Search results for: Exergy loss

Authors: P. U. S. Peiris

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The butterflies are ecologically very important insects. The adults generally feed on nectar and are important as pollinators of flowering plants. However, these pollinators are under threat with their habitat loss. One reason for habitat loss is spread of invasive plants. However, there are even beneficial exotic plants which can directly support for Butterfly Conservation Action Plan of Sri Lanka by attracting butterflies for nectar. Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) is an important nectar plant which attracts a diverse set of butterflies in higher number. It comprises a violet color inflorescence which last for about 37 hours where it attracted a peak of butterflies around 9.00am having around average of 15 butterflies. There were no butterflies in early and late hours where the number goes to very low values as 2 at 1.00pm. it was found that a diverse group of butterflies were attracted from around 15 species including 01 endemic species, 02 endemic subspecies and 02 vulnerable species. Therefore, this is a beneficial exotic plant that could be used in butterfly attraction and conservation however with adequate monitoring of the plant population.

Keywords: Butterflies, exotic plants, pollinators, Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.), butterfly conservation

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Authors: W. Handoko, F. Pahlevani, V. Sahajwalla

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Dual-phase high carbon steels (DHCS) are commonly known for their improved strength, hardness, and abrasive resistance properties due to co-presence of retained austenite and martensite at the same time. Retained austenite is a meta-stable phase at room temperature, and stability of this phase governs the response of DHCS at different conditions. This research paper studies the effect of RA stability on corrosion behaviour of high carbon steels after they have been immersed into 1.0 M NaCl solution for various times. For this purpose, two different steels with different RA stabilities have been investigated. The surface morphology of the samples before and after corrosion attack was observed by secondary electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), along with the weight loss and Vickers hardness analysis. Microstructural investigations proved the preferential attack to retained austenite phase during corrosion. Hence, increase in the stability of retained austenite in dual-phase steels led to decreasing the weight loss rate.

Keywords: High carbon steel, austenite stability, atomic force microscopy, corrosion.

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Authors: Wook-Won Kim, Je-Seok Shin, Jin-O Kim

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As the penetration of Energy Storage System (ESS) increases in the power system due to higher performance and lower cost than ever, ESS is expanding its role to the ancillary service as well as the storage of extra energy from the intermittent renewable energy resources. For multi-ESS with different capacity and SOC level each other, it is required to make the optimal schedule of SOC level use the multi-ESS effectively. This paper proposes the energy allocation method for the multiple battery ESS with reliability constraint, in order to make the ESS discharge the required energy as long as possible. A simple but effective method is proposed in this paper, to satisfy the power for the spinning reserve requirement while improving the system reliability. Modelling of ESS is also proposed, and reliability is evaluated by using the combined reliability model which includes the proposed ESS model and conventional generation one. In the case study, it can be observed that the required power is distributed to each ESS adequately and accordingly, the SOC is scheduled to improve the reliability indices such as Loss of Load Probability (LOLP) and Loss of Load Expectation (LOLE).

Keywords: Multiple energy storage system, energy allocation method, SOC schedule, reliability constraints.

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Authors: Riki H. Patel, Arpan Desai, Trushit Upadhyaya, Shobhit K. Patel

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The microstrip antennas area has seen some inventive work in recent years and is now one of the most dynamic fields of antenna theory. A novel and simple wideband monopole antenna is presented printed on a single dielectric substrate which is fed by a 50 ohm microstrip line having a low-profile antenna structure with two parallel s-shaped meandered line of same size. This antenna is fed by a coaxial feeding tube. In this research, S–form microstrip patch antenna is designed from measuring the prototypes of the proposed antenna one available bands with 10db return loss bandwidths of about GPS application (GPS L2 1490 MHz) and covering the 1400 to 1580 MHz frequency band at 1.5 GHz, the simulated results for main parameters such as return loss, impedance bandwidth, radiation patterns, and gains are also discussed herein. The modeling study shows that such antennas, in simplicity design and supply, can satisfy GPS application. Two parallel slots are incorporated to disturb the surface flow path, introducing local inductive effect. This antenna is fed by a coaxial feeding tube.

Keywords: Bandwidth, electrically small antenna, microstrip patch antenna, GPS.

