Search results for: Esmaeil Akbari Nezhad
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 103

Search results for: Esmaeil Akbari Nezhad

73 Design and Optimization of Soil Nailing Construction

Authors: Fereshteh Akbari, Farrokh Jalali Mosalam, Ali Hedayatifar, Amirreza Aminjavaheri

Abstract:

The soil nailing is an effective method to stabilize slopes and retaining structures. Consequently, the lateral and vertical displacement of retaining walls are important criteria to evaluate the safety risks of adjacent structures. This paper is devoted to the optimization problems of retaining walls based on ABAQOUS Software. The various parameters such as nail length, orientation, arrangement, horizontal spacing, and bond skin friction, on lateral and vertical displacement of retaining walls are investigated. In order to ensure accuracy, the mobilized shear stress acting around the perimeter of the nail-soil interface is also modeled in ABAQOUS software. The observed trend of results is compared to the previous researches.

Keywords: retaining walls, soil nailing, ABAQOUS software, lateral displacement, vertical displacement

Procedia PDF Downloads 92
72 An Approach to Analyze Testing of Nano On-Chip Networks

Authors: Farnaz Fotovvatikhah, Javad Akbari

Abstract:

Test time of a test architecture is an important factor which depends on the architecture's delay and test patterns. Here a new architecture to store the test results based on network on chip is presented. In addition, simple analytical model is proposed to calculate link test time for built in self-tester (BIST) and external tester (Ext) in multiprocessor systems. The results extracted from the model are verified using FPGA implementation and experimental measurements. Systems consisting 16, 25, and 36 processors are implemented and simulated and test time is calculated. In addition, BIST and Ext are compared in terms of test time at different conditions such as at different number of test patterns and nodes. Using the model the maximum frequency of testing could be calculated and the test structure could be optimized for high speed testing.

Keywords: test, nano on-chip network, JTAG, modelling

Procedia PDF Downloads 451
71 Using Cooperation Approaches at Different Levels of Artificial Bee Colony Method

Authors: Vahid Zeighami, Mohsen Ghsemi, Reza Akbari

Abstract:

In this work, a Multi-Level Artificial Bee Colony (called MLABC) is presented. In MLABC two species are used. The first species employs n colonies in which each of the them optimizes the complete solution vector. The cooperation between these colonies is carried out by exchanging information through a leader colony, which contains a set of elite bees. The second species uses a cooperative approach in which the complete solution vector is divided to k sub-vectors, and each of these sub-vectors is optimized by a a colony. The cooperation between these colonies is carried out by compiling sub-vectors into the complete solution vector. Finally, the cooperation between two species is obtained by exchanging information between them. The proposed algorithm is tested on a set of well known test functions. The results show that MLABC algorithms provide efficiency and robustness to solve numerical functions.

Keywords: artificial bee colony, cooperative, multilevel cooperation, vector

Procedia PDF Downloads 416
70 The Role of Sport-Centered Social Capitals on Student's Tendency in Sports Activities

Authors: Esmaeil Zabihi, Seyed Hossein Alavi

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is the review and prioritizes of sport-centered social capital on Islamic Azad university of Garmsar student’s tendency in sports activities, especially public sports based on Bourdieu viewpoint. 365 students at of 6254 students (3140 male and 3114 female) of Islamic Azad university of Garmsar branch were selected randomly, Morgan also used. 272 person answer questionnaire (with the help of specific questionnaires moeinaldini, 1391) it has 30 questions. Researchers have confirmed the validity of this questionnaire justifiability. Reliability was achieved through Cronbach's alpha 84%. The analysis of data done by, SPSS software and independent t-tests, friedman, u Mann Whitney, Kruskal Wallis test. friedman test showed below things : environmental dimension (MR=4.71) social and economic factors (MR=3.57) and family (MR=3.47). These factors have significant role on sports activities of students (P≤1.0). Also, comparison of these dimensions showed that the men believe to university (t-4.30) in increasing students participation. These results show that environment like (such as) governmental organization, going to the stadium and life environment is the most important factor which can effect on sport and body activities of the students.

Keywords: cultural capital, social capital, Bourdieu viewpoint, sport for all

Procedia PDF Downloads 427
69 Rapides-Des-Îles Main Spillway - Rehabilitation

Authors: Maryam Kamali Nezhad

Abstract:

As part of the project to rehabilitate the main spillway ("main") of the Rapides-des-Îles development in 2019, it was noted that there is a difference between the water level of the intake gauge and the level measured at the main spillway. The Rapides-des-Îles Generating Station is a Hydro-Québec hydroelectric generating station and dam located on the Ottawa River in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue administrative region of Québec. This plant, with an installed capacity of 176 MW, was commissioned in 1966. During the start-up meeting held at the site in May 2019, it was noticed that the water level upstream of the main spillway was considerably higher than the water level at the powerhouse intake. Measurements showed that the level was 229.46 m, whereas the normal operating level (NOL) and the critical maximum level (CML) used in the design were 228.60 m and 229.51 m, respectively. Considering that the water level had almost reached the maximum critical level of the structure despite a flood with a recurrence period of about 100 years, the work was suspended while the project was being decided. This is the first time since the Rapides des îles project was commissioned that a significant difference in elevation between the water level at the powerhouse (intake) and the main spillway has been observed. Following this observation, the contractor's work was suspended. The objective of this study is to identify the reason(s) for this problem and find solutions. Then determine the new upstream levels at the main spillway at which the safety of the structure is ensured and then adjust the engineering of the main spillway in the rehabilitation project accordingly.

