Search results for: industry structure

Authors: Melike Orhan

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Along with impetuous physical change, configuration and increase in the density of cities, urban public spaces have started to become a transition area rather than spaces to inhabit. The insufficiency of public spaces, one of the most significant components of a city, where communal life is maintained and the decrease in the quality of urban spaces have led to an increase in the use of semi-public spaces as urban space. Semi-public spaces are those that ensure transition between private and public spaces and can be seen, observed, reached and used by urban-dwellers. Humans are in a constant relation to their surroundings and care for integration as part of their surroundings. Semi-public spaces providing balance for the individual between private spaces (structures) and urban-public spaces make this integration easier. Spaces with a semi-public characteristic serve for a particular neighboring unit and the user (i.e. common use areas in residential spaces and dwellings, common outdoor areas situated between office buildings, and etc.) These spaces, whose density of usage is increased with distinctive functions and activities, gain different attributions according to the characteristics of the urban space they are located in (commercial, residential, touristic, and etc.) and to the functions of the structures with which they are in relation. At the same time, they begin to serve other neighboring units along with an increase in public usage. As a result, the interaction between environment-space-structure-humans changes, which directly affects the urban space quality. The aim of this study is to determine how and depending on what characteristics the public usage density of semi-public spaces change and to put forth the effects of this change on the urban environment it is located in and to designate its role in terms of 'urban space quality'. In conclusion, within the scope of this study, semi-public spaces located in urban spaces with distinctive functions will be explored through examples, and the effects of these spaces with altered public usage and density on urban space and quality of life will be put forward. Accordingly, applicable criteria will be determined by means of semi-public spaces oriented at increasing and sustaining the quality of urban space.

Keywords: semi-public spaces, urban public spaces, urban space quality, public usage

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Authors: Arianna Nativio, Zoran Kapelan, Jan Peter van der Hoek

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Bio-composite materials are becoming increasingly popular in various applications, such as the automotive industry. Usually, bio-composite materials are made from natural resources recovered from plants, now, a new type of bio-composite material has begun to be produced in the Netherlands. This material is made from resources recovered from drinking water treatments (calcite), wastewater treatment (cellulose), and material from surface water management (aquatic plants). Surface water, raw drinking water, and wastewater can be contaminated with pathogens and chemical compounds. Therefore, it would be valuable to develop a framework to assess, monitor, and control the potential risks. Indeed, the goal is to define the major risks in terms of human health, quality of materials, and environment associated with the production and application of these new materials. This study describes the general risk assessment framework, starting with a qualitative risk assessment. The qualitative risk analysis was carried out by using the HAZOP methodology for the hazard identification phase. The HAZOP methodology is logical and structured and able to identify the hazards in the first stage of the design when hazards and associated risks are not well known. The identified hazards were analyzed to define the potential associated risks, and then these were evaluated by using the qualitative Event Tree Analysis. ETA is a logical methodology used to define the consequences for a specific hazardous incidents, evaluating the failure modes of safety barriers and dangerous intermediate events that lead to the final scenario (risk). This paper shows the effectiveness of combining of HAZOP and qualitative ETA methodologies for hazard identification and risk mapping. Then, key risks were identified, and a quantitative framework was developed based on the type of risks identified, such as QMRA and QCRA. These two models were applied to assess human health risks due to the presence of pathogens and chemical compounds such as heavy metals into the bio-composite materials. Thus, due to these contaminations, the bio-composite product, during its application, might release toxic substances into the environment leading to a negative environmental impact. Therefore, leaching tests are going to be planned to simulate the application of these materials into the environment and evaluate the potential leaching of inorganic substances, assessing environmental risk.

Keywords: bio-composite, risk assessment, water reuse, resource recovery

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Authors: Sara Vora (Hoxha)

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Defamation, invasion of privacy, and cyberbullying have all increased in tandem with the growth of the internet. European international private law may struggle to deal with such transgressions if they occur in many jurisdictions. The current study examines how effectively the legal system of European international private law addresses abuses of personality rights in cyberspace. The study starts by discussing how established legal frameworks are being threatened by online personality rights abuses. The article then looks into the rules and regulations of European international private law that are in place to handle overseas lawsuits. This article examines the different elements that courts evaluate when deciding which law to use in a particular case, focusing on the concepts of jurisdiction, choice of law, and recognition and execution of foreign judgements. Next, the research analyses the function of the European Union in preventing and punishing online personality rights abuses. Key pieces of law that control the collecting and processing of personal data on the Internet, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the e-Commerce Directive, are discussed. In addition, this article investigates how the ECtHR handles cases involving the infringement of personal freedoms, including privacy and speech. The article finishes with an assessment of how well the legal framework of European international private law protects individuals' right to privacy online. It draws attention to problems with the present legal structure, such as the inability to enforce international judgements, the inconsistency between national laws, and the necessity for stronger measures to safeguard people' rights online. This paper concludes that while European international private law provides a useful framework for dealing with violations of personality rights online, further harmonisation and stronger enforcement mechanisms are necessary to effectively protect individuals' rights in the digital age.

Keywords: European international private law, personality rights, internet, jurisdiction, cross-border disputes, data protection

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Authors: Musaab Salman Sultan

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The surface and bulk magnetization behavior of template released isolated ferromagnetic Ni₆₀Fe₄₀ nanowires of relatively thick diameters (~200 nm), deposited from a dilute suspension onto pre-patterned insulating chips have been investigated experimentally, using a highly sensitive Magneto-Optical Ker Effect (MOKE) magnetometry and Magneto-Resistance (MR) measurements, respectively. The MR data were consistent with the theoretical predictions of the anisotropic magneto-resistance (AMR) effect. The MR measurements, in all the angles of investigations, showed large features and a series of nonmonotonic "continuous small features" in the resistance profiles. The extracted switching fields from these features and from MOKE loops were compared with each other and with the switching fields reported in the literature that adopted the same analytical techniques on the similar compositions and dimensions of nanowires. A large difference between MOKE and MR measurments was noticed. The disparate between MOKE and MR results is attributed to the variance in the micro-magnetic structure of the surface and the bulk of such ferromagnetic nanowires. This result was ascertained using micro-magnetic simulations on an individual: cylindrical and rectangular cross sections NiFe nanowires, with the same diameter/thickness of the experimental wires, using the Object Oriented Micro-magnetic Framework (OOMMF) package where the simulated loops showed different switching events, indicating that such wires have different magnetic states in the reversal process and the micro-magnetic spin structures during switching behavior was complicated. These results further supported the difference between surface and bulk magnetization behavior in these nanowires. This work suggests that a combination of MOKE and MR measurements is required to fully understand the magnetization behavior of such relatively thick isolated cylindrical ferromagnetic nanowires.

