Search results for: valve-point loading effects

Authors: Chee-Ming Chan

Abstract:

In spite of the advent of new materials, clay bricks remain, arguably, the most popular construction materials today. Nevertheless the low cost and versatility of clay bricks cannot always be associated with high environmental and sustainable values, especially in terms of raw material sources and manufacturing processes. At the same time, the worldwide agricultural footprint is fast growing, with vast agricultural land cultivation and active expansion of the agro-based industry. The resulting large quantities of agricultural wastes, unfortunately, are not always well managed or utilised. These wastes can be recycled, such as by retrieving fibres from disposed leaves and fruit bunches, and then incorporated in brick-making. This way the clay bricks are made a 'greener' building material and the discarded natural wastes can be reutilised, avoiding otherwise wasteful landfill and harmful open incineration. This study examined the physical and mechanical properties of clay bricks made by adding two natural fibres to a clay-water mixture, with baked and non-baked conditions. The fibres were sourced from pineapple leaves (PF) and oil palm fruit bunch (OF), and added within the range of 0.25-0.75 %. Cement was added as a binder to the mixture at 5-15 %. Although the two fibres had different effects on the bricks produced, cement appeared to dominate the compressive strength. The non-baked bricks disintegrated when submerged in water, while the baked ones displayed cement-dependent characteristics in water-absorption and density changes. Interestingly, further increase in fibre content did not cause significant density decrease in both the baked and non-baked bricks.

Keywords: natural fibres, clay bricks, strength, water absorption, density.

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Authors: Oliver F. Shyr, Yu-Hsuan Hsiao, David E. Andersson

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Due to the call of global warming effects, city planners aim at actions for reducing carbon emission. One of the approaches is to promote the usage of public transportation system toward the transit-oriented-development. For example, rapid transit system in Taipei city and Kaohsiung city are opening. However, until November 2008 the average daily patronage counted only 113,774 passengers at Kaohsiung MRT systems, much less than which was expected. Now the crucial questions: how the public transport competes with private transport? And more importantly, what factors would enhance the use of public transport? To give the answers to those questions, our study first applied regression to analyze the factors attracting people to use public transport around cities in the world. It is shown in our study that the number of MRT stations, city population, cost of living, transit fare, density, gasoline price, and scooter being a major mode of transport are the major factors. Subsequently, our study identified successful and unsuccessful cities in regard of the public transport usage based on the diagnosis of regression residuals. Finally, by comparing transportation strategies adopted by those successful cities, our conclusion stated that Kaohsiung City could apply strategies such as increasing parking fees, reducing parking spaces in downtown area, and reducing transfer time by providing more bus services and public bikes to promote the usage of public transport.

Keywords: Public Transit System, Comparative Study, Transport Demand Management, Regression

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Authors: F. F. Howard, I. Yakubu, C. B. Boye, J. S. Y. Kuma

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Natural and human activities, such as mining operations, expose the natural soil to adverse environmental conditions, leading to contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water, which has negative effects on humans, flora, and fauna. Bare or partly exposed soil is most liable to fluvial erosion. This paper enumerates various methods used to identify, map, and model fluvial erosion in a mining environment. Classical, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and GIS methods have been reviewed. One of the many classical methods used to estimate river erosion is the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. The RUSLE model is easy to use. Its reliance on empirical relationships that may not always be applicable to specific circumstances or locations is a flaw. Other classical models for estimating fluvial erosion are the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). These models offer a more complete understanding of the underlying physical processes and encompass a wider range of situations. Although more difficult to utilise, they depend on the availability and dependability of input data for correctness. AI can help deal with multivariate and complex difficulties and predict soil loss with higher accuracy than traditional methods, and also be used to build unique models for identifying degraded areas. AI techniques have become popular as an alternative predictor for degraded environments. However, this research proposed a hybrid of classical, AI, and GIS methods for efficient and effective modelling of fluvial erosion.

Keywords: Fluvial erosion, classical methods, Artificial Intelligence, Geographic Information System.

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Authors: Fakhrullah Sarwari, Hiroko Ono

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Kabul city has suffered a lot in 40 years of conflict of civil war and “The war on terror”. After the invasion of Afghanistan by the United States of America and its allies in 2001, the Taliban was removed from operational power, but The Taliban and other terrorist groups remained in remote areas of the country, they started suicide attacks and bombings. Hence to protect from these attacks officials surrounded their office buildings and houses with concrete blast walls. It gives a bad landscape to the city and creates traffic congestions. Our research contains; questionnaire, reviewing Kabul Municipality documents and literature review. Questionnaires were distributed to Kabul citizens to find out how people feel by seeing the T-Walls on Kabul streets? And what problems they face with T-Walls. “The T-Walls pull down commission” of Kabul Municipality documents were reviewed to find out what caused the failure of this commission. A literature review has been done to compare Kabul with Washington D.C on how they designed the city against terrorism threat without turning the cities into lock down. Bogota city of Columbia urban happiness movement is reviewed and compared with Kabul. The finding of research revealed that citizens of Kabul want security but not at the expense of public realm and creating the architecture of fear. It also indicates that increasing the T-walls do not give secure feeling but instead; it increases terror, hatred and affect people’s optimism. At the end, a series of recommendation is suggested on the issue.

Keywords: Anti-terror design, Kabul, T-Walls, urban happiness.

