Search results for: Osama A. Terfas
90 Finite Element and Experimental Investigation of Ductile Crack Growth of Surface Cracks
Authors: Osama A. Terfas, Abdelhakim A. Hameda, Abdusalam A. Alktiwi
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An investigation on ductile crack growth of shallow semi-elliptical surface cracks with a/w=0.2, a/c=0.33 under bending was carried out, where a is the crack depth, w is the plate thickness and c is the crack length at surface. Finite element analysis and experiments were modelling and the crack growth model were verified with experimental data. The results showed that the initial crack shape was no longer maintained as the crack developed under ductile tearing. The maximum growth at the deepest point at early stages was stopped when the crack depth reached half thickness and growth occurred beneath surface. Excellent agreement in the crack shape patterns was observed between the experiments and the crack growth model.Keywords: crack growth, ductile tearing, mean stress, surface cracks
Procedia PDF Downloads 48789 Presuppositions and Implicatures in Four Selected Speeches of Osama Bin Laden's Legitimisation of 'Jihad'
Authors: Sawsan Al-Saaidi, Ghayth K. Shaker Al-Shaibani
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This paper investigates certain linguistics properties of four selected speeches by Al-Qaeda’s former leader Osama bin Laden who legitimated the use of jihad by Muslims in various countries when he was alive. The researchers adopt van Dijk’s (2009; 1998) Socio-Cognitive approach and Ideological Square theory respectively. Socio-Cognitive approach revolves around various cognitive, socio-political, and discursive aspects that can be found in political discourse as in Osama bin Laden’s one. The political discourse can be defined in terms of textual properties and contextual models. Pertaining to the ideological square, it refers to positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation which help to enhance the textual and contextual analyses. Therefore, among the most significant properties in Osama bin Laden’s discourse are the use of presuppositions and implicatures which are based on background knowledge and contextual models as well. Thus, the paper concludes that Osama bin Laden used a number of manipulative strategies which augmented and embellished the use of ‘jihad’ in order to develop a more effective discourse for his audience. In addition, the findings have revealed that bin Laden used different implicit and embedded interpretations of different topics which have been accepted as taken-for-granted truths for him to legitimate Jihad against his enemies. There are many presuppositions in the speeches analysed that result in particular common-sense assumptions and a world-view about the selected speeches. More importantly, the assumptions in the analysed speeches help consolidate the ideological analysis in terms of in-group and out-group members.Keywords: Al-Qaeda, cognition, critical discourse analysis, Osama Bin Laden, jihad, implicature, legitimisation, presupposition, political discourse
Procedia PDF Downloads 23888 Sudanese Dietitian’s Role in the Provision of Parenteral Nutrition: The Past, Present, and Future
Authors: Reem Osama Yousif Ali, Osama Yousif Ali Al Gibali
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Introduction: Balanced nutrition is undeniably essential for maintaining health, body functions, and integrity of cell metabolism; however, some sick patients cannot tolerate oral or enteral feeding to meet their nutritional needs, so partial or total parenteral nutrition (PN) may be the most suitable alternative route in such situations. Dietitians are fundamental personnel among the medical team to ensure the proper provision of PN service, which was introduced in Sudan in the 1980s. Objective: The study aimed to recognize the dietitians' awareness of parenteral nutrition and their role in providing this service in Sudan – Khartoum State. Methodology: Formulated questionnaire forms composed of twelve questions were distributed to the dietitians working in four tertiary level hospitals. Results: The majority (75%) of the responded dietitians had reasonable knowledge about the importance of PN, its advantages, and its indications. Sixty percent of them were mindful of the PN side effects. Most of the dietitians were aware of the different assessment measurements and PN calculations and were exposed in their clinical practice to patients who were in need of PN, but only a few of them (about 30%) had the actual chance to participate in the formulation and application of PN therapy. The unavailability of the multidisciplinary team, lack of the required equipment and financial support, and associated complications were basic obstacles to the provision of long-term PN service in Khartoum state hospitals. Conclusion: Although dietitians in Khartoum state hospitals have good information about PN definition, indications, accesses, and assessment measures, they do not have enough knowledge and clinical exposure that make them confident to provide the PN service. Establishing a few models of parenteral nutrition units in tertiary hospitals will be of great help, as well as providing the dietitian's training in the area of parenteral nutrition. Further study can explore more requirements to run this service.Keywords: nutrition support, dietitian, Sudan, parenteral nutrition, nutrition support team
