Search results for: yield component
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4846

Search results for: yield component

1786 Analysis of Two-Phase Flow Instabilities in Conventional Channel of Nuclear Power Reactor

Authors: M. Abdur Rashid Sarkar, Riffat Mahmud

Abstract:

Boiling heat transfer plays a crucial role in cooling nuclear reactor for safe electricity generation. A two phase flow is susceptible to thermal-hydrodynamic instabilities, which may cause flow oscillations of constant amplitude or diverging amplitude. These oscillations may induce boiling crisis, disturb control systems, or cause mechanical damage. Based on their mechanisms, various types of instabilities can be classified for a nuclear reactor. From a practical engineering point of view one of the major design difficulties in dealing with multiphase flow is that the mass, momentum, and energy transfer rates and processes may be quite sensitive to the geometric configuration of the heat transfer surface. Moreover, the flow within each phase or component will clearly depend on that geometric configuration. The complexity of this two-way coupling presents a major challenge in the study of multiphase flows and there is much that remains to be done. Yet, the parametric effects on flow instability such as the effect of aspect ratio, pressure drop, channel length, its orientation inlet subcooling and surface roughness etc. have been analyzed. Another frequently occurring instability, known as the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability has been briefly reviewed. Various analytical techniques for predicting parametric effect on the instability are analyzed in terms of their applicability and accuracy.

Keywords: two phase flows, boiling crisis, thermal-hydrodynamic instabilities, water cooled nuclear reactors, kelvin–helmholtz instability

Procedia PDF Downloads 395
1785 Natural Ventilation for the Sustainable Tall Office Buildings of the Future

Authors: Ayşin Sev, Görkem Aslan

Abstract:

Sustainable tall buildings that provide comfortable, healthy and efficient indoor environments are clearly desirable as the densification of living and working space for the world’s increasing population proceeds. For environmental concerns, these buildings must also be energy efficient. One component of these tasks is the provision of indoor air quality and thermal comfort, which can be enhanced with natural ventilation by the supply of fresh air. Working spaces can only be naturally ventilated with connections to the outdoors utilizing operable windows, double facades, ventilation stacks, balconies, patios, terraces and skygardens. Large amounts of fresh air can be provided to the indoor spaces without mechanical air-conditioning systems, which are widely employed in contemporary tall buildings. This paper tends to present the concept of natural ventilation for sustainable tall office buildings in order to achieve healthy and comfortable working spaces, as well as energy efficient environments. Initially the historical evolution of ventilation strategies for tall buildings is presented, beginning with natural ventilation and continuing with the introduction of mechanical air-conditioning systems. Then the emergence of natural ventilation due to the health and environmental concerns in tall buildings is handled, and the strategies for implementing this strategy are revealed. In the next section, a number of case studies that utilize this strategy are investigated. Finally, how tall office buildings can benefit from this strategy is discussed.

Keywords: tall office building, energy efficiency, double-skin façade, stack ventilation, air conditioning

Procedia PDF Downloads 507
1784 Chemistry and Sources of Solid Biofuel Derived Ambient Aerosols during Cooking and Non-Cooking Hours in Rural Area of Khairatpur, North-Central India

Authors: Sudha Shukla, Bablu Kumar, Gyan Prakash Gupta, U. C. Kulshrestha

Abstract:

Air pollutants emitted from solid biofuels during cooking are the major contributors to poor air quality, respiratory problems, and radiative forcing, etc. in rural areas of most of developing countries. The present study reports the chemical characteristics and sources of ambient aerosols and traces gases during cooking and non-cooking hours emitted during biofuel combustion in a village in North-Central India. Fine aerosol samples along with gaseous species (Sox, NOx, and NH₃) were collected during September 2010-March 2011 at Khairatpur village (KPV) which is located in the Uttar Pradesh state in North-Central India. Results indicated that most of the major ions in aerosols and Sox, NOx, and NH₃ gases were found to be higher during cooking hours as compared to non-cooking hours suggesting that solid biofuel combustion is an important source of air pollution. Results of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that combustion of solid biofuel, vehicular emissions, and brick kilns were the major sources of fine aerosols and trace gases in the village. A health survey was conducted to find out the relation between users of biofuels and their health effects and the results revealed that most of the women in the village were suffering from diseases associated with biofuel combustion during cooking.

Keywords: ambient aerosols, biofuel combustion, cooking, health survey, rural area

Procedia PDF Downloads 235
1783 Structural and Optical Characterization of Rice-Husk-Derived SiO₂ Crystals-reinforced PVA Composites

Authors: Suminar Pratapa, Agus Riyanto, Silmi Machmudah, Sri Yani Purwaningsih

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to investigate the optical properties of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and its prospective applications by adding crystalline silica which is usually used as a reinforcing agent. To do this, we synthesized and evaluated PVA-based composites reinforced with silica crystals, namely cristobalite, derived from rice husk. The experimental procedure involved the production of SiO2 particles using rice husk precursors, which were subsequently subjected to calcination at a rate of 10 °C/min for a duration of 3 hours. This process primarily resulted in the formation of SiO2 crystals in the cristobalite phase, according to X-ray diffraction (XRD). Following this, the crystals were incorporated into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) via a casting technique, resulting in the formation of composite sheets. The SiO2 contents in the composites were 0, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.%. XRD and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques provided confirmation of the composites' successful synthesis, i.e., it did not yield any indications of chemical bonding between polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and silicon dioxide (SiO2), indicating that the interaction was limited to interfacial reactions. The incorporation of SiO2 crystals resulted in a notable enhancement in UV-vis light absorption and a decrease in the optical band gap. Addition of 2.5, 5.0, and 10.% SiO2, for example, decreases the direct optical band gap of the composites form 5.37, 5.19, and 5.02 eV respectively, while the indirect band gaps of the samples were 4.44, 4.84, and 4.48 eV, correspondingly. These findings emphasize the efficacy of rice husk-derived SiO2 crystals as both reinforcement agents and modifiers of optical properties in the polymer composites, showcasing their significant potential to modify the composite's structural and optical characteristics.

