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Breakthrough advanced propulsion can only take place with a correct understanding of the role of inertia in general relativity. Einstein was convinced that inertia and gravitation were the obverse and reverse of the coin. The most general statement of the principle of relativity, captured in his Equivalence Principle and the gravitational induction of inertia. His ideas and how they have fared are reprised. A rest mass fluctuation that is expected when inertia is gravitationally induced is then mentioned that can be used for propulsion. Recent work supported by National Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase 1 and 2 NASA grants to determine whether thrusters based on gravitationally induced inertia can actually be made to work is presented. A recent design innovation has dramatically increased the thrust produced by these Mach Effect Gravity Assist (MEGA) impulse engines.

Analysis techniques are presented for extracting the frequencies contained in the light curves of pulsating white dwarf stars. In several surface temperature regimes, these astronomical objects are unstable to gravity mode pulsations which result in brightness variations corresponding to the periods of the excited modes. There is a rich array of possible periods with values ranging from about 100 to 1000 seconds. Mode periods present in the light curve are detected by undertaking a Fourier analysis of the time series light curve; theoretical models of the star can be refined with this information. The Fourier analysis needs to take into account such things as finite length, data gaps and the presence of noise.

At present, Nadal’s formula is used for prediction of derailment that contains a limited number of parameters. Besides, insufficient study of laws of variation of the noted parameters and ignorance of the influence of other parameters on the derailment complicate solution of the problem. The sliding distance and the relative sliding velocity are the most sensitive factors contributing to the destruction of the third body. Moreover, increased friction coefficient between the steering surfaces of the wheel and rail promotes climbing of a wheel on the rail and derailment. Dependences of the main parameters, influencing the destruction of the third body, the sliding distance and the relative sliding velocity on the rail track curvature, and difference of diameters of wheels of the wheelset and the non-roundness of one of the wheels of the wheelset are shown in the work. The methods for estimation of the third body destruction degree and consideration in Nadal’s formula of the additional criterion of impossibility of the wheel rolling on the contact point of the wheel and rail steering surfaces, containing a value of this contact point advancing, which in turn depends on the angle of attack, are proposed.

This chapter covers the key physical, biological and practical challenges encountered when developing cryopreservation protocols for larger biological structures and examines areas where cryopreservation has been successful in scaling to larger structures. Results from techniques being used in attempts to overcome these challenges are reviewed together with the indicators for future development that arise from them. The scale-up of cryopreservation to tissues with diverse functions and cell types makes the control of freezing and thawing more challenging. Technology may—or may not—be available depending on the size of the material involved. To meet the challenge there must be innovation in technology, techniques and understanding of damage-limiting strategies. Diversity of cell structure, size, shape and expected function means a similarly diverse response to any imposed cryopreservation conditions and interaction with ice crystals. The increasing diffusion distances involved, and diversity of permeability properties, will affect solutes, solvents, heat and cryoprotectant (CPA) transfer and so add to the diversity of response. Constructing a single protocol for cryopreservation of a larger sample (organoids to whole organs) becomes a formidable challenge.

Hybrid perovskite thin film offers diverse advantages like low cost deposition techniques, less material consumption and superior optoelectronic properties. These merits including high voltage and high efficiency performance in a wide range of high light intensity are sufficient to distinguish perovskite thin films/devices from their contenders as a thin film technology with greater potential for industrial applications. Perovskite thin film technology demonstrates potency in a variety of applications in optoelectronic devices especially photovoltaic applications. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the USA categorizes a number of thin films technologies including perovskite thin film, as emerging photovoltaics with the bulk of them yet to be commercially applied but are still in the research or developmental stage. In this chapter, various processing methods and material combinations as well as current trends in this technology are subjects of discussion.

This chapter investigates the radio-wave propagation above irregular ground, including the troposphere, using physical optics computation. We briefly describe used simplifications, which substantially reduce numerical simulations. Using the principle of stationary phase, we can approximate the propagation over a terrain (the PO approximation of the vector problem with a 3-D surface) with a 2-D surface. Moreover, we approximate the reflection coefficient for a surface with random deviations considering the surface standard deviation and the local Fresnel reflection coefficient for the smooth ground. We present the novel computations of physical optics for investigations of radar coverage diagrams. We consider both monostatic and bistatic radars, the far-field antenna measuring ranges, and studies of air refraction index. We validate the calculations by both experimental results and the other numerical simulations. The experimental results changed during seasons and according to terrain and troposphere conditions including vegetation, cultivation, snow, and air temperature and pressure.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm is gaining massive interest for researchers as it has huge significance over a single UAV. Many studies focus only on a few challenges of this complex multidisciplinary group. Most of them have certain limitations. This paper aims to recognize and arrange relevant research for evaluating motion planning techniques and models for a swarm from the viewpoint of control, path planning, architecture, communication, monitoring and tracking, and safety issues. Then, a state-of-the-art understanding of the UAV swarm and an overview of swarm intelligence (SI) are provided in this research. Multiple challenges are considered, and some approaches are presented. Findings show that swarm intelligence is leading in this era and is the most significant approach for UAV swarm that offers distinct contributions in different environments. This integration of studies will serve as a basis for knowledge concerning swarm, create guidelines for motion planning issues, and strengthens support for existing methods. Moreover, this paper possesses the capacity to engender new strategies that can serve as the grounds for future work.

