Search results for: initial delay estimator

Authors: Mohammed Ibrahim Bu Haya, Abdelmoneim Bahyeldin Mohamed Metwally

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This paper examines the impact of Green Intellectual Capital (GIC) on Green Supply Chain Performance (GSCP). Further, the study examines the moderating role of external pressures (EP) on the relationship between GIC and GSCP. Data were collected from employees working in Egyptian hotels and tourism companies (N= 366). The collected data were analyzed using smart partial least squares (Smart-PLS) software. The current research indicated that there is a positive and significant impact of all GIC components on GSCP. The results also revealed that EP were found to moderate the relationship between GIC and GSCP. The study model was able to explain 63.1% of the variance in GSCP. The findings of this study serve as a pivotal yardstick for guiding corporate policy formulation, offering valuable insights to drive continuous improvements in supply chain management and performance. Furthermore, the research holds substantial implications for managerial strategies by shedding light on the potential of GIC and EP to elevate GSCP. Positioned as one of the initial studies to delve into the moderating role of EP in the relationship between GIC and GSCP, this research offers insights within an emerging market context.

Keywords: green intellectual capital, green supply chain, supply chain performance, external pressures, emerging economy, Egypt

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Authors: E. Ormeno, C. Gutigny, J. Ruffault, J. Madrigal, M. Guijarro, C. Lecareux, C. Ballini

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Mediterranean plant species feature numerous metabolic and morpho-physiological responses crucial to survive under both, typical Mediterranean drought conditions and future aggravated drought expected by climate change. Whether these adaptive responses will, in turn, increase the ecosystem perturbation in terms of fire hazard, is an issue that needs to be addressed. The aim of this study was to test whether recurrent and aggravated drought in the Mediterranean area favors the accumulation of waxes in leaf litter, with an eventual increase of litter flammability. The study was conducted in 2017 in a garrigue in Southern France dominated by Quercus coccifera, where two drought treatments were used: a treatment with recurrent aggravated drought consisting of ten rain exclusion structures which withdraw part of the annual precipitation since January 2012, and a natural drought treatment where Q. coccifera stands are free of such structures and thus grow under natural precipitation. Waxes were extracted with organic solvent and analyzed by GC-MS and litter flammability was assessed through measurements of the ignition delay, flame residence time and flame intensity (flame height) using an epiradiator as well as the heat of combustion using an oxygen bomb calorimeter. Results show that after 5 years of rain restriction, wax content in the cuticle of leaf litter increases significantly compared to shrubs growing under natural precipitation, in accordance with the theoretical knowledge which expects increases of cuticle waxes in green leaves in order to limit water evapotranspiration. Wax concentrations were also linearly and positively correlated to litter flammability, a correlation that lies on the high flammability own to the long-chain alkanes (C25-C31) found in leaf litter waxes. This innovative investigation shows that climate change is likely to favor ecosystem fire hazard through accumulation of highly flammable waxes in litter. It also adds valuable information about the types of metabolites that are associated with increasing litter flammability, since so far, within the leaf metabolic profile, only terpene-like compounds had been related to plant flammability.

Keywords: cuticular waxes, drought, flammability, litter

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Authors: Subodh N. Patel, Abhijit Pusty, Manashi Adhikary, Sandip Bhattacharyya

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The steam superheater (SH) is a coil type heat exchanger which is used to produce superheated steam or to convert the wet steam to dry steam (69.6 kg/cm² and 495°C), generated by a boiler. There were two superheaters in the system, SH I and SH II. SH II is a set of tubes that faces the initial interaction with flue gas at high temperature followed by SH I tubes. After a service life of 2100 hours, a tube in the SH II found to be punctured. Dye penetrant test revealed that out of 50 such tubes, 14 more tubes had severe cracks at a similar location. The failure was investigated in detail. The materials and scale were characterized by optical microscope and advance characterization technique. Scale, observed on fracture surface, was characterized under scanning electron microscope and Raman spectroscopy. Stresses acting on the tubes in working condition were analyzed by finite element method software, ANSYS. Cyclic stresses were observed in the simulation at the same prone location due to restriction in expansion of tubes. Based on scale characterization and stress analysis, it was concluded that the tube failed in thermo-mechanical fatigue. Finally, prevention and control measures were taken to avoid such failure in the future.

