Search results for: measurements.

Authors: Hyung T. Kwak, Jun Gao, Yao An, Alfred Kleinhammes, Yue Wu

Abstract:

Surface wettability is a crucial factor in oil recovery. In oil industry, the rock wettability involves the interplay between water, oil, and solid surface. Therefore, studying the interplay between adsorptions of water and hydrocarbon molecules on solid surface would be very informative for understanding rock wettability. Here we use the in-situ Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) gas isotherm technique to study competitive adsorptions of water and isopropanol, an intermediate step from hydrocarbons. This in-situ NMR technique obtains information on thermodynamic properties such as the isotherm, molecular dynamics via spin relaxation measurements, and adsorption kinetics such as how fast the system can reach thermal equilibrium after changes of vapor pressures. Using surfaces of silica glass beads, which can be modified from hydrophilic to hydrophobic, we obtained information on the influence of surface hydrophilicity on the state of surface water via obtained thermodynamic and dynamic properties.

Keywords: Competitive adsorption, nuclear magnetic resonance, wettability.

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Authors: Pashayev A., Askerov D., C. Ardil, Sadiqov R., Abdullayev P.

Abstract:

Groundlessness of application probability-statistic methods are especially shown at an early stage of the aviation GTE technical condition diagnosing, when the volume of the information has property of the fuzzy, limitations, uncertainty and efficiency of application of new technology Soft computing at these diagnosing stages by using the fuzzy logic and neural networks methods. It is made training with high accuracy of multiple linear and nonlinear models (the regression equations) received on the statistical fuzzy data basis. At the information sufficiency it is offered to use recurrent algorithm of aviation GTE technical condition identification on measurements of input and output parameters of the multiple linear and nonlinear generalized models at presence of noise measured (the new recursive least squares method (LSM)). As application of the given technique the estimation of the new operating aviation engine D30KU-154 technical condition at height H=10600 m was made.

Keywords: Identification of a technical condition, aviation gasturbine engine, fuzzy logic and neural networks.

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Authors: Chinsuk Hong

Abstract:

This paper investigates the characteristics of wall pressure fluctuations in naturally developing boundary layer flows on axisymmetric bodies experimentally. The axisymmetric body has a modified ellipsoidal blunt nose. Flush-mounted microphones are used to measure the wall pressure fluctuations in the boundary layer flow over the body. The measurements are performed in a low noise wind tunnel. It is found that the correlation between the flow regime and the characteristics of the pressure fluctuations is distinct. The process from small fluctuation in laminar flow to large fluctuation in turbulent flow is investigated. Tollmien-Schlichting wave (T-S wave) is found to generate and develop in transition. Because of the T-S wave, the wall pressure fluctuations in the transition region are higher than those in the turbulent boundary layer.

Keywords: Wall Pressure Fluctuation, Boundary Layer Flow, Transition, Turbulent Flow, Axisymmetric Body, Flow Noise.

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Authors: Dahi Ghareab Abdelsalam Ibrahim

Abstract:

Axial and lateral measurements of a step depth standard are presented. The axial measurement is performed based on the ISO 5436 profile analysis. The lateral measurement is performed based on the Hamming window band-pass filter method. The method is applied to calibrate a groove structure of a step depth standard of 60 nm. For the axial measurement, the computed results show that the depth of the groove structure is 59.7 ± 0.6 nm. For the lateral measurement, the computed results show that the difference between the two line edges of the groove structure is 151.7 ± 2.5 nm. The method can be applied to any step height/depth regardless of the sharpness of the line edges.

Keywords: Hamming window, band-pass filter, metrology, interferometry.

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Authors: Pashayev A., Askerov D., C. Ardil, Sadiqov R., Abdullayev P.

Abstract:

Groundlessness of application probability-statistic methods are especially shown at an early stage of the aviation GTE technical condition diagnosing, when the volume of the information has property of the fuzzy, limitations, uncertainty and efficiency of application of new technology Soft computing at these diagnosing stages by using the fuzzy logic and neural networks methods. It is made training with high accuracy of multiple linear and nonlinear models (the regression equations) received on the statistical fuzzy data basis. At the information sufficiency it is offered to use recurrent algorithm of aviation GTE technical condition identification on measurements of input and output parameters of the multiple linear and nonlinear generalized models at presence of noise measured (the new recursive least squares method (LSM)). As application of the given technique the estimation of the new operating aviation engine D30KU-154 technical condition at height H=10600 m was made.

