Search results for: Krasnoselskii fixed point theorem

Authors: S. Sakhri

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Background: The use of Zoledronic acid (ZA) is an established place in the treatment of malignant tumors with a predilection for the skeleton of interest (in particular metastasis). Although the main target of Zoledronic acid was osteoclasts, there are preclinical data suggest that Zoledronic acid may have an antitumor effect on cells other than osteoclasts, including tumor cells. Antitumor activity, including the inhibition of tumor cell growth and the induction of apoptosis of tumor cells, inhibition of tumor cell adhesion and invasion, and anti-angiogenic effects have been demonstrated. Methods. From (2012 to 2014), 438 patients were included respondents the inclusion criteria, respectively. This is a prospective study over a 4 year period. Of all patients (N=438), 432 received neoadjuvant chemotherapy with Zoledronic acid. The primary end point was the pathologic complete response in advancer breast cancer stage. The secondary end point is to evaluate Clinical response according to RECIST criteria; estimate the bone density before and at the end of chemotherapy in women with locally advanced breast cancer, Toxicity Evaluation and Overall survival using Kaplan-Meier and log test. Result: The Objective response rate was 97% after (C4) with 3% stabilizations and 99, 3% of which 0.7% C8 after stabilization. The clinical complete response was 28% after C4 respectively, and 46.8% after C8, the pathologic complete response rate was 40.13% according to the classification Sataloff. We observed that the pathologic complete response rate was the most raised in the group including Her2 (luminal Her2 and Her2) the lowest in the triple negative group as classified by Sataloff. We found that the pCR is significantly higher in the age group (35-50 years) with 53.17%. Those who have more than 50 years in 2nd place with 27.7% and the lower in young woman 35 years pCR was 19%, not statistically significant, -The pCR was also in favor of the menopausal group in 51, 4%, and 48, 55% for non-menopausal women. The average duration of overall survival was also significantly in the subgroup (Luminal -Her2, Her2) compared with triple negative. It is 47.18 months in the luminal group vs. 38.95 in the triple negative group. -Was observed in our study a difference in quality of life between (C1) was the admission of the patient, and after (C8), we found an increase in general signs and a deterioration in the psychological state C1, in contrast to the C8 these general signs and mental status improves, up to 12, and 24 months. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that the addition of ZA to néoadjuvant CT has potential anti-cancer benefit in patients (Luminal -Her2, Her2) compared with triple negative with or without menopause status.

Keywords: HER2+, RH+, breast cancer, tyrosine kinase

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Authors: Damanjit Kaur, Avani Bhatia

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Color constancy is significant for human vision since color is a pictorial cue that helps in solving different visions tasks such as tracking, object recognition, or categorization. Therefore, several computational methods have tried to simulate human color constancy abilities to stabilize machine color representations. Two different kinds of methods have been used, i.e., normalization and constancy. While color normalization creates a new representation of the image by canceling illuminant effects, color constancy directly estimates the color of the illuminant in order to map the image colors to a canonical version. Color constancy is the capability to determine colors of objects independent of the color of the light source. This research work studies the most of the well-known color constancy algorithms like white point and gray world.

Keywords: color constancy, gray world, white patch, modified white patch

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Authors: Martha E. Ndeley

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Operation management is the key element within the manufacturing process. However, during this process, there are a number of unforeseen disruptions that causes the process to a standstill which are, machine breakdown, employees absenteeism, improper scheduling. When this happens, it forces the shop flow to a rescheduling process and these strategy reschedules only a limited part of the initial schedule to match up with the pre-schedule at some point with the objective to create a new schedule that is reliable which in the long run gets disrupted. In this work, we have developed feedback control system that minimizes any form of disruption before the impact becomes severe, the model was tested in a paper manufacturing industries and the results revealed that, if the disruption is minimized at the initial state, the impact becomes unnoticeable.

Keywords: disruption, machine, absenteeism, scheduling

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Authors: Do-Jin Jang, Sung-Ah Kim

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In designing a kinetic façade, it is hard for the designer to make digital models due to its complex geometry with motion. This paper aims to present a methodology of converting a point cloud of a physical model into a single digital model with a certain topology and motion. The method uses a Microsoft Kinect sensor, and color markers were defined and applied to three paper folding-inspired designs. Although the resulted digital model cannot represent the whole folding range of the physical model, the method supports the designer to conduct a performance-oriented design process with the rough physical model in the reduced folding range.

