Search results for: benifit cost ratio

Authors: Arslan Murtaza

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RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and WSN (Wireless sensor network) are two significant wireless technologies that have extensive diversity of applications and provide limitless forthcoming potentials. RFID is used to identify existence and location of objects whereas WSN is used to intellect and monitor the environment. Incorporating RFID with WSN not only provides identity and location of an object but also provides information regarding the condition of the object carrying the sensors enabled RFID tag. It can be widely used in stock management, asset tracking, asset counting, security, military, environmental monitoring and forecasting, healthcare, intelligent home, intelligent transport vehicles, warehouse management, and precision agriculture. This assessment presents a brief introduction of RFID, WSN, and integration of WSN and RFID, and then applications related to both RFID and WSN. This assessment also deliberates status of the projects on RFID technology carried out in different computing group projects to be taken on WSN and RFID technology.

Keywords: wireless sensor network, RFID, embedded sensor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, integration, time saving, cost efficient

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Authors: S. M. Islam, Wasi Uddin, Nazmun Nahar

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Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, faces two contrasting problems; excess of water during monsoon season and scarcity of water during dry season. The first problem occurs due to rapid urbanization and mismanagement of rainwater whereas the second problem is related to climate change and increasing urban population. Inadequate drainage system also worsens the overall water management scenario in Dhaka city. Dhaka has a population density of 115,000 people per square miles. This results in a 2.5 billion liter water demand every day, 87% of which is fulfilled by groundwater. Over dependency on groundwater has resulted in more than 200 feet drop in the last 50 years and continues to decline at a rate of 9 feet per year. Considering the gravity of the problem, it is high time that practitioners, academicians and policymakers consider different water management practices and look into their cumulative impacts at different scales. The present study assesses different rainwater management options for North South University of Bangladesh and recommends the most feasible and sustainable rainwater management measure. North South University currently accommodates over 20,000 students, faculty members, and administrative staffs. To fulfill the water demand, there are two deep tube wells, which bring up approximately 150,000 liter of water every hour. The annual water demand is approximately 103 million liters. Dhaka receives approximately 1800 mm of rainfall every year. For the current study, two academic buildings and one administrative building consist of 4924 square meters of rooftop area was selected as catchment area. Both rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge options were analyzed separately. It was estimated that by rainwater harvesting, annually a total of 7.2 million liters of water can be reused which is approximately 7% of the total annual water usage. In the monsoon, rainwater harvesting fulfills 12.2% of the monthly water demand. The approximate cost of the rainwater harvesting system is estimated to be 940975 bdt (USD 11500). For direct groundwater recharge, a system comprises of one de-siltation tank, two recharge tanks and one siltation tank were designed that requires approximately 532788 bdt (USD 6500). The payback period is approximately 7 years and 4 months for the groundwater recharge system whereas the payback period for rainwater harvesting option is approximately 12 years and 4 months. Based on the cost-benefit analysis, the present study finds the groundwater recharge system to be most suitable for North South University. The present study also demonstrates that if only one institution like North South University can add up a substantial amount of water to the aquifer, bringing other institutions in the network has the potential to create significant cumulative impact on replenishing the declining groundwater level of Dhaka city. As an additional benefit, it also prevents large amount of water being discharged into the storm sewers which results in severe flooding in Dhaka city during monsoon.

Keywords: Dhaka, groundwater, harvesting, rainwater, recharge

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Authors: Biji Jacob

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Vector quantization algorithm which uses minimum distance calculation for codebook generation, a time consuming calculation performed on each pixel values leads to computation complexity. The codebook is updated by comparing the distance of each vector to their centroid vector and measure for their closeness. In this paper vector quantization is modified based on vector difference algorithm for image enhancement purpose. In the proposed scheme, vector differences between the vectors are considered as the new generation vectors or new codebook vectors. The codebook is updated by comparing the new generation vector with a threshold value having minimum error with the parent vector. The minimum error decides the fitness of each newly generated vector. Thus the codebook is generated in an adaptive manner and the fitness value is determined for the suppression of the degraded portion of the image and thereby leads to the enhancement of the image through the adaptive searching capability of the vector quantization through vector difference algorithm. Experimental results shows that the vector difference scheme efficiently modifies the vector quantization algorithm for enhancing the image with peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), mean square error (MSE), Euclidean distance (E_dist) as the performance parameters.

