Search results for: Surface Water Quality.

Authors: Fatima M. Kabbashi, Abdalla M. Abdalla, Hussam K. Hamad, Elias S. Hassan

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This study investigates the production of renewable energy (biogas) from biomedical hazard waste (blood) and eco-friendly disposal. Biogas is produced by the bacterial anaerobic digestion of biomaterial (blood). During digestion process bacterial feeding result in breaking down chemical bonds of the biomaterial and changing its features, by the end of the digestion (biogas production) the remains become manure as known. That has led to the economic and eco-friendly disposal of hazard biomedical waste (blood). The samples (Whole blood, Red blood cells 'RBCs', Blood platelet and Fresh Frozen Plasma ‘FFP’) are collected and measured in terms of carbon to nitrogen C/N ratio and total solid, then filled in connected flasks (three flasks) using water displacement method. The results of trails showed that the platelet and FFP failed to produce flammable gas, but via a gas analyzer, it showed the presence of the following gases: CO, HC, CO₂, and NOX. Otherwise, the blood and RBCs produced flammable gases: Methane-nitrous CH₃NO (99.45%), which has a blue color flame and carbon dioxide CO₂ (0.55%), which has red/yellow color flame. Methane-nitrous is sometimes used as fuel for rockets, some aircraft and racing cars.

Keywords: Renewable energy, biogas, biomedical waste, blood, anaerobic digestion, eco-friendly disposal.

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Authors: Yassamina Berkane, Leïla Kloul, Yoann Demoli

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Quality of life, environmental impact, congestion of mobility means, and infrastructures remain significant challenges for urban mobility. Solutions like car sharing, spatial redesign, eCommerce, and autonomous vehicles will likely increase the unit veh-km and the density of cars in urban traffic, thus reducing congestion. However, the impact of such solutions is not clear for researchers. Congestion arises from growing populations that must travel greater distances to arrive at similar locations (e.g., workplaces, schools) during the same time frame (e.g., rush hours). This paper first reviews the research and application cases of urban congestion methods through recent years. Rethinking the question of time, it then investigates people’s willingness and flexibility to adapt their arrival and departure times from workplaces. We use neural networks and methods of supervised learning to apply a methodology for predicting peoples’ intentions from their responses in a questionnaire. We created and distributed a questionnaire to more than 50 companies in the Paris suburb. Obtained results illustrate that our methodology can predict peoples’ intentions to reschedule their activities (work, study, commerce, etc.).

Keywords: Urban mobility, decongestion, machine learning, neural network.

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Authors: Fauzi Jarushi, S. AlKaabim, Paul Cosentino

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The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is the most common in situ test for soil investigations. On the other hand, the Cone Penetration Test (CPT) is considered one of the best investigation tools. Due to the fast and accurate results that can be obtained it complaints the SPT in many applications like field explorations, design parameters, and quality control assessments. Many soil index and engineering properties have been correlated to both of SPT and CPT. Various foundation design methods were developed based on the outcome of these tests. Therefore it is vital to correlate these tests to each other so that either one of the tests can be used in the absence of the other, especially for preliminary evaluation and design purposes. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the SPT and CPT for different type of sandy soils in Florida. Data for this research were collected from number of projects sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), six sites served as the subject of SPT-CPT correlations. The correlations were established between the cone resistance (qc), sleeve friction (fs) and the uncorrected SPT blow counts (N) for various soils. A positive linear relationship was found between qc, fs and N for various sandy soils. In general, qc versus N showed higher correlation coefficients than fs versus N. qc/N ratios were developed for different soil types and compared to literature values, the results of this research revealed higher ratios than literature values.

Keywords: In situ tests, Correlation, SPT, CPT.

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Authors: Chien-Lung Chen, Jeng-Lin Tsai, Feng-Chao Chung, Su-Ching Kuo, Kuo-Hsin Tseng, Pei-Hsuan Kuo, Li-Ying Hsieh, Ying I. Tsai

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This study applied the Gaussian trajectory transfer-coefficient model (GTx) to simulate the particulate matter concentrations and the source apportionments at Nanzih Air Quality Monitoring Station in southern Taiwan from November 2007 to February 2008. The correlation coefficient between the observed and the calculated daily PM10 concentrations is 0.5 and the absolute bias of the PM10 concentrations is 24%. The simulated PM10 concentrations matched well with the observed data. Although the emission rate of PM10 was dominated by area sources (58%), the results of source apportionments indicated that the primary sources for PM10 at Nanzih Station were point sources (42%), area sources (20%) and then upwind boundary concentration (14%). The obvious difference of PM10 source apportionment between episode and non-episode days was upwind boundary concentrations which contributed to 20% and 11% PM10 sources, respectively. The gas-particle conversion of secondary aerosol and long range transport played crucial roles on the PM10 contribution to a receptor.

