A Method for Predicting Long-Term Municipal Water Demands Under Climate Change

Water Resources Management - The accurate forecast of water demand is challenging for water utilities, specifically when considering the implications of climate change. As such, this is the first...     

Catalytic grafting: A new technique for polymer–fiber composites I. Polyethylene–asbestos composites

In this work we present a new technique to prepare polyolefin-fiber composites. This technique is based on chemical anchoring of a catalyst on reinforcing agents containing OH groups on their surface and then conducting an olefin polymerization on the supported catalyst. This technique offers the possibility to approach the challenging problems encountered in polymer composites, namely, the reinforcement-matrix adhesion, the dispersion, and the wetting of the reinforcement by the resin. As a first part of a systematic research, we report on the procedure of fixation of titanium tetrachloride on the surface of asbestos fibers and the Ziegler-Natta polymerization of ethylene on the surface-modified fibers. The procedure as well as the structure and properties of the composite were investigated by means of FTIR, atomic absorption, SEM, solvent extraction, and tensile testing. The experimental results show that the Ziegler-Natta catalyst can be efficiently anchored on the surface of the fibers to conduct successful polymerization and to “synthesize” a new class of polymer composites.     

Short-Term Urban Water Demand Prediction Considering Weather Factors

Accurate and reliable forecasting plays a key role in the planning and designing of municipal water supply infrastructures. Recent studies related to water demand prediction have shown that water demand is driven by weather variables, but the results do not clearly show to what extent. The principal aim of this research was to better understand the effects of weather variables on water demand. Additionally, it aimed to offer an appropriate and reliable technique to predict municipal water demand by using the Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) and Backtracking Search Algorithm (BSA) with Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Moreover, eight weather factors were adopted to evaluate their impact on the water demand. The principal findings of this research are that the hybrid GSA-ANN (Agent?=?40) model is superior in terms of fitness function (based on RMSE) for yearly and seasonal phases. In addition, it is evidently clear from the findings that the GSA-ANN model has the ability to simulate both seasonal and yearly patterns for daily data water consumption.     

A partitioning methodology that optimizes the communication cost for reconfigurable computing systems

This paper focuses on the design process for reconfigurable architecture. Our contribution focuses on introducing a new temporal partitioning algorithm. Our algorithm is based on typical mathematic flow to solve the temporal partitioning problem. This algorithm optimizes the transfer of data required between design partitions and the reconfiguration overhead. Results show that our algorithm considerably decreases the communication cost and the latency compared with other well known algorithms.     

A Paradox-based data collection and management system for multi-center randomized clinical trials

We have developed a Paradox-based data collection and management system for large-scale multi-site randomized clinical trials. The system runs under Windows operating system and integrates Symantec pcAnywhere32 telecommunications software for data transmission and remote control sessions, PKZIP utility for the compression/decompression of transmitted data, and Stat/Transfer for exporting the centralized Paradox database for analyses. We initially developed this system for VA Cooperative Study #399 'The Effect of Antiarrhythmic Therapy in Maintaining Stability of Sinus Rhythm in Atrial Fibrillation', which collects over 1000 variables on 706 patients at 20 sites. Patient intake for this 5-year study began in March of 1998. We have also developed an enhanced version of this system, which is being used in the NIH-funded 'Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT)' that collects over 1200 variables on 1588 patients at 13 sites. Patient intake for this 4-year study began in October of 2000.     

Bio‐nanocomposite films based on cellulose nanocrystals filled polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan polymer blend

Bio‐nanocomposite films based on polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan (PVA/CS) polymeric blend and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) were prepared by casting a homogenous and stable aqueous mixture of the three components. CNC used as nanoreinforcing agents were extracted at the nanometric scale from sugarcane bagasse via sulfuric acid hydrolysis; then they were characterized and successfully dispersed into a PVA/CS (50/50, w/w) blend to produce PVA/CS–CNC bio‐nanocomposite films at different CNC contents (0.5, 2.5, 5 wt %). Viscosity measurement of the film‐forming solutions and structural and morphological characterizations of the solid films showed that the CNC are well dispersed into PVA/CS blend forming strong interfacial interactions that provide an enhanced load transfer between polymer chains and CNC, thus improving their properties. The obtained bio‐nanocomposite films are mechanically strong and exhibit improved thermal properties. The addition of 5 wt % CNC within a PVA/CS blend increased the Young's modulus by 105%, the tensile strength by 77%, and the toughness by 68%. Herein, the utilization of Moroccan sugarcane bagasse as raw material to produce high quality CNC has been explored. Additionally, the ability of the as‐isolated CNC to reinforce polymer blends was studied, resulting in the production of the aforementioned bio‐nanocomposite films with improved properties. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42004.     

