Search results for: strain rate effect

Authors: Charu Sharma

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San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Headquarters was listed in the 2013-American Institute of Architects Committee of the Environment (AIA COTE) Top Ten Green Projects. This 13-story, 277,000-square-foot building, housing more than 900 of the agency’s employees was completed in June 2012. It was designed to achieve LEED Platinum Certification and boasts a plethora of green features to significantly reduce the use of energy and water consumption, and provide a healthy office work environment with high interior air quality and natural daylight. Key sustainability features include on-site clean energy generation through renewable photovoltaic and wind sources providing $118 million in energy cost savings over 75 years; 45 percent daylight harvesting; and the consumption of 55 percent less energy and a 32 percent less electricity demand from the main power grid. It uses 60 percent less water usage than an average 13-story office building as most of that water will be recycled for non-potable uses at the site, running through a system of underground tanks and artificial wetlands that cleans and clarifies whatever is flushed down toilets or washed down drains. This is one of the first buildings in the nation with treatment of gray and black water. The building utilizes an innovative structural system with post tensioned cores that will provide the highest asset preservation for the building. In addition, the building uses a “green” concrete mixture that releases less carbon gases. As a public utility commission this building has set a good example for resource conservation-the building is expected to be cheaper to operate and maintain as time goes on and will have saved rate-payers $500 million in energy and water savings. Within the anticipated 100-year lifespan of the building, our ratepayers will save approximately $3.7 billion through the combination of rental savings, energy efficiencies, and asset ownership.

Keywords: energy efficiency, sustainability, resource conservation, asset ownership, rental savings

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Authors: Mahnoor Khan, Bashir Ahmad, Khizar Hayat, Saad Ahmad Khan, Laiba Ahmad, Shumaila Bashir, Abid Ali Khan

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The objective of this study was to synthesize the smallest possible size of ZnO NPs using a modified wet chemical synthesis method and to prepare core shell using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as shell material. Advanced and sophisticated techniques were used to confirm the synthesis, size, and shape of these NPs. Rounded, clustered NPs of size 5.343 nm were formed. Both the plain and core shell NPs were tested against MDR bacteria (E. cloacae, E. amnigenus, Shigella, S. odorifacae, Citrobacter, and E. coli). Both of the NPs showed excellent antibacterial properties, whereas E. cloacae showed maximum zone of inhibition of 16 mm, 27 mm, and 32 mm for 500 μg/ml, 1000 μg/ml, and 1500 μg/ml, respectively for plain ZnO NPs and 18 mm, 28 mm and 35 mm for 500 μg/ml, 1000 μg/ml and 1500 μg/ml for core shell NPs. These NPs were also biocompatible on human red blood cells showing little hemolysis of only 4% for 70 μg/ml for plain NPs and 1.5% for 70 μg/ml for core shell NPs. Core shell NPs were highly biocompatible because of the PEG. Their therapeutic effect as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer treatment was also monitored. The cytotoxicity of ZnO and PEG-ZnO was evaluated using MTT assay. Our results demonstrated that these NPs could generate ROS inside tumor cells after irradiation which in turn initiates an apoptotic pathway leading to cell death hence proving to be an effective candidate for PDT.

Keywords: ZnO, hemolysis, cytotoxiciy assay, photodynamic therapy, antibacterial

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Faiza Mnasri, Kamilia Abahri, Mohammed El Ganaoui, Slimane Gabsi

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Most of the building materials are considered porous, and composed of solid matrix and pores. In the pores, the moisture can be existed in two phases: liquid and vapor. Thus, the mass balance equation is comprised of various moisture driving potentials that translate the movement of the different existing phases occupying pores and the hygroscopic behavior of a porous construction material. This study suggests to resolve a hygrothermal mathematical model of heat and mass transfers in different porous building materials by a numerical investigation. Thereby, the evolution of temperature and moisture content fields has been processed. So, numerous series of hygrothermal calculation on several cases of wall are exposed. Firstly, a case of monolayer wall of massive wood has been treated. In this part, we have compared the numerical solution of the model on one and two dimensions and the effect of dimensional space has been evaluated. In the second case, three building materials (concrete, wood fiberboard and wooden insulation) are tested separately with the same boundary conditions and their hygrothermal behavior are compared. The evaluation of the exchange of heat and air at the interface between the wall and the interior ambiance is carried.

Keywords: building materials, heat transfer, moisture diffusion, numerical solution

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Authors: Chia-Ying Lin

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This paper explains how to enhance doctor-patient communication and nurse-patient communication through multiple intelligence signing methods and user-centered. It is hoped that through the implementation of the "electronic consent", the problems faced by the paper consent can be solved: storage methods, resource utilization, convenience, correctness of information, integrated management, statistical analysis and other related issues. Make better use and allocation of resources to provide better medical quality. First, invite the ｍedical records department to assist in the inventory of paper consent in the hospital: organising, classifying, merging, coding, and setting. Second, plan the electronic consent configuration file: set the form number, consent form group, fields and templates, and the corresponding doctor's order code. Next, Summarize four types of rapid methods of electronic consent: according to the doctor's order, according to the medical behavior, according to the schedule, and manually generate the consent form. Finally, system promotion and adjustment: form an "electronic consent promotion team" to improve, follow five major processes: planning, development, testing, release, and feedback, and invite clinical units to raise the difficulties faced in the promotion, and make improvements to the problems. The electronic signature rate of the whole hospital will increase from 4% in January 2022 to 79% in November 2022. Use the saved resources more effectively, including: reduce paper usage (reduce carbon footprint), reduce the cost of ink cartridges, re-plan and use the space for paper medical records, and save human resources to provide better services. Through the introduction of information technology and technology, the main spirit of "lean management" is implemented. Transforming and reengineering the process to eliminate unnecessary waste is also the highest purpose of this project.

