Search results for: Imbalance Force

Authors: Tinebeb Tefera Ashene

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Glass facade systems have gained popularity in recent times. During an earthquake, building frames suffer large inter-story drifts, causing racking of building facade systems. A facade system is highly vulnerable and fails more frequently than a building with significant devastating effects. The usage of Metallic yield damper connections (Added Damping Stiffness) is proposed in this study to mitigate the aforementioned problems. Results showed as compared to control, usage of Metallic yield damper connections (Added-Damping-And-Stiffness) exhibited a reduction of connection deformation and axial force; differential displacement between frame and facade; and facade distortion by 44.35%, 43.33%, and 51.45% respectively. Also, employing proposed energy-absorbing connections reduced inter-story link joint drift by 71.11% and mitigated detrimental seismic effects on the entire building facade system.

Keywords: damper, energy dissipation, metallic yield, facades

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Authors: Korosh Khorshidi

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Due to the increasing use of different materials, such as auxetic structures, it is necessary to investigate mechanical phenomena, such as vibration, in structures made of these types of materials. This paper examines the forced vibrations of a three-layer cylindrical shell containing inviscid fluid under shock load. All three layers are made of aluminum, and the central layer is made of a re-entrant honeycomb cell structure. Using high-order shear deformation theories (HSDT) and Hamilton’s principle, the governing equations of the system have been extracted and solved by the Galerkin weighted residual method. The outputs of the Abaqus finite element software are used to validate the results. The system is investigated with both simple and clamped support conditions. Finally, this study investigates the influence of the geometrical parameters of the shell and the auxetic structure, as well as the type, intensity, duration, and location of the load, and the effect of the fluid on the dynamic and time responses.

Keywords: force vibration, cylindrical shell, auxetic structure, inviscid fluid

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Authors: Sharon Kun-Amornpong

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In this paper, ASEAN financial integration will be discussed from the perspective of the rule of law. The methodology of the paper is comparative regionalism. It will compare the role of the rule of law in ASEAN financial integration with that of the European Union with particular focuses on, for example, institutions and values. The paper argues that in the realm of financial integration, the rule of law is one of the most important factors that could help strengthen and promote financial integration in ASEAN. This is despite the fact that the ‘ASEAN Way’ emphasises non-interference and utilises a consensus-based cooperation rather than formal institutions. Nevertheless, the rule of law for ASEAN financial integration should be situated in its own historical, cultural, and political contexts. In addition, in the case of ASEAN, the rule of law cannot take root if it does not come from the demand of the people in this region. For instance, a reform or creation of legal institutions should not be imposed by international financial institutions. The paper will conclude that law has a normative force. It could shape expectation of market participants and promote deeper financial integration if norms that the law generates have become a significant norm in the society or industry.

Keywords: Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, comparative regionalism, financial integration, the rule of law

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Authors: M. Ezati Kooshki , H. Pourmohamad

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Leaf spring dampers are used for commercial vehicles and heavy tracks. The main function of this damper in these vehicles is protection against damage and providing comfort for drivers by creating suspension between road and vehicle. This paper presents a new device, circular leaf spring damper, which is frequently used on vehicles, aiming to gain seismic protection of structures. Finite element analyses were conducted on several one-story structures using finite element software (Abaqus, v6.10-1). The time history analysis was conducted on the records of Kobe (1995) and San Fernando (1971) ground motions to demonstrate the advantages of using leaf spring in structures as compared to simple bracing system. This paper also suggests extending the use of this damper in structures, considering its large control force despite high cycle fatigue properties and low prices.

Keywords: bracing system, finite element analysis, leaf spring, seismic protection, time history analysis

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Authors: Shaukat Ali, Kanber Sedef, Mustafa Yilmaz

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This work analyzes a finger mechanism for a prosthetic hand that will help in improving the living standards of people who have lost their hands for a variety of reasons. The finger mechanism is single degree of freedom and hence has advantages such as compact size, reduced mass and less energy consumption. The proposed finger mechanism is a six bar linkage actuated by a single motor. The kinematic, static and dynamic analyses have been done by using the conventional methods of mechanism analysis. The kinematic results present the motion of the proposed finger mechanism and location of the fingertip. The static and dynamic analyses provide the useful information about the gripping force at the fingertip for various configurations and the selection of motor that will move the finger over its range of configuration. This single motor finger mechanism is simple and resembles the human finger’s motion suitable for grasping operation. This study can be used in the optimization of geometrical parameters of the proposed mechanism to obtain the desired configurations with minimum torque and enhanced griping.

