Search results for: modified draize test

Authors: Mahdi Fakoor, Nabi Mehri Khansari, Ahmadreza Farokhi

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Evaluation of mode II fracture toughness (KIIC) in composite materials is very hard problem to be solved, since it can be affected by many mechanisms of dissipation. Furthermore, non-linearity in its behavior can offer an extra difficulty to obtain accuracy in the results. Different reported values for KIIC in various references can prove the mentioned assertion. In this research, some solutions proposed based on the form of necessary corrections that should be executed on the common test fixtures. Due to the fact that the common test fixtures are not able to active toughening mechanisms in pure Mode II correctly, we have employed some structural modifications on common fixtures. Particularly, the Iosipescu test is used as start point. The tests are applied on graphite/epoxy; PMMA and Western White Pine Wood. Also, mixed mode I/II fracture limit curves are used to indicate the scattering in test results are really relevant to the creation of Fracture Process Zone (FPZ). In the present paper, shear load consideration applied at the predicted shear zone by considering some significant structural amendments that can active mode II toughening mechanisms. Indeed, the employed empirical method causes significant developing in repeatability and reproducibility as well. Moreover, a 3D Finite Element (FE) is performed for verification of the obtained results. Eventually, it is figured out that, a remarkable precision can be obtained in common test fixture in comparison with the previous one.

Keywords: FPZ, shear test fixture, mode II fracture toughness, composite material, FEM

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Authors: Dwarakanadha Reddy Peram, D. Swarnalatha, C. Gopinath

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The main aim of this research work was to design and development characterization of Pioglitazone transdermal drug delivery system by using various polymers such as Olibanum with different concentration by solvent evaporation technique. The prepared formulations were evaluated for different physicochemical characteristics like thickness, folding endurance, drug content, percentage moisture absorption, percentage moisture loss, percentage elongation break test and weight uniformity. The diffusion studies were performed by using modified Franz diffusion cells. The result of dissolution studies shows that formulation, F3 (Olibanum with 50 mg) showed maximum release of 99.95 % in 12hrs, whereas F1 (Olibanum and EC backing membrane) showed minimum release of 93.65% in 12 hr. Based on the drug release and physicochemical values obtained the formulation F3 is considered as an optimized formulation which shows higher percentage of drug release of 99.95 % in 12 hr. The developed transdermal patches increase the therapeutic efficacy and reduced toxic effect of pioglitazone.

Keywords: pioglitazone, olibanum, transdermal drug delivery system, drug release percantage

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Authors: Radek Doubrava, Roman Ruzek

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Nonstandard tests are necessary for analyses and verification of new developed structural and technological solutions with application of composite materials. One of the most critical primary structural parts of a typical aerospace structure is T-joint. This structural element is loaded mainly in shear, bending, peel and tension. The paper is focused on the shear loading simulations. The aim of the work is to obtain a representative uniform distribution of shear loads along T-joint during the mechanical testing is. A new design of T-joint test procedure, numerical simulation and optimization of representative boundary conditions are presented. The different conditions and inaccuracies both in simulations and experiments are discussed. The influence of different parameters on stress and strain distributions is demonstrated on T-joint made of CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic). A special test rig designed by VZLU (Aerospace Research and Test Establishment) for T-shear test procedure is presented.

Keywords: T-joint, shear, composite, mechanical testing, finite element analysis, methodology

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Authors: Edward Sarich, Jack Ryan

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In contrast to learning new vocabulary incidentally in one’s first language, foreign language vocabulary is often acquired purposefully, because a lack of natural exposure requires it to be studied in an artificial environment. It follows then that foreign language vocabulary may be more efficiently acquired if it is purpose-driven, or linked to a clear and desirable outcome. The research described in this paper relates to the early stages of what is seen as a long-term effort to measure the effectiveness of a methodology for purpose-driven foreign language vocabulary instruction, specifically by analyzing whether directed studying from high-frequency vocabulary lists leads to an improvement in Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) scores. The research was carried out in two sections of a first-year university English composition class at a small university in Japan. The results seem to indicate that purposeful study from relevant high-frequency vocabulary lists can contribute to raising TOEIC scores and that the test preparation methodology used in this study was thought by students to be beneficial in helping them to prepare to take this high-stakes test.

