Calculating the Cost of Co2e Emitted to Generate the Required Electricity: Case Study of Lecture Rooms in the Faculty of Engineering- Universiti Putra Malaysia.

Malaysia is endowed with abundant supplies of non-renewable energy resources, especially oil and gas. However, its current oil and gas reserves are expected to be depleted within the next few years. If new oil fields are not found, Malaysia will have its oil depleted around 2030.Malaysia has actively participated and involved in key conventions regarding environment and sustainable development, such as Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocol. University Putra Malaysia (UPM) as one of the largest universities in Malaysia should try to make its energy consumption as efficient as possible and Faculty of Engineering may be the pioneer in this regard. As the result of this study we can see that only for generating the required electricity for the eight lecture rooms at faculty of engineering about RM 45 per day is the cost of Co2e emissions. In this study authors will calculate the cost of Co2e Emitted to Generate the Required Electricity for the Lecture Rooms in the Faculty of Engineering of Universiti Putra Malaysia

Surgical outcome of coronary artery fistulas repair in children

Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is a rare congenital anomaly that can be complicated by endocarditis, myocardial infarction, or coronary aneurysms. This article reviews the clinical characteristics and surgical outcome of 10 patients with CAF in Rajae Heart Center. From 1990 to 2000, 10 patients (age, 6 months to 15 years; mean age, 8.5 years) were diagnosed with CAF by echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. Six were female and 4 were male. All patients with isolated CAF (9) were asymptomatic. One patient with associated anomaly (mitral valve prolapse with severe mitral regurgitation) had dyspnea on exertion and palpitation. Five fistulas originated from the right coronary artery-three from the left and two from the left circumflex. Drainage was to the right ventricle (7), right atrium (2), and pulmonary artery (1). The ratio of pulmonary to systemic flow ranged between 1 and 1.6. All patients had surgical ligation. In the symptomatic patient, in addition to ligation, mitral valve replacement was performed. There was no operative or late death. Follow-up evaluation (range, 1-6 years; mean, 4.2 years) showed no evidence of recurrent or residual CAF. Surgical management of CAF is a safe and effective treatment resulting in 100 survival and clousure rate. © Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2005

Isotherm and Kinetic Studies on Adsorption of Pb, Zn and Cu by Kaolinite

The feasibility of kaolinite used as a low-cost adsorbent for the removal of Pb(II), Zn(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions was investigated. During the removal process, batch technique was used, and the effects of heavy metal concentration and contact time on adsorption efficiency at pH of 4.5, under a constant temperature of 20±1 °C were studied. The experimental results were analyzed using four adsorption isotherm models; Freundlich, Langmuir, Temkin and Redlich-Peterson. Evaluating the correlation coefficients showed that the Redlich-Peterson isotherm described the data appropriable than others. The adsorption capacities (qm) from the Langmuir isotherm for Pb(II), Zn(II) and Cu(II) are found as 7.75 mg/g, 4.95 mg/g and 4.42 mg/g respectively. The effectiveness of kaolinite in the sorption of the three metals from aqueous system was Pb(II) > Zn(II) > Cu(II). Kinetic studies showed that a pseudosecond order model was more suitable than the pseudo first order model. It is concluded that kaolinite can be used as an effective adsorbent for removing Pb(II), Zn(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions

A decision support system for evaluating effects of feed-in tariff mechanism: dynamic modeling of Malaysia’s electricity generation mix

Malaysia has abundant potentials of renewable energy resources mainly because of its rich agriculture that makes high potential in bio-power and its tropical climate, which provides sufficient sunlight for utilization of solar systems. Feed in Tariff mechanism has been applied since 2011 in Malaysia to expand utilization of renewable energy for electricity generation. In this study, a broad range of data is gathered to develop a comprehensive system dynamics model to evaluate the impacts of Feed in Tariff mechanism on the generation mix of Malaysia during a 20-year period between 2011 and 2030. Results demonstrate that although the policy may lead to a satisfactory level of target achievement but the Malaysian government may face an increasing shortage in its RE fund budget starting around 2019 unless it increases its income sources by rising the surcharges on electricity bills or decreases its expenditures by optimizing the amount of FiT payments in different periods. The sensitivity analysis illustrates that the more funding will not lead to a more sustainable generation mix unless it is paid in the right time and in the right direction. Using this model, policymakers can carry out analysis to determine the amount of money that must be collected from the electricity consumers through the surcharges on electricity bills as well as the amount of feed in tariff to be paid for different renewable resources in different periods

Temperature-dependence of exciton radiative recombination in (Al,Ga)N/GaN quantum wells grown on a-plane GaN substrates

This article presents the dynamics of excitons in a-plane (Al,Ga)N/GaN single quantum wells of various thicknesses grown on bulk GaN substrates. For all quantum well samples, recombination is observed to be predominantly radiative in the low-temperature range. At higher temperatures, the escape of charge carriers from the quantum well to the (Al,Ga)N barriers is accompanied by a reduction in internal quantum efficiency. Based on the temperature-dependence of time-resolved photoluminescence experiments, we also show how the local disorder affects the exciton radiative lifetime at low temperature and the exciton non-radiative lifetime at high temperature.We acknowledge financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation through Project No. 129715 and from the Polish National Science Center (Project DEC-2011/ 03/B/ST3/02647). The work was partially supported by the European Union within European Regional Development Fund through Innovative Economy Grant No. POIG.01.01.02-00-008/08. P.C. also acknowledges financing from the European Union Seventh Framework Program under grant agreement No. 265073

