Sidiqui, Paras, Tariq, MAUR, Ng, AWM, Sidiqui, Paras, Tariq, MAUR, and Ng, AWM
Rajapaksha, S, Nnachi, RC, Tariq, MAUR, Ng, AWM, Abid, MM, Sidiqui, Paras, Rais, MF, Aamir, E, Diaz, LH, Kimiaei, S, Mehdizadeh-Rad, H, Rajapaksha, S, Nnachi, RC, Tariq, MAUR, Ng, AWM, Abid, MM, Sidiqui, Paras, Rais, MF, Aamir, E, Diaz, LH, Kimiaei, S, and Mehdizadeh-Rad, H
The energy consumption due to urbanization and man-made activities has resulted in production of waste, heat, and pollution in the urban environment. These have further resulted in undesirable environmental issues such as the production of excessive Anthropogenic Heat Emissions (AHE), thus leading to an increased Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. The aim of this study was to estimate the total AHE based on the contribution of three major sources of waste heat generation in urban environment, i.e., buildings, vehicular traffic, and human metabolism. Furthermore, a comparison of dominating anthropogenic heat factor of Darwin with that of other major international cities was carried out. Field measurements of microclimate (temperatures, humidity, solar radiation, and other factors of climate measures) were conducted along Smith Street, Darwin City. Then, surveys were conducted to collect information regarding the buildings, vehicle traffic and Human population (metabolism) in the study area. Each individual component of AHE was calculated based on conceptual framework of anthropogenic heat model developed within this study. The results showed that AHE from buildings is the dominant factor influencing the total AHE Darwin, contributing about to 87% to 95% of total AHE. This is followed by vehicular traffic (4–13%) and lastly, human metabolism (0.1–0.8%). The study also shows that Darwin gained an average of 990 Wm−2 solar power in a peak day. This study proves that building anthropogenic heat is the major dominating factor influencing the UHI in tropical urban climate.
Sen, G, Chau, H-W, Tariq, MAUR, Muttil, N, Ng, AWM, Sen, G, Chau, H-W, Tariq, MAUR, Muttil, N, and Ng, AWM
Universities and higher education institutions play an important role in achieving a sustainable future through their teaching and by undertaking cutting edge research to combat climate change. There have been several efforts towards a sustainable future and achieving carbon neutrality at higher education institutions in Australia and around the world. This study has reviewed the sustainability strategies of numerous universities in Australia and has identified as study cases six universities that are committed to and leading the implementation of initiatives to achieve carbon neutrality. The initiatives implemented at the selected universities were classified into eight “sustainability categories”, namely, built environment, energy, food and gardens, GHG emissions, natural environment, resource and waste management, transport, and water. Among the selected leading universities in sustainability, Charles Sturt University and the University of Tasmania (UTAS) are the only universities in Australia certified as carbon neutral. An interesting aspect of this review is the way in which universities are implementing sustainability initiatives in line with their mission and strategies. Despite striving towards the same end goal of achieving carbon neutrality, different institutions offer individually unique approaches towards sustainability. For example, UTAS values the creation, expansion and dissemination of knowledge and the promotion of continual learning, which is clearly demonstrated through its initiatives and policies. The findings in this review are critical in identifying those institutions of higher education which are role models in their strong commitment to achieving carbon neutrality. Such role model universities can pave the way for similar climate action at other universities.