Procedia PDF Downloads 10487 Portrayal of Pak-US Relations in Perspective of Bin Laden Killing by the Leading American and British Newspapers: A Content Analysis of the Guardian, the Telegraph, Washington Post and the New York Times
Authors: Shahzad Ali
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This article expounds the coverage of Pak-US relations in the context of Osama Bin Laden killing in four selected leading newspapers of UK and the US viz The Telegraph, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Washington Post during the specific time period of three months, i.e., April-June, 2011. The study is scrutinized on the basis of Operation Neptune Spear. The research study is theoretically linked with the propaganda model of Herman and Chomsky and the Shoemaker and Reeve‘s theory of content effect, specifically the impact of foreign policy as a driving instrument influencing the nature and treatment of the coverage of Pak-US relations. The relations between Pakistan and USA are of great importance in the context of Bin Laden. The Pak-US relations were less aggravated and hostile in pre OBL period but post OBL period worsened these relations. It is also interesting to mention that the policies of these newspapers were dependent on the foreign policy of their countries. It was explored that the news coverage was found favorable as and when the relations Pakistan and the US or UK were cordial and smooth. And it turned into negative and unfavorable when the relations were in strain and deteriorating and endorsed various studies that the Western mainstream media tried to be more nationalistic in projecting official stance while covering foreign coverage instead of adhering to universal cannon of journalism, i.e., objectivity, fairness, and neutrality, etc. Overall 219 news items of these four selected newspapers regarding Pak-US relations in the context of pre and post OBL’s killing operation were undertaken for analysis. The ratio of negative slants was found higher as compared to the positive and neutral slants. Besides, the ratio of news items with unfavorable frames was found higher in post OBL operation in comparison of pre-era of the coverage related to Pak-US relations in the leading British and American newspapers.Keywords: Osama Bin Laden, Pakistan, USA, UK, relations, Guardian, Washington Post, Telegraph, New York Times, Operation Neptune Spear
Procedia PDF Downloads 17086 Human Rights Violations and the Inability of International Law to Solve Them
Authors: Amin Osama Amin Mohamed Elbaramawy
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In the last period of time, about ten years ago, wars caused violations of human rights in many places, and despite international condemnations, they did not stop, and the truth is that international law was unable to stop them. The global wars and conflicts that the world has been witnessing for more than ten years have caused the displacement of millions of people in all parts of the earth, causing a violation of the human rights of those people. Despite international condemnations of these conflicts, these conflicts have not stopped and have not been resolved until now. Therefore, I call for international law and international courts to be more effective and not just in words, taking into account the speed in this due to the increase in those wars and conflicts every day and new violations every day.Keywords: war, freedom, human rights, international law
Procedia PDF Downloads 8785 Protective Effects of Ethanolic Purslane Extracts on Doxorubicin-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Albino Rats
Authors: Osama M. Ahmed, Walaa G. Hozayen, Haidy Tamer Abo Sree
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The effect of doxorubicin (4 mg/kg b.w.week) without or with oral administration of ethanolic purslane (Portulaca oleracea) shoot (leaves and stems) extract (50 mg/kg b.w.day) or ethanolic purslane seeds extract (50 mg/kg b.w.day) co-treatments for 6 weeks was evaluated in adult male rats. There was an increase in serum levels of ALT, AST, ALP, GGT and total bilirubin. In addition, hepatic glutathine, glutathione transferase, peroxidase, SOD, CAT activities were decreased while lipid peroxidation in the liver was increased. Co-administration of ethanolic purslane and seed extracts successfully improved the adverse changes in the liver functions with an increase in antioxidants activities and reduction of lipid peroxidation.Keywords: antioxidants, doxorubicin, hepatotoxicity, purslane
