Search results for: temporal difference

Authors: Touil Djamal, Fergani Zineb

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In this study, an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) with Cyclohexane working fluid is proposed for cogeneration in the cement industry. In this regard: first, a parametric study is conducted to evaluate the effects of some key parameters on the system performances. Next, single and multi-objective optimizations are performed to achieve the system optimal design. The optimization considers the exergy efficiency, the cost per exergy unit and the environmental impact of the net produced power as objective functions. Finally, exergy, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analysis of the cycle is carried out at the optimum operating conditions. The results show that the turbine inlet pressure, the pinch point temperature difference and the heat transfer fluid temperature have significant effects on the performances of the ORC system.

Keywords: organic rankine cycle, multi-objective optimization, exergy, exergoeconomic, exergoenvironmental, multi-objective optimisation, organic rankine cycle, cement plant

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Authors: Verarisa Ujung

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The Anthropocene – as scientists define as a new geological epoch where human intervention has the dominant influence on the geological, atmospheric, and ecological processes challenges the contemporary discourse in architecture and interior. The dominant influence characterises the incapability to distinguish the notion of nature, subnature, human and non-human. Consequently, living in the Anthropocene demands sensitivity and responsiveness to heighten our sense of the rhythm of transformation and recognition of our environment as a product of natural, social and historical processes. The notion of subnature is particularly emphasised in this paper to investigate the poetic sense of living with subnature. It could be associated with the critical tool for exploring the aesthetic and programmatic implications of subnature on interiority. The ephemeral immaterial attached to subnature promotes the sense of atmospheric delineation of interiority, the very inner significance of body-surface interaction, which central to interior architecture discourse. This would then reflect human’s activities; examine the transformative change, the architectural motion and the traces that left between moments. In this way, engaging the notion of subnature enable us to better understand the critical subject on interiority and might provide an in-depth study on interior architecture. Incorporating the exploration on the form, materiality, and pattern of subnature, this research seeks to grasp the inner significance of micro to macro approaches so that the future of interior might be compelled to depend more on the investigation and development of responsive environment. To reflect upon the form, materiality and intensity of subnature that specifically characterized by the natural, social and historical processes, this research examines a volcanic land, White Island/Whakaari, New Zealand as the chosen site of investigation. Emitting various forms and intensities of subnatures - smokes, mud, sulphur gas, this volcanic land also open to the new inhabitation within the sulphur factory ruins that reflects human’s past occupation. In this way, temporal and natural selected manifestations of materiality, artefact, and performance can be traced out and might reveal the meaningful relations among space, inhabitation, and well-being of inhabitants in the Anthropocene.

Keywords: anthropocene, body, intensification, intensity, interior architecture, subnature, surface

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Authors: Tae-min Byun, Chang-soo Chon, Dong-hyun Seo, Han-sung Kim, Bum-mo Ahn, Hui-suk Yun, Cheolwoong Ko

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In this study, a 3-point bending computational analysis of normal and osteoporosis mouse models was performed based on the Micro-CT image information of the femurs. The finite element analysis (FEA) found 1.68 N (normal group) and 1.39 N (osteoporosis group) in the average maximum force, and 4.32 N/mm (normal group) and 3.56 N/mm (osteoporosis group) in the average stiffness. In the comparison of the 3-point bending test results, the maximum force and the stiffness were different about 9.4 times in the normal group and about 11.2 times in the osteoporosis group. The difference between the analysis and the test was greatly significant and this result demonstrated improvement points of the material properties applied to the computational analysis of this study. For the next study, the material properties of the mouse femur will be supplemented through additional computational analysis and test.

Keywords: 3-point bending test, mouse, osteoporosis, FEA

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Authors: Morteza Azimi

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In Afghanistan, as a multi-ethnic country, there have been ethnic conflicts, especially after 2001. These conflicts are more visible among the four main ethnicities Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, and Uzbek. In this paper, such ethnic conflicts and their roles in the political sphere will be discussed. The distribution of personal electronic ID cards, for example, has been one of the most controversial and unsuccessful projects in Afghanistan. As a result, the lack of clear population statistics has led to several corrupted and unsuccessful presidential elections since 2001. The nation-building process in post-Taliban Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government’s failure to build a nation, are discussed. By referring to the hybridity theory of Homi Bhabha, it is argued that the process of assimilation for nation-building has not only failed but has deepened ethnic divisions. In the end, some suggestions and solutions for making the most out of ethnic diversity rather than suffering from it will be provided. It will be argued that diversity or difference improves the freedom of choices for groups and individuals; it boosts agency in comparison with life in an assimilated, coherent, and homogeneous society.

