Search results for: modalmetric fiber optic sensor

Authors: Vaia N. Koukou, Niki D. Martini, George P. Fountos, Christos M. Michail, Athanasios Bakas, Ioannis S. Kandarakis, George C. Nikiforidis

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Various substitute materials of calcifications are used in phantom measurements and simulation studies in mammography. These include calcium carbonate, calcium oxalate, hydroxyapatite and aluminum. The aim of this study is to compare the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) values of the different calcification types using the dual energy method. The constructed calcification phantom consisted of three different calcification types and thicknesses: hydroxyapatite, calcite and calcium oxalate of 100, 200, 300 thicknesses. The breast tissue equivalent materials were polyethylene and polymethyl methacrylate slabs simulating adipose tissue and glandular tissue, respectively. The total thickness was 4.2 cm with 50% fixed glandularity. The low- (LE) and high-energy (HE) images were obtained from a tungsten anode using 40 kV filtered with 0.1 mm cadmium and 70 kV filtered with 1 mm copper, respectively. A high resolution complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) X-ray detector was used. The total mean glandular dose (MGD) and entrance surface dose (ESD) from the LE and HE images were constrained to typical levels (MGD=1.62 mGy and ESD=1.92 mGy). On average, the CNR of hydroxyapatite calcifications was 1.4 times that of calcite calcifications and 2.5 times that of calcium oxalate calcifications. The higher CNR values of hydroxyapatite are attributed to its attenuation properties compared to the other calcification materials, leading to higher contrast in the dual energy image. This work was supported by Grant Ε.040 from the Research Committee of the University of Patras (Programme K. Karatheodori).

Keywords: calcification materials, CNR, dual energy, X-rays

Procedia PDF Downloads 346

Authors: Eric Yi-Hsiu Huang, Meng-Chun Kao, Wen-Chuan Kuo

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For every laparoscopic surgery, a safe pneumoperitoneumcreation (gaining access to the peritoneal cavity) is the first and essential step. However, closed pneumoperitoneum is usually obtained by blind insertion of a Veress needle into the peritoneal cavity, which may carry potential risks suchas bowel and vascular injury.Until now, there remains no definite measure to visually confirm the position of the needle tip inside the peritoneal cavity. Therefore, this study established an image-guided Veress needle method by combining a fiber probe with optical coherence tomography (OCT). An algorithm was also proposed for determining the exact location of the needle tip through the acquisition of OCT images. Our method not only generates a series of “live” two-dimensional (2D) images during the needle puncture toward the peritoneal cavity but also can eliminate operator variation in image judgment, thus improving peritoneal access safety. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Taipei Veterans General Hospital (Taipei VGH IACUC 2020-144). A total of 2400 in vivo OCT images, independent of each other, were acquired from experiments of forty peritoneal punctures on two piglets. Characteristic OCT image patterns could be observed during the puncturing process. The ROC curve demonstrates the discrimination capability of these quantitative image features of the classifier, showing the accuracy of the classifier for determining the inside vs. outside of the peritoneal was 98% (AUC=0.98). In summary, the present study demonstrates the ability of the combination of our proposed automatic identification method and OCT imaging for automatically and objectively identifying the location of the needle tip. OCT images translate the blind closed technique of peritoneal access into a visualized procedure, thus improving peritoneal access safety.

Keywords: pneumoperitoneum, optical coherence tomography, automatic identification, veress needle

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Waqas Shafqat Chattha, Muhammad Iqbal, Amir Shakeel

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Transcriptional factors are proteins that play a vital role in regulating the transcription of target genes in different biological processes and are being widely studied in different plant species. In the current era of genomics, plant genomes sequencing has directed to the genome-wide identification, analyses and categorization of diverse transcription factor families and hence provide key insights into their structural as well as functional diversity. The DNA-binding with One Finger (DOF) proteins belongs to C2-C2-type zinc finger protein family. DOF proteins are plant-specific transcription factors implicated in diverse functions including seed maturation and germination, phytohormone signalling, light-mediated gene regulation, cotton-fiber elongation and responses of the plant to biotic as well as abiotic stresses. In this context, a genome-wide in-silico analysis of DOF TF family in diploid cotton species i.e. Gossypium raimondii has enabled us to identify 55 non-redundant genes encoding DOF proteins renamed as GrDofs (Gossypium raimondii Dof). Gene distribution studies have shown that all of the GrDof genes are unevenly distributed across 12 out of 13 G. raimondii chromosomes. The gene structure analysis illustrated that 34 out of 55 GrDof genes are intron-less while remaining 21 genes have a single intron. Protein sequence-based phylogenetic analysis of putative 55 GrDOFs has divided these proteins into 5 major groups with various paralogous gene pairs. Molecular evolutionary studies aided with the conserved domain as well as gene structure analysis suggested that segmental duplications were the principal contributors for the expansion of Dof genes in G. raimondii.

Keywords: diploid cotton , G. raimondii, phylogenetic analysis, transcription factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Marinos Xagoraris, Elisavet Lazarou, Eleftherios Alissandrakis, Christos S. Pappas, Petros A. Tarantilis

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Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) and autumn heather (Erica manipuliflora Salisb.) are important beekeeping plants of Greece. Six monofloral honeys (four strawberry tree, two autumn heather) were analyzed by means of Solid Phase Micro-Extraction (SPME, 60 min, 60 oC) followed by Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for the purpose of assessing the botanical origin. A Divinylbenzene/Carboxen/Polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) fiber was employed, and benzophenone was used as internal standard. The volatile compounds with higher concentration (μg/ g of honey expressed as benzophenone) from strawberry tree honey samples, were α-isophorone (2.50-8.12); 3,4,5-trimethyl-phenol (0.20-4.62); 2-hydroxy-isophorone (0.06-0.53); 4-oxoisophorone (0.38-0.46); and β-isophorone (0.02-0.43). Regarding heather honey samples, the most abundant compounds were 1-methoxy-4-propyl-benzene (1.22-1.40); p-anisaldehyde (0.97-1.28); p-anisic acid (0.35-0.58); 2-furaldehyde (0.52-0.57); and benzaldehyde (0.41-0.56). Norisoprenoids are potent floral markers for strawberry-tree honey. β-isophorone is found exclusively in the volatile fraction of this type of honey, while also α-isophorone, 4-oxoisophorone and 2-hydroxy-isophorone could be considered as additional marker compounds. The analysis of autumn heather honey revealed that phenolic compounds are the most abundant and p-anisaldehyde; 1-methoxy-4-propyl-benzene; and p-anisic acid could serve as potent marker compounds. In conclusion, marker compounds for the determination of the botanical origin for these honeys could be identified as several norisoprenoids and phenolic components were found exclusively or in higher concentrations compared to common Greek honey varieties.

