Search results for: lower plants
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2102

Search results for: lower plants

332 The Use of Palm Kernel Shell and Ash for Concrete Production

Authors: J. E. Oti, J. M. Kinuthia, R. Robinson, P. Davies

Abstract:

This work reports the potential of using Palm Kernel (PK) ash and shell as a partial substitute for Portland Cement (PC) and coarse aggregate in the development of mortar and concrete. PK ash and shell are agro-waste materials from palm oil mills, the disposal of PK ash and shell is an environmental problem of concern. The PK ash has pozzolanic properties that enables it as a partial replacement for cement and also plays an important role in the strength and durability of concrete, its use in concrete will alleviate the increasing challenges of scarcity and high cost of cement. In order to investigate the PC replacement potential of PK ash, three types of PK ash were produced at varying temperature (350-750C) and they were used to replace up to 50% PC. The PK shell was used to replace up to 100% coarse aggregate in order to study its aggregate replacement potential. The testing programme included material characterisation, the determination of compressive strength, tensile splitting strength and chemical durability in aggressive sulfatebearing exposure conditions. The 90 day compressive results showed a significant strength gain (up to 26.2 N/mm2). The Portland cement and conventional coarse aggregate has significantly higher influence in the strength gain compared to the equivalent PK ash and PK shell. The chemical durability results demonstrated that after a prolonged period of exposure, significant strength losses in all the concretes were observed. This phenomenon is explained, due to lower change in concrete morphology and inhibition of reaction species and the final disruption of the aggregate cement paste matrix.

Keywords: Sustainability, Concrete, mortar, Palm kernel shell, compressive strength, consistency.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4615
331 The Effect of Tool Path Strategy on Surface and Dimension in High Speed Milling

Authors: A. Razavykia, A. Esmaeilzadeh, S. Iranmanesh

Abstract:

Many orthopedic implants like proximal humerus cases require lower surface roughness and almost immediate/short lead time surgery. Thus, rapid response from the manufacturer is very crucial. Tool path strategy of milling process has a direct influence on the surface roughness and lead time of medical implant. High-speed milling as promised process would improve the machined surface quality, but conventional or super-abrasive grinding still required which imposes some drawbacks such as additional costs and time. Currently, many CAD/CAM software offers some different tool path strategies to milling free form surfaces. Nevertheless, the users must identify how to choose the strategies according to cutting tool geometry, geometry complexity, and their effects on the machined surface. This study investigates the effect of different tool path strategies for milling a proximal humerus head during finishing operation on stainless steel 316L. Experiments have been performed using MAHO MH700 S vertical milling machine and four machining strategies, namely, spiral outward, spiral inward, and radial as well as zig-zag. In all cases, the obtained surfaces were analyzed in terms of roughness and dimension accuracy compared with those obtained by simulation. The findings provide evidence that surface roughness, dimensional accuracy, and machining time have been affected by the considered tool path strategy.

Keywords: CAD/CAM software, milling, orthopedic implants, tool path strategy.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 997
330 Two Lessons Learnt in Defining Intersections and Interfaces in Numerical Modeling with Plaxis

Authors: Mahdi Sadeghian, Somaye Sadeghian, Reza Dinarvand

Abstract:

This paper is going to discuss two issues encountered in using PLAXIS. Both issues were monitored during application of PLAXIS to estimate the excavation-induced displacement. Column Soil Mixing (CSM) was applied to stabilise the excavation. It was understood that the estimated excavation induced deformation at the top of the CSM blocks highly depends on the material type defining pavement material adjacent to the CSM blocks. Cohesive material for pavement will result in the unrealistic connection between pavement and CSM even by defining an interface element. To find the most realistic approach, the interface defined in three different manners (1) no interface elements were applied (2) a non-cohesive soil layer was defined between pavement and CSM block to represent the friction between these materials (3) built-in interface elements in PLAXIS was used to define the boundary between the pavement and the CSM block. The result showed that the option 2 would result in more realistic results. The second issue was in the modelling of the contact line between the CSM block and an inclined layer underneath. The analysis result showed that the excavation-induced deformation highly depends on how the PLAXIS user defines the contact area. It was understood that if the contact area had defined as a point in which CSM block had intersected the layer underneath the estimated lateral displacement of CSM block would be unrealistically lower than the model in which the contact area was defined as a line.

Keywords: PLAXIS, FEM, CSM, excavation-induced deformation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 636
329 Mining User-Generated Contents to Detect Service Failures with Topic Model

Authors: Kyung Bae Park, Sung Ho Ha

Abstract:

Online user-generated contents (UGC) significantly change the way customers behave (e.g., shop, travel), and a pressing need to handle the overwhelmingly plethora amount of various UGC is one of the paramount issues for management. However, a current approach (e.g., sentiment analysis) is often ineffective for leveraging textual information to detect the problems or issues that a certain management suffers from. In this paper, we employ text mining of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) on a popular online review site dedicated to complaint from users. We find that the employed LDA efficiently detects customer complaints, and a further inspection with the visualization technique is effective to categorize the problems or issues. As such, management can identify the issues at stake and prioritize them accordingly in a timely manner given the limited amount of resources. The findings provide managerial insights into how analytics on social media can help maintain and improve their reputation management. Our interdisciplinary approach also highlights several insights by applying machine learning techniques in marketing research domain. On a broader technical note, this paper illustrates the details of how to implement LDA in R program from a beginning (data collection in R) to an end (LDA analysis in R) since the instruction is still largely undocumented. In this regard, it will help lower the boundary for interdisciplinary researcher to conduct related research.

