Search results for: electrical load assessment

Authors: Hamed Ahmadi Moghadam, Omolbanin Arasteh Khoshbin

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The possibility of using of rice husk ash (RHA) of Guilan (a province located in the north of Iran) (RHA) in concrete was studied by performing experiments. Mechanical properties and shrinkage and expansion of concrete containing different percentage of RHA and the control concrete consisting of cement type II were investigated. For studying, a number of cube and prism concrete specimens containing of 5 to 30% of RHA with constant water to binder ratio of 0.4 were casted and the compressive strength, tensile strength, shrinkage and expansion for water curing conditions up to 360 days were measured. The tests results show that the cement replacement of rice husk ash (RHA) caused both the quality and mechanical properties alterations. It is shown that the compressive strength, tensile strength increase also shrinkage and expansion of specimens were increased that should be controlled in mass concrete structures.

Keywords: rice husk ash, mechanical properties, shrinkage and expansion, Pozzolan

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Authors: T. Sattarpour, D. Nazarpour

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This paper investigates the effect of simultaneous placement of DGs and smart meters (SMs), on voltage profile improvement in active distribution networks (ADNs). A substantial center of attention has recently been on responsive loads initiated in power system problem studies such as distributed generations (DGs). Existence of responsive loads in active distribution networks (ADNs) would have undeniable effect on sizing and siting of DGs. For this reason, an optimal framework is proposed for sizing and siting of DGs and SMs in ADNs. SMs are taken into consideration for the sake of successful implementing of demand response programs (DRPs) such as direct load control (DLC) with end-side consumers. Looking for voltage profile improvement, the optimization procedure is solved by genetic algorithm (GA) and tested on IEEE 33-bus distribution test system. Different scenarios with variations in the number of DG units, individual or simultaneous placing of DGs and SMs, and adaptive power factor (APF) mode for DGs to support reactive power have been established. The obtained results confirm the significant effect of DRPs and APF mode in determining the optimal size and site of DGs to be connected in ADN resulting to the improvement of voltage profile as well.

Keywords: active distribution network (ADN), distributed generations (DGs), smart meters (SMs), demand response programs (DRPs), adaptive power factor (APF)

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Authors: Mosab Alrashed, Wei Xu, Stephen Abineri, Yifan Zhao, Jörn Mehnen

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Thermographic inspection is a relatively new technique for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) which has been gathering increasing interest due to its relatively low cost hardware and extremely fast data acquisition properties. This technique is especially promising in the area of rapid automated damage detection and quantification. In collaboration with a major industry partner from the aerospace sector advanced thermography-based NDT software for impact damaged composites is introduced. The software is based on correlation analysis of time-temperature profiles in combination with an image enhancement process. The prototype software is aiming to a) better visualise the damages in a relatively easy-to-use way and b) automatically and quantitatively measure the properties of the degradation. Knowing that degradation properties play an important role in the identification of degradation types, tests and results on specimens which were artificially damaged have been performed and analyzed.

Keywords: NDT, correlation analysis, image processing, damage, inspection

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Authors: Ahmed Hammad, Yehia Abdel-Nasser, Mohamed Shamma

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The main configuration of ship construction consists of standard and fabricated stiffening members which are commonly used in shipbuilding such as fabricated T-sections. During the welding process, the non-uniform heating and rapid cooling lead to the inevitable presence of out-of-plane distortion and welding induced residual stresses. Because of these imperfections, the fabricated structural members may not attain their design load to be carried. The removal of these imperfections will require extra man-hours. In the present work, controlling these imperfections has been investigated at both design and fabrication stages. A typical fabricated T-girder is selected to investigate the problem of these imperfections using double-side welding. A numerical simulation based on finite element (FE) modeling has been used to investigate the effect of different parameters of the selected fabricated T-girder such as geometrical properties and welding sequences on the magnitude of welding imperfections. FE results were compared with the results of experimental model of a double-side fillet weld. The present work concludes that: Firstly, in the design stage, the optimum geometry of the fabricated T- girder is determined based on minimum steel weight and out- of- plane distortion. Secondly, in the fabrication stage, the best welding sequence is determined on the basis of minimum welding out- of- plane distortion.

