Search results for: Local Perspective

Authors: G. V. Byrd, B. B. Ghaley, E. Hayashi

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In urban farming, research and innovation are taking place at an unprecedented pace, and soilless growing technologies are emerging at different rates motivated by different objectives in various parts of the world. Local food production is ultimately a main objective everywhere, but adoption rates and expressions vary with socio-economic drivers. Herein, the status of hydroponics and aquaponics is summarized for four countries with diverse socio-economic settings: Europe (Denmark), Asia (Japan and Nepal) and North America (US). In Denmark, with a strong environmental ethic, soilless growing is increasing in urban agriculture because it is considered environmentally friendly. In Japan, soil-based farming is being replaced with commercial plant factories using advanced technology such as complete environmental control and computer monitoring. In Nepal, where rapid loss of agricultural land is occurring near cities, dozens of hydroponics and aquaponics systems have been built in the past decade, particularly in “non-traditional” sites such as roof tops to supplement family food. In the US, where there is also strong interest in locally grown fresh food, backyard and commercial systems have proliferated. Nevertheless, soilless growing is still in the research and development and early adopter stages, and the broad contribution of hydroponics and aquaponics to food security is yet to be fully determined. Nevertheless, current adoption of these technologies in diverse environments in different socio-economic settings highlights the potential contribution to food security with social and environmental benefits which contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals.

Keywords: Aquaponics, hydroponics, soilless agriculture, urban agriculture.

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Authors: Vishnu Raj, Chockalingam Prathap

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The objective of this study was to explore the impact of variation in the exit annular area on the local flow field features and the flame stability of an annular premixed swirl burner (unconfined) operated with a premixed n-butane air mixture at an equivalence ratio (Φ) = 1, 1 bar, and 300K. A swirl burner with an axial swirl generator having a swirl number of 1.5 was used. Three different burner heads were chosen to have the exit area increased from 100%, 160%, and 220% resulting in inner and outer diameters and cross-sectional areas as (1) 10 mm & 15 mm, 98 mm2 (2) 17.5 mm & 22.5 mm, 157 mm2 and (3) 25 mm & 30 mm, 216 mm2. The bulk velocity and Reynolds number based on the hydraulic diameter and unburned gas properties were kept constant at 12 m/s and 4000. (i) Planar Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) with TiO2 seeding particles and (ii) CH* chemiluminescence was used to measure the velocity fields and reaction zones of the swirl flames at 5 Hz, respectively. Velocity fields and the jet spreading rates measured at the isothermal and reactive conditions revealed that the presence of a flame significantly altered the flow field in the radial direction due to the gas expansion. Important observations from the flame measurements were: the height and maximum width of the recirculation bubbles normalized by the hydraulic diameter, and the jet spreading angles for the flames for the three exit area cases were: (a) 4.52, 1.95, 34◦, (b) 6.78, 2.37, 26◦, and (c) 8.73, 2.32, 22◦. The lean blowout (LBO) was also measured, and the respective equivalence ratios were: 0.80, 0.92, and 0.82. LBO was relatively narrow for the 157 mm2 case. For this case, PIV measurements showed that Turbulent Kinetic Energy and turbulent intensity were relatively high compared to the other two cases, resulting in higher stretch rates and narrower LBO.

Keywords: Chemiluminescence, jet spreading rate, lean blow out, swirl flow.

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Authors: Gysele Lima Ricci, Jose Miguel Rodriguez Anton

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Companies in the tourism sector need to achieve competitive advantages for their survival in the market. In this way, the models based on association, cooperation, complementarity, distribution, exchange and mutual assistance arise as a possibility of organizational development, taking as reference the concept of networks. Many companies seek to partner in local networks as clusters to act together and associate. The main objective of the present research is to identify the specificities of management and the practices of cooperation in the tourist destination of São Paulo - Brazil, and to propose a new management model with possible cluster of tourism. The empirical analysis was carried out in three phases. As a first phase, a research was made by the companies, associations and tourism organizations existing in São Paulo, analyzing the characteristics of their business. In the second phase, the management specificities and cooperation practice used in the tourist destination. And in the third phase, identifying the possible strengths and weaknesses that potential or potential tourist cluster could have, proposing the development of the management model of the same adapted to the needs of the companies, associations and organizations. As a main result, it has been identified that companies, associations and organizations could be looking for synergies with each other and collaborate through a Hiperred organizational structure, in which they share their knowledge, try to make the most of the collaboration and to benefit from three concepts: flexibility, learning and collaboration. Finally, it is concluded that, the proposed tourism cluster management model is viable for the development of tourism destinations because it makes it possible to strategically address agents which are responsible for public policies, as well as public and private companies and organizations in their strategies competitiveness and cooperation.

Keywords: Cluster, management model, networks, tourism sector.

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Authors: Aspasia Koutsokosta, Stefanos Katsavounis

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This paper reviews the model-based qualitative and quantitative Operations Management research in the context of Construction Supply Chain Management (CSCM). Construction industry has been traditionally blamed for low productivity, cost and time overruns, waste, high fragmentation and adversarial relationships. The construction industry has been slower than other industries to employ the Supply Chain Management (SCM) concept and develop models that support the decision-making and planning. However the last decade there is a distinct shift from a project-based to a supply-based approach of construction management. CSCM comes up as a new promising management tool of construction operations and improves the performance of construction projects in terms of cost, time and quality. Modeling the Construction Supply Chain (CSC) offers the means to reap the benefits of SCM, make informed decisions and gain competitive advantage. Different modeling approaches and methodologies have been applied in the multi-disciplinary and heterogeneous research field of CSCM. The literature review reveals that a considerable percentage of the CSC modeling research accommodates conceptual or process models which present general management frameworks and do not relate to acknowledged soft Operations Research methods. We particularly focus on the model-based quantitative research and categorize the CSCM models depending on their scope, objectives, modeling approach, solution methods and software used. Although over the last few years there has been clearly an increase of research papers on quantitative CSC models, we identify that the relevant literature is very fragmented with limited applications of simulation, mathematical programming and simulation-based optimization. Most applications are project-specific or study only parts of the supply system. Thus, some complex interdependencies within construction are neglected and the implementation of the integrated supply chain management is hindered. We conclude this paper by giving future research directions and emphasizing the need to develop optimization models for integrated CSCM. We stress that CSC modeling needs a multi-dimensional, system-wide and long-term perspective. Finally, prior applications of SCM to other industries have to be taken into account in order to model CSCs, but not without translating the generic concepts to the context of construction industry.

