Abstract: Scrubbing by a liquid spraying is one of the most
effective processes used for removal of fine particles and soluble
gas pollutants (such as SO2, HCl, HF) from the flue gas. There are
many configurations of scrubbers designed to provide contact
between the liquid and gas stream for effectively capturing
particles or soluble gas pollutants, such as spray plates, packed bed
towers, jet scrubbers, cyclones, vortex and venturi scrubbers. The
primary function of venturi scrubber is the capture of fine particles
as well as HCl, HF or SO2 removal with effect of the flue gas
temperature decrease before input to the absorption column. In this
paper, sulfur dioxide (SO2) from flue gas was captured using new
design replacing venturi scrubber (1st degree of wet scrubbing).
The flue gas was prepared by the combustion of the carbon
disulfide solution in toluene (1:1 vol.) in the flame in the reactor.
Such prepared flue gas with temperature around 150°C was
processed in designed laboratory O-element scrubber. Water was
used as absorbent liquid. The efficiency of SO2 removal, pressure
drop and temperature drop were measured on our experimental
device. The dependence of these variables on liquid-gas ratio was
observed. The average temperature drop was in the range from
150°C to 40°C. The pressure drop was increased with increasing of
a liquid-gas ratio, but no too much as for the common venturi
scrubber designs. The efficiency of SO2 removal was up to 70 %.
The pressure drop of our new designed wet scrubber is similar to
commonly used venturi scrubbers; nevertheless the influence of
amount of the liquid on pressure drop is not so significant.
Abstract: Moving into a new era of healthcare, new tools and
devices are developed to extend and improve health services, such as
remote patient monitoring and risk prevention. In this concept,
Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing present great
advantages by providing remote and efficient services, as well as
cooperation between patients, clinicians, researchers and other health
professionals. This paper focuses on patients suffering from bipolar
disorder, a brain disorder that belongs to a group of conditions
called affective disorders, which is characterized by great mood
swings. We exploit the advantages of Semantic Web and Cloud
Technologies to develop a patient monitoring system to support
clinicians. Based on intelligently filtering of evidence-knowledge and
individual-specific information we aim to provide treatment
notifications and recommended function tests at appropriate times or
concluding into alerts for serious mood changes and patient’s nonresponse
to treatment. We propose an architecture as the back-end
part of a cloud platform for IoT, intertwining intelligence devices
with patients’ daily routine and clinicians’ support.
Abstract: Reliability of long-term storage products is related to
the availability of the whole system, and the evaluation of storage life
is of great necessity. These products are usually highly reliable and
little failure information can be collected. In this paper, an analytical
method based on data from accelerated storage life test is proposed to
evaluate the reliability index of the long-term storage products. Firstly,
singularities are eliminated by data normalization and residual
analysis. Secondly, with the preprocessed data, the degradation path
model is built to obtain the pseudo life values. Then by life distribution
hypothesis, we can get the estimator of parameters in high stress levels
and verify failure mechanism consistency. Finally, the life distribution
under the normal stress level is extrapolated via the acceleration model
and evaluation of the actual average life is available. An application
example with the camera stabilization device is provided to illustrate
the methodology we proposed.
Abstract: We have conducted the optimal synthesis of rootmean-
squared objective filter to estimate the state vector in the case if
within the observation channel with memory the anomalous noises
with unknown mathematical expectation are complement in the
function of the regular noises. The synthesis has been carried out for
linear stochastic systems of continuous - time.
Abstract: We investigate relaxation dynamics of a quantum
dipole emitter (QDE), e.g., a molecule or quantum dot, located near a
metal nanoparticle (MNP) exhibiting a dipolar localized surface
plasmon (LSP) resonance at the frequency of the QDE radiative
transition. It is shown that under the condition of the QDE-MNP
characteristic relaxation time being much shorter than that of the
QDE in free-space but much longer than the LSP lifetime. It is also
shown that energy dissipation in the QDE-MNP system is relatively
weak with the probability of the photon emission being about 0.75, a
number which, rather surprisingly, does not explicitly depend on the
metal absorption characteristics. The degree of entanglement
measured by the concurrency takes the maximum value, while the
distances between the QDEs and metal ball approximately are equal.