Keywords: corpus vocabulary, language asssessment, second language vocabulary acquisition, TOEIC test preparation

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Authors: Xiaohui Wang, Liwei Sun, Guilin Zhang

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Printed circuit board (PCB) is the carrier of electronic components. Its coating is the first barrier for protecting itself. If the coating is damaged, the performance of printed circuit board will decrease rapidly until failure. Therefore, the coating plays an important role in the entire printed circuit board. There are common four kinds of coating of printed circuit board that the material of the coatings are paryleneC, acrylic, polyurethane, silicone. In this paper, we designed an accelerated degradation test of humid and heat for these four kinds of coating. And chose insulation resistance, moisture absorption and surface morphology as its test indexes. By comparing the change of insulation resistance of the coating before and after the test, we estimate failure time of these coatings based on the degradation of insulation resistance. Based on the above, we estimate the service life of the four kinds of PCB.

Keywords: printed circuit board, life assessment, insulation resistance, coating material

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Authors: JinWoog Lee, SeongHyeok Lee, ChanYong Choi, Yujin Lim, Hojin Cho

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Primary function of the trackbed in a conventional railway track system is to decrease the stresses in the subgrade to be in an acceptable level. A properly designed trackbed layer performs this task adequately. Many design procedures have used assumed and/or are based on critical stiffness values of the layers obtained mostly in the field to calculate an appropriate thickness of the sublayers of the trackbed foundation. However, those stiffness values do not consider strain levels clearly and precisely in the layers. This study proposes a method of computation of stiffness that can handle with strain level in the layers of the trackbed foundation in order to provide properly selected design values of the stiffness of the layers. The shear modulus values are dependent on shear strain level so that the strain levels generated in the subgrade in the trackbed under wheel loading and below plate of Repeated Plate Bearing Test (RPBT) are investigated by finite element analysis program ABAQUS and PLAXIS programs. The strain levels generated in the subgrade from RPBT are compared to those values from RC (Resonant Column) test after some consideration of strain levels and stress consideration. For comparison of shear modulus G obtained from RC test and stiffness moduli Ev2 obtained from RPBT in the field, many numbers of mid-size RC tests in laboratory and RPBT in field were performed extensively. It was found in this study that there is a big difference in stiffness modulus when the converted Ev2 values were compared to those values of RC test. It is verified in this study that it is necessary to use precise and increased loading steps to construct nonlinear curves from RPBT in order to get correct Ev2 values in proper strain levels.

Keywords: modulus, plate load test, resonant column test, trackbed foundation

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Authors: Surayyo Shaamirova, Anwar Hasan Abdullah Othman

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This study investigates the co-integration association between the top 10 cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Cardano, Litecoin, Stellar, IOTA, and NEO. The study applies Johansen Juselius co-integration test to examine the long-run co-integration and utilize the Engle and Granger casualty test to examine the short-run relationship. The findings of the study show that there is a strong co-integration relationship among the cryptocurrencies; however, in the short run, there is no causal relationship among the crypto currencies. These results, therefore, suggest that there are portfolio diversification opportunities in the cryptocurrencies industry when it comes to long run investment decisions, on the other hand, the cryptocurrencies industry shows the characteristics of efficiency in the short-run. This is an indication of a non-speculation investment in the cryptocurrencies industry in the short term investment.

Keywords: cryptocurrencies, Johansen-Juselius co-integration test, Engle and Granger casualty test, portfolio diversification

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Authors: Payal Patel

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Textile machinery is one of the fastest evolving areas which has an application of mechanical engineering. The modular approach towards the processing right from the stage of cotton to the fabric, allows us to observe the result of each process on its input. Cost and space being the major constraints. The flyer is a component of roving machine, which is used as a part of spinning process. In the present work using the application of Hyper Works, the flyer arm has been modified which saves the material used for manufacturing the flyer. The size optimization of the flyer is carried out with the objective of reduction in weight under the constraints of standard operating conditions. The new design of the flyer is proposed and validated using the module of HyperWorks which is equally strong, but light weighted compared to the existing design. Dynamic balancing of the optimized model is carried out to align a principal inertia axis with the geometric axis of rotation. For the balanced geometry of flyer, air resistance is obtained theoretically and with Gambit and Fluent. Static analysis of the balanced geometry has been done to verify the constraint of operating condition. Comparison of weight, deflection, and factor of safety has been made for different aluminum alloys.

Keywords: flyer, size optimization, textile, weight

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Authors: İsmail İnce, Mustafa Fener, Sair Kahraman

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The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of rocks is an important input parameter for the design of rock engineering project. Compressive strength can be determined in the laboratory using the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) test. Although the test is relatively simple, the method is time consuming and expensive. Therefore many researchers have tried to assess the uniaxial compressive strength values of rocks via relatively simple and indirect tests (e.g. point load strength test, Schmidt Hammer hardness rebound test, P-wave velocity test, etc.). Pyroclastic rocks are widely exposed in the various regions of the world. Cappadocia region located in the Central Anatolia is one of the most spectacular cite of these regions. It is important to determine the mechanical behaviour of the pyroclastic rocks due to their ease of carving, heat insulation properties and building some civil engineering constructions in them. The purpose of this study is to estimate a widely varying uniaxial strength of pyroclastic rocks from Cappadocia region by means of point load strength, porosity, dry density and saturated density tests utilizing gene expression programming.

