Search results for: total annual effective dose

Authors: Yuan-Jye Tseng, Yi-Shiuan Chen

Abstract:

The paper presented a sustainable design model for integrated evaluation of the design and supply chain of a product for the sustainable objectives. To design a product, there can be alternative ways to assign the detailed specifications to fulfill the same design objectives. In the design alternative cases, different material and manufacturing processes with various supply chain activities may be required for the production. Therefore, it is required to evaluate the different design cases based on the sustainable objectives. In this research, a closed-loop design model is developed by integrating the forward design model and reverse design model. From the supply chain point of view, the decisions in the forward design model are connected with the forward supply chain. The decisions in the reverse design model are connected with the reverse supply chain considering the sustainable objectives. The purpose of this research is to develop a mathematical model for analyzing the design cases by integrated evaluating the criteria in the closed-loop design and the closed-loop supply chain. The decision variables are built to represent the design cases of the forward design and reverse design. The cost parameters in a forward design include the costs of material and manufacturing processes. The cost parameters in a reverse design include the costs of recycling, disassembly, reusing, remanufacturing, and disposing. The mathematical model is formulated to minimize the total cost under the design constraints. In practical applications, the decisions of the mathematical model can be used for selecting a design case for the purpose of sustainable design of a product. An example product is demonstrated in the paper. The test result shows that the sustainable design model is useful for integrated evaluation of the design and the supply chain to achieve the sustainable objectives.

Keywords: Closed-loop design, closed-loop supply chain, design evaluation, mathematical model, supply chain management, sustainable design model.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1398

Authors: E. Bakkaloğlu, N. Torunbalcı

Abstract:

Earthquakes are inevitable natural disasters in Turkey. Therefore, buildings must be prepared for this natural hazard. Especially in hospital buildings, earthquake resistance is an essential point because hospitals are one of the first places where people come after earthquake. Although hospital buildings are more suitable for horizontal architecture, it is necessary to construct and expand multi-story hospital buildings due to difficulties in finding suitable places as a result of excessive urbanization, difficulties in obtaining appropriate size land and decrease in suitable places and increase in land values. In Turkey, using seismic isolators in public hospitals, which are placed in first degree earthquake zone and have more than 100 beds, is made obligatory by general instruction. As a result of this decision, it may sometimes be necessary to construct seismic isolated multi-story hospital buildings in cities where those problems are experienced. Although there is widespread use of seismic isolators in Japan, there are few multi-story buildings in which seismic isolators are used in Turkey. As it is known, base isolation systems are the most effective methods of earthquake resistance, as the number of floors increases, the center of gravity moves away from the base in multi-story buildings, increasing the overturning effect and limiting use of these systems. In this context, it is aimed to investigate structural systems of multi-story buildings which are built using seismic isolation methods in the world. In addition to this, a working principle is suggested for the disseminating seismic isolator used in multi-story hospital buildings. The results to be obtained from the study will guide architects who design multi-story hospital buildings in their architectural designs, and engineers in terms of structural system design.

Keywords: Earthquake, energy absorbing systems, hospital, seismic isolation systems.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32

Authors: Ying-Chang Yu, Yuan-Lung Lo

Abstract:

Building ventilation performance is an important indicator of indoor comfort. However, in addition to the geometry of the building or the proportion of the opening, the ventilation performance is also very much related to the actual wind pressure of the building. There are more and more contemporary building designs built with multi-layer exterior envelope. Due to ventilation and view observatory requirement, the porous outer layer of the building is commonly adopted and has a significant wind damping effect, causing the phenomenon of actual wind pressure loss. However, the relationship between the wind damping effect and the actual wind pressure is not linear. This effect can make the indoor ventilation of the building rationalized to reasonable range under the condition of high wind pressure, and also maintain a good amount of ventilation performance under the condition of low wind pressure. In this study, wind tunnel experiments were carried out to simulate the different wind pressures flow through the porous outer layer, and observe the actual wind pressure strength engage with the window layer to find the decreasing relationship between the damping effect of the porous shell and the wind pressure. Experiment specimen scale was designed to be 1:50 for testing real-world building conditions; the study found that the porous enclosure has protective shielding without affecting low-pressure ventilation. Current study observed the porous skin may damp more wind energy to ease the wind pressure under high-speed wind. Differential wind speed may drop the pressure into similar pressure level by using porous skin. The actual mechanism and value of this phenomenon will need further study in the future.

Keywords: Renault number, porous media, wind damping, wind tunnel test, building ventilation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 600

Authors: Nicolò Vaiana, Giorgio Serino

Abstract:

In this paper, a one-dimensional (1d) Parallel Elasto- Plastic Model (PEPM), able to simulate the uniaxial dynamic behavior of seismic isolators having a continuously decreasing tangent stiffness with increasing displacement, is presented. The parallel modeling concept is applied to discretize the continuously decreasing tangent stiffness function, thus allowing to simulate the dynamic behavior of seismic isolation bearings by putting linear elastic and nonlinear elastic-perfectly plastic elements in parallel. The mathematical model has been validated by comparing the experimental force-displacement hysteresis loops, obtained testing a helical wire rope isolator and a recycled rubber-fiber reinforced bearing, with those predicted numerically. Good agreement between the simulated and experimental results shows that the proposed model can be an effective numerical tool to predict the forcedisplacement relationship of seismic isolators within relatively large displacements. Compared to the widely used Bouc-Wen model, the proposed one allows to avoid the numerical solution of a first order ordinary nonlinear differential equation for each time step of a nonlinear time history analysis, thus reducing the computation effort, and requires the evaluation of only three model parameters from experimental tests, namely the initial tangent stiffness, the asymptotic tangent stiffness, and a parameter defining the transition from the initial to the asymptotic tangent stiffness.