Keywords: spillway, rehabilitation, water level, powerhouse, normal operating level, critical maximum level, safety of the structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 42
68 Teachers’ Stress as a Moderator of the Impact of POMPedaSens on Preschool Children’s Social-Emotional Learning

Authors: Maryam Zarra-Nezhad, Ali Moazami-Goodarzi, Joona Muotka, Nina Sajaniemi

Abstract:

This study examines the extent to which the impact of a universal intervention program, i.e., POMPedaSens, on children’s early social-emotional learning (SEL) is different depending on early childhood education (ECE) teaches stress at work. The POMPedaSens program aims to promote children’s (5–6-year-olds) SEL by supporting ECE teachers’ engagement and emotional availability. The intervention effectiveness has been monitored using an 8-month randomized controlled trial design with an intervention (IG; 26 teachers and 195 children) and a waiting control group (CG; 36 teachers and 198 children) that provided the data before and after the program implementation. The ECE teachers in the IG are trained to implement the intervention program in their early childhood education and care groups. Latent change score analysis suggests that the program increases children’s prosocial behavior in the IG when teachers show a low level of stress. No significant results were found for the IG regarding a change in antisocial behavior. However, when teachers showed a high level of stress, an increase in prosocial behavior and a decrease in antisocial behavior were only found for children in the CG. The results suggest a promising application of the POMPedaSens program for promoting prosocial behavior in early childhood when teachers have low stress. The intervention will likely need a longer time to display the moderating effect of ECE teachers’ well-being on children’s antisocial behavior change.

Keywords: early childhood, social-emotional learning, universal intervention program, professional development, teachers' stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 62
67 Inhibitory Impacts of Fulvic Acid-Coated Iron Oxide Nano Particles on the Amyloid Fibril Aggregations

Authors: Dalia Jomehpour, Sara Sheikhlary, Esmaeil Heydari, Mohammad Hossien Majles Ara

Abstract:

In this study, we report fulvic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles of 10.7 ± 2.7 nm size, which serve to inhibit amyloid fibrillation formation. Although the effect of fulvic acid on tau fibrils was investigated, to our best knowledge, its inhibitory impacts on amyloid aggregation formation have been assessed neither in-vitro nor in-vivo. On the other hand, iron oxide nanoparticles exhibit anti-amyloid activity on their own. This study investigates the inhibitory effect of fulvic acid coated iron oxide nanoparticles on amyloid aggregations formed from the commonly used in-vitro model, lysozyme from chicken egg white. FESEM, XRD, and FTIR characterization confirmed that fulvic acid was coated onto the surface of the nanoparticles. The inhibitory effects of the fulvic acid coated iron oxide nanoparticles were verified by Thioflavin T assay, circular dichroism (CD), and FESEM analysis. Furthermore, the toxicity of the nanoparticles on the neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y human cell line was assessed through an MTT assay. Our results indicate that fulvic acid coated iron oxide nanoparticles can efficiently inhibit the formation of amyloid aggregations while exhibiting negligible in-vitro toxicity; thus, they can be used as anti-amyloid agents in the development of the potential drug for neurodegenerative diseases.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, fulvic acid coated iron oxide nanoparticles, fulvic acid, amyloid inhibitor, polyphenols

Procedia PDF Downloads 77
66 Qualitative Detection of HCV and GBV-C Co-infection in Cirrhotic Patients Using a SYBR Green Multiplex Real Time RT-PCR Technique

Authors: Shahzamani Kiana, Esmaeil Lashgarian Hamed, Merat Shahin

Abstract:

HCV and GBV-C belong to the Flaviviridae family of viruses and GBV-C is the closest virus to HCV genetically. Accumulative research is in progress all over the world to clarify clinical aspects of GBV-C. Possibility of interaction between HCV and GBV-C and also its consequence with other liver diseases are the most important clinical aspects which encourage researchers to develop a technique for simultaneous detection of these viruses. In this study a SYBR Green multiplex real time RT-PCR technique as a new economical and sensitive method was optimized for simultaneous detection of HCV/GBV-C in HCV positive plasma samples. After designing and selection of two pairs of specific primers for HCV and GBV-C, SYBR Green Real time RT-PCR technique optimization was performed separately for each virus. Establishment of multiplex PCR was the next step. Finally our technique was performed on positive and negative plasma samples. 89 cirrhotic HCV positive plasma samples (29 of genotype 3 a and 27 of genotype 1a) were collected from patients before receiving treatment. 14% of genotype 3a and 17.1% of genotype 1a showed HCV/GBV-C co-infection. As a result, 13.48% of 89 samples had HCV/GBV-C co-infection that was compatible with other results from all over the world. Data showed no apparent influence of HGV co-infection on the either clinical or virological aspect of HCV infection. Furthermore, with application of multiplex Real time RT-PCR technique, more time and cost could be saved in clinical-research settings.