Keywords: fabricated T-girder, FEM, out-of-plane distortion, section modulus, welding residual stresses

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Authors: Kristine Demilou D. Santiago

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An access to a high-quality health care system is what sets apart industrialized nations, such as the United States from other developing countries, which in this case is specifically pertaining to their older population. But what was the underrated factor in the sphere of quality healthcare rendered to elderly people in the Western context? Will this salient factor could push conviction to prorogue the existing gaps between self-denial patient-client and cheek by jowl medications? Are the natural socio-environmental approaches of caregiving the protracted remedy to healthcare disparities for aging population considering their day to day living? The conceptual framework of this model is primarily associated with addressing health and illness of human beings considering the biological, psychological and socio-environmental factors around them. The relevance of biopsychosocial formulation advancing each of the characteristics in the Biopsychosocial (BPS) model in a balance contemplation is the tumult of this study in an attempt to respond to prevailing disparities in caregiving services for old-aged patients on a day to day living. Caregiving services have been the medium path connecting between the patient and its prescribed medications. Moreover, caregivers serve as positive reinforcers in a patient’s environment. Therefore, caregivers play an important role in healthcare delivery to patients. They are considered significant people whom their acts will give an impact to a patient’s view in life. This research study intends to present the supreme importance of biopsychosocial assessment to old-aged patients with mental health illness and conditions. Biopsychosocial assessment will secure the quality of full medication to an old-aged adult suffering from a mental illness. This is because it offers a recognizably wholesome approach to medical healing of old-aged adult patients. The principle of biopsychosocial supersedes the biomedicine being offered to old-aged adults having mental illness, but it does not take away the high relevance of scientific biomedicine in healing patients. The framework presented an overlapping participation of each of its factors in its BPS model that affects in general a person’s health. The correlation between the biological (physiological), psychological (mental) and social (environment) in a person’s health condition requires equal attention according to BPS, and it always coexist with each other. Indisputably said, bio-medicine has been and is being in its unceasing endeavor to provide scientifically proven health care medications for every individual seeking medical treatments. As we grow older and eventually reach the other side of the median population, not only our physiological aspects change, our psychological and socio-environmental changes happen too. Caregiving is a salient responsibility taking place on these inevitable changes.

Keywords: biopsychosocial formulation, caregiving through natural approaches, US health care, BPS in caregiving, caregiving for aging population

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Authors: E. Botchway, C. Godfrey, V. Anderson, C. Catroppa

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Introduction: Sleep disturbances are common after childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI). This systematic review aimed to assess the prevalence, types, and predictors of sleep disturbances in childhood TBI. Methods: Medline, Pubmed, PsychInfo, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases were searched. Out of the 547 articles assessed, 15 met selection criteria for this review. Results: Sleep disturbances were common in children and adolescents with TBI, irrespective of injury severity. Excessive daytime sleepiness and insomnia were the most common sleep disturbances reported. Sleep disturbance was predicted by sex, injury severity, pre-existing sleep disturbances, younger age, pain, and high body mass index. Conclusions: Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in childhood TBI, regardless of the injury severity. Routine assessment of sleep in survivors of childhood TBI is recommended.

Keywords: traumatic brain injury, sleep diatiurbances, childhood, systematic review

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Authors: Mohamed A. Shanan, Ashraf H. El-Zanaty, Kamal G. Metwally

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This paper presents the effect of concrete compressive strength and rectangularity ratio on strength and ductility of normal and high strength reinforced concrete columns confined with transverse steel under axial compressive loading. Nineteen normal strength concrete rectangular columns with different variables tested in this research were used to study the effect of concrete compressive strength and rectangularity ratio on strength and ductility of columns. The paper also presents a nonlinear finite element analysis for these specimens and another twenty high strength concrete square columns tested by other researchers using ANSYS 15 finite element software. The results indicate that the axial force – axial strain relationship obtained from the analytical model using ANSYS are in good agreement with the experimental data. The comparison shows that the ANSYS is capable of modeling and predicting the actual nonlinear behavior of confined normal and high-strength concrete columns under concentric loading. The maximum applied load and the maximum strain have also been confirmed to be satisfactory. Depending on this agreement between the experimental and analytical results, a parametric numerical study was conducted by ANSYS 15 to clarify and evaluate the effect of each variable on strength and ductility of the columns.

