Search results for: compound Poisson lognormal distribution

Authors: Marcin Szlachetka, Rafal Sochaczewski, Lukasz Grabowski

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This paper presents the results of the load simulations of main bearings in a two-stroke Diesel engine. A model of an engine lubrication system with connections of its main lubrication nodes, i.e., a connection of its main bearings in the engine block with the crankshaft, a connection of its crankpins with its connecting rod and a connection of its pin and its piston has been created for our calculations performed using the AVL EXCITE Designer. The analysis covers the loads given as a pressure distribution in a hydrodynamic oil film, a temperature distribution on the main bush surfaces for the specified radial clearance values as well as the impact of the force of gas on the minimum oil film thickness in the main bearings depending on crankshaft rotational speeds and temperatures of oil in the bearings. One of the main goals of the research has been to determine whether the minimum thickness of the oil film at which fluid friction occurs can be achieved for each value of crankshaft speed. Our model calculates different oil film parameters, i.e., its thickness, a pressure distribution there, the change in oil temperature. Additional enables an analysis of an oil temperature distribution on the surfaces of the bearing seats. It allows verifying the selected clearances in the bearings of the main engine under normal operation conditions and extremal ones that show a significant increase in temperature above the limit value. The research has been conducted for several engine crankshaft speeds ranging from 1000 rpm to 4000 rpm. The oil pressure in the bearings has ranged 2-5 bar according to engine speeds and the oil temperature has ranged 90-120 °C. The main bearing clearance has been adopted for the calculation and analysis as 0.025 mm. The oil classified as SAE 5W-30 has been used for the simulations. The paper discusses the selected research results referring to several specific operating points and different temperatures of the lubricating oil in the bearings. The received research results show that for the investigated main bearing bushes of the shaft, the results fall within the ranges of the limit values despite the increase in the oil temperature of the bearings reaching 120˚C. The fact that the bearings are loaded with the maximum pressure makes no excessive temperature rise on the bush surfaces. The oil temperature increases by 17˚C, reaching 137˚C at a speed of 4000 rpm. The minimum film thickness at which fluid friction occurs has been achieved for each of the operating points at each of the engine crankshaft speeds. Acknowledgement: This work has been realized in the cooperation with The Construction Office of WSK ‘PZL-KALISZ’ S.A.’ and is part of Grant Agreement No. POIR.01.02.00-00-0002/15 financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development.

Keywords: diesel engine, main bearings, opposing pistons, two-stroke

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Noraishah Othman, Siti K. Kamarudin, Norinsan K. Othman, Mohd S. Takriff, Masli I. Rosli, Engku M. Fahmi, Mior A. Khusaini

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The present work describes hydrodynamics of mixing characteristics of two dual hybrid impeller consisting of, radial and axial impeller using radiotracer technique. Type A mixer, a Rushton turbine is mounted above a Pitched Blade Turbine (PBT) at common shaft and Type B mixer, a Rushton turbine is mounted below PBT. The objectives of this paper are to investigate the residence time distribution (RTD) of two hybrid mixers and to represent the respective mixers by RTD model. Each type of mixer will experience five radiotracer experiments using Tc99m as source of tracer and scintillation detectors NaI(Tl) are used for tracer detection. The results showed that mixer in parallel model and mixers in series with exchange can represent the flow model in mixer A whereas only mixer in parallel model can represent Type B mixer well than other models. In conclusion, Type A impeller, Rushton impeller above PBT, reduced the presence of dead zone in the mixer significantly rather than Type B.

Keywords: hybrid impeller, residence time distribution (RTD), radiotracer experiments, RTD model

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: R. Ahmadi, A. Khodadadi, M. Abdollahi

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The removal of copper from a dilute synthetic wastewater (10 mg/L) was studied by ion flotation at laboratory scale. Anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used as a collector and ethanol as a frother. Different parameters such as pH, collector and frother concentrations, foam height and bubble size distribution (multi bubble ion flotation) were tested to determine the optimum flotation conditions in a Denver type flotation machine. To see into the effect of bubbles size distribution in this paper, a nano-micro bubble generator was designed. The nano and microbubbles that are generated in this way were combined with normal size bubbles generated mechanically. Under the optimum conditions (concentration of SDS: 192mg/l, ethanol: 0.5%v/v, pH value: 4 and froth height=12.5 cm) the best removal obtained for the system Cu/SDS with a dry foam (water recovery: 15.5%) was 85.6%. Coalescence of nano-microbubbles with bubbles of normal size belonging to mechanical flotation cell improved the removal of Cu to a maximum floatability of 92.8% and reduced the water recovery to a 13.1%.The flotation time decreased considerably at 37.5% when the multi bubble ion flotation was used.

