Recent Advances in Science and Technology Research Vol. 1

Surge irrigation is a promising improvisation over the traditional check furrow irrigation layouts that are replaced by a series of long furrows originating from a single feeder channel. The surge mode of water application involves alternate ON-OFF cycling of intermittent flows into the furrows in such a way that during the ON time water front advances and during the OFF time it recedes, saturating the subsoil. The partial or complete saturation of subsoil creates an apparent reduction in the instantaneous infiltration rates of the soil so that the water front advance gets accelerated. Invariably in all the continuous flow long furrows the water front advance could not reach the furrow tail end within the design duration of irrigation and nearly 25% to 40% additional times were required to make the water front reach the furrow tail end. In case of the surge irrigated furrows the water front advance to reach the furrow tail end has taken 5 to 9 surge cycles out of 10 surge cycles depending on the hydraulic condition of flow. The existing mathematical model (SURGEMODE) gave the net water front advance time with the condition of non-vegetated and a standard reference slope of 0.3%. However when the furrow is getting vegetated or when the slope gradients are changed the model cannot predict it accurately. Hence main objective of the study is to focus on validation on the existing SURGEMODE model with varying slope gradients (0.3%, 0.6% and 0.1%) and vegetative flow retardance (Non-Vegetated and Vegetated furrows).

The concept of quality of life refers to the satisfaction felt by each individual, in relation to what surrounds him and, which refers not only to the material conditions, respectively the accumulation of goods and services, but also to the safety of each one, through which can enhance the personality of the individual. The need is no longer individual, but social, when it is recognized as indispensable to the members of the group. The structure of consumption is also linked to the level of preparation of the individual. Comparing the budgets of the different categories, we find how they work according to a certain hierarchy of needs, from the most basic to the least necessary. But at the same time it is clear that other criteria work: rural or urban lives, manual or intellectual work, employee or freelance, etc.

Wavelet based Multifractal analysis techniques provides a sophisticated statistical characterization of many complex dynamical phenomena related with Sun and its environment. In this work multifractal property of the Sunspot number time series, has been analyzed during Solar Cycle 23 and ascending phase of Solar Cycle 24 using Wavelet transform and wavelet based multifractal approach. Present analysis has been performed using the software FRACLAB, developed at INRIA and available online at http://www-rocq.inria.fr. It was found that the singularities spectrum for sunspot time series was well Gaussian in shape suggesting the multifractal characteristics of time series. Thus we conclude that the multifractal based approach provides the local and adaptive description of dynamical processes related with Sun and its climate and can be applied effectively in the study of solar activity.

Aims: On this work, a methodology that solves the one-way fluid-structure interaction problem approach is presented. This methodology is applicable to any building’s geometry, nevertheless, in order to develop a solution, it was proposed a building with a geometry not considered in most of the design codes of structures under wind pressures. In order to compare the results of this methodology a tall building model (CAARC model) widely studied by different authors is also analyzed.

Place and Duration of Study: Graduate Engineering Department, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico. January 2017 to October 2018.

Methodology: First of all, two computational fluid mechanics models were developed in order to obtain the pressures of the wind around the two buildings proposed in a dynamic way. Later, the obtained dynamic pressures were transferred according to the load transfer method on the Structural Mechanical Building model through time-history analysis solved by means of a direct integration method to obtain the dynamic aeroelastic response of the structures. 

Results: The dynamic aeroelastic response for both models is obtained.   

Conclusion: This methodology does not present any restriction in the model’s geometry and leads to analyze important aspects for the structural analysis such as state of stress of the structural elements and structure displacements, accordingly, the method is suitable for structures under wind pressures that are not considered in the codes. The results obtained through this methodology present a good approach to those obtained by means of fluid structure-interaction models.

Consolidation is the reduction of soil volume with time. This phenomenon generates a stresses transfer process beginning with the application of load and subsequent increase in pore water pressure. This increase in pore water pressure generates a flow of water that reduces the volume of soil. Thus, consolidation represents a hydro-mechanical coupled problem. Different models have been developed to simulate this phenomenon properly. This paper presents a coupled hydro-mechanical consolidation model for saturated materials. It can also be extended to the case of unsaturated materials when effective stresses are used. This model considers different drainage, displacement and loading conditions. It properly simulates the phenomenon of consolidation and is consistent with other models. It also correctly reproduces laboratory tests.