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Authors: Abimbola M. Enitan, Josiah Adeyemo, Sheena Kumari, Feroz M. Swalaha, Faizal Bux

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Industries produce millions of cubic meters of effluent every year and the wastewater produced may be released into the surrounding water bodies, treated on-site or at municipal treatment plants. The determination of organic matter in the wastewater generated is very important to avoid any negative effect on the aquatic ecosystem. The scope of the present work is to assess the physicochemical composition of the wastewater produced from one of the brewery industry in South Africa. This is to estimate the environmental impact of its discharge into the receiving water bodies or the municipal treatment plant. The parameters monitored for the quantitative analysis of brewery wastewater include biological oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, ammonia, total oxidized nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, phosphorus and alkalinity content. In average, the COD concentration of the brewery effluent was 5340.97 mg/l with average pH values of 4.0 to 6.7. The BOD5 and the solids content of the wastewater from the brewery industry were high. This means that the effluent is very rich in organic content and its discharge into the water bodies or the municipal treatment plant could cause environmental pollution or damage the treatment plant. In addition, there were variations in the wastewater composition throughout the monitoring period. This might be as a result of different activities that take place during the production process, as well as the effects of peak period of beer production on the water usage.

Keywords: Brewery wastewater, environmental pollution, industrial effluents, physicochemical composition.

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Authors: Ndidi F. Amulu, Patrick E. Amulu, Gordian O. Mbah, Callistus N. Ude

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Comparative analysis of the properties of melon seed, coconut fruit and their oil yield were evaluated in this work using standard analytical technique AOAC. The results of the analysis carried out revealed that the moisture contents of the samples studied are 11.15% (melon) and 7.59% (coconut). The crude lipid content are 46.10% (melon) and 55.15% (coconut).The treatment combinations used (leaching time, leaching temperature and solute: solvent ratio) showed significant difference (p < 0.05) in yield between the samples, with melon oil seed flour having a higher percentage range of oil yield (41.30 – 52.90%) and coconut (36.25 – 49.83%). The physical characterization of the extracted oil was also carried out. The values gotten for refractive index are 1.487 (melon seed oil) and 1.361 (coconut oil) and viscosities are 0.008 (melon seed oil) and 0.002 (coconut oil). The chemical analysis of the extracted oils shows acid value of 1.00mg NaOH/g oil (melon oil), 10.050mg NaOH/g oil (coconut oil) and saponification value of 187.00mg/KOH (melon oil) and 183.26mg/KOH (coconut oil). The iodine value of the melon oil gave 75.00mg I2/g and 81.00mg I2/g for coconut oil. A standard statistical package Minitab version 16.0 was used in the regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The statistical software mentioned above was also used to optimize the leaching process. Both samples gave high oil yield at the same optimal conditions. The optimal conditions to obtain highest oil yield ≥ 52% (melon seed) and ≥ 48% (coconut seed) are solute - solvent ratio of 40g/ml, leaching time of 2hours and leaching temperature of 50oC. The two samples studied have potential of yielding oil with melon seed giving the higher yield.

Keywords: Coconut, melon, optimization, processing.

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Authors: N. Boontian

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Biological conversion of biomass to methane has received increasing attention in recent years. Grasses have been explored for their potential anaerobic digestion to methane. In this review, extensive literature data have been tabulated and classified. The influences of several parameters on the potential of these feedstocks to produce methane are presented. Lignocellulosic biomass represents a mostly unused source for biogas and ethanol production. Many factors, including lignin content, crystallinity of cellulose, and particle size, limit the digestibility of the hemicellulose and cellulose present in the lignocellulosic biomass. Pretreatments have used to improve the digestibility of the lignocellulosic biomass. Each pretreatment has its own effects on cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, the three main components of lignocellulosic biomass. Solidstate anaerobic digestion (SS-AD) generally occurs at solid concentrations higher than 15%. In contrast, liquid anaerobic digestion (AD) handles feedstocks with solid concentrations between 0.5% and 15%. Animal manure, sewage sludge, and food waste are generally treated by liquid AD, while organic fractions of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and lignocellulosic biomass such as crop residues and energy crops can be processed through SS-AD. An increase in operating temperature can improve both the biogas yield and the production efficiency, other practices such as using AD digestate or leachate as an inoculant or decreasing the solid content may increase biogas yield but have negative impact on production efficiency. Focus is placed on substrate pretreatment in anaerobic digestion (AD) as a means of increasing biogas yields using today’s diversified substrate sources.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, Lignocellulosic biomass, Methane production, Optimization, Pretreatment.

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Authors: D. Bheenick, M. Young, M. Elmussareh, A. Ali

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had unprecedented effects on the healthcare system in the UK. The pandemic has impacted every service within secondary care, including urology. Our objective is to determine how COVID-19 has influenced acute urology admissions in a busy district general hospital in the UK. To conduct the study, retrospective data of patients presenting acutely to the urology department were collected between January 13 to March 22, 2020 (pre-lockdown period) and March 23 to May 31, 2020 (lockdown period). The nature of referrals, types of admission encountered, and management required in accordance with the new set of protocols established during the lockdown period were analysed and compared to the same data prior to UK lockdown. Included in the study were 1092 patients. The results show that an overall reduction of 32.5% was seen in the total number of admissions. A marked decrease was seen in non-urological pathology as compared to other categories. Urolithiasis showed the highest proportional increase. Treatment varied proportionately to the diagnosis, with conservative management accounting for the most likely treatment during lockdown. However, the proportion of patients requiring interventions during the lockdown period increased overall. No comparative differences were observed during the two periods in terms of source of referral, length of stay and patient age. The results of the study concluded that the admission rate showed a decrease, with no significant difference in the nature and timing of presentation. Our department was able to continue providing effective management to patients presenting acutely during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Keywords: COVID-19, lockdown, admissions, urology

