Search results for: shape and texture fusion

Authors: Iulianna Taritsa, Kuldeep Neote, Eric Fossel

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Lysosome-induced immunogenic cell death (LIICD) is a powerful mechanism of targeting cancer cells that kills circulating malignant cells and primes the host’s immune cells against future remission. Current immunotherapies for cancer are limited in preventing recurrence – a gap that can be bridged by training the immune system to recognize cancer neoantigens. Lysosomal leakage can be induced therapeutically to traffic antigens from dying cells to dendritic cells, which can later present those tumorigenic antigens to T cells. Previous research has shown that oxidative agents administered in the tumor microenvironment can initiate LIICD. We generated a fusion protein between an oxidative agent known as xanthine oxidase (XO) and a mini-antibody specific for EGFR/HER2-sensitive breast tumor cells. The anti-EGFR single domain antibody fragment is uniquely sourced from llama, which is functional without the presence of a light chain. These llama micro-antibodies have been shown to be better able to penetrate tissues and have improved physicochemical stability as compared to traditional monoclonal antibodies. We demonstrate that the fusion protein created is stable and can induce early markers of immunogenic cell death in an in vitro human breast cancer cell line (SkBr3). Specifically, we measured overall cell death, as well as surface-expressed calreticulin, extracellular ATP release, and HMGB1 production. These markers are consensus indicators of ICD. Flow cytometry, luminescence assays, and ELISA were used respectively to quantify biomarker levels between treated versus untreated cells. We also included a positive control group of SkBr3 cells dosed with doxorubicin (a known inducer of LIICD) and a negative control dosed with cisplatin (a known inducer of cell death, but not of the immunogenic variety). We looked at each marker at various time points after cancer cells were treated with the XO/antibody fusion protein, doxorubicin, and cisplatin. Upregulated biomarkers after treatment with the fusion protein indicate an immunogenic response. We thus show the potential for this fusion protein to induce an anticancer effect paired with an adaptive immune response against EGFR/HER2+ cells. Our research in human cell lines here provides evidence for the success of the same therapeutic method for patients and serves as the gateway to developing a new treatment approach against breast cancer.

Keywords: apoptosis, breast cancer, immunogenic cell death, lysosome

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Authors: YU Kaijun, Liang Dong, Zhang Yarong, Jin Zhenzhou, Yang Zhaobao

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For the impact monitoring of distributed structures, the traditional positioning methods are based on the time difference, which includes the four-point arc positioning method and the triangulation positioning method. But in the actual operation, these two methods have errors. In this paper, the Multi-Agent Blackboard Coordination Principle is used to combine the two methods. Fusion steps: (1) The four-point arc locating agent calculates the initial point and records it to the Blackboard Module.(2) The triangulation agent gets its initial parameters by accessing the initial point.(3) The triangulation agent constantly accesses the blackboard module to update its initial parameters, and it also logs its calculated point into the blackboard.(4) When the subsequent calculation point and the initial calculation point are within the allowable error, the whole coordination fusion process is finished. This paper presents a Multi-Agent collaboration method whose agent framework is JADE. The JADE platform consists of several agent containers, with the agent running in each container. Because of the perfect management and debugging tools of the JADE, it is very convenient to deal with complex data in a large structure. Finally, based on the data in Jade, the results show that the impact location method based on Multi-Agent coordination fusion can reduce the error of the two methods.

Keywords: impact monitoring, structural health monitoring(SHM), multi-agent system(MAS), black-board coordination, JADE

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Authors: Khadra Ahmed, Khaled Kheireldin

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In this paper, we present a pedestrian detection descriptor called Fused Structure and Texture (FST) features based on the combination of the local phase information with the texture features. Since the phase of the signal conveys more structural information than the magnitude, the phase congruency concept is used to capture the structural features. On the other hand, the Center-Symmetric Local Binary Pattern (CSLBP) approach is used to capture the texture information of the image. The dimension less quantity of the phase congruency and the robustness of the CSLBP operator on the flat images, as well as the blur and illumination changes, lead the proposed descriptor to be more robust and less sensitive to the light variations. The proposed descriptor can be formed by extracting the phase congruency and the CSLBP values of each pixel of the image with respect to its neighborhood. The histogram of the oriented phase and the histogram of the CSLBP values for the local regions in the image are computed and concatenated to construct the FST descriptor. Several experiments were conducted on INRIA and the low resolution DaimlerChrysler datasets to evaluate the detection performance of the pedestrian detection system that is based on the FST descriptor. A linear Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used to train the pedestrian classifier. These experiments showed that the proposed FST descriptor has better detection performance over a set of state of the art feature extraction methodologies.