Keywords: pyroclastic rocks, uniaxial compressive strength, gene expression programming (GEP, Cappadocia region

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Authors: I. Parkova, A. Vališevskis, A. Viļumsone

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Nocturnal enuresis or bed-wetting is intermittent incontinence during sleep of children after age 5 that may precipitate wide range of behavioural and developmental problems. One of the non-pharmacological treatment methods is the use of a bed-wetting alarm system. In order to improve comfort conditions of nocturnal enuresis alarm system, modular moisture sensor should be replaced by a textile sensor. In this study behaviour and moisture detection speed of woven and sewn sensors were compared by analysing change in electrical resistance after solution (salt water) was dripped on sensor samples. Material of samples has different structure and yarn location, which affects solution detection rate. Sensor system circuit was designed and two sensor tests were performed: system activation test and false alarm test to determine the sensitivity of the system and activation threshold. Sewn sensor had better result in system’s activation test – faster reaction, but woven sensor had better result in system’s false alarm test – it was less sensitive to perspiration simulation. After experiments it was found that the optimum switching threshold is 3V in case of 5V input voltage, which provides protection against false alarms, for example – during intensive sweating.

Keywords: conductive yarns, moisture textile sensor, industry, material

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: J. B. Sharma, Vivek Kakkar, Sunesh Kumar, K. K. Roy, Rajesh Kumari, Kavita Pandey, Smriti Hari

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Background: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common problem affecting the quality of life of women. Methods: It is a prospective study conducted over 40 women of SUI by endovaginal ultrasound on rest and Valsalva preoperatively and six months postoperatively for levator hiatus, pubovisceral thickness, urethral length, and bladder neck position. A 24-hour pad test was also performed on all women at the same time for grading of SUI. Treatment given was medical in 4 (10%), Burch colposuspension in 18 (45%), and tension-free obturator tape in 18 (45%). Results: Mean age, parity, and body mass index in the study were 41.60 years, 2.73, and 24.2 kg/m², respectively. All 40 (100%) patients had SUI, with the mean duration of symptoms being 4.04 years. On the 24-hour pad test, mild SUI was in 4 (10%), moderate SUI in 33 (82.5%), and severe SUI in 3 (7.5%), with mean preoperative 24-hour pad test being 36.69 gm which significantly reduced to 9.79 gm postoperatively (p 0.001). There was a significant change in levator hiatus and pubovisceral thickness with the treatment of SUI. Overall urethral length increased, but there was a significant decrease in urethral length on Valsalva after the treatment (0.40 versus 0.28 cm, p 0.04) and a significant reduction in bladder neck descent after Valsalva after treatment (0.41 cm versus 0.27 cm, p 0.001). Conclusion: Endovaginal ultrasound and 24-hour pad test are useful diagnostic modalities for SUI diagnosis and to see the impact of treatment.

Keywords: stress urinary incontinence, endovaginal ultrasound, 24-hours pad test, pubovisceral muscle thickness

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Authors: Michael Stewart

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Mutation testing is a type of software testing proposed in the 1970s where program statements are deliberately changed to introduce simple errors so that test cases can be validated to determine if they can detect the errors. Test cases are executed against the mutant code to determine if one fails, detects the error and ensures the program is correct. One major issue with this type of testing was it became intensive computationally to generate and test all possible mutations for complex programs. This paper used reinforcement learning and parallel processing within the context of mutation testing for the selection of mutation operators and test cases that reduced the computational cost of testing and improved test suite effectiveness. Experiments were conducted using sample programs to determine how well the reinforcement learning-based algorithm performed with one live mutation, multiple live mutations and no live mutations. The experiments, measured by mutation score, were used to update the algorithm and improved accuracy for predictions. The performance was then evaluated on multiple processor computers. With reinforcement learning, the mutation operators utilized were reduced by 50 – 100%.

