Search results for: valuable metals

Authors: Mehran Bakhshi, Mohammad Raouf Hosseini, Mohammadhosein Rahimi

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The cadmium sulfide nanoparticles were synthesized from the nickel-cadmium cake of a hydrometallurgical zinc producing plant and sodium sulfide as Cd²⁺ and S^-2 sources, respectively. Also, the synthesis process was performed by using the secretions of Bacillus licheniformis as bio-surfactant. Initially, in order to obtain a cadmium rich solution, two following steps were carried out: 1) Alkaline leaching for the removal of zinc oxide from the cake, and 2) acidic leaching to dissolve cadmium from the remained solid residue. Afterward, the obtained CdSO₄ solution was used for the nanoparticle biosynthesis. Nanoparticles were characterized by the energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to confirm the formation of CdS crystals with cubic structure. Also, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was applied to determine the particle sizes which were in 2-10 nm range. Moreover, the presence of the protein containing bio-surfactants was approved by using infrared analysis (FTIR). In addition, the absorbance below 400 nm confirms quantum particles’ size. Finally, it was shown that valuable CdS quantum dots could be obtained from the industrial waste products via environment-friendly biological approaches.

Keywords: Biosynthesis, cadmium cake, cadmium sulfide, nanoparticle, zinc smelter.

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Authors: J. Burlakovs, Y. Jani, L. Grinberga, M. Kriipsalu, O. Anne, I. Grinfelde, W. Hogland

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The worldwide future sustainable economies are oriented towards the sea: the maritime economy is becoming one of the strongest driving forces in many regions as population growth is the highest in coastal areas. For hundreds of years sea resources were depleted unsustainably by fishing, mining, transportation, tourism, and waste. European Sustainable Development Strategy is identifying and developing actions to enable the EU to achieve a continuous, long-term improvement of the quality of life through the creation of sustainable communities. The aim of this paper is to provide insight in Baltic Sea Region case studies on implemented actions on tourism industry waste and beach wrack management in coastal areas, hazardous contaminants and plastic flow treatment from waste, wastewaters and stormwaters. These projects mentioned in study promote successful prevention of contaminant flows to the sea environments and provide perspectives for creation of valuable new products from residuals for future circular economy are the step forward to green innovation winning streak.

Keywords: Resilience, hazardous waste, phytoremediation, water management, circular economy.

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Authors: Nur Adilah Md Zain, Mohd Salehuddin Mohd Zahari, Mohd Hafiz Hanafiah, Muhammad Izzat Zulkifly

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This paper empirically investigates the relationship between Sabah state core tourism products and its destination image. Through a descriptive design using a quantitative method with a self-reported and self-administered questionnaire, this research surveyed the individual international tourists who had visited Sabah and experienced the state’s core tourism products. The research findings clearly indicate that Sabah, one of the states in Malaysia has a lot of valuable resources in the eyes of the international tourists. Interestingly, it was found that Sabah’s core tourism products namely unique marine resources, various nature attractions and cultural diversities have undoubtedly contributed to the state’s tourism image. Good feedbacks and the promising insights from the international tourists’ point of view offer varying consequences, repercussion, and implication to the state government and the relevant authorities. Collaboration and cooperation between all responsible authorities are therefore crucial in strengthening the “total tourism experience” among the international tourists in this state.

Keywords: Tourism core products, marine, cultural, nature, destination image, Sabah.

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Authors: Peng Hao Wang, Ronald Sterkenburg, Garam Kim, Yuwei He

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As composite materials continue to gain popularity in the aerospace industry; large airframe sections made out of composite materials are becoming the standard for aerospace manufacturers. However, the heavy utilization of these composite materials also increases the importance of the recycling of these composite materials. A team of Purdue University School of Aviation and Transportation Technology (SATT) faculty and students have partnered to investigate the characteristics of 3D printed recycled carbon fiber. A prototype of a 3D printed recycled carbon fiber part was provided by an industry partner and different sections of the prototype were used to create specimens. A furnace was utilized in order to remove the polymer from the specimens and the specimen’s fiber content and fiber length was calculated from the remaining fibers. A differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) test was also conducted on the 3D printed recycled carbon fiber prototype in order to determine the prototype’s degree of cure at different locations. The data collected from this study provided valuable information in the process improvement and understanding of 3D printed recycled carbon fiber.

Keywords: 3D printed, carbon fiber, fiber content, recycling.

