Search results for: low temperature heat sources

Authors: J. Franco Macías, E. Montes Alba, A. López Vásquez

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The growing development in the poultry industry has generated a strong and adverse impact on quality and availability of water resources. Inside this industry, is finding out the treatment of by-products such as feathers, viscera and blood demanding highly water consumption, generating contaminant discharges as well. As one of current of treatment of by-products is the effluent of cooking condensate steam that has contaminant organic load; therefore, it is necessary to implement removal treatments before discharging it toward water sources. The photo catalysis appears as a promising alternative of treatment due to the different advantages it has, among others, includes low cost, easily operation, high efficiency and elimination of a wide variety of contaminants in a watery environment. This study has evaluated a heterogeneous photo catalytic treatment for removal contaminant organic load. This process was developed in oxidation and reduction conditions. It was analyzed the effect of factors such as pH, catalyst and sacrifice agent concentration. Finally, good conditions to removal contaminant organic load were achieved to determine percentage of contaminant organic load by means of response surface methodology.

Keywords: poultry industry, advanced oxidation process, photocatalysis, photodegradation, TiO2

Procedia PDF Downloads 407

Authors: Sanjay Kumar, Saikat Dutta, Devendra S. Rawat, Jitendra K. Pandey, Pankaj Kumar

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Exploding demand for various types of fuels and gradually growing impacts of atmospheric carbon dioxide have forced the researchers to search biofuels in general and algae-based biofuels in particular. However, strain identification in terms of fuel productivity and over all economics of fuel generation remains a debatable challenge. Utilization of marine biomass, especially the ones important in the Indian subcontinent, in forming furanic fuels and specialty chemicals would likely to be a better value-addition pathway. Seaweed species e.g. Ulva, Sarconema, and Gracilaria species have been found more productive than land-based biomass sources due to their higher growth rate. Additionally, non-recalcitrant nature of marine biomass unlike lignocellulosics has attracted much attention in recent years towards producing bioethanol. Here we report the production of renewable, biomass-derived platform molecules such as furfural and 5-(chloromethyl) furfural (CMF) from a seaweed species which are abundant marine biomass. These products have high potential for synthetic upgradation into various classes of value-added compounds such as fuels, fuel-additives, and monomers for polymers, solvents, agrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

Keywords: seaweeds, Ulva, CMF, furan

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Authors: Syed Adnan, Javed Iqbal

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In urban and rural areas groundwater is the most economic natural source of drinking. Groundwater resources of Pakistan are degraded due to high population growth and increased industrial development. A study was conducted in district Peshawar to assess groundwater vulnerable zones using GIS based DRASTIC model. Six input parameters (groundwater depth, groundwater recharge, aquifer material, soil type, slope and hydraulic conductivity) were used in the DRASTIC model to generate the groundwater vulnerable zones. Each parameter was divided into different ranges or media types and a subjective rating from 1-10 was assigned to each factor where 1 represented very low impact on pollution potential and 10 represented very high impact. Weight multiplier from 1-5 was used to balance and enhance the importance of each factor. The DRASTIC model scores obtained varied from 47 to 147. Using quantile classification scheme these values were reclassified into three zones i.e. low, moderate and high vulnerable zones. The areas of these zones were calculated. The final result indicated that about 400 km2, 506 km2, and 375 km2 were classified as low, moderate, and high vulnerable areas, respectively. It is recommended that the most vulnerable zones should be treated on first priority to facilitate the inhabitants for drinking purposes.

Keywords: DRASTIC model, groundwater vulnerability, GIS in groundwater, drinking sources

