Search results for: multi-source image geometric process

Authors: Mahya Naghipoor

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Purpose: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common lung cancer type. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation is the main reason which causes NSCLC. Computed tomography (CT) is used for diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancers because of low price and little invasion. Semantic analyses of qualitative CT features are based on visual evaluation by radiologist. However, the naked eye ability may not assess all image features. On the other hand, radiomics provides the opportunity of quantitative analyses for CT images features. The aim of this review study was comparing accuracy of semantic and radiomics features in prognosis of EGFR mutation in NSCLC. Methods: For this purpose, the keywords including: non-small cell lung cancer, epidermal growth factor receptor mutation, semantic, radiomics, feature, receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) and area under curve (AUC) were searched in PubMed and Google Scholar. Totally 29 papers were reviewed and the AUC of ROC analyses for semantic and radiomics features were compared. Results: The results showed that the reported AUC amounts for semantic features (ground glass opacity, shape, margins, lesion density and presence or absence of air bronchogram, emphysema and pleural effusion) were %41-%79. For radiomics features (kurtosis, skewness, entropy, texture, standard deviation (SD) and wavelet) the AUC values were found %50-%86. Conclusions: In conclusion, the accuracy of radiomics analysis is a little higher than semantic in prognosis of EGFR mutation in NSCLC.

Keywords: lung cancer, radiomics, computer tomography, mutation

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Authors: A. Augustyn, M. Florek, M. Herezniak

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Since the public authorities are constantly pressured by the public opinion to showcase the tangible and measurable results of their efforts, the evaluation of place brand-related activities becomes a necessity. Given the political and social character of place branding process, the legitimization of the branding efforts requires the compliance of the objectives set out in the city brand strategy with the actual needs, expectations, and aspirations of various internal stakeholders. To deliver on the diverse promises, city authorities and brand managers need to translate them into the measurable indicators against which the brand strategy effectiveness will be evaluated. In concert with these observations are the findings from branding and marketing literature with a widespread consensus that places should adopt a more systematic and holistic approach in order to ensure the performance of their brands. However, the measurement of the effectiveness of place branding remains insufficiently explored in theory, even though it is considered a significant step in the process of place brand management. Therefore, the aim of the research presented in the current paper was to collect insights on the nature of effectiveness measurement of city brand strategies and to juxtapose these findings with the theoretical assumptions formed on the basis of the state-of-the-art literature review. To this end, 15 international academic experts (out of 18 initially selected) with affiliation from ten countries (five continents), were individually interviewed. The standardized set of 19 open-ended questions was used for all the interviewees, who had been selected based on their expertise and reputation in the fields of place branding/marketing. Findings were categorized into four modules: (i) conceptualizations of city brand effectiveness, (ii) methodological issues of city brand effectiveness measurement, (iii) the nature of measurement process, (iv) articulation of key performance indicators (KPIs). Within each module, the interviewees offered diverse insights into the subject based on their academic expertise and professional activity as consultants. They proposed that there should be a twofold understanding of effectiveness. The narrow one when it is conceived as the aptitude to achieve specific goals, and the broad one in which city brand effectiveness is seen as an increase in social and economic reality of a place, which in turn poses diverse challenges for the measurement concepts and processes. Moreover, the respondents offered a variety of insights into the methodological issues, particularly about the need for customization and flexibility of the measurement systems, for the employment of interdisciplinary approach to measurement and implications resulting therefrom. Considerable emphasis was put on the inward approach to measurement, namely the necessity to monitor the resident’s evaluation of brand related activities instead of benchmarking cities against the competitive set. Other findings encompass the issues of developing appropriate KPIs for the city brand, managing the measurement process and the inclusion of diverse stakeholders to produce a sound measurement system. Furthermore, the interviewees enumerated the most frequently made mistakes in measurement mainly resulting from the misunderstanding of the nature of city brands. This research was financed by the National Science Centre, Poland, research project no. 2015/19/B/HS4/00380 Towards the categorization of place brand strategy effectiveness indicators – findings from strategic documents of Polish district cities – theoretical and empirical approach.

Keywords: city branding, effectiveness, experts’ insights, measurement

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Authors: Dibyendu Roy, V. Ramu Reddy, Parijat Deshpande, Ranjan Dasgupta

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Imaging of underwater objects is primarily conducted by acoustic imagery due to the severe attenuation of electro-magnetic waves in water. Acoustic imagery underwater has varied range of significant applications such as side-scan sonar, mine hunting sonar. It also finds utility in other domains such as imaging of body tissues via ultrasonography and non-destructive testing of objects. In this paper, we explore the feasibility of using active acoustic imagery in air and simulate phased array beamforming techniques available in literature for various array designs to achieve a suitable acoustic sensor array design for a portable mobile robot which can be applied to detect the presence/absence of anomalous objects in a room. The multi-path reflection effects especially in enclosed rooms and environmental noise factors are currently not simulated and will be dealt with during the experimental phase. The related hardware is designed with the same feasibility criterion that the developed system needs to be deployed on a portable mobile robot. There is a trade of between image resolution and range with the array size, number of elements and the imaging frequency and has to be iteratively simulated to achieve the desired acoustic sensor array design. The designed acoustic imaging array system is to be mounted on a portable mobile robot and targeted for use in surveillance missions for intruder alerts and imaging objects during dark and smoky scenarios where conventional optic based systems do not function well.

Keywords: acoustic sensor array, acoustic imagery, anomaly detection, phased array beamforming

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Authors: P. Siriarchawatana, K. Leungchavaphongse, N. Covavisaruch, K. Rojananuangnit, P. Boondaeng, N. Panyayingyong

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Glaucoma is a disease that causes visual loss in adults. Glaucoma causes damage to the optic nerve and its overall pathophysiology is still not fully understood. Vasculopathy may be one of the possible causes of nerve damage. Photographic imaging of retinal vessels by fundus camera during eye examination may complement clinical management. This paper presents an innovation for measuring central light reflex width-to-retinal vessel diameter ratio (CRR) from digital retinal photographs. Using our edge detection technique, CRRs from glaucoma and normal eyes were compared to examine differences and associations. CRRs were evaluated on fundus photographs of participants from Mettapracharak (Wat Raikhing) Hospital in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. Fifty-five photographs from normal eyes and twenty-one photographs from glaucoma eyes were included. Participants with hypertension were excluded. In each photograph, CRRs from four retinal vessels, including arteries and veins in the inferotemporal and superotemporal regions, were quantified using edge detection technique. From our finding, mean CRRs of all four retinal arteries and veins were significantly higher in persons with glaucoma than in those without glaucoma (0.34 vs. 0.32, p < 0.05 for inferotemporal vein, 0.33 vs. 0.30, p < 0.01 for inferotemporal artery, 0.34 vs. 0.31, p < 0.01 for superotemporal vein, and 0.33 vs. 0.30, p < 0.05 for superotemporal artery). From these results, an increase in CRRs of retinal vessels, as quantitatively measured from fundus photographs, could be associated with glaucoma.

