Search results for: free/total PSA ratio

Authors: A. S. Al-Fatesh, A. A. Ibrahim, A. M. AlSharekh, F. S. Alqahtani, S. O. Kasim, A. H. Fakeeha

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Hydrogen is the expected future fuel since it produces energy without any pollution. It can be used as a fuel directly or through the fuel cell. It is also used in chemical and petrochemical industry as reducing agent or in hydrogenation processes. It is produced by different methods such as reforming of hydrocarbon, electrolytic method and methane decomposition. The objective of the present paper is to study the decomposition of methane reaction at 700°C and 800°C. The catalysts were prepared via impregnation method using 20%Fe and different proportions of combined alumina and silica support using the following ratios [100%, 90%, 80%, and 0% Al₂O₃/SiO₂]. The prepared catalysts were calcined and activated at 600 OC and 500 OC respectively. The reaction was carried out in fixed bed reactor at atmospheric pressure using 0.3g of catalyst and feed gas ratio of 1.5/1 CH₄/N₂ with a total flow rate 25 mL/min. Catalyst characterizations (TPR, TGA, BET, XRD, etc.) have been employed to study the behavior of catalysts before and after the reaction. Moreover, a brief description of the weight loss and the CH₄ conversions versus time on stream relating the different support ratios over 20%Fe/Al₂O₃/SiO₂ catalysts has been added as well. The results of TGA analysis provided higher weights losses for catalysts operated at 700°C than 800°C. For the 90% Al₂O₃/SiO₂, the activity decreases with the time on stream using 800°C reaction temperature from 73.9% initial CH₄ conversion to 46.3% for a period of 300min, whereas the activity for the same catalyst increases from 47.1% to 64.8% when 700°C reaction temperature is employed. Likewise, for 80% Al₂O₃/SiO₂ the trend of activity is similar to that of 90% Al₂O₃/SiO₂ but with a different rate of activity variation. It can be inferred from the activity results that the ratio of Al₂O₃ to SiO₂ is crucial and it is directly proportional with the activity. Whenever the Al/Si ratio decreases the activity declines. Indeed, the CH₄ conversion of 100% SiO₂ support was less than 5%.

Keywords: Al₂O₃, SiO₂, CH₄ decomposition, hydrogen, iron

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Authors: Amarachi Delight Onyemachi, Gregory Ikechukwu Onwuka

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The growing consumer trend for natural ingredients, functional foods with health benefits and the perceived risk of carcinogenesis associated with synthetic antioxidants have forced food manufacturers to look for alternatives for producing healthy and safe food. Herbs and spices are cheap, natural and harmless sources of antioxidants which can delay and prevent lipid oxidation of food products and also confer its unique organoleptic properties and health benefits to food products. The Nigerian climate has been proven to be conducive for the production of spices and herbs and is blessed bountifully with a wide range of them. Five selected Nigerian herbs and spices Piper guieense, Xylopia aethopica, Gongronema latifolium and Ocimum gratissimum were evaluated for their ability to act as radical scavengers. The spices were extracted with 80% ethanol and evaluated using total phenolic capacity (TPC), DPPH (1,1-diph diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical) ABTS (2,2’azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), reducing power (RP) assays. The TPC ranged from 5.33 µg GAE/mg (in Gongronema latifolium) to 15.55 µg GAE/mg (in Ocimum gratissimum). The DPPH and ABTS scavenging activity of the extracts ranged from 0.23-0.36 IC50 mg/ml and 2.32-7.25 Trolox equivalent % respectively. The TAC and RP of the extract ranged from 6.73-10.64 µg AAE/mg and 3.52-10.19 µg AAE/mg. The result of percentage yield of the extract ranged from as low as 9.94% in Gongronema latifolium and to as high as 23.85% in Xylopia aethopica. A very strong positive relationship existed between the total antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content of the tested herbs and spices (R2=0.96). All of the extracts exhibited different extent of strong antioxidant activity, high antioxidant activity was found in Ocimum gratissimum and Gongronema latifolium with the least. However, Gongronema latifolium possessed the highest total antioxidant capacity. These data confirm the appreciable antioxidant potentials and high phenolic content of Nigerian herbs and spices, thereby providing justification for their use in dishes and functional foods, prevention of cellular damage caused by free radicals and use as natural antioxidants in the food industry for prevention of lipid oxidation in food products. However, to utilize these natural antioxidants in food products, further analysis and studies of their behaviour in food systems at varying temperature, pH conditions and ionic concentrations should be carried out to displace the use of synthetic antioxidants like BHT and BHA.

