Search results for: double pulse

Authors: Diya Sarkar, Prafulla C. Mishra

Abstract:

In a parliamentary system, party discipline is the impulse; when it falls short, the government usually falls. Conceivably, the platform of Indian politics suffers with innumerous practical disorders. The politics of defection is one such specie entailing gross miscarriage of fair conduct turning politics into a game of thrones (powers). This practice of political nomaditude can trace its seed in the womb of British House of Commons. Therein, if a legislator was found to cross the floor, the party considered him disloyal. In other words, the legislator lost his allegiance to his former party by joining another party. This very phenomenon, in practice has a two way traffic i.e. ruling party to the opposition party or vice versa. The democracies like USA, Australia and Canada were also aware of this fashion of swapping loyalties. There have been several instances of great politicians changing party allegiance, for example Winston Churchill, Ramsay McDonald, William Gladstone etc. Nevertheless, it is interesting to cite that irrespective of such practice of changing party allegiance, none of the democracies in the west ever desired or felt the need to legislatively ban defections. But, exceptionally India can be traced to have passed anti-defection laws. The politics of defection had been a unique popular phenomenon on the floor of Indian Parliamentary system gradually gulping the democratic essence and synchronization of the Federation. This study is both analytical and doctrinal, which tries to examine whether representative democracy has lost its essence due to political nomadism. The present study also analyzes the classical as well as contemporary pulse of floor crossing amidst dynastic politics in a representative democracy. It will briefly discuss the panorama of defections under the Indian federal structure in the light of the anti-defection law and an attempt has been made to add valuable suggestions to streamline remedy for the still prevalent political defections.

Keywords: constitutional law, defection, democracy, polarization, political anti-trust

Procedia PDF Downloads 375

Authors: A. Qasmaoui, F. Ohmani, Z. Zaine, I. El Akrad, J. Hamamouchi, K. Halout, B. Belkadi, R. Charof

Abstract:

The evolution of antibiotic resistance is a crucial aspect of the problem related to the intensive use of these substances in medicine for humans and animals. The production of ESBL extended spectrum β-lactamase enzymes is the main mechanism of resistance to β-lactam antibiotics in Escherichia coli. The objective of our work is to determine the resistance genes in E. coli strains.ESBL coli stored at the epidemic diseases laboratory of the National Institute of Hygiene. The strains were identified according to the classic bacteriological criteria. An antibiogram was performed on the strains isolated by the Mueller Hinton agar disc diffusion method. The production of ESBL in the strains was detected by the synergy assay technique and confirmed for the presence of the blaCTX-M1, blaCTX-M2, blaTEM, blaSHV, blaOXA-48 genes by gene amplification . Of the 27 observed strains of E.coli, 17 isolated strains present the phenotype of extended-spectrum Beta-lactamase with a percentage of 63%.. All 18 cefotaxime-resistant strains were analyzed for an ESBL phenotype. All strains were positive in the double-disc synergy assay. The fight against the emergence and spread of these multi-resistant antibiotic-resistant strains requires the reasonable use of antibiotics.

Keywords: E coli, BLSE, CTX, TEM, SHV, OXA, résistance aux antibiotique

Procedia PDF Downloads 16

Authors: Rui Chen, Shu-min Zhou, Xiong-jie Zhang, Ren-bo Wang, Fan Huang, Bin Tang

Abstract:

During the temperature changes in reactor core, the nuclide cross section in reactor can vary with temperature, which eventually causes the changes of reactivity. To simulate the interaction between incident neutron and various materials at different temperatures on the nose, it is necessary to generate all the relevant reaction temperature-dependent cross section. Traditionally, the real time cross section generation method is used to avoid storing huge data but contains severe problems of low efficiency and adaptability for narrow energy region. Focused on the research on multi-temperature cross sections generation in real time during in neutron transport, this paper investigated the on-the-fly cross section generation method for resolved resonance region, thermal region and unresolved resonance region, and proposed the real time multi-temperature cross sections generation method based on double-exponential formula for resolved resonance region, as well as the Neville interpolation for thermal and unresolved resonance region. To prove the correctness and validity of multi-temperature cross sections generation based on wide energy region of incident neutron, the proposed method was applied in critical safety benchmark tests, which showed the capability for application in reactor multi-physical coupling simulation.

Keywords: cross section, neutron transport, numerical simulation, on-the-fly

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Siddharth Soni, Gourav Kumar Pandey, Sneha Kumari, Dev Mani Pandey, Koel Mukherjee

Abstract:

The silkworm Bombyx mori is a commercially important insect, but a major roadblock in silk production are silkworm diseases. Flacherie is one of the diseases of the silkworm, that affects the midgut of the 4th and 5th instar larvae and eventually makes them lethargic, stop feeding and finally result in their death. The concerned disease is a result of bacterial and viral infection and in some instances a combination of both. The present study aims to identify and study the expression level of genes in the flacherie condition. For the said work, total RNA was isolated from the infected larvae at their most probable infectious instar and cDNA was synthesized using Reverse Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). This cDNA was then used to amplify disease relalted genes whose expression levels were checked using quantitaive PCR (qPCR) using the double delta Ct method. Cry toxin receptors like APN and BtR-175, ROS mediator Dual Oxidase are few proteins whose genes were overexpressed. Interestingly, pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) C-type lectins' genes were found to be downregulated. The results explain about the strong expression of genes that can distinguish the concerned protein in the midgut of diseased silkworm and thereby aiding knowledge in the field of inhibitor designing research.