Keywords: Base isolation, earthquake engineering, parallel elasto-plastic model, seismic isolators, softening hysteresis loops.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1043

Authors: Y. H. Mugahed Amran, Raizal S. M. Rashid, Farzad Hejazi, Nor Azizi Safiee, A. A. Abang Ali

Abstract:

Experimental and analytical studies were accomplished to examine the structural behavior of precast foamed concrete sandwich panel (PFCSP) under vertical in-plane shear load. PFCSP full-scale specimens with total number of six were developed with varying heights to study an important parameter slenderness ratio (H/t). The production technique of PFCSP and the procedure of test setup were described. The results obtained from the experimental tests were analysed in the context of in-plane shear strength capacity, load-deflection profile, load-strain relationship, slenderness ratio, shear cracking patterns and mode of failure. Analytical study of finite element analysis was implemented and the theoretical calculations of the ultimate in-plane shear strengths using the adopted ACI318 equation for reinforced concrete wall were determined aimed at predicting the in-plane shear strength of PFCSP. The decrease in slenderness ratio from 24 to 14 showed an increase of 26.51% and 21.91% on the ultimate in-plane shear strength capacity as obtained experimentally and in FEA models, respectively. The experimental test results, FEA models data and theoretical calculation values were compared and provided a significant agreement with high degree of accuracy. Therefore, on the basis of the results obtained, PFCSP wall has the potential use as an alternative to the conventional load-bearing wall system.

Keywords: Deflection profiles, foamed concrete, load-strain relationships, precast foamed concrete sandwich panel, slenderness ratio, vertical in-plane shear strength capacity.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2648

Authors: R. Sutjiati, Rubianto, I. B. Narmada, I. K. Sudiana, R. P. Rahayu

Abstract:

The prevalence of post-treatment relapse in orthodontics in the community is high enough; therefore, relapses in orthodontic treatment must be prevented well. The aim of this study is to experimentally test the inhibition of relapse of orthodontics tooth movement in NaF of expression TGF-β1, Runx2, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and microscopic of woven bone. The research method used was experimental laboratory research involving 30 rats, which were divided into three groups. Group A: rats were not given orthodontic tooth movement and without NaF. Group B: rats were given orthodontic tooth movement and without 11.5 ppm by topical application. Group C: rats were given orthodontic tooth movement and 11.75 ppm by topical application. Orthodontic tooth movement was conducted by applying ligature wires of 0.02 mm in diameter on the molar-1 (M-1) of left permanent maxilla and left insisivus of maxilla. Immunohistochemical examination was conducted to calculate the number of osteoblast to determine TGF β1, Runx2, ALP and haematoxylin to determine woven bone on day 7 and day 14. Results: It was shown that administrations of Natrium Fluoride topical application proved effective to increase the expression of TGF-β1, Runx2, ALP and to increase woven bone in the tension area greater than administration without natrium fluoride topical application (p < 0.05), except the expression of ALP on day 7 and day 14 which was significant. The results of the study show that NaF significantly increases the expressions of TGF-β1, Runx2, ALP and woven bone. The expression of the variables enhanced on day 7 compared on that on day 14, except ALP. Thus, it can be said that the acceleration of woven bone occurs on day 7.

Keywords: TGF-β1, Runx2, ALP, woven bone, natrium fluoride.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1250

Authors: Akinola Ikudayisi, Josiah Adeyemo

Abstract:

The correct estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ETₒ) is required for effective irrigation water resources planning and management. However, there are some variables that must be considered while estimating and modeling ETₒ. This study therefore determines the multivariate analysis of correlated variables involved in the estimation and modeling of ETₒ at Vaalharts irrigation scheme (VIS) in South Africa using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique. Weather and meteorological data between 1994 and 2014 were obtained both from South African Weather Service (SAWS) and Agricultural Research Council (ARC) in South Africa for this study. Average monthly data of minimum and maximum temperature (°C), rainfall (mm), relative humidity (%), and wind speed (m/s) were the inputs to the PCA-based model, while ETₒ is the output. PCA technique was adopted to extract the most important information from the dataset and also to analyze the relationship between the five variables and ETₒ. This is to determine the most significant variables affecting ETₒ estimation at VIS. From the model performances, two principal components with a variance of 82.7% were retained after the eigenvector extraction. The results of the two principal components were compared and the model output shows that minimum temperature, maximum temperature and windspeed are the most important variables in ETₒ estimation and modeling at VIS. In order words, ETₒ increases with temperature and windspeed. Other variables such as rainfall and relative humidity are less important and cannot be used to provide enough information about ETₒ estimation at VIS. The outcome of this study has helped to reduce input variable dimensionality from five to the three most significant variables in ETₒ modelling at VIS, South Africa.

Keywords: Irrigation, principal component analysis, reference evapotranspiration, Vaalharts.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1061

Authors: Teka Haile, Behailu Hawulte, Solomon Alemayehu

Abstract:

Background: HIV virological failure still remains a problem in HV/AIDS treatment and care. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and identify the factors associated with viral non-suppression among HIV-positive adult patients on antiretroviral therapy in Woliso Town, Oromia, Ethiopia. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 424 HIV-positive patient’s attending antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Woliso Town during the period from August 25, 2020 to August 30, 2020. Data collected from patient medical records were entered into Epi Info version 2.3.2.1 and exported to SPSS version 21.0 for analysis. Logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with viral load non-suppression, and statistical significance of odds ratios were declared using 95% confidence interval and p-value < 0.05. Results: A total of 424 patients were included in this study. The mean age (± SD) of the study participants was 39.88 (± 9.995) years. The prevalence of HIV viral load non-suppression was 55 (13.0%) with 95% CI (9.9-16.5). Second-line ART treatment regimen (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 8.98, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 2.64, 30.58) and routine viral load testing (AOR = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.02) were significantly associated with virological non-suppression. Conclusion: Virological non-suppression was high, which hinders the achievement of the third global 95 target. The second-line regimen and routine viral load testing were significantly associated with virological non-suppression. It suggests the need to assess the effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs for epidemic control. It also clearly shows the need to decentralize third-line ART treatment for those patients in need.

