Search results for: wind seed measurement

Authors: Jamal Almatawah, Hamad Matar, Abdulsalam Altemeemi

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized environmental noise as harmful pollution that causes adverse psychosocial and physiologic effects on human health. The motor vehicle is considered to be one of the main source of noise pollution. It is a universal phenomenon, and it has grown to the point that it has become a major concern for both the public and policymakers. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to investigate the Traffic noise levels and the contributing factors that affect its level, such as traffic volume, heavy-vehicle Speed and other metrological factors in Ishbiliyah as a sample of a residential area in Kuwait. Three types of roads were selected in Ishbiliyah expressway, major arterial and collector street. The other source of noise that interferes the traffic noise has also been considered in this study. Traffic noise level is measured and analyzed using the Bruel & Kjaer outdoor sound level meter 2250-L (2250 Light). The Count-Cam2 Video Camera has been used to collect the peak and off-peak traffic count. Ambient Weather WM-5 Handheld Weather Station is used for metrological factors such as temperature, humidity and wind speed. Also, the spot speed was obtained using the radar speed: Decatur Genesis model GHD-KPH. All the measurement has been detected at the same time (simultaneously). The results showed that the traffic noise level is over the allowable limit on all types of roads. The average equivalent noise level (LAeq) for the Expressway, Major arterial and Collector Street was 74.3 dB(A), 70.47 dB(A) and 60.84 dB(A), respectively. In addition, a Positive Correlation coefficient between the traffic noise versus traffic volume and between traffic noise versus 85th percentile speed was obtained. However, there was no significant relation and Metrological factors. Abnormal vehicle noise due to poor maintenance or user-enhanced exhaust noise was found to be one of the highest factors that affected the overall traffic noise reading.

Keywords: traffic noise, residential area, pollution, vehicle noise

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Authors: T. Poppendieker, H. Maurer, C. Segieth

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Over the past ten years, foam rolling has become a new trend in the fitness and health market. It is also a frequently used technique for self-massage. However, the scope of effects from foam rolling has only recently started to be researched and understood. The focus of this study is to examine the effects of prolonged foam rolling on muscle performance. Isometric muscle force was used as a parameter to determine an improving impact of the myofascial roller in two different application volumes. Besides the maximal muscle force, data were also collected on muscle activation during all tests. Twenty-four (17 females, 7 males) healthy students with an average age of 23.4 ± 2.8 years were recruited. The study followed a cross-over pre-/post design in which the order of conditions was counterbalanced. The subjects performed a one-minute and three-minute foam rolling application set on two separate days. Isometric maximal muscle force of the dominant calf was tested before and after the self-myofascial release application. The statistic software program SPSS 22 was used to analyze the data of the maximal isometric force of the calf muscle by a 2 x 2 (time of measurement x intervention) analysis of variance with repeated measures. The statistic significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05. Neither for the main effect of time of measurement (F(1,23) = .93, p = .36, f = .20) nor for the interaction of time of measurement x intervention (F(1,23) = 1.99, p = .17, f = 0.29) significant p-values were found. However, the effect size indicates a mean interaction effect with a tendency of greater pre-post improvements under the three-minute foam rolling condition. Changes in maximal force did not correlate with changes in EMG-activity (r = .02, p = .95 in the short and r = -.11, p = .65 in the long rolling condition). Results support findings of previous studies and suggest a positive potential for use of the foam roll as a means for keeping muscle force at least at the same performance level while leading to an increase in flexibility.

Keywords: application volume differences, foam rolling, isometric maximal force, self-myofascial release

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Authors: Masao Nakagawa, Toshiki Hirogaki, Eiichi Aoyama, Mohamed Ali Ben Abbes

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A planetary gear set is widely used in hybrid vehicles as the power distribution system or in electric vehicles as the high reduction system, but due to its complexity with planet gears, its dynamic characteristic is not fully understood. There are many reports on two-axes driving or displacement of the planet gears under these conditions, but only few reports deal with three-axes driving. A three-axes driving condition is tested using three-axes torque measurement and focuses on the dynamic characteristic around the planet gears in this report. From experimental result, it was confirmed that the transition forces around the planet gears were balanced and the torques were also balanced around the instantaneous rotation center. The meshing frequency under these conditions was revealed to be the harmonics of two meshing frequencies; meshing frequency of the ring gear and that of the planet gears. The input power of the ring gear is distributed to the carrier and the sun gear in the dynamic sequential change of three fixed conditions; planet, star and solar modes.

Keywords: dynamic characteristic, gear, planetary gear set, torque measuring

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Authors: Chun-Yao Lee, Nando Purba, Benny Iskandar

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This paper proposed a phase resolve partial discharge (PRPD) shape method to classify types of defect stator coil generator by using off-line PD measurement instrument. The recorded PRPD, by using the instruments MPD600, can illustrate the PRPD patterns of partial discharge of unit’s defects. In the paper, two of large units, No.2 and No.3, in Inalum hydropower plant, North Sumatera, Indonesia is adopted in the experimental measurement. The proposed PRPD shape method is to mark auxiliary lines on the PRPD patterns. The shapes of PRPD from two units are marked with the proposed method. Then, four types of defects in IEC 60034-27 standard is adopted to classify the defect types of the two units, which types are microvoids (S1), delamination tape layer (S2), slot defect (S3) and internal delamination (S4). Finally, the two units are actually inspected to validate the availability of the proposed PRPD shape method.