Keywords: ANSYS, concrete compressive strength effect, ductility, rectangularity ratio, strength

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Authors: Jakub Bartus, Jaroslav Odrobinak

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In general, composite steel and concrete structures present an effective structural solution utilizing the full potential of both materials. As they have numerous advantages on the construction side, they can greatly reduce the overall cost of construction, which has been the main objective of the last decade, highlighted by the current economic and social crisis. The study represents not only an analysis of composite beams’ behavior having web openings but emphasizes the influence of these openings on the total strain distribution at the level of the steel bottom flange as well. The major investigation was focused on a change in structural performance with respect to various layouts of openings. Examining this structural modification, an improvement of load carrying capacity of composite beams was a prime objective. The study is divided into analytical and numerical parts. The analytical part served as an initial step into the design process of composite beam samples, in which optimal dimensions and specific levels of utilization in individual stress states were taken into account. The numerical part covered the discretization of the preset structural issue in the form of a finite element (FE) model using beam and shell elements accounting for material non–linearities. As an outcome, several conclusions were drawn describing and explaining the effect of web opening presence on the structural performance of composite beams.

Keywords: beam, steel flange, total strain, web opening

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Authors: H. Gokdemir

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All structures are subject to vertical and lateral loads. Under these loads, structures make deformations and deformation values of structural elements mustn't exceed their capacity for structural stability. Especially, lateral loads cause critical deformations because of their random directions and magnitudes. Wind load is one of the lateral loads which can act in any direction and any magnitude. Although wind has nearly no effect on reinforced concrete structures, it must be considered for steel structures, roof systems and slender structures like minarets. Therefore, every structure must be able to resist wind loads acting parallel and perpendicular to any side. One of the effective methods for resisting lateral loads is assembling cross steel elements between columns which are called as wind bracing. These cross elements increases lateral rigidity of a structure and prevent exceeding of deformation capacity of the structural system. So, this means cross elements are also effective in resisting earthquake loads too. In this paper; Effects of wind bracing to earthquake resistance of structures are studied. Structure models (with and without wind bracing) are generated and these models are solved under both earthquake and wind loads with different seismic zone parameters. It is concluded by the calculations that; in low-seismic risk zones, wind bracing can easily resist earthquake loads and no additional reinforcement for earthquake loads is necessary. Similarly; in high-seismic risk zones, earthquake cross elements resist wind loads too.

Keywords: wind bracings, earthquake, steel structures, vertical and lateral loads

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Authors: Pimploi Tirastittam, Suppara Charoenpoom

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Nowadays the asynchronous learning has granted the permission to the anywhere and anything learning via the technology and E-media which give the learner more convenient. This research is about the design of the blended and online learning for the asynchronous learning of the process management subject in order to create the prototype of this subject asynchronous learning which will create the easiness and increase capability in the learning. The pattern of learning is the integration between the in-class learning and online learning via the internet. This research is mainly focused on the online learning and the online learning can be divided into 5 parts which are virtual classroom, online content, collaboration, assessment and reference material. After the system design was finished, it was evaluated and tested by 5 experts in blended learning design and 10 students which the user’s satisfaction level is good. The result is as good as the assumption so the system can be used in the process management subject for a real usage.

Keywords: blended learning, asynchronous learning, design, process management

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Authors: Zermina Q., Wasif Y., Naeem S., Urooj S., Sajid R. A.

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Land degradation, a leading environemtnal problem and a decrease in the quality of land has become a major global issue, caused by human activities. By land degradation, more than half of the world’s drylands are affected. The worldwide scope of main saline soils is approximately 955 M ha, whereas inferior salinization affected approximately 77 M ha. In irrigated areas, a total of 58% of these soils is found. As most of the vegetation types requires fertile soil for their growth and quality production, salinity causes serious problem to the production of these vegetation types and agriculture demands. This research aims to identify the salt affected areas in the selected part of Indus Delta, Sindh province, Pakistan. This particular mangroves dominating coastal belt is important to the local community for their crop growth. Object based image analysis approach has been adopted on Landsat TM imagery of year 2011 by incorporating different mathematical band ratios, thermal radiance and salinity index. Accuracy assessment of developed salinity landcover map was performed using Erdas Imagine Accuracy Assessment Utility. Rain factor was also considered before acquiring satellite imagery and conducting field survey, as wet soil can greatly affect the condition of saline soil of the area. Dry season considered best for the remote sensing based observation and monitoring of the saline soil. These areas were trained with the ground truth data w.r.t pH and electric condutivity of the soil samples. The results were obtained from the object based image analysis of Keti bunder and Kharo chan shows most of the region under low saline soil.Total salt affected soil was measured to be 46,581.7 ha in Keti Bunder, which represents 57.81 % of the total area of 80,566.49 ha. High Saline Area was about 7,944.68 ha (9.86%). Medium Saline Area was about 17,937.26 ha (22.26 %) and low Saline Area was about 20,699.77 ha (25.69%). Where as total salt affected soil was measured to be 52,821.87 ha in Kharo Chann, which represents 55.87 % of the total area of 94,543.54 ha. High Saline Area was about 5,486.55 ha (5.80 %). Medium Saline Area was about 13,354.72 ha (14.13 %) and low Saline Area was about 33980.61 ha (35.94 %). These results show that the area is low to medium saline in nature. Accuracy of the soil salinity map was found to be 83 % with the Kappa co-efficient of 0.77. From this research, it was evident that this area as a whole falls under the category of low to medium saline area and being close to coastal area, mangrove forest can flourish. As Mangroves are salt tolerant plant so this area is consider heaven for mangrove plantation. It would ultimately benefit both the local community and the environment. Increase in mangrove forest control the problem of soil salinity and prevent sea water to intrude more into coastal area. So deforestation of mangrove should be regularly monitored.

