Search results for: photovoltaic water pumping system

Authors: Khamis Al-Gharbi, Said M. Gattoufi, Ali H. Al-Badi, Ali Al-Hashmi

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The case study presents the progression of a project management of Al-Shifa, a healthcare information system in Oman. The case study describes the evolution of the implementation of a healthcare information system tailored to meet the needs of the healthcare units under the supervision of the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Oman. A focus group methodology was used for collecting the relevant information from the main project's stakeholders. In addition reports about the project made available for the researchers. The case analysis is made based on the Project Management approach developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The main finding that there was no formal project management approach adopted by the MOH for the development and implementation of the herewith mentioned healthcare information system project. Furthermore, the project had suffered a scope creep in terms of features, cost and time-schedule. The recommendations of the authors, for the rescue of the project from its current dilemma, consist of technological, administrative and human resources development actions.

Keywords: project management, information system, healthcare, Al-Shifa, Oman

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Authors: Na Li, Yunwei Zhang, Yuhong Niu

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The study discussed the patent protections of health system and enterprises in Shanghai. The comparisons of technical distribution and scopes of patent protections between Shanghai health system and enterprises were used by the methods of IPC classification, co-words analysis and visual social network. Results reflected a decreasing order within IPC A61 area, namely A61B, A61K, A61M, and A61F. A61B required to be further investigated. The highest authorized patents A61B17 of A61B of IPC A61 area was found. Within A61B17, fracture fixation, ligament reconstruction, cardiac surgery, and biopsy detection were regarded as common concerned fields by Shanghai health system and enterprises. However, compared with cardiac closure which Shanghai enterprises paid attention to, Shanghai health system was more inclined to blockages and hemostatic tools. The results also revealed that the scopes of patent protections of Shanghai enterprises were relatively centralized. Shanghai enterprises had a series of comprehensive strategies for protecting core patents. In contrast, Shanghai health system was considered to be lack of strategic patent protections for core patents.

Keywords: co-words analysis, IPC classification, patent protection, technical distribution

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Authors: Annesha Ghosh, S. B. Agrawal

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Agricultural sector is facing a serious threat due to climate change and exacerbation of different atmospheric pollutants. Tropospheric ozone (O₃) is considered as a dynamic air pollutant imposing substantial phytotoxicity to natural vegetations and agriculture worldwide. Naturally, plants are exposed to different environmental factors and their interactions. Amongst such interactions, studies related to O₃ and water stress are still rare. In the present experiment, wheat cultivar HD2967 were grown in open top chambers (OTC) under two O₃ concentration; ambient O₃ level (A) and elevated O₃ (E) (ambient + 20 ppb O₃) along with two different water supply; well-watered (W) and 50% water stress conditions (WS), with an aim to assess the individual and interactive effect of two most prevailing stress factors in Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. Exposure to elevated O₃ dose caused early senescence symptoms and reduction in growth and biomass of the test cultivar. The adversity was more pronounced under the combined effect of EWS. Significant reduction of stomatal conductance (gs) and assimilation rate were observed under combined stress condition compared to the control (AW). However, plants grown under individual stress conditions displayed higher gs, biomass, and antioxidant defense mechanism compared to the plants grown under the presence of combined stresses. Higher induction in most of the enzyme activities of catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) was displayed by HD 2967 under EW while, under the presence of combined stresses (EWS), a moderate increment of APX and CAT activity was observed only at its vegetative phase. Furthermore, variations in nutrient uptake and redistribution to different plants parts were also observed in the present study. Reduction in water availability has checked nutrient uptake (N, K, P, Ca, Cu, Mg, Zn) in above-ground parts (leaf) and below-ground parts (root). On the other hand, carbon (C) accumulation with subsequent C-N ratio was observed to be higher in the leaves under EWS. Such major nutrient check and limitation in carbon fixation due to lower gs under combined stress conditions might have weakened the defense mechanisms of the test cultivar. Grain yield was significantly reduced under EWS followed by AWS and EW as compared to their control, exhibiting an additive effect on the grain yield.

Keywords: antioxidants, open-top chambers, ozone, water stress, wheat, yield

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Authors: Ehsan Soleymaninejadian

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As the field of immunology is growing day by day, and its chaotic system amazes more people, greed of research in this area is growing; however dealing with human or mammalian cells such as mice make the research expensive. Although there are some differences between higher animals with insects, importance of innate immunity during evolution made it untouched. So, for understanding the innate immunity insects can be good models. They are cheap; reproduction is fast and in the case genetics, less complicated. In this review, we tried to briefly tackle with important factors in insects’ innate immunity such as melanization, encapsulation, JAK-STAT, IMD, and Toll pathways. At the end, we explained how hormones and nerve system also can impact on immune system and make it more beautiful. In concluding remarks, the possibility of taking help from insect immune system to fight against diseases such as cancer has been considered.

