Theoretical study of the effect of fibre orientations and porosity on heat conductivity of reinforced polymer composites

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for engineering materials which not only possess good mechanical and thermal properties but are also cheap and environmentally friendly. Composites are unique engineering materials which can be tailor made from a large variety of materials to suit specific applications. Composites primarily consist of a polymer resin matrix in which other material is incorporated in discrete units for reinforcing. The reinforcing materials can be in the form of fibres or flakes orientated in various ways to impart maximum performance. Natural fibres such as sisal, kenaf, bagasse, hemp etc. have been studied as reinforcing material for conventional polymer resins. Such composites are often termed green composites and they have unique mechanical properties when compared to conventional composites. They are also available at a cheap price and weigh a lot less. In addition, they can also offer unique thermal and acoustic insulation properties. Due to these attractive features they are used in the automotive, aerospace, textile and construction industries. A particularly important feature which determines the properties of natural fibre composites and their porosity. From an industrial and academic point of view, there is a need to study the heat conductivity of newly developed composites. This is influenced by the porosity of the composite. This project, investigated the effect of porosity and their orientation on the heat conductivity of polymer composites. Experimental and theoretical studies were conducted on mainly sisal-glass fibre polymer composites. Different volume of fibre fractions were tested in this study. It was expected that the presence of the fibres would dramatically improve the heat conductivity properties of the materials because the sisal fibres have internal porosity. The results of this work are expect to contribute to academic and industrial knowledge about the thermal performance of fibre composites. The data will be published in a professional journal. This knowledge will contribute to the manufacturing of newly developed materials for industrial applications

Tribological investigation of frictional behaviour of mild steel under canola bio-lubricant conditions

In this study, two stock engine oils were developed using different blends of a vegetable oil (canola oil), mixed with fully synthetic oil (0 %, 20 %, 40 %, 60 %, and 80 % of synthetic oil). The viscosity of the prepared blends was determined at different temperatures (20 ºC – 80 ºC). Tribological experiments were conducted, according to the conditions of the prepared lubricants, to investigate the influence of the newly developed oil on the frictional characteristics of mild steel material against stainless steel subjected to adhesive wear loading. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the worn surface of the mild steel. The results revealed that blending the canola oil with synthetic oil increases the viscosity of the lubricants. Moreover, the viscosity of the canola oil and its blends with synthetic oil is controlled by the environmental temperature since increasing the temperature reduces viscosity. The experimental results revealed that the frictional coefficient of the mild steel was dependent on the applied load and velocity rather than the sliding distance. In addition, pure canola oil as a lubricant was able to compete in performance with a blend of 80 % synthetic and 20 % canola oils

Melittin Exerts Beneficial Effects on Paraquat-Induced Lung Injuries in Mice by Modifying Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis

Melittin (MEL) is a 26-amino acid peptide with numerous biological activities. Paraquat (PQ) is one of the most widely used herbicides, although it is extremely toxic to humans. To date, PQ poisoning has no effective treatment, and therefore the current study aimed to assess for the first time the possible effects of MEL on PQ-induced lung injuries in mice. Mice received a single intraperitoneal (IP) injection of PQ (30 mg/kg), followed by IP treatment with MEL (0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg) twice per week for four consecutive weeks. Histological alterations, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in the lungs were studied. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining indicated that MEL markedly reduced lung injuries induced by PQ. Furthermore, treatment with MEL increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, and decreased malonaldehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels in lung tissue homogenates. Moreover, immunohistochemical staining showed that B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and survivin expressions were upregulated after MEL treatment, while Ki-67 expression was downregulated. The high dose of MEL was more effective than the low dose in all experiments. In summary, MEL efficiently reduced PQ-induced lung injuries in mice. Specific pharmacological examinations are required to determine the effectiveness of MEL in cases of human PQ poisoning

Improving Glass Walls Thermal Resistance In Air-Conditioned Buildings

The solar radiation through an air conditioned building depends on what is called the building envelope. Building envelope consists of the surfaces that separate the inside from the building outdoors. Area, direction, and specifications of glass walls; as one of envelope surfaces; has an important impact on solar radiation. Design and construction of glass walls have significant effects on building comfort and energy consumption. This paper describes methods of improving glass walls thermal resistance in air conditioned buildings. Effect of glass wall radiation temperature on the indoor temperature distribution of building rooms is also investigated. Heat gain through various types of glass is discussed. Optimization and testing of these types are carried out theoretically and experimentally as well. A series of experiments on different types of glass with special strips is performed

Acquired nasopharyngeal stenosis correction using a modified palatal flaps technique in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients

Background: Acquired nasopharyngeal stenosis is a rare and heterogeneous pathological condition that has different causes, generally resulting as a complication of a pharyngeal surgery, especially in patients affected by obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Different approaches have been proposed for the treatment of nasopharyngeal stenosis but a unique and standardized management has not yet been presented. The aim of our paper is to evaluate the efficacy of our surgical technique, describing its steps and results with the aim to consider it as a possible solution for the treatment of this condition. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study. Eight patients (mean age 27.25 years old (yo), range 8–67 yo; Male/Female ratio 4/4; mean body mass index (BMI) 26.1) affected by OSA (mean apnea hypopnea index (AHI) before OSA surgery was 22.1) and acquired nasopharyngeal stenosis as a consequence of different pharyngeal surgeries were treated with our modified approach in the Department of Otolaryngology, Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital, Forlì, Italy. Resolution of stenosis and complication rate were the main outcome measures. Results: Complete resolution of the stenosis was achieved in all cases and no complications were recorded at three weeks, six months, and 2 years follow-up. Conclusions: Our technique appears to be a promising method for the management of nasopharyngeal stenosis in OSA patients. However, further studies comparing different techniques and reporting on larger series and longer follow up time are needed to prove the efficacy of the proposed technique

NeuroPlace: categorizing urban places according to mental states

Urban spaces have a great impact on how people’s emotion and behaviour. There are number of factors that impact our brain responses to a space. This paper presents a novel urban place recommendation approach, that is based on modelling in-situ EEG data. The research investigations leverages on newly affordable Electroencephalogram (EEG) headsets, which has the capability to sense mental states such as meditation and attention levels. These emerging devices have been utilized in understanding how human brains are affected by the surrounding built environments and natural spaces. In this paper, mobile EEG headsets have been used to detect mental states at different types of urban places. By analysing and modelling brain activity data, we were able to classify three different places according to the mental state signature of the users, and create an association map to guide and recommend people to therapeutic places that lessen brain fatigue and increase mental rejuvenation. Our mental states classifier has achieved accuracy of (%90.8). NeuroPlace breaks new ground not only as a mobile ubiquitous brain monitoring system for urban computing, but also as a system that can advise urban planners on the impact of specific urban planning policies and structures. We present and discuss the challenges in making our initial prototype more practical, robust, and reliable as part of our on-going research. In addition, we present some enabling applications using the proposed architecture

An acute bout of swimming increases post-exercise energy intake in young healthy men and women

Single bouts of land-based exercise (for example, walking, running, cycling) do not typically alter post-exercise energy intake on the day of exercise. However, anecdotal and preliminary empirical evidence suggests that swimming may increase appetite and energy intake. This study compared the acute effects of swimming on appetite, energy intake, and food preference and reward, versus exertion-matched cycling and a resting control. Thirty-two men (n=17; mean ± SD age 24 ± 2 years, body mass index [BMI] 25.0 ± 2.6 kg/m2) and women (n=15; age 22 ± 3 years, BMI 22.8 ± 2.3 kg/m2) completed three experimental trials (swimming, cycling, control) in a randomised, crossover design. The exercise trials involved 60-min of ‘hard’ exercise (self-selected rating of perceived exertion: 15) performed 90-min after a standardised breakfast. Food preference and reward were assessed via the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire 15-min after exercise, whilst ad libitum energy intake was determined 30-min after exercise. The control trial involved identical procedures except no exercise was performed. Compared with control (3259 ± 1265 kJ), swimming increased ad libitum energy intake (3857 ± 1611 kJ; ES=0.47, 95% CI of the mean difference between trials 185, 1010 kJ, P=0.005); the magnitude of increase was smaller after cycling (3652 ± 1619 kJ; ES=0.31, 95% CI -21, 805 kJ, P=0.062). Ad libitum energy intake was similar between swimming and cycling (ES=0.16, 95% CI -207, 618 kJ, P=0.324). This effect was consistent across sexes and unrelated to food preference and reward which were similar after swimming and cycling compared with control. This study has identified an orexigenic effect of swimming. Further research is needed to identify the responsible mechanism(s), including the relevance of water immersion and water temperature per se

The delivery of value for money in public sector projects in Qatar

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Quantifying Time-lapse Seismic Signal Detection for the Otway Project Using Prestack Migration

During Stage 2 of the Otway CCS Australian project it is planned to inject a small, up to 15,000 tonnes of gas, into a saline aquifer located at depth of 1500 m. In CO2 sequestration, the ability to detect CO2 plumes is one of the main purposes of using time-lapse seismic imaging. The detectability of CO2 in seismic time-lapse surveys relies on two main factors: a sufficiently strong signal and sufficiently small noise. Therefore, to model time-lapse seismic records, we need to model not only the seismic response of the geology and the plume but also the time-lapse noise. Because plume detection is determined by the S/N, the ability to model realistic time-lapse noise is crucial in any feasibility study. In this work, we propose a more realistic approach by adding band-limited random noise to the pre-stack data (shot gathers) to match the S/N of field data. Using these noisy gathers we then compare the detectability of CO2 plume by using pre- and post-stack Kirchhoff migrations