Keywords: Latent Dirichlet allocation, R program, text mining, topic model, user generated contents, visualization.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1216
328 An Exploratory Study on the Difference between Online and Offline Conformity Behavior among Chinese College Students

Authors: Xinyue Ma, Dishen Zhang, Yijun Liu, Yutian Jiang, Huiyan Yu, Chufeng Gu

Abstract:

Conformity is defined as one in a social group changing his or her behavior to match the others’ behavior in the group. It is used to find that people show a higher level of online conformity behavior than offline. However, as anonymity can decrease the level of online conformity behavior, the difference between online and offline conformity behavior among Chinese college students still needs to be tested. In this study, college students (N = 60) have been randomly assigned into three groups: control group, offline experimental group, and online experimental group. Through comparing the results of offline experimental group and online experimental group with the Mann-Whitney U test, this study verified the results of Asch’s experiment, and found out that people show a lower level of online conformity behavior than offline, which contradicted the previous finding found in China. These results can be used to explain why some people make a lot of vicious remarks and radical ideas on the Internet but perform normally in their real life: the anonymity of the network makes the online group pressure less than offline, so people are less likely to conform to social norms and public opinions on the Internet. What is more, these results support the importance and relevance of online voting, because fewer online group pressures make it easier for people to expose their true ideas, thus gathering more comprehensive and truthful views and opinions.

Keywords: Anonymity, Asch’s group conformity, Chinese college students, online conformity.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 623
327 The Influence of the Types of Smoke Powder and Storage Duration on Sensory Quality of Balinese Beef and Buffalo Meatballs

Authors: E. Abustam, M. I. Said, M. Yusuf, H. M. Ali

Abstract:

This study aims to examine the sensory quality of meatballs made from Balinese beef and buffalo meat after the addition of smoke powder prior to storage at the temperatures of 2- 5°C for 7 days. This study used meat from Longissimus dorsi muscle of male Balinese cattle aged 3 years and of male buffalo aged 5 years as the main raw materials, and smoke powder as a binder and preservative in making meatballs. The study was based on completely randomized design (CRD) of factorial pattern of 2 x 3 x 2 where factors 1, 2 and 3 included the types of meat (cattle and buffalo), types of smoke powder (oven dried, freeze dried and spray dried) with a level of 2% of the weight of the meat (w/w), and storage duration (0 and 7 days) with three replications, respectively. The parameters measured were the meatball sensory quality (scores of tenderness, firmness, chewing residue, and intensity of flavor). The results of this study show that each type of meat has produced different sensory characteristics. The meatballs made from buffalo meat have higher tenderness and elasticity scores than the Balinese beef. Meanwhile, the buffalo meatballs have a lower residue mastication score than the Balinese beef. Each type of smoke powders has produced a relatively similar sensory quality of meatballs. It can be concluded that the smoke powder of 2% of the weight of the meat (w/w) could maintain the sensory quality of the meatballs for 7 days of storage.

Keywords: Balinese beef meatballs, buffalo meatballs, sensory quality, smoke powder.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1707
326 A Machine Learning Approach for Earthquake Prediction in Various Zones Based on Solar Activity

Authors: Viacheslav Shkuratskyy, Aminu Bello Usman, Michael O’Dea, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Saifur Rahman Sabuj

Abstract:

This paper examines relationships between solar activity and earthquakes, it applied machine learning techniques: K-nearest neighbour, support vector regression, random forest regression, and long short-term memory network. Data from the SILSO World Data Center, the NOAA National Center, the GOES satellite, NASA OMNIWeb, and the United States Geological Survey were used for the experiment. The 23rd and 24th solar cycles, daily sunspot number, solar wind velocity, proton density, and proton temperature were all included in the dataset. The study also examined sunspots, solar wind, and solar flares, which all reflect solar activity, and earthquake frequency distribution by magnitude and depth. The findings showed that the long short-term memory network model predicts earthquakes more correctly than the other models applied in the study, and solar activity is more likely to effect earthquakes of lower magnitude and shallow depth than earthquakes of magnitude 5.5 or larger with intermediate depth and deep depth

.

Keywords: K-Nearest Neighbour, Support Vector Regression, Random Forest Regression, Long Short-Term Memory Network, earthquakes, solar activity, sunspot number, solar wind, solar flares.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 209
325 Kinetic and Removable of Amoxicillin Using Aliquat336 as a Carrier via a HFSLM

Authors: Teerapon Pirom, Ura Pancharoen

Abstract:

Amoxicillin is an antibiotic which is widely used to treat various infections in both human beings and animals. However, when amoxicillin is released into the environment, it is a major problem. Amoxicillin causes bacterial resistance to these drugs and failure of treatment with antibiotics. Liquid membrane is of great interest as a promising method for the separation and recovery of the target ions from aqueous solutions due to the use of carriers for the transport mechanism, resulting in highly selectivity and rapid transportation of the desired metal ions. The simultaneous processes of extraction and stripping in a single unit operation of liquid membrane system are very interesting. Therefore, it is practical to apply liquid membrane, particularly the HFSLM for industrial applications as HFSLM is proved to be a separation process with lower capital and operating costs, low energy and extractant with long life time, high selectivity and high fluxes compared with solid membranes. It is a simple design amenable to scaling up for industrial applications. The extraction and recovery for (Amoxicillin) through the hollow fiber supported liquid membrane (HFSLM) using aliquat336 as a carrier were explored with the experimental data. The important variables affecting on transport of amoxicillin viz. extractant concentration and operating time were investigated. The highest AMOX- extraction percentages of 85.35 and Amoxicillin stripping of 80.04 were achieved with the best condition at 6 mmol/L [aliquat336] and operating time 100 min. The extraction reaction order (n) and the extraction reaction rate constant (kf) were found to be 1.00 and 0.0344 min-1, respectively.