Keywords: design media, kinetic facades, tangible user interface, 3D scanning

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Authors: Suparman

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This paper addresses the problem of the signal segmentation within a Bayesian framework by using reversible jump MCMC algorithm. The signal is modelled by piecewise constant Moving-Average (MA) model where the numbers of segments, the position of change-point, the order and the coefficient of the MA model for each segment are unknown. The reversible jump MCMC algorithm is then used to generate samples distributed according to the joint posterior distribution of the unknown parameters. These samples allow calculating some interesting features of the posterior distribution. The performance of the methodology is illustrated via several simulation results.

Keywords: piecewise, moving-average model, reversible jump MCMC, signal segmentation

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Authors: Marine Shavlakadze

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From the raw material base existed in Georgia (manganese ores, manganese containing mud), particularly, within the point of view of production availability, especial interest is paid to micro- fertilizers containing manganese. As a result of conducted investigation, there was established receiving of such manganese containing materials on the basis of manganese raw-material base (ore, mud) existed in Georgia, which shall be able to maximally provide assimilation ability of manganese, as microelement, in the desired period of time. And also, determinant of effectiveness and competitiveness of received materials with new composition shall become high content (more than 30%) of microelements in them (in comparison with existed similar products), when the total sum of useful components presented in them (active i.e. assimilated) is more than 50-70%, i.e. received materials belong to the materials having low-ballast and functionally revealed possibilities.

Keywords: manganese, fertilizers, non-ballast, micro- fertilizers

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Authors: Woolfrey K., Woolfrey M., Bolton C. L., Warchuk D.

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Objectives: Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease of adults worldwide. Despite total knee arthroplasty (TKA) demonstrating high levels of success, 20% of patients report dissatisfaction with their result. VOXX Wellness Stasis Socks are embedded with a proprietary pattern of neuro-receptor activation points that have been proven to activate a precise neuro-response, according to the pattern theory of haptic perception, which stimulates improvements in pain and function. The use of this technology in TKA patients may prove beneficial as an adjunct to recovery as many patients suffer from deficits to their proprioceptive system caused by ligamentous damage and alterations to mechanoreceptors during the procedure. We hypothesized that VOXX Wellness Stasis Socks are a safe, cost-effective, and easily scalable strategy to support TKA patients through their recovery. Design: Double-blinded, placebo-controlled randomized trial. Participants: Patients scheduled to receive TKA were considered eligible for inclusion in the trial. Interventions: Intervention group (I): VOXX Wellness Stasis socks containing receptor point-activation technology. Control group (C): VOXX Wellness Stasis socks without receptor point-activation technology. Sock use during the waking hours x 6 weeks. Main Outcome Measures: Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire completed at baseline, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks to assess pain, stiffness, and physical function. Results: Data analysis using SPSS software. P-values, effect sizes, and confidence intervals are reported to assess clinical relevance of the finding. Physical status classifications were compared using t-test. Within-subject and between-subject differences in the mean WOMAC were analyzed by ANOVA. Effect size was analyzed using Cramer’s V. Consistent improvement in WOMAC scores for pain and stiffness at 2 weeks post op in the I over the C group. The womac scores assessing physical function showed a consistent improvement at both 2 and 6 weeks post op in the I group compared to C group. Conclusions: VOXX proved to be a low cost, safe intervention in TKA to help patients improve with regard to pain, stiffness, and physical function. Disclosures: None

Keywords: osteoarthritis, RCT, pain management, total knee arthroplasty

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Authors: Triloki Nath, R. K. Gupta, L. P. Singh

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The aim of this paper is to find the new exact solution of the blast wave problem in one-dimensional unsteady adiabatic flow for generalized geometry in a compressible, inviscid ideal gas with dust particles. The density of the undisturbed region is assumed to vary according to a power law of the distance from the point of explosion. The exact solution of the problem in form of a power in the distance and the time is obtained. Further, the behaviour of the total energy carried out by the blast wave for planar, cylindrically symmetric and spherically symmetric flow corresponding to different Mach number of the fluid flow in dusty gas is presented. It is observed that the presence of dust particles in the gas yields more complex expression as compared to the ordinary Gasdynamics.