Keywords: partial discharge (PD), stator coil, defect, phase resolve pd (PRPD)

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Authors: Victor Igwemezie, Ali Mehmanparast

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The correct knowledge of corrosion fatigue mechanism in marine steel is very important. This is because it enables the design, selection, and use of steels for offshore applications. It also supports realistic corrosion fatigue life prediction of marine structures. A study has been conducted to increase the understanding of corrosion fatigue mechanism in marine steels. The materials investigated are normalized and advanced S355 Thermomechanical control process (TMCP) steels commonly used in the design of offshore wind turbine support structures. The experimental study was carried out by conducting corrosion fatigue tests under conditions pertinent to offshore wind turbine operations, using the state of the art facilities. A careful microstructural study of the crack growth path was conducted using metallurgical optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX). The test was conducted on three subgrades of S355 steel: S355J2+N, S355G8+M and S355G10+M and the data compared with similar studies in the literature. The result shows that the ferrite-pearlite morphology primarily controls the corrosion-fatigue crack growth path in marine steels. A corrosion fatigue mechanism which relies on the hydrogen embrittlement of the grain boundaries and pearlite phase is used to explain the crack propagation behaviour. The crack growth trend in the Paris region of the da/dN vs. ΔK curve is used to explain the dependency of the corrosion-fatigue crack growth rate on the ferrite-pearlite morphology.

Keywords: corrosion-fatigue mechanism, fatigue crack growth rate, ferritic-pearlitic steel, microstructure, phase morphology

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Authors: Boukrouh Soumaya, Cabaraux Jean-François, Avril Claire, Noutfia Ali, Chentouf Mouad

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The introduction of marginal leguminous forage species in the diet of ruminants are of great importance. Bitter vetch is a good source of proteins, highly resistant against drought and poor soil conditions. Accordingly; two years field trials (2018/2019 and 2019-2020) were conducted to determine the digestibility of straw and grains of 17 promising bitter vetch ecotypes(Vicia ervilia) in the north of Morocco. In vitro dry and organic matter digestibility, gas production, and kinetics of fermentation of grains and straw were evaluated using gas production technique, pepsin-cellulase enzymatic digestibility of DM (CDDM)and OM (CDOM), as well as protease enzymatic CP degradation (CPD) and in vitro true digestibility, were performed using DAISYII Incubator. In vitro digestibility was performed using gas production method of (Menke et al., 1979) improved by Menke and Steingass (1988). Samples were incubated in glass syringes that contained rumen fluid and incubation solution that conserved in water bath in 39°C during 72 hours. Gas production was recorded after 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours. Studied digestibility parameters were dry and organic matter digestibility, microbial biomass production, partitioning factor, and volatile fatty acids. Enzymatic dry matter digestibility was different (p < 0.05) among grains and straw for all ecotypes. It varied from 804.1 to 957.7 g/kg DM and 270.4 to 412.3 g/kg DM for grains and straw, respectively. Metabolizable energy varied between 11.7 to 14.3 MJ/kg DM and 2.6 to 5.0 MJ/kg DM for grains and straw, respectively. Potential gas production (A), the rate constants (c and d), and lag times of grains and straws from different bitter vetch ecotypes were different (p > 0.05). The results emphasized that in any evaluation of bitter vetch ecotypes, where straw of this legume seed is used as an animal feed, not only seed yield but also yield and quality of straw should be taken into consideration, particularly in areas where straw from this legume is considered as an important feedstuff for ruminants. Enzymatic digestibility was lower than in vitro digestibility by gaz production and by the DAISYII method because rumen fluid contains bacteria than increase digestibility. There was no difference between in vitro digestibility by gaz production and the DAISY II method. The DAISY II method can be used to increase labor efficiency in the in vitro DM digestibility analysis if gaz production is not necessary for analysis.

Keywords: bitter vetch, grains, straw, ecotype, in vitro digestibility, gaz production, enzymatic digestibility

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Authors: Ashok Kumar, Parveen Parveen

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India is bestowed with an extremely high population of plant species with medicinal value and even has two biodiversity hotspots. Indian systems of medicine including Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani have historically been serving humankind across the world since time immemorial. About 1500 plant species have well been documented in Ayurvedic Nighantus as official medicinal plants. Additionally, several hundred species of plants are being routinely used as medicines by local people especially tribes living in and around forests. The natural resources for medicinal plants have unscientifically been over-exploited forcing rapid depletion in their genetic diversity. Moreover, renewed global interest in herbal medicines may even lead to additional depletion of medicinal plant wealth of the country, as about 95% collection of medicinal plants for pharmaceutical preparation is being carried out from natural forests. On the other hand, huge export market of medicinal and aromatic plants needs to be seriously tapped for enhancing inflow of foreign currency. Asparagus racemosus Willd., a member of family Liliaceae, is one of thirty-two plant species that have been identified as priority species for cultivation and conservation by the National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB), Government of India. Though attention is being focused on standardization of agro-techniques and extraction methods, little has been designed on genetic improvement and selection of desired types with higher root production and saponin content, a basic ingredient of medicinal value. The saponin not only improves defense mechanisms and controls diabetes but the roots of this species promote secretion of breast milk, improved lost body weight and considered as an aphrodisiac. There is ample scope for genetic improvement of this species for enhancing productivity substantially, qualitatively and quantitatively. It is emphasized to select desired genotypes with sufficient genetic diversity for important economic traits. Hybridization between two genetically divergent genotypes could result in the synthesis of new F1 hybrids consisting of useful traits of both the parents. The evaluation of twenty seed sources of Asparagus racemosus assembled different geographical locations of India revelled high degree of variability for traits of economic importance. The maximum genotypic and phenotypic variance was observed for shoot height among shoot related traits and for root length among root related traits. The shoot height, genotypic variance, phenotypic variance, genotypic coefficient of variance, the phenotypic coefficient of variance was recorded to be 231.80, 3924.80, 61.26 and 1037.32, respectively, where those of the root length were 9.55, 16.80, 23.46 and 41.27, respectively. The maximum genetic advance and genetic gain were obtained for shoot height among shoot-related traits and root length among root-related traits. Index values were developed for all seed sources based on the four most important traits, and Panthnagar (Uttrakhand), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Chandigarh (Punjab), Jammu (Jammu & Kashmir) and Solan (Himachal Pradesh) were found to be promising seed sources.