Keywords: Construction supply chain management, modeling, operations research, optimization and simulation.

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Authors: Andrea Zielke-Nadkarni

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Pain management is a question of quality of life and an indicator for nursing quality. Chronic pain which is predominant in oncology and palliative nursing situations is perceived today as a multifactorial, individual emotional experience with specific characteristics including the sociocultural dimension when dealing with migrant patients. This dimension of chronic pain is of major importance in professional nursing of migrant patients in hospices or palliative care units. Objectives of the study are: 1. To find out more about the sociocultural views on pain and nursing care, on customs and nursing practices connected with pain of both Turkish Muslim and German Christian women, 2. To improve individual and family oriented nursing practice with view to sociocultural needs of patients in severe pain in palliative care. In a qualitative-explorative comparative study 4 groups of women, Turkish Muslims immigrants (4 from the first generation, 5 from the second generation) and German Christian women of two generations (5 of each age group) of the same age groups as the Turkish women and with similar educational backgrounds were interviewed (semistructured ethnographic interviews using Spradley, 1979) on their perceptions and experiences of pain and nursing care within their families. For both target groups the presentation will demonstrate the following results in detail: Utterance of pain as well as “private” and “public” pain vary within different societies and cultures. Permitted forms of pain utterance are learned in childhood and determine attitudes and expectations in adulthood. Language, especially when metaphors and symbols are used, plays a major role for misunderstandings. The sociocultural context of illness may include specific beliefs that are important to the patients and yet seem more than far-fetched from a biomedical perspective. Pain can be an influential factor in family relationships where respect or hierarchies do not allow the direct utterance of individual needs. Specific resources are often, although not exclusively, linked to religious convictions and are significantly helpful in reducing pain. The discussion will evaluate the results of the study with view to the relevant literature and present nursing interventions and instruments beyond medication that are helpful when dealing with patients from various socio-cultural backgrounds in painful end-oflife situations.

Keywords: Pain management, migrants, sociocultural context, palliative care.

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Authors: A. Ouargui, N. Belouaggadia, M. Ezzine

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In Morocco, the building sector is largely responsible for the evolution of energy consumption. The control of energy in this sector remains a major issue despite the rise of renewable energies. The design of an environmentally friendly building requires mastery and knowledge of energy and bioclimatic aspects. This implies taking into consideration of all the elements making up the building and the way in which energy exchanges take place between these elements. In this context, thermal insulation seems to be an ideal starting point for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, thermal insulation seems to be an ideal starting point for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this work is to provide some solutions to reduce energy consumption while maintaining thermal comfort in the building. The objective of our work is to present an experimental study on the characterization of local materials used in the thermal insulation of buildings. These are paper recycling stabilized with cement and clay. The thermal conductivity of these materials, which were constituted based on sand, clay, cement; water, as well as treated paper, was determined by the guarded-hot-plate method. It involves the design of two materials that will subsequently be subjected to thermal and mechanical tests to determine their thermophysical properties. The results show that the thermal conductivity decreases as well in the case of the paper-cement mixture as that of the paper-clay and seems to stabilize around 40%. Measurements of mechanical properties such as flexural strength have shown that the enrichment of the studied material with paper makes it possible to reduce the flexural strength by 20% while optimizing the conductivity.

Keywords: Building, composite material, insulation, thermal conductivity, paper residue.

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Authors: Cigdem Safak Saglam

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Most thermal power plants use steam as working fluid in their power cycle. Therefore, in addition to fuel, water is the other main input for thermal plants. Water and steam must be highly pure in order to protect the systems from corrosion, scaling and biofouling. Pure process water is produced in water treatment plants having many several treatment methods. Treatment plant design is selected depending on raw water source and required water quality. Although working principle of fossil-fuel fired thermal power plants are same, there is no standard design and equipment arrangement valid for all thermal power plant utility systems. Besides that, there are many other technology evaluation and selection criteria for designing the most optimal water systems meeting the requirements such as local conditions, environmental restrictions, electricity and other consumables availability and transport, process water sources and scarcity, land use constraints etc. Aim of this study is explaining the adopted methodology for technology selection for process water preparation and industrial waste water treatment plant in a thermal power plant project located in Tufanbeyli, Adana Province in Turkey. Thermal power plant is fired with indigenous lignite coal extracted from adjacent lignite reserves. This paper addresses all above-mentioned factors affecting the thermal power plant water treatment facilities (demineralization + waste water treatment) design and describes the ultimate design of Tufanbeyli Thermal Power Plant Water Treatment Plant.

Keywords: Thermal power plant, lignite coal, pre-treatment, demineralization, electrodialysis, recycling, waste water, process water.