Keywords: Antioxidant, free radicals, herbs, phenolic, spices

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Authors: Doran C. Kalmin

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The descending genicular artery (DGA) perforator free flap provides an alternative to free flap reconstruction based on a review of the literature detailing both anatomical and clinical studies. The descending genicular artery (DGA) supplies skin, muscle, tendon, and bone located around the medial aspect of the knee that has been used in several pioneering reports in reconstructing defects located in various areas throughout the body. After the success of the medial femoral condyle flap in early studies, a small number of studies have been published detailing the use of the DGA in free flap reconstruction. Despite early success in the use of the DGA flap, acceptance within the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgical community has been limited due primarily to anatomical variations of the pedicle. This literature review is aimed at detailing the progression of the DGA perforator free flap and its variations as an alternative and reliable free flap for reconstruction of composite defects with an exploration into both anatomical and clinical studies. A literature review was undertaken, and the progression of the DGA flap is explored from the early review by Acland et al. pioneering the saphenous free flap to exploring modern changes and studies of the anatomy of the DGA. An extensive review of the literature was undertaken that details the anatomy and its variations, approaches to harvesting the flap, the advantages, and disadvantages of the DGA perforator free flap as well as flap outcomes. There are 15 published clinical series of DGA perforator free flaps that incorporate cutaneous, osteoperiosteal, cartilage, osteocutaneous, osteoperiosteal and muscle, osteoperiosteal and subcutaneous and tendocutatenous. The commonest indication for using a DGA free flap was for non-union of bone, particularly that of the scaphoid whereby the medial femoral condyle could be used. In the case series, a success rate of over 90% was established, showing that these early studies have had good success with a wide range of tissue transfers. The greatest limitation is the anatomical variation of the DGA and therefore, the challenges associated with raising the flap. Despite the variation in anatomy and around 10-15% absence of the DGA, the saphenous artery can be used as well as the superior medial genicular artery if the vascular bone is required as part of the flap. Despite only a handful of anatomical and clinical studies describing the DGA perforator free flap, it ultimately provides a reliable flap that can include a variety of composite structure used for reconstruction in almost any area throughout the body. Although it has limitations, it provides a reliable option for free flap reconstruction that can routinely be performed as a single-stage procedure.

Keywords: anatomical study, clinical study, descending genicular artery, literature review, perforator free flap reconstruction

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Authors: Mustofa Ahda, Fiqri Rozi, Gina Noor Habibah, Mas Ulfah Lestari, Tomy Hardianto, Yuni Andriani

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The development of natural antioxidants in the Centella asiatica and Majapahit is a great potential. This research has been optimizing the composition of ethanol extract of Centella asiatica and leaves Majapahit as an antioxidants source using measure the free radical scavenging activity of DPPH. The results of the research showed that both the ethanol extract of Centella asiatica and leaves Majapahit has a total content of phenol. It is shown with the ability to reduce reagent Folin Ciocalteu become blue colour. The composition optimization of extract Centella asiatica leaves Majapahit = 30:70 has free radical scavenging activity of DPPH most well compared ethanol extract of Centella asiatica and leaves Majapahit. IC50 values for the composition of ethanol extract of Centella asiatica : leaves Majapahit = 30:70 is 0,103 mg/mL.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, Centella asiatica, Cresentia cujete, composition extract

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Authors: M. Zafar, S. Rasheed, Imran Hashmi

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Very little is concerned about the bacterial contamination in drinking water biofilm which provide a potential source for bacteria to grow and increase rapidly. So as to understand the microbial density in DWDs, a three-month study was carried out. The aim of this study was to examine biofilm in three different pipe materials including PVC, PPR and GI. A set of all these pipe materials was installed in DWDs at nine different locations and assessed on monthly basis. Drinking water quality was evaluated by different parameters and characterization of biofilm. Among various parameters are Temperature, pH, turbidity, TDS, electrical conductivity, BOD, COD, total phosphates, total nitrates, total organic carbon (TOC) free chlorine and total chlorine, coliforms and spread plate counts (SPC) according to standard methods. Predominant species were Bacillus thuringiensis, Pseudomonas fluorescens , Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Bacillus safensis and significant increase in bacterial population was observed in PVC pipes while least in cement pipes. The quantity of DWDs bacteria was directly depended on biofilm bacteria and its increase was correlated with growth and detachment of bacteria from biofilms. Pipe material also affected the microbial community in drinking water distribution network biofilm while Similarity in bacterial species was observed between systems due to same disinfectant dose, time period and plumbing pipes.

Keywords: biofilm, DWDs, pipe material, bacterial population

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Authors: Mukurdipi Ray, Seema Singh

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Extrauterine endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) is a rare entity and typified by delayed recurrence of primary ESS. Here, we present an unusual case of uterine ESS in a woman with a history of hysterectomy. A 19-year-old girl, underwent a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for uterine ESS 12 months ago and now after remaining disease free for nine months ago she presented with ascites along with pelvic and peritoneal mass. Intraoperatively, the large omental mass was found, and optimal cytoreduction with total omentomy (supracolic and infracolic ) total peritonectomy and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) was offered to the patient. Final histopathology report showed the involvement of only omentum by ESS cells. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and receptor study were done and it was positive for CD-10 and desmin and negative for CK- 7. This case highlights the rarity of extrauterine ESS in the omentum with a known history of primary uterine ESS which was treated successfully with the above-mentioned procedure. Though active and long-term surveillance is recommended to monitor for late recurrences.

