Search results for: power electricity

Authors: Sasiphan Nitayaprapha

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A commercially-supported social network has become an emerging channel for an organization to communicate with and provide services to customers. The success of the commercially-supported social network depends on the ability of the organization to keep the customers in participating in the network. Drawing from the theories of information adoption, information systems continuance, and web usability, the author develops a model to explore how a commercially-supported social network can encourage customers to continue participating and using the information in the network. The theoretical model will be proved through an online survey of customers using the commercially-supported social networking sites of several high technology companies operating in the same sector. The result will be compared with previous studies to learn about the explanatory power of the research model, and to identify the main factors determining users’ intention to continue using a commercially-supported social network. Theoretical and practical implications, and limitations are discussed.

Keywords: social network, information adoption, information systems continuance, web usability, user satisfaction

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Authors: Settana M. Abdulh, Naila A. Sadalla, Yaseen H. Taha, Howaida Elshoush

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Side channel attacks are based on side channel information, which is information that is leaked from encryption systems. This includes timing information, power consumption as well as electromagnetic or even sound leaking which can exploited by an attacker. Implementing side channel attacks are possible if and only if an attacker has access to a cryptosystem. In this case, the attacker can exploit bad implementation in software or hardware which is not controlled by encryption implementer. Thus, he/she will represent a real threat to the security system. Several countermeasures have been proposed to eliminate side channel information vulnerability.Cache timing attack is a special type of side channel attack. Here, timing information is collected and analyzed by an attacker to guess sensitive information such as encryption key or plaintext. This paper reviews the technique applied in this attack and surveys the countermeasures against it, evaluating the feasibility and usability of each. Based on this evaluation, finally we pose several recommendations about using these countermeasures.

Keywords: AES algorithm, side channel attack, cache timing attack, cache timing countermeasure

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Authors: Nur Köprülü

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One of the main questions that have arisen after the Arab uprisings has centered on whether they will lead to democratic transition and what the roles of Islamist actors will be. It has become apparent today that one of the key outcomes has been the partial, if not total, overthrow of authoritarian regimes in some cases. So, this article aims to analyse three synchronous upshots brought about by the uprisings, referring to patterns of state formation in the Maghreb and Mashreq. One of the main outcomes has been the persistence of authoritarianism in various forms, and the fragility of the Arab republics coping with the protests as compared to the more resilient character of the monarchies. In addition, none of the uprisings has brought an Islamist organization to incontestable power, as some predicted. However, ‘old’ Islamist actors have since re-emerged as key players, namely the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere. Thus, to understand the synthesis of change and continuity in the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, analysing the changing faces of authoritarianism in the region and the impact on Islamists in both the Maghreb and the Mashreq is imperative.

Keywords: authoritarianism, democratization, Arab spring, Islamists

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Authors: Ousmane Youme, Jean Marie Dembele, Eugene Ezin, Christophe Cambier

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In recent years, the convolutional neural networks (CNN) architectures designed by evolution algorithms have proven to be competitive with handcrafted architectures designed by experts. However, these algorithms need a lot of computational power, which is beyond the capabilities of most researchers and engineers. To overcome this problem, we propose an evolution architecture under length constraints. It consists of two algorithms: a search length strategy to find an optimal space and a search architecture strategy based on a genetic algorithm to find the best individual in the optimal space. Our algorithms drastically reduce resource costs and also keep good performance. On the Cifar-10 dataset, our framework presents outstanding performance with an error rate of 5.12% and only 4.6 GPU a day to converge to the optimal individual -22 GPU a day less than the lowest cost automatic evolutionary algorithm in the peer competition.

Keywords: CNN architecture, genetic algorithm, evolution algorithm, length constraints

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Authors: A. M. Plante, F. O’Halloran, A. L. McCarthy

