Coconut in the Mekong Delta: An Assessment of Competitivenessand Industry Potential

The numbers surrounding the world coconut industry are substantial – 55,500,000,000 coconuts produced every year from 12,000,000 hectares supporting an industry worth USD 6 billion at wholesale. Yet despite the size and wealth of the industry most coconut growers are among the poorest in their society and over 1 million tonnes of coconut dust are dumped into the environment every year. In the Mekong Delta, riverbanks shaded with coconut trees are an iconic part of the landscape, but only in the last decade has the local coconut industry taken the first steps to becoming a modern, competitive industry. Much of this recent development has happened in Ben Tre province, at the heart of the industry in the Delta with the greatest concentration of coconut trees and businesses. The Ben Tre authorities and industry leaders are now looking to help the industry mature into an internationally competitive and sustainable coconut industry that maximises the value created for the local community, businesses and coconut farmers. This study is part of that process and aims to provide evidence of the current state of the global coconut industry and the local industry in Ben Tre and the wider Mekong Delta and to assess specific opportunities for the industry’s future development. The study also identifies several promising commercial opportunities for local coconut businesses and the impacts these could have on the company’s own bottom-line profits as well as the wider industry. It supplements extensive secondary data with insights and evidence gathered through an international benchmarking exercise with leading competitor countries, including the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand as well as the local industry in Ben Tre

Eco-friendly facile synthesis of Co3O4-Pt nanorods for ethylene detection towards fruit quality monitoring

Ethylene, a biomarker widely employed for evaluating fruit ripening during storage, exists at extremely low concentrations. Therefore a gas sensor with high sensitivity and a sub-ppm detection limit is needed. In this work, porous Co3O4 nanorods were synthesized through a hydrothermal method involving Co(NO3)2, Na2C2O4, H2O and ethylene glycol (EG), followed by annealing at 400 degrees C in air. The surface of the porous Co3O4 nanorods was functionalized with Pt nanoparticles to enhance the ethylene sensing performance. The effect of Co3O4 surface functionalisation with Pt nanoparticles was investigated by adding different amounts of nanoparticles. The sensor's outstanding performance at the optimum working temperature of 250 degrees C is attributed to the synergy between the high catalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles and the extensive surface area of the porous Co3O4 nanorods. Compared to pure Co3O4, the 0.031 wt% Pt sensor showed better ethylene sensing performance with a response 3.4 times that of pristine Co3O4. The device also demonstrated high selectivity, repeatability, long-term stability and a detection limit of 0.13 ppm for ethylene, which is adequate for fruit quality monitoring. The gas sensing mechanism of porous Co3O4 nanorods and the influence of Pt decoration on sensor performance are discussed

Clay fine fissuring monitoring using miniature geo-electrical resistivity arrays

Abstract This article describes a miniaturised electrical imaging (resistivity tomography) technique to map the cracking pattern of a clay model. The clay used was taken from a scaled flood embankment built to study the fine fissuring due to desiccation and breaching process in flooding conditions. The potential of using a miniature array of electrodes to follow the evolution of the vertical cracks and number them during the drying process was explored. The imaging technique generated two-dimensional contoured plots of the resistivity distribution within the model before and at different stages of the desiccation process. The change in resistivity associated with the widening of the cracks were monitored as a function of time. Experiments were also carried out using a selected conductive gel to slow down the transport process into the cracks to improve the scanning capabilities of the equipment. The main vertical clay fissuring network was obtained after inversion of the experimental resistivity measurements and validated by direct observations

A GIS–Integrated Wireless Sensors Network Tool for Water Risk Monitoring – Case of Khanh Hoa Water Supply and Sewerage Company, Vietnam

This paper investigates the feasibility of deploying a wireless sensor network (WSN) to monitor raw water quality at 2 major water treatment plants (WTPs) sites, operated by the The Khanh Hoa Water Supply and Sewerage Company (KHAWASSCO) in Vietnam: Canh Vo and Xuan Canh on the Cai River. The main aim is to propose a WSN for both WTPs which includes 2 clusters of sensors with 4 nodes each in order to monitor various parameters of water quality. Data management is integrated with a geographical information system (GIS) tool in order to provide a comprehensive spatio-temporal database in real time. This will assist decision makers in improving the management of the raw water quality at Cai River

A Unified Mathematical Modelling and Simulation for Cathodic Blistering Mechanism incorporating diffusion and fracture mechanics concepts

