Search results for: experimental work

Authors: Samuel Quashie

Abstract:

Ph.D. Construction Management methodology and mixed methods are organized to guide the researcher to assemble and assess data in the research activities. Construction management research is close to business management and social science research. It also contributes to researching the phenomenon and answering the research question, generating an integrated management system for post-disaster reconstruction in construction and related industries. Research methodology and methods drive the research to achieve the goal or goals, contribute to knowledge, or increase knowledge. This statement means the research methodology, mixed methods, aim, objectives, and processes address the research question, facilitate its achievement and foundation to conduct the study. Mixed methods use project-based case studies, interviews, observations, literature and archival document reviews, research questionnaires, and surveys, and evaluation of integrated systems used in the construction industry and related industries to address the research work. The research mixed methods (qualitative, quantitative) define the research topic and establish a more in-depth study. The research methodology is action research, which involves the collaboration of participants and service users to collect and evaluate data, studying the phenomenon, research question(s) to improve the situation in post-disaster reconstruction phase management.

Keywords: methodology, Ph.D. research, post-disaster reconstruction, mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative

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Authors: Norhanizan U., S. H. Ahmad, N. A. P. Abdullah, G. B. Saleh

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Physalis minima from the family of Solanaceae is one of the promising fruits which contains the high amount of vitamin C and other antioxidants as well. However, it is a perishable fruit where the deterioration process will commence if the fruits are not stored in proper conditions. There is not much work has been carried out to study the effects of storage durations on Physalis fruit. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effects of 0, 3, 6, and 9 days of storage on postharvest quality of Physalis minima fruits. Total of 120g of uniform sizes of fruits (2.3 to 2.5g) were used for each replication and the experiment was repeated thrice. The fruits were divided equally into four groups with each group labeled according to the days of storage. The fruits were then stored in the cool room for nine days with temperature maintain at 12 ° C. The fruits were analyzed for weight loss, firmness, color (L*, C* and hue angle), titratable acidity (TA), soluble solids concentrations (SSC), pH and ascorbic acids. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and means was separated using least significant difference (LSD). The storage durations affect the quality characteristics of the fruits. On the day 9, the average of fruit weight loss and fruit firmness decreased about 21 and 24% respectively. The level of ascorbic acids and titrable acidity were also decreased while the soluble solids concentration increased during storage. Thus, in order to retain the quality of the fruits, it is recommended that the Physalis fruit can be stored only up to 6 days at 12 ° C.

Keywords: fruit quality, Physalis minima, Solanaceae, storage durations

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Sabyasachi Mukhopadhyay, Joseph Ogutu, Hans-Peter Piepho

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We aim to model dynamics of wildlife or pastoral livestock population for understanding of their population change and hence for wildlife conservation and promoting human welfare. The study is motivated by an age-sex structured population counts in different regions of Serengeti-Mara during the period 1989-2003. Developing reliable and realistic models for population dynamics of large herbivore population can be a very complex and challenging exercise. However, the Bayesian statistical domain offers some flexible computational methods that enable the development and efficient implementation of complex population dynamics models. In this work, we have used a novel Bayesian state-space model to analyse the dynamics of topi and hartebeest populations in the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem of East Africa. The state-space model involves survival probabilities of the animals which further depend on various factors like monthly rainfall, size of habitat, etc. that cause recent declines in numbers of the herbivore populations and potentially threaten their future population viability in the ecosystem. Our study shows that seasonal rainfall is the most important factors shaping the population size of animals and indicates the age-class which most severely affected by any change in weather conditions.

Keywords: bayesian state-space model, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, population dynamics, conservation

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Authors: H. Bhuyan, S. Mändl, M. Favre, M. Cisternas, A. Henriquez, E. Wyndham, M. Walczak, D. Manova

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The 470 Li-24 Cr and 460Li-21 Cr are two alloys belonging to the next generation of super-ferritic nickel free stainless steel grades, containing titanium (Ti), niobium (Nb) and small percentage of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). The addition of Ti and Nb improves in general the corrosion resistance while the low interstitial content of C and N assures finer precipitates and greater ductility compared to conventional ferritic grades. These grades are considered an economic alternative to AISI 316L and 304 due to comparable or superior corrosion. However, since 316L and 304 can be nitrided to improve the mechanical surface properties like hardness and wear; it is hypothesize that the tribological properties of these super-ferritic stainless steels grades can also be improved by plasma nitriding. Thus two sets of plasma immersion ion implantation experiments have been carried out, one with a high pressure capacitively coupled radio frequency plasma at PUC Chile and the other using a low pressure microwave plasma at IOM Leipzig, in order to explore further improvements in the mechanical properties of 470 Li-24 Cr and 460Li-21 Cr steel. Nitrided and unnitrided substrates have been subsequently investigated using different surface characterization techniques including secondary ion mass spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray analysis, Vickers hardness, wear resistance, as well as corrosion test. In most of the characterizations no major differences have been observed for nitrided 470 Li-24 Cr and 460Li-21 Cr. Due to the ion bombardment, an increase in the surface roughness is observed for higher treatment temperature, independent of the steel types. The formation of chromium nitride compound takes place only at a treatment temperature around 4000C-4500C, or above. However, corrosion properties deteriorate after treatment at higher temperatures. The physical characterization results show up to 25 at.% of nitrogen for a diffusion zone of 4-6 m, and a 4-5 times increase in hardness for different experimental conditions. The samples implanted with temperature higher than 400 °C presented a wear resistance around two orders of magnitude higher than the untreated substrates. The hardness is apparently affected by the different roughness of the samples and their different profile of nitrogen.

