bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Miscibility of High Sour Component (H2S and CO2) Content Gas Flooding Under Abnormal Reservoir Pressure
Authors: Xu Anzhu , Mu Longxin , Zhao Liangdong , Wang Chenggang , Zhang Chengshuo
Published: October 2015

The main factors of influencing the recovery efficiency of gas drive are miscible degree and gas channeling in carbonate reservoirs with double porosity. The components of injection gas significantly influence the miscibility of enriched gas with the same important function of the minimum miscibility pressure, reservoir pressure. High hydrogen sulphide content (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) content in reservoir production, abnormally high reservoir pressure (>70MPa) and specifics of field position (offshore) lead to great challenge for this kind of oil field development. Produced sour gas as an injection fluid without desulphurisation to reduce investment cost and therefore decrease negative environmental impact is proposed a good way to solution the oil filed development problem. Some produced gas samples were analyzed in laboratory. Detailed PVT results on miscibility of reservoir oil and injection gas showed a good correlation of the majority of the parameters, and the established compositional model calculations illustrated that when the content of H2S and CO2 become higher, the injection gas were more easily fully solved in the oil and residual oil saturation could be reduced to the minimum level. Another important aspect solved during the reservoir modeling in this study was definition the changes of minimum injection gas and reservoir fluid miscibility pressure with the variety of the content of the sour gas. During the injection gas combined drive, miscible displacement could take place horizontally or vertically depending on the reservoir configuration. This work illuminated vertical displacement generally occurs in widely spread steeply dipping structures. The efficiency of gas re-injection into the upper part of the reservoir and production of oil from the base for vertical displacement is low due to the flow barrier which limits vertical gas advancement.
Capturing the Reservoir Uncertainty by Optimizing Gas Well Clean-Up Design in Deep Water Channel Slope Environment, Kutei Basin, Indonesia - A Case Study
Authors: Pradja Kurnia , Cook Dave , Budi Imam , Kurniawan Dian , Beretta Enzo
Published: October 2015

In 2009, a Gas reservoir discovery was made in the Deepwater of the Kutei Basin offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The appraisal campaign continued through 2012 delineating both a main field (Jangkrik) and a satellite field to the north (Jangkrik NE). Three well tests were conducted during the appraisal phase confirming good permeability and high gas deliverability. Geologically, the field is characterized as a slope channel turbidite deposition system made up of many separate reservoirs. Some of the reservoirs amalgamate together in a channel complex system. The development scheme entails eleven subsea wells tied-back to a FPU for offshore processing of gas and condensates. The project is currently in execution phase and the development drilling and completion campaign is ongoing.

In October 2014 the first development well was drilled. The well was drilled from one of four drill centers in the north of the main field targeting for development two reservoir segments. Both segments will be completed using smart completion and frac pack to manage the potential for sand production during the production. This paper describes the integrated approach to model the clean-up design to optimize the cross discipline objectives and make critical decisions during the operational clean-up on the rig.

The clean-up design has been carried out to capture all possible reservoir risks related to the type of depositional. Not only the standard well testing software tool has been used, but also a 3D reservoir model has been developed to be able to predict the reservoir behavior during the clean-up and the build-up period. Furthermore as a validation the reservoir modeling is implemented to compare these two results using the well testing software. As the conclusion, this analysis helps the operators determine the best and proper way to operate the well and to prepare for the commissioning phase.

Deepwater gas development projects require reliable and consistent gas well deliverability to satisfy gas production targets and gas sales commitments. The clean-up of the high rate gas wells is critical after a successful completion to both establish the actual deliverability but also to minimize the production of completion fluid through the subsea system and to the FPU facility. The clean-up design was developed to meet all objectives for the project.

Development of Deepwater gas fields in Indonesia is in its early stages. The project is challenging due the number of different and separate reservoirs to be developed. Each well is designed to intersect and complete at least two reservoirs isolated and monitored separately through two Down-Hole Gauges (DHGs) that are installed in the intelligent completion design. The clean-up phase will utilize the intelligent completion equipment to clean-up and to test each reservoir independently.
An Analysis of Global Safety Trends in the Oil and Gas Industry - Impacts and Challenges in the Years Ahead
Authors: Daher Elie
Published: October 2015

This paper examines the safety trends influencing and shaping the oil and gas industry. From rising local content requirements to increasing shortage of skilled workers, rise in unconventional Oil and Gas to an increasing number of frontier oil producing countries, the growing role of Operational Excellence and the most common causes of incidents in the Oil and Gas sector, this paper will discuss facts, figures and case studies from around the world.

The paper was developed using secondary research based on industry reports such as the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers' (IOGP) Annual Safety Performance Indicators report to provide an analysis of fatal incident rates, total recordable injury rate, and lost time injury frequency. The research also referred to country profiles published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) including energy outlooks, analyses and projections. Information was culled from annual reports of international oil companies, technical papers published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) as well as white papers by industry leaders, think tank groups and consulting firms.

