Search results for: s parameters

Authors: Atul Srivastava, D. V. Gowda

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Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infection is one of the major causes contributing to the development of diarrhoea in adults and children in developing countries. To date, no preventive/treatment strategy showed promising results, which could be due to the lack of potent vaccines, and/or due to the development of resistance of ETEC to antibiotics. Therefore, in the present investigation, a novel porous Sodium Alginate (SA) tablet formulation loaded with F4 fimbriae antigen was developed and tested for efficacy against ETEC infections in piglet models. Pre-compression parameters of the powder mixes and post compression parameters of tablets have been evaluated and results were found to be satisfactory. Loading of F4 fimbrial antigens in to the tablets was achieved by inducing pores in the tablets via the sublimation of camphor followed by incubation with purified F4 fimbriae. The loaded tablets have been coated with Eudragit L100 to protect the F4 fimbriae from (a) highly acidic gastric environment; (b) proteolytic cleavage by pepsin; and (c) to promote subsequent release in the intestine. Evaluation of developed F4 fimbrial tablets in a Pig model demonstrated induction of mucosal immunity, and a significant reduction of F4+ E. coli in faeces. Therefore, F4 fimbriae loaded porous tablets could be a novel oral vaccination candidate to induce mucosal and systemic immunity against ETEC infections.

Keywords: porous tablets, sublimation, f4 fimbriae, eudragit l100, vaccination

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Authors: H. Djaaboube, I. Loucif, Y. Bouachiba, R. Aouati, A. Maameri, A. Taabouche, A. Bouabellou

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Thin films of pure and barium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) were prepared using a spray pyrolysis process. The films were deposited on glass substrates at 450°C. The different samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction patterns reveal the formation of a single ZnO Wurtzite structure and the good crystallinity of the films. The substitution of Ba ions influences the texture of the layers and makes the (002) plane a preferential growth plane. At concentrations below 6% Ba, the hexagonal structure of ZnO undergoes compressive stresses due to barium ions which have a radius twice of the Zn ions. This result leads to the decrees of a and c parameters and, therefore, the volume of the unit cell. This result is confirmed by the decrease in the number of crystallites and the increase in the size of the crystallites. At concentrations above 6%, barium substitutes the zinc atom and modifies the structural parameters of the thin layers. The bandgap of ZnO films decreased with increasing doping; this decrease is probably due to the 4d orbitals of the Ba atom due to the sp-d spin-exchange interactions between the band electrons and the localized d-electrons of the substituted Ba ion. Although, the Urbache energy undergoes an increase which implies the creation of energy levels below the conduction band and decreases the band gap width. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO doped 9% Ba was evaluated by the photodegradation of methylene blue under UV irradiation.

Keywords: barium, doping, photodegradation, spray pyrolysis, ZnO

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Authors: Ngo Xuan Quang, Tran Thanh Thai, Ann Vanreusel

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The Ba Lai dam construction was created in 2000 in the Ba Lai estuarine river, Ben Tre province, Vietnam to prevent marine water infiltration, drainage and de-acidification, and to build a reservoir of freshwater for land reclamation in the Ba Lai tributary. However, this dam is considered as an environmental failure for the originally connected estuarine and river ecosystem, especially to bad effect to benthic fauna distribution. This research aims to study applying free living nematode communities’ distribution in disturbance of dam construction as bioindicator to detect environmental impact. Nematode samples were collected together measuring physical–chemical environmental parameters such as chlorophyll, CPE, coliform, nutrient, grain size, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, conductivity, temperature in three stations within three replicates. Results showed that free living nematode communities at the dam construction was significantly low densities, low diversity (Hurlbert’s index, Hill diversity indices) and very low maturity index in comparison with two remaining stations. Strong correlation of nematode feeding types and communities’ structure was found in relation with sediment grain size and nutrient enrichment such nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and pigment concentration. Moreover, greatly negative link between nematode maturity index with nutrient parameters can serve as warning organic pollution of the Ba Lai river due to dam construction.

Keywords: Ba Lai, dam impact, nematode, environment

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Authors: Mathew O. Ayoola, Foluke Aderemi, Tunde E. Lawal, Opeyemi Oladejo, Micheal A. Abiola

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Food animals reared for meat require transportation during their life cycle. The transportation procedures could initiate stressors capable of disrupting the physiological homeostasis. Such stressors associated with transportation may include; loading and unloading, crowding, environmental temperature, fear, vehicle motion/vibration, feed / water deprivation, and length of travel. This may cause oxidative stress and damage to excess free radicals or reactive oxygen species (ROS). In recent years, the application of natural products as a substitute for synthetic electrolytes and tranquilizers as anti-stress agents during the transportation is yet under investigation. Sweet orange, a predominant fruit in humid tropics, has been reported to have a good content of vitamin C (Ascorbic acid). Vitamin C, which is an active ingredient in orange juice, plays a major role in the biosynthesis of Corticosterone, a hormone that enhances energy supply during transportation and heat stress. Ninety-six, 15weeks, Isa brown pullets were allotted to four (4) oral treatments; sterile water (T1), synthetic vit C (T2), 30ml orange/liter of water (T3), 50ml orange/1 liter (T4). Physiological parameters; body temperature (BTC), rectal temperature (RTC), respiratory rate (RR), and panting rate (PR) were measured pre and post-transportation. The birds were transported with a specialized vehicle for a distance of 50km at a speed of 60 km/hr. The average environmental THI and within the vehicle was 81.8 and 74.6, respectively, and the average wind speed was 11km/hr. Treatments and periods had a significant (p>0.05) effect on all the physiological parameters investigated. Birds on T1 are significantly (p<0.05) different as compared to T2, T3, and T4. Values recorded post-transportation are significantly (p<0.05) higher as compared to pre-transportation for all parameters. In conclusion, this study showed that transportation as a stressor can affect the physiological homeostasis of pullets. Oral supplementation of electrolytes or tranquilizers is essential as an anti-stress during transportation. The application of the organic product in form of sweet orange could serve as a suitable alternative for the synthetic vitamin C.

