Search results for: Site investigation
490 Investigation of Titanium Oxide Layer in Thermal-Electrochemical Anodizing of Ti6Al4V Alloy
Authors: Z. Abdolldhi, A. A. Ziaee M., A. Afshar
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In this paper the combination of thermal oxidation and electrochemical anodizing processes is used to produce titanium oxide layers. The response of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V to oxidation processes at various temperatures and electrochemical anodizing in various voltages are investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM); X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and porosity determination have been used to characterize the oxide layer thickness, surface morphology, oxide layer-substrate adhesion and porosity. In the first experiment, samples modified by thermal oxidation process then followed by electrochemical anodizing. Second experiment consists of surfaces modified by electrochemical anodizing process and then followed by thermal oxidation. The first method shows better properties than other one. In second experiment, Surfaces modified were achieved by thicker and more adherent thick oxide layers on titanium surface. The existence of an electrochemical anodized oxide layer did not improve the adhesion of thermal oxide layer. The high temperature, thermal formation of an oxide layer leads to a coarse oxide grain morphology and a complete oxidative particle. In addition, in high temperature oxidation porosity content is increased. The oxide layer of thermal oxidation and electrochemical anodizing processes; on Ti–6Al–4V substrate was covered with different colored oxide layers.Keywords: Electrochemically anodizing, Porosity, Thermaloxidation, Ti6Al4 alloy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3378489 Sedimentation and its Challenges for Operation and Maintenance of Hydraulic Structures using SHARC Software- A Case Study of Eastern Intake in Dez Diversion Dam in Iran
Authors: M.R. Mansoujian, N. Hedayat, M. Mashal, H, Kiamanesh
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Analytical investigation of the sedimentation processes in the river engineering and hydraulic structures is of vital importance as this can affect water supply for the cultivating lands in the command area. The reason being that gradual sediment formation behind the reservoir can reduce the nominal capacity of these dams. The aim of the present paper is to analytically investigate sedimentation process along the river course and behind the storage reservoirs in general and the Eastern Intake of the Dez Diversion weir in particular using the SHARC software. Results of the model indicated the water level at 115.97m whereas the real time measurement from the river cross section was 115.98 m which suggests a significantly close relation between them. The average transported sediment load in the river was measured at 0.25mm , from which it can be concluded that nearly 100% of the suspended loads in river are moving which suggests no sediment settling but indicates that almost all sediment loads enters into the intake. It was further showed the average sediment diameter entering the intake to be 0.293 mm which in turn suggests that about 85% of suspended sediments in the river entre the intake. Comparison of the results from the SHARC model with those obtained form the SSIIM software suggests quite similar outputs but distinguishing the SHARC model as more appropriate for the analysis of simpler problems than other model.Keywords: SHARC, Eastern Intake, Dez Diversion Weir.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1596488 Pollution Induced Structural and Physico-Chemical Changes in Algal Community: A Case Study of River Pandu of North India
Authors: Seemaa Diwedi
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The study area receives a wide variety of wastes generated by municipalities and the industries like paints and pigments, metal processing industries, thermal power plants electroprocessing industries etc. The Physico-chemical and structural investigation of water from river Pandu indicated high level of chlorides and calcium which made the water unsuitable for human use. Algae like Cyclotella fumida, Asterionella Formosa, Cladophora glomerata, Pediastrum simplex, Scenedesmus bijuga, Cladophora glomerata were the dominant pollution tolerant species recorded under these conditions. The sensitive and less abundant species of algae included Spirogyra sps., Merismopedia sps. The predominance colonies of Zygnema sps, Phormidium sps, Mycrocystis aeruginosa, Merismopedia minima, Pandorina morum, seems to correlate with high organic contents of Pandu river water. This study assumes significance as some algae can be used as bioindicators of water pollution and algal floral of a municipal drain carrying waste effluents from industrial area Kanpur and discharge them into the river Pandu flowing onto southern outskirts of Kanpur city.Keywords: Kanpur, North India, Physico-chemical, Pollution, River Pandu.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1909487 Effect of Surface Pretreatments on Nanocrystalline Diamond Deposited On Silicon Nitride Substrates
Authors: D.N Awang Sh'ri, E. Hamzah
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The deposition of diamond films on a Si3N4 substrate is an attractive technique for industrial applications because of the excellent properties of diamond. Pretreatment of substrate is very important prior to diamond deposition to promote nucleation and adhesion between coating and substrate. Deposition of nanocrystalline diamonds films on silicon nitride substrate have been carried out by HF-CVD technique using mixture of methane and hydrogen gases. Different pretreatment of substrate including chemical etching consists of hot acid etching and basic etching and mechanical etching were used to study the quality of diamond formed on the substrate. The structure and morphology of diamond coating have been studied using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) while diamond film quality has been characterized using Raman spectroscopy. AFM was used to investigate the effect of chemical etching and mechanical pretreatment on the surface roughness of the substrates and the resultant morphology of nanocrystalline diamond. It was found that diamond film deposited on as-received, basic etched and grinded substrate shows the morphology of cauliflower while blasted and acidic etched substrates produce smooth, continuous diamond film. However, the Raman investigation did not show any deviation in quality of diamond film for any pretreatment.Keywords: Nanocrystalline diamond, Chemical VaporDeposition, Pretreatment, Silicon Nitride