Keywords: HCV, GBV-C, cirrhotic patients, multiplex real time RT- PCR

Procedia PDF Downloads 270
65 Biological Organic or Inorganic Sulfur Sources Feeding Effects on Intake and Some Blood Metabolites of Close-Up Holstein Cows

Authors: Mehdi Kazemi-Bonchenari, Esmaeil Manidari, Vahid Keshavarz

Abstract:

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of increased level of sulfur by supplementing magnesium sulfate with or without biologically organic source in dairy cow close-up diets on dry matter intake (DMI) and some blood metabolites. The 24 multiparous close-up Holstein cows averaging body weight 687.94 kg and days until expected calving date 21.89 d were allocated in three different treatments (8 cows per each) in a completely randomized design. The first treatment (T1) has contained 0.21% sulfur (DM basis), the second treatment (T2) has contained 0.41% sulfur which entirely supplied through magnesium sulfate and the third treatment (T3) has contained 0.41% sulfur which supplied through combination of magnesium sulfate and an organic source of sulfur. All the cows were fed same diet after parturition until 21 d. The DMI for both pre-calving (P < 0.001) and post-calving was affected by treatments (P < 0.004) and T2 showed the lowest DMI among treatments. Among the blood metabolites, glucose, calcium, and copper were decreased in T2 (P < 0.05). However, blood concentrations of BHBA, NEFA, urea, CPK, and AST were increased in T2 (P < 0.05). The results of the present study indicate that although magnesium sulfate has negative effect on dairy cow health and performance, a combination of magnesium sulfate and biological organic source of sulfur in close-up diets could have positive effects on DMI and performance of Holstein dairy cows.

Keywords: organic sulfur, dairy cow, intake, blood metabolites

Procedia PDF Downloads 277
64 Detection of Brackish Water Biological Fingerprints in Potable Water

Authors: Abdullah Mohammad, Abdullah Alshemali, Esmaeil Alsaleh

Abstract:

The chemical composition of desalinated water is modified to make it more acceptable to the end-user. Sometimes, this modification is approached by mixing with brackish water that is known to contain a variety of minerals. Expectedly, besides minerals, brackish water indigenous bacterial communities access the final mixture hence reaching the end consumer. The current project examined the safety of using brackish water as an ingredient in potable water. Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were detected in potable and brackish water samples collected from storage facilities in residential areas as well as from main water distribution and storage tanks. The application of molecular and biochemical fingerprinting methods, including phylogeny, RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism), MLST (multilocus sequence typing) and substrate specificity testing, suggested that the potable water P. aeruginosa strains were most probably originated from brackish water. Additionally, all the sixty-four isolates showed multi-drug resistance (MDR) phenotype and harboured the three genes responsible for biofilm formation. These virulence factors represent serious health hazards compelling the scientific community to revise the WHO (World Health Organization) and USEP (US Environmental Protection Agency) A potable water quality guidelines, particularly those related to the types of bacterial genera that evade the current water quality guidelines.

Keywords: potable water, brackish water, pseudomonas aeroginosa, multidrug resistance

Procedia PDF Downloads 84
63 Natural Frequency Analysis of Spinning Functionally Graded Cylindrical Shells Subjected to Thermal Loads

Authors: Esmaeil Bahmyari

Abstract:

The natural frequency analysis of the functionally graded (FG) rotating cylindrical shells subjected to thermal loads is studied based on the three-dimensional elasticity theory. The temperature-dependent assumption of the material properties is graded in the thickness direction, which varies based on the simple power law distribution. The governing equations and the appropriate boundary conditions, which include the effects of initial thermal stresses, are derived employing Hamilton’s principle. The initial thermo-mechanical stresses are obtained by the thermo-elastic equilibrium equation’s solution. As an efficient and accurate numerical tool, the differential quadrature method (DQM) is adopted to solve the thermo-elastic equilibrium equations, free vibration equations and natural frequencies are obtained. The high accuracy of the method is demonstrated by comparison studies with those existing solutions in the literature. Ultimately, the parametric studies are performed to demonstrate the effects of boundary conditions, temperature rise, material graded index, the thickness-to-length and the aspect ratios for the rotating cylindrical shells on the natural frequency.

