Search results for: simple reaction time

Authors: Ketevan Janashia, Tamar Tsibadze, Levan Tvildiani, Nikoloz Invia, Elguja Kubaneishvili, Vasili Kukhianidze, George Ramishvili

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This study considers the possible effects of geomagnetic activity (GMA) on humans situated on Earth by performing experiments concerning specific sensitive reactions in humans in both: natural conditions during different GMA and by the simulation of different GMA in the lab. The measurements of autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses to different GMA via measuring the heart rate variability (HRV) indices and stress index (SI) and their comparison with the K-index of GMA have been presented and discussed. The results of experiments indicate an intensification of the sympathetic part of the ANS as a stress reaction of the human organism when it is exposed to high level of GMA as natural as well as in simulated conditions. Aim: We tested the hypothesis whether the GMF when disturbed can have effects on human ANS causing specific sensitive stress-reactions depending on the initial type of ANS. Methods: The study focuses on the effects of different GMA on ANS by comparing of HRV indices and stress index (SI) of n= 78, 18-24 years old healthy male volunteers. Experiments were performed as natural conditions on days of low (K= 1-3) and high (K= 5-7) GMA as well as in the lab by the simulation of different GMA using the device of geomagnetic storm (GMS) compensation and simulation. Results: In comparison with days of low GMA (K=1-3) the initial values of HRV shifted towards the intensification of the sympathetic part (SP) of the ANS during days of GMSs (K=5-7) with statistical significance p-values: HR (heart rate, p= 0.001), SDNN (Standard deviation of all Normal to Normal intervals, p= 0.0001), RMSSD (The square root of the arithmetical mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent NN intervals, p= 0.0001). In comparison with conditions during GMSs compensation mode (K= 0, B= 0-5nT), the ANS balance was observed to shift during exposure to simulated GMSs with intensities in the range of natural GMSs (K= 7, B= 200nT). However, the initial values of the ANS resulted in different dynamics in its variation depending of GMA level. In the case of initial balanced regulation type (HR > 80) significant intensification of SP was observed with p-values: HR (p= 0.0001), SDNN (p= 0.047), RMSSD (p= 0.28), LF/HF (p=0.03), SI (p= 0.02); while in the case of initial parasympathetic regulation type (HR < 80), an insignificant shift to the intensification of the parasympathetic part (PP) was observed. Conclusions: The results indicate an intensification of SP as a stress reaction of the human organism when it is exposed to high level of GMA in both natural and simulated conditions.

Keywords: autonomic nervous system, device of magneto compensation/simulation, geomagnetic storms, heart rate variability

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Authors: Kaitlyn O'Mara, Michele Burford

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Estuaries and coastal bays can receive large quantities of sediment from surrounding catchments during flooding or high flow periods. Large river systems that feed freshwater into estuaries can flow through several catchments of varying geology. Human modification of catchments for agriculture, industry and urban use can contaminate soils with excess nutrients, trace metals and other pollutants. Land clearing, especially clearing of riparian vegetation, can accelerate erosion, mobilising, transporting and depositing soil particles into rivers, estuaries and coastal bays. In this study, a flood simulation experiment was used to study the flux of nutrients between soil particles and water during this erosion, transport and deposition process. Granite, sedimentary and basalt surface soils (as well as sub-soils of granite and sedimentary) were collected from eroding areas surrounding the Brisbane River, Australia. The <63 µm size fraction of each soil type was tumbled in freshwater for 3 days, to simulation flood erosion and transport, followed by stationary exposure to seawater for 4 weeks, to simulate deposition into estuaries. Filtered water samples were taken at multiple time points throughout the experiment and analysed for water nutrient concentrations. The highest rates of nutrient release occurred during the first hour of exposure to freshwater and seawater, indicating a chemical reaction with seawater that may act to release some nutrient particles that remain bound to the soil during turbulent freshwater transport. Although released at a slower rate than the first hour, all of the surface soil types showed continual ammonia, nitrite and nitrate release over the 4-week seawater exposure, suggesting that these soils may provide ongoing supply of these nutrients to estuarine waters after deposition. Basalt surface soil released the highest concentrations of phosphates and dissolved organic phosphorus. Basalt soils are found in much of the agricultural land surrounding the Brisbane River and contributed largely to the 2011 Brisbane River flood plume deposit in Moreton Bay, suggesting these soils may be a source of phosphate enrichment in the bay. The results of this study suggest that erosion of catchment soils during storm and flood events may be a source of nutrient supply in receiving waterways, both freshwater and marine, and that the amount of nutrient release following these events may be affected by the type of soil deposited. For example, flooding in different catchments of a river system over time may result in different algal and food web responses in receiving estuaries.

Keywords: flood, nitrogen, nutrient, phosphorus, sediment, soil

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Authors: Hamid Reza Ranjbar, Ali Reza Azmoude Ardalan, Hamid Dehghani, Mohammad Reza Sarajian

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Natural disasters are unexpected events which predicting them is difficult. Earthquake is one of the most devastating disasters among natural hazards with high rate of mortality and wide extent of damages. After the earthquake occurrence, managing the critical condition and allocating limited relief sources requiring a complete awareness of damaged area. The information for allocating relief teams should be precise and reliable as much as possible, and be presented in the appropriate time after the earthquake occurrence. This type of information was previously presented in the form of a damage map; conducting relief teams by using damage map mostly lead to waste of time for finding alive occupants under the rubble. In this research, a proposed standard for prioritizing damaged buildings in terms of requiring rescue and relief was presented. This standard prioritizes damaged buildings into four levels of priority including very high, high, moderate and low by considering key parameters such as type of land use, activity time, and inactivity time of each land use, time of earthquake occurrence and distinct index. The priority map by using the proposed standard could be a basis for guiding relief teams towards the areas with high relief priority.

