Finite Element Programme Development for the Analysis of Precast Flooring and Roofing System

At the initial stage of this study an attempt was made to write a computer programme for the analysis and design of precast floor slabs on the FORTRAN language, which is compatible with FORTRAN 90 Power Station. The programme considers various types of precast reinforced concrete slabs such as solid slab (one-way and two-way), hollow core slab, ribbed slab and composite slab. The programme consists of a main and several subroutines. The programme was written according to BS 8110 and was verified by using it to analyse a few examples. The software is capable of analysing and designing different floor slabs with a provision for generating the optimal crosssection and plotting the cross section graphically. Further, the effect of different design parameters on the solid slab, hollow slab and ribbed slab design had been presented. One of the main objectives of this study was the development of a finite element code using the semi-loof beam and shell elements. The application of these elements to model the precast flooring and roofing system was illustrated. The validity of the developed programme was established by analysing some benchmark problems and comparing the results with those from a commercial package. The results indicate that the use of the semi-loof elements resulted in a powerful programme, which is suitable for the analysis of complex shell type structures. Another primary objective of this investigation was the analysis of a composite slab, which consisted of precast and insitu layers. There was a need to model two different materials along with their interface characteristic. An interface element sandwiched between two 16-noded isoparametric brick element has been formulated. This interface element was used in an existing three dimensional finite element package. The behaviour of the composite slab under load with respect to displacements, stresses and strains was studied. It was found that it was important to model frictional behaviour between the two different materials as in composite slabs

Energy-Flow – A New Perspective on James MacGregor Burns’ Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness

This theoretical dissertation documents a personal transforming leadership experience; during which, I explored my Leadership as Energy-Flow model by having a virtual dialogue with the polymathic works of theorists and thinkers to corroborate and refine it. The model consists of a theory and a conceptual scheme. The energy-flow theory, based on the laws of physics and Chinese philosophy and cosmological science, fashions the energy-flow conceptual scheme. Using the conceptual scheme, I delve into the Premise of the Dialogue, “In what ways and to what extent would using the energy-flow frame of reference describe and stimulate new meanings in Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness?” I venture forth in this exploration, sparked by Bertrand Russell’s (1938) and James MacGregor Burns’ (1979) on leadership power, to discover how one might use energy-flow abstractions to represent leadership phenomena. Energy-flow abstractions are images of events captured in thought, within which one unfolds and enfolds new meanings and deepens understanding of transforming leadership. The dialogue with six different traditions includes the works of: Alfred North Whitehead on philosophy and science, Ilya Prigogine on physics, Abraham H. Maslow on human potentials, need hierarchy, and management, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on psychological energy-flow, Richard Gerber on physiological energy-flow and vibrational medicine, and Ralph H.G. Siu on quantum and the Tao of science of leadership. The dialogue then continues into the work of Burns (2003). Many of my epiphanies, using the energy-flow conceptual scheme to fathom transforming leadership theory, induce some propitious ideas for further exploration in viewing leadership as energy-flow and using energy-flow as a basis for deciphering human affairs. The electronic version of this dissertation is available at the OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

Energy-Flow – A New Perspective on James MacGregor Burns’ Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness

This theoretical dissertation documents a personal transforming leadership experience; during which, I explored my Leadership as Energy-Flow model by having a virtual dialogue with the polymathic works of theorists and thinkers to corroborate and refine it. The model consists of a theory and a conceptual scheme. The energy-flow theory, based on the laws of physics and Chinese philosophy and cosmological science, fashions the energy-flow conceptual scheme. Using the conceptual scheme, I delve into the Premise of the Dialogue, “In what ways and to what extent would using the energy-flow frame of reference describe and stimulate new meanings in Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness?” I venture forth in this exploration, sparked by Bertrand Russell’s (1938) and James MacGregor Burns’ (1979) on leadership power, to discover how one might use energy-flow abstractions to represent leadership phenomena. Energy-flow abstractions are images of events captured in thought, within which one unfolds and enfolds new meanings and deepens understanding of transforming leadership. The dialogue with six different traditions includes the works of: Alfred North Whitehead on philosophy and science, Ilya Prigogine on physics, Abraham H. Maslow on human potentials, need hierarchy, and management, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on psychological energy-flow, Richard Gerber on physiological energy-flow and vibrational medicine, and Ralph H.G. Siu on quantum and the Tao of science of leadership. The dialogue then continues into the work of Burns (2003). Many of my epiphanies, using the energy-flow conceptual scheme to fathom transforming leadership theory, induce some propitious ideas for further exploration in viewing leadership as energy-flow and using energy-flow as a basis for deciphering human affairs. The electronic version of this dissertation is available at the OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

A Data-driven Approach Towards Human-robot Collaborative Problem Solving in a Shared Space

We are developing a system for human-robot communication that enables people to communicate with robots in a natural way and is focused on solving problems in a shared space. Our strategy for developing this system is fundamentally data-driven: we use data from multiple input sources and train key components with various machine learning techniques. We developed a web application that is collecting data on how two humans communicate to accomplish a task, as well as a mobile laboratory that is instrumented to collect data on how two humans communicate to accomplish a task in a physically shared space. The data from these systems will be used to train and fine-tune the second stage of our system, in which the robot will be simulated through software. A physical robot will be used in the final stage of our project. We describe these instruments, a test-suite and performance metrics designed to evaluate and automate the data gathering process as well as evaluate an initial data set.Comment: 2017 AAAI Fall Symposium on Natural Communication for Human-Robot Collaboratio