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Authors: Mojisola F. Oyewole, Franscisca T. Adetoro, Nkiru T. Meludu

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Moringa oleifera is a nutritious vegetable tree with varieties of potential uses, as almost every part of the Moringa oleifera tree can be used for food. This study was conducted in Oyo State, Nigeria, to find out the level of acceptability of Moringa oleifera diversified products among rural and urban dwellers. Purposive sampling was used to select two local governments’ areas. Stratified sampling technique was also used to select one community each from rural and urban areas while snowball sampling technique was used to select ten respondents each from the two communities, making a total number of forty respondents. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, Chi-square, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and regression analysis. Result from the study revealed that majority of the respondents (80%) fell within the age range of 20-49 years and 55% of them were male, 55% were married, 70% of them were Christians, 80% of them had tertiary education. The result also showed that 85% were aware of the Moringa plant and (65%) of them have consumed Moringa oleifera and the perception statements on the benefits of Moringa oleifera indicated that (52.5%) of the respondents rated Moringa oleifera to be favorable, most of them had high acceptability for Moringa egusi soup, Moringa tea, Moringa pap and yam pottage with Moringa. The result of the hypotheses testing showed that there is a significant relationship between sex of the respondents and acceptability of the diversified Moringa oleifera products (x2=6.465, p = 0.011). There is also a significant relationship between family size of the respondents level of acceptability of the Moringa oleifera products (r = 0.327, p = 0.040). Based on the level of acceptability of Moringa oleifera diversified products; the plant is of great economic importance to the populace. Therefore, there should be more public awareness through the media to enlighten people on the beneficial effects of Moringa oleifera.

Keywords: Acceptability, Moringa oleifera, Diversified, Product, Dwellers.

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Authors: Mohamed F. Ahmed, Mabruka S. Elashheb, Fatma M. Ben Rabha

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This study aimed to determine the possible protective effects of L‐carnitine against gentamicin‐induced nephrotoxicity. Forty male albino rats were divided into 4 groups (10 rats each); Group 1: normal control, group 2: induced nephrotoxicity (gentamicin 50 mg/kg/day S.C; 8 days), group 3: treated with L‐ carnitine (40 mg/kg/d SC for 12 days) and group 4: treated with L‐ carnitine 4 days before and for 8 days in concomitant with gentamicin. Gentamicin‐induced nephrotoxicity (group 2): caused significant increase in serum urea, creatinine, urinary N‐acetyl‐B‐D‐ glucosaminidase (NAG), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), urinary total protein and kidney tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) with significant decrease in serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), serum catalase and creatinine clearance and marked tubular necrosis in the proximal convoluted tubules with interruption in the basement membrane around the necrotic tubule compared to the normal control group. L‐carnitine 4 days before and for 8 days in concomitant with gentamicin (group 4) offered marked decrease in serum urea, serum creatinine, urinary NAG, urinary GGT, urinary proteins and kidney tissue MDA, with marked increase in serum SOD, serum catalase and creatinine clearance with marked improvement in the tubular damage compared to gentamicin‐induced nephrotoxicity group. L‐carnitine administered for 12 days produced no change in the parameters mentioned above as compared to the normal control group. In conclusion: L‐carnitine could reduce most of the biochemical parameters and also improve the histopathological features of kidney asscociated with gentamicin induced‐nephrotoxicity. 

Keywords: Gentamicin, kidney disease, L‐carnitine, nephrotoxicity.

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Authors: Saeed Khorasanizadeh

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Adhesion strength of exterior or interior coating of steel pipes is too important. Increasing of coating adhesion on surfaces can increase the life time of coating, safety factor of transmitting line pipe and decreasing the rate of corrosion and costs. Preparation of steel pipe surfaces before doing the coating process is done by shot and grit blasting. This is a mechanical way to do it. Some effective parameters on that process, are particle size of abrasives, distance to surface, rate of abrasive flow, abrasive physical properties, shapes, selection of abrasive, kind of machine and its power, standard of surface cleanness degree, roughness, time of blasting and weather humidity. This search intended to find some better conditions which improve the surface preparation, adhesion strength and corrosion resistance of coating. So, this paper has studied the effect of varying abrasive flow rate, changing the abrasive particle size, time of surface blasting on steel surface roughness and over blasting on it by using the centrifugal blasting machine. After preparation of numbers of steel samples (according to API 5L X52) and applying epoxy powder coating on them, to compare strength adhesion of coating by Pull-Off test. The results have shown that, increasing the abrasive particles size and flow rate, can increase the steel surface roughness and coating adhesion strength but increasing the blasting time can do surface over blasting and increasing surface temperature and hardness too, change, decreasing steel surface roughness and coating adhesion strength.

