Search results for: Total organic carbon

Authors: Erika K. Méndez, Carlos E. Orrego, Diana L. Manrique, Juan D. Gonzalez, Doménica Vallejo

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High moisture content in fruits generates post-harvest problems such as mechanical, biochemical, microbial and physical losses. Dehydration, which is based on the reduction of water activity of the fruit, is a common option for overcoming such losses. However, regular hot air drying could affect negatively the quality properties of the fruit due to the long residence time at high temperature. Power ultrasound (US) application during the convective drying has been used as a novel method able to enhance drying rate and, consequently, to decrease drying time. In the present study, a new approach was tested to evaluate the effect of US on the drying time, the final antioxidant activity (AA) and the total polyphenol content (TPC) of banana slices (BS), mango slices (MS) and guava slices (GS). There were also studied the drying kinetics with nine different models from which water effective diffusivities (Deff) (with or without shrinkage corrections) were calculated. Compared with the corresponding control tests, US assisted drying for fruit slices showed reductions in drying time between 16.23 and 30.19%, 11.34 and 32.73%, and 19.25 and 47.51% for the MS, BS and GS respectively. Considering shrinkage effects, Deff calculated values ranged from 1.67*10-10 to 3.18*10-10 m2/s, 3.96*10-10 and 5.57*10-10 m2/s and 4.61*10-10 to 8.16*10-10 m2/s for the BS, MS and GS samples respectively. Reductions of TPC and AA (as DPPH) were observed compared with the original content in fresh fruit data in all kinds of drying assays.

Keywords: Banana, drying, effective diffusivity, guava, mango, ultrasound.

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Authors: Mohammed Gamil Montasser, Angelo Battaglia

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Tourism is making its presence felt across the Sultanate of Oman. The story is one of the most recognized phenomena as a sustainable solid growth and is considered a remarkable outcome for any destination. The competitive situation and challenges within the tourism industry worldwide entail a better understanding of the destination position and its image to achieve Oman’s aspiration to retain its international reputation as one of the most desirable destinations in the Middle East. To access general perceptions of Oman’s attributes, their importance and their influences among U.S. tourists, an online survey was conducted with 522 American travelers who have traveled internationally, including non-visitors, virtual-visitors and visitors to Oman. This research involved a total of 36 attributes in the survey. Participants were asked to rate their agreement on how each attribute represented Oman and how important each attribute was for selecting destinations on 5- point Likert Scale. They also indicated if each attribute has a positive, neutral or negative influence on their destination selection. Descriptive statistics and importance performance analysis (IPA) were conducted. IPA illustrated U.S. tourists’ perceptions of Oman’s destination attributes and their importance in destination selection on a matrix with four quadrants, divided by actual mean value in each grid for importance (M=3.51) and performance (M=3.57). Oman tourism organizations and destination managers may use these research findings for future marketing and management efforts toward the U.S. travel market.

Keywords: Analysis of importance and performance, destination attributes, Oman’s position, U.S. tourists.

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Authors: Yasser Aldali

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The scope of this paper is to evaluate and compare the potential of LS-PV(Large Scale Photovoltaic Power Plant) power generation systems in the southern region of Libya at Al-Kufra for both stationary and tracking systems. A Microsoft Excel-VBA program has been developed to compute slope radiation, dew-point, sky temperature, and then cell temperature, maximum power output and module efficiency of the system for stationary system and for tracking system. The results for energy production show that the total energy output is 114GWh/year for stationary system and 148GWh/year for tracking system. The average module efficiency for the stationary system is 16.6% and 16.2% for the tracking system.

The values of electricity generation capacity factor (CF) and solar capacity factor (SCF) for stationary system were found to be 26% and 62.5% respectively and 34% and 82% for tracking system. The GCR (Ground Cover Ratio) for a stationary system is 0.7, which corresponds to a tilt angle of 24°. The GCR for tracking system was found to be 0.12. The estimated ground area needed to build a 50MW PV plant amounts to approx. 0.55km² for a stationary PV field constituted by HIT PV arrays and approx. 91MW/ km². In case of a tracker PV field, the required ground area amounts approx.2.4km² and approx. 20.5MW/ km².

Keywords: Large PV power plant, solar energy, environmental impact, Dual-axis tracking system, stationary system.

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Authors: N. N. M. Pauzi, M. R. Karim, M. Jamil, R. Hamid, M. F. M. Zain

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The aim of this study is to conduct an experimental investigation on the influence of complete replacement of natural coarse aggregate with spherically-shape and crushed waste cathode ray tube (CRT) glass to the aspect of workability, density, and compressive strength of the concrete. After characterizing the glass, a group of concrete mixes was prepared to contain a 40% spherical CRT glass and 60% crushed CRT glass as a complete (100%) replacement of natural coarse aggregates. From a total of 16 types of concrete mixes, the optimum proportion was selected based on its best performance. The test results showed that the use of spherical and crushed glass that possesses a smooth surface, rounded, irregular and elongated shape, and low water absorption affects the workability of concrete. Due to a higher specific gravity of crushed glass, concrete mixes containing CRT glass had a higher density compared to ordinary concrete. Despite the spherical and crushed CRT glass being stronger than gravel, the results revealed a reduction in compressive strength of the concrete. However, using a lower water to binder (w/b) ratio and a higher superplasticizer (SP) dosage, it is found to enhance the compressive strength of 60.97 MPa at 28 days that is lower by 13% than the control specimen. These findings indicate that waste CRT glass in the form of spherical and crushed could be used as an alternative of coarse aggregate that may pave the way for the disposal of hazardous e-waste.

