Search results for: advance oxidation process

Authors: Madhulika Pathak, Polani Seshagiri, Vani Venkatappa

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Blastocyst hatching is an indispensable process for successful implantation. One of the major reasons for implantation failure in IVF clinic is poor quality of embryo, which are not development/hatching-competent. Therefore, attempts are required to develop or enhance the culture system with a molecule recapitulating the autocrine/paracrine factors containing the environment of in-vivo endometrial milieu. We have tried to explore the functional molecules involved in the hamster hatching phenomenon. Blastocyst hatching is governed by several molecules that are entwined and regulate this process, among which cytokines are known to be expressed and are still least explored. Two of such cytokines we have used for our study are IL-1β and its natural antagonist IL-1ra to understand the functional dynamics of cytokines involved in the hatching process. Using hamster, an intriguing experimental model for hatching behavior, we have shown the mRNA (qPCR) and protein (ICC) expression of IL-1β, IL-1ra and IL-1 receptor type 1 throughout all the stages of morula, blastocyst and hatched blastocyst. Post-asserting the expression, the functional role is shown by supplementation studies, where IL-1β supplementation showed enhancement in hatching level (IL-1β treated: 84.1 ± 4.2% vs control: 63.7 ± 3.1 %, N=11), further confirmed by the diminishing effect of IL-1ra on hatching rate (IL-1ra treated: 27.5 ± 11.1% vs control: 67.9 ± 3.1%). The exogenous supplementation of IL-1ra decreased the survival rate of embryos and affected the viability in dose-dependent manner, establishing the importance of IL-1β in blastocyst cell survival. Previously, the cathepsin L and B were established as the proteases that were involved in the hamster hatching process. The inducing effect of IL-1β was correlated with enhanced mRNA level, as analyzed by qPCR, for both CAT L (by 1.9 ± 0.5 fold) and CAT B (by 3.5 ± 0.1) fold which was diminished in presence of IL-1ra (Cat L by 88 percent and Cat B by 94 percent. Moreover, using a specific fluorescent substrate-based assay kit, the enzymatic activity of these proteases was found to be increased in presence of IL-1β (Cat L by 2.1 ± 0.1 fold and CAT B by 2.3 ± 0.7 fold) and was curtailed in presence of IL-1ra. These observations provide functional insights with respect to the involvement of cytokines in the hatching process. This has implications in understanding the hatching biology and improving the embryo development quality in IVF clinics.

Keywords: Blastocyst, Cytokines, Hatching, Interleukin

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Andreas Ahrens, Ojaras Purvinis, Jelena Zascerinska

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A successful shopping experience without overcrowded shops and long waiting times undoubtedly leads to the release of happiness hormones and is generally considered the goal of any optimization. Factors influencing the shopping experience can be divided into internal and external ones. External factors are related, e. g. to the arrival of the customers to the shop, whereas internal are linked with the service process itself when checking out (waiting in the queue to the cash register and the scanning of the goods as well as the payment process itself) or any other non-expected delay when changing the status from a visitor to a buyer by choosing goods or items. This paper divides the customer-server interaction into five phases starting with the customer's arrival at the shop, the selection of goods, the buyer waiting in the queue to the cash register, the payment process, and ending with the customer or buyer's departure. Our simulation results show how five phases are intertwined and influence the overall shopping experience. Parameters for measuring the shopping experience are estimated based on the burstiness level in each of the five phases of the customer-server interaction.

Keywords: customers’ burstiness, cash register, customers’ wait-ing time, gap distribution function

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Authors: Helene Thieblemont, Fariborz Haghighat

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Energy storage systems play a crucial role in decreasing building energy consumption during peak periods and expand the use of renewable energies in buildings. To provide a high building thermal performance, the energy storage system has to be properly controlled to insure a good energy performance while maintaining a satisfactory thermal comfort for building’s occupant. In the case of passive discharge storages, defining in advance the required amount of energy is required to avoid overheating in the building. Consequently, anticipatory supervisory control strategies have been developed forecasting future energy demand and production to coordinate systems. Anticipatory supervisory control strategies are based on some predictions, mainly of the weather forecast. However, if the forecasted hourly outdoor temperature may be found online with a high accuracy, solar radiations predictions are most of the time not available online. To estimate them, this paper proposes an advanced approach based on the forecast of weather conditions. Several methods to correlate hourly weather conditions forecast to real hourly solar radiations are compared. Results show that using weather conditions forecast allows estimating with an acceptable accuracy solar radiations of the next day. Moreover, this technique allows obtaining hourly data that may be used for building models. As a result, this solar radiation prediction model may help to implement model-based controller as Model Predictive Control.

Keywords: anticipatory control, model predictive control, solar radiation forecast, thermal storage

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Ammar Khader Almasri

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The software processes play a vital role for delivering a high quality software system that meets the user’s needs. There are many software development models which are used by most system developers, which can be categorized into two categories (traditional and new methodologies). Mobile applications like other desktop applications need appropriate and well-working software development process. Nevertheless, mobile applications have different features which limit their performance and efficiency like application size, mobile hardware features. Moreover, this research aims to help developers in using a standardized model for developing mobile applications.

