Overview on Study on Properties of Concrete Canvas

Since there is expeditious increase in the materials extensively used in construction, there is a great demand for construction materials in the current generation to follow different conventional methods. There is no provision for very quick and workable concrete installation procedures in the event of an emergency. Concrete as a construction material is well-known around the world, but the hunt to improve its flexibility has always piqued researchers' interest. Although concrete has many advantages, one disadvantage is that it is not flexible when hardened. The rising cost of repair work as a result of weathering, ground surface damage, and seepage in water canals has always been a source of concern. Concrete cloth, a new technology that removes faults from concrete and is flexible and simple to apply, has been invented. Concrete Canvas has a ceramic property which is semi rigid that makes it fire resistant and water proof.

Natural Processes and Anthropogenic Activity in the Indus River Sedimentary Environment in Pakistan: A Critical Review

The Indus River is Asia’s longest river, having its origin in the Tibet Mountain northwest of Pakistan. Routed from northern Gilgit and flowing to the plains, the river passes through several provinces and is connected by numerous small and large tributaries. The river was formed tectonically due to the collusion of the Indian and Eurasian plates, which is referred to as the Indus suture Plains zone (ISPZ). The geological setting of the study area is mainly composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks. The river passed through a variety of climatic zones and areas, although the predominant climate is subtropic arid and sub arid to subequatorial. Locally and globally, anthropogenic activities such as building, dams, and water canals for irrigation purposes, mining exploration, and industries and factories all affected the physical and chemical behaviors of the sediments in various rivers. The main effect of human activities is the reworking of weathered soil smectite, a chemical weathering indicator that rises in the offshore record about 5000 years ago. This material indicates increased transport of stronger chemically weathered material, which may result from agriculture-induced erosion of older soil. However, we also see evidence for the incision of large rivers into the floodplain, which is also driving the reworking of this type of material, so the signal may be a combination of the two. Sediments undergo significant changes in form and size due to clashing with one another in the high-charge river.

The Sacred Waterscape of the Temple of Bastet at Ancient Bubastis, Nile Delta (Egypt)

Sacred water canals or lakes, which provided water for all kinds of purification rites and other activities, were very specific and important features of temples in ancient Egypt. In addition to the longer-known textual record, preliminary geoarchaeological surveys have recently provided evidence of a sacred canal at the Temple of Bastet at Bubastis. In order to further explore the location, shape, and course of this canal and to find evidence of the existence of a second waterway, also described by Herodotus, 34 drillings and five 2D geoelectrical measurements were carried out in 2019 and 2020 near the temple. The drillings and 2D ERT surveying revealed loamy to clayey deposits with a thickness of up to five meters, most likely deposited in a very low energy fluvial system (i.e., a canal), allowing the reconstruction of two separate sacred canals both north and south of the Temple of Bastet. In addition to the course of the canals, the width of about 30 m fits Herodotus' description of the sacred waterways. The presence of numerous artefacts proved the anthropogenic use of the ancient canals, which were presumably connected to the Nile via a tributary or canal located west or northwest of Bubastis.

Biodegradation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) sheet by microalga, Uronema africanum Borge

Plastic (polyethylene) pollution is a severe cause of deterioration of a healthy environment. For example, ingestion of plastics in the animal gut, clogging of water canals and retarded solid waste management. Many conventional methods of polyethylene degradation include UV photooxidation, thermal oxidation, incineration, chemical oxidation and landfill are being practiced. However, these methods are not feasible, costlier and not a complete solution for this global issue. Therefore, plausible, alternative solution for this issue is biodegradation. Microbes such as bacteria, fungi and algae are involved in polyethylene degradation in its natural habitat. Among them, algae were given very less importance. In our present study, a potential microalga, morphologically identified as Uronema africanum Borge, isolated from a waste plastic bag collected from a domestic waste dumping site in a freshwater lake. This microalga was further treated with the LDPE sheet in BBM culture medium. Based on the results obtained from light microscopy, dark field microscopy, GC–MS, FT-IR, SEM and AFM, it was concluded that the microalga has initiated degradation of LDPE sheet within 30 days of incubation. Concurrently, the configuration of corrosions, abrasions, grooves and ridges were found similar with the morphological features of the microalga. For example, the configuration of the radial disc-like attachment structure of the microalga was found corresponding to the abrasions on the surface of LDPE sheet at an average size of 20–30 µm in diameter. Whereas, the configuration of ridges and grooves were found similar with the filamentous nature of the microalga (10–15 µm width). This is a hitherto report on the biodegradation of LDPE sheet by the microalga Uronema africanum Borge.