Keywords: finite element analysis, oxide scale, superheater tube, thermomechanical fatigue

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Authors: Rayan B. M. Ameen, Ian P. Jones, Yu Lung Chiu

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Single alpha-beta colony micro-pillars have been manufactured from a polycrystalline commercial Ti-6Al-4V sample using Focused Ion Beam (FIB). Each pillar contained two alpha lamellae separated by a thin fillet of beta phase. A nano-indenter was then used to conduct uniaxial micro-compression tests on Ti alloy single crystals, using a diamond flat tip as a compression platen. By controlling the crystal orientation along the micro-pillar using Electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) different slip systems have been selectively activated. The advantage of the micro-compression method over conventional mechanical testing techniques is the ability to localize a single crystal volume which is characterizable after deformation. By matching the stress-strain relations resulting from micro-compression experiments to TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) studies of slip transmission mechanisms through the α-β interfaces, some proper constitutive material parameters such as the role of these interfaces in determining yield, strain-hardening behaviour, initial dislocation density and the critical resolved shear stress are suggested.

Keywords: α/β-Ti alloy, focused ion beam, micro-mechanical test, nano-indentation, transmission electron diffraction, plastic flow

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Authors: Nalanda Matia, Julia Zhao, Amber Jaycocks, Divya Sinha

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Social assistance programs for businesses are intended to improve their survival and growth in the face of catastrophic events like the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that goal remains unfulfilled when the mostwantingbusinesses fail to participate in such programs. Reasons for non-participation can include lack of information, inability to cope with applications and program compliance, as well as some programs’ non-entitlement status. Some of these factors may be associated with the organizational and locational characteristics of these businesses. This research investigates these organizational and locational factorsthat determine receipt and effectiveness of social assistance among the firms that receive it. of A sample of firms from the universe of 3 rounds of Small Business Administration backed Paycheck Protection Program recipient and similarly profiled non recipient businesses are used to analyze this question. Initial results show firm organizational factors like size and spatial factors like broadband coverage at firm location impact application for and subsequent receipt of assistance for digitally administered programs. Further, Line of business and wage structure of recipients’ impact effectiveness of the assistance dollars.

Keywords: public economics, economics of social assistance, firm organizational structure, survival analysis

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Authors: Eman Alzahrani

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Date palm trees are abundant and cheap natural resources in Saudi Arabia. In this study, an activated carbon was prepared from palm trunks by chemical processes. The chemical activation was performed by impregnation of the raw materials after grinding with H3PO4 solution (63%), followed by placing of the sample solution on a muffle furnace at 400ºC for 30 min, and then at 800ºC for 10 min. The morphology of the fabricated material was checked using scanning electron microscopy that showed the rough surfaces on the carbon samples. The use of fabricated activated carbon for removal of eosin dye from aqueous solutions at different contact time, initial dye concentration, pH and adsorbent doses was investigated. The experimental results show that the adsorption process attains equilibrium within 20 min. The adsorption isotherm equilibrium was studied by means of the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, and it was found that the data fit the Langmuir isotherm equation with maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 126.58 mg g-1. The results indicated that the home made activated carbon prepared from palm trunks has the ability to remove eosin dye from aqueous solution and it will be a promising adsorbent for the removal of harmful dyes from waste water.

Keywords: activated carbon, date palm trunks, H3PO4 activation, adsorption, dye removal, eosin dye, isotherm

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Authors: Shruti Sakarkar, Jega Jegatheesan, Srinivasan Madapusi

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Photocatalytic membranes have shown great potential for the removal of an organic and inorganic pollutant from wastewater as it combines the degradation and antibacterial properties from photocatalysis and physical separation by the membrane in a single unit. Incorporation of the semiconductor in membrane structure results in enhancing the performance and the properties of the membrane. In this study porous ultrafiltration polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes with entrapped TiO₂ nanoparticle were prepared by phase inversion method and further used for the degradation of reactive orange 16 (RO16). Prepared photocatalytic membranes were characterized by the scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), contact angle, and atomic force microscope (AFM). The addition of TiO₂ nanopartparticles improves the strength and thermal stability of the membrane. In particular hydrophilicity and permeability increases with the increase of TiO₂ nanoparticles into the membrane. The photocatalytic membrane achieves 80-85% degrdation of RO16. The impact of different parameters such as pH, concentration of photocatalyst, dye concentration and effect of H₂O₂ were analysed. The best conditions for dye degradation were an initial dye concentration of 50 mg/L, with a membrane containing TiO₂ loading of 2wt%. It was observed that in the presence of H₂O₂, degradation increases with increasing H₂O₂ concentration and reached up to 95-98%. The high quality permeates obtained from the photocatalytic membrane can be reused.