Keywords: automated-testing, machine learning, mutation testing, parallel processing, reinforcement learning, software engineering, software testing

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Authors: Y. Mohammed, A. I. Kabuga

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Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have continued to be a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa especially with the recent resurgence of syphilis. Syphilis is a systemic disease caused by the bacterium, spirochete Treponema pallidum and has been reported as one of the common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Nigeria. Presence of genital ulcer disease from syphilis facilitates human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission and their ¬diagnosis is essential for the proper management. Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test is used as a screening test for the diagnosis of syphilis. However, unusual VDRL test results have been reported in HIV-infected persons with syphilis. There are reports showing higher than expected VDRL titers as well as biological false positive in most of the studies. A negative Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test or VDRL test result may not rule out syphilis in patients with HIV infection. For laboratory confirmation of syphilis, one specific Treponemal test, namely, Fluroscent Treponemal Antibody Absorption (FTA-ABS) test or Treponema Pallidum Haemagglutination Assay (TPHA) should be done along with VDRL. A prospective cross sectional study was conducted for 2 years from Jun, 2012 to Jun 2014 to determine the prevalence of syphilis in HIV-seroreactive patients at 5 selected HIV/AIDS treatment and counseling centers in Kano State, North Western, Nigeria. New HIV-Seroreactive patients who gave informed consent to participate in the study were recruited. Venereal Diseases Research Laboratory (VDRL) test for Syphilis screening was performed on the same sera samples which were collected for HIV testing. A total of 238 patients, 113 (47%) males and 125 (53%) females, were enrolled. In the present study, 238 HIV-seropositive patients were screened for syphilis by VDRL test. Out of these 238 cases, 72 (32%) patients were positive for TPHA and 8 (3.4%) patients were reactive for VDRL in various titers with an overall prevalence of 3.4%. All the eight patients who were reactive for VDRL test were also positive for TPHA test. In Conclusions, with high prevalence of syphilis among HIV-infected people from this study, it is recommended that serological testing for syphilis should be carried out in all patients with newly diagnosed HIV infection. Detection and treatment of STI should have a central role in HIV prevention and control. This will help in proper management of patients having STIs and HIV co infection.

Keywords: HIV, infections, STIs, syphilis

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Authors: A. A. Salisu, M. Y. Yakasai, K. M. Aujara

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Sisal leaves were subjected to enzymatic retting method to extract the sisal fibre. A portion of the fibre was pretreated with alkali (NaOH), and further treated with benzoyl chloride and silane treatment reagents. Both the treated and untreated Sisal fibre composites were used to fabricate the composite by hand lay-up technique using unsaturated polyester resin. Tensile, flexural, water absorption, density, thickness swelling and chemical resistant tests were conducted and evaluated on the composites. Results obtained for all the parameters showed an increase in the treated fibre compared to untreated fibre. FT-IR spectra results ascertained the inclusion of benzoyl and silane groups on the fibre surface. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) result obtained showed variation in the morphology of the treated and untreated fibre. Chemical modification was found to improve adhesion of the fibre to the matrix, as well as physico-mechanical properties of the composites.

Keywords: chemical resistance, density test, polymer matrix sisal fibre, thickness swelling

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Authors: Karlygash Adamova

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This article is focused on the KazTest as one of the most important high-stakes tests and the key tool in Kazakh language assessment. The research will also include the brief introduction to the language policy in Kazakhstan. Particularly, it is going to be changed significantly and turn from bilingualism (Kazakh, Russian) to multilingual policy (three languages - Kazakh, Russian, English). Therefore, the current status of the abovementioned languages will be described. Due to the various educational reforms in the country, the language evaluation system should also be improved and moderated. The research will present the most significant test of Kazakhstan – the KazTest, which is aimed to evaluate the Kazakh language proficiency. Assessment is an ongoing process that encompasses a wide area of knowledge upon the productive performance of the learners. Test is widely defined as a standardized or standard method of research, testing, diagnostics, verification, etc. The two most important characteristics of any test, as the main element of the assessment - validity and reliability - will also be described in this paper. Therefore, the preparation and design of the test, which is assumed to be an indicator of knowledge, and it is highly important to take into account all these properties.

Keywords: multilingualism, language assessment, testing, language policy

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Authors: Chien-Jen Liu, Shu Ching Yang

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Using the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study examined the external variables of technological complexity (TC) to acquire a better understanding of the factors that influence the acceptance of computer application courses by learners at Active Aging Universities. After the learners in this study had completed a 27-hour Facebook course, 44 learners responded to a modified TAM survey. Data were collected to examine the path relationships among the variables that influence the acceptance of Facebook-mediated community learning. The partial least squares (PLS) method was used to test the measurement and the structural model. The study results demonstrated that attitudes toward Facebook use directly influence behavioral intentions (BI) with respect to Facebook use, evincing a high prediction rate of 58.3%. In addition to the perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) measures that are proposed in the TAM, other external variables, such as TC, also indirectly influence BI. These four variables can explain 88% of the variance in BI and demonstrate a high level of predictive ability. Finally, limitations of this investigation and implications for further research are discussed.