Keywords: Bombyx mori, flacherie disease, inhibitor designing, up and down regulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: Priya Pawar, Rithika Susan Thomas, Emmanuel Blonkowski

Abstract:

Due to the solar geometry of Singapore, which lay within the geographical classification of equatorial tropics, there is a great deal of thermal energy transfer to the inside of the buildings. With changing face of economic development of cities like Singapore, more and more buildings are designed to be lightweight using transparent construction materials such as glass. Increased demand for energy efficiency and reduced cooling load demands make it important for building designer and operators to adopt new and non-invasive technologies to achieve building energy efficiency targets. A real time performance evaluation study was undertaken at School of Art Design and Media (SADM), Singapore, to determine the efficiency potential of a new generation solar insulation film. The building has a window to wall ratio (WWR) of 100% and is fitted with high performance (low emissivity) double glazed units. The empirical data collected was then used to calibrate a computerized simulation model to understand the annual energy consumption based on existing conditions (baseline performance). It was found that the correlations of various parameters such as solar irradiance, solar heat flux, and outdoor air-temperatures quantification are significantly important to determine the cooling load during a particular period of testing.

Keywords: solar insulation film, building energy efficiency, tropics, cooling load

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Natasha Hazarika, Xiaoling Zhang

Abstract:

Eco- innovations, unlike regular innovations, are not self-enforcing and are associated with the double externality problem. Therefore, it is emphasized that eco-innovations need government. intervention in the form of supportive policies on priority. Off late, factors like consumer demand, technological advancement as well as the competitiveness of the firms have been considered as equally important. However, the interaction among these driving forces has not been fully traced out. Also, the theory on eco-innovation is found to be at a nascent stage which does not resonate with its dynamics as it is traditionally studied under the neo- classical economics theory. Therefore, to begin with, insights for this research have been derived from the merits of ‘neo- classical economics’, ‘evolutionary approach’, and the ‘resource based view’ which revealed the issues pertaining to technological system lock- ins and firm- based capacities which usually remained undefined by the neo classical approach; it would be followed by determining how the policies (in the national level) and their instruments are designed in order to motivate firms to eco-innovate, by analyzing the innovation ‘friendliness’ of the policy style and the policy instruments as per the indicators provided in innovation literature by means of document review (content analysis) of the relevant policies introduced by the Chinese government. The significance of theoretical analysis lies in its ability to show why certain practices become dominant irrespective of gains or losses, and that of the policy analysis lies in its ability to demonstrate the credibility of govt.’s sticks, carrots and sermons for eco-innovation.

Keywords: firm competency, eco-innovation, policy, theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: Atakan Aral Ormancı, Tuğçe Arslantaş, Murat Özcü

Abstract:

This study presents the design and implementation of an experimental chassis-level system for various control applications. Specifically, the height level of the chassis is controlled using proportional integrated derivative, fuzzy logic, and deep learning control methods. Real-time data obtained from height and pressure sensors installed in a 6x2 truck chassis, in combination with pulse-width modulation signal values, are utilized during the tests. A prototype pneumatic system of a 6x2 truck is added to the setup, which enables the Smart Pneumatic Actuators to function as if they were in a real-world setting. To obtain real-time signal data from height sensors, an Arduino Nano is utilized, while a Raspberry Pi processes the data using Matlab/Simulink and provides the correct output signals to control the Smart Pneumatic Actuator in the truck chassis. The objective of this research is to optimize the time it takes for the chassis to level down and up under various loads. To achieve this, proportional integrated derivative control, fuzzy logic control, and deep learning techniques are applied to the system. The results show that the deep learning method is superior in optimizing time for a non-linear system. Fuzzy logic control with a triangular membership function as the rule base achieves better outcomes than proportional integrated derivative control. Traditional proportional integrated derivative control improves the time it takes to level the chassis down and up compared to an uncontrolled system. The findings highlight the superiority of deep learning techniques in optimizing the time for a non-linear system, and the potential of fuzzy logic control. The proposed approach and the experimental results provide a valuable contribution to the field of control, automation, and systems engineering.

Keywords: automotive, chassis level control, control systems, pneumatic system control

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Parul Jain, Jitendra Saha, L. C. Gupta, Satyabrata Patnaik, Ashok K. Ganguli, Ratnamala Chatterjee

Abstract:

This study shows how sensitively and drastically multiferroic properties of CaMn₇O₁₂ get modified by isovalent Sr-doping, namely, in Ca₁₋ₓSrₓMn₇O₁₂ for x as small as 0.01 and 0.02. CaMn₇O₁₂ is a type-II multiferroic, wherein polarization is caused by magnetic spin ordering. In this report magnetic and ferroelectric properties of Ca₁₋ₓSrₓMn₇O₁₂ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) are investigated. Samples were prepared by wet sol gel technique using their respective nitrates; powders thus obtained were calcined and sintered in optimized conditions. The X-ray diffraction patterns of all samples doped with Sr concentrations in the range (0 ≤ x ≤ 10%) were found to be free from secondary phases. Magnetization versus temperature and magnetization versus field measurements were carried out using Quantum Design SQUID magnetometer. Pyroelectric current measurements were done for finding the polarization in the samples. Findings of the measurements are: (i) increase of Sr-doping in CaMn₇O₁₂ lattice i.e. for x ≤ 0.02, increases the polarization, whereas decreases the magnetization and the coercivity of the samples; (ii) the material with x = 0.02 exhibits ferroelectric polarization Ps which is more than double the Ps in the un-doped material and the magnetization M is reduced to less than half of that of the pure material; remarkably (iii) the modifications in Ps and M are reversed as x increases beyond x = 0.02 and for x = 0.10, Ps is reduced even below that for the pure sample; (iv) there is no visible change of the two magnetic transitions TN1 (90 K) and TN2 (48 K) of the pure material as a function of x. The strong simultaneous variations of Ps and M for x = 0.02 strongly suggest that either a basic modification of the magnetic structure of the material or a significant change of the coupling of P and M or possibly both.