Keywords: Aliquat336, amoxicillin, HFSLM, kinetic.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1700
324 Stock Price Forecast by Using Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System

Authors: Ebrahim Abbasi, Amir Abouec

Abstract:

In this research, the researchers have managed to design a model to investigate the current trend of stock price of the "IRAN KHODRO corporation" at Tehran Stock Exchange by utilizing an Adaptive Neuro - Fuzzy Inference system. For the Longterm Period, a Neuro-Fuzzy with two Triangular membership functions and four independent Variables including trade volume, Dividend Per Share (DPS), Price to Earning Ratio (P/E), and also closing Price and Stock Price fluctuation as an dependent variable are selected as an optimal model. For the short-term Period, a neureo – fuzzy model with two triangular membership functions for the first quarter of a year, two trapezoidal membership functions for the Second quarter of a year, two Gaussian combination membership functions for the third quarter of a year and two trapezoidal membership functions for the fourth quarter of a year were selected as an optimal model for the stock price forecasting. In addition, three independent variables including trade volume, price to earning ratio, closing Stock Price and a dependent variable of stock price fluctuation were selected as an optimal model. The findings of the research demonstrate that the trend of stock price could be forecasted with the lower level of error.

Keywords: Stock Price forecast, membership functions, Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System, trade volume, P/E, DPS.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2614
323 Physical Habitat Simulation and Comparison within a Lerma River Reach, with Respect to the Same but Modified Reach, to Create a Linear Park

Authors: Ezequiel Garcia-Rodriguez, Luis A. Ochoa-Franco, Adrian I. Cervantes-Servin

Abstract:

In this work, the Ictalurus punctatus species estimated available physical habitat is compared with the estimated physical habitat for the same but modified river reach, with the aim of creating a linear park, along a length of 5 500 m. To determine the effect of ecological park construction, on physical habitat of the Lerma river stretch of study, first, the available habitat for the Ictalurus punctatus species was estimated through the simulation of the physical habitat, by using surveying, hydraulics, and habitat information gotten at the river reach in its actual situation. Second, it was estimated the available habitat for the above species, upon the simulation of the physical habitat through the proposed modification for the ecological park creation. Third, it is presented a comparison between both scenarios in terms of available habitat estimated for Ictalurus punctatus species, concluding that in cases of adult and spawning life stages, changes in the channel to create an ecological park would produce a considerable loss of potentially usable habitat (PUH), while in the case of the juvenile life stage PUH remains virtually unchanged, and in the case of life stage fry the PUH would increase due to the presence of velocities and depths of lesser magnitude, due to the presence of minor flow rates and lower volume of the wet channel. It is expected that habitat modification for linear park construction may produce the lack of Ictalurus punktatus species conservation at the river reach of the study.

Keywords: Habitat modification, Ictalurus punctatus, Lerma, river, linear park.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1609
322 Improving Activity Recognition Classification of Repetitious Beginner Swimming Using a 2-Step Peak/Valley Segmentation Method with Smoothing and Resampling for Machine Learning

Authors: Larry Powell, Seth Polsley, Drew Casey, Tracy Hammond

Abstract:

Human activity recognition (HAR) systems have shown positive performance when recognizing repetitive activities like walking, running, and sleeping. Water-based activities are a reasonably new area for activity recognition. However, water-based activity recognition has largely focused on supporting the elite and competitive swimming population, which already has amazing coordination and proper form. Beginner swimmers are not perfect, and activity recognition needs to support the individual motions to help beginners. Activity recognition algorithms are traditionally built around short segments of timed sensor data. Using a time window input can cause performance issues in the machine learning model. The window’s size can be too small or large, requiring careful tuning and precise data segmentation. In this work, we present a method that uses a time window as the initial segmentation, then separates the data based on the change in the sensor value. Our system uses a multi-phase segmentation method that pulls all peaks and valleys for each axis of an accelerometer placed on the swimmer’s lower back. This results in high recognition performance using leave-one-subject-out validation on our study with 20 beginner swimmers, with our model optimized from our final dataset resulting in an F-Score of 0.95.

Keywords: Time window, peak/valley segmentation, feature extraction, beginner swimming, activity recognition.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 206
321 An Inflatable and Foldable Knee Exosuit Based on Intelligent Management of Biomechanical Energy

Authors: Jing Fang, Yao Cui, Mingming Wang, Shengli She, Jianping Yuan

Abstract:

Wearable robotics is a potential solution in aiding gait rehabilitation of lower limbs dyskinesia patients, such as knee osteoarthritis or stroke afflicted patients. Many wearable robots have been developed in the form of rigid exoskeletons, but their bulk devices, high cost and control complexity hinder their popularity in the field of gait rehabilitation. Thus, the development of a portable, compliant and low-cost wearable robot for gait rehabilitation is necessary. Inspired by Chinese traditional folding fans and balloon inflators, the authors present an inflatable, foldable and variable stiffness knee exosuit (IFVSKE) in this paper. The pneumatic actuator of IFVSKE was fabricated in the shape of folding fans by using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fabric materials. The geometric and mechanical properties of IFVSKE were characterized with experimental methods. To assist the knee joint smartly, an intelligent control profile for IFVSKE was proposed based on the concept of full-cycle energy management of the biomechanical energy during human movement. The biomechanical energy of knee joints in a walking gait cycle of patients could be collected and released to assist the joint motion just by adjusting the inner pressure of IFVSKE. Finally, a healthy subject was involved to walk with and without the IFVSKE to evaluate the assisting effects.

