Search results for: pressure metered area

Authors: Abeer A. Aljohani

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COVID-19 virus spread has been one of the extreme pandemics across the globe. It is also referred to as coronavirus, which is a contagious disease that continuously mutates into numerous variants. Currently, the B.1.1.529 variant labeled as omicron is detected in South Africa. The huge spread of COVID-19 disease has affected several lives and has surged exceptional pressure on the healthcare systems worldwide. Also, everyday life and the global economy have been at stake. This research aims to predict COVID-19 disease in its initial stage to reduce the death count. Machine learning (ML) is nowadays used in almost every area. Numerous COVID-19 cases have produced a huge burden on the hospitals as well as health workers. To reduce this burden, this paper predicts COVID-19 disease is based on the symptoms and medical history of the patient. This research presents a unique architecture for COVID-19 detection using ML techniques integrated with feature dimensionality reduction. This paper uses a standard UCI dataset for predicting COVID-19 disease. This dataset comprises symptoms of 5434 patients. This paper also compares several supervised ML techniques to the presented architecture. The architecture has also utilized 10-fold cross validation process for generalization and the principal component analysis (PCA) technique for feature reduction. Standard parameters are used to evaluate the proposed architecture including F1-Score, precision, accuracy, recall, receiver operating characteristic (ROC), and area under curve (AUC). The results depict that decision tree, random forest, and neural networks outperform all other state-of-the-art ML techniques. This achieved result can help effectively in identifying COVID-19 infection cases.

Keywords: supervised machine learning, COVID-19 prediction, healthcare analytics, random forest, neural network

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Authors: Ji-Hyok Kim, Il-Gyong Paek, Yong-Jun Kim

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We propose a numerical model based on drift-diffusion theory and lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to analyze the electro-hydrodynamic behavior in low-pressure direct current (DC) glow discharge plasmas. We apply the drift-diffusion theory for 4-species and employ the standard lattice Boltzmann model (SLBM) for the electron, the finite difference-lattice Boltzmann model (FD-LBM) for heavy particles, and the finite difference model (FDM) for the electric potential, respectively. Our results are compared with those of other methods, and emphasize the necessity of a two-dimensional analysis for glow discharge.

Keywords: glow discharge, lattice Boltzmann method, numerical analysis, plasma simulation, electro-hydrodynamic

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Authors: Yue Yan, Chang Nyung Kim

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The numerical investigation of the three-dimensional liquid-metal (LM) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows in a curved duct with flow channel insert (FCI) is presented in this paper, based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. A uniform magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the duct. The interdependency of the flow variables is examined in terms of the flow velocity, current density, electric potential and pressure. The electromagnetic characteristics of the LM MHD flows are reviewed with an introduction of the electric-field component and electro-motive component of the current. The influence of the existence of the FCI on the fluid flow is investigated in detail. The case with FCI slit located near the side layer yields smaller pressure gradient with stable flow field.

Keywords: curved duct, flow channel insert, liquid-metal, magnetohydrodynamic

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Authors: Ashutosh Verma, Satyendra MIttal

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The loss of strength at the facing-reinforcement interface brought on by the seasonal thermal expansion/contraction of the bridge deck has been responsible for several geosynthetic reinforced soil abutment failures over the years. This results in excessive settlement below the bridge seat, which results in bridge bumps along the approach road and shortens abutment's design life. There are surely a wide variety of facing configurations available to designers when choosing the sort of facade. These layouts can generally be categorised into three groups: continuous, full height rigid (FHR) and modular (panels/block). The current work aims to experimentally explore the behavior of these three facing categories using 1g physical model testing under serviceable cyclic lateral displacements. With configurable facing arrangements to represent these three facing categories, a field instrumented GRS abutment prototype was modelled into a N scaled down 1g physical model (N = 5) to reproduce field behavior. Peak earth pressure coefficient (K) on the facing and vertical settlement of the footing (s/B) for footing offset (x/H) as 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 at 100 cycles have been measured for cyclic lateral displacement of top of facing at loading rate of 1mm/min. Three types of cyclic displacements have been carried out to replicate active condition (CA), passive condition (CP), and active-passive condition (CAP) for each footing offset. The results demonstrated that a significant decrease in the earth pressure over the facing occurs when footing offset increases. It is worth noticing that the highest rate of increment in earth pressure and footing settlement were observed for each facing configuration at the nearest footing offset. Interestingly, for the farthest footing offset, similar responses of each facing type were observed, which indicates that the upon reaching a critical offset point presumably beyond the active region in the backfill, the lateral responses become independent of the stresses from the external footing load. Evidently, the footing load complements the stresses developed due to lateral excitation resulting in significant footing settlements for nearer footing offsets. The modular facing proved inefficient in resisting footing settlement due to significant buckling along the depth of facing. Instead of relative displacement along the depth of facing, continuous facing rotates around the base when it fails, especially for nearer footing offset causing significant depressions in the backfill area surrounding the footing. FHR facing, on the other hand, have been successful in confining the stresses in the soil domain itself reducing the footing settlement. It may be suitably concluded that increasing the footing offset may render stability to the GRS abutment with any facing configuration even for higher cycles of excitation.

