Search results for: flow rate

Authors: H. M. N. L. Handagiripathira

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The distributions of naturally occurring and anthropogenic radioactive materials were determined in surface sediments taken at 27 different locations along the bank of Negombo Lagoon in Sri Lanka. Hydrographic parameters of lagoon water and the grain size analyses of the sediment samples were also carried out for this study. The conductivity of the adjacent water was varied from 13.6 mS/cm to 55.4 mS/cm near to the southern end and the northern end of the lagoon, respectively, and equally salinity levels varied from 7.2 psu to 32.1 psu. The average pH in the water was 7.6 and average water temperature was 28.7 °C. The grain size analysis emphasized the mass fractions of the samples as sand (60.9%), fine sand (30.6%) and fine silt+clay (1.3%) in the sampling locations. The surface sediment samples of wet weight, 1 kg each from upper 5-10 cm layer, were oven dried at 105 °C for 24 hours to get a constant weight, homogenized and sieved through a 2 mm sieve (IAEA technical series no. 295). The radioactivity concentrations were determined using gamma spectrometry technique. Ultra Low Background Broad Energy High Purity Ge Detector, BEGe (Model BE5030, Canberra) was used for radioactivity measurement with Canberra Industries' Laboratory Source-less Calibration Software (LabSOCS) mathematical efficiency calibration approach and Geometry composer software. The mean activity concentration was found to be 24 ± 4, 67 ± 9, 181 ± 10, 59 ± 8, 3.5 ± 0.4 and 0.47 ± 0.08 Bq/kg for 238U, 232Th, 40K, 210Pb, 235U and 137Cs respectively. The mean absorbed dose rate in air, radium equivalent activity, external hazard index, annual gonadal dose equivalent and annual effective dose equivalent were 60.8 nGy/h, 137.3 Bq/kg, 0.4, 425.3 mSv/year and 74.6 mSv/year, respectively. The results of this study will provide baseline information on the natural and artificial radioactive isotopes and environmental pollution associated with information on radiological risk.

Keywords: Gamma spectrometry, lagoon, radioactivity, sediments.

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Authors: Gashin Shahsavari, Gilles Arnaud-Fassetta, Roberto Bertilotti, Alberto Campisano, Fabien Riou

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Sewer deposits have been identified as a major cause of dysfunctions in combined sewer systems regarding sewer management, which induces different negative consequents resulting in poor hydraulic conveyance, environmental damages as well as worker’s health. In order to overcome the problematics of sedimentation, flushing has been considered as the most operative and cost-effective way to minimize the sediments impacts and prevent such challenges. Flushing, by prompting turbulent wave effects, can modify the bed form depending on the hydraulic properties and geometrical characteristics of the conduit. So far, the dynamics of the bed-load during high-flow events in combined sewer systems as a complex environment is not well understood, mostly due to lack of measuring devices capable to work in the “hostile” in combined sewer system correctly. In this regards, a one-episode flushing issue from an opening gate valve with weir function was carried out in a trunk sewer in Paris to understand its cleansing efficiency on the sediments (thickness: 0-30 cm). During more than 1h of flushing within 5 m distance in downstream of this flushing device, a maximum flowrate and a maximum level of water have been recorded at 5 m in downstream of the gate as 4.1 m3/s and 2.1 m respectively. This paper is aimed to evaluate the efficiency of this type of gate for around 1.1 km (from the point -50 m to +1050 m in downstream from the gate) by (i) determining bed grain-size distribution and sediments evolution through the sewer channel, as well as their organic matter content, and (ii) identifying sections that exhibit more changes in their texture after the flush. For the first one, two series of sampling were taken from the sewer length and then analyzed in laboratory, one before flushing and second after, at same points among the sewer channel. Hence, a non-intrusive sampling instrument has undertaken to extract the sediments smaller than the fine gravels. The comparison between sediments texture after the flush operation and the initial state, revealed the most modified zones by the flush effect, regarding the sewer invert slope and hydraulic parameters in the zone up to 400 m from the gate. At this distance, despite the increase of sediment grain-size rages, D50 (median grainsize) varies between 0.6 mm and 1.1 mm compared to 0.8 mm and 10 mm before and after flushing, respectively. Overall, regarding the sewer channel invert slope, results indicate that grains smaller than sands (< 2 mm) are more transported to downstream along about 400 m from the gate: in average 69% before against 38% after the flush with more dispersion of grain-sizes distributions. Furthermore, high effect of the channel bed irregularities on the bed material evolution has been observed after the flush.

Keywords: Bed-material load evolution, combined sewer systems, flushing efficiency, sediment transport.

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Authors: Ragi Poyyara, Vijaya Patnana, Mohammed Alam

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When acid is pumped into damaged reservoirs for damage removal/stimulation, distorted inflow of acid into the formation occurs caused by acid preferentially traveling into highly permeable regions over low permeable regions, or (in general) into the path of least resistance. This can lead to poor zonal coverage and hence warrants diversion to carry out an effective placement of acid. Diversion is desirably a reversible technique of temporarily reducing the permeability of high perm zones, thereby forcing the acid into lower perm zones. The uniqueness of each reservoir can pose several challenges to engineers attempting to devise optimum and effective diversion strategies. Diversion techniques include mechanical placement and/or chemical diversion of treatment fluids, further sub-classified into ball sealers, bridge plugs, packers, particulate diverters, viscous gels, crosslinked gels, relative permeability modifiers (RPMs), foams, and/or the use of placement techniques, such as coiled tubing (CT) and the maximum pressure difference and injection rate (MAPDIR) methodology. It is not always realized that the effectiveness of diverters greatly depends on reservoir properties, such as formation type, temperature, reservoir permeability, heterogeneity, and physical well characteristics (e.g., completion type, well deviation, length of treatment interval, multiple intervals, etc.). This paper reviews the mechanisms by which each variety of diverter functions and discusses the effect of various reservoir properties on the efficiency of diversion techniques. Guidelines are recommended to help enhance productivity from zones of interest by choosing the best methods of diversion while pumping an optimized amount of treatment fluid. The success of an overall acid treatment often depends on the effectiveness of the diverting agents.

Keywords: Acid treatment, carbonate, diversion, sandstone.

