Search results for: Occupational radiation dose

Authors: Juan H. Sosa-Arnao, Daniel J. O. Ferreira, Caice G. Santos, Justo E. Alvarez, Leonardo P. Rangel, Song W. Park

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A comprehensive CFD model is developed to represent heterogeneous combustion and two burner designs of supply sugar-cane bagasse into a furnace. The objective of this work is to compare the insertion and burning of a Brazilian south-eastern sugar-cane bagasse using a new swirl burner design against an actual geometry under operation. The new design allows control the particles penetration and scattering inside furnace by adjustment of axial/tangential contributions of air feed without change their mass flow. The model considers turbulence using RNG k-, combustion using EDM, radiation heat transfer using DTM with 16 ray directions and bagasse particle tracking represented by Schiller-Naumann model. The obtained results are favorable to use of new design swirl burner because its axial/tangential control promotes more penetration or more scattering than actual design and allows reproduce the actual design operation without change the overall mass flow supply.

Keywords: Comprehensive CFD model, sugar-cane bagasse combustion, swirl burner.

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Authors: El-Sadek H. Nour El-deen, K. Harby

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Energy saving and environment friendly applications are turning out to be one of the most important topics nowadays. In this work, a simulation analysis using TRNSYS software has been carried out to study the benefit of employing a solar adsorption cooling system under the climatic conditions of Al-Minya city, Egypt. A theoretical model was carried out on a two bed adsorption cooling system employing granular activated carbon-HFC-404A as working pair. Temporal and averaged history of solar collector, adsorbent beds, evaporator and condenser has been shown. System performance in terms of daily average cooling capacity and average coefficient of performance around the year has been investigated. The results showed that maximum yearly average coefficient of performance (COP) and cooling capacity are about 0.26 and 8 kW respectively. The maximum value of the both average cooling capacity and COP cyclic is directly proportional to the maximum solar radiation. The system performance was found to be increased with the average ambient temperature. Finally, the proposed solar powered adsorption cooling systems can be used effectively under Al-Minya climatic conditions.

Keywords: Adsorption, solar energy, environment, cooling, Egypt.

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Authors: E. Izsó, M. Bartalné-Berceli, Sz. Gergely, A. Salgó

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The aim of this investigation is to elaborate nearinfrared methods for testing and recognition of chemical components and quality in “Pannon wheat” allied (i.e. true to variety or variety identified) milling fractions as well as to develop spectroscopic methods following the milling processes and evaluate the stability of the milling technology by different types of milling products and according to sampling times, respectively. These wheat categories produced under industrial conditions where samples were collected versus sampling time and maximum or minimum yields. The changes of the main chemical components (such as starch, protein, lipid) and physical properties of fractions (particle size) were analysed by dispersive spectrophotometers using visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) regions of the electromagnetic radiation. Close correlation were obtained between the data of spectroscopic measurement techniques processed by various chemometric methods (e.g. principal component analysis [PCA], cluster analysis [CA]) and operation condition of milling technology. It is obvious that NIR methods are able to detect the deviation of the yield parameters and differences of the sampling times by a wide variety of fractions, respectively. NIR technology can be used in the sensitive monitoring of milling technology.

Keywords: Allied wheat fractions, CA, milling process, nearinfrared spectroscopy, PCA.

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Authors: Eva Tvrdá, Hana Greifová, Peter Ivanič, Norbert Lukáč

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the dose- and time-dependent in vitro effects of berberine (BER), a natural alkaloid with numerous biological properties on bovine spermatozoa during three time periods (0 h, 2 h, 24 h). Bovine semen samples were diluted and cultivated in physiological saline solution containing 0.5% DMSO together with 200, 100, 50, 10, 5, and 1 μmol/L BER. Spermatozoa motility was assessed using the computer assisted semen analyzer. The viability of spermatozoa was assessed by the metabolic (MTT) assay, production of superoxide radicals was quantified using the nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) test, and chemiluminescence was used to evaluate the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Cell lysates were prepared and the extent of lipid peroxidation (LPO) was evaluated using the TBARS assay. The results of the movement activity showed a significant increase in the motility during long term cultivation in case of concentrations ranging between 1 and 10 μmol/L BER (P < 0.01; P < 0.001; 24 h). At the same time, supplementation of 1, 5 and 10 μmol/L BER led to a significant preservation of the cell viability (P < 0.001; 24 h). BER addition at a range of 1-50 μmol/L also provided a significantly higher protection against superoxide (P < 0.05) and ROS (P < 0.001; P < 0.01) overgeneration as well as LPO (P < 0.01; P<0.05) after a 24 h cultivation. We may suggest that supplementation of BER to bovine spermatozoa, particularly at concentrations ranging between 1 and 50 μmol/L, may offer protection to the motility, viability and oxidative status of the spermatozoa, particularly notable at 24 h.