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By 2050 it is projected that 2 billion of the global population will be more than 60 years old. Older adults have unique dietary requirements and aging is associated with physiological changes that affect appetite, sensory perception, metabolism, and digestion. Therefore, it is essential that foods recommended and designed for older adults promote healthy aging. To assess cheese as a functional food for the elderly, a range of commercial cheese products were selected and compared for their antioxidant properties. Cheese from various milk sources (bovine, goats, sheep) with different textures and fat content, including cheddar, feta, goats, brie, roquefort, halloumi, wensleydale and gouda, were initially digested with two different simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (SGID) models. One SGID model represented a validated in vitro adult digestion system and the second model, an elderly SGID, was designed to consider the physiological changes associated with aging. The antioxidant potential of all cheese digestates was investigated using in vitro chemical-based antioxidant assays, (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and total phenolic content (TPC)). All adult model digestates had high antioxidant activity across both DPPH ( > 70%) and FRAP ( > 700 µM Fe²⁺/kg.fw) assays. Following in vitro digestion using the elderly SGID model, full-fat red cheddar, low-fat white cheddar, roquefort, halloumi, wensleydale, and gouda digestates had significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) DPPH radical scavenging properties compared to the adult model digestates. Full-fat white cheddar had higher DPPH radical scavenging activity following elderly SGID digestion compared to the adult model digestate, but the difference was not significant. All other cheese digestates from the elderly model were comparable to the digestates from the adult model in terms of radical scavenging activity. The FRAP of all elderly digestates were significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) compared to the adult digestates. Goats cheese was significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) in FRAP (718 µM Fe²/kg.fw) compared to all other digestates in the elderly model. TPC levels in the soft cheeses (feta, goats) and low-fat cheeses (red cheddar, white cheddar) were significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) in the elderly digestates compared to the adult digestates. There was no significant difference in TPC levels, between the elderly and adult model for full-fat cheddar (red, white), roquefort, wensleydale, gouda, and brie digestates. Halloumi cheese was the only cheese that was significantly higher in TPC levels following elderly digestion compared to adult digestates. Low fat red cheddar had significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) TPC levels compared to all other digestates for both adult and elderly digestive systems. Findings from this study demonstrate that aging has an impact on the bioactivity of cheese, as antioxidant activity and TPC levels were lower, following in vitro elderly digestion compared to the adult model. For older adults, soft cheese, particularly goats cheese, was associated with high radical scavenging and reducing power, while roquefort cheese had low antioxidant activity. Also, elderly digestates of halloumi and low-fat red cheddar were associated with high TPC levels. Cheese has potential as a functional food for the elderly, however, bioactivity can vary depending on the cheese matrix. Funding for this research was provided by the RISAM Scholarship Scheme, Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland.

Keywords: antioxidants, cheese, in-vitro digestion, older adults

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Authors: Mojtaba Valinataj

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Nowadays reversible logic has received many attentions as one of the new fields for reducing the power consumption. On the other hand, the processing systems have weaknesses against different external effects. In this paper, some error detecting reversible logic serial multipliers are proposed by incorporating the parity-preserving gates. This way, the new designs are presented for signed parity-preserving serial multipliers based on the Booth's algorithm by exploiting the new arrangements of existing gates. The experimental results show that the proposed 4×4 multipliers in this paper reach up to 20%, 35%, and 41% enhancements in the number of constant inputs, quantum cost, and gate count, respectively, as the reversible logic criteria, compared to previous designs. Furthermore, all the proposed designs have been generalized for n×n multipliers with general formulations to estimate the main reversible logic criteria as the functions of the multiplier size.

Keywords: Booth’s algorithm, error detection, multiplication, parity-preserving gates, quantum computers, reversible logic

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Authors: Namubiru Zula, Janice Desire Busingue

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Pro-active educational approaches have lately been adapted Globally in the Conservation of Natural Resources. This led to the introduction of the co-management system, which worked for some European Countries on the conservation of sharks and other Natural resources. However, this approach has drastically failed in the Fishery sector on Lake Victoria; and the punitive education approach has been re-instated. Literature is readily available about the punitive educational approaches and scanty with the pro-active one. This article analyses the pro-active approach adopted by the Department of Fisheries for the orientation of BMU leaders in a co-management system. The study is interpreted using the social constructivist lens for co-management of the fishery resource to ensure that fishers are also back to fishing sustainably. It highlights some of the education methods used, methodological challenges that included the power and skills gap of the facilitators and program designers, and some implications to practice.

Keywords: beach management units, fishers, education methods, proactive approach, punitive approach

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Authors: Krzysztof Rafał, Weronika Radziszewska, Hubert Biedka, Oskar Grabowski, Krzysztof Mik

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We present a method to choose energy storage technologies and their parameters for the economic operation of a microgrid. A grid-connected system with local loads and PV generation is assumed, where an energy storage system (ESS) is attached to minimize energy cost by providing energy balancing and arbitrage functionalities. The ESS operates in a hybrid configuration and consists of two unique technologies operated in a coordinated way. Based on given energy profiles and economical data a model calculates financial flow for ESS investment, including energy cost and ESS depreciation resulting from degradation. The optimization strategy proposes a hybrid set of two technologies with their respective power and energy ratings to minimize overall system cost in a given timeframe. Results are validated through microgrid simulations using real-life input profiles.

