Electrolyte Performance of Noni Fruit Extracts (Morinda Citrifolia L.) for C–Zn Batteries

C–Zn battery is a commercial battery that widely used due to its easy to carry, inexpensive, and easy to obtain. However, the serious thing is the problem of battery waste which not only causes pollution but also endangers natural resources due to contained heavy metals (Mn) and corrosive electrolytes. Noni (Morinda Citrifolia L.) is a fruit with the main component of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) as an antioxidant. This acid component is the basis for further utilization as an environmentally friendly electrolyte application. Noni was fermented with 2 time variations, 48 and 72 hours. Fabrication of C–Zn batteries was done with thin configurations like sandwiches. Furthermore, voltage was measured with digital multimeter. The results obtained, Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) of 0.72 V for unfermented electrolytes. Then, the use of fermented electrolytes causes an increase in voltage and current due to decreased pH

Design of a Low Cost Remotly Operated Vehicle with 3 Dof Navigation

One type of underwater robot is the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) whose movements are controlled directly by humans from the water surface. In this paper, ROV prototype has been designed and tested with three DoF (Degrees of Freedom) and controlled by a joystick which is connected with UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cables as data transmission between joystick with a microcontroller embedded in the robot. This prototype has 3 thrusters with 3 degrees of freedom, 1 rotational motion (heave) and 2 translational motion (yaw and surge), with direction of movement up, down, forward, backward, turn right, and turn left. Speed mode setting when forward movement on PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) 75% = 0,037 m/s, 90% = 0.053 m/s and 100% = 0,071 m/s, while the reverse speed by 75% = 0,034 m/s, 90% = 0.045 m/s and 100% = 0.059 m/s, when the ROV moves up is 0,042 m/s, down 0.032 m/s, turn right 9 o/s and turn left 15 o/s set with fixed PWM value, is 100%

Microstructure and reconstitution of freeze-dried gum Arabic at a range of concentrations and primary drying temperatures

Freeze-drying is an energy intensive unit operation used for the production of dehydrated foods, such as instant coffee and dried fruits, and results in high sensorial, nutritional and reconstitution properties of the final products. Understanding the relationships between operating conditions and product quality is essential to design processes that are energy efficient, whilst producing high quality dried foods. In this work, the properties (microstructure and reconstitution) of freeze-dried gum arabic samples (with initial concentrations ranging between 20 and 60% solids by weight) were evaluated. The materials were dried at three different primary drying shelf temperatures, Ts (- 20, - 30 and - 40 ◦C). Sample temperatures recorded throughout freeze-drying were close to the pre-set Ts, with the exception of the 60% initial concentration system, where the sample was hotter than the shelf by 10–15 ◦C, in particular on increasing Ts. This was attributed to a combination of local temperature and pressure conditions that may have resulted in partial melting of the material. For the 20–50% systems, the properties of the freeze-dried materials were mainly affected by the initial concentration of the system, with increasing initial concentration generally resulting in lower porosities (ranging between 20 and 40%) and higher reconstitution times (ranging between 0.5 and 10min for 95% reconstitution). Pores were generally needle-shaped and <200 μm. Large (200–1800 μm), circular pores were observed in high initial concentration systems, and they were dominant in the microstructure of the freeze-dried 60% sample. The presence of these large bubbles was linked to the partial melting of the material, which enabled its expansion and puffing. For the 60% system, primary drying temperature had a profound effect on the properties of the freeze-dried solid, with samples dried at higher temperature showing higher porosity (e.g. 60–70% for Ts = -¬¬ 20◦C) and faster reconstitution rates (e.g. 3min for 95% reconstitution at Ts = - 20◦C). Overall, this study demonstrates the significance of formulation and shelf temperature on the porous structure of freeze-dried samples, which directly influences product performance

Switch Configuration Effect on Stray Capacitance in Electrical Capacitance Volume Tomography Hardware

Electrical capacitance volume tomography (ECVT) system uses six switches in one channel with configuration resembling “T” letter, so it is called “T-switch”. The working scheme of the switch can be explained in four different modes of operation, i.e. excitation mode, detection mode, ground mode, and floating mode. This research describes the effect of switch configuration to stray capacitance in ECVT hardware. Stray capacitance introduces parasitic signal from other sources; one of them is signal from another electrode at floating mode when the signal is still flowing to detection circuit. One channel, two channels, three channels, so on until thirty-two channels are connected to single detection circuit sequentially to investigate the effect of stray capacitance. Both simulation and experiment show the stray capacitance increases along with addition of channel corresponds to 0.046pF for each channel

