Search results for: effect water cut

Authors: Muhammad Shahid, Nasir-uddin Khan, Mushtaq Hussain, Muhammad Liaquat Ali, Asif Mansoor

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Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of infectious mortality. It is primarily transmitted by the respiratory route, individuals with active disease may infect others through airborne particles which releases when they cough, talk, or sing and subsequently inhale by others. In order to study the effect of the Bacilli Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine after vaccination of TB patient, a Vaccinated Susceptible Infected and Recovered (VSIR) mathematical model is being developed to achieve the desired objectives. The mathematical model, so developed, shall be used to quantify the effect of BCG Vaccine to protect the immigrant young adult person. Moreover, equations are to be established for the disease endemic and free equilibrium states and subsequently utilized in disease stability analysis. The stability analysis will give a complete picture of disease annihilation from the total population if the total removal rate from the infectious group should be greater than total number of dormant infections produced throughout infectious period.

Keywords: Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine, disease-free equilibrium state, VSIR Quantification, disease stability analysis.

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Authors: Amin Chegenizadeh, Mahdi Keramatikerman, Hamid Nikraz

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Pavement engineering plays a significant role to develop cost effective and efficient highway and road networks. In general, pavement regarding structure is categorized in two core group namely flexible and rigid pavements. There are various benefits in application of rigid pavement. For instance, they have a longer life and lower maintenance costs in compare with the flexible pavement. In rigid pavement designs, temperature and thickness are two effective parameters that could widely affect the total cost of the project. In this study, a numerical modeling using Kenpave-Kenslab was performed to investigate the effect of these two important parameters in the rigid pavement.   

Keywords: Rigid pavement, Kenpave, Kenslab, thickness, temperature.

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

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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.

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Authors: Alireza Vakili, Ali Mortezaee, Mohsen Danesh Mesgaran

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The aim of present study was to assess the effect of glucogenic (G) and lipogenic (L) diets on blood metabolites in Baloochi lambs. Three rumen cannulated Baloochi sheep were used as a 3×3 Latin square design with 3 periods (28 days). Experimental diets were a glucogenic, a lipogenic and a mixture of G and L diets (50:50). The animals were fed diets consisted of 50% chopped alfalfa hay and 50% concentrate. Diets were fed once daily ad libitum. Blood samples were taken from jugular vein before the feeding, 2, 4 and 6 hour post feeding at day 27. Results indicated that β- hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), glucose, insulin and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were not affected by treatments (P > 0.05). However, lipogenic diet increased significantly activity of Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and concentration of non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) in blood plasma (P < 0.05)

Keywords: glucogenic, lipogenic, blood metabolites

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Authors: Sobhy Fathy A. Hashesh

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The study was carried out in the Elementary Classes of Andalus Private Schools, girls section using control and experimental groups formed by Random Assignment Strategy. The study aimed at investigating the effect of Al-Andalus Fused Curriculum (AFC) model of learning and the effect of separate subjects’ approach on the development of students’ conceptual learning and skills acquiring. The society of the study composed of Al-Andalus Private Schools, elementary school students, Girls Section (N=240), while the sample of the study composed of two randomly assigned groups (N=28) with one experimental group and one control group. The study followed the quantitative and qualitative approaches in collecting and analyzing data to investigate the study hypotheses. Results of the study revealed that there were significant statistical differences between students’ conceptual learning and skills acquiring for the favor of the experimental group. The study recommended applying this model on different educational variables and on other age groups to generate more data leading to more educational results for the favor of students’ learning outcomes.

Keywords: AFC, Lego Education, mechatronics, STEAM, Al-Andalus Fused Curriculum.

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Authors: Giorgi Chichinadze, David Shengelia, Tamara Tsutsunava, Nikoloz Maisuradze, Giorgi Beridze

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The Jalovchat intrusive is built up of hornblende gabbros, gabbro-norites and norites. Within the intrusive hornblende-bearing gabbro-pegmatites are widespread. That is a coarse-grained rock with gigantic hornblende crystals. By its unusual composition, the Jalovchat intrusive has no analogue in the Caucasus. However, petrologically and geochemically, the intrusive rocks were studied insufficiently. For comprehensive investigations, the authors applied appropriate methodologies: Microscopic study of thin sections, petro- and geochemical analyses of the samples and also different petrogenic, rare and rare earth elements diagrams and spidergrams. Analytical study established that the Jalovchat intrusive by its composition corresponds mainly to the mid-ocean ridge basalts and according to geodynamic type belongs to the subduction type. In general, it is an anomalous phenomenon, as in the rocks of such composition crystallization of hornblende and especially of its gigantic crystals is atypical. The authors believe that the water-rich magma reservoir, which was necessary for the crystallization of gigantic hornblende crystals, appeared as a result of melting of water-rich mid-ocean ridge basaltic rocks during the subduction process in Bajocian time.

