Search results for: computer mediated power point presentations

Authors: James Alberto Ortega Morales, Nelson Andrés Martínez Marín

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The bulding industry is one of the most important sectors all around the world in terms of contribution to index like GDP and labor. On the other hand, it is a major contributor to Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and waste generation contributing to global warming. In this sense, it is necessary to establish sustainable practices both from the strategic point of view to the operations point of view as well in all business and industries. Business models don’t scape to this reality attending it´s mediator role between strategy and operations. Business models can turn from the traditional practices searching economic benefits to sustainable bussines models that generate both economic value and value for society and the environment. Recent advances in the analysis of sustainable business models find different classifications that allow finding potential triple bottom line (economic, social and environmental) solutions applicable in every business sector. Into the metioned Advances have been identified, 11 groups and 45 patterns of sustainable business models have been identified; such patterns can be found either in the business models as a whole or found concurrently in their components. This article presents the analysis of a case study, seeking to identify the components and elements that are part of it, using the ECO CANVAS conceptual model. The case study allows showing the concurrent existence of different patterns of business models for sustainability empirically, serving as an example and inspiration for other Latin American companies interested in integrating sustainability into their new and existing business models.

Keywords: sustainable business models, business sustainability, business model patterns, case study, construction industry

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Authors: Nazim Mir-Nasiri, Hudyjaya Siswoyo Jo

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The paper describes conceptual design, control strategies, and partial simulation for a new fully autonomous lower limb wearable exoskeleton system for human motion enhancement that can support its weight and increase strength and endurance. Various problems still remain to be solved where the most important is the creation of a power and cost efficient system that will allow an exoskeleton to operate for extended period without batteries being frequently recharged. The designed exoskeleton is enabling to decouple the weight/mass carrying function of the system from the forward motion function which reduces the power and size of propulsion motors and thus the overall weight, cost of the system. The decoupling takes place by blocking the motion at knee joint by placing passive air cylinder across the joint. The cylinder is actuated when the knee angle has reached the minimum allowed value to bend. The value of the minimum bending angle depends on usual walk style of the subject. The mechanism of the exoskeleton features a seat to rest the subject’s body weight at the moment of blocking the knee joint motion. The mechanical structure of each leg has six degrees of freedom: four at the hip, one at the knee, and one at the ankle. Exoskeleton legs are attached to subject legs by using flexible cuffs. The operation of all actuators depends on the amount of pressure felt by the feet pressure sensors and knee angle sensor. The sensor readings depend on actual posture of the subject and can be classified in three distinct cases: subject stands on one leg, subject stands still on both legs and subject stands on both legs but transit its weight from one leg to other. This exoskeleton is power efficient because electrical motors are smaller in size and did not participate in supporting the weight like in all other existing exoskeleton designs.

Keywords: energy efficient system, exoskeleton, motion enhancement, robotics

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Authors: Li Hui, Riyadh Hindi

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Concrete structures frequently suffer from crack formation, a critical issue that can significantly reduce their lifespan by allowing damaging agents to enter. Traditional methods of crack detection depend on manual visual inspections, which heavily relies on the experience and expertise of inspectors using tools. In this study, a more efficient, computer vision-based approach is introduced by using the lightweight MobileNetV2 neural network. A dataset of 40,000 images was used to develop a specialized crack evaluation algorithm. The analysis indicates that MobileNetV2 matches the accuracy of traditional CNN methods but is more efficient due to its smaller size, making it well-suited for mobile device applications. The effectiveness and reliability of this new method were validated through experimental testing, highlighting its potential as an automated solution for crack detection in concrete structures.

Keywords: Concrete crack, computer vision, deep learning, MobileNetV2 neural network

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Authors: Sodiq Onawale, Xin Wang

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Integrating renewable energy sources (RES) alongside conventional energy sources (NRES) in the grid has introduced challenges that highlight the need for a detailed analysis of various performance factors. Factors such as active and reactive power losses, voltage deviation, transmission line loading, power factor, fast voltage stability index, and capacity factor require careful evaluation to understand their impact on grid performance. In this study, MATPOWER’s optimization tools are used to model both NRES and a combined NRES + RES setup. The analysis compares the performance of each configuration across these factors. Findings indicate that integrating RES with NRES generally enhances performance across most of the analyzed factors compared to using NRES alone. The insights from this study offer valuable guidance for grid operators and policymakers, aiding in the balanced integration of RES with NRES to optimize smart grid performance and resilience.