Keywords: froth flotation, copper, water treatment, optimization, recycling

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Authors: Lynndee Kemmet

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The U.S. military plays an increasing role in supporting political stability efforts, and this includes efforts to prevent the food insecurity that can trigger political and social instability. This paper presents a model that assists military commanders in identifying variables that impact food production and distribution in their areas of operation (AO), in identifying connections between variables and in assessing the impacts of those variables on food production and distribution. Through use of the model, military units can better target their data collection efforts and can categorize and analyze data within the data categorization framework most widely-used by military forces—PMESII-PT (Political, Military, Economic, Infrastructure, Information, Physical Environment and Time). The model provides flexibility of analysis in that commanders can target analysis to be highly focused on a specific PMESII-PT domain or variable or conduct analysis across multiple PMESII-PT domains. The model is also designed to assist commanders in mapping food systems in their AOs and then identifying components of those systems that must be strengthened or protected.

Keywords: food security, food system model, political stability, US Military

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Abir Soltani, Moez Amri, Jouda Mediouni Ben Jemâa

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In North Africa, the chickpea leafminer Liriomyza cicerina (Rondani) (Diptera: Agromizidae) is one of the major damaging pests affecting both spring and winter-planted chickpea. Damage is caused by the larvae which feed in the leaf mesophyll tissue, resulting in desiccation and premature leaf fall that can cause severe yield losses. In the present work, the distribution and the seasonal phenology of L. cicerina were studied on two chickpea varieties; a winter variety Beja 1 which is the most cultivated variety in Tunisia and a spring-sown variety Amdoun 1. The experiment was conducted during the cropping season 2015-2016. In the experimental research station Oued Beja, in the Beja region (36°44’N; 9°13’E). To determine the distribution and seasonal phenology of L. cicerina in both studied varieties Beja 1 and Amdoun 1, respectively 100 leave samples (50 from the top and 50 from the base) were collected from 10 chickpea plants randomly chosen from each field. The sampling was done during three development stages (i) 20-25 days before flowering (BFL), (ii) at flowering (FL) and (ii) at pod setting stage (PS). For each plant, leaves were checked from the base till the upper ones for the insect infestation progress into the plant in correlation with chickpea growth Stages. Fly adult populations were monitored using 8 yellow sticky traps together with weekly leaves sampling in each field. The traps were placed 70 cm above ground. Trap catches were collected once a week over the cropping season period. Results showed that L. cicerina distribution varied among both studied chickpea varieties and crop development stage all with seasonal phenology. For the winter chickpea variety Beja 1, infestation levels of 2%, 10.3% and 20.3% were recorded on the bases plant part for BFL, FL and PS stages respectively against 0%, 8.1% and 45.8% recorded for the upper plant part leaves for the same stages respectively. For the spring-sown variety Amdoun 1 the infestation level reached 71.5% during flowering stage. Population dynamic study revealed that for Beja 1 variety, L. cicerina accomplished three annual generations over the cropping season period with the third one being the most important with a capture level of 85 adult/trap by mid-May against a capture level of 139 adult/trap at the end May recorded for cv. Amdoun 1. Also, results showed that L. cicerina field infestation dispersal depends on the field part and on the crop growth stage. The border areas plants were more infested than the plants placed inside the plots. For cv. Beja 1, border areas infestations were 11%, 28% and 91.2% for BFL, FL and PS stages respectively, against 2%, 10.73% and 69.2% recorded on the on the inside plot plants during the for the same growth stages respectively. For the cv. Amdoun1 infestation level of 90% was observed on the border plants at FL and PS stages against an infestation level less than 65% recorded inside the plot.

Keywords: leaf miner, liriomyza cicerina, chickpea, distribution, seasonal phenology, Tunisia

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Authors: M. Sumida, T. Fujimoto

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Fiber-concentration distributions in pulp liquid flows behind dispersion promoters were experimentally investigated to explore the feasibility of improving operational performance of hydraulic headboxes in papermaking machines. The proposed research was performed in the form of a basic test conducted on a screen-type model comprising a circular cylinder inserted within a channel. Tests were performed using pulp liquid possessing fiber concentrations ranging from 0.3-1.0 wt% under different flow velocities of 0.016-0.74 m/s. Fiber-concentration distributions were measured using the transmitted light attenuation method. Obtained test results were analyzed, and the influence of the flow velocities on wake characteristics behind the cylinder has been investigated with reference to findings of our preceding studies concerning pulp liquid flows in straight channels. Changes in fiber-concentration distribution along the flow direction were observed to be substantially large in the section from the cylinder to four times its diameter downstream of its centerline. Findings of this study provide useful information concerning the development of hydraulic headboxes.

