Search results for: functional design

Authors: Merve Yünlü, Nihat Kandemir, Aylin Ersoy

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Temperature sensors are used in home appliances not only to monitor the basic functions of the machine but also to minimize energy consumption and ensure safe operation. In parallel with the development of smart home applications and IoT algorithms, these sensors produce important data such as the frequency of use of the machine, user preferences, and the compilation of critical data in terms of diagnostic processes for fault detection throughout an appliance's operational lifespan. Commercially available thin-film resistive temperature sensors have a well-established manufacturing procedure that allows them to operate over a wide temperature range. However, these sensors are over-designed for white goods applications. The operating temperature range of these sensors is between -70°C and 850°C, while the temperature range requirement in home appliance applications is between 23°C and 500°C. To ensure the operation of commercial sensors in this wide temperature range, usually, a platinum coating of approximately 1-micron thickness is applied to the wafer. However, the use of platinum in coating and the high coating thickness extends the sensor production process time and therefore increases sensor costs. In this study, an attempt was made to develop a low-cost temperature sensor design and production method that meets the technical requirements of white goods applications. For this purpose, a custom design was made, and design parameters (length, width, trim points, and thin film deposition thickness) were optimized by using statistical methods to achieve the desired resistivity value. To develop thin film resistive temperature sensors, one side polished sapphire wafer was used. To enhance adhesion and insulation 100 nm silicon dioxide was coated by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition technique. The lithography process was performed by a direct laser writer. The lift-off process was performed after the e-beam evaporation of 10 nm titanium and 280 nm platinum layers. Standard four-point probe sheet resistance measurements were done at room temperature. The annealing process was performed. Resistivity measurements were done with a probe station before and after annealing at 600°C by using a rapid thermal processing machine. Temperature dependence between 25-300 °C was also tested. As a result of this study, a temperature sensor has been developed that has a lower coating thickness than commercial sensors but can produce reliable data in the white goods application temperature range. A relatively simplified but optimized production method has also been developed to produce this sensor.

Keywords: thin film resistive sensor, temperature sensor, household appliance, sustainability, energy efficiency

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Authors: Gordon Weight, Hermione Tsoi, Patrick Cutinha, Sanjay Rajpal

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Aim: Greenlight-laser prostatectomy (GLLP) is becoming a popular treatment option for bladder outlet obstruction and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). In this retrospective study, we aim to explore the patient selection, perioperative morbidity, and functional outcomes of GLLP. Methods: Patients who underwent GLLP at a UK tertiary centre between June 2018 and November 2021 were included in this study. Retrospective data covering patient demographics, perioperative parameters and postoperative outcomes were collected using the electronic records systems. Results: 305 patients were included in this study with a mean age of 73 (range 30-90) years. The most common indication (62.6%) for the procedure was patient’s wish to be free from long-term catheters (LTC) or intermittent catheterisation (ISC), followed by failed medical therapy for LUTS (36.4%). 84.6% of patients had an ASA ≥2, and 32.1% took anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy. Inpatient stays were minimal, with the majority (68.2%) of patients were performed as day case, and only 10.5% of patients requiring more than a single night admission. The 3-month readmission rate was 10.8%, with the most common causes being haematuria and urinary-tract infection. The successful TWOC rate at follow up was 91.2%. Amongst the 19 patients who failed TWOC, 14 had LTC prior to the procedure and 4 had been performing ISC. Conclusions: Our study shows that GLLP is a safe and effective day case treatment and can be suitable for elderly and comorbid patients. Patients requiring LTC or ISC pre-operatively should be counselled carefully about the risk of not being catheter-free post procedure.

Keywords: urology, endourology, prostate, bladder outlet obstruction, laser

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Authors: Sayed M. Soleimani, Nader H. Ghareeb, Nourhan H. Shaker, Muhammad B. Siddiqui

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Honeycomb sandwich panels have been widely used as protective structural elements against blast loading. The main advantages of these panels include their light weight due to the presence of voids, as well as their energy absorption capability. Terrorist activities have imposed new challenges to structural engineers to design protective measures for vital structures. Since blast loading is not usually considered in the load combinations during the design process of a structure, researchers around the world have been motivated to study the behavior of potential elements capable of resisting sudden loads imposed by the detonation of explosive materials. One of the best candidates for this objective is the honeycomb sandwich panel. Studying the effects of explosive materials on the panels requires costly and time-consuming experiments. Moreover, these type of experiments need permission from defense organizations which can become a hurdle. As a result, modeling and simulation using an appropriate tool can be considered as a good alternative. In this research work, the finite element package ABAQUS® is used to study the behavior of hexagonal and squared honeycomb steel sandwich panels under the explosive effects of different amounts of trinitrotoluene (TNT). The results of finite element modeling of a specific honeycomb configuration are initially validated by comparing them with the experimental results from literature. Afterwards, several configurations including different geometrical properties of the honeycomb wall are investigated and the results are compared with the original model. Finally, the effectiveness of the core shape and wall thickness are discussed, and conclusions are made.

Keywords: Abaqus, blast loading, finite element modeling, steel honeycomb sandwich panel

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Authors: Stefano M. Spagocci

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The efficiency of photovoltaic panels can be calculated with such software packages as RETScreen that allow design engineers to take financial as well as technical considerations into account. RETScreen is interfaced with meteorological databases, so that efficiency calculations can be realistically carried out. The author has recently contributed to the development of solar modules with accumulation capability and an embedded water purifier, aimed at off-grid users such as users in developing countries. The software packages examined do not allow to take ancillary equipment into account, hence the decision to implement a technical and financial model of the system. The author realized that, rather than re-implementing the quite sophisticated model of RETScreen - a mathematical description of which is anyway not publicly available - it was possible to drastically simplify it, including the meteorological factors which, in RETScreen, are presented in a numerical form. The day-by-day efficiency of a photovoltaic solar panel was parametrized by the product of factors expressing, respectively, daytime duration, solar right ascension motion, solar declination motion, cloudiness, temperature. For the sun-motion-dependent factors, positional astronomy formulae, simplified by the author, were employed. Meteorology-dependent factors were fitted by simple trigonometric functions, employing numerical data supplied by RETScreen. The accuracy of our model was tested by comparing it to the predictions of RETScreen; the accuracy obtained was 11%. In conclusion, our study resulted in a model that can be easily implemented in a spreadsheet - thus being easily manageable by non-specialist personnel - or in more sophisticated software packages. The model was used in a number of design exercises, concerning photovoltaic solar panels and ancillary equipment like the above-mentioned water purifier.