Keywords: Gabbroic intrusive, petrology, geochemistry, genesis, the Caucasus.

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Authors: Saeed Rezaei-Zarchi

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Platinum oxide nanoparticles were prepared by a simple hydrothermal route and chemical reduction using carbohydrates (Fructose and sucrose) as the reducing and stabilizing agents. The crystallite size of these nanoparticles was evaluated from X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and was found to be 10 nm as shown in figure 1, which is the demonstration of EM bright field and transmission electron microscopy. The effect of carbohydrates on the morphology of the nanoparticles was studied using TEM (Figure 1). The nanoparticles (100 μg/ml) were administered to the Pseudomonas Stutzeri and Lactobacillus cultures and the incubation was done at 35 oC for 24 hours. The nanocomposites exhibited interesting inhibitory as well as bactericidal activity against P. Stutzeri and and Lactobacillus species. Incorporation of nanoparticles also increased the thermal stability of the carbohydrates.

Keywords: Platinum oxide, P. Stutzeri, Lactobacillus, bactericidal effect.

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Authors: Tian Tian, Tian Baoguang

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The paper studies implications between knowledge spillovers and technological innovation capability in the following three aspects: firstly, the paper debates on the effect of knowledge spillover on some perspectives of technological innovation ability; secondly, it discusses how different roles of knowledge spillover affect the technological innovation capability; finally, the paper creates the model of the factors of knowledge spillovers influencing to technological innovation capability. It concludes that knowledge spillovers affect all the main aspects of technological innovation ultimately to impact of technological innovation capabilities.

Keywords: Knowledge Spillover, Technological Innovation Capability, Innovation Cluster, Innovation Network Factors.

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Authors: Shinji Kajiwara, Tadamasa Fukuoka

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The formula project of Kinki University has been involved in the student Formula SAE of Japan (JSAE) since the second year the competition was held. The vehicle developed in the project uses a ZX-6R engine, which has been manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries for the JSAE competition for the eighth time. The limited performance of the concept vehicle was improved through the development of a power train. The supercharger loading, engine dry sump, and engine cooling management of the vehicle were also enhanced. The supercharger loading enabled the vehicle to achieve a maximum output of 59.6 kW (80.6 PS)/9000 rpm and a maximum torque of 70.6 Nm (7.2 kgf m)/8000 rpm. We successfully achieved 90% of the engine’s torque band (4000–10000 rpm) with 50% of the revolutions in regular engine use (2000–12000 rpm). Using a dry sump system, we periodically managed hydraulic pressure during engine operation. A system that controls engine stoppage when hydraulic pressure falls was also constructed. Using the dry sump system at 80 mm reduced the required engine load and the vehicle’s center of gravity. Even when engine motion was suspended by the electromotive force exerted by the water pump, the circulation of cooling water was still possible. These findings enabled us to create a cooling system in accordance with the requirements of the competition.

Keywords: Engine, combustion, cooling system, dry sump system, numerical simulation, power, torque, mechanical supercharger.

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Authors: A. Gholami, S. Shahsavani, S. Nezarat

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The effect of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on seed germination, seedling growth and yield of field grown maize were evaluated in three experiments. In these experiments six bacterial strains include P.putida strain R-168, P.fluorescens strain R-93, P.fluorescens DSM 50090, P.putida DSM291, A.lipoferum DSM 1691, A.brasilense DSM 1690 were used. Results of first study showed seed Inoculation significantly enhanced seed germination and seedling vigour of maize. In second experiment, leaf and shoot dry weight and also leaf surface area significantly were increased by bacterial inoculation in both sterile and non-sterile soil. The results showed that inoculation with bacterial treatments had a more stimulating effect on growth and development of plants in nonsterile than sterile soil. In the third experiment, Inoculation of maize seeds with all bacterial strains significantly increased plant height, 100 seed weight, number of seed per ear and leaf area .The results also showed significant increase in ear and shoot dry weight of maize.