Keywords: MOKE magnetometry, MR measurements, OOMMF package, micromagnetic simulations, ferromagnetic nanowires, surface magnetic properties

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Authors: Concetta Busacca, Leone Frusteri, Orazio Di Blasi, Alessandra Di Blasi

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The large-scale extension of renewable energy led, recently, to the development of efficient and low-cost electrochemical energy storage (EES) systems such as batteries. Although lithium-ion battery (LIB) technology is relatively mature, several issues regarding safety, cyclability, and high costs must be overcome. Thanks to the availability and low cost of sodium, sodium-ion batteries (NIB) have the potential to meet the energy storage needs of the large-scale grid, becoming a valid alternative to LIB in some energy sectors, such as the stationary one. However, important challenges such as low specific energy and short cyclic life due to the large radius of Na+ must be faced to introduce this technology into the market. As an important component of SIBs, cathode materials have a significant effect on the electrochemical performance of SIBs. Recently, sodium layer transition metal oxides, phosphates, and organic compounds have been investigated as cathode materials for SIBs. In particular, phosphate-based compounds such as NaₓMPO₄ (M= Fe, Co, Mn) have been extensively studied as cathodic polyanion materials due to their long cycle stability and appropriate operating voltage. Among these, an interesting cathode material is the NaMnPO₄ based one, thanks to the stability and the high redox potential of the Mn²⁺/Mn³⁺ ion pair (3÷4 V vs. Na+/Na), which allows reaching a high energy density. This work concerns with the synthesis of a composite material based on NaMnPO₄ and carbon nanofibers (NaMnPO₄-CNF) characterized by a mixed crystalline structure between the maricite and olivine phases and a self-standing manufacture obtained by electrospinning technique. The material was tested in a Na-ion battery coin cell in half cell configuration, and showed outstanding electrocatalytic performances with a specific discharge capacity of 125 mAhg⁻¹ and 101 mAhg⁻¹ at 0.3C and 0.6C, respectively, and a retention capacity of about 80% a 0.6C after 100 cycles.

Keywords: electrospinning, self standing materials, Na ion battery, cathode materials

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Authors: Bruce Wrightsman

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Traditionally, in architectural education, we develop studio projects with learning agendas that try to minimize conflict and reveal clear design objectives. Knowledge is gleaned only tacitly through confronting the reciprocity of site and form, space and light, structure and envelope. This institutional reality can limit student learning to the latent learning opportunities they will have to confront later in practice. One intent of academic design-build projects is to address the learning opportunities which one can discover in the messy grey areas of design. In this immersive experience, students confront the limitations of classroom learning and are exposed to challenges that demand collaborative practice. As a result, design-build has been widely adopted in an attempt to address perceived deficiencies in design education vis a vis the integration of building technology and construction. Hands-on learning is not a new topic, as espoused by John Dewey, who posits a debate between static and active learning in his book Democracy and Education. Dewey espouses the concept that individuals should become participants and not mere observers of what happens around them. Advocates of academic design-build programs suggest a direct link between Dewey’s speculation. These experiences provide irreplaceable life lessons: that real-world decisions have real-life consequences. The goal of the paper is not to confirm or refute the legitimacy and efficacy of online virtual learning. Rather, the paper aims to foster a deeper, honest discourse on the meaning of ‘making’ in architectural education and present projects that confronted the burdens of a global pandemic and developed unique teaching strategies that challenged design thinking as an observational and constructive effort to expand design student’s making skills and foster student agency.

Keywords: design/build, making, remote teaching, architectural curriculum

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Kevin Kellner, Nga Lao, Orla Coleman, Paula Meleady, Niall Barron

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Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are the prominent cell line used in biopharmaceutical production. To improve yields and find beneficial bioprocess phenotypes genetic engineering plays an essential role in recent research. The miR-23 cluster, specifically miR-24 and miR-27, was first identified as differentially expressed during hypothermic conditions suggesting a role in proliferation and productivity in CHO cells. In this study, we used sponge decoy technology to stably deplete the miRNA expression of the cluster. Furthermore, we implemented the CRISPR/Cas9 system to knockdown miRNA expression. Sponge constructs were designed for an imperfect binding of the miRNA target, protecting from RISC mediated cleavage. GuideRNAs for the CRISPR/Cas9 system were designed to target the seed region of the miRNA. The expression of mature miRNA and precursor were confirmed using RT-qPCR. For both approaches stable expressing mixed populations were generated and characterised in batch cultures. It was shown, that CRISPR/Cas9 can be implemented in CHO cells with achieving high knockdown efficacy of every single member of the cluster. Targeting of one miRNA member showed that its genomic paralog is successfully targeted as well. The stable depletion of miR-24 using CRISPR/Cas9 showed increased growth and specific productivity in a CHO-K1 mAb expressing cell line. This phenotype was further characterized using quantitative label-free LC-MS/MS showing 186 proteins differently expressed with 19 involved in proliferation and 26 involved in protein folding/translation. Targeting miR-27 in the same cell line showed increased viability in late stages of the culture compared to the control. To evaluate the phenotype in an industry relevant cell line; the miR-23 cluster, miR-24 and miR-27 were stably depleted in a Fc fusion CHO-S cell line which showed increased batch titers up to 1.5-fold. In this work, we highlighted that the stable depletion of the miR-23 cluster and its members can improve the bioprocess phenotype concerning growth and productivity in two different cell lines. Furthermore, we showed that using CRISPR/Cas9 is comparable to the traditional sponge decoy technology.

Keywords: Chinese Hamster ovary cells, CRISPR/Cas9, microRNAs, sponge decoy technology

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Authors: Benhammadi Hocine, Fehdi Chemseddine, Chaffai Hicham

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The study site is the plateau Cheria, a city in south eastern Algeria (Tebessa) thanks to its structure perched syncline is the region of Tebessa a real water tower. Special rates provided by some boreholes and wells around the city Cheria have long been led to believe that the reserves were virtually limitless. The investigations carried out in this region have located karstified limestone areas at depth of 100 meters of the carbonate formation. During the last two decades a rainfall deficit has increased the effect of drought has caused an increase in flow from this aquifer. The effect on water resources is a significant and progressive reduction of the static level of the karst aquifer. The qualitative aspect has also been marked by degradation. This climate variability marked by the decade of drought (1990/2000) has had the effect on the local population, a forced change of their activity primarily agricultural. Abandoning agro pastoral mode due to prolonged drought, populations chose agriculture maraichère consumer a lot of water, this increasing the depletion of water resources. This change in activity was accompanied by a rural exodus to urban areas. The result has led to an increase in population in the urban areas, this has resulted in an increase in water demand and an increase in emissions (waste water). Uncontrolled discharges contribute to pollute a little more groundwater. The second consequence is type Geotechnical, it is the appearance of sinkholes, results of the alternating periods of drought and violent floods. Sinkholes are a real concern for the management and urban development. An interdisciplinary contribution (geology, hydrology, climatology and management) is essential to reduce or avoid impacts in different sectors.