Keywords: indus delta, object based image analysis, soil salinity, thematic mapper

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Authors: Ayantika Biswas

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Hypertension still remains one of the most important preventable contributors to adult mortality and morbidity and a major public health challenge worldwide. Studying regional and rural-urban differences in prevalence and assessment of the contributions of different indicators is essential in determining the drivers of this condition. The 2015-16 National Family Health Survey data has been used for the study. Bivariate analysis, multinomial regression analysis, concentration indices and decomposition of concentration indices assessing contribution of factors has been undertaken in the present study. An overall concentration index of 0.003 has been found for hypertensive population, which shows its concentration among the richer wealth quintiles. The contribution of factors like age 45 to 49 years, years of schooling between 5 to 9 years are factors that are important contributors to inequality in hypertension occurrence. Studies should be conducted to find approaches to prevent or delay the onset of the condition.

Keywords: hypertension, decomposition, inequalities, India

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Authors: Victor A. Okenyi, Kehinde A. Alawode

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Corrosion of reinforcement in concrete structures remains a durability issue in structural engineering with the increasing cost of repair and maintenance. The mechanism and factors influencing reinforcement corrosion in concrete with various electrochemical monitoring techniques including non-destructive, destructive techniques and the roles of sensors have been reviewed with the aim of determining the monitoring technique that proved most effective in determining corrosion parameters and more practicable for the assessment of concrete durability. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and linear polarization resistance (LPR) techniques showed great performance in evaluating corrosion kinetics and corrosion rate, respectively, while the gravimetric weight loss (GWL) technique provided accurate measurements. However, no single monitoring technique showed to be the ultimate technique, and this calls for more research work in the development of more dynamic monitoring tools capable of considering all possible corrosion factors in the corrosion monitoring process.

Keywords: corrosion, concrete structures, durability, non-destructive technique, sensor

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Authors: Chryssi Vitsilaki, Apostolos Kostas, Ilias Efthymiou

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This paper presents selected best practices on online learning and teaching derived from a novel and innovating Lifelong Learning program through e-Learning, which has during the last five years been set up at the University of the Aegean in Greece. The university, capitalizing on an award-winning, decade-long experience in e-learning and blended learning in undergraduate and postgraduate studies, recently expanded into continuous education and vocational training programs in various cutting-edge fields. So, in this article we present: (a) the academic structure/infrastructure which has been developed for the administrative, organizational and educational support of the e-Learning process, including training the trainers, (b) the mode of design and implementation based on a sound pedagogical framework of open and distance education, and (c) the key results of the assessment of the e-learning process by the participants, as they are used to feedback on continuous organizational and teaching improvement and quality control.

Keywords: distance education, e-learning, life-long programs, synchronous/asynchronous learning

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Authors: Tomoaki Hashimoto

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In recent decades, probabilistic constrained optimal control problems have attracted much attention in many research field. Although probabilistic constraints are generally intractable in an optimization problem, several tractable methods haven been proposed to handle probabilistic constraints. In most methods, probabilistic constraints are reduced to deterministic constraints that are tractable in an optimization problem. However, there is a gap between the transformed deterministic constraints in case of known and unknown probability distribution. This paper examines the conservativeness of probabilistic constrained optimization method with the unknown probability distribution. The objective of this paper is to provide a quantitative assessment of the conservatism for tractable constraints in probabilistic constrained optimization with the unknown probability distribution.

