Search results for: transmission line loading

Authors: Nindyo Cahyo Kresnanto, Muhamad Willdan, Wika Harisa Putri

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Gunungkidul is one of the emerging tourism industry areas in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia. This article describes how GIS can predict the development of tourism potential in Gunungkidul. The tourism sector in Gunungkidul Regency contributes 3.34% of the total gross regional domestic product and is the economic sector with the highest growth with a percentage of 18.37% in the post-Covid-19 period. This contribution makes researchers consider that several tourist sites need to be explored more to increase regional economic development gradually. This research starts by collecting spatial data from tourist locations tourists want to visit in Gunungkidul Regency based on survey data from 571 respondents. Then the data is visualized with ArcGIS software. This research shows an overview of tourist destinations interested in travellers depicted from the lowest to the highest from the data visualization. Based on the data visualization results, specific tourist locations potentially developed to influence the surrounding economy positively. The visualization of the data displayed is also in the form of a desire line map that shows tourist travel patterns from the origin of the tourist to the destination of the tourist location of interest. From the desire line, the prediction of the path of tourist sites with a high frequency of transportation activity can figure out. Predictions regarding specific tourist location routes that high transportation activities can burden can consider which routes will be chosen. The route also needs to be improved in terms of capacity and quality. The goal is to provide a sense of security and comfort for tourists who drive and positively impact the tourist sites traversed by the route.

Keywords: tourism development, GIS and survey, transportation, potential desire line

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Authors: Riki H. Patel, Arpan Desai, Trushit Upadhyaya, Shobhit K. Patel

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The micro strip antennas area has seen some inventive work in recent years and is now one of the most dynamic fields of antenna theory. A novel and simple printed wideband monopole antenna is presented. Printed on a single dielectric substrate and easily fed by using a 50 ohm microstip line, low-profile antenna structure with two parallel S-shaped meandered line of same size. In this research, S–form micro strip patch antenna is designed from measuring the prototypes of the proposed antenna one available bands with 10db return loss bandwidths of about GPS application (GPS L2 1490 MHz) and covering the 1400 to 1580 MHz frequency band at 1.5 GHz The simulated results for main parameters such as return loss, impedance bandwidth, radiation patterns and gains are also discussed herein. The modeling study shows that such antennas, in simplicity design and supply, and can satisfy GPS application. Two parallel slots are incorporated to disturb the surface flow path, introducing local inductive effect. This antenna is fed by a coaxial feeding tube.

Keywords: bandwidth, electrically small antenna, microstrip, patch antenna, GPS

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Authors: Ramalan Musa Yerima

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The paper titled “loading by number” explained a strategy developed recently by Zonal Commanding Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps of Nigeria, covering Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States of Northern Nigeria. The strategy is aimed at reducing competition, which will invariably leads to the reduction in speed, reduction in dangerous driving, reduction in crash rate, reduction in injuries, reduction in property damages and reduction in death through road traffic crashes (RTC). This research paper presents a study focused on enhancing the safety of commercial vehicles. The background of this study highlights the alarming statistics related to commercial vehicle crashes in Nigeria with focus on Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States, which often result in significant damage to property, loss of lives, and economic costs. The significance and aims is to investigate and propose effective strategy to enhance the safety of commercial vehicles. The study recognizes the pressing need for heightened safety measures in commercial transportation, as it impacts not only the well-being of drivers and passengers but also the overall public safety. To achieve the objectives, an examination of accident data, including causes and contributing factors, was performed to identify critical areas for improvement. The major finding of the study reveals that when competition comes into play within the realm of commercial driving, it has detrimental effects on road safety and resource management. Commercial drivers are pushed to complete their routes quickly, deliver goods on time or they pushed themselves to arrive quickly for more passengers and new contracts. This competitive environment, fuelled by internal and external pressures such as tight deadlines, poverty and greed, often leads to sad endings. The study recommend that if a strategy called loading by number is integrated with other multiple safety measures such as driver training programs, regulatory enforcement, and infrastructure improvements, commercial vehicle safety can be significantly enhanced. "Loading by Number” approach is design to ensure that the sequence of departure of drivers from motor park ‘A’ would be communicated to motor park officials of park ‘B’, which would be considered sequentially when giving them returning passengers, regardless of the first to arrive. In conclusion, this paper underscores the significance of improving the safety measures of commercial vehicles, as they are often larger and heavier than other vehicles on the road. Whenever they are involved in accidents, the consequences can be more severe. Commercial vehicles are also frequently involved in long-haul or interstate transportation, which means they cover longer distances and spend more time on the road. This increased exposure to driving conditions increases the probability of accidents occurring. By implementing the suggested measures, policymakers, transportation authorities, and industry stakeholders can work collectively towards ensuring a safer commercial transportation system.

