Search results for: continuous steel plate girders

Authors: Priya Varshney, Soumya S. Mohapatra

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Fabrication of anti-corrosion and self-cleaning superhydrophobic coatings for metallic surfaces which are regenerable and durable in the aggressive conditions has shown tremendous interest in materials science. In this work, the superhydrophobic coatings on metallic surfaces (aluminum, steel, copper) were prepared by two-step and one-step chemical etching process. In two-step process, roughness on surface was created by chemical etching and then passivation of roughened surface with low surface energy materials whereas, in one-step process, roughness on surface by chemical etching and passivation of surface with low surface energy materials were done in a single step. Beside this, the effect of etchant concentration and etching time on wettability and morphology was also studied. Thermal, mechanical, ultra-violet stability of these coatings were also tested. Along with this, regeneration of coatings and self-cleaning, corrosion resistance and water repelling characteristics were also studied. The surface morphology shows the presence of a rough microstuctures on the treated surfaces and the contact angle measurements confirms the superhydrophobic nature. It is experimentally observed that the surface roughness and contact angle increases with increase in etching time as well as with concentration of etchant. Superhydrophobic surfaces show the excellent self-cleaning behaviour. Coatings are found to be stable and maintain their superhydrophobicity in acidic and alkaline solutions. Water jet impact, floatation on water surface, and low temperature condensation tests prove the water-repellent nature of the coatings. These coatings are found to be thermal, mechanical and ultra-violet stable. These durable superhydrophobic metallic surfaces have potential industrial applications.

Keywords: superhydrophobic, water-repellent, anti-corrosion, self-cleaning

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Tripta Dixit, Smita Sahu, William Selvamurthy, Sadhana Srivastava

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The translation of healthcare technologies is an expensive, complex affair, current healthcare challenges in Asian countries and their efforts to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), necessitates continuous technology advancement to save countless lives, improve the quality of life and for socio-economic development. India’s consistently improving global innovation index (57) demonstrates its innovation potential, but access to health care is asymmetric and lacks priority in India. Therefore, there is utmost need of a robust translation system for point-of-care (POC) solutions, inexpensive, low-maintenance, reliable, and easy-to-use diagnostic technologies. Few cases of POC technologies viz. Elisa based diagnostic kits for regional viral disease, a device for detection of cancerous lesions were studied to understand the process and challenges involved in their translation. Accordingly, the entire translation ecosystem was summarized proposing a nexus of various actors such as technology developer, technology transferor technology receiver, funding entities, government/regulatory bodies and their effect on translation of different medical technologies. This study highlights the role and concerns pertaining to these actors for POC such as unsystematic and unvalidated research roadmap, low profit preposition, unfocused approach of up-scaling, low market acceptability and multiple window regulatory framework, etc. This provides an opportunity to devise solutions to overcome problem areas in translation path.

Keywords: healthcare technologies, point-of-care solutions, public health, translation

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Rao Fu, Jie Chen, Shutian Zeng, Yiping Zhuang, Agus Sudjianto

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Generative Adversarial Net (GAN) has proved to be a powerful machine learning tool in image data analysis and generation. In this paper, we propose to use Conditional Generative Adversarial Net (CGAN) to learn and simulate time series data. The conditions include both categorical and continuous variables with different auxiliary information. Our simulation studies show that CGAN has the capability to learn different types of normal and heavy-tailed distributions, as well as dependent structures of different time series. It also has the capability to generate conditional predictive distributions consistent with training data distributions. We also provide an in-depth discussion on the rationale behind GAN and the neural networks as hierarchical splines to establish a clear connection with existing statistical methods of distribution generation. In practice, CGAN has a wide range of applications in market risk and counterparty risk analysis: it can be applied to learn historical data and generate scenarios for the calculation of Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES), and it can also predict the movement of the market risk factors. We present a real data analysis including a backtesting to demonstrate that CGAN can outperform Historical Simulation (HS), a popular method in market risk analysis to calculate VaR. CGAN can also be applied in economic time series modeling and forecasting. In this regard, we have included an example of hypothetical shock analysis for economic models and the generation of potential CCAR scenarios by CGAN at the end of the paper.

Keywords: conditional generative adversarial net, market and credit risk management, neural network, time series

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Yen-Luan Chen

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Maintenance has a great impact on the capacity of production and on the quality of the products, and therefore, it deserves continuous improvement. Maintenance procedure done before a failure is called preventive maintenance (PM). Sequential PM, which specifies that a system should be maintained at a sequence of intervals with unequal lengths, is one of the commonly used PM policies. This article proposes a generalized sequential PM policy for a system subject to shocks with imperfect maintenance and random working time. The shocks arrive according to a non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) with varied intensity function in each maintenance interval. As a shock occurs, the system suffers two types of failures with number-dependent probabilities: type-I (minor) failure, which is rectified by a minimal repair, and type-II (catastrophic) failure, which is removed by a corrective maintenance (CM). The imperfect maintenance is carried out to improve the system failure characteristic due to the altered shock process. The sequential preventive maintenance-last (PML) policy is defined as that the system is maintained before any CM occurs at a planned time Ti or at the completion of a working time in the i-th maintenance interval, whichever occurs last. At the N-th maintenance, the system is replaced rather than maintained. This article first takes up the sequential PML policy with random working time and imperfect maintenance in reliability engineering. The optimal preventive maintenance schedule that minimizes the mean cost rate of a replacement cycle is derived analytically and determined in terms of its existence and uniqueness. The proposed models provide a general framework for analyzing the maintenance policies in reliability theory.

