Search results for: growth need strength
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2747

Search results for: growth need strength

2117 Immunohistochemical Expression of β-catenin and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in Adamantinomatous Craniopharyngioma

Authors: Ghada Esheba, Fatimah Alturkistani, Arwa Obaid, Ahdab Bashehab, Moayad Alturkistani

Abstract:

Introduction: Craniopharyngiomas (CPs) are rare epithelial tumors located mainly in the sellar/parasellar region. CPs have been classified histopathologically, genetically, clinically and prognostically into two distinctive subtypes: adamantinomatous and papillary variants. Aim: To examine the pattern of expression of both the β-catenin and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in surgically resected samples of adamantinomatous CP, and to asses for the possibility of using anti-EGFR in the management of ACP patients. Materials and methods: β-catenin and EGFR immunostaining was performed on paraffin-embedded tissue sections of 18 ACP cases. Result: 17 out of 18 cases (94%) of ACP exhibited strong nuclear/cytoplasmic expression of β-catenin, 15 (83%) of APC cases were positive for EGFR. Conclusion: Nuclear accumulation of β-catenin is a diagnostic hallmark of ACP. EGFR positivity in most cases of ACP could qualify the use of anti-EGFR therapy. 

Keywords: Craniopharyngioma, adamantinomatous, papillary, epidermal growth factor receptor, B-catenin.

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2116 Effects of Molybdenum Treatments on Maize and Sunflower Seedlings

Authors: E. Bodi, Sz. Veres, F. Garousi, Sz. Varallyay, B. Kovacs

Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to examine whether increasing molybdenum (Mo) concentration affects the growth and Mo concentration of maize (Zea mays L. cv Norma SC) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. cv Arena PR) seedlings within laboratory conditions. In this experiment, calcareous chernozem soil was used and Mo was supplemented into the soil as ammonium molybdate [(NH4)6Mo7O24.4H2O] in four different concentrations as follow: 0 (control), 30, 90 and 270 mg·kg-1. In this study, we found that molybdenum in small amount (30 mg·kg-1) affects positively on growth of maize and sunflower seedlings, however, higher concentration of Mo reduces the dry weights of shoots and roots. In the case of maize the highest Mo treatment (270 mg·kg-1) and in sunflower 90 mg·kg-1 treatment caused significant reduction in plant growth. In addition, we observed that molybdenum contents in the roots and shoots were very low in case of control soil but were significantly elevated with increasing concentration of Mo treatment. Only in case of sunflower the highest 270 mg·kg-1 Mo treatment caused decrease in Mo concentration.

Keywords: Dry weight, maize, molybdenum, sunflower.

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2115 Identification of Conserved Domains and Motifs for GRF Gene Family

Authors: Jafar Ahmadi, Nafiseh Noormohammadi, Sedigheh Fabriki Ourang

Abstract:

GRF, Growth regulating factor, genes encode a novel class of plant-specific transcription factors. The GRF proteins play a role in the regulation of cell numbers in young and growing tissues and may act as transcription activations in growth and development of plants. Identification of GRF genes and their expression are important in plants to performance of the growth and development of various organs. In this study, to better understanding the structural and functional differences of GRFs family, 45 GRF proteins sequences in A. thaliana, Z. mays, O. sativa, B. napus, B. rapa, H. vulgare and S. bicolor, have been collected and analyzed through bioinformatics data mining. As a result, in secondary structure of GRFs, the number of alpha helices was more than beta sheets and in all of them QLQ domains were completely in the biggest alpha helix. In all GRFs, QLQ and WRC domains were completely protected except in AtGRF9. These proteins have no trans-membrane domain and due to have nuclear localization signals act in nuclear and they are component of unstable proteins in the test tube.

Keywords: Domain, Gene Family, GRF, Motif.

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2114 Determination of Material Properties for Biodegradable Polylactic Acid Plastic Used in 3D Printers

Authors: Juraj Beniak, Ľubomír Šooš, Peter Križan, Miloš Matúš

Abstract:

Within Rapid Prototyping technologies are used many types of materials. Many of them are recyclable but there are still as plastic like, so practically they do not degrade in the landfill. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the special plastic materials, which are biodegradable and available for 3D printing within Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology. The question is, if the mechanical properties of produced models are comparable to similar technical plastic materials which are usual for prototype production. Presented paper shows the experiments results for tensile strength measurements for specimens prepared with different 3D printer settings and model orientation. Paper contains also the comparison of tensile strength values with values measured on specimens produced by conventional technologies as injection moulding.

Keywords: 3D printing, biodegradable plastic, fused deposition modeling, PLA plastic, rapid prototyping.

