Urban megaprojects and water justice in Southeast Asia: Between global economies and community transitions

Available online 1 April 2021Within the Southeast Asian context, urban megaprojects are often delivered in aquatic or semi-aquatic contexts, transforming local hydrological systems used for sanitation, agriculture, sustenance, resource use and cultural purposes by the local populations. This paper addresses a key knowledge gap on the impacts of urban mega-projects on water security and water-related human rights in Southeast Asia through a literature review, field observations and digital earth observation. Three case studies in Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar were used to develop a picture of urban megaproject impacts on urban water landscapes and the human rights of local communities. The paper adapts recent human rights frameworks developed specifically for megaproject life cycles and applies them to the selected urban megaproject case studies. The seven stages in the megaproject life cycle are linked with specific accountability measures for duty bearers. Current challenges and opportunities for the global urban development community are developed in relation to water justice and megaprojects. Further the question of a just urban transition is developed to mediate between megaproject proponents and local communities in the Global South.Scott Hawken, Behnaz Avazpour, Mike S. Harris, Atousa Marzban, Paul George Munr

The structure of nematic model of liquid crystal with cylindrical and ellipsoidal molecules confined in between walls

  The density functional theory analogue of Percus Yevick (PY) and Hyper-Netted chain (HNC) has been used to write the grand potential of a liquid with cylindrical and ellipsoidal molecules. The integral equations for the density can be obtained by minimizing the grand potential with respect to the density. Some kinds of liquid crystals, can have the cylindrical or ellipsoidal rigid molecules. In this study we have calculated the density profile of this kind of liquids confined between hard walls and we compared the results. As it is seen from the graphs of the density profiles the molecules can be arranged as layers with respect to the walls

Rheology Charactrization of Drag Reducing Agents

Transportation of liquids through pipelines is considered as one of the high energy dissipation sources in the industry due to the turbulent flow of transportation [1-4]. Several attempts are spotted in the literatures introducing different techniques to reduce the energy dissipation in pipelines. Generally, these techniques can be classified into two major categories namely, Passive and Active. Mostly, Passive drag reduction techniques uses riblets, dimples, wavy and oscillating walls, compliant surfaces and micro-bubbles and these techniques do not need the additives (5, 6]. Active techniques were the first and most common solution for drag reduction with operation of a minute concentration of an additive or drag reducing agent (DRA) into the transported liquid. A DRA can be generally selected from suspended solids, polymers and surfactants (7-11]

Investigation into the temperature dependence of isotropic- nematic phase transition of Gay- Berne liquid crystals

Density functional approach was used to study the isotropic- nematic (I-N) transition and calculate the values of freezing parameters of the Gay- Berne liquid crystal model. New direct and pair correlation functions of a molecular fluid with Gay- Berne pair potential were used. These new functions were used in density functional theory as input to calculate the isotropic- nematic transition densities for elongation at various reduced temperatures. It was observed that the isotropic- nematic transition densities increase as the temperature increases. It was found that the new direct correlation function is suitable to study the isotropic- nematic transition of Gay- Berne liquids. Comparison to other works showed qualitative agreemen

Food safety knowledge, attitude, and practice among restaurant food handlers in Kerman, Iran

Food safety is a crucial strategy to control foodborne diseases and improve communities� health. The study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice level of public restaurant� food handlers. This cross-sectional study was carried out from May to July 2019 in Kerman city, southeast of Iran. Data were collected using World Health Organization questionnaires on food safety. The mean (SD) scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice of the respondents were 61.2 (16.9), 76.4 (12.3) and 63.1 (10.2), respectively. The mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice were not significantly different in terms of the independent variables. There were direct correlation between food safety knowledge and practice (r=.305, P<.0001), the knowledge and attitude (r=.271, P<.0001) (r=.415, P<.0001) as well as between food safety attitude and practice. Thawing frozen food in the refrigerator or other cool places (44.8), storing any left-overs of cooked meal in a cool place within two hours (43.7), reheating cooked food until it is piping hot throughout (42.6), and using separate utensils and cutting boards when preparing raw and cooked food (42.3) were the areas with the maximum unsatisfactory practice, respectively. as a result, the food handlers had a relatively positive attitude toward food safety but their knowledge and practice level were not satisfactory. © 2020, Dorma Journals. All rights reserved

Economical Approach for Determination of Kojic Acid by Nanostructured Ionic Liquid-Based Carbon Paste Sensor

