Search results for: smart phone applications

Authors: Helida T. G. Soares, Antonio J. P. da Silva

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As the society develops, the accumulation of solid waste in landfills, in the environment, and the depletion of the raw material increases. In this way, there is relevance in researching the interaction between the environmental management and civil construction; therefore, this project has for scope the analysis and the effects of the rubber microparticles use as a small aggregate added to the sand, producing an ecological mortar for the pavement constitution, from the mixture of a paste, composed of Portland cement and water, and its application in sports courts. It was used the detailed reutilization of micro rubber in its most primordial, micro form, highlighting the powder pattern as the additional balancing of the mortar, analyzing the evolution of the mechanical properties. Percentages of 5, 10 and 15% rubber were used based on the total mass of the trace, where there is no removal of aggregates or cement, only increment of the rubber. The results obtained through the mechanical test of simple compression showed that the rubber, added to the mortar, presents low mechanical resistance compared to the reference trait, the study of this subject is vast of possibilities to be explored. In this sense, we seek sustainability and innovation from the use of an ecological material, thus adding value and reducing the impact of this material on the environment. The manufacturing process takes place from the direct mixing of cement paste and rubber, whether manually, mechanically or industrially. It results in the production of a low-cost mortar, through the use of recycled rubber, with high efficiency in general properties, such as compressive strength and friction coefficient, allowing its use for the construction of floors for sports courts with high durability. Thus, it is possible to reuse this micro rubber residue in other applications in simple concrete artifacts.

Keywords: civil construction, ecological mortar, high efficiency, rubber

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Debananda Mohapatra, Subramanya Badrayyana, Smrutiranjan Parida

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Recognizing the upcoming era of carbon nanostructures and their revolutionary applications, we investigated the formation and supercapacitor application of highly pure and hydrophilic carbon nano-onions (CNOs) by economical one-step flame-synthesis procedure. The facile and scalable method uses easily available organic carbon source such as clarified butter, restricting the use of any catalyst, sophisticated instrumentation, high vacuum and post processing purification procedure. The active material was conformally coated onto a locally available cotton wipe by “sonicating and drying” process to obtain novel, lightweight, inexpensive, flexible, binder-free electrodes with strong adhesion between nanoparticles and porous wipe. This interesting electrode with CNO as the active material delivers a specific capacitance of 102.16 F/g, the energy density of 14.18 Wh/kg and power density of 2448 W/kg which are the highest values reported so far in symmetrical two electrode cell configuration with 1M Na2SO4 as an electrolyte. Incorporation of CuO nanoparticles to these functionalized CNOs by one-step hydrothermal method add up to a significant specific capacitance of 420 F/g with deliverable energy and power density at 58.33 Wh/kg and 4228 W/kg, respectively. The free standing CNOs, as well as CNO-CuO composite electrode, showed an excellent cyclic performance and stability retaining 95 and 90% initial capacitance even after 5000 charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 5 A/g. This work presents a new platform for high performance supercapacitors for next generation wearable electronic devices.

Keywords: binder-free, flame synthesis, flexible, carbon nano-onion

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Sibel Ecemis Kilic, Neslihan Karatas

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The concept of urban renewal came up with interventions to the urban areas which have social and economic problems aimed at gaining the city. In Turkey after 2000, urban renewal has become a frequent topic on the agenda; regulations have been developed in this regard. Urban renewal project would be a focal point for the formation of the city in the near future. The future of the city is directly related to how to achieve these applications. Urban renewal policies will be decisive in the positive or negative development of the potential of the existing renewal process. Urban renewal is seen as a refreshing new planned action for reshaping unplanned and uncontrolled growth of big cities/metropolitan areas. In this context, Izmir is one of the largest metropolitan areas which came on the agenda of urban renewal application in the recent period. Izmir, which is the third largest city of Turkey, is an important trade and port city. The city, located west of Turkey, is a gate opening to Europe. In particular, continued its development rapidly after the Republican Period, it has become an important big city today. Assessment of the current situation shows that the majority of existing residential areas was formed with squatters and unplanned settlements in Izmir city center. Therefore, an important part of these areas have significant problems in terms of the quality of life, safety, and environmental quality. Legal residential areas which have had developed before 2000 is seen inadequate security in terms of an earthquake. In this study, the central policies in Turkey and local policies in İzmir about urban renewal will be considered. In addition, urban renewal projects that are being implemented or applied in Izmir were discussed and suggestions will be developed in accordance with this policy.

Keywords: urban transformation, Izmir, urban planning, urban renewal

Procedia PDF Downloads 484

Authors: Yingwei Hou, Tao Liu, Yong Pang

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The paper explored the three-dimensional deformation of mussel plaques anchor to wet polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates under tension stress with different angles. Mussel plaques exhibiting natural adhesive structures, have attracted significant attention for their remarkable adhesion properties. Understanding their behavior under mechanical stress, particularly in a three-dimensional context, holds immense relevance for biomimetic material design and bio-inspired adhesive development. This study employed a novel approach to investigate the 3D deformation of the PDMS substrates anchored by mussel plaques subjected to controlled tension. Utilizing our customized stereo digital image correlation technique and mechanical mechanics analyses, we found the distributions of the displacement and resultant force on the substrate became concentrated under the plaque. Adhesion and sucking mechanisms were analyzed for the mussel plaque-substrate system under tension until detachment. The experimental findings were compared with a developed model using finite element analysis and the results provide new insights into mussels’ attachment mechanism. This research not only contributes to the fundamental understanding of biological adhesion but also holds promising implications for the design of innovative adhesive materials with applications in fields such as medical adhesives, underwater technologies, and industrial bonding. The comprehensive exploration of mussel plaque behavior in three dimensions is important for advancements in biomimicry and materials science, fostering the development of adhesives that emulate nature's efficiency.