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2113 Color Image Enhancement Using Multiscale Retinex and Image Fusion Techniques

Authors: Chang-Hsing Lee, Cheng-Chang Lien, Chin-Chuan Han

Abstract:

In this paper, an edge-strength guided multiscale retinex (EGMSR) approach will be proposed for color image contrast enhancement. In EGMSR, the pixel-dependent weight associated with each pixel in the single scale retinex output image is computed according to the edge strength around this pixel in order to prevent from over-enhancing the noises contained in the smooth dark/bright regions. Further, by fusing together the enhanced results of EGMSR and adaptive multiscale retinex (AMSR), we can get a natural fused image having high contrast and proper tonal rendition. Experimental results on several low-contrast images have shown that our proposed approach can produce natural and appealing enhanced images.

Keywords: Image Enhancement, Multiscale Retinex, Image Fusion.

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2112 Biological Effects of a Carbohydrate-Binding Protein from an Annelid, Perinereis nuntia Against Human and Phytopathogenic Microorganisms

Authors: Sarkar M. A. Kawsar, Sarkar M. A. Mamun, Md S. Rahman, Hidetaro Yasumitsu, Yasuhiro Ozeki

Abstract:

Lectins have a good scope in current clinical microbiology research. In the present study evaluated the antimicrobial activities of a D-galactose binding lectin (PnL) was purified from the annelid, Perinereis nuntia (polychaeta) by affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of the lectin was determined to be 32 kDa as a single polypeptide by SDS-PAGE under both reducing and non-reducing conditions. The hemagglutinating activity of the PnL showed against trypsinized and glutaraldehyde-fixed human erythrocytes was specifically inhibited by D-Gal, GalNAc, Galβ1-4Glc and Galα1-6Glc. PnL was evaluated for in vitro antibacterial screening studies against 11 gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms. From the screening results, it was revealed that PnL exhibited significant antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria. Bacillus megaterium showed the highest growth inhibition by the lectin (250 μg/disc). However, PnL did not inhibit the growth of gram-negative bacteria such as Vibrio cholerae and Pseudomonas sp. PnL was also examined for in vitro antifungal activity against six fungal phytopathogens. PnL (100 μg/mL) inhibited the mycelial growth of Alternaria alternata (24.4%). These results indicate that future findings of lectin applications obtained from annelids may be of importance to life sciences.

Keywords: Perinereis nuntia, Lectin, Inhibition zone, Mycelial growth.

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2111 Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in South Asian Countries: A Co-integrated Panel Analysis

Authors: S. Noor, M. W. Siddiqi

Abstract:

This study examines causal link between energy use and economic growth for five South Asian countries over period 1971-2006. Panel cointegration, ECM and FMOLS are applied for short and long run estimates. In short run unidirectional causality from per capita GDP to per capita energy consumption is found, but not vice versa. In long run one percent increase in per capita energy consumption tend to decrease 0.13 percent per capita GDP. i.e. Energy use discourage economic growth. This short and long run relationship indicate energy shortage crisis in South Asia due to increased energy use coupled with insufficient energy supply. Beside this long run estimated coefficient of error term suggest that short term adjustment to equilibrium are driven by adjustment back to long run equilibrium. Moreover, per capita energy consumption is responsive to adjustment back to equilibrium and it takes 59 years approximately. It specifies long run feedback between both variables.

Keywords: Energy consumption, Income, Panel co-integration, Causality.

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2110 The Effect of Alkaline Treatment on Tensile Strength and Morphological Properties of Kenaf Fibres for Yarn Production

Authors: A. Khalina, K. Shaharuddin, M. S. Wahab, M. P. Saiman, H. A. Aisyah

Abstract:

This paper investigates the effect of alkali treatment and mechanical properties of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) fibre for the development of yarn. Two different fibre sources are used for the yarn production. Kenaf fibres were treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the concentration of 3, 6, 9, and 12% prior to fibre opening process and tested for their tensile strength and Young’s modulus. Then, the selected fibres were introduced to fibre opener at three different opening processing parameters; namely, speed of roller feeder, small drum, and big drum. The diameter size, surface morphology, and fibre durability towards machine of the fibres were characterized. The results show that concentrations of NaOH used have greater effects on fibre mechanical properties. From this study, the tensile and modulus properties of the treated fibres for both types have improved significantly as compared to untreated fibres, especially at the optimum level of 6% NaOH. It is also interesting to highlight that 6% NaOH is the optimum concentration for the alkaline treatment. The untreated and treated fibres at 6% NaOH were then introduced to fibre opener, and it was found that the treated fibre produced higher fibre diameter with better surface morphology compared to the untreated fibre. Higher speed parameter during opening was found to produce higher yield of opened-kenaf fibres.