Keywords: back trajectory model, particulate matter, sourceapportionment

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Authors: J. Fernandez de Canete, S. Gonzalez-Perez, P. del Saz-Orozco

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Neural networks offer an alternative approach both for identification and control of nonlinear processes in process engineering. The lack of software tools for the design of controllers based on neural network models is particularly pronounced in this field. SIMULINK is properly a widely used graphical code development environment which allows system-level developers to perform rapid prototyping and testing. Such graphical based programming environment involves block-based code development and offers a more intuitive approach to modeling and control task in a great variety of engineering disciplines. In this paper a SIMULINK based Neural Tool has been developed for analysis and design of multivariable neural based control systems. This tool has been applied to the control of a high purity distillation column including non linear hydrodynamic effects. The proposed control scheme offers an optimal response for both theoretical and practical challenges posed in process control task, in particular when both, the quality improvement of distillation products and the operation efficiency in economical terms are considered.

Keywords: Distillation, neural networks, software tools, identification, control.

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Authors: Nurhani Kasuan, Zakariah Yusuf, Mohd Nasir Taib, Mohd Hezri Fazalul Rahiman, Nazurah Tajuddin, Mohd Azri Abdul Aziz

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This paper presents a hybrid fuzzy-PD plus PID (HFPP) controller and its application to steam distillation process for essential oil extraction system. Steam temperature is one of the most significant parameters that can influence the composition of essential oil yield. Due to parameter variations and changes in operation conditions during distillation, a robust steam temperature controller becomes nontrivial to avoid the degradation of essential oil quality. Initially, the PRBS input is triggered to the system and output of steam temperature is modeled using ARX model structure. The parameter estimation and tuning method is adopted by simulation using HFPP controller scheme. The effectiveness and robustness of proposed controller technique is validated by real time implementation to the system. The performance of HFPP using 25 and 49 fuzzy rules is compared. The experimental result demonstrates the proposed HFPP using 49 fuzzy rules achieves a better, consistent and robust controller compared to PID when considering the test on tracking the set point and the effects due to disturbance.

Keywords: Fuzzy Logic controller, steam temperature, steam distillation, real time control.

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Authors: Daniel I. Morariu, Radu G. Cretulescu, Lucian N. Vintan

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In text categorization problem the most used method for documents representation is based on words frequency vectors called VSM (Vector Space Model). This representation is based only on words from documents and in this case loses any “word context" information found in the document. In this article we make a comparison between the classical method of document representation and a method called Suffix Tree Document Model (STDM) that is based on representing documents in the Suffix Tree format. For the STDM model we proposed a new approach for documents representation and a new formula for computing the similarity between two documents. Thus we propose to build the suffix tree only for any two documents at a time. This approach is faster, it has lower memory consumption and use entire document representation without using methods for disposing nodes. Also for this method is proposed a formula for computing the similarity between documents, which improves substantially the clustering quality. This representation method was validated using HAC - Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering. In this context we experiment also the stemming influence in the document preprocessing step and highlight the difference between similarity or dissimilarity measures to find “closer" documents.

Keywords: Text Clustering, Suffix tree documentrepresentation, Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering

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Authors: Oladele K. Ogunsola, Kazeem A. Osuolale, Akintayo O. Ojo

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Many factors influence the educational outcome of students. Some of these have been studied by researchers with many emphasizing the role of students, schools, governments, peer groups and so on. More often than not, some of these factors influencing the academic achievement of the students have been traced back to parents and family; being the primary platform on which learning not only begins but is nurtured, encouraged and developed which later transforms to the performance of the students. This study not only explores parental and related factors that predict academic achievement through the review of relevant literatures but also, investigates the influence of parental background on the academic achievement of senior secondary school students in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. As one of the criteria of the quality of education, students’ academic achievement was investigated because it is most often cited as an indicator of school effectiveness by school authorities and educationists. The data collection was done through interviews and use of well-structured questionnaires administered to one hundred students (100) within the target local government. This was statistically analysed and the result showed that parents’ attitudes towards their children’s education had significant effect(s) on students’ self-reporting of academic achievement. However, such factors as parental education and socioeconomic background had no significant relationship with the students’ self-reporting of academic achievement.

Keywords: Academic attainment, Parental factors, students, Oyo State, Nigeria.

