Search results for: experimental setup

Authors: Roly B. Bayo-Ang

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This research investigated the effect of science intervention modules in Filipino and in English on mastery of content (MOC) and conceptual understanding of Grade 9 students in Chemistry. Analysis of content mastery scores revealed a significant difference in the mean scores of the control and experimental group, t (46) = -2.14, p < 0.05. The experimental group achieved an MPS of > 75% in three of the five lessons while none in the control group. Analysis of the pretest and posttest scores of the control group in the test for conceptual understanding (TCU) showed no significant difference, t (18), =1.44, p > 0.05, while pretest and posttest scores of experimental group revealed significant difference, t (29) = -5.08, p < 0.05. Comparison of posttest scores of control and experimental group revealed no significant difference t (42) =1.67, p > 0.05. Performance in TCU and MOC of the control group are not significantly correlated, r (17) =.307, p > 0.05; but significantly correlated, r (27) =.571, p < 0.05, for the experimental group. The intervention module in Filipino promotes conceptual understanding and mastery of content than the module in English.

Keywords: action research, conceptual understanding, mastery of content, Filipino module

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Authors: Hamid Chaikhy, Mouna Essaadi, Aziz El Afia

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This paper presents an experimental implementation of a new direct torque control strategy of induction machine called twelve sectors direct torque control strategy (12_DTC) using DSPACE TMS 320F2812.The aim of this work is to give an experimental performance analysis of 12_DTC in term of torque, currents distortions and stator flux, to validate simulation results obtained in previous works.

Keywords: 12_DTC, DSPACE TMS 320F2812 torque, stator flux, currents distortions, experimental performance analysis

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Authors: Fatemeh Alsadat Borhani, Hassan Heydari, Mansour Abdi

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The purpose of this study to determine the effectiveness of group therapy with approach reality therapy in reducing symptoms of anxiety and increased self- esteem and internal control of infertile women. The population of this study is all infertile women in Qom city in 2012 that with the use of purposeful sampling, 32 individuals were selected as sample. 16 individuals of infertile women in the control group and 16 infertile women in the experimental group is replaced. The research design was of type quasi-experimental with design pretest-posttest with control group. Thus, infertile women were randomly appointed in the experimental and control groups. Also, in this study data through normalized questionnaires, the Beck Anxiety scale, Rotter's Locus of control inventory, Cooper Smith self-esteem inventory was collected. For analysis of data, descriptive statistics, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics, one way analysis of covariance model with SPSS version 20 software was used. The findings indicated that intervention of the group therapy with approach reality therapy in experimental group reduced symptoms of anxiety and mutually increased self-esteem and internal control in infertile women of experimental group.

Keywords: reality therapy, infertile women, anxiety, self esteem, internal control

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Authors: Hossein Jafari, Xiangfang Li, Lijun Qian, Alexander Aved, Timothy Kroecker

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Traditionally in sensor networks and recently in the Internet of Things, numerous heterogeneous sensors are deployed in distributed manner to monitor a phenomenon that often can be model by an underlying stochastic process. The big time-series data collected by the sensors must be analyzed to detect change in the stochastic process as quickly as possible with tolerable false alarm rate. However, sensors may have different accuracy and sensitivity range, and they decay along time. As a result, the big time-series data collected by the sensors will contain uncertainties and sometimes they are conflicting. In this study, we present a framework to take advantage of Evidence Theory (a.k.a. Dempster-Shafer and Dezert-Smarandache Theories) capabilities of representing and managing uncertainty and conflict to fast change detection and effectively deal with complementary hypotheses. Specifically, Kullback-Leibler divergence is used as the similarity metric to calculate the distances between the estimated current distribution with the pre- and post-change distributions. Then mass functions are calculated and related combination rules are applied to combine the mass values among all sensors. Furthermore, we applied the method to estimate the minimum number of sensors needed to combine, so computational efficiency could be improved. Cumulative sum test is then applied on the ratio of pignistic probability to detect and declare the change for decision making purpose. Simulation results using both synthetic data and real data from experimental setup demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented schemes.