A new inorganic hydrophobic porous membrane was prepared and applied in desalination with the air-gap membrane distillation process. Ceramic supports from low-cost natural Tunisian sand have been elaborated by the extrusion method. The microfiltration layer has been elaborated from ZrO2 powder by slip casting technical using a solution of water, sand powder, and polyvinyl alcohol solution. The hydrophobic surface of the active layer was elaborated by grafting 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane on the ceramic microfiltration membrane surface (Tunisian Sand/Zirconia), to prepare a hydrophobic surface. The contact angle method allows showing the hydrophobic nature on the grafted membrane surface since it increases from 25° before grafting to values exceeding 140° after grafting. The efficiency of the grafting process was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The membrane permeability varies from 700 l.h−1.m−2 before grafting to 10 l.h−1.m−2 after grafting. The new hydrophobic membrane seems to be promising in the field of membrane distillation. Salt retention higher than 98% was obtained using a modified microfiltration ceramic membrane.

The textile industry is part of the industries that continuously harm the environment because of the high water consumption and the presence of various pollutants in the wastewater. Wastewater treatment is lacking or includes only physical treatment in underdeveloped and developing countries due to installation and operating costs of a treatment plant. As a result, a broad spectrum of hazardous and toxic substances, such as (azo) dyes, heavy metals, acids, soda, and aromatic hydrocarbons, pollute precious sources of clean water, in which untreated water is discharged. The main solution to this problem is to reduce the treatment cost. For this purpose, the process should be optimized to reduce the amount of water and chemicals. In this chapter, first studies on the reference document (BAT) referred by the European Council are reviewed. Minimizing production costs, obtaining high-quality products, and reducing the amount and the pollutant content of wastewater are complex problems that cannot be solved by the conventional optimization methods. Therefore, nonconventional optimization methods applied on the textile processes are also reviewed from the latest studies in the literature.

This study presents a simple power-based microscopic hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) fuel consumption model for use in microscopic traffic software and various connected and automated vehicle (CAV) applications, including eco-routing and eco-drive systems. While numerous HEV energy consumption models have been developed, these models are complex and require vehicle engine data deeming them difficult to implement and making them nontransferable. The proposed model was developed using empirical data for a 2010 Toyota Prius—the most popular HEV. The model was then extended to other HEVs thus extending the domain of application of the model. The proposed fuel consumption model estimates the instantaneous fuel consumption rates of an HEV using instantaneous vehicle operational input variables, including the vehicle’s speed, acceleration, and roadway grade, which can be acquired from global positioning system (GPS) equipment or other sensors. The model estimates vehicle fuel consumption rates consistent with empirical data producing an average error of 2.1% for the Toyota Prius and up to 4% for other HEVs demonstrating the applicability and transferability of the model to various HEVs.

The performance of rail transport has increased significantly in recent decades, in particular due to the gradual introduction of high-speed rails worldwide. In 1981, the first high-speed line of the world was inaugurated; nowadays, high-speed is operating in more than 20 countries, the high-speed network covering more than 35,000 kms (with more than 25,000 additional kms under construction). Spain is the second country by total distance of railways installed (only behind China) and the first in terms relative to the population and surface. Since the installation of the first high-speed line in Spain in 1992, the elements of the superstructure have undergone a continuous evolution, in order to improve the performance, the durability of the components and the comfort of the passengers. This evolution rests on an adequate selection of materials based on the characterization of their physical and mechanical properties to ensure the optimum in-service conditions. This chapter includes an overview of the different elements present in the railway superstructure of the high-speed lines in Spain. Throughout the text, the innovations incorporated over time are analyzed, as well as the methods used to validate them. In particular, a description of the mechanical characterization procedures is presented.

This chapter introduces the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system, and the reasons for measuring breathing events, particularly, using wearable sensors. Respiratory monitoring is vital including detection of sleep apnea and measurement of respiratory rate. The automatic detection of breathing patterns is equally important in other respiratory rehabilitation therapies, for example, magnetic resonance exams for respiratory triggered imaging, and synchronized functional electrical stimulation. In this context, the goal of many research groups is to create wearable devices able to monitor breathing activity continuously, under natural physiological conditions in different environments. Therefore, wearable sensors that have been used recently as well as the main signal processing methods for breathing analysis are discussed. The following sensor technologies are presented: acoustic, resistive, inductive, humidity, acceleration, pressure, electromyography, impedance, and infrared. New technologies open the door to future methods of noninvasive breathing analysis using wearable sensors associated with machine learning techniques for pattern detection.

The study focuses on the analysis of the direct effect of Lean Manufacturing (LM) practices on operational performance in manufacturing industry. A model for evaluating the effect of LM is developed taking into consideration as a fundamental variable that affects the causal relationship between LM practices and operational performance. A structural equation model was proposed and investigated across the manufacturing industry in India. A structured survey questionnaire was used to collect empirical data from 400 Indian companies. A total of 203 usable responses were obtained giving a response rate of 53%. The data was analyzed using SPSS- AMOS software. The results revealed that LM practices directly and positively affected operational performance. The results indicated that the structural equation model remained invariant across the Industry. The study provides further evidence to managers and practitioner on the effect of LM practices on operational performance in developing countries like India.

The presence of shallow cold flows in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) instigates changes in the turbulent regime of the atmospheric surface layer (ASL). This small scale flow circulation introduces radiative cooling controls over large areas in polar latitudes during winter. In this study, microscale dynamic and turbulent variables have been obtained in the framework of the Winter Boundary Layer Experiment in Fairbanks, Alaska, developed during the winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011. Multiscale surface turbulence observations based on Eddy covariance and laser scintillometry were combined with Doppler acoustic sounding to document simultaneous changes in the ABL flow and ASL turbulence. We computed changes in momentum and heat fluxes characterizing intermittent and persistent modes of the drainage flow over three study cases. On the basis of laser scintillometry observations, we argue that a significant source of turbulence aiming at the surface fluxes has origins in the upper level shear-induced thermal turbulence at the top of the ABL.

