Evaluasi Penerapan Sistem Keselamatan Kebakaran pada Bangunan Gedung (Studi Kasus Gedung Laboratorium Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Jenderal Soedirman)

Kebakaran merupakan peristiwa ketika api tidak dapat dikendalikan oleh keinginan manusia yang dapat menimbulkan berbagai kerugian berupa harta benda, manusia dan kerusakan lingkungan. Proteksi kebakaran yang ada pada sebuah bangunan gedung hunian harus menjadi prioritas utama dikarenakan terdapat banyak aktivitas manusia di dalamnya. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui tingkat keamanan bangunan tersebut terhadap ancaman peristiwa kebakaran dan memberikan rekomendasi peningkatan keamanan terhadap kebakaran sebagai upaya mitigasi kebakaran pada bangunan gedung Laboratorium Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Jenderal Soedirman. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif dengan pendekatan kuantitatif. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode analisis gap dan kemudian diolah menjadi nilai keandalan sistem keselamatan bangunan. Di mana untuk mendapatkan data yang dibutuhkan, dilakukan observasi secara langsung dan wawancara kepada pihak pengelola gedung. Komponen yang diidentifikasi yaitu kelengkapan tapak, sarana penyelamatan, sistem proteksi aktif dan sistem proteksi pasif. Hasil penelitian berupa nilai keandalan sistem terhadap keselamatan kebakaran bangunan gedung (NKSKB) pada Gedung Laboratorium Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Jenderal Soedirman dengan penilaian kelengkapan tapak 23%, sistem sarana pengaman 22,7 %, sistem proteksi aktif 18,3% dan sistem proteksi pasif 23,1 %. Tingkat keandalan sistem proteksi kebakaran pada bangunan Gedung Laboratorium Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Jenderal Soedirman secara keseluruhan adalah baik dengan persentase 87,2%. Rekomendasi yang diusulkan yaitu merelokasi bangunan UKM yang terletak pada sebelah timur gedung dan memperlebar jarak dengan dinding perbatasan Universitas Terbuka, mengganti dan menambah kapasitas pompa hidran halaman dengan kemampuan minimal 603 US GPM atau 38 liter/detik, memindahkan benda-benda yang menghalangi jalan keluar, menambah jumlah APAR yang sesuai minimal lima buah unit, menambahkan kartu atau label yang menunjukkan bulan dan tahun dilakukannya pemeliharaan, menambahkan panel control manual dan indikator kebakaran serta buku petunjuk pengoperasian pengendali asap bagi petugas jaga, menambahkan reservoir asap, menambahkan lift kebakaran, dan melakukan identifikasi apakah pemasangan instalasi listrik telah sesuai dengan Persyaratan Umum Instalasi Listrik (PUIL) tahun 2011, dan menambah penutup tahan api pada bukaan vertikal (jalur penempatan instalasi kabel listrik)

Vitamin D Deficiency in HCV Antiviral Treatment Responders versus Non-Responders

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease (CLD). Pakistan has a high burden of infectious diseases, including HCV. Its prevalence varies according to geographic regions in the country from about 2·4% to 6·5%. The objective of the study was to compare the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in responders and non-responders of antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C.Material and Methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Hepatitis Clinic, Jinnah hospital, Lahore from 20th May to 20th November 2013. After ethical approval, participants were selected by using purposive non-probability sampling, 52 responder patients i.e. who were labeled negative for HCV RNA by PCR after 12 weeks of antiviral treatment and 52 non-responder patients were included in this study. Data was collected by using pretested structured questionnaire. Vitamin D3 levels were measured by ELISA and a cut-off value of below 30ng/ml was labeled as Vitamin D deficiency. SPSS version 21 was used to analyze data with p value less than 0.05 taken as statistically significant.Results: Out of 104 patients (mean age 35±8.1 years), 61.5% were males and 38.5 % were females. There was a significant difference in frequency of vitamin D deficiency in treatment responder group when compared to non-responders (p = 0.016). Mean level of vitamin D was 21.8±10.8ng/ml in responders whereas it was 15.6±7.5 in non-responders with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.001).Conclusion: This study concludes that there is a significant vitamin D deficiency among treatment non-responders as compared to treatment responders in patients with chronic hepatitis C

Pakistan-EU Commodity Trade: Is there Evidence of J-Curve Effect?

In investigating the short run and the long run impact of currency depreciation on Pakistan’s trade balance, previous studies have either relied on using bilateral trade data between Pakistan and her trade partners or between Pakistan and the rest of the world and have found not much support for successful depreciation. Suspecting that these studies may suffer from aggregation bias, in this paper we use disaggregated trade data at commodity level from 77 industries that trade between Pakistan and EU. While we find short-run significant effects in 22 industries, these effects do not last into the long run in most industries. Most of the affected industries are found to be small, as measured by their trade shares

Pakistan-EU Commodity Trade: Is there Evidence of J-Curve Effect?