Keywords: Virological non-suppression, HIV-positive, ART, Woliso Town, Ethiopia.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 588

Authors: Haoyi Sheng

Abstract:

China's aging tendency is becoming increasingly severe, which leads to the embarrassing situation of "getting old before getting wealthy". The traditional pension model does not comply with the need of today. Relying on "Internet Plus", it can efficiently integrate information and resources and meet the personalized needs of elderly care. It can reduce the operating cost of community elderly care facilities and lay a technical foundation for providing better services for the elderly. The key for providing help for the elderly in the future is to effectively integrate technology, make good use of technology, and improve the efficiency of elderly care services. The effective integration of traditional home care, community care, intelligent elderly care equipment and medical resources to create the "Internet Plus" community intelligent pension service mode has become the future development trend of aging care. The research method of this paper is to collect literature and conduct theoretical research on community pension firstly. Secondly, the combination of suitable aging design and "Internet Plus" is elaborated through research. Finally, this paper states the current level of intelligent technology in old-age care and looks into the future by understanding multiple levels of "Internet Plus". The development of community intelligent pension mode and content under "Internet Plus" has enormous development potential. In addition to the characteristics and functions of ordinary houses, residential design of endowment housing has higher requirements for comfort and personalization, and the people-oriented is the principle of design.

Keywords: Ageing tendency, "Internet plus", community intelligent elderly care, elderly care service model, technology.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 746

Authors: Ragi Poyyara, Vivek V., Ashish Khaparde

Abstract:

The product development process (PDP) in the Technology group plays a very important role in the launch of any product. While a manufacturing process encourages the use of certain measures to reduce health, safety and environmental (HSE) risks on the shop floor, the PDP concentrates on the use of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) to develop a flawless design. Furthermore, PDP distributes and coordinates activities between different departments such as marketing, purchasing, and manufacturing. However, it is seldom realized that PDP makes a significant contribution to developing a product that reduces HSE risks by encouraging the Technology group to use effective GD&T. The GD&T is a precise communication tool that uses a set of symbols, rules, and definitions to mathematically define parts to be manufactured. It is a quality assurance method widely used in the oil and gas sector. Traditionally it is used to ensure the interchangeability of a part without affecting its form, fit, and function. Parts that do not meet these requirements are rejected during quality audits. This paper discusses how the Technology group integrates this quality assurance tool into the PDP and how the tool plays a major role in helping the HSE department in its goal towards eliminating HSE incidents. The PDP involves a thorough risk assessment and establishes a method to address those risks during the design stage. An illustration shows how GD&T helped reduce safety risks by ergonomically improving assembling operations. A brief discussion explains how tolerances provided on a part help prevent finger injury. This tool has equipped Technology to produce fixtures, which are used daily in operations as well as manufacturing. By applying GD&T to create good fits, HSE risks are mitigated for operating personnel. Both customers and service providers benefit from reduced safety risks.

Keywords: HSE, PDP, GD&T, risks.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1834

Authors: N.H. Abdurahman, Y. M. Rosli, N. H. Azhari, S. F. Tam

Abstract:

The direct discharge of palm oil mill effluent (POME) wastewater causes serious environmental pollution due to its high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Traditional ways for POME treatment have both economical and environmental disadvantages. In this study, a membrane anaerobic system (MAS) was used as an alternative, cost effective method for treating POME. Six steady states were attained as a part of a kinetic study that considered concentration ranges of 8,220 to 15,400 mg/l for mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) and 6,329 to 13,244 mg/l for mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS). Kinetic equations from Monod, Contois and Chen & Hashimoto were employed to describe the kinetics of POME treatment at organic loading rates ranging from 2 to 13 kg COD/m3/d. throughout the experiment, the removal efficiency of COD was from 94.8 to 96.5% with hydraulic retention time, HRT from 400.6 to 5.7 days. The growth yield coefficient, Y was found to be 0.62gVSS/g COD the specific microorganism decay rate was 0.21 d-1 and the methane gas yield production rate was between 0.25 l/g COD/d and 0.58 l/g COD/d. Steady state influent COD concentrations increased from 18,302 mg/l in the first steady state to 43,500 mg/l in the sixth steady state. The minimum solids retention time, which was obtained from the three kinetic models ranged from 5 to 12.3 days. The k values were in the range of 0.35 – 0.519 g COD/ g VSS • d and values were between 0.26 and 0.379 d-1. The solids retention time (SRT) decreased from 800 days to 11.6 days. The complete treatment reduced the COD content to 2279 mg/l equivalent to a reduction of 94.8% reduction from the original.

Keywords: COD reduction, POME, kinetics, membrane, anaerobic, monod, contois equation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2567

Authors: T. Citarasu, M. Michaelbabu V. N. Vakharia

Abstract:

The rhizome of Java grass, Cyperus rotundus was extracted different organic polar and non-polar solvents and performed the in vitro antiviral and immunostimulant activities against White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Vibrio harveyi respectively. Based on the initial screening the ethyl acetate extract of C. rotundus was strong activities and further it was purified through silica column chromatography and the fractions were screened again for antiviral and immunostimulant activity. Among the different fractions screened against the WSSV and V. harveyi, the fractions, FIII to FV had strong activities. In order to study the in vivo influence of C. rotundus, the fractions (F-III to FV) were pooled and delivered to the F. indicus through artificial feed for 30 days. After the feeding trail the experimental and control diet fed F. indicus were challenged with virulent WSSV and studied the survival, molecular diagnosis, biochemical, haematological, and immunological parameters. Surprisingly, the pooled fractions (F-IV to FVI) incorporated diets helped to significantly (P<0.01) suppressed viral multiplication, showed significant (P<0.01) differences in protein and glucose levels, improved total haemocyte count (THC), coagulase activity, significantly increased (P <= 0.001) prophenol oxidase and intracellular superoxide anion production compared to the control shrimps. Based on the results, C. rotundus extracts effectively suppressed WSSV multiplication and improve the immune system in F. indicus against WSSV infection and this knowledge will helps to develop novel drugs from C. rotundus against WSSV.

