Search results for: peak-to-valley current ratio

Authors: K. Yahia, A. Ghoggal, A. Titaouine, S. E. Zouzou, F. Benchabane

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This paper deals with the problem of stator faults diagnosis in induction motors. Using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) for the current Park’s vector modulus (CPVM) analysis, the inter-turn short-circuit faults diagnosis can be achieved. This method is based on the decomposition of the CPVM signal, where wavelet approximation and detail coefficients of this signal have been extracted. The energy evaluation of a known bandwidth detail permits to define a fault severity factor (FSF). This method has been tested through the simulation of an induction motor using a mathematical model based on the winding-function approach. Simulation, as well as experimental, results show the effectiveness of the used method.

Keywords: Induction Motors (IMs), Inter-turn Short-Circuits Diagnosis, Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Current Park’s Vector Modulus (CPVM)

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Authors: Ben Hadj Hassen Sameh, Gaillard Corentin, Andrew Parker, Kristine Krug

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Perceptual decisions about sequences of sensory stimuli often show serial dependence. The behavioural choice on one trial is often affected by the choice on previous trials. We investigated whether the neuronal signals in extrastriate visual area V5/MT on preceding trials might influence choice on the current trial and thereby reveal the neuronal mechanisms of sequential choice effects. We analysed data from 30 single neurons recorded from V5/MT in three Rhesus monkeys making sequential choices about the direction of rotation of a three-dimensional cylinder. We focused exclusively on the responses of neurons that showed significant choice-related firing (mean choice probability =0.73) while the monkey viewed perceptually ambiguous stimuli. Application of a wavelet transform to the choice-related firing revealed differences in the frequency band of neuronal activity that depended on whether the previous trial resulted in a correct choice for an unambiguous stimulus that was in the neuron’s preferred direction (low alpha and high beta and gamma) or non-preferred direction (high alpha and low beta and gamma). To probe this in further detail, we applied a regularized linear decoder to predict the choice for an ambiguous trial by referencing the neuronal activity of the preceding unambiguous trial. Neuronal activity on a previous trial provided a significant prediction of the current choice (61% correc, 95%Cl~52%t), even when limiting analysis to preceding trials that were correct and rewarded. These findings provide a potential neuronal signature of sequential choice effects in the primate visual cortex.

Keywords: perception, decision making, attention, decoding, visual system

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Authors: Amira A. A. Abdallah, Amir A. Beltagi

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Background: Core stability training has recently attracted attention for improving muscle balance and optimizing performance in healthy and unhealthy individuals. Purpose: This study investigated the effect of beginner’s core stability exercises on trunk flexors’/extensors’ peak torque ratio and trunk flexors’ and extensors’ peak torques. Methods: Thirty five healthy individuals participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to two groups; experimental “group I, n=20” and control “group II, n=15”. Their mean age, weight and height were 20.7±2.4 vs. 20.3±0.61 years, 66.5±12.1 vs. 68.57±12.2 kg and 166.7±7.8 vs. 164.28 ±7.59 cm. for group I vs. group II. Data were collected using the Biodex Isokinetic system. The participants were tested twice; before and after a 6-week period during which group I performed a core stability training program. Results: The 2x2 Mixed Design ANOVA revealed that there were no significant differences (p>0.025) in the trunk flexors’/extensors’ peak torque ratio between the pre-test and post-test conditions for either group. Moreover, there were no significant differences (p>0.025) in the trunk flexion/extension ratios between both groups at either condition. However, the 2x2 Mixed Design MANOVA revealed significant increases (p<0.025) in the trunk flexors’ and extensors’ peak torques in the post-test condition compared with the pre-test in group I with no significant differences (p>0.025) in group II. Moreover, there was a significant increase (p<0.025) in the trunk flexors’ peak torque only in group I compared with group II in the post-test condition with no significant differences in the other conditions. Interpretation/Conclusion: The improvement in muscle performance indicated by the increase in the trunk flexors’ and extensors’ peak torques in the experimental group recommends including core stability training in the exercise programs that aim to improve muscle performance.

Keywords: core stability, isokinetic, trunk muscles, muscle balance

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Authors: Hülya Kuru Mutlu, Mustafa Kulakcı, Uğur Serincan

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The sun is one of the latest developments in renewable energy sources, which has a variety of application. Solar energy is the most preferred renewable energy sources because it can be used directly, it protects the environment and it is economic. In this work, we investigated that important parameter of GaAs-based solar cells with respect to the growth temperature. The samples were grown on (100) oriented p-GaAs substrates by solid source Veeco GEN20MC MBE system equipped with Ga, In, Al, Si, Be effusion cells and an Arsenic cracker cell. The structures of the grown samples are presented. After initial oxide desorption, Sample 1 and Sample 2 were grown at about 585°C and 535°C, respectively. From the grown structures, devices were fabricated by using the standard photolithography procedure. Current-voltage measurements were performed at room temperature (RT). It is observed that Sample 1 which was grown at 585°C has higher efficiency and fill factor compared to Sample 2. Hence, it is concluded that the growth temperature of 585°C is more suitable to grow GaAs-based solar cells considering our samples used in this study.