Keywords: clean energy, energy engineering, mathematical modelling, photovoltaic panels, solar energy

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Authors: Kimberlyn Greene

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Employers today expect college graduates to not only develop and demonstrate content-specific knowledge but also 21st century skillsets such as critical thinking. International assessments suggest students enrolled in United States (U.S.) educational institutions are underperforming in comparison to their global peers in areas such as critical thinking and technology. This multi-case study examined how undergraduate digital literacy courses at a four-year university in the U.S., as implemented by instructors, fostered students’ development of critical thinking skills. The conceptual framework for this study presumed that as students engaged in complex thinking within the context of a digital literacy course, their ability to deploy critical thinking was contingent upon whether the course was designed with the expectation for students to use critical thinking skills as well as the instructor’s approach to implementing the course. Qualitative data collected from instructor interviews, classroom observations, and course documents were analyzed with an emphasis on exploring the course design and instructional methods that provided opportunities to foster critical thinking skill development. Findings from the cross-case analysis revealed that although the digital literacy courses were designed and implemented with the expectation students would deploy critical thinking; there was no explicit support for students to develop these skills. The absence of intentional skill development resulted in inequitable opportunities for all students to engage in complex thinking. The implications of this study suggest that if critical thinking is to remain a priority, then universities must expand their support of pedagogical and instructional training for faculty regarding how to support students’ critical thinking skill development.

Keywords: critical thinking skill development, curriculum design, digital literacy, pedagogy

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Authors: Rose C.Anamezie, Mishack T. Gumbo

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Physics learners’ poor retention, which culminates in poor achievement due to teaching approaches that are unrelated to learners’ in non-Western cultures, warranted the study. The tenet of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the ethnoscience-based teaching (EBT) approach on learners’ retention in the Physics concept of Optics in the Awka Education zone of Anambra State- Nigeria. Two research questions and three null hypotheses tested at a 0.05 level of significance guided the study. The design adopted for the study was Quasi-experimental. Specifically, a non-equivalent control group design was adopted. The population for the study was 4,825 SS2 Physics learners in the zone. 160 SS2 learners were sampled using purposive and random sampling. The experimental group was taught rectilinear propagation of light (RPL) using the EBT approach, while the control group was taught the same topic using the lecture method. The instrument for data collection was the 50 Physics Retention Test (PRT) which was validated by three experts and tested for reliability using Kuder-Richardson’s formula-20, which yielded coefficients of 0.81. The data were analysed using mean, standard deviation and analysis of co-variance (p< .05). The results showed higher retention for the use of the EBT approach than the lecture method, while there was no significant gender-based factor in the learners’ retention in Physics. It was recommended that the EBT approach, which bridged the gender gap in Physics retention, be adopted in secondary school teaching and learning since it could transform science teaching, enhance learners’ construction of new science concepts based on their existing knowledge and bridge the gap between Western science and learners’ worldviews.

Keywords: Ethnoscience-based teaching, optics, rectilinear propagation of light, retention

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Authors: Nada Poropat Jeletic, Gordana Hrzica

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Bilingual conversational corpora represent a meaningful and the most comprehensive data source for investigating the genuine contact phenomena in non-monitored bi-lingual speech productions. They can be particularly useful for bilingual research since some features of bilingual interaction can hardly be accessed with more traditional methodologies (e.g., elicitation tasks). The method of language sampling provides the resources for describing language interaction in a bilingual community and/or in bilingual situations (e.g. code-switching, amount of languages used, number of languages used, etc.). To capture these phenomena in genuine communication situations, such sampling should be as close as possible to spontaneous communication. Bilingual spoken corpus design is methodologically demanding. Therefore this paper aims at describing the methodological challenges that apply to the corpus design of the conversational corpus design of the Istrian Istrovenetian-Croatian Bilingual Corpus. Croatian is the first official language of the Croatian-Italian officially bilingual Istria County, while Istrovenetian is a diatopic subvariety of Venetian, a longlasting lingua franca in the Istrian peninsula, the mother tongue of the members of the Italian National Community in Istria and the primary code of informal everyday communication among the Istrian Italophone population. Within the CLARIN infrastructure, TalkBank is being used, as it provides relevant procedures for designing and analyzing bilingual corpora. Furthermore, it allows public availability allows for easy replication of studies and cumulative progress as a research community builds up around the corpus, while the tools developed within the field of corpus linguistics enable easy retrieval and analysis of information. The method of language sampling employed is kept at the level of spontaneous communication, in order to maximise the naturalness of the collected conversational data. All speakers have provided written informed consent in which they agree to be recorded at a random point within the period of one month after signing the consent. Participants are administered a background questionnaire providing information about the socioeconomic status and the exposure and language usage in the participants social networks. Recording data are being transcribed, phonologically adapted within a standard-sized orthographic form, coded and segmented (speech streams are being segmented into communication units based on syntactic criteria) and are being marked following the CHAT transcription system and its associated CLAN suite of programmes within the TalkBank toolkit. The corpus consists of transcribed sound recordings of 36 bilingual speakers, while the target is to publish the whole corpus by the end of 2020, by sampling spontaneous conversations among approximately 100 speakers from all the bilingual areas of Istria for ensuring representativeness (the participants are being recruited across three generations of native bilingual speakers in all the bilingual areas of the peninsula). Conversational corpora are still rare in TalkBank, so the Corpus will contribute to BilingBank as a highly relevant and scientifically reliable resource for an internationally established and active research community. The impact of the research of communities with societal bilingualism will contribute to the growing body of research on bilingualism and multilingualism, especially regarding topics of language dominance, language attrition and loss, interference and code-switching etc.