Keywords: technology acceptance model (TAM), technological complexity, partial least squares (PLS), perceived usefulness

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Authors: A. Khodadadi, Hasani, Salehi

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The advantages of using modified asphalt binders are widely recognized—primarily, improved rutting resistance, reduced fatigue cracking and less cold-temperature cracking. Nanoclays are known to enhance the properties of many polymers. Nanoclays are used to improve modulus and tensile strength, flame resistance and thermal and structural properties of many materials. This paper intends to investigate the application and development of nano-technological concepts for bituminous materials and asphalt pavements. The application of nano clay on the fatigue life of asphalt pavement have not been yet thoroughly understood. In this research, two type of highway asphalt materials, dense Marshall specimens, with 2% nano clay and without nano clay, were employed for the fatigue behavior of the asphalt pavement.The effect of nano additive on the performance of flexible pavements has been investigated through the indirect tensile test for the samples prepared with 2% nano clay and without nano clay in four stress levels from 200–500 kPa. The primary results indicated samples with 2% nano clay have almost double or even more fatigue life in most of stress levels.

Keywords: Nano clay, Asphalt, fatigue life, pavement

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Authors: Aliakbar Golshani, Armin Ramezanzad

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Tensile strength which is an important parameter of the rock for engineering applications is difficult to measure directly through physical experiment (i.e. uniaxial tensile test). Therefore, indirect experimental methods such as Brazilian test have been taken into consideration and some relations have been proposed in order to obtain the tensile strength for rocks indirectly. In this research, to calculate numerically the tensile strength for granitic rocks, Particle Flow Code in three-dimension (PFC3D) software were used. First, uniaxial compression tests were simulated and the tensile strength was determined for Inada granite (from a quarry in Kasama, Ibaraki, Japan). Then, by simulating Brazilian test condition for Inada granite, the tensile strength was indirectly calculated again. Results show that the tensile strength calculated numerically agrees well with the experimental results obtained from uniaxial tensile tests on Inada granite samples.

Keywords: numerical simulation, particle flow code, PFC, tensile strength, Brazilian Test

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Authors: Ashwini Patil

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Caudal block is one of the most commonly used regional anesthetic techniques in children. Currently, fentanyl is used as an adjuvant to bupivacaine to prolong analgesia but fentanyl is a narcotic. Dexamethasone, a glucocorticoid with strong anti-inflammatory effects provides improvement in post-operative analgesia and post-operative side effects. However, its analgesic efficacy and safety in comparison with fentanyl has not been extensively studied. So the objective of this randomized controlled study is to compare dexamethasone with fentanyl as an adjuvant to bupivacaine for caudal block in children in relation to the duration of caudal analgesia, post-operative analgesic requirement and incidence of post-operative nausea and vomiting. This study included 100 children, aged 1–6 years, undergoing lower abdominal surgeries. Patients were randomized into two groups, 50 each to receive a combination of dexamethasone 0.2 mg/kg along with 1 ml/kg bupivacaine 0.25% (group A) or combination of fentanyl (1 ug/kg) along with 1ml/kg bupivacaine 0.25% (group B). In the post-operative period, pain was assessed using a Modified Objective Pain Scale (MOPS) until 12 hr after surgery and rescue analgesia is administered when MOPS score 4 or more is recorded. Residual motor block, number of analgesic doses required within 24 hr after surgery, sedation scores, intra-operative and post-operative hemodynamic variables, post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV), and other adverse effects were recorded. Data is analysed using unpaired t test and Significance level of P< 0.05 is considered statistically significant. Group A showed a significantly longer time to first analgesic requirement than group B (p<0.05). The number of rescue analgesic doses required in the first 24 h was significantly less in group A (p<0.05). Group A showed significantly lower MOPS scores than group B(p<0.05). Intra-operative and post-operative hemodynamic variables, Modified Bromage Scale scores, and sedation scores were comparable in both the groups. Group A showed significantly fewer incidences of PONV compared with group B(p<0.05). This study reveals that adding dexamethasone to bupivacaine prolongs the duration of postoperative analgesia and decreases the incidence of PONV as compared to combination of fentanyl to bupivacaine after a caudal block in pediatric patients.