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Authors: Hanh Thi My Nguyen

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The purpose of this research is to examine the experiences of parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing in supporting their children to access education in Vietnam. Parents play a crucial role in supporting their children to gain full access to education. It was widely reported that parents of those children confronted a range of problems to support their children to access education. To author’s best knowledge, there has been a lack of research exploring the experiences of those parents in literature. This research examines factors affecting those parents in supporting their children to access education. To conduct the study, qualitative approach using a phenomenological research design was chosen to explore the central phenomena. Ten parents of children who were diagnosed as deaf or hard of hearing and aged 6-9 years were recruited through the support of the Association of Parents of Children with Hearing Impairment. Participants were interviewed via telephone with a mix of open and closed questions; interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. The research results show that there are nine main factors that affected the parents in this study in making decisions relating to education for their children including: lack of information resources, perspectives of those parents on communication approaches, the families’ financial capacity, the psychological impact on the participants after their children’ diagnosis, the attitude of family members, attitude of school administrators, lack of local schools and qualified teachers, and current education system for the deaf in Vietnam. Apart from those factors, the lack of knowledge of the participants’ partners about deaf education and the partners’ employment are barriers to educational access and successful communication with their child.

Keywords: Access to education, deaf, hard of hearing, parents experience.

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Authors: Shahana T. K., Babita R. Jose, K. Poulose Jacob, Sreela Sasi

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The modern telecommunication industry demands higher capacity networks with high data rate. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a promising technique for high data rate wireless communications at reasonable complexity in wireless channels. OFDM has been adopted for many types of wireless systems like wireless local area networks such as IEEE 802.11a, and digital audio/video broadcasting (DAB/DVB). The proposed research focuses on a concatenated coding scheme that improve the performance of OFDM based wireless communications. It uses a Redundant Residue Number System (RRNS) code as the outer code and a convolutional code as the inner code. Here, a direct conversion of analog signal to residue domain is done to reduce the conversion complexity using sigma-delta based parallel analog-to-residue converter. The bit error rate (BER) performances of the proposed system under different channel conditions are investigated. These include the effect of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), multipath delay spread, peak power clipping and frame start synchronization error. The simulation results show that the proposed RRNS-Convolutional concatenated coding (RCCC) scheme provides significant improvement in the system performance by exploiting the inherent properties of RRNS.

Keywords: Analog-to-residue converter, Concatenated codes, OFDM, Redundant Residue Number System, Sigma-delta modulator, Wireless communication

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Authors: Wan-Ting Liao, Angela K. Tzeng

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Empathy has been an important issue in psychology, education, as well as cognitive neuroscience. Empathy has two major components: cognitive and emotional. Cognitive component refers to the ability to understand others’ perspectives, thoughts, and actions, whereas emotional component refers to understand how others feel. Empathy can be induced, attitude can then be changed, and with enough attitude change, helping behavior can occur. This finding leads us to two questions: is attitude change really necessary for prosocial behavior? And, what roles cognitive and affective empathy play? For the second question, participants with different psychopathic personality (PP) traits are critical because high PP people were found to suffer only affective empathy deficit. Their cognitive empathy shows no significant difference from the control group. 132 college students voluntarily participated in the current three-stage study. Stage 1 was to collect basic information including Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R), Attitude Scale, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and demographic data. Stage two was for empathy induction with three controversial scenarios, namely domestic violence, depression with a suicide attempt, and an ex-offender. Participants read all three stories and then rewrite the stories by one of two perspectives (empathetic vs. objective). They would then complete the VAS and Attitude Scale one more time for their post-attitude and emotional status. Three IVs were introduced for data analysis: PP (High vs. Low), Responsibility (whether or not the character is responsible for what happened), and Perspective-taking (Empathic vs. Objective). Stage 3 was for the action. Participants were instructed to freely use the 17 tokens they received as donations. They were debriefed and interviewed at the end of the experiment. The major findings were people with higher empathy tend to take more action in helping. Attitude change is not necessary for prosocial behavior. The controversy of the scenarios and how familiar participants are towards target groups play very important roles. Finally, people with high PP tend to show more public prosocial behavior due to their affective empathy deficit. Pre-existing value and belief as well as recent dramatic social events seem to have a big impact and possibly reduce the effect of the independent variables (IV) in our paradigm.

Keywords: Affective empathy, attitude, cognitive empathy, prosocial behavior, psychopathic traits.

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Authors: Kalangi Rodrigo, Kelum Manamendra-Arachchi

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Bones, teeth, and shells have been acknowledged over the last two centuries as evidence of chronology, Palaeo-environment, and human activity. Faunal traces are valid evidence of past situations because they have properties that have not changed over long periods. Sri Lanka has been known as an Island, which has a diverse variety of prehistoric occupation among ecological zones. Defining the Paleoecology of the past societies has been an archaeological thought developed in the 1960s. It is mainly concerned with the reconstruction from available geological and biological evidence of past biota, populations, communities, landscapes, environments, and ecosystems. This early and persistent human fossil, technical, and cultural florescence, as well as a collection of well-preserved tropical-forest rock shelters with associated 'on-site ' Palaeoenvironmental records, makes Sri Lanka a central and unusual case study to determine the extent and strength of early human tropical forest encounters. Excavations carried out in prehistoric caves in the low country wet zone has shown that in the last 50,000 years, the temperature in the lowland rainforests has not exceeded 5 degrees. Based on Semnopithecus Priam (Gray Langur) remains unearthed from wet zone prehistoric caves, it has been argued periods of momentous climate changes during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene boundary, with a recognizable preference for semi-open ‘Intermediate’ rainforest or edges. Continuous genus Acavus and Oligospira occupation along with uninterrupted horizontal pervasive of Canarium sp. (‘kekuna’ nut) have proven that temperatures in the lowland rain forests have not changed by at least 5 °C over the last 50,000 years. Site catchment or territorial analysis cannot be any longer defensible, due to time-distance based factors as well as optimal foraging theory failed as a consequence of prehistoric people were aware of the decrease in cost-benefit ratio and located sites, and generally played out a settlement strategy that minimized the ratio of energy expended to energy produced.

Keywords: Palaeo-environment, palaeo-ecology, palaeo-climate, prehistory, zooarchaeology.

