Full-Scale Study of Infrared Thermography for Assessing Surface and Subsurface Defects in Pavements and Other Civil Infrastructure

Infrared thermography (IRT) is an effective non-destructive testing method in the field of concrete and asphalt pavements inspection. IRT is used to have an initial evaluation of the surface and near surface of pavements in a very time effective manner compared to other types of nondestructive testing (NDT) methods. Different aspects of IRT and its use to assess surface and subsurface defects in different types of pavements are being studied and evaluated in our research group. The effect of the depth of delamination inside concrete pavement on IRT technique is being studied. It is suggested by our group that there is a correlation between the surface crack profile on the asphalt pavements and its temperature, which will help us to evaluate pavement performance condition. Finally, a full laboratory study is being conducted to experimentally quantify the effects of weather conditions and surface coating on the ability of IRT to assess surface cracks on both asphalt and concrete pavements

The Representation of Male and Female Social Actors in the ILI English Series

Textbooks are important parts of all educational systems nowadays, which can make people ready for globalization and new concepts emerging through it. These individuals need to be given the chance of feeling as successful and important, in a world which is neither blue nor pink. Equality can pave the way to a better world, and the study of the representation of male and female social actors in textbooks can lead to elimination of inequality from textbooks and societies. This study is an attempt to analyze the representation of males and females at the ILI English Series. The dialogues examined critically through Van Leeuwen’s framework (1996, 2008), and they proved to be gender-biased. These series depict a men-without-women world in which females are waiting for a chance to ‘be’, ‘be seen’ and ‘be heard’. (140

Measurement of AChE activity in the brain of sea, well- and river-fed white fish (Rutilus frisi) as a health index

زمینه و هدف: استفاده از سموم ارگانوفسفره به عنوان حشره کش یا علف کش از دیر باز در استان هایی مانند مازندران به علت وفور مزارع کشاورزی رواج داشته است. این سموم سرانجام در چرخه طبیعی حیات قرار گرفته و در نهایت در بدن حیوانات مانند ماهی تجمع یافته و از این طریق به بدن انسان می رسند. پساب و فاضلاب های شیمیائی نیز بطور مشابه به انسان منتقل می شوند این کار تحقیقی به منظور بررسی میزان جذب این سموم در ماهی سفید انجام شده است. روش مطالعه: بدین منظور از روش رنگ سنجی المن در سنجش فعالیت آنزیم کولین استرازاستفاده شد. نمونه های ماهی سفید، از سه منبع دریائی، پرورشی با آب چاه و پرورشی با آب رود خانه هر یک به تعداد 8 نمونه تهیه شدند. نتایج: با محاسبه میانگین جذب قرائت شده از مغز ماهی ها، فعالیت این آنزیم بر اساس فرمول المن به ترتیب 80/3، 38/1 و 22/0 میکرو مول استیل تیو کولین استراز هیدرولیز شده در دقیقه در هر گرم مغز ماهی محاسبه شد. بررسی های آماری توسط Student Newman Kelus testانجام شد. تفاوت معنی داری بین فعالیت این آنزیم در ماهی های سفید دریائی، چاهی و رودخانه ای بدست آمد (001/0

Application of Infrared Thermography in Pavement Inspection

Infrared thermography (IRT) is an effective non-destructive testing method in the field of concrete and asphalt pavements monitoring. IRT is used to have an initial evaluation of the surface and near surface of pavements in a very time effective manner. The effect of the depth of delamination inside concrete pavement on infrared thermography technique is being studied. It is also suggested by our group that there is a correlation between the surface crack profile on the asphalt pavements and its temperature. Finally, a full laboratory study is being conducted to experimentally quantify the effects of weather conditions on IRT

Facile One-Pot Synthesis of NiCo₂Se₄-RGO on Ni Foam for High Performance Hybrid Supercapacitors

A facile, innovative synthesis for the fabrication of NiCo2Se4-rGO on a Ni foam nanocomposite via a simple hydrothermal reaction is proposed. The as-prepared NiCo2Se4-rGO@Ni foam electrode was tested through pxrd, TEM, SEM, and EDS to characterize the morphology and the purity of the material. The bimetallic electrode exhibited outstanding electrochemical performance with a high specific capacitance of 2038.55 F g-1 at 1 A g-1. NiCo2Se4-rGO@Ni foam exhibits an extensive cycling stability after 1000 cycles by retaining 90% of its initial capacity. A superior energy density of 67.01 W h kg-1 along with a high power density of 903.61 W kg-1 further proved the high performance of this electrode towards hybrid supercapacitors. The excellent electrochemical performance of NiCo2Se4-rGO@Ni foam can be explained through the high electrocatalytic activity of NiCo2Se4 in combination with reduced graphene oxide which increases conductivity and surface area of the electrode. This study proved that NiCo2Se4-rGO@Ni foam can be utilized as a high energy density-high power density electrode in energy storage applications