Keywords: energy storage, hybrid energy storage, cost-benefit analysis, microgrid, battery sizing

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Authors: Laura M. F. Bertens

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The houses we inhabit are important containers of memory. As homes, they take on meaning for those who live inside, and memories of family life become intimately tied up with rooms, windows, and gardens. Each new family creates a new layer of meaning, resulting in a palimpsest of family memory. These houses function quite literally as memory palaces, as a walk through a childhood home will show; each room conjures up images of past events. Over time, these personal memories become woven together with the cultural memory of countries and generations. The importance of the home is a central theme in art, and several contemporary artists have a special interest in the relationship between memory and the home. This paper analyses three case studies in order to get a deeper understanding of the ways in which the home functions and feels like a memory palace, both on an individual and on a collective, cultural level. Close reading of the artworks is performed on the theoretical intersection between Art History and Cultural Memory Studies. The first case study concerns works from the exhibition Mnemosyne by the artist duo Anne and Patrick Poirier. These works combine interests in architecture, archaeology, and psychology. Models of cities and fantastical architectural designs resemble physical structures (such as the brain), architectural metaphors used in representing the concept of memory (such as the memory palace), and archaeological remains, essential to our shared cultural memories. Secondly, works by Do Ho Suh will help us understand the relationship between the home and memory on a far more personal level; outlines of rooms from his former homes, made of colourful, transparent fabric and combined into new structures, provide an insight into the way these spaces retain individual memories. The spaces have been emptied out, and only the husks remain. Although the remnants of walls, light switches, doors, electricity outlets, etc. are standard, mass-produced elements found in many homes and devoid of inherent meaning, together they remind us of the emotional significance attached to the muscle memory of spaces we once inhabited. The third case study concerns an exhibition in a house put up for sale on the Dutch real estate website Funda. The house was built in 1933 by a Jewish family fleeing from Germany, and the father and son were later deported and killed. The artists Anne van As and CA Wertheim have used the history and memories of the house as a starting point for an exhibition called (T)huis, a combination of the Dutch words for home and house. This case study illustrates the way houses become containers of memories; each new family ‘resets’ the meaning of a house, but traces of earlier memories remain. The exhibition allows us to explore the transition of individual memories into shared cultural memory, in this case of WWII. Taken together, the analyses provide a deeper understanding of different facets of the relationship between the home and memory, both individual and collective, and the ways in which art can represent these.

Keywords: Anne and Patrick Poirier, cultural memory, Do Ho Suh, home, memory palace

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Authors: Oliver Mărunţălu, Gheorghe Lăzăroiu, Elena Elisabeta Manea, Dana Andreya Bondrea, Lăcrămioara Diana Robescu

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This paper presents the results obtained by numerical simulation of the pollutants dispersion in the atmosphere coming from the evacuation of combustion gases resulting from the fuel combustion used by electric thermal power plant using the software ANSYS CFX-CFD. The model uses the Navier-Stokes equation to simulate the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere. We considered as important factors in elaboration of simulation the atmospheric conditions (pressure, temperature, wind speed, wind direction), the exhaust velocity of the combustion gases, chimney height and the obstacles (buildings). Using the air quality monitoring stations we have measured the concentrations of main pollutants (SO2, NOx and PM). The pollutants were monitored over a period of 3 months, after that we calculated the average concentration, which is used by the software. The concentrations are: 8.915 μg/m3 (NOx), 9.587 μg/m3 (SO2) and 42 μg/m3 (PM). A comparison of test data with simulation results demonstrated that CFX was able to describe the dispersion of the pollutant as well the concentration of this pollutants in the atmosphere.

Keywords: air pollutants, computational fluid dynamics, dispersion, simulation

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Authors: Naji Ali Albakay, Abdulrahman Alothaim, Isa Barshushi

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The most common quadrature amplitude modulator (QAM) applies two Mach-Zehnder Modulators (MZM) and one phase shifter to generate high order modulation format. The bias of MZM changes over time due to temperature, vibration, and aging factors. The change in the biasing causes distortion to the generated QAM signal which leads to deterioration of bit error rate (BER) performance. Therefore, it is critical to be able to lock MZM’s Q point to the required operating point for good performance. We propose a technique for automatic bias control (ABC) of QAM transmitter using BER measurements and gradient descent optimization algorithm. The proposed technique is attractive because it uses the pertinent metric, BER, which compensates for bias drifting independently from other system variations such as laser source output power. The proposed scheme performance and its operating principles are simulated using OptiSystem simulation software for 4-QAM and 16-QAM transmitters.