Keywords: ion implantation, plasma, RF and microwave plasma, stainless steel

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Authors: Manisha A. Hira, Arup Rakshit

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Textile substrates are endowed with flexibility and ease of making–up, but are non-conductors of electricity. Conductive materials like carbon can be incorporated into textile structures to make flexible conductive materials. Such conductive textiles find applications as electrostatic discharge materials, electromagnetic shielding materials and flexible materials to carry current or signals. This work focuses on use of carbon fiber as conductor of electricity. Carbon fibers in staple or tow form can be incorporated in textile yarn structure to conduct electricity. The paper highlights the process for development of these conductive yarns of polyester/carbon using Friction spinning (DREF) as well as ring spinning. The optimized process parameters for processing hybrid structure of polyester with carbon tow on DREF spinning and polyester with carbon staple fiber using ring spinning have been presented. The studies have been linked to highlight the electrical conductivity of the developed yarns. Further, the developed yarns have been incorporated as weft in fabric and their electrical conductivity has been evaluated. The paper demonstrates the structure and properties of fabrics developed from such polyester/carbon blend yarns and their suitability as electrically dissipative fabrics.

Keywords: carbon fiber, conductive textiles, electrostatic dissipative materials, hybrid yarns

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Authors: E. Batista, R. Mendes, A. Furtado, M. C. Ferreira, I. Godinho, J. A. Sousa, M. Alvares, R. Martins

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Syringe pumps are commonly used for drug delivery in hospitals and clinical environments. These instruments are critical in neonatology and oncology, where any variation in the flow rate and drug dosing quantity can lead to severe incidents and even death of the patient. Therefore it is very important to determine the accuracy and precision of these devices using the suitable calibration methods. The Volume Laboratory of the Portuguese Institute for Quality (LVC/IPQ) uses two different methods to calibrate syringe pumps from 16 nL/min up to 20 mL/min. The Interferometric method uses an interferometer to monitor the distance travelled by a pusher block of the syringe pump in order to determine the flow rate. Therefore, knowing the internal diameter of the syringe with very high precision, the travelled distance, and the time needed for that travelled distance, it was possible to calculate the flow rate of the fluid inside the syringe and its uncertainty. As an alternative to the gravimetric and the interferometric method, a methodology based on the application of optical technology was also developed to measure flow rates. Mainly this method relies on measuring the increase of volume of a drop over time. The objective of this work is to compare the results of the calibration of two syringe pumps using the different methodologies described above. The obtained results were consistent for the three methods used. The uncertainties values were very similar for all the three methods, being higher for the optical drop method due to setup limitations.

Keywords: calibration, flow, interferometry, syringe pump, uncertainty

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Authors: Li Chun Zhao, Zhi Chao Hu, Xi Qiang Liu, Man Lai Lee, Chak Shing Yeung, Man Fei Xu, Yuen Yee Kwan, Alan H. M. Ho, Nickie W. K. Chan, Bin Deng, Zhong Zhen Zhao, Min Xu

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Background: Chuangxiong Rhizoma (Chuangxion, CX) is one of the most frequently used herbs in Chinese medicine because of its wide therapeutic effects such as vasorelaxation and anti-inflammation. Aim: The purposes of this study are (1) to perform non-targeted / targeted analyses of CX methanol extract and water extract, and compare the present data with previously LC-MS or GC-MS fingerprints; (2) to examine the difference between CX methanol extract and water extract for preliminarily evaluating whether current compound markers of methanol extract from crude CX materials could be suitable for quality control of CX water extract. Method: CX methanol extract was prepared according to the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards. DG water extract was prepared by boiling with pure water for three times (one hour each). UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS fingerprint analysis was performed by C18 column (1.7 µm, 2.1 × 100 mm) with Agilent 1290 Infinity system. Experimental data were analyzed by Agilent MassHunter Software. A database was established based on 13 published LC-MS and GC-MS CX fingerprint analyses. Total 18 targeted compounds in database were selected as markers to compare present data with previous data, and these markers also used to compare CX methanol extract and water extract. Result: (1) Non-targeted analysis indicated that there were 133 compounds identified in CX methanol extract, while 325 compounds in CX water extract that was more than double of CX methanol extract. (2) Targeted analysis further indicated that 9 in 18 targeted compounds were identified in CX methanol extract, while 12 in 18 targeted compounds in CX water extract that showed a lower lose-rate of water extract when compared with methanol extract. (3) By comparing CX methanol extract and water extract, Senkyunolide A (+1578%), Ferulic acid (+529%) and Senkyunolide H (+169%) were significantly higher in water extract when compared with methanol extract. (4) Other bioactive compounds such as Tetramethylpyrazine were only found in CX water extract. Conclusion: Many new compounds in both CX methanol and water extracts were found by using UHPLC Q-TOF MS/MS analysis when compared with previous published reports. A new standard reference including non-targeted compound profiling and targeted markers functioned especially for quality control of CX water extract (herbal decoction) should be established in future. (This project was supported by Hong Kong Baptist University (FRG2/14-15/109) & Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2014A030313414)).