Keywords: smart signature, electronic consent, electronic medical records, user-centered, doctor-patient communication, nurse-patient communication

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Authors: Hong Bum Kim

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Health technology (HT) area have high growth potential because of global trends such as ageing and economical development. For its high employment effect and capability for creating new business, HT is being considered as one of the major next-generation growth power. Particularly, convergence technologies which are emerged by fusion of HT and other technological area is emphasized for new industry creation in Korea, as a part of Creative Economy. In this study, current status of HT area in Korea is analyzed. The aspect of transition in emphasized technological area of HT-related national R&D enterprise is statistically reviewed. Current level of HT-related technologies such as BT, IT and NT is investigated in this context. Existing research system for HT-convergence technology development such as establishment of research center is also analyzed. Finally, proposed research support system such as system of legislation for developing HT area as one of the main component of Creative Economy in Korea will be analyzed. Analysis of technology trend and policy will help to draw a new direction in progression of R&D enterprise in HT area. Improvement of policy such as legal system reorganization and measure of social agreement for burden of expense could be deduced based on these results.

Keywords: HT, creative economy, policy, national R&D programs

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Authors: Ho-A Kim, Jae-Soo Noh

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During reactor operation, hydride blister can occur in spent nuclear fuel (SNF) claddings, and it could worsen the integrity of the claddings locally. Hydride blister can be critical when a pinch-type load is applied in the process of SNF handling and transportation. Micro-cantilever tests were performed to evaluate the risk of local hydride blister by comparing the fracture toughness of local hydride blister and pre-hydrided Zr alloy matrix of SNF cladding on a microscale. Hydride blister was generated by a gaseous charging procedure to simulate an SNF cladding. Micro-cantilevers and pre-cracks were ion-milled with the Ga+ ion beam of FEI Helios 600 at 30kV acceleration voltage. Micro-cantilever tests were conducted using PI 85 pico-indenter (HYSTRON) with for sided conductive diamond flat tip (1 μm x 1 μm) at a speed of 5 nm/sec. The results show that the hydride blister specimen could be fractured in the elastic deformation region, and the fracture toughness of the hydride blister specimen could drop up to 60% of that of the pre-hydrided Zr alloy matrix. Therefore, local hydride blister can degrade the integrity of SNF cladding, and the effect of hydride blister should be taken into account when evaluating failure criteria of claddings during handling, storage, and transportation of SNF.

Keywords: fracture toughness, hydride blister, micro-cantilever test, spent nuclear fuel cladding.

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Authors: Rataya Yanaphan, Saksiri Kuppatarat, Sarita Pinmanee

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Hemp (Cannabis sativa L. ssp. Sativa) cultivation for fiber is limited by extremely high labor cost, especially for the removal of the leaves before harvest. This study evaluated chemical defoliants as a means to remove the leaves of hemp before harvest, in an effort to reduce labor expenditures in the production on hemp fiber. This study was conducted by spraying the leaves of hemp with five different treatments: saline solution, Urea (CH4N2O), Ethephon, copper Sulphate (CuSO4) and water (control) before harvesting. The largest percentage of leaf loss 6 days after spraying was with saline solution (43%), followed by Ethephon (32%). However, saline solution also caused drying of the stems but Ethephon did not. Thus, Ethephon was evaluated in the second experiment by spraying with Ethephon concentrations of 0, 10, 15 and 20 ml per 1 liter of water at 7 days before harvest. Spraying with 0.5% Ethephon resulted in 13.6% leaf fall. Spraying with 1.5% and 2% Ethephon resulted in 82.2% and 82.3 % leaf fall, respectively. In addition, using Ethephon to defoliate hemp had no detrimental effect the yield. Therefore, Ethephon concentration at 15 ml per 1 liter of water will be recommended for use in removing hemp leaves by spraying at 7 days before harvest to lower labor cost.

Keywords: defoliation technology, ethephon, hemp cultivation, saline solution

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Authors: Huyuan Zhang, Yi Chen

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Compacted sewage sludge has been proved to be feasible as a barrier material for tailing impoundment because of its low permeability and retardation of heavy metals. The long-term penetration of acid mine drainage, however, would acidify the barrier system and result in remobilization of previously immobilized heavy metal pollutants. In this study, the effect of decreasing pH on the mobility of three typical heavy metals (Zn, Pb, and Cu) is investigated by acid titration test on sewage sludge under various conditions. The remobilization of heavy metals is discussed based on the acid buffering capacity of sewage sludge-leachate system. Test results indicate that heavy metals are dramatically released out when pH is decreased below 6.2, and their amounts take the order of Zn > Cu > Pb. The acid buffering capacity of sewage sludge decreases with the solid-liquid ratio but increases with the anaerobic incubation time, and it is mainly governed by dissolution of contained carbonate and organics. These results reveal that the sewage sludge possesses enough acid buffering capacity to consume protons within the acid mine drainage. Thus, this study suggests that an explosive remobilization of heavy metals is not expected in a long-term perspective.

