Search results for: physical quality

Authors: Spencer C. Pratt

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Anxiety is an emotional response that many, if not all, elite athletes struggle with on a daily basis. Recently, attention has been drawn to the strong need for athletes to receive mental training in order to help remedy the situation. The conceptual paper explores the effectiveness of a mental training component, based on the anxiolytic effects of exercise by investigating the positive relationship between physical activity and mental health through a comprehensive literature review. The review synthesizes pertinent research regarding the need for mental skills training among elite athletes and the anxiolytic effects of exercise. The paper concludes that with clear positive results from further experimentation with a (moderate intensity) running regimen, a wide range of elite athletes experiencing anxiety problems may have a viable solution.

Keywords: anxiety, mental training component, anxiolytic effects, elite athletes, moderate intensity running, mental skills training, running regimen

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Authors: Haniye Dehestani, Yadollah Ordokhani

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In this work, we present an efficient approach for solving variable-order time-fractional partial differential equations, which are based on Legendre and Laguerre polynomials. First, we introduced the pseudo-operational matrices of integer and variable fractional order of integration by use of some properties of Riemann-Liouville fractional integral. Then, applied together with collocation method and Legendre-Laguerre functions for solving variable-order time-fractional partial differential equations. Also, an estimation of the error is presented. At last, we investigate numerical examples which arise in physics to demonstrate the accuracy of the present method. In comparison results obtained by the present method with the exact solution and the other methods reveals that the method is very effective.

Keywords: collocation method, fractional partial differential equations, legendre-laguerre functions, pseudo-operational matrix of integration

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Authors: S. Vignesh, K. S. Rangasamy

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The paper deals with the device capable of detecting and disabling digital cameras. The system locates the camera and then neutralizes it. Every digital camera has an image sensor known as a CCD, which is retro-reflective and sends light back directly to its original source at the same angle. The device shines infrared LED light, which is invisible to the human eye, at a distance of about 20 feet. It then collects video of these reflections with a camcorder. Then the video of the reflections is transferred to a computer connected to the device, where it is sent through image processing algorithms that pick out infrared light bouncing back. Once the camera is detected, the device would project an invisible infrared laser into the camera's lens, thereby overexposing the photo and rendering it useless. Low levels of infrared laser neutralize digital cameras but are neither a health danger to humans nor a physical damage to cameras. We also discuss the simplified design of the above device that can used in theatres to prevent piracy. The domains being covered here are optics and image processing.

Keywords: CCD, optics, image processing, D3CIP

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Authors: Miguel A. Campano, Jesica Fernández-Agüera, Samuel Domínguez-Amarillo, Juan J. Sendra

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An analysis of the air tightness level is performed on a representative sample of school classrooms in Southern Spain, which allows knowing the infiltration level of these classrooms, mainly through its envelope, which can affect both energy demand and occupant's thermal comfort. By using a pressurization/depressurization equipment (Blower-Door test), a characterization of 45 multipurpose classrooms have been performed in nine non-university educational institutions of the main climate zones of Southern Spain. In spite of having two doors and a high ratio between glass surface and outer surface, it is possible to see in these classrooms that there is an adequate level of airtightness, since all the n50 values obtained are lower than 9.0 ACH, with an average value around 7.0 ACH.

Keywords: air infiltration, energy efficiency, school buildings, thermal comfort, indoor air quality, ventilation

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Authors: Milind Chaudhari, Suhail Balasinor

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Due to massive deforestation and an ever-increasing population, the organic content of the soil is depleting at a much faster rate. Due to this, there is a big chance that the entire food production in the world will drop by 40% in the next two decades. Vertical farming can help in aiding food production by leveraging big data and cloud computing to ensure plants are grown naturally by providing the optimum nutrients sunlight by analyzing millions of data points. This paper outlines the most important parameters in vertical farming and how a combination of big data and AI helps in calculating and analyzing these millions of data points. Finally, the paper outlines how different organizations are controlling the indoor environment by leveraging big data in enhancing food quantity and quality.

