Abstract The photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethazine, a sulfonamide drug, has been investigated experimentally, in aqueous heterogeneous solutions containing n-type oxide semiconductors as photocatalysts, and by simulation, using neural network modeling. Through direct neural network modeling, the evolution of the photocatalytic oxidation process is evaluated as function of illumination time and type of catalyst. Inverse neural network modeling is a particular optimization that gives inf...
Autori: Ciprian George Piuleac, Ioannis Poulios, Silvia Curteanu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25430

Abstract Some samples consisting in silica functionalized in different degrees with dihydroxy-azomethine groups have been tested as sorbents for copper (II) ions from aqueous solutions in different conditions. An indirect monitoring procedure for the complexing process was approached: UV-VIS absorption intensity ? time variation for the metal-containing solution in which complexing silica was soaked. In order to find the conditions in which the maximum efficiency in the metal absorption can b...
Autori: Ciprian-George Piuleac, Maria Cazacu, Silvia Curteanu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25608

Abstract Prompt and accurate residential fire detection is important for on-time fire extinguishing and consequently reducing damages and life losses. To detect fire sensors are needed to measure the environmental parameters and algorithms are required to decide about occurrence of fire. Recently, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been used for environmental monitoring and real-time event detection because of their low implementation costs and their capability of distributed sensing and pr...
Autori: Majid Bahrepour, Nirvana Meratnia, Paul J. M. Havinga
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25611

Abstract This paper offers a hybrid approach, for the effective estimation of the maximum water supply and the special water flow in the watersheds of Thasos Island. This modeling effort was carried out by employing both artificial neural networks (ANNs) and kernel algorithms. Moreover support vector machines (SVMs) were used for the optimization of the ANNs. Support vector machines were applied to determine the loss of the developed ANN and to enhance its ability to generalize. As a matter o...
Autori: Lazaros S. Iliadis, Stavros Tachos, Stefanos I. Spartalis
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25615

Abstract The Air Quality Management problem calls for detailed, case-specific knowledge and requires, due to legal mandates, the development of operational, environmental parameter related, incident forecasting. Both targets can be met by applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods, and by employing relevant computational algorithms that are capable of producing reliable results. The current paper provides with an overview of the problem domain, identifies goals and proposes methods that ma...
Autori: Kostas D. Karatzas
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25616

? STUDY OF BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM OILSEED PLANTS II. EVALUATION OF BIODISEL PRODUCTION FROM SOME CULTIVARS OF RAPES ? STUDY OF BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM OILSEED PLANTS I. EVALUATION OF THE GENETIC SIMILARITY OF SOME Brassica Napus CULTIVARS USING RAPD MARKERS ? STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION AND IN VITRO CYTOTOXIC POTENTIAL OF COAL DUST IN A ROMANIAN POWER PLANT ? MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN BENGHAZI (LIBYA): CURRENT PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES ? COMPARATIVE ENVIRONM...
Autori:
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25661

Abstract:Incineration plants are used since the beginning of the twentieth century to transform the mixed municipal waste into thermalenergy and to convert the hazardous components of waste into harmless compounds. To minimize the environmental pollutionand maximize the energy efficiency of the produced energy, the control of the complex processes that occur into the waste toenergy conversion is of major importance. In this work, the system identification approach is used to determine the dynami...
Autori: Adrian Danila
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25739

AbstractThe representation of relevant information from data generated through atmospheric imaging is of substantial importance toenvironmental sciences, meteorology, as well as in weather hazard predictive models for disaster prevention. As the techniquesfor the acquisition of such data have progressed and grown in complexity, so have the visualization algorithms required to processthe related data and to produce images or animations of the underlying information. To this extent, we present a g...
Autori: Marius Gavrilescu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26001

