Search results for: Unsolicited Bulk e-mail (UBE)

Authors: Seong-Pil Kang, Ho-Jung Ryu, Yongwon Seo

Abstract:

Hydrate phase equilibria for the binary CO2+water and CH4+water mixtures in silica gel pore of nominal diameters 6, 30, and 100 nm were measured and compared with the calculated results based on van der Waals and Platteeuw model. At a specific temperature, three-phase hydrate-water-vapor (HLV) equilibrium curves for pore hydrates were shifted to the higher-pressure condition depending on pore sizes when compared with those of bulk hydrates. Notably, hydrate phase equilibria for the case of 100 nominal nm pore size were nearly identical with those of bulk hydrates. The activities of water in porous silica gels were modified to account for capillary effect, and the calculation results were generally in good agreement with the experimental data. The structural characteristics of gas hydrates in silica gel pores were investigated through NMR spectroscopy.

Keywords: CO2, CH4, gas hydrate, equilibria.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2440

Authors: Musaab Salman Sultan

Abstract:

The surface and bulk magnetization behavior of template released isolated ferromagnetic Ni₆₀Fe₄₀ nanowires of relatively thick diameters (~200 nm), deposited from a dilute suspension onto pre-patterned insulating chips have been investigated experimentally, using a highly sensitive Magneto-Optical Ker Effect (MOKE) magnetometry and Magneto-Resistance (MR) measurements, respectively. The MR data were consistent with the theoretical predictions of the anisotropic magneto-resistance (AMR) effect. The MR measurements, in all the angles of investigations, showed large features and a series of nonmonotonic "continuous small features" in the resistance profiles. The extracted switching fields from these features and from MOKE loops were compared with each other and with the switching fields reported in the literature that adopted the same analytical techniques on the similar compositions and dimensions of nanowires. A large difference between MOKE and MR measurments was noticed. The disparate between MOKE and MR results is attributed to the variance in the micro-magnetic structure of the surface and the bulk of such ferromagnetic nanowires. This result was ascertained using micro-magnetic simulations on an individual: cylindrical and rectangular cross sections NiFe nanowires, with the same diameter/thickness of the experimental wires, using the Object Oriented Micro-magnetic Framework (OOMMF) package where the simulated loops showed different switching events, indicating that such wires have different magnetic states in the reversal process and the micro-magnetic spin structures during switching behavior was complicated. These results further supported the difference between surface and bulk magnetization behavior in these nanowires. This work suggests that a combination of MOKE and MR measurements is required to fully understand the magnetization behavior of such relatively thick isolated cylindrical ferromagnetic nanowires.

Keywords: MOKE magnetometry, MR measurements, OOMMF package, micro-magnetic simulations, ferromagnetic nanowires, surface magnetic properties.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 763

Authors: M. B. Shuai, S. Xiao, Q. S. Li, M. F. Chu, X. F. Yang

Abstract:

Ambient hydrolysis products in moist air and hydrolysis kinetics in argon with humidity of RH1.5% for polycrystalline LiH powders and sintered bulks were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and gravimetry. The results showed that the hydrolysis products made up a layered structure of LiOH•H2O/LiOH/Li2O from surface of the sample to inside. In low humid argon atmosphere, the primary hydrolysis product was Li2O rather than LiOH. The hydrolysis kinetic curves of LiH bulks present a paralinear shape, which could be explained by the “Layer Diffusion Control" model. While a three-stage hydrolysis kinetic profile was observed for LiH powders under the same experimental conditions. The first two sections were similar to that of the bulk samples, and the third section also presents a linear reaction kinetics but with a smaller reaction rate compared to the second section because of a larger exothermic effect for the hydrolysis reaction of LiH powder.

Keywords: Hydrolysis, lithium compound, polycrystallinelithium hydride

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2012

Authors: Papathanasiou Anastasios, Liontos George, Liagkou Vasiliki, Glavas Euripides

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to describe the growing problem of various cyber fraud schemes that exist on the internet and are currently among the most prevalent. The main focus of this paper is to provide a detailed description of the modus operandi, tools, and techniques utilized in four basic typologies of cyber frauds: Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, investment fraud, romance scams, and online sales fraud. The paper aims to shed light on the methods employed by cybercriminals in perpetrating these types of fraud, as well as the strategies they use to deceive and victimize individuals and businesses on the internet. Furthermore, this study outlines defense strategies intended to tackle the issue head-on, with a particular emphasis on the crucial role played by European legislation. European legislation has proactively adapted to the evolving landscape of cyber fraud, striving to enhance cybersecurity awareness, bolster user education, and implement advanced technical controls to mitigate associated risks. The paper evaluates the advantages and innovations brought about by the European legislation while also acknowledging potential flaws that cybercriminals might exploit. As a result, recommendations for refining the legislation are offered in this study in order to better address this pressing issue.