Keywords: photocatalytic membrane, TiO₂, PVDF, nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Thamo Sutharssan, Diogo Montalvao, Wen-Chung Wang, Yong Chen, Claudia Pisac

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A combined heat and power (CHP) system is an efficient and clean way to generate power (electricity). Heat produced by the CHP system can be used for water and space heating. The CHP system which uses hydrogen as fuel produces zero carbon emission. Its’ efficiency can reach more than 80% whereas that of a traditional power station can only reach up to 50% because much of the thermal energy is wasted. The other advantages of CHP systems include that they can decentralize energy generation, improve energy security and sustainability, and significantly reduce the energy cost to the users. This paper presents the economic benefits of using a CHP system in the domestic environment. For this analysis, natural gas is considered as potential fuel as the hydrogen fuel cell based CHP systems are rarely used. UK government incentives for CHP systems are also considered as the added benefit. Results show that CHP requires a significant initial investment in return it can reduce the annual energy bill significantly. Results show that an investment may be paid back in 7 years. After the back period, CHP can run for about 3 years as most of the CHP manufacturers provide 10-year warranty.

Keywords: combined heat and power, clean energy, hydrogen fuel cell, economic analysis of CHP, zero emission

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Authors: Babatunde Adebo, Adedeji Adetoyinbo

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Groundwater is an important constituent of the hydrological cycle and plays a vital role in augmenting water supply to meet the ever-increasing needs of people for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes. Unfortunately, this important resource has in most cases been contaminated due to the advancement of seawater into the fresh groundwater. This is due to the high volume of water being abstracted in these areas as a result of a high population of coastal dwellers. The knowledge of salinity level and intrusion of saltwater into the freshwater aquifer is, therefore, necessary for groundwater monitoring and prediction in the coastal areas. In this work, an advection-dispersion saltwater intrusion model is used to study and simulate saltwater intrusion in a typical coastal aquifer. The aquifer portion was divided into a grid with elements and nodes. Map of the study area indicating well locations were overlain on the grid system such that these locations coincide with the nodes. Chlorides at these well were considered as initial nodal salinities. Results showed a highest and lowest increase in simulated chloride of 37.89 mg/L and 0.8 mg/L respectively. It also revealed that the chloride concentration of most of the considered well might climb unacceptable level in the next few years, if the current abstraction rate continues unabated.

Keywords: saltwater intrusion, coastal aquifer, nodal salinity, chloride concentration

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Authors: Sajjad Baghernezhad

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Meta-heuristic and hybrid algorithms have high adeer in modeling medical problems. In this study, a neural network was used to predict covid-19 among high-risk and low-risk patients. This study was conducted to collect the applied method and its target population consisting of 550 high-risk and low-risk patients from the Kerman University of medical sciences medical center to predict the coronavirus. In this study, the memetic algorithm, which is a combination of a genetic algorithm and a local search algorithm, has been used to update the weights of the neural network and develop the accuracy of the neural network. The initial study showed that the accuracy of the neural network was 88%. After updating the weights, the memetic algorithm increased by 93%. For the proposed model, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictivity value, value/accuracy to 97.4, 92.3, 95.8, 96.2, and 0.918, respectively; for the genetic algorithm model, 87.05, 9.20 7, 89.45, 97.30 and 0.967 and for logistic regression model were 87.40, 95.20, 93.79, 0.87 and 0.916. Based on the findings of this study, neural network models have a lower error rate in the diagnosis of patients based on individual variables and vital signs compared to the regression model. The findings of this study can help planners and health care providers in signing programs and early diagnosis of COVID-19 or Corona.

Keywords: COVID-19, decision support technique, neural network, genetic algorithm, memetic algorithm

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Authors: Asif Jamal, Asad Ali, Muhammad Ishtiaq Ali

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The agriculture productivity losses due to microbial pathogens have been a serious issue in Pakistan and rest of the world. Present work was designed to isolate soil borne microorganisms having the antagonistic ability against notorious phytopathogens. From the initial collection of 23 bacterial isolates, two potent strains of Bacillus were screened on the basis of their comparative efficacy against devastating fungal pathogens. The strains AK-1 and AK-5 showed excellent inhibitory indexes against the majority of tested fungal strains. It was noted that both strains of Bacillus showed significant biocontrolling activity against Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium moniliforme, Colletotricum falcatum, Botrytis cinerea, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium oxysporum, Phythopthora capsici and Rhizopus oryzae. The strain AK-1 was efficient to suppress Aspergillus species and Rhizopus oryzae while AK-5 expressed significant antagonistic activity against Fusarium, Botrytis, and Colletotricum species. On the basis of in vitro assay, it can be postulated that the Bacillus strains AK-1 and AK-5 can be used as a bio-protective agent against various plant diseases. In addition, their applications as natural pesticides could be very helpful to prevent the adverse effects of chemical pesticides.

