Search results for: single droplet generation

Authors: Banu Pradheepa Kamarajan, Muthusamy Ananthasubramanian

Abstract:

Biofilm forming Pseudomonads occupy the top third position in causing hospital acquired infections. P. aeruginosa is notoriously known for its tendency to develop drug resistance. Major classes of drug such as β-lactams, aminoglycosides, quinolones, and polymyxins are found ineffective against multi-drug resistance Pseudomonas. To combat the infections, rather than administration of a single antibiotic, use of combinations (tobramycin and essential oils from plants and/or silver nanoparticles, chitosan, nitric oxide, cis-2-decenoic acid) in single formulation are suggested to control P. aeruginosa biofilms. Conventional techniques to prevent hospital-acquired implant infections such as coatings with antibiotics, controlled release of antibiotics from the implant material, contact-killing surfaces, coating the implants with functional DNase I and, coating with glycoside hydrolase are being followed. Coatings with bioactive components besides having limited shelf-life, require cold-chain and, are likely to fail when bacteria develop resistance. Recently identified nano-scale physical architectures on the insect wings are expected to have potential bactericidal property. Nanopillars are bactericidal to Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, K. pnuemoniae and few species of Pseudomonas. Our study aims to investigate the survival rate of biofilm forming Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain over non-biofilm forming strain on the nanopillar architecture of dragonfly (Pantala flavescens) wing. Dragonflies were collected near house-hold areas and, insect identification was carried out by the Department of Entomology, Tamilnadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India. Two strains of P. aeruginosa such as PAO1 (potent biofilm former) and MTCC 1688 (non-weak biofilm former) were tested against the glass coverslip (control) and wings of dragonfly (test) for 48 h. The wings/glass coverslips were incubated with bacterial suspension in 48-well plate. The plates were incubated at 37 °C under static condition. Bacterial attachment on the nanopillar architecture of the wing surface was visualized using FESEM. The survival rate of P. aeruginosa was tested using colony counting technique and flow cytometry at 0.5 h, 1 h, 2 h, 7 h, 24 h, and 48 h post-incubation. Cell death was analyzed using propidium iodide staining and DNA quantification. The results indicated that the survival rate of non-biofilm forming P. aeruginosa is 0.2 %, whilst that of biofilm former is 45 % on the dragonfly wings at the end of 48 h. The reduction in the survival rate of biofilm and non-biofilm forming P. aeruginosa was 20% and 40% respectively on the wings compared to the glass coverslip. In addition, Fourier Transformed Infrared Radiation was used to study the modification in the surface chemical composition of the wing during bacterial attachment and, post-sonication. This result indicated that the chemical moieties are not involved in the bactericidal property of nanopillars by the conserved characteristic peaks of chitin pre and post-sonication. The nanopillar architecture of the dragonfly wing efficiently deters the survival of non-biofilm forming P. aeruginosa, but not the biofilm forming strain. The study highlights the ability of biofilm formers to survive on wing architecture. Understanding this survival strategy will help in designing the architecture that combats the colonization of biofilm forming pathogens.

Keywords: biofilm, nanopillars, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, survival rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Maxime Farin, Emmanuel Moulin, Lynda Chehami, Farouk Benmeddour, Pierre Campistron

Abstract:

Assessing corrosion is crucial in the petrochemical and marine industry. Usual ultrasonic methods based on guided waves to detect corrosion can inspect large areas but lack precision. We propose a complementary and sensitive ultrasonic method (~ 10 MHz) based on coda wave interferometry to detect and quantify corrosion at the surface of a steel sample. The method relies on a single piezoelectric transducer, exciting the sample and measuring the scattered coda signals at different instants in time. A laboratory experiment is conducted with a steel sample immersed in salted water for 60~h with parallel coda and temperature measurements to correct coda dependence to temperature variations. Micrometric changes to the sample surface caused by corrosion are detected in the late coda signals, allowing precise corrosion detection. Moreover, a good correlation is found between a parameter quantifying the temperature-corrected stretching of the coda over time with respect to a reference without corrosion and the corrosion surface over the sample recorded with a camera.

Keywords: coda wave interferometry, nondestructive evaluation, corrosion, ultrasonics

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Nagaraju Pendam, C. P. Vardhani

Abstract:

A simple technology–compatible design of silicon-on-insulator based 1×2 optical power splitter is proposed. For developing large area Opto-electronic Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) devices, the power splitter is a key passive device. The SOI rib- waveguide dimensions (height, width, and etching depth, refractive indices, length of waveguide) leading simultaneously to single mode propagation. In this paper a low loss optical power splitter is designed by using R Soft cad tool and simulated by Beam propagation method, here s-bend waveguides proposed. We concentrate changing the refractive index difference, branching angle, width of the waveguide, free space wavelength of the waveguide and observing transmitted power, effective refractive index in the designed waveguide, and choosing the best simulated results to be fabricated on silicon-on insulator platform. In this design 1550 nm free spacing are used.

