Search results for: high concentration slurry disposal

Authors: Stefano Iannello, Massimiliano Materazzi

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Fluidized bed reactor technologies are one of the most valuable pathways for thermochemical conversions of biogenic fuels due to their good operating flexibility. Nevertheless, there are still issues related to the mixing and separation of heterogeneous phases during operation with highly volatile feedstocks, including biomass and waste. At high temperatures, the volatile content of the feedstock is released in the form of the so-called endogenous bubbles, which generally exert a “lift” effect on the particle itself by dragging it up to the bed surface. Such phenomenon leads to high release of volatile matter into the freeboard and limited mass and heat transfer with particles of the bed inventory. The aim of this work is to get a better understanding of the behaviour of a single reacting particle in a hot fluidized bed reactor during the devolatilization stage. The analysis has been undertaken at different fluidization regimes and temperatures to closely mirror the operating conditions of waste-to-energy processes. Beechwood and polypropylene particles were used to resemble the biomass and plastic fractions present in waste materials, respectively. The non-invasive X-ray technique was coupled to particle tracking algorithms to characterize the motion of a single feedstock particle during the devolatilization with high resolution. A high-energy X-ray beam passes through the vessel where absorption occurs, depending on the distribution and amount of solids and fluids along the beam path. A high-speed video camera is synchronised to the beam and provides frame-by-frame imaging of the flow patterns of fluids and solids within the fluidized bed up to 72 fps (frames per second). A comprehensive mathematical model has been developed in order to validate the experimental results. Beech wood and polypropylene particles have shown a very different dynamic behaviour during the pyrolysis stage. When the feedstock is fed from the bottom, the plastic material tends to spend more time within the bed than the biomass. This behaviour can be attributed to the presence of the endogenous bubbles, which drag effect is more pronounced during the devolatilization of biomass, resulting in a lower residence time of the particle within the bed. At the typical operating temperatures of thermochemical conversions, the synthetic polymer softens and melts, and the bed particles attach on its outer surface, generating a wet plastic-sand agglomerate. Consequently, this additional layer of sand may hinder the rapid evolution of volatiles in the form of endogenous bubbles, and therefore the establishment of a poor drag effect acting on the feedstock itself. Information about the mixing and segregation of solid feedstock is of prime importance for the design and development of more efficient industrial-scale operations.

Keywords: fluidized bed, pyrolysis, waste feedstock, X-ray

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Authors: Songyan Yin, Ravindra Rajarao, Veena Sahajwalla

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Automotive plastics waste (widely known as auto-fluff or ASR) is a complicated mixture of various plastics incorporated with a wide range of additives and fillers like titanium dioxide, magnesium oxide, and silicon dioxide. Automotive plastics waste is difficult to recycle and its landfilling poses the significant threat to the environment. In this study, a sustainable technology to fabricate protective nanoscale TiN thin film on a steel substrate surface by using automotive waste plastics as titanium and carbon resources is suggested. When heated automotive plastics waste with steel at elevated temperature in a nitrogen atmosphere, titanium dioxide contented in ASR undergo carbothermal reduction and nitridation reactions on the surface of the steel substrate forming a nanoscale thin film of titanium nitride on the steel surface. The synthesis of TiN film on steel substrate under this technology was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, high resolution X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope, a high resolution transmission electron microscope fitted with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry techniques. This sustainably fabricated TiN film was verified of dense, well crystallized and could provide good oxidation resistance to the steel substrate. This sustainable fabrication technology is maneuverable, reproducible and of great economic and environmental benefit. It not only reduces the fabrication cost of TiN coating on steel surface, but also provides a sustainable environmental solution to recycling automotive plastics waste. Moreover, high value copper droplets and char residues were also extracted from this unique fabrication process.

Keywords: automotive plastics waste, carbonthermal reduction and nitirdation, sustainable, TiN film

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Authors: Vasuki Rayapati, Bhanu Duggal

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Trans catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is the recommended treatment over surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for high-risk groups, patients >75 years of age with severe symptomatic Aortic stenosis (AS). In high income countries TAVR is more cost effective because of – i) Reduction in total length of stay including less number of days in ICU ii) Non-procedural costs like cost of general anaesthesia are higher for SAVR. In India, there are two kinds of hospitals – Public and Private. Most patients visit public sector hospitals than private sector hospitals. In a LMIC like India, especially in the Public health sector cost of TAVR is prohibitive. In a small study from three (public) hospitals in India, it was envisaged that cost of TAVR should decrease at least by 2/3 to be a cost effective option in Public health sector for severe AS.

Keywords: cost effectiveness, TAVR vs SAVR, LMIC, HTA

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Authors: Arijit Basuray

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It is well known that if an electrical insulation system is stressed under high voltage then discharge may occur in various form and if the system is made of composite dielectric having interfaces of materials having different dielectric constant discharge may occur due to gross mismatch of dielectric constant causing intense local field in the interfaces. Here author has studied, firstly, behavior of discharges in gaseous dielectric circuit under AC and DC voltages. A gaseous dielectric circuit is made such that a pair of electrode of typical geometry is used to make the discharges occur under application of AC and DC voltages. Later on, composite insulation system with air gap is also studied. Discharge response of the dielectric circuit is measured across a typically designed impedance. The time evolution of the discharge characteristics showed some interesting chaotic behavior. Author here proposed some analysis of such behavior of the discharge pattern and discussed about the possibility of presence of such discharge circuit in lumped electric circuit.