Abstract: Early diagnosis of infection like Hep-B virus in blood
is important for low cost medical treatment. For this purpose, it is
desirable to develop a point of care device which should be able to
detect trace quantities of the target molecule in blood. In this paper,
we report a nanoporous silicon oxide sensor which is capable of
detecting down to 1fM concentration of Hep-B surface antigen in
blood without the requirement of any centrifuge or pre-concentration.
This has been made possible by the presence of resonant peak in the
sensitivity characteristics. This peak is observed to be dependent only
on the concentration of the specific antigen and not on the interfering
species in blood serum. The occurrence of opposite impedance
change within the pores and at the bottom of the pore is responsible
for this effect. An electronic interface has also been designed to
provide a display of the virus concentration.
Abstract: Propylene self-metathesis to ethylene and butene was
studied over WOx/SiO2 catalysts at 450oC and atmospheric pressure.
The WOx/SiO2 catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness
impregnation of ammonium metatungstate aqueous solution. It was
found that, adding nano-sized extra supports (SiO2 and TiO2) by
physical mixing with the WOx/SiO2 enhanced propylene conversion.
The UV-Vis and FT-Raman results revealed that WOx could migrate
from the original silica support to the extra support, leading to a
better dispersion of WOx. The ICP-OES results also indicate that
WOx existed on the extra support. Coke formation was investigated
on the catalysts after 10 h time-on-stream by TPO. However, adding
nano-sized extra supports led to higher coke formation which may be
related to acidity as characterized by NH3-TPD.
Abstract: This paper presents the design and fabrication of an
optical window for an optical modulator toward image sensing
applications. An optical window consists of micrometer-order SiO2
capillaries (porous solid) that can modulate transmission light
intensity by moving the liquid in and out of porous solid. A high
optical transmittance of the optical window can be achieved due to
refractive index matching when the liquid is penetrated into the
porous solid. Otherwise, its light transmittance is lower because of
light reflection and scattering by air holes and capillary walls. Silicon
capillaries fabricated by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process are
completely oxidized to form the SiO2 capillaries. Therefore, high
aspect ratio SiO2 capillaries can be achieved based on silicon
capillaries formed by DRIE technique. Large compressive stress of
the oxide causes bending of the capillary structure, which is reduced
by optimizing the design of device structure. The large stress of the
optical window can be released via thin supporting beams. A 7.2 mm
x 9.6 mm optical window area toward a fully integrated with the
image sensor format is successfully fabricated and its optical
transmittance is evaluated with and without inserting liquids (ethanol
and matching oil). The achieved modulation range is approximately
20% to 35% with and without liquid penetration in visible region
(wavelength range from 450 nm to 650 nm).
Abstract: This paper presents a model for a modified T-junction
device for microspheres generation. The numerical model is
developed using a commercial software package: COMSOL
Multiphysics. In order to test the accuracy of the numerical model,
multiple variables, such as the flow rate of cross-flow, fluid properties,
structure, and geometry of the microdevice are applied. The results
from the model are compared with the experimental results in the
diameter of the microsphere generated. The comparison shows a good
agreement. Therefore the model is useful in further optimization of the
device and feedback control of microsphere generation if any.
Abstract: Although, lanthanum carbonate has not been approved
by the FDA for treatment of hyperphosphatemia, we prospectively
evaluated the efficacy of the combination of Calcium hydroxyapatite
(CHAp) and Lanthanum Carbonate (LaC) for the treatment of
hyperphosphatemia on mice. CHAp was prepared by co-precipitation
method using Ca(OH)2, H3PO4, NH4OH with calcination at 1200ºC.
