Abstract: In this paper, we propose a system for preventing gas
risks through the use of wireless communication modules and
intelligent gas safety appliances. Our system configuration consists of
an automatic extinguishing system, detectors, a wall-pad, and a
microcomputer controlled micom gas meter to monitor gas flow and
pressure as well as the occurrence of earthquakes. The automatic fire
extinguishing system checks for both combustible gaseous leaks and
monitors the environmental temperature, while the detector array
measures smoke and CO gas concentrations. Depending on detected
conditions, the micom gas meter cuts off an inner valve and generates
a warning, the automatic fire-extinguishing system cuts off an external
valve and sprays extinguishing materials, or the sensors generate
signals and take further action when smoke or CO are detected.
Information on intelligent measures taken by the gas safety appliances
and sensors are transmitted to the wall-pad, which in turn relays this as
real time data to a server that can be monitored via an external network
(BcN) connection to a web or mobile application for the management
of gas safety. To validate this smart-home gas management system, we
field-tested its suitability for use in Korean apartments under several
scenarios.
Abstract: Microstructural and hardening changes of
Fe-0.2wt.%V alloy and pure Fe irradiated with 100 keV hydrogen ions
at room temperature were investigated. It was found that dislocation
density varies dramatically after irradiation, ranging from dislocation
free to dense areas with tangled and complex dislocation
configuration. As the irradiated Fe-0.2wt.%V samples were annealed
at 773 K, the irradiation-induced dislocation loops disappear, while
many small precipitates with enriched C distribute in the matrix. Some
large precipitates with enriched V were also observed. The hardness of
Fe-0.2wt.%V alloy and pure Fe increases after irradiation, which
ascribes to the formation of dislocation loops in the irradiated
specimens. Compared with pure Fe, the size of the
irradiation-introduced dislocation loops in Fe-0.2wt.%V alloy
decreases and the density increases, the change of the hardness also
decreases.
Abstract: Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental pollutants
well known because of their endocrine disrupting activity in human
organism. The aim of our study was, by biological monitoring,
investigate exposure to phthalates of Roma ethnicity group i.e.
children and adults from 5 families (n=29, average age 11.8 ± 7.6
years) living in western Slovakia. Additionally, we analysed some
associations between anthropometric measures, questionnaire data
i.e. socio-economic status, eating and drinking habits, practise of
personal care products and household conditions in comparison with
concentrations of phthalate metabolites. We used for analysis of urine
samples high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass
spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to determine concentrations of
phthalate metabolites monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl
phthalate (MnBP), mono-iso-butyl phthalate (MiBP), mono(2-ethyl-
5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (5OH-MEHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl)
phthalate (5oxo-MEHP) and mono(2-etylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP).
Our results indicate that ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status and
different housing conditions in Roma population can affect urinary
concentration of phthalate metabolites.
Abstract: The separation of Hg (II) from produced water by
hollow fiber contactors (HFC) was investigation. This system
included of two hollow fiber modules in the series connecting. The
first module used for the extraction reaction and the second module
for stripping reaction. Aliquat336 extractant was fed from the organic
reservoirs into the shell side of the first hollow fiber module and
continuous to the shell side of the second module. The organic liquid
was continuously feed recirculate and back to the reservoirs. The feed
solution was pumped into the lumen (tube side) of the first hollow
fiber module. Simultaneously, the stripping solution was pumped in
the same way in tube side of the second module. The feed and
stripping solution was fed which had a countercurrent flow. Samples
were kept in the outlet of feed and stripping solution at 1 hour and
characterized concentration of Hg (II) by Inductively Couple Plasma
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Feed solution was
produced water from natural gulf of Thailand. The extractant was
Aliquat336 dissolved in kerosene diluent. Stripping solution used was
nitric acid (HNO3) and thiourea (NH2CSNH2). The effect of carrier
concentration and type of stripping solution were investigated.
Results showed that the best condition were 10 % (v/v) Aliquat336
and 1.0 M NH2CSNH2. At the optimum condition, the extraction and
stripping of Hg (II) were 98% and 44.2%, respectively.
Abstract: In the present study, RBF neural networks were used
for predicting the performance and emission parameters of a
biodiesel engine. Engine experiments were carried out in a 4 stroke
diesel engine using blends of diesel and Honge methyl ester as the
fuel. Performance parameters like BTE, BSEC, Tex and emissions
from the engine were measured. These experimental results were
used for ANN modeling.
RBF center initialization was done by random selection and by
using Clustered techniques. Network was trained by using fixed and
varying widths for the RBF units. It was observed that RBF results
were having a good agreement with the experimental results.
