Search results for: high rotation number

Authors: Amelyn M. Ambal, Jose Hermis Patricio

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A macro-somatic clonal propagation study was undertaken to determine the effects of method of propagation, rooting hormone, and level of rooting hormone concentration of TBOS (Calophyllum inophyllum Mer. and Pongamia pinnata L.). A factorial experiment in SSSPD with three replications was used in the study and analyzed using ANOVA and LSD. Open mist propagation is effective for rooting Calophyllum inophyllum and Pongamia pinnata cuttings as it gave statistically higher number of adventitious roots, longer length of roots, and higher rooting percentage. C. inophyllum cuttings exhibit statistically higher rooting percentage compared to P. pinnata cuttings when subjected to open mist method and treated with 600 ppm of NAA. NAA is more effective than IBA in terms of number and length of roots, and rooting percentage produced. However, levels of hormone concentration were not generally effective on the rooting performance and shoot production of both species.

Keywords: adventitious roots, Calophyllum, close-mist, macro-somatic clonal propagation, Pongamia, open-mist

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Authors: Tahir Munir Butt, Gao Qijie, Babar Shahbaz, Muhammad Zakaria Yousaf Hassan, Zhnag Chuanhong

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The main objective of this paper is to identify the relationship between Information Communication Technology (ICTs) applications with Agricultural development in the process of communication at rural Punjab-Pakistan. The authors analyzed the relationship of ICTs applications with the most prominent factor for the Agricultural Information Services (AIS) in the Agricultural Extension Approaches (AEA). The data collection procedure was started from Jan. 2015 and completed in July 2015. It is the one of the part in PhD studies at China Agriculture, University Hadian-Beijng China. It was observed that on major constraint in the AIS disseminated was the limited number of farmers especially and unknown the farmers about new ICTs technology for Agriculture at rural areas. Majority of ICTs application e.g. Toll free number; Robo Calls; Text message was highly significances in the AIS approach. The recommendation is communication and capacity building one of the indispensable elements for sustainable and agricultural development and Agricultural extension should be provided training to farmer about new ICTs technologies to access and use of it for Sustainable Agriculture Development (SAD) and update the scenario of flow of information also with try to established ICTs hub at the village level.

Keywords: ICTs, AEA, AIS, SAD, rural farmers

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Authors: Dacheng Li, Bo Huang, Qinjin Han, Ming Li

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Remotely sensed imagery with the high spatial and temporal characteristics, which it is hard to acquire under the current land observation satellites, has been considered as a key factor for monitoring environmental changes over both global and local scales. On a basis of the limited high spatial-resolution observations, challenged studies called spatiotemporal fusion have been developed for generating high spatiotemporal images through employing other auxiliary low spatial-resolution data while with high-frequency observations. However, a majority of spatiotemporal fusion approaches yield to satisfactory assumption, empirical but unstable parameters, low accuracy or inefficient performance. Although the spatiotemporal fusion methodology via sparse representation theory has advantage in capturing reflectance changes, stability and execution efficiency (even more efficient when overcomplete dictionaries have been pre-trained), the retrieval of high-accuracy dictionary and its response to fusion results are still pending issues. In this paper, we employ additional image pairs (here each image-pair includes a Landsat Operational Land Imager and a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer acquisitions covering the partial area of Baotou, China) only into the coupled dictionary training process based on K-SVD (K-means Singular Value Decomposition) algorithm, and attempt to improve the fusion results of two existing sparse representation based fusion models (respectively utilizing one and two available image-pair). The results show that more eligible image pairs are probably related to a more accurate overcomplete dictionary, which generally indicates a better image representation, and is then contribute to an effective fusion performance in case that the added image-pair has similar seasonal aspects and image spatial structure features to the original image-pair. It is, therefore, reasonable to construct multi-dictionary training pattern for generating a series of high spatial resolution images based on limited acquisitions.

Keywords: spatiotemporal fusion, sparse representation, K-SVD algorithm, dictionary learning

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Authors: Mobina Sahraee Juybari

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There are around 300 languages spoken in Australia, and more than one-fifth of the population speaks a language other than English at home. The presence of international students in schools raises this number still further. Although the multilingual and multicultural status of Australia has been acknowledged by the government in education policy, the strong focus on English in institutional settings threatens the maintenance and learning of other languages. This is particularly true of universities’ language provisions. To cope with the financial impact of Covid-19, the government has cut funding for a number of Asian languages, such as Indonesian, Japanese and Chinese. This issue threats the maintenance of other languages in Australia and leaves students unprepared for the future job market. By taking account of the current reality of Australia’s diverse cultural and lingual makeup, this research intends to uncover the positioning of languages by having a historical look at Australia’s language policy and examining the value of languages and the probable impact of Covid-19 on the place of languages taught in Australian universities. A qualitative study will be adopted with language program tutors and course coordinators, with semi-structured interviews and government language policy analysis. This research hopes to provide insights into both the maintenance and learning of international language programs in tertiary language education in Australia and more widely.