Keywords: electrical insulation system, EIS, composite dielectric, discharge, chaos

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Authors: Abebe Yimer, Sirawdink Fikereyesus Forsido, Getachew Addis, Abebe Ayelign

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Background: Oxidative stress has been an important health problem as itinduceschronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular, diabetics, and neurodegenerative disease. Plant source natural antioxidant has gained attention as synthetic antioxidant negatively impact human health. Wild edible plants arecheap source of dietary-medicine in mainly rural communityin south-west Ethiopia and elsewhere the country. Thus, the study aimed to determine total pheneol,flavoinoids, antioxidant, vitamin C, and beta-carotene content from wild edible plants Solanum nigrum L., Vigna membranacea A. Rich, Dioscorea praehensilis Benth., Trilepisium madagascariense D.C.andCleome gynandra L. Methods: Methanol was used to extract samples of oven-dried edible plants. Total phenolic compound (TPC) was determined using a Folin Ciocalteu method, whereas total flavonoid content (TFC) was determined using the Aluminium chloride colorimetric method. By using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) tests, antioxidant activities were evaluated in vitro. Additionally, beta-carotene was assessed using a spectrophotometric technique, whilst vitamin C was determined using a titration approach. Results: Total flavonoid contentranged from 0.85±0.03 to 11.25±0.01 mg CE/g in D. praehensilis Benth. tuber and C. gynandra L, respectively. Total phenolic compounds varied from 0.25±0.06 GAE/g in D. praehensilis Benth tuber to 35.73±2.52 GAE/g in S.nigrum L. leaves. In the DPPH test, the highest antioxidant value (87.65%) was obtained in the S.nigrum L. leaves, whereas the smallest amount of antioxidant (50.12%)was contained in D. praehensilis Benth tuber. Similarly in FRAP assay,D. praehensilis Benth tuber showed the least reducing potential(49.16± 2.13mM Fe2+/100 g)whilst the highest reducing potential was presented in the S.nigrum L. leaves(188.12±1.13 mM Fe2+/100 g). The beta-carotene content was found between 11.81±0.00 mg/100g in D. praehensilis Benth tubers to 34.49±0.95 mg/100g in V. membranacea A. Rich leaves. The concentration of vitamin C ranged from 10.00±0.61 in D. praehensilis Benth tubers to 45±1.80 mg/100g in V. membranacea A. Rich leaves. The results showed that high positive linear correlations between TPC and TFC of WEPs (r=0.828), as well as between FRAP and total phenolic contents (r = 0.943) and FRAP and vitamin C (r= 0.928). Conclusion: These findings showed the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of Solanum nigrum L. and Cleome gynandra L, respectively, are abundant. The outcome may be used as a natural supply of dietary antioxidants, which may be useful in preventing oxidative stress. The study's findings also showed that Vigna membranacea A. Rich leaves were cheap source of vitamin C and beta-carotene for people who consumed these wild green. Additional research on the in vivo antioxidant activity, toxicological analysis, and promotion of these wild food plants for agricultural production should be taken into consideration.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, beta-carotene, flavonoids, phenolic content, and vitamin c

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Authors: Ramandeep Kaur, Tarsem Singh Dhillon, Rajinder Kumar Dhall, Ruma Devi

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French bean (Phaseolous vulgaris L.) is an economically potential legume vegetable grown at high altitude (>1000 ft.). More recently, its cultivation in Northern Indian plans is gaining popularity but there is severe reduction in its yield and quality due to low temperature during extreme winter conditions of December-January in open field conditions. Therefore, present study was undertaken to evaluate 29 indeterminate French bean genotypes for various yield and quality traits in poly-net house with the objective to identify best performing genotypes during winter conditions. The significant variation was observed among all the genotypes for all the studied traits. The green pod yield was significantly higher in genotype Lakshmi (992.33 g/plant) followed by Star-I (955.50 g/plant) and FBK-4 (911.17 g/plant). However, the genotypes FBK-10 (105.50 days) and Lakshmi (106.83 days) took least number of days to first harvest and were significantly better than all other genotypes (109.00-136.83 days). The maximum numbers of 10 pickings were recorded in genotype Lakshmi whereas maximum harvesting span as also observed in Lakshmi (60.50 days) which was significantly higher than all other genotypes (31.17-56.50 days). Regarding quality traits, maximum dry matter was observed in FBK-13 (13.87%), protein content in FBK-1 (9.67%), sugar content in FBK-5 (9.60%) and minimum fiber content in FBK-12 (0.69%). It is hereby concluded that high productivity and better quality of French bean (genotypes: Lakshmi, Star-I, FBK-4) was produced in poly-net house conditions of Punjab, India and these pods fetches premium price in the market as there is no availability of green pods at that time in high altitudes. Hence, there is a great scope of cultivation of indeterminate French bean under poly-net house conditions in Punjab.

