Gravitational aeration tower filter system to increase the dissolved oxygen amount for iron removal in groundwater

This paper discusses the Gravitational Aeration Tower Filter System (GATS) aims to increase the amount of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) for iron removal in groundwater. The groundwater is mainly used in remote areas. The presence of a large volume of iron contained in the groundwater will subject to water contamination besides limiting the lifespan of existing water filter to filter the contaminants. Pre-treatment systems i.e., aeration techniques are often used to reduce the amount of iron contained in the groundwater. One of the aeration techniques i.e., the GATS is proposed and designed for this work. The GATS is tested to assess its effectiveness in increasing the DO and in the removal of iron in the water. The study area is located in Kampung Majid Ibrahim, Simpang Renggam. The initial value of the iron in the tubewell ranged from 1.4 mg/L to 2.3 mg/L, which exceeded the standard limit of 0.3 mg/L. Using AQUAREAD AP2000 and Hanna High Iron Checker, data collection is carried out in-situ testing. The flow rate is set at 5.5 L/min through the GATS, with varying air parameters. The results of the GATS test demonstrate the DO percentage increases up to 90.50 % and the percentage of iron removal is up to 10.24% with an airflow of 1.0 L/min

Differential Responses to Blood Pressure and Oxidative Stress in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Wistar-Kyoto Rats and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats: Effects of Antioxidant (Honey) Treatment

Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis and/or complications of hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus. A combination of these disorders increases the risk of developing cardiovascular events. This study investigated the effects of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg; ip)-induced diabetes on blood pressure, oxidative stress and effects of honey on these parameters in the kidneys of streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Diabetic WKY and SHR were randomized into four groups and received distilled water (0.5 mL) and honey (1.0 g/kg) orally once daily for three weeks. Control SHR had reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) and increased systolic blood pressure (SBP), catalase (CAT) activity, and total antioxidant status (TAS). SBP, activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) were elevated while TAS was reduced in diabetic WKY. In contrast, SBP, TAS, activities of GPx and GR were reduced in diabetic SHR. Antioxidant (honey) treatment further reduced SBP in diabetic SHR but not in diabetic WKY. It also increased TAS, GSH, reduced glutathione (GSH)/oxidized glutathione (GSSG) ratio, activities of GPx and GR in diabetic SHR. These data suggest that differences in types, severity, and complications of diseases as well as strains may influence responses to blood pressure and oxidative stress

From Voluntary Principles to Binding Precedent: The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa comes into Force

Large-scale displacement of people has become a defining characteristic of Africa. Unlike refugees, the legal framework for protection of internally displaced persons in Africa like many parts of the world have just evolved.  The idea to protect this category of persons within the region have not attracted the much attention that it deserves despite the truism that in Africa internally displaced persons outnumber refugees. The burden of offering protection to internally displaced persons have been left within the shoulders of national government on the ground that they remains within the borders of their own states  who in rare if not in all cases have no municipal law to cater for their welfare. Worse still, in the case of Africa, no specialized institution exists to cater for this class of her citizens as intervention in most cases are Ad- hoc in nature coupled with the attendant highly fragmented response. This paper assesses the emerging/evolving trend of legal protection for internally displaced persons in Africa especially with the coming into force of the regional framework- Kampala Convention for the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Africa which imposes expanded obligations on states beyond the traditional horizon.  The paper apart from tracing briefly the antecedents of the Kampala convention also delved into monumental and unprecedented advancements that have been made in it which has now become realistic and profound with its entry into force. Keywords: Africa Union, Internally Displaced Persons, Refugees, Kampala Conventio

Effects of Albizia saman (Jacq. Mull) leaf mulch on vegetative growth of maize (Zea mays L.) and soil chemical properties through biomass transfer

The study presents the effects of Albizia saman (Jacq. Mull) leaves in a biomass transfer as a source of organic fertilizer on the soil chemical properties and vegetative growth of maize (Zea mays) compared with NPK (15-15-15) in greenhouse condition. Albizia saman leaves and NPK (15-15-15) were applied at the rate of 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 t/ha or 60, 90 and 120 kg/ha respectively, separately or in combination. The findings revealed that application of 2.5 t/ha A. saman leaves produced the maximum values for mean leaf number, leaf area and stem height (7.77, 212.24 cm2 and 49.67 cm, respectively) among the leaf much treatments but were not significantly different from those obtained by applying 90 kg/ha NPK fertilizer (7.86, 225.55 cm2 and 48.78 cm, respectively). However, the maximum number of leaf (8.4), leaf area (240.5 cm2), plant height (54.64 cm) and biomass (16.17 g) were obtained from the combination of 2.5 t/ha leaves with 90 kg/ha NPK. There was significant improvement in the soil chemical status with the application of 2.5 or 5.0 t/ha A. saman leaves whereas the application of 5.0 t/ha A. saman leaves experienced the highest value for organic carbon (3.56%), total nitrogen (0.23%) and potassium (0.16 mg/kg) and 2.5 t/ha leaves gave the highest value for available phosphorus (22.30 mg/kg). It can, therefore, be inferred that the application of 2.5 t/ha A. saman leaves as source of organic fertilizer will give a better growth of maize and the combination of this quantity with 90 kg/ha of NPK would give better results in crop yield and maintenance of soil fertility

Effectiveness of hot oil treatment on cultivated 15 year-old acacia hybrid against Coriolus versicolors, Gloeophyllum trabeum and Pycnoporus sanguineus