Keywords: adhesion mechanism, mytilus edulis, mussel plaque, stereo digital image correlation

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Mrinal Kanti Bhowmik, Kakali Das Jr., Barin Kumar De, Debotosh Bhattacharjee

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Breast cancer is the most common cancer and a leading cause of death for women in the 35 to 55 age group. Early detection of breast cancer can decrease the mortality rate of breast cancer. Mammography is considered as a ‘Gold Standard’ for breast cancer detection and a very popular modality, presently used for breast cancer screening and detection. The screening of digital mammograms often leads to over diagnosis and a consequence to unnecessary traumatic & painful biopsies. For that reason recent studies involving the use of thermal imaging as a screening technique have generated a growing interest especially in cases where the mammography is limited, as in young patients who have dense breast tissue. Tumor is a significant sign of breast cancer in both mammography and thermography. The tumors are complex in structure and they also exhibit a different statistical and textural features compared to the breast background tissue. Fractal geometry is a geometry which is used to describe this type of complex structure as per their main characteristic, where traditional Euclidean geometry fails. Over the last few years, fractal geometrics have been applied mostly in many medical image (1D, 2D, or 3D) analysis applications. In breast cancer detection using digital mammogram images, also it plays a significant role. Fractal is also used in thermography for early detection of the masses using the thermal texture. This paper presents an overview of the recent aspects and initiatives of fractals in breast cancer detection in both mammography and thermography. The scope of fractal geometry in automatic breast cancer detection using digital mammogram and thermogram images are analysed, which forms a foundation for further study on application of fractal geometry in medical imaging for improving the efficiency of automatic detection.

Keywords: fractal, tumor, thermography, mammography

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Cristina Busuioc, Georgeta Voicu, Sorin-Ion Jinga

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The human bone presents in its dry form piezoelectric properties, which means that a mechanical stress results in electric polarization and an applied electric field causes strain. The immediate consequence was the revealing of piezoelectricity role in bone remodelling, as well as the integration of ceramic materials with piezoelectric behaviour in the composition of unitary or composite biomaterials. Thus, we prepared hydroxyapatite - collagen hybrid materials with barium titanate addition in order to achieve a better osseointegration. Barium titanate powder synthesized by a combined sol-gel-hydrothermal method, commercial hydroxyapatite and laboratory extracted collagen gel were employed as starting materials. Before the composites, fabrication, the powder with piezoelectric features was characterized in detail from the compositional, structural, morphological and electrical point of view. The next step was to elucidate the influence of barium titanate presence especially on the biological properties of the final materials. The biocompatibility of the hybrid supports without or with piezoelectric addition was investigated on mouse osteoblast cells through LDH cytotoxicity assay, LIVE/DEAD cell viability assay, and MTT cell proliferation assay. All results indicated that the analysed materials do not exert cytotoxic effects and present the ability to sustain cell survival and to promote their proliferation. In conclusion, barium titanate nanoparticles exhibit a good biocompatibility and osteoinductive properties, while the derived composite materials based on hydroxyapatite as oxide phase and collagen as polymeric phase can be successfully used for tissue engineering applications.

Keywords: barium titanate, hybrid composites, piezoelectricity, tissue engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Jelena Filipović, Milenko Košutić, Vladimir Filipović

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In the last decades, the urban population has been characterized by sedentary lifestyles, low physical activity, and "fast food". These changes in diet and physical nonactivity have been associated with an increase in chronic diseases. Bread is one of the most popular wheat products consumed worldwide. Spelt wheat has shown potential in various food applications, including bread, pasta, breakfast cereal, and other products of altered nutritional characteristics compared to conventional wheat products. It has very high protein content and even 30 to 60% higher concentration of mineral elements Fe, Zn, Cu, Mg and P compared to Triticum Aestivum. Spelt wheat is growing without the use of pesticides in harsh ecological conditions and it is an old cultivar. So it can be used for organic and health-safe food. Changes in the formulation of bread with the aim of improving its nutritional and functional properties usually lead to changes in the dough's properties, which are related to the quality of the finished product. The aim of this paper is to research the impact of adding yeast extract to bread on sensory characteristics and consumer acceptance of a new product as a key factor for the successful marketing of a distinct product. The sensory analysis of bread with 5% yeast extract is as follows: the technological quality is very good (3.8), and the color of the product is excellent (4.85). Based on data, consumers' survey declared that they liked the taste of bread with 5% yeast extract (74%), consumers marked the product as likable (70%), and 75% of the total number of respondents would buy this new product. This paper is promoting a type of bread with 5% yeast extract (Z score 0.80) to improve diet and a product intended for consumers conscious about their health and diet.

Keywords: bread, yeast extract, sensory analysis, consumer survey, score analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Alok Kumar, Hari Ram, Lebin Thomas, Ved Pal Singh

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Organic solvent tolerant amylases and proteases of microbial origin are in great demand for their application in transglycosylation of water-insoluble flavanoids and in peptide synthesizing reaction in organic media. Most of the amylases and proteases are unstable in presence of organic solvent. In the present work two different bacterial strains M-11 and VP-07 were isolated from the soil sample of a dairy farm in Delhi, India, for the efficient production of extracellular amylase and protease through their screening on starch agar (SA) and skimmed milk agar (SMA) plates, respectively. Both the strains (M-11 and VP-07) were identified based on morphological, biochemical and 16S rRNA gene sequencing methods. After analysis through Ez-Taxon software, the strains M-11 and VP-07 were found to have maximum pairwise similarity of 98.63% and 100% with Bacillus subtilis subsp. inaquosorum BGSC 3A28 and Bacillus anthracis ATCC 14578 and were therefore identified as Bacillus sp. UKS1 and Bacillus sp. UKS2, respectively. Time course study of enzyme activity and bacterial growth has shown that both strains exhibited typical sigmoid growth behavior and maximum production of amylase (180 U/ml) and protease (78 U/ml) by these strains (UKS1 and UKS2) was commenced during stationary phase of growth at 24 and 20 h, respectively. Thereafter, both amylase and protease were tested for their tolerance towards organic solvents and were found to be active as well stable in p-xylene (130% and 115%), chloroform (110% and 112%), isooctane (119% and 107%), benzene (121% and 104%), n-hexane (116% and 103%) and toluene (112% and 101%, respectively). Owing to such properties, these enzymes can be exploited for their potential application in industries for organic synthesis.