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Authors: Apidet Booranawong, Wiklom Teerapabkajorndet

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An enhanced ad-hoc on-demand distance vector routing (E-AODV) protocol for control system applications in wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) is proposed. Our routing algorithm is designed by considering both wireless network communication and the control system aspects. Control system error and network delay are the main selection criteria in our routing protocol. The control and communication performance is evaluated on multi-hop IEEE 802.15.4 networks for building-temperature control systems. The Gilbert-Elliott error model is employed to simulate packet loss in wireless networks. The simulation results demonstrate that the E-AODV routing approach can significantly improve the communication performance better than an original AODV routing under various packet loss rates. However, the control performance result by our approach is not much improved compared with the AODV routing solution.

Keywords: WSANs, building temperature control, AODV routing protocol, control system error, settling time, delay, delivery ratio.

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Authors: M. S. Agha, A. M. Eshahiry, S. A. Aldabbar, Z. M. Alshahri

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The propagation of microwave is affected by rain and dust particles causing signal attenuation and de-polarization. Computations of these effects require knowledge of the propagation characteristics of microwave and millimeter wave energy in the climate conditions of the studied region. This paper presents effect of wind and humidity on wireless communication such as microwave links in the North West region of Libya (Al-Khoms). The experimental procedure is done on three selected antennae towers (Nagaza station, Al-Khoms center station, Al-Khoms gateway station) for determining the attenuation loss per unit length and cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) change. Dust particles are collected along the region of the study, to measure the particle size distribution (PSD), calculate the concentration, and chemically analyze the contents, then the dielectric constant can be calculated. The results show that humidity and dust, antenna height and the visibility affect both attenuation and phase shift; in which, a few considerations must be taken into account in the communication power budget.

Keywords: Attenuation, scattering, transmission loss.

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Authors: Sandipkumar Sonawane, Upendra Bhandarkar, Bhalchandra Puranik, S. Sunil Kumar

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The effect of Alumina nanoparticle size on thermophysical properties, heat transfer performance and pressure loss characteristics of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF)-Al2O3 nanofluids is studied experimentally for the proposed application of regenerative cooling of semi-cryogenic rocket engine thrust chambers. Al2O3 particles with mean diameters of 50 nm or 150 nm are dispersed in ATF. At 500C and 0.3% particle volume concentration, the bigger particles show increases of 17% in thermal conductivity and 55% in viscosity, whereas the smaller particles show corresponding increases of 21% and 22% for thermal conductivity and viscosity respectively. Contrary to these results, experiments to study the heat transfer performance and pressure loss characteristics show that at the same pumping power, the maximum enhancement in heat transfer coefficient at 500C and 0.3% concentration is approximately 47% using bigger particles, whereas it is only 36% using smaller particles.

Keywords: Heat transfer performance, Nanofluids, Thermalconductivity, Viscosity

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Authors: Xiao-Li Dong, Quan-Gui Gao, Sa-Sa Gu, Hao-Tian Feng, Man-Sau Wong, Liya Denney

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Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a disorder characterized by the progressive bone loss induced by estrogen deficiency in postmenopausal women. This imbalance affects calcium–phosphate metabolism and results in secondary hyperparathyroidism. Purariae Radix (PR), the root of P. lobata (Wild.) Ohwi, is one of the earliest medicinal herbs employed in ancient China. PR contains a high quantity of isoflavones and their glycosides, which are regarded as phytoestrogen. Few investigations of PR are related to its osteoprotective effects. The present study is designed to administer PR water extract to ovariectomized (OVX) female rats, for the investigation of its possibly protective actions on bone and to delineate the potential mechanisms involved. Our results demonstrated that long-term treatment of PR could not significantly improve bone properties, whereas it greatly ameliorated the condition of secondary hyperparathyroidism induced by ovariectomy in those animals. PR might be useful as alternative regimen for protecting against postmenopausal bone loss.