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Authors: Davendra S. Malik

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Bhimtal lake is located between 290 21’ N latitude and 790 24’ E longitude, at an elevation of 1332m above mean sea level in the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand of Indian subcontinent. The lake surface area is decreasing in water area, depth level in relation to ecological and biological characteristics due to climatic variations, invasive land use pattern, degraded forest zones and changed agriculture pattern in lake catchment basin. The present study is focused on long and short term effects of climate change on aquatic biodiversity and productivity of Bhimtal lake. The meteorological data of last fifteen years of Bhimtal lake catchment basin revealed that air temperature has been increased 1.5 to 2.1oC in summer, 0.2 to 0.8 C in winter, relative humidity increased 4 to 6% in summer and rainfall pattern changed erratically in rainy seasons. The surface water temperature of Bhimtal lake showed an increasing pattern as 0.8 to 2.6 C, pH value decreased 0.5 to 0.2 in winter and increased 0.4 to 0.6 in summer. Dissolved oxygen level in lake showed a decreasing trend as 0.7 to 0.4mg/l in winter months. The mesotrophic nature of Bhimtal lake is changing towards eutrophic conditions and contributed for decreasing biodiversity. The aquatic biodiversity of Bhimtal lake consisted mainly phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos and fish species. In the present study, a total of 5 groups of phytoplankton, 3 groups of zooplankton, 11 groups of benthos and 15 fish species were recorded from Bhimtal lake. The comparative data of biodiversity of Bhimtal lake since January, 2000 indicated the changing pattern of phytoplankton biomass were decreasing as 1.99 and 1.08% of Chlorophyceae and Bacilleriophyceae families respectively. The biomass of Cynophyceae was increasing as 0.45% and contributing the algal blooms during summer season in lake. The biomass of zooplankton and benthos were found decreasing in winter season and increasing during summer season. The endemic fish species (18 no.) were found in year 2000-05, as while the fish species (15 no.) were recorded in present study. The relative fecundity of major fish species were observed decreasing trends during their breeding periods in lake. The natural and anthropogenic factors were identified as ecological threats for existing aquatic biodiversity of Bhimtal lake. The present research paper emphasized on the effect of changing pattern of different climatic variables on species composition, biomass of phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos, and fishes in Bhimtal lake of Kumaun region. The present research data will be contributed significantly to assess the changing pattern of aquatic biodiversity and productivity of Bhimtal lake with different time scale.

Keywords: aquatic biodiversity, Bhimtal lake, climate change, lake ecology

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Ruchika Bagga, Mauro Falconieri, Venu Gopal Achanta, José M. F. Ferreira, Ashutosh Goel, Gopi Sharma

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Mixed valence Eu-doped nanocrystalline NaAlSiO4/NaY9Si6O26 glass-ceramics have been prepared by controlled crystallization of melt quenched bulk glasses. XRD and SEM techniques were employed to characterize the crystallization process of the precursor glass and their resultant glass-ceramics. Photoluminescence spectroscopy was used to analyze the formation of divalent europium (Eu2+) from Eu3+ ions during high temperature synthesis under ambient atmosphere and is explained on the basis of optical basicity model. The observed luminescence properties of Eu: NaY9Si6O26 are compared with that of well explored Eu: β-PbF2 nanocrystals and their marked differences are discussed.

Keywords: rare earth, oxyfluoride glasses, nano-crystalline glass-ceramics, photoluminescence spectroscopy

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Authors: Ahmed Khattab, Bassem Shetta

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Today, there are many branches of technology, one of them is the internet of things. In this paper, it's focused specifically on automating all the home appliances through E-mail using Node JS server, the server side stores, and processes this data. The server side contains user interface and notification system functionalities which is operated by Raspberry Pi. It will present the security requirements for the smart home. In this application, the privilege of home control including special persons to use it, using the hardware appliances through mobiles and tablets is achieved. The proposed application delivers high quality of service, long lifetime, low maintenance, fast deployment, and low power requirements with low cost needed for development.

Keywords: Raspberry Pi, E-mail, home automation, temperature sensor, PIR sensor, actuators, relay

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Jamaa Salih, Francis Edum-Fotwe, Andrew Price

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One of the most critical aspects of the management of road infrastructure is the type and scale of maintenance systems adopted and the consequences of their inadequacy. The performance of road maintenance systems can be assessed by a number of important indicators such as: cost, safety, environmental impact, and level of complaints by users. A review of practice reveals that insufficient level of expenditure or poor management of the road network often has serious consequences for the economic and social life of a country in terms of vehicle operating costs (VOC), travel time costs, accident costs and environmental impact. Despite an increase in the attention paid by global road agencies to the environmental and the road users’ satisfaction, the overwhelming evidence from the available literature agree on the lack of similar levels of attention for the two factors in many developing countries. While many sources agree that the road maintenance backlog is caused by either the shortage of expenditures or lack of proper management or both, it appears that managing the available assets particularly in the developing countries is the main issue. To address this subject, this paper will concentrate on exposing the various issues related to this field.