Keywords: big data, IoT, vertical farming, indoor farming

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Authors: Violet Petit-Steeghs, Jochem J. R. Van Roon, Jacqueline E. W. Broerse

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Last decennia the retirement age in Europe is gradually increasing. As a result, people have to continue working for a longer period of time. Health problems due to increased sedentary behavior and mental conditions like burn-out, pose a threat in fulfilling employees’ working life. In order to stimulate the ability and willingness to work in the present and future, it is important to stay vital. Vitality is regarded in literature as a sense of energy, motivation and resilience. It is assumed that by increasing their vitality, employees will stay healthier and be more satisfied with their job, leading to a more sustainable employment and less absenteeism in the future. The aim of this project is to obtain insights into the experiences and barriers of employees, and specifically office workers, with regard to their vitality. These insights are essential in order to develop appropriate measures in the future. To get more insights in the experiences of office workers on their vitality, 8 focus group discussions were organized with 6-10 office workers from 4 different employers (an university, a national construction company and a large juridical and care service organization) in the Netherlands. The discussions were transcribed and analyzed via open coding. This project is part of a larger consortium project Provita2, and conducted in collaboration with University of Technology Eindhoven. Results showed that a range of interdependent factors form a complex network that influences office workers’ vitality. These factors can be divided in three overarching groups: (1) personal (2) organizational and (3) environmental factors. Personal intrinsic factors, relating to the office worker, comprise someone’s physical health, coping style, life style, needs, and private life. Organizational factors, relating to the employer, are the workload, management style and the structure, vision and culture of the organization. Lastly, environmental factors consist of the air, light, temperature at the workplace and whether the workplace is inspiring and workable. Office workers experienced barriers to improve their own vitality due to a lack of autonomy. On the one hand, because most factors were not only intrinsic but extrinsic, like work atmosphere or the temperature in the room. On the other hand, office workers were restricted in adapting both intrinsic as well as extrinsic factors. Restrictions to for instance the flexibility of working times and the workload, can set limitations for improving vitality through personal factors like physical activity and mental relaxation. In conclusion, a large range of interdependent factors influence the vitality of office workers. Office workers are often regarded to have a responsibility to improve their vitality, but are limitedly autonomous in adapting these factors. Measures to improve vitality should therefore not only focus on increasing awareness among office workers, but also on empowering them to fulfill this responsibility. A holistic approach that takes the complex mutual dependencies between the different factors and actors (like managers, employees and HR personnel) into account is highly recommended.

Keywords: occupational health, perspectives office workers, sustainable employment, vitality at work, work & wellbeing

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Authors: Geraldine Molina, Malou Allagnat

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Entry through meteorological and climatic phenomena, technical knowledge and engineering sciences has long been favored by the research and local public action to analyze the urban climate, develop strategies to reduce its changes and adapt their spaces. However, in their daily practices and sensitive experiences, city dwellers are confronted with the climate and constantly deal with its fluctuations. In this way, these actors develop knowledge, skills and tactics to regulate their comfort and adapt to climatic variations. Therefore, the empirical observation and analysis of these living experiences represent major scientific and social challenges. This contribution proposes to question these relationships of the inhabitants to urban climate. It tackles the construction of inhabitants’ climatic experiences to answer a central question: how do city dwellers’ deal with the urban climate and adapt to its different variations? Indeed, the city raises the question of how populations adapt to different spatial and temporal climatic variations. Local impacts of global climate change are combined with the urban heat island phenomenon and other microclimatic effects, as well as seasonal, daytime and night-time fluctuations. To provide answers, the presentation will be focused on the results of a CNRS research project (Géraldine Molina), part of which is linked to the European project Nature For Cities (H2020, Marjorie Musy, Scientific Director). From a theoretical point of view, the contribution is based on a renewed definition of adaptation centered on the capacity of individuals and social groups, a recently opened entry from a theoretical point of view by social scientists. The research adopts a "radical interdisciplinary" approach to shed light on the links between social dynamics of climate (inhabitants’ perceptions, representations and practices) and physical processes that characterize urban climate. To do so, it relied on a methodological combination of different survey techniques borrowed from the social sciences (geography, anthropology, sociology) and linked to the work, methodologies and results of the engineering sciences. From 2016 to 2019, a survey was carried out in two districts of Lyon whose morphological, micro-climatic and social characteristics differ greatly, namely the 6th arrondissement and the Guillotière district. To explore the construction of climate experiences over the long term by putting it into perspective with the life trajectories of individuals, 70 semi-directive interviews were conducted with inhabitants. In order to also punctually survey the climate experiments as they unfold in a given time and moment, observation and measurement campaigns of physical phenomena and questionnaires have been conducted in public spaces by an interdisciplinary research team1. The contribution at the ICUC 2020 will mainly focus on the presentation of the presentation of the qualitative survey conducted thanks to the inhabitants’ interviews.