Keywords: endrometrial stromal sarcoma, complete cytoreduction, hyperthermic intra peritoneal chemotherapy, total omentectomy

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: A. Rosazlin Abdullah, I. Che Fauziah, K. Wan Rasidah, A. B. Rosenani

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The paper industry performs an essential role in the global economy of the world. A study was conducted on the paper mill sludge that is applied on the Khaya senegalensis for 1 year planning period at University Agriculture Park, Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia to determine the growth of Khaya senegalensis, soil properties, nutrients concentrations and effects on the status of heavy metals. Paper Mill Sludge (PMS) and composted Recycled Paper Mill Sludge (RPMS) were used with different rates of nitrogen (0, 150, 300 and 600 kg ha-1) at the ratio of 1:1 (Recycled Paper Mill Sludge (RPMS) : Empty Fruit Brunch (EFB). The growth parameters were measured twice a month for 1 year. Plant nutrients and heavy metal uptake were determined. The paper mill sludge has the potential to be a supplementary N fertilizer as well as a soil amendment. The application of RPMS with N, significantly contributed to the improvement in plant growth parameters such as plant height (4.24 m), basal diameter (10.30 cm), total plant biomass and improved soil physical and chemical properties. The pH, EC, available P and total C in soil were varied among the treatments during the planting period. The treatments with raw and RPM compost had higher pH values than those applied with inorganic fertilizer and control. Nevertheless, there was no salinity problem recorded during the planting period and available P in soil treated with raw and RPMS compost was higher than the control plots that reflects the mineralization of organic P from the decomposition of pulp sludge. The weight of the free and occluded light fractions of carbon concentration was significantly higher in the soils treated with raw and RPMS compost. The application of raw and composted RPMS gave significantly higher concentration of the heavy metals, but the total concentrations of heavy metals in the soils were below the critical values. Hence, the paper mill sludge can be successfully used as soil amendment in acidic soil without any serious threat. The use of paper mill sludge for the soil fertility, shows improvement in land application signifies a unique opportunity to recycle sludge back to the land to alleviate the potential waste management problem.

Keywords: growth, heavy metals, nutrients uptake, production, waste management

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Authors: Hammam Aljabri, Hong G. Im

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Hydrogen is a promising future fuel to support the transition of the energy sector toward carbon neutrality. The direct utilization of H2 in Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) is possible, and this technology faces mainly two challenges; high NOx emissions and severe knocking at mid to high loads. In this study, we numerically investigated the potential of H2 combustion in a truck-size engine operated in SI mode. To mitigate the knocking nature of H2 combustion, we have focused on studying the effects of three primary parameters; the compression ratio (CR), the air-fuel ratio, and the spark time. The baseline case was set using a CR of 16.5 and an equivalence ratio of 0.35. In simulations, the auto-ignition tendency was evaluated based on the maximum pressure rise rate and the local pressure fluctuations at the monitoring points set along the wall of the combustion chamber. To mitigate the auto-ignition tendency while enabling a wider range of engine operation, the effect of lowering the compression ratio was assessed. The results indicate that by lowering the compression ratio from 16.5:1 to 12.5:1, an indicated thermal efficiency of 47.5% can be achieved. Aiming to restrain the auto-ignition while maintaining good efficiency, a reduction in the equivalence ratio was examined under different compression ratios. The result indicates that higher compression ratios will require lower equivalence ratios, and due to practical limitations, a lower equivalence ratio of 0.25 was set as the limit. Using a compression ratio of 13.5 combined with an equivalence ratio of 0.3 resulted in an indicated thermal efficiency of 48.6%, that is, at a fixed spark time. It is found that under such lean conditions, the incomplete combustion losses and exhaust losses were high. Thus, advancing the spark time was assessed as a possible solution. The results demonstrated the advantages of advancing the spark time, where an indicated thermal efficiency exceeding 50% was achieved using a compression ratio of 14.5:1 and an equivalence ratio of 0.25.

Keywords: hydrogen, combustion, engine knock, SI engine

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Authors: M. Chen, H. Lee, D. M. Weary

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China is the world’s largest egg producer, with more than 90% of production occurring in conventional cages. Cage-free housing systems offer the potential for improving hen welfare, but the growth of this system requires consumer demand, making it is important to understand consumers’ willingness to engage with cage-free eggs. Previous survey research indicates that the majority of Chinese consumers have a basic understanding of cage-free eggs and that some are willing to pay a price premium for these eggs. The aim of this research is to understand consumer behaviour, experience, and motivations when purchasing cage-free eggs in China. Purposive sampling will be used to select 20 participants from each of 2 groups: 1) consumers of cage-free eggs and 2) sales representatives who promote these eggs directly to consumers in supermarkets. This 4-month study will use methods of virtual ethnography to interact with participants repeatedly. Consumers will be asked to share their egg shopping, cooking, and eating experiences, and sales representatives will be asked to share their experiences promoting the eggs to consumers. Data collection will involve audio-recorded interviews, informal conversations (casual texts and calls), participant observation (video calling during shopping, cooking, and eating), and informant diaries (written reflections, photos, videos). All data (field notes, transcripts, diaries, photos, and videos) will be analyzed using Thematic Analysis. We expect that these will result in a nuanced understanding of consumer purchasing behaviour and motivation and will thus help identify strategies to promote higher animal welfare and cage-free egg products in China.