Keywords: Berberine, bulls, motility, oxidative profile, spermatozoa, viability.

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Authors: M. C. Pardo-Ferreira, J. C. Rubio-Romero, M. Martínez-Rojas

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Resilience Engineering is a new paradigm of safety management that proposes to change the way of managing the safety to focus on the things that go well instead of the things that go wrong. Many complex and high-risk sectors such as air traffic control, health care, nuclear power plants, railways or emergencies, have applied this new vision of safety and have obtained very positive results. In the construction sector, safety management continues to be a problem as indicated by the statistics of occupational injuries worldwide. Therefore, it is important to improve safety management in this sector. For this reason, it is proposed to apply Resilience Engineering to the construction sector. The Construction Phase Health and Safety Plan emerges as a key element for the planning of safety management. One of the key tools of Resilience Engineering is the Resilience Assessment Grid that allows measuring the four essential abilities (respond, monitor, learn and anticipate) for resilient performance. The purpose of this paper is to develop a questionnaire based on the Resilience Assessment Grid, specifically on the ability to learn, to assess whether a Construction Phase Health and Safety Plans helps companies in a construction site to implement this ability. The research process was divided into four stages: (i) initial design of a questionnaire, (ii) validation of the content of the questionnaire, (iii) redesign of the questionnaire and (iii) application of the Delphi method. The questionnaire obtained could be used as a tool to help construction companies to evolve from Safety-I to Safety-II. In this way, companies could begin to develop the ability to learn, which will serve as a basis for the development of the other abilities necessary for resilient performance. The following steps in this research are intended to develop other questions that allow evaluating the rest of abilities for resilient performance such as monitoring, learning and anticipating.

Keywords: Resilience engineering, construction sector, resilience assessment grid, construction phase health and safety plan.

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Authors: Sharath Kumar T., S.Vinodh

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Over the course of the past century, the global automotive industry-s stance towards safety has evolved from one of contempt to one nearing reverence. A suspension system that provides safe handling and cornering capabilities can, with the help of an efficient braking system, improve safety to a large extent. The aim of this research is to propose a new automotive brake rotor design and to compare it with automotive vented disk rotor. Static structural and transient thermal analysis have been carried out on the vented disk rotor and proposed rotor designs to evaluate and compare their performance. Finite element analysis was employed for both static structural and transient thermal analysis. Structural analysis was carried out to study the stress and deformation pattern of the rotors under extreme loads. Time varying temperature load was applied on the rotors and the temperature distribution was analysed considering cooling parameters (convection and radiation). This dissertation illustrates the use of Finite Element Methods to examine models, concluding with a comparative study of the proposed rotor design and the conventional vented disk rotor for structural stability and thermal efficiency.

Keywords: Disk brakes, CAD model, rotor design, structural and thermal analysis

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Authors: Olga Długosz, Jolanta Pulit-Prociak, Marcin Banach

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The paper presents a process to obtain glutathione-modified titanium oxide nanoparticles. The processes were carried out in a microwave radiation field. The influence of the molar ratio of glutathione to titanium oxide and the effect of the fold of NaOH vs. stoichiometric amount on the size of the formed TiO2 nanoparticles was determined. The physicochemical properties of the obtained products were evaluated using dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscope- energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDS), low-temperature nitrogen adsorption method (BET), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) microscopy methods. The size of TiO2 nanoparticles was characterized from 30 nm to 336 nm. The release of titanium ions from the prepared products was evaluated. These studies were carried out using different media in which the powders were incubated for a specific time. These were: water, SBF and Ringer's solution. The release of titanium ions from modified products is weaker compared to unmodified titanium oxide nanoparticles. The reduced release of titanium ions may allow the use of such modified materials as substances in drug delivery systems.

Keywords: titanium dioxide, nanoparticles, drug carrier, glutathione

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Authors: Hai Xu, Yiwei Wang, Xi Bao, Bihua Deng, Pengcheng Li, Yu Lu

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T7 phage could be used as a perfect vector for peptides expression and haptens presentation. T7-3GnRH recombinant phage was constructed by inserting three copies of Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) gene into the multiple cloning site of T7 Select 415-1b phage genome. The positive T7-3GnRH phage was selected by using polymerase chain reaction amplification, and the p10B-3GnRH fusion protein was verified by SDS-PAGE and Western-blotting assay. T7-3GnRH vaccine was made and immunized with 10¹⁰ pfu in 0.2 ml per dose in mice. Blood samples were collected at an interval in weeks, and anti-GnRH antibody and testosterone concentrations were detected by ELISA and radioimmunoassay, respectively. The results show that T7-3GnRH phage particles confer a high immunogenicity to the GnRH-derived epitope. Moreover, the T7-3GnRH vaccine induced higher level of anti-GnRH antibody than ImproVac^®. However, the testosterone concentrations in both immunized groups were at a similar level, and the testis developments were significantly inhibited compared to controls. These findings demonstrated that the anti-GnRH antibody could neutralize the endogenous GnRH to down regulate testosterone level and limit testis development, highlighting the potential value of T7-3GnRH in the immunocastration vaccine research.