While the presentation offers a bird's eye view of the safety industry at large, it delves deeper into safety issues outlining the scope of the various challenges and how they influence Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) management. It highlights the importance of heeding lessons learned from catastrophic incidents as well as the adoption of industry best practices and integration of Operation Excellence into the core business operations to prevent disasters. Concerns on unconventional production and the need for regulatory frameworks in emerging countries indicate that regulatory bodies need to catch up and fast track research efforts to regulate the unprecedented growth and expansion of the industry. When taken together as a whole, the global safety trends indicate that investments on safety or the lack thereof has a huge impact on business continuity and sustainability.

This paper was developed to give safety practitioners a better overview of the challenges, opportunities, new developments and trends shaping the global Oil and Gas industry.
Schmidt-Wenzel and Peng-Robinson Equations of State for CO2-Hydrocarbon Mixtures: Binary Interaction Parameters and Volume Translation Factors
Authors: Deo M. D. , Nutakki R. , Orr F. M.
Published: October 2015

Two- and three-phase equilibria in binary mixtures of carbon dioxide with hydrocarbons have been studied using the Peng-Robinson equation of state [PREOS] and the Schmidt-Wenzel equation of state [SWEOS]. The CO2 - hydrocarbon mixtures studied include examples with normal alkanes, cycloalkanes and a number of aromatic compounds. Particular attention has been paid to the representation of the phase behavior of mixtures containing aromatic and naphthenic compounds. Phase compositions and densities for a variety of binary mixtures reported in the literature have been calculated, and some systems exhibiting three-phase behavior [L1-L2-V] have been modeled. Using a nonlinear least squares algorithm, optimum binary interaction parameters for a number of CO2-hydrocarbon systems were determined for both the SWEOS and the PREOS.

The interaction parameters for the PREOS and the SWEOS were very similar except in the case of n-alkanes heavier than C19. For alkanes lighter than heptane, the interaction parameter increases with temperature; for the intermediate alkanes (up to nonadecane) it remains constant with temperature and for heavier alkanes decreases with temperature. For aromatics and naphthenics no definite trend is observed. For n-alkanes, as the carbon number is increased the interaction parameter decreases (up to carbon number 10), levels off (carbon number 19) and begins to decrease again. With regard to the effect of structure and size of aromatic and naphthenic compounds, no specific trend was discerned.

After the phase compositions were matched using the optimum interaction parameters, a volume translation technique was used to match the liquid phase densities. SWEOS performed much better than PREOS in predicting the liquid phase densities for mixtures with heavy hydrocarbon components. With SWEOS, the volume translation was required only for mixtures containing hydrocarbons heavier than C16. For the PREOS volume translation was required for hydrocarbon components greater than C8.
Effect of Heterogeneity on Buckley-Leverett Displacement
Authors: Chang J. , Yortsos Y. C.
Published: October 2015

The Buckley-Leverett (B-L) equation has been routinely used for the description of immiscible displacement in laboratory operations, and for parameter estimation and prediction. The recent resurgence of interest on effects of heterogeneity, however, has led to a serious challenge of the validity of many of the traditional theories. For the case of B-L displacement, most studies have examined heterogeneity effects originating from viscous fingering phenomena.

In this paper we present a numerical investigation of the effects of capillary heterogeneity, induced by a variation of the permeability in the direction of displacement. It is shown that for a medium of rapid enough permeability variation, the associated capillary effect is not negligible, even at the relatively high rates, where the B-L theory is typically valid. This effect manifests itself as a position-dependent addition to the fractional flow curve, and contrary to ordinary capillary effects, it is not limited to the saturation shock front.

We study the resulting equation for a variety of heterogeneity forms, including uncorrelated and correlated variations. It is found that, although it has a negligible effect on the recovery variables, heterogeneity affects significantly the saturation profiles. The latter closely follow the permeability variation at the points of heterogeneity, and conform to the B-L predictions, otherwise. The saturation response is found to be higher for more unfavorable mobility, oil-wet conditions and for less spatially correlated heterogeneity. The results may be useful in the interpretation of laboratory saturation profiles, in the identification of heterogeneity, and in the estimation of parameters such as relative permeabilities, in heterogeneous systems.
A New General Pressure Analysis Procedure for Slug Tests
Authors: Peres A. M. M. , Onur M. , Reynolds A. C.
Published: October 2015

A new method for determining formation flow capacity and skin factor from slug test data is presented. The new procedure is based on an exact deconvolution equation that converts the measured slug test pressure data into an equivalent pressure response that would be obtained if the well were produced at a constant surface flow rate. The new technique does not require the knowledge of the sandface flow rate and does not depend on the flow regime which exists within the reservoir. This procedure also yields the equivalent pressure derivative of the constant surface flow rate wellbore storage and skin pressure solution without applying numerical differentiation. After the constant surface rate pressure data and its derivative are generated by our procedure, the converted data can be analyzed by using existent wellbore storage and skin type curves for the particular reservoir model represented by the data. Therefore, slug test type curves are no longer needed. However, if the duration of the slug test is short, most of the converted data will fall on the unit slope line of the conventional constant rate wellbore storage and skin type curves, and thus, it will be difficult to obtain a unique type-curve match. For such cases, it is shown that the well known rate normalization procedure can be applied to greatly improve the reliability of the analysis. It is also shown that once the flow geometry is properly identified, the traditional superposition method (convolution) can be applied to the converted pressure data. A field case illustrating the reliability of the new method and its advantages over the traditional slug test analysis procedures is presented.