Keywords: Afghan identity, ethnicity, nation-building, political system, self and other

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Authors: Honggang Qu, Yong Xu, Rongmei Liu, Zhenji Gao, Bin Wang

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Today's mining industry is advancing gradually toward digital and visual direction. The three-dimensional visualization geological modeling of mine is the digital characterization of mineral deposits and is one of the key technology of digital mining. Three-dimensional geological modeling is a technology that combines geological spatial information management, geological interpretation, geological spatial analysis and prediction, geostatistical analysis, entity content analysis and graphic visualization in a three-dimensional environment with computer technology and is used in geological analysis. In this paper, the three-dimensional geological modeling of an iron mine through the use of Surpac is constructed, and the weight difference of the estimation methods between the distance power inverse ratio method and ordinary kriging is studied, and the ore body volume and reserves are simulated and calculated by using these two methods. Compared with the actual mine reserves, its result is relatively accurate, so it provides scientific bases for mine resource assessment, reserve calculation, mining design and so on.

Keywords: three-dimensional geological modeling, geological database, geostatistics, block model

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Authors: Edjere Oghenekohwiroro, Asibor Irabor Godwin, Uwem Bassey

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This paper determines the presence and levels of phthalates in sachet and borehole water source in some parts of Delta State, Nigeria. Sachet and borehole water samples were collected from seven different water packaging facilities and level of phthalates determined using GC-MS instrumentation. Phthalates concentration in borehole samples varied from 0.00-0.01 (DMP), 0.06-0.20 (DEP), 0.10-0.98 (DBP), 0.21-0.36 (BEHP), 0.01-0.03 (DnOP) µg/L and (BBP) was not detectable; while sachet water varied from 0.03-0.95 (DMP), 0.16-12.45 (DEP), 0.57-3.38 (DBP), 0.00-0.03 (BBP), 0.08-0.31 (BEHP) and 0-0.03 (DnOP) µg/L. Phthalates concentration in the sachet water was higher than that of the corresponding boreholes sources and also showed significant difference (p < 0.05) between the two. Sources of these phthalate esters were the interaction between water molecules and plastic storage facilities. Although concentration of all phthalate esters analyzed were lower than the threshold limit value(TLV), over time storage of water samples in this medium can lead to substantial increase with negative effects on individuals consuming them.

Keywords: phthalate esters, borehole, sachet water, sample extraction, gas chromatography, GC-MS

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Authors: S. Vaibhav Kant Sahu, Surabhi Bipin Seth

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Human well-being has multiple constituents including the basic material for a good life, freedom and choice, health, good social relations, and security. Poverty is also multidimensional and has been defined as the pronounced deprivation of well-being. Dhurwa tribe of Bastar (India) have symbiotic relation with nature, it provisions ecosystem service such as food, fuel and fiber; regulating services such as climate regulation and non-material benefits such as spiritual or aesthetic benefits and they are managing their forest from ages. The demand for ecosystem services is now so great that trade-off among services become rule. Aim of study to explore evidences for linkages between ecosystem services and well-being of indigenous community, how much it helps them in poverty reduction and interaction between them. Objective of study was to find drivers of change and evidence concerning link between ecosystem, human development and sustainability, evidence in decision making does it opt for multi sectoral objectives. Which means human well-being as the central focus for assessment, while recognizing that biodiversity and ecosystems also have intrinsic value. Ecosystem changes that may have little impact on human well-being over days or weeks may have pronounced impacts over years or decades; so assessments needed to be conducted at spatial and temporal scales under social, political, economic scales to have high-resolution data. Researcher used framework developed by Millennium ecosystem assessment; since human action now directly or unknowingly virtually alter ecosystem. Researcher used ethnography study to get primary qualitative data, secondary data collected from panchayat office. The responses were transcribed and translated into English, as interview held in Hindi and local indigenous language. Focus group discussion were held with group of 10 women at Tiriya village. Researcher concluded with well-being is not just gap between ecosystem service supply but also increases vulnerability. Decision can have consequences external to the decision framework these consequences are called externalities because they are not part of the decision-making calculus.

Keywords: Bastar, Dhurwa tribe, ecosystem services, millennium ecosystem assessment, sustainability

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Authors: Sreeparna Majee, G. C. Shit

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Unsteady blood flow has been numerically investigated through stenosed arteries to achieve an idea about the physiological blood flow pattern in diseased arteries. The blood is treated as Newtonian fluid and the arterial wall is considered to be rigid having deposition of plaque in its lumen. For direct numerical simulation, vorticity-stream function formulation has been adopted to solve the problem using implicit finite difference method by developing well known Peaceman-Rachford Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) scheme. The effects of magnetic parameter and Reynolds number on velocity and wall shear stress are being studied and presented quantitatively over the entire arterial segment. The streamlines have been plotted to understand the flow pattern in the stenosed artery, which has significant alterations in the downstream of the stenosis in the presence of magnetic field. The results show that there are nominal changes in the flow pattern when magnetic field strength is enhanced upto 8T which can have remarkable usage to MRI machines.