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2248486 Investigation of Fire Damaged Reinforced Concrete Walls with Axial Force
Authors: Hyun Ah Yoon, Ji Yeon Kang, Hee Sun Kim, Yeong Soo Shin
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Reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall system of residential buildings is popular in South Korea. RC walls are subjected to axial forces in common and the effect of axial forces on the strength loss of the fire damaged walls has not been investigated. This paper aims at investigating temperature distribution on fire damaged concrete walls having different axial loads. In the experiments, a variable of specimens is axial force ratio. RC walls are fabricated with 150mm of wall thicknesses, 750mm of lengths and 1,300mm of heights having concrete strength of 24MPa. After curing, specimens are heated on one surface with ISO-834 standard time-temperature curve for 2 hours and temperature distributions during the test are measured using thermocouples inside the walls. The experimental results show that the temperature of the RC walls exposed to fire increases as axial force ratio increases. To verify the experiments, finite element (FE) models are generated for coupled temperature-structure analyses. The analytical results of thermal behaviors are in good agreement with the experimental results. The predicted displacement of the walls decreases when the axial force increases.
Keywords: Axial force ratio, coupled analysis, fire, reinforced concrete wall, temperature distribution.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1738485 Studies on the Mechanical Behavior of Bottom Ash for a Sustainable Environment
Authors: B. A. Mir, Asim Malik
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Bottom ash is a by-product of the combustion process of coal in furnaces in the production of electricity in thermal power plants. In India, about 75% of total power is produced by using pulverized coal. The coal of India has a high ash content which leads to the generation of a huge quantity of bottom ash per year posing the dual problem of environmental pollution and difficulty in disposal. This calls for establishing strategies to use this industry by-product effectively and efficiently. However, its large-scale utilization is possible only in geotechnical applications, either alone or with soil. In the present investigation, bottom ash was collected from National Capital Power Station Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, India. Test samples of bottom ash admixed with 20% clayey soil were prepared and treated with different cement content by weight and subjected to various laboratory tests for assessing its suitability as an engineered construction material. This study has shown that use of 10% cement content is a viable chemical additive to enhance the mechanical properties of bottom ash, which can be used effectively as an engineered construction material in various geotechnical applications. More importantly, it offers an interesting potential for making use of an industrial waste to overcome challenges posed by bottom ash for a sustainable environment.
Keywords: Bottom ash, environmental pollution, solid waste, sustainable environment, waste utilization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1720484 Diagnostic Investigation of Liftoff Time of Solid Propellant Rockets
Authors: Vignesh Rangaraj, Jerin John, N. Naveen, M. Karuppasamy Pandian, P. Sathyan, V. R. Sanal Kumar
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In this paper parametric analytical studies have been carried out to examine the intrinsic flow physics pertaining to the liftoff time of solid propellant rockets. Idealized inert simulators of solid rockets are selected for numerical studies to examining the preignition chamber dynamics. Detailed diagnostic investigations have been carried out using an unsteady two-dimensional k-omega turbulence model. We conjectured from the numerical results that the altered variations of the igniter jet impingement angle, turbulence level, time and location of the first ignition, flame spread characteristics, the overall chamber dynamics including the boundary layer growth history are having bearing on the time for nozzle flow chocking for establishing the required thrust for the rocket liftoff. We concluded that the altered flow choking time of strap-on motors with the pre-determined identical ignition time at the lift off phase will lead to the malfunctioning of the rocket. We also concluded that, in the light of the space debris, an error in predicting the liftoff time can lead to an unfavorable launch window amounts the satellite injection errors and/or the mission failures.
Keywords: Liftoff, Nozzle Choking, Solid Rocket, Takeoff.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1917483 Investigating Ultra Violet (UV) Strength against Different Level of Altitude using New Environmental Data Management System
Authors: M. Amir Abas, M. Dahlui
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This paper presents the investigation results of UV measurement at different level of altitudes and the development of a new portable instrument for measuring UV. The rapid growth of industrial sectors in developing countries including Malaysia, brings not only income to the nation, but also causes pollution in various forms. Air pollution is one of the significant contributors to global warming by depleting the Ozone layer, which would reduce the filtration of UV rays. Long duration of exposure to high to UV rays has many devastating health effects to mankind directly or indirectly through destruction of the natural resources. This study aimed to show correlation between UV and altitudes which indirectly can help predict Ozone depletion. An instrument had been designed to measure and monitors the level of UV. The instrument comprises of two main blocks namely data logger and Graphic User Interface (GUI). Three sensors were used in the data logger to detect changes in the temperature, humidity and ultraviolet. The system has undergone experimental measurement to capture data at two different conditions; industrial area and high attitude area. The performance of the instrument showed consistency in the data captured and the results of the experiment drew a significantly high reading of UV at high altitudes.Keywords: Ozone Layer, Monitoring, Global Warming, Measurement, Ultraviolet
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1737482 Phytochemical Study and Biological Activity of Sage (Salvia officinalis L.)