Keywords: physiological, pullets, sweet orange, transportation stress, and vitamin C

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Authors: Priyanka Sharma, Tarkewshwar Dubey, Hemalatha Siva

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Hemorrhoids are one of the most common anorectal diseases around the world. Severalfactors are involved in causing hemorrhoids including irregularbowel function (constipation, diarrhea), exercise, gravity, low fiberdiet, pregnancy, obesity, high abdominal pressure, prolongedsitting, genetic factors, and aging. Pain, bleeding, itching,swelling and anal discharge are the symptoms of the disease. Due to limitedmodern pharmacotherapeutic options available for treatment, theherbal medicines remain the choice of therapy. Blumea lacera (Burm f.) DC. belonging to the Asteraceae family is a common plain land weed of Bangladesh. Traditionally it has been used for treatment of hemorrhoids.Considering the above fact, present study was aimed to validate the ethnomedicinal use of B. lacera leaves on experimental hemorrhoids in rats. The anti-hemorrhoid activity was performed by using croton oil induced rat models. The parameters studied were assessment of TNF-α and IL-6, Evans blue exudation, macroscopic severity score, recto-anal coefficient, histomorphological scores. Also, in vivo antioxidant parameters and histopathological studies were also performed. All paramaters exhibited significant anti-hemorrhoid activity. Moreover ethanolic extract of B. lacera (EBL) leaves 400mg/kg showed ameliorative effect oncroton oil induced hemorrhoids.In conclusion, EBL exhibitedbeneficial effect on croton oil- induced hemorrhoids and validates its ethnomedicinal use in treatment of piles.

Keywords: haemorrhoids, IL-6, piles, TNF-α

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Authors: Mannar R. Maurya, Bithika Sarkar, Fernando Avecilla

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Peroxidase activity is possibly successfully used for different industrial processes in medicine, chemical industry, food processing and agriculture. However, they bear some intrinsic drawback associated with denaturation by proteases, their special storage requisite and cost factor also. Now a day’s artificial enzyme mimics are becoming a research interest because of their significant applications over conventional organic enzymes for ease of their preparation, low price and good stability in activity and overcome the drawbacks of natural enzymes e.g serine proteases. At present, a large number of artificial enzymes have been synthesized by assimilating a catalytic center into a variety of schiff base complexes, ligand-anchoring, supramolecular complexes, hematin, porphyrin, nanoparticles to mimic natural enzymes. Although in recent years a several number of vanadium complexes have been reported by a continuing increase in interest in bioinorganic chemistry. To our best of knowledge, the investigation of artificial enzyme mimics of vanadium complexes is very less explored. Recently, our group has reported synthetic vanadium schiff base complexes capable of mimicking peroxidases. Herein, we have synthesized monoidovanadium(IV) and dioxidovanadium(V) complexes of pyrazoleone derivateis ( extensively studied on account of their broad range of pharmacological appication). All these complexes are characterized by various spectroscopic techniques like FT-IR, UV-Visible, NMR (1H, 13C and 51V), Elemental analysis, thermal studies and single crystal analysis. The peroxidase mimic activity has been studied towards oxidation of pyrogallol to purpurogallin with hydrogen peroxide at pH 7 followed by measuring kinetic parameters. The Michaelis-Menten behavior shows an excellent catalytic activity over its natural counterparts, e.g. V-HPO and HRP. The obtained kinetic parameters (Vmax, Kcat) were also compared with peroxidase and haloperoxidase enzymes making it a promising mimic of peroxidase catalyst. Also, the catalytic activity has been studied towards the oxidation of 1-phenylethanol in presence of H2O2 as an oxidant. Various parameters such as amount of catalyst and oxidant, reaction time, reaction temperature and solvent have been taken into consideration to get maximum oxidative products of 1-phenylethanol.

Keywords: oxovanadium(IV)/dioxidovanadium(V) complexes, NMR spectroscopy, Crystal structure, peroxidase mimic activity towards oxidation of pyrogallol, Oxidation of 1-phenylethanol

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Authors: Alper Taner, Yesim Benal Oztekin, Huseyin Duran

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In this study, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was developed in order to classify barley varieties. For this purpose, physical properties of barley varieties were determined and ANN techniques were used. The physical properties of 8 barley varieties grown in Turkey, namely thousand kernel weight, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, kernel volume, surface area, bulk density, true density, porosity and colour parameters of grain, were determined and it was found that these properties were statistically significant with respect to varieties. As ANN model, three models, N-l, N-2 and N-3 were constructed. The performances of these models were compared. It was determined that the best-fit model was N-1. In the N-1 model, the structure of the model was designed to be 11 input layers, 2 hidden layers and 1 output layer. Thousand kernel weight, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, kernel volume, surface area, bulk density, true density, porosity and colour parameters of grain were used as input parameter; and varieties as output parameter. R2, Root Mean Square Error and Mean Error for the N-l model were found as 99.99%, 0.00074 and 0.009%, respectively. All results obtained by the N-l model were observed to have been quite consistent with real data. By this model, it would be possible to construct automation systems for classification and cleaning in flourmills.