Keywords: conversational corpora, bilingual corpora, code-switching, language sampling, corpus design methodology

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Authors: Mehrnoosh Mirzaei

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Children are among the most vulnerable at the occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes. Most of the management and measures which are considered for both before and during an earthquake are neither suitable nor efficient for this age group and cannot be applied. On the other hand, due to their age, it is hard to educate and train children to learn and understand the concept of earthquake risk mitigation as matters like earthquake prevention and safe places during an earthquake are not easily perceived. To our knowledge, children’s awareness of such concepts via their own world with the help of games is the best training method in this case. In this article, the researcher has tried to consider the child an active element before and during the earthquake. With training, provided by adults before the incidence of an earthquake, the child has the ability to learn disaster risk reduction (DRR). The focus of this research is on learning risk reduction behavior and regarding children as an individual element. The information of this article has been gathered from library resources, observations and the drawings of 10 children aged 5 whose subject was their conceptual definition of an earthquake who were asked to illustrate their conceptual definition of an earthquake; the results of 20 questionnaires filled in by preschoolers along with information gathered by interviewing them. The design of the suitable educational game, appropriate for the needs of this age group, has been made based on the theory of design with help of the user and the priority of children’s learning needs. The final result is a package of a game which is comprised of a learning table and matching cards showing sign marks for safe and unsafe places which introduce the safe behaviors and safe locations before and during the earthquake. These educational games can be used both in group contexts in kindergartens and on an individual basis at home, and they help in earthquake risk reduction.

Keywords: disaster education, earthquake sign marks, learning table, matching card, risk reduction behavior

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Authors: Vadim A. Kuznetsov, Anna M. Soldatova, Tatyana N. Enina, Elena A. Gorbatenko, Dmitrii V. Krinochkin

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The aim of the study was to evaluate potential parameters related with super-response to CRT. Methods: 60 CRT patients (mean age 54.3 ± 9.8 years; 80% men) with congestive heart failure (CHF) II-IV NYHA functional class, left ventricular ejection fraction < 35% were enrolled. At baseline, 1 month, 3 months and each 6 months after implantation clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic parameters, NT-proBNP level were evaluated. According to the best decrease of left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) (mean follow-up period 33.7 ± 15.1 months) patients were classified as super-responders (SR) (n=28; reduction in LVESV ≥ 30%) and non-SR (n=32; reduction in LVESV < 30%). Results: At baseline groups differed in age (58.1 ± 5.8 years in SR vs 50.8 ± 11.4 years in non-SR; p=0.003), gender (female gender 32.1% vs 9.4% respectively; p=0.028), width of QRS complex (157.6 ± 40.6 ms in SR vs 137.6 ± 33.9 ms in non-SR; p=0.044). Percentage of LBBB was equal between groups (75% in SR vs 59.4% in non-SR; p=0.274). All parameters of mechanical dyssynchrony were higher in SR, but only difference in left ventricular pre-ejection period (LVPEP) was statistically significant (153.0 ± 35.9 ms vs. 129.3 ± 28.7 ms p=0.032). NT-proBNP level was lower in SR (1581 ± 1369 pg/ml vs 3024 ± 2431 pg/ml; p=0.006). The survival rates were 100% in SR and 90.6% in non-SR (log-rank test P=0.002). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that LVPEP (HR 1.024; 95% CI 1.004–1.044; P = 0.017), baseline NT-proBNP level (HR 0.628; 95% CI 0.414–0.953; P=0.029) and age at baseline (HR 1.094; 95% CI 1.009-1.168; P=0.30) were independent predictors for CRT super-response. ROC curve analysis demonstrated sensitivity 71.9% and specificity 82.1% (AUC=0.827; p < 0.001) of this model in prediction of super-response to CRT. Conclusion: Super-response to CRT is associated with better survival in long-term period. Presence of LBBB was not associated with super-response. LVPEP, NT-proBNP level, and age at baseline can be used as independent predictors of CRT super-response.

Keywords: cardiac resynchronisation therapy, superresponse, congestive heart failure, left bundle branch block

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Authors: Shittu Bisi Agnes

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Studies on households’ willingness to pay for environmental and general health safety in the advent of Ebola virus Diseases in Nigeria was carried out. This is aimed at revealing the means by which the virus was eventually eradicated in Nigeria as widely claimed in the media. This study therefore attempted to determine the environmental and general health condition in the State Of Osun, how socio-economic characteristics of the people affected willingness to pay. And also provide platform for the reduction of environmental and general health problems. Data were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and administer 150 randomly selected people of study area, and oral interview was also utilized. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive tools and inferential statistics vis-a-viz regression analysis. Findings showed 92.5% of respondents was aware of ebola virus diseases outbreak in Nigeria, 8.5% was unaware of any disease outbreak. And 65.7% of respondents was strongly willing to pay for environmental and general health safety 27.1% was fairly willing, 5.7% was indifferent and 1.7% was unwilling to pay. 5% rated the level of environmental and general health condition in the area has been good, 53.6% rated theirs has been fair, 33.6% as been poor. The average willingness to pay per household per month were #500.00, #250.00, #150.00 and #100.00 respectively for the four categories. It was recommended that policy instruments to increase peoples' income will accelerate eradication of environmental and general health problems, environmental health education in form of talk shop, workshop, lectures and seminars could be organized at the political ward levels, churches, mosque, and at schools. Environmental and general health safety related information could be disseminated through mass media, market women, and functional unions.

