Search results for: international environmental law

Authors: Sheila Shahidi

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UV protection by fabrics has recently become a focus of great interest, particularly in connection with environmental degradation or ozone layer depletion. Fabrics provide simple and convenient protection against UV radiation (UVR), but not all fabrics offer sufficient UV protection. To describe the degree of UVR protection offered by clothing materials, the ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) is commonly used. UV-protective fabric can be generated by application of a chemical finish using normal wet-processing methodologies. However, traditional wet-processing techniques are known to consume large quantities of water and energy and may lead to adverse alterations of the bulk properties of the substrate. Recently, usage of plasmas to generate physicochemical surface modifications of textile substrates has become an intriguing approach to replace or enhance conventional wet-processing techniques. In this research work the effect of plasma treatment on UV protection properties of fabrics was investigated. DC magnetron sputtering was used and the parameters of plasma such as gas type, electrodes, time of exposure, power and, etc. were studied. The morphological and chemical properties of samples were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Furrier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. The transmittance and UPF values of the original and plasma-treated samples were measured using a Shimadzu UV3101 PC (UV–Vis–NIR scanning spectrophotometer, 190–2, 100 nm range). It was concluded that, plasma which is an echo-friendly, cost effective and dry technique is being used in different branches of the industries, and will conquer textile industry in the near future. Also it is promising method for preparation of UV protection textile.

Keywords: fabric, plasma, textile, UV protection

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Authors: Sarra Boughaba

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α-aminophosphonates have found a wide range of applications in organic and medicinal chemistry; they are considered as pharmacological agents, anti-inflammatory antitumor agents, and antibiotics. A number of procedures have been developed for their synthesis. However, many of these methods suffer from some disadvantages such as long reaction times, environmental pollution, utilization of organic solvents, and expensive catalysts. In the past few years, heteropolyacids have received great attention as environmentally benign catalysts for organic synthetic processes, they possess unique physicochemical properties, such as super-acidity, high thermal and chemical stability, ability to accept and release electrons and high proton mobility, and the possibility of varying their acidity and oxidizing potential. In this context, an efficient and eco-friendly protocol has been described for the synthesis of α-aminophosphonates via one pot, three component reaction catalyzed by H₆P₂W₁₈O₆₂.14H₂O as reusable catalyst, by condensation of amino acids esters, various aromatic aldehydes and triethylphosphite under solvent-free conditions, the corresponding α-aminophosphonates were formed in good yields as racemic or diastereomericmixture. All the new products were systematically characterized by IR, MS, and ¹H, ¹³C-³¹P-NMR analyses. This method offers advantages such as simplicity workup with the green aspects by avoiding expensive catalysts and toxic solvents, good yields, short reaction times.

Keywords: amino acids esters, α-aminophosphonates, H₆P₂W₁₈O₆₂.14H₂O catalyst, green chemistry

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Authors: Fatma Faheem, K. Abduraheem

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Museums are custodians of natural and cultural heritage. Objects like tribal dresses, headgears, weapons, musical instruments, manuscripts and other ethnocultural materials housed in museums are prized possessions of intellectual and cultural property of people. Tropical countries like India have a favorable climatic condition for biodeterioration. Organic materials such as leather and parchment objects which form a substantial part of natural history collections of museums across the world are promptly infested by insects like dermestid beetles, tenebrionides, silver fishes, cockroaches and other micro-organisms. The environmental problems caused due to the overuse of pesticides and other non-degradable chemicals have been the matter of serious concern for both the scientists and public in recent years. Synthetic pesticides are very expensive and also highly toxic for humans and its environment. Due to its high health risk factor government has taken severe initiatives on policy of banning it. In order to overcome the problems of biodeterioration, natural biocides should be applied. In this paper, comparative study has been done to investigate the toxic efficacy of Myristica fragrans and Syzygium aromaticum oil in variation with contact and stomach toxicity against larvae of Anthrenus verbasci.

Keywords: biodeterioration, contact toxicity, cultural heritage, natural biocides, natural heritage, stomach toxicity

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Authors: Sofia M. Karadimitriou, Kostas Triantafyllopoulos, Timothy Heaton

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Reduced dimension Dynamic Spatio-Temporal Models (DSTMs) jointly describe the spatial and temporal evolution of a function observed subject to noise. A basic state space model is adopted for the discrete temporal variation, while a continuous autoregressive structure describes the continuous spatial evolution. Application of such a DSTM relies upon the pre-selection of a suitable reduced set of basic functions and this can present a challenge in practice. In this talk, we propose an online estimation method for high dimensional spatio-temporal data based upon DSTM and we attempt to resolve this issue by allowing the basis to adapt to the observed data. Specifically, we present a wavelet decomposition in order to obtain a parsimonious approximation of the spatial continuous process. This parsimony can be achieved by placing a Laplace prior distribution on the wavelet coefficients. The aim of using the Laplace prior, is to filter wavelet coefficients with low contribution, and thus achieve the dimension reduction with significant computation savings. We then propose a Hierarchical Bayesian State Space model, for the estimation of which we offer an appropriate particle filter algorithm. The proposed methodology is illustrated using real environmental data.