Keywords: beam propagation method, insertion loss, optical power splitter, rib waveguide, transmitted power

Procedia PDF Downloads 665

Authors: A. Preetha Priyadharshini, S. B. M. Priya

Abstract:

In this paper, we consider the MU-MISO downlink scenario, under imperfect channel state information (CSI). The main issue in imperfect CSI is to keep the probability of each user achievable outage rate below the given threshold level. Such a rate outage constraints present significant and analytical challenges. There are many probabilistic methods are used to minimize the transmit optimization problem under imperfect CSI. Here, decomposition based large deviation inequality and Bernstein type inequality convex restriction methods are used to perform the optimization problem under imperfect CSI. These methods are used for achieving improved output quality and lower complexity. They provide a safe tractable approximation of the original rate outage constraints. Based on these method implementations, performance has been evaluated in the terms of feasible rate and average transmission power. The simulation results are shown that all the two methods offer significantly improved outage quality and lower computational complexity.

Keywords: imperfect channel state information, outage probability, multiuser- multi input single output, channel state information

Procedia PDF Downloads 816

Authors: Swati Gautam, Salman Akhtar, S. P. Jaiswar, Amita Jain

Abstract:

Background: FGTB is now a major global health problem mostly in developing countries including India. In humans, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (M.tb) is a causating agent of infection. High index of suspicion is required for early diagnosis due to asymptomatic presentation of FGTB disease. In macrophages Toll Like Receptor-2 (TLR-2) is one which mediated host’s immune response to M.tb. The expression of TLR-2 on macrophages is important to determine the fate of innate immune responses to M.tb. TLR-2 have two work. First its high expression on macrophages worsen the outer of infection and another side, it maintains M.tb to its dormant stage avoids activation of M.tb from latent phase. Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) of TLR-2 gene plays an important role in susceptibility to TB among different populations and subsequently, in the development of infertility. Methodology: This Case-Control study was done in the Department of Obs and Gynae and Department of Microbiology at King George’s Medical University, U.P, Lucknow, India. Total 300 subjects (150 Cases and 150 Controls) were enrolled in the study. All subjects were enrolled only after fulfilling the given inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria: Age 20-35 years, menstrual-irregularities, positive on Acid-Fast Bacilli (AFB), TB-PCR, (LJ/MGIT) culture in Endometrial Aspiration (EA). Exclusion criteria: Koch’s active, on ATT, PCOS, and Endometriosis fibroid women, positive on Gonococal and Chlamydia. Blood samples were collected in EDTA tubes from cases and healthy control women (HCW) and genomic DNA extraction was carried out by salting-out method. Genotyping of TLR2 genetic variants (Arg753Gln and Arg677Trp) were performed by using single amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) PCR technique. PCR products were analyzed by electrophoresis on 1.2% agarose gel and visualized by gel-doc. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the SPSS 16.3 software and computing odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI. Linkage Disequiliribium (LD) analysis was done by SNP stats online software. Results: In TLR-2 (Arg753Gln) polymorphism significant risk of FGTB observed with GG homozygous mutant genotype (OR=13, CI=0.71-237.7, p=0.05), AG heterozygous mutant genotype (OR=13.7, CI=0.76-248.06, p=0.03) however, G allele (OR=1.09, CI=0.78-1.52, p=0.67) individually was not associated with FGTB. In TLR-2 (Arg677Trp) polymorphism a significant risk of FGTB observed with TT homozygous mutant genotype (OR= 0.020, CI=0.001-0.341, p < 0.001), CT heterozygous mutant genotype (OR=0.53, CI=0.33-0.86, p=0.014) and T allele (OR=0.463, CI=0.32-0.66, p < 0.001). TT mutant genotype was only found in FGTB cases and frequency of CT heterozygous more in control group as compared to FGTB group. So, CT genotype worked as protective mutation for FGTB susceptibility group. In haplotype analysis of TLR-2 genetic variants, four possible combinations, i.e. (G-T, A-C, G-C, and A-T) were obtained. The frequency of haplotype A-C was significantly higher in FGTB cases (0.32). Control group did not show A-C haplotype and only found in FGTB cases. Conclusion: In conclusion, study showed a significant association with both genetic variants of TLR-2 of FGTB disease. Moreover, the presence of specific associated genotype/alleles suggest the possibility of disease severity and clinical approach aimed to prevent extensive damage by disease and also helpful for early detection of disease.

Keywords: ARMS, EDTA, FGTB, TLR

Procedia PDF Downloads 308

Authors: W. Hashim, H. Burok, N. Ghazaly, H. Ahmad Nasir, N. Mohamad Anas, A. F. Ismail, K. L. Yau

Abstract:

Future communication networks require devices that are able to work on a single platform but support heterogeneous operations which lead to service diversity and functional flexibility. This paper proposes two cognitive mechanisms termed cognitive hybrid function which is applied in multiple broadband user terminals in order to maintain reliable connectivity and preventing unnecessary interferences. By employing such mechanisms especially for future hyper-dense network, we can observe their performances in terms of optimized speed and power saving efficiency. Results were obtained from several empirical laboratory studies. It was found that selecting reliable network had shown a better optimized speed performance up to 37% improvement as compared without such function. In terms of power adjustment, our evaluation of this mechanism can reduce the power to 5dB while maintaining the same level of throughput at higher power performance. We also discuss the issues impacting future telecommunication standards whenever such devices get in place.

