Exposure to NO2 in occupational built environments in urban centre in Lahore

Increased economic growth, urbanisation and substantial rise in automobile vehicles has contributed towards the elevated levels of air pollution in major cities in Pakistan. Aone week study was conducted by using passive samplers to assess NO2 concentration in occupational built environments at two most congested and populated sites of Lahore. Both sites were locatedon the busy roads of Lahore. At Site-I the highest concentration was in outdoors followed by corridor and indoor. While at Site II all the sampling location wereindoors and level were comparable to that of outdoor levelsat Site I. The results suggest the likely contribution of ambient sources in exposure to indoor NO2 in educational and other occupational built environments in urban centres

Strut and Tie Modeling for RC Deep Beams under non-Central Loadings

This work aims at presenting detailed procedures companied by numerical examples for analyzing and designing reinforced concrete deep beams that subjected to non-central loadings based on Strut and Tie method (STM). The subjected loadings were moved from the center of the beam span towards the supports reaching the maximum non-centrality could be achieved (after which the beams became ‘not deep’ from ACI 318M-14 point of view). A total of three deep beams with three different types of loadings were taken into considerations; one concentrated force, two concentrated forces and uniformly distributed load. Every specimen had a cross section of 150  400 mm and a total length of 1000 mm. Generally, it was found that moving load from the span center towards one of the supports leads to worth notable decreases in the beam ultimate capacity. Therefore, in the case of one-concentrated force, the ultimate load capacity decreased by 30.2% when left shear span to effective depth ratio (aL/d) decreased from 1.3 to 0.65. While in the cases of two-concentrated forces or uniformly distributed loading, it was found that changing (aL/d) ratio from 1.02 to 0.37 led to decrease the deep beam ultimate capacity by 30.5%

Growth rhythms in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in response to environmental disparity

Sunflower hybrids maintain high level of stability in a variety of environments. Environmental variations affect and modify plant attributes like growth, development and assimilation through physio-morphicfunctions, thus modifying plant phenology. Field experiments, one each in spring and autumn, were conducted at Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan for two years (2007 and 2008) to document the effect of environmental variations on growth rhythms of sunflower hybrids. Four Sunflower hybrids, Alisson-RM, Parasio-24, MG-2 and S-278 were planted in randomized complete block design with four replications. The data based on physiological attributes like leaf area (LA),specific leaf area (SLA), crop growth rate (CGR) and net assimilation rate (NAR) at 10 days interval after complete emergence to 60 days after emergence (DAE) were recorded. Overall higher values of LA, SLA, CGR and NAR were recorded during spring as compared to autumn for both years. LA, CGR and NAR of all the hybrids followed a sigmoid curve pattern during both seasons; however, at the start of the season lesser values were observed during spring as compared to autumn. SLA exhibited anopposite trend and continuously decreased till the end. Sigmoid curve pattern of LA, CGR and NAR may be related to environmental variables like temperature and sunshine hours. The decrease after a peak may be due to senescence of older leaves and shifting of crop from vegetative to reproductive phase

Synthesis and Characterization of Some New 1-(3-(heterocyclic-2-yl)-4,5-dihydroisoxazol-5-yl)Pentane-1,2,3,4,5-Pentaol Derivatives from New Chalcone

The synthesis and characterization of some novel chalcone and isoxazole derivatives has been presented. Isoxazoles (D-F) have been prepared from chalcones (A-C) by treating with hydroxylamine hydrochloride . The structure of isoxazoles has been characterized by spectral analysis by FT-IR  and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Keywords: isoxazole chalcone, heterocyclic DOI: 10.7176/CMR/12-1-02 Publication date: January 31st 202

A process centred virtual approach to support cost estimating along product life cycle

The application of engineering practices and scientific principles to the creation of cost estimates along a product life cycle is one of the basic aspects of Cost Engineering. Cost estimates are used as fundamental criteria to make design decisions in the development stage and also to make business decisions in collaboration between OEMs and their supply chain. The achievement of an estimate requires experience and knowledge of different techniques and methodologies. Key aspects on its creation are the adoption of a cost estimating process, the availability of the needed data and the proper management of the information used during the process. The collaboration between the OEM and its supplier can be facilitated by having a better common understanding of how the cost estimates have been created. The cost estimating process used is then a fundamental piece of trust. In this context, the main purpose of this paper is to present the research conducted in the definition of cost estimating processes and the virtual framework selected. They are the key elements in the development of a prototype set of virtual tools to support the creation of cost estimates, the improvement of competences of the Cost Engineering Community, and the common understanding on cost between OEMs and their supply chain

Exposure to NO<inf>2</inf> in occupationalbuilt environmnets in urban centre in Lahore