This chapter presents an overview of various solar air conditioning technologies such as solar PV, absorption, desiccant, and adsorption cooling systems. It includes feasibility and comparative analysis of numerous standalone and hybrid configurations of solar cooling systems, which were investigated in past. In addition, recent developments in use of solar energy as a regeneration source to dehumidify desiccant wheel in different applications are also discussed. Details of system technologies and climate-based performance comparison in terms of various performance factors, for example, COPth, Qlatent, Qsensible, COPsolar, SF, PES, and Ƞcollector for solar-assisted configurations are highlighted. It is observed that hybridization of solar solid desiccant system results more efficient and cost-effective cooling system as latent and sensible loads are treated independently, especially when regeneration process of desiccant wheel is integrated with solar energy. This review will help to explore further improvements in solar-assisted cooling systems.

Those involved in maintenance operations are enjoying the benefits of information and communication technology in the planning and management of maintenance activities, resource management and planned production. In the digital space, the computer-based operating systems, commonly referred to as computerised maintenance management systems (CMMSs), enable quick and effective communication between stakeholders, facilitate improved planning, easy access to historical data, reporting and performance improvements of the maintenance function. However, success in the use of CMMSs depends on the human capacity of the users of the system. In practice, many organisations use the CMMS tool for planning, operations management and reporting, without the aid of detailed analysis of operational information in the CMMS database. They fail to harness all the possible benefits. Three case studies were used to illustrate the situation. Two of them refer to academic institutions and the third is a manufacturing company. In the academic institutions, the CMMS was used for maintenance planning, management and periodic reporting. The manufacturing company included analysis of the information in the operational database, which culminated in identifying the level of the reliability of machines in the production network through benchmarking. The conclusion is that the quality of the human capacity enables organisations to harness and make maximum use of the potentials inherent in typical CMMS software.

Demand for green energy is in continuous growth in the last years. Compact efficient antennas are crucial for energy harvesting portable systems. Small antennas have low efficiency. The efficiency of communication and energy harvesting systems may be improved by using efficient passive and active antennas. The system dynamic range may be improved by connecting amplifiers to the small antenna feed line. Novel passive and active portable harvesting systems are presented in this chapter. Printed patch, notch and Slot antennas are compact and have low volume. The active antennas may be employed in energy harvesting wearable systems. The antennas and the harvesting system components may be assembled on the same printed board. The printed notch and slot antennas bandwidth are from 40 to 100% for VSWR better than 3:1. The slot antenna gain is around 3 dBi with efficiency higher than 85%. The antennas’ electrical parameters were computed in free space and near the human body. The active notch antenna gain is around 23 ± 3dB for frequencies ranging from 200 to 900 MHz. The active notch antenna gain is 13 ± 3 dB for frequencies ranging from 1 to 3 GHz. The active notch and slot antenna noise figure is 0.5 ± 0.3dB for frequencies ranging from 200 MHz to 3 GHz.

This chapter mainly uses fuzzy time series for interval prediction and long-term significance level analysis. In this study, the Taiwan Shipping and Transportation Index (Taiwan STI) is used to illustrate the prediction process. Nine steps have been used to establish the interval prediction of the Taiwan Shipping and Transportation Index (Taiwan STI), and ΔS is called a long-term significance level (up/down/stable) is used to illustrate the long-term prediction significance level. By means of interval prediction and long-term prediction significance level, the future trends for this index and more internal messages related to this index can be provided to relevant researchers.

This chapter presents the features of the Enhanced-Predictive-PR78 equation of state (E-PPR78), a model highly suitable to perform “physical fluid screening” in power and refrigeration cycles. It enables, in fact, the accurate and predictive (i.e., without the need for its preliminary optimization by the user) determination of the thermodynamic properties of pure and multicomponent fluids usable in power and refrigeration cycles: hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, cycloalkane, naphthenic compounds, and so on), permanent gases (such as CO2, N2, H2, He, Ar, O2, NH3, NO2/N2O4, and so on), mercaptans, fluorocompounds, and water. The E-PPR78 equation of state is a developed form of the Peng-Robinson equation of state, which enables both the predictive determination of binary interaction parameters and the accurate calculation of pure fluid and mixture thermodynamic properties (saturation properties, enthalpies, heat capacities, volumes, and so on).

This chapter aims to address the emergence of Baghdad and the phases of its morphology and transformation. The first era began with the Round City; this originated the first nucleus that later formed Baghdad. The historical parts of most Middle Eastern old cities usually occupy polar places in relation to the rest of their city zones. These historical centres can give a city its own identity and embody exceptional urban assets, if carefully maintained and managed. In this chapter, there are two significant periods, the Abbasid Empire and post-Abbasid Empire. One of the main concerns is the conflict between two trends, old fabric as a traditional pattern and modern thoughts and, consequently, how that could affect in formulating the development plan.