Keywords: molecular beam epitaxy, solar cell, current-voltage measurement, Sun

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Authors: Venkatesan Annadurai, Kannan Ethirajalu, Anu Roshini Ramakrishnan

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Copper oxide (CuO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) based coaxial (CuO-ZnO nanorods) heterojunction has been the interest of various research communities for solar cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodetectors applications. Copper oxide (CuO) is a p-type material with the band gap of 1.5 eV and it is considered to be an attractive absorber material in solar cells applications due to its high absorption coefficient and long minority carrier diffusion length. Similarly, n-type ZnO nanorods possess many attractive advantages over thin films such as, the light trapping ability and photosensitivity owing to the presence of oxygen related hole-traps at the surface. Moreover, the abundant availability, non-toxicity, and inexpensiveness of these materials make them suitable for potentially cheap, large area, and stable photovoltaic applications. However, the efficiency of the CuO-ZnO nanorods heterojunction based devices is greatly affected by interface defects which generally lead to the poor performance. In spite of having much potential, not much work has been carried out to understand the interface quality and transport mechanism involved across the CuO-ZnO nanorods heterojunction. Therefore, a detailed investigation of CuO-ZnO heterojunction is needed to understand the interface which affects its photovoltaic performance. Herein, we have fabricated the CuO-ZnO nanorods based heterojunction by simple hydrothermal and electrodeposition technique and investigated its interface quality by carrying out temperature (300 –10 K) dependent current-voltage (I-V) measurements under dark and illumination of visible light. Activation energies extracted from the temperature dependent I-V characteristics reveals that recombination and tunneling mechanism across the interfacial barrier plays a significant role in the current flow.

Keywords: heterojunction, electrical transport, nanorods, solar cells

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Authors: Ansari Mohammad Reza, Hiroko Ono, Fakhrullah Sarwari

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Our world is fast heading toward being a predominantly urban planet. This can be a double-edged sword reality where it is as much frightening as it seems interesting. Moreover, a look to the current predictions and taking into the consideration the fact that about 90 percent of the coming urbanization is going to be absorbed by the towns and the cities of the developing countries of Asia and Africa, directly provide us the clues to assume a much more tragic ending to this story than to the happy one. Likewise, in a situation wherein most of these countries are still severely struggling to find the proper answer to their very first initial questions of urbanization—e.g. how to provide the essential structure for their cities, define the regulation, or even design the proper pattern on how the cities should be expanded—thus it is not weird to claim that most of the coming urbanization of the world is going to happen informally. This reality could not only bring the feature, landscape or the picture of the cities of the future under the doubt but at the same time provide the ground for the rise of a bunch of other essential questions of how the facilities would be distributed in these cities, or how fair will this pattern of distribution be. Kabul the capital of Afghanistan, as a city located in the developing world that its process of urbanization has been starting since 2001 and currently hold the position to be the fifth fastest growing city in the world, contained to a considerable slum ratio of 0.7—that means about 70 percent of its population is living in the informal areas—subsequently could be a very good case study to put this questions into the research and find out how the informal development of a city can lead to the unfair and unbalanced distribution of its facilities. Likewise, in this study we tried our best to first propose the ideal model for the fair distribution of the facilities in the Kabul city—where all the citizens have the same equal chance of access to the facilities—and then evaluate the situation of the city based on how fair the facilities are currently distributed therein. We subsequently did it by the comparative analysis between the existing facility rate in the formal and informal areas of the city to the one that was proposed as the fair ideal model.

Keywords: Afghanistan, facility distribution, formal settlements, informal settlements, Kabul

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Authors: K. Swapna

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A Series of Alkali-Earth Boro Tellurite (AEBT) glasses doped with different concentrations of Dy³⁺ ions have been prepared by using melt quenching technique and characterized through spectroscopic techniques such as optical absorption, excitation, emission and photoluminescence decay to understand their utility in optoelectronic devices such as lasers and white light emitting diodes (w-LEDs). Raman spectrum recorded for an undoped glass is used to measure the phonon energy of the host glass and various functional groups present in the host glass (AEBT). The intensities of the electronic transitions and the ligand environment around the Dy³⁺ ions were studied by applying Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory to the recorded absorption spectra of the glasses. The evaluated J-O parameters are subsequently used to measure various radiative parameters such as transition probability (AR), radiative branching ratio (βR) and radiative lifetimes (τR) for the prominent fluorescent levels of Dy³⁺ ions in the as-prepared glasses. The luminescence spectra recorded at 387 nm excitation show three emission transitions (⁴F9/2→⁶H15/2 (blue), ⁴F9/2→⁶H13/2 (yellow) and ⁴F9/2 → ⁶H11/2 (red)) of which the yellow transition observed at 575 nm is found to be highly intense. The experimental branching ratio (βexp) and stimulated emission crosssection (σse) were measured from luminescence spectra. The experimental lifetimes (τexp) measured from the decay spectral profiles are combined with radiative lifetimes to measure quantum efficiencies of the as-prepared glasses. The yellow to blue intensity ratios and chromaticity color coordinates are found to vary with Dy³⁺ ion concentrations. The aforementioned results reveal that these glasses are aptly suitable for w-LEDs and laser devices.