Keywords: Azospirillum, biofertilizer, Maize, PGPR, Pseudomonas.

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Authors: Ararat Khachatryan, Davit Mirzoyan

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In sub micrometer technology, the aging phenomenon starts to have a significant impact on the reliability of integrated circuits by bringing performance degradation. For that reason, it is important to have a capability to evaluate the aging effects accurately. This paper presents an accurate aging measurement approach based on phase-locked loop (PLL) and voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) circuit. The architecture is rejecting the circuit self-aging effect from the characteristics of PLL, which is generating the frequency without any aging phenomena affects. The aging monitor is implemented in low power 32 nm CMOS technology, and occupies a pretty small area. Aging simulation results show that the proposed aging measurement circuit improves accuracy by about 2.8% at high temperature and 19.6% at high voltage.

Keywords: Nanoscale, aging, effect, NBTI, HCI.

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Authors: Robert A. Sowah, Stephen K. Armoo, Koudjo M. Koumadi, Rockson Agyeman, Seth Y. Fiawoo

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The development of the agricultural sector in Ghana has been reliant on the use of irrigation systems to ensure food security. However, the manual operation of these systems has not facilitated their maximum efficiency due to human limitations. This paper seeks to address this problem by designing and implementing an efficient, cost effective automated system which monitors and controls the water flow of irrigation through communication with an authorized operator via text messages. The automatic control component of the system is timer based with an Atmega32 microcontroller and a real time clock from the SM5100B cellular module. For monitoring purposes, the system sends periodic notification of the system on the performance of duty via SMS to the authorized person(s). Moreover, the GSM based Irrigation Monitoring and Control System saves time and labour and reduces cost of operating irrigation systems by saving electricity usage and conserving water. Field tests conducted have proven its operational efficiency and ease of assessment of farm irrigation equipment due to its costeffectiveness and data logging capabilities.

Keywords: Agriculture, control system, data logging, food security, irrigation system, microcontroller.

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Authors: Wakako Araki, Jürgen Malzbender

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The mechanical deformation and the electrical conductivity of lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite oxide under uniaxial compression were investigated at various temperatures up to 1073 K. The material reveals a rather complex mechanical behaviour related to its ferroelasticity and completely different stress-strain curves are obtained during the 1st and 2nd loading cycles. A distinctive ferroelastic creep was observed at 293 K whilst typical ferroelastic stress-strain curve were obtained in the temperature range from 473 K to 873 K. At 1073 K, on the other hand, high-temperature creep deformation was observed instead of ferroelastic deformation. The conductivity increases with increasing compressive stress at all the temperatures. The increase in conductivity is related to both geometrical and piezoelectric effects. From 293 K to 873 K, where the material exhibits ferroelastic behaviour, the variation in the total conductivity decreases with increasing temperature. The contribution of the piezoelectric effect to the total conductivity variation also decreases with increasing temperature and the maximum in piezoconductivity has a value of about 0.75 % at 293 K for a compressive stress of 100 MPa. There is no effect of domain switching on conductivity except for the geometric effect. At 1073 K, the conductivity is simply proportional to the compressive strain.

Keywords: Ferroelasticity, Piezoconductivity, oxygen separation membrane, perovskite.

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Authors: Claudineia Brazil, Elison Eduardo Bierhals, Francisco Pereira, José Leandro Néris, Matheus Rippel, Luciane Salvi

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The global concern about climate change has been increasing, since the emission of gases from human activities contributes to the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere, indicating significant impacts to the planet in the coming years. The study of precipitation regime is fundamental for the development of research in several areas. Among them are hydrology, agriculture, and electric sector. Using the climatic projections of the models belonging to the CMIP5, the main objective of the paper was to present an analysis of the impacts of climate change without rainfall in the Uruguay River basin. After an analysis of the results, it can be observed that for the future climate, there is a tendency, in relation to the present climate, for larger numbers of dry events, mainly in the winter months, changing the pluviometric regime for wet summers and drier winters. Given this projected framework, it is important to note the importance of adequate management of the existing water sources in the river basin, since the value of rainfall is reduced for the next years, it may compromise the dynamics of the ecosystems in the region. Facing climate change is fundamental issue for regions and cities all around the world. Society must improve its resilience to phenomenon impacts, and spreading the knowledge among decision makers and citizens is also essential. So, these research results can be subsidies for the decision-making in planning and management of mitigation measures and/or adaptation in south Brazil.