Keywords: biological control, Bacillus spp, fungal pathogens, agriculture

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Authors: K. C. Kalam Aswathy, M. V. Anil Kumar

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The possible failure modes of cold-formed steel (CFS) lipped angle (LA) compression members are yielding, local, flexural-torsional, or flexural buckling, and any possible interaction between these buckling modes. In general, the strength estimated by current design guidelines is conservative for these members when flexural-torsional buckling (FTB) is the first global buckling mode, as the post-buckling strength of this mode is not accounted for in the global buckling strength equations. The initial part of this paper reports the results of an experimental and numerical study of CFS-LA members undergoing independent FTB. The modifications are suggested to global buckling strength equations based on these results. Subsequently, the reduction in the ultimate strength from strength corresponding to independent buckling modes for LA members undergoing interaction between buckling modes such as local-flexural torsional, flexural-flexural torsional, local-flexural, and local-flexural torsional-flexural are studied systematically using finite element analysis results. A simple and more accurate interaction equation that accounts for the above interactions between buckling modes in CFS-LA compression members is proposed.

Keywords: buckling interactions, cold-formed steel, flexural-torsional buckling, lipped angle

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Authors: Kushal Kumar Chode

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Increase in demand for fuel saving and demand for faster vehicles with decent fuel economy, researchers around the world started investigating in various passive flow control devices to improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles. In this paper, A roof fairing was investigated for reducing the aerodynamic drag of a bluff body. The bluff body considered for this work is Ahmed model with a rake angle of 25deg was and subjected to flow with a velocity of 40m/s having Reynolds number of 2.68million was analysed using a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) code Star CCM+. It was evident that pressure drag is the main source of drag on an Ahmed body from the initial study. Adding a roof fairing has delayed the flow separation and resulted in delaying wake formation, thus improving the pressure in near weak and reducing the wake region. Adding a roof fairing of height and length equal to 1/7H and 1/3L respectively has shown a drag reduction by 9%. However, an optimised fairing, which was obtained by changing height, length and width by 5% increase, recorded a drag reduction close 12%.

Keywords: Ahmed model, aerodynamic drag, passive flow control, roof fairing, wake formation

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: Mustarakh Gelfi, Poonam Taneja, Tiedo Vellinga, Delon Hamonangan

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The initial masterplan of New Priok in the Port of Tanjung Priok was developed in 2012 is being updated to cater to new developments and new demands. In the new masterplan (2017), Phase II of development will start from 2035-onwards, depending on the future conditions. This study is about creating a robust masterplan for Phase II, which will remain functional under future uncertainties. The methodology applied in this study is scenario-based planning in the framework of Adaptive Port Planning (APP). Scenario-based planning helps to open up the perspective of the future as a horizon of possibilities. The scenarios are built around two major uncertainties in a 2x2 matrix approach. The two major uncertainties for New Priok port are economics and sustainability awareness. The outcome is four plausible scenarios: Green Port, Business As Usual, Moderate Expansion, and No Expansion. Terminal needs in each scenario are analyzed through traffic analysis and identifying the key cargos and commodities. In conclusion, this study gives the wide perspective for Port of Tanjung Priok for the planning Phase II of the development. The port has to realize that uncertainties persevere and are very likely to influence the decision making as to the future layouts. Instead of ignoring uncertainty, the port needs to make the action plans to deal with these uncertainties.

Keywords: Indonesia Port, port's layout, port planning, scenario-based planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 541

Authors: Sangguk Ahn, Youngyu Kim, Jaheon Gu, Gyoutae Park

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In this paper, we developed a dual gas leak instrument to detect Hydrocarbon (HC) and Monoxide (CO) gases. To two kinds of gases, it is necessary to design compact structure for sensors. And then it is important to draw sensing circuits such as measuring, amplifying and filtering. After that, it should be well programmed with robust, systematic and module coding methods. In center of them, improvement of accuracy and initial response time are a matter of vital importance. To manufacture distinguished gas leak detector, we applied intrinsically safe explosion-proof structure to lithium ion battery, main circuits, a pump with motor, color LCD interfaces and sensing circuits. On software, to enhance measuring accuracy we used numerical analysis such as Lagrange and Neville interpolation. Performance test result is conducted by using standard Methane with seven different concentrations with three other products. We want raise risk prevention and efficiency of gas safe management through distributing to the field of gas safety. Acknowledgment: This study was supported by Small and Medium Business Administration under the research theme of ‘Commercialized Development of a portable intrinsically safe explosion-proof type dual gas leak detector’, (task number S2456036).

Keywords: gas leak, dual gas detector, intrinsically safe, explosion proof

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Authors: Mansha Kotwani

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The specific spatio-temporal calcium concentration patterns are required by the fibroblasts to maintain its structure and functions. Thus, calcium concentration is regulated in cell at different levels in various activities of the cell. The variations in cytosolic calcium concentration largely depend on the buffers present in cytosol and influx of calcium into cytosol from ER through IP3Rs or Raynodine receptors followed by reuptake of calcium into ER through sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum ATPs (SERCA) pump. In order to understand the mechanisms of wound repair, tissue remodeling and growth performed by fibroblasts, it is of crucial importance to understand the mechanisms of calcium concentration regulation in fibroblasts. In this paper, a model has been developed to study calcium distribution in NRK fibroblast in the presence of buffers and ER flux with SERCA pump. The model has been developed for two dimensional unsteady state case. Appropriate initial and boundary conditions have been framed along with physiology of the cell. Finite element technique has been employed to obtain the solution. The numerical results have been used to study the effect of buffers, ER flux and source amplitude on calcium distribution in fibroblast cell.

