Search results for: high technology export

Authors: Véronique Georlette, Sebastien Bette, Sylvain Brohez, Nicolas Point, Veronique Moeyaert

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Visible light communication (VLC) is a communication technology that is part of the optical wireless communication (OWC) family. It uses the visible and infrared spectrums to send data. For now, this technology has widely been studied for indoor use-cases, but it is sufficiently mature nowadays to consider the outdoor environment potentials. The main outdoor challenges are the meteorological conditions and the presence of smoke due to fire or pollutants in urban areas. This paper proposes a methodology to assess the robustness of an outdoor VLC system given the outdoor conditions. This methodology is put into practice in two realistic scenarios, a VLC bus stop, and a VLC streetlight. The methodology consists of computing the power margin available in the system, given all the characteristics of the VLC system and its surroundings. This is done thanks to an outdoor VLC communication channel simulator developed in Python. This simulator is able to quantify the effects of fog and smoke thanks to models taken from environmental and fire engineering scientific literature as well as the optical power reaching the receiver. These two phenomena impact the communication by increasing the total attenuation of the medium. The main conclusion drawn in this paper is that the levels of attenuation due to fog and smoke are in the same order of magnitude. The attenuation of fog being the highest under the visibility of 1 km. This gives a promising prospect for the deployment of outdoor VLC uses-cases in the near future.

Keywords: channel modeling, fog modeling, meteorological conditions, optical wireless communication, smoke modeling, visible light communication

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Authors: Emmanuel Okine Neokye, Xiuquan Wang, Krishna K. Thakur, Pedro Quijon, Rana Ali Nawaz, , Sana Basheer

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Oysters are enriched with high-quality protein and are widely known for their exquisite taste. The production of oysters plays an important role in the local economies of coastal communities in many countries, including Atlantic Canada, because of their high economic value. However, because of the changing climatic conditions in recent years, oyster aquaculture faces potentially negative impacts, such as increasing water acidification, rising water temperatures, high salinity, invasive species, algal blooms, and other environmental factors. Although a few isolated effects of climate change on oyster aquaculture have been reported in recent years, it is not well understood how climate change will affect oyster aquaculture from a systematic perspective. In the first part of this study, we present a systematic review of the impacts of climate change and some key environmental factors affecting oyster production on a global scale. The study also identifies knowledge gaps and challenges. In addition, we present key research directions that will facilitate future investigations.

Keywords: climate change, oyster production, oyster aquaculture, greenhouse gases

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Authors: Calassandra Nwokoro

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Introduction: The nursing profession requires a lot of commitment, effort, and time to efficiently manage patients and provide them quality healthcare services, this work load may eventually cause the nurses to become burned out and experience psychological distress. This study assessed the prevalence of burnout, risk factors, and the coping strategies among nurses working in Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos state, Nigeria. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted among 308 nurses working in LUTH. Simple random sampling was used in selection of study respondents. The questionnaire comprised three parts; the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents, the extent of burnout syndrome using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the coping strategies used among the respondents using the BRIEF-COPE Inventory. Results: This study revealed relatively high levels of burnout among the nurses in LUTH with a prevalence of 16.9%, 31.2% and 20.1% for high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalization and reduced professional accomplishment respectively. It also showed that burnout was significantly associated with long working hours. Religion was found to be the most commonly used coping strategy overall, while emotional support was the most frequently used coping strategy among nurses who had burnout. Conclusion: This study has revealed a relatively high prevalence of burnout among the nurses in Lagos University Teaching Hospital. In order to minimize the negative health impacts of burnout, the government should collaborate with psychologists and psychiatrists to implement regular stress management and stress inoculation programs for nurses and other health professionals in the country.

Keywords: burnout, nurses, coping strategies, healthcare

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Authors: Talha Khan, Surendhar Kumaran, Rajeev Nair

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The development of economical, efficient, and reliable next-generation thermal and water management systems to provide efficient cooling and water management technologies is being pursued application in compact and lightweight spacecraft. The elimination of liquid-vapor phase change-based thermal and water management systems is being done due to issues with the reliability and robustness of this technology. To achieve the motive of implementing the principle of using an innovative evaporator and condenser design utilizing bimodal wicks manufactured using a microsecond pulsed CO₂ laser has been proposed in this study. Cylin drical, multilayered capillary copper wicks with a substrate diameter of 39 mm are additively manufactured using a pulsed laser. The copper particles used for layer-by-layer addition on the substrate measure in a diameter range of 225 to 450 micrometers. The primary objective is to develop a novel, high-quality, fast turnaround, laser-based additive manufacturing process that will eliminate the current technical challenges involved with the traditional manufacturing processes for nano/micro-sized powders, like particle agglomeration. Raster-scanned, pulsed-laser sintering process has been developed to manufacture 3D wicks with controlled porosity and permeability.