Keywords: Damage map, GIS, priority map, USAR

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Authors: Magy Atef Awad Attia

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The objective of this study was to study the effect of social stories on social interaction of students with autism. The sample was at level 5 student with autism, Another University Demonstration School student, who was diagnosed by the Physician as High Functioning Autism since he was able to read, write, calculate and was studying in inclusive classroom. However, he still had disability in social interaction to participate in social activity group and communication. He could not learn how to develop friendship or create relationship. He had inappropriate behavior in social context. He did not understand complex social situations. In addition, he did seemed to not know time and place. He was not able to understand feeling of oneself as well as the others. Consequently, he could not express his emotion appropriately. He did not understand or express his non-verbal language for communicating with friends. He lacked of common interest or emotion with nearby persons. He greeted inappropriately or was not interested in greeting. In addition, he did not have eye contact. He used inadequate language etc. He was elected by Purposive Sampling. His parents were willing to allow them to participate in this study. The research instruments were the lesson plan of social stories, and the picture book of social stories. The instruments used for data collection, were the social interaction evaluation of autistic students. This research was Experimental Research as One Group Pre-test, Post-test Design. For the Pre-test, the experiment was conducted by social stories. Then, the Post-test was implemented. The statistic used for data analysis. The research results were shown by scale. The results revealed that the autistic students taught by social stories indicated better social reaction after being taught by social stories.

Keywords: autism, autistic behavior, stability, harsh environments, techniques, thermal, properties, materials, applications, brittleness, fragility, disadvantages, bank, branches, profitability, setting prediction, effective target, measurement, evaluation, performance, commercial, business, sustainability, financial, system.

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Authors: Jungho Moon, Lae-Jeong Park

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This paper introduces a signal monitoring program developed with a view to helping electrical engineering students get familiar with sensors with digital output. Because the output of digital sensors cannot be simply monitored by a measuring instrument such as an oscilloscope, students tend to have a hard time dealing with digital sensors. The monitoring program runs on a PC and communicates with an MCU that reads the output of digital sensors via an asynchronous communication interface. Receiving the sensor data from the MCU, the monitoring program shows time and/or frequency domain plots of the data in real time. In addition, the monitoring program provides a serial terminal that enables the user to exchange text information with the MCU while the received data is plotted. The user can easily observe the output of digital sensors and configure the digital sensors in real time, which helps students who do not have enough experiences with digital sensors. Though the monitoring program was programmed in the Matlab programming language, it runs without the Matlab since it was compiled as a standalone executable.

Keywords: digital sensor, MATLAB, MCU, signal monitoring program

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Authors: Amin Hamrahi

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Near Field Communication (NFC) is one of the latest wireless communication technologies. NFC enables electronic devices to communicate in short range using the radio waves. NFC offers safe yet simple communication between electronic devices. This technology provides the fastest way to communicate two device with in a fraction of second. With NFC technology, communication occurs when an NFC-compatible device is brought within a few centimeters of another NFC device. NFC is an open-platform technology that is being standardized in the NFC Forum. NFC is based on and extends on RFID. It operates on 13.56 MHz frequency.

Keywords: near field communication, NFC technology, wireless communication technologies, NFC-compatible device, NFC, communication

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Authors: Mouna Mesbahi, M. Loutfi Benkhedir

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In CZTS films solar cell, the preferable reaction between Cu and sulfur vapor was likely to be induced by out diffusion of the bottom Cu component to the surface; this would lead to inhomogeneous distribution of the Cu component to form the Cu2SnS3 secondary phase and formation of many voids and crevices in the resulting CZTS film; which is also the cause of the decline in performance. In this work we study the electronic and optical properties of Cu2SnS3. For this purpose we used the Wien2k code based on the theory of density functional theory (DFT) with the modified Becke-Johnson exchange potential mBJ and the Hubbard potential individually or combined. We have found an energy gap 0.92 eV. The results are in good agreement with experimental results.

Keywords: Cu2SnS3, DFT, electronic and optical properties, mBJ+U, WIEN2K

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Authors: Eugene Y. C. Wong

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The increased market competition, customer expectation, and warehouse operating cost in third-party logistics have motivated the continuous exploration in improving operation efficiency in warehouse logistics. Cargo tracing in ordering picking process consumes excessive time for warehouse operators when handling enormous quantities of goods flowing through the warehouse each day. Internet of Things (IoT) with mobile cargo tracing apps and database management systems are developed this research to facilitate and reduce the cargo tracing time in order picking process of a third-party logistics firm. An operation review is carried out in the firm with opportunities for improvement being identified, including inaccurate inventory record in warehouse management system, excessive tracing time on stored products, and product misdelivery. The facility layout has been improved by modifying the designated locations of various types of products. The relationship among the pick and pack processing time, cargo tracing time, delivery accuracy, inventory turnover, and inventory count operation time in the warehouse are evaluated. The correlation of the factors affecting the overall cycle time is analysed. A mobile app is developed with the use of MIT App Inventor and the Access management database to facilitate cargo tracking anytime anywhere. The information flow framework from warehouse database system to cloud computing document-sharing, and further to the mobile app device is developed. The improved performance on cargo tracing in the order processing cycle time of warehouse operators have been collected and evaluated. The developed mobile voice picking and tracking systems brings significant benefit to the third-party logistics firm, including eliminating unnecessary cargo tracing time in order picking process and reducing warehouse operators overtime cost. The mobile tracking device is further planned to enhance the picking time and cycle count of warehouse operators with voice picking system in the developed mobile apps as future development.