Keywords: SPME/GC-MS, volatile compounds, heather honey, strawberry tree honey

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Hamed Khani Arani, Mohammad Shariyat, Armaghan Mohammadian

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In the present study, the free vibration of magnetostrictive nano-plate (MsNP) resting on the Pasternak foundation is investigated. Firstly, the modified couple stress (MCS) and nonlocal elasticity theories are compared together and taken into account to consider the small scale effects; in this paper not only two theories are analyzed but also it improves the MCS theory is more accurate than nonlocal elasticity theory in such problems. A feedback control system is utilized to investigate the effects of a magnetic field. First-order shear deformation theory (FSDT), Hamilton’s principle and energy method are utilized in order to drive the equations of motion and these equations are solved by differential quadrature method (DQM) for simply supported boundary conditions. The MsNP undergoes in-plane forces in x and y directions. In this regard, the dimensionless frequency is plotted to study the effects of small scale parameter, magnetic field, aspect ratio, thickness ratio and compression and tension loads. Results indicate that these parameters play a key role on the natural frequency. According to the above results, MsNP can be used in the communications equipment, smart control vibration of nanostructure especially in sensor and actuators such as wireless linear micro motor and smart nano valves in injectors.

Keywords: feedback control system, magnetostrictive nano-plate, modified couple stress theory, nonlocal elasticity theory, vibration analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Ekin Ozer, Maria Q. Feng, Rupa Purasinghe

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Structural deterioration of bridge systems possesses an ongoing threat to the transportation networks. Besides, landmark bridges’ integrity and safety are more than sole functionality, since they provide a strong presence for the society and nations. Therefore, an innovative and sustainable method to inspect landmark bridges is essential to ensure their resiliency in the long run. In this paper, a recently introduced concept, smartphone-based modal frequency estimation is addressed, and this paper targets to authenticate the fidelity of smartphone-based vibration measurements gathered from three landmark suspension bridges. Firstly, smartphones located at the bridge mid-span are adopted as portable and standalone vibration measurement devices. Then, their embedded accelerometers are utilized to gather vibration response under operational loads, and eventually frequency domain characteristics are deduced. The preliminary analysis results are compared with the reference publications and high-quality monitoring data to validate the usability of smartphones on long-span landmark suspension bridges. If the technical challenges such as high period of vibration, low amplitude excitation, embedded smartphone sensor features, sampling, and citizen engagement are tackled, smartphones can provide a novel and cost-free crowdsourcing tool for maintenance of these landmark structures. This study presents the early phase findings from three signature structures located in the United States.

Keywords: smart and mobile sensing, structural health monitoring, suspension bridges, vibration analysis

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Authors: Charles Koduru, Parth Patel, M. Hassan Tanveer

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In this paper, the communication between a team of robots is used to sanitize an environment with germs is proposed. We introduce capabilities from a team of robots (most likely heterogeneous), a wheeled robot named ROSbot 2.0 that consists of a mounted LiDAR and Kinect sensor, and a modified prototype design of a unicycle-drive Roomba robot called the UV robot. The UV robot consists of ultrasonic sensors to avoid obstacles and is equipped with an ultraviolet light system to disinfect and kill germs, such as bacteria and viruses. In addition, the UV robot is equipped with disinfectant spray to target hidden objects that ultraviolet light is unable to reach. Using the sensors from the ROSbot 2.0, the robot will create a 3-D model of the environment which will be used to factor how the ultraviolet robot will disinfect the environment. Together this proposed system is known as the RME assistive robot device or RME system, which communicates between a navigation robot and a germ disinfecting robot operated by a user. The RME system includes a human-machine interface that allows the user to control certain features of each robot in the RME assistive robot device. This method allows the cleaning process to be done at a more rapid and efficient pace as the UV robot disinfects areas just by moving around in the environment while using the ultraviolet light system to kills germs. The RME system can be used in many applications including, public offices, stores, airports, hospitals, and schools. The RME system will be beneficial even after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Kennesaw State University will continue the research in the field of robotics, engineering, and technology and play its role to serve humanity.

Keywords: multi robot system, assistive robots, COVID-19 pandemic, ultraviolent technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Maria Pavlova

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In our days, it is possible to put the camera on different vehicles like quadcopter, train, airplane and etc. The camera also can be the input sensor in many different systems. That means the object recognition like non separate part of monitoring control can be key part of the most intelligent systems. The aim of this paper is to focus of the object recognition process during vehicles movement. During the vehicle’s movement the camera takes pictures from the environment without storage in Data Base. In case the camera detects a special object (for example human or animal), the system saves the picture and sends it to the work station in real time. This functionality will be very useful in emergency or security situations where is necessary to find a specific object. In another application, the camera can be mounted on crossroad where do not have many people and if one or more persons come on the road, the traffic lights became the green and they can cross the road. In this papers is presented the system has solved the aforementioned problems. It is presented architecture of the object recognition system includes the camera, Raspberry platform, GPS system, neural network, software and Data Base. The camera in the system takes the pictures. The object recognition is done in real time using the OpenCV library and Raspberry microcontroller. An additional feature of this library is the ability to display the GPS coordinates of the captured objects position. The results from this processes will be sent to remote station. So, in this case, we can know the location of the specific object. By neural network, we can learn the module to solve the problems using incoming data and to be part in bigger intelligent system. The present paper focuses on the design and integration of the image recognition like a part of smart systems.