Keywords: Gonadotrophin releasing hormone, GnRH, immunocastration, T7 phage, phage vaccine.

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Authors: Zayed N. Alsulami, Asma F. Aldosseri, Ahmed S. Ezziden, Abdulrahman K. Alonazi

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Children are more susceptible to medication errors than adults. Medication administration process is the last stage in the medication treatment process and most of the errors detected in this stage. Little research has been undertaken about medication errors in children in the Middle East countries. This study was aimed to evaluate how the paediatric nurses adhere to the medication administration policy and also to identify any medication preparation and administration errors or any risk factors. An observational, prospective study of medication administration process from when the nurses preparing patient medication until administration stage (May to August 2014) was conducted in Saudi Arabia. Twelve paediatric nurses serving 90 paediatric patients were observed. 456 drug administered doses were evaluated. Adherence rate was variable in 7 steps out of 16 steps. Patient allergy information, dose calculation, drug expiry date were the steps in medication administration with lowest adherence rates. 63 medication preparation and administration errors were identified with error rate 13.8% of medication administrations. No potentially life-threating errors were witnessed. Few logistic and administrative factors were reported. The results showed that the medication administration policy and procedure need an urgent revision to be more sensible for nurses in practice. Nurses’ knowledge and skills regarding to the medication administration process should be improved.

Keywords: Double checking, Medication administration errors, Medication safety, Nurses.

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Authors: Yasin Khan

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Overhead electrical insulators form an important link in an electric power system. Along with the traditional insulators (i.e. glass and porcelain, etc) presently the polymeric insulators are also used world widely. These polymeric insulators are very sensitive to various environmental parameters such temperature, environmental pollution, UV-radiations, etc. which seriously effect their electrical, chemical and hydrophobic properties. The UV radiation level in the central region of Saudi Arabia is high as compared to the IEC standard for the accelerated aging of the composite insulators. Commonly used suspension type of composite EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) insulator was subjected to accelerated stress aging as per modified IEC standard simulating the inland arid deserts atmospheric condition and also as per IEC-61109 standard. The hydrophobic characteristics were studied by measuring the contact angle along the insulator surface before and after the accelerated aging of the samples. It was found that EPDM insulator loses it hydrophobic properties proportional to the intensity of UV irradiations and its rate of recovery is also very low as compared to Silicone Rubber insulator.KeywordsEPDM, composite insulators, accelerated aging, hydrophobicity, contact angle.

Keywords: EPDM, composite insulators, accelerated aging, hydrophobicity, contact angle.

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Authors: Hankun Lin, Yiqiang Xiao, Qiaosheng Zhan

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Shading devices (SDs) are widely used in buildings in the hot-humid climate areas for reducing cooling energy consumption for interior temperature, as the result of reducing the solar radiation directly. Contrasting the surface temperature of materials of SDs to the glass on the building façade could give more analysis for the shading effect. On the other side, SDs are much more used as the independence system on building façade in hot-humid area. This typical construction could have some impacts on building ventilation as well. This paper discusses the outdoor SDs’ effects on the building thermal environment and ventilation, through a set of measurements on a 2-floors office building in Guangzhou, China, which install a dynamic aluminum SD-system around the façade on 2^nd-floor. The measurements recorded the in/outdoor temperature, relative humidity, velocity, and the surface temperature of the aluminum panel and the glaze. After that, a CFD simulation was conducted for deeper discussion of ventilation. In conclusion, this paper reveals the temperature differences on the different material of the façade, and finds that the velocity of indoor environment could be reduced by the outdoor SDs.

Keywords: Outdoor shading devices, hot-humid area, temperature, ventilation, measurement, CFD.