Keywords: smart grid, impact analysis, renewable energy integration, FVSI, transmission line loading

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Authors: Ira Joseph

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The LNG paradox addresses the issue of how the most expensive form of gas supply, which is LNG, will grow in an end user market where demand is most competitive, which is power generation. In this case, LNG demand growth is under siege from two entirely different directions. At one end is price; it will be extremely difficult for gas to replace coal in Asia due to the low price of coal and the age of the generation plants. Asia's coal fleet, on average, is less than two decades old and will need significant financial incentives to retire before its state lifespan. While gas would cut emissions in half relative to coal, it would also more than double the price of the fuel source for power generation, which puts it in a precarious position. In most countries in Asia other than China, this cost increase, particularly from imports, is simply not realistic when it is also necessary to focus on economic growth and social welfare. On the other end, renewables are growing at an exponential rate for three reasons. One is that prices are dropping. Two is that policy incentives are driving deployment, and three is that China is forcing renewables infrastructure into the market to take a political seat at the global energy table with Saudi Arabia, the US, and Russia. Plus, more renewables will lower import growth of oil and gas in China, if not end it altogether. Renewables are the predator at the gate of gas demand in power generation and in every year that passes, renewables cut into demand growth projections for gas; in particular, the type of gas that is most expensive, which is LNG. Gas does have a role in the future, particularly within a domestic market. Once it crosses borders in the form of LNG or even pipeline gas, it quickly becomes a premium fuel and must be marketed and used this way. Our research shows that gas will be able to compete with batteries as an intermittency and storage tool and does offer a method to harmonize with renewables as part of the energy transition. As a baseload fuel, however, the role of gas, particularly, will be limited by cost once it needs to cross a border. Gas converted into blue or green hydrogen or ammonia is also an option for storage depending on the location. While this role is much reduced from the primary baseload role that gas once aspired to land, it still offers a credible option for decades to come.

Keywords: natural gas, LNG, demand, price, intermittency, storage, renewables

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Authors: Abdessalem Abbassi, Ahlem Dakhlaoui, Lota D. Tamini

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In this paper, we analyze infinite discrete-time games between hydraulic and thermal power operators in the wholesale electricity market under Cournot competition. We consider a deregulated electrical industry where certain demand is satisfied by hydraulic and thermal technologies. The hydraulic operator decides the production in each season of each period that maximizes the sum of expected profits from power generation with respect to the stochastic dynamic constraint on the water stored in the dam, the environmental constraint and the non-negative output constraint. In contrast, the thermal plant is operated with quadratic cost function, with respect to the capacity production constraint and the non-negativity output constraint. We show that under imperfect competition, the hydraulic operator has a strategic storage of water in the peak season. Then, we quantify the strategic inter-annual and intra-annual water transfer and compare the numerical results. Finally, we show that the thermal operator can restrict the hydraulic output without compensation.

Keywords: asymmetric risk aversion, electricity wholesale market, hydropower dams, imperfect competition

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Authors: Huseyin Guler, Cigdem Kosar

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The aim of this study is to propose Bridge estimator for seasonal unit root tests. Seasonality is an important factor for many economic time series. Some variables may contain seasonal patterns and forecasts that ignore important seasonal patterns have a high variance. Therefore, it is very important to eliminate seasonality for seasonal macroeconomic data. There are some methods to eliminate the impacts of seasonality in time series. One of them is filtering the data. However, this method leads to undesired consequences in unit root tests, especially if the data is generated by a stochastic seasonal process. Another method to eliminate seasonality is using seasonal dummy variables. Some seasonal patterns may result from stationary seasonal processes, which are modelled using seasonal dummies but if there is a varying and changing seasonal pattern over time, so the seasonal process is non-stationary, deterministic seasonal dummies are inadequate to capture the seasonal process. It is not suitable to use seasonal dummies for modeling such seasonally nonstationary series. Instead of that, it is necessary to take seasonal difference if there are seasonal unit roots in the series. Different alternative methods are proposed in the literature to test seasonal unit roots, such as Dickey, Hazsa, Fuller (DHF) and Hylleberg, Engle, Granger, Yoo (HEGY) tests. HEGY test can be also used to test the seasonal unit root in different frequencies (monthly, quarterly, and semiannual). Another issue in unit root tests is the lag selection. Lagged dependent variables are added to the model in seasonal unit root tests as in the unit root tests to overcome the autocorrelation problem. In this case, it is necessary to choose the lag length and determine any deterministic components (i.e., a constant and trend) first, and then use the proper model to test for seasonal unit roots. However, this two-step procedure might lead size distortions and lack of power in seasonal unit root tests. Recent studies show that Bridge estimators are good in selecting optimal lag length while differentiating nonstationary versus stationary models for nonseasonal data. The advantage of this estimator is the elimination of the two-step nature of conventional unit root tests and this leads a gain in size and power. In this paper, the Bridge estimator is proposed to test seasonal unit roots in a HEGY model. A Monte-Carlo experiment is done to determine the efficiency of this approach and compare the size and power of this method with HEGY test. Since Bridge estimator performs well in model selection, our approach may lead to some gain in terms of size and power over HEGY test.

Keywords: bridge estimators, HEGY test, model selection, seasonal unit root

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Authors: Kashvi Jain, Adam Burston

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Right-wing social movements are a dominant force in American politics, as evidenced by the January 6th Insurrection, the prevalence of extremist conspiracy theories, and a nationwide surge in hate crime. Despite an abundance of scholarship on contemporary right-wing extremism, there is little scholarship that explains their rise. This paper examines how the white power movement developed through tactical innovation and strategic use of increasingly powerful digital technologies. Using qualitative content analysis of archived digital bulletin boards and websites, we examine right-wing extremists’ digital communication during three consequential time periods of tactical and technological innovation: pre-internet (1980s), web 1.0 (1990s), and web 2.0 (2000s). Our analysis suggests that right-wing activists innovatively exploited the features and affordances of digital technologies and their knowledge of free speech rights to spread supremacist collective identity and ideology. Beyond our empirical contribution, we offer policy advice that school administrators can employ to limit hate.