Keywords: Antiviral drugs, Cyperus rotundus, Fenneropenaeus indicus, WSSV.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2660

Authors: Muhammad Rehan Khalid, Muhammad Haroon Siddiqui, Danish Ilyas

Abstract:

This paper explores the implementation of adaptive coding and modulation schemes for Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) feedback systems. Adaptive coding and modulation enables robust and spectrally-efficient transmission over time-varying channels. The basic premise is to estimate the channel at the receiver and feed this estimate back to the transmitter, so that the transmission scheme can be adapted relative to the channel characteristics. Two types of codebook based channel feedback techniques are used in this work. The longterm and short-term CSI at the transmitter is used for efficient channel utilization. OFDM is a powerful technique employed in communication systems suffering from frequency selectivity. Combined with multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver, OFDM proves to be robust against delay spread. Moreover, it leads to significant data rates with improved bit error performance over links having only a single antenna at both the transmitter and receiver. The coded modulation increases the effective transmit power relative to uncoded variablerate variable-power MQAM performance for MIMO-OFDM feedback system. Hence proposed arrangement becomes an attractive approach to achieve enhanced spectral efficiency and improved error rate performance for next generation high speed wireless communication systems.

Keywords: Adaptive Coded Modulation, MQAM, MIMO, OFDM, Codebooks, Feedback.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1909

Authors: Annur Suhadi, Haris B. Harahap, Zaim Arrosyidi, Epan, Darmapala

Abstract:

Oilfields under waterflood often face the problem of plugging injectors either by internal filtration or external filter cake built up inside pore throats. The content of suspended solids shall be reduced to required level of filtration since corrective action of plugging is costly expensive. The performance of nutshell filters, where filtration takes place, is good using pecan and walnut shells. Candlenut shells were used instead of pecan and walnut shells since they were abundant in Indonesia, Malaysia, and East Africa. Physical and chemical properties of walnut, pecan, and candlenut shells were tested and the results were compared. Testing, using full-scale nutshell filters, was conducted to determine the oil content, turbidity, and suspended solid removal, which was based on designed flux rate. The performance of candlenut shells, which were deeply bedded in nutshell filters for filtration process, was monitored. Cleaned water outgoing nutshell filters had total suspended solids of 17 ppm, while oil content could be reduced to 15.1 ppm. Turbidity, using candlenut shells, was below the specification for injection water, which was less than 10 Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU). Turbidity of water, outgoing nutshell filter, was ranged from 1.7-5.0 NTU at various dates of operation. Walnut, pecan, and candlenut shells had moisture content of 8.98 wt%, 10.95 wt%, and 9.95 wt%, respectively. The porosity of walnut, pecan, and candlenut shells was significantly affected by moisture content. Candlenut shells had property of toluene solubility of 7.68 wt%, which was much higher than walnut shells, reflecting more crude oil adsorption. The hardness of candlenut shells was 2.5-3 Mohs, which was close to walnut shells’ hardness. It was advantage to guarantee the cleaning filter cake by fluidization process during backwashing.

Keywords: Candlenut shells, walnut shells, pecan shells, nutshell filter, filtration.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 456

Authors: Asma Meziti, Hicham Meziti, Kaouthar Boudiaf, Benboubetra Mustapha, Hemama Bouriche.

Abstract:

Nigella sativa L. is an aromatic plant belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. It has been used traditionally, especially in the middle East and India, for the treatment of asthma, cough, bronchitis, headache, rheumatism, fever, influenza and eczema. Several biological activities have been reported in Nigella sativa seeds, including antioxidant. In this context we tried to estimate the antioxidant activity of various extracts prepared from Nigella sativa seeds, methanolic extract (ME), chloroformic extract (CE), hexanic extract (HE : fixed oil), ethyl acetate extract (EAE) water extract (WE). The Folin-Ciocalteu assay showed that CE and EAE contained high level of phenolic compounds 81.31 and 72.43μg GAE/mg of extract respectively. Similarly, the CE and EAE exhibited the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity, with IC50 values of 106.56μg/ml and 121.62μg/ml respectively. In addition, CE and HE showed the most scavenging activity against superoxide radical generated in the PMS-NADH-NBT system with respective IC50 values of 361.86 μg/ml and 371.80 μg/ml, which is comparable to the activity of the standard antioxidant BHT (344.59 μg/ml). Ferrous ion chelating capacity assay showed that WE, EAE and ME are the most active with 40.57, 39.70 and 22.02 mg EDTA-E/g of extract. The inhibition of linoleic acid/ß-carotene coupled oxidation was estimated by ßcarotene bleaching assay, this showed a highest relative antioxidant activity with CE and EAE (69.82% of inhibition). The antioxidant activities of the methanolic extract and the fixed oil are confirmed by an in vivo assay in mice, the daily oral administration of methanolic extract (500 and 800 mg/kg/day) and fixed oil (2 and 4 ml/kg/day) during 21 days, resulted in a significant enhancement of the blood total antioxidant capacity (measured by KRL test) and the plasmatic antioxidant capacity towards DPPH radical.