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Authors: Sharmina Begum, M. G. Rasul, Delwar Akbar

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Solid waste can be considered as an urban burden or as a valuable resource depending on how it is managed. To meet the rising demand for energy and to address environmental concerns, a conversion from conventional energy systems to renewable resources is essential. For the sustainability of human civilization, an environmentally sound and techno-economically feasible waste treatment method is very important to treat recyclable waste. Several technologies are available for realizing the potential of solid waste as an energy source, ranging from very simple systems for disposing of dry waste to more complex technologies capable of dealing with large amounts of industrial waste. There are three main pathways for conversion of waste material to energy: thermo chemical, biochemical and physicochemical. This paper investigates the thermo chemical conversion of solid waste for energy recovery. The processes, advantages and dis-advantages of various thermo chemical conversion processes are discussed and compared. Special attention is given to Gasification process as it provides better solutions regarding public acceptance, feedstock flexibility, near-zero emissions, efficiency and security. Finally this paper presents comparative statements of thermo chemical processes and introduces an integrated waste management system.

Keywords: Gasification, Incineration, Pyrolysis, Thermo chemical conversion.

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Authors: Leila Maleki, Ahmad Esmali Kooraneh, Hossein Taghi Derakhshi

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Neural activity in the human brain starts from the early stages of prenatal development. This activity or signals generated by the brain are electrical in nature and represent not only the brain function but also the status of the whole body. At the present moment, three methods can record functional and physiological changes within the brain with high temporal resolution of neuronal interactions at the network level: the electroencephalogram (EEG), the magnet oencephalogram (MEG), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); each of these has advantages and shortcomings. EEG recording with a large number of electrodes is now feasible in clinical practice. Multichannel EEG recorded from the scalp surface provides very valuable but indirect information about the source distribution. However, deep electrode measurements yield more reliable information about the source locations intracranial recordings and scalp EEG are used with the source imaging techniques to determine the locations and strengths of the epileptic activity. As a source localization method, Low Resolution Electro-Magnetic Tomography (LORETA) is solved for the realistic geometry based on both forward methods, the Boundary Element Method (BEM) and the Finite Difference Method (FDM). In this paper, we review the findings EEG- LORETA about epilepsy.

Keywords: Epilepsy, EEG, EEG- Loreta, loreta analysis.

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Authors: Monday O. Ale, Adebukola A. Akintade, Olasunbo O. Orungbemi

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Fermentation as an important operation in the processing of cocoa beans is now affected by the recent climate change across the globe. The major requirement for effective fermentation is the ability of the material used to retain sufficient heat for the required microbial activities. Apart from the effects of climate on the rate of heat retention, the materials used for fermentation plays an important role. Most Farmers still restrict fermentation activities to the use of traditional methods. Improving on cocoa fermentation in this era of climate change makes it necessary to work on other materials that can be suitable for cocoa fermentation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of fermentation techniques on the quality of cocoa beans. The materials used in this fermentation research were heap-leaves (traditional), stainless steel, plastic tin, plastic basket and wooden box. The period of fermentation varies from zero days to 10 days. Physical and chemical tests were carried out for variables in quality determination in the samples. The weight per bean varied from 1.0-1.2 g after drying across the samples and the major color of the dry beans observed was brown except with the samples from stainless steel. The moisture content varied from 5.5-7%. The mineral content and the heavy metals decreased with increase in the fermentation period. A wooden box can conclusively be used as an alternative to heap-leaves as there was no significant difference in the physical features of the samples fermented with the two methods. The use of a wooden box as an alternative for cocoa fermentation is therefore recommended for cocoa farmers.

Keywords: Effects, fermentation, fermentation materials, period, quality.

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Authors: M. Derakhshanfar, B. Minaei-Bidgoli

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Spatial trends are one of the valuable patterns in geo databases. They play an important role in data analysis and knowledge discovery from spatial data. A spatial trend is a regular change of one or more non spatial attributes when spatially moving away from a start object. Spatial trend detection is a graph search problem therefore heuristic methods can be good solution. Artificial immune system (AIS) is a special method for searching and optimizing. AIS is a novel evolutionary paradigm inspired by the biological immune system. The models based on immune system principles, such as the clonal selection theory, the immune network model or the negative selection algorithm, have been finding increasing applications in fields of science and engineering. In this paper, we develop a novel immunological algorithm based on clonal selection algorithm (CSA) for spatial trend detection. We are created neighborhood graph and neighborhood path, then select spatial trends that their affinity is high for antibody. In an evolutionary process with artificial immune algorithm, affinity of low trends is increased with mutation until stop condition is satisfied.