Laboratory investigation of tomography-controlled continuous steel casting

More than 96% of steel in the world is produced via the method of continuous casting. The flow condition in the mould, where the initial solidification occurs, has a significant impact on the quality of steel products. It is important to have timely, and perhaps automated, control of the flow during casting. This work presents a new concept of using contactless inductive flow tomography (CIFT) as a sensor for a novel controller, which alters the strength of an electromagnetic brake (EMBr) of ruler type based on the reconstructed flow structure in the mould. The method was developed for the small-scale Liquid Metal Model for Continuous Casting (mini-LIMMCAST) facility available at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. As an example of an undesired flow condition, clogging of the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) was modelled by partly closing one of the side ports of the SEN; in combination with an active EMBr, the jet penetrates deeper into the mould than when the EMBr is switched off. Corresponding flow patterns are detected by extracting the impingement position of the jets at the narrow faces of the mould from the CIFT reconstruction. The controller is designed to detect to undesired flow condition and switch off the EMBr. The temporal resolution of CIFT is 0.5 s

The contribution of financial entities to the sustainable development through the reporting of corporate social responsibility information

This paper aims at examining the relationship between board composition and corporate social responsibility (CSR) of a sample of listed financial entities, discussing the driving reasons of these entities to disclose CSR information. We hypothesize that there is a positive association between outside (institutional and independent directors) and female directors and CSR disclosure and a negative relationship between inside directors and CSR reporting. Our findings provide evidence that the proportions of independent directors and female directors on boards encourage CSR disclosure. Moreover, the results also show that the proportions of inside directors and institutional directors on boards do not have influence on CSR reporting. Thus, our evidence suggests that board attributes such as independent and female directors encourage financial entities to report CSR matters, showing the effectiveness of these two corporate governance mechanisms. The paper shed light on the influence of board structure of financial entities on CSR disclosure. Therefore, this study contributes to past research by providing an index to measure CSR disclosure of financial entities and the importance of the distinction between outside and inside directors

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Goal 9

With the spread of neoliberalism, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and private governance have become integral parts of corporate behavior. This entry discusses the aspects of Goal 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to CSR. Goal 9 emphasizes sustainability, resilience, and equity of corporations, industries, and other social and economic actors in the processes of innovation and advancement of infrastructures. Although the concept of CSR, which represents positive social and environmental influences of corporations, is not explicitly mentioned in Goal 9, it is an important mechanism in accomplishing the objectives of the goal

Legumes as food ingredient: characterization, processing, and applications

Editores: Jiménez-López, José Carlos (CSIC); Clemente, Alfonso (CSIC

Political connections and corporate financial decision making

This paper investigates whether and how political connections influence managerial financial decisions. Our study reveals that those firms that have a politician on its board of directors are highly leveraged, use more long-term debt, hold large excess cash and are associated with low quality financial reporting compared to their non-connected counterparts. These effects escalate with the strength of the connected politician and whether he or his party is in power. The winning party effect is observed to be stronger than victory by the politician himself. Overall, our paper provides strong evidence that political connection is a two-edged sword. It is indeed a valuable resource for connected firms, but it comes at a cost of higher agency problems

Coercive Pressures and Anti-corruption Reporting: The Case of ASEAN Countries

This paper aims to investigate the extent of anti-corruption reporting by ASEAN companies and examine whether coercive factors influence the level of disclosure. The authors adopt indicators from the Global Reporting Initiative version 4.0 to measure the extent of anti-corruption disclosures in 117 companies’ reports. Informed by a coercive isomorphism tenet drawn from the institutional theory, the authors propose that several institutional factors influence the extent of their voluntary disclosures. The findings reveal that a large degree of variability difference between the average levels of anti-corruption disclosure in Thailand (434 words) and the Philippines (149 words). The dependence on government tenders and foreign ownership are associated with the level of disclosure. Surprisingly, the United Nation Global Compact membership is not a significant determinant of anti-corruption reporting. This signifies that the membership in the international initiative does not correspond to individual company’s commitment to disclose anti-corruption information. In spite of significant efforts undertaken by global organizations to combat corruption, the level of anti-corruption disclosure is significantly different among the four countries under study. The disclosure of sensitive information such as the confirmed incidences of corruption cases requires careful consideration by the top management as it is subjected to legal implications and reputational risks. Thus, impression management can complement the coercive pressure in explaining the level of anti-corruption reporting. This study is among the first studies which explores the association between coercive factors and the level of anti-corruption disclosure in ASEAN region