Search results for: measurement instruments

Authors: Teera Intararuang

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The purpose of this research is to study on the challenge and opportunity for waterway route management for promoting cultural tourism in Angsila District, Chonburi Province. To accomplish the goals and objectives, qualitative research will be applied. The research instruments used are observation, basic interviews, in-depth interviews, and interview key local performance. The study also uses both primary data and secondary data. From research result, it is revealed that all respondents had appreciated and strongly agree to promote their waterway route tourism as an intend for further increase for their income. However, it has some challenges to success this project due to natural obstacles such as water level, seasons and high temperature. Moreover, they lack financial support from government sectors also.

Keywords: Angsila community, waterway tourism route, cultural tourism, way of life

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Authors: Noah Yusuf

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The present paper examined the current level of socio-political and economic development in Africa. Models and experiences from other regions of the world, especially, developing ones with similar historical experience with Africa, were explored. The paper concluded that recommendations emanating from past conferences, seminars and symposia on the continent’s socio-economic and political challenges have been poorly implemented because of lack of strong political will; the donor syndrome; weak resource base; capacity constraints in institutions; and lack of accountability, transparency and poor governance. It is, therefore, recommended that African countries need implement sound policies and reforms on a comprehensive basis, if they are to achieve the desired socio-economic and political transformation; and the African in Diasporas represent critical instruments in attaining the socio-economic and political objectives of the continent.

Keywords: Africa, political transformation, economic transformation, Africans in diasporas

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Authors: Majdi M. Alomari, Nafesah I. Alshdaifat, Mohammad S. Widyan

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Different countries have introduced different schemes and policies to counter global warming. The rationale behind the proposed policies and the potential barriers to successful implementation of the policies adopted by the countries were analyzed and estimated based on different models. It is argued that these models enhance the transparency and provide a better understanding to the policy makers. However, these models are underpinned with several structural and baseline assumptions. These assumptions, modeling features and future prediction of emission reductions and other implication such as cost and benefits of a transition to a low-carbon economy and its economy wide impacts were discussed. On the other hand, there are potential barriers in the form political, financial, and cultural and many others that pose a threat to the mitigation options.

Keywords: energy models, environmental policy instruments, mitigating CO2 emission, economic wide impact

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Authors: Didier Auroux, Vladimir Groza

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This work is part of STEEP Marie-Curie ITN project, and it focuses on the identification of unknown parameters of the proposed generic Abrasive WaterJet Milling (AWJM) PDE model, that appears as an ill-posed inverse problem. The necessity of studying this problem comes from the industrial milling applications where the possibility to predict and model the final surface with high accuracy is one of the primary tasks in the absence of any knowledge of the model parameters that should be used. In this framework, we propose the identification of model parameters by minimizing a cost function, measuring the difference between experimental and numerical solutions. The adjoint approach based on corresponding Lagrangian gives the opportunity to find out the unknowns of the AWJM model and their optimal values that could be used to reproduce the required trench profile. Due to the complexity of the nonlinear problem and a large number of model parameters, we use an automatic differentiation software tool (TAPENADE) for the adjoint computations. By adding noise to the artificial data, we show that in fact the parameter identification problem is highly unstable and strictly depends on input measurements. Regularization terms could be effectively used to deal with the presence of data noise and to improve the identification correctness. Based on this approach we present results in 2D and 3D of the identification of the model parameters and of the surface prediction both with self-generated data and measurements obtained from the real production. Considering different types of model and measurement errors allows us to obtain acceptable results for manufacturing and to expect the proper identification of unknowns. This approach also gives us the ability to distribute the research on more complex cases and consider different types of model and measurement errors as well as 3D time-dependent model with variations of the jet feed speed.

Keywords: Abrasive Waterjet Milling, inverse problem, model parameters identification, regularization

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Authors: Anis A. Ansari, Syed Javed Arif

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From the last two-three decades, all countries are continuously generating huge quantities of electronic waste in the form of obsolete computers, gadgets and other discarded electronic instruments mainly due to evolution of newer technologies as a result of constant efforts in research and development in this area. This is the primary reason why waste from the electronic industry is increasing exponentially day by day. Thermoset and thermoplastic polymers, which are the major constituents in every electronic waste, may create a new business opportunity if these are recovered and recycled properly. This may reduce our directly dependency on petroleum and petro-products for polymer materials and also create a potential market for recycled polymers to improve economy. The main theme of this paper is to evolve the potential of recovery and recycling of polymers from the waste being generated globally in the form of discarded electronic products.

Keywords: polymer recovery, electronic waste, petroleum, thermoplastics

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Authors: Endah Mastuti, Prihastuti Sudaryono

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The rapid development of Internet usage and technology influences the academic behavior of students in high schools. One of the consequences is the emergence of academic procrastination behavior. Academic procrastination behavior is students’ procrastinate behavior in completing assignments. This study aimed to see whether there are differences in the duration of using the internet with academic procrastinate behavior among high school students in Surabaya. The number of research subject is 498 high school students. Instruments of the research are academic procrastination scale and duration of the internet usage questionnaire. The results from One Way Anova shows F value 0.241 with a significance level of 0.868 This demonstrates that there is no difference between the duration of the use of the Internet with academic procrastination behavior in high school students.