Keywords: buffers, IP3R, ER flux, SERCA pump, source amplitude

Procedia PDF Downloads 248

Authors: Loïc Warscotte, Jehan Boreux

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The scientific literature of changepoint detection is vast. Today, a lot of methods are available to detect abrupt changes or slight drift in a signal, based on CUSUM or EWMA charts, for example. However, these methods rely on strong assumptions, such as the stationarity of the stochastic underlying process, or even the independence and Gaussian distributed noise at each time. Recently, the breakthrough research on locally stationary processes widens the class of studied stochastic processes with almost no assumptions on the signals and the nature of the changepoint. Despite the accurate description of the mathematical aspects, this methodology quickly suffers from impractical time and space complexity concerning the signals with high-rate data collection, if the characteristics of the process are completely unknown. In this paper, we then addressed the problem of making this theory usable to our purpose, which is monitoring a high-speed weigh-in-motion system (HS-WIM) towards direct enforcement without supervision. To this end, we first compute bounded approximations of the initial detection theory. Secondly, these approximating bounds are empirically validated by generating many independent long-run stochastic processes. The abrupt changes and the drift are both tested. Finally, this relaxed methodology is tested on real signals coming from a HS-WIM device in Belgium, collected over several months.

Keywords: changepoint, weigh-in-motion, process, non-parametric

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Authors: Fahim Kahlouche, Alaoua Bouaicha, Sihem Chaîbeddra, Sid-Ali Rafa, Abdelhamid Benouali

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A designing of a structure requires its realization on rough or sloping ground. Besides the problem of the stability of the landslide, the behavior of the foundations that are bearing the structure is influenced by the destabilizing effect of the ground’s slope. This article focuses on the analysis of the slope stability exposed to loading by introducing the different factors influencing the slope’s behavior on the one hand, and on the influence of this slope on the foundation’s behavior on the other hand. This study is about the elastoplastic modelization using FLAC 2D. This software is based on the finite difference method, which is one of the older methods of numeric resolution of differential equations system with initial and boundary conditions. It was developed for the geotechnical simulation calculation. The aim of this simulation is to demonstrate the notable effect of shear modulus « G », cohesion « C », inclination angle (edge) « β », and distance between the foundation and the head of the slope on the stability of the slope as well as the stability of the foundation. In our simulation, the slope is constituted by homogenous ground. The foundation is considered as rigid/hard; therefore, the loading is made by the application of the vertical strengths on the nodes which represent the contact between the foundation and the ground. 

Keywords: slope, shallow foundation, numeric method, FLAC 2D

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Authors: Faith-Michael E. Uzoka, Boluwaji A. Akinnuwesi, Taiwo Amoo, Flora Aladi, Stephen Fashoto, Moses Olaniyan, Joseph Osuji

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The overarching aim of this study is to develop a soft-computing system for the differential diagnosis of tropical diseases. These conditions are of concern to health bodies, physicians, and the community at large because of their mortality rates, and difficulties in early diagnosis due to the fact that they present with symptoms that overlap, and thus become ‘confusable’. We report on the first phase of our study, which focuses on the development of a fuzzy cognitive map model for early differential diagnosis of tropical diseases. We used malaria as a case disease to show the effectiveness of the FCM technology as an aid to the medical practitioner in the diagnosis of tropical diseases. Our model takes cognizance of manifested symptoms and other non-clinical factors that could contribute to symptoms manifestations. Our model showed 85% accuracy in diagnosis, as against the physicians’ initial hypothesis, which stood at 55% accuracy. It is expected that the next stage of our study will provide a multi-disease, multi-symptom model that also improves efficiency by utilizing a decision support filter that works on an algorithm, which mimics the physician’s diagnosis process.