Keywords: glasses, J-O parameters, photoluminescence, I-H model

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Authors: Haley Hrymak

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For decades drug addiction has been understood to be a health problem and not a social problem. While research has advanced to allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the factors affecting addiction, the justice system has lagged behind. Given all that is known about addiction as a health issue and the need for effective rehabilitation to prevent further involvement with crime, there is a need for a dramatic shift in order to ensure individual's human right to health is being upheld within the Canadian criminal justice system. This research employs the qualitative methodology to interview advocates who work with substance users within the Greater Vancouver area to explore best practices for representing individuals with substance abuse issues within the Canadian justice system. The research shows that treatment, not punishment, is what is needed in order for recidivism to be reduced for individuals with substance abuse issues. The creative options that advocates employ to work within the current system are intended to provide a guide for lawyers working within the current criminal justice system.

Keywords: addiction, criminal law, right to health, rehabilitation

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Authors: Jen-Yuan Wang, Min-Chuan Wang, Der-Jun Jan

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Polymer electrolytes can be classified into four major categories, solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs), gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs), polyelectrolytes and composite polymer electrolytes. SPEs suffer from low ionic conductivity at room temperature. The main problems for GPEs are the poor thermal stability and mechanical properties. In this study, a GPE containing PMMA and succinonitrile is prepared to solve the problems mentioned above, and applied to the assembly of a quasi-solid-state electrochromic device (ECD). In the polymer electrolyte, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is the polymer matrix and propylene carbonate (PC) is used as the plasticizer. To enhance the mechanical properties of this GPE, succinonitrile (SN) is introduced as the additive. For the electrochromic materials, tungsten oxide (WO3) is used as the cathodic coloring film, which is fabricated by pulsed dc magnetron reactive sputtering. For the anodic coloring material, Prussian blue nanoparticles (PBNPs) are synthesized and coated on the transparent Sn-doped indium oxide (ITO) glass. The thickness of ITO, WO3 and PB film is 110, 170 and 200 nm, respectively. The size of the ECD is 5×5 cm2. The effect of the introduction of SN into the GPEs is discussed by observing the electrochromic behaviors of the WO3-PB ECD. Besides, the composition ratio of PC to SN is also investigated by measuring the ionic conductivity. The optimized ratio of PC to SN is 4:1, and the ionic conductivity under this condition is 6.34x10-5 S∙cm-1, which is higher than that of PMMA/PC (1.35x10-6 S∙cm-1) and PMMA/EC/PC (4.52x10-6 S∙cm-1). This quasi-solid-state ECD fabricated with the PMMA/SN based GPE shows an optical contrast of ca. 53% at 690 nm. The optical transmittance of the ECD can be reversibly modulated from 72% (bleached) to 19% (darkened), by applying potentials of 1.5 and -2.2 V, respectively. During the durability test, the optical contrast of this ECD remains 44.5% after 2400 cycles, which is 83% of the original one.

Keywords: electrochromism, tungsten oxide, prussian blue, poly(methyl methacrylate), succinonitrile

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Authors: Behnoush Moghiminia, Jesus Anaya Diaz

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The current study attempts to present the relationship between the structure development and Patkaneh as one of the Iranian geometric patterns and parametric algorithms by introducing two practical methods. While having a structural function, Patkaneh is also used as an ornamental element. It can be helpful in the scientific and practical review of Patkaneh. The current study aims to use Patkaneh as a parametric form generator based on the algorithm. The current paper attempts to express how can a more complete algorithm of this covering be obtained based on the parametric study and analysis of a sample of a Patkaneh and also investigate the relationship between the development of the geometrical pattern of Patkaneh as a structural-decorative element of Iranian architecture and digital design. In this regard, to achieve the research purposes, researchers investigated the oldest type of Patkaneh in the architecture history of Iran, such as the Northern Entrance Patkaneh of Oshtorjan Jame’ Mosque. An accurate investigation was done on the history of the background to answer the questions. Then, by investigating the structural behavior of Patkaneh, the decorative or structural-decorative role of Patkaneh was investigated to eliminate the ambiguity. Then, the geometrical structure of Patkaneh was analyzed by introducing two practical methods. The first method is based on the constituent units of Patkaneh (Square and diamond) and investigating the interactive relationships between them in 2D and 3D. This method is appropriate for cases where there are rational and regular geometrical relationships. The second method is based on the separation of the floors and the investigation of their interrelation. It is practical when the constituent units are not geometrically regular and have numerous diversity. Finally, the parametric form algorithm of these methods was codified.