Keywords: asparagus, genetic, genotypes, variance

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Authors: Supriya Manikrao Ovhal

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In India, the summer monsoon rainfall occurs owing to large scale convection with reference to continental ITCZ. It was found that convection over tropical ocean increases with SST from 26 to 28 degree C, and when SST is above 29 degree C, it sharply decreases for warm pool areas of Indian and for monsoon areas of West Pacific Ocean. The reduction in convection can be influenced by large scale subsidence forced by nearby or remotely generated deep convection, thus it was observed that under the influence of strong large scale rising motion, convection does not decreases but increases monotonically with SST even if SST value is higher than 29.5 degree C. Since convection is related to SST gradient, that helps to generate low level moisture convergence and upward vertical motion in the atmosphere. Strong wind fields like cross equatorial low level jet stream on equator ward side of the warm pool are produced due to convection initiated by SST gradient. Areas having maximum SST have low SST gradient, and that result in feeble convection. Hence it is imperative to mention that the oceanic role (other than SST) could be prominent in influencing large Scale Atmospheric convection. Since warm oceanic surface somewhere or the other contributes to penetrate the heat radiation to the subsurface of the ocean, and as there is no studies seen related to oceanic subsurface role in large Scale Atmospheric convection, in the present study, we are concentrating on the oceanic subsurface contribution in large Scale Atmospheric convection by considering the SST gradient, mixed layer depth (MLD), thermocline, barrier layer. The present study examines the probable role of subsurface ocean parameters in influencing convection.

Keywords: sst, d20, olr, wind

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Authors: Sara Taghdisi, Mehrosadat Mirmohammadi, Mostafa Mokhtarian, Mohammad Hossein Pazandeh

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Leishmaniasis is one of the 10 most important diseases of the World Health Organization with health problems in more than 90 countries. Over one billion people are at risk of these diseases on almost every continent. The present human study was performed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of cotton plant on cutaneous leishmaniasis leision. firstly, the cotton seeds were cleaned and grinded to smaller particles. In the second step, the seeds were oiled by cold press method. In order to separate bioactive compound, after saponification of the oil, its gossypol was hydrolyzed and crystalized. finally, the therapeutic effect of Cottonseed Oil on cutaneous leishmaniasis was investigated. In the current project, Gossypol was extracted with a liquid-liquid extraction method in 120 minutes in the presence of Phosphoric acid from the cotton seed oil of Golestan beach varieties, then got crystallized in darkness using Acetic acid and isolated as Gossypol Acetic acid. The efficiency of the extracted crystal was obtained at 1.28±0.12. the cotton plant could be efficient in the treatment of Cutaneous leishmaniasis. This double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial was performed on 88 cases of leishmaniasis wounds. Patients were randomly divided into two groups of 44 cases. two groups received conventional treatment. In addition to the usual treatment (glucantime), the first group received cottonseed oil and the control group received placebo. The results of the present study showed that the surface of lesion before the intervention and in the first to fourth weeks after the intervention was not significantly different between the two groups (P-value> 0.05). But the surface of lesion in the Intervention group in the eighth and twelfth weeks was lower than the control group (P-value <0.05). This study showed that the improvement of leishmaniasis lesion using topical cotton plant mark in the eighth and twelfth weeks after the intervention was significantly more than the control group. Considering the most common chemical drugs for Cutaneous leishmaniasis treatment are sodium stibogluconate, and meglumine antimonate, which not only have relatively many side effects, but also some species of the Leishmania genus have become resistant to them. Therefore, a plant base bioactive compound such as cottonseed oil can be useful whit fewer side effects.

Keywords: cottonseed oil, crystallization, gossypol, leishmaniasis

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Authors: Khizar Z. Choudhrya, Richard Coles, Salman Qureshi, Robert Ashford, Salim Khan, Rabia R. Mir

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Abstract: The majority of existing landscape research has been derived by conducting heuristic evaluations, without having empirical insight of real participant visual response. In this research, a modern multimodal measurement approach (using narratives and eye tracking) was applied to investigate visual behaviour in perceiving naturalistic and urban environments. This research is unique in exploring gaze behaviour on environmental images possessing different levels of saliency. Eye behaviour is predominantly attracted by salient locations. The concept of methodology of this research on naturalistic and urban environments is drawn from the approaches in market research. Borrowing methodologies from market research that examine visual responses and qualities provided a critical and hitherto unexplored approach. This research has been conducted by using mixed methodological quantitative and qualitative approaches. On the whole, the results of this research corroborated existing landscape research findings, but they also identified potential refinements. The research contributes both methodologically and empirically to human-environment interaction (HEI). This study focused on initial impressions of environmental images with the help of eye tracking. Taking under consideration the importance of the image, this study explored the factors that influence initial fixations in relation to expectations and preferences. In terms of key findings of this research it is noticed that each participant has his own unique navigation style while surfing through different elements of landscape images. This individual navigation style is given the name of ‘visual signature’. This study adds the necessary clarity that would complete the picture and bring an insight for future landscape researchers.

Keywords: human-environment interaction (HEI), multimodal measurement, narratives, eye tracking

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Authors: Yudhitya Kusumawati, Yuki Mitsuya, Tomooki Shiba, Mitsuru Uesaka

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After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power reactor incident, there are a lot of unaccountable nuclear fuel debris in the reactor core area, which is subject to safeguard and criticality safety. Before the actual precise analysis is performed, preliminary on-site screening and mapping of nuclear debris activity need to be performed to provide a reliable data on the nuclear debris mass-extraction planning. Through a collaboration project with Japan Atomic Energy Agency, an on-site nuclear debris screening system by using dual energy X-Ray inspection and neutron energy resonance analysis has been established. By using the compact and mobile pulsed neutron source constructed from 3.95 MeV X-Band electron linac, coupled with Tungsten as electron-to-photon converter and Beryllium as a photon-to-neutron converter, short-distance neutron Time of Flight measurement can be performed. Experiment result shows this system can measure neutron energy spectrum up to 100 eV range with only 2.5 meters Time of Flightpath in regards to the X-Band accelerator’s short pulse. With this, on-site neutron Time of Flight measurement can be used to identify the nuclear debris isotope contents through Neutron Resonance Transmission Analysis (NRTA). Some preliminary NRTA experiments have been done with Tungsten sample as dummy nuclear debris material, which isotopes Tungsten-186 has close energy absorption value with Uranium-238 (15 eV). The results obtained shows that this system can detect energy absorption in the resonance neutron area within 1-100 eV. It can also detect multiple elements in a material at once with the experiment using a combined sample of Indium, Tantalum, and silver makes it feasible to identify debris containing mixed material. This compact neutron Time of Flight measurement system is a great complementary for dual energy X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT) method that can identify atomic number quantitatively but with 1-mm spatial resolution and high error bar. The combination of these two measurement methods will able to perform on-site nuclear debris screening at Fukushima Daiichi reactor core area, providing the data for nuclear debris activity mapping.

