Search results for: resonant column test

Authors: Azu Kalu Oko, Ugboaku Nwanpka

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The study investigated the effect of cognitive restructuring and assertive training on improvement of sexual behavior of secondary school adolescents in Nigeria. To guide the study, three research questions and four hypothesis were formulated. The study featured a 2X3 factorial design with a sample of 48 male and female students selected by random sampling using a table of random sample numbers. The three groups are assertive training, cognitive restructuring and control group. The study identified adolescents with deviant sexual behavior using Students Sexual Behavior Inventory (S.S.B.I.) as the research instrument. Ancova and T- Test statistic were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that: I. Assertive Training and Cognitive Restructuring significantly improved sexual behavior of subjects at post test when compared with the control group. II. The treatment gains made by the two techniques were sustained at one month follow-up interval. III. Cognitive restructuring was more effective than assertiveness training in the improvement of the sexual behavior of students. Implication for education, psychotherapy and counseling were highlighted.

Keywords: cognitive restructuring, assertiveness training, adolescents, sexual behavior

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Authors: Di Yao, Gunther Prokop, Kay Buttner

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Dynamic parameters, including the center of gravity, mass and inertia moments of vehicle, play an essential role in vehicle simulation, collision test and real-time control of vehicle active systems. To identify the important vehicle dynamic parameters, a systematic parameter identification procedure is studied in this work. In the first step of the procedure, a conceptual parallel manipulator (virtual test rig), which possesses three rotational degrees-of-freedom, is firstly proposed. To realize kinematic characteristics of the conceptual parallel manipulator, the kinematic analysis consists of inverse kinematic and singularity architecture is carried out. Based on the Euler's rotation equations for rigid body dynamics, the dynamic model of parallel manipulator and derivation of measurement matrix for parameter identification are presented subsequently. In order to reduce the sensitivity of parameter identification to measurement noise and other unexpected disturbances, a parameter optimization process of searching for optimal exciting trajectory of parallel manipulator is conducted in the following section. For this purpose, the 321-Euler-angles defined by parameterized finite-Fourier-series are primarily used to describe the general exciting trajectory of parallel manipulator. To minimize the condition number of measurement matrix for achieving better parameter identification accuracy, the unknown coefficients of parameterized finite-Fourier-series are estimated by employing an iterative algorithm based on MATLAB®. Meanwhile, the iterative algorithm will ensure the parallel manipulator still keeps in an achievable working status during the execution of optimal exciting trajectory. It is showed that the proposed procedure and methods in this work can effectively identify the vehicle dynamic parameters and could be an important application of parallel manipulator in the fields of parameter identification and test rig development.

Keywords: parameter identification, parallel manipulator, singularity architecture, dynamic modelling, exciting trajectory

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Authors: Tae An Kim, Hyo Lim Kang, Hye Won Han, Seung Ho Han

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The drive shaft of passenger vehicle has its own function such as transmitting the engine torque from the gearbox and differential gears to the wheels. It must also compensate for all variations in angle or length resulting from manoeuvring and deflection for perfect synchronization between joints. Torsional fatigue failures occur frequently at the connection parts of the spline joints in the end of the drive shaft. In this study, the fatigue life of a drive shaft of passenger vehicle was estimated by using the finite element analysis. A commercial software of n-Code was applied under twisting load conditions, i.e. 0~134kgf•m and 0~188kgf•m, in which the shear strain range-fatigue life relationship considering Signed Shear method, Smith-Watson-Topper equation, Neuber-Hoffman Seeger method, size sensitivity factor and surface roughness effect was taken into account. The estimated fatigue life was verified by a twisting load test of the real drive shaft in a test rig. (Human Resource Training Project for Industry Matched R & D, KIAT, N036200004).

Keywords: drive shaft, fatigue life estimation, passenger vehicle, shear strain range-fatigue life relationship, torsional fatigue failure

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Authors: Khalid. M. O. Elmabrok, M. L. Burby, G. G. Nasr

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Flow instability during gas lift operation is caused by three major phenomena – the density wave oscillation, the casing heading pressure and the flow perturbation within the two-phase flow region. This paper focuses on the causes and the effect of flow instability during gas lift operation and suggests ways to control it in order to maximise productivity during gas lift operations. A laboratory-scale two-phase flow system to study the effects of flow perturbation was designed and built. The apparatus is comprised of a 2 m long by 66 mm ID transparent PVC pipe with air injection point situated at 0.1 m above the base of the pipe. This is the point where stabilised bubbles were visibly clear after injection. Air is injected into the water filled transparent pipe at different flow rates and pressures. The behavior of the different sizes of the bubbles generated within the two-phase region was captured using a digital camera and the images were analysed using the advanced image processing package. It was observed that the average maximum bubbles sizes increased with the increase in the length of the vertical pipe column from 29.72 to 47 mm. The increase in air injection pressure from 0.5 to 3 bars increased the bubble sizes from 29.72 mm to 44.17 mm and then decreasing when the pressure reaches 4 bars. It was observed that at higher bubble velocity of 6.7 m/s, larger diameter bubbles coalesce and burst due to high agitation and collision with each other. This collapse of the bubbles causes pressure drop and reverse flow within two phase flow and is the main cause of the flow instability phenomena.