Keywords: dynamics, finger mechanism, grasping, kinematics

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Authors: Yingyi Luo

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Cross-border surrogacy is seen by many as a market in which women are bought and sold commodities at risk of trafficking. A surrogate can be framed as either a fully acknowledged subject, with whom intended parents engage in cross-border surrogacy—or as a tool utilized by intended parents and surrogacy facilitators in the furtherance of their own objectives. In order to identify which frame prevails, this paper applies subjectivity theory to an empirical study of cross-border surrogacy facilitated by facilitators in Australia analysing interviews with surrogate agents, counsellors and lawyers, and observations at trade show. The aim of the paper is to advance understanding of the dynamics of the relationship between intended parents, surrogates, and surrogacy facilitators by collecting new data and applying unique framework. As dominant players, surrogacy facilitators have a significant impact on determining the nature of cross-border surrogacy. However, little is known concerning the manner in which facilitators influence the inter-subjectivity between surrogate mothers and intended parents. Thus, this paper intends to identify how facilitators depict surrogate mothers, the degree to which their perspectives bear upon both the subjectivity of the surrogate mother and the relationship of intended parents with surrogate mothers. For the purpose of introducing and developing this framework in the context of cross-border surrogacy, this paper borrows from the work of theorists not often mentioned in bioethics, including Jacques Lacan, Marco Cavallaro, Michel Foucault, and others. It also applies the concept of 'the gaze' along with the dynamic of 'self' and 'other' to the cross-border surrogacy arrangement. Applying the concept of the gaze can provide a new way to interpret the power dynamic that plays out among surrogacy facilitators, intended parents, and surrogates within the commercial surrogacy arrangement and how the subjectivity is produced through the power. Viewing the relationships between the players in cross-border surrogacy through the lens of gaze theory, this paper finds that, in cross-border surrogacy, due to the structural power imbalance, affluent intended parents and surrogacy facilitators are possessors of the gaze, while surrogate mothers are under the thrall of the gaze. Specifically, facilitators frame surrogate mothers' reproductive abilities as commodities that intended parents can purchase to fulfil their urgent need to have children and experience full subjectivity, and they take a cut of the money that paid by intended parents. Therefore, commodification of the body results in degrading a surrogate mother (the object), reifying her as no more than a walking womb (the other), a process which is highly detrimental to the self of surrogate mothers. This relationship, formalized through contractual means, allows intended parents and facilitators to take advantage of surrogate mothers in the furtherance of their own objectives. This argument is enriched by new data from interviews and observations that provide nuance to this understanding of inter-subjectivity.

Keywords: cross-border surrogacy, facilitators, self, surrogate mothers

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Authors: Weixiao Wei, Chris Shei

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This paper describes Mandate of Heaven as a source of justification for the ruling regime from ancient China approximately three thousand years ago. Initially, the kings of Shang dynasty simply nominated themselves as the sons of Heaven sent to Earth to rule the common people. As the last generation of the kings became corrupted and ruled withbrutal force and crueltywhich directly caused their destruction, the successive kings of Zhou dynasty realised the importance of virtue and the provision of goods to the people. Legitimacy of the ruling regimes became rested not entirely on random allocation of the throne by an unknown supernatural force but on a foundation comprising morality and the ability to provide goods. The latter composite was picked up by the current ruling regime, the Chinese Communist Party, and became the cornerstone of its political legitimacy, also known as ‘performance legitimacy’ where economic development accounts for the satisfaction of the people in place of election and other democratic means of providing legal-rational legitimacy. Under this circumstance, it becomes important as well for the ruling party to use political rhetoric to convince people of the good performance of the government in the economy, morality, and foreign policy. Thus, we see a lot of propaganda materials in both government policy statements and international press conference announcements. The former consists mainly of important speeches made by prominent figures in Party conferences which are not only made publicly available on the government websites but also become obligatory reading materials for university entrance examinations. The later consists of announcements about foreign policies and strategies and actions taken by the government regarding foreign affairsmade in international conferences and offered in Chinese-English bilingual versions on official websites. This documentation strategy creates an impressive image of the Chinese Communist Party that is domestically competent and international strong, taking care of the people it governs in terms of economic needs and defending the country against any foreign interference and global adversities. This political discourse system comprising reading materials fully extractable from government websites also becomes excellent repertoire for teaching and researching in contemporary Chinese language, discourse and rhetoric, Chinese culture and tradition, Chinese political ideology, and Chinese-English translation. This paper aims to provide a detailed and comprehensive description of the current Chinese political discourse system, arguing about its lineage from the rhetorical convention of Mandate of Heaven in ancient China and its current concentration on serving the people in place of election, human rights, and freedom of speech. The paper will also provide guidelines as to how this discourse system and the manifestation of official documents created under this system can become excellent research and teaching materials in applied linguistics.

