Search results for: digital surface model

Authors: Shu-Chuan Liao, Chia-Ti Chang, Ko-Shao Chen

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Titanium and its alloy are widely used in many fields such as dentistry or orthopaedics. Due to their high strength low elastic modulus that chemical inertness and bio inert. The micro-arc oxidation used to formation a micro porous ceramic oxide layer film on Titanium surface and also to improve the resistance corrosion. For improving the biocompatibility, micro-arc oxidation surfaces bio-inert need to introduce reactive group. We introduced boundary layer by used plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and organic active layer by UV light graft reactive monomer acrylic acid (AAc) therefore we can immobilize Chondroitin sulphate on surface easily by crosslinking EDC/NHS. The surface properties and composition of the modified layer were measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and water contact angle. Water contact angle of the plasma-treated Ti surface decreases from 60° to 38°, which is an indication of hydrophilicity. The results of electrochemical polarization analysis showed that the sample plasma treated at micro-arc oxidation after plasma treatment has the best corrosion resistance. The result showed that we can immobilize chondroitin sulfate successful by a series of modification and MTT assay indicated the biocompatibility has been improved in this study.

Keywords: MAO, plasma, graft polymerization, biomedical application

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Authors: Surajit Chakrabarty, Piyush Chauhan, Subhasis Panda, Sujoy Bhattacharya

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A large proportion of roads in India are not well maintained as per the laid down public safety guidelines leading to loss of direction control and fatal accidents. We propose a technique to detect speed breakers and potholes using mobile sensor data captured from multiple vehicles and provide a profile of the road. This would, in turn, help in monitoring roads and revolutionize digital maps. Incorporating randomness in the model formulation for detection of speed breakers and potholes is crucial due to substantial heterogeneity observed in data obtained using a mobile application from multiple vehicles driven by different drivers. This is accomplished with Hidden Markov Models, whose hidden state sequence is found for each time step given the observables sequence, and are then fed as input to LSTM network with peephole connections. A precision score of 0.96 and 0.63 is obtained for classifying bumps and potholes, respectively, a significant improvement from the machine learning based models. Further visualization of bumps/potholes is done by converting time series to images using Markov Transition Fields where a significant demarcation among bump/potholes is observed.

Keywords: deep learning, hidden Markov model, pothole, speed breaker

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Authors: Joshua Chima Chizoba, Wisdom Izuchukwu Uzoma, Elizabeth Ifeyiwa Okoyeh

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Water cannot be optimally used and sustained unless the quality is periodically assessed. The study area Umunneochi and environs are located in south eastern part of Nigeria. It stretches geographically from latitudes 50501N to 60000N and longitudes 70201E to 70301. The major geologic formations in the area include the Asu River group, Nkporo Shale, and Ajali Sandstone. The aim of this study is to evaluate the hydrochemical characteristics of surface and ground water sources in parts of Umunneochi and environs in order to establish portability of the water sources for drinking, domestic and irrigation purposes. A total of 15 samples were collected randomly from streams, springs and wells. The samples were analyzed for physicochemical parameters and heavy metals using handheld digital kits, photometer, titration method and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) following acceptable standards. The obtained analytical data were interpreted, and results were compared with World Health Organization (WHO) standard. The concentration of pH, SO42-and Cl- range from 5.81 mg/l – 6.07 mg/l, 41.93 mg/l – 142.95 mg/l and 20.00 mg/l – 111 mg/l respectively, while Pb and Zn revealed a relative low mean concentration of 0.14 mg/l and 0.40 mg/l, which are all within (WHO) permissible limits except pH. About 27% of the samples are moderately hard. This is attributed to the mining activities in the areas. The abundance of cations and anions in the area are in the order of K+>Na+>Mg2+>Ca2+ and SO4->Cl->HCO3->NO3-, respectively. Chloride, bicarbonate, and nitrate are all within the permissible limits. 13.33% of the total samples contain Sulphate above the standard permissible limits. The values of calculated Water Quality Index (WQI) are less than 50 indicating excellent water. The predominant water-type in the study area is Na-Cl water type and mixed Ca-Mg-Cl water type based on the sample plots on the Piper diagram. The Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR) calculations showed excellent water for consumption and also good water for irrigation purpose with low sodium and alkalinity ratio respectively. Government water projects are recommended in the area for sustainable domestic and agricultural water supply to ease the stress of water supply problems.

Keywords: groundwater, hydrochemical, physichochemical, water-type, sodium adsorption ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Amir Hossein Haji, Nabeel Al-Rawahi, Gholamreza Vakili-Nezhaad

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An innovative design has been examined for a gas-oil separator based on pressure reduction over an airfoil surface. The primary motivations are to shorten the release trajectory of the bubbles by minimizing the thickness of the oil layer as well as improving uniform pressure reduction zones. Restricted airflow over an airfoil is investigated for its effect on the pressure drop enhancement and the maximum attainable attack angle prior to the stall condition. Aerodynamic separation is delayed based on numerical simulation of Wortmann FX 63137 Airfoil in a confined domain using FLUENT 6.3.26. The proposed set up results in higher pressure drop compared with the free stream case. With the aim of optimum power consumption we have pursued further restriction to an air jet case over the airfoil. Then, a curved strip model is suggested for the air jet which can be applied as an analysis/design tool for the best performance conditions. Pressure reduction is shown to be inversely proportional to the curvature of the upper airfoil profile. This reduction occurs within the tracking zones where the air jet is effectively attached to the airfoil surface. The zero slope condition is suggested to estimate the onset of these zones after which the minimum curvature should be searched. The corresponding zero slope curvature is applied for estimation of the maximum pressure drop which shows satisfactory agreement with the simulation results.