Keywords: Chuanxiong rhizoma, fingerprint analysis, targeted analysis, quality control

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Authors: Prakash Singh

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The focus of this exploratory study is on whether teachers demonstrate emphatic concern for their learners in planning, implementing and assessing learning outcomes in their regular classrooms. Empathy must be shown to all learners equally and not only for high-risk learners at the expense of other ability learners. Empathy demonstrated by teachers allows them to build a stronger bond with all their learners. This bond based on trust leads to positive outcomes for learners to be able to excel in their work. Empathic teachers must make every effort to simplify the subject matter for high risk learners so that these learners not only enjoy their learning activities but are also successful like their more able peers. A total of 87.5% of the participants agreed that empathy allows teachers to demonstrate humanistic values in their choice of learning materials for learners of different abilities. It is therefore important for teachers to select content and instructional materials that will contribute to the learners’ success in the mainstream of education. It is also imperative for teachers to demonstrate empathic skills and consequently, to be attuned to the emotions and emotional needs of their learners. Schools need to be reformed, not by simply lengthening the school day or by simply adding more content in the curriculum, but by making school more satisfying to learners. This must be consistent with their diverse learning needs and interests so that they gain a sense of power, fulfillment, and importance in their regular classrooms. Hence, teacher - pupil relationships based on empathic concern for the latter’s educational needs lays the foundation for quality education to be offered.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, empathy, learners’ emotional needs, teachers’ empathic skills

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Authors: Carlos Gordon, Patricio Encalada, Henry Lema, Diego Leon, Dennis Chicaiza

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The following work presents a proposal of autonomous navigation of mobile robots implemented in an omnidirectional robot Kuka Youbot. We have been able to perform the integration of robotic operative system (ROS) and machine learning algorithms. ROS mainly provides two distributions; ROS hydro and ROS Kinect. ROS hydro allows managing the nodes of odometry, kinematics, and path planning with statistical and probabilistic, global and local algorithms based on Adaptive Monte Carlo Localization (AMCL) and Dijkstra. Meanwhile, ROS Kinect is responsible for the detection block of dynamic objects which can be in the points of the planned trajectory obstructing the path of Kuka Youbot. The detection is managed by artificial vision module under a trained neural network based on the single shot multibox detector system (SSD), where the main dynamic objects for detection are human beings and domestic animals among other objects. When the objects are detected, the system modifies the trajectory or wait for the decision of the dynamic obstacle. Finally, the obstacles are skipped from the planned trajectory, and the Kuka Youbot can reach its goal thanks to the machine learning algorithms.

Keywords: autonomous navigation, machine learning, path planning, robotic operative system, open source computer vision library

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Authors: Farshid Fathinia

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Numerical computation of unsteady laminar three-dimensional natural convection and entropy generation in an inclined cubical trapezoidal air-filled cavity is performed for the first time in this work. The vertical right and left sidewalls of the cavity are maintained at constant cold temperatures. The lower wall is subjected to a constant hot temperature, while the upper one is considered insulated. Computations are performed for Rayleigh numbers varied as 103 ≤ Ra ≤ 105, while the trapezoidal cavity inclination angle is varied as 0° ≤ ϕ ≤ 180°. Prandtl number is considered constant at Pr = 0.71. The second law of thermodynamics is applied to obtain thermodynamic losses inside the cavity due to both heat transfer and fluid friction irreversibilities. The variation of local and average Nusselt numbers are presented and discussed.While, streamlines, isotherms and entropy contours are presented in both two and three-dimensional pattern. The results show that when the Rayleigh number increases, the flow patterns are changed especially in three-dimensional results and the flow circulation increases. Also, the inclination angle effect on the total entropy generation becomes insignificant when the Rayleigh number is low.Moreover, when the Rayleigh number increases the average Nusselt number increases.

Keywords: transient natural convection, trapezoidal cavity, three-dimensional flow, entropy generation, second law

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Authors: Simon Bard, Martin Demleitner, Florian Schonl, Volker Altstadt

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For an electrically driven aircraft, whose engine is based on semiconductors, alternative materials are needed. The avoid hotspots in the materials thermally conductive polymers are necessary. Nevertheless, the mechanical properties of these materials should remain. Herein, the work of three years in a project with airbus and Siemens is presented. Different strategies have been pursued to achieve conductive fiber-reinforced composites: Metal-coated carbon fibers, pitch-based fibers and particle-loaded matrices have been investigated. In addition, a combination of copper-coated fibers and a conductive matrix has been successfully tested for its conductivity and mechanical properties. First, prepregs have been produced with a laboratory scale prepreg line, which can handle materials with maximum width of 300 mm. These materials have then been processed to fiber-reinforced laminates. For the PAN-fiber reinforced laminates, it could be shown that there is a strong dependency between fiber volume content and thermal conductivity. Laminates with 50 vol% of carbon fiber offer a conductivity of 0.6 W/mK, those with 66 vol% of fiber a thermal conductivity of 1 W/mK. With pitch-based fiber, the conductivity enhances to 1.5 W/mK for 61 vol% of fiber, compared to 0.81 W/mK with the same amount of fibers produced from PAN (+83% in conducitivity). The thermal conductivity of PAN-based composites with 50 vol% of fiber is at 0.6 W/mK, their nickel-coated counterparts with the same fiber volume content offer a conductivity of 1 W/mK, an increase of 66%.