Procedia PDF Downloads 41684 Effects of Asphalt Modification with Nanomaterials on Fresh and Stored Bitumen
Authors: Ahmed W. Oda, Ahmed El-Desouky, Hassan Mahdy, Osama M. Moussa
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Nanomaterials have many applications in the field of asphalt paving. Two locally produced nanomaterials were used in the asphalt binder modification. The nanomaterials used are Nanosilica (NS), and Nanoclay (NC). The virgin asphalt binder was characterized by the conventional tests. The bitumen was modified by 3%, 5% and 7% of NS and NC. The penetration index(PI), and the retaining penetration (RP) was calculated based on the results of the penetration and the softening point tests. The results show that the RP becomes 95.35% at 5%NS modified bitumen and reaches 97.56% when bitumen is modified with 3% NC. The results show significant improvement in the bitumen stiffness when modified by the two types of nanomaterials, either fresh or aged (stored).Keywords: bitumen, modified bitumen, aged, stored, nanomaterials
Procedia PDF Downloads 19183 Non-Destructive Visual-Statistical Approach to Detect Leaks in Water Mains
Authors: Alaa Al Hawari, Mohammad Khader, Tarek Zayed, Osama Moselhi
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In this paper, an effective non-destructive, non-invasive approach for leak detection was proposed. The process relies on analyzing thermal images collected by an IR viewer device that captures thermo-grams. In this study a statistical analysis of the collected thermal images of the ground surface along the expected leak location followed by a visual inspection of the thermo-grams was performed in order to locate the leak. In order to verify the applicability of the proposed approach the predicted leak location from the developed approach was compared with the real leak location. The results showed that the expected leak location was successfully identified with an accuracy of more than 95%.Keywords: thermography, leakage, water pipelines, thermograms
Procedia PDF Downloads 35382 Bi-Lateral Comparison between NIS-Egypt and NMISA-South Africa for the Calibration of an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer
Authors: Osama Terra, Mariesa Nel, Hatem Hussein
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Calibration of Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) has a crucial role for the accurate determination of fault locations and the accurate calculation of loss budget of long-haul optical fibre links during installation and repair. A comparison has been made between the Egyptian National Institute for Standards (NIS-Egypt) and the National Metrology institute of South Africa (NMISA-South Africa) for the calibration of an OTDR. The distance and the attenuation scales of a transfer OTDR have been calibrated by both institutes using their standards according to the standard IEC 61746-1 (2009). The results of this comparison have been compiled in this report.Keywords: OTDR calibration, recirculating loop, concatenated method, standard fiber
Procedia PDF Downloads 44681 Bi-Lateral Comparison between NIS-Egypt and NMISA-South Africa for the Calibration of an Optical Spectrum Analyzer
Authors: Osama Terra, Hatem Hussein, Adriaan Van Brakel
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Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology requires tight specification and therefore measurement of wavelength accuracy and stability of the telecommunication lasers. Thus, calibration of the used Optical Spectrum Analyzers (OSAs) that are used to measure wavelength is of a great importance. Proficiency testing must be performed on such measuring activity to insure the accuracy of the measurement results. In this paper, a new comparison scheme is introduced to test the performance of such calibrations. This comparison scheme is implemented between NIS-Egypt and NMISA-South Africa for the calibration of the wavelength scale of an OSA. Both institutes employ reference gas cell to calibrate OSA according to the standard IEC/ BS EN 62129 (2006). The result of this comparison is compiled in this paper.Keywords: OSA calibration, HCN gas cell, DWDM technology, wavelength measurement
Procedia PDF Downloads 30080 Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Flow Control Using a Novel Active Slat
Authors: Basman Elhadidi, Islam Elqatary, Osama Saaid, Hesham Othman
