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Showing posts from August, 2022

Pollution of Airborne Fungi in Naturally Ventilated Repositories of the Provincial Historical Archive of Santiago de Cuba (Cuba)

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Pollution of Airborne Fungi in Naturally Ventilated Repositories of the Provincial Historical Archive of Santiago de Cuba (Cuba) Editor-in-Chief Dr. Qiang Zhang Beijing Normal University, China Dr. José Francisco Oliveira Júnior  Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Brazil Dr. Jianhui Bai Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Abstract Environmental fungi can damage the documentary heritage conserved in archives and affect the personnel’s health if their concentrations, thermohygrometric parameters and ventilation conditions are not adequate, problems that can be accentuated by Climate Change. The aims of this work were to identify and to characterize the airborne fungal pollution of naturally ventilated repositories in the Provincial Historical Archive of Santiago de Cuba and predict the risk that these fungi pose to the staff’s health. Indoor air of three repositories of this archive and the outdoor air were sampled in an occasion every time in 2015, 20

History and Projection of Hydrological Droughts in the Benin Basin of the Niger River (Benin)

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History and Projection of Hydrological Droughts in the Benin Basin of the Niger River (Benin) Editor-in-Chief Dr. Qiang Zhang Beijing Normal University, China Dr. José Francisco Oliveira Júnior  Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Brazil Dr. Jianhui Bai Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Abstract In the context of a changing climate, the Beninese Niger River basin has been the focus of several research studies for the quantification, planning, and modeling of water and related resources for sustainable use. This research aims to characterize the historical (1976-2019) and projected (2021- 2050) hydrological drought of the Beninese Niger River basin. The study used daily observations of rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures, runoff rates and simulations of HIRHAM and REMO RCMs from fifteen (15) rainfall stations installed around the basin. It uses standardized streamflow indices (SDI) at 12-month and 36-month time steps. The results show that the

Spatial Distribution of Black Soot and Its Health Effects in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria

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Spatial Distribution of Black Soot and Its Health Effects in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria Abstract This 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 a period of 24 hours. PM 2.5  concentrations at Uniport Junction, GRA Junction, Slaughter Roundabout, Abuloma Jetty, Rumuomasi Roundabout, and New Road Borokiri were 38.6 g/m 3  , 28.3 g/m 3  , 93.7 g/m 3  , 72.9 g/m 3  , 30.6 g/m 3  , and 31.3 g/m 3  , respectively. PM 10  concentrations ranged from 71.2 g/m 3  to 60.6 g/m 3  , with 103.3 g/m 3  , 85.5 g/m 3  , 40.1 g/m 3  , and 35.2 g/m 3  being the highest. The level of PM 2.5  and PM 10  pollution in the ambient air was high across the six sampling sites, with mean PM 2.5  and PM 10  concentrations exceeding the WHO (2011) guideline. The flame

Soil Bunds Effect on Soil Properties under Different Topographies of the Southwest Ethiopia

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Soil Bunds Effect on Soil Properties under Different Topographies of the Southwest Ethiopia Abstract Soil erosion is a major environmental problem affecting development endeavor. Physical soil and water conservation (SWC) measures such as soil bunds are implemented to mitigate soil erosion. However, information on the effects of soil bunds on soil fertility is limited. This study was aimed to evaluate soil quality in fields with soil bunds and with no soil bunds in steep, middle and lower sloping cultivated lands as well as spatial variation of soil properties in between bunds in southwest Ethiopia. About 7-15 years old bunds and nearby cultivated fields lacking bunds were assessed. From 0 cm-20 cm soil depth, a 36 soil samples were collected. Soil texture, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N tot ) and exchangeable potassium (K exch ) were analyzed. Soil bunds showed significantly ( p <0.0.5) greater clay but less sand than adjacent no-bund fields. In steep, middle, and low

Assessment of Urban Morphology through Local Climate Zone Classification and Detection of the Changing Building States of Siliguri Municipal Corporation and Its Surrounding Area, West Bengal