Keywords: Identification of a technical condition, aviation gasturbine engine, fuzzy logic and neural networks.

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Authors: Hyuck Ki Hong, Young Chang Jo, Yeon Shik Choi, Beom Joon Kim, Hyo Derk Park

Abstract:

To measure the thickness of the subcutaneous adipose tissue layer, a non-invasive optical measurement system (λ=1300 nm) is introduced. Animal and human subjects are used for the experiments. The results of human subjects are compared with the data of ultrasound device measurements, and a high correlation (r=0.94 for n=11) is observed. There are two modes in the corresponding signals measured by the optical system, which can be explained by two-layered and three-layered tissue models. If the target tissue is thinner than the critical thickness, detected data using diffuse reflectance method follow the three-layered tissue model, so the data increase as the thickness increases. On the other hand, if the target tissue is thicker than the critical thickness, the data follow the two-layered tissue model, so they decrease as the thickness increases.

Keywords: Subcutaneous adipose tissue layer, non-invasive measurement system, two-layered and three-layered tissue models.

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Authors: Ndeye Rokhaya Faye, Ibtissem Gammoudi, Fabien Moroté, Christine Grauby-Heywang, TouriaCohen-Bouhacina

Abstract:

In this study we investigate silica nanoparticle (SiO2- NP) effects on the structure and phase properties of supported lipid monolayers and bilayers, coupling surface pressure measurements, fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy. SiO2-NPs typically in size range of 10nm to 100 nm in diameter are tested. Our results suggest first that lipid molecules organization depends to their nature. Secondly, lipid molecules in the vinicity of big aggregates nanoparticles organize in liquid condensed phase whereas small aggregates are localized in both fluid liquid-expanded (LE) and liquid-condenced (LC). We demonstrated also by atomic force microscopy that by measuring friction forces it is possible to get information as if nanoparticle aggregates are recovered or not by lipid monolayers and bilayers.

Keywords: Atomic force microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, Langmuir films, silica nanoparticles, supported membrane models.

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Authors: M. Abdou, M. K. Khalil

Abstract:

The heat pipe is a thermal device which allows efficient transport of thermal energy. The experimental work of this research was split into two phases; phase 1 is the development of the facilities, material and test rig preparation. Phase 2 is the actual experiments and measurements of the thermal control mockup inside the modified vacuum chamber (MVC). Due to limited funds, the development on the thermal control subsystem was delayed and the experimental facilities such as suitable thermal vacuum chamber with space standard specifications were not available from the beginning of the research and had to be procured over a period of time. In all, these delays extended the project by one and a half year. Thermal control subsystem needs a special facility and equipment to be tested. The available vacuum chamber is not suitable for the thermal tests. Consequently, the modification of the chamber was a must. A vacuum chamber has been modified to be used as a Thermal Vaccum Chamber (TVC). A MVC is a vacuum chamber modified by using a stainless mirror box with perfect reflectability and the infrared lamp connected with the voltage regulator to vary the lamp intensity as it will be illustrated through the paper.

Keywords: Heat pipe, thermal control, thermal vacuum chamber, satellite.

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Authors: Bogdan Il. Bogdanov, Plamen S. Pashev, Yancho H. Hristov, Dimitar P.Georgiev, Irena G. Markovska

Abstract:

The crystallization kinetics and phase transformation of SiO2.Al2O3.0,56P2O5.1,8CaO.0,56CaF2 glass have been investigated using differential thermal analysis (DTA), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Glass samples were obtained by melting the glass mixture at 14500С/120 min. in platinum crucibles. The mixture were prepared from chemically pure reagents: SiO2, Al(OH)3, H3PO4, CaCO3 and CaF2. The non-isothermal kinetics of crystallization was studied by applying the DTA measurements carried out at various heating rates. The activation energies of crystallization and viscous flow were measured as 348,4 kJ.mol–1 and 479,7 kJ.mol–1 respectively. Value of Avrami parameter n ≈ 3 correspond to a three dimensional of crystal growth mechanism. The major crystalline phase determined by XRD analysis was fluorapatite (Ca(PO4)3F) and as the minor phases – fluormargarite (CaAl2(Al2SiO2)10F2) and vitlokite (Ca9P6O24). The resulting glass-ceramic has a homogeneous microstructure, composed of prismatic crystals, evenly distributed in glass phase.