Keywords: GRS abutments, 1g physical model, footing offset, cyclic lateral displacement

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Authors: Johanna Perdomo, Riki Lamont, Edmund Pickering, Naomi C. Paxton, Maria A. Woodruff

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Background: Tissue Engineering (TE) has combined advanced materials, such as biomaterials, to create affordable scaffolds and dynamic systems to generate stimulation of seeded cells on these scaffolds, improving and maintaining the cellular growth process in a cell culture. However, Few TE skin products have been clinically translated, and more research is required to produce highly biomimetic skin substitutes that mimic the native elasticity of skin in a controlled manner. Therefore, this work will be focused on the fabrication of a novel mechanical system to enhance the TE treatment approaches for the reparation of damaged tissue skin. Aims: To archive this, a soft robotic device will be created to emulate different deformation of skin stress. The design of this soft robot will allow the attachment of scaffolds, which will then be mechanically actuated. This will provide a novel and highly adaptable platform for dynamic cell culture. Methods: Novel, low-cost soft robot is fabricated via 3D printed moulds and silicone. A low cost, electro-mechanical device was constructed to actuate the soft robot through the controlled combination of positive and negative air pressure to control the different state of movements. Mechanical tests were conducted to assess the performance and calibration of each electronic component. Similarly, pressure-displacement test was performed on scaffolds, which were attached to the soft robot, applying various mechanical loading regimes. Lastly, digital image correlation test was performed to obtain strain distributions over the soft robot’s surface. Results: The control system can control and stabilise positive pressure changes for long hours. Similarly, pressure-displacement test demonstrated that scaffolds with 5µm of diameter and wavy geometry can displace at 100%, applying a maximum pressure of 1.5 PSI. Lastly, during the inflation state, the displacement of silicone was measured using DIC method, and this showed a parameter of 4.78 mm and strain of 0.0652. Discussion And Conclusion: The developed soft robot system provides a novel and low-cost platform for the dynamic actuation of tissue scaffolds with a target towards dynamic cell culture.

Keywords: soft robot, tissue engineering, mechanical stimulation, dynamic cell culture, bioreactor

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Authors: Rezvan Khavari

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The Zagros fold-thrust belt in SW Iran is a part of the Alpine-Himalayan system which consists of a variety of structures with different sizes or geometries. The study area is Chamshir Dam, which is located on the Zohreh River, 20 km southeast of Gachsaran City (southwest Iran). The satellite images are valuable means available to geologists for locating geological or geomorphological features expressing regional fault or fracture systems, therefore, the satellite images were used for structural analysis of the Chamshir dam area. As well, using the DEM and geological maps, 3D Models of the area have been constructed. Then, based on these models, all the acquired fracture traces data were integrated in Geographic Information System (GIS) environment by using Arc GIS software. Based on field investigation and DEM model, main structures in the area consist of Cham Shir syncline and two fault sets, the main thrust faults with NW-SE direction and small normal faults in NE-SW direction. There are three joint sets in the study area, both of them (J1 and J3) are the main large fractures around the Chamshir dam. These fractures indeed consist with the normal faults in NE-SW direction. The third joint set in NW-SE is normal to the others. In general, according to topography, geomorphology and structural geology evidences, Chamshir dam has a potential for sliding in some parts of Gachsaran formation.

Keywords: DEM, chamshir dam, zohreh river, satellite images

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Authors: Sezer Kefeli, Sertaç Arslan

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Supercavitation is a pressure dependent process which gives opportunity to eliminate the wetted surface effects on the underwater vehicle due to the differences of viscosity and velocity effects between liquid (freestream) and gas phase. Cavitation process occurs depending on rapid pressure drop or temperature rising in liquid phase. In this paper, pressure based cavitation is investigated due to the fact that is encountered in the underwater world, generally. Basically, this vapor-filled pressure based cavities are unstable and harmful for any underwater vehicle because these cavities (bubbles or voids) lead to intense shock waves while collapsing. On the other hand, supercavitation is a desired and stabilized phenomena than general pressure based cavitation. Supercavitation phenomena offers the idea of minimizing form drag, and thus supercavitating vehicles are revived. When proper circumstances are set up, which are either increasing the operating speed of the underwater vehicle or decreasing the pressure difference between free stream and artificial pressure, the continuity of the supercavitation is obtainable. There are 2 types of supercavitation to obtain stable and continuous supercavitation, and these are called as natural and artificial supercavitation. In order to generate natural supercavitation, various mechanical structures are discovered, which are called as cavitators. In literature, a lot of cavitator types are studied either experimentally or numerically on a CFD platforms with intent to observe natural supercavitation since the 1900s. In this paper, firstly, experimental results are obtained, and trend lines are generated based on supercavitation parameters in terms of cavitation number (), form drag coefficientC_D, dimensionless cavity diameter (d_m/d_c), and length (L_c/d_c). After that, natural cavitation verification studies are carried out for disk and cone shape cavitators. In addition, supercavitation parameters are numerically analyzed at different operating conditions, and CFD results are fitted into trend lines of experimental results. The aims of this paper are to generate one generally accepted drag coefficient equation for disk and cone cavitators at different cavitator half angle and investigation of the supercavitation parameters with respect to cavitation number. Moreover, 165 CFD analysis are performed at different cavitation numbers on FLUENT version 21R2. Five different cavitator types are modeled on SCDM with respect tocavitator’s half angles. After that, CFD database is generated depending on numerical results, and new trend lines are generated based on supercavitation parameters. These trend lines are compared with experimental results. Finally, the generally accepted drag coefficient equation and equations of supercavitation parameters are generated.