Keywords: shock wave, blast wave, dusty gas, strong shock

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Authors: Guang Zou, Kian Banisoleiman, Arturo González

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Crack initiation and propagation threatens structural integrity of welded joints and normally inspections are assigned based on crack propagation models. However, the approach based on crack propagation models may not be applicable for some high-quality welded joints, because the initial flaws in them may be so small that it may take long time for the flaws to develop into a detectable size. This raises a concern regarding the inspection planning of high-quality welded joins, as there is no generally acceptable approach for modeling the whole fatigue process that includes the crack initiation period. In order to address the issue, this paper reviews treatment methods for crack initiation period and initial crack size in crack propagation models applied to inspection planning. Generally, there are four approaches, by: 1) Neglecting the crack initiation period and fitting a probabilistic distribution for initial crack size based on statistical data; 2) Extrapolating the crack propagation stage to a very small fictitious initial crack size, so that the whole fatigue process can be modeled by crack propagation models; 3) Assuming a fixed detectable initial crack size and fitting a probabilistic distribution for crack initiation time based on specimen tests; and, 4) Modeling the crack initiation and propagation stage separately using small crack growth theories and Paris law or similar models. The conclusion is that in view of trade-off between accuracy and computation efforts, calibration of a small fictitious initial crack size to S-N curves is the most efficient approach.

Keywords: crack initiation, fatigue reliability, inspection planning, welded joints

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Authors: Saeed Chamehsara, Seyed Mostafa Mirsalim, Mehdi Tajdari

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In this study, the effect of fuel injection discharge curve and injection pressure simultaneously for upgrading power of heavy duty diesel engine by simulation of combustion process in AVL-Fire software are discussed. Hence, the fuel injection discharge curve was changed from semi-triangular to rectangular which is usual in common rail fuel injection system. Injection pressure with respect to amount of injected fuel and nozzle hole diameter are changed. Injection pressure is calculated by an experimental equation which is for heavy duty diesel engines with common rail fuel injection system. Upgrading power for 1000 and 2000 bar injection pressure are discussed. For 1000 bar injection pressure with 188 mg injected fuel and 3 mm nozzle hole diameter in compare with first state which is semi-triangular discharge curve with 139 mg injected fuel and 3 mm nozzle hole diameter, upgrading power is about 19% whereas the special change has not been observed in cylinder pressure. On the other hand, both the NOX emission and the Soot emission decreased about 30% and 6% respectively. Compared with first state, for 2000 bar injection pressure that injected fuel and nozzle diameter are 196 mg and 2.6 mm respectively, upgrading power is about 22% whereas cylinder pressure has been fixed and NOX emission and the Soot emissions are decreased 36% and 20%, respectively.

Keywords: CFD simulation, HD diesel engine, upgrading power, injection pressure, fuel injection discharge curve, combustion process

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Authors: M. Boháč, R. Novotný, F. Frajkorová, R. S. Yadav, T. Opravil, M. Palou

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Properties of Portland cement mixtures with various fractions of metakaolin were studied. 10 % of Portland cement CEM I 42.5 R was replaced by different fractions of high reactivity metakaolin with defined chemical and mineralogical properties. Various fractions of metakaolin were prepared by jet mill classifying system. There is a clear trend between fineness of metakaolin and hydration heat development. Due to metakaolin presence in mixtures the compressive strength development of mortars is rather slower for coarser fractions but 28-day flexural strengths are improved for all fractions of metakaoline used in mixtures compared to reference sample of pure Portland cement. Yield point, plastic viscosity and adhesion of fresh pastes are considerably influenced by fineness of metakaolin used in cement pastes.

Keywords: calorimetry, cement, metakaolin fineness, rheology, strength

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Authors: Reza Mohammadi

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Using quartic spline, we develop a method for numerical solution of singularly perturbed two-point boundary-value problems. The purposed method is fourth-order accurate and applicable to problems both in singular and non-singular cases. The convergence analysis of the method is given. The resulting linear system of equations has been solved by using a tri-diagonal solver. We applied the presented method to test problems which have been solved by other existing methods in references, for comparison of presented method with the existing methods. Numerical results are given to illustrate the efficiency of our methods.