Keywords: software development process, agile methods , moblile application development, traditional methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 389

Authors: Kais Rtibi, Slimen Selmi, Jamel El-Benna, Lamjed Marzouki, Hichem Sebai

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Background: Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a hemic enzyme found in high concentrations in the primary neutrophils granules. In addition to its peroxidase activity, it has a chlorination activity, using hydrogen peroxide and chloride ions to form hypochlorous acid, a strong oxidant, capable of chlorinating molecules. Bioactive compounds contained in medicinal plants could limit the action of this enzyme to reduce the reactive oxygen species production and its chlorination activity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of the carob aqueous extract (CAE) on the release of MPO by human neutrophils in vitro and its activity following stimulation of these cells by PMA. Methods: Neutrophils were isolated by simple sedimentation using the Dextran/Ficoll method. After stimulation with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), neutrophils release the MPO by degranulation. The effect of CAE on the release of MPO was analyzed by the Western blot technique, while, its activity was determined by biochemical method using the method of 3,3', 5,5'- Tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and hydrogen peroxide. The data were expressed as mean ± SEM. Results: The carob aqueous extract causes a decrease in MPO quantity and activity in a concentration-dependent manner which leads to a reduction of the production of the ROS (reactive oxygen species) and the protection of the molecules against oxidation and chlorination mechanisms. Conclusion: Thanks to its richness in bioactive compounds, the aqueous extract of carob could limit the development of damages related to the uncontrolled activity of MPO.

Keywords: carob, MPO, myeloperoxidase, neutrophils, PMA, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Yan Zhang

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Predictive maintenance is a technique to predict when an in-service machine will fail so that maintenance can be planned in advance. Analytics-driven predictive maintenance is gaining increasing attention in many industries such as manufacturing, utilities, aerospace, etc., along with the emerging demand of Internet of Things (IoT) applications and the maturity of technologies that support Big Data storage and processing. This study aims to build an end-to-end analytics solution that includes both real-time machine condition monitoring and machine learning based predictive analytics capabilities. The goal is to showcase a general predictive maintenance solution architecture, which suggests how the data generated from field machines can be collected, transmitted, stored, and analyzed. We use a publicly available aircraft engine run-to-failure dataset to illustrate the streaming analytics component and the batch failure prediction component. We outline the contributions of this study from four aspects. First, we compare the predictive maintenance problems from the view of the traditional reliability centered maintenance field, and from the view of the IoT applications. When evolving to the IoT era, predictive maintenance has shifted its focus from ensuring reliable machine operations to improve production/maintenance efficiency via any maintenance related tasks. It covers a variety of topics, including but not limited to: failure prediction, fault forecasting, failure detection and diagnosis, and recommendation of maintenance actions after failure. Second, we review the state-of-art technologies that enable a machine/device to transmit data all the way through the Cloud for storage and advanced analytics. These technologies vary drastically mainly based on the power source and functionality of the devices. For example, a consumer machine such as an elevator uses completely different data transmission protocols comparing to the sensor units in an environmental sensor network. The former may transfer data into the Cloud via WiFi directly. The latter usually uses radio communication inherent the network, and the data is stored in a staging data node before it can be transmitted into the Cloud when necessary. Third, we illustrate show to formulate a machine learning problem to predict machine fault/failures. By showing a step-by-step process of data labeling, feature engineering, model construction and evaluation, we share following experiences: (1) what are the specific data quality issues that have crucial impact on predictive maintenance use cases; (2) how to train and evaluate a model when training data contains inter-dependent records. Four, we review the tools available to build such a data pipeline that digests the data and produce insights. We show the tools we use including data injection, streaming data processing, machine learning model training, and the tool that coordinates/schedules different jobs. In addition, we show the visualization tool that creates rich data visualizations for both real-time insights and prediction results. To conclude, there are two key takeaways from this study. (1) It summarizes the landscape and challenges of predictive maintenance applications. (2) It takes an example in aerospace with publicly available data to illustrate each component in the proposed data pipeline and showcases how the solution can be deployed as a live demo.

Keywords: Internet of Things, machine learning, predictive maintenance, streaming data

Procedia PDF Downloads 389

Authors: Jisun Mo, Paola Boarin

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The impact of common buildings on climate and environment has prompted people to get involved in the green building standards aimed at implementing rating tools or certifications. Thus, green building rating systems were introduced to the construction industry, and the demand for certified green buildings has increased gradually and succeeded considerably in enhancing people’s environmental awareness. However, the existing certification process has been unsatisfactory in attracting stakeholders and/or professionals who are actively engaged in adopting a rating system. It is because they have faced recurring barriers regarding limited information in understanding the rating process, time-consuming procedures and higher costs, which have a direct influence on pursuing green building rating systems. To promote the achievement of green building certifications within the building industry more successfully, this paper aims at designing a Pre-Assessment Tool (PAT) framework that can help stakeholders and/or professionals engaged in the construction industry to clarify their basic knowledge, timeframe and extra costs needed to activate a green building certification. First, taking the first steps towards the rating tool seems to be complicated because of upfront commitment to understanding the overall rating procedure is required. This conceptual PAT framework can increase basic knowledge of the rating tool and the certification process, mainly in terms of all resources or information of each credit requirements. Second, the assessment process of rating tools is generally known as a “lengthy and time-consuming system”, contributing to unenthusiastic reactions concerning green building projects. The proposed framework can predict the timeframe needed to identify how long it will take for a green project to process each credit requirement and the documentation required from the beginning of the certification process to final approval. Finally, most people often have the initial perception that pursuing green building certification costs more than constructing a non-green building, which makes it more difficult to execute rating tools. To overcome this issue, this PAT will help users to estimate the extra expenses such as certification fees and third-party contributions based on the track of the amount of time it takes to implement the rating tool throughout all the related stages. Also, it can prevent unexpected or hidden costs occurring in the process of assessment. Therefore, this proposed PAT framework can be recommended as an effective method to support the decision-making of inexperienced users and play an important role in promoting green building certification.