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An active slat is developed to increase the lift and delay the separation for a DU96-W180 airfoil. The active slat is a fixed slat that can be closed, fully opened or intermittently opened by a rotating vane depending on the need. Experimental results show that the active slat has reduced the mean pressure and increased the mean velocity on the suction side of the airfoil for all positive angles of attack, indicating an increase of lift. The experimental data and numerical simulations also show that the direction of actuator vane rotation can influence the mixing of the flow streams on the suction side and hence influence the aerodynamic performance.Keywords: active slat, flow control, experimental investigation, aerodynamic performance
Procedia PDF Downloads 43579 Geochemistry of Silt Size Fraction of the Beach Sands Along the Coast Between Al Kuwifia and Tolmeita, NE Libya
Authors: Basem A. El Werfallia, Osama R. Shaltamiab, Ragab M. Al Alwanyc
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The present work aims to characterize the geochemistry of the beach sands along the Mediterranean Coast from Al Kuwifia to Tolmeita, NE Libya. The major oxides CaO and MgO are the main constituents of the carbonate minerals; calcite and aragonite. SiO2 is mainly in the form of quartz. Sometimes a high quotient of SiO2 together with the oxides; Al2O3, K2O and partly of Na2O, TiO2 and Fe2O3 are essentially allocated within the structure of the feldspars. Part of Na2O and the content of Cl belong mainly to halite. Part of Fe2O3 and TiO2 may be accommodated as iron oxyhydroxides. Part of CaO and the content of SO3 are allotted within the gypsum structure. Ba, Sr, Th, U and REE are basicallycontrolled by the carbonate fraction, while Cu, Zn, V and Cr are strongly correlated with Al2O3.Keywords: geochemistry, major oxides, Al Kuwifia, Tolmeita
Procedia PDF Downloads 9278 Description of Geotechnical Properties of Jabal Omar
Authors: Ibrahim Abdel Gadir Malik, Dafalla Siddig Dafalla, Osama Abdelgadir El-Bushra
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Geological and engineering characteristics of intact rock and the discontinuity surfaces was used to describe and classify rock mass into zones based on mechanical and physical properties. Many conditions terms that affect the rock mas; such as Rock strength, Rock Quality Designation (RQD) value, joint spacing, and condition of joint, water condition with block size, joint roughness, separation, joint hardness, friction angle and weathering were used to classify the rock mass into: Good quality (class II) (RMR values range between 75% and 56%), Good to fair quality (class II to III) (RMR values range between 70% and 55%), Fair quality (class III) (RMR values range between 60% and 50%) and Fair to poor quality (Class III to IV) (RMR values, range between (50% and 35%).Keywords: rock strength, RQD, joints, weathering
Procedia PDF Downloads 41477 Geochemistry of Silt Size Fraction of the Beach Sands Along the Coast Between Al Kuwifia and Tolmeita, NE Libya
Authors: Basem A. El Werfalli, Osama R. Shaltamiab, Ragab M. Al Alwany
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The present work aims to characterize the geochemistry of the beach sands along the Mediterranean Coast from Al Kuwifia to Tolmeita, NE Libya. The major oxides CaO and MgO are the main constituents of the carbonate minerals; calcite and aragonite. SiO₂ is mainly in the form of quartz. Sometimes a high quotient of SiO₂ together with the oxides; Al₂O₃, K₂O and partly of Na₂O, TiO₂ and Fe₂O₃ are essentially allocated within the structure of the feldspars. Part of Na₂O and the content of Cl belong mainly to halite. Part of Fe₂O₃ and TiO₂ may be accommodated as iron oxyhydroxides. Part of CaO and the content of SO₃ are allotted within the gypsum structure. Ba, Sr, Th, U and REE are basically controlled by the carbonate fraction, while Cu, Zn, V and Cr are strongly correlated with Al₂O₃.Keywords: geochemistry, major oxides, Al Kuwifia, Tolmeita
Procedia PDF Downloads 13576 Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Flow Control Using a Novel Active Slat
Authors: Basman Elhadidi, Islam Elqatary, Osama Mohamady, Hesham Othman
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An active slat is developed to increase the lift and delay the separation for a DU96-W180 airfoil. The active slat is a fixed slat that can be closed, fully opened or intermittently opened by a rotating vane depending on the need. Experimental results show that the active slat has reduced the mean pressure and increased the mean velocity on the suction side of the airfoil for all positive angles of attack, indicating an increase of lift. The experimental data and numerical simulations also show that the direction of actuator vane rotation can influence the mixing of the flow streams on the suction side and hence influence the aerodynamic performance.Keywords: active slat, flow control, DU96-W180 airfoil, flow streams
Procedia PDF Downloads 37575 The Best Methods of Motivating and Encouraging the Students to Study: A Case Study
Authors: Mahmoud I. Syam, Osama K. El-Hafy