Keywords: physical properties, artificial neural networks, barley, classification

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Authors: Shazia Naheed Akhter, Rekha Kumari

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An estimated 70 million population are exposed to arsenic poisoning in India in recent times. Arsenic contamination in the groundwater has caused serious health hazards among the exposed population. In Bihar, the first district was Bhojpur, where arsenic causing health issues were reported in 2002. Presently, there are 18 districts that are reported arsenic poisoning in the groundwater. The exposed population is firstly diseased with various symptoms such as skin manifestations, loss of appetite, constipation, hormonal disorders, etc. The long duration exposure has led to cause infertility in the male subjects. The present study thus aims to develop the antidote against arsenic-induced male reproductive toxicity in animal models. The study was carried out on Charles Foster Rats after the approval from Institutional Animal Ethics Committee. A total of n=18 rats (12 weeks old) of an average weight of 160 ± 20 g were used for the study. The study group included n=6 control and n= 12 treated with sodium arsenite orally at the dose of 8mg/Kg b.w daily for 40 days. The n= 6 animals were dissected and the rest n=6 was administered orally with Curcuma longa rhizome ethanolic extract at the dose of 600mg/Kg b.w per day for 40 days. At the end of the entire experiment, all the animals were dissected out and their reproductive organs were taken out, especially epididymis for sperm counts, sperm motility, sperm mortality, sperm morphology. The blood samples were collected for the hormonal assay (testosterone and luteinizing hormone), as well as for hematological and biochemical analysis. The study showed a high magnitude of degeneration in the reproductive organs of the rats in the arsenic-treated group. There were degenerative fluctuations in the sperm counts, sperm motility, sperm mortality, sperm morphology and in the hormonal parameters, as well as in the hematological and biochemical parameters in the arsenic-treated rats. But, after the administration of Curcuma longa, there was significant amelioration in all these parameters. Therefore, the present study shows that Curcuma longa plays a vital role to combat arsenic-induced male reproductive toxicity.

Keywords: sodium arsenite, Charles foster rats, ethanolic rhizome extract of curcuma longa, male reproductive toxicity, amelioration

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Authors: Shubham Dwivedi, Raghavender Medishetti, Rita Rani, Aarti Sevilimedu, Pushkar Kulkarni, Yogeeswari Perumal

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder of early onset, characterized by impaired sociability, cognitive function and stereotypies. There is a significant urge to develop and establish new animal models with ASD-like characteristics for better understanding of underlying mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to develop a cost and time effective zebrafish model with quantifiable parameters to facilitate mechanistic studies as well as high-throughput screening of new molecules for autism. Zebrafish embryos were treated with valproic acid and a battery of behavioral tests (anxiety, inattentive behavior, irritability and social impairment) was performed on larvae at 7th day post fertilization, followed by study of molecular markers of autism. This model shows a significant behavioural impairment in valproic acid treated larvae in comparison to control which was again supported by alteration in few marker genes and proteins of autism. The model also shows a rescue of behavioural despair with positive control drugs. The model shows robust parameters to study behavior, molecular mechanism and drug screening approach in a single frame. Thus we postulate that our 7 days zebrafish larval model for autism can help in high throughput screening of new molecules on autism.

Keywords: autism, zebrafish, valproic acid, neurodevelopment, behavioral assay

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Authors: Angela O. Ugwu, Sunday Ocheni

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Background: Cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) is a cause of morbidity and mortality among cancer patients. Several risk factors for developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) also coexist with cancer patients, such as chemotherapy and immobilization, thus contributing to the higher risk of VTE in cancer patients when compared to non-cancer patients. This study aimed to determine if there is any correlation between levels of some inflammatory cytokines/haematological parameters and Khorana scores of newly diagnosed chemotherapy naïve ambulatory cancer patients (CNACP). Methods: This was a cross-sectional analytical study carried out from June 2021 to May 2022. Eligible newly diagnosed cancer patients 18 years and above (case group) were enrolled consecutively from the adult Oncology Clinics of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku/Ozalla (UNTH). The control group was blood donors at UNTH Ituku/Ozalla, Enugu blood bank, and healthy members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), UNTH Chapter. Blood samples collected from the participants were assayed for IL-6, TNF-Alpha, and haematological parameters such as haemoglobin, white blood cell count (WBC), and platelet count. Data were entered into an Excel worksheet and were then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software version 21.0 for windows. A P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 200 participants (100 cases and 100 controls) were included in the study. The overall mean age of the participants was 47.42 ±15.1 (range 20-76). The sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups, including age, sex, educational level, body mass index (BMI), and occupation, were similar (P > 0.05). Following One Way ANOVA, there were significant differences between the mean levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) (p = 0.036) and tumor necrotic factor-α (TNF-α) (p = 0.001) in the three Khorana score groups of the case group. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the Khorana scores and IL-6 (r=0.28, p = 0.031), TNF-α (r= 0.254, p= 0.011), and PLR (r= 0.240, p=0.016). The mean serum levels of IL-6 were significantly higher in CNACP than in the healthy controls [8.98 (8-12) pg/ml vs. 8.43 (2-10) pg/ml, P=0.0005]. There were also significant differences in the mean levels of the haemoglobin (Hb) level (P < 0.001)); white blood cell (WBC) count ((P < 0.001), and platelet (PL) count (P = 0.005) between the two groups of participants. Conclusion: There is a significant positive correlation between the serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and PLR and the Khorana scores of CNACP. The mean serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, PLR, WBC, and PL count were significantly higher in CNACP than in the healthy controls. Ambulatory cancer patients with high-risk Khorana scores may benefit from anti-inflammatory drugs because of the positive correlation with inflammatory cytokines. Recommendations: Ambulatory cancer patients with 2 Khorana scores may benefit from thromboprophylaxis since they have higher Khorana scores. A multicenter study with a heterogeneous population and larger sample size is recommended in the future to further elucidate the relationship between IL-6, TNF-α, PLR, and the Khorana scores among cancer patients in the Nigerian population.