Keywords: warehouse, order picking process, cargo tracing, mobile app, third-party logistics

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Authors: S. Hosseini, M. Ahmadi Najafabadi, M. Akhlaghi

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The health of the journal bearings is very important in preventing unforeseen breakdowns in rotary machines, and poor lubrication is one of the most important factors for producing the bearing failures. Hydrodynamic lubrication (HL), mixed lubrication (ML), and boundary lubrication (BL) are three regimes of a journal bearing lubrication. This paper uses acoustic emission (AE) measurement technique to correlate features of the AE signals to the three lubrication regimes. The transitions from HL to ML based on operating factors such as rotating speed, load, inlet oil pressure by time domain and time-frequency domain signal analysis techniques are detected, and then metal-to-metal contacts between sliding surfaces of the journal and bearing are identified. It is found that there is a significant difference between theoretical and experimental operating values that are obtained for defining the lubrication regions.

Keywords: acoustic emission technique, pressure fed journal bearing, time and frequency signal analysis, metal-to-metal contact

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Authors: Beth Vale

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Academic research has often neglected the city after dark. Surprisingly little consideration has been given to the every night life of cities: the spatial tactics and creative insurgencies of urban residents when night falls. The focus on ‘pleasure’ in the nocturnal city has often negated the subtle politics of night-time play, embedded in expressions of identity, attachment and resistance. This paper investigates Johannesburg nightclubs as sites of quotidian political labour, through which young people contest social space and their place in it, thereby contributing to the city’s effective and socio-political cartography. The tactical remodelling of the nocturnal city through nightclubbing traces lines of desire (material, emotional, sexual), affiliation, and fear. These in turn map onto young people’s expressions of their social and political identities, as well as their attempts at place-making in a ‘post-apartheid’ context. By examining the micro-politics of the cities' nightclubs, this paper speaks back to an earlier post-94 literature, which regularly characterised Johannesburg youth as superficial, individualist and idealistic. Similarly, some might position nightclubs as sites of frivolous consumption or liberatory permissiveness. Yet because nightclub spaces are racialised, classed and gendered, historically-signified and socially regulated, they are also profoundly political. Through ordinary encounters on the cities' dancefloors, young Jo’burgers are imagining, contesting and negotiating their socio-political identities and indeed their claims to the city. Meanwhile, the politics of this generation of youth, who are increasingly critical of the utopian post-apartheid city, are being increasingly inserted and coopted into night-time cultures. Data for this study was gathered through five months of ethnographic fieldwork in Johannesburg nightclubs, including over 120 hours of participant observation and in-depth interviews with organisers and partygoers. Interviewees recognised that parties, rather than being simple frivolity, are a cacophony of celebration, mourning, worship, rage, rebellion and attachment. Countering standard associations between partying and escapism, party planners, venue owners and nightclub audiences were infusing night-time infrastructures with the aesthetics of politics and protest. Not unlike parties, local political assemblies so often rely on music, dance, the occupation of space, and a heaving crowd. References to social movements, militancy and anti-establishment emerged in nightclub themes, dress codes and décor. Metaphors of fire crossed over between party and protest, both of which could be described as having ‘been lit’ or having ‘brought flames’. More so, young people’s articulations of the city’s night-time geography, and their place in it, reflected articulations of race, class and ideological affiliation. The location, entrance fees and stylistic choices of one’s chosen club destination demarcated who was welcome, while also signalling membership to a particular politics (whether progressive or materialistic, inclusive or elitist, mainstream or counter-culture). Because of their ability to divide and unite, aggravate and titillate, mask and reveal, club cultures might offer a mirror to the complex socialities of a generation of Jo’burg youth, as they inhabit, and bring into being, a contemporary South African city.

Keywords: affect, Johannesburg, nightclub, nocturnal city, politics

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Authors: Lubomir Vecera, Tomas Gabrhelik, Benjamin Tolmaci, Josef Srovnal, Emil Berta, Petr Prasil, Petr Stourac

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Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide and colon cancer is the second most common type of cancer. Currently, there are only a few studies evaluating the effect of postoperative analgesia on the prognosis of patients undergoing radical colon cancer surgery. Postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing colon cancer surgery is usually managed in two ways, either with strong opioids (morphine, piritramide) or epidural analgesia. In our prospective study, we evaluated the effect of postoperative analgesia on the presence of circulating tumor cells or minimal residual disease after colon cancer surgery. A total of 60 patients who underwent radical colon cancer surgery were enrolled in this prospective, randomized, two-center study. Patients were randomized into three groups, namely piritramide, morphine and postoperative epidural analgesia. We evaluated the presence of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin 20 (CK-20) mRNA positive circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood before surgery, immediately after surgery, on postoperative day two and one month after surgery. The presence of circulating tumor cells was assessed by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). In the priritramide postoperative analgesia group, the presence of CEA mRNA positive cells was significantly lower on a postoperative day two compared to the other groups (p=0.04). The value of CK-20 mRNA positive cells was the same in all groups on all days. In all groups, both types of circulating tumor cells returned to normal levels one month after surgery. Demographic and baseline clinical characteristics were similar in all groups. Compared with morphine and epidural analgesia, piritramide significantly reduces the amount of CEA mRNA positive circulating tumor cells after radical colon cancer surgery.