Keywords: sensitive experiences, ways of life, thermal comfort, radical interdisciplinarity

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Authors: Sahba Paktinat, Afshin Salajeghe, Mir Ali Seyyedi, Yousef Rastegari

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Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) allows modeling of dynamic interaction between incongruous providers, which enables governing the development of complex applications. However, implementation of SOA comes with some challenges, including its adaptability and robustness. Dynamism is inherent to the nature of service-based applications and of their running environment. These factors lead to necessity for dynamic adaptation. In this paper, we try to describe basics and main structure of SOA adaptation process with a conceptual view to this issue. In this survey, we will review the relevant adaptation approaches. This paper allows studying how different approaches deal with service oriented architecture adaptation life-cycle and provides basic guidelines for their analysis, evaluation and comparison.

Keywords: context-aware, dynamic adaptation, quality of services, service oriented architecture, service based application

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Authors: Rexa Pasha

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The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between depression, stress and life satisfaction with sleep disturbance among Islamic Azad University Ahvaz Branch students. Samples in the study included 230 students who were selected by stratified random sampling. For data collection, the Beck Depression Inventory, stress, life satisfaction and quality of sleep (PSQI) was used. Which all have acceptable reliability and validity. This study was correlation and Data analysis using Pearson correlation and multivariate regression significance level (pKeywords: depression, life satisfaction, sleep disorder, sleep disturbane

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Authors: Chinedu F. Anochie

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The presence of gangue particles in recovered metal concentrates has been a serious challenge to ore dressing engineers. Middlings lower the quality of concentrates, and in most cases, drastically affect the smelter terms, owing to exorbitant amounts paid by Mineral Processing industries as treatment charge. Models which encourage optimization of liberation operations have been utilized in most ore beneficiation industries to reduce the presence of locked particles in valuable concentrates. Moreover, methods such as incorporation of regrind mills, scavenger, rougher and cleaner cells, to the milling and flotation plants has been widely employed to tackle these concerns, and to optimize the grade–recovery relationship of metal concentrates. This work compared the crushing and grinding method of liberation, to the mine to mill route, by evaluating the proportion of middlings present in selectively processed complex Pb-Zn ore samples. To establish the effect of size reduction operations on the percentage of locked particles present in recovered concentrates, two similar samples of complex Pb- Zn ores were processed. Following blasting operation, the first ore sample was ground directly in a ball mill (Mine to Mill Route of Comminution), while the other sample was manually crushed, and subsequently ground in the ball mill (Crushing and Grinding Route of Comminution). The two samples were separately sieved in a mesh to obtain the desired representative particle sizes. An equal amount of each sample that would be processed in the flotation circuit was then obtained with the aid of a weighing balance. These weighed fine particles were simultaneously processed in the flotation circuit using the selective flotation technique. Sodium cyanide, Methyl isobutyl carbinol, Sodium ethyl xanthate, Copper sulphate, Sodium hydroxide, Lime and Isopropyl xanthate, were the reagents used to effect differential flotation of the two ore samples. Analysis and calculations showed that the degree of liberation obtained for the ore sample which went through the conventional crushing and grinding route of comminution, was higher than that of the directly milled run off mine (ROM) ore. Similarly, the proportion of middlings obtained from the separated galena (PbS) and sphalerite (ZnS) concentrates, were lower for the crushed and ground ore sample. A concise data which proved that the mine to mill method of size reduction is not the most ideal technique for the recovery of quality metal concentrates has been established.

Keywords: comminution, degree of liberation, middlings, mine to mill

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Authors: Jaehwan Jung, Sung-Ah Kim

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Building Information Modeling (BIM) provides project stakeholders with various information about property and geometry of entire component as a 3D object-based parametric building model. BIM represents a set of Information and solutions that are expected to improve collaborative work process and quality of the building design. To improve collaboration among project participants, the BIM model should provide the necessary information to remote participants in real time and manage the information in the process. The purpose of this paper is to propose a process model that can apply effective architectural design collaborative work process in architectural design education in BIM-Cloud environment.