Keywords: glass-ceramic, crystallization, non-isothermalkinetics, Avrami parameter

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Authors: Hamza A. Al-Sewadi, Akram N. A. Aldakari

Abstract:

Copyright protection and ownership proof of digital multimedia are achieved nowadays by digital watermarking techniques. A text watermarking algorithm for protecting the property rights and ownership judgment of color images is proposed in this paper. Embedding is achieved by inserting texts elements randomly into the color image as noise. The YIQ image processing model is found to be faster than other image processing methods, and hence, it is adopted for the embedding process. An optional choice of encrypting the text watermark before embedding is also suggested (in case required by some applications), where, the text can is encrypted using any enciphering technique adding more difficulty to hackers. Experiments resulted in embedding speed improvement of more than double the speed of other considered systems (such as least significant bit method, and separate color code methods), and a fairly acceptable level of peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) with low mean square error values for watermarking purposes.

Keywords: Steganography, watermarking, private keys, time complexity measurements.

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Authors: Mohamed Hafid, Marcel Lacroix

Abstract:

This study presents an inverse analysis for predicting the thermal conductivities and the heat flux of a high-temperature metallurgical reactor simultaneously. Once these thermal parameters are predicted, the time-varying thickness of the protective phase-change bank that covers the inside surface of the brick walls of a metallurgical reactor can be calculated. The enthalpy method is used to solve the melting/solidification process of the protective bank. The inverse model rests on the Levenberg-Marquardt Method (LMM) combined with the Broyden method (BM). A statistical analysis for the thermal parameter estimation is carried out. The effect of the position of the temperature sensors, total number of measurements and measurement noise on the accuracy of inverse predictions is investigated. Recommendations are made concerning the location of temperature sensors.

Keywords: Inverse heat transfer, phase change, metallurgical reactor, Levenberg–Marquardt method, Broyden method, bank thickness.

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Authors: Eugene Grichuk, Margarita Kuzmina, Eduard Manykin

Abstract:

A network of coupled stochastic oscillators is proposed for modeling of a cluster of entangled qubits that is exploited as a computation resource in one-way quantum computation schemes. A qubit model has been designed as a stochastic oscillator formed by a pair of coupled limit cycle oscillators with chaotically modulated limit cycle radii and frequencies. The qubit simulates the behavior of electric field of polarized light beam and adequately imitates the states of two-level quantum system. A cluster of entangled qubits can be associated with a beam of polarized light, light polarization degree being directly related to cluster entanglement degree. Oscillatory network, imitating qubit cluster, is designed, and system of equations for network dynamics has been written. The constructions of one-qubit gates are suggested. Changing of cluster entanglement degree caused by measurements can be exactly calculated.

Keywords: network of stochastic oscillators, one-way quantumcomputations, a beam of polarized light.

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Authors: Maryam Nejat Dehkordi, Per Lincoln, Hassan Momtaz

Abstract:

Interaction of Schiff base complexes of Iron and Manganese: Iron [N, N’ Bis (5- (triphenyl phosphonium methyl) salicylidene) -1, 2 ethanediamine) chloride, [Fe Salen]Cl; Manganese [N, N’ Bis (5- (triphenyl phosphonium methyl) salicylidene) -1, 2 ethanediamine) acetate, were investigated by spectroscopic and isothermal titration calorimetry techniques (ITC). The absorbance spectra of complexes have shown hyper and hypochromism in the presence of DNA that is indication of interaction of complexes with DNA. The linear dichroism (LD) measurements confirmed the bending of DNA in the presence of complexes. Furthermore, Isothermal titration calorimetry experiments approved that complexes bound to DNA on the base of both electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. More, ITC profile exhibits the existence of two binding phases for the complexes. Antibacterial activity of ligand and complexes were tested in vitro to evaluate their activity against the gram positive and negative bacteria.

Keywords: Schiff base complexes, Linear dichroism (LD), Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC).