Keywords: surface preparation, abrasive particles, adhesionstrength

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Authors: Muhammed Ordu, Eren Demir, Chris Tofallis

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Over the past decade, the non-elective admissions in the UK have increased significantly. Taking into account limited resources (i.e. beds), the related service managers are obliged to manage their resources effectively due to the non-elective admissions which are mostly admitted to inpatient specialities via A&E departments. Geriatric medicine is one of specialities that have long length of stay for the non-elective admissions. This study aims to develop a discrete event simulation model to understand how possible increases on non-elective demand over the next 12 months affect the bed occupancy rate and to determine required number of beds in a geriatric medicine speciality in a UK hospital. In our validated simulation model, we take into account observed frequency distributions which are derived from a big data covering the period April, 2009 to January, 2013, for the non-elective admission and the length of stay. An experimental analysis, which consists of 16 experiments, is carried out to better understand possible effects of case studies and scenarios related to increase on demand and number of bed. As a result, the speciality does not achieve the target level in the base model although the bed occupancy rate decreases from 125.94% to 96.41% by increasing the number of beds by 30%. In addition, the number of required beds is more than the number of beds considered in the scenario analysis in order to meet the bed requirement. This paper sheds light on bed management for service managers in geriatric medicine specialities.

Keywords: Bed management, bed occupancy rate, discrete event simulation, geriatric medicine, non-elective admission.

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Authors: Charlotte C. Shagol, Tongmin Sa

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One of the major pollutants in the environment is arsenic (As). Due to the toxic effects of As to all organisms, its remediation is necessary. Conventional technologies used in the remediation of As contaminated soils are expensive and may even compromise the structure of the soil. An attractive alternative is phytoremediation, which is the use of plants which can take up the contaminant in their tissues. Plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) has been known to enhance growth of plants through several mechanisms such as phytohormone production, phosphate solubilization, siderophore production and 1-aminocyclopropane-1- carboxylate (ACC) deaminase production, which is an essential trait that aids plants especially under stress conditions such as As stress. Twenty one bacteria were isolated from As-contaminated soils in the vicinity of the Janghang Smelter in Chungnam Province, South Korea. These exhibited high tolerance to either arsenite (As III) or arsenate (As V) or both. Most of these isolates possess several plant growth promoting traits which can be potentially exploited to increase phytoremediation efficiency. Among the identified isolates is Pseudomonas sp. JS1215, which produces ACC deaminase, indole acetic acid (IAA), and siderophore. It also has the ability to solubilize phosphate. Inoculation of JS1215 significantly enhanced root and shoot length and biomass accumulation of maize under normal conditions. In the presence of As, particularly in lower As level, inoculation of JS1215 slightly increased root length and biomass. Ethylene increased with increasing As concentration, but was reduced by JS1215 inoculation. JS1215 can be a potential bioinoculant for increasing phytoremediation efficiency.

Keywords: As-tolerant bacteria, plant growth promoting bacteria, As stress, phytoremediation.

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Authors: Ichiro Mukai

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The purpose of this study is to investigate whether firms applying International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), provide high-quality and comparable earnings information that is useful for decision making of information users relative to firms applying local Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Focus is placed on the earnings quality of listed firms in several developed countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Except for Japan and the US, the adoption of IFRS is mandatory for listed firms in these countries. In Japan, the application of IFRS is allowed for specific listed firms. In the US, the foreign firms listed on the US securities market are permitted to apply IFRS but the listed domestic firms are prohibited from doing so. In this paper, the differences in earnings quality are compared between firms applying local GAAP and those applying IFRS in each country and industry category, and the reasons of differences in earnings quality are analyzed using various factors. The results show that, although the earnings quality of firms applying IFRS is higher than that of firms applying local GAAP, this varies with country and industry category. Thus, even if a single set of global accounting standards is used for all listed firms worldwide, it is difficult to establish comparability of financial information among global firms. These findings imply that various circumstances surrounding firms, industries, and countries etc. influence business operations and affect the differences in earnings quality.

Keywords: Accruals, earnings quality, IFRS, information comparability.

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Authors: Ho-Jung Ryu, Seung-Yong Lee, Young Cheol Park, Moon-Hee Park

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Two-interconnected fluidized bed systems are widely used in various processes such as Fisher-Tropsch, hot gas desulfurization, CO2 capture-regeneration with dry sorbent, chemical-looping combustion, sorption enhanced steam methane reforming, chemical-looping hydrogen generation system, and so on. However, most of two-interconnected fluidized beds systems require riser and/or pneumatic transport line for solid conveying and loopseals or seal-pots for gas sealing, recirculation of solids to the riser, and maintaining of pressure balance. The riser (transport bed) is operated at the high velocity fluidization condition and residence times of gas and solid in the riser are very short. If the reaction rate of catalyst or sorbent is slow, the riser can not ensure sufficient contact time between gas and solid and we have to use two bubbling beds for each reaction to ensure sufficient contact time. In this case, additional riser must be installed for solid circulation. Consequently, conventional two-interconnected fluidized bed systems are very complex, large, and difficult to operate. To solve these problems, a novel two-interconnected fluidized bed system has been developed. This system has two bubbling beds, solid injection nozzles, solid conveying lines, and downcomers. In this study, effects of operating variables on solid circulation rate, gas leakage between two beds have been investigated in a cold mode two-interconnected fluidized bed system. Moreover, long-term operation of continuous solid circulation up to 60 hours has been performed to check feasibility of stable operation.

Keywords: Fluidized bed, Gas leakage, Long-term operation, Solid circulation.

