Search results for: Frequency Selective Surface
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3853

Search results for: Frequency Selective Surface

2353 Technique for Processing and Preservation of Human Amniotic Membrane for Ocular Surface Reconstruction

Authors: Irfan Z. Qureshi, Fareeha A., Wajid A. Khan

Abstract:

Human amniotic membrane (HAM) is a useful biological material for the reconstruction of damaged ocular surface. The processing and preservation of HAM is critical to prevent the patients undergoing amniotic membrane transplant (AMT) from cross infections. For HAM preparation human placenta is obtained after an elective cesarean delivery. Before collection, the donor is screened for seronegativity of HCV, Hbs Ag, HIV and Syphilis. After collection, placenta is washed in balanced salt solution (BSS) in sterile environment. Amniotic membrane is then separated from the placenta as well as chorion while keeping the preparation in BSS. Scrapping of HAM is then carried out manually until all the debris is removed and clear transparent membrane is acquired. Nitrocellulose membrane filters are then placed on the stromal side of HAM, cut around the edges with little membrane folded towards other side making it easy to separate during surgery. HAM is finally stored in solution of glycerine and Dulbecco-s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) in 1:1 ratio containing antibiotics. The capped borosil vials containing HAM are kept at -80°C until use. This vial is thawed to room temperature and opened under sterile operation theatre conditions at the time of surgery.

Keywords: HAM, AMT, ocular transplant

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2352 Probabilistic Wavelet Neural Network Based Vibration Analysis of Induction Motor Drive

Authors: K. Jayakumar, S. Thangavel

Abstract:

In this paper proposed the effective fault detection of industrial drives by using Biorthogonal Posterior Vibration Signal-Data Probabilistic Wavelet Neural Network (BPPVS-WNN) system. This system was focused to reducing the current flow and to identify faults with lesser execution time with harmonic values obtained through fifth derivative. Initially, the construction of Biorthogonal vibration signal-data based wavelet transform in BPPVS-WNN system localizes the time and frequency domain. The Biorthogonal wavelet approximates the broken bearing using double scaling and factor, identifies the transient disturbance due to fault on induction motor through approximate coefficients and detailed coefficient. Posterior Probabilistic Neural Network detects the final level of faults using the detailed coefficient till fifth derivative and the results obtained through it at a faster rate at constant frequency signal on the industrial drive. Experiment through the Simulink tool detects the healthy and unhealthy motor on measuring parametric factors such as fault detection rate based on time, current flow rate, and execution time.

Keywords: Biorthogonal Wavelet Transform, Posterior Probabilistic Neural Network, Induction Motor.

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2351 Bacteria Flora in the Gut and Respiratory Organs of Clarias gariepinus in Fresh and Brackish Water Habitats of Ondo State, South/West Nigeria

Authors: Nelson R. Osungbemiro, Rafiu O. Sanni, Rotimi F. Olaniyan, Abayomi O. Olajuyigbe

Abstract:

Bacteria flora of Clarias gariepinus collected from two natural habitats namely Owena River (freshwater) and Igbokoda lagoon (brackish water) were examined using standard microbiological procedures. Thirteen bacterial species were identified. The result indicated that from the identified bacteria isolated, Vibrio sp, Proteus sp. Shigella sp. and E. coli were present in both habitats (fresh and brackish waters). Others were habitat-selective such as Salmonella sp., Pseudomonas sp, Enterococcus sp, Staphylococcus sp. that were found only in freshwater habitat. While Branhamella sp, Streptococcus sp. and Micrococcus sp. were found in brackish water habitat. Bacteria load from Owena river (freshwater) was found to be the highest load recorded at 6.21 x 104cfu. T-test analysis also revealed that there was a marked significant difference between bacterial load in guts of sampled Clarias from fresh water and brackish water habitats.

Keywords: Bacteria flora, gut, Clarias gariepinus, Owena river

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2350 Urban Heat Island Intensity Assessment through Comparative Study on Land Surface Temperature and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index: A Case Study of Chittagong, Bangladesh

Authors: Tausif A. Ishtiaque, Zarrin T. Tasin, Kazi S. Akter

Abstract:

Current trend of urban expansion, especially in the developing countries has caused significant changes in land cover, which is generating great concern due to its widespread environmental degradation. Energy consumption of the cities is also increasing with the aggravated heat island effect. Distribution of land surface temperature (LST) is one of the most significant climatic parameters affected by urban land cover change. Recent increasing trend of LST is causing elevated temperature profile of the built up area with less vegetative cover. Gradual change in land cover, especially decrease in vegetative cover is enhancing the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect in the developing cities around the world. Increase in the amount of urban vegetation cover can be a useful solution for the reduction of UHI intensity. LST and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) have widely been accepted as reliable indicators of UHI and vegetation abundance respectively. Chittagong, the second largest city of Bangladesh, has been a growth center due to rapid urbanization over the last several decades. This study assesses the intensity of UHI in Chittagong city by analyzing the relationship between LST and NDVI based on the type of land use/land cover (LULC) in the study area applying an integrated approach of Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing (RS), and regression analysis. Land cover map is prepared through an interactive supervised classification using remotely sensed data from Landsat ETM+ image along with NDVI differencing using ArcGIS. LST and NDVI values are extracted from the same image. The regression analysis between LST and NDVI indicates that within the study area, UHI is directly correlated with LST while negatively correlated with NDVI. It interprets that surface temperature reduces with increase in vegetation cover along with reduction in UHI intensity. Moreover, there are noticeable differences in the relationship between LST and NDVI based on the type of LULC. In other words, depending on the type of land usage, increase in vegetation cover has a varying impact on the UHI intensity. This analysis will contribute to the formulation of sustainable urban land use planning decisions as well as suggesting suitable actions for mitigation of UHI intensity within the study area.