Keywords: Spatial Data Mining, Spatial Trend Detection, Heuristic Methods, Artificial Immune System, Clonal Selection Algorithm (CSA)

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Authors: Salha Alshamrani, Maha Aljohni, Eman Aldhaheri

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With the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in various industries, there has been a concurrent rise in security vulnerabilities, particularly spoofing attacks. This study explores the potential of blockchain technology in enhancing the security of IoT systems and mitigating these attacks. Blockchain's decentralized and immutable ledger offers significant promise for improving data integrity, transaction transparency, and tamper-proofing. This research develops and implements a blockchain-based IoT architecture and a reference network to simulate real-world scenarios and evaluate a blockchain-integrated intrusion detection system. Performance measures including time delay, security, and resource utilization are used to assess the system's effectiveness, comparing it to conventional IoT networks without blockchain. The results provide valuable insights into the practicality and efficacy of employing blockchain as a security mechanism, shedding light on the trade-offs between speed and security in blockchain deployment for IoT. The study concludes that despite minor increases in time consumption, the security benefits of incorporating blockchain technology into IoT systems outweigh potential drawbacks, demonstrating a significant potential for blockchain in bolstering IoT security.

Keywords: Internet of Thing, Spoofing, IoT, Access control, Blockchain, Raspberry pi.

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Authors: Krasimir I. Ivanov, Elitsa N. Kolentsova, Dimitar Y. Dimitrov

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The development of active and stable catalysts without noble metals for low temperature oxidation of exhaust gases remains a significant challenge. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of the preparation method on the catalytic activity of the supported copper-manganese mixed oxides in terms of VOCs oxidation. The catalysts were prepared by impregnation of γ- Al2O3 with copper and manganese nitrates and acetates and the possibilities for CO, CH3OH and dimethyl ether (DME) oxidation were evaluated using continuous flow equipment with a four-channel isothermal stainless steel reactor. Effect of the support, Cu/Mn mole ratio, heat treatment of the precursor and active component loading were investigated. Highly active alumina supported Cu-Mn catalysts for CO and VOCs oxidation were synthesized. The effect of preparation conditions on the activity behavior of the catalysts was discussed. The synergetic interaction between copper and manganese species increases the activity for complete oxidation over mixed catalysts. Type of support, calcination temperature and active component loading along with catalyst composition are important factors, determining catalytic activity. Cu/Mn molar ratio of 1:5, heat treatment at 450oC and 20 % active component loading are the best compromise for production of active catalyst for simultaneous combustion of CO, CH3OH and DME.

Keywords: Copper-manganese catalysts, Preparation methods, Exhaust gases oxidation.

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Authors: A. Soikkeli, L. Sorri

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Finnish national research project, User- and Business-oriented Suburb Renovation Concept (KLIKK), was started in January 2012 and will end in June 2014. The perspective of energy efficiency is emphasised in the project, but also it addresses what improving the energy efficiency of suburban apartment buildings means from the standpoint of architecturally valuable buildings representing different periods. The project will also test the impacts of stricter energy efficiency requirements on renovation projects.

The primary goal of the project is to develop a user-oriented, industrial, economic renovation concept for suburban apartment building renovation, extension and construction of additional storeys. The concept will make it possible to change from performance- and cost-based operation to novel service- and user-oriented, site-specifically tailored renovation methods utilizing integrated order and delivery chains.

The present project is collaborating with Ministry of the Environment and participating cities in developing a new type of lighter town planning model for suburban renovations and in-fill construction. To support this, the project will simultaneously develop practices for environmental impact assessment tools in renovation and suburban supplementary and in-fill construction.

 

Keywords: Energy efficiency, Prefabrication, Renovation concept, Suburbs, Sustainability, User-Orientated.

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Authors: Pratap Sriram Sundar, Chandan Chowdhury, Sagar Kamarthi

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Nature has perfected her designs over 3.5 billion years of evolution. Research fields such as biomimicry, biomimetics, bionics, bio-inspired computing, and nature-inspired designs have explored nature-made artifacts and systems to understand nature’s mechanisms and intelligence. Learning from nature, the researchers have generated sustainable designs and innovation in a variety of fields such as energy, architecture, agriculture, transportation, communication, and medicine. Axiomatic design offers a method to judge if a design is good. This paper analyzes design aspects of one of the nature’s amazing object: chicken egg. The functional requirements (FRs) of components of the object are tabulated and mapped on to nature-chosen design parameters (DPs). The ‘independence axiom’ of the axiomatic design methodology is applied to analyze couplings and to evaluate if eggs’ design is good (i.e., uncoupled design) or bad (i.e., coupled design). The analysis revealed that eggs design is a good design, i.e., uncoupled design. This approach can be applied to any nature’s artifacts to judge whether their design is a good or a bad. This methodology is valuable for biomimicry studies. This approach can also be a very useful teaching design consideration of biology and bio-inspired innovation.