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With lack of student motivation, there will be a little or no real learning in the class and this directly effects student achievement and test scores. Some students are naturally motivated to learn, but many students are not motivated, they do care little about learning and need their instructors to motivate them. Thus, motivating students is part of the instructor’s job. It’s a tough task to motivate students and make them have more attention and enthusiasm. As a part of this research, a questionnaire has been distributed among a sample of 155 students out of 1502 students from Foundation Program at Qatar University. The questionnaire helped us to determine some methods to motivate the students and encourage them to study such as variety of teaching activities, encouraging students to participate during the lectures, creating intense competition between the students, using instructional technology, not using grades as a threat and respecting the students and treating them in a good manner. Accordingly, some hypotheses are tested and some recommendations are presented.Keywords: learning, motivating, student, teacher, testing hypotheses
Procedia PDF Downloads 47174 Rule Insertion Technique for Dynamic Cell Structure Neural Network
Authors: Osama Elsarrar, Marjorie Darrah, Richard Devin
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This paper discusses the idea of capturing an expert’s knowledge in the form of human understandable rules and then inserting these rules into a dynamic cell structure (DCS) neural network. The DCS is a form of self-organizing map that can be used for many purposes, including classification and prediction. This particular neural network is considered to be a topology preserving network that starts with no pre-structure, but assumes a structure once trained. The DCS has been used in mission and safety-critical applications, including adaptive flight control and health-monitoring in aerial vehicles. The approach is to insert expert knowledge into the DCS before training. Rules are translated into a pre-structure and then training data are presented. This idea has been demonstrated using the well-known Iris data set and it has been shown that inserting the pre-structure results in better accuracy with the same training.Keywords: neural network, self-organizing map, rule extraction, rule insertion
Procedia PDF Downloads 17073 Isolation and Molecular Identification of Two Fungal Strains Capable of Degrading hydrocarbon Contaminants on Saudi Arabian Environment
Authors: Amr A. EL Hanafy, Yasir Anwar, Saleh A. Mohamed, Saleh Mohamed Saleh Al-Garni, Jamal S. M. Sabir , Osama A. H. Abu Zinadah, Mohamed Morsi Ahmed
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In the vicinity of the red sea about 15 fungi species were isolated from oil contaminated sites. On the basis of aptitude to degrade the crude oil and DCPIP assay, two fungal isolates were selected amongst 15 oil degrading strains. Analysis of ITS-1, ITS-2 and amplicon pyrosequencing studies of fungal diversity revealed that these strains belong to Penicillium and Aspergillus species. Two strains that proved to be the most efficient in degrading crude oil was Aspergillus niger (54 %) and Penicillium commune (48 %) Subsequent to two weeks of cultivation in BHS medium the degradation rate were recorded by using spectrophotometer and GC-MS. Hence, it is cleared that these fungal strains has the capability of degradation and can be utilized for cleaning the Saudi Arabian environment.Keywords: fungal strains, hydrocarbon contaminants, molecular identification, biodegradation, GC-MS
Procedia PDF Downloads 52072 Attenuation Scale Calibration of an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer
Authors: Osama Terra, Hatem Hussein
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Calibration of Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) is crucial for the accurate determination of loss budget for long optical fiber links. In this paper, the calibration of the attenuation scale of an OTDR using two different techniques is discussed and implemented. The first technique is the external modulation method (EM). A setup is proposed to calibrate an OTDR over a dynamic range of around 15 dB based on the EM method. Afterwards, the OTDR is calibrated using two standard reference fibers (SRF). Both SRF are calibrated using cut-back technique; one of them is calibrated at our home institute (the National Institute of Standards – NIS) while the other at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) of the United Kingdom to confirm our results. In addition, the parameters contributing the calibration uncertainty are thoroughly investigated. Although the EM method has several advantages over the SRF method, the uncertainties in the SRF method is found to surpass that of the EM method.Keywords: optical time domain reflectometer, fiber attenuation measurement, OTDR calibration, external source method