Keywords: carbon, electric aircraft, polymer, thermal conductivity

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Authors: Adewale O. Ogunde, Olusegun Folorunso, Adesina S. Sodiya

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Most existing Distributed Association Rule Mining (DARM) systems are still facing several challenges. One of such challenges that have not received the attention of many researchers is the inability of existing systems to adapt to constantly changing databases and mining environments. In this work, an Adaptive Incremental Mining Algorithm (AIMA) is therefore proposed to address these problems. AIMA employed multiple mobile agents for the entire mining process. AIMA was designed to adapt to changes in the distributed databases by mining only the incremental database updates and using this to update the existing rules in order to improve the overall response time of the DARM system. In AIMA, global association rules were integrated incrementally from one data site to another through Results Integration Coordinating Agents. The mining agents in AIMA were made adaptive by defining mining goals with reasoning and behavioral capabilities and protocols that enabled them to either maintain or change their goals. AIMA employed Java Agent Development Environment Extension for designing the internal agents’ architecture. Results from experiments conducted on real datasets showed that the adaptive system, AIMA performed better than the non-adaptive systems with lower communication costs and higher task completion rates.

Keywords: adaptivity, data mining, distributed association rule mining, incremental mining, mobile agents

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Authors: Raphael C. Zero, Thiago A. S. S. Rocha, Marita V. Cardozo, Caio C. C. Santos, Alisson D. S. Fechis, Antonio C. Shimano, FabríCio S. Oliveira

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Biomechanical analysis is an important factor in tissue studies. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of a new anatomical technique and quantify the changes in skin and the jejunum resistance of cats’ corpses throughout the process. Eight adult cat cadavers were used. For every kilogram of weight, 120ml of fixative solution (95% 96GL ethyl alcohol and 5% pure glycerin) was applied via the external common carotid artery. Next, the carcasses were placed in a container with 96 GL ethyl alcohol for 60 days. After fixing, all carcasses were preserved in a 30% sodium chloride solution for 60 days. Before fixation, control samples were collected from fresh cadavers and after fixation, three skin and jejunum fragments from each cadaver were tested monthly for strength and displacement until complete rupture in a universal testing machine. All results were analyzed by F-test (P <0.05). In the jejunum, the force required to rupture the fresh samples and the samples fixed in alcohol for 60 days was 31.27±19.14N and 29.25±11.69N, respectively. For the samples preserved in the sodium chloride solution for 30 and 60 days, the strength was 26.17±16.18N and 30.57±13.77N, respectively. In relation to the displacement required for the rupture of the samples, the values of fresh specimens and those fixed in alcohol for 60 days was 2.79±0.73mm and 2.80±1.13mm, respectively. For the samples preserved for 30 and 60 days with sodium chloride solution, the displacement was 2.53±1.03mm and 2.83±1.27mm, respectively. There was no statistical difference between the samples (P=0.68 with respect to strength, and P=0.75 with respect to displacement). In the skin, the force needed to rupture the fresh samples and the samples fixed for 60 days in alcohol was 223.86±131.5N and 211.86±137.53N respectively. For the samples preserved in sodium chloride solution for 30 and 60 days, the force was 227.73±129.06 and 224.78±143.83N, respectively. In relation to the displacement required for the rupture of the samples, the values of fresh specimens and those fixed in alcohol for 60 days were 3.67±1.03mm and 4.11±0.87mm, respectively. For the samples preserved for 30 and 60 days with sodium chloride solution, the displacement was 4.21±0.93mm and 3.93±0.71mm, respectively. There was no statistical difference between the samples (P=0.65 with respect to strength, and P=0.98 with respect to displacement). The resistance of the skin and intestines of the cat carcasses suffered little change when subjected to alcohol fixation and preservation in sodium chloride solution, each for 60 days, which is promising for use in surgery training. All experimental procedures were approved by the Municipal Legal Department (protocol 02.2014.000027-1). The project was funded by FAPESP (protocol 2015-08259-9).

Keywords: anatomy, conservation, fixation, small animal

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Authors: Bagus Hanindhito, Fariz Azmi Pratama, Ulfah Nadiya

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Nowadays, digital system including, but not limited to, computer and internet have penetrated the education system widely. Critical information such as students’ academic records is stored in a server off- or on-campus. Although several countermeasures have been taken to protect the vital resources from outsider attack, the defense from insiders threat is not getting serious attention. At the end of 2017, a security incident that involved academic information system in one of the most respected universities in Indonesia affected not only the reputation of the institution and its academia but also academic integrity in Indonesia. In this paper, we will explain our efforts in investigating this security incident where we have implemented a novel rapid evidence remote acquisition method in high-availability server and storage system thus our data collection efforts do not disrupt the academic information system and can be conducted remotely minutes after incident report has been received. The acquired evidence is analyzed during digital forensic by constructing the model of the system in an isolated environment which allows multiple investigators to work together. In the end, the suspect is identified as a student (insider), and the investigation result is used by prosecutors to charge the suspect as an academic crime.