Keywords: Business email compromise, cybercrime, European legislation, investment fraud, Network and Information Security, online sales fraud, romance scams.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 196

Authors: T. Zergoug, S.H. Abaidia, A. Nedjar, M. Y. Mokeddem

Abstract:

Physical properties of uranium dinitride (UN2) were investigated in detail using first principle calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). To study the strong correlation effects due to 5f uranium valence electrons, the on-site coulomb interaction correction U via the Hubbard-like term (DFT+U) was employed. The UN2 structural, mechanical and thermodynamic properties were calculated within DFT and Various U of DFT+U approach. The Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE.5.2) version of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) is used to describe the exchange-correlation with the projector-augmented wave (PAW) pseudo potentials. A comparative study shows that results are improved by using the Hubbard formalism for a certain U value correction like the structural parameter. For some physical properties the variation versus Hubbard-U is strong like Young modulus but for others it is weakly noticeable such as bulk modulus. We noticed also that from U=7.5 eV, elastic results don’t agree with the cubic cell because of the C44 values which turn out to be negative.

Keywords: Ab initio, bulk modulus, DFT, DFT + U.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2558

Authors: Kaliyaperumal Anandavel, Raghu V. Prakash, Antonio Davis

Abstract:

This paper presents the influence of preloading on a) the contact tractions, b) slip levels and c) stresses at the dovetail blade-disc interface of an aero-engine through a three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) modeling and analysis. The preloading is applied by an interference fit at the dovetail interface and the bulk loading is applied through the rotational speed of rotor. Preloading at the dovetail interface reduces the peak contact pressure developed due to bulk loading up to 35%, and reduces the peak contact pressure and stress difference between top and bottom contact edges. Increasing the level of preloading reduces the cyclic stress amplitude at the interface up to certain values of preload and as a consequence, an improvement in fatigue life could be expected. Fretting damage, due to vibration and wind milling effect during engine ground condition, can be minimized by preloading the dovetail interface.

Keywords: Dovetail interface, Preload, Interference fit, ContactStress, Fretting Fatigue.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3216

Authors: A. Benmakhlouf, A. Bentabet

Abstract:

In this paper, we investigated the athermal pressure behavior of the structural and elastic properties of scheelite BaWO4 phase up to 7 GPa using the ab initio pseudo-potential method. The calculated lattice parameters pressure relation have been compared with the experimental values and found to be in good agreement with these results. Moreover, we present for the first time the investigation of the elastic properties of this compound using the density functional perturbation theory (DFPT). It is shown that this phase is mechanically stable up to 7 GPa after analyzing the calculated elastic constants. Other relevant quantities such as bulk modulus, pressure derivative of bulk modulus, shear modulus; Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, anisotropy factors, Debye temperature and sound velocity have been calculated. The obtained results, which are reported for the first time to the best of the author’s knowledge, can facilitate assessment of possible applications of the title material.

Keywords: Pseudo-potential method, pressure, structural and elastic properties, scheelite BaWO4 phase.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2116

Authors: I. Kurashvili, A. Sichinava, G. Bokuchava, G. Darsavelidze

Abstract:

Si-Ge solid solutions (bulk poly- and mono-crystalline samples, thin films) are characterized by high perspectives for application in semiconductor devices, in particular, optoelectronics and microelectronics. From this point of view, complex studying of structural state of the defects and structural-sensitive physical properties of Si-Ge solid solutions depending on the contents of Si and Ge components is very important. Present work deals with the investigations of microstructure, microhardness, internal friction and shear modulus of Si1-xGex(x≤0,02) bulk monocrystals conducted at room temperature. Si-Ge bulk crystals were obtained by Czochralski method in [111] crystallographic direction. Investigated monocrystalline Si-Ge samples are characterized by p-type conductivity and carriers’ concentration 5.1014-1.1015cm-3. Microhardness was studied on Dynamic Ultra Micro hardness Tester DUH-201S with Berkovich indenter. Investigate samples are characterized with 0,5x0,5x(10-15)mm3 sizes, oriented along [111] direction at torsion oscillations ≈1Hz, multistage changing of internal friction and shear modulus has been revealed in an interval of strain amplitude of 10-5-5.10-3. Critical values of strain amplitude have been determined at which hysteretic changes of inelastic characteristics and microplasticity are observed. The critical strain amplitude and elasticity limit values are also determined. Dynamic mechanical characteristics decreasing trend is shown with increasing Ge content in Si-Ge solid solutions. Observed changes are discussed from the point of view of interaction of various dislocations with point defects and their complexes in a real structure of Si-Ge solid solutions.

Keywords: Internal friction, microhardness, relaxation processes, shear modulus, Si-Ge.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1567

Authors: Syed Bahari Ramadzan Syed Adnan, Nor Sabirin Mohamed, Norwati K.A

Abstract:

In this study, Li4SiO4 powder was successfully synthesized via sol gel method followed by drying at 150oC. Lithium oxide, Li2O and silicon oxide, SiO2 were used as the starting materials with citric acid as the chelating agent. The obtained powder was then sintered at various temperatures. Crystallographic phase analysis, morphology and ionic conductivity were investigated systematically employing X-ray diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared, Scanning Electron Microscopy and AC impedance spectroscopy. XRD result showed the formation of pure monoclinic Li4SiO4 crystal structure with lattice parameters a = 5.140 Å, b = 6.094 Å, c = 5.293 Å, β = 90o in the sample sintered at 750oC. This observation was confirmed by FTIR analysis. The bulk conductivity of this sample at room temperature was 3.35 × 10-6 S cm-1 and the highest bulk conductivity of 1.16 × 10-4 S cm-1 was obtained at 100°C. The results indicated that, the Li4SiO4 compound has potential to be used as host for LISICON structured solid electrolyte for low temperature application.

Keywords: Conductivity, LISICON, Li4SiO4, Solid electrolyte, Structure.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3320

Authors: V. Karamzadeh, J. Adhvaryu, A. Chandrasekaran, M. Packirisamy

Abstract:

In Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) microfluidics, the throughput of particle sorting is dependent on the complex interplay between the geometric configuration of the channel, the size of the particles, and the properties of the fluid medium, which therefore calls for a detailed modeling and understanding of the fluid-particle interaction dynamics under an acoustic field, prior to designing the system. In this work, we propose a simplified Bulk acoustophoretic system that can be used for size dependent particle sorting. A Finite Element Method (FEM) based analytical model has been developed to study the dependence of particle sizes on channel parameters, and the sorting efficiency in a given fluid medium. Based on the results, the microfluidic system has been designed to take into account all the variables involved with the underlying physics, and has been fabricated using an additive manufacturing technique employing a commercial 3D printer, to generate a simple, cost-effective system that can be used for size sensitive particle sorting.

Keywords: 3D printing, 3D microfluidic chip, acoustophoresis, cell separation, MEMS, microfluidics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1067

Authors: Reza Sedaghati, Mojtaba Hakimzadeh, Mohammad Hasan Raouf, Mostafa Mirzadeh

Abstract:

Nowadays the growth of distributed generation within the bulk power system is feasible by using the optimal control of the transmission lines power flow. Static Synchronous Compensators (STATCOM) is effective for improving voltage stability but it can only exchange reactive power with the power grid. The integration of Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) with a STATCOM can extend the traditional STATCOM capabilities to four-quadrant bulk power system power flow control and providing exchange both the active and reactive power related to the STATCOM with the ac network. This paper shows how the SMES system can be connected to the ac system via the DC bus of a STATCOM and also analyzes how the integration of STATCOM and SMES allows the bus voltage regulation and power oscillation damping (POD) to be achieved simultaneously. The dynamic performance of the integrated STATCOM-SMES is evaluated through simulation by using PSCAD/EMTDC software and the compensation effectiveness of this integrated compensator is shown.