Keywords: green building rating tools, Pre-Occupancy Evaluation (PrOE), client’s decision-making, certification

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Authors: Pan Hongxia, Wang Zhenhua

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In this paper, the EMD decomposition in the process of endpoint effect adopted data based on AR model to predict the continuation and window function method of combining the two effective inhibition. Proven by simulation of the simulation signal obtained the ideal effect, then, apply this method to the gearbox test data is also achieved good effect in the process, for the analysis of the subsequent data processing to improve the calculation accuracy. In the end, under various working conditions for the gearbox fault diagnosis laid a good foundation.

Keywords: gearbox, fault diagnosis, ar model, end effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Andre F. A. Cyrino

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Knowing that the technological advance is the focus on the efficient extraction of energy from wind, and therefore in the design of wind turbine structures, this work aims the study of the fluid-structure interaction of an idealized wind turbine. The blade was studied as a beam attached to a cylindrical Hub with rotation axis pointing the air flow that passes through the rotor. Using the calculus of variations and the finite difference method the blade will be simulated by a discrete number of nodes and the aerodynamic forces were evaluated. The study presented here was written on Matlab and performs a numeric simulation of a simplified model of windmill containing a Hub and three blades modeled as Euler-Bernoulli beams for small strains and under the constant and uniform wind. The mathematical approach is done by Hamilton’s Extended Principle with the aerodynamic loads applied on the nodes considering the local relative wind speed, angle of attack and aerodynamic lift and drag coefficients. Due to the wide range of angles of attack, a wind turbine blade operates, the airfoil used on the model was NREL SERI S809 which allowed obtaining equations for Cl and Cd as functions of the angle of attack, based on a NASA study. Tridimensional flow effects were no taken in part, as well as torsion of the beam, which only bends. The results showed the dynamic response of the system in terms of displacement and rotational speed as the turbine reached the final speed. Although the results were not compared to real windmills or more complete models, the resulting values were consistent with the size of the system and wind speed.

Keywords: blade aerodynamics, fluid–structure interaction, wind turbine aerodynamics, wind turbine blade

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Chan Yan Nok

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The present study is a qualitative study based on the coping experiences of six Hong Kong Chinese mothers who had childhood trauma from their first-person perspective. Expanding the perspective beyond the dominant discourse of “inter-generation transmission of trauma”, this study explores the experiences and meanings of child trauma embedded in their narratives through the process of thematic analysis and narrative analysis. The interviewees painted a nuanced picture of their process of coping and trauma resolution. First, acknowledgement; second, feel safe and start to tell the story of trauma; third, feel the feelings and expression of emotions; fourth, clarifying and coping with the impacts of trauma; fifth, integration and transformation; and sixth, using their new understanding of experience to have a better life. It was seen that there was no “end” within the process of trauma resolution. Instead, this is an ongoing process with positive healing trajectory. Analysis of the stories of the mothers revealed recurrent themes around continuous self-reflective awareness in the process of trauma coping. Rather than being necessarily negative and detrimental, childhood trauma could highlight the meanings of being a mother and reveal opportunities for continuous personal growth and self-enhancement. Utilizing the sense of inadequacy as a core driver in the trauma recovery process while developing a heightened awareness of the unfinished business embedded in their “automatic pattern” of behaviors, emotions, and thoughts can help these mothers become more flexible to formulate new methods in facing future predicaments. Future social work and parent education practices should help mothers deal with unresolved trauma, make sense of their impacts of childhood trauma and discover the growth embedded in the past traumatic experience. They should be facilitated in “acknowledging the reality of the trauma”, including understanding their complicated emotions arising from the traumatic experiences and voicing their struggles. In addition, helping these mothers to be aware of short-term and long-term trauma impacts (i.e., secondary responses to the trauma) and explore their effective coping strategies in “overcoming secondary responses to the trauma” are crucial for their future positive adjustment and transformation. Through affirming their coping abilities and lessons learnt from past experiences, mothers can reduce feelings of shame and powerlessness and enhance their parental capacity.

Keywords: childhood trauma, coping, mothers, self-awareness, self-reflection, trauma resolution

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: E.K.K. Agyeman, P. Mousseau, A. Sarda, D. Edelin

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The uniform and controlled cooling of hot metals by the circulation of water in canals remains a challenge due to the phase change of the water and the high heat fluxes associated with the phase change. This is because, during the cooling process, the phases are not uniformly distributed along the canals with the liquid phase dominating at the entrances of the canals and the gaseous phase dominating towards the exits. The difference in thermal properties between both phases leads to a heterogeneous temperature distribution in the part being cooled. Slowing down the cooling process is also a challenge due to the high heat fluxes associated with the phase change of water. This study investigates the use of multiple water jets for the controlled and homogenous cooling of hot metal parts and the effect of gravity on the effectiveness of the cooling process with a potential application in the cooling of composite forming moulds. A hole is bored at the centre of a steel block along its length. The jets are generated from the holes of a perforated steel pipe which is placed along the centre of the hole bored in the steel block. The evolution of the temperature with respect to time on the external surface of the steel block is measured simultaneously by thermocouples and an infrared camera. Different jet positions are tested in order to identify the jet placement configuration that ensures the most homogenous cooling of the block while the cooling speed is controlled by an intermittent impingement of the jets. In order to study the effect of gravity on the cooling process, a scenario where the jets are oriented in the opposite direction to that of gravity is compared to one where the jets are aligned in the same direction as gravity. It’s observed that orienting the jets in the direction of gravity reduces the effectiveness of the cooling process on the face of the block facing the impinging jets. This is due to the formation of a deeper pool of water due to the effect gravity and of the curved surface of the canal. This deeper pool of water influences the boiling regime characterized by a slower bubble evacuation when compared to the scenario where the jets are opposed to gravity.

