Vibration aided tool wear estimation in a machining process

Monitoring tool wear in machining processes is of high importance in many precise industrial applications. In this article, tool wear estimation is considered by the use of tool vibration signals. During a cutting process, tool acceleration signals are acquired by a 3D miniature accelerometer. Based on the dynamics of the tool/holder system that manifests itself in natural frequencies/modes, wear sensitive features are determined and derived from FS-TARMA model that can model the nonstationary signals. The important property of the feature which is a meter based on model poles (frequencies) is its independence from cutting conditions and workpiece type. Analysis of experimental results reveals that beam vibration changes from first bending mode in feed direction to second bending mode in main cutting direction and this phenomenon can be used for major flank wear estimation. The method obtained based on results of analysis can be used for development of an online real-time tool wear estimation algorithm in a turning process

Towards Sustainability Assessment of the Built Environment: A Classification of the Existing Challenges

The application of sustainability assessment in a decision context is associated with various challenges that explain why the transition to action-oriented knowledge still needs to be fulfilled. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the associated challenges in sustainability assessment in the decision context of the built environment. Several publications are reviewed to provide a systemic understanding of the associated complexities. The challenges in sustainability assessment in the built environment are categorized at different levels, from understanding to measurement and implementation. The challenges are further categorized into definition, context, interpretation, data, measurement methods, uncertainties, indicators and indices, results, coordination, conflicts, and action-oriented knowledge. Moreover, according to the nature of each challenge, they are classified into epistemological, methodological, and procedural challenges. The novelty of this review is that it reviews and reports almost all fragmentedly reported challenges in sustainability assessment of the built environment in the literature within a holistic framework that provides a clear understanding of the state of the art and second discusses them within an integrated framework (the Sustainability Assessment Network) including the position of active-role players to resolve them, including strategists, scientist, and stakeholders

Synergic effect of chronic hepatitis C infection and beta thalassemia major with marked hepatic iron overload on liver fibrosis: a retrospective cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Increased hepatic iron is assumed to potentiate progression towards liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In this study we have evaluated the potentiating effect of marked hepatic iron overload and chronic HCV infection on hepatic fibrosis in thalassemic patients. METHODS: Liver biopsies of one group of patients with beta thalassemia major and chronic HCV infection (group 1) was compared with two groups of patients (groups 2&3) with either chronic HCV infection or thalassemia major, respectively (20 patients in each group). Necroinflammation, fibrosis, and iron overload were graded and compared. RESULTS: Stage of fibrosis in group 1 patients was significantly higher than the other two groups (p < 0.05). Necroinflammatory grade was significantly lower, but iron score was significantly higher in thalassemic patients (group 3) in comparison to groups 1 and 2 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that marked liver iron overload and HCV infection in thalassemic patients have potentiating effect on hepatic fibrogenesis

Intraguild predation by Hippodamia variegata (Col.: Coccinellidae) on the parasitoid wasp, Lysiphlebus fabarum (Hym.: Braconidae)

Intraguild predation is defined as killing and eating another predator species as potential competitors that depends upon the same or limited resources. In this study, intraguild predation between the ladybird Hippodamia variegata Goeze and the parasitoid wasp Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall) was investigated in association with cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii, on cucumber plants. Host preference for healthy or previously parasitized aphids in third instar larvae and adult females of H. variegata was studied in a choice access situation as well as in a Y-tube olfactometer bioassay. We cut an antenna of each experimental aphid to reliably distinguish  the parasitized aphids from healthy ones. All experiments were performed at 22±1°C, 60%–70% RH, and a 16:8 (L:D) photoperiod. Based on the pre-test results, cutting the antenna of aphids, did not significantly affect the host preference of adults or third instar larvae of ladybirds. In a choice access test, female ladybirds significantly preferred healthy aphids to previously parasitized ones (24 and 72 hours: t =2.15, df =1,18, P =0.04 and t =6.35, df =1,18, P <0.001, respectively), but third instar larvae behaved differently  (t =0.58, df =1,18, P =0.56). According to olfactometer test results, female ladybirds preferred neither healthy aphids nor parasitized ones (χ2 =1.6, df =1,19, P =0.21). It is concluded that preference for healthy aphids over parasitized ones by adult female of H. variegata  facilitates the simultaneous application of the both biocontrol agents, H. variegata and L. fabarum

Biochar from Pyrolysis of Biosolids for Nutrient Adsorption and Turfgrass Cultivation