Authors: Mekhaldi Abdelkader, Bouznad Ahcen, Djibaoui Rachid, Hamoum Hakim
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This study presents an attempt to evaluate the antioxidant potential and antimicrobial activity of methanolic extract, and essential oils prepared from the leaves of sage (Salvia officinalis L.). The content of polyphenol in the methanolic extracts from the leaves of Salvia officinalis was determined spectrophotometrically, calculated as gallic acid and catechin equivalent. The essential oils and methanol extract were also subjected to screenings for the evaluation of their antioxidant activities using 2, 2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) test. While the plant essential oils showed only weak antioxidant activities, its methanol extract was considerably active in DPPH (IC50 = 37.29 μg/ml) test. Appreciable total polyphenol content (31.25 mg/g) was also detected for the plant methanol extract as gallic acid equivalent in the Folin–Ciocalteu test. The plant was also screened for its antimicrobial activity and good to moderate inhibitions were recorded for its essential oils, and methanol extracts against most of the tested microorganisms. The present investigation revealed that this plant had rich source of antioxidant properties. It is for this reason that sage has found increasing application in food formulations.
Keywords: Antibacterial, Antioxidant, Flavonoid, Polyphenol, Salvia officinalis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4546481 Using HMM-based Classifier Adapted to Background Noises with Improved Sounds Features for Audio Surveillance Application
Authors: Asma Rabaoui, Zied Lachiri, Noureddine Ellouze
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Discrimination between different classes of environmental sounds is the goal of our work. The use of a sound recognition system can offer concrete potentialities for surveillance and security applications. The first paper contribution to this research field is represented by a thorough investigation of the applicability of state-of-the-art audio features in the domain of environmental sound recognition. Additionally, a set of novel features obtained by combining the basic parameters is introduced. The quality of the features investigated is evaluated by a HMM-based classifier to which a great interest was done. In fact, we propose to use a Multi-Style training system based on HMMs: one recognizer is trained on a database including different levels of background noises and is used as a universal recognizer for every environment. In order to enhance the system robustness by reducing the environmental variability, we explore different adaptation algorithms including Maximum Likelihood Linear Regression (MLLR), Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) and the MAP/MLLR algorithm that combines MAP and MLLR. Experimental evaluation shows that a rather good recognition rate can be reached, even under important noise degradation conditions when the system is fed by the convenient set of features.Keywords: Sounds recognition, HMM classifier, Multi-style training, Environmental Adaptation, Feature combinations.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1645480 Strength and Permeability Characteristics of Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete
Authors: A. P. Singh
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The results reported in this paper are the part of an extensive laboratory investigation undertaken to study the effects of fibre parameters on the permeability and strength characteristics of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC). The effect of varying fibre content and curing age on the water permeability, compressive and split tensile strengths of SFRC was investigated using straight steel fibres having an aspect ratio of 65. Samples containing three different weight fractions of 1.0%, 2.0% and 4.0% were cast and tested for permeability and strength after 7, 14, 28 and 60 days of curing. Plain concrete samples were also cast and tested for reference purposes.
Permeability was observed to decrease significantly with the addition of steel fibres and continued to decrease with increasing fibre content and increasing curing age. An exponential relationship was observed between permeability and compressive and split tensile strengths for SFRC as well as PCC. To evaluate the effect of fibre content on the permeability and strength characteristics, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistical method was used. An a level (probability of error) of 0.05 was used for ANOVA test. Regression analysis was carried out to develop relationship between permeability, compressive strength and curing age.
Keywords: Permeability, grade of concrete, fibre shape, fibre content, curing age, steady state, Darcy’s law, method of penetration.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3082479 Removal of CO2 and H2S using Aqueous Alkanolamine Solusions
Authors: Zare Aliabad, H., Mirzaei, S.