Keywords: earliness, pod, protected environment, quality, yield

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Authors: Belhaj Mohamed, M. Saidi, I. Bouazizi, M. Soussi, M. Ben Jrad

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The Late Cenomanian-Early Turonian laminated, black, organic-rich limestones were described in Central Tunisia and attributed to the Bahloul Formation. It covers central and northern Tunisia, and the northern part of the Gulf of Gabes. The Bahloul Formation is considered as one of the main source rocks in Tunisia and is composed of outer-shelf to slop-laminated and dark-gray to black-colored limestones and marls. This formation had been deposited in a relatively deep-marine, calm, and anoxic environment. Rock-Eval analysis and vitrinite reflectance (Ro) measurements were performed on the basis of the organic carbon content. Several samples were chosen for molecular organic geochemistry. Saturate and aromatic hydrocarbons were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry. Geochemical data of the Bahloul Formation in northern and central Tunisia show this level to be a good potential source rock as indicated by the high content of type II organic matter. This formation exhibits high total organic carbon contents (as much as 14%), with an average value of 2% and a good to excellent petroleum potential, ranging between 2 and 50 kg of hydrocarbon/ton of rock. The extracts from the Bahloul Formation are characterized by Pr/Ph ratios ranging between 1.5 and 3, a moderate diasterane content, a C27 sterane approximately equal to C29 sterane, a high C28/C29 ratio, low gammacerane index, a C35/C34 homohopane ratio less than 1 and carbon isotope compositions between -24 and -26‰. The thermal maturity is relatively low, corresponding to the beginning of the oil window in the western area near the Algerian border, in the oil window in the eastern area (Sahel basin) and late mature in northern part.

Keywords: biomarkers, organic geochemistry, source rock, Tunisia

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Authors: D. Gueribiz, F. Jacquemin, S. Fréour

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During their service life, composite materials are submitted to humid environments. The moisture absorbed by their matrix polymer induced internal stresses which can lead to multi-scale damage and may reduce the lifetime of composite structures. The estimation of internal stresses is based at a first on realistic evaluation of the diffusive behavior of composite materials. Generally, the modeling and simulation of the diffusive behavior of composite materials are extensively investigated through decoupled models based on the assumption of Fickien behavior. For these approaches, the concentration and the deformation (or stresses), the two state variables of the problem considered are governed by independent equations which are solved separately. In this study, a model coupling diffusive behavior with stresses state for a polymer matrix composite reinforced with impermeable fibers is proposed, the investigation of diffusive behavior is based on a more general thermodynamic approach which introduces a dependence of diffusive behavior on internal stresses state. The coupled diffusive behavior modeling was established in first for homogeneous and isotropic matrix and it is, thereafter, extended to impermeable unidirectional composites.

Keywords: composites materials, moisture diffusion, effective moisture diffusivity, coupled moisture diffusion

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Authors: Luvindran Sugumaran, Mohd Nashrul Mohd Zubir, Kazi Md Salim Newaz, Tuan Zaharinie Tuan Zahari, Suazlan Mt Aznam, Aiman Mohd Halil

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With the fast growth of integrated circuits and the trend towards making electronic devices smaller, the heat dissipation load of electronic devices has continued to go over the limit. The high heat flux element would not only harm the operation and lifetime of the equipment but would also impede the performance upgrade brought about by the iteration of technological updates, which would have a direct negative impact on the economic and production cost benefits of rising industries. Hence, in high-tech industries like radar, information and communication, electromagnetic power, and aerospace, the development and implementation of effective heat dissipation technologies were urgently required. Pool boiling is favored over other cooling methods because of its capacity to dissipate a high heat flux at a low wall superheat without the usage of mechanical components. Enhancing the pool boiling performance by increasing the heat transfer coefficient via surface modification techniques has received a lot of attention. There are several surface modification methods feasible today, but the stability and durability of surface modification are the greatest priority. Thus, laser machining is an interesting choice for surface modification due to its low production cost, high scalability, and repeatability. In this study, different patterns of laser-processed copper surfaces are fabricated to investigate the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer performance of distilled water. The investigation showed that there is a significant enhancement in the pool boiling heat transfer performance of the laser-processed surface compared to the reference surface due to the notable increase in nucleation frequency and nucleation site density. It was discovered that the heat transfer coefficients increased when both the surface area ratio and the ratio of peak-to-valley height of the microstructure were raised. It is believed that the development of microstructures on the surface as a result of laser processing is the primary factor in the enhancement of heat transfer performance.

Keywords: heat transfer coefficient, laser processing, micro structured surface, pool boiling

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Authors: David Glassmeyer

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Quantitative reasoning is necessary to robustly understand mathematical concepts ranging from elementary to university levels. Quantitative reasoning involves identifying and representing quantities and the relationships between these quantities. Without reasoning quantitatively, students often resort to memorizing formulas and procedures, which have negative impacts when they encounter mathematical topics in the future. This study investigated how high school students’ quantitative reasoning could be fostered within a unit on arc measure and angle relationships. Arc measure, or the measure of a central angle that cuts off a portion of a circle’s circumference, is often confused with arclength. In this study, the researcher redesigned an activity to clearly distinguish arc measure and arc length by using a quantitative reasoning framework. Data were collected from high school students to determine if this approach impacted their understanding of these concepts. Initial data indicates the approach was successful in supporting students’ quantitative reasoning of these topics. Implications for the work are that teachers themselves may also benefit from considering mathematical definitions from a quantitative reasoning framework and can use this activity in their own classrooms.