Keywords: planktons, diversity indices, water quality index, water ways

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Authors: Yin-Ching Keung, Kit-Lun Yick

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The issue of bra fitting has persisted throughout history despite advancements in molded bra cups. To gain a deeper understanding of the interaction between the breast and bra pattern, this study combines the art of traditional bra patternmaking with 3D body scanning technology. By employing a 2D bra pattern drafting method and analyzing the effect of body shape on the desired bra cup shape, the study focuses on the differentiation of the lower cup among bras designed for flat and round body-shaped breasts. The results shed light on the impact of body shape on bra fit and provide valuable insights for further research and improvements in bra design, pattern drafting, and fit. The integration of 3D body scanning technology enhances the accuracy and precision of measurements, allowing for a more comprehensive analysis of the unique contours and dimensions of the breast and body. Ultimately, the study aims to provide individuals with different body shapes a more comfortable and well-fitted bra-wearing experience, contributing to the ongoing efforts to alleviate the longstanding problem of bra fitting.

Keywords: breast shapes, bra fitting, 3D body scanning, bra patternmaking

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Authors: Ons Slimene, Aroua Taamallah, Maha Khemaja

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In recent years, human activity recognition (HAR) has been a key area of research due to its diverse applications. It has garnered increasing attention in the field of computer vision. HAR plays an important role in people’s daily lives as it has the ability to learn advanced knowledge about human activities from data. In HAR, activities are usually represented by exploiting different types of sensors, such as embedded sensors or visual sensors. However, these sensors have limitations, such as local obstacles, image-related obstacles, sensor unreliability, and consumer concerns. Recently, several deep learning-based approaches have been proposed for HAR and these approaches are classified into two categories based on the type of data used: vision-based approaches and sensor-based approaches. This research paper highlights the importance of multimodal data fusion from skeleton data obtained from videos and data generated by embedded sensors using deep neural networks for achieving HAR. We propose a deep multimodal fusion network based on a twostream architecture. These two streams use the Convolutional Neural Network combined with the Bidirectional LSTM (CNN BILSTM) to process skeleton data and data generated by embedded sensors and the fusion at the feature level is considered. The proposed model was evaluated on a public OPPORTUNITY++ dataset and produced a accuracy of 96.77%.

Keywords: human activity recognition, action recognition, sensors, vision, human-centric sensing, deep learning, context-awareness

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Authors: M. L. Anitha, K. A. Radhakrishna Rao

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With the advent of modern computing technology, there is an increased demand for developing recognition systems that have the capability of verifying the identity of individuals. Recognition systems are required by several civilian and commercial applications for providing access to secured resources. Traditional recognition systems which are based on physical identities are not sufficiently reliable to satisfy the security requirements due to the use of several advances of forgery and identity impersonation methods. Recognizing individuals based on his/her unique physiological characteristics known as biometric traits is a reliable technique, since these traits are not transferable and they cannot be stolen or lost. Since the performance of biometric based recognition system depends on the particular trait that is utilized, the present work proposes a fusion approach which combines Inner knuckle print (IKP) trait of the middle, ring and index fingers with the geometrical features of hand. The hand image captured from a digital camera is preprocessed to find finger IKP as region of interest (ROI) and hand geometry features. Geometrical features are represented as the distances between different key points and IKP features are extracted by applying local binary pattern descriptor on the IKP ROI. The decision level AND fusion was adopted, which has shown improvement in performance of the combined scheme. The proposed approach is tested on the database collected at our institute. Proposed approach is of significance since both hand geometry and IKP features can be extracted from the palm region of the hand. The fusion of these features yields a false acceptance rate of 0.75%, false rejection rate of 0.86% for verification tests conducted, which is less when compared to the results obtained using individual traits. The results obtained confirm the usefulness of proposed approach and suitability of the selected features for developing biometric based recognition system based on features from palmar region of hand.

Keywords: biometrics, hand geometry features, inner knuckle print, recognition

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Authors: Ssu-Han Chen, Der-Baau Perng

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Molding process in IC manufacturing secures chips against the harms done by hot, moisture or other external forces. While a chip was being molded, defects like cracks, dilapidation, or voids may be embedding on the molding surface. The molding surfaces the study poises to treat and the ones on the market, though, differ in the surface where texture similar to defects is everywhere. Manual inspection usually passes over low-contrast cracks or voids; hence an automatic optical inspection system for molding surface is necessary. The proposed system is consisted of a CCD, a coaxial light, a back light as well as a motion control unit. Based on the property of statistical textures of the molding surface, a series of digital image processing and classification procedure is carried out. After training of the parameter associated with above algorithm, result of the experiment suggests that the accuracy rate is up to 93.75%, contributing to the inspection quality of IC molding surface.

Keywords: molding surface, machine vision, statistical texture, discrete Fourier transformation

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Authors: L. R. Valencia Pérez, J. M. Peña Aguilar, Valencia Pérez, Héctor Fernando, Lamadrid A. Alberto, Vivanco V. Martín

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Cosmology is a discipline commonly linked to philosophy. In this work, we show cosmology, from a perspective that can provide some proposals to help develop SMB in Mexico. We start from the belief that, in a complex world, the solutions to problems must nurture from different approaches. In order to be able to do this, we need to change our point of reference and use theoretical proposals and methodologies that came from other disciplines; in this case, we will try to show that between philosophy and administration exist dialogs that need to be incentivized. The work is structured in three parts. In the first one, we create a description of cosmology and how it could be applied to business. In the second, we show some of the most common problems that the SMB suffer from and in the third, we present a proposal of how cosmology can help improve the development. Finally, we concluded that better understanding of real needs, integration of knowledge at large scale and using information technologies within the cosmology framework presentment could make a difference.