Keywords: optimal control, stochastic systems, discrete time systems, probabilistic constraints

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Authors: Supachai Supmak, Yachai Limpiyakorn

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Mutation testing can be applied for the quality assessment of test cases. Prioritization of mutation test generation has been a critical element of the industry practice that would contribute to the evaluation of test cases. The industry generally delivers the product under the condition of time to the market and thus, inevitably sacrifices software testing tasks, even though many test cases are required for software verification. This paper presents an approach of applying a social network centrality measure, PageRank, to prioritize mutation test generation. The source code with the highest values of PageRank will be focused first when developing their test cases as these modules are vulnerable to defects or anomalies which may cause the consequent defects in many other associated modules. Moreover, the approach would help identify the reducible test cases in the test suite, still maintaining the same criteria as the original number of test cases.

Keywords: software testing, mutation test, network centrality measure, test case prioritization

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Authors: Li Long, Thomas Ortlepp

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The transport properties of carriers in polycrystalline silicon film affect the performance of polycrystalline silicon-based devices. They depend strongly on the grain structure, grain boundary trap properties and doping concentration, which in turn are determined by the film deposition and processing conditions. Based on the properties of charge carriers, phonons, grain boundaries and their interactions, the thermoelectric properties of polycrystalline silicon are analyzed with the relaxation time approximation of the Boltz- mann transport equation. With this approach, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient as a function of grain size, trap properties and doping concentration can be determined. Experiment on heavily doped polycrystalline silicon is carried out and measurement results are compared with the model.

Keywords: conductivity, polycrystalline silicon, relaxation time approximation, Seebeck coefficient, thermoelectric property

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Authors: Jiang Zhenbo, Ishikura Ryohei, Yasufuku Noriyuki

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Improvement of soft clay deposits by the combination of surface stabilization and floating type cement-treated columns is one of the most popular techniques worldwide. On the basis of one dimensional consolidation model, a time-dependent skin friction model for the column-soil interaction is proposed. The nonlinear relationship between column shaft shear stresses and effective vertical pressure of the surrounding soil can be described in this model. The influence of column-soil surface roughness can be represented using a roughness coefficient R, which plays an important role in the design of column length. Based on the homogenization method, a part of floating type improved ground will be treated as an unimproved portion, which with a length of αH1 is defined as a time-dependent equivalent skin friction length. The compression settlement of this unimproved portion can be predicted only using the soft clay parameters. Apart from calculating the settlement of this composited ground, the load transfer mechanism is discussed utilizing model tests. The proposed model is validated by comparing with calculations and laboratory results of model and ring shear tests, which indicate the suitability and accuracy of the solutions in this paper.

Keywords: floating type improved foundation, time-dependent skin friction, roughness, consolidation

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Authors: Gulshad Azatova, Aleksandr Kapitonov, Natig Aminov

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Multiagent systems have gained significant attention in various fields, such as robotics, autonomous vehicles, and distributed computing, where multiple agents cooperate and communicate to achieve complex tasks. Efficient communication among agents is a crucial aspect of these systems, as it directly impacts their overall performance and scalability. This scholarly work provides an exploration of essential communication elements and conducts a comparative assessment of diverse protocols utilized in multiagent systems. The emphasis lies in scrutinizing the strengths, weaknesses, and applicability of these protocols across various scenarios. The research also sheds light on emerging trends within communication protocols for multiagent systems, including the incorporation of machine learning methods and the adoption of blockchain-based solutions to ensure secure communication. These trends provide valuable insights into the evolving landscape of multiagent systems and their communication protocols.

Keywords: communication, multi-agent systems, protocols, consensus

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Authors: Naveed Tahir, Adnan Maqsood

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Cognitive workload is a significant factor affecting user performance, and it has been broadly investigated for its application in ergonomics as well as in designing and optimizing effective human-machine interactions. It is mentally challenging to maneuver an aircraft, and pilots must control the aircraft and adequately communicate to the verbal-auditory stimuli. Several physiological measures have long been researched and used to demonstrate the cognitive workload. In our current study, we have summarized recent findings of the effectiveness, accuracy, and applicability of commonly used physiological measures in evaluating cognitive workload. We have also highlighted on the advancements in physiological measures. The strength and limitations of physiological measures have also been discussed to assess the cognitive workload of people, especially the aircrews in laboratory settings and real-time situations. We have presented the research findings of the physiological measures to base suggestions on the proper applications of the measures and settings demanding the use of single measure or their combinations.

