Search results for: trip length

Authors: Kyu Jin Kim, Byung Kwan Oh, Hyo Seon Park

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The seismic responses-based structural health monitoring system has been performed to prevent seismic damage. Structural seismic damage of building is caused by the instantaneous stress concentration which is related with dynamic characteristic of earthquake. Meanwhile, seismic response analysis to estimate the dynamic responses of building demands significantly high computational cost. To prevent the failure of structural members from the characteristic of the earthquake and the significantly high computational cost for seismic response analysis, this paper presents an artificial neural network (ANN) based prediction model for dynamic responses of building considering specific time length. Through the measured dynamic responses, input and output node of the ANN are formed by the length of specific time, and adopted for the training. In the model, evolutionary radial basis function neural network (ERBFNN), that radial basis function network (RBFN) is integrated with evolutionary optimization algorithm to find variables in RBF, is implemented. The effectiveness of the proposed model is verified through an analytical study applying responses from dynamic analysis for multi-degree of freedom system to training data in ERBFNN.

Keywords: structural health monitoring, dynamic response, artificial neural network, radial basis function network, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Mallikarjunachari Gangapuram

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The design of stimuli-responsive hydrogel nanocomposite thin films is gaining significant attention in these days due to its wide variety of applications. Soft microrobots, drug delivery, biosensors, regenerative medicine, bacterial adhesion, energy storage and wound dressing are few advanced applications in different fields. In this research work, the nanomechanical properties of composite thin films of 20 microns were tuned by applying homogeneous external DC, and AC magnetic fields of magnitudes 0.05 T and 0.1 T. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) used as a matrix material and elliptical hematite nanoparticles (ratio of the length of the major axis to the length of the minor axis is 140.59 ± 1.072 nm/52.84 ± 1.072 nm) used as filler materials to prepare the nanocomposite thin films. Both quasi-static nanoindentation, Nano Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (Nano-DMA) tests were performed to characterize the viscoelastic properties of PVA, PVA+Hematite (0.1% wt, 2% wt and 4% wt) nanocomposites. Different properties such as storage modulus, loss modulus, hardness, and Er/H were carefully analyzed. The increase in storage modulus, hardness, Er/H and a decrease in loss modulus were observed with increasing concentration and DC magnetic field followed by AC magnetic field. Contact angle and ATR-FTIR experiments were conducted to understand the molecular mechanisms such as hydrogen bond formation, crosslinking density, and particle-particle interactions. This systematic study is helpful in design and modeling of magnetic responsive hydrogel nanocomposite thin films for biomedical applications.

Keywords: hematite, hydrogel, nanoindentation, nano-DMA

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Authors: Wiesława Klimek-Piotrowska, Mateusz K. Hołda, Mateusz Koziej, Katarzyna Piątek, Jakub Hołda

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Introduction: The coronary sinus venous system (CSVS), which has always been overshadowed by the coronary arterial tree, has recently begun to attract more attention. Since it is a target for clinicians the knowledge of its anatomy is essential. Cardiac resynchronization therapy, catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias, defibrillation, perfusion therapy, mitral valve annuloplasty, targeted drug delivery, and retrograde cardioplegia administration are commonly used therapeutic methods involving the CSVS. The great variability in the course of coronary veins and tributaries makes the diagnostic and therapeutic processes difficult. Our aim was to investigate detailed anatomy of most common clinically used CSVS`s structures: the coronary sinus with its ostium, great cardiac vein, posterior vein of the left ventricle, middle cardiac vein and oblique vein of the left atrium. Methodology: This is a prospective study of 70 randomly selected autopsied hearts dissected from adult humans (Caucasian) aged 50.1±17.6 years old (24.3% females) with BMI=27.6±6.7 kg/m2. The morphology of the CSVS was assessed as well as its precise measurements were performed. Results: The coronary sinus (CS) with its ostium was present in all hearts. The mean CS ostium diameter was 9.9±2.5mm. Considered ostium was covered by its valve in 87.1% with mean valve height amounted 5.1±3.1mm. The mean percentage coverage of the CS ostium by the valve was 56%. The Vieussens valve was present in 71.4% and was unicuspid in 70%, bicuspid in 26% and tricuspid in 4% of hearts. The great cardiac vein was present in all cases. The oblique vein of the left atrium was observed in 84.3% of hearts with mean length amounted 20.2±9.3mm and mean ostium diameter 1.4±0.9mm. The average length of the CS (from the CS ostium to the Vieussens valve) was 31.1±9.5mm or (from the CS ostium to the ostium of the oblique vein of the left atrium) 28.9±10.1mm and both were correlated with the heart weight (r=0.47; p=0.00 and r=0.38; p=0.006 respectively). In 90.5% the ostium of the oblique vein of the left atrium was located proximally to the Vieussens valve, in remaining cases was distally. The middle cardiac vein was present in all hearts and its valve was noticed in more than half of all the cases (52.9%). The posterior vein of the left ventricle was observed in 91.4% of cases. Conclusions: The CSVS is vastly variable and none of basic hearts parameters is a good predictor of its morphology. The Vieussens valve could be a significant obstacle during CS cannulation. Caution should be exercised in this area to avoid coronary sinus perforation. Because of the higher incidence of the presence of the oblique vein of the left atrium than the Vieussens valve, the vein orifice is more useful in determining the CS length.

