APCBEE Procedia最新文献

This study aimed to investigate the farm-retail price transmission for the livestock industry in Thailand employing monthly data from 2002 to 2012. Using the Engle-Granger two step approach, the study confirmed that farmgate prices were cointegrated with retail prices in the poultry and swine industry. Consequently, an asymmetric error correction model (AECM) was used to test for asymmetric price transmission between farmgate and retail prices of chicken and pork. Results show that the pork industry, which is focused on supplying domestic consumption and has heavy export restrictions, is characterized by positive asymmetric price transmission whereas the poultry industry, which is highly export-oriented, is characterized by symmetric price transmission. This suggests that the export-oriented nature of the poultry market has linked Thailand's domestic market with the international market. This has led to an increase in market competition, allowing for increases and decreases of farmgate prices to be equally transmitted to retail prices of chicken.

Road Surface Monitoring (RSM) is the process of detecting the distress on paved or unpaved road surfaces. The primary aim of this process is to detect any distress (such as road surface cracks) at early stages in order to apply maintenance on time. Early detection of road cracks can assist maintenance before the repair costs becomes too high. Local authorities should have an effective and easy to use monitoring process in place across the road network to meet their obligations.

The process of adding geographical identification metadata to the photos is called “Geo-tagging”. The proposed method in this work entails capturing GPS information when the photo is taken for the road surface distress, then attaching the photo to a map. The location disclosure in the act of geo-tagging of a photo provides qualities to the digital map. In that respect, a specific richness of the GIS dataset arises when they disclose the road surface distress photos.

This paper proposes a system for establishing a GIS database consisting of geo-tagged photos for local authorities to automate the process of recording and reporting road surface distresses. This system is easy to use, cost-effective, deployable, and can be used effectively by local authorities.

This work aims to find changing amount of BTEX in period of time and theirs concentration at difference positions surrounding the petrol station located at the boundary of Bangkok and Nonthaburi, Thailand. A carbon charcoal glass tube connected to a personal air pump was used to collect BTEX during 16 hrs (6 a.m. - 10 p.m.) divided into 4 periods. After sampling, BTEX was extracted from charcoal tubes and analyzed by GC/FID. The center of petrol station which is considered as the main point source has the highest BTEX average concentration: benzene 589.91±107.26 μg/m³, toluene 1,694.92±212.27 μg/m³, ethylbenzene 96.74±17.34 μg/m³, m,p-xylene 409.79±59.91 μg/m³, and o-xylene 123.96±16.01 μg/m³. Total BTEX at the center point are 12.8 and 22.9 times higher than those at roadside and the backside of petrol station, respectively. Temperature and humidity are possible meteorological variables which affect BTEX concentrations.

Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE), a simplified Bayesian method, was adopted to determine the parametric uncertainty in hydrological modeling. A preliminary analysis of the summer flows of the Kootenay Watershed, Canada, was modeled to portray a typical uncertainty analysis procedure. SLURP, a robust hydrologic model was chosen for this procedure. The results demonstrated the viability of applying the GLUE method in conjunction with the SLURP hydrological model, following which the posterior probability distributions of the parameters was analyzed. The performance of this technique was verified by examining the flows’ prediction intervals for a period of 2 years, enabling valid future hydrological forecasting for the watershed.

Malaria is one of the major health problems of the world. A number of vaccine candidates have been identified and are at different stages of the clinical trials. Wide spread deployment of malaria vaccines requires a cost effective and scalable production platform. We have chosen a non-pathogenic bacterial host, Bacillus subtilis, to produce a malaria vaccine candidate PfMSP5. Merozoite surface protein 5 (MSP5) is present during the asexual stage of Plasmodium falciparum, and is a recognized target that can be used as a subunit vaccine against blood stages of malaria. PfMSP5 was successfully expressed in B. subtilis and recovered from the culture supernatant in single step (nickel-affinity chromatography) purification. B. subtilis derived PfMSP5 induced very strong immune responses in mouse immunization experiments. The antibodies raised against PfMSP5 were reactive with proteins expressed by the parasite as shown by immunofluorescence. Our results conclude that the B. subtilis is an efficient expression host for the production of the malaria vaccine candidate PfMSP5.