Keywords: BIM, cloud computing, collaborative design, digital design education

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Authors: Mohammed Fathima Shahanaaz, Shaik Fayazuddin, M. Uday Kiran

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Groundwater quality is deteriorating day by day in different parts of the world due to various reasons, toxic chemicals are being discharged without proper treatment into inland water bodies and land which in turn add pollutants to the groundwater. In this kind of situation, the rural communities which do not have municipal drinking water have to rely on groundwater though it is polluted for various uses. Tannery industry is one of the major industry which provides economy and employment to India. Since most of the developed countries stopped using chemicals which are toxic, the tanning industry which uses chromium as its major element are being shifted towards developing countries. Most of the tanning industries in India can be found in clusters concentrated mainly in states of Tamilnadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and limited places of Punjab. Limited work is present in the case of tanneries of Warangal. There exists 18 group of tanneries in Desaipet, Enamamula region of Warangal, out of which 4 are involved in dry process and are low responsible for groundwater pollution. These units of tanneries are discharging their effluents after treatment into Sai Cheruvu. Though the treatment effluents are being discharged, the Sai Cheruvu is turned in to Pink colour, with higher levels of BOD, COD, chromium, chlorides, total hardness, TDS and sulphates. An attempt was made to analyse the groundwater samples around this polluted Sai Cheruvu region since literature shows that a single tannery can pollute groundwater to a radius of 7-8 kms from the point of disposal. Sample are collected from 6 different locations around Sai Cheruvu. Analysis was performed for determining various constituents in groundwater such as pH, EC, TDS, TH, Ca+2, Mg+2, HCO3-, Na+, K+, Cl-, SO42-, NO3-, F and Cr+6. The analysis of these constitutes gave values greater than permissible limits. Even chromium is also present in groundwater samples which is exceeding permissible limits People in Paidepally and Sardharpeta villages already stopped the usage of groundwater. They are buying bottle water for drinking purpose. Though they are not using groundwater for drinking purpose complaints are made about using this water for washing also. So treatment process should be adopted for groundwater which should be simple and efficient. In this study rice husk silica (RHS) is used to treat pollutants in groundwater with varying dosages of RHS and contact time. Rice husk is treated, dried and place in a muffle furnace for 6 hours at 650°C. Reduction is observed in total hardness, chlorides and chromium levels are observed after the application RHS. Pollutants reached permissible limits for 27.5mg/l and 50 mg/l of dosage for a contact time of 130 min at constant pH and temperature.

Keywords: chromium, groundwater, rice husk silica, tanning industries

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Authors: Marco Avila Lopez, Hasnae Ait-Douchi, Silvia De Los Santos, Badr Eddine Lebrouhi, Pamela Ramírez Vidal

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In the context of the energy transition, fuel cell technology has emerged as a solution for harnessing hydrogen energy and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. An in-depth study was conducted on a PEMFC-type fuel cell, with an initiation of an analysis of its operational principles and constituent components. Subsequently, the modelling of the fuel cell was undertaken using the Python programming language, encompassing both steady-state and transient regimes. In the case of the steady-state regime, the physical and electrochemical phenomena occurring within the fuel cell were modelled, with the assumption of uniform temperature throughout all cell compartments. Parametric identification was carried out, resulting in a remarkable mean error of only 1.62% when the model results were compared to experimental data documented in the literature. The dynamic model that was developed enabled the scrutiny of the fuel cell's response in terms of temperature and voltage under varying current conditions.

Keywords: fuel cell, modelling, dynamic, thermal model, PEMFC

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Authors: Odd Jarl Borch, Marina Z. Solesvik

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The paper analyses partner selection approaches related to large scale R&D-based innovation projects at the different stages of development. We emphasize innovation projects in the maritime value chain and how partners are selected to improve quality according to high spec customer demands, and to reduce investment costs on new production technology such as advanced offshore service vessels. We elaborate on the differences in innovation approach and especially the role that purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge from external partners may be used to accelerate internal innovation. We present three cases related to different projects in terms of specificity and scope. We explore how the partner selection criteria change over time when the goals move from wide scope to a very specific R&D tasks.

Keywords: partner selection, innovation, offshore industry, concept design

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Authors: Ben Nwokenkwo, Michael M. Eze, Felix Ike

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The need to study trends in land values around institutions of higher learning cannot be overemphasized. Numerous studies in Nigeria have investigated the economic, and social influence of the sitting of institutions of higher learning at the micro, meso and macro levels. However, very few studies have evaluated the temporal extent at which such institution influences local land values. Since institutions greatly influence both the physical and environmental aspects of their immediate vicinity, attention must be taken to understand the influence of such changes on land values. This study examines the trend in land values using the Mann-Kendall analysis in order to determine if, between its beginning and end, a monotonic increase, decrease or stability exist in the land values across six institutions of higher learning for the period between 2004 and 2014. Specifically, The analysis was applied to the time series of the price(or value) of the land .The results of this study revealed that land values has either been increasing or remained stabled across all the institution sampled. The study finally recommends measures that can be put in place as counter magnets for land values estimation across institutions of higher learning.