Keywords: airfoil, air jet, curved fluid flow, gas-oil separator

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Authors: Weiping Liu

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This paper presents an equation to calculate stock prices of different growth model. This equation is mathematically derived by using discounted cash flow method. It has the advantages of being very easy to use and very accurate. It can still be used even when the first stage is lengthy. This equation is more generalized because it can be used for all the three popular stock price models. It can be programmed into financial calculator or electronic spreadsheets. In addition, it can be extended to a multistage model. It is more versatile and efficient than the traditional methods.

Keywords: stock price, multistage model, different growth model, discounted cash flow method

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Authors: Navneet Dabra, Baljinder Kaur, Lakhbir Singh, V. Annapu Reddy, R. Nath, Dae-Yong Jeong, Jasbir S. Hundal

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The ferroelectric properties of fused potassium nitrate (KNO3)- polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite films have been investigated. The composite films of KNO3-PVA have been prepared by solvant cast technique and then fused over the brass substrate. The ferroelectric hysteresis loops (P-E) have been obtained at room temperature using modified Sawyer-Tower circuit. Percentage of back switching and differential dielectric constant has been derived from P-V loops. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirm the formation of ferroelectric phase (phase III) in these composite films. The AFM and FE-SEM studies have been used to study the surface morphology of these composite films. The values of remanemt polarization, coercive field, back switching, crystallite size, lattice parameters, and surface roughness have been estimated and correlated.

Keywords: ferroelectric polymer composite, remanemt polarization, back switching, crystallite size, lattice parameters and surface roughness

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Authors: Amrin Moger, Sagar Bhalerao, Martin Mathew

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Advertisements play a vital role in dissemination of information regarding products and services. Advertisements as Mass Media tool is not only a source of entertainment, but also a source of information, education and entertainment. It provides information about the outside world and exposes us to other ways of life and culture. Public service advertisements (PSA) are generally aimed at public well-being. Aim of PSA is not to make profit, but rather to change public opinion and raise awareness in the Society about a social issue.’ Start with the boys’ is one such PSA aims to create awareness about issue of ‘gender bias’ that is taught prevalent in the society. Persons with disabilities (PWDs) are also consumers of PSA in the society. The population of persons with disability in the society also faces gender bias and discrimination. It is a double discrimination. The advertisement selected for the study gives out a strong message on gender bias and therefore must be accessible to everyone including PWDs in the society. Accessibility of PSA in the digital format can be done with the help of Universal Design (UD) in digital media application. Features of UD inclusive in nature, and it focus on eliminating established barriers through initial designs. It considers the needs of diverse people, whether they are persons with or without disability. In this research two aspects of UD in digital media: captioning and Indian sign language (ISL) is used. Hence a short survey study was under taken to know the effects of a multimedia on gender bias, in accessible format on persons with and without disability. The result demonstrated a significant difference in the opinion, on the usage accessible and non-accessible format for persons with and without disability and their understanding of message in the PSA selected for the study.

Keywords: public service advertisements, gender, disability, accessibility

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Authors: Vahid Anari, Leila Shahmohammadi

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Diagnosing and interpreting manually from a large cohort dataset of immunohistochemically stained tissue of tumors using an optical microscope involves subjectivity and also is tedious for pathologist specialists. Moreover, digital pathology today represents more of an evolution than a revolution in pathology. In this paper, we develop and test an unsupervised algorithm that can automatically enhance the IHC image of a meningioma tumor and classify cells into positive (proliferative) and negative (normal) cells. A dataset including 150 images is used to test the scheme. In addition, a new adaptive color image enhancement method is proposed based on a vector directional filter (VDF) and statistical properties of filtering the window. Since the cells are distinguishable by the human eye, the accuracy and stability of the algorithm are quantitatively compared through application to a wide variety of real images.

Keywords: digital pathology, cell segmentation, immunohistochemically, noise reduction