Keywords: cardiac resynchronization therapy, coronary sinus, Thebesian valve, Vieussens valve

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Authors: Samuel Opeyemi Williams, Razali Adul Hamid, Mohd Saidin Misman, Dominic Ileyemi Ajayi, Taki Eddine Seghier

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Construction industry is famous with hazardous and high-risk environment with operatives facing a greater risk of work-related fatality or injury than operatives in other industries. It is characterised with different types of accident, ranging from electrocution, trip and slip, fall from height, struck-by, explosion, trench collapse, to scaffolding accidents, with each type being caused by different factors. However, accidents are unplanned, unforeseeable and unexpected events, but regardless of the high-risk nature of the industry, accidents are preventable. The aim of the paper is to determine the extent of the utilization of the safety measures, as well as identifying the factors underlining the non-usage. A research methodology consisting of a literature review was used to identify the types and causes of site accidents, while a well-structured questionnaire was used to determine the level of the usage of safety measures on site. The data were analysed with the results revealing the use of protective clothing, safety helmet, first aid, protective shoe, safety belt, and face shield to aid safety of workers, as well as ascribing non-usage of safety measures to cost, ignorance, lack of experts and non-inclusion in contract document. Recommendations are included in the paper suggesting the enforcement of the utilization of safety measures in reducing the spate of accident occurrence on construction sites.

Keywords: construction industry, safety measures, accident, prevention

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Authors: Ming-Jong Yao, Chin-Sum Shui, Chih-Han Wang

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This paper is developed based on a real-world decision scenario that an industrial gas company that applies the Vendor Managed Inventory model and supplies liquid oxygen with a self-operated heterogeneous vehicle fleet to hospitals in nearby cities. We name it as a Joint Replenishment and Heterogeneous Vehicle Routing Problem with Cyclical Schedule and formulate it as a non-linear mixed-integer linear programming problem which simultaneously determines the length of the planning cycle (PC), the length of the replenishment cycle and the dates of replenishment for each customer and the vehicle routes of each day within PC, such that the average daily operation cost within PC, including inventory holding cost, setup cost, transportation cost, and overtime labor cost, is minimized. A solution method based on genetic algorithm, embedded with an encoding and decoding mechanism and local search operators, is then proposed, and the hash function is adopted to avoid repetitive fitness evaluation for identical solutions. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed solution method can effectively solve the problem under different lengths of PC and number of customers. The method is also shown to be effective in determining whether the company should expand the storage capacity of a customer whose demand increases. Sensitivity analysis of the vehicle fleet composition shows that deploying a mixed fleet can reduce the daily operating cost.

Keywords: cyclic inventory routing problem, joint replenishment, heterogeneous vehicle, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Muhammad Ihsan Andi Dagong, Cece Sumantri, Ronny Rachman Noor, Rachmat Herman, Mohamad Yamin

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Calpastatin involved in various physiological processes in the body such as the protein turnover, growth, fusion and mioblast migration. Thus, allegedly Calpastatin gene diversity (CAST) have an association with growth and potential use as candidate genes for growth trait. This study aims to identify the association between the genetic diversity of CAST gene with some growth properties such as body dimention (morphometric), body weight and daily weight gain in sheep. A total of 157 heads of Thin Tail Sheep (TTS) reared intensively for fattening purposes in the uniform environmental conditions. Overall sheep used were male, and maintained for 3 months. The parameters of growth properties were measured among others: body weight gain (ADG) (g/head / day), body weight (kg), body length (cm), chest circumference (cm), height (cm). All the sheep were genotyped by using PCR-SSCP (single strand conformational polymorphism) methods. CAST gene in locus fragment intron 5 - exon 6 were amplified with a predicted length of about 254 bp PCR products. Then the sheep were stratified based on their CAST genotypes. The result of this research showed that no association were found between the CAST gene variations with morphometric body weight, but there was a significant association with daily body weight gain (ADG) in sheep observed. CAST-23 and CAST-33 genotypes has higher average daily gain than other genotypes. CAST-23 and CAST-33 genotypes that carrying the CAST-2 and CAST-3 alleles potential to be used in the selection of the nature of the growth trait of the TTS sheep.

Keywords: body weight, calpastatin, genotype, growth trait, thin tail sheep

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Authors: Muhammed Ordu, Eren Demir, Chris Tofallis

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Over the past decade, the non-elective admissions in the UK have increased significantly. Taking into account limited resources (i.e. beds), the related service managers are obliged to manage their resources effectively due to the non-elective admissions which are mostly admitted to inpatient specialities via A&E departments. Geriatric medicine is one of specialities that have long length of stay for the non-elective admissions. This study aims to develop a discrete event simulation model to understand how possible increases on non-elective demand over the next 12 months affect the bed occupancy rate and to determine required number of beds in a geriatric medicine speciality in a UK hospital. In our validated simulation model, we take into account observed frequency distributions which are derived from a big data covering the period April, 2009 to January, 2013, for the non-elective admission and the length of stay. An experimental analysis, which consists of 16 experiments, is carried out to better understand possible effects of case studies and scenarios related to increase on demand and number of bed. As a result, the speciality does not achieve the target level in the base model although the bed occupancy rate decreases from 125.94% to 96.41% by increasing the number of beds by 30%. In addition, the number of required beds is more than the number of beds considered in the scenario analysis in order to meet the bed requirement. This paper sheds light on bed management for service managers in geriatric medicine specialities.

Keywords: bed management, bed occupancy rate, discrete event simulation, geriatric medicine, non-elective admission

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Authors: Y. Baba, A. Archibong-Eso, H. Yeung

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Experimental study of high viscosity oil-gas flows in horizontal pipelines published in literature has indicated that hydrodynamic slug flow is the dominant flow pattern observed. Investigations have shown that hydrodynamic slugging brings about high instabilities in pressure that can damage production facilities thereby making it inherent to study high viscous slug flow regime so as to improve the understanding of its flow dynamics. Most slug flow models used in the petroleum industry for the design of pipelines together with their closure relationships were formulated based on observations of low viscosity liquid-gas flows. New experimental investigations and data are therefore required to validate these models. In cases where these models underperform, improving upon or building new predictive models and correlations will also depend on the new experimental dataset and further understanding of the flow dynamics in high viscous oil-gas flows. In this study conducted at the Flow laboratory, Oil and Gas Engineering Centre of Cranfield University, slug flow variables such as pressure gradient, mean liquid holdup, frequency and slug length for oil viscosity ranging from 1..0 – 5.5 Pa.s are experimentally investigated and analysed. The study was carried out in a 0.076m ID pipe, two fast sampling gamma densitometer and pressure transducers (differential and point) were used to obtain experimental measurements. Comparison of the measured slug flow parameters to the existing slug flow prediction models available in the literature showed disagreement with high viscosity experimental data thus highlighting the importance of building new predictive models and correlations.