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Authors: Salma I. Dwidar, Amal A. Abdelsattar

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Alexandria city is one of the greatest cities in the world. It confronted different civilizations throughout the ages due to its special geographical location and climate which left many archaeological areas of great heritage (Ptolemaic, Greek, Romanian, especially sunken monuments, Coptic, Islamic, and finally, the Modern). Also, Alexandria city contains areas with different patterns of urban planning, both Hellenistic and compacted planning which merited the diversity in planning. Despite the magnitude of this city, which contains all the elements of tourism, the city was not included in the tourism map of Egypt properly comparing with similar cities in Egypt. This paper discusses the importance of heritage areas in Alexandria and the relationship between heritage areas and modern buildings. It highlights the absence of a methodology to deal with heritage areas as touristic areas. Also, the paper aims to develop multiple touristic routes to visit archaeological areas and other sights of significance in Alexandria. The research methodology is divided into two main frameworks. The first framework is a historical study of the urban development of Alexandria and the most important remaining monuments throughout the ages, as well as an analytical study of sunken monuments and their importance in increasing the rate of tourism. Moreover, it covers a study of the importance of the Library of Alexandria and its effect on the international focus of the city. The second framework focuses on the proposal of some tourism routes to visit the heritage areas, archaeological monuments, sunken monuments and the sights of Alexandria. The study concludes with the proposal of three tourism routes. The first route, which is the longest one, passes by all the famous monuments of the city as well as its modern sights. The second route passes through the heritage areas, sunken monuments, and Library of Alexandria. The third route includes the sunken monuments and Library of Alexandria. These three tourism routes will ensures the touristic development of the city which leads to the economic growth of the city and the country.

Keywords: Archeological buildings, heritage buildings, heritage tourism, planning of Islamic cities.

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Authors: Ashwin Belle, Bryce Benson, Mark Salamango, Fadi Islim, Rodney Daniels, Kevin Ward

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A reliable, real-time, and non-invasive system that can identify patients at risk for hemodynamic instability is needed to aid clinicians in their efforts to anticipate patient deterioration and initiate early interventions. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the clinical capabilities of a real-time analytic from a single lead of an electrocardiograph to correctly distinguish between rapid response team (RRT) activations due to hemodynamic (H-RRT) and non-hemodynamic (NH-RRT) causes, as well as predict H-RRT cases with actionable lead times. The study consisted of a single center, retrospective cohort of 21 patients with RRT activations from step-down and telemetry units. Through electronic health record review and blinded to the analytic’s output, each patient was categorized by clinicians into H-RRT and NH-RRT cases. The analytic output and the categorization were compared. The prediction lead time prior to the RRT call was calculated. The analytic correctly distinguished between H-RRT and NH-RRT cases with 100% accuracy, demonstrating 100% positive and negative predictive values, and 100% sensitivity and specificity. In H-RRT cases, the analytic detected hemodynamic deterioration with a median lead time of 9.5 hours prior to the RRT call (range 14 minutes to 52 hours). The study demonstrates that an electrocardiogram (ECG) based analytic has the potential for providing clinical decision and monitoring support for caregivers to identify at risk patients within a clinically relevant timeframe allowing for increased vigilance and early interventional support to reduce the chances of continued patient deterioration.

Keywords: Critical care, early warning systems, emergency medicine, heart rate variability, hemodynamic instability, rapid response team.

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Authors: Pradeep Kulshrestha, Maulana Ayoub Ali

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The level of penetration of Islamic banking products and services has recorded a reasonable growth at an exponential rate in many parts of the world. There are many factors which have contributed to this growth including, but not limited to the rapid growth of number of Muslims who are uncomfortable with the conventional ways of banking, interest and higher interest rates scheduled by conventional banks and financial institutions as well as the financial inclusion campaign conducted in many countries. The system is facing legal challenges which open the research fdoor for practitioners and academicians for the sake of finding out solutions to those challenges. This paper tries to investigate the development of the Islamic banking system in the United Kingdom (UK), Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda in order to understand the modalities which have been employed to run an Islamic banking system in the aforementioned countries. The methodology which has been employed in doing this research paper is Doctrinal, of which legislations, policies and other legal tools have been carefully studied and analysed. Again, papers from academic journals, books and financial reports have been deeply analysed for the purpose of enriching the paper and come up with a tangible results. The paper found that in Asia, Malaysia has created the smoothest legal platform for Islamic banking system to work properly in the country. The United Kingdom has tried harder to smooth the banking system without affecting the conventional banking methods and without favouring the operations of Islamic banks. It also tries harder to make UK as an Islamic banking and finance hub in Europe. The entire banking system in Iran is Islamic, while Nigeria has undergone several legal reforms to suit Islamic banking system in the country. Kenya and Uganda are at a different pace in making Islamic Banking system work alongside the conventional banking system.  

Keywords: Shariah, Islamic banking, law, alternative banking.

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Authors: Elif Gencturk, Ekin Yurdakul, Ahmet Y. Celik, Senol Mutlu, Kutlu O. Ulgen

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Yeast cells are generally used as a model system of eukaryotes due to their complex genetic structure, rapid growth ability in optimum conditions, easy replication and well-defined genetic system properties. Thus, yeast cells increased the knowledge of the principal pathways in humans. During fermentation, carbohydrates (hexoses and pentoses) degrade into some toxic by-products such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF or HMF) and furfural. HMF influences the ethanol yield, and ethanol productivity; it interferes with microbial growth and is considered as a potent inhibitor of bioethanol production. In this study, yeast single cell behavior under HMF application was monitored by using a continuous flow single phase microfluidic platform. Microfluidic device in operation is fabricated by hot embossing and thermo-compression techniques from cyclo-olefin polymer (COP). COP is biocompatible, transparent and rigid material and it is suitable for observing fluorescence of cells considering its low auto-fluorescence characteristic. The response of yeast cells was recorded through Red Fluorescent Protein (RFP) tagged Nop56 gene product, which is an essential evolutionary-conserved nucleolar protein, and also a member of the box C/D snoRNP complexes. With the application of HMF, yeast cell proliferation continued but HMF slowed down the cell growth, and after HMF treatment the cell proliferation stopped. By the addition of fresh nutrient medium, the yeast cells recovered after 6 hours of HMF exposure. Thus, HMF application suppresses normal functioning of cell cycle but it does not cause cells to die. The monitoring of Nop56 expression phases of the individual cells shed light on the protein and ribosome synthesis cycles along with their link to growth. Further computational study revealed that the mechanisms underlying the inhibitory or inductive effects of HMF on growth are enriched in functional categories of protein degradation, protein processing, DNA repair and multidrug resistance. The present microfluidic device can successfully be used for studying the effects of inhibitory agents on growth by single cell tracking, thus capturing cell to cell variations. By metabolic engineering techniques, engineered strains can be developed, and the metabolic network of the microorganism can thus be manipulated such that chemical overproduction of target metabolite is achieved along with the maximum growth/biomass yield.  