Keywords: camera, object recognition, OpenCV, Raspberry

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Authors: Sujit Kumar Sinha, Madan Lal Regar

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Sewing thread plays an important role in the transformation of a two-dimensional fabric into a three-dimensional garment. The interaction of the sewing thread with the fabric at the seam not only influences the appearance of a garment but also its performance. Careful selection of sewing thread and associated parameters can only help in improvement. Over the years, ring spinning has been dominating the yarn market. In the pursuit of improvement to challenge its dominance alternative technology has also been developed. But no real challenge has been posed by the any of the developed spinning systems. Eli-Twist spinning system can be a new method of yarn manufacture to provide a product with improved mechanical and physical properties with respect to the conventional ring spun yarn. The system, patented by Suessen has gained considerable attention in the recent times. The process of produces a two-ply compact yarn with improved fiber utilization. It produces a novel structure combining all advantages of condensing and doubling. In the present study, sewing threads of three different counts each from cotton, polyester and polyester/cotton (50/50) blend were produced on a ring and Eli-Twist systems. A twist multiplier of 4.2 was used to produce all the yarns. A comparison of hairiness, tensile strength and coefficient of friction with conventional ring yarn was made. Eli-Twist yarn has shown better frictional characteristics, better tensile strength and less hairiness. The performance of the Eli-Twist sewing thread has also been found to be better than the conventional 2-ply sewing thread. The performance was estimated through seam strength, seam elongation and seam efficiency of sewn fabric. Eli-Twist sewing thread has shown less friction, less hairiness, and higher tensile strength. Eli-Twist sewing thread resulted in better seam characteristics in comparison to conventional 2-ply sewing thread.

Keywords: ring spun yarn, Eli-Twist yarn, sewing thread, seam strength, seam elongation, seam efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Rajeswari Raguraman, Sowmya Parameswaran, Krishnakumar Subramanian, Jagat Kanwar, Rupinder Kanwar

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Background: Tumor microenvironment has been implicated in several cancers to regulate cell growth, invasion and metastasis culminating in outcome of therapy. Tumor stroma consists of multiple cell types that are in constant cross-talk with the tumor cells to favour a pro-tumorigenic environment. Not much is known about the existence of tumor microenvironment in the pediatric intraocular malignancy, Retinoblastoma (RB). In the present study, we aim to understand the multiple stromal cellular subtypes and tumor stromal interactions expressed in RB tumors. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemistry for stromal cell markers CD31, CD68, alpha-smooth muscle (α-SMA), vimentin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was performed on formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues sections of RB (n=12). The differential expression of stromal target molecules; fibroblast activation protein (FAP), tenascin-C (TNC), osteopontin (SPP1), bone marrow stromal antigen 2 (BST2), stromal derived factor 2 and 4 (SDF2 and SDF4) in primary RB tumors (n=20) and normal retina (n=5) was studied by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting. The differential expression was correlated with the histopathological features of RB. The interaction between RB cell lines (Weri-Rb-1, NCC-RbC-51) and Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) was also studied using direct co-culture and indirect co-culture methods. The functional effect of the co-culture methods on the RB cells was evaluated by invasion and proliferation assays. Global gene expression was studied by using Affymetrix 3’ IVT microarray. Pathway prediction was performed using KEGG and the key molecules were validated using qRT-PCR. Results: The immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of several stromal cell types such as endothelial cells (CD31+;Vim+/-); macrophages (CD68+;Vim+/-); Fibroblasts (Vim+; CD31-;CD68- );myofibroblasts (α-SMA+/ Vim+) and invading retinal astrocytes/ differentiated retinal glia (GFAP+; Vim+). A characteristic distribution of these stromal cell types was observed in the tumor microenvironment, with endothelial cells predominantly seen in blood vessels and macrophages near actively proliferating tumor or necrotic areas. Retinal astrocytes and glia were predominant near the optic nerve regions in invasive tumors with sparse distribution in tumor foci. Fibroblasts were widely distributed with rare evidence of myofibroblasts in the tumor. Both gene and protein expression revealed statistically significant (P<0.05) up-regulation of FAP, TNC and BST2 in primary RB tumors compared to the normal retina. Co-culture of BMSC with RB cells promoted invasion and proliferation of RB cells in direct and indirect contact methods respectively. Direct co-culture of RB cell lines with BMSC resulted in gene expression changes in ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, IL-8 and TGF-β signaling pathways associated with cancer. In contrast, various metabolic pathways such a glucose, fructose and amino acid metabolism were significantly altered under the indirect co-culture condition. Conclusion: The study suggests that the close interaction between RB cells and the stroma might be involved in RB tumor invasion and progression which is likely to be mediated by ECM-receptor interactions and secretory factors. Targeting the tumor stroma would be an attractive option for redesigning treatment strategies for RB.

Keywords: gene expression profiles, retinoblastoma, stromal cells, tumor microenvironment

Procedia PDF Downloads 380

Authors: Amit Barde, Dipali Khatave, Vaishali Savale, Atharva Chavan, Sapna Wagaj, Aditya Jilla

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AgriInnoConnect Pro is an advanced agricultural automation system designed to enhance irrigation efficiency and overall farm management through IoT technology. Using MIT App Inventor, Telegram, Arduino IDE, and Firebase Console, it provides a user-friendly interface for farmers. Key hardware includes soil moisture sensors, DHT11 sensors, a 12V motor, a solenoid valve, a stepdown transformer, Smart Fencing, and AC switches. The system operates in automatic and manual modes. In automatic mode, the ESP32 microcontroller monitors soil moisture and autonomously controls irrigation to optimize water usage. In manual mode, users can control the irrigation motor via a mobile app. Telegram bots enable remote operation of the solenoid valve and electric fencing, enhancing farm security. Additionally, the system upgrades conventional devices to smart ones using AC switches, broadening automation capabilities. AgriInnoConnect Pro aims to improve farm productivity and resource management, addressing the critical need for sustainable water conservation and providing a comprehensive solution for modern farm management. The integration of smart technologies in AgriInnoConnect Pro ensures precision farming practices, promoting efficient resource allocation and sustainable agricultural development.