Keywords: harmonic fusion, national sustainability, financial management, triple helix

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Authors: Pedro Henrique Alves Martins, Paulo Guilherme Ferreira De Siqueira, Franco De Castro Bubani, Maria Teresa Paulino Aguilar, Paulo Roberto Cetlin

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Cu-base shape-memory alloys (CuZnAl, CuAlNi, CuAlBe, etc.) are promising engineering materials for several unconventional devices, such as sensors, actuators, and mechanical vibration dampers. Brittleness is one of the factors that limit the commercial use of these alloys, as it makes thermomechanical processing difficult. In this work, a method for the hot extrusion of a 75.50% Cu, 16,74% Zn, 7,76% Al (weight %) alloy is presented. The effects of the thermomechanical processing in the microstructure and the pseudoelastic behavior of the alloy are assessed by optical metallography, compression and hardness tests. Results show that hot extrusion is a suitable method to obtain severe cross-section reductions in the CuZnAl shape-memory alloy studied. The alloy maintained its pseudoelastic effect after the extrusion and the modifications in the mechanical behavior caused by precipitation during hot extrusion can be minimized by a suitable precipitate dissolution heat treatment.

Keywords: hot extrusion, pseudoelastic, shape-memory alloy, thermomechanical processing

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Authors: Sneha Samal, Iva Petrikova, Bohdana Marvalova

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Influence of grain size, shape and grain boundary diffusion at high temperature oxidation of pure metal is investigated as the function of microstructure evolution in this article. The oxidized scale depends on the geometrical parameter of the metal-scale system and grain shape, size, diffusion through boundary layers and influence of the contamination. The creation of the inner layer and the morphological structure develops from the internal stress generated during the growth of the scale. The oxidation rate depends on the cation and anion mobile transport of the metal in the inward and outward direction of the diffusion layer. Oxidation rate decreases with decreasing the grain size of the pure metal, whereas zinc deviates from this principle. A strong correlation between the surface roughness evolution, grain size, crystalline properties and oxidation mechanism of the oxidized metal was established.

Keywords: high temperature oxidation, pure metals, grain size, shape and grain boundary

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Authors: Lourdes Yareth Herrera-Chavez, Alberto Ruiz, Victor H. Lopez

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Superalloys are used in components that operate at high temperatures such as pressure vessels and heat exchanger tubing. Design standards for these components must consider creep resistance among other criteria. Fusion welding processes are commonly used in the industry to join such components. Fusion processes commonly generate three distinctive zones, i.e. heat affected zone (HAZ), namely weld metal (WM) and base metal (BM). In nickel-based superalloy, the microstructure developed during fusion welding dictates the mechanical response of the welded component and it is very important to establish these effects in the mechanical response of the component. In this work, two plates of Inconel 600 superalloy were Gas Metal Arc Welded (GMAW). Creep samples were cut and milled to specifications and creep tested at a temperature (650 °C) using stress level of 350, 300, 275, 250 and 200 MPa. Microstructural analysis results showed a progressive creep damage evolution that depends on the stress levels with a preferential accumulation of creep damage at the heat affected zone where the creep rupture preferentially occurs owing to an austenitic matrix with grain boundary precipitated of the type Cr23C6. The fractured surfaces showed dimple patterns of cavity and voids. Results indicated that the damage mechanism is due to cavity growth by the combined effect of the power law and diffusion creep.

Keywords: austenitic microstructure, creep damage evolution, heat affected zone, vickers microhardness

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Authors: Rio Hirakawa, Christian Gundlach, Sven Hartwig