Keywords: CUSUM, evidence theory, kl divergence, quickest change detection, time series data

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Authors: L. Adjlout, N.Benharrat, O. Ladjdel, F. Djemil, A. Adjlout, T. Yahiaoui

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The present investigation is an experimental and numerical studies of the turbulence level influence on the flow in a smooth staggered tube bundle. The experiments were carried out in a closed circuit wind tunnel of subsonic type (TE44). Three turbulence levels at the inlet namely 1%, 4.6% and 6.3% and two Reynolds numbers Re = 9300 and Re = 13950 were performed. The obtained results for the central tube show that there are two minimum values for the angles 70° and 280° corresponding to the separation points. The pressure coefficient distributions seem to have constant values between 120° and 240° resulting in Von Karman street configuration in the wake. These remarks were valid for the tests carried out. The numerical study was performed by the ANSYS FLUENT code which solves the averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS). Two turbulence models (k-ε RNG and k-ε realizable), two types of grids and two levels of turbulence at the entrance of 4.6% and 6.3% for Reynolds numbers of 9300 and 13950 were considered. The obtained results for the central tube were compared with the present experimental results. It is concluded that the K-ε realizable is more suitable for the pressure distribution prediction than the K-ε RNG model compared to the present experimental results for this studied case.

Keywords: tube bundle, staggered configuration, turbulence level, numerical, experimental

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Authors: Waziralilah N. Fathiah, A. Aminudin, U. Alyaa Hashim, T. Vikneshvaran D. Shakirah Shukor

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This paper presents the experimental analysis conducted on a structure borne noise in a rectangular enclosure prototype made by joining of sheet aluminum metal and plywood. The study is significant as many did not realized the annoyance caused by structural borne-noise. In this study, modal analysis is carried out to seek the structure’s behaviour in order to identify the characteristics of enclosure in frequency domain ranging from 0 Hz to 200 Hz. Here, numbers of modes are identified and the characteristic of mode shape is categorized. Modal experiment is used to diagnose the structural behaviour while microphone is used to diagnose the sound. Spectral testing is performed on the enclosure. It is acoustically excited using shaker and as it vibrates, the vibrational and noise responses sensed by tri-axis accelerometer and microphone sensors are recorded respectively. Experimental works is performed on each node lies on the gridded surface of the enclosure. Both experimental measurement is carried out simultaneously. The modal experimental results of the modal modes are validated by simulation performed using MSC Nastran software. In pursuance of reducing the structure borne-noise, mitigation method is used whereby the stiffener plates are perpendicularly placed on the sheet aluminum metal. By using this method, reduction in structure borne-noise is successfully made at the end of the study.

Keywords: enclosure, modal analysis, sound analysis, structure borne-noise

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Authors: Basavaraj Vadavadagi, Satishkumar Shekhawat

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Interstitial free steels posses better formability and have many applications in automotive industries. Forming limit diagrams (FLDs) indicate the formability of materials which can be determined by experimental and finite element (FE) simulations. FLDs were determined experimentally by LDH test, utilizing optical strain measurement system for measuring the strains in different width specimens and by FE simulations in Interstitial Free (IF) and Interstitial Free High Strength (IFHS) steels. In this study, the experimental and FE simulated FLDs are compared and also the stress based FLDs were investigated.

Keywords: forming limit diagram, limiting dome height, optical strain measurement, interstitial

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Authors: Mishadi Herath, Amin Talei, Andreas Hermawan, Clarina Chua

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Green walls are vegetated structures on building’s wall that are considered as part of sustainable urban design. They are proved to have many micro-climate benefits such as reduction in indoor temperature, noise attenuation, and improvement in air quality. On the other hand, several studies have also been conducted on potential reuse of greywater in urban water management. Greywater is relatively clean when compared to blackwater; therefore, this study was aimed to assess the potential reuse of it for irrigating a green wall system. In this study, the campus of Monash University Malaysia located in Selangor state was considered as the study site where total 48 samples of greywater were collected from 7 toilets hand-wash and 5 pantries during 3 months period. The samples were tested to characterize the quality of greywater in the study site and compare it with local standard for irrigation water. PH and concentration of heavy metals, nutrients, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), total Coliform and E.coli were measured. Results showed that greywater could be directly used for irrigation with minimal treatment. Since the effluent of the system was supposed to be drained to stormwater drainage system, the effluent needed to meet certain quality requirement. Therefore, a biofiltration system was proposed to host the green wall plants and also treat the greywater (which is used as irrigation water) to the required level. To assess the performance of the proposed system, an experimental setup consisting of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) soil columns with sand-based filter media were prepared. Two different local creeper plants were chosen considering several factors including fast growth, low maintenance requirement, and aesthetic aspects. Three replicates of each plants were used to ensure the validity of the findings. The growth of creeping plants and their survivability was monitored for 6 months while monthly sampling and testing of effluent was conducted to evaluate effluent quality. An analysis was also conducted to estimate the potential cost and benefit of such system considering water and energy saving in the system. Results showed that the proposed system can work efficiently throughout a long period of time with minimal maintenance requirement. Moreover, the biofiltration-green wall system was found to be successful in reusing greywater as irrigating water while the effluent was meeting all the requirements for being drained to stormwater drainage system.