Keywords: COP, HMF, ribosome biogenesis, thermoplastic microbioreactor, yeast.

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Authors: Sajjad Seifi Mofarah, S. K. Sadrnezhaad, Shokooh Moghadam, Javad Tavakoli

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In recent years a new method of combination treatment for cancer has been developed and studied that has led to significant advancements in the field of cancer therapy. Hyperthermia is a traditional therapy that, along with a creation of a medically approved level of heat with the help of an alternating magnetic AC current, results in the destruction of cancer cells by heat. This paper gives details regarding the production of the spherical nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 in order to be used for medical purposes such as tumor treatment by hyperthermia. To reach a suitable and evenly distributed temperature, the nanocomposite with core-shell morphology and spherical form within a 100 to 200 nanometer size was created using phase separation emulsion, in which the magnetic nano-particles γ- Fe2O3 with an average particle size of 20 nano-meters and with different percentages of 0.2, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 were covered by polyvinyl alcohol. The main concern in hyperthermia and heat treatment is achieving desirable specific absorption rate (SAR) and one of the most critical factors in SAR is particle size. In this project all attempts has been done to reach minimal size and consequently maximum SAR. The morphological analysis of the spherical structure of the nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 was achieved by SEM analyses and the study of the chemical bonds created was made possible by FTIR analysis. To investigate the manner of magnetic nanocomposite particle size distribution a DLS experiment was conducted. Moreover, to determine the magnetic behavior of the γ- Fe2O3 particle and the nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 in different concentrations a VSM test was conducted. To sum up, creating magnetic nanocomposites with a spherical morphology that would be employed for drug loading opens doors to new approaches in developing nanocomposites that provide efficient heat and a controlled release of drug simultaneously inside the magnetic field, which are among their positive characteristics that could significantly improve the recovery process in patients.

Keywords: Nanocomposite, hyperthermia, cancer therapy, drug release.

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Authors: Moh’d A. AL-Shboul

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Recently, and due to Arab spring and terrorism around the globe, pushing and driving most governments potentially to harmonize their border measures particularly the regional and an international transit trade within and among Customs Unions. The main purpose of this study is to investigate and provide an insight for monitoring and controlling the trade supply chain within and among different countries by using technological advancement (i.e. an electronic tracking system, etc.); furthermore, facilitate the local and intra-regional trade among countries through reviewing the recent trends and practical implementation of an electronic transit traffic and cargo that related to customs measures by introducing and supporting some case studies of several international and landlocked transit trade countries. The research methodology employed in this study was described as qualitative by conducting few interviews with managers, transit truck drivers, and traders and reviewing the related literature to collect qualitative data from secondary sources such as statistical reports, previous studies, etc. The results in this study show that Jordan and other countries around the globe that used an electronic tracking system for monitoring transit trade has led to a significant reduction in cost, effort and time in physical movement of goods internally and crossing through other countries. Therefore, there is no need to escort transit trucks by customs staff; hence, the rate of escort transit trucks is reduced by more than ninety percent, except the bulky and high duty goods. Electronic transit traffic has been increased; the average transit time journey has been reduced by more than seventy percent and has led to decrease in rates of smuggling up to fifty percent. The researcher recommends considering Jordan as regional and international office for tracking electronically and monitoring the transit trade for many considerations.

Keywords: Electronic tracking system, facilitation system, regional and international corridor, supply chain security, transit trade.

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Authors: Farzaneh Tahmoorian, Bijan Samali, John Yeaman

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Road networks are increasingly expanding all over the world. The construction and maintenance of the road pavements require large amounts of aggregates. Considerable usage of various natural aggregates for constructing roads as well as the increasing rate at which solid waste is generated have attracted the attention of many researchers in the pavement industry to investigate the feasibility of the application of some of the waste materials as alternative materials in pavement construction. Among various waste materials, construction and demolition wastes, including Recycled Construction Aggregate (RCA) constitute a major part of the municipal solid wastes in Australia. Creating opportunities for the application of RCA in civil and geotechnical engineering applications is an efficient way to increase the market value of RCA. However, in spite of such promising potentials, insufficient and inconclusive data and information on the engineering properties of RCA had limited the reliability and design specifications of RCA to date. In light of this, this paper, as a first step of a comprehensive research, aims to investigate the feasibility of the application of RCA obtained from construction and demolition wastes for the replacement of part of coarse aggregates in asphalt mixture. As the suitability of aggregates for using in asphalt mixtures is determined based on the aggregate characteristics, including physical and mechanical properties of the aggregates, an experimental program is set up to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of RCA. This laboratory investigation included the measurement of compressive strength and workability of RCA, particle shape, water absorption, flakiness index, crushing value, deleterious materials and weak particles, wet/dry strength variation, and particle density. In addition, the comparison of RCA properties with virgin aggregates has been included as part of this investigation and this paper presents the results of these investigations on RCA, basalt, and the mix of RCA/basalt.

Keywords: Asphalt, basalt, pavement, recycled aggregate.

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Authors: Ogunduyile O. Oluwgbenga

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Recent advancements in sensor technologies and Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) have led to the development of cost-effective healthcare devices which can be used to monitor and analyse a person-s physiological parameters from remote locations. These advancements provides a unique opportunity to overcome current healthcare challenges of low quality service provisioning, lack of easy accessibility to service varieties, high costs of services and increasing population of the elderly experienced globally. This paper reports on a prototype implementation of an architecture that seamlessly integrates Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) with Web services (WS) to proactively collect physiological data of remote patients to recommend diagnostic services. Technologies based upon WBAN and WS can provide ubiquitous accessibility to a variety of services by allowing distributed healthcare resources to be massively reused to provide cost-effective services without individuals physically moving to the locations of those resources. In addition, these technologies can reduce costs of healthcare services by allowing individuals to access services to support their healthcare. The prototype uses WBAN body sensors implemented on arduino fio platforms to be worn by the patient and an android smart phone as a personal server. The physiological data are collected and uploaded through GPRS/internet to the Medical Health Server (MHS) to be analysed. The prototype monitors the activities, location and physiological parameters such as SpO2 and Heart Rate of the elderly and patients in rehabilitation. Medical practitioners would have real time access to the uploaded information through a web application.