Networks trained by using clustering technique gave better results
than using random selection of centers in terms of reduced MRE and
increased prediction accuracy. The average MRE for the performance
parameters was 3.25% with the prediction accuracy of 98% and for
emissions it was 10.4% with a prediction accuracy of 80%.
Abstract: This paper presents a rank correlation curve. The
traditional correlation coefficient is valid for both continuous
variables and for integer variables using rank statistics. Since
the correlation coefficient has already been established in rank
statistics by Spearman, such a calculation can be extended to
the correlation curve.
This paper presents two survey questions. The survey
collected non-continuous variables. We will show weak to
moderate correlation. Obviously, one question has a negative
effect on the other. A review of the qualitative literature
can answer which question and why. The rank correlation
curve shows which collection of responses has a positive
slope and which collection of responses has a negative slope.
Such information is unavailable from the flat, ”first-glance”
correlation statistics.
Abstract: Waste load allocation (WLA) policies may use multiobjective
optimization methods to find the most appropriate and
sustainable solutions. These usually intend to simultaneously
minimize two criteria, total abatement costs (TC) and environmental
violations (EV). If other criteria, such as inequity, need for
minimization as well, it requires introducing more binary
optimizations through different scenarios. In order to reduce the
calculation steps, this study presents value index as an innovative
decision making approach. Since the value index contains both the
environmental violation and treatment costs, it can be maximized
simultaneously with the equity index. It implies that the definition of
different scenarios for environmental violations is no longer required.
Furthermore, the solution is not necessarily the point with minimized
total costs or environmental violations. This idea is testified for Haraz
River, in north of Iran. Here, the dissolved oxygen (DO) level of river
is simulated by Streeter-Phelps equation in MATLAB software. The
WLA is determined for fish farms using multi-objective particle
swarm optimization (MOPSO) in two scenarios. At first, the trade-off
curves of TC-EV and TC-Inequity are plotted separately as the
conventional approach. In the second, the Value-Equity curve is
derived. The comparative results show that the solutions are in a
similar range of inequity with lower total costs. This is due to the
freedom of environmental violation attained in value index. As a
result, the conventional approach can well be replaced by the value
index particularly for problems optimizing these objectives. This
reduces the process to achieve the best solutions and may find better
classification for scenario definition. It is also concluded that decision
makers are better to focus on value index and weighting its contents
to find the most sustainable alternatives based on their requirements.
Abstract: The need to use high volumes of data and the high
competition are only two reasons which make necessary the use of
information technologies. The objective of our research is to establish
the impact of information technologies on the accounting department
of the Romanian companies. In order to achieve it, starting from the
literature review we made an empirical research based on a
questionnaire. We investigated the types of technologies used, the
reasons which led to the implementation of certain technologies, the
benefits brought by the use of the information technologies, the
difficulties brought by the implementation and the future effects of
the applications. The conclusions show that there is an evolution in
the degree of implementation of the information technologies in the
Romanian companies, compared with the results of other studies
conducted a few years before.
Abstract: In this paper, a model is proposed to determine the life
distribution parameters of the useful life region for the PV system
utilizing a combination of non-parametric and linear regression
analysis for the failure data of these systems. Results showed that this
method is dependable for analyzing failure time data for such reliable
systems when the data is scarce.
Abstract: Quantitative radiobiological models can be used to
assess the optimum clinical outcome from sophisticated therapeutic
modalities by calculating tumor control probability (TCP) and normal
tissue complication probability (NTCP). In this study two 3D-CRT
and an IMRT treatment plans were developed with an initial
prescription dose of 60 Gy in 2 Gy/fraction to prostate. Sensitivity of
TCP and Complication free tumor control probability (P+) to the
different values of α/β ratio was investigated for various prescription
doses planned to be delivered in either a fixed number of fractions (I)
or in a fixed dose per fraction (II) in each of the three different
treatment plans. High dose/fraction and high α/β value result in
comparatively smaller P+ and IMRT plans resulted in the highest P+,
mainly due to the decrease in NTCP. If α/β is lower than expected,
better tumor control can be achieved by increasing dose/fraction but
decreasing the number of fractions.
