Search results for: transmission rate

Authors: Qing Dai, Zhengkui Lin, Jiajia Zhang, Yi Qu

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Based on activity method, this paper focuses on morning commuting behavior when commuters travel with autonomous vehicles (AVs). Firstly, a net utility function of commuters is constructed by the activity utility of commuters at home, in car and at workplace, and the disutility of travel time cost and that of schedule delay cost. Then, this net utility function is applied to build an equilibrium model. Finally, under the assumption of constant marginal activity utility, the properties of equilibrium are analyzed. The results show that, in autonomous driving, the starting and ending time of morning peak and the number of commuters who arrive early and late at workplace are the same as those in manual driving. In automatic driving, however, the departure rate of arriving early at workplace is higher than that of manual driving, while the departure rate of arriving late is just the opposite. In addition, compared with manual driving, the departure time of arriving at workplace on time is earlier and the number of people queuing at the bottleneck is larger in automatic driving. However, the net utility of commuters and the total net utility of system in automatic driving are greater than those in manual driving.

Keywords: autonomous cars, bottleneck model, activity utility, user equilibrium

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Authors: Nor Asrina Binti Ramlee

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Voltage sag, voltage swell, high-frequency noise and voltage transients are kinds of disturbances in power quality. They are also known as power quality events. Equipment used in the industry nowadays has become more sensitive to these events with the increasing complexity of equipment. This leads to the importance of distributing clean power quality to the consumer. To provide better service, the best analysis on power quality is very vital. Thus, this paper presents the events detection focusing on voltage sag and swell. The method is developed by applying time domain signal analysis using wavelet transform approach in MATLAB. Four types of mother wavelet namely Haar, Dmey, Daubechies, and Symlet are used to detect the events. This project analyzed real interrupted signal obtained from 22 kV transmission line in Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The signals will be decomposed through the wavelet mothers. The best mother is the one that is capable to detect the time location of the event accurately.

Keywords: power quality, voltage sag, voltage swell, wavelet transform

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Authors: Turan Çalban, Nursel Keskin, Sabri Çolak, Soner Kuşlu

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Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) is a mineral that is found in large quantities in the Turkey and in the World. The dissolution of this mineral in the diammonium hydrogen phosphate solutions has not been studied so far. Investigation of the dissolution and dissolution kinetics gypsum in diammonium hydrogen phosphate solutions will be useful for evaluating of solid wastes containing gypsum. In this study, parameters such as diammonium hydrogen phosphate concentration, temperature and stirring speed affecting on the dissolution rate of the gypsum in diammonium hydrogen phosphate solutions were investigated. In experimental studies have researched effectiveness of the selected parameters. The dissolution of gypsum were examined in two parts at low and high temperatures. The experimental results were successfully correlated by linear regression using Statistica program. Dissolution curves were evaluated shrinking core models for solid-fluid systems. The activation energy was found to be 34.58 kJ/mol and 44.45 kJ/mol for the low and the high temperatures. The dissolution of gypsum was controlled by chemical reaction both low temperatures and high temperatures. Reaction rate expressions of dissolution of gypsum at the low temperatures and the high temperatures controlled by chemical reaction are as follows, respectively. = k1.e-5159.5/T.t = k2.e-5346.8/T.t Where k1 and k2 are constants depending on the diammonium hydrogen phosphate solution concentration, the solid/liquid ratio, the stirring speed and the particle size.

Keywords: diammonium hydrogen phosphate, dissolution kinetics, gypsum, kinetics.

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Authors: Nickson Kipng’etich Lang’at, Thomas Thoruwa, John Abraham, John Wanyoko

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Green tea is made from the top two leaves and buds of a shrub, Camellia sinensis, of the family Theaceae and the order Theales. The green tea leaves are picked and immediately sent to be dried or steamed to prevent fermentation. Fluid bed drying technique is a common drying method used in drying green tea because of its ease in design and construction and fluidization of fine tea particles. Major problems in this method are significant loss of chemical content of the leaf and green appearance of tea, retention of high moisture content in the leaves and bed channeling and defluidization. The energy associated with the drying technology has been shown to be a vital factor in determining the quality of green tea. As part of the implementation, prototype dryer was built that facilitated sequence of operations involving steaming, cooling, pre-drying and final drying. The major findings of the project were in terms of quality characteristics of tea leaves and energy consumption during processing. The optimal design achieved a moisture content of 4.2 ± 0.84%. With the optimum drying temperature of 100 ºC, the specific energy consumption was 1697.8 kj.Kg^-1 and evaporation rate of 4.272 x 10^-4 Kg.m^-2.s^-1. The energy consumption in a fluidized system can be further reduced by focusing on energy saving designs.