Keywords: insects, innate immunity, melanization, intracellular pathways, hormones

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Authors: Ebrahim H. Kapeel, Ehab Safwat, Hossam Hendy, Ahmed M. Kamel, Yehia Z. Elhalwagy

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Motivated by the problem of the availability of high-fidelity flight simulation models for small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This paper focuses on the geometric-mass inertia modeling and the actuation system modeling for the small fixed-wing UAVs. The UAV geometric parameters for the body, wing, horizontal and vertical tail are physically measured. Pendulum experiment with high-grade sensors and data analysis using MATLAB is used to estimate the airplane moment of inertia (MOI) model. Finally, UAV’s actuation system is modeled by estimating each servo transfer function by using the system identification, which uses experimental measurement for input and output angles through using field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Experimental results for the designed models are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the methodology. It also gives a very promising result to finalize the open-loop flight simulation model through modeling the propulsion system and the aerodynamic system.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle, geometric-mass inertia model, system identification, Simulink

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Authors: Caje F. Pinto, Jivan S. Parab, Gourish M. Naik

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This paper is about the development of non-invasive heart rate and oxygen saturation in human blood using Altera NIOS II soft-core processor system. In today's world, monitoring oxygen saturation and heart rate is very important in hospitals to keep track of low oxygen levels in blood. We have designed an Embedded System On Peripheral Chip (SOPC) reconfigurable system by interfacing two LED’s of different wavelengths (660 nm/940 nm) with a single photo-detector to measure the absorptions of hemoglobin species at different wavelengths. The implementation of the interface with Finger Probe and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) was carried out using NIOS II soft-core system running on Altera NANO DE0 board having target as Cyclone IVE. This designed system is used to monitor oxygen saturation in blood and heart rate for different test subjects. The designed NIOS II processor based non-invasive heart rate and oxygen saturation was verified with another Operon Pulse oximeter for 50 measurements on 10 different subjects. It was found that the readings taken were very close to the Operon Pulse oximeter.

Keywords: heart rate, NIOS II, oxygen saturation, photoplethysmography, soft-core, SOPC

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Authors: Asma Ben Rhouma, Mahmoud Hamouda

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The delta inverter is considered as the reduced three-phase dc/ac converter topology. It contains only three two-quadrant power switches compared to six in the conventional one. This reduced power conversion topology is widely considered in many industrial applications, such as electric traction and large photovoltaic systems. This paper is focused on a new sinusoidal pulse width modulation algorithm (SPWM) developed for the delta inverter. As an unconventional inverter’s structure, irregular modulating functions waveforms of the SPWM switching technique are generated. The performances of the proposed SPWM technique was proven through computer simulations carried out on a delta inverter feeding a three-phase RL load. Digital Signal Processor (DSP) implementation of the novel SPWM algorithm have been realized on a laboratory prototype of the delta inverter feeding an RL load and a squirrel cage induction motor. Experimental results have highlighted its high performances under the proposed SPWM method.

Keywords: delta inverter, SPWM, simulation, DSP implementation

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Authors: S. K. Verma, S. L. Sinha, D. K. Chandraker

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The Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is a vertical pressure tube type, heavy water moderated and boiling light water cooled natural circulation based reactor. The fuel bundle of AHWR contains 54 fuel rods arranged in three concentric rings of 12, 18 and 24 fuel rods. This fuel bundle is divided into a number of imaginary interacting flow passage called subchannels. Single phase flow condition exists in reactor rod bundle during startup condition and up to certain length of rod bundle when it is operating at full power. Prediction of the thermal margin of the reactor during startup condition has necessitated the determination of the turbulent mixing rate of coolant amongst these subchannels. Thus, it is vital to evaluate turbulent mixing between subchannels of AHWR rod bundle. With the remarkable progress in the computer processing power, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodology can be useful for investigating the thermal–hydraulic characteristics phenomena in the nuclear fuel assembly. The present report covers the results of simulation of pressure drop, velocity variation and turbulence intensity on single rod bundle with 54 rods in circular arrays. In this investigation, 54-rod assemblies are simulated with ANSYS Fluent 15 using steady simulations with an ANSYS Workbench meshing. The simulations have been carried out with water for Reynolds number 9861.83. The rod bundle has a mean flow area of 4853.0584 mm2 in the bare region with the hydraulic diameter of 8.105 mm. In present investigation, a benchmark k-ε model has been used as a turbulence model and the symmetry condition is set as boundary conditions. Simulation are carried out to determine the turbulent mixing rate in the simulated subchannels of the reactor. The size of rod and the pitch in the test has been same as that of actual rod bundle in the prototype. Water has been used as the working fluid and the turbulent mixing tests have been carried out at atmospheric condition without heat addition. The mean velocity in the subchannel has been varied from 0-1.2 m/s. The flow conditions are found to be closer to the actual reactor condition.

