seasons, physical properties

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Authors: Okhee Woo

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Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate 2-year cumulative effective radiation dose and cumulative organ dose on regular follow-up computed tomography (CT) scans in patients with breast cancer and to establish personalized low-dose CT protocol. Methods and Materials: A retrospective study was performed on the patients with breast cancer who were diagnosed and managed consistently on the basis of routine breast cancer follow-up protocol between 2012-01 and 2016-06. Based on ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) 103, the cumulative effective radiation doses of each patient for 2-year follow-up were analyzed using the commercial radiation management software (Radimetrics, Bayer healthcare). The personalized effective doses on each organ were analyzed in detail by the software-providing Monte Carlo simulation. Results: A total of 3822 CT scans on 490 patients was evaluated (age: 52.32±10.69). The mean scan number for each patient was 7.8±4.54. Each patient was exposed 95.54±63.24 mSv of radiation for 2 years. The cumulative CT radiation dose was significantly higher in patients with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.00). The HER-2 positive patients were more exposed to radiation compared to estrogen or progesterone receptor positive patient (p = 0.00). There was no difference in the cumulative effective radiation dose with different age groups. Conclusion: To acknowledge how much radiation exposed to a patient is a starting point of management of radiation exposure for patients with long-term CT follow-up. The precise and personalized protocol, as well as iterative reconstruction, may reduce hazard from unnecessary radiation exposure.

Keywords: computed tomography, breast cancer, effective radiation dose, cumulative organ dose

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Authors: Rawan Ashraf, Ahmed E. Gomaa, Gehan Safwat, Ayman Diab

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Background: Three-dimensional (3D) bio-printing has become a versatile and powerful method for generating a variety of biological constructs, including bone or extracellular matrix scaffolds endo- or epithelial, muscle tissue, as well as organoids. Aim of the study: Fabricate a low cost DIY 3D bio-printer to produce 3D bio-printed products such as anti-microbial packaging or multi-organs on chips. We demonstrate the alignment between two types of 3D printer technology (3D Bio-printer and DLP) on Multi-organ-on-a-chip (multi-OoC) devices fabrication. Methods: First, Design and Fabrication of the Syringe Unit for Modification of an Off-the-Shelf 3D Printer, then Preparation of Hydrogel based on natural polymers Sodium Alginate and Gelatin, followed by acquisition of the cell suspension, then modeling the desired 3D structure. Preparation for 3D printing, then Cell-free and cell-laden hydrogels went through the printing process at room temperature under sterile conditions and finally post printing curing process and studying the printed structure regards physical and chemical characteristics. The hard scaffold of the Organ on chip devices was designed and fabricated using the DLP-3D printer, following similar approaches as the Microfluidics system fabrication. Results: The fabricated Bio-Ink was based onHydrogel polymer mix of sodium alginate and gelatin 15% to 0.5%, respectively. Later the 3D printing process was conducted using a higher percentage of alginate-based hydrogels because of it viscosity and the controllable crosslinking, unlike the thermal crosslinking of Gelatin. The hydrogels were colored to simulate the representation of two types of cells. The adaption of the hard scaffold, whether for the Microfluidics system or the hard-tissues, has been acquired by the DLP 3D printers with fabricated natural bioactive essential oils that contain antimicrobial activity, followed by printing in Situ three complex layers of soft-hydrogel as a cell-free Bio-Ink to simulate the real-life tissue engineering process. The final product was a proof of concept for a rapid 3D cell culturing approaches that uses an engineered hard scaffold along with soft-tissues, thus, several applications were offered as products of the current prototype, including the Organ-On-Chip as a successful integration between DLP and 3D bioprinter. Conclusion: Multiple designs for the organ-on-a-chip (multi-OoC) devices have been acquired in our study with main focus on the low cost fabrication of such technology and the potential to revolutionize human health research and development. We describe circumstances in which multi-organ models are useful after briefly examining the requirement for full multi-organ models with a systemic component. Following that, we took a look at the current multi-OoC platforms, such as integrated body-on-a-chip devices and modular techniques that use linked organ-specific modules.