Keywords: evaporation rate, fluid bed dryer, maceration, specific energy consumption

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Authors: Huseyin Kavas

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Oleic acid (OA) capped superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) were synthesized by a thermal decomposition method. The composition of nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction, and the morphology of particles was investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The crystalline and particle size distribution of SPIONS capped with OA were investigated with a mean size of 6.99 nm and 8.9 nm, respectively. It was found that SPIONS have superparamagnetic characteristics with a saturation magnetization value of 64 emu/g. The thin film form of self-assembled SPIONS was fabricated by coating techniques of spin coating and dip coating. SQUID-VSM magnetometer and FMR techniques were performed in order to evaluate the magnetic properties of thin films, especially the existence of magnetic anisotropy. The thin films with magnetic anisotropy were obtained by self-assembled monolayers of SPION.

Keywords: magnetic materials, nanostructures, self-assembly, FMR

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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This paper introduces Luhmann’s autopoietic social systems starting with the original concept of autopoiesis by biologists and scientists, including the modification of general systems based on socialized medicine. A specific type of autopoietic system is explained in the three existing groups of the ecological phenomena: interaction, social and medical sciences. This hypothesis model, nevertheless, has a nonlinear interaction with its natural environment ‘interactional cycle’ for the exchange of photon energy with molecular without any changes in topology. The external forces in the systems environment might be concomitant with the natural fluctuations’ influence (e.g. radioactive radiation, electromagnetic waves). The cantilever sensor deploys insights to the future chip processor for prevention of social metabolic systems. Thus, the circuits with resonant electric and optical properties are prototyped on board as an intra–chip inter–chip transmission for producing electromagnetic energy approximately ranges from 1.7 mA at 3.3 V to service the detection in locomotion with the least significant power losses. Nowadays, therapeutic systems are assimilated materials from embryonic stem cells to aggregate multiple functions of the vessels nature de-cellular structure for replenishment. While, the interior actuators deploy base-pair complementarity of nucleotides for the symmetric arrangement in particular bacterial nanonetworks of the sequence cycle creating double-stranded DNA strings. The DNA strands must be sequenced, assembled, and decoded in order to reconstruct the original source reliably. The design of exterior actuators have the ability in sensing different variations in the corresponding patterns regarding beat-to-beat heart rate variability (HRV) for spatial autocorrelation of molecular communication, which consists of human electromagnetic, piezoelectric, electrostatic and electrothermal energy to monitor and transfer the dynamic changes of all the cantilevers simultaneously in real-time workspace with high precision. A prototype-enabled dynamic energy sensor has been investigated in the laboratory for inclusion of nanoscale devices in the architecture with a fuzzy logic control for detection of thermal and electrostatic changes with optoelectronic devices to interpret uncertainty associated with signal interference. Ultimately, the controversial aspect of molecular frictional properties is adjusted to each other and forms its unique spatial structure modules for providing the environment mutual contribution in the investigation of mass temperature changes due to pathogenic archival architecture of clusters.

Keywords: autopoiesis, nanoparticles, quantum photonics, portable energy, photonic structure, photodynamic therapeutic system

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Authors: Ashish Jain, Satish Nayak

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Transdermal iontophoretic drug delivery system is viable drug delivery platform technology and has a strong market worldwide. Transdermal drug delivery system is particularly desirable for therapeutic agents that need prolonged administration at controlled plasma level. This makes appropriateness to antihypertensive and anti-diabetic agents for their transdermal development. Controlled zero order absorption, easily termination of drug delivery and easy to administration also support for popularity of transdermal delivery. In this current research iontophoretic delivery of various anti diabetic agents like glipizide, glibenclamide and glimepiride were carried out. The experiments were carried out at different drug concentrations and different current densities using cathodal iontophoresis. Diffusion cell for iontophoretic permeation study was modified according to Glikfield Design. Pig skin was used for in vitro permeation study and for the in-vivo study New Zealand rabbits were used. At all concentration level iontophoresis showed enhanced permeation rate compared to passive controls. Iontophoretic transports of selected drugs were found to be increased with the current densities. Results showed that target permeation rate for selected drugs could be achieved with the aid of iontophoresis by increasing the area in an appreciable range.

Keywords: transdermal, iontophoresis, pig skin, rabbits, glipizide, glibeclamide

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Authors: G. V. Sai Soumya, Kalpesh Solanki, Sumit K. Choudhary

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Necropsy is another term used for an autopsy, which is known as death examination in the case of animals. It is a complete standardized procedure involving dissection, observation, interpretation, and documentation. Government Bodies like National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have given standard operating procedures for commencing the necropsies. Necropsies are rarely performed as compared to autopsies performed on human bodies. There are no databases which maintain the count of autopsies in wildlife, but the research in this area has shown a very small number of necropsies. Long back, wildlife forensics came into existence but is coming into light nowadays as there is an increase in wildlife crime cases, including the smuggling of trophies, pooching, and many more. Physical examination in cases of animals is not sufficient to yield fruitful information, and thus postmortem examination plays an important role. Postmortem examination helps in the determination of time since death, cause of death, manner of death, factors affecting the case under investigation, and thus decreases the amount of time required in solving cases. Increasing the rate of necropsies will help forensic veterinary pathologists to build standardized provision and confidence within them, which will ultimately yield a higher success rate in solving wildlife crime cases.