Keywords: Cathode ray tube, glass, coarse aggregate, compressive strength.

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Authors: Adnan F. Sheikh, Fayaz A. Mir

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After the recent devastating flood in Kashmir in 2014, dredging of the local water bodies, especially Jhelum River has become a priority for the government. Local government under the project name of 'Comprehensive Flood Management Programme' plans to undertake an increase in discharge of existing flood channels by removal of encroachments and acquisition of additional land, dredging and other works of the water bodies. The total quantity of soil to be dredged will be 16.15 lac cumecs. Dredged soil is a major component that would result from the project which requires disposal/utilization. This study analyses the effect of cement and sand on the engineering properties of soil. The tests were conducted with variable additions of sand (10%, 20% and 30%), whereas cement was added at 12%. Samples with following compositions: soil-cement (12%) and soil-sand (30%) were tested as well. Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the engineering characteristics of soil, i.e., compaction, strength, and CBR characteristics. The strength characteristics of the soil were determined by unconfined compressive strength test and direct shear test. Unconfined compressive strength of the soil was tested immediately and for a curing period of seven days. CBR test was performed for unsoaked, soaked (worst condition- 4 days) and cured (4 days) samples.

Keywords: Comprehensive flood management programme, dredge soil, strength characteristics, flood.

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Authors: Y. T. Gee, I. N. Umar

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Students’ achievement and motivation in learning English in Malaysia is a worrying trend as it is lagging behind several other countries in Asia. Thus, necessary actions have to be taken by the parties concerned to overcome this problem. The purpose of this research was to study the effects of drill and practice courseware on students’ achievement and motivation in learning English language. A multimedia courseware was developed for this purpose. The independent variable was the drill and practice courseware while the dependent variables were the students’ achievement and motivation. Their achievement was measured using pre-test and post-test scores, while motivation was measured using a questionnaire. A total of 60 students from three vernacular primary schools in a northern state in Malaysia were randomly selected in this study. The findings indicate: (1) a significant difference between the students’ pre-test and posttest scores after using the courseware, (2) no significant difference in the achievement score between male and female students after using the courseware, (3) a significant difference in motivation score between the female and the male students, and (4) while the female students scored significantly higher than the male students in the aspects of relevance, confidence and satisfaction, no significant difference in terms of attention was observed between them. Overall, the findings clearly indicate that although the female students are significantly more motivated than their male students, they are equally good in terms of achievement after learning from the courseware. Through this study, the drill and practice courseware is proven to influence the students’ learning and motivation.

Keywords: Courseware, drill and practice, English learning, motivation.

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Authors: Saif Ullah, Guan Zailin, Xu Xianhao, He Zongdong, Wang Baoxi

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Assembly line balancing problem is aimed to divide the tasks among the stations in assembly lines and optimize some objectives. In assembly lines the workload on stations is different from each other due to different tasks times and the difference in workloads between stations can cause blockage or starvation in some stations in assembly lines. Buffers are used to store the semi-finished parts between the stations and can help to smooth the assembly production. The assembly line balancing and buffer sizing problem can affect the throughput of the assembly lines. Assembly line balancing and buffer sizing problems have been studied separately in literature and due to their collective contribution in throughput rate of assembly lines, balancing and buffer sizing problem are desired to study simultaneously and therefore they are considered concurrently in current research. Current research is aimed to maximize throughput, minimize total size of buffers in assembly line and minimize workload variations in assembly line simultaneously. A multi objective optimization objective is designed which can give better Pareto solutions from the Pareto front and a simple example problem is solved for assembly line balancing and buffer sizing simultaneously. Current research is significant for assembly line balancing research and it can be significant to introduce optimization approaches which can optimize current multi objective problem in future.

Keywords: Assembly line balancing, Buffer sizing, Pareto solutions.

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Authors: Zahid O. Alibrahim, Craig D. Williams, Clive L. Roberts

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The study area (Ecton mining area) is located in the southern part of the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It is bounded by the River Manifold from the west. This area has been mined for a long period. As a result, huge amounts of potentially toxic metals were released into the surrounding area and are most likely to be a significant source of heavy metal contamination to the local soil, water and vegetation. In order to appraise the potential heavy metal pollution in this area, 37 topsoil samples (5-20 cm depth) were collected and analysed for their total content of Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cr, Ni and V using ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) optical emission spectroscopy. Multivariate Geospatial analyses using the GIS technique were utilised to draw geochemical maps of the metals of interest over the study area. A few hotspot points, areas of elevated concentrations of metals, were specified, which are presumed to be the results of anthropogenic activities. In addition, the soil’s environmental quality was evaluated by calculating the Mullers’ Geoaccumulation index (I geo), which suggests that the degree of contamination of the investigated heavy metals has the following trend: Pb > Zn > Cu > Mn > Ni = Cr = V. Furthermore, the potential ecological risk, using the enrichment factor (EF), was also specified. On the basis of the calculated amount or the EF, the levels of pollution for the studied metals in the study area have the following order: Pb>Zn>Cu>Cr>V>Ni>Mn.