Keywords: Android Smart phone, Arduino Fio, Web application server, Wireless Body Area Networks.

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Authors: Mohammadjavad Mehrabanpour, Maryam Ranjbar Bushehri, Dorsa Mehrabanpour

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Respiratory diseases are the most important problems in the country’s poultry industry, particularly when it comes to broiler flocks. Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) is a species that causes poor performance in growth rate, egg production, and mortality. This pathogen causes a respiratory infection including pulmonary alveolar inflammation, and pneumonia of birds throughout the world. Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious disease in poultry, and also, it causes considerable losses to the poultry industry. The aim of this study was to evaluate the simultaneous occurrence of ORT and ND and NDV isolation by inoculation in embryonated eggs and confirmed by RT-PCR in broiler chicken flocks in Fars province. In this study, 318 blood and 85 tissue samples (brain, trachea, liver, and cecal tonsils) were collected from 15 broiler chicken farms. Survey serum antibody titers against ORT by using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit performed. Evaluation of antibody titer against ND virus is performed by hemagglutination inhibition test. Virus isolation with chick embryo eggs 9-11 and RT-PCR method were carried out. A total of 318 serum samples, 135 samples (42.5%) were positive for antibodies to ORT and titer of HI antibodies against NDV in 122 serum samples (38/4%) were 7-10 (log2) and 61 serum samples (19/2%) had occurrence antibody titer against Newcastle virus and ORT. Results of the present study indicated that 20 tissue samples were positive in embryonated egg and in rapid hemagglutination (HA) test. HI test with specific ND positive serum confirmed that 6 of 20 samples. PCR confirmed that all six samples were positive and PCR products of samples indicated 535-base pair fragments in electrophrosis. Due to the great economic importance of these two diseases in the poultry industry, it is necessary to design and implement a comprehensive plan for prevention and control of these diseases.

Keywords: ELISA, Newcastle disease, Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale, seroprevalence.

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Authors: Guillaume Mullier, Jean François Chatelain

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Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRPs) are widely used for advanced applications, in particular in aerospace, automotive and wind energy industries. Once cured to near net shape, CFRP parts need several finishing operations such as trimming, milling or drilling in order to accommodate fastening hardware and meeting the final dimensions. The present research aims to study the effect of the cutting temperature in trimming on the mechanical strength of high performance CFRP laminates used for aeronautics applications. The cutting temperature is of great importance when dealing with trimming of CFRP. Temperatures higher than the glass-transition temperature (Tg) of the resin matrix are highly undesirable: they cause degradation of the matrix in the trimmed edges area, which can severely affect the mechanical performance of the entire component. In this study, a 9.50mm diameter CVD diamond coated carbide tool with six flutes was used to trim 24-plies CFRP laminates. A 300m/min cutting speed and 1140mm/min feed rate were used in the experiments. The tool was heated prior to trimming using a blowtorch, for temperatures ranging from 20°C to 300°C. The temperature at the cutting edge was measured using embedded KType thermocouples. Samples trimmed for different cutting temperatures, below and above Tg, were mechanically tested using three-points bending short-beam loading configurations. New cutting tools as well as worn cutting tools were utilized for the experiments. The experiments with the new tools could not prove any correlation between the length of cut, the cutting temperature and the mechanical performance. Thus mechanical strength was constant, regardless of the cutting temperature. However, for worn tools, producing a cutting temperature rising up to 450°C, thermal damage of the resin was observed. The mechanical tests showed a reduced mean resistance in short beam configuration, while the resistance in three point bending decreases with increase of the cutting temperature.

Keywords: Composites, Trimming, Thermal Damage, Surface Quality.

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Authors: Michael Moeti, Khuliso Sigama, Thapelo Samuel Matlala

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One of the principal challenges that the world is confronted with is insecurity. The crime rate is increasing exponentially, and protecting our physical assets, especially in the motorist sector, is becoming impossible when applying our own strength. The need to develop technological solutions that detect and report theft without any human interference is inevitable. This is critical, especially for vehicle owners, to ensure theft detection and speedy identification towards recovery efforts in cases where a vehicle is missing or attempted theft is taking place. The vehicle theft detection system uses Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to recognize the driver's face captured using an installed mobile phone device. The location identification function uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the real-time location of the vehicle. Upon identification of the location, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology is used to report or notify the vehicle owner about the whereabouts of the vehicle. The installed mobile app was implemented by making use of Python as it is undoubtedly the best choice in machine learning. It allows easy access to machine learning algorithms through its widely developed library ecosystem. The graphical user interface was developed by making use of JAVA as it is better suited for mobile development. Google's online database (Firebase) was used as a means of storage for the application. The system integration test was performed using a simple percentage analysis. 60 vehicle owners participated in this study as a sample, and questionnaires were used in order to establish the acceptability of the system developed. The result indicates the efficiency of the proposed system, and consequently, the paper proposes that the use of the system can effectively monitor the vehicle at any given place, even if it is driven outside its normal jurisdiction. More so, the system can be used as a database to detect, locate and report missing vehicles to different security agencies.

Keywords: Convolutional Neural Network, CNN, location identification, tracking, GPS, GSM.

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Authors: Bipul Krishna Saha, Basab Chakraborty, Ashish Alex Sam, Parthasarathi Ghosh

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The demand for energy is cumulatively increasing with time.  Since the availability of conventional energy resources is dying out gradually, significant interest is being laid on searching for alternate energy resources and minimizing the wastage of energy in various fields.  In such perspective, low-grade waste heat from several industrial sources can be reused to generate electricity. The present work is to further the adoption of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology in Indian industrial sector.  The present paper focuses on extending the previously reported idea to the next level through a comparative review with three different working fluids using practical data from an Indian industrial plant. For comprehensive study in the simulation platform of Aspen Hysys^®, v8.6, the waste heat data has been collected from a current coke oven gas plant in India.  A parametric analysis of non-regenerative ORC and regenerative ORC is executed using the working fluids R-123, R-11 and R-21 for subcritical ORC system.  The primary goal is to determine the optimal working fluid considering various system parameters like turbine work output, obtained system efficiency, irreversibility rate and second law efficiency under applied multiple heat source temperature (160 °C- 180 °C).  Selection of the turbo-expanders is one of the most crucial tasks for low-temperature applications in ORC system. The present work is an attempt to make suitable recommendation for the appropriate configuration of the turbine. In a nutshell, this study justifies the proficiency of integrating the ORC technology in Indian perspective and also finds the appropriate parameter of all components integrated in ORC system for building up an ORC prototype.