Keywords: ebola virus diseases (EVD), socio-economic, safety, pay, Osun

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Authors: Yumeng Ma, Fang Wang, Jinxia Huang

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Researchers put forward higher requirements for efficient acquisition and utilization of domain knowledge in the big data era. As literature is an effective way for researchers to quickly and accurately understand the research situation in their field, the knowledge discovery based on literature has become a new research method. As a tool to organize and manage knowledge in a specific domain, the subject knowledge base can be used to mine and present the knowledge behind the literature to meet the users' personalized needs. This study designs the construction route of the subject knowledge base for specific research problems. Information extraction method based on knowledge engineering is adopted. Firstly, the subject knowledge model is built through the abstraction of the research elements. Then under the guidance of the knowledge model, extraction rules of knowledge points are compiled to analyze, extract and correlate entities, relations, and attributes in literature. Finally, a database platform based on this structured knowledge is developed that can provide a variety of services such as knowledge retrieval, knowledge browsing, knowledge q&a, and visualization correlation. Taking the construction practices in the field of activating blood circulation and removing stasis as an example, this study analyzes how to construct subject knowledge base based on literature knowledge extraction. As the system functional test shows, this subject knowledge base can realize the expected service scenarios such as a quick query of knowledge, related discovery of knowledge and literature, knowledge organization. As this study enables subject knowledge base to help researchers locate and acquire deep domain knowledge quickly and accurately, it provides a transformation mode of knowledge resource construction and personalized precision knowledge services in the data-intensive research environment.

Keywords: knowledge model, literature knowledge extraction, precision knowledge services, subject knowledge base

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Authors: Leila Najafian

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Sarcoplasmic protein hydrolysates (SPHs) and myofibrillar protein hydrolysates (MPHs) from patin (Pangasius sutchi) were produced using two types of proteases: Papain and Alcalase. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging activities and metal chelating activity assays for antioxidant activities were carried out on the SPHs and MPHs. The hydrolysates were isolated and purified by ultrafiltration, gel filtration and reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (LC-MS/MS) was used in identifying peptide sequences. The results showed that when the DH of MPHs increased, the protein solubility increased, while the highest amount of the protein solubility of SPHs was after 60 min incubation. The effect of DH on antioxidant activities of SPHs and MPHs was investigated. Among the hydrolysates, papain-MPH and Alcalase-SPH, which had the highest antioxidant activities, were purified. The potent fractions obtained from RP-HPLC of sarcoplasmic (SI 3 fraction) and myofibrillar (MI 4 fraction) hydrolysates showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity. The FVNQPYLLYSVHMK peptide for MPH and the LVVDIPAALQHA peptide for SPH exhibited the highest antioxidant activity. The presence of hydrophobic and hydrophilic amino acids, namely leucine (L), valine (V), phenylalanine (F), histidine (H) and proline (P), in the peptide sequences of SPH and MPH are believed to contribute to high antioxidant activity. Hence, SPH and MPH from patin have the potential as a natural functional ingredient in food and pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords: patin (Pangasius sutchi), protein hydrolysates, antioxidative peptides, mass spectrometry

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Authors: Anjelika Kremer, Irina Nachimov, Dan Justo

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Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) serum levels are commonly measured in hospitalized patients. Elevated admission CRP serum levels and in-hospital mortality has been seldom studied in the general population of elderly patients admitted to the acute Geriatrics department. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary medical center. Included were all elderly patients (age 65 years or more) admitted to a single acute Geriatrics department from the emergency room between April 2014 and January 2015. CRP serum levels were measured routinely in all patients upon the first 24 hours of admission. A logistic regression analysis was used to study if admission CRP serum levels were associated with in-hospital mortality independent of age, gender, functional status, and co-morbidities. Results: Overall, 498 elderly patients were included in the analysis: 306 (61.4%) female patients and 192 (38.6%) male patients. The mean age was 84.8±7.0 years (median: 85 years; IQR: 80-90 years). The mean admission CRP serum levels was 43.2±67.1 mg/l (median: 13.1 mg/l; IQR: 2.8-51.7 mg/l). Overall, 33 (6.6%) elderly patients died during the hospitalization. A logistic regression analysis showed that in-hospital mortality was independently associated with history of stroke (p < 0.0001), heart failure (p < 0.0001), and admission CRP serum levels (p < 0.0001) – and to a lesser extent with age (p = 0.042), collagen vascular disease (p=0.011), and recent venous thromboembolism (p=0.037). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that admission CRP serum levels predict in-hospital mortality fairly with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.694 (p < 0.0001). Cut-off value with maximal sensitivity and specificity was 19.7 mg/L. Conclusions: Admission CRP serum levels may be used to predict in-hospital mortality in the general population of elderly patients admitted to the acute Geriatrics department.

Keywords: c-reactive protein, elderly, mortality, prediction

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Authors: Gloria Pinilla, Jose Manuel Baena, Patricia Gálvez-Martín, Juan Antonio Marchad

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Cartilage is a dense connective tissue with limited self-repair properties. Currently, the therapeutic use of autologous or allogenic chondrocytes makes up an alternative therapy to the pharmacological treatment. The design of a bioprinted 3D cartilage with chondrocytes and biodegradable biomaterials offers a new therapeutic alternative able of bridging the limitations of current therapies in the field. We have developed an enhanced printing processes-Injection Volume Filling (IVF) to increase the viability and survival of the cells when working with high-temperature thermoplastics without the limitation of the scaffold geometry in contact with cells. We have demonstrated the viability of the printing process using chondrocytes for cartilage regeneration. This development will accelerate the clinical uptake of the technology and overcomes the current limitation when using thermoplastics as scaffolds. An alginate-based hydrogel combined with human chondrocytes (isolated from osteoarthritis patients) was formulated as bioink-A and the polylactic acid as bioink-B. The bioprinting process was carried out with the REGEMAT V1 bioprinter (Regemat 3D, Granada-Spain) through a IVF. The printing capacity of the bioprinting plus the viability and cell proliferation of bioprinted chondrociytes was evaluated after five weeks by confocal microscopy and Alamar Blue Assay (Biorad). Results showed that the IVF process does not decrease the cell viability of the chondrocytes during the printing process as the cells do not have contact with the thermoplastic at elevated temperatures. The viability and cellular proliferation of the bioprinted artificial 3D cartilage increased after 5 weeks. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the potential use of Regemat V1 for 3D bioprinting of cartilage and the viability of bioprinted chondrocytes in the scaffolds for application in regenerative medicine.