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Assessment of Urban Morphology through Local Climate Zone Classification and Detection of the Changing Building States of Siliguri Municipal Corporation and Its Surrounding Area, West Bengal Abstract Progressive population concentration to the urban centres has fuelled urban expansion in both horizontal as well as vertical direction, consequences in the urban landscape change. This growth resulted in posing many complexities towards sustainable urban development which can be counted by observing the changing proportions of natural landscapes and built up areas. Local climate zones (LCZs), a systematic classification of natural lands and built up lands, are identified in Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) and its surrounding region to explore the spatio temporal complexity of urban growth in recent years. Rapid urbanization and population growth of SMC have led to change the building states from low rise to mid and high rise which added an important feature to the urban landscape dyna

Assessment of Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Landuse/Landcover Change Drivers in Abuja, Nigeria

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Assessment of Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Landuse/Landcover Change Drivers in Abuja, Nigeria Abstract Landuse/Landcover (LULC) changes are recognised as some of the major causes of environmental problems like land degradation and climate change. To achieve sustainability, we need to properly understand such changes in order to have adequate information that will enable us to design and implementing measures to mitigate their negative impacts. Doing this particularly requires a proper understanding of how stakeholders perceive the changes in general and their drivers in particular. Unfortunately,not much is known for many areas about the perspective of landuse stakeholders on drivers of LULC changes. This paper reports the results of a study conducted to examine the perceptions of different landuse stakeholders on drivers of LULC changes in Abuja Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.Questionnaire survey was utilised, involving 514 households across four settlements, 2 rural (Karshi and O

Efficient Feature Selection and ML Algorithm for Accurate Diagnostics

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Efficient Feature Selection and ML Algorithm for Accurate Diagnostics Abstract Machine learning algorithms have been deployed in numerous optimization, prediction and classification problems. This has endeared them for application in fields such as computer networks and medical diagnosis. Although these machine learning algorithms achieve convincing results in these fields, they face numerous challenges when deployed on imbalanced dataset. Consequently, these algorithms are often biased towards majority class, hence unable to generalize the learning process. In addition, they are unable to effectively deal with high-dimensional datasets. Moreover, the utilization of conventional feature selection techniques from a dataset based on attribute significance render them ineffective for majority of the diagnosis applications. In this paper, feature selection is executed using the more effective Neighbour Components Analysis (NCA). During the classification process, an ensemble classifier com

A Study on Automatic Latent Fingerprint Identification System

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A Study on Automatic Latent Fingerprint Identification System Abstract Latent fingerprints are the unintentional impressions found at the crime scenes and are considered crucial evidence in criminal identification. Law enforcement and forensic agencies have been using latent fingerprints as testimony in courts. However, since the latent fingerprints are accidentally leftover on different surfaces, the lifted prints look inferior. Therefore, a tremendous amount of research is being carried out in automatic latent fingerprint identification to improve the overall fingerprint recognition performance. As a result, there is an ever-growing demand to develop reliable and robust systems. In this regard, we present a comprehensive literature review of the existing methods utilized in latent fingerprint acquisition, segmentation, quality assessment, enhancement, feature extraction, and matching steps. Later, we provide insight into different benchmark latent datasets available to perform resear

Study on Customer Demand Forecasting Models, Stock Management, Classification and Policies for Automobile Parts Manufacturing Company N.A.C.C. (An Advance on Classical Models)

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Study on Customer Demand Forecasting Models, Stock Management, Classification and Policies for Automobile Parts Manufacturing Company N.A.C.C. (An Advance on Classical Models) Abstract The primary intent of the current research is to provide insights regarding the management of spare parts within the supply chain, in conjunction with offering some methods for enhancing forecasting and inventory management. In particular, to use classical forecasting methods, the use of weak and unstable demand is not recommended. Furthermore, statistical performance measures are not involved in this particular context. Furthermore, it is expected that maintenance contracts will be aligned with different levels. In addition to the examination of some literature reviews, some tools will guide us through this process. The article proposes new performance analysis methods that will help integrate inventory management and statistical performance while considering decision maker priorities through the use of

Optimization by Hybrid/Combined Artificial Intelligent Models

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Optimization by Hybrid/Combined Artificial Intelligent Models Full Text: PDF DOI :  https://doi.org/10.30564/jmser.v5i1.4485