Keywords: influence, land, trend, value

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Authors: M. Bazin, I. Bouguir, D. Combe, V. Germain, G. Lassade

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The problem of managing a fleet of quad-rotor drones in a completely unknown environment is analyzed in the present paper. This work is following the footsteps of other studies about how should be managed the movements of a swarm of elements that have to stay gathered throughout their activities. In this paper we aim to demonstrate the limitations of a system where absolutely all the calculations and physical movements of our elements are done by one single external element. The strategy of control is an adaptive approach which takes into account the explored environment. This is made possible thanks to a set of command rules which can guide the drones through various missions with defined goal. The result of the mission is independent of the nature of environment and the number of drones in the fleet. This strategy is based on a simultaneous usage of different data: obstacles positions, real-time positions of all drones and relative positions between the different drones. The present work is made with the Robot Operating System and used several open-source projects on localization and usage of drones.

Keywords: cooperative guidance, distributed control, unmanned aerial vehicle, obstacle avoidance

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Authors: Mokhtar Nikgoo

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Definition of bridge: A bridge is a structure that allows people to pass through the communication road with two points. There are many different types of bridges, each of which is designed to perform a specific function. This article introduces the concept, history, components, uses, types, construction methods, selected factors, damage factors and principles of bridge maintenance. A bridge is a structure to cross a passage such as a water, valley or road without blocking another path underneath. This structure makes it possible to pass obstacles that are difficult or impossible to pass. There are different designs for bridge construction, each of which is used for a particular function and condition. In the old definition, a bridge is an arch over a river, valley, or any type of passage that makes traffic possible. But today, in the topic of urban management, the bridge is considered as a structure to cross physical barriers, so that while using space (not just the surface of the earth), it can facilitate the passage and access to places. The useful life of bridges may be between 30 and 80 years depending on the location and the materials used. But with proper maintenance and improvement, their life may last for hundreds of years.

Keywords: bridge, road construction, surveying, transportation

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Authors: T. Garlan, I. Gabelotaud, S. Lucas, E. Marchès

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Production of a global sedimentological seabed map has been initiated in 1995 to provide the necessary tool for searches of aircraft and boats lost at sea, to give sedimentary information for nautical charts, and to provide input data for acoustic propagation modelling. This original approach had already been initiated one century ago when the French hydrographic service and the University of Nancy had produced maps of the distribution of marine sediments of the French coasts and then sediment maps of the continental shelves of Europe and North America. The current map of the sediment of oceans presented was initiated with a UNESCO's general map of the deep ocean floor. This map was adapted using a unique sediment classification to present all types of sediments: from beaches to the deep seabed and from glacial deposits to tropical sediments. In order to allow good visualization and to be adapted to the different applications, only the granularity of sediments is represented. The published seabed maps are studied, if they present an interest, the nature of the seabed is extracted from them, the sediment classification is transcribed and the resulted map is integrated in the world map. Data come also from interpretations of Multibeam Echo Sounder (MES) imagery of large hydrographic surveys of deep-ocean. These allow a very high-quality mapping of areas that until then were represented as homogeneous. The third and principal source of data comes from the integration of regional maps produced specifically for this project. These regional maps are carried out using all the bathymetric and sedimentary data of a region. This step makes it possible to produce a regional synthesis map, with the realization of generalizations in the case of over-precise data. 86 regional maps of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean have been produced and integrated into the world sedimentary map. This work is permanent and permits a digital version every two years, with the integration of some new maps. This article describes the choices made in terms of sediment classification, the scale of source data and the zonation of the variability of the quality. This map is the final step in a system comprising the Shom Sedimentary Database, enriched by more than one million punctual and surface items of data, and four series of coastal seabed maps at 1:10,000, 1:50,000, 1:200,000 and 1:1,000,000. This step by step approach makes it possible to take into account the progresses in knowledge made in the field of seabed characterization during the last decades. Thus, the arrival of new classification systems for seafloor has improved the recent seabed maps, and the compilation of these new maps with those previously published allows a gradual enrichment of the world sedimentary map. But there is still a lot of work to enhance some regions, which are still based on data acquired more than half a century ago.