Keywords: magnetohydrodynamics, blood flow, stenosis, energy dissipation

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Authors: Ka'abu Mu'azu

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The study examines the effect of varied intensities of aerobic exercise on Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) among HIV/AIDS positive patients. Participants of mean age of 20.4 years were randomized into four groups. High Intensity Group (HIG), Moderate Intensity Group (MIG), Low Intensity Group (LIG) and Control Group (COG). SBP was measured at baseline (pre-exercise) and post-exercise (8 weeks). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates a significant training effect on resting values of SBP (F [3, 15] = 8.9, P < 0.05). Sheffe post hoc analysis indicated that both HIG and MIG significantly differ from control (P < 0.05). Dependent t- test indicates difference in HIG (t [7] = 6.5, P < 0.05) and slightly in MIG (t [7] = 5.4, P < 0.05). The study concluded that aerobic exercise is effective in reducing resting values of SBP particularly the activities that are high intensity in nature. The study recommends that high and moderate intensity aerobic exercise should be used for improving health condition of HIV/AIDS patients as regard to decrease in resting value of SBP.

Keywords: systolic blood pressure, aerobic exercise, HIV patients, health sciences

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Authors: Nujuree Sukasame

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This paper is entitled"The Improving Students on Phrasal Verbs Through movie with the grade10th Grade Students of Demonstration School of Khon Kaen University in the Academic year 2014..The sample group consitsed of30 the Grade students ofDemonstration School randomized by Purposive Sampling. The purpose of this research is to improve students"ability in phrasal verbs through movie at prescribe criteria 70%.It was used as the researcher treatment to encourage students to develope phrasal verbs on movie.Two types of instruments used were phrasal verbs test and attitude questionnaires.The research desige used was One grop Pre-test Post-test Design methode and analyzed by percentage and means. The result showed that in the pre-test and the post-test the mean scores were10.30% and 26% respectively.The result of t-test indicated statistically t=-3.077.It significant difference was at0.1.From the above result, It is noticed that the students"ability on phrasal verbs was improved significantly through movie.

Keywords: the improving, phrasal verbs, movie, students

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Authors: Tazvin Ijaz, Aisha Shahid Sheikh

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The current study was conducted to explore the relationship between body dissatisfaction and the perceived parenting styles of women. For the purpose of study a sample of adult women (N=308) was drawn through the process of stratified random sampling. The sample consisted of women belonging to different categories which were based on their occupation. Two instruments, the Body Dissatisfaction Scale (BDSS) and Perceived Parenting Styles (PPSS) were used in the study to find the relationship between the two variables. The results showed that the controlling parenting style in father led to higher body dissatisfaction while the nurturing parenting style lead to lesser symptoms of body dissatisfaction. The results also proved that the controlling parenting style in mother also lead to high symptoms of body dissatisfaction as well. It was revealed that the women with high education showed more body dissatisfaction than women with lower education. It was also seen that there was a significant difference in the body dissatisfaction of working and the non-working women.

Keywords: body dissatisfaction, perceived parenting styles, Pakistani women, gender

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Authors: Igor Perechuda, Wojciech Cieśliński

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The paper identifies the features of Polish sports clubs in the particular organizational forms: profit and nonprofit. Identification and description of these features is carried out in terms of financial efficiency of the given organizational form. Under the terms of the efficiency the research allows you to specify the advantages of particular organizational sports club form and the following limitations. Paper considers features of sports clubs in range of Polish conditions as legal regulations. The sources of the functioning efficiency of sports clubs may lie in the organizational forms in which they operate. Each of the available forms can be considered either a for-profit or nonprofit enterprise. Depending on this classification there are different capabilities of increasing organizational and financial efficiency of a given sports club. Authors start with general classification and difference between for-profit and non-profit sport clubs. Next identifies specific financial and organizational conditions of both organizational form and then show examples of mixed activity forms and their efficiency effect.