Keywords: biofiltration, green wall, greywater, sustainability

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Authors: Panatda Intanin, Sangutid Thongsawad, Chirapha Tannanonta, Todsaporn Fuangrod

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Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a highly precision delivery technique that requires comprehensive quality assurance (QA) tests prior to treatment delivery. An isocenter of delivery beam plays a critical role that affect the treatment accuracy. The uncertainty of isocenter is traditionally accessed using circular cone equipment, Winston-Lutz (WL) phantom and film. This technique is considered time consuming and highly dependent on the observer. In this work, the development of multileaf collimator (MLC)-based isocenter verification tool using electronic portal imaging device (EPID) was proposed and evaluated. A mechanical isocenter alignment with ball bearing diameter 5 mm and circular cone diameter 10 mm fixed to gantry head defines the radiation field was set as the conventional WL test method. The conventional setup was to compare to the proposed setup; using MLC (10 x 10 mm) to define the radiation filed instead of cone. This represents more realistic delivery field than using circular cone equipment. The acquisition from electronic portal imaging device (EPID) and radiographic film were performed in both experiments. The gantry angles were set as following: 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°. A software tool was in-house developed using MATLAB/SIMULINK programming to determine the centroid of radiation field and shadow of WL phantom automatically. This presents higher accuracy than manual measurement. The deviation between centroid of both cone-based and MLC-based WL tests were quantified. To compare between film and EPID image, the deviation for all gantry angle was 0.26±0.19mm and 0.43±0.30 for cone-based and MLC-based WL tests. For the absolute deviation calculation on EPID images between cone and MLC-based WL test was 0.59±0.28 mm and the absolute deviation on film images was 0.14±0.13 mm. Therefore, the MLC-based isocenter verification using EPID present high sensitivity tool for SRS QA.

Keywords: isocenter verification, quality assurance, EPID, SRS

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Authors: Amina Bouhaouche, Zineb Kaoua, Lila Lahreche, Sid Ali Kaoua, Kamel Daoud

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The objective of this study is to present a novel approach for analyzing the solid dispersion and mixing performance by a numerical simulation method using solid works software of a monodisperse particles for a large span of time reached 20 minutes. To assure the viability of a numerical simulation, an experimental study of a binary mixture of monodiperse particles taken as free flowing material in a V blender was developed on the basis of relative standard deviation curves, and the arrangement of the particles in the vessel. The experimental results were discussed and compared to the numerical simulation results.

Keywords: non-cohesive material, solid mixing, solid works, v-blender

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Authors: Nur Aisyah Jalalludin, Arwindra Rizqiawan, Goro Fujita

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In this study, we aim to demonstrate a microgrid system experimental simulation for an easy understanding of a large-scale microgrid system. This model is required for industrial training and learning environments. However, in order to create an exact representation of a microgrid system, the laboratory-scale system must fulfill the requirements of a grid-connected inverter, in which power values are assigned to the system to cope with the intermittent output from renewable energy sources. Aside from that, during changes in load capacity, the grid-connected system must be able to supply power from the utility grid side and microgrid side in a balanced manner. Therefore, droop control is installed in the inverter’s control board to maintain equal power sharing in both sides. This power control in a stand-alone condition and droop control in a grid-connected condition must be implemented in order to maintain a stabilized system. Based on the experimental results, power control and droop control can both be applied in the system by comparing the experimental and reference values.

Keywords: droop control, droop characteristic, grid-connected inverter, microgrid, power control

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Authors: Adesola O. Orimoloye, Mohammed N. Kajama, Edward Gobina

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Gas permeation of Oxygen [O2] and Nitrogen [N2] were investigated at room temperature using 15 and 6000nm pore diameter tubular commercial alumina ceramic membranes with pressure values ranging 1.00 to 2.50 bar. The flow rates of up to 2.59 and 2.77 l/min were achieved for O2 and N2 respectively. The ratio of O2/N2 flow rates were used to compute the O2/N2 selectivity. The experimental O2/N2 selectivity obtained for 15 nm was 1.05 while the 6000 nm indicated 0.95.