Keywords: Climate change, hydrological potential, precipitation, mitigation.

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Authors: Patcharin Saechan, Isares Dhuchakallaya

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Thermoacoustic refrigerator is a cooling device which uses the acoustic waves to produce the cooling effect. The aim of this paper is to explore the experimental and numerical feasibility of a standing-wave thermoacoustic refrigerator. The effects of the stack length, position of stack and operating frequency on the cooling performance are carried out. The circular pore stacks are tested under the atmospheric pressure. A low-cost loudspeaker is used as an acoustic driver. The results show that the location of stack installed in resonator tube has a greater effect on the cooling performance, than the stack length and operating frequency, respectively. The temperature difference across the ends of stack can be generated up to 13.7°C, and the temperature of cold-end is dropped down by 5.3°C from the ambient temperature.

Keywords: Cooling performance, Refrigerator, Standing-wave, Thermoacoustics.

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Authors: José Julio de C. Pituba

Abstract:

This work deals with the initial applications and formulation of an anisotropic plastic-damage constitutive model proposed for non-linear analysis of reinforced concrete structures submitted to a loading with change of the sign. The original constitutive model is based on the fundamental hypothesis of energy equivalence between real and continuous medium following the concepts of the Continuum Damage Mechanics. The concrete is assumed as an initial elastic isotropic medium presenting anisotropy, permanent strains and bimodularity (distinct elastic responses whether traction or compression stress states prevail) induced by damage evolution. In order to take into account the bimodularity, two damage tensors governing the rigidity in tension or compression regimes are introduced. Then, some conditions are introduced in the original version of the model in order to simulate the damage unilateral effect. The three-dimensional version of the proposed model is analyzed in order to validate its formulation when compared to micromechanical theory. The one-dimensional version of the model is applied in the analyses of a reinforced concrete beam submitted to a loading with change of the sign. Despite the parametric identification problems, the initial applications show the good performance of the model.

Keywords: Damage model, plastic strain, unilateral effect.

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Authors: S. Chuenchooklin, S. Taweepong, U. Pangnakorn

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This research was conducted in the Mae Sot Watershed where located in the Moei River Basin at the Upper Salween River Basin in Tak Province, Thailand. The Mae Sot Municipality is the largest urban area in Tak Province and situated in the midstream of the Mae Sot Watershed. It usually faces flash flood problem after heavy rain due to poor flood management has been reported since economic rapidly bloom up in recent years. Its catchment can be classified as ungauged basin with lack of rainfall data and no any stream gaging station was reported. It was attached by most severely flood events in 2013 as the worst studied case for all those communities in this municipality. Moreover, other problems are also faced in this watershed, such shortage water supply for domestic consumption and agriculture utilizations including a deterioration of water quality and landslide as well. The research aimed to increase capability building and strengthening the participation of those local community leaders and related agencies to conduct better water management in urban area was started by mean of the data collection and illustration of the appropriated application of some short period rainfall forecasting model as they aim for better flood relief plan and management through the hydrologic model system and river analysis system programs. The authors intended to apply the global rainfall data via the integrated data viewer (IDV) program from the Unidata with the aim for rainfall forecasting in a short period of 7-10 days in advance during rainy season instead of real time record. The IDV product can be present in an advance period of rainfall with time step of 3-6 hours was introduced to the communities. The result can be used as input data to the hydrologic modeling system model (HEC-HMS) for synthesizing flood hydrographs and use for flood forecasting as well. The authors applied the river analysis system model (HEC-RAS) to present flood flow behaviors in the reach of the Mae Sot stream via the downtown of the Mae Sot City as flood extents as the water surface level at every cross-sectional profiles of the stream. Both models of HMS and RAS were tested in 2013 with observed rainfall and inflow-outflow data from the Mae Sot Dam. The result of HMS showed fit to the observed data at the dam and applied at upstream boundary discharge to RAS in order to simulate flood extents and tested in the field, and the result found satisfying. The product of rainfall from IDV was fair while compared with observed data. However, it is an appropriate tool to use in the ungauged catchment to use with flood hydrograph and river analysis models for future efficient flood relief plan and management.

Keywords: Global rainfall, flood forecasting, hydrologic modeling system, river analysis system.