Keywords: necropsy, wildlife crime, postmortem examination, forensic application

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Authors: Amitesh Goswami, Vishal Gulati, Annu Yadav

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In this paper, WEDM has been used to investigate the machining characteristics of Inconel-625 alloy. The machining characteristics namely material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR) have been investigated along with surface microstructure analysis using SEM and EDS of the machined surface. Taguchi’s L27 Orthogonal array design has been used by considering six varying input parameters viz. Pulse-on time (Ton), Pulse-off time (Toff), Spark Gap Set Voltage (SV), Peak Current (IP), Wire Feed (WF) and Wire Tension (WT) for the responses of interest. It has been found out that Pulse-on time (Ton) and Spark Gap Set Voltage (SV) are the most significant parameters affecting material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR) are. Microstructure analysis of workpiece was also done using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). It was observed that, variations in pulse-on time and pulse-off time causes varying discharge energy and as a result of which deep craters / micro cracks and large/ small number of debris were formed. These results were helpful in studying the effects of pulse-on time and pulse-off time on MRR and SR. Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) was also done to check the compositional analysis of the material and it was observed that Copper and Zinc which were initially not present in the Inconel 625, later migrated on the material surface from the brass wire electrode during machining

Keywords: MRR, SEM, SR, taguchi, Wire Electric Discharge Machining

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Authors: Frankie Burgos, Emely Munar, Conrado Basa

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This paper aimed at developing an artificial neural network (ANN) model specifically for the Philippine Stock Exchange index closing value. The inputs to the ANN are US Dollar and Philippine Peso(USD-PHP) exchange rate, GDP growth of the country, quarterly inflation rate, 10-year bond yield, credit rating of the country, previous open, high, low, close values and volume of trade of the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi), gold price of the previous day, National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), Standard and Poor’s 500 (S & P 500) and the iShares MSCI Philippines ETF (EPHE) previous closing value. The target is composed of the closing value of the PSEi during the 627 trading days from November 3, 2011, to May 30, 2014. MATLAB’s Neural Network toolbox was employed to create, train and simulate the network using multi-layer feed forward neural network with back-propagation algorithm. The results satisfactorily show that the neural network developed has the ability to model the PSEi, which is affected by both internal and external economic factors. It was found out that the inputs used are the main factors that influence the movement of the PSEi closing value.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, artificial intelligence, philippine stocks exchange index, stocks trading

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Authors: Abdulrahman Abdulrahman

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When the Manning equation is used, a unique value of normal depth in the uniform flow exists for a given channel geometry, discharge, roughness, and slope. Depending on the value of normal depth relative to the critical depth, the flow type (supercritical or subcritical) for a given characteristic of channel conditions is determined whether or not flow is uniform. There is no general solution of Manning's equation for determining the flow depth for a given flow rate, because the area of cross section and the hydraulic radius produce a complicated function of depth. The familiar solution of normal depth for a rectangular channel involves 1) a trial-and-error solution; 2) constructing a non-dimensional graph; 3) preparing tables involving non-dimensional parameters. Author in this paper has derived semi-analytical solution to Manning's equation for determining the flow depth given the flow rate in rectangular open channel. The solution was derived by expressing Manning's equation in non-dimensional form, then expanding this form using Maclaurin's series. In order to simplify the solution, terms containing power up to 4 have been considered. The resulted equation is a quartic equation with a standard form, where its solution was obtained by resolving this into two quadratic factors. The proposed solution for Manning's equation is valid over a large range of parameters, and its maximum error is within -1.586%.

Keywords: channel design, civil engineering, hydraulic engineering, open channel flow, Manning's equation, normal depth, uniform flow

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Authors: Dongwon Lee, Sunmyeng Kim

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Underwater acoustic networks (UANs) have become a very active research area in recent years. Compared with wireless networks, UANs are characterized by the limited bandwidth, long propagation delay and high channel dynamic in acoustic modems, which pose challenges to the design of medium access control (MAC) protocol. The characteristics severely affect network performance. In this paper, we study a MS-MAC (Multi-Sender MAC) protocol in order to improve network performance. The proposed protocol exploits temporal reuse by learning the propagation delays to neighboring nodes. A source node locally calculates the transmission schedules of its neighboring nodes and itself based on the propagation delays to avoid collisions. Performance evaluation is conducted using simulation, and confirms that the proposed protocol significantly outperforms the previous protocol in terms of throughput.

Keywords: acoustic channel, MAC, temporal reuse, UAN

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Authors: Ines Raies, Eric Kohler, Marc Fleury, Béatrice Ledésert