Keywords: arc length, arc measure, quantitative reasoning, student content knowledge

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Authors: Nadjet Taoualit, Zoubida Chemat, Djamel-Eddine Hadj-Boussaad

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This study aims the removal of copper Cu (II) contained in wastewater by adsorption on a perfect synthesized mud. It is the materials Hydroxides Double Lamellar, HDL, prepared and synthesized by co-precipitation method at constant pH, which requires a simple titration assembly, with an inexpensive and available material in the laboratory, and also allows us better control of the composition of the reaction medium, and gives well crystallized products. A characterization of the adsorbent proved essential. Thus a range of physic-chemical analysis was performed including: FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction… The adsorption of copper ions was investigated in dispersed medium (batch). A systematic study of various parameters (amount of support, contact time, initial copper concentration, temperature, pH…) was performed. Adsorption kinetic data were tested using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, Bangham's equation and intra-particle diffusion models. The equilibrium data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin and other isotherm models at different doses of HDL. The thermodynamics parameters were evaluated at different temperatures. The results have established good potentiality for the HDL to be used as a sorbent for the removal of Copper from wastewater.

Keywords: adsoption, copper, HDL, isotherm

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Authors: K. C. R. Perera, B. M. Hapuwatte

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This paper presents an effective method to divide panels for mesh-less methods of source, vortex and doublet panel methods. In this research study the physical domain of air-foils were transformed into computational domain of a circle using conformal mapping technique of Joukowsky transformation. Then the circle is divided into panels of equal length and the co-ordinates were remapped into physical domain of the air-foil. With this method the leading edge and the trailing edge of the air-foil is panelled with a high density of panels and the rest of the body is panelled with low density of panels. The high density of panels in the leading edge and the trailing edge will increase the accuracy of the solutions obtained from panel methods where the fluid flow at the leading and trailing edges are complex.

Keywords: conformal mapping, Joukowsky transformation, physical domain, computational domain

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Authors: Yahaya Abdullahi, Ben Coetzee, Linda Van Den Berg

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The study aimed at establishing the global positioning system (GPS) determined singles match characteristics that act as predictors of successful and less-successful male singles badminton players’ group classification. Twenty-two (22) male single players (aged: 23.39 ± 3.92 years; body stature: 177.11 ± 3.06cm; body mass: 83.46 ± 14.59kg) who represented 10 African countries participated in the study. Players were categorised as successful and less-successful players according to the results of five championships’ of the 2014/2015 season. GPS units (MinimaxX V4.0), Polar Heart Rate Transmitter Belts and digital video cameras were used to collect match data. GPS-related variables were corrected for match duration and independent t-tests, a cluster analysis and a binary forward stepwise logistic regression were calculated. A Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC) was used to determine the validity of the group classification model. High-intensity accelerations per second were identified as the only GPS-determined variable that showed a significant difference between groups. Furthermore, only high-intensity accelerations per second (p=0.03) and low-intensity efforts per second (p=0.04) were identified as significant predictors of group classification with 76.88% of players that could be classified back into their original groups by making use of the GPS-based logistic regression formula. The ROC showed a value of 0.87. The identification of the last-mentioned GPS-related variables for the attainment of badminton performances, emphasizes the importance of using badminton drills and conditioning techniques to not only improve players’ physical fitness levels but also their abilities to accelerate at high intensities.

Keywords: badminton, global positioning system, match analysis, inertial movement analysis, intensity, effort

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Authors: Olukunle C. Olawole, Dilip K. De, Moses Emetere, Omoje Maxwell

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Graphene can stand very high temperature up to 4500 K in vacuum and has potential for application in thermionic energy converter. In this paper, we discuss the application of energy dynamics principles and the modified Richardson-Dushman Equation, to estimate the efficiency of solar power conversion to electrical power by a solar thermionic energy converter (STEC) containing emitter made of graphene. We present detailed simulation of power output for different solar insolation, diameter of parabolic concentrator, area of the graphene emitter (same as that of the collector), temperature of the collector, physical dimensions of the emitter-collector etc. After discussing possible methods of reduction or elimination of space charge problem using magnetic field and gate, we finally discuss relative advantages of using emitters made of graphene, carbon nanotube and metals respectively in a STEC.

Keywords: graphene, high temperature, modified Richardson-Dushman equation, solar thermionic energy converter

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Authors: S. Da Costa, D. Páez, F. Sánchez

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We examine the causal role of positive affect on creativity, the association of creativity or innovation in the ideation phase with functional emotional regulation, successful adjustment to stress and dispositional emotional creativity, as well as the predictive role of creativity for positive emotions and social adjustment. The study examines the effects of modification of positive affect on creativity. Participants write three poems, narrate an infatuation episode, answer a scale of personal growth after this episode and perform a creativity task, answer a flow scale after creativity task and fill a dispositional emotional creativity scale. High and low positive effect was induced by asking subjects to write three poems about high and low positive connotation stimuli. In a neutral condition, tasks were performed without previous affect induction. Subjects on the condition of high positive affect report more positive and less negative emotions, more personal growth (effect size r = .24) and their last poem was rated as more original by judges (effect size r = .33). Mediational analysis showed that positive emotions explain the influence of the manipulation on personal growth - positive affect correlates r = .33 to personal growth. The emotional creativity scale correlated to creativity scores of the creative task (r = .14), to the creativity of the narration of the infatuation episode (r = .21). Emotional creativity was also associated, during performing the creativity task, with flow (r = .27) and with affect balance (r = .26). The mediational analysis showed that emotional creativity predicts flow through positive affect. Results suggest that innovation in the phase of ideation is associated with a positive affect balance and satisfactory performance, as well as dispositional emotional creativity is adaptive.

