Search results for: soil parameters

Authors: Rupas Kumar M., Saravana Kumar M., Amarendra Kumar S., Likhita Komal V., Sree Deepthi M.

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The demand for water is increasing at an alarming rate due to rapid urbanization and increase in population. Due to freshwater scarcity, Groundwater became the necessary source of potable water to major parts of the world. This problem of freshwater scarcity and groundwater dependency is very severe particularly in developing countries and overpopulated regions like India. The present study aimed at evaluating the Ground Water Quality Index (GWQI), which represents overall quality of water at certain location and time based on water quality parameters. To evaluate the GWQI, sixteen water quality parameters have been considered viz. colour, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, turbidity, total hardness, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, iron, manganese and fluorides. The groundwater samples are collected from Kadapa City in Andhra Pradesh, India and subjected to comprehensive physicochemical analysis. The high value of GWQI has been found to be mainly from higher values of total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, turbidity, alkalinity, hardness, and fluorides. in the present study, citrus limetta (sweet lemon) peel powder has used as a coagulant and GWQI values are recorded in different concentrations to improve GWQI. Sensitivity analysis is also carried out to determine the effect of coagulant dosage, mixing speed and stirring time on GWQI. The research found the maximum percentage improvement in GWQI values are obtained when the coagulant dosage is 100ppm, mixing speed is 100 rpm and stirring time is 10 mins. Alum is also used as a coagulant aid and the optimal ratio of citrus limetta and alum is identified as 3:2 which resulted in best GWQI value. The present study proposes Citrus limetta peel powder as a potential natural coagulant to treat Groundwater and to improve GWQI.

Keywords: alum, Citrus limetta, ground water quality index, physicochemical analysis

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Authors: K. I. M. Guerra, L. A. P. Silva, J. C. Leal

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This study aims to understand with more amplitude and clarity the behavior of a porous medium where a pressure wave travels, translated into relative displacements inside the material, using mathematical tools derived from topology and symplectic geometry. The paper starts with a given partial differential equation based on the continuity and conservation theorems to describe the traveling wave through the porous body. A solution for this equation is proposed after all boundary, and initial conditions are fixed, and it’s accepted that the solution lies in a manifold U of purely spatial dimensions and that is embedded in the Real n-dimensional manifold, with spatial and kinetic dimensions. It’s shown that the U manifold of lower dimensions than IRna, where it is embedded, inherits properties of the vector spaces existing inside the topology it lies on. Then, a second manifold (U*), embedded in another space called IRnb of stress dimensions, is proposed and there’s a non-degenerative function that maps it into the U manifold. This relation is proved as a transformation in between two corresponding admissible solutions of the differential equation in distinct dimensions and properties, leading to a more visual and intuitive understanding of the whole dynamic process of a stress wave through a porous medium and also highlighting the dimensional invariance of Terzaghi’s theory for any coordinate system.

Keywords: poremechanics, soil dynamics, symplectic geometry, wave propagation

Procedia PDF Downloads 280

Authors: Ulli Heinlein, Thomas Freimann

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Pre-applied bonded membranes are used as positive-side waterproofing on concrete basements, are installed before the concrete work, and achieve a tear-resistant and waterproof bond with the subsequently placed fresh concrete. This bond increases redundancy compared to lose waterproofing membranes by preventing lateral water migrations in the event of damage. So far, the membranes have been tested in the laboratory, but it is not yet known how they behave on construction sites in the presence of dirt, soil, cement paste or moisture. This article, therefore, conducts investigations on six construction sites using 18 test slabs where the pre-applied bonded membranes are selectively contaminated or wetted. Subsequently, cores are taken, and the influence of the contaminations on the adhesive tensile strength and waterproof bond is tested. Pre-applied bonded membranes with smooth or granular but closed surfaces show no sensitivity to wetness, whereas open-pored membranes with nonwovens do not tolerate standing water. Contaminations decline the performance of all pre-applied bonded membranes since a separating layer is formed between the bonding layer and the concrete. The influence depends on the thickness of the contamination and its mechanical properties.

Keywords: waterproofing, positive-side waterproofing, basement, pre-applied bonded waterproofing membrane, In-situ testing, lateral water migrations

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Krunal Thakar

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Wire ropes combine high tensile strength and flexibility as compared to other general steel products. They are used in various application areas such as cranes, mining, elevators, bridges, cable cars, etc. The earliest reported use of wire ropes was for mining hoist application in 1830s. Over the period, there have been substantial advancement in the design of wire ropes for various application areas. Under operational conditions, wire ropes are subjected to varying tensile loads and bending loads resulting in material wear and eventual structural failure due to fretting fatigue. The conventional inspection methods to determine wire failure is only limited to outer wires of rope. However, till date, there is no effective mathematical model to examine the inter wire contact forces and wear characteristics. The scope of this paper is to present a computational simulation technique to evaluate inter wire contact forces and wear, which are in many cases responsible for rope failure. Two different type of ropes, IWRC-6xFi(29) and U3xSeS(48) were taken for structural strength evaluation and wear prediction. Both ropes have a double helix twisted wire profile as per JIS standards and are mainly used in cranes. CAD models of both ropes were developed in general purpose design software using in house developed formulation to generate double helix profile. Numerical simulation was done under two different load cases (a) Axial Tension and (b) Bending over Sheave. Different parameters such as stresses, contact forces, wear depth, load-elongation, etc., were investigated and compared between both ropes. Numerical simulation method facilitates the detailed investigation of inter wire contact and wear characteristics. In addition, various selection parameters like sheave diameter, rope diameter, helix angle, swaging, maximum load carrying capacity, etc., can be quickly analyzed.

Keywords: steel wire ropes, numerical simulation, material wear, structural strength, axial tension, bending over sheave

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Cesar Augusto Hoil Rosas, José Luis Vázquez Burgos, José Juan Carbajal Hernandez

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White fish (Chirostoma estor estor) is an endemic species that habits in the Patzcuaro Lake, located in Michoacan, Mexico; being an important source of gastronomic and cultural wealth of the area. Actually, it have undergone an immense depopulation of individuals, due to the high fishing, contamination and eutrophication of the lake water, resulting in the possible extinction of this important species. This work proposes a new computational model for monitoring and assessment of critical environmental parameters of the white fish ecosystem. According to an Analytical Hierarchy Process, a mathematical model is built assigning weights to each environmental parameter depending on their water quality importance on the ecosystem. Then, a development of an advanced system for the monitoring, analysis and control of water quality is built using the virtual environment of LabVIEW. As results, we have obtained a global score that indicates the condition level of the water quality in the Chirostoma estor ecosystem (excellent, good, regular and poor), allowing to provide an effective decision making about the environmental parameters that affect the proper culture of the white fish such as temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen. In situ evaluations show regular conditions for a success reproduction and growth rates of this species where the water quality tends to have regular levels. This system emerges as a suitable tool for the water management, where future laws for white fish fishery regulations will result in the reduction of the mortality rate in the early stages of development of the species, which represent the most critical phase. This can guarantees better population sizes than those currently obtained in the aquiculture crop. The main benefit will be seen as a contribution to maintain the cultural and gastronomic wealth of the area and for its inhabitants, since white fish is an important food and economical income of the region, but the species is endangered.

Keywords: Chirostoma estor estor, computational system, lab view, white fish

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Kayode Oshinubi, Brice Kammegne, Jacques Demongeot

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The use of mathematical tools like Partial Differential Equations and Ordinary Differential Equations have become very important to predict the evolution of a viral disease in a population in order to take preventive and curative measures. In December 2019, a novel variety of Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China causing a severe and potentially fatal respiratory syndrome, i.e., COVID-19. Since then, it has become a pandemic declared by World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020 which has spread around the globe. A reaction-diffusion system is a mathematical model that describes the evolution of a phenomenon subjected to two processes: a reaction process in which different substances are transformed, and a diffusion process that causes a distribution in space. This article provides a mathematical study of the Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, Recovered, and Vaccinated population model of the COVID-19 pandemic by the bias of reaction-diffusion equations. Both local and global asymptotic stability conditions for disease-free and endemic equilibria are determined using the Lyapunov function are considered and the endemic equilibrium point exists and is stable if it satisfies Routh–Hurwitz criteria. Also, adequate conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the model have been proved. We showed the spatial distribution of the model compartments when the basic reproduction rate $\mathcal{R}_0 < 1$ and $\mathcal{R}_0 > 1$ and sensitivity analysis is performed in order to determine the most sensitive parameters in the proposed model. We demonstrate the model's effectiveness by performing numerical simulations. We investigate the impact of vaccination and the significance of spatial distribution parameters in the spread of COVID-19. The findings indicate that reducing contact with an infected person and increasing the proportion of susceptible people who receive high-efficacy vaccination will lessen the burden of COVID-19 in the population. To the public health policymakers, we offered a better understanding of the COVID-19 management.

Keywords: COVID-19, SEIRV epidemic model, reaction-diffusion equation, basic reproduction number, vaccination, spatial distribution

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Authors: M. Kowalski, M. Życzkowski, M. Karol

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Current quantum key distribution systems (QKD) offer low bit rate of up to single MHz. Compared to conventional optical fiber links with multiple GHz bitrates, parameters of recent QKD systems are significantly lower. In the article we present the conception of application of the Compressed Sensing method for compression of quantum information. The compression methodology as well as the signal reconstruction method and initial results of improving the throughput of quantum information link are presented.

Keywords: quantum key distribution systems, fiber optic system, compressed sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 675

Authors: M. Azarbarmas, J. M. Cabrera, J. Calvo, M. Aghaie-Khafri

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The modeling of hot deformation behavior for unseen conditions is important in metal-forming. In this study, the hot deformation of IN718 has been characterized in the temperature range 950-1100 and strain rate range 0.001-0.1 s-1 using hot compression tests. All stress-strain curves showed the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization. These curves were implemented quantitatively in mathematics, and then constitutive equation indicating the relationship between the flow stress and hot deformation parameters was obtained successfully.

Keywords: compression test, constitutive equation, dynamic recrystallization, hot working

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Authors: Sabina Huč, Staffan Svensson, Tomaž Hozjan

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Timber structures may be exposed to various environmental conditions during their service life. Often, the structures have to resist extreme changes in the relative humidity of surrounding air, with simultaneously carrying the loads. Wood material response for this load case is seen as increasing deformation of the timber structure. Relative humidity variations cause moisture changes in timber and consequently shrinkage and swelling of the material. Moisture changes and loads acting together result in mechano-sorptive creep, while sustained load gives viscoelastic creep. In some cases, magnitude of the mechano-sorptive strain can be about five times the elastic strain already at low stress levels. Therefore, analyzing mechano-sorptive creep and its influence on timber structures’ long-term behavior is of high importance. Relatively many one-dimensional rheological models for rheological behavior of wood can be found in literature, while a number of models coupling creep response in each material direction is limited. In this study, mathematical formulation of a coupled two-dimensional mechano-sorptive model and its application to the experimental results are presented. The mechano-sorptive model constitutes of a moisture transport model and a mechanical model. Variation of the moisture content in wood is modelled by multi-Fickian moisture transport model. The model accounts for processes of the bound-water and water-vapor diffusion in wood, that are coupled through sorption hysteresis. Sorption defines a nonlinear relation between moisture content and relative humidity. Multi-Fickian moisture transport model is able to accurately predict unique, non-uniform moisture content field within the timber member over time. Calculated moisture content in timber members is used as an input to the mechanical analysis. In the mechanical analysis, the total strain is assumed to be a sum of the elastic strain, viscoelastic strain, mechano-sorptive strain, and strain due to shrinkage and swelling. Mechano-sorptive response is modelled by so-called spring-dashpot type of a model, that proved to be suitable for describing creep of wood. Mechano-sorptive strain is dependent on change of moisture content. The model includes mechano-sorptive material parameters that have to be calibrated to the experimental results. The calibration is made to the experiments carried out on wooden blocks subjected to uniaxial compressive loaded in tangential direction and varying humidity conditions. The moisture and the mechanical model are implemented in a finite element software. The calibration procedure gives the required, distinctive set of mechano-sorptive material parameters. The analysis shows that mechano-sorptive strain in transverse direction is present, though its magnitude and variation are substantially lower than the mechano-sorptive strain in the direction of loading. The presented mechano-sorptive model enables observing real temporal and spatial distribution of the moisture-induced strains and stresses in timber members. Since the model’s suitability for predicting mechano-sorptive strains is shown and the required material parameters are obtained, a comprehensive advanced analysis of the stress-strain state in timber structures, including connections subjected to constant load and varying humidity is possible.

Keywords: mechanical analysis, mechano-sorptive creep, moisture transport model, timber

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Ahmad El Hajjar, Joanna Eid, Salima Bouchemella, Tariq Ouahbi, Benoit Duchemin, Said Taibi

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In our present society, raw earth presents an alternative as an energy-saving building material for dealing with climate and environmental issues. Nevertheless, it has a sensitivity to water, due to the presence of fines, which has a direct effect on its consistency. This can be expressed during desiccation, by shrinkage deformations resulting in cracking that begins once the internal tensile stresses developed, due to suction, exceed the tensile strength of the material. This work deals with the evolution of the strain of clay samples, from the beginning of shrinkage until the initiation of crack, using the DIC (Digital Image Correlation) technique. In order to understand the origin of cracking, desiccation is studied for different boundary conditions and depending on the intrinsic characteristics of the material. On the other hand, a study of restrained shrinkage is carried out on the ring test to investigate the ultimate tensile strength from which the crack begins in the dough of clay. The purpose of this test is to find the type of reinforcement adapted to thwart in the cracking of the material. A microscopic analysis of the damaged area is necessary to link the macroscopic mechanisms of cracking to the various physicochemical phenomena at the microscopic scale in order to understand the different microstructural mechanisms and their impact on the macroscopic shrinkage.

Keywords: clayey soil, shrinkage, strain, cracking, digital image correlation

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Authors: Savvas Rogotis, Nikolaos Kalatzis, Stergios Dimou-Sakellariou, Nikolaos Marianos

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As precision holds the key for the introduction of distinct benefits in agriculture (e.g., energy savings, reduced labor costs, optimal application of inputs, improved products, and yields), it steadily becomes evident that new initiatives should focus on rendering Precision Agriculture (PA) more accessible to the average farmer. PA leverages on technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), earth observation, robotics and positioning systems (e.g., the Global Navigation Satellite System – GNSS - as well as individual positioning systems like GPS, Glonass, Galileo) that allow: from simple data georeferencing to optimal navigation of agricultural machinery to even more complex tasks like Variable Rate Applications. An identified customer pain point is that, from one hand, typical triangulation-based positioning systems are not accurate enough (with errors up to several meters), while on the other hand, high precision positioning systems reaching centimeter-level accuracy, are very costly (up to thousands of euros). Within this paper, a Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) is introduced, that can be adapted to any existing IoT field-sensing station infrastructure. The latter should cover a minimum set of requirements, and in particular, each station should operate as a fixed, obstruction-free towards the sky, energy supplying unit. Station augmentation will allow them to function in pairs with GNSS rovers following the differential GNSS base-rover paradigm. This constitutes a key innovation element for the proposed solution that encompasses differential GNSS capabilities into an IoT field-sensing infrastructure. Integrating this kind of information supports the provision of several additional PA beneficial services such as spatial mapping, route planning, and automatic field navigation of unmanned vehicles (UVs). Right at the heart of the designed system, there is a high-end GNSS toolkit with base-rover variants and Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) capabilities. The GNSS toolkit had to tackle all availability, performance, interfacing, and energy-related challenges that are faced for a real-time, low-power, and reliable in the field operation. Specifically, in terms of performance, preliminary findings exhibit a high rover positioning precision that can even reach less than 10-centimeters. As this precision is propagated to the full dataset collection, it enables tractors, UVs, Android-powered devices, and measuring units to deal with challenging real-world scenarios. The system is validated with the help of Gaiatrons, a mature network of agro-climatic telemetry stations with presence all over Greece and beyond ( > 60.000ha of agricultural land covered) that constitutes part of “gaiasense” (www.gaiasense.gr) smart farming (SF) solution. Gaiatrons constantly monitor atmospheric and soil parameters, thus, providing exact fit to operational requirements asked from modern SF infrastructures. Gaiatrons are ultra-low-cost, compact, and energy-autonomous stations with a modular design that enables the integration of advanced GNSS base station capabilities on top of them. A set of demanding pilot demonstrations has been initiated in Stimagka, Greece, an area with a diverse geomorphological landscape where grape cultivation is particularly popular. Pilot demonstrations are in the course of validating the preliminary system findings in its intended environment, tackle all technical challenges, and effectively highlight the added-value offered by the system in action.

Keywords: GNSS, GBAS, precision agriculture, RTK, smart farming

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Authors: Takele Nemomsa, Girma Mamo, Tesfaye Balemi

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Climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or variance of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. In Ethiopia; Maize production in relation to climate change at regional and sub- regional scales have not been studied in detail. Thus, this study was aimed to analyse the impact of climate change on maize yield in Ambo Districts, Central Ethiopia. To this effect, weather data, soil data and maize experimental data for Arganne hybrid were used. APSIM software was used to investigate the response of maize (Zea mays) yield to different agronomic management practices using current and future (2020s–2080s) climate data. The climate change projections data which were downscaled using SDSM were used as input of climate data for the impact analysis. Compared to agronomic practices the impact of climate change on Arganne in Central Ethiopia is minute. However, within 2020s-2080s in Ambo area; the yield of Arganne hybrid is projected to reduce by 1.06% to 2.02%, and in 2050s it is projected to reduce by 1.56 While in 2080s; it is projected to increase by 1.03% to 2.07%. Thus, to adapt to the changing climate; farmers should consider increasing plant density and fertilizer rate per hectare.

Keywords: APSIM, downscaling, response, SDSM

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: H. Demirtaş, İ. H. Kara, H. Ahlatcı

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Welding failures of steel pipes in power plants usually occur in weld zones. This is similar for the economizer, water walls and superheaters in the power plants where SA 210 Gr. C steel pipes are used. Although these steel pipes have very good welding properties, the welding parameters are also important for the welding life. Welding processes of this pipes are carried out by TIG and SMA techniques. In this study SA 210 Gr. C steel pipes were welded by TIG method and investigated how PWHT affected the welding properties. The results show that this steel does not require post weld heat treatment.

Keywords: SA 210 Gr. C steel pipes, TIG welding, HAZ region, Widmanstatten ferrite

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: S. N. Al-Bahry, Y. M. Al-Wahaibi, S. J. Joshi, E. A. Elshafie, A. S. Al-Bimani

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Oman is one of the oil producing countries in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region. About 30-40 % of oil produced from the Gulf is transported globally along the seacoast of Oman. Oil pollution from normal tanker operations, ballast water, illegal discharges and accidental spills are always serious threats to terrestrial and marine habitats. Due to Oman’s geographical location at arid region where the temperature ranges between high 40s and low 50s Celsius in summers with low annual rainfall, the main source of fresh water is desalinated sea and brackish water. Oil pollution, therefore, pose a major threat to drinking water. Biosurfactants are secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms in hydrophobic environments to release nutrients from solid surfaces, such as oil. In this study, indigenous oil degrading thermophilic spore forming bacteria were isolated from oil fields contaminated soil. The isolates were identified using MALDI-TOF biotyper and 16s RNA. Their growth conditions were optimized for the production of biosurfactant. Surface tension, interfacial tensions and microbial oil biodegradation capabilities were tested. Some thermophilic bacteria degraded either completely or partially heavy crude oil (API 10-15) within 48h suggesting their high potential in oil spill bioremediation and avoiding the commonly used physical and chemical methods which usually lead to other environmental pollution.

Keywords: bacteria, bioremediation, biosurfactant, crude-oil-pollution

Procedia PDF Downloads 414

Authors: Dzmitry M. Kabanau, Vladimir V. Kabanov, Yahor V. Lebiadok, Denis V. Shabrov, Pavel V. Shpak, Gevork T. Mikaelyan, Alexandr P. Bunichev

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This article is deal with the experimental investigations of the laser diode matrixes (LDM) based on the AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures (lasing wavelength 790-880 nm) to find optimal LDM parameters for active vision systems. In particular, the dependence of LDM radiation pulse power on the pulse duration and LDA active layer heating as well as the LDM radiation divergence are discussed.

Keywords: active vision systems, laser diode matrixes, thermal properties, radiation divergence

Procedia PDF Downloads 599

Authors: Braden M. Li, Inhwan Kim, Jesse S. Jur

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One of the fundamental challenges in the electronic textile (e-textile) industry is the mismatch in compliance between the rigid electronic components integrated onto soft textile platforms. To address these problems, various printing technologies using conductive inks have been explored in an effort to improve the electromechanical performance without sacrificing the innate properties of the printed textile. However, current printing methods deposit densely layered coatings onto textile surfaces with low through-plane wetting resulting in poor electromechanical properties. This work presents an inkjet printing technique in conjunction with unique Kirigami cut designs to address these issues for printed smart textiles. By utilizing particle free reactive silver inks, our inkjet process produces conformal and micron thick silver coatings that surround individual fibers of the printed smart textile. This results in a highly conductive (0.63 Ω sq-1) printed e-textile while also maintaining the innate properties of the textile material including stretchability, flexibility, breathability and fabric hand. Kirigami is the Japanese art of paper cutting. By utilizing periodic cut designs, Kirigami imparts enhanced flexibility and delocalization of stress concentrations. Kirigami cut design parameters (i.e., cut spacing and length) were correlated to both the mechanical and electromechanical properties of the printed textiles. We demonstrate that designs using a higher cut-out ratio exponentially softens the textile substrate. Thus, our designs achieve a 30x improvement in the overall stretchability, 1000x decrease in elastic modulus, and minimal resistance change over strain regimes of 100-200% when compared to uncut designs. We also show minimal resistance change of our Kirigami inspired printed devices after being stretched to 100% for 1000 cycles. Lastly, we demonstrate a Kirigami-inspired electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring system that improves stretchability without sacrificing signal acquisition performance. Overall this study suggests fundamental parameters affecting the performance of e-textiles and their scalability in the wearable technology industry

Keywords: kirigami, inkjet printing, flexible electronics, reactive silver ink

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: C. W. Kan, Y. L. Lam

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Cotton textile has large specific surfaces with good adhesion and water-storage properties which provide conditions for the growth and settlement of biological organisms. In addition, the soil, dust and solutes from sweat can also be the sources of nutrients for microorganisms [236]. Generally speaking, algae can grow on textiles under very moist conditions, providing nutrients for fungi and bacteria growth. Fungi cause multiple problems to textiles including discolouration, coloured stains and fibre damage. Bacteria can damage fibre and cause unpleasant odours with a slick and slimy feel. In addition, microbes can disrupt the manufacturing processes such as textile dyeing, printing and finishing operations through the reduction of viscosity, fermentation and mold formation. Therefore, a large demand exists for the anti-microbially finished textiles capable of avoiding or limiting microbial fibre degradation or bio fouling, bacterial incidence, odour generation and spreading or transfer of pathogens. In this review, the main strategy for cotton textile will be reviewed. In the beginning, the classification of bacteria and germs which are commonly found with cotton textiles will be introduced. The chemistry of antimicrobial finishing will be discussed. In addition, the types of antimicrobial treatment will be summarized. Finally, the application and evaluation of antimicrobial treatment on cotton textile will be discussed.

Keywords: antimicrobial, cotton, textile, review

Procedia PDF Downloads 350

Authors: Naridchaya Aberdour, Joanna Kao, Anne Miller, Timothy Shore, Richard Maher, Zhixin Liu

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Background: COVID-19 has and continues to be a strain on healthcare globally, with the number of patients requiring hospitalization exceeding the level of medical support available in many countries. As chest x-rays are the primary respiratory radiological investigation, the Radiological Assessment of Lung Edema (RALE) score was used to quantify the extent of pulmonary infection on baseline imaging. Assessment of RALE score's reproducibility and associations with clinical outcome parameters were then evaluated to determine implications for patient management and prognosis. Methods: A retrospective study was performed with the inclusion of patients testing positive for COVID-19 on nasopharyngeal swab within a single Local Health District in Sydney, Australia and baseline x-ray imaging acquired between January to June 2020. Two independent Radiologists viewed the studies and calculated the RALE scores. Clinical outcome parameters were collected and statistical analysis was performed to assess RALE score reproducibility and possible associations with clinical outcomes. Results: A total of 78 patients met inclusion criteria with the age range of 4 to 91 years old. RALE score concordance between the two independent Radiologists was excellent (interclass correlation coefficient = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.88-0.95, p<0.005). Binomial logistics regression identified a positive correlation with hospital admission (1.87 OR, 95% CI= 1.3-2.6, p<0.005), oxygen requirement (1.48 OR, 95% CI= 1.2-1.8, p<0.005) and invasive ventilation (1.2 OR, 95% CI= 1.0-1.3, p<0.005) for each 1-point increase in RALE score. For each one year increased in age, there was a negative correlation with recovery (0.05 OR, 95% CI= 0.92-1.0, p<0.01). RALE scores above three were positively associated with hospitalization (Youden Index 0.61, sensitivity 0.73, specificity 0.89) and above six were positively associated with ICU admission (Youden Index 0.67, sensitivity 0.91, specificity 0.78). Conclusion: The RALE score can be used as a surrogate to quantify the extent of COVID-19 infection and has an excellent inter-observer agreement. The RALE score could be used to prognosticate and identify patients at high risk of deterioration. Threshold values may also be applied to predict the likelihood of hospital and ICU admission.

Keywords: chest radiography, coronavirus, COVID-19, RALE score

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Mustafa Gulsen, Nihan Pekyavas, Emine Atıcı

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Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Kinesio taping on postural stability and in young soccer players. Subjects and Methods: 62 volunteered soccer players from Cayyolu Sports Club were included in our study. Permissions were also taken from the club directors about the inclusion of their players to our study. Soccer players between the age of 12 and 16 were included in our study. Players that had previous injury on lower extremities were excluded from the study. Players were randomly divided into two groups: Kinesio taping (KT) (n=31), and control group (n = 31). KT application including gastrocnemius and quadriceps femoris muscle facilitation techniques were applied to the first group. A rest time for 45 minutes was given in order to see the best effectiveness of the tape. The second group was set as the control group and no application was made. All participants were assessed before the application and 45 minutes later. In order to provide the double-blind design of the study, an experienced physiotherapist has done the assessments and another experienced physiotherapist has done the taping. The patients were randomly assigned to one of the two groups using an online random allocation software program. Postural stability was assessed by using Tetrax Interactive Balance System. Thermographic assessment was done by using FLIR E5 (FLIR Systems AB, Sweden) thermal camera in order to see which muscles have the most thermal activity while maintaining postural stability. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in all assessment parameters in both Kinesio Taping and control groups (all p<0.05) except thermal imaging of dominant gastrocnemius muscle results (p=0.668) (Table 1). In comparison of the two groups, statistically significant differences were found in all parameters (all p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, we investigated the effects of Kinesio taping on postural stability in young soccer players and found that KT application on Quadriceps and Gastrocnemius muscles may have decreased the risk of falling more than the control group. According to thermal imaging assessments, both Quadriceps and Gastrocnemius muscles may be active in maintaining postural stability but in KT group, the temperature of these muscles are higher which leads us to think that they are more activated.

Keywords: Kinesio taping, fall risk, muscle temperature, postural stability

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Amer Obaid Saud

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Water quality index (WQI) is considered as an effective tool in categorization of water resources for its quality and suitability for different uses. The Canadian version of water quality index (CCME WQI) which based on the comparison of the water quality parameters to regulatory standards and give a single value to the water quality of a source was applied in this study to assess the water quality of Euphrates river in Iraq at Babylon Governorate north of Baghdad and determine its suitability for aquatic environment (GWQI), drinking water (PWSI) and irrigation(IWQI). Five stations were selected on the river in Babylon (Euphrates River/AL-Musiab, Hindia barrage, two stations at Hilla city and the fifth station at Al-Hshmeya north of Hilla. Fifteen water samples were collected every month during August 2013 to July 2014 at the study sites and analyzed for the physico-chemical parameters like (Temperature, pH, Electrical Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids(TDS), Total Suspended Solids(TSS), Total Alkalinity, Total Hardness, Calcium and Magnesium Concentration, some of nutrient like Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate also the study of concentration of some heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu, Mn, and Cd) in water and comparison of measures to benchmarks such as guidelines and objectives to assess change in water quality. The result of Canadian version of(CCME .WQI) to assess the irrigation water quality (IWQI) of Euphrates river was (83-good) at site one during second seasonal period while the lowest was (66-Fair) in the second station during the fourth seasonal period, the values of potable water supply index (PWSI)that the highest value was (68-Fair) in the fifth site during the second period while the lowest value (42 -Poor) in the second site during the first seasonal period,the highest value for general water quality (GWQI) was (74-Fair) in site five during the second seasonal period, the lowest value (48-Marginal) in the second site during the first seasonal period. It was observed that the main cause of deterioration in water quality was due to the lack of, unprotected river sites ,high anthropogenic activities and direct discharge of industrial effluent.

Keywords: Babylon governorate, Canadian version, water quality, Euphrates river

Procedia PDF Downloads 389

Authors: Harold M. Carag, April Charmaine D. Camacho, Girlie Nora A. Abrigo, Florencia G. Palis, Ma. Larissa Lelu P. Gata

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A technology impact assessment on the use of microbial inoculants in the reforestation and rehabilitation of forest ancestral lands of the Magbukün Aytas in Morong, Bataan was conducted. This two-year rainforestation technology aimed to determine the optimum condition for the improvement of seedling survival rate in the nursery and in the field to hasten the process of forest regeneration of Magbukün Ayta’s ancestral land. A combination of qualitative methods (key informant interviews, focus groups and participant observation), participated by the farmers who were directly involved in the project, community men and women, the council of elders and the project staff, was employed to complete this impact assessment. The recorded data were transcribed, and the accounts were broadly categorized on the following aspects: social (gender, institutional, anthropological), economic and environmental. The Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) framework was primarily used for the impact analysis while the Harvard Analytical Framework was specifically used for the gender impact analysis. Through this technology, a wildling nursery with more than one thousand seedlings was successfully established and served as a good area for the healthy growth of seedlings that would be planted in the forest. Results showed that this technology affected positively and negatively the various gender roles present in the community although household work remained to be the women’s responsibility. The technology introduced directly added up to the workload done by the men and women (preparing and applying fertilizer, making pots etc.) but this, in turn, provided ways to increase their sources of livelihood. The gender roles that were already present were further strengthened after the project and men remained to be in control. The technology or project in turn also benefited from the already present roles since they no longer have to assign things to them, the execution of the various roles was smoothly executed. In the anthropological aspect, their assigned task to manage the nursery was an easy responsibility because of their deep connection to the environment and their fear and beliefs on ‘engkato’ and ‘anito’ was helpful in guarding the forest. As the cultural value of these trees increases, their mindset of safeguarding the forest also heightens. Meanwhile, the welfare of the whole tribe is the ultimate determinant of the swift entry of projects. The past institutions brought ephemeral reliefs on the subsistence of the Magbukün Aytas. These were good ‘conditioning’ factors for the adoption of the technology of the project. As an attempt to turn away from the dependent of harmful chemical, the project’s way of introducing organic inputs was slowly gaining popularity in the community. Economically, the project was able to provide additional income to the farmers. However, the slow mode of payment dismayed other farmers and abandoned their roles. Lastly, major environmental effects weren’t that much observed after the application of the technology. The minor effects concentrated more on the improved conditions of the soil and water in the community. Because of the introduced technology, soil conditions became more favorable specifically for the species that were planted. The organic fertilizers used were in turn not harmful for the residents living in Sitio Kanawan. There were no human diseases caused by the technology. The conservation of the biodiversity of the forest is clearly the most evident long-term result of the project.

Keywords: ancestral lands, impact assessment, microbial inculants, reforestation

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Authors: Virginia Martin Torrejon, Binjie Wu

Abstract:

Gelatine is a protein biopolymer obtained from the partial hydrolysis of animal tissues which contain collagen, the primary structural component in connective tissue. Gelatine hydrogels have attracted considerable research in recent years as an alternative to synthetic materials due to their outstanding gelling properties, biocompatibility and compostability. Surfactants, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), are often used in hydrogels solutions as surface modifiers or solubility enhancers, and their incorporation can influence the hydrogel’s viscoelastic properties and, in turn, its processing and applications. Literature usually focuses on studying the impact of formulation parameters (e.g., gelatine content, gelatine strength, additives incorporation) on gelatine hydrogels properties, but processing parameters, such as curing temperature, are commonly overlooked. For example, some authors have reported a decrease in gel strength at lower curing temperatures, but there is a lack of research on systematic viscoelastic characterisation of high strength gelatine and gelatine-SDS systems at a wide range of curing temperatures. This knowledge is essential to meet and adjust the technological requirements for different applications (e.g., viscosity, setting time, gel strength or melting/gelling temperature). This work investigated the effect of curing temperature (10, 15, 20, 23 and 25 and 30°C) on the elastic modulus (G’) and melting temperature of high strength gelatine-SDS hydrogels, at 10 wt% and 20 wt% gelatine contents, by small-amplitude oscillatory shear rheology coupled with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. It also correlates the gel strength obtained by rheological measurements with the gel strength measured by texture analysis. Gelatine and gelatine-SDS hydrogels’ rheological behaviour strongly depended on the curing temperature, and its gel strength and melting temperature can be slightly modified to adjust it to given processing and applications needs. Lower curing temperatures led to gelatine and gelatine-SDS hydrogels with considerably higher storage modulus. However, their melting temperature was lower than those gels cured at higher temperatures and lower gel strength. This effect was more considerable at longer timescales. This behaviour is attributed to the development of thermal-resistant structures in the lower strength gels cured at higher temperatures.

Keywords: gelatine gelation kinetics, gelatine-SDS interactions, gelatine-surfactant hydrogels, melting and gelling temperature of gelatine gels, rheology of gelatine hydrogels

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Kaustav Mukherjee

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In this paper we propose a Neural Style Transfer solution whereby we have created a Lightweight Separable Convolution Kernel Based GAN Architecture (SC-GAN) which will very useful for designing filter for Mobile Phone Cameras and also Edge Devices which will convert any image to its 2D ANIMATED COMIC STYLE Movies like HEMAN, SUPERMAN, JUNGLE-BOOK. This will help the 2D animation artist by relieving to create new characters from real life person's images without having to go for endless hours of manual labour drawing each and every pose of a cartoon. It can even be used to create scenes from real life images.This will reduce a huge amount of turn around time to make 2D animated movies and decrease cost in terms of manpower and time. In addition to that being extreme light-weight it can be used as camera filters capable of taking Comic Style Shots using mobile phone camera or edge device cameras like Raspberry Pi 4,NVIDIA Jetson NANO etc. Existing Methods like CartoonGAN with the model size close to 170 MB is too heavy weight for mobile phones and edge devices due to their scarcity in resources. Compared to the current state of the art our proposed method which has a total model size of 31 MB which clearly makes it ideal and ultra-efficient for designing of camera filters on low resource devices like mobile phones, tablets and edge devices running OS or RTOS. .Owing to use of high resolution input and usage of bigger convolution kernel size it produces richer resolution Comic-Style Pictures implementation with 6 times lesser number of parameters and with just 25 extra epoch trained on a dataset of less than 1000 which breaks the myth that all GAN need mammoth amount of data. Our network reduces the density of the Gan architecture by using Depthwise Separable Convolution which does the convolution operation on each of the RGB channels separately then we use a Point-Wise Convolution to bring back the network into required channel number using 1 by 1 kernel.This reduces the number of parameters substantially and makes it extreme light-weight and suitable for mobile phones and edge devices. The architecture mentioned in the present paper make use of Parameterised Batch Normalization Goodfellow etc al. (Deep Learning OPTIMIZATION FOR TRAINING DEEP MODELS page 320) which makes the network to use the advantage of Batch Norm for easier training while maintaining the non-linear feature capture by inducing the learnable parameters

Keywords: comic stylisation from camera image using GAN, creating 2D animated movie style custom stickers from images, depth-wise separable convolutional neural network for light-weight GAN architecture for EDGE devices, GAN architecture for 2D animated cartoonizing neural style, neural style transfer for edge, model distilation, perceptual loss

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Zarana Dave

Abstract:

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

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

Procedia PDF Downloads 210

Authors: G. G. Kagramanov, E. N. Farnosova, Linn Maung Maung

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The technologies of ion exchange and nanofiltration can be used for treatment of wastewater containing copper and other heavy metal ions to decrease the environmental risks. Nanofiltration characteristics under water treatment of heavy metals have been studied. The influence of main technical process parameters - pressure, temperature, concentration and pH value of the initial solution on flux and rejection of nanofiltration membranes has been considered. And ion exchange capacities of resins in removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater have been determined.

Keywords: exchange capacity, heavy metals, ion exchange, membrane separation, nanofiltration

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Heitor Oliveira, Gabriele De-Waal, Juergen Schmenger, Lynsey Godfrey, Tibor Kovacs

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Rheolaser MASTER™ makes use of multiple scattering of light, caused by scattering objects in a continuous medium (such as droplets and particles in colloids), to characterize the viscoelasticity of soft materials. It offers an alternative to conventional rheometers to characterize viscoelasticity of products such as hair cosmetics. Up to six simultaneous measurements at controlled temperature can be carried out simultaneously (10-15 min), and the method requires only minor sample preparation work. Conversely to conventional rheometer based methods, no mechanical stress is applied to the material during the measurements. Therefore, the properties of the exact same sample can be monitored over time, like in aging and stability studies. We determined the elastic index (EI) of water/emulsion mixtures (1 ≤ fat alcohols (FA) ≤ 5 wt%) and emulsion/gel-network mixtures (8 ≤ FA ≤ 17 wt%) and compared with the elastic/sorage mudulus (G’) for the respective samples using a TA conventional rheometer with flat plates geometry. As expected, it was found that log(EI) vs log(G’) presents a linear behavior. Moreover, log(EI) increased in a linear fashion with solids level in the entire range of compositions (1 ≤ FA ≤ 17 wt%), while rheometer measurements were limited to samples down to 4 wt% solids level. Alternatively, a concentric cilinder geometry would be required for more diluted samples (FA > 4 wt%) and rheometer results from different sample holder geometries are not comparable. The plot of the rheolaser output parameters solid-liquid balance (SLB) vs EI were suitable to monitor product aging processes. These data could quantitatively describe some observations such as formation of lumps over aging time. Moreover, this method allowed to identify that the different specifications of a key raw material (RM < 0.4 wt%) in the respective gel-network (GN) product has minor impact on product viscoelastic properties and it is not consumer perceivable after a short aging time. Broadening of a RM spec range typically has a positive impact on cost savings. Last but not least, the photon path length (λ*)—proportional to droplet size and inversely proportional to volume fraction of scattering objects, accordingly to the Mie theory—and the EI were suitable to characterize product destabilization processes (e.g., coalescence and creaming) and to predict product stability about eight times faster than our standard methods. Using these parameters we could successfully identify formulation and process parameters that resulted in unstable products. In conclusion, Rheolaser allows quick and reliable characterization of viscoelastic properties of hair cosmetics that are related to their performance and stability. It operates in a broad range of product compositions and has applications spanning from the formulation of our hair cosmetics to fast release criteria in our production sites. Last but not least, this powerful tool has positive impact on R&D development time—faster delivery of new products to the market—and consequently on cost savings.

Keywords: colloids, hair cosmetics, light scattering, performance and stability, soft materials, viscoelastic properties

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Authors: Vishal H. Shukla, Sanjay B. Deshmukh

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Traffic engineering, at its center, is the ability of moving traffic approximately so that traffic from a congested link is moved onto the unused capacity on another link. Traffic Engineering ensures the best possible use of the resources. Now to support traffic engineering in the today’s network, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is being used which is very helpful for reliable packets delivery in an ongoing internet services. Here a topology is been implemented on GNS3 to focus on the analysis of the communication take place from one site to other through the ISP. The comparison is made between the IP network & MPLS network based on Bandwidth & Jitter which are one of the performance parameters using JPERF simulator.

Keywords: GNS3, JPERF, MPLS, traffic engineering, VMware

Procedia PDF Downloads 468

Authors: Ashok Tejankar, Rohan K. Pathrikar

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Maharashtra is covered by heterogeneous flows of Deccan basaltic terrains of upper cretaceous to lower Eocene age. It consist mainly different types of basalt flow, having heterogeneous Geohydrological characters. The study area Aurangabad dist. lies in the central part of Maharashtra. The study area is typically covered by Deccan traps formation mainly basalt type of igneous volcanic rock. The area is located in the survey of India toposheet No. 47M and laying between 19° to 20° north latitudes and 74° to 76° east longitudes. Groundwater is the primary source for fresh water in the study area. There has been a growing demand for fresh water in domestic & agriculture sectors. Due to over exploitation and rainfall failure has been created an irrecoverable stress on groundwater in study area. In an effort to maintain the water table condition in balance, artificial recharge is being implemented. The selection of site for artificial recharge is a very important task in recharge basalt. The present study aims at sitting artificial recharge structure at village Pachod in basaltic terrain of the Godavari-Purna river basin in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. where the average annual rainfall is 650mm. In this investigation, integrated remote sensing and GIS techniques were used and various parameters like lithology, structure, etc. aspect of drainage basins, landforms and other parameters were extracted from visual interpretation of IRS P6 Satellite data and Survey of India (SIO) topographical sheets, aided by field checks by carrying well inventory survey. The depth of weathered material, water table conditions, and rainfall data were been considered. All the thematic information layers were digitized and analyzed in Arc-GIS environment and the composite maps produced show suitable site, depth of bed rock flows for successful artificial recharge in village Pachod to increase groundwater potential of low laying area.

Keywords: hard rock, artificial recharge, remote sensing, GIS

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Bin Zhou, Tongli Lu, Jianwu Zhang, Hongtao Hao

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Dual clutch transmissions (DCT) offer a high comfort performance in terms of the gearshift. Hydraulic multi-disk clutches are the key components of DCT, its engagement determines the shifting comfort. The prefill of the clutches requests an initial engagement which the clutches just contact against each other but not transmit substantial torque from the engine, this initial clutch engagement point is called the touch point. Open-loop control is typically implemented for the clutch prefill, a lot of uncertainties, such as oil temperature and clutch wear, significantly affects the prefill, probably resulting in an inappropriate touch point. Underfill causes the engine flaring in gearshift while overfill arises clutch tying up, both deteriorating the shifting comfort of DCT. Therefore, it is important to enable an adaptive capacity for the clutch prefills regarding the uncertainties. In this paper, a dynamic model of the hydraulic actuator system is presented, including the variable force solenoid and clutch piston, and validated by a test. Subsequently, the open-loop clutch prefill is simulated based on the proposed model. Two control parameters of the prefill, fast fill time and stable fill pressure is analyzed with regard to the impact on the prefill. The former has great effects on the pressure transients, the latter directly influences the touch point. Finally, an adaptive method is proposed for the clutch prefill during gear shifting, in which clutch fill control parameters are adjusted adaptively and continually. The adaptive strategy is changing the stable fill pressure according to the current clutch slip during a gearshift, improving the next prefill process. The stable fill pressure is increased by means of the clutch slip while underfill and decreased with a constant value for overfill. The entire strategy is designed in the Simulink/Stateflow, and implemented in the transmission control unit with optimization. Road vehicle test results have shown the strategy realized its adaptive capability and proven it improves the shifting comfort.

Keywords: clutch prefill, clutch slip, dual clutch transmission, touch point, variable force solenoid

Procedia PDF Downloads 301

Authors: Zehra Aybike Kılıç, Alpin Köknel Yener

Abstract:

Daylight is a powerful driver in terms of improving human health, enhancing productivity and creating sustainable solutions by minimizing energy demand. A proper daylighting system allows not only a pleasant and attractive visual and thermal environment, but also reduces lighting energy consumption and heating/cooling energy load with the optimization of aperture size, glazing type and solar control strategy, which are the major design parameters of daylighting system design. Particularly, in high-rise buildings where large openings that allow maximum daylight and view out are preferred, evaluation of daylight performance by considering the major parameters of the building envelope design becomes crucial in terms of ensuring occupants’ comfort and improving energy efficiency. Moreover, it is increasingly necessary to examine the daylighting design of high-rise residential buildings, considering the share of residential buildings in the construction sector, the duration of occupation and the changing space requirements. This study aims to identify a proper daylighting design solution considering window area, glazing type and solar control strategy for a high-residential building in terms of visual comfort and lighting energy efficiency. The dynamic simulations are carried out/conducted by DIVA for Rhino version 4.1.0.12. The results are evaluated with Daylight Autonomy (DA) to demonstrate daylight availability in the space and Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) to describe the visual comfort conditions related to glare. Furthermore, it is also analyzed that the lighting energy consumption occurred in each scenario to determine the optimum solution reducing lighting energy consumption by optimizing daylight performance. The results revealed that it is only possible that reduction in lighting energy consumption as well as providing visual comfort conditions in buildings with the proper daylighting design decision regarding glazing type, transparency ratio and solar control device.

Keywords: daylighting , glazing type, lighting energy efficiency, residential building, solar control strategy, visual comfort

Procedia PDF Downloads 165