Keywords: glaucoma, retinal vessel, central light reflex, image processing, fundus photograph, edge detection

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Authors: Hellen L. De Castro e Silva, Ana A. Robles Aguilar, Erik Meers

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Digestates are residual by-products, rich in nutrients and trace elements, which can be used as organic fertilisers on soils. However, due to the non-digestibility of these elements and reduced dry matter during the anaerobic digestion process, metal concentrations are higher in digestates than in feedstocks, which might hamper their use as fertilisers according to the threshold values of some country policies. Furthermore, there is uncertainty regarding the required assimilated amount of these elements by some crops, which might result in their bioaccumulation. Therefore, further processing of the digestate to obtain safe fertilizing products has been recommended. This research aims to analyze the effect of applying the hydrothermal carbonization process to manure-derived digestates as a thermal treatment to reduce the bioavailability of heavy metals in mono and co-digestates derived from pig manure and maize from contaminated land in France. This study examined pig manure collected from a novel stable system (VeDoWs, province of East Flanders, Belgium) that separates the collection of pig urine and feces, resulting in a solid fraction of manure with high up-concentration of heavy metals and nutrients. Mono-digestion and co-digestion processes were conducted in semi-continuous reactors for 45 days at mesophilic conditions, in which the digestates were dried at 105 °C for 24 hours. Then, hydrothermal carbonization was applied to a 1:10 solid/water ratio to guarantee controlled experimental conditions in different temperatures (180, 200, and 220 °C) and residence times (2 h and 4 h). During the process, the pressure was generated autogenously, and the reactor was cooled down after completing the treatments. The solid and liquid phases were separated through vacuum filtration, in which the solid phase of each treatment -hydrochar- was dried and ground for chemical characterization. Different fractions (exchangeable / adsorbed fraction - F1, carbonates-bound fraction - F2, organic matter-bound fraction - F3, and residual fraction – F4) of some heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, and Cr) have been determined in digestates and derived hydrochars using the modified Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction procedure. The main results indicated a difference in the heavy metals fractionation between digestates and their derived hydrochars; however, the hydrothermal carbonization operating conditions didn’t have remarkable effects on heavy metals partitioning between the hydrochars of the proposed treatments. Based on the estimated potential ecological risk assessment, there was one level decrease (considerate to moderate) when comparing the HMs partitioning in digestates and derived hydrochars.

Keywords: heavy metals, bioavailability, hydrothermal treatment, bio-based fertilisers, agriculture

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Authors: Rishabh Ambavanekar

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Expressive Aphasia (EA) is an oral disability, common among stroke victims, in which the Broca’s area of the brain is damaged, interfering with verbal communication abilities. EA currently has no technological solutions and its only current viable solutions are inefficient or only available to the affluent. This prompts the need for an affordable, innovative solution to facilitate recovery and assist in speech generation. This project proposes a novel concept: using a wearable low-cost electroencephalography (EEG) device-based brain-computer interface (BCI) to translate a user’s inner dialogue into words. A low-cost EEG device was developed and found to be 10 to 100 times less expensive than any current EEG device on the market. As part of the BCI, a machine learning (ML) model was developed and trained using the EEG data. Two stages of testing were conducted to analyze the effectiveness of the device: a proof-of-concept and a final solution test. The proof-of-concept test demonstrated an average accuracy of above 90% and the final solution test demonstrated an average accuracy of above 75%. These two successful tests were used as a basis to demonstrate the viability of BCI research in developing lower-cost verbal communication devices. Additionally, the device proved to not only enable users to verbally communicate but has the potential to also assist in accelerated recovery from the disorder.

Keywords: neurotechnology, brain-computer interface, neuroscience, human-machine interface, BCI, HMI, aphasia, verbal disability, stroke, low-cost, machine learning, ML, image recognition, EEG, signal analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Laroussi Chaabane, Emmanuel Beyou, Amel El Ghali, Mohammed Hassen V. Baouab

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The functionalization of graphene oxide sheets by ethylenediamine (EDA) was accomplished followed by the grafting of bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amino group (BPED) onto the activated graphene oxide sheets in the presence of chloroacetylchloride (CAC) produced the martial [(Go-EDA-CAC)-BPED]. The physic-chemical properties of [(Go-EDA-CAC)-BPED] composites were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPs), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Moreover, [(Go-EDA-CAC)-BPED] was used for removing M(II) (where M=Cu, Ni and Co) ions from aqueous solutions using a batch process. The effect of pH, contact time and temperature were investigated. More importantly, the [(Go-EDA-CAC)-BPED] adsorbent exhibited remarkable performance in capturing heavy metal ions from water. The maximum adsorption capacity values of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) on the [(GO-EDA-CAC)-BPED] at the pH of 7 is 3.05 mmol.g⁻¹, 3.25 mmol.g⁻¹ and 3.05 mmol.g⁻¹ respectively. To examine the underlying mechanism of the adsorption process, pseudo-first, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion models were fitted to experimental kinetic data. Results showed that the pseudo-second-order equation was appropriate to describe the three metal ions adsorption by [(Go-EDA-CAC)-BPED]. Adsorption data were further analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Jossensadsorption approaches. Additionally, the adsorption properties of the [(Go-EDA-CAC)-BPED], their reusability (more than 10 cycles) and durability in the aqueous solutions open the path to removal of metal ions (Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) from water solution. Based on the results obtained, we conclude that [(Go-EDA-CAC)-BPED] can be an effective and potential adsorbent for removing metal ions from an aqueous solution.