Keywords: Land cover change, land surface temperature, normalized difference vegetation index, urban heat island.

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2349 Application of Remote Sensing in Development of Green Space

Authors: Mehdi Saati, Mohammad Bagheri, Fatemeh Zamanian

Abstract:

One of the most important parameters to develop and manage urban areas is appropriate selection of land surface to develop green spaces in these areas. In this study, in order to identify the most appropriate sites and areas cultivated for ornamental species in Jiroft, Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images due to extract the most important effective climatic and adaphic parameters for growth ornamental species were used. After geometric and atmospheric corrections applied, to enhance accuracy of multi spectral (XS) bands, the fusion of Landsat XS bands by IRS-1D panchromatic band (PAN) was performed. After field sampling to evaluate the correlation between different factors in surface soil sampling location and different bands digital number (DN) of ETM+ sensor on the same points, correlation tables formed using the best computational model and the map of physical and chemical parameters of soil was produced. Then the accuracy of them was investigated by using kappa coefficient. Finally, according to produced maps, the best areas for cultivation of recommended species were introduced.

Keywords: Locate ornamental species, Remote Sensing, Adaphic parameters, ETM+, Jiroft

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2348 Hydrolysis of Hull-Less Pumpkin Oil Cake Protein Isolate by Pepsin

Authors: Ivan Živanović, Žužana Vaštag, Senka Popović, Ljiljana Popović, Draginja Peričin

Abstract:

The present work represents an investigation of the hydrolysis of hull-less pumpkin (Cucurbita Pepo L.) oil cake protein isolate (PuOC PI) by pepsin. To examine the effectiveness and suitability of pepsin towards PuOC PI the kinetic parameters for pepsin on PuOC PI were determined and then, the hydrolysis process was studied using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The hydrolysis was carried out at temperature of 30°C and pH 3.00. Time and initial enzyme/substrate ratio (E/S) at three levels were selected as the independent parameters. The degree of hydrolysis, DH, was mesuared after 20, 30 and 40 minutes, at initial E/S of 0.7, 1 and 1.3 mA/mg proteins. Since the proposed second-order polynomial model showed good fit with the experimental data (R2 = 0.9822), the obtained mathematical model could be used for monitoring the hydrolysis of PuOC PI by pepsin, under studied experimental conditions, varying the time and initial E/S. To achieve the highest value of DH (39.13 %), the obtained optimum conditions for time and initial E/S were 30 min and 1.024 mA/mg proteins.

Keywords: Enzymatic hydrolysis, Pepsin, Pumpkin (CucurbitaPepo L.) oil cake protein isolate, Response surface methodology.

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2347 Characterization, Classification and Agricultural Potentials of Soils on a Toposequence in Southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria

Authors: B. A. Lawal, A. G. Ojanuga, P. A. Tsado, A. Mohammed

Abstract:

This work assessed some properties of three pedons on a toposequence in Ijah-Gbagyi district in Niger State, Nigeria. The pedons were designated as JG1, JG2 and JG3 representing the upper, middle and lower slopes respectively. The surface soil was characterized by dark yellowish brown (10YR3/4) color at the JG1 and JG2 and very dark grayish brown (10YR3/2) color at JG3. Sand dominated the mineral fraction and its content in the surface horizon decreased down the slope, whereas silt content increased down the slope due to sorting by geological and pedogenic processes. Although organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN) and available phosphorus (P) were rated high, TN and available P decreased down the slope. High cation exchange capacity (CEC) was an indication that the soils have high potential for plant nutrients retention. The pedons were classified as Typic Haplustepts/ Haplic Cambisols (Eutric), Plinthic Petraquepts/ Petric Plinthosols (Abruptic) and Typic Endoaquepts/ Endogleyic Cambisols (Endoclayic).

Keywords: Ecological region, landscape positions, soil characterization, soil classification.

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2346 Distribution and Source of PAHs in Surface Sediments of Canon River Mouth, Taiwan

Authors: Chiu-Wen Chen, Chih-Feng Chen, Cheng-Di Dong

Abstract:

Surface sediment samples were collected from the Canon River mouth, Taiwan and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Total PAHs concentrations varied from 337 to 1,252 ng/g dry weight, with a mean concentration of 827 ng/g dry weight. The spatial distribution of PAHs reveals that the PAHs concentration is relatively high in the river mouth region, and gradually diminishes toward the harbor region. Diagnostic ratios showed that the possible source of PAHs in the Canon River mouth could be petroleum combustion. The toxic equivalent concentrations (TEQcarc) of PAHs varied from 47 to 112 ng TEQ/g dry weight. Higher total TEQcarc values were found in the river mouth region. As compared with the US Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs), the observed levels of PAHs at Canon River mouth were lower than the effects range low (ERL), and would probably not exert adverse biological effects.