Keywords: multidimensional Laplace prior, particle filtering, spatio-temporal modelling, wavelets

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Authors: Hanen Filali, Mohamed Hachicha

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Treated grey water (TGW) reuse emerged as an alternative resource to meet the growing demand for water for agricultural irrigation and reduce the pressure on limited existing fresh water. However, this reuse needs adapted management in order to avoid environmental and health risks. In this work, the treatment of grey water (GW) was studied from a cyclic treatment system that we designed and implemented in the greenhouse of National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water and Forests (INRGREF). This system is composed of three levels for treatment (TGW 1, TGW 2, and TGW 3). Each level includes a sandy soil box. The use of grey water was moderated depending on the chemical and microbiological quality obtained. Different samples of soils and treated grey water were performed and analyzed for 14 irrigation cycles. TGW through cyclic treatment showed physicochemical parameters like pH, electrical conductivity (EC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD5) in the range of 7,35-7,91, 1,69-5,03 dS/m, 102,6-54,2 mgO2/l, and 31,33-15,74 mgO2/l, respectively. Results showed a reduction in the pollutant load with a significant effect on the three treatment levels; however, an increase in salinity was observed during all irrigation cycles. Microbiological results showed good grey water treatment with low health risk on irrigated soil. Treated water quality was below permissible Tunisian standards (NT106.03), and treated water is suitable for non-potable options.

Keywords: treated grey water, irrigation, cyclic treatment, soils, physico-chemical parameters, microbiological parameters

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Authors: Emmanuel Iyamuremye

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Extreme rainfall events have caused significant damage to agriculture, ecology, and infrastructure, disruption of human activities, injury, and loss of life. They also have significant social, economic, and environmental consequences because they considerably damage urban as well as rural areas. Early detection of extreme maximum rainfall helps to implement strategies and measures, before they occur, hence mitigating the consequences. Extreme value theory has been used widely in modeling extreme rainfall and in various disciplines, such as financial markets, the insurance industry, failure cases. Climatic extremes have been analyzed by using either generalized extreme value (GEV) or generalized Pareto (GP) distributions, which provides evidence of the importance of modeling extreme rainfall from different regions of the world. In this paper, we focused on Peak Over Thresholds approach, where the Poisson-generalized Pareto distribution is considered as the proper distribution for the study of the exceedances. This research also considers the use of the generalized Pareto (GP) distribution with a Poisson model for arrivals to describe peaks over a threshold. The research used statistical techniques to fit models that used to predict extreme rainfall in Kigali. The results indicate that the proposed Poisson-GP distribution provides a better fit to maximum monthly rainfall data. Further, the Poisson-GP models are able to estimate various return levels. The research also found a slow increase in return levels for maximum monthly rainfall for higher return periods, and further, the intervals are increasingly wider as the return period is increasing.

Keywords: exceedances, extreme value theory, generalized Pareto distribution, Poisson generalized Pareto distribution

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Authors: Bingchun Liu, Pei-Chann Chang, Natasha Huang, Dun Li

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Machine Learning and Data Mining are the two important tools for extracting useful information and knowledge from large datasets. In machine learning, classification is a wildly used technique to predict qualitative variables and is generally preferred over regression from an operational point of view. Due to the enormous increase in air pollution in various countries especially China, Air Quality Classification has become one of the most important topics in air quality research and modelling. This study aims at introducing a hybrid classification model based on information theory and Support Vector Machine (SVM) using the air quality data of four cities in China namely Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Tianjin from Jan 1, 2014 to April 30, 2016. China's Ministry of Environmental Protection has classified the daily air quality into 6 levels namely Serious Pollution, Severe Pollution, Moderate Pollution, Light Pollution, Good and Excellent based on their respective Air Quality Index (AQI) values. Using the information theory, information gain (IG) is calculated and feature selection is done for both categorical features and continuous numeric features. Then SVM Machine Learning algorithm is implemented on the selected features with cross-validation. The final evaluation reveals that the IG and SVM hybrid model performs better than SVM (alone), Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN) models in terms of accuracy as well as complexity.

Keywords: machine learning, air quality classification, air quality index, information gain, support vector machine, cross-validation

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Authors: Michael Josef Schwerer

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Background: Analyzing any aircraft accident is mandatory based on the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the respective country’s criminal prosecution authorities. Legal medicine investigations are unavoidable when fatalities involve the flight crew or when doubts arise concerning the pilot’s aeromedical health status before the event. As a result of frequently tremendous blunt and sharp force trauma along with the impact of the aircraft to the ground, consecutive blast or fire exposition of the occupants or putrefaction of the dead bodies in cases of delayed recovery, relevant findings can be masked or destroyed and therefor being inaccessible in standard pathology practice comprising just forensic autopsy and histopathology. Such cases are of considerable risk of remaining unsolved without legal consequences for those responsible. Further, no lessons can be drawn from these scenarios to improve flight safety and prevent future mishaps. Aims and Methods: To learn from previously unsolved aircraft accidents, re-evaluations of the investigation files and modern molecular pathology studies were performed. Genetic testing involved predominantly PCR-based analysis of gene regulation, studying DNA promotor methylations, RNA transcription and posttranscriptional regulation. In addition, the presence or absence of infective agents, particularly DNA- and RNA-viruses, was studied. Technical adjustments of molecular genetic procedures when working with archived sample material were necessary. Standards for the proper interpretation of the respective findings had to be settled. Results and Discussion: Additional molecular genetic testing significantly contributes to the quality of forensic pathology assessment in aviation mishaps. Previously undetected cardiotropic viruses potentially explain e.g., a pilot’s sudden incapacitation resulting from cardiac failure or myocardial arrhythmia. In contrast, negative results for infective agents participate in ruling out concerns about an accident pilot’s fitness to fly and the aeromedical examiner’s precedent decision to issue him or her an aeromedical certificate. Care must be taken in the interpretation of genetic testing for pre-existing diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or ischemic heart disease. Molecular markers such as mRNAs or miRNAs, which can establish these diagnoses in clinical patients, might be misleading in-flight crew members because of adaptive changes in their tissues resulting from repeated mild hypoxia during flight, for instance. Military pilots especially demonstrate significant physiological adjustments to their somatic burdens in flight, such as cardiocirculatory stress and air combat maneuvers. Their non-pathogenic alterations in gene regulation and expression will likely be misinterpreted for genuine disease by inexperienced investigators. Conclusions: The growing influence of molecular pathology on legal medicine practice has found its way into aircraft accident investigation. As appropriate quality standards for laboratory work and data interpretation are provided, forensic genetic testing supports the medico-legal analysis of aviation mishaps and potentially reduces the number of unsolved events in the future.