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Authors: Junya Takenami, Md. Azhar Uddin, Eiji Sasaoka, Yasushi Shioya, Tsuneyoshi Takase

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In this study, we sought to investigate the mercury removal efficiency of manganese oxides from natural gas. The fundamental studies on mercury removal with manganese oxides sorbents were carried out in a laboratory scale fixed bed reactor at 30 °C with a mixture of methane (20%) and nitrogen gas laden with 4.8 ppb of elemental mercury. Manganese oxides with varying surface area and crystalline phase were prepared by conventional precipitation method in this study. The effects of surface area, crystallinity and other metal oxides on mercury removal efficiency were investigated. Effect of Ag impregnation on mercury removal efficiency was also investigated. Ag supported on metal oxide such titania and zirconia as reference materials were also used in this study for comparison. The characteristics of mercury removal reaction with manganese oxide was investigated using a temperature programmed desorption (TPD) technique. Manganese oxides showed very high Hg removal activity (about 73-93% Hg removal) for first time use. Surface area of the manganese oxide samples decreased after heat-treatment and resulted in complete loss of Hg removal ability for repeated use after Hg desorption in the case of amorphous MnO2, and 75% loss of the initial Hg removal activity for the crystalline MnO2. Mercury desorption efficiency of crystalline MnO2 was very low (37%) for first time use and high (98%) after second time use. Residual potassium content in MnO2 may have some effect on the thermal stability of the adsorbed Hg species. Desorption of Hg from manganese oxides occurs at much higher temperatures (with a peak at 400 °C) than Ag/TiO2 or Ag/ZrO2. Mercury may be captured on manganese oxides in the form of mercury manganese oxide.

Keywords: Mercury removal, Metal and metal oxide sorbents, Methane, Natural gas.

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Authors: Zane Bulderberga

Abstract:

Spatial dimension in development planning is becoming more topical in 21^st century as a result of changes in population structure. Sustainable spatial development focuses on identifying and using territorial advantages to foster the harmonized development of the entire country, reducing negative effects of population concentration, increasing availability and mobility. EU and national development planning documents state polycentrism as main tool for balance spatial development, including investment concentration in growth centres. If mutual cooperation of growth centres as well as urban–rural cooperation is not fostered, then territorial differences can deepen and create unbalanced development.

The aim of research: to evaluate the urban–rural interaction, elaborating spatial development scenarios in framework of Latvian regional policy. To perform the research monographic, comparison, abstract–logical method, synthesis and analysis will be used when studying the theoretical aspects of research aiming at collecting the ideas of scientists from different countries, concepts, regulations as well as to create meaningful scientific discussion. Hierarchy analysis process (AHP) will be used to state further scenarios of spatial development in Latvia.

Experts from various institutions recognized urban – rural interaction and co-operation as an essential tool for the development. The most important factors for balanced spatial development in Latvia are availability of public transportation and improvement of service availability. Evaluating the three alternative scenarios, it was concluded that the urban – rural partnership will ensure a balanced development in Latvian regions.

Keywords: Rural – urban interaction, rural – urban cooperation, spatial development, AHP.

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Authors: Samedin Mehmeti

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The rationale behind this study is considering combating and preventing the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings from a multidisciplinary perspective that involves many layers of the society. Trafficking in human beings is an abhorrent phenomenon highly affecting negatively the victims and their families in both human and material aspect, sometimes causing irreversible damages. The longer term effects of this phenomenon, in countries with a weak economic development and extremely young and dynamic population, such as Kosovo, without proper measures to prevented and control can cause tremendous damages in the society. Given the fact that a complete eradication of this phenomenon is almost impossible, efforts should be concentrated at least on the prevention and controlling aspects. Treating trafficking in human beings based on traditional police tactics, methods and proceedings cannot bring satisfactory results. There is no doubt that a multi-disciplinary approach is an irreplaceable requirement, in other words, a combination of authentic and functional proactive and reactive methods, techniques and tactics. Obviously, police must exercise its role in preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, a role sanctioned by the law, however, police role and contribution cannot by any means considered complete if all segments of the society are not included in these efforts. Naturally, civil society should have an important share in these collaborative and interactive efforts especially in preventive activities such as: awareness on trafficking risks and damages, proactive engagement in drafting appropriate legislation and strategies, law enforcement monitoring and direct or indirect involvement in protective and supporting activities which benefit the victims of trafficking etc.

Keywords: Civil society, cooperation, police, trafficking in human beings.

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Authors: A. Abbas Khalaf, L. Issazadeh, Z. Arif Abdullah, J. Hassanpour

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In order to evaluate the growth and yield properties of two Sorghum-Sudangrass hybrids under different irrigation levels, an investigation was done in the experiment site of Collage of Agriculture, University of Duhok, Kurdistan region of Iraq (36°5´38^⸗ N, 42°52´02^⸗ E) in the years 2015-16. The experiment was conducted under Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications, which main factor was irrigation treatments (I₁₀₀, I₇₅ and I₅₀) according to evaporation pan class A and type of Sorghum-Sudangrass hybrids (KH12SU9001, G₁) and (KH12SU9002, G₂) were factors of subplots. The parameters studied were: plant height (cm), number of green leaves per plant; leaf area (m²/m²), stem thickness (mm), percent of protein, fresh and dry biomass (ton.ha^-1) and also crop water productivity. The results of variance analysis showed that KH12SU9001 variety had more amount of leaf area, percent of protein, fresh and dry biomass yield in comparison to KH12SU9002 variety. By comparing effects of irrigation levels on vegetative growth and yield properties, results showed that amount of plant height, fresh and dry biomass weight was decreased by decreasing irrigation level from full irrigation regime to 5 _o% of irrigation level. Also, results of crop water productivity (CWP) indicated that improvement in quantity of irrigation would impact fresh and dry biomass yield significantly. Full irrigation regime was recorded the highest level of CWP (1.28-1.29 kg.m^-3).