Keywords: amylase, enzyme activity, industrial applications, organic solvent tolerant, protease

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Manasa Perikala, Asha Bhardwaj

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Fluorescent carbon dots (CDs), a young member of Carbon nanomaterial family, has gained a lot of research attention across the globe due to its highly luminescent emission properties, non-toxic behavior, stable emission properties, and zero re-absorption lose. These dots have the potential to replace the use of traditional semiconductor quantum dots in light-emitting devices (LED’s, fiber lasers) and other photonic devices (temperature sensor, UV detector). However, One major drawback of Carbon dots is that, till date, the actual mechanism of photoluminescence (PL) in carbon dots is still an open topic of discussion among various researchers across the globe. PL mechanism of CDs based on wide particle size distribution, the effect of surface groups, hybridization in carbon, and charge transfer mechanisms have been proposed. Although these mechanisms explain PL of CDs to an extent, no universally accepted mechanism to explain complete PL behavior of these dots is put forth. In our work, we report parameters affecting the size and surface of CDs, such as time of the reaction, synthesis temperature and concentration of precursors and their effects on the optical properties of the carbon dots. The effect of auxochromes on the emission properties and re-modification of carbon surface using an external surface functionalizing agent is discussed in detail. All the explanations have been supported by UV-Visible absorption, emission spectroscopies, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Transmission electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction techniques. Once the origin of PL in CDs is understood, parameters affecting PL centers can be modified to tailor the optical properties of these dots, which can enhance their applications in the fabrication of LED’s and other photonic devices out of these carbon dots.

Keywords: carbon dots, photoluminescence, size effects on emission in CDs, surface modification of carbon dots

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Tamrat Tesfaye, Bruce Sithole, Deresh Ramjugernath

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Worldwide, the poultry–processing industry generates large quantities of feather by-products that amount to 40 billion kilograms annually. The feathers are considered wastes although small amounts are often processed into valuable products such as feather meal and fertilizers. The remaining waste is disposed of by incineration or by burial in controlled landfills. Improper disposal of these biological wastes contributes to environmental damage and transmission of diseases. Economic pressures, environmental pressures, increasing interest in using renewable and sustainable raw materials, and the need to decrease reliance on non-renewable petroleum resources behove the industry to find better ways of dealing with waste feathers. A closer look at the structure and composition of feathers shows that the whole part of a chicken feather (rachis and barb) can be used as a source of a pure structural protein called keratin which can be exploited for conversion into a number of high-value bio products. Additionally, a number of technologies can be used to convert other biological components of feathers into high value added products. Thus, conversion of the waste into valuable products can make feathers an attractive raw material for the production of bio products. In this review, possible applications of chicken feathers in a variety of technologies and products are discussed. Thus, using waste feathers as a valuable resource can help the poultry industry to dispose of the waste feathers in an environmentally sustainable manner that also generates extra income for the industry. Their valorisation can result in their sustainable conversion into high-value materials and products on the proviso of existence or development of cost-effective technologies for converting this waste into the useful products.

Keywords: biodegradable product, keratin, poultry waste, feathers, valorisation

Procedia PDF Downloads 296

Authors: M. Gómez-Ramírez, A. Rivas-Castillo, I. Rodríguez-Pozos, R. A. Avalos-Zuñiga, N. G. Rojas-Avelizapa

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Among the diverse types of pollutants produced by anthropogenic activities, metals represent a serious threat, due to their accumulation in ecosystems and their elevated toxicity. The mine tailings of abandoned mines contain high levels of metals such as arsenic (As), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb), which do not suffer any degradation process, they are accumulated in environment. Abandoned mine tailings potentially could contaminate rivers and aquifers representing a risk for human health due to their high metal content. In an attempt to remove the metals and thereby mitigate the environmental pollution, an environmentally friendly and economical method of bioremediation has been introduced. Bioleaching has been actively studied over the last several years, and it is one of the bioremediation solutions used to treat heavy metals contained in sewage sludge, sediment and contaminated soil. Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, an extremely acidophilic, chemolithoautotrophic, gram-negative, rod shaped microorganism, which is typically related to Cu mining operations (bioleaching), has been well studied for industrial applications. The sulfuric acid produced plays a major role in bioleaching. Specifically, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans strain DSM 26636 has been able to leach Al, Ni, V, Fe, Mg, Si, and Ni contained in slags from coal combustion wastes. The present study reports the ability of A. thiooxidans DSM 26636 for the bioleaching of metals contained in two different mine tailing samples (MT1 and MT2). It was observed that Al, Fe, and Mn were removed in 36.3±1.7, 191.2±1.6, and 4.5±0.2 mg/kg for MT1, and in 74.5±0.3, 208.3±0.5, and 20.9±0.1 for MT2. Besides, < 1.5 mg/kg of Au and Ru were also bioleached from MT1; in MT2, bioleaching of Zn was observed at 55.7±1.3 mg/kg, besides removal of < 1.5 mg/kg was observed for As, Ir, Li, and 0.6 for Os in this residue. These results show the potential of strain DSM 26636 for the bioleaching of metals that came from different mine tailings.