Keywords: gamma densitometer, mean liquid holdup, pressure gradient, slug frequency and slug length

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Authors: G. Fitzpatrick, S. O. Chonghaile, D. Harmon

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Objective: Chronic pain patients represent a unique challenge in the Emergency Department. Very little literature has been published regarding this group of patients. Our aim was to determine the attitude of patients with chronic pain to the Emergency Department in order to improve and streamline their future visits. Methods: A two-year survey was carried out on Chronic Pain Patients regarding their Emergency Department Attendances. Patients attending the Pain Clinic in Croom Hospital, Co. Limerick were asked to complete a 20-part questionnaire regarding their experiences of visiting the Emergency Department in the preceding year. 46 questionnaires were completed. Results: Unbearable breakthrough pain was the main reason for visiting the Emergency Department. More than half (54%) of those surveyed were not satisfied with the treatment received. Problems indicated included under-treatment of pain (59%), a sense of being under undue suspicion of drug-seeking behaviour (33%) and a perception that the patient themselves understood their condition better than the treating doctor (76%). Paracetamol, NSAIDs, or time off work comprised 72% of the treatments offered – all of which could have been provided by their General Practitioner. Only 4% were offered a nerve block. 67% felt that the creation of personalised Patient Plans, consisting of an agreed plan between the patient, their pain specialist, and the Emergency Department, would expedite their trip through the Emergency Department. Conclusions: Chronic pain patients generally have a negative experience in the ED. Possible future solutions include increasing our empathy and levels of knowledge, provision of nerve blocks in the ED, and use of personalised “Patient Plans” to streamline the treatment pathway for this group of patients.

Keywords: chronic pain, survey, patients, emergency department

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Authors: Penrug Pengsombut, Worawut Hamarn, Teerawuth Suwannasri, Kittiphong Songrukkiat, Kanatip Ratanachoo

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PTT Public Company Limited or simply PTT has played an important role in strengthening national energy security of the Kingdom of Thailand by transporting natural gas to customers in power, industrial and commercial sectors since 1981. PTT has been constructing and operating natural gas pipeline system of over 4,500-km network length both onshore and offshore laid through different area classifications i.e., marine, forest, agriculture, rural, urban, and city areas. During project development phase, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is conducted and submitted to the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) for approval before project construction commencement. Knowledge and experiences gained and revealed from EIA in the past projects definitely are developed to further advance EIA study process for newly 5th Transmission Natural Gas Pipeline Project (5TP) with approximately 415 kilometers length. The preferred pipeline route is selected and justified by SMARTi map, an advance digital one-map platform with consists of multiple layers geographic and environmental information. Sensitive area impact focus (SAIF) is a practicable impact assessment methodology which appropriate for a particular long distance infrastructure project such as 5TP. An environmental modeling simulation is adopted into SAIF methodology for impact quantified in all sensitive areas whereas other area along pipeline right-of-ways is typically assessed as an impact representative. Resulting time and cost deduction is beneficial to project for early start.

Keywords: environmental impact assessment, EIA, natural gas pipeline, sensitive area impact focus, SAIF

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Authors: H. B. Torane, M. C. Kasture, S. S. Prabhudesai, P. B. Sanap, V. N. Palsande, J. J. Palkar

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The present investigation entitled “Response of briquettes application with different coating materials on yield and quality of Cucumber [Cucumis sativus (L.)]” was conducted at Central Experiment Center, Wakawali during kharif season 2013. The field experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design with three replicate. The four coating materials viz., Co – Non coating, C1 – Wax coating, C2 – Jaggary coating, and C3 – Tar coating was applied to Konkan Annapurna Briquette along with three sub treatments of application time i.e B1 – ½ at sowing, B2 - ½ at sowing and ½ at 30 days after sowing and B3 - 1/3 at sowing, 1/3 at 30 days after sowing and 1/3 at 60 days after sowing. It was observed that the application of tar coated Konkan Annapurna Briquettes (KAB) in three times @1/3 quantity of briquettes at sowing time, 1/3 quantity of briquettes at 30 days after sowing and 1/3 quantity of briquettes at 60 days after sowing was found promising to enhancing the cucumber fruit yield, higher vine length, number of fruits vine-1, girth of fruit, length of fruit. It was also observed that the quality of the cucumber fruit increased in terms of ascorbic acid. UB-Godavari forms of briquettes .i.e. are promising source of N, P2O5 and K2O fertilizers as compared to straight fertilizers for enhancing green cucumber fruit yield of Sheetal variety of cucumber in lateritic soil. Amongst the three types of coated briquettes, the tar coated briquettes application was found to be superior for increasing cucumber fruit yield applied in three times @1/3 quantity of briquettes at sowing time, 1/3 quantity of briquettes at 30 days after sowing and 1/3 quantity of briquettes at 60 days after sowing @ 5 briquettes per plant at an interval of 30 days after sowing.

Keywords: briquettes, coating, yield, tar, wax and quality

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Authors: Lubica Muckova, Petr Jost, Jaroslav Pejchal, Daniel Jun

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The development of acetylcholinesterase reactivators, i.e. antidotes against organophosphorus poisoning, is an important goal of defence research. The aim of this study was to compare cytotoxicity and chemical structure of 5 currently available (pralidoxime, trimedoxime, obidoxime, methoxime, and asoxime) and 4 newly developed compounds (K027, K074, K075, and K203). In oximes, there could be at least four important structural factors affecting their toxicity, including the number of oxime groups in the molecule, the position of oxime group(s) on pyridinium ring, the length of carbon linker, and the substitution by oxygen or insertion of the double bond into the connection chain. The cytotoxicity of tested substances was measured using colorimetric 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay (MTT assay) in SH-SY5Y cell line. Toxicity was expressed as toxicological index IC₅₀. The tested compounds showed different cytotoxicity ranging from 1.5 to 27 mM. K027 was the least, and methoxime was the most toxic reactivator. The lowest toxicity was found in a monopyridinium reactivator and bispyridinium reactivators with simple 3C carbon linker. Shortening of connection chain length to 1C, incorporation of oxygen moiety into 3C compounds, elongation of carbon linker to 4C and insertion of a double bond into 4C substances increase AChE reactivators' cytotoxicity. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by a long-term organization development plan Medical Aspects of Weapons of Mass Destruction of the Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence.