Keywords: medical diagnosis, tropical diseases, fuzzy cognitive map, decision support filters, malaria differential diagnosis

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Authors: D. Lepe-Cervantes, E. Leon-Becerril, J. Gomez-Romero, O. Garcia-Depraect, A. Lopez-Lopez

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In this study, raw coffee wastewater (CWW) was used as a complex substrate for anaerobic digestion. The inoculum adaptation stage, microbial diversity analysis and biomethane potential (BMP) tests were performed. A fast inoculum adaptation stage was used by the replacement of vinasse to CWW in an anaerobic sequential batch reactor (AnSBR) operated at mesophilic conditions. Illumina MiSeq sequencing was used to analyze the microbial diversity. While, BMP tests using inoculum adapted to CWW were carried out at different inoculum to substrate (I/S) ratios (2:1, 3:1 and 4:1, on a VS basis). Results show that the adaptability percentage was increased gradually until it reaches the highest theoretical value in a short time of 10 d; with a methane yield of 359.10 NmL CH₄/g COD-removed; Methanobacterium beijingense was the most abundant microbial (75%) and the greatest specific methane production was achieved at I/S ratio 4:1, whereas the lowest was obtained at 2:1, with BMP values of 320 NmL CH₄/g VS and 151 NmL CH₄/g VS, respectively. In conclusion, gradual replacement of substrate was a feasible method to adapt the inoculum in a short time even using complex raw substrates, whereas in the BMP tests, the specific methane production was proportional to the initial amount of inoculum.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biomethane potential test, coffee wastewater, fast inoculum adaptation

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Authors: Eko S. Kunarti, Akhmad Syoufian, Indriana Kartini, Agnes

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Fe₃O₄/SiO₂/TiO₂ nanoparticles have been synthesized and applied as a photocatalyst for the recovery of gold from the mixture of Au(III) and Cu(II) ions. The synthesis was started by the preparation of magnetite (Fe₃O₄) using coprecipitation and sonication methods, followed by SiO₂ coating on magnetite using sol-gel reactions, and then TiO₂ coating using sol-gel process. Characterization was performed by using infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy methods. Activity of Fe₃O₄/SiO₂/TiO₂ nanoparticles was evaluated as a photocatalyst for recovery of gold through photoreduction of Au(III) ions in Au(III) and Cu(II) ions mixture with a ratio of 1:1, in a closed reactor equipped with UV lamp. The photoreduction yield was represented as a percentage (%) of reduced Au(III) which was calculated by substraction of initial Au(III) concentration by the unreduced one. The unreduced Au(III) was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. Results showed that the Fe₃O₄/SiO₂/TiO₂ nanoparticles were successfully synthesised with excellent magnetic and photocatalytic properties. The nanoparticles present optimum activity at a pH of 5 under UV irradiation for 120 minutes. At the optimum condition, the Fe₃O₄/SiO₂/TiO₂ nanoparticles could reduce Au³⁺ to Au⁰ 97.24%. In the mixture of Au(III) and Cu(II) ions, the Au(III) ions are more easily reducible than Cu(II) ions with the reduction results of 96.9% and 45.80% for Au(III) and Cu(II) ions, respectively. In addition, the presence of Cu(II) ions has no significant effect on the amount of gold recovered and its reduction reaction rate.

Keywords: Fe₃O₄/SiO₂/TiO₂, photocatalyst, recovery, gold, Au(III) and Cu(II) mixture

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Authors: Shashi Arya, Nand L. Singh, Samiksha Singh, Pradeep K. Mishra, Siddh N. Upadhyay

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The enormous generation of E- waste and its recycling have greater environmental concern especially in developing countries like India. A major part of this waste comprises printed circuit boards (PCBs). Edge trims of PCBs have high copper content ranging between 25-60%. The extraction of various metals out of these PCBs is more or less a proven technology, wherein various hazardous chemicals are being used in the resource recovery, resulting into secondary pollution. The current trend of extracting of valuable metals is the utilization of microbial strains to eliminate the problem of a secondary pollutant. Keeping the above context in mind, this work aims at the enhanced recovery of copper from edge trims, through bioleaching using bacterial strain Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. The raw material such as motherboards, hard drives, floppy drives and DVD drives were obtained from the warehouse of the University. More than 90% copper could be extracted through bioleaching using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. Inoculate concentration has merely insignificant effect over copper recovery above 20% inoculate concentration. Higher concentration of inoculation has the only initial advantage up to 2-4 days. The complete recovery has been obtained between 14- 24 days.

Keywords: acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, bioleaching, e-waste, printed circuit boards

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Authors: J. R. Dinsmore, R. W. Hood

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Experiences of a divine or mystical light are frequently reported in religious/spiritual experiences today, most notably in the context of mystical and near-death experiences. Light of a transcendental nature and its experiences of it are also widely present and highly valued in many religious and mystical traditions. Despite the significance of this luminosity to the topic of religious experience, efforts to study the phenomenon empirically have been minimal and scattered. This mixed methods study developed and validated a questionnaire for the measurement of numinous luminosity experience and investigated the dimensions and effects of this novel construct using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. A sequential explanatory design (participant selection model) was used, which involved a scale development phase, followed by a correlational study testing hypotheses about its effects on beliefs and well-being derived from the literature, and lastly, a phenomenological study of a sample selected from the correlational phase results. The outcomes of the study are a unified theoretical model of numinous luminosity experience across multiple experiential contexts, initial correlational findings regarding the possible mechanism of its reported positive transformational effects, and a valid and reliable instrument for its further empirical study.