Keywords: dense network, intelligent network selection, multiple networks, transmit power adjustment

Procedia PDF Downloads 380

Authors: Joon-Hyung Kim, Him-Chan Lee, Jin-Hyuk Kim, Yong-Kab Lee, Young-Seok Choi

Abstract:

The crude oil in an oil well exists in various phases such as gas, seawater, and sand, as well as oil. Therefore, a phase separator is needed at the front of a single-phase pump for pressurization and transfer. On the other hand, the application of a multiphase pump can provide such advantages as simplification of the equipment structure and cost savings, because there is no need for a phase separation process. Therefore, the crude oil transfer method using a multiphase pump is being applied to recently developed oil wells. Due to this increase in demand, technical demands for the development of multiphase pumps are sharply increasing, but the progress of research into related technologies is insufficient, due to the nature of multiphase pumps that require high levels of skills. This study was conducted to verify the reliability of pump performance evaluation using numerical analysis, which is the basis of the development of a multiphase pump. For this study, a model was designed by selecting the specifications of the pump under study. The performance of the designed model was evaluated through numerical analysis and experiment, and the results of the performance evaluation were compared to verify the reliability of the result using numerical analysis.

Keywords: multiphase pump, numerical analysis, experiment, performance evaluation, reliability verification

Procedia PDF Downloads 437

Authors: Holly Sandberg, Christina McCoy, Khaled Mansy

Abstract:

Eucalyptus Cloeziana, commonly known as Gympie Messmate, is a fast-growing hardwood native to Australia. Its quick growth makes it advantageous for carbon sequestering, while its strength class lends itself to structural applications. Market research shows that the demand for timber is growing, especially mass timber. An environmental product declaration, or EPD, for eucalyptus Cloeziana in the Australian market has been evaluated and compared to the EPD’s of steel and Douglas fir of the same region. An EPD follows a product throughout its life cycle, stating values for global warming potential, ozone depletion potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, photochemical ozone creation potential, and abiotic depletion potential. This paper highlights the market potential, as well as the environmental benefits and challenges to using Gympie Messmate as a structural building material. In addition, a case study is performed to compare steel, Douglas fir, and eucalyptus in terms of embodied carbon and structural weight within a single structural bay. Comparisons among the three materials highlight both the differences in structural capabilities as well as environmental impact.

Keywords: eucalyptus, timber, construction, structural, material

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Al-Sayed A. Bakr, W. A. Makled

Abstract:

The precipitated low magnesium calcite ooids in assembled softening unit from natural Mediterranean seawater samples were used as adsorbent media in a comparative study with granular activated carbon media in a two separated single-media filtration vessels (operating in parallel) for removal of iron from aqueous solutions. In each vessel, the maximum bed capacity, which required to be filled, was 13.2 l and the bed filled in the vessels of ooids and GAC were 8.6, and 6.6 l, respectively. The operating conditions applied to the semi-pilot filtration unit were constant pH (7.5), different temperatures (293, 303 and 313 k), different flow rates (20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 l/min), different initial Fe(II) concentrations (15–105 mg/ l) and the calculated adsorbent masses were 34.1 and 123 g/l for GAC and calcite ooids, respectively. At higher temperature (313 k) and higher flow rate (60 l/min), the maximum adsorption capacities for ferrous ions by GAC and calcite ooids filters were 3.87 and 1.29 mg/g and at lower flow rate (20 l/min), the maximum adsorption capacities were 2.21 and 3.95 mg/g, respectively. From the experimental data, Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms were used to verify the adsorption performance. Therefore, the calcite ooids could act as new highly effective materials in iron removal from aqueous solutions.

Keywords: water treatment, calcite ooids, activated carbon, Fe(II) removal, filtration

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Daljinder Singh, J.S.Dhillon, Balraj Singh

Abstract:

According to no free lunch theorem, a single search technique cannot perform best in all conditions. Optimization method can be attractive choice to solve optimization problem that may have exclusive advantages like robust and reliable performance, global search capability, little information requirement, ease of implementation, parallelism, no requirement of differentiable and continuous objective function. In order to synergize between exploration and exploitation and to further enhance the performance of Bat algorithm, the paper proposed a modified bat algorithm that adds additional search procedure based on bat’s previous experience. The proposed algorithm is used for solving the economic load dispatch (ELD) problem. The practical constraint such valve-point loading along with power balance constraints and generator limit are undertaken. To take care of power demand constraint variable elimination method is exploited. The proposed algorithm is tested on various ELD problems. The results obtained show that the proposed algorithm is capable of performing better in majority of ELD problems considered and is at par with existing algorithms for some of problems.