Procedia PDF Downloads 46371 Hit-Or-Miss Transform as a Tool for Similar Shape Detection
Authors: Osama Mohamed Elrajubi, Idris El-Feghi, Mohamed Abu Baker Saghayer
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This paper describes an identification of specific shapes within binary images using the morphological Hit-or-Miss Transform (HMT). Hit-or-Miss transform is a general binary morphological operation that can be used in searching of particular patterns of foreground and background pixels in an image. It is actually a basic operation of binary morphology since almost all other binary morphological operators are derived from it. The input of this method is a binary image and a structuring element (a template which will be searched in a binary image) while the output is another binary image. In this paper a modification of Hit-or-Miss transform has been proposed. The accuracy of algorithm is adjusted according to the similarity of the template and the sought template. The implementation of this method has been done by C language. The algorithm has been tested on several images and the results have shown that this new method can be used for similar shape detection.Keywords: hit-or-miss operator transform, HMT, binary morphological operation, shape detection, binary images processing
Procedia PDF Downloads 33070 Dy³+/Eu³+ Co-Activated Gadolinium Aluminate Borate Phosphor: Enhanced Luminescence and Color Output Tuning
Authors: Osama Madkhali
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GdAl₃(BO₃)₄ phosphors, incorporating Dy³+ and Dy³+/Eu³+ activators, were successfully synthesized via the gel combustion method. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) was utilized to ascertain phase purity and assess the impact of dopant concentration on the crystallographic structure. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements revealed that luminescence properties' intensity and lifetime varied with Dy³+ and Eu³+ ion concentrations. The relationship between luminescence intensity and doping concentration was explored in the context of the energy transfer process between Eu³+ and Dy³+ ions. An increase in Eu³+ co-doping concentrations resulted in a decrease in luminescence lifetime. Energy transfer efficiency was significantly enhanced from 26% to 84% with Eu³+ co-doping, as evidenced by decay curve analysis. These findings position GdAl₃(BO₃)4: Dy³+, Eu³+ phosphors as promising candidates for LED applications in solid-state lighting and displays.Keywords: GdAl₃(BO₃)₄ phosphors, Dy³+/Eu³+ co-doping, photoluminescence (PL) measurements, luminescence properties, LED applications, solid-state lighting
Procedia PDF Downloads 5469 Investigation of the Effect of Grid Size on External Store Separation Trajectory Using CFD
Authors: Alaa A. Osman, Amgad M. Bayoumy Aly, Ismail El baialy, Osama E. Abdellatif, Essam E. Khallil
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In this paper, a numerical simulation of a finned store separating from a wing-pylon configuration has been studied and validated. A dynamic unstructured tetrahedral mesh approach is accomplished by using three grid sizes to numerically solving the discretized three dimensional, inviscid and compressible Navier-stokes equations. The method used for computations of separation of an external store assuming quasi-steady flow condition. Computations of quasi-steady flow have been directly coupled to a six degree-of-freedom (6DOF) rigid-body motion code to generate store trajectories. The pressure coefficients at four different angular cuts and time histories of various trajectory parameters during the store separation are compared for every grid size with published experimental data.Keywords: CFD modelling, transonic store separation, quasi-steady flow, moving-body trajectories
Procedia PDF Downloads 38868 MIMO UWB Antenna for Exploring Body Centric Communication
Authors: Osama Aziz, Hamza Ahmad, Muhibur Rahman
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The performance of wireless communication systems has been suggested to be improved by UWB MIMO antenna systems. However, creating a successful UWB MIMO antenna is a difficult undertaking that calls for resolving a number of design issues, including radiation efficiency, size, and frequency range. This study's primary objective is to create a novel, highly effective, small-sized, ultra-wideband (UWB) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna and investigate its potential applications in body-centric communication. Two radiating elements, shared ground plane, circular stubs, and t-shaped isolation elements are used to achieve the MIMO antenna. Outstanding multiplexing efficiency, significant peak gain across the entire UWB frequency spectrum, extremely low mutual coupling (S21=-16 dB), high diversity gain (DG>9), and low envelop correlation are achieved. The proposed antenna will be one of the promising candidates for body centric communication.Keywords: UWB communication, UWB MIMO antennas, body-centric communication, diversity gain