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Aluminium has been used in a wide range of industrial applications due to its numerous advantages, including excellent specific strength, thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, workability and recyclability. The automotive industry is increasingly adopting multi-materials, including aluminium in structures and components to improve the mechanical usability and performance of individual components. A common method for assembling dissimilar materials is mechanical joining, but mechanical joining requires multiple manufacturing steps, affects the mechanical properties of the base material and increases the weight due to additional metal parts. Fusion bonding is being used in more and more industries as a way of avoiding the above drawbacks. Infusion bonding, and surface pre-treatment of the base material is essential to ensure the long-life durability of the joint. Laser surface treatment of aluminium has been shown to improve the durability of the joint by forming a passive oxide film and roughening the substrate surface. Infusion bonding, the polymer bonds directly to the metal instead of the adhesive, but the sensitivity to interfacial contamination is higher due to the chemical activity and molecular size of the polymer. Laser-treated surfaces are expected to absorb impurities from the storage atmosphere over time, but the effect of such changes in the treated surface over time on the durability of fusion-bonded joints has not yet been fully investigated. In this paper, the effect of the ageing of laser-treated surfaces of aluminum alloys on the corrosion resistance of fusion-bonded joints is therefore investigated. AlMg3 of 1.5 mm thickness was cut using a water-jet cutting machine, cleaned and degreased with isopropanol and surface pre-treated with a pulsed fiber laser at a wavelength of 1060 nm, maximum power of 70 W and repetition rate of 55 kHz. The aluminum surfaces were then stored in air for various periods of time and their corrosion resistance was assessed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). For the aluminum joints, induction heating was employed as the fusion bonding method and single-lap shear specimens were prepared. The corrosion resistance of the joints was assessed by measuring the lap shear strength before and after neutral salt spray. Cross-sectional observations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were also carried out to investigate changes in the microstructure of the bonded interface. Finally, the corrosion resistance of the surface and the joint were compared and the differences in the mechanisms of corrosion resistance enhancement between the two were discussed.

Keywords: laser surface treatment, pre-treatment, bonding, corrosion, durability, interface, automotive, aluminium alloys, joint, fusion bonding

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Authors: H. G. Noh, H. G. Park, B. S. Kang, J. Kim

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Electromagnetic forming process (EMF) is one of high-velocity forming processes using Lorentz force. Advantages of EMF are summarized as improvement of formability, reduction in wrinkling, non-contact forming. In this study, numerical simulations were conducted to determine the practical parameters for EMF process. A 2-D axis-symmetric electromagnetic model was considered based on the spiral type forming coil. In the numerical simulation, RLC circuit coupled with spiral coil was made to consider the design parameters such as system input current and electromagnetic force. In order to deform the sheet in the patter shape die, two types of spiral shape coil were considered to deform the pattern shape sheet. One is a spiral coil that has 6turns with dead zone at centre point. Another is a normal spiral coil without dead zone that has 8 turns. In the electric analysis, input current and magnetic force were compared and then plastic deformation was treated in the mechanical analysis for two coil cases. Deformation behaviour of dead zone coil case has good agreement with pattern shape die. As a result, deformation behaviour could be controlled by giving dead zone at centre of the coil in spiral shape coil case.

Keywords: electromagnetic forming, spiral coil, Lorentz force, manufacturing

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Authors: Chang-Hsing Lee, Cheng-Chang Lien, Chin-Chuan Han

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In this paper, an edge-strength guided multiscale retinex (EGMSR) approach will be proposed for color image contrast enhancement. In EGMSR, the pixel-dependent weight associated with each pixel in the single scale retinex output image is computed according to the edge strength around this pixel in order to prevent from over-enhancing the noises contained in the smooth dark/bright regions. Further, by fusing together the enhanced results of EGMSR and adaptive multiscale retinex (AMSR), we can get a natural fused image having high contrast and proper tonal rendition. Experimental results on several low-contrast images have shown that our proposed approach can produce natural and appealing enhanced images.

Keywords: image enhancement, multiscale retinex, image fusion, EGMSR

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Authors: Reza Abbasi, Ahmad Hamidi Benam

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Shell structures have many geometrical variables that modify some of these parameters to improve the mechanical behavior of the shell. On the other hand, the behavior of such structures depends on their geometry rather than on mass. Optimization techniques are useful in finding the geometrical shape of shell structures to improve mechanical behavior, especially to prevent or reduce bending anchors. The overall objective of this research is to optimize the shape of concrete shells using the thickness and height parameters along the reference curve and the overall shape of this curve. To implement the proposed scheme, the geometry of the structure was formulated using nonlinear curves. Shell optimization was performed under equivalent static loading conditions using the modified bird community algorithm. The results of this optimization show that without disrupting the initial design and with slight changes in the shell geometry, the structural behavior is significantly improved.

Keywords: concrete shells, shape optimization, spinless curves, modified particle community algorithm

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Authors: Rim Frikha, Nouha Bouayed Abdelmoula, Afifa Sellami, Salima Daoud, Tarek Rebai

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Klippel-Feil Syndrome (KFS) is characterized by congenital vertebral fusion of the cervical spine resulting from faulty segmentation along the embryo's developing axis. A wide spectrum of associated anomalies may be present. This heterogeneity has complicated elucidation of the genetic etiology and management of the syndrome. We report a case of an isolated Klippel-Feil Syndrome with C5-C6 fusion on the cervical spine. It‘s the rarest form of congenital fused cervical vertebrae which is predisposed to the risk of spinal cord injury and neurologic problems. The aim of this paper was to review clinical heterogeneity; radiographic abnormalities and genetic etiology in Klippel-Feil Syndrome. We insist in comprehensive evaluation and delineation of diagnostic and prognostic classes.