Digital manufacturing has opened a new window in the way to approach the manufacture of parts. The possible switch from manufacturing and holding physical stock to manoeuvring with a fully-digital one is promising but still has not been undertaken‚Äëor only in a small proportion‚Äëby the majority of the manufacturing companies. What are the cost and productivity frontiers that halt the transformation taking place so far? When does it make sense, in terms of production volume and costs, to undertake this transformation? What level of savings could be achieved and what investments would be favourable? The base line of the present chapter is to depict quantitative tools to address the potential impact of endeavouring digital transformation in manufacturing environments, considering costing and production variables, as well as technological decision-making parameters. Keeping the modelling of the demand very basic, some exploration on the degree of postponement of the production is discussed. Also, decision support systems (DSSs) for manufacturing selection are reviewed. Finally, a case study serves to apply the mathematical framework presented and to quantify the results in a realistic industrial case. Using this case, the chapter outlines and describes how to apply artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to implement the DSSs.

The search for potential investors in the conversion of ocean thermal energy to power or hydrogen, and its spinoff projects in Malaysia and the region, continues. In the meantime, several pre-feasibility studies have been completed for selected sites, including that of Pulau Layang-Layang and Pulau Kalumpang (Sabah, Malaysia); Timor-Leste, and off Pulau Weh (Aceh, Indonesia). Various research projects have been completed such as the conversion of solar-thermal to the chilled-water system; the cooling of tropical soils for the culture of temperate crops; the design of offshore structure off the continental slope; hydrogen fuel production and distribution, deep seawater properties to reduce obesity, cholesterol and blood pressure; and the legal-institutional framework for the development of ocean thermal energy conversion. UTM Ocean Thermal Energy Centre (UTM OTEC) has entered into the Collaborative Research Agreement with the Institute of Ocean Energy of Saga University (Japan) to undertake joint research for the development of an experimental rig that introduces a hybrid system with stainless steel heat exchanger. Other aspects of this joint research would include a new design for 3 kW turbine, the introduction of nano-working fluids, the eDNA of intake waters, and improved productivity in the culture of high-value marine produce and products.

Additive manufacturing (AM), a method in which a part is fabricated layer by layer from a digital design package, provides the potential to produce complex components at reduced cost and time. Many techniques (using many different names) have been developed to accomplish this via melting or solid-state joining. However, to date, only a handful can be used to produce metallic parts that fulfill the requirements of industrial applications. The thermal physics and weld pool behaviors in metal AM process have decisive influence on the deposition quality, the microstructure and service performance of the depositions. Accurate analysis and calculation of thermal processes and weld pool behaviors are of great significance to the metallurgy analysis, stress and deformation analysis, process control and process optimization etc. Numerical modeling is also a necessary way to turn welding from qualitative description and experience-based art into quantitative analysis- and science-based engineering branch. In this chapter, two techniques for producing metal parts are explored, with a focus on the thermal science of metal AM: fluid flow and heat transfer. Selective laser melting (SLM) is the one that is most widely used because it typically has the best resolution. Another is named metal fused-coated additive manufacturing (MFCAM) that is cost competitive and efficient in producing large and middle-complex components in aerospace applications.

The understanding of the engineering performance of green laminated composites is necessary to the design of load bearing components in building and infrastructure construction, and packaging applications. These components are made of outer thin laminae called skins or faces and a thick inner layer called core. The use of bonding is unavoidable in the assembling of these composite products. Like all materials, the bonding materials have finite mechanical properties, e.g. stiffness, but when used in the literature, they are assumed perfectly rigid. That is an unrealistic assumption. Our analytical solutions change this assumption by using the real properties of bonding. In general, the analytical formulations are based on the equilibrium equations of forces, the compatibility of interlaminar stresses and deformation, and the geometrical conditions of the panels. Once solutions are obtained, the next step is to evaluate them. The numerical evaluations proved that perfect rigid bonding in laminated composites greatly underestimates the true performance. At low values of adhesive stiffness, the serviceability is multiple orders of magnitude of that at high values. The logical question is thus: what constitutes perfect bonding? The answer to this question lies in the core-to-adhesive stiffness. The lower the ration is the higher the error in using the rigid-bond theories. It is worth noting that green-composites in this chapter refer to components made of traditional materials such as wood, in addition to newly developed bio-based and bio-degradable and bio-based composites, made of renewable resources. In addition, bonding and adhesive are used interchangeably.

Globally, Anaerobic Digestion (AD) industry is booming and biogas, the most sustainable biofuel, produced via AD is in an exponential market growth curve. According to a November 2020 report from US Energy Information Administration (EIA), “25 large dairies and livestock operations in the United States produced a total of about 224 million kWh (or 0.2 billion kWh) of electricity from biogas”. However, the growth of AD and the cost-effective use of the generated biogas are hindered by the inconsistencies (composition, suspended solids, flow rate, etc.) of the incoming waste stream and the associated biogas quality (due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide gas). A pretreatment step prior to an AD unit can promote consistency in the incoming stream, minimize the suspended solids; and thereby insures the efficiency of AD. In this study, we evaluated the method of pretreatment of waste streams from three grain processing industries, where 1) we adjusted the pH of a stream corresponding to its isoelectric point (zero zeta-potential), 2) removed solids (and their corresponding COD) that precipitated, and 3) produced a consistent composition stream to feed the AD process. For grain processing industry, the precipitated solids can be returned to their process – thus integrating the pretreatment with the rest of the process. The pH pre-treatment should not add any additional cost to the plant since the pH of the waste streams from grain processing plant needs to be raised per plant permits prior to disposal. Our lab and pilot AD studies showed a positive effect of such pretreatment on these waste streams in terms of increased biogas production (11–60%) and COD removal (12–60%), and in some instances reduction in H2S content in biogas (8%). This study clearly demonstrated that such a pretreatment method is economical and is effective to improve AD performance on waste waters from grain processing industries.