Keywords: Australia, COVID-19, higher education sector, language maintenance, language and culture diversity

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Authors: Zarana Dave

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Cerium-doped lanthanum bromide, LaBr₃ (Ce), scintillator shows attracting properties for spectroscopy that makes it a suitable solution for security, medical, geophysics and high energy physics applications. Here, the performance parameters of a cylindrical LaBr₃ (Ce) scintillator was investigated. The first aspect is the determination of the efficiency for γ - ray detection, measured with GEANT4 simulation toolkit from 10keV to 10MeV energy range. The second is the detailed study of background radiation of LaBr₃ (Ce). It has relatively high intrinsic radiation background due to naturally occurring ¹³⁸La and ²²⁷Ac radioisotopes.

Keywords: LaBr₃(Ce), GEANT4, efficiency, background radiation

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Authors: Agata Tomaszewska, Timothy Kamps, Stephan R. Turnock, Nicola Symonds

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Bob skeleton is a highly competitive sport in which an athlete reaches speeds up to 40 m/s sliding, head first, down an ice track. It is believed that the friction between the runners and ice significantly contributes to the amount of the total energy loss during a bob skeleton descent. There is only limited available experimental data regarding the friction of bob skeleton runners or indeed steel on the ice at high sliding speeds ( > 20 m/s). Testing methods used to investigate the friction of steel on ice in winter sports have been outlined, and their accuracy and repeatability discussed. A system thinking approach was used to investigate the runner-ice interaction during sliding and create concept designs of three ice tribometers. The operational envelope of the bob skeleton system has been defined through mathematical modelling. Designs of a drum, linear and inertia pin-on-disk tribometers were developed specifically for bob skeleton runner testing with the requirement of reaching up to 40 m/s speed and facilitate fresh ice sliding. The design constraints have been outline and the proposed solutions compared based on the ease of operation, accuracy and the development cost.

Keywords: bob skeleton, ice friction, high-speed tribometers, sliding friction

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Authors: Sadık Ata, Kevser Dincer

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In this study, the performance of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell was experimentally investigated and modelled with Rule-Based Mamdani-Type Fuzzy (RBMTF) modelling technique. Coating on the anode side of the PEM fuel cell was accomplished with the spin method by using Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). Input-output parameters were described by RBMTF if-then rules. Numerical parameters of input and output variables were fuzzificated as linguistic variables: Very Very Low (L1), Very Low (L2), Low (L3), Negative Medium (L4), Medium (L5), Positive Medium (L6),High (L7), Very High (L8) and Very Very High (L9) linguistic classes. The comparison between experimental data and RBMTF is done by using statistical methods like absolute fraction of variance (R2). The actual values and RBMTF results indicated that RBMTF can be successfully used for the analysis of performance PEM fuel cell.

Keywords: proton exchange membrane (PEM), fuel cell, rule-based mamdani-type fuzzy (RMBTF) modelling, Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)

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Authors: George Charkoftakis, Panagiotis Liosatos, Nicolas-Alexander Tatlas, Dimitrios Goustouridis, Stelios M. Potirakis

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E-maintenance is a relatively new concept, generally referring to maintenance management by monitoring assets over the Internet. One of the key links in the chain of an e-maintenance system is data acquisition and transmission. Specifically for the case of a fleet of heavy-duty vehicles, where the main challenge is the diversity of the vehicles and vehicle-embedded self-diagnostic/reporting technologies, the design of the data acquisition and transmission unit is a demanding task. This clear if one takes into account that a heavy-vehicles fleet assortment may range from vehicles with only a limited number of analog sensors monitored by dashboard light indicators and gauges to vehicles with plethora of sensors monitored by a vehicle computer producing digital reporting. The present work proposes an adaptable internet of things (IoT) sensor node that is capable of addressing this challenge. The proposed sensor node architecture is based on the increasingly popular single-board computer – expansion boards approach. In the proposed solution, the expansion boards undertake the tasks of position identification by means of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), cellular connectivity by means of 3G/long-term evolution (LTE) modem, connectivity to on-board diagnostics (OBD), and connectivity to analog and digital sensors by means of a novel design of expansion board. Specifically, the later provides eight analog plus three digital sensor channels, as well as one on-board temperature / relative humidity sensor. The specific device offers a number of adaptability features based on appropriate zero-ohm resistor placement and appropriate value selection for limited number of passive components. For example, although in the standard configuration four voltage analog channels with constant voltage sources for the power supply of the corresponding sensors are available, up to two of these voltage channels can be converted to provide power to the connected sensors by means of corresponding constant current source circuits, whereas all parameters of analog sensor power supply and matching circuits are fully configurable offering the advantage of covering a wide variety of industrial sensors. Note that a key feature of the proposed sensor node, ensuring the reliable operation of the connected sensors, is the appropriate supply of external power to the connected sensors and their proper matching to the IoT sensor node. In standard mode, the IoT sensor node communicates to the data center through 3G/LTE, transmitting all digital/digitized sensor data, IoT device identity, and position. Moreover, the proposed IoT sensor node offers WiFi connectivity to mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) equipped with an appropriate application for the manual registration of vehicle- and driver-specific information, and these data are also forwarded to the data center. All control and communication tasks of the IoT sensor node are performed by dedicated firmware. It is programmed with a high-level language (Python) on top of a modern operating system (Linux). Acknowledgment: This research has been co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH—CREATE—INNOVATE (project code: T1EDK- 01359, IntelligentLogger).