Keywords: Klippel–Feil anomaly, genetic, clinical heterogeneity, radiographic abnormalities

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Authors: Ahmed Cherif Megri, HossamEldin ElSherif

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In a power plant, the header pipe plays a pivotal role in optimizing the performance of diverse systems by serving as a central conduit for the collection and distribution of steam within the plant. This paper investigates the significance of header pipes within power plant setups, highlighting their critical influence on reliability, efficiency, and the performance of the power plant as a whole. The concept of shape optimization emerges as a crucial factor in power plant design and operation, with the potential to maximize performance while minimizing the use of materials. Shape optimization not only enhances efficiency but also contributes to reducing the environmental footprint of power plant installations. In this paper, we initially developed a methodology designed for optimizing header shapes with the primary goal of reducing the usage of costly new alloy materials and lowering the overall maintenance operation expenses. Secondly, we conducted a case study based on an authentic header sourced from an operational power plant.

Keywords: shape optimization, header, power plant, inconel alloy, CFD, structural optimization

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Authors: Ugochukwu Ejike Akpudo, Jank-Wook Hur

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The increasing demand for improved productivity, maintainability, and reliability has prompted rapidly increasing research studies on the emerging condition-based maintenance concept- Prognostics and health management (PHM). Varieties of fuel pumps serve critical functions in several hydraulic systems; hence, their failure can have daunting effects on productivity, safety, etc. The need for condition monitoring and assessment of these pumps cannot be overemphasized, and this has led to the uproar in research studies on standard feature extraction techniques for optimized condition assessment of fuel pumps. By extracting time-based, frequency-based and the more robust time-frequency based features from these vibrational signals, a more comprehensive feature assessment (and selection) can be achieved for a more accurate and reliable condition assessment of these pumps. With the aid of emerging deep classification and regression algorithms like the locally linear embedding (LLE), we propose a method for comprehensive condition assessment of electromagnetic fuel pumps (EMFPs). Results show that the LLE as a comprehensive feature extraction technique yields better feature fusion/dimensionality reduction results for condition assessment of EMFPs against the use of single features. Also, unlike other feature fusion techniques, its capabilities as a fault classification technique were explored, and the results show an acceptable accuracy level using standard performance metrics for evaluation.

Keywords: electromagnetic fuel pumps, comprehensive feature extraction, condition assessment, locally linear embedding, feature fusion

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Authors: Sundaresan Soundararajan, George Ezekiel Silvananthan, Chor Ngee Tan

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Introduction: Transforaminal Interbody Fusion (TLIF) has been adopted for many decades now, however, XLIF, still in relative infancy, has grown to be accepted as a new Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) option. There is a paucity of reports directly comparing lateral approach surgery to other MIS options such as TLIF in the treatment of lumbar degenerative disc diseases. Aims/Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and clinical outcomes between Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Interbody Fusion (TLIF) and Minimally Invasive Lateral Interbody Fusion (XLIF) in the treatment of patients with degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine. Methods: A single center, retrospective cohort study involving a total of 38 patients undergoing surgical intervention between 2010 and 2013 for degenerative disc disease of lumbar spine at single L4/L5 level. 18 patients were treated with MIS TLIF, and 20 patients were treated with XLIF. Results: The XLIF group showed shorter duration of surgery compared to the TLIF group (176 mins vs. 208.3 mins, P = 0.03). Length of hospital stay was also significantly shorter in XLIF group (5.9 days vs. 9 days, p = 0.03). Intraoperative blood loss was favouring XLIF as 85% patients had blood loss less than 100cc compared to 58% in the TLIF group (P = 0.03). Radiologically, disc height was significantly improved post operatively in the XLIF group compared to the TLIF group (0.56mm vs. 0.39mm, P = 0.01). Foraminal height increment was also higher in the XLIF group (0.58mm vs. 0.45mm , P = 0.06). Clinically, back pain and leg pain improved in 85% of patients in the XLIF group and 78% in the TLIF group. Post op hip flexion weakness was more common in the XLIF group (40%) than in the TLIF group (0%). However, this weakness resolved within 6 months post operatively. There was one case of dural tear and surgical site infection in the TLIF group respectively and none in the XLIF group. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score 6 months post operatively showed comparable reduction in both groups. TLIF group had Owsterty Disability Index (ODI) improvement on 67% while XLIF group showed improvement of 70% of its patients. Conclusions: Lateral approach surgery shows comparable clinical outcomes in resolution of back pain and radiculopathy to conventional MIS techniques such as TLIF. With significantly shorter duration of surgical time, minimal blood loss and shorter hospital stay, XLIF seems to be a reasonable MIS option compared to other MIS techniques in treating degenerative lumbar disc diseases.