Keywords: codebook, image enhancement, vector difference, vector quantization

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Authors: Noradin Ghadimi, Nima Amjady, Oveis Abedinia, Roza Poursoleiman

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This paper proposed an Improved Honey Bee Mating Optimization (IHBMO) for a planning paradigm for network upgrade. The proposed technique is a new meta-heuristic algorithm which inspired by mating of the honey bee. The paradigm is able to select amongst several choices equi-cost one assuring the optimum in terms of voltage profile, considering various scenarios of DG penetration and load demand. The distributed generation (DG) has created a challenge and an opportunity for developing various novel technologies in power generation. DG prepares a multitude of services to utilities and consumers, containing standby generation, peaks chopping sufficiency, base load generation. The proposed algorithm is applied over the 30 lines, 28 buses power system. The achieved results demonstrate the good efficiency of the DG using the proposed technique in different scenarios.

Keywords: distributed generation, IHBMO, renewable energy units, network upgrade

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Authors: Pola Goldberg Oppenheimer, Stephan Hofmann, Sumeet Mahajan

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Owing to its fingerprint molecular specificity and high sensitivity, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an established analytical tool for chemical and biological sensing capable of single-molecule detection. A strong Raman signal can be generated from SERS-active platforms given the analyte is within the enhanced plasmon field generated near a noble-metal nanostructured substrate. The key requirement for generating strong plasmon resonances to provide this electromagnetic enhancement is an appropriate metal surface roughness. Controlling nanoscale features for generating these regions of high electromagnetic enhancement, the so-called SERS ‘hot-spots’, is still a challenge. Significant advances have been made in SERS research, with wide-ranging techniques to generate substrates with tunable size and shape of the nanoscale roughness features. Nevertheless, the development and application of SERS has been inhibited by the irreproducibility and complexity of fabrication routes. The ability to generate straightforward, cost-effective, multiplex-able and addressable SERS substrates with high enhancements is of profound interest for miniaturised sensing devices. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been concurrently, a topic of extensive research however, their applications for plasmonics has been only recently beginning to gain interest. CNTs can provide low-cost, large-active-area patternable substrates which, coupled with appropriate functionalization capable to provide advanced SERS-platforms. Herein, advanced methods to generate CNT-based SERS active detection platforms will be discussed. First, a novel electrohydrodynamic (EHD) lithographic technique will be introduced for patterning CNT-polymer composites, providing a straightforward, single-step approach for generating high-fidelity sub-micron-sized nanocomposite structures within which anisotropic CNTs are vertically aligned. The created structures are readily fine-tuned, which is an important requirement for optimizing SERS to obtain the highest enhancements with each of the EHD-CNTs individual structural units functioning as an isolated sensor. Further, gold-functionalized VACNTFs are fabricated as SERS micro-platforms. The dependence on the VACNTs’ diameters and density play an important role in the Raman signal strength, thus highlighting the importance of structural parameters, previously overlooked in designing and fabricating optimized CNTs-based SERS nanoprobes. VACNTs forests patterned into predesigned pillar structures are further utilized for multiplex detection of bio-analytes. Since CNTs exhibit electrical conductivity and unique adsorption properties, these are further harnessed in the development of novel chemical and bio-sensing platforms.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes (CNTs), EHD patterning, SERS, vertically aligned carbon nanotube forests (VACNTF)

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Authors: Saeid Sahmani

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Due to size-dependent behavior of nanostrustures, the classical continuum models are not applicable for the analyses at this submicrion size. Surface stress effect is one of the most important matters which make the nanoscale structures to have different properties compared to the conventional structures due to high surface to volume ratio. In the present study, free vibration characteristics of nanoplates are investigated including surface stress effects. To this end, non-classical plate model based on Gurtin-Murdoch elasticity theory is proposed to evaluate the surface stress effects on the vibrational behavior of nanoplates subjected to different boundary conditions. Generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method is employed to discretize the governing non-classical differential equations along with various edge supports. Selected numerical results are given to demonstrate the distinction between the behavior of nanoplates predicted by the classical and present non-classical plate models that leads to illustrate the great influence of surface stress effect. It is observed that this influence quite depends on the magnitude of the surface elastic constants which are relevant to the selected material.