Keywords: Alkaline treatment, Kenaf fibre, Tensile strength, Yarn production.

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2109 Physical and Mechanical Properties of Particleboard from Bamboo Waste

Authors: Vanchai Laemlaksakul

Abstract:

This research was to evaluate a technical feasibility of making single-layer experimental particleboard panels from bamboo waste (Dendrocalamus asper Backer) by converting bamboo into strips, which are used to make laminated bamboo furniture. Variable factors were density (600, 700 and 800 kg/m3) and temperature of condition (25, 40 and 55 °C). The experimental panels were tested for their physical and mechanical properties including modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bonding strength (IB), screw holding strength (SH) and thickness swelling values according to the procedures defined by Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS). The test result of mechanical properties showed that the MOR, MOE and IB values were not in the set criteria, except the MOR values at the density of 700 kg/m3 at 25 °C and at the density of 800 kg/m3 at 25 and 40 °C, the IB values at the density of 600 kg/m3, at 40 °C, and at the density of 800 kg/m3 at 55 °C. The SH values had the test result according to the set standard, except with the density of 600 kg/m3, at 40 and 55 °C. Conclusively, a valuable renewable biomass, bamboo waste could be used to manufacture boards.

Keywords: Particleboard, Urea Formaldehyde Resin, BambooWaste

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2108 Investigation of Mg and Zr Addition on the Mechanical Properties of Commercially Pure Al

Authors: Samiul Kaiser, M. S. Kaiser

Abstract:

The influence of Mg and Zr addition on mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and impact energy of commercially pure Al are investigated. The microstructure and fracture behavior are also studied by using Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy. It is observed that magnesium addition improves the mechanical properties of commercially pure Al at the expense of ductility due to formation of β (Al3Mg) and β (Al3Mg2) phase into the alloy. Zr addition also plays a positive role through grain refinement effect and the formation of metastable L12 Al3Zr precipitates. In addition, it is observed that the fractured surface of Mg added alloy is brittle and higher numbers of dimples are observed in case of Zr added alloy.

Keywords: Al-alloys, hardness, tensile strength, impact energy, microstructure.

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2107 Early-Age Structural and Thermal Performance of GGBS Concrete

Authors: Kangkang Tang

Abstract:

A large amount of blast furnace slag is generated in China. Most ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) however ends up in low-grade applications. Blast furnace slag, ground to an appropriate fineness, can be used as a partial replacement of cementitious material in concrete. The potential for using GGBS in structural concrete, e.g. concrete beams and columns is investigated at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). With 50% of CEM I cement replaced with GGBS, peak hydration temperatures determined in a suspended concrete slab reduced by 20%. This beneficiary effect has not been further improved with 70% of CEM I replaced with GGBS. Partial replacement of CEM I with GGBS has a retardation effect on the early-age strength of concrete. More GGBS concrete mixes will be conducted to identify an ‘optimum’ replacement level which will lead to a reduced thermal loading, without significantly compromising the early-age strength of concrete.

Keywords: GGBS, thermal effect, sustainable construction, CEM I.

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2106 Mechanical Properties of Powder Metallurgy Processed Biodegradable Zn-Based Alloy for Biomedical Application

Authors: Maruf Yinka Kolawole, Jacob Olayiwola Aweda, Farasat Iqbal, Asif Ali, Sulaiman Abdulkareem

Abstract:

Zinc is a non-ferrous metal with potential application in orthopaedic implant materials. However, its poor mechanical properties were major challenge to its application. Therefore, this paper studies the mechanical properties of biodegradable Zn-based alloy for biomedical application. Pure zinc powder with varying (0, 1, 2, 3 & 6) wt% of magnesium powders were ball milled using ball-to-powder ratio (B:P) of 10:1 at 350 rpm for 4 hours. The resulting milled powders were compacted and sintered at 300 MPa and 350 °C respectively. Microstructural, phase and mechanical properties analyses were performed following American standard of testing and measurement. The results show that magnesium has influence on the mechanical properties of zinc. The compressive strength, hardness and elastic modulus of 210 ± 8.878 MPa, 76 ± 5.707 HV and 45 ± 11.616 GPa respectively as obtained in Zn-2Mg alloy were optimum and meet the minimum requirement of biodegradable metal for orthopaedics application. These results indicate an increase of 111, 93 and 93% in compressive strength, hardness and elastic modulus respectively as compared to pure zinc. The increase in mechanical properties was adduced to effectiveness of compaction pressure and intermetallic phase formation within the matrix resulting in high dislocation density for improving strength. The study concluded that, Zn-2Mg alloy with optimum mechanical properties can therefore be considered a potential candidate for orthopaedic application.