Keywords: religious experience, mystical experience, near-death experience, scale development, questionnaire, divine light, mystical light, mystical luminosity

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Authors: Ekaterina M. Myasnikova, Andrey A. Makashov, Alexander V. Spirov

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First manifestation of a segmentation pattern in the early Drosophila development is the formation of expression domains (along with the main embryo axis) of genes belonging to the trunk gene class. Highly variable expression of genes from gap family in early Drosophila embryo is strongly reduced by the start of gastrulation due to the gene cross-regulation. The dynamics of gene expression is described by a gene circuit model for a system of four gap genes. It is shown that for the formation of a steep and stationary border by the model it is necessary that there existed a nucleus (modeling point) in which the gene expression level is constant in time and hence is described by a stationary equation. All the rest genes expressed in this nucleus are in a dynamic equilibrium. The mechanism of border formation associated with the existence of a stationary nucleus is also confirmed by the experiment. An important advantage of this approach is that properties of the system in a stationary nucleus are described by algebraic equations and can be easily handled analytically. Thus we explicitly characterize the cross-regulation properties necessary for the robustness and formulate the conditions providing this effect through the properties of the initial input data. It is shown that our formally derived conditions are satisfied for the previously published model solutions.

Keywords: drosophila, gap genes, reaction-diffusion model, robustness

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Authors: Diogen Babuc

Abstract:

The question that is a motivation of writing is how many devote themselves to discovering something in the world of science where much is discerned and revealed, but at the same time, much is unknown. Methods: The insightful elements of this algorithm are the ciphering and deciphering algorithms of Playfair, Caesar, and Vigenère. Only a few of their main properties are taken and modified, with the aim of forming a specific functionality of the algorithm called Latin Djokovic. Specifically, a string is entered as input data. A key k is given, with a random value between the values a and b = a+3. The obtained value is stored in a variable with the aim of being constant during the run of the algorithm. In correlation to the given key, the string is divided into several groups of substrings, and each substring has a length of k characters. The next step involves encoding each substring from the list of existing substrings. Encoding is performed using the basis of Caesar algorithm, i.e., shifting with k characters. However, that k is incremented by 1 when moving to the next substring in that list. When the value of k becomes greater than b+1, it’ll return to its initial value. The algorithm is executed, following the same procedure, until the last substring in the list is traversed. Results: Using this polyalphabetic method, ciphering and deciphering of strings are achieved. The algorithm also works for a 100-character string. The x character isn’t used when the number of characters in a substring is incompatible with the expected length. The algorithm is simple to implement, but it’s questionable if it works better than the other methods from the point of view of execution time and storage space.

Keywords: ciphering, deciphering, authentic, algorithm, polyalphabetic cipher, random key, methods comparison

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Sadek Salah

Abstract:

The determination of the strength characteristics of waste materials is essential when evaluating the stability of waste fills during initial placement and at the time of closure and rehabilitation of the landfill. Significant efforts, mostly experimental, have been deployed to date in attempts to quantify the mechanical properties of municipal wastes various stages of decomposition. Even though the studies and work done so far have helped in setting baseline parameters and characteristics for waste materials, inherent concerns remain as to the scalability of the findings between the laboratory and the field along with questions as to the suitability of the actual test conditions. These concerns are compounded by the complexity of the problem itself with significant variability in composition, placement conditions, and levels of decay of the various constituents of the waste fills. A complimentary, if not necessarily an alternative approach is to rely on field observations of behavior and instability of such materials. This paper describes an effort at obtaining relevant shear strength parameters from back-analyses of failures which have been observed at a major un-engineered waste fill along the Mediterranean shoreline. Results from the limit-equilibrium failure back-analyses are presented and compared to results from laboratory-scale testing on comparable waste materials.

Keywords: solid waste, shear strength, landfills, slope stability

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Authors: N. Adjlane, N. Haddad

Abstract:

The American foulbrood is one of the most serious diseases that may affect brood of larvae and pupae stages. The causative organism is a gram positive bacterium Paaenibacillus larvae. American foulbrood infected apiaries suffer from severe economic losses, resulting from significant decreases in honeybee populations and honey production. The aim of this study was to detect Paenibacillus larvae in the remains collected at the bottom of the hive from the suspected hives by direct PCR and culture growth. A total of 56 suspected beehive wax debris samples collected in 40 different apiaries located in the central region of Algeria. MYPGP the culture medium is used during all the identifications of the bacterium. After positive results on samples, biochemical confirmation tests (test of catalase, presence hydrolysis of casein) and microscopic (gram stain) are used in order to verify the accuracy of the initial results. The QIAamp DNA Mini Kit is used to identify the DNA of Paaenibacillus larvae. Paaenibacillus larvae were identified in 14 samples out of 16 by the PCR. A suspected culture-negative sample was found positive through evaluation with PCR. This research is for the bacterium Paaenibacillus larvae in the debris of the colony is an effective method for diagnosis of the pathology of American foulbrood.