Keywords: optimization, preventive maintenance, random working time, minimal repair, replacement, reliability

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Alireza Taghdiri, Sara Ghanbarzade Ghomi

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Existing buildings are permanently subjected to change, continuously renovated and repaired in their long service life. Old buildings are destroyed and their material and components are recycled or reused for constructing new ones. In this process, importance of sustainability principles for building construction is obviously known and great significance must be attached to consumption of resources, resulting effects on the environment and economic costs. Utilization strategies for extending buildings service life and delay in destroying have positive effect on environment protection. In addition, simpler alterability or expandability of buildings’ structures and reducing energy and natural resources consumption have benefits for users, producers and environment. To solve these problems, by applying theories of open building, structural components of some conventional building systems have been analyzed and then, a new geometry adaptive building system is developed which can transform and support different imposed loads. In order to achieve this goal, various research methods and tools such as professional and scientific literatures review, comparative analysis, case study and computer simulation were applied and data interpretation was implemented using descriptive statistics and logical arguments. Therefore, hypothesis and proposed strategies were evaluated and an adaptable and reusable 2-dimensional building system was presented which can respond appropriately to dwellers and end-users needs and provide reusability of structural components of building system in new construction or function. Investigations showed that this incremental building system can be successfully applied in achieving the architectural design objectives and by small modifications on components and joints, it is easy to obtain different and adaptable load-optimized component alternatives for flexible spaces.

Keywords: adaptability, durability, open building, service life, structural building system

Procedia PDF Downloads 366

Authors: Fariza Yunus, Jasmee Jaafar, Zamalia Mahmud, Nurul Nisa’ Khairul Azmi, Nursalleh K. Chang, Nursalleh K. Chang

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Variation of air temperature from one place to another is cause by air temperature controls. In general, the most important control of air temperature is elevation. Another significant independent variable in estimating air temperature is the location of meteorological stations. Distances to coastline and land use type are also contributed to significant variations in the air temperature. On the other hand, in homogeneous terrain direct interpolation of discrete points of air temperature work well to estimate air temperature values in un-sampled area. In this process the estimation is solely based on discrete points of air temperature. However, this study presents that air temperature controls also play significant roles in estimating air temperature over homogenous terrain of Peninsular Malaysia. An Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation technique was adopted to generate continuous data of air temperature. This study compared two different datasets, observed mean monthly data of T, and estimation error of T–T’, where T’ estimated value from a multiple regression model. The multiple regression model considered eight independent variables of elevation, latitude, longitude, coastline, and four land use types of water bodies, forest, agriculture and build up areas, to represent the role of air temperature controls. Cross validation analysis was conducted to review accuracy of the estimation values. Final results show, estimation values of T–T’ produced lower errors for mean monthly mean air temperature over homogeneous terrain in Peninsular Malaysia.

Keywords: air temperature control, interpolation analysis, peninsular Malaysia, regression model, air temperature

Procedia PDF Downloads 374

Authors: Nardine El Bardisy, Wolf Reuter, Ayat Ismail

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In Egypt, there is continuous housing demand as a result of rapid population growth. In 1979, this forced the government to establish new urban communities in order to decrease stress around delta. New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) was formulated to take the responsibly of this new policy. These communities suffer from social life deficiency due to their typology, which is separated island with barriers. New urban communities’ typology results from the influence of neoliberalism movement and modern city planning forms. The lack of social interaction in these communities at present should be enhanced in the future. On a global perspective, sustainable development calls for creating more sustainable communities which include social, economic and environmental aspects. From 1960, planners were highly focusing on the promotion of the social dimension in urban development plans. The research hypothesis states: “It is possible to promote social interaction in new urban communities through a set of socio-spatial recommended strategies that are tailored for Greater Cairo Region context”. In order to test this hypothesis, the case of El-Sherouk city is selected, which represents the typical NUCA development plans. Social interaction indicators were derived from literature and used to explore different social dynamics in the selected case. The tools used for exploring case study are online questionnaires, face to face questionnaires, interviews, and observations. These investigations were analyzed, conclusions and recommendations were set to improve social interaction.

Keywords: new urban communities, modern planning, social interaction, social life

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: S. Gowri, K. Narayanasamy, R. Krishnamurthy

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Plasma spraying, from the point of value engineering, is considered as a cost-effective technique to deposit high performance ceramic coatings on ferrous substrates for use in the aero,automobile,electronics and semiconductor industries. High-performance ceramics such as Alumina, Zirconia, and titania-based ceramics have become a key part of turbine blades,automotive cylinder liners,microelectronic and semiconductor components due to their ability to insulate and distribute heat. However, as the industries continue to advance, improved methods are needed to increase both the flexibility and speed of ceramic processing in these applications. The ceramics mentioned were individually coated on structural steel substrate with NiCr bond coat of 50-70 micron thickness with the final thickness in the range of 150 to 200 microns. Optimal spray parameters were selected based on bond strength and porosity. The 'optimal' processed specimens were super finished by lapping using diamond and green SiC abrasives. Interesting results could be observed as follows: The green SiC could improve the surface finish of lapped surfaces almost as that by diamond in case of alumina and titania based ceramics but the diamond abrasives could improve the surface finish of PSZ better than that by green SiC. The conventional random scratches could be absent in alumina and titania ceramics but in PS those marks were found to be less. However, the flatness accuracy could be improved unto 60 to 85%. The surface finish and geometrical accuracy were measured and modeled. The abrasives in the midrange of their particle size could improve the surface quality faster and better than the particles of size in low and high ranges. From the experimental investigations after lapping process, the optimal lapping time, abrasive size, lapping pressure etc could be evaluated.