Increased economic growth, urbanisation and substantial rise in automobile vehicles has contributed towards the elevated levels of air pollution in major cities in Pakistan. Aone week study was conducted by using passive samplers to assess NO2 concentration in occupational built environments at two most congested and populated sites of Lahore. Both sites were locatedon the busy roads of Lahore. At Site-I the highest concentration was in outdoors followed by corridor and indoor. While at Site II all the sampling location wereindoors and level were comparable to that of outdoor levelsat Site I. The results suggest the likely contribution of ambient sources in exposure to indoor NO2 in educational and other occupational built environments in urban centres

Magnetic relaxation phenomena and cluster glass properties of La{0.7-x}Y{x}Ca{0.3}MnO{3} manganites

The dynamic magnetic properties of the distorted perovskite system La{0.7-x}Y{x}Ca{0.3}MnO{3} (0 <= x <= 0.15) have been investigated by ac-susceptibility and dc magnetization measurements, with emphasis on relaxation and aging studies. They evidence for x >= 0.10 the appearance of a metallic cluster glass phase, that develops just below the ferromagnetic transition temperature. The clusters grow with decreasing temperature down to a temperature T(f0) at which they freeze due to severe intercluster frustration. The formation of these clusters is explained by the presence of yttrium induced local structural distortions that create localized spin disorder in a magnetic lattice where double-exchange ferromagnetism is dominant.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Time varying interdependency between COVID-19, tourism market, oil prices, and sustainable climate in United States: evidence from advance wavelet coherence approach

This study attempts to empirically estimate the interdependence between COVID-19, tourism market, oil prices, and sustainable climate in United States. In doing so, we employ an advanced Morlet’s wavelet approach, namely, Wavelet coherence transform (WCT), Partial and Multiple Wavelet Coherence and found a strong co-movement between variables, which is varied across the time scales, indicating the initial, peak, and after peak effect of COVID-19 on tourism market, oil prices, and carbon emissions using daily data from 6 March 2020 to 6 August 2020. The visuals of WCT exhibit a cyclic (anti-cyclic) relationship between tourism and oil prices, suggesting a strong positive (negative) co-movement in the shorter and longer (medium) period. Tourism and carbon emissions possess a strong positive co-movement across all periods except in the medium run; however, the intensity of this movement is higher in the very short-run compared to medium and longer-run. The results reveal an anti-cyclic association between COVID-19 and tourism, and COVID-19 is leading tourism with strong negative co-movements. Finally, the results describe that carbon emissions and COVID-19 are anti-cyclical and display a positive causality in the shorter run. These results offer valuable guidelines for all stakeholders. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Effect of additivized biodiesel blends on diesel engine performance, emission, tribological characteristics, and lubricant tribology

© 2020 by the authors. This research work focuses on investigating the lubricity and analyzing the engine characteristics of diesel-biodiesel blends with fuel additives (titanium dioxide (TiO2) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC)) and their effect on the tribological properties of a mineral lubricant. A blend of palm-sesame oil was used to produce biodiesel using ultrasound-assisted transesterification. B30 (30% biodiesel + 70% diesel) fuel was selected as the base fuel. The additives used in the current study to prepare ternary fuel blends were TiO2 and DMC. B30 + TiO2 showed a significant reduction of 6.72% in the coefficient of friction (COF) compared to B30. B10 (Malaysian commercial diesel) exhibited very poor lubricity and COF among all tested fuels. Both ternary fuel blends showed a promising reduction in wear rate. All contaminated lubricant samples showed an increment in COF due to the dilution of combustible fuels. Lub + B10 (lubricant + B10) showed the highest increment of 42.29% in COF among all contaminated lubricant samples. B30 + TiO2 showed the maximum reduction (6.76%) in brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC). B30 + DMC showed the maximum increment (8.01%) in brake thermal efficiency (BTE). B30 + DMC exhibited a considerable decline of 32.09% and 25.4% in CO and HC emissions, respectively. The B30 + TiO2 fuel blend showed better lubricity and a significant improvement in engine characteristics

Operation Allelopathy: An Experiment Investigating an Alternative to Synthetic Agrochemicals

Synthetic herbicides represent a serious problem in modern agriculture because they are not biodegradable and can accumulate in the soil and in the groundwater, a situation that allows them to enter the trophic chain and ultimately leads to human exposure. Allelopathic chemicals offer an effective alternative to the synthetic compounds. The aim of this experiment is to highlight the differences between chemical and biological control of diseases in crops and to demonstrate the use of natural fungicides and herbicides as alternatives to synthetic chemicals. The experiment involves an evaluation by students of the potential of plant extracts as an alternative to synthetic agrochemicals to identify new ecological farming techniques that could be applied in agriculture. In an effort to encourage 1800 students in high school (14 to 16 years old) to have an interest in science, technology, and innovation, the third edition of the Summer Science Campus was organized by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports with support from the foundation Obra Social “la Caixa”