Keywords: agricultural automation, IoT, soil moisture sensor, ESP32, MIT app inventor, telegram bot, smart farming, remote control, firebase console

Procedia PDF Downloads 26

Authors: Ljubica Dokić, Ivana Nikolić, Dragana Šoronja–Simović, Zita Šereš, Biljana Pajin, Nils Juul, Nikola Maravić

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The possibility of application the dietary fibers in production of crackers was observed in this work, as well as their influence on rheological and textural properties on the dough for crackers and influence on sensory properties of obtained crackers. Three different dietary fibers, oat, potato and pea fibers, replaced 10% of wheat flour. Long fermentation process and baking test method were used for crackers production. The changes of dough for crackers were observed by rheological methods of determination the viscoelastic dough properties and by textural measurements. Sensory quality of obtained crackers was described using quantity descriptive method (QDA) by trained members of descriptive panel. Additional analysis of crackers surface was performed by videometer. Based on rheological determination, viscoelastic properties of dough for crackers were reduced by application of dietary fibers. Manipulation of dough with 10% of potato fiber was disabled, thus the recipe modification included increase in water content at 35%. Dough compliance to constant stress for samples with dietary fibers decreased, due to more rigid and stiffer dough consistency compared to control sample. Also, hardness of dough for these samples increased and dough extensibility decreased. Sensory properties of final products, crackers, were reduced compared to control sample. Application of dietary fibers affected mostly hardness, structure and crispness of the crackers. Observed crackers were low marked for flavor and taste, due to influence of fibers specific aroma. The sample with 10% of potato fibers and increased water content was the most adaptable to applied stresses and to production process. Also this sample was close to control sample without dietary fibers by evaluation of sensory properties and by results of videometer method.

Keywords: crackers, dietary fibers, rheology, sensory properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Mailin Misson, Bo Jin, Sheng Dai, Hu Zhang

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Advances in biotechnology have witnessed a growing interest in enzyme applications for the development of green and sustainable bio processes. While known as powerful bio catalysts, enzymes are no longer of economic value when extended to large commercialization. Alternatively, immobilization technology allows enzyme recovery and continuous reuse which subsequently compensates high operating costs. Employment of enzymes on nano structured materials has been recognized as a promising approach to enhance enzyme catalytic performances. High porosity, inter connectivity and self-assembling behaviors endow nano fibers as exciting candidate for enzyme carrier in bio reactor systems. In this study, nano fibers were successfully fabricated via electro spinning system by optimizing the polymer concentration (10-30 %, w/v), applied voltage (10-30 kV) and discharge distance (11-26 cm). Microscopic images have confirmed the quality as homogeneous and good fiber alignment. The nano fibers surface was modified using strong oxidizing agent to facilitate bio molecule binding. Bovine serum albumin and β-galactosidase enzyme were employed as model bio catalysts and immobilized onto the oxidized surfaces through covalent binding. Maximum enzyme adsorption capacity of the modified nano fibers was 3000 mg/g, 3-fold higher than the unmodified counterpart (1000 mg/g). The highest immobilization yield was 80% and reached the saturation point at 2 mg/ml of enzyme concentration. The results indicate a significant increase of activity retention by the enzyme-bound modified nano fibers (80%) as compared to the nascent one (60%), signifying excellent enzyme-nano carrier bio compatibility. The immobilized enzyme was further used for the bio conversion of dairy wastes into value-added products. This study demonstrates great potential of acid-modified electrospun polystyrene nano fibers as enzyme carriers.

Keywords: immobilization, enzyme, nanocarrier, nanofibers

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Supannika Klangphukhiew, Roongnapa Srichana, Rina Patramanon

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Cortisol has been used as a well-known commercial stress biomarker. A homeostasis response to psychological stress is indicated by an increased level of cortisol produced in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Chronic psychological stress contributing to the high level of cortisol relates to several health problems. In this study, the cortisol biosensor was fabricated that mimicked the natural receptors. The artificial antibodies were prepared using molecular imprinted polymer technique that can imitate the performance of natural anti-cortisol antibody with high stability. Cortisol-molecular imprinted polymer (cortisol-MIP) was obtained using the multi-step swelling and polymerization protocol with cortisol as a target molecule combining methacrylic acid:acrylamide (2:1) with bisacryloyl-1,2-dihydroxy-1,2-ethylenediamine and ethylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine as cross-linkers. Cortisol-MIP was integrated to the sensor. It was coated on the disposable screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) for portable electrochemical analysis. The physical properties of Cortisol-MIP were characterized by means of electron microscope techniques. The binding characteristics were evaluated via covalent patterns changing in FTIR spectra which were related to voltammetry response. The performance of cortisol-MIP modified SPCE was investigated in terms of detection range, high selectivity with a detection limit of 1.28 ng/ml. The disposable cortisol biosensor represented an application of MIP technique to recognize steroids according to their structures with feasibility and cost-effectiveness that can be developed to use in point-of-care.

Keywords: stress biomarker, cortisol, molecular imprinted polymer, screen-printed carbon electrode

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Praveen Chandramenon, Andrew Gascoyne, Fideline Tchuenbou-Magaia

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Aquaponics offers a simple conclusive solution to the food and environmental crisis of the world. This approach combines the idea of Aquaculture (growing fish) to Hydroponics (growing vegetables and plants in a soilless method). Smart Aquaponics explores the use of smart technology including artificial intelligence and IoT, to assist farmers with better decision making and online monitoring and control of the system. Identification of different growth stages of Swiss Chard plants and predicting its harvest time is found to be important in Aquaponic yield management. This paper brings out the comparative analysis of a standard Aquaponics with a Vermiponics (Aquaponics with worms), which was grown in the controlled environment, by implementing IoT and deep learning-based growth stage segregation and harvest time prediction of Swiss Chards before and after applying an optimal freshwater replenishment. Data collection, Growth stage classification and Harvest Time prediction has been performed with and without water replenishment. The paper discusses the experimental design, IoT and sensor communication with architecture, data collection process, image segmentation, various regression and classification models and error estimation used in the project. The paper concludes with the results comparison, including best models that performs growth stage segregation and harvest time prediction of the Aquaponic and Vermiponic testbed with and without freshwater replenishment.

