Effects of climate change can already be observed in many regions of the world. The basin of the Paraná River, in South America, has been suffering an important drought since 2019 in the whole region. The extension of the crisis has increased the risks in the flora and fauna, losses in logistics of navigation, besides the problems of urban water cleansing. In this regard, the novel proposal presents a new mathematical model to study the impact of this crisis. Besides the traditional constraints of the literature for hydraulic systems, this paper enhances inventory constraints, connections with electric systems, and other considerations as the head effects in electricity generation. Because several equations related to electricity generation are nonlinear (which the subsequent computational effort impacts), this proposal applies linearization techniques to reduce CPU times. The core is related to hydropower production, and the consequences of the water crisis in the regional markets. The mathematical model analyzes the interrelationships between reservoirs and water flows of the basin. To study the effectiveness of the novel proposal, the reported situation of the basin of the Paraná River is studied by considering two scenarios (normal conditions of the river flow and the conditions related to the drought). Results show that the crisis implies daily net economic losses of about 7 million USD for the operators of the power plants. Other problems (different from the ones related to the energy field) are also mentioned and analyzed.

Among different factors, correct scheduling is one of the vital elements for project management success. There are several ways to schedule projects including the Critical Path Method (CPM) and Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Due to problems in estimating dura-tions of activities, these methods cannot accurately and completely model actual projects. The use of fuzzy theory is a basic way to improve scheduling and deal with such problems. Fuzzy theory approximates project scheduling models to reality by taking into account uncertainties in decision parameters and expert experience and mental models. This paper provides a step-by-step approach for accurate estimation of time and cost of projects using the Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and expert views as fuzzy numbers. The proposed method included several steps. In the first step, the necessary information for project time and cost is estimated using the Critical Path Method (CPM) and the Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). The second step considers the duration and cost of the project activities as the trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, and then, the time and cost of the project are recalculated. The duration and cost of activities are estimated using the questionnaires as well as weighing the expert opinions, averaging and defuzzification based on a step-by-step algorithm. The calculating procedures for evaluating these methods are applied in a real project; and the obtained results are explained.

Studies linking high trans-fat diets to coronary heart disease (CHD) have prompted the need to regulate, limit, or completely ban trans-fat from all commercial food products, including fast foods. Many U.S. fast food chains now claim that their food items, particularly French fries, have "no trans-fat". In a previous study, our lab tested the validity of trans-fat claims made by several popular fast food restaurants by experimentally determining the %trans-fat in oil extracted from fast food French fries. In some cases, the trans-fat content was nearly twice as high as the amount reported by the restaurant in their literature. Long John Silver & apos; s, for example, reported a trans-fat content of 25% for their French fries, while our lab actually found over 40% trans-fat. The purpose of this study is to broaden our study of Long John Silver & apos; s trans-fat claims by analyzing a variety of their food items and comparing our findings with the %trans-fat reported by the restaurant literature (nutrition fact tables). Variable Filter Array (VFA) IR spectroscopy was used to assess the trans-fat content of oil extracted from food samples. Our preliminary findings suggest that nearly every food item under study contained considerably more trans-fat than the amount reported in the restaurant’s literature.

Retrofitting technologies have helped to manage energy consumptions in residential, public and industrial buildings. However, understanding of the technical and economic considerations for selection of appropriate retrofitting technology is still evolving and divergent. Thus, this study presents a framework that combines techno-economic requirements as a means for evaluating the important retrofitting criteria and suitable lighting retrofit technologies for building projects. The framework is hinged on the unique features of entropy fuzzy and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methods. The analysis of the lighting technology selection was performed from technical, economic and techno-economic perspectives. During the application of the proposed framework, four lighting technologies (CFL, T5, E-ballast and T8-electronic) and nine techno-economic criteria were considered. The most and least important techno-economic criteria for the case study were net present value and electricity saved, respectively. The least and most suitable retrofitting technologies were T8-electronic and CFL, respectively, from techno-economic perspective. T5 and T8-electronic were identified as the most suitable lighting technologies from an economic and technical perspectives, respectively. This discrepancy in the results justified the need for the techno-economic approach for the retrofitting technologies evaluation.