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Authors: Moez Selmi, Mariem Kacem, Mehrez Jamei, Philippe Dubujet

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Earth pressure balance (EPB) tunnel boring machines are designed for digging in different types of soil, especially clay soils. This operation requires the treatment of soil by lubricants to facilitate the procedure of excavation. A possible use of this soil is limited by the effect of treatment on the hydro-mechanical properties of the soil. This work aims to study the effect of a foaming agent on the hydro-mechanical properties of clay soil. The injection of the foam agent in the soil leads to create a soil matrix in which they are incorporated gas bubbles. The state of the foam in the soil is scalable thanks to the degradation of the gas bubbles in the soil.

Keywords: EPB, clay soils, foam agent, hydro-mechanical properties, degradation.

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Authors: Shakil M. Rifaat, Md. H. Rahman, Mohammed, Mosabbir Pasha

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Road crashes not only claim lives and inflict injuries but also create economic burden to the society due to loss of productivity. The problem of deaths and injuries as a result of road traffic crashes is now acknowledged to be a global phenomenon with authorities in virtually all countries of the world concerned about the growth in the number of people killed and seriously injured on their roads. However, the road crash scenario of a developing country like Bangladesh is much worse comparing with this of developed countries. For developing proper countermeasures it is necessary to identify the factors affecting crash occurrences. The objectives of the study is to examine the effect of district wise road infrastructure, socioeconomic and demographic features on crash occurrence .The unit of analysis will be taken as individual district which has not been explored much in the past. Reported crash data obtained from Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) from the year 2004 to 2010 are utilized to develop negative binomial model. The model result will reveal the effect of road length (both paved and unpaved), road infrastructure and several socio economic characteristics on district level crash frequency in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Demographic, Negative Binomial Model, Road Infrastructure, Socio-economic, Traffic Safety.

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Authors: Proud Arunrangsiwed

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Crisis management strategies could be found in various curriculums, not only in schools of business, but also schools of communication. Young students, such as freshmen and sophomores of undergraduate schools, may not care about learning crisis management strategies. Moreover, crisis management strategies are not a topic art students are familiar with. The current paper discusses a way to adapt entertainment media into a crisis management lesson, and the importance of learning crisis management strategies in the school of animation. Students could learn crisis management strategies by watching movies with content about a crisis and responding to crisis responding. The students should then participate in follow up discussions related to the strategies that were used to address the crisis, as well as their success in solving the crisis.

Keywords: Situational crisis communication theory, crisis response strategies, media effect, unintentional effect.

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Authors: Haiyan Wang

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Micro-reading is a new way of reading depended on short messages of mobile phones, network articles and short literary forms, which impacts greatly on traditional way of reading. The effect of "micro-reading" is deeper especially for those growing middle school students and college students. Aiming at the problem with the development of college students' micro-reading and based on the influence of schema theory on the research of cognition of reading, this paper is to analyze the comparison between micro-reading and traditional reading and explore reading strategies in micro-era based on the negative and positive effect which schema theory has on micro-reading.

Keywords: Schema theory, comparative analysis, micro-reading, traditional reading

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Authors: Dinesh Acharya U., N. V. Subba Reddy, Krishnamoorthi Makkithaya

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The recognition of handwritten numeral is an important area of research for its applications in post office, banks and other organizations. This paper presents automatic recognition of handwritten Kannada numerals based on structural features. Five different types of features, namely, profile based 10-segment string, water reservoir; vertical and horizontal strokes, end points and average boundary length from the minimal bounding box are used in the recognition of numeral. The effect of each feature and their combination in the numeral classification is analyzed using nearest neighbor classifiers. It is common to combine multiple categories of features into a single feature vector for the classification. Instead, separate classifiers can be used to classify based on each visual feature individually and the final classification can be obtained based on the combination of separate base classification results. One popular approach is to combine the classifier results into a feature vector and leaving the decision to next level classifier. This method is extended to extract a better information, possibility distribution, from the base classifiers in resolving the conflicts among the classification results. Here, we use fuzzy k Nearest Neighbor (fuzzy k-NN) as base classifier for individual feature sets, the results of which together forms the feature vector for the final k Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) classifier. Testing is done, using different features, individually and in combination, on a database containing 1600 samples of different numerals and the results are compared with the results of different existing methods.

Keywords: Fuzzy k Nearest Neighbor, Multiple Classifiers, Numeral Recognition, Structural features.