Keywords: marine sedimentology, seabed map, sediment classification, world ocean

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Authors: Petra F. A. Dilling, Sinan Caykoylu

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The aim of this study was to shed light on the understanding of the factors determining a company’s disclosure on climate change reporting. The underlying study examines the effect of gender diversity and the mediating effect of female representation in management and on the board of directors and the existence of a dedicated sustainability board committee. To test the study’s objectives, the authors use a global sample of the largest companies and their reporting for the year 2020. The results suggest that corporate female participation has a significant influence on the quality of climate change reporting. In addition, having a dedicated sustainability board committee also significantly impacts the non-financial disclosure of climate change information.

Keywords: climate change, non-financial reporting, governance, board diversity, sustainability, CSR

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Authors: Justin Reverdi, Sixin Zhang, Serge Gratton, Said Aoues, Thomas Pellegrini

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In Vapor Cycle Systems, the flow sensor plays a key role in different monitoring and control purposes. However, physical sensors can be expensive, inaccurate, heavy, cumbersome, or highly sensitive to vibrations, which is especially problematic when embedded into an aircraft. The conception of a virtual sensor based on other standard sensors is a good alternative. In this paper, a data-driven model using a Convolutional Neural Network is proposed to estimate the flow of the compressor. To fit the model to our dataset, we tested different loss functions. We show in our application that a Dynamic Time Warping based loss function called DILATE leads to better dynamical performance than the vanilla mean squared error (MSE) loss function. DILATE allows choosing a trade-off between static and dynamic performance.

Keywords: deep learning, dynamic time warping, vapor cycle system, virtual sensor

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Authors: Baoliang Xu

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The future of education should focus on creating meaningful learning for learners. Play is a basic form and an important means of carrying out kindergarten educational activities, which promotes the creation and development of meaningful learning and is of great importance in the harmonious physical and mental development of young children. Through literature research and case studies, this paper finds that: meaningful learning has the characteristics of contextuality, interaction and constructiveness; teachers should pay great attention to the guidance of children's games, fully respect children's autonomy and create a prepared game environment; children's meaningful learning exists in games and hidden in things that interest them, and "the generation of questions The "generation of questions" fuels the depth of children's meaningful learning, and teachers' professional support helps children's meaningful learning to develop continuously. In short, teachers' guidance of young children's play should be emphasized to effectively provide scaffolding instruction to promote meaningful learning in a holistic manner.

Keywords: meaningful learning, young childhood, game, case study

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Authors: Alexis Piedrahita, Ludi Valencia, Aura Gutierrez

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The migration crisis that is currently being experienced in the world is a continuous phenomenon that has had solutions in form but not in substance, violating the international humanitarian law of people who are in transit through countries foreign to their roots, especially women of age reproductive, this has caused different governments and organizations worldwide to meet around this problem to define concise actions to protect the rights of migrant women in the world. This research compiles the stories of migrant women who arrive in Colombia seeking better opportunities, such as accessibility to comprehensive and quality health services, including primary health care. This is the gateway to the offer of health promotion and disease prevention services.

Keywords: accessibility, primary health care, sexual and reproductive health, sustainable development goals, women migrant

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Authors: N. Veerappan

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Seasonal variations of sea grasses and physico-chemical parameters were studied from April 2011 to March 2012. Samples were collected in four different seasons, namely post monsoon (January-March), summer (April-June) premonsoon (July-September) and monsoon (October-December) from the Uppanar estuary. Three species of sea grass biomass were measured during the study period: Halophila ovalis (215.3 g/m2 - 38.5 g/m2), Halophila beccarii (75.2 g/m2 –30.1 g/m2) and Halodule pinifolia (65.4 g/m2 - 26.5 g/m2), respectively. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed that NO2, NO3 PO4, and SiO4 influenced Halophila ovalis biomass distribution, whereas for Halophila beccarii and Halodule pinifolia, atmospheric temperature, water temperature, salinity, pH and DO proved important.

Keywords: sea grass, species biomass, Uppanar estuary, water quality

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Authors: Stephen Rathinaraj Benjamin, Flavio Colmati Junior, Maria Izabel Florindo Guedes, Rosa Amalia Fireman Dutra

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A new enzymatic electrochemical biosensor based on multiwall carbon nanotubes and cerium oxide nanoparticles for the detection of rutin has been developed. The cerium oxide nanoparticles /HRP/ multiwall carbon nanotubes/ carbon paste electrode (HRP/ CeO2/MWCNTs/CPE) was prepared by ensuing addition of MWCNTs and HRP on the CPE, followed by the mixing with cerium oxide nanoparticles. Surface physical characteristics of the modified electrode and the electrochemical properties of the composite were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cylic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). The HRP/ CeO2/MWCNTs/CPE showed good selectivity, stability and reproducibility, which was further applied to detect rutin tablet and capsule samples with satisfactory results.