Keywords: rice husk, cristaline SiO₂, PVA-based composites, structural characteristics, optical properties.

Procedia PDF Downloads 42
1782 Periodontal Disease or Cement Disease: New Frontier in the Treatment of Periodontal Disease in Dogs

Authors: C. Gallottini, W. Di Mari, A. Amaddeo, K. Barbaro, A. Dolci, G. Dolci, L. Gallottini, G. Barraco, S. Eramo

Abstract:

A group of 10 dogs (group A) with Periodontal Disease in the third stage, were subjected to regenerative therapy of periodontal tissues, by use of nano hydroxy apatite (NHA). These animals induced by general anesthesia, where treated by ultrasonic scaling, root planning, and at the end by a mucogingival flap in which it was applied NHA. The flap was closed and sutured with simple steps. Another group of 10 dogs (group B), control group, was treated only by scaling and root planning. No patient was subjected to antibiotic therapy. After three months, a check was made by inspection of the oral cavity, radiography and bone biopsy at the alveolar level. Group A showed a total restitutio ad integrum of the periodontal structures, and in group B still mild gingivitis in 70% of cases and 30% of the state remains unchanged. Numerous experimental studies both in animals and humans have documented that the grafts of porous hydroxyapatite are rapidly invaded by fibrovascular tissue which is subsequently converted into mature lamellar bone tissue by activating osteoblast. Since we acted on the removal of necrotic cementum and rehabilitating the root tissue by polishing without intervention in the ligament but only on anatomical functional interface of cement-blasts, we can connect the positive evolution of the clinical-only component of the cement that could represent this perspective, the only reason that Periodontal Disease become a Cement Disease, while all other clinical elements as nothing more than a clinical pathological accompanying.

Keywords: nanoidroxiaphatite, parodontal disease, cement disease, regenerative therapy

Procedia PDF Downloads 444
1781 IoT and Deep Learning approach for Growth Stage Segregation and Harvest Time Prediction of Aquaponic and Vermiponic Swiss Chards

Authors: Praveen Chandramenon, Andrew Gascoyne, Fideline Tchuenbou-Magaia

Abstract:

Aquaponics offers a simple conclusive solution to the food and environmental crisis of the world. This approach combines the idea of Aquaculture (growing fish) to Hydroponics (growing vegetables and plants in a soilless method). Smart Aquaponics explores the use of smart technology including artificial intelligence and IoT, to assist farmers with better decision making and online monitoring and control of the system. Identification of different growth stages of Swiss Chard plants and predicting its harvest time is found to be important in Aquaponic yield management. This paper brings out the comparative analysis of a standard Aquaponics with a Vermiponics (Aquaponics with worms), which was grown in the controlled environment, by implementing IoT and deep learning-based growth stage segregation and harvest time prediction of Swiss Chards before and after applying an optimal freshwater replenishment. Data collection, Growth stage classification and Harvest Time prediction has been performed with and without water replenishment. The paper discusses the experimental design, IoT and sensor communication with architecture, data collection process, image segmentation, various regression and classification models and error estimation used in the project. The paper concludes with the results comparison, including best models that performs growth stage segregation and harvest time prediction of the Aquaponic and Vermiponic testbed with and without freshwater replenishment.

Keywords: aquaponics, deep learning, internet of things, vermiponics

Procedia PDF Downloads 63
1780 A New Smart Plug for Home Energy Management

Authors: G. E. Kiral, O. Elma, A. T. Ince, B. Vural, U. S. Selamogullari, M. Uzunoglu

Abstract:

Energy is an indispensable resource to meet the needs of people. Depending on the needs of people, the correct and efficient use of electrical energy has became important nowadays. Besides the need for the electrical energy is also increasing with the rapidly developing technology and continuously changing living standards. Due to the depletion of energy sources and increased demand for electricity, efficient energy use is an important research topic. Recently, ideas like smart cities, smart buildings and smart homes have been widely used under smart grid concept. With smart grid infrastructure, it will be possible to monitor electrical demand of a residential customer and control each electricity generation center for more efficient energy flow. The smallest component of the smart grid can be considered as smart homes. Better utilization of the electrical grid can be achieved through the communication of the smart home with both other customers in the grid and appliances in the house itself since generation can effectively be scheduled by having more precise demand data. Smart Plugs are used for the communication with the household appliances in the house. Smart Plug is an intermediate control element, which can be mounted on the existing outlet, and thus can be used to monitor the energy consumption of the plugged device and also can provide on/off control energy remotely. This study proposes a Smart Plug for energy monitoring and energy management. Proposed design is composed of five subsystems: micro controller embedded system with communication system, metering circuitry, power supply and switching circuitry. The developed smart plug offers efficient use of electrical energy.

Keywords: energy efficiency, home energy management, smart home, smart plug

Procedia PDF Downloads 723
1779 Genome-Wide Expression Profiling of Cicer arietinum Heavy Metal Toxicity

Authors: B. S. Yadav, A. Mani, S. Srivastava

Abstract:

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an annual, self-pollinating, diploid (2n = 2x = 16) pulse crop that ranks second in world legume production after common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). ICC 4958 flowers approximately 39 days after sowing under peninsular Indian conditions and the crop matures in less than 90 days in rained environments. The estimated collective yield losses due to abiotic stresses (6.4 million t) have been significantly higher than for biotic stresses (4.8 million t). Most legumes are known to be salt sensitive, and therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to produce cultivars tolerant to high-salinity in addition to other abiotic and biotic stresses for sustainable chickpea production. Our aim was to identify the genes that are involved in the defence mechanism against heavy metal toxicity in chickpea and establish the biological network of heavy metal toxicity in chickpea. ICC4958 variety of chick pea was taken and grown in normal condition and 150µM concentration of different heavy metal salt like CdCl₂, K₂Cr2O₇, NaAsO₂. At 15th day leave samples were collected and stored in RNA Later solution microarray was performed for checking out differential gene expression pattern. Our studies revealed that 111 common genes that involved in defense mechanism were up regulated and 41 genes were commonly down regulated during treatment of 150µM concentration of CdCl₂, K₂Cr₂O₇, and NaAsO₂. Biological network study shows that the genes which are differentially expressed are highly connected and having high betweenness and centrality.