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Authors: Roman Marsalek

Abstract:

Preparation of nanoparticles of cerium oxide and adsorption of bovine serum albumin on them were studied. Particle size distribution and influence of pH on zeta potential of prepared CeO2 were determined. Average size of prepared cerium oxide nanoparticles was 9 nm. The simultaneous measurements of the bovine serum albumin adsorption and zeta potential determination of the (adsorption) suspensions were carried out. The adsorption isotherms were found to be of typical Langmuir type; values of the bovine serum albumin adsorption capacities were calculated. Increasing of pH led to decrease of zeta potential and decrease of adsorption capacity of cerium oxide nanoparticles. The maximum adsorption capacity was found for strongly acid suspension (am = 118 mg/g). The samples of nanoceria with positive zeta potential adsorbed more bovine serum albumin on the other hand, the samples with negative zeta potential showed little or no protein adsorption. Surface charge or better say zeta potential of CeO2 nanoparticles plays the key role in adsorption of proteins on such type of materials.

Keywords: Adsorption, BSA, cerium oxide nanoparticles, zeta potential.

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Authors: Lucie Novakova, Petr Homola, Vaclav Kafka

Abstract:

Asymmetric incremental sheet forming (AISF) could significantly reduce costs incurred by the fabrication of complex industrial components with a minimal environmental impact. The AISF experiments were carried out on commercially pure titanium (Ti-Gr2), Timetal (15-3-3-3) alloy, and Ti-6Al-4V (Ti-Gr5) alloy. A special testing geometry was used to characterize the titanium alloys properties from the point of view of the forming zone and titanium structure effect. The structure and properties of the materials were assessed by means of metallographic analyses and microhardness measurements.The highest differences in the parameters assessed as a function of the sampling zone were observed in the case of alpha-phase Ti-Gr2at the expense of the most substantial sheet thinning occurrence. A springback causes a smaller stored deformation in Timetal (β alloy) resulting in less pronounced microstructure refinement and microhardness increase. Ti-6Al-4V alloy exhibited early failure due to its poor formability at ambient temperature.

 

Keywords: Incremental forming, metallography, hardness, titanium alloys.

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Authors: Toufik Karech, Abderahmen Benseghir, Tayeb Bouzid

Abstract:

This work presents a 2D numerical simulation of an earth dam to assess the behavior of its foundation after a treatment by stone columns. This treatment aims to improve the bearing capacity, to increase the mechanical properties of the soil, to accelerate the consolidation, to reduce the settlements and to eliminate the liquefaction phenomenon in case of seismic excitation. For the evaluation of the pore pressures, the position of the phreatic line and the flow network was defined, and a seepage analysis was performed with the software MIDAS Soil Works. The consolidation calculation is performed through a simulation of the actual construction stages of the dam. These analyzes were performed using the Mohr-Coulomb soil model and the results are compared with the actual measurements of settlement gauges implanted in the dam. An analysis of the bearing capacity was conducted to show the role of stone columns in improving the bearing capacity of the foundation.

Keywords: Earth dam, dam foundation, numerical simulation, stone columns, seepage analysis, consolidation, bearing capacity.

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Authors: A. Kawamura, K. Ishida, K. Okada, T. Sato

Abstract:

Simultaneous measurements of the curves for wear versus distance, wear rate versus distance, and coefficient of friction versus distance were performed in situ to distinguish the transition from severe running-in wear to mild wear. The effects of the initial surface roughness on the severe running-in wear volume were investigated. Disk-on-plate friction and wear tests were carried out with SUS304 austenitic stainless steel in contact with itself under repeated dry sliding conditions at room temperature. The wear volume was dependent on the initial surface roughness. The wear volume when the initial surfaces on the plate and disk had dissimilar roughness was lower than that when these surfaces had similar roughness. For the dissimilar roughness, the wear volume decreased with decreasing initial surface roughness and reached a minimum; it stayed nearly constant as the roughness was less than the mean size of the oxide particles.

Keywords: Austenitic stainless steel, initial surface roughness, running-in, severe wear.

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Authors: Chih-Yuan Chang, Jin-Chiuan Chang, San-Shan Hung, Cheng-Jui Hsu

Abstract:

The heat storage capacity of concrete in building shells is a major reason for excessively large electricity consumption induced by indoor air conditioning. In this research, the previously developed Smart Temperature Information Material (STIM) is embedded in two groups of exterior wall specimens (the control group contains reinforced concrete exterior walls and the experimental group consists of tiled exterior walls). Long term temperature measurements within the concrete are taken by the embedded STIM. Temperature differences between the control group and the experimental group in walls facing the four cardinal directions (east, west, south, and north) are evaluated. This study aims to provide a basic reference for the design of exterior walls and the selection of heat insulation materials.