Keywords: cancer progression, colon cancer, minimal residual disease, perioperative analgesia.

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Authors: Arjun Paul, Adrijit Goswami

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In our present work, an economic order quantity inventory model with shortages is developed where holding cost is expressed as linearly increasing function of time and demand rate is a ramp type function of time. The items considered in the model are deteriorating in nature so that a small fraction of the items is depleted with the passage of time. In order to consider a more realistic situation, the deterioration rate is assumed to follow a continuous uniform distribution with the parameters involved being triangular fuzzy numbers. The inventory manager offers his customer a discount in case he is willing to backorder his demand when there is a stock-out. The optimum ordering policy and the optimum discount offered for each backorder are determined by minimizing the total cost in a replenishment interval. For better illustration of our proposed model in both the crisp and fuzzy sense and for providing richer insights, a numerical example is cited to exemplify the policy and to analyze the sensitivity of the model parameters.

Keywords: fuzzy deterioration rate, price discount on backorder, ramp type demand, shortage, time varying holding cost

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Authors: Ahmed Mohammed Ghaleb, Ehab Saleh Alnuzaili

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This paper attempts to generally examine Tawfiq Al-Hakim's Song of Death (1950) and John Millington Synge's Riders to the Sea (1904) by comparatively bringing the two plays under focus. Strikingly, the similarities between the two plays appear in the plot, picturization of the characters, tragic intensity, structural perfection, and the economy of language. Plot structure, albeit a simple one in both plays, is enriched by the playwrights' effective use of language, symbols, imagery, and tragic irony. Neither of the two plays has the traditional five-act structure; they are one-act plays. From a feminist point of view, the domination of female characters is observed in both plays. The female protagonists are the main focus of the two plays. Their brave characters and struggle are highly depicted. While Al-Hakim's protagonist is presented as a victim of tribal customs, Synge's protagonist is shown as a victim of nature. Both plays can be described as 'feminine tragedies' using the words of Oona Frwaley. Although the two plays appeared in totally different historical periods of time, both share considerable similarities, thematic as well as linguistic, which result in a concern to investigate them. The paper, basically, aims at asserting the commonalities between human beings and creating awareness of intercultural negotiations and connections. It attempts to bridge the cultural, intellectual, and social gap between Arab and Irish drama by exploring the common elements of the two plays. Thus, the paper presents a critical and comparative study of both plays highlighting the portrayal of the female protagonists.

Keywords: economy of language, imagery, protagonist, symbols, tragic intensity, tragic irony

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Authors: S. Agarwal, A. Rani

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Catechol is a natural polyphenolic compound that widely exists in higher plants such as teas, vegetables, fruits, tobaccos, and some traditional Chinese medicines. The fly ash-based zeolites are capable of absorbing a wide range of pollutants. But the process of zeolite synthesis is time-consuming and requires technical setups by the industries. The marketed costs of zeolites are quite high restricting its use by small-scale industries for the removal of phenolic compounds. The present research proposes a simple method of alkaline treatment of FA to produce an effective adsorbent for catechol removal from wastewater. The experimental parameter such as pH, temperature, initial concentration and adsorbent dose on the removal of catechol were studied in batch reactor. For this purpose the adsorbent materials were mixed with aqueous solutions containing catechol ranging in 50 – 200 mg/L initial concentrations and then shaken continuously in a thermostatic Orbital Incubator Shaker at 30 ± 0.1 °C for 24 h. The samples were withdrawn from the shaker at predetermined time interval and separated by centrifugation (Centrifuge machine MBL-20) at 2000 rpm for 4 min. to yield a clear supernatant for analysis of the equilibrium concentrations of the solutes. The concentrations were measured with Double Beam UV/Visible spectrophotometer (model Spectrscan UV 2600/02) at the wavelength of 275 nm for catechol. In the present study, the use of low-cost adsorbent (BTFA) derived from coal fly ash (FA), has been investigated as a substitute of expensive methods for the sequestration of catechol. The FA and BTFA adsorbents were well characterized by XRF, FE-SEM with EDX, FTIR, and surface area and porosity measurement which proves the chemical constituents, functional groups and morphology of the adsorbents. The catechol adsorption capacities of synthesized BTFA and native material were determined. The adsorption was slightly increased with an increase in pH value. The monolayer adsorption capacities of FA and BTFA for catechol were 100 mg g⁻¹ and 333.33 mg g⁻¹ respectively, and maximum adsorption occurs within 60 minutes for both adsorbents used in this test. The equilibrium data are fitted by Freundlich isotherm found on the basis of error analysis (RMSE, SSE, and χ²). Adsorption was found to be spontaneous and exothermic on the basis of thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔS°, and ΔH°). Pseudo-second-order kinetic model better fitted the data for both FA and BTFA. BTFA showed large adsorptive characteristics, high separation selectivity, and excellent recyclability than FA. These findings indicate that BTFA could be employed as an effective and inexpensive adsorbent for the removal of catechol from wastewater.