Keywords: gas separation, nitrogen, oxygen, selectivity

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Authors: Sushil Kumar, M. Dakshina Murty

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Thermal network modelling has proven to be important tool for thermal analysis of electrical machine. This article investigates numerical thermal network model and experimental performance of a large-scale AC motor. Experimental temperatures were measured using RTD in the stator which have been compared with the numerical data. Thermal network modelling fairly predicts the temperature of various components inside the large-scale AC motor. Results of stator winding temperature is compared with experimental results which are in close agreement with accuracy of 6-10%. This method of predicting hot spots within AC motors can be readily used by the motor designers for estimating the thermal hot spots of the machine.

Keywords: AC motor, thermal network, heat transfer, modelling

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Authors: Adilah Shariff, Nur Syairah Mohamad Aziz, Norsyahidah Md Saleh, Nur Syuhada Izzati Ruzali

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The first objective of this study is to investigate the suitability of coconut frond (CF) and coconut husk (CH) as feedstocks using a laboratory-scale slow pyrolysis experimental setup. The second objective is to investigate the effect of pyrolysis temperature on the biochar yield. The properties of CF and CH feedstocks were compared. The properties of the CF and CH feedstocks were investigated using proximate and elemental analysis, lignocellulosic determination, and also thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The CF and CH feedstocks were pyrolysed at 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 °C for 2 hours at 10 °C/min heating rate. The proximate analysis showed that CF feedstock has 89.96 mf wt% volatile matter, 4.67 mf wt% ash content and 5.37 mf wt% fixed carbon. The lignocelluloses analysis showed that CF feedstock contained 21.46% lignin, 39.05% cellulose and 22.49% hemicelluloses. The CH feedstock contained 84.13 mf wt% volatile matter, 0.33 mf wt% ash content, 15.54 mf wt% fixed carbon, 28.22% lignin, 33.61% cellulose and 22.03% hemicelluloses. Carbon and oxygen are the major component of the CF and CH feedstock compositions. Both of CF and CH feedstocks contained very low percentage of sulfur, 0.77% and 0.33%, respectively. TGA analysis indicated that coconut wastes are easily degraded. It may be due to their high volatile content. Between the temperature ranges of 300 and 800 °C, the TGA curves showed that the weight percentage of CF feedstock is lower than CH feedstock by 0.62%-5.88%. From the D TGA curves, most of the weight loss occurred between 210 and 400 °C for both feedstocks. The maximum weight loss for both CF and CH are 0.0074 wt%/min and 0.0061 wt%/min, respectively, which occurred at 324.5 °C. The yield percentage of both CF and CH biochars decreased significantly as the pyrolysis temperature was increased. For CF biochar, the yield decreased from 49.40 wt% to 28.12 wt% as the temperature increased from 300 to 700 °C. The yield for CH biochars also decreased from 52.18 wt% to 28.72 wt%. The findings of this study indicated that both CF and CH are suitable feedstock for slow pyrolysis of biochar.

Keywords: biochar, biomass, coconut wastes, slow pyrolysis

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Authors: Abdollah Ghasempour, Mohammad Reza Kavianpour, Majid Galoie

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This study has investigated the fundamental parameters which have effective role on energy dissipation of nappe flows on stepped chutes in order to estimate an empirical relationship using dimensional analysis. To gain this goal, comprehensive experimental study on some large-scale physical models with various step geometries, slopes, discharges, etc. were carried out. For all models, hydraulic parameters such as velocity, pressure, water depth, flow regime and etc. were measured precisely. The effective parameters, then, could be determined by analysis of experimental data. Finally, a dimensional analysis was done in order to estimate an empirical relationship for evaluation of energy dissipation of nappe flows on stepped chutes. Because of using the large-scale physical models in this study, the empirical relationship is in very good agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords: nappe flow, energy dissipation, stepped chute, dimensional analysis

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Authors: Kadda Boumediene, Mohamed Ziani

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Mainly because of their good ratio stiffness/mass, and in addition to adjustable mechanical properties, composite materials are more and more often used as an alternative to traditional materials in several domains. Before using these materials in practical application, a detailed and precise characterization of their mechanical properties is necessary. In the present work, we will find a dynamic analyze of composite beam (natural frequencies and mode shape), an experimental vibration technique, which presents a powerful tool for the estimation of mechanical characteristics, is used to characterize a dissimilar beam of a Mortar/ natural mineral fiber. The study is completed by an analytic (Rayleigh & Rayleigh-Ritz), experimental and numerical application for non-uniform composite beam of a Mortar/ natural mineral fiber. The study is supported by a comparison between numerical and analytic results as well as a comparison between experimental and numerical results.