Keywords: graphene oxide, bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amino, adsorption kinetics, isotherms

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Authors: Ahmad Al-Turki

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Composting is the suitable way of recycling organic waste for agricultural application and environment protection. In Saudi Arabia, several composting facilities are available and producing high quantity of composts. The aim of this study is to evaluate the physical characteristics of composts manufactured in Saudi Arabia and acquire a comprehensive image of its quality through the comparative with international standards of compost quality such as CCQC and PAS-100. In the present study different locally produced compost were identified and most of the producing factories were visited during the manufacturing of composts. Representative samples of different compost production stage were collected and Physical characteristics were determined, which included moisture content, bulk density, percentage of sand and the size of distribution of the compost particles. Results showed wide variations in all parameters investigated. Results of the study indicated generally that there is a wide variation in the physical characteristics of the types of compost under study. The initial moister contents in composts were generally low, it was less than 60% in most samples and not sufficient for microbial activities for biodegradation in 96% of the 96% of the types of compost and this will impede the decomposition of organic materials. The initial bulk density values ranged from 117 gL-1 to 1110.0 gL-1, while the final apparent bulk density ranged from 340.0 gL-1 to 1000gL-1 and about 45.4 % did not meet the ideal bulk density value. Sand percents in composts were between 3.3 % and 12.5%. This study has confirmed the need for a standard specification for compost manufactured in Saudi Arabia for agricultural use based on international standards for compost and soil characteristics and climatic conditions in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: compost, maturity, Saudi Arabia, organic material

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Anna Keuchenius

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Broadly speaking, scientific development is studied in either a qualitative manner with a focus on the behavior and interpretations of academics, such as the sociology of science and science studies or in a quantitative manner with a focus on the analysis of publications, such as scientometrics and bibliometrics. Both come with a different set of methodologies and few cross-references. This paper contributes to the bridging of this divide, by on the on hand approaching the process of scientific progress from a qualitative sociological angle and using on the other hand quantitative and computational techniques. As a case study, we analyze the diffusion of Granovetter's hypothesis from his 1973 paper 'On The Strength of Weak Ties.' A network is constructed of all scientists that have referenced this particular paper, with directed edges to all other researchers that are concurrently referenced with Granovetter's 1973 paper. Studying the structure and growth of this network over time, it is found that Granovetter's hypothesis is used by distinct communities of scientists, each with their own key-narrative into which the hypothesis is fit. The diffusion within the communities shares similarities with the diffusion of an innovation in which innovators, early adopters, and an early-late majority can clearly be distinguished. Furthermore, the network structure shows that each community is clustered around one or few hub scientists that are disproportionately often referenced and seem largely responsible for carrying the hypothesis into their scientific subfield. The larger implication of this case study is that the diffusion of scientific hypotheses and ideas are not the spreading of well-defined objects over a network. Rather, the diffusion is a process in which the object itself dynamically changes in concurrence with its spread. Therefore it is argued that the methodology presented in this paper has potential beyond the scientific domain, in the study of diffusion of other not well-defined objects, such as opinions, behavior, and ideas.

Keywords: diffusion of innovations, network analysis, scientific development, sociology of science

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Authors: Rama Bhargava, Surabhi Nishad

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The infusion of nanofluids has dramatically enhanced the heat-carrying capacity of the fluids, applicable to many engineering and medical process where the temperature below freezing is required. Cryosurgery is an efficient therapy for the treatment of cancer, but sometimes the excessive cooling may harm the nearby healthy cells. Efforts are therefore done to develop a model which can cause to generate the low temperature as required. In the present study, a mathematical model is developed based on the bioheat transfer equation to simulate the heat transfer from the probe on a tumor (with irregular domain) using the hybrid technique consisting of element free Galerkin method with αα-family of approximation. The probe is loaded will nano-particles. The effects of different nanoparticles, namely Al₂O₃, Fe₃O₄, Au on the heat-producing rate, is obtained. It is observed that the temperature can be brought to (60°C)-(-30°C) at a faster freezing rate on the infusion of different nanoparticles. Besides increasing the freezing rate, the volume of the nanoparticle can also control the size and growth of ice crystals formed during the freezing process. The study is also made to find the time required to achieve the desired temperature. The problem is further extended for multi tumors of different shapes and sizes. The irregular shape of the frozen domain and the direction of ice growth are very sensitive issues, posing a challenge for simulation. The Meshfree method has been one of the accurate methods in such problems as a domain is naturally irregular. The discretization is done using the nodes only. MLS approximation is taken in order to generate the shape functions. Sufficiently accurate results are obtained.

Keywords: cryosurgery, EFGM, hybrid, nanoparticles

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Authors: Julian Wise

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Newcrest Mining is one of the world’s top five gold and rare earth mining organizations by production, reserves and market capitalization in the world. This paper elaborates on the data acquisition processes employed by Newcrest in collaboration with Fortune 500 listed organization, Insight Enterprises, to standardize machine learning solutions which process data from over a hundred thousand distributed Internet of Things (IoT) devices located at mine sites globally. Through the utilization of software architecture cloud technologies and edge computing, the technological developments enable for standardized processes of machine learning applications to influence the strategic optimization of mineral processing. Target objectives of the machine learning optimizations include time savings on mineral processing, production efficiencies, risk identification, and increased production throughput. The data acquired and utilized for predictive modelling is processed through edge computing by resources collectively stored within a data lake. Being involved in the digital transformation has necessitated the standardization software architecture to manage the machine learning models submitted by vendors, to ensure effective automation and continuous improvements to the mineral process models. Operating at scale, the system processes hundreds of gigabytes of data per day from distributed mine sites across the globe, for the purposes of increased improved worker safety, and production efficiency through big data applications.

Keywords: mineral technology, big data, machine learning operations, data lake

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Authors: E. O. Aluta, C. A. Booth, D. G. Proverbs, T. Appleby

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Challenges in the effective management of potable water have attracted global attention in recent years and remain many world regions’ major priorities. Scarcity and unavailability of potable water may potentially escalate poverty, obviate democratic expression of views and militate against inter-sectoral development. These challenges contra-indicate the inherent potentials of the resource. Thus, while creation of poverty may be regarded as a broad-based problem, it is capable of reflecting life-span reduction diseases, the friction of interests manifesting in threats and warfare, the relegation of democratic principles for authoritarian definitions and Human Rights abuse. The challenges may be identified as manifestations of ineffective management of potable water resource and therefore, regarded as major problems in environmental protection. In reaction, some nations have re-examined their laws and policies, while others have developed innovative projects, which seek to ameliorate difficulties of providing sustainable potable water. The problems resonate in Nigeria, where the legal framework supporting the supply and management of potable water has been criticized as ineffective. This has impacted more on rural community members, often regarded as ‘voiceless’. At that level, the participation of non-state actors has been identified as an effective strategy, which can improve water supply. However, there are indications that there is no pragmatic application of this, resulting in over-centralization and top-down management. Thus, this study focuses on how the participatory process may enable the development of participatory water governance framework, for use in Nigeria rural communities. The Rural Advisory Board (RAB) is proposed as a governing body to promote proximal relationships, institute democratisation borne out of participation, while enabling effective accountability and information. The RAB establishes mechanisms for effectiveness, taking into consideration Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP), advocated as guiding principles of decision-makers. Other tools, which may be explored in achieving these are, Laws and Policies supporting the water sector, under the direction of the Ministries and Law Courts, which ensure non-violation of laws. Community norms and values, consisting of Nigerian traditional belief system, perceptions, attitude and reality (often undermined in favour of legislations), are relied on to pave the way for enforcement. While the Task Forces consist of community members with specific designation of duties, which ensure compliance and enforceability, a cross-section of community members are assigned duties. Thus, the principle of participation is pragmatically reflected. A review of the literature provided information on the potentials of the participatory process, in potable water governance. Qualitative methodology was explored by using the semi-structured interview as strategy for inquiry. The purposive sampling strategy, consisting of homogeneous, heterogeneous and criterion techniques was applied to enable sampling. The samples, sourced from diverse positions of life, were from the study area of Delta State of Nigeria, involving three local governments of Oshimili South, Uvwie and Warri South. From the findings, there are indications that the application of the participatory process is inhered with empowerment of the rural community members to make legitimate demands for TAP. This includes the obviation of mono-decision making for the supply and management of potable water. This is capable of restructuring the top-down management to a top-down/bottom-up system.