Keywords: bat algorithm, economic load dispatch, penalty method, variable elimination method

Procedia PDF Downloads 463

Authors: Dhruba Khatri

Abstract:

Despite the short history of community based forest management, the community forestry program of Nepal has produced substantial positive effects to organize the local people at a local level institution called Community Forest User Group and manage the local forest resources in the line of poverty reduction since its inception in 1970s. Moreover, each CFUG has collected a community fund from the sale of forest products and non-forestry sources as well and the fund has played a vital role to improve the livelihood of user households living in and around the forests. The specific study sites were selected based on the criteria of i) community forests having dominancy of Sal forests, and ii) forests having 3-5 years experience of community forest management. The price rates of forest products fixed by the CFUGs and the distribution records were collected from the respective community forests. Nonetheless, the relation between pricing strategy and community fund collection revealed that the small change in price of forest products could greatly affect in community fund collection and carry out of forest management, community development, and income generation activities in the line of poverty reduction at local level.

Keywords: benefit sharing, community forest, equitable, Nepal

Procedia PDF Downloads 386

Authors: Dimitra Das, Anuradha Mitra, Kalyan Kumar Chattopadhyay

Abstract:

Organic polymers, constructed from light elements like carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, and boron atoms, are the emergent class of non-toxic, metal-free, environmental benign advanced materials. Covalent triazine-based polymers with a functional triazine group are significant class of organic materials due to their remarkable stability arising out of strong covalent bonds. They can conventionally form hydrogen bonds, favour π–π contacts, and they were recently revealed to be involved in interesting anion–π interactions. The present work mainly focuses upon the development of a single-crystalline, highly cross-linked triazine-based nitrogen-rich organic polymer with nanodendritic morphology and significant thermal stability. The polymer has been synthesized through hydrothermal treatment of melamine and ethylene glycol resulting in cross-polymerization via condensation-polymerization reaction. The crystal structure of the polymer has been evaluated by employing Rietveld whole profile fitting method. The polymer has been found to be composed of monoclinic melamine having space group P21/a. A detailed insight into the chemical structure of the as synthesized polymer has been elucidated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopic analysis. X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopic (XPS) analysis has also been carried out for further understanding of the different types of linkages required to create the backbone of the polymer. The unique rod-like morphology of the triazine based polymer has been revealed from the images obtained from Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Interestingly, this polymer has been found to selectively detect mercury (Hg²⁺) ions at an extremely low concentration through fluorescent quenching with detection limit as low as 0.03 ppb. The high toxicity of mercury ions (Hg²⁺) arise from its strong affinity towards the sulphur atoms of biological building blocks. Even a trace quantity of this metal is dangerous for human health. Furthermore, owing to its small ionic radius and high solvation energy, Hg²⁺ ions remain encapsulated by water molecules making its detection a challenging task. There are some existing reports on fluorescent-based heavy metal ion sensors using covalent organic frameworks (COFs) but reports on mercury sensing using triazine based polymers are rather undeveloped. Thus, the importance of ultra-trace detection of Hg²⁺ ions with high level of selectivity and sensitivity has contemporary significance. A plausible sensing phenomenon by the polymer has been proposed to understand the applicability of the material as a potential sensor. The impressive sensitivity of the polymer sample towards Hg²⁺ is the very first report in the field of highly crystalline triazine based polymers (without the introduction of any sulphur groups or functionalization) towards mercury ion detection through photoluminescence quenching technique. This crystalline metal-free organic polymer being cheap, non-toxic and scalable has current relevance and could be a promising candidate for Hg²⁺ ion sensing at commercial level.

Keywords: fluorescence quenching , mercury ion sensing, single-crystalline, triazine-based polymer

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Yoonsuh Jung

Abstract:

As DNA microarray data contain relatively small sample size compared to the number of genes, high dimensional models are often employed. In high dimensional models, the selection of tuning parameter (or, penalty parameter) is often one of the crucial parts of the modeling. Cross-validation is one of the most common methods for the tuning parameter selection, which selects a parameter value with the smallest cross-validated score. However, selecting a single value as an "optimal" value for the parameter can be very unstable due to the sampling variation since the sample sizes of microarray data are often small. Our approach is to choose multiple candidates of tuning parameter first, then average the candidates with different weights depending on their performance. The additional step of estimating the weights and averaging the candidates rarely increase the computational cost, while it can considerably improve the traditional cross-validation. We show that the selected value from the suggested methods often lead to stable parameter selection as well as improved detection of significant genetic variables compared to the tradition cross-validation via real data and simulated data sets.

Keywords: cross validation, parameter averaging, parameter selection, regularization parameter search

Procedia PDF Downloads 417

Authors: Yu Zhang, Il Kim

Abstract:

Polypeptides with defined peptide sequences illustrate the power of remarkable applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, sensing and catalysis. Especially the cyclic polypeptides, the distinctive topological architecture imparts many characteristic properties comparing to linear polypeptides. Here, a facile and highly efficient strategy for the synthesis of linear and cyclic polypeptides is reported using N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs)-mediated ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCA) in the presence or absence of primary amine initiator. The polymerization proceeds rapidly in a quasi-living manner, allowing access to linear and cyclic polypeptides of well-defined chain length and narrow polydispersity, as evidenced by nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum (1H NMR and 13C NMR spectra) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) analysis. The cyclic architecture of the polypeptides was further verified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectra (MALDI-TOF MS) and electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectra, as well as viscosity studies. This approach can also simplify workup procedures and make bulk scale synthesis possible, which thereby opens avenues for practical uses in diverse areas, opening up the new generation of polypeptide synthesis.