At water resource recovery facilities, nutrient removal is often required and energy recovery is an ever-increasing goal. Pyrolysis may be a sustainable process for handling wastewater biosolids because energy can be recovered in the py-gas and py-oil. Additionally, the biochar produced has value as a soil conditioner. The objective of this work was to determine if biochar could be used to adsorb ammonia from biosolids filtrate and subsequently be applied as a soil conditioner to improve grass growth. The maximum carrying capacity of base modified biochar for NH3−N was 5.3 mg/g. Biochar containing adsorbed ammonium and potassium was applied to laboratory planters simulating golf course putting greens to cultivate Kentucky bluegrass. Planters that contained nutrient-laden biochar proliferated at a statistically higher rate than planters that contained biosolids, unmodified biochar, peat, or no additive. Nutrient-laden biochar performed as well as commercial inorganic fertilizer with no statistical difference in growth rates. Biochar from digested biosolids successfully immobilized NH3−N from wastewater and served as a beneficial soil amendment. This process offers a means to recover and recycle nutrients from water resource recovery facilities

Comparing Alternative Route Planning Techniques: A Comparative User Study on Melbourne, Dhaka and Copenhagen Road Networks

Many modern navigation systems and map-based services do not only provide the fastest route from a source location s to a target location t but also provide a few alternative routes to the users as more options to choose from. Consequently, computing alternative paths has received significant research attention. However, it is unclear which of the existing approaches generates alternative routes of better quality because the quality of these alternatives is mostly subjective. Motivated by this, in this paper, we present a user study conducted on the road networks of Melbourne, Dhaka and Copenhagen that compares the quality (as perceived by the users) of the alternative routes generated by four of the most popular existing approaches including the routes provided by Google Maps. We also present a web-based demo system that can be accessed using any internet-enabled device and allows users to see the alternative routes generated by the four approaches for any pair of selected source and target. We report the average ratings received by the four approaches and our statistical analysis shows that there is no credible evidence that the four approaches receive different ratings on average. We also discuss the limitations of this user study and recommend the readers to interpret these results with caution because certain factors may have affected the participants' ratings.Comment: Extended the user study to also include the road networks of Dhaka and Copenhagen (the previous version only had Melbourne road network

COM2008-57717 NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF BEARING CAPASITY OF SUCTION CAISSON

ABSTRACT This paper presents a finite element modeling for determination of bearing capacity of a suction caisson subjected to vertical uplift loading. The approach looks at the uplift capacity of the caisson considering a non-uniform cross sectional area to account for a geometry optimization. For this purpose, the numerical simulation is first verified using available data from other research work especially centrifuge data. Parametric studies are then performed to investigate the role of influencing factors including taper angel. The results show that the bearing capacity of caisson increases with increasing the taper angle

Inherited deletion of 9p22.3-p24.3 and duplication of 18p11.31-p11.32 associated with neurodevelopmental delay: Phenotypic matching of involved genes.

We describe a 3.5-year-old Iranian female child and her affected 10-month-old brother with a maternally inherited derivative chromosome 9 [der(9)]. The postnatally detected rearrangement was finely characterized by aCGH analysis, which revealed a 15.056 Mb deletion of 9p22.3-p24.3p22.3 encompassing 14 OMIM morbid genes such as DOCK8, KANK1, DMRT1 and SMARCA2, and a gain of 3.309 Mb on 18p11.31-p11.32 encompassing USP14, THOC1, COLEC12, SMCHD1 and LPIN2. We aligned the genes affected by detected CNVs to clinical and functional phenotypic features using PhenogramViz. In this regard, the patient\u27s phenotype and CNVs data were entered into PhenogramViz. For the 9p deletion CNV, 53 affected genes were identified and 17 of them were matched to 24 HPO terms describing the patient\u27s phenotypes. Also, for CNV of 18p duplication, 22 affected genes were identified and six of them were matched to 13 phenotypes. Moreover, we used DECIPHER for in-depth characterization of involved genes in detected CNVs and also comparison of patient phenotypes with 9p and 18p genomic imbalances. Based on our filtration strategy, in the 9p22.3-p24.3 region, approximately 80 pathogenic/likely pathogenic/uncertain overlapping CNVs were in DECIPHER. The size of these CNVs ranged from 12.01 kb to 18.45 Mb and 52 CNVs were smaller than 1 Mb in size affecting 10 OMIM morbid genes. The 18p11.31-p11.32 region overlapped 19 CNVs in the DECIPHER database with the size ranging from 23.42 kb to 1.82 Mb. These CNVs affect eight haploinsufficient genes