Keywords: free vibration, DQM, elasticity theory, FG shell, rotating cylindrical shell

Procedia PDF Downloads 54
62 An Empirical Approach to NO2 Gas Sensing Properties of Carbon Films Fabricated by Arc Discharge Methane Decomposition Technique

Authors: Elnaz Akbari, Zolkafle Buntat

Abstract:

Today, the use of carbon-based materials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, etc. in various applications is being extensively studied by researchers in the field. One of such applications is using them in gas sensors. While analytical investigations on the physical and chemical properties of carbon nanomaterials are the focal points in the studies, the need for experimental measurements on various physical characteristics of these materials is deeply felt. In this work, a set of experiments has been conducted using arc discharge Methane decomposition attempting to obtain carbonaceous materials (C-strands) formed between graphite electrodes. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the fabricated C-strands have been investigated in the presence and absence of two different gases, NO2 and CO2. The results reveal that the current passing through the carbon films increases when the concentrations of gases are increased from 200 to 800 ppm. This phenomenon is a result of conductance changes and can be employed in sensing applications such as gas sensors.

Keywords: carbonaceous materials, gas sensing, methane arc discharge decomposition, I-V characteristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 195
61 Reconstructing Calvarial Bone Lesions Using PHBV Scaffolds and Cord Blood Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Rat

Authors: Hamed Hosseinkazemi, Esmaeil Biazar

Abstract:

For tissue engineering of bone, anatomical and operational reconstructions of damaged tissue seem to be vital. This is done via reconstruction of bone and appropriate biological joint with bone tissues of damaged areas. In this study the condition of biodegradable bed Nanofibrous PHBV and USSC cells were used to accelerate bone repair of damaged area. Hollow nanofabrication scaffold of damageable life was designed as PHBV by electrospinning and via determining the best factors such as the kind and amount of solvent, specific volume and rate. The separation of osseous tissue infiltration and evaluating its nature by flow cytometrocical analysis was done. Animal test including USSC as well as PHBV condition in the damaged bone was done in the rat. After 8 weeks the implanted area was analyzed using CT scan and was sent to histopathology ward. Finally, the rate and quality of reconstruction were determined after H and E coloring. Histomorphic analysis indicated a statistically significant difference between the experimental group of PHBV, USSC+PHBV and control group. Besides, the histopathologic analysis showed that bone reconstruction rate was high in the area containing USSC and PHBV, compared with area having PHBV and control group and consequently the reconstruction quality of bones and the relationship between the new bone tissues and surrounding bone tissues were high too. Using PHBR scaffold and USSC together could be useful in the amending of wide range of bone lesion.

Keywords: bone lesion, nanofibrous PHBV, stem cells, umbilical cord blood

Procedia PDF Downloads 292
60 Physiological and Reproductive Changes in Honey Bee Female Castes Following Direct Colony Exposure to Pesticides

Authors: Valizadeh Gever Bita, Joel Caren, Louisa Huand, Yu-Cheng Zhu, Esmaeil Amiri

Abstract:

Within a honey bee colony, queen is the sole reproducer of fertilized eggs, while queens are safeguarded by worker bees, trophallactic behavior and food sharing activities could expose them to agrochemicals. Here, we assessed the effects of three widely used pesticides—Acephate, Bifenthrin, and Chlorantraniliprole— on worker bees, to investigate indirect effects on the physiology and reproductive traits of queens as well as the eggs they produce. Using RT-qPCR we measured the expression of several detoxification and immune genes in adult worker bees, queens, and freshly laid eggs after pesticide exposure. These analyses aimed to elucidate the physiological changes in queens and potential transgenerational effects. While no significant changes in reproductive traits were observed following Chlorantraniliprole and Bifenthrin exposure, Acephate caused adverse effects on egg size, egg-laying activity, and queen weight. The expression of detoxification, immune and antioxidant-related genes in workers, queens and freshly laid eggs changed over time in response to these pesticides. The results of this investigation revealed that pesticides can cause negative impact on queen physiology and reproduction indirectly through their effects on exposed worker bees. These effects can potentially extend to the next generation of honey bees.

Keywords: apis mellifera, egg laying, detoxification enzymes, gene expression, honey bee queen

Procedia PDF Downloads 35
59 Presenting a Job Scheduling Algorithm Based on Learning Automata in Computational Grid

Authors: Roshanak Khodabakhsh Jolfaei, Javad Akbari Torkestani

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As a cooperative environment for problem-solving, it is necessary that grids develop efficient job scheduling patterns with regard to their goals, domains and structure. Since the Grid environments facilitate distributed calculations, job scheduling appears in the form of a critical problem for the management of Grid sources that influences severely on the efficiency for the whole Grid environment. Due to the existence of some specifications such as sources dynamicity and conditions of the network in Grid, some algorithm should be presented to be adjustable and scalable with increasing the network growth. For this purpose, in this paper a job scheduling algorithm has been presented on the basis of learning automata in computational Grid which the performance of its results were compared with FPSO algorithm (Fuzzy Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm) and GJS algorithm (Grid Job Scheduling algorithm). The obtained numerical results indicated the superiority of suggested algorithm in comparison with FPSO and GJS. In addition, the obtained results classified FPSO and GJS in the second and third position respectively after the mentioned algorithm.