Keywords: nanomechanics, surface stress, free vibration, GDQ method, small scale effect

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Authors: A. E. Agbogu

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While scholars have predicted that identity politics (or what is euphemistically referred to as ethnic politics in Nigeria) were a dying phenomenon in other parts of the world, in Nigeria, it has remained the basis of political activity and has indeed become not only the unwritten law of all calculations in the political firmament of the country but also the ultimo ratio. We intend in the paper that follows to explore the reason for this unhealthy development. The paper seeks to offer explanations for the paradoxical reality of the upsurge of ethnic politics in Nigeria when in fact, the phenomenon is apparently on a downward spiral elsewhere in the world, particularly in countries that are at par with Nigeria in terms of national development. The paper is descriptive and qualitative and has relied on available data for its source of materials. Among other things, the paper locates identity politics as a tool in the hands of a national elite that has not transcended the limitations imposes by the shackles of the parsonian particularistic polar attributes which have tended to fixate their weltanschauung or world view on attachments that are unpardonably primordial. In the event, ethnicity becomes a veritable instrument not only for cheap sectional mobilization but also a means for seeking access to the so-called national cake. It is recommended that a way out of this socio-politico malady is the creation of a political arrangement that conduces to the gravitational tendency which will lead to the transfer of loyalties away from the extant ethno-nationalities to the centre.

Keywords: ethnicism, development, crisis, identity politics

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Authors: Mohar Kassim, Hardy Azmir, Rahmat Sholihin Mokhtar

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The purpose of this study is to build portable application software to determine the level of cardiovascular fitness for cadet students of the National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM). Fitness in the context of this study refers to physical fitness, specifically the cardiovascular endurance level test battery in the form of a 2.4 km run test for UPNM cadet students. This run test will be conducted to measure, test, and evaluate the performance of UPNM cadet students. All the run test results can be recorded electronically inside the portable software and will later be able to show the level of cardiovascular fitness of every cadet student according to age and gender. This software can also calculate the body mass index (BMI). Normative survey method will be used in this study through the analysis of the 2.4 km run test results. The run test scores will be classified in interval and ratio scales. Based on the findings of this study, portable application software will produced. The software will be able to directly assist the Military Training Academy (ALK), Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), and other relevant agencies in determining the level of cardiovascular fitness among their staff. The test can be done electronically and on portable mode. The next step to be taken is to have this application patented.

Keywords: development, software, application, portable, fitness norms, cardiovascular endurance

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Authors: Abdulfetah Shobole, Arif Karakas, Ugur Savas Selamogullari, Mustafa Baysal

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The concern of reducing emissions of Co2 from the fossil fuel generating units and using renewable energy sources increased in our world. Due this fact the integration ratio of wind farms to grid reached 20-30% in some part of our world. With increased integration of large MW scaled wind farms to the electric grid, the stability of the electrical system is a great concern. Thus, operators of power systems usually deman the wind turbine generators to obey the same rules as other traditional kinds of generation, such as thermal and hydro, i.e. not affect the grid stability. FACTS devices such as SVC or STATCOM are mostly installed close to the connection point of the wind farm to the grid in order to increase the stability especially during faulty conditions. In this paper wind farm with DFIG turbine type and STATCOM are dynamically modeled and simulated under three phase short circuit fault condition. The dynamic modeling is done by DigSILENT PowerFactory for the wind farm, STATCOM and the network. The simulation results show improvement of system stability near to the connection point of the STATCOM.

Keywords: DFIG wind turbine, statcom, dynamic modeling, digsilent

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Authors: Byeal-I Han, Michael Lee

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Ageing is associated with an increased risk of diseases such as cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders. Increased autophagy delays ageing and extends longevity. In this study, we investigated the role of autophagy in longevity using human foreskin fibroblast HS68 cells, in which a senescence-like growth arrest can be induced. In particular, cellular senescence is manifested by the irreversible cell cycle arrest, and may contribute to the ageing of organisms. The senescence state was measured with staining for senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity that represents a sensitive and reliable marker to quantify senescent cells. We detected a significantly increased percentage (%) of SA-β-gal positive cells in HS68 cultures at passage 40 (63%) when compared with younger ones at passage 15 (0.5%). As expected, HS68 cells at passage 40 exhibited much lower proliferation rate than cells at passage 15. The basal levels of LC3 were measured by immunoblotting showing a comparison of LC3-I and LC3-II levels at 3 age-points in serially passaged HS68 cells. LC3-II/LC3-I ratio at different passage levels relative to β-actin levels of each band confirmed that cells at passage 34 showed lower conversion of non-autophagic LC3-I to autophagic LC3-II than the cells at passage 16. Furthermore, Cyto-ID autophagy assay also revealed that late passage cells showed lower autophagy than the early passage cells. Together, our findings suggest that senescence induction might be associated with decreased autophagy.