Keywords: academic procrastination, duration of internet usage, students, senior high school

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Authors: Opara Monica, Suriani Ismail, Ahmad Iqmer Nashriq Mohd Nazan

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The true magnitude of the mortality and morbidity attributable to malaria worldwide is, at best, a scientific guess, although it is not disputable that the greatest burden is in sub-Saharan Africa. Those at highest risk are children younger than 5 years and pregnant women, particularly primigravidae. Nationally, malaria remains the third leading cause of death and is still considered a major public health problem. Therefore, this study is aimed to assess the effectiveness of health education intervention on insecticide-treated net use and its practices among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics. Materials and Methods: This study will be an intervention study with two arms double parallel randomized controlled trial (blinded) to be conducted in 3 stages. The first stage will develop health belief model (HBM) program, while in the second stage, pregnant women will be recruited, assessed (baseline data), randomized into two arms of the study, and follow-up for six months. The third stage will evaluate the impact of the intervention on HBM and disseminate the findings. Data will be collected with the use of a structured questionnaire which will contain validated tools. The main outcome measurement will be the treatment effect using HBM, while data will be analysed using SPSS, version 22. Discussion: The study will contribute to the existing knowledge on hospital-based care programs for pregnant women in developing countries where the literature is scanty. It will generally give insight into the importance of HBM measurement in interventional studies on malaria and other related infectious diseases in this setting.

Keywords: malaria, health education, insecticide-treated nets, sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors: Seham Elia Moussa Shenouda

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The relationship between development and human rights has long been the subject of academic debate. To understand the dynamics between these two concepts, various principles are adopted, from the right to development to development-based human rights. Despite the initiatives taken, the relationship between development and human rights remains unclear. However, the overlap between these two views and the idea that efforts should be made in the field of human rights have increased in recent years. It is then evaluated whether the right to sustainable development is acceptable or not. The article concludes that the principles of sustainable development are directly or indirectly recognized in various human rights instruments, which is a good answer to the question posed above. This book therefore cites regional and international human rights agreements such as , as well as the jurisprudence and interpretative guidelines of human rights institutions, to prove this hypothesis.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability human rights protection, human rights violations, workers’ rights, justice, security

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Authors: D. Bäcker, H. Chaves

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The key to improve surface cleaning of the fouling is understanding of the mechanism of separation process of the deposit from the surface. The authors give basic principles of characterization of separation process and introduce a corresponding criterion. The developed criterion is a measure for the moment of separation of the deposit from the surface. For this purpose a new measurement technique is described.

Keywords: cleaning, fouling, separation, criterion

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Authors: An Chengrui, Yin Zi, Wu Bingbing, Ma Yuanzhu, Jin Kaixiu, Chen Xiao, Ouyang Hongwei

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Single cell RNA sequence (scRNA-seq) is one of the effective tools to study transcriptomics of biological processes. Recently, similarity measurement of cells is Euclidian distance or its derivatives. However, the process of scRNA-seq is a multi-variate Bernoulli event model, thus we hypothesize that it would be more efficient when the divergence between cells is valued with relative entropy than Euclidian distance. In this study, we compared the performances of Euclidian distance, Spearman correlation distance and Relative Entropy using scRNA-seq data of the early, medial and late stage of limb development generated in our lab. Relative Entropy is better than other methods according to cluster potential test. Furthermore, we developed KL-SNE, an algorithm modifying t-SNE whose definition of divergence between cells Euclidian distance to Kullback–Leibler divergence. Results showed that KL-SNE was more effective to dissect cell heterogeneity than t-SNE, indicating the better performance of relative entropy than Euclidian distance. Specifically, the chondrocyte expressing Comp was clustered together with KL-SNE but not with t-SNE. Surprisingly, cells in early stage were surrounded by cells in medial stage in the processing of KL-SNE while medial cells neighbored to late stage with the process of t-SNE. This results parallel to Heatmap which showed cells in medial stage were more heterogenic than cells in other stages. In addition, we also found that results of KL-SNE tend to follow Gaussian distribution compared with those of the t-SNE, which could also be verified with the analysis of scRNA-seq data from another study on human embryo development. Therefore, it is also an effective way to convert non-Gaussian distribution to Gaussian distribution and facilitate the subsequent statistic possesses. Thus, relative entropy is potentially a better way to determine the divergence of cells in scRNA-seq data analysis.

Keywords: Single cell RNA sequence, Similarity measurement, Relative Entropy, KL-SNE, t-SNE

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Authors: Sa`ad M. Ismail, Hung-Hsun Yen, Christina M. Murray, Helen M. S. Davies

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The lumbosacral junction (where the 7th lumbar vertebra (L7) articulates with the sacrum) is a clinically important area in the dog. The 7th lumbar vertebra (L7) is normally shorter than other lumbar vertebrae, and it has been reported that variations in the L7 length may be associated with other abnormal anatomical findings. These variations included the reduction or absence of the portion of the median sacral crest. In this study, 53 greyhound cadavers were placed in right lateral recumbency, and two lateral radiographs were taken of the lumbosacral region for each greyhound. The length of the 6th lumbar (L6) vertebra and L7 were measured using radiographic measurement software and was defined to be the mean of three lines drawn from the caudal to the cranial edge of the L6 and L7 vertebrae (a dorsal, middle, and ventral line) between specific landmarks. Sacrocaudal fusion was found in 41.5% of the greyhounds. The mean values of the length of L6, L7, and the ratio of the L6/L7 length of the greyhounds with sacrocaudal fusion were all greater than those with standard sacrums (three sacral vertebrae). There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the mean values of the length of L7 between the greyhounds without sacrocaudal fusion (mean = 29.64, SD ± 2.07) and those with sacrocaudal fusion (mean = 30.86, SD ± 1.80), but, there was no significant difference in the mean value of the length of the L6 measurement. Among different types of sacrocaudal fusion, the longest L7 was found in greyhounds with sacrum type D, intermediate length in those with sacrum type B, and the shortest was found in those with sacrums type C, and the mean values of the ratio of the L6/L7 were 1.11 (SD ± 0.043), 1.15, (SD ± 0.025), and 1.15 (SD ± 0.011) for the types B, C, and D respectively. No significant differences in the mean values of the length of L6 or L7 were found among the different types of sacrocaudal fusion. The occurrence of sacrocaudal fusion might affect direct anatomically connected structures such as the L7. The variation in the length of L7 between greyhounds with sacrocaudal fusion and those without may reflect the possible sequences of the process of fusion. Variations in the length of the L7 vertebra in greyhounds may be associated with the occurrence of sacrocaudal fusion. The variation in the vertebral length may affect the alignment and biomechanical properties of the sacrum and may alter the loading. We concluded that any variations in the sacrum anatomical features might change the function of the sacrum or the surrounding anatomical structures.