Keywords: academic information system, academic crime, digital forensic, high-availability server and storage, rapid evidence remote acquisition, security incident

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: M. Ezkurra, J. A. Esnaola, M. Martinez-Agirre, U. Etxeberria, U. Lertxundi, L. Colomo, M. Begiristain, I. Zurutuza

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Butterfly valves are widely used industrial piping components as on-off and flow controlling devices. The main challenge in the design process of this type of valves is the correct dimensioning to ensure proper mechanical performance as well as to minimise flow losses that affect the efficiency of the system. Butterfly valves are typically dimensioned in a closed position based on mechanical approaches considering uniform hydrostatic pressure, whereas the flow losses are analysed by means of CFD simulations. The main limitation of these approaches is that they do not consider either the influence of the dynamics of the manoeuvring stage or coupled phenomena. Recent works have included the influence of the flow on the mechanical behaviour for different opening angles by means of one-way FSI approach. However, these works consider steady-state flow for the selected angles, not capturing the effect of the transient flow evolution during the manoeuvring stage. Two-way FSI modelling approach could allow overcoming such limitations providing more accurate results. Nevertheless, the use of this technique is limited due to the increase in the computational cost. In the present work, the applicability of FSI one-way and two-way approaches is evaluated for the analysis of butterfly valves, showing that not considering fluid-structure coupling involves not capturing the most critical situation for the valve disc.

Keywords: butterfly valves, fluid-structure interaction, one-way approach, two-way approach

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Authors: Muhammad Akmal Putera, Noriyuki Yasufuku, Adel Alowaisy, Ahmad Rifai

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Indonesia’s government has planned a project for a high-speed railway connecting the capital cities, Jakarta and Surabaya, about 700 km. Based on that location, it has been planning construction above the lowland soil region. The lowland soil region comprises cohesive soil with high water content and high compressibility index, which in fact, led to a settlement problem. Among the variety of railway track structures, the adoption of the ballastless track was used effectively to reduce the settlement; it provided a lightweight structure and minimized workspace. Contradictorily, deploying this thin layer structure above the lowland area was compensated with several problems, such as lack of bearing capacity and deflection behavior during traffic loading. It is necessary to combine with ground improvement to assure a settlement behavior on the clayey soil. Reflecting on the assurance of strength increment and working period, those were convinced by adopting methods such as cement-treated soil as the substructure of railway track. Particularly, evaluating mechanical properties in the field has been well known by using the plate load test and cone penetration test. However, observing an increment of mechanical properties has uncertainty, especially for evaluating cement-treated soil on the substructure. The current quality control of cement-treated soils was established by laboratory tests. Moreover, using small strain devices measurement in the laboratory can predict more reliable results that are identical to field measurement tests. Aims of this research are to show an intercorrelation of confining pressure with the initial condition of the Young modulus (E_o), Poisson ratio (υ_o) and Shear modulus (G_o) within small strain ranges. Furthermore, discrepancies between those parameters were also investigated. Based on the experimental result confirmed the intercorrelation between cement content and confining pressure with a power function. In addition, higher cement ratios have discrepancies, conversely with low mixing ratios.

Keywords: amount of cement, elastic zone, high-speed railway, lightweight structure

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Authors: Kosutic Milenko, Filipovic Jelena

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Cereals constitute the staple food of the human race. In accordance with the modern nutritionist opinions, cereal products, flakes and snack products are the most common foods in the daily diet, such as ready to eat breakfast cereal, flakes, and snacks. Extrusion technology makes it possible to apply different sources of ingredients for the enrichment of cereal-based flakes or snacks products. Substances with strong antioxidant properties such as wild oregano have a positive impact on human health, therefore attracting the attention of scientists, consumers and food industry experts. This paper investigates the effects of simultaneous addition of dry residue of wild oregano (0.5% and 1%), on the physical and colour properties of corn flakes to obtain new products with altered nutritional properties. Post-hoc Tukey’s HSD test at 95% confidence limit showed significant differences between various samples. Addition of dry residue wild oregano positively influenced physical characteristics (decreased bulk density 30.2%, increased expansion rate 44.9%), influenced of decrease hardness 38.1% and work of compression 40.3% also significantly change the color of flakes product. Presented data point that investigated corn flakes is a new product with good physical and sensory properties due to higher level of dry residue of wild oregano.

Keywords: flakes product, wild oregano, phisical properties, colour, sensory properties

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Authors: YingWei Tan, XueFeng Ding

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Attention-based voice activity detection models have gained significant attention in recent years due to their fast training speed and ability to capture a wide contextual range. The inclusion of multi-head style and position embedding in the attention architecture are crucial. Having multiple attention heads allows for differential focus on different parts of the sequence, while position embedding provides guidance for modeling dependencies between elements at various positions in the input sequence. In this work, we propose an approach by considering each head as a node, enabling the application of graph neural networks (GNN) to identify correlations among the different nodes. In addition, we adopt an implementation named rotary position embedding (RoPE), which encodes absolute positional information into the input sequence by a rotation matrix, and naturally incorporates explicit relative position information into a self-attention module. We evaluate the effectiveness of our method on a synthetic dataset, and the results demonstrate its superiority over the baseline CRNN in scenarios with low signal-to-noise ratio and noise, while also exhibiting robustness across different noise types. In summary, our proposed framework effectively combines the strengths of CNN and RNN (LSTM), and further enhances detection performance through the integration of graph neural networks and rotary position embedding.