Keywords: cavity envelope, CFD, high speed underwater vehicles, supercavitation, supercavitating flows, supercavitation parameters, drag reduction, viscous force elimination, natural cavitation verification

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Authors: R. Pillai Aparna, S. R. Gandhi

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Soft clay deposits having low strength and high compressibility are found all over the world. Preloading with vertical drains is a widely used method for improving such type of soils. The coefficient of consolidation, irrespective of the drainage type, plays an important role in the design of vertical drains and it controls accurate prediction of the rate of consolidation of soil. Also, the increase in shear strength of soil with consolidation is another important factor considered in preloading or staged construction. To our best knowledge no clear guidelines are available to estimate the increase in shear strength for a particular degree of consolidation (U) at various stages during the construction. Various methods are available for finding out the consolidation coefficient. This study mainly focuses on the variation of, consolidation coefficient which was found out using different methods and shear strength with pressure intensity. The variation of shear strength with the degree of consolidation was also studied. The consolidation test was done using two types of highly compressible clays with vertical, radial and a few with combined drainage. The test was carried out at different pressures intensities and for each pressure intensity, once the target degree of consolidation is achieved, vane shear test was done at different locations in the sample, in order to determine the shear strength. The shear strength of clayey soils under the application of vertical stress with vertical and radial drainage with target U value of 70% and 90% was studied. It was found that there is not much variation in cv or cr value beyond 80kPa pressure intensity. Correlations were developed between shear strength ratio and consolidation pressure based on laboratory testing under controlled condition. It was observed that the shear strength of sample with target U value of 90% is about 1.4 to 2 times than that of 70% consolidated sample. Settlement analysis was done using Asaoka’s and hyperbolic method. The variation of strength with respect to the depth of sample was also studied, using large-scale consolidation test. It was found, based on the present study that the gain in strength is more on the top half of the clay layer, and also the shear strength of the sample ensuring radial drainage is slightly higher than that of the vertical drainage.

Keywords: consolidation coefficient, degree of consolidation, PVDs, shear strength

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Authors: Ayed S. Al-Shihri, Abul Kalam, Abdullah G. Al-Sehemi, Gaohui Du, Tokeer Ahmad, Ahmad Irfan

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We report here the synthesis of nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles by microwave-assisted method, using a common precipitating agent followed by calcination in air at 400°C. The effect of the microwave and pH on the crystallite size, morphology, structure, energy band gap and surface area of NiO have been investigated by means of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and BET surface area studies. X-ray diffraction studies showed the formation of monophasic and highly crystalline cubic NiO. TEM analysis led to decrease the average grain size of NiO nanoparticles from 16.5 nm to 14 nm on increasing the amount of NaOH. FTIR studies also confirm the formation of NiO nanoparticles. It was observed that on increasing the volume of NaOH, the optical band gap energy (2.85 eV to 2.95 eV) and specific surface area (33.1 to 39.8 m2/g) increases, however the average particles size decreases (16.5 nm to 14 nm). This method may be extended to large scale synthesis of other metal oxides nanoparticles and the present study could be used for the potential applications in water treatment and many other fields.

Keywords: BET surface area analysis, electron microscopy, optical properties, X-ray techniques

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Authors: Shubham Damke, Md Imtiaz, Sanchita Dei

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To stimulate the well and to enhance the production from the shaly formations, fracturing is essential. Presently the chiefly employed technology is Hydraulic Fracturing. However Hydraulic Fracturing accompanies itself with problems like disposing large volumes of fracturing wastewater, removal of water from the pores, formation damage due to injection of large amount of chemicals into underground formations and many more. Therefore embarking on the path of innovation new techniques have been developed which uses different gases such as Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, Frac Oil, LPG, etc. are used as a base fluid for fracturing formation. However LPG proves to be the most favorable of them which eliminates the use of water and chemicals. When using it as a fracturing fluid, within the surface equipment, it is stored, gelled, and proppant blended at a constant pressure. It is then pressurized with high pressure pumps to the required surface injection pressure With lowering the total cost and increasing the productivity, LPG is also very noteworthy for fracturing shale, where if the hydraulic fracturing is done the water ‘swells’ the formation and creates surface tension, both of which inhibit the flow of oil and gas. Also fracturing with LPG increases the effective fracture length and since propane, butane and pentane is used which are already present in the natural gas therefore there is no problem of back flow because these gases get mixed with the natural gas. LPG Fracturing technology can be a promising substitute of the Hydraulic Fracturing, which could substantially reduce the capital cost of fracturing shale and will also restrict the problems with the disposal of water and on the same hand increasing the fracture length and the productivity from the shale.