Keywords: gas lift instability, bubbles forming, bubbles collapsing, image processing

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Authors: Young-Hyun Seo, Hyunwoo Park, Dong-Kyu Kim, Seung-Young Kho

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The purpose of this study is providing an improved mode choice model considering parameters including age grouping of prime-aged and old age. In this study, 2010 Household Travel Survey data were used and improper samples were removed through the analysis. Chosen alternative, date of birth, mode, origin code, destination code, departure time, and arrival time are considered from Household Travel Survey. By preprocessing data, travel time, travel cost, mode, and ratio of people aged 45 to 55 years, 55 to 65 years and over 65 years were calculated. After the manipulation, the mode choice model was constructed using LIMDEP by maximum likelihood estimation. A significance test was conducted for nine parameters, three age groups for three modes. Then the test was conducted again for the mode choice model with significant parameters, travel cost variable and travel time variable. As a result of the model estimation, as the age increases, the preference for the car decreases and the preference for the bus increases. This study is meaningful in that the individual and households characteristics are applied to the aggregate model.

Keywords: age grouping, aging, mode choice model, multinomial logit model

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Authors: Maryam Hashemi, Nematollah Razmi, Rasool Madani

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M. paratuberculosis is a slow growing mycobactin dependent mycobacterial species known to be the causative agent of Johne’s disease in all species of domestic ruminants worldwide. JD is characterized by gradual weight loss; decreased milk production. Excretion of the organism may occur for prolonged periods (1 to 2.5 years) before the onset of clinical disease. In recent years, researchers focus on identification a specific antigen of MAP to use in diagnosis test and preparation of effective vaccine. In this paper, for production of polyclonal antibody against proteins of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis cell wall a rabbit immunization at a certain time period with antigen. After immunization of the animal, blood samples were collected from the rabbit for producing enriched serum. Antibodies were purified with ion exchange chromatography. For exact measurement of interaction, western blotting test was used and as it is demonstrated in the study, sharp bands appear in nitrocellulose paper and specific bands were 50 and 150 KD molecular weight. These were indicating immunodominant proteins.

Keywords: immunodominant, paratuberculosis, Western blotting, cell wall proteins, protein purification

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Authors: Alireza Monzavi Chaleshtari, Mahnaz Aliakbari Dehkordi, Mina Gholampour, Majid Saffarinia, Tayebeh Mohtashami, Amin Asadi Hieh

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The study aimed to assess the impact of positive psychology education on the social well-being of high school girls experiencing premenstrual syndrome (PMS). The statistical population comprised high school girls with PMS, with 30 randomly selected participants divided into two groups: 15 in the experimental group and 15 in the control group. The research employed a pre-test and post-test design using a standard questionnaire to evaluate premenstrual syndrome symptoms over a 7-day period before menstruation to a maximum of 2 days after menstruation, along with the Social Keys welfare questionnaire. During the study, the experimental group underwent an 8-session positive psychology group program. Data analysis was conducted using analysis of covariance. The results indicated a significant positive effect of positive psychology training on enhancing the social well-being of girls (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the findings suggest that positive psychology interventions can effectively increase social well-being among high school girls experiencing premenstrual syndrome.

Keywords: positive psychology, premenstrual syndrome, social welfare, girls

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Authors: Stephan P. Barkhuizen, Deon Greyling, Ryan J. Miller

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The accurate determination of the engineering parameters of soil is necessary for the design of geotechnical structures, such as Tailings Storage Facilities. The shear strength and saturated permeability of soil and tailings samples obtained from 14 sites located in the copper belt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been tested at six commercial soil laboratories in South Africa. This study compiles a database of the test results proved by the soil laboratories. The samples have been categorised into clay, silt, and sand, based on the Unified Soil Classification System, with tailings kept separate. The effective friction angle (Φ’) and cohesion (c’) were interpreted from the stress paths, in s’:t space, obtained from triaxial tests. The minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, and maximum values for Φ’,c’, and saturated hydraulic conductivity (k) have been determined for the soil sample. The objective is to provide statistics of the measured values of the engineering properties for the TSF borrow material, foundation soils and tailings of this region.

Keywords: Democratic Republic of the Congo, laboratory test work, soil engineering parameter variation, tailings storage facilities

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Authors: Himanshu Dehra

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An experimental study was conducted for ascertaining electrical and thermal characteristics of a pair of photovoltaic (PV) modules integrated with solar wall of an outdoor room. A pre-fabricated outdoor room was setup for conducting outdoor experiments on a PV solar wall with passive and active ventilation through the outdoor room. The selective operating conditions for glass coated PV modules were utilized for establishing their electrical and thermal characteristics. The PV solar wall was made up of glass coated PV modules, a ventilated air column, and an insulating layer of polystyrene filled plywood board. The measurements collected were currents, voltages, electric power, air velocities, temperatures, solar intensities, and thermal time constant. The results have demonstrated that: i) a PV solar wall installed on a wooden frame was of more heat generating capacity in comparison to a window glass or a standalone PV module; ii) generation of electric power was affected with operation of vertical PV solar wall; iii) electrical and thermal characteristics were not significantly affected by heat and thermal storage losses; and iv) combined heat and electricity generation were function of volume of thermal and electrical resistances developed across PV solar wall. Finally, a comparison of temperature plots of passive and active ventilation envisaged that fan pressure was necessary to avoid overheating of the PV solar wall. The active ventilation was necessary to avoid over-heating of the PV solar wall and to maintain adequate ventilation of room under mild climate conditions.