Keywords: commercial, safety, strategy, transportation

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Friday G. Okibe, Edit B. Agbaji, Victor O. Ajibola, Christain C. Onoyima

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Controlled drug delivery systems reduce dose-dependent toxicity associated with potent drugs, including anticancer drugs. In this research, hydroxyapatite (HA) and hydroxyapatite-sodium alginate nanocomposites (HASA) were successfully prepared and characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The FTIR result showed absorption peaks characteristics of pure hydroxyapatite (HA), and also confirmed the chemical interaction between hydroxyapatite and sodium alginate in the formation of the composite. Image analysis from SEM revealed nano-sized hydroxyapatite and hydroxyapatite-sodium alginate nanocomposites with irregular morphologies. Particle size increased with the formation of the nanocomposites relative to pure hydroxyapatite, with no significant change in particles morphologies. Drug loading and in-vitro drug release study were carried out using synthetic body fluid as the release medium, at pH 7.4 and 37 °C and under perfect sink conditions. The result shows that drug loading is highest for pure hydroxyapatite and decreased with increasing quantity of sodium alginate. However, the release study revealed that HASA-5%wt and HASA-20%wt presented better release profile than pure hydroxyapatite, while HASA-33%wt and HASA-50%wt have poor release profiles. This shows that Methotrexate-loaded hydroxyapatite-sodium alginate if prepared under optimal conditions is a potential carrier for effective delivery of Methotrexate.

Keywords: drug-delivery, hydroxyapatite, methotrexate, nanocomposites, sodium alginate

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Ramalan Musa Yerima

Abstract:

The paper titled “Loading by number” explained a strategy developed recently by the Zonal Commanding Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps of Nigeria, covering Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States of Northern Nigeria. The strategy is aimed at reducing competition, which will invariably lead to a reduction in speed, reduction in dangerous driving, reduction in crash rate, reduction in injuries, reduction in property damages and reduction in death through road traffic crashes (RTC). This research paper presents a study focused on enhancing the safety of commercial vehicles. The background of this study highlights the alarming statistics related to commercial vehicle crashes in Nigeria with a focus on Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States, which often result in significant damage to property, loss of lives, and economic costs. The significance and aims is to investigate and propose an effective strategy to enhance the safety of commercial vehicles. The study recognizes the pressing need for heightened safety measures in commercial transportation, as it impacts not only the well-being of drivers and passengers but also the overall public safety. To achieve the objectives, an examination of accident data, including causes and contributing factors, was performed to identify critical areas for improvement. The major finding of the study reveals that when competition comes into play within the realm of commercial driving, it has detrimental effects on road safety and resource management. Commercial drivers are pushed to complete their routes quickly and deliver goods on time, or they push themselves to arrive quickly for more passengers and new contracts. This competitive environment, fuelled by internal and external pressures such as tight deadlines, poverty and greed, often leads to sad endings. The study recommends that if a strategy called loading by number is integrated with other multiple safety measures, such as driver training programs, regulatory enforcement, and infrastructure improvements, commercial vehicle safety can be significantly enhanced. "Loading by Number” approach is designed to ensure that the sequence of departure of drivers from the motor park ‘A’ would be communicated to motor park officials of park ‘B’, which would be considered sequentially when giving them returning passengers, regardless of the first to arrive. In conclusion, this paper underscores the significance of improving the safety measures of commercial vehicles, as they are often larger and heavier than other vehicles on the road. Whenever they are involved in accidents, the consequences can be more severe. Commercial vehicles are also frequently involved in long-haul or interstate transportation, which means they cover longer distances and spend more time on the road. This increased exposure to driving conditions increases the probability of accidents occurring. By implementing the suggested measures, policymakers, transportation authorities, and industry stakeholders can work collectively toward ensuring a safer commercial transportation system.

Keywords: commercial, safety, strategy, transport

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Susanta Kumar Gachhayat, S. K. Dash

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Multi objective non-convex economic dispatch problems of a thermal power plant are of grave concern for deciding the cost of generation and reduction of emission level for diminishing the global warming level for improving green-house effect. This paper deals with ramp rate constraints for achieving better inequality constraints so as to incorporate valve point loading for cost of generation in thermal power plant through ramp rate biogeography based optimization involving mutation and migration. Through 50 out of 100 trials, the cost function and emission objective function were found to have outperformed other classical methods such as lambda iteration method, quadratic programming method and many heuristic methods like particle swarm optimization method, weight improved particle swarm optimization method, constriction factor based particle swarm optimization method, moderate random particle swarm optimization method etc. Ramp rate biogeography based optimization applications prove quite advantageous in solving non convex multi objective economic dispatch problems subjected to nonlinear loads that pollute the source giving rise to third harmonic distortions and other such disturbances.

Keywords: economic load dispatch, ELD, biogeography-based optimization, BBO, ramp rate biogeography-based optimization, RRBBO, valve-point loading, VPL

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Authors: Iftikhar Ahmad

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Buried pipeline is an underground structure that is buried in certain depth of soil and surrounded by soil medium. It has become the main mode of transportation of oil and gas from production facilities to refineries and export terminals due to its low cost, fast construction speed and large transportation capacity. Poor integrity is one of the major causes of leaks and accidents in oil and gas transmission pipelines. To ensure safe operation and to keep pipeline in a fit-for-service condition, it is imperative to have an efficient and effective pipeline integrity management (PIM) system. The remaining life of the pipeline can also be extended in the most reliable, safe and cost-effective manner by implementing effective pipeline integrity management. The importance of effective pipeline integrity management increases as the pipeline infrastructure continues to age. The pipelines in Libya, which are typically made of steel are susceptible to corrosion. The corrosion can cause failure of pipeline and significant safety and environmental hazards. To address corrosion in oil and gas pipeline, several corrosion management strategies can be employed. It covers corrosion mitigation, monitoring, inspection, and risk evaluation. Libya is a North African country and its economy is based on petroleum industry. It has large network of pipelines. This paper describes the pipeline integrity management system used in the Libyan oilfields to protect pipeline facilities based on standard practices of corrosion mitigation and inspection. An effective integrity management program anticipates and mitigates or eliminate integrity issues before they lead to incidents or failures. Understanding the pipeline’s integrity and threats in the context of the surrounding environment is key to making informed integrity management decisions. The following elements are developed for the operational phase to ensure that adequate management practices are in place to assess failures, and manage and respond to emergencies: (a) Failure assessment plan; (b) Emergency response plan; and (c) Remaining life assessment plan. Fifty performance indicators, which were previously identified, were adopted to track the success of the implementation of corrosion control strategies used in Libyan petroleum industry for its oil and gas transmission pipelines.