Keywords: acid buffering capacity, barrier, heavy metals, remobilization, sewage sludge

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Authors: Akanimo Emene, Mark D. Ogden, Robert Edyvean

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Adsorption is a low cost, efficient and economically viable wastewater treatment process. Utilization of this treatment process has not been fully applied due to the complex and not fully understood nature of the adsorption system. To optimize its process is to choose a sufficient adsorbent and to study further the experimental parameters that influence the adsorption design system. Chemically modified adsorbent, Luffa cylindrica, was used to adsorb heavy metal ions and an organic pollutant, methylene blue, from aqueous environmental solution at varying experimental conditions. Experimental factors, adsorption time, initial metal ion or organic pollutant concentration, ionic strength, and pH of solution were studied. The experimental data were analyzed with kinetic and isotherm models. The antagonistic effect of the methylene and some heavy metal ions were recorded. An understanding of the use of this treated Luffa cylindrica for the removal of these toxic substances will establish and improve the commercial application of the adsorption process in treatment of contaminated waters.

Keywords: adsorption, heavy metal ions, Luffa cylindrica, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Najwa Mimouni, Omar Rahli, Rachid Bennacer, Salah Chikh

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In the present work 2D and 3D numerical simulations of double diffusion natural convection in an elongated enclosure filled with a binary fluid saturating a porous medium are carried out. In the formulation of the problem, the Boussinesq approximation is considered and cross Neumann boundary conditions are specified for heat and mass walls conditions. The numerical method is based on the control volume approach with the third order QUICK scheme. Full approximation storage (FAS) with full multigrid (FMG) method is used to solve the problem. For the explored large range of the controlling parameters, we clearly evidenced that the increase in the depth of the cavity i.e. the lateral aspect ratio has an important effect on the flow patterns. The 2D perfect parallel flows obtained for a small lateral aspect ratio are drastically destabilized by increasing the cavity lateral dimension. This yields a 3D fluid motion with a much more complicated flow pattern and the classically studied 2D parallel flows are impossible.

Keywords: bifurcation, natural convection, heat and mass transfer, parallel flow, porous media

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Authors: Tugrul Tulunay, Iyas Devran Celik

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When the materials used in structural steel industry are evaluated, box beam profiles are considerably preferred. As a result of the cross-sectional properties that these profiles possess, the connection of these profiles to each other and to profiles having different types of cross sections is becoming viable by means of additional measures. An important point to note in such combinations is continuous transfer of internal forces from element to element. At the beginning to ensure this continuity, header plate is needed to use. The connection of the plates to the elements works mainly through welds. In this study, it is aimed to determine the ideal welding thickness in box beam under bending effect and the joints exposed to local buckles that will form in the column. The connection with box column and box beam designed in this context was made by means of corner and circular filler welds. Corner welds of different thickness and analysis by types with different lengths depending on plate dimensions in numerical models were made with the help of ANSYS Workbench program and examined behaviours.

Keywords: welding thickness, box beam-column joints, design of steel structures, calculation and construction principles 2016, welded joints under local buckling

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Majid Lotfi Ghahroud, Seyed Jalal Tabatabaei, Ebrahim Karami, AmirArsalan Ghergherechi, Amir Ali Saeidi

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In this study, the relationship between investment growth and stock returns of companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange and whether their relationship -behavioral or risk factors- are discussed. Generally, there are two perspectives; risk-based approach and behavioral approach. According to the risk-based approach due to increase investment, systemic risk and consequently the stock returns are reduced. But due to the second approach, an excessive optimism or pessimism leads to assuming stock price with high investment growth in the past, higher than its intrinsic value and the price of stocks with lower investment growth, less than its intrinsic value. The investigation period is eight years from 2007 to 2014. The sample consisted of all companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The method is a portfolio test, and the analysis is based on the t-student test (t-test). The results indicate that there is a negative relationship between investment growth and stock returns of companies and this negative correlation is stronger for firms with higher cash flow. Also, the negative relationship between asset growth and stock returns is due to behavioral factors.

Keywords: behavioral theory, investment growth, risk-based theory, stock returns

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Authors: M. F. Páramo, F. Cadaveira, M. S. Rodríguez

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The first year at university is a critical period for personal-emotional and academic adjustment in emerging adults. Moreover, some studies show that alcohol consumption increases in young adults on transition to university. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of hazardous alcohol consumption and gender on adjustment to university, understood as a multidimensional construct involving an array of demands. A sample of 300 first year students in Spain completed the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Examination of the data by analysis of variance revealed that adjustment to university was lower in the students undertaking hazardous alcohol consumption than in the other students. Surprisingly, the personal-emotional adjustment of students with hazardous alcohol consumption was not lower than in the other students. Analysis of the gender effect revealed that levels of personal-emotional adjustment were higher in males than in females. This is our first study examining the influence of alcohol consumption on university adjustment. Future research should examine this relationship more closely, with the aim of designing public health strategies focused on limiting abusive consumption of alcohol in university students.