Keywords: financial efficiency, for-profit, non-profit, sports club

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Authors: A. Odoom, A. Salama, H. Ibrahim

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Hydrogen is a clean source of energy for power production and transportation. The main source of hydrogen in this research is biodiesel. Glycerol also called glycerine is a by-product of biodiesel production by transesterification of vegetable oils and methanol. This is a reliable and environmentally-friendly source of hydrogen production than fossil fuels. A typical composition of crude glycerol comprises of glycerol, water, organic and inorganic salts, soap, methanol and small amounts of glycerides. Crude glycerol has limited industrial application due to its low purity thus, the usage of crude glycerol can significantly enhance the sustainability and production of biodiesel. Reforming techniques is an approach for hydrogen production mainly Steam Reforming (SR), Autothermal Reforming (ATR) and Partial Oxidation Reforming (POR). SR produces high hydrogen conversions and yield but is highly endothermic whereas POR is exothermic. On the downside, PO yields lower hydrogen as well as large amount of side reactions. ATR which is a fusion of partial oxidation reforming and steam reforming is thermally neutral because net reactor heat duty is zero. It has relatively high hydrogen yield, selectivity as well as limits coke formation. The complex chemical processes that take place during the production phases makes it relatively difficult to construct a reliable and robust numerical model. Numerical model is a tool to mimic reality and provide insight into the influence of the parameters. In this work, we introduce a finite volume numerical study for an 'in-house' lab-scale experiment of ATR. Previous numerical studies on this process have considered either using Comsol or nodal finite difference analysis. Since Comsol is a commercial package which is not readily available everywhere and lab-scale experiment can be considered well mixed in the radial direction. One spatial dimension suffices to capture the essential feature of ATR, in this work, we consider developing our own numerical approach using MATLAB. A continuum fixed bed reactor is modelled using MATLAB with both pseudo homogeneous and heterogeneous models. The drawback of nodal finite difference formulation is that it is not locally conservative which means that materials and momenta can be generated inside the domain as an artifact of the discretization. Control volume, on the other hand, is locally conservative and suites very well problems where materials are generated and consumed inside the domain. In this work, species mass balance, Darcy’s equation and energy equations are solved using operator splitting technique. Therefore, diffusion-like terms are discretized implicitly while advection-like terms are discretized explicitly. An upwind scheme is adapted for the advection term to ensure accuracy and positivity. Comparisons with the experimental data show very good agreements which build confidence in our modeling approach. The models obtained were validated and optimized for better results.

Keywords: autothermal reforming, crude glycerol, hydrogen, numerical model

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Authors: David Broussard

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This review article delves into the realm of marine conservation finance, addressing the inadequacies in current financial streams from the private sector and the underutilization of existing financing mechanisms. The study emphasizes the emerging field of “blue finance”, which contributes to economic growth, improved livelihoods, and marine ecosystem health. The financial burden of marine conservation projects typically falls on philanthropists and governments, contrary to the polluter-pays principle. However, the private sector’s increasing commitment to NetZero and growing environmental and social responsibility goals prompts the need for alternative funding sources for marine conservation initiatives like marine protected areas. The article explores the potential of utilizing several financing mechanisms like carbon credits and other forms of payment for ecosystem services in the marine context, providing a solution to the lack of private funding for marine conservation. The methodology employed involves a systematic and quantitative approach, combining traditional review methods and elements of meta-analysis. A comprehensive search of the years 2000 - 2023, using relevant keywords on the Scopus platform, resulted in a review of 252 articles. The temporal evolution of blue finance studies reveals a significant increase in annual articles from 2010 to 2022, with notable peaks in 2011 and 2022. Marine Policy, Ecosystem Services, and Frontiers in Marine Science are prominent journals in this field. While the majority of articles focus on payment for ecosystem services, there is a growing awareness of the need for holistic approaches in conservation finance. Utilizing bibliometric techniques, the article showcases the dominant share of payment for ecosystem services in the literature with a focus on blue carbon. The classification of articles based on various criteria, including financing mechanisms and conservation types, aids in categorizing and understanding the diversity of research objectives and perspectives in this complex field of marine conservation finance.

Keywords: biodiversity offsets, carbon credits, ecosystem services, impact investment, payment for ecosystem services

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Authors: Mustafa Metin Donma, Orkide Donma