Keywords: IoT sensor nodes, e-maintenance, single-board computers, sensor expansion boards, on-board diagnostics

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Authors: El Oualid Mokhnache, Noureddine Ramdani

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The choice of gun barrel materials is crucial to ensure the maximum high rate of fire. The high rate of fire causes wear-out damage and shuts off mechanical properties (hardness, strength, wear resistance, etc.) and ballistic properties (bullet speed, dispersion and precision, longevity of barrel, etc). To overcome these kinds of problems, a deep understanding of the effect of the firing cycle on the mechanical and ballistic properties of the barrel is regarded as crucial to improving its characteristics. In the present work, a real experimental test of firing by using a high steel barrel with 7.62x39 ammunition was carried. Microstructural observations by using SEM were investigated. Hardness evolution through the barrel of both barrels labeled as reference barrels and as fired barrels were compared and discussed. Ballistic properties during the firing test, including speed of projectile and precision dispersion, are revealed and discussed as well. The aim of the present communication is about to discuss the relationship between pressure distribution versus mechanical properties through the wall barrel. Ballistic properties, including speed of the projectile, dispersion, and precision results during the shooting process, were investigated. Microstructure observations of the as-rifled barrel in comparison with the as-reference barrel were performed as well.

Keywords: barrel, ballistic, pressure, microstructure evolution, hardness

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Authors: Juliana Barcelos Cordeiro, Khashayar Mahani, Farbod Farzan, Mohsen A. Jafari

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Energy disaggregation has been focused by many energy companies since energy efficiency can be achieved when the breakdown of energy consumption is known. Companies have been investing in technologies to come up with software and/or hardware solutions that can provide this type of information to the consumer. On the other hand, not all people can afford to have these technologies. Therefore, in this paper, we present a methodology for breaking down the aggregate consumption and identifying the highdemanding end-uses profiles. These energy profiles will be used to build the forecast model for optimal control purpose. A facility with high cooling load is used as an illustrative case study to demonstrate the results of proposed methodology. We apply a high level energy disaggregation through a pattern recognition approach in order to extract the consumption profile of its rooftop packaged units (RTUs) and present a forecast model for the energy consumption.  

Keywords: energy consumption forecasting, energy efficiency, load disaggregation, pattern recognition approach

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Authors: Kenneth O. Otasowie, Matthew Ikuabe, Clinton Aigbavboa, Ayodeji Oke

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Subcontracting has become a fundamental feature in the construction industry, particularly as most projects in South Africa (SA) are executed by subcontractors. However, the sector in SA contributes to the high level of occupational hazards and injuries recorded, despite Health and Safety (H&S) regulations being enforced in the industry. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the barriers to health and safety practices by subcontractors in SA Construction Industry. A survey design was adopted. A total number of one hundred and forty-four (144) questionnaires were administered to quantity surveyors, construction managers, construction project managers, project managers, architects, and civil and structural engineers, who are owners or work in small and medium enterprises in Guateng Province, SA and eighty-three (83) were returned and found suitable for analysis. Collected data were analysed using percentage, mean item score, standard deviation, and one-sample t-test. The findings show that lack of skilled workers, lack of safety training, and insufficient safety awareness are the most significant barriers to health and safety practices in SA Construction Industry. Therefore, the study recommends the improvement in skills of staff and adequate training for the safe execution of work be provided to all employees and supervisors in these subcontracting firms. These will mitigate the rate of accident occurrence on construction sites.

Keywords: barriers, health and safety, subcontractors, South Africa

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Authors: Kullanart Obsuwan, Chockpisit Thepsithar

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This study aimed to investigate effect of different organic supplements on growth of Vanda and Mokara seedlings. Vanda and Mokara seedlings approximately 0.2 and 0.3 cm. in height were sub-cultured onto VW supplemented with 150 ml/L coconut water, 100 g/L potato extract, 100 g/L ‘Gros Michel’ banana (AAA group) and 100 g/L ‘Namwa’ banana (ABB group). The explants were sub-cultured onto the same medium every month for 3 months. The best medium increased stem height to 0.52 and 0.44 Cm. in Vanda and Mokara respectively was supplemented with coconut water. The maximum fresh weight of Vanda (0.59 g) was found on medium supplemented with ‘Gros Michel’ banana while Mokara cultured on medium supplemented with Potato extract had the maximum fresh weight (0.27 g) and number of roots (5.20 roots/shoot) statistically different (p≤ 0.05) to other treatments. However, Vanda cultured on medium supplemented with ‘Namwa’ banana had the maximum number of roots (3.80 roots/shoot). Our results suggested that growth of different orchid genera was responded diversely to different organic supplements.