Keywords: 3d bio-printer, hydrogel, multi-organ on chip, bio-inks

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Authors: Isabel Roiz, Alejandra Cossio

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This essay will talk about the problems of forced prostitution, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation in the Netherlands. This work conveys information from different sources stating the numbers and statistics of human trafficking throughout Europe and the different types of sexual exploitation as well as the means used for coercing victims into this illegal net. The research aims to inform and compare the way this business is handled and the ways used by criminals to lure and retain victims in spite of the law. It also tries to compare the laws in the Netherlands and Sweden regarding prostitution affects the illegal migration problems and how they change the ways those who work as prostitutes are treated. The aim of the paper is to take all of these aspects into consideration and reach a decision of what laws would most beneficiate the victims.

Keywords: human trafficking, prostitution, laws of migration, Amsterdam

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Authors: Natàlia Garcia Soler, Timothy Moss

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Despite the multiple benefits of sustainable urban drainage, as demonstrated in numerous case studies across the world, urban rainwater harvesting techniques are generally restricted to isolated model projects. The leap from niche to mainstream has, in most cities, proved an elusive goal. Why policies promoting rainwater harvesting are limited in their widespread implementation has seldom been subjected to systematic analysis. Much of the literature on the policy, planning and institutional contexts of these techniques focus either on their potential benefits or on project design, but very rarely on a critical-constructive analysis of past experiences of implementation. Moreover, the vast majority of these contributions are restricted to single-case studies. There is a dearth of knowledge with respect to, firstly, policy implementation processes and, secondly, multi-case analysis. Insights from both, the authors argue, are essential to inform more effective rainwater harvesting in cities in the future. This paper presents preliminary findings from a research project on rainwater harvesting in cities from a social science perspective that is funded by the Swedish Research Foundation (Formas). This project – UrbanRain – is examining the challenges and opportunities of mainstreaming rainwater harvesting in three European cities. The paper addresses two research questions: firstly, what lessons can be learned on suitable policy incentives and planning instruments for rainwater harvesting from a meta-analysis of the relevant international literature and, secondly, how far these lessons are reflected in a study of past and ongoing rainwater harvesting projects in a European forerunner city. This two-tier approach frames the structure of the paper. We present, first, the results of the literature analysis on policy and planning issues of urban rainwater harvesting. Here, we analyze quantitatively and qualitatively the literature of the past 15 years on this topic in terms of thematic focus, issues addressed and key findings and draw conclusions on research gaps, highlighting the need for more studies on implementation factors, actor interests, institutional adaptation and multi-level governance. In a second step we focus in on the experiences of rainwater harvesting in Berlin and present the results of a mapping exercise on a wide variety of projects implemented there over the last 30 years. Here, we develop a typology to characterize the rainwater harvesting projects in terms of policy issues (what problems and goals are targeted), project design (which kind of solutions are envisaged), project implementation (how and when they were implemented), location (whether they are in new or existing urban developments) and actors (which stakeholders are involved and how), paying particular attention to the shifting institutional framework in Berlin. Mapping and categorizing these projects is based on a combination of document analysis and expert interviews. The paper concludes by synthesizing the findings, identifying how far the goals, governance structures and instruments applied in the Berlin projects studied reflect the findings emerging from the meta-analysis of the international literature on policy and planning issues of rainwater harvesting and what implications these findings have for mainstreaming such techniques in future practice.

Keywords: institutional framework, planning, policy, project implementation, urban rainwater management

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Authors: Adedayo Adeleke, Dineo Pule