Keywords: PAHs, sediment, river mouth, sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), toxic equivalent (TEQcarc)

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2345 Screening of Minimal Salt Media for Biosurfactant Production by Bacillus spp.

Authors: Y. M. Al-Wahaibi, S. N. Al-Bahry, A. E. Elshafie, A. S. Al-Bemani, S. J. Joshi, A. K. Al-Bahri

Abstract:

Crude oil is a major source of global energy. The major problem is its widespread use and demand resulted is in increasing environmental pollution. One associated pollution problem is ‘oil spills’. Oil spills can be remediated with the use of chemical dispersants, microbial biodegradation and microbial metabolites such as biosurfactants. Four different minimal salt media for biosurfactant production by Bacillus isolated from oil contaminated sites from Oman were screened. These minimal salt media were supplemented with either glucose or sucrose as a carbon source. Among the isolates, W16 and B30 produced the most active biosurfactants. Isolate W16 produced better biosurfactant than the rest, and reduced surface tension (ST) and interfacial tension (IFT) to 25.26mN/m and 2.29mN/m respectively within 48h which are characteristics for removal of oil in contaminated sites. Biosurfactant was produced in bulk and extracted using acid precipitation method. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) of acid precipitate biosurfactant revealed two concentrated bands. Further studies of W16 biosurfactant in bioremediation of oil spills are recommended.

Keywords: Oil contamination, remediation, Bacillus spp, biosurfactant, surface tension, interfacial tension.

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2344 Histogenesis of Rabbit Vallate Papillae

Authors: Elnasharty M., El Sharaby A., Nor El-din A.

Abstract:

The gustatory system allows animals to distinguish varieties of food and affects greatly the consumption of food, hence the health and growth of animals. In the current study, we investigated the histogenesis of vallate papillae (VLP) in the rabbit tongue using light and scanning electron microscopy. Samples were obtained from rabbit embryos at the embryonic days 16-30 (E16-30), and from newborns until maturity; 6 months. At E16, the first primordia of vallate papillae were observed as small pits on the surface epithelium of the tongue-s root. At E18, the caudal part was prominent with loose mesenchymal tissue core; meanwhile the rostral part of the papilla was remained as a thick mass of epithelial cells. At E20-24, the side epithelium formed the primitive annular groove. At E26, the primitive taste buds appeared only at the papillary surface and reached their maturity by E28. The annular groove started to appear at E26 became more defined at E28. The definitive vallate papillae with substantial number of apparently mature taste buds were observed by the end of the second week. We conclude that the vallate papillae develop early and mature during the early postnatal life.

Keywords: Rabbit, vallate papillae, histogenesis, taste buds.

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2343 A Performance Appraisal of Neural Networks Developed for Response Prediction across Heterogeneous Domains

Authors: H. Soleimanjahi, M. J. Nategh, S. Falahi

Abstract:

Deciding the numerous parameters involved in designing a competent artificial neural network is a complicated task. The existence of several options for selecting an appropriate architecture for neural network adds to this complexity, especially when different applications of heterogeneous natures are concerned. Two completely different applications in engineering and medical science were selected in the present study including prediction of workpiece's surface roughness in ultrasonic-vibration assisted turning and papilloma viruses oncogenicity. Several neural network architectures with different parameters were developed for each application and the results were compared. It was illustrated in this paper that some applications such as the first one mentioned above are apt to be modeled by a single network with sufficient accuracy, whereas others such as the second application can be best modeled by different expert networks for different ranges of output. Development of knowledge about the essentials of neural networks for different applications is regarded as the cornerstone of multidisciplinary network design programs to be developed as a means of reducing inconsistencies and the burden of the user intervention.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Network, Malignancy Diagnosis, Papilloma Viruses Oncogenicity, Surface Roughness, UltrasonicVibration-Assisted Turning.

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2342 SEM Image Classification Using CNN Architectures

Authors: G. Türkmen, Ö. Tekin, K. Kurtuluş, Y. Y. Yurtseven, M. Baran

Abstract:

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope mainly used in nanoscience and nanotechnology areas. Automatic image recognition and classification are among the general areas of application concerning SEM. In line with these usages, the present paper proposes a deep learning algorithm that classifies SEM images into nine categories by means of an online application to simplify the process. The NFFA-EUROPE - 100% SEM data set, containing approximately 21,000 images, was used to train and test the algorithm at 80% and 20%, respectively. Validation was carried out using a separate data set obtained from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. To increase the accuracy in the results, the Inception ResNet-V2 model was used in view of the Fine-Tuning approach. By using a confusion matrix, it was observed that the coated-surface category has a negative effect on the accuracy of the results since it contains other categories in the data set, thereby confusing the model when detecting category-specific patterns. For this reason, the coated-surface category was removed from the train data set, hence increasing accuracy by up to 96.5%.

Keywords: Convolutional Neural Networks, deep learning, image classification, scanning electron microscope.