Keywords: Biodegradable metal, biomedical application mechanical properties, powder metallurgy, zinc.

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2105 Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Bond Thickness on the Interface Behaviour of Fibre Reinforced Polymer Sheet Bonded to Timber

Authors: Abbas Vahedian, Rijun Shrestha, Keith Crews

Abstract:

The bond mechanism between timber and fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) is relatively complex and is influenced by a number of variables including bond thickness, bond width, bond length, material properties, and geometries. This study investigates the influence of bond thickness on the behaviour of interface, failure mode, and bond strength of externally bonded FRP-to-timber interface. In the present study, 106 single shear joint specimens have been investigated. Experiment results showed that higher layers of FRP increase the ultimate load carrying capacity of interface; conversely, such increase led to decrease the slip of interface. Moreover, samples with more layers of FRPs may fail in a brittle manner without noticeable warning that collapse is imminent.

Keywords: FRP, single shear test, bond thickness, bond strength.

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2104 Soil Improvement using Cement Dust Mixture

Authors: Mohie Eldin Mohamed Afifiy Elmashad

Abstract:

Day by day technology increases and problems associated with this technology also increase. Several researches were carried out to investigate the deployment of such material safely in geotechnical engineering in particular and civil engineering in general. However, different types of waste material have such as cement duct, fly ash and slag been proven to be suitable in several applications. In this research cement dust mixed with different percentages of sand will be used in some civil engineering application as will be explained later in this paper throughout filed and laboratory test. The used mixer (waste material with sand) prove high performance, durability to environmental condition, low cost and high benefits. At higher cement dust ratio, small cement ratio is valuable for compressive strength and permeability. Also at small cement dust ratio higher cement ratio is valuable for compressive strength.

Keywords: cement dust, cement, soil improvement, permeability

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2103 Influence of Fibre Content on Crack Propagation Rate in Fibre-Reinforced Concrete Beams

Authors: Amir M. Alani, Morteza Aboutalebi, Martin J. King

Abstract:

Experimental study on the influence of fibre content on crack behaviour and propagation in synthetic-fibre reinforced beams has been reported in this paper. The tensile behaviour of metallic fibre concrete is evaluated in terms of residual flexural tensile strength values determined from the load-crack mouth opening displacement curve or load-deflection curve obtained by applying a centre-point load on a simply supported notched prism. The results achieved demonstrate that an increase in fibre content has an almost negligible effect on compressive and tensile splitting properties, causes a marginal increment in flexural tensile strength and increasesthe Re3 value.

Keywords: Fibre-Reinforced Concrete, Crack, Flexural Test, Ductility, Fibre Content, Experimental Study.

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2102 Economics of Oil and Its Stability in the Gulf Region

Authors: Al Mutawa A. Amir, Liaqat Ali, Faisal Ali

Abstract:

After the World War II, the world economy was disrupted and changed due to oil and its prices. The research in this paper presents the basic statistical features and economic characteristics of the Gulf economy. The main features of the Gulf economies and its heavy dependence on oil exports, its dualism between modern and traditional sectors and its rapidly increasing affluences are particularly emphasized.  In this context, the research in this paper discussed the problems of growth versus development and has attempted to draw the implications for the future economic development of this area.

Keywords: Oil prices, Gulf Cooperation Council, economic growth, Gulf oil.

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2101 Human Growth Curve Estimation through a Combination of Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Data

Authors: Sedigheh Mirzaei S., Debasis Sengupta

Abstract:

Parametric models have been quite popular for studying human growth, particularly in relation to biological parameters such as peak size velocity and age at peak size velocity. Longitudinal data are generally considered to be vital for fittinga parametric model to individual-specific data, and for studying the distribution of these biological parameters in a human population. However, cross-sectional data are easier to obtain than longitudinal data. In this paper, we present a method of combining longitudinal and cross-sectional data for the purpose of estimating the distribution of the biological parameters. We demonstrate, through simulations in the special case ofthePreece Baines model, how estimates based on longitudinal data can be improved upon by harnessing the information contained in cross-sectional data.We study the extent of improvement for different mixes of the two types of data, and finally illustrate the use of the method through data collected by the Indian Statistical Institute.