Keywords: AHWR, CFD, single-phase turbulent mixing rate, thermal–hydraulic

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Authors: Suhera M. Aburawi, Habiba A. El Jaafari, Soad A. Treesh, Abdulssalam M. Abu-Aisha, Faisal S. Alwaer, Reda A. Eltubuly, Medeha Elghedamsi

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Introduction: Infertility is a source of psychological, and sometimes social, stress on parents who desire to have children. Formaldehyde is used chiefly as disinfectant, preservative and in the chemical synthesis. The medical uses of formaldehyde are limited, but focused especially on laboratory use. Selenium is an essential trace mineral element for human; it is essential for sperm function and male fertility. Selenium deficiency has been linked to reproductive problems in animals. Objectives: To investigate the prophylactic and curative effect of selenium on male infertility induced by formaldehyde using male albino mice. Method: Forty male albino mice were used, weight 25-30 gm. Five groups of male mice (n=8) were used. Group 1 was daily administered water for injection (5ml/kg) for five days, group 2 was daily administered selenium (100 μg/kg) for five days, group 3 was daily administered formaldehyde (30mg/kg) for five days, group 4 (prophylaxis) was daily administered a combination of formaldehyde and selenium for five days, while group 5 (curative) was daily administered formaldehyde for five days followed by daily administration of selenium for the next five days. Intraperitoneal administration was adopted. At the end of the administration, seminal fluid was collected from vas deferens. Sperm count, morphology and motility were scored; histopathological screening of genital system was carried out. SPSS was applied for comparing groups. Results and conclusion: It was found that formaldehyde toxicity did not change the sperm count and percentage of motile sperm; unhealthy sperm was increased, while healthy sperm was decreased. Formaldehyde produces degeneration/damage to the male mice genital system. Selenium alone produce an increase in sperm count, volume of seminal fluid and the percentage of motile sperm. Selenium has prophylactic and curative effects against formaldehyde-induce genital system toxicity. Future work is recommended to find out if selenium protective effect is through antioxidant or other mechanisms.

Keywords: infertility, formaldehyde, selenium, male mice

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Authors: Sherif Keddis, Rafik Mitry, Norbert Schwesinger

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Intelligent networking of devices has rapidly been gaining importance over the past years and with recent advances in the fields of microcontrollers, integrated circuits and wireless communication, low power applications have emerged, enabling this trend even more. Connected devices provide a much larger database thus enabling highly intelligent and accurate systems. Ensuring safe drinking water is one of the fields that require constant monitoring and can benefit from an increased accuracy. Monitoring is mainly achieved either through complex measures, such as collecting samples from the points of use, or through metering systems typically distant to the points of use which deliver less accurate assessments of the quality of water. Constant metering near the points of use is complicated due to their inaccessibility; e.g. buried water pipes, locked spaces, which makes system maintenance extremely difficult and often unviable. The research presented here attempts to overcome this challenge by providing these systems with enough energy through a flow harvester inside the pipe thus eliminating the maintenance requirements in terms of battery replacements or containment of leakage resulting from wiring such systems. The proposed flow harvester exploits the piezoelectric properties of polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) films to convert turbulence induced oscillations into electrical energy. It is intended to be used in standard water pipes with diameters between 0.5 and 1 inch. The working principle of the harvester uses a ring shaped bluff body inside the pipe to induce pressure fluctuations. Additionally the bluff body houses electronic components such as storage, circuitry and RF-unit. Placing the piezoelectric films downstream of that bluff body causes their oscillation which generates electrical charge. The PVDF-film is placed as a multilayered wrap fixed to the pipe wall leaving the top part to oscillate freely inside the flow. The warp, which allows for a larger active, consists of two layers of 30µm thick and 12mm wide PVDF layered alternately with two centered 6µm thick and 8mm wide aluminum foil electrodes. The length of the layers depends on the number of windings and is part of the investigation. Sealing the harvester against liquid penetration is achieved by wrapping it in a ring-shaped LDPE-film and welding the open ends. The fabrication of the PVDF-wraps is done by hand. After validating the working principle using a wind tunnel, experiments have been conducted in water, placing the harvester inside a 1 inch pipe at water velocities of 0.74m/s. To find a suitable placement of the wrap inside the pipe, two forms of fixation were compared regarding their power output. Further investigations regarding the number of windings required for efficient transduction were made. Best results were achieved using a wrap with 3 windings of the active layers which delivers a constant power output of 0.53µW at a 2.3MΩ load and an effective voltage of 1.1V. Considering the extremely low power requirements of sensor applications, these initial results are promising. For further investigations and optimization, machine designs are currently being developed to automate the fabrication and decrease tolerance of the prototypes.