Keywords: acetylcholinesterase, cytotoxicity, organophosphorus poisoning, reactivators of acetylcholinesterase

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Authors: Hansraj Riteesh Bookun, Emily Maree Stevens, Jarryd Leigh Solomon, Anthony Chan

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Objective: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study evaluating the safety and efficacy of femoral endarterectomy using the eversion technique with transection as opposed to the conventional endarterectomy technique with either vein or synthetic patch arterioplasty. Methods: Between 2010 to mid 2017, 19 patients with mean age of 75.4 years, underwent eversion femoral endarterectomy with transection by a single surgeon. There were 13 males (68.4%), and the comorbid burden was as follows: ischaemic heart disease (53.3%), diabetes (43.8%), stage 4 kidney impairment (13.3%) and current or ex-smoking (73.3%). The indications were claudication (45.5%), rest pain (18.2%) and tissue loss (36.3%). Results: The technical success rate was 100%. One patient required a blood transfusion following bleeding from intraoperative losses. Two patients required blood transfusions from low post operative haemogloblin concentrations – one of them in the context of myelodysplastic syndrome. There were no unexpected returns to theatre. The mean length of stay was 11.5 days with two patients having inpatient stays of 36 and 50 days respectively due to the need for rehabilitation. There was one death unrelated to the operation. Conclusion: The eversion technique with transection is safe and effective with low complication rates and a normally expected length of stay. It poses the advantage of not requiring a synthetic patch. This technique features minimal extraneous dissection as there is no need to harvest vein for a patch. Additionally, future endovascular interventions can be performed by puncturing the native vessel. There is no change to the femoral bifurcation anatomy after this technique. We posit that this is a useful adjunct to the surgeon’s panoply of vascular surgical techniques.

Keywords: endarterectomy, eversion, femoral, vascular

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Authors: Amira Mabrouk, Chokri Abdennadher

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The reduction of road congestion which is inherent to the use of vehicles is an obvious priority to public authority. Therefore, assessing the willingness to pay of an individual in order to save trip-time is akin to estimating the change in price which was the result of setting up a new transport policy to increase the networks fluidity and improving the level of social welfare. This study holds an innovative perspective. In fact, it initiates an economic calculation that has the objective of giving an estimation of the monetized time value during the trips made in Sfax. This research is founded on a double-objective approach. The aim of this study is to i) give an estimation of the monetized value of time; an hour dedicated to trips, ii) determine whether or not the consumer considers the environmental variables to be significant, iii) analyze the impact of applying a public management of the congestion via imposing taxation of city tolls on urban dwellers. This article is built upon a rich field survey led in the city of Sfax. With the use of the contingent valuation method, we analyze the “declared time preferences” of 450 drivers during rush hours. Based on the fond consideration of attributed bias of the applied method, we bring to light the delicacy of this approach with regards to the revelation mode and the interrogative techniques by following the NOAA panel recommendations bearing the exception of the valorization point and other similar studies about the estimation of transportation externality.

Keywords: willingness to pay, contingent valuation, time value, city toll

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Authors: Young-Hyun Seo, Hosuk Shin, Eun-Hak Lee, Seung-Young Kho

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This study analyzed and visualized the rental and return data of the public bike sharing system in Seoul, Ttareungyi, from September 2015 to October 2017. With the surge of system users, the number of times of collection and distribution in 2017 increased by three times compared to 2016. The city plans to deploy about 20,000 public bicycles by the end of 2017 to expand the system. Based on about 3.3 million historical data, we calculated the average trip time and the number of trips from one station to another station. The mobility patterns between stations are graphically displayed using R and Tableau. Demand for public bike sharing system is heavily influenced by day and weather. As a result of plotting the number of rentals and returns of some stations on weekdays and weekends at intervals of one hour, there was a difference in rental patterns. As a result of analysis of the rental and return patterns by time of day, there were a lot of returns at the morning peak and more rentals at the afternoon peak at the center of the city. It means that stock of bikes varies largely in the time zone and public bikes should be rebalanced timely. The result of this study can be applied as a primary data to construct the demand forecasting function of the station when establishing the rebalancing strategy of the public bicycle.

Keywords: demand forecasting, mobility patterns, public bike sharing system, visualization

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Authors: A. A. M. A. S. S. Perera, L. A. Ranasinghe, T. K. H. Nimeshika, D. M. Dhanushka Dissanayake, Namalie Walgampaya

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Nowadays, skin fungal diseases are mostly found in people of tropical countries like Sri Lanka. A skin fungal disease is a particular kind of illness caused by fungus. These diseases have various dangerous effects on the skin and keep on spreading over time. It becomes important to identify these diseases at their initial stage to control it from spreading. This paper presents an automated skin fungal disease identification system implemented to speed up the diagnosis process by identifying skin fungal infections in digital images. An image of the diseased skin lesion is acquired and a comprehensive computer vision and image processing scheme is used to process the image for the disease identification. This includes colour analysis using RGB and HSV colour models, texture classification using Grey Level Run Length Matrix, Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix and Local Binary Pattern, Object detection, Shape Identification and many more. This paper presents the approach and its outcome for identification of four most common skin fungal infections, namely, Tinea Corporis, Sporotrichosis, Malassezia and Onychomycosis. The main intention of this research is to provide an automated skin fungal disease identification system that increase the diagnostic quality, shorten the time-to-diagnosis and improve the efficiency of detection and successful treatment for skin fungal diseases.