Keywords: affectivity, creativity, induction, innovation, psychological factors

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Authors: Deepa Gandhi, Pravin K. Naoghare, Amit Bafana, Krishnamurthi Kannan, Saravanadevi Sivanesana

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Oxidative stress is known to depreciate normal functioning of osteoblast cells. Present study reports oxidative/inflammatory signatures in fluoride exposed human osteosarcoma (HOS) cells and its possible association with the genes involved in bone developmental pathway. Microarray analysis was performed to understand the possible molecular mechanisms of stress-mediated bone lose in HOS cells. Cells were chronically exposed with sub-lethal concentration of fluoride. Global gene expression is profiling revealed 34 up regulated and 2598 down-regulated genes, which were associated with several biological processes including bone development, osteoblast differentiation, stress response, inflammatory response, apoptosis, regulation of cell proliferation. Microarray data were further validated through qRT-PCR and western blot analyses using key representative genes. Based on these findings, it can be proposed that chronic exposure of fluoride may impair bone development via oxidative and inflammatory stress. The present finding also provides important biological clues, which will be helpful for the development of therapeutic targets against diseases related bone.

Keywords: bone, HOS cells, microarray, stress

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Authors: Azza A. Ali, Abeer I. Abd El-Fattah, Shaimaa S. Hussein, Hanan A. Abd El-Samea, Karema Abu-Elfotuh

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Background: Aluminium (Al) represents an environmental risk factor. Exposure to high levels of Al causes neurotoxic effects and different diseases. Vinpocetine is widely used to improve cognitive functions, it possesses memory-protective and memory-enhancing properties and has the ability to increase cerebral blood flow and glucose uptake. Cocoa bean represents a rich source of iron as well as a potent antioxidant. It can protect from the impact of free radicals, reduces stress as well as depression and promotes better memory and concentration. Wheatgrass is primarily used as a concentrated source of nutrients. It contains vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, amino acids and possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an intracellular antioxidant and mitochondrial membrane stabilizer. It is effective in improving cognitive disorders and has been used as anti-aging. Zinc is a structural element of many proteins and signaling messenger that is released by neural activity at many central excitatory synapses. Objective: To study the role of some nutrients and drugs as Vinpocetine, Cocoa, Wheatgrass, CoQ10 and Zinc against neurotoxicity induced by Al in rats as well as to compare between their potency in providing protection. Methods: Seven groups of rats were used and received daily for three weeks AlCl3 (70 mg/kg, IP) for Al-toxicity model groups except for the control group which received saline. All groups of Al-toxicity model except one group (non-treated) were co-administered orally together with AlCl3 the following treatments; Vinpocetine (20mg/kg), Cocoa powder (24mg/kg), Wheat grass (100mg/kg), CoQ10 (200mg/kg) or Zinc (32mg/kg). Biochemical changes in the rat brain as acetyl cholinesterase (ACHE), Aβ, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, IL-1β), oxidative parameters (MDA, SOD, TAC) were estimated for all groups besides histopathological examinations in different brain regions. Results: Neurotoxicity and neurodegenerations in the rat brain after three weeks of Al exposure were indicated by the significant increase in Aβ, ACHE, MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, DNA fragmentation together with the significant decrease in SOD, TAC, BDNF and confirmed by the histopathological changes in the brain. On the other hand, co-administration of each of Vinpocetine, Cocoa, Wheatgrass, CoQ10 or Zinc together with AlCl3 provided protection against hazards of neurotoxicity and neurodegenerations induced by Al, their protection were indicated by the decrease in Aβ, ACHE, MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, DNA fragmentation together with the increase in SOD, TAC, BDNF and confirmed by the histopathological examinations of different brain regions. Vinpocetine and Cocoa showed the most pronounced protection while Zinc provided the least protective effects than the other used nutrients and drugs. Conclusion: Different degrees of protection from neurotoxicity and neuronal degenerations induced by Al could be achieved through the co-administration of some nutrients and drugs during its exposure. Vinpocetine and Cocoa provided the most protection than Wheat grass, CoQ10 or Zinc which showed the least protective effects.

Keywords: aluminum, neurotoxicity, vinpocetine, cocoa, wheat grass, coenzyme Q10, Zinc, rats

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Authors: Ma. Doreen E. Candelaria, Ma. Louise Margaret A. Ramos, Dr. Jaime Y. Hernandez, Jr

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Bamboo has been introduced as a possible alternative to some construction materials nowadays. Its potential use in the field of engineering, however, is still not widely practiced due to insufficient engineering knowledge on the material’s properties and characteristics. Although there are researches and studies proving its advantages, it is still not enough to say that bamboo can sustain and provide the strength and capacity required of common structures. In line with this, a more detailed analysis was made to observe the layered structure of the bamboo, particularly the species of Kawayan Tinik. It is the main intent of this research to provide the necessary experiments to determine the tensile strength of dried bamboo samples. The test includes tensile strength parallel to fibers with samples taken at internodes only. Throughout the experiment, methods suggested by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) were followed. The specimens were tested using 3366 INSTRON Universal Testing Machine, with a rate of loading set to 0.6 mm/min. It was then observed from the results of these experiments that dried bamboo samples recorded high layered tensile strengths, as high as 600 MPa. Likewise, along the culm’s length and across its cross section, higher tensile strength were observed at the top part and at its outer layers. Overall, the top part recorded the highest tensile strength per layer, with its outer layers having tensile strength as high as 600 MPa. The recorded tensile strength of its middle and inner layers, on the other hand, were approximately 450 MPa and 180 MPa, respectively. From this variation in tensile strength across the cross section, it may be concluded that an increase in tensile strength may be observed towards the outer periphery of the bamboo. With these preliminary investigations on the layered tensile strength of bamboo, it is highly recommended to conduct experimental investigations on the layered compressive strength properties as well. It is also suggested to conduct investigations evaluating perpendicular layered tensile strength of the material.