Keywords: aquifer, carbonate formation, drought, exodus, resources, chéria, Algéria

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Authors: F. Zouai, F. Z. Benabid, S. Bouhelal, D. Benachour

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A new route of preparation of compatible blends, based on poly(ethylene terephthalate)(PET)/poly(ethylenenaphthalene2,6-dicarboxylate) (PEN)/clay nanocomposites has been successfully performed in one step by reactive melt extrusion. To achieve this, untreated clay was first purified and functionalized “in situ” with a compound based on an organic peroxide/sulfur mixture and (tetra methyl thiuram disulfide) TMTD as accelerator or activator for sulfur. The PET and PEN materials were first mixed separately in the melt state with different amounts of functionalized clay. It was observed that the compositions PET/4 wt% clay and PEN/7.5 wt% clay showed total exfoliation. These completely exfoliated compositions, called nPET and nPEN, respectively, were used to prepare new nPET/nPEN nanoblends in the same mixing batch. The nPET/nPEN nanoblends were compared to neat blends of PET/PEN. The blends and the nanocomposites were characterized by different techniques: differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). The micro and nanostructure/properties relationships were investigated. The results of the WAXS measurements study showed that the exfoliation of tetrahedral nanolayers of clay was complete and the octahedral structure disappeared totally. From the different WAXS patterns, it is seen that all samples are amorphous phase. The thermal study showed that there are only one glass transition temperature Tg, one crystallization temperature Tc and one melting temperature Tm for every composition. This indicated that both PET/PEN blends and nPET/nPEN blends were compatible in the entire range of compositions. In addition, nPET/nPEN blends present lower Tc values and higher Tm values than the corresponding neat PET/PEN blends. The obtained results indicate that nPET/nPEN blends are somewhat different from the pure ones in nanostructure and behavior, thus showing the additional effect of nanolayers. The present study allowed establishing good correlations between the different measured properties.

Keywords: PET, PEN, montmorillonite, nanocomposites, exfoliation, reactive melt-mixing

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Authors: Huda Arshadlamphon

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Advancing frontiers of technology and industry is moving rapidly fast influenced by the economic and political phenomena. One vital phenomenon,which has had consolidated the world to a one single village, is Globalization. In response, architecture and the built-environment have faced numerous changes, adjustments, and developments. Tall-buildings, as a product of globalization, represent prestigious icons, symbols, and landmarks for highly economics and advanced countries. Despite the fact, this trend has been encountering several design challenges incorporating architectural identity, traditions, and characteristics that enhance the built-environments' sociocultural values and traditions. The necessity of these values and traditionsform self-solitarily, leading to visual and spatial creativity, independency, and individuality. In other words, they maintain the inherited identity and avoid replications in all means and aspects. This paper, firstly, defines globalization phenomenon, architectural identity, and the concerns of sociocultural values in relation to the traditional characteristics of the built-environment. Secondly, through three case-studies of tall-buildings located in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia, the Queen's Building, the National Commercial Bank Building (NCB), and the Islamic Development Bank Building; design strategies and methodologies in acclimating architectural identity and characteristics in tall-buildings are discussed. The case-studies highlight buildings' sites and surroundings, concepts and inspirations, design elements, architectural forms and compositions, characteristics, issues, barriers, and trammels facing the designs' decisions, representation of facades, and selection of materials and colors. Furthermore, the research will elucidate briefs of the dominant factors that shape the architectural identity of Jeddah city. In conclusion, the study manifests four tall-buildings' design standards guideline in preserving and developing architectural identity in Jeddah city; the scale of urban and natural environment, the scale of architectural design elements, the integration of visual images, and the creation of spatial scenes and scenarios. The prosed guideline will encourage the development of architectural identity aligned with zeitgeist demands and requirements, supports the contemporary architectural movement toward tall-buildings, and shoresself-solitarily in representing sociocultural values and traditions of the built-environment.

Keywords: architectural identity, built-environment, globalization, sociocultural values and traditions, tall-buildings

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Nader Nciri, Suil Song, Namho Kim, Namjun Cho

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Properties and compositions of bitumen and bitumen-derived liquids have significant influences on the selection of recovery, upgrading and refining processes. Optimal process conditions can often be directly related to these properties. The end uses of bitumen and bitumen products are thus related to their compositions. Because it is not possible to conduct a complete analysis of the molecular structure of bitumen, characterization must be made in other terms. The present paper focuses on physico-chemical analysis of two different types of bitumens. These bitumen samples were chosen based on: the original crude oil (sand oil and crude petroleum), and mode of process. The aim of this study is to determine both the manufacturing effect on chemical species and the chemical organization as a function of the type of bitumen sample. In order to obtain information on bitumen chemistry, elemental analysis (C, H, N, S, and O), heavy metal (Ni, V) concentrations, IATROSCAN chromatography (thin layer chromatography-flame ionization detection), FTIR spectroscopy, and 1H NMR spectroscopy have all been used. The characterization includes information about the major compound types (saturates, aromatics, resins and asphaltenes) which can be compared with similar data for other bitumens, more importantly, can be correlated with data from petroleum samples for which refining characteristics are known. Examination of Asphalt Ridge froth bitumen showed that it differed significantly from representative petroleum pitches, principally in their nonhydrocarbon content, heavy metal content and aromatic compounds. When possible, properties and composition were related to recovery and refining processes. This information is important because of the effects that composition has on recovery and processing reactions.