Keywords: biomechanics, Greyhound, sacrocaudal fusion, locomotion, 6th Lumbar (L6) Vertebra, 7th Lumbar (L7) Vertebra, ratio of the L6/L7 length

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Authors: Shashwat Gangwal

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This paper analyses the effect of adding Bitcoin, to the portfolio (stocks, bonds, Baltic index, MXEF, gold, real estate and crude oil) of an international investor by using daily data available from 2^nd of July, 2010 to 2^{nd of} August, 2016. We conclude that adding Bitcoin to portfolio, over the course of the considered period, always yielded a higher Sharpe ratio. This means that Bitcoin’s returns offset its high volatility. This paper, recognizing the fact that Bitcoin is a relatively new asset class, gives the readers a basic idea about the working of the virtual currency, the increasing number developments in the financial industry revolving around it, its unique features and the detailed look into its continuously growing acceptance across different fronts (Banks, Merchants and Countries) globally. We also construct optimal portfolios to reflect the highly lucrative and largely unexplored opportunities associated with investment in Bitcoin.

Keywords: bitcoin, financial instruments, portfolio management, risk adjusted return

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Authors: I. Wiemann, N. Weiß, E. Schlücker, M. Wensing

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A very promising alternative to compression or cryogenics is the chemical storage of hydrogen by liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC). These carriers enable high energy density and allow, at the same time, efficient and safe storage under ambient conditions without leakage losses. Another benefit of this storage medium is the possibility of transporting it using already available infrastructure for the transport of fossil fuels. Efficient use of LOHC is related to precise process control, which requires a number of sensors in order to measure all relevant process parameters, for example, to measure the level of hydrogen loading of the carrier. The degree of loading is relevant for the energy content of the storage carrier and simultaneously represents the modification in the chemical structure of the carrier molecules. This variation can be detected in different physical properties like permittivity, viscosity, or density. E.g., each degree of loading corresponds to different viscosity values. Conventional measurements currently use invasive viscosity measurements or near-line measurements to obtain quantitative information. This study investigates permittivity changes resulting from changes in hydrogenation degree (chemical structure) and temperature. Based on calibration measurements, the degree of loading and temperature of LOHC can thus be determined by comparatively simple permittivity measurements in a cavity resonator. Subsequently, viscosity and density can be calculated. An experimental setup with a heating device and flow test bench was designed. By varying temperature in the range of 293,15 K -393,15 K and flow velocity up to 140 mm/s, corresponding changes in the resonation frequency were determined in the hundredths of the GHz range. This approach allows inline process monitoring of hydrogenation of the liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC).

Keywords: hydrogen loading, LOHC, measurement, permittivity, viscosity

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Authors: A. Ghanbari Mardasi, N. Wu, C. Wu

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In this study, a spatial wavelet-based crack localization technique for a thick beam is presented. Wavelet scale in spatial wavelet transformation is optimized to enhance crack detection sensitivity. A windowing function is also employed to erase the edge effect of the wavelet transformation, which enables the method to detect and localize cracks near the beam/measurement boundaries. Theoretical model and vibration analysis considering the crack effect are first proposed and performed in MATLAB based on the Timoshenko beam model. Gabor wavelet family is applied to the beam vibration mode shapes derived from the theoretical beam model to magnify the crack effect so as to locate the crack. Relative wavelet coefficient is obtained for sensitivity analysis by comparing the coefficient values at different positions of the beam with the lowest value in the intact area of the beam. Afterward, the optimal wavelet scale corresponding to the highest relative wavelet coefficient at the crack position is obtained for each vibration mode, through numerical simulations. The same procedure is performed for cracks with different sizes and positions in order to find the optimal scale range for the Gabor wavelet family. Finally, Hanning window is applied to different vibration mode shapes in order to overcome the edge effect problem of wavelet transformation and its effect on the localization of crack close to the measurement boundaries. Comparison of the wavelet coefficients distribution of windowed and initial mode shapes demonstrates that window function eases the identification of the cracks close to the boundaries.

Keywords: edge effect, scale optimization, small crack locating, spatial wavelet

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Authors: Yuxiang Pan, Yong Qiu, Chenlei Gu, Ping Wang

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In the past decade, three-dimensional (3D) tumor cell models have attracted increasing interest in the field of drug screening due to their great advantages in simulating more accurately the heterogeneous tumor behavior in vivo. Drug sensitivity testing based on 3D tumor cell models can provide more reliable in vivo efficacy prediction. The gold standard fluorescence staining is hard to achieve the real-time and label-free monitoring of the viability of 3D tumor cell models. In this study, micro-groove impedance sensor (MGIS) was specially developed for dynamic and non-invasive monitoring of 3D cell viability. 3D tumor cells were trapped in the micro-grooves with opposite gold electrodes for the in-situ impedance measurement. The change of live cell number would cause inversely proportional change to the impedance magnitude of the entire cell/matrigel to construct and reflect the proliferation and apoptosis of 3D cells. It was confirmed that 3D cell viability detected by the MGIS platform is highly consistent with the standard live/dead staining. Furthermore, the accuracy of MGIS platform was demonstrated quantitatively using 3D lung cancer model and sophisticated drug sensitivity testing. In addition, the parameters of micro-groove impedance chip processing and measurement experiments were optimized in details. The results demonstrated that the MGIS and 3D cell-based biosensor and would be a promising platform to improve the efficiency and accuracy of cell-based anti-cancer drug screening in vitro.