Keywords: Hyperparathyroidism, Ovariectomy, Postmenopausal Osteoporosis, Purariae Radix

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Authors: Nigel Q. Kelly, Zaid Siddiqi, Jin W. Lee

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It is known that using Coanda aerosurfaces can drastically augment the lift forces when applied to an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platform. However, Coanda saucer UAVs, which commonly use a dish-like, radially-extending structure, have shown no significant increases in thrust/lift force and therefore have never been commercially successful: the additional thrust/lift generated by the Coanda surface diminishes since the airstreams emerging from the rotor compartment expand radially causing serious loss of momentums and therefore a net loss of total thrust/lift. To overcome this technical weakness, we propose to examine a Coanda surface of straight, cylindrical design and optimize its geometry for highest thrust/lift utilizing computational fluid dynamics software ANSYS Fluent®. The results of this study reveal that a Coanda UAV configured with 4 sides of straight, cylindrical Coanda surface achieve an overall 45% increase in lift compared to conventional Coanda Saucer UAV configurations. This venture integrates with an ongoing research project where a Coanda prototype is being assembled. Additionally, a custom thrust-stand has been constructed for thrust/lift measurement.

Keywords: CFD, Coanda, Lift, UAV.

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Authors: M. Sedighizadeh, A. Rezazadeh

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This paper presents a method for the optimal allocation of Distributed generation in distribution systems. In this paper, our aim would be optimal distributed generation allocation for voltage profile improvement and loss reduction in distribution network. Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used as the solving tool, which referring two determined aim; the problem is defined and objective function is introduced. Considering to fitness values sensitivity in genetic algorithm process, there is needed to apply load flow for decision-making. Load flow algorithm is combined appropriately with GA, till access to acceptable results of this operation. We used MATPOWER package for load flow algorithm and composed it with our Genetic Algorithm. The suggested method is programmed under MATLAB software and applied ETAP software for evaluating of results correctness. It was implemented on part of Tehran electricity distributing grid. The resulting operation of this method on some testing system is illuminated improvement of voltage profile and loss reduction indexes.

Keywords: Distributed Generation, Allocation, Voltage Profile, losses, Genetic Algorithm.

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Authors: Pogula Rakesh, T. Kishore Kumar

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Speech enhancement is a long standing problem with numerous applications like teleconferencing, VoIP, hearing aids and speech recognition. The motivation behind this research work is to obtain a clean speech signal of higher quality by applying the optimal noise cancellation technique. Real-time adaptive filtering algorithms seem to be the best candidate among all categories of the speech enhancement methods. In this paper, we propose a speech enhancement method based on Recursive Least Squares (RLS) adaptive filter of speech signals. Experiments were performed on noisy data which was prepared by adding AWGN, Babble and Pink noise to clean speech samples at -5dB, 0dB, 5dB and 10dB SNR levels. We then compare the noise cancellation performance of proposed RLS algorithm with existing NLMS algorithm in terms of Mean Squared Error (MSE), Signal to Noise ratio (SNR) and SNR Loss. Based on the performance evaluation, the proposed RLS algorithm was found to be a better optimal noise cancellation technique for speech signals.

Keywords: Adaptive filter, Adaptive Noise Canceller, Mean Squared Error, Noise reduction, NLMS, RLS, SNR, SNR Loss.

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Authors: Angel Pérez Sánchez

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In 1929, a light redshift was discovered in distant galaxies and was interpreted as produced by galaxies moving away from each other at high speed. This interpretation led to the consideration of a new source of energy, which was called Dark Energy. Redshift is a loss of light wave frequency produced by galaxies moving away at high speed, but the loss of frequency can also be produced by the friction of light waves on their way to Earth. This friction is impossible because outer space is empty, but if it were not empty and a medium existed in this empty space, then friction would be possible. The consequences would be extraordinary because Universe acceleration and Dark Energy would be in doubt. This article presents evidence that empty space is actually a medium occupied by different particles, among them the most significant would be Graviton or Higgs Boson. If gravity is produced by Higgs Boson particle according to Standard Model and gravity affects empty space, then Vacuum space is full of Higgs bosons.

Keywords: Big Bang, dark energy, doppler effect, redshift, starlight frequency reduction, universe acceleration.