Sidiqui, P, Roös, PB, Herron, M, Jones, DS, Duncan, E, Jalali, A, Allam, Z, Roberts, BJ, Schmidt, A, Tariq, MAUR, Shah, AA, Khan, NA, Irshad, M, Sidiqui, P, Roös, PB, Herron, M, Jones, DS, Duncan, E, Jalali, A, Allam, Z, Roberts, BJ, Schmidt, A, Tariq, MAUR, Shah, AA, Khan, NA, and Irshad, M
Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a phenomenon that can cause hotspots in city areas due to dense, impervious infrastructure and minimal vegetation cover. UHI hotspots may become worse in extreme heat events that are already affecting many regions across the globe due to increased frequent hot extremes, human-induced warming in cities, and rapidly growing urbanization, as documented by the latest IPCC report 2021. In seeking to support designers, planners, and decision-makers in developing and implementing adaptation strategies and measures to make our cities sustainable and resilient, reliable projections and modelling are required. In this study, we modelled UHI vulnerability using high-resolution spatial data, advanced geospatial tools, and socio-demographic data. This modified vulnerability approach drew upon UHI index maps and 20 select customized indicators of heat exposure, population sensitivity, and mobility/adaptive capacity. The indicators were Delphi evaluated and weighted, and the methodology was applied against the City of Greater Geelong municipality in Australia. The resulting UHI index maps indicated significant hotspots in areas of high building density, commercial/industrial zones, newly constructed sites, and zones with low urban green infrastructure. These UHI maps, in combination with selected indicators, highlighted the areal concentration of heat risk areas and vulnerable locations for the sensitive human population. The highlighted areas were primarily concentrated in high building density and high population density areas, which was seen through correlation curves. However, the building density showed a weak correlation, and population per meshblock indicated a strong correlation with UHI measurements. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of risk mapping and vulnerability assessment using GIS geospatial data for the advancement of a major local government area and concludes that this methodology has replicability incomparable geographical
Ahmed S, Khan MT, Abbasi A, Haq IU, Hina A, Mohiuddin M, Tariq MAUR, Afzal MZ, Zaman QU, Ng AWM, and Li Y
Abiotic stress, particularly drought, will remain an alarming challenge for sustainable agriculture. New approaches have been opted, such as nanoparticles (NPs), to reduce the negative impact of drought stress and lessen the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that are an inevitable problem these days. The application of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) has been recognized as an effective strategy to enhance plant growth and crop production during abiotic stress. The aim of the current study was to investigate the role of ZnO NPs in drought stress management of drought-susceptible Coriandrum sativum L. ( C. sativum ) in two consecutive seasons. Drought regimes (moderate drought regime-MDR and intensive drought regime-IDR) were developed based on replenishment method with respect to 50% field capacity of fully irrigated (control) plants. The results showed that foliar application of 100 ppm ZnO NPs improved the net photosynthesis (Pn), stomatal conductance ( C ), and transpiration rate ( E ) and boosted up the photosynthetic capacity associated with photosynthetic active radiation in MDR. Similarly, 48% to 30% improvement of chlorophyll b content was observed in MDR and onefold to 41% in IDR during both seasons in ZnO NP-supplemented plants. The amount of abscisic acid in leaves showed a decreasing trend in MDR and IDR in the first season (40% and 30%) and the second season (49% and 33%) compared with untreated ZnO NP plants. The ZnO NP-treated plants showed an increment in total soluble sugars, total phenolic content, and total flavonoid content in both drought regimes, whereas the abaxial surface showed high stomatal density and stomatal index than the adaxial surface in foliar-supplied NP plants. Furthermore, ZnO NPs improve the magnitude of stomata ultrastructures like stomatal length, stomatal width, and pore length for better adaptation against drought. Principal component analysis revealed the efficacy of ZnO NPs in inducing drought tolerance in moderate and intensive stress regimes. These results suggest that 100 ppm ZnO NPs can be used to ameliorate drought tolerance in C. sativum plants., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Ahmed, Khan, Abbasi, Haq, Hina, Mohiuddin, Tariq, Afzal, Zaman, Ng and Li.)
Zia A, Pu Z, Holly I, Umar T, Tariq MAUR, and Sufian M
Accumulating vast amounts of pollutants drives modern civilization toward sustainable development. Construction waste is one of the prominent issues impeding progress toward net-zero. Pollutants must be utilized in constructing civil engineering structures for a green ecosystem. On the other hand, large-scale production of industrial steel fibers (ISFs) causes significant damage to the goal of a sustainable environment. Recycled steel fibers (RSFs) from waste tires have been suggested to replace ISFs. This research critically examines RSF's application in the mechanical properties' improvement of concrete and mortar. A statistical analysis of dimensional parameters of RSFs, their properties, and their use in manufacturing various cement-based composites are given. Furthermore, comparative assessments are carried out among the improvements in compressive, split tensile, and flexural strengths of plain and RSF-incorporated concrete and mortar. In addition, the optimum contents of RSF for each strength property are also discussed. The influence of RSFs parameters on various strength properties of concrete and mortars is discussed. The possible applications of RSF for various civil engineering structures are reviewed. The limitations and errors noticed in previous review papers are also outlined. It is found that the maximum enhancement in compressive strength (CS), split tensile strength (STS), and flexure strength (FS) are 78%, 149%, and 157%, respectively, with the addition of RSF into concrete. RSF increased cement mortars' CS, STS, and FS by 46%, 50.6%, and 69%, respectively. The current study encourages the building sector to use RSFs for sustainable concrete.