Keywords: orchid, in vitro propagation, fresh weight, plant height

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Authors: Reynald Contreras, Shaina Marie Bho, Kate Roan Dela Cruz, Marvin Dela Cruz

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This study was conducted with the aim of determining the skill level of grade ten (Grade 10) students in writing a reflective essay in selected secondary schools of Valenzuela. This research used descriptive and qualitative-quantitative research methods to systematically and accurately describe the level of writing skills of students and used a convenient sampling technique in selecting forty (40) students in grade ten. (Grade 10) at Polo, Wawang Pulo, and Arkong Batong high schools with a total of one hundred and twenty (120) students to assess the written reflective essay using modified rubrics developed based on 6+1 writing traits by Ruth Culham. According to the findings of the study, students at Polo and Wawang Pulo National high schools have low levels of writing skills that need to be developed or are not proficient. Meanwhile, Arkong Bato National High School has achieved a high degree of writing proficiency. Based on the study's findings, the researchers devised a suggested curriculum mapping for the suggested activity or intervention activity that would aid in the development and cultivation of the writing skills of children in grade ten (Grade 10).

Keywords: writing skills, reflective essay, intervention activity, 6+1 writing traits, modified rubrics

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Authors: Misun Kim, Beomsoo Park

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Korean government has strongly supported SMEs financially and technically. It has also changed R&D manpower management so that SMEs can benefit from the knowledge of highly qualified experts. This study evaluates the impacts of such policy on SMEs and analyzes the factors affecting the growth of the firms. Then we compare the characteristics of high growth companies to general companies. This factors could be use in the future for identifying firms that would significantly benefit from manpower help.

Keywords: dispatch human Ccapital, high growth, science and technology policy, SMEs

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Authors: Apirada Chinprateep

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The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) shall be the goal of regional economic integration by 2015. Tourism is an activity that is growing important, especially as a source of foreign currency, employment creation and distribution of income bringing to the region. The preparation of members of the countries group, given the complexity of the issues entail to the concept of sustainable tourism, this paper tries to assess tourism sustainability, based on a number of quantitative indicators for all the ten economies, first, Thailand, compared with other nine countries, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, and Brunei. The proposed methodological framework will provide a number of benchmarks of tourism activities in these countries assessed. They include identification of the dimensions, for example, economic, socio-ecologic, infrastructure and indicators, method of scaling, chart representation and evaluation on Asian countries. This specification shows us that a similar level of tourism activity might introduce different sort of implementation in the tourism activity and might have different consequences for the socio-ecological environment and sustainability. The heterogeneity of developing countries exposed briefly here would be useful to detect and prepare for coping with the main problem of each country in their tourism activities, as well as competitiveness and value creation of tourism for ASEAN economic community, and will compare with other parts of the world and the world benchmark.

Keywords: AEC, ASEAN, sustainable, tourism, competitiveness

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Authors: Berger Saintius, Edna Ariste, Djeamsly Salomon

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Background: Maternal mortality is a preventable global health problem that affects developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries alike. Globally, maternal mortality rates have declined since 1990, but 830 women die every day from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes that are often preventable. Haiti, with a number of 529 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, is one of the countries with the highest maternal mortality rate in the Caribbean. This study consists of analyzing maternal death surveillance data in Haiti from 2017-2020. Method : A descriptive study was conducted; data were extracted from the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network of maternal deaths from 2017 to 2020. Sociodemographic variables were analyzed. Excel and Epi Info 7.2 were used for data analysis. Frequency and proportion measurements were calculated. Results: 756 deaths were recorded for the study period: 42 (6%) in 2017, 168 (22%) in 2018, 265 (35%) in 2019, and 281 (37%) in 2020. The North Department recorded the highest number of deaths, 167 (22%). 83(11%) in Les Cayes. 96% of these deaths are people aged between 15 and 49. Conclusion. Maternal mortality is a major health problem in Haiti. Mobilization, participation, and involvement of communities, increase in obstetric care coverage and promotion of Family Planning are among the strategies to fight this problem.

Keywords: epidemiology, maternal death, hospital, Haiti

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Authors: Chao-xun Liu, Shi-hong Lu

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In spite of its importance to the aerospace and automobile industries, little or no attention has been devoted to the accurate modeling of the ultrasonic shot peening (USP) process. It is therefore the purpose of this study to conduct finite element analysis of the process using a realistic multiple pin impacts model with the explicit solver of ABAQUS. In this paper, we research the effect of several key parameters on the residual stress distribution within the target, including impact velocity, incident angle, friction coefficient between pins and target and impact number of times were investigated. The results reveal that the impact velocity and impact number of times have obvious effect and impacting vertically could produce the most perfect residual stress distribution. Then we compare the results with the date in USP experiment and verify the exactness of the model. The analysis of the multiple pin impacts date reveal the relationships between peening process parameters and peening quality, which are useful for identifying the parameters which need to be controlled and regulated in order to produce a more beneficial compressive residual stress distribution within the target.