The HR professionals’ task of retaining the employees is very challenging and it is even more challenging in the current scenario where more than 50% of the workforce is taken up by women. The greatest challenge here is to retain the women workforce after marriage and particularly after childbirth. This is one of the reasons why women are not considered for most of the top positions in the organisations. However, the trend is changing now and the women are ready to look out for various alternatives to focus on career and manage the home and kids demands. This is still in the nascent stage and the organisations also have felt the need to give a support to the women employees in this respect. Hence, many of the organisations have come out with the in house creche facilities for the women employees of the organisation. However, the percentage of the organisations that have taken up this is comparatively lesser and hence the researcher has taken up this area for her research in identifying the reasons for the poor response of employers in providing in house child care facilities at their cost despite the government’s amendment to Maternity Benefit Act 2017.

The researcher had adopted descriptive research technique and had collected the response from 50 samples who are the Managing Directors and the HR managers of the organisation. A structured, close ended questionnaire was used to collect the data from the sample population. The findings revealed that the negative incidences which hamper the image of the organisation is the major reason why the organisations are reluctant to engage in the child care facilities apart from cost considerations. The researcher has also given some recommendations to improve the current situation.

The bacteriological and physicochemical characteristics of surface water from three (3) sampling stations (SS) on Omodo stream and four (4) SS on three ponds all located in the Agbede wetlands was determined at monthly intervals between December, 2012 and May, 2014. Routine procedures such as; Usage of relevant meters, spectrophotometric-based analysis and multiple tube methods were employed in evaluating the physicochemical and coliform content of the water samples. Air temperature mean values ranged from 28.17 to 32.19°C at station 1 and station 4, whilst, the mean values for water temperature ranged between 25.42 and 29.11°C at stations 1 and 4 respectively. The pH values (5.10 – 7.20) ranged between slightly acid and slightly alkaline condition. The differences in the mean air temperature, water temperature, flow rate, electrical conductivity (2.67 - 140 µScm^-1), turbidity (0.00 – 78.20 NTU) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) values (12.15 – 96 mgL^-1) were significantly different (P<0.05, P<0.001) across the study stations. The Dissolved oxygen (DO) (1.20 – 14.80 mgL^-1) and Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (0.00 – 8.20 mgL^-1) had their values within the FMEnv set limits 0f 7.5 mgL^-1 and 30 mgL^-1 respectively. The study revealed varying levels of culturable coliform counts in the examined surface waters with values not exceeding 13 MPN100 mL^-1. Coliform values were slightly higher within the lentic environments. Sensitization of the communities residing within the wetlands by relevant governmental and non-governmental bodies on the urgent need to treat the water by boiling prior to drinking should be conducted.

Gully erosion is an environmental problem that confronts the international community. This study was undertaken to investigate the relationships between gully length and average gully width on two geological sediments of varying resistance to erosion. Thirty-seven and five gully samples formed respectively on two homogenous geological sediments (the Ajalli Sandstones (AS) and the Upper Coal Measures (UCM)) underlying the Idah-Ankpa Plateau of the North Central Nigeria were measured and their lengths (L) and average widths (W) were subjected to correlation analyses and the sample bivariate regression to examine and compare their relationships on the two formations.  Results show that on the highly erodible AS, L is positively, poorly, and not significantly correlated with W (R = 0.201, R² = 0.040), whereas the correlation is stronger, significant, but negative at the 0.05 level on the UCM (R = -0.930, R² = 0.865). The regression equations show that L is a poor predictor of W on the AS (W₁ = 6.387 + 0.03L₁, R² = 0.040), and a very good predictor of the parameter (W) on the UCM (W₂=18.135 – 0.033L₂, R² = 0.865), which appears as a negative value. And the valid range of gully lengths for the prediction of the average width on the AS can be ranked as 0 = L <   (infinity), whereas the ranking is of the form 0 ≤ L ≤ 549.55 m on the UCM.  The study suggests that the correlation of W with L becomes stronger, negative and significant as the resistance to erosion of the geological sediments increases. It also suggests that the predictability of W using L as a tool improves and transforms to a negative value as the resistance to erosion of the formation increases.

Background: Hip disarticulation is a procedure that is not performed very often and not a lot of surgeons are experts in performing it, and it is needed for patients who are unstable and in need for it. A hip disarticulation results most often from trauma, tumors and severe infections, such as necrotizing fasciitis (commonly referred to as flesh-eating bacteria). Less often, it results from vascular disease and as a complication of diabetes mellitus. We present a case in which a 55-year-old female patient underwent hip disarticulation then she developed a hematoma collection as a complication.

Case Presentation: A 55-year-old female patient with medical co-morbidities, presented with DVT, ischemic gangrene, and necrotizing fasciitis following femoral catheter placement. A decision was made to perform right hip disarticulation by orthopedic and vascular combine team at the day of admission.