Keywords: pipeline integrity management, buried pipeline integrity management, corrosion management in oil and gas pipelines, corrosion mitigation and inspection

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Authors: Omar M. Elmabrouk., Roaa Y. Taha., Najat M. Ebrahim, Sabbreen A. Mohammed

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Power transformers are the most crucial part of power electrical system, distribution and transmission grid. This part is maintained using predictive or condition-based maintenance approach. The diagnosis of power transformer condition is performed based on Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA). There are five main methods utilized for analyzing these gases. These methods are International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) gas ratio, Key Gas, Roger gas ratio, Doernenburg, and Duval Triangle. Moreover, due to the importance of the transformers, there is a need for an accurate technique to diagnose and hence predict the transformer condition. The main objective of this technique is to avoid the transformer faults and hence to maintain the power electrical system, distribution and transmission grid. In this paper, the DGA was utilized based on the data collected from the transformer records available in the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) which is located in Benghazi-Libya. The Fuzzy Logic (FL) technique was implemented as a diagnostic approach based on IEC gas ratio method. The FL technique gave better results and approved to be used as an accurate prediction technique for power transformer faults. Also, this technique is approved to be a quite interesting for the readers and the concern researchers in the area of FL mathematics and power transformer.

Keywords: dissolved gas-in-oil analysis, fuzzy logic, power transformer, prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Chih-Ping Chen

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Today, technology does not necessitate change; rather, social media has afforded a new arena and digital tools for users/individuals to be symbolized and marketed in meaningful exchanges of digital identities. We argue that these symbolic interactions may afford individuals the ability to create and present less restricted Line person-to-person (P2P) chats than would be possible in face-to-face communications. Individuals can select flexible influence strategies to market themselves, which enables them to create and present their digital identities and impressions in alternative ways within a dynamic sociocultural context. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the novel phenomenon of how individuals market themselves to manage their digital identities and impressions to connect with other users through the symbolic interactions created by new digital tools (e.g., stickers). A netnographic approach was developed by applying a triangulated methodology consisting of user self-diary reports, in-depth interviews, and observations. Totally, 20 participants (10 females and 10 males) were of Taiwanese origin, and their ages ranged from 20–47 years old. The findings of this research showed that individuals on Line P2P social media where traditional cultural gender norms have shifted. Both male and female participants market their modern digital identities by adopting a combination of flexible influence tactics/strategies when using digital stickers. Some findings showed that their influence tactics/strategies often flouted Taiwanese cultural gender norms or skirted traditional rules to fit individual or P2P needs. Finally, these findings potentially contributed to the literature regarding the consumer culture theory and symbolic interaction theory in digital marketing and social media fields.

Keywords: Consumer culture theory, Digital sticker, Self-marketing, Impression, Symbolic interaciton

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Mahdieh Zamzamzadeh, Ahmad Abdullah Saifizul, Rahizar Ramli

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The road accidents involving heavy vehicles have been showing worrying trends and, year after year, have increased the concern and awareness levels on safety of roads and transportations especially in developing countries like Malaysia. Statistics of road crashes continue to show that there are many contributing factors on the capability of a heavy vehicle to stop on safe distance and ultimately prevent traffic crashes. However, changes in the road condition due to weather variations and the vehicle dynamic specifications such as loading conditions and speed are the main risk factors because they will affect a heavy vehicle’s braking performance due to losing control and not being able to stop the vehicle, and in many cases will cause wheel lock up and accordingly skidding. Predicting heavy vehicle skidding distance is crucial for accident reconstruction and roadside safety engineers. Despite this, formal tools to study heavy vehicle skidding distance before stopping completely are totally limited, and most researchers have only considered braking distance in their studies. As a possible new tool, this work presents the iterative use of vehicle dynamic simulations to study heavy vehicle-roadway interaction in order to predict wheel lock up effects on skidding distance and safety. This research addresses the influence of the vehicle and road conditions on skidding distance after wheel lock up and presents a precise analysis of skidding phenomenon. The vehicle speed, vehicle loading condition and road friction parameters were all varied in a simulation-based analysis. In order to simulate the wheel lock up situation, a heavy vehicle model was constructed and simulated using multibody vehicle dynamics simulation software, and careful analysis was made on the conditions which caused the skidding distance to increase or decrease through a method using to predict skidding distance as part of braking distance. By applying many simulations, the results were quite revealing relation between the heavy vehicles loading condition, various sets of speed and road coefficient of friction and their interaction effect on the skidding distance. A number of results are presented which illustrate how the heavy vehicle overloading can seriously affect the skidding distance. Moreover, the results of simulation give the skid mark length, which is a necessary input data during accident reconstruction involving emergency braking.