Keywords: mandate of heaven, Chinese communist party, performance legitimacy, serving the people, political discourse

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Authors: Ehsan Sadie

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Despite the experience of heavy losses and damages of recent earthquakes such as 8 km E of Pāhala, Hawaii, 11 km W of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic and 49 km SSE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic earthquakes, the possibility of large earthquakes in most populated areas of any country and the serious need for quality control in the design and implementation of buildings, not enough attention has been paid to the proper construction. Steel structures constitute a significant part of construction in any metropolitan area. This article gives a brief overview of the implementation status of these buildings in urban areas and considers the weaknesses of performance that typically occur due to negligence or insufficient mastery of the building supervisor in the principles of operation of earthquake-resistant buildings, and provides appropriate and possible solutions to improve the construction.

Keywords: bracing member, concentrated load, diaphragm system, earthquake engineering, load-bearing system, shear force, seismic retrofitting, steel building, strip foundation, supervising engineer, vulnerability of building

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Authors: P. Deepak Kumar, Aishwarya Alok, P. R. Maiti

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Liquid storage tanks have become widespread during the recent decades due to their extensive usage. Analysis of liquid containing tanks is known to be complex due to hydrodynamic force exerted on tank which makes the analysis a complex one. The objective of this research is to carry out analysis of liquid domain along with structural interaction for various geometries of circular tanks considering seismic effects. An attempt has been made to determine hydrodynamic pressure distribution on the tank wall considering impulsive and convective components of liquid mass. To get a better picture, a comparative study of Draft IS 1893 Part 2, ACI 350.3 and Eurocode 8 for Circular Shaped Tank has been performed. Further, the differences in the magnitude of shear and moment at base as obtained from static (IS 3370 IV) and dynamic (Draft IS 1892 Part 2) analysis of ground supported circular tank highlight the need for us to mature from the old code to a newer code, which is more accurate and reliable.

Keywords: liquid filled containers, circular tanks, IS 1893 (part 2), seismic analysis, sloshing

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Authors: Kun Xue, Lvlan Miu, Jiarui Li

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Jetting structures are widely found in particle rings or shells dispersed by the central explosion. In contrast, some explosive dispersal of particles only results in a dispersed cloud without distinctive structures. Employing the coupling method of the compressible computational fluid mechanics and discrete element method (CCFD-DEM), we reveal the underlying physics governing the formation of the jetting structure, which is related to the competition between the shock compaction and gas infiltration, two major processes during the shock interaction with the granular media. If the shock compaction exceeds the gas infiltration, the discernable jetting structures are expected, precipitated by the agglomerates of fast-moving particles induced by the heterogenous network of force chains. Otherwise, particles are uniformly accelerated by the interstitial flows, and no distinguishable jetting structures are formed. We proceed to devise the phase map of the jetting formation in the space defined by two dimensionless parameters which characterize the timescales of the shock compaction and the gas infiltration, respectively.

Keywords: compressible multiphase flows, DEM, granular jetting, pattern formation

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Authors: Aritras Roy, Rinku Mukherjee

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The current study couples a quasi-steady Vortex Lattice Method and a camber correcting technique, ‘Decambering’ for unsteady post-stall flow prediction. The wake is force-free and discrete such that the wake lattices move with the free-stream once shed from the wing. It is observed that the time-averaged unsteady coefficient of lift sees a relative drop at post-stall angles of attack in comparison to its steady counterpart for some angles of attack. Multiple solutions occur at post-stall and three different algorithms to choose solutions in these regimes show both unsteadiness and non-convergence of the iterations. The distribution of coefficient of lift on the wing span also shows sawtooth. Distribution of vorticity changes both along span and in the direction of the free-stream as the wake develops over time with distinct roll-up, which increases with time.

Keywords: post-stall, unsteady, wing, aerodynamics

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Authors: Mohammad Sadeghian, Mohsen Sadeghian

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In this paper, planning catamaran and mono-hull vessels resistance and trim in calm waters were considered. Hydrodynamic analysis of fast mono-hull planning vessel was also investigated. For hull form geometry optimization, numerical methods of different parameters were used for this type of vessels. Hull material was selected as carbon fiber composite. Exact architectural aspects were specified and stability calculations were performed, as well. Hydrodynamic calculations to extract the resistance force using semi-analytical methods and numerical modeling were carried out. Free surface numerical analysis of vessel in designed draft using finite volume method and double phase were evaluated and verified by experimental tests.

Keywords: fast vessel, hydrostatic and hydrodynamic optimization, free surface flow, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: P. M. Keshtiban, M. Zdshakoyan, G. Faragi

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Different severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods are the most successful ways to build nano-structural materials from coarse grain samples without changing the cross-sectional area. One of the most widely used methods in the SPD process is equal channel angler pressing (ECAP). In this paper, ECAP process on Al1050 sheets was evaluated at room temperature by both experiments and finite element method. Since, one of the main objectives of SPD processes is to achieve high equivalent plastic strain (PEEQ) in one cycle, the values of PEEQ obtained by finite element simulation. Also, force-displacement curve achieved by FEM. To study the changes of mechanical properties, micro-hardness tests were conducted on samples and improvement in the mechanical properties were investigated. Results show that there is the good proportion between FEM, theory and experimental results.