Keywords: environmental impact, performance indicators, road maintenance, users’ satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: A. Brinda Lakshmi, J. Lakshmi Priya

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Cantaloupes (muskmelon and watermelon) contain biologically active molecules such as carotenoids which are natural pigments used as food colorants and afford health benefits. ß-carotene is the major source of carotenoids present in muskmelon and watermelon shell. Carotenoids were extracted using Microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) utilising organic lipophilic solvents such as acetone, methanol, and hexane. Extraction conditions feed-solvent ratio, microwave power, ultrasound frequency, temperature and particle size were varied and optimized. It was found that the yield of carotenoids was higher using UAE than MAE, and muskmelon had the highest yield of carotenoids when was ethanol used as a solvent for 0.5 mm particle size.

Keywords: carotenoids, extraction, muskmelon shell, watermelon shell

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Authors: Tannu Taluja, Kanchan Yadav

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Humor is a global language of general emotions that everyone knows. Humor has a vast range of dimensions, functions, and styles. The current paper explained humor and also reviewed how it is used in artificial intelligence. It aimed how health professionals and teachers can use humor to ameliorate well-being and education and how humor differs among various culture. If used successfully, humor can boost relationships and productivity. The paper aimed to review how one can use humor as a pain reliever, in learning, in writing journals, improving quality of life. It also discussed about the findings about the purpose and impact of humor usage, the results of humor use on individual and leaders organisational leadership, and the important factors where humor can be identified and synthesised. Data was obtained from the PubMed, Frontier, PsycNet, Elsevier, Science Direct and other internet sources like Google Scholar. From 981 articles, irrelevant or inaccessible studies were eliminated, reducing the number of final articles chosen for review to 19. The current analysis not only compiles data from more than four decades of research, but it also makes various recommendations for future research on humor in artificial intelligence, medicine, workplace, culture, coping and education.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, culture, coping, education, humor, medicine, workplace

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Authors: Moiz Masood Syed, Seong-Jun Hong, Geun-Hie Rim, Kyung-Ae Cho, Hyoung-Suk Kim

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In the near future, energy storage will play a vital role to enhance the present changing technology. Energy storage with power generation becomes necessary when renewable energy sources are connected to the grid which consequently adjoins to the total energy in the system since utilities require more power when peak demand occurs. This paper describes the operational function of a 3 kW grid-connected residential Energy Storage System (ESS) which is connected with Photovoltaic (PV) at its input side. The system can perform bidirectional functions of charging from the grid and discharging to the grid when power demand becomes high and low respectively. It consists of PV module, Power Conditioning System (PCS) containing a bidirectional DC/DC Converter and bidirectional DC/AC inverter and a Lithium-ion battery pack. ESS Configuration, specifications, and control are described. The bidirectional DC/DC converter tracks the maximum power point (MPPT) and maintains the stability of PV array in case of power deficiency to fulfill the load requirements. The bidirectional DC/AC inverter has good voltage regulation properties like low total harmonic distortion (THD), low electromagnetic interference (EMI), faster response and anti-islanding characteristics. Experimental results satisfy the effectiveness of the proposed system.

Keywords: energy storage system, photovoltaic, DC/DC converter, DC/AC inverter

Procedia PDF Downloads 644

Authors: Aysha Zahidie, Meesha Iqbal

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This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of strategies adopted by national health systems across the globe in different ‘geographical regions’ in the Northern Hemisphere to combat COVID-19 pandemic. Data is included from the first case reported in November 2019 till mid-April 2020. Sources of information are COVID-19 case repositories, official country websites, university research teams’ perspectives, official briefings, and available published research articles to date. We triangulated all data to formulate a comprehensive illustration of COVID-19 situation in each country included. It has been found that the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak experienced in China, Taiwan, and South Korea saw better strategies adopted by leadership to combat COVID-19 pandemic containment as compared to Iran, Italy, and the United States of America. Saudi Arabia has so far been successful in the implementation of containment strategies as there have been no large outbreaks in major cities or confined areas such as prisons. The situation has yet to unfold in India and Pakistan, which exhibit their own weaknesses in policy formulation or implementation in response to health crises.

Keywords: national health systems, COVID-19, prevention, response

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Authors: Gopi Kandaswamy, P. Balamuralidhar

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Fully autonomous small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used in many commercial applications. Although a lot of research has been done to develop safe, reliable and durable UAVs, accidents due to electronic and structural failures are not uncommon and pose a huge safety risk to the UAV operators and the public. Hence there is a strong need for an automated health monitoring system for UAVs with a view to minimizing mission failures thereby increasing safety. This paper describes our approach to monitoring the electronic and structural components in a small UAV without the need for additional sensors to do the monitoring. Our system monitors data from four sources; sensors, navigation algorithms, control inputs from the operator and flight controller outputs. It then does statistical analysis on the data and applies a rule based engine to detect failures. This information can then be fed back into the UAV and a decision to continue or abort the mission can be taken automatically by the UAV and independent of the operator. Our system has been verified using data obtained from real flights over the past year from UAVs of various sizes that have been designed and deployed by us for various applications.