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2341 Rheological and Thermomechanical Properties of Graphene/ABS/PP Nanocomposites

Authors: Marianna I. Triantou, Konstantina I. Stathi, Petroula A. Tarantili

Abstract:

In the present study, the incorporation of graphene into blends of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer with polypropylene (ABS/PP) was investigated focusing on the improvement of their thermomechanical characteristics and the effect on their rheological behavior. The blends were prepared by melt mixing in a twin-screw extruder and were characterized by measuring the MFI as well as by performing DSC, TGA and mechanical tests. The addition of graphene to ABS/PP blends tends to increase their melt viscosity, due to the confinement of polymer chains motion. Also, graphene causes an increment of the crystallization temperature (Tc), especially in blends with higher PP content, because of the reduction of surface energy of PP nucleation, which is a consequence of the attachment of PP chains to the surface of graphene through the intermolecular CH-π interaction. Moreover, the above nanofiller improves the thermal stability of PP and increases the residue of thermal degradation at all the investigated compositions of blends, due to the thermal isolation effect and the mass transport barrier effect. Regarding the mechanical properties, the addition of graphene improves the elastic modulus, because of its intrinsic mechanical characteristics and its rigidity, and this effect is particularly strong in the case of pure PP.

Keywords: Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer, blends, graphene, polypropylene.

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2340 Adsorption of Lead(II) and Cadmium(II) Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Adsorption on Activated Carbon Prepared from Cashew Nut Shells

Authors: S. Tangjuank, N. Insuk , J. Tontrakoon , V. Udeye

Abstract:

Cashew nut shells were converted into activated carbon powders using KOH activation plus CO2 gasification at 1027 K. The increase both of impregnation ratio and activation time, there was swiftly the development of mesoporous structure with increasing of mesopore volume ratio from 20-28% and 27-45% for activated carbon with ratio of KOH per char equal to 1 and 4, respectively. Activated carbon derived from KOH/char ratio equal to 1 and CO2 gasification time from 20 to 150 minutes were exhibited the BET surface area increasing from 222 to 627 m2.g-1. And those were derived from KOH/char ratio of 4 with activation time from 20 to 150 minutes exhibited high BET surface area from 682 to 1026 m2.g-1. The adsorption of Lead(II) and Cadmium(II) ion was investigated. This adsorbent exhibited excellent adsorption for Lead(II) and Cadmium(II) ion. Maximum adsorption presented at 99.61% at pH 6.5 and 98.87% at optimum conditions. The experimental data was calculated from Freundlich isotherm and Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum capacity of Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions was found to be 28.90 m2.g-1 and 14.29 m2.g-1, respectively.

Keywords: Activated carbon, cashew nut shell, heavy metals, adsorption.

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2339 Enzymatic Synthesis of Olive-Based Ferulate Esters: Optimization by Response Surface Methodology

Authors: S. Mat Radzi, N. J. Abd Rahman, H. Mohd Noor, N. Ariffin

Abstract:

Ferulic acid has widespread industrial potential by virtue of its antioxidant properties. However, it is partially soluble in aqueous media, limiting their usefulness in oil-based processes in food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and material industry. Therefore, modification of ferulic acid should be made by producing of more lipophilic derivatives. In this study, a preliminary investigation of lipase-catalyzed trans-esterification reaction of ethyl ferulate and olive oil was investigated. The reaction was catalyzed by immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica (Novozym 435), to produce ferulate ester, a sunscreen agent. A statistical approach of Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to evaluate the interactive effects of reaction temperature (40-80°C), reaction time (4-12 hours), and amount of enzyme (0.1-0.5 g). The optimum conditions derived via RSM were reaction temperature 60°C, reaction time 2.34 hours, and amount of enzyme 0.3 g. The actual experimental yield was 59.6% ferulate ester under optimum condition, which compared well to the maximum predicted value of 58.0%.

Keywords: Ferulic acid, Enzymatic Synthesis, Esters, RSM.

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2338 Effect of Irrigation Methods on Water Use Efficiency Applied to Citrus Crop in the Souss Region (Morocco) in the Context of Climate Change

Authors: H. Elomari, M. Fallah, A. Elmousadik

Abstract:

This work was conducted in the Souss region, known by severe water scarcity and a high agricultural activity dominated by the citrus (representing 40% of the area of Morocco's citrus). The objective of this work is to diagnose the current situation of the water efficiency in citrus irrigation and analyze the impact of various production factors on water productivity and its sustainability in the context of climate change. A field survey was conducted on 65 farms with areas varying from 0.5 to 350 ha. The stratification method was adopted as a sampling frame. Initial result indicates that the use of water shows a huge shortfall, since 31% of farms in the region are still using the surface irrigation system and 67% of farms are still using only the experience of the manager to control and adjust irrigation. The assessment of water productivity showed a value of 1.2 kg/m3 for surface irrigation and 3.8 kg/m3 for drip irrigation. The use of tools for control and adjustment of irrigation increases the water productivity of drip irrigation by 25%. The availability of the technical staff (internal or external) allows an increase in productivity of 172.4% compared to farms without technical advice.

Keywords: Citrus, irrigation efficiency, water productivity, drip irrigation.