Keywords: geometric properties, parametric design, Patkaneh, structural analysis

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Authors: Hassan Y. Kikhia, Jin P. Zhang, Khaldoon G. Albiatr

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The Enron and Arthur Andersen scandal has raised concerns internationally about auditor independence and audit quality. Furthermore, the debate continues about the relationship between audit fees, auditor tenure and audit quality in spite of extensive empirical evidence examining audit failures and earnings management. Therefore, the purpose of current research is to determine the effect of audit fee and audit tenure both partially and simultaneously on the audit quality. Using a sample of Chinese firms, an environment where we believe it provides us with an opportunity to test whether the development of market and legal institutions affects the impact of audit fees and auditor tenure on audit quality. We employ the standard deviation of residuals from regressions relating current accruals to cash flows as proxy for audit quality. The paper documents statistically significant negative association between audit fees and audit quality. These findings are consistent with economic bonding being a determinant of auditor behavior rather than auditor reputational concerns. Further, the current paper shows a positive association between auditor tenure and audit quality in the earlier years of audit tenure. These results support the proposition that when the Learning Effect dominates the Bonding Effect in the earlier years of tenure, then audit quality is likely to be higher. Taken audit fees and audit tenure together, the results suggest that there is positive association between audit fees and audit quality in the earlier years of auditor tenure. Interestingly, the findings of our study have important implications for auditors, policymakers, multinational firms, and users of financial reports. As the rapid growth of China's economy gains global recognition, the Chinese stock market is capturing the attention of international investors. To a lesser extent, our paper also differs from the prior studies in methodology and findings in the investigation of audit quality.

Keywords: audit quality, accruals quality, audit fees, auditor tenure

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Authors: Vitus Onyebuchim Onyemailu, Olive Obianuju Okalibe

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The study tried to examine relationship between exchange rate variations on the balance of payments in Nigeria from 1970 to 2012. Using time series on econometric measures such as Granger causality and ordinary least square (OLS), the study found that exchange rate movements especially the depreciation of naira has not contributed significantly on the balance of payments under the year of the study. The granger result conform the Marshall-Lerner short and long run prepositions that exchange rate devaluation enhances balance of payments. On disaggregation exchange rate granger causes current and capital account balances give the Nigeria data from 1970 to 2012. Overall in the long run OLS regression analysis, exchange rate on semi log functional form, exchange rate variation did not record significant effect on balance of payment equation. This height was also maintained in the current or trade balance which does not match the Marshall-Lerner. The capital account balance in reverse reported a significant impact of exchange rate variability on the capital account balance. Finally, on exchange rate determination equation, where many fundamentals were considered including lagged of exchange rate. Thus, the lagged of exchange rate recorded a positive and significant influence on the present exchange rate. This means that players in the financial markets usually out plays authority’s policy’s stances through their speculative tendencies. The work therefore, recommend that effort should be made by the authorities to providing enabling environment for production of goods and services to triumph in order to take advantages of steady devaluation of its currency. This is done by providing infrastructure, provision of science and technology. Thus, when this is done Nigeria would be able to have competitive power against the rest of the world.

Keywords: exchange rate variation, balance of payments, current account, capital account, Marshall-Lerner hypothesis

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Authors: Roni Susman, Thomas Weith

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This article explores how institutional setting, mainly from institutionalism, could clearly explain the understanding of land use conflict analysis in coastal areas and has been used in current practices. Institutional setting appears as a guideline that is committed by the stakeholders who are involved directly or indirectly in land management process. This paper is aimed to identify the setting of institutional and to measure how the conflicts occur, how the actors act and influence the process, how is the condition to apply the appropriate framework for adequate solution of land use conflict in coastal area in order to enhance better decisions. To reflect the current practice and use of theories a qualitative review of 150 scientific peer-reviewed papers regarding the issue of land use conflicts in coastal areas as well as institutional process is included. The selection of peer-reviewed papers is obtained through a structured literature survey of the recently published database in a way to investigate the variances of institutional between theory and practices specifically in the case of coastal land management.

Keywords: coastal areas, institutional settings, land use conflict, land governance, actors’ constellation, analytical framework

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Authors: R. Meier, M. Pander

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In accordance with the industry 4.0 concept, manufacturing process steps as well as the materials themselves are going to be more and more digitalized within the next years. The “digital twin” representing the simulated and measured dataset of the (semi-finished) product can be used to control and optimize the individual processing steps and help to reduce costs and expenditure of time in product development, manufacturing, and recycling. In the present work, two material characterization methods based on Lamb waves were evaluated and compared. For demonstration purpose, both methods were shown at a standard industrial product - copper ribbons, often used in photovoltaic modules as well as in high-current microelectronic devices. By numerical approximation of the Rayleigh-Lamb dispersion model on measured phase velocities second order elastic constants (Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio) were determined. Furthermore, the effective third order elastic constants were evaluated by applying elastic, “non-destructive”, mechanical stress on the samples. In this way, small microstructural variations due to mechanical preconditioning could be detected for the first time. Both methods were compared with respect to precision and inline application capabilities. Microstructure of the samples was systematically varied by mechanical loading and annealing. Changes in the elastic ultrasound transport properties were correlated with results from microstructural analysis and mechanical testing. In summary, monitoring the elastic material properties of plate-like structures using Lamb waves is valuable for inline and non-destructive material characterization and manufacturing process control. Second order elastic constants analysis is robust over wide environmental and sample conditions, whereas the effective third order elastic constants highly increase the sensitivity with respect to small microstructural changes. Both Lamb wave based characterization methods are fitting perfectly into the industry 4.0 concept.

