Optimization of atrazine removal from synthetic groundwater by electrooxidation process using titanium dioxide and graphite electrodes

ABSTRACT

Atrazine is used in agriculture and is known for its high toxicity. It therefore poses a risk to surface and ground waters, and human life. In this study, an electrochemical method was optimized for atrazine removal from SGW using TiO₂ and graphite electrodes. A comparison between one factor at a time period optimization and Box-Behnken design (BBD) optimization using RSM was carried out to select the optimum conditions. The results show excellent atrazine removal efficiency (99.70%) and close optimum conditions for both applied methods (pH 7 and 7.4; current 2.5 and 2 A and time 14 and 12.12 min, respectively).     

Determining students’ level of page viewing in intelligent tutorial systems with artificial neural network

The concept of level of page viewing (LPV) refers to the extent to which a student actively revises the pages that he or she has to study in tutorial systems. In the present study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model, which is composed of 5 inputs, 20 and 30 neurons, 2 hidden layers, and 1 output, was designed to determine the students’ LPV. After this network was trained, it was integrated into a web-based prototype teaching system, which was developed by ASP.net C# programming language. Additionally, Decision Tree method is tried to determine students’ LPV. However, this method gave wrong results according to expected LPV values. In this system, the student first studies the pages uploaded by the teacher onto the system. After studying all the pages within the scope of a topic, the student can go to the test page for evaluation purposes. LPVs of a student who wants to navigate to the test page are calculated by an ANN module added to the system. On the condition that one or more of the LPV’s are not up to the desired level, the student is not allowed to take the test and is informed of the pages with missing LPV’s so that he can re-study these pages. This prototype system developed based on ANN to determine students’ LPV is essential for intelligent tutorial systems, geared to provide intelligent assistance and guidance. The system can track the pages which the students did not study sufficiently and thus direct them to relevant pages. How much activity the students perform on each page to study is observed before they actually take the test, and the areas which should be further revised are determined much in advance.     

A new simulation model for inhomogeneous Au/<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-GaN structure

The larger the device area, the more difficult to carry on homogeneity during the fabrication and following treatments. Structural inhomogeneity may indicate themselves in variations in local electronic device parameters. Electrical current through the potential barriers is exponentially sensitive to the local device parameters and its fluctuations in the Schottky devices. A new simulation program is developed to describe a relation between multiple, random barrier heights and current-voltage characteristics of the Schottky device. We model the barrier height inhomogeneity in terms of random microcells connected in parallel, which have different barrier height values. Analyzing the integral of the simulated light current-voltage curves show that fluctuations of the local barrier height result in a degradation of the open circuit voltage, fill factor and in consequence, of the over all power conversation efficiency. The implementation described here is quite general and can be used to simulate any device parameter fluctuations in the Schottky devices.     

Effects of nanosilica and steel fibers on the impact resistance of slag based self-compacting alkali-activated concrete

In this research, the effects of nanosilica and steel fibers on the impact resistance of ground granulated blast furnace slag based self-compacting alkali-activated concrete were investigated. Nanosilica volume fraction was kept constant at 2%. Two types of hooked-end steel fibers (Kemerix 30/40 and Dramix 60/80) and steel fiber volume contents (0.5% and 1%) were utilized to highlight the combined effects of nanosilica and steel fiber on the impact behavior. The fresh state and mechanical properties such as slump flow, L-box, V-funnel, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength were evaluated. The microstructure of the samples was examined using a scanning electron microscope. The impact resistance of the specimens was measured by a drop-weight test. Acceleration-time and force-time graphs were plotted and evaluated together with the crack photos of the specimens for the first and failure impactor drops. The incorporations of nanosilica and steel fiber improved splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, impact resistance, and energy absorption capacity, while they decreased compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. For the specimens without nanosilica and with 2% nanosilica, the impact energy improvements were five times and 12.5 times higher for 0.5% short fibrous, 20.5 times and 44.5 times higher for 1% short fibrous, 23.5 times and 31 times higher for 0.5% long fibrous, and 64 times and 144.5 times higher for 1% long fibrous specimens than the specimens without nanosilica and steel fiber, respectively. The long fibers were found more effective in mechanical strength and impact energy than short fibers, and the reinforcing efficiency of fibers enhanced with higher steel fiber volumes. The combined utilization of nanosilica and steel fibers have the potential to delay the crack formation and dissipate energy to the surrounding zones, and this potential increased with higher steel fiber lengths and volume ratios.     

Investigating the effect of pressure on a vertical two-phase upward flow with a high viscosity liquid

This article presents void fraction and pressure gradient data for sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) with gas densities of 28 and 45 kg/m³ and oil (with viscosity 35 times that for water) in a 127 mm diameter pipe. The superficial velocities of gas ranged from 0.1 to 3 m/s and those for liquid from 0.1 to 1 m/s, respectively. Measurements of void fraction data were recorded using a capacitance wire mesh sensor (WMS) system, which permits the 3D visualization of the flow patterns. All the data were obtained with a data acquisition frequency of 1,000 Hz. A differential pressure transducer was used to measure the pressure drops along the length of the pipe. The WMS provide time and cross-sectionally resolved data on void fraction and from an analysis of its output, flow patterns were identified using the characteristic signatures of probability density function (PDF) plot of time series of void fraction. The PDF plots showed the single peak shapes associated with bubbly and churn flows but not the twin-peaked shape usually seen in slug flows. This confirms previous work in larger diameter pipes but with less viscous liquids. For the bubble and churn flows investigated, the pressure gradient was observed to decrease with an increase in gas superficial velocity. Nevertheless, there was an insignificant observed effect of pressure on void fraction below certain transitional flow rates, the effect however became significant beyond these values. In the present work, wisps appear to be smaller, which might be due to the different fluid properties of the working fluids employed. In addition, wisps are easily revealed as long as there is a transition between churn and annular flows regardless of the pressure. Experimental data on void fraction and pressure gradient are compared against existing data. Reasonably good agreements were observed from the results of the comparison.     