Keywords: cartilage regeneration, bioprinting, bioink, scaffold, chondrocyte

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Authors: G. Singh, H.Schuster, U. Füssel

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The stability of electric arc and durability of electrode tip used in Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding demand a metallurgical study about the chemical transport mechanism of emitter oxide particles in tungsten electrode during its real welding conditions. The tungsten electrodes doped with emitter oxides of rare earth oxides such as La₂O₃, Th₂O₃, Y₂O₃, CeO₂ and ZrO₂ feature a comparatively lower work function than tungsten and thus have superior emission characteristics due to lesser surface temperature of the cathode. The local change in concentration of these emitter particles in tungsten electrode due to high temperature diffusion (chemical transport) can change its functional properties like electrode temperature, work function, electron emission, and stability of the electrode tip shape. The resulting increment in tip surface temperature results in the electrode material loss. It was also observed that the tungsten recrystallizes to large grains at high temperature. When the shape of grain boundaries are granular in shape, the intergranular diffusion of oxide emitter particles takes more time to reach the electrode surface. In the experimental work, the microstructure of the used electrode's tip surface will be studied by scanning electron microscope and reflective X-ray technique in order to gauge the extent of the diffusion and chemical reaction of emitter particles. Besides, a simulated model is proposed to explain the effect of oxide particles diffusion on the electrode’s microstructure, electron emission characteristics, and electrode tip erosion. This model suggests metallurgical modifications in tungsten electrode to enhance its erosion resistance.

Keywords: rare-earth emitter particles, temperature-dependent diffusion, TIG welding, Tungsten electrode

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Authors: Jenan Abu Qadourah

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With the depletion of traditional fossil resources and the growing human population, it is now more important than ever to reduce our energy usage and harmful emissions. In the Mediterranean region, the intense solar radiation contributes to summertime overheating, which raises energy costs and building carbon footprints, alternatively making it suitable for the installation of solar energy systems. In urban settings, where multi-story structures predominate and roof space is limited, photovoltaic integrated shading devices (PVSD) are a clean solution for building designers. However, incorporating photovoltaic (PV) systems into a building's envelope is a complex procedure that, if not executed correctly, might result in the PV system failing. As a result, potential PVSD design solutions must be assessed based on their overall energy performance from the project's early design stage. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate and compare the possible impact of various PVSDs on the energy performance of new apartments in the Mediterranean region, with a focus on Amman, Jordan. To achieve the research aim, computer simulations were performed to assess and compare the energy performance of different PVSD configurations. Furthermore, an energy index was developed by taking into account all energy aspects, including the building's primary energy demand and the PVSD systems' net energy production. According to the findings, the PVSD system can meet 12% to 43% of the apartment building's electricity needs. By highlighting the potential interest in PVSD systems, this study aids the building designer in producing more energy-efficient buildings and encourages building owners to install PV systems on the façade of their buildings.

Keywords: photovoltaic integrated shading device, solar energy, architecture, energy performance, simulation, overall energy index, Jordan

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Authors: G. Karunakaran, M. Jagathambal, N. Van Minh, E. Kolesnikov, A. Gusev, O. V. Zakharova, E. V. Scripnikova, E. D. Vishnyakova, D. Kuznetsov

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Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₂O₃NPs) are widely used in different applications due to its ecofriendly nature and biocompatibility. Hence, in this investigation, biosynthesized Fe₂O₃NPs influence on flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) plant was examined. The biosynthesized nanoparticles were found to be cubic phase which is confirmed by XRD analysis. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of functional groups corresponding to the iron oxide nanoparticle. The elemental analysis also confirmed that the obtained nanoparticle is iron oxide nanoparticle. The scanning electron microscopy and the transmission electron microscopy confirm that the average particle size was around 56 nm. The effect of Fe₂O₃NPs on seed germination followed by biochemical analysis was carried out using standard methods. The results obtained after four days and 11 days of seed vigor studies showed that the seedling length (cm), average number of seedling with leaves, increase in root length (cm) was found to be enhanced on treatment with iron oxide nanoparticles when compared to control. A positive correlation was noticed with the dose of the nanoparticle and plant growth, which may be due to changes in metabolic activity. Hence, to evaluate the change in metabolic activity, peroxidase and catalase activities were estimated. It was clear from the observation that higher concentration of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₂O₃NPs 1000 mg/L) has enhanced peroxidase and catalase activities and in turn plant growth. Thus, this study clearly showed that biosynthesized iron oxide nanoparticles will be an effective nano-nutrient for agriculture applications.

Keywords: catalase, fertilizer, iron oxide nanoparticles, Linum usitatissimum L., nano-nutrient, peroxidase

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Authors: H. Haryati, A. Nor Azura

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Over the turn of the century, the advertising landscape has evolved significantly, from print media to digital media. In line with the shift to the advanced science and technology dramatically shake the framework of societies Fifth Industrial Revolution (IR5.0), technological endeavors have increased exponentially, which influenced user interaction more inspiring through online advertising that intentionally leads to buying behavior. Users are more accustomed to interactive content that responds to their actions. Thus, immersive experience has transformed into a new engagement experience To centennials. The purpose of this paper is to investigate pleasure and arousal as the fundamental elements of consumer emotions and affective responses to marketing stimuli. A quasi-experiment procedure will be adopted in the research involving 40 undergraduate students in Nilai, Malaysia. This study employed a 2 (celebrity endorser vs. Social media influencer) X 2 (high and low visual complexity) factorial between-subjects design. Participants will be exposed to a printed version depicting a fashion product endorsed by a celebrity and social media influencers, presented in high and low levels of visual complexity. While the questionnaire will be Distributing during the lab test session is used to control their honesty, real feedback, and responses through the latest Instagram design and engagement. Therefore, the research aims to define the immersive experience on Instagram and the interaction between pleasure and arousal. An advertisement that evokes pleasure and arousal will be likely getting more attention from the target audience. This is one of the few studies comparing the endorses in Instagram advertising. Also, this research extends the existing knowledge about the immersive visual complexity in the context of social media advertising.