Keywords: aircrew, cognitive workload, subjective measure, physiological measure, performance measure

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Authors: Daniyar Seitenov, Nazim Mir-Nasiri

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Optimization of horizontal axis semi-exposed wind turbine has been performed using a shield protection that automatically protects the generator shaft at extreme wind speeds from over speeding, mechanical damage and continues generating electricity during the high wind speed conditions. A semi-exposed to wind generator has been designed and its structure has been described in this paper. The simplified point-force dynamic load model on the blades has been derived for normal and extreme wind conditions with and without shield involvement. Numerical simulation has been conducted at different values of wind speed to study the efficiency of shield application. The obtained results show that the maximum power generated by the wind turbine with shield does not exceed approximately the rated value of the generator, where shield serves as an automatic break for extreme wind speed values of 15 m/sec and above. Meantime the wind turbine without shield produced a power that is much larger than the rated value. The optimized horizontal axis semi-exposed wind turbine with shield protection is suitable for low and medium power generation when installed on the roofs of high rise buildings for harvesting wind energy. Wind shield works automatically with no power consumption. The structure of the generator with the protection, math simulation of kinematics and dynamics of power generation has been described in details in this paper.

Keywords: renewable energy, wind turbine, wind turbine optimization, high wind speed

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou

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It is widely recognised that the assets portfolio development is helping to enhance economic growth, productivity and competitiveness. While numerous studies and reports certify the positive effect of investments in large infrastructure investments on the local economy, still, the methodology to estimate the contribution in economic development is a challenging issue for researchers and economists. The key question is how to estimate those economic impacts in each economic system. This paper provides a compact and applicable methodological framework providing quantitative results in terms of the overall jobs and income generated into the project life cycle. According to a deterministic mathematical approach, the key variables and the modelling framework are presented. The numerical case study highlights key results for a new motorway project in Greece, which is experienced economic stress for many years, providing the opportunity for comparisons with similar cases.

Keywords: quantitative modelling, economic impact, large transport infrastructure, economic assessment

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Authors: Andrey A. Tyuftin, Rachael Reid, Paula Bourke, Patrick J. Cullen, Seamus Fanning, Paul Whyte, Declan Bolton , Joe P. Kerry

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One of the primary spoilage issues associated with vacuum-packed beef products is blown pack spoilage (BPS) caused by the psychrophilic spore-forming strain of Clostridium spp. Spores derived from this organism can be activated after heat-shrinking (eg. 90°C for 3 seconds). To date, research into the control of Clostridium spp in beef packaging is limited. Active packaging in the form of antimicrobially-active coatings may be one approach to its control. Antimicrobial compounds may be incorporated into packaging films or coated onto the internal surfaces of packaging films using a carrier matrix. Three naturally-sourced, commercially-available antimicrobials, namely; Auranta FV (AFV) (bitter oranges extract) from Envirotech Innovative Products Ltd, Ireland; Inbac-MDA (IMDA) from Chemital LLC, Spain, mixture of different organic acids and sodium octanoate (SO) from Sigma-Aldrich, UK, were added into gelatin solutions at 2 concentrations: 2.5 and 3.5 times their minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) against Clostridium estertheticum (DSMZ 8809). These gelatin solutions were coated onto the internal polyethylene layer of cold plasma treated, heat-shrinkable laminates conventionally used for meat packaging applications. Atmospheric plasma was used in order to enhance adhesion between packaging films and gelatin coatings. Pouches were formed from these coated packaging materials, and beef cuts which had been inoculated with C. estertheticum were vacuum packaged. Inoculated beef was vacuum packaged without employing active films and this treatment served as the control. All pouches were heat-sealed and then heat-shrunk at 90°C for 3 seconds and incubated at 2°C for 100 days. During this storage period, packs were monitored for the indicators of blown pack spoilage as follows; gas bubbles in drip, loss of vacuum (onset of BPS), blown, the presence of sufficient gas inside the packs to produce pack distension and tightly stretched, “overblown” packs/ packs leaking. Following storage and assessment of indicator date, it was concluded that AFV- and SO-containing packaging inhibited the growth of C. estertheticum, significantly delaying the blown pack spoilage of beef primals. IMDA did not inhibit the growth of C. estertheticum. This may be attributed to differences in release rates and possible reactions with gelatin. Overall, active films were successfully produced following plasma surface treatment, and experimental data demonstrated clearly that the use of antimicrobially-active films could significantly prolong the storage stability of beef primals through the effective control of BPS.