Keywords: bupivacaine, caudal analgesia, dexamethasone, pediatric

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Authors: Maria F. Seran

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In second language interaction, an EFL student always carries his knowledge of targeted language and sometimes gets influenced by his first language cultures which makes him transfer his utterances from the first language to the second language. The influence of L1 cultures somehow can lead to face-threatening act when it comes to responding on speech act, for instance, compliment. A speaker praises a compliment to show gratitude, and in return, he expects for compliment respond uttered by the hearer. While Western people use more acceptance continuum on compliment response, Indonesians utter more denial continuum which can somehow put the speakers into a face-threating situation and offense. This study investigated compliment response employed by EFL students and English native speakers. The study was distinct as none compliment response studies had been conducted to compare the compliment response between English native speakers and two different Indonesian EFL proficiency groups in which this research sought to meet this need. This study was significant for EFL teachers because it gave insight on cross-cultural understanding and brought pedagogical implication on explicit pragmatic instruction. Two research questions were set, 1. How do Indonesian EFL students and English native speakers respond compliments? 2. Is there any correlation between Indonesia EFL students’ proficiency and their compliment response use in English? The study involved three groups of participants; 5 English native speakers, 10 high-proficiency and 10 low-proficiency Indonesian EFL university students. The research instruments used in this study were as follows, an online TOEFL prediction test, focusing on grammar skill which was modified from Barron TOEFL exercise test, and a discourse completion task (DCT), consisting of 10 compliment respond items. Based on the research invitation, 20 second-year university students majoring in English education at Widya Mandira Catholic University, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia who willingly participated in the research took the TOEFL prediction test online from the link provided. Students who achieved score 75-100 in test were categorized as high-proficiency students, while, students who attained score below 74 were considered as low-proficiency students. Then, the DCT survey was administered to these EFL groups and the native speaker group. Participants’ responses were coded and analyzed using categories of compliment response framework proposed by Tran. The study found out that 5 native speakers applied more compliment upgrades and appreciation token in compliment response, whereas, Indonesian EFL students combined some compliment response strategies in their utterance, such as, appreciation token, return and compliment downgrade. There is no correlation between students’ proficiency level and their CR responds as most EFL students in both groups produced less varied compliment responses and only 4 Indonesian high-proficiency students uttered more varied and were similar to the native speakers. The combination strategies used by EFL students can be explained as the influence of pragmatic transfer from L1 to L2; therefore, EFL teachers should explicitly teach more compliment response strategies to raise students’ awareness on English culture and elaborate their speaking to be more competence as close to native speakers as possible.

Keywords: compliment response, English native speakers, Indonesian EFL students, speech acts

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Authors: Tao Yang, Yongli Zhao

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Low-temperature cracking is one of the major challenges for asphalt pavement in the cold region. Fracture energy could determine from various test methods, which is a commonly used parameter to evaluate the low-temperature cracking resistance of asphalt mixture. However, the feasibility of evaluating the low-temperature cracking performance of asphalt mixture using fracture energy is not investigated comprehensively. This paper aims to verify whether fracture energy is an appropriate parameter to evaluate the low-temperature cracking performance. To achieve this goal, this paper compared the test results of thermal stress restrained specimen test (TSRST) and semi-circular bending test (SCB) of asphalt mixture with different types of aggregate, TSRST and indirect tensile test (IDT) of asphalt mixture with different additives, and single-edge notched beam test (SENB) and TSRST of asphalt mixture with different asphalt. Finally, the correlation between in-suit cracking performance and fracture energy was surveyed. The experimental results showed the evaluation result of critical cracking temperature and fracture energy are not always consistent; the in-suit cracking performance is also not correlated well with fracture energy. These results indicated that it is not feasible to evaluate low-temperature performance by fracture energy. Then, the composition of fracture energy of TSRST, SCB, disk-shaped compact tension test (DCT), three-point bending test (3PB) and IDT was analyzed. The result showed: the area of thermal stress versus temperature curve is the multiple of fracture energy and could be used to represent fracture energy of TSRST, as the multiple is nearly equal among different asphalt mixtures for a specific specimen; the fracture energy, determined from TSRST, SCB, DCT, 3PB, SENB and IDT, is mainly the surface energy that forms the fracture face; fracture energy is inappropriate to evaluate the low-temperature cracking performance of asphalt mixture, as the relaxation/viscous performance is not considered; if the fracture energy was used, it is recommended to combine this parameter with an index characterizing the relaxation or creep performance of asphalt mixture.