Keywords: aquaponics, deep learning, internet of things, vermiponics

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Authors: Shekher Kummari, V. Sunil Kumar, K. Vengatajalabathy Gobi

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A simple, cost-effective, reusable and reagent-free electrochemical biosensor is developed with functionalized multiwall carbon nanotube paste electrode (f-CNTPE) for the sensitive and selective determination of the important chemotherapeutic drug methotrexate (MTX), which is widely used for the treatment of various cancer and autoimmune diseases. The electrochemical response of the fabricated electrode towards the detection of MTX is examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). CV studies have shown that f-CNTPE electrode system exhibited an excellent electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of MTX in phosphate buffer (0.2 M) compared with a conventional carbon paste electrode (CPE). The oxidation peak current is enhanced by nearly two times in magnitude. Applying the DPV method under optimized conditions, a linear calibration plot is achieved over a wide range of concentration from 4.0×10⁻⁷ M to 5.5×10⁻⁶ M with the detection limit 1.6×10⁻⁷ M. further, by applying the SWV method a parabolic calibration plot was achieved starting from a very low concentration of 1.0×10⁻⁸ M, and the sensor could detect as low as 2.9×10⁻⁹ M MTX in 10 s and 10 nM were detected in steady state current-time analysis. The f-CNTPE shows very good selectivity towards the specific recognition of MTX in the presence of important biological interference. The electrochemical biosensor detects MTX in-vitro directly from pharmaceutical sample, undiluted urine and human blood serum samples at a concentration range 5.0×10⁻⁷ M with good recovery limits.

Keywords: amperometry, electrochemical detection, human blood serum, methotrexate, MWCNT, SWV

Procedia PDF Downloads 303

Authors: Umar Salisu

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This research presents the development of a hot air tomatoes drying system. To provide a more efficient and continuous temperature control, microcontroller-based optimal controller was developed. The system is based on a power control principle to achieve smooth power variations depending on a feedback temperature signal of the process. An LM35 temperature sensor and LM399 differential comparator were used to measure the temperature. The mathematical model of the system was developed and the optimal controller was designed and simulated and compared with the PID controller transient response. A controlled environment suitable for fruit drying is developed within a closed chamber and is a three step process. First, the infrared light is used internally to preheated the fruit to speedily remove the water content inside the fruit for fast drying. Second, hot air of a specified temperature is blown inside the chamber to maintain the humidity below a specified level and exhaust the humid air of the chamber. Third, the microcontroller disconnects the power to the chamber after the moisture content of the fruits is removed to minimal. Experiments were conducted with 1kg of fresh tomatoes at three different temperatures (40, 50 and 60 °C) at constant relative humidity of 30%RH. The results obtained indicate that the system is significantly reducing the drying time without affecting the quality of the fruits. In the context of temperature control, the results obtained showed that the response of the optimal controller has zero overshoot whereas the PID controller response overshoots to about 30% of the set-point. Another performance metric used is the rising time; the optimal controller rose without any delay while the PID controller delayed for more than 50s. It can be argued that the optimal controller performance is preferable than that of the PID controller since it does not overshoot and it starts in good time.

Keywords: drying, microcontroller, optimum controller, PID controller

Procedia PDF Downloads 291

Authors: J. Novak, A. Kohoutkova, V. Kristek, J. Vodicka, M. Sramek

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While the use of cast-in-place concrete for an airfield and highway pavement overlay is very common, the application of precast concrete elements is very limited today. The main reasons consist of high production costs and complex structural behavior. Despite that, several precast concrete systems have been developed and tested with the aim to provide a system with rapid construction. The contribution deals with the reinforcement design of a hexagonal element developed for a proposed airfield pavement system. The sub-base course of the system is composed of compacted recycled concrete aggregates and fiber reinforced concrete with recycled aggregates place on top of it. The selected element belongs to a group of precast concrete elements which are being considered for the construction of a surface course. Both high costs of full-scale experiments and the need to investigate various elements force to simulate their behavior in a numerical analysis software by using finite element method instead of performing expensive experiments. The simulation of the selected element was conducted on a nonlinear model in order to obtain such results which could fully compensate results from experiments. The main objective was to design reinforcement of the precast concrete element subject to quasi-static loading from airplanes with respect to geometrical imperfections, manufacturing imperfections, tensile stress in reinforcement, compressive stress in concrete and crack width. The obtained findings demonstrate that the position and the presence of imperfection in a pavement highly affect the stress distribution in the precast concrete element. The precast concrete element should be heavily reinforced to fulfill all the demands. Using under-reinforced concrete elements would lead to the formation of wide cracks and cracks permanently open.

Keywords: imperfection, numerical simulation, pavement, precast concrete element, reinforcement design, stress analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Arámbula-Villa Gerónimo, García-Lara Kenia Y., Figueroa-Cárdenas J. D., Pérez-Robles J. F., Jiménez-Sandoval S., Salazar-López R., Herrera-Corredor J. A.