Keywords: thromboprophylaxis, cancer, Khorana scores, inflammatory cytokines, haematological parameters

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Authors: Asmae Tafraouti, Yasmina Layouni, Pascal Kleimann

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The growing market for Microsystems (MST) and Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) is driving the research for alternative manufacturing techniques to microelectronics-based technologies, which are generally expensive and time-consuming. Hot-embossing and micro-injection modeling of thermoplastics appear to be industrially viable processes. However, both require the use of master models, usually made in hard materials such as steel. These master models cannot be fabricated using standard microelectronics processes. Thus, other micromachining processes are used, as laser machining or micro-electrical discharge machining (µEDM). In this work, µEDM has been used. The principle of µEDM is based on the use of a thin cylindrical micro-tool that erodes the workpiece surface. The two electrodes are immersed in a dielectric with a distance of a few micrometers (gap). When an electrical voltage is applied between the two electrodes, electrical discharges are generated, which cause material machining. In order to produce master models with high resolution and smooth surfaces, it is necessary to well control the discharge mechanism. However, several problems are encountered, such as a random electrical discharge process, the fluctuation of the discharge energy, the electrodes' polarity inversion, and the wear of the micro-tool. The effect of different parameters, such as the applied voltage, the working capacitor, the micro-tool diameter, the initial gap, has been studied. This analysis helps to improve the machining performances, such: the workpiece surface condition and the lateral crater's gap.

Keywords: craters, electrical discharges, micro-electrical discharge machining (µEDM), microsystems

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Authors: Fernando Maass, Pablo Martin, Jorge Olivares

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The Bessel function J₀(x) is very important in Electrodynamics and Physics, as well as its zeros. In this work, a method to obtain high accuracy approximation is presented through an application to that function. In most of the applications of this function, the values of the zeros are very important. In this work, analytic approximations for this function have been obtained valid for all positive values of the variable x, which have high accuracy for the function as well as for the zeros. The approximation is determined by the simultaneous used of the power series and asymptotic expansion. The structure of the approximation is a combination of two rational functions with elementary functions as trigonometric and fractional powers. Here us in Pade method, rational functions are used, but now there combined with elementary functions us fractional powers hyperbolic or trigonometric functions, and others. The reason of this is that now power series of the exact function are used, but together with the asymptotic expansion, which usually includes fractional powers trigonometric functions and other type of elementary functions. The approximation must be a bridge between both expansions, and this can not be accomplished using only with rational functions. In the simplest approximation using 4 parameters the maximum absolute error is less than 0.006 at x ∼ 4.9. In this case also the maximum relative error for the zeros is less than 0.003 which is for the second zero, but that value decreases rapidly for the other zeros. The same kind of behaviour happens for the relative error of the maximum and minimum of the functions. Approximations with higher accuracy and more parameters will be also shown. All the approximations are valid for any positive value of x, and they can be calculated easily.

Keywords: analytic approximations, asymptotic approximations, Bessel functions, quasirational approximations

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Authors: Shabnum Shaheen, Nida Haroon, Farah Khan, Sumera Javad, Mehreen Jalal, Samina Sarwar

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Coffee Senna is pharmaceutically very important and used for multiple health disorders such as gastric pains, indigestion, snakebites, asthma and fever, tuberculosis and menstrual problems. However, its immense medicinal value and great demand lead to adulteration issue which could be injurious for users. Some times its adulterant Seena weed (Senna occidentalis L.) is used as its substitute which definitely not as effective as Coffee Senna. Hence, the present study was undertaken to provide some tools for systematic and pharmaceutical authentication of a shrubby plant Coffee Senna (Cassia occidentalis Linn.). These parameters included macro and micro morphological characters, anatomical and palynomorph characterization, solubility, fluorescence and phytochemical analysis. By the application of these parameters acquired results revealed that, these two plants are distinct from each other. The Coffee Seena was found to be an annual shrub with trilobed pollen, diacytic, paracytic and anisocytic stomata whereas the Seena weed stands out as an annual or perennial herb with spheroidal and circular pollen and paracytic type of stomata. The powdered drug of Coffee seena is dark grayish green whereas the powdered drug of Seena weed is light green in color. These findings are constructive in authentic identification of these plants.

Keywords: coffee senna, Senna weed, taxonomic evaluation, pharmaceutical markers

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Authors: Muna K. Abbass, Laith A. Mohammed, Muntaha K. Abbas

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The oxidation of Al-Li base alloy containing small amounts of rare earth (RE) oxides such as 0.2 wt% Y2O3 and 0.2wt% Nd2O3 particles have been studied at temperatures: 400ºC, 500ºC and 550°C for 60hr in a dry air. Alloys used in this study were prepared by melting and casting in a permanent steel mould under controlled atmosphere. Identification of oxidation kinetics was carried out by using weight gain/surface area (∆W/A) measurements while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction analysis were used for micro structural morphologies and phase identification of the oxide scales. It was observed that the oxidation kinetic for all studied alloys follows the parabolic law in most experimental tests under the different oxidation temperatures. It was also found that the alloy containing 0.2 wt %Y 2O3 particles possess the lowest oxidation rate and shows great improvements in oxidation resistance compared to the alloy containing 0.2 wt % Nd2O3 particles and Al-Li base alloy. In this work, Taguchi method is performed to estimate the optimum weight gain /area (∆W/A) parameter in oxidation process of Al-Li base alloys to obtain a minimum thickness of oxidation layer. Taguchi method is used to formulate the experimental layout, to analyses the effect of each parameter (time, temperature and alloy type) on the oxidation generation and to predict the optimal choice for each parameter and analyzed the effect of these parameters on the weight gain /area (∆W/A) parameter. The analysis shows that, the temperature significantly affects on the (∆W/A) parameter.

Keywords: Al-Li base alloy, oxidation, Taguchi method, temperature

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Authors: D. Baratian, A. Cavalli, D. van den Ende, F. Mugele

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The morphology of liquid bridges inside complex geometries is the subject of interest for many years. These efforts try to find stable liquid configuration considering the boundary condition and the physical properties of the system. On the other hand precise manipulation of droplets is highly significant in many microfluidic applications. The liquid configuration in a complex geometry can be switched by means of external stimuli. We show manipulation of droplets in a wedge structure. The profile and position of a drop in a wedge geometry has been calculated analytically assuming negligible contact angle hysteresis. The characteristic length of liquid bridge and its interfacial tension inside the surrounding medium along with the geometrical parameters of the system determine the morphology and equilibrium position of drop in the system. We use electrowetting to modify one the governing parameters to manipulate the droplet. Electrowetting provides the capability to have precise control on the drop position through tuning the voltage and consequently changing the contact angle. This technique is employed to tune drop displacement and control its position inside the wedge. Experiments demonstrate precise drop movement to its predefined position inside the wedge geometry. Experimental results show promising consistency as it is compared to our geometrical model predictions. For such a drop manipulation, appealing applications in microfluidics have been considered.