Keywords: participation, participatory process, participatory water governance, rural advisory board

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Authors: Philipp Zopf, Franz Haas

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Manufacturing of very hard and refractory materials like ceramics, glass or carbide poses particular challenges on tools and machines. The company Sauer GmbH developed especially for this application area ultrasonic tool holders working in a frequency range from 15 to 60 kHz and superimpose the common tool movement in the vertical axis. This technique causes a structural weakening in the contact area and facilitates the machining. The possibility of the force reduction for these special materials especially in drilling of carbide with diamond tools up to 30 percent made the authors try to expand the application range of this method. To make the results evaluable, the authors decide to start with existing processes in which the positive influence of the ultrasonic assistance is proven to understand the mechanism. The comparison of a grinding process the Institute use to machine materials mentioned in the beginning and steel could not be more different. In the first case, the authors use tools with geometrically undefined edges. In the second case, the edges are geometrically defined. To get valid results of the tests, the authors decide to investigate two manufacturing methods, drilling and milling. The main target of the investigation is to reduce the cutting force measured with a force measurement platform underneath the workpiece. Concerning to the direction of the ultrasonic assistance, the authors expect lower cutting forces and longer endurance of the tool in the drilling process. To verify the frequencies and the amplitudes an FFT-analysis is performed. It shows the increasing damping depending on the infeed rate of the tool. The reducing of amplitude of the cutting force comes along.

Keywords: drilling, machining, milling, ultrasonic

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Alberto Alfano, Sergio D’ambrosio, Darshankumar Parecha, Donatella Cimini, Chiara Schiraldi.

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The main objective of this study regards the setup of an efficient small-scale platform for the conversion of local renewable waste materials, such as whey, into added-value products, thereby reducing environmental impact and costs deriving from the disposal of processing waste products. The buffalo milk whey derived from the cheese-making process, called second cheese whey, is the main by-product of the dairy industry. Whey is the main and most polluting by-product obtained from cheese manufacturing consisting of lactose, lactic acid, proteins, and salts, making whey an added-value product. In Italy, and in particular, in the Campania region, soft cheese production needs a large volume of liquid waste, especially during late spring and summer. This project is part of a circular economy perspective focused on the conversion of potentially polluting and difficult to purify waste into a resource to be exploited, and it embodies the concept of the three “R”: reduce, recycle, and reuse. Special focus was paid to the production of health-promoting biomolecules and biopolymers, which may be exploited in different segments of the food and pharmaceutical industries. These biomolecules may be recovered through appropriate processes and reused in an attempt to obtain added value products. So, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration processes were performed to fractionate bioactive components starting from buffalo milk whey. In this direction, the present study focused on the implementation of a downstream process that converts waste generated from food and food processing industries into added value products with potential applications. Owing to innovative downstream and biotechnological processes, rather than a waste product may be considered a resource to obtain high added value products, such as food supplements (probiotics), cosmeceuticals, biopolymers, and recyclable purified water. Besides targeting gastrointestinal disorders, probiotics such as Lactobacilli have been reported to improve immunomodulation and protection of the host against infections caused by viral and bacterial pathogens. Interestingly, also inactivated microbial (probiotic) cells and their metabolic products, indicated as parabiotic and postbiotics, respectively, have a crucial role and act as mediators in the modulation of the host’s immune function. To boost the production of biomass (both viable and/or heat inactivated cells) and/or the synthesis of growth-related postbiotics, such as EPS, efficient and sustainable fermentation processes are necessary. Based on a “zero-waste” approach, wastes generated from local industries can be recovered and recycled to develop sustainable biotechnological processes to obtain probiotics as well as post and parabiotic, to be tested as bioactive compounds against gastrointestinal disorders. The results have shown it was possible to recover an ultrafiltration retentate with suitable characteristics to be used in skin dehydration, to perform films (i.e., packaging for food industries), or as a wound repair agent and a nanofiltration retentate to recover lactic acid and carbon sources (e.g., lactose, glucose..) used for microbial cultivation. On the side, the last goal is to obtain purified water that can be reused throughout the process. In fact, water reclamation and reuse provide a unique and viable opportunity to augment traditional water supplies, a key issue nowadays.

Keywords: biotech process, downstream process, probiotic growth, from waste to product, buffalo whey

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Authors: Masood Karamoozian, Zhang Hong

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The necessity and complexity of the decision-making process and the interference of the various factors to make decisions and consider all the relevant factors in a problem are very obvious nowadays. Hence, researchers show their interest in multi-criteria decision-making methods. In this research, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods of multi-criteria decision-making have been used to solve the problem of optimal construction systems. Systems being evaluated in this problem include; Light Steel Frames (LSF), a case study of designs by Zhang Hong studio in the Southeast University of Nanjing, Insulating Concrete Form (ICF), Ordinary Construction System (OCS), and Prefabricated Concrete System (PRCS) as another case study designs in Zhang Hong studio in the Southeast University of Nanjing. Crowdsourcing was done by using a questionnaire at the sample level (200 people). Questionnaires were distributed among experts, university centers, and conferences. According to the results of the research, the use of different methods of decision-making led to relatively the same results. In this way, with the use of all three multi-criteria decision-making methods mentioned above, the Prefabricated Concrete System (PRCS) was in the first rank, and the Light Steel Frame (LSF) system ranked second. Also, the Prefabricated Concrete System (PRCS), in terms of performance standards and economics, was ranked first, and the Light Steel Frame (LSF) system was allocated the first rank in terms of environmental standards.