Keywords: A. thiooxidans, bioleaching, metals, mine tailings

Procedia PDF Downloads 294

Authors: Lovesh Goyal, Pushkar Dave, Prajyot Jadhav, GonnaYaswanth, Sakshi Giri, Sahil Dharme, Rushika Joshi, Rishabh Verma, Shital Chiddarwar

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With the rising need for human-robot interaction, researchers have proposed and tested multiple models with varying degrees of success. A few of these models performed on aerial platforms are commonly known as Tethered Aerial Systems. These aerial vehicles may be powered continuously by a tether cable, which addresses the predicament of the short battery life of quadcopters. This system finds applications to minimize humanitarian efforts for industrial, medical, agricultural, and service uses. However, a significant challenge in employing such systems is that it necessities attaining smooth and secure robot-human interaction while ensuring that the forces from the tether remain within the standard comfortable range for the humans. To tackle this problem, a hybrid control method that could switch between two control techniques: constant control input and the steady-state solution, is implemented. The constant control approach is implemented when a person is far from the target location, and error is thought to be eventually constant. The controller switches to the steady-state approach when the person reaches within a specific range of the goal position. Both strategies take into account human velocity feedback. This hybrid technique enhances the outcomes by assisting the person to reach the desired location while decreasing the human's unwanted disturbance throughout the process, thereby keeping the interaction between the robot and the subject smooth.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle, tethered system, physical human-robot interaction, hybrid control

Procedia PDF Downloads 98

Authors: Gwi Hyun Lee, Mun Soo Na

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Solar energy has many advantages of infinite and clean source, and also it can be used for reduction of greenhouse gases and environment pollution. Concentrated solar system is a very useful to achieve reasonably high thermal efficiency. Different types of solar concentrating systems have been developed such as parabolic trough and parabolic dish. Conical solar concentrator is one of the most reliable and promising renewable energy systems for higher temperature applications. The objectives of this study were to investigate the influence of flow rate affecting the thermal efficiency of a conical solar collector, which has a double tube absorber placed at focal axis for collecting solar radiation. A conical solar concentrator consists of a conical reflector, which reflects direct solar radiation into an absorber. A double tube absorber was placed at the center of focal axis for collecting the solar radiation reflected from a conical reflector. A dual tracking system consists of a linear actuator and slew drive with driving cycle of 6 seconds. Water was used as circulating fluid, which flows from inlet to outlet of an absorber for collecting solar radiation. Three identical conical solar concentrator systems were installed side by side at the same place for the accurate performance analysis under the same environmental conditions. Performance evaluations were carried out with different volumetric flow rate of 2, 4 and 6 L/min to find the influence of flow rate affecting on thermal efficiency. The results indicated that average thermal efficiency was 73.24%, 81.96%, and 79.78% for each flow rate of 2 L/min, 4 L/min, and 6 L/min. It shows that the flow rate of circulating water has a significant effect on the thermal efficiency of the conical solar concentrator. It is concluded that an optimum flow rate of conical solar concentrator is 6 L/min.

Keywords: conical solar concentrator, performance evaluation, solar energy, solar energy system

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: P. G. Romeo

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A Lie group is a highly sophisticated structure which is a smooth manifold whose underlying set of elements is equipped with the structure of a group such that the group multiplication and inverse-assigning functions are smooth. This structure was introduced by the Norwegian mathematician So- phus Lie who founded the theory of continuous groups. The Lie groups are well developed and have wide applications in areas including Mathematical Physics. There are several advances and generalizations for Lie groups and Lie groupoids is one such which is termed as a "many-object generalization" of Lie groups. A groupoid is a category whose morphisms are all invertible, obviously, every group is a groupoid but not conversely. Definition 1. A Lie groupoid G ⇒ M is a groupoid G on a base M together with smooth structures on G and M such that the maps α, β: G → M are surjective submertions, the object inclusion map x '→ 1x, M → G is smooth, and the partial multiplication G ∗ G → G is smooth. A bundle is a triple (E, p, B) where E, B are topological spaces p: E → B is a map. Space B is called the base space and space E is called total space and map p is the projection of the bundle. For each b ∈ B, the space p−1(b) is called the fibre of the bundle over b ∈ B. Intuitively a bundle is regarded as a union of fibres p−1(b) for b ∈ B parametrized by B and ’glued together’ by the topology of the space E. A cross-section of a bundle (E, p, B) is a map s: B → E such that ps = 1B. Example 1. Given any space B, a product bundle over B with fibre F is (B × F, p, B) where p is the projection on the first factor. Definition 2. A principal bundle P (M, G, π) consists of a manifold P, a Lie group G, and a free right action of G on P denoted (u, g) '→ ug, such that the orbits of the action coincide with the fibres of the surjective submersion π : P → M, and such that M is covered by the domains of local sections σ: U → P, U ⊆ M, of π. Definition 3. A Lie group bundle, or LGB, is a smooth fibre bundle (K, q, M ) in which each fibre (Km = q−1(m), and the fibre type G, has a Lie group structure, and for which there is an atlas {ψi: Ui × G → KUi } such that each {ψi,m : G → Km}, is an isomorphism of Lie groups. A morphism of LGB from (K, q, M ) to (K′, q′, M′) is a morphism (F, f ) of fibre bundles such that each Fm: Km → K′ is a morphism of Lie groups. In this paper, we will be discussing the Lie groupoid bundles. Here it is seen that to a Lie groupoid Ω on base B there is associated a collection of principal bundles Ωx(B, Ωx), all of which are mutually isomorphic and conversely, associated to any principal bundle P (B, G, p) there is a groupoid called the Ehresmann groupoid which is easily seen to be Lie. Further, some interesting properties of the category of Lie groupoids and bundles will be explored.