Keywords: composite beam, mortar/ natural mineral fiber, mechanical characteristics, natural frequencies, mode shape

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Authors: DRIS Mohammed El-Amine, BOUNIF Abdelhamid

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This paper considers an experimental and numerical investigation of variable density in axisymmetric turbulent free jets. Special attention is paid to the study of the scalar dissipation rate. In this case, dynamic field equations are coupled to scalar field equations by the density which can vary by the thermal effect (jet heating). The numerical investigation is based on the first and second order turbulence models. For the discretization of the equations system characterizing the flow, the finite volume method described by Patankar (1980) was used. The experimental study was conducted in order to evaluate dynamical characteristics of a heated axisymmetric air flow using the Laser Doppler Anemometer (LDA) which is a very accurate optical measurement method. Experimental and numerical results are compared and discussed. This comparison do not show large difference and the results obtained are in general satisfactory.

Keywords: Scalar dissipation rate, thermal effects, turbulent axisymmetric jets, second order modelling, Velocimetry Laser Doppler.

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Authors: Ravinder Kataria, Jatinder Kumar, B. S. Pabla

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Ultrasonic machining is one of the most widely used non-traditional machining processes for machining of materials that are relatively brittle, hard, and fragile such as advanced ceramics, refractories, crystals, quartz etc. Present article has been targeted at investigating the impact of different experimental conditions (power rating, cobalt content, tool material, thickness of work piece, tool geometry, and abrasive grit size) on over cut in ultrasonic drilling of WC-Co composite material. Taguchi’s L-36 orthogonal array has been employed for conducting the experiments. Significant factors have been identified using analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. The experimental results revealed that abrasive grit size and tool material are most significant factors for over cut.

Keywords: ANOVA, abrasive grit size, Taguchi, WC-Co, ultrasonic machining

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Authors: Theena Thayalan, K. N. Ramesh Babu

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Machining induced residual stress (RS) is one of the most important surface integrity parameters that characterize the near surface layer of a mechanical component, which plays a crucial role in controlling the performance, especially its fatigue life. Since experimental determination of RS is expensive and time consuming, it would be of great benefit if they could be predicted. In such case, it would be possible to select the cutting parameters required to produce a favorable RS profile. In the present study, an effort has been made to develop a 'two dimensional finite element model (FEM)' to simulate orthogonal cutting process and to predict surface and sub-surface RS using the commercial FEA software DEFORM-2D. The developed finite element model has been validated through experimental investigation of RS. In the experimentation, the orthogonal cutting tests were carried out on AISI 4340 by varying the cutting speed (VC) and uncut chip thickness (f) at three levels and the surface & sub-surface RS has been measured using XRD and Electro polishing techniques. The comparison showed that the RS obtained using developed numerical model is in reasonable agreement with that of experimental data.

Keywords: FEM, machining, residual stress, XRF

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Authors: Auwal Abubakar, Shazril Imran Shaukat, Noor Khairiah A. Karim, Mohammed Zakir Kassim, Gokula Kumar Appalanaido, Hafiz Mohd Zin

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Background: Voluntary deep inspiration breath-hold radiotherapy (vDIBH-RT) is an effective cardiac dose reduction technique during left breast radiotherapy. This study aimed to assess the accuracy of the implementation of the vDIBH technique among left breast cancer patients without the use of a special device such as a surface-guided imaging system. Methods: The vDIBH-RT technique was implemented among thirteen (13) left breast cancer patients at the Advanced Medical and Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia. Breath-hold monitoring was performed based on breath-hold skin marks and laser light congruence observed on zoomed CCTV images from the control console during each delivery. The initial setup was verified using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) during breath-hold. Each field was delivered using multiple beam segments to allow a delivery time of 20 seconds, which can be tolerated by patients in breath-hold. The data were analysed using an in-house developed MATLAB algorithm. PTV margin was computed based on van Herk's margin recipe. Results: The setup error analysed from CBCT shows that the population systematic error in lateral (x), longitudinal (y), and vertical (z) axes was 2.28 mm, 3.35 mm, and 3.10 mm, respectively. Based on the CBCT image guidance, the Planning target volume (PTV) margin that would be required for vDIBH-RT using CCTV/Laser monitoring technique is 7.77 mm, 10.85 mm, and 10.93 mm in x, y, and z axes, respectively. Conclusion: It is feasible to safely implement vDIBH-RT among left breast cancer patients without special equipment. The breath-hold monitoring technique is cost-effective, radiation-free, easy to implement, and allows real-time breath-hold monitoring.