Keywords: multi-criteria decision making, AHP, SAW, TOPSIS

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Authors: Sofia Cramerotti, Angela Cattoni, Laura Biancato, Dario Ianes

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The recognition of specific standards for new professionals, within the teaching profile, is a necessary process in order to foster an innovative school vision in accordance with the change that school is experiencing. In line with the reform of the national education and training system and with the National Training Plan for teachers, our Research and Development department developed a training project based on a framework (Syllabus) of skills that each 'Expert Teacher' should master in order to fulfill what the different specific profiles request. The syllabus is a fundamental tool for a training process consistent with the teaching profiles, both to guide the to-become teachers entering in service and to provide the in-service teachers with a system of evaluation and improvement of their skills. According to the national and international literature about professional standards for teachers, we aggregated the skills of the syllabus in three macro areas: (1) Area of professional skills related to the teacher profile and their continuous training; (2) area of teaching skills related to the school innovation; (3) area of organizing skills related to school participation for its improvement. The syllabus is a framework that identifies and describes the skills of the expert teacher in all of their roles. However, the various skills take on different importance in the different profiles involved in the school; some of those skills are determining a role, others could be secondary. Therefore, the characterization of the different profiles is represented by suitably weighted skills sets. In this way, the same skill could differently characterize each profile. In the future, we hope that the skills development and training for the teacher could evolve in a skills development and training for the whole school staff ('Expert Team'). In this perspective, the school will, therefore, benefit from a solid team, in which the skills of the various profiles are all properly developed and well represented.

Keywords: framework, skills, teachers, training

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Authors: Bokkasam Sasidhar, Ibrahim Aljasser

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The problem of finding optimal schedules for each equipment in a production process is considered, which consists of a single stage of manufacturing and which can handle different types of products, where changeover for handling one type of product to the other type incurs certain costs. The machine capacity is determined by the upper limit for the quantity that can be processed for each of the products in a set up. The changeover costs increase with the number of set ups and hence to minimize the costs associated with the product changeover, the planning should be such that similar types of products should be processed successively so that the total number of changeovers and in turn the associated set up costs are minimized. The problem of cost minimization is equivalent to the problem of minimizing the number of set ups or equivalently maximizing the capacity utilization in between every set up or maximizing the total capacity utilization. Further, the production is usually planned against customers’ orders, and generally different customers’ orders are assigned one of the two priorities – “normal” or “priority” order. The problem of production planning in such a situation can be formulated into a Multiple Arc Network (MAN) model and can be solved sequentially using the algorithm for maximizing flow along a MAN and the algorithm for maximizing flow along a MAN with priority arcs. The model aims to provide optimal production schedule with an objective of maximizing capacity utilization, so that the customer-wise delivery schedules are fulfilled, keeping in view the customer priorities. Algorithms have been presented for solving the MAN formulation of the production planning with customer priorities. The application of the model is demonstrated through numerical examples.

Keywords: scheduling, maximal flow problem, multiple arc network model, optimization

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Authors: Tooba Aslam, Efthalia Chatzisymeon

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Untreated Municipal Wastewater (MWW) is renowned as the utmost harmful pollution caused to environmental water due to the high presence of nutrients and organic contaminants. Removal of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) from synthetic as well as municipal wastewater is investigated by using acid mine drainage as a source of iron to initiate the solar photo-Fenton treatment of municipal wastewater. In this study, Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) and different minerals enriched in iron, such as goethite, hematite, magnetite, and magnesite, have been used as the source of iron to initiate the photo-Fenton process. Co-treatment of real municipal wastewater and acid mine drainage /minerals is widely examined. The effects of different parameters such as minerals recovery from AMD, AMD as a source of iron, H₂O₂ concentration, and COD concentrations on the COD percentage removal of the process are studied. The results show that, out of all the four minerals, only hematite (1g/L) could remove 30% of the pollutants at about 100 minutes and 1000 ppm of H₂O₂. The addition of AMD as a source of iron is performed and compared with both synthetic as well as real wastewater from South Africa under the same conditions, i.e., 1000 ppm of H₂O₂, ambient temperature, 2.8 pH, and solar simulator. In the case of synthetic wastewater, the maximum removal (56%) is achieved with 50 ppm of iron (AMD source) at 160 minutes. On the other hand, in real wastewater, the removal efficiency is 99% with 30 ppm of iron at 90 minutes and 96% with 50 ppm of iron at 120 minutes. In conclusion, overall, the co-treatment of AMD and MWW by solar photo-Fenton treatment appears to be an effective and promising method to remove organic materials from Municipal wastewater.

Keywords: municipal wastewater treatment, acid mine drainage, co-treatment, COD removal, solar photo-Fenton, circular economy

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Authors: Fariba Tadayon, Nika Gharahgolooyan, Ateke Tadayon, Mostafa Jafarian

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Carotenoid pigments are a various group of lipophilic compounds that generate the yellow to red colors of many plants, foods and flowers. A well-known type of carotenoids which is pro-vitamin A is β-carotene. Due to the color of citrus fruit’s peel, the peel can be a good source of different carotenoids. Ostrich oil is one of the most valuable foundations in many branches of industry, medicine, cosmetics and nutrition. The animal-based ostrich oil could be considered as an alternative and green solvent. Following this study, wastes of citrus peel will recycle by a simple method and extracted carotenoids can increase properties of ostrich oil. In this work, a simple and efficient method for extraction of carotenoids from tangerine peel was designed. Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) showed significant effect on the extraction rate by increasing the mass transfer rate. Ostrich oil can be used as a green solvent in many studies to eliminate petroleum-based solvents. Since tangerine peel is a complex source of different carotenoids separation and determination was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In addition, the ability of ostrich oil and sunflower oil in carotenoid extraction from tangerine peel and carrot was compared. The highest yield of β-carotene extracted from tangerine peel using sunflower oil and ostrich oil were 75.741 and 88.110 (mg/L), respectively. Optimization of the process was achieved by response surface methodology (RSM) and the optimal extraction conditions were tangerine peel powder particle size of 0.180 mm, ultrasonic intensity of 19 W/cm2 and sonication time of 30 minutes.

Keywords: β-carotene, carotenoids, citrus peel, ostrich oil, response surface methodology, ultrasound-assisted extraction

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Authors: I-Huan Chiu, Kazuhiko Ninomiya, Shin’ichiro Takeda, Meito Kajino, Miho Katsuragawa, Shunsaku Nagasawa, Atsushi Shinohara, Tadayuki Takahashi, Ryota Tomaru, Shin Watanabe, Goro Yabu

Abstract:

In recent years, a nondestructive elemental analysis method based on muonic X-ray measurements has been developed and applied for various samples. Muonic X-rays are emitted after the formation of a muonic atom, which occurs when a negatively charged muon is captured in a muon atomic orbit around the nucleus. Because muonic X-rays have higher energy than electronic X-rays due to the muon mass, they can be measured without being absorbed by a material. Thus, estimating the two-dimensional (2D) elemental distribution of a sample became possible using an X-ray imaging detector. In this work, we report a non-destructive imaging experiment using muonic X-rays at Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex. The irradiated target consisted of polypropylene material, and a double-sided silicon strip detector, which was developed as an imaging detector for astronomical observation, was employed. A peak corresponding to muonic X-rays from the carbon atoms in the target was clearly observed in the energy spectrum at an energy of 14 keV, and 2D visualizations were successfully reconstructed to reveal the projection image from the target. This result demonstrates the potential of the non-destructive elemental imaging method that is based on muonic X-ray measurement. To obtain a higher position resolution for imaging a smaller target, a new detector system will be developed to improve the statistical analysis in further research.