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Authors: H. Higashiyama, M. Sappakittipakorn, M. Mizukoshi, O. Takahashi

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Ceramic Waste Aggregates (CWAs) were made from electric porcelain insulator wastes supplied from an electric power company, which were crushed and ground to fine aggregate sizes. In this study, to develop the CWA mortar as an eco–efficient, ground granulated blast–furnace slag (GGBS) as a Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) was incorporated. The water–to–binder ratio (W/B) of the CWA mortars was varied at 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6. The cement of the CWA mortar was replaced by GGBS at 20 and 40% by volume (at about 18 and 37% by weight). Mechanical properties of compressive and splitting tensile strengths, and elastic modulus were evaluated at the age of 7, 28, and 91 days. Moreover, the chloride ingress test was carried out on the CWA mortars in a 5.0% NaCl solution for 48 weeks. The chloride diffusion was assessed by using an electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). To consider the relation of the apparent chloride diffusion coefficient and the pore size, the pore size distribution test was also performed using a mercury intrusion porosimetry at the same time with the EPMA. The compressive strength of the CWA mortars with the GGBS was higher than that without the GGBS at the age of 28 and 91 days. The resistance to the chloride ingress of the CWA mortar was effective in proportion to the GGBS replacement level.

Keywords: Ceramic waste aggregate, Chloride diffusion, GGBS, Pore size distribution.

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Authors: Samir J. Deshmukh, Lalit B. Bhuyar, Shashank B. Thakre, Sachin S. Ingole

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The aim of this study is to develop mathematical relationships for the performance parameter brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and emission parameter nitrogen oxides (NOx) for the various esters of vegetable oils used as CI engine fuel. The BTE is an important performance parameter defining the ability of engine to utilize the energy supplied and power developed similarly it is indication of efficiency of fuels used. The esters of cottonseed oil, soybean oil, jatropha oil and hingan oil are prepared using transesterification process and characterized for their physical and main fuel properties including viscosity, density, flash point and higher heating value using standard test methods. These esters are tried as CI engine fuel to analyze the performance and emission parameters in comparison to diesel. The results of the study indicate that esters as a fuel does not differ greatly with that of diesel in properties. The CI engine performance with esters as fuel is in line with the diesel where as the emission parameters are reduced with the use of esters. The correlation developed between BTE and brake power(BP), gross calorific value(CV), air-fuel ratio(A/F), heat carried away by cooling water(HCW). Another equation is developed between the NOx emission and CO, HC, smoke density (SD), exhaust gas temperature (EGT). The equations are verified by comparing the observed and calculated values which gives the coefficient of correlation of 0.99 and 0.96 for the BTE and NOx equations respectively.

Keywords: Esters, emission, performance, and vegetable oil.

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Authors: Chiung-Tsun Kuoa, Tzu-Hao Liu, Fang-Yi Lin, Tai-Hao Hsu, Hui-Yin Chen

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Hyperglycemia-mediated accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) play a pivotal role in the development of diabetic complications by inducing inflammation. In the present study, we evaluated the possible effects of water/ethanol (1/1, v/v) extracts (WEE) and its fractions from Canarium album Raeusch. (Chinese olive) which is a fruit used on AGEs-stimulated oxidative stress and inflammation in monocytes and vascular endothelial cells. Co-incubation of EA.hy926 endothelial cells with WEE and its fractions for 24h resulted in a significant decrease of monocyte–endothelial cell adhesion, the expression of ICAM-1, generation of intracellular ROS and depletion of GSH induced by AGEs. Chinese olive fruit extracts also reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory mediates, such as TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in THP-1 cells. These findings suggested that Chinese olive fruit was able to protect vascular endothelium from dysfunction induced by AGEs. 

Keywords: Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), Canarium album Raeusch, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation.

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Authors: Ashagrie Getnet Flattie

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Line-of-sight (LOS) information, data rates, good quality, and flexible network service are limited by the fact that, for the duration of any given connection, they experience severe variation in signal strength due to fading and path loss. Wireless system faces major challenges in achieving wide coverage and capacity without affecting the system performance and to access data everywhere, all the time. In this paper, the cell coverage and edge rate of different Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) schemes in 20 MHz Long Term Evolution (LTE) system under Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) platform are investigated. After some background on the enormous potential of UAV, MIMO, and LTE in wireless links, the paper highlights the presented system model which attempts to realize the various benefits of MIMO being incorporated into UAV platform. The performances of the three MIMO LTE schemes are compared with the performance of 4x4 MIMO LTE in UAV scheme carried out to evaluate the improvement in cell radius, BER, and data throughput of the system in different morphology. The results show that significant performance gains such as bit error rate (BER), data rate, and coverage can be achieved by using the presented scenario.