Keywords: STATCOM-SMES compensator, Power Oscillation Damping (POD), stabilizing, signal, voltage.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2849

Authors: U. Ben-Hamed, H. Seddighi, K. Thomas

Abstract:

UK breweries generate extensive by products in the form of spent grain, slurry and yeast. Much of the spent grain is produced by large breweries and processed in bulk for animal feed. Spent brewery grains contain up to 20% protein dry weight and up to 60% fiber and are useful additions to animal feed. Bulk processing is economic and allows spent grain to be sold so providing an income to the brewery. A proportion of spent grain, however, is produced by small local breweries and is more variably distributed to farms or other users using intermittent collection methods. Such use is much less economic and may incur losses if not carefully assessed for transport costs. This study reports an economic returns of using wet brewery spent grain (WBSG) in animal feed using the Co-product Optimizer Decision Evaluator model (Cattle CODE) developed by the University of Nebraska to predict performance and economic returns when byproducts are fed to finishing cattle. The results indicated that distance from brewery to farm had a significantly greater effect on the economics of use of small brewery spent grain and that alternative uses than cattle feed may be important to develop.

Keywords: Animal Feed, Brewery Spent Grains, cattle CODE, Economic returns.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7818

Authors: Yuan Jie Kelvin Lu, Amin Chegenizadeh

Abstract:

Asphalt pavement itself is a mixture made up of mainly aggregates, binders, and fillers that acts as a composition used for pavement construction. An experimental program was setup to determine the fatigue performance test of Asphalt with three different grades of conventional binders. Asphalt specimen has achieved the maximum optimum bulk density and air voids with a consistent bulk density of 2.3 t/m3, with an air void of 5% ± 0.5, before loading into the Asphalt Mixture Performance Tested (AMPT) for fatigue test. The number of cycles is defined as the point where phase angle drops, which is caused by the formation of cracks due to the increasing micro cracks when asphalt is undergoing repeated cycles of loading. Thus, the data collected are analyzed using the drop of phase angle as failure criteria. Based in the data analyzed, it is evident that the fatigue life of asphalt lies on the grade of binder. The result obtained shows that all specimens do experience a drop in phase angle due to macro cracks in the asphalt specimen.

Keywords: Asphalt binder, AMPT, CX test, simplified–viscoelastic continuum damage (S-VECD).

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2146

Authors: Loralee P. Potter, Peter J. Schubert

Abstract:

Solid-state hydrogen storage using catalytically-modified porous silicon can be rapidly charged at moderate pressures (8 bar) without exothermic runaway. Discharge requires temperatures of approximately 110oC, so for larger storage vessels a means is required for thermal energy to penetrate bulk storage media. This can be realized with low-density metal foams, such as Celmet™. This study explores several material and dimensional choices of the metal foam to produce rapid heating of bulk silicon particulates. Experiments run under vacuum and in a pressurized hydrogen environment bracket conditions of empty and full hydrogen storage vessels, respectively. Curve-fitting of the heating profiles at various distances from an external heat source is used to derive both a time delay and a characteristic time constant. System performance metrics of a hydrogen storage subsystem are derived from the experimental results. A techno-economic analysis of the silicon and metal foam provides comparison with other methods of storing hydrogen for mobile and portable applications. 

Keywords: conduction, convection, kinetics, fuel cell

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 694

Authors: Amin Sedighfar, M. R. Moniri

Abstract:

Determination of state of charge (SOC) in today’s world becomes an increasingly important issue in all the applications that include a battery. In fact, estimation of the SOC is a fundamental need for the battery, which is the most important energy storage in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), smart grid systems, drones, UPS and so on. Regarding those applications, the SOC estimation algorithm is expected to be precise and easy to implement. This paper presents an online method for the estimation of the SOC of Valve-Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries. The proposed method uses the well-known Kalman Filter (KF), and Neural Networks (NNs) and all of the simulations have been done with MATLAB software. The NN is trained offline using the data collected from the battery discharging process. A generic cell model is used, and the underlying dynamic behavior of the model has used two capacitors (bulk and surface) and three resistors (terminal, surface, and end), where the SOC determined from the voltage represents the bulk capacitor. The aim of this work is to compare the performance of conventional integration-based SOC estimation methods with a mixed algorithm. Moreover, by containing the effect of temperature, the final result becomes more accurate. 