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In this work, the impact of clay minerals on the formation damage of sandstone reservoirs is studied to provide a better understanding of the problem of deep geothermal reservoir permeability reduction due to fine particle dispersion and migration. In some situations, despite the presence of filters in the geothermal loop at the surface, particles smaller than the filter size (<1 µm) may surprisingly generate significant permeability reduction affecting in the long term the overall performance of the geothermal system. Our study is carried out on cores from a Triassic reservoir in the Paris Basin (Feigneux, 60 km Northeast of Paris). Our goal is to first identify the clays responsible for clogging, a mineralogical characterization of these natural samples was carried out by coupling X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that the studied stratigraphic interval contains mostly illite and chlorite particles. Moreover, the spatial arrangement of the clays in the rocks as well as the morphology and size of the particles, suggest that illite is more easily mobilized than chlorite by the flow in the pore network. Thus, based on these results, illite particles were prepared and used in core flooding in order to better understand the factors leading to the aggregation and deposition of this type of clay particles in geothermal reservoirs under various physicochemical and hydrodynamic conditions. First, the stability of illite suspensions under geothermal conditions has been investigated using different characterization techniques, including Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). Various parameters such as the hydrodynamic radius (around 100 nm), the morphology and surface area of aggregates were measured. Then, core-flooding experiments were carried out using sand columns to mimic the permeability decline due to the injection of illite-containing fluids in sandstone reservoirs. In particular, the effects of ionic strength, temperature, particle concentration and flow rate of the injected fluid were investigated. When the ionic strength increases, a permeability decline of more than a factor of 2 could be observed for pore velocities representative of in-situ conditions. Further details of the retention of particles in the columns were obtained from Magnetic Resonance Imaging and X-ray Tomography techniques, showing that the particle deposition is nonuniform along the column. It is clearly shown that very fine particles as small as 100 nm can generate significant permeability reduction under specific conditions in high permeability porous media representative of the Triassic reservoirs of the Paris basin. These retention mechanisms are explained in the general framework of the DLVO theory

Keywords: geothermal energy, reinjection, clays, colloids, retention, porosity, permeability decline, clogging, characterization, XRD, SEM-EDS, STEM, DLS, NMR, core flooding experiments

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Authors: Fahreza, Yudhi Herliansyah, Harnovinsah

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This study aims to examine how management compensation and auditor reputation effect on corporate tax management in banking using a sample banking companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange. At first, this study examines how the influence of management compensation on the implementation of tax management that may be made by management in order to improve the performance of the company. Second, this study also examines the effect of auditor reputation conducting audit on the implementation of the tax management. The population used in this study is the banking companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange. The method used was purposive sampling because the samples of this study have certain criteria that are tailored to the purpose of the study. Based on purposive sampling method, the number of samples in this study is 28 samples. Hypothesis tested using multiple regression analysis. The results of this study indicate that on the 5 % significance level, management compensation significantly influenced tax management as measured using the proxy book tax gap. Other result is management compensation does not significantly affect the tax management that measured using a proxy GAAP effective tax rate. In addition the auditor's reputation does significantly influence tax management as measured using the proxy book tax gap and GAAP effective tax rate.

Keywords: tax management, management compensation, auditor reputation, corporate characteristic

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Authors: Amir Mahyar Khorasani, Ian Gibson, Moshe Goldberg, Mohammad Masoud Movahedi, Guy Littlefair

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One of the important factors in manufacturing processes especially machining operations is surface quality. Improving this parameter results in improving fatigue strength, corrosion resistance, creep life and surface friction. The reliability and clearance of removable joints such as thread and nuts are highly related to the surface roughness. In this work, the effect of different cutting parameters such as cutting fluid pressure, feed rate and cutting speed on the surface quality of the crest of thread in the high-speed milling of Brass C3600 have been determined. Two popular neural networks containing MLP and RBF coupling with Taguchi L32 have been used to model surface roughness which was shown to be highly adept for such tasks. The contribution of this work is modelling surface roughness on the crest of the thread by using precise profilometer with nanoscale resolution. Experimental tests have been carried out for validation and approved suitable accuracy of the proposed model. Also analysing the interaction of parameters two by two showed that the most effective cutting parameter on the surface value is feed rate followed by cutting speed and cutting fluid pressure.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, cutting conditions, high-speed machining, surface roughness, thread milling

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Authors: Jong Yeop Kim, Ji Eun Kim, Hyun Jeong Kwak, Sook Young Lee

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Background: This prospective, randomized, controlled study was performed to evaluate the usefulness of the McGrath VL compared to Macintosh laryngoscopy in children with expected normal airway during endotracheal intubation, by comparing the time to intubation and ease of intubation. Methods: Eighty-four patients, aged 1-10 years undergoing endotracheal intubation for elective surgery were randomly assigned to McGrath group (n = 42) or Macintosh group (n = 42). Anesthesia was induced with propofol 2.5-3.0 mg/kg and sevoflurane 5-8 vol%. Orotracheal intubation was performed 2 minutes after injection of rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg with McGrath VL or Macintosh laryngoscope. The primary outcome was time to intubation. The Cormack and Lehane glottic grade, intubation difficulty score (IDS), and success rate of intubation were assessed. Hemodynamic changes also were recorded. Results: Median time to intubation [interquartile range] was not different between the McGrath group and the Macintosh group (25.0 [22.8-28.3] s vs. 26.0 [24.0-29.0] s, p = 0.301). The incidence of grade I glottic view was significantly higher in theMcGrath group than in the Macintosh group (95% vs. 74%, p = 0.013). Median IDS was lower in the McGrath group than in the Macintosh group (0 [0-0] vs. 0 [0-1], p = 0.018). There were no significant differences in success rate on intubation or hemodynamics between the two groups. Conclusions: McGrath VL provides better laryngeal views and lower IDS, but similar intubation times and success rates compared to the Macintosh laryngoscope in children with the normal airway.