Keywords: AL1050, experiments, finite element method, severe plastic deformation

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Authors: A. Armin, R. Fotouhi, W. Szyszkowski

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In this paper a 3-D finite element (FE) investigation of soil-blade interaction is described. The effects of blade’s shape and rake angle are examined both numerically and experimentally. The soil is considered as an elastic-plastic granular material with non-associated Drucker-Prager material model. Contact elements with different properties are used to mimic soil-blade sliding and soil-soil cutting phenomena. A separation criterion is presented and a procedure to evaluate the forces acting on the blade is given and discussed in detail. Experimental results were derived from tests using soil bin facility and instruments at the University of Saskatchewan. During motion of the blade, load cells collect data and send them to a computer. The measured forces using load cells had noisy signals which are needed to be filtered. The FE results are compared with experimental results for verification. This technique can be used in blade shape optimization and design of more complicated blade’s shape.

Keywords: finite element analysis, experimental results, blade force, soil-blade contact modeling

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Authors: Maciej Major, Izabela Major

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The aim of this paper is a numerical analysis of three-layered block design to walls construction subjected to the dynamic load. The block consists of the layers: concrete with rubber pads in shape of crosses, space filled with air and concrete with I-shape rubber pads. The main purpose of rubber inserts embedded during the production process is additional protection against the transversal dynamic load. For the analysis, as rubber, the Zahorski hyperelastic incompressible material model was assumed. A concentrated force as dynamic load applied to the external block surface was investigated. The results for the considered block observed as the stress distribution plot were compared to the results obtained for the solid concrete block. In order to estimate the percentage damping of proposed composite, rubber-concrete block in relation to the solid block the numerical analysis with the use of finite element method based on ADINA software was performed.

Keywords: dynamics, composite, rubber, Zahorski

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Authors: Agnieszka H. Ludwig-Slomczynska, Michal T. Seweryn, Przemyslaw Kapusta, Ewelina Pitera, Katarzyna Cyganek, Urszula Mantaj, Lucja Dobrucka, Ewa Wender-Ozegowska, Maciej T. Malecki, Pawel Wolkow

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Obesity results from an imbalance between energy intake and its expenditure. Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) analyses have led to discovery of only about 100 variants influencing body mass index (BMI), which explain only a small portion of genetic variability. Analysis of gene epistasis gives a chance to discover another part. Since it was shown that interaction and communication between nuclear and mitochondrial genome are indispensable for normal cell function, we have looked for epistatic interactions between the two genomes to find their correlation with BMI. Methods: The analysis was performed on 366 T1DM patients using Illumina Infinium OmniExpressExome-8 chip and followed by imputation on Michigan Imputation Server. Only genes which influence mitochondrial functioning (listed in Human MitoCarta 2.0) were included in the analysis – variants of nuclear origin (MAF > 5%) in 1140 genes and 42 mitochondrial variants (MAF > 1%). Gene expression analysis was performed on GTex data. Association analysis between genetic variants and BMI was performed with the use of Linear Mixed Models as implemented in the package 'GENESIS' in R. Analysis of association between mRNA expression and BMI was performed with the use of linear models and standard significance tests in R. Results: Among variants involved in epistasis between mitochondria and nucleus we have identified one in mitochondrial transcription factor, TFB2M (rs6701836). It interacted with mitochondrial variants localized to MT-RNR1 (p=0.0004, MAF=15%), MT-ND2 (p=0.07, MAF=5%) and MT-ND4 (p=0.01, MAF=1.1%). Analysis of the interaction between nuclear variant rs6701836 (nuc) and rs3021088 localized to MT-ND2 mitochondrial gene (mito) has shown that the combination of the two led to BMI decrease (p=0.024). Each of the variants on its own does not correlate with higher BMI [p(nuc)=0.856, p(mito)=0.116)]. Although rs6701836 is intronic, it influences gene expression in the thyroid (p=0.000037). rs3021088 is a missense variant that leads to alanine to threonine substitution in the MT-ND2 gene which belongs to complex I of the electron transport chain. The analysis of the influence of genetic variants on gene expression has confirmed the trend explained above – the interaction of the two genes leads to BMI decrease (p=0.0308). Each of the mRNAs on its own is associated with higher BMI (p(mito)=0.0244 and p(nuc)=0.0269). Conclusıons: Our results show that nuclear-mitochondrial epistasis can influence BMI in T1DM patients. The correlation between transcription factor expression and mitochondrial genetic variants will be subject to further analysis.