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This work presents a theoretical investigation of the simultaneous absorption of CO2 and H2S into aqueous solutions of MDEA and DEA. In this process the acid components react with the basic alkanolamine solution via an exothermic, reversible reaction in a gas/liquid absorber. The use of amine solvents for gas sweetening has been investigated using process simulation programs called HYSYS and ASPEN. We use Electrolyte NRTL and Amine Package and Amines (experimental) equation of state. The effects of temperature and circulation rate and amine concentration and packed column and murphree efficiency on the rate of absorption were studied. When lean amine flow and concentration increase, CO2 and H2S absorption increase too. With the improvement of inlet amine temperature in absorber, CO2 and H2S penetrate to upper stages of absorber and absorption of acid gases in absorber decreases. The CO2 concentration in the clean gas can be greatly influenced by the packing height, whereas for the H2S concentration in the clean gas the packing height plays a minor role. HYSYS software can not estimate murphree efficiency correctly and it applies the same contributions in all diagrams for HYSYS software. By improvement in murphree efficiency, maximum temperature of absorber decrease and the location of reaction transfer to the stages of bottoms absorber and the absorption of acid gases increase.Keywords: Absorber, DEA, MDEA, Simulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17314478 Laboratory Evaluation of Bacillus subtilis Bioactivity on Musca domestica (Linn) (Diptera: Muscidae) Larvae from Poultry Farms in South Western Nigeria
Authors: Funmilola O. Omoya
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Muscid flies are known to be vectors of disease agents and species that annoy humans and domesticated animals. An example of these flies is Musca domestica (house fly) whose adult and immature stages occur in a variety of filthy organic substances including household garbage and animal manures. They contribute to microbial contamination of foods. It is therefore imperative to control these flies as a result of their role in Public health. The second and third instars of Musca domestica (Linn) were infected with varying cell loads of Bacillus subtilis in vitro for a period of 48 hours to evaluate its larvicidal activities. Mortality of the larvae increased with incubation period after treatment with the varying cell loads. Investigation revealed that the second instars larvae were more susceptible to treatment than the third instars treatments. Values obtained from the third instar group were significantly different (P<0.05) from those obtained from the second instars group in all the treatments. Lethal concentration (LC50) at 24 hours for 2nd instars was 2.35 while LC50 at 48 hours was 4.31.This study revealed that Bacillus subtilis possess good larvicidal potential for use in the control of Musca domestica in poultry farms.
Keywords: Bacillus subtilis, larvicidal activities, Musca domestica, poultry farms.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2238477 Numerical Investigation on Optimizing Fatigue Life in a Lap Joint Structure
Authors: P. Zamani, S. Mohajerzadeh, R. Masoudinejad, Kh. Farhangdoost
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Riveting process is one of the important ways to keep fastening the lap joints in aircraft structures. Failure of aircraft lap joints directly depends on the stress field in the joint. An important application of riveting process is in the construction of aircraft fuselage structures. In this paper, a 3D finite element method is carried out in order to optimize residual stress field in a riveted lap joint and also to estimate its fatigue life. In continue, a number of experiments are designed and analyzed using design of experiments (DOE). Then, Taguchi method is used to select an optimized case between different levels of each factor. Besides that, the factor which affects the most on residual stress field is investigated. Such optimized case provides the maximum residual stress field. Fatigue life of the optimized joint is estimated by Paris-Erdogan law. Stress intensity factors (SIFs) are calculated using both finite element analysis and experimental formula. In addition, the effect of residual stress field, geometry and secondary bending are considered in SIF calculation. A good agreement is found between results of such methods. Comparison between optimized fatigue life and fatigue life of other joints has shown an improvement in the joint’s life.Keywords: Fatigue life, Residual stress, Riveting process, Stress intensity factor, Taguchi method.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2173476 Futuristic Black Box Design Considerations and Global Networking for Real Time Monitoring of Flight Performance Parameters
Authors: K. Parandhama Gowd
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The aim of this research paper is to conceptualize, discuss, analyze and propose alternate design methodologies for futuristic Black Box for flight safety. The proposal also includes global networking concepts for real time surveillance and monitoring of flight performance parameters including GPS parameters. It is expected that this proposal will serve as a failsafe real time diagnostic tool for accident investigation and location of debris in real time. In this paper, an attempt is made to improve the existing methods of flight data recording techniques and improve upon design considerations for futuristic FDR to overcome the trauma of not able to locate the block box. Since modern day communications and information technologies with large bandwidth are available coupled with faster computer processing techniques, the attempt made in this paper to develop a failsafe recording technique is feasible. Further data fusion/data warehousing technologies are available for exploitation.Keywords: Flight data recorder (FDR), black box, diagnostic tool, global networking, cockpit voice and data recorder (CVDR), air traffic control (ATC), air traffic, telemetry, tracking and control centers ATTTCC).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1453475 An Investigation of the Effect of the Different Mix Constituents on Concrete Electric Resistivity
Authors: H. M. Ghasemzadeh, Y. Mohammadi, Gh. Nouri, S. E. Nabavi