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Authors: S. S. Pathak, M. A. Borkar, S. S. Patel

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To compare Healing Effects of an Ayurvedic Preparation and Silver Sulfadiazine on burn wounds in Albino Rats. Methods: Albino rats– 30 male / female rats weighing between 150-200 g were used in the study. They were individually housed and maintained on normal diet and water ad libitum. Partial thickness burn wounds were inflicted, on overnight-starved animals under pentobarbitone (30mg/kg, i.p.) anaesthesia, by pouring hot molten wax at 80oC into a plastic cylinder of 300 mm2 circular openings placed on the shaven back of the animal. Apart from the drugs under investigation no local/ systemic chemotherapeutic cover will be provided to animals. All the animals were assessed for the percentage of wound contraction, signs of infection, scab formation and histopathological examination. Results: Percentage of wound healing was significantly better in the test ointment group compared to the standard. Signs of infection were observed in more animals in the test ointment group compared to the standard. Scab formation also took place earlier in the test ointment group compared to standard. Epithelial regeneration and healing profile was better in the test ointment compared to the standard. Moreover the test ointment group did not show any raised margins in the wound or blackish discoloration as was observed in silver sulfadiazine group. Conclusion: The burn wound healing effect of the ayurvedic ointment under study is better in comparison to standard therapy of silver sulfadiazine. The problem of infection encountered with the test ointment can be overcome by changing the concentrations and proportions of the ingredients in the test ointment which constitutes the further plan of the study.

Keywords: Ayurvedic test ointment, burn wounds, Silver sulfadiazine.

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Authors: Helena M. Wilhelm, Paulo O. Fernandes, Laís P. Dill, Kethlyn G. Moscon

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The use of vegetable oil (or natural ester) as an insulating fluid in electrical transformers is a trend that aims to contribute to environmental preservation since it is biodegradable and non-toxic. Besides, vegetable oil has high flash and combustion points, being considered a fire safety fluid. However, vegetable oil is usually less stable towards oxidation than mineral oil. Both insulating fluids, mineral and vegetable oils, need to be tested periodically according to specific standards. Oxidation stability can be determined by the induction period measured by conductivity method (Rancimat) by monitoring the effectivity of oil’s antioxidant additives, a methodology already developed for food application and biodiesel but still not standardized for insulating fluids. Besides adequate oxidation stability, fluids must be compatible with transformer's construction materials under normal operating conditions to ensure that damage to the oil and parts of the transformer does not occur. ASTM standard and Brazilian normative differ in parameters evaluated, which reveals the need to regulate tests for each oil type. The aim of this study was to assess oxidation stability and compatibility of vegetable oils to suggest the best way to assure a viable performance of vegetable oil as transformer insulating fluid. The determination of the induction period for several vegetable insulating oils from the local market by using Rancimat was carried out according to BS EN 14112 standard, at different temperatures (110, 120, and 130 °C). Also, the compatibility of vegetable oil was assessed according to ASTM and ABNT NBR standards. The main results showed that the best temperature for use in the Rancimat test is 130 °C, which allows a better observation of conductivity change. The compatibility test results presented differences between vegetable and mineral oil standards that should be taken into account in oil testing since materials compatibility and oxidation stability are essential for equipment reliability.

Keywords: Compatibility, Rancimat, natural ester, vegetable oil.

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Authors: María D. Groppa, Andrea Trentini, Myriam Zawoznik, Roxana Bigi, Carlos Nadra, Patricia L. Marconi

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In the present work, a remediation bioprocess based on the use of a local isolate of the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris immobilized in alginate beads is proposed. This process was shown to be effective for the reduction of several chemical and microbial contaminants present in Cildáñez stream, a water course that is part of the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin (Buenos Aires, Argentina). The bioprocess, involving the culture of the microalga in autotrophic conditions in a stirred-tank bioreactor supplied with a marine propeller for 6 days, allowed a significant reduction of Escherichia coli and total coliform numbers (over 95%), as well as of ammoniacal nitrogen (96%), nitrates (86%), nitrites (98%), and total phosphorus (53%) contents. Pb content was also significantly diminished after the bioprocess (95%). Standardized cytotoxicity tests using Allium cepa seeds and Cildáñez water pre- and post-remediation were also performed. Germination rate and mitotic index of onion seeds imbibed in Cildáñez water subjected to the bioprocess was similar to that observed in seeds imbibed in distilled water and significantly superior to that registered when untreated Cildáñez water was used for imbibition. Our results demonstrate the potential of this simple and cost-effective technology to remove urban-water contaminants, offering as an additional advantage the possibility of an easy biomass recovery, which may become a source of alternative energy.

Keywords: Bioreactor, bioremediation, Chlorella vulgaris, Matanza-Riachuelo basin, microalgae.

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Authors: Elena C. Tamaş, Grațiela M. Țârlea, Gianni Flamaropol, Dragoș Hera

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This article is referring to a comparative study regarding the electrical energy consumption for lighting on diverse types of big sizes commercial buildings built in Romania after 2007, having 3, 4, 5 versus 8, 9, 10 operational years. Some buildings have installed building management systems (BMS) to monitor also the lighting performances starting with the opening days till the present days but some have chosen only local meters to implement. Firstly, for each analyzed building, the total required energy power and the energy power consumption for lighting were calculated depending on the lamps number, the unit power and the average daily running hours. All objects and installations were chosen depending on the destination/location of the lighting (exterior parking or access, interior or covering parking, building interior and building perimeter). Secondly, to all lighting objects and installations, mechanical counters were installed, and to the ones linked to BMS there were installed the digital meters as well for a better monitoring. Some efficient solutions are proposed to improve the power consumption, for example the 1/3 lighting functioning for the covered and exterior parking lighting to those buildings if can be done. This type of lighting share can be performed on each level, especially on the night shifts. Another example is to use the dimmers to reduce the light level, depending on the executed work in the respective area, and a 30% power energy saving can be achieved. Using the right BMS to monitor, the energy consumption depending on the average operational daily hours and changing the non-performant unit lights with the ones having LED technology or economical ones might increase significantly the energy performances and reduce the energy consumption of the buildings.