Keywords: liquid-vapor phase change, bimodal wicks, multilayered, capillary, raster-scanned, porosity, permeability

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Authors: Christopher Lama, Alix Rieser, Aleksandra Molchanova, Charles Thangaraj

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New technologies like Tesla’s Dojo have made high-performance embedded computing more available. Although automobile computing has developed and benefited enormously from these more recent technologies, the costs are still high, prohibitively high in some cases for broader adaptation, particularly for the after-market and enthusiast markets. This project aims to implement a Raspberry Pi-based low-power (under one hundred Watts) highly mobile computing cluster for a neural network. The computing cluster built from off-the-shelf components is more affordable and, therefore, makes wider adoption possible. The paper describes the design of the neural network, Raspberry Pi-based cluster, and applications the cluster will run. The neural network will use input data from sensors and cameras to project a live view of the road state as the user drives. The neural network will be trained to predict traffic behavior and generate warnings when potentially dangerous situations are predicted. The significant outcomes of this study will be two folds, firstly, to implement and test the low-cost cluster, and secondly, to ascertain the effectiveness of the predictive AI implemented on the cluster.

Keywords: CS pedagogy, student research, cluster computing, machine learning

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Authors: Nancy Ayman Kamal Mohamed Mehrz

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Like the economies of other countries in the Mediterranean region, the tourism sector in our country has excellent economic prospects. Tourism companies are building tourism, a sector that faces various challenges in its activities. These problems have made business activities and competition between companies difficult. In this study, which was conducted to identify the problems of the tourism sector in the Central Anatolia region, most of the problems faced by the tourism sector and consumer information on consumer rights were used. The aim is to contribute to the awareness of workers and managers working in the tourism sector and to attract the attention of companies and legislators working in the tourism sector. E-tourism is one of the newest issues in the field of tourism. Infrastructure and Information Technology (or ICT) and partner government and tourism organizations are required to achieve this type of tourism. This study measures the views of managers and tourism managers in Leman City regarding e-tourism; In addition, the effect of the literacy level of the tourism management system on tourist attractions was also examined. This research has been carried out. One of the suburbs of Isfahan province. This research is a documentary research and source material that includes literature and surveys. The results obtained show that if managers use ICT, it can help the development of e-tourism in the region, and increasing managers' views about e-tourism and improving their literacy levels can affect the development of tourism.

Keywords: financial problems, the problems of tourism businesses, tourism businesses, internet, marketing, tourism, tourism management economic competitiveness, enhancing competitiveness

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Authors: Ayanori Sugiyama, Takahisa Hanei, Yasuhide Higo

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Domestic demand for the construction of tunnels has been increasing in recent years in Japan. To meet this demand, various construction materials and construction methods have been developed to attain higher strength, reduction of negative impact on the environment and improvement for working conditions. In this report, we would like to introduce the newly developed shotcrete with superior hardening properties which were tested through the actual machine scale and its workability and strength development were evaluated. As a result, this new tunnel construction method was found to achieve higher workability and quicker strength development in only a couple of minutes.

Keywords: accelerator, shotcrete, tunnel, high-strength

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Authors: Joana Pimenta, Lorena Coelho, José Silva, Vanessa Miranda, Jorge Laranjeira, Rui Soares

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In this paper, the results of R&D on an innovative food package for increased shelf-life are presented. SAP4MA aims at the development of a printed active device that enables smart packaging solutions for food preservation, targeting the extension of the shelf-life of the packed food through the controlled release of active natural antioxidant agents at the onset of the food degradation process. To do so, SAP4MA focuses on the development of active devices such as printed heaters and batteries/supercapacitors in a label format to be integrated on packaging lids during its injection molding process, promoting the passive release of natural antioxidants after the product is packed, during transportation and in the shelves, and actively when the end-user activates the package, just prior to consuming the product at home. When the active device present on the lid is activated, the release of the natural antioxidants embedded in the inner layer of the packaging lid in direct contact with the headspace atmosphere of the food package starts. This approach is based on the use of active functional coatings composed of nano encapsulated active agents (natural antioxidants species) in the prevention of the oxidation of lipid compounds in food by agents such as oxygen. Thus keeping the product quality during the shelf-life, not only when the user opens the packaging, but also during the period from food packaging up until the purchase by the consumer. The active systems that make up the printed smart label, heating circuit, and battery were developed using screen-printing technology. These systems must operate under the working conditions associated with this application. The printed heating circuit was studied using three different substrates and two different conductive inks. Inks were selected, taking into consideration that the printed circuits will be subjected to high pressures and temperatures during the injection molding process. The circuit must reach a homogeneous temperature of 40ºC in the entire area of the lid of the food tub, promoting a gradual and controlled release of the antioxidant agents. In addition, the circuit design involves a high level of study in order to guarantee maximum performance after the injection process and meet the specifications required by the control electronics component. Furthermore, to characterize the different heating circuits, the electrical resistance promoted by the conductive ink and the circuit design, as well as the thermal behavior of printed circuits on different substrates, were evaluated. In the injection molding process, the serpentine-shaped design developed for the heating circuit was able to resolve the issues connected to the injection point; in addition, the materials used in the support and printing had high mechanical resistance against the pressure and temperature inherent to the injection process. Acknowledgment: This research has been carried out within the Project “Smart and Active Packing for Margarine Product” (SAP4MA) running under the EURIPIDES Program being co-financed by COMPETE 2020 – the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization and under Portugal 2020 through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Keywords: smart package, printed heat circuits, printed batteries, flexible and printed electronic