Keywords: ultrasonic shot peening, finite element, multiple pins, residual stress, numerical simulation

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Authors: Marinna Madrid, Nabiha Saklayen, Marinus Huber, Nicolas Vogel, Christos Boutopoulos, Michel Meunier, Eric Mazur

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Delivering material into cells is important for a diverse range of biological applications, including gene therapy, cellular engineering and imaging. We present a plasmonic substrate for delivering membrane-impermeable material into cells at high throughput and high efficiency while maintaining cell viability. The substrate fabrication is based on an affordable and fast colloidal self-assembly process. When illuminated with a femtosecond laser, the light interacts with the electrons at the surface of the metal substrate, creating localized surface plasmons that form bubbles via energy dissipation in the surrounding medium. These bubbles come into close contact with the cell membrane to form transient pores and enable entry of membrane-impermeable material via diffusion. We use fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry to verify delivery of membrane-impermeable material into HeLa CCL-2 cells. We show delivery efficiency and cell viability data for a range of membrane-impermeable cargo, including dyes and biologically relevant material such as siRNA. We estimate the effective pore size by determining delivery efficiency for hard fluorescent spheres with diameters ranging from 20 nm to 2 um. To provide insight to the cell poration mechanism, we relate the poration data to pump-probe measurements of micro- and nano-bubble formation on the plasmonic substrate. Finally, we investigate substrate stability and reusability by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to inspect for damage on the substrate after laser treatment. SEM images show no visible damage. Our findings indicate that self-assembled plasmonic substrates are an affordable tool for high-throughput, high-efficiency delivery of material into mammalian cells.

Keywords: femtosecond laser, intracellular delivery, plasmonic, self-assembly

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Authors: Ilirian Laçi, Alketa Spahiu

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Ageing causes an increase in the number of patients with spinal canal stenosis. Most of the patients have back pain, leg pain, numbness of the legs, as well as urinary incontinence as a very common symptoms. Urinary incontinence impairs the quality of life. Correction of the symptom of urinary incontinence is possible in the early and adequate treatment of spinal stenosis. Methods: This study observed patients with urinary incontinence and spinal canal stenosis. These patients underwent mechanical decompression of the spinal stenosis through surgery. At the same time, these patients were observed clinically with clinical consultations. Cystoscopy and urodynamic tests were conducted at intervals of 2 and 6 months. As a result of treatment, 60% of patients did recover. The patients in this group who benefit from treatment were the patients who were early diagnosed and treated. Conclusions: An important factor in the prognosis of this pathology is the early diagnosis and treatment. The proper treatment of this pathology makes it curable in most cases. An important role in this pathology is played by the neurosurgeon. Surgery accompanied by laminotomy and mechanical decompression is the best way of treatment. Other factors that played a role in this pathology are also a large number of childbirths for women, obesity, etc.

Keywords: urinary incontinence, quality of life, spinal canal stenosis, early diagnosis, treatment

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Authors: Roghaieh Parvizsedghy, Seyyed Mojtaba Sadrameli

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Biodiesel as an alternative diesel fuel is steadily gaining more attention and significance. However, there are some drawbacks while using biodiesel regarding its properties that requires it to be blended with petrol based diesel and/or additives to improve the fuel characteristics. This study analyses thermal cracking as an alternative technology to improve biodiesel characteristics in which, FAME based biodiesel produced by transesterification of castor oil is fed into a continuous thermal cracking reactor at temperatures range of 450-500°C and flowrate range of 20-40 g/hr. Experiments designed by response surface methodology and subsequent statistical studies show that temperature and feed flowrate significantly affect the products yield. Response surfaces were used to study the impact of temperature and flowrate on the product properties. After each experiment, the produced crude bio-oil was distilled and diesel cut was separated. As shorter chain molecules are produced through thermal cracking, the distillation curve of the diesel cut fitted more with petrol based diesel curve in comparison to the biodiesel. Moreover, the produced diesel cut properties adequately pose within property ranges defined by the related standard of petrol based diesel. Cold flow properties, high heating value as the main drawbacks of the biodiesel are improved by this technology. Thermal cracking decreases kinematic viscosity, Flash point and cetane number.

Keywords: biodiesel, castor oil, fuel properties, thermal cracking

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Authors: Zbigniew Czyz, Ksenia Siadkowska, Krzysztof Skiba, Karol Scislowski