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2337 Rotary Machine Sealing Oscillation Frequencies and Phase Shift Analysis

Authors: Liliia N. Butymova, Vladimir Ya Modorskii

Abstract:

To ensure the gas transmittal GCU's efficient operation, leakages through the labyrinth packings (LP) should be minimized. Leakages can be minimized by decreasing the LP gap, which in turn depends on thermal processes and possible rotor vibrations and is designed to ensure absence of mechanical contact. Vibration mitigation allows to minimize the LP gap. It is advantageous to research influence of processes in the dynamic gas-structure system on LP vibrations. This paper considers influence of rotor vibrations on LP gas dynamics and influence of the latter on the rotor structure within the FSI unidirectional dynamical coupled problem. Dependences of nonstationary parameters of gas-dynamic process in LP on rotor vibrations under various gas speeds and pressures, shaft rotation speeds and vibration amplitudes, and working medium features were studied. The programmed multi-processor ANSYS CFX was chosen as a numerical computation tool. The problem was solved using PNRPU high-capacity computer complex. Deformed shaft vibrations are replaced with an unyielding profile that moves in the fixed annulus "up-and-down" according to set harmonic rule. This solves a nonstationary gas-dynamic problem and determines time dependence of total gas-dynamic force value influencing the shaft. Pressure increase from 0.1 to 10 MPa causes growth of gas-dynamic force oscillation amplitude and frequency. The phase shift angle between gas-dynamic force oscillations and those of shaft displacement decreases from 3π/4 to π/2. Damping constant has maximum value under 1 MPa pressure in the gap. Increase of shaft oscillation frequency from 50 to 150 Hz under P=10 MPa causes growth of gas-dynamic force oscillation amplitude. Damping constant has maximum value at 50 Hz equaling 1.012. Increase of shaft vibration amplitude from 20 to 80 µm under P=10 MPa causes the rise of gas-dynamic force amplitude up to 20 times. Damping constant increases from 0.092 to 0.251. Calculations for various working substances (methane, perfect gas, air at 25 ˚С) prove the minimum gas-dynamic force persistent oscillating amplitude under P=0.1 MPa being observed in methane, and maximum in the air. Frequency remains almost unchanged and the phase shift in the air changes from 3π/4 to π/2. Calculations for various working substances (methane, perfect gas, air at 25 ˚С) prove the maximum gas-dynamic force oscillating amplitude under P=10 MPa being observed in methane, and minimum in the air. Air demonstrates surging. Increase of leakage speed from 0 to 20 m/s through LP under P=0.1 MPa causes the gas-dynamic force oscillating amplitude to decrease by 3 orders and oscillation frequency and the phase shift to increase 2 times and stabilize. Increase of leakage speed from 0 to 20 m/s in LP under P=1 MPa causes gas-dynamic force oscillating amplitude to decrease by almost 4 orders. The phase shift angle increases from π/72 to π/2. Oscillations become persistent. Flow rate proved to influence greatly on pressure oscillations amplitude and a phase shift angle. Work medium influence depends on operation conditions. At pressure growth, vibrations are mostly affected in methane (of working substances list considered), and at pressure decrease, in the air at 25 ˚С.

Keywords: Aeroelasticity, labyrinth packings, oscillation phase shift, vibration.

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2336 Improving Quality of Business Networks for Information Systems

Authors: Hazem M. El-Bakry, Ahmed Atwan

Abstract:

Computer networks are essential part in computerbased information systems. The performance of these networks has a great influence on the whole information system. Measuring the usability criteria and customers satisfaction on small computer network is very important. In this article, an effective approach for measuring the usability of business network in an information system is introduced. The usability process for networking provides us with a flexible and a cost-effective way to assess the usability of a network and its products. In addition, the proposed approach can be used to certify network product usability late in the development cycle. Furthermore, it can be used to help in developing usable interfaces very early in the cycle and to give a way to measure, track, and improve usability. Moreover, a new approach for fast information processing over computer networks is presented. The entire data are collected together in a long vector and then tested as a one input pattern. Proposed fast time delay neural networks (FTDNNs) use cross correlation in the frequency domain between the tested data and the input weights of neural networks. It is proved mathematically and practically that the number of computation steps required for the presented time delay neural networks is less than that needed by conventional time delay neural networks (CTDNNs). Simulation results using MATLAB confirm the theoretical computations.

Keywords: Usability Criteria, Computer Networks, Fast Information Processing, Cross Correlation, Frequency Domain.

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2335 An Investigation on Material Removal Rate of EDM Process: A Response Surface Methodology Approach

Authors: Azhar Equbal, Anoop Kumar Sood, M. Asif Equbal, M. Israr Equbal

Abstract:

In the present work response surface methodology (RSM) based central composite design (CCD) is used for analyzing the electrical discharge machining (EDM) process. For experimentation, mild steel is selected as work piece and copper is used as electrode. Three machining parameters namely current (I), spark on time (Ton) and spark off time (Toff) are selected as the input variables. The output or response chosen is material removal rate (MRR) which is to be maximized. To reduce the number of runs face centered central composite design (FCCCD) was used. ANOVA was used to determine the significance of parameter and interactions. The suitability of model is tested using Anderson darling (AD) plot. The results conclude that different parameters considered i.e. current, pulse on and pulse off time; all have dominant effect on the MRR. At last, the optimized parameter setting for maximizing MRR is found through main effect plot analysis.