Keywords: Heavy metals, GIS, multivariate analysis, geoaccumulation index, enrichment factor.

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Authors: S. Aziz, M. Ali, S. Asghar, S. Ahmed

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Comparing other methods of waste water treatment, constructed wetlands are one of the most fascinating practices because being a natural process they are eco-friendly have low construction and maintenance cost and have considerable capability of wastewater treatment. The current research was focused mainly on comparison of Ranunculus muricatus and Typha latifolia as wetland plants for domestic wastewater treatment by designing and constructing efficient pilot scale horizontal subsurface flow mesocosms. Parameters like chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, phosphates, sulphates, nitrites, nitrates, and pathogenic indicator microbes were studied continuously with successive treatments. Treatment efficiency of the system increases with passage of time and with increase in temperature. Efficiency of T. latifolia planted setups in open environment was fairly good for parameters like COD and BOD5 which was showing reduction up to 82.5% for COD and 82.6% for BOD5 while DO was increased up to 125%. Efficiency of R. muricatus vegetated setup was also good but lowers than that of T. latifolia planted showing 80.95% removal of COD and BOD5. Ranunculus muricatus was found effective in reducing bacterial count in wastewater. Both macrophytes were found promising in wastewater treatment.

Keywords: Biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, horizontal subsurface flow, Total suspended solids, Wetland.

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Authors: R. Parameshwaran, R. Karunakaran, S. Iniyan, Anand A. Samuel

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The objective of this study is to present the test results of variable air volume (VAV) air conditioning system optimized by two objective genetic algorithm (GA). The objective functions are energy savings and thermal comfort. The optimal set points for fuzzy logic controller (FLC) are the supply air temperature (Ts), the supply duct static pressure (Ps), the chilled water temperature (Tw), and zone temperature (Tz) that is taken as the problem variables. Supply airflow rate and chilled water flow rate are considered to be the constraints. The optimal set point values are obtained from GA process and assigned into fuzzy logic controller (FLC) in order to conserve energy and maintain thermal comfort in real time VAV air conditioning system. A VAV air conditioning system with FLC installed in a software laboratory has been taken for the purpose of energy analysis. The total energy saving obtained in VAV GA optimization system with FLC compared with constant air volume (CAV) system is expected to achieve 31.5%. The optimal duct static pressure obtained through Genetic fuzzy methodology attributes to better air distribution by delivering the optimal quantity of supply air to the conditioned space. This combination enhanced the advantages of uniform air distribution, thermal comfort and improved energy savings potential.

Keywords: Energy savings, fuzzy logic, Genetic algorithm, Thermal Comfort

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Authors: Syed M. Shahid, Rozeena Shaikh, Syeda N. Nawab, Shah A. Qader, Abid Azhar, Tabassum Mahboob

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This study was designed to investigate the role of serum nitric oxide and sialic acid in the development of diabetic nephropathy as disease marker. Total 210 diabetic patients (age and sex matched) were selected followed by informed consent and divided into four groups (70 each) as I: control; II: diabetic; III: diabetic hypertensive; IV: diabetic nephropathy. The blood samples of all subjects were collected and analyzed for serum nitric oxide, sialic acid, fasting blood glucose, serum urea, creatinine, HbA1c and GFR. The BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, blood glucose, HbA1c and serum sialic acid levels were high (p<0.01) in group II as compared to control subjects. The higher levels (p<0.01) of BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, blood glucose, HbA1c, serum urea, creatinine and sialic acid were observed in group III and IV as compared to controls. Significantly low levels of GFR and serum nitric oxide (p<0.01) were observed in group III and IV as compared to controls. Results indicated that serum nitric oxide and sialic acid are the major biochemical indicators for micro and macrovascular complications of diabetes such as hypertension and nephropathy. These should be taken into account during screening procedures regarding identifications of the diabetic patients to get them rid of progressive renal impairment to ESRD.

Keywords: Diabetic nephropathy, hypertension, nitric oxide, sialic acid.

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Authors: G. S. Ayyappan, M. Raja Raghavan, R. Poonthalir, Kota Srinivas, B. Ramesh Babu

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Electrical energy demand in the World and particularly in India, is increasing drastically more than its production over a period of time. In order to reduce the demand-supply gap, conserving energy becomes mandatory. Induction motors are the main driving force in the industries and contributes to about half of the total plant energy consumption. By effective monitoring and control of induction motors, huge electricity can be saved. This paper deals about the design and development of such a system, which employs iLON Smart Server and motor performance monitoring nodes. These nodes will monitor the performance of induction motors on-line, on-site and in-situ in the industries. The node monitors the performance of motors by simply measuring the electrical power input and motor shaft speed; coupled to genetic algorithm to estimate motor efficiency. The nodes are connected to the iLON Server through RS485 network. The web server collects the motor performance data from nodes, displays online, logs periodically, analyzes, alerts, and generates reports. The system could be effectively used to operate the motor around its Best Operating Point (BOP) as well as to perform the Life Cycle Assessment of Induction motors used in the industries in continuous operation.