Keywords: body mass index, epistasis, mitochondria, type 1 diabetes

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Authors: Salma Akter, Md. Kamal Uddin

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This study aims to demonstrate how top-down shelter policy and its resultant dwelling environment leads to ‘everyday compromise’ by the grassroots according to subjective (satisfaction) and objective (physical design elements and physical environmental elements) indicators, which are measured across three levels of the settlement; macro (Community), meso (Neighborhood or shelter/built environment) and micro (family). Ashrayan Prakalpa is a resettlement /housing project of Government of Bangladesh for providing shelters and human resources development activities like education, microcredit, and training programme to landless, homeless and rootless people. Despite the integrated nature of the shelter policies (comprises poverty alleviation, employment opportunity, secured tenure, and livelihood training), the ‘quality of life’ issue at the different levels of settlements becomes questionable. As dwellers of shelter units (although formally termed as ‘barracks’ rather shelter or housing) remain on the receiving end of government’s resettlement policies, they often involve with spatial-physical and socio-economic negotiation and assume curious forms of spatial practice, which often upholds contradiction with policy planning. Thus, policy based shelter force dwellers to persistently compromise with their provided built environments both in overtly and covertly. Compromising with prescribed designed space and facilities across living places articulated their negotiation with the quality of allocated space, built form and infrastructures, which in turn exert as less quality of life. The top-down shelter project, Dakshin Chandani Mahal Ashrayan Prakalpa at Dighalia Upazila, the study area located at the Eastern fringe area of Khulna, Bangladesh, is still in progress to resettle internally displaced and homeless people. In terms of methodology, this research is primarily exploratory and adopts a case study method, and an analytical framework is developed through the deductive approach for evaluating the quality of life. Secondary data have been obtained from housing policy analysis and relevant literature review, while key informant interview, focus group discussion, necessary drawings and photographs and participant observation across dwelling, neighborhood, and community level have also been administered as primary data collection methodology. Findings have revealed that various shortages, inadequacies, and negligence of policymakers force to compromise with allocated designed space, physical infrastructure and economic opportunities across dwelling, neighborhood and mostly community level. Thus, the outcome of this study can be beneficial for a global-level understating of the compromising the ‘quality of life’ under top-down shelter policy. Locally, for instance, in the context of Bangladesh, it can help policymakers and concerned authorities to formulate the shelter policies and take initiatives to improve the well-being of marginalized.

Keywords: Ashrayan Prakalpa, compromise, displaced people, quality of life

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Authors: Chonmapat Torasa

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This paper presents the performance of electricity generation and consumption from solar generator installed at Rajabhat Suan Sunandha’s learning center in Samutsongkram. The result from the experiment showed that solar cell began to work and distribute the current into the system when the solar energy intensity was 340 w/m2, starting from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm (duration of 8 hours). The highest intensity read during the experiment was 1,051.64w/m2. The solar power was 38.74kWh/day. The electromotive force from solar cell averagely was 93.6V. However, when connecting solar cell with the battery charge controller system, the voltage was dropped to 69.07V. After evaluating the power distribution ability and electricity load of tested solar cell, the result showed that it could generate power to 11 units of 36-wattfluorescent lamp bulbs, which was altogether 396W. In the meantime, the AC to DC power converter generated 3.55A to the load, and gave 781VA.

Keywords: solar cell, solar-cell power generating system, computer, systems engineering

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Authors: Resul Fikir

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) become indispensable parts of modern air power as force multiplier. One of the main advantages of UAS is long endurance. UAS have to take extra payloads to accomplish different missions but these payloads decrease endurance of aircraft because of increasing drag. There are continuing researches to increase the capability of UAS. There are some vertical thermal air currents, which can cause climb and increase endurance, in nature. Birds and gliders use thermals to gain altitude with no effort. UAS have wide wing which can use of thermals like birds and gliders. Thermal regions, which is area of 2000-3000 meter (1 NM), exist all around the world. It is free and clean source. This study analyses if thermal regions can be adopted and implemented as an assistant tool for UAS route planning. First and second part of study will contain information about the thermal regions and current applications about UAS in aviation and climbing performance with a real example. Continuing parts will analyze the contribution of thermal regions to UAS endurance. Contribution is important because planning declaration of UAS navigation rules will be in 2015.