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Authors: Maria Evnevich

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In modern conditions, in most markets, price competition is becoming less effective. On the one hand, there is a gradual decrease in the level of marginality in main traditional sectors of the economy, so further price reduction becomes too ‘expensive’ for the company. On the other hand, the effect of price reduction is leveled, and the reason for this phenomenon is likely to be informational. As a result, it turns out that even if the company reduces prices, making its products more accessible to the buyer, there is a high probability that this will not lead to increase in sales unless additional large-scale advertising and information campaigns are conducted. Similarly, a large-scale information and advertising campaign have a much greater effect itself than price reductions. At the same time, the cost of mass informing is growing every year, especially when using the main information channels. The article presents generalization, systematization and development of theoretical approaches and best practices in the field of customer focus approach to business management and in the field of relationship marketing in the modern digital economy. The research methodology is based on the synthesis and content-analysis of sociological and marketing research and on the study of the systems of working with consumer appeals and loyalty programs in the 50 largest client-oriented companies in Russia. Also, the analysis of internal documentation on customers’ purchases in one of the largest retail companies in Russia allowed to identify if buyers prefer to buy goods for complex purchases in one retail store with the best price image for them. The cost of attracting a new client is now quite high and continues to grow, so it becomes more important to keep him and increase the involvement through marketing tools. A huge role is played by modern digital technologies used both in advertising (e-mailing, SEO, contextual advertising, banner advertising, SMM, etc.) and in service. To implement the above-described client-oriented omnichannel service, it is necessary to identify the client and work with personal data provided when filling in the loyalty program application form. The analysis of loyalty programs of 50 companies identified the following types of cards: discount cards, bonus cards, mixed cards, coalition loyalty cards, bank loyalty programs, aviation loyalty programs, hybrid loyalty cards, situational loyalty cards. The use of loyalty cards allows not only to stimulate the customer to purchase ‘untargeted’, but also to provide individualized offers, as well as to produce more targeted information. The development of digital technologies and modern means of communication has significantly changed not only the sphere of marketing and promotion, but also the economic landscape as a whole. Factors of competitiveness are the digital opportunities of companies in the field of customer orientation: personalization of service, customization of advertising offers, optimization of marketing activity and improvement of logistics.

Keywords: customer focus, digital economy, loyalty program, relationship marketing

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Authors: Ayman M. Ibrahim, Jinpeng Cai, Peilun Shen, Dianwen Liu

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The difference in promoting sulfurization between different ammonium salts and its anion's effect on the sulfurization of the malachite surface was systematically studied. Therefore, this study takes malachite, a typical copper oxide mineral, as the research object, field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (FESEM‒EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and other analytical and testing methods, as well as pure mineral flotation experiments, were carried out to examine the superiority of the ammonium salts as the sulfurizing reagent of malachite at the microscopic level. Additionally, the promoting effects of ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate on the malachite sulfurization of xanthate-flotation were compared systematically from the microstructure of sulfurized products, elemental composition, chemical state of characteristic elements, and hydrophobicity surface evolution. The FESEM and AFM results presented that after being pre-treated with ammonium salts, the adhesion of sulfurized products formed on the mineral surface was denser; thus, the flake radial dimension product was significantly greater. For malachite sulfurization flotation, the impact of ammonium phosphate in promoting sulfurization is weaker than ammonium sulfate. The reason may be that hydrolyzing phosphate consumes a substantial quantity of H+ in the solution, which hastens the formation of the copper-sulfur products, decreasing the adhesion stability of copper-sulfur species on the malachite surface.

Keywords: sulfurization flotation, adsorption characteristics, malachite, hydrophobicity

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Authors: J. F. Reinoso-Gordo, F. J. Ariza-López, A. Mozas-Calvache, J. L. García-Balboa, S. Eddargani

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The DEMs quality may depend on several factors such as data source, capture method, processing type used to derive them, or the cell size of the DEM. The two most important capture methods to produce regional-sized DEMs are photogrammetry and LiDAR; DEMs covering entire countries have been obtained with these methods. The quality of these DEMs has traditionally been evaluated by the national cartographic agencies through punctual sampling that focused on its vertical component. For this type of evaluation there are standards such as NMAS and ASPRS Positional Accuracy Standards for Digital Geospatial Data. However, it seems more appropriate to carry out this evaluation by means of a method that takes into account the superficial nature of the DEM and, therefore, its sampling is superficial and not punctual. This work is part of the Research Project "Functional Quality of Digital Elevation Models in Engineering" where it is necessary to control the quality of a DEM whose data source is an experimental LiDAR flight with a density of 14 points per square meter to which we call Point Cloud Product (PCpro). In the present work it is described the capture data on the ground and the postprocessing tasks until getting the point cloud that will be used as reference (PCref) to evaluate the PCpro quality. Each PCref consists of a patch 50x50 m size coming from a registration of 4 different scan stations. The area studied was the Spanish region of Navarra that covers an area of 10,391 km2; 30 patches homogeneously distributed were necessary to sample the entire surface. The patches have been captured using a Leica BLK360 terrestrial laser scanner mounted on a pole that reached heights of up to 7 meters; the position of the scanner was inverted so that the characteristic shadow circle does not exist when the scanner is in direct position. To ensure that the accuracy of the PCref is greater than that of the PCpro, the georeferencing of the PCref has been carried out with real-time GNSS, and its accuracy positioning was better than 4 cm; this accuracy is much better than the altimetric mean square error estimated for the PCpro (<15 cm); The kind of DEM of interest is the corresponding to the bare earth, so that it was necessary to apply a filter to eliminate vegetation and auxiliary elements such as poles, tripods, etc. After the postprocessing tasks the PCref is ready to be compared with the PCpro using different techniques: cloud to cloud or after a resampling process DEM to DEM.