Keywords: Preece-Baines growth model, MCMC method, Mixed effect model

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2100 Studies of Interfacial Microstructure and Mechanical Properties on Dissimilar Sheet Metal Combination Joints Using Laser Beam Welding

Authors: K. Kalaiselvan, A. Elango

Abstract:

Laser beam welding of dissimilar sheet metal combinations such as Ti/Al, SS/Al and Cu/Al are increasingly demanded due to high energy densities with less fusion and heat affected zones. A good weld joint strength involves combinations of dissimilar metals and the formation of solid solution in the weld pool. Many metal pairs suffer from significant intermetallic phase formation during welding which greatly reduces their strength. The three different sheet metal mentioned above is critically reviewed and phase diagram for the combinations are given. The aim of this study is to develop an efficient metal combinations and the influence on their interfacial characteristics. For that the following parameters such as weld geometry, residual distortion, micro hardness, microstructure and mechanical properties are analyzed systematically.

Keywords: Laser Beam Welding (LBW), dissimilar metals, Ti/Al, SS/Al and Cu/Al sheets.

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2099 Tensile and Fracture Properties of Cast and Forged Composite Synthesized by Addition of in-situ Generated Al3Ti-Al2O3 Particles to Magnesium

Authors: H. M. Nanjundaswamy, S. K. Nath, S. Ray

Abstract:

TiO2 particles have been added in molten aluminium to result in aluminium based cast Al/Al3Ti-Al2O3 composite, which has been added then to molten magnesium to synthesize magnesium based cast Mg-Al/Al3Ti-Al2O3 composite. The nominal compositions in terms of Mg, Al, and TiO2 contents in the magnesium based composites are Mg-9Al-0.6TiO2, Mg-9Al-0.8TiO2, Mg-9Al-1.0TiO2 and Mg-9Al-1.2TiO2 designated respectively as MA6T, MA8T, MA10T and MA12T. The microstructure of the cast magnesium based composite shows grayish rods of intermetallics Al3Ti, inherited from aluminium based composite but these rods, on hot forging, breaks into smaller lengths decreasing the average aspect ratio (length to diameter) from 7.5 to 3.0. There are also cavities in between the broken segments of rods. β-phase in cast microstructure, Mg17Al12, dissolves during heating prior to forging and re-precipitates as relatively finer particles on cooling. The amount of β-phase also decreases on forging as segregation is removed. In both the cast and forged composite, the Brinell hardness increases rapidly with increasing addition of TiO2 but the hardness is higher in forged composites by about 80 BHN. With addition of higher level of TiO2 in magnesium based cast composite, yield strength decreases progressively but there is marginal increase in yield strength over that of the cast Mg-9 wt. pct. Al, designated as MA alloy. But the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) in the cast composites decreases with the increasing particle content indicating possibly an early initiation of crack in the brittle inter-dendritic region and their easy propagation through the interfaces of the particles. In forged composites, there is a significant improvement in both yield strength and UTS with increasing TiO2 addition and also, over those observed in their cast counterpart, but at higher addition it decreases. It may also be noted that as in forged MA alloy, incomplete recovery of forging strain increases the strength of the matrix in the composites and the ductility decreases both in the forged alloy and the composites. Initiation fracture toughness, JIC, decreases drastically in cast composites compared to that in MA alloy due to the presence of intermetallic Al3Ti and Al2O3 particles in the composite. There is drastic reduction of JIC on forging both in the alloy and the composites, possibly due to incomplete recovery of forging strain in both as well as breaking of Al3Ti rods and the voids between the broken segments of Al3Ti rods in composites. The ratio of tearing modulus to elastic modulus in cast composites show higher ratio, which increases with the increasing TiO2 addition. The ratio decreases comparatively more on forging of cast MA alloy than those in forged composites.

Keywords: Composite, fracture toughness, forging, tensile properties.

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2098 A Machine Learning-based Analysis of Autism Prevalence Rates across US States against Multiple Potential Explanatory Variables

Authors: Ronit Chakraborty, Sugata Banerji

Abstract:

There has been a marked increase in the reported prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) among children in the US over the past two decades. This research has analyzed the growth in state-level ASD prevalence against 45 different potentially explanatory factors including socio-economic, demographic, healthcare, public policy and political factors. The goal was to understand if these factors have adequate predictive power in modeling the differential growth in ASD prevalence across various states, and, if they do, which factors are the most influential. The key findings of this study include (1) there is a confirmation that the chosen feature set has considerable power in predicting the growth in ASD prevalence, (2) the most influential predictive factors are identified, (3) given the nature of the most influential predictive variables, an indication that a considerable portion of the reported ASD prevalence differentials across states could be attributable to over and under diagnosis, and (4) Florida is identified as a key outlier state pointing to a potential under-diagnosis of ASD.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, clustering, Machine Learning, predictive modeling.