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Authors: Quanru Pan

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How to maintain the service speeds for the business to make the biggest profit is a problem worthy of study, which is discussed in this paper with the use of queuing theory. An M/M/1/N queuing model with variable input rates, variable service rates and impatient customers is established, and the following conclusions are drawn: the stationary distribution of the model, the relationship between the stationary distribution and the probability that there are n customers left in the system when a customer leaves (not including the customer who leaves himself), the busy period of the system, the average operating cycle, the loss probability for the customers not entering the system while they arriving at the system, the mean of the customers who leaves the system being for impatient, the loss probability for the customers not joining the queue due to the limited capacity of the system and many other indicators. This paper also indicates that the following conclusion is not correct: the more customers the business serve, the more profit they will get. At last, this paper points out the appropriate service speeds the business should keep to make the biggest profit.

Keywords: variable input rates, impatient customer, variable servicerates, profit maximization.

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Authors: Venkata Reddy Kota

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These days, the industrial trend is moving away from heavy and bulky passive components to power converter systems that use more and more semiconductor elements. Also, it is difficult to connect the traditional converters to the high and medium voltage. For these reasons, a new family of multilevel inverters has appeared as a solution for working with higher voltage levels. Different modulation topologies like Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM), Selective Harmonic Elimination Pulse Width Modulation (SHE-PWM) are available for multilevel inverters. In this work, different hybrid modulation techniques which are combination of fundamental frequency modulation and multilevel sinusoidal-modulation are compared. The main characteristic of these modulations are reduction of switching losses with good harmonic performance and balanced power loss dissipation among the device. The proposed hybrid modulation schemes are developed and simulated in Matlab/Simulink for cascaded H-bridge inverter. The results validate the applicability of the proposed schemes for cascaded multilevel inverter.

Keywords: Hybrid PWM techniques, Cascaded Multilevel Inverters, Switching loss minimization.

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Authors: Orathai Wongmetha, Lih-Shang Ke

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The quality attributes and storage life of 'Jinhwang' mango fruit can be effectively maintained with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) application and/or chitosan coating. 'Jinhwang' mango fruit was treated with 5 μl l-1 1-MCP for 12 h, dipped with 0.5 % chitosan, 5 μl l-1 1-MCP combine with 0.5 % chitosan and untreated (control) then stored at 10oC. Mango treated with 1-MCP maintained firmness, sucrose and starch content. Chitosan coating delayed firmness loss, sucrose content and the fruit decay when compare with control. Application of 1-MCP combine with chitosan also delayed firmness loss, sucrose content and starch content during storage. Furthermore, chitosan coating and combine treatment prolonged storage life of mango up to 29 days after storage while 1-MCP extended to 28 days after storage. Therefore, using all application of chitosan coating or 1-MCP combine with chitosan or 1-MCP in mango at 10oC is a feasible technology for maintains quality and prolongs storage life in order to expand marketability and export options.

Keywords: 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), chitosan, quality, storage life

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Authors: S. H. Kazmi, T. Ahmed, K. Javed, A. Ghani

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In this paper static scheme of under-frequency based load shedding is considered for chemical and petrochemical industries with islanded distribution networks relying heavily on the primary commodity to ensure minimum production loss, plant downtime or critical equipment shutdown. A simplistic methodology is proposed for in-house implementation of this scheme using underfrequency relays and a step by step guide is provided including the techniques to calculate maximum percentage overloads, frequency decay rates, time based frequency response and frequency based time response of the system. Case study of FFL electrical system is utilized, presenting the actual system parameters and employed load shedding settings following the similar series of steps. The arbitrary settings are then verified for worst overload conditions (loss of a generation source in this case) and comprehensive system response is then investigated.

Keywords: Islanding, under-frequency load shedding, frequency rate of change, static UFLS.

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Authors: Mohammad Jafarifar

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Multiphase Induction Machine (IM) is normally controlled using rotor field oriented vector control. Under phase(s) loss, the machine currents can be optimally controlled to satisfy certain optimization criteria. In this paper we discuss the performance of double manifold sliding mode observer (DM-SMO) in Sensorless control of multiphase induction machine under unsymmetrical condition (one phase loss). This observer is developed using the IM model in the stationary reference frame. DM-SMO is constructed by adding extra feedback term to conventional single mode sliding mode observer (SM-SMO) which proposed in many literature. This leads to a fully convergent observer that also yields an accurate estimate of the speed and stator currents. It will be shown by the simulation results that the estimated speed and currents by the method are very well and error between real and estimated quantities is negligible. Also parameter sensitivity analysis shows that this method is rather robust against parameter variation.

