Abstract: This paper presents a linear oscillating generator of cylindrical type for hybrid electric vehicle application. The focus of the study is the suggestion of the optimal model and the design rule of the cylindrical linear oscillating generator with permanent magnet in the back-iron translator. The cylindrical topology is achieved using equivalent magnetic circuit considering leakage elements as initial modeling. This topology with permanent magnet in the back-iron translator is described by number of phases and displacement of stroke. For more accurate analysis of an oscillating machine, it will be compared by moving just one-pole pitch forward and backward the thrust of single-phase system and three-phase system. Through the analysis and comparison, a single-phase system of cylindrical topology as the optimal topology is selected. Finally, the detailed design of the optimal topology takes the magnetic saturation effects into account by finite element analysis. Besides, the losses are examined to obtain more accurate results; copper loss in the conductors of machine windings, eddy-current loss of permanent magnet, and iron-loss of specific material of electrical steel. The considerations of thermal performances and mechanical robustness are essential, because they have an effect on the entire efficiency and the insulations of the machine due to the losses of the high temperature generated in each region of the generator. Besides electric machine with linear oscillating movement requires a support system that can resist dynamic forces and mechanical masses. As a result, the fatigue analysis of shaft is achieved by the kinetic equations. Also, the thermal characteristics are analyzed by the operating frequency in each region. The results of this study will give a very important design rule in the design of linear oscillating machines. It enables us to more accurate machine design and more accurate prediction of machine performances.
Abstract: We present a chronological evolution for naval telecommunication networks. We distinguish periods: with or without multiplexers, with switch systems, with federative systems, with medium switching, and with medium switching with wireless networks. This highlights the introduction of new layers and technology in the architecture. These architectures are presented using layer models of transmission, in a unified way, which enables us to integrate pre-existing models. A ship of a naval fleet has internal communications (i.e. applications' networks of the edge) and external communications (i.e. the use of the means of transmission between edges). We propose architectures, deduced from the layer model, which are the point of convergence between the networks on board and the HF, UHF radio, and satellite resources. This modelling allows to consider end-to-end naval communications, and in a more global way, that is from the user on board towards the user on shore, including transmission and networks on the shore side. The new architectures need take care of quality of services for end-to-end communications, the more remote control develops a lot and will do so in the future. Naval telecommunications will be more and more complex and will use more and more advanced technologies, it will thus be necessary to establish clear global communication schemes to grant consistency of the architectures. Our latest model has been implemented in a military naval situation, and serves as the basic architecture for the RIFAN2 network.
Abstract: This paper presents a dynamic architecture of digital duty-cycle modulation control drivers. Compared to most oversampling digital modulation schemes encountered in industrial electronics, its novelty is founded on a number of relevant merits including; embedded positive and negative feedback loops, internal modulation clock, structural simplicity, elementary building operators, no explicit need of samples of the nonlinear duty-cycle function when computing the switching modulated signal, and minimum number of design parameters. A prototyping digital control driver is synthesized and well tested within MATLAB/Simulink workspace. Then, the virtual simulation results and performance obtained under a sample of relevant instrumentation and control systems are presented, in order to show the feasibility, the reliability, and the versatility of target applications, of the proposed class of low cost and high quality digital control drivers in industrial electronics.
Abstract: Egypt has a countless heritage of mansions, castles, cities, towns, villages, industrial and manufacturing sites. This richness of heritage provides endless and matchless prospects for culture. Despite being famous worldwide, Egypt’s heritage still is in constant need of protection. Political conflicts and religious revolutions form a direct threat to buildings in various areas, historic, archaeological sites, and religious monuments. Egypt has witnessed two revolutions in less than 60 years; both had an impact on its architectural heritage. In this paper, the authors aim to review legal and policy framework to protect the cultural heritage and present the risk management strategy for cultural heritage in conflict. Through a review of selected international models of devastated architectural heritage in conflict zones and highlighting some of their changes, we can learn from the experiences of other countries to assist towards the development of a methodology to halt the plundering of architectural heritage. Finally, the paper makes an effort to enhance the formulation of a risk management strategy for protection and conservation of cultural heritage, through which to end the plundering of Egypt’s architectural legacy in the Egyptian community (revolutions, 1952 and 2011); and by presenting to its surrounding community the benefits derived from maintaining it.