In this article, a multi-echelon supply chain for growing and deteriorating items, where the grower has a lot of live newborn items (growing) is discussed. The grower transfers the matured inventory to the processor in each shipment. The processor begins to process the stock as a ready-sale product in the market. The processor also delivers the processed inventory to the retailer in each shipment in the non-processing period of his cycle length. Then the processor offers trade credit to the retailer and makes the retailer agree to share a portion of his profit with him. The product’s life cycle when in the hand of the retailer is certain and it expires after some time t. Carbon emission during processing is considered while packing and preserving the livestock for sale. Depending on these assumptions, there are six possibilities to discuss profit values. Sensitivity analysis was also brought to verify the optimal determined values. The profit-sharing sharing method’s outcome benefits the processor and the retailer more.

In this paper, a rapid and simple approach was developed for the preparation of zinc pentacyanonitrosylferrate nanotubes (ZnPCNF NTs) within the cylindrical pores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template by electrochemical method. The AAO was fabricated in two steps anodizing from aluminum foil. The first anodization of aluminum foil was performed in 0.2 mol L-1 H2C2O4 followed by removal of the formed porous oxide film by a solution of 6 wt% of phosphoric acid. The second anodization step was then performed using the same conditions as the previous step. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) method were employed to characterize the resulting highly oriented uniform hollow tube array which its diameter was in the range of 25-75 nm depending on the applied voltage and the length of nanotubes was equal to the thickness of AAO which was about 2 ?m. The growth properties of the ZnPCNF NTs array film can be achieved by controlling the structure of the template and applied potential across the cell.

The paper focuses on the application of TODIM (TOmada de Decisao Interativa Multicriterio), which means in Portuguese ‘interactive and multi-criteria decision making’) method in identify-ing the most attractive and affordable under-construction housing project in the city of Kolkata in India. In this decision making problem, 14 under-construction housing projects spanning in and around Kolkata are evaluated with respect to ten important criteria. The deployment of TODIM method can well be validated with respect to its ability to deal with both qualitative and quantitative criteria in the presence of risk factors. This method is also acknowledged to be a robust tool being almost unaffected by the varying values of the attenuation factor of losses. Using TODIM method, an under-construction housing project at Rajarhat in the eastern fringes of Kolkata city is selected as the optimal choice while meeting the requirements of investors, inhabitants and other stakeholders.

Zirconia/ veneer bi-layered components are extensively used in dental restoration technology to improve resistance of tooth’s surface from decay. The direction of the fracture propagation at the interface of zirconia and veneer is investigated in this paper. Finite element analysis is performed on a bi-material four point bend specimen in different geometries, and the fracture initiation angle is obtained using maximum tangential stress (MTS) criterion. The effect of specimen geometry on the fracture initiation angle is discussed. Because an interface crack may propagate through interface or kink into one of the materials, some comments are given to determine under which condition “interface de-bounding” will be happened.

Regioselective nitration of phenols using Sr(NO3)2 or benzyltriphenylphosphonium nitrate in the presence of H2SO4-silica had been realized under solvent free conditions. The reaction proceeds through the formation of nitronium ion, which attack the phenol ring preferential at ortho position in presence of Sr(NO3)2, forming mono nitrophenol. Para-orientation relative to hydroxyl group and mononitration of phenolic compounds was observed in the case of benzyltriphenylphosphonium nitrate. Some of the major advantages of this method are mild reaction conditions, high efficiency and regioselectivity of nitration and complementarity with other reported methods. In addition, benzyltriphenylphosphonium nitrate as nitrating reagent can be easily recycled.

This paper discusses Islamic financial reporting system as practiced in many Islamic states for economic development. The issue of Islamic accounting among scholars provided evidence of economic benefits among the countries that have Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). The IFIs have been reported to be the fastest-growing sector in the world with a greater contribution of the global total bank assets. Although the Muslim population in Nigeria is large, the contribution or participation of Muslim towards IFIs is low compared to other countries like Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Syria. Furthermore, the accounting reporting in Nigeria is based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for all listed firms in Nigeria, which includes IFIs, even though, IFIs apply dual reporting. Therefore, the need for the mandatory adoption of Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) standards is significant in Nigerian for IFIs to function better. Several countries have made it mandatory for IFIs to adopt AAOIFI instead of IFRS. The need for IFIs firms to report on their accounting system as an alternative to the conventional, will not only enhance transparency, improve reporting disclosures, greater Muslim investors, but will also improve Nigerian stock market. Policy makers, governments, and the regulator should make it mandatory for all IFIs to adopt AAOIFI for financial reporting.