Keywords: Lighting consumption, commercial buildings, maintenance, energy performances.

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Authors: A. Irina Mikajlo, B. Jakub Elbl, C. Antonín Kintl, D. Jindřich Kynický, E. Martin Brtnický, F. Jaroslav Záhora

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Present work deals with the possible use of fertigation in agriculture and its impact on the availability of mineral nitrogen (Nmin) in topsoil and subsoil horizons. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate the effect of the organic matter presence in fertigation on microbial transformation and availability of mineral nitrogen forms. The main investigation reason is the potential use of pretreated waste water, as a source of organic carbon (Corg) and residual nutrients (Nmin) for fertigation. Laboratory experiment has been conducted to demonstrate the effect of the arable land fertilization method on the Nmin availability in different depths of the soil with the usage of model experimental containers filled with soil from topsoil and podsoil horizons that were taken from the precise area. Tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia caespitosa) has been chosen as a model plant. The water source protection zone Brezova nad Svitavou has been a research area where significant underground reservoirs of drinking water of the highest quality are located. From the second half of the last century local sources of drinking water show nitrogenous compounds increase that get here almost only from arable lands. Therefore, an attention of the following text focuses on the fate of mineral nitrogen in the complex plant-soil. Research results show that the fertigation application with Corg in a combination with mineral fertilizer can reduce the amount of Nmin leached from topsoil horizon of agricultural soils. In addition, some plants biomass production reduces may occur.

Keywords: Fertigation, fertilizers, mineral nitrogen, soil microorganisms.

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Authors: U K Chakrabarti, Jigisha Parikh

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Hazardous Material transportation by road is coupled with inherent risk of accidents causing loss of lives, grievous injuries, property losses and environmental damages. The most common type of hazmat road accident happens to be the releases (78%) of hazardous substances, followed by fires (28%), explosions (14%) and vapour/ gas clouds (6 %.). The paper is discussing initially the probable 'Impact Zones' likely to be caused by one flammable (LPG) and one toxic (ethylene oxide) chemicals being transported through a sizable segment of a State Highway connecting three notified Industrial zones in Surat district in Western India housing 26 MAH industrial units. Three 'hotspots' were identified along the highway segment depending on the particular chemical traffic and the population distribution within 500 meters on either sides. The thermal radiation and explosion overpressure have been calculated for LPG / Ethylene Oxide BLEVE scenarios along with toxic release scenario for ethylene oxide. Besides, the dispersion calculations for ethylene oxide toxic release have been made for each 'hotspot' location and the impact zones have been mapped for the LOC concentrations. Subsequently, the maximum Initial Isolation and the protective zones were calculated based on ERPG-3 and ERPG-2 values of ethylene oxide respectively which are estimated taking the worst case scenario under worst weather conditions. The data analysis will be helpful to the local administration in capacity building with respect to rescue / evacuation and medical preparedness and quantitative inputs to augment the District Offsite Emergency Plan document.

Keywords: Hotspot, Ethylene Oxide, LPG, MAH (MajorAccident Hazard).

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Authors: Jayden Levy, Garth M. K. Pearce

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An automated fibre placement method has been developed to build through-thickness reinforcement into carbon fibre reinforced plastic laminates during their production, with the goal of increasing delamination fracture toughness while circumventing the additional costs and defects imposed by post-layup stitching and z-pinning. Termed ‘inter-weaving’, the method uses custom placement sequences of thermoset prepreg tows to distribute regular fibre link regions in traditionally clean ply interfaces. Inter-weaving’s impact on mode I delamination fracture toughness was evaluated experimentally through double cantilever beam tests (ASTM standard D5528-13) on [±15°]9 laminates made from Park Electrochemical Corp. E-752-LT 1/4” carbon fibre prepreg tape. Unwoven and inter-woven automated fibre placement samples were compared to those of traditional laminates produced from standard uni-directional plies of the same material system. Unwoven automated fibre placement laminates were found to suffer a mostly constant 3.5% decrease in mode I delamination fracture toughness compared to flat uni-directional plies. Inter-weaving caused significant local fracture toughness increases (up to 50%), though these were offset by a matching overall reduction. These positive and negative behaviours of inter-woven laminates were respectively found to be caused by fibre breakage and matrix deformation at inter-weave sites, and the 3D layering of inter-woven ply interfaces providing numerous paths of least resistance for crack propagation.

Keywords: AFP, automated fibre placement, delamination, fracture toughness, inter-weaving.

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Authors: M. F. Nawaz, S. Gul, T. H. Farooq, M. T. Siddiqui, M. Asif, I. Ahmad, N. K. Niazi

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In Pakistan, major demands of fuel wood and timber wood are fulfilled by agroforestry. However, the information regarding economic significance of agroforestry and its productivity in Pakistan is still insufficient and unreliable. Survey of field conditions to examine the agroforestry status at local level helps us to know the future trends and to formulate the policies for sustainable wood supply. The objectives of this research were to examine the actual status and potential of agroforestry and to point out the barriers that are faced by farmers in the adoption of agroforestry. Research was carried out in Chiniot district, Pakistan because it is the famous city for furniture industry that is largely dependent on farm trees. A detailed survey of district Chiniot was carried out from 150 randomly selected farmer respondents using multi-objective oriented and pre-tested questionnaire. It was found that linear tree planting method was more adopted (45%) as compared to linear + interplanting (42%) and/or compact planting (12.6%). Chi-square values at P-value <0.5 showed that age (11.35) and education (17.09) were two more important factors in the quick adoption of agroforestry as compared to land holdings (P-value of 0.7). The major reason of agroforestry adoption was to obtain income, fodder and fuelwood. The most dominant species in farmlands was shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) but since last five years, mostly farmers were growing Sufeida (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), kikar (Acacia nilotica) and popular (Populus deltoides) on their fields due to “Shisham die-back” problem. It was found that agro-forestry can be increased by providing good quality planting material to farmers and improving wood markets.