Keywords: Antioxidant Capacity, Chelating, Phenolic Compounds, Nigella Sativa, Scavenger

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4292

Authors: Abinash Tripathy, Girish Muralidharan, Amitava Pramanik, Prosenjit Sen

Abstract:

Superhydrophobic surfaces are abundant in nature. Several surfaces such as wings of butterfly, legs of water strider, feet of gecko and the lotus leaf show extreme water repellence behaviour. Self-cleaning, stain-free fabrics, spill-resistant protective wears, drag reduction in micro-fluidic devices etc. are few applications of superhydrophobic surfaces. In order to design robust superhydrophobic surface, it is important to understand the interaction of water with superhydrophobic surface textures. In this work, we report a simple coating method for creating large-scale flexible superhydrophobic paper surface. The surface consists of multiple layers of silanized zirconia microparticles decorated with zirconia nanoparticles. Water contact angle as high as 159±1⁰ and contact angle hysteresis less than 8⁰ was observed. Drop impact studies on superhydrophobic paper surface were carried out by impinging water droplet and capturing its dynamics through high speed imaging. During the drop impact, the Weber number was varied from 20 to 80 by altering the impact velocity of the drop and the parameters such as contact time, normalized spread diameter were obtained. In contrast to earlier literature reports, we observed contact time to be dependent on impact velocity on superhydrophobic surface. Total contact time was split into two components as spread time and recoil time. The recoil time was found to be dependent on the impact velocity while the spread time on the surface did not show much variation with the impact velocity. Further, normalized spreading parameter was found to increase with increase in impact velocity.

Keywords: Contact angle, contact angle hysteresis, contact time, superhydrophobic.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1405

Authors: Chime Charles C., Ikechukwu Alexander Okorie, Ekanem E.J., Kagbu J. A.

Abstract:

The assessment of surface waters in Enugu metropolis for fecal coliform bacteria was undertaken. Enugu urban was divided into three areas (A1, A2 and A3), and fecal coliform bacteria analysed in the surface waters found in these areas for four years (2005-2008). The plate count method was used for the analyses. Data generated were subjected to statistical tests involving; Normality test, Homogeneity of variance test, correlation test, and tolerance limit test. The influence of seasonality and pollution trends were investigated using time series plots. Results from the tolerance limit test at 95% coverage with 95% confidence, and with respect to EU maximum permissible concentration show that the three areas suffer from fecal coliform pollution. To this end, remediation procedure involving the use of saw-dust extracts from three woods namely; Chlorophora-Excelsa (C-Excelsa),Khayan-Senegalensis,(CSenegalensis) and Erythrophylum-Ivorensis (E-Ivorensis) in controlling the coliforms was studied. Results show that mixture of the acetone extracts of the woods show the most effective antibacterial inhibitory activities (26.00mm zone of inhibition) against E-coli. Methanol extract mixture of the three woods gave best inhibitory activity (26.00mm zone of inhibition) against S-areus, and 25.00mm zones of inhibition against E-Aerogenes. The aqueous extracts mixture gave acceptable zones of inhibitions against the three bacteria organisms.

Keywords: Coliform bacteria, Pollution, Remediation, Saw-dust

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2041

Authors: Kanokkan Titipornpun, Tripob Bhongsuwan, Jan Gimsa

Abstract:

The Ko Samui district of Surat Thani province is located in the high amounts of equivalent uranium in the ground surface that is the source of radon. Our research in the Ko Samui district aimed at comparing the indoor radon concentrations between dwellings and workplaces. Measurements of indoor radon concentrations were carried out in 46 dwellings and 127 workplaces, using CR-39 alpha-track detectors in closed-cup. A total of 173 detectors were distributed in 7 sub-districts. The detectors were placed in bedrooms of dwellings and workrooms of workplaces. All detectors were exposed to airborne radon for 90 days. After exposure, the alpha tracks were made visible by chemical etching before they were manually counted under an optical microscope. The track densities were assumed to be correlated with the radon concentration levels. We found that the radon concentrations could be well described by a log-normal distribution. Most concentrations (37%) were found in the range between 16 and 30 Bq.m^-3. The radon concentrations in dwellings and workplaces varied from a minimum of 11 Bq.m^-3 to a maximum of 305 Bq.m^-3. The minimum (11 Bq.m^-3) and maximum (305 Bq.m^-3) values of indoor radon concentrations were found in a workplace and a dwelling, respectively. Only for four samples (3%), the indoor radon concentrations were found to be higher than the reference level recommended by the WHO (100 Bq.m^-3). The overall geometric mean in the surveyed area was 32.6±1.65 Bq.m^-3, which was lower than the worldwide average (39 Bq.m^-3). The statistic comparison of the geometric mean indoor radon concentrations between dwellings and workplaces showed that the geometric mean in dwellings (46.0±1.55 Bq.m^-3) was significantly higher than in workplaces (28.8±1.58 Bq.m^-3) at the 0.05 level. Moreover, our study found that the majority of the bedrooms in dwellings had a closed atmosphere, resulting in poorer ventilation than in most of the workplaces that had access to air flow through open doors and windows at daytime. We consider this to be the main reason for the higher geometric mean indoor radon concentration in dwellings compared to workplaces.