Keywords: Deficit irrigation, growth, Sorghum-Sudangrass hybrid, yield.

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Authors: Prasanta Kundu, N.K. Kishore, A.K. Sinha

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Insulation used in transformer is mostly oil pressboard insulation. Insulation failure is one of the major causes of catastrophic failure of transformers. It is established that partial discharges (PD) cause insulation degradation and premature failure of insulation. Online monitoring of PDs can reduce the risk of catastrophic failure of transformers. There are different techniques of partial discharge measurement like, electrical, optical, acoustic, opto-acoustic and ultra high frequency (UHF). Being non invasive and non interference prone, acoustic emission technique is advantageous for online PD measurement. Acoustic detection of p.d. is based on the retrieval and analysis of mechanical or pressure signals produced by partial discharges. Partial discharges are classified according to the origin of discharges. Their effects on insulation deterioration are different for different types. This paper reports experimental results and analysis for classification of partial discharges using acoustic emission signal of laboratory simulated partial discharges in oil pressboard insulation system using three different electrode systems. Acoustic emission signal produced by PD are detected by sensors mounted on the experimental tank surface, stored on an oscilloscope and fed to computer for further analysis. The measured AE signals are analyzed using discrete wavelet transform analysis and wavelet packet analysis. Energy distribution in different frequency bands of discrete wavelet decomposed signal and wavelet packet decomposed signal is calculated. These analyses show a distinct feature useful for PD classification. Wavelet packet analysis can sort out any misclassification arising out of DWT in most cases.

Keywords: Acoustic emission, discrete wavelet transform, partial discharge, wavelet packet analysis.

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Authors: Win Win Tun, Han Su Yin, Ohn Zin Lin

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Transmission networks are an important part of an electric power system. The transmission lines not only have high power transmission capacity but also they are prone of larger magnitudes. Different types of faults occur in transmission lines such as single line to ground (L-G) fault, double line to ground (L-L-G) fault, line to line (L-L) fault and three phases (L-L-L) fault. These faults are needed to be cleared quickly in order to reduce damage caused to the system and they have high impact on the electrical power system equipment’s which are connected in transmission line. The main fault in transmission line is L-G fault. Therefore, protection relays are needed to protect transmission line. Overcurrent and earth fault relay is an important relay used to protect transmission lines, distribution feeders, transformers and bus couplers etc. Sometimes these relays can be used as main protection or backup protection. The modeling of protection relays is important to indicate the effects of network parameters and configurations on the operation of relays. Therefore, the modeling of overcurrent and earth fault relay is described in this paper. The overcurrent and earth fault relays with standard inverse definite minimum time are modeled and simulated by using MATLAB/Simulink software. The developed model was tested with L-G, L-L-G, L-L and L-L-L faults with various fault locations and fault resistance (0.001Ω). The simulation results are obtained by MATLAB software which shows the feasibility of analysis of transmission line protection with overcurrent and earth fault relay.

Keywords: Transmission line, overcurrent and earth fault relay, standard inverse definite minimum time, various faults, MATLAB Software.

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Authors: Mliki Bouchmel, Belgacem Nabil, Abbassi Mohamed Ammar, Geudri Kamel, Omri Ahmed

Abstract:

In this numerical work, mixed convection and entropy generation of Cu–water nanofluid in a lid-driven square cavity have been investigated numerically using the Lattice Boltzmann Method. Horizontal walls of the cavity are adiabatic and vertical walls have constant temperature but different values. The top wall has been considered as moving from left to right at a constant speed, U0. The effects of different parameters such as nanoparticle volume concentration (0–0.05), Rayleigh number (104–106) and Reynolds numbers (1, 10 and 100) on the entropy generation, flow and temperature fields are studied. The results have shown that addition of nanoparticles to the base fluid affects the entropy generation, flow pattern and thermal behavior especially at higher Rayleigh and low Reynolds numbers. For pure fluid as well as nanofluid, the increase of Reynolds number increases the average Nusselt number and the total entropy generation, linearly. The maximum entropy generation occurs in nanofluid at low Rayleigh number and at high Reynolds number. The minimum entropy generation occurs in pure fluid at low Rayleigh and Reynolds numbers. Also at higher Reynolds number, the effect of Cu nanoparticles on enhancement of heat transfer was decreased because the effect of lid-driven cavity was increased. The present results are validated by favorable comparisons with previously published results. The results of the problem are presented in graphical and tabular forms and discussed.

Keywords: Entropy generation, mixed convection, nanofluid, lattice Boltzmann method.