Keywords: micro-groove impedance sensor, 3D cell-based biosensors, 3D cell viability, micro-electromechanical systems

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Authors: Kristine Kalnica-Dorosenko, Aiga Svede

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Amblyopia or 'lazy eye' is impaired or dim vision without obvious defect or change in the eye. It is often associated with abnormal visual experience, most commonly strabismus, anisometropia or both, and form deprivation. The main task of amblyopia treatment is to ameliorate etiological factors to create a clear retinal image and, to ensure the participation of the amblyopic eye in the visual process. The treatment of amblyopia and eccentric fixation is usually associated with problems in the therapy. Eccentric fixation is present in around 44% of all patients with amblyopia and in 30% of patients with strabismic amblyopia. In Latvia, amblyopia is carefully treated in various clinics, but eccentricity diagnosis is relatively rare. Conflict which has developed relating to the relationship between the visual disorder and the degree of eccentric fixation in amblyopia should to be rethoughted, because it has an important bearing on the cause and treatment of amblyopia, and the role of the eccentric fixation in this case. Visuoscopy is the most frequently used method for determination of eccentric fixation. With traditional visuoscopy, a fixation target is projected onto the patient retina, and the examiner asks to look straight directly at the center of the target. An optometrist then observes the point on the macula used for fixation. This objective test provides clinicians with direct observation of the fixation point of the eye. It requires patients to voluntarily fixate the target and assumes the foveal reflex accurately demarcates the center of the foveal pit. In the end, by having a very simple method to evaluate fixation, it is possible to indirectly evaluate treatment improvement, as eccentric fixation is always associated with reduced visual acuity. So, one may expect that if eccentric fixation in amlyopic eye is found with visuoscopy, then visual acuity should be less than 1.0 (in decimal units). With occlusion or another amblyopia therapy, one would expect both visual acuity and fixation to improve simultaneously, that is fixation would become more central. Consequently, improvement in fixation pattern by treatment is an indirect measurement of improvement of visual acuity. Evaluation of eccentric fixation in the child may be helpful in identifying amblyopia in children prior to measurement of visual acuity. This is very important because the earlier amblyopia is diagnosed – the better the chance of improving visual acuity.

Keywords: amblyopia, eccentric fixation, visual acuity, visuoscopy

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Authors: P. Zackiewicz, M. Hreczka, R. Kolano, A. Kolano-Burian

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New types of materials applied as the stators in the Permanent Magnet Brushless Direct Current motors used in the heart supporting pumps are presented. The main focus of this work is the research on the fabrication of a hybrid nine-pole soft magnetic core consisting of a soft magnetic carrier ring with rectangular notches, made from the FeSi3 strip, and nine soft magnetic poles. This soft magnetic core is made in three stages: (a) preparation of the carrier rings from soft magnetic material with the lowest possible power losses and suitable stiffness, (b) preparation of trapezoidal soft magnetic poles from Metglas 2605 SA1 type ribbons, and (c) making durable connection between the poles and the carrier ring, capable of withstanding a four-times greater tearing force than that present during normal operation of the motor pump. All magnetic properties measurements were made using Remacomp C-1200 (Magnet Physik, Germany) and 450 Gaussometer (Lake Shore, USA) and the electrical characteristics were measured using laboratory generator DF1723009TC (NDN, Poland). Specific measurement techniques used to determine properties of the hybrid cores were presented. Obtained results allow developing the fabrication technology with an account of the intended application of these cores in the stators of the low-power PMBLDC motors used in implanted heart operation supporting pumps. The proposed measurement methodology is appropriate for assessing the quality of the stators.

Keywords: amorphous materials, heart supporting pump, PMBLDC motor, soft magnetic materials

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Authors: Wen-Chung Wang, Xue-Lan Qiu

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Ipsative tests have been widely used in vocational and career counseling (e.g., the Jackson Vocational Interest Survey). Pairwise-comparison items are a typical item format of ipsative tests. When the two statements in a pairwise-comparison item measure two different constructs, the item is referred to as a multidimensional pairwise-comparison (MPC) item. A typical MPC item would be: Which activity do you prefer? (A) playing with young children, or (B) working with tools and machines. These two statements aim at the constructs of social interest and investigative interest, respectively. Recently, new item response theory (IRT) models for ipsative tests with MPC items have been developed. Among them, the Rasch ipsative model (RIM) deserves special attention because it has good measurement properties, in which the log-odds of preferring statement A to statement B are defined as a competition between two parts: the sum of a person’s latent trait to which statement A is measuring and statement A’s utility, and the sum of a person’s latent trait to which statement B is measuring and statement B’s utility. The RIM has been extended to polytomous responses, such as preferring statement A strongly, preferring statement A, preferring statement B, and preferring statement B strongly. To promote the new initiatives, in this study we developed computerized adaptive testing algorithms for MFC items and evaluated their performance using simulations and two real tests. Both the RIM and its polytomous extension are multidimensional, which calls for multidimensional computerized adaptive testing (MCAT). A particular issue in MCAT for MPC items is the within-person statement exposure (WPSE); that is, a respondent may keep seeing the same statement (e.g., my life is empty) for many times, which is certainly annoying. In this study, we implemented two methods to control the WPSE rate. In the first control method, items would be frozen when their statements had been administered more than a prespecified times. In the second control method, a random component was added to control the contribution of the information at different stages of MCAT. The second control method was found to outperform the first control method in our simulation studies. In addition, we investigated four item selection methods: (a) random selection (as a baseline), (b) maximum Fisher information method without WPSE control, (c) maximum Fisher information method with the first control method, and (d) maximum Fisher information method with the second control method. These four methods were applied to two real tests: one was a work survey with dichotomous MPC items and the other is a career interests survey with polytomous MPC items. There were three dependent variables: the bias and root mean square error across person measures, and measurement efficiency which was defined as the number of items needed to achieve the same degree of test reliability. Both applications indicated that the proposed MCAT algorithms were successful and there was no loss in measurement proficiency when the control methods were implemented, and among the four methods, the last method performed the best.