Keywords: Fracking, Shale, Surface Tension, Viscosity

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Authors: Dharmendra Jariwala, Robin Christian

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Thermal exposure is a common problem in every manufacturing industry where heat is used in the manufacturing process. In developing countries like India, a lack of awareness regarding the proper work environmental condition is observed among workers. Improper planning of factory building, arrangement of machineries, ventilation system, etc. play a vital role in the rise of temperature within the manufacturing areas. Due to the uncontrolled thermal stress, workers may be subjected to various heat illnesses from mild disorder to heat stroke. Heat stress is responsible for the health risk and reduction in production. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index and relative humidity are used to evaluate heat stress conditions. WBGT index is a weighted average of natural wet bulb temperature, globe temperature, dry bulb temperature, which are measured with standard instrument QuestTemp 36 area stress monitor. In this study textile processing units have been selected in the industrial estate in the Surat city. Based on the manufacturing process six locations were identified within the plant at which process was undertaken at 120°C to 180°C. These locations were jet dying machine area, stenter machine area, printing machine, looping machine area, washing area which generate process heat. Office area was also selected for comparision purpose as a sixth location. Present Study was conducted in the winter season and summer season for day and night shift. The results shows that average WBGT index was found above Threshold Limiting Value (TLV) during summer season for day and night shift in all three industries except office area. During summer season highest WBGT index of 32.8°C was found during day shift and 31.5°C was found during night shift at printing machine area. Also during winter season highest WBGT index of 30°C and 29.5°C was found at printing machine area during day shift and night shift respectively.

Keywords: relative humidity, textile industry, thermal stress, WBGT

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Authors: Ibe O. Stephen, Egwuonwu N. Gabriel

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Variations in seismic P-wave velocity and depth resolution resulting from variations in subsurface water saturation were investigated in this study in order to determine the season of the year that gives the most reliable P-wave velocity and depth resolution of the subsurface in Zaria Area, Nigeria. A 2D seismic refraction tomography technique involving an ABEM Terraloc MK6 Seismograph was used to collect data across a borehole of standard log with the centre of the spread situated at the borehole site. Using the same parameters this procedure was repeated along the same spread for at least once in a month for at least eight months in a year for four years. The choice for each survey time depended on when there was significant variation in rainfall data. The seismic data collected were tomographically inverted. The results suggested that the average P-wave velocity ranges of the subsurface in the area are generally higher when the ground was wet than when it was dry. The results also suggested that the overburden of about 9.0 m in thickness, the weathered basement of about 14.0 m in thickness and the fractured basement at a depth of about 23.0 m best fitted the borehole log. This best fit was consistently obtained in the months between March and May when the average total rainfall was about 44.8 mm in the area. The results had also shown that the velocity ranges in both dry and wet formations fall within the standard ranges as provided in literature. In terms of velocity, this study has not in any way clearly distinguished the quality of the results of the seismic data obtained when the subsurface was dry from the results of the data collected when the subsurface was wet. It was concluded that for more detailed and reliable seismic studies in Zaria Area and its environs with similar climatic condition, the surveys are best conducted between March and May. The most reliable seismic data for depth resolution are most likely obtainable in the area between March and May.

Keywords: best season, variations in depth resolution, variations in P-wave velocity, variations in subsurface water saturation, Zaria area

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Authors: Nneka M. Chidieber-Mark, Roseline D. Ejike

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Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) have been described as all biological materials, other than timber extracted from natural and managed forests for human subsistence and economic activities. This study focused on the production, utilization and marketing of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was adopted in the selection of respondents for the study. Data were from primary sources only. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistical tools as well as Net Income Analysis. Results show that a vast number of plant based and animal based NTFPs exist in the study area. They are harvested and used for multiple purposes. NTFPs are a source of income for the indigenes that depend on it for their livelihood. Unsustainable production and harvesting as well as poor marketing information was among the constraints impeding the growth and development of NTFPs sub-sector in the study area.

Keywords: non-timber forest products, production, utilization, marketing

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Authors: Kamal Kumar Tanti, Nayan Moni Saikia, Markynti Swer

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This study aims to investigate and analyse the trends and variability of rainfall in Shillong and its nearby areas, located in Meghalaya hills of North-East India; which is geographically a neighbouring area to the wettest places of the Earth, i.e., Cherrapunji and Mawsynram. The analysis of variability and trends to annual, seasonal, monthly and daily rainfall was carried out, using the data collected from the IMD station at Shillong; thereby attempting to highlight whether rainfall in Shillong area has been increasing or decreasing over the years. Rainfall variability coefficient is utilized to compare the current rainfall trend of the area with its past rainfall trends. The present study also aims to analyse the frequency of occurrence of extreme rainfall events over the region. These studies will help us to establish a correlation between the current rainfall trend and climate change scenario of the study area.

Keywords: trends and variability of rainfall, annual, seasonal, monthly and daily rainfall, rainfall variability coefficient, extreme rainfall events, climate change, Shillong, Cherrapunji, Mawsynram

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Authors: Boukhadia Karima

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The fluid mechanics is the study of fluid motion laws and their interaction with solid bodies, this project leads to illustrate this interaction with depth studies and approved by experiments on the wind tunnel TE44, ensuring the efficiency, accuracy and reliability of these tests on a NACA0015 profile. A symmetric NACA0015 was placed in a subsonic wind tunnel, and measurements were made of the pressure on the upper and lower surface of the wing and of the velocity across the vortex trailing downstream from the tip of the wing. The aim of this work is to investigate experimentally the scattered pressure profile in a free airflow and the aerodynamic forces acting on this profile. The addition of around-lateral edge to the wing tip was found to eliminate the secondary vortex near the wing tip, but had little effect on the downstream characteristics of the trailing vortex. The increase in wing lift near the tip because of the presence of the trailing vortex was evident in the surface pressure, but was not captured by circulation-box measurements. The circumferential velocity within the vortex was found to reach free-stream values and produce core rotational speeds. Near the wing, the trailing vortex is asymmetric and contains definite zones where the stream wise velocity both exceeds and falls behind the free-stream value. When referenced to the free stream velocity, the maximum vertical velocity of the vortex is directly dependent on α and is independent of Re. A numerical study was conducted through a CFD code called FLUENT 6.0, and the results are compared with experimental.