Abstract: The aeroelastic behavior of engine nacelle strake when subjected to unsteady aerodynamic flows is investigated in this paper. Geometric nonlinear characteristics and modal parameters of nacelle strake are studied when it is under dynamic loading condition. Here, an N-S based Finite Volume solver is coupled with Finite Element (FE) based nonlinear structural solver to investigate the nonlinear characteristics of nacelle strake over a range of dynamic pressures at various phases of flight like takeoff, climb, and cruise conditions. The combination of high fidelity models for both aerodynamics and structural dynamics is used to predict the nonlinearities of strake (chine). The methodology adopted for present aeroelastic analysis is partitioned-based time domain coupled CFD and CSD solvers and it is validated by the consideration of experimental and numerical comparison of aeroelastic data for a cropped delta wing model which has a proven record. The present strake geometry is derived from theoretical formulation. The amplitude and frequency obtained from the coupled solver at various dynamic pressures is discussed, which gives a better understanding of its impact on aerodynamic design-sizing of strake.
Abstract: The host response in peri-implant tissue may differ from that in periodontal tissue in a healthy individual. The purpose of this study is to investigate the expression of inflammatory cytokines in peri-implant crevicular fluid (PICF) from single implant with different abutment types in comparison to healthy periodontal tissue. 19 participants with healthy implants and teeth were recruited according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. PICF and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) was collected using sterile paper points. The expression level of inflammatory cytokines including IL-1α, IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-8 was assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Paired t test was used to compare the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines around natural teeth and peri-implant in PICF and GCF of the same individual. The Independent t-test was used to compare the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines in PICF from titanium and UCLA abutment. Expression of IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ in PICF was not statistically different from GCF among titanium and UCLA abutment group. However, the level of IL-1α in the PICF from the implants with UCLA abutment was significantly higher than GCF (P=0.030). In addition, the level of IL-1β in PICF from the implants with titanium abutment was significantly higher than GCF (P=0.032). When different abutment types was compared, IL-8 expression in PICF from implants with UCLA abutment was significantly higher than titanium abutment (P=0.003).
Abstract: The utilization of biomass as a source of new and renewable energy is being carried out. One of the technologies to convert biomass as an energy source is pyrolysis which is converting biomass into more valuable products, such as bio-oil. Bio-oil is a liquid which is produced by steam condensation process from the pyrolysis of coconut shells. The composition of a coconut shell e.g. hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin will be oxidized to phenolic compounds as the main component of the bio-oil. The phenolic compounds in bio-oil are corrosive; they cause various difficulties in the combustion system because of a high viscosity, low calorific value, corrosiveness, and instability. Phenolic compounds are very valuable components which phenol has used as the main component for the manufacture of antiseptic, disinfectant (known as Lysol) and deodorizer. The experiments typically occurred at the atmospheric pressure in a pyrolysis reactor at temperatures ranging from 300 oC to 350 oC with a heating rate of 10 oC/min and a holding time of 1 hour at the pyrolysis temperature. The Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) was used to analyze the bio-oil components. The obtained bio-oil has the viscosity of 1.46 cP, the density of 1.50 g/cm3, the calorific value of 16.9 MJ/kg, and the molecular weight of 1996.64. By GC-MS, the analysis of bio-oil showed that it contained phenol (40.01%), ethyl ester (37.60%), 2-methoxy-phenol (7.02%), furfural (5.45%), formic acid (4.02%), 1-hydroxy-2-butanone (3.89%), and 3-methyl-1,2-cyclopentanedione (2.01%).