Keywords: Biomechanical energy management, gait rehabilitation, knee exosuit, wearable robotics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1167
320 Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in the Contaminated and Uncontaminated Soils

Authors: S. A. Nta

Abstract:

Application of health risk assessment methods is important in order to comprehend the risk of human exposure to heavy metals and other dangerous pollutants. Four soil samples were collected at distances of 10, 20, 30 m and the control 100 m away from the dump site at depths of 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 m. The collected soil samples were examined for Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd and Ni using standard methods. The health risks via the main pathways of human exposure to heavy metal were detected using relevant standard equations. Hazard quotient was calculated to determine non-carcinogenic health risk for each individual heavy metal. Life time cancer risk was calculated to determine the cumulative life cancer rating for each exposure pathway. The estimated health risk values for adults and children were generally lower than the reference dose. The calculated hazard quotient for the ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact pathways were less than unity. This means that there is no detrimental concern to the health on human exposure to heavy metals in contaminated soil. The life time cancer risk 5.4 × 10-2 was higher than the acceptable threshold value of 1 × 10-4 which is reflected to have significant health effects on human exposure to heavy metals in contaminated soil. Good hygienic practices are recommended to ease the potential risk to children and adult who are exposed to contaminated soils. Also, the local authorities should be made aware of such health risks for the purpose of planning the management strategy accordingly.

Keywords: Health risk assessment, pollution, heavy metals, soil.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1156
319 Conventional and PSO Based Approaches for Model Reduction of SISO Discrete Systems

Authors: S. K. Tomar, R. Prasad, S. Panda, C. Ardil

Abstract:

Reduction of Single Input Single Output (SISO) discrete systems into lower order model, using a conventional and an evolutionary technique is presented in this paper. In the conventional technique, the mixed advantages of Modified Cauer Form (MCF) and differentiation are used. In this method the original discrete system is, first, converted into equivalent continuous system by applying bilinear transformation. The denominator of the equivalent continuous system and its reciprocal are differentiated successively, the reduced denominator of the desired order is obtained by combining the differentiated polynomials. The numerator is obtained by matching the quotients of MCF. The reduced continuous system is converted back into discrete system using inverse bilinear transformation. In the evolutionary technique method, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is employed to reduce the higher order model. PSO method is based on the minimization of the Integral Squared Error (ISE) between the transient responses of original higher order model and the reduced order model pertaining to a unit step input. Both the methods are illustrated through numerical example.

Keywords: Discrete System, Single Input Single Output (SISO), Bilinear Transformation, Reduced Order Model, Modified CauerForm, Polynomial Differentiation, Particle Swarm Optimization, Integral Squared Error.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1943
318 The Role of the Accused’s Attorney in the Criminal Justice System of Iran, Mashhad 2014

Authors: Mahdi Karimi

Abstract:

One of the most basic standards of fair trial is the right to defense, hire an attorney and its presence in the hearing stages. On the one hand, based on the reason and justice, as the legal issues, particularly criminal affairs, become complicated, the accused must benefit from an attorney in the court in order to defend itself which requires legal knowledge. On the other hand, as the judicial system has jurists such as investigation judges at its disposal, the accused must enjoy the same right to defend itself and reject allegations so that the balance is maintained between the litigating parties based on the principle of "equality of arms". The right to adequate time and facilities for defense is cited among the principles and rights relevant to the proceedings in international regulations such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The innovations made in the Code of Criminal Procedure in 2013 guaranteed the presence of the accused’s attorney in the proceedings. The present study aims at assessing the result of the aforementioned guarantee in practice and made attempts to investigate the effect of the presence of accused’s attorney on reducing the punishment by asking the question and addressing the statistical population of this study including 48 judges of lower courts and courts of appeal. It seems that in despite of guarantees provided in the new Code of Criminal Procedure, Iran's penal system, does not tolerate the presence of an attorney in practice.

Keywords: Defense attorney, equality of arms, fair trial, reducing the penalty, right to defense.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1402
317 Detailed Sensitive Detection of Impurities in Waste Engine Oils Using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, Rotating Disk Electrode Optical Emission Spectroscopy and Surface Plasmon Resonance

Authors: Cherry Dhiman, Ayushi Paliwal, Mohd. Shahid Khan, M. N. Reddy, Vinay Gupta, Monika Tomar

Abstract:

The laser based high resolution spectroscopic experimental techniques such as Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Rotating Disk Electrode Optical Emission spectroscopy (RDE-OES) and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) have been used for the study of composition and degradation analysis of used engine oils. Engine oils are mainly composed of aliphatic and aromatics compounds and its soot contains hazardous components in the form of fine, coarse and ultrafine particles consisting of wear metal elements. Such coarse particulates matter (PM) and toxic elements are extremely dangerous for human health that can cause respiratory and genetic disorder in humans. The combustible soot from thermal power plants, industry, aircrafts, ships and vehicles can lead to the environmental and climate destabilization. It contributes towards global pollution for land, water, air and global warming for environment. The detection of such toxicants in the form of elemental analysis is a very serious issue for the waste material management of various organic, inorganic hydrocarbons and radioactive waste elements. In view of such important points, the current study on used engine oils was performed. The fundamental characterization of engine oils was conducted by measuring water content and kinematic viscosity test that proves the crude analysis of the degradation of used engine oils samples. The microscopic quantitative and qualitative analysis was presented by RDE-OES technique which confirms the presence of elemental impurities of Pb, Al, Cu, Si, Fe, Cr, Na and Ba lines for used waste engine oil samples in few ppm. The presence of such elemental impurities was confirmed by LIBS spectral analysis at various transition levels of atomic line. The recorded transition line of Pb confirms the maximum degradation which was found in used engine oil sample no. 3 and 4. Apart from the basic tests, the calculations for dielectric constants and refractive index of the engine oils were performed via SPR analysis.