Procedia PDF Downloads 7267 Sustainable Land Use Policy and Monitoring Urban Land Expansion in Kabul: A Case Study of Rapid Urbanization
Authors: Osama Hidayat, Yoshitaka Kajiat
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Kabul is a city that is highly representative of Afghanistan’s rapid urbanization process. As the city rapidly expands, there are enormous challenges to the sustainable use of land resources. This paper evaluates land use change and urban spatial expansion, from 1950 to 2016, in Kabul the capital of Afghanistan, using satellite images, field observation, and socio-economic data. The discussion covers the reduction in rural-to-urban land conversion, the delineation of urban growth boundaries, arable land reclamation and the establishment of farmland protection areas, urban upgrading, and the investigation and prosecution of illegal construction. This paper considers the aspects of urbanization and land management systems in Afghanistan. Efficient frames are outlined in Kabul for the following elements: governmental self-restraint and policy modification. The paper concludes that Kabul’s sustainable land use practices can provide a reference for other cities in Afghanistan.Keywords: urban land expansion, urbanization, land use policy, sustainable development
Procedia PDF Downloads 16266 Alternate Dispute Resolution: Expeditious Justice
Authors: Uzma Fakhar, Osama Fakhar, Aamir Shafiq Ch
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Methods of alternate dispute resolution (ADR) like conciliation, arbitration, mediation are the supplement to ensure inexpensive and expeditious justice in a country. Justice delayed has not only created chaos, but an element of rebellious behavior towards judiciary is being floated among people. Complexity of traditional judicial system and its diversity has created an overall coherence. Admittedly, In Pakistan the traditional judicial system has failed to achieve its goals which resulted in the backlog of cases pending in courts, resultantly even the critics of alternate dispute resolution agree to restore the spirit of expeditious justice by reforming the old Panchayat system. The Government is keen to enact certain laws and make amendments to facilitate the resolution of a dispute through a simple and faster ADR framework instead of a lengthy and exhausting complex trial in order to create proliferation and faith in alternate dispute resolution. This research highlights the value of ADR in a country like Pakistan for revival of the confidence of the people upon the judicial process and a useful judicial tool to reduce the pressure on the judiciary.Keywords: alternate dispute resolution, development of law, expeditious justice, Pakistan
Procedia PDF Downloads 22165 Improved Small-Signal Characteristics of Infrared 850 nm Top-Emitting Vertical-Cavity Lasers
Authors: Ahmad Al-Omari, Osama Khreis, Ahmad M. K. Dagamseh, Abdullah Ababneh, Kevin Lear
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High-speed infrared vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diodes (VCSELs) with Cu-plated heat sinks were fabricated and tested. VCSELs with 10 mm aperture diameter and 4 mm of electroplated copper demonstrated a -3dB modulation bandwidth (f-3dB) of 14 GHz and a resonance frequency (fR) of 9.5 GHz at a bias current density (Jbias) of only 4.3 kA/cm2, which corresponds to an improved f-3dB2/Jbias ratio of 44 GHz2/kA/cm2. At higher and lower bias current densities, the f-3dB2/ Jbias ratio decreased to about 30 GHz2/kA/cm2 and 18 GHz2/kA/cm2, respectively. Examination of the analogue modulation response demonstrated that the presented VCSELs displayed a steady f-3dB/ fR ratio of 1.41±10% over the whole range of the bias current (1.3Ith to 6.2Ith). The devices also demonstrated a maximum modulation bandwidth (f-3dB max) of more than 16 GHz at a bias current less than the industrial bias current standard for reliability by 25%.Keywords: current density, high-speed VCSELs, modulation bandwidth, small-signal characteristics, thermal impedance, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers
Procedia PDF Downloads 56664 Air Flow Characteristics and Pressure Distributions for Staggered Wing Shaped Tubes Bundle
Authors: Sayed A. Elsayed, Emad Z. Ibrahim, Osama M. Mesalhy, Mohamed A. Abdelatief