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Authors: Hussain H. Al-Kayiem, Ahmed K. Hussein, Toh Seng Peow

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The evaluation of the convective heat transfer of flow in passages with rectangular cross section is still of interest for the heat transfer investigators, as in the air heater solar collectors. The aim of this paper is to present investigation results on the natural convection heat transfer in a solar air heater. The effect of the channel length as heat transfer surface and the inclination of the passage were investigated. The results were obtained experimentally and theoretically. For that, an experimental test rig was fabricated with channel lengths of 1m, 1.5m, and 2m. For each length, the air outlet and inlet temperatures, absorber and cover temperatures, solar radiation intensity and air flow rate were measured at 10o, 30o, 50o, 70o, and 90o tilt angles. Measurements were recorded every 2 hours interval to investigate the transient behavior of the system. The experimental and theoretical results are presented in terms of Nu number versus Ra number and discussed. The percentages of differences between experimental and theoretical results are within the margin of 6% to 13%, effectively. It is recommended to extend the investigation to study the same configurations with different artificial surface roughing by ribs or pins.

Keywords: Convective heat transfer, Flat plate, Natural convection, Passage flow, Solar energy.

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Authors: S.M. Gupta, V.K. Sehgal, S.K. Kaushik

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This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation carried out to evaluate the shrinkage of High Strength Concrete. High Strength Concrete is made by partially replacement of cement by flyash and silica fume. The shrinkage of High Strength Concrete has been studied using the different types of coarse and fine aggregates i.e. Sandstone and Granite of 12.5 mm size and Yamuna and Badarpur Sand. The Mix proportion of concrete is 1:0.8:2.2 with water cement ratio as 0.30. Superplasticizer dose @ of 2% by weight of cement is added to achieve the required degree of workability in terms of compaction factor. From the test results of the above investigation it can be concluded that the shrinkage strain of High Strength Concrete increases with age. The shrinkage strain of concrete with replacement of cement by 10% of Flyash and Silica fume respectively at various ages are more (6 to 10%) than the shrinkage strain of concrete without Flyash and Silica fume. The shrinkage strain of concrete with Badarpur sand as Fine aggregate at 90 days is slightly less (10%) than that of concrete with Yamuna Sand. Further, the shrinkage strain of concrete with Granite as Coarse aggregate at 90 days is slightly less (6 to 7%) than that of concrete with Sand stone as aggregate of same size. The shrinkage strain of High Strength Concrete is also compared with that of normal strength concrete. Test results show that the shrinkage strain of high strength concrete is less than that of normal strength concrete.

Keywords: Shrinkage high strength concrete, fly ash, silica fume& superplastizers.

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Authors: Iveta Nováková, Martin-Andrè S. Husby, Boy-Arne Buyle

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The building industry has one of the most significant contributions to global warming due to the production of building materials, transportation, building activities, and demolition of structures when they reach the end of their life. Implementation of circular material flow and circular economy can significantly reduce greenhouse gasses and simultaneously reduce the need for natural resources. The use of recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) is one of the possibilities for reducing the depletion of raw materials for concrete production. Concrete is the most used building material worldwide, and aggregates constitute large part of its volume. RCA can replace a certain amount of natural aggregates (NA), and concrete will still perform as required. The aim of this scientific paper is to evaluate RCA properties with and without mechanical treatment. Analysis of RCA itself will be followed by compressive strength of concrete containing various amounts of treated and non-treated RCA. Results showed improvement in compressive strength of the mix with mechanically treated RCA compared to standard RCA, and even the strength of concrete with mechanically treated RCA in dose 50% of coarse aggregates was higher than the reference mix by 4%. Based on obtained results, it can be concluded that integration of RCA in industrial concrete production is feasible, at a replacement ratio of 50% for mechanically treated RCA and 30% if untreated RCA is used, without affecting the compressive strength negatively.

Keywords: Recycled concrete aggregates, RCA, mechanical treatment, aggregate properties, compression strength.

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Authors: Wern-Yarng Shieh, Chao Qian, Bingnan Pei

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A design of communication area for infrared electronic-toll-collection systems to provide an extended communication interval in the vehicle traveling direction and regular boundary between contiguous traffic lanes is proposed. By utilizing two typical low-cost commercial infrared LEDs with different half-intensity angles Φ1/2 = 22◦ and 10◦, the radiation pattern of the emitter is designed to properly adjust the spatial distribution of the signal power. The aforementioned purpose can be achieved with an LED array in a three-piece structure with appropriate mounting angles. With this emitter, the influence of the mounting parameters, including the mounting height and mounting angles of the on-board unit and road-side unit, on the system performance in terms of the received signal strength and communication area are investigated. The results reveal that, for our emitter proposed in this paper, the ideal ”long-and-narrow” characteristic of the communication area is very little affected by these mounting parameters. An optimum mounting configuration is also suggested.

Keywords: Dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), electronic toll collection (ETC), infrared communication, intelligent transportation system (ITS), multilane free flow.