Keywords: asphalt pavement, cold region, critical cracking temperature, fracture energy, low-temperature cracking

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Authors: Ji Hun Choi, Seung Un Chae, Kyeong Suk Cho

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Synthetic resins are widely used in various fields including electricity, engineering, construction and agriculture. Many of interior and exterior finishing materials for buildings are synthetic resin products. In this study, full-scale fire tests were conducted on polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene and urethane in accordance with the “ISO 9705: Fire test - Full-scale room test for surface products” to measure heat release rate, toxic gas emission and smoke production rate. Based on the tests, fire growth pattern and fire risk were analyzed. Findings from the tests conducted on polyvinyl chloride and urethane are as follows. The total heat release rate and total smoke production rate of polyvinyl chloride were 98.89MW and 5284.41m2, respectively and its highest CO2 concentration was 0.149%. The values obtained from the test with urethane were 469.94 MW, 3396.28 m2 and 1.549%. While heat release rate and CO2 concentration were higher in urethane implying its high combustibility, smoke production rate was 1.5 times higher in polyvinyl chloride. Follow-up tests are planned to be conducted to accumulate data for the evaluation of heat emission and fire risk associated with synthetic resins.

Keywords: synthetic resins, fire test, full-scale test, heat release rate, smoke production rate, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, urethane

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Authors: Yazid Alkraimeen

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Precise prediction of dielectric stresses and high voltages of power transformers require the accurate calculation of frequency-dependent parameters. A lack of accuracy can result in severe damages to transformer windings. Transient conditions is stuided by digital computers, which require the implementation of accurate models. This paper analyzes the computation of frequency-dependent skin and proximity losses included in the transformer winding model, using analytical equations and Finite Element Method (FEM). A modified formula to calculate the proximity and the skin losses is presented. The results of the frequency-dependent parameter calculations are verified using the Finite Element Method. The time-domain transient voltages are obtained using Numerical Inverse Laplace Transform. The results show that the classical formula for proximity losses is overestimating the transient voltages when compared with the results obtained from the modified method on a simple transformer geometry.

Keywords: fast front transients, proximity losses, transformer winding modeling, skin losses

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: K. Farheen, A. Munir

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Seismic response of the multi-storey buildings is created by the interaction of both the structure and underlying soil medium. The seismic design philosophy is incorporated using response modification factor 'R'. Current code based values of 'R' factor does not reflect the SSI problem as it is based on fixed base condition. In this study, the modified values of 'R' factor for moment resisting frame (MRF) considering SSI are evaluated. The response of structure with and without SSI has been compared using equivalent linear static and nonlinear static pushover analyses for 10-storied moment resisting frame building. The building is located in seismic zone 2B situated on different soils with shear wave velocity (Vₛ) of 300m/sec (SD) and 1200m/s (SB). Code based 'R' factor value for building frame system has been taken as 5.5. Soil medium is modelled using identical but mutually independent horizontal and vertical springs. It was found that the modified 'R' factor values have been decreased by 47% and 43% for soil SD and SB respectively as compared to that of code based 'R' factor.

Keywords: buildings, SSI, shear wave velocity, R factor

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Authors: Sharon Truter, Ann B. Shuttleworth-Edwards

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South Africa is a developing country with significant diversity in languages spoken and quality of education available, creating challenges for fair and accurate neuropsychological assessments when most available neuropsychological tests are obtained from English-speaking developed countries. The aim of this research was to compare normative data on a spectrum of commonly used neuropsychological tests for English- and Afrikaans-speaking South Africans with relatively high quality of education and South Africans with relatively low quality of education who speak Afrikaans, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa or Zulu. The participants were all healthy adults aged 18-60 years, with 8-12 years of education. All the participants were tested in their first language on the following tests: two non-verbal tests (Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure Test and Bell Cancellation Test), four verbal fluency tests (category, phonemic, verb and 'any words'), one verbal learning test (Rey Auditory Verbal Leaning Test) and three tests that have a verbal component (Trail Making Test A & B; Symbol Digit Modalities Test and Digit Span). Descriptive comparisons of mean scores and standard deviations across the language groups and between the groups with relatively high versus low quality of education highlight the importance of using normative data that takes into account language and quality of education.

Keywords: cross-cultural, language, multi-lingual, neuropsychological testing, quality of education

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Authors: Hazratullah Khattak, Abdul Waheed Mughal, Inamullah Khattak

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This study is envisaged as vital contribution as it intends to develop norms for the Sit and Reach Test in the Local Environment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan, for the age group between 12-14 years which will be used to measure the flexibility level of early adolescents (12-14 years). Sit and Reach test was applied on 2000 volunteers, 400 subjects from each selected district (Five (5) Districts, Peshawar, Nowshera, Karak, Dera Ismail Khan and Swat (20% percent of the total 25 districts) using convenient sampling technique. The population for this study is comprised of all the early adolescents aging 12-14 years (Age Mean 13 + 0.63, Height 154 + 046, Weight 46 + 7.17, BMI 19 + 1.45) representing various public and private sectors educational institutions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As for as the norms developed for Sit and Reach test, the score below 6.8 inches comes in the category of poor, 6.9 to 9.6 inches (below Average), 9.7 to 10.8 inches (Average), 10.9 to 13 inches (Above average) and above 13 inches score is considered as Excellent.