Keywords: data quality, DEM, LiDAR, terrestrial laser scanner, accuracy

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Authors: P. Michael Preetam Raj, Souri Banerjee, Souvik Kundu

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Oxide based memristors were fabricated in order to establish its potential applications in analog/digital electronics. BaTiO₃-BiFeO₃ (BT-BFO) was employed as an active material, whereas platinum (Pt) and Nb-doped SrTiO₃ (Nb:STO) were served as a top and bottom electrodes, respectively. Piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM) was utilized to present the ferroelectricity and repeatable polarization inversion in the BT-BFO, demonstrating its effectiveness for resistive switching. The fabricated memristors exhibited excellent electrical characteristics, such as hysteresis current-voltage (I-V), high on/off ratio, high retention time, cyclic endurance, and low operating voltages. The band-alignment between the active material BT-BFO and the substrate Nb:STO was experimentally investigated using X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and it attributed to staggered heterojunction alignment. An energy band diagram was proposed in order to understand the electrical transport in BT-BFO/Nb:STO heterojunction. It was identified that the I-V curves of these memristors have several discontinuities. Curve fitting technique was utilized to analyse the I-V characteristic, and the obtained I-V equations were found to be parabolic. Utilizing this analysis, a non-linear BT-BFO memristors equivalent circuit model was developed. Interestingly, the obtained equivalent circuit of the BT-BFO memristors mimics the identical electrical performance, those obtained in the fabricated devices. Based on the developed equivalent circuit, a finite state machine (FSM) design was proposed. Efforts were devoted to fabricate the same FSM, and the results were well matched with those in the simulated FSM devices. Its multilevel noise filtering and immunity to external noise characteristics were also studied. Further, the feature of variable negative resistance was established by controlling the current through the memristor.

Keywords: band alignment, finite state machine, polarization inversion, resistive switching

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Authors: Dong Il Shim, Geehong Choi, Donghwi Lee, Namkyu Lee, Hyung Hee Cho

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Effective cooling technology is required to secure thermal stability in extreme heat generated systems such as integrated electronic devices and power generated systems. Pool boiling heat transfer is one of the powerful cooling mechanisms using phase change phenomena. Critical heat flux (CHF) and heat transfer coefficient (HTC) are main factors to evaluate the performance of boiling heat transfer. CHF is the limitation of boiling heat transfer before film boiling which occurs thermal failure. Surface wettability is an important surface characteristic of boiling heat transfer. A hydrophilic surface has higher CHF through effective working fluid supply to local hot spots. A hydrophobic surface promotes the onset of nucleate boiling (ONB) to enhance HTC. In this study, superbiphilic surfaces, which is combined with superhydrophillic and superhydrophobic, are applied on boiling experiments to maximize boiling performance. We conducted pool boiling heat transfer using DI water at a saturated temperature and recorded bubble dynamics using a high-speed camera with 2000 fps. As a result, superbiphilic patterned surfaces promote ONB and enhance both CHF and HTC. This study demonstrates the enhanced boiling performance using superbiphilic surfaces by effective nucleation and separation of liquid/vapor pathway. We expect that further enhancement of heat transfer could be achieved in future work using optimized patterned surfaces.

Keywords: boiling heat transfer, wettability, critical heat flux, heat transfer coefficient

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Authors: Jie Chen, Chris Cheng, Kai Zhang

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Polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) cutters with a polycrystalline diamond (PCD) table supported by a cemented tungsten carbide substrate have been widely used for earth-drilling tools in the oil and gas industry. Both wear and impact resistances are key figure of merits of PDC cutters, and they are closely related to the microstructure of the PCD table. As oil and gas exploration enters deeper, harder, and more complex formations, plus increasing requirement of accelerated downhole drilling speed and drilling cost reduction, current PDC cutters face unprecedented challenges for maintaining a longer drilling life than ever. Excessive wear on uneven hard formations, spalling, chipping, and premature fracture due to impact loads are common failure modes of PDC cutters in the field. Tailoring microstructure of the PCD table is one of the effective approaches to improve the wear and impact resistances of PDC cutters, along with other factors such as cutter geometry and bit design. In this research, cross-sectional microstructure, fracture surface, wear surface, and elemental composition of PDC cutters were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with both backscattered electron and secondary electron detectors, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The microstructure and elemental composition were further correlated with the wear and impact resistances of corresponding PDC cutters. Wear modes and impact toughening mechanisms of state-of-the-art PDCs were identified. Directions to further improve the wear and impact resistances of PDC cutters were proposed.

Keywords: fracture surface, microstructure, polycrystalline diamond, PDC, wear surface

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Authors: Sadia Arshad, Ayesha Sohail, Sana Javed, Khadija Maqbool, Salma Kanwal

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The dynamical study of the carriers play an essential role in the evolution and global transmission of infectious diseases and will be discussed in this study. To make this approach novel, we will consider the fractional order model which is generalization of integer order derivative to an arbitrary number. Since the integration involved is non local therefore this property of fractional operator is very useful to study epidemic model for infectious diseases. An extended numerical method (ODE solver) is implemented on the model equations and we will present the simulations of the model for different values of fractional order to study the effect of carriers on transmission dynamics. Global dynamics of fractional model are established by using the reproduction number.