Keywords: voice activity detection, CRNN, graph neural networks, rotary position embedding

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Authors: Iván González, Pablo Andrés Maya, Sebastián Jaén

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Eco-industrial parks (EIPs) work as networks for the exchange of by-products, such as materials, water, or energy. This research identifies the relevant factors in the formation of EIPs in different industrial environments around the world. Then an aggregation of these factors is carried out to reduce them from 50 to 17 and classify them according to 5 fundamental axes. Subsequently, the Vester Sensitivity Model (VSM) systemic methodology is used to determine the influence of the 17 factors on an EIP system and the interrelationship between them. The results show that the sequence of effects between factors: Trust and Cooperation → Business Association → Flows → Additional Income represents the “backbone” of the system, being the most significant chain of influences. In addition, the Organizational Culture represents the turning point of the Industrial Symbiosis on which it must act correctly to avoid falling into unsustainable economic development. Finally, the flow of Information should not be lost since it is what feeds trust between the parties, and the latter strengthens the system in the face of individual or global imbalances. This systemic understanding will enable the formulation of pertinent policies by the actors that interact in the formation and permanence of the EIP. In this way, it seeks to promote large-scale sustainable industrial development, integrating various community actors, which in turn will give greater awareness and appropriation of the current importance of sustainability in industrial production.

Keywords: critical factors, eco-industrial park, industrial symbiosis, system methodology

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Authors: Ece Kaya

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Industrial heritage reflects the traces of an industrial past that have contributed to the economic development of a country. This heritage should be included within the scope of preservation to remind of and to connect the city and its inhabitants to the past. Through adaptive conservation, industrial heritage can be reintroduced into contemporary urban life, with suitable functions and unique identities sustained. The conservation of industrial heritage should protect the material fabric of such heritage and maintain its cultural significance. Emphasising the historical and cultural significance of industrial areas, this research argues that industrial heritage is primarily impacted by political and economic thinking rather than by informed heritage and conservation issues. Waterfront redevelopment projects create similar landscapes around the world, transforming industrial identities and cultural significances. In the case of The Rocks and Darling Harbour, the goal of redevelopment was the creation of employment opportunities, and the provision of places to work, live and shop, through tourism promoted by the NSW State Government. The two case study areas were pivotal to the European industrial development of Sydney. Sydney Cove was one of the largest commercial wharves used to handle cargo in Australia. This paper argues, together with many historians, planners and heritage experts, that these areas have not received the due diligence deserved in regards to their significance to the industrial history of Sydney and modern Australia.

Keywords: industrial heritage, post-industrial city, transformation of waterfronts, tourism, consumption

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Authors: J. Scott Kenney

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Not all pain is created equal. In recent decades, the concept of Illegitimate pain has begun to shed light on the phenomena of emotional and physical pain that is misunderstood, neglected, or stigmatized, broadly conceptualized along dimensions of relative legitimation and physicality. Yet, beyond a pioneering study of the suffering of closeted LGBTQ + individuals, along with an analysis of the pains experienced by students at a religious boarding school, there has been insufficient attention to what lies behind such marginalized suffering beyond the original claim that it relates to broad interpretive standards and structured power relations, mediated through interaction in various groups/settings. This paper seeks to delve theoretically into this underdeveloped terrain. Building on earlier work, it takes direct aim at the definitional aspect that lies analytically prior to such matters, theoretically unpacking the role of ideology. Following a general introduction focused on theoretical relationships between social structure, power, and ideas, the paper reviews a range of sociological literature on relevant matters. After condensing the insights from these various literatures into a series of theoretical statements, the paper analytically engages with these to articulate a series of theoretical and methodological elaborations intended to practically assist researchers in empirically examining such matters in today's complex social environment.

Keywords: deviance, ideology, illegitimate pain, social theory, victimization

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Authors: Raphael Tuor, Denis Lalanne

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The ATM research community is missing suitable tools to design, test, and validate new UI prototypes. Important stakes underline the implementation of both DSS and XAI methods into current systems. ML-based DSS are gaining in relevance as ATFM becomes increasingly complex. However, these systems only prove useful if a human can understand them, and thus new XAI methods are needed. The human-machine dyad should work as a team and should understand each other. We present xSky, a configurable benchmark tool that allows us to compare different versions of an ATC interface in conflict detection tasks. Our main contributions to the ATC research community are (1) a conflict detection task simulator (xSky) that allows to test the applicability of visual prototypes on scenarios of varying difficulty and outputting relevant operational metrics (2) a theoretical approach to the explanations of AI-driven trajectory predictions. xSky addresses several issues that were identified within available research tools. Researchers can configure the dimensions affecting scenario difficulty with a simple CSV file. Both the content and appearance of the XAI elements can be customized in a few steps. As a proof-of-concept, we implemented an XAI prototype inspired by the maritime field.

Keywords: air traffic control, air traffic simulation, conflict detection, explainable artificial intelligence, explainability, human-automation collaboration, human factors, information visualization, interpretability, trajectory prediction

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Authors: Helder Shelton Abel Manguene, Giovanna Buonocore, Herminio Francisco Muiambo

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Paved roads are designed for 10-15 years of life. However, many asphalted roads suffer degradation before reaching their lifetime due to aging caused by load conditions and climatic factors. Oxidation is the main asphalt aging mechanism, which leads to a reduced bond between aggregate particles, increasing the potential for stripping and moisture damage, decreasing fatigue lifetime and reducing resistance to thermal cracking. To improve the performance of asphalt and mitigate these problems, modifiers such as polymers, oils and certain residues have been used. This work aims to study the influence of the addition of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and engine oil on the thermal stability of asphalt in an oxidizing atmosphere. For the study, compositions containing asphalt, motor oil and HDPE were prepared, varying the concentration of the motor oil by 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% and keeping the HDPE concentration fixed at 5%. The results show that the pure asphalt sample is degraded in a single step that starts at approximately 311 ºC; All samples of modified asphalt except the one that contains 5% of motor oil have three degradation steps that start below the starting temperature of degradation of pure asphalt (about 250-300 ºC); The temperature of onset of degradation of the modified asphalt is shown to decrease as the concentration of the motor oil increases, suggesting a slight loss of thermal stability of the asphalt as the quantity of the motor oil increases.