Keywords: dispersion promoter, fiber-concentration distribution, hydraulic headbox, pulp liquid flow

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Authors: Mostafa M. Ahmed, Kotaro Nose, Takashi Fujii, Toshiki Ayano

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The Study shed the light on the effects of employing varied curing agents (No.1-No.6): bleeding water, and sprinkling water, aqueous basic silica compound, modified acrylic resin, the emulsion of solid wax and nonionic surfactant, and water-based paraffin wax, on the properties of high-performance concrete (HPC) in comparison with the cured specimens according to the standard curing at 20 ± 3°C (JIS A 0203:2019). The specimens cured in accordance with standard curing exhibit a better compressive strength and higher freeze-thaw resistance compared to most non-standard-cured samples.

Keywords: curing agents, high-performance concrete, compressive strength, cumulative scaling, freeze-thaw resistance

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Authors: Md. Rashed Aalm, Md. Nuruzzaman Khan, Yothin Sawangdee

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Background: Around 47% of the total pregnancies are unintended in Bangladesh, which lead to several adverse consequences, including maternal and child mortality. Use of menstrual regulation (MR) can help women to reduce unintended pregnancy related adverse consequences. We explored the prevalence and determinants of MR services among ever-married women in Bangladesh. Methods: Total of 14,346 ever-married women data were analysed from the 2017 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Our study variable was use or non-use of MR services. Individual, household, and community level factors were the explanatory factors. Multilevel mixed-effect Poisson regression model was used to determine the factors associated with MR services in Bangladesh. Results: Nearly 7% of the total women in Bangladesh use MR services. Use of MR services was found higher among women who were aged 20-30 ages (IRR 1.60, 95% CI: 1.17–2.17), who were overweight (IRR 1.43, 95% CI: 1.13–1.81), had at least 1 child (IRR 2.97, 95% CI: 2.34– 3.77) or > 2 children (IRR 3.22, 95% CI: 2.45–4.20), and the birth preceding birth interval was(2 – 4) years (IRR 1.56, 95% CI: 1.13–2.15). Around 1.39 times (95% CI: 1.11–1.73) higher likelihood of MR was found among women whose husbands were engage with business. At the community level, MR service was found lower among the women who resided in the community with higherilliteracy (IRR 0.67, 95% CI: 0.42–0.96) and the Mymensingh division (IRR 0.39, 95% CI: 0.31–0.91). Conclusion: Use of MR service is comparatively low, which indicate a significant proportion of unintended pregnancy continued toward life-birth. This could be responsible for higher adverse maternal and child health outcomes in Bangladesh. Initiatives should be taken to ensure MR services is available when women need this service.

Keywords: menstrual regulation, pattern, risk, maternal health, Bangladesh

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: C. C. Castro, T. Senechal, D. Lahem, A. L. Hantson

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Formaldehyde is one of the most representative volatile organic compounds present in the indoor air of residential units and workplaces. Increased attention has been given to this toxic compound because of its carcinogenic effect in health. Biological or enzymatic transformation is being explored to degrade this pollutant. Pseudomonas putida is a bacteria able to synthesize formaldehyde dehydrogenase, an enzyme known to use formaldehyde as a substrate and transform it into less toxic compounds. The immobilization of bacterial cells in the surface of different supports through spraying or dip-coating is herein proposed. The determination of the enzymatic activity on the coated surfaces was performed as well as the study of its effect on formaldehyde degradation in an isolated chamber. Results show that the incorporation of microbial cells able to synthesize depolluting enzymes can be an innovative, low-cost, effective and environmentally friendly solution for indoor air depollution.

Keywords: cells encapsulation, formaldehyde, formaldehyde dehydrogenase, indoor air depollution

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Authors: Zhao Tianxu, Cui Shumei

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This paper proposes a novel multiphase motor structure. The armature winding consists of several independent multiphase windings that have different rating rotate speed and power. Compared to conventional motor, the novel motor structure has more operation mode and fault tolerance mode, which makes it adapt to high-reliability requirement situation such as electric vehicle, aircraft and ship. Performance of novel motor structure varies with winding match. In order to find optimum control strategy, motor torque character, efficiency performance and fault tolerance ability under different operation mode are analyzed in this paper, and torque distribution strategy for efficiency optimization is proposed. Simulation analyze is taken and the result shows that proposed structure has the same efficiency on heavy load and higher efficiency on light load operation points, which expands high efficiency area of motor and cruise range of vehicle. The proposed structure can improve motor highest speed.