Keywords: aviation medicine, aircraft accident investigation, forensic pathology, molecular pathology

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Authors: Sanjeet Kumar Singh, Shantanu Bhatacharya

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Design of high-efficiency low, frequency (<1000Hz) soundproof window or wall absorber which is transparent to airflow is presented. Due to the massive rise in human population and modernization, environmental noise has significantly risen globally. Prolonged noise exposure can cause severe physiological and psychological symptoms like nausea, headaches, fatigue, and insomnia. There has been continuous growth in building construction and infrastructure like offices, bus stops, and airports due to the urban population. Generally, a ventilated window is used for getting fresh air into the room, but at the same time, unwanted noise comes along. Researchers used traditional approaches like noise barrier mats in front of the window or designed the entire window using sound-absorbing materials. However, this solution is not aesthetically pleasing, and at the same time, it's heavy and not adequate for low-frequency noise shielding. To address this challenge, we design a transparent hexagonal panel based on the Sierpiński fractal triangle, which is aesthetically pleasing and demonstrates a normal incident sound absorption coefficient of more than 0.96 around 700 Hz and transmission loss of around 23 dB while maintaining e air circulation through the triangular cutout. Next, we present a concept of fabrication of large acoustic panels for large-scale applications, which leads to suppressing urban noise pollution.

Keywords: acoustic metamaterials, ventilation, urban noise pollution, noise control

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Authors: Chelsea-Anne Edwards, Paul Parker

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Flight school members are facing a major disruption in the technologies available for them to fly as electric planes enter the aviation industry. The year 2020 marked a new era in aviation with the first type certification of an electric plane. The Pipistrel Velis Electro is a two-seat electric aircraft (e-plane) designed for flight training. Electric flight training has the potential to deeply reduce emissions, noise, and cost of pilot training. Though these are all attractive features, understanding must be developed on the perceptions of the essential actor of the technology, the pilot. This study asks student pilots, flight instructors, flight center managers, and other members of flight schools about their perceptions of e-planes. The questions were divided into three categories: safety and trust of the technology, expected costs in comparison to conventional planes, and interest in the technology, including their desire to fly electric planes. Participants were recruited from flight schools using a protocol approved by the Office of Research Ethics. None of these flight schools have an e-plane in their fleet so these views are based on perceptions rather than direct experience. The results revealed perceptions that were strongly positive with many qualitative comments indicating great excitement about the potential of the new electric aviation technology. Some concerns were raised regarding battery endurance limits. Overall, the flight school community is clearly in favor of introducing electric propulsion technology and reducing the environmental impacts of their industry.

Keywords: electric planes, flight training, green aircraft, student pilots, sustainable aviation

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Authors: Asmaa Selim, Peter Mizsey

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Bio-ethanol is considered of higher potential as a green renewable energy source owing to its environmental benefits and its high efficiency. In the present study, silver nanoparticles were in-situ generated in a poly (vinyl alcohol) in order to improve its potentials for pervaporation of ethanol-water mixture using solution-casting. Effect of silver content on the pervaporation separation index and the enrichment factor of the membrane at 15 percentage mass water at 40ᵒC was reported. Pervaporation data for nanocomposite membranes showed around 100% increase in the water permeance values while the intrinsic selectivity decreased. The water permeances of origin crosslinked PVA membrane, and the 2.5% silver loaded PVA membrane are 26.65 and 70.45 (g/m².kPa.h) respectively. The values of total flux and water flux are closed to each other, indicating that membranes could be effectively used to break the azeotropic point of ethanol-water. Effect of temperature on the pervaporation performance, permeation parameter and diffusion coefficient of both water and ethanol was discussed. The negative heat of sorption ∆Hs values calculated on the basis of the estimated Arrhenius activation energy values indicating that the sorption process was controlled by Langmuir’s mode. The overall results showed that the membrane containing 0.5 mass percentage of Ag salt exhibited excellent PV performance.