Keywords: accident reconstruction, Braking, heavy vehicle, skidding distance, skid mark, wheel lock up

Procedia PDF Downloads 497

Authors: Andrii Biloshchytskyi, Serik Omirbayev, Alexandr Neftissov, Sapar Toxanov, Svitlana Biloshchytska, Adil Faizullin

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Kazakhstan has adopted a carbon neutrality strategy until 2060. In accordance with this strategy, it is necessary to introduce various tools to maintain the environmental safety of the environment. The use of IoT, in combination with the characteristics and requirements of Kazakhstan's environmental legislation, makes it possible to develop a modern environmental monitoring system. The article proposes a solution for developing an example of an automated system for the continuous collection of data on the concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere based on an open architecture. The Audino-based device acts as a microcontroller. It should be noted that the transmission of measured values is carried out via an open wireless communication protocol. The architecture of the system, which was used to build a prototype based on sensors, an Arduino microcontroller, and a wireless data transmission module, is presented. The selection of elementary components may change depending on the requirements of the system; the introduction of new units is limited by the number of ports. The openness of solutions allows you to change the configuration depending on the conditions. The advantages of the solutions are openness, low cost, versatility and mobility. However, there is no comparison of the working processes of the proposed solution with traditional ones.

Keywords: environmental monitoring, greenhouse gases emissions, environmental pollution, Industry 4.0, IoT, microcontroller, automated monitoring system.

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Authors: Redouane Tlemsani, Redouane, Belkacem Kouninef, Abdelkader Benyettou

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In this paper, our system is a Markovien system which we can see it like a Dynamic Bayesian Networks. One of the major interests of these systems resides in the complete training of the models (topology and parameters) starting from training data. The Bayesian Networks are representing models of dubious knowledge on complex phenomena. They are a union between the theory of probability and the graph theory in order to give effective tools to represent a joined probability distribution on a set of random variables. The representation of knowledge bases on description, by graphs, relations of causality existing between the variables defining the field of study. The theory of Dynamic Bayesian Networks is a generalization of the Bayesians networks to the dynamic processes. Our objective amounts finding the better structure which represents the relationships (dependencies) between the variables of a dynamic bayesian network. In applications in pattern recognition, one will carry out the fixing of the structure which obliges us to admit some strong assumptions (for example independence between some variables).

Keywords: Arabic on line character recognition, dynamic Bayesian network, pattern recognition, networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 616

Authors: Lim Sanny, Felix Christian

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The use of heavy equipment in Indonesia is always increasing. Cost reduction in procurement of spare parts is the aim of the company. The spare parts in this research are focused in the kind of filters. On the early step, the choosing of priority filter will be studied further by using the ABC analysis. To find out future demand of the filter, this research is using demand forecast by utilizing the QM software for windows. And to find out the best method of inventory control for each kind of filter is by comparing the total cost of Economic Order Quantity and Quick response inventory method. For the three kind of filters which are Cartridge, Engine oil – pn : 600-211-123, Element, Transmission – pn : 424-16-11140, and Element, Hydraulic – pn : 07063-01054, the best forecasting method is Linear regression. The best method for inventory control of Cartridge, Engine oil – pn : 600-211-123 and Element, Transmission – pn : 424-16-11140, is Quick Response Inventory, while the best method for Element, Hydraulic – pn : 07063-01054 is Economic Order Quantity.

Keywords: strategy, inventory, ABC analysis, forecasting, economic order quantity, quick response inventory

Procedia PDF Downloads 363

Authors: Tahsin Shameem, Chowdhury Sadman Jahan, Mohammad Alam

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Interest about Net Zero Energy Buildings have gained traction in recent years following the need to sustain energy consumption with generations on site and to reduce dependence on grid supplied energy from large plants using fossil fuel. With this end in view, building integrated photovoltaics are being studied attempting to utilize all exterior facades of a building to generate power. In this paper, we have looked at the physical parameters defining a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and discussed their impact on energy harvest. Following our discussion and experimental data obtained from literature, we have attempted to optimize these physical parameters accordingly so as to allow maximum light absorption for a given active layer thickness. We then modified a planer DSSC design with our optimized properties to allow adequate light transmission which demonstrated a high fill factor and an External Quantum Efficiency (EQE) of greater than 9% by computer aided design and simulation. In conclusion, a DSSC based solar window with such high output values even after such high light transmission through it definitely flags a promising future for this technology and our work elicits the need for further study and practical experimentation.

Keywords: net zero energy building, integrated photovoltaics, dye sensitized solar cell, fill factor, External Quantum Efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: A. Zarenezhad, A. Esfandiari, E. Zarenezhad, M. Mardkhoshnood

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The aim of this study was to investigate the ultra-structure of the photoreceptor layer of male rats under the effect of methanol intoxication and protective effect of silymarin against the methanol toxicity. Fifteen adult male rats were divided into three groups: Control group, Experimental group I (received 4g/kg methanol by intraperitoneal injection for five days), Experimental group II (received 4 g/kg methanol by intraperitoneal injection for five days and received 250 mg/kg silymarin orally for three months). At the end of the experiment, the eyes were removed; retina was separated near the optic disc and studied by transmission electron microscope. Results showed that the retina in the experimental group I exhibited loss of outer segments and disorganization in inner segment. Increased extra cellular space, disappearance of outer limiting membrane and pyknotic nuclei were seen in this group. But normal outer segment, organized inner segment and normal outer limiting membrane were obvious after treatment with silymarin in experimental group II. These findings show that methanol causes damage in the photoreceptor layer of the rat retina and silymarin can protect the damage to retina against the methanol intoxication.