Keywords: multiphase motor, armature winding match, torque distribution strategy, efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 351

Authors: H. Shokouhmand, M. Degheh, B. Sajadi, H. Sobhani

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The induct ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) systems are broadly used nowadays and their utilization is widened every day. Even though these systems are not applicable individually, they are very suitable supplements for the traditional filtration systems. The amount of inactivated microorganisms is dependent on the air velocity, lamp power, fluence rate distribution, and also germicidal susceptibility of microorganisms. In this paper, these factors are investigated utilizing an air-microorganism two-phase numerical model. The eulerian-lagrangian method was used to have more detailed information on the history of each particle. The UVGI system was modeled in three steps including: 1) modeling the air flow, 2) modeling the discrete phase of particles, 3) modeling the UV intensity field, and 4) modeling the particle inactivation. The results from modeling different lamp arrangements and powers showed that the system functions better at more homogeneous irradiation distribution. Since increasing the air flow rate of the device results in increasing of particle inactivation rate, the optimal air velocity shall be adjusted in accordance with the microorganism production rate, and the air quality requirement using the curves represented in this paper.

Keywords: CFD, microorganism, two-phase flow, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation

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Authors: Tamás Hartványi, Ferenc Tóth

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European telecommunication distribution center performance is measured by service lead time and quality. Operation model is CTO (customized to order) namely, a high mix customization of telecommunication network equipment and parts. CTO operation contains material receiving, warehousing, network and server assembly to order and configure based on customer specifications. Variety of the product and orders does not support mass production structure. One of the success factors to satisfy customer is to have a proper aggregated planning method for the operation in order to have optimized human resources and highly efficient asset utilization. Research will investigate several methods and find proper way to have an order book simulation where practical optimization problem may contain thousands of variables and the simulation running times of developed algorithms were taken into account with high importance. There are two operation research models that were developed, customer demand is given in orders, no change over time, customer demands are given for product types, and changeover time is constant.

Keywords: CTO, aggregated planning, demand simulation, changeover time

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Authors: Sulaiman B. Ali Alharbi, Bassam H. Mashat, Naif Abdullah Al-Harbi, Milton Wainwright, Abeer S. Aloufi, Sulamain Alnaimat

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Bismuth salicylate was found to inhibit the growth of a range of bacteria and yeast, Candida albican. In general the growth of bacteria did not result in the increase in bismuth solubilisation, in contrast, bismuth solubilisation increased following the growth of C. albicans. A significant increase in the biomass (dry weight) of Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae occurred in vitro when these fungi were grown in the presence of bismuth salicylate. Biomass increase occurred over a range of bismuth compound additions, which in the case of A. oryzae was associated with the increase in the solubilisation of the insoluble bismuth compounds.

Keywords: bacterial inhibition, fungal growth stimulation, medical uses of bismuth, yeast inhibition

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Authors: Vida Jodaeian, Behzad Sani

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Copper nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and characterized on green-extracted Carrageenan from seaweed by precipitation method without using any supporter and template with precipitation method. The crystallinity, optical properties, morphology, and composition of products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transforms infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The effects of processing parameters on the size and shape of Cu- nanostructures such as effect of pH were investigated. It is found that the reaction at lower pH values (acidic) could not be completed and pH = 8.00 was the best pH value to prepare very fine nanoparticles. They as synthesized Cu-nanoparticles were used as catalysts for the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds in presence of NaBH4. The results showed that Cu-nanoparticles are very active for reduction of these nitro aromatic compounds.

Keywords: nanoparticles, carrageenan, seaweed, nitro aromatic compound

Procedia PDF Downloads 386

Authors: Rong-Yang Lai, Jia-Yu Wu, Chih-Han Chang, Yung-Chung Chen

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The dental bridge is one of the clinical methods of the treatment for missing teeth. The dental bridge is generally designed for two layers, containing the inner layer of the framework(zirconia) and the outer layer of the porcelain-fused to framework restorations. The design of a conventional bridge is generally based on the antagonist tooth profile so that the framework evenly indented by an equal thickness from outer contour. All-ceramic dental bridge made of zirconia have well demonstrated remarkable potential to withstand a higher physiological occlusal load in posterior region, but it was found that there is still the risk of all-ceramic bridge failure in five years. Thus, how to reduce the incidence of failure is still a problem to be solved. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop mechanical designs for all-ceramic dental bridges framework by reducing the stress and enhancing fracture resistance under given loading conditions by finite element method. In this study, dental design software is used to design dental bridge based on tooth CT images. After building model, Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimization (BESO) Method algorithm implemented in finite element software was employed to analyze results of finite element software and determine the distribution of the materials in dental bridge; BESO searches the optimum distribution of two different materials, namely porcelain and zirconia. According to the previous calculation of the stress value of each element, when the element stress value is higher than the threshold value, the element would be replaced by the framework material; besides, the difference of maximum stress peak value is less than 0.1%, calculation is complete. After completing the design of dental bridge, the stress distribution of the whole structure is changed. BESO reduces the peak values of principle stress of 10% in outer-layer porcelain and avoids producing tensile stress failure.

