Nonthermal plasma assisted photocatalytic oxidation of dilute benzene

Oxidative decomposition of low concentrations (50-1000 ppm) of diluted benzene in air was carried out in a nonthermal plasma (NTP) dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor with the inner electrode made up of stainless steel fibres (SMF) modified with transition metal oxides in such a way to integrate the catalyst in discharge zone. Typical results indicate the better performance of MnOx and TiO2/MnOx modified systems, which may be attributed to the in situ decomposition of ozone on the surface of MnOx that may lead to the formation of atomic oxygen; whereas ultraviolet light induced photocatalytic oxidation may be taking place with TiO2 modified systems. Water vapour improved the selectivity to total oxidatio

Catalytic non-thermal plasma reactor for decomposition of dilute chlorobenzene

Oxidative decomposition of low concentrations of chlorobenzene (CB) in air was carried out in a NTP reactor. Typical results indicated the better performance on addition of metal oxide catalysts in plasma zone. It may be concluded that catalytic plasma approach has promise, especially for the removal of low concentraions of CB, where conventional techniques are not energetically feasible. Among the metal oxides studied, AgOx/MnOx showed the better performance than MnOx and CoOx. During the removal of 50 ppm of CB, AgOx/MnOx under humid conditions showed 100% selectivity to total oxidadtion at 260 J L-1, which may be assigned due to the formation of hydroxyl radical and/or due to in situ ozone decomposition on the catalyst surface that may lead to the formation of a powerful oxidant atomic oxygen. Oxidative decomposition of low concentrations of chlorobenzene in air was carried out in a NTP reactor. Results indicated the improved performance on addition of catalysts in plasma zone. It has been observed that the integration of metal oxides, promoted the total oxidation, whose activity was further enhanced on addition of water vapor. During the abatement of 50 ppm of CB, selectivity to CO2 was 100% at 260 J L-1 with AgOx/MnOx/SMF catalytic electrode

人の集団に関する新たな評価方法の考察

九州大学応用力学研究所研究集会報告 No.20ME-S7 「非線形波動の数理と物理」RIAM Symposium No.20ME-S7 Mathematics and Physics in Nonlinear waves本研究では、金融工学の手法を用いて人の混雑を評価する理論の構築を試みた。我々は、人の混雑を表すダイナミクスは確率項を含むLogistic 方程式に従うと仮定し、この動きを正味現在価値やリアルオプション法によって評価した。また、金融工学では、割引率を用いることによってタイミングによる価値の違いが表現されるが今回のモデルでは、割引率を人の効用を割り引くために導入し、実データに基づく推定・考察もあわせて行った

An integrated optimization approach to locate the D-STATCOM in power distribution system to reduce the power loss and total cost

The optimization problem with a single objective can obtain a single solution, called an optimal solution. It maximizes or minimizes the performance of a particular objective function to a given constraint. But, in the case of the multi-objective optimization, different objectives can be simultaneously optimized. Thus, this paper recommends a multi-objective optimization methodology for simultaneously perform the two objective functions such as resizing and optimal placement of Distributed Static Compensator (DSTATCOM) for reducing the power loss, total cost and enhancing the voltage profile. For these purposes, an integrated approach of two optimization algorithm called Multi-objective Ant Colony Optimization (MACO) and Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA) are used. The prime intention of this work is to bring down the power loss, total cost and enhance the voltage profile by placing the DSTATCOM device in an optimal location. Here, IEEE-30 and IEEE-69 bus systems are considered to appraise the recital of the recommended approach. Moreover, the effectiveness of the MACO-BFOA approach is evaluated and compared with other multi-objective algorithms. From this analysis, it is observed that when compared to these techniques, the proposed system provides the minimized power loss and total cost

Risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among palm oil mill workers