Conclusion: Hip Disarticulation due to infection might be the lone option in case of serious infection in unstable patients. Disarticulation of the hip is a very complicated procedure and it should be one of the armamentarium of the orthopedic surgeon who deals with serious infections in lower limb, treats lower limb sarcomas, and diseases of peripheral vasculature. It can be considered as an important procedure for patients and it is only done to save patient life in order to eliminate extensive infectious process since there is no other proper treatment.

This paper presents the results of physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) contents in water sources of public supply of Tuzla and the surrounding area, as alternative sources of water supply. The study area was divided into six (6) sampling sites and their respective position was detected using GPS device (MAGELLAN EXPLORIST 210). The heavy metals were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS), While, the physico-chemical parameters (pH, electrical conductivity (EC), carbonate, total hardness, nitrate (NO₃ -N), nitrite (NO₂ -N), ammonia (NH₃ -N), KMnO₄ and chlorides were determined using standard methods. The heavy metal contents: Cu (1-6 μg/L) and Zn (1-2 μg/L). Pb was only detected Simin Han well water at 2 μg/L. Cd was below detection limits in all samples. The levels of Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb in Tuzla and its surrounding alternative drinking sources are within the permissible limits according to the Regulations on the safety of drinking water of Bosnia and Herzegovina and WHO. The physico–chemical properties of the water samples from the study area are within the recommended level of exposure, except for ammonia in the well of Miladije 2 and pH of Miladije 1. Concentrations of the investigated parameters in samples of drinking water alternative sources of public supply of Tuzla and its surrounding area within the allowed limits according to World.

Infotainment, videos, audios, ideas, news aggregating sites etc. saturate the new mediascape. Today more choice, less diversity, more information, less knowledge and more gratification with less satisfaction rule the roost in media. Truly, mass media create big hullabaloo and saturate our mornings and evenings with its sights and sounds. This brings forth negative repercussions on audience behaviour. True ideals of journalism have been in shambles. Sensationalism and crass commercialization have become the order of the day. Augmented Reality with its underpinnings has revolutionized the media industry. The system has become a whole caboodle of conundrum with the arrival of social media. People on the other hand have become more and more dependent on all types of media. This dependency hinges on the division of labour and increasing role specialization. People’s affinity towards media is more during social upheavals and turns of fortune. But press as the Fourth Estate would help the nation builders to make India a modern, powerful, industrial state. Only then can India garner support and respect from the world community. It is high time India waged a war in the cultural realm of the country. A value-oriented media fraternity is the need of the hour rather than a market-oriented media culture. The whole media edifice has to be fortified by framing a concrete code of ethics for media practitioners. My paper unravels the ethical dilemma faced by media personnel and suggests an ideal modus operandi for journalists in a highly neo-liberalised culturescape.

Network Switching is a vital aspect of telecommunication networks that processes, controls, and manages the flow of information. Mobile switching Centre (MSC) directs traffic around the Network between a mobile station and landline, or between two mobile stations. This chapter presents Soft switch, interfaces, protocol, signalling, call flow, interconnectivity, their properties, and functions of Network switching elements. In practice, the main measures adopted to improve survivability in switched networks such as diversity, the alternative route of traffic, service restoration techniques facilitated by use of spare transmission capacity where patching is possible and an integrated approach is also presented.

The Influence of Anthropogenic factors on the development and proliferation of gullies on the Idah-Ankpa Plateau of the North Central Nigeria is examined in this paper. These factors are most active on the Ajalli Sandstones’ geological formation, which is the most erodible and happens to house most of the rural and urban settlements in the area. An astronomical increase in human population since the end of the Nigerian civil war is the most prominent factor exacerbating the gully erosion problem. In the rural areas, sunken footpaths used by the communities to their streams and for their inter and intra communal visits create Favourable ground configurations for the initiation of gulling processes. And in the urban centers, improper design and installation of urban drainage structures are the principal causes of gully development, and these have given rise to widespread and uncommon forms of gully erosion dubbed “fixed-Head” gullies, as well as rejuvenated gullies. Government shall engage qualified engineers in the design and installation of urban drainage works, avoiding the rule of thumb method.

Different attempts have been carried out to determine the PV module surface temperatures using mathematical models of the PV module, empirical formula and by neural networks. Neural network (NN) doesn’t require any analysis of the system or scientific details; it only needs data from the system for training purposes. The present research describes the estimation of the PV module surface temperature using NN based on measured ambient temperatures and incident solar radiation. The NN is composed of input layer with two inputs (solar radiation and ambient temperature), hidden layer that has eight neurons and output layer to estimate the PV module surface temperature. Error back propagation algorithm was used to train the NN. The result showed that, the estimation accuracy of the PV module surface temperatures by the NN reached more than 96% of the measured values.