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2097 Combined Hydrothermal Synthesis of Zinc and Magnesium Borates at 100oC Using ZnO, MgO and H3BO3

Authors: N. Tugrul, A. S. Kipcak, N. Baran Acarali, E. Moroydor Derun, S. Piskin

Abstract:

Magnesium borate(MB) istechnical ceramic for high heat-resisting, corrosion-resisting, super mechanical strength, superinsulation, light weight, high strength, and high coefficient of elasticity. Zinc borate (ZB) can be used as multi-functional synergistic additives with flame retardant additives in polymers. The most important properties are low solubility in water and high dehydration temperature. ZB dehydrates above 290°C and anhydrous ZB has thermal resistance about 400°C. In this study, the raw materials of ZnO, MgO and H3BO3 were used with mole ratio of 1:1:9. With the starting materials hydrothermal method was applied at a temperature of 100oC. The reaction time was determined as 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after some preliminary experiments. After the synthesis, the crystal structure and the morphology of the products were examined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). As a result, the forms of Zinc Oxide Borate Hydrate [Zn3B6O12.3.5H2O], Admontite [MgO(B2O3)3.7(H2O)] and Mcallisterite [Mg2(B6O7(OH)6)2.9(H2O)] were synthesized.

Keywords: Magnesium borate, zinc borate, XRD, FT-IR.

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2096 Application of Recycled Tungsten Carbide Powder for Fabrication of Iron Based Powder Metallurgy Alloy

Authors: Yukinori Taniguchi, Kazuyoshi Kurita, Kohei Mizuta, Keigo Nishitani, Ryuichi Fukuda

Abstract:

Tungsten carbide is widely used as a tool material in metal manufacturing process. Since tungsten is typical rare metal, establishment of recycle process of tungsten carbide tools and restore into cemented carbide material bring great impact to metal manufacturing industry. Recently, recycle process of tungsten carbide has been developed and established gradually. However, the demands for quality of cemented carbide tool are quite severe because hardness, toughness, anti-wear ability, heat resistance, fatigue strength and so on should be guaranteed for precision machining and tool life. Currently, it is hard to restore the recycled tungsten carbide powder entirely as raw material for new processed cemented carbide tool. In this study, to suggest positive use of recycled tungsten carbide powder, we have tried to fabricate a carbon based sintered steel which shows reinforced mechanical properties with recycled tungsten carbide powder. We have made set of newly designed sintered steels. Compression test of sintered specimen in density ratio of 0.85 (which means 15% porosity inside) has been conducted. As results, at least 1.7 times higher in nominal strength in the amount of 7.0 wt.% was shown in recycled WC powder. The strength reached to over 600 MPa for the Fe-WC-Co-Cu sintered alloy. Wear test has been conducted by using ball-on-disk type friction tester using 5 mm diameter ball with normal force of 2 N in the dry conditions. Wear amount after 1,000 m running distance shows that about 1.5 times longer life was shown in designed sintered alloy. Since results of tensile test showed that same tendency in previous testing, it is concluded that designed sintered alloy can be used for several mechanical parts with special strength and anti-wear ability in relatively low cost due to recycled tungsten carbide powder.

Keywords: Tungsten carbide, recycle process, compression test, powder metallurgy, anti-wear ability.

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2095 Polyvinyl Alcohol Processed Templated Polyaniline Films: Preparation, Characterization and Assessment of Tensile Strength

Authors: J. Subbalakshmi, G. Dhruvasamhith, S. M. Hussain

Abstract:

Polyaniline (PANI) is one of the most extensively studied material among the conducting polymers due to its simple synthesis by chemical and electrochemical routes. PANIs have advantages of chemical stability and high conductivity making their commercial applications quite attractive. However, to our knowledge, very little work has been reported on the tensile strength properties of templated PANIs processed with polyvinyl alcohol and also, detailed study has not been carried out. We have investigated the effect of small molecule and polymers as templates on PANI. Stable aqueous colloidal suspensions of trisodium citrate (TSC), poly(ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT-PSS), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) templated PANIs were prepared through chemical synthesis, processed with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and were fabricated into films by solution casting. Absorption and infra-red spectra were studied to gain insight into the possible molecular interactions. Surface morphology was studied through scanning electron microscope and optical microscope. Interestingly, tensile testing studies revealed least strain for pure PVA when compared to the blends of templated PANI. Furthermore, among the blends, TSC templated PANI possessed maximum elasticity. The ultimate tensile strength for PVA processed, PEG-templated PANI was found to be five times more than other blends considered in this study. We establish structure–property correlation with morphology, spectral characterization and tensile testing studies.

Keywords: Processed films, polyvinyl alcohol, spectroscopy, surface morphology, templated polyanilines, tensile test.