Lanthanum carbonate was prepared by chemical method using
NaHCO3 and LaCl3 at low pH environment, below 4.0. The
structures were characterized by FTIR spectra and SEM -EDX
analysis. The study group included 16 subjects-mice divided into four
groups according to the administered substance: lanthanum carbonate
(group A), CHAp (group B), lanthanum carbonate + CHAp (group C)
and salt water (group D). The results indicate a phosphate decrease
when subjects (mice) were treated with CHAp and lanthanum
carbonate (0.5% CMC), in a single dose of 1500 mg/kg. Serum
phosphate concentration decreased [(from 4.5 ± 0.8 mg/dL) to
4.05 ± 0.2 mg/dL), P < 0.01] in group A and in group C (to 3.6
± 0.2 mg/dL) at 12 hours from the administration. The combination
of CHAp and lanthanum carbonate is a suitable regimen for
hyperphosphatemia treatment because it avoids both the
hypercalcemia of CaCO3 and the adverse effects of CHAp.
Abstract: This study investigates the suitability of using plastic,
such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as a partial replacement of
natural coarse and fine aggregates (for example, brick chips and
natural sand) to produce lightweight concrete for load bearing
structural members. The plastic coarse aggregate (PCA) and plastic
fine aggregate (PFA) were produced from melted polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) bottles. Tests were conducted using three
different water–cement (w/c) ratios, such as 0.42, 0.48, and 0.57,
where PCA and PFA were used as 50% replacement of coarse and
fine aggregate respectively. Fresh and hardened properties of
concrete have been compared for natural aggregate concrete (NAC),
PCA concrete (PCC) and PFA concrete (PFC). The compressive
strength of concrete at 28 days varied with the water–cement ratio for
both the PCC and PFC. Between PCC and PFC, PFA concrete
showed the highest compressive strength (23.7 MPa) at 0.42 w/c ratio
and also the lowest compressive strength (13.7 MPa) at 0.57 w/c
ratio. Significant reduction in concrete density was mostly observed
for PCC samples, ranging between 1977–1924 kg/m³. With the
increase in water–cement ratio PCC achieved higher workability
compare to both NAC and PFC. It was found that both the PCA and
PFA contained concrete achieved the required compressive strength
to be used for structural purpose as partial replacement of the natural
aggregate; but to obtain the desired lower density as lightweight
concrete the PCA is most suited.
Abstract: The quality and condition of perishable products
delivered to the market and their subsequent selling prices are
directly affected by the care taken during harvesting and handling.
Mechanical injury, in fact, occurs at all stages, from pre-harvest
operations through post-harvest handling, packing and transport to
the market. The main implications of this damage are the reduction of
the product’s quality and economical losses related to the shelf life
diminution. For most perishable products, the shelf life is relatively
short and it is typically dictated by microbial growth related to the
application of dynamic and static loads during transportation. This
paper presents the correlation between vibration levels and
microbiological growth on strawberries and woodland strawberries
and detects the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in
order to develop an intelligent logistic unit capable of monitoring
VOCs using a specific sensor system. Fresh fruits were exposed to
vibrations by means of a vibrating table in a temperature-controlled
environment. Microbiological analyses were conducted on samples,
taken at different positions along the column of the crates. The values
obtained were compared with control samples not exposed to
vibrations and the results show that different positions along the
column influence the development of bacteria, yeasts and filamentous
fungi.
Abstract: All the software engineering researches and best
industry practices aim at providing software products with high
degree of quality and functionality at low cost and less time. These
requirements are addressed by the Component Based Software
Engineering (CBSE) as well. CBSE, which deals with the software
construction by components’ assembly, is a revolutionary extension
of Software Engineering. CBSE must define and describe processes
to assure timely completion of high quality software systems that are
composed of a variety of pre built software components. Though
these features provide distinct and visible benefits in software design
and programming, they also raise some challenging problems. The
aim of this work is to summarize the pertinent issues and
considerations in CBSE to make an understanding in forms of
concepts and observations that may lead to development of newer
ways of dealing with the problems and challenges in CBSE.
Abstract: Microalgae Meyerella planktonica is a potential
biofuel source because it can grow in bulk in either autotrophic or
heterotrophic condition. However, the quantitative growth of this
algal type is still low as it tends to precipitates on the bottom.