Keywords: cooling speed, gravity, homogenous cooling, jet impingement

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Authors: Seok Hong Min, Tae Kwon Ha

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In the present study, hot-rolled sheets of Mg-xZn alloy s(x=6, 8, and 10 weight percent) were produced by employing casting, homogenization heat treatment, hot rolling, and annealing processes subsequently. Effect of Zn addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-Zn alloys were also investigated in each process. Through calculation of phase equilibria of Mg-Zn alloys, solution treatment temperature was decided as temperatures from 350 oC, where supersaturated solid solution can be obtained. After solution treatment, hot rolling was successfully conducted by reduction of 60%. Compression and tension tests were carried out at room temperature on the samples as-cast, solution treated, hot-rolled and recrystallized after rolling.

Keywords: Mg-Zn alloy, heat treatment, microstructure, mechanical properties, hot rolling

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Javaid Butt, Habtom Mebrahtu, Hassan Shirvani

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The paper presents a new additive manufacturing process for the production of metal and composite parts. It is termed as composite metal foil manufacturing and is a combination of laminated object manufacturing and brazing techniques. The process has been described in detail and is being used to produce dissimilar aluminum to copper foil single lap joints. A three dimensional finite element model has been developed to study the thermo-mechanical characteristics of the dissimilar Al/Cu single lap joint. The effects of thermal stress and strain have been analyzed by carrying out transient thermal analysis on the heated plates used to join the two 0.1mm thin metal foils. Tensile test has been carried out on the foils before joining and after the single Al/Cu lap joints are made, they are subjected to tensile lap-shear test to analyze the effect of heat on the foils. The analyses are designed to assess the mechanical integrity of the foils after the brazing process and understand whether or not the heat treatment has an effect on the fracture modes of the produced specimens.

Keywords: brazing, laminated object manufacturing, tensile lap-shear test, thermo-mechanical analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 345

Authors: David Guillermo Piedrahita Marquez, Hector Suarez Mahecha, Jairo Humberto Lopez

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There is a need to preserve aquaculture matrices due to their high nutritional value, and its broad consumption, one of those species is the white cachama (Piaractus brachypomus), this fish is located in the rivers of eastern Colombia, and the previously mentioned species needs more study. Therefore, in a paper the effects of an alternative method of preservation of shell life were investigated, the method used is the application of an edible coating made from chitosan and ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) encapsulated in maltodextrin. The coating was applied by immersion, and after that, we investigated the post mortem quality changes of the fish performing physicochemical and microbiological analysis. pH, volatile bases, test thiobarbituric acid and peroxide value were tested; finally, we studied the effect of the coating on mesophilic strains, coliforms and other microorganisms such as Staphylococcus, and Salmonella. Finally, we concluded that the coating prolongs the shelf life because it acts as a barrier to oxygen and moisture, the bioactive compounds trap free radicals and the coatings changes the metabolism and cause the cell lysis of the microorganisms. It was determined that the concentration of malonaldehyde, the volatile basic nitrogen content and pH are the variables that distinguish more clearly between the samples with the treatment and the control samples.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, lipid oxidation, texture profile analysis (TPA), sensorial analysis, peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid assay (TBA), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N)

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Authors: Mine Koyaz, M. Cem Altun

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Selection of the materials satisfying the expected performances is significantly important for any design. Today, with the constantly evolving and developing technologies, the material options are so wide that the necessity of the use of some support tools in the selection process is arising. Therefore, as a sub process of building element design, a systematic material selection tool is developed, that defines four main steps of the material selection; definition, research, comparison and decision. The main purpose of the tool is being an educational instrument that would show a methodic way of material selection in architectural detailing for the use of architecture students. The tool predefines the possible uses of various material databases and other sources of information on material properties. Hence, it is to be used as a guidance for designers, especially with a limited material knowledge and experience. The material selection tool not only embraces technical properties of materials related with building elements’ functional requirements, but also its sensual properties related with the identity of design and its environmental impacts with respect to the sustainability of the design. The method followed in the development of the tool has two main sections; first the examination and application of the existing methods and second the development of trial versions and their applications. Within the scope of the existing methods; design support tools, methodic approaches for the building element design and material selection process, material properties, material databases, methodic approaches for the decision making process are examined. The existing methods are applied by architecture students and newly graduate architects through different design problems. With respect to the results of these applications, strong and weak sides of the existing material selection tools are presented. A main flow chart of the material selection tool has been developed with the objective to apply the strong aspects of the existing methods and develop their weak sides. Through different stages, a different aspect of the material selection process is investigated and the tool took its final form. Systematic material selection tool, within the building element design process, guides the users with a minimum background information, to practically and accurately determine the ideal material that is to be chosen, satisfying the needs of their design. The tool has a flexible structure that answers different needs of different designs and designers. The trial version issued in this paper shows one of the paths that could be followed and illustrates its application over a design problem.