Keywords: Best operating point, iLON smart server, motor asset management, LONWORKS, Modbus RTU, motor performance.

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Authors: Hilal A. Abdelwali, Elsayed E.M. Ellaimony, Ahmad E.M. Murad, Jasem M.S. Al-Rajhi

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Due to the excess of a vehicle operation through its life, some elements may face failure and deteriorate with time. This leads us to carry out maintenance, repair, tune up or full overhaul. After a certain period, the vehicle elements deteriorations increase with time which causes a very high increase of doing the maintenance operations and their costs. However, the logic decision at this point is to replace the current vehicle by a new one with minimum failure and maximum income. The importance of studying vehicle replacement problems come from the increase of stopping days due to many deteriorations in the vehicle parts. These deteriorations increase year after year causing an increase of operating costs and decrease the vehicle income. Vehicle replacement aims to determine the optimum time to keep, maintain, overhaul, renew and replace vehicles. This leads to an improvement in vehicle income, total operating costs, maintenance cost, fuel and oil costs, ton-kilometers, vehicle and engine performance, vehicle noise, vibration, and pollution. The aim of this paper is to find the optimum replacement policies of Kuwait Passenger Transport Company (KPTCP) fleet of busses. The objective of these policies is to maximize the busses pure profits. The dynamic programming (D.P.) technique is used to generate the busses optimal replacement policies

Keywords: Replacement Problem, Automotive Replacement, Dynamic Programming, Equipment Replacement, K.P.T.C.

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Authors: A. Muthuramalingam, S. Himavathi, E. Srinivasan

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.Hardware realization of a Neural Network (NN), to a large extent depends on the efficient implementation of a single neuron. FPGA-based reconfigurable computing architectures are suitable for hardware implementation of neural networks. FPGA realization of ANNs with a large number of neurons is still a challenging task. This paper discusses the issues involved in implementation of a multi-input neuron with linear/nonlinear excitation functions using FPGA. Implementation method with resource/speed tradeoff is proposed to handle signed decimal numbers. The VHDL coding developed is tested using Xilinx XC V50hq240 Chip. To improve the speed of operation a lookup table method is used. The problems involved in using a lookup table (LUT) for a nonlinear function is discussed. The percentage saving in resource and the improvement in speed with an LUT for a neuron is reported. An attempt is also made to derive a generalized formula for a multi-input neuron that facilitates to estimate approximately the total resource requirement and speed achievable for a given multilayer neural network. This facilitates the designer to choose the FPGA capacity for a given application. Using the proposed method of implementation a neural network based application, namely, a Space vector modulator for a vector-controlled drive is presented

Keywords: FPGA implementation, multi-input neuron, neural network, nn based space vector modulator.

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Authors: Abbas Ghanbari-Malidareh

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Silicon is a beneficial element for plant growth. It helps plants to overcome multiple stresses, alleviates metal toxicity and improves nutrient imbalance. Field experiment was conducted as split-split plot arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Irrigation system include continues flooding and deficit as main plots and nitrogen rates N0, N46, N92, and N138 kg/ha as sub plots and silicon rates Si0 & Si500 kg/ha as sub-subplots. Results indicate that grain yield had not significant difference between irrigation systems. Flooding irrigation had higher biological yield than deficit irrigation whereas, no significant difference in grain and straw yield. Nitrogen application increased grain, biological and straw yield. Silicon application increased grain, biological and straw yield but, decreased harvest index. Flooding irrigation had higher number of total tillers / hill than deficit irrigation, but deficit irrigation had higher number of fertile tillers / hill than flooding irrigation. Silicon increased number of filled spikelet and decreased blank spikelet. With high nitrogen application decreased 1000-grain weight. It can be concluded that if the nitrogen application was high and water supplied was available we could have silicon application until increase grain yield.

Keywords: Grain yield, Irrigation, Nitrogen, Rice, Silicon.

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Authors: N. Hadthamard, P. Chaumpluk, M. Buanong, P. Boonyaritthongchai, C. Wongs-Aree

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Ripe ‘Nam Dok Mai’ mango (Mangifera indica L.) is an important exported fruit of Thailand, but rapidly declined in the quality attributes mainly by infection of anthracnose and stem end rot diseases. Multilayer coating is considered as a developed technique to maintain the postharvest quality of mangoes. The utilization of alternated coating by matching oppositely electrostatic charges between 0.1% chitosan and 0.1% polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) was studied. A number of the coating layers (layer by layer) were applied on mature green ‘Nam Dok Mai No.4’ mangoes prior to storage at 25 ^oC, 65-70% relative humidity (RH). There were significant differences in some quality attributes of mangoes coated by 3½ layers, 4½ layers and 5½ layers. In comparison to coated mangoes, uncoated fruits were higher in weight loss, total soluble solids, respiration rate, ethylene production and disease incidence except the titratable acidity. Coating fruit at 3½ layers exhibited the ripening delay and reducing disease infection without off flavour. On the other hand, fruit coated with 5½ layers comprised the lowest acceptable score, caused by exhibiting disorders from fermentation at the end of storage. As a result, multilayer coating between chitosan and PSS could effectively maintain the postharvest quality of mango, but number of coating layers should be thoroughly considered.