Keywords: cerium dioxide nanoparticles, horseradish peroxidase, multiwall carbon nanotubes, rutin

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Authors: M. S. Kaiser, S. Reaz Ahmed

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Chip formation characteristics are investigated during surface finishing of high density polyethylene (HDPE) samples using a shaper machine. Both the cutting speed and depth of cut are varied continually to enable observations under various machining conditions. The generated chips are analyzed in terms of their shape, size, and deformation. Their physical appearances are also observed using digital camera and optical microscope. The investigation shows that continuous chips are obtained for all the cutting conditions. It is observed that cutting speed is more influential than depth of cut to cause dimensional changes of chips. Chips curl radius is also found to increase gradually with the increase of cutting speed. The length of continuous chips remains always smaller than the job length, and the corresponding discrepancies are found to be more prominent at lower cutting speed. Microstructures of the chips reveal that cracks are formed at higher cutting speeds and depth of cuts, which is not that significant at low depth of cut.

Keywords: HDPE, surface-finishing, chip formation, deformation, roughness

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Authors: M. Dezyani, R. Ezzati, H. Mirzaei

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The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of pH on chemical, structural, and functional properties of Fetta cheese, and to relate changes in structure to changes in cheese unctionality. Fetta cheese was obtained from a cheese-production facility and stored at 4°C. Ten days after manufacture, the cheese was cut into blocks that were vacuum-packaged and stored for 4 d at 4°C. Cheese blocks were then high-pressure injected one, three, or five times with a 20% (wt/wt) glucono-δ-lactone solution. Successive injections were performed 24 h apart. Cheese blocks were then analyzed after 40 d of storage at 4°C. Acidulant injection decreased cheese pH from 5.3 in the uninjected cheese to 4.7 after five injections. Decreased pH increased the content of soluble calcium and slightly decreased the total calcium content of cheese. At the highest level, injection of acidulant promoted syneresis. Thus, after five injections, the moisture content of cheese decreased from 34 to 31%, which esulted in decreased cheese weight. Lowered cheese pH, 4.7 compared with 5.3, also resulted in contraction of the protein matrix. Acidulant injection decreased cheese hardness and cohesiveness, and the cheese became more crumbly.

Keywords: calcium, high-pressure injection, protein matrix, syneresis

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Authors: Iyad Alazzam, Kenneth Magel, Izzat Alsmadi

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The different activities and approaches in software testing try to find the most possible number of errors or failures with the least amount of possible effort. Mutation is a testing approach that is used to discover possible errors in tested applications. This is accomplished through changing one aspect of the software from its original and writes test cases to detect such change or mutation. In this paper, we present a mutation approach for testing software components integration aspects. Several mutation operations related to components integration are described and evaluated. A test case study of several open source code projects is collected. Proposed mutation operators are applied and evaluated. Results showed some insights and information that can help testing activities in detecting errors and improving coverage.

Keywords: software testing, integration testing, mutation, coverage, software design

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Authors: Aprajeeta Jha, Punyadarshini P. Tripathy

Abstract:

Drying technologies for various food processing operations shares an inevitable linkage with energy, cost and environmental sustainability. Hence, solar drying of food grains has become imperative choice to combat duo challenges of meeting high energy demand for drying and to address climate change scenario. But performance and reliability of solar dryers depend hugely on sunshine period, climatic conditions, therefore, offer a limited control over drying conditions and have lower efficiencies. Solar drying technology, supported by Photovoltaic (PV) power plant and hybrid type solar air collector can potentially overpower the disadvantages of solar dryers. For development of such robust hybrid dryers; to ensure quality and shelf-life of paddy grains the optimization of process parameter becomes extremely critical. Investigation of the moisture distribution profile within the grains becomes necessary in order to avoid over drying or under drying of food grains in hybrid solar dryer. Computational simulations based on finite element modeling can serve as potential tool in providing a better insight of moisture migration during drying process. Hence, present work aims at optimizing the process parameters and to develop a 3-dimensional (3D) finite element model (FEM) for predicting moisture profile in paddy during solar drying. COMSOL Multiphysics was employed to develop a 3D finite element model for predicting moisture profile. Furthermore, optimization of process parameters (power level, air velocity and moisture content) was done using response surface methodology in design expert software. 3D finite element model (FEM) for predicting moisture migration in single kernel for every time step has been developed and validated with experimental data. The mean absolute error (MAE), mean relative error (MRE) and standard error (SE) were found to be 0.003, 0.0531 and 0.0007, respectively, indicating close agreement of model with experimental results. Furthermore, optimized process parameters for drying paddy were found to be 700 W, 2.75 m/s at 13% (wb) with optimum temperature, milling yield and drying time of 42˚C, 62%, 86 min respectively, having desirability of 0.905. Above optimized conditions can be successfully used to dry paddy in PV integrated solar dryer in order to attain maximum uniformity, quality and yield of product. PV-integrated hybrid solar dryers can be employed as potential and cutting edge drying technology alternative for sustainable energy and food security.

Keywords: finite element modeling, moisture migration, paddy grain, process optimization, PV integrated hybrid solar dryer

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Anele Horn, Amanda Van Eeden

Abstract:

The emphasis on the challenges posed by continued urbanisation, especially in developing countries has resulted in urban sprawl often researched and analysed in metropolitan urban areas, but rarely in small and medium towns. Consequently, there exists no comparative instrument between the proportional extent of urban sprawl in metropolitan areas measured against that of small and medium towns. This research proposes an Urban Sprawl Index as a possible tool to comparatively analyse the extent of urban sprawl between cities and towns of different sizes. The index can also be used over the longer term by authorities developing spatial policy to track the success or failure of specific tools intended to curb urban sprawl. In South Africa, as elsewhere in the world, the last two decades witnessed a proliferation of legislation and spatial policies to limit urban sprawl and contain the physical expansion and development of urban areas, but the measurement of the successes or failures of these instruments intending to curb expansive land development has remained a largely unattainable goal, largely as a result of the absence of an appropriate measure of proportionate comparison. As a result of the spatial political history of Apartheid, urban areas acquired a spatial form that contributed to the formation of single-core cities with far reaching and wide-spreading peripheral development, either in the form of affluent suburbs or as a result of post-Apartheid programmes such as the Reconstruction and Development Programme (1995) which, in an attempt to assist the immediate housing shortage, favoured the establishment of single dwelling residential units for low income communities on single plots on affordable land at the urban periphery. This invariably contributed to urban sprawl and even though this programme has since been abandoned, the trend towards low density residential development continues. The research area is the Western Cape Province in South Africa, which in all aspects exhibit the spatial challenges described above. In academia and popular media the City of Cape Town (the only Metropolitan authority in the province) has received the lion’s share of focus in terms of critique on urban development and spatial planning, however, the smaller towns and cities in the Western Cape arguably received much less public attention and were spared the naming and shaming of being unsustainable urban areas in terms of land consumption and physical expansion. The Urban Sprawl Index for the Western Cape (USIWC) put forward by this research enables local authorities in the Western Cape Province to measure the extent of urban sprawl proportionately and comparatively to other cities in the province, thereby acquiring a means of measuring the success of the spatial instruments employed to limit urban expansion and inefficient land consumption. In development of the USIWC the research made use of satellite data for reference years 2001 and 2011 and population growth data extracted from the national census, also for base years 2001 and 2011.

Keywords: urban sprawl, index, Western Cape, South Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Reza Karami, Ali Akbar Ebrahimi

Abstract:

This paper discusses concurrent engineering of robot manipulators, based on the Holistic Concurrent Design (HCD) methodology and by using a hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform. The methodology allows for considering numerous design variables with different natures concurrently. It redefines the ultimate goal of design based on the notion of satisfaction, resulting in the simplification of the multi-objective constrained optimization process. It also formalizes the effect of designer’s subjective attitude in the process. To enhance modeling efficiency for both computation and accuracy, a hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform is used, which involves physical joint modules and the control unit in addition to the software modules. This platform is implemented in the HCD design architecture to reliably evaluate the design attributes and performance super criterion during the design process. The resulting overall architecture is applied to redesigning kinematic, dynamic and control parameters of an industrial robot manipulator.

Keywords: concurrent engineering, hardware-in-the-loop simulation, robot manipulator, multidisciplinary systems, mechatronics

Procedia PDF Downloads 430