Abstract: This study involves detailed information about contaminants of honey in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The requirements of the technical regulation ‘Requirements to safety of honey and bee products’ and GOST 19792-2001 were taken into account in this research. Contamination of honey by antibiotics wqs determined by the IEA (immune-enzyme analysis), Ridder analyzer and Tecna produced test systems. Voltammetry (TaLab device) was used to define contamination by salts of heavy metals and gamma-beta spectrometry, ‘Progress BG’ system, with preliminary ashing of the sample of honey was used to define radioactive contamination. This article pointed out that residues of chloramphenicol were detected in 24% of investigated products, in 22% of them –streptomycin, in 7.3% - sulfanilamide, in 2.4% - tylosin, and in 12% - combined contamination was noted. Geographically, the greatest degree of contamination of honey with antibiotics occurs in the Northern Kazakhstan – 54.4%, and Southern Kazakhstan - 50%, and the lowest in Central and Eastern Kazakhstan with 30% and 25%, respectively. Generally, pollution by heavy metals is within acceptable limits, but the contamination from lead is highest in the Akmola region. The level of radioactive cesium and strontium is also within acceptable concentrations. The highest radioactivity in terms of cesium was observed in the East Kazakhstan region - 49.00±10 Bq/kg, in Akmola, North Kazakhstan and Almaty - 12.00±5, 11.05±3 and 19.0±8 Bq/kg, respectively, while the norm is 100 Bq/kg. In terms of strontium, the radioactivity in the East Kazakhstan region is 25.03±15 Bq/kg, while in Akmola, North Kazakhstan and Almaty regions it is 12.00±3, 10.2±4 and 1.0±2 Bq/kg, respectively, with the norm of 80 Bq/kg. This accumulation is mainly associated with the environmental degradation, feeding and treating of bees. Moreover, in the process of collecting nectar, external substances can penetrate honey. Overall, this research determines factors and reasons of honey contamination.
Abstract: The drilling and riveting processes are widely used in the assembly of carrier rocket, which makes the efficiency and quality of drilling become the important factor affecting the assembly process. According to the problem existing in the drilling of thick stacked plate (thickness larger than 10mm) of carrier rocket, such as drill break, large noise and burr etc., experimental study of the influence of tool material on the drilling was carried out. The cutting force was measured by a piezoelectric dynamometer, the aperture was measured with an outline projector, and the burr is observed and measured by a digital stereo microscope. Through the measurement, the effects of tool material on the drilling were analyzed from the aspects of drilling force, diameter, and burr. The results show that, compared with carbide drill and coated carbide one, the drilling force of high speed steel is larger. But, the application of high speed steel also has some advantages, e.g. a higher number of hole can be obtained, the height of burr is small, the exit is smooth and the slim burr is less, and the tool experiences wear but not fracture. Therefore, the high speed steel tool is suitable for the drilling of thick stacked plate of 2219 Aluminum alloy.
Abstract: This paper sets to demonstrate a modeling of electrokinetic mixing employing electroosmotic stationary and time-dependent microchannel using alternate zeta patches on the lower surface of the micromixer in a lab on chip microfluidic device. Electroosmotic flow is amplified using different 2D and 3D model designs with alternate and geometric zeta potential values such as 25, 50, and 100 mV, respectively, to achieve high concentration mixing in the electrokinetically-driven microfluidic system. The enhancement of electrokinetic mixing is studied using Finite Element Modeling, and simulation workflow is accomplished with defined integral steps. It can be observed that the presence of alternate zeta patches can help inducing microvortex flows inside the channel, which in turn can improve mixing efficiency. Fluid flow and concentration fields are simulated by solving Navier-Stokes equation (implying Helmholtz-Smoluchowski slip velocity boundary condition) and Convection-Diffusion equation. The effect of the magnitude of zeta potential, the number of alternate zeta patches, etc. are analysed thoroughly. 2D simulation reveals that there is a cumulative increase in concentration mixing, whereas 3D simulation differs slightly with low zeta potential as that of the 2D model within the T-shaped micromixer for concentration 1 mol/m3 and 0 mol/m3, respectively. Moreover, 2D model results were compared with those of 3D to indicate the importance of the 3D model in a microfluidic design process.
Abstract: Usage of different components has been considered to improve the quality and nutritional properties of cakes in recent years. The effects of applying some sweeteners, instead of sugar, have been evaluated in cakes and many bread formulas up to now; but there has not been any research about the usage of by-products of sugar factories such as Wash and Green-A Syrups in cake formulas. In this research, the effects of substituting 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of sugar with Wash and Green-A Syrups on some dough and cake properties, such as pH, viscosity, density, volume, weight loss, moisture, water activity, texture, staling, color and sensory evaluations, are studied. The results of these experiments showed that the pH values were not significantly different among any of the all cake batters and also most of the cake samples. Although differences among viscosity and specific gravity of all treatments were both significant and insignificant, these two parameters resulted in higher volume in all samples than the blank one. The differences in weight loss, moisture content and water activity of samples were insignificant. Evaluating of texture showed that the softness of most of samples is increased and the staling is decreased. Crumb color and sensory evaluations of samples were also affected by the replacement of sucrose with Wash and Green-A Syrups. According to the results, we can increase the shelf life and improve the quality and nutritional values of cake by using these kinds of syrups in the formulation.