Keywords: computational grid, job scheduling, learning automata, dynamic scheduling

Procedia PDF Downloads 314
58 The Effect of Different Concentrations of Trichoderma harzianum Fungus on the Phytochemical and Antioxidative Parameters of Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea convar.botrytisl) in Soils Contaminated with Lead

Authors: Mohammad Javad Shakori, Esmaeil Babakhanzadeh Sajirani, Vajihe Esmaili

Abstract:

Today, the increasing contamination is an environmental concern. There is relationship between plants and microorganisms many years ago. In this regard, an experiment was conducted in order to investigate the effect of different levels of lead across three levels ‘zero, 50, and 100 mg/L’ and Trichoderma Harzanium fungus across three levels ‘5, 10, and 15%’ in a factorial design in the form of fully randomized blocks in three replications under form conditions in the climatic conditions of Shahroud in Dehlama Village. This research was performed in 2014-2015 on cauliflower. In this experiment, chlorophyll a, b, total, cartenoid, phenol, flavonoid, and antioxidant properties of cauliflowers were measured. The results indicated that the greatest level of chlorophyll a (75.723 mg/wet weight), chlorophyll b (27.378 mg/wet weight), and total chlorophyll (109.074 mg/wet weight) was related to the interactive effects of 5% treatment of Trichoderma fungus and 0mg/L lead. The results also indicated that the greatest amount of antioxidant (79.88% of free radical) and flavonoides (22.889 mg of coercetin/g of dry weight) was related to the interactive effects of lead 50 mg/L and the treatment of Trichoderma fungus 5%. Further, the greatest level of phenol (21.33 mg of Gaelic acid/ dry weight) was related to the interactive effects of lead 100 mg/L and Trichoderma fungus 5% . As carotenoids are a type of antioxidant and precursor of vitamin A, with the development of alignment effect with other antioxidants such as the total phenol, flavonoid, achieved desirable levels of antioxidant.

Keywords: antioxidant, lead, flavonoid, cauliflower, chlorophyll

Procedia PDF Downloads 249
57 The Influence of Brazing Method on Corrosion Behavior of Brazed Aluminum Joints

Authors: F. Ghasim-akbari, A. M. Hadian, A. M. Aminazad

Abstract:

Fluid transmission pipes made of aluminum are widely use in petrochemical industries. For many applications they have to be brazed to each other. The brazed joints, in many cases, are encountered with corrosive medias. This paper reports a part of a work to investigate the corrosion behavior of brazed Al6061 using Al4047 as filler metal with and without the use of flux to discover the effect of different brazing atmospheres. The samples brazed under air, vacuum, argon, and hydrogen atmospheres. The interfacial area of the joints was examined to ensure being free of any defects. The sides of each test piece were covered with insulator and the surface of the joint was encountered to polarization test. The results revealed a significant difference of corrosion resistance. The samples that brazed under argon and hydrogen atmospheres had better corrosion resistance than other samples. Microstructure of the corroded joints revealed that the amount of the filler metal is a critical parameter on corrosion resistance of the joints.

Keywords: brazing, corrosion behavior, Al6061, polarization

Procedia PDF Downloads 461
56 Combining Work and Study: A Solution for Stronger University-Industry Linkage

Authors: Payam Najafi, Behnam Ebrahimi, Hamid Montazerolghaem, Safoura Akbari-Alavijeh, Rasoul Tarkesh Esfahani

Abstract:

The combination of work and study has been recently gained lots of attention due to the crucial demand of industries to skillfully trained youth. Nevertheless, the distance between university and industry makes this combination challenging. According to the OECD (2012), in most countries, there is a limited link between students’ field of study and their area of work while studying. On the other hand, high unemployment rates among the specialized workforce, which is common in developing countries, highlights the need to strengthen this relationship. Innovative Center of Isfahan Chamber of Commerce has defined a project called 'POUYESH', which helps students to find related work opportunities to their field of study as well as supporting industries to supply their needed workforce. The present research is sought to explore the effect of the running project as a model of combining work and study on the university-industry linkage.

Keywords: work and study, university-industry linkage, POUYESH project, field of study

Procedia PDF Downloads 156
55 Evaluating the Validity of CFD Model of Dispersion in a Complex Urban Geometry Using Two Sets of Experimental Measurements

Authors: Mohammad R. Kavian Nezhad, Carlos F. Lange, Brian A. Fleck

Abstract:

This research presents the validation study of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model developed to simulate the scalar dispersion emitted from rooftop sources around the buildings at the University of Alberta North Campus. The ANSYS CFX code was used to perform the numerical simulation of the wind regime and pollutant dispersion by solving the 3D steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations on a building-scale high-resolution grid. The validation study was performed in two steps. First, the CFD model performance in 24 cases (eight wind directions and three wind speeds) was evaluated by comparing the predicted flow fields with the available data from the previous measurement campaign designed at the North Campus, using the standard deviation method (SDM), while the estimated results of the numerical model showed maximum average percent errors of approximately 53% and 37% for wind incidents from the North and Northwest, respectively. Good agreement with the measurements was observed for the other six directions, with an average error of less than 30%. In the second step, the reliability of the implemented turbulence model, numerical algorithm, modeling techniques, and the grid generation scheme was further evaluated using the Mock Urban Setting Test (MUST) dispersion dataset. Different statistical measures, including the fractional bias (FB), the geometric mean bias (MG), and the normalized mean square error (NMSE), were used to assess the accuracy of the predicted dispersion field. Our CFD results are in very good agreement with the field measurements.