Keywords: bio-ethanol, diffusion coefficient, nanocomposite, pervaporation, poly (vinyl alcohol), silver nanoparticles

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Authors: Abdullah Işıktaş, Kevser Dincer

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The use of HEPA filters for air conditioning systems in clean rooms tends to increase progressively in pharmaceutical, food stuff industries and in hospitals. There are two standards widely used for HEPA filters; the EN 1822 standards published by the European Union, CEN (European Committee for Standardization) and the US based IEST standard (Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology. Both standards exhibit some differences in the definitions of efficiency and its measurement methods. While IEST standard defines efficiency at the grit diameter of 0.3 µm, the EN 1822 standard takes MPPS (Most Penetrating Particle Size) as the basis of its definition. That is, the most difficult grit size to catch up. On the other hand, while IEST suggests that photometer and grit counters be used for filter testing, in EN 1822 standard, only the grit (grain) counters are recommended for that purpose. In this study, powder holding capacities of H13 and H14 grade materials under the EN 779 standard are investigated experimentally by using activated carbon. Measurements were taken on an experimental set up based on the TS 932 standard. Filter efficiency was measured by injecting test powder at amounts predetermined in the standards into the filters at certain intervals. The data obtained showed that the powder holding capacities of the activated carbon filter are high enough to yield efficiency of around 90% and that the H13 and H14 filters exhibit high efficiency suitable for the standard used.

Keywords: activated carbon filters, HEPA filters, powder holding capacities, air conditioning systems

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Authors: Carmen Avilés Palacios, Camilo Muñoz Arenas, Joaquín García Alfonso, Jesús González Arteaga, Alberto Alcalde Calonge

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There is a need for review of the consumption and production models of industrialized states in accordance with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (1) (OECD, 2016). This constitutes the basis of the bioeconomy (2) that is focused on striking a balance between economic development, social development and environmental protection. Bioeconomy promotes the adequate use and consumption of renewable natural resources (3) and involves developing new products and services adapted to the principles of circular economy: more sustainable (reusable, biodegradable, renewable and recyclable) and with a lower carbon footprint (4). In this context, Urban Forest Innovation Lab (UFIL) grows, an Urban Laboratory for experimentation focused on promoting entrepreneurship in forest bioeconomy (www.uiacuenca.es). UFIL generates local wellness taking sustainable advantage of an endogenous asset, forests. UFIL boosts forest bioeconomy opening its doors of knowledge to pioneers in this field, giving the opportunity to be an active part of a change in the way of understanding the exploitation of natural resources, discovering business, learning strategies and techniques and incubating business ideas So far now, 100 entrepreneurs are incubating their nearly 30 new business plans. UFIL has promoted an ecosystem to connect the rural-urban world that promotes sustainable rural development around the forest.

Keywords: bioeconomy, forestry, innovation, entrepreneurship

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Authors: Durata Haciu, Elif Sena Tekin, Gokce Ozturk, Patricia Ramey Balcı

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Coastal zones are under increasing threat due to anthropogenic activities that introduce considerable pollutants such as heavy metals into marine ecosystems. As part of a larger experimental study examining species responses to contaminated marine sediments, surface sediments (top 5cm) were analysed for major trace elements at three locations in Istanbul Straight. Samples were randomly collected by divers (May 2018) using hand-corers from Istinye (n=4), Garipce (n=10) and Poyrazköy (n=6), at water depths of 4-8m. Twelve metals were examined: As, arsenic; Pb, lead; Cd, cadmium; Cr, chromium; Cu, Copper; Fe, Iron; Ni, Nickel; Zn, Zinc; V, vanadium; Mn, Manganese; Ba, Barium; and Ag, silver by wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (WDXRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma/Mass Spectroscopy (ICP/MS). Preliminary results indicate that the average concentrations of metals (mg kg⁻¹) varied considerably among locations. In general, concentrations were relatively lower at Garipce compared to either Istinye or Poyrazköy. For most metals mean concentrations were highest at Poyrazköy and Ag and Cd were below detection limits (exception= Ag in a few samples). While Cd and As were undetected in all stations, the concentrations of Fe and Ni fall in the criteria of moderately polluted range and the rest of the metals in the range of low polluted range as compared to Effects Range Low (ERL) and Effects Range median (ERM) values determined by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Keywords: effect-range classification, ICP/MS, marine sediments, XRF

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Authors: Popoola M. Oyenola

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Concrete plays the important role and a huge percentage of concrete is being utilized in every construction practices. Natural river sand is one of the major ingredients of concrete, is becoming expensive due to excessive cost of accessibility from sources. Also large scale depletion of sources creates environmental problems. Therefore, there is a need of economic alternative materials. Quarry dust is a waste obtained during quarrying process. It has been rampantly used in different construction practices and could be used as an effective fine aggregate instead of river sand. Partial and total replacement of fine aggregate in conventional concrete with quarry dust has been empirically conducted with the view to examining primarily the compressive strength of the resulting composite and possible total utilization of quarry dust as fine aggregate in the production of medium grade concrete. The results of the study showed that its specific gravity, porosity and water absorption showed satisfactory performance. The percentage replacement of natural river sand with quarry dust for a designed strength of 25N/mm2 varied at intervals of 10% up to a maximum value of 100%. A total of 132 cubes of 150 x 150 x 150mm were cast and tested at 7, 14 and 28 days of hydration. Compressive strength increases with curing age in all the mixes. Compressive strength decreases with increase in percentage of quarry dust. Generally the compressive strength of concrete incorporating quarry dust attained strength of 22.47 N/mm2 after 28 days which makes it a suitable aggregate for the production medium grade concrete.