Keywords: maintenance-free sensors, measurements at point of use, piezoelectric flow harvesting, universal micro generator, wireless metering systems

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Authors: Mita Sirait

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Everyday Jakarta produces 7,000 tons of solid waste and only about 5,200 tons delivered to landfill out of the city by 720 trucks, the rest are left yet manageable, as reported by Government of Clean Sector. CLEAN Jakarta Project is aimed at empowering community to achieve healthy environment for children and families in urban slum in Semper Barat and Penjaringan sub-district of North Jakarta that consisted of 20,584 people. The project applies Community Based Total Sanitation, an approach to empowering community to achieve total hygiene and sanitation behaviour by triggering activities. As regulated by Ministry of Health, it has 5 pillars: (1) open defecation free, (2) hand-washing with soaps, (3) drinking-water treatment, (4) solid-waste management and (5) waste-water management; and 3 strategic components: 1) demand creation, 2) supply creation and 3) enabling environment. Demand creation is generated by triggering community’s reaction to their daily sanitation habits by exposing them to their surrounding where they can see faeces, waste and other environmental pollutant to stimulate disgusting, embarrassing and responsibility sense. Triggered people then challenged to commit to improving their hygiene practice such as to stop littering and start waste separation. In order to support this commitment, and for supply creation component, the project initiated waste bank with community working group. It facilitated capacity-building trainings, waste bank system formulation and meetings with local authorities to solicit land permit and waste bank decree. As it is of a general banking system, waste bank has customer service, teller, manager, legal paper and provides saving book and money transaction. In 8 months, two waste banks have established with 148 customers, 17 million rupiah cash, and about 9 million of stored recyclables. Approximately 2.5 tons of 15-35 types of recyclable are managed in both waste banks per week. On enabling environment, the project has initiated sanitation working group in community and multi sectors government level, and advocated both parties. The former is expected to promote behaviour change and monitoring in the community, while the latter is expected to support sanitation with regulations, strategies, appraisal and awards; to coordinate partnering and networking, and to replicate best practices to other areas.

Keywords: urban community, waste management, Jakarta, community based total sanitation (CBTS)

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Farzami Pour

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Determination of genetic variation is useful for plant breeding and hence production of more efficient plant species under different conditions, like drought stress. In this study, a sample of 28 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of wheat developed from the cross of Norstar and Zagross varieties, together with their parents, were evaluated for two years (2010-2012) under normal and water stress conditions using split plot design with three replications. Main plots included two irrigation treatments of 70 and 140 mm evaporation from Class A pan and sub-plots consisted of 30 genotypes. The effect of genotypes and interaction of genotypes with years and water regimes were significant for all characters. Significant genotypic effect implies the existence of genetic variation among the lines under study. Heritability estimates were high for 1000 grain weight (0.87). Biomass and grain yield showed the lowest heritability values (0.42 and 0.50, respectively). Highest genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation (GCV and PCV) belonged to harvest index. Moderate genetic advance for most of the traits suggested the feasibility of selection among the RILs under investigation. Some RILs were higher yielding than either parent at both environments.

Keywords: wheat, genetic gain, heritability, recombinant inbred lines

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Authors: Elvin Çomo, Edlira Tako, Albana Hasimi, Rrapo Ormeni, Olger Gjuzi, Mirela Ndrita

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In Albania, only low enthalpy geothermal springs and wells are known, the temperatures of some of them are almost at the upper limits of low enthalpy, reaching over 60°C. These resources can be used to improve the country's energy balance, as well as for profitable economic purposes. The region of Elbasan has the greatest geothermal energy potential in Albania. This bass is one of the most popular and used in our country. This area is a surface with a number of sources, located in the form of a chain, in the sector between Llixha and Hidraj and constitutes a thermo-mineral basin with stable discharge and high temperature. The sources of Elbasan Springs, with the current average flow of thermo mineral water of 12-18 l/s and its temperature 55-65oC, have specific reserves of 39.6 GJ/m2 and potential power to install 2760 kW. For the assessment of physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals, water samples were taken at 5 monitoring stations throughout the year 2022. The levels of basic parameters were analyzed using ISO, EU and APHA 21-th edition standard methods. This study presents the current state of the physico-chemical parameters of this thermal basin, the evaluation of these parameters for curative activities and for industrial processes, as well as the integrated utilization of geothermal energy. Possibilities for using thermomineral waters for heating homes in the area around them or even further, depending on the flow from the source or geothermal well. Sensitization of Albanian investors, medical research and the community for the high economic and curative effectiveness, for the integral use of geothermal energy in this area and the development of the tourist sector. An analysis of the negative environmental impact from the use of thermal water is also provided.

Keywords: geothermal energy, Llixha, physic-chemical parameters, thermal water

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Authors: M. Bouhadef, K. Bouzelha-Hammoum, T. Guendouzen-Dabouz, A. Younsi, T. Zitoun

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The aim of this paper is to report the different experimental studies, conducted in the laboratory, dealing with the flow in the presence of an obstacle lying in a rectangular hydraulic channel. Both subcritical and supercritical regimes are considered. Generally, when considering the theoretical problem of the free-surface flow, in a fluid domain of finite depth, due to the presence of an obstacle, we suppose that the water is an inviscid fluid, which means that there is no sheared velocity profile, but constant upstream. In a hydraulic channel, it is impossible to satisfy this condition. Indeed, water is a viscous fluid and its velocity is null at the bottom. The two configurations are presented, i.e. a flow over an obstacle and a towed obstacle in a resting fluid.