The effectiveness of the hot oil treatment process on 15 year old cultivated Acacia hybrid was studied. Accelerated laboratory durability studies were conducted on the hot oil treated Acacia hybrid inoculated with fungi Coriolus versicolors, Gloeophyllum trabeum and Pycnoporus sanguineus. The logs of Acacia hybrid were harvested, segregated into bottom, middle and top portions, and later were oil-heat treated in an organic palm oil at temperatures of 180, 200 and 220°C for the duration of 30, 60 and 90 min. The wood samples that were dried and ground into sawdust was air-dried again before undergoing accelerated laboratory durability tests. Untreated samples were used as control. The durability of the wood increases with an increase in temperature and duration of the treatment. The hot oil treated samples could reduce the attack of G. trabeum from 20.89%, 20.94% and 21.29% in the control samples to 0.88-4.07%, 1.22-4.84% and 1.28-4.22% at bottom, middle and top portions, respectively. The attack of C. versicolors were reduced from 26.59%, 30.28% and 34.79% in the control samples to 2.89-9.41%, 3.88-16.84 and 4.27-17.34% at bottom, middle and top portions. However, the attacked of P. sanguineus were least effective with 31.42%, 36.33% and 36.55% in control samples to 3.26-12.55%, 4.67-15.36% and 4.69-19.22% at bottom, middle and top portions. Massive colonization of mycelia occurs in vessels of the untreated Acacia hybrid wood in comparison to the hot oil treated wood when observed through scanning electron microscope

Achieving Longevity in Wireless Body Area Network by Efficient Transmission Power Control for IoMT Applications

The application of tiny body sensors to collect, process, store, analyze, and retrieve medical information from a human body is a part of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT).  IoMT helps to monitor and track human vital health parameters, predict disease, notify the patients and the health care professionals with relevant data for analyzing the problems before they become severe and for earlier invention. By 2022, more than 60 % of IoT applications will be health-related. The convergence of biomedical sensors, wireless body area networks (WBAN), Information technology, and bioinformatics will help improve the efficiency of saving human lives. In a WBAN, network longevity is challenging because of the limited supply of low power battery energy in tiny body sensor nodes. Here, we proposed an energy-efficient transmission power control (TPC) algorithm to extend the network lifetime in IoMT networks for healthcare applications by eliminating the transceiver overhearing problem. In TPC, human tissue resistivity properties are considered to adjust the transmission power, which reduces the communication power and extends the network lifetime. The simulation results show that network power consumption is reduced by 35%

Low Impact Development Techniques to Mitigate the Impacts of Climate-Change-Induced Urban Floods: Current Trends, Issues and Challenges

The severity and frequency of short-duration, but damaging, urban area floods have increased in recent years across the world. Alteration to the urban micro-climate due to global climate change impacts may also exacerbate the situation in future. Sustainable urban stormwater management using low impact development (LID) techniques, along with conventional urban stormwater management systems, can be implemented to mitigate climate-change-induced flood impacts. In this study, the effectiveness of LIDs in the mitigation of urban flood are analyzed to identify their limitations. Further research on the success of these techniques in urban flood mitigation planning is also recommended. The results revealed that LIDs can be an efficient method for mitigating urban flood impacts. Most of the LID methods developed so far, however, are found to be effective only for small flood peaks. They also often fail due to non-optimization of the site-specific and time-varying climatic conditions. Major challenges include identification of the best LID practices for the region of interest, efficiency improvements in technical areas, and site-specific optimization of LID parameters. Improvements in these areas will allow better mitigation of climate-change-induced urban floods in a cost-effective manner and will also assist in the achievement of sustainable development goals for cities

Design and implementation of an optimal fuzzy logic controller using egentic algorithm

Most control systems suITer from problems related to undesirable overshoot, longer settling times aoo vibrations while going from one state 10 an(){her state. Works so far reponed techniques which are on how to oveTCQme or reduce the effects of these issues for ensuring smoother and finely tuned eolltrolling proceM. The devised solution is softwllrebased which employs an algorithmic approach for programming II PICI6F877A microcontroller, thus eliminating allogether the parametric dependence issues while adding the benefits of easier modification to suit a given control system for varying operational conditions_ The approach is first simulated using MATLAB/and the simulated results are verified by programming {he PICI6I'g77A mierocontrolter with {he algorithm and using it on a temperature control system where a fan is regulated in response to variations in the ambient system temperature. The results justify the effectiveness of the approach implemented in this study and they lUnher prove toot the optimized Fuzzy Logic Controller is functioning better than the conventional PID Controlle

Development of body stress analyzer based on physiological signal

Ehealth is one of the system that use modern technologies that be apply to the healthcare organization. This system allowed the patient to access the system to monitor their health records and else by using internet as a platform to communicate. Thus, this project is inspired by Ehealth system to making a hardware device with software application that act as monitoring system to the people. For the hardware, the user only need to grasped the two terminal in the device that contains of all the sensor for doing the testing procedure. Thus, all the data that be contain will be sent to the apps via internet of things for storing them. This will helps physical education and health teacher to do observation and record the data obtain from the apps.Besides, this way also will avoiding any incident to be occur towards the students if they carry on the activities in abnormal condition of their body system. The scope for this project is focusing on monitoring students body condition before they starting their outdoor activities in the field. The way for sensing the parameter including pulse sensor, LM35 and Galvanic Skin Response sensor with arduino as a microcontroller to process the input and output signal