Keywords: lamb waves, industry 4.0, process control, elasticity, acoustoelasticity, microstructure

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Authors: Elanz Alimi, Mehdi Ghanadzade

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This current study compared the parents reported treatment and education priorities between verbal and nonverbal children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants were 196 parents of 2 to 21-year-old (83 non-verbal and 113 verbal) children and adolescents with an ASD who completed questionnaires measuring parent’s treatment and education priorities, child’s educational and intervention programs and current child’s level of performance according to each skill. Results of this study indicated that parents of verbal children with autism spectrum disorder considered communication skills, community living skills and academic skills correspondingly as their highest intervention and education priorities and parents of non-verbal children with ASD reported communication skills, social relationship skills and self-care skills as the most significant priorities for their children. Findings show that for Iranian parents of both verbal and non-verbal children with ASD, communication skills are the most crucial treatment priority.

Keywords: autism, communication skills, Iran, parent’s priorities

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Authors: Magdalena B. Kaziuk, Waldemar Kosiba

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Background: In the XXI century we have to deal with the epidemic of obesity which is important risk factor for the cardiovascular and kidney diseases. Lipo proteins are directly involved in the atherosclerotic process. Non-high-density lipo protein (non-HDL) began following widespread recognition of its superiority over LDL as a measurement of vascular event risk. Non-HDL includes residual risk which persists in patients after achieved recommended level of LDL. Materials and Methods: The study covered 111 patients (52 females, 59 males, age 51,91±14 years), hospitalized on the intern department. Body composition was assessed using the bioimpendance method and anthropometric measurements. Physical activity data were collected during the interview. The nutritional status and the obesity type were determined with the Waist to Height Ratio and the Waist to Hip Ratio. A function of the kidney was evaluated by calculating the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using MDRD formula. Non-HDL was calculated as a difference between concentration of the Total and HDL cholesterol. Results: 10% of patients were found to be underweight; 23.9 % had correct body weight; 15,08 % had overweight, while the remaining group had obesity: 51,02 %. People with the android shape have higher non-HDL cholesterol versus with the gynoid shape (p=0.003). The higher was non-HDL, the lower eGFR had studied subjects (p < 0.001). Significant correlation was found between high non-HDL and incorrect dietary habits in patients avoiding eating vegetables, fruits and having low physical activity (p < 0.005). Conclusions: Android type of figure raises the residual risk of the heart disease associated with higher levels of non-HDL. Increasing physical activity in these patients reduces the level of non-HDL. Non-HDL seems to be the best predictor among all cholesterol measures for the cardiovascular events and worsening eGFR.

Keywords: obesity, non-HDL cholesterol, glomerular filtration rate, lifestyle

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Authors: Puneet Kumar, Jonnalagadda Srinivas

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The authors report here vibration and buckling analysis of functionally graded carbon nanotube-polymer composite (FG-CNTPC) beams under hygro-thermo-mechanical environments using higher order shear deformation theory. The material properties of CNT and polymer matrix are often affected by temperature and moisture content. A micromechanical model with agglomeration effect is employed to compute the elastic, thermal and moisture properties of the composite beam. The governing differential equation of FG-CNTRPC beam is developed using higher-order shear deformation theory to account shear deformation effects. The elastic, thermal and hygroscopic strain terms are derived from variational principles. Moreover, thermal and hygroscopic loads are determined by considering uniform, linear and sinusoidal variation of temperature and moisture content through the thickness. Differential equations of motion are formulated as an eigenvalue problem using appropriate displacement fields and solved by using finite element modeling. The obtained results of natural frequencies and critical buckling loads show a good agreement with published data. The numerical illustrations elaborate the dynamic as well as buckling behavior under uniaxial load for different environmental conditions, boundary conditions and volume fraction distribution profile, beam slenderness ratio. Further, comparisons are shown at different boundary conditions, temperatures, degree of moisture content, volume fraction as well as agglomeration of CNTs, slenderness ratio of beam for different shear deformation theories.