Keywords: intubation, Macintosh laryngoscopy, Mcgrath videolaryngoscopy, pediatrics

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Authors: Lily Ingsrisawang, Tasanee Nacharoen

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Introduction: The problems of unbalanced data sets generally appear in real world applications. Due to unequal class distribution, many research papers found that the performance of existing classifier tends to be biased towards the majority class. The k -nearest neighbors’ nonparametric discriminant analysis is one method that was proposed for classifying unbalanced classes with good performance. Hence, the methods of discriminant analysis are of interest to us in investigating misclassification error rates for class-imbalanced data of three diabetes risk groups. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the classification performance between parametric discriminant analysis and nonparametric discriminant analysis in a three-class classification application of class-imbalanced data of diabetes risk groups. Methods: Data from a healthy project for 599 staffs in a government hospital in Bangkok were obtained for the classification problem. The staffs were diagnosed into one of three diabetes risk groups: non-risk (90%), risk (5%), and diabetic (5%). The original data along with the variables; diabetes risk group, age, gender, cholesterol, and BMI was analyzed and bootstrapped up to 50 and 100 samples, 599 observations per sample, for additional estimation of misclassification error rate. Each data set was explored for the departure of multivariate normality and the equality of covariance matrices of the three risk groups. Both the original data and the bootstrap samples show non-normality and unequal covariance matrices. The parametric linear discriminant function, quadratic discriminant function, and the nonparametric k-nearest neighbors’ discriminant function were performed over 50 and 100 bootstrap samples and applied to the original data. In finding the optimal classification rule, the choices of prior probabilities were set up for both equal proportions (0.33: 0.33: 0.33) and unequal proportions with three choices of (0.90:0.05:0.05), (0.80: 0.10: 0.10) or (0.70, 0.15, 0.15). Results: The results from 50 and 100 bootstrap samples indicated that the k-nearest neighbors approach when k = 3 or k = 4 and the prior probabilities of {non-risk:risk:diabetic} as {0.90:0.05:0.05} or {0.80:0.10:0.10} gave the smallest error rate of misclassification. Conclusion: The k-nearest neighbors approach would be suggested for classifying a three-class-imbalanced data of diabetes risk groups.

Keywords: error rate, bootstrap, diabetes risk groups, k-nearest neighbors

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Authors: Selvamuthukumaran Thirunavukkarasu, Arivudainambi Sundararajan

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The plant active molecules with their known mode of action are important leads to the development of newer insecticides. Lactone glycoside was identified earlier as the active principle in Cleistanthus collinus (Roxb.) Benth. (Fam: Euphorbiaceae). It possessed feeding deterrent, insecticidal and insect growth regulatory actions at varying concentrations. Deducing its mode of action opens a possibility of its further development. A no-choice leaf disc bioassay was carried out with lactone glycoside at different doses for different instars and Deterrence Indices were worked out. Using regression analysis concentrations imparting 10, 30 and 50 per cent deterrence (DI10, DI30 & DI50) were worked out. At these doses, effect on nutritional indices like Relative Consumption and Growth Rates (RCR & RGR), Efficiencies of Conversion of Ingested and Digested food (ECI & ECD) and Approximate Digestibility (AD) were worked out. The Relative Consumption and Growth Rate of control and lactone glycoside larva were compared by regression analysis. Regression analysis of deterrence indices revealed that the concentrations needed for imparting 50 per cent deterrence was 60.66, 68.47 and 71.10 ppm for third, fourth and fifth instars respectively. Relative consumption rate (RCR) and relative growth rate (RGR) were reduced. This confirmed the antifeedant action of the fraction. Approximate digestibility (AD) was found greater in treatments indicating reduced faeces because of poor digestibility and retention of food in the gut. Efficiency of conversion of both ingested and digested (ECI and ECD) food was also found to be greatly reduced. This indicated presence of toxic action. This was proved by comparing growth efficiencies of control and lactone glycoside treated larvae. Lactone glycoside was found to possess both feeding deterrent and toxic modes of action. Studies on molecular targets based on this preliminary site of action lead to new insecticide development.

Keywords: Spodoptera litura Fabricius, Cleistanthus collinus (Roxb.) Benth, feeding deterrence, mode of action

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Authors: M. M. Hosni, A. A. El Maghrbi

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The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of ectoparasites in hedgehogs (Etelerix algirus) in north western region of Libya. Seventy hedgehogs were sampled, and 39 (55.7%) were infested with external parasites. A total of 44 ticks, 491 fleas were collected from the infested hedgehogs and four species of ectoparasites were identified, one mite (Sarcoptes scabiei), one tick (Rhipicephalus appendiculatus) and two fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis and Ctenocephalides canis). For ectoparasites, 10/39 (25.6%) were infested by S. scabiei, 8/39 (20.5%) by Rh. appendiculatus and 11/39 (28.2%) by fleas. The prevalence of mixed infestation with S. scabiei and C. canis was 3(7.7%), Rh. appendiculatus and C. canis was 2 (5.1%) and infestation by two species of fleas was 5 (12.8%). The overall mixed infestation was 10 (25.6%). We concluded that the hedgehogs may play an important role in spreading external parasites and transmission of diseases from one region to another and from wildlife animals to domestic animals and human.