Keywords: active packaging, blown pack spoilage, Clostridium, antimicrobials, edible coatings, food packaging, gelatin films, meat science

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Authors: Khurram Munir, Cuie Wen, Yuncang Li

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Magnesium (Mg) metal matrix composites (MMCs) reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) have been developed by powder metallurgy (PM). In this study, GNPs with different concentrations (0.1-0.3 wt.%) were dispersed into Mg powders by high-energy ball-milling processes. The microstructure and resultant mechanical properties of the fabricated nanocomposites were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (RS), compression and nano-wear tests. The corrosion resistance of the fabricated composites was evaluated by electrochemical tests and hydrogen evolution measurements. Finally, the biological response of Mg-GNPs composites was assessed using osteoblast-like SaOS2 cells. The results indicate that GNPs are excellent candidates as reinforcements in Mg matrices for the manufacture of biodegradable Mg-based composite implants. GNP addition improved the mechanical properties of Mg via synergetic strengthening modes. Moreover, retaining the structural integrity of GNPs during PM processing improved the ductility, compressive strength, and corrosion resistance of the Mg-GNP composites as compared to monolithic Mg. Cytotoxicity assessments did not reveal any significant toxicity with the addition of GNPs to Mg matrices. This study demonstrates that Mg-xGNPs with x < 0.3 wt.%, may constitute novel biodegradable implant materials for load-bearing applications.

Keywords: magnesium-graphene composites, strengthening mechanisms, In vitro cytotoxicity, biocorrosion

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Authors: Prateek Singh, Arun Kumar Pandey, C. Raghu Kumar, M. R. Rath, A. S. Reddy

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Drum scrubber is widely used equipment in the washing of Iron ore. The purpose of the scrubber is to release the adhered fine clayey particles from the iron-bearing particles. Presently, the iron ore wash plants in the Eastern region of India consist of the scrubber, double deck screen followed by screw classifier as the main unit operations. Hence, scrubber performance efficiency has a huge impact on the downstream product quality. This paper illustrates the effect of scrubber feed % solids on scrubber performance and alumina distribution on downstream equipment. Further, it was established that scrubber performance efficiency could be defined as the ratio of the adhered particles (-0.15mm) released from scrubber feed during scrubbing operation with respect to the maximum possible release of -0.15mm (%) particles.

Keywords: scrubber, adhered particles, feed % solids, efficiency

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Authors: Kocakaya Eda, Argun Doğan

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This study analyzed the present state of information technology in the field of accounting by bibliometric analysis of scientific studies on the impact on the transformation of e-billing and tax managementin Turkey. With comparative bibliometric analysis, the innovation and positive effects of the process that changed with e-transformation in the field of accounting with e-transformation in businesses and the information technologies used in accounting and tax management were analyzed comparatively. By evaluating the data obtained as a result of these analyzes, suggestions on the use of information technologies in accounting and tax management and the positive and negative effects of e-transformation on the analyzed activities of the enterprises were emphasized. With the e-transformation, which will be realized with the most efficient use of information technologies in Turkey. The synergy and efficiency of IT technology developments in avcoounting and finance should be revealed in the light of scientific data, from the smallest business to the largest economic enterprises.

Keywords: information technologies, E-invoice, E-Tax management, E-transformation, accounting programs

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Authors: Saad Bakkali

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Morocco is a major producer of phosphate, with an annual output of 19 million tons and reserves in excess of 35 billion cubic meters. This represents more than 75% of world reserves. Resistivity surveys have been successfully used in the Oulad Abdoun phosphate basin. A Schlumberger resistivity survey over an area of 50 hectares was carried out. A new field procedure based on analytic signal response of resistivity data was tested to deal with the presence of phosphate deposit disturbances. A resistivity map was expected to allow the electrical resistivity signal to be imaged in 2D. 2D wavelet is standard tool in the interpretation of geophysical potential field data. Wavelet transform is particularly suitable in denoising, filtering and analyzing geophysical data singularities. Wavelet transform tools are applied to analysis of a moroccan phosphate deposit ‘disturbances’. Wavelet approach applied to modeling surface phosphate “disturbances” was found to be consistently useful.