Keywords: Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy, rotating disk electrode optical emission spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance, ICCD spectrometer, Nd:YAG laser, engine oil.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 753
316 Design of Multiband Microstrip Antenna Using Stepped Cut Method for WLAN/WiMAX and C/Ku-Band Applications

Authors: Ahmed Boutejdar, Bishoy I. Halim, Soumia El Hani, Larbi Bellarbi, Amal Afyf

Abstract:

In this paper, a planar monopole antenna for multi band applications is proposed. The antenna structure operates at three operating frequencies at 3.7, 6.2, and 13.5 GHz which cover different communication frequency ranges. The antenna consists of a quasi-modified rectangular radiating patch with a partial ground plane and two parasitic elements (open-loop-ring resonators) to serve as coupling-bridges. A stepped cut at lower corners of the radiating patch and the partial ground plane are used, to achieve the multiband features. The proposed antenna is manufactured on the FR4 substrate and is simulated and optimized using High Frequency Simulation System (HFSS). The antenna topology possesses an area of 30.5 x 30 x 1.6 mm3. The measured results demonstrate that the candidate antenna has impedance bandwidths for 10 dB return loss and operates from 3.80 – 3.90 GHz, 4.10 – 5.20 GHz, 11.2 – 11.5 GHz and from 12.5 – 14.0 GHz, which meet the requirements of the wireless local area network (WLAN), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), C- (Uplink) and Ku- (Uplink) band applications. Acceptable agreement is obtained between measurement and simulation results. Experimental results show that the antenna is successfully simulated and measured, and the tri-band antenna can be achieved by adjusting the lengths of the three elements and it gives good gains across all the operation bands.

Keywords: Planar monopole antenna, FR4 substrate, HFSS, WLAN, WiMAX, C & Ku.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 969
315 Differential Sensitivity of Nitrogen-Fixing, Filamentous Cyanobacterial Species to an Organochlorine Insecticide - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10- Hexachloro-1, 5, 5a, 6, 9, 9a-Hexahydro-6, 9- Methano-2, 4, 3-Benzodioxathiepine-3-Oxide

Authors: Nirmal J.I. Kumar, Anubhuti A. Bora, Manmeet K. Amb

Abstract:

Application of pesticides in the paddy fields has deleterious effects on non-target organisms including cyanobacteria which are photosynthesizing and nitrogen fixing micro-organisms contributing significantly towards soil fertility and crop yield. Pesticide contamination in the paddy fields has manifested into a serious global environmental concern. To study the effect of one such pesticide, three cyanobacterial strains; Anabaena fertilissima, Aulosira fertilissima and Westiellopsis prolifica were selected for their stress responses to an Organochlorine insecticide - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10-hexachloro-1, 5, 5a, 6, 9, 9a-hexahydro-6, 9-methano-2, 4, 3- benzodioxathiepine-3-oxide, with reference to their photosynthesic pigments-chlorophyll-a and carotenoids as well as accessory pigments-phycobiliproteins (phycocyanin, allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin), stress induced biochemical metabolites like carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, phenols and enzymes-nitrate reductase, glutamine synthetase and succinate dehydrogenase. All the three cyanobacterial strains were adversely affected by the insecticide doses and inhibition was dose dependent. Reduction in photosynthetic and accessory pigments, metabolites, nitrogen fixing and respiratory enzymes of the test organisms were accompanied with an initial increase in their total protein at lower Organochlorine doses. On the other hand, increased amount of phenols in all the insecticide treated concentrations was indicative of stressed activities of the organisms.

Keywords: biochemical metabolites, endosulfan, enzymes, pigments

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2107
314 Effect of Oral Administration of “Gadagi“ Tea on Liver Function in Rats

Authors: A. M. Gadanya, M. S. Sule, M. K. Atiku

Abstract:

Effect of oral administration of “Gadagi" tea on liver function was assessed on 50 healthy male albino rats which were grouped and administered with different doses(mg/kg) i.e low dose (380mg/kg, 415mg/kg, 365mg/kg, 315mg/kg for “sak", “sada" and “magani" respectively), standard dose ( 760mg/kg, 830mg/kg, 730mg/kg for “sak-, “sada" and “magani" respectively) and high dose (1500mg/kg, 1700mg/kg and 1460mg/kg for “sak--,"sada" and “magani" groups respectively) for a period of four weeks. Animals that were not administered with the tea constituted the control group. At the end of fourth week, the animals were sacrificed and their serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), and globulins (GLO) were determined. Mean serum ALT and ALP activities were significantly higher (P<0.05) in rats orally administered with high dose of “sak" and those administered with standard dose of “sada" than those of the control group, suggesting a probable impairment of liver function due to liver cytolysis.Mean serum AST, ALT and ALP activities were significantly lower (P<0.05) in rats that were orally administered with high dose of “magani" than that of the control group, suggesting a probable improvement in liver function (due to decrease in liver cytolysis). Mean serum TP, ALB and GLO levels were significantly higher (P<0.05) in rats that were orally administered with the various doses of“sak", “sada" and “magani" than those of the control group. This also suggests a probable improvement in the synthetic function of the liver.Thus, some dosages of “sak" and “sada could be hepatotoxic, whereas “magani" especially at the high dose administered could have pharmacologically positive effect on the liver of the rats.