Keywords: Uncoupled design, axiomatic design, nature design, design evaluation.

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Authors: Faghihnia Torshizi Mostafa, Saitoh Masato

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An efficient method is developed for the response of a group of vertical, cylindrical fixed-head, finite length piles embedded in a homogeneous elastic stratum, subjected to harmonic force atop the pile group cap. Pile to pile interaction is represented through simplified beam-on-dynamic-Winkler-foundation (BDWF) with realistic frequency-dependent springs and dashpots. Pile group effect is considered through interaction factors. New closed-form expressions for interaction factors and curvature ratios atop the pile are extended by considering different boundary conditions at the tip of the piles (fixed, hinged). In order to investigate the fundamental characteristics of inertial bending strains in pile groups, inertial bending strains at the head of each pile are expressed in terms of slenderness ratio. The results of parametric study give valuable insight in understanding the behavior of fixed head pile groups in fundamental natural frequency of soil stratum.

Keywords: Winkler-foundation, fundamental frequency of soil stratum, normalized inertial bending strain, harmonic excitation.

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Authors: A. Nait Salah, M. Kaddami

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This work describes an investigation on the effect of filler metals diameter to weld joint, and low alloy carbon steel A516 Grade 70 is the base metal. Commercially SA516 Grade70 is frequently used for the manufacturing of pressure vessels, boilers and storage tank, etc. In fabrication industry, the hardness of the weld joint is between the important parameters to check, after heat treatment of the weld. Submerged arc welding (SAW) is used with two filler metal diameters, and this solid wire electrode is used for SAW non-alloy and for fine grain steels (SFA 5.17). The different diameters were selected (Ø = 2.4 mm and Ø = 4 mm) to weld two specimens. Both specimens were subjected to the same preparation conditions, heat treatment, macrograph, metallurgy micrograph, and micro-hardness test. Samples show almost similar structure with highest hardness. It is important to indicate that the thickness used in the base metal is 22 mm, and all specifications, preparation and controls were according to the ASME section IX. It was observed that two different filler metal diameters performed on two similar specimens demonstrated that the mechanical property (hardness) increases with decreasing diameter. It means that even the heat treatment has the same effect with the same conditions, the filler metal diameter insures a depth weld penetration and better homogenization. Hence, the SAW welding technique mentioned in the present study is favorable to implicate for the industry using the small filler metal diameter.

Keywords: ASME, base metal, filler metal, micro-hardness test, submerged arc welding.

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Authors: Ahmed T. Alahmar

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There is an increasing trend toward student-centred interactive e-learning methods and students’ feedback is a valuable tool for improving learning methods. The aim of this study was to explore the attitude of second year pharmacy students at the University of Babylon, Iraq, towards lectures, exams and e-learning. Materials and methods: Ninety pharmacy students were surveyed by paper questionnaire about their preference for lecture format, use of e-files, theoretical lectures versus practical experiments, lecture and lab time. Students were also asked about their predilection for Moodle-based online exams, different types of exam questions, exam time and other extra academic activities. Results: Students prefer to read lectures on paper (73.3%), use of PowerPoint file (76.7%), short lectures of less than 10 pages (94.5%), practical experiments (66.7%), lectures and lab time of less than two hours (89.9% and 96.6 respectively) and intra-lecture discussions (68.9%). Students also like to have paper-based exam (73.3%), short essay (40%) or MCQ (34.4%) questions and also prefer to do extra activities like reports (22.2%), seminars (18.6%) and posters (10.8%). Conclusion: Second year pharmacy students have different attitudes toward traditional and electronic leaning and assessment methods. Using multimedia, e-learning and Moodle are increasingly preferred methods among some students.

Keywords: Pharmacy, students, lecture, exam, e-learning, Moodle.