Keywords: resistivity, Schlumberger, phosphate, wavelet, Morocco

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Authors: Virginia Vettori, Chiara Lorini, Vieri Lastrucci, Giulia Di Pisa, Alessia De Blasi, Sara Giuggioli, Guglielmo Bonaccorsi

Abstract:

The design of the Nutrition Literacy Assessment Instrument (NLit) responds to the need to provide a tool to adequately assess the construct of nutrition literacy (NL), which is strictly connected to the quality of the diet and nutritional health status. The NLit was originally developed and validated in the US context, and it was recently validated for Italian people too (NLit-IT), involving a sample of N = 74 adults. The results of the cross-cultural adaptation of the tool confirmed its validity since it was established that the level of NL contributed to predicting the level of adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (convergent validity). Additionally, results obtained proved that Internal Consistency and reliability of the NLit-IT were good (Cronbach’s alpha (ρT) = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.69–0.84; Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) = 0.68, 95% CI, 0.46–0.85). However, the Subscale 3 of the NLit-IT “Household Food Measurement” showed lower values of ρT and ICC (ρT = 0.27; 95% CI, 0.1–0.55; ICC = 0.19, 95% CI, 0.01–0.63) than the entire instrument. Subscale 3 includes nine items which are constituted by written questions and the corresponding pictures of the meals. In particular, items 2, 3, and 8 of Subscale 3 had the lowest level of correct answers. The purpose of the present study was to identify the factors that influenced the Internal Consistency and reliability of Subscale 3 of NLit-IT using the methodology of a focus group. A panel of seven experts was formed, involving professionals in the field of public health nutrition, dietetics, and health promotion and all of them were trained on the concepts of nutrition literacy and food appearance. A member of the group drove the discussion, which was oriented in the identification of the reasons for the low levels of reliability and Internal Consistency. The members of the group discussed the level of comprehension of the items and how they could be readapted. From the discussion, it emerges that the written questions were clear and easy to understand, but it was observed that the representations of the meal needed to be improved. Firstly, it has been decided to introduce a fork or a spoon as a reference dimension to better understand the dimension of the food portion (items 1, 4 and 8). Additionally, the flat plate of items 3 and 5 should be substituted with a soup plate because, in the Italian national context, it is common to eat pasta or rice on this kind of plate. Secondly, specific measures should be considered for some kind of foods such as the brick of yogurt instead of a cup of yogurt (items 1 and 4). Lastly, it has been decided to redo the photos of the meals basing on professional photographic techniques. In conclusion, we noted that the graphical representation of the items strictly influenced the level of participants’ comprehension of the questions; moreover, the research group agreed that the level of knowledge about nutrition and food portion size is low in the general population.

Keywords: nutritional literacy, cross cultural adaptation, misinformation, food design

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: M. Rezki, A. Belaidi

Abstract:

This paper deals with a method of learning to solve a real problem in biomedical engineering from a technical study of muscle fatigue. Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles (viewpoint: anatomical and physiological). EMG is used as a diagnostics tool for identifying neuromuscular diseases, assessing low-back pain and muscle fatigue in general. In order to study the EMG signal for detecting fatigue in a muscle, we have taken a real problem which touches the tramway conductor the handle bar. For the study, we have used a typical autonomous platform in order to get signals at real time. In our case study, we were confronted with complex problem to do our experiments in a tram. This type of problem is recurring among students. To teach our students the method to solve this kind of problem, we built a similar system. Through this study, we realized a lot of objectives such as making the equipment for simulation, the study of detection of muscle fatigue and especially how to manage a study of biomedical looking.

Keywords: EMG, health platform, conductor’s tram, muscle fatigue

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: V. V. Singh

Abstract:

We have studied the reliability measures of a system, which consists of two subsystems i.e. subsystem-1 and subsystem-2 in series configuration under different types of failure. The subsystem-1 has three identical units in parallel configuration and operating under 2-out-of-3: G policy and connected to subsystem-2 in series configuration. Each subsystem has different types of failure and repair rates. An important cause for failure of system is unsuitability of the environmental conditions, like overheating, weather conditions, heavy rainfall, storm etc. The environmental failure is taken into account in the proposed repairable system. Supplementary variable technique is used to study of system and some traditional measures such as; availability, reliability, MTTF and profit function are obtained for different values of parameters. In the proposed model, some particular cases of failure rates are explicitly studied.

Keywords: environmental failure, human failure, availability, MTTF, reliability, profit analysis, Gumbel-Hougaard family copula

Procedia PDF Downloads 338