The book edited by Haibo Xie and NicholasGathergood focuses on one of the most importantscientific issues of the 21 century which is thereplacing fossil fuel with sustainable alternatives suchas biomass. Fossil fuels are conventional rawmaterials for many industrial sectors includingchemical and energy production. Usage of fossil fuelis limited by their availability, price and carbonfootprint. Biomass is a renewable resource globallyavailable, cheaper and carbon sequestering. Step bystep shiftin...
Autori: Adrian Catalin Puitel
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26101

Abstract The reason for carrying out this research is related to the significant risk of heavy metals present in wastewater on the environment and human health. The removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions was performed in a batch system, using peat (from Poiana Stampei, Romania) as adsorbent. The efficiency of the process was predicted with high accuracy (correlation with experimental data more than 0.99) based on a feed-forward neural network with two hidden layers. The...
Autori: Gabriel Dan Suditu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26150

AbstractDespite the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS/Aqua) presently collects data on operational basis, evaluationof its biogeochemical products from standard bio-optical algorithms is scare especially in Arctic waters. The present study isaimed to evaluate several MODIS/Aqua bio-optical algorithms and MODIS/Aqua remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) products inKongsfjorden waters on the western side of Svalbard, Arctic. Data sets consisting of in-situ measurements of radiometric quan...
Autori: Palanisamy Shanmugam
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26220

AbstractFor the purpose of coping with oil spills successfully, it is important to establish effective response and preparedness plans. Inprevious study, we proposed the use of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) technology to develop environmental emergency responseand preparedness plans. In this paper, we present how to develop a CBR-Oil Spill Response and Preparedness System (CBROSRPS). In particular, the Frame method is employed to do case representation, the modified Heterogeneous Euclidean-Overlap ...
Autori: Zhenliang Liao
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26247

AbstractThere are several environmental issues in urban areas that are caused by the unintentional consequences of past activities. One ofthese issues is the wide application of asbestos cement in roofing materials in the 2nd half of the 1900s. In this study, our goal wasto identify different roof types and to determine those with asbestos components using high-ground (1 m) and spectral (126bands) resolution airborne hyperspectral imagery (AISA Eagle II) and several classification approaches. In...
Autori: Szilárd Szabó
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26549

Abstract This paper aims to develop the theoretical framework and the applicative implementation of a new analysis method, which has the purpose of determining and classifying mineral waters in Romania and Europe, with the use of mathematical modelling and fuzzy logic. Firstly, the article underlines the properties of mineral waters in terms of curative effects, particularly the role of Ca2+ and Mg2+ upon the human metabolism. The values of these two chemical elements will constitute an inde...
Autori: Alina Stefanache
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26635

Abstract Succinic acid is widely used in different industries, its demand increasing each year. Therefore, efficiently producing it (especially from bio-regenerable sources) is an aspect that researchers try to solve thorough different methods, one of the approaches consisting in using process models for generating predictions and improving production by process optimization. In this work, a combination of two bio-inspired algorithms represented by Artificial Neural Networks and Clonal Selec...
Autori: Elena-Niculina Drăgoi
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26669

Abstract This paper proposes an expert system based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to model road traffic noise. Feed-Forward Neural Networks (FFNNs) that are trained with the Levenberg-Marquardt back-propagation algorithm were used. Models were evaluated using mean squared error (MSE) and coefficient of determination (R2) as statistical performance parameters. In traffic noise modelling, the noise level at a receptor position due to the source of traffic emission is modelled as a funct...
Autori: Leila Khouban
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26700

Abstract Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders that affect an individual’s ability to communicate and socialize, often associated with repetitive movements or behaviors. Frequently patients associate intellectual disability or digestive problems. Autism is more common in males and affects 1 in 88 children in USA. The mechanism that leads to ASD is very complex, involving genetic, epigenetic, immune and environmental factors that could...
Autori: Cristina Rusu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26712

Abstract The application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for water supply systems has steadily increased in the last 20 years. The city of Milan is presented as case study where the main challenge for the coming 20 years is the efficient use of energy. Opposite to other parts of the world, in Milan, water is neither scarce nor there is a growing need for supply. Given that the system completely relies on pumping, optimization algorithms and sensor technologies can be appl...
Autori: Mario E. Castro Gama
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26826