Keywords: dental bridge, finite element analysis, framework, automatic program

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Rania Ajmi, Faiza Allouche Khebour, Aude Nuscia Taibi, Sirine Essasi

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Urban green spaces (UGS) as an important contributor can be a significant part of sustainable development. A spatial method was employed to assess and map the spatial distribution of UGS in five districts in Sousse, Tunisia. Ecological management of UGS is an essential factor for the sustainable development of the city; hence the municipality of Sousse has decided to support the districts according to different green spaces characters. And to implement this policy, (1) a new GIS web application was developed, (2) then the implementation of the various green spaces was carried out, (3) a spatial mapping of UGS using Quantum GIS was realized, and (4) finally a data processing and statistical analysis with RStudio programming language was executed. The intersection of the results of the spatial and statistical analyzes highlighted the presence of an imbalance in terms of the spatial UGS distribution in the study area. The discontinuity between the coast and the city's green spaces was not designed in a spirit of network and connection, hence the lack of a greenway that connects these spaces to the city. Finally, this GIS support will be used to assess and monitor green spaces in the city of Sousse by decision-makers and will contribute to improve the well-being of the local population.

Keywords: distributions, GIS, green space, imbalance, spatial analysis

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Authors: Xiaohan Ye

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Under the new normal situation, some urban spaces with the industrial base and regional features in Zhejiang, China have been selected to build a characteristic town, a kind of environmentally-friendly development platform with city-industry integrated, in an attempt to achieve the most optimized layout of productivity with the least space resource. After analysis on the connotation, mechanism and mode of characteristic town in Zhejiang, it is suggested in this paper that characteristic town should take improving the regional ecological environment as an important object in planning strategy from the perspective of ecological concept. Improved environmental quality, optimized resource allocation, and compact industrial distribution should be realized so as to drive the regional green and sustainable development. Finally, this paper analyzes location selection, industrial distribution, spatial organization and environment construction based on the exploration of the dream town of Zhejiang province, the first batch of provincial-level characteristic towns to demonstrate how to apply the ecological concept to the design of characteristic town.

Keywords: characteristic town, ecological concept, Hangzhou dream town, planning strategy

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Authors: Sunghyoun Lee, Byeongkee Yu, Chanjung Lee, Yeongtaek Lim

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Oyster mushrooms are one of the ingredients that Koreans prefer. The oyster mushroom cultivation house has multiple layers in order to increase the mushroom production per unit area. However, the growing shelves in the house act as obstacles and hinder the circulation of the interior air, which leads to the difference of cultivation environment between the upper part and lower part of the growing shelves. Due to this difference of environments, growth distinction occurs according to the area of the growing shelves. It is known that minute air circulation around the mushroom cap facilitates the metabolism of mushrooms and improves its quality. This study has utilized the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program, that is, FLUENT R16, in order to analyze the improvement of the internal environment uniformity of the oyster mushroom cultivation house. The analyzed factors are velocity distribution, temperature distribution, and humidity distribution. In order to maintain the internal environment uniformity of the oyster mushroom cultivation house, it appeared that installing circulation fan at the upper part of the working passage towards the ceiling is effective. When all the environmental control equipment – unit cooler, inlet fan, outlet fan, air circulation fan, and humidifier - operated simultaneously, the RMS figure on the growing shelves appeared as follows: velocity 28.23%, temperature 30.47%, humidity 7.88%. However, when only unit cooler and air circulation fan operated, the RMS figure on the growing shelves appeared as follows: velocity 22.28%, temperature 0.87%, humidity 0.82%. Therefore, in order to maintain the internal environment uniformity of the mushroom cultivation house, reducing the overall operating time of inlet fan, outlet fan, and humidifier is needed, and managing the internal environment with unit cooler and air circulation fan appropriately is essential.