Keywords: computerized adaptive testing, ipsative tests, item response theory, pairwise comparison

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Authors: Bola George Asaad Bekledas

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Relationship between development and human rights has long been the subject of academic debate. To understand the dynamics between these two concepts, various principles are adopted, from the right to development to development-based human rights. Despite the initiatives taken, the relationship between development and human rights remains unclear. However, the compatibility between these two concepts and the idea that these efforts should be made to respect human rights guarantees have gained momentum in recent years. It is then evaluated whether the right to sustainable development is acceptable or not. The article concludes that the principles of sustainable development are directly or indirectly recognized in various human rights instruments, which is a good answer to the question posed above. This study, therefore, cites regional and international human rights agreements such as, as well as the jurisprudence and interpretative guidelines of human rights institutions, to prove this hypothesis.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability human rights protection, human rights violations, workers’ rights, justice, security.

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Authors: Mahmoud Ashraf Farouk

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Shipping transportation is the foremost imperative mode of transportation in universal coordination. At display, more than 2/3 of the full worldwide exchange volume accounts for shipping transportation. Ships are utilized as an implies of marine transportation, introducing large-power diesel motors with exhaust containing nitrogen oxide NOx, sulfur oxide SOx, carbo di-oxide CO₂, particular matter PM10, hydrocarbon HC and carbon mono-oxide CO which are the most dangerous contaminants found in exhaust gas from ships. Ships radiating a large amount of exhaust gases have become a significant cause of pollution in the air in coastal areas, harbors and oceans. Therefore, IMO (the International Maritime Organization) has established rules to reduce this emission. This experiment shows the measurement of the exhaust gases emitted from the Aida IV ship's main engine using marine diesel oil fuel (MDO). The measurement is taken by the Sensonic2000 device on 85% load, which is the main sailing load. Moreover, the paper studies different emission reduction technologies as an alternative fuel, which as liquefied natural gas (LNG) applied to the system and reduction technology which is represented as selective catalytic reduction technology added to the marine diesel oil system (MDO+SCR). The experiment calculated the amount of nitrogen oxide NOx, sulfur oxide SOx, carbon-di-oxide CO₂, particular matter PM10, hydrocarbon HC and carbon mono-oxide CO because they have the most effect on the environment. The reduction technologies are applied on the same ship engine with the same load. Finally, the study found that MDO+SCR is the more efficient technology for the Aida IV ship as a training and supply ship due to low consumption and no need to modify the engine. Just add the SCR system to the exhaust line, which is easy and cheapest. Moreover, the differences between them in the emission are not so big.

Keywords: marine, emissions, reduction, shipping

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Authors: Gor Muradyan

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The paper is about friction and wear, including mechanisms, modeling, characterization, measurement and testing case in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a country under development, A lot of people live here, approximately 145 million. The territory of this country is very small. Therefore buildings are very close to each other. As the pipe lines are very old, and people get almost dirty water, there are a lot of ongoing projects under ADB. In those projects the contractors using HDD machines (Horizontal Directional Drilling ) and grundoburst. These machines are working underground. As ground in Bangladesh is very sludge, machine can't work relevant because of big friction in the soil. When drilling works are finished machine is pulling the pipe underground. Very often the pulling of the pipes becomes very complicated because of the friction. Therefore long section of the pipe laying can’t be done because of a big friction. In that case, additional problems rise, as well as additional work must be done. As we mentioned above it is not possible to do big section of the pipe laying because of big friction in the soil, Because of this it is coming out that contractors must do more joints, more pressure test. It is always connected with additional expenditure and losing time. This machine can pull in 75 mm to 500 mm pipes connected with the soil condition. Length is possible till 500m related how much friction it will had on the puller. As less as much it can pull. Another machine grundoburst is not working at this soil condition at all. The machine is working with air compressor. This machine are using for the smaller diameter pipes, 20 mm to 63 mm. Most of the cases these machines are being used for the installing of the house connection pipes, for making service connection. To make a friction less contractors using bigger pulling had then the pipe. It is taking down the friction, But the problem of this machine is that it can't work at sludge. Because of mentioned reasons the friction has a big mining during this kind of works. There are a lot of ways to reduce the friction. In this paper we'll introduce the ways that we have researched during our practice in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, friction and wear, HDD machines, reducing friction

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Authors: Amer Ait Sidhoum

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Interest in sustainability has gained ground among practitioners, academics and policy-makers due to growing stakeholders’ awareness of environmental and social concerns. This is particularly true for agriculture. However, relatively little research has been conducted on the quantification of social sustainability and the contribution of social issues to the agricultural production efficiency. This research's main objective is to propose a method for evaluating prices of social outputs, more precisely shadow prices, by allowing for the stochastic nature of agricultural production that is to say for production uncertainty. In this article, the assessment of social outputs’ shadow prices is conducted within the methodological framework of nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). An output-oriented directional distance function (DDF) is implemented to represent the technology of a sample of Catalan arable crop farms and derive the efficiency scores the overall production technology of our sample is assumed to be the intersection of two different sub-technologies. The first sub-technology models the production of random desirable agricultural outputs, while the second sub-technology reflects the social outcomes from agricultural activities. Once a nonparametric production technology has been represented, the DDF primal approach can be used for efficiency measurement, while shadow prices are drawn from the dual representation of the DDF. Computing shadow prices is a method to assign an economic value to non-marketed social outcomes. Our research uses cross sectional, farm-level data collected in 2015 from a sample of 180 Catalan arable crop farms specialized in the production of cereals, oilseeds and protein (COP) crops. Our results suggest that our sample farms show high performance scores, from 85% for the bad state of nature to 88% for the normal and ideal crop growing conditions. This suggests that farm performance is increasing with an improvement in crop growth conditions. Results also show that average shadow prices of desirable state-contingent output and social outcomes for efficient and inefficient farms are positive, suggesting that the production of desirable marketable outputs and of non-marketable outputs makes a positive contribution to the farm production efficiency. Results also indicate that social outputs’ shadow prices are contingent upon the growing conditions. The shadow prices follow an upward trend as crop-growing conditions improve. This finding suggests that these efficient farms prefer to allocate more resources in the production of desirable outputs than of social outcomes. To our knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to compute shadow prices of social outcomes while accounting for the stochastic nature of the production technology. Our findings suggest that the decision-making process of the efficient farms in dealing with social issues are stochastic and strongly dependent on the growth conditions. This implies that policy-makers should adjust their instruments according to the stochastic environmental conditions. An optimal redistribution of rural development support, by increasing the public payment with the improvement in crop growth conditions, would likely enhance the effectiveness of public policies.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis, shadow prices, social sustainability, sustainable farming