Keywords: neutron source, neutron resonance, nuclear debris, time of flight

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Authors: Fryanto Anugrah Rhamdhani Rhamdhani, Hana Riana Permatasari

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The aim of this study analyzes the inclusive of economic growth and analyzes the inclusive of economic growth determinant in regency and city (West Java Province). The background this study Economic Growth can do not afford to reduce poverty, Disparity and expand The Workforce. Referring Central Bureau Of Statistic West Java Province report in 2015 recorded only 5 regions able reduce poverty, 3 regions able reduce Gini Ratio and 7 regions able Workforce Absorption, meanwhile, 11 regions was improved Economic Growth. The Inclusive of Economic Growth definition based on various literature means the quality Economic Growth able reduce Poverty, Gini Ratio, and Workforce absorption. This study adopted the measurement Inclusive Economic of Growth Klassen and analyzes factor in Term Reducing Poverty, Gini Ratio, and the workforce Absorption. Data used panels data composite time series and cross-section including 25 regency and cities regions from Central Bureau Of Statistic West Java Province during 2014-2015. As a result, the measurement inclusive economic of growth Klassen 2014-2015 from 25 regency and cities shows all region does not inclusive reducing Poverty, only 2 regions able reduce Gini Ratio and 3 regions able increase Workforce absorption. Different from the result the measurement Inclusive Economic of Growth for workforce absorption, several regions shows a negative coefficient indicates Economic Growth decline Workforce absorption. The outcome of this study analyzes factor of Inclusive economic of Growth, so that give recommendations for government achieve inclusive economic of growth toward Sustainable Economic. Can be Concluded above low-quality Economic Growth, that due to all region does not inclusive Economic of Growth.

Keywords: inclusive economic growth, Gini ratio, poverty, workforce

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Authors: M. Akhlaque Ahmed, Sidra A. Shaikh, Maliha Afshan Siddiqui

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Solar radiation studies of Sindh province have been studied to evaluate the solar energy potential of the area. Global and diffuse solar radiation on horizontal surface over five cities namely Karachi, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Chore and Padidan of Sindh province were carried out using sun shine hour data of the area to assess the feasibility of solar energy utilization. The result obtained shows a large variation of direct and diffuse component of solar radiation in winter and summer months. 50% direct and 50% diffuse solar radiation for Karachi and Hyderabad were observed and for Chore in summer month July and August the diffuse radiation is about 33 to 39%. For other areas of Sindh such as Nawabshah and Patidan the contribution of direct solar radiation is high throughout the year. The Kt values for Nawabshah and Patidan indicates a clear sky almost throughout the year. In Nawabshah area the percentage of diffuse radiation does not exceed more than 29%. The appearance of cloud is rare even in the monsoon months July and August whereas Karachi and Hyderabad and Chore has low solar potential during the monsoon months. During the monsoon period Karachi and Hyderabad can utilize hybrid system with wind power as wind speed is higher. From the point of view of power generation the estimated values indicate that Karachi and Hyderabad and chore has low solar potential for July and August while Nawabshah, and Padidan has high solar potential Throughout the year.

Keywords: global and diffuse solar radiation, province of Sindh, solar energy potential, solar radiation studies for power generation

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Authors: M. Mirmohammadi, S. Taghdisi, F. Anali

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Gossypol is a yellow anti-nutritional compound found in the cotton plant. This substance exists in the cottonseed and other parts of the cotton plant, such as bark, leaves, and stems. Chemically, gossypol is a very active polyphenolic aldehyde compound, and due to this polyphenolic structure, it has antioxidant and therapeutic properties. On the other hand, this compound, especially in free form, has many toxic effects, that its excessive consumption can be very dangerous for humans and animals. In this study, gossypol was extracted as a derivative compound of gossypol acetic acid from cottonseed using the n-hexane solvent with an efficiency of 0.84 ± 0.04, which compared to the Gossypol extracted from cottonseed oil with the same method (cold press) showed a significant difference with its efficiency of 1.14 ± 0.06. Therefore, it can be suggested to use cottonseed oil to extract this valuable compound. In the other part of this research, cottonseed extracts and cotton bolls extracts were obtained by two methods of soaking and Soxhlet with hydroalcoholic solvent taken with a ratio of (25:75), then by using extracts and corn starch powder, four herbal medicine code was created and after receiving the code of ethics (IR.SSU.REC.1398.136) the therapeutic effect of each one on the Cutaneous leishmaniasis resistant to drugs (caused by the leishmaniasis parasite) was investigated in real patients and its results was compared with the common drug glucantime (local ampoule) (n = 36). Statistical studies showed that the use of herbal medicines prepared with cottonseed extract and cotton bolls extract has a significant positive effect on the treatment of the disease’s wounds (p-value > 0.05) compared to the control group (only ethanol). Also, by comparing the average diameter of the wounds after a two-month treatment period, no significant difference was found between the use of ointment containing extracts and local glucantime ampoules (p-value < 0.05). Bolls extract extracted with the Soxhlet method showed the best therapeutic effects, although there was no significant difference between them (p-value < 0.05). Therefore, there is acceptable reliability to recommend this medicine for the treatment of Cutaneous leishmaniasis resistant to drugs without the side effects of the chemical drug glucantime and the pain of injecting the ampoule.