Keywords: Fractional differential equation, Numerical simulations, epidemic model, transmission dynamics

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Authors: Rowane May A. Fesalbon, Greyland C. Agno, Jodel L. Cuasay, Dindo A. Malonzo, Ma. Rosario Concepcion O. Ang

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The Department of Energy of the Republic of the Philippines estimates that the country’s energy reserves for 2015 are dwindling– observed in the rotating power outages in several localities. To aid in the energy crisis, a national hydropower resource assessment scheme is developed. Hydropower is a resource that is derived from flowing water and difference in elevation. It is a renewable energy resource that is deemed abundant in the Philippines – being an archipelagic country that is rich in bodies of water and water resources. The objectives of this study is to develop a methodology for a national hydropower resource assessment using hydrologic modeling and geospatial techniques in order to generate resource maps for future reference and use of the government and other stakeholders. The methodology developed for this purpose is focused on two models – the implementation of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the river discharge and the use of geospatial techniques to analyze the topography and obtain the head, and generate the theoretical hydropower potential sites. The methodology is highly coupled with Geographic Information Systems to maximize the use of geodatabases and the spatial significance of the determined sites. The hydrologic model used in this workflow is SWAT integrated in the GIS software ArcGIS. The head is determined by a developed algorithm that utilizes a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-derived digital elevation model (DEM) which has a resolution of 10-meters. The initial results of the developed workflow indicate hydropower potential in the river reaches ranging from pico (less than 5 kW) to mini (1-3 MW) theoretical potential.

Keywords: ArcSWAT, renewable energy, hydrologic model, hydropower, GIS

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Authors: Imran Aziz Tunio

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Islamkot is an underdeveloped sub-district (Taluka) in the Tharparkar district Sindh province of Pakistan located between latitude 24°25'19.79"N to 24°47'59.92"N and longitude 70° 1'13.95"E to 70°32'15.11"E. The Islamkot has an arid desert climate and the region is generally devoid of perennial rivers, canals, and streams. It is highly dependent on rainfall which is not considered a reliable surface water source and groundwater is the only key source of water for many centuries. To assess groundwater’s potential, an electrical resistivity survey (ERS) was conducted in Islamkot Taluka. Groundwater investigations for 128 Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) were collected to determine the groundwater potential and obtain qualitatively and quantitatively layered resistivity parameters. The PASI Model 16 GL-N Resistivity Meter was used by employing a Schlumberger electrode configuration, with half current electrode spacing (AB/2) ranging from 1.5 to 100 m and the potential electrode spacing (MN/2) from 0.5 to 10 m. The data was acquired with a maximum current electrode spacing of 200 m. The data processing for the delineation of dune sand aquifers involved the technique of data inversion, and the interpretation of the inversion results was aided by the use of forward modeling. The measured geo-electrical parameters were examined by Interpex IX1D software, and apparent resistivity curves and synthetic model layered parameters were mapped in the ArcGIS environment using the inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation technique. Qualitative interpretation of vertical electrical sounding (VES) data shows the number of geo-electrical layers in the area varies from three to four with different resistivity values detected. Out of 128 VES model curves, 42 nos. are 3 layered, and 86 nos. are 4 layered. The resistivity of the first subsurface layers (Loose surface sand) varied from 16.13 Ωm to 3353.3 Ωm and thickness varied from 0.046 m to 17.52m. The resistivity of the second subsurface layer (Semi-consolidated sand) varied from 1.10 Ωm to 7442.8 Ωm and thickness varied from 0.30 m to 56.27 m. The resistivity of the third subsurface layer (Consolidated sand) varied from 0.00001 Ωm to 3190.8 Ωm and thickness varied from 3.26 m to 86.66 m. The resistivity of the fourth subsurface layer (Silt and Clay) varied from 0.0013 Ωm to 16264 Ωm and thickness varied from 13.50 m to 87.68 m. The Dar Zarrouk parameters, i.e. longitudinal unit conductance S is from 0.00024 to 19.91 mho; transverse unit resistance T from 7.34 to 40080.63 Ωm2; longitudinal resistance RS is from 1.22 to 3137.10 Ωm and transverse resistivity RT from 5.84 to 3138.54 Ωm. ERS data and Dar Zarrouk parameters were mapped which revealed that the study area has groundwater potential in the subsurface.

Keywords: electrical resistivity survey, GIS & RS, groundwater potential, environmental assessment, VES

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Authors: Inba Blesso P., Senthil Kumar P.

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The main consideration of any tire manufacturing process is wear resistance. One of the factors that cause tire wear is improper removal of vent and flash from the tire surface. The contact point between tyre surface and vent is highly supposed to wear. When the vehicle running at higher speed with heavy load, the tire vent and flash is wearing initially and it makes few of the tire surface material to wear along with it. Hence, provision must be given to efficient removal vent and flash thereby tire wear. Human efforts in trimming of tire vent results in time consuming and inaccurate output. Hence, this lead to the reduction in production rate and profit. Thus, the development of automated system can helps to attain minimum time consumption and provide a possible way to get the profitable production. Semi-automated system that employs Pneumatic actuators and sequencing circuits are focused in this study. By implementing this, one can achieve the accurate results with reduction in time and profitable output.