A High Efficiency Aluminum-Ion Battery Using an AlCl3-Urea Ionic Liquid Analogue Electrolyte

In recent years, impressive advances in harvesting renewable energy have led to pressing demand for the complimentary energy storage technology. Here, a high coulombic efficiency (~ 99.7%) Al battery is developed using earth-abundant aluminum as the anode, graphite as the cathode, and a cheap ionic liquid analogue electrolyte made from a mixture of AlCl3 and urea in 1.3 : 1 molar ratio. The battery displays discharge voltage plateaus around 1.9 V and 1.5 V (average discharge = 1.73 V) and yielded a specific cathode capacity of ~73 mAh g-1 at a current density of 100 mA g-1 (~ 1.4 C). High coulombic efficiency over a range of charge-discharge rates and stability over ~150-200 cycles was easily demonstrated. In-situ Raman spectroscopy clearly showed chloroaluminate anion intercalation/deintercalation of graphite in the cathode side during charge/discharge and suggested the formation of a stage 2 graphite intercalation compound when fully charged. Raman spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance suggested the existence of AlCl4-, Al2Cl7- anions, and [AlCl2. (urea)n]+ cations in the urea/AlCl3 electrolyte when an excess of AlCl3 was present. Aluminum deposition therefore proceeded through two pathways, one involving Al2Cl7- anions and the other involving [AlCl2.(urea)n]+ cations. This battery is a promising prospect for a future high performance, low cost energy storage device

Influence of trace erythromycin and eryhthromycin-H2O on carbon and nutrients removal and on resistance selection in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs).

Three sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were operated in parallel to study the effects of trace erythromycin (ERY) and ERY-H2O on the treatment of a synthetic wastewater. Through monitoring (1) daily effluents and (2) concentrations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) in certain batch cycles of the three reactors operated from transient to steady states, the removal of carbon, N, and P was affected negligibly by ERY (100 microg/L) or ERY-H2O (50 microg/L) when compared with the control reactor. However, through analyzing microbial communities of the three steady state SBRs on high-density microarrays (Phylo-Chip), ERY, and ERY-H2O had pronounced effects on the community composition of bacteria related to N and P removal, leading to diversity loss and abundance change. The above observations indicated that resistant bacteria were selected upon exposure to ERY or ERY-H2O. Shortterm batch experiments further proved the resistance and demonstrated that ammonium oxidation (56-95%) was inhibited more significantly than nitrite oxidation (18-61%) in the presence of ERY (100, 400, or 800 microg/L). Therefore, the presence of ERY or ERY-H2O (at microg/L levels) shifted the microbial community and selected resistant bacteria, which may account for the negligible influence of the antibiotic ERY or its derivative ERY-H2O (at microg/L levels) on carbon, N, and P removal in the SBRs

Optimizing the synergistic effect of sodium hydroxide/ultrasound pre-treatment of sludge

Ultrasound (ULS), sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and combined ultrasound/NaOH pre-treatment were applied to pre-treat waste activated sludge and improve the subsequent anaerobic digestion. Synergistic effect was observed when NaOH treatment was coupled with ultrasound treatment. The highest synergistic Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) solubilization was observed when 0.02M NaOH was combined with five minutes ultrasonication: an extra 3,000 mg/L was achieved on top of the NaOH (1,975 mg/L) and ultrasonication (2,900 mg/L) treatment alone. Further increase of NaOH dosage increased Soluble Chemical Oxygen Demand (SCOD), but did not increase the synergistic effect. Nine minutes and 18 minutes ultrasonication led to 20% and 24% increase of methane production, respectively; Whereas, 0.05M NaOH pre-treatment did not improve the sludge biodegradability. Combined ultrasound/NaOH (9min+0.05M) showed 31% increase of methane production. A stepwise NaOH addition/ultrasound pre-treatment (0.02M+ULS for 5 min + 0.02M+ULS for 4 min) was tested and resulted in 40% increase of methane production using 20% less chemicals

A serious adverse surgical event: Management of suspected HSV-1 keratitis in a donor cornea.

PurposeTo describe the management of a serious adverse event in a patient undergoing penetrating keratoplasty (PK).Case reportA 68-year-old man underwent PK for an aphakic bullous keratopathy following previous complicated cataract surgery. He had no past history of herpetic disease. Storage of the corneoscleral disc in the transport bottle precluded microscopic examination. After placement of the trephined donor cornea on the open eye of the recipient, a large dendritiform geographic ulcer was noted on the donor cornea. A replacement cornea was used after changing potentially contaminated instruments. Intravenous antiviral treatment was commenced intraoperatively to reduce the risk of infection to the central nervous system. Postoperatively, oral and topical antiviral treatment was commenced and 6 months following surgery the patient developed a geographic corneal ulcer at the graft host interface.ConclusionContainers to transport corneoscleral discs should enable microscopic examination by the surgeon prior to use. High dose systemic antivirals may reduce the risk of herpetic disease involving the posterior segment of the eye and neuroretina in the aphakic eye and spread to the central nervous system