WATER MANAGEMENT IN BANGLADESH AGRICULTURE: OPTIMAL USE AND INVESTMENT POLICIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE

In Bangladesh, climatic change is likely to impact significantly upon surface and groundwater availability, as well as in other countries. The population of Bangladesh is projected to be double the current 2010 level by 2050. Demand for water will rise with the increasing demand for rice. This paper considers the optimal demand management of irrigation water with stochastic supply under climate change for a 3-year planning horizon. It also identifies the utilization of irrigation water from surface water sources to maximize the expected net social return from rice production. This is done by considering decision on dam release for rice production with reference to climate change. A stochastic dynamic programming model is developed for analyzing the levels and timing of the allocation of surface water for irrigation. The objective is to find the optimal dam release for irrigation which results in the maximum expected present value of the stream of annual net social return from rice production for the 3 years from 2012 to 2014. Net social return in a year consists of the value of rice consumed, measured by consumers’ willingness to pay for rice, less the total cost of rice production. The paper also identifies the need for irrigation infrastructure and determines the optimal investment policies for the adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh agriculture.climate change, dam release, dynamic programming, Environmental Economics and Policy,

New Prosthetics Offer Hope in Sudan

Unfortunately for amputees in developing countries, poverty and disability go hand-in-hand. Limb loss can make it extremely difficult for victims to provide for themselves and their families. From this reality came the inspiration for Sudanpro, an inexpensive and durable prosthetic developed by the author, an orthotist and prosthetist working with Project Hope Sudan

Factors Influencing Consumers' Acceptance of Mobile Marketing Services

The research of mobile marketing services is still at the early stage and the reason to explain the acceptance as well as the understanding of the actual usage level of mobile marketing services still remains unclear. To investigate this issue, this study has examined the acceptance of mobile marketing services by measuring the consumer's intention and actual usage of mobile marketing services. Grounded by the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour (DTPB), this study proposes a framework by decomposing attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and perceived risk. A total of 334 full-time university students from four public universities in the Northern Region, Malaysia have participated in this study. Data for all the study variables have been collected through self-administered survey questionnaires. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is the main statistical technique used in this study. The study has shown that the level of the actual usage is at the lower level. The study also reveals that all the main beliefs (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and perceived risk) are found to have significant effect on consumer‟s intention to use mobile marketing services. With regard to antecedents‟ effect on the main beliefs, there are only four factors which are found insignificant namely perceived ease of use, personal innovativeness, media and technology facilitating condition. Whereas, another ten antecedent factors significantly influence the main beliefs. Overall, the results indicate that the model provides a good understanding of the factors that influence intention to use and the actual usage of mobile marketing services. As predicted, decomposition of the main beliefs provides more specific factors that influence the behaviour. Based on the findings, the theoretical and practical implications of the study as well as limitations and suggestions for future studies are also discussed

Intensification of heat transfer in thermal energy storage systems with phase change materials

This research work aims to develop low- and medium-temperature thermal energy storage (TES) systems using metallic alloys and solar salt as phase change materials (PCMs) for accumulating thermal energy in the temperature ranges between 120 and 140 °C and 215 and 250 °C, respectively. The low purity metallic alloy Bi 58%-Sn 42% was selected as the PCM for low-temperature applications because it is non-hazardous, relatively inexpensive, and it has a suitable melting temperature range. Commercially available high-purity metallic alloys (99.99%) are expensive, whereas lower purity alloys can be a cost-competitive alternative for PCM applications. The sample of a low purity metal alloy, namely Bi 58%-Sn 42% with a purity of 97% was sintered in the laboratory, and its thermal properties were characterized for application as a PCM. Experimental investigations demonstrated that deterioration of the thermal properties of the low purity metal alloy is not substantial in comparison to the pure metallic alloy and that it can be efficiently used as a PCM. Solar salt (NaNO3 60% - KNO3 40%), selected as the PCM for medium-temperature applications due to its high latent heat value, has a relatively low thermal conductivity. Therefore, two techniques were adopted to improve the heat transfer in TES: deploying metallic fins and using graphite as an additive. The experimental tests demonstrate that both methods considerably improve heat transfer and data obtained was used to quantify these effects. In addition, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out to evaluate the thermal performance of the metallic alloy and solar salt TES systems with different concentrations of additives and number of fins in terms of the evolution of the liquid fraction and amount of energy stored and released during charging and discharging processes as a function of time. The comparison of numerical and experimental results demonstrated the acceptable accuracy of the developed CFD models. Both experimental and numerical results were used to derive dimensionless correlations for estimation of the heat transfer intensity and time required for charging and discharging of the studied TES systems. These generated dimensionless correlations can be successfully used in engineering practice to design TES systems

Rain-water PLC based detector and valve switcher

The main purpose of this project is to collect clean rain water automatically by using water sensor; solenoid valves, buzzer and water pump that controlled by Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). Below is modeling of the project. When rain fall, sensor 1 will be detect water and make cause valve 1 will be open for 10 second. This is because; we need to flow out the dirty water from the roof firstly. After 10 second, the valve will be close and make cause the rain water will go to the tank A. If sensor 3 detect no water, water from tank A will be pump to the tank B, with condition, sensor 2 must be detect water in tank A firstly. Finally we can use rain water from Tank B for useful purpose like flushing toilets, washing machines, watering gardens, washing cars and etc

The occurrence of antibiotic resistant Salmonellas in sewage and the effect of primary sedimentation on their numbers

The widespread use of antibiotics has led to the occurrence of resistant strains of bacteria in sewage and in the aquatic environment. This study has shown that there is no significant change in the proportion of antibiotic-resistant and antibiotic sensitive salmonellas during sedimentation of sewage and hence these organisms must have acquil·ed resistance during the initial use of the antibiotic and not during sewage treatment. Primary sedimentation alone can remove more than 80% of the total salmonellas present in raw sewage but negligible reductions will occur if the process is not optimised. The best way of controlling the release of antibiotic resistant salmonellas into the environment is to control the prescription and use of antibiotics

The Effect of Temperature on the Destruction of Salmonellas in Activated Sludge

The effect of temperature on the survival of salmonellas in activated sludge was examined. The results showed that the Salmonella destruction rates increased in line with increasing temperature of the mixed liquor from 5° to 25°C, whereas at 30°C the rate declined markedly. This is most probably due to inactivation of ciliate protozoa at the higher temperature resulting in increased survival of the pathogens. The slow reduction in the number of salmonellas at 30°C may be the result of nutrient starvation, in addition to other possible mechanisms such as the lytic action of bacterial viruses

Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Creativity and Communication Skills among School Students: A Review Paper

Economies are increasingly more globalized and digitalized than ever before. This signaled and challenged the current education systems to alter and train future employees for a more dynamic, complex, and fast-paced 21st-century workforce. The main purpose of this review paper is to highlight existing studies on key soft skill competencies of 21st-century known as the “4 Cs” critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication among school students and to explore various frameworks about 4 Cs in the current literature. This review paper also provides suggestions for future research in this area