Besides, the lipid concentration is still low when grown in
autotrophic condition. In contrast, heterotrophic condition can
enhance the lipid concentration. The combination of autotrophic
condition and agitation treatment was conducted to increase the
density of the culture. On the other hand, a heterotrophic condition
was set up to raise the lipid production. A two-stage experiment
was applied to increase the density at the first step and to increase
the lipid concentration in the next step. The autotrophic condition
resulted higher density but lower lipid concentration compared to
heterotrophic one. The agitation treatment produced higher density
in both autotrophic and heterotrophic conditions. The two-stage
experiment managed to enhance the density during the autotrophic
stage and the lipid concentration during the heterotrophic stage.
The highest yield was performed by using 0.4% v/v glycerol as a
carbon source (2.9±0.016 x 10^6 cells w/w) attained 7 days after the
heterotrophic stage began. The lipid concentration was stable
starting from day 7.
Abstract: In this article, the antibiogram and heavy metal
resistance profile of the bacteria isolated from total 34 studied
animals (Pelophylax ridibundus = 12; Mauremys rivulata = 14;
Natrix natrix = 8) captured around the Biga Stream, are described.
There was no database information on antibiogram and heavy metal
resistance profile of bacteria from these area’s amphibians and
reptiles.
A total of 200 bacteria were successfully isolated from cloaca and
oral samples of the aquatic amphibians and reptiles as well as from
the water sample. According to Jaccard’s similarity index, the degree
of similarity in the bacterial flora was quite high among the
amphibian and reptile species under examination, whereas it was
different from the bacterial diversity in the water sample. The most
frequent isolates were A. hydrophila (31.5%), B. pseudomallei
(8.5%), and C. freundii (7%). The total numbers of bacteria obtained
were as follows: 45 in P. ridibundus, 45 in N. natrix 30 in M.
rivulata, and 80 in the water sample. The result showed that
cefmetazole was the most effective antibiotic to control the bacteria
isolated in this study and that approximately 93.33% of the bacterial
isolates were sensitive to this antibiotic. The multiple antibiotic
resistances (MAR) index indicated that P. ridibundus (0.95) > N.
natrix (0.89) > M. rivulata (0.39). Furthermore, all the tested heavy
metals (Pb+2, Cu+2, Cr+3, and Mn+2) inhibit the growth of the bacterial
isolates at different rates. Therefore, it indicated that the water source
of the animals was contaminated with both antibiotic residues and
heavy metals.
Abstract: In our research we aimed to test a managerial
approach for the fuzzy front end (FFE) of innovation by creating
controlled experiment/ business case in a breakthrough innovation
development. The experiment was in the sport industry and covered
all aspects of the customer discovery stage from ideation to
prototyping followed by patent application. In the paper we describe
and analyze mile stones, tasks, management challenges, decisions
made to create the break through innovation, evaluate overall
managerial efficiency that was at the considered FFE stage.
We set managerial outcome of the FFE stage as a valid product
concept in hand. In our paper we introduce hypothetical construct
“Q-factor” that helps us in the experiment to distinguish quality of
FFE outcomes.
The experiment simulated for entrepreneur the FFE of innovation
and put on his shoulders responsibility for the outcome of valid
product concept. While developing managerial approach to reach the
outcome there was a decision to look on product concept from the
cognitive psychology and cognitive science point of view. This view
helped us to develop the profile of a person whose projection (mental
representation) of a new product could optimize for a manager or
entrepreneur FFE activities. In the experiment this profile was tested
to develop breakthrough innovation for swimmers. Following the
managerial approach the product concept was created to help
swimmers to feel/sense water. The working prototype was developed
to estimate the product concept validity and value added effect for
customers.
Based on feedback from coachers and swimmers there were strong
positive effect that gave high value for customers, and for the
experiment – the valid product concept being developed by proposed
managerial approach for the FFE.
In conclusions there is a suggestion of managerial approach that
was derived from experiment.