Keywords: CFD code, NACA Profile, detachment, angle of incidence, wind tunnel

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Authors: Doaa Hamdi, Ahmed Hashem

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The present study aims at integrating the ASTER data and Landsat 8 data to discriminate and map alteration and/or mineralization zones in addition to delineating different lithological units of Humr Akarim Granites area. The study area is located at 24º9' to 24º13' N and 34º1' to 34º2'45"E., covering a total exposed surface area of about 17 km². The area is characterized by rugged topography with low to moderate relief. Geologic fieldwork and petrographic investigations revealed that the basement complex of the study area is composed of metasediments, mafic dikes, older granitoids, and alkali-feldspar granites. Petrographic investigations revealed that the secondary minerals in the study area are mainly represented by chlorite, epidote, clay minerals and iron oxides. These minerals have specific spectral signatures in the region of visible near-infrared and short-wave infrared (0.4 to 2.5 µm). So that the ASTER imagery processing was concentrated on VNIR-SWIR spectrometric data in order to achieve the purposes of this study (geologic mapping of hydrothermal alteration zones and delineate possible radioactive potentialities). Mapping of hydrothermal alterations zones in addition to discriminating the lithological units in the study area are achieved through the utilization of some different image processing, including color band composites (CBC) and data transformation techniques such as band ratios (BR), band ratio codes (BRCs), principal component analysis(PCA), Crosta Technique and minimum noise fraction (MNF). The field verification and petrographic investigation confirm the results of ASTER imagery and Landsat 8 data, proposing a geological map (scale 1:50000).

Keywords: remote sensing, petrography, mineralization, alteration detection

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Authors: M. T. Tsepav, Y. Adamu, M. A. Umar

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A geoelectric survey was carried out in some parts of Angwan Gwari, an outskirt of Lapai Local Government Area on Niger State which belongs to the Nigerian Basement Complex, with the aim of evaluating the soil corrosivity, aquifer transmissivity and protective capacity of the area from which aquifer characterisation was made. The G41 Resistivity Meter was employed to obtain fifteen Schlumberger Vertical Electrical Sounding data along profiles in a square grid network. The data were processed using interpex 1-D sounding inversion software, which gives vertical electrical sounding curves with layered model comprising of the apparent resistivities, overburden thicknesses and depth. This information was used to evaluate longitudinal conductance and transmissivities of the layers. The results show generally low resistivities across the survey area and an average longitudinal conductance variation from 0.0237Siemens in VES 6 to 0.1261 Siemens in VES 15 with almost the entire area giving values less than 1.0 Siemens. The average transmissivity values range from 96.45 Ω.m2 in VES 4 to 299070 Ω.m2 in VES 1. All but VES 4 and VES14 had an average overburden greater than 400 Ω.m2, these results suggest that the aquifers are highly permeable to fluid movement within, leading to the possibility of enhanced migration and circulation of contaminants in the groundwater system and that the area is generally corrosive.

Keywords: geoelectric survey, corrosivity, protective capacity, transmissivity

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Authors: Peter Križan, Juraj Beniak, Ľubomír Šooš, Miloš Matúš

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Biomass treatment through densification is very suitable and important technology before its effective energy recovery. Densification process of biomass is significantly influenced by various technological and also material parameters which are ultimately reflected on the final solid Biofuels quality. The paper deals with the experimental research of the relationship between technological and material parameters during densification of fast-growing trees, roundly fast-rowing willow. The main goal of presented experimental research is to determine the relationship between pressing pressure raw material fraction size from a final briquettes density point of view. Experimental research was realized by single-axis densification. The impact of fraction size with interaction of pressing pressure and stabilization time on the quality properties of briquettes was determined. These parameters interaction affects the final solid biofuels (briquettes) quality. From briquettes production point of view and also from densification machines constructions point of view is very important to know about mutual interaction of these parameters on final briquettes quality. The experimental findings presented here are showing the importance of mentioned parameters during the densification process.

Keywords: briquettes density, densification, fraction size, pressing pressure, stabilization time

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Authors: Loyce Nahwera, Joy Wachira, Edwin Kiptolo, Constance Nsibambi, Mshilla Maghanga, Timothy Makubuya