Keywords: Multilayer, chitosan, polystyrene sulfonate, Nam Dok Mai No.4.

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Authors: Yi-Hsiang Pan

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to develop a “teachers’ self-efficacy scale for high school physical education teachers (TSES-HSPET)” in Taiwan. This scale is based on the self-efficacy theory of Bandura [1], [2]. This study used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to test the reliability and validity. The participants were high school physical education teachers in Taiwan. Both stratified random sampling and cluster sampling were used to sample participants for the study. 350 teachers were sampled in the first stage and 234 valid scales (male 133, female 101) returned. During the second stage, 350 teachers were sampled and 257 valid scales (male 143, female 110, 4 did not indicate gender) returned. The exploratory factor analysis was used in the first stage, and it got 60.77% of total variance for construct validity. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of internal consistency was 0.91 for sumscale, and subscales were 0.84 and 0.90. In the second stage, confirmatory factor analysis was used to test construct validity. The result showed that the fit index could be accepted (χ2 (75) =167.94, p <.05, RMSEA =0.07, SRMR=0.05, GFI=0.92, NNFI=0.97, CFI=0.98, PNFI=0.79). Average variance extracted of latent variables were 0.43 and 0.53, which composite reliability are 0.78 and 0.90. It is concluded that the TSES-HSPET is a well-considered measurement instrument with acceptable validity and reliability. It may be used to estimate teachers’ self-efficacy for high school physical education teachers.

Keywords: teaching in physical education, teacher's self-efficacy, teacher's belief

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Authors: Amirmohsen Behjat, Aleck Ostry, Christina Miewald, Bernie Pauly

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Substantial research has indicated that socioeconomic and demographic characteristics’ of neighborhoods are strong determinants of food security. The aim of this study was to develop a Food Insecurity Neighborhood Index (FINI) based on the associated socioeconomic and demographic variables to identify the areas at potential risk of food insecurity in rural British Columbia (BC). Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique was used to calculate the FINI for each rural Dissemination Area (DA) using the food security determinant variables from Canadian Census data. Using ArcGIS, the neighborhoods with the top quartile FINI values were classified as food insecure. The results of this study indicated that the most food insecure neighborhood with the highest FINI value of 99.1 was in the Bulkley-Nechako (central BC) area whereas the lowest FINI with the value of 2.97 was for a rural neighborhood in the Cowichan Valley area. In total, 98.049 (19%) of the rural population of British Columbians reside in high food insecure areas. Moreover, the distribution of food insecure neighborhoods was found to be strongly dependent on the degree of rurality in BC. In conclusion, the cluster of food insecure neighbourhoods was more pronounced in Central Coast, Mount Wadington, Peace River, Kootenay Boundary, and the Alberni-Clayoqout Regional Districts.

Keywords: Neighbourhood food insecurity index, socioeconomic and demographic determinants, principal component analysis, Canada Census, ArcGIS.

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Authors: F. Laaouad, M. Bouguerra, A. Hafaifa, A. Iratni

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In this work, we treat the problems related to chemical and petrochemical plants of a certain complex process taking the centrifugal compressor as an example, a system being very complex by its physical structure as well as its behaviour (surge phenomenon). We propose to study the application possibilities of the recent control approaches to the compressor behaviour, and consequently evaluate their contribution in the practical and theoretical fields. Facing the studied industrial process complexity, we choose to make recourse to fuzzy logic for analysis and treatment of its control problem owing to the fact that these techniques constitute the only framework in which the types of imperfect knowledge can jointly be treated (uncertainties, inaccuracies, etc..) offering suitable tools to characterise them. In the particular case of the centrifugal compressor, these imperfections are interpreted by modelling errors, the neglected dynamics, no modelisable dynamics and the parametric variations. The purpose of this paper is to produce a total robust nonlinear controller design method to stabilize the compression process at its optimum steady state by manipulating the gas rate flow. In order to cope with both the parameter uncertainty and the structured non linearity of the plant, the proposed method consists of a linear steady state regulation that ensures robust optimal control and of a nonlinear compensation that achieves the exact input/output linearization.

Keywords: Compressor, Fuzzy logic, Surge control, Bilinearcontroller, Stability analysis, Nonlinear plant.

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Authors: Kamel K. Alzboon, Khalid N.Mahasneh

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The aim of this work is to study the possible use of stone cutting sludge waste in concrete production, which would reduce both the environmental impact and the production cost .Slurry sludge was used a source of water in concrete production, which was obtained from Samara factory/Jordan, The physico-chemical and mineralogical characterization of the sludge was carried out to identify the major components and to compare it with the typical sand used to produce concrete. Samples analysis showed that 96% of slurry sludge volume is water, so it should be considered as an important source of water. Results indicated that the use of slurry sludge as water source in concrete production has insignificant effect on compression strength, while it has a sharp effect on the slump values. Using slurry sludge with a percentage of 25% of the total water content obtained successful concrete samples regarding slump and compression tests. To clarify slurry sludge, settling process can be used to remove the suspended solid. A settling period of 30 min. obtained 99% removal efficiency. The clarified water is suitable for using in concrete mixes, which reduce water consumption, conserve water recourses, increase the profit, reduce operation cost and save the environment. Additionally, the dry sludge could be used in the mix design instead of the fine materials with sizes < 160 um. This application could conserve the natural materials and solve the environmental and economical problem caused by sludge accumulation.