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Authors: Lior Rake, Shmulik Pinkert

Abstract:

Methane hydrate has been found in significant quantities in soils offshore within continental margins and in permafrost within arctic regions where low temperature and high pressure are present. The mechanical parameters for geotechnical engineering are commonly evaluated in geomechanical laboratories adapted to simulate the environmental conditions of methane hydrate-bearing sediments (MHBS). Due to the complexity and high cost of natural MHBS sampling, most laboratory investigations are conducted on artificially formed samples. MHBS artificial samples can be formed using different hydrate formation methods in the laboratory, where methane gas and water are supplied into the soil pore space under the methane hydrate phase conditions. The most commonly used formation method is the excess gas method which is considered a relatively simple, time-saving, and repeatable testing method. However, there are several differences in the procedures and techniques used to produce the hydrate using the excess gas method. As a result of the difference between the test facilities and the experimental approaches that were carried out in previous studies, different measurement criteria and analyses were proposed for MHBS geomechanics. The lack of uniformity among the various experimental investigations may adversely impact the reliability of integrating different data sets for unified mechanical model development. In this work, we address some fundamental aspects relevant to reliable MHBS geomechanical investigations, such as hydrate homogeneity in the sample, the hydrate formation duration criterion, the hydrate-saturation evaluation method, and the effect of temperature measurement accuracy. Finally, a set of recommendations for repeatable and reliable MHBS formation will be suggested for future standardization of MHBS geomechanical investigation.

Keywords: experimental study, laboratory investigation, excess gas, hydrate formation, standardization, methane hydrate-bearing sediment

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Authors: Syed Muhammad Basit Ali, Usama Saleem, Irtiza Ali

Abstract:

Internal combustion engines have been pioneers in the aviation industry, use of piston engines for aircraft propulsion, from propeller-driven bi-planes to turbo-prop, commercial, and cargo airliners. To provide an adequate amount of thrust piston engine rotates the propeller at a specific rpm, allowing enough mass airflow. Thrust is the only forward-acting force of an aircraft that helps heavier than air bodies to fly, depending on the mathematical model and variables included in that with the correct measurement. Test-benches have been a bench-mark in the aerospace industry to analyse the results before a flight, having paramount significance in reliability and safety engineering, depending on the mathematical model and variables included in that with the correct measurement. Calculation of thrust from a piston engine also depends on environmental changes, the diameter of the propeller, and the density of air. The project would be centered on piston engines used in the aviation industry for light aircraft and UAVs. A static thrust test bench involves various units, each performing a designed purpose to monitor and display. Static thrust tests are performed on the ground, and safety concerns hold paramount importance. The execution of this study involves research, design, manufacturing, and results based on reverse engineering initiating from virtual design, analytical analysis, and simulations. The final evaluation of results gathered from various methods such as co-relation between conventional mass-spring and digital loadcell. On average, we received 17.5kg of thrust (25+ engine run-ups – around 40 hours of engine run), only 10% deviation from analytically calculated thrust –providing 90% accuracy.

Keywords: aviation, aeronautics, static thrust, test bench, aircraft maintenance

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Authors: Ava Zarif Sanayei, Sedigheh Sina

Abstract:

Despite the advancement of radiation-free interventions in the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary fields, endoscopy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) remain indispensable procedures that necessitate radiation exposure. ERCP, in particular, relies heavily on radiation-guided imaging to ensure precise delivery of therapy. Meanwhile, interventional radiology (IR) procedures also utilize imaging modalities like X-rays and CT scans to guide therapy, often under local anesthesia via small needle insertion. However, the complexity of these procedures raises concerns about radiation exposure to healthcare professionals, including nurses, who play a crucial role in these interventions. This study aims to assess the radiation exposure to the hands and fingers of nurses 1 and 2, who are directly involved in ERCP procedures utilizing (TLD-100) dosimeters at the Gastrointestinal Endoscopy department of a clinic in Shiraz, Iran. The dosimeters were initially calibrated using various phantoms and then a group was prepared and used over a two-month period. For personal equivalent dose measurement, two TLD chips were mounted on a finger ring to monitor exposure to the hands and fingers. Upon completion of the monitoring period, the TLDs were analyzed using a TLD reader, showing that Nurse 1 received an equivalent dose of 298.26 µSv and Nurse 2 received an equivalent dose of 195.39 µSv. The investigation revealed that the total radiation exposure to the nurses did not exceed the annual limit for occupational exposure. Nevertheless, it is essential to prioritize radiation protection measures to prevent potential harm. The study showed that positioning staff members and placing two nurses in a specific location contributed to somehow equal doses. To reduce exposure further, we suggest providing education and training on radiation safety principles, particularly for technologists.