Keywords: ectoparasites, etelerix algirus, hedgehogs, Libya

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Authors: Reda Askouri, Mohamed Moussetad, Rhma Adhiri

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Reverse osmosis (RO) is one of the most widely used techniques for seawater desalination. However, the conversion rate of this method is generally limited to 35-45% due to the high-pressure capacity of the membranes. Additionally, the specific energy consumption (SEC) for seawater desalination is high, necessitating energy recovery systems to minimise energy consumption. This study aims to enhance the performance of seawater desalination by combining RO with a vibratory shear-enhanced processing (VSEP) technique. The RO unit in this study comprises two stages, each powered by a hydraulic turbocharger that increases the pressure in both stages. The concentrate from the second stage is then directly processed by VSEP technology. The results demonstrate that the permeate water obtained exhibits high quality and that the conversion rate is significantly increased, reaching high percentages with low SEC. Furthermore, the high concentration of total solids in the concentrate allows for potential exploitation within the environmental protection framework. By valorising the concentrated waste, it’s possible to reduce the environmental impact while increasing the overall efficiency of the desalination process.

Keywords: specific energy consumption, vibratory shear enhanced process, environmental challenge, water recovery

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Authors: Mohammed S. Bhader, Abdullah A. Ghaddaf, Anas Alamoudi, Amal Abualola, Renad Kalantan, Noura Alkhulaifi, Ibrahim Halawani, Mohammed Alhindi

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Background: Noninvasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is a relatively new mode of noninvasive ventilation with promising clinical and patient-ventilator outcomes for preterm infants. The aim of this systematic review was to compare NAVA to nasal continuous or positive airway pressure (NCPAP) or intermittent positive airway pressure (NIPP) for preterm infants. Methods: We searched the online databases Medline, Embase, and CENTRAL. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared NAVA to NCPAP or NIPP for preterm infants < 37 weeks gestational age. We sought to evaluate the following outcomes: noninvasive intubation failure rate, desaturation rate, the fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), and length of stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We used the mean difference (MD) to represent continuous outcomes, while the odds ratio (OR) was used to represent dichotomous outcomes. Results: A total of 11 RCTs that enrolled 429 preterm infants were deemed eligible. NAVA showed similar clinical outcomes to NCPAP or NIPP with respect to noninvasive intubation failure (RR for NAVA versus NCPAP: 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.49 to 1.37), desaturation rate (RR for NAVA versus NCPAP: 0.69, 95%CI: 0.36 to 1.29; RR for NAVA versus NIPP: 0.58, 95%CI: 0.08 to 4.25), FiO2 (MD for NAVA versus NCPAP: –0.01, 95%CI: –0.04 to 0.02; MD for NAVA versus NIPP: –7.16, 95%CI: –22.63 to 8.31), and length of stay in the NICU (MD for NAVA versus NCPAP: 1.34, 95%CI: –4.17 to 6.85). Conclusion: NAVA showed similar clinical and ventilator-related outcomes compared to the usual care noninvasive respiratory support measures NCPAP or NIPP for preterm infants.

Keywords: preterm infants, noninvasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist, NIV-NAVA, non-invasive ventilation, nasal continuous or positive airway pressure, NCPAP, intermittent positive airway pressure ventilation, NIPP, respiratory distress syndrome, RDS

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Authors: Jeremy Bost, Matthew Brett, Jacob Flynn, Weihui Li

Abstract:

One response during anaphylaxis is reduced blood pressure due to blood vessels relaxing and dilating. Epinephrine causes the blood vessels to constrict, which raises blood pressure to counteract the symptoms. When going through an allergic reaction, an Epinephrine injector is used to administer a shot of epinephrine intramuscularly. Epinephrine injectors have become an integral part of day-to-day life for people with allergies. Current Epinephrine injectors (EpiPen) are completely mechanical and have no sensors to monitor the vital signs of patients or give suggestions the optimal time for the shot. The EpiPens are also large and inconvenient to carry daily. The current price of an EpiPen is roughly 600$ for a pack of two. This makes carrying an EpiPen very expensive, especially when they need to be switched out when the epinephrine expires. This new design is in the form of a bracelet, which has the ability to inject epinephrine. The bracelet will be equipped with vital signs monitors that can aid the patient to sense the allergic reaction. The vital signs that would be of interest are blood pressure, heart rate and Electrodermal activity (EDA). The heart rate of the patient will be tracked by a photoplethysmograph (PPG) that is incorporated into the sensors. The heart rate is expected to increase during anaphylaxis. Blood pressure will be monitored through a radar sensor, which monitors the phase changes in electromagnetic waves as they reflect off of the blood vessel. EDA is under autonomic control. Allergen-induced anaphylaxis is caused by a release of chemical mediators from mast cells and basophils, thus changes the autonomic activity of the patient. So by measuring EDA, it will give the wearer an alert on how their autonomic nervous system is reacting. After the vital signs are collected, they will be sent to an application on a smartphone to be analyzed, which can then alert an emergency contact if the epinephrine injector on the bracelet is activated. Overall, this design creates a safer system by aiding the user in keeping track of their epinephrine injector, while making it easier to track their vital signs. Also, our design will be more affordable and more convenient to replace. Rather than replacing the entire product, only the needle and drug will be switched out and not the entire design.