Keywords: fault detection, health monitoring, unmanned aerial vehicles, vibration analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Ntungamili Kenosi, Moatlhodi W. Letshwenyo

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Negative environmental impacts due to construction of large projects such as dams have become an important aspect of land degradation. This paper will review the previous literature on the previous researches or study in the same area of study in the other parts of the world. After dam has been constructed, the actual environmental impacts are investigated and compared to the predicted results of the carried out Environmental Impact Assessment. GIS and Remote Sensing, play an important role in generating automated spatial data sets and in establishing spatial relationships. Results from other sources shows that the normalized vegetation index (NDVI) analysis was used to detect the spatial and temporal change of vegetation biomass in the study area. The result indicated that the natural vegetation biomass is declining. This is mainly due to the expansion of agricultural land and escalating human made structures in the area. Urgent environmental conservation is necessary when adjoining projects site. Less study on the evaluation of EIA on dam has been conducted in Botswana hence there is a need for the same study to be conducted and then it will be easy to be compared to other studies around the world.

Keywords: Botswana, dam, environmental impact assessment, GIS, normalized vegetation index (NDVI), remote sensing

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Authors: Duygu Çimen, Nilay Bereli, Adil Denizli

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In this study is to synthesis magnetic nanoparticles for purify protein C. For this aim, N-Methacryloyl-(L)-histidine methyl ester (MAH) containing 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) based magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by using micro-emulsion polymerization technique for templating protein C via metal chelation. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zeta-size analysis and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. After that, they were used for protein C purification from aqueous solution to evaluate/optimize the adsorption condition. Hereby, the effecting factors such as concentration, pH, ionic strength, temperature, and reusability were evaluated. As the last step, protein C was determined with sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Keywords: immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC), magnetic nanoparticle, protein C, hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA)

Procedia PDF Downloads 430

Authors: Cinzia Federico, Gaetano Giudice, Salvatore Inguaggiato, Marco Liuzzo, Maria Pedone, Fabio Vita, Christoph Kern, Leonardo La Pica, Giovannella Pecoraino, Lorenzo Calderone, Vincenzo Francofonte

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The periods of increased fumarolic activity at La Fossa volcano have been characterized, since early 80's, by changes in the gas chemistry and in the output rate of fumaroles. Excepting the direct measurements of the steam output from fumaroles performed from 1983 to 1995, the mass output of the single gas species has been recently measured, with various methods, only sporadically or for short periods. Since 2008, a scanning DOAS system is operating in the Palizzi area for the remote measurement of the in-plume SO₂ flux. On these grounds, the need of a cross-comparison of different methods for the in situ measurement of the output rate of different gas species is envisaged. In 2015, two field campaigns have been carried out, aimed at: 1. The mapping of the concentration of CO₂, H₂S and SO₂ in the fumarolic plume at 1 m from the surface, by using specific open-path diode tunable lasers (GasFinder Boreal Europe Ltd.) and an Active DOAS for SO₂, respectively; these measurements, coupled to simultaneous ultrasonic wind speed and meteorological data, have been elaborated to obtain the dispersion map and the output rate of single species in the overall fumarolic field; 2. The mapping of the concentrations of CO₂, H₂S, SO₂, H₂O in the fumarolic plume at 0.5 m from the soil, by using an integrated system, including IR spectrometers and specific electrochemical sensors; this has provided the concentration ratios of the analysed gas species and their distribution in the fumarolic field; 3. The in-fumarole sampling of vapour and measurement of the steam output, to validate the remote measurements. The dispersion map of CO₂, obtained from the tunable laser measurements, shows a maximum CO₂ concentration at 1m from the soil of 1000 ppmv along the rim, and 1800 ppmv in the inner slopes. As observed, the largest contribution derives from a wide fumarole of the inner-slope, despite its present outlet temperature of 230°C, almost 200°C lower than those measured at the rim fumaroles. Actually, fumaroles in the inner slopes are among those emitting the largest amount of magmatic vapour and, during the 1989-1991 crisis, reached the temperature of 690°C. The estimated CO₂ and H₂S fluxes are 400 t/d and 4.4 t/d, respectively. The coeval SO₂ flux, measured by the scanning DOAS system, is 9±1 t/d. The steam output, recomputed from CO₂ flux measurements, is about 2000 t/d. The various direct and remote methods (as described at points 1-3) have produced coherent results, which encourage to the use of daily and automatic DOAS SO₂ data, coupled with periodic in-plume measurements of different acidic gases, to obtain the total mass rates.