Keywords: ageing, autophagy, senescence, HS68

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Authors: Norhayati Mohd Rasip, Abd. Samad Hasan Basari , Nuzulha Khilwani Ibrahim, Burairah Hussin

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The allocation of working schedule especially for shift environment is hard to fulfill its fairness among them. In the case of nurse scheduling, to set up the working time table for them is time consuming and complicated, which consider many factors including rules, regulation and human factor. The scenario is more complicated since most nurses are women which have personnel constraints and maternity leave factors. The undesirable schedule can affect the nurse productivity, social life and the absenteeism can significantly as well affect patient's life. This paper aimed to enhance the scheduling process by utilizing the particle swarm optimization in order to solve nurse scheduling problem. The result shows that the generated multiple initial schedule is fulfilled the requirements and produces the lowest cost of constraint violation.

Keywords: nurse scheduling, particle swarm optimisation, nurse rostering, hard and soft constraint

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Authors: Rakesh Namdeti

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The liquid waste-wastewater- is essentially the water supply of the community after it has been used in a variety of applications. In recent years, heavy metal concentrations, besides other pollutants, have increased to reach dangerous levels for the living environment in many regions. Among the heavy metals, Lead has the most damaging effects on human health. It can enter the human body through the uptake of food (65%), water (20%), and air (15%). In this background, certain low-cost and easily available biosorbent was used and reported in this study. The scope of the present study is to remove Lead from its aqueous solution using Olea EuropaeaResin as biosorbent. The results showed that the biosorption capacity of Olea EuropaeaResin biosorbent was more for Lead removal. The Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models were used to describe the biosorption equilibrium of Lead Olea EuropaeaResin biosorbent, and the biosorption followed the Langmuir isotherm. The kinetic models showed that the pseudo-second-order rate expression was found to represent well the biosorption data for the biosorbent.

Keywords: novel biosorbent, central composite design, Lead, isotherms, kinetics

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Authors: Bhargavi G., Arathi R. Shankar

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Transmitter and receiver closer to every other, which creates the twin benefits of better-nice links and more spatial reuse. In a network with nomadic customers, this inevitably includes deploying greater infrastructure, normally in the form of microcells, hot spots, disbursed antennas, or relays. A less pricey alternative is the recent concept of femtocells, additionally known as domestic base stations that are facts get admission to points installed by means of domestic users to get higher indoor voice and records insurance. Femtocells have the potential to offer excessive exceptional community get entry to indoor customers at low cost, even as concurrently reducing the load. gift femtocells that perform in 4G can also be extended for 5G sub-6 GHz band. Designing the femtocell in mmWave band of 5G may have many blessings in terms of bandwidth availability and coverage. Multiband microstrip patch antennas can be considered as a low value and prominent antennas in designing the femtocells because the single antenna helps multiple frequency.

Keywords: 5G, mmWave, antennas, wireless communications, femtocell

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Authors: Harvinder Kaur

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Rayleigh–Ritz method is a broadly used classical method for the calculation of the natural vibration frequency of a structure in the second or higher order. Here it is used to construct a mathematical model of relative study of the thermal effect on free transverse vibrations of clamped (c-c-c-c type) visco-elastic rectangular plate with linearly and exponentially thickness variations respectively in two directions. Researchers in the field of Engineering always make an effort for better designs of mechanical structures. In-depth study of the vibration behavior of tapered plates with diverse thickness variation under high temperature would ultimately help to finalize the accurate design of a structure. The perfect tapered structure saves weight and as well as expenses. In the present paper, the comparison has been done for deflection and time period corresponding to the first two modes of vibrations of clamped plate for various values of aspect ratio, thermal constants, and taper constants of both the cases.

