Study of Pakistan pilot project farmer-leaders to Nepal

Farmer participation / Irrigation management / Farmer managed irrigation systems / Irrigated farming / Sustainable agriculture / Institution building / Pakistan

Proposed business plan for pilot farmer organizations: Extended project on Farmer Managed Irrigated Agriculture in LBOD Project Area of Sindh Province

Farmers' associations / Farmer managed irrigation systems / Irrigation programs / Irrigation management / Drainage / Economic aspects / Income / Operating costs / Maintenance costs / Conflict

Attitude control of VTOL-UAVs.

This paper presents a novel control approach to obtain asymptotic attitude stability of a quadrotor as a representative of Planar Vertical Take Off and Landing (PVTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The considered quadrotor is a symmetric VTOL-UAV with four rigid mono-directional propellers, which has been modeled based on quaternion representation with taking Coriolis and gyroscopic torques into account. In the proposed approach, two nearly equivalent control laws (model independent as well as model dependent) have been used to obtain exponential stability of attitude angles and asymptotic stability of attitude angular velocity of the quadrotor UAV. The proposed approach also presents how the attitude parameters i.e. attitude angles and attitude angular velocity can be quickly regulated to their desired values as required

Factors influencing the performance parameters of vacuum glazed smart windows to net zero energy buildings

The progression of smart technologies such as vacuum glazed windows are considered a realistic achievement of the net energy zero buildings (NZEBs). From designers to researchers to builders, there has been an increasing concern about understanding the inter-dependencies between the parameters and influencing factors that determine the performance of vacuum glazed smart windows. This research reviews the performance parameters such as thermal transmittance (U value), thermal resistance (R value), solar transmittance (g value), visible light transmittance (tv value) and thermal resistance of residual gas space (Rgas value). These are inter-dependent on factors such as edge seal, support pillar array, low emittance coatings, getters, and effective evacuation process. This research implicates that effective hermetic edge seal provides longevity such as fusion and solder glass edge sealed vacuum glazing could be cost-effective and energy efficient solution. Stainless steel support pillar array is an unavoidable compromise on U value. This review shows that an increase of the size of glass sheet increases support pillar array improving the overall U value. Also, an addition of low emittance coatings enhances U value whilst maintaining tv value. To improve the overall life span of the vacuum glazed smart window, an incorporation of combo-getter that absorb any gases released from the internal glass surfaces in to into the vacuum cavity from the glass surface which prevents degradation of vacuum pressure and provide long term vacuum pressure stability in the vacuum glazed smart window. A recent improvement in the understanding of evacuation process shows that hot-plate surface heat induction of 60˚C improved the vacuum pressure and mitigates the pump-out hole sealing process whilst lessening the temperature induced stresses

New Spectrophotometric Methods for the Determination of p-Aminosalicylic Acid in Tablets

Purpose: To develop a new spectrophotometric method with improved sensitivity and at higher wavelength for the determination of p-aminosalicylic acid in tablets.Methods: Two simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods (methods A and B) were developed using p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DAB), and p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DAC) as derivatizing reagents for the determination of p-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) in tablets. The derivatization was carried out using 3M HCl-KCl buffer for DAB and 5M HCl-KCl buffer solutions.Result: The new derivatives of PAS absorbed maximally with bathochromic shift to 460 and 555 nm in the linear concentration range of 0.4 – 2.0 μg/mL with molar absorptivities of 2.4 × 104 and 3.8 × 104 L/mole/cm, respectively, compared to pure PAS which absorbed at λmax of 264 nm with molar absorptivity 7.65 × 103 L/mole/cm in the linear concentration range of 2 - 10 μg/mL. The developed methods were successfully applied to assay PAS in tablets with % recovery of 97.6 ± 1.71 and 98.4 ± 1.45 for methods A and B, respectively.Conclusion: Both PAS derivatives absorb in the visible spectral region. The presence of excipients in pharmaceutical preparations did not interfere in the determination of PAS as PAS-DAB and PAS-DAC derivatives. Both methods can be applied to determine PAS from bulk and various pharmaceutical dosage forms.Keywords: p-Aminosalicylic acid, p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde, p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde, Spectrophotometr

Thermal Analysis of a New Neutron Shielding Vacuum Multiple Glass

The neutron shielding glass is widely used in nuclear/fusion plants. To improve its temperature resistance and heat insulation, a Gadolinium (Gd)-containing laminate vacuum multiple glass is proposed by using the vacuum insulation method. A 3D finite element model validated by theoretical calculation was developed to analyse the heat transfer path and numerical simulation of the multiple glass was carried out to obtain the temperature distribution and the maximum temperatures of the organic glass in relation to dynamic working temperatures, the sealing agent width, view size, and vacuum thermal conductivity. The results show that the vacuum layer between common glasses can make the work temperature of neutron shielding glass increase. The multiple glass has good heat-shielding performance and it is expected to work in a high-temperature environment. In addition, the vacuum layer between the common glasses and the sealing agent width decay with respect to the view size and vacuum thermal conductivity show an increase in the working temperature of the neutron shielding glass. It was concluded that the order of affecting the temperatures of the organic glass follows the pattern of: view size; vacuum thermal conductivity; sealing agent width