Keywords: Paenibacillus larvae, honeybee, PCR, microbiological method

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: Chloe E. Edwards, Yasaman Shahtaheri

Abstract:

Risk management plays a fundamental role in project planning and delivery. The purpose of incorporating risk management into project management practices is to identify and address uncertainties related to key project-related activities. The uncertainties, known as risk events, can relate to project deliverables that are quantifiable and are often measured by impact to project schedule, cost, or environmental impact. Risk management should be incorporated as an iterative practice throughout the planning, execution, and commissioning phases of a project. This paper specifically examines how risk management contributes to effective project planning and delivery through a case study of a transportation project. This case study focused solely on impacts to project schedule regarding three milestones: readiness for delivery, readiness for testing and commissioning, and completion of the facility. The case study followed the ISO 31000: Risk Management – Guidelines. The key factors that are outlined by these guidelines include understanding the scope and context of the project, conducting a risk assessment including identification, analysis, and evaluation, and lastly, risk treatment through mitigation measures. This process requires continuous consultation with subject matter experts and monitoring to iteratively update the risks accordingly. The risk identification process led to a total of fourteen risks related to design, permitting, construction, and commissioning. The analysis involved running 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations through @RISK 8.0 Industrial software to determine potential milestone completion dates based on the project baseline schedule. These dates include the best case, most likely case, and worst case to provide an estimated delay for each milestone. Evaluation of these results provided insight into which risks were the highest contributors to the projected milestone completion dates. Based on the analysis results, the risk management team was able to provide recommendations for mitigation measures to reduce the likelihood of risks occurring. The risk management team also provided recommendations for managing the identified risks and project activities moving forward to meet the most likely or best-case milestone completion dates.

Keywords: construction management, monte carlo simulation, project delivery, risk assessment, transportation engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: J. A. Villarreal, D. S. Ha., A. Smith, J. C. Ha

Abstract:

Numerous dogs are living in shelters seeking homes. Perceptions of dog personality based on breed type have been shown to influence adoptability. Past research has focused primarily on Caucasian female samples. This study provides a more diverse sample within the US. Of the respondents, 558 identified as White/Caucasian, 395 identified as Black/African American, 123 identified as Hispanic/Latinx, and 46 identified as Asian/Asian American. 29.6% of respondents identified as male and 70.4% identified as female. Initial analyses indicate significant differences in race/ethnicity in the association of the personality terms of “Dangerous”, “Calm”, and “Energetic” with dog breeds. Black/African-American respondents were more likely to associate the term “Dangerous” with almost all breeds assessed in this survey, followed by Hispanic/Latinx, and lastly by White/Caucasian and Asian/Asian American. Higher annual income respondents were less likely to associate the term “Calm” with most breeds and lower-income respondents were less likely to ascribe the term “Dangerous” to Pit Bull Terriers. Further analyses are underway. These findings can help dog adoption programs promote more diversity in potential adopters.

Keywords: breed, diversity, dog, ethnicity, personality

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Ihtasham Hamza

Abstract:

In the contemporary world, where the West is afflicted by the diseases of excess nutrition, much of the rest globe suffers at the hands of hunger. A troubling constituent of hunger is micronutrient deficiency, also called hidden hunger. Major dependence on calorie-rich diets and low diet diversification are responsible for high malnutrition rates, especially in African and Asian countries. But the dilemma isn’t immune to solutions. Highlighting the substantial cause to be sole dependence on staples for food, biofortification has emerged as a novel tool to confront the widely distributed jeopardize of hidden hunger. Biofortification potentials the better nutritional approachability to commonalities overcoming various difficulties and reaching the doorstep. The crops associated with biofortification offer a rural-based involvement that, proposal, primarily reaches these more remote populations, which comprise a majority of the malnourished in many countries, and then penetrates to urban populations as assembly overages are marketed. Initial investments in agricultural research at a central location can generate high recurrent benefits at low cost as adapted biofortified cultivars become widely available in countries across time at low recurrent costs as opposed to supplementation which is comparatively expensive and requires continued financing over time, which may be imperilled by fluctuating political curiosity.

Keywords: biofortified crops, hunger, malnutrition, agricultural practices

Procedia PDF Downloads 291