Keywords: bamboo strength, layered strength tests, strength test, tensile test

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Authors: Azene Zenebe

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Deep learning is a subset of machine learning which incorporates techniques for the construction of artificial neural networks and found to be useful for modeling complex problems with large dataset. Deep learning requires a very high power computational and longer time for training. By aggregating computing power, high performance computer (HPC) has emerged as an approach to resolving advanced problems and performing data-driven research activities. Cyber threat intelligence (CIT) is actionable information or insight an organization or individual uses to understand the threats that have, will, or are currently targeting the organization. Results of review of literature will be presented along with results of experimental study that compares the performance of tree-based and function-base machine learning including deep learning algorithms using secondary dataset collected from darknet.

Keywords: deep-learning, cyber security, cyber threat modeling, tree-based machine learning, function-based machine learning, data science

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Authors: Serges Mendomo Meye, Li Guowei, Shen Zhenzhong

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Earthquake is one of the main loads threatening dam safety. Once the dam is damaged, it will bring huge losses of life and property to the country and people. Therefore, it is very important to research the seismic safety of the dam. Due to the complex foundation conditions, high fortification intensity, and high scientific and technological content, it is necessary to adopt reasonable methods to evaluate the seismic safety performance of concrete arch dams built and under construction in strong earthquake areas. Structural seismic vulnerability analysis can predict the probability of structural failure at all levels under different intensity earthquakes, which can provide a scientific basis for reasonable seismic safety evaluation and decision-making. In this paper, the response surface method (RSM) is applied to the seismic vulnerability analysis of arch dams, which improves the efficiency of vulnerability analysis. Based on the central composite test design method, the material-seismic intensity samples are established. The response surface model (RSM) with arch crown displacement as performance index is obtained by finite element (FE) calculation of the samples, and then the accuracy of the response surface model (RSM) is verified. To obtain the seismic vulnerability curves, the seismic intensity measure ??(?1) is chosen to be 0.1~1.2g, with an interval of 0.1g and a total of 12 intensity levels. For each seismic intensity level, the arch crown displacement corresponding to 100 sets of different material samples can be calculated by algebraic operation of the response surface model (RSM), which avoids 1200 times of nonlinear dynamic calculation of arch dam; thus, the efficiency of vulnerability analysis is improved greatly.

Keywords: high concrete arch dam, performance index, response surface method, seismic vulnerability analysis, vector-valued intensity measure

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Authors: A. E. Dumitriu

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The LHCb experiment is situated at one of the four points around CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, being a single-arm forward spectrometer covering 10 mrad to 300 (250) mrad in the bending (non-bending) plane, designed primarily to study particles containing b and c quarks. Each one of LHCb’s sub-detectors specializes in measuring a different characteristic of the particles produced by colliding protons, its significant detection characteristics including a high precision tracking system and 2 ring-imaging Cherenkov detectors for particle identification. The major two topics that I am currently concerned in are: the RIVET project (Robust Independent Validation of Experiment and Theory) which is an efficient and portable tool kit of C++ class library useful for validation and tuning of Monte Carlo (MC) event generator models by providing a large collection of standard experimental analyses useful for High Energy Physics MC generator development, validation, tuning and regression testing and V0 analysis for 2013 LHCb NoBias type data (trigger on bunch + bunch crossing) at √s=2.76 TeV.

Keywords: LHCb physics, RIVET plug-in, RIVET, CERN

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Authors: Xiaohan Bookman, Xiaoyan Zhu

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Margin-Based Principle has been proposed for a long time, it has been proved that this principle could reduce the structural risk and improve the performance in both theoretical and practical aspects. Meanwhile, feed-forward neural network is a traditional classifier, which is very hot at present with a deeper architecture. However, the training algorithm of feed-forward neural network is developed and generated from Widrow-Hoff Principle that means to minimize the squared error. In this paper, we propose a new training algorithm for feed-forward neural networks based on Margin-Based Principle, which could effectively promote the accuracy and generalization ability of neural network classifiers with less labeled samples and flexible network. We have conducted experiments on four UCI open data sets and achieved good results as expected. In conclusion, our model could handle more sparse labeled and more high-dimension data set in a high accuracy while modification from old ANN method to our method is easy and almost free of work.