Keywords: immersive visual experience, instagram, pleasure, arousal

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Authors: Emmanuel Mkambankhani, Tiwonge Manda

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Software platform architecture includes system components, their relationships, and design, as well as evolution principles. Software architecture and documentation affect a platform's customizability and openness to external innovators, thus affecting developer productivity. Malawi Point of Care (POC) Electronic Medical Records System (EMRS) follows some architectural design standards, but it lacks third-party innovators and is difficult to customize as compared to CommCare and District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2). Improving software architecture and documentation for the Malawi POC will increase productivity and third-party contributions. A conceptual framework based on Generativity and Boundary Resource Model (BRM) was used to compare the three platforms. Interviews, observations, and document analysis were used to collect primary and secondary data. Themes were found by analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, which led to the following results. Configurable, flexible, and cross-platform software platforms and the availability of interfaces (Boundary Resources) that let internal and external developers interact with the platform's core functionality, hence boosting developer productivity. Furthermore, documentation increases developer productivity, while its absence inhibits the use of resources. The study suggests that the architecture and openness of the Malawi POC EMR software platform will be improved by standardizing web application program interfaces (APIs) and making interfaces that can be changed by the user. In addition, increasing the availability of documentation and training will improve the use of boundary resources, thus improving internal and third-party development productivity.

Keywords: health systems, configurable platforms, software architecture, software documentation, software development productivity

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Authors: Khin Thanda Win, Chunying Zhang, Sanghyeob Lee

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Mildew resistance locus o (Mlo), a plant-specific gene family with seven-transmembrane (TM), plays an important role in plant resistance to powdery mildew (PM). PM caused by Podosphaera xanthii is a widespread plant disease and probably represents the major fungal threat for many Cucurbits. The recent Cucurbita maxima genome sequence data provides an opportunity to identify and characterize the MLO gene family in this species. Total twenty genes (designated CmaMLO1 through CmaMLO20) have been identified by using an in silico cloning method with the MLO gene sequences of Cucumis sativus, Cucumis melo, Citrullus lanatus and Cucurbita pepo as probes. These CmaMLOs were evenly distributed on 15 chromosomes of 20 C. maxima chromosomes without any obvious clustering. Multiple sequence alignment showed that the common structural features of MLO gene family, such as TM domains, a calmodulin-binding domain and 30 important amino acid residues for MLO function, were well conserved. Phylogenetic analysis of the CmaMLO genes and other plant species reveals seven different clades (I through VII) and only clade IV is specific to monocots (rice, barley, and wheat). Phylogenetic and structural analyses provided preliminary evidence that five genes belonged to clade V could be the susceptibility genes which may play the importance role in PM resistance. This study is the first comprehensive report on MLO genes in C. maxima to our knowledge. These findings will facilitate the functional analysis of the MLOs related to PM susceptibility and are valuable resources for the development of disease resistance in pumpkin.

Keywords: Mildew resistance locus o (Mlo), powdery mildew, phylogenetic relationship, susceptibility genes

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Authors: Xavier Bertrand, Alexandre Cayrel

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The early phase of an aircraft development is instrumental as it really drives the potential of a new concept. Any weakness in the high-level design (wing planform, moveable surfaces layout etc.) will be extremely difficult and expensive to recover later in the aircraft development process. Aerodynamic evaluation in this very early development phase is driven by two main criteria: a short lead-time to allow quick iterations of the geometrical design, and a high quality of the calculations to get an accurate & reliable assessment of the current status. These two criteria are usually quite contradictory. Actually, short lead time of a couple of hours from end-to-end can be obtained with very simple tools (semi-empirical methods for instance) although their accuracy is limited, whereas higher quality calculations require heavier/more complex tools, which obviously need more complex inputs as well, and a significantly longer lead time. At this point, the choice has to be done between accuracy and lead-time. A brand new approach has been developed within Airbus, aiming at obtaining quickly high quality evaluations of the aerodynamic of an aircraft. This methodology is based on a joint use of Surrogate Modelling and a lifting line code. The Surrogate Modelling is used to get the wing sections characteristics (e.g. lift coefficient vs. angle of attack), whatever the airfoil geometry, the status of the moveable surfaces (aileron/spoilers) or the high-lift devices deployment. From these characteristics, the lifting line code is used to get the 3D effects on the wing whatever the flow conditions (low/high Mach numbers etc.). This methodology has been applied successfully to a concept of medium range aircraft.

Keywords: aerodynamics, lifting line, surrogate model, CFD

Procedia PDF Downloads 336

Authors: C. M. Nur Syazwani, M. K. Ahmad Imran, Rizal E. M. Nasir

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The study on BWB UV begins in UiTM since 2005 and three designs have been studied and published. The latest designs are Baseline-III and inspired by birds that have features and aerodynamics behaviour of cruising birds without flapping capability. The aircraft featuring planform and configuration are similar to the bird. Baseline-III has major flaws particularly in its low lift-to-drag ratio, stability and issues regarding limited controllability. New design known as Baseline-IV replaces straight, swept wing to delta wing and have a broader tail compares to the Baseline-III’s. The objective of the study is to investigate aerodynamics of Baseline-IV bird-inspired BWB aircraft. This will be achieved by theoretical calculation and wind tunnel experiments. The result shows that both theoretical and wind tunnel experiments of Baseline-IV graph of CL and CD versus alpha are quite similar to each other in term of pattern of graph slopes and values. Baseline-IV has higher lift coefficient values at wide range of angle of attack compares to Baseline-III. Baseline-IV also has higher maximum lift coefficient, higher maximum lift-to-drag and lower parasite drag. It has stable pitch moment versus lift slope but negative moment at zero lift for zero angle-of-attack tail setting. At high angle of attack, Baseline-IV does not have stability reversal as shown in Baseline-III. Baseline-IV is proven to have improvements over Baseline-III in terms of lift, lift-to-drag ratio and pitch moment stability at high angle-of-attack.