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Steel corrosion in concrete is considered as a main engineering problems for many countries and lots of expenses has been paid for their repair and maintenance annually. This problem may occur in all engineering structures whether in coastal and offshore or other areas. Hence, concrete structures should be able to withstand corrosion factors existing in water or soil. Reinforcing steel corrosion enhancement can be measured by use of concrete electrical resistance; and maintaining high electric resistivity in concrete is necessary for steel corrosion prevention. Lots of studies devoted to different aspects of the subjects worldwide. In this paper, an evaluation of the effects of W/C ratio, cementitious materials, and percent increase in silica fume were investigated on electric resistivity of high strength concrete. To do that, sixteen mix design with one aggregate grading was planned. Five of them had varying amount of W/C ratio and other eleven mixes was prepared with constant W/C ratio but different amount of cementitious materials. Silica fume and super plasticizer were used with different proportions in all specimens. Specimens were tested after moist curing for 28 days. A total of 80 cube specimens (50 mm) were tested for concrete electrical resistance. Results show that concrete electric resistivity can be increased with increasing amount of cementitious materials and silica fume.Keywords: Corrosion, Electric resistivity, Mix design, Silica fume
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1559474 Synthesis and Physicochemical Characterization of Biomimetic Scaffold of Gelatin/Zn-Incorporated 58S Bioactive Glass
Authors: Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, Amirhossein Moghanian
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The main purpose of this research was to design a biomimetic system by freeze-drying method for evaluating the effect of adding 5 and 10 mol. % of zinc (Zn) in 58S bioactive glass and gelatin (5ZnBG/G and 10ZnBG/G) in terms of structural and biological changes. The structural analyses of samples were performed by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Also, 3-(4,5dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity tests were carried out for investigation of MC3T3-E1 cell behaviors. The SEM results demonstrated the spherical shape of the formed hydroxyapatite (HA) phases and also HA characteristic peaks were detected by XRD spectroscopy after 3 days of immersion in the simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. Meanwhile, FTIR spectra proved that the intensity of P–O peaks for 5ZnBG/G was more than 10ZnBG/G and control samples. Moreover, the results of ALP activity test illustrated that the optimal amount of Zn (5ZnBG/G) caused a considerable enhancement in bone cell growth. Taken together, the scaffold with 5 mol.% Zn was introduced as an optimal sample because of its higher biocompatibility, in vitro bioactivity and growth of MC3T3-E1 cells in comparison with other samples in bone tissue engineering.
Keywords: Scaffold, gelatin, modified bioactive glass, ALP, bone tissue engineering.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 409473 An Empirical Investigation of Montesquieu’s Theories on Climate
Authors: Lisa J. Piergallini
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This project uses panel regression analyses to investigate the relationships between geography, institutions, and economic development, as guided by the theories of the 18th century French philosopher Montesquieu. Contemporary scholars of political economy perpetually misinterpret Montesquieu’s theories on climate, and in doing so they miss what could be the key to resolving the geography vs. institutions debate. There is a conspicuous gap in this literature, in that it does not consider whether geography and institutors might have an interactive, dynamic effect on economic development. This project seeks to bridge that gap. Data are used for all available countries over the years 1980-2013. Two interaction terms between geographic and institutional variables are employed within the empirical analyses, and these offer a unique contribution to the ongoing geography vs. institutions debate within the political economy literature. This study finds that there is indeed an interactive effect between geography and institutions, and that this interaction has a statistically significant effect on economic development. Democracy (as measured by Polity score) and rule of law and property rights (as measured by the Fraser index) have positive effects on economic development (as measured by GDP per capita), yet the magnitude of these effects are stronger in contexts where a low percent of the national population lives in the geographical tropics. This has implications for promoting economic development, and it highlights the importance of understanding geographical context.
Keywords: Montesquieu, geography, institutions, economic development, political philosophy, political economy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2688472 Atherosclerosis Prevalence within Populations of the Southeastern United States
Authors: Samuel P. Prahlow, Anthony Sciuva, Katherine Bombly, Emily Wilson, Shiv Dhiman, Savita Arya
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A prevalence cohort study of atherosclerotic lesions within cadavers was performed to better understand and characterize the prevalence of atherosclerosis among Georgia residents within body donors in the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) - Georgia body donor program. We procured specimens from cadavers used for medical student, physical therapy student, and biomedical science student cadaveric anatomical dissection at PCOM - South Georgia and PCOM - Georgia. Tissues were prepared using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain as histological slides by Colquitt Regional Medical Center Laboratory Services. One section from each of the following arteries was taken after cadaveric dissection at the site of most calcification palpated grossly (if present): left anterior descending coronary artery, left internal carotid artery, abdominal aorta, splenic artery, and hepatic artery. All specimens were graded and categorized according to the American Heart Association’s Modified and Conventional Standards for Atherosclerotic Lesions using x4, x10, x40 microscopic magnification. Our study cohort included 22 cadavers, with 16 females and 6 males. The average age was 72.54 and median age was 72, with a range of 52 to 90 years old. The cause of death determination listing vascular and/or cardiovascular causes were present on 6 of the 22 death certificates. 19 of 22 (86%) cadavers had at least a single artery grading > 5. Of the cadavers with at least a single artery graded at greater than 5, only 5 of 19 (26%) cadavers had a vascular or cardiovascular cause of death reported. Malignancy was listed as a cause of death on 7 (32%) of death certificates. The average atherosclerosis grading of the common hepatic, splenic and left internal carotid arteries (2.15, 3.05, and 3.36 respectively) were lower than the left anterior descending artery and the abdominal aorta (5.16 and 5.86 respectively). This prevalence study characterizes atherosclerosis found in five medium and large systemic arteries within cadavers from the state of Georgia.