Keywords: extreme lateral interbody fusion, lateral approach, minimally invasive, XLIF

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Authors: Amirmozafar Benshams, Saman Shafeinejad, Mohammad Zaman Kabir, Farzad Hatami, Mohammadreza Khedmati, Mesbah Saybani

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Steel bars has been used in concrete structures for more than one hundred years but lack of corrosion resistance of steel reinforcement has resulted in many structural failures. Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bar is an acceptable solution to replace steel to mitigate corrosion problem. Since FRP is a brittle material its use in seismic region has been a concern. FRP RC structures can be made ductile by employing a ductile material such as Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) at the plastic hinge region and FRP at the other regions on the other hand SMA is highly resistant to corrosion. Shape Memory Alloy has the unique ability to undergo large inelastic deformation and regain its initial shape through stress removal therefore utilizing composite SMA-FRP bars not only have good corrosion resistance but also have good performance in seismic region. The result show indicate that such composite SMA-FRP bars can substantially reduce the residual drift with adequate energy dissipation capacity during earthquake.

Keywords: steel bar, shape memory alloy, FRP, corrosion

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Authors: Rishabh Hans, Saksham Sharma

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Drying of a sessile droplet imbibed with colloidal solution is a complex process in many aspects. Till now, most of the work revolves around; conditions for buckling onset, post-buckling effects, nature of change of droplet shape etc. In this work, we are determining the shape of daughter cavity (DC) formed during post-buckling onset, a less explored stage, and its relationship with experimental parameters. We have introduced solid angle as a special parameter that can quantify the shape of DC at any instant. It facilitates us to compare the shape while experimenting across different substrate types, droplet sizes and particle concentration. Furthermore, the angular location of ‘weak spot’ on the periphery of droplet, which marks the initiation of cavity growth, varies in different conditions. To solve this problem, we have evaluated the deflection angle of weak spots w.r.t. the vertical axis going through the middle of droplet. Subsequently, the solid angle subtended by DC is analyzed about that inclined axis. Finally, results of analysis allude that increasing colloidal concentration has inverse effect on the growth rate of cavity’s shape. Moreover, the cap radius of DC is observed lower for high PLR which makes the capillary pressure higher and thus tougher to expedite cavity formation relatively. This analysis can be helpful in further studies to relate the shape, deflection angle, growth rate of daughter cavity to the type of droplet crust formed in the end. Examining DC stage shall add another layer to nano-colloidal research which aims to influence many industrial applications like patterning, coatings, drug delivery, food processing etc.

Keywords: buckling of sessile droplets, daughter cavity, droplet evaporation, nanoporous shell formation, solid angle

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Authors: Ji Sun Kim, Jae Ho Baek, Kyeong Ho Kim, Ji Hae Ha, Seong Soo Hong, Jung-Wook Park, Man Sig Lee

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Carbon supported palladium catalysts have been used in many industrial reactions, especially for hydrogenation in the fine chemical industry. Porous carbons had been widely used as catalyst supports due to its higher surface area and larger pore volume. The specific surface area, pore structure and surface chemical functional groups of porous carbon affects metal dispersion and particle size. In this paper, we confirm the effect of support texture on the dispersion of Pd. Pd catalyst supported on activated carbon having various specific surface area were characterized by BET, XRD and FE-TEM. Catalyst activity and dispersion of prepared catalyst were evaluated on the basis of the CO adsorption capacity by CO-chemisorption. As concluding remark to this part of our study, let us note that specific area of carbon play important role on the synthesis of Pd/C catalyst/.

Keywords: carbon, dispersion, Pd/C, specific are, support

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Authors: Gargi Phadke, Mugdha Joshi, Shamal Salunkhe

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Facial sketches are used as a crucial clue by criminal investigators for identification of suspects when the description of eyewitness or victims are only available as evidence. A forensic artist develops a sketch as per the verbal description is given by an eyewitness that shows the facial look of the culprit. In this paper, the fusion of Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) and multiscale local binary patterns (MLBP) are proposed as a feature to recognize a forensic face sketch images from a gallery of mugshot photos. This work focuses on comparative analysis of proposed scheme with existing algorithms in different challenges like illumination change and rotation condition. Experimental results show that proposed scheme can lead to better performance for the defined problem.

Keywords: SIFT feature, MLBP, PCA, face sketch

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Authors: Yeon-Jong Jeong, Jun-Hong Park, Hyuk Choi

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In this study, we have studied the design of intermediate die in multipass drawing. Research has been continuously studied because of the advantage of better dimensional accuracy, smooth surface and improved mechanical properties in the case of drawing. Among them, multipass drawing, which is a method to realize complicated shape by drawing, was discussed in this study. The most important factor in the multipass drawing is the dimensional accuracy and simplify the process. To accomplish this, a multistage shape drawing was performed using various intermediate die shape designs, and finite element analysis was performed.

Keywords: FEM (Finite Element Method), multipass drawing, intermediate die, hollow pipe

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Authors: A. Hadj Taieb, H. Ennouri

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The current study aimed to investigate the effect that optical illusion garments have on a woman’s self-perception of her own body shape. First, we created different optical illusion garment by using color contrasts. Second, a short survey based on visual perception is addressed to women in order to compare the different optical illusion garments to determine if they met the established 'ideal' body shape. A ‘visual analysis method’ was used to investigate the clothing models with optical illusions. The theories in relation with the optical illusion were used through this method. The effects of the optical illusion of color contrast on body shape in the fashion sector were tried to be revealed.