Keywords: quarry dust, concrete, aggregates, compressive strength

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Authors: Suelane Garcia Fontes, Silvio Luiz Stanzani, Pedro L. Pizzigatti Corrła Ronaldo G. Morato

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Environmental changes and major natural disasters are most prevalent in the world due to the damage that humanity has caused to nature and these damages directly affect the lives of animals. Thus, the study of animal behavior and their interactions with the environment can provide knowledge that guides researchers and public agencies in preservation and conservation actions. Exploratory analysis of animal movement can determine the patterns of animal behavior and with technological advances the ability of animals to be tracked and, consequently, behavioral studies have been expanded. There is a lot of research on animal movement and behavior, but we note that a proposal that combines resources and allows for exploratory analysis of animal movement and provide statistical measures on individual animal behavior and its interaction with the environment is missing. The contribution of this paper is to present the framework AniMoveMineR, a unified solution that aggregates trajectory analysis and data mining techniques to explore animal movement data and provide a first step in responding questions about the animal individual behavior and their interactions with other animals over time and space. We evaluated the framework through the use of monitored jaguar data in the city of Miranda Pantanal, Brazil, in order to verify if the use of AniMoveMineR allows to identify the interaction level between these jaguars. The results were positive and provided indications about the individual behavior of jaguars and about which jaguars have the highest or lowest correlation.

Keywords: data mining, data science, trajectory, animal behavior

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Authors: Mohammad Javad Shakori, Esmaeil Babakhanzadeh Sajirani, Vajihe Esmaili

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Today, the increasing contamination is an environmental concern. There is relationship between plants and microorganisms many years ago. In this regard, an experiment was conducted in order to investigate the effect of different levels of lead across three levels ‘zero, 50, and 100 mg/L’ and Trichoderma Harzanium fungus across three levels ‘5, 10, and 15%’ in a factorial design in the form of fully randomized blocks in three replications under form conditions in the climatic conditions of Shahroud in Dehlama Village. This research was performed in 2014-2015 on cauliflower. In this experiment, chlorophyll a, b, total, cartenoid, phenol, flavonoid, and antioxidant properties of cauliflowers were measured. The results indicated that the greatest level of chlorophyll a (75.723 mg/wet weight), chlorophyll b (27.378 mg/wet weight), and total chlorophyll (109.074 mg/wet weight) was related to the interactive effects of 5% treatment of Trichoderma fungus and 0mg/L lead. The results also indicated that the greatest amount of antioxidant (79.88% of free radical) and flavonoides (22.889 mg of coercetin/g of dry weight) was related to the interactive effects of lead 50 mg/L and the treatment of Trichoderma fungus 5%. Further, the greatest level of phenol (21.33 mg of Gaelic acid/ dry weight) was related to the interactive effects of lead 100 mg/L and Trichoderma fungus 5% . As carotenoids are a type of antioxidant and precursor of vitamin A, with the development of alignment effect with other antioxidants such as the total phenol, flavonoid, achieved desirable levels of antioxidant.

Keywords: antioxidant, lead, flavonoid, cauliflower, chlorophyll

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Authors: Samiha Ramdani, Abdelhamid Geuttala

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There is no doubt that the batteries increasingly used tires create environmental concerns. Algeria generates large amounts of by industrial and household waste, such as used tires and colored glass bottles and dishes, whose valuation in cementitious materials could be an interesting ecological and economical alternative for broadening eliminating cumbersome landfills. This work is a contribution to the promotion of local materials with the use of waste tires and glass bottle in the development of a new cementitious composite having the acceptable compressive strength and a capacity of improved strains. For this purpose, rubber crumb (GC) from shredding used tires were used as partial replacement of quarry sand with 10%, 20%, 40, 60%. In addition, some mixtures also contain glass powder at15% cement replacement by volume. The compressive strength, tensile strength, deformability, the water permeability and penetration Inions chlorides are studied. As results; an acceptable compressive strength was obtained with the substitution rate of 10% and 20% by volume, the deformability of the composite increases with increased replacement rate. The addition of finely ground glass as a partial replacement of cement concrete increases the resistance to penetration of Inions chloride and reduce the water permeability thereof; then increases their durability.

Keywords: crumb rubber, deformability, compressive strength, finely ground glass, durability, behavior law

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Authors: Goodman Conrad Kazoroa

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Among the most remarkable socioeconomic phenomena of the post-World War II era has been the expansion of the global tourism industry. Intensifying tourism activity is continuing to affect more and more places and there can no longer be any doubt as to the potential of this sector to affect fundamental economic, social-cultural and environmental change. A phenomenon with far reaching effects like this needs to be carefully controlled and planned so as not to compromise the chances for the future generations to enjoy this resource, therefore the issue of tourism sustainability, as a result, is unveiled. The concept of sustainable tourism remains vague in Uganda as the country has seen an increase in resorts, hotels and lodges especially in most of Uganda’s ecologically vulnerable areas National Parks. To many, sustainable tourism it is merely the application of the sustainable development idea to the sector of tourism. To others, it is the conservation of the environment and its natural resources, realising and appropriately using them to achieve sustainable built environments that promote tourism. Architecture and the built environment can be the first means to link the global dimension of this phenomenon of sustainable tourism to its local implications. The aim of this paper was to critically analyse the extent to which sustainability related considerations have been pursued in the built environments for Uganda’s national parks as means to achieving sustainable tourism. This was achieved by use of a sustainable architecture rating tool that was modified to fit Uganda’s context. The results of this are presented as the final results of the study. There are many examples of sustainable tourism resorts, or what tourism managers and developers claim are sustainable tourism resorts throughout the country. This paper reveals the truth, that is, true sustainable tourism resorts are very few and far between.