Abstract: Medicinal plants are now gaining attractiveness in
treatment of bacterial infections and food preservation. The objective
of this study was to assess antibacterial activity of some medicinal
plants on pathogenic bacteria. Screening of antibacterial activity of
aqueous and methanol extracts of some plants: Jojoba, Ginger, Sage,
Thyme and Clove against Bacillus cereus, Salmonella typhimurium,
Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens and Escherichia coli
were investigated. Antibacterial activity was performed by agar
diffusion and disc diffusion method. Jatropha, Jojoba, Clove and
Ginger extracts showed notable bacterial activity in the first
screening step then selected to be tested against Bacillus cereus
(Gram+), Staphylococcus aureus (Gram+) and Salmonella
typhimurium (Gram−) and their effect was compared using
antibiotics as control. Screening results showed potential antibacterial
activity of the tested plant extracts against the screened bacterial
strains. It was found that methanol extracts exhibited higher
antibacterial activity than aqueous extracts. Methanol extract of
Jatropha showed the highest inhibition zone against Staphylococcus
aureus (Gram+) with 24.00 mm diameter, compared to the other
plant extracts followed by clove. Meanwhile, the inhibition zones of
methanol extracts of Jojoba and Ginger were the same (12mm).The
Gram-positive bacteria were found to be more sensitive to aqueous
and methanol extracts than Gram-negative bacteria.
Abstract: This paper analyses the heat transfer performance and
fluid flow using different nanofluids in a square enclosure. The
energy equation and Navier-Stokes equation are solved numerically
using finite volume scheme. The effect of volume fraction
concentration on the enhancement of heat transfer has been studied
icorporating the Brownian motion; the influence of effective thermal
conductivity on the enhancement was also investigated for a range of
volume fraction concentration. The velocity profile for different
Rayleigh number. Water-Cu, water AL2O3 and water-TiO2 were
tested.
Abstract: The article presents a plasma chemical technology for
processing solid fuels, using examples of bituminous and brown
coals. Thermodynamic and experimental investigation of the
technology was made. The technology allows producing synthesis
gas from the coal organic mass and valuable components (technical
silicon, ferrosilicon, aluminum, and carbon silicon, as well as
microelements of rare metals, such as uranium, molybdenum,
vanadium, etc.) from the mineral mass. The thusly produced highcalorific
synthesis gas can be used for synthesis of methanol, as a
high-calorific reducing gas instead of blast-furnace coke as well as
power gas for thermal power plants.
Abstract: The posterior reference for the ala tragal line is a
cause of confusion, with different authors suggesting different
locations as to the superior, middle or inferior part of the tragus. This
study was conducted on 200 subjects to evaluate if any correlation
exists between the variation of angulation of palatal throat form and
the relative parallelism of occlusal plane to ala-tragal line at different
tragal levels. A custom made Occlusal Plane Analyzer was used to
check the parallelism between the ala-tragal line and occlusal plane.
A lateral cephalogram was shot for each subject to measure the
angulation of the palatal throat form. Fisher’s exact test was used to
evaluate the correlation between the angulation of the palatal throat
form and the relative parallelism of occlusal plane to the ala tragal
line. Also, a classification was formulated for the palatal throat form,
based on confidence interval. From the results of the study, the
inferior part, middle part and superior part of the tragus were seen as
the reference points in 49.5%, 32% and 18.5% of the subjects
respectively. Class I palatal throat form (41degree-50 degree), Class
II palatal throat form (below 41 degree) and Class III palatal throat
form (above 50 degree) were seen in 42%, 43% and 15% of the
subjects respectively. It was also concluded that there is no
significant correlation between the variation in the angulations of the
palatal throat form and the relative parallelism of occlusal plane to
the ala-tragal line.
Abstract: We propose new multiple-channel piezoelectric (PZT)
actuated tunable optical filter based on racetrack multi-ring
resonators for wavelength de-multiplexing network applications. We
design tunable eight-channel wavelength de-multiplexer consisting of
eight cascaded PZT actuated tunable multi-ring resonator filter with a
channel spacing of 1.6nm. The filter for each channel is basically
structured on a suspended beam, sandwiched with piezoelectric
material and built in integrated ring resonators which are placed on
the middle of the beam to gain uniform stress and linearly varying
longitudinal strain. A reference single mode serially coupled multi
stage racetrack ring resonator with the same radii and coupling length
is designed with a line width of 0.8974nm with a flat top pass band at
1dB of 0.5205nm and free spectral range of about 14.9nm. In each
channel, a small change in the perimeter of the rings is introduced to
establish the shift in resonance wavelength as per the defined channel
spacing. As a result, when a DC voltage is applied, the beams will
elongate, which involves mechanical deformation of the ring
resonators that induces a stress and a strain, which brings a change in
refractive index and perimeter of the rings leading to change in the
output spectrum shift providing the tunability of central wavelength
in each channel. Simultaneous wave length shift as high as
45.54pm/
Abstract: In wastewater treatment processes, aeration introduces
air into a liquid. In these systems, air is introduced by different
devices submerged in the wastewater. Smaller bubbles result in more
bubble surface area per unit of volume and higher oxygen transfer
efficiency. Jet pumps are devices that use air bubbles and are widely
used in wastewater treatment processes. The principle of jet pumps is
their ability to transfer energy of one fluid, called primary or motive,
into a secondary fluid or gas. These pumps have no moving parts and
are able to work in remote areas under extreme conditions. The
objective of this work is to study experimentally the characteristics of
the jet pump and the size of air bubbles in the laboratory water tank.