Keywords: atmospheric plasma spraying, ceramics, lapping, surface qulaity, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 414

Authors: Setya Winarno

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Due to abundant Merapi volcanic sand in Yogyakarta City, many local people have utilized it for mass production of concrete blocks through mini plants although their products are low in quality. This paper presents a practice model for quality improvement in this situation in order to supply the current customer interest in good quality of construction material. The method of this research was to investigate a techno economic evaluation through laboratory test and interview. Samples of twenty existing concrete blocks made by local people had only 19.4 kg/cm2 in average compression strength which was lower than the minimum Indonesian standard of 25 kg/cm2. Through repeat testing in laboratory for fulfilling the standard, the concrete mix design of water cement ratio should not be more than 0.64 by weight basis. The proportion of sand as aggregate content should not be more than 9 parts to 1 part by volume of Portland cement. Considering the production cost, the basic price was Rp 1,820 for each concrete block, comparing to Rp 2,000 as a normal competitive market price. At last, the model describes (a) maximum water cement ratio is 0.64, (b) maximum proportion of sand and cement is 1:9, (c) the basic price is about Rp. 1,820.00 and (d) strategies to win the competitive market on mass production of concrete blocks are focus in quality, building relationships with consumer, rapid respond to customer need, continuous innovation by product diversification, promotion in social media, and strict financial management.

Keywords: concrete block, good quality, improvement model, diversification

Procedia PDF Downloads 515

Authors: Ebrahim Panah, Muhammad Yasir Babar

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Thanks to the development of online technology and social networks, people are able to communicate as well as learn. WhatsApp is a popular social network which is growingly gaining popularity. This app can be used for communication as well as education. It can be used for instructor-learner, learner-learner, and learner-content interactions; however, very little knowledge is available on these potentials of WhatsApp. The current study was undertaken to investigate university students’ perceptions of WhatsApp used as a tool for instructor-learner dialogue, learner-content dialogue, and learner-learner dialogue. The study adopted a survey approach and distributed the questionnaire developed by Google Forms to 54 (11 males and 43 females) university students. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The result of data analysis indicates that students have positive attitudes towards WhatsApp as a tool for Instructor-Learner Dialogue: it easy to reach the lecturer (4.07), the instructor gives me valuable feedback on my assignment (4.02), the instructor is supportive during course discussion and offers continuous support with the class (4.00). Learner-Content Dialogue: WhatsApp allows me to academically engage with lecturers anytime, anywhere (4.00), it helps to send graphics such as pictures or charts directly to the students (3.98), it also provides out of class, extra learning materials and homework (3.96), and Learner-Learner Dialogue: WhatsApp is a good tool for sharing knowledge with others (4.09), WhatsApp allows me to academically engage with peers anytime, anywhere (4.07), and we can interact with others through the use of group discussion (4.02). It was also found that there are significant positive correlations between students’ perceptions of Instructor-Learner Dialogue (ILD), Learner-Content Dialogue (LCD), Learner-Learner Dialogue (LLD) and WhatsApp Application in classroom. The findings of the study have implications for lectures, policy makers and curriculum developers.

Keywords: instructor-learner dialogue, learners-contents dialogue, learner-learner dialogue, whatsapp application

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Seema Sangwan, Ekta Narwal, Kannepalli Annapurna

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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation on drought stress tolerance in 3 genotypes of wheat subjected to moderate water stress, i.e. HD 3043 (drought tolerant), HD 2987 (drought tolerant), and HD 2967 (drought sensitive). Various growth parameters were studied, e.g. total dry weight, total shoot and root length, root volume, root surface area, grain weight and number, leaf area, chlorophyll content in leaves, relative water content, number of spores and percent colonisation of roots by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Total dry weight, root surface area and chlorophyll content were found to be significantly high in AMF inoculated plants as compared to the non-mycorrhizal ones and also higher in drought-tolerant varieties of wheat as compared to the sensitive variety HD 2967, in moderate water stress treatments. Leakage of electrolytes was lower in case of AMF inoculated stressed plants. Under continuous water stress, leaf water content and leaf area were significantly increased in AMF inoculated plants as compared to un-inoculated stressed plants. Overall, the increased colonisation of roots of wheat by AMF in inoculated plants weather drought tolerant or sensitive could have a beneficial effect in alleviating the harmful effects of water stress in wheat and delaying its senescence.

Keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, wheat, drought, stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Hao Wang, Shuguo Pan

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The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal received by the dynamic vehicle in the harsh environment will be frequently interfered with and blocked, which generates gross error affecting the positioning accuracy of the GNSS/Inertial Navigation System (INS) integrated navigation. Therefore, this paper put forward an improved robust Cubature Kalman filter (CKF) algorithm for single-frequency GNSS/INS tightly coupled system ambiguity resolution. Firstly, the dynamic model and measurement model of a single-frequency GNSS/INS tightly coupled system was established, and the method for GNSS integer ambiguity resolution with INS aided is studied. Then, we analyzed the influence of pseudo-range observation with gross error on GNSS/INS integrated positioning accuracy. To reduce the influence of outliers, this paper improved the CKF algorithm and realized an intelligent selection of robust strategies by judging the ill-conditioned matrix. Finally, a field navigation test was performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm based on the double-differenced solution mode. The experiment has proved the improved robust algorithm can greatly weaken the influence of separate, continuous, and hybrid observation anomalies for enhancing the reliability and accuracy of GNSS/INS tightly coupled navigation solutions.

Keywords: GNSS/INS integrated navigation, ambiguity resolution, Cubature Kalman filter, Robust algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Adedoyin Akintunde Adedayo, Onilude Abiodun Anthony

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The continuous usage of synthetic antibiotics in livestock production has led to the resistance of microbial pathogens. This has prompted research to find alternative sources. This study aims to compare the growth and intestinal health of broilers fed scent leaf meal (SLM) as an alternative to synthetic antibiotics. The study used a completely randomized design (CRD) with 300 one-week-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks. The chicks were divided into six treatments with five replicates of ten birds each. The feeding trial lasted 49 days, including a one-week acclimatization period. Commercial broiler diets were used. The diets included a negative control (no leaf meal or antibiotics), a positive control (0.10% oxy-tetracycline), and four diets with different levels of SLM (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%). The supplementation of both oxy-tetracycline and SLM improved feed intake during the finisher phase. Birds fed SLM at a 1% inclusion level showed significantly (P<0.05) improved average body weight gain (ABWG), lowered feed-to-gain ratio, and cost per kilogram of weight gain compared to other diets. The mortality (2.0%) rate was significantly higher in the negative control group. White blood cell levels varied significantly (P<0.05) in birds fed SLM-supplemented diets, and the use of 2% SLM led to an increase in liver weight. However, welfare indices were not compromised.

Keywords: Arbor Acres, phyto-biotic, synthetic antibiotic, white blood cell, liver weight

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Innocent Uzougbo Onwuegbuzie, Siene Elizabeth Eke

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This study investigates cybersecurity challenges and solutions in managing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, South-West Nigeria. The rapid evolution of ICT has revolutionized organizational operations and impacted various sectors, including education, healthcare, and finance. While ICT advancements facilitate seamless communication, complex data analytics, and strategic decision-making, they also introduce significant cybersecurity risks such as data breaches, ransomware, and other malicious attacks. These threats jeopardize the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information systems, necessitating robust cybersecurity measures. The primary aim of this research is to identify prevalent cybersecurity challenges in ICT management, evaluate their impact on the institution's operations, and assess the effectiveness of current cybersecurity solutions. Adopting a quantitative research approach, data was collected through surveys and structured questionnaires from students, staff, and IT professionals at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti. The findings underscore the critical need for continuous investment in cybersecurity technologies, employee and student training, and regulatory compliance to mitigate evolving cyber threats. This research contributes to bridging the knowledge gap in cybersecurity management and provides valuable insights into effective strategies and technologies for safeguarding ICT systems in educational institutions. The study's objectives are to enhance the security posture of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, in an increasingly digital world by identifying and addressing the cybersecurity challenges faced by its ICT management.

Keywords: cybersecurity challenges, cyber threat mitigation, federal polytechnic Ado-Ekiti, ICT management

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: A. B. Benshak, M. G. Yilkangnha, V. Y. Nanle

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Social crises and violent conflict can inflict direct (short-term) impact on the environment like poisoning water bodies, climate change, deforestation, destroying the chemical component of the soil due to the chemical and biological weapons used. It can also impact the environment indirectly (long-term), e.g., the destruction of political and economic infrastructure to manage the environmental resources and breaking down traditional conservation practices, population displacement and refugee flows which puts pressure on the already inadequate resources, infrastructure, facilities, amenities, services etc. This study therefore examines the impact of social crises on the environment in Jos Plateau State with emphasis on the long-term impact, analyze the relationship between crises and the environment and assess the perception of people on social crises because much work have concentrated on other repercussions such as the economy, health etc that are more politically expedient. The data for this research were collected mostly through interviews, questionnaire, dailies and reports on the subject matter. The data and findings were presented in tables and results showed that the environment is directly and indirectly impacted by crises and that these impacts can in turn result to a continuous cycle of violent activities if not addressed because of the inadequacies in the supply of infrastructural facilities, resources and so on caused by the inflow of displaced population. Recommendations were made on providing security to minimize conflict occurrences in Jos and its environs, minimizing the impact of social crises on the environment, provision of adequate infrastructural facilities to carter for population rise, renewal and regeneration schemes, etc. which will go a long way in mitigating the impact of crises on the environment.