Keywords: airways, thermals, UAS, UAS roadmap

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Authors: Martin Wiseman, Rachel Thompson, Panagiota Mitrou, Kate Allen

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Since 1997 World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) International and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) have been at the forefront of synthesising and interpreting the accumulated scientific literature on the link between diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer, and deriving evidence-based Cancer Prevention Recommendations. The 2007 WCRF/AICR 2nd Expert Report was a landmark in the analysis of evidence linking diet, body weight and physical activity to cancer and led to the establishment of the Continuous Update Project (CUP). In 2018, as part of the CUP, WCRF/AICR will publish a new synthesis of the current evidence and update the Cancer Prevention Recommendations. This will ensure that everyone - from policymakers and health professionals to members of the public - has access to the most up-to-date information on how to reduce the risk of developing cancer. Overweight and obesity play a significant role in cancer risk, and rates of both are increasing in many parts of the world. This session will give an overview of new evidence relating obesity to cancer since the 2007 report. For example, since the 2007 Report, the number of cancers for which obesity is judged to be a contributory cause has increased from seven to eleven. The session will also shed light on the well-established mechanisms underpinning obesity and cancer links. Additionally, the session will provide an overview of diet and physical activity related factors that promote positive energy imbalance, leading to overweight and obesity. Finally, the session will highlight how policy can be used to address overweight and obesity at a population level, using WCRF International’s NOURISHING Framework. NOURISHING formalises a comprehensive package of policies to promote healthy diets and reduce obesity and non-communicable diseases; it is a tool for policymakers to identify where action is needed and assess if an approach is sufficiently comprehensive. The framework brings together ten policy areas across three domains: food environment, food system, and behaviour change communication. The framework is accompanied by a regularly updated database providing an extensive overview of implemented government policy actions from around the world. In conclusion, the session will provide an overview of obesity and cancer, highlighting the links seen in the epidemiology and exploring the mechanisms underpinning these, as well as the influences that help determine overweight and obesity. Finally, the session will illustrate policy approaches that can be taken to reduce overweight and obesity worldwide.

Keywords: overweight, obesity, nutrition, cancer, mechanisms, policy

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Authors: Roy Alex, Dr. Shampa I Dev

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Abstract Nine out of twenty-eight states in India have enacted anti-conversion laws to regulate religious conversions by use of force, allurement, inducement, or fraudulent means. The vagueness of the definitions of the terms used in these laws makes them inconsistent with the provisions of the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution. It is a critical question whether these laws protect the religious freedom of groups that are “vulnerable” to missionary inducements, or are they restricting the freedom of citizens to propagate their religion to others or change their religious identity? This article looks into the constitutionality of the anti-conversion laws passed in the Indian States and argues that these laws limit the freedom of religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution of India. The ambiguity in the anti-conversion laws passed in various states of India is brought out by critically analyzing multiple cases charged under anti-conversion laws.

Keywords: Freedom of Religion, Anti-conversion Laws, allurement, inducement, and fraudulent means.

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Authors: Giulio Rosati, Luciano Sappia, Rossana Madrid, Noemi Rozlòsnik

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The addition of PEG of different molecular weights has important effects on the physical, electrical and electrochemical properties of iron(III)-tosylate doped PEDOT. This particular polymer can be easily spin coated over plastic discs, optimizing thickness and uniformity of the PEDOT-PEG films. The conductivity and morphological analysis of the hybrid PEDOT-PEG polymer by 4-point probe (4PP), 12-point probe (12PP), and conductive AFM (C-AFM) show strong effects of the PEG doping. Moreover, the conductive films kinetics at the nanoscale, in response to different bias voltages, change radically depending on the PEG molecular weight. The hybrid conductive films show also interesting electrochemical properties, making the PEDOT PEG doping appealing for biosensing applications both for EIS-based and amperometric affinity/catalytic biosensors.

Keywords: atomic force microscopy, biosensors, four-point probe, nano-films, PEDOT

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Authors: Samita Sondhi, Sachin Kumar, Chirag Chopra

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The increase in population has resulted in an excessive feedstock production, which has in return lead to the accumulation of a large amount of waste from different resources as crop residues, industrial waste and solid municipal waste. This situation has raised the problem of waste disposal in present days. A parallel problem of depletion of natural fossil fuel resources has led to the formation of alternative sources of energy from the waste of different industries to concurrently resolve the two issues. The biogas is a carbon neutral fuel which has applications in transportation, heating and power generation. India is a nation that has an agriculture-based economy and agro-residues are a significant source of organic waste. Taking into account, the second largest agro-based industry that is sugarcane industry producing a high quantity of sugar and sugarcane waste byproducts such as Bagasse, Press Mud, Vinasse and Wastewater. Currently, there are not such efficient disposal methods adopted at large scales. According to manageability objectives, anaerobic digestion can be considered as a method to treat organic wastes. Press mud is lignocellulosic biomass and cannot be accumulated for Mono digestion because of its complexity. Prior investigations indicated that it has a potential for production of biogas. But because of its biological and elemental complexity, Mono-digestion was not successful. Due to the imbalance in the C/N ratio and presence of wax in it can be utilized with any other fibrous material hence will be digested properly under suitable conditions. In the first batch of Mono-digestion of Pressmud biogas production was low. Now, co-digestion of Pressmud with Bagasse which has desired C/N ratio will be performed to optimize the ratio for maximum biogas from Press mud. In addition, with respect to supportability, the main considerations are the monetary estimation of item result and ecological concerns. The work is designed in such a way that the waste from the sugar industry will be digested for maximum biogas generation and digestive after digestion will be characterized for its use as a bio-fertilizer for soil conditioning. Due to effectiveness demonstrated by studied setups of Mono-digestion and Co-digestion, this approach can be considered as a viable alternative for lignocellulosic waste disposal and in agricultural applications. Biogas produced from the Pressmud either can be used for Powerhouses or transportation. In addition, the work initiated towards the development of waste disposal for energy production will demonstrate balanced economy sustainability of the process development.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, carbon neutral fuel, press mud, lignocellulosic biomass