Keywords: liquid bridges, microfluidics, drop manipulation, wetting, electrowetting, capillarity

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Authors: Sohail Ahmed, Ahmad Raza

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Physical properties of maize grains were correlated with levels of the life history of Sitotroga cerealella (Oliv.) (Gelechiidae: Lepidoptera) in no choice test to find out relative resistance in different varieties. Eight maize varieties /lines (EV-6089, Sahiwal-2002, Golden, 34N43, EV-1098, Sultan, China-1, EV-20) including seven yellow and one white were obtained from Maize and Millet Research Institute, Yousaf Wala, Sahiwal, Punjab, Pakistan. Freshly laid eggs (one day old) of S. cerealella were obtained and cultured on a susceptible maize variety for two generations for later on shifting to test varieties. Results showed that maximum moth emergence (10.33), fecundity (35.66), hatching (87.66%), moth weight (5.05 mg), development time (36.0 days) damage (93.35%) and grain weight loss (38.84%) was found in varieties, 34N43 and Golden, Sultan, Sahiwal 2002, 34N43, EV-6089, 34N43 and EV-1089, respectively. Varieties had significant difference with other varieties in these parameters (P<0.05). The varieties had positive as well as negative correlation between hardness index, grain weight and bulk density with the biological parameters of S. cerealella, percent grain damage and weight loss. Possible involvement of these grain properties in the resistance of maize grains towards S. cerealella is discussed.

Keywords: sitotroga cerealella, hardness index, grain damage, maize, varieties

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Authors: Jyothi P. Phatak, L. Venkatesha, C. S. Raviprasad

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The performance improvement of Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) in Electric Vehicle (EV) has been in discussion over the last decade. The important issues in terms of performance parameters addressed are, range of vehicle and battery (BA) peak current. Published literature has either addressed battery peak current reduction or range improvement in EV. Both the issues have not been specifically discussed and analyzed. This paper deals with both range improvement in EV and battery peak current reduction by applying a new Karnaugh Map (K-Map) constructed rule based energy management strategy to proposed HESS. The strategy allows Ultracapacitor (UC) to assist battery when the vehicle accelerates there by reducing the burden on battery. Simulation is carried out for various operating modes of EV considering both urban and highway driving conditions. Simulation is done for different values of UC by keeping battery rating constant for each driving cycle and results are presented. Feasible value of UC is selected based on simulation results. The results of proposed HESS show an improvement in performance parameters compared to Battery only Energy Storage System (BESS). Battery life is improved to considerable extent and there is an overall development in the performance of electric vehicle.

Keywords: electric vehicle, PID controller, energy management strategy, range, battery current, ultracapacitor

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Authors: Alae Lamtai, Said Elkoun, Hniya Kharmoudi, Mathieu Robert, Carl Diez

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This study applies Taguchi's design of experiment methodology and grey relational analysis (GRA) for multi objective optimization of an industrial recycling line. This last is composed mainly of a mono and twin-screw extruder and a filtration system. Experiments were performed according to L₁₆ standard orthogonal array based on five process parameters, namely: mono screw design, screw speed of the mono and twin-screw extruder, melt pump pressure, and filter mesh size. The objective of this optimization is to improve the durability of the Polyethylene (PE) blend by decreasing the loss of Stress Crack resistance (SCR) using Notched Crack Ligament Stress (NCLS) test and Unnotched Crack Ligament Stress (UCLS) in parallel with increasing the gain of Izod impact strength of the Polyethylene (PE) blend before and after recycling. Based on Grey Relational Analysis (GRA), the optimal setting of process parameters was identified, and the results indicated that the mono-screw design and screw speed of both mono and twin-screw extruder impact significantly the mechanical properties of recycled Polyethylene (PE) blend.

Keywords: Taguchi, recycling line, polyethylene, stress crack resistance, Izod impact strength, grey relational analysis

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Authors: Krešimir Begović, Miloš Rydval, Jan Tumajer, Kristyna Svobodová, Thomas Langbehn, Yumei Jiang, Vojtech Čada, Vaclav Treml, Ryszard Kaczka, Miroslav Svoboda

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Environmental changes have increased the frequency and intensity of climatic extremes, particularly hotter droughts, leading to altered tree growth patterns and multi-year lags in tree recovery. The effects of shifting climatic conditions on tree growth are inhomogeneous across species’ natural distribution ranges, with large spatial heterogeneity and inter-population variability, but generally have significant consequences for contemporary forest dynamics and future ecosystem functioning. Despite numerous studies on the impacts of regional drought effects, large uncertainties remain regarding the mechanistic basis of drought legacy effects on wood formation and the ability of individual species to cope with increasingly drier growing conditions and rising year-to-year climatic variability. To unravel the complexity of climate-growth interactions and assess species-specific responses to severe droughts, we combined forward modeling of tree growth (VS-lite model) with correlation analyses against climate (temperature, precipitation, and the SPEI-3 moisture index) and growth responses to extreme drought events from multiple tree-ring parameters (tree-width and blue intensity parameters). We used an extensive dataset with over 1000 tree-ring samples from 23 nature forest reserves across an altitudinal range in Czechia and Slovakia. Our results revealed substantial spatiotemporal variability in growth responses to summer season temperature and moisture availability across species and tree-ring parameters. However, a general trend of increasing spring moisture-growth sensitivity in recent decades was observed in the Scots pine mountain forests and lowland forests of both species. The VS-lite model effectively captured nonstationary climate-growth relationships and accurately estimated high-frequency growth variability, indicating a significant incidence of regional drought events and growth reductions. Notably, growth reductions during extreme drought years and discrete legacy effects identified in individual wood components were most pronounced in the lowland forests. Together with the observed growth declines in recent decades, these findings suggest an increasing vulnerability of Norway spruce and Scots pine in dry lowlands under intensifying climatic constraints.