Keywords: ferroelectric, isovalent, multiferroic, polarization, pyroelectric

Procedia PDF Downloads 460

Authors: Vladimir Siska, Lukas Kober

Abstract:

Introduction: The research deals with the work satisfaction of nurses working in healthcare institutions in the Slovak Republic, and factors influencing it. Employers should create working conditions that are consonant with the requirements of their employees and make the most of motivation strategies to help them answer to the employess' needs in concordance with various needs and motivation process theories. Methodology: In our research, we aimed to investigate the level of work satisfaction in nurses by carrying out a quantitative analysis using the standardized McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction scale questionnaire. We used the descriptive positioning characteristics (average, median and variability, standard deviation, minimum and maximum) to process the collected data and, to verify our hypotheses; we employed the double-selection Student T-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and a one-way analysis of variance (One-way ANOVA). Results: Nurses´satisfaction with external rewards is influenced by their age, years of experience, and level of completed education, with all of the abovementioned factors also impacting on the nurses' satisfaction with their work schedule. The type of founding authority of the healthcare institution also constitutes an influence on the nurses' satisfaction concerning relationships in the workplace. Conclusion: The feelling of work dissatisfaction can influence employees in many ways, e.g., it can take the form of burn-out syndrome, absenteeism, or increased fluctuation. Therefore, it is important to pay increased attention to all employees of an organisation, regardless of their position.

Keywords: motivation, nurse, work satisfaction, McCloskey/Mueller satisfaction scale

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Shekoufeh Behdad, Sahar Yadegari, Alireza Ghehrazad, Amirhossein Yadegari

Abstract:

Background: In this study, we compared the effect of intravenous dexamethasone with placebo on hemodynamic variables and hypotension in patients undergoing cesarean section under spinal anesthesia. Materials and methods: This double-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted with the approval of the university ethics committee. Written informed consent was obtained from all participating patients. Before spinal anesthesia, patients were randomly assigned to receive either dexamethasone (8 mg IV) or placebo (normal saline). Hemodynamic variables, including systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressures, as well as heart rate, were measured before drug administration and every 3 minutes until the birth of the neonate and then every 5 minutes until the end of surgery. Side effects such as hypotension, bradycardia, nausea, and vomiting were assessed and recorded for all the patients. Results: There were no significant differences in mean systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressures before and after administration of the studied drugs in both groups (P.Value>0.05), but heart rate and the incidence of hypotension in the dexamethasone group were less than placebo significantly. Conclusions: Intravenous administration of 8 mg dexamethasone before spinal anesthesia in females undergoing cesarean section can reduce the incidence of post-spinal hypotension without causing serious side effects.

Keywords: cesarean section, hypotension, spinal anesthesia, dexamethasone

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Sharon Waichman, Shahaf Froim, Ido Zukerman, Shmuel Barzilai, Shmual Hayun, Avi Raveh

Abstract:

Boron carbide is a ceramic material with superior properties such as high chemical and thermal stability, high hardness and high wear resistance. Moreover, it has a big cross section for neutron absorption and therefore can be employed in nuclear based applications. However, an efficient attachment of boron carbide to a metal such as aluminum can be very challenging, mainly because of the formation of aluminum-carbon bonds that are unstable in humid environment, the affinity of oxygen to the metal and the different thermal expansion coefficients of the two materials that may cause internal stresses and a subsequent failure of the bond. Here, we aimed to achieving a strong and a durable attachment between the boron carbide coating and the aluminum substrate. For this purpose, we applied Ti as a thin intermediate layer that provides a gradual change in the thermal expansion coefficients of the configured layers. This layer is continuous and therefore prevents the formation of aluminum-carbon bonds. Boron carbide coatings with a thickness of 1-5 µm were deposited on the aluminum substrate by pulse-DC magnetron sputtering. Prior to the deposition of the boron carbide layer, the surface was pretreated by energetic ion plasma followed by deposition of the Ti intermediate adhesive layer in a continuous process. The properties of the Ti intermediate layer were adjusted by the bias applied to the substrate. The boron carbide/aluminum bond was evaluated by various methods and complementary techniques, such as SEM/EDS, XRD, XPS, FTIR spectroscopy and Glow Discharge Spectroscopy (GDS), in order to explore the structure, composition and the properties of the layers and to study the adherence mechanism of the boron carbide/aluminum contact. Based on the interfacial bond characteristics, we propose a desirable solution for improved adhesion of boron carbide to aluminum using a highly efficient intermediate adhesive layer.