Keywords: α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides, living polymerization, polypeptides, N-heterocyclic carbenes, ring-opening polymerization

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: A. D. Tayal

Abstract:

The energy industry is undergoing significant disruption. This research outlines that, whilst challenging; this disruption is also an emerging opportunity for electricity utilities. One such opportunity is leveraging the developments in data analytics and machine learning. As the uptake of renewable energy technologies and complimentary control systems increases, electricity grids will likely transform towards dense microgrids with high penetration of renewable generation sources, rich in network and customer data, and linked through intelligent, wireless communications. Data digitisation and analytics have already impacted numerous industries, and its influence on the energy sector is growing, as computational capabilities increase to manage big data, and as machines develop algorithms to solve the energy challenges of the future. The objective of this paper is to address how far the uptake of renewable technologies can go given the constraints of existing grid infrastructure and provides a qualitative assessment of how higher levels of renewable energy penetration can be facilitated by incorporating even broader technological advances in the fields of data analytics and machine learning. Western Australia is used as a contextualised case study, given its abundance and diverse renewable resources (solar, wind, biomass, and wave) and isolated networks, making a high penetration of renewables a feasible target for policy makers over coming decades.

Keywords: data, innovation, renewable, solar

Procedia PDF Downloads 369

Authors: Mohammad A. Sazzad, Md M. Alam

Abstract:

Wind energy is one of the cleanest form of renewable energy. Despite wind industry is growing faster than ever there are some roadblocks towards the improvement. One of the difficulties the industry facing is insufficient knowledge about wake within the wind farms. As we know energy is generated in the lowest layer of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). This interaction between the wind turbine (WT) blades and wind introduces a low speed wind region which is defined as wake. This wake region shows different characteristics under each stability condition of the ABL. So, it is fundamental to know this wake region well which is defined mainly by turbulence transport and wake shear. Defining the wake recovery length and width are very crucial for wind farm to optimize the generation and reduce the waste of power to the grid. Therefore, in order to obtain the turbulent coefficients of velocity and length, this research focused on the large eddy simulation (LES) data for neutral ABL (NABL). According to turbulent theory, if we can present velocity defect and Reynolds stress in the form of local length and velocity scales, they become invariant. In our study velocity and length coefficients are 0.4867 and 0.4794 respectively which is close to the theoretical value of 0.5 for NABL. There are some invariant profiles because of the presence of thermal and wind shear power coefficients varied a little from the ideal condition.

Keywords: atmospheric boundary layer, renewable energy, turbulent coefficient, wind turbine, wake

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: M. A. Ferhat, M. N. Boukhatem, F. Chemat

Abstract:

Microwave Clevenger or microwave accelerated distillation (MAD) is a combination of microwave heating and distillation, performed at atmospheric pressure without added any solvent or water. Isolation and concentration of volatile compounds are performed by a single stage. MAD extraction of orange essential oil was studied using fresh orange peel from Valencia late cultivar oranges as the raw material. MAD has been compared with a conventional technique, which used a Clevenger apparatus with hydro-distillation (HD). MAD and HD were compared in term of extraction time, yields, chemical composition and quality of the essential oil, efficiency and costs of the process. Extraction of essential oils from orange peels with MAD was better in terms of energy saving, extraction time (30 min versus 3 h), oxygenated fraction (11.7% versus 7.9%), product yield (0.42% versus 0.39%) and product quality. Orange peels treated by MAD and HD were observed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Micrographs provide evidence of more rapid opening of essential oil glands treated by MAD, in contrast to conventional hydro-distillation.

Keywords: clevenger, microwave, extraction; hydro-distillation, essential oil, orange peel

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: M. Hosseinnezhad, K. Gharanjig

Abstract:

Natural dyes, extracted from black carrot and bramble, were utilized as photosensitizers to prepare dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Spectrophotometric studies of the natural dyes in solution and on a titanium dioxide substrate were carried out in order to assess changes in the status of the dyes. The results show that the bathochromic shift is seen on the photo-electrode substrate. The chemical binding of the natural dyes at the surface photo-electrode were increased by the chelating effect of the Ti(IV) ions. The cyclic voltammetry results showed that all extracts are suitable to be performed in DSSCs. Finally, photochemical performance and stability of DSSCs based on natural dyes were studied. The DSSCs sensitized by black carrot extract have been reported to achieve up to Jsc=1.17 mAcm^-2, Voc= 0.55 V, FF= 0.52, η=0.34%, whereas Bramble extract can obtain up to Jsc=2.24 mAcm^-2, Voc= 0.54 V, FF= 0.57, η=0.71%. The power conversion efficiency was obtained from the mixed dyes in DSSCs. The power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells using mixed Black carrot and Bramble dye is the average of the their efficiency in single DSSCs.