Keywords: allergy, anaphylaxis, epinephrine, injector, vital signs monitor

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Authors: Hussein Shaman, Faris Almansour

Abstract:

This paper proposes a modified optimum bandstop filter with ultra-wideband stopband. The filter consists of three shunt open-circuited stubs and two non-redundant unit elements. The proposed bandstop filter is designed with unequal electrical lengths of the open-circuited stubs at the mid-stopband. Therefore, the filter can exhibit a quasi-elliptic function response that improves the selectivity and enhances the rejection bandwidth. The filter is designed to exhibit a fractional bandwidth of about 114% at a mid-stopband frequency of 3.0 GHz. The filter is successfully realized in theory, simulated, fabricated and measured. An excellent agreement is obtained between calculated, simulated and measured. The fabricated filter has a compact size with a low insertion loss in the passbands, high selectivity and good attenuation level inside the desired stopband

Keywords: microstrip filter, bandstop filter, UWB filter, transmission line filter

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Sami Ali Metwally, Bedour Helmy Abou-Leila, Hussien I.Abdel-Shafy

Abstract:

The work was carried out at the greenhouse of National Research Centre, Pot experiment was carried out during of 2020 and 2021 seasons aimed to study the effect of two types of water (two recycling gray water treatments((SMR (Sequencing Batch Reactor) and MBR(Membrane Biology Reactor) and three watering intervals 15, 20 and 25 days on Syangonium plants growth. Examination of data cleared that, (MBR) recorded increase in vegetative growth parameters, osmotic pressure, transpiration rate chlorophyll a,b,carotenoids and carbohydrate)in compared with SBR.As for water, intervalsthe highest values of most growth parameters were obtained from plants irrigated with after (20 days) compared with other treatments.15 days irrigation intervals recorded significantly increased in osmotic pressure, transpiration rate and photosynthetic pigments, while carbohydrate values recorded decreased. Interaction between water type and water intervals(SBR) recorded the highest values of most growth parameters by irrigation after 20 days. While the treatment (MBR)and irrigated after 25 days showed the highest values on leaf area and leaves fresh weight compared with other treatments.

Keywords: grey water, water intervals, Syngonium plant, recycling water, vegetative growth

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Humaira Khan, Mohsin Javed, Sammia Shahid

Abstract:

The reinforced photocatalytic activity of graphene oxide (GO) along with composites of ZnO nanoparticles and copper-doped ZnO nanoparticles were studied by synthesizing ZnO and copper- doped ZnO nanoparticles by co-precipitation method. Zinc acetate and copper acetate were used as precursors, whereas graphene oxide was prepared from pre-oxidized graphite in the presence of H2O2.The supernatant was collected carefully and showed high-quality single-layer characterized by FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy), SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), XRD (X-ray Diffraction Analysis), EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectrometry). The degradation of methylene blue as standard pollutant under UV-Visible irradiation gave results for photocatalytic activity of dopants. It could be concluded that shrinking of optical band caused by composites of Cu-dopped nanoparticles with GO enhances the photocatalytic activity.

Keywords: degradation, graphene oxide, photocatalysis, ZnO nanoparticles and copper-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 211

Authors: K. Berhanu

Abstract:

Improper land use results in land degradation and decline in agricultural productivity. Hence, in order to get maximum benefits out of land, proper utilization of its resources is inevitable. The present study was aimed at identifying the landcover changes in the study area in the last 25 years and determines the extent and direction of change that has occurred. The study made use of Landsat TM 1986 and 2011 Remote Sensing Satellite Image for analysis to determine the extent and pattern of rangeland change. The results of the landuse/landcover change detection showed that in the last 25 years, 3 major changes were observed, grassland and open shrub-land resource significantly decreased at a rate of 17.1km2/year and 12 km2/year/, respectively. On the other hand in 25 years dense bushland, open bush land, dense shrubland and cultivated land has shown increment in size at a rate of 0.23km2/year,13.5 km2/year, 6.3 km2/year and 0.2 km2/year, respectively within 25 years. The expansion of unpalatable woody species significantly reduced the rangeland size and availability of grasses. The consequence of the decrease in herbaceous biomass production might result in high risk of food insecurity in the area unless proper interventions are made in time.