An economical and sensitive nanostructured sensor based on carbon paste electrode (CPE) for the determination of kojic acid (KA) was developed in the current work. The applied CPE was modified with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (1B3MITFB) as a conductive binder and NiO nanoparticles (NiO/NPs). The proposed modified ionic liquid-based carbon paste electrode showed satisfactory concentration range and lower detection limit of 5.0�600 μM and 0.8 μM at phosphate buffer pH 6.0, respectively. An acceptable reproducibility with a satisfactory analytical characteristic was observed for the proposed sensor in the presence of common interfering compounds. The observed irreversible oxidation behavior of KA at the surface of the NiO/NPs/1B3MITFB/MCPE was controlled under the diffusion step and the diffusion coefficient (D) at the mass transport limited rate found to be 2.3 � 10�4 cm2 s�1. According to the slope of the Tafel plot, the value of 0.625 was calculated for the electron transfer coefficient (α). The acquired data from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies confirmed that the presence of NiO NPS and 1B3MITFB as a conductive binder resulted in a significant increase in the electro-oxidation signal of KA. The value of 12.3 kΩ for the Rct of unmodified CPE decreased to the value of 1.7 kΩ for the modified electrode. The obtained results revealed that the proposed modified ionic liquid-based carbon paste electrode could be applied successfully for the analysis of trace amounts of KA in biological samples such as blood serum, urine, and pharmaceutical samples such as liposome carriers containing KA as well as food samples such as vinegar. The synthesized NiO nanoparticles were characterized using XRD and EDAX analyses. The morphology of NiO/NPs is further characterized by SEM. Figure not available: see fulltext. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

The Impacts of Urban Megaprojects on Water and Sanitation Related Human Rights in Southeast Asia: Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation

The provision of secure water supplies to human populations is a challenging task for societies globally, particularly in the context of growing urbanisation. Water scarcity has been identified as a key driver for future global conflicts and water conservation is a major focus for current research. This is because the majority of conventional urban water management systems are proving inadequate. Global trends such as urbanization and climate change have numerous direct and indirect impacts on urban water-related human rights as they affect water sources humans rely on for drinking, sanitation and a range of other activities which influence human health and prosperity. Groundwater recharge, water runoff, ecosystem health, and urban climate are all affected by the urban hydrological cycle which is distinctively different from rural and more natural hydrological cycles. For example water drainage is a major urban problem because hard urban surfaces prevent infiltration to the soil thereby increasing the risk of flooding and limiting the filtering and cleansing of water supplies. There is a need for more effective solutions for managing urban water. While new approaches such as water sensitive urban design and sponge city technologies are available, they are often not well adapted to protecting community values and rights. Megaprojects are key modes of development in Southeast Asia, especially over the past few decades. However, the effects of these projects on societies’ access to water are not well understood. Nevertheless, the basic impacts of these large-scale projects can be discerned through a range of methods including scholarly and grey literature review, field studies, and earth observation. This report addresses the lack of knowledge on urban megaproject impacts on water and sanitation-related human rights in Southeast Asia. Megaprojects are perceived to deliver wealth and new technology to urban regions in the context of rapid urbanization. This is important as in the Southeast Asia region where 20 percent of the total population live in poverty. However, the reality of these projects is often quite different from their aims as their large-scale development approach can destabilize local populations rather than address their needs. A concise literature review and five select case studies were used to develop a picture of urban megaproject impacts on the urban water landscapes and the resultant impacts on human rights. The selected concise case studies are:• Phu My Hung, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam• Amarapura Urban Development, Shankalay Kyun Island, Mandalay, Myanmar• Bumi Serpong Damai City, Jakarta, Indonesia• Entertainment City (PAGCOR), Manila, Philippines• Boeng Kok Lake Development, Phenom Penh, CambodiaA review of the literature on mixed-use megaprojects reveals a range of complex urban challenges from inception to delivery. While there are compelling reasons for continuing to implement these projects, there are currently few successful projects in terms of economy, environment, and social uplift. To ensure that such projects are successful in terms of water-based human rights in future, a systematic review of such projects is necessary. This report is an initial step in this direction

Resources facilitating international capstone experiences

Today it is very common for software systems to be built by teams located in more than one country. For example, a project team may be located in Australia while the team lead resides in the US. Senior design or capstone projects offer students real-world hands-on experience but rarely while working internationally. One reason is that most instructors do not have international business contacts that allow them to find project sponsors in other countries. Another reason is the fear of having to invest a huge amount of time managing an international project. This paper presents two resources to help universities expand international experiences for students. The first is a methodology for how to manage student teams while tracking individual contributions/performance and the second is a platform where a university can apply to be paired with a university in a different country for a project exchange. We start by introducing the general concepts related to "International Capstone Project Exchanges", the basic model behind the exchanges (student teams work from their home university while being mentored by an industry sponsor residing in a different country) and several alternate models that have been used in practice. We also describe templates/processes used in evaluations of individual team members. The paper concludes with a detailed description of an International Capstone Project Exchange (ICPE) platform that has been developed to aid any university in establishing their own international project exchange