Keywords: adhesion, boron carbide coatings, ceramic/metal bond, intermediate layer, pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Rodolfo Lorbieski, Silvia Modesto Nassar

Abstract:

Many supervised machine learning tasks require decision making across numerous different classes. Multi-class classification has several applications, such as face recognition, text recognition and medical diagnostics. The objective of this article is to analyze an adapted method of Stacking in multi-class problems, which combines ensembles within the ensemble itself. For this purpose, a training similar to Stacking was used, but with three levels, where the final decision-maker (level 2) performs its training by combining outputs from the tree-based pair of meta-classifiers (level 1) from Bayesian families. These are in turn trained by pairs of base classifiers (level 0) of the same family. This strategy seeks to promote diversity among the ensembles forming the meta-classifier level 2. Three performance measures were used: (1) accuracy, (2) area under the ROC curve, and (3) time for three factors: (a) datasets, (b) experiments and (c) levels. To compare the factors, ANOVA three-way test was executed for each performance measure, considering 5 datasets by 25 experiments by 3 levels. A triple interaction between factors was observed only in time. The accuracy and area under the ROC curve presented similar results, showing a double interaction between level and experiment, as well as for the dataset factor. It was concluded that level 2 had an average performance above the other levels and that the proposed method is especially efficient for multi-class problems when compared to binary problems.

Keywords: stacking, multi-layers, ensemble, multi-class

Procedia PDF Downloads 268

Authors: Radka Gorejova, Ivana Sisolakova, Jana Shepa, Frederika Chovancova, Renata Orinakova

Abstract:

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a serious metabolic disease characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. Often, the symptoms are not sufficiently observable at early stages, and so hyperglycemia causes pathological and functional changes before the diagnosis of the DM. Therefore, the development of an electrochemical sensor that will be fast, accurate, and instrumentally undemanding is currently needful. Screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) can be considered as the most suitable matrix material for insulin sensors because of the small size of the working electrode. It leads to the analyst's volume reduction to only 50 µl for each measurement. The surface of bare SPCE was modified by a combination of chitosan, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and zinc nanoparticles (ZnNPs) to obtain better electrocatalytic activity towards insulin oxidation. ZnNPs were electrochemically deposited on the chitosan-MWCNTs/SPCE surface using the pulse deposition method. Thereafter, insulin was determined on the prepared electrode using chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The chronoamperometric measurement was performed by adding a constant amount of insulin in 0.1 M NaOH and PBS (2 μl) with the concentration of 2 μM, and the current response of the system was monitored after a gradual increase in concentration. Subsequently, the limit of detection (LOD) of the prepared electrode was determined via the Randles-Ševčík equation. The LOD was 0.47 µM. Prepared electrodes were studied also as the impedimetric sensors for insulin determination. Therefore, various insulin concentrations were determined via EIS. Based on the performed measurements, the ZnNPs/chitosan-MWCNTs/SPCE can be considered as a potential candidate for novel electrochemical sensor for insulin determination. Acknowledgments: This work has been supported by the projects Visegradfund project number 22020140, VEGA 1/0095/21 of the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency, and APVV-PP-COVID-20-0036 of the Slovak Research and Development Agency.

Keywords: zinc nanoparticles, insulin, chronoamperometry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Raymond Xu, Cindy Jingru Wang

Abstract:

Social media has become a globally connected and influencing platform. Social media data, such as tweets, can help predict the spread of pandemics and provide individuals and healthcare providers early warnings. Public psychological reactions and opinions can be efficiently monitored by AI models on the progression of dominant topics on Twitter. However, statistics show that as the coronavirus spreads, so does an infodemic of misinformation due to pandemic-related factors such as unemployment and lockdowns. Social media algorithms are often biased toward outrage by promoting content that people have an emotional reaction to and are likely to engage with. This can influence users’ attitudes and cause confusion. Therefore, social media is a double-edged sword. Combating fake news and biased content has become one of the essential tasks. This research analyzes the variety of methods used for fake news detection covering random forest, logistic regression, support vector machines, decision tree, naive Bayes, BoW, TF-IDF, LDA, CNN, RNN, LSTM, DeepFake, and hierarchical attention network. The performance of each method is analyzed. Based on these models’ achievements and limitations, a multi-dimensional AI framework is proposed to achieve higher accuracy in infodemic detection, especially pandemic-related news. The model is trained on contextual content, images, and news metadata.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, fake news detection, infodemic detection, image recognition, sentiment analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 253

Authors: Arpita Mondal, Aurobinda Routray, Sreeraj Puravankara, Rajashree Biswas

Abstract:

The most difficult part of designing a battery management system (BMS) is battery modeling. A good battery model can capture the dynamics which helps in energy management, by accurate model-based state estimation algorithms. So far the most suitable and fruitful model is the equivalent circuit model (ECM). However, in real-time applications, the model parameters are time-varying, changes with current, temperature, state of charge (SOC), and aging of the battery and this make a great impact on the performance of the model. Therefore, to increase the equivalent circuit model performance, the parameter estimation has been carried out in the frequency domain. The battery is a very complex system, which is associated with various chemical reactions and heat generation. Therefore, it’s very difficult to select the optimal model structure. As we know, if the model order is increased, the model accuracy will be improved automatically. However, the higher order model will face the tendency of over-parameterization and unfavorable prediction capability, while the model complexity will increase enormously. In the time domain, it becomes difficult to solve higher order differential equations as the model order increases. This problem can be resolved by frequency domain analysis, where the overall computational problems due to ill-conditioning reduce. In the frequency domain, several dominating frequencies can be found in the input as well as output data. The selective frequency domain estimation has been carried out, first by estimating the frequencies of the input and output by subspace decomposition, then by choosing the specific bands from the most dominating to the least, while carrying out the least-square, recursive least square and Kalman Filter based parameter estimation. In this paper, a second order battery model consisting of three resistors, two capacitors, and one SOC controlled voltage source has been chosen. For model identification and validation hybrid pulse power characterization (HPPC) tests have been carried out on a 2.6 Ah LiFePO₄ battery.