Keywords: optical illusion, color contrasts, body image perception, self-esteem

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Authors: Rodrigo Antunes, Olga Borisevich, David Demange

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In future nuclear fusion reactors, tritium self-sufficiency will be ensured by tritium (3H) production via reactions between the fusion neutrons and lithium. To favor tritium breeding, a neutron multiplier must also be used. Both tritium breeder and neutron multiplier will be placed in the so-called Breeding Blanket (BB). For the European Helium-Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) BB concept, the tritium production and neutron multiplication will be ensured by neutron bombardment of Li4SiO4 and Be pebbles, respectively. The produced tritium is extracted from the pebbles by purging them with large flows of He (~ 104 Nm3h-1), doped with small amounts of H2 (~ 0.1 vol%) to promote tritium extraction via isotopic exchange (producing HT). Due to the presence of oxygen in the pebbles, production of tritiated water is unavoidable. Therefore, the purging gas downstream of the BB will be composed by Q2/Q2O/He (Q = 1H, 2H, 3H), with Q2/Q2O down to ppm levels, which must be further processed for tritium recovery. A two-stage continuous approach, where zeolite membranes (ZMs) are followed by a catalytic membrane reactor (CMR), has been recently proposed to fulfil this task. The tritium recovery from Q2/Q2O/He is ensured by the CMR, that requires a reduction of the gas flow coming from the BB and a pre-concentration of Q2 and Q2O to be efficient. For this reason, and to keep this stage with reasonable dimensions, ZMs are required upfront to reduce as much as possible the He flows and concentrate the Q2/Q2O species. Therefore, experimental activities have been carried out at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) to test the separation performances of different zeolite membranes for H2/H2O/He. First experiments have been performed with binary mixtures of H2/He and H2O/He with commercial MFI-ZSM5 and NaA zeolite-type membranes. Only the MFI-ZSM5 demonstrated selectivity towards H2, with a separation factor around 1.5, and H2 permeances around 0.72 µmolm-2s-1Pa-1, rather independent for feed concentrations in the range 0.1 vol%-10 vol% H2/He. The experiments with H2O/He have demonstrated that the separation factor towards H2O is highly dependent on the feed concentration and temperature. For instance, at 0.2 vol% H2O/He the separation factor with NaA is below 2 and around 1000 at 5 vol% H2O/He, at 30°C. Overall, both membranes demonstrated complementary results at equivalent temperatures. In fact, at low feed concentrations ( ≤ 1 vol% H2O/He) MFI-ZSM5 separates better than NaA, whereas the latter has higher separation factors for higher inlet water content ( ≥ 5 vol% H2O/He). In this contribution, the results obtained with both MFI-ZSM5 and NaA membranes for H2/He and H2O/H2 mixtures at different concentrations and temperatures are compared and discussed.

Keywords: nuclear fusion, gas separation, tritium processes, zeolite membranes

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Authors: Lucie Speyer, Vincent Lecocq, Séverine Humbert, Antoine Hugon

Abstract:

Mesoporous alumina is commonly used as a catalyst support for the hydrotreating of heavy petroleum cuts. The process of fabrication usually involves: the synthesis of the boehmite AlOOH precursor, a kneading-extrusion step, and a calcination in order to obtain the final alumina extrudates. Alumina is described as a complex porous medium, generally agglomerates constituted of aggregated nanocrystallites. Its porous texture directly influences the active phase deposition and mass transfer, and the catalytic properties. Then, it is easy to figure out that each step of the fabrication of the supports has a role on the building of their porous network, and has to be well understood to optimize the process. The synthesis of boehmite by precipitation of aluminum salts was extensively studied in the literature and the effect of various parameters, such as temperature or pH, are known to influence the size and shape of the crystallites and the specific surface area of the support. The calcination step, through the topotactic transition from boehmite to alumina, determines the final properties of the support and can tune the surface area, pore volume and pore diameters from those of boehmite. However, the kneading extrusion step has been subject to a very few studies. It generally consists in two steps: an acid, then a basic kneading, where the boehmite powder is introduced in a mixer and successively added with an acid and a base solution to form an extrudable paste. During the acid kneading, the induced positive charges on the hydroxyl surface groups of boehmite create an electrostatic repulsion which tends to separate the aggregates and even, following the conditions, the crystallites. The basic kneading, by reducing the surface charges, leads to a flocculation phenomenon and can control the reforming of the overall structure. The separation and reassembling of the particles constituting the boehmite paste have a quite obvious influence on the textural properties of the material. In this work, we are focused on the influence of the kneading step on the alumina catalysts supports. Starting from an industrial boehmite, extrudates are prepared using various kneading conditions. The samples are studied by nitrogen physisorption in order to analyze the evolution of the textural properties, and by synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), a more original method which brings information about agglomeration and aggregation of the samples. The coupling of physisorption and SAXS enables a precise description of the samples, as same as an accurate monitoring of their evolution as a function of the kneading conditions. These ones are found to have a strong influence of the pore volume and pore size distribution of the supports. A mechanism of evolution of the texture during the kneading step is proposed and could be attractive in order to optimize the texture of the supports and then, their catalytic performances.