Keywords: abiotic stress, biological network, chickpea, microarray

Procedia PDF Downloads 189
1778 Competition Between the Effects of Pesticides and Immune-activation on the Expression of Toll Pathway Genes

Authors: Dani Sukkar, Ali Kanso, Philippe Laval-Gilly, Jairo Falla-Angel

Abstract:

The honeybees' immune system is challenged by different risk factors that induce various responses. However, complex scenarios where bees are exposed to different pesticides simultaneously with immune activation are not well evaluated. The Toll pathway is one of the main signaling pathways studied in invertebrate immune responses, and it is a good indicator of the effect of such complex interactions in addition to key signaling elements of other pathways like Relish of the immune deficiency (IMD) pathway or Eater, the phagocytosis receptor or vitellogenin levels. Honeybee hemocytes extracted from 5th instar larvae were exposed to imidacloprid and/or amitraz with or without the presence of the zymosan a as an immune activator. The gene expression of multiple immune related genes were studied, including spaetzle, Toll, myD88, relish, eater and vitellogenin, by real-time polymerase chain reaction after RNA extraction. The results demonstrated that the Toll pathway is mainly affected by the pesticides; imidacloprid and amitraz, especially by their different combinations. Furthermore, immune activation by zymosan A, a fungal cell-wall component, acts to mitigate to some extent the effect of pesticides on the different levels of the Toll pathway. In addition, imidacloprid, amitraz, and zymosan A have complex and context-specific interactions depending on the levels of immune activation and the pathway evaluated affecting immune-gene expression differently.

Keywords: toll pathway, immune modulation, β-glucan, imidacloprid, amitraz, honeybees, immune genes

Procedia PDF Downloads 77
1777 Chemical Composition, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Essential Oil from the Leaves of Thymus vulgaris L.

Authors: Tsige Reda

Abstract:

Essential oil of Thymus vulgaris was extracted by means of hydro-distillation. This study was done to investigate the chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The chemical composition of the essential oils was determined using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Using disc diffusion assay the antibacterial activity was assessed on one Gram-positive bacteria and one Gram-negative bacteria. The percentage oil yield of the essential oil was found to be 0.97 ± 0.08% (w/w) with yellow color. The physicochemical constants of the oil were also noted. The phytochemical screening of the plant extract revealed the presence of tannins, saponins, phenol, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids and alkaloids. A total of 18 chemical constituents were identified by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy analysis representing 100% of the total essential oil of Thymus vulgaris, with thymol (31.977%), o-cymene (29.992%), and carvacrol (14.541%). Previous studies have revealed that the thymol, o-cymen and carvacrol components of Thymus vulgaris are responsible for their biological activities. Thymus vulgaris have been used traditionally to treat a wide variety of infections. Based on the extensive use and lack of scientific evidence, a study was embarked upon to determine its bioactivity. The essential oil of Thymus vulgaris leaves exhibited higher activity towards the Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aurous) than the Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) and also has good antioxidant activity, and can be used medicinal and therapeutic applications. This activity may be due to the high amount of thymol, o-cymen and carvacrol.

Keywords: hydro-distillation, Thymus vulgaris, essential oil composition, phytochemical screening, physicochemical constants, antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity

Procedia PDF Downloads 435
1776 Wave Pressure Metering with the Specific Instrument and Measure Description Determined by the Shape and Surface of the Instrument including the Number of Sensors and Angle between Them

Authors: Branimir Jurun, Elza Jurun

Abstract:

Focus of this paper is description and functioning manner of the instrument for wave pressure metering. Moreover, an essential component of this paper is the proposal of a metering unit for the direct wave pressure measurement determined by the shape and surface of the instrument including the number of sensors and angle between them. Namely, far applied instruments by means of height, length, direction, wave time period and other components determine wave pressure on a particular area. This instrument, allows the direct measurement i.e. measurement without additional calculation, of the wave pressure expressed in a standardized unit of measure. That way the instrument has a standardized form, surface, number of sensors and the angle between them. In addition, it is made with the status that follows the wave and always is on the water surface. Database quality which is listed by the instrument is made possible by using the Arduino chip. This chip is programmed for receiving by two data from each of the sensors each second. From these data by a pre-defined manner a unique representative value is estimated. By this procedure all relevant wave pressure measurement results are directly and immediately registered. Final goal of establishing such a rich database is a comprehensive statistical analysis that ranges from multi-criteria analysis across different modeling and parameters testing to hypothesis accepting relating to the widest variety of man-made activities such as filling of beaches, security cages for aquaculture, bridges construction.

Keywords: instrument, metering, water, waves

Procedia PDF Downloads 258
1775 A Multi-Science Study of Modern Synergetic War and Its Information Security Component

Authors: Alexander G. Yushchenko

Abstract:

From a multi-science point of view, we analyze threats to security resulting from globalization of international information space and information and communication aggression of Russia. A definition of Ruschism is formulated as an ideology supporting aggressive actions of modern Russia against the Euro-Atlantic community. Stages of the hybrid war Russia is leading against Ukraine are described, including the elements of subversive activity of the special services, the activation of the military phase and the gradual shift of the focus of confrontation to the realm of information and communication technologies. We reveal an emergence of a threat for democratic states resulting from the destabilizing impact of a target state’s mass media and social networks being exploited by Russian secret services under freedom-of-speech disguise. Thus, we underline the vulnerability of cyber- and information security of the network society in regard of hybrid war. We propose to define the latter a synergetic war. Our analysis is supported with a long-term qualitative monitoring of representation of top state officials on popular TV channels and Facebook. From the memetics point of view, we have detected a destructive psycho-information technology used by the Kremlin, a kind of information catastrophe, the essence of which is explained in detail. In the conclusion, a comprehensive plan for information protection of the public consciousness and mentality of Euro-Atlantic citizens from the aggression of the enemy is proposed.