Keywords: architectural education, building element design, material selection tool, systematic approach

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Authors: Tien-Ching Yao, Ching-Ching Lu

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Understanding human language processing is one of the main challenges of current cognitive neuroscience. The aims of the present study were to use a sentence decision task combined with event-related potentials to investigate the psychological reality of "cross-sentence patterns." Therefore, we take the math word problems the experimental materials and use the ERPs' P600 component to verify. In this study, the experimental material consisted of 200 math word problems with three different conditions were used ( multiplication word problems、division word problems type 1、division word problems type 2 ). Eighteen Mandarin native speakers participated in the ERPs study (14 of whom were female). The result of the grand average waveforms suggests a later posterior positivity at around 500ms - 900ms. These findings were tested statistically using repeated measures ANOVAs at the component caused by the stimulus type of different questions. Results suggest that three conditions present significant (P < 0.05) on the Mean Amplitude, Latency, and Peak Amplitude. The result showed the characteristic timing and posterior scalp distribution of a P600 effect. We interpreted these characteristic responses as the psychological reality of "cross-sentence patterns." These results provide insights into the sentence processing issues in linguistic theory and psycholinguistic models of language processing and advance our understanding of how people make sense of information during language comprehension.

Keywords: language processing, sentence comprehension, event-related potentials, cross-sentence patterns

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Ntalamagka N., Sanchis-Benlloch P. J., Mayoral-Serrano R., Tena-Medialdea J., García-March J. R.

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The pen shell Pinna nobilis population has declined dramatically since 2016 due to die-off events observed in the whole extent of the Mediterranean Sea associated with the protozoan Haplosporidium pinnae. As of 2019, it is considered a critically endangered species. Due to its ecological importance and its endangered status, several initiatives have been developed for its salvation and recovery. This research is an effort to understand and control its reproduction under captivity. As a limited number of Pinna nobilis individuals could be used for experimentation, the possibility of using the Pinna rudis as a model animal was explored. The molecular mechanism that regulates the reproduction of both species is unknown; consequently, transcriptomic analysis was performed to identify neuropeptides that are expressed in the key regulatory tissues of the visceral ganglia and gonads of both species. Neuropeptides form an important group of signaling peptides that regulate reproductive, behavioral and physiological functions in molluscs. In total, 17 neuropeptide precursors were identified in P. nobilis and 14 in P. rudis transcriptomes; 14 of them were identical in both species. This affinity verified the genetic similarity of these species at the reproduction level. APGWamide, buccalin, ELH and GnRH were tested in P. rudis and demonstrated their capacity to advance gonadal maturation and trigger spawning while spawning was recorded in P. nobilis after the usage of APGWamide and buccalin. The neuropeptides were administered using intramuscular injection and cholesterol implants following relative literature as well as a new method was developed for external administration without the use of anesthesia using a mathematical model. The know-how of this research will not only lead to the survival of the species but also will narrow the horizons of broodstock conditioning of other similar species.

Keywords: neuropeptides, Pinna nobilis, reproduction, transcriptomics

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Authors: Komal Kumar, Sreedevi Upadhyayula

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In this study, a two-stage process was established for the synthesis of HMF esters using ionic liquid acid catalyst. Ionic liquid catalyst with different strength of the Bronsted acidity was prepared in the laboratory and characterized using 1H NMR, FT-IR, and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Solid acid catalyst from the ionic liquid catalyst was prepared using the immobilization method. The acidity of the synthesized acid catalyst was measured using Hammett function and titration method. Catalytic performance was evaluated for the biomass conversion to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) and levulinic acid (LA) in methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK)-water biphasic system. A good yield of 5-HMF and LA was found at the different composition of MIBK: Water. In the case of MIBK: Water ratio 10:1, good yield of 5-HMF was observed at ambient temperature 150˚C. Upgrading of 5-HMF into monoesters from the reaction of 5-HMF and reactants using biomass-derived monoacid were performed. Ionic liquid catalyst with -SO₃H functional group was found to be best efficient in comparative of a solid acid catalyst for the esterification reaction and biomass conversion. A good yield of 5-HMF esters with high 5-HMF conversion was found to be at 105˚C using the best active catalyst. In this process, process A was the hydrothermal conversion of cellulose and monomer into 5-HMF and LA using acid catalyst. And the process B was the esterification followed by using similar acid catalyst. All monoesters of 5-HMF synthesized here can be used in chemical, cross linker for adhesive or coatings and pharmaceutical industry. A theoretical density functional theory (DFT) study for the optimization of the ionic liquid structure was performed using the Gaussian 09 program to find out the minimum energy configuration of ionic liquid catalyst.

Keywords: biomass conversion, 5-HMF, Ionic liquid, HMF ester

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Authors: Palash Kumar Mollick, Leire Olazar, Laura Santamaria, Pablo Comendador, Manomita Mollick, Gartzen Lopez, Martin Olazar

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The entire world is skeptical towards a silver line technology of converting plastic waste into valuable synthetic gas. At this junction, besides an adequately studied conventional catalytic process for steam reforming, a non-thermal plasma is being introduced. Organic volatiles are produced in the first step, pyrolysing the plastic materials. Resultant lightweight olefins and carbon monoxide are the major components that undergo a steam reforming process to achieve syngas. A non-thermal plasma consists of ionized gases and free electrons with an electronic temperature as high as 10³ K. Organic volatiles are, in general, endorganics inactive and thus demand huge bond-breaking energy. Conventional catalyst is incapable of providing the required activation energy, leading to poor thermodynamic equilibrium, whereas a non-thermal plasma can actively collide with reactants to produce a rich mix of reactive species, including vibrationally or electronically excited molecules, radicals, atoms, and ions. In addition, non-thermal plasma provides nonequilibrium conditions leading to electric discharge only in certain degrees of freedom without affecting the intrinsic chemical conditions of the participating reactants and products. In this work, we report thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the conversion of organic volatiles into syngas using a non-thermal plasma. Detailed characteristics of plasma and its effect on the overall yield of the process will be presented.