The effect of flow rate ratio on pump performance is investigated in
order to have a better understanding about pump behavior under
various conditions, in order to determine the efficiency of receiving
air bubbles different sizes. The experiments show that we should take
care when increasing the flow rate ratio while seeking to decrease
bubble size in the outlet flow. This study will help improve and
extend the use of the jet pump in many practical applications.
Abstract: Many industrial materials like magnets need to be
tested for the radiation environment expected at linear colliders (LC)
where the accelerator and detectors will be subjected to large
influences of beta, neutron and gamma’s over their life Gamma
irradiation of the permanent sample magnets using a 60Co source was
investigated up to an absorbed dose of 700Mrad shows a negligible
effect on some magnetic properties of Nd-Fe-B. In this work it has
been tried to investigate the change of some important properties of
Barium hexa ferrite. Results showed little decreases of magnetic
properties at doses rang of 0.5 to 2.5 Mrad. But at the gamma
irradiation dose up to 10 Mrad it is showed a few increase of
properties. Also study of gamma irradiation of Nd-Fe-B showed
considerably increase of magnetic properties.
Abstract: A field study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of
safflower plant for phytoremediation of contaminated soils. The
experiment was performed on an agricultural fields contaminated by
the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Field
experiments with randomized complete block design with five
treatments (control, compost amendments added at 20 and 40 t/daa,
and vermicompost amendments added at 20 and 40 t/daa) were
carried out. The quality of safflower seeds and oil (heavy metals and
fatty acid composition) were determined. Tested organic amendments
significantly influenced the chemical composition of safflower seeds
and oil. The compost and vermicompost treatments significantly
reduced heavy metals concentration in safflower seeds and oils, but
the effect differed among them. Addition of vermicompost and
compost leads to an increase in the content of palmitic acid and
linoleic acid, and a decrease in the stearic and oleic acids compared
with the control. A significant increase in the quantity of saturated
acids was observed in the variants with 20 t/daa of compost and 20
t/daa of vermicompost (9.1 and 8.9% relative to the control).
Safflower is a plant which is tolerant to heavy metals and can be
successfully used in the phytoremediation of heavy metal
contaminated soils. The processing of seeds to oil and using the
obtained oil for nutritional purposes will greatly reduce the cost of
phytoremediation.
Abstract: One of the most famous techniques which affect the
efficiency of a production line is the assembly line balancing (ALB)
technique. This paper examines the balancing effect of a whole
production line of a real auto glass manufacturer in three steps. In the
first step, processing time of each activity in the workstations is
generated according to a practical approach. In the second step, the
whole production process is simulated and the bottleneck stations
have been identified, and finally in the third step, several
improvement scenarios are generated to optimize the system
throughput, and the best one is proposed. The main contribution of
the current research is the proposed framework which combines two
famous approaches including Assembly Line Balancing and
Optimization via Simulation technique (OvS). The results show that
the proposed framework could be applied in practical environments,
easily.
Abstract: Durian is the flagship fruit of Mindanao and there is
an abundance of several cultivars with many confusing identities/
names.
The project was conducted to develop procedure for reliable and
rapid detection and sorting of durian planting materials. Moreover, it
is also aimed to establish specific genetic or DNA markers for routine
testing and authentication of durian cultivars in question.
The project developed molecular procedures for routine testing.
SSR primers were also screened and identified for their utility in
discriminating durian cultivars collected.
Results of the study showed the following accomplishments:
1. Twenty (29) SSR primers were selected and identified based on
their ability to discriminate durian cultivars,
2. Optimized and established standard procedure for identification
and authentication of Durian cultivars
3. Genetic profile of durian is now available at Biotech Unit
Our results demonstrate the relevance of using molecular
techniques in evaluating and identifying durian clones. The most
polymorphic primers tested in this study could be useful tools for
detecting variation even at the early stage of the plant especially for
commercial purposes. The process developed combines the efficiency
of the microsatellites development process with the optimization of
non-radioactive detection process resulting in a user-friendly protocol
that can be performed in two (2) weeks and easily incorporated into
laboratories about to start microsatellite development projects. This
can be of great importance to extend microsatellite analyses to other
crop species where minimal genetic information is currently
available. With this, the University can now be a service laboratory
for routine testing and authentication of durian clones.