A novel mathematical model has been developed to understand the mechanism of blister initiation and propagation. The model employs a two-part theoretical approach encompassing the debondment of a coating film from the substrate, coupled with the design components incorporating diffusion and fracture mechanics, where the latter is derived from equi-biaxial tensile loading. Integrating the two components, a comprehensive mathematical design for the propagation of blister boundaries based on specific toughness functions and mode adjustment parameters has been developed. This approach provided a reliable and efficient prediction method for blister growth rate and mechanisms. The model provided a foundation for holistic design based on diffusion and mechanic components to enable better understanding of the debondment of thin elastic films bonded to a metallic substrate

Cost-effectiveness of tenecteplase versus alteplase for acute ischemic stroke

INTRODUCTION: Alteplase is widely used as an intravenous thrombolytic drug in acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Recently however, tenecteplase, a modified form of tissue plasminogen activator, has been shown to increase early recanalization rate and has proven to be non-inferior with a similar safety profile compared to alteplase. This study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of 0.25 mg/kg tenecteplase versus 0.9 mg/kg alteplase for intravenous thrombolysis in AIS patients from the Dutch healthcare payer perspective.METHODS: A Markov decision-analytic model was constructed to assess total costs, total quality-adjusted life year (QALY), an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, and incremental net monetary benefit (INMB) of two treatments at willingness-to-pay (WTP) thresholds of €50,000/QALY and €80,000/QALY over a 10-year time horizon. One-way sensitivity analysis, probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and scenario analysis were conducted to test the robustness of results. Clinical data were obtained from large randomized controlled trials and real-world data.RESULTS: Treatment with tenecteplase saved €21 per patient while gaining 0.05 QALYs, resulting in INMB of €2381, clearly rendering tenecteplase cost-effective compared to alteplase. Importantly, tenecteplase remained the cost-effective alternative in all scenarios, including AIS patients due to large vessel occlusion (LVO). Probabilistic sensitivity analysis proved tenecteplase to be cost-effective with a 71.0% probability at a WTP threshold of €50,000/QALY.CONCLUSIONS: Tenecteplase treatment was cost-effective for all AIS patients (including AIS patients with LVO) compared to alteplase. The finding supports the broader use of tenecteplase in acute stroke care, as health outcomes improve at acceptable costs while having practical advantages, and a similar safety profile.</p

Anonymous Single-Sign-On for n designated services with traceability

Anonymous Single-Sign-On authentication schemes have been proposed to allow users to access a service protected by a verifier without revealing their identity which has become more important due to the introduction of strong privacy regulations. In this paper we describe a new approach whereby anonymous authentication to different verifiers is achieved via authorisation tags and pseudonyms. The particular innovation of our scheme is authentication can only occur between a user and its designated verifier for a service, and the verification cannot be performed by any other verifier. The benefit of this authentication approach is that it prevents information leakage of a user's service access information, even if the verifiers for these services collude which each other. Our scheme also supports a trusted third party who is authorised to de-anonymise the user and reveal her whole services access information if required. Furthermore, our scheme is lightweight because it does not rely on attribute or policy-based signature schemes to enable access to multiple services. The scheme's security model is given together with a security proof, an implementation and a performance evaluation.Comment: 3

Spatial Interpolation of Air Pollutants in Bangalore: 2010-2013

Air pollutants and their ill effects on the environment and health of populations are well known. However for informed decisions on the protection of the health of populations from elevated levels of air pollution, an understanding of spatial-temporal variance of air pollutant patterns is necessary. Bangalore and other similar developing cities do not have an adequate number of fixed monitoring stations that could provide a complete coverage of the air pollution levels for the entire city. This can be overcome by using geospatial interpolation techniques that provide a complete coverage of the levels of pollutants. The aim of this study is to locate sample points, characterise distribution patterns, map air pollutant distributions using interpolation techniques, highlight areas exceeding standard levels and in doing so determine spatial and temporal patterns of the levels of air pollutants. An air pollution map indicating levels of the variability of the pollutants will aid in the analysis of effects on health in populations due to elevated levels of pollutants

Air Pollution in Bangalore, India: A Six-Year Trend and Health Implication Analysis

Air pollution is increasingly becoming a global concern and is believed to be amongst the leading causes of death in the world today. Developing countries, with rapidly growing economies, are struggling between the focus on economic development and curbing air pollution emissions. Bangalore is one of India’s fastest growing metropolises and, although benefiting economically due to its rapid development, has a rapidly deteriorating environment. This paper provides a critical analysis of the air pollution trend in the city over the period 2005-2011 at 6 specific locations where measurements have been consistently recorded. It also discusses the potential health implications pertaining to exceeding levels of pollutants where these are applicable