Towards Sustainable Living: From COP21 to COP26 and beyond

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Towards Sustainable Living: From COP21 to COP26 and beyond Full Text: PDF DOI :  https://doi.org/10.30564/jaeser.v5i1.4440

Inviting Nature into Academic Learning: Exploring the Possibility to Activate the Introvert Courts inside the University Buildings

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Inviting Nature into Academic Learning: Exploring the Possibility to Activate the Introvert Courts inside the University Buildings Abstract Established on peripheral sub-urban area of Sylhet city, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology is a public university well known for its beautiful natural environment and diversified landscape with green hillocks, waterscape, forests and biodiversity. But, the academic buildings of the campus were planned in an introvert way that the common void courts remain disconnected from the outside natural environment. Although designed with positive intention, most of the courts remain unused maximum the time of a year. As the campus natural environment is getting richer day by day and users prefer to spend more time in outside environment, it is high time to integrate nature into the academic learning. This research aims to explore the possibilities of these void courts to be incorporated with the outside natural environment to enhance joyful lear

A Case Study of Mobile Health Applications: The OWASP Risk of Insufficient Cryptography

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A Case Study of Mobile Health Applications: The OWASP Risk of Insufficient Cryptography Abstract Mobile devices are being deployed rapidly for both private and professional reasons. One area of that has been growing is in releasing healthcare applications into the mobile marketplaces for health management. These applications help individuals track their own biorhythms and contain sensitive information. This case study examines the source code of mobile applications released to GitHub for the Risk of Insufficient Cryptography in the Top Ten Mobile Open Web Application Security Project risks. We first develop and justify a mobile OWASP Cryptographic knowledgegraph for detecting security weaknesses specific to mobile applications which can be extended to other domains involving cryptography. We then analyze the source code of 203 open source healthcare mobile applications and report on their usage of cryptography in the applications. Our findings show that none of the open source healthca

Experimental Shear Study on Reinforced High Strength Concrete Beams Made Using Blended Cement

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Experimental Shear Study on Reinforced High Strength Concrete Beams Made Using Blended Cement Abstract With the increased application of High Strength Concrete (HSC) inconstruction and lack of proper guidelines for structural design in India,behavioral study of high strength concrete is an important aspect ofresearch. Research on the behavior of HSC reinforced beams with concretestrength more than 60 MPa has been carried out in the past and is stillcontinuing to understand the structural behavior of HSC beams. Along withthe many benefits of the high strength concrete, the more brittle behavior isof concern which leads to sudden failure. This paper presents the behaviorof reinforced HSC beams in shear with considering the effects of variousfactors like shear reinforcement ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, l/dratio (length to depth ratio), etc. Ten numbers Reinforced Concrete Beamsof various sizes using concrete mix with three different w/c ratios (0.46, 0.26and 0.21) were cast fo

Gathering Data, Providing Theoretical Foundations and Proposing Practical Pollution Reducing Measures to Strengthen the Global Fight against a Warming Atmosphere

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Gathering Data, Providing Theoretical Foundations and Proposing Practical Pollution Reducing Measures to Strengthen the Global Fight against a Warming Atmosphere Full Text: PDF DOI:  https://doi.org/10.30564/jasr.v5i2.4618

Significant Improvement in Rainfall Forecast over Delhi: Annual and Seasonal Verification

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Significant Improvement in Rainfall Forecast over Delhi: Annual and Seasonal Verification Abstract Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC) New Delhi has the responsibility to issue and disseminate rainfall forecast for Delhi. So it is very important to scientifically verify the rainfall forecast issued by RWFC. In this study rainfall forecast verification of Delhi has been carried out annually and season wise for the period 2011 to 2021. Various statistical parameters such as Percentage Correct (PC), Probability of Detection (POD), Missing Ratio (MR), False Alarm Ratio (FAR), Critical Success Index (CSI), True Skill Statistics (TSS) and Heidke Skill Score (HSS) have been calculated for season wise and annually. A forecast is considered to be improved if PC, POD, CSI, TSS and HSS increase and FAR and MR decrease over a period of time. The author can conclude that annual accuracy of forecast has increased significantly over the period of time from 2011 to 2021, as PC, POD, CSI, TSS an