Keywords: Multiphase induction machine, field oriented control, sliding mode, unsymmetrical condition, manifold.

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Authors: Ganesh D. Kale, Sheela N. Vadsola

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Soil erosion is the most serious problem faced at global and local level. So planning of soil conservation measures has become prominent agenda in the view of water basin managers. To plan for the soil conservation measures, the information on soil erosion is essential. Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation 1 (RUSLE1or RUSLE) and Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE), RUSLE 1.06, RUSLE1.06c, RUSLE2 are most widely used conventional erosion estimation methods. The essential drawbacks of USLE, RUSLE1 equations are that they are based on average annual values of its parameters and so their applicability to small temporal scale is questionable. Also these equations do not estimate runoff generated soil erosion. So applicability of these equations to estimate runoff generated soil erosion is questionable. Data used in formation of USLE, RUSLE1 equations was plot data so its applicability at greater spatial scale needs some scale correction factors to be induced. On the other hand MUSLE is unsuitable for predicting sediment yield of small and large events. Although the new revised forms of USLE like RUSLE 1.06, RUSLE1.06c and RUSLE2 were land use independent and they have almost cleared all the drawbacks in earlier versions like USLE and RUSLE1, they are based on the regional data of specific area and their applicability to other areas having different climate, soil, land use is questionable. These conventional equations are applicable for sheet and rill erosion and unable to predict gully erosion and spatial pattern of rills. So the research was focused on development of nonconventional (other than conventional) methods of soil erosion estimation. When these non-conventional methods are combined with GIS and RS, gives spatial distribution of soil erosion. In the present paper the review of literature on non- conventional methods of soil erosion estimation supported by GIS and RS is presented.

Keywords: Conventional methods, GIS, non-conventionalmethods, remote sensing, soil erosion modeling

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Authors: C. Kridtayopas, W. Danvilai, P. Sopannarath, A. Kayan, W. Loongyai

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Both Betong chicken (KU Line) and Thai Native chickens were the high quality of the meat and low carcass fat compared to broiler chickens. The objective of this study was to determine the growth performance, carcass characteristic, meat quality and association of polymorphism in the ApoVLDL-II gene with fat accumulation in the female broiler, Thai Native and Betong (KU line) chickens at 4-14 weeks. The chickens were used and reared under the same environment and management (100 chicks per breed). The results showed that body weight (BW) of broiler chickens was significantly higher than Thai Native and Betong (KU line) chickens (P < 0.01) through all the experiment. At 4-8 weeks of age, feed conversion ratio (FCR) of broiler chickens was significantly better than Thai Native and Betong (KU line) chickens (P < 0.01), then increased at week 8-14. The percentage of breast, abdominal fat and subcutaneous fat of broiler chickens was significantly greater than Thai Native and Betong (KU line) chickens (P < 0.01). However, Thai Native chickens showed the highest percentage of liver (P < 0.01) when compared to other breeds. In addition, the percentage of wing of Thai Native and Betong (KU line) chickens were significantly (P < 0.01) higher than broiler chickens. Meat quality was also determined and found that, pH of breast meat left from slaughter 45 minutes (pH45) and 24 hours (pH24) of broiler was significantly higher than Thai Native and Betong (KU line) (P < 0.01) whereas the percentage of drip loss, thawing loss, cooking loss and shear force was not significantly different between breeds. The polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique was used to genotype the polymorphism in the ApoVLDL-II gene in the broiler, Thai Native and Betong (KU line) chickens. The results found that, the polymorphism in the ApoVLDL-II gene at VLDL6 loci was not associated with fat accumulation in those studied population.

Keywords: ApoVLDL-II Gene, Betong (KU line) chickens, broiler chickens, carcass characteristic, growth performance, meat quality, Thai Native Chickens.

