OBJECTIVES: To assess the profile preferences of laypeople in (USA, Switzerland, Lebanon, South Africa, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey), and to assess if gender, age, race, education and income had influence on decision. METHODS: 535 laypersons rated fifty profile silhouettes of profile after altering the lip in five 1 mm increments in the sagittal direction and nose in three sagittal and vertical directions, creating 45 combinations. Demographics were collected. The soft tissue values were incorporated. ANOVA with post hocTukey test were used to compare difference in means in each location. Multivariate regression model was used to assess the effect of demographics on preference. RESULTS: The mean preference was significantly different across locations at p-value of <.0001. In the United States and Lebanon, the most preferred profile was original lip and nose, in Switzerland and South Africa, was L-2, N A -1, V -1, in Japan and Saudi Arabia, was L0, N A +1, V-1, and in Turkey, was L+2, N A -1, V+1. Profile change, location, gender and race were significant confounders at p-value of <.0001, <.0001, <.0001 and 0.02 respectively, on the other hand, age, education and income were not. CONCLUSION: Layperson’s perception of lip and nose position is different among the seven locations. Layperson prefer profiles within one standard deviation from the norms for Caucasians behind the E-line. Layperson is not reliable in their rating of lip changes within ∓2 mm. Gender and race are significant confounders unlike age, education and income.

Abstract available through the Journal of Investigative Medicine.

Abstract available through the Journal of Investigative Medicine.

The Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) operates thirteen treatment plants in the eastern Virginia area with a combined capacity of 231 million gallons per day (mgd). The Nansemond Treatment Plant (NTP) is one of the larger facilities, and is designed to treat 30 mgd using a 3-stage Virginia Initiative Process (VIP) biological nutrient removal (BNR) process. The majority of the influent is domestic, but there is also a large industrial contribution, particularly from a hog processing facility, landfill leachate, and significant loads from septage and grease deliveries (Bilyk et al, 2008). NTP is currently being upgraded to a 5-stage Bardenpho process to achieve improved total nitrogen (TN) removal. For several years starting in about 2001, NTP has experienced continuous and sporadic nitrification upsets that cannot be explained by plant operations events. Sporadic nitrification upsets are characterized by sharp increases in effluent ammonia and nitrite with decreases in nitrate concentrations due to reduced growth rates in bacteria. The result is reduced overall total nitrogen (TN) removal. Continuous inhibition is evidenced by a previous engineering report by Hazen and Sawyer, P.C. (2007), whereby it was suggested that the ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) maximum specific growth rate (μmax) be reduced from 0.9 to 0.57 days-1. This has significant implications in terms of the required aeration volume for consistent nitrification at cold temperatures. The objective of this project was to determine whether the NTP influent wastewater does in fact exhibit inhibition to ammonia (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB), evaluated independently, and to determine the impact on polyphosphate accumulating organism activity (PAO). Because the historical operational experiences and data analysis suggested inhibited AOB and NOB activity, an investigation was initiated targeting the source of that inhibition. After conducting seventeen weeks of batch experiments the source of inhibition was not determined. Batch experiments however, did reveal other possible sources of inhibition including large amounts of chemical toilet waste received at NTP possibly containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs). Due to available blower capacity during construction it was planned that nitrification would not be maintained during the fall of 2009. In an effort to stop nitrification, the solids retention time (SRT) was purposely reduced over a period of about one month (as wastewater temperature cooled) until additional blower capacity was available. This provided an opportunity to study baseline nitrification kinetics and determine the potential for continuous inhibition through profile sampling. Simulation modeling of the profile sampling and plant data was performed with Biowin 3.1 (EnviroSim, Ltd.) as a means for comparison and to generate μmax values for AOB to compare with the original design μmax of 0.57-1. Profile sampling was conducted from the primary effluent to the secondary effluent with samples collected along the length of the BNR process. This was being done to address the following issues: • Conduct baseline sampling prior to a more detailed nitrification inhibition study estimated to begin in May 2010, which will include influent sampling and the operation of bench-scale sequencing batch reactors. This will be used to establish "normal" COD, nutrient and DO profiles though the VIP process without (and possibly with) the impact of inhibitory conditions, specifically with respect to N conversions and P release and uptake along the process. • Evaluate the potential for nitrite accumulation in the process and its potential effect on aerobic phosphate uptake by phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs). • Evaluate the impact of sporadic ferric chloride addition to the biological process as a means of preventing effluent TP exceedances. • Evaluate the design μmax to the actual observed μmax for AOB through simulation modeling. • Compare modeling and observed profile data for signs of any continuous nitrification inhibition. Experimental results from batch-rate testing confirmed the sporadically inhibitory nature of NTP primary effluent when combined with other stable nitrifying biomasses. Investigation into quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) which were contained in the chemical toilet waste suggested that QACs at higher concentrations caused some inhibition of NOB activity, but no significant impact on AOB activity. Profile sampling demonstrated no signs of sporadic or continuous nitrification inhibition or impact of nitrite accumulation and ferric chloride addition on biological treatment processes. Modeling of the profile data generated similar profiles; however, there were slight variations as the model predicted nitrification to stop earlier than what was actually observed. From the modeling it was also determined that the maximum specific growth rate (μmax) of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was in the range of 0.50 – 60 days-1. This supported batch and profile work that showed NTP PE exhibited some degree of continuous inhibition. Diurnal loadings however, were not accounted for in the modeling which could slightly underestimate the actual AOB μmax value. Several suspected inhibitors were eliminated as potential causes of inhibition, including waste from a hog processing facility, landfill leachate, the addition of ferric chloride, plant internal recycle streams, branches of the collection system, and chemical toilet disinfectants containing QACs. References Bilyk, K., Cubbage, L., Stone, A., Pitt, P., Dano, J., and Balzer, B. 2008. Unlocking the Mystery of Biological Phosphorus Removal Upsets and Inhibited Nitrification at a 30 mgd BNR Facility. Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation Technical Conference and Exposition, 2008. Hazen and Sawyer. 2007. Nansemond Treatment Plant Nutrient Reduction Improvement Technical Memorandum. / Master of Science