Keywords: Concrete, recycle, sludge, slurry waste, stone cutting waste, waste.

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Authors: Kostas Siozios, Dimitrios Soudris, Antonios Thanailakis

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Modern applications realized onto FPGAs exhibit high connectivity demands. Throughout this paper we study the routing constraints of Virtex devices and we propose a systematic methodology for designing a novel general-purpose interconnection network targeting to reconfigurable architectures. This network consists of multiple segment wires and SB patterns, appropriately selected and assigned across the device. The goal of our proposed methodology is to maximize the hardware utilization of fabricated routing resources. The derived interconnection scheme is integrated on a Virtex style FPGA. This device is characterized both for its high-performance, as well as for its low-energy requirements. Due to this, the design criterion that guides our architecture selections was the minimal Energy×Delay Product (EDP). The methodology is fully-supported by three new software tools, which belong to MEANDER Design Framework. Using a typical set of MCNC benchmarks, extensive comparison study in terms of several critical parameters proves the effectiveness of the derived interconnection network. More specifically, we achieve average Energy×Delay Product reduction by 63%, performance increase by 26%, reduction in leakage power by 21%, reduction in total energy consumption by 11%, at the expense of increase of channel width by 20%.

Keywords: Design Methodology, FPGA, Interconnection, Low-Energy, High-Performance, CAD tool.

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Authors: Mohammad Hossein Hojjati , Fardin Boustani

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Groundwater is one of the most important water resources in Fars province. Based on this study, 95 percent of the total annual water consumption in Fars is used for agriculture, whereas the percentages for domestic and industrial uses are 4 and 1 percent, respectively. Population growth, urban and industrial growth, and agricultural development in Fars have created a condition of water stress. In this province, farmers and other users are pumping groundwater faster than its natural replenishment rate, causing a continuous drop in groundwater tables and depletion of this resource. In this research variation of groundwater level , their effects and ways to help control groundwater levels in some plains of Fars were evaluated .Excessive exploitation of groundwater in Darab, Jahrom, Estahban, Arsanjan, Khir and Niriz plains of Fars caused the groundwater levels fall too fast or to unacceptable levels. The average drawdown of the water table in Arsanjan, Khir. Estahban and Niriz plain plains were 12,8, 9 and 6 meters during 16,11,11 and 13 years ago respectively. This not only reduces available water resources and well yields but also can saline water intrusion, reductions in river flow and in wetland areas , drying springs, and ground subsidence, considerable increase in pumping costs and a significant decline in crop yields as a result of the increasing salinity. Finally based on situation and condition of the aquifer some suggestions are recommended.

Keywords: Fars province , ground water overdraft , water table

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Authors: Yamamah Abdulrazaq, Lahieb A. Abrahim, Samuel E. Davies, Iain Shewring

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Electric water heater (EWH) is a powerful appliance that uses electricity in residential, commercial, and industrial settings, and the ability to control them properly will result in cost savings and the prevention of blackouts on the national grid. This article discusses the usage of timers in EWH control strategies for demand-side management (DSM). To the authors' knowledge, there is no systematic mapping review focusing on the utilization of EWH control strategies in DSM has yet been conducted. Consequently, the purpose of this research is to identify and examine main papers exploring EWH procedures in DSM by quantifying and categorizing information with regard to publication year and source, kind of methods, and source of data for monitoring control techniques. In order to answer the research questions, a total of 31 publications published between 1999 and 2023 were selected depending on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data indicate that direct load control (DLC) has been somewhat more prevalent than indirect load control (ILC). Additionally, the mix method is much lower than the other techniques, and the proportion of real-time data (RTD) to non-real-time data (NRTD) is about equal.

Keywords: Demand side management, direct load control, electric water heater, indirect load control, non-real-time data, real time data.

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Authors: Dhiraj Dolai, Rupayan Bhattacharya

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In this study, a comparison of Range Of Motion (ROM) of middle and long-distance runners and swimmers has been made. The mobility of the various joints is essential for the quick movement of any sportsman. Knowledge of a ROM helps in preventing injuries, in repeating the movement, and in generating speed and power. ROM varies among individuals, and it is influenced by factors such as gender, age, and whether the motion is performed actively or passively. ROM for running and swimming, both performed with due consideration on speed, plays an important role. The time of generation of speed and mobility of the particular joints are very important for both kinds of athletes. The difficulties that happen during running and swimming in the direction of motion is changed. In this study, data were collected for a total of 102 subjects divided into three groups: control group (22), middle and long-distance runners (40), and swimmers (40), and their ages are between 12 to 18 years. The swimmers have higher ROM in shoulder joint flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction movement. Middle and long-distance runners have significantly greater ROM from Control Group in the left shoulder joint flexion with a 5.82 mean difference. Swimmers have significantly higher ROM from the Control Group in the left shoulder joint flexion with 24.84 mean difference and swimmers have significantly higher ROM from the Middle and Long distance runners in left shoulder flexion with 19.02 mean difference. The picture will be clear after a more detailed investigation.

