Analytical Study of Creeping Flow through Porous Media Using Stress-Jump Condition

This work investigates the creeping flow problem via a swarm of porous circular cylindrical particles using the cell model technique. Brinkman equation inside the porous cylindrical region is used, and Stokes equation for the clear fluid would be satisfied. The stress-jump condition, together with the continuity of the velocity components and the continuity of normal stress, are employed at the porous-liquid interfaces. In contrast, no-couple stress condition and no-spin condition are used on the outer boundary of the cell. In addition, we are applying no-slip boundary conditions on the surface of the solid core. Our problem is solved analytically, and stream function expressions are derived for the inside and outside flow fields. The influence of the drag force on each porous cylindrical particle in the cell is calculated. The graph depicts the variation of hydrodynamic permeability with various parameters and especially the impact of the jump coefficient. The results of this model may be used to examine the membrane filtration process

Analytical Study of Creeping Flow through Porous Media Using Stress-Jump Condition

This work investigates the creeping flow problem via a swarm of porous circular cylindrical particles using the cell model technique. Brinkman equation inside the porous cylindrical region is used, and Stokes equation for the clear fluid would be satisfied. The stress-jump condition, together with the continuity of the velocity components and the continuity of normal stress, are employed at the porous-liquid interfaces. In contrast, no-couple stress condition and no-spin condition are used on the outer boundary of the cell. In addition, we are applying no-slip boundary conditions on the surface of the solid core. Our problem is solved analytically, and stream function expressions are derived for the inside and outside flow fields. The influence of the drag force on each porous cylindrical particle in the cell is calculated. The graph depicts the variation of hydrodynamic permeability with various parameters and especially the impact of the jump coefficient. The results of this model may be used to examine the membrane filtration process

Bridge Management System with Integrated Life Cycle Cost Optimization

In recent years, infrastructure renewal has been a focus of attention in North America and around the world. Municipal and federal authorities are increasingly recognizing the need for life cycle cost analysis of infrastructure projects in order to facilitate proper prioritization and budgeting of maintenance operations. Several reports have highlighted the need to increase budgets with the goal of overcoming the backlog in maintaining infrastructure facilities. This situation is apparent in the case of bridge networks, which are considered vital links in the road network infrastructure. Because of harsh environments and increasing traffic volumes, bridges are deteriorating rapidly, rendering the task of managing this important asset a complex endeavour. While several bridge management systems (BMS) have been developed at the commercial and research level, they still have serious drawbacks, particularly in integrating bridge-level and network-level decisions, and handling extremely large optimization problems. To overcome these problems, this study presents an innovative bridge management framework that considers network-level and bridge-level decisions. The initial formulation of the proposed framework was limited to bridge deck management. The model has unique aspects: a deterioration model that uses optimized Markov chain matrices, a life cycle cost analysis that considers different repair strategies along the planning horizon, and a system that considers constraints, such as budget limits and desirable improvement in network condition. To optimize repair decisions for large networks that mathematical programming optimization are incapable of handling, four state-of-the art evolutionary algorithms are used: Genetic algorithms, shuffled frog leaping, particle swarm, and ant colony. These algorithms have been used to experiment on different problem sizes and formulations in order to determine the best optimization setup for further developments. Based on the experiments using the framework for the bridge deck, an expanded framework is presented that considers multiple bridge elements (ME-BMS) in a much larger formulation that can include thousands of bridges. Experiments were carried out in order to examine the framework’s performance on different numbers of bridges so that system parameters could be set to minimize the degradation in the system performance with the increase in numbers of bridges. The practicality of the ME-BMS was enhanced by the incorporation of two additional models: a user cost model that estimates the benefits gained in terms of the user cost after the repair decisions are implemented, and a work zone user cost model that minimizes user cost in work zones by deciding the optimal work zone strategy (nighttime shifts, weekend shifts, and continuous closure), also, decides on the best traffic control plan that suits the bridge configuration. To verify the ability of the developed ME-BMS to optimize repair decisions on both the network and project levels, a case study obtained from a transportation municipality was employed. Comparisons between the decisions provided by the ME-BMS and the municipality policy for making decisions indicated that the ME-BMS has great potential for optimizing repair decisions for bridge networks and for structuring the planning of the maintenance of transportation systems, thus leading to cost savings and more efficient sustainability of the transportation infrastructure

INHALED TASTE MASKED SPRAY DRIED KETOTIFEN MICROPARTICLES: FORMULATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND IN VITRO PULMONARY DEPOSITION