Keywords: cottonseed oil, gossypol, cotton boll, cutaneous leishmaniasis

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Authors: Preetham Shankapal, Jill King, Kori Murray, Corby Martin, Paula Giselman, Jason Hicks, Owen Carmicheal

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Activation of reward and satiety networks in the brain while processing palatable food cues, as well as functional connectivity during rest has been studied using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the brain in various obesity phenotypes. However, functional connectivity within the reward and satiety network during food cue processing is understudied. 14 obese individuals underwent two fMRI scans during viewing of Macronutrient Picture System images. Each scan included two blocks of images of High Sugar/High Fat (HSHF), High Carbohydrate/High Fat (HCHF), Low Sugar/Low Fat (LSLF) and also non-food images. Seed voxels within seven food reward relevant ROIs: Insula, putamen and cingulate, precentral, parahippocampal, medial frontal and superior temporal gyri were isolated based on a prior meta-analysis. Beta series correlation for task-related functional connectivity between these seed voxels and the rest of the brain was computed. Voxel-level differences in functional connectivity were calculated between: first and the second scan; individuals who saw novel (N=7) vs. Repeated (N=7) images in the second scan; and between the HC/HF, HSHF blocks vs LSLF and non-food blocks. Computations and analysis showed that during food image viewing, reward network ROIs showed significant functional connectivity with each other and with other regions responsible for attentional and motor control, including inferior parietal lobe and precentral gyrus. These functional connectivity values were heightened among individuals who viewed novel HS/HF images in the second scan. In the second scan session, functional connectivity was reduced within the reward network but increased within attention, memory and recognition regions, suggesting habituation to reward properties and increased recollection of previously viewed images. In conclusion it can be inferred that Functional Connectivity within reward network and between reward and other brain regions, varies by important experimental conditions during food photography viewing, including habituation to shown foods.

Keywords: fMRI, functional connectivity, task-based, beta series correlation

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Authors: E. Sobhani-Tehrani, K. Khorasani, N. Meskin

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This paper presents a novel integrated hybrid approach for fault diagnosis (FD) of nonlinear systems. Unlike most FD techniques, the proposed solution simultaneously accomplishes fault detection, isolation, and identification (FDII) within a unified diagnostic module. At the core of this solution is a bank of adaptive neural parameter estimators (NPE) associated with a set of single-parameter fault models. The NPEs continuously estimate unknown fault parameters (FP) that are indicators of faults in the system. Two NPE structures including series-parallel and parallel are developed with their exclusive set of desirable attributes. The parallel scheme is extremely robust to measurement noise and possesses a simpler, yet more solid, fault isolation logic. On the contrary, the series-parallel scheme displays short FD delays and is robust to closed-loop system transients due to changes in control commands. Finally, a fault tolerant observer (FTO) is designed to extend the capability of the NPEs to systems with partial-state measurement.

Keywords: hybrid fault diagnosis, dynamic neural networks, nonlinear systems, fault tolerant observer

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Authors: N. Chougui, R. Larbat

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The first economic importance of Opuntia ficus-indica relies on the production of edible fruits. This food transformation generates a large amount of by-products (seeds and peels) in addition to cladodes produced by the plant. Several studies showed the richness of these products with bioactive substances like phenolics that have potential applications. Indeed, phenolics have been associated with protection against oxidation and several biological activities responsible of different pathologies. Consequently, there has been a growing interest in identifying natural antioxidants from plants. This study falls within the framework of the industrial exploitation of by-products of the plant. The study aims to investigate the metabolic profile of three by-products (cladodes, peel seeds) regarding total phenolic content by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry approach (LC-MSn). The byproducts were first washed, crushed and stored at negative temperature. The total phenolic compounds were then extracted by aqueous-ethanolic solvent in order to be quantified and characterized by LC-MS. According to the results obtained, the peel extract was the richest in phenolic compounds (1512.58 mg GAE/100 g DM) followed by the cladode extract (629.23 GAE/100 g DM) and finally by the seed extract (88.82 GAE/100 g DM) which is mainly used for its oil. The LC-MS analysis revealed diversity in phenolics in the three extracts and allowed the identification of hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonoids. The highest complexity was observed in the seed phenolic composition; more than twenty compounds were detected that belong to acids esters among which three feruloyl sucrose isomers. Sixteen compounds belonging to hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonoids were identified in the peel extract, whereas, only nine compounds were found in the cladode extract. It is interesting to highlight that the phenolic composition of the cladode extract was closer to that of the peel exact. However, from a quantitative viewpoint, the peel extract presented the highest amounts. Piscidic and eucomic acids were the two most concentrated molecules, corresponding to 271.3 and 121.6 mg GAE/ 100g DM respectively. The identified compounds were known to have high antioxidant and antiradical potential with the ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation and to exhibit a wide range of biological and therapeutic properties. The findings highlight the importance of using the Opuntia ficus-indica by-products.

Keywords: characterization, LC-MSn analysis, Opuntia ficus-indica, phenolics

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Authors: Miran Ismail

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COVID-19 has caused widespread disruption in all economical sectors and industries around the world. The COVID-19 lockdown measures have resulted in production halts, restrictions on persons and goods movement, border closures, logistical constraints, and a slowdown in trade and economic activity. The main subject of this paper is to leverage technology to manage the supply chain effectively and efficiently through the usage of artificial intelligence. The research methodology is based on empirical data collected through a questionnaire survey. One of the approaches utilized is a case study of industrial organizations that face obstacles such as high operational costs, large inventory levels, a lack of well-established supplier relationships, human behavior, and system issues. The main contribution of this research to the body of knowledge is the empirical insights and on supply chain sustainability performance measurement. The results provide guidelines for the selection of advanced technologies to support supply chain processes and for the design of sustainable performance measurement systems.