Keywords: CFD, plume dispersion, complex urban geometry, validation study, wind flow

Procedia PDF Downloads 109
54 Protein and Mineral Removal from Dairy Waste-Water Using Precipitation Process

Authors: Zahra Akbari, Farzin Zokaee, Talat Ghomashchi

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Whey is a by-product of the dairy industry whose major components are lactose (44–52 g/L), proteins (6–8 g/L) and mineral salts (4–9 g/L). Approximately 50% of 121 million tons of whey produced in the world in 1993 were disposed into rivers, lakes or other water bodies, treated in wastewater treatment plants or loaded onto land. This represents a significant loss of resources and causes serious pollution problems since whey is a heavy organic pollutant with high COD and BOD values, 40–60 g/L and 50–80 g/L, respectively. The removal of cheese whey proteins and minerals represent an important task both in environmental and in food sciences. The most important treatments which are considered in this study, have been done by using lime, Al2O3, FeCl3 and AlCl3 along with heating and also acidic-alkaline method. Results show that the best way for removal of protein is accomplished with adding HCl to decrease pH from 6 to 4, boiling for 20 min, and filtering protein aggregates. Also partial demineralization in whey solution for reducing ash is accomplished by adding NaOH to increase pH to 7.2 and heating solution for 20 min.

Keywords: whey treatment, dairy industry, precipitation, protein, mineral

Procedia PDF Downloads 387
53 The Comparison of Movement and Physical Fitness in Secondary Male Students in Altitude and Coastal Areas

Authors: Esmaeil Zabihi, Seyed Hossein Alavi

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is a comparison of movement and physical fitness in athlete's male students in altitude and sea-level. The samples consist of 450 subjects in altitude and sea-level in Iran in years of 2013 which were selected randomly from the population. We investigated the effect of high altitude on the tests activity profile of youth high altitude and sea level residents. Methods 450 Sea Level (Mahmood Abad) and 450 Altitude-resident (Shahre-Kord) athlete students tests of physical fitness near sea level (-5 m) and in Altitude (2100 m). This study is Descriptive Research (causal-comparative research). The tests of physical fitness include pull-ups test, sit-ups test, agility test(4 9), 45 sprint test, 1600 m running, long jump, and flexibility test. For determining of different between the physical fitness of altitude and sea-level students was used t-test (P ≤ 0.05). The result of this study show that there is no significant difference between the average of pull-ups test, flexibility, 45 sprints, and agility (4 9) test of students in sea-level and altitude. But there is a significant difference between the average of sit-ups, 1600 m running and long jump in altitude. The students of altitude have higher power rather than sea-level. But the students of sea-level have stronger abdominal muscles and cardio-respiratory endurance rather than altitude. High altitude reduces the distance covered by youth athlete students during tests. Neither acclimatisation nor lifelong residence at high altitude protects against detrimental effects of altitude on tests activity profile.

Keywords: physical fitness, sea level, altitude areas, AAHPERD test

Procedia PDF Downloads 413
52 Application of Dissolved Air Flotation for Removal of Oil from Wastewater

Authors: Talat Ghomashchi, Zahra Akbari, Shirin Malekpour, Marjan Alimirzaee

Abstract:

Mixing the waste water of industries with natural water has caused environmental pollution. So researcher try to obtain methods and optimum conditions for waste water treatment. One of important stage in waste water treatment is dissolved air flotation. DAF is used for the removal of suspended solids and oils from waste water. In this paper, the effect of several parameters on flotation efficiency with Cationic polyacrylamide as flocculant, was examined, namely, (a) concentration of cationic flocculants, (b) pH (c) fast mixing time, (d) fast mixing speed,(e) slow mixing time,(f) retention time and temperature. After design of experiment, in each trial turbidity of waste water was measured by spectrophotometer. Results show that contribution of pH and concentration of flocculant on flotation efficiency are 75% and 9% respectively. Cationic polyacrylamide led to a significant increase in the settling speed and effect of temperature is negligible. In the optimum condition, the outcome of the DAF unit is increased and amount of suspended solid and oil in waste water is decreased effectively.