Keywords: Electrical discharge machining, electrode, MRR, RSM, ANOVA.

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2334 Numerical Simulation of the Liquid-Vapor Interface Evolution with Material Properties

Authors: Kimou Kouadio Prosper, Souleymane Oumtanaga, Tety Pierre, Adou Kablan Jérôme

Abstract:

A satured liquid is warmed until boiling in a parallelepipedic boiler. The heat is supplied in a liquid through the horizontal bottom of the boiler, the other walls being adiabatic. During the process of boiling, the liquid evaporates through its free surface by deforming it. This surface which subdivides the boiler into two regions occupied on both sides by the boiled liquid (broth) and its vapor which surmounts it. The broth occupying the region and its vapor the superior region. A two- fluids model is used to describe the dynamics of the broth, its vapor and their interface. In this model, the broth is treated as a monophasic fluid (homogeneous model) and form with its vapor adiphasic pseudo fluid (two-fluid model). Furthermore, the interface is treated as a zone of mixture characterized by superficial void fraction noted α* . The aim of this article is to describe the dynamics of the interface between the boiled fluid and its vapor within a boiler. The resolution of the problem allowed us to show the evolution of the broth and the level of the liquid.

Keywords: Two-fluid models, homogeneous model, interface, averaged equations, Jumps conditions, void fraction.

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2333 Producing Outdoor Design Conditions Based on the Dependency between Meteorological Elements: Copula Approach

Authors: Zhichao Jiao, Craig Farnham, Jihui Yuan, Kazuo Emura

Abstract:

It is common to use the outdoor design weather data to select the air-conditioning capacity in the building design stage. The meteorological elements of outdoor design weather data are usually selected based on their excess frequency separately while the dependency between the elements is not well considered. It means that the simultaneous occurrence probability of these elements is smaller than the original excess frequency which may cause an overestimation of selecting air-conditioning capacity. Therefore, the copula approach which can capture the dependency between multivariate data was used to model the joint distributions of the meteorological elements, like air temperature and global solar radiation. We suggest a method based on the specific simultaneous occurrence probability of these two elements of selecting more credible outdoor design conditions. The hourly weather data at 12 noon from 2001 to 2010 in Tokyo, Japan are used to analyze the dependency structure and joint distribution, the Gaussian copula represents the dependence of data best. According to calculating the air temperature and global solar radiation in specific simultaneous occurrence probability and the common exceeding, the results show that both the air temperature and global solar radiation based on simultaneous occurrence probability are lower than these based on the conventional method in the same probability.

Keywords: Copula approach, Design weather database, energy conservation, HVAC.

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2332 Six Sigma Solutions and its Benefit-Cost Ratio for Quality Improvement

Authors: S. Homrossukon, A. Anurathapunt

Abstract:

This is an application research presenting the improvement of production quality using the six sigma solutions and the analyses of benefit-cost ratio. The case of interest is the production of tile-concrete. Such production has faced with the problem of high nonconforming products from an inappropriate surface coating and had low process capability based on the strength property of tile. Surface coating and tile strength are the most critical to quality of this product. The improvements followed five stages of six sigma solutions. After the improvement, the production yield was improved to 80% as target required and the defective products from coating process was remarkably reduced from 29.40% to 4.09%. The process capability based on the strength quality was increased from 0.87 to 1.08 as customer oriented. The improvement was able to save the materials loss for 3.24 millions baht or 0.11 million dollars. The benefits from the improvement were analyzed from (1) the reduction of the numbers of non conforming tile using its factory price for surface coating improvement and (2) the materials saved from the increment of process capability. The benefit-cost ratio of overall improvement was high as 7.03. It was non valuable investment in define, measure, analyses and the initial of improve stages after that it kept increasing. This was due to there were no benefits in define, measure, and analyze stages of six sigma since these three stages mainly determine the cause of problem and its effects rather than improve the process. The benefit-cost ratio starts existing in the improve stage and go on. Within each stage, the individual benefitcost ratio was much higher than the accumulative one as there was an accumulation of cost since the first stage of six sigma. The consideration of the benefit-cost ratio during the improvement project helps make decisions for cost saving of similar activities during the improvement and for new project. In conclusion, the determination of benefit-cost ratio behavior through out six sigma implementation period provides the useful data for managing quality improvement for the optimal effectiveness. This is the additional outcome from the regular proceeding of six sigma.

Keywords: Six Sigma Solutions, Process Improvement, QualityManagement, Benefit Cost Ratio

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2331 An Impairment Sensitive and Reliable SR-ARQ Mechanism for Unreliable Feedback in GPRS

Authors: Mansab Ali, Muhammad Khalid Khan

Abstract:

The advances in wireless communication have opened unlimited horizons but there are some challenges as well. The Nature derived air medium between MS (Mobile Station) and BS (Base Station) is beyond human control and produces channel impairment. The impact of the natural conditions at the air medium is the biggest issue in wireless communication. Natural conditions make reliability more cumbersome; here reliability refers to the efficient recovery of the lost or erroneous data. The SR-ARQ (Selective Repeat-Automatic Repeat Request) protocol is a de facto standard for any wireless technology at the air interface with its standard reliability features. Our focus in this research is on the reliability of the control or feedback signal of the SR-ARQ protocol. The proposed mechanism, RSR-ARQ (Reliable SR-ARQ) is an enhancement of the SR-ARQ protocol that has ensured the reliability of the control signals through channel impairment sensitive mechanism. We have modeled the system under two-state discrete time Markov Channel. The simulation results demonstrate the better recovery of the lost or erroneous data that will increase the overall system performance.