Keywords: automatic bias control, optical fiber communication, optical modulation, optical devices

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Authors: Siti Khairunniza-Bejo, Yusnida Yusoff, Nik Salwani Nik Yusoff, Idris Abu Seman, Mohamad Izzuddin Anuar

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Most of the oil palm plantations have been threatened by Basal Stem Rot (BSR) disease which causes serious economic impact. This study was conducted to identify the healthy and BSR-infected oil palm tree using thirteen color indices. Multispectral and thermal camera was used to capture 216 images of the leaves taken from frond number 1, 9 and 17. Indices of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), red (R), green (G), blue (B), near infrared (NIR), green – blue (GB), green/blue (G/B), green – red (GR), green/red (G/R), hue (H), saturation (S), intensity (I) and thermal index (T) were used. From this study, it can be concluded that G index taken from frond number 9 is the best index to differentiate between the healthy and BSR-infected oil palm trees. It not only gave high value of correlation coefficient (R=-0.962), but also high value of separation between healthy and BSR-infected oil palm tree. Furthermore, power and S model developed using G index gave the highest R2 value which is 0.985.

Keywords: oil palm, image processing, disease, leaves

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Authors: Jessy Mattar, Mohamad Turk, Maurice Nonus, Nikolai Lebovka, Henri El Zakhem, Eugene Vorobiev

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The effects of electro-stimulation of S. cerevisiae cells in colloidal suspension by Pulsed Electric Fields ‎‎(PEF) with electric field strength E = 20 – 2000 V.cm-1 and effective PEF treatment time tPEF = 10^−5 – 1 s were ‎investigated. The applied experimental procedure includes variations in the preliminary fermentation time and ‎electro-stimulation by PEF-treatment. Plate counting was performed.‎ At relatively high electric fields (E ≥ 1000 V.cm-1) and moderate PEF treatment time (tPEF > 100 µs), the ‎extraction of ionic components from yeast was observed by conductivity measurements, which can be related to ‎electroporation of cell membranes. Cell counting revealed a dependency of the colonies’ size on the time of ‎preliminary fermentation tf and the power consumption W, however no dependencies were noticeable by varying the initial yeast concentration in the treated suspensions.‎

Keywords: intensification, yeast, fermentation, electroporation, biotechnology

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Authors: Ajay V. Kolhe, R. E. Shelke, S. S. Khandare

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This study discusses the performance and combustion characteristics of a direct injection diesel engine fueled with Jatropha methyl ester (JME). In order to determine the performance and combustion characteristics, the experiments were conducted at the constant speed mode (1500rpm) under the full load condition of the engine on single cylinder 4-stroke CI engine. The result indicated that when the test engine was fuelled with JME, the engine performance slightly weakened, the combustion characteristics slightly changed when compared to petroleum based diesel fuel. The biodiesel caused reduction in carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions, but they caused to increases in nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. The useful brake power obtained is similar to diesel fuel for all loads. Oxygen content in the exhaust is more with JME blend due to the reason that fuel itself contains oxygen. JME as a new Biodiesel and its blends can be used in diesel engines without any engine modification.

Keywords: biodiesel, combustion, CI engine, jatropha curcas oil, performance and emission

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Authors: Hamadi Cherif, Christophe Coquelet, Paolo Stringari, Denis Clodic, Laura Pellegrini, Stefania Moioli, Stefano Langè

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Biogas is a promising technology which can be used as a vehicle fuel, for heat and electricity production, or injected in the national gas grid. It is storable, transportable, not intermittent and substitutable for fossil fuels. This gas produced from the wastewater treatment by degradation of organic matter under anaerobic conditions is mainly composed of methane and carbon dioxide. To be used as a renewable fuel, biogas, whose energy comes only from methane, must be purified from carbon dioxide and other impurities such as water vapor, siloxanes and hydrogen sulfide. Purification of biogas for this application particularly requires the removal of hydrogen sulfide, which negatively affects the operation and viability of equipment especially pumps, heat exchangers and pipes, causing their corrosion. Several methods are available to eliminate hydrogen sulfide from biogas. Herein, reactive absorption in structured packed column by means of chemical absorption in aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions is considered. This study is based on simulations using Aspen Plus™ V8.0, and comparisons are done with data from an industrial pilot plant treating 85 Nm3/h of biogas which contains about 30 ppm of hydrogen sulfide. The rate-based model approach has been used for simulations in order to determine the efficiencies of separation for different operating conditions. To describe vapor-liquid equilibrium, a γ/ϕ approach has been considered: the Electrolyte NRTL model has been adopted to represent non-idealities in the liquid phase, while the Redlich-Kwong equation of state has been used for the vapor phase. In order to validate the thermodynamic model, Henry’s law constants of each compound in water have been verified against experimental data. Default values available in Aspen Plus™ V8.0 for the properties of pure components properties as heat capacity, density, viscosity and surface tension have also been verified. The obtained results for physical and chemical properties are in a good agreement with experimental data. Reactions involved in the process have been studied rigorously. Equilibrium constants for equilibrium reactions and the reaction rate constant for the kinetically controlled reaction between carbon dioxide and the hydroxide ion have been checked. Results of simulations of the pilot plant purification section show the influence of low temperatures, concentration of sodium hydroxide and hydrodynamic parameters on the selective absorption of hydrogen sulfide. These results show an acceptable degree of accuracy when compared with the experimental data obtained from the pilot plant. Results show also the great efficiency of sodium hydroxide for the removal of hydrogen sulfide. The content of this compound in the gas leaving the column is under 1 ppm.