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Introduction: Hypertension is one of the most prominent risk factors for cardiovascular diseases globally, and it can be modified through lifestyle interventions such as exercise. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a 12-week aerobic dance programme on systolic blood pressure (SBP) in stage 1 hypertensive individuals. Methods: This study employed an experimental research design. A total of 36 stage 1 hypertensive individuals who were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups completed the study. Systolic BP was measured using a mercury sphygmomanometer at baseline, mid-point and after the program. The experimental group participants trained 3 days a week, 45 minutes per session, at a moderate intensity of 40-60% of maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) monitored by Garmin heart rate monitors. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The significance level was set at p<0.05. A paired sample t-test was used to compare mean differences within the groups. Results: Data from the 36 participants (22 males and 14 females) (experimental; n=18, control; n=18) show that the experimental group had a mean SBP of 143.83±6.382 mmHg at baseline while the control had a mean of 137.61±6.400 mmHg. Following the end of a 6-week aerobic dance, the mean SBP of the experimental group reduced to 138.06±9.539 mmHg while that of the control marginally decreased to 137.00±8.073 mmHg. At the completion of a 12-week program, the mean SBP of the experimental group reduced to 136.33±9.191 mmHg, while that of the control marginally increased to 139.56±9.954 mmHg. This implies that both the 6-week and 12-week aerobic dance program reduced the SBP of the experimental group by 5.77±7.133 mmHg and 7.50±8.487 mmHg, respectively, while the control group fast reduced marginally by 0.61 before ultimately increasing by 1.95±7.974 mmHg at 12-weeks. The changes were statistically significant (p<0.05) at both 6 and 12 weeks of an aerobic dance program. Conclusion: The study concluded that aerobic dance is an effective non-pharmacological method for managing SBP of stage 1 hypertensive individuals both in the short-term (6 weeks) and long-term (12 weeks).

Keywords: aerobic dance, blood pressure, stage 1 hypertension, systolic blood pressure.

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Authors: Wen-Shan Lin, Shu-Lu Hsu

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Environmental concern and consumer rights have entailed e-tailers to adopt better strategies to facilitate product returns from customers. As the demand for reverse logistics (RL) continues to grow, little is known about what motivates e-tailers to enhance their RL capabilities and about the role RL capabilities plays in enabling e-tailers to achieve better customer satisfaction and economic performance. Based on resource-based theory and institutional theory, this article proposes that the following factors play a critical role in influencing the RL capability of e-tailers: (a) Financial resource commitment to RL, (b) managerial resource commitment to RL, and (c) institutional pressure to implement RL. Based on the role of these factors, the study provides a framework and propositions that serve to guide future research addressing the link among resources, institutional pressure, and RL capability.

Keywords: reverse logistics, e-tailing, resource-based theory, institutional theory

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Authors: Dilek Dede

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This study aims at scrutinized the dilemma between education place and working place with professional socialization dimension over the beginning teachers in Turkey is to be found the solution for the dilemma in Turkey. The research question is that how can be explained the gap between education place and working place for beginning teachers in Turkey. That expected to contribute to literature with the solutions for shorting the gap between working area and education area of the teaching profession in Turkey case. The study is constructed in two section. Firstly, socialization of the teaching profession and teaching modules have been discussed through the profession, education, working place indicators. In the second section, Secondly, two educational specialists from Turkey has been interviewed about their observation on trainee teachers compelling to participate the class for candidate teachers after university grade. Then, the dilemma between education area and working area of the teaching profession has been detected by of semi-structured and in-depth interviews, the literature on the relationality of institutions and regulation is discussed. The following outcomes have been accessed in accordance with the data set and literature linkage axis: Firstly, teachers coming from the distinctive programmes as an educational background. Hence, teachers who pertain to distinctive cultures work in the same environment. That cause cultural conflicts and complication of socialization of profession. Secondly, the insufficient partnership between schools and universities besides, the education classes lead to a struggle of culture among these two institutions. Thirdly, the education classes are designed as bureaucratic form instead of coalescence between head teachers and trainee teachers around a common culture. That become deep the dilemma. In conclusion, on condition that applied-oriented education that advocates in-service learning is promoted and this programme is supported with well-structured the in-service training through the partnership of universities and schools, the gap between the working-area and education-area might be shortened.

Keywords: beginning teachers, construction of a common, social mobilization in the teaching profession, teacher training institution, the relationality of the regulations and institutions

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Authors: Damir Počakal

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Continental part Croatia is exposed, mainly in the summer months, to the frequent occurrence of severe thunderstorms and hail. In the 1960s, aiming to protect and reduce the damage, an operational hail suppression system was introduced in that area. The current protected area is 26800 km2 and has about 580 hail suppression stations (rockets and ground generators) which are managed with 8 radar centres (S-band radars). In order to obtain objective and precise hailstone measurement for different research studies, hailpads were installed on all this stations in 2001. Additionally the dense hailpad network with the dimensions of 20 km x 30 km (1 hailpad per 4 km2), was established in the area with the highest average number of days with hail in Croatia in 2002. This paper presents analysis of relation between radar measured parameters of Cb cells in the time of hail fall with physical parameters of hail (max. diameter, number of hail stones and kinetic energy) measured on hailpads in period 2002 -2014. In addition are compared radar parameters of Cb cells with and without hail on the ground located at the same time over the polygon area.