Keywords: Kalman filter, neural networks, state-of-charge, VRLA battery.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1403

Authors: Claudiu N.Musat

Abstract:

Due to the constant increase in the volume of information available to applications in fields varying from medical diagnosis to web search engines, accurate support of similarity becomes an important task. This is also the case of spam filtering techniques where the similarities between the known and incoming messages are the fundaments of making the spam/not spam decision. We present a novel approach to filtering based solely on layout, whose goal is not only to correctly identify spam, but also warn about major emerging threats. We propose a mathematical formulation of the email message layout and based on it we elaborate an algorithm to separate different types of emails and find the new, numerically relevant spam types.

Keywords: Clustering, layout, k-means, spam.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1649

Authors: Akmaluddin, Koichiro Watanabe, Akihiro Kano, Wartono Rahardjo

Abstract:

Oxygen and carbon isotopes records of multi-species planktonic, benthic foraminifera and bulk carbonate sample from Central Java Indonesia demonstrate that warm sea surface temperature occurred during the Miocene. Planktonic δ18O values from this study consistently lighter (-4 to -3 ‰PDB) than previous studies that indicate sea surface temperature during Miocene in this area was warm than tropical/equatorial localities. A surprising decrease of oxygen isotopic composition was recorded at ±14 Ma where the maximum of δ18O values is -4.87 ‰PDB for Orbulina universa, -5.02 ‰PDB for Globigerinoides sacculifer and -4.30 ‰PDB for Globoquadrina dehiscens, this event we predict as Middle Miocene Optimum. Warming of sea surface temperature we interpret as related to the development of Western Pacific Warm Pool where warm water from Pacific Ocean through the Indonesian seaway appears to remain during Miocene. Our result also show increasing suddenly of oxygen isotope values of planktic, benthic and bulk carbonate sample from ± 12 Ma, the increasing cooled surface water relatively high degree with Late Miocene global cooling climate or we predict that due to closing of Indonesian Gateway.

Keywords: Oxygen isotope, Foraminifera, Miocene, Paleoclimate, Indonesian.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1649

Authors: Kamila Tišlerová

Abstract:

This contribution aims to outline some topics around the process of introduction of compulsory electronic exchange of documents (so called e-Boxes) in public administration. The research was conducted in order to gauge the difference between the expectation of those using internal email and their experience in reality. Both qualitative and quantitative research is employed to lead also to an estimation of the willingness and readiness of government bodies, business units and citizens to adopt new technologies. At the same time the most potent barriers to successful e-communication through the e-Boxes are identified.

Keywords: E-Box, e-Government, electronic document exchange, digitalisation, public administration.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1332

Authors: Jebari Chaker, Ounalli Habib

Abstract:

This paper presents a new approach for automatic document categorization. Exploiting the logical structure of the document, our approach assigns a HTML document to one or more categories (thesis, paper, call for papers, email, ...). Using a set of training documents, our approach generates a set of rules used to categorize new documents. The approach flexibility is carried out with rule weight association representing your importance in the discrimination between possible categories. This weight is dynamically modified at each new document categorization. The experimentation of the proposed approach provides satisfactory results.

Keywords: categorization rule, document categorization, flexible categorization, logical structure.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1246

Authors: Corné J. Coetzee, Etienne Horn

Abstract:

One of the main challenges in using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) is to specify the correct input parameter values. In general, the models are sensitive to the input parameter values and accurate results can only be achieved if the correct values are specified. For the linear contact model, micro-parameters such as the particle density, stiffness, coefficient of friction, as well as the particle size and shape distributions are required. There is a need for a procedure to accurately calibrate these parameters before any attempt can be made to accurately model a complete bulk materials handling system. Since DEM is often used to model applications in the mining and quarrying industries, a calibration procedure was developed for materials that consist of relatively large (up to 40 mm in size) particles. A coarse crushed aggregate was used as the test material. Using a specially designed large shear box with a diameter of 590 mm, the confined Young’s modulus (bulk stiffness) and internal friction angle of the material were measured by means of the confined compression test and the direct shear test respectively. DEM models of the experimental setup were developed and the input parameter values were varied iteratively until a close correlation between the experimental and numerical results was achieved. The calibration process was validated by modelling the pull-out of an anchor from a bed of material. The model results compared well with experimental measurement.