Keywords: cyber and information security, hybrid war, psycho-information technology, synergetic war, Ruschism

Procedia PDF Downloads 131
1774 Development of Electrospun Porous Carbon Fibers from Cellulose/Polyacrylonitrile Blend

Authors: Zubair Khaliq, M. Bilal Qadir, Amir Shahzad, Zulfiqar Ali, Ahsan Nazir, Ali Afzal, Abdul Jabbar

Abstract:

Carbon fibers are one of the most demanding materials on earth due to their potential application in energy, high strength materials, and conductive materials. The nanostructure of carbon fibers offers enhanced properties of conductivity due to the larger surface area. The next generation carbon nanofibers demand the porous structure as it offers more surface area. Multiple techniques are used to produce carbon fibers. However, electrospinning followed by carbonization of the polymeric materials is easy to carry process on a laboratory scale. Also, it offers multiple diversity of changing parameters to acquire the desired properties of carbon fibers. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is the most used material for the production of carbon fibers due to its promising processing parameters. Also, cellulose is one of the highest yield producers of carbon fibers. However, the electrospinning of cellulosic materials is difficult due to its rigid chain structure. The combination of PAN and cellulose can offer a suitable solution for the production of carbon fibers. Both materials are miscible in the mixed solvent of N, N, Dimethylacetamide and lithium chloride. This study focuses on the production of porous carbon fibers as a function of PAN/Cellulose blend ratio, solution properties, and electrospinning parameters. These single polymer and blend with different ratios were electrospun to give fine fibers. The higher amount of cellulose offered more difficulty in electrospinning of nanofibers. After carbonization, the carbon fibers were studied in terms of their blend ratio, surface area, and texture. Cellulose contents offered the porous structure of carbon fibers. Also, the presence of LiCl contributed to the porous structure of carbon fibers.

Keywords: cellulose, polyacrylonitrile, carbon nanofibers, electrospinning, blend

Procedia PDF Downloads 198
1773 Failure of Agriculture Soil following the Passage of Tractors

Authors: Anis Eloud, Sayed Chehaibi

Abstract:

Compaction of agricultural soils as a result of the passage of heavy machinery on the fields is a problem that affects many agronomists and farmers since it results in a loss of yield of most crops. To remedy this, and raise the overall future of the food security challenge, we must study and understand the process of soil degradation. The present review is devoted to understanding the effect of repeated passages on agricultural land. The experiments were performed on a plot of the area of the ESIER, characterized by a clay texture in order to quantify the soil compaction caused by the wheels of the tractor during repeated passages on agricultural land. The test tractor CASE type puissance 110 hp and 5470 kg total mass of 3500 kg including the two rear axles and 1970 kg on the front axle. The state of soil compaction has been characterized by measuring its resistance to penetration by means of a penetrometer and direct manual reading, the density and permeability of the soil. Soil moisture was taken jointly. The measurements are made in the initial state before passing the tractor and after each pass varies from 1 to 7 on the track wheel inflated to 1.5 bar for the rear wheel and broke water to the level of valve and 4 bar for the front wheels. The passages are spaced to the average of one week. The results show that the passage of wheels on a farm tilled soil leads to compaction and the latter increases with the number of passages, especially for the upper 15 cm depth horizons. The first passage is characterized by the greatest effect. However, the effect of other passages do not follow a definite law for the complex behavior of granular media and the history of labor and the constraints it suffers from its formation.

Keywords: wheel traffic, tractor, soil compaction, wheel

Procedia PDF Downloads 477
1772 Management and Evaluation of Developing Medical Device Software in Compliance with Rules

Authors: Arash Sepehri bonab

Abstract:

One of the regions of critical development in medical devices has been the part of the software - as an indispensable component of a therapeutic device, as a standalone device, and more as of late, as applications on portable gadgets. The chance related to a breakdown of the standalone computer program utilized inside healthcare is in itself not a model for its capability or not as a medical device. It is, subsequently, fundamental to clarify a few criteria for the capability of a stand-alone computer program as a medical device. The number of computer program items and therapeutic apps is persistently expanding and so as well is used in wellbeing education (e. g., in clinics and doctors' surgeries) for determination and treatment. Within the last decade, the use of information innovation in healthcare has taken a developing part. In reality, the appropriation of an expanding number of computer devices has driven several benefits related to the method of quiet care and permitted simpler get to social and health care assets. At the same time, this drift gave rise to modern challenges related to the usage of these modern innovations. The program utilized in healthcare can be classified as therapeutic gadgets depending on the way they are utilized and on their useful characteristics. In the event that they are classified as therapeutic gadgets, they must fulfill particular directions. The point of this work is to show a computer program improvement system that can permit the generation of secure and tall, quality restorative gadget computer programs and to highlight the correspondence between each program advancement stage and the fitting standard and/or regulation.

Keywords: medical devices, regulation, software, development, healthcare

Procedia PDF Downloads 104
1771 Local Differential Privacy-Based Data-Sharing Scheme for Smart Utilities

Authors: Veniamin Boiarkin, Bruno Bogaz Zarpelão, Muttukrishnan Rajarajan

Abstract:

The manufacturing sector is a vital component of most economies, which leads to a large number of cyberattacks on organisations, whereas disruption in operation may lead to significant economic consequences. Adversaries aim to disrupt the production processes of manufacturing companies, gain financial advantages, and steal intellectual property by getting unauthorised access to sensitive data. Access to sensitive data helps organisations to enhance the production and management processes. However, the majority of the existing data-sharing mechanisms are either susceptible to different cyber attacks or heavy in terms of computation overhead. In this paper, a privacy-preserving data-sharing scheme for smart utilities is proposed. First, a customer’s privacy adjustment mechanism is proposed to make sure that end-users have control over their privacy, which is required by the latest government regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation. Secondly, a local differential privacy-based mechanism is proposed to ensure the privacy of the end-users by hiding real data based on the end-user preferences. The proposed scheme may be applied to different industrial control systems, whereas in this study, it is validated for energy utility use cases consisting of smart, intelligent devices. The results show that the proposed scheme may guarantee the required level of privacy with an expected relative error in utility.