Keywords: biogas, hydrogen sulfide, reactive absorption, sodium hydroxide, structured packed column

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Authors: Mohammad Arif Sobhan Bhuiyan, Mamun Bin Ibne Reaz

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The rapid advancement of CMOS technology, in the recent years, has led the scientists to fabricate wireless transceivers fully on-chip which results in smaller size and lower cost wireless communication devices with acceptable performance characteristics. Moreover, the performance of the wireless transceivers rigorously depends on the performance of its first block T/R switch. This article proposes a design of a high performance T/R switch for 2.4 GHz RF wireless transceivers in 0.13 µm CMOS technology. The switch exhibits 1- dB insertion loss, 37.2-dB isolation in transmit mode and 1.4-dB insertion loss, 25.6-dB isolation in receive mode. The switch has a power handling capacity (P1dB) of 30.9-dBm. Besides, by avoiding bulky inductors and capacitors, the size of the switch is drastically reduced and it occupies only (0.00296) mm2 which is the lowest ever reported in this frequency band. Therefore, simplicity and low chip area of the circuit will trim down the cost of fabrication as well as the whole transceiver.

Keywords: CMOS, ISM band, SPDT, t/r switch, transceiver

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Authors: Mohamad Baqer Heidari, Hefzollah.Mohammadian

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This brief presents two original implementations of improved accuracy current-mode multiplier/divider circuits. Besides the advantage of their simplicity, these original multiplier/divider structures present the advantage of very small linearity errors that can be obtained as a result of the proposed design techniques (0.75% and 0.9%, respectively, for an extended range of the input currents). The original multiplier/divider circuits permit a facile reconfiguration, the presented structures representing the functional basis for implementing complex function synthesizer circuits. The proposed computational structures are designed for implementing in 0.18-µm CMOS technology, with a low-voltage operation (a supply voltage of 1.2 V). The circuits’ power consumptions are 60 and 75 µW, respectively, while their frequency bandwidths are 79.6 and 59.7 MHz, respectively.

Keywords: analog signal processing, current-mode operation, functional core, multiplier, reconfigurable circuits, industrial package systems

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Authors: Mohammed Affanuddin H. Siddique, Jayesh S. Shukla, Chetan B. Meshram

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The neural networks are one of the power tools of machine learning. After the invention of perceptron in early 1980's, the neural networks and its application have grown rapidly. Neural networks are a technique originally developed for pattern investigation. The structure of a neural network consists of neurons connected through synapse. Here, we have investigated the different algorithms and cost function reduction techniques for optimization of vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) rotor blades. The aerodynamic force coefficients corresponding to the airfoils are stored in a database along with the airfoil coordinates. A forward propagation neural network is created with the input as aerodynamic coefficients and output as the airfoil co-ordinates. In the proposed algorithm, the hidden layer is incorporated into cost function having linear and non-linear error terms. In this article, it is observed that the ANNs (Artificial Neural Network) can be used for the VAWT’s optimization.

Keywords: VAWT, ANN, optimization, inverse design

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Authors: Joaquim Rubens Fontes-Filho, Felipe Buchbinder, Marcelo Desterro

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The study aims to identify the effects of an economic recession on the compensation of executives of listed companies. Market-based and labor environment explanations have received particular attention, both to explain the reasons for a growth in this compensation and to indicate that they may increase agency problems rather than mitigate them. In this sense, labor forces, especially related to the market for executives, contribute to defining the terms of compensation packages and represent a significant external control mechanism to moderate agency problems, but may be of little effect if the executives are entrenched and concentrate enough power to have a say in his/her compensation. Based on a five-year data panel related to executive compensation in 250 listed companies in Brazil, we examine whether the economic recession in the last two years produced any impact in this compensation, controlling for the sector and level of governance of the company.

Keywords: agency problems, executive compensation, control mechanisms, corporate governance

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Authors: Chiang-Ho Cheng, An-Shik Yang, Chih-Jer Lin, Chun-Ying Lee

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This paper aims to present the design, fabrication and test of a novel piezoelectric actuated, check-valves embedded micropump having the advantages of miniature size, light weight and low power consumption. This device is designed to pump gases and liquids with the capability of performing the self-priming and bubble-tolerant work mode by maximizing the stroke volume of the membrane as well as the compression ratio via minimization of the dead volume of the micropump chamber and channel. By experiment apparatus setup, we can get the real-time values of the flow rate of micropump, the displacement of the piezoelectric actuator and the deformation of the check valve, simultaneously. The micropump with check valve 0.4 mm in thickness obtained higher output performance under the sinusoidal waveform of 120 Vpp. The micropump achieved the maximum pumping rates of 42.2 ml/min and back pressure of 14.0 kPa at the corresponding frequency of 28 and 20 Hz. The presented micropump is able to pump gases with a pumping rate of 196 ml/min at operating frequencies of 280 Hz under the sinusoidal waveform of 120 Vpp.