Keywords: BER, LTE, MIMO, path loss, UAV.

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Authors: M. Hetmańczyk, R. Polaniak, K. Brukało, E. Grochowska-Niedworok

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Eating behaviours of people are determined by knowledge gained at different stages of life. Children’s diet is especially important. They have to eat meals regularly. Meals should consist of protein, carbohydrates and fat, and drinking the right amount of water. Mistakes in children’s diets affect their health and may lead to health issues such as diabetes, overweight, obesity or malnutrition. The aim of the study was to assess the eating habits among 10-15-year-old children. To achieve this aim, the study included children aged 10-15 years living in Silesia Province, Poland; the participants consisted of 52.08% girls and 47.92% boys. Authorial questionnaire contains 28 questions about eating habits. The results of 192 students were subjected to analysis. The results show that half of the surveyed students participated in physical activity every day. Most children ate 4-5 meals every day, but the breaks between them were too long (four and more hours). Children generally ate cooked meals. Most children ate first breakfast every day, but only one third of studied children ate a second breakfast daily, while 93.75% ate vegetables at least once a day, 94.79% ate fruit at least once a day, and 79.17% drink a daily glass of milk or more. The study found that the eating behaviours of the surveyed children were unsatisfying. While the children did not participate in physical activity often enough, girls took part slightly more often. Children eat second breakfast not often enough. Younger children (10-12 years old) are doing it more often than the older children (13-15 years old). Gender is not a determinant of the frequency of second breakfast consumption.

Keywords: Eating habits, children, diet, nutrition status.

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Authors: Nurul Nadhirah Anuar, Muhammad Fauzi Abdul Ghani

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Scheduled waste management is very important in environmental and health aspects. In delivering services, highway industry has been indirectly involved in producing scheduled wastes. This paper aims to define the scheduled waste, to provide a conceptual framework of the scheduled waste management in highway industry, to highlight the effect of improper management of scheduled waste and to encourage future researchers to identify and share the present practice of scheduled waste management in their country. The understanding on effective management of scheduled waste will help the operators of highway industry, the academicians, future researchers, and encourage a friendly environment around the world. The study on scheduled waste management in highway industry is very crucial as highway transverse and run along kilometers crossing the various type of environment, residential and schools. Using Environmental Quality (Scheduled Waste) Regulations 2005 as a guide, this conceptual paper highlight several scheduled wastes produced by highway industry in Malaysia and provide a conceptual framework of scheduled waste management that focused on the highway industry. Understanding on scheduled waste management is vital in order to preserve the environment. Besides that, the waste substances are hazardous to human being. Many diseases have been associated with the improper management of schedule waste such as cancer, throat irritation and respiration problem.

Keywords: Asia Region, Environment, Highway Industry, Scheduled Waste.

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Authors: Dalhatu, Musa Yusha’u, Shuaibu Sidi Safiyanu, Haliru Musa Hussaini

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This study examined budget and performance of public enterprises in Nasarawa State, Nigeria in a period of 2009-2013. The study utilized secondary sources of data obtained from four selected parastatals’ budget allocation and revenue generation for the period under review. The simple correlation coefficient was used to analyze the extent of the relationship between budget allocation and revenue generation of the parastatals. Findings revealed varying results. There was positive (0.21) and weak correlation between expenditure and revenue of Nasarawa Investment and Property Development Company (NIPDC). However, the study further revealed that there was strong and weak negative relationship in the revenue and expenditure of the following parastatals over the period under review. Viz: Nasarawa State Water Board, -0.27 (weak), Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service, -0.52 (Strong) and Nasarawa State College of Agriculture, -0.36 (weak). The study therefore, recommends that government should increase its investments in NIPDC to enhance efficiency and profitability. It also recommends that government should strengthen its fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency in public parastatals.

Keywords: Allocation, Budget, Public Enterprises, Parastatals, Performance.