Keywords: Rayleigh-Ritz Method, tapered plates, transverse vibration, thermal constant, visco-elasticity

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Authors: Le Linh, Truong Nguyen Luan Vu, Le Hieu Giang

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In this work, the IMC-PID controller cascaded filter based on Internal Model Control (IMC) scheme is systematically proposed for the simplified decoupling control system. The simplified decoupling is firstly introduced for multivariable processes by using coefficient matching to obtain a stable, proper, and causal simplified decoupler. Accordingly, transfer functions of decoupled apparent processes can be expressed as a set of n equivalent independent processes and then derived as a ratio of the original open-loop transfer function to the diagonal element of the dynamic relative gain array. The IMC-PID controller in series with filter is then directly employed to enhance the overall performance of the decoupling control system while avoiding difficulties arising from properties inherent to simplified decoupling. Some simulation studies are considered to demonstrate the simplicity and effectiveness of the proposed method. Simulations were conducted by tuning various controllers of the multivariate processes with multiple time delays. The results indicate that the proposed method consistently performs well with fast and well-balanced closed-loop time responses.

Keywords: coefficient matching method, internal model control (IMC) scheme, PID controller cascaded filter, simplified decoupler

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Authors: Zahra Solgi, Hossein Rassi

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a multi-step disease, and chronic gastric infection with H. pylori could play a role in one or more of the steps in this pathogenic process. Polymorphisms in several miRNAs are considered to increase the risk for the development of CRC by controlling proliferation, apoptosis and H. pylori pathogenesis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate miRNA146a rs2910164 polymorphism and Helicobacter pylori infection in CRC. A total of 65 patients with CRC were divided into 2 groups: 28 patients < 50 years of age and 37 patients ≥ 50 years of age. DNA was extracted from all samples by a standard method and H. pylori cagA and miRNA146a rs2910164 genotypes were determined by PCR method. The results show that there was no significant difference in the frequency of H. pylori cagA gene between the two groups but there was a significant difference in the distribution of rs2910164 genotypes in patients < 50 years of age with the p-value of 0.05 and odds ratio equal to 2.69. On other hand, patients < 50 years of age with genotype CC of miRNA146a showed a significant difference in CRC risk. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between rs2910164 CC genotype with Helicobacter pylori infection in patients < 50 years of age. The present study suggests that the CC genotype of miRNA146a in combination with H. pylori infection can be effective as risk factors and molecular markers for early diagnosis and treatment of CRC.

Keywords: colorectal cancer, Helicobacter pylori, miRNA146a, rs2910164 polymorphism

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Authors: Luis E. Zapata, Sergio Ruiz, María F. Mantilla, Jhon A. Villamizar

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Sand as fine aggregate for concrete production needs a feasible substitute due to several environmental issues. In this work, a study of the behavior of self-compacting concrete mixtures under replacement of sand by iron slag from 0.0% to 50.0% of weight and variations of water/cementitious material ratio between 0.3 and 0.5 is presented. Control fresh state tests of Slump flow, T500, J-ring and L-box were determined. In the hardened state, compressive strength was determined and optimization from response surface analysis was performed. The study of the variables in the hardened state was developed based on inferential statistical analyses using central composite design methodology and posterior analyses of variance (ANOVA). An increase in the compressive strength up to 50% higher than control mixtures at 7, 14, and 28 days of maturity was the most relevant result regarding the presence of iron slag as replacement of natural sand. Considering the obtained result, it is possible to infer that iron slag is an acceptable alternative replacement material of the natural fine aggregate to be used in structural concrete.

Keywords: ANOVA, iron slag, response surface analysis, self-compacting concrete

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Authors: Gia Lam Le, Dennis T. Bergado, Thi Ngoc Truc Nguyen

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This study focuses on behaviors of improved soft clay using prefabricated vertical drain (PVD) combined with vacuum and electro-osmotic preloading. Large-scale consolidations of reconstituted soft Bangkok clay were conducted for PVD improvement with vacuum (vacuum-PVD), and vacuum combined with heat (vacuum-thermo-PVD). The research revealed that vacuum-thermo-PVD gives high efficiency of the consolidation rate compared to the vacuum-PVD. In addition, the magnitude of settlement of the specimen improved by the vacuum-thermo-PVD is higher than the vacuum-PVD because the assistance of heat causes the collapse of the clay structure. Particularly, to reach 90% degree of consolidation, the thermal-vacuum-PVD reduced about 58% consolidation time compared to the vacuum-PVD. The increase in consolidation rate is resulted from the increase in horizontal coefficient of consolidation, Ch, the reduction of the smear effect expressed by the ratio of the horizontal hydraulic conductivity in the undisturbed zone, kh, and the horizontal hydraulic conductivity in the smeared zone, ks. Furthermore, the shear strength, Su, increased about 100% when compared using the vacuum-thermal-PVD to the vacuum PVD. In addition, numerical simulations gave reasonable results compared to the laboratory data.