Keywords: equivalent circuit model, frequency estimation, parameter estimation, subspace decomposition

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Ahmad Alazemi, M. Sherif El-Eskandrany, Mohamad Kishk, Thanyan AlOnaizi, Ahmad Alduweesh, Shorouq Abdullaleel

Abstract:

Arc melting technique followed by top-down approach, using a high-energy ball milling technique were employed to synthesize nanocrystalline of Cu50(Zr50-xNix)50 (x = 0, 10, 20 and 30 at.%) powder particles. The end-products of the alloy powders obtained after 50 h of the ball milling time were uniform in composition and had spherical-like morphology with an average particle size of 0.75 µm in diameter. The powders, which consisted of nanocrystalline grains with an average grain size of 10 nm in diameter, were used as feedstock materials for double face coating of stainless (SUS304) sheets, using cold spraying process. The coating materials enjoyed nanocrystalline structure and uniform composition. Biofilms were grown on 20-mm2 SUS304 sheets coated coupons inoculated with 1.5 × 108 CFU ml−1 E. coli. Significant biofilm inhibition was recorded in the nanoparticles coated coupons in comparison to non-coated SUS304 coupon. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that formation of biofilms can be significantly inhibited by Cu-based alloys especially in case of high (Ni) content. The inhibition of biofilm formation by nanocrystalline powders of Cu-based provides a practical approach to achieve the inhibition of biofilms formed by an emerging pathogen.

Keywords: biofilm, Cu, E.coli, FE-HRTEM/EDS, nanomaterials, nanocrystalline

Procedia PDF Downloads 418

Authors: Jaswinder Kaur, Nitika, Navneet Kaur, Rajesh Khanna

Abstract:

A hand-fan shaped microstrip patch antenna (MPA) for L-band and S-band applications is designed, and its characteristics have been reconnoitered. The proposed microstrip patch antenna with double U-slot defected ground structure (DGS) is fabricated on an FR4 substrate which is a very readily available and inexpensive material. The suggested antenna is optimized using Orthogonal Design Method (ODM) of Design of Experiments (DOE) to cover the frequency range from 0.91-2.82 GHz for L-band and S-band applications. The L-band covers the frequency range of 1-2 GHz, which is allocated to telemetry, aeronautical, and military systems for passive satellite sensors, weather radars, radio astronomy, and mobile communication. The S-band covers the frequency range of 2-3 GHz, which is used by weather radars, surface ship radars and communication satellites and is also reserved for various wireless applications such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-MAX), super high frequency radio frequency identification (SHF RFID), industrial, scientific and medical bands (ISM), Bluetooth, wireless broadband (Wi-Bro) and wireless local area network (WLAN). The proposed method of optimization is very time efficient and accurate as compared to the conventional evolutionary algorithms due to its statistical strategy. Moreover, the antenna is tested, followed by the comparison of simulated and measured results.

Keywords: design of experiments, hand fan shaped MPA, L-Band, orthogonal design method, S-Band

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Dionisios Panagiotaras, Ioannis P. Kokkoris, Dionysios Koulougliotis, Dimitra Lekka, Alexandra Skalioti

Abstract:

In the summer of 2021, Greece was affected by devastating forest fires in various regions of the country, resulting in human losses, destruction or degradation of the natural environment, infrastructure, livestock and cultivations. The present study concerns a pilot assessment of natural vegetation regeneration in the second, in terms of area, fire-affected region for 2021, at Ancient Olympia area, located in West Peloponnisos (Ilia Prefecture), Greece. A standardised field sampling protocol for assessing natural regeneration was implemented at selected sites where the forest fire had occurred previously (in 2007), and the vegetation (Pinus halepensis forest) had regenerated naturally. The results of the study indicate the loss of the established natural regeneration of Pinus halepensis forest, as well as of the tree-layer in total. Post-fire succession species are recorded to the shrub and the herb layer, with a varying cover. Present findings correspond to the results of field work and analysis one year after the fire, which will form the basis for further research and conclusions on taking action for restoration schemes in areas that have been affected by fire more than once within a 20-year period.

Keywords: forest, pinus halepensis, ancient olympia, post fire vegetation

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Chandrashekhar Bhat, Dilifa Jossley Noronha, Faber A. Saldana

Abstract:

Transportation of long turbine blades from one place to another is a difficult process. Hence a feasibility study of modularization of wind turbine blade was taken from structural standpoint through finite element analysis. Initially, a non-segmented blade is modeled and its structural behavior is evaluated to serve as reference. The resonant, static bending and fatigue tests are simulated in accordance with IEC61400-23 standard for comparison purpose. The non-segmented test blade is separated at suitable location based on trade off studies and the segments are joined with an innovative double strap bonded joint configuration. The adhesive joint is modeled by adopting cohesive zone modeling approach in ANSYS. The developed blade model is analyzed for its structural response through simulation. Performances of both the blades are found to be similar, which indicates that, efficient segmentation of the long blade is possible which facilitates easy transportation of the blades and on site reassembling. The location selected for segmentation and adopted joint configuration has resulted in an efficient segmented blade model which proves the methodology adopted for segmentation was quite effective. The developed segmented blade appears to be the viable alternative considering its structural response specifically in fatigue within considered assumptions.