Keywords: environment, impact, long-term, social crises

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: Keyvan Ramin

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The geometric nonlinearity of Off-Diagonal Bracing System (ODBS) could be a complementary system to covering and extending the nonlinearity of reinforced concrete material. Finite element modeling is performed for flexural frame, x-braced frame and the ODBS braced frame system at the initial phase. Then the different models are investigated along various analyses. According to the experimental results of flexural and x-braced frame, the verification is done. Analytical assessments are performed in according to three-dimensional finite element modeling. Non-linear static analysis is considered to obtain performance level and seismic behavior, and then the response modification factors calculated from each model’s pushover curve. In the next phase, the evaluation of cracks observed in the finite element models, especially for RC members of all three systems is performed. The finite element assessment is performed on engendered cracks in ODBS braced frame for various time steps. The nonlinear dynamic time history analysis accomplished in different stories models for three records of Elcentro, Naghan, and Tabas earthquake accelerograms. Dynamic analysis is performed after scaling accelerogram on each type of flexural frame, x-braced frame and ODBS braced frame one by one. The base-point on RC frame is considered to investigate proportional displacement under each record. Hysteresis curves are assessed along continuing this study. The equivalent viscous damping for ODBS system is estimated in according to references. Results in each section show the ODBS system has an acceptable seismic behavior and their conclusions have been converged when the ODBS system is utilized in reinforced concrete frame.

Keywords: FEM, seismic behaviour, pushover analysis, geometric nonlinearity, time history analysis, equivalent viscous damping, passive control, crack investigation, hysteresis curve

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: Sajjad Shukur Ullah, Syed Shujaa Safdar Gardezi

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Road infrastructure plays a vital role in the economic activities of any economy. Besides derived benefits from these facilities, the utilization of extensive energy resources, fuels, and materials results in a negative impact on the environment in terms of carbon footprint; carbon footprint is the overall amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) generated from any action. However, this aspect of environmental impact from road structure is not seriously considered during such developments, thus undermining a critical factor of sustainable development, which usually remains unaddressed, especially in developing countries. The current work investigates the carbon footprint impact of a small road project (0.8 km, dual carriageway) initiated for traffic management in an urban centre. Life cycle assessment (LCA) with boundary conditions of cradle to the site has been adopted. The only construction phase of the life cycle has been assessed at this stage. An impact of 10 ktons-CO2 (6260 ton-CO2/km) has been assessed. The rigid pavement dominated the contributions as compared to a flexible component. Among the structural elements, the underpass works shared the major portion. Among the materials, the concrete and steel utilized for various structural elements resulted in more than 90% of the impact. The earth-moving equipment was dominant in operational carbon. The results have highlighted that road infrastructure projects pose serious threats to the environment during their construction and which need to be considered during the approval stages. This work provides a guideline for supporting sustainable development that could only be ensured when such endeavours are properly assessed by industry professionals and decide various alternative environmental conscious solutions for the future.

Keywords: construction waste management, kiloton, life cycle assessment, rigid pavement

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Sherman Ho, Ahmed Cherif Megri

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Headers play a critical role in conveying steam to regulate heating system temperatures. While various materials like steel grades 91 and 92 have been traditionally used for pipes, this research proposes the use of a robust and innovative material, INCONEL Alloy 740H. Boilers in power plant configurations are exposed to cycling conditions due to factors such as daily, seasonal, and yearly variations in weather. These cycling conditions can lead to the deterioration of headers, which are vital components with intricate geometries. Header failures result in substantial financial losses from repair costs and power plant shutdowns, along with significant public inconveniences such as the loss of heating and hot water. To address this issue and seek solutions, a mechanical analysis, as well as a structural analysis, are recommended. Transient analysis to predict heat transfer conditions is of paramount importance, as the direction of heat transfer within the header walls and the passing steam can vary based on the location of interest, load, and operating conditions. The geometry and material of the header are also crucial design factors, and the choice of pipe material depends on its usage. In this context, the heat transfer coefficient plays a vital role in header design and analysis. This research employs ANSYS Fluent, a numerical simulation program, to understand header behavior, predict heat transfer, and analyze mechanical phenomena within the header. Transient simulations are conducted to investigate parameters like heat transfer coefficient, pressure loss coefficients, and heat flux, with the results used to optimize header design.

Keywords: CFD, header, power plant, heat transfer coefficient, simulation using experimental data

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Khaled Hamdan, Abid Amorri, Fatima Hamdan

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Involving students in English language learning process and achieving an adequate English language proficiency in the target language can be a great challenge for both teachers and students. This can prove even a far greater challenge to engage students with special needs (Dyslexia) if they have physical impairment and inadequate mastery of basic communicative language competence/proficiency in the target language. From this perspective, technology like robots can probably be used to enhance learning process for the special needs students who have extensive communication needs, who face continuous struggle to interact with their peers and teachers and meet academic requirements. Robots, precisely NAO, can probably provide them with the perfect opportunity to practice social and communication skills, and meet their English academic requirements. This research paper aims to identify to what extent robots can be used to improve students’ social interaction and communication skills and to understand the potential for robotics-based education in motivating and engaging UAEU dyslexic students to meet university requirements. To reach this end, the paper will explore several factors that come into play – Motion Level-involving cognitive activities, Interaction Level-involving language processing, Behavior Level -establishing a close relationship with the robot and Appraisal Level- focusing on dyslexia students’ achievement in the target language.