Keywords: animal welfare, cage-free eggs, China, consumer behaviour, ethnography

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Authors: Hassan Mohammad Alkomy, Hesham Elkaranshawy, Ahmed Ibrahim Ashour, Khaled Tawfik Mohamed

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For a rigid body sliding on a rough surface, a range of uncertainty or non-uniqueness of solution could be found, which is termed: Painlevé paradox. Painlevé paradox is the reason of a wide range of bouncing motion, observed during sliding of robotic manipulators on rough surfaces. In this research work, the existence of the paradox zone during the sliding motion of a two-link (P-R) robotic manipulator with a unilateral constraint is investigated. Parametric study is performed to investigate the effect of friction, link-length ratio, total height and link-mass ratio on the paradox zone.

Keywords: dynamical system, friction, multibody system, painlevé paradox, robotic systems, sliding robots, unilateral constraint

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Authors: T. H. Young, Y. J. Tsai

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A method for determining the stress distribution of a rectangular plate subjected to two pairs of arbitrarily distributed in-plane edge shear loads is proposed, and the free vibration and buckling of such a rectangular plate are investigated in this work.  The method utilizes two stress functions to synthesize the stress-resultant field of the plate with each of the stress functions satisfying the biharmonic compatibility equation. The sum of stress-resultant fields due to these two stress functions satisfies the boundary conditions at the edges of the plate, from which these two stress functions are determined. Then, the free vibration and buckling of the rectangular plate are investigated by the Galerkin method. Numerical results obtained by this work are compared with those appeared in the literature, and good agreements are observed.

Keywords: stress analysis, free vibration, plate buckling, nonuniform in-plane edge shear

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Authors: Kharisma Utomo Mulyodinoto, Suwarno, A. Abu-Siada

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Dissolved Gas Analysis is one of impressive technique to detect and predict internal fault of transformers by using gas generated by transformer oil sample. A number of methods are used to interpret the dissolved gas from transformer oil sample: Doernenberg Ratio Method, IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) Ratio Method, and Duval Triangle Method. While the assessment of dissolved gas within transformer oil samples has been standardized over the past two decades, analysis of the results is not always straight forward as it depends on personnel expertise more than mathematical formulas. To get over this limitation, this paper is aimed at improving the interpretation of Doernenberg Ratio Method, IEC Ratio Method, and Duval Triangle Method using Two Stages Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). Dissolved gas analysis data from 520 faulty transformers was analyzed to establish the proposed ANFIS model. Results show that the developed ANFIS model is accurate and can standardize the dissolved gas interpretation process with accuracy higher than 90%.

Keywords: ANFIS, dissolved gas analysis, Doernenberg ratio method, Duval triangular method, IEC ratio method, transformer

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Authors: Zeliha Erdogan, Hatice Torcu Koc

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The fish, Sarpa salpa (L.), is one of the main macroherbivores in the Mediterranean. A total of 600 Salema individuals were collected from around Gökçeada, Sea of Northern Aegean, between January 2014 and January 2015 in order to evaluate some information on the biology of the Salema population. For this aim, measurements of the Salema were obtained using a caliper. The age readings were made from otoliths. The population was composed of 6 age classes (I-VI). The total lengths and total weights of sampled fish were determined to be ranged from 12.5 to 33.1 cm and 33.57 to 559.33 g, respectively. Length-weight relationship for all individuals was calculated as W=0.0085*L3.1723, R2=0.9524. Growth parameters were determined as L∞= 35.55cm, k=0.31, t0= -9.2, '=2.60. As the sexual ratio was 1.08:1 (M: F), the Salema population consisted of 51.66% male and 47.5% female individuals. The highest average condition factors were observed for females in May (1.68) and for males in May (1.67). According to gonad somatic index values, the spawning period was determined twice a year in spring (April) and autumn (October). The highest average hepatosomatix index value was observed for all individuals in May and December. It was estimated that total (Z) mortality, natural (M) mortality, and fishing (F) mortality rates were Z=0.44 year-1, M=0.064 year-1 and F=0.38 year-1, respectively. As the exploitation rate was estimated as E=0.86, it can be shown that the Salema stock was highly influenced by overfishing.

Keywords: biology, sarpa salpa, Gökceada, meadows

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Authors: Sonia Ben Hamza, Sabra Habli, Nejla Mahjoub Said, Hervé Bournot, Georges Le Palec

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In this work, we determine the turbulent dynamic structure of pollutant dispersion in two-phase free surface flow. The numerical simulation was performed using ANSYS Fluent. The flow study is three-dimensional, unsteady and isothermal. The study area has been endowed with a rectangular obstacle to analyze its influence on the hydrodynamic variables and progression of the pollutant. The numerical results show that the hydrodynamic model provides prediction of the dispersion of a pollutant in an open channel flow and reproduces the recirculation and trapping the pollutant downstream near the obstacle.