Keywords: ISR-ARQ, MAA, RSR-ARQ, SAA.

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2330 Failure Analysis and Fatigue Life Estimation of a Shaft of a Rotary Draw Bending Machine

Authors: B. Engel, Sara Salman Hassan Al-Maeeni

Abstract:

Human consumption of the Earth's resources increases the need for a sustainable development as an important ecological, social, and economic theme. Re-engineering of machine tools, in terms of design and failure analysis, is defined as steps performed on an obsolete machine to return it to a new machine with the warranty that matches the customer requirement. To understand the future fatigue behavior of the used machine components, it is important to investigate the possible causes of machine parts failure through design, surface, and material inspections. In this study, the failure modes of the shaft of the rotary draw bending machine are inspected. Furthermore, stress and deflection analysis of the shaft subjected to combined torsion and bending loads are carried out by an analytical method and compared with a finite element analysis method. The theoretical fatigue strength, correction factors, and fatigue life sustained by the shaft before damaged are estimated by creating a stress-cycle (S-N) diagram. In conclusion, it is seen that the shaft can work in the second life, but it needs some surface treatments to increase the reliability and fatigue life.

Keywords: Failure analysis, fatigue life, FEM analysis, shaft, stress analysis.

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2329 An Automated Test Setup for the Characterization of Antenna in CATR

Authors: Faisal Amin, Abdul Mueed, Xu Jiadong

Abstract:

This paper describes the development of a fully automated measurement software for antenna radiation pattern measurements in a Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR). The CATR has a frequency range from 2-40 GHz and the measurement hardware includes a Network Analyzer for transmitting and Receiving the microwave signal and a Positioner controller to control the motion of the Styrofoam column. The measurement process includes Calibration of CATR with a Standard Gain Horn (SGH) antenna followed by Gain versus angle measurement of the Antenna under test (AUT). The software is designed to control a variety of microwave transmitter / receiver and two axis Positioner controllers through the standard General Purpose interface bus (GPIB) interface. Addition of new Network Analyzers is supported through a slight modification of hardware control module. Time-domain gating is implemented to remove the unwanted signals and get the isolated response of AUT. The gated response of the AUT is compared with the calibration data in the frequency domain to obtain the desired results. The data acquisition and processing is implemented in Agilent VEE and Matlab. A variety of experimental measurements with SGH antennas were performed to validate the accuracy of software. A comparison of results with existing commercial softwares is presented and the measured results are found to be within .2 dBm.

Keywords: Antenna measurement, calibration, time-domain gating, VNA, Positioner controller

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2328 (Anti)Depressant Effects of Non-Steroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs in Mice

Authors: Horia Păunescu

Abstract:

Purpose: The study aimed to assess the depressant or antidepressant effects of several Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) in mice: the selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor meloxicam, and the non-selective COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitors lornoxicam, sodium metamizole, and ketorolac. The current literature data regarding such effects of these agents are scarce. Materials and methods: The study was carried out on NMRI mice weighing 20-35 g, kept in a standard laboratory environment. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy „Carol Davila”, Bucharest. The study agents were injected intraperitoneally, 10 mL/kg body weight (bw) 1 hour before the assessment of the locomotor activity by cage testing (n=10 mice/ group) and 2 hours before the forced swimming tests (n=15). The study agents were dissolved in normal saline (meloxicam, sodium metamizole), ethanol 11.8% v/v in normal saline (ketorolac), or water (lornoxicam), respectively. Negative and positive control agents were also given (amitryptilline in the forced swimming test). The cage floor used in the locomotor activity assessment was divided into 20 equal 10 cm squares. The forced swimming test involved partial immersion of the mice in cylinders (15/9cm height/diameter) filled with water (10 cm depth at 28C), where they were left for 6 minutes. The cage endpoint used in the locomotor activity assessment was the number of treaded squares. Four endpoints were used in the forced swimming test (immobility latency for the entire 6 minutes, and immobility, swimming, and climbing scores for the final 4 minutes of the swimming session), recorded by an observer that was „blinded” to the experimental design. The statistical analysis used the Levene test for variance homogeneity, ANOVA and post-hoc analysis as appropriate, Tukey or Tamhane tests. Results: No statistically significant increase or decrease in the number of treaded squares was seen in the locomotor activity assessment of any mice group. In the forced swimming test, amitryptilline showed an antidepressant effect in each experiment, at the 10 mg/kg bw dosage. Sodium metamizole was depressant at 100 mg/kg bw (increased the immobility score, p=0.049, Tamhane test), but not in lower dosages as well (25 and 50 mg/kg bw). Ketorolac showed an antidepressant effect at the intermediate dosage of 5 mg/kg bw, but not so in the dosages of 2.5 and 10 mg/kg bw, respectively (increased the swimming score, p=0.012, Tamhane test). Meloxicam and lornoxicam did not alter the forced swimming endpoints at any dosage level. Discussion: 1) Certain NSAIDs caused changes in the forced swimming patterns without interfering with locomotion. 2) Sodium metamizole showed a depressant effect, whereas ketorolac proved antidepressant. Conclusion: NSAID-induced mood changes are not class effects of these agents and apparently are independent of the type of inhibited cyclooxygenase (COX-1 or COX-2). Disclosure: This paper was co-financed from the European Social Fund, through the Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013, project number POSDRU /159 /1.5 /S /138907 "Excellence in scientific interdisciplinary research, doctoral and postdoctoral, in the economic, social and medical fields -EXCELIS", coordinator The Bucharest University of Economic Studies.