Keywords: froth bitumen, oil sand, asphalt ridge, petroleum pitch, thin layer chromatography-flame ionization detection, infrared spectroscopy, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

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Authors: Palak J. Shukla, Atul K. Desai, Chentankumar D. Modhera

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For any country in the world, it has become a priority to protect the critical infrastructure from looming risks of terrorism. In any infrastructure system, the structural elements like lower floors, exterior columns, walls etc. are key elements which are the most susceptible to damage due to blast load. The present study revisits the state of art review of the design and analysis of reinforced concrete panels subjected to blast loading. Various aspects in association with blast loading on structure, i.e. estimation of blast load, experimental works carried out previously, the numerical simulation tools, various material models, etc. are considered for exploring the current practices adopted worldwide. Discussion on various parametric studies to investigate the effect of reinforcement ratios, thickness of slab, different charge weight and standoff distance is also made. It was observed that for the simulation of blast load, CONWEP blast function or equivalent numerical equations were successfully employed by many researchers. The study of literature indicates that the researches were carried out using experimental works and numerical simulation using well known generalized finite element methods, i.e. LS-DYNA, ABAQUS, AUTODYN. Many researchers recommended to use concrete damage model to represent concrete and plastic kinematic material model to represent steel under action of blast loads for most of the numerical simulations. Most of the studies reveal that the increase reinforcement ratio, thickness of slab, standoff distance was resulted in better blast resistance performance of reinforced concrete panel. The study summarizes the various research results and appends the present state of knowledge for the structures exposed to blast loading.

Keywords: blast phenomenon, experimental methods, material models, numerical methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Liwiusz Wojciechowski

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Research background: The current knowledge does not give a clear answer to the question of the impact of FDI on productivity. Results of the empirical studies are still inconclusive, no matter how extensive and diverse in terms of research approaches or groups of countries analyzed they are. It should also take into account the possibility that FDI and productivity are linked and that there is a bidirectional relationship between them. This issue is particularly important because on one hand FDI can contribute to changes in productivity in the host country, but on the other hand its level and dynamics may imply that FDI should be undertaken in a given country. As already mentioned, a two-way relationship between the presence of foreign capital and productivity in the host country should be assumed, taking into consideration the endogenous nature of FDI. Purpose of the article: The overall objective of this study is to determine the causality between foreign direct investment and total factor productivity in host county in terms of different relative absorptive capacity across countries. In the classic sense causality among variables is not always obvious and requires for testing, which would facilitate proper specification of FDI models. The aim of this article is to study endogeneity of selected macroeconomic variables commonly being used in FDI models in case of Visegrad countries: main recipients of FDI in CEE. The findings may be helpful in determining the structure of the actual relationship between variables, in appropriate models estimation and in forecasting as well as economic policymaking. Methodology/methods: Panel and time-series data techniques including GMM estimator, VEC models and causality tests were utilized in this study. Findings & Value added: The obtained results allow to confirm the hypothesis states the bi-directional causality between FDI and total factor productivity. Although results differ from among countries and data level of aggregation implications may be useful for policymakers in case of providing foreign capital attracting policy.

Keywords: endogeneity, foreign direct investment, multi-equation models, total factor productivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Monika Balach, Iwona Frydrych, Agnieszka Cichocka

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The objective of this research is to develop an algorithm, taking into account material type and body type that will describe the fabric properties and quality of fit of a garment to the body. One of the objectives of this research is to develop a new algorithm to simulate cloth draping within CAD/CAM software. Existing virtual fitting does not accurately simulate fabric draping behaviour. Part of the research into virtual fitting will focus on the mechanical properties of fabrics. Material behaviour depends on many factors including fibre, yarn, manufacturing process, fabric weight, textile finish, etc. For this study, several different fabric types with very different mechanical properties will be selected and evaluated for all of the above fabric characteristics. These fabrics include woven thick cotton fabric which is stiff and non-bending, woven with elastic content, which is elastic and bends on the body. Within the virtual simulation, the following mechanical properties can be specified: shear, bending, weight, thickness, and friction. To help calculate these properties, the KES system (Kawabata) can be used. This system was originally developed to calculate the mechanical properties of fabric. In this research, the author will focus on three properties: bending, shear, and roughness. This study will consider current research using the KES system to understand and simulate fabric folding on the virtual body. Testing will help to determine which material properties have the largest impact on the fit of the garment. By developing an algorithm which factors in body type, material type, and clothing function, it will be possible to determine how a specific type of clothing made from a particular type of material will fit on a specific body shape and size. A fit indicator will display areas of stress on the garment such as shoulders, chest waist, hips. From this data, CAD/CAM software can be used to develop garments that fit with a very high degree of accuracy. This research, therefore, aims to provide an innovative solution for garment fitting which will aid in the manufacture of clothing. This research will help the clothing industry by cutting the cost of the clothing manufacturing process and also reduce the cost spent on fitting. The manufacturing process can be made more efficient by virtual fitting of the garment before the real clothing sample is made. Fitting software could be integrated into clothing retailer websites allowing customers to enter their biometric data and determine how the particular garment and material type would fit their body.

Keywords: 3D scanning, fabric mechanical properties, quality of fit, virtual fitting

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Xiaoyu Sun

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In recent years, the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has extensively promoted medicine, pharmaceutical, and other related fields. The medical research and development of artificial intelligence by scientific and commercial organizations are on the fast track. The ethics review is one of the critical procedures of registration to get the products approved and launched. However, the SOPs for ethics review is not enough to guide the healthy and rapid development of artificial intelligence in healthcare in China. Ethical Review Measures for Biomedical Research Involving Human Beings was enacted by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China (NHC) on December 1st, 2016. However, from a legislative design perspective, it was neither updated timely nor in line with the trends of AI international development. Therefore, it was great that NHC published a consultation paper on the updated version on March 16th, 2021. Based on the most updated laws and regulations in the States and EU, and in-depth-interviewed 11 subject matter experts in China, including lawmakers, regulators, and key members of ethics review committees, heads of Regulatory Affairs in SaMD industry, and data scientists, several suggestions were proposed on top of the updated version. Although the new version indicated that the Ethics Review Committees need to be created by National, Provincial and individual institute levels, the review authorities of different levels were not clarified. The suggestion is that the precise scope of review authorities for each level should be identified based on Risk Analysis and Management Model, such as the complicated leading technology, gene editing, should be reviewed by National Ethics Review Committees, it will be the job of individual institute Ethics Review Committees to review and approve the clinical study with less risk such as an innovative cream to treat acne. Furthermore, to standardize the research and development of artificial intelligence in healthcare in the age of AI, more clear guidance should be given to data security in the layers of data, algorithm, and application in the process of ethics review. In addition, transparency and responsibility, as two of six principles in the Rome Call for AI Ethics, could be further strengthened in the updated version. It is the shared goal among all countries to manage well and develop AI to benefit human beings. Learned from the other countries who have more learning and experience, China could be one of the most advanced countries in artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Keywords: biomedical research involving human beings, data security, ethics committees, ethical review, medical artificial intelligence

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Authors: Marija Vitanovа, Igor Gjorgjiev, Viktor Hristovski, Vlado Micov