Keywords: dissolved air flotation, oil industry, waste water, treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 494
51 Oil Reservoir Asphalting Precipitation Estimating during CO2 Injection

Authors: I. Alhajri, G. Zahedi, R. Alazmi, A. Akbari

Abstract:

In this paper, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was developed to predict Asphaltene Precipitation (AP) during the injection of carbon dioxide into crude oil reservoirs. In this study, the experimental data from six different oil fields were collected. Seventy percent of the data was used to develop the ANN model, and different ANN architectures were examined. A network with the Trainlm training algorithm was found to be the best network to estimate the AP. To check the validity of the proposed model, the model was used to predict the AP for the thirty percent of the data that was unevaluated. The Mean Square Error (MSE) of the prediction was 0.0018, which confirms the excellent prediction capability of the proposed model. In the second part of this study, the ANN model predictions were compared with modified Hirschberg model predictions. The ANN was found to provide more accurate estimates compared to the modified Hirschberg model. Finally, the proposed model was employed to examine the effect of different operating parameters during gas injection on the AP. It was found that the AP is mostly sensitive to the reservoir temperature. Furthermore, the carbon dioxide concentration in liquid phase increases the AP.

Keywords: artificial neural network, asphaltene, CO2 injection, Hirschberg model, oil reservoirs

Procedia PDF Downloads 344
50 Progressive Collapse of Cooling Towers

Authors: Esmaeil Asadzadeh, Mehtab Alam

Abstract:

Well documented records of the past failures of the structures reveals that the progressive collapse of structures is one of the major reasons for dramatic human loss and economical consequences. Progressive collapse is the failure mechanism in which the structure fails gradually due to the sudden removal of the structural elements. The sudden removal of some structural elements results in the excessive redistributed loads on the others. This sudden removal may be caused by any sudden loading resulted from local explosion, impact loading and terrorist attacks. Hyperbolic thin walled concrete shell structures being an important part of nuclear and thermal power plants are always prone to such terrorist attacks. In concrete structures, the gradual failure would take place by generation of initial cracks and its propagation in the supporting columns along with the tower shell leading to the collapse of the entire structure. In this study the mechanism of progressive collapse for such high raised towers would be simulated employing the finite element method. The aim of this study would be providing clear conceptual step-by-step descriptions of various procedures for progressive collapse analysis using commercially available finite element structural analysis software’s, with the aim that the explanations would be clear enough that they will be readily understandable and will be used by practicing engineers. The study would be carried out in the following procedures: 1. Provide explanations of modeling, simulation and analysis procedures including input screen snapshots; 2. Interpretation of the results and discussions; 3. Conclusions and recommendations.

Keywords: progressive collapse, cooling towers, finite element analysis, crack generation, reinforced concrete

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49 Comparing Abused and Normal Male Students in Tehran Guidance Schools: Emphasizing the Co-Dependency of Their Mothers

Authors: Mohamad Saleh Sangin Ostadi, Esmail Safari, Somayeh Akbari, Kaveh Qaderi Bagajan

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to compare abused and normal male students in Tehran guidance schools with emphasis on the co-dependency of their mothers. The method of this study is based on survey method and comparison (Ex-Post Facto). The method of sampling is also multi-stage cluster. Accordingly, we did sampling from secondary schools of education and training in Tehran, including 12 schools with levels of first, second and third. Each of the schools represents the three – high, medium and low- economic and social conditions. In the following, three classes from every school and 20 students from each class were randomly selected. By (CTQ) abused and normal students were separated that 670 children were recognized as normal and 50 children as abused. Then, 50 children were randomly selected from normal group and compared with abused group. Using Spanned-Fischer Co-dependency Scale, we compared mothers of abused and normal students. The results showed that mothers of the abused children have higher co- dependency average comparing to the mothers of the normal children.

Keywords: co-dependency, child abuse, abused children, parental psychological health

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48 2D CFD-PBM Coupled Model of Particle Growth in an Industrial Gas Phase Fluidized Bed Polymerization Reactor

Authors: H. Kazemi Esfeh, V. Akbari, M. Ehdaei, T. N. G. Borhani, A. Shamiri, M. Najafi

Abstract:

In an industrial fluidized bed polymerization reactor, particle size distribution (PSD) plays a significant role in the reactor efficiency evaluation. The computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models coupled with population balance equation (CFD-PBM) have been extensively employed to investigate the flow behavior in the poly-disperse multiphase fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) utilizing ANSYS Fluent code. In this study, an existing CFD-PBM/ DQMOM coupled modeling framework has been used to highlight its potential to analyze the industrial-scale gas phase polymerization reactor. The predicted results reveal an acceptable agreement with the observed industrial data in terms of pressure drop and bed height. The simulated results also indicate that the higher particle growth rate can be achieved for bigger particles. Hence, the 2D CFD-PBM/DQMOM coupled model can be used as a reliable tool for analyzing and improving the design and operation of the gas phase polymerization FBRs.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, population balance equation, fluidized bed polymerization reactor, direct quadrature method of moments

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47 Photocatalytic Degradation of Gaseous Toluene: Effects of Operational Variables on Efficiency Rate of TiO2 Coated on Nickel Foam