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Authors: Azza A. Abou-Arab, Marwa H. Mahmoud, Ferial M. Abu-Salem

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The present investigation studied the content of bioactive compounds as ascorbic acid, β-carotene, and flavonoids, and the effect of drying methods (microwave, solar, and air oven drying) on its level in citrus peel. These levels were decreased significantly (p <0.05) due to the dried methods. The percentage of ascorbic acid content loss of orange C. Valencia were 46.64, 52.95 and 68.83% with microwave, solar and air oven methods, respectively comparing to fresh samples. Also, the percentages of β- carotene loss of orange C. Valencia were 38.89, 52.42 and 87.14% with microwave, solar and air oven methods, respectively. Total flavonoid content recorded 453.33, 396.67 and 327.50 mg QE/100g dw, with dried by microwave, solar and oven methods, respectively compared with control in orange, C. valencia. These results revealed that microwave drying procedure was the most effective method which maintained citrus bioactive compounds content (ascorbic acid, β-carotene and flavonoid) followed by solar. On the other hand, air oven drying came in the last order due to direct heat treatment.

Keywords: Ascorbic acid, β-carotene, flavonoids, microwave, solar, air oven drying.

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Authors: Takeshi Takeda

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The author conducted post-test analysis with the RELAP5/MOD3.3 code for an experiment using the ROSA/LSTF (rig of safety assessment/large-scale test facility) that simulated a 1% cold leg small-break loss-of-coolant accident under the failure of scram in a pressurized water reactor. The LSTF test assumed total failure of high-pressure injection system of emergency core cooling system. In the LSTF test, natural circulation contributed to maintain core cooling effect for a relatively long time until core uncovery occurred. The post-test analysis result confirmed inadequate prediction of the primary coolant distribution. The author created the phenomena identification and ranking table (PIRT) for each component. The author investigated the influences of uncertain parameters determined by the PIRT on the cladding surface temperature at a certain time during core uncovery within the defined uncertain ranges.

Keywords: LSTF, LOCA, scram, RELAP5.

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Authors: Hikari Ryu, Yuki Fukuda, Kento Oishi, Chiharu Igarashi, Shogo Kiryu

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Recently, wireless power transfer has been developed in various fields. Magnetic coupling is popular for feeding power at a relatively short distance and at a lower frequency. Electro-magnetic wave coupling at a high frequency is used for long-distance power transfer. The wireless power transfer has attracted attention in e-textile fields. Rigid batteries are required for many body-worn electric systems at the present time. The technology enables such batteries to be removed from the systems. Coils with a high Q factor are required in the magnetic-coupling power transfer. Antennas with low return loss are needed for the electro-magnetic coupling. Litz wire is so flexible to fabricate coils and antennas sewn on fabric and has low resistivity. In this study, the electric characteristics of some coils and antennas fabricated with the Litz wire by using two sewing techniques are investigated. As examples, a coil and an antenna are described. Both were fabricated with 330/0.04 mm Litz wire. The coil was a planar coil with a square shape. The outer side was 150 mm, the number of turns was 15, and the pitch interval between each turn was 5 mm. The Litz wire of the coil was overstitched with a sewing machine. The coil was fabricated as a receiver coil for a magnetic coupled wireless power transfer. The Q factor was 200 at a frequency of 800 kHz. A wireless power system was constructed by using the coil. A power oscillator was used in the system. The resonant frequency of the circuit was set to 123 kHz, where the switching loss of power Field Effect Transistor (FET) was was small. The power efficiencies were 0.44-0.99, depending on the distance between the transmitter and receiver coils. As an example of an antenna with a sewing technique, a fractal pattern antenna was stitched on a 500 mm x 500 mm fabric by using a needle punch method. The pattern was the 2nd-oder Vicsec fractal. The return loss of the antenna was -28 dB at a frequency of 144 MHz.

Keywords: E-textile, flexible coils, flexible antennas, Litz wire, wireless power transfer.

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Authors: Min Min Swe Zin

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This paper introduces the foundations of Bayesian probability theory and Bayesian decision method. The main goal of Bayesian decision theory is to minimize the expected loss of a decision or minimize the expected risk. The purposes of this study are to review the decision process on the issue of flood occurrences and to suggest possible process for decision improvement. This study examines the problem structure of flood occurrences and theoretically explicates the decision-analytic approach based on Bayesian decision theory and application to flood occurrences in Environmental Engineering. In this study, we will discuss about the flood occurrences upon an annual maximum water level in cm, 43-year record available from 1965 to 2007 at the gauging station of Sagaing on the Ayeyarwady River with the drainage area - 120193 sq km by using Bayesian decision method. As a result, we will discuss the loss and risk of vast areas of agricultural land whether which will be inundated or not in the coming year based on the two standard maximum water levels during 43 years. And also we forecast about that lands will be safe from flood water during the next 10 years.