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The nixtamalization process (thermal-alkaline method) improves the nutritional part of the corn grain. In this process, the using of Ca(OH)₂ is basic, although the chemical mechanisms between this alkali and the carbohydrates (starch), proteins, lipids, and fiber have not been fully identified. In this study, the native corn starch was taken as a model, and it was subjected to cooking with different concentrations of lime (nixtamalization process) and specific studies of FTIR and XRD were carried out to identify the formation of chemical compounds, and the physical, physicochemical, rheological (paste) and structural properties of material obtained were determined. The FTIR spectra showed the formation of calcium-starch complexes. The treatments with Ca(OH)₂ showed a band shift towards 1675 cm⁻¹ and a band in 1436 cm⁻¹ (COO⁻), indicating the oxidation of starch. Three bands were identified (1575, 1550, and 1540 cm⁻¹) characteristics of carboxylic acid salts for three types of coordinated structures: monodentate, pseudo-bridged, and bidentate. The XRD spectra of starch treated with Ca(OH)₂ showed a peak corresponding to CaCO₃ (29.40°). The oxidation of starch was favored with low concentrations of Ca(OH)₂, producing carboxyl and carbonyl groups and increasing the residual CaCO₃. The increased concentration of Ca(OH)₂ showed the formation of calcium carboxylates, with a decrease in relative crystallinity and residual CaCO₃. Samples with low concentrations of Ca(OH)₂ slowed the onset of gelatinization and increased the swelling of the granules and the peak viscosity. The higher concentrations of Ca(OH)₂ difficulted the water absorption and decreased the viscosity rate and peak viscosity. These results can be used to improve the quality characteristics of the dough and tortillas and to get better acceptance by consumers.

Keywords: maize starch, nixtamalization, gelatinization, calcium carboxylates

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Authors: Zahra Ashraf

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Flax and pumpkin seeds are a rich source of unsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber, known to have anti-atherogenic properties. Hypercholesterolemia is a state characterized by the elevated level of cholesterol in the blood. This research was designed to study the effect of flax and pumpkin seeds powder mixture on hypercholesterolemia and body weight. Rat’s species were selected as human representative. Thirty male albino rats were divided into three groups: a control group, a CD-chol group (control diet+cholesterol) fed with 1.5% cholesterol and FP-chol group (flaxseed and pumpkin seed powder+ cholesterol) fed with 1.5% cholesterol. Flax and pumpkin seed powder mixed at proportion of (5/1) (omega-3 and omega-6). Blood samples were collected to examine lipid profile and body weight was also measured. Thus the data was subjected to analysis of variance. In CD-chol group, body weight, total cholesterol TC, triacylglycerides TG in plasma, plasma LDL-C, ratio significantly increased with a decrease in plasma HDL (good cholesterol). In FP-chol group lipid parameters and body weights were decreased significantly with an increase in HDL and decrease in LDL (bad cholesterol). The mean values of body weight, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein and high density lipoproteins in FP-chol group were 240.66±11.35g, 59.60±2.20mg/dl, 50.20±1.79 mg/dl, 36.20±1.62mg/dl, 36.40±2.20 mg/dl, respectively. Flaxseed and pumpkin seeds powder mixture showed reduction in body weight, serum cholesterol, low density lipoprotein and triglycerides. While significant increase was shown in high density lipoproteins when given to hypercholesterolemic rats. Our results suggested that flax and pumpkin seed mixture has hypocholesterolemic effects which were probably mediated by polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6) present in seed mixture.

Keywords: hypercolesterolemia, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, cardiovascular diseases

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Authors: Chao-Linag Hsieh, Zheng-Wei Ye, Chen-Kang Huang, Yeun-Chung Lee, Chih-Hong Sun, Tzai-Hung Wen, Jehn-Yih Juang, Joe-Air Jiang

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Air pollution and climate warming become more and more intensified in many areas, especially in urban areas. Environmental parameters are critical information to air pollution and weather monitoring. Thus, it is necessary to develop a suitable air pollution and weather monitoring system for urban areas. In this study, a vehicle monitoring system (VMS) based on the IoT technique is developed. Cars are selected as the research tool because it can reach a greater number of streets to collect data. The VMS can monitor different environmental parameters, including ambient temperature and humidity, and air quality parameters, including PM2.5, NO₂, CO, and O₃. The VMS can provide other information, including GPS signals and the vibration information through driving a car on the street. Different sensor modules are used to measure the parameters and collect the measured data and transmit them to a cloud server through the LoRa protocol. A user interface is used to show the sensing data storing at the cloud server. To examine the performance of the system, a researcher drove a Nissan x-trail 1998 to the area close to the Da’an District office in Taipei to collect monitoring data. The collected data are instantly shown on the user interface. The four kinds of information are provided by the interface: GPS positions, weather parameters, vehicle information, and air quality information. With the VMS, users can obtain the information regarding air quality and weather conditions when they drive their car to an urban area. Also, government agencies can make decisions on traffic planning based on the information provided by the proposed VMS.

Keywords: LoRa, monitoring system, smart city, vehicle

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Authors: Joel Ballesteros, Harriet Jane Caleja, Florian Del Mundo, Cherrie Pascual

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Diffraction-based sensing was utilized in the quantification of human ferritin in blood serum to provide an alternative to label-based immunoassays currently used in clinical diagnostics and researches. The diffraction intensity was measured by the diffractive optics technology or dotLab™ system. Two methods were evaluated in this study: direct immunoassay and direct sandwich immunoassay. In the direct immunoassay, human ferritin was captured by human ferritin antibodies immobilized on an avidin-coated sensor while the direct sandwich immunoassay had an additional step for the binding of a detector human ferritin antibody on the analyte complex. Both methods were repeatable with coefficient of variation values below 15%. The direct sandwich immunoassay had a linear response from 10 to 500 ng/mL which is wider than the 100-500 ng/mL of the direct immunoassay. The direct sandwich immunoassay also has a higher calibration sensitivity with value 0.002 Diffractive Intensity (ng mL-1)-1) compared to the 0.004 Diffractive Intensity (ng mL-1)-1 of the direct immunoassay. The limit of detection and limit of quantification values of the direct immunoassay were found to be 29 ng/mL and 98 ng/mL, respectively, while the direct sandwich immunoassay has a limit of detection (LOD) of 2.5 ng/mL and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 8.2 ng/mL. In terms of accuracy, the direct immunoassay had a percent recovery of 88.8-93.0% in PBS while the direct sandwich immunoassay had 94.1 to 97.2%. Based on the results, the direct sandwich immunoassay is a better diffraction-based immunoassay in terms of accuracy, LOD, LOQ, linear range, and sensitivity. The direct sandwich immunoassay was utilized in the determination of human ferritin in blood serum and the results are validated by Chemiluminescent Magnetic Immunoassay (CMIA). The calculated Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.995 and the p-values of the paired-sample t-test were less than 0.5 which show that the results of the direct sandwich immunoassay was comparable to that of CMIA and could be utilized as an alternative analytical method.