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Authors: Ihor Trots, Yuriy Tasinkevych, Andrzej Nowicki, Marcin Lewandowski

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In the paper the study of synthetic transmit aperture method applying the Golay coded transmission for medical ultrasound imaging is presented. Longer coded excitation allows to increase the total energy of the transmitted signal without increasing the peak pressure. Moreover signal-to-noise ratio and penetration depth are improved while maintaining high ultrasound image resolution. In the work the 128-element linear transducer array with 0.3 mm inter-element spacing excited by one cycle and the 8 and 16- bit Golay coded sequences at nominal frequency 4 MHz was used. To generate a spherical wave covering the full image region a single element transmission aperture was used and all the elements received the echo signals. The comparison of 2D ultrasound images of the tissue mimicking phantom and in vitro measurements of the beef liver is presented to illustrate the benefits of the coded transmission. The results were obtained using the synthetic aperture algorithm with transmit and receive signals correction based on a single element directivity function.

Keywords: Golay coded sequences, radiation pattern, signal processing, synthetic aperture, ultrasound imaging.

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Authors: Samah. G. Babiker, Shuai Yong, Mohamed Osman Sid-Ahmed Xie Ming, A.M. Abdelbagi

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In this paper, a one - dimensional microstructure tungsten grating (pyramids) is optimized for potential application as thermophotovoltaic (TPV) emitter. The influence of gratings geometric parameters on the spectral emittance are studied by using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA).The results show that the spectral emittance is affected by the gratings geometrical parameters. The optimum parameters are grating period of 0.5µm, a filling ratio of 0.8 and grating height of h=0.2µm. A broad peak of high emittance is obtained at wavelengths between 0.5 and 1.8µm. The emittance drops below 0.2 at wavelengths above 1.8µm. This can be explained by the surface plasmon polaritons excitation coupled with the grating microstructures. At longer wavelengths, the emittance remains low and this is highly desired for thermophotovoltaic applications to reduce the thermal leakage due to low-energy photons that do not produce any photocurrent. The proposed structure can be used as a selective emitter for a narrow band gap cell such as GaSb. The performance of this simple 1-D emitter proved to be superior to that from more complicated structures. Almost all the radiation from the emitter incident, at angles up to 40°, on the cell, could be utilized to produce a photocurrent. There is no need for a filter.

Keywords: Thermophotovoltaic, RCWA, Grating, Emittance, Surface plasmon polaritons

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Authors: Loredana G. Marcu, David Marcu, Sanda M. Filip

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Advanced head and neck cancers are aggressive tumours, which require aggressive treatment. Treatment efficiency is often hindered by cancer cell repopulation during radiotherapy, which is due to various mechanisms triggered by the loss of tumour cells and involves both stem and differentiated cells. The aim of the current paper is to present in silico simulations of radiotherapy schedules on a virtual head and neck tumour grown with biologically realistic kinetic parameters. Using the linear quadratic formalism of cell survival after radiotherapy, altered fractionation schedules employing various treatment breaks for normal tissue recovery are simulated and repopulation mechanism implemented in order to evaluate the impact of various cancer cell contribution on tumour behaviour during irradiation. The model has shown that the timing of treatment breaks is an important factor influencing tumour control in rapidly proliferating tissues such as squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. Furthermore, not only stem cells but also differentiated cells, via the mechanism of abortive division, can contribute to malignant cell repopulation during treatment.

Keywords: Radiation, tumour repopulation, squamous cell carcinoma, stem cell.

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Authors: H. A. Lopez-Aguilar, E. A. Huerta-Reynoso, J. A. Gomez, J. A. Duarte-Moller, A. Perez-Hernandez

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Environmental performance of artisanal brick manufacture was studied by Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis in Mexico. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the environmental impact during artisanal brick manufacture. LCA cradle-to-gate approach was complemented with CFD analysis to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The lifecycle includes the stages of extraction, baking and transportation to the gate. The functional unit of this study was the production of a single brick in Chihuahua, Mexico and the impact categories studied were carcinogens, respiratory organics and inorganics, climate change radiation, ozone layer depletion, ecotoxicity, acidification/ eutrophication, land use, mineral use and fossil fuels. Laboratory techniques for fuel characterization, gas measurements in situ, and AP42 emission factors were employed in order to calculate gas emissions for inventory data. The results revealed that the categories with greater impacts are ecotoxicity and carcinogens. The CFD analysis is helpful in predicting the thermal diffusion and contaminants from a defined source. LCA-CFD synergy complemented the EIA and allowed us to identify the problem of thermal efficiency within the system.

Keywords: LCA, CFD, brick, artisanal.