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Authors: Mahmoud Amer, Ibrahim El-Sharkawy, Shinichi Ookawara, Ahmed Elwardany

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Gasification and carbonization are two of the most common ways for biomass utilization. Both processes are using part of the waste to be accomplished, either by incomplete combustion or for heating for both gasification and carbonization, respectively. The focus of this paper is to minimize the part of the waste that is used for heating biomass for gasification and carbonization. This will occur by combining both gasifiers and carbonization reactors in a single unit to utilize the heat in the product biogas to heating up the wastes in the carbonization reactors. Three different designs are proposed for the combined gasification/carbonization (CGC) reactor. These include a parallel combination of two gasifiers and carbonized syngas, carbonizer and combustion chamber, and one gasifier, carbonizer, and combustion chamber. They are tested numerically using ANSYS Fluent Computational Fluid Dynamics to ensure homogeneity of temperature distribution inside the carbonization part of the CGC reactor. 2D simulations are performed for the three cases after performing both mesh-size and time-step independent solutions. The carbonization part is common among the three different cases, and the difference among them is how this carbonization reactor is heated. The simulation results showed that the first design could provide only partial homogeneous temperature distribution, not across the whole reactor. This means that the produced carbonized biomass will be reduced as it will only fill a specified height of the reactor. To keep the carbonized product production high, a series combination is proposed. This series configuration resulted in a uniform temperature distribution across the whole reactor as it has only one source for heat with no temperature distribution on any surface of the carbonization section. The simulations provided a satisfactory result that either the first parallel combination of gasifier and carbonization reactor could be used with a reduced carbonized amount or a series configuration to keep the production rate high.

Keywords: Numerical simulation, carbonization, gasification, reactor, biomass.

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Authors: Ljubica Dokić, Ivana Nikolić, Dragana Šoronja–Simović, Biljana Pajin, Nils Juul

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In this work sensory characteristics of cookies with different amount of chestnut flour were determined by sensory and instrumental methods. The wheat flour for cookies was substituted with chestnut flour in three different levels (20, 40 and 60%) and the dough moisture was 22%. The control sample was with 100% of wheat flour. Sensory quality of the cookies was described using quantity descriptive method (QDA) by six trained members of descriptive panel. Instrumental evaluation included texture characterization by texture analyzer, the color measurements (CIE L*a*b* system) and determination by videometer.

The samples with 20% of chestnut flour were with highest ponderated score for overall sensory impression (17.6), which is very close to score for control sample (18). Increase in amount of chestnut flour caused decrease in scores for all sensory properties, thus overall sensory score decreased also. Compared to control sample and with increase in amount of chestnut flour, instrumental determination of the samples confirmed the sensory analysis results. The hardness of the cookies increased, as well as the values of red a^* and yellow (b*) component coordinate, but the values for lightness (L*) decreased. Also the values, evaluated by videometer at defined wavelength, were the highest for control cookies and decreased with increase in amount of chestnut flour.

Keywords: Cookies, chestnut flour, sensory characteristics.

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Authors: Nitesh Pandey, Manish Kumar, Pankaj Gupta, Amit Kumar Srivastava

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The convertible table is a versatile and adaptable item designed to provide numerous solutions in one. The design incorporates numerous features that offer both ease and functionality. The description of the versatile convertible table in this overview encompasses a range of features that can be tailored to accommodate various user requirements. With its changeable functionality, this piece can easily transform into a workstation, dining table, or coffee table to suit various needs. Significantly, this multipurpose convertible laptop table includes a specific section for electronic devices such as computers and tablets, offering convenience for remote workers and online learners. In addition, providing storage space for essential equipment promotes a tidy workspace by facilitating the organization of many items. The integrated flash system offers supplementary illumination for dimly lit surroundings, while the cooling fans prevent the table's surface from overheating in hot weather or during prolonged laptop usage, making it an optimal and superior choice for laptop users. In order to cater to the needs of students, painters, and other individuals who require writing tools on a regular basis, a pencil and pen stand is included, hence enhancing the versatility of the table. The scissor lift mechanism allows for easy modifications in height, making it convenient to customize usage and providing the option of using it as a standing desk. Overall, this convertible table exemplifies its ability to adapt, its user-friendly nature, and its usefulness in a wide range of situations and settings.

Keywords: Furniture design, laptop stand, study table, learning tool, furniture manufacturing, contemporary design.

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Authors: Osama M. Darwesh, Sahar H. Hassan, Abd El-Raheem R. El-Shanshoury, Shawky Z. Sabae

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Nanotechnology as multidisciplinary technology is growing rapidly with important applications in several sectors. Also, nanobiotechnology is known for the use of microorganisms for the synthesis of targeted nanoparticles. The present study deals with the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using aquatic bacteria and the development of a biogenic nanocomposite for environmental applications. 20 morphologically different colonies were isolated from the collected water samples from eight different locations at the Rosetta branch of the Nile Delta, Egypt. The obtained results illustrated that the most effective bacterial isolate (produced the higher amount of AgNPs after 24 h of incubation time) is isolate R3. Bacillus tequilensis was the strongest extracellular bio-manufactory of AgNPs. Biosynthesized nanoparticles had a spherical shape with a mean diameter of 2.74 to 28.4 nm. The antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles against many pathogenic microbes indicated that the produced AgNPs had high activity against all tested multi-antibiotic resistant pathogens. Also, the stabilized prepared AgNPs-SA nanocomposite has greater catalytic activity for the decolourization of some dyes like Methylene blue (MB) and Crystal violet. Such results represent a promising stage for producing eco-friendly, cost-effective, and easy-to-handle devices for the bioremediation of contaminated industrial wastewater.