Keywords: biosensor, diffraction, ferritin, immunoassay

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Authors: Ana Belon Hercilla

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The study is developed in “Reactivos Jeans” company, in the city of Arequipa, whose main business is the laundry of garments at an industrial level. In 2012 the company initiated actions to provide a dry cleaning service of alpaca fiber garments, recognizing that this item is in a growth phase in Peru. Additionally this company took the initiative to use a new greenwashing technology which has not yet been developed in the country. To accomplish this, a redesign of both the process and the plant layout was required. For redesigning the plant, the methodology used was the Systemic Layout Planning, allowing this study divided into four stages. First stage is the information gathering and evaluation of the initial situation of the company, for which a description of the areas, facilities and initial equipment, distribution of the plant, the production process and flows of major operations was made. Second stage is the development of engineering techniques that allow the logging and analysis procedures, such as: Flow Diagram, Route Diagram, DOP (process flowchart), DAP (analysis diagram). Then the planning of the general distribution is carried out. At this stage, proximity factors of the areas are established, the Diagram Paths (TRA) is developed, and the Relational Diagram Activities (DRA). In order to obtain the General Grouping Diagram (DGC), further information is complemented by a time study and Guerchet method is used to calculate the space requirements for each area. Finally, the plant layout redesigning is presented and the implementation of the improvement is made, making it possible to obtain a model much more efficient than the initial design. The results indicate that the implementation of the new machinery, the adequacy of the plant facilities and equipment relocation resulted in a reduction of the production cycle time by 75.67%, routes were reduced by 68.88%, the number of activities during the process were reduced by 40%, waits and storage were removed 100%.

Keywords: redesign, time optimization, industrial laundry, greenwashing

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Authors: H. Aldewachi, M. Hines, M. McCulloch, N. Woodroofe, P. Gardiner

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DPP-IV is an enzyme whose expression is affected in a variety of diseases, therefore, has been identified as possible diagnostic or prognostic marker for various tumours, immunological, inflammatory, neuroendocrine, and viral diseases. Recently, DPP-IV enzyme has been identified as a novel target for type II diabetes treatment where the enzyme is involved. There is, therefore, a need to develop sensitive and specific methods that can be easily deployed for the screening of the enzyme either as a tool for drug screening or disease marker in biological samples. A variety of assays have been introduced for the determination of DPP-IV enzyme activity using chromogenic and fluorogenic substrates, nevertheless these assays either lack the required sensitivity especially in inhibited enzyme samples or displays low water solubility implying difficulty for use in vivo samples in addition to labour and time-consuming sample preparation. In this study, novel strategies based on exploiting the high extinction coefficient of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are investigated in order to develop fast, specific and reliable enzymatic assay by investigating synthetic peptide sequences containing a DPP IV cleavage site and coupling them to GNPs. The DPP IV could be detected by colorimetric response of peptide capped GNPs (P-GNPS) that could be monitored by a UV-visible spectrophotometer or even naked eyes, and the detection limit could reach 0.01 unit/ml. The P-GNPs, when subjected to DPP IV, showed excellent selectivity compared to other proteins (thrombin and human serum albumin) , which led to prominent colour change. This provided a simple and effective colorimetric sensor for on-site and real-time detection of DPP IV.

Keywords: gold nanoparticles, synthetic peptides, colorimetric detection, DPP-IV enzyme

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Authors: Sikander Nawaz Khan

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Natural disasters like flood, earthquake, cyclone, volcanic eruption and others are causing immense losses to the property and lives every year. Current status and actual loss information of natural hazards can be determined and also prediction for next probable disasters can be made using different remote sensing and mapping technologies. Global Positioning System (GPS) calculates the exact position of damage. It can also communicate with wireless sensor nodes embedded in potentially dangerous places. GPS provide precise and accurate locations and other related information like speed, track, direction and distance of target object to emergency responders. Remote Sensing facilitates to map damages without having physical contact with target area. Now with the addition of more remote sensing satellites and other advancements, early warning system is used very efficiently. Remote sensing is being used both at local and global scale. High Resolution Satellite Imagery (HRSI), airborne remote sensing and space-borne remote sensing is playing vital role in disaster management. Early on Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to collect, arrange, and map the spatial information but now it has capability to analyze spatial data. This analytical ability of GIS is the main cause of its adaption by different emergency services providers like police and ambulance service. Full potential of these so called 3S technologies cannot be used in alone. Integration of GPS and other remote sensing techniques with GIS has pointed new horizons in modeling of earth science activities. Many remote sensing cases including Asian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, Mount Mangart landslides and Pakistan-India earthquake in 2005 are described in this paper.

Keywords: disaster mitigation, GIS, GPS, remote sensing

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Authors: S. M. Samkeyat Shohan

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This study is mainly focused on the determination and analysis of the photolysis rate of atmospheric, specifically tropospheric, ozone as function of cloud properties through-out the year 2007. The observational basis for ozone concentrations and cloud properties are the measurement data set of the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) sensor on board the polar orbiting Metop-A satellite. Two different spectral ranges are used; ozone total column are calculated from the wavelength window 325 – 335 nm, while cloud properties, such as cloud top height (CTH) and cloud optical thick-ness (COT) are derived from the absorption band of molecular oxygen centered at 761 nm. Cloud fraction (CF) is derived from measurements in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared range of GOME-2. First, ozone concentrations above clouds are derived from ozone total columns, subtracting the contribution of stratospheric ozone and filtering those satellite measurements which have thin and low clouds. Then, the values of ozone photolysis derived from observations are compared with theoretical modeled results, in the latitudinal belt 5˚N-5˚S and 20˚N - 20˚S, as function of CF and COT. In general, good agreement is found between the data and the model, proving both the quality of the space-borne ozone and cloud properties as well as the modeling theory of ozone photolysis rate. The found discrepancies can, however, amount to approximately 15%. Latitudinal seasonal changes of photolysis rate of ozone are found to be negatively correlated to changes in upper-tropospheric ozone concentrations only in the autumn and summer months within the northern and southern tropical belts, respectively. This fact points to the entangled roles of temperature and nitrogen oxides in the ozone production, which are superimposed on its sole photolysis induced by thick and high clouds in the tropics.