Keywords: CR-39 detector, indoor radon, radon in dwelling, radon in workplace.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 933

Authors: Al-Shabatat, M. Ahmad, Abbas, M., Ismail, H. Nizam

Abstract:

Achievement motivation is believed to promote giftedness attracting people to invest in many programs to adopt gifted students providing them with challenging activities. Intellectual giftedness is founded on the fluid intelligence and extends to more specific abilities through the growth and inputs from the achievement motivation. Acknowledging the roles played by the motivation in the development of giftedness leads to an effective nurturing of gifted individuals. However, no study has investigated the direct and indirect effects of the achievement motivation and fluid intelligence on intellectual giftedness. Thus, this study investigated the contribution of motivation factors to giftedness development by conducting tests of fluid intelligence using Cattell Culture Fair Test (CCFT) and analytical abilities using culture reduced test items covering problem solving, pattern recognition, audio-logic, audio-matrices, and artificial language, and self report questionnaire for the motivational factors. A number of 180 highscoring students were selected using CCFT from a leading university in Malaysia. Structural equation modeling was employed using Amos V.16 to determine the direct and indirect effects of achievement motivation factors (self confidence, success, perseverance, competition, autonomy, responsibility, ambition, and locus of control) on the intellectual giftedness. The findings showed that the hypothesized model fitted the data, supporting the model postulates and showed significant and strong direct and indirect effects of the motivation and fluid intelligence on the intellectual giftedness.

Keywords: Achievement motivation, Intellectual Giftedness, Fluid Intelligence, Analytical Giftedness, CCFT, Structural EquationModeling.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2173

Authors: Pedro Pablo González Pérez, Hiram I. Beltrán, Arturo Rojo-Domínguez, Máximo EduardoSánchez Gutiérrez

Abstract:

Multi-agent system approach has proven to be an effective and appropriate abstraction level to construct whole models of a diversity of biological problems, integrating aspects which can be found both in "micro" and "macro" approaches when modeling this type of phenomena. Taking into account these considerations, this paper presents the important computational characteristics to be gathered into a novel bioinformatics framework built upon a multiagent architecture. The version of the tool presented herein allows studying and exploring complex problems belonging principally to structural biology, such as protein folding. The bioinformatics framework is used as a virtual laboratory to explore a minimalist model of protein folding as a test case. In order to show the laboratory concept of the platform as well as its flexibility and adaptability, we studied the folding of two particular sequences, one of 45-mer and another of 64-mer, both described by an HP model (only hydrophobic and polar residues) and coarse grained 2D-square lattice. According to the discussion section of this piece of work, these two sequences were chosen as breaking points towards the platform, in order to determine the tools to be created or improved in such a way to overcome the needs of a particular computation and analysis of a given tough sequence. The backwards philosophy herein is that the continuous studying of sequences provides itself important points to be added into the platform, to any time improve its efficiency, as is demonstrated herein.

Keywords: multi-agent systems, blackboard-based agent architecture, bioinformatics framework, virtual laboratory, protein folding.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2206

Authors: Anja Kurz, Marc Flynn, Tobias Good, Marco Caversaccio, Martin Kompis

Abstract:

Bone Anchored Hearing Implants (BAHI) are  routinely used in patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss, e.g.  if conventional air conduction hearing aids cannot be used. New  sound processors and new fitting software now allow the adjustment  of parameters such as loudness compression ratios or maximum  power output separately. Today it is unclear, how the choice of these  parameters influences aided speech understanding in BAHI users.  In this prospective experimental study, the effect of varying the  compression ratio and lowering the maximum power output in a  BAHI were investigated.  Twelve experienced adult subjects with a mixed hearing loss  participated in this study. Four different compression ratios (1.0; 1.3;  1.6; 2.0) were tested along with two different maximum power output  settings, resulting in a total of eight different programs. Each  participant tested each program during two weeks. A blinded Latin  square design was used to minimize bias.  For each of the eight programs, speech understanding in quiet and  in noise was assessed. For speech in quiet, the Freiburg number test  and the Freiburg monosyllabic word test at 50, 65, and 80 dB SPL  were used. For speech in noise, the Oldenburg sentence test was  administered.  Speech understanding in quiet and in noise was improved  significantly in the aided condition in any program, when compared  to the unaided condition. However, no significant differences were  found between any of the eight programs. In contrast, on a subjective  level there was a significant preference for medium compression  ratios of 1.3 to 1.6 and higher maximum power output.

 

Keywords: Bone Anchored Hearing Implant, Compression, Maximum Power Output, Speech understanding.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2066

Authors: Sonia Arradaza-Pajaron

Abstract:

College students are expected to engage in an on-the-job training or internship for completion of a course requirement prior to graduation. In this scenario, they are exposed to the real world of work outside their training institution. To find out their readiness both emotionally and academically, this study has been conducted. A descriptive-correlational research design was employed and random sampling technique method was utilized among 265 randomly selected third year college students of PIT, SY 2014-15. A questionnaire on Emotional Intelligence (bearing the four components namely; emotional literacy, emotional quotient competence, values and beliefs and emotional quotient outcomes) was fielded to the respondents and GWA was extracted from the school automate. Data collected were statistically treated using percentage, weighted mean and Pearson-r for correlation.

Results revealed that respondents’ emotional intelligence level is moderately high while their academic performance is good. A high significant relationship was found between the EI component; Emotional Literacy and their academic performance while only significant relationship was found between Emotional Quotient Outcomes and their academic performance. Therefore, if EI influences academic performance significantly when correlated, a possibility that their OJT performance can also be affected either positively or negatively. Thus, EI can be considered predictor of their academic and academic-related performance. Based on the result, it is then recommended that the institution would try to look deeply into the consideration of embedding emotional intelligence as part of the (especially on Emotional Literacy and Emotional Quotient Outcomes of the students) college curriculum. It can be done if the school shall have an effective Emotional Intelligence framework or program manned by qualified and competent teachers, guidance counselors in different colleges in its implementation.