This paper is dedicated to Dr. Henry J. Ramey, Jr. in deep appreciation of his profound and inspirational contributions to the fields of pressure transient analysis and reservoir engineering.
Conservative Reporting and Securities Class Action Lawsuits
Authors: Ettredge Michael L. , Huang Ying (Julie) , Zhang Weining
Published: October 2015

SYNOPSIS

Positive accounting theory predicts that conservative financial reporting averts GAAP-based litigation. However, very little empirical evidence addresses whether and how accounting conservatism provides these benefits. Using a sample of lawsuits against public companies for alleged violations of U.S. GAAP, we examine the association of accounting conservatism with subsequent initiation of lawsuits and with four litigation outcomes: market reactions to lawsuits, duration of lawsuits, dismissals of lawsuits, and penalties approved by courts. We find that firms with greater degrees of conditional conservatism experience more favorable consequences on all five dimensions of litigation occurrence and outcomes. Several measures of unconditional conservatism are not associated with the litigation variables. Our study provides new empirical evidence supporting Watts's (2003a) litigation explanation for accounting conservatism.

JEL Classifications: M41.
Outcome of full-thickness skin grafts used to close skin defects involving the distal aspects of the limbs in cats and dogs: 52 cases (2005–2012)
Authors: Riggs Julia , Jennings J. L. Frazer , Friend Ed J. , Halfacree Zoë , Nelissen Pieter , Holmes Mark A. , Demetriou Jackie L.
Published: October 2015

Objective—To describe the outcome of full-thickness skin grafts used to close skin defects involving the distal aspects of the limbs in cats and dogs and identify factors associated with outcome.

Design—Retrospective case series.

Animals—20 cats and 32 dogs with a skin defect involving the distal aspect of a limb that received 58 full-thickness skin grafts between 2005 and 2012.

Procedures—Data regarding patient signalment, location and cause of the skin defect, surgical and anesthetic duration, and postoperative bandaging protocol were obtained from the medical records. Graft outcome was assessed by interpreting descriptions in the records; skin viability over ≥ 75% of the graft area between 7 and 14 days after surgery was considered a successful outcome.

Results—For 4 of the 58 grafts, graft outcome could not be determined from the medical record. For the remaining grafts, success rate was significantly higher for grafts placed in cats (17/22 [77%]) than in dogs (12/32 [38%]). The overall complication rate was 50%; complications included skin graft failure, donor site dehiscence, and bandage-induced sloughing of skin adjacent to the graft recipient site. In addition to species, anatomic location of the skin defect was identified as a prognostic indicator of graft outcome.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Full-thickness skin grafting had a higher success rate in cats than in dogs. Skin grafts applied to the antebrachium, compared with other locations on the distal aspects of the limbs, were associated with a poorer prognosis.
Analysis of Consecutive Open Surgeries for Varicose Vein at Dhulikhel Hospital
Authors: Karmacharya RM , Shakya YR , Shrestha B
Published: October 2015

Background Varicose veins are prominent dilated veins in the lower limb primarily due to disease in the junction between superficial and deep venous system. Operative treatment of such condition significantly improves quality of life and also demonstrably decreases the potential complications. We present with analysis of fifty one consecutive open surgeries for varicose vein at Dhulikhel Hospital.Objective To analyze consecutive open surgeries for varicose vein in terms of gender, age, presenting complaints, findings and post operative outcomes.Method All the cases posted for open surgeries for varicose vein at Dhulikhel Hospital during September 2012 – July 2013 were included. If great saphenous vein in thigh was more than 3 mm, segmental stripping was done. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 13.0.Result There were 51 cases with 47%male and 53% female. Mean age was 48.9 years. Prominent dilated vein was the most common presenting complaints. Incompetent saphenofemoral junction was present in 68.6% cases. Segmental stripping was done in 51% cases. Mean days of admission was 2.6 days. Mean pain free day was on 3.2 days. In an average, patient were able to walk normally in 4.1 days. Analysis of hospital admission days, ability to walk normally and pain free day attained in between stripping required and stripping not required group showed significant difference with higher values in stripping required group.Conclusion Although conventional stripping surgery has long been performed for varicose vein, this is associated with prolonged hospital admission, prolonged time required for ability to walk normally, and prolonged time taken for pain free status. Hence newer modalities of treatment like radiofrequency ablation is warranted in our setup too.Kathmandu University Medical Journal Vol.12(3) 2014; 190-193
An Overview of Management of Root Fractures
Authors: Prithviraj DR , Balla HK , Vashisht R , Regish KM , Suresh P
Published: October 2015