Keywords: ultra-structure, photoreceptor layer, methanol intoxication, silymarin, rat

Procedia PDF Downloads 290

Authors: Mouldi Djelassi, Jamel Boukhatem

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Background: A relation has been established between Islamic banks' activities and interest rates. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of interest rates on the deposits and loans held by Islamic and conventional banks in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A time series data was performed over the period 2008Q1-2020Q2 on eight conventional banks and four Islamic banks. The impacts of interest rate shocks on deposits and loans were identified through panel vector autoregressive models. Results: Impulse response function analysis showed that increasing interest rates reduce loans and conventional deposits. For Islamic banks, deposits are more affected by interest rates than lending. Variance decomposition analysis revealed that deposits contribute to 61% of the Islamic financing variation and only 25% of the conventional loans. Conclusion: Interest rates impacted Islamic banks especially through deposits, which is inconsistent with the theoretical framework. Islamic deposits played an important role in Islamic financing variation and may provide to be a channel for the transmission of the monetary policy in a dual banking system. Monetary policy in Saudi Arabia works in part through “credits” (conventional bank credits) as well as through “money” (conventional and Islamic bank deposits).

Keywords: Islamic banking, interest rates, monetary policy transmission, panel VAR

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Authors: Manpreet Kaur, Amita Rani, Sanjay Kumar

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The Internet of Things (IoT), a cyber-physical paradigm, allows a large number of devices to connect and send the sensory data in the network simultaneously. This tremendous amount of data generated leads to very high network load consequently resulting in network congestion. It further amounts to frequent loss of useful information and depletion of significant amount of nodes’ energy. Therefore, there is a need to control congestion in IoT so as to prolong network lifetime and improve the quality of service (QoS). Hence, we propose a two-level clustering based routing algorithm considering congestion score and packet priority metrics that focus on minimizing the network congestion. In the proposed Priority based Congestion Control (PBCC) protocol the sensor nodes in IoT network form clusters that reduces the amount of traffic and the nodes are prioritized to emphasize important data. Simultaneously, a congestion score determines the occurrence of congestion at a particular node. The proposed protocol outperforms the existing Packet Discard Network Clustering (PDNC) protocol in terms of buffer size, packet transmission range, network region and number of nodes, under various simulation scenarios.

Keywords: internet of things, cyber-physical systems, congestion control, priority, transmission rate

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Authors: Bin Zhou, Tongli Lu, Jianwu Zhang, Hongtao Hao

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Dual clutch transmissions (DCT) offer a high comfort performance in terms of the gearshift. Hydraulic multi-disk clutches are the key components of DCT, its engagement determines the shifting comfort. The prefill of the clutches requests an initial engagement which the clutches just contact against each other but not transmit substantial torque from the engine, this initial clutch engagement point is called the touch point. Open-loop control is typically implemented for the clutch prefill, a lot of uncertainties, such as oil temperature and clutch wear, significantly affects the prefill, probably resulting in an inappropriate touch point. Underfill causes the engine flaring in gearshift while overfill arises clutch tying up, both deteriorating the shifting comfort of DCT. Therefore, it is important to enable an adaptive capacity for the clutch prefills regarding the uncertainties. In this paper, a dynamic model of the hydraulic actuator system is presented, including the variable force solenoid and clutch piston, and validated by a test. Subsequently, the open-loop clutch prefill is simulated based on the proposed model. Two control parameters of the prefill, fast fill time and stable fill pressure is analyzed with regard to the impact on the prefill. The former has great effects on the pressure transients, the latter directly influences the touch point. Finally, an adaptive method is proposed for the clutch prefill during gear shifting, in which clutch fill control parameters are adjusted adaptively and continually. The adaptive strategy is changing the stable fill pressure according to the current clutch slip during a gearshift, improving the next prefill process. The stable fill pressure is increased by means of the clutch slip while underfill and decreased with a constant value for overfill. The entire strategy is designed in the Simulink/Stateflow, and implemented in the transmission control unit with optimization. Road vehicle test results have shown the strategy realized its adaptive capability and proven it improves the shifting comfort.

Keywords: clutch prefill, clutch slip, dual clutch transmission, touch point, variable force solenoid

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Authors: Nungki Rositaningsih, Emil Budianto

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Starch has been widely used as an encapsulation material for drug delivery system. However, starch hydrogel is very easily degraded during metabolism in human stomach. Modification of this material is needed to improve the encapsulation process in drug delivery system, especially for gastrointestinal drug. In this research, three modified starch-based hydrogels are synthesized i.e. Crosslinked starch hydrogel, Semi- and Full- Interpenetrating Polymer Network (IPN) starch hydrogel using Poly(N-Vinyl-Pyrrolidone). Non-modified starch hydrogel was also synthesized as a control. All of those samples were compared as biomaterials, floating drug delivery, and their ability in loading drug test. Biomaterial characterizations were swelling test, stereomicroscopy observation, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Buoyancy test and stereomicroscopy scanning were done for floating drug delivery characterizations. Lastly, amoxicillin was used as test drug, and characterized with UV-Vis spectroscopy for loading drug observation. Preliminary observation showed that Full-IPN has the most dense and elastic texture, followed by Semi-IPN, Crosslinked, and Non-modified in the last position. Semi-IPN and Crosslinked starch hydrogel have the most ideal properties and will not be degraded easily during metabolism. Therefore, both hydrogels could be considered as promising candidates for encapsulation material. Further analysis and issues will be discussed in the paper.