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Childhood obesity is an important clinical problem because it may lead to chronic diseases during the adulthood period of the individual. Obesity is a metabolic disease associated with low-grade inflammation. The liver occurs at the center of metabolic pathways. Adropin, fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21), and fetuin-A are hepatokines. Due to the immense participation of the liver in glucose metabolism, these liver-derived factors may be associated with insulin resistance (IR), which is a phenomenon discussed within the scope of obesity problems. The aim of this study is to determine the concentrations of adropin, FGF-21, and fetuin-A in childhood obesity, to point out possible differences between the obesity groups, and to investigate possible associations among these three hepatokines in obese and morbidly obese children. A total of one hundred and thirty-two children were included in the study. Two obese groups were constituted. The groups were matched in terms of mean ± SD values of ages. Body mass index values of obese and morbidly obese groups were 25.0 ± 3.5 kg/m² and 29.8 ± 5.7 kg/m², respectively. Anthropometric measurements including waist circumference, hip circumference, head circumference, and neck circumference were recorded. Informed consent forms were taken from the parents of the participants. The ethics committee of the institution approved the study protocol. Blood samples were obtained after overnight fasting. Routine biochemical tests, including glucose- and lipid-related parameters, were performed. Concentrations of the hepatokines (adropin, FGF-21, fetuin A) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Insulin resistance indices such as homeostasis model assessment for IR (HOMA-IR), alanine transaminase-to aspartate transaminase ratio (ALT/AST), diagnostic obesity notation model assessment laboratory index, diagnostic obesity notation model assessment metabolic syndrome index as well as obesity indices such as diagnostic obesity notation model assessment-II index, and fat mass index were calculated using the previously derived formulas. Statistical evaluation of the study data as well as findings of the study was performed by SPSS for Windows. Statistical difference was accepted significant when p is smaller than 0.05. Statistically significant differences were found for insulin, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels of the groups. A significant increase was observed for FGF-21 concentrations in the morbidly obese group. Higher adropin and fetuin-A concentrations were observed in the same group in comparison with the values detected in the obese group (p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the ALT/AST values of the groups. In all of the remaining IR and obesity indices, significantly increased values were calculated for morbidly obese children. Significant correlations were detected between HOMA-IR and each of the hepatokines. The highest one was the association with fetuin-A (r=0.373, p=0.001). In conclusion, increased levels observed in adropin, FGF-21, and fetuin-A have shown that these hepatokines possess increasing potential going from obese to morbid obese state. Out of the correlations found with the IR index, the most affected hepatokine was fetuin-A, the parameter possibly used as the indicator of the advanced obesity stage.

Keywords: adropin, fetuin A, fibroblast growth factor-21, insulin resistance, pediatric obesity

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Authors: Young Min Kim, Jeong Lak Sohn, Eui Soo Yoon

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This study describes the optimization of supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) power cycle for recovering waste heat from a gas turbine. An S-CO2 cycle that recovers heat from small industrial and aeroderivative gas turbines can outperform a steam-bottoming cycle despite its simplicity and compactness. In using S-CO2 power cycles for waste heat recovery, a split cycle was studied to maximize the net output power by incorporating the utilization efficiency of the waste heat (lowering the temperature of the exhaust gas through the heater) along with the thermal efficiency of the cycle (minimizing the temperature difference for the heat transfer, exergy loss). The cooling condition of the S-CO2 WHR system has a great impact on the performance and the optimum low pressure of the system. Furthermore, the optimum high pressure of the S-CO2 WHR systems for the maximum power from the given heat sources is dependent on the temperature of the waste heat source.

Keywords: exergy loss, gas turbine, optimization, supercritical CO2 power cycle, split cycle, waste heat recovery

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Authors: Takashi Yamaguchi, Ichio Asanuma, Jong G. Park, Kenneth J. Mackin, John Mittleman

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In this paper, vessel detection using the artificial neural network is proposed in order to automatically construct the vessel detection model from the satellite imagery of day/night band (DNB) in visible infrared in the products of Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP).The goal of our research is the establishment of vessel detection method using the satellite imagery of DNB in order to monitor the change of vessel activity over the wide region. The temporal vessel monitoring is very important to detect the events and understand the circumstances within the maritime environment. For the vessel locating and detection techniques, Automatic Identification System (AIS) and remote sensing using Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery have been researched. However, each data has some lack of information due to uncertain operation or limitation of continuous observation. Therefore, the fusion of effective data and methods is important to monitor the maritime environment for the future. DNB is one of the effective data to detect the small vessels such as fishery ships that is difficult to observe in AIS. DNB is the satellite sensor data of VIIRS on Suomi-NPP. In contrast to SAR images, DNB images are moderate resolution and gave influence to the cloud but can observe the same regions in each day. DNB sensor can observe the lights produced from various artifact such as vehicles and buildings in the night and can detect the small vessels from the fishing light on the open water. However, the modeling of vessel detection using DNB is very difficult since complex atmosphere and lunar condition should be considered due to the strong influence of lunar reflection from cloud on DNB. Therefore, artificial neural network was applied to learn the vessel detection model. For the feature of vessel detection, Brightness Temperature at the 3.7 μm (BT3.7) was additionally used because BT3.7 can be used for the parameter of atmospheric conditions.