Keywords: building envelope, sensor, energy, thermal insulation, reinforced concrete

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Authors: M. Chavleishvili, E. Kharaishvili, G. Erkomaishvili

Abstract:

The article presents the development trends of farms, estimates on the optimal scope of farming, as well as the experience of local and foreign countries in this area. As well, the advantages of small and large farms are discussed; herewith, the scales of farms are compared to the local reality. The study analyzes the results of farm operations and the possibilities of diversification of farms. The indicators of an effective use of land resources and land fragmentation are measured; also, a comparative analysis with other countries is presented, in particular, the measurements of agricultural lands for farming, as well as the indicators of population ensuring. The conducted research shows that most of the farms in Georgia are small and their development is at the initial stage, which outlines that the country has a high resource potential to increase the scale of the farming industry and its full integration into market relations. On the basis of the obtained results, according to the research on the scale of farming in Georgia and the identification of hampering factors of farming development, the conclusions are presented and the relevant recommendations are suggested.

Keywords: Farm cooperatives, farms, farm scale, land fragmentation, small and large farms.

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Authors: A. Hamidi, S. Khelladi, L. Illoul, A. Tcharkhtchi

Abstract:

Reactive rotational molding (RRM) is a process to manufacture hollow plastic parts with reactive material has several advantages compared to conventional roto molding of thermoplastic powders: process cycle time is shorter; raw material is less expensive because polymerization occurs during processing and high-performance polymers may be used such as thermosets, thermoplastics or blends. However, several phenomena occur during this process which makes the optimization of the process quite complex. In this study, we have used a mixture of isocyanate and polyol as a reactive system. The chemical transformation of this system to polyurethane has been studied by thermal analysis and rheology tests. Thanks to these results of the curing process and rheological measurements, the kinetic and rheokinetik of polyurethane was identified. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, a Lagrangian meshless method, was chosen to simulate reactive fluid flow in 2 and 3D configurations of the polyurethane during the process taking into account the chemical, and chemiorehological results obtained experimentally in this study.

Keywords: Reactive rotational molding, free surface flows, simulation, smoothed particle hydrodynamics, surface tension.

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Authors: I. Markovska, F. Yovkova, G. Minov, D. Rusev, L. Lyubchev

Abstract:

The present research focus on the processing of mullite-based ceramics from oil refinery industrial wastes and byproducts of agricultural industry and on the investigating of silane modified surface of ceramics. Two waste products were used as initial material – waste aluminum oxide and waste rice husk. The burning - out additives used were waste rise husk. It is known that  the oxide ceramics surface is hydrophilic due to the presence of – OH groups in it. The nature of ceramic surface regarding permeation of water and hydrocarbons can be changed by further treatment with silanes. The samples were studied mainly by X-ray analysis, FT-IR absorbance measurements and microscopic analysis. The X-ray analyses showed the phase composition depends on the firing temperature and on the purity of the starting alumina. Two kind of silanes were used for the transformation of surface from hydrophilic to hydrophobic – trimethoxymethylsilane (TMMS) and trimethylclorsilane (TMCS).

Keywords: Porous mullite ceramics, waste materials, trimethoxymethylsilane, trimethylclorsilane.

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Authors: A. Pedišius, V. Janušas, A. Bertašienė

Abstract:

The paper depicts air velocity values, reproduced by laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) and ultrasonic anemometer (UA), relations with calculated ones from flow rate measurements using the gas meter which calibration uncertainty is ± (0.15 – 0.30) %. Investigation had been performed in channel installed in aerodynamical facility used as a part of national standard of air velocity. Relations defined in a research let us confirm the LDA and UA for air velocity reproduction to be the most advantageous measures. The results affirm ultrasonic anemometer to be reliable and favourable instrument for measurement of mean velocity or control of velocity stability in the velocity range of 0.05 m/s – 10 (15) m/s when the LDA used. The main aim of this research is to investigate low velocity regularities, starting from 0.05 m/s, including region of turbulent, laminar and transitional air flows. Theoretical and experimental results and brief analysis of it are given in the paper. Maximum and mean velocity relations for transitional air flow having unique distribution are represented. Transitional flow having distinctive and different from laminar and turbulent flow characteristics experimentally have not yet been analysed.