Keywords: catechol, fly ash, isotherms, kinetics, thermodynamic parameters

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Authors: Nwogiji Cletus Olando, Oselebe Happiness Ogba, Enoch Achigan-Dako

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Digitaria iburua, commonly known as black fonio, is a cereal crop native to Africa and extensively cultivated by smallholder farmers in Northern Benin, Togo, and Nigeria. This crop holds immense nutritional and socio-cultural value. Unfortunately, limited knowledge about its genetic diversity exists due to a lack of scientific attention. As a result, its potential for improvement in food and agriculture remains largely untapped. To address this gap, a study was conducted using 41 accessions of D. iburua stored in the genebank of the Laboratory of Genetics, Biotechnology, and Seed Science at Abomey-Calavi University, Benin. The study employed both morphological and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to evaluate the genetic variability of the accessions. Agro-morphological assessments were carried out during the 2020 cropping season, utilizing an alpha lattice design with three replications. The collected data encompassed qualitative and quantitative traits. Additionally, molecular variability was assessed using eleven SSR markers. The results revealed significant phenotypic variability among the evaluated accessions, leading to their classification into three main clusters. Furthermore, the eleven SSR markers identified a total of 50 alleles, averaging 4.55 alleles per locus. The primers exhibited an average polymorphic information content value of 0.43, with the DE-ARC019 primer displaying the highest value (0.59). These findings suggest a substantial degree of genetic heterogeneity within the evaluated accessions, and the SSR markers employed in the study proved highly effective in detecting and characterizing this genetic variability. In conclusion, this study highlights the presence of significant genetic diversity in black fonio and provides valuable insights for future efforts aimed at its genetic improvement and conservation.

Keywords: genetic diversity, digitaria iburua, genetic improvement, simple sequence repeat markers, Nigeria, conservation

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Authors: M. Bonello, D. Micallef, S. P. Borg

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Driven by increased comfort standards, but at the same time high energy consciousness, energy-efficient space cooling has become an essential aspect of building design. Its aims are simple, aiming at providing satisfactory thermal comfort for individuals in an interior space using low energy consumption cooling systems. In this context, evaporative cooling is both an energy-efficient and an eco-friendly cooling process. In the past two decades, several academic studies have been performed to determine the resulting thermal comfort produced by an evaporative cooling system, including studies on temperature profiles, air speed profiles, effect of clothing and personnel activity. To the best knowledge of the authors, no studies have yet considered the analysis of relative humidity (RH) profiles in a space cooled using evaporative cooling. Such a study will determine the effect of different humidity levels on a person's thermal comfort and aid in the consequent improvement designs of such future systems. Under this premise, the research objective is to characterise the resulting different RH profiles in a chamber micro-climate using the evaporative cooling system in which the inlet air speed, temperature and humidity content are varied. The chamber shall be modelled using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in ANSYS Fluent. Relative humidity shall be modelled using a species transport model while the k-ε RNG formulation is the proposed turbulence model that is to be used. The model shall be validated with measurements taken using an identical test chamber in which tests are to be conducted under the different inlet conditions mentioned above, followed by the verification of the model's mesh and time step. The verified and validated model will then be used to simulate other inlet conditions which would be impractical to conduct in the actual chamber. More details of the modelling and experimental approach will be provided in the full paper The main conclusions from this work are two-fold: the micro-climatic relative humidity spatial distribution within the room is important to consider in the context of investigating comfort at occupant level; and the investigation of a human being's thermal comfort (based on Predicted Mean Vote – Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied [PMV-PPD] values) and its variation with different locations of relative humidity values. The study provides the necessary groundwork for investigating the micro-climatic RH conditions of environments cooled using evaporative cooling. Future work may also target the analysis of ways in which evaporative cooling systems may be improved to better the thermal comfort of human beings, specifically relating to the humidity content around a sedentary person.

Keywords: chamber micro-climate, evaporative cooling, relative humidity, thermal comfort

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Authors: Rene Hellmuth

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The requirements for the factory planning and the building concerned have changed in the last years. Factory planning has the task of designing products, plants, processes, organization, areas, and the building of a factory. Regular restructuring gains more importance in order to maintain the competitiveness of a factory. Restrictions regarding new areas, shorter life cycles of product and production technology as well as a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world cause more frequently occurring rebuilding measures within a factory. Restructuring of factories is the most common planning case today. Restructuring is more common than new construction, revitalization and dismantling of factories. The increasing importance of restructuring processes shows that the ability to change was and is a promising concept for the reaction of companies to permanently changing conditions. The factory building is the basis for most changes within a factory. If an adaptation of a construction project (factory) is necessary, the inventory documents must be checked and often time-consuming planning of the adaptation must take place to define the relevant components to be adapted, in order to be able to finally evaluate them. The different requirements of the planning participants from the disciplines of factory planning (production planner, logistics planner, automation planner) and industrial construction planning (architect, civil engineer) come together during reconstruction and must be structured. This raises the research question: Which requirements do the disciplines involved in the reconstruction planning place on a digital factory model? A subordinate research question is: How can model-based decision support be provided for a more efficient design of the conversion within a factory? Because of the high adaptation rate of factories and its building described above, a methodology for rescheduling factories based on the requirements engineering method from software development is conceived and designed for practical application in factory restructuring projects. The explorative research procedure according to Kubicek is applied. Explorative research is suitable if the practical usability of the research results has priority. Furthermore, it will be shown how to best use a digital factory model in practice. The focus will be on mobile applications to meet the needs of factory planners on site. An augmented reality (AR) application will be designed and created to provide decision support for planning variants. The aim is to contribute to a shortening of the planning process and model-based decision support for more efficient change management. This requires the application of a methodology that reduces the deficits of the existing approaches. The time and cost expenditure are represented in the AR tablet solution based on a building information model (BIM). Overall, the requirements of those involved in the planning process for a digital factory model in the case of restructuring within a factory are thus first determined in a structured manner. The results are then applied and transferred to a construction site solution based on augmented reality.