Keywords: anthocyanin, dye-sensitized solar cells, green energy, optical materials

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: Barenten Suciu

Abstract:

An electrical generator able to harness energy from the water waves and designed as a double-cone geared motor-generator (DCGMG), is proposed and theoretically investigated. Similar to a differential gear mechanism, used in the transmission system of the auto vehicle wheels, an angular speed differential is created between the cones rolling on two concentric circular rails. Water wave acting on the floating DCGMG produces and a gear-box amplifies the speed differential to gain sufficient torque for power generation. A model that allows computation of the speed differential, torque, and power of the DCGMG is suggested. Influence of various parameters, regarding the construction of the DCGMG, as well as the contact between the double-cone and rails, on the electro-mechanical output, is emphasized. Results obtained indicate that the generated electrical power can be increased by augmenting the mass of the double-cone, the span of the rails, the apex angle of the cones, the friction between cones and rails, the amplification factor of the gear-box, and the efficiency of the motor-generator. Such findings are useful to formulate a design methodology for the proposed wave-powered generator.

Keywords: amplification of angular speed differential, circular concentric rails, double-cone, wave-powered electrical generator

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Yash Ambekar, Kapil Vhatkar, Prathamesh Swami, Kartikey Singh, Yashovardhan Kaware

Abstract:

The rise of online courses and certifications has created new opportunities for individuals to enhance their skills. However, this digital transformation has also given rise to coun- terfeit certificates. To address this multifaceted issue, we present a comprehensive certificate management system founded on blockchain technology and strengthened by smart contracts. Our system comprises three pivotal components: certificate generation, authenticity verification, and a user-centric digital locker for certificate storage. Blockchain technology underpins the entire system, ensuring the immutability and integrity of each certificate. The inclusion of a cryptographic hash for each certificate is a fundamental aspect of our design. Any alteration in the certificate’s data will yield a distinct hash, a powerful indicator of potential tampering. Furthermore, our system includes a secure digital locker based on cloud storage that empowers users to efficiently manage and access all their certificates in one place. Moreover, our project is committed to providing features for certificate revocation and updating, thereby enhancing the system’s flexibility and security. Hence, the blockchain and smart contract-based certificate management system offers a robust and one-stop solution to the escalating problem of counterfeit certificates in the digital era.

Keywords: blockchain technology, smart contracts, counterfeit certificates, authenticity verification, cryptographic hash, digital locker

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: Ke Ren, Huiruo Shi, Linsen Li, Baoshuai Wang, Yu Zhou

Abstract:

Since some discriminative features are required for ground moving targets classification, we propose a new feature extraction method based on micro-Doppler signature. Firstly, the time-frequency analysis of measured data indicates that the time-frequency spectrograms of the three kinds of ground moving targets, i.e., single walking person, two people walking and a moving wheeled vehicle, are discriminative. Then, a three-dimensional time-frequency feature vector is extracted from the time-frequency spectrograms to depict these differences. At last, a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier is trained with the proposed three-dimensional feature vector. The classification accuracy to categorize ground moving targets into the three kinds of the measured data is found to be over 96%, which demonstrates the good discriminative ability of the proposed micro-Doppler feature.

Keywords: micro-doppler, time-frequency analysis, feature extraction, radar target classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 408

Authors: Xia Chen, Yulan Wang

Abstract:

purpose: To compare the accuracy of Haigis, SRK/T, T2, Holladay 1, Hoffer Q, Barrett Universal II, Emmetropia Verifying Optical (EVO) and Kane for intraocular lens power calculation in patients with axial length (AL) ≥ 28 mm. Methods: In this retrospective single-center study, 50 eyes of 41 patients with AL ≥ 28 mm that underwent uneventful cataract surgery were enrolled. The actual postoperative refractive results were compared to the predicted refraction calculated with different formulas (Haigis, SRK/T, T2, Holladay 1, Hoffer Q, Barrett Universal II, EVO and Kane). The mean absolute prediction errors (MAE) 1 month postoperatively were compared. Results: The MAE of different formulas were as follows: Haigis (0.509), SRK/T (0.705), T2 (0.999), Holladay 1 (0.714), Hoffer Q (0.583), Barrett Universal II (0.552), EVO (0.463) and Kane (0.441). No significant difference was found among the different formulas (P = .122). The Kane and EVO formulas achieved the lowest level of mean prediction error (PE) and median absolute error (MedAE) (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The Kane and EVO formulas had a better success rate than others in predicting IOL power in high myopic eyes with AL longer than 28 mm in this study.

Keywords: cataract, power calculation formulas, intraocular lens, long axial length

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: John Sweeney, Martin Leeming, Raj Thaker, Cristina L. Tuinea-Bobe

Abstract:

Shrink wrapping is widely used as a method for secondary packaging to assemble individual items, such as cans or other consumer products, into single packages. This method involves conveying the packages into heated tunnels and so has the disadvantages that it is energy-intensive, and, in the case of aerosol products, potentially hazardous. We are developing an automated packaging system that uses stretch wrapping to address both these problems, by using a mechanical rather than a thermal process. In this study, we present a comparative study of shrink wrapping and stretch wrapping materials to assess the relative capability of candidate stretch wrap polymer film in terms of mechanical response. The stretch wrap materials are of oriented polymer and therefore elastically anisotropic. We are developing material constitutive models that include both anisotropy and nonlinearity. These material models are to be incorporated into computer simulations of the automated stretch wrapping system. We present results showing the validity of these models and the feasibility of applying them in the simulations.