Keywords: PVD improvement, vacuum preloading, prefabricated vertical drain, thermal PVD

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Authors: S. Sarumathi, C. Deepadharani, Garimella Archana, S. Dakshayani, D. Logeshwaran, D. Jayakumar, Vijayarangan Natarajan

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The need of the hour for the customers who use a dial-up or a low broadband connection for their internet services is to access HD video data. This can be achieved by developing a new video format using H. 265. This is the latest video codec standard developed by ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) on April 2013. This new standard for video compression has the potential to deliver higher performance than the earlier standards such as H. 264/AVC. In comparison with H. 264, HEVC offers a clearer, higher quality image at half the original bitrate. At this lower bitrate, it is possible to transmit high definition videos using low bandwidth. It doubles the data compression ratio supporting 8K Ultra HD and resolutions up to 8192×4320. In the proposed model, we design a new video format which supports this H. 265 standard. The major areas of applications in the coming future would lead to enhancements in the performance level of digital television like Tata Sky and Sun Direct, BluRay Discs, Mobile Video, Video Conferencing and Internet and Live Video streaming.

Keywords: access HD video, H. 265 video standard, high performance, high quality image, low bandwidth, new video format, video streaming applications

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Authors: Hyunjung Lim, Jeonghun Nam, Hyuk Choi

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High-throughput separation is an essential technique for cancer research and diagnosis. Here, we propose a viscoelastic microfluidic device for sheathless, high-throughput isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from white blood cells. Here, we demonstrate a viscoelastic method for separation and concentration of CTCs using closed-loop microfluidics. Our device is a rectangular straight channel with a low aspect ratio. Also, to achieve high-efficiency, high-throughput processing, we used a polymer solution with low viscosity. At the inlet, CTCs and white blood cells (WBCs) were randomly injected into the microchannel. Due to the viscoelasticity-induced lateral migration to the equilibrium positions, large CTCs could be collected from the side outlet while small WBCs were removed at the center outlet. By recirculating the collected CTCs from the side outlet back to the sample reservoir, continuous separation and concentration of CTCs could be achieved with high separation efficiency (~ 99%). We believe that our device has the potential to be applied in resource-limited clinical settings.

Keywords: circulating tumor cell, closed-loop microfluidics, concentration, separation, viscoelastic fluid

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Authors: Elmo Thiao Lins Cöuras Ford, Valentina Alessandra Carvalho do Vale, R. M. Nascimento, J. U. L. Mendes

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Now the great majority of the applications of thermal isolation in the strip of drops and averages temperatures (up to 200ºC), it is made being used from aggressive materials to the nature such an as: glass wool, rock wool, polystyrene, EPS among others. Such materials, in spite of the effectiveness in the retention of the flow of heat, possess considerable cost and when discarded they are long years to be to decompose. In that context, trying to adapt the world politics the about of the preservation of the environment, a study began with intention of developing a material composite, with properties of thermal, originating from insulating industrial residues. In this research, the behavior of the composite was analyzed, as submitted the fire. For this, the reaction rehearsals were accomplished to the fire for the composites 2:1; 1:1; 1:2 and for the latex, based in the "con" experiment in agreement with the norm ASTM–E 1334-90. As consequence, in function of the answers of the system, was possible to observe to the acting of each mixture proportion.

Keywords: composite, Latex, reacion to the fire, thermal isolation

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Authors: Huyuan Zhang, Yi Chen

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Compacted sewage sludge has been proved to be feasible as a barrier material for tailing impoundment because of its low permeability and retardation of heavy metals. The long-term penetration of acid mine drainage, however, would acidify the barrier system and result in remobilization of previously immobilized heavy metal pollutants. In this study, the effect of decreasing pH on the mobility of three typical heavy metals (Zn, Pb, and Cu) is investigated by acid titration test on sewage sludge under various conditions. The remobilization of heavy metals is discussed based on the acid buffering capacity of sewage sludge-leachate system. Test results indicate that heavy metals are dramatically released out when pH is decreased below 6.2, and their amounts take the order of Zn > Cu > Pb. The acid buffering capacity of sewage sludge decreases with the solid-liquid ratio but increases with the anaerobic incubation time, and it is mainly governed by dissolution of contained carbonate and organics. These results reveal that the sewage sludge possesses enough acid buffering capacity to consume protons within the acid mine drainage. Thus, this study suggests that an explosive remobilization of heavy metals is not expected in a long-term perspective.