Keywords: DOAS, fumaroles, plume, tunable laser

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Authors: Jie Li, Nick Manning

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The mass rural-urban migrants in China associated with the urbanization processes bear significant implications on public health, which is an important yet under-researched area. Urban social and built environment, such as noise, air pollution, high population density, and social segregation, has the potential to contribute to mental illness. In China, rural-urban migrants are also faced with institutional discrimination tied to the hukou (household registration) system, through which they are denied of full citizenship to basic social welfare and services, which may elevate the stress of urban living and exacerbate the risks to mental illness. This paper aims to link the sociospatial exclusion, everyday life experiences and its mental health consequences on rural to urban migrants living in the mega-city of Shanghai. More specifically, it asks what the daily experience of being a migrant in Shanghai is actually like, particularly regarding sources of stress from housing, displacement, service accessibility, and cultural conflict, and whether these stresses affect mental health? Secondary data from literature review on migration, urban studies, and epidemiology research, as well as primary data from preliminary field trip observations and interviews are used in the analysis.

Keywords: migration, urbanisation, mental health, China

Procedia PDF Downloads 377

Authors: Michael Sunday Afolayan

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This research work examined the challenges bedevilling the development of legal framework for electronic commercial transactions (e-commerce) in Nigeria. Nigeria does not have a clear-cut legislation regulating electronic commerce in its jurisdiction despite the geometrical rate of growth and adoption of this method of trade. It specifically posed a great challenge looking at taxation, evidential and jurisdictional issues in e-commerce in Nigeria. The author in a broader research work which is abridged here, traced the origin and development of e-commerce and the attendant laws applicable in Nigeria, examining their sufficiency or otherwise. In carrying out the research work, doctrinal mode of legal research was adopted, examining both primary and secondary sources of legal research materials within their contextual meanings. It was found that the failure to enact a law which has direct regulatory bearing on e-commerce in Nigeria has led to adoption and application of circumstantial laws, rules and common law principles to tackle the problems arising out of electronic commercial transactions, especially in the areas of taxation, evidential and jurisdictional challenges. It was ultimately suggested that there is urgent need to sign into law, the Electronic Transaction Bill which had already been passed by the National Assembly since 2017.

Keywords: e-commerce, legislation, taxation, evidential, jurisdiction

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Abdelkrim Cheriti, Mebarka Belboukhari, Nasser Belboukhari

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Launaea Cass. is a small genus of the family Asteraceae (tribe Lactuceae, subtribe Sonchinae), consisting of 54 species, of which 9 are presented in the flora of Algeria and is mainly distributed in the South Mediterranean, Africa and SW Asia. Plants in the Launaea genus have been used ethnobotanically as bitter stomachic, for treating diarrhea, gastrointestinal tracts, as anti-inflammatory, for skin diseases, treatment of infected wounds, hepatic pains, children fever, as soporific, lactagogue, diuretic and as insecticidal. Antioxidants are vital substances, which possess the ability to protect the body from damages caused by free radical induced oxidative stress. A variety of free radical scavenging antioxidants is found in a number of dietary sources. The main objective of this study focused on the screening of antioxidant activity of Launaea nudicaulis (Asteraceae) extracts. The in vitro antioxidant activity was investigated with DPPH radical scavenging assay. The quantitative evaluation of DPPH scavenging activity showed that n-BuOH and EtOAc extracts are the most active extracts with a percentage of antiradical activity of 89,62% and 71,57% respectively.

Keywords: Launaea, phytochemical, South Algeria, Sahara, endemic specie

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Authors: Fisayo G. Ojo, Shamala K. Subramaniam, Zuriati Ahmad Zukarnain

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As technology is advancing and wireless applications are becoming dependable sources, while the physical layer of the applications are been embedded into tiny layer, so the more the problem on energy efficiency and consumption. This paper reviews works done in recent years in wireless applications and distributed computing, we discovered that applications are becoming dependable, and resource allocation sharing with other applications in distributed computing. Applications embedded in distributed system are suffering from power stability and efficiency. In the reviews, we also prove that discrete event simulation has been left behind untouched and not been adapted into distributed system as a simulation technique in scheduling of each event that took place in the development of distributed computing applications. We shed more lights on some researcher proposed techniques and results in our reviews to prove the unsatisfactory results, and to show that more work still have to be done on issues of energy efficiency in wireless applications, and congestion in distributed computing.