This chapter demonstrates a biogas renewable energy resource potential study for electric power generation from easily available biogas feedstock materials in four selected case study sites. Under this study, the site used in the model is a rural Kebele in Jama Woreda at 10.548° N, 39.33° E. The common biogas feedstocks considered under this study are animal slurry, human feces and jatropha byproducts whereas the biodiesel is considered from jatropha seed.

This chapter focuses on the vision of one of the biggest changes that will mark our way to live: Industries 4.0. Our intention is to discuss its basics, the automation and improvements on the processes, the way to transform an small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into an Industry 4.0, some of the economic and educational aspects, return of the investment, etc. This topic is very extensive; nevertheless, our purpose is to give a current vision of the industry and also show the Industry 4.0’s future trends. Furthermore, this chapter presents the process to migrate to Industry 4.0 until reaching to Society 5.0 and, in turn, includes a future version of Industry 5.0 that is expected to begin in 2020.

The paper proposes a concept enabling quantitative assessment of resilience in critical entities developed in the European projects SmartResilience and InfraStress. The concept aims at combining simple communication-related advantages of simplified assessments results (such as “resilience very high” or “resilience very low”) with the advantages of the in-depth assessments (e.g. analysis of multiple sensor data). The paper describes the main elements of the innovative, indicator-based concept, starting with the “resilience cube” at the top, and continuing with the multi-level, hierarchical, indicator-based assessment methodology. The concept allows analyzing and assessing different aspects of practical resilience management. One can assess the resilience level of an entity at a given point in time, monitor their resilience level over time and benchmark it. One can also model and analyze the functionality of a system during a particular (threat) scenario, as well as stress-test it. The same methodology allows to optimize investment in improving resilience (e.g. in further training, in equipment, etc.), in a transparent and intuitive way. A resilience indicator database (over 4,000 indicators available) and a suite of tools (primarily developed within SmartResilience and InfraStress projects) and a repository of over 20 application cases and 300 scenarios, support application of the methodology. The concept has been discussed and agreed with over 50 different organizational stakeholders and is being embedded into the new ISO 31050 standard currently under development. Its “life-after-the-project” will be ensured by the dedicated “resilience rating initiative (ERRA)”. Although the concept and the tool in the form of the “ResilienceTool” were developed primarily for the resilience assessment of critical infrastructure (the “smart” ones in particular), they can be used for resilience assessment of other systems and through the extension of the, already initiated, implementation of AI techniques (machine learning) to make the ResilienceTool even more versatile and easier to use in the future.

As a fundamental part of the urban function, urban green space faced a long-term maintenance requirement. The maintenance of urban green space (i.e., trimming, irrigation, fertilization, pesticide, and plant waste removal) can have environmental impacts, such as energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. This chapter focuses on the adjustment of the plant communities’ combinations in urban green space to reduce the environmental impacts in long-term maintenance. The plant communities in urban green spaces are a combination of four plant layers: woodland, shrubs, herbicides, and grassland. In this chapter, we will start to investigate the environmental impacts in the maintenance of urban green space. Then we introduced the quantitative method life cycle assessment (LCA), to quantify the environmental impacts of the maintenance tasks. We analyzed the maintenance environmental impact (MEI) index of 95 plant community samples (20 m × 20 m) in Zhengzhou (China) through LCA and sorted out the changing curves of the MEI index during the change of the combined amount in each plant layers. Finally, we sorted out the MEI strength of the plant layers and summarized the low MEI plant community model. The low MEI model can save energy consumption and GHG emissions of the maintenance tasks, to contribute to the sustainable development of the urban green space.

Can we live in a dark environment? Light is the essential element, natural or artificial, traditional or sustainable, that helps us proceed in our life. Creating lighting scenes is one of the important roles of an interior designer, to create the interior environment for the users, whether in private or public spaces. Designing appropriate lighting to the function, the designer refers to the ideal set design using artificial elements in addition to the possible natural penetration to reach the complete lighting scene, which suits the type of interior function. The lighting design differs from interior type to others, and success of the lighting scene contributes to the success of the full experience of all the places we live. This chapter will explore the possible lighting design that affects positively on the life enhancement, as a physical and psychological tool, of most of the interior types.

This manuscript contains a brief introduction of Control Moment Gyroscopes followed by the mathematical basis for potential singularities and an analysis of how skew angle variability may impact their occurrence. MATLAB is utilized as the primary modeling tool along with WolframAlpha for mathematical derivations of matrix determinants. The results of the modeling efforts show that a uniform skew angle of 90° allows a high maximum angular momentum. Additionally, we attempt to show that having two CMGs at a skew angle of zero could result in similar gains as a uniform 90° configuration and briefly introduce singularity penetration.

This chapter book presents Medellín Air qUality Initiative or MAUI Project; it tells a brief story of this teamwork, their scientific and technological directions. The modeling work focuses on the ecosystems and human health impact due to the exposition of several pollutants transported from long-range places and deposited. For this objective, the WRF and LOTOS-EUROS were configurated and implemented over the región of interest previously updating some input conditions like land use and orography. By other side, a spinoff initiative named SimpleSpace was also born during this time, developing, through this instrumentation branch a very compact and modular low-cost sensor to deploy in new air quality networks over the study domain. For testing this instrument and find an alternative way to measure pollutants in the vertical layers, the Helicopter In-Situ Pollution Assessment Experiment HIPAE misión was developed to take data through the overflight of a helicopter over Medellín. From the data obtained from the Simple units and other experiments in the payload, a citogenotoxicity analysis quantify the cellular damage caused by the exposition of the pollutants.