Keywords: dyslexia, robot technology, motion, interaction, behavior and appraisal levels, social and communication skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 372

Authors: Suraj Jena, Rabindra Kumar Panda

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The study region of the reported study was in Eastern India, having a sub-humid sub-tropical climate and sandy loam soil. The rainfall in this region has wide temporal and spatial variation. Due to lack of adequate surface water to meet the irrigation and household demands, groundwater is being over exploited in that region leading to continuous depletion of groundwater level. Therefore, there is an obvious urgency in reversing the depleting groundwater level through induced recharge, which becomes more critical under the climate change scenarios. The major goal of the reported study was to investigate the effects of climate change on groundwater recharge and subsequent adaptation strategies. Groundwater recharge was modelled using HELP3, a quasi-two-dimensional, deterministic, water-routing model along with global climate models (GCMs) and three global warming scenarios, to examine the changes in groundwater recharge rates for a 2030 climate under a variety of soil and vegetation covers. The relationship between the changing mean annual recharge and mean annual rainfall was evaluated for every combination of soil and vegetation using sensitivity analysis. The relationship was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05) with a coefficient of determination of 0.81. Vegetation dynamics and water-use affected by the increase in potential evapotranspiration for large climate variability scenario led to significant decrease in recharge from 49–658 mm to 18–179 mm respectively. Therefore, appropriate conjunctive use, irrigation schedule and enhanced recharge practices under the climate variability and land use/land cover change scenarios impacting the groundwater recharge needs to be understood properly for groundwater sustainability.

Keywords: Groundwater recharge, climate variability, Land use/cover, GCM

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Satpal Yadav, Ashish Phulkar, Krishna K. Sahu

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Aim: The research aims at doing a 3 Dimension biomechanical analysis in the shot put techniques of International throwers to evaluate the performance. Research Method: The researcher adopted the descriptive method and the data was subjected to calculate by using Pearson’s product moment correlation for the correlation of the biomechanical parameters with the performance of shot put throw. In all the analyses, the 5% critical level (p ≤ 0.05) was considered to indicate statistical significance. Research Sample: Eight (N=08) international shot putters using rotational/glide technique in male category was selected as subjects for the study. The researcher used the following methods and tools to obtain reliable measurements the instrument which was used for the purpose of present study namely the tesscorn slow-motion camera, specialized motion analyzer software, 7.260 kg Shot Put (for a male shot-putter) and steel tape. All measurement pertaining to the biomechanical variables was taken by the principal investigator so that data collected for the present study was considered reliable. Results: The finding of the study showed that negative significant relationship between the angular velocity right shoulder, acceleration distance at pre flight (-0.70), (-0.72) respectively were obtained, the angular displacement of knee, angular velocity right shoulder and acceleration distance at flight (0.81), (0.75) and (0.71) respectively were obtained, the angular velocity right shoulder and acceleration distance at transition phase (0.77), (0.79) respectively were obtained and angular displacement of knee, angular velocity right shoulder, release velocity shot, angle of release, height of release, projected distance and measured distance as the values (0.76), (0.77), (-0.83), (-0.79), (-0.77), (0.99) and (1.00) were found higher than the tabulated value at 0.05 level of significance. On the other hand, there exists an insignificant relationship between the performance of shot put and acceleration distance [m], angular displacement shot, C.G at release and horizontal release distance on the technique of shot put.

Keywords: biomechanics, analysis, shot put, international throwers

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Kohtaroh Miyamoto

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As enterprise computing becomes more and more complex, the costs and technical challenges of IT system maintenance and support are increasing rapidly. One popular approach to managing IT system maintenance is to prepare and use an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) system to manage and reuse systems knowledge. Such an FAQ system can help reduce the resolution time for each service incident ticket. However, there is a major problem where over time the knowledge in such FAQs tends to become outdated. Much of the knowledge captured in the FAQ requires periodic updates in response to new insights or new trends in the problems addressed in order to maintain its usefulness for problem resolution. These updates require a systematic approach to define the exact portion of the FAQ and its content. Therefore, we are working on a novel method to hierarchically structure the FAQ and automate the updates of its structure and content. We use structured information and the unstructured text information with the timelines of the information in the service incident tickets. We cluster the tickets by structured category information, by keywords, and by keyword modifiers for the unstructured text information. We also calculate an urgency score based on trends, resolution times, and priorities. We carefully studied the tickets of one of our projects over a 2.5-year time period. After the first 6 months, we started to create FAQs and confirmed they improved the resolution times. We continued observing over the next 2 years to assess the ongoing effectiveness of our method for the automatic FAQ updates. We improved the ratio of tickets covered by the FAQ from 32.3% to 68.9% during this time. Also, the average time reduction of ticket resolution was between 31.6% and 43.9%. Subjective analysis showed more than 75% reported that the FAQ system was useful in reducing ticket resolution times.

Keywords: FAQ system, resolution time, service incident tickets, IT system maintenance

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Xinchen Zhu

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In the history of Chinese-language film, female stars’ acting is connected with issues of national ideology, consumerism, and sexual politics. In the 1980s, Taiwan entered a period of ‘soft authoritarianism’ in which the economy prospered politics became more democratic, and mass culture became more diverse. Film censorship was more flexible and sexual scenes were increasingly shown on screen. Female stars’ bodies were eroticized and commercialized through sexual and nude scenes and, by challenging conservative film censorship and social taboos, became the focus of mass media. This article will explore how discourses in mass media constructed the erotic images of female stars and, conversely, impacted film censorship, filmmakers and film actresses in 1980s’ Taiwan. This article will regard the eroticized female film stars’ acting as a ‘field’ of internal interaction and continuous reproduction, where the ideology of male dominance and voices of female film stars conflict with each other. Based on textual analysis of female stars’ sexual acting and the debate in mass media, the argument is that the eroticized female bodies were gazed upon on and off the screen. In the discourses of mass media, the artistry of actresses’ erotic acting was not only ignored, devalued and delegitimized, these stars were also labelled as ‘undressed star’ or ‘nude star’ and construed as victims of the film industry. However, the female stars were able to speak through mass media platforms, emphasizing their efforts in erotic acting and highlighting modern female subjectivity.