Persistent Heart Failure Despite Medical Therapy Leading to a Diagnosis of Cardiac Amyloidosis

Cardiac amyloidosis is restrictive cardiomyopathy, commonly classified as either light-chain amyloidosis (AL) or transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), which can be further subdivided into wild-type (systemic senile amyloidosis) and hereditary ATTR amyloidosis. Advanced-stage, silent, and clinically undiagnosed amyloidosis has a poor prognosis, with a survival rate of six months and up to five years. We present a 72-year-old female with a past medical history of heart failure, with preserved ejection fraction, atrial fibrillation, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and stage 3b chronic kidney disease, who presented with persistent shortness of breath, lower extremity pitting edema, jugular venous distension, and dyspnea despite optimal medical therapy. The patient was diagnosed with preserved heart failure in the past and was on guideline-directed medical therapy for over five years with no history of cardiac disease in the family. The patient\u27s previous echocardiogram revealed an ejection fraction of 65%. In order to determine the etiology of the patient\u27s cardiomyopathy, she underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), monoclonal gammopathy testing, and a Technetium pyrophosphate (99mTc-PYP) scintigraphy, of which the latter two were unrevealing. The CMR revealed increased wall thickness and multiple segments of midmyocardial to subendocardial late gadolinium enhancement, suggestive of infiltrative disease. Due to inconclusive testing, the patient underwent an endomyocardial biopsy and was determined to have wild-type, systemic senile amyloidosis, which held a poor prognosis. The patient was started on tafamidis, a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapy for systemic senile amyloidosis, and was discharged on the new medication, with frequent follow-up visits scheduled. Current treatment guidelines for cardiac amyloidosis include loop diuretics and spironolactone. Medications such as beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers are not clinically effective. There are currently new medications on the horizon, such as tafamidis, which stabilizes the transthyretin tetramer and reduces the formation of amyloid. This case highlighted that patients who have persistent symptoms of heart failure, despite guideline-directed medical therapy, and without a history of genetic cardiac conditions, may also have a diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis. Cardiac amyloidosis is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed late in the disease course; therefore, there is a need for increasing awareness of early diagnosis and treatment, including new FDA-approved medications for a better chance of survival

The Influence of Forced Convective Heat Transfer on Hybrid Nanofluid Flow in a Heat Exchanger with Elliptical Corrugated Tubes: Numerical Analyses and Optimization

The capabilities of nanofluids in boosting the heat transfer features of thermal, electrical and power electronic devices have widely been explored. The increasing need of different industries for heat exchangers with high efficiency and small dimensions has been considered by various researchers and is one of the focus topics of the present study. In the present study, forced convective heat transfer of an ethylene glycol/magnesium oxide-multiwalled carbon nanotube (EG/MgO-MWCNT) hybrid nanofluid (HNF) as single-phase flow in a heat exchanger (HE) with elliptical corrugated tubes is investigated. Three-dimensional multiphase governing equations are solved numerically using the control volume approach and a validated numerical model in good agreement with the literature. The range of Reynolds numbers (Re) 50 Re 1000 corresponds to laminar flow. Optimization is carried out by evaluation of various parameters to reach an optimal case with the maximum Nusselt number (Nu) and minimum pressure drop. The use of hybrid nanofluid results in a greater output temperature, a higher Nusselt number, and a bigger pressure drop, according to the findings. A similar pattern is obtained by increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles. The results indicate that the power of the pump is increased when EG/MgO-MWCNT HNFs are employed. Furthermore, the thermal entropy generation reduces, and the frictional entropy generation increases with the volume fraction of nanoparticles and Re number. The results show that frictional and thermal entropy generations intersect by increasing the Re number, indicating that frictional entropy generation can overcome other effective parameters. This study concludes that the EG/MgO-MWCNT HNF with a volume fraction (VF) of 0.4% is proposed as the best-case scenario among all those considered

ISSN-1996-918X Pak

Abstract Banana peel, a common fruit waste has been investigated to remove and preconcentrate Cr(III) from industrial wastewater. It was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy. The parameters pH, contact time, initial metal ion concentration and temperature were investigated and the maximum sorption was found to be 95%. The binding of metal ions was found to be pH dependent with the optimal sorption occurring at pH 4. The retained species were eluted using 5mL of 2 M HNO 3 . The mechanism for the binding of Cr(III) on the banana peel surface was also studied in detail. The Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms were used to describe the partitioning behavior for the system at different temperatures. Kinetic and thermodynamic measurements of the banana peel for chromium ions were also studied. The method was applied for the removal and preconcentration of Cr(III) from industrial wastewater