Keywords: second-order ordinary differential equation, singularly-perturbed, quartic spline, convergence analysis

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Authors: Qinglin Liu, Zhiyong Lin, Zongheng Wei, Jianfeng Wen, Congming Yi, Hai Liu

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The multi-channel blind rendezvous problem in distributed cognitive radio networks (DCRNs) refers to how users in the network can hop to the same channel at the same time slot without any prior knowledge (i.e., each user is unaware of other users' information). The channel hopping (CH) technique is a typical solution to this blind rendezvous problem. In this paper, we propose a quinary coding and matrix structure-based CH algorithm called QCMS-CH. The QCMS-CH algorithm can guarantee the rendezvous of users using only one cognitive radio in the scenario of the asynchronous clock (i.e., arbitrary time drift between the users), heterogeneous channels (i.e., the available channel sets of users are distinct), and symmetric role (i.e., all users play a same role). The QCMS-CH algorithm first represents a randomly selected channel (denoted by R) as a fixed-length quaternary number. Then it encodes the quaternary number into a quinary bootstrapping sequence according to a carefully designed quaternary-quinary coding table with the prefix "R00". Finally, it builds a CH matrix column by column according to the bootstrapping sequence and six different types of elaborately generated subsequences. The user can access the CH matrix row by row and accordingly perform its channel, hoping to attempt rendezvous with other users. We prove the correctness of QCMS-CH and derive an upper bound on its Maximum Time-to-Rendezvous (MTTR). Simulation results show that the QCMS-CH algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art in terms of the MTTR and the Expected Time-to-Rendezvous (ETTR).

Keywords: channel hopping, blind rendezvous, cognitive radio networks, quaternary-quinary coding

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Authors: Sajjad Yahaghifar

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From the end of the last century, the importance and use of renewable energy sources have gained prominence, due not only by the fossil fuels dependence reduction, but mainly by environmental reasons related to climate change and the effects to the humanity. Consequently, solar energy has been arousing interest in several countries for being a technology considered clean, with reduced environmental impact. The output power of photo voltaic (PV) arrays is always changing with weather conditions,i.e., solar irradiation and atmospheric temperature. Therefore, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control to extract maximum power from the PV arrays at real time becomes indispensable in PV generation system. This paper Study MPPT and total harmonic distortion (THD) in the city of Tabriz, Iran with the grid-connected PV system as distributed generation.

Keywords: MPPT, THD, grid-connected, PV system

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Authors: Peer M. Sathikh

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Creativity and innovation have become an important phenomenon today, whose potential is being realized through the success of Apple, Google/Android, Nike, Virgin, Dyson and other multinationals that are a household name today. Creativity and Innovation are, many times, used interchangeably, causing confusion as to what each represents and are capable of. Attempts to understand creativity and innovation clearly point to the difference, and at the same time, inter-dependency of one on the other. The assumption that having more creative personnel in a team will translate into innovation sooner or later seems generally counterproductive. What helps define the role of creativity and innovation in an organization and how can one build an innovative team? This paper points to the importance of understanding creative culture and innovation culture in order to bring about the desired innovation outcome and proposes a means to transform one to another as ideas move from mere ideas to useful innovation.

Keywords: creativity, innovation, creative culture, innovation culture, transformal operators

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Authors: Suwarsono, Ario S. Baskoro, Gandjar Kiswanto, Budiono

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Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a relatively new technique for joining metal. In some cases on aluminum joining, FSW gives better results compared with the arc welding processes, including the quality of welds and produces less distortion.FSW welding process for a light structure and thin materials requires small forces as possible, to avoid structure deflection. The joining process on FSW occurs because of melting temperature and compressive forces, the temperature generation of caused by material deformation and friction between the cutting tool and material. In this research, High speed rotation of spindle was expected to reduce the force required for deformation. The welding material was Aluminum A1100, with thickness of 0.4 mm. The tool was made of HSS material which was shaped by micro grinding process. Tool shoulder diameter is 4 mm, and the length of pin was 0.6 mm (with pin diameter= 1.5 mm). The parameters that varied were the plunge speed (2 mm/min, 3 mm/min, 4 mm/min). The tool speed is fixed at 33,000 rpm. Responses of FSSW parameters to analyze were Axial Force (Z-Force), Temperature and the Shear Strength of welds. Research found the optimum µFSSW parameters, it can be concluded that the most important parameters in the μFSSW process was plunge speed. lowest plunge speed (2 mm / min) causing the lowest axial force (110.40 Newton). The increases of plunge speed will increase the axial force (maximum Z-Farce= 236.03 Newton), and decrease the shear strength of welds.