Keywords: groupoid, lie group, lie groupoid, bundle

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Ayla Hoeta

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In a post-colonial Aotearoa New Zealand, solutions by rangatahi (youth) for rangatahi are essential as is civic participation and building economic agency in an increasingly tough economic climate. Upsouth was an online community crowdsourcing platform developed by The Southern Initiative, in collaboration with Itsnoon that provides rangatahi and whānau (family) a safe space to share lived experience, thoughts and ideas about local kaupapa (issues/topics) of importance to them. The target participants were Māori indigenous peoples and Pacifica groups, aged 14 - 21 years. In the Aotearoa New Zealand context, this participant group is not likely to engage in traditional consultation processes despite being an essential constituent in helping shape better local communities, whānau and futures. The Upsouth platform was active for two years from 2018-2019 where it completed 42 callups with 4300+ participants. The web platform collates the ideas, voices, feedback, and content of users around a callup that has been commissioned by a sponsor, such as Auckland Council, Z Energy or Auckland Transport. A callup may be about a pressing challenge in a community such as climate change, a new housing development, homelessness etc. Each callup was funded by the sponsor with Upsouths main point of difference being that participants are given koha (money donation) through digital wallets for their ideas. Depending on the quality of what participants upload, the koha varies between small micropayments and larger payments. This encouraged participants to develop creative and critical thinking - upskilling for future focussed jobs, enterprise and democratic skills while earning pocket money at the same time. Upsouth enables youth-led action and voice, and empowers them to be a part of a reciprocal and creative economy. Rangatahi are encouraged to express themselves culturally, creatively, freely and in a way they are free to choose - for example, spoken word, song, dance, video, drawings, and/or poems. This challenges and changes what is considered acceptable as community engagement feedback by the local government. Many traditional engagement platforms are not as consultative, do not accept diverse types of feedback, nor incentivise this valuable expression of feedback. Upsouth is also empowering for rangatahi, since it allows them the opportunity to express their opinions directly to the government. Upsouth gained national and international recognition for the way it engages with youth: winning the Supreme Award and the Accessibility and Transparency Award at Auckland Council’s 2018 Engagement Awards, becoming a finalist in the 2018 Digital Equity and Accessibility category of International Data Corporation’s Smart City Asia and Pacific Awards. This paper will fully contextualize the challenges of rangatahi and whānau civic engagement in Aotearoa New Zealand and then present a reflective case study of the Upsouth project, with examples from some of the callups. This is intended to form part of the Divided Cities 22 conference New Ground sub-theme as a critical reflection on a design intervention, which was conceived and implemented by the lead author to overcome the post-colonial divisions of Māori, Pacifica and minority ethnic rangatahi in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Keywords: rangatahi, youth empowerment, civic engagement, enabling, relating, digital platform, participation

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Mamta Bulla, Vinay Kumar

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The transition to renewable energy sources is essential due to the finite limitations of conventional fossil fuels, which contribute significantly to environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Traditional energy storage solutions, such as batteries and capacitors, are also hindered by limitations, particularly in capacity, cycle life, and energy density. Conventional supercapacitors, while able to deliver high power, often suffer from low energy density, limiting their efficiency in storing and providing renewable energy consistently. Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, produce power intermittently, so efficient energy storage solutions are required to manage this variability. Advanced materials, particularly those with high capacity and long cycle life, are critical to developing supercapacitors capable of effectively storing renewable energy. Among various electrode materials, vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) offers high theoretical capacitance, but its poor conductivity and cycling stability limit practical applications. This study explores the hydrothermal synthesis of a V₂O₅-carbon nanotube (CNT) composite to overcome these drawbacks, combining the high capacitance of V₂O₅ with the exceptional conductivity and mechanical stability of CNTs. The resulting V₂O₅-CNT composite demonstrates enhanced electrochemical performance, showing high specific capacitance of 890 F g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹ current density, excellent rate capability, and improved cycling stability, making it a promising candidate for next-generation supercapacitors, with significant improvements in energy storage efficiency and durability.

Keywords: cyclability, energy density, nanocomposite, renewable energy, supercapacitor

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Authors: Abubakar Dahiru Shuaibu, Atif Saeed Alzahrani, Md. Abdul Aziz

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Construction of eco-benign, cost effective, and high-performance supercapacitors with improved electrolytes and hierarchical porous electrodes is necessary for effective energy storage. In this study, a gel type organic redox electrolyte made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-H2SO4 and an organic redox molecule, anthraquinone (PVA-H2SO4-AQ), was prepared by simple solution casting method and was used to construct a symmetric supercapacitor (SSC) with a high BET surface area (1612 m²/g) using activated carbon made from date stones (DSAC). The DSAC was synthesized by simple carbonization method followed by activation with potassium hydroxide. The SSC exhibit a high specific capacitance of 126.5 F/g at 0.5 A/g, as well as a high energy density of 17.5 Wh/kg at a power density of 250 W/kg with high capacitance retention (87%) after 1000 GCD cycles. The present research suggests that adding anthraquinone to a PVA-H2SO4 gel electrolyte improves the performance of the fabricated device significantly as compared to using pristine PVA-H₂SO₄ or 1M H₂SO₄ electrolytes. The research also presents a promising approach for the development of sustainable and eco-benign materials for energy storage applications. The use of date stone waste as a precursor material for activated carbon electrodes presents an opportunity for cost-effective and sustainable energy storage. Overall, the findings of this research have important implications for the future design and fabrication of high-performance and cost-effective supercapacitors

Keywords: date stone, activated carbon, anthraquinone, redox gel-electrolyte, supercapacitor

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: H. Heidari-Bafroui, B. Ribeiro, A. Charbaji, C. Anagnostopoulos, M. Faghri

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In this paper, we report the development of a portable and inexpensive infrared lightbox for improving the detection limits of paper-based phosphate devices. Commercial paper-based devices utilize the molybdenum blue protocol to detect phosphate in the environment. Although these devices are easy to use and have a long shelf life, their main deficiency is their low sensitivity based on the qualitative results obtained via a color chart. To improve the results, we constructed a compact infrared lightbox that communicates wirelessly with a smartphone. The system measures the absorbance of radiation for the molybdenum blue reaction in the infrared region of the spectrum. It consists of a lightbox illuminated by four infrared light-emitting diodes, an infrared digital camera, a Raspberry Pi microcontroller, a mini-router, and an iPhone to control the microcontroller. An iPhone application was also developed to analyze images captured by the infrared camera in order to quantify phosphate concentrations. Additionally, the app connects to an online data center to present a highly scalable worldwide system for tracking and analyzing field measurements. In this study, the detection limits for two popular commercial devices were improved by a factor of 4 for the Quantofix devices (from 1.3 ppm using visible light to 300 ppb using infrared illumination) and a factor of 6 for the Indigo units (from 9.2 ppm to 1.4 ppm) with repeatability of less than or equal to 1.2% relative standard deviation (RSD). The system also provides more granular concentration information compared to the discrete color chart used by commercial devices and it can be easily adapted for use in other applications.