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The ongoing load-shedding in most parts of South Africa, combined with climate change causing severe drought conditions in Cape Town, has left electricity consumers seeking alternative sources of power and water. Solar energy, which is abundant in most parts of South Africa and is regarded as a clean and renewable source of energy, allows for the generation of electricity via solar photovoltaic systems. Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of rainwater from building rooftops, allowing people without access to water to collect it. The lack of dependable energy and water source must be addressed by shifting to solar energy via solar photovoltaic systems and rainwater harvesting. Before this can be done, the potential of building rooftops must be assessed to determine whether solar energy and rainwater harvesting will be able to meet or significantly contribute to Atlantis industrial areas' electricity and water demands. This research project presents methods and approaches for automatically extracting building rooftops in Atlantis industrial areas and evaluating their potential for solar photovoltaics and rainwater harvesting systems using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and aerial imagery. The four objectives were to: (1) identify an optimal method of extracting building rooftops from aerial imagery and LiDAR data; (2) identify a suitable solar radiation model that can provide a global solar radiation estimate of the study area; (3) estimate solar photovoltaic potential overbuilding rooftop; and (4) estimate the amount of rainwater that can be harvested from the building rooftop in the study area. Mapflow, a plugin found in Quantum Geographic Information System(GIS) was used to automatically extract building rooftops using aerial imagery. The mean annual rainfall in Cape Town was obtained from a 29-year rainfall period (1991- 2020) and used to calculate the amount of rainwater that can be harvested from building rooftops. The potential for rainwater harvesting and solar photovoltaic systems was assessed, and it can be concluded that there is potential for these systems but only to supplement the existing resource supply and offer relief in times of drought and load-shedding.

Keywords: roof potential, rainwater harvesting, urban plan, roof extraction

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Authors: Morteza Ghorbani, Reza Ghorbani

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Cavitation phenomenon has attracted much attention in the mechanical and biomedical technologies. Despite the simplicity and mostly low cost of the devices generating cavitation bubbles, the physics behind the generation and collapse of these bubbles particularly in micro/nano scale has still not well understood. In the chemical industry, micro/nano bubble generation is expected to be applicable to the development of porous materials such as microcellular plastic foams. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the presence of micro/nano bubbles on a surface reduced the adsorption of proteins. Thus, the micro/nano bubbles could act as antifouling agents. Micro and nano bubbles were also employed in water purification, froth floatation, even in sonofusion, which was not completely validated. Small bubbles could also be generated using micro scale hydrodynamic cavitation. In this study, compared to the studies available in the literature, we are proposing a novel approach in micro scale utilizing the energy produced during the interaction of the spray affected by the hydrodynamic cavitating flow and a thin aluminum plate. With a decrease in the size, cavitation effects become significant. It is clearly shown that with the aid of hydrodynamic cavitation generated inside the micro/mini-channels in addition to the optimization of the distance between the tip of the microchannel configuration and the solid surface, surface temperatures can be increased up to 50C under the conditions of this study. The temperature rise on the surfaces near the collapsing small bubbles was exploited for energy harvesting in small scale, in such a way that miniature, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly energy-harvesting devices can be developed. Such devices will not require any external power and moving parts in contrast to common energy-harvesting devices, such as those involving piezoelectric materials and micro engine. Energy harvesting from thermal energy has been widely exploited to achieve energy savings and clean technologies. We are proposing a cost effective and environmentally friendly solution for the growing individual energy needs thanks to the energy application of cavitating flows. The necessary power for consumer devices, such as cell phones and laptops, can be provided using this approach. Thus, this approach has the potential for solving personal energy needs in an inexpensive and environmentally friendly manner and can trigger a shift of paradigm in energy harvesting.

Keywords: cavitation, energy, harvesting, micro scale

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Authors: Amri Yusoff, Shahrizuan Shafiril, Ashardi Abas, Norma Che Yusoff

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Nowadays, illegal logging has been causing much effect to our forest. Some of it causes a flash flood, avalanche, global warming, and etc. This comprehensibly makes us wonder why, what, and who has made it happened. Often, it already has been too late after we have known the cause of it. Even the Malaysian Royal Belum forest has not been spared from land clearing or illegal activity by the natives although this area has been gazetted as a protected area preserved for future generations. Furthermore, because of its sizeable and wide area, these illegal activities are difficult to monitor and to maintain. A critical action must be called upon to prevent all of these unhealthy activities from recurrence. Therefore, a remote monitoring device must be developed in order to capture critical real-time data such as temperature, humidity, gaseous, fire, and rain detection which indicates the current and preserved natural state and habitat in the forest. Besides, this device location can be detected via GPS by showing the latitudes and longitudes of its current location and then to be transmitted by SMS via GSM system. All of its readings will be sent in real-time for data management and analysis. This result will be benefited to the monitoring bodies or relevant authority in keeping the forest in the natural habitat. Furthermore, this research is to gather a unified data and then will be analysed for its comparison with an existing method.

Keywords: remote monitoring system, forest data, GSM, GPS, wireless sensor

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