Crown or root fractures are the most commonly encountered emergencies in the dental clinic. Root fractures occur in fewer than eight percent of the traumatic injuries to permanent teeth. They are broadly classified as horizontal and vertical root fractures. Correct diagnosis of root fractures is essential to ensure a proper treatment plan and hence, the best possible prognosis. Indication of the type of treatment to be used depends primarily on the level of the fracture line. Therefore, a clinician must also have a thorough knowledge of the various treatment approaches to devise a treatment plan accordingly. Various treatment strategies have been proposed, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Hence, this literature review presents an overview of the various types of root fractures and their management.Kathmandu University Medical Journal Vol.12(3) 2014; 222-230
Risk Factors for Pneumonia in Children under 5 Years in a Teaching Hospital in Nepal
Authors: Karki S , Fitzpatrick AL , Shrestha S
Published: October 2015

Background Pneumonia is a leading cause of mortality among children under-five years of age globally. The WHO (2014) has reported that indoor air pollution caused by cooking and heating with biomass fuel, living in crowed homes and parenting smoking are risk factors of pneumonia.Objectives The objective of the study was to identify the risk factors for pneumonia among children under-5 years of age.Methods A case control study was carried out among the mothers having under-5 years children who were admitted in the paediatric ward of Dhulikhel Hospital in 2012/13. A convenience sampling technique was used to select 50 children with pneumonia and 150 children with non-pneumonia diseases matched on age, sex and setting. A semi-structured interview consisting of questions related to risk factors for pneumonia was used to collect data from mothers of both cases and controls.Results Sex of the child did not differ by case/control group whereas the children with pneumonia were slightly older with 26% cases and 15% controls older than 3 years of age. Mother’s education was similar in both groups as was family income. Living in a household with a chulo with smoke increased the odds of having pneumonia significantly, with the risk almost 4 times greater if the chulo was located within the same building (OR: 3.76, 95% CI: 1.20-11.82, p=0.02). Children who had diarrhea in the past 3 months were protected from pneumonia (OR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.18- 0.82, p=0.01). An increasing trend of pneumonia was observed among children of tobacco smoking parents with greater risk if both parents smoked; it was, however, not statically significant (OR: 2.21, 95% CI: 0.56-8.82, p=0.26).Conclusion The present study suggests that two factors related to smoke, presence of a smoky chulo in a household and both parents smoking, are modifiable risk factors related to pneumonia in young children. Reliable longitudinal studies, interventions, and programs to educate parents in prevention are important for reducing mortality and morbidities related to acute respiratory illnesses in Nepal.Kathmandu University Medical Journal Vol.12(4) 2014; 247-252
Radiation Exposure to the Patient During Diagnostic Coronary Angiogram at Dhulikhel Hospital
Authors: Humagain S , Maharjan R , Koju R
Published: October 2015

Background Radiation is a necessary evil in Coronary Angiogram. The Interventional Cardiology procedure provides huge benefit to the patient but at the cost of radiation. There is evidence of cumulative effect of radiation. Therefore it is essential to keep the radiation dose as minimum as possible.Objective The aim of this study is to find out radiation exposed to the patient undergoing diagnostic coronary angiogram.Method A retrospective study was done. Those patients who underwent diagnostic coronary angiogram were selected for the study. There were total of 166 patients. Radiation exposure in terms of fluoroscopy time in minute and dose area product (DAP) in Gy.cm2 was recorded.Result Out 166 patients 92 were male and 74 female. Age range was from 39 to 79 years with mean age 58.13±9.14. Amount of contrast used was in range of 30 to 100 ml with mean of 45.54±14.06. Range of fluoroscopy time was 2.60 to 37.00 minutes with mean 11.38±6.80. Mean fluoroscopy time in male was 10.92±5.82 minutes and in females it was 11.92±7.68 minutes, with p 0.331. The range of DAP was 11.00 Gy.cm2 to 106.00 Gy.cm2 with mean 40.73±23.58 Gy.cm2. The mean DAP in male and female was 38.77±23.26 Gy.cm2 and 43.16±23.90 Gy.cm2 respectively with p 0.234.Conclusion From this study we can conclude that the radiation exposure to our patient undergoing coronary angiogram is similar to the international values in terms DAP but more in terms of fluoroscopy time. When males and females compared there is no difference.Kathmandu University Medical Journal Vol.13(1) 2015; 61-63
High-Throughput Screening in Protein Engineering: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives
Authors: Wójcik Magdalena , Telzerow Aline , Quax Wim , Boersma Ykelien
Published: October 2015