Keywords: acid buffering capacity, barrier, heavy metals, remobilization, sewage sludge

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Authors: K. Benyounes, A. Benmounah

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Cement-based grouts has been used successfully to repair cracks in many concrete structures such as bridges, tunnels, buildings and to consolidate soils or rock foundations. In the present study, the rheological characterization of cement grout with water/binder ratio (W/B) is fixed at 0.5. The effect of the replacement of cement by bentonite (2 to 10 % wt) in presence of superplasticizer (0.5 % wt) was investigated. Several rheological tests were carried out by using controlled-stress rheometer equipped with vane geometry in temperature of 20°C. To highlight the influence of bentonite and superplasticizer on the rheological behavior of grout cement, various flow tests in a range of shear rate from 0 to 200 s-1 were observed. Cement grout showed a non-Newtonian viscosity behavior at all concentrations of bentonite. Three parameter model Herschel-Bulkley was chosen for fitting of experimental data. Based on the values of correlation coefficients of the estimated parameters, The Herschel-Bulkley law model well described the rheological behavior of the grouts. Test results showed that the dosage of bentonite increases the viscosity and yield stress of the system and introduces more thixotropy. While the addition of both bentonite and superplasticizer with cement grout improve significantly the fluidity and reduced the yield stress due to the action of dispersion of SP.

Keywords: rheology, cement grout, bentonite, superplasticizer, viscosity, yield stress

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Authors: Li Yongyi

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In order to explore the distribution of geological disasters within the expressway area of Shaanxi Province, the Analytic Hierarchy Process theory is applied based on the geographic information system technology platform, and the ground elevation, rainfall, vegetation coverage and other indicators are selected for analysis, and the expressway area is sensitive Sexual evaluation. The results show that the highway area disasters in Shaanxi Province are mainly distributed in the southern mountainous areas and are dominated by landslides; the disaster area ratio basically increases with the increase in ground elevation, surface slope, surface undulation, rainfall, and vegetation coverage. The increase in the distance from the river shows a decreasing trend; after grading the disaster sensitivity within 5km of the expressway, the extremely sensitive area, the highly sensitive area, the medium sensitive area, the low sensitive area, and the extremely low sensitive area respectively account for 8.17%、15.80%、22.99%、26.22%、26.82%. Highly sensitive road areas are mainly distributed in southern Shaanxi.

Keywords: highway engineering, sensitivity, analytic hierarchy process, geological hazard, road area

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Authors: H. K. Shivanand, Ranjith R. Hombal, Paraveej Shirahatti, Gujjalla Anil Babu, S. ShivaPrakash

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When it comes to the selection of materials the knowledge of materials science plays a vital role in selection and enhancements of materials properties. In the world of material science a composite material has the significant role based on its application. The composite materials are those in which two or more components having different physical and chemical properties are combined to create a new enhanced property substance. In this study three different materials (Kenaf, Kevlar and Graphene) been chosen based on their properties and a composite material is developed with help of vacuum bagging process. The fibers (Kenaf and Kevlar) and Resin(vinyl ester) ratio was maintained at 70:30 during the process and 0.5% 1% and 1.5% of Graphene was added during fabrication process. The material was machined to thedimension ofASTM standards(300×300mm and thickness 3mm)with help of water jet cutting machine. The composite materials were tested for Mechanical properties such as Interlaminar shear strength(ILSS) and Flexural strength. It is found that there is significant increase in material properties in the developed composite material.

Keywords: Kevlar, Kenaf, graphene, vacuum bagging process, Interlaminar shear strength test, flexural test

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Authors: Sasiwimol Auepong, Raywat Tanadkithirun

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In this work, the problem that squirrels ruin durian, which is an economical fruit in Thailand, is considered. We seek the strategy for the durian farmers to eliminate the squirrels under the consideration that squirrels also provide ecosystem service. The population dynamics of squirrels are constructed to have carrying capacity since we consider the population in a confined area. A performance index indicating the total benefit of a given elimination strategy is provided. It comprises the cost of countermeasures, the loss of resources, and the ecosystem service provided by squirrels. The optimal performance index is numerically solved through the variational inequality using the finite difference method. The optimal strategy to control the squirrel population is also given numerically.