Keywords: data-sharing, local differential privacy, manufacturing, privacy-preserving mechanism, smart utility

Procedia PDF Downloads 72
1770 Participatory Testing of Precision Fertilizer Management Technologies in Mid-Hills of Nepal

Authors: Kedar Nath Nepal, Dyutiman Choudhary, Naba Raj Pandit, Yam Gahire

Abstract:

Crop fertilizer recommendations are outdated as these are based on the response trails conducted over half a century ago. Further, these recommendations were based on the response trials conducted over large geographical area ignoring the large spatial variability in indigenous nutrient supplying capacity of soils typical of most smallholder systems. Application of fertilizer following such blanket recommendation in fields with varying native nutrient supply capacity leads to under application in some places and over application in others leading to reduced nutrient-use-efficiency (NUE), loss of profitability, and increased environmental risks associated with loss of unutilized nutrient through emissions or leaching. Opportunities exist to further increase yield and profitability through a significant gain in fertilizer use efficiency with commercialization of affordable and precise application technologies. We conducted participatory trails in Maize (Zea Mays), Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) and Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in Mid Hills of Nepal to evaluate the efficacy of Urea Deep Placement (UDP and Polymer Coated Urea (PCU);. UDP contains 46% of N having individual briquette size 2.7 gm each and PCU contains 44% of N . Both PCU and urea briquette applied at reduced amount (100 kg N/ha) during planting produced similar yields (p>0.05) compared with regular urea (200 Kg N/ha). . These fertilizers also reduced N fertilizer by 35 - 50% over government blanket recommendations. Further, PCU and urea briquette increased farmer’s net income by USD 60 to 80.

Keywords: high efficiency fertilizers, urea deep placement, briquette polymer coated urea, zea mays, brassica, lycopersicum, Nepal

Procedia PDF Downloads 170
1769 Theoretical Analysis of the Existing Sheet Thickness in the Calendering of Pseudoplastic Material

Authors: Muhammad Zahid

Abstract:

The mechanical process of smoothing and compressing a molten material by passing it through a number of pairs of heated rolls in order to produce a sheet of desired thickness is called calendering. The rolls that are in combination are called calenders, a term derived from kylindros the Greek word for the cylinder. It infects the finishing process used on cloth, paper, textiles, leather cloth, or plastic film and so on. It is a mechanism which is used to strengthen surface properties, minimize sheet thickness, and yield special effects such as a glaze or polish. It has a wide variety of applications in industries in the manufacturing of textile fabrics, coated fabrics, and plastic sheeting to provide the desired surface finish and texture. An analysis has been presented for the calendering of Pseudoplastic material. The lubrication approximation theory (LAT) has been used to simplify the equations of motion. For the investigation of the nature of the steady solutions that exist, we make use of the combination of exact solution and numerical methods. The expressions for the velocity profile, rate of volumetric flow and pressure gradient are found in the form of exact solutions. Furthermore, the quantities of interest by engineering point of view, such as pressure distribution, roll-separating force, and power transmitted to the fluid by the rolls are also computed. Some results are shown graphically while others are given in the tabulated form. It is found that the non-Newtonian parameter and Reynolds number serve as the controlling parameters for the calendering process.

Keywords: calendering, exact solutions, lubrication approximation theory, numerical solutions, pseudoplastic material

Procedia PDF Downloads 142
1768 Detection and Classification of Mammogram Images Using Principle Component Analysis and Lazy Classifiers

Authors: Rajkumar Kolangarakandy

Abstract:

Feature extraction and selection is the primary part of any mammogram classification algorithms. The choice of feature, attribute or measurements have an important influence in any classification system. Discrete Wavelet Transformation (DWT) coefficients are one of the prominent features for representing images in frequency domain. The features obtained after the decomposition of the mammogram images using wavelet transformations have higher dimension. Even though the features are higher in dimension, they were highly correlated and redundant in nature. The dimensionality reduction techniques play an important role in selecting the optimum number of features from the higher dimension data, which are highly correlated. PCA is a mathematical tool that reduces the dimensionality of the data while retaining most of the variation in the dataset. In this paper, a multilevel classification of mammogram images using reduced discrete wavelet transformation coefficients and lazy classifiers is proposed. The classification is accomplished in two different levels. In the first level, mammogram ROIs extracted from the dataset is classified as normal and abnormal types. In the second level, all the abnormal mammogram ROIs is classified into benign and malignant too. A further classification is also accomplished based on the variation in structure and intensity distribution of the images in the dataset. The Lazy classifiers called Kstar, IBL and LWL are used for classification. The classification results obtained with the reduced feature set is highly promising and the result is also compared with the performance obtained without dimension reduction.

Keywords: PCA, wavelet transformation, lazy classifiers, Kstar, IBL, LWL

Procedia PDF Downloads 332
1767 Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Matricaria pubscens Extracts: A Wild Space of North African Pharmacopeia

Authors: Abdelouahab Dehimati, Fatiha Bedjou

Abstract:

This study focused on the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of four extracts from the plant Matricaria pubscens (Asteraceae) harvest in the region of Ghardaia, the northern Sahara of Algeria. The different extracts were analyzed for their content of phenolic compounds and their biological activities. The ethanol extract expresses a better extraction yield (44.22%). We have first performed the quantitative colorimetric methods for total polyphenols. Wherein the aqueous extract shows the highest total polyphenol content and total flavonoid (216.66±2.58 mg Eq GA/g and 111.04±0.49 mg Eq Q/g E, respectively) and ethanol extract 50% total tannins content (68.88±2.72 mg Eq AT/g E). The evaluation of the antioxidant activity of extracts of Matricaria pubscens by the arbitrary value IC50. The ethanol 50% extract is expressed strong activity with an IC50 14.19±1.25 mg/m against the DPPH radical and 11.66±0.53 mg/ml against the ABTS radical). In addition, the aqueous extract showed strong reducing power with an IC50 (48.61±1.14 mg/ml). However, the results obtained by the reducing power of phosphomolybdat the test are calculated by the iron maximum absorbance where ethanol extract 50% gives an absorbance of about 1.641 ± 0.01nm. Otherwise, methanol 70% and butanol 80% extracts gave a very large chelating effect of iron with an IC50 (38.38±0.01 μg/ml and 38.58±0.04 μg/ml respectively). By the method of disc Diffuson, the results of the antimicrobial activity are achieved butanolic extract 80% shows high activity towards MRSA (MIC: 3.51mg/ml; BMC>100 mg/ml). Their shares, the extracts were the most active for the antifungal test, the butanol 80% extract was the most active against A. niger (MIC: 12.5 mg/ml; FMC>100 mg/ml). These preliminary results could be used to justify the traditional use of this plant and their phenolic compounds could be exploited for therapeutic purposes, such as antioxidants and antimicrobial effects.

Keywords: Matricaria pubscens, phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, IC50, MIC

Procedia PDF Downloads 271
1766 Effects of the Supplementation of Potassium Humate at Different Levels to the Dairy Cows' Concentrated Mix during Dry Period on Early Lactation Yield Parameters and Dam/Calf Immunity

Authors: Cangir Uyarlar, E. Eren Gultepe, I. Sadi Cetingul, Ismail Bayram

Abstract:

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of humic acid (Potassium Humate) at different levels on rations on the effects of both maternal and offspring health, metabolic parameters and immunity levels in transition dairy cows. For this purpose, 50 Holstein dairy cows divided 5 trial groups. Experimental groups were designed as follows: A) Control (0% Humas); B) 0.5 Humas (0,5% in concentrated diet); C) 1 Humas (1% in concentrated diet), D) 1,5 Humas (1,5% in concentrated diet), E) 2 Humas (2% in concentrated diet), respectively. The study lasted from the first day of the dry period to postpartum 30th day. Diets were prepared as isocaloric and isonitrogenic. In the experiment, the day on which the animals gave birth was accepted as ‘0 (zero)’ and blood was taken from tail vein (v. coccygea) at -60, -53, -46, -39, -32, -25, -18, -11, -4, 0, ; Colostrum samples were taken on days 0, 1 and 2; Blood samples were taken on days 0, 1, 2, 15 and 30 from the juguler vein (v. jugularis) of the new born calves. Total blood leukocyte, Lymphocyte, Monocyte, granulocytes, Hemoglobin, Hematocrit, MCV, MCH, MWC, RDW, PLT, MPV, PDW, PCT, NEFA, BHBA, Glucose, Total Cholesterol , Triglyceride, LDL, HDL, VLDL, ALT, AST, ALP, GGT and Total IgG levels and colostrum IgG levels were determined in this experiment. The results suggest that although the supplementation of humic acid at 2% level adversely affected to production parameters, the addition of humic acid (potassium humate) to the concentrate mix during the dry period (particularly 0.5 and 1% levels) may provide an increasing on mother and the offspring immunity, some improving on serum metabolism parameters and enhancing the milk production.

Keywords: humic acid, dairy cow, calf, immunity

Procedia PDF Downloads 202
1765 Opportunity Cost of Producing Sugarcane, Sweet Orange and Soybean in Sri Lankan Context: An Economic Analysis

Authors: Tharsinithevy Kirupananthan

Abstract:

This study analyzed the decision on growing three different crops which suit dry zone of Sri Lanka using the opportunity cost concept in economics. The variable cost of production of sugar cane, sweet orange, and soybean was 112,418.76, 13,463 and 10,928.08 Sri Lankan Rs. (LKR) per acre in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The yield of the sugar cane, sweet orange, and soybean were 49.33 tons, 25,595 fruits, and 1032 kg per acre. The market price of the sugar cane, sweet orange, and soybean were 4200 LKR/ton, LKR 14.66 per fruit and LKR 89.69 per kg. The market value or the total income of the sugar cane, sweet orange, and soybean were LKR 207194.4, 283090.74, and 92560.08. The accounting profit of the sugar cane, sweet orange, and soybean was 94,775.64, 269,627.74, and 81,632 LKR per acre. Therefore, the opportunity cost of sugarcane per acre in terms of accounting profit was LKR. 269,627.74 from sweet orange and LKR 81,632 from soybean. The highest opportunity cost per acre in terms of accounting profit was found when soybean is produced instead of sweet orange. The opportunity cost which compared among the crops in terms of market value for sugar cane per acre was LKR 283090.74 of sweet orange and LKR 92560.08 of soybean. The highest opportunity cost both in terms of accounting profit and market value was found when growing soybean instead of sweet orange by using the resource per acre of land. The economic profit of sugar cane production in place of sweet orange was LKR -188315.1 per acre. The highest economic profit LKR 177067.66 was found when sweet orange is produced in place of soybean. A positive value of economic profit was found in all combination of sweet orange production without considering the first harvest duration of the crop.