Keywords: Atherosclerosis, cardiovascular, histology, pathology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 564471 An Experimental Investigation in Effect of Confining Stress and Matric Suction on the Mechanical Behavior of Sand with Different Fine Content
Authors: S. Asreazad
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This paper presents the results that the soil volumetric strain and shear strength are closely related to the confining stress and initial matric suction under constant water content testing on the specimens of unsaturated sand with clay and silt fines contents. The silty sand specimens reached their peak strength after a very small axial strain followed by a post-peak softening towards an ultimate value. The post-peak drop in stress increased by an increment of the suction, while there is no peak strength for clayey sand specimens. The clayey sand shows compressibility and possesses ductile stress-strain behaviour. Shear strength increased nonlinearly with respect to matric suction for both soil types. When suction exceeds a certain range, the effect of suction on shear strength increment weakens gradually. Under the same confining stress, the dilatant tendencies in the silty sand increased under lower values of suction and decreased for higher suction values under the same confining stress. However, the amount of contraction increased with increasing initial suction for clayey sand specimens.
Keywords: Unsaturated soils, silty sand, clayey sand, triaxial test, constant water content.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 992470 Investigation of Long-Term Thermal Insulation Performance of Vacuum Insulation Panels with Various Enveloping Methods
Authors: Inseok Yeo, Tae-Ho Song
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To practically apply vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) to buildings or home appliances, VIPs have demanded long-term lifespan with outstanding insulation performance. Service lives of VIPs enveloped with Al-foil and three-layer Al-metallized envelope are calculated. For Al-foil envelope, the service life is longer but edge conduction is too large compared with the Al-metallized envelope. To increase service life even more, the proposed double enveloping method and metal-barrier-added enveloping method are further analyzed. The service lives of the VIP to employ two enveloping methods are calculated. Also, pressure increase and thermal insulation performance characteristics are investigated. For the metalbarrier- added enveloping method, effective thermal conductivity increase with time is close to that of Al-foil envelope, especially, for getter-inserted VIPs. For double enveloping method, if water vapor is perfectly adsorbed, the effect of service life enhancement becomes much greater. From these methods, the VIP can be guaranteed for service life of more than 20 years.
Keywords: Vacuum insulation panels, Service life, Double enveloping, Metal-barrier-added enveloping, Edge conduction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2452469 Domain Driven Design vs Soft Domain Driven Design Frameworks
Authors: Mohammed Salahat, Steve Wade
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This paper presents and compares the SSDDD “Systematic Soft Domain Driven Design Framework” to DDD “Domain Driven Design Framework” as a soft system approach of information systems development. The framework use SSM as a guiding methodology within which we have embedded a sequence of design tasks based on the UML leading to the implementation of a software system using the Naked Objects framework. This framework has been used in action research projects that have involved the investigation and modelling of business processes using object-oriented domain models and the implementation of software systems based on those domain models. Within this framework, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is used as a guiding methodology to explore the problem situation and to develop the domain model using UML for the given business domain. The framework is proposed and evaluated in our previous works, a comparison between SSDDD and DDD is presented in this paper, to show how SSDDD improved DDD as an approach to modelling and implementing business domain perspectives for Information Systems Development. The comparison process, the results, and the improvements are presented in the following sections of this paper.Keywords: SSM, UML, domain-driven design, soft domain-driven design, naked objects, soft language, information retrieval, multimethodology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1978468 Experimental Investigation on the Lithium-ion Battery Thermal Management System Based on U-Shaped Micro Heat Pipe Array in High Temperature Environment
Authors: Ruyang Ren, Yaohua Zhao, Yanhua Diao
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In this study, a type of active air cooling thermal management system (TMS) based on U-shaped micro heat pipe array (MHPA) is established for the battery energy storage box which operates in high ambient temperature all the year round. The thermal management performance of the active air cooling TMS based on U-shaped MHPA under different ambient temperatures and different cooling conditions is analyzed by the method of experimental research. Results show that even if the battery energy storage box operates at a high ambient temperature of 45 °C, the active air cooling TMS based on U-shaped MHPA controls not only the maximum temperature of the battery in the battery energy storage box below 55 °C, but also the maximum temperature difference in the battery energy storage box below 5 °C during the whole charge-discharge process. The experimental results provide guidance for the application of the battery energy storage box TMS that operates in high temperature areas.