Keywords: Academic performance, emotional intelligence, emotional literacy, emotional quotient competence, emotional quotient outcomes, values and beliefs.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1852

Authors: Nurul Bahiyah Ahmad Khairudin, Habibah A Wahab

Abstract:

A new approach to predict the 3D structures of proteins by combining the knowledge-based method and Molecular Dynamics Simulation is presented on the chicken villin headpiece subdomain (HP-36). Comparative modeling is employed as the knowledge-based method to predict the core region (Ala9-Asn28) of the protein while the remaining residues are built as extended regions (Met1-Lys8; Leu29-Phe36) which then further refined using Molecular Dynamics Simulation for 120 ns. Since the core region is built based on a high sequence identity to the template (65%) resulting in RMSD of 1.39 Å from the native, it is believed that this well-developed core region can act as a 'nucleation center' for subsequent rapid downhill folding. Results also demonstrate that the formation of the non-native contact which tends to hamper folding rate can be avoided. The best 3D model that exhibits most of the native characteristics is identified using clustering method which then further ranked based on the conformational free energies. It is found that the backbone RMSD of the best model compared to the NMR-MDavg is 1.01 Å and 3.53 Å, for the core region and the complete protein, respectively. In addition to this, the conformational free energy of the best model is lower by 5.85 kcal/mol as compared to the NMR-MDavg. This structure prediction protocol is shown to be effective in predicting the 3D structure of small globular protein with a considerable accuracy in much shorter time compared to the conventional Molecular Dynamics simulation alone.

Keywords: 3D model, Chicken villin headpiece subdomain, Molecular dynamic simulation NMR-MDavg, RMSD.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1549

Authors: M. Pasbani Khiavi, A. R. M. Gharabaghi, K. Abedi

Abstract:

The mechanical behavior of porous media is governed by the interaction between its solid skeleton and the fluid existing inside its pores. The interaction occurs through the interface of gains and fluid. The traditional analysis methods of porous media, based on the effective stress and Darcy's law, are unable to account for these interactions. For an accurate analysis, the porous media is represented in a fluid-filled porous solid on the basis of the Biot theory of wave propagation in poroelastic media. In Biot formulation, the equations of motion of the soil mixture are coupled with the global mass balance equations to describe the realistic behavior of porous media. Because of irregular geometry, the domain is generally treated as an assemblage of fmite elements. In this investigation, the numerical formulation for the field equations governing the dynamic response of fluid-saturated porous media is analyzed and employed for the study of transient wave motion. A finite element model is developed and implemented into a computer code called DYNAPM for dynamic analysis of porous media. The weighted residual method with 8-node elements is used for developing of a finite element model and the analysis is carried out in the time domain considering the dynamic excitation and gravity loading. Newmark time integration scheme is developed to solve the time-discretized equations which are an unconditionally stable implicit method Finally, some numerical examples are presented to show the accuracy and capability of developed model for a wide variety of behaviors of porous media.

Keywords: Dynamic analysis, Interaction, Porous media, time domain

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1876

Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, M. Mortezaee

Abstract:

An important and influential factor in design and determining the safety factor in Soil Nailing is the ultimate pullout capacity, or, in other words, bond strength. This important parameter depends on several factors such as material and soil texture, method of implementation, excavation diameter, friction angle between the nail and the soil, grouting pressure, the nail depth (overburden pressure), the angle of drilling and the degree of saturation in soil. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), a customary regulation in the design of nailing, is considered only the effect of the soil type (or rock) and the method of implementation in determining the bond strength, which results in non-economic design. The other regulations are each of a kind, some of the parameters affecting bond resistance are not taken into account. Therefore, in the present paper, at first the relationships and tables presented by several valid regulations are presented for estimating the ultimate pullout capacity, and then the effect of several important factors affecting on ultimate Pullout capacity are studied. Finally, it was determined, the effect of overburden pressure (in method of injection with pressure), soil dilatation and roughness of the drilling surface on pullout strength is incremental, and effect of degree of soil saturation on pullout strength to a certain degree of saturation is increasing and then decreasing. therefore it is better to get help from nail pullout-strength test results and numerical modeling to evaluate the effect of parameters such as overburden pressure, dilatation, and degree of soil saturation, and so on to reach an optimal and economical design.

Keywords: Soil nailing, pullout capacity, FHWA, grout.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 689

Authors: Mohammad Asif

Abstract:

A large number of chemical, bio-chemical and pollution-control processes use heterogeneous fixed-bed reactors. The use of finite hollow cylindrical catalyst pellets can enhance conversion levels in such reactors. The absence of the pellet core can significantly lower the diffusional resistance associated with the solid phase. This leads to a better utilization of the catalytic material, which is reflected in the higher values for the effectiveness factor, leading ultimately to an enhanced conversion level in the reactor. It is however important to develop a rigorous heterogeneous model for the reactor incorporating the two-dimensional feature of the solid phase owing to the presence of the finite hollow cylindrical catalyst pellet. Presently, heterogeneous models reported in the literature invariably employ one-dimension solid phase models meant for spherical catalyst pellets. The objective of the paper is to present a rigorous model of the fixed-bed reactors containing finite hollow cylindrical catalyst pellets. The reaction kinetics considered here is the widely used Michaelis–Menten kinetics for the liquid-phase bio-chemical reactions. The reaction parameters used here are for the enzymatic degradation of urea. Results indicate that increasing the height to diameter ratio helps to improve the conversion level. On the other hand, decreasing the thickness is apparently not as effective. This could however be explained in terms of the higher void fraction of the bed that causes a smaller amount of the solid phase to be packed in the fixed-bed bio-chemical reactor.