Keywords: air circulation fan, computational fluid dynamics, multi-layered shelves cultivation, oyster mushroom cultivation house

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Authors: Hongyu Chen, Li Jiang

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Ubiquitous anomalies endanger the security of our system con- stantly. They may bring irreversible damages to the system and cause leakage of privacy. Thus, it is of vital importance to promptly detect these anomalies. Traditional supervised methods such as Decision Trees and Support Vector Machine (SVM) are used to classify normality and abnormality. However, in some case, the abnormal status are largely rarer than normal status, which leads to decision bias of these methods. Generative adversarial network (GAN) has been proposed to handle the case. With its strong generative ability, it only needs to learn the distribution of normal status, and identify the abnormal status through the gap between it and the learned distribution. Nevertheless, existing GAN-based models are not suitable to process data with discrete values, leading to immense degradation of detection performance. To cope with the discrete features, in this paper, we propose an efficient GAN-based model with specifically-designed loss function. Experiment results show that our model outperforms state-of-the-art models on discrete dataset and remarkably reduce the overhead.

Keywords: GAN, discrete feature, Wasserstein distance, multiple intermediate layers

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Authors: Caroline Correia, Stefani Perna, John Gaughan, Elizabeth Cerceo

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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented changes to how hospitals function on a daily basis. Increased personal protective equipment (PPE) usage and measures to pre-package, separate, and decontaminate have the potential to increase the waste load. However, limiting non-essential surgeries drastically reduces operating room (OR) waste, and restricting visitation policies to contain outbreaks may help conserve resources. The impact of these policy changes with increased disposable PPE usage on hospital production of waste is unknown. Methods: Waste produced in pounds (lbs) was measured for January through June during both 2019 and 2020 through Stericycle in Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ. This timeframe was selected since the pandemic began in January 2020 in the US. The total waste produced during this time was 328,623 lbs in 2019 and 306,454 lbs in 2020. Using Poisson counts (α=.05), less waste was produced in 2020 (p < 0.001). The amount of sharps and regulated medical waste (grossly bloody items) were both significantly decreased as well (p < 0.0001, p=0.0002), and these account for 10-15% of the total waste produced. Discussion: Despite the increased usage of disposable PPE, overall hospital waste was decreased during the pandemic as compared to prior. As surgeries are estimated to be responsible for up to one-half of waste produced by hospitals, it is possible that constraint on elective procedures contributed to the decreased waste in all three categories; estimates of a 35% decrease in surgical volume would be expected to impact waste production. The effects of the pandemic on waste production should continue to be monitored to understand the environmental impact as health systems resume backlogged surgeries at a higher volume.

Keywords: COVID-19, hospital, surgery, waste

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Authors: Tal Remez, Or Litany, Alex Bronstein

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The pursuit of smaller pixel sizes at ever increasing resolution in digital image sensors is mainly driven by the stringent price and form-factor requirements of sensors and optics in the cellular phone market. Recently, Eric Fossum proposed a novel concept of an image sensor with dense sub-diffraction limit one-bit pixels (jots), which can be considered a digital emulation of silver halide photographic film. This idea has been recently embodied as the EPFL Gigavision camera. A major bottleneck in the design of such sensors is the image reconstruction process, producing a continuous high dynamic range image from oversampled binary measurements. The extreme quantization of the Poisson statistics is incompatible with the assumptions of most standard image processing and enhancement frameworks. The recently proposed maximum-likelihood (ML) approach addresses this difficulty, but suffers from image artifacts and has impractically high computational complexity. In this work, we study a variant of a sensor with binary threshold pixels and propose a reconstruction algorithm combining an ML data fitting term with a sparse synthesis prior. We also show an efficient hardware-friendly real-time approximation of this inverse operator. Promising results are shown on synthetic data as well as on HDR data emulated using multiple exposures of a regular CMOS sensor.

Keywords: binary pixels, maximum likelihood, neural networks, sparse coding

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Authors: Zate Zewdneh Zana

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Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee), a cornerstone of the global beverage industry, necessitates rigorous genetic conservation due to its economic significance and genetic complexity. In this study, we performed whole-genome resequencing of wild species collected from its birthplace, Ethiopia. Advanced Illumina sequencing technology facilitated the mapping of a high percentage of clean reads to the C. arabica reference genome, revealing a substantial number of genetic variants, predominantly SNPs. Our comprehensive analysis not only uncovered a notable distribution of genomic variants across the coffee genome but also identified distinct genetic groups through phylogenetic and population structure analyses. This genomic study provides invaluable insights into the genetic diversity of C. arabica, highlighting the potential of identified SNPs and InDels in enhancing our understanding of key agronomic traits. The findings contribute significantly to genetic studies and support strategic breeding and conservation efforts essential for sustaining the global coffee industry.