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Authors: Mohd Nizam Osman

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This study explores issues and challenges of information and communication technology (ICT) adoption and application for business-related performance of Agro-based small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Globally, SMEs have championed the socio-economic development of nations across the globe, including Malaysia. Thus, the objectives of this study explore issues and challenges of agro-based SMEs' adoption and usage of ICT, the business-related performance of SMEs via the adoption of ICT, and the impact of incentives on SMEs' adoption and use of ICT. The study was conducted in Selangor, Malaysia. A qualitative research approach was deployed for the study. Data for the study emanated from semi-structured interviews and field note observation of 14 informants who are registered as small-scale business owners and operators. Based on thematic analysis, data were triangulated to ensure consistency and validation of findings for the study. Findings revealed that SMEs are faced with a lack of funding, low expertise, and lack of storage, leading to an unsustainable supply of goods and services. Although effective communication, ease of business activities/transactions, and information search by way of research were among the business performance experienced by SMEs' adoption of ICT. Further findings showed that loan conditions and personal and business interests hindered SMEs' reception and access to programs, schemes, and incentives geared at aiding the continuous growth and development of agro-based SMEs. The study suggests the need for policy change in terms of diversification of channels of funding and access to funds to enable credit guarantee schemes and peer or community-based financing. Consequently, the study recommends the engagement of SMEs in policy decision-making to ascertain the type of incentives relevant to their business operations. Likewise, from a technological standpoint, the study suggests the expansion of the framework of technology acceptance with focuses on affordability, type of users, and level of usage.

Keywords: ICT adoption, business related performance, agro-based SMEs, ICT application for SMEs

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Authors: Shaghayegh Shajari, Mehdi Mahmoodi, Mahmood Rajabian, Uttandaraman Sundararaj, Les J. Sudak

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Although several strain sensors based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been reported, the stretchability and sensitivity of these sensors have remained as a challenge. Highly stretchable and sensitive strain sensors are in great demand for human motion monitoring and human-machine interface. This paper reports the fabrication and characterization of a new type of strain sensors based on a stretchable fluoropolymer / CNT nanocomposite system made via melt-mixing technique. Electrical and mechanical characterizations were obtained. The results showed that this nanocomposite sensor has high stretchability up to 280% of strain at an optimum level of filler concentration. The piezoresistive properties and the strain sensing mechanism of the strain sensor were investigated using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). High sensitivity was obtained (gauge factor as large as 12000 under 120% applied strain) in particular at the concentrations above the percolation threshold. Due to the tunneling effect, a non- linear piezoresistivity was observed at high concentrations of CNT loading. The nanocomposites with good conductivity and lightweight could be a promising candidate for strain sensing applications.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, fluoropolymer, piezoresistive, strain sensor

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Authors: Lynn Lehmann, Dinorah Leyva, Ana Lazic, Stefan Duhr, Philipp Baaske

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Characterization of biomolecular interactions, such as protein-protein, protein-nucleic acid or protein-small molecule, provides critical insights into cellular processes and is essential for the development of drug diagnostics and therapeutics. Here we present a novel, label-free, and tether-free technology to analyze picomolar to millimolar affinities of biomolecular interactions by Microscale Thermophoresis (MST). The entropy of the hydration shell surrounding molecules determines thermophoretic movement. MST exploits this principle by measuring interactions using optically generated temperature gradients. MST detects changes in the size, charge and hydration shell of molecules and measures biomolecule interactions under close-to-native conditions: immobilization-free and in bioliquids of choice, including cell lysates and blood serum. Thus, MST measures interactions under close-to-native conditions, and without laborious sample purification. We demonstrate how MST determines the picomolar affinities of antibody::antigen interactions, and protein::protein interactions measured from directly from cell lysates. MST assays are highly adaptable to fit to the diverse requirements of different and complex biomolecules. NanoTemper´s unique technology is ideal for studies requiring flexibility and sensitivity at the experimental scale, making MST suitable for basic research investigations and pharmaceutical applications.

Keywords: biochemistry, biophysics, molecular interactions, quantitative techniques

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Authors: Abdullah Almatouq, Abdulla Abusam, Hussain Hussain, Mishari Khajah, Hussain Abdullah, Rashed Al-Yaseen, Mariam Al-Jumaa, Farah Al-Ajeel, Mohammad Aljassam

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Due to the high demand for energy from unsustainable resources in Kuwait, the Kuwaiti government has focused recently on using sustainable resources for energy, such as solar and wind energy. In addition, sludge which is generated as a by-product of physical, chemical, and biological processes during wastewater treatment, can be used as a substrate to generate energy through anaerobic digestion. Kuwait’s wastewater treatment plants produce more than 1.7 million m3 of sludge per year, and this volume is accumulated in the treatment plants without any treatment. Therefore, a pilot-scale (3 m3) two-stage anaerobic digester was constructed in one of the largest treatment plants in Kuwait. The reactor was operated in batch mode, and the hydraulic retention time varied between 14 – 27 days. The main of this study is to evaluate the technical feasibility of a two-stage anaerobic digester for sludge treatability and energy generation in Kuwait. The anaerobic digester achieved a total biogas production of 37 m3, and the highest value of daily biogas production was 0.4 m3/day. The methane content ranged between 50 % and 66 %, and the other gases were as follows: CO2 20 %, H2S 13 %, and 1 % O2. The generated biogas was used on-site for cooking and lighting. In some batches, low C/N was noticed, and that lead to maintaining the concentration of CH4 between 50%-55%. In conclusion, an anaerobic digester is an environmentally friendly technology that can be applied in Kuwait, and the obtained results support the scale-up of the process in all the treatment plants.

Keywords: wastewater, metahne, biogas production potential, anaerobic digestion

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Authors: C. Noknoi, W. Boripunt

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This research aims to compare the corrupt behavior of local government officials and the public’s opinion about the effects of this corruption, as classified by the personal factors of the public. It also analyzes the relationship between the corrupt behavior of local government officials and the public’s opinion toward the effects of this corruption. The sample used in this research comprised 322 voters from Songkhla province, with a questionnaire being used to collect the data. The statistics used in the data analysis were the percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation. The results showed that the corrupt behavior of local government officials was at a high overall level. The sample’s opinion toward the effects of corrupt local government officials was also at a high overall level. Hypothesis testing indicated that samples with different personal factors did not vary in how they regarded the corrupt behavior of local government officials, and the samples’ opinions toward the effects of corrupt local government officials also did not vary. The corrupt behavior of local government officials and the opinions toward the effect of corrupt local government officials are both at consistently high levels and follow the same trend.

Keywords: corrupt behavior, local government, official, Thailand

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Authors: Safa Abusara Mohammed Ali, Mohammed Khair Abdallah, Gurdon A. Brockmann, M. Reissmann

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The aim of the study was the characterization of DGAT1 variants in Sudanese dairy cattle breeds. In this study, we examined 94 Kenana and 91 Butana dairy cattle from two regions of Sudan. We genotyped the DGAT1 sequence variant AJ318490.1:g.10433/10434 AA>GC that leads to the Lysine – Alanine substitution at position 232 (K232A) in the protein and the VNTR polymorphism in the promoter region. Genotyping was performed by allele specific PCR and PCR fragment lengths determination, respectively. In both breeds, the DGAT1 Lysine variant (232K) that is associated with high fat and protein content as well as high fat yield in other breeds is the high frequent allele. The frequencies of the 232K allele were 96.3% and 84.6% in Kenana and Butana breeds, respectively. At the DGAT1 promoter VNTR locus, four alleles containing four to seven repeats of the 18 bp motif were found in both breeds. The highest frequent allele was the VNTR allele 3 containing five repeats with 60.4 % and 57.5 % in Kenana and Butana breeds, respectively. In conclusion, the two examined Sudanese dairy cattle breeds do not differ in allele frequencies at the DGAT1 locus.

Keywords: dairy cattle, DGAT1, Kenana, Butana.

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Authors: P. R. Chauhan, S. K. Tyagi

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Adsorption refrigeration technology offers a sustainable and energy-efficient cooling alternative over traditional refrigeration technologies for meeting the fast-growing cooling demands. With its ability to utilize natural refrigerants, low-grade heat sources, and modular configurations, it has the potential to revolutionize the cooling industry. Despite these benefits, the commercial viability of this technology is hampered by several fundamental limiting constraints, including its large size, low uptake capacity, and poor performance as a result of deficient heat and mass transfer characteristics. The primary cause of adequate heat and mass transfer characteristics and magnitude of exergy loss in various real processes of adsorption cooling system can be assessed by the entropy generation rate analysis, i. e. Second law of Thermodynamics. Therefore, this article presents the second law of thermodynamic-based investigation in terms of entropy generation rate (EGR) to identify the energy losses in various processes of the HPCC-based adsorption system using MATLAB R2021b software. The adsorption technology-based cooling system consists of two beds made up of silica gel and arranged in a single stage, while the water is employed as a refrigerant, coolant, and hot fluid. The variation in process-wise EGR is examined corresponding to cycle time, and a comparative analysis is also presented. Moreover, the EGR is also evaluated in the external units, such as the heat source and heat sink unit used for regeneration and heat dump, respectively. The research findings revealed that the combination of adsorber and desorber, which operates across heat reservoirs with a higher temperature gradient, shares more than half of the total amount of EGR. Moreover, the EGR caused by the heat transfer process is determined to be the highest, followed by a heat sink, heat source, and mass transfer, respectively. in case of heat transfer process, the operation of the valve is determined to be responsible for more than half (54.9%) of the overall EGR during the heat transfer. However, the combined contribution of the external units, such as the source (18.03%) and sink (21.55%), to the total EGR, is 35.59%. The analysis and findings of the present research are expected to pinpoint the source of the energy waste in HPCC based adsorption cooling systems.

Keywords: adsorption cooling cycle, heat transfer, mass transfer, entropy generation, silica gel-water

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Authors: S. Louhibi-Fasla, H. Achour, B. Amrani

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The purpose of this work is to provide some additional information to the existing data on the physical properties of AlBi with state-of-the-art first-principles method of the full potential linear augmented plane wave (FPLAPW). Additionally to the structural properties, the electronic properties have also been investigated. The dependence of the volume, the bulk modulus, the variation of the thermal expansion α, as well as the Debye temperature are successfully obtained in the whole range from 0 to 30 GPa and temperature range from 0 to 1200 K. The latter are the basis of solid-state science and industrial applications and their study is of importance to extend our knowledge on their specific behaviour when undergoing severe constraints of high pressure and high temperature environments.

Keywords: AlBi, FP-LAPW, structural properties, electronic properties

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Authors: Nuruol S. Mohd, Safia Ahmed, Rumana Riffat, Baoqiang Li

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Anaerobic digestion at mesophilic and thermophilic temperatures have been widely studied and evaluated by numerous researchers. Limited extensive research has been conducted on anaerobic digestion in the intermediate zone of 45°C, mainly due to the notion that limited microbial activity occurs within this zone. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the performance and the capability of anaerobic digestion at 45°C in producing class A biosolids, in comparison to a mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion system operated at 35°C and 55°C, respectively. In addition to that, the investigation on the possible inhibition factors affecting the performance of the digestion system at this temperature will be conducted as well. The 45°C anaerobic digestion systems were not able to achieve comparable methane yield and high-quality effluent compared to the mesophilic system, even though the systems produced biogas with about 62-67% methane. The 45°C digesters suffered from high acetate accumulation, but sufficient buffering capacity was observed as the pH, alkalinity and volatile fatty acids (VFA)-to-alkalinity ratio were within recommended values. The accumulation of acetate observed in 45°C systems were presumably due to the high temperature which contributed to high hydrolysis rate. Consequently, it produced a large amount of toxic salts that combined with the substrate making them not readily available to be consumed by methanogens. Acetate accumulation, even though contributed to 52 to 71% reduction in acetate degradation process, could not be considered as completely inhibitory. Additionally, at 45°C, no ammonia inhibition was observed and the digesters were able to achieve volatile solids (VS) reduction of 47.94±4.17%. The pathogen counts were less than 1,000 MPN/g total solids, thus, producing Class A biosolids.

Keywords: 45°C anaerobic digestion, acetate accumulation, class A biosolids, salt toxicity

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Authors: Mahtab Talafian

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With the advent of technology over the last decades, participation in online communities and discussion forums has become increasingly popular. Many studies have been done on the negative role of the online world on human beings’ psychological well-being and mental health, while relatively less attention has been given to the potentially positive role of technology in promoting mental health. Miscarriage is a common and emotionally challenging experience for women, and online communities seem to be a potential source of support for them. This study aimed to firstly find the most common types of support communicated in online communities of women who have miscarried and, secondly, investigate if there is a relationship between participation in online communities and mental health outcomes after miscarriage. In this study, three research methodologies, including content analysis, survey and interview, were employed to answer the research questions. With the analysis of 158 messages, including postings and comments in the online community of Mumsnet, it can be concluded that informational support and emotional support are the most prevalent types of support women share in the online community. Analysis of data gathered from the survey of 19 women who had experienced a miscarriage during the last year showed that participation in online communities makes a significant improvement in their mental health. Interviews also highlighted the helpful role of the online community in relieving emotional disorders, such as trauma, hopelessness, loneliness, stress, depression and anxiety about miscarriage.

Keywords: mental health, miscarriage, online community, support

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Authors: Na Young Kim

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This is a study on the relation between the introduction bill of the Whistle Blowing Act and the CPI (Corruption Perception Index) from 1998 to 2019. It shows that the degree of corruption can be relatively lowered when WBA is introduced, and the system is matured. And when WBA was introduced at the national level and matured, it was found that it could have a greater impact on corruption. Secondly, it shows that OECD countries may have relatively low levels of corruption. In addition to the two variables representing democracy, when additional control variables (GDP (economic power), population size, HDI (education level), etc.) are controlled under the same conditions, the degree of corruption in countries with high political rights can be low (it means clean), while those with high civil freedom can be serious (it means not clean).

Keywords: Whistle Blowing Act, anti-corruption, CPI, GDP

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Authors: Mohammadmehdi Torfehnejad, Serhan Sensoy

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Many structures sustain damage during a mainshock earthquake but undergo severe damage under aftershocks following the mainshock. Past researches have studied aftershock effects through different methodologies, but few structural systems have been evaluated for these effects. Collapse capacity and energy absorption mechanism of the Special Steel Moment Frame (SSMF) system is evaluated in this study, under aftershock earthquakes when prior damage is caused by the mainshock. A twenty-story building is considered in assessing the residual collapse capacity and energy absorption mechanism under aftershock excitation. In addition, various levels of mainshock damage are considered and reflected through two different response parameters. Aftershock collapse capacity is estimated using incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) applied following the mainshock. The study results reveal that the collapse capacity of high-rise structures undergoes a remarkable reduction for high level of mainshock damage. The energy absorption in the columns is decreased by increasing the level of mainshock damage.

Keywords: seismic collapse, mainshock-aftershock effect, incremental dynamic analysis, energy absorption

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Authors: Tanida Julvanichpong

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Exercise has been regarded as a necessary and important aspect to enhance physical performance and psychology health. Body weight statistics of students in junior high school students in Chonburi Province beyond a standard risk of obesity. Promoting exercise among Junior high school students in Chonburi Province, essential knowledge concerning factors influencing exercise is needed. Therefore, this study aims to (1) determine the levels of perceived exercise behavior, exercise behavior in the past, perceived barriers to exercise, perceived benefits of exercise, perceived self-efficacy to exercise, feelings associated with exercise behavior, influence of the family to exercise, influence of friends to exercise, and the perceived influence of the environment on exercise. (2) examine the predicting ability of each of the above factors while including personal factors (sex, educational level) for exercise behavior. Pender’s Health Promotion Model was used as a guide for the study. Sample included 652 students in junior high schools, Chonburi Provience. The samples were selected by Multi-Stage Random Sampling. Data Collection has been done by using self-administered questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient, Eta, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The research results showed that: 1. Perceived benefits of exercise, influence of teacher, influence of environmental, feelings associated with exercise behavior were at a high level. Influence of the family to exercise, exercise behavior, exercise behavior in the past, perceived self-efficacy to exercise and influence of friends were at a moderate level. Perceived barriers to exercise were at a low level. 2. Exercise behavior was positively significant related to perceived benefits of exercise, influence of the family to exercise, exercise behavior in the past, perceived self-efficacy to exercise, influence of friends, influence of teacher, influence of environmental and feelings associated with exercise behavior (p < .01, respectively) and was negatively significant related to educational level and perceived barriers to exercise (p < .01, respectively). Exercise behavior was significant related to sex (Eta = 0.243, p=.000). 3. Exercise behavior in the past, influence of the family to exercise significantly contributed 60.10 percent of the variance to the prediction of exercise behavior in male students (p < .01). Exercise behavior in the past, perceived self-efficacy to exercise, perceived barriers to exercise, and educational level significantly contributed 52.60 percent of the variance to the prediction of exercise behavior in female students (p < .01).

Keywords: predictive factors, exercise behaviors, Junior high school, Chonburi Province

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Authors: Jigg Pelayo, Ricardo Villar

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Leaning on the development of aerial laser scanning in the Philippine geospatial industry, researches about remote sensing and machine vision technology became a trend. Object detection via template matching is one of its application which characterized to be fast and in real time. The paper purposely attempts to provide application for robust pattern matching algorithm based on the normalized cross correlation (NCC) criterion function subjected in Object-based image analysis (OBIA) utilizing high-resolution aerial imagery and low density LiDAR data. The height information from laser scanning provides effective partitioning order, thus improving the hierarchal class feature pattern which allows to skip unnecessary calculation. Since detection is executed in the object-oriented platform, mathematical morphology and multi-level filter algorithms were established to effectively avoid the influence of noise, small distortion and fluctuating image saturation that affect the rate of recognition of features. Furthermore, the scheme is evaluated to recognized the performance in different situations and inspect the computational complexities of the algorithms. Its effectiveness is demonstrated in areas of Misamis Oriental province, achieving an overall accuracy of 91% above. Also, the garnered results portray the potential and efficiency of the implemented algorithm under different lighting conditions.

Keywords: algorithm, LiDAR, object recognition, OBIA

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Authors: Mohammadreza Judaki, Hosein Mohammadnezhad Shourkaei

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Usually, noise generated by industrial units, is a pollution and disturbs people and causes problems for human health and sometimes these units will be closed because they cannot eliminate this pollution. Small-scale power plants usually are built close to residential areas, and noise generated by these power plants is an important factor in choosing their location and their design. Materials used to reduce noise are studied by measuring their absorption and reflection index numerically and experimentally. We can use MIKI model (Yasushi Miki, 1990) to simulate absorption index by using software like Ansys or Soundflow and compare calculation results with experimental simulation data. We consider high frequency sounds of power plant engines octave band diagram because dB value of high frequency noise is more noticeable for human ears. To prove this, in this study we first will study calculating octave band of engines exhausts and then we will study acoustic behavior of materials that we will use in high frequencies and this will give us our optimum noise reduction plan.

Keywords: acoustic materials, eliminating engine noise, octave level diagram, power plant noise

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Authors: Jinrui Zhang, Tianlong Yang, Ying Pan

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Methane and carbon dioxide are major greenhouse gases contributor. CO₂ dry reforming of methane (DRM) for syngas production is a promising approach to reducing global CO₂ emission and extensive utilization of natural gas. However, the reported catalysts endured rapid deactivation due to severe carbon deposition at high temperature. Here, CO₂ reduction by CH4 on hexagonal nano-nickel flakes packed by porous SiO₂ (Ni@SiO₂) catalysts driven by thermal and solar light are tested. High resistance to carbon deposition and higher reactive activity are demonstrated under focused solar light at moderate temperature (400-500 ℃). Furthermore, the photocatalytic DRM under different wavelength is investigated, and even IR irradiation can enhance the catalytic activity. The mechanism of light-enhanced reaction reactivity and equilibrium is investigated by Infrared and Raman spectroscopy, and the unique reaction pathway with light is depicted. The photo-enhanced DRM provides a promising method of renewable solar energy conversion and CO₂ emission reduction due to the excellent activity and durability.