Keywords: Laser Doppler anemometer, ultrasonic anemometer, air flow velocities, transitional flow regime, measurement, uncertainty.

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Authors: D.O. Omondi, L.O.A. Othuon, G.M. Mbagaya

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of physical activity and dietary fat intake on Body Mass Index (BMI) of lecturers within a higher learning institutionalized setting. The study adopted a Cross-sectional Correlational Design and included 120 lecturers selected proportionately by simple random sampling techniques from a population of 600 lecturers. Data was collected using questionnaires, which had sections including physical activity checklist adopted from the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ), 24-hour food recall, anthropometric measurements mainly weight and height. Analysis involved the use of bivariate correlations and linear regression. A significant inverse association was registered between BMI and duration (in minutes) spent doing moderate intense physical activity per day (r=-0.322, p<0.01). Physical activity also predicted BMI (r2=0.096, F=13.616, β=-3.22, t=-3.69, n=120, P<0.01). However, the association between Body Mass Index and dietary fat was not significant (r=0.038, p>0.05). Physical activity emerged as a more powerful determinant of BMI compared to dietary fat intake.

Keywords: Physical activity, dietary fat intake, Body MassIndex, Kenya.

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Authors: F. Sarhaddi, S. Farahat, M .A. Alavi, F. Sobhnamayan

Abstract:

In this paper, an attempt has been made to obtain nonsensitive solutions in the multi-objective optimization of a photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) air collector. The selected objective functions are overall energy efficiency and exergy efficiency. Improved thermal, electrical and exergy models are used to calculate the thermal and electrical parameters, overall energy efficiency, exergy components and exergy efficiency of a typical PV/T air collector. A computer simulation program is also developed. The results of numerical simulation are in good agreement with the experimental measurements noted in the previous literature. Finally, multi-objective optimization has been carried out under given climatic, operating and design parameters. The optimized ranges of inlet air velocity, duct depth and the objective functions in optimal Pareto front have been obtained. Furthermore, non-sensitive solutions from energy or exergy point of view in the results of multi-objective optimization have been shown.

Keywords: Solar photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) air collector, Overall energy efficiency, Exergy efficiency, Multi-objectiveoptimization, Sensitivity analysis.

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Authors: Ahmad Abbas Al-Ameen Salih, Nur Liyana Afiqah Che Ahmad Zaini, Amzari Zhahir

Abstract:

Navigation is the processes of monitoring and controlling the movement of an object from one place to another. Currently, Global Positioning System (GPS) is the main navigation system used all over the world for navigation applications. GPS receiver receives signals from at least three satellites to locate and display itself. Displayed positioning information is updated continuously. Update rate is the number of times per second that a display is illuminated. The speed of update is governed by receiver update rate. A higher update rate decreases display lag time and improves distance measurements and tracking especially when moving on a curvy route. The majority of GPS receivers used nowadays are updated every second continuously. This period is considered reasonable for some applications while it is long relatively for high speed applications. In this paper, the suitability and feasibility of GPS receiver with different update rates will be evaluated for various applications according to the level of speed and update rate needed for particular applications.

Keywords: Navigation, Global Positioning System (GPS), GPS receiver, Update rate, Refresh rate, Satellite navigation, High speed GPS receiver.

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Authors: Diego Felix, Eugene Hyun, Michael McGuire, Mihai Sima

Abstract:

Terminal localization for indoor Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) is critical for the deployment of location-aware computing inside of buildings. A major challenge is obtaining high localization accuracy in presence of fluctuations of the received signal strength (RSS) measurements caused by multipath fading. This paper focuses on reducing the effect of the distance-varying noise by spatial filtering of the measured RSS. Two different survey point geometries are tested with the noise reduction technique: survey points arranged in sets of clusters and survey points uniformly distributed over the network area. The results show that the location accuracy improves by 16% when the filter is used and by 18% when the filter is applied to a clustered survey set as opposed to a straight-line survey set. The estimated locations are within 2 m of the true location, which indicates that clustering the survey points provides better localization accuracy due to superior noise removal.