This research is aimed to study fundamental dynamic properties of an esteemed brick masonry inverted bell-shaped chedi at Phrathat Doi Suthep temple, Chiangmai, Thailand, by using full-scale ambient vibration tests associated with the finite element analysis. The study results showed that the finite element analysis indicated 3.817 Hz, 3.836 Hz and 9.294 Hz for the natural frequencies of the first modes on the x, y and torsion directions. From the ambient vibration measurements, the frequencies were 4.086 Hz, 4.025 Hz and 10.819 Hz. In comparison, the finite element gives the similar frequency values with the measured ones. The discrepancies are respectively 6.59, 4.70 and 14.09 percent. Hence, the validation of the finite element model has been made and used for vibration analysis presented in the accompanied paper (Seismic Performances of Brick Masonry Inverted Bell-Shaped Chedi)

A 6-month long growth trial was conducted to evaluate three commercial feeds: Skretting (Turkey), Biomar (Greece), and Arasco (Saudi Arabia) in juvenile sobaity, Sparidentex hasta. For confidentiality, these feeds were randomly given code names diets 1, 2 and 3 and trash fish was used as diet 4 (control). Protein in commercial diets ranged between 47.17 and 48.80% while trash fish had 57.40% protein (% dry basis). Sobaity juveniles (51.39±0.63 g) were stocked at the rate of 50fish/tank, each treatment with three replicates. Fish were fed twice daily at satiation level. The results showed that diet 2 (48.80% protein) resulted in significantly (P<0.05) better weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio, apparent net protein utilization and energy retention compared to other diets. There were no significant (P>0.05) differences between the weight gain and SGR values of fish fed diet 1 (48.50% protein) and trash fish (57.40% protein) while diet 3 resulted in the lowest weight gain and SGR. The muscle fatty acid composition reflected the dietary fatty acids particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) and n-3/n-6 ratios which were significantly higher in fish fed diet 2. The results showed that diet 2 (48.80% protein) may be recommended for culture of sobaity in Kuwait.

The objective of this review is to study briefly the membrane distillation in desalination application and effects of various process parameters such as feed temperature, feed flow rate and feed concentration on permeate flux. Several studies about the variation of flux have been reviewed in this paper. The review also covers the concept of fouling in membrane distillation.

Focusing on a world class living environment, a good quality residential area can be highlighted as an important issue in creating a sustainable living environment. However, limited green spaces within the proximity of residential properties are not supporting the landscape space and are not conducive to living space. The aim of the paper is to investigate the impact of landscape design on house prices and values in residential development particularly in urban areas. The paper employed quantitative approaches which include i) a questionnaire survey; and ii) an observation. This empirical study is based on the findings of case studies conducted in several residential areas in Klang Valley. The findings show that the residents have very clear ideas on how much green space is really important in residential areas in order to create a sustainable residential environment. Despite the absence of public actions in terms of providing information, encouraging participations in the survey and promoting awareness of those interviewed have shown considerable interest in promoting landscape design to be applied in residential development. The perceptions of the quality and quantity of landscape designs in residential areas especially in Klang Valley can be further researched for future study.

In the face of increased demand and exposure to environmental effects, the condition of road pavements continues to decline while resources for their preservation remain limited. Thus, the task of managing pavements has to be done systematically and objectively. This paper outlines the steps involved in developing a multi-year pavement Maintenance and Rehabilitation (M&R) plan. These include: (1) condition assessment; (2) network inventory and database development; (3) identification of pavement sections requiring M&R; (3) needs analysis; and (4) impact analysis. As a case study, the project was performed on the road network inside the Texas A&M University campus that consists of 13.95 miles of roadway, 80% and 20% of which are concrete and HMA pavements respectively. Condition assessment was done according to ASTM D 6433-07 and using the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) as indicator of pavement performance. Data collected were then entered into a database which also contains information on traffic and roadway characteristics. PCI threshold values were established to identify sections that are in need of M&R and the most cost- effective treatment based on long-term performance benefit and life-cycle cost was proposed for each project. Candidate projects were then prioritized by ranking based on benefit-cost analysis. The needs estimate provides meaningful information on the total amount of budget required to correct all deficiencies in the network. Finally, the impact analysis is used to determine the impact of a reduced budget on network condition as well as the amount of backlog that needs to be addressed.