Keywords: Asphalt, DTG, engine oil, HDPE, TGA

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Authors: Saji George, Eng Khuan Seng, Christof Luda

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Nanotechnology has been recognized as an important tool for modern agriculture and has the potential to overcome some of the pressing challenges faced by aquaculture industry. A strategy for optimizing nanotechnology-based therapeutic delivery platform for immunizing farmed fish was developed. Accordingly, a compositional library of nanomaterials of natural chemistry (Halloysite (clay), Chitosan, Hydroxyapatite, Mesoporous Silica and a composite material of clay-chitosan) was screened for their toxicity and efficiency in delivering models antigens in cellular and zebrafish embryo models using high throughput screening platforms. Through multi-parametric optimization, chitosan modified halloysite (clay) nanomaterial was identified as an optimal vaccine delivery platform. Further, studies conducted in juvenile seabass showed the potential of clay-chitosan in delivering outer membrane protein of Tenacibaculum maritimum- TIMA (pathogenic bacteria) to and its efficiency in eliciting immune responses in fish. In short, as exemplified by this work, the strategy of using compositional nanomaterial libraries and their biological profiling using high-throughput screening platform could fasten the discovery process of nanomaterials with potential applications in food and agriculture.

Keywords: nanotechnology, fish-vaccine, drug-delivery, halloysite-chitosan

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Authors: Anand Kumar Yadav

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the fluctuation of amplitude ratios of various transmitted and reflected waves. Design/methodology/approach – The reflection and transmission of plane waves on the interface between an orthotropic hygro-thermo-elastic half-space (OHTHS) and a viscous-fluid half-space (VFHS) were investigated in this study with reference to coupled hygro-thermo-elasticity. Findings – The interface, where y = 0, is struck by the principal (P) plane waves as they travel through the VFHS. Two waves are reflected in VFHS, and four waves are transmitted in OHTHS as a result namely longitudinal displacement, Pwave − , thermal diffusion TDwave − and moisture diffusion mDwave − and shear vertical SV wave. Expressions for the reflection and transmitted coefficient are developed for the incidence of a hygrothermal plane wave. It is noted that these ratios are graphically displayed and are observed under the influence of coupled hygro-thermo-elasticity. Research limitations/implications – There isn't much study on the model under consideration, which combines OHTHS and VFHS with coupled hygro-thermo-elasticity, according to the existing literature Practical implications – The current model can be applied in many different areas, such as soil dynamics, nuclear reactors, high particle accelerators, earthquake engineering, and other areas where linked hygrothermo-elasticity is important. In a range of technical and geophysical settings, wave propagation in a viscous fluid-thermoelastic medium with various characteristics, such as initial stress, magnetic field, porosity, temperature, etc., gives essential information regarding the presence of new and modified waves. This model may prove useful in modifying earthquake estimates for experimental seismologists, new material designers, and researchers. Social implications – Researchers may use coupled hygro-thermo-elasticity to categories the material, where the parameter is a new indication of its ability to conduct heat in interaction with diverse materials. Originality/value – The submitted text is the sole creation of the team of writers, and all authors equally contributed to its creation.

Keywords: hygro-thermo-elasticity, viscous fluid, reflection coefficient, transmission coefficient, moisture concentration

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Authors: Daniyar Bossinov

Abstract:

This paper considers a non-isothermal stationary waxy crude oil flow in a two-dimensional axisymmetric pipe with the transition of a Newtonian fluid to a non-Newtonian fluid. The viscosity and yield stress of waxy crude oil are highly dependent on temperature changes. During the hot pumping of waxy crude oil through a buried pipeline, a non-isothermal flow occurs due to heat transfer to the surrounding soil. This leads to a decrease in flow temperature, an increase in viscosity, the appearance of yield stress, the crystallization of wax, and the deposition of solid particles on the pipeline's inner wall. The deposition of oil solid particles reduces a pipeline flow area and leads to the appearance of a stagnant zone with thermal insulation in the near-wall area. Waxy crude oil properties change. A Newtonian fluid at low temperatures transits to a non-Newtonian fluid. The one-dimensional modeling of a non-isothermal waxy crude oil flow in a two-dimensional axisymmetric pipeline by traditional averaging of temperature and velocity over the pipeline cross-section does not allow for explaining a physics phenomenon. Therefore, in this work, a two-dimensional flow model and the heat transfer of waxy oil are constructed. The calculated data show the transition of a Newtonian fluid to a non-Newtonian fluid due to the heat exchange of waxy oil with the environment.