Keywords: infrared lightbox, paper-based device, phosphate detection, smartphone colorimetric analyzer

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Authors: Tanit Daniel Jodar Vecina, Adriane Prisco Petry

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The shape of the wind velocity profile changes according to local features of terrain shape and roughness, which are parameters responsible for defining the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) profile. Air flow characteristics over and around landforms, such as hills, are of considerable importance for applications related to Wind Farm and Turbine Engineering. The air flow is accelerated on top of hills, which can represent a decisive factor for Wind Turbine placement choices. The present work focuses on the study of ABL behavior as a function of slope and surface roughness of hill-shaped landforms, using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to build wind velocity and turbulent intensity profiles. Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are closed using the SST k-ω turbulence model; numerical results are compared to experimental data measured in wind tunnel over scale models of the hills under consideration. Eight hill models with slopes varying from 25° to 68° were tested for two types of terrain categories in 2D and 3D, and two analytical codes are used to represent the inlet velocity profiles. Numerical results for the velocity profiles show differences under 4% when compared to their respective experimental data. Turbulent intensity profiles show maximum differences around 7% when compared to experimental data; this can be explained by not being possible to insert inlet turbulent intensity profiles in the simulations. Alternatively, constant values based on the averages of the turbulent intensity at the wind tunnel inlet were used.

Keywords: Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD), Numerical Modeling, Wind Tunnel

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Authors: A. Ait Ahsene F., B. Boughrara S.

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The buildings sector accounts for a significant portion of global energy consumption, with much of this energy used to heat and cool indoor spaces. In this context, the integration of innovative technologies such as phase change materials (PCM) holds promising potential to improve the energy efficiency and thermal comfort of buildings. This research topic explores the benefits and challenges associated with the use of PCMs in buildings, focusing on their ability to store and release thermal energy to regulate indoor temperature. We investigated the different types of PCM available, their thermal properties, and their potential applications in various climate zones and building types. To evaluate and compare the performance of PCMs, our methodology includes a series of laboratory and field experiments. In the laboratory, we measure the thermal storage capacity, melting and solidification temperatures, latent heat, and thermal conductivity of various PCMs. These measurements make it possible to quantify the capacity of each PCM to store and release thermal energy, as well as its capacity to transfer this energy through the construction materials. Additionally, field studies are conducted to evaluate the performance of PCMs in real-world environments. We install PCM systems in real buildings and monitor their operation over time, measuring energy savings, occupant thermal comfort, and material durability. These empirical data allow us to compare the effectiveness of different types of PCMs under real-world use conditions. By combining the results of laboratory and field experiments, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the advantages and limitations of PCMs in buildings, as well as recommendations for their effective application in practice.

Keywords: energy saving, phase change materials, material sustainability, buildings sector

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Authors: Veronika Lesáková, Silvia Slezáková, František Štěpánek

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Additive manufacturing technologies producing drug dosage forms aimed at personalized medicine applications are promising strategies with several advantages over the conventional production methods. One of the emerging technologies is 3D printing which reduces manufacturing steps and thus allows a significant drop in expenses. A decrease in material consumption is also a highly impactful benefit as the tested drugs are frequently expensive substances. In addition, 3D printed dosage forms enable increased patient compliance and prevent misdosing as the dosage forms are carefully designed according to the patient’s needs. The incorporation of multiple drugs into a single dosage form further increases the degree of personalization. Our research focuses on the development of 3D printed tablets incorporating multiple drugs (candesartan, losartan) and thermoplastic polymers (e.g., KlucelTM HPC EF). The filaments, an essential feed material for 3D printing,wereproduced via hot-melt extrusion. Subsequently, the extruded filaments of various formulations were 3D printed into tablets using an FDM 3D printer. Then, we have assessed the influence of the internal structure of 3D printed tablets and formulation on dissolution behaviour by obtaining the dissolution profiles of drugs present in the 3D printed tablets. In conclusion, we have developed tablets containing multiple drugs providing modified release profiles. The 3D printing experiments demonstrate the high tunability of 3D printing as each tablet compartment is constructed with a different formulation. Overall, the results suggest that the 3D printing technology is a promising manufacturing approach to dual tablet preparation for personalized medicine.

Keywords: 3D printing, drug delivery, hot-melt extrusion, dissolution kinetics

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Authors: Jorge Gonzalez-Camus

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In this work is proved the existence of at least one minimal and maximal mild solutions to the Cauchy problem, for fractional evolution equation of neutral type, involving a general kernel. An operator A generating a resolvent family and integral resolvent family on a Banach space X and a kernel belonging to a large class appears in the equation, which covers many relevant cases from physics applications, in particular, the important case of time - fractional evolution equations of neutral type. The main tool used in this work was the Kuratowski measure of noncompactness and fixed point theorems, specifically Darbo-type, and an iterative method of lower and upper solutions, based in an order in X induced by a normal cone P. Initially, the equation is a Cauchy problem, involving a fractional derivate in Caputo sense. Then, is formulated the equivalent integral version, and defining a convenient functional, using the theory of resolvent families, and verifying the hypothesis of the fixed point theorem of Darbo type, give us the existence of mild solution for the initial problem. Furthermore, the existence of minimal and maximal mild solutions was proved through in an iterative method of lower and upper solutions, using the Azcoli-Arzela Theorem, and the Gronwall’s inequality. Finally, we recovered the case derivate in Caputo sense.