Keywords: Organic rankine cycle, regenerative organic rankine cycle, waste heat recovery, Indian industry.

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Authors: Abdulaziz Alsadhan, Naveed Khan

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In recent years intrusions on computer network are the major security threat. Hence, it is important to impede such intrusions. The hindrance of such intrusions entirely relies on its detection, which is primary concern of any security tool like Intrusion detection system (IDS). Therefore, it is imperative to accurately detect network attack. Numerous intrusion detection techniques are available but the main issue is their performance. The performance of IDS can be improved by increasing the accurate detection rate and reducing false positive. The existing intrusion detection techniques have the limitation of usage of raw dataset for classification. The classifier may get jumble due to redundancy, which results incorrect classification. To minimize this problem, Principle component analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Local Binary Pattern (LBP) can be applied to transform raw features into principle features space and select the features based on their sensitivity. Eigen values can be used to determine the sensitivity. To further classify, the selected features greedy search, back elimination, and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) can be used to obtain a subset of features with optimal sensitivity and highest discriminatory power. This optimal feature subset is used to perform classification. For classification purpose, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) are used due to its proven ability in classification. The Knowledge Discovery and Data mining (KDD’99) cup dataset was considered as a benchmark for evaluating security detection mechanisms. The proposed approach can provide an optimal intrusion detection mechanism that outperforms the existing approaches and has the capability to minimize the number of features and maximize the detection rates.

Keywords: Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Principle component analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Local Binary Pattern (LBP), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP).

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Authors: Chimaobi V. Okolo, Kenneth A. Okpala, Johnbull S. Ogboi

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A teeming set of doctors that graduated from various universities within and outside Nigeria with the hope of practicing in the country, has their hope shattered because of poor financing, lack of medical equipments and a very weak healthcare systems. Such hydra headed challenges, allows room for quackery which increasingly contributes to the cause of mortality in Nigeria. With a view of reversing the challenges of healthcare delivery and financing in Nigeria, African Health Market for Equity (AHME), a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation [With contribution from Department For International Development (DFID)] and currently implemented in three African Countries (Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana) over a Five (5) year period supports the healthcare sector via Medical credit fund (MCF). The study examines the impact of credit policy and medical credit funding on Nigerian health market. Ordinary least square analysis, correlation and granger causality tests were employed to measure the extent to which the Nigerian healthcare market has been influenced. Medical credit fund significantly and positively influenced average monthly turnover of private healthcare providers and Commercial bank’s lending rate had a weak relationship with access to credit/approved loans (13.46%). The programme has so far made 13.91% progress, which is very poor, considering the minimum targeted private health care providers (437.6) and expected number of loan approvals (180.4) for the two years. Medical credit policy in Nigeria should be revised to include private healthcare providers in rural area for more positive impact and increased returns. Good brand advert and sensitization of the programme to stakeholders and health pressure group, and an extension of the programme beyond five years is necessary to better address the issues raised in the study.

Keywords: Credit, health market, medical credit facility, policy.

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Authors: M. Ntšolo, D. Kalumba, N. Lefu, G. Letlatsa

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Rock mass damage due to shear tectonic activity has been investigated largely in geoscience where fluid transport is of major interest. However, little has been studied on the effect of shear zones on rock mass behavior and its impact on stability of rock slopes. At Letšeng Diamonds open pit mine in Lesotho, the shear zone composed of sheared kimberlite material, calcite and altered basalt is forming part of the haul ramp into the main pit cut 3. The alarming rate at which the shear zone is deteriorating has triggered concerns about both local and global stability of pit the walls. This study presents the numerical modelling of the open pit slope affected by shear zone at Letšeng Diamond Mine (LDM). Analysis of the slope involved development of the slope model by using a two-dimensional finite element code RS2. Interfaces between shear zone and host rock were represented by special joint elements incorporated in the finite element code. The analysis of structural geological mapping data provided a good platform to understand the joint network. Major joints including shear zone were incorporated into the model for simulation. This approach proved successful by demonstrating that continuum modelling can be used to evaluate evolution of stresses, strain, plastic yielding and failure mechanisms that are consistent with field observations. Structural control due to geological shear zone structure proved to be important in its location, size and orientation. Furthermore, the model analyzed slope deformation and sliding possibility along shear zone interfaces. This type of approach can predict shear zone deformation and failure mechanism, hence mitigation strategies can be deployed for safety of human lives and property within mine pits.

Keywords: Numerical modeling, open pit mine, shear zone, slope stability.

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Authors: Sokkhey Phauk, Takeo Okazaki

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The challenging task in educational institutions is to maximize the high performance of students and minimize the failure rate of poor-performing students. An effective method to leverage this task is to know student learning patterns with highly influencing factors and get an early prediction of student learning outcomes at the timely stage for setting up policies for improvement. Educational data mining (EDM) is an emerging disciplinary field of data mining, statistics, and machine learning concerned with extracting useful knowledge and information for the sake of improvement and development in the education environment. The study is of this work is to propose techniques in EDM and integrate it into a web-based system for predicting poor-performing students. A comparative study of prediction models is conducted. Subsequently, high performing models are developed to get higher performance. The hybrid random forest (Hybrid RF) produces the most successful classification. For the context of intervention and improving the learning outcomes, a feature selection method MICHI, which is the combination of mutual information (MI) and chi-square (CHI) algorithms based on the ranked feature scores, is introduced to select a dominant feature set that improves the performance of prediction and uses the obtained dominant set as information for intervention. By using the proposed techniques of EDM, an academic performance prediction system (APPS) is subsequently developed for educational stockholders to get an early prediction of student learning outcomes for timely intervention. Experimental outcomes and evaluation surveys report the effectiveness and usefulness of the developed system. The system is used to help educational stakeholders and related individuals for intervening and improving student performance.