Keywords: Cb cell, hail, radar, hailpad

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Authors: Neda Valizadeh, Mani Mofidi, Sama Haghighi, Ali Hashemaghaee, Soudabeh Shafiee Ardestani

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Background: There are many systems and parameters to evaluate trauma patients in the emergency department. Most of these evaluations are to distinguish patients with worse conditions so that the care systems have a better prediction of condition for a better care-giving. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between axillary body temperature and mortality in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) with multiple traumas and with other clinical and para-clinical factors. Methods: All patients between 16 and 75 years old with multiple traumas who were admitted into Emergency Department then hospitalized in the ICU were included in our study. An axillary temperature in the first and the second day of admission, Glasgow cola scale (GCS), systolic blood pressure, Serum glucose levels, and white blood cell counts of all patients at the admission day were recorded and their relationship with mortality were analyzed by SPSS software with suitable statistical tests. Results: Axillary body temperatures in the first and second day were statistically lower in expired traumatic patients (p=0.001 and p<0,001 respectively). Patients with lower GCS had a significantly lower first-day temperature and a significantly higher mortality. (p=0.006 and p=0.006 respectively). Furthermore, the first-day axillary temperature was significantly lower in patients with a lower first-day systolic blood pressure (p=0.014). Conclusion: Our results showed that lower axillary body temperature in the first day is associated with higher mortality, lower GCS, and lower systolic blood pressure. Thus, this could be used as a predictor of mortality in evaluation of traumatic patients in emergency settings.

Keywords: fever, trauma, mortality, emergency

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Authors: Tracy Ho, Huann-Shyang Lin, Mina Lin

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This study investigated the different learning path of students with different learning attitude and learning styles in Arts Creation. Based on direct instruction, guided-discovery learning, and discovery learning theories, a tablet app including the following three learning areas were developed for students: (1) replication and remix practice area, (2) guided creation area, and (3) free creation area. Thirty. students with different learning attitude and learning styles were invited to use this app. Students’ learning behaviors were categorized and defined. The results will provide both educators and researchers with insights that can form a useful foundation for designing different content and strategy with the application of new technologies in school teaching. It also sheds light on how an educational App can be designed to enhance Arts Creation.

Keywords: App, arts creation, learning attitude, learning style, tablet

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Authors: Theoktisti Makridou, Konstantinos Tsaprailis, George Arvanitakis, Charalampos Kontoes

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In the literature, the data-driven approaches for mosquito abundance prediction relaying on supervised machine learning models that get trained with historical in-situ measurements. The counterpart of this approach is once the model gets trained on pointlevel (specific x,y coordinates) measurements, the predictions of the model refer again to point-level. These point-level predictions reduce the applicability of those solutions once a lot of early warning and mitigation actions applications need predictions for an area level, such as a municipality, village, etc... In this study, we apply a data-driven predictive model, which relies on public-open satellite Earth Observation and geospatial data and gets trained with historical point-level in-Situ measurements of mosquito abundance. Then we propose a methodology to extract information from a point-level predictive model to a broader area-level prediction. Our methodology relies on the randomly spatial sampling of the area of interest (similar to the Poisson hardcore process), obtaining the EO and geomorphological information for each sample, doing the point-wise prediction for each sample, and aggregating the predictions to represent the average mosquito abundance of the area. We quantify the performance of the transformation from the pointlevel to the area-level predictions, and we analyze it in order to understand which parameters have a positive or negative impact on it. The goal of this study is to propose a methodology that predicts the mosquito abundance of a given area by relying on point-level prediction and to provide qualitative insights regarding the expected performance of the area-level prediction. We applied our methodology to historical data (of Culex pipiens) of two areas of interest (Veneto region of Italy and Central Macedonia of Greece). In both cases, the results were consistent. The mean mosquito abundance of a given area can be estimated with similar accuracy to the point-level predictor, sometimes even better. The density of the samples that we use to represent one area has a positive effect on the performance in contrast to the actual number of sampling points which is not informative at all regarding the performance without the size of the area. Additionally, we saw that the distance between the sampling points and the real in-situ measurements that were used for training did not strongly affect the performance.

Keywords: mosquito abundance, supervised machine learning, culex pipiens, spatial sampling, west nile virus, earth observation data

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Authors: Ahmed M. Eltohamy

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In this paper, an experimental and numerical study was adopted to investigate the effect geogrid soil reinforcement pre-stressing on the pressure settlement relation of sand bed supporting a strip foundation. The studied parameters include foundation depth and pre-stress ratio for the cases of one and two pre-stressed reinforcement layers. The study reflected that pre-stressing of soil reinforcement resulted in a marked enhancement in reinforced bed soil stiffness compared to the reinforced soil without pre-stress. The best benefit of pre-stressing reinforcement was obtained as the overburden pressure and pre-straining ratio increase. Pre-stressing of double reinforcement topmost layers results in further enhancement of stress strain relation of bed soil.

Keywords: geogrid reinforcement, prestress, strip footing, bearing capacity

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Authors: M. S. M. Prahastomi, Riki Sunaryo, Lorasa Ximanes

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The research takes place in EP Area, in the Northern part of Buton, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. It is one example of karst areas that have good water resources potential. The landscape is in the form of valleys and hills which is good enough for recharge zone and discharge zones of groundwater. However, the geological characteristics of karst dissolution and a complex geological structure are quite influential to the groundwater flow system in the region. The Discharge of groundwater to the surface can be caused by a fracture in the rock, Underground River due to dissolution, and the contact between permeable rocks with impermeable rocks. In the concept of hydrogeology, groundwater is one of the components of the hydrological cycle which is closely linked to the availability of water under the surface, precipitation, infiltration, percolation, evapotranspiration, and surface runoff. Conceptually, the condition of recharge and discharge areas can be identified through a research distribution springs in a region. The understanding of the condition and the nature of the potential catchment area of groundwater flow, mainly from the catchment area to the discharge area, is urgently needed. This research aimed to assess the general geological conditions of the study area, which is expected to provide an overview of groundwater flow events that used by the public as well as industry. Behavioral characteristics of groundwater become an integral part in the search for potential groundwater in the study area. As for the research methods used hydrogeology mapping and laboratory works.