Keywords: leaderless resistance, technological affordances, anti-defamation league, white power movement, tactical

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Authors: Mehmet Balci, Sakir Tasdemir, Mustafa Altin, Ozlem Bozok

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Our globalizing world has become almost a small village and everyone can access any information at any time. Everyone lets each other know who does whatever in which place. We can learn which social events occur in which place in the world. From the perspective of education, the course notes that a lecturer use in lessons in a university in any state of America can be examined by a student studying in a city of Africa or the Far East. This dizzying communication we have mentioned happened thanks to fast developments in computer technologies and in parallel with this, internet technology. While these developments in the world, has a very large young population and a rapidly evolving electronic communications infrastructure Turkey has been affected by this situation. Researches has shown that almost all young people in Turkey has an account in a social network. Especially becoming common of mobile devices causes data traffic in social networks to increase. In this study, has been surveyed on students in the different age groups and at the Selcuk University Vocational School of Technical Sciences Department of Computer Technology. Student’s opinions about the use of internet and social media has been gotten. Using the Internet and social media skills, purposes, operating frequency, access facilities and tools, social life and effects on vocational education etc. have been explored. Both internet and use of social media positive and negative effects on this department students results have been obtained by the obtained findings evaluating from various aspects. Relations and differences have been found out with statistic.

Keywords: computer technologies, internet use, social network, higher vocational school

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Authors: Ryunhye Kim

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Despite its relatively short history as an independent state, Qatar has emerged as a highly regarded Gulf state and global power. Since its independence in September 1971, the state has employed deliberate policy initiatives designed to put Qatar on the map and distinguish it from other Gulf states. Because Qatar and its neighbors are resource-poor apart from energy, whoever is first to introduce a unique aspect of branding not only takes the lead but assumes what is often an insurmountable advantage. This study examines three specific modes of branding undertaken by Qatar: (1) energy policies to utilize its natural gas to become a dominant supplier; (2) the deliberate construction of a distinct cultural brand utilizing sports, architecture, museums, and media; and (3) ‘niche diplomacy’ to serve as a mediator in regional and intra-national conflicts, especially as interlocutor between the United States and Arab regimes and Muslim groups. Gleaning data from a range of sources, this study analyzes the effectiveness and significance of Qatar’s place branding on the global stage, as well as potential disadvantages and limits in this branding, including problems encountered before and after the ‘Qatar crisis.’

Keywords: national branding, national-identity, Qatar, soft-power

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Authors: Rebekah Volgin, Jane Shakespeare-Finch, Ian Shochet

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Commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and sex trafficking affect between 5000-7000 girls and women in Nepal each year and can have devastating physical and psychological consequences. Much research has documented these effects, however, there is no published longitudinal research that focuses on whether healing and growth outcomes are possible for survivors of CSE and sex trafficking. The narratives of 27 girls and women (13-22 years) were taken at two-time points during participation in a six-week group psychoeducation and art therapy program which was delivered across three NGO’s in Kathmandu, Nepal. These narratives form part of a larger ethnographic project. Thematic analysis of the data was undertaken. Themes emerging from time point 1 were: psychological distress in the form of anxiety and grief over loss of family, psychosomatic symptoms, empathy and compassion, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in the form of new possibilities, relating to others and personal strength. Posttraumatic growth refers to positive changes in the aftermath of trauma. The themes emerging from time point 2, were: empathy and compassion and PTG (cognitive restructuring, new possibilities, relating to others and personal strength). Alongside the distress that these participants experienced, they also experienced positive outcomes such as empathy and compassion and psychological growth. Future research would advance knowledge by further examining the process of PTG in this population, if the changes observed were lasting, and if so, ways in which PTG can be facilitated or promoted.

Keywords: commercial sexual exploitation, human trafficking, posttraumatic growth, sexual trauma

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Authors: Je-Seok Shin, Wook-Won Kim, Jin-O Kim

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The offshore wind farm needs to be designed carefully considering economics and reliability aspects. There are many decision-making problems for designing entire offshore wind farm, this paper focuses on an inner grid layout which means the connection between wind turbines as well as between wind turbines and an offshore substation. A methodology proposed in this paper determines the connections and the cable type for each connection section using K-clustering, minimum spanning tree and cable selection algorithms. And then, a cost evaluation is performed in terms of investment, power loss and reliability. Through the cost evaluation, an optimal layout of inner grid is determined so as to have the lowest total cost. In order to demonstrate the validity of the methodology, the case study is conducted on 240MW offshore wind farm, and the results show that it is helpful to design optimally offshore wind farm.