Keywords: information technology, artificial intelligence, supply chain management, industrial organizations

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Authors: R. Kiran, B. R. Lakshmikantha, R. V. Parimala

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Secure operation of power systems requires monitoring of the system operating conditions. Phasor measurement units (PMU) are the device, which uses synchronized signals from the GPS satellites, and provide the phasors information of voltage and currents at a given substation. The optimal locations for the PMUs must be determined, in order to avoid redundant use of PMUs. The objective of this paper is to make system observable by using minimum number of PMUs & the implementation of stability software at 22OkV grid for on-line estimation of the power system transfer capability based on voltage and thermal limitations and for security monitoring. This software utilizes State Estimator (SE) and synchrophasor PMU data sets for determining the power system operational margin under normal and contingency conditions. This software improves security of transmission system by continuously monitoring operational margin expressed in MW or in bus voltage angles, and alarms the operator if the margin violates a pre-defined threshold.

Keywords: state estimator (SE), flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS), optimal location, phasor measurement units (PMU)

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Authors: B. R. Campomanes-Alvarez, P. Quiros, B. Fernandez

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Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is a machine-based process of decoding and transcribing oral speech. A typical ASR system receives acoustic input from a speaker or an audio file, analyzes it using algorithms, and produces an output in the form of a text. Some speech recognition systems use Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to deal with the temporal variability of speech and Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) to determine how well each state of each HMM fits a short window of frames of coefficients that represents the acoustic input. Another way to evaluate the fit is to use a feed-forward neural network that takes several frames of coefficients as input and produces posterior probabilities over HMM states as output. Deep neural networks (DNNs) that have many hidden layers and are trained using new methods have been shown to outperform GMMs on a variety of speech recognition systems. Acoustic models for state-of-the-art ASR systems are usually training on massive amounts of data. However, audio files with their corresponding transcriptions can be difficult to obtain, especially in the Spanish language. Hence, in the case of these low-resource scenarios, building an ASR model is considered as a complex task due to the lack of labeled data, resulting in an under-trained system. Semi-supervised learning approaches arise as necessary tasks given the high cost of transcribing audio data. The main goal of this proposal is to develop a procedure based on acoustic semi-supervised learning for Spanish ASR systems by using DNNs. This semi-supervised learning approach consists of: (a) Training a seed ASR model with a DNN using a set of audios and their respective transcriptions. A DNN with a one-hidden-layer network was initialized; increasing the number of hidden layers in training, to a five. A refinement, which consisted of the weight matrix plus bias term and a Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) training were also performed. The objective function was the cross-entropy criterion. (b) Decoding/testing a set of unlabeled data with the obtained seed model. (c) Selecting a suitable subset of the validated data to retrain the seed model, thereby improving its performance on the target test set. To choose the most precise transcriptions, three confidence scores or metrics, regarding the lattice concept (based on the graph cost, the acoustic cost and a combination of both), was performed as selection technique. The performance of the ASR system will be calculated by means of the Word Error Rate (WER). The test dataset was renewed in order to extract the new transcriptions added to the training dataset. Some experiments were carried out in order to select the best ASR results. A comparison between a GMM-based model without retraining and the DNN proposed system was also made under the same conditions. Results showed that the semi-supervised ASR-model based on DNNs outperformed the GMM-model, in terms of WER, in all tested cases. The best result obtained an improvement of 6% relative WER. Hence, these promising results suggest that the proposed technique could be suitable for building ASR models in low-resource environments.

Keywords: automatic speech recognition, deep neural networks, machine learning, semi-supervised learning

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Authors: Malinda Sabrina, F. Andree Yohanes, Khoerul Anwar

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There are many sources that cause noise in a car, one of them is noise from radiator cooling fan. This part is used to control engine temperature by ensuring adequate airflow through radiator. Radiator cooling fan noise is a very important matter especially for vehicle manufacturers. This can affect brand image of the car and their customer satisfaction. Therefore, some experiments to measure noise level of the fan are required. Sound pressure level measurements for two axial fans with different diameter have been investigated in a hemi-anechoic chamber based on standard JIS-B8346, focusing on aerodynamic noise. Both fans have the same profile and shape with diameter respectively 43 cm and 49 cm. The measurement was performed in hemi-anechoic chamber in order to obtain a background noise at measuring point as low as possible. Noise characterizations of these radiator cooling fans were measured in five different rotating speed and the results were compared. The measurement result shows that the sound pressure level increases with increasing rotational speed of the fan. In comparison with a smaller diameter, it is shown that fan with larger diameter produces higher noise level at the same rotational speed.

Keywords: aerodynamics noise, hemi-anechoic chamber, radiator cooling fan, sound pressure level

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Authors: Carla Pérez-Chirinos Buxadé, Bruno Fernández-Valdés, Mónica Morral-Yepes, Sílvia Tuyà Viñas, Josep Maria Padullés Riu, Gerard Moras Feliu

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There is a long way to explore all the possible applications inertial measurement units (IMUs) have in the sports field. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of a new application on the use of these wearable sensors, specifically it was to evaluate a magnet-based timing system (M-BTS) for timing gate-to-gate in an alpine ski slalom using the magnetometer embedded in an IMU. This was a validation study. The criterion validity of time measured by the M-BTS was assessed using the 95% error range against actual time obtained from photocells. The experiment was carried out with first-and second-year junior skiers performing a ski slalom on a ski training slope. Eight alpine skiers (17.4 ± 0.8 years, 176.4 ± 4.9 cm, 67.7 ± 2.0 kg, 128.8 ± 26.6 slalom FIS-Points) participated in the study. An IMU device was attached to the skier’s lower back. Skiers performed a 40-gate slalom from which four gates were assessed. The M-BTS consisted of placing four bar magnets buried into the snow surface on the inner side of each gate’s turning pole; the magnetometer built into the IMU detected the peak-shaped magnetic field when passing near the magnets at a certain speed. Four magnetic peaks were detected. The time compressed between peaks was calculated. Three inter-gate times were obtained for each system: photocells and M-BTS. The total time was defined as the time sum of the inter-gate times. The 95% error interval for the total time was 0.050 s for the ski slalom. The M-BTS is valid for timing gate-to-gate in an alpine ski slalom. Inter-gate times can provide additional data for analyzing a skier’s performance, such as asymmetries between left and right foot.