Over the last three decades, protein engineering has established itself as an important tool for the development of enzymes and (therapeutic) proteins with improved characteristics. New mutagenesis techniques and computational design tools have greatly aided in the advancement of protein engineering. Yet, one of the pivotal components to further advance protein engineering strategies is the high-throughput screening of variants. Compartmentalization is one of the key features allowing miniaturization and acceleration of screening. This review focuses on novel screening technologies applied in protein engineering, highlighting flow cytometry- and microfluidics-based platforms.
Thermal Influence of CNT on the Polyamide 12 Nanocomposite for Selective Laser Sintering
Authors: Bai Jiaming , Goodridge Ruth , Yuan Shangqin , Zhou Kun , Chua Chee , Wei Jun
Published: October 2015

The thermal influence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the PA12 in the laser sintering process was assessed by physical experiments and a three dimensional simulation model. It appears that, by adding the CNTs into the PA12 matrix, the thermal conductivity increased. A double ellipsoidal heat flux model was applied to input a three dimensional, continuous moving, volumetric laser heat source. The predicted three dimensional temperature distributions suggested that the laser heat was conducted wider and deeper in the PA12-CNT sample than PA12. Greater heat conduction can reduce the interspace between two successive layers, and result in the increase of the parts’ density and properties.
Learning-Based Algal Bloom Event Recognition for Oceanographic Decision Support System Using Remote Sensing Data
Authors: Song Weilong , Dolan John , Cline Danelle , Xiong Guangming
Published: October 2015

This paper describes the use of machine learning methods to build a decision support system for predicting the distribution of coastal ocean algal blooms based on remote sensing data in Monterey Bay. This system can help scientists obtain prior information in a large ocean region and formulate strategies for deploying robots in the coastal ocean for more detailed in situ exploration. The difficulty is that there are insufficient in situ data to create a direct statistical machine learning model with satellite data inputs. To solve this problem, we built a Random Forest model using MODIS and MERIS satellite data and applied a threshold filter to balance the training inputs and labels. To build this model, several features of remote sensing satellites were tested to obtain the most suitable features for the system. After building the model, we compared our random forest model with previous trials based on a Support Vector Machine (SVM) using satellite data from 221 days, and our approach performed significantly better. Finally, we used the latest in situ data from a September 2014 field experiment to validate our model.
Introduction to the Toxins Special Issue on Ergot Alkaloids
Authors: Schardl Christopher
Published: October 2015

Ergot alkaloids are among the most relevant natural products in the history of toxins and pharmaceuticals. Until the late 20th century, human and livestock exposure to ergot alkaloids was primarily through ingestion of “ergots,” which are spur-shaped or seed-like resting structures (sclerotia) of ergot fungi, the Claviceps species. Because ergots have similar density to grains, traditional threshing techniques generally failed to remove them, and outbreaks of ergot typically led to mass poisonings. [...]
White
Authors: Weiner S.B.
Published: October 2015

Curiosity and apprehension. I experience this tension as a young man ushers me through large daunting doors with “Authorized Personnel Only” posted in bold red letters [...]
Are Patients Receiving the Right Care in the Right Place at the Right Time?
Authors: Chasen M. , Dosani N.
Published: October 2015

Palliative care is an approach that focuses on the relief of pain and other symptoms for patients with advanced illnesses and their families, and on maximizing the quality of the patient’s remaining life. [...]
THE WIDTH OF EDGE EFFECTS OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION ON FAUNA AND ECOLOGICALLY CRITICAL ROAD DENSITY
Authors: LIN Shyh-Chyang
Published: October 2015

This study investigates the ecological impacts of road construction by trapping rodents, invertebrates, and amphibians with wire-mesh traps and pitfalls along a road under construction on Kinmen island, Taiwan. The capture data show that the Brown country rat’s (Rattus losea) edge habitat is broader in woodland habitat next to farmland than it is in woodland next to the road. Similarly, most invertebrates captured were found within the woodland at an edge width of 15 m along the roadside and 35 m along the farmland. On the other hand, the Ornate rice frog (Microhyla ornate), which typically resides and forages in dim and humid environments, avoids edges. The edge effect results in this paper are applied in a model for determining ecologically critical road density. The estimation of edge width and critical road density obtained in this study can be applied during road planning and design to assess the potential effects of habitat conversion during road construction.
Impact of service quality on customer satisfaction of automated teller machine service: case study of a private commercial joint stock bank in Vietnam
Authors: Phan Chi , Nham Phong
Published: October 2015

One of key challenge for Vietnamese commercial banks is how to compete in the market place with commonly undifferentiated services. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of service quality performance on customer satisfaction on ATM service in a commercial bank in Vietnam. This study applies SERVPERF framework to analyze the data collected from a questionnaire survey and found that ASSURANCE and TANGIBLES factors significantly impact on the customer satisfaction.
Skeletonization of Edges Extracted by Natural Images
Authors: Giuliani Donatella
Published: October 2015