Objective: Preparation and characterization of inhalable taste masked microparticles (MPs) loaded with the anti-asthmatic bitter drug, ketotifen (KT).Methods: MPs were prepared by a spray-drying technique. The effects of addition of different excipients namely: mannitol, leucine and hyaluronic acid (HA) on the physicochemical properties of KT spray dried powders were determined. Powder taste was evaluated on volunteers. DSC and x-ray diffraction were done to investigate thermal and crystallographic properties of the powders. The surface morphology and shape of KT-loaded hyaluronic acid MPs were examined using scanning electron microscope, in vitro pulmonary deposition and inhalation indices were determined using a twin stage glass impinger (TSI).Results: Leucine improved the powder flow properties. Mannitol, at all tested ratios, produced brownish discoloration in spray dried powders (SDP) upon storage even in dessicator. At a drug to HA ratio of 1:2, the bitter taste of KT had significantly improved besides obtaining a high respirable particle fraction. This selected ratio showed good physicochemical stability for up to 9 mo.Conclusion: The developed KT spray dried particles may offer a good platform for the targeted pulmonary delivery of the drug overcoming the major biological barriers.Keywords: Ketotifen, Microparticles, Pulmonary delivery, Hyaluronic acid, Taste masking, Spray dryin

Find an Economic Method for Gravel Placement in Water Wells with the Least Amount of Segregation

Industerial Engineerin

DEVELOPMENT OF AVIAN PARAMYXOVIRUS VECTORED VACCINES

Avian Avulaviruses (formerly Avian Paramyxoviruses, APMV) are important pathogens of avian species and have been used as viral vectors for more than two decades. Among all APMVs, Newcastle disease virus (NDV or APMV-1) has been most extensively used as a vaccine vector for protection against avian and animal diseases, and as an oncolytic agent. For poultry vaccination, the preexisting maternal antibodies against NDV can neutralize APMV-1 vectors resulting in vaccination failure. Hence, there is a need to develop new vaccine vectors that would escape neutralization by the maternal antibodies. In the first part of my study, I created a reverse genetics system for Avian paramyxovirus-3 strain Wisconsin (APMV-3 Wisc.) which was proven to be nonpathogenic for day-old chicks and embryonated chicken eggs. The virus was used as a vector to express the enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a heterologous antigen. The recombinant APMV-3 Wisc. expressing GFP was compared with similarly constructed APMV-1 strain LaSota and APMV-3 strain Netherlands-based vectors for GFP expression and growth kinetics in vitro, and for immunogenicity, safety, and tissue tropism in day-old specific pathogen-free (SPF) chicks. APMV-3 strain Netherlands (APMV-3 Neth.) showed the highest growth rate and GFP expression in chicken fibroblast DF-1 cells, followed by APMV-1 LaSota and APMV-3 Wisconsin. In day-old chicks, APMV-3 Neth. spread to different organs, decreased feed intake and caused stunted growth. APMV-3 Wisc. and APMV-1 LaSota were confined to the respiratory tract and did not induce any pathogenic effects. All three constructs induced seroconversion of the vaccinated chicks for the vector antigens. Thus, the reverse genetics system created in this study for APMV-3 Wisc. allows the development of safe APMV vector antigenically different from NDV that can be used for day-old chicks vaccination. In addition, it provides a tool to study the molecular basis of APMV3 pathogenesis. In the second part of my study, I explored a novel approach for the expression of a foreign gene as an uninterrupted open reading frame (ORF) with a cognate gene of NDV vector. This approach is expected to promote the foreign gene expression stability. Avian influenza virus (AIV) hemagglutinin (HA) protein-coding sequence was fused in-frame with various proteins of NDV vector, with a 2A self-cleaving peptide, a furin cleavage site, or both, placed between the AIV and NDV sequences for separation of the two proteins. Among different constructs tested, we only recovered viable viruses with AIV HA fused C-terminally to the NDV HN gene. These viruses demonstrated a higher expression level of AIV HA than the vector constructed according to a traditional scheme of expressing the transgene as a separate transcriptional unit. Also, they showed increased stability of the transgene expression over multiple passages in embryonated chicken eggs. Our results demonstrate the advantages and limitations of this novel method of foreign gene expression that need to be considered for the development of NDV-based vaccine or therapeutic vectors

Setting an Agenda for Urban AI Adaptivity in Urban Planning and Architecture E-learning