Keywords: Active air cooling, lithium-ion battery, micro heat pipe array, thermal management system.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 351467 An Investigation on Students’ Reticence in Iranian University EFL Classrooms
Authors: Azizeh Chalak, Firouzeh Baktash
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Reticence is a prominent and complex phenomenon which occurs in foreign language classrooms and influences students’ oral passivity. The present study investigated the extent in which students experience reticence in the EFL classrooms and explored the underlying factors triggering reticence. The participants were 104 Iranian freshmen undergraduate male and female EFL students, who enrolled in listening and speaking courses, all majoring in English studying at Islamic Azad University Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch and University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. To collect the data, the Reticence Scale-12 (RS-12) questionnaire which measures the level of reticence consisting of six dimensions (anxiety, knowledge, timing, organization, skills, and memory) was administered to the participants. The statistical analyses showed that the reticent level was high among the Iranian EFL undergraduate students, and their major problems were feelings of anxiety and delivery skills. Moreover, the results revealed that factors such as low English proficiency, the teaching method, and lack of confidence contributed to the students’ reticence in Iranian EFL classrooms. It can be implied that language teachers’ awareness of learners’ reticence can help them choose more appropriate activities and provide a friendly environment enhancing hopefully more effective participation of EFL learners. The findings can have implications for EFL teachers, learners and policy makers.Keywords: Reticence, reticence scale, anxiety, Iranian EFL learners.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2675466 Microstructure, Mechanical, Electrical and Thermal Properties of the Al-Si-Ni Ternary Alloy
Authors: Aynur Aker, Hasan Kaya
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In recent years, the use of the aluminum based alloys in the industry and technology are increasing. Alloying elements in aluminum have further been improving the strength and stiffness properties that provide superior compared to other metals. In this study, investigation of physical properties (microstructure, microhardness, tensile strength, electrical conductivity and thermal properties) in the Al-12.6wt.%Si-%2wt.Ni ternary alloy were investigated. Al-Si-Ni alloy was prepared in vacuum atmosphere. The samples were directionally solidified upwards with different growth rate V (8.3−165.45 μm/s) at constant temperature gradient G (7.73 K/mm). The flake spacings (λ), microhardness (HV), ultimate tensile strength (σ), electrical resistivity (ρ) and thermal properties (H, Cp, Tm) of the samples were measured. Influence of the growth rate and spacings on microhardness, ultimate tensile strength and electrical resistivity were investigated and relationships between them were obtained. According to results, λ values decrease with increasing V, but HV, σ and ρ values increase with increasing V. Variations of electrical resistivity (ρ) of solidified samples were also measured. The enthalpy of fusion (H) and specific heat (Cp) for the alloy was also determined by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) from heating trace during the transformation from liquid to solid. The results in this work were compared with the previous similar experimental results.Keywords: Electrical resistivity, enthalpy, microhardness, solidification, tensile stress.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2026465 Experimental and Semi-Analytical Investigation of Wave Interaction with Double Vertical Slotted Walls
Authors: H. Ahmed, A. Schlenkhoff, R. Rousta, R. Abdelaziz
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Vertical slotted walls can be used as permeable breakwaters to provide economical and environmental protection from undesirable waves and currents inside the port. The permeable breakwaters are partially protection and have been suggested to overcome the environmental disadvantages of fully protection breakwaters. For regular waves a semi-analytical model is based on an eigenfunction expansion method and utilizes a boundary condition at the surface of each wall are developed to detect the energy dissipation through the slots. Extensive laboratory tests are carried out to validate the semi-analytic models. The structure of the physical model contains two walls and it consists of impermeable upper and lower part, where the draft is based a decimal multiple of the total depth. The middle part is permeable with a porosity of 50%. The second barrier is located at a distant of 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 times of the water depth from the first one. A comparison of the theoretical results with previous studies and experimental measurements of the present study show a good agreement and that, the semi-analytical model is able to adequately reproduce most the important features of the experiment.