Keywords: actuator, check-valve, micropump, piezoelectric

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Authors: Sol Girouard, Zona Kostic

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A home is often the largest and most expensive purchase a person makes. Whether the decision leads to a successful outcome will be determined by a combination of critical factors. In this paper, we propose a method that efficiently handles all the factors in residential real estate and performs predictions given a feature space with high dimensionality while controlling for overfitting. The proposed method was built on gradient descent and boosting algorithms and uses a mixed optimizing technique to improve the prediction power. Usually, a single model cannot handle all the cases thus our approach builds multiple models based on different subsets of the predictors. The algorithm was tested on 3 million homes across the U.S., and the experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of this approach by outperforming techniques currently used in forecasting prices. With everyday changes on the real estate market, our proposed algorithm capitalizes from new events allowing more efficient predictions.

Keywords: real estate prediction, gradient descent, boosting, ensemble methods, active learning, training

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Authors: Monkiz Khasreen

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In the context of the global trend towards reducing new buildings carbon footprint, the design team is required to make early decisions that have a major influence on embodied and operational carbon. Sustainability strategies should be clear during early stages of building design process, as changes made later can be extremely costly. Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) could be used as the vehicle to carry other tools and processes towards achieving the requested improvement. Although LCA is the ‘golden standard’ to evaluate buildings from 'cradle to grave', lack of details available on the concept design makes LCA very difficult, if not impossible, to be used as an estimation tool at early stages. Issues related to transparency and accessibility of information in the building industry are affecting the credibility of LCA studies. A verified database derived from LCA case studies is required to be accessible to researchers, design professionals, and decision makers in order to offer guidance on specific areas of significant impact. This database could be the build-up of data from multiple sources within a pool of research held in this context. One of the most important factors that affects the reliability of such data is the temporal factor as building materials, components, and systems are rapidly changing with the advancement of technology making production more efficient and less environmentally harmful. Recent LCA studies on different building functions, types, and structures are always needed to update databases derived from research and to form case bases for comparison studies. There is also a need to make these studies transparent and accessible to designers. The work in this paper sets out to address this need. This paper also presents life-cycle case study of a new-build educational building in England. The building utilised very current construction methods and technologies and is rated as BREEAM excellent. Carbon emissions of different life-cycle stages and different building materials and components were modelled. Scenario and sensitivity analyses were used to estimate the future of new educational buildings in England. The study attempts to form an indicator during the early design stages of similar buildings. Carbon dioxide emissions of this case study building, when normalised according to floor area, lie towards the lower end of the range of worldwide data reported in the literature. Sensitivity analysis shows that life cycle assessment results are highly sensitive to future assumptions made at the design stage, such as future changes in electricity generation structure over time, refurbishment processes and recycling. The analyses also prove that large savings in carbon dioxide emissions can result from very small changes at the design stage.

Keywords: architecture, building, carbon dioxide, construction, educational buildings, England, environmental impact, life-cycle assessment

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Authors: Hasanah Md. Amin

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The existence of cyberspace and its growing contents is real and overwhelming. Visual as one of the properties of cyber contents is increasingly becoming more significant and popular among creator and user. The visual and aesthetic of the content is consistent with many similarities. Aesthetic, although universal, has slight differences across the world. Aesthetic power could impress, influence, and cause bias among the users. The content creator who knows how to manipulate this visuals and aesthetic expression can dominate the scenario and the user who is ‘expressive literate’ will gain much from the scenes. User who understands aesthetic will be rewarded with competence, confidence, and certainly, a personality enhanced experience in carrying out a task when participating in this chaotic but promising cyberworld. The aim of this article is to gain knowledge from related literature and research regarding User-Generated Content (UGC), which focuses on aesthetic expression by the Net generation. The objective of this preliminary study is to analyze the aesthetic expression linked to visual from the participatory cultural viewpoint looking for meaning, value, patterns, and characteristics.