Keywords: offshore wind farm, optimal layout, k-clustering algorithm, minimum spanning algorithm, cable type selection, power loss cost, reliability cost

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Authors: M. Hosseinnezhad, K. Gharanjig

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Natural dyes, extracted from black carrot and bramble, were utilized as photosensitizers to prepare dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Spectrophotometric studies of the natural dyes in solution and on a titanium dioxide substrate were carried out in order to assess changes in the status of the dyes. The results show that the bathochromic shift is seen on the photo-electrode substrate. The chemical binding of the natural dyes at the surface photo-electrode were increased by the chelating effect of the Ti(IV) ions. The cyclic voltammetry results showed that all extracts are suitable to be performed in DSSCs. Finally, photochemical performance and stability of DSSCs based on natural dyes were studied. The DSSCs sensitized by black carrot extract have been reported to achieve up to Jsc=1.17 mAcm^-2, Voc= 0.55 V, FF= 0.52, η=0.34%, whereas Bramble extract can obtain up to Jsc=2.24 mAcm^-2, Voc= 0.54 V, FF= 0.57, η=0.71%. The power conversion efficiency was obtained from the mixed dyes in DSSCs. The power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells using mixed Black carrot and Bramble dye is the average of the their efficiency in single DSSCs.

Keywords: anthocyanin, dye-sensitized solar cells, green energy, optical materials

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Authors: Roxan Venter

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Ombudsmen often face the challenge of a lack of authority to have their decisions and recommendations enforced. This lack of authority may be seen as one of the major obstacles in the way of the effectiveness of the institutions of Ombudsman and also the South African Public Protector. The paper will address the current legal position in South Africa with regard to the status of the decisions and recommendations of the South African Public Protector and the enforcement thereof. In addition, the paper will compare the South African position with the experiences of other jurisdictions, including Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Denmark and Norway, but also New Zealand and Northern Ireland, with regard to the enforcement of the decisions of Ombudsmen. Finally, the paper will make recommendations with regard to the enhancement of the power and authority of Ombudsmen in order to effectively enforce their decisions. It is submitted that the creation of the office of Ombudsman, and the Public Protector in the South African system, is an essential tool to ensure the protection of society against governmental abuse of power and it is therefore imperative to ensure that these watchdogs of democracy are not muzzled by a lack of powers of enforcement.

Keywords: enforcement of decisions of ombudsmen, governmental control, ombudsman, South African public protector

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Authors: Blair D. Macdonald

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After nearly one hundred years of its origin, foundational quantum mechanics remains one of the greatest unexplained mysteries in physicists today. Within this time, chaos theory and its geometry, the fractal, has developed. In this paper, the propagation behaviour with an iteration of a simple fractal, the Koch Snowflake, was described and analysed. From an arbitrary observation point within the fractal set, the fractal propagates forward by oscillation—the focus of this study and retrospectively behind by exponential growth from a point beginning. It propagates a potentially infinite exponential oscillating sinusoidal wave of discrete triangle bits sharing many characteristics of light and quantum entities. The model's wave speed is potentially constant, offering insights into the perception and a direction of time where, to an observer, when travelling at the frontier of propagation, time may slow to a stop. In isolation, the fractal is a superposition of component bits where position and scale present a problem of location. In reality, this problem is experienced within fractal landscapes or fields where 'position' is only 'known' by the addition of information or markers. The quantum' measurement problem', 'uncertainty principle,' 'entanglement,' and the classical-quantum interface are addressed; these are a problem of scale invariance associated with isolated fractality. Dual forward and retrospective perspectives of the fractal model offer the opportunity for unification between quantum mechanics and cosmological mathematics, observations, and conjectures. Quantum and cosmological problems may be different aspects of the one fractal geometry.

Keywords: measurement problem, observer, entanglement, unification

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Authors: Afsheen Masood, Sumaira Rashid, Nadia Ijaz, Shama Mazahir

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The current study examined the relationship between moral disengagement, psychological contract, organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior. It is hypothesized that there is likely to be a significant relationship between moral disengagement, psychological contract, organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior. It is hypothesized that moral disengagement is likely to significantly predict counterproductive work behavior. It is hypothesized that psychological contract is likely to moderate the relationship between moral disengagement, and counterproductive work behavior. Cross-sectional survey research design was used for the study. The sample consisted of 500 middle managers, age ranging between 30-45 years working in private and public sector. The measures used were Moral Disengagement Scale, Psychological Contract Scale, and Counterproductive Work Behavior. Series of Correlation analyses, Regression analysis, moderation analysis and t-test was run in order to execute descriptive and inferential analyses. The findings revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between moral disengagement and counterproductive work behaviors. Psychological contract significantly mediated the relationship between moral disengagement and counterproductive work behaviors. There were significant gender differences reported in psychological contract and counterproductive work behaviors. The insightful findings carry significant implication for organizational psychologists and organizational stakeholders.

Keywords: psychological contract, moral disengagement, counterproductive work behaviors, mediation analysis

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Authors: Majid Saaly, Shahriar Tavousi Tafreshi, Mehdi Nazari Afshar

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The structural systems with the sandwich composite wall (SCSSC) are of very popular due to their ductileness and competency to swallow more energy and power than standard reinforced concrete shear walls. The purpose of this enhanced system is in high-rise building, Nuclear power plant facilities, and bridge slabs are much more. SCSSCs showed acceptable seismic performance under experimental tests and cyclic loading from the points of view of in-plane and out-of-plane shear and flexural interaction, in-plane punching shear, and compressive behavior. The use of sandwich composite walls with J-hook connectors has a significant effect on energy dissipation and reduction of dynamic responses of mid-rise and high-rise structural models. By changing the systems of the building from SW to SCWJ, the maximum inter-story drift values of ten- and fifteen-story models are reduced by up to 25% and 35%, respectively.