Keywords: modularization, fatigue, cohesive zone modeling, wind turbine blade

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: WonHo Lee, Hyo-Gyoung Kwak

Abstract:

A numerical model considering slip behavior of steel-concrete composite structure is introduced. This model is based on a linear bond stress-slip relation along the interface. Single node was considered at the interface of steel and concrete member in finite element analysis, and it improves analytical problems of model that takes double nodes at the interface by adopting spring elements to simulate the partial interaction. The slip behavior is simulated by modifying material properties of steel element contacting concrete according to the derived formulation. Decreased elastic modulus simulates the slip occurrence at the interface and decreased yield strength simulates drop in load capacity of the structure. The model is verified by comparing numerical analysis applying this model with experimental studies. Acknowledgment—This research was supported by a grant(13SCIPA01) from Smart Civil Infrastructure Research Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport(MOLIT) of Korea government and Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement(KAIA) and financially supported by Korea Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport(MOLIT) as U-City Master and Doctor Course Grant Program.

Keywords: bond-slip, composite structure, partial interaction, steel-concrete structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Xharavina V., Gallopeni F., Ahmeti K.

Abstract:

Stuttered speech is filled with intermittent sound prolongations and/or rapid part word repetitions. Oftentimes, these aberrant acoustic behaviors are associated with intermittent physical tension and struggle behaviors such as head jerks, arm jerks, finger tapping, excessive eye-blinks, etc. Additionally, the jarring nature of acoustic and physical manifestations that often accompanies moderate-severe stuttering may induce negative emotional responses in listeners, which alters communication between the person who stutters and their listeners. However, researches for the influence of negative emotions in the communication and for physical reaction are limited. Therefore, to compare psycho-physiological responses of fluent adults, while listening the speech of adults who speak fluency and adults who stutter, are necessary. This study comprises the experimental method, with total of 104 participants (average age-20 years old, SD=2.1), divided into 3 groups. All participants self-reported no impairments in speech, language, or hearing. Exploring the responses of the participants, there were used two records speeches; a voice who speaks fluently and the voice who stutters. Heartbeats and the pulse were measured by the digital blood pressure monitor called 'Tensoval', as a physiological response to the fluent and stuttering sample. Meanwhile, the emotional responses of participants were measured by the self-reporting questionnaire (Steenbarger, 2001). Results showed an increase in heartbeats during the stuttering speech compared with the fluent sample (p < 0.5). The listeners also self-reported themselves as more alive, unhappy, nervous, repulsive, sad, tense, distracted and upset when listening the stuttering words versus the words of the fluent adult (where it was reported to experience positive emotions). These data support the notions that speech with stuttering can bring a psycho-physical reaction to the listeners. Speech pathologists should be aware that listeners show intolerable physiological reactions to stuttering that remain visible over time.

Keywords: emotional, physiological, stuttering, fluent speech

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Intan Purnama Sari, Fitri Damayanti, Nabiila Yumna Ghina

Abstract:

Kliwonan, Sragen is a famous central batik industry village. In the process of the industry, women are placed into the central role but marginalized in economic mode. Women have the double burden on domestic sector and public sector (work as craftsmen batik). The existence of the batik industry bring on issues related to the pollution of water resources as a result of waste water with the marginalized of women. This research aims to examine the relevance of the pollution of the water from the well in Kliwonan with women as the biggest role holders through ecofeminism perspective. To examine these aspects then made observations, documentation, and interview against women batik craftsmen. The results of the study showed that the wells as sources of water to the inhabitants of contaminated because the liquid waste water batik industry. The impact of women must buy clean water each month to meet the needs of the household water with the reward that is obtained from the result of labor as much as Rp 12,000 per day. It proves the marginalized women on economic mode. Based on the results of research done, it can be concluded that the required environmental planning to promote how women do the rescue environment. The implementation requires kelor (Moringa oleifera seeds) as such as natural coagulants of sources of water-saving and easy to use.

Keywords: well water pollution, ecofeminism, environmental planning, Moringa oleifera

Procedia PDF Downloads 278

Authors: Nishal Parbhoo, John B. Dewar, Samantha Gildenhuys

Abstract:

Rotavirus is the major cause of severe gastroenteritis worldwide in children aged 5 and younger. Death rates are high particularly in developing countries. The mature rotavirus is a non-enveloped triple-layered nucleocapsid containing 11 double-stranded RNA segments. Here a global view on the sequence and structure of the three main capsid proteins, VP7, VP6, and VP2 is taken by generating a consensus sequence for each of these rotavirus proteins, for each species obtained from published data of representative rotavirus genotypes from across the world and across species. The degree of conservation between species was represented on homology models for each of the proteins. VP7 shows the highest level of variation with 14 - 45 amino acids showing conservation of less than 60%. These changes are localized to the outer surface which is exposed to antibodies alluding to a possible mechanism in evading the immune system. The middle layer, VP6 shows lower variability with only 14-32 sites having lower than 70% conservation. The inner structural layer made up of VP2 showed the lowest variability with only 1-16 sites having less than 70% conservation across species. The results correlate with proteins’ multiple structural roles. Although the nucleotide sequences vary due to an error-prone replication and lack of proofreading, the corresponding amino acid sequence of VP2, 6 and 7 remains conserved. Sequence conservation maintained for the virus results in stable protein structures, fit for function. This can be exploited in drug design, molecular studies and biotechnological applications.