Keywords: CFD, free surface, polluant dispersion, turbulent flows

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Authors: Zh. Ghasemi, S. Nouri Saeedlou, A. Ghasemi, SL. Nasiri, P. Ayremlou, P. Mahasti

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The use of nisin is successfully used as antibacterial agent in various food products. Although the conclusions of the previous studies were that nisin is not very effective in meat environments. The reduced antimicrobial efficacy of nisin when applied in food has been frequently observed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of free and encapsulated nisin to inhibit the growth of staphylococcus aureus in minced beef. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of nisin is determined against S. aureus using the agar dilution method. Nisin is encapsulated by spray drying, and encapsulation efficiency, mass yield and total solids content values are 47.79%, 61%, and 96.41 respectively. The study in vitro release kinetics shows highest release of nisin from zein capsules is obtained after 72 hour. This work shows that an appropriate delivery system is necessary to obtain desirable effect of nisin in meat and meat product.

Keywords: nisin, encapsulation, Staphylococcus aureus, minced beef, antibacterial activity

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Authors: J. A. Louw Coetzee, Josua P. Meyer

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The thermodynamic properties of different refrigerants in combination with the variation in geometrical properties (hydraulic diameter, aspect ratio, and inclination angle) of a rectangular microchannel determine the two-phase frictional pressure gradient. The effect of aspect ratio on frictional pressure drop had not been investigated enough during adiabatic two-phase flow and condensation in rectangular microchannels. This experimental study was concerned with measurement of the frictional pressure gradient in a rectangular microchannel, with hydraulic diameter of 900 μm. The aspect ratio of this microchannel was varied over a range that stretched from 0.3 to 3 in order to capture the effect of aspect ratio variation. A commonly used refrigerant, R134a, was used in the tests that spanned over a mass flux range of 100 to 1000 kg m-2 s-1 as well as the whole vapour quality range. This study formed part of a refrigerant condensation experiment and was therefore conducted at a saturation temperature of 40 °C. The study found that there was little influence of the aspect ratio on the frictional pressure drop at the test conditions. The data was compared to some of the well known micro- and macro-channel two-phase pressure drop correlations. Most of the separated flow correlations predicted the pressure drop data well at mass fluxes larger than 400 kg m-2 s-1 and vapour qualities above 0.2.

Keywords: aspect ratio, microchannel, two-phase, pressure gradient

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Authors: Imen Debbabi, Hédi BelHadjSalah

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The Improved Element Free Galerkin (IEFG) method is presented to treat the steady states and the transient heat transfer problems. As a result of a combination between the Improved Moving Least Square (IMLS) approximation and the Element Free Galerkin (EFG) method, the IEFG's shape functions don't have the Kronecker delta property and the penalty method is used to impose the Dirichlet boundary conditions. In this paper, two heat transfer problems, transient and steady states, are studied to improve the efficiency of this meshfree method for 2D heat transfer problems. The performance of the IEFG method is shown using the comparison between numerical and analytic results.

Keywords: meshfree methods, the Improved Moving Least Square approximation (IMLS), the Improved Element Free Galerkin method (IEFG), heat transfer problems

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Authors: Ozioma Beauty Nwaodu, Adebowale E Salako, Omolara Mabel Akinyemi, Nkechi Uche, Isuama Isu, Uchechi Jane Elechi

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Goats form an integral part of livestock production in the tropics. Meat potential is determined subjectively by resource poor livestock keepers, using hand to measure the rump width (RW). Objective evaluation of meat potential in different breads of goats can overcome problems associated with subjective evaluation. Hence, the objectives were to predict meatiness in Red Sokoto (RS), Sahel and the West African Dwarf (WAD) goats, using product of the body length (BL), wither height (WH) and (RW) and to indicate the inherent size of each breed, using WH: BL ratio. These three parameters were used because they are less environmentally sensitive. A total of 2849 goats were sampled purposefully from the Akinyele and Oranyan markets in Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria. RS showed no significant difference for BL and WH but different from the RW of both sexes (p < 0.01). Similarly WAD showed no significant difference for the BL and WH, but differed (p < 0.01) between sexes for RW. Using the ANOVA, BL:WH ratio showed no significant difference between the breeds. WAD goats have the highest mean for BL:WH ratio. Western meat livestock is primarily identified using BL:WH. The combinations of these body parameters as indicator for meat type in meat animals showed that WAD goat has more potential to lay down meat, than RS and Sahel.

Keywords: quantitative, morphologial traits, descriptive analysis, goats

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: A. Benmerkhi, A. Bounouioua, M. Bouchemat, T. Bouchemat

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In this paper, we present a numerical optical properties of a triangular periodic lattice of elliptical air holes. We report the influence of the ratio (semi-major axis length of elliptical hole to the filling ratio) on the photonic band gap. Then by using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) algorithm, the resonant wavelength of the point defect microcavities in a two-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) shifts towards the low wavelengths with significantly increased filing ratio. It can be noted that the Q factor is gradually changed to higher when the filling ratio increases. It is due to an increase in reflectivity of the PC mirror. Also we theoretically investigate the H1 cavity, where the value of semi-major axis (Rx) of the six holes surrounding the cavity are fixed at 0.5a and the Rx of the two edge air holes are fixed at the optimum value of 0.52a. The highest Q factor of 4.1359 × 10⁶ is achieved at the resonant mode located at λ = 1.4970 µm.