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Badri, Pouya Molana, Amin Rezvanpour

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In this paper, planning catamaran and mono-hull vessels resistance and trim in calm waters were considered. Hydrodynamic analysis of fast mono-hull planning vessel was also investigated. In order to hull form geometry optimization, numerical methods of different parameters were used for this type of vessels. Hull material was selected in carbon fiber composite. Exact architectural aspects were specified and stability calculations were performed as well. Hydrodynamic calculations to extract the resistance force using semi-analytical methods and numerical modeling were carried out. Free surface numerical analysis of vessel in designed draft using finite volume method and double phase were evaluated and verified by experimental tests.

Keywords: fast vessel, hydrostatic and hydrodynamic optimization, free surface flow, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Leandro Moura da Silva

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The international community has strived to create legal mechanisms to protect their biodiversity, but this can represent, sometimes, particularly in the case of regulatory regime on access to genetic resources, an excessive nationalism which transforms itself into a significant obstacle to scientific progress causing damages to the country and to local farmers. Although it has been poorly publicized in the media, the international legal system was marked, in 2014, by the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol, which regulates the access and benefit sharing of genetic resources of the States Party to that legal instrument. However, it’s not reasonable to think of regulating access to genetic resources without reflecting on the links of this important subject with other related issues, such as family farming and agribusiness, food safety, food security, intellectual property rights (on seeds, genetic material, new plant varieties, etc.), environmental sustainability, biodiversity, and biosafety.

Keywords: international law, regulation on agriculture, agronomy techniques, sustainability, genetic resources and new crop varieties, CBD, Nagoya Protocol, ITPGRFA

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Authors: Nor Jannah Mohd Sebri, Khairul Anuar Mat Amin

Abstract:

Dication cross-linked gellan gum hydrogel loaded with Ibuprofen with excellent mechanical properties had been synthesized as potential candidate for non-toxic biocompatible polymer material in tissue engineering. The gellan gum hydrogel with 5% Ibuprofen had produced a slow release profile with total drug release time of 25 hours as a resulting low swelling value recorded at 22+0.5%. Its compressive strength, 200.13+21 kPa was highest of all other hydrogel ratio of 0.5% and 1.0% Ibuprofen incorporation. Young’s Modulus of the hydrogel with 5% Ibuprofen was recorded at 1.8+0.01 MPa, indicating good gel strength in which it is capable of withstanding a fair amount of subjected force during topical wound dressing application. Excellent mechanical properties, together with slow release profile, make the ibuprofen-loaded hydrogel a prospect candidate as biocompatible extracellular matrices in wound management.

Keywords: gellan gum, ibuprofen, slow drug release, hydrogel

Procedia PDF Downloads 396

Authors: Reza Safari, Ali Rajabzadeh Ghatari, Raheleh Hossseinzadeh Mahabadi

Abstract:

In the present world, there are different pressures on firms such as competition, legislations, social etc. these pressures force the firms to follow “survival” as their primary goal and then growth. One of the main factors that helps firms to reach their goals is proper financial performance. To find out about the financial performance, a firm should monitors its financial performance. Financial performance affected by many factors. This research seeks to clear which financial performance indicators are most important according to Environmental situation of a firm and what are their priorities. To do so, environmental indicators specified as presented on OECD Key Environmental Indicators 2008 and so the financial performance indicators such as Profitability, Liquidity, Gearing, Investor ratios, and etc. At this stage, the affections questioned through questionnaires. After gaining the results, data analyzed using Promethee technique. By using decision matrixes extracted from those techniques an expert system designed. This expert system suggests the suitable financial performance indicators and their ranking by receiving the environment situation given environment indicators weight.