Keywords: photovoltaic solar wall, solar energy, passive ventilation, active ventilation

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Authors: Neritan Shkodrani

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On November 26, 2019, an earthquake hit the central western part of Albania. It was assessed as Mw 6.4. Its epicenter was located offshore north western Durrës, about 7 km north of the city. In this paper, the consequences of settlements of very soft soils have been discussed for the case of a residential building, mentioned as “K Building”, which was suffering a significant tilting after the earthquake. “KBuilding” is an RC framed building having 12+1 (basement) storiesand a floor area of 21000 m2. The construction of the building was completed in 2012. “KBuilding”, located in Durres city, suffered severe non-structural damage during November 26, 2019, Durrës Earthquake sequences. During the in-site inspections immediately after the earthquake, the general condition of the buildings, the presence of observable settlements on the ground, and the crack situation in the structure were determined, and damage inspection were performed. It was significant to note that the “K Building” presented tilting that might be attributed, as it was believed at the beginning, partially to the failure of the columns of the ground floor and partially to liquefaction phenomena, but it did not collapse. At the first moment was not clear if the foundation had a bearing capacity failure or the foundation failed because of the soil liquefaction. Geotechnical soil investigations by using CPTU test were executed, and their data are usedto evaluatebearing capacity, consolidation settlement of the mat foundation, and soil liquefaction since they were believed to be the main reasons of this building tilting.Geotechnical soil investigation consist in 5 (five) Static Cone Penetration tests with pore pressure measurement (piezocone test). They reached a penetration depth of 20.0 m to 30.0 mand, clearly shown the presence of very soft and organic soils in the soil profile of the site. Geotechnical CPT based analysis of bearing capacity, consolidation, and secondary settlement are applied, and results are reported for each test. These results shown very small values of allowable bearing capacity and very high values of consolidation and secondary settlements. Liquefaction analysis based on the data of CPTU tests and the characteristics of ground shaking of the mentioned earthquake has shown the possibility of liquefaction for some layers of the considered soil profile, but the estimated vertical settlements are at a small range and clearly shown that the main reason of the building tilting was not related to the consequences of liquefaction, but was an existing settlement caused from the applied bearing pressure of this building. All the CPTU tests were carried out on August 2021, almost two years after the November 26, 2019, Durrës Earthquake and when the building itself was demolished. After removing the mat foundation on September 2021, it was possible to carry out CPTU tests even on the footprint of the existing building, which made possible to observe the effects of long time applied of foundation bearing pressure to the consolidation on the considered soil profile.

Keywords: bearing capacity, cone penetration test, consolidation settlement, secondary settlement, soil liquefaction, etc

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Authors: Raouf Mbarki, Fadi Al Khatib, Malek Adouni

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Knee collateral ligaments play a significant role in restraining excessive frontal motion (varus/valgus rotations). In this investigation, a multiscale frame was developed based on structural hierarchies of the collateral ligaments starting from the bottom (tropocollagen molecule) to up where the fibred reinforced structure established. Experimental data of failure tensile test were considered as the principal driver of the developed model. This model was calibrated statistically using Bayesian calibration due to the high number of unknown parameters. Then the model is scaled up to fit the real structure of the collateral ligaments and simulated under realistic boundary conditions. Predications have been successful in describing the observed transient response of the collateral ligaments during tensile test under pre- and post-damage loading conditions. Collateral ligaments maximum stresses and strengths were observed near to the femoral insertions, a results that is in good agreement with experimental investigations. Also for the first time, damage initiation and propagation were documented with this model as a function of the cross-link density between tropocollagen molecules.

Keywords: multiscale model, tropocollagen, fibrils, ligaments commas

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Authors: Liu Bijin

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Floating breakwaters have several advantages, including being environmentally friendly, easy to construct, and cost-effective regardless of water depth. They have a broad range of applications in coastal engineering. However, they face significant challenges due to the unstable effect of wave dissipation, structural vulnerability, and high mooring system requirements. This paper investigates the wave dissipation performance of a floating breakwater structure. The structure consists of double cylinders, double vertical plates, and horizontal connecting plates. The investigation is carried out using physical model tests and numerical simulation methods based on STAR-CCM+. This paper discusses the impact of wave elements, relative vertical plate heights, and relative horizontal connecting plate widths on the wave dissipation performance of the double-cylinder, double-plate floating breakwater (DCDPFB). The study also analyses the changes in local vorticity and velocity fields around the DCDPFB to determine the optimal structural dimensions. The study found that the relative width of the horizontal connecting plate, the relative height of the vertical plate, and the size of the semi-cylinder are the key factors affecting the wave dissipation performance of the DCDPFB. The transmittance coefficient is minimally affected by the wave height and the depth of water entry. The local vortex and velocity field formed around the DCDPFB are important factors for dissipating wave energy. The test section of the DCDPFB, constructed according to the relative optimal structural dimensions, showed good wave dissipation performance during offshore prototype tests. The test section of DCDPFB, constructed with optimal structural dimensions, exhibits excellent wave dissipation performance in offshore prototype tests.