Keywords: experiments, free-surface flow, hydraulic channel, subcritical regime, supercritical flow

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Authors: Adedolapo Ayoade, John the Beloved Dada

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This study identified the phytoplankton assemblage of the Dandaru Lake (that received effluents from a zoological garden and hospital) as bioindicators of water quality. Physicochemical parameters including Dissolved Oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate, phosphate and heavy metals were also determined. Samples of water and plankton were collected once monthly from April to September, 2015 at five stations (I – V). The mean physicochemical parameters were within the limits of National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and USEPA except Lead, 0.02 ± 0.08 mg/ L; Manganese, 0.46 ± 1.00 mg/ L and Zinc, 0.05 ± 0.17 mg/ L. Means of DO, alkalinity, and phosphate were significantly different between the stations at p < 0.05. While highest mean DO (6.88 ± 1.34 mg/L) was recorded in station I with less anthropogenic activities, highest phosphate concentration (0.28 ± 0.28 mg/L) occurred in station II, the entry point of wastewater from hospital and zoological garden. The 147 phytoplankton species found in the lake belonged to six classes: Chlorophyceae (50), Euglenophyceae (40), Bacillariophyceae (37), Cyanophyceae (17), Xanthophyceae and Chrysophyceae (3). The order of abundance for phytoplankton was Euglenophyceae (49.77%) > Bacillariophyceae (18.00%) > Cyanophyceae (17.39%) > Chlorophyceae (13.7%) > Xanthophyceae (1.06%) > Chrysophyceae (0.02%). The stations impacted with effluents were dominated by members of Euglenophyceae (Station III, 77.09%; IV, 50.55%) and Cyanophyceae (Station II, 27.7%; V, 32.57%). While station I was dominated by diatoms (57.98%). The species richness recorded was 0.32 – 4.49. Evenness index was highest in station I and least in station III. Generally, pollution tolerant species (Microcystis, Oscillatoria, Scenedesmus, Anabaena, and Euglena) showed greater density in areas impacted by human activities. The phytoplankton assemblage and comparatively low biotic diversity in Dandaru Lake could be attributed to perturbations in the water column that exerted selective effects on the biological assemblage.

Keywords: manmade lake, Nigeria, phytoplankton, water quality

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Authors: Tayib Bromand, Keisuke Sato

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This paper presents the introduction to current water balance and climate change assessment in the Kabul river basin. The historical and future impacts of climate change on different components of water resources and hydrology in the Kabul river basin. The eastern part of Afghanistan, the Kabul river basin was chosen due to rapid population growth and land degradation to quantify the potential influence of Gobal Climate Change on its hydrodynamic characteristics. Luck of observed meteorological data was the main limitation of present research, few existed precipitation stations in the plain area of Kabul basin selected to compare with TRMM precipitation records, the result has been evaluated satisfactory based on regression and normal ratio methods. So the TRMM daily precipitation and NCEP temperature data set applied in the SWAT model to evaluate water balance for 2008 to 2012. Middle of the twenty – first century (2064) selected as the target period to assess impacts of climate change on hydrology aspects in the Kabul river basin. For this purpose three emission scenarios, A2, A1B and B1 and four GCMs, such as MIROC 3.2 (Med), CGCM 3.1 (T47), GFDL-CM2.0 and CNRM-CM3 have been selected, to estimate the future initial conditions of the proposed model. The outputs of the model compared and calibrated based on (R2) satisfactory. The assessed hydrodynamic characteristics and precipitation pattern. The results show that there will be significant impacts on precipitation patter such as decreasing of snowfall in the mountainous area of the basin in the Winter season due to increasing of 2.9°C mean annual temperature and land degradation due to deforestation.

Keywords: climate change, emission scenarios, hydrological components, Kabul river basin, SWAT model

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Authors: S. R. A. Rahim, I. Musirin, M. M. Othman, M. H. Hussain

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Loss minimization is a long progressing issue mainly in distribution system. Nevertheless, its effect led to temperature rise due to significant voltage drop through the distribution line. Thus, compensation scheme should be proper scheduled in the attempt to alleviate the voltage drop phenomenon. Distributed generation has been profoundly known for voltage profile improvement provided that over-compensation or under-compensation phenomena are avoided. This paper addresses the issue of voltage improvement through different type DG installation. In ensuring optimal sizing and location of the DGs, predeveloped EMEFA technique was made to be used for this purpose. Incremental loading condition subjected to the system is the concern such that it is beneficial to the power system operator.