Keywords: sustainable tourism, tourism architecture, sustainable architecture, sustainable tourism resorts

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Authors: Samuel Oludayo Alamu, Seong Lee

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The need for generating energy from biomass in an efficient way as well as maximizing the yield of total energy from the thermal conversion process has been a major concern for researchers. A holistic approach which involves the combination of First law of thermodynamics (FLT) and the second law of thermodynamics (SLT) is required for conducting an effective assessment of an energy plant since FLT analysis alone fails to identify the quality of the dissipated energy and how much work potential is available. The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the exergy analysis of direct combustion of poultry waste being converted to energy with a handful of environmental assessment of the conversion processes in order to maximize thermal efficiency. The exergy analysis around the shell and tube heat exchanger (STHE) was investigated primarily by varying the operating parameters for different tube shapes and flow direction, and an exergy model was obtained from estimations of the higher heating value and standard entropy of poultry waste from the elemental compositions. The STHE was designed and fabricated by Lee Research Group at Morgan State University. The analysis conducted on theSTHE using the flue gas temperature entering and exiting show that only about one-third of the energy input to the STHE was available to do work with an overall efficiency of 13.8%, while a huge amount was lost to the surrounding. By recirculating the flue gas, the exergy efficiency of the combustion system can be maximized with a greater reduction in the amount of exergy loss.

Keywords: exergy analysis, shell and tube heat exchanger, thermodynamics, combustion system, thermal efficiency

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Authors: Pravira Rizki Suwarno, Fanny Aliza Savitri, Priseyola Ayunda Prima, Pipin Surahman, Mahelga Levina Amran, Khoirunisa Ulya Nur Utari, Nora Permatasari

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The Bogowonto River or commonly called the Bhagawanta River, is one of the rivers on Java Island. It is located in Central Java, Indonesia. Its watershed area is 35 km² with 57 km long. This river covers three regencies, namely Wonosobo Regency and Magelang Regency in the upstream and Purworejo Regency in the south and downstream. The Bogowonto River experiences channel narrowing and silting. It is caused by garbage along the river that comes from livestock and household waste. The narrowing channel and siltation cause a capacity reduction of the river to drain flood discharge. Comprehensive and sustainable actions are needed in dealing with current and future floods. Based on these current conditions, a priority scale is required. Therefore, this study aims to determine the priority scale of flood management in Purworejo Regency using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. This method will determine the appropriate actions based on the rating. In addition, there will be field observations through distributing questionnaires to several parties, including the stakeholders and the community. The results of this study will be in 2 (two) forms of actions, both structurally covering water structures and non-structural, including social, environmental, and law enforcement.

Keywords: analytical hierarchy process, bogowonto, flood control, management

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Authors: Adam Musa Adam Eissa

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Environmental and weather changes especially rainfall affects the distribution and densities of mosquitoes. This work was carried out to study the distribution and densities of mosquitoes adults and larvae in a total of five selected stations in El Obied Town. A cross-sectional survey of Anopheline mosquito larval habitats was conducted. The survey was conducted during the dry season (January 2013). Larvae were collected by using the standard dipping technique, while adult stages were collected by rearing larvae in cage, because the density of adults Anopheles mosquito per room was zero by using spray sheet method by using Permethrin pesticide 25%E.C, during the study period. The results revealed that (2347) Anopheline mosquito larvae were found and collected from only one station. All of which (2347) larvae (100%) were classified as probably Anopheles Squamosus. The study also showed that, a number of 81 adults (100%) Anopheline mosquito were classified as probably Anopheles Squamosus. Anopheles Squamosus were found only in the shallow pond water habitat in Alrahma west area of El Obied, the mean Anopheline density in the study area for larvae was 0.313 per dip while the mean density of adult was 0 per room. The high mosquito larval density in Alrahma west area indicated that, this part of El Obied Town is at risk of mosquito-borne diseases including malaria. This study recommended to apply the control program against mosquito at this part of the Town.

Keywords: anopheles, squamosus, Alrahma, distribution

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Authors: Robbie C. Murchison, Ibrahim Küçükdemiral, Andrew Cowell

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Thermal effects are the largest source of dimensional error in precision machining, and a major proportion is caused by ambient temperature variation. The use of coolant is a primary means of mitigating these effects, but there has been limited work on coolant temperature control. This research critically explored whether CNC-machine coolant refrigeration systems adapted to actively compensate for ambient temperature variation could increase machining accuracy. Accuracy data were collected from operators’ checklists for a CNC 5-axis mill and statistically reduced to bias and precision metrics for observations of one day over a sample period of 27 days. Temperature data were collected using three USB dataloggers in ambient air, the chiller inflow, and the chiller outflow. The accuracy and temperature data were analysed using Pearson correlation, then the thermodynamics of the system were described using system identification with MATLAB. It was found that 75% of thermal error is reflected in the hot coolant temperature but that this is negligibly dependent on ambient temperature. The effect of the coolant refrigeration process on hot coolant outflow temperature was also found to be negligible. Therefore, the evidence indicated that it would not be beneficial to adapt coolant chillers to compensate for ambient temperature variation. However, it is concluded that hot coolant outflow temperature is a robust and accessible source of thermal error data which could be used for prevention strategy evaluation or as the basis of other thermal error strategies.