Keywords: Bioremediation, AgNPs, AgNPs-SA nanocomposite, Bacillus tequilensis, nanobiotechnology.

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Authors: Raed EL-Khalil, Hussein Zeaiter

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Managing and improving efficiency in the current highly competitive global automotive industry demands that those companies adopt leaner and more flexible systems. During the past 20 years the domestic automotive industry in North America has been focusing on establishing new management strategies in order to meet market demands. The lean management process also known as Toyota Manufacturing Process (TPS) or lean manufacturing encompasses tools and techniques that were established in order to provide the best quality product with the fastest lead time at the lowest cost. The following paper presents a study that focused on improving labor efficiency at one of the Big Three (Ford, GM, Chrysler LLC) domestic automotive facility in North America. The objective of the study was to utilize several lean management tools in order to optimize the efficiency and utilization levels at the “Pre- Marriage” chassis area in a truck manufacturing and assembly facility. Utilizing three different lean tools (i.e. Standardization of work, 7 Wastes, and 5S) this research was able to improve efficiency by 51%, utilization by 246%, and reduce operations by 14%. The return on investment calculated based on the improvements made was 284%.

Keywords: Lean Manufacturing, Standardized Work, Operation Efficiency and Utilization, Operations Management.

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Authors: Matthias Feiner, Francisco Javier Fernández García, Michael Arneman, Martin Kipfmüller

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To ensure reliability in miniaturized devices or processes with increased heat fluxes, very efficient cooling methods have to be employed in order to cope with small available cooling surfaces. To address this problem, a certain type of evaporator/heat exchanger was developed: It is called a swirl evaporator due to its flow characteristic. The swirl evaporator consists of a concentrically eroded screw geometry in which a capillary tube is guided, which is inserted into a pocket hole in components with high heat load. The liquid refrigerant R32 is sprayed through the capillary tube to the end face of the blind hole and is sucked off against the injection direction in the screw geometry. Its inner diameter is between one and three millimeters. The refrigerant is sprayed into the pocket hole via a small tube aligned in the center of the bore hole and is sucked off on the front side of the hole against the direction of injection. The refrigerant is sucked off in a helical geometry (twisted flow) so that it is accelerated against the hot wall (centrifugal acceleration). This results in an increase in the critical heat flux of up to 40%. In this way, more heat can be dissipated on the same surface/available installation space. This enables a wide range of technical applications. To optimize the design for the needs in various fields of industry, like the internal tool cooling when machining nickel base alloys like Inconel 718, a correlation-based model of the swirl-evaporator was developed. The model is separated into 3 subgroups with overall 5 regimes. The pressure drop and heat transfer are calculated separately. An approach to determine the locality of phase change in the capillary and the swirl was implemented. A test stand has been developed to verify the simulation.

Keywords: Helically-shaped, oil-free, R32, swirl-evaporator, twist flow.

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Authors: James Moir

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Citizens are increasingly are provided with choice and customization in public services and this has now also become a key feature of higher education in terms of policy roll-outs on personal development planning (PDP) and more generally as part of the employability agenda. The goal here is to transform people, in this case graduates, into active, responsible citizen-workers. A key part of this rhetoric and logic is the inculcation of graduate attributes within students. However, there has also been a concern with the issue of student lack of engagement and perseverance with their studies. This paper sets out to explore some of these conceptions that link graduate attributes with citizenship as well as the notion of how identity is forged through the higher education process. Examples are drawn from a quality enhancement project that is being operated within the context of the Scottish higher education system. This is further framed within the wider context of competing and conflicting demands on higher education, exacerbated by the current worldwide economic climate. There are now pressures on students to develop their employability skills as well as their capacity to engage with global issues such as behavioural change in the light of environmental concerns. It is argued that these pressures, in effect, lead to a form of personalization that is concerned with how graduates develop their sense of identity as something that is engineered and re-engineered to meet these demands.