Keywords: gate crossing time, inertial measurement unit, timing system, wearable sensor

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Authors: Sreedevi P. Chakyar, Jolly Andrews, V. P. Joseph

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A compact method for measuring the relative permittivity of a dielectric material at different temperatures using a single circular Split Ring Resonator (SRR) metamaterial unit working as a test probe is presented in this paper. The dielectric constant of a material is dependent upon its temperature and the LC resonance of the SRR depends on its dielectric environment. Hence, the temperature of the dielectric material in contact with the resonator influences its resonant frequency. A single SRR placed between transmitting and receiving probes connected to a Vector Network Analyser (VNA) is used as a test probe. The dependence of temperature between 30 ^oC and 60 ^oC on resonant frequency of SRR is analysed. Relative permittivities ‘ε’ of test samples for different temperatures are extracted from a calibration graph drawn between the relative permittivity of samples of known dielectric constant and their corresponding resonant frequencies. This method is found to be an easy and efficient technique for analysing the temperature dependent permittivity of different materials.

Keywords: metamaterials, negative permeability, permittivity measurement techniques, split ring resonators, temperature dependent dielectric constant

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Authors: Divya Haridas, C. B. Sobhan

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Laser interferometric methods have been utilized for the measurement of natural convection heat transfer from a heated vertical flat plate, in the investigation presented here. The study mainly aims at comparing two different fringe orientations in the wedge fringe setting of Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), used for the measurements. The interference fringes are set in horizontal and vertical orientations with respect to the heated surface, and two different fringe analysis methods, namely the stepping method and the method proposed by Naylor and Duarte, are used to obtain the heat transfer coefficients. The experimental system is benchmarked with theoretical results, thus validating its reliability in heat transfer measurements. The interference fringe patterns are analyzed digitally using MATLAB 7 and MOTIC Plus softwares, which ensure improved efficiency in fringe analysis, hence reducing the errors associated with conventional fringe tracing. The work also discuss the relative merits and limitations of the two methods used.

Keywords: Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), natural convection, Naylor method, Vertical Flat Plate

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Authors: Jara Kaye S. Villanueva, M. Rosario Concepcion O. Ang

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For the past few years, Philippines has depended most of its energy source on oil, coal, and fossil fuel. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), the dominance of coal in the energy mix will continue until the year 2020. The expanding energy needs in the country have led to increasing efforts to promote and develop renewable energy. This research is a part of the government initiative in preparation for renewable energy development and expansion in the country. The Philippine Renewable Energy Resource Mapping from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Surveys is a three-year government project which aims to assess and quantify the renewable energy potential of the country and to put them into usable maps. This study focuses on the site suitability analysis of the four renewable energy sources – biomass (coconut, corn, rice, and sugarcane), hydro, solar, and wind energy. The site assessment is a key component in determining and assessing the most suitable locations for the construction of renewable energy power plants. This method maximizes the use of both the technical methods in resource assessment, as well as taking into account the environmental, social, and accessibility aspect in identifying potential sites by utilizing and integrating two different methods: the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. For the MCDA, Analytical Hierarchy Processing (AHP) is employed to determine the parameters needed for the suitability analysis. To structure these site suitability parameters, various experts from different fields were consulted – scientists, policy makers, environmentalists, and industrialists. The need to have a well-represented group of people to consult with is relevant to avoid bias in the output parameter of hierarchy levels and weight matrices. AHP pairwise matrix computation is utilized to derive weights per level out of the expert’s gathered feedback. Whereas from the threshold values derived from related literature, international studies, and government laws, the output values were then consulted with energy specialists from the DOE. Geospatial analysis using GIS tools translate this decision support outputs into visual maps. Particularly, this study uses Euclidean distance to compute for the distance values of each parameter, Fuzzy Membership algorithm which normalizes the output from the Euclidean Distance, and the Weighted Overlay tool for the aggregation of the layers. Using the Natural Breaks algorithm, the suitability ratings of each of the map are classified into 5 discrete categories of suitability index: (1) not suitable (2) least suitable, (3) suitable, (4) moderately suitable, and (5) highly suitable. In this method, the classes are grouped based on the best groups similar values wherein each subdivision are set from the rest based on the big difference in boundary values. Results show that in the entire Philippine area of responsibility, biomass has the highest suitability rating with rice as the most suitable at 75.76% suitability percentage, whereas wind has the least suitability percentage with score 10.28%. Solar and Hydro fall in the middle of the two, with suitability values 28.77% and 21.27%.

Keywords: site suitability, biomass energy, hydro energy, solar energy, wind energy, GIS

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Authors: Rasheed A. Adebayo, Mehluli M. Moyo, Ignatius V. Nsahlai

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Ruminants are known to relish roughage for productivity but the effect of its quality on digesta load in rumen, omasum, abomasum and other distal organs of the digestive tract is yet unknown. Reticulorumen fill is a strong indicator for long-term control of intake in ruminants. As such, the measurement and prediction of digesta load in these compartments may be crucial to productivity in the ruminant industry. The current study aimed at determining the effect of (a) diet quality on digesta load in digestive organs of goats, and (b) period of meal termination on the reticulorumen fill and digesta load in other distal compartments of the digestive tract of goats. Goats were fed with urea-treated hay (UTH), urea-sprayed hay (USH) and non-treated hay (NTH). At the end of eight weeks of a feeding trial period, upon termination of a meal in the morning, afternoon or evening, all goats were slaughtered in random groups of three per day to measure reticulorumen fill and digesta loads in other distal compartments of the digestive tract. Both diet quality and period affected (P < 0.05) the measure of reticulorumen fill. However, reticulorumen fill in the evening was larger (P < 0.05) than afternoon, while afternoon was similar (P > 0.05) to morning. Also, diet quality affected (P < 0.05) the wet omasal digesta load, wet abomasum, dry abomasum and dry caecum digesta loads but did not affect (P > 0.05) both wet and dry digesta loads in other compartments of the digestive tract. Period of measurement did not affect (P > 0.05) the wet omasal digesta load, and both wet and dry digesta loads in other compartments of the digestive tract except wet abomasum digesta load (P < 0.05) and dry caecum digesta load (P < 0.05). Both wet and dry reticulorumen fill were correlated (P < 0.05) with omasum (r = 0.623) and (r = 0.723), respectively. In conclusion, reticulorumen fill of goats decreased by improving the roughage quality; and the period of meal termination and measurement of the fill is a key factor to the quantity of digesta load.