The palm oil industry is the fourth largest contributor to the Malaysian Gross National Income (GNI) but the importance of this industry to the nation’s economy does not preclude them from the risk of being affected by the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among the workers in palm oil mills. Previous studies carried out have not properly explained the exact reasons for the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among the palm oil mill workers. Thus, this study aim to determine the association between risk factors and MSD among palm oil mill workers. A total of 120 male workers were consecutively enrolled in this crosssectional study. Information on sociodemographic, working, lifestyle, health and injury factors were collected via questionnaire and face-to-face interviews. A high lifetime prevalence of MSD (71.7 percent) among palm oil mill workers was found. However, the one-year prevalence of MSD among the same population was only 50.8 percent. Logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, Body Mass Index (BMI) and smoking revealed that the risk factors: history of previous injury [2.35, 95 percent CI 1.12-4.93], Osteoarthritis [3.9, 95 percent CI 1.568-9.708] and perception of exertion [8.09, 95 percent CI 1.358-48.170] was found to be significantly associated with MSD symptoms reported in the past 12 months. As a conclusion, exposure to the combination of these risk factors may lead to an increased risk of developing MSD among palm oil mill workers

Computer Vision and Image Understanding xxx

Abstract 13 This paper presents a panoramic virtual stereo vision approach to the problem of detecting 14 and localizing multiple moving objects (e.g., humans) in an indoor scene. Two panoramic 15 cameras, residing on different mobile platforms, compose a virtual stereo sensor with a flexible 16 baseline. A novel ''mutual calibration'' algorithm is proposed, where panoramic cameras on 17 two cooperative moving platforms are dynamically calibrated by looking at each other. A de-18 tailed numerical analysis of the error characteristics of the panoramic virtual stereo vision 19 (mutual calibration error, stereo matching error, and triangulation error) is given to derive 20 rules for optimal view planning. Experimental results are discussed for detecting and localizing 21 multiple humans in motion using two cooperative robot platforms. 2

Water Network Optimization with Wastewater Regeneration Models

The conventional water network synthesis approach greatly simplifies wastewater treatment units by using fixed recoveries, creating a gap for their applicability to industrial processes. This work describes a unifying approach combining various technologies capable of removing all the major types of contaminants through the use of more realistic models. The following improvements are made over the typical superstructure-based water network models. First, unit-specific shortcut models are developed in place of the fixed contaminant removal model to describe contaminant mass transfer in wastewater treatment units. Shortcut wastewater treatment cost functions are also incorporated into the model. In addition, uncertainty in mass load of contaminants is considered to account for the range of operating conditions. Furthermore, the superstructure is modified to accommodate realistic potential structures. We present a modified Lagrangean-based decomposition algorithm in order to solve the resulting nonconvex mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem efficiently. Several examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and limitations of the algorithm for obtaining the global optimal solutions.The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation for financial support under grant CBET-1437668, the program “Estancias de movilidad en el extranjero “Jose Castillejo” para jóvenes doctores” (JC2011-0051) of the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, and from the University of Alicante (GRE11-19)

Biocontrol Agents Induce Disease Resistance in Phyllanthus niruri Linn against Damping-Off Disease Caused by Rhizoctonia solani

Five isolates each of Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas fluorescens and four isolates of Bacillus subtilis were evaluated for their ability to control Rhizoctonia solani, the causal agent of damping off of Phyllanthus niruri. Among the isolates tested, TVUV10 (T. viride), PFMMP (P. fluorescens) and BSG3 (B. subtilis) showed maximum in vitro inhibition of mycelial growth of R. solani. Isolate PFMMP was also very effective in reducing disease incidence in greenhouse conditions. The effective isolates were evaluated for their ability to induce defense reactions in P. niruri plants. Earlier and increased activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase, peroxidase, polyphenoloxidase and total phenolics were observed in the biocontrol-agent pretreated P. niruri plants challenged with R. solani. Isolate PFMMP caused early and increased synthesis of all defense related enzymes and total phenol. The present study showed that isolates TVUV10, PFMMP and BSG3 of T. viride, P. fluorescens and B. subtilis respectively are good candidates for the control of R. solani in P. niruri