Keywords: constitutive model, polymer, mechanical testing, wrapping system

Procedia PDF Downloads 299

Authors: Charn Loong Ng, Mamun Bin Ibne Reaz

Abstract:

As elderly population grows globally, the percentage of people diagnosed with musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) increase proportionally. Electromyography (EMG) is an important biosignal that contributes to MSD’s clinical diagnose and recovery process. Conventional conductive electrode has many disadvantages in the continuous EMG measurement application. This research has design a new surface EMG biosensor based on the parallel-plate capacitive coupling principle. The biosensor is developed by using a double-sided PCB with having one side of the PCB use to construct high input impedance circuitry while the other side of the copper (CU) plate function as biosignal sensing metal plate. The metal plate is insulated using kapton tape for contactless application. The result implicates that capacitive biosensor is capable to constantly capture EMG signal without having galvanic contact to human skin surface. However, there are noticeable noise couple into the measured signal. Post signal processing is needed in order to present a clean and significant EMG signal. A complete design of single ended, non-contact, high input impedance, front end EMG biosensor is presented in this paper.

Keywords: contactless, capacitive, biosensor, electromyography

Procedia PDF Downloads 455

Authors: Nathan Elvidge

Abstract:

This paper offers a philosophical argument against the possibility of so-called “ethical porn,” that is, pornographic material produced in a way attempting to remain consistent with feminist principles and female empowerment. One key feature of such material is the requirement for the material to be consensual on the part of the actors or those involved in the material. However, in the contemporary pornography industry, this typically amounts to a single historic act of consent given in exchange for a lump-sum payment which grants the producer lifetime property rights over the explicit material. This paper argues that, by the lights of feminist principles, this situation is inherently unjust and that, as a consequence, the pornography industry requires a radical systematic upheaval before any material produced within it can be considered genuinely ethical. These feminist principles require that for the consumption of pornography to be genuinely ethical, the actors must consent not only to the acts recorded in the material but also to the consumption of that material. This paper argues that this consent to consumption should be treated as on par with other matters of sexual consent and, therefore, that actors should have the right to withdraw consent to the consumption of their material. From this, it is argued to follow that the system of third-party ownership of property rights over someone else’s sexually explicit material legally nullifies this right and therefore is inherently unjust.

Keywords: consent, feminism, pornography, sex work

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Golyasamin Khanehzaei, Mohd. Bakri Ishak, Ahmad Makmom Hj Abdullah, Latifah Abd Manaf

Abstract:

Abstract—Management of clinical waste is a critical problem worldwide. Immediate attention is required to manage the clinical waste in an appropriate way in newly developing economy country such as Malaysia. The increasing amount of clinical waste generated is resulted from rapid urbanization and growing number of private health care facilities in developing countries such as Malaysia. In order to develop a sensible clinical waste management system and improvement of the management, information on factors affecting clinical waste generation has the crucial role. This paper is the study of management characteristics of clinical waste and the level of efficiency of clinical waste management systems operating in private clinics located in Selangor, Malaysia. Are they following the proper international standards? By taking all of this in consideration the aim of this paper is to identify and discuss the current trend, current challenges and also the present opportunities among the challenges of clinical waste management in private clinics of Selangor, Malaysia. The SWOT analysis was characterized for the evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The methodology for this study was constituted of direct observation, Informal interviews, Conducting SWOT analysis, conduction of one sustainability dimensions analysis and application. The results show that clinical waste management in private clinics is far from an ideal model.

Keywords: clinical waste, SWOT analysis, Selangor, Malaysia

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Milos Travar, Jovana Nikolov, Andrej Vranicar, Natasa Todorovic

Abstract:

Over the years, High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors proved to be an excellent practical tool and, as such, have established their today's wide use in low background γ-spectrometry. One of the advantages of gamma-ray spectrometry is its easy sample preparation as chemical processing and separation of the studied subject are not required. Thus, with a single measurement, one can simultaneously perform both qualitative and quantitative analysis. One of the most prominent features of HPGe detectors, besides their excellent efficiency, is their superior resolution. This feature virtually allows a researcher to perform a thorough analysis by discriminating photons of similar energies in the studied spectra where otherwise they would superimpose within a single-energy peak and, as such, could potentially scathe analysis and produce wrongly assessed results. Naturally, this feature is of great importance when the identification of radionuclides, as well as their activity concentrations, is being practiced where high precision comes as a necessity. In measurements of this nature, in order to be able to reproduce good and trustworthy results, one has to have initially performed an adequate full-energy peak (FEP) efficiency calibration of the used equipment. However, experimental determination of the response, i.e., efficiency curves for a given detector-sample configuration and its geometry, is not always easy and requires a certain set of reference calibration sources in order to account for and cover broader energy ranges of interest. With the goal of overcoming these difficulties, a lot of researches turned towards the application of different software toolkits that implement the Monte Carlo method (e.g., MCNP, FLUKA, PENELOPE, Geant4, etc.), as it has proven time and time again to be a very powerful tool. In the process of creating a reliable model, one has to have well-established and described specifications of the detector. Unfortunately, the documentation that manufacturers provide alongside the equipment is rarely sufficient enough for this purpose. Furthermore, certain parameters tend to evolve and change over time, especially with older equipment. Deterioration of these parameters consequently decreases the active volume of the crystal and can thus affect the efficiencies by a large margin if they are not properly taken into account. In this study, the optimisation method of two HPGe detectors through the implementation of the Geant4 toolkit developed by CERN is described, with the goal of further improving simulation accuracy in calculations of FEP efficiencies by investigating the influence of certain detector variables (e.g., crystal-to-window distance, dead layer thicknesses, inner crystal’s void dimensions, etc.). Detectors on which the optimisation procedures were carried out were a standard traditional co-axial extended range detector (XtRa HPGe, CANBERRA) and a broad energy range planar detector (BEGe, CANBERRA). Optimised models were verified through comparison with experimentally obtained data from measurements of a set of point-like radioactive sources. Acquired results of both detectors displayed good agreement with experimental data that falls under an average statistical uncertainty of ∼ 4.6% for XtRa and ∼ 1.8% for BEGe detector within the energy range of 59.4−1836.1 [keV] and 59.4−1212.9 [keV], respectively.