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Today’s progress in the rotorcraft is mostly associated with an optimization of aircraft performance achieved by active and passive modifications of main rotor assemblies and a tail propeller. The key task is to improve their performance, improve the hover quality factor for rotors but not change in specific fuel consumption. One of the tasks to improve the helicopter is an active optimization of the main rotor providing for flight stages, i.e., an ascend, flight, a descend. An active interference with the airflow around the rotor blade section can significantly change characteristics of the aerodynamic airfoil. The efficiency of actuator systems modifying aerodynamic coefficients in the current solutions is relatively high and significantly affects the increase in strength. The solution to actively change aerodynamic characteristics assumes a periodic change of geometric features of blades depending on flight stages. Changing geometric parameters of blade warping enables an optimization of main rotor performance depending on helicopter flight stages. Structurally, an adaptation of shape memory alloys does not significantly affect rotor blade fatigue strength, which contributes to reduce costs associated with an adaptation of the system to the existing blades, and gains from a better performance can easily amortize such a modification and improve profitability of such a structure. In order to obtain quantitative and qualitative data to solve this research problem, a number of numerical analyses have been necessary. The main problem is a selection of design parameters of the main rotor and a preliminary optimization of its performance to improve the hover quality factor for rotors. This design concept assumes a three-bladed main rotor with a chord of 0.07 m and radius R = 1 m. The value of rotor speed is a calculated parameter of an optimization function. To specify the initial distribution of geometric warping, a special software has been created that uses a numerical method of a blade element which respects dynamic design features such as fluctuations of a blade in its joints. A number of performance analyses as a function of rotor speed, forward speed, and altitude have been performed. The calculations were carried out for the full model assembly. This approach makes it possible to observe the behavior of components and their mutual interaction resulting from the forces. The key element of each rotor is the shaft, hub and pins holding the joints and blade yokes. These components are exposed to the highest loads. As a result of the analysis, the safety factor was determined at the level of k > 1.5, which gives grounds to obtain certification for the strength of the structure. The construction of the joint rotor has numerous moving elements in its structure. Despite the high safety factor, the places with the highest stresses, where the signs of wear and tear may appear, have been indicated. The numerical analysis carried out showed that the most loaded element is the pin connecting the modular bearing of the blade yoke with the element of the horizontal oscillation joint. The stresses in this element result in a safety factor of k=1.7. The other analysed rotor components have a safety factor of more than 2 and in the case of the shaft, this factor is more than 3. However, it must be remembered that the structure is as strong as the weakest cell is. Designed rotor for unmanned aerial vehicles adapted to work with blades with intelligent materials in its structure meets the requirements for certification testing. Acknowledgement: This work has been financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development under the LIDER program, Grant Agreement No. LIDER/45/0177/L-9/17/NCBR/2018.

Keywords: main rotor, rotorcraft aerodynamics, shape memory alloy, materials, unmanned helicopter

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Authors: Taejin Kim, Heonwoo Lee, Jong-Ho Kim, Dongchul Lee

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Recently, there have been various high-rise building projects which reflect unique inspiration from architects to their feature. And it is frequently found that some of these buildings have diagrid structural system. Diagrid system provides engineers many options for structural plan, since it has triangular module so it can form a number of complex shapes. Unlike braced frame systems, diagonal members in diagrid system resist gravity and horizontal loads simultaneously. Correspondingly, diagrid members take roles of both beams and columns, and it is expected that their ductile capacity may depend on the amount of gravity loads. However, not enough studies have been made for this issue so far, which means that there is demand of examination on the seismic behavior of diagrid members under large gravity loads. Therefore, in this study, the ductile capacity of diagrid members was evaluated through analytical and experimental method. Several cases that have different vertical load condition were set up for both approaches to consider the effect of initial compression force due to gravity load. Regarding the result, it was found that buckling in a diagonal member occurs at smaller drift angle when larger gravity load acts on the specimen, which also reduces the amount of energy dissipation. It means that axial stress in a diagonal member reaches critical buckling force early due to the combined axial force from not only horizontal load but also gravity load.

Keywords: buckling, diagrid, ductility, seismic performance

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Authors: Kaleb Shiferaw, Berhanu Geberemedhin

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Ethiopian farmers have a long tradition of beekeeping and the country has huge potential for honey production. However traditional mode of production still dominates the sub sector which negatively affect the total production and productivity. A number of studies have been conducted to better understand the working honey production, however, none of them systematically investigate the extent of technical efficiency of the sub-sector. This paper uses Stochastic Frontier production model to quantifying the extent of technical efficiency and identify exogenous determinant of inefficiency. The result showed that consistent with other studies traditional practice dominate small scale honey production in Ethiopia. The finding also revealed that use of purchased inputs such as bee forage and other supplement is very limited among honey producers indicating that natural bee forage is the primary source of bee forage. The immediate consequence of all these is low production and productivity. The number of hives the household owns, whether the household used improved apiculture technologies, availability of natural forest which is the primary sources of nectar for bees and amount of land owned by the households were found to have a significant influence on the amount of honey produced by beekeeper. Our result further showed that the mean technical efficiency of honey producers is 0.79 implying that, on average honey producer produce 80 percent of the maximum output. The implication is that 20 percent of the potential output is lost due to technical inefficiency. Number of hives owned by a honey produces, distance to district town-a proxy to market access, household wealth, and whether the household head has a leadership role in the PA affect the technical efficiency of honey producers. The finding suggest that policies that aim to expand the use of improved hives is expected to increase the honey production at household level. The result also suggest that investment on rural infrastructure would be instrumental in improving technical efficiency of honey producer.