Keywords: non thermal plasma, plasma catalysis, steam reforming, syngas, plastic waste, green energy

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Authors: S. Nqayi, B. Sondezi

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A rare-earth-based Sm₂MnRuO₆₊δ (SMRO) double perovskite was prepared using a high-temperature solid-state reaction. The structural, morphological, chemical, thermodynamic, and magnetic properties were measured with X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. The XRD revealed a tetragonal structure belonging to the I4/mmm space group, number 139, with linear Mn−O−Ru bonds. Replacing the well-studied alkaline earth metal with a rare-earth element increased the Mn-O bond length difference between the shorter equatorial (Mn-Oab) and the axial (Mn-Oc) bonds by approximately 6.3%. The elemental composition showed an O-rich double perovskite with a Ru deficit, which encourages the formation of a Ru⁶⁺ (d²) state. XPS spectra of Sm-3d, Ru-3d, and Mn-2p revealed the coexistence of a double oxidation state for each cation; Sm²⁺, Sm³⁺, Ru³⁺, Ru⁶⁺, Mn²⁺ , and Mn³⁺, in varying proportions. Entropy studies showed drastic ordering of spins at low temperatures (up to 12.4 K), whilst increasing temperatures above this point resulted in a drastic increase of disorder of the spins (up to 43.26 K), beyond which a constant slope of entropy is observed. Magnetic measurements revealed two magnetic ground states at TN = 12.4 K and TC = 43.3 K ordering antiferromagnetically (AFM) and ferromagnetically (FM), respectively. Kneller fit further showed that the materials become completely paramagnetic at TB = 88.1 K, (the blocking temperature). The existence of ferromagnetic (FM) super-exchange coupling in this work originating from Mn³⁺ (t³₂𝓰e¹𝓰)−O−Ru³⁺ (t⁵₂𝓰e⁰𝓰) and Mn²⁺ (t³₂𝓰e²𝓰−O−Ru⁶⁺ (t²₂𝓰e⁰𝓰) which plays an important role in suppressing the Mn/Ru−O−Mn/Ru antiferromagnetic (AFM) interactions.

Keywords: solid-state reaction, super-exchange coupling, ferromagnetic, Kneller’s law, entropy

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Authors: T. Hopkin, S. Lu, P. Rogers, M. Sexton

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Housing Associations (HAs) contribute circa 20% of the UK’s housing supply. HAs are however under increasing pressure as a result of funding cuts and rent reductions. Due to the increased pressure, a number of processes are currently being reviewed by HAs, especially how they manage and learn from defects. Learning from defects is considered a useful approach to achieving defect reduction within the UK housebuilding industry. This paper contributes to our understanding of how HAs learn from defects by undertaking an initial round table discussion with key HA stakeholders as part of an ongoing collaborative research project with the National House Building Council (NHBC) to better understand how house builders and HAs learn from defects to reduce their prevalence. The initial discussion shows that defect information runs through a number of groups, both internal and external of a HA during both the defects management process and organizational learning (OL) process. Furthermore, HAs are reliant on capturing and recording defect data as the foundation for the OL process. During the OL process defect data analysis is the primary enabler to recognizing a need for a change to organizational routines. When a need for change has been recognized, new options are typically pursued to design out defects via updates to a HAs Employer’s Requirements. Proposed solutions are selected by a review board and committed to organizational routine. After implementing a change, both structured and unstructured feedback is sought to establish the change’s success. The findings from the HA discussion demonstrates that OL can achieve defect reduction within the house building sector in the UK. The paper concludes by outlining a potential ‘learning from defects model’ for the housebuilding industry as well as describing future work.

Keywords: defects, new homes, housing association, organizational learning

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Authors: Li Yongyi

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In order to explore the distribution of geological disasters within the expressway area of Shaanxi Province, the Analytic Hierarchy Process theory is applied based on the geographic information system technology platform, and the ground elevation, rainfall, vegetation coverage and other indicators are selected for analysis, and the expressway area is sensitive Sexual evaluation. The results show that the highway area disasters in Shaanxi Province are mainly distributed in the southern mountainous areas and are dominated by landslides; the disaster area ratio basically increases with the increase in ground elevation, surface slope, surface undulation, rainfall, and vegetation coverage. The increase in the distance from the river shows a decreasing trend; after grading the disaster sensitivity within 5km of the expressway, the extremely sensitive area, the highly sensitive area, the medium sensitive area, the low sensitive area, and the extremely low sensitive area respectively account for 8.17%、15.80%、22.99%、26.22%、26.82%. Highly sensitive road areas are mainly distributed in southern Shaanxi.