Keywords: controlled stochastic differential equation, durian, finite difference method, performance index, singular stochastic control model, squirrel

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Authors: Mohamad Shurair, Fares Almomani, Simon Judd, Rahul Bhosale, Anand Kumar, Ujjal Gosh

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This study evaluated the use of mixed indigenous microalgae (MIMA) as a treatment process for wastewaters and CO2 capturing technology at different temperatures. The study follows the growth rate of MIMA, removals of organic matter, removal of nutrients from synthetic wastewater and its effectiveness as CO2 capturing technology from flue gas. A noticeable difference between the growth patterns of MIMA was observed at different CO2 and different operational temperatures. MIMA showed the highest growth grate when injected with CO2 dosage of 10% and limited growth was observed for the systems injected with 5% and 15 % of CO2 at 30 ◦C. Ammonia and phosphorus removals for Spirulina were 69%, 75%, and 83%, and 20%, 45%, and 75% for the media injected with 0, 5 and 10% CO2. The results of this study show that simple and cost-effective microalgae-based wastewater treatment systems can be successfully employed at different temperatures as a successful CO2 capturing technology even with the small probability of inhibition at high temperatures

Keywords: greenhouse, climate change, CO2 capturing, green algae

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Z. Ž. Lazarević, Č. Jovalekić, V. N. Ivanovski, N. Ž. Romčević

Abstract:

Nickel-zinc ferrite, Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 was prepared by mechanochemical route in a planetary ball mill starting from mixture of the appropriate quantities of the Ni(OH)2, Zn(OH)2 and Fe(OH)3 hydroxide powders. In order to monitor the progress of chemical reaction and confirm phase formation, powder samples obtained after 5 h and 10 h of milling were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), IR, Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopy. It is shown that the soft mechanochemical method, i.e. mechanochemical activation of hydroxides, produces high quality single phase Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 samples in much more efficient way. From the IR spectroscopy of single phase samples it is obvious that energy of modes depends on the ratio of cations. It is obvious that all samples have more than 5 Raman active modes predicted by group theory in the normal spinel structure. Deconvolution of measured spectra allows one to conclude that all complex bands in the spectra are made of individual peaks with the intensities that vary from spectrum to spectrum. The deconvolution of Raman spectra alows to separate contributions of different cations to a particular type of vibration and to estimate the degree of inversion.

Keywords: ferrite, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy

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Authors: Abdulaziz Alageel, Martino Luis, Shuya Zhong

Abstract:

The main focus of this research study is on the challenges faced in decision-making in a supply chain network regarding the facility location while considering carbon emissions. The study aims (i) to locate facilities (i.e., distribution centeres) in a continuous space considering limitations of capacity and the costs associated with opening and (ii) to reduce the cost of carbon emissions by selecting the mode of transportation. The problem is formulated as mixed-integer linear programming. This study hybridised a greedy randomised adaptive search (GRASP) and variable neighborhood search (VNS) to deal with the problem. Well-known datasets from the literature (Brimberg et al. 2001) are used and adapted in order to assess the performance of the proposed method. The proposed hybrid method produces encouraging results based on computational analysis. The study also highlights some research avenues for future recommendations.

Keywords: supply chain, facility location, weber problem, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Khaled Elbehiery, Hussam Elbehiery

Abstract:

Smart cities are a framework of technologies along with sustainable infrastructure to provide their citizens an improved quality of life, safer environment, affordability, and more, which in turn helps with the society's economic growth. The proposed research will focus on the primary building block of the smart city; the infrastructure of the house itself. The traditional method of building houses has been, for a long time, nothing but a costly manufacturing process, and consequently, buying a house becomes not an option for everyone anymore. The smart cities' Modular Houses are not using traditional building construction materials; the design reduces the common lengthy construction times and associated high costs. The Modular Houses are technological homes, low-cost and customizable based on a family's requirements. In addition, the Modular Houses are environmentally friendly and healthy enough to assist with the pandemic situation.

Keywords: smart cities, modular houses, single-unit property, multi-unit property, mobility features, chain-supply, livable environment, carbon footprint

Procedia PDF Downloads 107