Cross-Validation Indicates Predictive Models May Provide an Alternative to Indicator Organism Monitoring for Evaluating Pathogen Presence in Southwestern US Agricultural Water

Pathogen contamination of agricultural water has been identified as a probable cause of recalls and outbreaks. However, variability in pathogen presence and concentration complicates the reliable identification of agricultural water at elevated risk of pathogen presence. In this study, we collected data on the presence of Salmonella and genetic markers for enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC; PCR-based detection of stx and eaeA) in southwestern US canal water, which is used as agricultural water for produce. We developed and assessed the accuracy of models to predict the likelihood of pathogen contamination of southwestern US canal water. Based on 169 samples from 60 surface water canals (each sampled 1–3 times), 36% (60/169) and 21% (36/169) of samples were positive for Salmonella presence and EHEC markers, respectively. Water quality parameters (e.g., generic E. coli level, turbidity), surrounding land-use (e.g., natural cover, cropland cover), weather conditions (e.g., temperature), and sampling site characteristics (e.g., canal type) data were collected as predictor variables. Separate conditional forest models were trained for Salmonella isolation and EHEC marker detection, and cross-validated to assess predictive performance. For Salmonella, turbidity, day of year, generic E. coli level, and % natural cover in a 500–1,000 ft (~150–300 m) buffer around the sampling site were the top 4 predictors identified by the conditional forest model. For EHEC markers, generic E. coli level, day of year, % natural cover in a 250–500 ft (~75–150 m) buffer, and % natural cover in a 500–1,000 ft (~150–300 m) buffer were the top 4 predictors. Predictive performance measures (e.g., area under the curve [AUC]) indicated predictive modeling shows potential as an alternative method for assessing the likelihood of pathogen presence in agricultural water. Secondary conditional forest models with generic E. coli level excluded as a predictor showed < 0.01 difference in AUC as compared to the AUC values for the original models (i.e., with generic E. coli level included as a predictor) for both Salmonella (AUC = 0.84) and EHEC markers (AUC = 0.92). Our data suggests models that do not require the inclusion of microbiological data (e.g., indicator organism) show promise for real-time prediction of pathogen contamination of agricultural water (e.g., in surface water canals).

Flood Monitoring and Warning Systems: A Brief Review

Floods and excessive rainfall are unavoidable phenomena that can cause massive loss of people's lives and destruction of infrastructure. Flash floods rise rapidly in flood-prone areas, resulting in property damage, but the impact on human lives is relatively preventable by the presence of monitoring systems. Although there are many systems widely in practice by disaster management agencies in monitoring flood levels, most of these systems are limited range and sophisticated to be used and maintained. Furthermore, in most developing countries, the conventional flood gates in water canals are manually operated and suffer from the lack of real-time monitoring of water levels, leading to an overflow in the channels and flash floods. On top of that, the lacking accurate data analysis in the system that can be accessed is one of the limitations of the conventional flood monitoring and warning systems (FMWS). Therefore, in this paper, we have explored and reviewed the existing methods of flood monitoring and emphasizing their structure and sensing techniques. We have also classified and compared their advantages and limitations and accordingly suggested new solutions and improvements by utilizing new technologies based on the Internet of Things. This paper introduces a detailed mini-review of sensing methods in the existing flood systems as reported in previous studies to serve as a quick guide to researchers who are engaging in this field. Based on the review, conclusions have been drawn.

Performance study of twisted Darrieus hydrokinetic turbine with novel blade design

Twisted Darrieus water turbine is receiving growing attentiveness for small-scale hydropower generation. Accordingly, the need for raised water energy conversion incentivizes researchers to focalise on the blade shape optimization of twisted Darrieus turbine. In view of this, an experimental analysis has been performed to appraise the efficiency of a spiral Darrieus water rotor in the present work. To better the performance parameters of the studied water rotor with twisted blades, three novel blade shapes, namely U-shaped blade, V-shaped blade and W-shaped blade, have been numerically tested using a computational fluid dynamics three-dimensional numerical model. Maximum power coefficient of Darrieus rotor reaches 0.17 at 0.63 tip-speed ratio using twisted blades. Using V-shaped blades, maximum power coefficient has been risen up to 0.185. The current study could be practically applied to provide more effective employment of twisted Darrieus turbines and to improve the generated power from flowing water such as river streams, tidal currents, or other man made water canals.

A muscle-related contractile tissue specified by MRTF-activity in Porifera

Muscle-based movement is a hallmark of animal biology, but the evolutionary origins of myocytes - the cells that comprise muscle tissues - are unknown. Sponges (Porifera) provide an opportunity to reconstruct the earliest periods of myocyte evolution. Although sponges are believed to lack muscle, they are capable of coordinated whole-body contractions that purge debris from internal water canals. This behavior has been observed for decades, but their contractile tissues remain uncharacterized. It is an open question whether they share affinity to muscle or non-muscle contractile tissues in other animals. Here, we characterize the endothelial-like lining of water canals (the endopinacoderm) as a primary contractile tissue in the sponge Ephydatia muelleri. We find tissue-wide organization of contractile actin-bundles that contain striated-muscle myosin II and transgelin, and that contractions are regulated by the release of internal Ca2+ stores upstream of the myosin-light-chain-kinase (MLCK) pathway. Further, we show that the endopinacoderm is developmentally specified by myocardin-related transcription factor (MRTF) as part of an environmentally-inducible transcriptional complex that functions in muscle development, plasticity, and regeneration in other animals. We conclude that the contractile machinery shared between the endopinacoderm and myocytes likely evolved in the context of a multifunctional, muscle-related tissue in the animal stem-lineage. Furthermore, as an actin-regulated force-sensor, MRTF-activity offers a mechanism for how water canals dynamically remodel in response to flow and can re-form normally from stem-cells in the absence of the intrinsic positional cues characteristic of embryogenesis in other animals.