Keywords: GIS and remote sensing, Dire District, land use/land cover, land sat TM

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: Retno A. S. Lestari, Wahyudi B. Sediawan, Siti Syamsiah, Sarto

Abstract:

Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were isolated and then grown on salak fruit seeds forming a biofilm on the surface. Their performances in sulfide removal were experimentally observed. In doing so, the salak fruit seeds containing biofilm were then used as packing material in a cylinder. Biogas obtained from biological treatment, which contains 27.95 ppm of hydrogen sulfide was flown through the packed bed. The hydrogen sulfide from the biogas was absorbed in the biofilm and then degraded by the microbes in the biofilm. The hydrogen sulfide concentrations at a various axial position and various times were analyzed. A set of simple kinetics model for the rate of the sulfide removal and the bacterial growth was proposed. Since the biofilm is very thin, the sulfide concentration in the Biofilm at a certain axial position is assumed to be uniform. The simultaneous ordinary differential equations obtained were then solved numerically using Runge-Kutta method. The values of the parameters were also obtained by curve-fitting. The accuracy of the model proposed was tested by comparing the calculation results using the model with the experimental data obtained. It turned out that the model proposed can describe the removal of sulfide liquid using bio-filter in the packed bed. The biofilter could remove 89,83 % of the hydrogen sulfide in the feed at 2.5 hr of operation and biogas flow rate of 30 L/hr.

Keywords: sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, salak fruit seeds, biofilm, packing material, biogas

Procedia PDF Downloads 223

Authors: Itziar Gonzalez, Pilar Carreras, Alberto Pinto, Roque Ruben Andres

Abstract:

Acoustophoretic separation of plasma from blood is based on a collection process of the blood cells, driven by an acoustic radiation force. The number of cells, their concentration, and the sample hydrodynamics are involved in these processes. However, their influence on the acoustic blood response has not yet been reported in the literature. Addressing it, this paper presents an experimental study of blood samples exposed to ultrasonic standing waves at different hematocrit levels and hydrodynamic conditions. The experiments were performed in a glass capillary (700µm-square cross section) actuated by a piezoelectric ceramic at 1MHz, hosting 2D orthogonal half-wavelength resonances transverse to the channel length, with a single-pressure-node along its central axis where cells collected driven by the acoustic radiation force. Four blood dilutions in PBS of 1:20, 1:10, 1:5, and 1:2 were tested at eight flow rate conditions Q=0:120µL/min. The 1:5 dilution (H=9%) demonstrated to be optimal for the plasmapheresis at any of the flow rates analyzed, requiring the shortest times to achieve plasma free of cells. The study opens new possibilities to optimize processes of plasmapheresis processes by ultrasounds at different hematocrit conditions in future personalized diagnoses/treatments involving blood samples.

Keywords: ultrasounds, microfluidics, flow rate, acoustophoresis, polymeric resonators

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Maikasuwa Mohammed Abubakar, Okebiorun Ola, M. H. Sidi, Ala Ahmed Ladan, Ango Aabdullahi Kamba

Abstract:

The study examines the economic analysis of cassava value chain by farmers in Ilesa West Local Government Area of Osun State. Simple random sampling technique was used to collect data from 200 respondents from purposively selected wards in the L.G.A. The data collected were analyzed using budgetary analysis and value addition model. The result shows that an average total cost incurred by the input dealers was ₦9,062,127.74 while the average net profit realized was ₦1,038,102.40. Other actors such as producers, processors and marketers incurred an average total cost of ₦23,324.00, ₦130,177.00 and ₦523,755.00 per production season, respectively and the average net profit realized was ₦102,614.00 for cassava producers, ₦51,131.00 for cassava processors and ₦79,045.00 for cassava marketers during cassava production season. Further analysis shows the rate of investment for cassava input dealers was ₦0.1, for cassava producers was ₦4.4, for cassava processors were ₦0.40 and for cassava marketers was ₦0.20. This indicated that rate of return on cassava was higher in cassava production than in others corridors along the value chain of cassava. However, value added the cassava producers (₦102,536.16/season) was the highest when compared with value added by cassava processors (₦51,853.82/season) and cassava marketers (₦100,885.56/season).

Keywords: Cassava, value chain, Ilesa West, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 334

Authors: Lorenzo Bonoldi, Gianluca Memoli, Abdelhalim Azbaid El Ouahabi

Abstract:

In this paper, a series of ring-shaped attenuators utilizing Helmholtz and quarter wavelength resonators in variable, fixed, and combined configurations have been manufactured using a 3D printer. We illustrate possible uses by incorporating such devices into musical instruments (e.g. in acoustic guitar sound holes) and audio speakers with a view to controlling such devices tonal emissions without electronic equalization systems. Numerical investigations into the transmission loss values of these ring-shaped attenuators using finite element method simulations (COMSOL Multiphysics) have been presented in the frequency range of 100– 1000 Hz. We compare such results for each attenuator model with experimental measurements using different driving sources such as white noise, a maximum-length sequence (MLS), square and sine sweep pulses, and point scans in the frequency domain. Finally, we present a preliminary discussion on the comparison of numerical and experimental results.

Keywords: equaliser, metamaterials, musical, instruments

Procedia PDF Downloads 175