This chapter presents a method to compute the skeletal curve of shapes extracted by images derived by the real world. This skeletonization approach has been proved effective when applied to recognize biological forms, regardless of their complexity. The coloured and grayscale images have been pre-processed and transformed in binary images, recurring to segmentation. Generally the resulting binary images contain bi-dimensional bounded shapes, not-simply connected. For edge extraction it has been performed a parametric active contour procedure with a generalized external force field. The force field has been evaluated through an anisotropic diffusion equation. It has been noticed that the field divergence satisfies an anisotropic diffusion equation as well. Moreover, the curves of positive divergence can be considered as propagating fronts that converge to a steady state, the skeleton of the extracted object. This methodology has also been tested on shapes with boundary perturbations and disconnections.
A Usable Mobile Islamic Calendar for Elderly Users
Authors: Razak Fariza Hanis Abdul , Abdullah Nur Farhana
Published: October 2015

Calendar is a tool that tells us a date. While Gregorian calendars have been used worldwide, Hijrah calendar becomes a choice for Muslims. This Islamic calendar helps tells a user a date in Islam. Our previous study suggested that the Muslim elderly preferred to have Islamic mobile calendar. Despite abundance of Islamic mobile calendar applications, little was known whether any of them were usable for the elderly users. This study recommends a usable design of an Islamic mobile calendar for Muslim elderly users. To do this, a user test with five elderly participants was carried out and two existing Islamic calendars were used as probes. Later, two interfaces were produced and tested with our elderly participants. Based on the results and design principles, the interfaces of the Islamic mobile calendar have further been improved.
Developing a Mobile Navigation Aid
Authors: Azrix Mohamad , Walid Noor , Zeki Akram , Yalli Jameel Jameel
Published: October 2015

Previous studies have shown that mobile device is capable of providing navigation aid for both pedestrian and in-car. Crucial to this, is navigation application supported by the mobile platform. This paper proposes a mobile application intended for navigation aid. The application is design using a generic software development process. The application will enable user to navigate within certain vicinity. This will help users to easily find an unfamiliar place. Other function are integrated in the application, such as tasks function for setting the schedule visit, prayer function for du'a and additional information about certain places. The system is developed using the MIT apps inventor software as the main platform, plus the adobe Photoshop for the maps and route purposes. The system works on android platform only. The system is implemented for use in the Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology (KICT), International Islamic University Malaysia.
Technology-Assisted Learning for Students with Moderate and Severe Developmental Disabilities
Authors: Browder Diane M. , Saunders Alicia , Root Jenny
Published: October 2015

For students with moderate and severe developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability, technology can provide critical support for learning and life functioning. A growing body of research demonstrates the benefits of technology for these students to acquire academic skills, improve social functioning, and perform tasks of daily living. This chapter provides a description of this population and their learning needs. The research on technology applications for students with developmental disabilities is reviewed and synthesized. The review includes literature on technology to assist instruction and to provide options for student responding. Examples are provided of how technology can be applied to both instruction and assessment.
A Fresh Look at Livestock Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Mitigation
Authors: Goodland Robert
Published: October 2015

The gravest environmental impact of food production is the impact of its greenhouse gas emissions; that's because of the uniquely diverse, unprecedented, and irreversible risks that it involves. According to the International Energy Agency, atmospheric carbon must be reduced significantly by 2020 or else the world may not be able to avert uncontrollable climate change. This chapter compares the most recent assessment of livestock and climate change by livestock specialists employed by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation with assessment of livestock and climate change by two World Bank Group environmental specialists, Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang. It is explained how the only pragmatic way to reverse climate change before it is too late is to replace a substantial amount of today's livestock products with better alternatives.
Fluid Dynamic Simulation and Optimization of Compact Heat Exchangers with Louver Fins
Authors: de Souza Diego Amorim Caetano , Gómez Lúben Cabezas , da Silva José Antônio
Published: October 2015

Every technological process developed since the beginning of humanity to the present day always involves some kind of energy use, either mechanical energy of the body or energy from burning fuel or the solar energy obtained from the sun. To manipulate and use that energy, the man always developed resources and equipment to allow it. Among the wide range of equipment, heat exchangers, designed to transfer heat from one fluid to another, will be analyzed in this work. To do this analysis, are used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques to analyze the flow behavior of a compact heat exchanger, of tube and louvered fins type. After this step that aims to pull the parameters of efficiency, optimization features will be used to be able to propose a model for more efficient fin.
Design and Fabrication of Supercharging an Engine Using Vehicle Suspension
Authors: Maniyath Shijin , Rajan Rahul , Vaisakh S.S. , Pramith M. , Sarath N.K. , Arjun Krishna S. , Arjun A.S.
Published: October 2015