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Evaluation of stability is very important in the process of definition of optimal structural measures for maintenance of bridge structures and their strengthening. To define optimal measures for their repair and strengthening, it is necessary to evaluate their static and seismic stability. Presented in this paper are methodologies for evaluation of the seismic stability of existing reinforced concrete bridges designed without consideration of seismic effects and checking of structural justification of newly designed bridge structures. All bridges are located in the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia. A total of 26 existing bridges of different structural systems have been analyzed. Visual inspection has been carried out for all bridges, along with the definition of three main damage categories according to which structures have been categorized in respect to the need for their repair and strengthening. Investigations involving testing the quality of the built-in materials have been carried out, and dynamic tests pointing to the dynamic characteristics of the structures have been conducted by use of non-destructive methods of ambient vibration measurements. The conclusions drawn from the performed measurements and tests have been used for the development of accurate mathematical models that have been analyzed for static and dynamic loads. Based on the geometrical characteristics of the cross-sections and the physical characteristics of the built-in materials, interaction diagrams have been constructed. These diagrams along with the obtained section quantities under seismic effects, have been used to obtain the bearing capacity of the cross-sections. The results obtained from the conducted analyses point to the need for the repair of certain structural parts of the bridge structures. They indicate that the stability of the superstructure elements is not critical during a seismic effect, unlike the elements of the sub-structure, whose strengthening is necessary.

Keywords: existing bridges, newly designed bridges, reinforced concrete bridges, stability assessment

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Authors: András Farkas, István Molnár, Jan Vrána, Veronika Burešová, Petr Cápal, András Cseh, Márta Molnár-Láng, Jaroslav Doležel

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Species of Aegilops played a central role in the evolution of wheat and are sources of traits related to yield quality and tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses. These wild genes and alleles are desirable to use in crop improvement programs via introgressive hybridization. However, the success of chromosome mediated gene transfer to wheat are hampered by the pour knowledge on the genome structure of Aegilops relative to wheat and by the low number of cost-effective molecular markers specific for Aegilops chromosomes. The COS markers specific for genes conserved throughout evolution in both sequence and copy number between Triticeae/Aegilops taxa and define orthologous regions, thus enabling the comparison of regions on the chromosomes of related species. The present study compared individual chromosomes of Aegilops umbellulata (UU), Ae. comosa (MM), Ae. speltoides (SS) and Ae. caudata (CC) purified by flourescent labelling with oligonucleotid SSR repeats and biparametric flow cytometry with wheat by identifying orthologous chromosomal regions by COS markers. The linear order of bin-mapped COS markers along the wheat D chromosomes was identified by the use of chromosome-specific sequence data and virtual gene order. Syntenic regions of wheat identifying genome rearrangements differentiating the U, M, S or C genomes from the D genome of wheat were detected. The conserved orthologous set markers assigned to Aegilops chromosomes promise to accelerate gene introgression by facilitating the identification of alien chromatin. The syntenic relationships between the Aegilops species and wheat will facilitate the targeted development of new markers specific for U, M, S and C genomic regions and will contribute to the understanding of molecular processes related to the evolution of Aegilops.

Keywords: Aegilops, cos-markers, flow-sorting, wheat

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Authors: Mahdieh Farzin Asanjan, Erkan Unal Mumcuoglu

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Mitochondria are cytoplasmic organelles of the cell, which have a significant role in the variety of cellular metabolic functions. Mitochondria act as the power plants of the cell and are surrounded by two membranes. Significant morphological alterations are often due to changes in mitochondrial functions. A powerful technique in order to study the three-dimensional (3D) structure of mitochondria and its alterations in disease states is Electron microscope tomography. Detection of mitochondria in electron microscopy images due to the presence of various subcellular structures and imaging artifacts is a challenging problem. Another challenge is that each image typically contains more than one mitochondrion. Hand segmentation of mitochondria is tedious and time-consuming and also special knowledge about the mitochondria is needed. Fully automatic segmentation methods lead to over-segmentation and mitochondria are not segmented properly. Therefore, semi-automatic segmentation methods with minimum manual effort are required to edit the results of fully automatic segmentation methods. Here two editing tools were implemented by applying spline surface dragging and interactive live-wire segmentation tools. These editing tools were applied separately to the results of fully automatic segmentation. 3D extension of these tools was also studied and tested. Dice coefficients of 2D and 3D for surface dragging using splines were 0.93 and 0.92. This metric for 2D and 3D for live-wire method were 0.94 and 0.91 respectively. The root mean square symmetric surface distance values of 2D and 3D for surface dragging was measured as 0.69, 0.93. The same metrics for live-wire tool were 0.60 and 2.11. Comparing the results of these editing tools with the results of automatic segmentation method, it shows that these editing tools, led to better results and these results were more similar to ground truth image but the required time was higher than hand-segmentation time

Keywords: medical image segmentation, semi-automatic methods, transmission electron microscopy, surface dragging using splines, live-wire

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Authors: Ibrahim M. Labouta, Gina N. Tageldin, Salwa M. Fahmy, Hayam M. Ashour, Mounir A. Khalil, Tamer M. Ibrahim, Nefertiti A. El-Nikhely

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Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a critical effector molecule in B cell antigen receptor (BCR) signaling transduction. It regulates B cell proliferation, development and survival. Since BTK is widely expressed in many B cell leukaemias and lymphomas, targeting BTK by small molecules inhibitors became an attractive idea as new treatment modalities for B cell mediated hematologic malignancies. Ibrutinib is the 1st generation BTK inhibitor, approved by FDA for treatment of relapsed mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). It binds irreversibly to the unique cysteine (Cys481) within the ATP-binding pocket of BTK. Besides ibrutinib, many irreversible covalent BTK inhibitors comprising pyrimidine nucleus such as spebrutinib (phase IIb) showed high selectivity and potency when compared to it. In this study, the designed compounds were based on 5-cyano-2-methylsulfanyl pyrimidine core and decorated with electrophilic warheads which are essential for the optimal activity for targeted covalent inhibition (TCI). However, modifications at pyrimidine C4 or C6 were made by introduction of substituted amines which are provided to behave differently. The synthesized derivatives were evaluated for their anticancer activity in leukemia cell lines (e.g. THP-1). Results showed that, some derivatives exhibited antiproliferative activity with IC50 ranged from 5-50 μM, The in vitro enzymatic inhibitory assay for these compounds against BTK is still under investigation. Nevertheless, we could conclude from the initial biological screening that, the synthesized 4 or 6-subsitituted aminopyrimidines represent promising and novel antileukemic agents. Meanwhile, further studies are still needed to attribute this activity through targeting BTK enzyme and inhibition of BCR signaling pathway.