Keywords: non-isothermal laminar flow, waxy crude oil, stagnant zone, yield stress

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Authors: J. R. Bhalla, Gautam, Gurcharan Singh, Sanjeev Naval

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Mathematics is everywhere behind the every things on the earth as well as in the universe. Predynastic Egyptians of the 5th millennium BC pictorially represented geometric designs. Now a day’s we can made and apply an equation on a complex geometry through applied mathematics. Here we work and focus on to create a formula which apply in the field of civil engineering in new concrete technology. In this paper our target is to make a formula which is applied on “BAUT” Metal Aggregate. In this paper our approach is to make formulation and equation on special “BAUT” Metal Aggregate by Applied Mathematical Study Case 1. BASIC PHYSICAL FORMULATION 2. ADVANCE EQUATION which shows the mechanical performance of special metal aggregates for concrete technology. In case 1. Basic physical formulation shows the surface area and volume manually and in case 2. Advance equation shows the mechanical performance has been discussed, the metal aggregates which had outstandingly qualities to resist shear, tension and compression forces. In this paper coarse metal aggregates is 20 mm which used for making high performance concrete (H.P.C).

Keywords: applied mathematical study case, special metal aggregates, concrete technology, basic physical formulation, advance equation

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Authors: H. T. Abba, Abbas Baba Kura

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Assessment of natural radioactivity of some fish samples in river Yobe was conducted, using gamma spectroscopy method with NaI(TI) detector. Radioactivity is phenomenon that leads to production of radiations, whereas radiation is known to trigger or induce cancer. The fish were analyzed to estimate the radioactivity (activity) concentrations due to natural radionuclides (Radium 222(226Ra), Thorium 232 (232Th) and Potassium 40 (40K)). The obtained result show that the activity concentration for (226Ra), in all the fish samples collected ranges from 15.23±2.45 BqKg-1 to 67.39±2.13 BqKg-1 with an average value of 34.13±1.34 BqKg-1. That of 232Th, ranges from 42.66±0.81 BqKg-1 to 201.18±3.82 BqKg-1, and the average value stands at 96.01±3.82 BqKg-1. The activity concentration for 40K, ranges between 243.3±1.56 BqKg-1 to 618.2±2.81 BqKg-1 and the average is 413.92±1.7 BqKg-1. This study indicated that average daily intake due to natural activity from the fish is valued at 0.913 Bq/day, 2.577Bq/day and 11.088 Bq/day for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K respectively. This shows that the activity concentration values for fish, shows a promising result with most of the fish activity concentrations been within the acceptable limits. However locations (F02, F07 and F12) fish, became outliers with significant values of 112.53μSvy-1, 121.11μSvy-1 and 114.32μSvy-1 effective Dose. This could be attributed to variation in geological formations within the river as while as the feeding habits of these fish. The work shows that consumers of fish from River Yobe have no risk of radioactivity ingestion, even though no amount of radiation is assumed to be totally safe.

Keywords: radiation, radio-activity, dose, radionuclides, river Yobe

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Authors: Thiago Viana

Abstract:

Eventually train accidents occur on railways and for some specific cases it is necessary to use a train rescue with a crane positioned under a platform wagon. These tumbled machines are collected and sent to the machine shop or scrap yard. In one of these cranes that were being used to rescue a wagon, occurred a fall of hoist due to fracture of two large pins. The two pins were collected and sent for failure analysis. This work investigates the main cause and the secondary causes for the initiation of the fatigue crack. All standard failure analysis procedures were applied, with careful evaluation of the characteristics of the material, fractured surfaces and, mainly, metallographic tests using an optical microscope to compare the geometry of the peaks and valleys of the thread of the pins and their respective seats. By metallographic analysis, it was concluded that the fatigue cracks were started from a notch (stress concentration) in the valley of the threads of the pin applied to the right side of the crane (pin 1). In this, it was verified that the peaks of the threads of the pin seat did not have proper geometry, with sharp edges being present that caused such notches. The visual analysis showed that fracture of the pin on the left side of the crane (pin 2) was brittle type, being a consequence of the fracture of the first one. Recommendations for this and other railway cranes have been made, such as nondestructive testing, stress calculation, design review, quality control and suitability of the mechanical forming process of the seat threads and pin threads.

Keywords: crane, fracture, pin, railway

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: K. Kamburova, N. Boshkova, N. Boshkov, T. Radeva

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Coatings based on polyaniline (PANI) can improve the resistance of steel against corrosion. Two forms of PANI are generally accepted to have effective protection of steel: the conducting emeraldine salt (ES) and the non-conducting emeraldine base (EB). The ability to intercept electrons at the metal surface and to transport them is typically attributed to ES, while the success of EB as an anticorrosive additive in the coating is attributed to its ability to oxidize and reduce in a reversible way. This electrochemical mechanism is probably combined with barrier effect against corrosion species. In this work, we describe the preparation of stable suspensions of colloidal PANI-SiO₂ particles, suitable for obtaining of composite anticorrosive coating on steel. Electrokinetic data as a function of pH are presented, showing that the zeta potentials of the PANI-SiO₂ particles are governed primarily by the charged groups at the silica oxide surface. Electrosteric stabilization of the PANI-SiO₂ particles’ suspension against aggregation is realized at pH > 5.5 (EB form of PANI) by adsorption of positively charged polyelectrolyte molecules onto negatively charged PANI-SiO₂ particles. We anticipate that incorporation of the small particles will provide a more homogeneous distribution in the coating matrix and will decrease the negative effect on barrier properties of the composite coating.

Keywords: particles, stable dispersion, composite coatings, corrosion protection

Procedia PDF Downloads 170