Keywords: population genetics, wild species, evolutionary study, coffee plant

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Authors: Ghasem Yazadani, Hamidreza Ahmadi, Masoud Ahmadi, Sajad Rezazadeh

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In this paper with designing and proposing a compound of a heating and cooling system has been tried to show effect of this system on preventing esophagus cancer that can be caused by hot and cold drinks such as tea, coffee and ice water. This system has been simulated mechanically by fluent software and also has been validated by experimental way and a comprehensive result has been presented. Both of solution ways show that this system can reduce or increase temperature of drink to safe very dramatically and it can be a huge step toward consuming drinks safely and also it can be efficient about time issues. The system consists of a temperature sensor and an electronic controller that has a computer program to act automatically this task. Also this system has been presented after many different simulations and has been tried to find the best one in the point view of velocity of heating and cooling.

Keywords: fluent, heat transfer, controller, esophagus cancer

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Authors: Jaber H. Almutairi, Hosny Z. Abou-Ziyan, Issa F. Almesri, Mosab A. Alrahmani

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The present work investigates the behavior of fluid flow inside tunnel kilns using 3D-CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations. The CFD simulations are carried out with the FLUENT software and validated against experimental results on fluid flow and heat transfer in tunnel kilns. A grid dependency study is conducted in the current work to improve the accuracy of the results. Three turbulence models k–ω, standard k–ε, and RNG k–ε are tested where k–ω model gives the best results in comparison with the experiment. The numerical results reveal an intriguing phenomenon where a long flow separation zone behind the setting is observed under different geometric and operation conditions. It was found that the uniformity of flow distribution can be substantially improved by rearranging the geometrical parameters of brick setting relative to kiln/setting. This improvement of flow distribution plays a critical role to enhance the quality and quantity of the production. It can be concluded that a better design and operation of tunnel kilns in terms of productivity and energy consumption can be obtained by taking into consideration the flow uniformity inside the tunnel kilns using CFD modelling.

Keywords: tunnel kilns, flow separation, flow uniformity, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Chatarina Muryani, Sarwono, Sugiyanto Heribentus

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Major part of Grobogan District, Central Java Province, Indonesia, always suffers from drought every year. The drought has implications toward almost all of the community activities, both domestic, agriculture, livestock, and industrial. The aim of this study was to determine (1) the drought distribution area in Grobogan District in 2015; (2) the impact of drought; and (3) the community adaptation toward the drought. The subject of the research was people who were impacted by the drought, purposive sampling technique was used to draw the sample. The data collection method was using field observation and in-depth interview while the data analysis was using descriptive analysis. The results showed that (1) in 2015, there were 14 districts which were affected by the drought and only 5 districts which do not suffer from drought, (2) the drought impacted to the reduction of water for domestic compliance, reduction of agricultural production, reduction of public revenue, (3) community adaptation to meet domestic water need was by making collective deep-wells and building water storages, adaptation in agriculture was done by setting the cropping pattern, while adaptation on economics was by allocating certain amount of funds for the family in anticipation of drought, which was mostly to purchase water.

Keywords: adaptation, distribution, drought, impacts

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Authors: S. Perera, T. R. Walsh, M. Solvang

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The structure-property relationships of calcium aluminosilicate (CAS) glass surfaces are of scientific and technological interest regarding dissolution phenomena. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can provide atomic-scale insights into the structure and properties of the CAS interfaces in vacuo as the first step to conducting computational dissolution studies on CAS surfaces. However, one limitation to date is that although the bulk properties of CAS glasses have been well studied by MD simulation, corresponding efforts on CAS surface properties are relatively few in number (both theoretical and experimental). Here, a systematic computational protocol to create CAS surfaces in vacuo is developed by evaluating the sensitivity of the resultant surface structure with respect to different factors. Factors such as the relative thickness of the surface layer, the relative thickness of the bulk region, the cooling rate, and the annealing schedule (time and temperature) are explored. Structural features such as ring size distribution, defect concentrations (five-coordinated aluminium (AlV), non-bridging oxygen (NBO), and tri-cluster oxygen (TBO)), and linkage distribution are identified as significant features in dissolution studies.

Keywords: MD simulation, CAS glasses, surface structure, structure-property, CAS interface

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Authors: M. Foysul Alam

Abstract:

Land diluvion is a common phenomenon in Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh land administration manual, land gained by diluvion and alluvion are considered as Khas (state) lands. Distributing khas lands to the poorest landless people was suggested as a way of improving the livelihood by mobilizing their economic activity and improving their social status in Bangladesh. The impact of this initiative, which started in 1980 as a state policy, is perhaps one of the least experimentally documented ones in the country. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the economic and social status of some landless farmers focusing on determining whether the distribution of khas lands provide part of the explanation for possible improvement of their livelihood during this period of almost four decades. If not, the secondary objective of this study was to identify the issues and challenges of this policy, whether in strategic planning or implementation efforts. Both subjectively observable and objectively measurable data were collected from 150 households from 30 villages of 6 districts worse suffering from landlessness. A well-organized questionnaire, including 10 open ended question, were used to collect specific data and experiences of the landless farmers. Special attention was given to those who left peasantry becoming involved in other economic activities. The study found that Khas lands have very nominal or even zero influence on landless farmers due to 1. Lack of Khas land inventory 2. Lack of availability of information to the farmers 3. Complexity in application procedure for demanding Khas land and 4. Political nexus of local influential farmers makes it nearly impossible for those farmers who actually deserve it. It also found that most of the lucky farmers who eventually got a piece of Khas land had links with the local elites of their community. The research concludes that it is too early to decide how good the Khas land is for the marginalized landless farmers in Bangladesh, with actually a few numbers of them given the possession of one. This document provides crucial recommendations for overcoming the prevailing challenges.

Keywords: Khas land, land distribution, marginalized farmers, rural livelihood

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Authors: N. Tugrul, A. S. Kipcak, E. Moroydor Derun, S. Piskin

Abstract:

Zinc borate is an important boron compound that can be used as multi-functional flame retardant additive due to its high dehydration temperature property. In this study, the raw materials of ZnSO4.7H2O, NaOH and H3BO3 were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and used in the synthesis of zinc borates. The synthesis parameters were set to 100°C reaction temperature and 120 minutes of reaction time, with different molar ratio of starting materials (ZnSO4.7H2O:NaOH:H3BO3). After the zinc borate synthesis, the identifications of the products were conducted by XRD and FT-IR. As a result, Zinc Oxide Borate Hydrate [Zn3B6O12.3.5H2O], were synthesized at the molar ratios of 1:1:3, 1:1:4, 1:2:5 and 1:2:6. Among these ratios 1:2:6 had the best results.

Keywords: Zinc borate, ZnSO4.7H2O, NaOH, H3BO3, XRD, FT-IR

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Authors: Shyh-Ming Chern, Kai-Ting Hsieh

Abstract:

Organic solvents find various applications in many industrial sectors and laboratories as dilution solvents, dispersion solvents, cleaners and even lubricants. Millions of tons of Spent Organic Solvents (SOS) are generated each year worldwide, prompting the need for more efficient, cleaner and safer methods for the treatment and resource recovery of SOS. As a result, acetone, selected as a model compound for SOS, was gasified in supercritical water to assess the feasibility of resource recovery of SOS by means of supercritical water processes. Experiments were conducted with an autoclave reactor. Gaseous product is mainly consists of H2, CO, CO2 and CH4. The effects of three major operating parameters, the reaction temperature, from 673 to 773K, the dosage of oxidizing agent, from 0.3 to 0.5 stoichiometric oxygen, and the concentration of acetone in the feed, 0.1 and 0.2M, on the product gas composition, yield and heating value were evaluated with the water density fixed at about 0.188g/ml.

Keywords: acetone, gasification, SCW, supercritical water

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Authors: P. Jost, L. Muckova, M. Matula, J. Pejchal, D. Jun, R. Stetina

Abstract:

Sulfur mustard (bis(2-chlorethyl) sulfide) is highly toxic, chemical warfare agent that has been used in the past in several armed conflicts. Except for the skin, respiratory tract is one of the important routes of exposure. The elucidation and understanding of the mechanism of toxicity of SM have been effort intensive research. The multiple targets character of SM caused cellular damage resulted in activation of many different mechanisms which contribute to cellular response and participate in the final cytopathology effect. In our present work, we compared time-dependent changes in sulfur mustard exposed adult human lung fibroblasts NHLF and lung epithelial alveolar cell line A-549. Cell viability (MTT assay, Calcein-AM assay, and xCELLigence - real-time cell analysis), apoptosis (flow cytometry), mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm, flow cytometry), reactive oxygen species induction (DC and cell cycle distribution (flow cytometry) were studied. We observed significantly decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and subsequent induction of apoptosis correlating with decreased cellular viability in the sulfur mustard exposed cells. In low concentrations, sulfur mustard-induced S-phase cell cycle arrest, on the other hand, high concentrations, cell cycle phase distribution of sulfur mustard exposed cells resembled cell cycle phase distribution of control group, which implies nonspecific cell cycle inhibition. Epithelial cells A-549 was found as more sensible to sulfur mustard toxicity. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by a long-term organization development plan Medical Aspects of Weapons of Mass Destruction of the Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence.

Keywords: apoptosis, cell cycle, cytotoxicity, sulfur mustard

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