Keywords: alcohol consumption, first year university students, gender, SACQ

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: Les Paul Valdez, Rowena Manzarate, Joseph Carl Lunizo, Mary Thereze Mabaquiao, Mary Deo Luigi Mabunay

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Background: Across the literature, varying definitions of successful aging can be found. As a result, several determinants have been associated with successful aging. However, there is a paucity of literature exploring the relationship between successful aging and factors such as spiritual experience, gerotranscendence, and social engagement. Objective: Thus, this study purports to ascertain the relationship between and among spiritual experience, gerotranscendence, social engagement and successful aging. Methods: The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES), Social Engagement Scale (SES), Gerotranscendence Scale Revised (GS-R) and Expectations Regarding Aging (ERA) were fielded to 349 incarcerated elderly to measure spiritual experience, social engagement, gerotranscendence and successful aging respectively. Data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling through AMOS 21. The hypothesized model was evaluated using the goodness of fit and parsimony indices. Results: Social engagement (β= .179, p=.128) and spiritual experience (β= .375, p=.262) contribute to successful aging through the mediating effect of gerotranscendence (β= .973, p=.718). Conclusion: Today more than ever, healthcare providers in penal institutions are challenged to ensure that incarcerated elderly are socially and spiritually engaged; and have high levels of gerotranscendence.

Keywords: elderly, Filipino, gerotranscendence, social engagement, spiritual experience, successful aging

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Authors: Yasemin Seki, Aysun Akşit

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The goal of this research is to modify the surface characterization of jute yarns with different chemical agents to improve the compatibility with a non-polar polymer, polypropylene, when used as reinforcement. A literature review provided no knowledge on surface treatment of jute fibers with sodium perborate trihydrate. This study also aims to compare the efficiency of sodium perborate trihydrate on jute fiber treatment with other commonly used chemical agents. Accordingly, jute yarns were treated with 0.02% potassium dichromate (PD), potassium permanganate (PM) and sodium perborate trihydrate (SP) aqueous solutions in order to enhance interfacial compatibility with polypropylene in this study. The effect of treatments on surface topography, surface chemistry and interfacial shear strength of jute yarns with polypropylene were investigated. XPS results revealed that surface treatments enhanced surface hydrophobicity by increasing C/O ratios of fiber surface. Surface roughness values increased with the treatments. The highest interfacial adhesion with polypropylene was achieved after SP treatment by providing the highest surface roughness values and hydrophobic character of jute fiber.

Keywords: jute, chemical modification, sodium perborate, polypropylene

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Authors: Bambang Wispriyono, Satria Pratama, Haryoto Kusnoputranto, Faisal Yunus, Meliana Sari

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Introduction/objective: The impact of the development of motor vehicles is increasing the number of pollutants in the air. One of the substances that cause serious health problems is NO2. The health impacts arising from exposure to NO2 include pulmonary function impairment. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of NO2 exposure on the incidence of pulmonary function impairment. Methods: We are using a cross-sectional study design with 110 traffic police who were divided into two groups: exposed (police officers working on the highway) and the unexposed group (police officers working in the office). Election subject convenient sampling carried out in each group to the minimum number of samples met. Results: The results showed that the average NO2 in the exposed group was 18.72 ppb and unexposed group is 4.14 ppb. Pulmonary dysfunction on exposed and unexposed groups showed that FVC (Forced Vital Capacity) value are 88.68 and 90.27. And FEV1 (Forced Expiratory Volume in One) value are 94.9 and 95.16. Some variables like waist circumference, Body Mass Index, Visceral Fat, and Fat has associated with the incidence of Pulmonary Dysfunction (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Health monitoring is needed to decreasing health risk in Policeman.

Keywords: NO2, pulmonary dysfunction, police traffic, Jakarta

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: Hela Ghali, Oumayma Ben Amor, Salwa Khefacha, Mohamed Ben Rejeb, Sirine Frigui, Meriam Tourki Dhidah, Lamine Dhidah, Houyem Said Laatiri