Keywords: distributed generation, EMEFA, power loss, voltage profile

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Authors: Muhd. Barzani Gasim, Mohd. Ekhwan Toriman, Mohd. Khairul Amri Kamarudin, Azman Azid, Siti Humaira Haron, Muhammad Hafiz Md. Saad

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Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that constantly exposed to flooding and landslide. The disaster has caused some troubles such loss of property, loss of life and discomfort of people involved. This problem occurs as a result of climate change leading to increased stream flow rate as a result of disruption to regional hydrological cycles. The aim of the study is to determine hydrologic processes in the east coasts of Peninsular Malaysia, especially in Kelantan Basin. Parameterized to account for the spatial and temporal variability of basin characteristics and their responses to climate variability. For hydrological modeling of the basin, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model such as relief, soil type, and its use, and historical daily time series of climate and river flow rates are studied. The interpretation of Landsat map/land uses will be applied in this study. The combined of SWAT and climate models, the system will be predicted an increase in future scenario climate precipitation, increase in surface runoff, increase in recharge and increase in the total water yield. As a result, this model has successfully developed the basin analysis by demonstrating analyzing hydrographs visually, good estimates of minimum and maximum flows and severe floods observed during calibration and validation periods.

Keywords: east coasts of Peninsular Malaysia, Kelantan river basin, minimum and maximum flows, severe floods, SWAT model

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Authors: Azeez O. Idris, Benjamin O. Orimolade, Potlako J. Mafa, Alex T. Kuvarega, Usisipho Feleni, Bhekie B. Mamba

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We report a simple and cheaper method for the electrochemical detection of Se(IV) using carbon nanodots (CNDTs) prepared from oat. The carbon nanodots were synthesised by green and facile approach and characterised using scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. The CNDT was used to fabricate an electrochemical sensor for the quantification of Se(IV) in water. The modification of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with carbon nanodots led to an increase in the electroactive surface area of the electrode, which enhances the redox current peak of [Fe(CN)₆]₃₋/₄‒ in comparison to the bare GCE. Using the square wave voltammetry, the detection limit and quantification limit of 0.05 and 0.167 ppb were obtained under the optimised parameters using deposition potential of -200 mV, 0.1 M HNO₃ electrolyte, electrodeposition time of 60 s, and pH 1. The results further revealed that the GCE-CNDT was not susceptible to many interfering cations except Cu(II) and Pb(II), and Fe(II). The sensor fabrication involves a one-step electrode modification and was used to detect Se(IV) in a real water sample, and the result obtained is in agreement with the inductively coupled plasma technique. Overall, the electrode offers a cheap, fast, and sensitive way of detecting selenium in environmental matrices.

Keywords: carbon nanodots, square wave voltammetry, nanomaterials, selenium, sensor

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Authors: Hyeon-seoung Kim, Sang-mi Park, Sun-ju Han, Leen-seok Kang

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The visualization technology of construction information using 3D and nD modeling can satisfy the visualization needs of each construction project participant. The nD CAD system is a tool that the construction information, such as construction schedule, cost and resource utilization, are simulated by 4D, 5D and 6D object formats based on 3D object. This study developed a methodology and simulation engine for nD CAD system for construction project management. It has improved functions such as built-in schedule generation, cost simulation of changed budget and built-in resource allocation comparing with the current systems. To develop an integrated nD CAD system, this study attempts an integrated method to link 5D and 6D objects based on 4D object.

Keywords: building information modeling, visual simulation, 3D object, nD CAD augmented reality

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Authors: Chinlun Lai, Lunjyh Jiang

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Due to the heavy burden and pressure of caring for infants, an integrated automatic baby watching system based on IoT smart sensing and deep learning machine vision techniques is proposed in this paper. By monitoring infant body conditions such as heartbeat, breathing, body temperature, sleeping posture, as well as the surrounding conditions such as dangerous/sharp objects, light, noise, humidity and temperature, the proposed system can analyze and predict the obvious/potential dangerous conditions according to observed data and then adopt suitable actions in real time to protect the infant from harm. Thus, reducing the burden of the caregiver and improving safety efficiency of the caring work. The experimental results show that the proposed system works successfully for the infant care work and thus can be implemented in various life fields practically.

Keywords: baby care system, Internet of Things, deep learning, machine vision

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Authors: Youssef Babkrani, S. Hiyani, A. Naddami, K. Choukri, M. Hilal

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Power Quality has been a problem ever since electrical power was invented and in recent years, it has become the main interest of researchers who are still concerned about finding ways to reduce its negative influence on electrical devices. In this paper we aim to improve the power quality output for H- bridge multilevel inverter used with solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels, we propose a new switching technique that uses a pulse width modulation method (PWM) aiming to reduce the harmonics. This new method introduces a sinusoidal wave compared with modified trapezoidal carriers used to generate the pulses. This new trapezoid carrier waveform is being implemented with different sinusoidal PWM dispositions such as phase disposition (PWM PD), phase opposition disposition (PWM POD), and (PWM APOD) alternative phase opposition disposition and compared with the conventional ones. Using Matlab Simulink R2014a the line voltage and total harmonic distortions (THD) simulated and the quality are increased in spite of variations of DC introduced.

