Towards Intelligent Tire and Self-Powered Sensing Systems

Tires are the interface between a vehicle and the ground providing forces and isolation to the vehicle. For vehicle safety, stability, maintenance, and performance, it is vital to estimate or measure tire forces, inflation pressure, and contact friction coefficient. Estimation methods can predict tire forces to some extent however; they fail in harsh maneuvers and are dependent on road surface conditions for which there is no robust estimation method. Measurement devices for tire forces exist for vehicle testing but at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars. Tire pressure-monitoring sensors (TPMS) are the only sensors available in newer and higher end vehicles to provide tire pressure, but there are no sensors to measure road surface condition or tire forces for production vehicles. With the prospect of autonomous driving on roads in near future, it is paramount to make the vehicles safe on any driving and road condition. This is only possible by additional sensors to make up for the driver’s cognitive and sensory system. Measuring road condition and tire forces especially in autonomous vehicles are vital in their safety, reliability, and public confidence in automated driving. Real time measurement of road condition and tire forces in buses and trucks can significantly improve the safety of road transportation system, and in miming/construction and off-road vehicles can improve performance, tire life and reduce operational costs. In this thesis, five different types of sensors are designed, modelled, optimized and fabricated with the objective of developing an intelligent tire. In order to design these sensors,~both electromagnetic generator (EMG) and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) are used. In the first two initial designed sensors, with the combination of EMG and TENG into a single package, two hybridized sensors are fabricated with promising potential for self-powered sensing. The potential of developed sensors are investigated for tire-condition monitoring system (TCMS). Considering the impressive properties of TENG units of the developed hybridized devices, three different flexible nanogenerators, only based on this newly developed technology, are developed for TCMS. The design, modelling, working mechanism, fabrication procedure, and experimental results of these TENG sensors are fully presented for applications in TCMS. Among these three fabricated sensors, one of them shows an excellent capability for TCMS because of its high flexibility, stable and high electrical output,and an encapsulated structure. The high flexibility of developed TENG sensor is a very appealing feature for TCMS, which cannot be found in any available commercial sensor. The fabricated TENG sensors are used for developing an intelligent tire module to be eventually used for road testing. Several laboratory and road tests are performed to study the capability of this newly developed TENG-based sensor for tire-condition monitoring system. However the development of this sensor is in its early stage, it shows a promising potential for installation into the hostile environment of tires and measuring tire-road interacting forces. A comparative studies are provided with respect to Michigan Scientific transducer to investigate the potential of this flexible nanogenerator for TCMS. It is worth mentioning that this PhD thesis presents one of the earliest works on the application of TENG-based sensor for a real-life system. Also, the potential of commercially available thermally and mechanically durable Micro Fiber Composite (MFC) sensor is experimentally investigated for TCMS with fabricating another set of intelligent tire. Several testing scenarios are performed to examine the potential of these sensors for TCMS taking into account a simultaneous measurement from Michigan Scientific transducer. Although both flexibility and the cost of this sensor is not comparable with the fabricated TENG device, they have shown a considerable and reliable performance for online measuring of tire dynamical parameters in different testing scenarios, as they can be used for both energy harvesting and sensing application in TCMS. The extensive road testing results based on the MFC sensors provide a valuable set of data for future research in TCMS. It is experimentally shown that MFC sensor can generate up to 1.4 $\mu W$ electrical power at the speed of 28 $[kph]$. This electrical output shows the high capability of this sensor for self-powered sensing application in TCMS. Results of this thesis can be used as a framework by researchers towards self-powered sensing system for real-world applications such as intelligent tires

Analysis of Factors Affecting Adoption and Application of Sprinkler Irrigation by Farmers in Famenin County, Iran

Due to its location in the dry belt, the vast country of Iran has always been faced with the problem of water shortages. In such a climate one should take measures to increase the productivity and improve the efficiency of irrigation through expansion of water-conserving technology in the agricultural sector, as this is the largest and most important consumer of water. Therefore this study aimed at investigating factors affecting the adoption and application of sprinkler irrigation technology by farmers in the county of Famenin, Iran. Survey research was the dominant approach. The statistical population consisted of farmers in the Famenin County, and, using Cochran’s formula, 280 of them were selected through multi-stage stratified random-sampling equally among adopters and non-adopters. In order to assess the validity of the questionnaire the opinions of experts were used and to measure the reliability of the questionnaire Cronbach’s alpha statistic was used (82%). The results showed the adoption of sprinkler irrigation systems to be influenced by environmental factors such as the area under cultivation, access to water, water quality, and non-environmental factors such as the workforce number in the family, employment diversity, and participation in extension education and courses on agricultural water management. Ultimately the logit model is estimated in this paper. Adopters have also expressed reasons such as failure to adequately train farmers for maintenance after system installation, scientific and practical justifications, lack of availability of efficient repairs, inappropriate design and implementation by companies, low-quality components and fittings, clogging of sprinklers due to salty water, non-compliance with environmental conditions, difficulty using machines, the large area occupied by these systems, transportation, parts shortage, lack of security and the possibility of the theft of parts and fittings, and communal ownership of water resources as their dissatisfaction factors

Perspectives of Iranian Medical Nurses about Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) Orders