Keywords: Max-Margin Principle, Feed-Forward Neural Network, classifier, structural risk

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Authors: Abdelhamid Louliej, Younes Jabrane

Abstract:

Satellites are becoming indispensable assets to fifth-generation (5G) new radio architecture, complementing wireless and terrestrial communication links. The combination of satellites and 5G architecture allows consumers to access all next-generation services anytime, anywhere, including scenarios, like traveling to remote areas (without coverage). Nevertheless, this solution faces several challenges, such as a significant propagation delay, Doppler frequency shift, and high Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR), causing signal distortion due to the non-linear saturation of the High-Power Amplifier (HPA). To compensate for HPA non-linearity in 5G satellite transmission, an efficient pre-distorter scheme using Neural Networks (NN) is proposed. To assess the proposed NN pre-distorter, two types of HPA were investigated: Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) and Solid-State Power Amplifier (SSPA). The results show that the NN pre-distorter design presents EVM improvement by 95.26%. NMSE and ACPR were reduced by -43,66 dB and 24.56 dBm, respectively. Moreover, the system suffers no degradation of the Bit Error Rate (BER) for TWTA and SSPA amplifiers.

Keywords: satellites, 5G, neural networks, HPA, TWTA, SSPA, EVM, NMSE, ACPR

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Authors: Sukhvinder Kaur, Ashok Agarwal

Abstract:

Background: For the first time in 2009, India was able to generate estimates of HIV incidence (the number of new HIV infections per year). Analysis of epidemic projections helped in revealing that the number of new annual HIV infections in India had declined by more than 50% during the last decade (GOI Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2010). Then, National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) planned to scale up its efforts in generating projections through epidemiological analysis and modelling by taking recent available sources of evidence such as HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS), India Census data and other critical data sets. Recently, NACO generated current round of HIV estimates-2012 through globally recommended tool “Spectrum Software” and came out with the estimates for adult HIV prevalence, annual new infections, number of people living with HIV, AIDS-related deaths and treatment needs. State level prevalence and incidence projections produced were used to project consequences of the epidemic in spectrum. In presence of HIV estimates generated at state level in India by NACO, USIAD funded PIPPSE project under the leadership of NACO undertook the estimations and projections to district level using same Spectrum software. In 2011, adult HIV prevalence in one of the high prevalent States, Maharashtra was 0.42% ahead of the national average of 0.27%. Considering the heterogeneity of HIV epidemic between districts, two districts of Maharashtra – Thane and Mumbai were selected to estimate and project the number of People-Living-with-HIV/AIDS (PLHIV), HIV-prevalence among adults and annual new HIV infections till 2017. Methodology: Inputs in spectrum included demographic data from Census of India since 1980 and sample registration system, programmatic data on ‘Alive and on ART (adult and children)’,‘Mother-Baby pairs under PPTCT’ and ‘High Risk Group (HRG)-size mapping estimates’, surveillance data from various rounds of HSS, National Family Health Survey–III, Integrated Biological and Behavioural Assessment and Behavioural Sentinel Surveillance. Major Findings: Assuming current programmatic interventions in these districts, an estimated decrease of 12% points in Thane and 31% points in Mumbai among new infections in HRGs and migrants is observed from 2011 by 2017. Conclusions: Project also validated decrease in HIV new infection among one of the high risk groups-FSWs using program cohort data since 2012 to 2016. Though there is a decrease in HIV prevalence and new infections in Thane and Mumbai, further decrease is possible if appropriate programme response, strategies and interventions are envisaged for specific target groups based on this evidence. Moreover, evidence need to be validated by other estimation/modelling techniques; and evidence can be generated for other districts of the state, where HIV prevalence is high and reliable data sources are available, to understand the epidemic within the local context.

Keywords: HIV sentinel surveillance, high risk groups, projections, new infections

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Authors: N. Masoudnia, M. Fatahi

Abstract:

An experimental study of saturated pool boiling on a single artificial nucleation site without and with the application of an electric field on the boiling surface has been conducted. N-pentane is boiling on a copper surface and is recorded with a high speed camera providing high quality pictures and movies. The accuracy of the visualization allowed establishing an experimental bubble growth law from a large number of experiments. This law shows that the evaporation rate is decreasing during the bubble growth, and underlines the importance of liquid motion induced by the preceding bubble. Bubble rise is therefore studied: once detached, bubbles accelerate vertically until reaching a maximum velocity in good agreement with a correlation from literature. The bubbles then turn to another direction. The effect of applying an electric field on the boiling surface in finally studied. In addition to changes of the bubble shape, changes are also shown in the liquid plume and the convective structures above the surface. Lower maximum rising velocities were measured in the presence of electric fields, especially with a negative polarity.

Keywords: single bubbles, electric field, boiling, effect

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Authors: Han-Wei Shih, Yao-Nan Wang, Ko-Tung Chang, Lung-Ming Fu

Abstract:

A multi-channel cell growth real-time monitor and evaluation system using charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors with 40X lens integrating a NI LabVIEW image processing program is proposed and demonstrated. The LED light source control of monitor system is utilizing 8051 microprocessor integrated with NI LabVIEW software. In this study, the same concentration RAW264.7 cells growth rate and morphology in four different culture conditions (DMEM, LPS, G1, G2) were demonstrated. The real-time cells growth image was captured and analyzed by NI Vision Assistant every 10 minutes in the incubator. The image binarization technique was applied for calculating cell doubling time and cell division index. The cells doubling time and cells division index of four group with DMEM, LPS, LPS+G1, LPS+G2 are 12.3 hr,10.8 hr,14.0 hr,15.2 hr and 74.20%, 78.63%, 69.53%, 66.49%. The image magnification of multi-channel CCDs cell real-time monitoring system is about 100X~200X which compares with the traditional microscope.