Keywords: BTK inhibitors, hematologic malignancies, structure based drug design (SBDD), targeted covalent inhibitors (TCI)

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Eman W. Boghdady, A. R. Shehata, M. A. Azem

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Database (DB) security demands permitting authorized users and prohibiting non-authorized users and intruders actions on the DB and the objects inside it. Organizations that are running successfully demand the confidentiality of their DBs. They do not allow the unauthorized access to their data/information. They also demand the assurance that their data is protected against any malicious or accidental modification. DB protection and confidentiality are the security concerns. There are four types of controls to obtain the DB protection, those include: access control, information flow control, inference control, and cryptographic. The cryptographic control is considered as the backbone for DB security, it secures the DB by encryption during storage and communications. Current cryptographic techniques are classified into two types: traditional classical cryptography using standard algorithms (DES, AES, IDEA, etc.) and chaos cryptography using continuous (Chau, Rossler, Lorenz, etc.) or discreet (Logistics, Henon, etc.) algorithms. The important characteristics of chaos are its extreme sensitivity to initial conditions of the system. In this paper, DB-security systems based on chaotic algorithms are described. The Pseudo Random Numbers Generators (PRNGs) from the different chaotic algorithms are implemented using Matlab and their statistical properties are evaluated using NIST and other statistical test-suits. Then, these algorithms are used to secure conventional DB (plaintext), where the statistical properties of the ciphertext are also tested. To increase the complexity of the PRNGs and to let pass all the NIST statistical tests, we propose two hybrid PRNGs: one based on two chaotic Logistic maps and another based on two chaotic Henon maps, where each chaotic algorithm is running side-by-side and starting from random independent initial conditions and parameters (encryption keys). The resulted hybrid PRNGs passed the NIST statistical test suit.

Keywords: algorithms and data structure, DB security, encryption, chaotic algorithms, Matlab, NIST

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Nyashadzashe Chiraga, Anthony Walker, Glen Bright

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The manufacturing industry is currently experiencing a paradigm shift into the Fourth Industrial Revolution in which customers are increasingly at the epicentre of production. The high degree of production customization and personalization requires a flexible manufacturing system that will rapidly respond to the dynamic and volatile changes driven by the market. They are a gap in technology that allows for the optimal flow of information and optimal manufacturing operations on the shop floor regardless of the rapid changes in the fixture and part demands. Information is the reduction of uncertainty; it gives meaning and context on the state of each cell. The amount of information needed to describe cellular manufacturing systems is investigated by two measures: the structural entropy and the operational entropy. Structural entropy is the expected amount of information needed to describe scheduled states of a manufacturing system. While operational entropy is the amount of information that describes the scheduled states of a manufacturing system, which occur during the actual manufacturing operation. Using Anylogic simulator a typical manufacturing job shop was set-up with a cellular manufacturing configuration. The cellular make-up of the configuration included; a Material handling cell, 3D Printer cell, Assembly cell, manufacturing cell and Quality control cell. The factory shop provides manufactured parts to a number of clients, and there are substantial variations in the part configurations, new part designs are continually being introduced to the system. Based on the normal expected production schedule, the schedule adherence was calculated from the structural entropy and operation entropy of varying the amounts of information communicated in simulated runs. The structural entropy denotes a system that is in control; the necessary real-time information is readily available to the decision maker at any point in time. For contractive analysis, different out of control scenarios were run, in which changes in the manufacturing environment were not effectively communicated resulting in deviations in the original predetermined schedule. The operational entropy was calculated from the actual operations. From the results obtained in the empirical study, it was seen that increasing, the efficiency of a factory communication system increases the degree of adherence of a job to the expected schedule. The performance of downstream production flow fed from the parallel upstream flow of information on the factory state was increased.

Keywords: information entropy, communication in manufacturing, mass customisation, scheduling

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Saleh Alumaran, Giampaolo Bella, Feng Chen

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The study of organisations’ information security cultures has attracted scholars as well as healthcare services industry to research the topic and find appropriate tools and approaches to develop a positive culture. The vast majority of studies in Saudi national health services are on the use of technology to protect and secure health services information. On the other hand, there is a lack of research on the role and impact of an organisation’s cultural dimensions on information security. This research investigated and analysed the role and impact of cultural dimensions on information security in Saudi Arabia health service. Hypotheses were tested and two surveys were carried out in order to collect data and information from three major hospitals in Saudi Arabia (SA). The first survey identified the main cultural-dimension problems in SA health services and developed an initial information security culture framework model. The second survey evaluated and tested the developed framework model to test its usefulness, reliability and applicability. The model is based on human behaviour theory, where the individual’s attitude is the key element of the individual’s intention to behave as well as of his or her actual behaviour. The research identified six cultural dimensions: Saudi national culture, Saudi health service leadership, employees’ trust, technology, multicultural interactions and employees’ job roles. The research also identified a set of cultural sub-dimensions. These include working values and norms, tribe values and norms, attitudes towards women, power sharing, vision, social interaction, respect and understanding, hospital intra-net, hospital employees’ language(s) used, multi-national culture, communication system, employees’ job satisfaction and job security. The research identified that (a) the human behaviour towards medical information in SA is one of the main threats to information security and one of the main challenges to SA health authority, (b) The current situation of SA hospitals’ IS cultures is falling short in protecting medical information due to the current value and norms towards information security, (c) Saudi national culture and employees’ job role are the main dimensions playing major roles in the employees’ attitude, and technology is the least important dimension playing a role in the employees’ attitudes.

Keywords: cultural dimension, electronic health record, information security, privacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Tereza Dolečková

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Following article provides the comparison of international norms and standards formulating personal expenses, and then it illustrates the national concept of personal expenses of the Ministry of Defence. Then a new salary system of soldiers and the importance of the service appraisal in the context of personal expenses of the Ministry of Defence are explained. The first part of the article includes formulation of the approach to the definition of personal expenses within the international norms and standards and also within the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic. The structure of employees of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic in years 2012 – 2014 and the amount of military expenses and the share of salary expenses of the Ministry of total expenses of the Ministry are clarified there, also the comparison of the amount of military expenses in chosen member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is done. The salary system of professional soldiers in connection with the amendment of the Act No. 221/1999 Coll. on Professional Soldiers is clarified in the second part of this article. The amendment significantly regulates the salary items of soldiers but changes are also in the service appraisal of soldiers which reflects one of seven salary items of soldiers – the performance bonus. The aim of this article is to clarify different approach to define personal expenses with emphasis on the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic which overlaps to the service appraisal of soldiers of the Army of the Czech Republic and their salary system in connection with personal expenses of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic. The efficient and objective system of the service appraisal and the use of its results are connected to the principles of the career advancement; only the best soldiers can advance in the system of the service careers to higher positions. That is why it is necessary to improve the service appraisal so it would provide the maximum information about the performance of a soldier and it would also motivate the soldier in his development. The attention should be paid to the service appraisal of the soldiers of the Army of the Czech Republic to achieve as much objectivity as possible.