Keywords: photonic crystal, microcavity, filling ratio, elliptical holes

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Authors: Jeonghun Lee

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In this study, we investigated the relationship between stress and thyroid dysfunction in such patients who underwent thyroidectomy. This study included 101 patients who underwent thyroidectomy from January 2015 to June 2020 and experienced hypothyroidism. The included patients had good drug compliance with the same dosage of levothyroxine (LT4). The male-to-female ratio was 1:4.6, and the mean age was 45.4 years at surgery and 50.2 years at stressful events. Eighteen patients underwent lobectomies and, of these, 12 did not take LT4. The mean follow-up period was 49(8-93) months. Statistical analyses were performed using the paired t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and McNemer test using PROC MIXED with SAS 9.4. Forty-five patients (44.6%) had hypothyroidism with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) >10 μIU/mL. There was distress in 81 patients and eustress in 10 patients. TSH levels increased during a mean 5.8 months (min 1, max 12) in 24 patients who specified the date of their life events. Even though each patient took the same dose of LT4, when the patients were under stress, both the free T4 and T3 decreased and TSH increased, regardless of whether the patient experienced distress or eustress (P <0.001). While adjusting for the effect of the free T4 and T3, TSH increased significantly in the patients after stress (P <0.001). For patients with thyroid cancer who are simultaneously experiencing life events, TSH may be used as a stress biomarker to enable the implementation of appropriate treatment and counseling strategies.

Keywords: endocrine, thyroid, thyroid function, biomarker, stress

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Authors: Gao Qin, Hu Liwei, Dong Xiangzhou, Zhu Qifa, Cheng Tingming, Zhao Limei, Yang Mengmeng, Zhai Zhen, Dai Huaxin, Liang Taibo, Zhang Shixiang, Xue Chaoqun

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The functional strain T976 for starch degradation was isolated from Nicotiana tabacum L. Yunyan 97 tobacco leaves, the ratio of starch hydrolysis transparent circle diameter to colony diameter of the strain was 4.14, 16S rDNA sequencing identified these strains as Enterobacter ludwigii. Then Enterobacter ludwigii T976 was fermented and spaying Yunyan 97 plant in vigorous growing stage. The results of once spraying fermentation broth of Enterobacter ludwigii T976 showed that starch content of upper leaves decreased slightly, from 3.77% to 3.1%, the reducing sugar content increased from 4.39% to 5.53%, and the total sugar content increased from 5.82% to 7.39%. The chemical content was also checked after three time spraying. The starch content of middle leaves decreased from 5.63% to 3.74%, while the content of total sugar and reducing sugar decreased slightly. And the starch content of upper leaves decreased from 7.62% to 4.78%, the total sugar and reducing sugar decreased slightly, and starch content of middle leaf decreased from 6.27% to 3.62%, the total sugar and reducing sugar did not change much, and other chemical components were in a suitable range.

Keywords: nicotiana tabacum, yunyan 97, leaf, starch, degradation, enterobacter ludwigii

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Authors: Ghada Diaa, Enas A. Khattab

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Ultra High Strength Concrete (UHSC) is a new advanced concrete that is being transferred from laboratory researches to practicable applications. In addition to its excellent durability properties, UHSC has high compressive and tensile strengths, and high modulus of elasticity. Despite of this low degree of hydration, ultra high strength values can be achieved by controlling the mixture proportions. In this research, an experimental program was carried out to investigate the shear behavior of ultra high strength concrete beams. A total of nine beams were tested to determine the effect of different parameters on the shear behavior of UHSC beams. The parameters include concrete strength, steel fiber volume, shear span to depth ratio, and web reinforcement ratio. The results demonstrated that nominal shear stress at cracking load and at ultimate load increased with the increase of concrete strength or the decrease in shear span-depth ratio. Using steel fibers or shear reinforcement increases the ultimate shear strength and makes the shear behavior more ductile. In this study, a simplified analytical model to calculate the shear strength of UHSC beams is introduced. Shear strength estimated according to the proposed method in this research is in good agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords: ultra high strength, shear strength, diagonal, cracking, steel fibers

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Authors: Jin-Hyeong Park, Hong-Seok Kim, Jin-Hyeok Yim, Young-Ji Kim, Dong-Hyeon Kim, Jung-Whan Chon, Kun-Ho Seo

Abstract:

Salmonella contamination in chicken samples can cause major health problems in humans. However, not only the effects of antibiotic treatment during growth but also the impacts of poultry slaughter line on the prevalence of Salmonella in final chicken meat sold to consumers are unknown. In this study, we compared the isolation rates and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella between antibiotic-free, conventional, conventional Korean native retail chicken meat samples and clonal divergence of Salmonella isolates by multilocus sequence typing. In addition, the distribution of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) genes in ESBL-producing Salmonella isolates was analyzed. A total of 72 retail chicken meat samples (n = 24 antibiotic-free broiler [AFB] chickens, n = 24 conventional broiler [CB] chickens, and n = 24 conventional Korean native [CK] chickens) were collected from local retail markets in Seoul, South Korea. The isolation rates of Salmonella were 66.6% in AFB chickens, 45.8% in CB chickens, and 25% in CK chickens. By analyzing the minimum inhibitory concentrations of β -lactam antibiotics with the disc-diffusion test, we found that 81.2% of Salmonella isolates from AFB chickens, 63.6% of isolates from CB chickens, and 50% of isolates from CK chickens were ESBL producers; all ESBL-positive isolates had the CTX-M-15 genotype. Interestingly, all ESBL-producing Salmonella were revealed as ST16 by multilocus sequence typing. In addition, all CTX-M-15-positive isolates had the genetic platform of blaCTX-M gene (IS26-ISEcp1-blaCTX-M-15-IS903), to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in Salmonella around the world. The Salmonella ST33 strain (S. Hadar) isolated in this study has never been reported in South Korea. In conclusion, our findings showed that antibiotic-free retail chicken meat products were also largely contaminated with ESBL-producing Salmonella and that their ESBL genes and genetic platforms were the same as those isolated from conventional retail chicken meat products.

Keywords: antibiotic-free poultry, conventional poultry, multilocus sequence typing, extended-spectrum β-lactamase, antimicrobial resistance

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Authors: B. V. Lande, Suhas Kongare

Abstract:

Fuel blend of alcohol and conventional hydrocarbon fuels for a spark ignition engine can increase the fuel octane rating and the power for a given engine displacement and compression ratio. The greatest advantage of ethanol as a fuel in SI Engines is its high octane number. The efficiency of an SI engine that is the ability to convert fuel energy to mechanical energy, mainly depends on the compression ratio. It is, therefore, an advantage to increase this as much as possible. The major restraint is the fuel octane number – high octane fuels can be used with high compression ratios, thus yielding higher energy efficiency. This work investigates to suggest suitable ethanol gasoline blend and compression ratio for single cylinder four strokes SI Engine on the basis of performance and exhaust emissions. A single cylinder four stroke SI Engine was tested with different blend of ethanol – gasoline like E5 (5% ethanol +95% gasoline), E10 (10% ethanol + 90% gasoline) E15 (15% ethanol + 85% petrol) and E20 ( 20% + 80% gasoline) with Variable compression ratio. The performance parameter evaluated BSFC, Brake thermal efficiency and also exhaust emission CO2, Co & HC%. The result showed that higher compression ratio improved engine Performance and reduction in exhaust emission.

Keywords: blend, compression ratio, ethanol, performance, blend

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Authors: Ho Yuan-Hong, Huang Chiung-Ju

Abstract:

This study conducts simulation analyses to find the optimal debt ceiling of Taiwan, while factoring in welfare maximization under a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium framework. The simulation is based on Taiwan's 2001 to 2011 economic data and shows that welfare is maximized at a "debt"⁄"GDP" ratio of 0.2, increases in the "debt"⁄"GDP " ratio leads to increases in both tax and interest rates and decreases in the consumption ratio and working hours. The study results indicate that the optimal debt ceiling of Taiwan is 20% of GDP, where if the "debt"⁄"GDP" ratio is greater than 40%, the welfare will be negative and result in welfare loss.

Keywords: debt sustainability, optimal debt ceiling, dynamic stochastic general equilibrium, welfare maximization

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Authors: Q. Ni, J. A. Serna, D. Holland, X. Wang

Abstract:

The objective of this study is to develop Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques to enhance bone related research applied on normal and disuse (Biglycan knockout) mice bone in vitro by using both low-field and high-field NMR simultaneously. It is known that the total amplitude of T₂ relaxation envelopes, measured by the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill NMR spin echo train (CPMG), is a representation of the liquid phase inside the pores. Therefore, the NMR CPMG magnetization amplitude can be transferred to the volume of water after calibration with the NMR signal amplitude of the known volume of the selected water. In this study, the distribution of mobile water, porosity that can be determined by using low-field (20 MHz) CPMG relaxation technique, and the pore size distributions can be determined by a computational inversion relaxation method. It is also known that the total proton intensity of magnetization from the NMR free induction decay (FID) signal is due to the water present inside the pores (mobile water), the water that has undergone hydration with the bone (bound water), and the protons in the collagen and mineral matter (solid-like protons). Therefore, the components of total mobile and bound water within bone that can be determined by low-field NMR free induction decay technique. Furthermore, the bound water in solid phase (mineral and organic constituents), especially, the dominated component of calcium hydroxyapatite (Ca₁₀(OH)₂(PO₄)₆) can be determined by using high-field (400 MHz) magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR. With MAS technique reducing NMR spectral linewidth inhomogeneous broadening and susceptibility broadening of liquid-solid mix, in particular, we can conduct further research into the ¹H and ³¹P elements and environments of bone materials to identify the locations of bound water such as OH- group within minerals and bone architecture. We hypothesize that with low-field and high-field magic angle spinning NMR can provide a more complete interpretation of water distribution, particularly, in bound water, and these data are important to access bone quality and predict the mechanical behavior of bone.