Abstract: Subspace channel estimation methods have been
studied widely, where the subspace of the covariance matrix is
decomposed to separate the signal subspace from noise subspace. The
decomposition is normally done by using either the eigenvalue
decomposition (EVD) or the singular value decomposition (SVD) of
the auto-correlation matrix (ACM). However, the subspace
decomposition process is computationally expensive. This paper
considers the estimation of the multipath slow frequency hopping
(FH) channel using noise space based method. In particular, an
efficient method is proposed to estimate the multipath time delays by
applying multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm which is
based on the null space extracted by the rank revealing LU (RRLU)
factorization. As a result, precise information is provided by the
RRLU about the numerical null space and the rank, (i.e., important
tool in linear algebra). The simulation results demonstrate the
effectiveness of the proposed novel method by approximately
decreasing the computational complexity to the half as compared
with RRQR methods keeping the same performance.
Abstract: Exact solution of an unsteady MHD flow of elasticoviscous
fluid through a porous media in a tube of spherical cross
section under the influence of magnetic field and constant pressure
gradient has been obtained in this paper. Initially, the flow is
generated by a constant pressure gradient. After attaining the steady
state, the pressure gradient is suddenly withdrawn and the resulting
fluid motion in a tube of spherical cross section by taking into
account of the porosity factor and magnetic parameter of the
bounding surface is investigated. The problem is solved in two-stages
the first stage is a steady motion in tube under the influence of a
constant pressure gradient, the second stage concern with an unsteady
motion. The problem is solved employing separation of variables
technique. The results are expressed in terms of a non-dimensional
porosity parameter (K), magnetic parameter (m) and elasticoviscosity
parameter (β), which depends on the Non-Newtonian
coefficient. The flow parameters are found to be identical with that of
Newtonian case as elastic-viscosity parameter and magnetic
parameter tends to zero and porosity tends to infinity. It is seen that
the effect of elastico-viscosity parameter, porosity parameter and
magnetic parameter of the bounding surface has significant effect on
the velocity parameter.
Abstract: The material selection in the design of the sandwich
structures is very crucial aspect because of the positive or negative
influences of the base materials to the mechanical properties of the
entire panel. In the literature, it was presented that the selection of the
skin and core materials plays very important role on the behavior of
the sandwich. Beside this, the use of the correct adhesive can make
the whole structure to show better mechanical results and behavior.
In the present work, the static three-point bending tests were
performed on the sandwiches having an aluminum alloy foam core,
the skins made of three different types of fabrics and two different
commercial adhesives (flexible polyurethane and toughened epoxy
based) at different values of support span distances by aiming the
analyses of their flexural performance in terms of absorbed energy,
peak force values and collapse mechanisms. The main results of the
flexural loading are: force-displacement curves obtained after the
bending tests, peak force and absorbed energy values, collapse
mechanisms and adhesion quality. The experimental results presented
that the sandwiches with epoxy based toughened adhesive and the
skins made of S-Glass Woven fabrics indicated the best adhesion
quality and mechanical properties. The sandwiches with toughened
adhesive exhibited higher peak force and energy absorption values
compared to the sandwiches with flexible adhesive. The use of these
sandwich structures can lead to a weight reduction of the transport
vehicles, providing an adequate structural strength under operating
conditions.
Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to provide a new
methodology for road safety assessment in Oman through the
development of suitable accident prediction models. GLM technique
with Poisson or NBR using SAS package was carried out to develop
these models. The paper utilized the accidents data of 31 un-signalized
T-intersections during three years. Five goodness-of-fit
measures were used to assess the overall quality of the developed
models. Two types of models were developed separately; the flow-based
models including only traffic exposure functions, and the full
models containing both exposure functions and other significant
geometry and traffic variables.
The results show that, traffic exposure functions produced much
better fit to the accident data. The most effective geometric variables
were major-road mean speed, minor-road 85th percentile speed,
major-road lane width, distance to the nearest junction, and right-turn
curb radius.
The developed models can be used for intersection treatment or
upgrading and specify the appropriate design parameters of T-intersections.
Finally, the models presented in this thesis reflect the intersection
conditions in Oman and could represent the typical conditions in
several countries in the middle east area, especially gulf countries.