Keywords: floating breakwater, wave dissipation performance, transmittance coefficient, model test

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Authors: Jovie Esquivias Nicolas, Ron Aldrin Lontoc Austria, Crisabelle Belleza Bautista, Mariane Chiho Espinosa Bundalian, Owwen Kervy Del Rosario Castillo, Mary Angelyn Mercado Dela Cruz, Heinrich Theraja Recana De Luna, Chriscell Gipanao Eustaquio, Desiree Laine Lauz Gilbas, Jordan Ignacio Legaspi, Larah Denise David Madrid, Charles Linelle Malapote Mendoza, Hazel Maxine Manalad Reyes, Carl Justine Nabora Saberdo, Claire Mae Rendon Santos

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In response to the global race in discovering the next advanced sustainable material that will reduce our ecological footprint, the researchers aimed to create a masonry unit which is competent in physical edifices and other constructional facets. From different proven researches, mycelium has been concluded that when dried can be used as a robust and waterproof building material that can be grown into explicit forms, thus reducing the processing requirements. Hypothesizing inclusive measures to attest fungi’s impressive structural qualities and absorbency, the researchers projected to perform comparative analyses in creating mycelium bricks from mushroom spores of G. lucidum. Three treatments were intended to classify the most ideal concentration of clay and substrate fixings. The substrate bags fixed with 30% clay and 70% mixings indicated highest numerical frequencies in terms of full occupation of fungal mycelia. Subsequently, sorted parts of white portions from the treatment were settled in a thermoplastic mold and burnt. Three proportional concentrations of cultivated substrate and cement were also prioritized to gather results of variation focused on the weights of the bricks in the Water Absorption Test and Durability Test. Fungal inoculums with solutions of cement showed small to moderate amounts of decrease and increase in load. This proves that the treatments did not show any significant difference when it comes to strength, efficiency and absorption capacity. Each of the concentration is equally valid and could be used in supporting the worldwide demands of creating numerous bricks while also taking into consideration the recovery of our nature.

Keywords: mycelium, fungi, fungal mycelia, durability test, water absorption test

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Authors: Inten Meutia, Emylia Yuniarti

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The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of interest rate, the rate of return of Islamic banks on the amount of mudarabah deposits in Islamic banks. In analyzing the effect of rate of return in the Islamic banks and interest rate risk in the conventional banks, the 1-month Islamic deposit rate of return and 1 month fixed deposit interest rate of a total Islamic deposit are considered. Using data covering the period from January 2010 to Sepember 2013, the study applies the regression analysis to analyze the effect between variable and independence t-test to analyze the mean difference between rate of return and rate of interest. Regression analysis shows that rate of return have significantly negative influence on mudarabah deposits, while interest rate have negative influence but not significant. The result of independent t test shows that the interest rate is not different from the rate of return in Islamic Bank. It supports the hyphotesis that rate of return in Islamic banking mimic rate of interest in conventional bank. The results of the study have important implications on the risk management practices of the Islamic banks in Indonesia.

Keywords: conventional bank, interest rate, Islamic bank, rate of return

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Authors: Muhammad Faheem Khakhi, Jian Yu Wang, Salman Muhammad, Muhammad Faisal Shabir

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Population growth and Chinese two-child policy will boost pharmaceutical market, and it will continue to maintain the growth for a period of time in the future, the traditional pharmacy dispensary has been unable to meet the growing medical needs of the peoples. Under the strong support of the national policy, the automatic transformation of traditional pharmacies is the inclination of the Times, the new type of intelligent pharmacy system will continue to promote the development of the pharmaceutical industry. Under this background, based on PLC control, the paper proposed an intelligent storage and automatic drug delivery system; complete design of the lower computer's control system and the host computer's software system has been present. The system can be applied to dispensing work for Chinese herbal medicinal and Western medicines. Firstly, the essential of intelligent control system for pharmacy is discussed. After the analysis of the requirements, the overall scheme of the system design is presented. Secondly, introduces the software and hardware design of the lower computer's control system, including the selection of PLC and the selection of motion control system, the problem of the human-computer interaction module and the communication between PC and PLC solves, the program design and development of the PLC control system is completed. The design of the upper computer software management system is described in detail. By analyzing of E-R diagram, built the establish data, the communication protocol between systems is customize, C++ Builder is adopted to realize interface module, supply module, main control module, etc. The paper also gives the implementations of the multi-threaded system and communication method. Lastly, each module of the lower computer control system is tested. Then, after building a test environment, the function test of the upper computer software management system is completed. On this basis, the entire control system accepts the overall test.

Keywords: automatic pharmacy, PLC, control system, management system, communication

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Authors: Marek Vondra, Petr Bobák

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Vacuum evaporation is a reliable and well-proven technology with a wide application range which is frequently used in food, chemical or pharmaceutical industries. Recently, numerous remarkable studies have been carried out to investigate utilization of this technology in the area of wastewater treatment. One of the most successful applications of vacuum evaporation principal is connected with seawater desalination. Since 1950’s, multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) has been the leading technology in this field and it is still irreplaceable in many respects, despite a rapid increase in cheaper reverse-osmosis-based installations in recent decades. MSF plants are conveniently operated in countries with a fluctuating seawater quality and at locations where a sufficient amount of waste heat is available. Nowadays, most of the MSF research is connected with alternative heat sources utilization and with hybridization, i.e. merging of different types of desalination technologies. Some of the studies are concerned with basic principles of the static flash phenomenon, but only few scientists have lately focused on the fundamentals of continuous multi-stage evaporation. Limited measurement possibilities at operating plants and insufficiently equipped experimental facilities may be the reasons. The aim of the presented study was to design, construct and test an up-to-date test rig with an advanced measurement system which will provide real time monitoring options of all the important operational parameters under various conditions. The whole system consists of a conventionally designed MSF unit with 8 evaporation chambers, versatile heating circuit for different kinds of feed water (e.g. seawater, waste water), sophisticated system for acquisition and real-time visualization of all the related quantities (temperature, pressure, flow rate, weight, conductivity, pH, water level, power input), access to a wide spectrum of operational media (salt, fresh and softened water, steam, natural gas, compressed air, electrical energy) and integrated transparent features which enable a direct visual control of selected physical mechanisms (water evaporation in chambers, water level right before brine and distillate pumps). Thanks to the adjustable process parameters, it is possible to operate the test unit at desired operational conditions. This allows researchers to carry out statistical design and analysis of experiments. Valuable results obtained in this manner could be further employed in simulations and process modeling. First experimental tests confirm correctness of the presented approach and promise interesting outputs in the future. The presented experimental apparatus enables flexible and efficient research of the whole MSF process.