Keywords: DSSD, muon, muonic X-ray, imaging, non-destructive analysis

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Authors: Malte Brettel, Niklas Friederichsen, Michael Keller, Marius Rosenberg

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The German manufacturing industry has to withstand an increasing global competition on product quality and production costs. As labor costs are high, several industries have suffered severely under the relocation of production facilities towards aspiring countries, which have managed to close the productivity and quality gap substantially. Established manufacturing companies have recognized that customers are not willing to pay large price premiums for incremental quality improvements. As a consequence, many companies from the German manufacturing industry adjust their production focusing on customized products and fast time to market. Leveraging the advantages of novel production strategies such as Agile Manufacturing and Mass Customization, manufacturing companies transform into integrated networks, in which companies unite their core competencies. Hereby, virtualization of the process- and supply-chain ensures smooth inter-company operations providing real-time access to relevant product and production information for all participating entities. Boundaries of companies deteriorate, as autonomous systems exchange data, gained by embedded systems throughout the entire value chain. By including Cyber-Physical-Systems, advanced communication between machines is tantamount to their dialogue with humans. The increasing utilization of information and communication technology allows digital engineering of products and production processes alike. Modular simulation and modeling techniques allow decentralized units to flexibly alter products and thereby enable rapid product innovation. The present article describes the developments of Industry 4.0 within the literature and reviews the associated research streams. Hereby, we analyze eight scientific journals with regards to the following research fields: Individualized production, end-to-end engineering in a virtual process chain and production networks. We employ cluster analysis to assign sub-topics into the respective research field. To assess the practical implications, we conducted face-to-face interviews with managers from the industry as well as from the consulting business using a structured interview guideline. The results reveal reasons for the adaption and refusal of Industry 4.0 practices from a managerial point of view. Our findings contribute to the upcoming research stream of Industry 4.0 and support decision-makers to assess their need for transformation towards Industry 4.0 practices.

Keywords: Industry 4.0., mass customization, production networks, virtual process-chain

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Authors: Nagda Ibrahim Mady, Shimaa Mohamed Atiha

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In light of actual needs of elderly people and the changes that accompany age in eyesight, hearing, dexterity, mobility, and memory which make aged people unable to carry out the simplest living affairs especially clothing demands. These needs are almost neglected in the current clothing market obligate aged peoples to wear the available choices without any consideration to their actual desires and needs. Fashion designer has gained many experiences that can gather between ergonomics and stages of fashion designing process. Fashion designer can determine the actual needs of aged people and reply these needs with designs that can achieve Improvement to the life quality of aged people besides maintaining good appearance. Thus Fashion designer can help elderly people to avoid negative impacts age leaves on them, either it is psychological or kinetic or that of dementia. Ergonomics in clothing is considered the tools and mechanisms that are used to fit aged people satisfactions supporting them to improve their living using the least time and effort. Providing the elderly with comfort besides maintaining good appearance that can make self–confidence besides independence. From this point of view the research is looking forward to improve the life of aged people through addressing functional clothes that can make elderly independent in the wearing process. Providing in these designs comfort, quality, and practicality and economic cost. Suggesting the suitable fabrics and materials and applying it to the designs to help the elderly perform their daily living customs. Reaching the successful designs that can be acceptable to specialists and to consumers whom they confirm: it supplies their clothing needs and provides the atheistic and functional performance and therefore it gives them better life.

Keywords: ergonomic, design garments, elderly people, life quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 555

Authors: Siti Sabariah Buhari, Ruzita Abdul Talib, Poh Bee Koon

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This study aims to develop and evaluate an intervention to improve eating habits, active lifestyle and weight status of overweight and obese children in Negeri Sembilan. The H.E.B.A.T! Program involved children, parents, and school and focused on behaviour and environment modification to achieve its goal. The intervention consists of H.E.B.A.T! Camp, parent’s workshop and school-based activities. A total of 21 children from intervention school and 22 children from control school who had BMI for age Z-score ≥ +1SD participated in the study. Mean age of subjects was 10.8 ± 0.3 years old. Four phases were included in the development of the intervention. Evaluation of intervention was conducted through process, impact and outcome evaluation. Process evaluation found that intervention program was implemented successfully with minimal modification and without having any technical problems. Impact and outcome evaluation was assessed based on dietary intake, average step counts, BMI for age z-score, body fat percentage and waist circumference at pre-intervention (T0), post-intervention 1 (T1) and post-intervention 2 (T2). There was significant reduction in energy (14.8%) and fat (21.9%) intakes (at p < 0.05) at post-intervention 1 (T1) in intervention group. By controlling for sex as covariate, there was significant intervention effect for average step counts, BMI for age z-score and waist circumference (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the intervention made an impact on positive behavioural intentions and improves weight status of the children. It is expected that the HEBAT! Program could be adopted and implemented by the government and private sector as well as policy-makers in formulating childhood obesity intervention.

