Pyrolysis of methane in the presence of hydrogen

The kinetics of methane pyrolysis were studied in a tubular flow reactor in the temperature range 1200 to 1500°C at atmospheric pressure. To avoid excessive carbon formation the reaction time was short and the methane feed was diluted with hydrogen. Ethene, ethyne, benzene and hydrogen were the main gaseous products. Ethane was observed as a product at very low conversions of methane. More than 90% selectivity was obtained for C₂ products. The ratio of ethyne to ethene increased with increasing temperature. The yield of C₂ products is limited by gas-phase equilibrium at lower temperatures. Formation of carbon was strongly depressed by hydrogen at higher temperatures. The maximum yield of ethyne was found to increase from about 10% to about 50% when the temperature was increased from 1200 to 1500°C, with hydrogen dilution H₂: CH₄ = 2: 1. A mechanistic reaction model was used to simulate the pyrolysis of methane at the actual conditions. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the elementary reactions which influence the formation and consumption of the species in the model system.     

Ash line control

For efficient firing in sloping grate bark furnaces, it is important to control the ash line position on the grate. The ash line is the border between burning fuel and fuel which is burned out (ash). Here, the problem of detecting the ash line with an image processing system is treated. The presentation of trend curves to the operator is of special interest. The process is slow and trend curves provide a memory that will assist the operator to improve the manual control of the process. In future development it may be possible to close the loop. An algorithm for detection of the ash line is presented. It is an optimization method where the position of the ash line is computed by maximizing a criterion. The criterion is tailored for the application and maximized by dynamic programming. The goal has been to obtain an algorithm suitable for implementation on a small personal computer. The algorithm has been tested on images taken from a videotape, showing the interior of an industrial bark furnace. Experimental results show that the algorithm can be used for the generation of trend curves.     

Belief‐rule‐based expert systems for evaluation of e‐government: a case study

Little knowledge exists on the impact and results associated with e‐government projects in many specific‐use domains. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of e‐government systems. Because the development of e‐government is a continuous process of improvement, it requires continuous evaluation of the overall e‐government system as well as evaluation of its various dimensions such as determinants, characteristics and results. E‐government development is often complex, with multiple stakeholders, large user bases and complex goals. Consequently, even experts have difficulties in evaluating these systems, especially in an integrated and comprehensive way, as well as on an aggregate level. Expert systems are a candidate solution to evaluate such complex e‐government systems. However, it is difficult for expert systems to cope with uncertain evaluation data that are vague, inconsistent, highly subjective or in other ways, challenging to formalize. This paper presents an approach that can handle uncertainty in e‐government evaluation: the combination of Belief Rule Base knowledge representation and Evidential Reasoning. This approach is illustrated with a concrete prototype, known as the Belief Rule Based Expert System (BRBES) and implemented in the local e‐government of Bangladesh. The results have been compared with a recently developed method of evaluating e‐government, and it is demonstrated that the results of the BRBES are more accurate and reliable. The BRBES can be used to identify the factors that need to be improved to achieve the overall aim of an e‐government project. In addition, various ‘what if’ scenarios can be generated, and developers and managers can obtain a foretaste of the outcomes. Thus, the system can be used to facilitate decision‐making processes under uncertainty.     

Development of a sweet pepper harvesting robot

This paper presents the development, testing and validation of SWEEPER, a robot for harvesting sweet pepper fruit in greenhouses. The robotic system includes a six degrees of freedom industrial arm equipped with a specially designed end effector, RGB‐D camera, high‐end computer with graphics processing unit, programmable logic controllers, other electronic equipment, and a small container to store harvested fruit. All is mounted on a cart that autonomously drives on pipe rails and concrete floor in the end‐user environment. The overall operation of the harvesting robot is described along with details of the algorithms for fruit detection and localization, grasp pose estimation, and motion control. The main contributions of this paper are the integrated system design and its validation and extensive field testing in a commercial greenhouse for different varieties and growing conditions. A total of 262 fruits were involved in a 4‐week long testing period. The average cycle time to harvest a fruit was 24 s. Logistics took approximately 50% of this time (7.8 s for discharge of fruit and 4.7 s for platform movements). Laboratory experiments have proven that the cycle time can be reduced to 15 s by running the robot manipulator at a higher speed. The harvest success rates were 61% for the best fit crop conditions and 18% in current crop conditions. This reveals the importance of finding the best fit crop conditions and crop varieties for successful robotic harvesting. The SWEEPER robot is the first sweet pepper harvesting robot to demonstrate this kind of performance in a commercial greenhouse.     