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Background: Blood exposure accidents are the most common problem in hospitals that threaten healthcare professionals with a high risk of infectious complications which weighs heavily on health systems worldwide. Paramedics are the highest risk group due to the nature of their daily activities. We aimed to determine knowledge and attitudes about the management of blood-exposure accidents among nurses and technicians in two pediatric departments. Materials/Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted on March 2017, carried out with the care staff of the pediatric ward of the Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital of Sousse and pediatric surgery of the Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital in Monastir, using a pre- tested and self-administered questionnaire. Data entry and analysis were performed using Excel software. Results: The response rate was 85.1%. A female predominance (82.5%) was reported among respondents with a sex ratio of 0.21. 80% of the participants were under 35 years old. Seniority of less than 10 years was found in 77.5% of respondents. Only 22.5% knew the definition of a blood- exposure accident. 100% and 95% of participants reported the relative risk, respectively, to hepatitis and AIDS viruses. However, only 15% recognized the severity factors of a blood-exposure accident. Hygiene compliance was the most important dimension for almost the entire population for the prevention. On the other hand, only 12.5% knew the meaning of 'standard precautions' and ¼ considered them necessary for at-risk patients only. 40% reported being exposed at least once, among them, 87.5% used betadine, and 77.5% said that anti-infectious chemoprophylaxis is necessary regardless of the patient's serological status. However, 52.5% did not know the official reporting circuit of management of blood-exposure accident in their institutions. Conclusion: For better management of risks in hospitals and an improvement of the safety of the care, a reinforcement of the sensibilization of the caregivers with regard to the risks of blood exposure accident is necessary, while developing their knowledge to act in security.

Keywords: attitudes, blood-exposure accident, knowledge, pediatric department

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Hsu-Hui Cheng, Peng-Chian Chen, Shu-Yuan Chang, Jie-Ying Zhang

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Activities in the music practice rooms range from playing, listening, rehearsing to music performing. The good room acoustics in a music practice room enables a music teacher to teach more effectively subtle concepts such as intonation, articulation, balance, dynamics and tone production. A poor acoustical environment would deeply affect the development of basic musical skills of music students. Practicing in the music practice room is an essential daily activity for music students; consequently, music practice rooms are very important facilities in a music school or department. The purpose of this survey is to measure and analyze the acoustic condition of piano practice rooms at the department of music in Zhaoqing University and accordingly apply a more effective teaching method to music students. The volume of the music practice room is approximately 25 m³, and it has existing curtains and some wood hole sound-absorbing panels. When all small music practice rooms are in constant use for teaching, it was found that the values of the background noise at 45, 46, 42, 46, 45 dB(A) in the small music practice room ( the doors and windows were close), respectively. The noise levels in the small music practice room to higher than standard levels (35dB(A)).

Keywords: acoustical performance, music practice room, noise level, piano room

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Authors: Alexander V. Spirov, David M. Holloway, Ekaterina M. Myasnikova

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Segmentation of the early Drosophila embryo results from the dynamic establishment of spatial gene expression patterns. Patterning occurs on an embryo geometry which is a 'deformed' prolate ellipsoid, with anteroposterior and dorsal-ventral major and minor axes, respectively. Patterning is largely independent along each axis, but some interaction can be seen in the 'bending' of the segmental expression stripes. This interaction is not well understood. In this report, we investigate how 3D geometrical features of the early embryo affect the segmental expression patterning. Specifically, we study the effect of geometry on formation of the Bicoid primary morphogenetic gradient. Our computational results demonstrate that embryos with a much longer ventral than dorsal surface ('bellied') can produce curved Bicoid concentration contours which could activate curved stripes in the downstream pair-rule segmentation genes. In addition, we show that having an extended source for Bicoid in the anterior of the embryo may be necessary for producing the observed exponential form of the Bicoid gradient along the anteroposterior axis.

Keywords: Drosophila embryo, bicoid morphogenetic gradient, exponential expression profile, expression surface form, segmentation genes, 3D modelling

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Authors: A. K. Areamu, J. C. Igbeka

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The performance of box-type solar cookers has been reported by several researchers but little attention was paid to the effect of the type of insulation material on the energy and exergy efficiency of these cookers. This research aimed at evaluating the energy and exergy efficiencies of the box-type cookers containing different insulation materials. Energy and exergy efficiencies of five box-type solar cookers insulated with maize cob, air (control), maize husk, coconut coir and polyurethane foam respectively were obtained over a period of three years. The cookers were evaluated using water heating test procedures in determining the energy and exergy analysis. The results were subjected to statistical analysis using ANOVA. The result shows that the average energy input for the five solar cookers were: 245.5, 252.2, 248.7, 241.5 and 245.5J respectively while their respective average energy losses were: 201.2, 212.7, 208.4, 189.1 and 199.8J. The average exergy input for five cookers were: 228.2, 234.4, 231.1, 224.4 and 228.2J respectively while their respective average exergy losses were: 223.4, 230.6, 226.9, 218.9 and 223.0J. The energy and exergy efficiency was highest in the cooker with coconut coir (37.35 and 3.90% respectively) in the first year but was lowest for air (11 and 1.07% respectively) in the third year. Statistical analysis showed significant difference between the energy and exergy efficiencies over the years. These results reiterate the importance of a good insulating material for a box-type solar cooker.