Keywords: friction stir spot welding, aluminum A1100, plunge speed, axial force, shear strength

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Authors: S. Sathiyamoorthi, P. Srinivasan, K. Suganya Devi

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Arylidene derivatives are the subclass of chalcone derivatives. Chalcone derivatives are studied widely for the past decade because of its nonlinearity. To seek new organic group of crystals which suit for fabrication of optical devices, three-member organic arylidene crystals were synthesized by using Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction. Good quality crystals were grown by slow evaporation method. Functional groups were identified by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectrum. Optical transparency and optical band gap were determined by UV-Vis-IR studies. Thermal stability and melting point were calculated using TGA and DSC. Variation of dielectric loss and dielectric constant with frequency were calculated by dielectric measurement.

Keywords: DSC and TGA studies, nonlinear optic studies, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, UV-vis-NIR spectra

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Authors: A. Almaneea, N. Kapur, J. L. Summers, H. M. Thompson

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Meeting the growth in demand for digital services such as social media, telecommunications, and business and cloud services requires large scale data centres, which has led to an increase in their end use energy demand. Generally, over 30% of data centre power is consumed by the necessary cooling overhead. Thus energy can be reduced by improving the cooling efficiency. Air and liquid can both be used as cooling media for the data centre. Traditional data centre cooling systems use air, however liquid is recognised as a promising method that can handle the more densely packed data centres. Liquid cooling can be classified into three methods; rack heat exchanger, on-chip heat exchanger and full immersion of the microelectronics. This study quantifies the improvements of heat transfer specifically for the case of immersed microelectronics by varying the CPU and heat sink location. Immersion of the server is achieved by filling the gap between the microelectronics and a water jacket with a dielectric liquid which convects the heat from the CPU to the water jacket on the opposite side. Heat transfer is governed by two physical mechanisms, which is natural convection for the fixed enclosure filled with dielectric liquid and forced convection for the water that is pumped through the water jacket. The model in this study is validated with published numerical and experimental work and shows good agreement with previous work. The results show that the heat transfer performance and Nusselt number (Nu) is improved by 89% by placing the CPU and heat sink on the bottom of the microelectronics enclosure.

Keywords: CPU location, data centre cooling, heat sink in enclosures, immersed microelectronics, turbulent natural convection in enclosures

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Authors: Mahmoud S. El-Sebaey, Asko Ellman, Ahmed Hegazy, Tarek Ghonim

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Due to population growth, the need for drinkable healthy water is highly increased. Consequently, and since the conventional sources of water are limited, researchers devoted their efforts to oceans and seas for obtaining fresh drinkable water by thermal distillation. The current work is dedicated to the design and fabrication of modified solar still model, as well as conventional solar still for the sake of comparison. The modified still is single slope double basin solar still. The still consists of a lower basin with a dimension of 1000 mm x 1000 mm which contains the sea water, as well as the top basin that made with 4 mm acrylic, was temporarily kept on the supporting strips permanently fixed with the side walls. Equally ten spaced vertical glass strips of 50 mm height and 3 mm thickness were provided at the upper basin for the stagnancy of the water. Window glass of 3 mm was used as the transparent cover with 23° inclination at the top of the still. Furthermore, the performance evaluation and comparison of these two models in converting salty seawater into drinkable freshwater are introduced, analyzed and discussed. The experiments were performed during the period from June to July 2018 at seawater depths of 2, 3, 4 and 5 cm. Additionally, the solar still models were operated simultaneously in the same climatic conditions to analyze the influence of the modifications on the freshwater output. It can be concluded that the modified design of double basin single slope solar still shows the maximum freshwater output at all water depths tested. The results showed that the daily productivity for modified and conventional solar still was 2.9 and 1.8 dm³/m² day, indicating an increase of 60% in fresh water production.