Keywords: hygrothermal effect, free vibration, buckling load, agglomeration

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Authors: Hossein Kabir, Amir Hossein Hassanpour Mati-Kolaie

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In the current study, the elastic field in an anisotropic elastic media is determined by implementing a general semi-analytical method. In this specific methodology, the displacement field is computed as a sum of finite functions with unknown coefficients. These aforementioned functions satisfy exactly both the homogeneous and inhomogeneous boundary conditions in the proposed media. It is worth mentioning that the unknown coefficients are determined by implementing the principle of minimum potential energy. The numerical integration is implemented by employing the Generalized Gaussian Quadrature solution. Furthermore, with the aid of the calculated unknown coefficients, the displacement field, as well as the other parameters of the elastic field, are obtainable as well. Finally, the comparison of the previous analytical method with the current semi-analytical method proposes the efficacy of the present methodology.

Keywords: anisotropic elastic media, semi-analytical method, elastic field, generalized gaussian quadrature solution

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Authors: Nusaiba Al-Nemrawi, Belal Al-Husein

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Methotrexate (MTX) is a stoichiometric inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase, which is essential for DNA synthesis. MTX is a chemotherapeutic agent used for treating many types of cancer cells. However, cells’ resistant to MTX is very common and its pharmacokinetic behavior is highly problematic. of MTX within tumor cells, we propose encapsulation of antitumor drugs in nanoparticulated systems. Chitosan (CS) is a naturally occurring polymer that is biocompatibe, biodegradable, non-toxic, cationic and bioadhesive. CS nanoparticles (CS-NPs) have been used as drug carrier for targeted delivery. Titanium dioxide (TiO2), a natural mineral oxide, which is used in biomaterials due to its high stability and antimicrobial and anticorrosive properties. TiO2 showed a potential as a tumor suppressor. In this study a new formulation of MTX loaded in CS NPs (CS-MTX NPs) and coated with Titanium oxide (TiO2) was prepared. The mean particle size, zeta potential, polydispersity index were measured. The interaction between CS NPs and TiO2 NPs was confirmed using FTIR and XRD. CS-MTX NPs was studied in vitro using the tumor cell line MCF-7 (human breast cancer). The results showed that CS-MTX has a size around 169 nm and as they were coated with TiO2, the size ranged between and depending on the ratio of CS-MTX to TiO2 ratio used in the preparation. All NPs (uncoated and coated carried positive charges and were monodispersed. The entrapment efficacy was around 65%. Both FTIR and XRD proved that TiO2 interacted with CS-MTX NPs. The drug invitro release was controlled and sustained over days. Finally, the studied in vitro using the tumor cell line MCF-7 suggested that combining nanomaterials with anticancer drugs CS-MTX NPs may be more effective than free MTX for cancer treatment. In conclusion, the combination of CS-MTX NPs and TiO2 NPs showed excellent time-dependent in vitro antitumor behavior, therefore, can be employed as a promising anticancer agent to attain efficient results towards MCF-7 cells.

Keywords: Methotrexate, Titanium dioxide, Chitosan nanoparticles, cancer

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Authors: Yi Huang, Clemens Guehmann

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In order to monitor the thermal behavior of an asynchronous machine with squirrel cage rotor, a 9th-order extended Kalman filter (EKF) algorithm is implemented to estimate the temperatures of the stator windings, the rotor cage and the stator core. The state-space equations of EKF are established based on the electrical, mechanical and the simplified thermal models of an asynchronous machine. The asynchronous machine with simplified thermal model in Dymola is compiled as DymolaBlock, a physical model in MATLAB/Simulink. The coolant air temperature, three-phase voltages and currents are exported from the physical model and are processed by EKF estimator as inputs. Compared to the temperatures exported from the physical model of the machine, three parts of temperatures can be estimated quite accurately by the EKF estimator. The online EKF estimator is independent from the machine control algorithm and can work under any speed and load condition if the stator current is nonzero current system.

Keywords: asynchronous machine, extended Kalman filter, resistance, simulation, temperature estimation, thermal model

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Authors: Nabi Ullah

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The energy crisis of the current society has attracted research attention for alternative energy sources. Methanol oxidation is the source of energy but needs efficient electrocatalysts like Pt. However, their practical ability is hindered due to cost and poisoning effects. In this regard, an efficient catalyst is required for methanol oxidation. Herein, high temperature, pressure, and diethylenetryamine (DETA) as reaction medium/structure directing agent during the solvothermal method are used for nanobelt Cu₃Se₂/Cu₁.₈Se (mostly hexagonal appearance) formation. The electrocatalyst shows optimized methanol electrooxidation reaction (MOR) response in 1 M KOH and 0.5 M methanol at a scan rate of 50 mV/s and delivers a current density of 7.12 mA/mg at a potential of 0.65 V (vs Ag/AgCl). The catalyst exhibits high electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) (0.088 mF/cm²) and low Rct with good stability for 3600 s, which favors its high MOR performance. This high response is due to its 2D hexagonal nanobelt morphology, which provides a large surface area for reaction. The space among nanobelts reduces diffusion kinetics, and the rough/irregular edge increases the reaction site to improve the methanol oxidation reaction overall.