Keywords: discrete event simulation (DES), distributed computing, energy efficiency (EE), internet of things (IOT), quality of service (QOS), user equipment (UE), wireless mesh network (WMN), wireless sensor network (wsn), worldwide interoperability for microwave access x (WiMAX)

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Ruixia Liu

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Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has an important influence on the precipitation of its lower reaches. Data from remote sensing has itself advantage and numerical prediction model which assimilates RS data will be better than other. We got the assimilation data of MHS and terrestrial and sounding from GSI, and introduced the result into WRF, then got the result of RH and precipitation forecast. We found that assimilating MHS and terrestrial and sounding made the forecast on precipitation, area and the center of the precipitation more accurate by comparing the result of 1h,6h,12h, and 24h. Analyzing the difference of the initial field, we knew that the data assimilating about Qinghai-Tibet Plateau influence its lower reaches forecast by affecting on initial temperature and RH.

Keywords: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, precipitation, data assimilation, GSI

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Authors: Lee Chiau Yeng, Norhayani Othman

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Regenerated cellulose fiber is fabricated in the NaOH/urea aqueous solution. In this work, cellulose is dissolved in 7 .wt% NaOH/12 .wt% urea in the temperature of -12 °C to prepare regenerated cellulose. Thermal and structure properties of cellulose and regenerated cellulose was compared and investigated by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FeSEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Results of FeSEM revealed that the regenerated cellulose fibers showed a more circular shape with irregular size due to fiber agglomeration. FTIR showed the difference in between the structure of cellulose and the regenerated cellulose fibers. In this case, regenerated cellulose fibers have a cellulose II crystalline structure with lower degree of crystallinity. Regenerated cellulose exhibited better thermal stability than the cellulose.

Keywords: regenerated cellulose, cellulose, NaOH, urea

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Authors: Bagher Aziz Kalantari, Javad Rafiei, Mohamad Reza Talei Bavil Olyai

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Disclosed is a method of preparing a pigmentary chromium oxide nano particles having 50 percent particle size less than about 100nm. According to the disclosed method, a substantially dry solid composition of potassium dichromate and carbon active is heated in CO2 atmosphere to a temperature of about 600ºc for 1hr. Thereafter, the solid Cr2O3 product was washed twice with distilled water. The other aim of this study is to assess both the colouring performance and the potential of nano-pigments in the ceramic tile decoration. The rationable consists in nano-pigment application in several ceramics, including a comparison of colour performance with conventional micro-pigments.

Keywords: green chromium oxide, nano particles, colour performances, particle size

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Authors: Denys Osipenko, Jonathan Crook

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Because of the variety of the card holders’ behaviour types and income sources each consumer account can be transferred to a variety of states. Each consumer account can be inactive, transactor, revolver, delinquent, defaulted and requires an individual model for the income prediction. The estimation of transition probabilities between statuses at the account level helps to avoid the memorylessness of the Markov Chains approach. This paper investigates the transition probabilities estimation approaches to credit cards income prediction at the account level. The key question of empirical research is which approach gives more accurate results: multinomial logistic regression or multistage conditional logistic regression with binary target. Both models have shown moderate predictive power. Prediction accuracy for conditional logistic regression depends on the order of stages for the conditional binary logistic regression. On the other hand, multinomial logistic regression is easier for usage and gives integrate estimations for all states without priorities. Thus further investigations can be concentrated on alternative modeling approaches such as discrete choice models.

Keywords: multinomial regression, conditional logistic regression, credit account state, transition probability

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Authors: Svanik Garg

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The center of our galaxy is often referred to as the ‘galactic center’ and has many theories associated with its true nature. Given the existence of interstellar dust and bright stars, it is nearly impossible to observe its position, about 24,000 light-years away. Due to this uncertainty, humans have often speculated what could exist at a vantage point upon which the entire galaxy spirals and revolves, with wild theories ranging from the presence of dark matter to black holes and wormholes. Data up till now on the same is very limited, and conclusions are to the best of the author's knowledge, as the only method to view the galactic center is through x-ray and infrared imaging, which counter the problems mentioned earlier. This paper examines, first, the existence of a galactic center, then the methods to identify what it might contain, and lastly, possible conclusions along with implications of the findings. Several secondary sources, along with a python tool to analyze x-ray readings were used to identify the true nature of what lies in the center of the galaxy, whether it be a void due to the existence of dark energy or a black hole. Using this roughly 4-part examination, as a result of this study, a plausible definition of the galactic center was formulated, keeping in mind the rather wild theories, data and different ideas proposed by researchers. This paper aims to dissect the theory of a galactic center and identify its nature to help understand what it shows about galaxies and our universe.