Keywords: fitness, flexibility, norms, sit and reach

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Authors: Mahmoud Nabilu

Abstract:

The present study explored the effect of using Mobile listening applications on developing listening skills by Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Fifty male intermediate English learners whose age range was between 15 and 20, participated in the study. The participants were placed in two groups on the basis of their scores on a placement test. Therefore, the participants of the study were homogenized in terms of general proficiency, and groups were assigned as one experimental group and one control group. The experimental group was instructed by the treatment which was using mobile applications to develop their listening skills while the control group received traditional methods. The research data were obtained from the 40-item multiple-choice tests as a pre-test and a post-test. The results of the t-test clearly revealed that the learners in the experimental group performed better in the post-test than the pre-test. This implies that using a mobile application for developing listening skills as a treatment was effective in helping the language learners perform better on post-test. However, a statistically significant difference was found between the post-tests scores of the two groups. The mean of the experimental group was greater compared to the control group. The participants were Iranian and from an Iranian Language Institute, so care should be taken while generalizing the results to the learners of other nationalities. However, in the researcher's view, the findings of this study have valuable implications for teachers and learners, methodologists and syllabus designers, linguists and MALL/CALL (mobile/computer-assisted language learning) experts. Using the result of the present paper is an aim of raising the consciousness of a better technique of developing listening skills in order to make language learning more efficient for the learners.

Keywords: Mobile listening applications, intermediate EFL learners, MALL, CALL

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Authors: Tawfig Eltaif, Hesham A. Bakarman, N. Alsowaidi, M. R. Mokhtar, Malek Harbawi

Abstract:

In Commonly, it is primary problem that there is multiple user interference (MUI) noise resulting from the overlapping among the users in optical code-division multiple access (OCDMA) system. In this article, we aim to mitigate this problem by studying an interference cancellation scheme called successive interference cancellation (SIC) scheme. This scheme will be tested on two different detection schemes, spectral amplitude coding (SAC) and direct detection systems (DS), using partial modified prime (PMP) as the signature codes. It was found that SIC scheme based on both SAC and DS methods had a potential to suppress the intensity noise, that is to say, it can mitigate MUI noise. Furthermore, SIC/DS scheme showed much lower bit error rate (BER) performance relative to SIC/SAC scheme for different magnitude of effective power. Hence, many more users can be supported by SIC/DS receiver system.

Keywords: optical code-division multiple access (OCDMA), successive interference cancellation (SIC), multiple user interference (MUI), spectral amplitude coding (SAC), partial modified prime code (PMP)

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Authors: B. Makhlouf, O. Bouchhida, M. Nibouche, K. Laidi

Abstract:

A variety of methods for selective harmonics elimination pulse width modulation have been developed, the most frequently used for real-time implementation based on look-up tables method. To address real-time requirements based in modified carrier signal is proposed in the presented work, with a general formulation to real-time harmonics control/elimination in switched inverters. Firstly, the proposed method has been demonstrated for a single value of the modulation index. However, in reality, this parameter is variable as a consequence of the voltage (amplitude) variability. In this context, a simple interpolation method for calculating the modified sine carrier signal is proposed. The method allows a continuous adjustment in both amplitude and frequency of the fundamental. To assess the performance of the proposed method, software simulations and hardware experiments have been carried out in the case of a single-phase inverter. Obtained results are very satisfactory.

Keywords: harmonic elimination, Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO), polynomial interpolation, pulse width modulation, real-time harmonics control, voltage inverter

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Authors: Ariel B. Domagsang

Abstract:

This study dealt with the physical fitness activities for elementary school pupils of Matacon Elementary School, Polangui South District, Albay Division are presented in this chapter. Specifically, it looked into the pre-post test performance based on the Physical Fitness Test which were subjected to statistical significant test of difference including health- and skill-related improvement. Finally, it came up with physical fitness activities to improve the physical fitness performance of the pupils. The descriptive method through survey using questionnaire-checklist, unstructured interview and document(ary) analysis were utilized in this research. There were 171 grades five and six pupil participants in this undertaking.

Keywords: Matakon, fitness acitivities, elementary schools, physical fitness of pupils

Procedia PDF Downloads 535