Keywords: Bayesian decision method, conditional binomial distribution, minimax rules, prior beta distribution.

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Authors: S. B. Otieno, Were Fred, E. W. Kabiru, K. Waza

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Background: HIV/AIDS is leading to the loss of labor through sickness and subsequent death, this is leading to the neglect of farm and off-farm activities, with the subsequent loss of potential income and food security. The situation is sensitive to seasonal labour peaks in agriculture. This study was done to determine the impact of high HIV prevalence in farming systems and food security in Pala Bondo District, Kenya. Methods: In this study, 386 respondents were randomly chosen in Pala Sub-Location. The respondents and key informants were interviewed using structured questionnaire. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16. Results: It was established that majority of respondents (67%) were between 18 and 35 years {χ² = (1, N = 386) = 13.430, p = 0.000} (chimney effect). The study also established that 83.5% of respondents were married {χ² = (1, N= 370) = 166.277 p = 0.000} and predominant occupation being farming and fishing (61%), while 52.8% of farm labour was by hand, 26% by oxen, and 4.9% mechanized. 73.2% of respondents only farm 0.25 to 2 acres, 48% mentioned lack of labour in land preparation {χ² ((1,N = 321) = 113.146, p = 0.000), in planting {χ² (1, N = 321) = 29.28, p = 0.000}. Majority of respondents lack food from January to June, during which 93% buy food. Conclusion: The high HIV prevalence in Pala has affected the farm labour leading to food insecurity.

Keywords: Food security, HIV, AIDS, labour.

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Authors: Anuchita Moongngarm, John E. Bronlund, Nigel Grigg, Naruemon Sriwai

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The study aimed to investigate the effect of rice types on chewing behaviours (chewing time, number of chews, and portion size) and bolus properties (bolus moisture content, solid loss, and particle size distribution (PSD)) in human subjects. Five cooked rice types including brown rice (BR), white rice (WR), parboiled white rice (PR), high amylose white rice (HR) and waxy white rice (WXR) were chewed by six subjects. The chewing behaviours were recorded and the food boluses were collected during mastication. Rice typeswere found to significantly influence all chewing parameters evaluated. The WXR and BR showed the most pronounced differences compared with other rice types. The initial moisture content of un-chewed WXR was lowest (43.39%) whereas those of other rice types were ranged from 66.86 to 70.33%. The bolus obtained from chewing the WXR contained lowest moisture content (56.43%) whilst its solid loss (22.03%) was not significant different from those of all rice types. In PSD evaluation using Mastersizer S, the diameter of particles measured was ranged between 4 to 3500 μm. The particle size of food bolus from BR, HR, and WXR contained much finer particles than those of WR and PR.

Keywords: Chewing behavior, Mastication, Rice, Rice types, Bolus properties

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Authors: J. A. Batsis, G. G. Boateng, L. M. Seo, C. L. Petersen, K. L. Fortuna, E. V. Wechsler, R. J. Peterson, S. B. Cook, D. Pidgeon, R. S. Dokko, R. J. Halter, D. F. Kotz

Abstract:

Resistance exercise bands are a core component of any physical activity strengthening program. Strength training can mitigate the development of sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass or strength and function with aging. Yet, the adherence of such behavioral exercise strategies in a home-based setting are fraught with issues of monitoring and compliance. Our group developed a Bluetooth-enabled resistance exercise band capable of transmitting data to an open-source platform. In this work, we developed an application to capture this information in real-time, and conducted three usability studies in two mixed-aged groups of participants (n=6 each) and a group of older adults with obesity participating in a weight-loss intervention (n=20). The system was favorable, acceptable and provided iterative information that could assist in future deployment on ubiquitous platforms. Our formative work provides the foundation to deliver home-based monitoring interventions in a high-risk, older adult population.

Keywords: Application, mHealth, older adult, resistance exercise band, sarcopenia.