Keywords: efficiency, energy, exergy, heating insolation

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Authors: Nicholas Pearce, Eun-jin Kim

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Pathologies of the cardiovascular (CV) system remain a serious and deadly health problem for human society. Computational modelling provides a relatively accessible tool for diagnosis, treatment, and research into CV disorders. However, numerical models of the CV system have largely focused on the function of the ventricles, frequently overlooking the behaviour of the atria. Furthermore, in the study of the pressure-volume relationship of the heart, which is a key diagnosis of cardiac vascular pathologies, previous works often evoke popular yet questionable time-varying elastance (TVE) method that imposes the pressure-volume relationship instead of calculating it consistently. Despite the convenience of the TVE method, there have been various indications of its limitations and the need for checking its validity in different scenarios. A model of the combined left ventricle (LV) and left atrium (LA) is presented, which consistently considers various feedback mechanisms in the heart without having to use the TVE method. Specifically, a synergistic model of the left ventricle is extended and modified to include the function of the LA. The synergy of the original model is preserved by modelling the electro-mechanical and chemical functions of the micro-scale myofiber for the LA and integrating it with the microscale and macro-organ-scale heart dynamics of the left ventricle and CV circulation. The atrioventricular node function is included and forms the conduction pathway for electrical signals between the atria and ventricle. The model reproduces the essential features of LA behaviour, such as the two-phase pressure-volume relationship and the classic figure of eight pressure-volume loops. Using this model, disorders in the internal cardiac electrical signalling are investigated by recreating the mechano-electric feedback (MEF), which is impossible where the time-varying elastance method is used. The effects of AV node block and slow conduction are then investigated in the presence of an atrial arrhythmia. It is found that electrical disorders and arrhythmia in the LA degrade the CV system by reducing the cardiac output, power, and heart rate.

Keywords: cardiovascular system, left atrium, numerical model, MEF

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Authors: Vikas Sharma, V. K. Dixit

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The roots of Anacyclus pyrethrum DC (AP) (Asteraceae) are frequently used in traditional medicine as Vajikarana Rasayana. An ethanolic extract of root of Anacyclus pyrethrum demonstrated its potential to enhance the sexual behaviour of male rats, with a dose dependent effect on sperm count and androgens concentration. Phytochemical analysis of ethanolic extract of Anacyclus pyrethrum revealed that it is rich in N-alkylamide. This study therefore sought to assess characterization of ethanolic extract of Anacyclus pyrethrum root. Root extract was performed using a gradient reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography/UV/electrospray ionization ion trap mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS) method on an embedded polar column. MS1 and MS2 fragmentation data were used for identification purposes, while UV was used for quantification. Thirteen N-alkylamides (five N-isobutylamides, three N-methyl isobutylamides, four tyramides, and one 2-phenylethylamide) were detected. Five of them identified as undeca-2E,4E-diene-8,10-diynoic acid N-methyl isobutylamide, tetradeca-2E,4E-diene-8,10-diynoic acid tyramide, deca-2E,4E-dienoic acid N-methyl isobutylamide, tetradeca-2E,4E,XE/Z-trienoic acid tyramide and tetradeca-2E,4E,8Z,10Z-tetraenoic isobutylamide are novel compounds, which have never been identified in Anacyclus pyrethrum.

Keywords: Anacyclus pyrethrum (Asteraceae), LC-MS plant profiling, N-alkylamides, pellitorine, anacycline

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Mengjia Zhi, Xingmei Wei, Xiang Gao, Shiyang Liu, Zhiran Huang, Li Yang, Jing Sun

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Background: To understand the consumption trend of opioid analgesics and the consumption adequacy of opioid analgesic treatment for moderate to severe pain in China, as well as the pain control level of China with international perspective. Importance: To author’s best knowledge, this is the first study in China to measure the adequacy of opioid analgesic treatment for moderate to severe pain considering disease pattern and with the standardized pain treatment guideline. Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out to show the consumption frequency (daily defined doses, DDDs) of opioid analgesics and its trend in China from 2006 to 2016. Adequacy of consumption measure (ACM) was used to measure the number of needed morphine equivalents and the overall adequacy of opioid analgesic treatment of moderate to severe pain in China, and compared with international data. Results: The consumption frequency of opioid analgesics (DDDs) in China increased from 13,200,000 DDDs in 2006 to 44,200,000 DDDs in 2016, and showed an increasing trend. The growth rate was faster at first, especially in 2013, then slowed down, decreased slightly in 2015. The ACM of China increased from 0.0032 in 2006 to 0.0074 in 2016, with an overall trend of growth. The ACM level of China has been always a very poor level during 2006-2016. Conclusion: The consumption of opioid analgesics for the treatment of moderate to severe pain in China has always been inadequate. There is a huge gap between China and the international level. There are many reasons behind this problem, which lie in different aspects, including medical staff, patients and the public, health systems and social & cultural aspects. It is necessary to strengthen the training and education of medical staff and the patients, to use mass media to disseminate scientific knowledge of pain management, to encourage communications between doctors and patients, to improve regulatory system for the controlled medicines and the overall health systems, and to balance the regulatory goal for avoidance of abuse, and the social goal of meeting the increasing needs of the people for better life.

