Bilingual Publishing Co. (BPC): E-Journals
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Spatial Distribution of Black Soot and Its Health Effects in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria
No full textThis research presents a novel approach to assessing the health implications of black soot using a MiniVol air sampler. The MiniVol air sampler was used to collect PM from the ambient air at six monitoring sites in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Sampling was conducted every day for seven days, for 24 hours. PM2.5 concentrations at Uniport Junction, GRA Junction, Slaughter Roundabout, Abuloma Jetty, Rumuomasi Roundabout, and New Road Borokiri were 38.6 g/m3, 28.3 g/m3, 93.7 g/m3, 72.9 g/m3, 30.6 g/m3, and 31.3 g/m3, respectively. PM10 concentrations ranged from 71.2 g/m3 to 60.6 g/m3, with 103.3 g/m3, 85.5 g/m3, 40.1 g/m3, and 35.2 g/m3 being the highest. The level of PM2.5 and PM10 pollution in the ambient air was high across the six sampling sites, with mean PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations exceeding the WHO (2011) guideline. The flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) technique was used. The presence of heavy metals, such as mean metal concentrations of lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, and nickel, ranged from 0.009 g/m3 -0.532 g/m3, 0.002 g/m3 - 0.544 g/m3, 0.002 g/m3 -0.338 g/m3, 0.001 g/m3, and 0.001 g/m3 -0.432 g/m3, across the six sampling sites. The GC-MS was used to determine the presence of PAHs in particulate matter. Correlation results revealed a strong positive correlation between PM2.5 and PM10. The findings also revealed a positive relationship between the metals as well as between the metals and PAHs, resulting in asthma, lung cancer, breathing difficulties, and miscarriages among pregnant women, which have affected the health implications of the people living in the environment
Projected Rainfall Intensity Duration Frequency Relationships under Climate Change: A Case Study of Thane City
No full textClimate change is the most important factor to increase in short-duration high-intensity rainfall and consequent flooding. Intensity-Duration Frequency (IDF) curves are commonly used tools in Stormwater design, so a method to derive future IDF curves including climate change effects could be necessary for mainstreaming climate change information into storm water planning. The objective of the present study is to define a mechanism to reflect the effect of climate change on the projected rainfall IDF relationships. For this, the continuously observed hourly rainfall data from 1969 to 2018 were divided into five subgroups. Then the IDF curve of each subgroup is defined. The rainfall intensity for the next 30 years was then estimated using a linear regression model. The obtained result indicates that for the same duration and for the same return period, the rainfall intensity is likely to increase over time: 17% (2019-2028), 25% (2029-2038) and 32% (2039-2048). However, the findings presented in this paper will be useful for local authorities and decision makers in terms of improving stormwater design and future flood damage will be avoided
Safety-critical Policy Iteration Algorithm for Control under Model Uncertainty
No full textSafety is an important aim in designing safe-critical systems. To design such systems, many policy iterative algorithms are introduced to find safe optimal controllers. Due to the fact that in most practical systems, finding accurate information from the system is rather impossible, a new online training method is presented in this paper to perform an iterative reinforcement learning based algorithm using real data instead of identifying system dynamics. Also, in this paper the impact of model uncertainty is examined on control Lyapunov functions (CLF) and control barrier functions (CBF) dynamic limitations. The Sum of Square program is used to iteratively find an optimal safe control solution. The simulation results which are applied on a quarter car model show the efficiency of the proposed method in the fields of optimality and robustness
Water Manipulation through Curvature Energy on Humidity Microparticles
No full textThe electric field created in a curvature energy sensor on air microparticles is used to obtain a temperature-humidity map by stereoradially of the sensor design to detect and measure the temperature and humidity of certain local region of the environment space. Likewise,considering the curvature energy as the deviation of any field interaction,even the obstruction to its proper flow, is designed and created a humidityresistor sensor to the control and optimization of humidity in a space with different gradients of humidity, pressure and temperature in a radial detection and measuring. Then the sensing problem is a problem of free boundary conditions where is satisfied an energy functional of norm ,to curvature functions that satisfy in the temperature and humidity function the change limit condition This carries to that the temperature-humidity sensor must be designed on a length gauge to measure the changes of humidity and temperature in the space
N-heterocyclic Carbene Catalysed Polymerisation of 2,5-Diformylfuran
No full textThe biobased renewable monomer 2,5-diformylfuran is polymerised using various N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysts in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) affording a low molar mass polymer. It is shown that catalyst structure as well as the temperature and time the polymerization is running have a noticeable effect on its molar mass. The obtained material is characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). An attempt at chain extension with diamine leads to precipitation of the polymer. This new biobased polymer material might be useful as a sustainable resin