Keywords: augmented reality, digital factory model, factory planning, restructuring

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Authors: Łukasz Mazur, Kamil Domaradzki, Bartosz Kamecki, Justyna Ignaczak, Sebastian Molin, Aleksander Gil, Tomasz Brylewski

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The rising global power consumption necessitates the development of new energy storage solutions. Prospective technologies include solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOECs), which convert surplus electrical energy into hydrogen. An electrolyzer cell consists of a porous anode, and cathode, and a dense electrolyte. Power output is increased by connecting cells into stacks using interconnects. Interconnects are currently made from high-chromium ferritic steels – for example, Crofer 22 APU – which exhibit high oxidation resistance and a thermal expansion coefficient that is similar to that of electrode materials. These materials have one disadvantage – their area-specific resistance (ASR) gradually increases due to the formation of a Cr₂O₃ scale on their surface as a result of oxidation. The chromia in the scale also reacts with the water vapor present in the reaction media, forming volatile chromium oxyhydroxides, which in turn react with electrode materials and cause their deterioration. The electrochemical efficiency of SOECs thus decreases. To mitigate this, the interconnect surface can be modified with protective-conducting coatings of spinel or other materials. The high prices of SOEC components -especially the Crofer 22 APU- have prevented their widespread adoption. More inexpensive counterparts, therefore, need to be found, and their properties need to be enhanced to make them viable. Candidates include the Nirosta 4016/1,4016 low-chromium ferritic steel with a chromium content of just 16.3 wt%. This steel's resistance to high-temperature oxidation was improved by depositing Gd₂O₃ nanoparticles on its surface via either dip coating or electrolysis. Modification with CeO₂ or Ce₀.₉Y₀.₁O₂ nanoparticles deposited by means of spray pyrolysis was also tested. These methods were selected because of their low cost and simplicity of application. The aim of this study was to investigate the oxidation kinetics of Nirosta 4016/1,4016 modified using the afore-mentioned methods and to subsequently measure the obtained samples' ASR. The samples were oxidized for 100 h in the air as well as air/H₂O and Ar/H₂/H₂O mixtures at 1073 K. Such conditions reflect those found in the anode and cathode operating space during real-life use of SOECs. Phase and chemical composition and the microstructure of oxidation products were determined using XRD and SEM-EDS. ASR was measured over the range of 623-1073 K using a four-point, two-probe DC technique. The results indicate that the applied nanoparticles improve the oxidation resistance and electrical properties of the studied layered systems. The properties of individual systems varied significantly depending on the applied reaction medium. Gd₂O₃ nanoparticles improved oxidation resistance to a greater degree than either CeO₂ or Ce₀.₉Y₀.₁O₂ nanoparticles. On the other hand, the cerium-containing nanoparticles improved electrical properties regardless of the reaction medium. The ASR values of all surface-modified steel samples were below the 0.1 Ω.cm² threshold set for interconnect materials, which was exceeded in the case of the unmodified reference sample. It can be concluded that the applied modifications increased the oxidation resistance of Nirosta 4016/1.4016 to a level that allows its use as SOEC interconnect material. Acknowledgments: Funding of Research project supported by program "Excellence initiative – research university" for the AGH University of Krakow" is gratefully acknowledged (TB).

Keywords: cerium oxide, ferritic stainless steel, gadolinium oxide, interconnect, SOEC

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Authors: Christina Knorr

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Analysis of the evacuation of occupants of a building plays a significant role in Fire Safety Engineering. One of the tools used for the analysis is the concept of the Required Safe Egress Time (RSET). It is generally accepted that RSET is measured from the time the fire ignites until the time that all occupants have evacuated to a safe location. Instructions on how RSET is determined can be found in both the International Fire Engineering Guidelines and, more recently, in the Australian Fire Engineering Guidelines. The guidelines also specify measures that could be applied to reduce the RSET and hence improve the performance of fire-safety measures of a building. Further, it is suggested that the delay period can be reduced through “training programs.” This study examined the overall level of fire-safety awareness among occupants of residential apartment buildings in Australia and investigated the possible effects of fire-safety training on the delay period and, hence, the RSET. A questionnaire, interviews, and an experiment were conducted to collect data about people’s fire-safety knowledge, people’s behaviour and nature, and the duration of activities people are likely to undertake in the event of a fire. The study led to an investigation into the delay and response time approximations and the development of a new equation to incorporate the impact of training into the RSET calculations for the general use of the fire engineering community. Regardless of the RSET, it can be concluded that fire-safety education and training for residents of apartment buildings have a direct impact on improving their behaviour and firefighting equipment usage in a fire incident.

Keywords: fire safety engineering, fire safety training, occupant evacuation behaviour, required safe egress time

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Authors: Preeti Panthari, Harsha Kharkwal

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Myrica nagi belongs to Myricaceae family. It is known for its therapeutic use since ancient times. The leaves were extracted with methanol and further fractioned with different solvents with increasing polarity. The n-butanol fraction of methanol extract was passed through celite, on separation through silica gel column chromatography yielded ten fractions. For the first time we report isolation of Caffeic acid from n-butanol fraction of Myrica nagi leaves in Chloroform: methanol (70:30) fraction. The mobile phase used for analysis in HPLC was Methanol: water (60:40) at the flow rate of 1 ml/min at wavelength of 280 nm. The retention time was 2.66 mins.