Keywords: dose measurement, ERCP, interventional radiology, medical imaging

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Authors: Muhammad Yasir Wadood, Fatemeh Babaeian

Abstract:

By developing ultra-wideband (UWB) systems, there is a high demand for UWB filters with low insertion loss, wide bandwidth, and having a planar structure which is compatible with other components of the UWB system. A microstrip interdigital filter is a great option for designing UWB filters. However, the presence of via holes in this structure creates difficulties in the fabrication procedure of the filter. Especially in the higher frequency band, any misalignment of the drilled via hole with the Microstrip stubs causes large errors in the measurement results compared to the desired results. Moreover, in this case (high-frequency designs), the line width of the stubs are very narrow, so highly precise small via holes are required to be implemented, which increases the cost of fabrication significantly. Also, in this case, there is a risk of having fabrication errors. To combat this issue, in this paper, a via-less UWB microstrip filter is proposed which is designed based on a modification of a conventional inter-digital bandpass filter. The novel approaches in this filter design are 1) replacement of each via hole with a quarter-wavelength open circuit stub to avoid the complexity of manufacturing, 2) using a bend structure to reduce the unwanted coupling effects and 3) minimising the size. Using the proposed structure, a UWB filter operating in the frequency band of 3.9-6.6 GHz (1-dB bandwidth) is designed and fabricated. The promising results of the simulation and measurement are presented in this paper. The selected substrate for these designs was Rogers RO4003 with a thickness of 20 mils. This is a common substrate in most of the industrial projects. The compact size of the proposed filter is highly beneficial for applications which require a very miniature size of hardware.

Keywords: band-pass filters, inter-digital filter, microstrip, via-less

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Authors: Lenon M. Pereira, Helen J. Khoury, Marcos E. A. Andrade, Dean L. Cutajar, Vinicius S. M. Barros, Anatoly B. Rozenfeld

Abstract:

With the increase of beam widths and the advent of multiple-slice and helical scanners, concerns related to the current dose measurement protocols and instrumentation in computed tomography (CT) have arisen. The current methodology of dose evaluation, which is based on the measurement of the integral of a single slice dose profile using a 100 mm long cylinder ionization chamber (Ca,100 and CPPMA, 100), has been shown to be inadequate for wide beams as it does not collect enough of the scatter-tails to make an accurate measurement. In addition, a long ionization chamber does not offer a good representation of the dose profile when tube current modulation is used. An alternative approach has been suggested by translating smaller detectors through the beam plane and assessing the accumulated dose trough the integral of the dose profile, which can be done for any arbitrary length in phantoms or in the air. For this purpose, a MOSFET dosimeter of small dosimetric volume was used. One of its recently designed versions is known as the MOSkin, which is developed by the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics at the University of Wollongong, and measures the radiation dose at a water equivalent depth of 0.07 mm, allowing the evaluation of skin dose when placed at the surface, or internal point doses when placed within a phantom. Thus, the aim of this research was to characterize the response of the MOSkin dosimeter for X-ray CT beams and to evaluate its application for the accumulated dose assessment. Initially, tests using an industrial x-ray unit were carried out at the Laboratory of Ionization Radiation Metrology (LMRI) of Federal University of Pernambuco, in order to investigate the sensitivity, energy dependence, angular dependence, and reproducibility of the dose response for the device for the standard radiation qualities RQT 8, RQT 9 and RQT 10. Finally, the MOSkin was used for the accumulated dose evaluation of scans using a Philips Brilliance 6 CT unit, with comparisons made between the CPPMA,100 value assessed with a pencil ionization chamber (PTW Freiburg TW 30009). Both dosimeters were placed in the center of a PMMA head phantom (diameter of 16 cm) and exposed in the axial mode with collimation of 9 mm, 250 mAs and 120 kV. The results have shown that the MOSkin response was linear with doses in the CT range and reproducible (98.52%). The sensitivity for a single MOSkin in mV/cGy was as follows: 9.208, 7.691 and 6.723 for the RQT 8, RQT 9 and RQT 10 beams qualities respectively. The energy dependence varied up to a factor of ±1.19 among those energies and angular dependence was not greater than 7.78% within the angle range from 0 to 90 degrees. The accumulated dose and the CPMMA, 100 value were 3,97 and 3,79 cGy respectively, which were statistically equivalent within the 95% confidence level. The MOSkin was shown to be a good alternative for CT dose profile measurements and more than adequate to provide accumulated dose assessments for CT procedures.

Keywords: computed tomography dosimetry, MOSFET, MOSkin, semiconductor dosimetry

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Authors: Lily Ranjbar, Haori Yang

Abstract:

Online education has been around for several decades, but the importance of online education became evident after the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventhough the online delivery approach works well for knowledge building through delivering content and oversight processes, it has limitations in developing hands-on laboratory skills, especially in the STEM field. During the pandemic, many education institutions faced numerous challenges in delivering lab-based courses, especially in the STEM field. Also, many students worldwide were unable to practice working with lab equipment due to social distancing or the significant cost of highly specialized equipment. The laboratory plays a crucial role in nuclear science and engineering education. It can engage students and improve their learning outcomes. In addition, online education and virtual labs have gained substantial popularity in engineering and science education. Therefore, developing virtual labs is vital for institutions to deliver high-class education to their students, including their online students. The School of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) at Oregon State University, in partnership with SpectralLabs company, has developed an Advanced Virtual Radiation Detection and Measurement Lab (AVR-DML) to offer a fully online Master of Health Physics program. It was essential for us to use a system that could simulate nuclear modules that accurately replicate the underlying physics, the nature of radiation and radiation transport, and the mechanics of the instrumentations used in the real radiation detection lab. It was all accomplished using a Realistic, Adaptive, Interactive Learning System (RAILS). RAILS is a comprehensive software simulation-based learning system for use in training. It is comprised of a web-based learning management system that is located on a central server, as well as a 3D-simulation package that is downloaded locally to user machines. Users will find that the graphics, animations, and sounds in RAILS create a realistic, immersive environment to practice detecting different radiation sources. These features allow students to coexist, interact and engage with a real STEM lab in all its dimensions. It enables them to feel like they are in a real lab environment and to see the same system they would in a lab. Unique interactive interfaces were designed and developed by integrating all the tools and equipment needed to run each lab. These interfaces provide students full functionality for data collection, changing the experimental setup, and live data collection with real-time updates for each experiment. Students can manually do all experimental setups and parameter changes in this lab. Experimental results can then be tracked and analyzed in an oscilloscope, a multi-channel analyzer, or a single-channel analyzer (SCA). The advanced virtual radiation detection and measurement laboratory developed in this study enabled the NSE school to offer a fully online MHP program. This flexibility of course modality helped us to attract more non-traditional students, including international students. It is a valuable educational tool as students can walk around the virtual lab, make mistakes, and learn from them. They have an unlimited amount of time to repeat and engage in experiments. This lab will also help us speed up training in nuclear science and engineering.