Keywords: milky way, galaxy, dark energy, stars

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Authors: Aarti Singh, Anees Ahmad

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Carotenoids comprise a group of isoprenoid pigments. Carotenes, xanthophylls and their derivatives have been found to play an important role in all living beings through foods, neutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. α-carotene, β-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin play a vital role in humans to provide vitamin A source for the growth, development and proper functioning of immune system and vision. They are very crucial for plants and humans as they protect from photooxidative damage and are excellent antioxidants quenching singlet molecular oxygen and peroxyl radicals. Diet including more intake of carotenoids results in reduced threat of various chronic diseases such as cancer (lung, breast, prostrate, colorectal and ovarian cancers) and coronary heart diseases. The blue light filtering efficiency of the carotenoids in liposomes have been reported to be maximum in lutein followed by zeaxanthin, β-carotene and lycopene. Lycopene plays a vital role for the protection from CVD. Lycopene in serum is directly related to reduced risk of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Carotenoids have major role in the treatment of skin disorders. There is need to identify and isolate novel carotenoids from diverse natural sources for human health benefits.

Keywords: antioxidants, carotenoids, neutraceuticals, osteoporosis, pharmaceuticals

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Authors: H. Nematifar, D. Sanavi Khoshnoud, S. Feyz

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Bi0.82La0.2Fe1-xCrxO3 (BLFCxO, x = 0.0, 0.02, 0.05 and 0.08) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by a sol-gel method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicate that the lattice parameters decrease for x ≤ 0.05, firstly, and then they increase for x > 0.05. A transformation from rhombohedral structure to orthorhombic structure occurs at x = 0.08. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis shows that the average nanoparticle size is about 60-70 nm. The remnant magnetisation (Mr) increases gradually with x to 0.02, then decreases with further increasing x up to 0.05, and finally enchases abruptly in x = 0.08. The coercivity (HC) increases gradually with x to 0.05, and then significantly reduced with increasing Cr substitution. The magnetic ordering temperature (TN) decreases with Cr doping concentration. The M-H curves of all samples exhibit a wasp-waist hysteresis loop in low magnetic region. This property can play an important role for the applications of some multiferroic nano-device.

Keywords: BiFeO3, sol-gel preparation, nanoparticles, magnetic materials, thermal analysis

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Authors: Daniel Macedo Neto, Sandro Froehner, Juan Sanez

Abstract:

Suspended sediments (SS) are an environmental constituent able to represent the effects of land use changes on watersheds. One important consideration of land use change is its implication on trace element loading. Water bodies have the capacity to retain trace elements. Spatial variation in trace elements concentrations can be associated with land occupation and sources of pollution. In this work, the spatial variation of trace elements in suspended sediments from an urban river was assessed. Time-integrated fluvial suspended sediment samples were installed in three different sites of Barigui River. The suspend solids were collected every 30 days, from May 2015 to August 2015 (total samples 12). Site P1 covers 44 km2 drainage area and has low land occupation, whilst P2 cover an area of 87 km2 and it is totally urban as P3, which area is higher than 130 km2. Trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, P, Pb and Zn) were analysed by ICP-ES. All elements analyzed showed a similar pattern, i.e., the concentration raise with the urbanization, exception for As (P1=7.75; P2=5.75; P3=5.60mg/kg). There was increase in concentration for Cd (P1=0.75; P2=0.78; P3=1.45mg/kg), Cr (P1=59.50; P2=101.75; P3=102.00 mg/kg), Zn (P1=142.25; P2=152.50; P3=223.00mg/kg), P (P1=937.50; P2=1,545.00; P3=2,355.00 mg/kg) and for Pb (P1=31.25; P2=32.75; P3=39.17±2.56 mg/kg). The variation in concentrations were as follow -27.74% (As), +93.33% (Cd), +71.43% (Cr), +151.20% (P), +25.33% (Pb) e +56.77% (Zn). Cd, Cr, P, Pb and Zn presented a clear trend of increasing the concentration from upstream to downstream. Such variation is more notorious for P, Cd and Cr, possibly due the urbanization.