Keywords: childhood obesity, diet, obesity intervention, physical activity

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Authors: Yuliia Skrynnik

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This research focuses on the interaction of verbal, non-verbal, and super-verbal communicative components used by the speaker changing social roles in the marketing discourse. The changing/performing of social roles is implemented through communicative strategies and tactics, the structural, semantic, and linguo-pragmatic means of which are characterized by specific features and differ for the performance of either a role of a supplier or a customer. Communication within the marketing discourse is characterized by symmetrical roles’ relation between communicative opponents. The strategy of a supplier’s social role realization and the strategy of a customer’s role realization influence the discursive personality's linguistic repertoire in the marketing discourse. This study takes into account that one person can be both a supplier and a customer under different circumstances, thus, exploring the one individual who can be both a supplier and a customer. Cooperative and non-cooperative tactics are the instruments for the implementation of these strategies. In the marketing discourse, verbal and non-verbal behaviour of the speaker performing a customer’s social role is highly informative for speakers who perform the role of a supplier. The research methods include discourse, context-situational, pragmalinguistic, pragmasemantic analyses, the method of non-verbal components analysis. The methodology of the study includes 5 steps: 1) defining the configurations of speakers’ social roles on the selected material; 2) establishing the type of the discourse (marketing discourse); 3) describing the specific features of a discursive personality as a subject of the communication in the process of social roles realization; 4) selecting the strategies and tactics which direct the interaction in different roles configurations; 5) characterizing the structural, semantic and pragmatic features of the strategies and tactics realization, including the analysis of interaction between verbal and non-verbal components of communication. In the marketing discourse, non-verbal behaviour is usually spontaneous but not purposeful. Thus, the adequate decoding of a partner’s non-verbal behavior provides more opportunities both for the supplier and the customer. Super-verbal characteristics in the marketing discourse are crucial in defining the opponent's social status and social role at the initial stage of interaction. The research provides the scenario of stereotypical situations of the play of a supplier and a customer. The performed analysis has perspectives for further research connected with the study of discursive variativity of speakers' verbal and non-verbal behaviour considering the intercultural factor influencing the process of performing the social roles in the marketing discourse; and the formation of the methods for the scenario construction of non-stereotypical situations of social roles realization/change in the marketing discourse.

Keywords: discursive personality, marketing discourse, non-verbal component of communication, social role, strategy, super-verbal component of communication, tactic, verbal component of communication

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Authors: Sizhu Wang, Cuisong Tang, Lin Zhang, Guangyu Tang

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Objective: We aimed to detect the composition of bone marrow fatty acids early after ovariectomized (OVX) surgery and explore the potential mechanism. Methods: Thirty-two female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (12 weeks) were randomly divided into OVX group and Sham group (N=16/group), and received ovariectomy or sham surgery respectively. After 3 and 28 days, eight rats in each group were sacrificed to detect the composition of bone marrow fatty acids by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and evaluate the trabecular bone microarchitecture by micro-CT. Significant different fatty acids in the early stage of post-menopausal osteoporosis were selected by OPLS-DA and t test. Then selected fatty acids were further studied in the process of osteogenic differentiation through RT-PCR and Alizarin Red S staining. Results: An apparent sample clustering and group separation were observed between OVX group and sham group three days after surgery, which suggested the role of bone marrow fatty acids in the early stage of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Specifically, myristate, palmitoleate and arachidonate were found to play an important role in classification between OVX group and sham group. We further investigated the effect of palmitoleate and arachidonate on osteogenic differentiation and found that palmitoleate promoted the osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells while arachidonate inhibited this process. Conclusion: Profound bone marrow fatty acids changes have taken place in the early stage of post-menopausal osteoporosis. Bone marrow fatty acids may begin to affect osteogenic differentiation shortly after deficiency of estrogen.

Keywords: bone marrow fatty acids, GC-MS, osteoblast, osteoporosis, post-menopausal

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Authors: Ogemdi Chinwendu Anika, Anna Strzelecka, Yadira Bajón-Fernández, Raffaella Villa

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Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been used since time in memorial to take care of organic wastes in the environment, especially for sewage and wastewater treatments. Recently, the rising demand/need to increase renewable energy from organic matter has caused the AD substrates spectrum to expand and include a wider variety of organic materials such as agricultural residues and farm manure which is annually generated at around 140 billion metric tons globally. The problem, however, is that agricultural wastes are composed of materials that are heterogeneous and too difficult to degrade -particularly lignin, that make up about 0–40% of the total lignocellulose content. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of varying concentrations of lignin on biogas yields and their subsequent response to a commercial yeast-based bioadditive in batch anaerobic digesters. The experiments were carried out in batches for a retention time of 56 days with different lignin concentrations (200 mg, 300 mg, 400 mg, 500 mg, and 600 mg) treated to different conditions to first determine the concentration of the bioadditive that was most optimal for overall process improvement and yields increase. The batch experiments were set up using 130 mL bottles with a working volume of 60mL, maintained at 38°C in an incubator shaker (150rpm). Digestate obtained from a local plant operating at mesophilic conditions was used as the starting inoculum, and commercial kraft lignin was used as feedstock. Biogas measurements were carried out using the displacement method and were corrected to standard temperature and pressure using standard gas equations. Furthermore, the modified Gompertz equation model was used to non-linearly regress the resulting data to estimate gas production potential, production rates, and the duration of lag phases as indicatives of degrees of lignin inhibition. The results showed that lignin had a strong inhibitory effect on the AD process, and the higher the lignin concentration, the more the inhibition. Also, the modelling showed that the rates of gas production were influenced by the concentrations of the lignin substrate added to the system – the higher the lignin concentrations in mg (0, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600) the lower the respective rate of gas production in ml/gVS.day (3.3, 2.2, 2.3, 1.6, 1.3, and 1.1), although the 300 mg increased by 0.1 ml/gVS.day over that of the 200 mg. The impact of the yeast-based bioaddition on the rate of production was most significant in the 400 mg and 500 mg as the rate was improved by 0.1 ml/gVS.day and 0.2 ml/gVS.day respectively. This indicates that agricultural residues with higher lignin content may be more responsive to inhibition alleviation by yeast-based bioadditive; therefore, further study on its application to the AD of agricultural residues of high lignin content will be the next step in this research.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, renewable energy, lignin valorisation, biogas

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Authors: Sanaz Mosadeghsedghi, Mathew Hudder, Mohammad Ali Baghbanzadeh, Charbel Atallah, Seyedeh Laleh Dashtban Kenari, Konstantin Volchek

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Lithium has recently been extensively used in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for electric vehicles and portable electronic devices. The conventional evaporative approach to recover and concentrate lithium is extremely slow and may take 10-24 months to concentrate lithium from dilute sources, such as geothermal brines. To response to the increasing industrial lithium demand, alternative extraction and concentration technologies should be developed to recover lithium from brines with low concentrations. In this study, a combination of electrocoagulation (EC) and electrodialysis (ED) was evaluated for the recovery of lithium from geothermal brines. The brine samples in this study, collected in Western Canada, had lithium concentrations of 50-75 mg/L on a background of much higher (over 10,000 times) concentrations of sodium. This very high sodium-to-lithium ratio poses challenges to the conventional direct-lithium extraction processes which employ lithium-selective adsorbents. EC was used to co-precipitate lithium using a sacrificial aluminium electrode. The precipitate was then dissolved, and the leachate was treated using ED to separate and concentrate lithium from other ions. The focus of this paper is on the study of ED, including a two-step ED process that included a mono-valent selective stage to separate lithium from multi-valent cations followed by a bipolar ED stage to convert lithium chloride (LiCl) to LiOH product. Eventually, the ED cell was reconfigured using mono-valent cation exchange with the bipolar membranes to combine the two ED steps in one. Using this process at optimum conditions, over 95% of the co-existing cations were removed and the purity of lithium increased to over 90% in the final product.