Surface and Temporal Biosignatures

Recent discoveries of potentially habitable exoplanets have ignited the prospect of spectroscopic investigations of exoplanet surfaces and atmospheres for signs of life. This chapter provides an overview of potential surface and temporal exoplanet biosignatures, reviewing Earth analogues and proposed applications based on observations and models. The vegetation red-edge (VRE) remains the most well-studied surface biosignature. Extensions of the VRE, spectral "edges" produced in part by photosynthetic or nonphotosynthetic pigments, may likewise present potential evidence of life. Polarization signatures have the capacity to discriminate between biotic and abiotic "edge" features in the face of false positives from band-gap generating material. Temporal biosignatures -- modulations in measurable quantities such as gas abundances (e.g., CO2), surface features, or emission of light (e.g., fluorescence, bioluminescence) that can be directly linked to the actions of a biosphere -- are in general less well studied than surface or gaseous biosignatures. However, remote observations of Earth's biosphere nonetheless provide proofs of concept for these techniques and are reviewed here. Surface and temporal biosignatures provide complementary information to gaseous biosignatures, and while likely more challenging to observe, would contribute information inaccessible from study of the time-averaged atmospheric composition alone.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, review to appear in Handbook of Exoplanets. Fixed figure conversion error

Road-map of aquatic-food processing development of I.R. of IRAN

Scientific and practical planning for achieving the lofty goals of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the framework of development plan of 1404 is the requirement to achieve sustainable development. Establishing roadmap of industries and products was considered by the scientific and technology office of the deputy president, in order to achieve the abovementioned objectives and in line with the national scientific comprehensive map. Therefore, present study was conducted as the roadmap of national aquatic-food processing development using available approved documents e.g. Iran perspective of 1404, fifth developing plan of I.R. of Iran, developing plan of Iranian fisheries organization in 1400 and the available approved statistical data. Current perspective of the aquatic-food processing is presented at the first chapter of the study. The second chapter reviewed the problems and obstacles. Third chapter tabulated the published studies and researches in fish handling and processing so far. Finally fourth chapter recommends executive and research projects considering quantitative and qualitative objectives of Iran 1400 plan as well as fifth developing plan of Shilat-Iran (Iranian fisheries organization). Authors hope the study to be useful in the national planning of I. R. of Iran in the future

Study of process and quality assessment on hot smoked fish kilka production, determining its shelf life in vacuum and modified atmosphere and conventional packaging

In this study shelflife of whole hot smocked common kilka (Clupeonella cultriventris) fish packed in usual, vacuum and MAP packages and stored 6 weeks at refrigerator and or frozen temperatures was studied. Samples were analysed for TVBN, PV, pH, TBA, and total count, coliforms, clostridia, psychrophile, mold and sensory attributes weekly and monthly respectively. The ratio of Co2, N2 and O2 in the MAP package was 5: 55: 40%. Results indicated that the mixture gases could decline microbial growth and chemical changes during storage. Microbial and chemical changes in control samples were greater than that found for other samples. No significant microbial and chemical changes was observed in frozen samples during 6 weeks storage except for PV . Samples had the same sensory attributes just after production but were changed during storage significantly. Shelflife of samples packed in usual and MAP packages and stored at referigeratore was 21 and 35 days respectively; while it was 3 and 5 months for frozen samples packed in usual and vacuum packages. The conclusion is that packing hot smocked Kilka fish in vacuum and MAP packages can increase shelflife and decrease economical loss due to fish spoilage

Outcomes of obstructed abdominal wall hernia: results from the UK national small bowel obstruction audit

Background: Abdominal wall hernia is a common surgical condition. Patients may present in an emergency with bowel obstruction, incarceration or strangulation. Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a serious surgical condition associated with significant morbidity. The aim of this study was to describe current management and outcomes of patients with obstructed hernia in the UK as identified in the National Audit of Small Bowel Obstruction (NASBO). Methods: NASBO collated data on adults treated for SBO at 131 UK hospitals between January and March 2017. Those with obstruction due to abdominal wall hernia were included in this study. Demographics, co-morbidity, imaging, operative treatment, and in-hospital outcomes were recorded. Modelling for factors associated with mortality and complications was undertaken using Cox proportional hazards and multivariable regression modelling. Results: NASBO included 2341 patients, of whom 415 (17·7 per cent) had SBO due to hernia. Surgery was performed in 312 (75·2 per cent) of the 415 patients; small bowel resection was required in 198 (63·5 per cent) of these operations. Non-operative management was reported in 35 (54 per cent) of 65 patients with a parastomal hernia and in 34 (32·1 per cent) of 106 patients with an incisional hernia. The in-hospital mortality rate was 9·4 per cent (39 of 415), and was highest in patients with a groin hernia (11·1 per cent, 17 of 153). Complications were common, including lower respiratory tract infection in 16·3 per cent of patients with a groin hernia. Increased age was associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio 1·05, 95 per cent c.i. 1·01 to 1·10; P = 0·009) and complications (odds ratio 1·05, 95 per cent c.i. 1·02 to 1·09; P = 0·001). Conclusion: NASBO has highlighted poor outcomes for patients with SBO due to hernia, highlighting the need for quality improvement initiatives in this group