A Model for Predicting Construction Worker Fatigue
No full textFatigue impairs workers’ judgment, reduces their productivity, and jeopardizes their safety. The paper presents a tool to predict workers’ fatiguebased on their vital signs. An experimental study was conducted in whichthe heart rate and sleep quality for three individuals were monitored usingfitness trackers (wearable sensors). The data collected were used to developtwo models based on regression analysis and Artificial Neural Networks(ANN), to predict their fatigue level. A Borg’s scale was used to estimatethe Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) of the participants. The two modelswere able to satisfactorily predict the RPE (workers fatigue level) with anaverage validity of 75% and 80% for the regression ANN models, respectively. The developed models can provide project managers and superintendents with early warning to avoid potential worker overexertion, injuries,and fatalities
Analysis and Evaluation of Thermal-cooling Loads of Office Buildings Using Carrier Software in Iran
No full textThe importance and necessity of energy saving in the world have been discussed for many years, but achieving a logical and transparent solution is still one of the main challenges and problems of the world’s economy. The rapid growth of energy consumption in the last two decades has caused the security of the domestic energy supply of buildings to face serious problems. In this research, first by entering parameters such as the type of materials, doors and windows, and the type of soil on the floor connected to the ground, etc. in the heat and cold load calculation software (HAP Carrier) as the design calculations and then in the second step entering the specifications inferred from the Iran’s national building code as a reference for energy saving calculations, calculations are performed and compared as the first criterion, and finally these two outputs are compared. The actual energy
consumption and determination of the building energy consumption index are determined as another criterion, as well as the degree of deviation from the actual consumption. The results showed that the theoretical method and the thermal and refrigeration load calculations of the Zanjan Gas Company building have 6% difference in cooling load but the heating load is about 34% different, which means for cooling loads, the theoretical model can be used with high accuracy but for heating loads, the national building code needs fundamental changes
An Insight into Different Strategies for Control and Prophylaxis of Fasciolosis: A Review
No full textFasciolosis is one of the important diseases of livestock and has zoonotic importance. Fasciolosis can cause huge economic losses due to decrease in milk and meat production, decreased feed conversion ratio, and cost of treatment. Treatment and prophylaxis strategies for Fasciola infection are formed based on epidemiological data. The control of Fasciola infection can be attained by treating the animals with active anthelmintics. The use of different combinations of anthelmintics with a possible rotation is more effective against immature as well as adult flukes. Control of the intermediate host (snail) is vital for the reduction of fasciolosis. Due to the rapid growth of snails, the eradication is quite difficult in waterlogged and marshy areas. The use of different grazing methods and treatment of grazing areas can also help to control fasciolosis. A variety of antigens generated by Fasciola spp. have been shown to protect against liver fluke infection. The crude antigens, excretory/secretory, and refined antigens and their combination can be used as prophylactic treatment for the control of fasciolosis. The use of any of the single or combination of these methods can be very effective for the control of fasciolosis
Political Economy of Global Environmental Governance Institutions: Future Collaborations between China and USA
No full textPhysical Characteristics of Functional Indigenous Farm-made Feeds Using Crude or Gelatinized Tapioca Starch as Sources of Energy
No full textThe experiment compared the physical characteristics of aqua feed with crude or gelatinized tapioca starch as sources of energy. The bulk density (BD), water absorption index (WAI), water solubility index (WSI), pellet durability index (PDI) and water stability (WS) were measured in both experimental diets. The results showed significant variations (p<0.05) in BD and WAI in diet with crude tapioca starch while non-significant variations (p>0.05) were recorded for WSI and WS in both diets. The higher BD of a diet, the better its ability in resisting external forces that can cause disintegration. A high BD also reduces ability to the feed material shrinking, thereby preventing loss to feed dust and fines. The results of WSI, WS and PDI of diets denotes that both pellets were water stable and could spend about same time in water but diet with gelatinized starch had a better water absorption index and pellet durability index. Furthermore, proximate composition of diets showed that diets with gelatinized starch had low moisture (9.04%), low fibre (5.24%), and higher ash (13.61%) and lipid (9.64%) contents. It can be concluded from this experiment that diets with gelatinized starch stands the chance of being a better functional feed for small-scale fish farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa