Search results for: reverse rolling

Authors: Ehsan Soltanzadeh, Hassan Zare

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This paper introduces examples of the influences of global warming on water resources and means of adaptation. The contributing causes of shortage in water resources are sophisticated and have interactions with each other. The world-scale phenomena like global warming have led to an increase in air and ocean’s mean temperature, and this has already caused adverse effects on water resources. Other factors that exacerbated this situation such as population increase, changes in farming habits, rise in city dwellers, unbalanced request for energy and aquatic resources, improved living standards, new eating habits, increasing economic growth and consequently flourishing industrial activities, and different types of pollution such as air, water, etc., are compelling more pressure on our limited water resources. The report will briefly discuss climate change and its detrimental impacts on the water resources and finally will introduce two effective solutions to mitigate the consequences or even reverse them in the near to mid-term future: utilization of molten salt technology for storing huge amounts of generated electricity in solar power plants to accommodate power grid demands, and implementing fuel cell CHPs to reduce carbon emission, and consequently, mitigate the global warming phenomenon as the major root cause of threatening water resources.

Keywords: climate change, global warming, water resources, GHG emissions, fuel cell-CHP, solar power plant, molten salt storage

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Authors: Vladimir Ryabov, Mikhail Baryshevs, Mikhail Voskresenskey, Boris Popov

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The human prostate gland (PG) samples were obtained from patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer (PC) and used to extract total RNA and prepare the prostate stromal cell cultures (PSCC) and patients-derived organoids (PDO). Growth of the cell cultures was accessed under microscopic evaluation in transmitted light and the marker expression by reverse polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunofluorescence, and immunoblotting. Some PCR products from prostate tissue, PSCC, and PDO were cloned and sequenced. We found that the cells of early and late passages of PSCC and corresponding PDO expressed luminal (androgen receptor, AR; cytokeratin 18, CK18) and basal (CK5, p63) epithelial markers, the production of which decreased or disappeared in late PSCC and PDO. The PSCC and PDO of early passages from cancer tissue additionally produced cancer markers AMACR, TMPRSS2-ERG, and Ezh2. The expression of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion transcripts was verified by cloning and sequencing the PCR products. The results obtained suggest that early passages of PSCC might be used as a pre-clinical model for the evaluation of early markers of prostate cancer.

Keywords: localized prostate cancer, prostate epithelial markers, prostate cancer markers, AMACR, TMPRSS2-ERG, prostate stromal cell cultures, PDO

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Authors: Michele Catalano, Jacopo Di Domenico, Luca Riccetti, Andrea Teglio

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We develop a data-driven agent based model (ABM) for the Italian economy. We calibrate the model for the initial condition and parameters. As a preliminary step, we replicate the Monte-Carlo simulation for the Austrian economy. Then, we evaluate the dynamic properties of the model: the long-run equilibrium and the allocative efficiency in terms of disequilibrium patterns arising in the search and matching process for final goods, capital, intermediate goods, and credit markets. In this perspective, we use a randomized initial condition approach. We perform a robustness analysis perturbing the system for different parameter setups. We explore the empirical properties of the model using a rolling window forecast exercise from 2010 to 2022 to observe the model’s forecasting ability in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We perform an analysis of the properties of the model with a different number of agents, that is, with different scales of the model compared to the real economy. The model generally displays transient dynamics that properly fit macroeconomic data regarding forecasting ability. We stress the model with a large set of shocks, namely interest policy, fiscal policy, and exogenous factors, such as external foreign demand for export. In this way, we can explore the most exposed sectors of the economy. Finally, we modify the technology mix of the various sectors and, consequently, the underlying input-output sectoral interdependence to stress the economy and observe the long-run projections. In this way, we can include in the model the generation of endogenous crisis due to the implied structural change, technological unemployment, and potential lack of aggregate demand creating the condition for cyclical endogenous crises reproduced in this artificial economy.

Keywords: agent-based models, behavioral macro, macroeconomic forecasting, micro data

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Authors: V. Surena, B. Nazemisalman, F. Noghrehkar

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Introduction: Gingival overgrowth (GO) is a common side effect involving users of antiepileptic, immunosuppressive and calcium channel blocker drugs. Cyclosporine and phenytoin are amongst the most widely used drugs associated with GO. Gingival fibroblasts seem to have a significant role in the production of certain enzymes after administration of the drugs contributing to GO. Previous studies have shown a higher prevalence of GO in children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to compare normal human gingival fibroblasts with those exposed to Cyclosporine or phenytoin in measuring the production levels of certain enzymes that could have a possible role in GO. Methods: samples were obtained from the gingival biopsies of seven adult and seven children and were cultured into plates. With the growth of fibroblast cells, they were treated with or without either Cyclosporine or phenytoin. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the expressed levels of R-EGF, cathepsin B,L, Lysyl oxidase, COL1, TGF β1, MMP-1,2, and TIMP1. Results: according to RT-PCR analyses, the expressed levels of R-EGF, cathepsin B, L, Lysyl oxidase, COL1, TGF β1, MMP-1, 2 and TIMP1 were affected by Cyclosporine and phenytoin. TGF-β1, TIMP, Cathepsin B and EGF showed comparable values in the adult and pediatric groups. Conclusions: Different expressed levels of enzymes after treatment of the gingival fibroblasts of adults and pediatrics with phenytoin or Cyclosporine could be the reason for the higher severity of GO in children. More studies need to be performed on the pathogenesis of GO at different age groups.

Keywords: cyclosporine, fibroblasts, phenytoin, gingivae

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Authors: Behnam Habibi Dargah

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The economics of cost-benefit theory seeks to monitor claims and determine their final price. The cost of litigation is important because it is a measure of the efficiency of the justice system. From an economic point of view, the cost of litigation is considered to be the point of equilibrium of litigation, whereby litigation is regarded as a high-risk investment and is initiated when the costs are less than the probable and expected benefits. Costs are economically separated into private and social costs. Private cost includes material (direct and indirect) and spiritual costs. The social costs of litigation are also subsidized-centric due to the public and governmental nature of litigation and cover both types of bureaucratic bureaucracy and the costs of judicial misconduct. Macroeconomic policy in the economics of justice is the reverse engineering of controlling the social costs of litigation by employing selective litigation and working on the judicial culture to achieve rationality in the monopoly system. Procedures for controlling and managing court costs are also circumscribed to economic patterns in the field. Rational cost allocation model and cost transfer model. The rational allocation model deals with cost-tolerance systems, and the transfer model also considers three models of transferability, including legal, judicial and contractual transferability, which will be described and explored in the present article in a comparative manner.

Keywords: cost of litigation, economics of litigation, private cost, social cost, cost of litigation

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Authors: Umer Masood Chaudry, Hafiz Muhammad Rehan Tariq, Chung-soo Kim, Tea-sung Jun

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This study explored the influence of pre-stretching temperature on the microstructural characteristics and deformation behavior of AZ61 magnesium alloy and its implications on grain growth during subsequent annealing. AZ61 alloy was stretched to 5% plastic strain along rolling (RD) and transverse direction (TD) at room (RT) and cryogenic temperature (-150 oC, CT) followed by annealing at 320 oC for 1 h to investigate the twinning and dislocation evolution and its consequent effect on the flow stress, plastic strain and strain hardening rate. Compared to RT-stretched samples, significant improvement in yield stress, strain hardening rate and moderate reduction in elongation to failure were witnessed for CT-stretched samples along RD and TD. The subsequent EBSD analysis revealed the increased fraction of fine {10-12} twins and nucleation of multiple {10-12} twin variants caused by higher local stress concentration at the grain boundaries in CT-stretched samples as manifested by the kernel average misorientation. This higher twin fraction and twin-twin interaction imposed the strengthening by restricting the mean free path of dislocations, leading to higher flow stress and strain hardening rate. During annealing of the RT/CT-stretched samples, the residual strain energy and twin boundaries were decreased due to static recovery, leading to a coarse-grained twin-free microstructure. Strain induced boundary migration (SBIM) was found to be the predominant mechanism governing the grain growth during annealing via movement of high angle grain boundaries.

Keywords: magnesium, twinning, twinning variant selection, EBSD, cryogenic deformation

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Authors: Matteo Bonaventura, Giancarlo Giudici

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This paper analyses the valuation process of companies listed on the Italian Exchange in the period 2000-2009 at their Initial Public Offering (IPO). One the most common valuation techniques declared in the IPO prospectus to determine the offer price is the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method. We develop a ‘reverse engineering’ model to discover the short term profitability implied in the offer prices. We show that there is a significant optimistic bias in the estimation of future profitability compared to ex-post actual realization and the mean forecast error is substantially large. Yet we show that such error characterizes also the estimations carried out by analysts evaluating non-IPO companies. The forecast error is larger the faster has been the recent growth of the company, the higher is the leverage of the IPO firm, the more companies issued equity on the market. IPO companies generally exhibit better operating performance before the listing, with respect to comparable listed companies, while after the flotation they do not perform significantly different in term of return on invested capital. Pre-IPO book building activity plays a significant role in partially reducing the forecast error and revising expectations, while the market price of the first day of trading does not contain information for further reducing forecast errors.

Keywords: initial public offerings, DCF, book building, post-IPO profitability drop

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Authors: Dharmendra Pratap

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Large Cardamom (Amomum subulatum), family Zingiberaceae is an aromatic spice crop and has rich medicinal value. Large Cardamom is as synonymous to Sikkim as Tea is to Darjeeling. Since Sikkim alone contributes up to 88% of India's large cardamom production which is the world leader by producing over 50% of the global yield. However, the production of large cardamom has declined almost to half since last two decade. The economic losses have been attributed to two viral diseases namely, chirke and Foorkey. Chirke disease is characterized by light and dark green streaks on leaves. The affected leaves exhibit streak mosaic, which gradually coalesce, turn brown and eventually dry up. Excessive sprouting and formation of bushy dwarf clumps at the base of mother plants that gradually die characterize the foorkey disease. In our surveys in Sikkim–Darjeeling hill area during 2012-14, 40-45% of plants were found to be affected with foorkey disease and 10-15% with chirke. Mechanical and aphid transmission study showed banana as an alternate host for both the disease. For molecular identification, total genomic DNA and RNA was isolated from the infected leaf tissues and subjected to Rolling circle amplification (RCA) and RT-PCR respectively. The DNA concatamers produced in the RCA reaction were monomerized by different restriction enzymes and the bands corresponding to ~1 kb genomes were purified and cloned in the respective sites. The nucleotide sequencing results revealed the association of Nanovirus with the foorkey disease of large cardamom. DNA1 showed 74% identity with Replicase gene of FBNYV, DNA2 showed 77% identity with the NSP gene of BBTV and DNA3 showed 74% identity with CP gene of BBTV. The finding suggests the presence of a new species of nanovirus associated with foorkey disease of large cardamom in Sikkim and Darjeeling hills. The details of their epidemiology and other factors would be discussed.

Keywords: RCA, nanovirus, large cardamom, molecular virology and microbiology

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Authors: Preston Nabors, Nasseh Tabrizi

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Portable Document Format (PDF) files have gained significant popularity for sharing and distributing documents due to their universal compatibility. However, the widespread use of PDF files has made them attractive targets for cybercriminals, who exploit vulnerabilities to deliver malware and compromise the security of end-user systems. This paper reviews notable contributions in PDF malware detection, including static, dynamic, signature-based, and hybrid analysis. It presents a comprehensive examination of PDF malware detection techniques, focusing on the emerging threat of adversarial sampling and the need for robust defense mechanisms. The paper highlights the vulnerability of machine learning classifiers to evasion attacks. It explores adversarial sampling techniques in PDF malware detection to produce mimicry and reverse mimicry evasion attacks, which aim to bypass detection systems. Improvements for future research are identified, including accessible methods, applying adversarial sampling techniques to malicious payloads, evaluating other models, evaluating the importance of features to malware, implementing adversarial defense techniques, and conducting comprehensive examination across various scenarios. By addressing these opportunities, researchers can enhance PDF malware detection and develop more resilient defense mechanisms against adversarial attacks.

Keywords: adversarial attacks, adversarial defense, adversarial machine learning, intrusion detection, PDF malware, malware detection, malware detection evasion

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Authors: Ali Reza Tahavvor, Saeed Hosseini, Nazli Jowkar, Afshin Karimzadeh Fard

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Experimental & numeral study of temperature distribution during milling process, is important in milling quality and tools life aspects. In the present study the milling cross-section temperature is determined by using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) according to the temperature of certain points of the work piece and the points specifications and the milling rotational speed of the blade. In the present work, at first three-dimensional model of the work piece is provided and then by using the Computational Heat Transfer (CHT) simulations, temperature in different nods of the work piece are specified in steady-state conditions. Results obtained from CHT are used for training and testing the ANN approach. Using reverse engineering and setting the desired x, y, z and the milling rotational speed of the blade as input data to the network, the milling surface temperature determined by neural network is presented as output data. The desired points temperature for different milling blade rotational speed are obtained experimentally and by extrapolation method for the milling surface temperature is obtained and a comparison is performed among the soft programming ANN, CHT results and experimental data and it is observed that ANN soft programming code can be used more efficiently to determine the temperature in a milling process.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, milling process, rotational speed, temperature

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Authors: Oluyinka Ojedokun, S. E. Idemudia

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In Nigeria, statistics is a compulsory course required from all social sciences students as part of their academic training. However, a rising number of social sciences undergraduates usually express statistics anxiety. The prevalence of statistics anxiety among undergraduates in social sciences has created a growing concern for educators and researchers in the higher education institutions, mainly because this statistics anxiety adversely affects their performance in statistics and research methods courses. From a societal perspective it is important to reverse this trend. Although scholars and researchers have highlighted some psychosocial factors that influence statistics anxiety in students but few empirical studies exist on the association between personality traits of NEO five factors and statistics anxiety. It is in the light of this situation that this study was designed to assess the extent to which the personality traits of NEO five factors influence statistics anxiety of students in social sciences courses. The participants were 282 undergraduates in the faculty of social sciences at a state owned public university in Nigeria. The findings demonstrate that the personality traits contributing to statistics anxiety include openness to experience, conscientious, extraversion, and neuroticism. These results imply that statistics anxiety is related to individual differences in personality traits and suggest that certain aspects of statistics anxiety may be relatively stable and resistant to change. An effective and simple method to reduce statistics anxiety among social sciences students is to create awareness of the statistical and methodological requirements of the social sciences courses before commencement of their programmes.

Keywords: personality traits, statistics anxiety, social sciences, students

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Authors: Francois Defay, Martim Calao, Jean Francois Dassieu, Laurent Salvetat

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Electrical vehicles are a solution for reducing the pollution using green energy. The shell Eco-Marathon provides rules in order to minimize the battery use for the race. The use of solar panel combined with efficient motor control and race strategy allow driving a 60kg vehicle with one pilot using only the solar energy in the best case. This paper presents a complete modelization of a solar vehicle used for the shell eco-marathon. This project called Helios is cooperation between non-graduated students, academic institutes, and industrials. The prototype is an ultra-energy-efficient vehicle based on one-meter square solar panel and an own-made brushless controller to optimize the electrical part. The vehicle is equipped with sensors and embedded system to provide all the data in real time in order to evaluate the best strategy for the course. A complete modelization with Matlab/Simulink is used to test the optimal strategy to increase the global endurance. Experimental results are presented to validate the different parts of the model: mechanical, aerodynamics, electrical, solar panel. The major finding of this study is to provide solutions to identify the model parameters (Rolling Resistance Coefficient, drag coefficient, motor torque coefficient, etc.) by means of experimental results combined with identification techniques. One time the coefficients are validated, the strategy to optimize the consumption and the average speed can be tested first in simulation before to be implanted for the race. The paper describes all the simulation and experimental parts and provides results in order to optimize the global efficiency of the vehicle. This works have been started four years ago and evolved many students for the experimental and theoretical parts and allow to increase the knowledge on electrical self-efficient vehicle.

Keywords: electrical vehicle, endurance, optimization, shell eco-marathon

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Authors: H. K. Ramaraju

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World is in deep trouble and deeper denial. Worse, the denial is now entirely on the side of action. It is well accepted that climate change is a reality. Scientists say we need to cap temperature increases at 2°C to avoid catastrophe, which means capping emissions at 450 ppm .We know global average temperatures have already increased by 0.8°C and there is enough green house gas in the atmosphere to lead to another 0.8°C increase. There is still a window of opportunity, a tiny one, to tackle the crisis. But where is the action? In the 1990’s, when the world did even not understand, let alone accept, the crises, it was more willing to move to tackle climate change. Today we are in reverse in gear. The rich world has realized it is easy to talk big, but tough to take steps to actually reduce emissions. The agreement was that these countries would reduce so that the developing World could increase. Instead, between 1990 and 2006, their carbon dioxide emissions increased by a whopping 14.5 percent, even green countries of Europe are unable to match words with action. Stop deforestation and take a 20 percent advantage in our carbon balance sheet, with out doing anything at home called REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) and push for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. There are warning signs elsewhere and they need to be read correctly and acted up on , if not the cases like flood –act of nature or manmade disaster. The full length paper orient in proper understanding of the issues and identifying the most appropriate course of action.

Keywords: catastrophe, deforestation, emissions, waste water

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Abdulsalam Turkmani, Mohammed Khaled Yezbek, Farouk Al Imadi

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Geological surveys in the southwestern part of Syria showed the presence of sedimentary-pyroclastic deposits, volcanic tuff, to the age of the Upper Pliocene and contain the following minerals according petrographical study and XRD, SEM, XRF analysis and surface properties. X-Ray diffraction results indicate the presence of analcime, phillipsite and chabazite in in all the studied localities. There are also amorphous materials and clay minerals such as illite and montmorillonite. The non-zeolite constituents include olivine, clinopyroxene orthopyroxene and spinel, and less of magnetite and feldspar. Some major oxides were determined through XRF geochemical analyses which include SiO₂, Al₂O₃, K₂O, Fe₂O₃, and CaO for volcanic tuff and zeolite. The formation of these depositions can be summarized in the following stages during the Pliocene: Volcanic activity at the edges of Al Rutba uplift and Jabal Al Arab depression was a rich by tuff bearing ultra basic and basic xenoliths plus second phase by scoria, during the early Pliocene. Volcanic calm with the activity of erosion and form lakes in which deposition of a set of wastes, including olivine resulting from the disintegration of xenoliths during the middle Pliocene. Zeolites minerals form later, which make up about 15-20% and increase and decrease in reverse relation with the olivine sand. Zeolite is formed from volcanic glass, and the results of SEM show that the zeolites minerals very well crystallized.

Keywords: minerals, origin, pyroclastic, zeolite

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Authors: Mitsuhiro Okayasu

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To better understand the lattice characteristics of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics, the lattice orientations and domain-switching characteristics have been directly examined during loading and unloading using various experimental techniques. Upon loading, the PZT ceramics are fractured linear and nonlinearly during the compressive loading process. The strain characteristics of the PZT ceramic were directly affected by both the lattice and domain switching strain. Due to the piezoelectric ceramic, electrical activity of lightning-like behavior occurs in the PZT ceramics, which attributed to the severe domain-switching leading to weak piezoelectric property. The characteristics of domain-switching and reverse switching are detected during the loading and unloading processes. The amount of domain-switching depends on the grain, due to different stress levels. In addition, two patterns of 90˚ domain-switching systems are characterized, namely (i) 90˚ turn about the tetragonal c-axis and (ii) 90˚ rotation of the tetragonal a-axis. In this case, PZT ceramic was loaded by the thermal stress at 80°C. Extent of domain switching is related to the direction of c-axis of the tetragonal structure, e.g., that axis, orientated close to the loading direction, makes severe domain switching. It is considered that there is 90˚ domain switching, but in actual, the angle of domain switching is less than 90˚, e.g., 85.4° ~ 90.0°. In situ TEM observation of the domain switching characteristics of PZT ceramic has been conducted with increasing the sample temperature from 25°C to 300°C, and the domain switching like behavior is directly observed from the lattice image, where the severe domain switching occurs less than 100°C.

Keywords: PZT, lead zirconate titanate, piezoelectric ceramic, domain switching, material property

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Authors: Elisa Y. M. Ang, Teng Yong Ng, Jingjie Yeo, Rongming Lin, Zishun Liu, K. R. Geethalakshmi

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By stacking carbon nanotubes (CNT) one on top of another, single layer CNT arrays can perform water-salt separation with ultra-high permeability and selectivity. Such outer-wall CNT slit membrane is named as the transverse flow CNT membrane. By adjusting the slit size between neighboring CNTs, the membrane can be configured to sieve out different solutes, right down to the separation of monovalent salt ions from water. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results show that the permeability of transverse flow CNT membrane is more than two times that of conventional axial-flow CNT membranes, and orders of magnitude higher than current reverse osmosis membrane. In addition, by carrying out MD simulations with different CNT size, it was observed that the variance in desalination performance with CNT size is small. This insensitivity of the transverse flow CNT membrane’s performance to CNT size is a distinct advantage over axial flow CNT membrane designs. Not only does the membrane operate well under constant pressure desalination operation, but MD simulations further indicate that oscillatory operation can further enhance the membrane’s desalination performance, making it suitable for operation such as electrodialysis reversal. While there are still challenges that need to be overcome, particularly on the physical fabrication of such membrane, it is hope that this versatile membrane design can bring the idea of using low dimensional structures for desalination closer to reality.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, membrane desalination, transverse flow carbon nanotube membrane, molecular dynamics

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Authors: Jean Berger, Mohamed Barkaoui

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Discrete search path planning in time-constrained uncertain environment relying upon imperfect sensors is known to be hard, and current problem-solving techniques proposed so far to compute near real-time efficient path plans are mainly bounded to provide a few move solutions. A new information-theoretic –based open-loop decision model explicitly incorporating false alarm sensor readings, to solve a single agent military logistics search-and-delivery path planning problem with anticipated feedback is presented. The decision model consists in minimizing expected entropy considering anticipated possible observation outcomes over a given time horizon. The model captures uncertainty associated with observation events for all possible scenarios. Entropy represents a measure of uncertainty about the searched target location. Feedback information resulting from possible sensor observations outcomes along the projected path plan is exploited to update anticipated unit target occupancy beliefs. For the first time, a compact belief update formulation is generalized to explicitly include false positive observation events that may occur during plan execution. A novel genetic algorithm is then proposed to efficiently solve search path planning, providing near-optimal solutions for practical realistic problem instances. Given the run-time performance of the algorithm, natural extension to a closed-loop environment to progressively integrate real visit outcomes on a rolling time horizon can be easily envisioned. Computational results show the value of the approach in comparison to alternate heuristics.

Keywords: search path planning, false alarm, search-and-delivery, entropy, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Pankhuri Dagaonkar, Charumani Singh, Poornima Krothapalli, Krishna Karthik

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The backbone of any retail e-commerce success story is a unique design of supply chain network, providing the business an unparalleled speed and scalability. Primary goal of the supply chain strategy is to meet customer expectation by offering fastest deliveries while keeping the cost minimal. Meeting this objective at the large market that India provides is the problem statement that we have targeted here. There are many models and optimization techniques focused on network design to identify the ideal facility location and size, optimizing cost and speed. In this paper we are presenting a tactical approach to optimize cost of an existing network for a predefined speed. We have considered both forward and reverse logistics of a retail e-commerce supply chain consisting of multiple fulfillment (warehouse) and delivery centers, which are connected via sortation nodes. The mathematical model presented here determines if the shipment from a node should get sorted directly for the last mile delivery center or it should travel as consolidated package to another node for further sortation (resort). The objective function minimizes the total cost by varying the resort percentages between nodes and provides the optimal resource allocation and number of sorts at each node.

Keywords: distribution strategy, mathematical model, network design, supply chain management

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Authors: Samaneh Abolli, Kamyar Yaghmaeian, Ali Arab Aradani, Mahmood Alimohammadi

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The main route of fluoride uptake is drinking water. Fluoride absorption in the acceptable range (0.5-1.5 mg L-¹) is suitable for the body, but it's too much consumption can have irreversible health effects. To compare fluoride concentration with the WHO guidelines, 112 water samples were taken from groundwater aquifers in 22 villages of Garmsar County, the central part of Iran, during 2018 to 2019.Fluoride concentration was measured by the SPANDS method, and its non-carcinogenic impacts were calculated using EDI and HQ. The statistical population was divided into four categories of infant, children, teenagers, and adults. Linear regression and Spearman rank correlation coefficient tests were used to investigate the relationships between the well's depth and fluoride concentration in the water samples. The annual mean concentrations of fluoride in 2018 and2019 were 0.75 and 0.64 mg -¹ and, the fluoride mean concentration in the samples classifying the cold and hot seasons of the studied years was 0.709 and 0.689 mg L-¹, respectively. The amount of fluoride in 27% of the samples in both years was less than the acceptable minimum (0.5 mg L-¹). Also, 11% of the samples in2018 (6 samples) had fluoride levels higher than 1.5 mg L-¹. The HQ showed that the children were vulnerable; teenagers and adults were in the next ranks, respectively. Statistical tests showed a reverse and significant correlation (R2 = 0.02, < 0.0001) between well depth and fluoride content. The border between the usefulness/harmfulness of fluoride is very narrow and requires extensive studies.

Keywords: fluoride, groundwater, health risk assessment, hazard quotient, Garmsar

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Authors: Nadheer A. Shalash, Abu Zaharin Bin Ahmad

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Technological developments in industrial innovations have currently been related to interconnected system assistance and distribution networks. This important in order to enable an electrical load to continue receive power in the event of disconnection of load from the main power grid. This paper represents a method for reliability assessment of interconnected power systems based. The multi-agent system consists of four agents. The first agent was the generator agent to using as connected the generator to the grid depending on the state of the reserve margin and the load demand. The second was a load agent is that located at the load. Meanwhile, the third is so-called "the reverse margin agent" that to limit the reserve margin between 0-25% depend on the load and the unit size generator. In the end, calculation reliability Agent can be calculate expected energy not supplied (EENS), loss of load expectation (LOLE) and the effecting of tie line capacity to determine the risk levels Roy Billinton Test System (RBTS) can use to evaluated the reliability indices by using the developed JADE package. The results estimated of the reliability interconnection power systems presented in this paper. The overall reliability of power system can be improved. Thus, the market becomes more concentrated against demand increasing and the generation units were operating in relation to reliability indices.

Keywords: reliability indices, load expectation, reserve margin, daily load, probability, multi-agent system

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Authors: Tero Huhtala, Minna Pikkarainen, Saila Saraniemi

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Information technology has long been used as an enabler of exchange for goods and services. Services are evolving from generic to personalized, and the reverse use of customer data has been discussed in both academia and industry for the past few years. This article presents the results of an empirical case study in the area of preventive health care services. The primary data were gathered in workshops, in which future personal data-based services were conceptualized by analyzing future scenarios from a business perspective. The aim of this study is to understand business model transformation in emerging personal data ecosystems. The work was done as a case study in the context of occupational healthcare. The results have implications to theory and practice, indicating that adopting personal data management principles requires transformation of the business model, which, if successfully managed, may provide access to more resources, potential to offer better value, and additional customer channels. These advantages correlate with the broadening of the business ecosystem. Expanding the scope of this study to include more actors would improve the validity of the research. The results draw from existing literature and are based on findings from a case study and the economic properties of the healthcare industry in Finland.

Keywords: ecosystem, business model, personal data, preventive healthcare

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Authors: Rauf Razzaq, Kaiwu Dong, Muhammad Sharif, Ralf Jackstell, Matthias Beller

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Carbon dioxide (CO2), a key greenhouse gas produced from both anthropogenic and natural sources, has been recently considered to be an important C1 building-block for the synthesis of many industrial fuels and chemicals. Catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 using a heterogeneous system is regarded as an efficient process for CO2 valorization. In this regard CO2 reduction to CO via the reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGSR) has attracted much attention as a viable process for large scale commercial CO2 utilization. This process can generate syn-gas (CO+H2) which can provide an alternative route to direct CO2 conversion to methanol and/or liquid HCs from FT reaction. Herein, we report a highly active and selective silica supported copper catalyst with efficient CO2 reduction to CO in a slurry-bed batch autoclave reactor. The reactions were carried out at 200°C and 60 bar initial pressure with CO2/H2 ratio of 1:3 with varying temperature, pressure and fed-gas ratio. The gaseous phase products were analyzed using FID while the liquid products were analyzed by using FID detectors. It was found that Cu/SiO2 catalyst prepared using novel ammonia precipitation-urea gelation method achieved 26% CO2 conversion with a CO and methanol selectivity of 98 and 2% respectively. The high catalytic activity could be attributed to its strong metal-support interaction with highly dispersed and stabilized Cu+ species active for RWGSR. So, it can be concluded that reduction of CO2 to CO via RWGSR could address the problem of using CO2 gas in C1 chemistry.

Keywords: CO2 reduction, methanol, slurry reactor, synthesis gas

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Authors: A. T. Asutosh, J. Woo, M. Kouhirostami, M. Sam, A. Khantawang, C. Cuales, W. Ryor, C. Kibert

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Climate change and global warming vortex have grown to alarming proportions. Therefore, the need for a shift in the conceptualization of energy production is paramount. Energy practices have been created in the current situation. Fossil fuels continue their prominence, at the expense of renewable sources. Despite this abundance, a large percentage of the world population still has no access to electricity but there have been encouraging signs in global movement from nonrenewable to renewable energy but means to reverse climate change have been elusive. Worldwide, organizations have put tremendous effort into innovation. Conferences and exhibitions act as a platform that allows a broad exchange of information regarding trends in the renewable energy field. The Solar Power International (SPI) conference and exhibition is a gathering of concerned activists, and probably the largest convention of its kind. This study investigates current development in the renewable energy field, analyzing means by which industry is being applied to the issue. In reviewing the 2019 SPI conference, it was found innovations in recycling and assessing the environmental impacts of the solar products that need critical attention. There is a huge movement in the electrical storage but there exists a large gap in the development of security systems. This research will focus on solar energy, but impacts will be relevant to the entire renewable energy market.

Keywords: climate change, renewable energy, solar, trends, research, solar power international, SPI

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Authors: Radnoosh Mirzajani, Ebrahim Mirzajani, Heshmatollah Ebrahimi-Najafabadi

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Introduction: Hydrogen peroxide can be produced over the interaction of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) with hemoglobin which would facilitate the oxidation process of hemoglobin. The presence of ascorbic acid (AA) can hinder the extreme oxidation of oxyhemoglobin. Methods: Hemoglobin was purified from blood samples according to the method of Williams. UV-V is spectra of Hb solutions mixed with different concentrations of SDS and AA were recorded. Chemical components, concentration, and spectral profiles were estimated using MCR-ALS techniques. Results: The intensity of soret band of OxyHb decreased due to the interaction of Hb with SDS. Furthermore, changes were also observed for peaks at 575 and 540. Subspace plots confirm the presence of OxyHb, MetHb, and Hemichrom in each mixture. The resolved concentration profiles using MCR-ALS reveal that the mole fraction of OxyHb increased upon the presence of AA up to a concentration level of 3 mM. The higher concentration of AA shows a reverse effect. AA demonstrated a dual effect on the interaction of hemoglobin with SDS. AA disturbs the interaction of SDS and hemoglobin and exhibits an antioxidative effect. However, it caused a tiny decrease in the mole fraction of OxyHb. Conclusions: H2O2 produces upon the interaction of OxyHb with SDS. Oxidation of OxyHb facilitates due to overproduction of H2O2. Ascorbic acid interacts with H2O2 to form dehydroascorbic acid. Furthermore, the available free SDS was reduced because the Gibbs free energy for micelle production of SDS became more negative in the presence of AA.

Keywords: hemoglobin, ascorbic acid, sodium dodecyl sulfate, multivariate curve resolution, antioxidant

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Authors: Óscar Alfonso Gómez Sepúlveda, Julián Ernesto Jaramillo, Diego Camilo Durán

Abstract:

The global climate crisis has affected different aspects of human life, and in an effort to reverse the effects generated, we seek to optimize and improve the equipment and plants that produce high emissions of CO₂, being possible to achieve this through numerical simulations. These equipments include biomass combustion chambers. The objective of this research is to visualize the thermal behavior of a gas chamber that is used in the process of obtaining vegetable extracts. The simulation is carried out with OpenFOAM taking into account the conservation of energy, turbulence, and radiation; for the purposes of the simulation, combustion is omitted and replaced by heat generation. Within the results, the streamlines generated by the primary and secondary flows are analyzed in order to visualize whether they generate the expected effect, and the energy is used to the maximum. The inclusion of radiation seeks to compare its influence and also simplify the computational times to perform mesh analysis. An analysis is carried out with simplified geometries and with experimental data to corroborate the selection of the models to be used, and it is obtained that for turbulence, the appropriate one is the standard k - w. As a means of verification, a general energy balance is made and compared with the results of the numerical analysis, where the error is 1.67%, which is considered acceptable. From the approach to improvement options, it was found that with the implementation of fins, heat can be increased by up to 7.3%.

Keywords: CFD analysis, biomass, heat transfer, radiation, OpenFOAM

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Authors: Siddharth Soni, Gourav Kumar Pandey, Sneha Kumari, Dev Mani Pandey, Koel Mukherjee

Abstract:

The silkworm Bombyx mori is a commercially important insect, but a major roadblock in silk production are silkworm diseases. Flacherie is one of the diseases of the silkworm, that affects the midgut of the 4th and 5th instar larvae and eventually makes them lethargic, stop feeding and finally result in their death. The concerned disease is a result of bacterial and viral infection and in some instances a combination of both. The present study aims to identify and study the expression level of genes in the flacherie condition. For the said work, total RNA was isolated from the infected larvae at their most probable infectious instar and cDNA was synthesized using Reverse Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). This cDNA was then used to amplify disease relalted genes whose expression levels were checked using quantitaive PCR (qPCR) using the double delta Ct method. Cry toxin receptors like APN and BtR-175, ROS mediator Dual Oxidase are few proteins whose genes were overexpressed. Interestingly, pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) C-type lectins' genes were found to be downregulated. The results explain about the strong expression of genes that can distinguish the concerned protein in the midgut of diseased silkworm and thereby aiding knowledge in the field of inhibitor designing research.

Keywords: Bombyx mori, flacherie disease, inhibitor designing, up and down regulation

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Authors: R. K. Agrawal, Shiv Agrawal

Abstract:

Fines and micro create fundamental problems of respiration. From mines to mills steel plants generate lot of pollutants. Legislation & Government laws are stricter day by day & each plant has to think of recycling, reuse &reintegration of pollutants generated during the process of steel making. This paper deals with experiments conducted in Bhilai Steel Plant and Real Ispat and Power Limited for reuse, recycle & reintegrate some of the steel making process fines. Iron ore fines with binders have been agglomerated to be used as a part of the charge for small furnaces. This will improve yield at nominal cost. Rolling mill fines have been recycled to increase the yield of sinter making. This will solve the problems of fine disposal. Huge saving on account of recycling will be achieved. Lime fines after briquetting is used along with prime lime. Lime fines have also been used as a binding material during production of fly ash bricks. These fines serve as low-cost binder. Experiments have been conducted along with coke breeze & gas cleaning plant sludge. As a result, the anti-sloping compound has been developed for converter vessels. Dolo char and Char during Sponge Iron production have been successfully used in power generation and brick making. Pellets have been made with ventilation dust & flue dust. These samples have been tried as a coolant in the converter. Pellets have been made with Sinter Plant electrostatic precipitator micro fines with liquid binder. Trials have been conducted to reuse these pellets in sinter making. Coke breeze from coke-ovens fines and mill scale along with binders were agglomerated. This was used in furnace after attaining required screening and reactivity index. These actions will definitely bring social, economic and environment-friendly universe.

Keywords: briquette, dolo char, electrostatic precipitator, pellet, sinter

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Authors: Mingxi Zhou, Jiří Kubásek, Iva Mozgová

Abstract:

In Arabidopsis thaliana, histone 3 lysine 27 tri-methylation catalysed byPRC2 is playing essential functions in the regulation of plant development, growth, and reproduction[1-2]. Despite numerous studies related to the role of PRC2 in developmental control, how PRC2 works in the operational control in plants is unknown. In the present, the evidence that PRC2 probably participates in the regulation of retrograde singalling pathway in Arabidopsisis found. Firstly, we observed that the rosette size and biomass in PRC2-depletion mutants (clf-29 and swn-3) is significantly higher than WTunder medium light condition (ML: 125 µmol m⁻² s⁻²), while under medium high light condition (MHL: 300 µmol m⁻² s-2), the increase was reverse. Under ML condition, the photosynthesis related parameters determined by fluorCam did not show significant differences between WT and mutants, while the pigments concentration increased in the leaf of PRC2-depletion mutants, especially in swn. The dynamic of light-responsive genes and circadian clock genes expression by RT-qPCRwithin 24 hours in the mutants were comparable to WT. However, we observed upregulation of photosynthesis-associated nuclear genes in the PRC2-depletion mutants under chloroplast damaging condition (treated by lincomycin), corresponding to the so-called genome uncoupled (gun) phenotype. Here, we will present our results describing these phenotypes and our suggestion and outlook for studying the involvement of PRC2 in chloroplast-to-nucleus retrograde signalling.

Keywords: PRC2, retrograde signalling, light acclimation, photosyntheis

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Simone Jane Dennis

Abstract:

This paper leverages the spatial and temporal investigative strategy utilized by crime scene investigators – blood spatter work– to engage with the real and metaphorical memorialization of blood-soaked places. It uses this key trope with phenomenological sensibility, to trace the physical and temporal movement of blood outbound from the human body to sites beyond. Working backward, as crime scene investigators do, this paper traces the importance of both space and time and their confluence, to developing a comprehensive theory of violence. To do this work, the paper engages a range of geo-violent scales, from murder scenes to genocides, to both engage an extraordinarily replete literature of bloodshed across history and to move beyond analyses of how significance is assigned to the sites in which blood comes to rest to instead consider the importance of space and time to the structure of violence itself. It is in this regard that the kind of investigative work upon which blood spatter analysis depends is crucial: it engages time and space in reverse to understand the microscopic relations between bodies, places, and numerous (biological, clock, and seasonal) temporalities. Considering the circumstances under which blood escaped a body, the details of its destination in place, and the temporal circumstances of corporal departure, is crucial to making new knowledge about the peculiar temporality and spatiality of violence itself.

Keywords: blood, crime scenes, temporality, violence

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Authors: S. Benkraouda, Z. Djelloul-Khedda, B. Yagoubi

Abstract:

we present a method for early detection of forest fires from a thermal infrared satellite image, using the image matrix of the probability of belonging. The principle of the method is to compare a theoretical mathematical model to an experimental model. We considered that each line of the image matrix, as an embodiment of a non-stationary random process. Since the distribution of pixels in the satellite image is statistically dependent, we divided these lines into small stationary and ergodic intervals to characterize the image by an adequate mathematical model. A standard deviation was chosen to generate random variables, so each interval behaves naturally like white Gaussian noise. The latter has been selected as the mathematical model that represents a set of very majority pixels, which we can be considered as the image background. Before modeling the image, we made a few pretreatments, then the parameters of the theoretical Gaussian model were extracted from the modeled image, these settings will be used to calculate the probability of each interval of the modeled image to belong to the theoretical Gaussian model. The high intensities pixels are regarded as foreign elements to it, so they will have a low probability, and the pixels that belong to the background image will have a high probability. Finally, we did present the reverse of the matrix of probabilities of these intervals for a better fire detection.

Keywords: forest fire, forest fire detection, satellite image, normal distribution, theoretical gaussian model, thermal infrared matrix image

Procedia PDF Downloads 142