Keywords: Range of motion, runners, swimmers, significance.

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Authors: A. Balbo, G. Colucci, M. Nicoli, L. Savoldi

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Hydrogen is expected to become an undisputed player in the ecological transition throughout the next decades. The decarbonization potential offered by this energy vector provides various opportunities for the so-called “hard-to-abate” sectors, including industrial production of iron and steel, glass, refineries and the heavy-duty transport. In this regard, Italy, in the framework of decarbonization plans for the whole European Union, has been considering a wider use of hydrogen to provide an alternative to fossil fuels in hard-to-abate sectors. This work aims to assess and compare different options concerning the pathway to be followed in the development of the future Italian energy system in order to meet decarbonization targets as established by the Paris Agreement and by the European Green Deal, and to infer a techno-economic analysis of the required asset alternatives to be used in that perspective. To accomplish this objective, the Energy System Optimization Model TEMOA-Italy is used, based on the open-source platform TEMOA and developed at PoliTo as a tool to be used for technology assessment and energy scenario analysis. The adopted assessment strategy includes two different scenarios to be compared with a business-as-usual one, which considers the application of current policies in a time horizon up to 2050. The studied scenarios are based on the up-to-date hydrogen-related targets and planned investments included in the National Hydrogen Strategy and in the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan, with the purpose of providing a critical assessment of what they propose. One scenario imposes decarbonization objectives for the years 2030, 2040 and 2050, without any other specific target. The second one (inspired to the national objectives on the development of the sector) promotes the deployment of the hydrogen value-chain. These scenarios provide feedback about the applications hydrogen could have in the Italian energy system, including transport, industry and synfuels production. Furthermore, the decarbonization scenario where hydrogen production is not imposed, will make use of this energy vector as well, showing the necessity of its exploitation in order to meet pledged targets by 2050. The distance of the planned policies from the optimal conditions for the achievement of Italian objectives is clarified, revealing possible improvements of various steps of the decarbonization pathway, which seems to have as a fundamental element Carbon Capture and Utilization technologies for its accomplishment. In line with the European Commission open science guidelines, the transparency and the robustness of the presented results are ensured by the adoption of the open-source open-data model such as the TEMOA-Italy.

Keywords: Decarbonization, energy system optimization models, hydrogen, open-source modeling, TEMOA.

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Authors: M. Abou-Amouna, A. Radwan, L. Al-kuwari, A. Hammuda, K. Al-Khalifa

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There is growing concern over increasing incidences of road accidents and consequent loss of human life in Qatar. In light to the future planned event in Qatar, World Cup 2022; Qatar should put into consideration the future deaths caused by road accidents, and past trends should be considered to give a reasonable picture of what may happen in the future. Qatar roads should be arranged and paved in a way that accommodate high capacity of the population in that time, since then there will be a huge number of visitors from the world. Qatar should also consider the risk issues of road accidents raised in that period, and plan to maintain high level to safety strategies. According to the increase in the number of road accidents in Qatar from 1995 until 2012, an analysis of elements affecting and causing road accidents will be effectively studied. This paper aims to identify and criticize the factors that have high effect on causing road accidents in the state of Qatar, and predict the total number of road accidents in Qatar 2022. Alternative methods are discussed and the most applicable ones according to the previous researches are selected for further studies. The methods that satisfy the existing case in Qatar were the multiple linear regression model (MLR) and artificial neutral network (ANN). Those methods are analyzed and their findings are compared. We conclude that by using MLR the number of accidents in 2022 will become 355,226 accidents, and by using ANN 216,264 accidents. We conclude that MLR gave better results than ANN because the artificial neutral network doesn’t fit data with large range varieties.

Keywords: Road Safety, Prediction, Accident, Model, Qatar.

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Authors: Qing Zhang, Jiachen Nie, Yujia Wen, Guanyuan Kou, Peng Yu, Kun Xia, Qin Yang, Li Ding

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Background: A facility layout problem (FLP) is an NP-complete (non-deterministic polynomial) problem, for which is hard to obtain an exact optimal solution. FLP has been widely studied in various limited spaces and workflows. For example, cafeterias with many types of equipment for troops cause chaotic processes when dining. Objective: This article tried to optimize the layout of a troops’ cafeteria and to improve the overall efficiency of the dining process. Methods: First, the original cafeteria layout design scheme was analyzed from an ergonomic perspective and two new design schemes were generated. Next, three facility layout models were designed, and further simulation was applied to compare the total time and density of troops between each scheme. Last, an experiment of the dining process with video observation and analysis verified the simulation results. Results: In a simulation, the dining time under the second new layout is shortened by 2.25% and 1.89% (p<0.0001, p=0.0001) compared with the other two layouts, while troops-flow density and interference both greatly reduced in the two new layouts. In the experiment, process completing time and the number of interferences reduced as well, which verified corresponding simulation results. Conclusion: Our two new layout schemes are tested to be optimal by a series of simulation and space experiments. In future research, similar approaches could be applied when taking layout-design algorithm calculation into consideration.