A systematic investigation of the overall rate coefficient in the Wheeler-Jonas equation for adsorption on dry activated carbons

Modelling of the adsorption rate coefficient, k_v of the Wheeler-Jonas equation for estimating the service life of packed carbon beds, is addressed. Current methods for extracting k_v from experimental breakthrough data include approaches that introduce easily propagated errors. The weaknesses of these approaches are analyzed, and a calculation based on multiple points on the breakthrough curve is suggested. Experimental breakthrough data for a representative set of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been measured. A systematic investigation of factors influencing k_v, including adsorbate and carbon properties, adsorbate inlet concentration and flow velocity is performed. It is found that flow velocity and carbon particle size have the largest influence, followed by adsorbate properties related to the adsorption capacity. A simple linear empirical model for k_v, including air flow velocity, carbon particle size, and dielectric constant of the adsorbate, is presented. The model is based on the breakthrough range up to 20% of the inlet concentration, for which k_v is shown to be almost constant. The range of the model covers breathing rates valid for a respirator at different work loads. The model can be used to estimate the adsorption rate coefficient for specific carbon particle sizes and various VOCs present in workplace environments.     

Graft copolymerization of glycidylmethacrylate onto modified nylon‐6 fibers

The graft copolymerization of glycidylmethacrylate (GMA) onto modified nylon‐6 fibers containing polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) groups in the presence of (Cu ²⁺–K₂S₂O₈) as a redox initiating system was carried out, with very high extent and almost without homopolymer formation. The mechanism of the graft polymerization induced by this system was suggested. The rate of grafting was determined by varying the monomer, K₂S₂O₈, and cupric ion concentrations as well as the amount of PDADMAC. The kinetic investigation revealed that the rate of grafting (Rp) of GMA onto modified nylon‐6 fibers is proportional to [GMA]^1.83, [CuSO₄·5H₂O]^0.46, [PDADMAC]^0.4, and [K₂S₂O₈]^1.43. The overall activation energy was 134.7 kJ/mol. The fine structure and thermal properties of the grafted nylon‐6 fibers were investigated. investigated. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 613–618, 2006     

Cell Fusion of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells and Breast Cancer Cells Leads to the Formation of Hybrid Cells Exhibiting Diverse and Individual (Stem Cell) Characteristics

Cancer is one of the most common diseases worldwide, and treatment bears many challenges such as drug and radioresistance and formation of metastases. These difficulties are due to tumor heterogeneity, which has many origins. One may be cell fusion, a process that is relevant in both physiological (e.g., wound healing) and pathophysiological (cancer and viral infection) processes. In this study, we examined if cell fusion between mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) and breast cancer (BC) cells occurs and if newly generated hybrid cells may exhibit cancer stem/initiating cell (CS/IC) characteristics. Therefore, several methods such as mammosphere assay, AldeRed assay, flow cytometry (CD24, CD44, CD104) and Western blot analysis (of epithelial to mesenchymal transition markers such as SNAIL, SLUG and Twist) were applied. In short, four different hybrid clones, verified by short tandem repeat (STR) analysis, were analyzed; each expressed an individual phenotype that seemed not to be explicitly related to either a more stem cell or cancer cell phenotype. These results show that cancer cells and MSCs are able to fuse spontaneously in vitro, thereby giving rise to hybrid cells with new properties, which likely indicate that cell fusion may be a trigger for tumor heterogeneity.     

The effects of cultural dimension on ICT innovation: Empirical analysis of mobile phone services

ICT Innovation is one of the major forces for socioeconomic development. It is the key element to spur growth of the economy of a nation. Several studies have shown that culture is a crucial determinant of innovations. This study examines the effect of socio-cultural factors on ICT innovation with specific focus on the mobile banking services. Research was conducted on 220 respondents from sampled population in South Africa. The questionnaire used in this study was developed based on previous studies that have proven validity. The findings indicate that culture is an appropriate concept to describe how innovation in information and communication technology can be influenced by human behavior.