DISTRIBUTION OF PETROPHYSICAL PARAMETERS IN THE CAMBRO-ORDOVICIAN DIBSIYAH MEMBER OF THE WAJID SANDSTONE,SW SAUDI ARABIA

The Cambrian-Ordovician Dibsiyah Member is the lowermost unit of the Wajid Sandstone, a major aquifer in SW Saudi Arabia. The Dibsiyah is present throughout most of south-central Arabia including the Rub'Al-Khali Basin where it is a potential exploration target and a reservoir for gas. The Member can be divided into Upper and Lower Units based on depositional facies. The Lower Unit is interpreted to have been deposited in a fluvial setting, whereas the Upper Unit, which displays abundant bioturbation, was deposited in shallow-marine conditions. Patterns of porosity and permeability distribution in the Dibsiyah Member were analysed statistically. In general, the Member exhibits a limited range of porosity values and a wide range of permeability values. Histograms show that the porosity distribution of both Lower and Upper Units are approximately normal, and that their corresponding vertical and horizontal permeability distributions are positively skewed. The coefficient of variation for porosity in both the Lower and Upper Units is less than 0.5 indicating that the porosity range is small. However, the horizontal and vertical permeability values are more variable due to the spatial distribution of architectural elements and sedimentary structures within both units. The dissolution of unstable minerals, together with inhomogenous grain packing and poor connectivity, has resulted in a variable permeability distribution.     

Air embolism following removal of hemodialysis catheter

Introduction: Air embolism (AE) is a rare, but serious complication that can occur in the practice of hemodialysis. In contrast to careful techniques and meticulous care during insertions and manipulations of the central catheters, awareness of the risk of AE following catheter removal is less. We aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics of the all case reports with AE after catheter removal and summarize the mechanisms, clinical consequences, treatment and prevention of AE. Methods: In addition to our case, MEDLINE database was searched for all case reports with AE following catheter removal, and the clinical, diagnostic and outcome data were analyzed. Findings: A total of 10 patients (including our case) (M/F 6/4; median age 50.5 years) were found for the analysis. Procedures for prevention of AE were reported in a few patients (Trendelenburg position 2, airtight dressing 1). The time that elapsed between catheter removals and onset of AEs was ranged from seconds to 6 hours. The most common findings were dyspnea (90%), hypoxemia (70%), and cerebral dysfunction (70%). The most common sites where air could be detected were the left ventricle (40%), pulmonary artery (30%) and right ventricle (30%). Mortality was reported in 4 (40%) cases and the remaining 6 patients had complete recovery. Blocking of air portal was not reported in any of the fatal cases. Discussion: AE following catheter removal carries a major risk of mortality. Great awareness and attention to preventive procedures and appropriate care after development of AE seem mandatory.     

Experimental model of the behaviour of bolted angles connections with stiffeners

This paper presents the experimental results of twenty full scale specimens of steel bolted connections beam-to-column with top-and-seat angles in six groups, labelled L91-tp8, L82-tp8, L73-tp8, L91-tp10, L82-tp10 and L73-tp10 groups (L=length of top-and-seat angle, tp=stiffener thickness of top-and-seat angle), under static loading. This study was undertaken to analyse the influence of angles and beams with stiffeners on the behaviour of the beam-to-column joints. The main parameters observed are the evolution of the resistance, the stiffness, the rotation capacity, the ductility of a joint, and the energy dissipation capacity. The aim was to provide necessary data to improve the Eurocode 3.     

Application of artificial neural networks for the wind speed prediction of target station using reference stations data

In this study, artificial neural networks (ANNs) were applied to predict the mean monthly wind speed of any target station using the mean monthly wind speeds of neighboring stations which are indicated as reference stations. Hourly wind speed data, collected by the Turkish State Meteorological Service (TSMS) at 8 measuring stations located in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey were used. The long-term wind data, containing hourly wind speeds, directions and related information, cover the period between 1992 and 2001. These data were divided into two sections. According to the correlation coefficients, reference and target stations were defined. The mean monthly wind speeds of reference stations were used and also corresponding months were specified in the input layer of the network. On the other hand, the mean monthly wind speed of the target station was utilized in the output layer of the network. Resilient propagation (RP) learning algorithm was applied in the present simulation. The hidden layers and output layer of the network consist of logistic sigmoid transfer function (logsig) and linear transfer function (purelin) as an activation function. Finally, the values determined by ANN model were compared with the actual data. The maximum mean absolute percentage error was found to be 14.13% for Antakya meteorological station and the best result was found to be 4.49% for Mersin meteorological station.     

Computational evaluation of effective transport properties of differential microcellular structures

This study presents a combined implementation of three-dimensional (3D) advanced imaging and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and simulation techniques to interpret the effective transport properties of single and stacked samples of differential microcellular structures. 3D morphological analysis software (ScanIP) was used to create representative elemental volumes via high-resolution tomography data for samples of tetrakaidekahedron-shaped Inconel and bottleneck-type aluminum foams. Pore-structure-related information for single and stacked differential samples were obtained with the aid of image analysis software, while their effective transport properties were attained by computationally resolving the pressure drop developed across these materials for superficial fluid velocities in the range from 0 to 6 m s⁻¹. Model validation was demonstrated by tolerable agreement between resulting CFD predicted results and experimentally measured values of flow properties. With these techniques, contributory effects were identified for pore-structure-related properties, pore density, and flow entrance on the flow dynamics of microcellular structures. This approach could prove useful in the design of highly efficient porous metallic components for applications specific to fluid transport.