Keywords: sexual scenes, Taiwan female stars, erotic acting, discourses in mass media, female subjectivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Revanth Rallapalli

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Manually dispensing powders can be difficult as it requires gradually pouring and checking the amount on the scale to be dispensed. Current systems are manual and non-continuous in nature and are user-dependent and difficult to control powder dispensation. Recurrent dosing of powdered medicines in precise amounts quickly and accurately has been an all-time challenge. Various new powder dispensing mechanisms are being designed to overcome these challenges. A battery-operated screw conveyor mechanism is being innovated to overcome the above problems faced. These inventions are numerically evaluated at the concept development level by employing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) of gas-solids multiphase flow systems. CFD has been very helpful in the development of such devices saving time and money by reducing the number of prototypes and testing. This paper describes a simulation of powder dispensation from the trocar’s end by considering the powder as secondary flow in the air, is simulated by using the technique called Dense Discrete Phase Model incorporated with Kinetic Theory of Granular Flow (DDPM-KTGF). By considering the volume fraction of powder as 50%, the transportation of powder from the inlet side to the trocar’s end side is done by rotation of the screw conveyor. The performance is calculated for a 1-sec time frame in an unsteady computation manner. This methodology will help designers in developing design concepts to improve the dispensation and the effective area within a quick turnaround time frame.

Keywords: multiphase flow, screw conveyor, transient, dense discrete phase model (DDPM), kinetic theory of granular flow (KTGF)

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Erfan Niazi, Marianne Fenech

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Red Blood Cells (RBCs) or erythrocytes tend to form chain-like aggregates under low shear rate called rouleaux. This is a reversible process and rouleaux disaggregate in high shear rates. Therefore, RBCs aggregation occurs in the microcirculation where low shear rates are present but does not occur under normal physiological conditions in large arteries. Numerical modeling of RBCs interactions is fundamental in analytical models of a blood flow in microcirculation. Population Balance Modeling (PBM) is particularly useful for studying problems where particles agglomerate and break in a two phase flow systems to find flow characteristics. In this method, the elementary particles lose their individual identity due to continuous destructions and recreations by break-up and agglomeration. The aim of this study is to find RBCs aggregation in a dynamic situation. Simplified PBM was used previously to find the aggregation rate on a static observation of the RBCs aggregation in a drop of blood under the microscope. To find aggregation rate in a dynamic situation we propose an experimental set up testing RBCs sedimentation. In this test, RBCs interact and aggregate to form rouleaux. In this configuration, disaggregation can be neglected due to low shear stress. A high-speed camera is used to acquire video-microscopic pictures of the process. The sizes of the aggregates and velocity of sedimentation are extracted using an image processing techniques. Based on the data collection from 5 healthy human blood samples, the aggregation rate was estimated as 2.7x10³(±0.3 x10³) 1/s.

Keywords: red blood cell, rouleaux, microfluidics, image processing, population balance modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Betül Garda

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Technological developments have diversified marketing activities of the tourism sector and it has increased tourism opportunities to compete on a global scale for tourism businesses. Tourism businesses have been forced to use its core skills and knowledge effectively with the increase in effectiveness of the technology in the global competitive environment. Tourism businesses have been reached beyond the traditional boundaries because of their commercial activities, so, the boundaries of the national market either eliminated or blurred. Therefore, the internet is the alternative promotion tool and distribution channel to providing unlimited facilities for tourism suppliers. For example, the internet provides an opportunity to reach customers on a global scale with direct email marketing, advertising, customer service, promotion, sales, and marketing. Tourism businesses have improved themselves with the continuous information flows and also they have provided the permanence of the changes. Especially in terms of tourism businesses, social media is emerging as an extremely important tool in the use of knowledge effectively. This research paper investigates the impact of social media on the tourism businesses. A social networking site is a type of social media that provides a platform for business and people to connect with each other. Social media is so flexible that it can be used for both leisure and business purposes. In the tourism industry, social networking sites are one of the essential tools that play an important and beneficial role. The topic that will be discussed in this research paper are consumer behavior, connection with consumers, effectiveness in terms of time and cost, creating brand awareness and building the image of the company, promoting company, targeting consumers in a conceptual frame.

Keywords: branding, promoting, social media in tourism, tourism marketing tools

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: Mohammadreza Salek Faramarzi, Touraj Taghikhany

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In this paper, seismic fragility assessment of a recently developed hybrid structural system, known as the strongback system (SBS) is investigated. In this system, to mitigate the occurrence of the soft-story mechanism and improve the distribution of story drifts over the height of the structure, an elastic vertical truss is formed. The strengthened members of the braced span are designed to remain substantially elastic during levels of excitation where soft-story mechanisms are likely to occur and impose a nearly uniform story drift distribution. Due to the distinctive characteristics of near-field ground motions, it seems to be necessary to study the effect of these records on seismic performance of the SBS. To this end, a set of 56 near-field ground motion records suggested by FEMA P695 methodology is used. For fragility assessment, nonlinear dynamic analyses are carried out in OpenSEES based on the recommended procedure in HAZUS technical manual. Four damage states including slight, moderate, extensive, and complete damage (collapse) are considered. To evaluate each damage state, inter-story drift ratio and floor acceleration are implemented as engineering demand parameters. Further, to extend the evaluation of the collapse state of the system, a different collapse criterion suggested in FEMA P695 is applied. It is concluded that SBS can significantly increase the collapse capacity and consequently decrease the collapse risk of the structure during its life time. Comparing the observing mean annual frequency (MAF) of exceedance of each damage state against the allowable values presented in performance-based design methods, it is found that using the elastic vertical truss, improves the structural response effectively.