Keywords: CNC manufacturing, machine-tool, precision machining, thermal error

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Authors: Rajan Jakhu, Rohit Mehra

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Radon (²²²Rn) and its decay products are the major sources of natural radiation exposure to general population. The activity concentrations of radon, thoron gasses, and their unattached and attached short-lived progeny in indoor environment of the Jaipur and Ajmer districts of Rajasthan had been calculated via passive measurements using the Pinhole cup dosimeter, deposition based progeny sensors (DRPS/DTPS) and wire mesh capped (DRPS/DTPS) progeny sensors. The results of this study revealed that radon and thoron concentrations (CRn, CTn) are highest in the winter season. The variation of the radon and its decay products are observed to vary seasonally, but these environmental parameters seem not to be affecting the thoron and its decay product concentrations in a regular manner. The average values of the radon and its decay products are maximum in winter and minimum in summer. The equilibrium factor for radon is observed to be 0.50, 0.47 and 0.49 in winter, rainy and summer seasons. The annual average value of the unattached fraction of the radon progeny comes out to be 0.34. On the other hand, the average value of thoron (²²⁰Rn) concentration and its equilibrium factor in the studied area comes to be 74, 39, 45 Bq m⁻³ and 0.07, 0.11, 0.07 respectively for the winter, rainy and summer seasons with the annual average value of the unattached fraction of about 0.18. The annual average radiological dose from exposure to indoor radon and thoron progeny comes out to be 0.88 and 0.78 mSv.

Keywords: equilibrium factor, radon, seasonal variation, thoron, unattached fraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Kasi Jockeil-Ojike

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The study of signage and wayfinding design guidelines is to provide consistent, coherent, and comprehensive guidelines for all type of signage design that may be applied to guide persons from the freeway into campus, and to specific building. As the world becomes more complex and the population increases, people increasingly rely on signage and wayfinding systems to navigate their way in built environment such as university campus. This paper will demonstrate and discuss signage and wayfinding, and the importance of visual literacy in university campuses. It discusses the process of wayfinding and signage, how poor signage and wayfinding systems affect people when navigating, and why wayfinding is more than just signage. Hence, this paper tries to examine the design guideline that primarily addresses the signage and wayfinding system that improves visual literacy within University of Port Harcourt multi-campuses. In doing this, the paper explore the environmental graphic design senori-emotional values and communicative information theories that takes the subjectivity of the observer in account. By making these connections, the paper will also determine what University of Port Harcourt need to focus on to be counted in the global trends, using developed visual communication guidelines based on previous studies or concept from professional. In conclusion, information about why physical structures (buildings and waypaths) on University of Port Harcourt multiple campuses need to be branded in self-communicative manner using signage and wayfinding design as integral part of its physical planning policy is recommended.

Keywords: campus-signage, movement, visual-literacy, wayfinding-guidelines

Procedia PDF Downloads 416

Authors: Rachid El Aidani, Phuong Nguyen-Tri, Toan Vu-Khanh

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The filter media in synthetic fibre is the most geotextile materials used in aerosol and drainage filtration, particularly for buildings soil reinforcement in civil engineering due to its appropriated properties and its low cost. However, the current understanding of the durability and stability of this material in real service conditions, especially under severe long-term conditions are completely limited. This study has examined the effects of the chemical aging of a filter media in polyester nonwoven under different temperatures (50, 70 and 80˚C) and pH (2. 7 and 12). The effect of aging conditions on mechanical properties, morphology, permeability, thermal stability and molar weigh changes is investigated. The results showed a significant reduction of mechanical properties in term of tensile strength, puncture force and tearing forces of the filter media after chemical aging due to the chemical degradation. The molar mass and mechanical properties changes in different temperature and pH showed a complex dependence of material properties on environmental conditions. The SEM and AFM characterizations showed a significant impact of the thermal aging on the morphological properties of the fibres. Based on the obtained results, the lifetime of the material in different temperatures was determined by the use of the Arrhenius model. These results provide useful information to better understand phenomena occurring during chemical aging of the filter media and may help to predict the service lifetime of this material in real used conditions.

Keywords: nonwoven membrane, chemical aging, mechanical properties, lifetime, filter media

Procedia PDF Downloads 318

Authors: Waleed A. El-Said, Dina M. Fouad, Mohamed H. Aly, Mohamed A. El-Gahami

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Green synthesis of nanomaterials has received increasing attention as an eco-friendly technology in materials science. Here, we have used two types of extractions from green tea leaf (i.e. total extraction and tannin extraction) as reducing agents for a rapid, simple and one step synthesis method of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs)/iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanocomposite based on deposition of Fe3O4 onto MSNPs. MSNPs/Fe3O4 nanocomposite were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, vibrating sample magnetometer, N2 adsorption, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The average mesoporous silica particle diameter was found to be around 30 nm with high surface area (818 m2/gm). MSNPs/Fe3O4 nanocomposite was used for removing lindane pesticide (an environmental hazard material) from aqueous solutions. Fourier transform infrared, UV-vis, High-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography techniques were used to confirm the high ability of MSNPs/Fe3O4 nanocomposite for sensing and capture of lindane molecules with high sorption capacity (more than 89%) that could develop a new eco-friendly strategy for detection and removing of pesticide and as a promising material for water treatment application.