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Authors: Rizwan Ullah, Abdar Ali, Zahid Ullah

Abstract:

This paper illustrates the study of three isolated zero voltage switched (ZVS) PWM full bridge (FB) converters to charge the high voltage battery in the charger of electric vehicle (EV). EV battery chargers have several challenges such as high efficiency, high reliability, low cost, isolation, and high power density. The cost of magnetic and filter components in the battery charger is reduced when switching frequency is increased. The increase in the switching frequency increases switching losses. ZVS is used to reduce switching losses and to operate the converter in the battery charger at high frequency. The performance of each of the three converters is evaluated on the basis of ZVS range, dead times of the switches, conduction losses of switches, circulating current stress, circulating energy, duty cycle loss, and efficiency. The limitations and merits of each PWM FB converter are reviewed. The converter with broader ZVS range, high efficiency and low switch stresses is selected for battery charger applications in EV.

Keywords: Electric vehicle, PWM FB converter, zero voltage switching, circulating energy, duty cycle loss, battery charger.

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Authors: Sze Yee Lee

Abstract:

The death of a sibling in childhood leads to significant impacts on both personal and family development of the surviving siblings, however, both short-term and long-term effects of sibling loss in Chinese societies such as Hong Kong have been inadequately documented in the literature. This paper explores the experience of encountering siblings’ death during childhood with the use of semi-structured interviews. Through thematic analysis, the author explores the impacts on surviving siblings’ emotions, coping styles, struggles and challenges and personal development. Furthermore, the influences on family dynamics are explored thoroughly, including the changes in family atmosphere, family roles, family relationship, family communication and parenting styles. More importantly, the author identifies (i) existing continuing bonds; (ii) crying; (iii) adequate social support; (iv) hiding own emotions as a gesture of protecting parents as the crucial elements pertinent to surviving siblings’ successful adaptation in the face of sibling loss. In addition, “child-centered” and “family-centered” service implications of families with a sibling's death in a Chinese context are discussed.

Keywords: Surviving children, sibling’s death, child-centered, family-centered.

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Authors: R. Ashok Bakkiyaraj, N. Kumarappan

Abstract:

This paper investigates the suitability of Latin Hypercube sampling (LHS) for composite electric power system reliability analysis. Each sample generated in LHS is mapped into an equivalent system state and used for evaluating the annualized system and load point indices. DC loadflow based state evaluation model is solved for each sampled contingency state. The indices evaluated are loss of load probability, loss of load expectation, expected demand not served and expected energy not supplied. The application of the LHS is illustrated through case studies carried out using RBTS and IEEE-RTS test systems. Results obtained are compared with non-sequential Monte Carlo simulation and state enumeration analytical approaches. An error analysis is also carried out to check the LHS method’s ability to capture the distributions of the reliability indices. It is found that LHS approach estimates indices nearer to actual value and gives tighter bounds of indices than non-sequential Monte Carlo simulation.

Keywords: Composite power system, Latin Hypercube sampling, Monte Carlo simulation, Reliability evaluation, Variance analysis.

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Authors: Mohsen Mohammadi, Toshio Fujimi

Abstract:

High population and irregular urban development in Kabul city, Afghanistan's capital, are among factors that increase its vulnerability to earthquake disasters (on top of its location in a high seismic region); this can lead to widespread economic loss and casualties. This study aims to evaluate earthquake risks in Kabul's 13th district based on scientific data. The research data, which include hazard curves of Kabul, vulnerability curves, and a questionnaire survey through sampling in district 13, have been incorporated to develop risk curves. To estimate potential casualties, we used a set of M parameters in a model developed by Coburn and Spence. The results indicate that in the worst case scenario, more than 90% of district 13, which comprises mostly residential buildings, is exposed to high risk; this may lead to nearly 1000 million USD economic loss and 120 thousand casualties (equal to 25.88% of the 13th district's population) for a nighttime earthquake. To reduce risks, we present the reconstruction of the most vulnerable buildings, which are primarily adobe and masonry buildings. A comparison of risk reduction between reconstructing adobe and masonry buildings indicates that rebuilding adobe buildings would be more effective.

Keywords: Earthquake risk evaluation, Kabul, mitigation, vulnerability.

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