Keywords: biomaterial, drug delivery system, interpenetrating polymer network, poly(N-vinyl-pyrrolidone), starch hydrogel

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: H. Mayton, X. Yan, A. G. Taylor

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Infested tomato seeds were used to investigate the influence of Xanthomonas euvesicatoria on germination and seed to seedling transmission in a controlled environment and greenhouse assays in an effort to develop effective seed treatments and characterize seed borne transmission of bacterial leaf spot of tomato. Bacterial leaf spot of tomato, caused by four distinct Xanthomonas species, X. euvesicatoria, X. gardneri, X. perforans, and X. vesicatoria, is a serious disease worldwide. In the United States, disease prevention is expensive for commercial growers in warm, humid regions of the country, and crop losses can be devastating. In this study, four different infested tomato seed lots were extracted from tomato fruits infected with bacterial leaf spot from a field in New York State in 2017 that had been inoculated with X. euvesicatoria. In addition, vacuum infiltration at 61 kilopascals for 1, 5, 10, and 15 minutes and seed soaking for 5, 10, 15, and 30 minutes with different bacterial concentrations were used to artificially infest seed in the laboratory. For controlled environment assays, infested tomato seeds from the field and laboratory were placed othe n moistened blue blotter in square plastic boxes (10 cm x 10 cm) and incubated at 20/30 ˚C with an 8/16 hour light cycle, respectively. Infested tomato seeds from the field and laboratory were also planted in small plastic trays in soil (peat-lite medium) and placed in the greenhouse with 24/18 ˚C day and night temperatures, respectively, with a 14-hour photoperiod. Seed germination was assessed after eight days in the laboratory and 14 days in the greenhouse. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the hrpB7 primers (RST65 [5’- GTCGTCGTTACGGCAAGGTGGTG-3’] and RST69 [5’-TCGCCCAGCGTCATCAGGCCATC-3’]) was performed to confirm presence or absence of the bacterial pathogen in seed lots collected from the field and in germinating seedlings in all experiments. For infested seed lots from the field, germination was lowest (84%) in the seed lot with the highest level of bacterial infestation (55%) and ranged from 84-98%. No adverse effect on germination was observed from artificially infested seeds for any bacterial concentration and method of infiltration when compared to a non-infested control. Germination in laboratory assays for artificially infested seeds ranged from 82-100%. In controlled environment assays, 2.5 % were PCR positive for the pathogen, and in the greenhouse assays, no infected seedlings were detected. From these experiments, X. euvesicatoria does not appear to adversely influence germination. The lowest rate of germination from field collected seed may be due to contamination with multiple pathogens and saprophytic organisms as no effect of artificial bacterial seed infestation in the laboratory on germination was observed. No evidence of systemic movement from seed to seedling was observed in the greenhouse assays; however, in the controlled environment assays, some seedlings were PCR positive. Additional experiments are underway with green fluorescent protein-expressing isolates to further characterize seed to seedling transmission of the bacterial leaf spot pathogen in tomato.

Keywords: bacterial leaf spot, seed germination, tomato, Xanthomonas euvesicatoria

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Chenyu Huang, Minrong Cui, Hua Fang, Luqing Zhang, Yunlong Yu

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The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become a pressing issue in global agricultural production. However, understanding how these ARGs spread across different spatial scales, especially when exposed to both pesticides and antibiotics, has remained a challenge. Here, metagenomic assembly and binning methodologies were used to determine the mechanism of ARG propagation within soil-lettuce systems exposed to both fungicides and antibiotics. The results of our study showed that the presence of fungicide and antibiotic stresses had a significant impact on certain bacterial communities. Notably, we observed that ARGs were primarily transferred from the soil to the plant through plasmids. The selective pressure exerted by fungicides and antibiotics contributed to an increase in unique ARGs present on lettuce leaves. Moreover, ARGs located on chromosomes and plasmids followed different transmission patterns. The presence of diverse selective pressures, a result of compound treatments involving antibiotics and fungicides, amplifies this phenomenon. Consequently, there is a higher probability of bacteria developing multi-antibiotic resistance under the combined pressure of fungicides and antibiotics. In summary, our findings highlight that combined fungicide and antibiotic treatments are more likely to drive the acquisition of ARGs within the soil-plant system and may increase the risk of human ingestion.