Keywords: trace elements, erosion, urbanization, suspended sediments

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: A. Hamza, H. Kathyayini, N. Nagaraju

Abstract:

Aluminophosphates, both amorphous and crystalline materials find applications as adsorbents, ceramics, and pigments and as catalysts/catalyst supports in organic fine chemical synthesis. Most of the applications are varied depending on the type of metal incorporated, particle size, surface area, porosity and morphology of aluminophosphate. The porous and surface properties of these materials are normally fine-tuned by adopting various preparation methodologies. Numerous crystalline microporous and mesoporous aluminophosphates and metal-aluminophosphates have been reported in literature, in which the synthesis has been carried out by using structure directing organic molecules/surfactants. In present work, amorphous aluminophosphate (AlP) and metal-aluminophosphates MAlP (M = Cu, Zn, Cr, Fe, Ce and Zr) and their mixed forms M-1M2AlP are prepared under a typical precipitation condition, i.e. at low temperature in order to keep the Von-Weirmann relative super saturation of the precipitating medium and obtain small size precipitate particles. These materials are prepared without using any surfactants. All materials are thoroughly characterised for surface and bulk properties by N2 adsorption-desorption technique, XRD, FT-IR, TG and SEM. The materials are also analysed for the amount and the strength of their surface acid sites, by NH3-TPD and CO2-TPD techniques respectively. All the materials prepared in the work are investigated for their catalytic activity in following applications in the synthesis of industrially important Jasminaldehyde via, aldol condensation of n-heptanal and benzaldehyde, in the synthesis of biologically important chalcones by Claisen-shmidth condensation of benzaldehyde and substituted chalcones. The effect of the amount of the catalysts, duration of the reaction, temperature of the reaction, molar ratio of the reactants has been studied. The porosity of pure aluminophosphate is found to be changed significantly by the incorporation of transition metals during preparation of aluminophosphate. The pore size increased from microporous to mesoporous and finally to macroporous by following order of metals Cu = Zn < Cr < Ce < Fe = Zr. The change in surface area and porosity of double metal-aluminophosphates depended on the concentration of both the metals. The acidity of aluminophosphate is either increased or decreased which depended on the type and valence of metals loaded. A good number of basic sites are created in metal-aluminophosphates irrespective of the metals used. A maximum catalytic activity for synthesis of both jasminaldehyde and chalcone is obtained by FeAlP as catalysts; these materials are characterized by decreased strength and concentration of acidic sites with optimum level basic sites.

Keywords: amorphous metal-aluminophosphates, surface properties, acidic-basic properties, Aldol, Claisen-Shmidth condensation, jasminaldehyde, chalcone

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: Rachid Fermous, Rima Mebrek

Abstract:

Plasma expansion is an important physical process that takes place in laser interactions with solid targets. Within a self-similar model for the hydrodynamic multi-fluid equations, we investigated the expansion of dense plasma. The weakly relativistic electrons are produced by ultra-intense laser pulses, while ions are supposed to be in a non-relativistic regime. It is shown that dense plasma expansion is found to be governed mainly by quantum contributions in the fluid equations that originate from the degenerate pressure in addition to the nonlinear contributions from exchange and correlation potentials. The quantum degeneracy parameter profile provides clues to set the limit between under-dense and dense relativistic plasma expansions at a given density and temperature.

Keywords: plasma expansion, quantum degeneracy, weakly relativistic, under-dense plasma

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Hanizam Awang, Mohammed Zuhear Al-Mulali

Abstract:

In this study, the possibility of using unground oil palm ash (UOPA) for producing foamed concrete is investigated. The UOPA used in this study is produced by incinerating palm oil biomass at a temperature exceeding 1000ºC. A semi-structural density of 1300kg/m3 was used with filler to binder ratio of 1.5 and preliminary water to binder ratio of 0.45. Cement was replaced by UOPA at replacement levels of 0, 25, 35, 45, 55 and 65% by weight of binder. Properties such as density, compressive strength, drying shrinkage and water absorption were investigated to the age of 90 days. The mix with a 35% of UOPA content was chosen to be used as the base material of a newly designed interlocking, mortar-less block system.

Keywords: foamed concrete, oil palm ash, strength, interlocking block

Procedia PDF Downloads 265