Keywords: energy application, electrocatalysis, MOR, nanobelt

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Authors: Stefanie Siebenhütter

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Male and female speakers use language differently and with varying confidence levels. This paper contrasts gendered differences in language use with socioeconomic status and age factors. It specifically examines how Kui minority language use and competence are conditioned by the variable of gender and discusses potential reasons for this variation by examining gendered language awareness and sociolinguistic attitudes. Moreover, it discusses whether women in Kui society function as 'leaders of linguistic change', as represented in Labov’s sociolinguistic model. It discusses whether societal role expectations in collectivistic cultures influence the model of linguistic change. The findings reveal current Kui speaking preferences and give predictions on the prospective language use, which is a stable situation of multilingualism because the current Kui speakers will socialize and teach the prospective Kui speakers in the near future. It further confirms that Lao is losing importance in Kui speaker’s (female’s) daily life.

Keywords: gender, identity construction, language change, minority language, multilingualism, sociolinguistics, social Networks

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Authors: Salam Yaghi, Saleh Abu Dabous

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Government reports and published research have flagged and brought to public attention the deteriorating condition of a large percentage of bridges in Canada and the United States. With the increasing number of deteriorated bridges in the US, Canada, and around the globe, condition assessment techniques of concrete bridges are evolving. Investigation for bridges’ defects such as cracks, spalls, and delamination and their level of severity are the main objectives of condition assessment. Inspection and rehabilitation programs are being implemented to monitor and maintain deteriorated bridge infrastructure. This paper highlights the state-of-the art of current practices being performed for concrete bridge inspection. The information is gathered from the literature and through a distributed questionnaire. The current practices in concrete bridge inspection rely on the use of hummer sounding and chain dragging tests. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques are not being utilized fully in the process. Nonetheless, they are being partially utilized by the recommendation of the bridge inspector after conducting the visual inspection. Lanes are usually closed during the performance of visual inspection and bridge inspection in general.

Keywords: bridge inspection, condition assessment, questionnaire, non-destructive testing

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Authors: Patricia Girrbach

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Currently, our society is facing a new and incremental upheaval technological revolution named digitalization. In order to face the relating challenges organizations have to be prepared. They need appropriate circumstances in order to cope with current issues concerning digital transformation processes. Nowadays digitalization emerged as top issues for companies and business leaders. In this context, it is a pressure on companies to have a positive, productive digital culture. And indeed, Organizations realize that they need to address this important issue. In this context 87 percent of organizations quote culture and engagement as one of their top challenges in terms of any change process, but especially in terms of the digital turn. Executives can give their company a competitive advantage and attract top talent by having a strong workplace culture that supports digitalization. Many current studies attest that fact. Digital-oriented companies can hire more easily, they have the lowest voluntary turnover rates, deliver better customer service, and are more profitable over the long run. Based on this background it is important to provide companies starting points and practical measurements how to reach this goal. The major findings are that firms need to make sense out of digitalization. In this context, they should focus on internal but also on external stakeholders. Furthermore, they should create certain working conditions and they should support the qualification of employees, e.g. by Virtual Reality. These measurements can create positive experiences in terms of digitalization in order to ensure the support of stuff in terms of the digital turn. Based on several current studies and literature research this paper provides concrete measurements for companies in order to enable the digital turn. Therefore, the aim of this paper is providing possible practical starting points which support both the education of employees by digitalization as well as the digital turn itself within the organization.

Keywords: digitalization, industry 4.0, education 4.0, virtual reality

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Authors: Sandeep Singh Sandhua, Karanvir Singh Ghuman, Arun Kumar

Abstract:

Stellite 21 is cobalt based super alloy used in improving the wear performance of stainless steel engineering components subjected to harsh environmental conditions. This piece of research focuses on the wear analysis of satellite 21 cladded on AISI 304 L substrate using SMAW process. Bead on plate experiments were carried out by varying current and electrode manipulation techniques to optimize the dilution and microhardness. 80 Amp current and weaving technique was found to be optimum set of parameters for overlaying which were further used for multipass multilayer cladding of AISI 304 L substrate. The wear performance was examined on pin on dics wear testing machine under room temperature conditions. The results from this study show that Stellite 21 overlays show a significant improvement in the frictional wear resistance after TIG remelting. It is also established that low dilution procedures are important in controlling the metallurgical composition of these overlays which has a consequent effect in enhancing hardness and wear resistance of these overlays.

Keywords: surfacing, stellite 21, dilution, SMAW, frictional wear, micro-hardness

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Authors: Deanna Ruano-Meas, Laura Shenkman

Abstract:

Variances are seen in the way healthcare personnel (HCP) don and doff PPE risking contamination to self and others. By standardizing practice, variances in technique decrease, and so does the risk of contamination. To implement this change, the Model for Improvement will be used. A system change will be developed that will outline the role of the organizational leader’s support of HCP in the proper donning and doffing of PPE. Interventions will include environmental surveys to assess the safety and work situation ensuring a permissible environment, plan audits to confirm consistency, and the assessment of PPE wear for standardization. The change will also include an educational plan that will involve instruction of the current guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to all pertinent HCP, and the incorporation of PPE education in yearly educational training. The goal is a standardized practice and a reduced risk of contamination through education and organizational support. Personal protective equipment has had recent attention with the coming of the SARS-CoV-2. The realization that proper technique is important to decreasing contamination of pathogens has led to the revising of current processes.