In investigating the short run and the long run impact of currency depreciation on Pakistan’s trade balance, previous studies have either relied on using bilateral trade data between Pakistan and her trade partners or between Pakistan and the rest of the world and have found not much support for successful depreciation. Suspecting that these studies may suffer from aggregation bias, in this paper we use disaggregated trade data at commodity level from 77 industries that trade between Pakistan and EU. While we find short-run significant effects in 22 industries, these effects do not last into the long run in most industries. Most of the affected industries are found to be small, as measured by their trade shares

Histopathological Effects on Testis of Adult Male Carp, Cyprinus carpio carpio, Following Exposure to Graded Concentrations of Water-Borne Bisphenol A

Purpose: To evaluate the estrogenic effect of Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor on the histological features in carp testisMethods: Adult male fish, koi carp, Cyprinus carpio carpio, were exposed to three graded concentrations of BPA (10, 100 and 1000 μg/L) for a period of 21 days. A single dose of 17-β estradiol (1 ng/L) was used as positive control. The end points assessed at the end of the exposure period were condition factor, hepatosomatic index (HSI), gonadosomatic index (GSI), histopathological changes in the testis and lobular diameter.Results: BPA caused a significant decrease in gonadosomatic index (GSI) of the fish at the median concentration of 100 μg/L. The major alterations observed in the gonad structure were a significant decrease (p ≤ 0.001) in the lobular diameter (65.1 ± 12.2 μm) compared with control (211.7 ± 36.60 μm) and complete loss in lobular structure with degenerating spermatozoa in some carps. The histopathological effects also include delayed sperm maturation and impaired spermatogenesis.Conclusion: The findings clearly show marked adverse histopathological effects of gonads of adult carps when exposed to BPA.Keywords: Fish, Carp testis, Endocrine disruptors, Bisphenol A, Histopathology, Gonadosomatic index, Sperm maturation, Spermatogenesi

Changing Climate and Advances on Weeds Utilization as Forage: Provisions, Nutritional Quality and Implications

Under changing climate, growth and prevalence of many invasive and indigenous weeds are expected to boost up owing to their greater genetic diversity, competitive superiority and better plant architecture. Atmospheric CO2 enrichment and elevating global temperature are causing weeds invasion to new localities making prevalent weed management strategies ineffective. Weed utilization as forage for ruminants provided that their nutritional profile is available and can be a biologically feasible and economically viable approach compared to existing management system of eliminating them from agro-ecological systems. Different weeds like Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), canary grass (Phalaris minor), nut sedge (Cyperus rotundus), yellow duck (Rumex crispus), drooping brome (Bromus tectorum), burr clover (Medicago polymorpha), button weed (Diodia scandens), and purslane (Portulaca oleracea) had acceptable nutritional profile with organic matter (89.0–91.3%), protein (7.1–19.5%) and fats (2.1–3.7%). Those were also rich in micro-nutrients (calcium, magnesium and zinc), while anti-nutritional factors (saponins, tannins, phytates and oxalates) were in safer limits for dairy animals. Lack of nutritional profiling and presence of anti-nutritional factors decreased feed intake and led to malnutrition, while higher concentration of tannins caused digestibility depression in small ruminants. There is need to conduct further studies for nutritional profiling of local weed species and development of techniques for reducing their anti-nutritional factors

Potential of siltstone and its composites with biochar and magnetite nanoparticles for the removal of cadmium from contaminated aqueous solutions: Batch and column scale studies

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd The present study is the first attempt to evaluate the pilot and batch scale adsorption potential of siltstone (SS) and its nanocomposites with biochar (EDB/SS), magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs/SS) and MNPs/EDB/SS for Cd removal from contaminated water. The SS, EDB/SS, MNPs/SS and MNPs/EDB/SS were characterized with FTIR, XRD, BET, SEM, TEM, TGA and point of zero charge (PZC). The effects of adsorbent dosage, contact time, initial Cd concentration, pH and presence of competing ions were evaluated on the Cd removal and its adsorption. The order for Cd removal was: MNPs/EDB/SS \u3e MNPs/SS \u3e EDB/SS \u3e SS (95.86–99.72% \u3e 93.10–98.5% \u3e 89.66.98–98.40% \u3e 74.90–90%). Column scale experiments yielded maximum retention (95%) of Cd even after 2 h of injection at 100 mg Cd/L. The exhausted SS, EDB/SS, MNPs/SS and MNPs/EDB/SS were reused without losing significant adsorption potential. Similarly, maximum Cd adsorption (117.38 mg/g) was obtained with MNPs/EDB/SS at dose 1.0 g/L. The results revealed that coexisting cations reduced the Cd removal due to competition with Cd ions. The experimental results were better explained with Freundlich isotherm model and pseudo 2nd order kinetic models. The results revealed that SS and its composites can be used efficiently for the removal of Cd from contaminated water

Neural Networks based Shunt Hybrid Active Power Filter for Harmonic Elimination

The growing use of nonlinear devices is introducing harmonics in the power system networks that results in distortion of current and voltage signals causing damage to the power distribution system. Therefore, in power systems, the elimination of harmonics is of great concern. This paper presents an efficient techno-economical approach to suppress harmonics and improve the power factor in the power distribution network using neural network algorithms-based Shunt Hybrid Active Power Filter (SHAPF), such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). The objective of the proposed algorithms for SHAPF is to reduce Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) within an acceptable range to improve system quality. In our filter design approach, we tested and compared conventional pq0 theory and neural networks to detect the harmonics present in the power system. Moreover, for the regulation of the DC supply to the inverter of the SHAPF, the conventional PI controller and neural networks-based controllers are used and compared. The applicability of the proposed filter is tested for three different nonlinear load cases. The simulation results show that the neural networks-based filter control techniques satisfy all international standards with minimum current THD, neutral wire current elimination, and small DC voltage fluctuations for voltage regulation current. Furthermore, all three neural network architectures are tested and compared based on accuracy and computational complexity, with RNN outperforming the rest