Keywords: Gadagi" tea, Liver function, Oral, Rats.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1856
313 Comparison of Regime Transition between Ellipsoidal and Spherical Particle Assemblies in a Model Shear Cell

Authors: M. Hossain, H. P. Zhu, A. B. Yu

Abstract:

This paper presents a numerical investigation of regime transition of flow of ellipsoidal particles and a comparison with that of spherical particle assembly. Particle assemblies constituting spherical and ellipsoidal particle of 2.5:1 aspect ratio are examined at separate instances in similar flow conditions in a shear cell model that is numerically developed based on the discrete element method. Correlations among elastically scaled stress, kinetically scaled stress, coordination number and volume fraction are investigated, and show important similarities and differences for the spherical and ellipsoidal particle assemblies. In particular, volume fractions at points of regime transition are identified for both types of particles. It is found that compared with spherical particle assembly, ellipsoidal particle assembly has higher volume fraction for the quasistatic to intermediate regime transition and lower volume fraction for the intermediate to inertial regime transition. Finally, the relationship between coordination number and volume fraction shows strikingly distinct features for the two cases, suggesting that different from spherical particles, the effect of the shear rate on the coordination number is not significant for ellipsoidal particles. This work provides a glimpse of currently running work on one of the most attractive scopes of research in this field and has a wide prospect in understanding rheology of more complex shaped particles in light of the strong basis of simpler spherical particle rheology.

Keywords: Discrete element method, granular rheology, non-spherical particles, regime transition

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1512
312 Investigation of Heat Transfer by Natural Convection in an Open Channel

Authors: Mahmoud S. Ahmed, Hany A. Mohamed, Mohamed A. Omara, Mohamed F. Abdeen

Abstract:

Experimental study of natural convection heat transfer inside smooth and rough surfaces of vertical and inclined equilateral triangular channels of different inclination angles with a uniformly heated surface are performed. The inclination angle is changed from 15º to 90º. Smooth and rough surface of average roughness (0.02mm) are used and their effect on the heat transfer characteristics are studied. The local and average heat transfer coefficients and Nusselt number are obtained for smooth and rough channels at different heat flux values, different inclination angles and different Rayleigh numbers (Ra) 6.48 × 105 ≤ Ra ≤ 4.78 × 106. The results show that the local Nusselt number decreases with increase of axial distance from the lower end of the triangular channel to a point near the upper end of channel, and then, it slightly increases. Higher values of local Nusselt number for rough channel along the axial distance compared with the smooth channel. The average Nusselt number of rough channel is higher than that of smooth channel by about 8.1% for inclined case at θ = 45o and 10% for vertical case. The results obtained are correlated using dimensionless groups for both rough and smooth surfaces of the inclined and vertical triangular channels.

Keywords: Natural heat transfer convection, constant heat flux, open channels, heat transfer.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2363
311 Water and Beverage Consumption among Children and Adolescents in Tehran Metropolitan City of Iran

Authors: Mitra Abtahi, Esmat Nasseri, Morteza Abodllahi

Abstract:

Introduction: Adequate hydration is necessary for proper physical and mental function. The aim of this study is to determine the consumption of water and all other beverages in children (8-13 years) and adolescents (14-17 years) in Tehran metropolitan city of Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 455 children (8-13 years) and 334 adolescents (14-17 years) were retrieved from north, center, and south of Tehran (18 schools). Instrument for data collection consisted of a “demographic and general health” questionnaire and a “7-day fluid record”. Data analyses were performed with SPSS 16 software. Results: The mean total consumption of fluids in school children was 1302 ± 500.6 ml/day. The highest mean intakes were observed for water (666 ± 398 ml/day), followed by milk (239 ± 183 ml/day), regular soft beverages (RSB) (188 ± 148 ml/day), and juices (60 ± 74 ml/day). Water, hot drinks (mainly tea) and soft drinks intake was significantly more in boys than girls. A significantly lower intake of milk and a higher intake of RSB and hot beverages (mainly tea) have been seen among adolescents compared to children. Conclusion: The most important finding is that mean fluid intake of children and adolescents does not meet international adequate intake references for water and fluids. This finding may suggest the necessity of development of the local references. To improve fluid intake habits of children and adolescents, relevant policy making and actions are warranted.

Keywords: Adolescents, beverages, children, water.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 670
310 Inductions of CaC2 on Sperm Morphology and Viability of the Albino Mice (Mus musculus)

Authors: Dike H. Ogbuagu, Etsede J. Oritsematosan

Abstract:

This work investigated possible inductions of CaC2, often misused by fruit vendors to stimulate artificial ripening, on mammalian sperm morphology and viability. Thirty isogenic strains of male albino mice, Mus musculus (age≈ 8weeks; weight= 32.52.0g) were acclimatized (ambient temperature 28.0±1.0°C) for 2 weeks and fed standard growers mash and water ad libutum. They were later exposed to graded toxicant concentrations (w/w) of 2.5000, 1.2500, 0.6250, and 0.3125% in 4 cages. A control cage was also established. After 5 weeks, 3 animals from each cage were sacrificed by cervical dislocation and the cauda epididymis excised. Sperm morphology and viability were determined by microscopic procedures. The ANOVA, means plots, Student’s t-test and variation plots were used to analyze data. The common abnormalities observed included Double Head, Pin Head, Knobbed Head, No Tail and With Hook. The higher toxicant concentrations induced significantly lower body weights [F(829.899) ˃ Fcrit(4.19)] and more abnormalities [F(26.52) ˃ Fcrit(4.00)] at P˂0.05. Sperm cells in the control setup were significantly more viable than those in the 0.625% (t=0.005) and 2.500% toxicant doses (t=0.018) at the 95% confidence limit. CaC2 appeared to induced morphological abnormalities and reduced viability in sperm cells of M. musculus.