Keywords: Permeable breakwater, double vertical slotted walls, semi-analytical model, transmission coefficient, reflection coefficient, energy dissipation coefficient.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2065464 Comparison of Artificial Neural Network and Multivariate Regression Methods in Prediction of Soil Cation Exchange Capacity
Authors: Ali Keshavarzi, Fereydoon Sarmadian
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Investigation of soil properties like Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) plays important roles in study of environmental reaserches as the spatial and temporal variability of this property have been led to development of indirect methods in estimation of this soil characteristic. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) provide an alternative by estimating soil parameters from more readily available soil data. 70 soil samples were collected from different horizons of 15 soil profiles located in the Ziaran region, Qazvin province, Iran. Then, multivariate regression and neural network model (feedforward back propagation network) were employed to develop a pedotransfer function for predicting soil parameter using easily measurable characteristics of clay and organic carbon. The performance of the multivariate regression and neural network model was evaluated using a test data set. In order to evaluate the models, root mean square error (RMSE) was used. The value of RMSE and R2 derived by ANN model for CEC were 0.47 and 0.94 respectively, while these parameters for multivariate regression model were 0.65 and 0.88 respectively. Results showed that artificial neural network with seven neurons in hidden layer had better performance in predicting soil cation exchange capacity than multivariate regression.Keywords: Easily measurable characteristics, Feed-forwardback propagation, Pedotransfer functions, CEC.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2211463 Experimental and Graphical Investigation on Oil Recovery by Buckley-Leveret Theory
Authors: Khwaja Naweed Seddiqi, Zabihullah Mahdi, Shigeo Honma
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Recently increasing oil production from petroleum reservoirs is one of the most important issues in the global energy sector. So, in this paper, the recovery of oil by the waterflooding technique from petroleum reservoir are considered. To investigate the aforementioned phenomena, the relative permeability of two immiscible fluids in sand is measured in the laboratory based on the steady-state method. Two sorts of oils, kerosene and heavy oil, and water are pumped simultaneously into a vertical sand column with different pumping ratio. From the change in fractional discharge measured at the outlet, a method for determining the relative permeability is developed focusing on the displacement mechanism in sand. Then, displacement mechanism of two immiscible fluids in the sand is investigated under the Buckley-Leveret frontal displacement theory and laboratory experiment. Two sorts of experiments, one is the displacement of pore water by oil, the other is the displacement of pore oil by water, are carried out. It is revealed that the relative permeability curves display tolerably different shape owing to the properties of oils, and produce different amount of residual oils and irreducible water saturation.Keywords: Petroleum reservoir engineering, relative permeability, two-phase flow, immiscible displacement in porous media, steady-state method, waterflooding.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1151462 An Optimization of Machine Parameters for Modified Horizontal Boring Tool Using Taguchi Method
Authors: Thirasak Panyaphirawat, Pairoj Sapsmarnwong, Teeratas Pornyungyuen
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This paper presents the findings of an experimental investigation of important machining parameters for the horizontal boring tool modified to mouth with a horizontal lathe machine to bore an overlength workpiece. In order to verify a usability of a modified tool, design of experiment based on Taguchi method is performed. The parameters investigated are spindle speed, feed rate, depth of cut and length of workpiece. Taguchi L9 orthogonal array is selected for four factors three level parameters in order to minimize surface roughness (Ra and Rz) of S45C steel tubes. Signal to noise ratio analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed to study an effect of said parameters and to optimize the machine setting for best surface finish. The controlled factors with most effect are depth of cut, spindle speed, length of workpiece, and feed rate in order. The confirmation test is performed to test the optimal setting obtained from Taguchi method and the result is satisfactory.
Keywords: Design of Experiment, Taguchi Design, Optimization, Analysis of Variance, Machining Parameters, Horizontal Boring Tool.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2706461 The Experience of Middle Grade Teachers in a Culture of Collaboration
Authors: Tamara Tallman
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Collaboration is a powerful tool for professional development and central for creating opportunities for teachers to reflect on their practice. However, school districts continue to have difficulty both implementing and sustaining collaboration. The purpose of this research was to investigate the experience of the teacher in a creative, instructional collaboration. The teachers in this study found that teacher-initiated collaboration offered them trust and they were more open with their partners. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was used for this study as it told the story of the teacher’s experience. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was chosen for this study to capture the complex and contextual nature of the teacher experience from a creative, instructional collaborative experience. This study sought to answer the question of how teachers in a private, faith-based school experience collaboration. In particular, the researcher engaged the study’s participants in interviews where they shared their unique perspectives on their experiences in relation to this phenomenon. Through the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis, the researcher interpreted the experiences of each participant in an attempt to gain deeper insight into how teachers made sense of their understanding of collaboration. In addition to the researcher’s interpreting the meaning of this construct for each research participant, this study gave a voice to the individual experiences and positionality of each participant at the research site. Moreover, the key findings presented in this study shed light on how teachers within this particular context participated in and made sense of their experience of creating an instructional collaborative. The research presented the findings that speak to the meaning that each research participant experienced in their relation to participating in building a collaborative culture and its effect on professional and personal growth. The researcher provided recommendations for future practice and research possibilities. The research findings demonstrated the unique experiences of each participant as well as a connection to the literature within the field of teacher professional development. The results also supported the claim that teacher collaboration can facilitate school reform. Participating teachers felt less isolation and developed more teacher knowledge.
Keywords: Collaboration, professional development, teacher, growth.
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