Abstract: The demands of smart visual thing recognition in various devices have been increased rapidly for daily smart production, living and learning systems in recent years. This paper proposed a visual thing recognition system, which combines binary scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT), bag of words model (BoW), and support vector machine (SVM) by using color information. Since the traditional SIFT features and SVM classifiers only use the gray information, color information is still an important feature for visual thing recognition. With color-based SIFT features and SVM, we can discard unreliable matching pairs and increase the robustness of matching tasks. The experimental results show that the proposed object recognition system with color-assistant SIFT SVM classifier achieves higher recognition rate than that with the traditional gray SIFT and SVM classification in various situations.
Abstract: Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are considered to be one of the most promising candidates for portable and stationary applications in the view of their advantages such as high energy density, easy manipulation, high efficiency and they operate with liquid fuel which could be used without requiring any fuel-processing units. Electrolyte membrane of DMFC plays a key role as a proton conductor as well as a separator between electrodes. Increasing concern over environmental protection, biopolymers gain tremendous interest owing to their eco-friendly bio-degradable nature. Pectin is a natural anionic polysaccharide which plays an essential part in regulating mechanical behavior of plant cell wall and it is extracted from outer cells of most of the plants. The aim of this study is to develop and demonstrate pectin based polymer composite membranes as methanol impermeable polymer electrolyte membranes for DMFCs. Pectin based nanocomposites membranes are prepared by solution-casting technique wherein pectin is blended with chitosan followed by the addition of optimal amount of sulphonic acid modified Titanium dioxide nanoparticle (S-TiO2). Nanocomposite membranes are characterized by Fourier Transform-Infra Red spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, and Energy dispersive spectroscopy analyses. Proton conductivity and methanol permeability are determined into order to evaluate their suitability for DMFC application. Pectin-chitosan blends endow with a flexible polymeric network which is appropriate to disperse rigid S-TiO2 nanoparticles. Resulting nanocomposite membranes possess adequate thermo-mechanical stabilities as well as high charge-density per unit volume. Pectin-chitosan natural polymeric nanocomposite comprising optimal S-TiO2 exhibits good electrochemical selectivity and therefore desirable for DMFC application.
Abstract: Food insecurity (FI) influences may result in poor physical and mental health outcomes. Minor ethnic group may experience higher level of FI, and this situation may be related with higher depression prevalence. The aim of this study was to determine the association of depression with food security status in major (Azeri) and minor (Kurdish) ethnicity living in Urmia, West Azerbaijan, north of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 723 participants (427 women and 296 men) aged 20–64 years old, from two ethnic groups (445 Azeri and 278 Kurdish), were selected through a multi stage cluster systematic sampling. Depression rate was assessed by “Beck” short form questionnaire (validated in Iranians) through interviews. Household FI status (HFIS) was measured using adapted HFI access scale through face-to-face interviews at homes. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) of depression across HFIS. Higher percent of Kurds had moderate and severe depression in comparison with Azeri group (73 [17.3%] vs. 86 [27.9%]). There were not any significant differences between the two ethnicities in mild depression. Also, of all the subjects, moderate-to-sever FI was more prevalent in Kurds (28.5%), compared to Azeri group (17.3%) [P < 0.01]. Kurdish ethnic group living in food security or mild FI households had lower chance to have symptom of severe depression in comparison to those with sever FI (OR=0.097; 95% CI: 0.02-0.47). However, there was no significant association between depression and HFI in Azeri group. Findings revealed that the severity of HFI was related with severity depression in minor studied ethnic groups. However, in Azeri ethnicity as a major group, other confounders may have influence on the relation with depression and FI, that were not studied in the present study.
Abstract: Gravity field is of great significance in geoscience, national economy and national security, and gravitational gradient measurement has been extensively studied due to its higher accuracy than gravity measurement. Gravity gradient sensor, being one of core devices of the gravity gradient instrument, plays a key role in measuring accuracy. Therefore, this paper starts from analyzing the working principle of the gravity gradient sensor by Newton’s law, and then considers the relative motion between inertial and non-inertial systems to build a relatively adequate mathematical model, laying a foundation for the measurement error calibration, measurement accuracy improvement.