Keywords: dendroclimatology, Vaganova–Shashkin lite, conifers, central Europe, drought, blue intensity

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Authors: Ali Saghaei, Negar Ghotbeddin, Ebrahim Rajabzadeh Ghatrami, Milad Maniat

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The use of herbs as natural additives in fish diets are used to enhance the efficiency and safety systems. The use of herbs, garlic, due to the structure and composition of it has beneficial role in human nutrition and animal nutrition. This study was conducted evaluate the effect different levels of garlic (Allium sativum) powder on the some serum biochemical parameters of Oscar fish (Astronotus ocellatus). Fish were divided into four groups fed on diets containing garlic in different levels; 5 g kg˗1, 10 g kg-1, 20 g kg-1, 30 g kg-1 diet and the control group diet was without garlic. A total number of 300 fish was used and Triplicate groups of Oscar fish with initial weight of 12.43±0.24 g were hand-fed to visual satiation at three meals per day. The experiment extended for two months. Total Protein (TP), Albumin (ALB), Globulin (GLB) and Albumin/Globulin (A/G) ratio, were determined. Based on the results, no significant differences were seen among treatments and control groups during the experimental period for TP, ALB, GLB, and A/G ratio (p > 0.05). Although, the highest amount of serum total protein and globulin levels were observed in diet containing 10 g kg-1 of garlic. Also, the highest value of albumin and A/G were observed in diet containing 20 g kg-1 of garlic, but there were no significant difference with other treatments. The results of this study show that addition of garlic Allium sativum to fish diet can improve fish health.

Keywords: garlic (Allium sativum), serum, Oscar fish (Astronotus ocellatus), iran

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Authors: M. Sakthivel, A. Devaki, D. Balasubramanyam, P. Kumarasamy, A. Raja, R. Anilkumar, H. Gopi

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The genetic parameters of growth traits in the New Zealand White rabbits maintained at Sheep Breeding and Research Station, Sandynallah, The Nilgiris, India were estimated by partitioning the variance and covariance components. The (co)variance components of body weights at weaning (W42), post-weaning (W70) and marketing (W135) age and growth efficiency traits viz., average daily gain (ADG), relative growth rate (RGR) and Kleiber ratio (KR) estimated on a daily basis at different age intervals (1=42 to 70 days; 2=70 to 135 days and 3=42 to 135 days) from weaning to marketing were estimated by restricted maximum likelihood, fitting six animal models with various combinations of direct and maternal effects. Data were collected over a period of 15 years (1998 to 2012). A log-likelihood ratio test was used to select the most appropriate univariate model for each trait, which was subsequently used in bivariate analysis. Heritability estimates for W42, W70 and W135 were 0.42 ± 0.07, 0.40 ± 0.08 and 0.27 ± 0.07, respectively. Heritability estimates of growth efficiency traits were moderate to high (0.18 to 0.42). Of the total phenotypic variation, maternal genetic effect contributed 14 to 32% for early body weight traits (W42 and W70) and ADG1. The contribution of maternal permanent environmental effect varied from 6 to 18% for W42 and for all the growth efficiency traits except for KR2. Maternal permanent environmental effect on most of the growth efficiency traits was a carryover effect of maternal care during weaning. Direct maternal genetic correlations, for the traits in which maternal genetic effect was significant, were moderate to high in magnitude and negative in direction. Maternal effect declined as the age of the animal increased. The estimates of total heritability and maternal across year repeatability for growth traits were moderate and an optimum rate of genetic progress seems possible in the herd by mass selection. The estimates of genetic and phenotypic correlations among body weight traits were moderate to high and positive; among growth efficiency traits were low to high with varying directions; between body weights and growth efficiency traits were very low to high in magnitude and mostly negative in direction. Moderate to high heritability and higher genetic correlation in body weight traits promise good scope for genetic improvement provided measures are taken to keep the inbreeding at the lowest level.

Keywords: genetic parameters, growth traits, maternal effects, rabbit genetics

Procedia PDF Downloads 446

Authors: Suvorov Vasyl, Filipchuk Viktor

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Background: If non-surgical treatment of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) fails or if DDH is late-detected, surgery is necessary. Salter pelvic osteotomy (SPO) is an effective surgical option for such cases. The objectives of this study were to assess the results after SPO, evaluate risk factors, and reveal those radiological parameters that may correlate with the results. Mid- and long-term postoperative results after SPO in 17 patients (22 hip joints) were analyzed. Risk factors included those that do not depend on the surgeon (patient's age, value of the acetabular index (AI) preoperatively, DDH Tonnis grade) and those that depend on the surgeon (amount of AI correction). To radiological parameters which may correlate with the amount of AI correction, we referred distance "d" and the lateral rotation angle. Results: SPO allows performing AI correction in ranges 24.1 ± 6.5°. Excellent and good clinical results were obtained in 95.5% of patients; excellent and good radiological results in 86.4% of patients. Risk factors that do not depend on the surgeon were older patient’s age and higher preoperative AI values (p < 0.05). The risk factor that depends on the surgeon was the amount of AI correction (p < 0.05). The distance "d" was recognized as a radiological parameter that may indicate sufficient AI correction (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In older patients with a higher preoperative AI value, the results will be predictably worse. The surgeon may influence the result with a greater amount of AI correction (which may also be indicated radiologically by the distance "d" values).