Keywords: career, human resource management and development, personal expenses, salary system of soldiers, service appraisal of soldiers, the Army of the Czech Republic

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: A. Aboubakr, E. Fehling, S. A. Mourad, M. Omar

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Wind energy is one of the most effective renewable sources especially offshore wind energy although offshore wind technology is more costly to produce. It is well known that offshore wind energy can potentially be very cheap once infrastructure and researches improve. Laterally, the trend is to construct offshore wind energy to generate the electricity form wind. This leads to intensive research in order to improve the infrastructures. Offshore wind energy is the construction of wind farms in bodies of water to generate electricity from wind. The most important part in offshore wind turbine structure is the foundation and its connection with the wind tower. This is the main difference between onshore and offshore structures. Grouted connection between the foundation and the wind tower is the most important part of the building process when constructing wind offshore turbines. Most attention should be paid to the actual grout connection as this transfers the loads safely from tower to foundations and the soil also. In this paper, finite element analyses have been carried out for studying the behaviour of offshore grouted connection for wind turbine structures. ATENA program have been used for non-linear analysis simulation of the real structural behavior thus demonstrating the crushing, cracking, contact between the two materials and steel yielding. A calibration of the material used in the simulation has been carried out assuring an accurate model of the used material by ATENA program. This calibration was performed by comparing the results from the ATENA program with experimental results to validate the material properties used in ATENA program. Three simple patch test models with different properties have been performed. The research is concluded with a result that the calibration showing a good agreement between the ATENA program material behaviors and the experimental results.

Keywords: grouted connection, 3D modeling, finite element analysis, offshore wind energy turbines, stresses

Procedia PDF Downloads 522

Authors: Artemova Anastasiia, Shen Zexiang, Savilov Serguei

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The marine environment is very aggressive for a number of factors, such as moisture, temperature, winds, ultraviolet radiation, chloride ion concentration, oxygen concentration, pollution, and biofouling, all contributing to marine corrosion. Protective organic coatings provide protection either by a barrier action from the layer, which is limited due to permeability to water and oxygen or from active corrosion inhibition and cathodic protection due to the pigments in the coating. Carbon nanotubes can play not only barrier effect but also passivation effect via adsorbing molecular species of oxygen, hydroxyl, chloride and sulphate anions. Multiwall carbon nanotubes composite provide very important properties such as mechanical strength, non-cytotoxicity, outstanding thermal and electrical conductivity, and very strong absorption of ultraviolet radiation. The samples of stainless steel (316L) coated by epoxy resin with carbon nanotubes-based pigments were exposed to UV irradiation (340nm), and immersion to the sodium chloride solution for 1000h and corrosion behavior in 3.5 wt% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution was investigated. Experimental results showed that corrosion current significantly decreased in the presence of carbon nanotube-based materials, especially nitrogen-doped ones, in the composite coating. Importance of the structure and composition of the pigment materials and its composition was established, and the mechanism of the protection was described. Finally, the effect of nitrogen doping on the corrosion behavior was investigated. The pigment-polymer crosslinking improves the coating performance and the corrosion rate decreases in comparison with pure epoxy coating from 5.7E-05 to 1.4E-05mm/yr for the coating without any degradation; in more than 6 times for the coating after ultraviolet degradation; and more than 16% for the coatings after immersion degradation.

Keywords: corrosion, coating, carbon nanotubes, degradation

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Nazim Mir-Nasiri, Hudyjaya Siswoyo Jo

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The paper describes conceptual design, control strategies, and partial simulation for a new fully autonomous lower limb wearable exoskeleton system for human motion enhancement that can support its weight and increase strength and endurance. Various problems still remain to be solved where the most important is the creation of a power and cost efficient system that will allow an exoskeleton to operate for extended period without batteries being frequently recharged. The designed exoskeleton is enabling to decouple the weight/mass carrying function of the system from the forward motion function which reduces the power and size of propulsion motors and thus the overall weight, cost of the system. The decoupling takes place by blocking the motion at knee joint by placing passive air cylinder across the joint. The cylinder is actuated when the knee angle has reached the minimum allowed value to bend. The value of the minimum bending angle depends on usual walk style of the subject. The mechanism of the exoskeleton features a seat to rest the subject’s body weight at the moment of blocking the knee joint motion. The mechanical structure of each leg has six degrees of freedom: four at the hip, one at the knee, and one at the ankle. Exoskeleton legs are attached to subject legs by using flexible cuffs. The operation of all actuators depends on the amount of pressure felt by the feet pressure sensors and knee angle sensor. The sensor readings depend on actual posture of the subject and can be classified in three distinct cases: subject stands on one leg, subject stands still on both legs and subject stands on both legs but transit its weight from one leg to other. This exoskeleton is power efficient because electrical motors are smaller in size and did not participate in supporting the weight like in all other existing exoskeleton designs.

Keywords: energy efficient system, exoskeleton, motion enhancement, robotics

Procedia PDF Downloads 364

Authors: Soheila Rabiepoor, Elham Sadeghi

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Introduction: Divorce is both a personal and a social issue. Nowadays, due to various factors such as rapid social, economical, and cultural changes, the family structure has undergone many rough changes, out of 3 marriages 2 of them lead to divorce. One of the factors affecting the incidence of divorce and relationship problems between couples is the sexual and marital behaviors. There are several different reasons to suspect that pornography might affect divorce in either a positive or a negative way. Therefore this study evaluated the sexual health of divorce-asking in Urmia, Iran. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study and was conducted on 71 married women of Urmia, Iran in 2016. Participants were applicants of divorce (referred to divorce center) who were selected by using convenient sampling method. Data gathering tool included the scales for measuring demographic, sexual health (sexual satisfaction and function), and researcher made pornography questions. Data were analyzed based on the SPSS 16 software. P-values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: Investigation of demographic features showed that age average of studied samples was 28.98 ± 7.44, with a marriage duration average 8.12 ± 6.53 years (min 1 year/ max 28 years). Most of their education was at diploma (45.1%). 69 % of the women declared their income and expenditure as equal. Nearly 42% of women and 59% of their partner had watched sexual pornography clips. 45.5% of participants reported that they compared own sexual relationship with sexual pornography clips. In the other hand, sexual satisfaction total score was 51.50 ± 17.92. The mean total sexual function score was 16.62 ± 10.58. According to these findings, most of women were experienced sexual dissatisfaction and dysfunction. Conclusions: The results of the study indicated that who had low sexual satisfaction score, had higher rate of watching pornography clips. Based on current study, paying attention to family education and counseling programs especially in the sexual field will be more fruitful.