Keywords: amino acid sequence conservation, capsid protein, protein structure, vaccine candidate

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Hussain Hameed Mayuuf

Abstract:

The study is an attempt to investigate the conceptual metonymies is used in political discourse about COVID-19. Thus, this study tries to analyze and investigate how the conceptual metonymies in Johnson's speech about coronavirus are constructed. This study aims at: Identifying how are metonymies relevant to understand the messages in Boris Johnson speeches and to find out how can conceptual blending theory help people to understand the messages in the political speech about COVID-19. Lastly, it tries to Point out the kinds of integration networks are common in political speech. The study is based on the hypotheses that conceptual blending theory is a powerful tool for investigating the intended messages in Johnson's speech and there are different processes of blending networks and conceptual mapping that enable the listeners to identify the messages in political speech. This study presents a qualitative and quantitative analysis of four speeches about COVID-19; they are said by Boris Johnson. The selected data have been tackled from the cognitive-semantic perspective by adopting Conceptual Blending Theory as a model for the analysis. It concludes that CBT is applicable to the analysis of metonymies in political discourse. Its mechanisms enable listeners to analyze and understand these speeches. Also the listener can identify and understand the hidden messages in Biden and Johnson's discourse about COVID-19 by using different conceptual networks. Finally, it is concluded that the double scope networks are the most common types of blending of metonymies in the political speech.

Keywords: cognitive, semantics, conceptual, metonymical, Covid-19

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Muhammad Umair, Tanveer Hussain, Khubab Shaker, Yasir Nawab, Muhammad Maqsood, Madeha Jabbar

Abstract:

The term comfort is defined as 'the absence of unpleasantness or discomfort' or 'a neutral state compared to the more active state'. Comfort mainly is of three types: sensorial (tactile) comfort, psychological comfort and thermo-physiological comfort. Thermophysiological comfort is determined by the air permeability and moisture management properties of the garment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of weave structure and picking sequence on the comfort properties of woven fabrics. Six woven fabrics with two different weave structures i.e. 1/1 plain and 3/1 twill and three different picking sequences: (SPI, DPI, 3PI) were taken as input variables whereas air permeability, wetting time, wicking behavior and overall moisture management capability (OMMC) of fabrics were taken as response variables and a comparison is made of the effect of weave structure and picking sequence on the response variables. It was found that fabrics woven in twill weave design and with simultaneous triple pick insertion (3PI) give significantly better air permeability, shorter wetting time and better water spreading rate, as compared to plain woven fabrics and those with double pick insertion (DPI) or single pick insertion (SPI). It could be concluded that the thermophysiological comfort of woven fabrics may be significantly improved simply by selecting a suitable weave design and picking sequence.

Keywords: air permeability, picking sequence, thermophysiological comfort, weave design

Procedia PDF Downloads 417

Authors: Ergun Sakalar, Kubra Bilgic

Abstract:

In the last decades, real-time PCR has become a reliable tool preferred to use in many laboratories for pathogen detection. This technique allows for monitoring target amplification via fluorescent molecules besides admit of quantitative analysis by enabling of convert outcomes of thermal cycling to digital data. Sensitivity and traceability of real-time PCR are based on measuring of fluorescence that appears only when fluorescent reporter dye bound to specific target DNA.The fluorescent reporter systems developed for this purpose are divided into two groups. The first group consists of intercalator fluorescence dyes such as SYBR Green, EvaGreen which binds to double-stranded DNA. On the other hand, the second group includes fluorophore-labeled oligonucleotide probes that are separated into three subgroups due to differences in mechanism of action; initial primer-probes such as Cyclicons, Angler®, Amplifluor®, LUX™, Scorpions, and the second one hydrolysis probes like TaqMan, Snake assay, finally hybridization probes, for instance, Molecular Beacons, Hybprobe/FRET, HyBeacon™, MGB-Eclipse, ResonSense®, Yin-Yang, MGB-Pleiades. In addition nucleic acid analogues, an increase of probe affinity to target site is also employed with fluorescence-labeled probes. Consequently, abundant real-time PCR detection chemistries are chosen by researcher according to the field of application, mechanism of action, advantages, and proper structures of primer/probes.

Keywords: fluorescent dye, food safety, molecular probes, nucleic acid analogues

Procedia PDF Downloads 253

Authors: G. Medkour Ishak-Boushaki, A. Taibi, M. Allab

Abstract:

Quantitative environmental radioactivity measurements are needed to determine the level of exposure of a population to ionizing radiations and for the assessment of the associated risks. Gamma spectrometry remains a very powerful tool for the analysis of radionuclides present in an environmental sample but the basic problem in such measurements is the low rate of detected events. Using large environmental samples could help to get around this difficulty but, unfortunately, new issues are raised by gamma rays attenuation and self-absorption. Recently, a new method has been suggested, to detect and identify without quantification, in a short time, a gamma ray of a low count source. This method does not require, as usually adopted in gamma spectrometry measurements, a pulse height spectrum acquisition. It is based on a chronological record of each detected photon by simultaneous measurements of its energy ε and its arrival time τ on the detector, the pair parameters [ε,τ] defining an event mode sequence (EMS). The EMS serials are analyzed sequentially by a Bayesian approach to detect the presence of a given radioactive source. The main object of the present work is to test the applicability of this sequential approach in radioactive environmental materials detection. Moreover, for an appropriate health oversight of the public and of the concerned workers, the analysis has been extended to get a reliable quantification of the radionuclides present in environmental samples. For illustration, we consider as an example, the problem of detection and quantification of 238U. Monte Carlo simulated experience is carried out consisting in the detection, by a Ge(Hp) semiconductor junction, of gamma rays of 63 keV emitted by 234Th (progeny of 238U). The generated EMS serials are analyzed by a Bayesian inference. The application of the sequential Bayesian approach, in environmental radioactivity analysis, offers the possibility of reducing the measurements time without requiring large environmental samples and consequently avoids the attached inconvenient. The work is still in progress.