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Authors: Salim Cerig, Fatime Geyikoglu, Pınar Akpulat, Suat Colak, Hasan Turkez, Murat Bakir, Mirkhalil Hosseinigouzdagani, Kubra Koc

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This study was designed to evaluate whether carvacrol (CAR) could provide protection against lung injury by acute pancreatitis development. The rats were randomized into groups to receive (I) no therapy; (II) 50 μg/kg cerulein at 1h intervals by four intraperitoneal injections (i.p.); (III) 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg CAR by one i.p.; and (IV) cerulein+CAR after 2h of cerulein injection. 12h later, serum samples were obtained to assess pancreatic function the lipase and amylase values. The animals were euthanized and lung samples were excised. The specimens were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E), periodic acid–Schif (PAS), Mallory's trichrome and amyloid. Additionally, oxidative DNA damage was determined by measuring as increases in 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) adducts. The results showed that the serum activity of lipase and amylase in AP rats were significantly reduced after the therapy (p<0.05). We also found that the 100 mg/kg dose of CAR significantly decreased 8-OH-dG levels. Moreover, the severe pathological findings in the lung such as necrosis, inflammation, congestion, fibrosis, and thickened alveolar septum were attenuated in the AP+CAR groups when compared with AP group. Finally, the magnitude of the protective effect on lung is certain, and CAR is an effective therapy for lung injury caused by AP.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, carvacrol, experimental acute pancreatitis, lung injury, oxidative DNA damage.

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Authors: Jipeng Yan, Xingchen Yang, Xiaowei Zhou, Mengxing Tang, Honghai Liu

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Shear elastic modulus of skeletal muscles can be obtained by shear wave elastography (SWE) and has been linearly related to muscle force. However, SWE is currently implemented using array probes. Price and volumes of these probes and their driving equipment prevent SWE from being used in wearable human-machine interfaces (HMI). Moreover, beamforming processing for array probes reduces the real-time performance. To achieve SWE by wearable HMIs, a customized three-element probe is adopted in this work, with one element for acoustic radiation force generation and the others for shear wave tracking. In-phase quadrature demodulation and 2D autocorrelation are adopted to estimate velocities of tissues on the sound beams of the latter two elements. Shear wave speeds are calculated by phase shift between the tissue velocities. Three agar phantoms with different elasticities were made by changing the weights of agar. Values of the shear elastic modulus of the phantoms were measured as 8.98, 23.06 and 36.74 kPa at a depth of 7.5 mm respectively. This work verifies the feasibility of measuring shear elastic modulus by wearable devices.

Keywords: Shear elastic modulus, skeletal muscle, ultrasound, wearable human-machine interface.

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Authors: Y. Aldali, F. Ahwide

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This paper investigates the application of large scale (LS-PV) two-axis tracking photovoltaic power plant in Al-Jagbob, Libya. A 50MW PV-grid connected (two-axis tracking) power plant design in Al-Jagbob, Libya has been carried out presently. A hetero-junction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) type PV module has been selected and modeled. A Microsoft Excel-VBA program has been constructed to compute slope radiation, dew-point, sky temperature, and then cell temperature, maximum power output and module efficiency for this system, for tracking system. The results for energy production show that the total energy output is 128.5 GWh/year. The average module efficiency is 16.6%. The electricity generation capacity factor (CF) and solar capacity factor (SCF) were found to be 29.3% and 70.4% respectively. A 50MW two axis tracking power plant with a total energy output of 128.5 GWh/year would reduce CO₂ pollution by 85,581 tonnes of each year. The payback time for the proposed LS-PV photovoltaic power plant was found to be 4 years.

Keywords: Large PV power plant, solar energy, environmental impact, Dual-axis tracking system.

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Authors: Sharareh Sharifi, Pargol Ghavam Mostafavi, Ali Mashinchian Moradi, Mohammad Hadi Givianrad, Hassan Niknejad

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Marine organisms such as soft coral, sponge, ascidians, and tunicate containing rich source of natural compound have been studied in last decades because of their special chemical compounds with anticancer properties. The aim of this study was to investigate anti-cancer property of ethyl acetate extracted from marine sea pen Virgularia gustaviana found from Persian Gulf coastal (Bandar Abbas). The extraction processes were carried out with ethyl acetate for five days. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used for qualitative identification of crude extract. The viability of HeLa and MDA-Mb-231 cancer cells was investigated using MTT assay at the concentration of 25, 50, and a 100 µl/ml of ethyl acetate is extracted. The crude extract of Virgularia gustaviana demonstrated ten fractions with different Retention factor (Rf) by TLC and Retention time (Rt) evaluated by HPLC. The crude extract dose-dependently decreased cancer cell viability compared to control group. According to the results, the ethyl acetate extracted from Virgularia gustaviana inhibits the growth of cancer cells, an effect which needs to be further investigated in the future studies.