Keywords: agricultural economics, crop, opportunity cost, Sri Lanka

Procedia PDF Downloads 339
1764 Performance Analysis of New Types of Reference Targets Based on Spaceborne and Airborne SAR Data

Authors: Y. S. Zhou, C. R. Li, L. L. Tang, C. X. Gao, D. J. Wang, Y. Y. Guo

Abstract:

Triangular trihedral corner reflector (CR) has been widely used as point target for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) calibration and image quality assessment. The additional “tip” of the triangular plate does not contribute to the reflector’s theoretical RCS and if it interacts with a perfectly reflecting ground plane, it will yield an increase of RCS at the radar bore-sight and decrease the accuracy of SAR calibration and image quality assessment. Regarding this problem, two types of CRs were manufactured. One was the hexagonal trihedral CR. It is a self-illuminating CR with relatively small plate edge length, while large edge length usually introduces unexpected edge diffraction error. The other was the triangular trihedral CR with extended bottom plate which considers the effect of ‘tip’ into the total RCS. In order to assess the performance of the two types of new CRs, flight campaign over the National Calibration and Validation Site for High Resolution Remote Sensors was carried out. Six hexagonal trihedral CRs and two bottom-extended trihedral CRs, as well as several traditional triangular trihedral CRs, were deployed. KOMPSAT-5 X-band SAR image was acquired for the performance analysis of the hexagonal trihedral CRs. C-band airborne SAR images were acquired for the performance analysis of the bottom-extended trihedral CRs. The analysis results showed that the impulse response function of both the hexagonal trihedral CRs and bottom-extended trihedral CRs were much closer to the ideal sinc-function than the traditional triangular trihedral CRs. The flight campaign results validated the advantages of new types of CRs and they might be useful in the future SAR calibration mission.

Keywords: synthetic aperture radar, calibration, corner reflector, KOMPSAT-5

Procedia PDF Downloads 268
1763 The Potential Effect of Climate Changes on Food and Water Associated Infections

Authors: Mohammed A. Alhoot, Rathika A/P Nagarajan

Abstract:

Climate change and variability are affecting human health and diseases direct or indirectly through many mechanisms. Change in rain pattern, an increase of temperature and humidity are showing an increased trend in Malaysia. This will affect the biological, physical and chemical component of water through different pathways and will enhance the risk of waterborne diseases. Besides, the warm temperature and humid climate provide very suitable conditions for the growth of pathogenic bacteria. This study is intended to highlight the relationship between the climate changes and the incidence food and water associated infections. Incidences of food and water associated infection and climate data were collected from Malaysian Ministry of health and Malaysian Metrological Department respectively. Maximum and minimum temperature showed high correlation with incidence of typhoid, hepatitis A, dysentery, food poisoning (P value <0.05 significant with 2 tailed / 0.5<[r]). Heavy rainfall does not associated with any outbreaks. Climate change brings out new challenges in controlling food and water associated infections. Adaptation strategies should involve all key stakeholders with a strong regional cooperation to prevent and deal with cross-boundary health crises. Moreover, the role of health care personnel at local, state and national levels is important to ensure the success of these programmes. As has been shown herein, climate variability is an important element influencing the food and water associated epidemiology in Malaysia. The results of this study are crucial to implementing climate changes as a factor to reduce any future outbreaks.

Keywords: climate change, typhoid, hepatitis A, dysentery, food poisoning

Procedia PDF Downloads 303
1762 An IoT-Enabled Crop Recommendation System Utilizing Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) for Efficient Data Transmission to AI/ML Models

Authors: Prashansa Singh, Rohit Bajaj, Manjot Kaur

Abstract:

In the modern agricultural landscape, precision farming has emerged as a pivotal strategy for enhancing crop yield and optimizing resource utilization. This paper introduces an innovative Crop Recommendation System (CRS) that leverages the Internet of Things (IoT) technology and the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol to collect critical environmental and soil data via sensors deployed across agricultural fields. The system is designed to address the challenges of real-time data acquisition, efficient data transmission, and dynamic crop recommendation through the application of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models. The CRS architecture encompasses a network of sensors that continuously monitor environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and nutrient levels. This sensor data is then transmitted to a central MQTT server, ensuring reliable and low-latency communication even in bandwidth-constrained scenarios typical of rural agricultural settings. Upon reaching the server, the data is processed and analyzed by AI/ML models trained to correlate specific environmental conditions with optimal crop choices and cultivation practices. These models consider historical crop performance data, current agricultural research, and real-time field conditions to generate tailored crop recommendations. This implementation gets 99% accuracy.

Keywords: Iot, MQTT protocol, machine learning, sensor, publish, subscriber, agriculture, humidity

Procedia PDF Downloads 60
1761 Production of Mycelial Biomass, Exopolysaccharide, and Enzyme during Solid-State Fermentation of Plant Raw Materials by Medicinal Mushrooms

Authors: Tamar Khardziani, Violeta Berikashvili, Amrosi Chkuaseli, Vladimir Elisashvili

Abstract:

The main objectives of this proposal are to develop low-cost, innovative, and competitive technologies for the production of mycelial biomass of medicinal mushrooms as a natural food supplement for poultry. To fulfill this task, industrial strains of Lentinus edodes, Ganoderma lucidum, and Pleurotus ostreatus were used in this study. The solid-state fermentation (SSF) of wheat grains, wheat bran, and soy flour was performed in flasks and bags. Among nine mushroom strains, P. ostreatus 2191 appeared to be the most productive in protein biomass accumulation in the SSF of wheat bran. All mushrooms produced exopolysaccharide with the highest yield of 5-8 mg/mL depending on fungal strain and growth substrate. Supplementation of medium with 1% glycerol and 2-4% peptone favored mushroom growth and protein accumulation. Among inorganic nitrogen sources, KNO₃ also provided high biomass and protein production. The SSF of all growth substrates was accompanied by the secretion of cellulase and xylanase activities. The highest CMCase activity (12-13 U/g) was revealed in the cultivation of P. ostreatus 2191 using wheat bran as a growth substrate and ammonium sulfate or yeast extract as a nitrogen source, whereas the highest xylanase activity was detected in the fermentation of soy flour supplemented with peptone. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (Grant number STEM-22-2077).