Keywords: students, higher education, employability, knowledge, personal development

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Authors: Manoj Kumar, A.K. Verma, A. Srividya

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Time varying network induced delays in networked control systems (NCS) are known for degrading control system-s quality of performance (QoP) and causing stability problems. In literature, a control method employing modeling of communication delays as probability distribution, proves to be a better method. This paper focuses on modeling of network induced delays as probability distribution. CAN and MIL-STD-1553B are extensively used to carry periodic control and monitoring data in networked control systems. In literature, methods to estimate only the worst-case delays for these networks are available. In this paper probabilistic network delay model for CAN and MIL-STD-1553B networks are given. A systematic method to estimate values to model parameters from network parameters is given. A method to predict network delay in next cycle based on the present network delay is presented. Effect of active network redundancy and redundancy at node level on network delay and system response-time is also analyzed.

Keywords: NCS (networked control system), delay analysis, response-time distribution, worst-case delay, CAN, MIL-STD-1553B, redundancy

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Authors: Archana Panchapakesan Iyer, Taha Abdullah Kumosani

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Many high-risk pathogens that cause disease in humans are transmitted through various food items. Food-borne disease constitutes a major public health problem. Assessment of the quality and safety of foods is important in human health. Rapid and easy detection of pathogenic organisms will facilitate precautionary measures to maintain healthy food. The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a handy tool for rapid detection of low numbers of bacteria. We have designed gene specific primers for most common food borne pathogens such as Staphylococci, Salmonella and E.coli. Bacteria were isolated from food samples of various food outlets and identified using gene specific PCRs. We identified Staphylococci, Salmonella and E.coli O157 using gene specific primers by rapid and direct PCR technique in various food samples. This study helps us in getting a complete picture of the various pathogens that threaten to cause and spread food borne diseases and it would also enable establishment of a routine procedure and methodology for rapid identification of food borne bacteria using the rapid technique of direct PCR. This study will also enable us to judge the efficiency of present food safety steps taken by food manufacturers and exporters.

Keywords: food borne pathogens, PCR, food safety, rapiddetection.

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Authors: Jean François Chatelain, Imed Zaghbani, Gilbert Lebrun, Kaml Hasni

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Severe damages may occur during the drilling of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). In practice, this damage is limited by adding a backup support to the drilled parts. For some aeronautical parts with curvatures, backing up parts is a demanding process. In order to simplify the operation, this research studies the effect of using a configurable setup to support parts on the resulting quality of drilled holes. The test coupons referenced in this study are twenty four-plies unidirectional laminates made of carbon fibers and epoxy resin. Different signals were measured during the drilling process for these laminates, including the thrust force, the displacement and the acceleration. The processing of these signals demonstrated that the damage is due to the combination of two main factors: the spring-back of the thin part and the thrust force. The results found were confirmed for different feeds and speeds. When the distance between supports is increased, it is observed that the spring-back increases but the thrust force decreases. The study proves the feasibility of unsupported drilling of thin CFRP laminates without creating any observable damage.

Keywords: CFRP, Damage, Drilling, Flexible setup.

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Authors: Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, Anu Rani Sharma, Kamna Sachdeva

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The aim of the paper is to analyze the characteristics of winter fog in terms of its trend and spatial-temporal variability over Indo-Gangetic plains. The study reveals that during last four and half decades (1971-2015), an alarming increasing trend in fog frequency has been observed during the winter months of December and January over the study area. The frequency of fog has increased by 118.4% during the peak winter months of December and January. It has also been observed that on an average central part of IGP has 66.29% fog days followed by west IGP with 41.94% fog days. Further, Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) decomposition and Mann-Kendall variation analysis are used to analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of winter fog. The findings have significant implications for the further research of fog over IGP and formulate robust strategies to adapt the fog variability and mitigate its effects. The decision by Delhi Government to implement odd-even scheme to restrict the use of private vehicles in order to reduce pollution and improve quality of air may result in increasing the alarming increasing trend of fog over Delhi and its surrounding areas regions of IGP.

Keywords: Fog, climatology, spatial variability, temporal variability, empirical orthogonal function, visibility, Mann-Kendall test, variation point.