Keywords: highway engineering, sensitivity, analytic hierarchy process, geological hazard, road area

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Authors: Huda Al Shuaily, Karen Renaud

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Databases comprise the foundation of most software systems. System developers inevitably write code to query these databases. The de facto language for querying is SQL and this, consequently, is the default language taught by higher education institutions. There is evidence that learners find it hard to master SQL, harder than mastering other programming languages such as Java. Educators do not agree about explanations for this seeming anomaly. Further investigation may well reveal the reasons. In this paper, we report on our investigations into how novices learn SQL, the actual problems they experience when writing SQL, as well as the differences between expert and novice SQL query writers. We conclude by presenting a model of SQL learning that should inform the instructional material design process better to support the SQL learning process.

Keywords: pattern, SQL, learning, model

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Dunwen Zuo, Yongfang Deng, Bo Song

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An attempt is made here to measure the forces of three directions, under conditions of different feed speeds, different tilt angles of tool and without or with the pin on the tool, by using octagonal ring dynamometer in the AA2024 aluminum FSJ (Friction Stir Joining) process, and investigate how four main factors influence forces in the FSJ process. It is found that, high feed speed lead to small feed force and small lateral force, but high feed speed leads to large feed force in the stable joining stage of process. As the rotational speed increasing, the time of axial force drop from the maximum to the minimum required increased in the push-up process. In the stable joining stage, the rotational speed has little effect on the feed force; large rotational speed leads to small lateral force and axial force. The maximum axial force increases as the tilt angle of tool increases at the downward movement stage. At the moment of start feeding, as tilt angle of tool increases, the amplitudes of the axial force increasing become large. In the stable joining stage, with the increase of tilt angle of tool, the axial force is increased, the lateral force is decreased, and the feed force almost unchanged. The tool with pin will decrease axial force in the downward movement stage. The feed force and lateral force will increase, but the axial force will reduced in the stable joining stage by using the tool with pin compare to by using the tool without pin.

Keywords: FSJ, force factor, AA2024 aluminum, friction stir joining

Procedia PDF Downloads 495

Authors: Thien Bach Nguyen, Nhu-Van Nguyen, Phi-Minh Nguyen, Minh Hien Dao

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The external store safe separation evaluation process implementing CFD and MIL-HDBK-1763 is proposed to support the evaluation and compliance of the external store safe separation with the extensive using CFD and the criteria from MIL-HDBK-1763. The criteria of safe separation are researched and investigated for the various standards and handbooks such as MIL-HDBK-1763, MIL-HDBK-244A, AGARD-AG-202 and AGARD-AG-300 to acquire the appropriate and tailored values and limits for the typical applications of external carriages and aircraft fighters. The CFD and 6DOF simulations are extensively used in ANSYS 2023 R1 Software for verification and validation of moving unstructured meshes and solvers by calibrating the position, aerodynamic forces and moments of the existing air-to-ground missile models. The verified CFD and 6DoF simulation separation process is applied and implemented for the investigation of the typical munition separation phenomena and compliance with the tailored requirements of MIL-HDBK-1763. The prediction of munition trajectory parameters under aircraft aerodynamics interference and specified rack unit consideration after munition separation is provided and complied with the tailored requirements to support the safe separation evaluation of improved and newly external store munition before the flight test performed. The proposed process demonstrates the effectiveness and reliability in providing the understanding of the complicated store separation and the reduction of flight test sorties during the improved and new munition development projects by extensively using the CFD and tailoring the existing standards.

Keywords: external store separation, MIL-HDBK-1763, CFD, moving meshes, flight test data, munition.

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Authors: R. Berrached, H. Ait Mahamed, A. Iddou

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Water pollution is nowadays a serious problem, due to the increasing scarcity of water and thus to the impact induced by such pollution on the human health. Various techniques are made use of to deal with water pollution. Among the most used ones, some can be enumerated: the bacterian bed, the activated sludge, lagoons as biological processes and coagulation-flocculation as a physic-chemical process. These processes are very expensive and a decreasing in efficiency treatment with the increase of the initial pollutants concentration. This is the reason why research has been reoriented towards the use of adsorption process as an alternative solution instead of the other traditional processes. In our study, we have tempted to explore the characteristics of hydroxides of Al and Fe to purify contaminated water by two industrial dyes SBL blue and SRL-150 orange. Results have shown the efficiency of the two materials on the blue SBL dye.

Keywords: metallic hydroxydes, dyes, purification, adsorption

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Authors: Pierluigi Gallo, Francesco Randazzo, Ignazio Gallo

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In recent years, many new and interesting models of successful online business have been developed. Many of these are based on the competition between users, such as online auctions, where the product price is not fixed and tends to rise. Other models, including group-buying, are based on cooperation between users, characterized by a dynamic price of the product that tends to go down. There is not yet a business model in which both sellers and buyers are grouped in order to negotiate on a specific product or service. The present study investigates a new extension of the group-buying model, called fair, which allows aggregation of demand and supply for price optimization, in a cooperative manner. Additionally, our system also aggregates products and destinations for shipping optimization. We introduced the following new relevant input parameters in order to implement a double-side aggregation: (a) price-quantity curves provided by the seller; (b) waiting time, that is, the longer buyers wait, the greater discount they get; (c) payment time, which determines if the buyer pays before, during or after receiving the product; (d) the distance between the place where products are available and the place of shipment, provided in advance by the buyer or dynamically suggested by the system. To analyze the proposed model we implemented a system prototype and a simulator that allows studying effects of changing some input parameters. We analyzed the dynamic price model in fairs having one single seller and a combination of selected sellers. The results are very encouraging and motivate further investigation on this topic.