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Authors: Zeinab Hajifathali, Moghan Amirhosseinian

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This study had two main aims: firstly, to determine how the individual substitution of CaO/MgO and CaO/SrO can affect the in vitro bioactivity of sol-gel derived substituted 58S bioactive glass (BG) and secondly to introduce a composition in the 60SiO₂–(36-x)CaO–4P₂O₅–(x)MgO and 60SiO₂–(36-x)CaO–4P₂O₅–(x)SrO quaternary systems (where x= 0, 5, 10 mol.%) with enhanced biocompatibility, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and more efficient antibacterial activity against MRSA bacteria. Results showed that both magnesium-substituted bioactive glasses (M-BGs) and strontium- substituted bioactive glasses (S-BGs) retarded the Hydroxyapatite (HA) formation. Meanwhile, magnesium had more pronounced effect. The 3-(4, 5dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and ALP assays revealed that the presence of moderate amount (5 mol%) of Mg and Sr had a stimulating effect on increasing of both proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. Live dead and Dapi/actin staining revealed both substitution of CaO/MgO and CaO/SrO resulted in more biocompatibility and stimulation potential of the MC3T3 cells compared with control. Taken together, among all of the synthesized magnesium substituted (MBGs) and strontium substituted (SBGs), the sample 58- BG with 5 mol% CaO/MgO substitution (BG-5M) was considered as a multifunctional biomaterial in bone tissue regeneration field with enhanced biocompatibility, ALP activity as well as the highest antibacterial efficiency against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria.

Keywords: Apatite, alkaline earth, bioactivity, biomedical applications, sol-gel.

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Authors: Gang Li, Ghulam Mubashar Hassan, Arcady Dyskin, Cara MacNish

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Digital image correlation (DIC) is a contactless fullfield displacement and strain reconstruction technique commonly used in the field of experimental mechanics. Comparing with physical measuring devices, such as strain gauges, which only provide very restricted coverage and are expensive to deploy widely, the DIC technique provides the result with full-field coverage and relative high accuracy using an inexpensive and simple experimental setup. It is very important to study the natural patterns effect on the DIC technique because the preparation of the artificial patterns is time consuming and hectic process. The objective of this research is to study the effect of using images having natural pattern on the performance of DIC. A systematical simulation method is used to build simulated deformed images used in DIC. A parameter (subset size) used in DIC can have an effect on the processing and accuracy of DIC and even cause DIC to failure. Regarding to the picture parameters (correlation coefficient), the higher similarity of two subset can lead the DIC process to fail and make the result more inaccurate. The pictures with good and bad quality for DIC methods have been presented and more importantly, it is a systematic way to evaluate the quality of the picture with natural patterns before they install the measurement devices.

Keywords: Digital image correlation (DIC), Deformation simulation, Natural pattern, Subset size.

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Authors: Ashish Pathak, Dong-Jin Kim, Byoung-Gon Kim

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Biological processes based on oxidation of sulfur compounds by chemolithotrophic microorganisms are emerging as an efficient and eco-friendly technique for removal of sulfur from the coal. In the present article, study was carried out to investigate the potential of biodesulfurization process in removing the sulfur from lignite coal sample collected from a Mongolian coal mine. The batch biodesulfurization experiments were conducted in 2.5 L borosilicate baffle type reactors at 35 ºC using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. The effect of pulp density on efficiency of biodesulfurization was investigated at different solids concentration (1-10%) of coal. The results of the present study suggested that the rate of desulfurization was retarded at higher coal pulp density. The optimum pulp density found 5% at which about 48% of the total sulfur was removed from the coal.

Keywords: Biodesulfurization, bioreactor, coal, pyrite.

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Authors: André C. Silva, Mariana R. Barros, Elenice M. S. Silva, Douglas. Y. Marinho, Diego F. Lopes, Débora N. Sousa, Raphael S. Tomáz

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Modern agriculture requires productivity, efficiency and quality. Therefore, there is need for agricultural limestone implementation that provides adequate amounts of calcium and magnesium carbonates in order to correct soil acidity. During the limestone process, fine particles (with average size under 400#) are generated. These particles do not have economic value in agricultural and metallurgical sectors due their size. When limestone is used for agriculture purposes, these fine particles can be easily transported by wind generated air pollution. Therefore, briquetting, a mineral processing technique, was used to mitigate this problem resulting in an agglomerated product suitable for agriculture use. Briquetting uses compressive pressure to agglomerate fine particles. It can be aided by agglutination agents, allowing adjustments in shape, size and mechanical parameters of the mass. Briquettes can generate extra profits for mineral industry, presenting as a distinct product for agriculture, and can reduce the environmental liabilities of the fine particles storage or disposition. The produced limestone briquettes were subjected to shatter and water action resistance tests. The results show that after six minutes completely submerged in water, the briquettes where fully diluted, a highly favorable result considering its use for soil acidity correction.