Keywords: vDIBH, cone beam computed tomography, radiotherapy, left breast cancer

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Authors: Thevaranchany Sivaskaran

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Women entrepreneurs are the key players in the society and their contributions is highly highlighted to enhance economic stability in the country. In Sri Lanka, especially in North and East provinces people badly affected by war. Most of them are widows and women headed families. Due to this changing environment, Educational opportunities, and the support of NGO’s Most of the women have started their business and become entrepreneurs. Even though existing family setup and social setup entrepreneurial women are overburdened and difficult to balance their business and family roles. The research has been conducted on the experiences of women entrepreneurs with the family role support and work-life balance within the small and micro- enterprise sector in Jaffna, Srilanka. This study aims to identify that what extent the role of family support will be the tool to balancing work and life effectively and, secondly, the main challenges they face in achieving work-life balance. This is done by drawing on literatures including those on work-life balance, small-and micro enterprises, and entrepreneurship theories. To find out this objective, the data were collected from 50 entrepreneurs among the members of Jaffna women chamber in each GS division basis (cluster random sampling). A qualitative methodological technique and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data for the case study on these entrepreneurs. The results indicate that the majority of entrepreneurs do not enjoy a sense of work-life balance because most of them are women headed family and they need to work hard to generate financial profit for the benefit of family. The motivation for them to work in this way is to provide basic needs. Results confirmed for others that support of husbands is very important. Mostly, emotional support (belief and empowerment) is exposed; however, getting financial contribution seems to be highly appreciated. More responsibilities which spouses were ready to take over regarding the home responsibilities (that is, childcare) should also not be neglected in the system of support to their entrepreneurial wives. Although, more important for all, women with children appreciated other members and spouses help and assistance to a higher extent. Results showed that majority of women who started their own business feel that in the first year of ope-ration the emotional support of family members was more important.

Keywords: family support, work life balance, women entrepreneurs, Jaffna District, Sri Lanka

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Authors: Thu Nhi Tran Caliste

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X-ray Bragg diffraction imaging (“topography”)entered into practical use when Lang designed an “easy” technical setup to characterise the defects / distortions in the high perfection crystals produced for the microelectronics industry. The use of this technique extended to all kind of high quality crystals, and deposited layers, and a series of publications explained, starting from the dynamical theory of diffraction, the contrast of the images of the defects. A quantitative version of “monochromatic topography” known as“Rocking Curve Imaging” (RCI) was implemented, by using synchrotron light and taking advantage of the dramatic improvement of the 2D-detectors and computerised image processing. The rough data is constituted by a number (~300) of images recorded along the diffraction (“rocking”) curve. If the quality of the crystal is such that a one-to-onerelation between a pixel of the detector and a voxel within the crystal can be established (this approximation is very well fulfilled if the local mosaic spread of the voxel is < 1 mradian), a software we developped provides, from the each rocking curve recorded on each of the pixels of the detector, not only the “voxel” integrated intensity (the only data provided by the previous techniques) but also its “mosaic spread” (FWHM) and peak position. We will show, based on many examples, that this new data, never recorded before, open the field to a highly enhanced characterization of the crystal and deposited layers. These examples include the characterization of dislocations and twins occurring during silicon growth, various growth features in Al203, GaNand CdTe (where the diffraction displays the Borrmannanomalous absorption, which leads to a new type of images), and the characterisation of the defects within deposited layers, or their effect on the substrate. We could also observe (due to the very high sensitivity of the setup installed on BM05, which allows revealing these faint effects) that, when dealing with very perfect crystals, the Kato’s interference fringes predicted by dynamical theory are also associated with very small modifications of the local FWHM and peak position (of the order of the µradian). This rather unexpected (at least for us) result appears to be in keeping with preliminary dynamical theory calculations.

Keywords: rocking curve imaging, X-ray diffraction, defect, distortion

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Authors: Shreyas Srinivas Rangan, Jurgis Porins