Abstract Decision support systems (DSS) have been wildly developed in the recent decades, in various areas of decision making. In the 21st century, the advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have brought the era of cloud computing, in which network-distributed resources (simulation and optimization models, data, etc.) are integrated in decision support applications. The aim of the present article is to present the application of web-based decision support systems (WBDSS) ...
Autori: Quan Pan
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26832

Abstract Environmental research has been significantly enriched by genomic and proteomic methodologies. Particularly in the atmospheric pollution studies, where a variety of environmental hazards act simultaneously and frequently in close interrelationship, only such integrative methods can provide a comprehensive analysis. Nanoparticles are a heterogeneous class of particles, but their health effects have also common aspects. The scope of the article is to present the contribution of genomi...
Autori: Marina Otelea
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26852

Abstract Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that occurs due to a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic (DA) neurons. Brain area affected by progressive destruction of neurons controls movements, and patients with PD reveal rigid and uncontrollable gestures, postural instability, small handwriting and tremor. There are some risk factors that have been proven to trigger PD with a certain probability (for example insecticides exposure, and genetic and environmental ...
Autori: Oana Geman
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26868

Abstract The CoCrMo alloys have been widely used in artificial knee or hip joints. It is well known that these materials have a good corrosion resistance and acceptable biocompatibility properties. Zirconia as a ceramic biomaterial facilitates the osteoconductivity and tissue osteogenetic capacity in new bone formation around implant. Linear polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were employed to characterize the electrochemical behavior of plasma sprayed yttrium oxid...
Autori: Manuela Romaş
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26896

The pickling liquor used in the stainless steel manufacturing process is a mixture of nitric and hydrofluoric acid which generates wastewater with nitrate concentrations ranging between 500 and 6000 mgNO3--N/L. In the present study, laboratory-scale anoxic Sequencing Batch Reactors (SBRs) were used to treat high nitrate wastewaters. Two different sludge inocula were tested: one from a Municipal Solid Waste Leachate Treatment Plant (LTP), and the other from a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). Meth...
Autori: Ana Isabel Pelaez
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26933

Deforestation has been recognized as an important environmental threat in the hilly area of Eastern Romania during the last two centuries. Nowadays, these former forested lands are extremely degraded through soil erosion and gullying due to improper human impact. Under such background, the paper aims at reconstituting the natural forest cover of the late 18th century, prior the aggressive deforesting actions. The methodology is based on two key elements: old maps and soil typology, both integ...
Autori: Iulian Cătălin Stângă
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27062

In this paper low power microwave radiation impact on Zea mays root meristeme tissues was investigated. Seeds with uniform genophond were exposed for 3 hours at 10 W incident power level in controlled condition to continuous wave at three different frequencies (0.6 GHz, 1 GHz and 2.5 GHz) and let to germinate after electromagnetic exposure. Dosimetric assessment made experimentally and computationally allowed the proper energetic characterization of the interaction between vegetal tissue and rad...
Autori: Mihaela Răcuciu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27196

This paper presents an advanced numerical algorithm for the optimization of the current density distribution in electrochemical applications. The optimization principle consists in the distortion of the electric field by an insulating shield properly positioned between the electrodes. Such a distortion influences the distribution of current density at the electrodes under consideration. The electrochemical problem is approached by a Laplace equation which is numerically solved using a mesh-free ...
Autori: Alexandru Avram
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27199

The purpose of the reservoir operation during flood period is to obtain the outflow hydrograph as flat as possible. Although simple in case of a unique reservoir, the problem becomes very complex for large systems with cascade reservoirs. Based on the well-known hydraulic software Mike Flood by DHI, a simulation-optimization model containing wave propagation equations, constraints related to the state or decision variables as well as an objective function were developed for obtaining optimal coo...
Autori: Aurelian Florentin Draghia
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27295