Keywords: Agglomeration, briquetting, limestone, agriculture.

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Authors: David Julian Bernal Melgarejo

Abstract:

Inland Waterway Transportation (IWT) is playing an important role in national transport systems, water transportation is considered to be safe, energy efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transport, all benefits of IWT cause national awareness increase, for instance the Colombian government is planning to restore the navigability of the most important river of the country, the Magdalena’s River navigability, embrace waterway transportation in Colombia could strength competitiveness while reduce most of the transport externalities. However, the current situation of the Magdalena is deplorable, the most important river of Colombia has been abandoned for decades and the solution is beyond of a single administrative entity. This paper analyzes the outcomes of the Navigation And Inland Waterway Action and Development in Europe program (NAIADES) as a prospective to develop a similar program in Colombia with similar objectives and guidelines, considering sustainability, guarantying the long-term future results and adaptability of the program. Identifying stakeholders and policy experts, a set of individual interviews were carried out; findings support the idea of lack of integration within governmental institutions and lack of importance in marketing promotion as possible drawbacks on the implementation of IWT projects.

Keywords: Inland waterway transportation, Logistics, Sustainability, Multimodal transport systems, Water transportation.

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Authors: Chalermsak Leetrakool, Komson Jirapattarasilp

Abstract:

This research was to study effect of rotational speed and eccentric factors, which were affected on looseness of bearing. The experiment was conducted on three rotational speeds and five eccentric distances with 5 replications. The results showed that influenced factor affected to looseness of bearing was rotational speed and eccentric distance which showed statistical significant. Higher rotational speed would cause on high looseness. Moreover, more eccentric distance, more looseness of bearing. Using bearing at high rotational with high eccentric of shaft would be affected bearing fault more than lower rotational speed. The prediction equation of looseness was generated by regression analysis. The prediction has an effected to the looseness of bearing at 91.5%.

Keywords: Bearing, Looseness, Rotational speed, Eccentric

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Authors: M.H. Djavareshkian, A. Esmaeli

Abstract:

A pressure-based implicit procedure to solve Navier- Stokes equations on a nonorthogonal mesh with collocated finite volume formulation is used to simulate flow around the smart and conventional flaps of spoiler under the ground effect. Cantilever beam with uniformly varying load with roller support at the free end is considered for smart flaps. The boundedness criteria for this procedure are determined from a Normalized Variable diagram (NVD) scheme. The procedure incorporates es the k -ε eddyviscosity turbulence model. The method is first validated against experimental data. Then, the algorithm is applied for turbulent aerodynamic flows around a spoiler section with smart and conventional flaps for different attack angle, flap angle and ground clearance where the results of two flaps are compared.

Keywords: Smart spoiler, Ground Effect, Flap, Aerodynamic coefficients, Race car.

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Authors: Mliki Bouchmel, Abbassi Mohamed Ammar, Kamel Geudri, Chrigui Mouldi, Omri Ahmed

Abstract:

The objective of this work is to use the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) to investigate the behavior of a kerosene small-scale fire. FDS is a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool developed specifically for fire applications. Throughout its development, FDS is used for the resolution of practical problems in fire protection engineering. At the same time FDS is used to study fundamental fire dynamics and combustion. Predictions are based on Large Eddy Simulation (LES) with a Smagorinsky turbulence model. LES directly computes the large-scale eddies and the sub-grid scale dissipative processes are modeled. This technique is the default turbulence model which was used in this study. The validation of the numerical prediction is done using a direct comparison of combustion output variables to experimental measurements. Effect of the mesh size on the temperature evolutions is investigated and optimum grid size is suggested. Effect of width openings is investigated. Temperature distribution and species flow are presented for different operating conditions. The effect of the composition of the used fuel on atmospheric pollution is also a focus point within this work. Good predictions are obtained where the size of the computational cells within the fire compartment is less than 1/10th of the characteristic fire diameter.

Keywords: Large eddy simulation, Radiation, Turbulence, combustion, pollution.

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