Keywords: Academic performance prediction system, prediction model, educational data mining, dominant factors, feature selection methods, student performance.

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Authors: Sudip Dasgupta, Debosmita Pani, Kanchan Maji

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Calcium Phosphate Cement (CPC) due to its high bioactivity and optimum bioresorbability shows excellent bone regeneration capability. Despite it has limited applications as bone implant due to its macro-porous microstructure causing its poor mechanical strength. The reinforcement of apatitic CPCs with biocompatible fibre glass phase is an attractive area of research to improve upon its mechanical strength. Here, we study the setting behaviour of Si-doped and un-doped α tri calcium phosphate (α - TCP) based CPC and its reinforcement with addition of E-glass fibre. Alpha Tri calcium phosphate powders were prepared by solid state sintering of CaCO3 , CaHPO4 and Tetra Ethyl Ortho Silicate (TEOS) was used as silicon source to synthesize Si doped α-TCP powders. Both initial and final setting time of the developed cement was delayed because of Si addition. Crystalline phases of HA (JCPDS 9- 432), α-TCP (JCPDS 29-359) and β-TCP (JCPDS 9-169) were detected in the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern after immersion of CPC in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 0 hours to 10 days. As Si incorporation in the crystal lattice stabilized the TCP phase, Si doped CPC showed little slower rate of conversion into HA phase as compared to un-doped CPC. The SEM image of the microstructure of hardened CPC showed lower grain size of HA in un-doped CPC because of premature setting and faster hydrolysis of un-doped CPC in SBF as compared that in Si-doped CPC. Premature setting caused generation of micro and macro porosity in un-doped CPC structure which resulted in its lower mechanical strength as compared to that in Si-doped CPC. It was found that addition of 10 wt% of E-glass fibre into Si-doped α-TCP increased the average DTS of CPC from 8 MPa to 15 MPa as the fibres could resists the propagation of crack by deflecting the crack tip. Our study shows that biocompatible E-glass fibre in optimum proportion in CPC matrix can enhance the mechanical strength of CPC without affecting its biocompatibility. 

Keywords: Calcium phosphate cement, biocompatibility, e-glass fibre, diametral tensile strength.

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Authors: M. Ishak, K. Yamasaki, K. Maekawa

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Magnesium alloys have gained increased attention in recent years in automotive, electronics, and medical industry. This because of magnesium alloys have better properties than aluminum alloys and steels in respects of their low density and high strength to weight ratio. However, the main problems of magnesium alloy welding are the crack formation and the appearance of porosity during the solidification. This paper proposes a unique technique to weld two thin sheets of AZ31B magnesium alloy using a paste containing Ag nanoparticles. The paste containing Ag nanoparticles of 5 nm in average diameter and an organic solvent was used to coat the surface of AZ31B thin sheet. The coated sheet was heated at 100 °C for 60 s to evaporate the solvent. The dried sheet was set as a lower AZ31B sheet on the jig, and then lap fillet welding was carried out by using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser in a closed box filled with argon gas. The characteristics of the microstructure and the corrosion behavior of the joints were analyzed by opticalmicroscopy (OM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and immersion corrosion test. The experimental results show that the wrought AZ31B magnesium alloy can be joined successfully using Ag nanoparticles. Ag nanoparticles insert promote grain refinement, narrower the HAZ width and wider bond width compared to weld without and insert. Corrosion rate of welded AZ31B with Ag nanoparticles reduced up to 44 % compared to base metal. The improvement of corrosion resistance of welded AZ31B with Ag nanoparticles due to finer grains and large grain boundaries area which consist of high Al content. β-phase Mg17Al12 could serve as effective barrier and suppressed further propagation of corrosion. Furthermore, Ag distribution in fusion zone provide much more finer grains and may stabilize the magnesium solid solution making it less soluble or less anodic in aqueous

Keywords: Laser welding, magnesium alloys, nanoparticles, mechanical property

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Authors: I. Elrouby

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The continued growth of tourism in the future relies on maintaining a clean environment by achieving sustainable development. The erosion and degradation of beaches, the deterioration of coastal water quality, visual pollution of coastlines by massive developments, all this has contributed heavily to the loss of the natural attractiveness for tourism. In light of this, promoting the concept of sustainable coastal development is becoming a central goal for governments and private sector. An ecolodge is a small hotel or guesthouse that incorporates local architectural, cultural and natural characteristics, promotes environmental conservation through minimizing the use of waste and energy and produces social and economic benefits for local communities. Egypt has some scattered attempts in some areas like Sinai in the field of ecolodging. This research tends to investigate the potentials of the North West Coast (NWC) in Alexandria as a new candidate for ecolodging investments. The area is full of primitive natural and man-made resources. These, if used in an environmental-friendly way could achieve cost reductions as a result of successful resource management for investors on the one hand, and coastal preservation on the other hand. In-depth interviews will be conducted with stakeholders in the tourism sector to examine their opinion about the potentials of the research area for ecolodging developments. The candidates will be also asked to rate the importance of the availability of certain environmental aspects in such establishments such as the uses of resources that originate from local communities, uses of natural power sources, uses of an environmental-friendly sewage disposal, forbidding the use of materials of endangered species and enhancing cultural heritage conservation. The results show that the area is full of potentials that could be effectively used for ecolodging investments. This if efficiently used could attract ecotourism as a supplementary type of tourism that could be promoted in Alexandria aside cultural, recreational and religious tourism.

Keywords: Alexandria, ecolodging, ecotourism, sustainability.

