Numerical Investigation of Multistage Viscous Micropump Configurations

2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 734-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Abdelgawad ◽  
I. Hassan ◽  
N. Esmail ◽  
P. Phutthavong

The viscous micropump consists of a cylinder placed eccentrically inside a microchannel, where the rotor axis is perpendicular to the channel axis. When the cylinder rotates, a net force is transferred to the fluid because of the unequal shear stresses on the upper and lower surfaces of the rotor. Consequently, this causes the surrounding fluid in the channel to displace toward the microchannel outlet. The simplicity of the viscous micropump renders it ideal for micropumping; however, previous studies have shown that its performance is still less than what is required for various applications. The performance of the viscous micropump, in terms of flow rate and pressure capabilities, may be enhanced by implementing more than one rotor into the configuration either horizontally or vertically oriented relative to each other. This is analogous to connecting multiple pumps in parallel or in series. The present study will numerically investigate the performance of various configurations of the viscous micropumps with multiple rotors, namely, the dual-horizontal rotor, triple-horizontal rotor, symmetrical dual-vertical rotor, and eight-shaped dual-vertical rotor. The development of drag-and-lift forces with time, as well as the viscous resisting torque on the cylinders were studied. In addition, the corresponding drag, lift, and moment coefficients were calculated. The flow pattern and pressure distribution on the cylinders’ surfaces are also included in the study. Results show that the symmetrical dual-vertical rotor configuration yields the best efficiency and generates the highest flow rate. The steady-state performance of the single-stage micropump was compared to the available experimental and numerical data and found to be in very good agreement. This work provides a foundation for future research on the subject of fluid phenomena in viscous micropumps.

Author(s):  
M. Abdelgawad ◽  
I. Hassan ◽  
N. Esmail ◽  
P. Phutthavong

The viscous micropump consists of a cylinder placed eccentrically inside a microchannel, where the rotor axis is perpendicular to the channel axis. When the cylinder rotates, a net force is transferred to the fluid due to the unequal shear stresses on the upper and lower surfaces of the rotor. Consequently, this causes the surrounding fluid in the channel to displace towards the microchannel outlet. The simplicity of the viscous micropump renders it ideal for micro pumping, however, previous studies have shown that its performance is still less than what is required for various applications. The performance of the viscous micropump, in terms of flow rate, pressure head and efficiency, may be enhanced by implementing more than one rotor into the configuration. The present study will numerically investigate the performance of various configurations of the viscous micropumps with multiple rotors, namely the dual-horizontal rotor, the triple-horizontal rotor, the symmetrical-dual-vertical rotor, and the 8-shaped dual-vertical rotor. The development of drag force with time, as well as the viscous resisting torque on the cylinders were studied. In addition, the corresponding drag and moment coefficients were calculated. Results show that the symmetrical-dual-vertical rotor configuration yields the best efficiency, and generates the highest flow rate. The steady state performance of the single-stage micropump was compared with the available experimental and numerical data, and was found to be in very good agreement. This work provides a foundation for future research on the subject of fluid phenomena in viscous micropumps.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253121
Author(s):  
Guangxun Jin ◽  
Ohbyung Kwon

Stock price prediction has long been the subject of research because of the importance of accuracy of prediction and the difficulty in forecasting. Traditionally, forecasting has involved linear models such as AR and MR or nonlinear models such as ANNs using standardized numerical data such as corporate financial data and stock price data. Due to the difficulty of securing a sufficient variety of data, researchers have recently begun using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with stock price graph images only. However, we know little about which characteristics of stock charts affect the accuracy of predictions and to what extent. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of stock chart characteristics on stock price prediction via CNNs. To this end, we define the image characteristics of stock charts and identify significant differences in prediction performance for each characteristic. The results reveal that the accuracy of prediction is improved by utilizing solid lines, color, and a single image without axis marks. Based on these findings, we describe the implications of making predictions only with images, which are unstructured data, without using large amounts of standardized data. Finally, we identify issues for future research.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Yousaf ◽  
Petr Bris

A systematic literature review (SLR) from 1991 to 2019 is carried out about EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) excellence model in this paper. The aim of the paper is to present state of the art in quantitative research on the EFQM excellence model that will guide future research lines in this field. The articles were searched with the help of six strings and these six strings were executed in three popular databases i.e. Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct. Around 584 peer-reviewed articles examined, which are directly linked with the subject of quantitative research on the EFQM excellence model. About 108 papers were chosen finally, then the purpose, data collection, conclusion, contributions, and type of quantitative of the selected papers are discussed and analyzed briefly in this study. Thus, this study identifies the focus areas of the researchers and knowledge gaps in empirical quantitative literature on the EFQM excellence model. This article also presents the lines of future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-102
Author(s):  
Tasnim Rehna ◽  
Rubina Hanif ◽  
Muhammad Aqeel