Keywords: soil-lettuce system, fungicide, antibiotic, ARG, transmission

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

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

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

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Authors: Pritika Ramharack, Mahmoud E. S. Soliman

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The re-emerging Zika virus is an arthropod-borne virus that has been described to have explosive potential as a worldwide pandemic. The initial transmission of the virus was through a mosquito vector, however, evolving modes of transmission has allowed the spread of the disease over continents. The virus already been linked to irreversible chronic central nervous system (CNS) conditions. The concerns of the scientific and clinical community are the consequences of Zika viral mutations, thus suggesting the urgent need for viral inhibitors. There have been large strides in vaccine development against the virus but there are still no FDA-approved drugs available. Rapid rational drug design and discovery research is fundamental in the production of potent inhibitors against the virus that will not just mask the virus, but destroy it completely. In silico drug design allows for this prompt screening of potential leads, thus decreasing the consumption of precious time and resources. This study demonstrates an optimized and proven screening technique in the discovery of two potential small molecule inhibitors of Zika virus Methyltransferase and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. This in silico “per-residue energy decomposition pharmacophore” virtual screening approach will be critical in aiding scientists in the discovery of not only effective inhibitors of Zika viral targets, but also a wide range of anti-viral agents.

Keywords: NS5 protein inhibitors, per-residue decomposition, pharmacophore model, virtual screening, Zika virus

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Authors: Oluwayemisi Onyenankeya

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The popularity and viewership of Nollywood films have expanded across African countries as well as European and American cities especially those with considerable Diaspora population. This appears to underscore the assumption that Nollywood films not only project or transmit the embedded Nigerian cultural values to audience members but also actually make appreciable impression on those audience members. This study sought to ascertain the role of Nollywood film in the transference of Nigerian cultural heritage across other cultures using students at the University of Fort Hare as a case study. This study sought to determine if audience members learn, imbibe or manifest any behavioural tendencies that can be ascribed to the influence of watching Nollywood films. Specifically, the study sought to establish the aspect of Nigerian culture that Nollywood films transmit to audience members. The survey research method was used while data was analysed using descriptive statistics. In all, 400 questionnaires were distributed while 370 were returned. Results show that students who were exposed to Nollywood film could mimic some common Nigerian expressions and exclamations. A small percentage of viewers could actually speak a smattering of some Nigerian language while a few have bought or made dresses in the pattern of what they saw in the films. It could be concluded that Nollywood films do exert significant influence on the viewers in the University of Fort Hare.

Keywords: culture, film, Nollywood, transmission

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Authors: Zeineb Ben Salem, Wissem Frikha, Mounir Bouassida

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Liquefaction has been responsible for tremendous amounts of damage in historical earthquakes around the world. The installation of stone columns is widely adopted to prevent liquefaction. Stone columns provide a drainage path, and due to their high permeability, allow for the quick dissipation of earthquake generated excess pore water pressure. Several excess pore pressure generation models in silty sand have been developed and calibrated based on the results of shaking table and centrifuge tests focusing on the effect of silt content on liquefaction resistance. In this paper, the generation and dissipation of excess pore pressure variation of reinforced silty sand by stone columns during liquefaction are analyzedwith different silt content based on test results. In addition, the installation effect of stone columns is investigated. This effect is described by a decrease in horizontal permeability within a disturbed zone around the column. Obtained results show that reduced soil permeability and a larger disturbed zone around the stone column increases the generation of excess pore pressure during the cyclic loading and decreases the dissipation rate after cyclic loading. On the other hand, beneficial effects of silt content were observed in the form of a decrease in excess pore water pressure.

Keywords: stone column, liquefaction, excess pore pressure, silt content, disturbed zone, reduced permeability

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Authors: Dong-Hyun Kim, Wan-Ho Chung, Hak-Sung Kim

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In this work, non-destructive evaluation was conducted to measure the sheet resistance of silver nanowire coated film and find a damage of that film using terahertz (THz) wave. Pulse type THz instrument was used, and the measurement was performed under transmission and pitch-catch reflection modes with 30 degree of incidence angle. In the transmission mode, the intensity of the THz wave was gradually increased as the conductivity decreased. Meanwhile, the intensity of THz wave was decreased as the conductivity decreased in the pitch-catch reflection mode. To confirm the conductivity of the film, sheet resistance was measured by 4-point probe station. Interaction formula was drawn from a relation between the intensity and the sheet resistance. Through substituting sheet resistance to the formula and comparing the resultant value with measured maximum THz wave intensity, measurement of sheet resistance using THz wave was more suitable than that using 4-point probe station. In addition, the damage on the silver nanowire coated film was detected by applying the THz image system. Therefore, the reliability of the entire film can be also be ensured. In conclusion, real-time monitoring using the THz wave can be applied in the transparent electrodes with detecting the damaged area as well as measuring the sheet resistance.

Keywords: terahertz wave, sheet resistance, non-destructive evaluation, silver nanowire

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Authors: Cha-ah C. N., Awah N. J., Mouiche M. M. M.

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Brucellosis is a neglected zoonotic disease of animals and man caused by bacteria of genus Brucella. Though eradicated in some parts of the world, it remains endemic in sub-Saharan Africa including Cameroon. The aim of this study was to contribute to the epidemiology of brucellosis in the North-West region of Cameroon by detecting the presence of anti-Brucella antibodies in bovine bulk milk as this serves as a route of transmission from animals to man. A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Brucella abortus antibodies in bovine bulk milk in the peri-urban zones of Bamenda. One hundred bulk milk samples were collected from 100 herds and tested by milk I-ELISA test. The conducted study revealed the presence of anti-Brucella abortus antibodies in bovine bulk milk. The study revealed that bovine brucellosis is widespread in animal production systems in this area. The animal infection pressure in these systems has remained strong due to movement of livestock in search of pasture, co-existence of animal husbandry, communal sharing of grazing land, concentration of animals around water points, abortions in production systems, locality of production systems and failure to quarantine upon introduction of new animals. The circulation of Brucella abortus antibodies in cattle farms recorded in the study revealed potential public health implication and suggest economic importance of brucellosis to the cattle industry in the Northwest region of Cameroon. The risk for re-emergence and transmission of brucellosis is evident as a result of the co-existence of animal husbandry activities and social-cultural activities that promote brucellosis transmission. Well-designed countrywide, evidence-based studies of brucellosis are needed. These could help to generate reliable frequency and potential impact estimates, to identify Brucella reservoirs, and to propose control strategies of proven efficacy.

