Fatigue Risks in the Connections of Sign Support Structures

This research effort develops a reliability-based approach for prescribing inspection intervals for mast-arm sign support structures corresponding to user-specified levels of fatigue-induced fracture risk. The resulting level of risk for a particular structure is dependent upon its geographical location, the type of connection it contains, the orientation of its mast-arm relative to north and the number of years it has been in service. The results of this research effort indicate that implementation of state-of-the-art reliability-based assessment procedures can contribute very valuable procedures for assigning inspection protocols (i.e. inspection intervals) that are based upon probabilities of finding fatigue-induced cracking in these structures. The engineering community can use the results of this research effort to design inspection intervals based upon risk and thereby better align inspection needs with limited fiscal and human resources

Carbon Dioxide Sequestration: A Review on the Current Techniques and the Way Forward

The effects of CO2 released from the combustion of fossil fuel and the ensuing global warming have caused a noticeable climate change throughout the world. The resulting efforts have been geared to reducing and removing atmospheric CO2. One of the most prominent efforts undertaken by researchers worldwide is to capture and store CO2 or carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS) using various methods and techniques. Post-combustion capture seems promising in terms of design, but more importantly, it can be easily integrated into existing plants thus providing a cheap and instant improvement. Activated carbon adsorption method seems to be the most cost efficient for post-combustion capture as its precursors are cheap and abundant, even though zeolite and ZIF counterparts show better selectivity and adsorption but are more expensive. In this paper, different ideas of CCS are reviewed individually and discussed with the sole aim of presenting the next step for achieving a sustainable method for the removal of atmospheric CO2

Shift: A Zero FLOP, Zero Parameter Alternative to Spatial Convolutions

Neural networks rely on convolutions to aggregate spatial information. However, spatial convolutions are expensive in terms of model size and computation, both of which grow quadratically with respect to kernel size. In this paper, we present a parameter-free, FLOP-free "shift" operation as an alternative to spatial convolutions. We fuse shifts and point-wise convolutions to construct end-to-end trainable shift-based modules, with a hyperparameter characterizing the tradeoff between accuracy and efficiency. To demonstrate the operation's efficacy, we replace ResNet's 3x3 convolutions with shift-based modules for improved CIFAR10 and CIFAR100 accuracy using 60% fewer parameters; we additionally demonstrate the operation's resilience to parameter reduction on ImageNet, outperforming ResNet family members. We finally show the shift operation's applicability across domains, achieving strong performance with fewer parameters on classification, face verification and style transfer.Comment: Source code will be released afterward

Parametric and adsorption kinetic studies of reactive black 5 removal from textile simulated wastewater using oil palm (Elais guineensis) empty fruit bunch

The potential of using Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB), an agrowaste material, as a low-cost biosorbent for the removal of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) from aqueous solution was investigated in this study. The influences of solution pH, contact time, initial concentration and biosorbent dosage were studied in batch experiments at room temperature. Adsorption equilibrium was achieved after 30 min of agitation. The maximum adsorption uptake of RB5 dye occurred at pH 2, resulting in a rapid adsorption (more than 50% RB5 uptake) for the first 5 min of contact. Lower solution pH values showed better adsorption because the dye molecules tend to adsorb on positively charged adsorbent sites. Furthermore, higher biosorbent dosages increased the dye uptake by up to 90% due to the availability of more active adsorption sites. Both the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir model indicated that monolayer coverage on the adsorbent was dominant and that chemisorption was the rate-determining ste

EFFECTS OF PURTURBATIONS ON KICKING LIMB CO-ORDINATION DURING THE SEPAKTAKRAW SERVE – A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS WITH COACHING IMPLICATIONS

The purpose of this study was to describe kicking limb joint co-ordination between sepaktakraw serve techniques and to establish the effects of a perturbation on joint co-ordination when executing serve skills of different complexity to determine if the intended perturbations are required during training. A total of 25 kuda and 25 sila serve trials, performed by a trained male sepaktakraw player, were captured using a high-speed optical camera system. Kicking limb joint co-ordination differs between technique possibly due to differences in kicking kinematics. When subjected to perturbations (not receiving an ideal ball position in mid-air because the ball is tossed by another player), it took a longer time to return to normal kuda kicking patterns. Even with perturbations, players made adaptations to the kicking limb co-ordination and this strategy is key for repeated successful serves to unknown ball tossed positions in mid-air for optimal performance outcome measures. It is therefore recommended that perturbations be included during training so that, when perturbations occur, servers will be more aware of how to re-adjust their kicking patterns most quickly at the next serve

Nozzle Sensor for In-System Chemical Concentration Monitoring

Chemical concentration is a vital parameter for determining appropriate chemical application. This study describes the design and testing of a sensor that attempted to monitor concentration of chemicals upstream from each nozzle body. The sensor is based on an LED and photodiode pair. Its ability to detect chemical concentration within the main carrier was tested with a 2,4-D formulation, a glyphosate formulation, and a powdered Acid Blue 9 dye. The liquid herbicide formulations of glyphosate and 2,4-D were tested across common application concentrations of 0% to 12.5% by volume. The powdered dye produced a much stronger effect on the sensor and was only tested at the much lower concentrations of 0 to 50 mg L-1. Further tests were conducted in which the dye was mixed with the herbicide formulation before the combined solution was added to the carrier. While this enabled establishment of pre-determined sensor outputs based on given concentrations of the pre-mixed solution, the sensor may have been responding to the predominance of a dye mixed with a herbicide formulation and not directly to the concentration of the herbicide. While the sensor did not appreciably respond to the concentration of the glyphosate formulation, it did respond in a consistent manner to the 2,4-D formulation and the dye. The sensor‘s response to the concentration of these chemicals was a rational (1/x type) relationship, and the R2 values for the rational models describing these relationships were greater than 0.99. With the mixed dye and herbicide formulation, the effects of the dye and the 2,4-D formulation combined independently, and the total sensor output was a multiplication of the percent effect of each alone. The test with the pre-mixed dye and 2,4-D formulation produced the expected 1 V output at a 12.5% by volume concentration of the 2,4-D formulation, proving that dye can be added to a herbicide to produce a desired response from the sensor. Overall, the sensor‘s response was remarkably stable, with a maximum standard deviation of 42.2 mg L-1 of 2,4-D active ingredient for samples taken at a constant chemical concentration. These tests confirmed that the sensor could respond to chemical formulations and dye in a consistent and predictable manner. However, use of the sensor for herbicide monitoring will require sensor calibration for each combination of herbicide and dye mixture, as the light transmittance properties of the tested mixtures were not quantified and the light transmittance properties of formulations and dyes can be arbitrarily changed by manufacturers

AFFORDANCE AND ITS ROLE IN SEPAKTAKRAW KUDA AND SILA SERVE NON-PLANAR KICKING TECHNIQUES – A PRELIMINARY QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS FOR COACHING IMPLICATION

This study aimed to establish the affordance and its role in Sepaktakraw serve for coaching implications. Five successful kuda and sila trials performed by two trained male players, captured using a high-speed optical camera system, were analyzed. Variations in kicking limb hip-knee joint coordination to impact suggest ball placements be an affordance in Sepaktakraw serve. This affords what the server must do to ensure optimal foot-to-ball impact velocities without compromising ball velocities. With differences in kicking limb length, this coordination becomes player specific, and the ability to adapt and adjust his coordination pattern depends on such affordance. Servers must vary their movement pattern when executing the kuda or sila serve kicking by manipulating the knee-hip joint coordination with what the affordance affords the servers to do as it swings to impact