Keywords: design of experiment, multi-stage flash distillation, test rig, vacuum evaporation

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Authors: Angelo Lerro, Manuela Battipede, Piero Gili, Alberto Brandl

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Redundancy requirements for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) are hardly faced due to the generally restricted amount of available space and allowable weight for the aircraft systems, limiting their exploitation. Essential equipment as the Air Data, Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (ADAHRS) require several external probes to measure significant data as the Angle of Attack or the Sideslip Angle. Previous research focused on the analysis of a patented technology named Smart-ADAHRS (Smart Air Data, Attitude and Heading Reference System) as an alternative method to obtain reliable and accurate estimates of the aerodynamic angles. This solution is based on an innovative sensor fusion algorithm implementing soft computing techniques and it allows to obtain a simplified inertial and air data system reducing external devices. In fact, only one external source of dynamic and static pressures is needed. This paper focuses on the benefits which would be gained by the implementation of this system in UAV applications. A simplification of the entire ADAHRS architecture will bring to reduce the overall cost together with improved safety performance. Smart-ADAHRS has currently reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. Real flight tests took place on ultralight aircraft equipped with a suitable Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI). The output of the algorithm using the flight test measurements demonstrates the capability for this fusion algorithm to embed in a single device multiple physical and virtual sensors. Any source of dynamic and static pressure can be integrated with this system gaining a significant improvement in terms of versatility.

Keywords: aerodynamic angles, air data system, flight test, neural network, unmanned aerial vehicle, virtual sensor

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Authors: K. Sivasubramanin, S. Mahimairaja, S. Pavithrapriya

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Heavy metal pollution originating from industrial wastes is becoming a serious problem in many urban environments. These heavy metals, if not properly managed, could enter into the food chain and cause a serious health hazards in animals and humans. Industrial wastes, sewage sludge, and automobile emissions also contribute to heavy metal like Pb pollution in the urban environment. However, information is scarce on the heavy metal pollution in Coimbatore urban environment. Therefore, the current study was carried out to examine the extent of lead pollution in Coimbatore urban environment the maximum Pb concentration in Coimbatore urban environment was found in ukkadam, whose concentration in soils 352 mg kg-1. In many places, the Pb concentration was found exceeded the permissible limit of 100 mg kg-1. In laboratory, closed incubation experiment showed that the concentration of different species of Pb viz., water soluble Pb(H2O-Pb), exchangeable Pb(KNO3-Pb), organic-Pb(NaOH-Pb), and organic plus metal (Fe & Al) oxides bound-Pb(Na2 EDTA-Pb) was found significantly increased during the 15 days incubation, mainly due to biotransformation processes. Both the moisture content of soil and ambient temperature exerted a profound influence on the transformation of Pb. The results of a batch experiment has shown that the sorption data was adequately described by the Freundlich equation as indicated by the high correlation coefficients (R2= 0.64) than the Langmuir equation (R2 = 0.33). A maximum of 86 mg of Pb was found adsorbed per kilogram of soil. Consistently, a soil column experiment result had shown that only a small amount of Pb( < 1.0 µg g-1 soil) alone was found leached from the soil. This might be due to greater potential of the soil towards Pb adsorption.

Keywords: lead pollution, adsorption, transformation, heavy metal pollution

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Authors: Amir A. Beltagi, Ahmed R. Abdelbaki

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Background: Core stability training has recently attracted attention for optimizing performance and improving muscle balance for healthy and unhealthy individuals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of beginner’s core stability exercises on the trunk flexors’/extensors’ peak torque ratio and trunk flexors’ and extensors’ peak torques. Methods: Thirty five healthy individuals, randomly assigned into two groups; experimental (group I) and control (group II), participated in the study. Group I involved 20 participants (10 male & 10 female) with mean ±SD age, weight, and height of 20.7±2.4 years, 66.5±12.1 kg and 166.7±7.8 cm respectively. Group II involved 15 participants (6 male & 9 female) with mean ±SD age, weight, and height of 20.3±0.61 years, 68.57±12.2 kg and 164.28 ±7.59 cm respectively. Data were collected using the Biodex Isokinetic system. The participants were tested twice; before and after a 6-week period during which the experimental group performed a core stability training program. Findings: Statistical analysis using the 2x2 Mixed Design ANOVA revealed that there were no significant differences in the trunk flexors’/extensors’ peak torque ratio between the ‘pre’ and ‘post’ tests for either group (p > 0.025). Moreover, there were no significant differences in the trunk flexors’/extensors’ ratios between both groups at either test (p > 0.025). Meanwhile, the 2x2 Mixed Design MANOVA revealed that there were significant differences in the trunk flexors’ and extensors’ peak torques between the ‘pre’ and ‘post’ tests for group I (p < 0.025), while there were no significant differences inbetween for group II (p > 0.025). Moreover, there were no significant differences between both groups for the tested muscles’ peak torques at either test except for that of the trunk flexors at the ‘post’ test only (p < 0.025). Interpretation: The improvement in muscle performance indicated by the increase in the trunk flexors’ and extensors’ peak torques in the experimental group recommends including core stability training in the exercise programs that aim to improve muscle performance.