The objective of this work is to increase the power of the two wheeler miniature engines (100cc to 250cc) by supercharging the vehicle using the suspension system. For this purpose a design is made to extract compressed air from the suspension system. It has been successfully shown that the air can be extracted from the suspension system, stored and then fed into the engine similar to supercharger or turbocharger, and the engine power can be improved using this free energy.
Satellite Attitude Control System Using a Spherical Reaction Wheel
Authors: Paku Hidehiko , Uchiyama Kenji
Published: October 2015

A reaction wheel is generally capable of providing single axial torque. Three separated devices were indispensable for controlling three-axis attitude of a satellite. The proposed system, which is called spherical reaction wheel, enables three-dimensional rotation of a spherical rotor and provides three-dimensional torque so that mounting only one proposed device can be sufficient to control three-axis attitude of a satellite. Furthermore, the system reduces size and weight of an attitude control system in comparison with the conventional system. To confirm the validity of the proposed device as an attitude control system, we conduct experiments concerning attitude control of a small satellite model with PID controller.
Fault Detection in Navigation System of ALV Based on Symmetrical Behavior of Control Channels
Authors: Hasani S.M. Mehdi , Khoshnood A.Majid , Roshanian Jafar
Published: October 2015

The present study develops an advanced Fault detection (FD) strategy to improve the reliability of an Aerospace Launch Vehicle (ALV) navigation system. For this purpose, FD system is constructed to detect normal navigation faults operating as a soft sensor, based on the symmetrical dynamic behavior of the yaw and pitch channels of the vehicle. In the face of pitch channel sensor failure, the dynamic model of the yaw channel of the vehicle is identified using the recursive least squares (RLS) method. Based on the symmetrical behavior of the ALV in the yaw and pitch channels, the dynamic model of the yaw channel is substitute by the dynamic model of the pitch one and consequently, the pitch gyroscope output is constructed to provide fault detection navigation solution. The novel aspect of this fault detection system is employing symmetrical dynamic behavior of the yaw and pitch channels as an online tuning of analytical fault detection system against unforeseen variations due to its hardware/software property. Simulation Results and sensitivity analysis show that the proposed techniques can produce better estimation results than those of the previous techniques against sensor failures.
Stability Analysis of the Microsatellite Attitude Control System
Authors: Moldabekov Meirbek , Yelubayev Suleimen , Alipbayev Kuanysh , Sukhenko Anna , Bopeyev Timur , Mikhailenko Darya
Published: October 2015

The problem of development of the microsatellite attitude control system on the base of reaction wheels positioned along its principal central axes of inertia is considered in this article. As difference from the classical mathematical models describing the microsatellite motion, this article includes the mathematical model of reaction wheel which is controlled by the input voltage of the electric motor. PD-controller is used as the basis for the development of the control law for microsatellite attitude. The stability analysis of the microsatellite attitude control process was carried out with the help of Lyapunov function method. This analysis allowed to prove that obtained attitude control law provides the asymptotic stability of the microsatellite rotational motion. Further, the function of control voltage for the reaction wheel’s electric motor with account of its technical specifications was obtained based on the derived mathematical model of the reaction wheel’s dynamics. The results of performed simulation showed the effectiveness of developed control. Obtained results of the study provide a base for the use of presented approach to the development of attitude control system for microsatellites with various missions.
Selection of Input Parameters for Multivariate Classifiersin Proactive Machine Health Monitoring by Clustering Envelope Spectrum Harmonics
Authors: Smith Ann , Gu Feng Shou , Ball Andrew
Published: October 2015

In condition monitoring (CM) signal analysis the inherent problem of key characteristics being masked by noise can be addressed by analysis of the signal envelope. Envelope analysis of vibration signals is effective in extracting useful information for diagnosing different faults. However, the number of envelope features is generally too large to be effectively incorporated in system models. In this paper a novel method of extracting the pertinent information from such signals based on multivariate statistical techniques is developed whichsubstantialy reduces the number of input parameters required for data classification models. This was achieved by clustering possible model variables into a number of homogeneous groups to assertain levels of interdependency. Representatives from each of the groups were selected for their power to discriminate between the categorical classes. The techniques established were applied to a reciprocating compressorrig wherein the target was identifying machine states with respect to operational health through comparison of signal outputs for healthy and faulty systems. The technique allowed near perfect fault classification.In addition methods for identifying seperable classes are investigated through profiling techniques, illustrated using Andrew’s Fourier curves.
Si Particle Size-Controlled Al-17 Mass% Si Alloy and Tool Wear in Cutting Al-17 Mass% Si Alloy by Polycrystalline Diamond Compact Cutting Tool
Authors: Wada Tadahiro
Published: October 2015