Keywords: IDA, near-fault, probabilistic performance assessment, seismic fragility, strongback system, uncertainty

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Gayan Mapitiya

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Maintaining good occupational health and safety (OHS) performance is significant at the coalface, especially in industries such as mining, power, and construction. Coalface workers are vulnerable to high OHS risks such as working at heights, working with mobile plants and vehicles, working with underground and above ground services, chemical emissions, radiation hazards and explosions at everyday work. To improve OHS performance of workers, OHS key performance indicators (KPIs) (for example, lost time injuries (LTI), serious injury frequency rate (SIFR), total reportable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) and number of near misses) are widely used by managers in making OHS business decisions such as investing in safety equipment and training programs. However, in many organizations, workers at the coalface hardly see any relevance or value addition of OHS KPIs to their everyday work. Therefore, the aim of the study was to understand why coalface workers perceive that OHS KPIs are not practically relevant to their jobs. Accordingly, this study was conducted as a qualitative case study focusing on a large electricity and gas firm in Australia. Semi-structured face to face interviews were conducted with selected coalface workers to gather data on their attitude towards OHS KPIs. The findings of the study revealed that workers at the coalface generally have no understanding of the purpose of KPIs, the meaning of each KPI, origin of KPIs, and how KPIs are correlated to organizational performance. Indeed, KPIs are perceived as ‘meaningless obstacles’ imposed on workers by managers without a rationale. It is recommended to engage coalface workers (a fair number of representatives) in both KPIs setting and revising processes while maintaining a continuous dialogue between workers and managers in regards OHS KPIs.

Keywords: KPIs, coalface, OHS risks, case-study

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Rahil Sahragard, Mahmoud Hatami, Rostam Bahadori Khalili

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Diabetes is one of the most important health problems in the world and a chronic disease requiring continuous care and therefore, it is necessary for patients to undergo self-care and nutrition education. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of nutrition education on the metabolic control of diabetic patients in Tehran in 2015. An experimental study was conducted on 100 patients who had previously been approved by a specialist physician for diabetes and at least one year after their onset. At first, patients without any knowledge of the educational program were selected as sample and from them a checklist containing demographic and specific information about diabetes was filled and were taken three fasting blood glucose and three times fasting blood glucose (5 p.m.) Then, the patients received face-to-face training in the same conditions for 2 weeks in a Mehregan hospital of Tehran, and received 3 months of training, while they were fully monitored and during this time, samples that had a cold or blood pressure-related disease or were admitted to the hospital were excluded from the study. After the end of the study, the checklist was filled again and 3 fasting blood glucose and 3 fasting blood glucose samples were taken, the results were statistically analyzed by MC Nemar's statistical test. The research findings were performed on 100 patients 41.7% male and 58.3% women, the range of age was between 22 and 60 years old, with a duration of diabetes ranging from 1 to 15 years. Abnormal fasting blood glucose from 95% to 48.3% (P <0.0001) and non-fasting blood glucose decreased from 91.6% to 71.2% (P <0.001). Research has shown that training on blood glucose control has been successful, therefore, it is recommended that more research is done in the field of education to help patients with diabetes more comfortable.

Keywords: nutrition education, diabetes, function, insulin, chronic, metabolic control

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Yan Huang

Abstract:

Event-related potentials (ERPs) technique helps researchers to make continuous measures on the whole process of language comprehension, with an excellent temporal resolution at the level of milliseconds. The research on sentence processing has developed from the behavioral level to the neuropsychological level, which brings about a variety of sentence processing theories and models. However, the applicability of these models to L2 learners is still under debate. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying English subjunctive mood processing by Chinese ESL learners. To this end, English subject clauses with subjunctive moods are used as the stimuli, all of which follow the same syntactic structure, “It is + adjective + that … + (should) do + …” Besides, in order to examine the role that language proficiency plays on L2 processing, this research deals with two groups of Chinese ESL learners (18 males and 22 females, mean age=21.68), namely, high proficiency group (Group H) and low proficiency group (Group L). Finally, the behavioral and neurophysiological data analysis reveals the following findings: 1) Syntax and semantics interact with each other on the SECOND phase (300-500ms) of sentence processing, which is partially in line with the Three-phase Sentence Model; 2) Language proficiency does affect L2 processing. Specifically, for Group H, it is the syntactic processing that plays the dominant role in sentence processing while for Group L, semantic processing also affects the syntactic parsing during the THIRD phase of sentence processing (500-700ms). Besides, Group H, compared to Group L, demonstrates a richer native-like ERPs pattern, which further demonstrates the role of language proficiency in L2 processing. Based on the research findings, this paper also provides some enlightenment for the L2 pedagogy as well as the L2 proficiency assessment.

Keywords: Chinese ESL learners, English subjunctive mood, ERPs, L2 processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 131