Keywords: Troops’ cafeteria, layout optimization, dining efficiency, AnyLogic simulation, field experiment

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Authors: Srikiat Anansawat, Pitsamai Ubonsri

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The purpose of this study was to study postpartum breastfeeding mothers to determine the impact their psychosocial and spiritual dimensions play in promoting full-term (6 month duration) breastfeeding of their infants. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to identify and recruit the study's participants. A total of 23 postpartum mothers, who were breastfeeding within 6 weeks after giving birth, participated in this study. In-depth interviews combined with observations, participant focus groups, and ethnographic records were used for data collection. The Data were then analyzed using content analysis and typology. The results of this study illustrated that postpartum mothers experienced fear and worry that they would lack support from their spouse, family and peers, and that their infant would not get enough milk It was found that the main barrier mothers faced in breastfeeding to full-term was the difficulty of continuing to breastfeed when returning to work. 81.82% of the primiparous mothers and 91.67% of the non-primiparous mothers were able to breastfeed for the desired full-term of 6 months. Factors found to be related to breastfeeding for six months included 1) belief and faith in breastfeeding, 2) support from spouse and family members, 3) counseling from public health nurses and friends. The sample also provided evidence that religious principles such as tolerance, effort, love, and compassion to their infant, and positive thinking, were used in solving their physical, mental and spiritual problems.

Keywords: health promotion, mental health, spiritual health, breastfeeding

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Authors: Z. Honarvar, M. Farhoodi, M. R. Khani, S. Shojaee-Aliabadi

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The purpose of the present study was to evaluate carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) coated polypropylene (PP) films containing Zataria multiflora (ZEO) essential oils (4%) as an antimicrobial packaging for chicken breast stored at 4 °C. To increase PP film hydrophilicity, it was treated by atmospheric cold plasma prior to coating by CMC. Then, different films including PP, PP/CMC, PP/CMC containing 4% of ZEO were used for the chicken meat packaging in vapor phase. Total viable count and pseudomonads population and oxidative (TBA) changes of the chicken breast were analyzed during shelf life. Results showed that the shelf life of chicken meat kept in films containing ZEO improved from three to nine days compared to the control sample without any direct contact with the film. Study of oxygen barrier properties of bilayer film without essential oils (0.096 cm³ μm/m² d kPa) in comparison with PP film (416 cm³ μm/m² d kPa) shows that coating of PP with CMC significantly reduces oxygen permeation of the obtained packaging (P<0.05), which reduced aerobic bacteria growth. Chemical composition of ZEO was also evaluated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and this shows that thymol was the main antimicrobial and antioxidant component of the essential oil. The results revealed that PP/CMC containing ZEO has good potential for application as active food packaging in indirect contact which would also improve sensory properties of product.

Keywords: Shelf life, chicken breast, polypropylene, carboxymethyl cellulose, essential oil.

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Authors: K. Beheshti Maal, R. Shafiee

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According to FDA (Food and Drug Administration of the United States), vinegar is definedas a sour liquid containing at least 4 grams acetic acid in 100 cubic centimeter (4% solution of acetic acid) of solution that is produced from sugary materials by alcoholic fermentation. In the base of microbial starters, vinegars could be contained of more than 50 types of volatile and aromatic substances that responsible for their sweet taste and smelling. Recently the vinegar industry has a great proportion in agriculture, food and microbial biotechnology. The acetic acid bacteria are from the family Acetobacteraceae. Regarding to the latest version of Bergy-s Mannual of Systematic Bacteriology that has categorized bacteria in the base of their 16s RNA differences, the most important acetic acid genera are included Acetobacter (genus I), Gluconacetobacter (genus VIII) and Gluconobacter (genus IX). The genus Acetobacter that is primarily used in vinegar manufacturing plants is a gram negative, obligate aerobe coccus or rod shaped bacterium with the size 0.6 - 0.8 X 1.0 - 4.0 μm, nonmotile or motile with peritrichous flagella and catalase positive – oxidase negative biochemically. Some strains are overoxidizer that could convert acetic acid to carbon dioxide and water.In this research one Acetobacter native strain with high acetic acid productivity was isolated from Iranian white – red cherry. We used two specific culture media include Carr medium [yeast extract, 3%; ethanol, 2% (v/v); bromocresol green, 0.002%; agar, 2% and distilled water, 1000 ml], Frateur medium [yeast extract, 10 g/l; CaCO3, 20 g/l; ethanol, 20 g/l; agar, 20 g/l and distilled water, 1000 ml] and an industrial culture medium. In addition to high acetic acid production and high growth rate, this strain had a good tolerance against ethanol concentration that was examined using modified Carr media with 5%, 7% and 9% ethanol concentrations. While the industrial strains of acetic acid bacteria grow in the thermal range of 28 – 30 °C, this strain was adapted for growth in 34 – 36 °C after 96 hours incubation period. These dramatic characteristics suggest a potential biotechnological strain in production of cherry vinegar with a sweet smell and different nutritional properties in comparison to recent vinegar types. The lack of growth after 24, 48 and 72 hours incubation at 34 – 36 °C and the growth after 96 hours indicates a good and fast thermal flexibility of this strain as a significant characteristic of biotechnological and industrial strains.

Keywords: Acetobacte, acetic acid bacteria, white – red cherry, food and agriculture biotechnology, industrial fermentation, vinegar

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