Keywords: opioid analgesics, adequate consumption measure, pain control, China

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Authors: L. Kiefer, C. Richter, G. Reinhart

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The uprising complexity in production systems due to an increasing amount of variants up to customer innovated products leads to requirements that hierarchical control systems are not able to fulfil. Therefore, factory planners can install autonomous manufacturing systems. The fundamental requirement for an autonomous control is the identification of objects within production systems. In this approach an attribute-based identification is focused for avoiding dose-dependent identification costs. Instead of using an identification mark (ID) like a radio frequency identification (RFID)-Tag, an object type is directly identified by its attributes. To facilitate that it’s recommended to include the identification and the corresponding sensors within handling processes, which connect all manufacturing processes and therefore ensure a high identification rate and reduce blind spots. The presented methodology reduces the individual effort to integrate identification processes in handling systems. First, suitable object attributes and sensor systems for object identification in a production environment are defined. By categorising these sensor systems as well as handling systems, it is possible to match them universal within a compatibility matrix. Based on that compatibility further requirements like identification time are analysed, which decide whether the combination of handling and sensor system is well suited for parallel handling and identification within an autonomous control. By analysing a list of more than thousand possible attributes, first investigations have shown, that five main characteristics (weight, form, colour, amount, and position of subattributes as drillings) are sufficient for an integrable identification. This knowledge limits the variety of identification systems and leads to a manageable complexity within the selection process. Besides the procedure, several tools, as an example a sensor pool are presented. These tools include the generated specific expert knowledge and simplify the selection. The primary tool is a pool of preconfigured identification processes depending on the chosen combination of sensor and handling device. By following the defined procedure and using the created tools, even laypeople out of other scientific fields can choose an appropriate combination of handling devices and sensors which enable parallel handling and identification.

Keywords: agent systems, autonomous control, handling systems, identification

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Authors: Saidulu Gadari, Manoj Kumar Yadav, V. K. Satheesh, Debasis Bhattacharyya, S. S. V. Ramakumar, Subhajit Sarkar

Abstract:

Most Fluid Catalytic Cracking Units (FCCUs) are big profit makers and hence, always operated with several constraints. It is the primary source for production of gasoline, light olefins as petrochemical feedstocks, feedstock for alkylate & oxygenates, LPG, etc. in a refinery. Increasing unit capacity and improving product yields as well as qualities such as gasoline RON have dramatic impact on the refinery economics. FCCUs are often debottlenecked significantly beyond their original design capacities. Depending upon the unit configuration, operating conditions, and feedstock quality, the FCC unit can have a variety of bottlenecks. While some of these are aimed to increase the feed rate, improve the conversion, etc., the others are aimed to improve the reliability of the equipment or overall unit. Apart from investment cost, the other factors considered generally while evaluating the debottlenecking options are shutdown days, faster payback, risk on investment, etc. A low-cost solution such as replacement of feed injectors, air distributor, steam distributors, spent catalyst distributor, efficient cyclone system, etc. are the preferred way of upgrading FCCU. It also has lower lead time from idea inception to implementation. This paper discusses various bottlenecks generally encountered in FCCU and presents a case study on improvement of performance of one of the FCCUs in IndianOil through implementation of cost-effective technical solution including use of improved internals in Reactor-Regeneration (R-R) section. After implementation reduction in regenerator air, gas superficial velocity in regenerator and cyclone velocities by about 10% and improvement of CLO yield from 10 to 6 wt% have been achieved. By ensuring proper pressure balance and optimum immersion of cyclone dipleg in the standpipe, frequent formation of perforations in regenerator cyclones could be addressed which in turn improved the unit on-stream factor.

Keywords: FCC, low-cost, revamp, debottleneck, internals, distributors, cyclone, dipleg

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Authors: T. R. Bandara, H. Jaelani, G. J. Griffin

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The conversion of lignocellulosic waste materials, such as sugar cane bagasse, to biofuels such as ethanol has attracted significant interest as a potential element for transforming transport fuel supplies to totally renewable sources. However, the refractory nature of the cellulosic structure of lignocellulosic materials has impeded progress on developing an economic process, whereby the cellulose component may be effectively broken down to glucose monosaccharides and then purified to allow downstream fermentation. Ionic liquid (IL) treatment of lignocellulosic biomass has been shown to disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose thus potentially enabling the cellulose to be more readily hydrolysed to monosaccharides. Furthermore, conventional hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials yields byproducts that are inhibitors for efficient fermentation of the monosaccharides. However, selective extraction of monosaccharides from an aqueous/IL phase into an organic phase utilizing a combination of boronic acids and quaternary amines has shown promise as a purification process. Hydrolysis of sugar cane bagasse immersed in an aqueous solution with IL (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate) was conducted at different pH and temperature below 100 ºC. It was found that the use of a high concentration of hydrochloric acid to acidify the solution inhibited the hydrolysis of bagasse. At high pH (i.e. basic conditions), using sodium hydroxide, catalyst yields were reduced for total reducing sugars (TRS) due to the rapid degradation of the sugars formed. For purification trials, a supported liquid membrane (SLM) apparatus was constructed, whereby a synthetic solution containing xylose and glucose in an aqueous IL phase was transported across a membrane impregnated with phenyl boronic acid/Aliquat 336 to an aqueous phase. The transport rate of xylose was generally higher than that of glucose indicating that a SLM scheme may not only be useful for purifying sugars from undesirable toxic compounds, but also for fractionating sugars to improve fermentation efficiency.