Keywords: small-scale honey producer, Ethiopia, technical efficiency in apiculture, stochastic frontier analysis

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Authors: Saleh Gareh, B. C. Kok, H. H. Goh

Abstract:

Piezoelectric energy harvesting has advantages over other alternative sources due to its large power density, ease of applications, and capability to be fabricated at different scales: macro, micro, and nano. This paper presents an electromechanical-traffic model for roadway compression-based piezoelectric energy harvesting system. A two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) electromechanical model has been developed for the piezoelectric energy harvesting unit to define its performance in power generation under a number of external excitations on road surface. Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT-5H) is selected as the piezoelectric material to be used in this paper due to its high Piezoelectric Charge Constant (d) and Piezoelectric Voltage Constant (g) values. The main source of vibration energy that has been considered in this paper is the moving vehicle on the road. The effect of various frequencies on possible generated power caused by different vibration characteristics of moving vehicle has been studied. A single unit of circle-shape Piezoelectric Cymbal Transducer (PCT) with diameter of 32 mm and thickness of 0.3 mm be able to generate about 0.8 mW and 3 mW of electric power under 4 Hz and 20 Hz of excitation, respectively. The estimated power to be generated for multiple arrays of PCT is approximately 150 kW/ km. Thus, the developed electromechanical-traffic model has enormous potential to be used in estimating the macro scale of roadway power generation system.

Keywords: piezoelectric energy harvesting, cymbal transducer, PZT (lead zirconate titanate), 2-DOF

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Authors: Xiaoxu Liu, Yuwen Chen

Abstract:

In this study, we investigated ethnic minority students’ perception of the implementation of preferential policies in China. Using a mixed methods design, we surveyed 320 students from an institute of education for ethnic minorities and conducted further in-depth interviews with seven respondents. Although interviewees were from 30 ethnic groups, most of them were from mainstream high schools. We found that minority students from preparatory classes have an overall positive attitude towards preferential policies and preparatory class but lack sense of belonging to the university for various reasons. Findings indicate that although preparatory class is regarded as being helpful for minority students’ academic development, there are differences of attitude mainly depending on the high schools they graduated from and their ethnic identities. Our analyses suggest that ethnicity, high school graduated from, hometown and family income are more important than gender, religion, and political affiliation when accounting for their perceptions of the implementation of preferential policies in China.

Keywords: Chinese minority education, higher education, preferential policies, survey analysis

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Authors: Fulufhelo Oscar Maphiri-Makananise

Abstract:

The main purpose of this paper is to explore and provide substantiated evidence based on the usage patterns of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by females in the Vhembe District in Limpopo-Province, South Africa. The study presents a broader picture and understanding about the usage of ICTs from female’s perspective. The significance of this study stems from the need to discover the role, relevance and usage patterns of ICTs such as smartphones, computers, laptops, and iPods, internet and social networking sites among females following the trends of new media technologies in the society. The main objective of the study was to investigate the usability and accessibility of ICTs to empower the Vhembe District females in South Africa. The study used quantitative research method together with elements of qualitative research to determine the major ideas, perceptions and usage patterns of ICTs by females in the District. Data collection involved structured and self-administered questionnaire with both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Two groups of respondents participated in this study. Media Studies female students (n=50) at the University of Venda provided their ideas and perceptions about the usefulness and usage patterns of ICTs such as smartphones, internet and computers at the university level, while the second group were (n=50) Makhado comprehensive school learners who also provided their perceptions and ideas about the use of ICTs at the high school level. Also, the study provides a more balanced, accurate and rational results on the pertinent issues that concern the use of ICTs by females in the Vhembe District. The researcher also believes that the findings of the study are useful as a guideline and model for ICT intervention that work as an empowerment to women in South Africa. The study showed that the main purpose of using ICTs by females was to search information for writing assignments, conducting research, dating, exchanging ideas and networking with friends and relatives that are also members of social networking sites and maintaining existing friends in real life. The study further revealed that most females were using ICTs for social purposes and accessing the internet than entertaining themselves. The finding also indicated a high number of females that used ICTs for e-learning (62%) and social purposes (85%). Moreover, the study centred on providing strong insightful information on the females’ usage patterns and their perceptions of ICTs in the Vhembe district of Limpopo province.

Keywords: female users, information and communication technologies, internet, usage patterns

Procedia PDF Downloads 215

Authors: S. I. Nwadioha, M. S. Odimayo, G. T. A. Jombo, E. O. P. Nwokedi

Abstract:

Aims and Objectives: To determine the baseline CD4 positive T lymphocytes count of HIV/AIDS treatment naïve adults clients presenting for the first time treatment in Benue State University Teaching Hospital. Subjects and Methods: A total of 700 subjects age between 18 years to 70 years, were recruited for the study, comprising 600 HIV sero-positive patients and 100 healthy controls in Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi from 2013 to 2014. The CD4 counts of the subjects were evaluated using a Partec flow cytometer. Results: CD4 count of 200-299 cells/μl peaked with 25% (n=150/600)[control; 0%( n= 0/100)]. The study also showed that 44% (266/600) of HIV subjects had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome as defined by low CD4 counts below 200 cells/μl. Seventy-five per cent (n=451/600)of our patients would require to be placed on antiretroviral therapy with CD4 count of less than 350 cells/μl. At CD4 350 baseline criterion, age group 20-29 years had the highest demand 35%(160/451) for ARV followed by age groups 30-39 and 40-49 years with 28%(128/451) and 22%(98/451) respectively. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome as defined by CD4 counts below 200 cells/μl, among the young active productive age group. The strict adopting of the ART WHO 2010 scale- up criteria doubles the number of the HIV clients that would qualify for ART with its attendant health benefits on the long run.