Keywords: cloud properties, photolysis rate, stratospheric ozone, tropospheric ozone

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Authors: Jae-Yong Lee, Gyu-Hyun Bae, Yun-Soo Chung, Dae-Sub Kim, Jae-Sung Bae

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In general, fabric is heat-treated using a stenter machine in order to dry and fix its shape. It is important to shape before the heat treatment because it is difficult to revert back once the fabric is formed. To produce the product of right shape, camera type weft straightener has been applied recently to capture and process fabric images quickly. It is more powerful in determining the final textile quality rather than photo-sensor. Positioning in front of a stenter machine, weft straightener helps to spread fabric evenly and control the angle between warp and weft constantly as right angle by handling skew and bow rollers. To process this tricky procedure, the structural analysis should be carried out in advance, based on which, its control technology can be drawn. A structural analysis is to figure out the specific contact/slippage characteristics between fabric and roller. We already examined the applicability of camera type weft straightener to plain weave fabric and found its possibility and the specific working condition of machine and rollers. In this research, we aimed to explore another applicability of camera type weft straightener. Namely, we tried to figure out camera type weft straightener can be used for fabrics. To find out the optimum condition, we increased the number of rollers. The analysis is done by ANSYS software using Finite Element Analysis method. The control function is demonstrated by experiment. In conclusion, the structural analysis of weft straightener is done to identify a specific characteristic between roller and fabrics. The control of skew and bow roller is done to decrease the error of the angle between warp and weft. Finally, it is proved that camera type straightener can also be used for the special fabrics.

Keywords: camera type weft straightener, structure analysis, control, skew and bow roller

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Beata Zima, Octavio A. Márquez Reyes, Masoud Mohammadgholiha, Jochen Moll, Luca de Marchi

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This document presents the approach of using compressed sensing in signal encoding and information transferring within a guided wave sensor network, comprised of specially designed frequency steerable acoustic transducers (FSATs). Wave propagation in a damaged plate was simulated using commercial FEM-based software COMSOL. Guided waves were excited by means of FSATs, characterized by the special shape of its electrodes, and modeled using PIC255 piezoelectric material. The special shape of the FSAT, allows for focusing wave energy in a certain direction, accordingly to the frequency components of its actuation signal, which makes available a larger monitored area. The process begins when a FSAT detects and records reflection from damage in the structure, this signal is then encoded and prepared for transmission, using a combined approach, based on Compressed Sensing Matching Pursuit and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). After codification of the signal is in binary chars the information is transmitted between the nodes in the network. The message reaches the last node, where it is finally decoded and processed, to be used for damage detection and localization purposes. The main aim of the investigation is to determine the location of detected damage using reconstructed signals. The study demonstrates that the special steerable capabilities of FSATs, not only facilitate the detection of damage but also permit transmitting the damage information to a chosen area in a specific direction of the investigated structure.

Keywords: data compression, ultrasonic communication, guided waves, FEM analysis

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Authors: Giorgio Visentin, Alexei A. Buchachenko

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Recent proposals to use Yb dimer as an optical clock and as a sensor for non-Newtonian gravity imply the knowledge of its interaction potential. Here, the ground-state Born-Oppenheimer Yb₂ potential energy curve is represented by a semi-analytical function, consisting of short- and long-range contributions. For the former, the systematic ab initio all-electron exact 2-component scalar-relativistic CCSD(T) calculations are carried out. Special care is taken to saturate diffuse basis set component with the atom- and bond-centered primitives and reach the complete basis set limit through n = D, T, Q sequence of the correlation-consistent polarized n-zeta basis sets. Similar approaches are used to the long-range dipole and quadrupole dispersion terms by implementing the CCSD(3) polarization propagator method for dynamic polarizabilities. Dispersion coefficients are then computed through Casimir-Polder integration. The semiclassical constraint on the number of the bound vibrational levels known for the ¹⁷⁴Yb isotope is used to scale the potential function. The scaling, based on the most accurate ab initio results, bounds the interaction energy of two Yb atoms within the narrow 734 ± 4 cm⁻¹ range, in reasonable agreement with the previous ab initio-based estimations. The resulting potentials can be used as the reference for more sophisticated models that go beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and provide the means of their uncertainty estimations. The work is supported by Russian Science Foundation grant # 17-13-01466.

Keywords: ab initio coupled cluster methods, interaction potential, semi-analytical function, ytterbium dimer

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Authors: Edison E. Haro, Akindele G. Odeshi, Jerzy A. Szpunar

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Hybrid bio-composites are developed for use in protective armor through positive hybridization offered by reinforcement of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with Kevlar short fibers and palm wood micro-fillers. The manufacturing process involved a combination of extrusion and compression molding techniques. The mechanical behavior of Kevlar fiber reinforced HDPE with and without palm wood filler additions are compared. The effect of the weight fraction of the added palm wood micro-fillers is also determined. The Young modulus was found to increase as the weight fraction of organic micro-particles increased. However, the flexural strength decreased with increasing weight fraction of added micro-fillers. The interfacial interactions between the components were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. The influence of the size, random alignment and distribution of the natural micro-particles was evaluated. Ballistic impact and dynamic shock loading tests were performed to determine the optimum proportion of Kevlar short fibers and organic micro-fillers needed to improve impact strength of the HDPE. These results indicate a positive hybridization by deposition of organic micro-fillers on the surface of short Kevlar fibers used in reinforcing the thermoplastic matrix leading to enhancement of the mechanical strength and dynamic impact behavior of these materials. Therefore, these hybrid bio-composites can be promising materials for different applications against high velocity impacts.

Keywords: hybrid bio-composites, organic nano-fillers, dynamic shocking loading, ballistic impacts, energy absorption

Procedia PDF Downloads 108