Abstract: Captured images may suffer from Gaussian blur due to poor lens focus or camera motion. Unsharp masking is a simple and effective technique to boost the image contrast and to improve digital images suffering from Gaussian blur. The technique is based on sharpening object edges by appending the scaled high-frequency components of the image to the original. The quality of the enhanced image is highly dependent on the characteristics of both the high-frequency components and the scaling/gain factor. Since the quality of an image may not be the same throughout, we propose an adaptive unsharp masking method in this paper. In this method, the gain factor is computed, considering the gradient variations, for individual pixels of the image. Subjective and objective image quality assessments are used to compare the performance of the proposed method both with the classic and the recently developed unsharp masking methods. The experimental results show that the proposed method has a better performance in comparison to the other existing methods.
Abstract: Background: Persons with schizophrenia patient and misusing methamphetamines suffering from social dysfunction that impact on their quality of life. Knowledge of factors related to social dysfunction will guide the effective intervention. Objectives: To determine the direct effect, indirect effect and total effect of an acerbate Psychotics’ Symptoms, Social Support, Stressful life events, Medication use self-efficacy impact on social dysfunction in Thai schizophrenic patient and methamphetamine misuse. Methods: Data were collected from schizophrenic and methamphetamine misuse patient by self report. A linear structural relationship was used to test the hypothesized path model. Results: The hypothesized model was found to fit the empirical data and explained 54% of the variance of the psychotic symptoms (X2 = 114.35, df = 92, p-value = 0.05, X2 /df = 1.24, GFI = 0.96, AGFI = 0.92, CFI = 1.00, NFI = 0.99, NNFI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.02). The highest total effect on social dysfunction was psychotic symptoms (0.67, p
Abstract: Asphalt overlay is the most commonly used technique of pavement rehabilitation. However, the reflective cracks which occur on the overlay surface after a short period of time are the most important distresses threatening the durability of new overlays. Stress Absorbing Membrane Interlayers (SAMIs) are used to postpone the reflective cracking in the overlays. Sand asphalt mixtures, in unmodified or crumb rubber modified (CRM) conditions, can be used as an SAMI material. In this research, the performance properties of different SAMI applications were evaluated in the laboratory using an Indirect Tensile (IDT) fracture energy. The IDT fracture energy of sand asphalt samples was also evaluated and then compared to that of the regular dense graded asphalt used as an overlay. Texas boiling water and modified Lottman tests were also conducted to evaluate the moisture susceptibility of sand asphalt mixtures. The test results showed that sand asphalt mixtures can stand higher levels of energy before cracking, and this is even more pronounced for the CRM sand mix. Sand asphalt mixture using CRM binder was also shown to be more resistance to moisture induced distresses.
Abstract: The main focus of this manuscript is to provide a
highly efficient two-point sixth-order family of super-Halley type
methods that do not require any second-order derivative evaluation
for obtaining simple roots of nonlinear equations, numerically. Each
member of the proposed family requires two evaluations of the given
function and two evaluations of the first-order derivative per iteration.
By using Mathematica-9 with its high precision compatibility, a
variety of concrete numerical experiments and relevant results are
extensively treated to confirm t he t heoretical d evelopment. From
their basins of attraction, it has been observed that the proposed
methods have better stability and robustness as compared to the other
sixth-order methods available in the literature.
Abstract: This paper presents a case study of geotechnical design of bridge foundations and approaches in hilly granite formation in northern New South Wales of Australia. Firstly, the geological formation and existing cut slope conditions which have high risks of rock fall will be described. The bridge has three spans to be constructed using balanced cantilever method with a middle span of 150 m. After concept design option engineering, it was decided to change from pile foundation to pad footing with ground anchor system to optimize the bridge foundation design. The geotechnical design parameters were derived after two staged site investigations. The foundation design was carried out to satisfy both serviceability limit state and ultimate limit state during construction and in operation. It was found that the pad footing design was governed by serviceability limit state design loading cases. The design of bridge foundation also considered presence of weak rock layer intrusion and a layer of “no core” to ensure foundation stability. The precast mass concrete block system was considered for the retaining walls for the bridge approaches to resolve the constructability issue over hilly terrain. The design considered the retaining wall block sliding stability, while the overturning and internal stabilities are satisfied.