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Authors: Ana Gabriela Diaz, Luis Fermín Córdova, Jr., Roberto Lamazares

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The island of Cuba, the largest of the Greater Antilles, is located in the tropical North Atlantic. It is annually affected by numerous weather events, which have caused severe damage to our coastal areas. In the same way that many other coastlines around the world, the beautiful beaches of the Hicacos Peninsula also suffer from erosion. This leads to a structural regression of the coastline. If measures are not taken, the hotels will be exposed to the advance of the sea, and it will be a serious problem for the economy. With the aim of studying the intensity of this type of activity, specialists of group of coastal and marine engineering from CIH, in the framework of the research conducted within the project MEGACOSTAS 2, provide their research to simulate extreme events and assess their impact in coastal areas, mainly regarding the definition of flood volumes and morphodynamic changes in sandy beaches. The main objective of this work is the evaluation of the process of Varadero beach erosion (the coastal sector has an important impact in the country's economy) on the Hicacos Peninsula for different paths of hurricanes. The mathematical model XBeach, which was integrated into the Coastal engineering system introduced by the project of MEGACOSTA 2 to determine the area and the more critical profiles for the path of hurricanes under study, was applied. The results of this project have shown that Center area is the greatest dynamic area in the simulation of the three paths of hurricanes under study, showing high erosion volumes and the greatest average length of regression of the coastline, from 15- 22 m.

Keywords: Beach, erosion, mathematical model, coastal areas.

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Authors: M. Kulkarni, R. K. Sinha, D. R. Bhaskar

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In this paper, we have compared the performance of a Turbo and Trellis coded optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) system. The comparison of the two codes has been accomplished by employing optical orthogonal codes (OOCs). The Bit Error Rate (BER) performances have been compared by varying the code weights of address codes employed by the system. We have considered the effects of optical multiple access interference (OMAI), thermal noise and avalanche photodiode (APD) detector noise. Analysis has been carried out for the system with and without double optical hard limiter (DHL). From the simulation results it is observed that a better and distinct comparison can be drawn between the performance of Trellis and Turbo coded systems, at lower code weights of optical orthogonal codes for a fixed number of users. The BER performance of the Turbo coded system is found to be better than the Trellis coded system for all code weights that have been considered for the simulation. Nevertheless, the Trellis coded OCDMA system is found to be better than the uncoded OCDMA system. Trellis coded OCDMA can be used in systems where decoding time has to be kept low, bandwidth is limited and high reliability is not a crucial factor as in local area networks. Also the system hardware is less complex in comparison to the Turbo coded system. Trellis coded OCDMA system can be used without significant modification of the existing chipsets. Turbo-coded OCDMA can however be employed in systems where high reliability is needed and bandwidth is not a limiting factor.

Keywords: avalanche photodiode, optical code division multipleaccess, optical multiple access interference, Trellis codedmodulation, Turbo code

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

Abstract:

This paper will explore formation of HCl aerosol at atmospheric boundary layers and encourages the uptake of environmental modeling systems (EMSs) as a practice evaluation of gaseous emissions (“framework measures”) from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The conceptual model predicts greenhouse gas emissions to ecological points beyond landfill site operations. It focuses on incorporation traditional knowledge into baseline information for both measurement data and the mathematical results, regarding parameters influence model variable inputs. The paper has simplified parameters of aerosol processes based on the more complex aerosol process computations. The simple model can be implemented to both Gaussian and Eulerian rural dispersion models. Aerosol processes considered in this study were (i) the coagulation of particles, (ii) the condensation and evaporation of organic vapors, and (iii) dry deposition. The chemical transformation of gas-phase compounds is taken into account photochemical formulation with exposure effects according to HCl concentrations as starting point of risk assessment. The discussion set out distinctly aspect of sustainability in reflection inputs, outputs, and modes of impact on the environment. Thereby, models incorporate abiotic and biotic species to broaden the scope of integration for both quantification impact and assessment risks. The later environmental obligations suggest either a recommendation or a decision of what is a legislative should be achieved for mitigation measures of landfill gas (LFG) ultimately.

Keywords: Air dispersion model, landfill management, spatial analysis, environmental impact and risk assessment.

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Authors: A. A. Aiyeloja, A.T. Oladele, O. Tumulo

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Raphia wine is an important forest product with cultural significance besides its use as medicine and food in southern Nigeria. This work aims to evaluate the profitability of Raphia wine production and marketing in Sapele Local Government Area, Nigeria. Four communities (Sapele, Ogiede, Okuoke and Elume) were randomly selected for data collection via questionnaires among producers and marketers. A total of 50 producers and 34 marketers were randomly selected for interview. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, profit margin, multiple regression and rate of returns on investment (RORI). Annual average profit was highest in Okuoke (Producers – N90, 000.00, Marketers - N70, 000.00) and least in Sapele (Producers N50, 000.00, Marketers – N45, 000.00). Calculated RORI for marketers were Elume (40.0%), Okuoke (25.0%), Ogiede (33.3%) and Sapele (50.0%). Regression results showed that location has significant effects (0.000, ρ ≤ 0.05) on profit margins. Male (58.8%) and female (41.2%) invest in Raphia wine marketing, while males (100.0%) dominate production. Results showed that Raphia wine has potentials to generate household income, enhance food security and improve quality of life in rural, semi-urban and urban communities. Improved marketing channels, storage facilities and credit facilities via cooperative groups are recommended for producers and marketers by concerned agencies.

Keywords: Raphia wine, Profit margin, RORI, Livelihood, Nigeria.