Keywords: divorce-asking, pornography, sexual satisfaction, sexual function, women

Procedia PDF Downloads 571

Authors: Lazhar Zourgui

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Opuntia species are used as local medicinal interventions for chronic diseases and as food sources, mainly because they possess nutritional properties and biological activities. Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill, commonly known as prickly pear or nopal cactus, is the most economically valuable plant in the Cactaceae family worldwide. It is a tropical or subtropical plant native to tropical and subtropical America, which can grow in arid and semi-arid climates. It belongs to the family of angiosperms dicotyledons Cactaceae of which about 1500 species of cacti are known. The Opuntia plant is distributed throughout the world and has great economic potential. There are differences in the phytochemical composition of Opuntia species between wild and domesticated species and within the same species. It is an interesting source of plant bioactive compounds. Bioactive compounds are compounds with nutritional benefits and are generally classified into phenolic and non-phenolic compounds and pigments. Opuntia species are able to grow in almost all climates, for example, arid, temperate, and tropical climates, and their bioactive compound profiles change depending on the species, cultivar, and climatic conditions. Therefore, there is an opportunity for the discovery of new compounds from different Opuntia cultivars. Health benefits of prickly pear are widely demonstrated: There is ample evidence of the health benefits of consuming prickly pear due to its source of nutrients and vitamins and its antioxidant properties due to its content of bioactive compounds. In addition, prickly pear is used in the treatment of hyperglycemia and high cholesterol levels, and its consumption is linked to a lower incidence of coronary heart disease and certain types of cancer. It may be effective in insulin-independent type 2 diabetes mellitus. Opuntia ficus-Indica seed oil has shown potent antioxidant and prophylactic effects. Industrial applications of these bioactive compounds are increasing. In addition to their application in the pharmaceutical industries, bioactive compounds are used in the food industry for the production of nutraceuticals and new food formulations (juices, drinks, jams, sweeteners). In my lecture, I will review in a comprehensive way the phytochemical, nutritional, and bioactive compound composition of the different aerial and underground parts of Opuntia species. The biological activities and applications of Opuntia compounds are also discussed.

Keywords: medicinal plants, cactus, Opuntia, actives biomolecules, biological activities

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: I GD Yudha Partama, A. Kanno, Y. Akamatsu, R. Inui, M. Goto, M. Sekine

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The aerial photogrammetry of shallow water bottoms has the potential to be an efficient high-resolution survey technique for shallow water topography, thanks to the advent of convenient UAV and automatic image processing techniques Structure-from-Motion (SfM) and Multi-View Stereo (MVS)). However, it suffers from the systematic overestimation of the bottom elevation, due to the light refraction at the air-water interface. In this study, we present an empirical method to correct for the effect of refraction after the usual SfM-MVS processing, using common software. The presented method utilizes the empirical relation between the measured true depth and the estimated apparent depth to generate an empirical correction factor. Furthermore, this correction factor was utilized to convert the apparent water depth into a refraction-corrected (real-scale) water depth. To examine its effectiveness, we applied the method to two river sites, and compared the RMS errors in the corrected bottom elevations with those obtained by three existing methods. The result shows that the presented method is more effective than the two existing methods: The method without applying correction factor and the method utilizes the refractive index of water (1.34) as correction factor. In comparison with the remaining existing method, which used the additive terms (offset) after calculating correction factor, the presented method performs well in Site 2 and worse in Site 1. However, we found this linear regression method to be unstable when the training data used for calibration are limited. It also suffers from a large negative bias in the correction factor when the apparent water depth estimated is affected by noise, according to our numerical experiment. Overall, the good accuracy of refraction correction method depends on various factors such as the locations, image acquisition, and GPS measurement conditions. The most effective method can be selected by using statistical selection (e.g. leave-one-out cross validation).

Keywords: bottom elevation, MVS, river, SfM

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: Thomas Arink, Isam Janajreh

Abstract:

The petroleum industry generates significant amounts of waste in the form of drill cuttings, contaminated soil and oily sludge. Drill cuttings are a product of the off-shore drilling rigs, containing wet soil and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). Contaminated soil comes from different on-shore sites and also contains TPH. The oily sludge is mainly residue or tank bottom sludge from storage tanks. The two main treatment methods currently used are incineration and thermal desorption (TD). Thermal desorption is a method where the waste material is heated to 450ºC in an anaerobic environment to release volatiles, the condensed volatiles can be used as a liquid fuel. For the thermal desorption unit dry contaminated soil is mixed with moist drill cuttings to generate a suitable mixture. By thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) of the TD feedstock it was found that less than 50% of the TPH are released, the discharged material is stored in landfill. This study proposes co-gasification of petroleum waste with waste tires as an alternative to thermal desorption. Co-gasification with a high-calorific material is necessary since the petroleum waste consists of more than 60 wt% ash (soil/sand), causing its calorific value to be too low for gasification. Since the gasification process occurs at 900ºC and higher, close to 100% of the TPH can be released, according to the TGA. This work consists of three parts: 1. a mathematical gasification model, 2. a reactive flow CFD model and 3. experimental work on a drop tube reactor. Extensive material characterization was done by means of proximate analysis (TGA), ultimate analysis (CHNOS flash analysis) and calorific value measurements (Bomb calorimeter) for the input parameters of the mathematical and CFD model. The mathematical model is a zero dimensional model based on Gibbs energy minimization together with Lagrange multiplier; it is used to find the product species composition (molar fractions of CO, H2, CH4 etc.) for different tire/petroleum feedstock mixtures and equivalence ratios. The results of the mathematical model act as a reference for the CFD model of the drop-tube reactor. With the CFD model the efficiency and product species composition can be predicted for different mixtures and particle sizes. Finally both models are verified by experiments on a drop tube reactor (1540 mm long, 66 mm inner diameter, 1400 K maximum temperature).

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics (CFD), drop tube reactor, gasification, Gibbs energy minimization, petroleum waste, waste tires

Procedia PDF Downloads 513