In the present study, friction damper, an energy dissipating passive device is explored to reduce the response of open ground storey building under lateral loading due to earthquake. This damper is installed in the selected bays of open ground storey so that the response is reduced. The masonry infill wall is macro-modeled in the form of compression only diagonal members. Three different types of bracing system were installed along with Pall friction damper – single diagonal tension – compression brace with friction damper, tension only cross brace with friction damper and chevron brace with friction damper were modeled using Wen’s plastic link element in SAP2000. G+4 storey buildings were analyzed using nonlinear time history analysis. The storey displacement and inter-storey drift for all the cases were compared in the study.

Hospital waste containing antibiotics is toxic to the ecosystem. Ciprofloxacin is one of the essential, widely used antibiotics and is often detected in water bodies and soil. It is vital to treat these medical wastes, which urge new research towards waste management practices in hospital environments themselves. Ultimately minimizes its impact in the ecosystem and prevents the spread of antibiotic resistance. The present study highlights the decomposition of ciprofloxacin using nano-catalytic ZnO materials by reactive oxygen species (ROS) process. The most effective process to treat the residual antibiotics by the photocatalytic degradation mechanism is explored in this paper. The traditional co-precipitation method was used to prepare zinc oxide nanomaterials. The characterization methods, X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Ulraviolet-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have done to improve the photocatalytic activity of ZnO materials. The mitigation of ciprofloxacin catalyzed by ZnO nano-photocatalyst was described by pseudo-first-order kinetics and chemical oxygen demand (COD) analysis. In addition, ZnO materials help to prevent bacterial species, S. aureus and E. coli, growth in the environment. This work provides some new insights towards ciprofloxacin degradation in efficient ways.

This review summarizes some of the recent advances related to shallow penetration conformance sealants (SPCS) based on cross-linked polymer nanocomposite gels. The cross-linked polymer nanocomposite gels formed a three-dimensional (3D) gel structure upon contact with either water or oil when placed at the downhole. Therefore, the cross-linked polymer nanocomposite gels offer a total or partial water shutoff. Numerous polymeric gels and their nanocomposites prepared using various techniques have been explored to address the conformance problems. Nevertheless, their instability at high temperature, high pressure, and high salinity down-hole conditions (HT-HP-HS) often makes the treatments unsuccessful. Incorporating inert particles into the cross-linked polymer nanocomposite gel matrices improves stability under harsh down-hole conditions. This review discusses potential polymeric nanocomposite gels and their successful application in conformance control.

Recently, there has been a burgeoning fascination with the influence of urban green spaces (UGS) on physical activity (PA) and health. This interest has been accompanied by a mounting body of evidence that establishes a connection between UGS and residents’ PA levels. Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the significance of UGS and have generally agreed on their connection with health. However, there is still considerable variation in viewpoints regarding the intermediate factors contributing to this association. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the potential correlation between different qualitative factors of UGS and PA. The study involved the collection of data from four parks located in Edinburgh. Four trained observers utilised the Environmental Assessment of Public Recreational Spaces (EARPS Mini) tool to code various environmental characteristics. Additionally, the Method for Observing Physical Activity and Wellbeing (MOHAWk) observation tool was employed to code instances of on-site incivility and the characteristics and behaviours of residents engaging in UGS activities. The results of this study show that the facilities and environment, area and socioeconomic status (SES) of UGS positively affect the type of PA and the level of PA, as well as influence residents’ attentiveness to the environment and their interactions with each other. Demographics such as gender and age group are also significantly related to the level and type of PA. Significant differences in the level and type of PA, and race only differed significantly in the choice of activity type. These results suggest that the quality of the UGS environment affects the level, type, and status of PA among residents and that resident characteristics also have an impact. Future research suggests increasing data collection related to PA frequency and PA duration and considering longitudinal observations over time for refinement.

The idea of a smart city has evolved in recent years from limiting the city’s physical growth to a comprehensive idea that includes physical, social, information, and knowledge infrastructure. As of right now, many studies indicate the potential advantages of smart cities in the fields of education, transportation, and entertainment to achieve more sustainability, efficiency, optimization, collaboration, and creativity. So, it is necessary to survey some technical knowledge and technology to establish the smart city and digitize its services. Traffic and transportation management, together with other subsystems, is one of the key components of creating a smart city. We specify this research by exploring digital twin (DT) technologies and 3D model information in the context of traffic management as well as the need to acquire them in the modern world. Despite the abundance of research in this field, the majority of them concentrate on the technical aspects of its design in diverse sectors. More details are required on the application of DTs in the creation of intelligent transportation systems. Results from the literature indicate that implementing the Internet of Things (IoT) to the scope of traffic addresses the traffic management issues in densely populated cities and somewhat affects the air pollution reduction caused by transportation systems. Leading countries are moving towards integrated systems and platforms using Building Information Modelling (BIM), IoT, and Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) to make cities smarter. There has been limited research on the application of digital twin technology in traffic control. One reason for this could be the complexity of the traffic system, which involves multiple variables and interactions between different components. Developing an accurate digital twin model for traffic control would require a significant amount of data collection and analysis, as well as advanced modeling techniques to account for the dynamic nature of traffic flow. We explore the requirements for the implementation of the digital twin in the traffic control industry and a proper architecture based on 6 main layers is investigated for the deployment of this system. In addition, an emphasis on the particular function of DT in simulating high traffic flow, keeping track of accidents, and choosing the optimal path for vehicles has been reviewed. Furthermore, incorporating user-generated content and volunteered geographic information (VGI), considering the idea of the human as a sensor, together with IoT can be a future direction to provide a more accurate and up-to-date representation of the physical environment, especially for traffic control, according to the literature review. The results show there are some limitations in digital twins for traffic control. The current digital twins are only a 3D representation of the real world. The difficulty of synchronizing real and virtual world information is another challenge. Eventually, in order to employ this technology as effectively as feasible in urban management, the researchers must address these drawbacks.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is the main leafy vegetable grown in Brazil. Its productivity and quality are limited by the growing season, the nearby environment and the type of cultivar adopted. The objective of this work was to verify at different times of the year the best planting environment for lettuce cultivation in a semi-humid tropical climate. For this purpose, an experiment was set up in three different seasons (October–November 2014, January–March, May–July 2015). The experimental design was randomized blocks, in a 3 × 3 × 2 factorial arrangement, consisting of three seasons, three cultivars (cvs. Vera^®, Tainá^® and Rafaela^®) and two growing environments (low tunnel with beds protected with mulching consisting of soil protection with plastic fabric covering, and beds without protection or conventional cultivation) and four replicates per treatment. Plant biomass, stem length, head diameter, number of leaves per head and crop productivity were evaluated as response parameters. The results showed that the May–July period favored biomass production, head diameter and productivity. Despite the similarity between varieties, the variety Vera^® is more productive in biomass, number of leaves per head, stem length and productivity. The low tunnel planting system with mulching is adequate under the conditions evaluated for lettuce cultivation. This system in the May–July period favors a superior development in the characteristics biomass, head diameter and productivity, if compared to conventional cultivation during the October–November period.