International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR)

Towards Industry 4.0 | A case study of BIM Deployment in Ornamental Stones Sector

2020-07-08T06:36:19+00:00

The transition witnessed from the Third to the Fourth Industrial Age leads to the emergence of paradigms such as BIM, seeking efficiency in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) through a global approach and procurement oriented towards standardized products and I4.0, where production comes to be supported by Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). Integrated in the AEC supply chain, the ornamental stone sector shows Portugal to be the eighth country in OS trade worldwide, and the second per capita, with its competitiveness coming from customization BIM represents threats for its business sustainability. Supported by the Service Science, the main objective of this research is to conceptualize an empirical framework, which, when applied to a sample of Ornamental Stone companies, allows a conclusive answer how to keep their competitive advantage of products customization in BIM-standardized procurement environment. By monitoring the entire sequence of events, it was found that the Ornamental Stone companies can retain their main current competitive advantage of customizing their products, which leads us to conclude that Industry 4.0 technologies, appears to respond positively to threat raised from BIM procurement.

Evaluation the Effectiveness of CMC and Klucel-E Modified with TiO2 and ZnO Nanoparticles Used for Consolidation the Damaged Paper Maps

2020-07-08T06:30:12+00:00

The main goal of this work is to study and evaluate the effectiveness of nano titanium dioxide and nano zinc oxide for enhancing the performances of Carboxymethyl cellulose CMC and Klucel-E used as consolidation materials for historical paper maps. Historical map samples dating back to 1817 & 1952 A.D were treated with CMC and Klucel-E loaded with TiO2 nanoparticles and ZnO nanoparticles. Some of the treated samples were submitted to investigation methods and others were submitted to the artificial thermal aging and then to investigation methods to monitor the changes of consolidation materials after accelerated aging test and to evaluate their effect on mechanical, physical and chemical properties of historical paper samples under effect of artificial heat ageing. Visual assessment, pH measurements, Attenuated Total Reflection infrared spectroscopy (FTIR- ATR) study and mechanical properties determination were undertaken, to see if any significant structural or chemical differences could be detected between “untreated”, “treated” and “treated aged” samples. The results showed that no dramatic changes in functional groups on the paper, as monitored by infrared spectroscopy, occurred in the samples before and after treatment; pH values, however, showed that the tested nanocomposites gave good results in decreasing the acidity of the treated paper. The nanocomposites also enhanced optical and mechanical properties of treated samples.

“A Critical Study on the Transnational Organized Crime along the Bangladesh-Myanmar Border”

2020-07-08T06:15:30+00:00

At present, transnational organized crime has become an alarming issue along the Bangladesh-Myanmar borders. Recently, crime is increasing in this area because of the Rohingya ethnic group. At first, this research shows the origins, spread and consequences of the transnational crime in the World with special attention to the Bangladesh Myanmar borders. The study found what type of crime is happened along this border and how the criminals are being organized in the area. Also, this study has found the evidence of Rohingyas’ involvement in the transnational crimes during the study; and the study has discussed as to how the existing laws could help combat the crimes. The study shows as to how the Rohingya people involve themself in the transnational crimes in the Bangladesh-Myanmar borders which is creating a security problem for Bangladesh to a large extent. After a new wave of the Rohingya influx in 2017 to Bangladesh, the situation has been exacerbated. However, at the end of the study it has provided some policy recommendations for adopting proper national security policies for Bangladesh. Also to carry out the study, some semi-structured interviews were conducted along the border areas between Bangladesh and Myanmar. Finally, the study suggests further research on this issue considering it’s geo-political, geo-strategic and security related importance locally, regionally and globally.

Adaptation Practices Among Arable Crop Farmers Against Perceived Effects of Climate Change in Rural Southwestern Nigeria

2020-07-07T19:50:12+00:00

The way farmers perceived their environment dictates how they practice agriculture and by extension, type of adaptation measure to undertake in mitigating the effects of climate change on their crops. Therefore, the study examined the adaptation practices being employed by farmers to mitigate the perceived effects of climate change on selected arable crops in Rural Southwestern Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: identify sources of agricultural information; determine awareness of climate change by arable crop farmers; determine the perceived effects of climate parameters on selected arable crops; and identify adaptation measures employed to mitigate the perceived effects of climate change on arable crops in the study area. The only hypothesis was that there was no significant relationship between adaptation measures employed by farmers and perceived effects of climate change on selected arable crops. Multistage sampling technique was used in selecting 350 arable crop farmers. The results revealed that 97.4% of the respondents were aware that climate was changing and that arable crops were almost uniformly affected unfavourably by rainfall while 98.8% never insured their farms against climate change. The odd ratio of logistic regression revealed that planting different crops (7.23); employing tillage methods such as ridging, terracing, use of compost (2.74); use of mulching (0.42) and farming combined with non-farming activities (2.51) were significantly related to perceived effects of climate change on selected arable crops, all at p ≤ 0.05 level. It was recommended that farmers should adopt planting of their arable crops sequentially. Extension services must be invigorated to persuade farmers to use early maturing and drought resistance planting materials.

Examining the Quality of Local Omani Clays for Ceramic Slip Casting in Art Schools: Testing Deflocculant, Specific Gravity, and Viscosity

2020-07-07T19:17:59+00:00

Ceramicists at art schools are usually fascinated by the basic processes they use. Most of them have developed their own pottery hand building techniques, constructed their firing kilns, and even composed their individual clays and glaze recipes in laboratories. Slip casting is one of the techniques used in forming ceramics worldwide, where liquid clay is cast in a plaster mold to make ceramic pots. In fact, most educational art schools, ceramics factories, and pottery craft enterprises in Oman use expensive imported clays to cast in plaster molds. Considering recent developments in ceramic making fields, it is becoming extremely difficult to ignore the importance of developing local slip casting clays to support both the educational and industrial ceramic and pottery fields within a particular region. By examining the Alanwar Ceramic Tiles Plant (ACTP) sample of local clay, the experimental work presented here provides one of the first investigations into how educational and industrial enterprises can take advantage of local clays to produce slip casting slurries.