Keywords: tire manufacturing, pneumatic system, vent and flash removal, engineering and technology

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Authors: Sheetal Sharma

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Urban planning is associated with land transformation from natural areas to modified and developed ones which leads to modification of natural environment. The basic knowledge of relationship between both should be ascertained before proceeding for the development of natural areas. Changes on land surface due to build up pavements, roads and similar land cover, affect surface water flow. There is a gap between urban planning and basic knowledge of hydrological processes which should be known to the planners. The paper aims to identify these variations in surface flow due to urbanization for a temporal scale of 40 years using Storm Water Management Mode (SWMM) and again correlating these findings with the urban planning guidelines in study area along with geological background to find out the suitable combinations of land cover, soil and guidelines. For the purpose of identifying the changes in surface flows, 19 catchments were identified with different geology and growth in 40 years facing different ground water levels fluctuations. The increasing built up, varying surface runoff are studied using Arc GIS and SWMM modeling, regression analysis for runoff. Resulting runoff for various land covers and soil groups with varying built up conditions were observed. The modeling procedures also included observations for varying precipitation and constant built up in all catchments. All these observations were combined for individual catchment and single regression curve was obtained for runoff. Thus, it was observed that alluvial with suitable land cover was better for infiltration and least generation of runoff but excess built up could not be sustained on alluvial soil. Similarly, basalt had least recharge and most runoff demanding maximum vegetation over it. Sandstone resulted in good recharging if planned with more open spaces and natural soils with intermittent vegetation. Hence, these observations made a keystone base for planners while planning various land uses on different soils. This paper contributes and provides a solution to basic knowledge gap, which urban planners face during development of natural surfaces.

Keywords: runoff, built up, roughness, recharge, temporal changes

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Authors: Reyhan Özdoğan, Mithat Çelebi, Özgür Ceylan, Mehmet Arif Kaya

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Super absorbent polymers (SAPs) are defined as materials that can absorb huge amount of water or aqueous solution in comparison to their own mass and retain in their lightly cross-linked structure. SAPs were produced from water soluble monomers via polymerization subsequently controlled crosslinking. SAPs are generally used for water absorbing applications such as baby diapers, patient or elder pads and other hygienic product industries. Crosslinking density (CD) of SAP structure is an essential factor for water absortion capacity (WAC). Low internal CD leads to high WAC values and vice versa. However, SAPs have low CD and high swelling capacities and tend to disintegrate when pressure is applied upon them, so SAPs under load cannot absorb liquids effectively. In order to prevent this undesired situation and to obtain suitable SAP structures having high swelling capacity and ability to work under load, surface crosslinking can be the answer. In industry, these superabsorbent gels are mostly produced via solution polymerization and then they need to be dried, grinded, sized, post polymerized and finally surface croslinked (involves spraying of a crosslinking solution onto dried and grinded SAP particles, and then curing by heat). It can easily be seen that these steps are time consuming and should be handled carefully for the desired final product. If we could synthesize desired final SAPs using less processes it will help reducing time and production costs which are very important for any industries. In this study, synthesis of SAPs were achieved successfully by inverse suspension (Pickering type) polymerization and subsequently in-situ surface cross-linking via using proper surfactants in high boiling point solvents. Our one-pot synthesis of surface cross-linked SAPs invovles only one-step for preparation, thus it can be said that this technique exhibits more preferable characteristic for the industry in comparison to conventional methods due to its one-step easy process. Effects of different surface crosslinking agents onto properties of poly(acrylic acid-co-sodium acrylate) based SAPs are investigated. Surface crosslink degrees are evaluated by swelling under load (SUL) test. It was determined water absorption capacities of obtained SAPs decrease with the increasing surface crosslink density while their mechanic properties are improved.

Keywords: inverse suspension polymerization, polyacrylic acid, super absorbent polymers (SAPs), surface crosslinking, sodium polyacrylate

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Authors: Zanib Nafees, Amir Razaghizad, Ibtisam Mahmoud, Abhinav Sharma, Renzo Cecere

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More than one million surgeries are performed each year in Canada, resulting in more than 100,000 associated serious adverse events (SAEs) per year. These are defined as unintended injuries or complications that adversely affect the well-being of patients. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of digital health interventions that have the potential to assist, monitor, and educate patients—facilitating self-care following post-operative discharge. Among digital health, interventions are interactive-voice response technologies (IVRs), which have been shown to be highly effective in certain medical settings. Although numerous IVR-based interventions have been developed, their effectiveness and utility remain unclear, notably in post-operative settings. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic or scoping reviews have evaluated this topic to date. Thus, the objective of this scoping review protocol is to systematically map and explore the literature and evidence describing and examining IVR tools, implementation, evaluation, outcome, and experience for post-operative patients. The focus will be primarily on the evaluation of baseline performance status, clinical assessment, treatment outcomes, and patient management, including self-management and self-monitoring. The objective of this scoping review is to assess the extent of the literature to direct future research efforts by identifying gaps and limitations in the literature and to highlight relevant determinants of positive outcomes in the emerging field of IVR monitoring for health outcomes in post-operative patients.