Authors: Jafar Akbari, Masoud Rismanchian, Samira Ramezani

Abstract:

Purpose: The photocatalytic degradation of pollutants is a novel technology with various advantages such as high efficiency and energy saving. In this research, the effects of operational variables on the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO₂ coated on nickel foam in the removal of toluene from the simulated indoor air have been investigated. Methods: TiO₂ film were prepared via the sol-gel method and coated on nickel foam. The characteristics and morphology were found using XRD, SEM, and BET technique. Then, the effects of relative humidity, UV-A intensity, the initial toluene concentration, TiO₂ loading, and the air circulation velocity on the photocatalytic degradation rate have been evaluated. Results: The optimal degradation of toluene has been achieved with loading 4.35 g TiO2 on the foam, 30% RH, 5.4 µW.cm−2 UV-A intensity, and 20 ppm initial concentration in the air circulation velocity of 0.15 fpm. Conclusion: The changes of toluene photocatalytic degradation rate have been studied at various times. Also, the kinetic behavior of toluene photocatalytic degradation has been investigated using Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) model.

Keywords: photocatalytic degradation, operational variables, tio₂, nickel foam, gaseous toluene, nanotechnology

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46 Derivation of Runoff Susceptibility Map Using Slope-Adjusted SCS-CN in a Tropical River Basin

Authors: Abolghasem Akbari

Abstract:

The Natural Resources Conservation Service Curve Number (NRCS-CN) method is widely used for predicting direct runoff from rainfall. It employs the hydrologic soil groups and land use information along with period soil moisture conditions to derive NRCS-CN. This method has been well documented and available in popular rainfall-runoff models such as HEC-HMS, SWAT, SWMM and much more. Despite all benefits and advantages of this well documented and easy-to-use method, it does not take into account the effect of terrain slope and drainage area. This study aimed to first investigate the effect of slope on CN and then slope-adjusted runoff potential map is generated for Kuantan River Basin, Malaysia. The Hanng method was used to adjust CN values provided in National Handbook of Engineering and The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) version 2 is used to derive slope map with the spatial resolution of 30 m for Kuantan River Basin (KRB). The study significantly enhanced the application of GIS tools and recent advances in earth observation technology to analyze the hydrological process.

Keywords: Kuantan, ASTER-GDEM, SCS-CN, runoff

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45 Fiber-Optic Sensors for Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor Measurement

Authors: H. Akbari Khorami, P. Wild, N. Djilali

Abstract:

This paper reports on the response of a fiber-optic sensing probe to small concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) vapor at room temperature. H2O2 has extensive applications in industrial and medical environments. Conversely, H2O2 can be a health hazard by itself. For example, H2O2 induces cellular damage in human cells and its presence can be used to diagnose illnesses such as asthma and human breast cancer. Hence, development of reliable H2O2 sensor is of vital importance to detect and measure this species. Ferric ferrocyanide, referred to as Prussian blue (PB), was deposited on the tip of a multimode optical fiber through the single source precursor technique and served as an indicator of H2O2 in a spectroscopic manner. Sensing tests were performed in H2O2-H2O vapor mixtures with different concentrations of H2O2. The results of sensing tests show the sensor is able to detect H2O2 concentrations in the range of 50.6 ppm to 229.5 ppm. Furthermore, the sensor response to H2O2 concentrations is linear in a log-log scale with the adjacent R-square of 0.93. This sensing behavior allows us to detect and quantify the concentration of H2O2 in the vapor phase.

Keywords: chemical deposition, fiber-optic sensor, hydrogen peroxide vapor, prussian blue

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44 Polymorphism in Myostatin Gene and Its Association with Growth Traits in Kurdi Sheep of Northern Khorasan

Authors: Masoud Alipanah, Sekineh Akbari, Gholamreza Dashab

Abstract:

Myostatin genes or factor 8 affecting on growth and making differentiation works (GDF8) as a moderator in the development of skeletal muscle inhibitor. If mutations occurs in the coding region of myostatin, alter its inhibitory role and the muscle growth is increased. In this study, blood samples were collected randomly from 60 Kurdish sheep in northern Khorasan and DNA extraction was performed using a modified salt. A fragment 337 bp from exon 3 myostatin gene and-specific primers by using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were amplified. In order to detect different forms of an allele at this locus HaeΙΙΙ restriction enzymes and PCR-RFLP analysis were used. Band patterns clarification was performed using agarose gel electrophoresis. The frequency of genotypes mm, Mm, and MM, were respectively detected, 0, 0.15 and 0.85. The allele frequency for alleles m and M, were respectively, 0.07 and 0.93. The statistical analyses indicated that m allele was significantly associated with body weight. The results of this study suggest that the Myostatin gene possibly is a candidate gene that affects growth traits in Kurdish sheep.

Keywords: GDF8 gene, Kurdi Sheep of Northern Khorasan, polymorphism, weight traits

Procedia PDF Downloads 317