Keywords: Bayesian approach, event mode sequence, gamma spectrometry, Monte Carlo method

Procedia PDF Downloads 495

Authors: Benhui Fan, Fahmi Bedoui, Jinbo Bai

Abstract:

Incorporated carbon nanotube-BaTiO₃ hybrids (H-CNT-BT) with core-shell structure, a better dispersion of CNTs can be achieved in a semi-crystalline polymeric matrix, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). Carried by BT particles, CNTs are easy to mutually connect which helps to obtain an extremely low percolation threshold (fc). After thermal treatments, the dielectric constants (ε’) of samples further increase which depends on the conditions of thermal treatments such as annealing temperatures, annealing durations and cooling ways. Thus, in order to study more comprehensively about the influence of thermal treatments on composite’s dielectric behaviors, in situ synchrotron X-ray is used to detect re-crystalline behavior of PVDF. Results of wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) show that after the thermal treatment, the content of β polymorph (the polymorph with the highest ε’ among all the polymorphs of PVDF’s crystalline structure) has increased nearly double times at the interfacial region of CNT-PVDF, and the thickness of amorphous layers (La) in PVDF’s long periods (Lp) has shrunk around 10 Å. The evolution of CNT’s network possibly occurs in the procedure of La shrinkage, where the strong interfacial polarization may be aroused and increases ε’ at low frequency. Moreover, an increase in the thickness of crystalline lamella may also arouse more orientational polarization and improve ε’ at high frequency.

Keywords: dielectric properties, thermal treatments, carbon nanotubes, crystalline structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Tawfiq Chekifi, Brahim Dennai, Rachid Khelfaoui

Abstract:

Over the last few decades, modeling immiscible fluids such as oil and water have been a classical research topic. Droplet-based microfluidics presents a unique platform for mixing, reaction, separation, dispersion of drops, and numerous other functions. For this purpose, several devices were studied, as well as microfluidic oscillator. The latter was obtained from wall attachment microfluidic amplifiers using a feedback loop from the outputs to the control inputs, nevertheless this device have not well used for microdrops applications. In this paper, we suggest a numerical CFD study of a microfluidic oscillator with two different lengths of feedback loop. In order to produce simultaneous microdrops of gasoil on water, a typical geometry that includes double T-junction is connected to the fluidic oscillator. The generation of microdrops is computed by volume-of-fluid method (VOF). Flow oscillations of microdrops were triggered by the Coanda effect of jet flow. The aim of work is to obtain a high oscillation frequency in output of this passive device, the influence of hydrodynamics and physics parameters on the microdrops frequency in the output of our microsystem is also analyzed, The computational results show that, the length of feedback loop, applied pressure on T-junction and interfacial tension have a significant effect on the dispersion of microdrops and its oscillation frequency. Across the range of low Reynold number, the microdrops generation and its dynamics have been accurately controlled by adjusting applying pressure ratio of two phases.

Keywords: fluidic oscillator, microdrops manipulation, VOF (volume of fluid method), microfluidic oscillator

Procedia PDF Downloads 396

Authors: Jiahui Song

Abstract:

The use of electric fields with high intensity (~ 100kV/cm or higher) and ultra short pulse durations (nanosecond range) has been a recent development. Most of the studies of electroporation have ignored possible thermal effects because of the small duration of the applied voltage pulses. However, it has been predicted membrane temperature gradients ranging from 0.2×109 to 109 K/m. This research focuses on thermal effects that drive for electroporative enhancements, even though the actual temperature values might not have changed appreciably from their equilibrium levels. The dynamics of pore formation with the application of an externally applied electric field is studied on the basis of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the GROMACS package. MD simulations of a lipid layer with constant electric field strength of 0.5 V/nm at 25 °C and 47 °C are implemented to simulate the appropriate thermal effects. The GROMACS provides the force fields for the lipid membranes, which is taken to comprise of dipalmitoyl-phosphatidyl-choline (DPPC) molecules. The water model mimicks the aqueous environment surrounding the membrane. Velocities of water and membrane molecules are generated randomly at each simulation run according to a Maxwellian distribution. The high background electric field is typically used in MD simulations to probe electroporation. It serves as an accelerated test of the pore formation process since low electric fields would take inordinately long simulation time. MD simulation shows no pore is formed in a 1-ns snapshot for a DPPC membrane set at a temperature of 25°C after a 0.5 V/nm electric field is applied. A nano-sized pore is clearly seen in a 0.75-ns snapshot on the same geometry, but with the membrane surfaces kept at temperatures of 47°C. And the pore increases at 1 ns. The MD simulation results suggest the possibility that the increase in temperature can result in different degrees of electrically stimulated bio-effects. The results points to the role of thermal effects in facilitating and accelerating the electroporation process.

Keywords: high-intensity, ultra-short, electroporation, thermal effects, molecular dynamics

Procedia PDF Downloads 50