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The internet traffic has increased exponentially due to the high demand for data rates by the users, and the constantly increasing metro networks and access networks are focused on improving the maximum transmit distance of the long-reach optical networks. One of the common methods to improve the maximum transmit distance of the long-reach optical networks at the component level is to use broadband optical amplifiers. The Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) provides high amplification with low noise figure but due to the characteristics of EDFA, its operation is limited to C-band and L-band. In contrast, the Raman amplifier exhibits a wide amplification spectrum, and negative noise figure values can be achieved. To obtain such results, high powered pumping sources are required. Operating Raman amplifiers with such high-powered optical sources may cause fire hazards and it may damage the optical system. In this paper, we implement a hybrid optical amplifier configuration. EDFA and Raman amplifiers are used in this hybrid setup to combine the advantages of both EDFA and Raman amplifiers to improve the reach of the system. Using this setup, we analyze the maximum transmit distance of the network by obtaining a correlation diagram between the length of the single-mode fiber (SMF) and the Bit Error Rate (BER). This hybrid amplifier configuration is implemented in a Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) system with a BER of 10⁻⁹ by using NRZ modulation format, and the gain uniformity noise ratio (signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)), the efficiency of the pumping source, and the optical signal gain efficiency of the amplifier are studied experimentally in a mathematical modelling environment. Numerical simulations were implemented in RSoft OptSim simulation software based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation using the Split-Step method, the Fourier transform, and the Monte Carlo method for estimating BER.

Keywords: Raman amplifier, erbium doped fibre amplifier, bit error rate, hybrid optical amplifiers

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Authors: Niloofar Zebarjad

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This research aims at finding a tool to provide basketball players with real-time audio feedback on their shooting form in free throw shots. Free throws played a pivotal role in taking the lead in fierce competitions. The major problem in performing an accurate free throw seems to be improper training. Since the arm movement during the free throw shot is complex, the coach or the athlete might miss the movement details during practice. Hence, there is a necessity to create a system that measures arm movements' critical characteristics and control for improper kinematics. The proposed setup in this study quantifies arm kinematics and provides real-time feedback as an audio signal consisting of a gyroscope sensor. Spatial shoulder angle data are transmitted in a mobile application in real-time and can be saved and processed for statistical and analysis purposes. The proposed system is easy to use, inexpensive, portable, and real-time applicable. Objectives: This research aims to modify and control the free throw using audio feedback and determine if and to what extent the new setup reduces errors in arm formations during throws and finally assesses the successful throw rate. Methods: One group of elite basketball athletes and two novice athletes (control and study group) participated in this study. Each group contains 5 participants being studied in three separate sessions over a week. Results: Empirical results showed enhancements in the free throw shooting style, shot pocket (SP), and locked position (LP). The mean values of shoulder angle were controlled on 25° and 45° for SP and LP, respectively, recommended by valid FIBA references. Conclusion: Throughout the experiments, the system helped correct and control the shoulder angles toward the targeted pattern of shot pocket (SP) and locked position (LP). According to the desired results for arm motion, adding another sensor to measure and control the elbow angle is recommended.

Keywords: audio-feedback, basketball, free-throw, locked-position, motor-control, shot-pocket

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Authors: Jana Petru, Marie Kudrnova

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The use of technologies working with molten salts is conditioned by finding suitable construction materials that must meet several demanding criteria. In addition to temperature resistance, materials must also show corrosion resistance to salts; they must meet mechanical requirements and other requirements according to the area of use – for example, radiation resistance in Molten Salt Reactors. The present text describes an experimental device for studying the corrosion resistance of candidate materials in molten mixtures of salts and is a partial task of the international project ADAR, dealing with the evaluation of advanced nuclear reactors based on molten salts. The design of the device is based on a test exposure of Inconel 625 in the mixture of salts Hitec in a high temperature tube furnace. The result of the pre-exposure is, in addition to the metallographic evaluation of the behavior of material 625 in the mixture of nitrate salts, mainly a list of operational and construction problems that were essential for the construction of the new experimental equipment. The main output is a scheme of a newly designed gas-tight experimental apparatus capable of operating in an inert argon atmosphere, temperature up to 600 °C, pressure 3 bar, in the presence of a corrosive salt environment, with an exposure time of hundreds of hours. This device will enable the study of promising construction materials for nuclear energy.

Keywords: corrosion, experimental device, molten salt, steel

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Authors: S. Roy, R. Rekha, K. Sriram, G. Subhadra, R. Johana

Abstract:

Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death in most industrialized countries. Many chemical drugs are available in the market which targets different receptor proteins related to cardiovascular diseases. Of late the traditional herbal drugs are safer when compared to chemical drugs because of its side effects. However, many herbal remedies used in treating cardiovascular diseases have not undergone scientific assessment to prove its pharmacological activities. There are many natural compounds, nature derived and Natural product mimic compounds are available which are in the market as approved drug. In the most of the cases drug activity at the molecular level are not known. Here we have categorized those compounds with our experimental compounds in different classes based on the structural similarity and physicochemical properties, using a tool, Chemmine and has attempted to understand the mechanism of the action of a experimental compound, which are clustered with Simvastatin, Lovastatin, Mevastatin and Pravastatin. Target protein molecule for Simvastatin, Lovastatin, Mevastatin and Pravastatin is HMG-CoA reductase, so we concluded that the experimental compound may be able to bind to the same target. Molecular docking and atomic interaction studies with simvastatin and our experimental compound were compared. A pharmacophore modeling was done based on the experimental compound and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor.