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Authors: Kittipong Tissayakorn, Fumio Akagi, Yu Song

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Manufacturers have been exploring innovative strategies to achieve and sustain competitive advantages as they face a new era of intensive global competition. Such strategy is known as Supply Chain Management (SCM), which has gained a tremendous amount of attention from both researchers and practitioners over the last decade. Supply chain management (SCM) is considered as the most popular operating strategy for improving organizational competitiveness in the twenty-first century. It has attracted a lot of attention recently due to its role involving all of the activities in industrial organizations, ranging from raw material procurement to final product delivery to customers. Well-designed supply chain systems can substantially improve efficiency and product quality, and eventually enhance customer satisfaction and profitability. In this paper, a manufacturing engineering perspective on supply chain integration is presented. Research issues discussed include the product and process design for the supply chain, design evaluation of manufacturing in the supply chain, agent-based techniques for supply chain integration, intelligent information for sharing across the supply chain, and a development of standards for product, process, and production data exchange to facilitate electronic commerce. The objective is to provide guidelines and references for manufacturing engineers and researchers interested in supply chain integration.

Keywords: Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Integration, Manufacturing Industries.

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Authors: Jazaul Ikhsan, Masaharu Fujita

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Safety, river environment, and sediment utilization are the elements of the target of sediment management. As a change in an element by sediment management, may affect the other two elements, and the priority among three elements depends on stakeholders. It is necessary to develop a method to evaluate the effect of sediment management on each element and an integrated evaluation method for socio-economic effect. In this study, taking Mount Merapi basin as an investigation field, the method for an active volcanic basin was developed. An integrated evaluation method for sediment management was discussed from a socio-economic point on safety, environment, and sediment utilization and a case study of sediment management was evaluated by means of this method. To evaluate the effect of sediment management, some parameters on safety, utilization, and environment have been introduced. From a utilization point of view, job opportunity, additional income of local people, and tax income to local government were used to evaluate the effectiveness of sediment management. The risk degree of river infrastructure was used to describe the effect of sediment management on a safety aspect. To evaluate the effects of sediment management on environment, the mean diameter of grain size distribution of riverbed surface was used. On the coordinate system designating these elements, the direction of change in basin condition by sediment management can be predicted, so that the most preferable sediment management can be decided. The results indicate that the cases of sediment management tend to give the negative impacts on sediment utilization. However, these sediment managements will give positive impacts on safety and environment condition. Evaluation result from a social-economic point of view shows that the case study of sediment management reduces job opportunity and additional income for inhabitants as well as tax income for government. Therefore, it is necessary to make another policy for creating job opportunity for inhabitants to support these sediment managements.

Keywords: Merapi, sediment, management, evaluation

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Authors: Yang Meng, James L. Patnao

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With the rapid development of information technology and the impact of the epidemic environment, the traditional teaching model can no longer meet the requirements of the development of the times. The development of teaching mechanisms is the inevitable trend of the future development of higher education. We must further promote the informatization of higher education in teaching practice, let modern information technology penetrate and practice in classroom teaching, and provide promising opportunities for the high-quality development of higher education. This article, mainly through the distribution of questionnaires to teachers of colleges and universities, aims to understand the degree of informatization in the teaching of colleges and universities. And on the basis of domestic and foreign scholars' research on higher education informatization, it analyzes the existing problems, and finds the optimal solution based on the needs of education and teaching development. According to the survey results, most college teachers will use information technology in teaching practice, but the information technology teaching tools used by teachers are relatively simple, and most of them use only slides. In addition, backward informatization infrastructure and less informatization training are the main challenges facing the current teaching informatization construction. If colleges and universities can make good use of information technology and multimedia technology and combine it with traditional teaching, it will definitely promote the development of college education and further promote the modernization and informatization of higher education.

Keywords: Higher education, teaching practice, informatization construction, e-education.

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Authors: Robertoes K. K. Wibowo, Siswoyo Soekarno, Irma Puspitasari

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Indonesian people use trains for their transportation, especially they use economy class train transportation because it is cheaper and has a more precise schedule than any other ground transportation. Nevertheless, the economy class passenger seat raises some inconvenience issues for passengers. This is due to the design of the chair on the economic class of trains that did not adjusted to the shape of anthropometry of Indonesian people. Thus, research needs to be conducted on the design of the seats in the economic class of trains. The purpose of this research is to make the design of economy class passenger seats ergonomic. This research method uses questionnaires and anthropometry measurements. The data obtained is processed using House of Quality of Ergonomic Function Development. From the results of analysis and data processing were obtained important changes from the original design. Ergonomic chair design according to the analysis is a stainless steel frame, seat height 390 mm, with a seat width for each passenger of 400 mm and a depth of 400 mm. Design of the backrest has a height of 840 mm, width of 430 mm and length of 300 mm that can move at the angle of 105-115 degrees. The width of the footrest is 42 mm and 400 mm length. The thickness of the seat cushion is 100 mm.

Keywords: Chair, ergonomics, function development, train passenger.

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