Keywords: biomass, bagasse, hydrolysis, monosaccharide, supported liquid membrane, purification

Procedia PDF Downloads 241

Authors: Shruti Sengupta

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According to the nationally representative data, about 73% of India's rural workforce is engaged in agriculture. While women make significant contributions to total agriculture production, they contribute to about one-third in India. In terms of gender composition, about 80% of the female and 69% of the male workforce is engaged in agriculture in rural India. Still, it is common to find gender differences in plot management within the household. In the last two and half years, India's agri-food system has undergone several changes due to this pandemic, both the demand and supply side, making agriculture more information and knowledge-intensive. Therefore, this paper investigates, using a nationally representative sample, how information asymmetry affects the net returns per hectare of land between female and male farm managers. Empirical results show that information intensity has a significant positive effect on net farm returns per hectare. Results suggest that if females have the same access to technical information as their male counterparts, their farm income can go up by .96 pp compared to male-headed farms. Results also indicate that literate females have higher farm incomes than non-literate females. The study contributes to the literature by employing gender differentials in farm income due to the information gap.

Keywords: agriculture, gender, information asymmetry, farm income, social bias

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Kingsley Nnaemeka Ogbu, Constantine Mbajiorgu

Abstract:

Vegetation has a marked effect on runoff and has become an important component in hydrologic model. The watershed Resources Management (WRM) model, a process-based, continuous, distributed parameter simulation model developed for hydrologic and soil erosion studies at the watershed scale lack a crop growth component. As such, this model assumes a constant parameter values for vegetation and hydraulic parameters throughout the duration of hydrologic simulation. Our approach is to develop a crop growth algorithm based on the original plant growth model used in the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate Model (EPIC) model. This paper describes the development of a single crop growth model which has the capability of simulating all crops using unique parameter values for each crop. Simulated crop growth processes will reflect the vegetative seasonality of the natural watershed system. An existing model was employed for evaluating vegetative resistance by hydraulic and vegetative parameters incorporated into the WRM model. The improved WRM model will have the ability to evaluate the seasonal variation of the vegetative roughness coefficient with depth of flow and further enhance the hydrologic model’s capability for accurate hydrologic studies.

Keywords: runoff, roughness coefficient, PAR, WRM model

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Raluca Ana Maria Viziteu, Anna Prudnikova

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Industrial control systems (ICS) have received much attention in recent years due to the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) that has increased the interdependence of safety and security issues to be considered. These issues require ICS-tailored solutions. That led to the need to creation of a methodology for supporting ICS device manufacturers and system integrators in carrying out threat modeling of embedded ICS devices in a way that guarantees the quality of the identified threats and minimizes subjectivity in the threat identification process. To research, the possibility of creating such a methodology, a set of existing standards, regulations, papers, and publications related to threat modeling in the ICS sector and other sectors was reviewed to identify various existing methodologies and methods used in threat modeling. Furthermore, the most popular ones were tested in an exploratory phase on a specific PLC device. The outcome of this exploratory phase has been used as a basis for defining specific characteristics of ICS embedded devices and their deployment scenarios, identifying the factors that introduce subjectivity in the threat modeling process of such devices, and defining metrics for evaluating the minimum quality requirements of identified threats associated to the deployment of the devices in existing infrastructures. Furthermore, the threat modeling methodology was created based on the previous steps' results. The usability of the methodology was evaluated through a set of standardized threat modeling requirements and a standardized comparison method for threat modeling methodologies. The outcomes of these verification methods confirm that the methodology is effective. The full paper includes the outcome of research on different threat modeling methodologies that can be used in OT, their comparison, and the results of implementing each of them in practice on a PLC device. This research is further used to build a threat modeling methodology tailored to OT environments; a detailed description is included. Moreover, the paper includes results of the evaluation of created methodology based on a set of parameters specifically created to rate threat modeling methodologies.

Keywords: device manufacturers, embedded devices, industrial control systems, threat modeling

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Authors: Christina Jery, R. K. Anjana, D. N. Arnepalli, R. Sobha

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Modern landfills employ a composite liner consisting of a geomembrane overlying a compacted clay liner (CCL) or a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) as a barrier system. The primary function of a barrier system is to control the contaminant transport from the leachate (dissolved phase) and landfill gas (vapour phase) out of the landfill thereby minimizing the environmental impact. This study is undertaken to investigate the diffusive migration of VOCs through composite liners. VOCs are known hazardous air pollutants were often existing in both the vapour phase and dissolved phase. These compounds are known to diffuse readily through the polymeric geomembranes. The objective of the research is to develop a comprehensive data set of diffusive parameters involved in the diffusion of VOCs in the composite liner (1.5 mm HDPE geomembrane overlying a 30mm compacted clay layer). For this purpose, the study aims to develop a new experimental setup for determining the diffusion characteristics. The key parameters of diffusion (partitioning, diffusion and permeation coefficients) are examined. The diffusion tests are carried out both in aqueous and vapor phase. Finally, an attempt is also made to study the effect of low temperature on the diffusion characteristics.

Keywords: diffusion, sorption, organic compounds, composite liners, geomembrane

Procedia PDF Downloads 347