Keywords: Myrica nagi, column chromatography, retention time, caffeic acid

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Authors: Ali W. Alattabi, Khalid S. Hashim, Hassnen M. Jafer, Ali Alzeyadi

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This study was performed to optimise the react time (RT) and study its effects on the removal rates of nitrogen compounds in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treating synthetic industrial wastewater. The results showed that increasing the RT from 4 h to 10, 16 and 22 h significantly improved the nitrogen compounds’ removal efficiency, it was increased from 69.5% to 95%, 75.7 to 97% and from 54.2 to 80.1% for NH₃-N, NO₃-N and NO₂-N respectively. The results obtained from this study showed that the RT of 22 h was the optimum for nitrogen compounds removal efficiency.

Keywords: ammonia-nitrogen, retention time, nitrate, nitrite, sequencing batch reactor, sludge characteristics

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Authors: Nazira B. Bekenova, Lydia A. Mukovozova, Andrej M. Grjibovski, Alma Z. Tokayeva, Yerbol M. Smail, Nurlan E. Aukenov

Abstract:

Erysipelas is an infectious disease with socio-economic significance and prone to prolonged recurrent course (30%). Contribution of genetic factors, in particular the gene polymorphism of cytokines, can be essential in disease etiology and pathogenesis. Interleukin – 17 A are produced by T helpers of 17 type and plays a key role in development of local inflammation process. Local inflammatory process is a dominant in the clinic of erysipelas. Established that the skin and mucosas are primary areas of migration (homing) Th17-cell and their cytokines are stimulate the barrier function of the epithelium. We studied associations between gene polymorphism of IL-17A (C737T) rs 8193036 and IL-17A level in patients with erysipelas Kazakh population. Altogether, 90 cases with erysipelas and 90 healthy controls from an ethnic Kazakh population comprised the sample. Cases were identified at Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital of Semey (Kazakhstan). The IL-17A (rs8193036) polymorphism was analyzed by a real time polymerase chain reaction. Plasma levels of IL-17 A were assessed by immuneenzyme analysis method using ‘Vector-Best’ test-system (Russia). Differences in levels of IL-17 A between CC, TT, CT groups were studied using Kruskal — Wallis test. Pairwise comparisons were performed using Mann-Whitney tests with Bonferroni correction (New significance level was set to 0.025). We found, that in patients with erysipelas with CC genotype the level of IL-17 A was higher (p= 0, 010) compared to the carriers of CT genotype. When compared the level of IL – 17 A between the patients with TT genotype and patients with CC genotype, also between the patients with CT genotype and patients with TT genotype statistically significant differences are not revealed (p = 0.374 and p = 0.043, respectively). Comparisons of IL-17 A plasma levels between the CC and CT genotypes, between the CC and TT genotypes, and between the TT and CT in healthy patients did not reveal significant differences (p = 0, 291). Therefore, we are determined the associations of gene polymorphism of IL-17 A (C737T) with its level in patients erysipelas carriers CC genotype.

Keywords: erysipelas, interleukin – 17 A, Kazakh, polymorphism

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Authors: Surachart Koyadun

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Currently, Plasmodium knowlesi malaria has spread to almost all countries in Southeast Asia. This research aimed to 1) describe the epidemiology of Plasmodium knowlesi malaria, 2) examine the clinical symptoms of P. knowlesi malaria patients 3) analyze the ecology, animal reservoir and entomology of P. knowlesi malaria. 4) summarize the diagnosis, blood parasites, and treatment of P. knowlesi malaria. The study design was a case report combined with retrospective descriptive survey research. A total of 34 study subjects were patients with a confirmed diagnosis of P. knowlesi malaria who received treatment at hospitals and vector-borne disease control units in Songkhla Province during 2021 – 2022. The results of the epidemiological study unveiled the majority of the samples were male, had a history of staying overnight in the forest before becoming sick, the source of the infection was in the forest, and the season during which they were sick was mostly summer. The average length of time from the onset of illness until receiving a blood test was 3.8 days. The average length of hospital stay was 4 days. Patients were treated with Chloroquine Phosphate, Primaquine, Artesunate, Quinine, and Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (40 mg DHA-320 mg PPQ). One death was seen in 34 P. knowlesi malaria patients. All remaining patients recovered and responded to treatment. All symptoms improved after drug administration. No treatment failures were found. Analyses of ecological, zoonotic and entomological data revealed an association between infected patients and forested, monkey-hosted and mosquito-transmitted areas. The recommendation from this study was that the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method should be used in conjunction with the Thick/Thin Film test and blood parasite test (Parasitaemia) for the specificity of the infection, accuracy of diagnosis, leading to treatment of disease in a timely manner and be effective in disease control.

Keywords: human malaria, Plasmodium knowlesi, zoonotic disease, diagnosis and treatment, epidemiology, ecology

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Authors: Matthew Montebello

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The way e-learning effectiveness has been notoriously measured within an academic setting is by comparing the e-learning medium to the traditional face-to-face teaching methodology. In this paper, a simple yet innovative comparison methodology is introduced, whereby the effectiveness of next generation e-learning systems are assessed in contrast not only to the face-to-face mode, but also to the classical e-learning modality. Ethical and logistical issues are also discussed, as this three-way approach to compare teaching methodologies was applied and documented in a real empirical study within a higher education institution.