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Authors: Beena Sethi

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This work involves the degradation of plastic waste in the presence of three different nanocatalysts. A thin film of LLDPE was formed with all three nanocatalysts separately in the solvent. Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetric (DSC) analysis of polymers suggest that the presence of these catalysts lowers the degradation temperature and the change mechanism of degradation. Gas chromatographic analysis was carried out for two films. In gas chromatography (GC) analysis, it was found that degradation of pure polymer produces only 32% C3/C4 hydrocarbons and 67.6% C5/C9 hydrocarbons. In the presence of these catalysts, more than 80% of polymer by weight was converted into either liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons. Change in the mechanism of degradation of polymer was observed therefore more C3/C4 hydrocarbons along with valuable feedstock are produced. Adjustment of dose of nanocatalyst, use of nano-admixtures and recycling of catalyst can make this catalytic feedstock recycling method a good tool to get sustainable environment. The obtained products can be utilized as fuel or can be transformed into other useful products. In accordance with the principles of sustainable development, chemical recycling i.e. tertiary recycling of polymers along with the reuse (zero order recycling) of plastics can be the most appropriate and promising method in this direction. The tertiary recycling is attracting much attention from the viewpoint of the energy resource.

Keywords: Degradation, differential scanning calorimetry, feedstock recycling, gas chromatography, thermogravimetric analysis. DSC.

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Authors: M. J. Norashirene, Y. Zakiah, S. Nurdiana, I. Nur Hilwani, M. H. Siti Khairiyah, M. J. Muhamad Arif

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In this study, six bacterial isolates of a slightly thermophilic organism from the Sg. Klah hot spring, Malaysia were successfully isolated and designated as M7T55D1, M7T55D2, M7T55D3, M7T53D1, M7T53D2 and M7T53D3 respectively. The bacterial isolates were screened for their cellulose hydrolytic ability on Carboxymethlycellulose agar medium. The isolated bacterial strains were identified morphologically, biochemically and molecularly with the aid of 16S rDNA sequencing. All of the bacteria showed their optimum growth at a slightly alkaline pH of 7.5 with a temperature of 55°C. All strains were Gram-negative, non-spore forming type, strictly aerobic, catalase-positive and oxidase-positive with the ability to produce thermostable cellulase. Based on BLASTn results, bacterial isolates of M7T55D2 and M7T53D1 gave the highest homology (97%) with similarity to Tepidimonas ignava while isolates M7T55D1, M7T55D3, M7T53D2 and M7T53D3 showed their closest homology (97%-98%) with Tepidimonas thermarum. These cellulolytic thermophiles might have a commercial potential to produce valuable thermostable cellulase.

Keywords: Cellulase, Cellulolytic, Thermophiles, 16S rDNA Gene.

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Authors: Djemaa Megdoud, Messaoud Boudaa, Fatima Ouamrane, Salem Benamara

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In recent years, the compression of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruit powders (DP) to obtain date tablets (DT) has been suggested as a promising form of valorization of non commercial valuable date fruit (DF) varieties. To further improve and characterize DT, the present study aims to investigate the influence of the DP particle size and compression force on some physical properties of DT. The results show that independently of particle size, the hardness (y) of tablets increases with the increase of the compression force (x) following a logarithmic law (y = a ln (bx) where a and b are the constants of model). Further, a full factorial design (FFD) at two levels, applied to investigate the erosion %, reveals that the effects of time and particle size are the same in absolute value and they are beyond the effect of the compression. Regarding the disintegration time, the obtained results also by means of a FFD show that the effect of the compression force exceeds 4 times that of the DP particle size. As final stage, the color parameters in the CIELab system of DT immediately after their obtaining are differently influenced by the size of the initial powder.

Keywords: Powder, valorization, tablets, date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.), hardness, erosion, disintegration time, color.

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Authors: Eu Tteum Ha, Kwang Ryel Ryu

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As smartphones are equipped with various sensors, there have been many studies focused on using these sensors to create valuable applications. Human activity recognition is one such application motivated by various welfare applications, such as the support for the elderly, measurement of calorie consumption, lifestyle and exercise patterns analyses, and so on. One of the challenges one faces when using smartphone sensors for activity recognition is that the number of sensors should be minimized to save battery power. In this paper, we show that a fairly accurate classifier can be built that can distinguish ten different activities by using only a single sensor data, i.e., the smartphone accelerometer data. The approach that we adopt to deal with this twelve-class problem uses various methods. The features used for classifying these activities include not only the magnitude of acceleration vector at each time point, but also the maximum, the minimum, and the standard deviation of vector magnitude within a time window. The experiments compared the performance of four kinds of basic multi-class classifiers and the performance of four kinds of ensemble learning methods based on three kinds of basic multi-class classifiers. The results show that while the method with the highest accuracy is ECOC based on Random forest.

Keywords: Ensemble learning, activity recognition, smartphone accelerometer.