Keywords: Buton Island, groundwater conservation, hydrogeochemistry preliminary, karst

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Authors: Khalifa Abdunaser, Salem Eljawashi

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Study area is threatened by numerous petroleum activities. The most important risk is associated with dramatic dangers of misuse and oil and gas pollutions, such as significant volumes of produced water, which refers to waste water generated during the production of oil and natural gas and disposed on the surface surrounded oil and gas fields. This work concerns the impact of oil exploration and production activities on the physical and environment fate of the area, focusing on the investigation and observation of crude oil migration as toxic fluid. Its penetration in groundwater resulted from the produced water impacted by oilfield operations disposed to the earth surface in Al Wahat area. Describing the areal distribution of the dominant groundwater quality constituents has been conducted to identify the major hydro-geochemical processes that affect the quality of water and to evaluate the relations between rock types and groundwater flow to the quality and geochemistry of water in Post-Eocene aquifer. The chemical and physical characteristics of produced water, where it is produced, and its potential impacts on the environment and on oil and gas operations have been discussed. Field work survey was conducted to identify and locate a large number of monitoring wells previously drilled throughout the study area. Groundwater samples were systematically collected in order to detect the fate of spills resulting from the various activities at the oil fields in the study area. Spatial distribution maps of the water quality parameters were built using Kriging methods of interpolation in ArcMap software. Thematic maps were generated using GIS and remote sensing techniques, which were applied to include all these data layers as an active database for the area for the purpose of identifying hot spots and prioritizing locations based on their environmental conditions as well as for monitoring plans.

Keywords: Sirt Basin, produced water, Al Wahat area, Ground water

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Authors: Wenbo Yu, Zihao Yuan, Zhipeng Guo, Shoumei Xiong

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Under different slow shot speeds in vacuum assisted high pressure die casting (VHPDC) process, plate-shaped specimens of hypereutectic A390 aluminum alloy were produced. According to the results, the vacuum pressure inside the die cavity increased linearly with the increasing slow shot speed at the beginning of mold filling. Meanwhile, it was found that the tensile properties of vacuum die castings were deteriorated by the porosity content. In addition, the average primary Si size varies between 14µm to 23µm, which has a binary functional relationship with the slow shot speeds. Due to the vacuum effect, the castings were treated by T6 heat treatment. After heat treatment, microstructural morphologies revealed that needle-shaped and thin-flaked eutectic Si particles became rounded while Al2Cu dissolved into α-Al matrix. For the as-received sample in-situ tensile test, microcracks firstly initiate at the primary Si particles and propagated along Al matrix with a transgranular fracture mode. In contrast, for the treated sample, the crack initiated at the Al2Cu particles and propagated along Al grain boundaries with an intergranular fracture mode. In-situ three bending test, microcracks firstly formed in the primary Si particles for both samples. Subsequently, the cracks between primary Si linked along Al grain boundaries in as received sample. In contrast, the cracks in primary Si linked through the solid lines in Al matrix. Furthermore, the fractography revealed that the fracture mechanism has evolved from brittle transgranular fracture to a fracture mode with many dimples after heat treatment.

Keywords: A390 aluminum, vacuum assisted high pressure die casting, heat treatment, mechanical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Ismail Elkhrachy

Abstract:

Determination of land use changing is an important component of regional planning for applications ranging from urban fringe change detection to monitoring change detection of land use. This data are very useful for natural resources management.On the other hand, the technologies and methods of change detection also have evolved dramatically during past 20 years. So it has been well recognized that the change detection had become the best methods for researching dynamic change of land use by multi-temporal remotely-sensed data. The objective of this paper is to assess, evaluate and monitor land use change surrounding the area of Najran city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) using Landsat images (June 23, 2009) and ETM+ image(June. 21, 2014). The post-classification change detection technique was applied. At last,two-time subset images of Najran city are compared on a pixel-by-pixel basis using the post-classification comparison method and the from-to change matrix is produced, the land use change information obtained.Three classes were obtained, urban, bare land and agricultural land from unsupervised classification method by using Erdas Imagine and ArcGIS software. Accuracy assessment of classification has been performed before calculating change detection for study area. The obtained accuracy is between 61% to 87% percent for all the classes. Change detection analysis shows that rapid growth in urban area has been increased by 73.2%, the agricultural area has been decreased by 10.5 % and barren area reduced by 7% between 2009 and 2014. The quantitative study indicated that the area of urban class has unchanged by 58.2 km〗^2, gained 70.3 〖km〗^2 and lost 16 〖km〗^2. For bare land class 586.4〖km〗^2 has unchanged, 53.2〖km〗^2 has gained and 101.5〖km〗^2 has lost. While agriculture area class, 20.2〖km〗^2 has unchanged, 31.2〖km〗^2 has gained and 37.2〖km〗^2 has lost.

Keywords: land use, remote sensing, change detection, satellite images, image classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 519