Keywords: freshwater output, solar still, solar energy, thermal desalination

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Authors: Monika Foltyn-Zarychta

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Climate change mitigation investment activities are inevitably extended in time extremely. The project cycle does not last for decades – sometimes it stretches out for hundreds of years and the project outcomes impact several generations. The longevity of those activities raises multiple problems in the appraisal procedure. One of the pivotal issues is the choice of the discount rate, which affect tremendously the net present value criterion. The paper aims at estimating the value of social discount rate for intergenerational investment projects in Poland based on individual intertemporal preferences. The analysis is based on questionnaire surveying Polish citizens and designed as contingent valuation method. The analysis aimed at answering two questions: 1) whether the value of the individual discount rate decline with increased time of delay, and 2) whether the value of the individual discount rate changes with increased spatial distance toward the gainers of the project. The valuation questions were designed to identify respondent’s indifference point between lives saved today and in the future due to hypothetical project mitigating climate changes. Several project effects’ delays (of 10, 30, 90 and 150 years) were used to test the decline in value with time. The variability in regard to distance was tested by asking respondents to estimate their indifference point separately for gainers in Poland and in Latvia. The results show that as the time delay increases, the average discount rate value decreases from 15,32% for 10-year delay to 2,75% for 150-year delay. Similar values were estimated for Latvian beneficiaries. There should be also noticed that the average volatility measured by standard deviation also decreased with time delay. However, the results did not show any statistically significant difference in discount rate values for Polish and Latvian gainers. The results showing the decline of the discount rate with time prove the possible economic efficiency of the intergenerational effect of climate change mitigation projects and may induce the assumption of the altruistic behavior of present generation toward future people. Furthermore, it can be backed up by the same discount rate level declared by Polish for distant in space Latvian gainers. The climate change activities usually need significant outlays and the payback period is extremely long. The more precise the variables in the appraisal are, the more trustworthy and rational the investment decision is. The discount rate estimations for Poland add to the vivid discussion concerning the issue of climate change and intergenerational justice.

Keywords: climate change, social discount rate, investment appraisal, intergenerational justice

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Authors: Farah Diab, Mohamad Khalil, Francesca Storace, Francesca Baldini, Piero Portincasaa, Giulio Lupidi, Laura Vergani

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Thymbra spicata is a thyme-like plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family that shows a global distribution, especially in the eastern Mediterranean region. Leaves of T. spicata contain large amounts of phenols such as phenolic acids (rosmarinic acid), phenolic monoterpenes (carvacrol), and flavonoids. In Lebanon, T. spicata is currently used as a culinary herb in salad and infusion, as well as for traditional medicinal purposes. Carvacrol (5-isopropyl-2-methyl phenol), the most abundant polyphenol in the organic extract and essential oils, has a great array of pharmacological properties. In fact, carvacrol is largely employed as a food additive and neutraceutical agent. Our aim is to investigate the beneficial effects of T. spicata ethanolic extract (TE) and its main component, carvacrol, using in vitro models of hepatic steatosis and endothelial dysfunction. As a further point, we focused on investigating if and how the binding of carvacrol to albumin, the physiological transporter for drugs in the blood, might be altered by the presence of high levels of fatty acids (FAs), thus impairing the carvacrol bio-distribution in vivo. For that reason, hepatic FaO cells treated with exogenous FAs such as oleate and palmitate mimic hepatosteatosis; endothelial HECV cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide are a model of endothelial dysfunction. In these models, we measured lipid accumulation, free radical production, lipoperoxidation, and nitric oxide release before and after treatment with carvacrol. The carvacrol binding to albumin with/without high levels of long-chain FAs was assessed by absorption and emission spectroscopies. Our findings show that both TE and carvacrol (i) counteracted lipid accumulation in hepatocytes by decreasing the intracellular and extracellular lipid contents in steatotic FaO cells; (ii) decreased oxidative stress in endothelial cells by significantly reducing lipoperoxidation and free radical production, as well as, attenuating the nitric oxide release; (ii) high levels of circulating FAs reduced the binding of carvacrol to albumin. The beneficial effects of TE and carvacrol on both hepatic and endothelial cells point to a nutraceutical potential. However, high levels of circulating FAs, such as those occurring in metabolic disorders, might hinder the carvacrol transport, bio-distribution, and pharmacodynamics.

Keywords: carvacrol, endothelial dysfunction, fatty acids, non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, serum albumin

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Authors: Tuğrul Aksoy, Hüseyin Karabıyık

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Reloading vehicles are the vehicles which are generally equipped with a crane and used to carry a stowage from a point and locate onto the vehicle or vice versa. In this study, structural analysis of a reloading vehicle was performed under the loads which are predicted to be exposed under operating conditions via the finite element method. Among the finite element analysis results, the stress and displacement distributions of the vehicle and the contact pressure distributions of the guide rings within the stabilization legs were examined. Vehicle design was improved by strengthening certain parts according to the analysis results. The analyses performed for the final design were verified by the experiments involving strain gauge measurements.