Keywords: donning and doffing, HAI, infection control, PPE

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Authors: Marylene S. Eder

Abstract:

Existing location based alarm applications has inability to give information to user’s particular direction to a specified place of destination and does not display a particular scenic spot from its current location going to the destination. With this problem, a location based alarm mobile reminder was developed. The application is implemented on Android based smart phones to provide services like providing routing information, helping to find nearby hotels, restaurants and scenic spots and offer many advantages to the mobile users to retrieve the information about their current location and process that data to get more useful information near to their location. It reminds the user about the location when the user enters some predefined location. All the user needs to have is the mobile phone with android platform with version 4.0 and above, and then the user can select the destination and find the destination on the application. The main objective of the project is to develop a location based application that provides tourists with real time information for scenic spots and provides alarm to a specified place of destination. This mobile application service will act as assistance for the frequent travelers to visit new places around the City.

Keywords: location based alarm, mobile application, mobile reminder, tourist’s spots

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Authors: Leone Sherman

Abstract:

While the democratic rights of a citizen may be very clearly outlined in a country’s constitution, it’s not uncommon for political elite to undermine those rights and gain more power and control over a country than it is allowed by this constitution. Moreover, while such a change in some smaller states may not have a substantial impact on the international community, the same change in countries with vast resources and political influence, such as Russia, is always a considerable factor for the world policy. This article aims to research the weaknesses of the Russian democratic system and their effect on the international policy through the three key aspects: The Russian people’s ability to produce the required political will to control their government’s decisions, the current development of the Russian political environment, and the affection of this environment on the world community as a whole during the recent years. The used methodology is a narrative analysis of recent political events, official statistics, international investigations and media statements. As a result, the ever-widening gap between the people and the government becomes evidently seen, as well as the challenges it imposes on the political world arena, both current and those that still lie ahead of us.

Keywords: Russia, political analysis, democratic weaknesses, international society

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Authors: Walid A. Attia, Taher M. Bazan, Fawzy Eltohamy, Mahmoud Fathy

Abstract:

System performance evaluation is an essential stage in the design of high-resolution satellite telescopes prior to the development process. In this paper, a system performance evaluation of a very high-resolution satellite telescope is investigated. The evaluated system has a Korsch optical scheme design. This design has been discussed in another paper with respect to three-mirror anastigmat (TMA) scheme design and the former configuration showed better results. The investigated system is based on the Korsch optical design integrated with a time-delay and integration charge coupled device (TDI-CCD) sensor to achieve a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 25 cm. The key performance metrics considered are the spatial resolution, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the total modulation transfer function (MTF) of the system. In addition, the national image interpretability rating scale (NIIRS) metric is assessed to predict the image quality according to the modified general image quality equation (GIQE). Based on the orbital, optical and detector parameters, the estimated GSD is found to be 25 cm. The SNR has been analyzed at different illumination conditions of target albedos, sun and sensor angles. The system MTF has been computed including diffraction, aberration, optical manufacturing, smear and detector sampling as the main contributors for evaluation the MTF. Finally, the system performance evaluation results show that the computed MTF value is found to be around 0.08 at the Nyquist frequency, the SNR value was found to be 130 at albedo 0.2 with a nadir viewing angles and the predicted NIIRS is in the order of 6.5 which implies a very good system image quality.

Keywords: modulation transfer function, national image interpretability rating scale, signal to noise ratio, satellite telescope performance evaluation

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Authors: Mannan Ahmad Rasheed, Sawera Kanwal, Mansoor Ahmad Rasheed

Abstract:

The Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized the way we collect and process information, making it possible to gather data from a wide range of connected devices and sensors. This has led to the development of IoT-based information processing and computing systems that are capable of handling large amounts of data in real time. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of IoT-based information processing and computing, as well as the key challenges and gaps that need to be addressed. This paper discusses the potential benefits of IoT-based information processing and computing, such as improved efficiency, enhanced decision-making, and cost savings. Despite the numerous benefits of IoT-based information processing and computing, several challenges need to be addressed to realize the full potential of these systems. These challenges include security and privacy concerns, interoperability issues, scalability and reliability of IoT devices, and the need for standardization and regulation of IoT technologies. Moreover, this paper identifies several gaps in the current research related to IoT-based information processing and computing. One major gap is the lack of a comprehensive framework for designing and implementing IoT-based information processing and computing systems.

Keywords: IoT, computing, information processing, Iot computing

Procedia PDF Downloads 192