In order to predict the behavior of bubbly flows, it is necessary to know the three dimensional profiles of the bubbles present in the flow. With advancements in the field of flow visualization, accurate reconstruction of the bubble shape has become necessary. The PIV and the SIV techniques, used to acquire images of particles and bubbles, have been found to be extremely useful in this regard. The study, development, implementation, applications and limitations of a unique reconstruction technique applied to various regular and irregular bubble shapes, using the two orthogonal projections of the three-dimensional bubble profiles as captured by the SIV cameras are presented here. The technique is a blend of neural networks, combinatorial optimization and advanced computer aided design methods. The technique involves the robustness and ruggedness of the neural network approach and the flexibility and reliability of advanced computer aided design methods. The technique uses a well-known problem in neural networks and combinatorial optimization known as the Traveling Salesman Problem approach to identify the bubble boundaries on the images. An optimization solution technique known as the Simulated Annealing technique is employed to solve the Traveling Salesman Problem and obtain the bubble profiles. These results are employed to reconstruct bubble shapes using NURBS computer aided design software. Two main applications of this technique are demonstrated and the results are found to be promising. The first application included the calculation of the void fraction at a particular depth of the channel/ pipe and at a particular radius of the channel. The second application was Lagrangian tracking of bubbles, wherein the centroids of the bubbles were tracked between image frames to determine the linear and transverse velocities of the bubbles. This technique has shown scope for development including the development as integrated bubble surface reconstruction software and advanced modifications at various levels for efficient and accurate reconstruction.

Achievements in academia and industry indicate a move towards the creation of a giant smart system including objects of different sizes, shapes, and purposes where the Internet will be so diverse and more resourceful with the incorporation of different smart devices. Mid Swe-den University took a first step towards providing an appropriate plat-form for Internet of Things applications known as SensibleThings for the emerging intercommunication of “objects”, called Internet of Things. The SensibleThings platform has produced components for sharing sensor-based context information on the Internet, in order to enable Internet of Things applications. In this thesis the plan was to contribute to filling the gap between the IoT and developers in academia as well as in the industries. The aim of the project was to create basic functionality to enable users to find new interesting users on the IoT and prioritize existing users. To this end context information and user profile man-agement is proposed and presented. Furthermore, a comparison be-tween the platform with the proposed extension as well as without was compared and examined.

The bending strength of a commercial 0.82-inch-thick three-layered particleboard was investigated in terms of its bending moment resistance capacity. Experimental results indicated that the bending moment resistance capacity of the particleboard was governed by the tensile and compressive strengths of each of four-layered materials composing of the particleboard. A proposed mechanical model for prediction of the bending moment resistance capacity of the particleboard based on the tensile and compressive strengths of each of three-layered materials was validated experimentally. The developed mechanical model can be used to explain four different variations in terms of different combinations of layer strength properties commonly occurred in real manufacturing environment due to process variations. The optimal combination in terms of each layer tensile and compressive strength property can be obtained.

博士(工学) / Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

No description available.

No description available.