Keywords: Virgularia gustaviana, Cembrane Diterpene, anti-cancer, HeLa cancer Cell, MDA-Md-231 Cancer cell.

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Authors: Salim Cerig, Fatime Geyikoglu, Murat Bakir, Suat Colak, Merve Sonmez, Kubra Koc

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Cisplatin (CIS) is one of the most effective an anticancer drug and also toxic to cells by activating oxidative stress. Oleuropein (OLE) has key role against oxidative stress in mammalian cells, but the role of this antioxidant in the toxicity of CIS remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of OLE on CIS-induced liver damages in male rats. With this aim, male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of eight groups: Control group; the group treated with 7 mg/kg/day CIS; the groups treated with 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day OLE (i.p.); and the groups treated with OLE for three days starting at 24 h following CIS injection. After 4 days of injections, serum was provided to assess the blood AST, ALT and LDH values. The liver tissues were removed for histological, biochemical (TAC, TOS and MDA) and genotoxic evaluations. In the CIS treated group, the whole liver tissue showed significant histological changes. Also, CIS significantly increased both the incidence of oxidative stress and the induction of 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG). Moreover, the rats taking CIS have abnormal results on liver function tests. However, these parameters reached to the normal range after administration of OLE for 3 days. Finally, OLE demonstrated an acceptable high potential and was effective in attenuating CIS-induced liver injury. In this trial, the 200 mg/kg dose of OLE firstly appeared to induce the most optimal protective response.

Keywords: Antioxidant response, cisplatin, histology, liver, oleuropein, 8-OhdG.

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Authors: Hadi Hasanzadeh, Manijhe Mokhtari-Dizaji, S.Zahra Bathaie, Zuhair M. Hassan, Hamid R. Miri, Mahbobe Alamolhoda, Vahid Nilchiani, Hamid Goudarzi

Abstract:

The nanosized polymeric micelles release the drug due to acoustic cavitation, which is enhanced in dual frequency ultrasonic fields. In this study, adult female Balb/C mice were transplanted with spontaneous breast adenocarcinoma tumors and were injected with a dose of 1.3 mg/kg doxorubicin in one of three forms: free doxorubicin, micellar doxorubicin without sonication and micellar doxorubicin with sonication. To increase cavitation yield, the tumor region was sonicated with low level dual frequency of 3 MHz and 28 kHz. The animals were sacrificed 24 h after injection, and their tumor, heart, spleen, liver, kidneys and plasma were separated and homogenized. The drug content in their tumor, heart, spleen, liver, kidneys and plasma was determined using tissue fluorimetry. The results show that in the group that received micellar doxorubicin with sonication, the drug concentration in the tumor tissue was nine and three times higher than in the free doxorubicin group and the micellar doxorubicin without sonication group, respectively. In the micellar doxorubicin with sonication group, the drug concentration in other tissues was lower than other groups (p<0.05). We conclude that dual frequency sonication improves drug release from micelles and increases the drug uptake by tumors due to sonoporation.

Keywords: Nanomicelles, Dual frequency ultrasound, Drug delivery

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Authors: P. Narrima, C. Y. Looi, M. A. Mohd, H. M. Ali

Abstract:

Persea declinata (Bl.) Kosterm is a member of the Lauraceae family, widely distributed in Southeast Asia. It is from the same genus with avocado (Persea americana Mill), which is widely consumed as food and for medicinal purposes. In the present study, we examined the anticancer properties of Persea declinata (Bl.) Kosterm bark methanolic crude extract (PDM). PDM exhibited a potent antiproliferative effect in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, with an IC50 value of 16.68 .g/mL after 48h of treatment. We observed that PDM caused cell cycle arrest and subsequent apoptosis in MCF-7 cells, as exhibited by increased population at G0/G1 phase, higher lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, and DNA fragmentation. Mechanistic studies showed that PDM caused significant elevation in ROS production, leading to perturbation of mitochondrial membrane potential, cell permeability, and activation of caspases-3/7. On the other hand, real-time PCR and Western blot analysis showed that PDM treatment increased the expression of the proapoptotic molecule, Bax, but decreased the expression of prosurvival proteins, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, in a dose-dependent manner. These findings imply that PDM could inhibit proliferation in MCF-7 cells via cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction, indicating its potential as a therapeutic agent worthy of further development.

Keywords: Antiproliferative, apoptosis, MCF-7 human breast cancer, Persea declinata.