Keywords: artificial neural network, day/night band, remote sensing, Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, vessel detection, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite

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Authors: Maha BenHamad, Ali Snoussi, Ammar Ben Brahim

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A steady-state analysis of triple-effect thermal vapor compressor desalination unit was performed. A mathematical model based on mass, salinity and energy balances is developed. The purpose of this paper is to develop a connection between process simulator and process optimizer in order to study the influence of several operating variables on the performance and the produced water cost of the unit. A MATLAB program is used to solve the model equations, and Aspen HYSYS is used to model the plant. The model validity is examined against a commercial plant and showed a good agreement between industrial data and simulations results. Results show that the pressures of the last effect and the compressed vapor have an important influence on the produced cost, and the increase of the difference temperature in the condenser decreases the specific heat area about 22%.

Keywords: steady-state, triple effect, thermal vapor compressor, Matlab, Aspen Hysys

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Authors: Eun Kyung Kim, Kyehan Rhee

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Viscoelastic wall properties of the arterial plaques change as the disease progresses, and estimation of wall viscoelasticity can provide a valuable assessment tool for plaque rupture prediction. Cross section of the stenotic coronary artery was modeled based on the IVUS image, and the finite element analysis was performed to get wall deformation under pulsatile pressure. The effects of viscoelastic parameters of the plaque on luminal diameter variations were explored. The result showed that decrease of viscous effect reduced the phase angle between the pressure and displacement waveforms, and phase angle was dependent on the viscoelastic properties of the wall. Because viscous effect of tissue components could be identified using the phase angle difference, wall deformation waveform analysis may be applied to predict plaque wall composition change and vascular wall disease progression.

Keywords: atherosclerotic plaque, diameter variation, finite element method, viscoelasticity

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Authors: Philip Baillie, Stuart W. Campbell, Alexander M. Galloway, Stephen R. Cater, Norman A. McPherson

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This study compared the mechanical and microstructural properties produced during friction stir welding(FSW) of S275 structural steel in air and underwater. Post weld tests assessed the tensile strength, micro-hardness, distortion, Charpy impact toughness and fatigue performance in each case. The study showed that there was no significant difference in the strength, hardness or fatigue life of the air and underwater specimens. However, Charpy impact toughness was shown to decrease for the underwater specimens and was attributed to a lower degree of recrystallization caused by the higher rate of heat loss experienced when welding underwater. Reduced angular and longitudinal distortion was observed in the underwater welded plate compared to the plate welded in air.

Keywords: Charpy impact toughness, distortion, fatigue, friction stir welding(FSW), micro-hardness, underwater

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Authors: Niracha Chompurach, Dararat Khampusaen

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EFL students have to be able to synthesize the texts they are reading critically to compose and connect the information. This study focuses on the effects of the application of Infographics as a supplementary tool to improve Thai EFL students’ Academic reading skills. Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, and knowledge offering students to work on gathering multiple types of information, such as pictures, texts, graphs, mapping, and charts. The study aims to investigate if the Infographics as a supplementary tool in academic reading lessons can make a difference in students’ reading skills, and the students’ opinions toward the application of infographics as a reading tool. The participants of this study were 3rd year Thai EFL Khon Kaen University students who took English Academic Reading course. This study employed Infographics assignments, Infographics rubric, and Gucus group interview. This study would advantage for both EFL teachers and students as a means to engage the students to handle the larger load of and represents the complex information in visible and comprehensible way.

Keywords: EFL, e-learning, infographics, language education

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Authors: Etsuo Morishita

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In this paper, we show shallow water in a tin box as an analogous simulation tool for high-speed aerodynamics education and research. It is customary that we use a water tank to create shallow water flow. While a flow in a water tank is not necessarily uniform and is sometimes wavy, we can visualize a clear supercritical flow even when we move a body manually in stationary water in a simple shallow tin box. We can visualize a blunt shock wave around a moving circular cylinder together with a shock pattern around a diamond airfoil. Another interesting analogous experiment is a hydrodynamic shock tube with water and tea. We observe the contact surface clearly due to color difference of the two liquids those are invisible in the real gas dynamics experiment. We first revisit the similarities between high-speed aerodynamics and shallow water hydraulics. Several educational and research experiments are then introduced for engineering students. Shallow water experiments in a tin box simulate properly the high-speed flows.