Objective: To study the attitudes of Iranian medical nurses towards the do-not-resuscitate (DNR) decision.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 nurses working in Imam Khomeini Hospital, (affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran) were enrolled. They answered to a questionnaire with two sections: the first one consisted of demographic questions (age, sex, and level of education), and the second included questions about DNR orders derived from a previously conducted study by Hosaka et al.Results: A total of 168 questionnaires returned (response rate (RR=85%)). About 61% felt that DNR order is sporadically necessary. Near 66% had participated in DNRs in their practice and the most case was the patient with terminal cancer. The most common person who decided DNR orders were physicians. Sixty seven percent believed that DNR cards are useful for establishing in clinical settings.Conclusion: As DNR is not routine in Iran, enrollment of nurses in this decision should be clearly defined

Protective effects of hydrogen sulfide on chronic kidney disease by reducing oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis

The current study aimed to examine the renoprotective effects of long-term treatment with sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS), a prominent hydrogen sulfide donor, in 5/6 nephrectomy animal model. Twenty-four rats were randomly divided into 3 groups including sham-operated group (Sham), 5/6-nephrectomized group (5/6 Nx), and NaHStreated group (5/6Nx+NaHS). NaHS (30 micromol/l) was added twice daily into the drinking water and renal failure was induced by 5/6 nephrectomy. Twelve weeks after surgical procedure, blood pressure, creatinine clearance (CCr), urine concentration of neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) and tissue concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), as well as renal morphological changes, apoptosis (cleaved caspase-3) and inflammation (p-NF-κB) were measured. Five-sixth nephrectomy induced severe renal damage as indicated by renal dysfunction, hypertension and significant histopathological injury which were associated with increased NGAL and MDA levels, oxidant/antioxidant imbalance, decreased SOD activity and CCr and also overexpression of p-NF-κB and cleaved caspase-3 proteins. Instead, NaHS treatment attenuated renal dysfunction through reduction of NGAL concentration, hypertension, CCr, oxidant/antioxidant imbalance, inflammation and apoptosis. These findings suggest that long term NaHS treatment can be useful in preventing the progression of CKD by improving oxidant/antioxidant balance and reducing inflammation and apoptosis in the kidney

Comparison of the effects of communication and conflict resolution skills training on mental health.

This study examined the effects of communication and conflict resolution skills training on mental health among Iranian couples based on the PREPARE/ENRICH program. In this study, mental health was measured by General Health Questionnaires (GHQ28). The study adopted a pre-and post-control group design in emphasizing the effects of communication training and conflict resolution skills on mental health. The participants in this research consisted of couples who were referred to the researcher by counseling center. The referrals were done for about two months in 2009. Their problems included marital problems and marital conflicts, commonly categorized as marital dissatisfaction, which were identified after a formal interview, testing and screening. In order to assign the experimental and control groups, purposive random sampling was employed. One hundred and eight participants comprised of 54 married couples were divided equally between control and experimental groups and the training sessions lasted for eight weeks. In this training program, researchers focused on the dependent variable of mental health, while communication and conflict resolution skills training were the independent variables. Specifically, the t-test statistical analysis was employed to test for the potential significant differences in couples’ scores of mental health between (i) the pre-and post-training scores for couples of the experimental group; and (ii) between the post-training scores for the couples of the two groups. The results indicated that teaching communication and conflict resolution skills had significant positive effects on the mental health scores obtained from the studied couples

Experimental Study of the Heave and Pitch Motions of an Inverted Bow Hull

In this study, the experimental heave and pitch motion responses of inverted bow hulls in regular head waves were investigated. Comparison of the pitch and heave motion responses of two modified versions of an NA8-14 British Ship Research Association reference fishing vessel with 45 and 60 degrees inverted bows was performed. The findings showed that decreasing the inversion angle of the bow to 45 degrees improves the dynamic performance of the model. Moreover, the interactions between the heave and pitch motions led to the frequent appearance of 'kinks' in coupled form in response to the heave and pitch motions

Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Oxidant Activity of Portulaca oleracea Extract on LPS-Induced Rat Lung Injury

Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are classified as two lung complications arising from various conditions such as sepsis, trauma, and lung inflammation. Previous studies have shown that the extract of the leaves of Portulaca oleracea (PO) possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities. In the present study, the effects of PO (50⁻200 mg/kg) and dexamethasone (Dexa; 1.5 mg/kg) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI were investigated. Subsequentially, the lung wet/dry ratio; white blood cells (WBC); levels of nitric oxide (NO); myeloperoxidase (MPO); malondialdehyde (MDA); thiol groups formation; super oxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities; and levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6, IL-10, prostaglandin E2 (PGE₂), and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β in the broncho alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were evaluated in order to demonstrate the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of PO. Our results show that PO suppresses lung inflammation by the reduction of IL-β, IL-6, TNF-α, PGE₂, and TGF-β, as well as by the increase of IL-10 levels. We also found that PO improves the level of WBC, MPO, and MDA, as well as thiol group formation and SOD and CAT activities, compared with the LPS group. The results of our investigation also show that PO significantly decreased the lung wet/dry ratio as an index of interstitial edema. Taken together, our findings reveal that PO extract dose-dependently displays anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activity against LPS-induced rat ALI, paving the way for rational use of PO as a protective agent against lung-related inflammatory disease