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

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Authors: Arash Esmaeili, Zhibang Liu, Yang Xiang, Jimmy Yun, Lei Shao

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A high-pressure carbon dioxide (CO₂) absorption from a specific off-gas in a conventional column has been evaluated for the environmental concerns by the Aspen HYSYS simulator using a wide range of single absorbents and piperazine (PZ) blended solutions to estimate the outlet CO₂ concentration, CO₂ loading, reboiler power supply, and regeneration heat duty to choose the most efficient solution in terms of CO₂ removal and required heat duty. The property package, which is compatible with all applied solutions for the simulation in this study, estimates the properties based on the electrolyte non-random two-liquid (E-NRTL) model for electrolyte thermodynamics and Peng-Robinson equation of state for vapor phase and liquid hydrocarbon phase properties. The results of the simulation indicate that piperazine, in addition to the mixture of piperazine and monoethanolamine (MEA), demands the highest regeneration heat duty compared with other studied single and blended amine solutions, respectively. The blended amine solutions with the lowest PZ concentrations (5wt% and 10wt%) were considered and compared to reduce the cost of the process, among which the blended solution of 10wt%PZ+35wt%MDEA (methyldiethanolamine) was found as the most appropriate solution in terms of CO₂ content in the outlet gas, rich-CO₂ loading, and regeneration heat duty.

Keywords: absorption, amine solutions, aspen HYSYS, CO₂ loading, piperazine, regeneration heat duty

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Authors: Min Hae Song, Jooyong Park

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Even though assessment using information and communication technology will most likely lead the future of educational assessment, there is little research on this topic. Computerized assessment will not only cut costs but also measure students' performance in ways not possible before. In this context, this study introduces a tool which can overcome the problems of multiple choice tests. Multiple-choice tests (MC) are efficient in automatic grading, however structural problems of multiple-choice tests allow students to find the correct answer from options even though they do not know the answer. A computerized modified multiple-choice testing system (CMMT) was developed using the interactivity of computers, that presents questions first, and options later for a short time when the student requests for them. This study was conducted to find out whether penalizing for wrong answers in CMMT could lower random guessing. In this study, we checked whether students knew the answers by having them respond to the short-answer tests before choosing the given options in CMMT or MC format. Ninety-four students were tested with the directions that they will be penalized for wrong answers, but not for no response. There were 4 experimental conditions: two conditions of high or low percentage of penalizing, each in traditional multiple-choice or CMMT format. In the low penalty condition, the penalty rate was the probability of getting the correct answer by random guessing. In the high penalty condition, students were penalized at twice the percentage of the low penalty condition. The results showed that the number of no response was significantly higher for the CMMT format and the number of random guesses was significantly lower for the CMMT format. There were no significant between the two penalty conditions. This result may be due to the fact that the actual score difference between the two conditions was too small. In the discussion, the possibility of applying CMMT format tests while penalizing wrong answers in actual testing settings was addressed.

Keywords: computerized modified multiple choice test format, multiple-choice test format, penalizing, test format

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Authors: Parul Grover, K. A. Suri, Raj Kumar, Gulshan Bansal

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Background: Nyctanthes arbortristis Linn is traditionally used as anticancer herb in Indian system of medicine, but its introduction into modern system of medicine is still awaited due to lack of systematic scientific studies. Objective: The objective of the present study was to isolate and characterize anticancer phytoconstituents from N. arbortristis L. leaves based on bioactivity guided fractionation. Method: Different extracts of the leaves of the plant were prepared by Soxhlet extractor. Each extract was evaluated for anticancer activity against HL-60 cell lines. Chloroform and HA extract showed potent anticancer activity and hence were selected for fractionation. Fraction C1 from chloroform extract was found to be most potent amongst all when tested against three cell lines (HL-60, A-549, and HCT-116) and thus was selected for further fractionation and a pure compound CP-01 was isolated. RP-HPLC method has been developed for quantification of isolated compound by using Kinetex C-18 column with gradient elution at 0.7 mL/min using mobile phase containing potassium dihydrogen phosphate (0.01 M, pH 3.0) with acetonitrile. The wavelength of maximum absorption (λₘₐₓ) selected was 210 nm. Results: The structure of potent anticancer CP-01 was determined on the basis spectroscopic methods like IR, 1H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and Mass Spectrometry and it was characterized as 1,1,2-tris(2’,4’-di-tert-butylbenzene)-4,4-dimethyl-pent-1-ene. The content of CP-01 was found to be 0.88 %w/w of chloroform extract and 0.08 %w/w of N.arbortristis leaves. Conclusion: The study supports the traditional use of N. arbortristis as anticancer herb & the identified compound CP-01 can serve as an excellent lead to develop potent and safe anticancer drugs.