Keywords: structural analysis, reloading vehicle, crane, strain gauge

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Authors: Hugo Badia

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This research answers which is the most suitable transit network structure to serve specific demand requirements in an increasing urban dispersion process. Two main approaches of network design are found in the literature. On the one hand, a traditional answer, widespread in our cities, that develops a high number of lines to connect most of origin-destination pairs by direct trips; an approach based on the idea that users averse to transfers. On the other hand, some authors advocate an alternative design characterized by simple networks where transfer is essential to complete most of trips. To answer which of them is the best option, we use a two-step methodology. First, by means of an analytical model, three basic network structures are compared: a radial scheme, starting point for the other two structures, a direct trip-based network, and a transfer-based one, which represent the two alternative transit network designs. The model optimizes the network configuration with regard to the total cost for each structure. For a scenario of dispersion, the best alternative is the structure with the minimum cost. This dispersion degree is defined in a simple way considering that only a central area attracts all trips. If this area is small, we have a high concentrated mobility pattern; if this area is too large, the city is highly decentralized. In this first step, we can determine the area of applicability for each structure in function to that urban dispersion degree. The analytical results show that a radial structure is suitable when the demand is so centralized, however, when this demand starts to scatter, new transit lines should be implemented to avoid transfers. If the urban dispersion advances, the introduction of more lines is no longer a good alternative, in this case, the best solution is a change of structure, from direct trips to a network based on transfers. The area of applicability of each network strategy is not constant, it depends on the characteristics of demand, city and transport technology. In the second step, we translate analytical results to a real case study by the relationship between the parameters of dispersion of the model and direct measures of dispersion in a real city. Two dimensions of the urban sprawl process are considered: concentration, defined by Gini coefficient, and centralization by area based centralization index. Once it is estimated the real dispersion degree, we are able to identify in which area of applicability the city is located. In summary, from a strategic point of view, we can obtain with this methodology which is the best network design approach for a city, comparing the theoretical results with the real dispersion degree.

Keywords: analytical network design model, network structure, public transport, urban dispersion

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Authors: Rana Atta Ur Rahman, Daniel Juhre

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Initiation of crack during fatigue of casting alloys are noticed mainly on the basis of experimental results. Crack initiation and strength of fatigue of AA320 are summarized here. Load sequence effect is applied to notify initiation phase life. Crack initiation at notch root and fatigue life is calculated under single & two-step mechanical loading (ML) with and without combined thermal cycling (CTC). An Experimental setup is proposed to create the working temperature as per alloy applications. S-N curves are plotted, and a comparison is made between crack initiation leading to failure under different ML with & without thermal loading (TL).

Keywords: fatigue, initiation, SN curve, alloy

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Authors: Parastou Kharazmi, Folke Björk

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Some of the main causes for degradation of polymeric materials are thermal aging, hydrolysis, oxidation or chemical degradation by acids, alkalis or water. The first part of this paper provides a brief summary of advances in technology, methods and specification of composite materials for relining as a rehabilitation technique for sewage systems. The second part summarizes an investigation on frequently used composite materials for relining in Sweden, the rubber filled epoxy composite and reinforced polyester composite when they were immersed in deionized water or in dry conditions, and elevated temperatures up to 80°C in the laboratory. The tests were conducted by visual inspection, microscopy, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) as well as mechanical testing, three point bending and tensile testing.

Keywords: composite, epoxy, polyester, relining, sewage

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Authors: Mohamed Elshobaki, Alessandro Valiani, Valerio Caleffi

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In this paper, we solve 1-D shallow water equation for sub-critical and super-critical water flow at junction. The water flow at junction has been studied for the last 50 years from the physical-hydraulic point of views and for numerical computations need more attention. For numerical simulation, we need to establish an inner boundary condition at the junction to avoid an oscillation which rise from the waves interactions at the junction. Indeed, we introduce a new boundary condition at the junction based on the mass conservation, total head, and the admissible wave relations between the flow parameters in the three branches to predict the water depths and discharges at the junction. These boundary conditions are valid for sub-critical flow and super-critical flow.