Keywords: Antidepressant, depressant, forced swim, NSAIDs.

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2327 Analysis and Modeling of Stresses and Creeps Resulting from Soil Mechanics in Southern Plains of Kerman Province

Authors: Kourosh Nazarian

Abstract:

Many of the engineering materials, such as behavioral metals, have at least a certain level of linear behavior. It means that if the stresses are doubled, the deformations would be also doubled. In fact, these materials have linear elastic properties. Soils do not follow this law, for example, when compressed, soils become gradually tighter. On the surface of the ground, the sand can be easily deformed with a finger, but in high compressive stresses, they gain considerable hardness and strength. This is mainly due to the increase in the forces among the separate particles. Creeps also deform the soils under a constant load over time. Clay and peat soils have creep behavior. As a result of this phenomenon, structures constructed on such soils will continue their collapse over time. In this paper, the researchers analyzed and modeled the stresses and creeps in the southern plains of Kerman province in Iran through library-documentary, quantitative and software techniques, and field survey. The results of the modeling showed that these plains experienced severe stresses and had a collapse of about 26 cm in the last 15 years and also creep evidence was discovered in an area with a gradient of 3-6 degrees.

Keywords: Stress, creep, surface runoff.

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2326 Hemocompatible Thin-Film Materials Recreating the Structure of the Cell Niches with High Potential for Endothelialization

Authors: Roman Major, Klaudia Trembecka-Wojciga, Juergen Markus Lackner, Boguslaw Major

Abstract:

The future and the development of science is therefore seen in interdisciplinary areas such as biomedical engineering. Selfassembled structures, similar to stem cell niches would inhibit fast division process and subsequently capture the stem cells from the blood flow. By means of surface topography and the stiffness as well as microstructure progenitor cells should be differentiated towards the formation of endothelial cells monolayer which effectively will inhibit activation of the coagulation cascade. The idea of the material surface development met the interest of the clinical institutions, which support the development of science in this area and are waiting for scientific solutions that could contribute to the development of heart assist systems. This would improve the efficiency of the treatment of patients with myocardial failure, supported with artificial heart assist systems. Innovative materials would enable the redesign, in the post project activity, construction of ventricular heart assist.

Keywords: Bio-inspired materials, electron microscopy, haemocompatibility, niche-like structures, thin coatings.

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2325 Nugget Formation during Resistance Spot Welding using Finite Element Model

Authors: Jawad Saleem, Abdul Majid, Kent Bertilsson, Torbjörn Carlberg, Nazar Ul Islam

Abstract:

Resistance spot welding process comprises of electric, thermal and mechanical phenomenon, which makes this process complex and highly non-linear and thus, it becomes difficult to model it. In order to obtain good weld nugget during spot welding, hit and trial welds are usually done which is very costly. Therefore the numerical simulation research has been conducted to understand the whole process. In this paper three different cases were analyzed by varying the tip contact area and it was observed that, with the variation of tip contact area the nugget formation at the faying surface is affected. The tip contact area of the welding electrode becomes large with long welding cycles. Therefore in order to maintain consistency of nugget formation during the welding process, the current compensation in control feedback is required. If the contact area of the welding electrode tip is reduced, a large amount of current flows through the faying surface, as a result of which sputtering occurs.

Keywords: Resistance spot welding, Finite element modeling, Nugget formation, Welding electrode, Numerical method simulation,

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2324 Tin and Tin-Copper Composite Nanorod Anodes for Rechargeable Lithium Applications

Authors: B. D. Polat, O. Keles

Abstract:

Physical vapor deposition under conditions of an obliquely incident flux results in a film formation with an inclined columnar structure. These columns will be oriented toward the vapor source because of the self-shadowing effect, and they are homogenously distributed on the substrate surface because of the limited surface diffusion ability of ad-atoms when there is no additional substrate heating.

In this work, the oblique angle electron beam evaporation technique is used to fabricate thin films containing inclined nanorods. The results demonstrate that depending on the thin film composition, the morphology of the nanorods is changed as well. The galvanostatic analysis of these thin film anodes reveals that a composite CuSn nanorods having approximately 900mAhg-1 of initial discharge capacity, performs higher electrochemical performance compared to pure Sn nanorods containing anode material. The long cycle life and the advanced electrochemical properties of the nanostructured composite electrode might be attributed to its improved mechanical tolerance and enhanced electrical conductivity depending on the Cu presence in the nanorods.

Keywords: Cu-Sn thin film, oblique angle deposition, lithium ion batteries, anode.

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