Keywords: visual overloaded, user-generated content, net generation, visual arts

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Authors: Fatih Suleyman Taskincan, Ahmet Karaarslan

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In this article, the study and analysis of Single Ended Primary Inductance Converter (SEPIC) are presented for battery charging applications that will be used in military applications. The usage of this kind of converters come from its advantage of non-reverse polarity at outputs. As capacitors charge and discharge through inductance, peak current does not occur on capacitors. Therefore, the efficiency will be high compared to buck-boost converters. In this study, the converter (SEPIC) is designed to be operated with Internal Model Controller (IMC). The traditional controllers like Proportional Integral Controller are not preferred as its linearity behavior. Hence IMC is designed for this converter. This controller is a model-based control and provides more robustness and better set point monitoring. Moreover, it can be used for an unstable process where the conventional controller cannot handle the dynamic operation. Matlab/Simulink environment is used to simulate the converter and its controller, then, the results are shown and discussed.

Keywords: DC/DC converter, single ended primary inductance converter, SEPIC, internal model controller, IMC, switched mode power supply

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Authors: David Tennison

Abstract:

Epistemic injustice, an injustice done to a person specifically in their capacity as a “knower”, is a subtle form of discrimination, yet its effects can be as dehumanizing and damaging as more overt forms of discrimination. The lens of epistemic injustice has, in recent years, been fruitfully applied to the field of healthcare, examining questions of agency, power, credibility and belief in doctor-patient interactions. Contested illness patients (e.g., those with illnesses lacking scientific consensuses such as fibromyalgia (FM), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long Covid) face higher levels of scrutiny than other patient groups and are often disbelieved or dismissed when their ailments cannot be easily imaged or tested for- often encapsulated by the expression “it’s all in your head”. Using the case study of FM, the trials of contested illness patients in healthcare can be conceptualized in terms of epistemic injustice, and what is going wrong in these doctor-patient relationships can be effectively diagnosed. This case study also helps reveal epistemic dysfunction (structural epistemic issues embedded in the healthcare system), how this relates to stigma identity-based prejudice, and how the healthcare system upholds existing societal hierarchies and disenfranchises the most vulnerable. In the modern landscape, where cases of these chronic illnesses are not only on the rise but future pandemics threaten to add to their number, this conversation is crucial for the well-being of patients and providers. This presentation will cover what epistemic injustice is and how it can be applied to the politics of the doctor-patient interaction on a micro level and the politics of the healthcare system more broadly. Contested illnesses will be explored in terms of how the “contested” label causes the patient to experience disease stigma and lowers their credibility in healthcare and across other aspects of life. This will be explored in tandem with a discussion of existing identity-based prejudice in the healthcare system and how social identities (such as those of gender, race, and socioeconomic status) intersect with the contested illness label. The effects of epistemic injustice, which include worsening patients’ symptoms of mental health and potentially disenfranchising them from the healthcare system altogether, will be presented alongside the potential ethical quandaries this poses for providers. Finally, issues with the way healthcare appointments and the modern NHS function will be explored in terms of epistemic injustice and solutions to improve doctor-patient communication and patient care will be discussed. The relationship between contested illness patients and healthcare providers is notoriously poor, and while this can mean frustration or feelings of unfulfillment in providers, the negative effects for patients are much more severe. The purpose of this research, then, is to highlight these issues and suggest ways in which to improve the healthcare experience for these patients, along with improving doctor-patient communication and mending the doctor-patient relationship in a tangible and realistic way. This research also aims to provoke important conversations about belief and hierarchy in medical settings and how these aspects intersect with identity prejudices.

Keywords: epistemic injustice, fibromyalgia, contested illnesses, chronic illnesses, doctor-patient relationships, philosophy of medicine

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Authors: Chandra Upadhyaya, Arup Kumar Sarma

Abstract:

In the North Eastern part of India several hydro power projects are being proposed and execution for some of them are already initiated. There are controversies surrounding these constructions. Impact of these dams in the downstream part of the rivers needs to be assessed so that eco-system and people living downstream are protected by redesigning the projects if it becomes necessary. This may result in reducing the stresses to the affected ecosystem and people living downstream. At present many index based ecological methods are present to assess impact on ecology. However, none of these methods are capable of assessing the affect resulting from dam induced diurnal variation of flow in the downstream. We need environmental flow methodology based on hydrological index which can address the affect resulting from dam induced diurnal variation of flow and play an important role in a riverine ecosystem management and be able to provide a qualitative idea about changes in the habitat for aquatic and riparian species.