Keywords: J-Hook sandwich composite walls, fling step, directivity, IDA analyses, fractile curves

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Authors: T. Mahesh, M. K. Samanta

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Antibody dug conjugate (ADC’s) concept is a less explored and more trustable for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes (T1D). T1D is thought to arise from selective immunologically mediated destruction of the insulin- producing β-cells in the pancreatic islets of Langerhans with consequent insulin deficiency. It is evident that type 1 diabetes can be conquered, by 1) to stop immune destruction of βcells, 2) to replace or regenerate β-cells, and 3) to preserve β-cell function and mass. Many studies found that the regulatory T cells (Tregs) are crucial for the maintenance of immunological tolerance. Immune tolerance is liable for the activation of the Th1 response. The important role of Th1 response in pathology of T1D entails the depletion of CD4+ T cells, which initiated the use of anti-CD4 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against CD4+ T cells to interfere with induction of T1D.Insulin is regulated by Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 hormone (GLP-1) which also stimulates β-cells proliferation as the half-life of GLP-1 harmone is less due to rapid degradation by DPP-IV enzyme an alternative DPP-IV-inhibitors can increase the half-life of GLP-1 through which it conquers the replacement and reserve β-cells mass. Thus in the present study Anti-CD4 mAb was conjugated with Sitagliptin which is a DPP-IV inhibitor Drug loaded in Nanoparticles through Sulfo-MBS cross-linkers. The above study can be an effective approach for treatment to overcome the Passive subcutaneous insulin therapy.

Keywords: antibody drug conjugates, anti-CD4 Mab, DPP IV inhibitors, GLP-1

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Authors: Saeed Moarrefi, Shou-Han Zhou, Liyuan Fan

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Coupling with solid oxide fuel cells, methane dry reforming is a promising pathway for energy production while mitigating carbon emissions. However, the influence of carbon dioxide and electrochemical reactions on the internal dry reforming reaction within the fuel cells remains debatable, requiring accurate kinetic models to describe the internal reforming behaviors. We employed the Power-Law and Langmuir Hinshelwood–Hougen Watson models in an electrolyte-supported solid oxide fuel cell with a NiO-GDC-YSZ anode. The current density used in this study ranges from 0 to 1000 A/m2 at 973 K to 1173 K to estimate various kinetic parameters. The influence of the electrochemical reactions on the adsorption terms, the equilibrium of the reactions, the activation energy, the pre-exponential factor of the rate constant, and the adsorption equilibrium constant were studied. This study provides essential parameters for future simulations and highlights the need for a more detailed examination of reforming kinetic models.

Keywords: dry reforming kinetics, Langmuir Hinshelwood–Hougen Watson, power-law, SOFC

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Authors: Dominic Wentworth-Linton, Shian Gao

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This project was aimed at investigating the effect of velocity stacks on the intakes of internal combustion engines for motorsport applications. The intake systems in motorsport are predominantly fuel injection with a plate mounted for the stacks. Using Computational Fluid Dynamics software, the relationship between the stack length and power and torque delivery across the engine’s rev range was investigated and the results were used to choose the best option for its intended motorsport discipline. The test results are expected to vary with engine geometry and its natural manufacturer characteristics. The test was also relevant in bridging between computational data and real simulation as the results show flow, pressure and velocity readings but the behaviour of the engine is inferred from the nature of each test. The results of the data analysis were tested in a real-life simulation on a dynamometer to prove the theory of stack length on power and torque delivery, which helps determine the most suitable stack for the Vauxhall engine for rallying in the Caribbean.

Keywords: CFD simulation, Internal combustion engine, Intake system, Dynamometer test

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Authors: Haroon Khan, Chul Min Kim, Sung Yeol Kim, Sanket Goel, Prabhat K. Dwivedi, Ashutosh Sharma, Gyu Man Kim

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Enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) have drawn the attention of researchers due to its demanding application in medical implants. In EBFCs, electricity is produced with the help of redox enzymes. In this study, we report the fabrication of membraneless EBFC with new design of electrodes to overcome microchannel related limitations. The device consists of double layer of electrodes on both sides of Y-shaped microchannel to reduce the effect of oxygen depletion layer and diffusion of fuel and oxidant at the end of microchannel. Moreover, the length of microchannel was reduced by half keeping the same area of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) electrodes. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stencils were used to pattern MWCNT electrodes on etched Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) glass. PDMS casting was used to fabricate microchannel of the device. Both anode and cathode were modified with glucose oxidase and laccase. Furthermore, these enzymes were covalently bound to carboxyl MWCNTs with the help of EDC/NHS. Glucose used as fuel was oxidized by glucose oxidase at anode while oxygen was reduced to water at the cathode side. The resulted devices were investigated with the help of polarization curves obtained from Chronopotentiometry technique by using potentiostat. From results, we conclude that the performance of double layer EBFC is improved 15 % as compared to single layer EBFC delivering maximum power density of 71.25 µW cm-2 at a cell potential of 0.3 V and current density of 250 µA cm-2 at micro channel height of 450-µm and flow rate of 25 ml hr-1. However, the new device was stable only for three days after which its power output was rapidly dropped by 75 %. This work demonstrates that the power output of membraneless EBFC is improved comparatively, but still efforts will be needed to make the device stable over long period of time.