Keywords: Agroforestry, trees, services, agriculture, farmers.

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Authors: Abdulhassan Abd. K, Sattar Al-Jabair, Khalid Sultan

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We have measured the pressure drop and convective heat transfer coefficient of water – based AL(25nm),AL2O3(30nm) and CuO(50nm) Nanofluids flowing through a uniform heated circular tube in the fully developed laminar flow regime. The experimental results show that the data for Nanofluids friction factor show a good agreement with analytical prediction from the Darcy's equation for single-phase flow. After reducing the experimental results to the form of Reynolds, Rayleigh and Nusselt numbers. The results show the local Nusselt number and temperature have distribution with the non-dimensional axial distance from the tube entry. Study decided that thenNanofluid as Newtonian fluids through the design of the linear relationship between shear stress and the rate of stress has been the study of three chains of the Nanofluid with different concentrations and where the AL, AL2O3 and CuO – water ranging from (0.25 - 2.5 vol %). In addition to measuring the four properties of the Nanofluid in practice so as to ensure the validity of equations of properties developed by the researchers in this area and these properties is viscosity, specific heat, and density and found that the difference does not exceed 3.5% for the experimental equations between them and the practical. The study also demonstrated that the amount of the increase in heat transfer coefficient for three types of Nano fluid is AL, AL2O3, and CuO – Water and these ratios are respectively (45%, 32%, 25%) with insulation and without insulation (36%, 23%, 19%), and the statement of any of the cases the best increase in heat transfer has been proven that using insulation is better than not using it. I have been using three types of Nano particles and one metallic Nanoparticle and two oxide Nanoparticle and a statement, whichever gives the best increase in heat transfer.

Keywords: Newtonian, NUR factor, Brownian motion

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Authors: Ruoyang Tang, Jianguo Nie

Abstract:

Lateral-torsional bracing members are critical to the stability of girder systems during the construction phase of steel-concrete composite bridges, and the interaction effect of multiple girders plays an essential role in the determination of buckling load. In this paper, an investigation is conducted on the lateral-torsional buckling behavior of the steel girder system which is composed of three or four I-shaped girders and braced by solid web crossbeams. The buckling load for such girder system is comprehensively analyzed and an analytical solution is developed for uniform pressure loading conditions. Furthermore, post-buckling analysis including initial geometric imperfections is performed and parametric studies in terms of bracing density, stiffness ratio as well as the number and spacing of girders are presented in order to find the optimal bracing plans for an arbitrary girder layout. The theoretical solution of critical load on account of local buckling mode shows good agreement with the numerical results in eigenvalue analysis. In addition, parametric analysis results show that both bracing density and stiffness ratio have a significant impact on the initial stiffness, global stability and failure mode of such girder system. Taking into consideration the effect of initial geometric imperfections, an increase in bracing density between adjacent girders can effectively improve the bearing capacity of the structure, and higher beam-girder stiffness ratio can result in a more ductile failure mode.

Keywords: Bracing member, construction stage, lateral-torsional buckling, steel girder system.

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Authors: Carlos Herrera Sierralta, Husain M. Muslim, Meshal T. Alsaiari, Daniel Fischer

Abstract:

The vast majority of piping vibration problems in the Oil & Gas industry are provoked by the process flow characteristics which are basically related to the fluid properties, the type of service and its different operational scenarios. In general, the corrective actions recommended for flow induced vibration in piping systems can be grouped in two major areas: those which affect the excitation mechanisms typically associated to process variables, and those which affect the response mechanism of the pipework per se. Where possible the first option is to try to solve the flow induced problem from the excitation mechanism perspective. However, in producing facilities the approach of changing process parameters might not always be convenient as it could lead to reduction of production rates or it may require the shutdown of the system. That impediment might lead to a second option, which is to modify the response of the piping system to excitation generated by the process flow. In principle, the action of shifting the natural frequency of the system well above the frequency inherent to the process always favours the elimination, or considerably reduces the level of vibration experienced by the piping system. Tightening up the clearances at the supports (ideally zero gap) and adding new static supports at the system, are typical ways of increasing the natural frequency of the piping system. However, only stiffening the piping system may not be sufficient to resolve the vibration problem, and in some cases, it might not be feasible to implement it at all, as the available piping layout could create limitations on adding supports due to thermal expansion/contraction requirements. In these cases, utilization of viscous damper supports could be recommended as these devices can allow relatively large quasi-static movement of piping while providing sufficient capabilities of dissipating the vibration. Therefore, when correctly selected and installed, viscous damper supports can provide a significant effect on the response of the piping system over a wide range of frequencies. Viscous dampers cannot be used to support sustained, static loads. This paper shows over a real case example, a methodology which allows to determine the selection of the viscous damper supports via a dynamic analysis model. By implementing this methodology, it is possible to resolve piping vibration problems by adding new viscous dampers supports to the system. The methodology applied on this paper can be used to resolve similar vibration issues.