The problem of antenna array synthesis for radiation pattern defined on a planar surface will be considered in this chapter. This situation could happen when the electric field r-decay factor effect cannot be neglected, for example, an antenna array mechanically tilted and a pattern defined in terms of Cartesian coordinates, as in the electronic toll collection (ETC) scenario. Two possible approaches will be presented: the first one aims at the precise synthesis of the pattern in the case both a constant power-bounded area and a sidelobe suppression region are defined and required to be synthesized. The second approach instead devotes at stretching the coverage area toward the travel length (without considering a precise definition of the communication area) to increase the available identification time with an iterative methodology. For the latter, an antenna prototype has been fabricated, and measurement results have confirmed the approach validity.

The work described here covers an examination of new bioproducts based on sub-Saharan bryophytes. The work includes in vitro testing of extracts from moss and liverworts against plant pathogenic microbes causing food decay and field crop losses. Additionally, we have shown specific antimicrobial activities of Marchantia debilis and moss against Erwinia spp and Pseudomonas spp. The extracts were also tested against aflatoxin-producing fungi isolated from food crops such as maize and peanuts. The efficacy of the extracts on clinical dermatological fungal isolates like Dermatophilus congolensis has not been reported. This led to the production of an antifungal solution of bryophyte extracts, which was tested in vivo on animals with skin diseases caused by Dermatophilosis. Around 99.5% of the animals were treated. The antifungal solution for treatments has been labeled Bryosol, while the disinfectants solution is labeled Bryo-disinfectants and the crop-fungicide is labeled Bryo-fungicides. A mini field pilot trial with Bryo-fungicide showed that crops infected with pathogenic fungi were treated. The results provide the first attempt to demonstrate the use of bioproducts for organic treatment of agricultural crops and diseases in animals based on sub-Saharan bryophytes.

The present study experimentally and numerically investigates the flow and heat transfer characteristics of a novel nanostructured heat transfer fluid, namely, ethanol/polyalphaolefin nanoemulsion, inside a conventionally manufactured minichannel of circular cross section and a microchannel heat exchanger of rectangular cross section manufactured additively using the Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) process. The experiments were conducted for single-phase flow of pure polyalphaolefin (PAO) and ethanol/PAO nanoemulsion fluids with two ethanol concentrations of 4 wt% and 8 wt% as well as for two-phase flow boiling of nanoemulsion fluids to study the effect of ethanol nanodroplets on the convective flow and heat transfer characteristics. Furthermore, the effects of flow regime of the working fluids on the heat transfer performance for both the minichannel and microchannel heat exchangers were examined within the laminar and transitional flow regimes. It was found that the ethanol/PAO nanoemulsion fluids can improve convective heat transfer compared to that of the pure PAO base fluid under both single- and two-phase flow regimes. While the concentration of nanoemulsion fluids did not reflect a remarkable distinction in single-phase heat transfer performance within the laminar regime, a significant heat transfer enhancement was observed using the nanoemulsion fluids upon entering the transitional flow regime. The heat transfer enhancement at higher concentrations of nanoemulsion within the transitional regime is mainly attributed to the enhanced interaction and interfacial thermal transport between ethanol nanodroplets and PAO base fluid. For two-phase flow boiling, heat transfer coefficients of ethanol/PAO nanoemulsion fluids were further enhanced when the ethanol nanodroplets underwent phase change. A comparative study on the flow and heat transfer characteristics was also implemented between the traditionally fabricated minichannel and additively manufactured microchannel of similar dimensions using the same working fluid of pure PAO and the same operating conditions. The results revealed that although the DMLS fabricated microchannel posed a higher pressure loss, a substantial heat transfer enhancement was achieved as compared to the minichannel heat exchanger tested under the same conditions. The non-post processed surface of the DMLS manufactured microchannel is likely to be the main contributor to the augmented heat transfer performance. Further studies are required to fully appreciate the possible mechanisms behind this phenomenon as well as the convective heat transfer properties of nanoemulsion fluids.

Following the interaction of a neutrino with saline environment, the Cherenkov cone will be generated. The electromagnetic effect of the Cherenkov cone is perpendicular to the cone generator and it has the energy directly proportional to the neutrino energy. In the saline environment, neutrinos with very high energies (noise – 115 dBm) can be determined. Investigation of these neutrinos will lead to the construction of a Cherenkov detector. The construction of a Cherenkov detector involves the design and the construction of a very large number of detection elements and of cascade amplifiers. Another necessary condition is to know exactly the distribution of the dielectric parameters of the saline environment. In order to know the distribution of the dielectric parameters of the saline environment, it is necessary to make a map of their distribution. Under these conditions, the number of detection elements will be optimized and also the optimal position of the future Cherenkov detector will be determined. In this chapter, we will present the methodology of calculating the detection elements and a method to determine the dielectric parameters. Measurements of attenuation of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in this environment will be presented. We will detail how to optimize a Cherenkov detector.

This chapter describes a three-dimensional simulation technology for physical processes in concentric hydraulic brakes with a throttling-groove partly filled hydraulic cylinder. The technology is based on the numerical solution of a system of Navier–Stokes equations. Free surface tracking is provided by the volume of fluid (VOF) method. Recoiling parts are simulated by means of moving transformable grids. Numerical solution of the equations is based on the finite-volume discretization on an unstructured grid. Our technology enables simulations of the whole working cycle of the hydraulic brake. Results of hydraulic brake simulations in the counter-recoil regime are reported. The results of the simulations are compared with experimental data obtained on JSC “KBP” test benches. The calculated and the experimental sets of data are compared based on the piston velocity as a function of distance. The performance of the hydraulic brake is studied as a function of the fluid mass and firing elevation of the gun.