Keywords: aerodynamics compressible flow, gas dynamics, hydraulics, shock wave

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Authors: Edmund Gyimah

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Using data from 146 annual reports of listed firms in Ghana for the period 2013-2020, this study presents indicative findings which inspire practical actions and future research. Firms which prepared and presented sustainability reports were excluded from this study for a coverage of corporate sustainability disclosures centred on annual reports. Also, corporate sustainability disclosures of the firms on corporate websites were not included in the study considering the tendency of updates which cannot easily be traced. The corporate sustainability disclosures in the annual reports since the commencement of the G4 Guidelines in 2013 have been below average for all the dimensions of sustainability and the general sustainability disclosures. Few traditional elements of the board composition such as board size and board independence could affect the corporate sustainability disclosures in the annual reports as well as the age of the firm, firm size, and industry classification of the firm. Sustainability disclosures are greater in sustainability reports than in annual reports, however, firms without sustainability reports should have a considerable amount of sustainability disclosures in their annual reports. Also, because of the essence of sustainability, this study suggests to firms to have sustainability committee perhaps, they could make a difference in disclosing the enough sustainability information even when they do not present sustainability information in stand-alone reports.

Keywords: disclosures, sustainability, board, reports

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Authors: Raksit Nanthatanti, Jarruwat Charoensuk, S. Hirai, Manop Masomtop

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In this study, the effect of channel geometry and operating circumstances on a liquid cooling plate for Lithium-ion Battery modules has been investigated Inlet temperature, water velocity, and channel count were the main factors. According to the passage, enhancing the number of cooling channels[2,3,4,6channelperbases] will affect water flow distribution caused by varying the velocity inlet inside the cooling block[0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0 m/sec] and intake temperatures[25,30,35,40oC], The findings indicate that the battery’s temperature drops as the number of channels increases. The maximum battery's operating temperature [45 oC] rises, but ∆t is needed to be less than 5 oC [v≤1m/sec]. Maximum temperature and local temperature difference of the battery change significantly with the change of the velocity inlet in the cooling channel and its thermal conductivity. The results of the simulation will help to increase cooling efficiency on the cooling system for Li-ion Battery based on a Mini channel in a liquid-cooling configuration

Keywords: cooling efficiency, channel count, lithium-ion battery, operating

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Authors: Thomas D. Collin, Rachel Cunningham, Bruce Jefferson, Raffaella Villa

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Fats, oils and grease (FOG) are by-products of food preparation and cooking processes. FOG enters wastewater systems through a variety of sources such as households, food service establishments, and industrial food facilities. Over time, if no source control is in place, FOG builds up on pipe walls, leading to blockages, and potentially to sewer overflows which are a major risk to the Environment and Human Health. UK water utilities spend millions of pounds annually trying to control FOG. Despite UK legislation specifying that discharge of such material is against the law, it is often complicated for water companies to identify and prosecute offenders. Hence, it leads to uncertainties regarding the attitude to take in terms of FOG management. Research is needed to seize the full potential of implementing current practices. The aim of this research was to undertake a comprehensive study to document the extent of FOG problems in sewer lines and reinforce existing knowledge. Data were collected to develop a model estimating quantities of FOG available for recovery within Thames Water wastewater catchments. Geographical Information System (GIS) software was used in conjunction to integrate data with a geographical component. FOG was responsible for at least 1/3 of sewer blockages in Thames Water waste area. A waste-based approach was developed through an extensive review to estimate the potential for FOG collection and recovery. Three main sources were identified: residential, commercial and industrial. Commercial properties were identified as one of the major FOG producers. The total potential FOG generated was estimated for the 354 wastewater catchments. Additionally, raw and settled sewage were sampled and analysed for FOG (as hexane extractable material) monthly at 20 sewage treatment works (STW) for three years. A good correlation was found with the sampled FOG and population equivalent (PE). On average, a difference of 43.03% was found between the estimated FOG (waste-based approach) and sampled FOG (raw sewage sampling). It was suggested that the approach undertaken could overestimate the FOG available, the sampling could only capture a fraction of FOG arriving at STW, and/or the difference could account for FOG accumulating in sewer lines. Furthermore, it was estimated that on average FOG could contribute up to 12.99% of the primary sludge removed. The model was further used to investigate the relationship between estimated FOG and number of blockages. The higher the FOG potential, the higher the number of FOG-related blockages is. The GIS-based tool was used to identify critical areas (i.e. high FOG potential and high number of FOG blockages). As reported in the literature, FOG was one of the main causes of sewer blockages. By identifying critical areas (i.e. high FOG potential and high number of FOG blockages) the model further explored the potential for source-control in terms of ‘sewer relief’ and waste recovery. Hence, it helped targeting where benefits from implementation of management strategies could be the highest. However, FOG is still likely to persist throughout the networks, and further research is needed to assess downstream impacts (i.e. at STW).