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Authors: B. Stroetmann, A. Aisenbrey

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The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging and therapy, laboratory diagnostics, medical information technology, and hearing aids. Siemens offers its customers products and solutions for the entire range of patient care from a single source – from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimizing clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better, and more cost effective. The optimization of clinical workflows requires a multidisciplinary focus and a collaborative approach of e.g. medical advisors, researchers and scientists as well as healthcare economists. This new form of collaboration brings together experts with deep technical experience, physicians with specialized medical knowledge as well as people with comprehensive knowledge about health economics. As Charles Darwin is often quoted as saying, “It is neither the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change," We believe that those who can successfully manage this change will emerge as winners, with valuable competitive advantage. Current medical information and knowledge are some of the core assets in the healthcare industry. The main issue is to connect knowledge holders and knowledge recipients from various disciplines efficiently in order to spread and distribute knowledge.

Keywords: Business Excellence, Clinical Knowledge, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Services, Learning Organizations, Trust.

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Authors: S. Shubha, B. N. Meera

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Physics Education Research (PER) results have shown that students do not achieve the expected level of competency in understanding the concepts of different domains of Physics learning when taught by the traditional teaching methods, the concepts of Electricity and Magnetism (E&M) being one among them. Simulation being one of the valuable instructional tools renders an opportunity to visualize varied experiences with such concepts. Considering the electric force concept which requires extensive use of vector representations, we report here the outcome of the research results pertaining to the student understanding of this concept and the role of simulation in using vector representation. The simulation platform provides a positive impact on the use of vector representation. The first stage of this study involves eliciting and analyzing student responses to questions that probe their understanding of the concept of electrostatic force and this is followed by four stages of student interviews as they use the interactive simulations of electric force in one dimension. Student responses to the questions are recorded in real time using electronic pad. A validation test interview is conducted to evaluate students' understanding of the electric force concept after using interactive simulation. Results indicate lack of procedural knowledge of the vector representation. The study emphasizes the need for the choice of appropriate simulation and mode of induction for learning.

Keywords: Electric Force, Interactive, Representation, Simulation.

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Authors: Ashly Joseph, Jithu Paulose

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The increased usage of cloud computing has revolutionized the IT landscape, but it has also raised new security concerns. DevSecOps emerged as a way for tackling these difficulties by integrating security into the software development process. However, the rising complexity and sophistication of cyber threats need more advanced solutions. This paper looks into the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in the DevSecOps framework to increase cloud security. This study uses quantitative and qualitative techniques to assess the usefulness of AI approaches such as machine learning, natural language processing, and deep learning in reducing security issues. This paper thoroughly examines the symbiotic relationship between AI and DevSecOps, concentrating on how AI may be seamlessly integrated into the continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline, automated security testing, and real-time monitoring methods. The findings emphasize AI's huge potential to improve threat detection, risk assessment, and incident response skills. Furthermore, the paper examines the implications and challenges of using AI in DevSecOps workflows, considering factors like as scalability, interpretability, and adaptability. This paper adds to a better understanding of AI's revolutionary role in cloud security and provides valuable insights for practitioners and scholars in the field.

Keywords: Cloud Security, DevSecOps, Artificial Intelligence, AI, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, NLP, cybersecurity, AI-driven Security.

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Authors: Victor Emery David Jr, Jiang Wenchao, Yasinta John, Md. Sahadat Hossain

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Sludge originates from the process of treatment of wastewater. It is the byproduct of wastewater treatment containing concentrated heavy metals and poorly biodegradable trace organic compounds, as well as potentially pathogenic organisms (viruses, bacteria, etc.) which are usually difficult to treat or dispose of. China, like other countries, is no stranger to the challenges posed by increase of wastewater. Treatment and disposal of sludge has been a problem for most cities in China. However, this problem has been exacerbated by other issues such as lack of technology, funding, and other factors. Suitable methods for such climatic conditions are still unavailable for modern cities in China. Against this background, this paper seeks to describe the methods used for treatment and disposal of sludge from industries and suggest a suitable method for treatment and disposal in Chongqing/China. From the research conducted, it was discovered that the highest treatment rate of sludge in Chongqing was 10.08%. The industrial waste piping system is not separated from the domestic system. Considering the proliferation of industry and urbanization, there is a likelihood that the production of sludge in Chongqing will increase. If the sludge produced is not properly managed, this may lead to adverse health and environmental effects. Disposal costs and methods for Chongqing were also included in this paper’s analysis. Research showed that incineration is the most expensive method of sludge disposal in China/Chongqing. Subsequent research therefore considered optional alternatives such as composting. Composting represents a relatively cheap waste disposal method considering the vast population, current technology and economic conditions of Chongqing, as well as China at large.