Keywords: digital healthcare technologies, post-surgery, interactive voice technology, interactive voice response

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: Ratchanon Boonachathong, Bordin Kaewnok, Suksun Amornraksa

Abstract:

Rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF) used for imitation wood is typically prepared by using 1-Dichloro-1-fluoroethane (HCFC-141b) as a blowing agent. However, this chemical is a hydrofluorocarbon which severely causes ozone depletion to the atmosphere. In this work, a more environmental-friendly RPUF was prepared by using distilled water and cyclopentane (CP) as alternative blowing agent. Several properties of the prepared RPUF were investigated and measured such as density (kg/m³), surface hardness (shore D), and glass transition temperature (°C). It was found that when the amount of the blowing agents decreased, the foam density is increased as well as the surface hardness and glass transition temperature. The results showed that the proper amount of water and cylopentane blowing agent is around 0.3–1.2% and 0.5-1.3% respectively. And the new RPUF produced has a good potential to substitute for a conventional RPUF.

Keywords: blowing agent, cyclopentane co-blown, imitation wood, rigid polyurethane foam, surface hardness

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Tugba Saricaoglu

Abstract:

This study argues about the potential representation and interpretation of Basilica of Smyrna through gamification. Representation can be defined as a key which plays a role as a converter in order to provide interpretation of something according to the person who perceives. Representation of cultural heritage is a hypothetical and factual approach in terms of its sustainable conservation. Today, both site interpreters and public of cultural heritage have varying perspectives due to their different demographic, social, and even cultural backgrounds. Additionally, gamification application offers diversion of methods suchlike video games to improve user perspective of non-game platforms, contexts, and issues. Hence, cultural heritage and video game decided to be analyzed. Moreover, there are basically different ways of representation of cultural heritage such as digital, physical, and virtual methods in terms of conservation. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies are two of the contemporary digital methods of heritage conservation. In this study, 3D documented ruins of the Basilica will be presented in the virtual and augmented reality based technology as a theoretical gamification sample. Also, this paper will focus on two sub-topics: First, evaluation of the video-game platforms applied to cultural heritage sites, and second, potentials of cultural heritage to be represented in video game platforms. The former will cover the analysis of some case(s) with regard to the concepts and representational aspects of cultural heritage. The latter will include the investigation of cultural heritage sites which carry such a potential and their sustainable conversation. Consequently, after mutual collection of information from cultural heritage and video game platforms, a perspective will be provided in terms of interpretation of representation of cultural heritage by sampling that on Basilica of Smyrna by using VR and AR based technologies.

Keywords: Basilica of Smyrna, cultural heritage, digital heritage, gamification

Procedia PDF Downloads 469

Authors: S. Y. Lin, C. H. Kuan, C. H. She, W. T. Wang

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In this study, ultrasonic assisted machining (UAM) technique is applied in side-surface milling experiment for glass-ceramic workpiece material. The tungsten carbide cutting-tool with diamond coating is used in conjunction with two kinds of cooling/lubrication mediums such as water-soluble (WS) cutting fluid and minimum quantity lubricant (MQL). Full factorial process parameter combinations on the milling experiments are planned to investigate the effect of process parameters on cutting performance. From the experimental results, it tries to search for the better process parameter combination which the edge-indentation and the surface roughness are acceptable. In the machining experiments, ultrasonic oscillator was used to excite a cutting-tool along the radial direction producing a very small amplitude of vibration frequency of 20KHz to assist the machining process. After processing, toolmaker microscope was used to detect the side-surface morphology, edge-indentation and cutting tool wear under different combination of cutting parameters, and analysis and discussion were also conducted for experimental results. The results show that the main leading parameters to edge-indentation of glass ceramic are cutting depth and feed rate. In order to reduce edge-indentation, it needs to use lower cutting depth and feed rate. Water-soluble cutting fluid provides a better cooling effect in the primary cutting area; it may effectively reduce the edge-indentation and improve the surface morphology of the glass ceramic. The use of ultrasonic assisted technique can effectively enhance the surface finish cleanness and reduce cutting tool wear and edge-indentation.

Keywords: glass-ceramic, ultrasonic assisted machining, cutting performance, edge-indentation

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Ravish K. Jain, Jatinder Kaur, Shaira Arora, Arun Kumar, Amit K. Chawla, Atul Khanna

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Surface-dependent properties such as hydrophobicity can be modified significantly by oblique angle deposition technique. Bi thin films were studied for their hydrophobic nature. The effects of oblique angle deposition on structural, surface morphology, electrical and wettability properties of Bi thin films have been studied and a comparison of these physical properties of normally deposited and obliquely deposited Bi films has been carried out in this study. X-ray diffraction studies found that films have highly oriented hexagonal crystal structure and crystallite size is smaller for obliquely deposited (70 nm) film as compared to that of the normally deposited film (111 nm). Raman spectra of the films consist of peaks corresponding to E_g and A_1g first-order Raman modes of bismuth. The atomic force and scanning electron microscopy studies show that the surface roughness of obliquely deposited film is higher as compared to that of normally deposited film. Contact angle measurements revealed that both films are strongly hydrophobic in nature with the contact angles of 105ᵒ and 119ᵒ for normally and obliquely deposited films respectively. Oblique angle deposition enhances the hydrophobicity of the film. The electrical conductivity of the film is significantly reduced by oblique angle deposition. The activation energies for electrical conduction were determined by four-probe measurements and are 0.016 eV and 0.018 eV for normally and obliquely deposited films respectively.