Construction industry uses a huge quantity of traditional and modern building materials which generally are produced to satisfy different demands, such as: resistant and safety requirements, friendly with the environment, architectural aspects etc. Researches must solve any requirements related to materials properties and offer a large diversity from which the proper solution must be considered. For improving the mechanical properties of polymer concrete, the use of fibers of different types is ...
Autori: Vasilică Ciocan
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27306

Considering that glass containers are generally highly transparent they are good candidates for spectroscopic measurements and application of a transmittance for glass separation. The selection of glass container samples directly from municipal waste disposal bins, characterized by different colors, thicknesses, and shapes was done. Transmittance spectra of clear, green, amber and black clean glass containers were recorded, along with spectra of the usual bottled liquids. Positions of the absorp...
Autori: Dragana D. Strbac
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27452

Fusarium Head Blight is caused by several Fusarium species. Infections can result in mycotoxin contamination on cereals and associated foods. Harvested products are contaminated due to its secondary metabolites. The aim was to analyse the occurrence of spike Fusarium and Alternaria spp. in hulled Triticum spelta L. wheat species via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and the deoxynivalenol (DON) content analysis. Three varieties of spelt were used (Ceralio and Rubiota – winter and one ...
Autori: Karel Suchý
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27562

Livestock production is under growing public and scientific scrutiny for its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This article contains a preliminary assessment of the inclusion of upstream life-cycle GHG emissions in concentrated feeds design, using the most common nonlinear programming optimization algorithms to determine feed composition. First, GHG emissions are included as costs in a single criteria optimization problem. The unit price of GHG emissions was obtained using a genetic algorithm. Sec...
Autori: Ricardo F.M. Teixeira
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27572

The selection of the favourite elementary watershed for a hill reservoir needs the association of all the essential criteria and all the interested decision makers. A geographical information system (GIS) is a strong tool for studying spatial data but it does not offer an appropriate decision making methodology. Due to their spatial aggregation functions, Multicriteria Analysis (MCA) methods can simplify decision making in situations where various solutions are available, and when several criter...
Autori: Mohamed Zaoui
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27594

With anticipation of global warming and climate change, quantitative prediction of future precipitation trend is more important than ever. Global circulation models (GCMs) are widely used as the base for simulating climate change. However, due to their coarse resolution, researchers have been using various downscaling techniques to produce finer model for regional use. Recent advancements in metaheuristic algorithms have provided an alternative approach in downscaling. This paper introduces the ...
Autori: Sze Miang Kueh
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27604

This study was conducted on samples taken from the “Fagul Cetății – Iazul nr. 4” tailings pond in the Eastern Carpathians, Romania and is focused on exploring the way in which heavy metals from sulphide rich material are spatially distributed in relation to the geochemical conditions. For comparison, concentrated ore samples from the same area, genetically linked to the Tulgheș lithogroup were also analysed. The mineralogical and chemical composition of the sampl...
Autori: Sorin-Ionuț Balaban
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27626

The paper reveals original findings in agrobiodiversity, as part of the global biodiversity puzzle. The Grey Steppe cattle are endangered to extinction and are part of a genetic preservation program in Romania. The research approached the productive performance, the genetic determinism of milk production traits, studied on a Grey Steppe breed population nucleus of 30 individuals, throughout 4 productive cycles. The average milk yield in all 4 consecutive lactations reached 1858 kg per capita, wh...
Autori: Vasile Maciuc
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27859

In this study, nine microbial strains with oil-degrading function were isolated from oil-contaminated soil near four oil wells in the 0.6 km2 area of the Jinnan Oil Field, Huaian, Jiangsu, China (32°57′ N, 119°02′ E). Based on morphological observations, physiological and biochemical responses, and molecular identification, we confirmed that the nine strains belong to five genera: Pseudomonas, Raoultella, Lysinibacillus, Escherichia, and Klebsiella. The degradation capacity o...
Autori: Yujia Liu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27848