Keywords: Sludge, disposal of sludge, treatment, industrial sludge, Chongqing, wastewater.

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Authors: Abdelbaset Rabaiah

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e-Government mobile applications provide an extension for effective e-government services in today’s omniconnected world. They constitute part of m-government platforms. This study explores the usefulness, availability, discoverability and maturity of such applications. While this study impacts theory by addressing a relatively lacking area, it impacts practice more. The outcomes of this study suggest valuable recommendations for practitioners-developers of e-government applications. The methodology followed is to examine a large number of e-government smartphone applications. The focus is on applications available at the Google Play Store. Moreover, the study investigates applications published on government portals of a number of countries. A sample of 15 countries is researched. The results show a diversity in the level of discoverability, development, maturity, and usage of smartphone apps dedicated for use of e-government services. It was found that there are major issues in discovering e-government applications on both the Google Play Store and as-well-as on local government portals. The study found that only a fraction of mobile government applications was published on the Play Store. Only 19% of apps were multilingual, and 43% were developed by third parties including private individuals. Further analysis was made, and important recommendations are suggested in this paper for a better utilization of e-government smartphone applications. These recommendations will result in better discoverability, maturity, and usefulness of e-government applications.

Keywords: Mobile applications, e-government, apps, app store.

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Authors: T. Patcharawit, C. Kansomket, N. Wongnaree, W. Kritsrikan, T. Yingnakorn, S. Khumkoa

Abstract:

Recovery of pure copper and silver from end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) panels was investigated in this paper using an effective hybrid pyro-hydrometallurgical process. In the first step of waste treatment, solar panel waste was first dismantled to obtain a PV sheet to be cut and calcined at 500 °C, to separate out PV ribbon from glass cullet, ash, and volatile while the silicon wafer containing silver finger was collected for recovery. In the second step of metal recovery, copper recovery from PV ribbon was via 1-3 M HCl leaching with SnCl₂ and H₂O₂ additions in order to remove the tin-lead coating on the ribbon. The leached copper band was cleaned and subsequently melted as an anode for the next step of electrorefining. Stainless steel was set as the cathode with CuSO₄ as an electrolyte, and at a potential of 0.2 V, high purity copper of 99.93% was obtained at 96.11% recovery after 24 hours. For silver recovery, the silicon wafer containing silver finger was leached using HNO₃ at 1-4 M in an ultrasonic bath. In the next step of precipitation, silver chloride was then obtained and subsequently reduced by sucrose and NaOH to give silver powder prior to oxy-acetylene melting to finally obtain pure silver metal. The integrated recycling process is considered to be economical, providing effective recovery of high purity metals such as copper and silver while other materials such as aluminum, copper wire, glass cullet can also be recovered to be reused commercially. Compounds such as PbCl₂ and SnO₂ obtained can also be recovered to enter the market.

Keywords: Electrorefining, leaching, calcination, PV ribbon, silver finger, solar panel.

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Authors: Guo Yan

Abstract:

Clothing recycling bin is a traditional way to collect textile waste in many areas. In the clothing recycling business, the transportation cost normally takes over 50% of total costs. This case gives a good way to reduce transportation cost by reverse logistics system. In this reverse logistics system, there are offline strategic alliance partners, such as transport firms, convenience stores, laundries, and post office which are integrated onto the mobile APP. Offline strategic alliance partners provide the service of textile waste collection, and transportation by their vacant vehicles return journey from convenience stores, laundries and post offices to sorting centers. The results of the case study provide the strategic alliance with a valuable and light - asset business model by using the logistics of offline memberships. The company in this case just focuses on textile waste sorting, reuse, recycling etc. The research method of this paper is a case study of a clothing recycling company in Chengdu by field research and interview; the analysis is based on the theory of the reverse logistics system.

Keywords: Closed-loop recycles system, clothing recycling, end-of-life clothing, sharing economy, strategic alliance, reverse logistics.