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An experimental and numerical study has been conducted to clarify fluid flow characteristics and pressure drop distributions of a cross-flow heat exchanger employing staggered wing-shaped tubes at different angels of attack. The water-side Rew and the air-side Rea were at 5 x 102 and at from 1.8 x 103 to 9.7 x 103, respectively. Three cases of the tubes arrangements with various angles of attack, row angles of attack and 90° cone angles were employed at the considered Rea range. Correlation of pressure drop coefficient Pdc in terms of Rea, design parameters for the studied cases were presented. The flow pattern around the staggered wing-shaped tubes bundle were predicted by using commercial CFD FLUENT 6.3.26 software package. Results indicated that the values of Pdc were increased by increasing the angle of attack from 0° to 45°, while the opposite was true for angles of attack from 135° to 180°. Comparisons between the experimental and numerical results of the present study and those, previously, obtained for similar available studies showed good agreements.Keywords: wing-shaped tubes, cross-flow cooling, staggered arrangement, CFD
Procedia PDF Downloads 37463 Blind Super-Resolution Reconstruction Based on PSF Estimation
Authors: Osama A. Omer, Amal Hamed
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Successful blind image Super-Resolution algorithms require the exact estimation of the Point Spread Function (PSF). In the absence of any prior information about the imagery system and the true image; this estimation is normally done by trial and error experimentation until an acceptable restored image quality is obtained. Multi-frame blind Super-Resolution algorithms often have disadvantages of slow convergence and sensitiveness to complex noises. This paper presents a Super-Resolution image reconstruction algorithm based on estimation of the PSF that yields the optimum restored image quality. The estimation of PSF is performed by the knife-edge method and it is implemented by measuring spreading of the edges in the reproduced HR image itself during the reconstruction process. The proposed image reconstruction approach is using L1 norm minimization and robust regularization based on a bilateral prior to deal with different data and noise models. A series of experiment results show that the proposed method can outperform other previous work robustly and efficiently.Keywords: blind, PSF, super-resolution, knife-edge, blurring, bilateral, L1 norm
Procedia PDF Downloads 36362 High Secure Data Hiding Using Cropping Image and Least Significant Bit Steganography
Authors: Khalid A. Al-Afandy, El-Sayyed El-Rabaie, Osama Salah, Ahmed El-Mhalaway
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This paper presents a high secure data hiding technique using image cropping and Least Significant Bit (LSB) steganography. The predefined certain secret coordinate crops will be extracted from the cover image. The secret text message will be divided into sections. These sections quantity is equal the image crops quantity. Each section from the secret text message will embed into an image crop with a secret sequence using LSB technique. The embedding is done using the cover image color channels. Stego image is given by reassembling the image and the stego crops. The results of the technique will be compared to the other state of art techniques. Evaluation is based on visualization to detect any degradation of stego image, the difficulty of extracting the embedded data by any unauthorized viewer, Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio of stego image (PSNR), and the embedding algorithm CPU time. Experimental results ensure that the proposed technique is more secure compared with the other traditional techniques.Keywords: steganography, stego, LSB, crop
Procedia PDF Downloads 26761 Electricity Production Enhancement in a Constructed Microbial Fuel Cell MFC Using Iron Nanoparticles
Authors: Khaoula Bensaida, Osama Eljamal
Abstract:
The electrical energy generation through Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) using microorganisms is a renewable and sustainable approach. It creates truly an efficient technology for power production and wastewater treatment. MFC is an electrochemical device which turns wastewater into electricity. The most important part of MFC is microbes. Nano zero-valent Iron NZVI technique was successfully applied in degrading the chemical pollutants and cleaning wastewater. However, the use of NZVI for enhancing the current production is still not confirmed yet. This study aims to confirm the effect of these particles on the current generation by using MFC. A constructed microbial fuel cell, which utilizes domestic wastewater, has been considered for wastewater treatment and bio-electricity generation. The two electrodes were connected to an external resistor (200 ohms). Experiments were conducted in two steps. First, the MFC was constructed without adding NZVI particles (Control) while at a second step, nanoparticles were added with a concentration of 50mg/L. After 20 hours, the measured voltage increased to 5 and 8mV, respectively. To conclude, the use of zero-valent iron in an MFC system can increase electricity generation.Keywords: bacterial growth, electricity generation, microbial fuel cell MFC, nano zero-valent iron NZVI.
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