Keywords: charge-coupled device (CCD), RAW264.7, doubling time, division index

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Authors: Jaskarn Singh Sidhu

Abstract:

The present study investigated the relationship of Empathy and Narcissism among university sports persons. Sample-The sample of the study consists of a total of 248 sportspersons and non-sports persons. Tools- To evaluate empathy, a 16-scale questionnaire was used and to evaluate narcissism, NPI-16 questionnaire was used. Statically-Two-Way Analysis of Variance used to analyse the data collected to establish the relationship. Results- In empathy male champion players shows more empathy than female counterparts the results also reveals that non champion females showed more empathy than non-champion male sports persons. In totality champion shows more empathy than non- champions. Results of Narcissism revealed that male champion sports persons were high on Narcissism scale then female counterparts. Non -champion males also indicate high narcissism then non champion female sports persons indicating female were less self -oriented then male sports persons. Conclusion- From the results it was concluded that no significant difference exists among sports persons in empathy and narcissism with reference to gender and sports performance.

Keywords: narcissism, empathy, champion, non champion

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Authors: Shiau-Fang Chao, Yu-Chih Chen

Abstract:

Owing to physical limitations and restrained lifestyle, older long-term care (LTC) residents are more likely to be affected by their environment than their community-dwelling counterparts. They also participate fewer activities and experience worse mental health than healthy older adults. This study adopts the ICF model to determine the extent to which the clustered patterns of LTC environment and activity participation are associated with older residents’ mental health. Method: Data were collected from a stratified equal probability sample of 634 older residents in 155 LTC institutions in Taiwan. Latent profile analysis (LPA) and latent class analysis (LCA) were conducted to explore the profiles for environment and activity participation. Multilevel modeling was performed to elucidate the relationships among environment profiles, activity profiles, and mental health. Results: LPA identified three mutually exclusive environment profiles (Low-, Moderate-, and High-Support Environment) based on the physical, social, and attitudinal environmental domains, consolidated from 12 environmental measures. LCA constructed two distinct activity profiles (Low- and High-Activity Participation) across seven activity domains (outdoor, volunteer-led leisure, spiritual, household chores, interpersonal exchange, social, and sedentary activity) that were factored from 20 activities. Compared to the Low-Support Environment class, older adults in the Moderate- and High-Support Environment classes had better mental health. Older residents in the Moderate- and High-Support Environment classes were more likely to be in the “High Activity” class, which in turn, exhibited better mental health. Conclusion: This study advances the current knowledge through rigorous methods and study design. The study findings lead to several conclusions. First, this study supports the use of ICF framework to institutionalized older individuals with functional limitations and demonstrates that both measures of environment and activity participation can be refined from multiple indicators. Second, environmental measures that encompass the physical, social, and attitudinal domains would provide a more comprehensive assessment on the place where an older individual embeds. Third, simply counting activities in which an older individual participates or considering a certain type of activity may not capture his or her way of life. Practitioners should not only focus on group or leisure activities within the institutions; rather, more efforts should be made to consider residents’ preferences for everyday life and support their remaining ability by encouraging continuous participation in activities they still willing and capable to perform. Fourth, environment and activity participation are modifiable factors which have greater potential to strengthen older LTC residents’ mental health, and activity participation should be considered in the link between environment and mental health. A combination of enhanced physical, social, and attitudinal environments, and continual engagement in various activities may optimize older LTC residents’ mental health.

Keywords: activity, environment, mental health, older LTC residents

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Authors: Nasser Ghassembaglou, Abdullah Bolek, Oktay Yilmaz, Ertan Oznergiz, Hikmet Kocabas, Safak Yilmaz

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High quality air filters production using nanofibers, as a functional material, has frequently been investigated. As it is more environmentally friendly, melting method has been selected to produce nanofibers. Spun-bond production systems consist of extruder, spin-pump, nozzle package and attenuators. Spin-pump makes molten polymer steady, which flows through extruder. Fibers are formed by regular melts passing through nuzzle holes under high pressure. Attenuator prolongs fibers to micron size to be collected on a conveyor. Different designs of attenuator systems have been studied in this research; new analysis have been done on existed designs considering fibers effect on air flow; it was comprehended that, at fibers presence, there is an air flow which agglomerates fibers as a negative effect. So some new representations have been designed and CFD analysis have been done on them. Afterwards, one of these representations selected as the most optimum and effective design which is brought in this paper.

Keywords: attenuator, CFD, nanofiber, spun-bond

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Authors: Chang Su Woo, Hyun Sung Park

Abstract:

Useful lifetime evaluations of rail-pads were very important in design procedure to assure the safety and reliability. It is, therefore, necessary to establish a suitable criterion for the replacement period of rail pads. In this study, we performed properties and accelerated heat aging tests of rail pads considering degradation factors and all environmental conditions including operation, and then derived a lifetime prediction equation according to changes in hardness, thickness, and static spring constants in the Arrhenius plot to establish how to estimate the aging of rail pads. With the useful lifetime prediction equation, the lifetime of e-clip pads was 2.5 years when the change in hardness was 10% at 25°C; and that of f-clip pads was 1.7 years. When the change in thickness was 10%, the lifetime of e-clip pads and f-clip pads is 2.6 years respectively. The results obtained in this study to estimate the useful lifetime of rail pads for high speed trains can be used for determining the maintenance and replacement schedule for rail pads.

Keywords: rail pads, accelerated test, Arrhenius plot, useful lifetime prediction, mechanical engineering design

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