Keywords: developmental dysplasia of the hip, results, risk factor, pelvic osteotomy, salter osteotomy

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Wenxue Xu

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Fluid resistance damper is an important damping element to attenuate vehicle vibration. It converts vibration energy into thermal energy dissipation through oil throttling. It is a typical fluid-solid-heat coupling problem. A complete three-dimensional flow-structure-thermal coupling dynamics simulation model of a gas-filled fluid-resistance damper was established. The flow-condition-based interpolation (FCBI) method and direct coupling calculation method, the unit's FCBI-C fluid numerical analysis method and iterative coupling calculation method are used to achieve the damper dynamic response of the piston rod under sinusoidal excitation; the air chamber inflation pressure, spring compression characteristics, constant flow passage cross-sectional area and oil parameters, etc. The system parameters, excitation frequency, and amplitude and other excitation parameters are analyzed and compared in detail for the effects of differential pressure characteristics, velocity characteristics, flow characteristics and dynamic response of valve opening, floating piston response and piston rod output force characteristics. Experiments were carried out on some simulation analysis conditions. The results show that the node-based FCBI (flow-condition-based interpolation) fluid numerical analysis method and direct coupling calculation method can better guarantee the conservation of flow field calculation, and the calculation step is larger, but the memory is also larger; if the chamber inflation pressure is too low, the damper will become cavitation. The inflation pressure will cause the speed characteristic hysteresis to increase, and the sealing requirements are too strict. The spring compression characteristics have a great influence on the damping characteristics of the damper, and reasonable damping characteristic needs to properly design the spring compression characteristics; the larger the cross-sectional area of the constant flow channel, the smaller the maximum output force, but the more stable when the valve plate is opening.

Keywords: damper, fluid-structure-thermal coupling, heat generation, heat transfer

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Khalidou Ba, Abdelkrim Chahine, Mohamed Ebn Touhami

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A strong industrial interest is focused on the development of coatings for anticorrosion protection. In this context, phosphate composite materials are expanding strongly due to their chemical characteristics and their interesting physicochemical properties. Sol-gel coatings offer high homogeneity and purity that may lead to obtain coating presenting good adhesion to metal surface. The goal behind this work is to develop efficient coatings for corrosion protection of steel to extend its life. In this context, a sol gel process allowing to obtain thin film coatings on carbon steel with high resistance to corrosion has been developed. The optimization of several experimental parameters such as the hydrolysis time, the temperature, the coating technique, the molar ratio between precursors, the number of layers and the drying mode has been realized in order to obtain a coating showing the best anti-corrosion properties. The effect of these parameters on the microstructure and anticorrosion performance of the films sol gel coating has been investigated using different characterization methods (FTIR, XRD, Raman, XPS, SEM, Profilometer, Salt Spray Test, etc.). An optimized coating presenting good adhesion and very stable anticorrosion properties in salt spray test, which consists of a corrosive attack accelerated by an artificial salt spray consisting of a solution of 5% NaCl, pH neutral, under precise conditions of temperature (35 °C) and pressure has been obtained.

Keywords: sol gel, coating, corrosion, XPS

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Ndidi F. Amulu, Godian O. Mbah, Maxwel I. Onyiah, Callistus N. Ude

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Analysis of the properties of coconut (Cocos nucifera) and its oil was evaluated in this work using standard analytical techniques. The analyses carried out include proximate composition of the fruit, extraction of oil from the fruit using different process parameters and physicochemical analysis of the extracted oil. The results showed the percentage (%) moisture, crude lipid, crude protein, ash, and carbohydrate content of the coconut as 7.59, 55.15, 5.65, 7.35, and 19.51 respectively. The oil from the coconut fruit was odourless and yellowish liquid at room temperature (30oC). The treatment combinations used (leaching time, leaching temperature and solute: solvent ratio) showed significant differences (P˂0.05) in the yield of oil from coconut flour. The oil yield ranged between 36.25%-49.83%. Lipid indices of the coconut oil indicated the acid value (AV) as 10.05 Na0H/g of oil, free fatty acid (FFA) as 5.03%, saponification values (SV) as 183.26 mgKOH-1 g of oil, iodine value (IV) as 81.00 I2/g of oil, peroxide value (PV) as 5.00 ml/ g of oil and viscosity (V) as 0.002. A standard statistical package minitab version 16.0 program was used in the regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The statistical software mentioned above was also used to generate various plots such as single effect plot, interactions effect plot and contour plot. The response or yield of oil from the coconut flour was used to develop a mathematical model that correlates the yield to the process variables studied. The maximum conditions obtained that gave the highest yield of coconut oil were leaching time of 2 hrs, leaching temperature of 50 oC and solute/solvent ratio of 0.05 g/ml.

Keywords: coconut, oil-extraction, optimization, physicochemical, proximate

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Authors: Leila Rashidian, Abbas Ebrahimi

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The development of industrial activities, increase in fossil fuel consumption, vehicles, destruction of forests and grasslands, changes in land use, and population growth have caused to increase the amount of greenhouse gases especially CO₂ in the atmosphere in recent decades. This has led to global warming and climate change. In the present paper, we have investigated the trend of climate change according to the data simulation during the time interval of 2010-2030 in the Fars province. In this research, the daily climatic parameters such as maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and number of sunny hours during the 1977-2008 time interval for synoptic stations of Shiraz and Abadeh and during 1995-2008 for Lar stations and also the output of HADCM₃ model in 2010-2030 time interval have been used based on the A₂ propagation scenario. The results of the model show that the average temperature will increase by about 1 degree centigrade and the amount of precipitation will increase by 23.9% compared to the observational data. In conclusion, according to the temperature increase in this province, the amount of precipitation in the form of snow will be reduced and precipitations often will occur in the form of rain. This 1-degree centigrade increase during the season will reduce production by 6 to 10% because of shortening the growing period of wheat.