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Authors: Atif Mehmood, Said M. Easa

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This paper develops driver reaction-time models for car-following analysis based on human factors. The reaction time was classified as brake-reaction time (BRT) and acceleration/deceleration reaction time (ADRT). The BRT occurs when the lead vehicle is barking and its brake light is on, while the ADRT occurs when the driver reacts to adjust his/her speed using the gas pedal only. The study evaluates the effect of driver characteristics and traffic kinematic conditions on the driver reaction time in a car-following environment. The kinematic conditions introduced urgency and expectancy based on the braking behaviour of the lead vehicle at different speeds and spacing. The kinematic conditions were used for evaluating the BRT and are classified as normal, surprised, and stationary. Data were collected on a driving simulator integrated into a real car and included the BRT and ADRT (as dependent variables) and driver-s age, gender, driving experience, driving intensity (driving hours per week), vehicle speed, and spacing (as independent variables). The results showed that there was a significant difference in the BRT at normal, surprised, and stationary scenarios and supported the hypothesis that both urgency and expectancy had significant effects on BRT. Driver-s age, gender, speed, and spacing were found to be significant variables for the BRT in all scenarios. The results also showed that driver-s age and gender were significant variables for the ADRT. The research presented in this paper is part of a larger project to develop a driversensitive in-vehicle rear-end collision warning system.

Keywords: Brake reaction time, car-following, human factors, modeling.

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Authors: M.Ghotbi, M.Ghotbi, Gh. Azari Takami

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In this study Vitaton (an organic supplement which contains fermentative β-carotene) and synthetic astaxanthin (CAROPHYLL® Pink) were evaluated as pro-growth factors in Rainbow trout diet. An 8 week feeding trial was conducted to determine the effects of Vitaton versus astaxanthin on rearing factors, survival rate and visual flesh color of Rainbow trout (Oncorhnchynchus mykiss) with initial weight of 196±5. Four practical diets were formulated to contain 50 and 80 (ppm) of β- carotene and astaxanthin and also a control diet was prepared without any pigment. Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of fish rearing in fresh water. Fish were fed twice daily. The water temperature fluctuated from 12 to 15 (C˚) and also dissolved oxygen content was between 7 to 7.5 (mg/lit) during the experimental period. At the end of the experiment, growth and food utilization parameters and survival rate were unaffected by dietary treatments (p>0.05). Also, there was no significant difference between carcass yield within treatments (p>0.05). No significant difference recognized between visual flesh color (SalmoFan score) of fish fed Vitaton-containing diets. On the contrary, feeding on diets containing 50 and 80 (ppm) of astaxanthin, increased SalmoFan score (flesh astaxanthin concentration) from <20 (<1 mg/kg) to 23.33 (2.03 mg/kg) and 27.67 (5.74 mg/kg), respectively. Ultimately, a significant difference was seen between flesh carotenoid concentrations of fish feeding on astaxanthin containing treatments and control treatment (P<0.05). It should be mentioned that just raw fillet color of fish belonged to 80 (ppm) of astaxanthin treatment was seen to be close to color targets (SalmoFan scores) adopted for harvest-size fish.

Keywords: Astaxanthin, Flesh color, Rainbow trout, Vitaton, β- carotene,

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Authors: G. Gokceli, O. Eksik, E. Ozkan Zayim, N. Karatepe

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Alternative electrode materials for optoelectronic devices have been widely investigated in recent years. Since indium tin oxide (ITO) is the most preferred transparent conductive electrode, producing ITO films by simple and cost-effective solution-based techniques with enhanced optical and electrical properties has great importance. In this study, single- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT and MWCNT) incorporated into the ITO structure to increase electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, and chemical stability. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were firstly functionalized by acid treatment (HNO₃:H₂SO₄), and the thermal resistance of CNTs after functionalization was determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Thin films were then prepared by spin coating technique and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), four-point probe measurement system and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The effects of process parameters were compared for ITO, MWCNT-ITO, and SWCNT-ITO films. Two factors including CNT concentration and annealing temperature were considered. The UV-Vis measurements demonstrated that the transmittance of ITO films was 83.58% at 550 nm, which was decreased depending on the concentration of CNT dopant. On the other hand, both CNT dopants provided an enhancement in the crystalline structure and electrical conductivity. Due to compatible diameter and better dispersibility of SWCNTs in the ITO solution, the best result in terms of electrical conductivity was obtained by SWCNT-ITO films with the 0.1 g/L SWCNT dopant concentration and heat-treatment at 550 °C for 1 hour.

Keywords: CNT incorporation, ITO electrode, spin coating, thin film.

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Authors: Ayman El Sabagh, Celaleddin Barutçular, Hirofumi Saneoka

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Drought is one of the most serious problems posing a grave threat to cereals production including maize. Maize improvement in drought-stress tolerance poses a great challenge as the global need for food and bio-energy increases. Thus, the current study was planned to explore the variations and determine the performance of target traits of maize hybrids at grain growth stage under drought conditions during 2014 under Adana, Mediterranean climate conditions, Turkey. Maize hybrids (Sancia, Indaco, 71May69, Aaccel, Calgary, 70May82, 72May80) were evaluated under (irrigated and water stress). Results revealed that, grain yield and yield traits had a negative effects because of water stress conditions compared with the normal irrigation. As well as, based on the result under normal irrigation, the maximum biological yield and harvest index were recorded. According to the differences among hybrids were found that, significant differences were observed among hybrids with respect to yield and yield traits under current research. Based on the results, grain weight had more effect on grain yield than grain number during grain filling growth stage under water stress conditions. In this concern, according to low drought susceptibility index (less grain yield losses), the hybrid (Indaco) was more stable in grain number and grain weight. Consequently, it may be concluded that this hybrid would be recommended for use in the future breeding programs for production of drought tolerant hybrids.

Keywords: Drought susceptibility index, grain filling, grain yield, maize, water stress.

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