Keywords: bone, mice bone, NMR, water in bone

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Authors: R. Chanajaree, D. Luanwiset, K. Pongpratea

Abstract:

Dye removal is an environmental concern because the textile industries have been increasing by world population and industrialization. Adsorption is the technique to find adsorbents to remove dyes from wastewater. This method is low-cost and effective for dye removal. This work tries to develop effective adsorbents using the computational approach because it will be able to predict the possibility of the adsorbents for specific dyes in terms of binding free energies. The computational approach is faster and cheaper than the experimental approach in case of finding the best adsorbents. All starting structures of dyes and adsorbents are optimized by quantum calculation. The complexes between dyes and adsorbents are generated by the docking method. The obtained binding free energies from docking are compared to binding free energies from the experimental data. The calculated energies can be ranked as same as the experimental results. In addition, this work also shows the possible orientation of the complexes. This work used two experimental groups of the complexes of the dyes and adsorbents. In the first group, there are chitosan (adsorbent) and two dyes (reactive red (RR) and direct sun yellow (DY)). In the second group, there are poly(1,2-epoxy-3-phenoxy) propane (PEPP), which is the adsorbent, and 2 dyes of bromocresol green (BCG) and alizarin yellow (AY).

Keywords: dyes removal, binding free energies, quantum calculation, docking

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Authors: Fatma H. Galal, Alaaeddeen M. Seufi

Abstract:

Due to the increasing usage of mobile phone, experiments were designed to investigate ‎the effect of acute dose exposure on the mosquito life cycle. 50 tubes (5 ml size) ‎containing 3 ml water and a first instar larva of the mosquito, Culex univittatus were put ‎between two mobile cell phones switched on talking mode for 4 continuous hours. A ‎control group of tubes (unexposed to radiation) were used. Larval and pupal durations ‎were calculated. Furthermore, adult emergence and sex ratio were observed for both ‎treated and control larvae. Results indicated that the employed dose of radiation reduced ‎total larval duration to about half the value of control. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th larval ‎durations were reduced significantly by mobile radiation when compared to controls. ‎Meanwhile pupal duration was elongated significantly by mobile radiation when ‎compared to control. Sex ratio was significantly shifted in favor of females in the case of ‎radiated mosquitoes. Successful adult emergence was decreased significantly in the case ‎of radiated insects when compared to controls. Molecular studies to investigate the ‎effects of mobile radiation on insects and other model organisms are going on.‎

Keywords: mosquito, mobilr radiation, larval and pupal durations, sex ratio

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Authors: Maria Alekxandra B. Sison, Reginald C. Mallare, Joseph Albert M. Mendoza

Abstract:

Ammonia (NH₃) is the alternative carbon-free fuel of the future for its promising applications. Investigations on NH₃-fuel blends recommend using hydrogen (H₂) to increase the heating value of NH3, promote combustion performance, and improve NOx efflux mitigation. To further examine the effects of this concept, the study analyzed the combustion performance, in terms of turbulence, combustion efficiency (CE), and NOx emissions, of NH3/fuel with variations of combustor diameter ratio, H2 fuel mole fraction, and fuel mass flow rate (ṁ). The simulations were performed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling to represent a non-premixed (NP) and partially premixed (PP) combustion under a two-dimensional ultra-low NOx Rich-Burn, Quick-Quench, Lean-Burn (RQL) combustor. Governed by the Detached Eddy Simulation model, it was found that the diameter ratio greatly affects the turbulence in PP and NP mode, whereas ṁ in PP should be prioritized when increasing CE. The NOx emission is minimal during PP combustion, but NP combustion suggested modifying ṁ to achieve higher CE and Reynolds number without sacrificing the NO generation from the reaction.

Keywords: combustion efficiency, turbulence, dual-stage combustor, NOx emission

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Authors: Kenichiro Hida, Shin-Ichi Kuribayashi

Abstract:

In a conventional network, most network devices, such as routers, are dedicated devices that do not have much variation in capacity. In recent years, a new concept of network functions virtualisation (NFV) has come into use. The intention is to implement a variety of network functions with software on general-purpose servers and this allows the network operator to select their capacities and locations without any constraints. This paper focuses on the allocation of NFV-based routing functions which are one of critical network functions, and presents the virtual routing function allocation algorithm that minimizes the total power consumption. In addition, this study presents the useful allocation policy of virtual routing functions, based on an evaluation with a ladder-shaped network model. This policy takes the ratio of the power consumption of a routing function to that of a circuit and traffic distribution between areas into consideration. Furthermore, the present paper shows that there are cases where the use of NFV-based routing functions makes it possible to reduce the total power consumption dramatically, in comparison to a conventional network, in which it is not economically viable to distribute small-capacity routing functions.

Keywords: NFV, resource allocation, virtual routing function, minimum power consumption

Procedia PDF Downloads 312