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Authors: Li Long, Thomas Ortlepp

Abstract:

A theoretical model for the optimization of thermopile sensor performance is developed for thermoelectric-based infrared radiation detection. It is shown that the performance of polycrystalline silicon film thermopile sensor can be optimized according to the thermoelectric quality factor, sensor layer structure factor and sensor layout shape factor. Based on the properties of electrons, phonons, grain boundaries and their interactions, the thermoelectric quality factor of polycrystalline silicon is analyzed with the relaxation time approximation of Boltzmann transport equation. The model includes the effects of grain structure, grain boundary trap properties and doping concentration. The layer structure factor of sensor is analyzed with respect to infrared absorption coefficient. The effect of layout design is characterized with the shape factor, which is calculated for different sensor designs. Double layer polycrystalline silicon thermopile infrared sensors on suspended support membrane have been designed and fabricated with a CMOS-compatible process. The theoretical approach is confirmed with measurement results.

Keywords: Polycrystalline silicon film, relaxation time approximation, specific detectivity, thermal conductivity, thermopile infrared sensor.

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Authors: A. Zeynolabedin, M. A. Olyaei, B. Ghiasi

Abstract:

Drought is an inevitable part of the earth’s climate. It occurs regularly with no clear warning and without recognizing borders. In addition, its impact is cumulative and not immediately discernible. Iran is located in a semi-arid region where droughts occur periodically as natural hazard. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Surface Water Supply Index (SWSI), and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) are three well-known indices which describe drought severity; each has its own advantages and disadvantages and can be used for specific types of drought. These indices take into account some factors such as precipitation, reservoir storage and discharge, temperature, and potential evapotranspiration in determining drought severity. In this paper, first all three indices are calculated in Aharchay river watershed located in northwestern part of Iran in East Azarbaijan province. Next, based on two other important parameters which are groundwater level and solar radiation, two new indices are defined. Finally, considering all five aforementioned indices, a combined drought index (CDI) is presented and calculated for the region. This combined index is based on all the meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural features of the region. The results show that the most severe drought condition in Aharchay watershed happened in Jun, 2004. The result of this study can be used for monitoring drought and prepare for the drought mitigation planning.

Keywords: Drought, index variation, regional assessment, monitoring.

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Authors: M. Ramezani, S. Ghaderifard, HR. Monsef-Esfahani, S. Nasri

Abstract:

The aim of this study is evaluating the antinociceptive and anti-inflamatory activity of Geum kokanicum. After determination total extract LD50, different doses of extract were chosen for intrapritoneal injections. In inflammation test, male NMRI mice were divided into 6 groups: control (normal saline), positive control (Dexamethasone 15mg/kg), and total extract (0.025, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 gr/kg). The inflammation was produced by xyleneinduced edema. In order to evaluate the antinociceptive effect of total extract, formalin test was used. Mice were divided into 6 groups: control, positive control (morphine 10mg/kg), and 4 groups which received total extract. Then they received Formalin. The animals were observed for the reaction to pain. Data were analyzed using One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison test. LD50 was 1 gr/kg. Data indicated that 0.5,0.1 and 0.2 gr/kg doses of total extract have particular antinociceptive and antiinflammatory effects in a comparison with control (P<0.001). The most effective dose was 0.2 gr/kg which did not show any significant difference in a comparison with positive control. Results indicated that total extract can inhibit nociception in the first and second phase. The antinociceptive effects in high doses are the same as morphine as a strong analgesic substance. TLC chromatography indicated presence of steroids and triterpenoids in this plant. The effects of extract may be related to presence of these compounds.

Keywords: Anti-inflammatory, Antinociceptive, Geum kokanicum, Mice.

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Authors: Ming-Hsun Tsai, Ming-Chyuan Lin, Fu-Tsai Chung, Ling-Jhen Chen, Yu-Hang Lin, Meng-Shu Yeh, Lee-Long Han

Abstract:

Since 2005, an SRF module of CESR type serves as the accelerating cavity at the Taiwan Light Source in the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center. A 500-MHz niobium cavity is immersed in liquid helium inside this SRF module. To reduce heat load, the liquid helium vessel is thermally shielded by liquid-nitrogen-cooled copper layer, and the beam chambers are also anchored with pipes of the liquid nitrogen flow in middle of the liquid helium vessel and the vacuum vessel. A strong correlation of the movement of the cavity-s frequency tuner with the temperature variation of parts cooled with liquid nitrogen was observed. A previous study on a spare SRF module with the niobium cavity cooled by liquid nitrogen instead of liquid helium, satisfactory suppression of the thermal oscillation was achieved by attaching a temporary buffer tank for the vented shielding nitrogen flow from the SRF module. In this study, a home-made buffer tank is designed and integrated to the spare SRF module with cavity cooled by liquid helium. Design, construction, integration, and preliminary test results of this buffer tank are presented.

Keywords: Cryogenics, flow control, oscillation.

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