Keywords: CO₂ emission reduction, methane, photocatalytic DRM, resistance to carbon deposition, syngas

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Authors: Rawan Ashraf, Ahmed E. Gomaa, Gehan Safwat, Ayman Diab

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Background: Three-dimensional (3D) bio-printing has become a versatile and powerful method for generating a variety of biological constructs, including bone or extracellular matrix scaffolds endo- or epithelial, muscle tissue, as well as organoids. Aim of the study: Fabricate a low cost DIY 3D bio-printer to produce 3D bio-printed products such as anti-microbial packaging or multi-organs on chips. We demonstrate the alignment between two types of 3D printer technology (3D Bio-printer and DLP) on Multi-organ-on-a-chip (multi-OoC) devices fabrication. Methods: First, Design and Fabrication of the Syringe Unit for Modification of an Off-the-Shelf 3D Printer, then Preparation of Hydrogel based on natural polymers Sodium Alginate and Gelatin, followed by acquisition of the cell suspension, then modeling the desired 3D structure. Preparation for 3D printing, then Cell-free and cell-laden hydrogels went through the printing process at room temperature under sterile conditions and finally post printing curing process and studying the printed structure regards physical and chemical characteristics. The hard scaffold of the Organ on chip devices was designed and fabricated using the DLP-3D printer, following similar approaches as the Microfluidics system fabrication. Results: The fabricated Bio-Ink was based onHydrogel polymer mix of sodium alginate and gelatin 15% to 0.5%, respectively. Later the 3D printing process was conducted using a higher percentage of alginate-based hydrogels because of it viscosity and the controllable crosslinking, unlike the thermal crosslinking of Gelatin. The hydrogels were colored to simulate the representation of two types of cells. The adaption of the hard scaffold, whether for the Microfluidics system or the hard-tissues, has been acquired by the DLP 3D printers with fabricated natural bioactive essential oils that contain antimicrobial activity, followed by printing in Situ three complex layers of soft-hydrogel as a cell-free Bio-Ink to simulate the real-life tissue engineering process. The final product was a proof of concept for a rapid 3D cell culturing approaches that uses an engineered hard scaffold along with soft-tissues, thus, several applications were offered as products of the current prototype, including the Organ-On-Chip as a successful integration between DLP and 3D bioprinter. Conclusion: Multiple designs for the organ-on-a-chip (multi-OoC) devices have been acquired in our study with main focus on the low cost fabrication of such technology and the potential to revolutionize human health research and development. We describe circumstances in which multi-organ models are useful after briefly examining the requirement for full multi-organ models with a systemic component. Following that, we took a look at the current multi-OoC platforms, such as integrated body-on-a-chip devices and modular techniques that use linked organ-specific modules.

Keywords: 3d bio-printer, hydrogel, multi-organ on chip, bio-inks

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Brian Romansky

Abstract:

There are many practical, commercially available robots and semi-autonomous systems that are currently available for use in a wide variety of construction tasks. Adoption of these technologies has the potential to reduce the time and cost to deliver a project, reduce variability and risk in delivery time, increase quality, and improve safety on the job site. These benefits come with a cost for equipment rental or contract fees, access to specialists to configure the system, and time needed for set-up and support of the machines while in use. Calculation of the net ROI (Return on Investment) requires detailed information about the geometry of the site, the volume of work to be done, the overall project schedule, as well as data on the capabilities and past performance of available robotic systems. Assembling the required data and comparing the ROI for several options is complex and tedious. Many project managers will only consider the use of a robot in targeted applications where the benefits are obvious, resulting in low levels of adoption of automation in the construction industry. This work demonstrates how data already resident in many BIM (Building Information Model) projects can be used to automate ROI estimation for a sample set of commercially available construction robots. Calculations account for set-up and operating time along with scheduling support tasks required while the automated technology is in use. Configuration parameters allow for prioritization of time, cost, or safety as the primary benefit of the technology. A path toward integration and use of automatic ROI calculation with a database of available robots in a BIM platform is described.

Keywords: automation, BIM, robot, ROI.

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Hamed Jafargholi

Abstract:

Global warming presents an immense environmental risk, causing detrimental impacts on ecological systems and putting coastal areas at risk. Implementing efficient measures to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and the use of fossil fuels is essential to reducing global warming. Vapor compression heat pumps provide a practical method for harnessing energy from waste heat sources and reducing energy consumption. However, traditional working fluids used in these heat pumps generally contain a significant global warming potential (GWP), which might cause severe greenhouse effects if they are released. The goal of the emphasis on low-GWP (below 150) refrigerants is to further the vapor compression heat pumps. A classification system for vapor compression heat pumps is offered, with different boundaries based on the needed heat temperature and advancements in heat pump technology. A heat pump could be classified as a low temperature heat pump (LTHP), medium temperature heat pump (MTHP), high temperature heat pump (HTHP), or ultra-high temperature heat pump (UHTHP). The HTHP/UHTHP border is 160 °C, the MTHP/HTHP and LTHP/MTHP limits are 100 and 60 °C, respectively. The refrigerant is one of the most important parts of a vapor compression heat pump system. Presently, the main ways to choose a refrigerant are based on ozone depletion potential (ODP) and GWP, with GWP being the lowest possible value and ODP being zero. Pure low-GWP refrigerants, such as natural refrigerants (R718 and R744), hydrocarbons (R290, R600), hydrofluorocarbons (R152a and R161), hydrofluoroolefins (R1234yf, R1234ze(E)), and hydrochlorofluoroolefin (R1233zd(E)), were selected as candidates for vapor compression heat pump systems based on these selection principles. The performance, characteristics, and potential uses of these low-GWP refrigerants in heat pump systems are investigated in this paper. As vapor compression heat pumps with pure low-GWP refrigerants become more common, more and more low-grade heat can be recovered. This means that energy consumption would decrease. The research outputs showed that the refrigerants R718 for UHTHP application, R1233zd(E) for HTHP application, R600, R152a, R161, R1234ze(E) for MTHP, and R744, R290, and R1234yf for LTHP application are appropriate. The selection of an appropriate refrigerant should, in fact, take into consideration two different environmental and thermodynamic points of view. It might be argued that, depending on the situation, a trade-off between these two groups should constantly be considered. The environmental approach is now far stronger than it was previously, according to the European Union regulations. This will promote sustainable energy consumption and social development in addition to assisting in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the management of global warming.

Keywords: vapor compression, global warming potential, heat pumps, greenhouse

Procedia PDF Downloads 33

Authors: Edson Pierre, Gustavo de Jesus Lopez Nunez

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The objective of this work is to analyze how physics can be taught remotely through the use of platforms and software to attract the attention of 2nd-year high school students at Colégio Cívico Militar Professor Carmelita Souza Dias and point out how remote teaching can be a teaching-learning strategy during the period of social distancing. Teaching physics has been a challenge for teachers and students, permeating common sense with the great difficulty of teaching and learning the subject. The challenge increased in 2020 and 2021 with the impact caused by the new coronavirus pandemic (Sars-Cov-2) and its variants that have affected the entire world. With these changes, a new teaching modality emerged: remote teaching. It brought new challenges and one of them was promoting distance research experiences, especially in physics teaching, since there are learning difficulties and it is often impossible for the student to relate the theory observed in class with the reality that surrounds them. Teaching physics in schools faces some difficulties, which makes it increasingly less attractive for young people to choose this profession. Bearing in mind that the study of physics is very important, as it puts students in front of concrete and real situations, situations that physical principles can respond to, helping to understand nature, nourishing and nurturing a taste for science. The use of new platforms and software, such as PhET Interactive Simulations from the University of Colorado at Boulder, is a virtual laboratory that has numerous simulations of scientific experiments, which serve to improve the understanding of the content taught practically, facilitating student learning and absorption of content, being a simple, practical and free simulation tool, attracts more attention from students, causing them to acquire greater knowledge about the subject studied, or even a quiz, bringing certain healthy competitiveness to students, generating knowledge and interest in the themes used. The present study takes the Theory of Social Representations as a theoretical reference, examining the content and process of constructing the representations of teachers, subjects of our investigation, on the evaluation of teaching and learning processes, through a methodology of qualitative. The result of this work has shown that remote teaching was really a very important strategy for the process of teaching and learning physics in the 2nd year of high school. It provided greater interaction between the teacher and the student. Therefore, the teacher also plays a fundamental role since technology is increasingly present in the educational environment, and he is the main protagonist of this process.

Keywords: physics teaching, technologies, remote learning, pandemic

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Karine Pimenta Teixeira, Jessica Flores, Isadora PerdigãO Rocha, Leticia De Sá Carneiro, Mahsa Kamali, Ali Ghahremaninezhad

Abstract:

The advent of nanotechnology has enabled innovative solutions towards improving the behavior of infrastructure materials. Nanomaterials have the potential to revolutionize the construction industry by improving the performance and durability of construction materials, as well as imparting new functionalities to these materials. Due to variability in the environmental temperature during mixing and curing of cementitious materials in practice, it is important to understand how curing temperature influences the behavior of cementitious materials. In addition, high temperature curing is relevant in applications such as oil well cement and precast industry. Knowledge of the influence of temperature on the performance of cementitious materials modified with nanoparticles is important in the nanoengineering of cementitious materials in applications such as oil well cement and precast industry. This presentation aims to investigate the influence of temperature on the hydration, mechanical properties and durability of cementitious materials modified with TiO2 nanoparticles. It was found that temperature improved the early hydration. The cement pastes cured at high temperatures showed an increase in the compressive strength at early age but the strength gain decreased at late ages. The electrical resistivity of the cement pastes cured at high temperatures was shown to decrease more noticeably at late ages compared to that of the room temperature cured cement paste. SEM examination indicated that hydration product was more uniformly distributed in the microstructure of the cement paste cured at room temperature compared to the cement pastes cured at high temperature.

Keywords: cement paste, nanoparticles, temperature, hydration

Procedia PDF Downloads 317

Authors: Shih-Fang Lo, Tzu-Wei Guo, Chih-Hsuan Lee

Abstract:

Tropical fisheries are vulnerable to the physical and biogeochemical oceanic changes associated with climate change. Warmer temperatures and extreme weather have beendamaging the abundance and growth patterns of aquatic organisms. In recent year, the shrinking of fish stock and labor shortage have increased the threat to global aquacultural production. Thus, building a climate-resilient and sustainable mechanism becomes an urgent, important task for global citizens. To tackle the problem, Taiwanese fishermen applies the artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In brief, the AI system (1) measures real-time water quality and chemical parameters infish ponds; (2) monitors fish stock through segmentation, detection, and classification; and (3) implements fishermen’sprevious experiences, perceptions, and real-life practices. Applying this system can stabilize the aquacultural production and potentially increase the labor force. Furthermore, this AI technology can build up a more resilient and sustainable system for the fishermen so that they can mitigate the influence of extreme weather while maintaining or even increasing their aquacultural production. In the future, when the AI system collected and analyzed more and more data, it can be applied to different regions of the world or even adapt to the future technological or societal changes, continuously providing the most relevant and useful information for fishermen in the world.

Keywords: aquaculture, artificial intelligence (AI), real-time system, sustainable fishery

Procedia PDF Downloads 111