Keywords: CD4 counts, HIV patients, young age group, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 330

Authors: Khaled Hesham Hyari, Amjad Almani

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Construction projects in the public sector are commonly awarded through competitive bidding. In the last decade, the Construction projects environment in the Middle East went through many changes. These changes have been caused by different factors including the economic crisis, delays in monthly payments, international competition and reduced number of projects. These factors had a great impact on the bidding behaviors of contractors and their pricing strategies. This paper examines the competition characteristics in public construction projects through an analysis of bidding results of contractors in public construction projects over a period of 6 years (2006-2011) in Jordan. The analyzed projects include all categories of projects such as infrastructure, buildings, transportation and engineering services (design and supervision contracts). Data for the projects were obtained from the General Tender’s Directorate in Jordan and includes 462 projects. The analysis performed in this projects includes, studying the bid spread in all projects as it is an indication of the level of competition in the analyzed bids. The analysis studied the factors that affect bid spread such as number of bidders, Value of the project, Project category and years. It also studying the “Signal to Noise Ratio” in all projects as it is an indication of the accuracy of cost estimating performed by competing bidders and bidder´s evaluation of project risks. The analysis performed includes the relationship between signal to noise ratio and different parameters such as project category, number of bidders and changes over years. Moreover, the analysis includes determining the bidder´s aggressiveness in bidding as it is an indication of competition level in such projects. This was performed by determining the pack price which can be considered as the true value of the project and comparing it with the lowest bid submitted for each project to determine the level of aggressiveness in submitted bids. The analysis performed in this project should prove to be useful to owners in understanding bidding behaviors of contractors and pointing out areas that needs improvement in preparing bidding documents. Also the project should be useful to contractors in understanding the competitive bidding environment and should help them to improve their bidding strategies to maximize the success rate in obtaining contracts.

Keywords: construction projects, competitive bidding, public construction, competition

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Surajit Bhattacharya, Daniel Veltri, Atit A. Patel, Daniel N. Cox

Abstract:

miRNAs have emerged as key post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, however identification of biologically-relevant target genes for this epigenetic regulatory mechanism remains a significant challenge. To address this knowledge gap, we have developed a novel tool in R, Intra-miR-ExploreR, that facilitates integrated discovery of miRNA targets by incorporating target databases and novel target prediction algorithms, using statistical methods including Pearson and Distance Correlation on microarray data, to arrive at high confidence intragenic miRNA target predictions. We have explored the efficacy of this tool using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism for bioinformatics analyses and functional validation. A number of putative targets were obtained which were also validated using qRT-PCR analysis. Additional features of the tool include downloadable text files containing GO analysis from DAVID and Pubmed links of literature related to gene sets. Moreover, we are constructing interaction maps of intragenic miRNAs, using both micro array and RNA-seq data, focusing on neural tissues to uncover regulatory codes via which these molecules regulate gene expression to direct cellular development.

Keywords: miRNA, miRNA:mRNA target prediction, statistical methods, miRNA:mRNA interaction network

Procedia PDF Downloads 511

Authors: Suraphan Rattanavadi

Abstract:

This research was a study based on an application of used glass in producing glaze on ceramics. The aim was to identify the factors in the production process that affected ceramic product property when used glass was applied as the ceramic glaze. The study factors included appropriate materials, appropriate temperature used in fusion process, percentage of water absorption, fluidity, crazing and appropriate proportion in glaze production by Biaxial Blend Technique and use of oxide in glaze coloring both on test and real product. The test of fluidity revealed that the glazes number 15 and 16 had appropriate fluidity ratio for use as basic glaze. When each glaze was mixed with oxide at different proportion, it was discovered that the glaze number 16 showed glossy brown with beautiful but not clear crazing, due to its dark shade. This was from the mixture of kaolin and pieces of glass at the ratio of 1:3 (kaolin : pieces of glass), affecting at 10% with iron oxide. When 0.5% of copper carbonate and 0.1% of tin oxide were added, the result was the glaze with glossy, Muzo emerald (green- blue) color with beautiful and clear crazing. Lastly, 0.4% of cobalt carbonate was added, ending in the glaze with glossy, bright blue with beautiful but not clear, due to its dark shade.

Keywords: glaze, recycled, bottle glass, ceramic

Procedia PDF Downloads 305