The rapid spread of technology and learning systems have altered the viewpoint about the lack of E-learning to the human element. The intersection of AI and education is highlighted by many technologists and researchers showing the diverse possibilities and challenges of using AI in education. However, little research addresses the potential of using AI to create an adaptive e-learning experience that brings a fully personalized experience to e-learners in architecture and urban educational fields. Building on that, we postulate that adaptive AI learning could be useful for urban online teaching and urban development Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), specifically as urban planners need to explore different scenarios of future city making. Therefore, the aim is to explore how educators from the architecture and urban field E-Learning stakeholders perceive AI in the creation of urban Moocs as well as other online teaching activities, as well as address the ways in which adaptive learning can be created in urban e-learning MOOCs using AI. In an attempt to answer the question, what is the current perception of educators about AI adaptivity in e-learning?To achieve this, first, we review the literature available on the topic to provide a comprehensive and inclusive look at adaptive AI learning, its potential, and its challenges. This overview informed and guided the formulation of the survey questions. Then we conducted a survey on educators in Architecture and urban fields from universities in Egypt. The unfamiliarity of the participants with AI provides us with deeper insights into perceptions of educators\u27 AI adaptivity in online learning and MOOCs. The study develops a framework for adaptive e-learning using AI in an attempt to create more interactive and personalized e-learning experiences that can be used in different fields and for different types of learners

Setting an Agenda for Urban AI Adaptivity in Urban Planning and Architecture E-learning

The rapid spread of technology and learning systems have altered the viewpoint about the lack of E-learning to the human element. The intersection of AI and education is highlighted by many technologists and researchers showing the diverse possibilities and challenges of using AI in education. However, little research addresses the potential of using AI to create an adaptive e-learning experience that brings a fully personalized experience to e-learners in architecture and urban educational fields. Building on that, we postulate that adaptive AI learning could be useful for urban online teaching and urban development Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), specifically as urban planners need to explore different scenarios of future city making. Therefore, the aim is to explore how educators from the architecture and urban field E-Learning stakeholders perceive AI in the creation of urban Moocs as well as other online teaching activities, as well as address the ways in which adaptive learning can be created in urban e-learning MOOCs using AI. In an attempt to answer the question, what is the current perception of educators about AI adaptivity in e-learning?To achieve this, first, we review the literature available on the topic to provide a comprehensive and inclusive look at adaptive AI learning, its potential, and its challenges. This overview informed and guided the formulation of the survey questions. Then we conducted a survey on educators in Architecture and urban fields from universities in Egypt. The unfamiliarity of the participants with AI provides us with deeper insights into perceptions of educators\u27 AI adaptivity in online learning and MOOCs. The study develops a framework for adaptive e-learning using AI in an attempt to create more interactive and personalized e-learning experiences that can be used in different fields and for different types of learners

Soil hydrophysical properties as affected by kind of added polymer.

Laboratory experiments were carried out to clarify the impact of different types of natural and synthetic polymers on some hydrophysical properties (soil hydraulic parameters) of a sandy soil. Adding 0.5% (w/w) of each treatment to soil significantly increased water retention at saturation, field capacity, total available water and readily available water. This treatment decreased the value of inflection point on water retention curve as result of enhancing water behavior in the soil. The obtained results revealed that soil water storage significantly increased from 0.271 in control treatment (without adding polymer) up to 0.414 in treatment [T10] (Acrylic acid + Xanthan) while, field capacity increased significantly from 0.078 in control up to 0.242 of the abovementioned treatment (T10). Regarding the effects of polymer application in total available water and readily available water, data revealed significant increases in the above mentioned parameters. Total available water increased from 0.044 in control treatment up to 0.153 in T10 and readily available water increased from 0.057in control treatment up to 0.185 in T10. Concerning values of inflection point on soil water retention curve, the obtained results revealed that, inflection point of control treatment (1000 mbar) decreased to 590 mbar, as a result of adding a mixture of polymer acrylic acid + xanthan (T10 ).Soil depletion rate decreased as due to polymer application by 25% up to 75% depending on type of polymer and wether it was added individually or in combination with another polymer. This effect led to significant differences among control treatment (control) and the other treatments. Generally, there were significant effects of all polymers on the concerned hydrophyical properties of the studied sandy soil, i.e. storage capacity of soil water, depletion rate of soil water, soil field capacity , soil available water, readily available water and inflection point on the soil water retention curve. Acrylic acid recorded the best results concerning soil water behavior if it was added individually to the sandy soil (Treatment 2) or in combination with Xanthan (Treatment 10) or with Lignosulphonate (Treatment 11)

Respiratory symptoms and small airway dysfunction in current and former smokers without spirometric COPD

No abstract available