Keywords: brucellosis, bulk milk, northwest region Cameroon, prevalence

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Authors: Ateeqa Aslam, Hans J. Nauwynck

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Porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (PHEV) is a betacoronavirus that has been studied in the past as a cause of vomiting and wasting disease (VWD) in young piglets (<3 weeks). Nowadays, the virus is still circulating on most farms in Belgium, but there are no descriptions anymore of VWD. Therefore, we are interested in differences between the old and new strains. We compared the replication kinetics of the old well-studied strain VW572 (1972) and the recent isolate P412 (2020) in a susceptible continuous cell line (RPD cells) and in primary porcine respiratory epithelial cells (PoRECs). The RPD cell line was inoculated with each PHEV strain at an m.o.i. of 1 the supernatant was collected, and the cells were fixed at different time points post-inoculation. The supernatant was titrated (extracellular virus titer), and the infected cells were revealed by immunofluorescence staining and quantitated by fluorescence microscopy. We found that VW572 replicated better in the RPD cell line at earlier time points when compared to P412. Porcine respiratory epithelial cells (PoREC) were isolated, grown at air-liquid interphase in transwells and inoculated with both strains of PHEV at a virus titer of 106.6TCID50 per 200 µl either at the apical side or at the basal side of the cells. At different time points after inoculation, the transwells were fixed and stained for infected cells. VW572 preferentially infected the epithelial cells via the basolateral side of porcine nasal epithelial cells, whereas P412 preferred the apical side. These findings suggest that there has been an evolution of PHEV in its interaction with the respiratory epithelial cells. In the future, more virus strains will be enclosed and the tropism of the strains for different neuronal cell types will be examined for the change in virus neurotropism.

Keywords: porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (PHEV), primary porcine respiratory epithelial cells (PoRECs), virus tropism, vomiting and wasting disease (VWD)

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Authors: Alejandra Betancur Sánchez, Carmen Elena Zapata Sánchez, Juan Bautista López Ortiz

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Adverse effects and increased air pollution has raised concerns about regulatory policies and has fostered the development of new air quality standards; this is due to the complexity of the composition and the poorly understood reactions in the atmospheric environment. Toxic compounds act as environmental agents having various effects, from irritation to death of cells and tissues. A toxic agent is defined an adverse response in a biological system. There is a particular class that produces some kind of alteration in the genetic material or associated components, so they are recognized as genotoxic agents. Within cells, they interact directly or indirectly with DNA, causing mutations or interfere with some enzymatic repair processes or in the genesis or polymerization of proteinaceous material involved in chromosome segregation. An air pollutant may cause or contribute to increased mortality or serious illness and even pose a potential danger to human health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect on the viability and the genotoxic potential on the cell lines CHO-K1 and Jurkat and peripheral blood of particulate matter PM T lymphocytes 2.5 obtained from filters collected three monitoring stations network air quality Aburrá Valley. Tests, reduction of MTT, trypan blue, NRU, comet assay, sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and chromosomal aberrations allowed evidence reduction in cell viability in cell lines CHO-K1 and Jurkat and damage to the DNA from cell line CHOK1, however, no significant effects were observed in the number of SCEs and chromosomal aberrations. The results suggest that PM2.5 material has genotoxic potential and can induce cancer development, as has been suggested in other studies.

Keywords: PM2.5, cell line Jurkat, cell line CHO-K1, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity

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Authors: Anurag Niranjan, Michael Fitzpatrick, Yin Jin Janin, Jazeel Chukkan, Niall Smyth

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Fillet welds are used in joining longitudinal stiffeners in ship structures. Welding residual stresses in fillet welds are generally distributed in a non-uniform manner, as shown in previous research the residual stress redistribution occurs under the cyclic loading that is experienced by such joints during service, and the combination of the initial residual stress, local constraints, and loading can alter the stress field in ways that are extremely difficult to predict. As the residual stress influences the crack propagation originating from the toe of the fillet welds, full understanding of the residual stress field and how it evolves is very important for structural integrity calculations. Knowledge of the residual stress redistribution in the presence of a flaw is therefore required for better fatigue life prediction. Moreover, defect assessment procedures such as BS7910 offer very limited guidance for flaw acceptance and the associated residual stress redistribution in the assessment of fillet welds. Therefore the objective of this work is to study a surface-breaking flaw at the weld toe region in a fillet weld under cyclic load, in conjunction with residual stress measurement at pre-defined crack depths. This work will provide details of residual stress redistribution under cyclic load in the presence of a crack. The outcome of this project will inform integrity assessment with respect to the treatment of residual stress in fillet welds. Knowledge of the residual stress evolution for this weld geometry will be greatly beneficial for flaw tolerance assessments (BS 7910, API 591).

Keywords: fillet weld, fatigue, residual stress, structure integrity

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