As high silicon aluminum alloys have both a high strength-to-weight ratio and good wear-resistance, they are used for many automobile and motorbike parts. High silicon aluminum alloys are generally machined to improve dimensional accuracy. In cutting high silicon aluminum alloys such as Al-17mass%Si alloy, the primary Si particles have a negative influence on tool wear. Therefore, polycrystalline diamond compact cutting tools are widely used. In this study, in order to improve the tool wear resistance of polycrystalline diamond compact cutting tools, the Si particle size of Al-17 mass% Si alloy was changed by adjusting the water-cooling speed. Two different kinds of Si particle size, which were changed by adjusting the water-cooling speed, were used. The Al-17mass%Si alloy was turned with the polycrystalline diamond compact cutting tool and the tool wear was experimentally investigated. The main results were as follows: (1) The formed Si particle size was from 30 to 70 μm or from 40 to 170 μm. (2) The mechanical properties of the Al-17 mass% Si alloy did not depend on the Si particle size. (3) The Si particle size included in the Al-17 mass% Si alloy had a major influence of the tool wear, and it was possible to reduce the tool wear by increasing the Si particle size including that in the Al-17 mass% Si alloy.
Research on Simulation and Experiment of Dynamic Aeroelastic Analysis on Wing Structure
Authors: Nguyen Phu Khanh , Mori Koichi , Hoang Thi Kim Dung , Nguyen Van Hoa , Nguyen Hai Anh
Published: October 2015

In this paper, a simulation method was realized to predict aeroelastic response and characteristic parameters of wing structure. This method was developed base on interaction between Fluent solver and Mechanical APDL solver using a coupling system in ANSYS Workbench. AGARD 445.6 wing model was chose for this developed procedure at high speed. Obtained results were compared to other numerical result and experimental results. After that, experiment was also setup in suitable conditions to study aeroelacticity characteristics and specify quantitative parameters as frequency, amplitude of oscillation, wing root forces. Final goal was comparison between numerical results and experimental results on the same wing structure at low speed.
Numerical Experiment of Flow Characteristics of Parallel Arrangement Two Symmetrical Airfoils
Authors: Yokoi Yoshifumi
Published: October 2015

In this study, numerical experiment of flow around the close two airfoils which arranged in parallel with attack angle was performed. The aspect of flow and the instantaneous fluid force act on symmetrical airfoil (NACA0012) with attack angle were investigated using a vortex method at the Reynolds number Re=4.05×105, in ranges of the distance ratio L/c= 0.0, 0.25, 0.50 and 1.0 (here, L/c = 0.0 means single airfoil case) and the attack angle α = 0, 5, 10 and 15 degrees, (here, α =15 degree case is performed on single airfoil case only). As a result of calculations, in the case of two airfoils, the large lift was able to be obtained as compared with the single airfoil, but it was found in it that they are about 1.5 times in the case of single airfoil. And it was shown that the fluid force characteristic of each airfoil of two airfoils differs from the case of single airfoil.
Deterministic Algorithms to Estimate Spacecraft Angular Velocity from Single Vector Measurements
Authors: Zhai Kun
Published: October 2015

This paper presents two fast convergence deterministic algorithms for spacecraft angular velocity estimation from single vector measurement. When the spacecraft is in high velocity state, the successive measurements of a single vector are taken as two different observation vectors and connected by the angular dynamic equations. Based on the pseudoinverse of the full column rank coefficient matrix, the optimal approximation solution of angular velocities is obtained. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can converge within a short time and the combined use of the algorithm and a simple α filter can improve the accuracy.
Machinability Research by New Abrasion-Resistant Cast Irons Cutting
Authors: Panda Anton , Hatala Michal , Dyadyura Konstantin , Duplák Ján , Yunak Anna
Published: October 2015

Research direction connected with use topicality and problem of increasing of efficiency of processing by cutting the abrasion-resistant cast irons as a material for mining and processing equipment, which work in conditions of abrasion and hydroabrasion wear. Paper describes machinability by cutting new abrasion-resistant cast irons.
Determination of Relationship between Chemical Composition of Electrolyte and Surface Sample Quality
Authors: Michal Peter , Vagaská Alena , Gombár Miroslav
Published: October 2015

Paper tracks experimentally confirmed relationship between chemical composition of electrolyte and resulting surface finish quality of created oxide layer during the process of anodic oxidation of aluminium. Examined chemical factors were: concentrations of sulphuric acid, oxalic acid, boric acid and sodium chloride. Aggressive effects of electrolyte were chosen as indicator of resulting layer quality – presence and extent of etching of used substrate sample.
Experimental Investigation and Determination of Abrasive Granularity Change Impact to Technology Head Vibration Generating during AWJ Technology Steel Cutting
Authors: Bicejova Luba , Pavlenko Slavko
Published: October 2015

The paper describes abrasive kind and granularity change impact to technology head vibration generating during cutting of seven selected investigated kinds of steel by means of AWJ technology. The investigation of abrasive granularity impact is carried out for three speeds of the technology head shift. A set of 3D comparative graphs of vibration parameter relations for seven analyzed kinds of steel from graphical records of vibration acceleration amplitude to frequency relation was created. On the base of the comparative graphs a discussion about results is generated and conclusions are defined. The work presents a thematically integrated part of a dissertation results and completes a group of recent knowledge focused on production systems working state diagnostics with the water jet technology.