Keywords: dynamic analysis, flow induced vibration, piping supports, turbulent flow, slug flow, viscous damper

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Authors: Daehwan Kim, Jaemin Kim, Seongwon Cho, Yongsuk Jang, Sun-Tae Chung, Boo-Gyoun Kim

Abstract:

AAM has been successfully applied to face alignment, but its performance is very sensitive to initial values. In case the initial values are a little far distant from the global optimum values, there exists a pretty good possibility that AAM-based face alignment may converge to a local minimum. In this paper, we propose a progressive AAM-based face alignment algorithm which first finds the feature parameter vector fitting the inner facial feature points of the face and later localize the feature points of the whole face using the first information. The proposed progressive AAM-based face alignment algorithm utilizes the fact that the feature points of the inner part of the face are less variant and less affected by the background surrounding the face than those of the outer part (like the chin contour). The proposed algorithm consists of two stages: modeling and relation derivation stage and fitting stage. Modeling and relation derivation stage first needs to construct two AAM models: the inner face AAM model and the whole face AAM model and then derive relation matrix between the inner face AAM parameter vector and the whole face AAM model parameter vector. In the fitting stage, the proposed algorithm aligns face progressively through two phases. In the first phase, the proposed algorithm will find the feature parameter vector fitting the inner facial AAM model into a new input face image, and then in the second phase it localizes the whole facial feature points of the new input face image based on the whole face AAM model using the initial parameter vector estimated from using the inner feature parameter vector obtained in the first phase and the relation matrix obtained in the first stage. Through experiments, it is verified that the proposed progressive AAM-based face alignment algorithm is more robust with respect to pose, illumination, and face background than the conventional basic AAM-based face alignment algorithm.

Keywords: Face Alignment, AAM, facial feature detection, model matching.

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Authors: F. M. Pisano, M. Ciminello

Abstract:

Aerospace, mechanical, and civil engineering infrastructures can take advantages from damage detection and identification strategies in terms of maintenance cost reduction and operational life improvements, as well for safety scopes. The challenge is to detect so called “barely visible impact damage” (BVID), due to low/medium energy impacts, that can progressively compromise the structure integrity. The occurrence of any local change in material properties, that can degrade the structure performance, is to be monitored using so called Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems, in charge of comparing the structure states before and after damage occurs. SHM seeks for any "anomalous" response collected by means of sensor networks and then analyzed using appropriate algorithms. Independently of the specific analysis approach adopted for structural damage detection and localization, textual reports, tables and graphs describing possible outlier coordinates and damage severity are usually provided as artifacts to be elaborated for information extraction about the current health conditions of the structure under investigation. Visual Analytics can support the processing of monitored measurements offering data navigation and exploration tools leveraging the native human capabilities of understanding images faster than texts and tables. Herein, a SHM system enrichment by integration of a Visual Analytics component is investigated. Analytical dashboards have been created by combining worksheets, so that a useful Visual Analytics tool is provided to structural analysts for exploring the structure health conditions examined by a Principal Component Analysis based algorithm.

Keywords: Interactive dashboards, optical fibers, structural health monitoring, visual analytics.

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Authors: Miguel A. Orellana, Sonia E. Ruiz, Juan Bojórquez

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Optimal load factors (dead, live and seismic) used for the design of buildings may be different, depending of the seismic ground motion characteristics to which they are subjected, which are closely related to the type of soil conditions where the structures are located. The influence of the type of soil on those load factors, is analyzed in the present study. A methodology that is useful for establishing optimal load factors that minimize the cost over the life cycle of the structure is employed; and as a restriction, it is established that the probability of structural failure must be less than or equal to a prescribed value. The life-cycle cost model used here includes different types of costs. The optimization methodology is applied to two groups of reinforced concrete buildings. One set (consisting on 4-, 7-, and 10-story buildings) is located on firm ground (with a dominant period Ts=0.5 s) and the other (consisting on 6-, 12-, and 16-story buildings) on soft soil (Ts=1.5 s) of Mexico City. Each group of buildings is designed using different combinations of load factors. The statistics of the maximums inter-story drifts (associated with the structural capacity) are found by means of incremental dynamic analyses. The buildings located on firm zone are analyzed under the action of 10 strong seismic records, and those on soft zone, under 13 strong ground motions. All the motions correspond to seismic subduction events with magnitudes M=6.9. Then, the structural damage and the expected total costs, corresponding to each group of buildings, are estimated. It is concluded that the optimal load factors combination is different for the design of buildings located on firm ground than that for buildings located on soft soil.

Keywords: Life-cycle cost, optimal load factors, reinforced concrete buildings, total costs, type of soil.

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Authors: Mai. M. Toughan, Ahmed A. A. Sallam, Ashraf O. Abd El-Latif

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Termites are eusocial insects that are found on all continents except Antarctica. Termites have serious destructive impact, damaging local huts and crops of poor subsistence. The annual cost of termite damage and its control is determined in the billions globally. In Egypt, most of these damages are due to the subterranean termite species especially the sand termite, P. hypostoma. Pyrethroids became the primary weapon for subterranean termite control, after the use of chlorpyrifos as a soil termiticide was banned. Despite the important role of pyrethroids in termite control, its extensive use in pest control led to the eventual rise of insecticide resistance which may make many of the pyrethroids ineffective. The ability to diagnose the precise mechanism of pyrethroid resistance in any insect species would be the key component of its management at specified location for a specific population. In the present study, detailed toxicological and biochemical studies was conducted on the mechanism of pyrethroid resistance in P. hypostoma. The susceptibility of field populations of P. hypostoma against deltamethrin, α-cypermethrin and ƛ-cyhalothrin was evaluated. The obtained results revealed that the workers of P. hypostoma have developed high resistance level against the tested pyrethroids. Studies carried out through estimation of detoxification enzyme activity indicated that enhanced esterase and cytochrome P450 activities were probably important mechanisms for pyrethroid resistance in field populations. Elevated esterase activity and also additional esterase isozyme were observed in the pyrethroid-resistant populations compared to the susceptible populations. Strong positive correlation between cytochrome P450 activity and pyrethroid resistance was also reported. |Deltamethrin could be recommended as a resistance-breaking pyrethroid that is active against resistant populations of P. hypostoma.