Keywords: environment indicators, financial performance indicators, promethee, expert system

Procedia PDF Downloads 435

Authors: Aneesa Shafi

Abstract:

Reproduction is a complex term in a setting where it is continuously being shaped by epistemological shifts in knowledge. It denotes not just fertility, birth and childcare related practices but also the ideas that shape those practices. These ideas and practices figure into understandings of social and cultural renewal. Patriarchy continues to be a dominating force in the formation of these ideas and practices. Contemporary times are characterized by the resurgence of the whims of patriarchal politics in delineating the margins of women’s health care. This has further emboldened the struggle for reproductive rights on the global stage. The paper examines the subordination of the right to bodily autonomy of women within the ambit of their reproductive rights. Reproductive rights are recognized human rights and women’s rights. Why these rights of women face stiff opposition is established, as is the structure that creates hurdles to their enjoyment. The negotiation of this structure in the everyday life through women’s agency is also established. The reproductive sphere includes not just the process of reproduction but also social reproduction- domestic work, spheres of production and reproduction, population and birth (control) issues.

Keywords: patriarchy, women, reproduction, gender

Procedia PDF Downloads 223

Authors: Drew Commandeur, Ryan Brodie, Sandra Hundza, Marc Klimstra

Abstract:

The amplitude of raw electromyography (EMG) is affected by recording conditions and often requires normalization to make meaningful comparisons. Bioelectric methods normalize with an EMG signal recorded during a standardized task or from the experimental protocol itself, while biomechanical methods often involve measurements with an additional sensor such as a force transducer. Common bioelectric normalization techniques for treadmill walking include maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), dynamic EMG peak (EMGPeak) or dynamic EMG mean (EMGMean). There are several concerns with using MVICs to normalize EMG, including poor reliability and potential discomfort. A limitation of bioelectric normalization techniques is that they could result in a misrepresentation of the absolute magnitude of force generated by the muscle and impact the interpretation of EMG between functionally disparate groups. Additionally, methods that normalize to EMG recorded during the task may eliminate some real inter-individual variability due to biological variation. This study compared biomechanical and bioelectric EMG normalization techniques during treadmill walking to assess the impact of the normalization method on the functional interpretation of EMG data. For the biomechanical method, we normalized EMG to a target torque (EMGTS) and the bioelectric methods used were normalization to the mean and peak of the signal during the walking task (EMGMean and EMGPeak). The effect of normalization on muscle activation pattern, EMG amplitude, and inter-individual variability were compared between disparate cohorts of OLD (76.6 yrs N=11) and YOUNG (26.6 yrs N=11) adults. Participants walked on a treadmill at a self-selected pace while EMG was recorded from the right lower limb. EMG data from the soleus (SOL), medial gastrocnemius (MG), tibialis anterior (TA), vastus lateralis (VL), and biceps femoris (BF) were phase averaged into 16 bins (phases) representing the gait cycle with bins 1-10 associated with right stance and bins 11-16 with right swing. Pearson’s correlations showed that activation patterns across the gait cycle were similar between all methods, ranging from r =0.86 to r=1.00 with p<0.05. This indicates that each method can characterize the muscle activation pattern during walking. Repeated measures ANOVA showed a main effect for age in MG for EMGPeak but no other main effects were observed. Interactions between age*phase of EMG amplitude between YOUNG and OLD with each method resulted in different statistical interpretation between methods. EMGTS normalization characterized the fewest differences (four phases across all 5 muscles) while EMGMean (11 phases) and EMGPeak (19 phases) showed considerably more differences between cohorts. The second notable finding was that coefficient of variation, the representation of inter-individual variability, was greatest for EMGTS and lowest for EMGMean while EMGPeak was slightly higher than EMGMean for all muscles. This finding supports our expectation that EMGTS normalization would retain inter-individual variability which may be desirable, however, it also suggests that even when large differences are expected, a larger sample size may be required to observe the differences. Our findings clearly indicate that interpretation of EMG is highly dependent on the normalization method used, and it is essential to consider the strengths and limitations of each method when drawing conclusions.

Keywords: electromyography, EMG normalization, functional EMG, older adults

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: S. M. AL-Shomar, N. B. Ibrahim, Sahrim Hj. Ahmad

Abstract:

ZnO thin films with various Gd doping concentration (0, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05 mol/L) have been synthesized by sol–gel method on quartz substrates at annealing temperature of 600 ºC. X-ray analysis reveals that ZnO(Gd) films have hexagonal wurtzite structure. No peaks that correspond to Gd metal clusters or gadolinium acetylacetonate are detected in the patterns. The position of the main peak (101) shifts to higher angles after doping. The surface morphologies studied using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) showed that the grain size and the films thickness reduced gradually with the increment of Gd concentration. The roughness of ZnO film investigated by an atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that the films are smooth and high dense grain. The roughness of doped films decreased from 6.05 to 4.84 rms with the increment of dopant concentration.The optical measurements using a UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy showed that the Gd doped ZnO thin films have high transmittance (above 80%) in the visible range and the optical band gap increase with doping concentration from 3.13 to 3.39 eV. The doped films show low electrical resistivity 2.6 × 10-3Ω.cm.at high doping concentration.

Keywords: Gd doped ZnO, electric, optics, microstructure

Procedia PDF Downloads 470