Keywords: Discrete Element Method (DEM), calibration, shear box, anchor pull-out.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2672

Authors: Marjan Mansourvar, Norizan Mohd Yasin

Abstract:

The development of Web has affected different aspects of our lives, such as communication, sharing knowledge, searching for jobs, social activities, etc. The web portal as a gateway in the World Wide Web is a starting point for people who are connecting to the Internet. The web portal as the type of knowledge management system provides a rich space to share and search information as well as communication services like free email or content provision for the users. This research aims to discover the university needs to the web portal as a necessary tool for students in the universities to help them in getting the required information. A survey was conducted to gather students' requirements which can be incorporated in to portal to be developed.

Keywords: Knowledge, Knowledge management system, Knowledge sharing, web portal.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1889

Authors: C. S. Saini

Abstract:

The composite flour blend consisting of corn, pearl millet, black gram and wheat bran in the ratio of 80:5:10:5 was taken to prepare the extruded product and their effect on physical properties of extrudate was studied. The extrusion process was conducted in laboratory by using twin screw extruder. The physical characteristics evaluated include lateral expansion, bulk density, water absorption index, water solubility index, and rehydration ratio and moisture retention. The Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) was used to decide the level of processing variables i.e. feed moisture content (%), screw speed (rpm), and barrel temperature (oC) for the experiment. The data obtained after extrusion process were analyzed by using response surface methodology. A second order polynomial model for the dependent variables was established to fit the experimental data. The numerical optimization studies resulted in 127°C of barrel temperature, 246 rpm of screw speed, and 14.5% of feed moisture as optimum variables to produce acceptable extruded product. The responses predicted by the software for the optimum process condition resulted in lateral expansion 126%, bulk density 0.28 g/cm3, water absorption index 4.10 g/g, water solubility index 39.90%, rehydration ratio 544% and moisture retention 11.90% with 75% desirability.

Keywords: Black gram, corn flour, extrusion, physical characteristics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3311

Authors: Florin Leon, Silvia Curteanu

Abstract:

Developing complete mechanistic models for polymerization reactors is not easy, because complex reactions occur simultaneously; there is a large number of kinetic parameters involved and sometimes the chemical and physical phenomena for mixtures involving polymers are poorly understood. To overcome these difficulties, empirical models based on sampled data can be used instead, namely regression methods typical of machine learning field. They have the ability to learn the trends of a process without any knowledge about its particular physical and chemical laws. Therefore, they are useful for modeling complex processes, such as the free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate achieved in a batch bulk process. The goal is to generate accurate predictions of monomer conversion, numerical average molecular weight and gravimetrical average molecular weight. This process is associated with non-linear gel and glass effects. For this purpose, an adaptive sampling technique is presented, which can select more samples around the regions where the values have a higher variation. Several machine learning methods are used for the modeling and their performance is compared: support vector machines, k-nearest neighbor, k-nearest neighbor and random forest, as well as an original algorithm, large margin nearest neighbor regression. The suggested method provides very good results compared to the other well-known regression algorithms.

Keywords: Adaptive sampling, batch bulk methyl methacrylate polymerization, large margin nearest neighbor regression, machine learning.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1400

Authors: Laurent Letrilliart, Anne-Katty Bacis, François Mennerat, Cyrille Colin

Abstract:

The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC), which belongs to the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC), has a low granularity, which is convenient for describing general medical practice. However, its lack of specificity makes it useful to be used along with an interface terminology. An international survey has been performed, using a questionnaire sent by email to experts from 25 countries, in order to describe the terminologies interfacing with ICPC. Eleven interface terminologies have been identified, developed in Argentina, Australia, Belgium (2), Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, South Africa, and The Netherlands. Globally, these systems have been poorly assessed until now.

Keywords: Terminology, controlled vocabulary, thesaurus, classification, International Classification of Primary Care.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1717

Authors: Azza A. Abou-Arab, Ferial M. Abu-Salem

Abstract:

The influence of microwave drying methods on the nutritional and anti-nutritional composition and physical characteristics of banana peels was investigated. Banana peels were assessed for physical properties such as yield, pH value, bulk density, water holding capacity (WHC) and oil holding capacity (OHC). The results showed that, the yield of banana peels and pH value was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased by microwave drying (11.20% and pH 5.08, respectively) compared with control. Bulk density was increased by microwave drying and recorded 62.03 g/100 ml. The banana peels flour demonstrated that the highest WHC was 8.65 g water/g dry sample and OHC was 6.73 g oil/g dry sample compared to control. The results observed a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in moisture, fiber and total carbohydrates content of banana peels; whereas, the rates of ash, protein and fat content were increased after drying by microwave compared with control. The lignin content of banana peels was significantly increased (P < 0.05) by microwave drying and the recorded value was 8.31% dw. The results also revealed that the ascorbic acid content was significantly decreased by microwave drying and recorded 18.32 mg/100 g dw vis. 23.51 mg/100 g dw for control. With regarding the anti-nutrients, phytates, alkaloids, oxalates and hydrogen cyanides levels in banana peels, it was in the threshold value mentioned as safety restrict. These results demonstrated that the levels of phytates, alkaloids, oxalates and hydrogen cyanides were decreased by microwave drying methods which recorded 4.07%, 5.45%, 0.85% and 32.15%, respectively.

Keywords: Banana peels, microwave drying, physical characteristics, nutritional composition, anti-nutritional composition.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2784

Authors: Mohammed Abaoli, Omer Kara

Abstract:

The current research has investigated the soil quality status under dryland vegetation of Yabello district, Southern Ethiopia in which we should identify the nature and extent of salinity problem of the area for further research bases. About 48 soil samples were taken from 0-30, 31-60, 61-90 and 91-120 cm soil depths by opening 12 representative soil profile pits at 1.5 m depth. Soil color, texture, bulk density, Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), Na, K, Mg, Ca, CaCO₃, gypsum (CaSO₄), pH, Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), Exchangeable Sodium Percentage (ESP) were analyzed. The dominant soil texture was silty-clay-loam.  Bulk density varied from 1.1 to 1.31 g/cm³. High SOC content was observed in 0-30 cm. The soil pH ranged from 7.1 to 8.6. The electrical conductivity shows indirect relationship with soil depth while CaCO₃ and CaSO₄ concentrations were observed in a direct relationship with depth. About 41% are non-saline, 38.31% saline, 15.23% saline-sodic and 5.46% sodic soils. Na concentration in saline soils was greater than Ca and Mg in all the soil depths. Ca and Mg contents were higher above 60 cm soil depth in non-saline soils. The concentrations of SO₂^-4 and HCO^-3 were observed to be higher at the most lower depth than upper. SAR value tends to be higher at lower depths in saline and saline-sodic soils, but decreases at lower depth of the non-saline soils. The distribution of ESP above 60 cm depth was in an increasing order in saline and saline-sodic soils. The result of the research has shown the direction to which extent of salinity we should consider for the Commiphora plant species we want to grow on the area. 

Keywords: Commiphora species, dryland vegetation, ecological significance, soil quality, salinity problem.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 614

Authors: Rohit Kumar Shrivastava, Amalia Thomas, Nathalie Vriend, Stefan Luding

Abstract:

A mechanical wave or vibration propagating through granular media exhibits a specific signature in time. A coherent pulse or wavefront arrives first with multiply scattered waves (coda) arriving later. The coherent pulse is micro-structure independent i.e. it depends only on the bulk properties of the disordered granular sample, the sound wave velocity of the granular sample and hence bulk and shear moduli. The coherent wavefront attenuates (decreases in amplitude) and broadens with distance from its source. The pulse attenuation and broadening effects are affected by disorder (polydispersity; contrast in size of the granules) and have often been attributed to dispersion and scattering. To study the effect of disorder and initial amplitude (non-linearity) of the pulse imparted to the system on the coherent wavefront, numerical simulations have been carried out on one-dimensional sets of particles (granular chains). The interaction force between the particles is given by a Hertzian contact model. The sizes of particles have been selected randomly from a Gaussian distribution, where the standard deviation of this distribution is the relevant parameter that quantifies the effect of disorder on the coherent wavefront. Since, the coherent wavefront is system configuration independent, ensemble averaging has been used for improving the signal quality of the coherent pulse and removing the multiply scattered waves. The results concerning the width of the coherent wavefront have been formulated in terms of scaling laws. An experimental set-up of photoelastic particles constituting a granular chain is proposed to validate the numerical results.