Keywords: blended wing-body, bird-inspired blended wing-body, aerodynamic, stability

Procedia PDF Downloads 493

Authors: Azin Shakibabarough, Mojtaba Valinejadshoubi, Ashutosh Bagchi

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Catastrophic bridge failure happens due to the lack of inspection, lack of design and extreme events like flooding, an earthquake. Bridge Management System (BMS) is utilized to diminish such an accident with proper design and frequent inspection. Visual inspection cannot detect any subsurface defects, so using Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques remove these barriers as far as possible. Among all NDE techniques, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has been proved as a highly effective device for detecting internal defects in a reinforced concrete bridge deck. GPR is used for detecting rebar location and rebar corrosion in the reinforced concrete deck. GPR profile is composed of hyperbola series in which sound hyperbola denotes sound rebar and blur hyperbola or signal attenuation shows corroded rebar. Interpretation of GPR images is implemented by numerical analysis or visualization. Researchers recently found that interpretation through visualization is more precise than interpretation through numerical analysis, but visualization is time-consuming and a highly subjective process. Automating the interpretation of GPR image through visualization can solve these problems. After interpretation of all scans of a bridge, condition assessment is conducted based on the generated corrosion map. However, this such a condition assessment is not objective and precise. Condition assessment based on structural integrity and strength parameters can make it more objective and precise. The main purpose of this study is to present an automated interpretation method of a reinforced concrete bridge deck through a visualization technique. In the end, the combined analysis of the structural condition in a bridge is implemented.

Keywords: bridge condition assessment, ground penetrating radar, GPR, NDE techniques, visualization

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Anam Layla, Qamar Abbas Syed, Tahir Zahoor, Muhammad Shahid

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Brassicaceae sprouts are promising candidates for functional food because of their unique phytochemistry and high nutrient density compared to their seeds and matured vegetables. Despite being admired for their health-promoting properties, white cabbage sprouts have been least explored for their nutritional significance and behavior to lactic acid fermentation. This study aimed to investigate the role of lactic acid fermentation i.e., inoculum vs. spontaneous, in reducing intrinsic toxicants load and improving nutrients delivering potential of the white cabbage sprouts. White cabbage sprouts with a 5 – 7 cm average size were processed as raw, blanched, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum inoculated fermentation and spontaneous fermentation. Plant material was dehydrated at 40˚C and evaluated for microbiological quality, macronutrients, minerals, and anti-nutrient contents. The results indicate L. plantarum inoculum fermentation of blanched cabbage sprouts (IF-BCS) to increase lactic acid bacteria count of the sprouts from 0.97 to 8.47 log CFU/g. Compared with the raw cabbage sprouts (RCS), inoculum fermented-raw cabbage sprouts (IF-RCS), and spontaneous fermented-raw cabbage sprouts (SF-RCS), the highest content of Ca (447 mg/ 100g d.w.), Mg (204 mg/100g d.w.), Fe (9.3 mg/100g d.w.), Zn (5 mg/100g d.w.) and Cu (0.5 mg/100g d.w.) were recorded in IF-BCS. L. plantarum led fermentation of BCS demonstrated a reduction in phytates, tannins, and oxalates contents at a rate of 42%, 66%, and 53%, respectively, while standalone lactic acid fermentation of the raw sprouts reduced the burden of anti-nutrients in a range between 32 to 56%. The results suggest L. plantarum led lactic acid fermentation coupled with sprouts blanching is the most promising way to improve the nutritional quality and safety of the white cabbage sprouts.

Keywords: lactic acid fermentation, anti-nutrients, mineral content, nutritional quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 45

Authors: Ruttana Phetsitong, Patama Vapattanawong, Malee Sunpuwan, Marc Voelker

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The majority of care for older people at home in Thai society falls upon caregivers resulting in caregiver’s mental health problem. Beyond individual characteristics, household factors might have a profound effect on the caregiver’s mental health. But reliable data capturing this at the household level have been limited to date. The objectives of the present study were to explore the levels of Thai caregiver’s mental health and to investigate the factors affecting the mental health at household level. Data were obtained from the 2011 National Survey of Thai Older Persons conducted by the National Statistical Office of Thailand. Caregiver’s mental health was measured by using the 15- items-short version of the Thai Mental Health Indicator (TMHI-15) developed by the Department of Mental Health, the Ministry of Public Health. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to explore the impact of potential factors on caregiver’s mental health. The THMI-15 produced an overall average caregiver mental health score of 30.9 out of 45 (SD 5.3). The score can be categorized into good (34.02-45), fair (27.01-34), and poor (0-27). Duration of care for older people, household wealth, and functional dependency of the older people significantly predicted total caregiver’s mental health. Household economic factor was key in predicting better mental health. Compared to those poorest households, the adjusted effect of the fifth quintile household wealth was high (OR=2.34; 95%CI=1.47-3.73). The findings of this study provide a fuller picture to a better understanding of the level and factors that cause the mental health of Thai caregivers. Health care providers and policymakers should consider these factors when designing interventions aimed at alleviating caregiver’s psychological burden when provided care for older people at home.

Keywords: caregiver’s mental health, household, older people, Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Hamzeh Awad

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Disability is considered to be a worldwide complex phenomenon which rising at a phenomenal rate and caused by many different factors. Chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes can lead to mobility disability in particular and disability in general. The ICF is an integrative bio-psycho-social model of functioning and disability and considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a reference for disability classification using its categories and core set to classify disorder’s functional limitations. Specialist programs at Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Humanitarian City (SBAHC) are providing both inpatient and outpatient services have started to implement the ICF and use it as a problem solving tool in Rehab. Diabetes is leading contributing factor for disability and considered epidemic in several Gulf countries including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), where its prevalence continues to increase dramatically. Metabolic disorders, mainly diabetes are not well covered in Rehab field. The purpose of this study is present to research and clinical rehabilitation field of DREAM and ICF as a framework in clinical and research setting in Rehab service. Also, shed the light on using the ICF as problem solving tool at SBAHC. There are synergies between disability causes and wider public health priorities in relation to both chronic disease and disability prevention. Therefore, there is a need for strong advocacy and understanding of the role of ICF as a reference in Rehab settings in Middle East if we wish to seize the opportunity to reverse current trends of acquired disability in the region.