Keywords: electrochemical separation, electrocoagulation, electrodialysis, lithium extraction

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Authors: Monika Jurkeviciute, Amia Enam, Johanna Torres Bonilla, Henrik Eriksson

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Introduction: Many evaluations of eHealth interventions conclude that the evidence for improved clinical outcomes is limited, especially when the intervention is short, such as one year. Often, evaluation design does not address the feasibility of achieving clinical outcomes. Evaluations are designed to reflect upon clinical goals of intervention without utilizing the opportunity to illuminate effects on organizations and cost. A comprehensive design of evaluation can better support decision-making regarding the effectiveness and potential transferability of eHealth. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present a feasible and comprehensive design of evaluation for eHealth intervention, including the design process in different contexts. Methodology: The situation of limited feasibility of clinical outcomes was foreseen in the European Union funded project called “DECI” (“Digital Environment for Cognitive Inclusion”) that is run under the “Horizon 2020” program with an aim to define and test a digital environment platform within corresponding care models that help elderly people live independently. A complex intervention of eHealth implementation into elaborate care models in four different countries was planned for one year. To design the evaluation, a participative approach was undertaken using Pettigrew’s lens of change and transformations, including context, process, and content. Through a series of workshops, observations, interviews, and document analysis, as well as a review of scientific literature, a comprehensive design of evaluation was created. Findings: The findings indicate that in order to get evidence on clinical outcomes, eHealth interventions should last longer than one year. The content of the comprehensive evaluation design includes a collection of qualitative and quantitative methods for data gathering which illuminates non-medical aspects. Furthermore, it contains communication arrangements to discuss the results and continuously improve the evaluation design, as well as procedures for monitoring and improving the data collection during the intervention. The process of the comprehensive evaluation design consists of four stages: (1) analysis of a current state in different contexts, including measurement systems, expectations and profiles of stakeholders, organizational ambitions to change due to eHealth integration, and the organizational capacity to collect data for evaluation; (2) workshop with project partners to discuss the as-is situation in relation to the project goals; (3) development of general and customized sets of relevant performance measures, questionnaires and interview questions; (4) setting up procedures and monitoring systems for the interventions. Lastly, strategies are presented on how challenges can be handled during the design process of evaluation in four different countries. The evaluation design needs to consider contextual factors such as project limitations, and differences between pilot sites in terms of eHealth solutions, patient groups, care models, national and organizational cultures and settings. This implies a need for the flexible approach to evaluation design to enable judgment over the effectiveness and potential for adoption and transferability of eHealth. In summary, this paper provides learning opportunities for future evaluation designs of eHealth interventions in different national and organizational settings.

Keywords: ehealth, elderly, evaluation, intervention, multi-cultural

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Authors: Tatsuhiko Aizawa, Hiroshi Morita

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The tool steels such as SKD11 and SKH51 have been utilized as punch and die substrates for cold stamping, forging, and fine blanking processes. The heat-treated SKD11 punches with the hardness of 700 HV wrought well in the stamping of SPCC, normal steel plates, and non-ferrous alloy such as a brass sheet. However, they suffered from severe damage in the fine blanking process of smaller holes than 1.5 mm in diameter. Under the high aspect ratio of punch length to diameter, an elastoplastic bucking of slender punches occurred on the production line. The heat-treated punches had a risk of chipping at their edges. To be free from those damages, the blanking punch must have sufficient rigidity and strength at the same time. In the present paper, the small-hole blanking punch with a dual toughness structure was proposed to provide a solution to this engineering issue in production. The low-temperature plasma nitriding process was utilized to form the nitrogen supersaturated thick layer into the original SKD11 punch. Through the plasma nitriding at 673 K for 14.4 ks, the nitrogen supersaturated layer, with the thickness of 50 μm and without nitride precipitates, was formed as a high nitrogen steel (HNS) layer surrounding the original SKD11 punch. In this two-zone structured SKD11 punch, the surface hardness increased from 700 HV for the heat-treated SKD11 to 1400 HV. This outer high nitrogen SKD11 (HN-SKD11) layer had a homogeneous nitrogen solute depth profile with a nitrogen solute content plateau of 4 mass% till the border between the outer HN-SKD11 layer and the original SKD11 matrix. When stamping the brass sheet with the thickness of 1 mm by using this dually toughened SKD11 punch, the punch life was extended from 500 K shots to 10000 K shots to attain a much more stable production line to yield the brass American snaps. Furthermore, with the aid of the masking technique, the punch side surface layer with the thickness of 50 μm was modified by this high nitrogen super-saturation process to have a stripe structure where the un-nitrided SKD11 and the HN-SKD11 layers were alternatively aligned from the punch head to the punch bottom. This flexible structuring promoted the mechanical integrity of total rigidity and toughness as a punch with an extremely small diameter.

Keywords: high nitrogen supersaturation, semi-dry cold stamping, solid solution hardening, tool steel dies, low temperature nitriding, dual toughness structure, extremely small diameter punch

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Authors: Jae-Yong Lee, Gyu-Hyun Bae, Yun-Soo Chung, Dae-Sub Kim, Jae-Sung Bae

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In general, fabric is heat-treated using a stenter machine in order to dry and fix its shape. It is important to shape before the heat treatment because it is difficult to revert back once the fabric is formed. To produce the product of right shape, camera type weft straightener has been applied recently to capture and process fabric images quickly. It is more powerful in determining the final textile quality rather than photo-sensor. Positioning in front of a stenter machine, weft straightener helps to spread fabric evenly and control the angle between warp and weft constantly as right angle by handling skew and bow rollers. To process this tricky procedure, the structural analysis should be carried out in advance, based on which, its control technology can be drawn. A structural analysis is to figure out the specific contact/slippage characteristics between fabric and roller. We already examined the applicability of camera type weft straightener to plain weave fabric and found its possibility and the specific working condition of machine and rollers. In this research, we aimed to explore another applicability of camera type weft straightener. Namely, we tried to figure out camera type weft straightener can be used for fabrics. To find out the optimum condition, we increased the number of rollers. The analysis is done by ANSYS software using Finite Element Analysis method. The control function is demonstrated by experiment. In conclusion, the structural analysis of weft straightener is done to identify a specific characteristic between roller and fabrics. The control of skew and bow roller is done to decrease the error of the angle between warp and weft. Finally, it is proved that camera type straightener can also be used for the special fabrics.

Keywords: camera type weft straightener, structure analysis, control, skew and bow roller

Procedia PDF Downloads 281