Keywords: molecular docking, physicochemical properties, pharmacophore modeling structural similarity, pravastatin

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Authors: Manuel Meranza-Castillon, Rolando Diaz-Castillo, Adrian Arellano-Delgado, Cesar Cruz-Hernandez, Rosa Martha Lopez-Gutierrez

Abstract:

In this work, we deal with experimental network synchronization of chaotic nodes with different topologies. Our approach is based on complex system theory, and we use a master-slave configuration to couple the nodes in the networks. In particular, we design and implement electronically complex dynamical networks composed by nine coupled chaotic Chua’s circuits with topologies: in nearest-neighbor, small-world, open ring, star, and global. Also, network synchronization is evaluated according to a particular coupling strength for each topology. This study is important by the possible applications to private transmission of information in a chaotic communication network of multiple users.

Keywords: complex networks, Chua's circuit, experimental synchronization, multiple users

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Authors: Eddegdag Nasser, Naamane Azzeddine, Radouani Mohammed, Ensam Meknes

Abstract:

In this study, we are interested in the asymptotic modeling of the two-dimensional stationary supersonic flow of a viscous compressible fluid around wing airfoil. The aim of this article is to solve the partial differential equations of the flow far from the leading edge and near the wall using the triple-deck technique is what brought again in precision according to the principle of least degeneration. In order to validate our theoretical model, these obtained results will be compared with the experimental results. The comparison of the results of our model with experimentation has shown that they are quantitatively acceptable compared to the obtained experimental results. The experimental study was conducted using the AF300 supersonic wind tunnel and a NACA Reduced airfoil model with two pressure Taps on extrados. In this experiment, we have considered the incident upstream supersonic Mach number over a dissymmetric NACA airfoil wing. The validation and the accuracy of the results support our model.

Keywords: supersonic, viscous, triple deck technique, asymptotic methods, AF300 supersonic wind tunnel, reduced airfoil model

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Authors: Eda Yakit Ak, Ergül Aslan

Abstract:

The study was conducted using the quasi-experimental design to determine the influence of the nursing support program prepared according to the Health Belief Model on reproductive health behaviors of orthopedically disabled women in the physical therapy and rehabilitation clinic at a university hospital between August 2019-October, 2020. The research sample included 50 women (35 in the control group and 15 in the experimental group with orthopedic disability). A 3-week nursing support program was applied to the experimental group of women. To collect the data, Introductory Information Form and Scale for Determining the Protective Attitudes of Married Women towards Reproductive Health (SDPAMW) were applied. The evaluation was made with a follow-up form for four months. In the first evaluation, the total SDPAMW scores were 119.93±20.59 for the experimental group and 122.20±16.71 for the control group. In the final evaluation, the total SDPAMW scores were 144.27±11.95 for the experimental group and 118.00±16.43 for the control group. The difference between the groups regarding the first and final evaluations for the total SDPAMW scores was statistically significant (p<0.01). In the experimental group, between the first and final evaluations regarding the sub-dimensions of SDPAMW, an increase was found in the behavior of seeing the doctor on reproductive health issues, protection from reproductive organ and breast cancer, general health behaviors to protect reproductive health, and protection from genital tract infections (p<0.05). Consequently, the nursing support program based on the Health Belief Model applied to orthopedically disabled women positively affected reproductive health behaviors.

Keywords: orthopedically disabled, woman, reproductive health, nursing support program, health belief model

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Authors: Ivana Mokrá

Abstract:

The article deals with modelling of the fire pragmatism in the area of military management and its experimental verification. Potential approaches are based on the synergy of mathematical and theoretical ideas, operational and tactical requirements and the military decision-making process. This issue has taken on importance in recent times, particularly with the increasing trend of digitized battlefield, the development of C4ISR systems and intention to streamline the command and control process at the lowest levels of command. From fundamental and philosophical point of view, these new approaches seek to significantly upgrade and enhance the decision-making process of the tactical commanders.

Keywords: military management, decision-making process, strike modeling, experimental evaluation, pragmatism, tactical strike modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 362