Keywords: climate change, Lars WG, HADCM3, Gillan province, climatic parameters, A2 scenario

Procedia PDF Downloads 214

Authors: YU Kaijun, Liang Dong, Zhang Yarong, Jin Zhenzhou, Yang Zhaobao

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For the impact monitoring of distributed structures, the traditional positioning methods are based on the time difference, which includes the four-point arc positioning method and the triangulation positioning method. But in the actual operation, these two methods have errors. In this paper, the Multi-Agent Blackboard Coordination Principle is used to combine the two methods. Fusion steps: (1) The four-point arc locating agent calculates the initial point and records it to the Blackboard Module.(2) The triangulation agent gets its initial parameters by accessing the initial point.(3) The triangulation agent constantly accesses the blackboard module to update its initial parameters, and it also logs its calculated point into the blackboard.(4) When the subsequent calculation point and the initial calculation point are within the allowable error, the whole coordination fusion process is finished. This paper presents a Multi-Agent collaboration method whose agent framework is JADE. The JADE platform consists of several agent containers, with the agent running in each container. Because of the perfect management and debugging tools of the JADE, it is very convenient to deal with complex data in a large structure. Finally, based on the data in Jade, the results show that the impact location method based on Multi-Agent coordination fusion can reduce the error of the two methods.

Keywords: impact monitoring, structural health monitoring(SHM), multi-agent system(MAS), black-board coordination, JADE

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Jaturong Matidtor, Krisna R. Torrissen, Saengtong Pongjareankit, Sudaporn Tongsiri, Jiraporn Rojtinnakorn

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Low survival rate has being particular problem in nursery of marble goby juvenile. The aim of this study was to investigate effect of garlic extract on protein digestive pancreatic enzymes, trypsin (T) and chymotrypsin (C). The marble goby were reared with commercial feed mixed garlic extract at concentration of 0 (control), 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0% (w/w) for 6 weeks. Analysis of the digestive enzymes at 2 and 6 weeks was performed. Growth parameters; weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed efficiency (FE), were identified. For T, C and T/C at 2 weeks, values of T and T/C ratio of 0.3% (w/w) group showed significant difference (p < 0.05) with the highest values of 17685.64± 11981.77 U/mg protein and of 51.64 ± 27.46 U/mg protein, respectively. For C at 2 weeks, 0% (w/w) group showed the highest values of 16191.76± 2225.56 U/mg protein. Whereas value of T, C and T/C ratio at 6 weeks, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05). For growth performance, it significantly increased in all garlic extract fed groups (0.3-5.0%, w/w), both at 2 and 6 weeks. At 2 weeks, values of WG and SGR of 0.5% (w/w) group showed the highest values of 71.51 ± 1.60%, and 3.85 ± 0.07%, respectively. For FE, 0.3% (w/w) group showed the highest value of 60.21 ± 6.51%. At 6 weeks, it illustrated that all growth parameters of 5.0% (w/w) group were the highest values; WG = 35.06 ± 5.66%, SGR = 2.14 ± 0.30%, and FE = 5.86 ± 0.68%. We suggested that garlic extract could be available for protein digestive enzyme and growth enhancement in marble goby nursery with artificial feed. This result will be high benefit for commercial aquaculture of marble goby.

Keywords: marble goby, nursery, garlic extract, digestive enzyme, growth

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Kamran Siddique, Hiroyuki Asada, Yoshifumi Ogami

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Micro gas turbine (MGT) nowadays has a wide variety of applications from drones to hybrid electric vehicles. As microfabrication technology getting better, the size of MGT is getting smaller. Overall performance of MGT is dependent on the individual components. Each component’s performance is dependent and interrelated with another component. Therefore, careful consideration needs to be given to each and every individual component of MGT. In this study, the focus is on improving the performance of the compressor in order to improve the overall performance of MGT. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is being performed using the software FLUENT to analyze the design of a micro compressor. Operating parameters like mass flow rate and RPM, and design parameters like inner blade angle (IBA), outer blade angle (OBA), blade thickness and number of blades are varied to study its effect on the performance of the compressor. Pressure ratio is used as a tool to measure the performance of the compressor. Higher the pressure ratio, better the design is. In the study, target mass flow rate is 0.2 g/s and RPM to be less than or equal to 900,000. So far, a pressure ratio of above 3 has been achieved at 0.2 g/s mass flow rate with 5 rotor blades, 0.36 mm blade thickness, 94.25 degrees OBA and 10.46 degrees IBA. The design in this study differs from a regular centrifugal compressor used in conventional gas turbines such that compressor is designed keeping in mind ease of manufacturability. So, this study proposes a compressor design which has a good pressure ratio, and at the same time, it is easy to manufacture using current microfabrication technologies.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, FLUENT microfabrication, RPM

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Mohamed Benaicha, Mahdi Allam

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A new two stage electrochemical process as a safe, large area and low processing cost technique for the production of semi-conducting CuInSe2 (CIS) thin films is studied. CuIn precursors were first potentiostatically electrodeposited onto molybdenum substrates from an acidic thiocyanate electrolyte. In a second stage, the prepared metallic CuIn layers were used as substrate in the selenium electrochemical deposition system and subjected to a thermal treatment in vacuum atmosphere, to eliminate binary phase formation by reaction of the Cu2-x Se and InxSey selenides, leading to the formation of CuInSe2 thin film. Electrochemical selenization from aqueous electrolyte is introduced as an alternative to toxic and hazardous H2Se or Se vapor phase selenization used in physical techniques. In this study, the influence of film deposition parameters such as bath composition, temperature and potential on film properties was studied. The electrochemical, morphological, structural and compositional properties of electrodeposited thin films were characterized using various techniques. Results of Cyclic and Stripping-Cyclic Voltammetry (CV, SCV), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray microanalysis (EDX) investigations revealed good reproducibility and homogeneity of the film composition. Thereby optimal technological parameters for the electrochemical production of CuIn, Se as precursors for CuInSe2 thin layers are determined.

Keywords: photovoltaic, CIGS, copper alloys, electrodeposition, thin films

Procedia PDF Downloads 460