Keywords: numerical simulation, junction flow, sub-critical flow, super-critical flow

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Authors: Pierluigi Gallo, Francesco Randazzo, Ignazio Gallo

Abstract:

In recent years, many new and interesting models of successful online business have been developed. Many of these are based on the competition between users, such as online auctions, where the product price is not fixed and tends to rise. Other models, including group-buying, are based on cooperation between users, characterized by a dynamic price of the product that tends to go down. There is not yet a business model in which both sellers and buyers are grouped in order to negotiate on a specific product or service. The present study investigates a new extension of the group-buying model, called fair, which allows aggregation of demand and supply for price optimization, in a cooperative manner. Additionally, our system also aggregates products and destinations for shipping optimization. We introduced the following new relevant input parameters in order to implement a double-side aggregation: (a) price-quantity curves provided by the seller; (b) waiting time, that is, the longer buyers wait, the greater discount they get; (c) payment time, which determines if the buyer pays before, during or after receiving the product; (d) the distance between the place where products are available and the place of shipment, provided in advance by the buyer or dynamically suggested by the system. To analyze the proposed model we implemented a system prototype and a simulator that allows studying effects of changing some input parameters. We analyzed the dynamic price model in fairs having one single seller and a combination of selected sellers. The results are very encouraging and motivate further investigation on this topic.

Keywords: auction, aggregation, fair, group buying, social buying

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Authors: Houda Jalali, Hassan Abbassi

Abstract:

In this numerical work, natural convection and entropy generation of Al₂O₃–water nanofluid in square cavity have been studied. A two-dimensional steady laminar natural convection in a differentially heated square cavity of length L, filled with a nanofluid is investigated numerically. The horizontal walls are considered adiabatic. Vertical walls corresponding to x=0 and x=L are respectively maintained at hot temperature, T_h and cold temperature, T_c. The resolution is performed by the CFD code "FLUENT" in combination with GAMBIT as mesh generator. These simulations are performed by maintaining the Rayleigh numbers varied as 10³ ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁶, while the solid volume fraction varied from 1% to 5%, the particle size is fixed at dp=33 nm and a range of the temperature from 20 to 70 °C. We used models of thermophysical nanofluids properties based on experimental measurements for studying the effect of adding solid particle into water in natural convection heat transfer and entropy generation of nanofluid. Such as models of thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity which are dependent on solid volume fraction, particle size and temperature. The average Nusselt number is calculated at the hot wall of the cavity in a different solid volume fraction. The most important results is that at low temperatures (less than 40 °C), the addition of nanosolids Al₂O₃ into water leads to a decrease in heat transfer and entropy generation instead of the expected increase, whereas at high temperature, heat transfer and entropy generation increase with the addition of nanosolids. This behavior is due to the contradictory effects of viscosity and thermal conductivity of the nanofluid. These effects are discussed in this work.

Keywords: entropy generation, heat transfer, nanofluid, natural convection

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Authors: R. Dubey, M. Sarwan, S. Singh

Abstract:

We have investigated the phase transition pressure and associated volume collapse in Sm1– X EuX S alloy (0≤x≤1) which shows transition from discontinuous to continuous as x is reduced. The calculated results from present approach are in good agreement with experimental data available for the end point members (x=0 and x=1). The results for the alloy counter parts are also in fair agreement with experimental data generated from the vegard’s law. An improved interaction potential model has been developed which includes coulomb, three body interaction, polarizability effect and overlap repulsive interaction operative up to second neighbor ions. It is found that the inclusion of polarizability effect has improved our results.

Keywords: elastic constants, high pressure, phase transition, rare earth compound

Procedia PDF Downloads 412

Authors: Benjamin Okike

Abstract:

There is a need to hide information along the superhighway. Today, information relating to the survival of individuals, organizations, or government agencies is transmitted from one point to another. Adversaries are always on the watch along the superhighway to intercept any information that would enable them to inflict psychological ‘injuries’ to their victims. But with information encryption, this can be prevented completely or at worst reduced to the barest minimum. There is no doubt that so many encryption techniques have been proposed, and some of them are already being implemented. However, adversaries always discover loopholes on them to perpetuate their evil plans. In this work, we propose the enhanced data encryption standard (EDES) that would deploy randomly generated numbers as an encryption method. Each time encryption is to be carried out, a new set of random numbers would be generated, thereby making it almost impossible for cryptanalysts to decrypt any information encrypted with this newly proposed method.

Keywords: encryption, enhanced data encryption, encryption techniques, information security

Procedia PDF Downloads 141