Keywords: Fixed-bed reactor, Finite hollow cylinder, Catalyst pellet, Conversion, Michaelis-Menten kinetics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1597

Authors: Ashly Joseph, Jithu Paulose

Abstract:

In an era where misleading information may quickly circulate on digital news channels, it is crucial to have efficient and trustworthy methods to detect and reduce the impact of misinformation. This research proposes an innovative framework that combines Natural Language Processing (NLP), Reinforcement Learning (RL), and Blockchain technologies to precisely detect and minimize the spread of false information in news articles on social media. The framework starts by gathering a variety of news items from different social media sites and performing preprocessing on the data to ensure its quality and uniformity. NLP methods are utilized to extract complete linguistic and semantic characteristics, effectively capturing the subtleties and contextual aspects of the language used. These features are utilized as input for a RL model. This model acquires the most effective tactics for detecting and mitigating the impact of false material by modeling the intricate dynamics of user engagements and incentives on social media platforms. The integration of blockchain technology establishes a decentralized and transparent method for storing and verifying the accuracy of information. The Blockchain component guarantees the unchangeability and safety of verified news records, while encouraging user engagement for detecting and fighting false information through an incentive system based on tokens. The suggested framework seeks to provide a thorough and resilient solution to the problems presented by misinformation in social media articles.

Keywords: Natural Language Processing, Reinforcement Learning, Blockchain, fake news mitigation, misinformation detection.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Chun-Cheng Lin

Abstract:

Noise level has critical effects on the diagnostic performance of signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG), because the true starting and end points of QRS complex would be masked by the residual noise and sensitive to the noise level. Several studies and commercial machines have used a fixed number of heart beats (typically between 200 to 600 beats) or set a predefined noise level (typically between 0.3 to 1.0 μV) in each X, Y and Z lead to perform SAECG analysis. However different criteria or methods used to perform SAECG would cause the discrepancies of the noise levels among study subjects. According to the recommendations of 1991 ESC, AHA and ACC Task Force Consensus Document for the use of SAECG, the determinations of onset and offset are related closely to the mean and standard deviation of noise sample. Hence this study would try to perform SAECG using consistent root-mean-square (RMS) noise levels among study subjects and analyze the noise level effects on SAECG. This study would also evaluate the differences between normal subjects and chronic renal failure (CRF) patients in the time-domain SAECG parameters. The study subjects were composed of 50 normal Taiwanese and 20 CRF patients. During the signal-averaged processing, different RMS noise levels were adjusted to evaluate their effects on three time domain parameters (1) filtered total QRS duration (fQRSD), (2) RMS voltage of the last QRS 40 ms (RMS40), and (3) duration of the low amplitude signals below 40 μV (LAS40). The study results demonstrated that the reduction of RMS noise level can increase fQRSD and LAS40 and decrease the RMS40, and can further increase the differences of fQRSD and RMS40 between normal subjects and CRF patients. The SAECG may also become abnormal due to the reduction of RMS noise level. In conclusion, it is essential to establish diagnostic criteria of SAECG using consistent RMS noise levels for the reduction of the noise level effects.

Keywords: Signal-averaged electrocardiogram, Ventricular latepotentials, Chronic renal failure, Noise level effects.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1802

Authors: Er, A. C., Rosli, M. H., Asmahani A., Mohamad Naim M. R., Harsuzilawati M.

Abstract:

Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that has peaked to an alarming rate in recent decades. It can be found in tropical and sub-tropical climate. In Malaysia, dengue has been declared as one of the national health threat to the public. This study aimed to map the spatial distributions of dengue cases in the district of Hulu Langat, Selangor via a combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) and spatial statistic tools. Data related to dengue was gathered from the various government health agencies. The location of dengue cases was geocoded using a handheld GPS Juno SB Trimble. A total of 197 dengue cases occurring in 2003 were used in this study. Those data then was aggregated into sub-district level and then converted into GIS format. The study also used population or demographic data as well as the boundary of Hulu Langat. To assess the spatial distribution of dengue cases three spatial statistics method (Moran-s I, average nearest neighborhood (ANN) and kernel density estimation) were applied together with spatial analysis in the GIS environment. Those three indices were used to analyze the spatial distribution and average distance of dengue incidence and to locate the hot spot of dengue cases. The results indicated that the dengue cases was clustered (p < 0.01) when analyze using Moran-s I with z scores 5.03. The results from ANN analysis showed that the average nearest neighbor ratio is less than 1 which is 0.518755 (p < 0.0001). From this result, we can expect the dengue cases pattern in Hulu Langat district is exhibiting a cluster pattern. The z-score for dengue incidence within the district is -13.0525 (p < 0.0001). It was also found that the significant spatial autocorrelation of dengue incidences occurs at an average distance of 380.81 meters (p < 0.0001). Several locations especially residential area also had been identified as the hot spots of dengue cases in the district.

Keywords: Dengue, geographic information system (GIS), spatial analysis, spatial statistics

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5369

Authors: A.K. Tangirala, S. Babji

Abstract:

In the last few years, three multivariate spectral analysis techniques namely, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) have emerged as effective tools for oscillation detection and isolation. While the first method is used in determining the number of oscillatory sources, the latter two methods are used to identify source signatures by formulating the detection problem as a source identification problem in the spectral domain. In this paper, we present a critical drawback of the underlying linear (mixing) model which strongly limits the ability of the associated source separation methods to determine the number of sources and/or identify the physical source signatures. It is shown that the assumed mixing model is only valid if each unit of the process gives equal weighting (all-pass filter) to all oscillatory components in its inputs. This is in contrast to the fact that each unit, in general, acts as a filter with non-uniform frequency response. Thus, the model can only facilitate correct identification of a source with a single frequency component, which is again unrealistic. To overcome this deficiency, an iterative post-processing algorithm that correctly identifies the physical source(s) is developed. An additional issue with the existing methods is that they lack a procedure to pre-screen non-oscillatory/noisy measurements which obscure the identification of oscillatory sources. In this regard, a pre-screening procedure is prescribed based on the notion of sparseness index to eliminate the noisy and non-oscillatory measurements from the data set used for analysis.

Keywords: non-negative matrix factorization, PCA, source separation, plant-wide diagnosis

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1535