Keywords: EBFC, glucose, MWCNT, microfluidic

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Authors: Cheba Ben Amar

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Bacillus and Paenibacillus are Gram-positive aerobic endospore-forming bacteria (AEFB) and most abundant in the rhizosphere, they mediated plant growth promotion and disease protection by several complex and interrelated processes involving direct and indirect mechanisms that include nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, siderophores production, phytohormones production and plant diseases control. In addition to their multiple PGPR properties, high secretory capacity, spore forming ability and spore resistance to unfavorable conditions enabling their extended commercial applications for long shelf-life. Due to these unique advantages, Bacillus species were the most an ideal candidate for developing efficient PGPR products such as biopesticides, fungicides and fertilizers. This review list all studied and reported plant growth promoting Bacillus species and strains, discuss their capacities to enhance plant growth and protection with special focusing on the most frequent species Bacillus subtilis, B. pumilus ,B. megaterium, B. amyloliquefaciens , B. licheniformis and B. sphaericus, furthermore we recapitulate the beneficial activities and mechanisms of several species and strains of the genus Paenibacillus involved in plant growth stimulation and plant disease control.

Keywords: bacillus, paenibacillus, PGPR, beneficial activities, mechanisms, growth promotion, disease control, agrobiotechnology

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Authors: Rachna, Uma Shanker

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Aromatic phenols, being priority pollutants, are found in various industrial effluents and seeking the attention of environmentalists worldwide, owing to their life-threatening effects. In the present study, the coupling of zinc oxide with Prussian blue was achieved involving co-precipitation synthesis process using Azadirachta indica plant extract. The fabricated nanocatalyst was employed for the sunlight mediated photodegradation of various phenols (Phenol, 3-Aminophenol, and 2,4-Dinitrophenol). Doping of zinc oxide with Prussian blue caused an increase in the surface area to value 80.109 m²g⁻¹ and also enhanced the semiconducting tendency of the nanocomposite with band gap energy 1.101 eV. The experiment was performed at different parameters of phenols concentration, catalyst amount, pH, time, and exposure of sunlight. The obtained results showed a lower elimination of 2,4-DNP (93%) than 3-AP (97%) and phenol (95%) owing to their molecular weight and basicity differences. In comparison to the starting material (zinc oxide and Prussian blue), nanocomposite was more capable in degrading the phenols and lowered the t1/2 value of phenol (4.405 h), 3-AP (4.04 h) and 2,4-DNP (4.68 h) to a greater extent. Effect of different foreign anions was also studied to check nanocomposite’s liability under natural conditions. The extent of charge recombination being the most limiting factor in the photodegradation of pollutants was determined through the photoluminescence. Sunlight active ZnO@FeHCF nanocomposite was proven to exhibit good catalytic ability up to 10 cycles.

Keywords: nanocomposite, phenols, photodegradation, sunlight, water

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Authors: Ravi Vishwanath, Saumya Kumaar, S. N. Omkar

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Brain-computer interfacing (BCI) is a technology that is almost four decades old, and it was developed solely for the purpose of developing and enhancing the impact of neuroprosthetics. However, in the recent times, with the commercialization of non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG) headsets, the technology has seen a wide variety of applications like home automation, wheelchair control, vehicle steering, etc. One of the latest developed applications is the mind-controlled quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle. These applications, however, do not require a very high-speed response and give satisfactory results when standard classification methods like Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLPC). Issues are faced when there is a requirement for high-speed control in the case of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles where such methods are rendered unreliable due to the low speed of classification. Such an application requires the system to classify data at high speeds in order to retain the controllability of the vehicle. This paper proposes a novel method of classification which uses a combination of Common Spatial Paradigm and Linear Discriminant Analysis that provides an improved classification accuracy in real time. A non-linear SVM based classification technique has also been discussed. Further, this paper discusses the implementation of the proposed method on a fixed-wing and VTOL unmanned aerial vehicles.

Keywords: brain-computer interface, classification, machine learning, unmanned aerial vehicles

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Authors: Putri Alya Ramadhani

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This research analysed how women writers represent their beauty in a platform called Magdalene. With the vision “Supporting diversity, empowering minds,” Magdalene is a new media that seeks to represent women's voices rarely heard in mainstream media. This research elaborates further on how women writers, through their writing, use their body politic to subvert patriarchal values. This research used a qualitative method with an explorative design by using text analysis based on the representation theory of Stuart Hall and in-dept-interview with Women Writers in Magdalene. The result illustrated that women writers represent their beauty in Magdalene to subvert body and beauty-representation in mainstream discourse. Furthermore, the authors have identified an identity negotiation as tension from inevitable oppression and power towards and from women’s bodies. In addition, Women Writers showed the power of their bodies through the redefinition of beauty practices and self. Hence, they subvert body dichotomy to redefine body values in society. In conclusion, this study shows various representations of beauty and body that are underrepresented in the mainstream media through the innovative new medium, Magdalena.