Background: Widespread social paradigms on which the status variances are grounded in any society, gender plays pivotal role in manifestation of mental health problems (Rutter, 2007). A hefty volume of research has addressed the issue in adults nonetheless, little is vividly known about the role of gender in adolescent psychopathology. Sample: A sample of 240 adolescents (125 boys, 115 girls) aging 12-18 years was amassed from various secondary schools of Islamabad with the approval of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), relevant authorities of the schools and the adolescents themselves. Instruments: Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (Taylor & Spence, 1953) and Children’s Negative Cognitive Errors Questionnaire (CNCEQ) by Leitenberg et al., (1986) were applied in present study. Results: Multiple regression analysis revealed that cognitive errors jointly accounted for 78% of variance in predicting anxiety among adolescents. Findings also exhibited that gender significantly moderated the relationship between cognitive errors and adolescent anxiety. Implications of the findings are discoursed for future research and clinical practice.


2021 ◽  
pp. 028418512110198
Author(s):  
Frank Mosler ◽  
Johannes K Richter ◽  
Marc Schindewolf ◽  
Nando Mertineit ◽  
Hendrik von Tengg-Kobligk ◽  
...  

X-ray contrast media have been reported to have inhibitory effects on bacterial growth. Despite its potentially beneficial effect on patients, these features of contrast media have received relatively little attention in the medical literature in the past decades. The aim of this review is to evaluate the literature concerning the bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects of X-ray contrast media, specifically if there is a known difference concerning these effects between ionic and non-ionic contrast media. Systematic literature review was performed for the years of publication between 1911 and 2019. Since the publication of Grossich in 1911, the effect of iodine on the treatment of superficial infections in surgical procedures has been established clinical knowledge. Bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of ionic X-ray contrast media are well established. However, non-ionic contrast agents have been the subject of little research in this respect. In past decades, the hypothesis emerged in the literature that mainly the concentration of free iodine might be responsible for any bacteriostatic or bactericidal effect of ionic X-ray contrast media. Nowadays, however, only non-ionic contrast media are used. The question regarding the mechanism and magnitude of bacteriostatic or bactericidal effects of these, non-ionic contrast media, could not be answered conclusively from this review. Non-ionic contrast media could be used intentionally when a local antibacterial effect is intended (e.g. in percutaneous abscess drainage), as well as to reduce the overall dose of antibiotics administered to a patient. Thus, this question remains relevant and might constitute the area of future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5726
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Wewer ◽  
Pinar Bilge ◽  
Franz Dietrich

Electromobility is a new approach to the reduction of CO2 emissions and the deceleration of global warming. Its environmental impacts are often compared to traditional mobility solutions based on gasoline or diesel engines. The comparison pertains mostly to the single life cycle of a battery. The impact of multiple life cycles remains an important, and yet unanswered, question. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate advances of 2nd life applications for lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles based on their energy demand. Therefore, it highlights the limitations of a conventional life cycle analysis (LCA) and presents a supplementary method of analysis by providing the design and results of a meta study on the environmental impact of lithium ion batteries. The study focuses on energy demand, and investigates its total impact for different cases considering 2nd life applications such as (C1) material recycling, (C2) repurposing and (C3) reuse. Required reprocessing methods such as remanufacturing of batteries lie at the basis of these 2nd life applications. Batteries are used in their 2nd lives for stationary energy storage (C2, repurpose) and electric vehicles (C3, reuse). The study results confirm that both of these 2nd life applications require less energy than the recycling of batteries at the end of their first life and the production of new batteries. The paper concludes by identifying future research areas in order to generate precise forecasts for 2nd life applications and their industrial dissemination.


Author(s):  
Leonardo J. Gutierrez ◽  
Kashif Rabbani ◽  
Oluwashina Joseph Ajayi ◽  
Samson Kahsay Gebresilassie ◽  
Joseph Rafferty ◽  
...  

The increase of mental illness cases around the world can be described as an urgent and serious global health threat. Around 500 million people suffer from mental disorders, among which depression, schizophrenia, and dementia are the most prevalent. Revolutionary technological paradigms such as the Internet of Things (IoT) provide us with new capabilities to detect, assess, and care for patients early. This paper comprehensively survey works done at the intersection between IoT and mental health disorders. We evaluate multiple computational platforms, methods and devices, as well as study results and potential open issues for the effective use of IoT systems in mental health. We particularly elaborate on relevant open challenges in the use of existing IoT solutions for mental health care, which can be relevant given the potential impairments in some mental health patients such as data acquisition issues, lack of self-organization of devices and service level agreement, and security, privacy and consent issues, among others. We aim at opening the conversation for future research in this rather emerging area by outlining possible new paths based on the results and conclusions of this work.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 6222
Author(s):  
Kacper Szewczyk ◽  
Aleksandra Chojnacka ◽  
Magdalena Górnicka