Keywords: green synthesis, mesoporous silica, magnetic iron oxide NPs, adsorption Lindane

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Authors: Golayeh Yousefi, Mehdi Homaee, Ali Akbar Norouzi

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Ongoing monitoring of soil contamination by heavy metals is critical for ecosystem stability and environmental protection, and food security. The conventional methods of determining these soil contaminants are time-consuming and costly. Spectroscopy in the visible near-infrared (VNIR) - short wave infrared (SWIR) region is a rapid, non-destructive, noninvasive, and cost-effective method for assessment of soil heavy metals concentration by studying the spectral properties of soil constituents. The aim of this study is to derive spectral bands and important ranges that are sensitive to heavy metals and can be used to estimate the concentration of these soil contaminants. In other words, the change in the spectral properties of spectrally active constituents of soil can lead to the accurate identification and estimation of the concentration of these compounds in soil. For this purpose, 325 soil samples were collected, and their spectral reflectance curves were evaluated at a range of 350-2500 nm. After spectral preprocessing operations, the partial least-squares regression (PLSR) model was fitted on spectral data to predict the concentration of Cu and Ni. Based on the results, the spectral range of Cu- sensitive spectra were 480, 580-610, 1370, 1425, 1850, 1920, 2145, and 2200 nm, and Ni-sensitive ranges were 543, 655, 761, 1003, 1271, 1415, 1903, 2199 nm. Finally, the results of this study indicated that the spectral data contains a lot of information that can be applied to identify the soil properties, such as the concentration of heavy metals, with more detail.

Keywords: heavy metals, spectroscopy, spectral bands, PLS regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Margareth S. Zanchetta, Kateryna Metersky, Valerie Tan, Charissa Cordon, Stephanie Lucchese, Yana Siganevich, Prasha Sivasundaram, Truong Binh Nguyen, Imran Qureshi

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Due to a new area of practice, Canadian nurses possess knowledge gaps regarding the use of cannabis-based therapies by clients/patients. Education related to medical cannabis (MC) and recreational cannabis (RC) is required to promote nurses’ competency and confidence in supporting clients/patients using MC/RC toward the improvement of health outcomes. A team composed of nursing researchers and undergraduate/graduate students implemented a national survey to explore this theme with the population of undergraduate, graduate (MN and NP), and Post-Diploma (RN Bridging) nursing students enrolled in Canadian Universities Nursing Programs. Upon Research Ethics Board approval, survey recruitment was supported by major nursing stakeholders. The research questions were : (a) Which are the most preferred sources of information on MC/RC for nursing students? (b) Which are the factors and preferred learning modalities that could increase interest in learning about MC/RC, and (c) What are the future career plans among nursing students, and how would they consider the prospective use of cannabis in their practice? The survey was available from Sept. 2022 to Feb. 2023, hosted by a remote platform. An original questionnaire (English-French) was composed of 18 multiple choice questions and 2 open-ended questions. Sociodemographic information and closed-ended responses were compiled as descriptive statistics, while narrative accounts will be analysed through thematic analysis. Respondents (n=153) were from 7 Canadian provinces, national (99%) and international students (1%); the majority of respondents (61%) were in the age range of 21-30 years old. Results indicated that respondents perceive a gap in the undergraduate curriculum on the topics of MC/RC (91%) and that their learning needs include regulations (90%), data on effectiveness (88%), dosing best practices (86%), contraindications (83%), and clinical and medical indications (76%). Respondents reported motivation to learn more about MC/RC through online lectures/videos (65%), e-learning modules or online interactive training (61%), workshops (51%), webinars (36%), and social media (35%). Their primary career-related motivations regarding MC/RC knowledge include enhancing nursing practice (76%), learning about this growing scope of practice (61%), keeping up-to-date responding to scientific curiosity (59%), learning about evidence-based practice (59%), and utilizing alternative forms of medical treatment (37%). Respondents indicated that the integration of topics on cannabis in any course in the undergraduate and/or graduate curriculum would increase their desire to learn about MC/RC as equally as exposure within a clinical setting (75%). The emerging trend in the set of narrative responses (n=130) suggests that respondents believe educational MC/RC content should be integrated into core nursing courses. Respondents also urged educators to be well-informed about evidence-based practice related to MC/RC and to reflect upon stigma and biases surrounding its use. Future knowledge dissemination and translation activities include scholarly products and presentations to stimulate discussion amongst nursing faculty and students, as well as nurses in clinical settings. The goal is to mobilise talents and build collaboration for the development of a socially responsive curriculum on MC/RC competency to address the education-related expectations of all these social actors.

Keywords: Canada, medical cannabis, nursing education, nursing graduate student, nursing undergraduate student, online survey, recreational cannabis

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Priyanka R. Sagar

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Social economic status (SES) is a variable that denotes the social standing of a person in society, and quality of life is a measure of health, happiness, and comfort of an individual. During early 2020, the world was stuck by the blow of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in minimal or no economic activities to takes place. The present research paper is an attempt to analyze the socioeconomic status and quality of life of construction workers dwelling in the sub-urban areas of Hoskote located in the Bengaluru rural district pre and post-COVID-19. It also tries to analyze the difference in these variables pre and post-COVID-19. The study uses a retrospective design and data collected through a questionnaire survey from the respondents of Hoskote. A total of 100 samples were collected, out of which 73% were men and 27% were women. The mean age group of the participants is 41.04 ± 6.97 years. The overall analysis of the study shows that there is a significant difference in the socioeconomic status of construction workers pre and post-COVID-19. The study shows SES of the workers pre-pandemic is higher than post-pandemic. The other variable is quality of life which consists of physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental domains. The study depicts that the psychological domain alone has been impacted by the pandemic; workers had better mental health pre-COVID-19. The other domains, i.e., physical health, social relationship, and environment, remain unaffected.

Keywords: socio-economic status, quality of life, construction workers, COVID-19

Procedia PDF Downloads 81