Keywords: digesta, goats, meal termination, reticulo-rumen fill

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Authors: Saqib Ali

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Sources are classified into two depending upon the factor of reviving. These sources, which cannot be revived into their original shape once they are consumed, are considered as nonrenewable energy resources, i.e., (coal, fuel) Moreover, those energy resources which are revivable to the original condition even after being consumed are known as renewable energy resources, i.e., (wind, solar, hydel) Renewable energy is a cost-effective way to generate clean and green electrical energy Now a day’s majority of the countries are paying heed to energy generation from RES Pakistan is mostly relying on conventional energy resources which are mostly nonrenewable in nature coal, fuel is one of the major resources, and with the advent of time their prices are increasing on the other hand RES have great potential in the country with the deployment of RES greater reliability and an effective power system can be obtained In this thesis, a similar concept is being used and a hybrid power system is proposed which is composed of intermixing of renewable and nonrenewable sources The Source side is composed of solar, wind, fuel cells which will be used in an optimal manner to serve load The goal is to provide an economical, reliable, uninterruptable power supply. This is achieved by optimal controller (PI, PD, PID, FOPID) Optimization techniques are applied to the controllers to achieve the desired results. Advanced algorithms (Particle swarm optimization, Flower Pollination Algorithm) will be used to extract the desired output from the controller Detailed comparison in the form of tables and results will be provided, which will highlight the efficiency of the proposed system.

Keywords: distributed generation, demand-side management, hybrid power system, micro grid, renewable energy resources, supply-side management

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Authors: Kanupriya Rawat, Aleksandra Błachnio, Paweł Izdebski

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Achievement motivation, which drives a person to strive for success, is an important construct in sports psychology. This systematic review aims to analyze the methods of measuring achievement motivation used in previous studies published over the past four decades and to find out which method of measuring achievement motivation is the most prevalent and the most effective by thoroughly examining measures of achievement motivation used in each study and by evaluating most highly cited achievement motivation measures in sport. In order to understand this latent construct, thorough measurement is necessary, hence a critical evaluation of measurement tools is required. The literature search was conducted in the following databases: EBSCO, MEDLINE, APA PsychARTICLES, Academic Search Ultimate, Open Dissertations, ERIC, Science direct, Web of Science, as well as Wiley Online Library. A total of 26 articles met the inclusion criteria and were selected. From this review, it was found that the Achievement Goal Questionnaire- Sport (AGQ-Sport) and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) were used in most of the research, however, the average weighted impact factor of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire- Sport (AGQ-Sport) is the second highest and most relevant in terms of research articles related to the sport psychology discipline. Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) is highly popular in cross-cultural adaptation but has the second last average IF among other scales due to the less impact factor of most of the publishing journals. All measures of achievement motivation have Cronbach’s alpha value of more than .70, which is acceptable. The advantages and limitations of each measurement tool are discussed, and the distinction between using implicit and explicit measures of achievement motivation is explained. Overall, both implicit and explicit measures of achievement motivation have different conceptualizations of achievement motivation and are applicable at either the contextual or situational level. The conceptualization and degree of applicability are perhaps the most crucial factors for researchers choosing a questionnaire, even though they differ in their development, reliability, and use.

Keywords: achievement motivation, task and ego orientation, sports psychology, measures of achievement motivation

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Authors: Charn Loong Ng, Mamun Bin Ibne Reaz

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As elderly population grows globally, the percentage of people diagnosed with musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) increase proportionally. Electromyography (EMG) is an important biosignal that contributes to MSD’s clinical diagnose and recovery process. Conventional conductive electrode has many disadvantages in the continuous EMG measurement application. This research has design a new surface EMG biosensor based on the parallel-plate capacitive coupling principle. The biosensor is developed by using a double-sided PCB with having one side of the PCB use to construct high input impedance circuitry while the other side of the copper (CU) plate function as biosignal sensing metal plate. The metal plate is insulated using kapton tape for contactless application. The result implicates that capacitive biosensor is capable to constantly capture EMG signal without having galvanic contact to human skin surface. However, there are noticeable noise couple into the measured signal. Post signal processing is needed in order to present a clean and significant EMG signal. A complete design of single ended, non-contact, high input impedance, front end EMG biosensor is presented in this paper.

Keywords: contactless, capacitive, biosensor, electromyography

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Authors: Bartlomiej Przybyszewski, Rafal Kozera, Katarzyna Zolynska, Anna Boczkowska, Daria Pakula

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The build-up and accumulation of dirt, ice, and snow on structural elements and vehicles is an unfavorable phenomenon, leading to economic losses and often also posing a threat to people. This problem occurs wherever the use of polymer coatings has become a standard, among others in photovoltaic farms, aviation, wind energy, and civil engineering. The accumulated pollution on the photovoltaic modules can reduce their efficiency by several percent, and snow stops power production. Accumulated ice on the blades of wind turbines or the wings of airplanes and drones disrupts the airflow by changing their shape, leading to increased drag and reduced efficiency. This results in costly maintenance and repairs. The goal of the work is to reduce or completely eliminate the accumulation of dirt, snow, and ice build-up on polymer coatings by achieving self-cleaning and icephobic properties. It is done by the use of a multi-step surface modification of the polymer nanocoatings. For this purpose, two methods of surface structuring and the preceding volumetric modification of the chemical composition with proprietary organosilicon compounds and/or mineral additives were used. To characterize the surface topography of the modified coatings, light profilometry was utilized. Measurements of the wettability parameters (static contact angle and contact angle hysteresis) on the investigated surfaces allowed to identify their wetting behavior and determine relation between hydrophobic and anti-icing properties. Ice adhesion strength was measured to assess coatings' anti-icing behavior.

Keywords: anti-icing properties, self-cleaning, polymer coatings, icephobic coatings

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