Public Participation in Heritage Cities' Rehabilitation Schemes in Middle East and North Africa:An Investigation in Three Cities : Fez,Aleppo and Istanbul

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Lilith y sus descendientes: trayectoria del mito de la "femme fatale" en las literaturas europeas

En las páginas que conforman este trabajo hemos pretendido dibujar la línea que define el arquetipo de la mujer fatal encarnado en el personaje parabíblico de Lilith. Durante más de 3000 años, primero a través de relatos mitológicos, representaciones artísticas ornamentales o rituales, y narraciones folclóricas, y después desde la literatura y la pintura, la imagen arquetípica de la femme fatale ha estado presente en el imaginario colectivo occidental. A lo largo de todos estos milenios, Lilith y su arquetipo han reunido en sí una serie de mitemas o características que podemos dividir en dos tipos o niveles: estructurales, que son aquellos sin cuya presencia no es posible hablar del arquetipo mítico de la mujer fatal, a saber, la sexualidad visible y agresiva y su deseo de dañar a otros, principalmente a los hombres; y en segundo lugar, los mitemas ornamentales o circunstanciales, muchas veces propios de un paradigma determinado (clásico o romántico, por ejemplo) que pueden fluctuar en su representación y que nos ayudan a situar el arquetipo en el tiempo y el espacio. Hemos concretado el mito original de Lilith como la encarnación de una lección moral simbólicamente relatada. Pese a que los matices de significado que este mito revela pueden tener mínimas variaciones a lo largo del tiempo (a las que que hemos denominado mitemas circunstanciales u ornamentales), la base sobre la que se desarrolla es pétreamente invariable: la mujer fuerte es peligrosa para el hombre y para la sociedad en la que vive. Con respecto a los mitemas estructurales, Lilith se define desde los inicios como la representación conceptual de lo que de agresivo existe en la psique femenina. Tanto desde sus inicios como las terribles diosas mesopotámicas Istar o Inanna, representaciones de mujeres guerreras y sanguinarias, como en su desarrollo dentro del mito hebreo, del que conocemos un mayor número de detalles con respecto a sus hábitos de devoradora de niños y semen y cruel torturadora de hombres, hasta sus herederas en la literatura clásica, claros ejemplos de crueldad (Medea, Clitemnestra...)..

Prior Density Learning in Variational Bayesian Phylogenetic Parameters Inference

The advances in variational inference are providing promising paths in Bayesian estimation problems. These advances make variational phylogenetic inference an alternative approach to Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods for approximating the phylogenetic posterior. However, one of the main drawbacks of such approaches is the modelling of the prior through fixed distributions, which could bias the posterior approximation if they are distant from the current data distribution. In this paper, we propose an approach and an implementation framework to relax the rigidity of the prior densities by learning their parameters using a gradient-based method and a neural network-based parameterization. We applied this approach for branch lengths and evolutionary parameters estimation under several Markov chain substitution models. The results of performed simulations show that the approach is powerful in estimating branch lengths and evolutionary model parameters. They also show that a flexible prior model could provide better results than a predefined prior model. Finally, the results highlight that using neural networks improves the initialization of the optimization of the prior density parameters.Comment: Accepted as a full paper for publication at RECOMB-CG 2023 (Camera-ready version). 15 pages (excluding references), 6 tables and 1 figur

3D Crack Profiling Using Real-Time Thermography

The objective of this research is to develop an integrated new system that combines infrared imaging, high resolution visible light imaging, real-time image processing, and data-rich analytics for automated inspection of the surface of the asphalt pavements. The developed system features collecting frames from thermal and visual images and aligning them together for further data processing. We developed an algorithm that can integrate the characteristics captured by both thermal and visual images to provide a quantitative identification of the location of surface cracks and their severity. This work can provide fast and easy decision support to improve pavement preservation practices

Concrete Pavement Service Condition Assessment Using Infrared Thermography

Infrared thermography (IRT), an effective nondestructive testing method, is used to obtain an initial evaluation of the concrete pavement surface and near surface in a time effective manner. In this paper, the effect of the depth of delamination inside concrete pavement on infrared thermography technique is studied for bridge decks inspection. To be able to mimic the delamination in subsurface, two Styrofoam cubes have been inserted in different depth near the surface of the concrete cylinder. After heating up the specimen, thermal images were taken from the surface using an infrared thermal camera to evaluate the effect of subsurface defects on detection sensitivity and accuracy.We also investigated the precision to which the shape and the size of the subsurface anomalies can be perceived using an uncooled thermal camera. To achieve this goal,we used image processing technique to accurately compute the size of delamination in order to compare it with the actual size. In addition, distance/thermal graph is used to detect the presence of the defect underneath the concrete surface. Furthermore, thermal transfer modeling was adopted in this paper to assist the setup of this experiment and the results are compared with laboratory findings