Keywords: ecosystem, environmental flow assessment, entropy, IHA, TNC

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Authors: Marcin Dębowski, Marcin Zieliński, Mirosław Krzemieniewski

Abstract:

This publication presents a reactor designed for methane fermentation of organic substrates. The design is based on rotating cellular cylinders connected to a biomass feeder and an ultrasonic generator. This allows for simultaneous mixing and partial disintegration of the biomass, as well as stimulating higher metabolic rates within the microorganisms. Such a design allows from 2-fold to 14-fold reduction of power usage when compared to conventional mixing systems. The sludge does not undergo mechanical deformation during the mixing process, which improves substrate biodegradation efficiency by 10-15%. Cavitation occurs near the surface of the rods, partially releasing the biomass and separating it from the destroyed microorganisms. Biogas is released further away from the cellular cylinder rods due to the effect of the ultrasonic waves, in addition to increased biochemical activity of the microorganisms and increased exchange of the nutrient medium with metabolic products, which results in biogas production increase by about 15%.

Keywords: methane fermentation, bioreactors, biomass, mixing system

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Authors: Ahmad Zamzam

Abstract:

With the development of the economy in recent years, Saudi Arabia has been maintaining high economic growth. Therefore, its energy consumption has increased dramatically. This economic growth reflected on the expansion of high-rise tower's construction. Jeddah coastal strip (cornice) has many high-rise buildings planned to start next few years. These projects required a massive amount of electricity that was not planned to be supplied by the old infrastructure. This research studies the effect of the building envelope on its thermal performance. It follows a parametric simulation methodology using Ecotect software to analyze the effect of the building envelope design on its cooling energy load for an office high-rise building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which includes building geometrical form, massing treatments, orientation and glazing type effect. The research describes an integrated passive design approach to reduce the cooling requirement for high-rise building through an improved building envelope design. The research used Ecotect to make four simulation studies; the first simulation compares the thermal performance of five high-rise buildings, presenting the basic shape of the plan. All the buildings have the same plan area and same floor height. The goal of this simulation is to find out the best shape for the thermal performance. The second simulation studies the effect of orientation on the thermal performance by rotating the same building model to find out the best and the worst angle for the building thermal performance. The third simulation studies the effect of the massing treatment on the total cooling load. It compared five models with different massing treatment, but with the same total built up area. The last simulation studied the effect of the glazing type by comparing the total cooling load of the same building using five different glass type and also studies the feasibility of using these glass types by studying the glass cost effect. The results indicate that using the circle shape as building plan could reduce the thermal cooling load by 40%. Also, using shading devices could reduce the cooling loads by 5%. The study states that using any of the massing grooving, recess or any treatment that could increase the outer exposed surface is not preferred and will decrease the building thermal performance. Also, the result shows that the best direction for glazing and openings from thermal performance viewpoint in Jeddah is the North direction while the worst direction is the East one. The best direction angle for openings - regarding the thermal performance in Jeddah- is 15 deg West and the worst is 250 deg West (110 deg East). Regarding the glass type effect, comparing to the double glass with air fill type as a reference case, the double glass with Air-Low-E will save 14% from the required amount of the thermal cooling load annually. Argon fill and triple glass will save 16% and 17% from the total thermal cooling load respectively, but for the glass cost purpose, using the Argon fill and triple glass is not feasible.

Keywords: passive cooling, reduce thermal load, Jeddah, building shape, energy

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Authors: Muhammad Umer Toor, Syed Imran Haider, Babar Afzaal

Abstract:

Brexit nudged the British executive towards overriding parliamentary sovereignty in the UK. In 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to prorogue parliament to prevent it from debating withdrawal from the UK. In 2022, Pakistan's Prime Minister also tried to nullify the ability of parliament to vote on the constitutional mechanism of a no-confidence vote. In both cases, the apex courts intervened and restored the supremacy of Parliament, averting constitutional crises. This paper examines the legitimacy and power of said courts to intervene in sensitive political and constitutional questions. The research focuses on the administrative law area of judicial review. It examines how in UK and Pakistan practice of judicial review helps mediate constitutional deadlocks between institutions comparatively. This is secondary research employing qualitative, comparative, doctrinal, and analytical methodologies to research a specific area of law from two jurisdictions, using primary and secondary sources.

Keywords: administrative law, judicial review, law, constitutional law

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Authors: Zahra Emami, H. Reza Mesgarzade, A. Morad Ghorbami, S. Reza Motahari

Abstract:

This paper presents a method for calculation of parasitic elements consisting of leakage inductance and parasitic capacitance in a high voltage pulse transformer. The parasitic elements of pulse transformers significantly influence the resulting pulse shape of a power modulator system. In order to prevent the effects on the pulse shape before constructing the transformer an electrical model is needed. The technique procedures for computing these elements are based on finite element analysis. The finite element model of pulse transformer is created using software "Ansys Maxwell 3D". Finally, the transformer parasitic elements is calculated and compared with the value obtained from the actual test and pulse modulator is simulated and results is compared with actual test of pulse modulator. The results obtained are very similar with the test values.

Keywords: pulse transformer, simulation, modeling, Maxwell 3D, modulator

Procedia PDF Downloads 463