Keywords: Position measurement, Wireless LAN, Radio navigation, Filtering

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Authors: Fahad Al Shidi, Reginald Victor

Abstract:

This study was conducted in Northern Oman to assess the physical and chemical characteristics of 40 thermal springs distributed in Al Hajar Mountains in northern Oman. Physical measurements of water samples were carried out in two main seasons in Oman (winter and summer 2019). Studied springs were classified into three groups based on water temperature, four groups based on water pH values and two groups based on conductivity. Ten thermal alkaline springs that originated in Ophiolite (Samail Napp) were dominated by high pH (> 11), elevated concentration of Cl- and Na+ ions, relatively low temperature and discharge ratio. Other springs in the Hajar Super Group massif recorded high concentrations of Ca²+ and SO^2-₄ ions controlled by rock dominance, geochemistry processes, and mineralization. There was only one spring which has brackish water with very high conductivity (5500 µs/cm) and Total Dissolved Solids and it is not suitable for irrigation purposes because of the high abundance of Na+, Cl−, and Ca²+ ions.

Keywords: Alkaline springs, geothermal, Hajar Super Group, Northern Oman, ophiolite.

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Authors: Fl. Loury, P. Sablonière, C. Lamoureux, G. Magnier, Th. Gutierrez

Abstract:

A method is proposed to extract faithful representative patterns from data set of observations when they are suffering from non-negligible fluctuations. Supposing time interval between measurements to be extremely small compared to observation time, it consists in defining first a subset of intermediate time intervals characterizing coherent behavior. Data projection on these intervals gives a set of curves out of which an ideally “perfect” one is constructed by taking the sup limit of them. Then comparison with average real curve in corresponding interval gives an efficiency parameter expressing the degradation consecutive to fluctuation effect. The method is applied to sunlight data collected in a specific place, where ideal sunlight is the one resulting from direct exposure at location latitude over the year, and efficiency is resulting from action of meteorological parameters, mainly cloudiness, at different periods of the year. The extracted information already gives interesting element of decision, before being used for analysis of plant control.

Keywords: Base Input Reconstruction, Data Mining, Efficiency Factor, Information Pattern Operator.

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Authors: Ali A. Ahmed, Mohammed I. Hussein

Abstract:

The amounts of radioactivity in the igneous rocks have been investigated; samples were collected from the total of eight basalt rock types in the northeastern of Kurdistan region/Iraq. The activity concentration of 226Ra (238U) series, 228Ac (232Th) series, 40K and 137Cs were measured using Planar HPGe and NaI(Tl) detectors. Along the study area the radium equivalent activities Raeq in Bq/Kg of samples under investigation were found in the range of 22.16 to 77.31 Bq/Kg with an average value of 44.8 Bq/Kg, this value is much below the internationally accepted value of 370 Bq/Kg. To estimate the health effects of this natural radioactive composition, the average values of absorbed gamma dose rate D (55 nGyh-1), Indoor and outdoor annual effective dose rates Eied (0.11 mSvy-1) . and Eoed (0.03 mSvy-1), External hazard index Hex (0.138) and internal hazard index Hin(0.154), and representative level index Iγr (0.386) have been calculated and found to be lower than the worldwide average values.

Keywords: Absorbed dose, activity concentration, igneousrocks, HPGe, NaI(TI), Natural Radioactivity.

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Authors: Rizvi Hasan

Abstract:

Male factor infertility due to endocrine disturbances such as abnormalities in prolactin levels are encountered in a significant proportion. This case control study was carried out to determine the effects of prolactin on the male reproductive tract, using 200 male white rats. The rats were maintained as the control group (G1), hypoprolactinaemic group (G2), 3 hyperprolactinaemic groups induced using oral largactil (G3), low dose fluphenazine (G4) and high dose fluphenazine (G5). After 100 days, rats were subjected to serum prolactin (PRL) level measurements and for basic seminal fluid analysis (BSA). The difference between serum PRL concentrations of rats in G2, G3, G4 and G5 as compared to the control group were highly significant by Student’s t-test (p<0.001). There were statistically significant differences in seminal fluid characteristics of rats with induced prolactin abnormalities when compared with those of control group (p value <0.05), effects were more marked as the PRL levels rise.

Keywords: Male factor infertility, Prolactin, Seminal fluid analysis, animal studies.

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