Quantitative Analysis of Mixer‐Type Rheometers using the Couette Analogy

A procedure based on a Couette analogy, to quantitatively analyze torque/rotor speed data in order to extract viscosity/shear‐rate curves using non‐conventional geometries is presented. It is first validated using a relatively simple geometry for which the equivalent internal radius used in the analogy can be analytically obtained. The results showed that the equivalent internal radius depends only slightly on the nature of the fluid and that there is an optimal radial position r* in the analog Couette gap where the calculations can be easily performed for computing the viscosity/shear‐rate data from torque/rotational speed data. The experimental results with complex geometries and complex fluids are found to coincide, within experimental errors, with those obtained using standard geometries over a wide range of shear rates. The approach is also found to be very useful to evaluate shear‐rate and viscosity data in Couette viscometers when large gaps are used with non‐Newtonian fluids.     

Polymerization compounding: Epoxy‐montmorillonite nanocomposites

A strategy to design intercalated montmorillonite nanocomposites has been explored. A commercial organoclay, 1.34 TCN (Nanocor Inc.), with bis(2‐hydroxylethy1) methy1 tallow ammonium, was modified by tolylene 2,4‐diisocyanate (TDI) and bisphenol A (BA). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) results of unmodified and modified 1.34 TCN (1.34‐TDI‐BA) indicate that TDI and BA have reacted with hydroxy1 groups on the surface of 1.34 TCN and hydroxy1 groups in the interlayer of 1.34 TCN. Using a classical two‐stage cure process with diamine as curing agent, intercalated epoxy nanocomposites were prepared for both types of organoclays. XRD and TEM results showed that the basal spacing of clay in nanocomposites was 3.68 and 4.42 nm for 1.34 TCN and 1.34‐TDI‐BA, respectively. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was performed on both modified and unmodified organoclay composites. Modified organoclay composites were found to have enhanced storage moduli, particularly at temperatures higher than the glass transition, T_g, of the matrix. Glass transition temperatures extracted from linear viscoelastic data are found to be slightly higher for modified organoclay nanocomposites, indicating enhanced interactions between the modified organoclay and the epoxy matrix. These results were also confirmed by independent measurements of T_g using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).     

High density polyethylene foams. III. Tensile properties

The room temperature tensile properties of closed‐cell polyethylene foams have been investigated. High density polyethylene (HDPE) foams of four different molecular weight were used to study the effect of molecular weight and foam density on mechanical properties during tension and at the break point. It was found that increasing the molecular weight changes the tensile behavior of polyethylene foams from brittle to ductile fractures. For brittle foams, the break strength follows a square power‐law model and the break strain is independent of the volume fraction of the voids. For ductile foams, the normalized yield strength also follows a square power‐law relation with normalized density, the yield strain is similar to the value of the solid polymer and remains constant for all void volume fractions, and the break strain increases with HDPE molecular weight. Finally, the toughness of the foams was found to increase with normalized density and HDPE molecular weight. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2130–2138, 2003     

Catalytic grafting: A new technique for polymer/fiber composites. II. Plasma treated UHMPE fibers/polyethylene composites

In this paper, the catalytic grafting technique for preparation of polymer/fiber composites is extended to plasma treated ultra-high modulus polyethylene (UHMPE) fiber/high density polyethylene (HDPE) system. The OH groups introduced on the UHMPE fiber surface by oxygen plasma treatment were used to chemically anchor Ziegler-Natta catalyst which then was followed by ethylene polymerization on the fiber surface. The morphology and interfacial behavior, as well as the mechanical properties, of the HDPE composites reinforced by catalytic grafted or ungrafted UHMPE fibers were investigated by SEM, DSC, polarized light optical microscopy, and tensile testing. The experimental results show that the polyethylene grafted on the fibers acted as a transition layer between the reinforcing UHMPE fibers and a commercial HDPE matrix. The interfacial adhesion was also significantly improved. Compared with the composite reinforced by ungrafted UHMPE fibers, the composite reinforced by catalytic grafted UHMPE fibers exhibits much better mechanical properties.