Ansar M, Sikandar MA, Althoey F, Tariq MAUR, Alyami SH, and Elsayed Elkhatib S
Deterioration of asphalt pavements due to massive load of vehicles and climatic variation has demanded the use of pavements construction material with an excellent resilience characteristic, resistance to permanent deformation, and most importantly, a much longer service lifespan. The main structural distresses in pavement construction are permanent deformation at high temperatures and fatigue cracking under repetitive traffic loadings. To comprehensively investigate the performance of bitumen penetration grade (PG) 70 against rutting, fatigue, and high temperature cracking in hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements, polycarbonate (PC) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) were used. The investigation of the internal structure, rheological, and physical properties of base and modified bitumen (MB) mixes with different percentages of modifiers (0%, 2.5%, and 5%) by weight were performed via scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern analysis, rolling thin-film oven test (RTFOT), pressurized aging vessel (PAV), dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), rotational viscosity (RV), and bending beam rheometer (BBR). The results of the RV test indicate that modification of neat bitumen with polycarbonate and polytetrafluoroethylene increased the viscosity for polycarbonate-modified bitumen (PCMB), polytetrafluoroethylene-modified bitumen (PTFEMB), and for a blend of PCMB-PTFEMB by 44%, 50%, and 55.75% at 135 °C and 111.10%, 127.80%, and 138.88% at 165 °C, accordingly. BBR test results revealed that modifiers increased the rigidity of neat bitumen by 74.8%, 75.8%, and 74.5% at -16 °C, -22 °C, and -28 °C, respectively.
Ullah S, Shah MI, Alqurashi M, Javed MF, Dawood O, Aslam F, Tariq MAUR, and Hussain EE
The consumption of waste materials in the construction sector is a sustainable approach that helps in reducing the environmental pollution and decreases the construction cost. The present research work emphasizes the mechanical properties of bituminous concrete mix prepared with crumb rubber (CR) and waste sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA). For the preparation of bituminous concrete mix specimens with CR and SCBA, the effective bitumen content was determined using the Marshall Mix design method. A total of 15 bituminous concrete mix specimens with 4%, 4.5%, 5%, 5.5% and 6% of bitumen content were prepared, and the effective bitumen content turned out to be 4.7%. The effect of five different CR samples of 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% by weight of total mix and SCBA samples of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% by weight of filler were investigated on the performance of bituminous concrete. A total of 180 samples with different percentages of CR and SCBA were tested for indirect tensile strength (ITS) and Marshall Stability, and the results were compared with conventional bituminous concrete mix. It was observed that the stability values rose with an increase in CR percentage up to 6%, while the flow values rose as the percentage of SCBA increased in the mix. Maximum ITS results were observed at 4% CR and 25% SCBA replacement levels. However, a decrease in stability and ITS result was observed as the percentages of CR and SCBA increased beyond 4% and 25%, respectively. We concluded that the optimum CR and SCBA content of 4% and 25%, respectively, can be effectively used as a sustainable alternative in bituminous concrete mix.
Shahid MLUR, Mir J, Shaukat F, Saleem MK, Tariq MAUR, and Nouman A
Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic sleeping disorder. The analysis of the pharynx and its surrounding tissues can play a vital role in understanding the pathogenesis of OSA. Classification of the pharynx is a crucial step in the analysis of OSA., Methods: A visual analysis-based classifier is developed to classify the pharynx from MRI datasets. The classification pipeline consists of different stages, including pre-processing to select the initial candidates, extraction of categorical and numerical features to form a multidimensional features space, and a supervised classifier trained by using visual analytics and silhouette coefficient to classify the pharynx., Results: The pharynx is classified automatically and gives an approximately 86% Jaccard coefficient by evaluating the classifier on different MRI datasets. The expert's knowledge can be utilized to select the optimal features and their corresponding weights during the training phase of the classifier., Conclusion: The proposed classifier is accurate and more efficient in terms of computational cost. It provides additional insight to better understand the influence of different features individually and collectively. It finds its applications in epidemiological studies where large datasets need to be analyzed., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)
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