Keywords: Circularity Index, Grey Level Run Length Matrix, Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix, Local Binary Pattern, Object detection, Ring Detection, Shape Identification

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Authors: Chi-Yuan Huang, Mei-Chuan Kuo, Ching-Yi Hsiao

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In this study, acids with various chain lengths (C₆, C₈, C₁₀ and C₁₂) modified by methane sulfonic acid (MSA) and temperature were used to modify tapioca starch (TPS), then the glycerol (GA) were added into modified starch, to prepare new blends. The mechanical properties, thermal properties and physical properties of blends were studied. This investigation was divided into two parts.  First, the biodegradable materials were used such as starch and glycerol with hexanedioic acid (HA), suberic acid (SBA), sebacic acid (SA), decanedicarboxylic acid (DA) manufacturing with different temperatures (90, 110 and 130 °C). And then, the solution was added into modified starch to prepare the blends by using single-screw extruder. The FT-IR patterns indicated that the characteristic peak of C=O in ester was observed at 1730 cm^-1. It is proved that different chain length acids (C₆, C₈, C₁₀ and C₁₂) reacted with glycerol by esterification and these are used to plasticize blends during extrusion. In addition, the blends would improve the hydrolysis and thermal stability. The water contact angle increased from 43.0° to 64.0°.  Second, the HA (110 °C), SBA (110 °C), SA (110 °C), and DA blends (130 °C) were used in study, because they possessed good mechanical properties, water resistances and thermal stability. On the other hand, the various contents (0, 0.005, 0.010, 0.020 g) of MSA were also used to modify the mechanical properties of blends. We observed that the blends were added to MSA, and then the FT-IR patterns indicated that the C=O ester appeared at 1730 cm^-1. For this reason, the hydrophobic blends were produced. The water contact angle of the MSA blends increased from 55.0° to 71.0°. Although break elongation of the MSA blends reduced from the original 220% to 128%, the stress increased from 2.5 MPa to 5.1 MPa. Therefore, the optimal composition of blends was the DA blend (130 °C) with adding of MSA (0.005 g).

Keywords: chain length acids, methane sulfonic acid, Tapioca starch (TPS), tensile stress

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Authors: V. Kumar, K. Jha

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The present study is done to explore design modifications of the vortex finder, as it has a significant effect on the cyclone separator performance. It is evident that modifications of the vortex finder improve the performance of the cyclone separator significantly. The study conducted strives to improve the overall performance of cyclone separators by utilizing a converging-diverging (CD) vortex finder instead of the traditional uniform diameter vortex finders. The velocity and pressure fields inside a Stairmand cyclone separator with body diameter 0.29m and vortex finder diameter 0.1305m are calculated. The commercial software, Ansys Fluent v14.0 is used to simulate the flow field in a uniform diameter cyclone and six cyclones modified with CD vortex finders. Reynolds stress model is used to simulate the effects of turbulence on the fluid and particulate phases, discrete phase model is used to calculate the particle trajectories. The performance of the modified vortex finders is compared with the traditional vortex finder. The effects of the lengths of the converging and diverging sections, the throat diameter and the end diameters of the convergent divergent section are also studied to achieve enhanced performance. The pressure and velocity fields inside the vortex finder are presented by means of contour plots and velocity vectors and changes in the flow pattern due to variation of the geometrical variables are also analysed. Results indicate that a convergent-divergent vortex finder is capable of decreasing the pressure drop than that achieved through a uniform diameter vortex finder. It is also observed that the end diameters of the CD vortex finder, the throat diameter and the length of the diverging part of the vortex finder have a significant impact on the cyclone separator performance. Increase in the lower diameter of the vortex finder by 66% results in 11.5% decrease in the dimensionless pressure drop (Euler number) with 5.8% decrease in separation efficiency. Whereas 50% decrease in the throat diameter gives 5.9% increase in the Euler number with 10.2% increase in the separation efficiency and increasing the length of the diverging part gives 10.28% increase in the Euler number with 5.74% increase in the separation efficiency. Increasing the upper diameter of the CD vortex finder is seen to produce an adverse effect on the performance as it increases the pressure drop significantly and decreases the separation efficiency. Increase in length of the converging is not seen to affect the performance significantly. From the present study, it is concluded that convergent-divergent vortex finders can be used in place of uniform diameter vortex finders to achieve a better cyclone separator performance.

Keywords: convergent-divergent vortex finder, cyclone separator, discrete phase modeling, Reynolds stress model

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Authors: S. Arabnejad, D. W. C. Cheong, H. Chaobin, V. P. W. Shim

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Debonding is the one of the fundamental damage mechanisms in particle field composites. This phenomenon gains more importance in nano composites because of the extensive interfacial region present in these materials. Understanding the debonding mechanism accurately, can help in understanding and predicting the response of nano composites as the interface deteriorates. The small length scale of the phenomenon makes the experimental characterization complicated and the results of it, far from real physical behavior. In this study the damage process in nylon-6/silica interface is examined through Molecular Dynamics (MD) modeling and simulations. The silica has been modeled with three forms of surfaces – without any surface treatment, with the surface treatment of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and with Hexamethyldisilazane (HMDZ) surface treatment. The APTES surface modification used to create functional groups on the silica surface, reacts and form covalent bonds with nylon 6 chains while the HMDZ surface treatment only interacts with both particle and polymer by non-bond interaction. The MD model in this study uses a PCFF force field. The atomic model is generated in a periodic box with a layer of vacuum on top of the polymer layer. This layer of vacuum is large enough that assures us from not having any interaction between particle and substrate after debonding. Results show that each of these three models show a different traction separation behavior. However, all of them show an almost bilinear traction separation behavior. The study also reveals a strong correlation between the length of APTES surface treatment and the cohesive strength of the interface.