Keywords: Psammotermes hypostoma, pyrethroid resistance, esterase, cytochrome P450.

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Authors: Foad Hassaninejadafarahani, Scott Ormiston

Abstract:

Reflux condensation occurs in vertical channels and tubes when there is an upward core flow of vapour (or gas-vapour mixture) and a downward flow of the liquid film. The understanding of this condensation configuration is crucial in the design of reflux condensers, distillation columns, and in loss-of-coolant safety analyses in nuclear power plant steam generators. The unique feature of this flow is the upward flow of the vapour-gas mixture (or pure vapour) that retards the liquid flow via shear at the liquid-mixture interface. The present model solves the full, elliptic governing equations in both the film and the gas-vapour core flow. The computational mesh is non-orthogonal and adapts dynamically the phase interface, thus produces a sharp and accurate interface. Shear forces and heat and mass transfer at the interface are accounted for fundamentally. This modeling is a big step ahead of current capabilities by removing the limitations of previous reflux condensation models which inherently cannot account for the detailed local balances of shear, mass, and heat transfer at the interface. Discretisation has been done based on finite volume method and co-located variable storage scheme. An in-house computer code was developed to implement the numerical solution scheme. Detailed results are presented for laminar reflux condensation from steam-air mixtures flowing in vertical parallel plate channels. The results include velocity and gas mass fraction profiles, as well as axial variations of film thickness.

Keywords: Reflux Condensation, Heat Transfer, Channel, Laminar Flow

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Authors: A. Sherif, H. Sabry, A. Elzafarany, M. Gadelhak, R. Arafa, M. Aly

Abstract:

This paper addresses the design of hospital Intensive Care Unit windows for the achievement of visual comfort and energy savings. The aim was to identify the window size and shading system configurations that could fulfill daylighting adequacy, avoid glare and reduce energy consumption. The study focused on addressing the effect of utilizing different shading systems in association with a range of Window-to-Wall Ratios (WWR) in different orientations under the desert clear-sky of Cairo, Egypt. The results of this study demonstrated that solar penetration is a critical concern affecting the design of ICU windows in desert locations, as in Cairo, Egypt. Use of shading systems was found to be essential in providing acceptable daylight performance and energy saving. Careful positioning of the ICU window towards a proper orientation can dramatically improve performance. It was observed that ICU windows facing the north direction enjoyed the widest range of successful window configuration possibilities at different WWRs. ICU windows facing south enjoyed a reasonable number of configuration options as well. By contrast, the ICU windows facing the east orientation had a very limited number of options that provide acceptable performance. These require additional local shading measures at certain times due to glare incidence. Moreover, use of horizontal sun breakers and solar screens to protect the ICU windows proved to be more successful than the other alternatives in a wide range of Window to Wall Ratios. By contrast, the use of light shelves and vertical shading devices seemed questionable.

Keywords: Daylighting, Desert, Energy Efficiency, Shading.

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Authors: D. Ščeulovs, E. Gaile-Sarkane

Abstract:

Latvia is the fourth in the world by means of broadband internet speed. The total number of internet users in Latvia exceeds 70% of its population. The number of active mailboxes of the local internet e-mail service Inbox.lv accounts for 68% of the population and 97.6% of the total number of internet users. The Latvian portal Draugiem.lv is a phenomenon of social media, because 58.4 % of the population and 83.5% of internet users use it. A majority of Latvian company profiles are available on social networks, the most popular being Twitter.com. These and other parameters prove the fact consumers and companies are actively using the Internet. 

However, after the authors in a number of studies analyzed how enterprises are employing the e-environment, namely, e-environment tools, they arrived to the conclusions that are not as flattering as the aforementioned statistics. There is an obvious contradiction between the statistical data and the actual studies. As a result, the authors have posed a question: Why are entrepreneurs resistant to e-tools? In order to answer this question, the authors have addressed the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The authors analyzed each phase and determined several factors affecting the use of e-environment, reaching the main conclusion that entrepreneurs do not have a sufficient level of e-literacy (digital literacy). 

The authors employ well-established quantitative and qualitative methods of research: grouping, analysis, statistic method, factor analysis in SPSS 20  environment etc. 

The theoretical and methodological background of the research is formed by, scientific researches and publications, that from the mass media and professional literature, statistical information from legal institutions as well as information collected by the author during the survey.

Keywords: E-environment, e-environment tools, technology acceptance model, factors.

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Authors: Razib M. Othman, Safaai Deris, Rosli M. Illias

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Annotation of a protein sequence is pivotal for the understanding of its function. Accuracy of manual annotation provided by curators is still questionable by having lesser evidence strength and yet a hard task and time consuming. A number of computational methods including tools have been developed to tackle this challenging task. However, they require high-cost hardware, are difficult to be setup by the bioscientists, or depend on time intensive and blind sequence similarity search like Basic Local Alignment Search Tool. This paper introduces a new method of assigning highly correlated Gene Ontology terms of annotated protein sequences to partially annotated or newly discovered protein sequences. This method is fully based on Gene Ontology data and annotations. Two problems had been identified to achieve this method. The first problem relates to splitting the single monolithic Gene Ontology RDF/XML file into a set of smaller files that can be easy to assess and process. Thus, these files can be enriched with protein sequences and Inferred from Electronic Annotation evidence associations. The second problem involves searching for a set of semantically similar Gene Ontology terms to a given query. The details of macro and micro problems involved and their solutions including objective of this study are described. This paper also describes the protein sequence annotation and the Gene Ontology. The methodology of this study and Gene Ontology based protein sequence annotation tool namely extended UTMGO is presented. Furthermore, its basic version which is a Gene Ontology browser that is based on semantic similarity search is also introduced.

Keywords: automatic clustering, bioinformatics tool, gene ontology, protein sequence annotation, semantic similarity search

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