Keywords: advanced radiation detection and measurement, virtual laboratory, realistic adaptive interactive learning system (rails), online education in stem fields, student engagement, stem online education, stem laboratory, online engineering education

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Authors: Yanxue Shang, Jingbin Zeng

Abstract:

Chlorobenzene homologues (CBHs) are a category of environmental pollutants that can not be ignored. They can stay in the environment for a long period and are potentially carcinogenic. The traditional degradation method of CBHs is dechlorination followed by sample preparation and analysis. This is not only time-consuming and laborious, but the detection and analysis processes are used in conjunction with large-scale instruments. Therefore, this can not achieve rapid and low-cost detection. Compared with traditional sensing methods, colorimetric sensing is simpler and more convenient. In recent years, chromaticity sensors based on fluorescence have attracted more and more attention. Compared with sensing methods based on changes in fluorescence intensity, changes in color gradients are easier to recognize by the naked eye. Accordingly, this work proposes to use single drop microextraction (SDME) technology to solve the above problems. After the dechlorination reaction was completed, the organic droplet extracts Cl⁻ and realizes fluorescence colorimetric sensing at the same time. This method was integrated sample processing and visual in-situ detection, simplifying the detection process. As a fluorescence colorimetric sensor material, CsPbBr₃ was encapsulated in MOF-5 to construct CsPbBr₃@MOF-5 fluorescence colorimetric composite. Then the fluorescence colorimetric sensor was constructed by dispersing the composite in SDME organic droplets. When the Br⁻ in CsPbBr₃ exchanges with Cl⁻ produced by the dechlorination reactions, it is converted into CsPbCl₃. The fluorescence color of the single droplet of SDME will change from green to blue emission, thereby realizing visual observation. Therein, SDME can enhance the concentration and enrichment of Cl⁻ and instead of sample pretreatment. The fluorescence color change of CsPbBr₃@MOF-5 can replace the detection process of large-scale instruments to achieve real-time rapid detection. Due to the absorption ability of MOF-5, it can not only improve the stability of CsPbBr₃, but induce the adsorption of Cl⁻. Simultaneously, accelerate the exchange of Br- and Cl⁻ in CsPbBr₃ and the detection process of Cl⁻. The absorption process was verified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This method exhibits exceptional linearity for Cl⁻ in the range of 10⁻² - 10⁻⁶ M (10000 μM - 1 μM) with a limit of detection of 10⁻⁷ M. Whereafter, the dechlorination reactions of different kinds of CBHs were also carried out with this method, and all had satisfactory detection ability. Also verified the accuracy by gas chromatography (GC), and it was found that the SDME we developed in this work had high credibility. In summary, the in-situ visualization method of dechlorination reaction detection was a combination of sample processing and fluorescence colorimetric sensing. Thus, the strategy researched herein represents a promising method for the visual detection of dechlorination reactions and can be extended for applications in environments, chemical industries, and foods.

Keywords: chlorobenzene homologues, colorimetric sensor, metal halide perovskite, metal-organic frameworks, single drop microextraction

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Authors: Shang-Yu Chiang, Yu-Shan Tsai, Shih-Hsien Sung, Chung-Ming Lo

Abstract:

Mitral regurgitation (MR) is a heart disorder which the mitral valve does not close properly when the heart pumps out blood. MR is the most common form of valvular heart disease in the adult population. The diagnostic echocardiographic finding of MR is straightforward due to the well-known clinical evidence. In the determination of MR severity, quantification of sonographic findings would be useful for clinical decision making. Clinically, the vena contracta is a standard for MR evaluation. Vena contracta is the point in a blood stream where the diameter of the stream is the least, and the velocity is the maximum. The quantification of vena contracta, i.e. the vena contracta width (VCW) at mitral valve, can be a numeric measurement for severity assessment. However, manually delineating the VCW may not accurate enough. The result highly depends on the operator experience. Therefore, this study proposed an automatic method to quantify VCW to evaluate MR severity. Based on color Doppler ultrasound, VCW can be observed from the blood flows to the probe as the appearance of red or yellow area. The corresponding brightness represents the value of the flow rate. In the experiment, colors were firstly transformed into HSV (hue, saturation and value) to be closely align with the way human vision perceives red and yellow. Using ellipse to fit the high flow rate area in left atrium, the angle between the mitral valve and the ultrasound probe was calculated to get the vertical shortest diameter as the VCW. Taking the manual measurement as the standard, the method achieved only 0.02 (0.38 vs. 0.36) to 0.03 (0.42 vs. 0.45) cm differences. The result showed that the proposed automatic VCW extraction can be efficient and accurate for clinical use. The process also has the potential to reduce intra- or inter-observer variability at measuring subtle distances.

Keywords: mitral regurgitation, vena contracta, color doppler, image processing

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