Keywords: international classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF), prototype, rehabilitation and diabetes

Procedia PDF Downloads 336

Authors: Paria Saadatjoo

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Given that HVAC systems are the main sources of carbon dioxide producers, developing ways to reduce dependence on these systems and making use of natural resources is too important to achieve environmentally friendly buildings. A major part of building potential in terms of using natural energy resources depends on its physical features. So architectural decisions at the first step of the design process can influence the building's energy efficiency significantly. Implementation of semi-open spaces into solid apartment blocks inspired by the concept of courtyard in ancient buildings as a passive cooling strategy is currently enjoying great popularity. However, the analysis of these features and their effect on wind behavior at initial design steps is a difficult task for architects. The main objective of this research was to investigate the influence of semi-open to closed space ratio on airflow patterns in and around midrise buildings and introduce the best ratio in terms of harnessing natural ventilation. The main strategy of this paper was semi-experimental, and the research methodology was descriptive statistics. At the first step, by changing the terrace area, 6 models with various open to closed space ratios were created. These forms were then transferred to CFD software to calculate the primary indicators of natural ventilation potentials such as wind force coefficient, air flow rate, age of air distribution, etc. Investigations indicated that modifying the terrace area and, in other words, the open to closed space ratio influenced the wind force coefficient, airflow rate, and age of air distribution.

Keywords: natural ventilation, wind, midrise, open space, energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Emmanuel Larbi Offei, Felix Agyei-Sasu, Maura Naa Densua Ashong

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Ghana has 26 universal banks and several banking and non-banking financial institutions operating in the country. The growing number of banks has heightened competition among banks to attract and retain customers more customers to ensure sustainability. Hence the need to identify and understand factors that influences customers’ choice of banks cannot be overemphasised. This study investigates the determinants of bank selection criteria by banking customers in Ghana. Four banks were purposively sampled for this study namely Barclays, Standard Chartered, Sahel Sahara and Unibank. Convenience sampling was then used to select 114 bank customers in Accra and interviewed. Questionnaires were used to collect data that were analysed in tables and charts with the use of STATA software. The findings of the study revealed that quick/prompt services and complaint handling, safety of funds, networked branches, easy access to functional Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and low/moderate service charges were the major determinants of customers’ choice of banks. The results further show that 89.5 percent of all deposits are held in either current or savings accounts. About 22.1 percent of the respondents indicated that they have plans of changing their banks in the near future because they are not satisfied with their banks. A gender analysis of the choice criteria showed differences between the choice criteria of the male as compared to the female. The study recommends that banks in Ghana should focus on products and policies that will not compromise on the safety of funds of their customers. Again, banks must address customer complaints and dissatisfactions as promptly as possible by taking pragmatic steps to address administrative bureaucracies and infrastructural challenges that prolong the duration of banking transactions.

Keywords: Ghana, banks, determinants, customers’ choice, competition

Procedia PDF Downloads 423

Authors: Magarò Floriana, Zinno Raffaele

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Since 2009, with the coming into force of the January 14, 2008 Ministerial Decree "New technical standards for construction", and the explanatory ministerial circular N°.617 of February 2, 2009, the question of seismic hazard and the design of seismic-resistant structures in Italy has acquired increasing importance. One of the most discussed aspects in recent Italian and international scientific literature concerns the dynamic interaction between land and structure, and the effects which dynamic coupling may have on individual buildings. In effect, from systems dynamics, it is well known that resonance can have catastrophic effects on a stimulated system, leading to a response that is not compatible with the previsions in the design phase. The method used in this study to estimate the frequency of oscillation of the structure is as follows: the analysis of HVSR (Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio) relations. This allows for evaluation of very simple oscillation frequencies for land and structures. The tool used for data acquisition is an experimental digital tromograph. This is an engineered development of the experimental Languamply RE 4500 tromograph, equipped with an engineered amplification circuit and improved electronically using extremely small electronic components (size of each individual amplifier 16 x 26 mm). This tromograph is a modular system, completely "free" and "open", designed to interface Windows, Linux, OSX and Android with the outside world. It an amplifier designed to carry out microtremor measurements, yet which will also be useful for seismological and seismic measurements in general. The development of single amplifiers of small dimension allows for a very clean signal since being able to position it a few centimetres from the geophone eliminates cable “antenna” phenomena, which is a necessary characteristic in seeking to have signals which are clean at the very low voltages to be measured.

Keywords: microtremor, HVSR, tromograph, structural engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 395

Authors: Nonso Ochinanwata, Patrick Oseloka Ezepue

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This paper explores challenges and prospects in Nigerian higher education. The paper develops an integrated business model that aimed to innovate Nigeria higher education system. A survey and semi-structured interview among Nigerian higher education academics, students and graduates are used to explore the challenges and prospects. The study provides a comparison between lecturers, students and graduates opinions to evaluate challenges and prospects in Nigerian higher institutions. The study found to achieve efficient and effectiveness innovation in Nigerian higher education, there is a need for higher institutions to collaborate with industry professionals and other stakeholders such as company management, and government policy makers in designing higher education institutions curricula. The study found that the curriculum design and delivery need to blend theoretical understanding and real-life experience from industry, and with social cultural influences related to Nigerian environment. This will enable lecturers to organise their teaching and assessments such that students can learn around theoretical and practical study themes. The curriculum design and delivery need to link the core ideas to challenging problems in society, nationally and globally. Hence, this approach will support business start-ups and social entrepreneurship which resolve key societal problems. The study suggests that higher education executives, directors, deans, head of departments, and even individual academics need to emulate innovative business managers to create value-adding products and services from innovative research and academic work.

Keywords: higher education, curriculum innovation, business model innovation, teaching and research excellence, economic development

Procedia PDF Downloads 257