Keywords: debonding, surface treatment, cohesive response, separation behaviour

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Authors: Tej Varma Y, Debi D. Pant

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Photophysics and rotational dynamics of the fluorescent probe, 6-methoxyquinoline (6MQ) with cationic surfactant, alkyltrimethylammonium bromide (nTAB) micelle solutions have been investigated (n = 12, 14 and 16). Absorption and emission peaks of the dye have been observed to shift at concentrations around critical micellar concentration (cmc) of nTAB compared to that of bulk solutions suggesting probe is in a lower polar environment. The probe senses changes in polarity (ET (30)) brought about by variation of surfactant chain length concentration and is invariably solubilized in the aqueous interface or palisade layer. The order of change in polarity observed was DTAB > CTAB > TTAB. The binding constant study shows that the probe binds strongest with TTAB (is of the order TTAB > CTAB > DTAB) due to deeper penetration into the micelle. The anisotropy decay for the probe in all the nTAB micelles studied have been rationalized based on a two-step model consisting of fast-restricted rotation of the probe and slow lateral diffusion of the probe in the micelle that is coupled to the overall rotation of the micelle. Fluorescence lifetime measurements of probe in the cationic micelles demonstrate the close proximity of the 6MQ to the Br - counterions. The fluorescence lifetimes of TTAB and DTAB are much shorter than in CTAB. These results indicate that 6MQ resides to a substantial degree in the head group region of the micelles. All the changes observed in the steady state fluorescence, microenvironment, fluorescence lifetimes, fluorescence anisotropy, and other calculations are in agreement with each other suggesting binding of the cationic surfactant with the neutral dye molecule.

Keywords: photophysics, chain length, ntaB, micelles

Procedia PDF Downloads 636

Authors: Trung Le Thanh

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Bored piles are always the optimal solution for high-rise building foundations. They have many advantages, such as large diameter, large pile length and construction in all different geological conditions. However, due to construction characteristics, the load-bearing capacity of bored piles is not optimal because wall friction is reduced due to poor contact between the pile and the surrounding soil. Therefore, grouting technology along the pile body helps improve the load-bearing capacity of bored piles significantly through increasing the skin resistance of the pile and surrounding soil. The improvement of pile skin resistance depends on the parameters of grouting technology, especially grouting volume, mortar viscosity, mortar strength,... and different geological conditions. Studies show that the technology of grouting piles on sandy soil is more effective than on clay. This article presents an experimental model to determine the load-bearing capacity of bored piles with a diameter of 400 mm and a length of 3 m on sand with different slurry volume in Tan Uyen city, Binh Duong province. On that basis, analyze the correlation between the increase in load-bearing capacity of bored piles without and with shaft grouting pile. Research results show that the wall resistance of shaft grouted piles increases 2-3 times compared to piles without grouting, and the pile's load-bearing capacity increases significantly. The article's research provides scientific value for consulting work on the design of bored piles when grouted along the pile body.

Keywords: bored pile, shaft grouting, bearing capacity, pile shaft resistance

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Jafar Ahmadi, Zhohreh Asiaban, Sedigheh Fabriki Ourang

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Brassinosteroids (BRs) regulate cell elongation, vascular differentiation, senescence and stress responses. BRs signal through the BES1/BZR1 family of transcription factors, which regulate hundreds of target genes involved in this pathway. In this research a comprehensive genome-wide analysis was carried out in BES1/BZR1 gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana, Cucumis sativus, Vitis vinifera, Glycin max, and Brachypodium distachyon. Specifications of the desired sequences, dot plot and hydropathy plot were analyzed in the protein and genome sequences of five plant species. The maximum amino acid length was attributed to protein sequence Brdic3g with 374aa and the minimum amino acid length was attributed to protein sequence Gm7g with 163aa. The maximum Instability index was attributed to protein sequence AT1G19350 equal with 79.99 and the minimum Instability index was attributed to protein sequence Gm5g equal with 33.22. Aliphatic index of these protein sequences ranged from 47.82 to 78.79 in Arabidopsis thaliana, 49.91 to 57.50 in Vitis vinifera, 55.09 to 82.43 in Glycin max, 54.09 to 54.28 in Brachypodium distachyon 55.36 to 56.83 in Cucumis sativus. Overall, data obtained from our investigation contributes a better understanding of the complexity of the BES1/BZR1 gene family and provides the first step towards directing future experimental designs to perform systematic analysis of the functions of the BES1/BZR1 gene family.

Keywords: BES1/BZR1, brassinosteroids, phylogenetic analysis, transcription factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: A. J. Julius, E. Imoagene, O. A. Ganiyu

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The purpose of this study is to estimate the economic value of the services and functions rendered by the forest landscape using a conditional logit model. For this study, attributes and levels of forest landscape were chosen; specifically, attributes include topographical forest type, forest type, forest density, recreational factor (side trip, accessibility of valley), and willingness to participate (WTP). Based on these factors, 48 choices sets with balanced and orthogonal form using statistical analysis system (SAS) 9.1 was adopted. The efficiency of the questionnaire was 6.02 (D-Error. 0.1), and choice set and socio-economic variables were analyzed. To reduce the cognitive load of respondents, the 48 choice sets were divided into 4 types in the questionnaire, so that respondents could respond to 12 choice sets, respectively. The study populations were citizens from seven metropolitan cities including Ibadan, Ilorin, Osogbo, etc. and annual WTP per household was asked by using the interview questionnaire, a total of 267 copies were recovered. As a result, Oshogbo had 0.45, and the statistical similarities could not be found except for urban forests, forest density, recreational factor, and level of WTP. Average annual WTP per household for forest landscape was 104,758 Naira (Nigerian currency) based on the outcome from this model, total economic value of the services and functions enjoyed from Nigerian forest landscape has reached approximately 1.6 trillion Naira.