This chapter unveils an enhancement strategy for nap-of-the-earth. The nap-of-the-earth (NOE) mode is the most energizing, most unsafe, and is generally the slowest. Military aircraft to maintain a strategic distance from opponent detection and assault in a high-thread circumstance use it. NOE used to limit discovery by the ground-based radar, targets and the control system. The radar altimeter (RA) or terrain following radar (TFR), terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) used to identify the curbs during flying in NOE flights. Here, while the plane is at the nap of the earth activity, the speed and the height must be moderate as effectively decided. The terrain following radar (TFR) keeps up the altitude from the beginning. Therefore, we analyze the issue to expand the performance of the airplane by extending the terrain by a few modes of the TAWS, which given by various aviation authorities1. Further to this, different TAWS modes of action, explanation of mode selection and progression in TAWS clarified in detail. This chapter displays the MATLAB programme for a few patterns of TAWS mission, and simulation of the flight path for the excessive terrain closure rate from mode two operation of the flight.

Disease mapping utilizes disease maps as visual representations of sophisticated geographic data that provide a general overview of the disease situation in a defined geographic area. Epidemiology is concerned with investigating the causes of diseases, and often, these causes vary in frequency and in space. This variation in space gave a niche to remote sensing to find its way into the public health domain as disease researchers sought to investigate the explaining environmental and climatic factors. Studies have demonstrated the potential offered by remote sensing application to disease mapping and epidemiology and to support surveillance and control efforts. We used some examples from a case study conducted in Eswatini in Southern Africa. Remote sensing imagery when combined with GIS spatial analyses techniques could support and guide existing disease surveillance and control programs at local, regional, and even continental scales. Researchers have also studied factors influencing the patterns and distributions of vector-borne diseases at a variety of landscape scales. However, successful application of remote sensing technology depends on the ability of nonexperts’ remotely sensed data and end users to access, retrieve, and analyze the data captured from satellites. The exploration of some of the opportunities presented by remote sensing to disease mapping and epidemiology is still unfolding as new opportunities are being presented.

The Royal Enclosure is the remains of a fortress-city in Gondar, Ethiopia. It was founded in the 17th century by Emperor Fasiladas and was the home of Ethiopia’s emperors. Its unique architecture shows diverse influences including Nubian styles. The site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Ghebbi is an Amharic word for a compound or enclosure. Due to climate conditions and human activities, the Royal palace is affected by severe structural damage. Presently almost some portion of the palace are under maintenance by mortar pointing to avoid negative effects of rainfall and other durability issue and temporary scaffolding to prevent from collapse of vulnerable structures. An analysis of damage of the palace is presented, based on weathering processes and structural conditions, as preliminary tool to detect and implement urgent and medium/long-term protection strategies for the conservation of the monuments. The chapter describes the major durability issue of the historical palace and determines the cause of the present durability problem and then recommends the possible remedial measure to alleviate the prolonged durability issue. The analysis was conducted by visual inspection and X-ray diffraction characterization methods. The chapter discusses the results obtained from the analysis of the mortar sample of the historical palace.

Fluorinated polyimides were prepared from the twisted benzidine monomer containing two trifluoromethyl (CF3) groups on one aromatic ring. The diamine monomer having a rigid and nonplanar structure was polymerized with typical dianhydride monomers including BPDA, BTDA, ODPA, 6-FDA, and PMDA, to obtain the corresponding polyimides. Most polyimides are soluble in organic solvents due to their twisted chain structure and can be solution cast into flexible and tough films. These films have a UV-vis absorption cut-off wavelength at 354–398 nm and a light transparency of 34–90% at a wavelength of 550 nm. They also have tensile strengths of 92–145 MPa and coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of 6.8–63.1 ppm/°C. The polymers exhibited high thermal stability with 5% weight loss at temperatures ranging from 535 to 605°C in nitrogen and from 523 to 594°C in air, and high glass temperature (Tg) values in the range of 345–366°C. Interestingly, some of the soluble polyimides showed thermo-responsive behaviors in organic solvents presumably due to the multiple hydrogen bondings with unsymmetrically positioned two CF3 groups along the polymer chains.

A framework for the design and optimization of large dual-linear polarized, shaped-beam reflectarrays for advanced wireless communications is presented. The methodology is based on the generalized intersection approach (IA) algorithm for both phase-only synthesis (POS) and direct optimization of the reflectarray layout, as well as on the use of a method of moments in the spectral domain assuming local periodicity. A thorough description of the design and optimization procedures is provided. To demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed framework, two examples are considered. The first example is a shaped-beam reflectarray for future 5G base stations working in the millimeter waveband, radiating a sectored-beam pattern in azimuth and squared-cosecant pattern in elevation to provide constant power in the coverage area. The second example is a very large contoured-beam reflectarray for direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting based on real mission requirements with Southern Asia coverage.

Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process has been widely used to planarize a variety of materials including dielectrics, metal, and semiconductors in Si-based semiconductor devices. It is one of the most critical steps to achieve the nanolevel wafer and die scale planarity. However, various contaminants are observed on the wafer surfaces after the CMP process, and they become the most critical yield detractor over many generations of rapidly diminishing feature sizes because they have the most direct impacts on device performance and reliability. This book chapter provides (1) CMP consumables-induced contaminants such as residual particles, surface residues, organic residues, pad debris and metallic impurities, pad contamination, watermark, etc., (2) brush-induced cross-contamination during post CMP cleaning, (3) post-CMP cleaning for removing these contaminants. Fundamental understanding of the formation of various types of CMP contaminants and their characteristics will significantly benefit the development of next-generation CMP slurries and post-CMP cleaning solutions.