Keywords: anticancer, HL-60 cell lines, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, RP-HPLC

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Authors: Odai Ibrahim Mohammed Al Balasmeh, Tapas Karmaker, Richa Babbar

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In this study, the reservoir capacity and sediment deposition were estimated using remote sensing data. The satellite images were synchronized with water level and storage capacity to find out the change in sediment deposition due to soil erosion and transport by streamflow. The water bodies spread area was estimated using vegetation indices, e.g., normalize differences vegetation index (NDVI) and normalize differences water index (NDWI). The 3D reservoir bathymetry was modeled by integrated water level, storage capacity, and area. From the models of different time span, the change in reservoir storage capacity was estimated. Another reservoir with known water level, storage capacity, area, and sediment deposition was used to validate the estimation technique. The t-test was used to assess the results between observed and estimated reservoir capacity and sediment deposition.

Keywords: satellite data, normalize differences vegetation index, NDVI, normalize differences water index, NDWI, reservoir capacity, sedimentation, t-test hypothesis

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Authors: N. Anusree, P. Sughosh, G. L. Sivakumar Babu

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Municipalities throughout the world are marred with serious issues related to the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) collection, treatment, and safe disposal. While the Waste Management sector contributes around 3-9 % of the overall anthropogenic methane emission, measures towards mitigating these emissions are rarely given attention in developing countries. In the case of Bangalore, India, around 5680 tons of MSW is generated in a day, and its collection and treatment efficiency are around 90-95 % and 26.4 %, respectively. About 33.4 % of the waste collected is directly landfilled without any treatment, further aggravating the situation. The potential of reducing the emissions emanating from the MSW of Bangalore city without any severe consequences on the current MSW management practices is evaluated in this study. Three emission scenarios consisting of the baseline condition (current practices – Case-1), the application of biocovers for methane oxidation in the dumpsites (case-2), and the diversion of Organic Fraction of MSW (OFMSW) along with the application of biocovers (case-3) are evaluated and compared with each other. The emissions are calculated based on the aerobic and anaerobic stochiometric relations for the three scenarios. Laboratory scale column studies are carried out to determine the methane oxidation potential of three different biocover material (digested MBT (mechanically biologically treated) waste, Fresh MBT waste, and charcoal amended with fresh MBT waste). The results shown that around 40 % and 83 % reduction in carbon emissions can be achieved in case 3 and 2 in comparison to the baseline condition. The study clearly shows that with minor changes in the waste management practices, substantial reductions in the carbon emissions can be attained in Bangalore City.

Keywords: MSW, biocover, composting, carbon emission

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Authors: Peri Harish Kumar, Rafique Umer Harvitkar

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Background: The emergency department mandates maximum efficacy in the utilization of the available resources. Non-urgent patient visits pose a serious concern to the treatment, patient triage, and resources available. Aims and Objectives: We conducted a retrospective case-control study of the emergency department patient list from October 2019 to November 2022. A total of 839 patients formed part of the study. Somatic complaints, vital signs, diagnostic test results, admission to the hospital, etc., were some of the criteria used for the categorization of patients. Results: The proportion of non-urgent visits varied from 7.2% to 43%, with a median of 21%. Somatic complaints were the least associated with further hospital admissions (n=28%), while diagnostic test results were the most significant indicator of further hospital admissions (n=74%). Effective triage helped minimize emergency department admissions by 36%. Conclusion: Our study shows that effective triaging, patient counselling, and round-the-clock consumable monitoring helped in the effective management of patients admitted and also significantly helped provide treatment to the patients most in need.

Keywords: urgent visits, non-urgent visits, traiging, emergency department admissions

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Authors: Azizollah Arbabisarjou, Leila Safabakhsh, Mozhgan Jahantigh, Mahshid Nazemzadeh, Shahindokht Navabi

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Background: Health promotion is an essential strategy for reduction of health disparities. Health promotion includes all activities that encourage optimum physical, spiritual, and mental function. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a Health Promotion Program (HPP) on behavior in terms of the dimensions of the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP) in patients after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG). Methods and Materials: In this clinical trial study, 80 patients who had undergone CABG surgery (2011-2012) were selected and randomly divided in two groups: Experimental and Control that investigated by (HPLP II). Then the experimental group was educated about diet, walking and stress management. The program process was followed up for 3months and after that all variables were investigated again. The overall score and the scores for the six dimensions of the HPLP (self-actualization, health responsibility, exercise, nutrition, interpersonal support and stress management) were measured in the pre- and post-test periods. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test and paired t-test. Results: Results showed that Score of stress management (p=.036), diet (p=.002), Spiritual Growth (p=.001) and interrelationship (p=002) increase in experimental group after intervention .Average scores after 3 months in the control group had no significant changes; except responsibility for health (p < .05). Results of the study revealed that comparison the scores of the experimental group were significantly different from the control group in all lifestyle aspects except for spiritual growth. Conclusion: This study showed that Health promoting program on lifestyle and health promotion in patients who suffer from CAD could enhance patient's awareness of healthy behaviors and improves the quality of life.

Keywords: coronary artery bypass graft, health promotion, lifestyle, education

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Authors: Justina I. R. Udotong, Ofonime U. M. John

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Toxicity of copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and iron (Fe) to Tilapia guinensis was carried out for 4 days with a view to determining their effects on the liver and muscle tissues. Tilapia guinensis samples of about 10 - 14cm length and 0.2 – 0.4kg weight each were obtained from University of Calabar fish ponds and acclimated for three (3) days before the experimental set up. Survivors after the 96-hr LC50 test period were selected from test solutions of the heavy metals for the histopathological studies. Histological preparations of liver and muscle tissues were randomly examined for histopathological lesions. Results of the histological examinations showed gross abnormalities in the liver tissues due to pathological and degenerative changes compared to liver and muscle tissues from control samples (tilapia fishes from aquaria without heavy metals). Extensive hepatocyte necrosis with chronic inflammatory changes was observed in the liver of fishes exposed to Cu solution. Similar but less damaging effects were observed in the liver of fishes exposed to Pb and Fe. The extent of lesion observed was therefore heavy metal-related. However, no pathologic changes occurred in the muscle tissues.