Keywords: economic valuation, urban cities, services, forest landscape, logit model, nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Sandipika Gupta

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Objective: Due to admirably low 30-day mortality rates for paediatric cardiac surgery, it is now pertinent to turn towards more intermediate-length outcomes such as morbidities closely associated with these surgeries. One such morbidity, major adverse events (MAE) comprises a group of adverse outcomes associated with paediatric cardiac surgery (e.g. cardiac arrest, major haemorrhage). Methods: This is a retrospective study that analysed the incidence and impact of MAE which was the primary outcome in the UK population. The data was collected in 5 centres between October 2015 and June 2017, amassing 3090 surgical episodes. The incidence and risk factors for MAE, were assessed through descriptive statistical analyses and multivariate logistic regression. The secondary outcomes of life status at 6 months and the length of hospital stay were also evaluated to understand the impact of MAE on patients. Results: Out of 3090 episodes, 134 (4.3%) had a postoperative MAE. The majority of the episodes were in: neonates (47%, P<0.001), high-risk cardiac diagnosis groups (20.1%, P<0.001), episodes with longer 5mes on the bypass (72.4%, P<0.001) and urgent surgeries (57.9%, P<0.001). Episodes reporting MAE also reported longer lengths of stay in hospital (29 days vs 9 days, P<0.001). Furthermore, patients experiencing MAE were at a higher risk of mortality at the 6-month life status check (mortality rates: 29.2% vs 2%, P<0.001).Conclusions: Key risk factors were identified. An important negative impact of MAE was found for patients. The identified risk factors could be used to profile and flag at-risk patients. Monitoring of MAE rates and closer investigation into the care pathway before and after individual MAEs in children’s heart units may lead to a reduction in these terrible events.

Keywords:

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Ahmed M. Gamal, Adel M. Belal, S. A. Elsoud

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This article aims to study the effect of reinforcement inclusions (geogrids) on the sand dunes bearing capacity under strip footings. In this research experimental physical model was carried out to study the effect of the first geogrid reinforcement depth (u/B), the spacing between the reinforcement (h/B) and its extension relative to the footing length (L/B) on the mobilized bearing capacity. This paper presents the numerical modeling using the commercial finite element package (PLAXIS version 8.2) to simulate the laboratory physical model, studying the same parameters previously handled in the experimental work (u/B, L/B & h/B) for the purpose of validation. In this study the soil, the geogrid, the interface element and the boundary condition are discussed with a set of finite element results and the validation. Then the validated FEM used for studying real material and dimensions of strip foundation. Based on the experimental and numerical investigation results, a significant increase in the bearing capacity of footings has occurred due to an appropriate location of the inclusions in sand. The optimum embedment depth of the first reinforcement layer (u/B) is equal to 0.25. The optimum spacing between each successive reinforcement layer (h/B) is equal to 0.75 B. The optimum Length of the reinforcement layer (L/B) is equal to 7.5 B. The optimum number of reinforcement is equal to 4 layers. The study showed a directly proportional relation between the number of reinforcement layer and the Bearing Capacity Ratio BCR, and an inversely proportional relation between the footing width and the BCR.

Keywords: reinforced soil, geogrid, sand dunes, bearing capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 418

Authors: Osk Dagsdottir

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Background—Gait classifying allows clinicians to differentiate gait patterns into clinically important categories that help in clinical decision making. Reliable comparison of gait data between normal and patients requires knowledge of the gait parameters of normal children's specific age group. However, there is still a lack of the gait database for normal children of different ages. Objectives—This study aims to investigate the kinematics of the lower limb joints during gait for normal children in different age groups. Methods—Fifty-three normal children (34 boys, 19 girls) were recruited in this study. All the children were aged between 5 to 16 years old. Age groups were defined as three types: young child aged (5-7), child (8-11), and adolescent (12-16). When a participant agreed to take part in the project, their parents signed a consent form. Vicon® motion capture system was used to collect gait data. Participants were asked to walk at their comfortable speed along a 10-meter walkway. Each participant walked up to 20 trials. Three good trials were analyzed using the Vicon Plug-in-Gait model to obtain parameters of the gait, e.g., walking speed, cadence, stride length, and joint parameters, e.g., joint angle, force, moments, etc. Moreover, each gait cycle was divided into 8 phases. The range of motion (ROM) angle of pelvis, hip, knee, and ankle joints in three planes of both limbs were calculated using an in-house program. Results—The temporal-spatial variables of three age groups of normal children were compared between each other; it was found that there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the groups. The step length and walking speed were gradually increasing from young child to adolescent, while cadence was gradually decreasing from young child to adolescent group. The mean and standard deviation (SD) of the step length of young child, child and adolescent groups were 0.502 ± 0.067 m, 0.566 ± 0.061 m and 0.672 ± 0.053 m, respectively. The mean and SD of the cadence of the young child, child and adolescent groups were 140.11±15.79 step/min, 129±11.84 step/min, and a 115.96±6.47 step/min, respectively. Moreover, it was observed that there were significant differences in kinematic parameters, either whole gait cycle or each phase. For example, RoM of knee angle in the sagittal plane in the whole cycle of young child group is (65.03±0.52 deg) larger than child group (63.47±0.47 deg). Conclusion—Our result showed that there are significant differences between each age group in the gait phases and thus children walking performance changes with ages. Therefore, it is important for the clinician to consider the age group when analyzing the patients with lower limb disorders before any clinical treatment.

Keywords: action research, creative learning, mathematics education, professional development

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Sung-Won Yoo, Chul-Hyeon Kang, Kyoung-Tae Park, Hae-Sik Woo

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Numerous studies were dedicated on the High Volume Fly-Ash (HVFA) concrete using high volume fly ash. The material properties of HVFA concrete have been the primordial topics of early studies, and interest shifted gradually toward the structural behavior of HVFA concrete such as elasticity modulus, stress-strain relationship, and structural behavior. However, structural studies consider small-scale members limited to the scope of reinforced concrete only. Therefore, in this paper, on the basis of recent studies on the structural behavior, 2 full-scale test members were manufactured with 7.5 m span length, fly ash replacement ratio of 50 % and concrete compressive strength of 50 MPa in order to evaluate the practicability of HVFA to real structures. In addition, 2 steel composite test members were also manufactured with span length of 3 m and using the same HVFA concrete for the same purpose. The test results of full-scale RC members showed that the practical use of HVFA on such structures is not hard despite small differences between test results and existing research results on the stress-strain relationship. The flexural test revealed very little difference between 50% fly ash concrete and general concrete in view of the similarity exhibited by the displacement and strain patterns. The experimental concrete shear strength being very close to that of design code, the existing design code can be applied. From the flexural test results of steel girder composite members, the composite behavior can be secured as much as that using normal concrete under the condition of sufficient arrangement of reinforcing bar.