We present here Transproc, a reconfigurable generic processor which can execute operations related to linear transformations like FFT, FDCT or FDWT. A graph theoretic lemma is used to find the applicability of such a processor to calculate the flow graph related parallel operations found in these linear transformations. The architecture level design and processing element level design is presented. The primitive instruction set and the control signal implementing the instruction set is proposed. A detailed simulation validating the correctness of PE level and the architecture level data calculation and routing operations are carried out using Xilinx Vivado Webpack. The result related to size, power and timing requirement is presented.

Drilling is a vital machining process for many industries. Automotive and aerospace industries are among those industries which produce millions of holes where productivity, quality, and precision of drilled holes plays a vital role in their success. Therefore, a proper selection of machine tools and equipment, cutting tools and parameters is detrimental in achieving the required dimensional accuracy and surface roughness. This subsequently helps industries achieving success and improving the service life of their products. This chapter provides an introduction to the drilling process in manufacturing industries which helps improve the quality and productivity of drilling operations on metallic materials. It explains the advantages of using multi-spindle heads to improve the productivity and quality of drilled holes. An analysis of the holes produced by a multi-spindle head on aluminum alloys Al2024, Al6061, and Al5083 is presented in comparison to traditional single shot drilling. Also the effects of using uncoated carbide and high speed steel tools for producing high-quality holes in the formation of built-up edges and burrs are investigated and discussed.

Brain-Computer Interface has emerged from dazzling experiments of cognitive scientists and researchers who dig deep into the conscious of the human brain where neuroscience, signal processing, machine learning, physical sciences are blended together and neuroprosthesis, neuro spellers, bionic eyes, prosthetic arms, prosthetic legs are created which made the disabled to walk, a mute to express and talk, a blind to see the beautiful world, a deaf to hear, etc. My main aim is to analyze the frequency domain signal of the brain signals of 5 subjects at their respective mental states using an EEG and show how to control a DJI Tello drone using Insight EEG then present the results and interpretation of band power graph, FFT graph and time-domain signals graph of mental commands during the live control of the drone.

A rotator cuff tear is a common shoulder injury in sports medicine. However, a rotator cuff repair still has the high failure rate (57%) in large torn (>8 cm2) rotator cuff cases. One of the main reasons is failing at suture-tendon cause of continuous tensional and torsional stresses even after surgery, and thus, an ideal biologic augmentation to overcome large tears is an essential challenge. The ECM graft, the biological material can be useful for augment repair of large torn rotator cuff. Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2), which belongs to transforming growth factor-β superfamily, is well known as an osteoinductive growth factor. It plays an important role in the development of bone and cartilage. rhBMP-2 also facilitates chemotaxis in the host tissue. In this study, rhBMP-2-coated acellular dermal graft, which is isolated from human cadaveric donor, was transplanted in the rabbit with the chronic rotator cuff injury. The radiologic image, histomorphometric, histologic image analyses, and tensile test were performed to evaluate the effectiveness. The results showed the enhancement of increased host cell infiltration, new bone formation, and tensile mechanical property. The rhBMP-2-coated acellular dermal graft will be promising for chronic rotator cuff healing.

This chapter deals with the implementation of our own monitoring system with home security. The system is designed using IoT modules and uses ESP32 microcontrollers. The chapter describes the design of the system, its hardware components, software implementation, security solutions, communication, the collecting and monitoring of processed data, as well as the quantification of costs for the production and deployment of this system. The proposed system secures a house by detecting an intruder in the building, triggering an alarm and capturing it all with camera images, and then sending data to the owner’s smart mobile phone. The secondary task of the system is to collect data from sensors for monitoring the temperature of an object and presenting it via a web server.

Fiber Bragg grating is widely used in optical fiber applications as a filter or a sensor due to its compact size and high sensitivity to physical conditions, such as temperature and strain. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the implementation and characterization of two tuning methods for optical fiber Bragg gratings, varying the temperature or the length of the fiber. Among the methods using mechanical deformation, compression of the fiber by bending a flexible sheet aggregated with the Bragg grating has shown very interesting tuning results, reaching 19.0 nm with minimum reflection bandwidth variation over the entire tuning range. Stretching the fiber has presented several drawbacks, including breaking of the fiber and a lower tuning range of 4.9 nm. Temperature tuning technique presents good linearity between tuning range and temperature variation but at the cost of a low tuning range (0.4 nm) and a permanent high current electrical source.

This chapter presents the results of experimental studies of the formation and investigation of the memristors by probe nanotechnologies. This chapter also perspectives and possibilities of application of local anodic oxidation and scratching probe nanolithography for the manufacture of memristors based on titanium oxide structures, nanocrystalline ZnO thin film, and vertically aligned carbon nanotubes. Memristive properties of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, titanium oxide, and ZnO nanostructures were investigated by scanning probe microscopy methods. It is shown that nanocrystalline ZnO films manifest a stable memristor effect slightly dependent on its morphology. Titanium oxide nanoscale structures of different thicknesses obtained by local anodic oxidation demonstrate a memristive effect without the need to perform any additional electroforming operations. This experimentally confirmed the memristive switching of a two-electrode structure based on a vertically aligned carbon nanotube. These results can be used in the development of designs and technological processes of resistive random access memory (ReRAM) units based on the memristor devices.