Keywords: women writers, beauty-representation, body politic, new media, identity negotiation

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Authors: Glenn Auld Knierim

Abstract:

Automated robotic winding of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) addresses precision, efficiency, and reliability critical to the commercialization of products. Today’s HTS materials are mature and commercially promising but require manufacturing attention. In particular to the exaggerated rectangular cross-section (very thin by very wide), winding precision is critical to address the stress that can crack the fragile ceramic superconductor (SC) layer and destroy the SC properties. Damage potential is highest during peak operations, where winding stress magnifies operational stress. Another challenge is operational parameters such as magnetic field alignment affecting design performance. Winding process performance, including precision, capability for geometric complexity, and efficient repeatability, are required for commercial production of current HTS. Due to winding limitations, current HTS magnets focus on simple pancake configurations. HTS motors, generators, MRI/NMR, fusion, and other projects are awaiting robotic wound solenoid, planar, and spherical magnet configurations. As with conventional power cables, full transposition winding is required for long length alternating current (AC) and pulsed power cables. Robotic production is required for transposition, periodic swapping of cable conductors, and placing into precise positions, which allows power utility required minimized reactance. A full transposition SC cable, in theory, has no transmission length limits for AC and variable transient operation due to no resistance (a problem with conventional cables), negligible reactance (a problem for helical wound HTS cables), and no long length manufacturing issues (a problem with both stamped and twisted stacked HTS cables). The Infinity Physics team is solving manufacturing problems by developing automated manufacturing to produce the first-ever reliable and utility-grade commercial SC cables and magnets. Robotic winding machines combine mechanical and process design, specialized sense and observer, and state-of-the-art optimization and control sequencing to carefully manipulate individual fragile SCs, especially HTS, to shape previously unattainable, complex geometries with electrical geometry equivalent to commercially available conventional conductor devices.

Keywords: automated winding manufacturing, high temperature superconductor, magnet, power cable

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Authors: Samuel Oye Bandele

Abstract:

A policy is a system of principles to guide activities and strategic decisions of an organisation in order to achieve stated objectives and meeting expected outcomes. A Computer Based Test (CBT) policy is therefore a statement of intent to drive the CBT programmes, and should be implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are hence generally adopted by an organization or a nation. The concern here, in this paper, is the consideration and analysis of issues that are significant to evolving the acceptable policy that will drive the new CBT innovation in Nigeria. Public examinations and internal examinations in higher educational institutions in Nigeria are gradually making a radical shift from Paper Based or Paper-Pencil to Computer-Based Testing. The need to make an objective and empirical analysis of Policy issues relating to CBT became expedient. The following are some of the issues on CBT evolution in Nigeria that were identified as requiring policy backing. Prominent among them are requirements for establishing CBT centres, purpose of CBT, types and acquisition of CBT equipment, qualifications of staff: professional, technical and regular, security plans and curbing of cheating during examinations, among others. The descriptive research design was employed based on a population consisting of Principal Officers (Policymakers), Staff (Teaching and non-Teaching-Policy implementors), and CBT staff ( Technical and Professional- Policy supports) and candidates (internal and external). A fifty-item researcher-constructed questionnaire on policy issues was employed to collect data from 600 subjects drawn from higher institutions in South West Nigeria, using the purposive and stratified random sampling techniques. Data collected were analysed using descriptive (frequency counts, means and standard deviation) and inferential (t-test, ANOVA, regression and Factor analysis) techniques. Findings from this study showed, among others, that the factor loadings had significantly weights on the organizational and National policy issues on CBT innovation in Nigeria.

Keywords: computer-based testing, examination, innovation, paper-based testing, paper pencil based testing, policy issues

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Authors: Masoume Ehsani, Ning Zhu, Huu Doan, Ali Lohi, Amira Abdelrasoul

Abstract:

Membrane fouling poses severe challenges in membrane-based wastewater treatment applications. Ultrasound (US) has been considered an effective fouling remediation technique in filtration processes. Bubble cavitation in the liquid medium results from the alternating rarefaction and compression cycles during the US irradiation at sufficiently high acoustic pressure. Cavitation microbubbles generated under US irradiation can cause eddy current and turbulent flow within the medium by either oscillating or discharging energy to the system through microbubble explosion. Turbulent flow regime and shear forces created close to the membrane surface cause disturbing the cake layer and dislodging the foulants, which in turn improve the cleaning efficiency and filtration performance. Therefore, the number, size, velocity, and oscillation pattern of the microbubbles created in the liquid medium play a crucial role in foulant detachment and permeate flux recovery. The goal of the current study is to gain in depth understanding of the influence of the US power intensity and frequency on the microbubble dynamics and its characteristics generated under US irradiation. In comparison with other imaging techniques, the synchrotron in-line Phase Contrast Imaging technique at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) allows in-situ observation and real-time visualization of microbubble dynamics. At CLS biomedical imaging and therapy (BMIT) polychromatic beamline, the effective parameters were optimized to enhance the contrast gas/liquid interface for the accuracy of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of bubble cavitation within the system. With the high flux of photons and the high-speed camera, a typical high projection speed was achieved; and each projection of microbubbles in water was captured in 0.5 ms. ImageJ software was used for post-processing the raw images for the detailed quantitative analyses of microbubbles. The imaging has been performed under the US power intensity levels of 50 W, 60 W, and 100 W, in addition to the US frequency levels of 20 kHz, 28 kHz, and 40 kHz. For the duration of 2 seconds of imaging, the effect of the US power and frequency on the average number, size, and fraction of the area occupied by bubbles were analyzed. Microbubbles’ dynamics in terms of their velocity in water was also investigated. For the US power increase of 50 W to 100 W, the average bubble number and the average bubble diameter were increased from 746 to 880 and from 36.7 µm to 48.4 µm, respectively. In terms of the influence of US frequency, a fewer number of bubbles were created at 20 kHz (average of 176 bubbles rather than 808 bubbles at 40 kHz), while the average bubble size was significantly larger than that of 40 kHz (almost seven times). The majority of bubbles were captured close to the membrane surface in the filtration unit. According to the study observations, membrane cleaning efficiency is expected to be improved at higher US power and lower US frequency due to the higher energy release to the system by increasing the number of bubbles or growing their size during oscillation (optimum condition is expected to be at 20 kHz and 100 W).

Keywords: bubble dynamics, cavitational bubbles, membrane fouling, ultrasonic cleaning

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Authors: Suriyani Ariffin, Nor Aziah Alias, Khairil Iskandar Othman, Haslinda Yusoff

Abstract:

An Integrated Cumulative Grade Point Average (iCGPA) is a mechanism and strategy to ensure the curriculum of an academic programme is constructively aligned to the expected learning outcomes and student performance based on the attainment of those learning outcomes that is reported objectively in a spider web. Much effort and time has been spent to develop a viable mechanism and trains academics to utilize the platform for reporting. The question is: How well do learners conceive the idea of their achievement via iCGPA and whether quality learner attributes have been nurtured through the iCGPA mechanism? This paper presents the architecture of an integrated CGPA mechanism purported to address a holistic evaluation from the evaluation of courses learning outcomes to aligned programme learning outcomes attainment. The paper then discusses the students’ understanding of the mechanism and evaluation of their achievement from the generated spider web. A set of questionnaires were distributed to a group of students with iCGPA reporting and frequency analysis was used to compare the perspectives of students on their performance. In addition, the questionnaire also explored how they conceive the idea of an integrated, holistic reporting and how it generates their motivation to improve. The iCGPA group was found to be receptive to what they have achieved throughout their study period. They agreed that the achievement level generated from their spider web allows them to develop intervention and enhance the programme learning outcomes before they graduate.

Keywords: learning outcomes attainment, iCGPA, programme learning outcomes, spider web, iCGPA reporting skills

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Authors: Valentin Père, Mathieu Milhé, Fabien Baillon, Jean-Louis Dirion

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Microgrids offer potential solutions to meet the need for local grid stability and increase isolated networks autonomy with the integration of intermittent renewable energy production and storage facilities. In such a context, sizing production and storage for a given network is a complex task, highly depending on input data such as power load profile and renewable resource availability. This work aims at developing an operating cost computation methodology for different microgrid designs based on the use of deep reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms to tackle the optimal operation problem in stochastic environments. RL is a data-based sequential decision control method based on Markov decision processes that enable the consideration of random variables for control at a chosen time scale. Agents trained via RL constitute a promising class of Energy Management Systems (EMS) for the operation of microgrids with energy storage. Microgrid sizing (or design) is generally performed by minimizing investment costs and operational costs arising from the EMS behavior. The latter might include economic aspects (power purchase, facilities aging), social aspects (load curtailment), and ecological aspects (carbon emissions). Sizing variables are related to major constraints on the optimal operation of the network by the EMS. In this work, an islanded mode microgrid is considered. Renewable generation is done with photovoltaic panels; an electrochemical battery ensures short-term electricity storage. The controllable unit is a hydrogen tank that is used as a long-term storage unit. The proposed approach focus on the transfer of agent learning for the near-optimal operating cost approximation with deep RL for each microgrid size. Like most data-based algorithms, the training step in RL leads to important computer time. The objective of this work is thus to study the potential of Batch-Constrained Q-learning (BCQ) for the optimal sizing of microgrids and especially to reduce the computation time of operating cost estimation in several microgrid configurations. BCQ is an off-line RL algorithm that is known to be data efficient and can learn better policies than on-line RL algorithms on the same buffer. The general idea is to use the learned policy of agents trained in similar environments to constitute a buffer. The latter is used to train BCQ, and thus the agent learning can be performed without update during interaction sampling. A comparison between online RL and the presented method is performed based on the score by environment and on the computation time.

Keywords: batch-constrained reinforcement learning, control, design, optimal

Procedia PDF Downloads 123