Keywords: composite, fly ash, full-scale, high volume

Procedia PDF Downloads 217

Authors: Y. S. Zhou, C. R. Li, L. L. Tang, C. X. Gao, D. J. Wang, Y. Y. Guo

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Triangular trihedral corner reflector (CR) has been widely used as point target for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) calibration and image quality assessment. The additional “tip” of the triangular plate does not contribute to the reflector’s theoretical RCS and if it interacts with a perfectly reflecting ground plane, it will yield an increase of RCS at the radar bore-sight and decrease the accuracy of SAR calibration and image quality assessment. Regarding this problem, two types of CRs were manufactured. One was the hexagonal trihedral CR. It is a self-illuminating CR with relatively small plate edge length, while large edge length usually introduces unexpected edge diffraction error. The other was the triangular trihedral CR with extended bottom plate which considers the effect of ‘tip’ into the total RCS. In order to assess the performance of the two types of new CRs, flight campaign over the National Calibration and Validation Site for High Resolution Remote Sensors was carried out. Six hexagonal trihedral CRs and two bottom-extended trihedral CRs, as well as several traditional triangular trihedral CRs, were deployed. KOMPSAT-5 X-band SAR image was acquired for the performance analysis of the hexagonal trihedral CRs. C-band airborne SAR images were acquired for the performance analysis of the bottom-extended trihedral CRs. The analysis results showed that the impulse response function of both the hexagonal trihedral CRs and bottom-extended trihedral CRs were much closer to the ideal sinc-function than the traditional triangular trihedral CRs. The flight campaign results validated the advantages of new types of CRs and they might be useful in the future SAR calibration mission.

Keywords: synthetic aperture radar, calibration, corner reflector, KOMPSAT-5

Procedia PDF Downloads 272

Authors: Yuan-Lin Liu, Ye Li, Tian Xia

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Taxi-calling APPs have been used widely, while brought both benefits and a variety of issues for the taxi market. Many countries do not know whether the benefits are remarkable than the issues or not. This paper established a comparison between the basic scenario (2009-2012) and a taxi-calling software usage scenario (2012-2015) to explain the impact of taxi-calling APPs. The impacts of taxi-calling APPs illustrated by the comparison results are: 1) The supply and demand distribution is more balanced, extending from the city center to the suburb. The availability of taxi service has been improved in low density areas, thin market attribute has also been improved; 2)The ratio of short distance taxi trip decreased, long distance service increased, the utilization of mileage increased, and the rate of empty decreased; 3) The popularity of taxi-calling APPs was able to reduce the average empty distance, cruise time, empty mileage rate and average times of loading passengers, can also enhance the average operating speed, improve the taxi operating level, and reduce social cost although there are some disadvantages. This paper argues that the taxi industry and government can establish an integrated third-party credit information platform based on credit evaluated by the data of the drivers’ driving behaviors to supervise the drivers. Taxi-calling APPs under fully covered supervision in the mobile Internet environment will become a new trend.

Keywords: taxi, taxi-calling APPs, credit, scenario comparison

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Pierobon Enrico, Missiaggia Marta, Castelluzzo Michele, Tommasino Francesco, Ricci Leonardo, Scifoni Emanuele, Vincezo Monaco, Boscardin Maurizio, La Tessa Chiara

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Clinical outcomes collected over the past three decades have suggested that ion therapy has the potential to be a treatment modality superior to conventional radiation for several types of cancer, including recurrences, as well as for other diseases. Although the results have been encouraging, numerous treatment uncertainties remain a major obstacle to the full exploitation of particle radiotherapy. To overcome therapy uncertainties optimizing treatment outcome, the best possible radiation quality description is of paramount importance linking radiation physical dose to biological effects. Microdosimetry was developed as a tool to improve the description of radiation quality. By recording the energy deposition at the micrometric scale (the typical size of a cell nucleus), this approach takes into account the non-deterministic nature of atomic and nuclear processes and creates a direct link between the dose deposited by radiation and the biological effect induced. Microdosimeters measure the spectrum of lineal energy y, defined as the energy deposition in the detector divided by most probable track length travelled by radiation. The latter is provided by the so-called “Mean Chord Length” (MCL) approximation, and it is related to the detector geometry. To improve the characterization of the radiation field quality, we define a new quantity replacing the MCL with the actual particle track length inside the microdosimeter. In order to measure this new quantity, we propose a two-stage detector consisting of a commercial Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (TEPC) and 4 layers of Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) strips. The TEPC detector records the energy deposition in a region equivalent to 2 um of tissue, while the LGADs are very suitable for particle tracking because of the thickness thinnable down to tens of micrometers and fast response to ionizing radiation. The concept of HDM has been investigated and validated with Monte Carlo simulations. Currently, a dedicated readout is under development. This two stages detector will require two different systems to join complementary information for each event: energy deposition in the TEPC and respective track length recorded by LGADs tracker. This challenge is being addressed by implementing SoC (System on Chip) technology, relying on Field Programmable Gated Arrays (FPGAs) based on the Zynq architecture. TEPC readout consists of three different signal amplification legs and is carried out thanks to 3 ADCs mounted on a FPGA board. LGADs activated strip signal is processed thanks to dedicated chips, and finally, the activated strip is stored relying again on FPGA-based solutions. In this work, we will provide a detailed description of HDM geometry and the SoC solutions that we are implementing for the readout.

Keywords: particle tracking, ion therapy, low gain avalanche diode, tissue equivalent proportional counter, microdosimetry

Procedia PDF Downloads 175