Keywords: HPGe detector, γ spectrometry, efficiency, Geant4 simulation, Monte Carlo method

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Babak Eslami

Abstract:

Bimodal and trimodal AFM have provided additional capabilities to scanning probe microscopy characterization techniques. These capabilities have specifically enhanced material characterization of surfaces and provided subsurface imaging in addition to conventional topography images. Bimodal and trimodal AFM, being different techniques of multifrequency AFM, are based on exciting the cantilever’s fundamental eigenmode with second and third eigenmodes simultaneously. Although higher eigenmodes provide a higher number of observables that can provide additional information about the sample, they cause experimental challenges. In this work, different experimental approaches for enhancing AFM images in multifrequency for different characterization goals are provided. The trade-offs between eigenmodes including the advantages and disadvantages of using each mode for different samples (ranging from stiff to soft matter) in both air and liquid environments are provided. Additionally, the advantage of performing conventional single tapping mode AFM with higher eigenmodes of the cantilever in order to reduce sample indentation is discussed. These analyses are performed on widely used polymers such as polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate and air nanobubbles on different surfaces in both air and liquid.

Keywords: multifrequency, sensitivity, soft matter, polymer

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Ge Cui, Mei Fang Chien, Chihiro Inoue

Abstract:

In this research, enrichment culture using an inorganic liquid medium collected soil contaminated with 1,2-dichlorobenzene (1,2-DCB) in Sendai, Japan, was added 1,2-DCB as the sole carbon source to create a stable consortium. The purpose of this research is to analysis dominant microorganisms in the stable consortium and enzyme system which play a role in the degradation of DCBs. The consortium is now at 30 generation and is still being cultured. By the result of PCR-DGGE and clone library, two bacteria are dominant. The bacteria named sk1 was isolated. 40mg/l of 1,2-DCB and 40mg/l of 1,4-DCB were completely degraded after 32 hours and 50 hours, respectively, but no degradation occurred in the case of 1,3-DCB. By PCR, tecA1 (α-subunit of DCB dioxygenase) gene which plays a role degrading DCB to DCB dihydrodiol, and tecB (dehydrogenase) gene which plays a role degrading DCB dihydrodiol to dichlorocatechol were amplified from strain sk1. Bacteria named sk100 was also isolated. 40mg/l of 1,2-DCB was completely degraded after 32 hours, but no degradation occurred in case of 1,3-DCB and 1,4-DCB. By the result of the catalytic core region of dioxygenase amplified by PCR, gene played a role degrading DCB was analyzed. The results of this study concluded that the isolated strains which have not been reported are able to degrade 1,2-DCB stably, and the characterization of degradation and the genomic analysis which is now in progress is helpful to have an overall view of this microbial degradation.

Keywords: DCB, 1, 2-DCB degrading strains, DCB dioxygenase, enrichment culture

Procedia PDF Downloads 206

Authors: Nieto Bernal Wilson, Carmona Suarez Edgar

Abstract:

The organizations have structured and unstructured information in different formats, sources, and systems. Part of these come from ERP under OLTP processing that support the information system, however these organizations in OLAP processing level, presented some deficiencies, part of this problematic lies in that does not exist interesting into extract knowledge from their data sources, as also the absence of operational capabilities to tackle with these kind of projects.  Data Warehouse and its applications are considered as non-proprietary tools, which are of great interest to business intelligence, since they are repositories basis for creating models or patterns (behavior of customers, suppliers, products, social networks and genomics) and facilitate corporate decision making and research. The following paper present a structured methodology, simple, inspired from the agile development models as Scrum, XP and AUP. Also the models object relational, spatial data models, and the base line of data modeling under UML and Big data, from this way sought to deliver an agile methodology for the developing of data warehouses, simple and of easy application. The methodology naturally take into account the application of process for the respectively information analysis, visualization and data mining, particularly for patterns generation and derived models from the objects facts structured.

Keywords: data warehouse, model data, big data, object fact, object relational fact, process developed data warehouse

Procedia PDF Downloads 413