Keywords: alumina catalyst support, kneading, nitrogen physisorption, small-angle X-ray scattering

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Authors: S. Rustagi, N. S. Sodhi, B. Dhillon, T. Kaur

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to check whether there is any relationship between electromyographic (EMG) and textural parameters during food texture evaluation. In this study, a total of eighteen mastication variables were measured for entire mastication, per chew mastication and three different stages of mastication (viz. early, middle and late) by EMG for five different foods using eight human subjects. Cluster analysis was used to reduce the number of mastication variables from 18 to 5, so that principal component analysis (PCA) could be applied on them. The PCA further resulted in two meaningful principal components. The principal component scores for each food were measured and correlated with five textural parameters (viz. hardness, cohesiveness, chewiness, gumminess and adhesiveness). Correlation coefficients were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.10) for cohesiveness and adhesiveness while if we reduce the significance level (p < 0.20) then chewiness also showed correlation with mastication parameters.

Keywords: electromyography, mastication, sensory, texture

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Esmaeil Abbaszadeh Molaei, Zongyan Zhou, Aibing Yu

Abstract:

The applications of liquid fluidizations have been increased in many parts of industries such as particle classification, backwashing of granular filters, crystal growth, leaching and washing, and bioreactors due to high-efficient liquid–solid contact, favorable mass and heat transfer, high operation flexibilities, and reduced back mixing of phases. In most of these multiphase operations the particles properties, i.e. size, density, and shape, may change during the process because of attrition, coalescence or chemical reactions. Previous studies, either experimentally or numerically, mainly have focused on studies of liquid-solid fluidized beds containing spherical particles; however, the role of particle shape on the hydrodynamics of liquid fluidized beds is still not well-known. A three-dimensional Discrete Element Model (DEM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are coupled to study the influence of particles shape on particles and liquid flow patterns in liquid-solid fluidized beds. In the simulations, ellipsoid particles are used to study the shape factor since they can represent a wide range of particles shape from oblate and sphere to prolate shape particles. Different particle shapes from oblate (disk shape) to elongated particles (rod shape) are selected to investigate the effect of aspect ratio on different flow characteristics such as general particles and liquid flow pattern, pressure drop, and particles orientation. First, the model is verified based on experimental observations, then further detail analyses are made. It was found that spherical particles showed a uniform particle distribution in the bed, which resulted in uniform pressure drop along the bed height. However for particles with aspect ratios less than one (disk-shape), some particles were carried into the freeboard region, and the interface between the bed and freeboard was not easy to be determined. A few particle also intended to leave the bed. On the other hand, prolate particles showed different behaviour in the bed. They caused unstable interface and some flow channeling was observed for low liquid velocities. Because of the non-uniform particles flow pattern for particles with aspect ratios lower (oblate) and more (prolate) than one, the pressure drop distribution in the bed was not observed as uniform as what was found for spherical particles.

Keywords: CFD, DEM, ellipsoid, fluidization, multiphase flow, non-spherical, simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: Yingisani Chabalala, Elhadi Adam, Khalid Adem Ali

Abstract:

Mapping smallholder fruit plantations using optical data is challenging due to morphological landscape heterogeneity and crop types having overlapped spectral signatures. Furthermore, cloud covers limit the use of optical sensing, especially in subtropical climates where they are persistent. This research assessed the effectiveness of Sentinel-1 (S1) and Sentinel-2 (S2) data for mapping fruit trees and co-existing land-use types by using support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF) classifiers independently. These classifiers were also applied to fused data from the two sensors. Feature ranks were extracted using the RF mean decrease accuracy (MDA) and forward variable selection (FVS) to identify optimal spectral windows to classify fruit trees. Based on RF MDA and FVS, the SVM classifier resulted in relatively high classification accuracy with overall accuracy (OA) = 0.91.6% and kappa coefficient = 0.91% when applied to the fused satellite data. Application of SVM to S1, S2, S2 selected variables and S1S2 fusion independently produced OA = 27.64, Kappa coefficient = 0.13%; OA= 87%, Kappa coefficient = 86.89%; OA = 69.33, Kappa coefficient = 69. %; OA = 87.01%, Kappa coefficient = 87%, respectively. Results also indicated that the optimal spectral bands for fruit tree mapping are green (B3) and SWIR_2 (B10) for S2, whereas for S1, the vertical-horizontal (VH) polarization band. Including the textural metrics from the VV channel improved crop discrimination and co-existing land use cover types. The fusion approach proved robust and well-suited for accurate smallholder fruit plantation mapping.

Keywords: smallholder agriculture, fruit trees, data fusion, precision agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 21