Keywords: carrier waveform, phase disposition (PD), phase opposition disposition (POD), alternative phase opposition disposition (APOD), total harmonics distortion (THD)

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Authors: Zi-Yan Liao, Shan-Yu Zhang, Ya-Xian Lin, Ya-Lun Lee, Shih-Chuan Huang, Hong-Ru Lin

Abstract:

Traditional wound dressings, such as gauze, bandages, etc., are easy to adhere to the tissue fluid exuded from the wound, causing secondary damage to the wound during removal. This study takes this as the idea to develop a hydrogel dressing, to explore that the dressing will not cause secondary damage to the wound when it is torn off, and at the same time, create an environment conducive to wound healing. First, the temperature-sensitive material N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) was used as the substrate. Due to its low mechanical properties, the hydrogel would break due to pulling during human activities. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) interpenetrates into it to enhance the mechanical properties, and a semi-interpenetration (semi-IPN) composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was prepared by free radical polymerization. PNIPAAm was cross-linked with N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (NMBA) in an ice bath in the presence of linear PVA, and tetramethylhexamethylenediamine (TEMED) was added as a promoter to speed up the gel formation. The polymerization stage was carried out at 16°C for 17 hours and washed with distilled water for three days after gel formation, and the water was changed several times in the middle to complete the preparation of semi-IPN hydrogel. Finally, various tests were used to analyze the effects of different ratios of PNIPAAm and PVA on semi-IPN hydrogels. In the swelling test, it was found that the maximum swelling ratio can reach about 50% under the environment of 21°C, and the higher the ratio of PVA, the more water can be absorbed. The saturated moisture content test results show that when more PVA is added, the higher saturated water content. The water vapor transmission rate test results show that the value of the semi-IPN hydrogel is about 57 g/m²/24hr, which is not much related to the proportion of PVA. It is found in the LCST test compared with the PNIPAAm hydrogel; the semi-IPN hydrogel possesses the same critical solution temperature (30-35°C). The semi-IPN hydrogel prepared in this study has a good effect on temperature response and has the characteristics of thermal sensitivity. It is expected that after improvement, it can be used in the treatment of surface wounds, replacing the traditional dressing shortcoming.

Keywords: hydrogel, N-isopropylacrylamide, polyvinyl alcohol, hydrogel wound dressing, semi-interpenetrating polymer network

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Vincent Ballola, Raymund Dilan, Thelma Palaoag

Abstract:

The Smart Online Library Catalog System with Query Expansion seeks to address the low usage of the library because of the emergence of the Internet. Library users are not accustomed to catalog systems that need a query to have the exact words without any mistakes for decent results to appear. The graphical user interface of the current system has a rather skewed learning curve for users to adapt with. With a simple graphical user interface inspired by Google, users can search quickly just by inputting their query and hitting the search button. Because of the query expansion techniques incorporated into the new system such as stemming, thesaurus search, and weighted search, users can have more efficient results from their query. The system will be adding the root words of the user's query to the query itself which will then be cross-referenced to a thesaurus database to search for any synonyms that will be added to the query. The results will then be arranged by the number of times the word has been searched. Online queries will also be added to the results for additional references. Users showed notable increases in efficiency and usability due to the familiar interface and query expansion techniques incorporated in the system. The simple yet familiar design led to a better user experience. Users also said that they would be more inclined in using the library because of the new system. The incorporation of query expansion techniques gives a notable increase of results to users that in turn gives them a wider range of resources found in the library. Used books mean more knowledge imparted to the users.

Keywords: query expansion, catalog system, stemming, weighted search, usability, thesaurus search

Procedia PDF Downloads 379

Authors: J. R. Wang, Y. Chiang, W. Y. Li, H. T. Lin, H. C. Chen, C. Shih, S. W. Chen

Abstract:

The dry-storage systems of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Taiwan have become one of the major safety concerns. There are two steps considered in this study. The first step is the verification of the TRACE by using VSC-17 experimental data. The results of TRACE were similar to the VSC-17 data. It indicates that TRACE has the respectable accuracy in the simulation and analysis of the dry-storage systems. The next step is the application of TRACE in the dry-storage system of Kuosheng NPP (BWR/6). Kuosheng NPP is the second BWR NPP of Taiwan Power Company. In order to solve the storage of the spent fuels, Taiwan Power Company developed the new dry-storage system for Kuosheng NPP. In this step, the dry-storage system model of Kuosheng NPP was established by TRACE. Then, the steady state simulation of this model was performed and the results of TRACE were compared with the Kuosheng NPP data. Finally, this model was used to perform the safety analysis of Kuosheng NPP dry-storage system. Besides, FRAPTRAN was used tocalculate the transient performance of fuel rods.