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Authors: K. A. Weidenmann, M. Grigo, B. Brylka, P. Elsner, T. Böhlke

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In order to reduce fuel consumption, the weight of automobiles has to be reduced. Fiber reinforced polymers offer the potential to reach this aim because of their high stiffness to weight ratio. Additionally, the use of fiber reinforced polymers in automotive applications has to allow for an economic large-scale production. In this regard, long fiber reinforced thermoplastics made by direct processing offer both mechanical performance and processability in injection moulding and compression moulding. The work presented in this contribution deals with long glass fiber reinforced polypropylene directly processed in compression moulding (D-LFT). For the use in automotive applications both the temperature and the time dependency of the materials properties have to be investigated to fulfill performance requirements during crash or the demands of service temperatures ranging from -40 °C to 80 °C. To consider both the influence of temperature and time, quasistatic tensile tests have been carried out at different temperatures. These tests have been complemented by high speed tensile tests at different strain rates. As expected, the increase in strain rate results in an increase of the elastic modulus which correlates to an increase of the stiffness with decreasing service temperature. The results are in good accordance with results determined by dynamic mechanical analysis within the range of 0.1 to 100 Hz. The experimental results from different testing methods were grouped and interpreted by using different time temperature shift approaches. In this regard, Williams-Landel-Ferry and Arrhenius approach based on kinetics have been used. As the theoretical shift factor follows an arctan function, an empirical approach was also taken into consideration. It could be shown that this approach describes best the time and temperature superposition for glass fiber reinforced polypropylene manufactured by D-LFT processing.

Keywords: Composite, long fiber reinforced thermoplastics, mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical analysis, time temperature superposition.

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Authors: Iacopo Testi, Diego Pajarito, Nicoletta Roberto, Carmen Greco

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Today, a consistent segment of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this proportion will vastly increase in the next decades. Therefore, understanding the key trends in urbanization, likely to unfold over the coming years, is crucial to the implementation of sustainable urban strategies. In parallel, the daily amount of digital data produced will be expanding at an exponential rate during the following years. The analysis of various types of data sets and its derived applications have incredible potential across different crucial sectors such as healthcare, housing, transportation, energy, and education. Nevertheless, in city development, architects and urban planners appear to rely mostly on traditional and analogical techniques of data collection. This paper investigates the prospective of the data science field, appearing to be a formidable resource to assist city managers in identifying strategies to enhance the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of our urban areas. The collection of different new layers of information would definitely enhance planners' capabilities to comprehend more in-depth urban phenomena such as gentrification, land use definition, mobility, or critical infrastructural issues. Specifically, the research results correlate economic, commercial, demographic, and housing data with the purpose of defining the youth economic discomfort index. The statistical composite index provides insights regarding the economic disadvantage of citizens aged between 18 years and 29 years, and results clearly display that central urban zones and more disadvantaged than peripheral ones. The experimental set up selected the city of Rome as the testing ground of the whole investigation. The methodology aims at applying statistical and spatial analysis to construct a composite index supporting informed data-driven decisions for urban planning.

Keywords: Data science, spatial analysis, composite index, Rome, urban planning, youth economic discomfort index.

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Authors: Shih-Wen Hsiao, Yi-Cheng Tsao

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In the field of reverse engineering and creative industries, applying 3D scanning process to obtain geometric forms of the objects is a mature and common technique. For instance, organic objects such as faces and nonorganic objects such as products could be scanned to acquire the geometric information for further application. However, although the data resolution of 3D scanning device is increasing and there are more and more abundant complementary applications, the penetration rate of 3D scanning for the public is still limited by the relative high price of the devices. On the other hand, Kinect, released by Microsoft, is known for its powerful functions, considerably low price, and complete technology and database support. Therefore, related studies can be done with the applying of Kinect under acceptable cost and data precision. Due to the fact that Kinect utilizes optical mechanism to extracting depth information, limitations are found due to the reason of the straight path of the light. Thus, various angles are required sequentially to obtain the complete 3D information of the object when applying a single Kinect for 3D scanning. The integration process which combines the 3D data from different angles by certain algorithms is also required. This sequential scanning process costs much time and the complex integration process often encounter some technical problems. Therefore, this paper aimed to apply multiple Kinects simultaneously on the field of developing a rapid 3D mannequin scan platform and proposed suggestions on the number and angles of Kinects. In the content, a method of establishing the coordination based on the relation between mannequin and the specifications of Kinect is proposed, and a suggestion of angles and number of Kinects is also described. An experiment of applying multiple Kinect on the scanning of 3D mannequin is constructed by Microsoft API, and the results show that the time required for scanning and technical threshold can be reduced in the industries of fashion and garment design.

Keywords: 3D scan, depth sensor, fashion and garment design, mannequin, multiple kinect sensor.

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Authors: Pavel Pořízka, David Prochazka, Karel Novotný, Ota Samek, ZdeněkPilát, Klára Procházková, and Jozef Kaiser

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Themain goal of this article is to find efficient methods for elemental and molecular analysis of living microorganisms (algae) under defined environmental conditions and cultivation processes. The overall knowledge of chemical composition is obtained utilizing laser-based techniques, Laser- Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for acquiring information about elemental composition and Raman Spectroscopy for gaining molecular information, respectively. Algal cells were suspended in liquid media and characterized using their spectra. Results obtained employing LIBS and Raman Spectroscopy techniques will help to elucidate algae biology (nutrition dynamics depending on cultivation conditions) and to identify algal strains, which have the potential for applications in metal-ion absorption (bioremediation) and biofuel industry. Moreover, bioremediation can be readily combined with production of 3rd generation biofuels. In order to use algae for efficient fuel production, the optimal cultivation parameters have to be determinedleading to high production of oil in selected cellswithout significant inhibition of the photosynthetic activity and the culture growth rate, e.g. it is necessary to distinguish conditions for algal strain containing high amount of higher unsaturated fatty acids. Measurements employing LIBS and Raman Spectroscopy were utilized in order to give information about alga Trachydiscusminutus with emphasis on the amount of the lipid content inside the algal cell and the ability of algae to withdraw nutrients from its environment and bioremediation (elemental composition), respectively. This article can serve as the reference for further efforts in describing complete chemical composition of algal samples employing laserablation techniques.

Keywords: Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, Algae, Algal strains, Bioremediation, Biofuels.