Keywords: auction, aggregation, fair, group buying, social buying

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Jasna M. Čanadanović-Brunet, Gordana S. Ćetković, Jelena J. Vulić, Sonja M. Djilas, Vesna T. Tumbas Šaponjac, Sladjana M. Stajčić

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Honey serves as a source of natural antioxidants, which are effective in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, immune-system decline, cataracts, different inflammatory processes, and also prevent deteriorative oxidation reactions in foods such as enzymatic browning of fruit and vegetables. Honey is a natural saturated sugar solution, but it also contains certain minor constituents, proteins, enzymes, amino and organic acids, lipids, vitamins, phenolic acids, flavonoids and carotenoids. It is consumed in its natural form alone, but also in combination with nuts and various kinds of dried fruits. The aim of this research was to investigate the contribution of dried cherry on phenols (TPh) and flavonoids (Fl) contents and antioxidant activities of honey. Phenolic compounds in Serbian polyfloral (PH), linden (LH) and acacia (AH) honey and also in their mixtures with dried cherry, in 40% mass concentrations (PH40; LH40, AH40), were determined. In comparison to honey, TPh increased 2.25 times for LH40, 2.16 times for AH40 and 1.45 times for PH40, while Fl increased 2.81-fold for PH40, 1.21-fold for LH40 and 1.44-fold for AH40. Antioxidant activity was investigated with two assays, DPPH test and reducing power (RP), and expressed as EC50DPPH and RP0.5 values. The EC50DPPH values were: EC50PH40 = 1.16 mg/ml; EC50LH40= 1.42 mg/ml and EC50AH40= 1.69 mg/ml, while RP0.5 were: RP0.5PH40 = 15.05 mg/ml; RP0.5LH40 = 16.09 mg/ml and P0.5AH40 = 17.60 mg/ml. Our results indicate that supplementation of polyfloral, linden and acacia honey with 40% dried cherry improves antioxidant activity of honey by enriching the phenolic composition.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, dried cherry, honey, phenolics

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Authors: Senthil Kumar Anantharaman

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Providing telecommunications based network services in developing countries like India which has a population of 1.5 billion people, so that these services reach every individual, is one of the greatest challenges the country has been facing in its journey towards economic growth and development. With growing number of telecommunications service providers in the country, a constant challenge that has been faced by these providers is in providing not only quality but also delightful customer experience while simultaneously generating enhanced revenues and profits. Thus, the role played by process improvement methodologies like Six Sigma cannot be undermined and specifically in telecom service provider based operations, it has provided substantial benefits. Therefore, it advantages are quite comparable to its applications and advantages in other sectors like manufacturing, financial services, information technology-based services and Healthcare services. One of the key reasons that this methodology has been able to reap great benefits in telecommunications sector is that this methodology has been combined with many of its competing process improvement techniques like Theory of Constraints, Lean and Kaizen to give the maximum benefit to the service providers thereby creating a winning combination of organized process improvement methods for operational excellence thereby leading to business excellence. This paper discusses about some of the key projects and areas in the end to end ‘Quote to Cash’ process at big three Indian telecommunication companies that have been highly assisted by applying Six Sigma along with other process improvement techniques. While the telecommunication companies which we have considered, is primarily in India and run by both private operators and government based setups, the methodology can be applied equally well in any other part of developing countries around the world having similar context. This study also compares the enhanced revenues that can arise out of appropriate opportunities in emerging market scenarios, that Six Sigma as a philosophy and methodology can provide if applied with vigour and robustness. Finally, the paper also comes out with a winning framework in combining Six Sigma methodology with Kaizen, Lean and Theory of Constraints that will enhance both the top-line as well as the bottom-line while providing the customers a delightful experience.

Keywords: emerging markets, lean, process improvement, six sigma, telecommunications, theory of constraints

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Authors: Gezahegn Gizaw

Abstract:

The FDRE Tourism Training Institute organizes forums for debates, best practices exchange and focus group discussions to forge a sustainable and growing tourism sector while minimizing negative impacts on the environment, communities, and cultures. This study aimed at applying empirical research method to identify and quantify relative importance of success factors and individual engagement indicators that were identified in these forums. Response to the 12-question survey was collected from a total of 437 respondents in academic training institutes (212), business executive and employee (204) and non-academic government offices (21). Overall, capacity building was perceived as the most important driver of success for stakeholder engagement. Business executive and employee category rated capacity building as the most important driver of success (53%), followed by decision-making process (27%) and community participation (20%). Among educators and students, both capacity building and decision-making process were perceived as the most important factors (40% of respondents), whereas community participation was perceived as the most important success factor only by 20% of respondents. Individual engagement score in capacity building, decision-making process and community participation showed highest variability by educational level of participants (variance of 3.4% - 5.2%, p<0.001). Individual engagement score in capacity building was highly correlated to perceived benefit of training on improved efficiency, job security, higher customer satisfaction and self-esteem. On the other hand, individual engagement score in decision making process was highly correlated to its perceived benefit on lowering business costs, improving ability to meet the needs of a target market, job security, self-esteem and more teamwork. The study provides a set of recommendations that help educators, business executives and policy makers to maximize the individual and synergetic effect of training, decision making process on sustainability and growth of the tourism sector in Ethiopia.

Keywords: engagement score, driver of success, capacity building, tourism

Procedia PDF Downloads 82