Yizhang, located in south of Hunan province of China is rich in geothermal resources. This paper aimed to study the concentrations of cations, e.g., K+, Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+ and conducted the analysis of the environmental isotope characteristics of δD, δ18O and 13C. Further there are explained the rules of the generation and evolution of geothermal groundwater in Yizhang. The temperature of geothermal groundwater in Yizhang was between 34.2 and 45.4 °C, with a neutral pH and a high...
Autori: Junjie Ba
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27944

In this paper, four different kinds of the Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm (ACOA) are used to find optimal solution for sewer network design optimization problem proposing two different formulations for each of them. In both proposed formulations, the decision variables of the problem are cover depths of sewer network nodes. In the second formulation, the constrained version of ACOA is used to find optimal cover depths of the sewer network nodes. The constrained version of ACOA is used here...
Autori: Ramtin Moeini
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27987

Due to emissions from power station using fossil fuels, the decrease of existing pollution as well as of operational costs should be taken into consideration, when resolving environmental economic dispatch problems. In this research, we will evidence that nonlinear constraints of generating units, forbidden regions, and ramp-rate of generating units will reduce operational costs and environmental pollution, to achieve environmental economic dispatch effectiveness, by employing an improved mul...
Autori: Daqing Wu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28045

The paper offers information on the energy efficiency of the honey production in the mountainous area of Romania. The field research was carried out as a face-to-face interview in 2018, on a representative sample including 134 beekeepers. The main results of the analysis of the energy input–output are: input energy 754.9 MJ/hive, net energy -417.3 MJ/hive, efficient energy use 0.47 and specific energy 27.0 MJ/kg. From the total inputs, direct inputs and renewable inputs account for 38.1% a...
Autori: Radu-Adrian Moraru
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28102

The bio-inspired algorithms are versatile approaches that can be applied to a variety of problems. However, their efficiency is influenced by a multitude of characteristics such as quality of final solution, consumed computational resources, diversity management, convergence, complexity of the problem being solved. Consequently, the issue of choosing the best approach for a particular problem is a difficult task. In this work, the performance of two bio-inspired algorithms, Differential Evolutio...
Autori: Elena Niculina Dragoi
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28159

The western forests and rangelands of Iran in Zagros Mountain are valuable ecosystems for protecting the water and soil resources and providing the habitat for endemic fauna and flora. These ecosystems have widely destroyed by human interferences in the recent years. The land cover mapping using an accurate method is the first step to prevent the further destruction of these ecosystems. The aim of this study was to generate a land cover map of Ilam (Western Iran) using Sentinel-2A data at 10 m s...
Autori: Saeedeh Eskandari
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28192

In the present research, four meta-heuristic algorithms named Genetic Algorithm (GA), Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) have been used for optimal design of cascade spillway to minimize the construction cost. Usually, the traditional design methods such as Vittal and Porey (VP) method or experimental modeling are used to solve this problem leading to infeasible or near optimal solution. The main novelty of this paper is to...
Autori: Pedram Jazayeri
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28195

The paper brings a methodological contribution useful for supporting the development of predictive models of phenomena and human behaviours in the area of environmental protection with respect for history, geo-location, environment boundaries and considering further applications in defining corresponding stimulating policies by decision makers and management teams. It proposes a handy and easy-to-use technique of deriving spatial variables (e.g. aerial distances to a custom border and belonging...
Autori: Daniel Homocianu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28244

In mitigating occupational hazards, there is often a need to use administrative controls such as job rotation over a prolonged period until the hazards can be eliminated or mitigated to safe levels. This research develops a noise-safe job-rotation optimization model that accounts for learning, forgetting, and boredom effects. Our analysis focuses on the case of human-paced and labor-intensive operations, considering the trade-off between safety and productivity. A case of multi-skilled workers ...
Autori: Pavinee Rerkjirattikal
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28256