Keywords: BWR, TRACE, FRAPTRAN, dry-storage

Procedia PDF Downloads 505

Authors: Ziyu Liu, Martin Buijsen

Abstract:

Although great achievements have been made since the beginning of the Chinese healthcare system reform in 1978, there still remain unresolved problems. Currently, the two leading social issues are accessibility and affordability of healthcare. Facing those challenges, Chinese government initiated the third round of healthcare system reform, accompanied by an array of measures. The newly launched strategies show a tendency to deliver healthcare as welfare goods, achieving equality through an ex-post perspective instead of an ex-ante view. However, if the reform efforts rely solely on the notion of “welfare”, the wrong idea of the government as the only duty-bearer in healthcare will arise. Several major threats, such as high costs as a result of inefficiencies and free riding then become imminent. Therefore, on the basis of Dworkin’s theory, this paper argues that individual responsibility should be introduced when constructing a sustainable healthcare system. And it should be equally highlighted as the duties of government. Furthermore, the notion of individual responsibility is believed to be necessary for promoting the justice of a healthcare system.

Keywords: Chinese healthcare system reform, individual responsibility, right to healthcare, social justice

Procedia PDF Downloads 491

Authors: Mohammad Reza Fooladi

Abstract:

The patent system which fits with industrial and economic situation in the country, by strengthening research and development, technology transfer and increasing foreign investment can provide economic and industrial growth of the countries. However, the extent and manner of support should be commensurate with the country's conditions and comply with significant rules to have a positive effect on research and development, technology transfer and the amount of foreign investment. The present article tries to while reviewing the state of effectiveness of the patent system on economic growth, to illustrate the characteristics of the patent system fits Afghanistan and according to this matter provide the necessary recommendations about the improvement of laws and regulations related to the patent in Afghanistan.

Keywords: patent, economic growth, technology transfer, Afghanistan

Procedia PDF Downloads 393

Authors: Tadesse Anberbir, Bankole Felix, Tomio Takara

Abstract:

In the development of a text-to-speech synthesizer, automatic derivation of correct pronunciation from the grapheme form of a text is a central problem. Particularly deriving phonological features which are not shown in orthography is challenging. In the Amharic language, geminates and epenthetic vowels are very crucial for proper pronunciation, but neither is shown in orthography. In this paper, to proposed and integrated a morphological analyzer into an Amharic Text-to-Speech system, mainly to predict geminates and epenthetic vowel positions and prepared a duration modeling method. Amharic Text-to-Speech system (AmhTTS) is a parametric and rule-based system that adopts a cepstral method and uses a source filter model for speech production and a Log Magnitude Approximation (LMA) filter as the vocal tract filter. The naturalness of the system after employing the duration modeling was evaluated by sentence listening test, and we achieved an average Mean Opinion Score (MOS) 3.4 (68%), which is moderate. By modeling the duration of geminates and controlling the locations of epenthetic vowel, we are able to synthesize good quality speech. Our system is mainly suitable to be customized for other Ethiopian languages with limited resources.

Keywords: amharic, gemination, Speech synthesis, morphology, epenthesis

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Degale Desta, Cheng Jian

Abstract:

The most important factor in identifying a person is their face. Even identical twins have their own distinct faces. As a result, identification and face recognition are needed to tell one person from another. A face recognition system is a verification tool used to establish a person's identity using biometrics. Nowadays, face recognition is a common technique used in a variety of applications, including home security systems, criminal identification, and phone unlock systems. This system is more secure because it only requires a facial image instead of other dependencies like a key or card. Face detection and face identification are the two phases that typically make up a human recognition system.The idea behind designing and creating a face recognition system using deep learning with Azure ML Python's OpenCV is explained in this paper. Face recognition is a task that can be accomplished using deep learning, and given the accuracy of this method, it appears to be a suitable approach. To show how accurate the suggested face recognition system is, experimental results are given in 98.46% accuracy using Fast-RCNN Performance of algorithms under different training conditions.

Keywords: deep learning, face recognition, identification, fast-RCNN

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Ashraf Muharam, Nasser Al-Hemiddi, El Sayed Amer

Abstract:

Green roof is one of sustainable practice for reducing the environmental impact of a building. Green roofs are vegetation roofs that are partially or completely covered building's roof. It can provide multiple environmental benefits such as mitigation of urban heat island effect and protecting buildings against solar radiation. In Riyadh city buildings consume about 70 % of the total energy used in the building for cooling and heating because of the Riyadh's harsh and tropical climate. So, the study aim was identifying the thermal performance of extensive green roof and comparing its performance with concrete roof performance during summer season. The experimental validations results indicated that the extensive green roofs system was better than concrete roof system for lowering the indoor air temperature. It could reduce the indoor air temperature from 2°C to 5.5°C compared to the concrete roof system. Also, the finding of this study demonstrated that extensive green roof system could reduce 12% to 33% of energy consumption of air conditioning in Riyadh city during summer seasons by using environmentally friendly insulation.

Keywords: thermal performance, green roof system, concrete roof system, tropical climatic, internal temperatures

Procedia PDF Downloads 402