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2094 Induced Affectivity and Impact on Creativity: Personal Growth and Perceived Adjustment when Narrating an Intense Emotional Experience

Authors: S. Da Costa, D. Páez, F. Sánchez

Abstract:

We examine the causal role of positive affect on creativity, the association of creativity or innovation in the ideation phase with functional emotional regulation, successful adjustment to stress and dispositional emotional creativity, as well as the predictive role of creativity for positive emotions and social adjustment. The study examines the effects of modification of positive affect on creativity. Participants write three poems, narrate an infatuation episode, answer a scale of personal growth after this episode and perform a creativity task, answer a flow scale after creativity task and fill a dispositional emotional creativity scale. High and low positive effect was induced by asking subjects to write three poems about high and low positive connotation stimuli. In a neutral condition, tasks were performed without previous affect induction. Subjects on the condition of high positive affect report more positive and less negative emotions, more personal growth (effect size r = .24) and their last poem was rated as more original by judges (effect size r = .33). Mediational analysis showed that positive emotions explain the influence of the manipulation on personal growth - positive affect correlates r = .33 to personal growth. The emotional creativity scale correlated to creativity scores of the creative task (r = .14), to the creativity of the narration of the infatuation episode (r = .21). Emotional creativity was also associated, during performing the creativity task, with flow (r = .27) and with affect balance (r = .26). The mediational analysis showed that emotional creativity predicts flow through positive affect. Results suggest that innovation in the phase of ideation is associated with a positive affect balance and satisfactory performance, as well as dispositional emotional creativity is adaptive.

Keywords: Affectivity, creativity, induction, innovation, psychological factors.

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2093 Induction Melting as a Fabrication Route for Aluminum-Carbon Nanotubes Nanocomposite

Authors: Muhammad Shahid, Muhammad Mansoor

Abstract:

Increasing demands of contemporary applications for high strength and lightweight materials prompted the development of metal-matrix composites (MMCs). After the discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in 1991 (revealing an excellent set of mechanical properties) became one of the most promising strengthening materials for MMC applications. Additionally, the relatively low density of the nanotubes imparted high specific strengths, making them perfect strengthening material to reinforce MMCs. In the present study, aluminum-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Al-MWCNTs) composite was prepared in an air induction furnace. The dispersion of the nanotubes in molten aluminum was assisted by inherent string action of induction heating at 790°C. During the fabrication process, multifunctional fluxes were used to avoid oxidation of the nanotubes and molten aluminum. Subsequently, the melt was cast in to a copper mold and cold rolled to 0.5 mm thickness. During metallographic examination using a scanning electron microscope, it was observed that the nanotubes were effectively dispersed in the matrix. The mechanical properties of the composite were significantly increased as compared to pure aluminum specimen i.e. the yield strength from 65 to 115 MPa, the tensile strength from 82 to 125 MPa and hardness from 27 to 30 HV for pure aluminum and Al-CNTs composite, respectively. To recognize the associated strengthening mechanisms in the nanocomposites, three foremost strengthening models i.e. shear lag model, Orowan looping and Hall-Petch have been critically analyzed; experimental data were found to be closely satisfying the shear lag model.

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, induction melting, nanocomposite, strengthening mechanism.

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2092 Mechanical Properties of the Palm Fibers Reinforced HDPE Composites

Authors: Daniella R. Mulinari, Araujo J. F. Marina, Gabriella S. Lopes

Abstract:

Natural fibers are used in polymer composites to improve mechanical properties to replace inorganic reinforcing agents produced by non-renewable resources. The present study investigates the tensile and flexural behaviors of palm fibers-high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite as a function of volume fraction. The surface of the fibers was treated by mercerization treatments to improve the wetting behavior of the apolar HDPE. The treatment characterization was obtained by scanning electron microscopy, X-Ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. Results evidences that a good adhesion interfacial between fibers-matrix caused an increase strength and modulus flexural as well as tensile strength in the modified fibers/HDPE composites when compared to the pure HDPE and untreated fibers reinforced composites.

Keywords: Mechanical properties, palm fibers, polymer composites, surface treatment.

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2091 Artificial Neural Network Application on Ti/Al Joint Using Laser Beam Welding – A Review

Authors: K. Kalaiselvan, A. Elango, N. M. Nagarajan

Abstract:

Today automobile and aerospace industries realise Laser Beam Welding for a clean and non contact source of heating and fusion for joining of sheets. The welding performance is mainly based on by the laser welding parameters. Some concepts related to Artificial Neural Networks and how can be applied to model weld bead geometry and mechanical properties in terms of equipment parameters are reported in order to evaluate the accuracy and compare it with traditional modeling schemes. This review reveals the output features of Titanium and Aluminium weld bead geometry and mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and reduction of the area of the weld using Artificial Neural Network.