Keywords: e-learning effectiveness, higher education, teaching modality comparison

Procedia PDF Downloads 387

Authors: Sobia Mushtaq, Firdaus E. Bareen, Asma Tayyeb

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This study conducted to investigate the metal biosorption potential of indigenous Trichoderma species (T. harzianum KS05T01, T. longibrachiatum KS09T03, Trichoderma sp KS17T09., T. viridi KS17T011, T. atrobruneo KS21T014, and T. citrinoviride) that have been isolated from contaminated soil of Kasur Tannery Waste Management Agency. The effect of different biosorption parameters as initial metal ion concentration, pH, contact time , and temperature of incubation was investigated on the biosorption potential of these species. The metal removal efficiency and (E%) and metal uptake capacity (mg/g) increased along with the increase of initial metal concentration in media. The Trichoderma species can tolerate and survive under heavy metal stress up to 800mg/L. Among the two isotherm models were applied on the biosorption data, Langmuir isotherm model and Freundlich isotherm model, maximum correlation coefficients values (R 2 ) of 1was found for Langmuir model, which showed the better fitted model for the Trichoderma biosorption. The metal biosorption was increased with the increase of temperature and pH of the media. The maximum biosorption was observed between 25-30 o C and at pH 6.-7.5, while the biosorption rate was increased from 3-6 days of incubation, and then the rate of biosorption was slowed down. The biosorption data was better fitted for Pseudo kinetic first order during the initial days of biosorption. Thermodynamic parameters as standard Gibbs free energy (G), standard enthalpy change (H), and standard entropy (S) were calculated. The results confirmed the heavy metal biosorption by Trichoderma species was endothermic and spontaneous reaction in nature. The FTIR spectral analysis and SEM-EDX analysis of the treated and controlled mycelium revealed the changes in the active functional sites and morphological variations of the outer surface. The data analysis envisaged that high metal tolerance exhibited by Trichoderma species indicates its potential as efficacious and successful mediator for bioremediation of the heavy metal polluted environments.

Keywords: heavy metal, fungal biomass, biosorption, kinetics

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Authors: Tayyibah Khanam, Mohammad Saad Alam, Sanchari Deb, Yasser Rafat

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Electric vehicles are considered as viable replacements to gasoline cars since they help in reducing harmful emissions and stimulate power generation through renewable energy sources, hence contributing to sustainability. However, one of the significant obstacles in the mass deployment of electric vehicles is the charging time anxiety among users and, thus, the subsequent large waiting times for available chargers at charging stations. Data analytics, on the other hand, has revolutionized the decision-making tasks of management and operating systems since its arrival. In this paper, we attempt to optimize the choice of EV charging stations for users in their vicinity by minimizing the time taken to reach the charging stations and the waiting times for available chargers. Time taken to travel to the charging station is calculated by the Google Maps API and the waiting times are predicted by polynomial regression of the historical data stored. The proposed framework utilizes real-time data and historical data from all operating charging stations in the city and assists the user in finding the best suitable charging station for their current situation and can be implemented in a mobile phone application. The algorithm successfully predicts the most optimal choice of a charging station and the minimum required time for various sample data sets.

Keywords: charging data, electric vehicles, machine learning, waiting times

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Authors: Ayman Baklizi

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This paper discusses the problem of testing hypotheses about the lifetime distributions of a matched pair based on censored data. A distribution free test based on a runs statistic is proposed. Its null distribution and power function are found in a simple convenient form. Some properties of the test statistic and its power function are studied.

Keywords: censored data, distribution free, matched pair, runs statistics

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Varsha Prasad, S. Sandya

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Cosmic Ray effects in microelectronics such as single event effect (SET) and total dose ionization (TID) have been of major concern in space electronics since 1970. Advanced CMOS technologies have demonstrated reduced sensitivity to TID effect. However, charge pump Phase Locked Loop is very much vulnerable to single event transient effect. This paper presents an SET analysis model, where the SET is modeled as a double exponential pulse. The time domain analysis reveals that the settling time of the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) depends on the SET pulse strength, setting the time constant and the damping factor. The analysis of the proposed SET analysis model is confirmed by the simulation results.

Keywords: charge pump, phase locked loop, SET, VCO

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Authors: Mohd Ishfaq Bhat, Navin Chandra Shahi, Umesh Chandra Lohani

Abstract:

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of microwave application in synergy with the conventional sodium chlorite delignification of rice straw biomass. For the study, Box-Behnken experimental design involving four independent parameters, each with three levels viz. microwave power (480-800 W), irradiation time (4-12 min), bleaching solution concentration (0.4-3.0%), and bleaching time (1-5h) was used. The response was taken in the form of delignification percentage. The optimization of process parameters was done through response surface methodology. The respective optimum parameters of microwave power, irradiation time, bleaching solution concentration, and bleaching time were obtained as 671 W, 8.66 min, 2.67%, and 1h. The delignification percentage achieved at optimum conditions was 93.51%. The spectral, morphological, and x-ray diffraction characteristics of the rice straw powder after delignification showed a complete absence of lignin peaks, deconstruction of lignocellulose complex, and an increase of crystallinity (from 39.8 to 61.6 %).

Keywords: lignocellulosic biomass, delignification, microwaves, rice straw, characterization

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Authors: Rania M. Abdallah, Ahmed A. S. Dessouki, Moustafa H. Aly

Abstract:

This paper has presented a new simple small signal model for a resonant tunnelling diode device. The resonant tunnelling diode equivalent circuit elements were calculated and the results led to good agreement between the calculated equivalent circuit elements and the measurement results.

Keywords: resonant tunnelling diode, small signal model, negative differential conductance, electronic engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 443