Tocopherols and tocotrienols are natural compounds of plant origin, available in the nature. They are supplied in various amounts in a diet, mainly from vegetable oils, some oilseeds, and nuts. The main forms in the diet are α- and γ-tocopherol, due to the highest content in food products. Nevertheless, α-tocopherol is the main form of vitamin E with the highest tissue concentration. The α- forms of both tocopherols and tocotrienols are considered as the most metabolically active. Currently, research results indicate also a greater antioxidant potential of tocotrienols than tocopherols. Moreover, the biological role of vitamin E metabolites have received increasing interest. The aim of this review is to update the knowledge of tocopherol and tocotrienol bioactivity, with a particular focus on their bioavailability, distribution, and metabolism determinants in humans. Almost one hundred years after the start of research on α-tocopherol, its biological properties are still under investigation. For several decades, researchers’ interest in the biological importance of other forms of vitamin E has also been growing. Some of the functions, for instance the antioxidant functions of α- and γ-tocopherols, have been confirmed in humans, while others, such as the relationship with metabolic disorders, are still under investigation. Some studies, which analyzed the biological role and mechanisms of tocopherols and tocotrienols over the past few years described new and even unexpected cellular and molecular properties that will be the subject of future research.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097340822110125
Author(s):  
Cluny Mendez ◽  
Christopher L. Atkinson

The implementation of sustainability and green public procurement (GPP) initiatives in school districts has been the subject of some debate; questions over definitions and programme goals have led to inconsistency and concerns about programme achievements. The legitimacy of programmes rests not only with the announcement of policy by officials, but with adherence to policy and staff buy-in. This study examines barriers districts face, and makes recommendations based upon district experience on ways to successfully implement sustainability and GPP initiatives. A review of the literature on GPP and legitimacy in the execution of public functions within the education domain begins the study. Major components relative to best practices for GPP programmes are studied through the review of GPP-related documents from a school district in New Jersey considered as an exemplar of such programmes. Analysis of an interview with the district’s representatives suggests that, despite the normative approval such programmes receive, and widespread understanding of the rationale for pursuing such initiatives, there remain critical failings in implementation of these programmes, stemming from education, resourcing of initiatives and prioritization of green procurement in relation to other district priorities. The study concludes with lessons learned from this case, which is important given its positioning within New Jersey as an exemplar and recommendations for future research where work in this area is needed.


When the oscillating electric spark is examined in a rapidly rotating mirror, the successive oscillations render themselves evident in the image as a series of lumnious curved streamers which emanate from the poles and extend towards the centre of the spark gap. These streamers were first observed by Feddersen in 1862, but the work of Schuster and Hemsalech in 1900 may be said to have opened up a new era in the subject. These workers threw the image of the spark on the slit of a spectroscope, and photographed the resulting spectrum on a film which was maintained in rapid rotation in a direction at right angles to that of the incident light. In their photographs they found that the air lines extended straight across from pole to pole, but that the metal lines were represented by curved bands drawn out in the centre of the spark gap. There is a close relation between these bands and the streamers seen in the unanalysed inductive spark. Schuster and Hemsalech carried out their experiments with the smallest possible inductance in series with the spark, and thus made the period of the oscillations so small that the drawing out on the film was insufficient to separate the individual oscillations from each other. Thus their curved lines represent a composite structure, consisting of all the streamers due to the successive oscillations superposed on each other. It follows from their results that the light of the streamers in the spark is entirely produced by the glowing of the metallic vapour of the electrodes, and that, while the luminosity of the air is practically instantaneous in its occurrence, that due to the metal vapour occurs in the centre of the spark gap an appreciable time later than near the poles. The actual process which goes on in the spark and gives rise to this delay in the arrival of the metallic vapour at the centre of the gap is not yet thoroughly understood. Schuster and Hemsalech make the natural supposition that it is due to the fact that the metal of the electrode is vaporised and rendered incandescent by the heat of the spark, and that the vapour takes an appreciable time to diffuse from the electrodes to the centre of the gap. The exception which has been taken to this view has arisen in part from the difficulty of observing the Doppler effect on the metallic lines which should be a concomitant of the diffusion of the vapour from the poles, and in part from the extraordinary results which the authors themselves obtained in some metals for the velocity of the diffusion corresponding to the different lines. In the case of bismuth and, in a less degree, of cadmium the different metallic lines could be divided into groups of different curvatures which indicated different velocities of diffusion towards the centre of the gap. As regards the former matter, there does not seem to be involved any real difficulty to the explanation, as Dr. Schuster has himself recently shown. The curious effect of the different curvatures of the lines of the same element has, however, always remained more or less of a difficulty in the way of a complete acceptance of their view. Schuster and Hemsalech themselves refer to the possibility in the case of bismuth that the metal may be a compound, and that the two kinds of molecules give rise to the differently curved lines. Other explanations have been made by different writers, but it cannot be said that any explanation adequately supported by experiment has been forthcoming. In view of this incompleteness in our knowledge of the constitution of the streamers it seemed to me that further observations with a rotating mirror would possibly be of value, and the investigations recorded below succeed, I think, in throwing a clearer light on the nature of the streamers, and on certain other phenomena which are characteristic of the spark.


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