Keywords: bi thin films, hydrophobicity, oblique angle deposition, surface morphology

Procedia PDF Downloads 261

Authors: B. Touati, A. Saad, B. Lips, A. Abdenbi, M. Mokhtari.

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is an application of experiment design method for dimensioning of a solar drying system. NIMROD software was used to build up the matrix of experiments and to analyze the results. The software has the advantages of being easy to use and consists of a forced way, with some choices about the number and range of variation of the parameters, and the desired polynomial shape. The first design of experiments performed concern the drying with constant input characteristics of the hot air in the dryer and a second design of experiments in which the drying chamber is coupled with a solar collector. The first design of experiments allows us to study the influence of various parameters and get the studied answers in a polynomial form. The correspondence between the polynomial thus determined, and the model results were good. The results of the polynomials of the second design of experiments and those of the model are worse than the results in the case of drying with constant input conditions. This is due to the strong link between all the input parameters, especially, the surface of the sensor and the drying chamber, and the mass of the product.

Keywords: solar drying, experiment design method, NIMROD, mint leaves

Procedia PDF Downloads 507

Authors: Steven D. P. Moore

Abstract:

An electrical discharge in the air induces an electromagnetic (EM) wave capable of wireless transfer, reception, and conversion back into electrical discharge at a distant location. Following Norton’s ground wave principles, EM wave radiation (EMR) runs parallel to the Earth’s surface. Energy in an EMR wave can move through the air and be focused to create a spark at a distant location, focused by a receiver to generate a local electrical discharge. This local discharge can be amplified and stored but also has the propensity to initiate another EMR wave. In addition to typical EM waves, lightning is also associated with atmospheric events, trans-ionospheric pulse pairs, the most powerful natural EMR signal on the planet. With each lightning strike, regardless of global position, it generates naturally occurring pulse-pairs that are emitted towards space within a narrow cone. An EMR wave can self-propagate, travel at the speed of light, and, if polarized, contain vector properties. If this reflective pulse could be directed by design through structures that have increased probabilities for lighting strikes, it could theoretically travel near the surface of the Earth at light speed towards a selected receiver for local transformation into electrical energy. Through research, there are several influencing parameters that could be modified to model, test, and increase the potential for adopting this technology towards the goal of developing a global grid that utilizes natural sources of energy.

Keywords: electricity, sparkgap, wireless, electromagnetic

Procedia PDF Downloads 190

Authors: Lawrence Meda, Christopher Dumas, Moses Moyo, Zayd Waghid

Abstract:

As a result of some schools embracing technology to enhance students’ learning experiences in the digital era, the Faculty of Education at a University of Technology in South Africa has mandated lecturers to scale up their utilisation of technology in their teaching. Lecturers have been challenged to utilise the institution’s Learning Management System - Blackboard among other technologies - to adequately prepare trainee teachers to be able to teach competently in schools. The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which lecturers are utilising Blackboard to enhance their teaching. The study will be conducted using a quantitative approach, and its paradigmatic position will be positivist. The study will be done as a case study of the university’s Faculty of Education. Data will be extracted from all 100 lecturers’ Blackboard sites according to their respective modules, and it will be analysed using the four pillars of Blackboard as a conceptual framework. It is presumed that there is an imbalance on the lecturers’ utilisation of the four pillars of Blackboard as the majority use it as a content dumping site.

Keywords: blackboard, digital, education, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Devika Tanna

Abstract:

'Biometrics' means 'life measurement' but the term is usually associated with the use of unique physiological characteristics to identify an individual. It is important to secure the privacy of digital face image that is stored in central database. To impart privacy to such biometric face images, first, the digital face image is split into two host face images such that, each of it gives no idea of existence of the original face image and, then each cover image is stored in two different databases geographically apart. When both the cover images are simultaneously available then only we can access that original image. This can be achieved by using the XM2VTS and IMM face database, an adaptive algorithm for spatial greyscale. The algorithm helps to select the appropriate host images which are most likely to be compatible with the secret image stored in the central database based on its geometry and appearance. The encryption is done using GEVCS which results in a reconstructed image identical to the original private image.

Keywords: adaptive algorithm, database, host images, privacy, visual cryptography

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Fujio Akagi, Hiroaki Ito, Shin-Ichi Inage

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to develop a combustion model that can be applied uniformly to laminar and turbulent premixed flames while considering the effect of the Lewis number (Le). The model considers the effect of Le on the transport equations of the reaction progress, which varies with the chemical species and temperature. The distribution of the reaction progress variable is approximated by a hyperbolic tangent function, while the other distribution of the reaction progress variable is estimated using the approximated distribution and transport equation of the reaction progress variable considering the Le. The validity of the model was evaluated under the conditions of propane with Le > 1 and methane with Le = 1 (equivalence ratios of 0.5 and 1). The estimated results were found to be in good agreement with those of previous studies under all conditions. A method of introducing a turbulence model into this model is also described. It was confirmed that conventional turbulence models can be expressed as an approximate theory of this model in a unified manner.

Keywords: combustion model, laminar flame, Lewis number, turbulent flame

Procedia PDF Downloads 125