Keywords: mushrooms, plant raw materials, fermentation, biomass protein, cellulase

Procedia PDF Downloads 69
1760 Comparative Study of Stability of Crude and Purified Red Pigments of Pokeberry (Phytolacca Americana L.) Fruits

Authors: Nani Mchedlishvili, Nino Omiadze, Marine Abutidze, Jose Neptuno Rodriguez-Lopez, Tinatin Sadunishvili, Nikoloz Pruidze, Giorgi Kvesitadze

Abstract:

Recently, there is an increased interest in the development of food natural colorants as alternatives to synthetic dyes because of both legislative action and consumer concern. Betalains are widely used in the food industry as an alternative of synthetic colorants. The interest of betalains are caused not only by their coloring effect but also by their beneficial properties. The aim of the work was to study of stability of crude and purified red pigments of pokeberry (Phytolacca america L.). The pokeberry fruit juice was filtrated and concentrated by rotary vacuum evaporator up to 25% and the concentrated juice was passed through the Sepadex-25(fine) column (20×1.1 cm). From the column the pigment elution rate was 18 ml/hr. 1.5ml fractions of pigment were collected. In the fractions the coloring substances were determined using CuS04 x 7 H2O as a standard. From the Sephadex G-25 column only one fraction of the betalain red pigment was eluted with the absorption maximum at 538 nm. The degree of pigment purification was 1.6 and pigment yield from the column was 15 %. It was shown that thermostability of pokeberry fruit red pigment was significantly decreased after the purification. For example, during incubation at 100C for 10 min crude pigment retained 98 % of its color while under the same conditions only 72% of the color of purified pigment was retained. The purified pigment was found to be characterized by less storage stability too. The storage of the initial crude juice and the pigment fraction obtained after the gelfiltration for 10 days at 4°C showed the lost of color by 29 and 74 % respectively. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that during the gelfiltration the pokeberry fruit red pigment gets separated from such substances that cause its stabilization in the crude juice.

Keywords: betalains, gelfiltration, pokeberry fruit, stability

Procedia PDF Downloads 286
1759 Wind Power Assessment for Turkey and Evaluation by APLUS Code

Authors: Ibrahim H. Kilic, A. B. Tugrul

Abstract:

Energy is a fundamental component in economic development and energy consumption is an index of prosperity and the standard of living. The consumption of energy per capita has increased significantly over the last decades, as the standard of living has improved. Turkey’s geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of wind power. Among the renewable sources, Turkey has very high wind energy potential. Information such as installation capacity of wind power plants in installation, under construction and license stages in the country are reported in detail. Some suggestions are presented in order to increase the wind power installation capacity of Turkey. Turkey’s economic and social development has led to a massive increase in demand for electricity over the last decades. Since the Turkey has no major oil or gas reserves, it is highly dependent on energy imports and is exposed to energy insecurity in the future. But Turkey does have huge potential for renewable energy utilization. There has been a huge growth in the construction of wind power plants and small hydropower plants in recent years. To meet the growing energy demand, the Turkish Government has adopted incentives for investments in renewable energy production. Wind energy investments evaluated the impact of feed-in tariffs (FIT) based on three scenarios that are optimistic, realistic and pessimistic with APLUS software that is developed for rational evaluation for energy market. Results of the three scenarios are evaluated in the view of electricity market for Turkey.

Keywords: APLUS, energy policy, renewable energy, wind power, Turkey

Procedia PDF Downloads 300
1758 The Effects of Negative Electronic Word-of-Mouth and Webcare on Thai Online Consumer Behavior

Authors: Pongsatorn Tantrabundit, Lersak Phothong, Ong-art Chanprasitchai

Abstract:

Due to the emergence of the Internet, it has extended the traditional Word-of-Mouth (WOM) to a new form called “Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM).” Unlike traditional WOM, eWOM is able to present information in various ways by applying different components. Each eWOM component generates different effects on online consumer behavior. This research investigates the effects of Webcare (responding message) from product/ service providers on negative eWOM by applying two types of products (search and experience). The proposed conceptual model was developed based on the combination of the stages in consumer decision-making process, theory of reasoned action (TRA), theory of planned behavior (TPB), the technology acceptance model (TAM), the information integration theory and the elaboration likelihood model. The methodology techniques used in this study included multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multiple regression analysis. The results suggest that Webcare does slightly increase Thai online consumer’s perceptions on perceived eWOM trustworthiness, information diagnosticity and quality. For negative eWOM, we also found that perceived eWOM Trustworthiness, perceived eWOM diagnosticity and quality have a positive relationship with eWOM influence whereas perceived valence has a negative relationship with eWOM influence in Thai online consumers.

Keywords: consumer behavior, electronic word-of-mouth, online review, online word-of-mouth, Thai online consumer, webcare

Procedia PDF Downloads 199
1757 Optimization of a Flexible Thermoelectric Generator for Energy Harvesting from Human Skin to Power Wearable Electronics

Authors: Dessalegn Abera Waktole, Boru Jia, Zhengxing Zuo, Wei Wang, Nianling Kuang

Abstract:

A flexible thermoelectric generator is one method for recycling waste heat. This research provides the optimum performance of a flexible thermoelectric generator with optimal geometric parameters and a detailed structural design. In this research, a numerical simulation and experiment were carried out to develop an efficient, flexible thermoelectric generator for energy harvesting from human skin. Heteromorphic electrodes and a polyimide substrate with a copper-printed circuit board were introduced into the structural design of a flexible thermoelectric generator. The heteromorphic electrode was used as a heat sink and component of a flexible thermoelectric generator to enhance the temperature difference within the thermoelectric legs. Both N-type and P-type thermoelectric legs were made of bismuth selenium telluride (Bi1.7Te3.7Se0.3) and bismuth antimony telluride (Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3). The output power of the flexible thermoelectric generator was analyzed under different heat source temperatures and heat dissipation conditions. The COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6 software was used to conduct the simulation, which was validated by experiment. It is recorded that the maximum power output of 232.064μW was obtained by considering different wind speed conditions, the ambient temperature of 20℃, and the heat source temperature of 36℃ under various load resistance conditions, which range from 0.24Ω to 0. 91Ω. According to this finding, heteromorphic electrodes have a significant impact on the performance of the device.

Keywords: flexible thermoelectric generator, optimization, performance, temperature gradient, waste heat recovery

Procedia PDF Downloads 140