Keywords: degenerative changes, heavy metal, hepatocyte necrosis, histopathology, toxicity

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Authors: Dylan Elliott, Katya Pertsova

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Preposition errors are some of the most common errors created by L2 speakers. In addition, improving error correction and detection methods remains an open issue in the realm of Natural Language Processing (NLP). This research investigates whether the bidirectional encoder representations from the transformers model (BERT) have the potential to correct preposition errors accurately enough to be useful in error correction software. This research finds that BERT performs strongly when the scope of its error correction is limited to preposition choice. The researchers used an open-source BERT model and over three hundred thousand edited sentences from Wikipedia, tagged for part of speech, where only a preposition edit had occurred. To test BERT’s ability to detect errors, a technique known as multi-level masking was used to generate suggestions based on sentence context for every prepositional environment in the test data. These suggestions were compared with the original errors in the data and their known corrections to evaluate BERT’s performance. The suggestions were further analyzed to determine if BERT more often agreed with the judgements of the Wikipedia editors. Both the untrained and fined-tuned models were compared. Finetuning led to a greater rate of error-detection which significantly improved recall, but lowered precision due to an increase in false positives or falsely flagged errors. However, in most cases, these false positives were not errors in preposition usage but merely cases where more than one preposition was possible. Furthermore, when BERT correctly identified an error, the model largely agreed with the Wikipedia editors, suggesting that BERT’s ability to detect misused prepositions is better than previously believed. To evaluate to what extent BERT’s false positives were grammatical suggestions, we plan to do a further crowd-sourcing study to test the grammaticality of BERT’s suggested sentence corrections against native speakers’ judgments.

Keywords: BERT, grammatical error correction, preposition error detection, prepositions

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Authors: Dharshini M., Hema N. S.

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The project for the production of aniline is done by providing 295.46 tons per day of nitrobenzene as feed. The material and energy balance calculations for the different equipment like distillation column, heat exchangers, reactor and mixer are carried out with simulation via DWSIM. The conversion of nitrobenzene to aniline by hydrogenation process is considered to be 96% and the total production of the plant was found to be 215 TPD. The cost estimation of the process is carried out to estimate the feasibility of the plant. The net profit and percentage return of investment is estimated to be ₹27 crores and 24.6%. The payback period was estimated to be 4.05 years and the unit production cost is ₹113/kg. A techno-economic analysis was performed for the production of aniline; the result includes economic analysis and sensitivity analysis of critical factors. From economic analysis, larger the plant scale increases the total capital investment and annual operating cost, even though the unit production cost decreases. Uncertainty analysis was performed to predict the influence of economic factors on profitability and the scenario analysis is one way to quantify uncertainty. In scenario analysis the best-case scenario and the worst-case scenario are compared with the base case scenario. The best-case scenario was found at a feed rate of 120 kmol/hr with a unit production cost of ₹112.05/kg and the worst-case scenario was found at a feed rate of 60 kmol/hr with a unit production cost of ₹115.9/kg. The base case is closely related to the best case by 99.2% in terms of unit production cost. since the unit production cost is less and the profitability is more with less payback time, it is feasible to construct a plant at this capacity.

Keywords: aniline, nitrobenzene, economic analysis, unit production cost

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Authors: Jeferson Brito Fernades, Breno Padovezi Rocha, Roger Augusto Rodrigues, Heraldo Luiz Giacheti

Abstract:

The geotechnical projects demand the appropriate knowledge of soil characteristics and parameters. The determination of geotechnical soil parameters can be done by means of laboratory or in situ tests. In countries with tropical weather, like Brazil, unsaturated soils are very usual. In these soils, the soil suction has been recognized as an important stress state variable, which commands the geo-mechanical behavior. Triaxial and direct shear tests on saturated soils samples allow determine only the minimal soil shear strength, in other words, no suction contribution. This paper briefly describes the triaxial test with controlled suction as well as discusses the influence of suction on the shear strength parameters of a lateritic tropical sandy soil from a Brazilian research site. In this site, a sample pit was excavated to retrieve disturbed and undisturbed soil blocks. The samples extracted from these blocks were tested in laboratory to represent the soil from 1.5, 3.0 and 5.0 m depth. The stress curves and shear strength envelopes determined by triaxial tests varying suction and confining pressure are presented and discussed. The water retention characteristics on this soil complement this analysis. In situ CPT tests were also carried out at this site in different seasons of the year. In this case, the soil suction profile was determined by means of the soil water retention. This extra information allowed assessing how soil suction also affected the CPT data and the shear strength parameters estimative via correlation. The major conclusions of this paper are: the undisturbed soil samples contracted before shearing and the soil shear strength increased hyperbolically with suction; and it was possible to assess how soil suction also influenced CPT test data based on the water content soil profile as well as the water retention curve. This study contributed with a better understanding of the shear strength parameters and the soil variability of a typical unsaturated tropical soil.

Keywords: site characterization, triaxial test, CPT, suction, variability

Procedia PDF Downloads 404