Keywords: fractional evolution equations, Volterra integral equations, minimal and maximal mild solutions, neutral type equations, non-local in time equations

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Authors: Z. Abram, V. Nadasan, J. Balint, J. L. Ferencz

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Introduction: Online smoking prevention programs became popular in the last time. In order to extend the use of such programs, existing applications can be adapted and translated in the native languages of the target groups. It is the first time that in Romania such a software was implemented. Our goal was to provide a computer-aided intervention with attractive content targeting high school students who are familiar with information and communication technology. Material and methods: ASPIRA is the Romanian/Hungarian adapted version of a smoking prevention program created in USA. Prior to apply the questionnaire and ASPIRA online program which contains five modules that include tests, videos and interactive games, the program was tested in some IT laboratories on a group of schoolchildren and students. The pilot study questionnaires were completed considering the opinions of young people and the functionality of the software. Results: Above 90% of participants reported a good or very good impression about the ASPIRA program. Only a small minority found that the program included some parts which were too long or reported the existence of any technical problems regarding the functionality of the software. 76% of the participants had little or very little difficulty in understanding the messages presented by the English speaking characters. Only 7.5% of the participants thought that the program included content that was not appropriate for the local culture. Conclusions: The vast majority of students reported favorite impressions about ASPIRA online program. High school students and boys were more critical. Language and cultural barriers did not have the potential to reduce in a significant manner the effectiveness of the tested program.

Keywords: smoking prevention, ASPIRA online program, youth opinions, language/cultural barriers

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Authors: Joo-Hack Lee, Jin-Seung Choi, Dong-Won Kang, Jeong-Woo Seo, Ju-Young Kim, Dae-Hyeok Kim, Seung-Tae Yang, Gye-Rae Tack

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For cycling, the analysis of the pedal force is one of the important factors in the study of exercise ability assessment and overuse injuries. In past studies, a two-axis measurement sensor was used at the sagittal plane to measure the force only in the anterior, posterior, and vertical directions and to analyze the loss of force and the injury on the frontal plane due to the forces in the right and left directions. In this study, which is a basic study on diverse analyses of the pedal force that consider the forces on the sagittal plane and the frontal plane, a three-axis pedal force measurement sensor was developed to measure the anterior-posterior (Fx), medio-lateral (Fz), and vertical (Fy) forces. The sensor was fabricated with a size and shape similar to those of the general flat pedal, and had a 550g weight that allowed smooth pedaling. Its measurement range was ±1000 N for Fx and Fz and ±2000 N for Fy, and its non-linearity, hysteresis, and repeatability were approximately 0.5%. The data were sampled at 1000 Hz using a signal collector. To use the developed sensor, the pedaling efficiency (index of efficiency, IE) and the range of left and right (medio-lateral, ML) forces were measured with two seat heights (low and high). The results of the measurement showed that the IE was higher and the force range in the ML direction was lower with the high position than with the low position. The developed measurement sensor and its application results will be useful in understanding and explaining the complicated pedaling technique, and will enable diverse kinematic analyses of the pedal force on the sagittal plane and the frontal plane.

Keywords: cycling, pedal force, index of effectiveness, measuring

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Authors: Majid Ali, Xinfang Jin, Victor Eniola, Henning Hoene

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The performance of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells is sensitive to several factors, including power fluctuations, hydrogen utilization, and the quality orientation of the fuel cell stack. In this study, we investigate the impact of these factors on the performance of a PEM fuel cell. We start by analyzing the power fluctuations that are typical in renewable energy systems and their effects on the 50 Watt fuel cell's performance. Next, we examine the hydrogen utilization rate (0-1000 mL/min) and its impact on the cell's efficiency and durability. Finally, we investigate the quality orientation (three different positions) of the fuel cell stack, which can significantly affect the cell's lifetime and overall performance. The basis of our analysis is the utilization of experimental results, which have been further validated by comparing them with simulations and manufacturer results. Our results indicate that power fluctuations can cause significant variations in the fuel cell's voltage and current, leading to a reduction in its performance. Moreover, we show that increasing the hydrogen utilization rate beyond a certain threshold can lead to a decrease in the fuel cell's efficiency. Finally, our analysis demonstrates that the orientation of the fuel cell stack can affect its performance and lifetime due to non-uniform distribution of reactants and products. In summary, our study highlights the importance of considering power fluctuations, hydrogen utilization, and quality orientation in designing and optimizing PEM fuel cell systems. The findings of this study can be useful for researchers and engineers working on the development of fuel cell systems for various applications, including transportation, stationary power generation, and portable devices.

Keywords: fuel cell, proton exchange membrane, renewable energy, power fluctuation, experimental

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Authors: Haibin Zhou, Pingping Yao, Kunyang Fan

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Copper-based sintered friction materials are widely used in the brake system of different applications such as engineering machinery or high-speed train, due to the excellent mechanical, thermal and tribological performance. Considering the diversity of the working conditions of brake system, it is necessary to identify well and understand the tribological performance and wear mechanisms of friction materials for different conditions. Fe has been a preferred reinforcement for copper-based friction materials, due to its ability to improve the wear resistance and mechanical properties of material. Wear map is well accepted as a useful research method for evaluation of wear performances and wear mechanisms over a wider range of working conditions. Therefore, it is significantly important to construct a wear map which can give out the effects of work condition and Fe reinforcement on tribological performance of Cu-based friction materials. In this study, the copper-based sintered friction materials with the different addition of Fe reinforcement (0-20 vol. %) were studied. The tribological tests were performed against stainless steel in a ring-on-ring braking tester with varying braking energy density (0-5000 J/cm2). The linear wear and friction coefficient were measured. The worn surface, cross section and debris were analyzed to determine the dominant wear mechanisms for different testing conditions. On the basis of experimental results, the wear map and wear mechanism map were established, in terms of braking energy density and the addition of Fe. It was found that with low contents of Fe and low braking energy density, adhesive wear was the dominant wear mechanism of friction materials. Oxidative wear and abrasive wear mainly occurred under moderate braking energy density. In the condition of high braking energy density, with both high and low addition of Fe, delamination appeared as the main wear mechanism.