Keywords: fat, FOG, GIS, grease, oil, sewer blockages, sewer networks

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Authors: Huirui Han, Chao Zhang

Abstract:

The rod bundle is used in the fuel assembly of the supercritical water-cooled nuclear reactor. In the rod bundle, the coolant absorbs the heat contributed by the fission process. Because of the dramatic variations in the thermophysical properties of water at supercritical conditions, it is essential to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of supercritical water in the rod bundle to ensure the safety of the nuclear power plant. In this study, the effects of the flow direction, including horizontal, upward, and downward, on the fluid flow and heat transfer of the supercritical water in the rod bundle were studied numerically. The results show the possibility of gap vortices in the flow subchannels of the rod bundle. In addition, the distributions of the circumferential wall temperature show differences in different flow direction conditions. It was also found that the circumferential cladding surface temperature distribution in the upward flow condition is extremely non-uniform, and there is a large difference between the maximum wall temperatures for different fuel rods.

Keywords: heat transfer, rod bundle, supercritical water, wall temperature

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Authors: Lucas Aerre, Wallesson Faria, Roberto Pimentel, Juliana Santos

Abstract:

An extremely disturbing and irritating element in the lives of people and organizations is the noise, the consequences that can bring us has a lot of connection with human health as well as financial and economic aspects. In order to improve the efficiency of buildings in Brazil in general, a performance standard was created, NBR 15.575 in which all buildings are seen in a more systemic and peculiar way, while following the requirements of the standard. The acoustic performance present in these buildings is one such requirement. Based on this, the present work was elaborated with the objective of evaluating through acoustic measurements the acoustic performance of vertical internal fences that are under the incidence of aerial noise of a building in the city of Brasilia-DF. A short theoretical basis is made and soon after the procedures of measurement are described through the control method established by the standard, and its results are evaluated according to the parameters of the same. The measurement performed between rooms of the same unit, presented a standardized sound pressure level difference (D nT, w) equal to 40 dB, thus being classified within the minimum performance required by the standard in question.

Keywords: airborne noise, performance standard, soundproofing, vertical seal

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Lan Du, Yan Wang, Hui Dai

Abstract:

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image change detection has recently become a challenging problem owing to the existence of speckle noises. In this paper, an unsupervised distribution-free change detection for SAR image based on scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) keypoints and segmentation is proposed. Firstly, the noise-robust SIFT keypoints which reveal the blob-like structures in an image are extracted in the log-ratio image to reduce the detection range. Then, different from the traditional change detection which directly obtains the change-detection map from the difference image, segmentation is made around the extracted keypoints in the two original multitemporal SAR images to obtain accurate changed region. At last, the change-detection map is generated by comparing the two segmentations. Experimental results on the real SAR image dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Keywords: change detection, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Scale-Invariant Feature Transformation (SIFT), segmentation

Procedia PDF Downloads 370

Authors: Debabrata Auddya, Bradley J. Roth

Abstract:

The mechanical bidomain model is used to describe a colony of cells growing on a substrate. Analytical expressions are derived for the intracellular and extracellular displacements. Mechanotransduction events are driven by the difference between the displacements in the two spaces, corresponding to the force acting on integrins. The equation for the displacement consists of two terms: one proportional to the radius that is the same in the intracellular and extracellular spaces (the monodomain term) and one that is proportional to a modified Bessel function that is responsible for mechanotransduction (the bidomain term). The model predicts that mechanotransduction occurs within a few length constants of the colony’s edge, and an expression for the length constant contains the intracellular and extracellular shear moduli and the spring constant of the integrins coupling the two spaces. The model predictions are qualitatively consistent with experiments on human embryonic stem cell colonies, in which differentiation is localized near the edge.

Keywords: cell colony, integrin, mechanical bidomain model, stem cell, stress-strain, traction force

Procedia PDF Downloads 227

Authors: Fasanmi Samuel Sunday

Abstract:

This study investigated the influence of gender and personality traits on emotional distress among awaiting trial inmates in Nigeria. Participants were three hundred and twenty (320) awaiting trial inmates, drawn from three main correctional centres in Northeast Nigeria, namely: Gashua Correctional Centre, Postiskum Correctional Centre, and Bauchi Correctional Centre. Expo facto research design was adopted. Questionnaires such as the Big Five Inventory and the Perceived Emotional Distress Inventory (PEDI) were used to measure the variables of the study. Three hypotheses were tested. Logistic regression was used for data analysis. Results of the analysis indicated that conscientiousness significantly predicted emotional distress among awaiting trial inmates. However, most of the identified personality traits did not significantly predict emotional distress among awaiting trial inmates. There was no significant gender difference in emotional distress among awaiting-trial inmates. The implications of the study were discussed.

Keywords: personality traits, emotional distress, awaiting-trial inmates, gender

Procedia PDF Downloads 80