Keywords: Discrete elements, Hertzian Contact, polydispersity, weakly nonlinear, wave propagation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 922

Authors: B. Ghanbarian-Alavijeh, A.M. Liaghat, S. Sohrabi

Abstract:

Saturated hydraulic conductivity is one of the soil hydraulic properties which is widely used in environmental studies especially subsurface ground water. Since, its direct measurement is time consuming and therefore costly, indirect methods such as pedotransfer functions have been developed based on multiple linear regression equations and neural networks model in order to estimate saturated hydraulic conductivity from readily available soil properties e.g. sand, silt, and clay contents, bulk density, and organic matter. The objective of this study was to develop neural networks (NNs) model to estimate saturated hydraulic conductivity from available parameters such as sand and clay contents, bulk density, van Genuchten retention model parameters (i.e. r θ , α , and n) as well as effective porosity. We used two methods to calculate effective porosity: : (1) eff s FC φ =θ -θ , and (2) inf φ =θ -θ eff s , in which s θ is saturated water content, FC θ is water content retained at -33 kPa matric potential, and inf θ is water content at the inflection point. Total of 311 soil samples from the UNSODA database was divided into three groups as 187 for the training, 62 for the validation (to avoid over training), and 62 for the test of NNs model. A commercial neural network toolbox of MATLAB software with a multi-layer perceptron model and back propagation algorithm were used for the training procedure. The statistical parameters such as correlation coefficient (R2), and mean square error (MSE) were also used to evaluate the developed NNs model. The best number of neurons in the middle layer of NNs model for methods (1) and (2) were calculated 44 and 6, respectively. The R2 and MSE values of the test phase were determined for method (1), 0.94 and 0.0016, and for method (2), 0.98 and 0.00065, respectively, which shows that method (2) estimates saturated hydraulic conductivity better than method (1).

Keywords: Neural network, Saturated hydraulic conductivity, Soil physical properties.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2557

Authors: E. Seidi

Abstract:

Offset Double-Disk Opener (DDO) is a popular furrow opener in conservation tillage. It has some limitations such as negative suction to penetrate in the soil, hair pinning and mixing seed and fertilizer in the slot. Because of importance of separation of seed and fertilizer in the slot, by adding two horizontal mini disks to DDO a modified opener was made (MDO) which placed the fertilizer between and under two rows of seed. To consider performance of novel opener an indoor comparison test between DDO and MDO was performed at soil bin. The experiment was conducted with three working speeds (3, 6 and 8 km h-1), two bulk densities of soil (1.1 and 1.4 Mg m-3) and two levels of residues (1 and 2 ton ha-1). The experimental design consisted in a (3×2×2) complete randomized factorial with three replicates for each test. Moisture of seed furrow, separation of seed and fertilizer, hair pinning and resultant forces acting on the openers were used as assessing indexes. There was no significant difference between soil moisture content in slots created by DDO and MDO at 0-4 cm depth, but at 4-8 cm the in the slot created by MDO moisture content was higher about 9%. Horizontal force for both openers increased with increasing speed and soil bulk density. Vertical force for DDO was negative so it needed additional weight for penetrating in the soil, but vertical force for MDO was positive and, which can solve the challenge of penetration in the soil in DDO. In soft soil with heavy residues some trash was pushed by DDO into seed furrow (hair pinning) but at MDO seed were placed at clean groove. Lateral and vertical separation of seed and fertilizer was performed effectively by MDO (4.5 and 5 cm, respectively) while DDO put seed and fertilizer close to each other. Overall, the Modified Offset Double-disks (MDO) had better performance. So by adapting this opener with no-tillage drillers it would possible to have higher yield in conservation tillage where the most appropriate opener is disk type.

Keywords: Seed Slot, opener's geometry, physical properties.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1823

Authors: A. Taqaddas

Abstract:

Purpose: This E-survey was carried out to facilitate the implementation and Education of VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) in Radiotherapy-RT departments and reasons for not using IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy). VMAT Skills in demand were also identified. Method: E-Survey was distributed to NHS hospitals across UK by email. Thirty NHS and related centres in England, 21 in Scotland, 3 in Ireland and 1 in Wales were contacted. This Survey was intended for those working in RT and Medical Physics and who were responsible for Treatment Planning and training. Results: This E-survey have indicated pathways adopted by staff to acquire VMAT skills, strategies to efficiently implement VMAT in RT departments and for obtaining VMAT Education. Conclusion: Despite poor survey response this survey has managed to highlight requirements for education and implementation of VMAT that are also applicable to IMRT. Other RT centres in world can also find these results useful.

Keywords: IMRT, Radiotherapy, Treatment Planning, VMAT.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2477