Keywords: Cu-based friction materials, Fe reinforcement, wear map, wear mechanism

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Authors: Chapman Eze Nnadozie

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Cloud computing, a technology that is made possible through virtualization within networks represents a shift from the traditional ownership of infrastructure and other resources by distinct organization to a more scalable pattern in which computer resources are rented online to organizations on either as a pay-as-you-use basis or by subscription. In other words, cloud computing entails the renting of computing resources (such as storage space, memory, servers, applications, networks, etc.) by a third party to its clients on a pay-as-go basis. It is a new innovative technology that is globally embraced because of its renowned benefits, profound of which is its cost effectiveness on the part of organizations engaged with its services. In Nigeria, the services are provided either directly to companies mostly by the key IT players such as Microsoft, IBM, and Google; or in partnership with some other players such as Infoware, Descasio, and Sunnet. This action enables organizations to rent IT resources on a pay-as-you-go basis thereby salvaging them from wastages accruable on acquisition and maintenance of IT resources such as ownership of a separate data centre. This paper intends to appraise the challenges of cloud computing adoption in Nigeria, bearing in mind the country’s peculiarities’ in terms of infrastructural development. The methodologies used in this paper include the use of research questionnaires, formulated hypothesis, and the testing of the formulated hypothesis. The major findings of this paper include the fact that there are some addressable challenges to the adoption of cloud computing in Nigeria. Furthermore, the country will gain significantly if the challenges especially in the area of infrastructural development are well addressed. This is because the research established the fact that there are significant gains derivable by the adoption of cloud computing by organizations in Nigeria. However, these challenges can be overturned by concerted efforts in the part of government and other stakeholders.

Keywords: cloud computing, data centre, infrastructure, it resources, virtualization

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Authors: Muhammet Baldan, Emel Timuçin

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Molecular solubility prediction plays a crucial role in various fields, such as drug discovery, environmental science, and material science. In this study, we compare the performance of five machine learning algorithms—linear regression, support vector machines (SVM), random forests, gradient boosting machines (GBM), and neural networks—for predicting molecular solubility using the AqSolDB dataset. The dataset consists of 9981 data points with their corresponding solubility values. MACCS keys (166 bits), RDKit properties (20 properties), and structural properties(3) features are extracted for every smile representation in the dataset. A total of 189 features were used for training and testing for every molecule. Each algorithm is trained on a subset of the dataset and evaluated using metrics accuracy scores. Additionally, computational time for training and testing is recorded to assess the efficiency of each algorithm. Our results demonstrate that random forest model outperformed other algorithms in terms of predictive accuracy, achieving an 0.93 accuracy score. Gradient boosting machines and neural networks also exhibit strong performance, closely followed by support vector machines. Linear regression, while simpler in nature, demonstrates competitive performance but with slightly higher errors compared to ensemble methods. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the performance of machine learning algorithms for molecular solubility prediction, highlighting the importance of algorithm selection in achieving accurate and efficient predictions in practical applications.

Keywords: random forest, machine learning, comparison, feature extraction

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Authors: P. Mirahmadpour, M. H. Banitaba, D. Nematollahi

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The chemistry of coordination polymers in recent years has grown exponentially not only because of their interesting architectures but also due to their various technical applications in many fields including ion exchange, chemical catalysis, small molecule separations, and drug release. The use of bridging ligands for the controlled self-assembly of one, two or three dimensional metallo-supramolecular species is the subject of serious study in last decade. Numerous different synthetic methods have been offered for the preparation of coordination polymers such as (a) diffusion from the gas phase, (b) slow diffusion of the reactants into a polymeric matrix, (c) evaporation of the solvent at ambient or reduced temperatures, (d) temperature controlled cooling, (e) precipitation or recrystallisation from a mixture of solvents and (f) hydrothermal synthesis. The electrosynthetic process suggested several advantages over conventional approaches. A general advantage of electrochemical synthesis is that it allows synthesis under milder conditions than typical solvothermal or microwave synthesis. In this work we have introduced a simple electrochemical method for growing metal coordination polymers based on copper with a flexible 2,2’-thiodiacetic acid (TDA) and rigid 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylate (BTC) ligands. The structure of coordination polymers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), elemental analysis, thermal gravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analyses (DTA). The single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that different conformations of the ligands and different coordination modes of the carboxylate group as well as different coordination geometries of the copper atoms. Electrochemical synthesis of coordination polymers has different advantages such as faster synthesis at lower temperature in compare with conventional chemical methods and crystallization of desired materials in a single synthetic step.

Keywords: 1, 2, 4, 5-benzenetetracarboxylate, coordination polymer, copper, 2, 2’-thiodiacetic acid

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Authors: Mayowa A. Sofowora, Seraphin D. Eyono Obono

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The use of information and communication technologies such as computers, mobile phones and the internet is becoming prevalent in today’s world; and it is facilitating access to a vast amount of data, services, and applications for the improvement of people’s lives. However, this prevalence of ICTs is hampered by the problem of low income levels in developing countries to the point where people cannot timeously replace or repair their ICT devices when damaged or lost; and this problem serves as a motivation for this study whose aim is to examine the perceptions of teachers on the reliability of cellphones when used for teaching and learning purposes. The research objectives unfolding this aim are of two types: objectives on the selection and design of theories and models, and objectives on the empirical testing of these theories and models. The first type of objectives is achieved using content analysis in an extensive literature survey, and the second type of objectives is achieved through a survey of high school teachers from the ILembe and Umgungudlovu districts in the KwaZuluNatal province of South Africa. Data collected from this questionnaire based survey is analysed in SPSS using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations after checking the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The main hypothesis driving this study is that there is a relationship between the demographics and the attribution identity of teachers on one hand, and their perceptions on the reliability of cellphones on the other hand, as suggested by existing literature; except that attribution identities are considered in this study under three angles: intention, knowledge and ability, and action. The results of this study confirm that the perceptions of teachers on the reliability of cellphones for teaching and learning are affected by the school location of these teachers, and by their perceptions on learners’ cellphones usage intentions and actual use.

Keywords: attribution, cellphones, e-learning, reliability

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