Keywords: Artificial ripening, Calcium carbide, fruit vendors, sperm morphology, sperm viability.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1397
309 Feature Reduction of Nearest Neighbor Classifiers using Genetic Algorithm

Authors: M. Analoui, M. Fadavi Amiri

Abstract:

The design of a pattern classifier includes an attempt to select, among a set of possible features, a minimum subset of weakly correlated features that better discriminate the pattern classes. This is usually a difficult task in practice, normally requiring the application of heuristic knowledge about the specific problem domain. The selection and quality of the features representing each pattern have a considerable bearing on the success of subsequent pattern classification. Feature extraction is the process of deriving new features from the original features in order to reduce the cost of feature measurement, increase classifier efficiency, and allow higher classification accuracy. Many current feature extraction techniques involve linear transformations of the original pattern vectors to new vectors of lower dimensionality. While this is useful for data visualization and increasing classification efficiency, it does not necessarily reduce the number of features that must be measured since each new feature may be a linear combination of all of the features in the original pattern vector. In this paper a new approach is presented to feature extraction in which feature selection, feature extraction, and classifier training are performed simultaneously using a genetic algorithm. In this approach each feature value is first normalized by a linear equation, then scaled by the associated weight prior to training, testing, and classification. A knn classifier is used to evaluate each set of feature weights. The genetic algorithm optimizes a vector of feature weights, which are used to scale the individual features in the original pattern vectors in either a linear or a nonlinear fashion. By this approach, the number of features used in classifying can be finely reduced.

Keywords: Feature reduction, genetic algorithm, pattern classification, nearest neighbor rule classifiers (k-NNR).

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1769
308 Design and Performance Analysis of One Dimensional Zero Cross-Correlation Coding Technique for a Fixed Wavelength Hopping SAC-OCDMA

Authors: Satyasen Panda, Urmila Bhanja

Abstract:

This paper presents a SAC-OCDMA code with zero cross correlation property to minimize the Multiple Access Interface (MAI) as New Zero Cross Correlation code (NZCC), which is found to be more scalable compared to the other existing SAC-OCDMA codes. This NZCC code is constructed using address segment and data segment. In this work, the proposed NZCC code is implemented in an optical system using the Opti-System software for the spectral amplitude coded optical code-division multiple-access (SAC-OCDMA) scheme. The main contribution of the proposed NZCC code is the zero cross correlation, which reduces both the MAI and PIIN noises. The proposed NZCC code reveals properties of minimum cross-correlation, flexibility in selecting the code parameters and supports a large number of users, combined with high data rate and longer fiber length. Simulation results reveal that the optical code division multiple access system based on the proposed NZCC code accommodates maximum number of simultaneous users with higher data rate transmission, lower Bit Error Rates (BER) and longer travelling distance without any signal quality degradation, as compared to the former existing SAC-OCDMA codes.

Keywords: Cross Correlation, Optical Code Division Multiple Access, Spectral Amplitude Coding Optical Code Division Multiple Access, Multiple Access Interference, Phase Induced Intensity Noise, New Zero Cross Correlation code.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2244
307 Feasibility Study of Friction Stir Welding Application for Kevlar Material

Authors: Ahmet Taşan, Süha Tirkeş, Yavuz Öztürk, Zafer Bingül

Abstract:

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a joining process in the solid state, which eliminates problems associated with the material melting and solidification, such as cracks, residual stresses and distortions generated during conventional welding. Among the most important advantages of FSW are; easy automation, less distortion, lower residual stress and good mechanical properties in the joining region. FSW is a recent approach to metal joining and although originally intended for aluminum alloys, it is investigated in a variety of metallic materials. The basic concept of FSW is a rotating tool, made of non-consumable material, specially designed with a geometry consisting of a pin and a recess (shoulder). This tool is inserted as spinning on its axis at the adjoining edges of two sheets or plates to be joined and then it travels along the joining path line. The tool rotation axis defines an angle of inclination with which the components to be welded. This angle is used for receiving the material to be processed at the tool base and to promote the gradual forge effect imposed by the shoulder during the passage of the tool. This prevents the material plastic flow at the tool lateral, ensuring weld closure on the back of the pin. In this study, two 4 mm Kevlar® plates which were produced with the Kevlar® fabrics, are analyzed with COMSOL Multiphysics in order to investigate the weldability via FSW. Thereafter, some experimental investigation is done with an appropriate workbench in order to compare them with the analysis results.

Keywords: Analytical modeling, composite materials welding, friction stir welding, heat generation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1112
306 The Effect of Curcumin on Cryopreserved Bovine Semen

Authors: Eva Tvrdá, Marek Halenár, Hana Greifová, Alica Mackovich, Faridullah Hashim, Norbert Lukáč

Abstract:

Oxidative stress associated with semen cryopreservation may result in lipid peroxidation (LPO), DNA damage and apoptosis, leading to decreased sperm motility and fertilization ability. Curcumin (CUR), a natural phenol isolated from Curcuma longa Linn. has been presented as a possible supplement for a more effective semen cryopreservation because of its antioxidant properties. This study focused to evaluate the effects of CUR on selected oxidative stress parameters in cryopreserved bovine semen. 20 bovine ejaculates were split into two aliquots and diluted with a commercial semen extender containing CUR (50 μmol/L) or no supplement (control), cooled to 4 °C, frozen and kept in liquid nitrogen. Frozen straws were thawed in a water bath for subsequent experiments. Computer assisted semen analysis was used to evaluate spermatozoa motility, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was quantified by using luminometry. Superoxide generation was evaluated with the NBT test, and LPO was assessed via the TBARS assay. CUR supplementation significantly (P<0.001) increased the spermatozoa motility and provided a significantly higher protection against ROS (P<0.001) or superoxide (P<0.01) overgeneration caused by semen freezing and thawing. Furthermore, CUR administration resulted in a significantly (P<0.01) lower LPO of the experimental semen samples. In conclusion, CUR exhibits significant ROS-scavenging activities which may prevent oxidative insults to cryopreserved spermatozoa and thus may enhance the post-thaw functional activity of male gametes.