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Authors: Laura X. Martinez, Andrés F. Rodríguez, Ruth A. Catacoli

Abstract:

One of the most important factors for air pollution is that the concentrations of PM₁₀ maintain a constant trend, with the exception of some places where that frequently surpasses the allowed ranges established by Colombian legislation. The community that surrounds the Universidad Libre Bogotá is inhabited by a considerable number of students and workers, all of whom are possibly being exposed to PM₁₀ for long periods of time while on campus. Thus, the chemical characterization of PM₁₀ found in the ambient air at the Universidad Libre Bogotá was identified as a problem. A Hi-Vol sampler and EPA Test Method 5 were used to determine if the quality of air is adequate for the human respiratory system. Additionally, quartz fiber filters were utilized during sampling. Samples were taken three days a week during a dry period throughout the months of November and December 2015. The gravimetric analysis method was used to determine PM₁₀ concentrations. The chemical characterization includes non-conventional carcinogenic pollutants. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) was used for the determination of metals and VOCs were analyzed using the FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) method. In this way, concentrations of PM₁₀, ranging from values of 13 µg/m³ to 66 µg/m³, were obtained; these values were below standard conditions. This evidence concludes that the PM₁₀ concentrations during an exposure period of 24 hours are lower than the values established by Colombian law, Resolution 610 of 2010; however, when comparing these with the limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO), these concentrations could possibly exceed permissible levels.

Keywords: Air quality, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, particulate matter.

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Authors: Hossein Zeinivand, Florimond De Smedt

Abstract:

Snow cover is an important phenomenon in hydrology, hence modeling the snow accumulation and melting is an important issue in places where snowmelt significantly contributes to runoff and has significant effect on water balance. The physics-based models are invariably distributed, with the basin disaggregated into zones or grid cells. Satellites images provide valuable data to verify the accuracy of spatially distributed model outputs. In this study a spatially distributed physically based model (WetSpa) was applied to predict snow cover and melting in the Latyan dam watershed in Iran. Snowmelt is simulated based on an energy balance approach. The model is applied and calibrated with one year of observed daily precipitation, air temperature, windspeed, and daily potential evaporation. The predicted snow-covered area is compared with remotely sensed images (MODIS). The results show that simulated snow cover area SCA has a good agreement with satellite image snow cover area SCA from MODIS images. The model performance is also tested by statistical and graphical comparison of simulated and measured discharges entering the Latyan dam reservoir.

Keywords: Physical based model, Satellite image, Snow covers.

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Authors: Essam A. Al-Bahkali, Mahir H. Es-saheb, Jonny Herwan

Abstract:

In this study the elastic-plastic stress distribution in weld-bonded joint, fabricated from austenitic stainless steel (AISI 304) sheet of 1.00 mm thickness and Epoxy adhesive Araldite 2011, subjected to axial loading is investigated. This is needed to improve design procedures and welding codes, and saving efforts in the cumbersome experiments and analysis. Therefore, a complete 3-D finite element modelling and analysis of spot welded, bonded and weld-bonded joints under axial loading conditions is carried out. A comprehensive systematic experimental program is conducted to determine many properties and quantities, of the base metals and the adhesive, needed for FE modelling, such like the elastic – plastic properties, modulus of elasticity, fracture limit, the nugget and heat affected zones (HAZ) properties, etc. Consequently, the finite element models developed, for each case, are used to evaluate stresses distributions across the entire joint, in both the elastic and plastic regions. The stress distribution curves are obtained, particularly in the elastic regions and found to be consistent and in excellent agreement with the published data. Furthermore, the stresses distributions are obtained in the weld-bonded joint and display the best results with almost uniform smooth distribution compared to spot and bonded cases. The stress concentration peaks at the edges of the weld-bonded region, are almost eliminated resulting in achieving the strongest joint of all processes.

Keywords: Spot Welded, Weld-Bonded, Load-Displacement curve, Stress distribution

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Authors: Gurjeet Singh, M. K. Pradhan, Ajay Verma

Abstract:

The plastic industry plays very important role in the economy of any country. It is generally among the leading share of the economy of the country. Since metals and their alloys are very rarely available on the earth. Therefore, to produce plastic products and components, which finds application in many industrial as well as household consumer products is beneficial. Since 50% plastic products are manufactured by injection moulding process. For production of better quality product, we have to control quality characteristics and performance of the product. The process parameters plays a significant role in production of plastic, hence the control of process parameter is essential. In this paper the effect of the parameters selection on injection moulding process has been described. It is to define suitable parameters in producing plastic product. Selecting the process parameter by trial and error is neither desirable nor acceptable, as it is often tends to increase the cost and time. Hence, optimization of processing parameter of injection moulding process is essential. The experiments were designed with Taguchi’s orthogonal array to achieve the result with least number of experiments. Plastic material polypropylene is studied. Tensile strength test of material is done on universal testing machine, which is produced by injection moulding machine. By using Taguchi technique with the help of MiniTab-14 software the best value of injection pressure, melt temperature, packing pressure and packing time is obtained. We found that process parameter packing pressure contribute more in production of good tensile plastic product.

Keywords: Injection moulding, tensile strength, Taguchi method, poly-propylene.

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