Keywords: Laser Beam Welding (LBW), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Optimization, Titanium and Aluminium sheets.

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2090 Web Traffic Mining using Neural Networks

Authors: Farhad F. Yusifov

Abstract:

With the explosive growth of data available on the Internet, personalization of this information space become a necessity. At present time with the rapid increasing popularity of the WWW, Websites are playing a crucial role to convey knowledge and information to the end users. Discovering hidden and meaningful information about Web users usage patterns is critical to determine effective marketing strategies to optimize the Web server usage for accommodating future growth. The task of mining useful information becomes more challenging when the Web traffic volume is enormous and keeps on growing. In this paper, we propose a intelligent model to discover and analyze useful knowledge from the available Web log data.

Keywords: Clustering, Self organizing map, Web log files, Web traffic.

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2089 Microscopic Analysis of Interfacial Transition Zone of Cementitious Composites Prepared by Various Mixing Procedures

Authors: Josef Fládr, Jiří Němeček, Veronika Koudelková, Petr Bílý

Abstract:

Mechanical parameters of cementitious composites differ quite significantly based on the composition of cement matrix. They are also influenced by mixing times and procedure. The research presented in this paper was aimed at identification of differences in microstructure of normal strength (NSC) and differently mixed high strength (HSC) cementitious composites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation together with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) phase analysis of NSC and HSC samples was conducted. Evaluation of interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between the aggregate and cement matrix was performed. Volume share, thickness, porosity and composition of ITZ were studied. In case of HSC, samples obtained by several different mixing procedures were compared in order to find the most suitable procedure. In case of NSC, ITZ was identified around 40-50% of aggregate grains and its thickness typically ranged between 10 and 40 µm. Higher porosity and lower share of clinker was observed in this area as a result of increased water-to-cement ratio (w/c) and the lack of fine particles improving the grading curve of the aggregate. Typical ITZ with lower content of Ca was observed only in one HSC sample, where it was developed around less than 15% of aggregate grains. The typical thickness of ITZ in this sample was similar to ITZ in NSC (between 5 and 40 µm). In the remaining four HSC samples, no ITZ was observed. In general, the share of ITZ in HSC samples was found to be significantly smaller than in NSC samples. As ITZ is the weakest part of the material, this result explains to large extent the improved mechanical properties of HSC compared to NSC. Based on the comparison of characteristics of ITZ in HSC samples prepared by different mixing procedures, the most suitable mixing procedure from the point of view of properties of ITZ was identified.

Keywords: Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high strength concrete, interfacial transition zone, mixing procedure, normal strength concrete, scanning electron microscopy.

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2088 Experimental Evaluation of 10 Ecotypes of Toxic and Non-Toxic Jatropha curcas as Raw Material to Produce Biodiesel in Morelos State, Mexico

Authors: Guadalupe Pérez, Jorge Islas, Mirna Guevara, Raúl Suárez

Abstract:

Jatropha curcas is a perennial oleaginous plant that is currently considered an energy crop with high potential as an environmentally sustainable biofuel. During the last decades, research in biofuels has grown in tropical and subtropical regions in Latin America. However, as far we know, there are no reports on the growth and yield patterns of Jatropha curcas under the specific agro climatic scenarios of the State of Morelos, Mexico. This study presents the results of 52 months monitoring of 10 toxic and non-toxic ecotypes of Jatropha curcas (E1M, E2M, E3M, E4M, E5M, E6O, E7O, E8O, E9C, E10C) in an experimental plantation with minimum watering and fertilization resources. The main objective is to identify the ecotypes with the highest potential as biodiesel raw material in the select region, by developing experimental information. Specifically, we monitored biophysical and growth parameters, including plant survival and seed production (at the end of month 52), to study the performance of each ecotype and to establish differences among the variables of morphological growth, net seed oil content, and toxicity. To analyze the morphological growth, a statistical approach to the biophysical parameters was used; the net seed oil content -80 to 192 kg/ha- was estimated with the first harvest; and the toxicity was evaluated by examining the phorbol ester concentration (µg/L) in the oil extracted from the seeds. The comparison and selection of ecotypes was performed through a methodology developed based on the normalization of results. We identified four outstanding ecotypes (E1M, E2M, E3M, and E4M) that can be used to establish Jatropha curcas as energy crops in the state of Morelos for feasible agro-industrial production of biodiesel and other products related to the use of biomass.

Keywords: Biodiesel production, Jatropha curcas, morphologic growth, toxic and non-toxic ecotypes, seed oil content.

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