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Authors: H. Alabed, K. Abuzayan, J. Waterhouse

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The Muslim faith requires individuals to fast between the hours of sunrise and sunset during the month of Ramadan. Our recent work has concentrated on some of the changes that take place during the daytime when fasting. A questionnaire was developed to assess subjective estimates of physical, mental and social activities, and fatigue. Four days were studied: in the weeks before and after Ramadan (control days) and during the first and last weeks of Ramadan (experimental days). On each of these four days, this questionnaire was given several times during the daytime and once after the fast had been broken and just before individuals retired at night. During Ramadan, daytime mental, physical and social activities all decreased below control values but then increased to abovecontrol values in the evening. The desires to perform physical and mental activities showed very similar patterns. That is, individuals tried to conserve energy during the daytime in preparation for the evenings when they ate and drank, often with friends. During Ramadan also, individuals were more fatigued in the daytime and napped more often than on control days. This extra fatigue probably reflected decreased sleep, individuals often having risen earlier (before sunrise, to prepare for fasting) and retired later (to enable recovery from the fast). Some physiological measures and objective measures of performance (including the response to a bout of exercise) have also been investigated. Urine osmolality fell during the daytime on control days as subjects drank, but rose in Ramadan to reach values at sunset indicative of dehydration. Exercise performance was also compromised, particularly late in the afternoon when the fast had lasted several hours. Self-chosen exercise work-rates fell and a set amount of exercise felt more arduous. There were also changes in heart rate and lactate accumulation in the blood, indicative of greater cardiovascular and metabolic stress caused by the exercise in subjects who had been fasting. Daytime fasting in Ramadan produces widespread effects which probably reflect combined effects of sleep loss and restrictions to intakes of water and food.

Keywords: Drinking, Eating, Mental Performance, Physical Performance, Social Activity, Sleepiness.

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Authors: Firas Daghistani, Hossam Abuel Naga

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Waste tyres is an ongoing global problem that has a negative effect on the environment. Waste tyres are discarded in stockpiles where they provide harm to the environment in many ways. Finding applications to these materials can help in reducing this global problem. One of these applications is recycling these waste materials and using them in geotechnical engineering. Recycled waste tyre particulates can be mixed with sand to form a lightweight material with varying shear strength characteristics. This research further investigates the inclusion of particulate rubber to sand and whether it can increase or decrease the shear strength characteristics of the mixture. For the experiment, a series of direct shear tests was performed on a poorly graded sand with a mean particle size of 0.32 mm mixed with recycled poorly graded particulate rubber with a mean particle size of 0.51 mm. The shear tests were performed on four normal stresses 30, 55, 105, 200 kPa at a shear rate of 1 mm/minute. Different percentages of particulate rubber content were used in the mixture i.e., 10%, 20%, 30% and 50% of sand dry weight at three density states namely loose, slight dense, and dense state. The size ratio of the mixture, which is the mean particle size of the particulate rubber divided by the mean particle size of the sand, was 1.59. The results identified multiple parameters that can influence the shear strength of the mixture. The parameters were: normal stress, particulate rubber content, mixture gradation, mixture size ratio, and the mixture’s density. The inclusion of particulate rubber to sand showed a decrease to the internal friction angle, and an increase to the apparent cohesion. Overall, the inclusion of particulate rubber did not have a significant influence on the shear strength of the mixture. For all the dense states at the low normal stresses 30, and 55 kPa, the inclusion of particulate rubber showed a slight increase in the shear strength where the peak was at 20-30% rubber content of the sand’s dry weight. On the other hand, at the high normal stresses 105, and 200 kPa, there was a slight decrease in the shear strength.

Keywords: Direct shear, granular material, sand-rubber mixture, shear strength, waste material.

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Authors: Mehrdad Ahmadi, Mohamad Babaie, Shiva Osouli, Bahareh Salehi, Nadia Kalantaraian

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The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae Gmelin (Diptera: Tephritidae), is one of the most serious pests in olive orchards in growing province in Iran. The female lay eggs in green olive fruit and larvae hatch inside the fruit, where they feed upon the fruit matters. One of the main ecologically friendly and species-specific systems of pest control is the sterile insect technique (SIT) which is based on the release of large numbers of sterilized insects. The objective of our work was to develop a SIT against B. oleae by using of gamma radiation for the laboratory and field trial in Iran. Oviposition of female mated by irradiated males is one of the main parameters to determine achievement of SIT. To conclude the sterile dose, pupae were placed under 0 to 160 Gy of gamma radiation. The main factor in SIT is the productivity of females which are mated by irradiated males. The emerged adults from irradiated pupae were mated with untreated adults of the same age by confining them inside the transparent cages. The fecundity of the irradiated males mated with non-irradiated females was decreased with the increasing radiation dose level. It was observed that the number of eggs and also the percentage of the egg hatching was significantly (P < 0.05) affected in either IM x NF crosses compared with NM x NF crosses in F₁ generation at all doses. Also, the statistical analysis showed a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the mean number of eggs laid between irradiated and non-irradiated females crossed with irradiated males, which suggests that the males were susceptible to gamma radiation. The egg hatching percentage declined markedly with the increase of the radiation dose of the treated males in mating trials which demonstrated that egg hatch rate was dose dependent. Our results specified that gamma radiation affects the longevity of irradiated B. oleae larvae (established from irradiated pupae) and significantly increased their larval duration. Results show the gamma radiation, and SIT can be used successfully against olive fruit flies.

Keywords: Fertility, olive fruit fly, radiation, SIT.

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Authors: M. M. Shahidul Hassan, Omiya Hassan

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Bangladesh has set its goal to reach upper middle-income country status by 2024. To attain this status, the country must satisfy the World Bank requirement of achieving minimum Gross National Income (GNI). Number of youth job seekers in the country is increasing. University graduates are looking for decent jobs. So, the vital issue of this country is to understand how the GNI and jobs can be increased. The objective of this paper is to address these issues and find ways to create more job opportunities for youths at home and abroad which will increase the country’s GNI. The paper studies proportion of different goods Bangladesh exported, and also the percentage of employment in different sectors. The data used here for the purpose of analysis have been collected from the available literature. These data are then plotted and analyzed. Through these studies, it is concluded that growth in sectors like agricultural, ready-made garments (RMG), jute industries and fisheries are declining and the business community is not interested in setting up capital-intensive industries. Under this situation, the country needs to explore other business opportunities for a higher economic growth rate. Knowledge can substitute the physical resource. Since the country consists of the large youth population, higher education will play a key role in economic development. It now needs graduates with higher-order skills with innovative quality. Such dispositions demand changes in a university’s curriculum, teaching and assessment method which will function young generations as active learners and creators. By bringing these changes in higher education, a knowledge-based society can be created. The application of such knowledge and creativity will then become the commodity of Bangladesh which will help to reach its goal as an upper middle-income country.

Keywords: Bangladesh, economic sectors, economic growth, higher education, knowledge-based economy, massifcation of higher education, teaching and learning, universities’ role in society.

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