Keywords: Bulls, cryopreservation, curcumin, lipid peroxidation, reactive oxygen species, spermatozoa.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2165
305 Long-Term Economic-Ecological Assessment of Optimal Local Heat-Generating Technologies for the German Unrefurbished Residential Building Stock on the Quarter Level

Authors: M. A. Spielmann, L. Schebek

Abstract:

In order to reach the long-term national climate goals of the German government for the building sector, substantial energetic measures have to be executed. Historically, those measures were primarily energetic efficiency measures at the buildings’ shells. Advanced technologies for the on-site generation of heat (or other types of energy) often are not feasible at this small spatial scale of a single building. Therefore, the present approach uses the spatially larger dimension of a quarter. The main focus of the present paper is the long-term economic-ecological assessment of available decentralized heat-generating (CHP power plants and electrical heat pumps) technologies at the quarter level for the German unrefurbished residential buildings. Three distinct terms have to be described methodologically: i) Quarter approach, ii) Economic assessment, iii) Ecological assessment. The quarter approach is used to enable synergies and scaling effects over a single-building. For the present study, generic quarters that are differentiated according to significant parameters concerning their heat demand are used. The core differentiation of those quarters is made by the construction time period of the buildings. The economic assessment as the second crucial parameter is executed with the following structure: Full costs are quantized for each technology combination and quarter. The investment costs are analyzed on an annual basis and are modeled with the acquisition of debt. Annuity loans are assumed. Consequently, for each generic quarter, an optimal technology combination for decentralized heat generation is provided in each year of the temporal boundaries (2016-2050). The ecological assessment elaborates for each technology combination and each quarter a Life Cycle assessment. The measured impact category hereby is GWP 100. The technology combinations for heat production can be therefore compared against each other concerning their long-term climatic impacts. Core results of the approach can be differentiated to an economic and ecological dimension. With an annual resolution, the investment and running costs of different energetic technology combinations are quantified. For each quarter an optimal technology combination for local heat supply and/or energetic refurbishment of the buildings within the quarter is provided. Coherently to the economic assessment, the climatic impacts of the technology combinations are quantized and compared against each other.

Keywords: Building sector, heat, LCA, quarter level, systemic approach.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 947
304 Regression Approach for Optimal Purchase of Hosts Cluster in Fixed Fund for Hadoop Big Data Platform

Authors: Haitao Yang, Jianming Lv, Fei Xu, Xintong Wang, Yilin Huang, Lanting Xia, Xuewu Zhu

Abstract:

Given a fixed fund, purchasing fewer hosts of higher capability or inversely more of lower capability is a must-be-made trade-off in practices for building a Hadoop big data platform. An exploratory study is presented for a Housing Big Data Platform project (HBDP), where typical big data computing is with SQL queries of aggregate, join, and space-time condition selections executed upon massive data from more than 10 million housing units. In HBDP, an empirical formula was introduced to predict the performance of host clusters potential for the intended typical big data computing, and it was shaped via a regression approach. With this empirical formula, it is easy to suggest an optimal cluster configuration. The investigation was based on a typical Hadoop computing ecosystem HDFS+Hive+Spark. A proper metric was raised to measure the performance of Hadoop clusters in HBDP, which was tested and compared with its predicted counterpart, on executing three kinds of typical SQL query tasks. Tests were conducted with respect to factors of CPU benchmark, memory size, virtual host division, and the number of element physical host in cluster. The research has been applied to practical cluster procurement for housing big data computing.

Keywords: Hadoop platform planning, optimal cluster scheme at fixed-fund, performance empirical formula, typical SQL query tasks.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 838
303 Influence of Canola Oil and Lysine Supplementation Diets on Growth Performance and Fatty Acid Composition of Meat in Broiler Chicks

Authors: Ali Kiani, Seyed Davod. Sharifi, Shokoufeh Ghazanfari

Abstract:

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of diets containing different levels of lysine and canola oil on growth performance and fatty acid composition of meat of broilers chicks. 240-day old Ross broiler chicks were used in a 3×2 factorial arrangement with canola oil (1, 3, and 5%) and lysine (recommended, and 25% more than recommended by Ross broiler manual) in completely randomized design with four replicates and 10 birds per each. The experimental diets were iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. Feed intake and body weight gain were recorded at the end of starter (10 d), grower (24 d) and finisher (42 d) periods, and feed conversion ratio was calculated. The results showed that the weight gain of chickens fed diets containing 5% canola oil were greater than those of birds fed on other diets (P<0.05). The dietary lysine had significant effect on feed intake and diets with 25% more than recommended, increased feed intake significantly (P<0.05). The canola oil×lysine interaction effects on performance were not significant. Among all treatment birds, those fed diets containing 5% canola oil had the highest meristic acid and oleic acid content in their meat. Broilers fed diets containing 3 or 5% canola oil possessed the higher content of linolenic acid and lower content of arachidonic acid in their meat (P<0.05). The results of the present experiment indicated that the diets containing canola oil (5%) and lysine at 25% higher than requirement, improve the growth performance, carcass and breast yield of broiler, and increase the accumulation of Omega-3 fatty acids in breast meat.

Keywords: Broiler, canola oil, lysine, fatty acid.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1163