Search results for: linear motor motion stage

Authors: Diwei Lin, Amanda Jh. Tan

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We present a very rare case of de novo large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the prostate (LCNEC) in an 84-year-old male on a background of high-grade, muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. While NE tumours account for 1% to 5% of all cases of prostate cancer and scattered NE cells can be found in 10% to 100% of prostate adenocarcinomas, pure LCNEC of the prostate is extremely rare. Most LCNEC of the prostate is thought to originate by clonal progression under the selection pressure of therapy and refractory to long-term hormonal treatment for adenocarcinoma of the prostate. De novo LCNEC is only described in case reports and is thought to develop via direct malignant transformation. Limited data in the English literature makes it difficult to accurately predict the prognosis of LCNEC of the prostate. However, current evidence suggesting that increasing NE differentiation in prostate adenocarcinoma is associated with a higher stage, high-grade disease, and a worse prognosis.

Keywords: large cell neuroendocrine cancer, prostate cancer, refractory cancer, medical and health sciences

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Authors: M. Zain, Thaung H. Aung, Naveed Anwar

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During the service life, a structure may experience extreme loading conditions. The current study proposes a new methodology that covers the effect of uncertainty involved in gravity loadings on key structural elements of new and complex structures by emphasizing on a very realistic assumption that allows the 'Performance-Based Assessment' to be executed on the structure against the gravity loadings. The methodology does not require the complete removal of an element, instead, it permits the incremental reduction in the capacity of key structural elements and preserves the same stiffness of the member in each case of capacity loss. To demonstrate the application of the proposed methodology, a 13 story complex structure is selected that comprises of a diverse structural configuration. The results ensure the structural integrity against the applied gravity loadings, as well as the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

Keywords: force-deformation relationship, gravity loading, incremental capacity reduction, multi-linear plastic link element, SAP2000, stiffness

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Authors: Tara Gurung, Suprina Prajapati

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Health and well being of people is a crucial for accomplishing sustainable development goals of any country. The present study focuses on quality of life of patients undergoing hemodialysis. Hemodialysis is a life sustaining treatment for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Hemodialysis can bring about significant impairment in health related quality of life (HRQOL). The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of life of hemodialysis patients undergoing hemodialysis. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was utilized in total 100 samples using random sampling technique. The findings revealed that the total quality of life of the patients was 30.41±3.99 out of 100. The total physical component score was statistically significant with education status of the patients where p value for t test was 0.03 (p=0.03) and occupation of the patients where p value for the ANOVA test was 0.007 (p=0.007). The study recommended that it would be better if awareness programs regarding chronic kidney disease and life style modification in hemodialysis patients is given to the patients so that it would help patients to maintain the HRQOL.

Keywords: health and well bing, hemodialysis, patients quality of life

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Authors: Artemis Louppis, Michalis Constantinou, Ioanna Kosma, Federica Blando, Michael Kontominas, Anastasia Badeka

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The aim of the present study was to differentiate yellow prickly pear according to geographical origin based on the combination of mineral content, physicochemical parameters, vitamins and antioxidants. A total of 240 yellow prickly pear samples from Cyprus, Spain, Italy and Greece were analyzed for pH, titratable acidity, electrical conductivity, protein, moisture, ash, fat, antioxidant activity, individual antioxidants, sugars and vitamins by UPLC-MS/MS as well as minerals by ICP-MS. Statistical treatment of the data included multivariate analysis of variance followed by linear discriminant analysis. Based on results, a correct classification of 66.7% was achieved using the cross validation by mineral content while 86.1% was achieved using the cross validation method by combination of all analytical parameters.

Keywords: geographical differentiation, prickly pear, chemometrics, analytical techniques

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Authors: Donald C. Lantu, Henndy Ginting, M. Yorga Permana, Dany M. A. Ramdlany

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We constructed a training program for top-talents of a Bank with Scharmer Theory-U as the model. In this training program, we implemented the action learning perspective, as it is claimed to be the most effective one currently available. In the process, participants were encouraged to be more involved, especially compared to traditional lecturing. The goal of this study is to assess the effectiveness of this particular training. The program consists of six days non-residential workshop within two months. Between each workshop, the participants were involved in the works of action learning group. They were challenged by dealing with the real problem related to their tasks at work. The participants of the program were 30 best talents who were chosen according to their yearly performance. Using paired difference statistical test in the behavioral assessment, we found that the training was not effective to increase participants’ leadership competencies. For the future development program, we suggested to modify the goals of the program toward the next stage of development.

Keywords: action learning, behavior, leadership development, Theory-U

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Authors: Saghar Heidari

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In this paper, we study the valuation problem of European continuous-installment options under Markov-modulated models with a partial differential equation approach. Due to the opportunity for continuing or stopping to pay installments, the valuation problem under regime-switching models can be formulated as coupled partial differential equations (CPDE) with free boundary features. To value the installment options, we express the truncated CPDE as a linear complementarity problem (LCP), then a finite element method is proposed to solve the resulted variational inequality. Under some appropriate assumptions, we establish the stability of the method and illustrate some numerical results to examine the rate of convergence and accuracy of the proposed method for the pricing problem under the regime-switching model.

Keywords: continuous-installment option, European option, regime-switching model, finite element method

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Authors: Carlos Guillermo Lloga Sanz, Maria del Carmen Tamayo Asef

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As an object of study in Cuban universities, cinema is still in its infancy. This is relevant considering the significance of cinema within the local political culture and its impact on countries of the region. Discussions about the medium have been carried out mainly in the field of film criticism. The objective of this article is to reflect on the divergences between film studies and film criticism taking into account formal and theoretical features and to explore the transcendence of this debate for the intellectual ambiance of the Island. Methodologically, the study relies on theoretical elaborations based on literature review and non-structure interviews with Cuban film critics and scholars. The study finds that the gradation proposed by the Anglo-Saxon tradition, where film studies are considered a “higher stage," compared to criticism and cinephilia, does not apply to the Cuban space. Instead, to assess the state of reflection on cinema in Cuba, it is essential to consider it a starry node traversed by epistemic, institutional, and geopolitical matrices.

Keywords: film studies, film criticism, Cuban cinema, Cuban film studies

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Authors: Qi Kan, Xiaoyu Ying

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With a rapid urbanization in China, the high-density new urban-center districts have already changed the microclimate in the city. Because of the using characters of building the commercial pedestrian streets which have emerged massively making a large number of pedestrians appear in there, pedestrian comfort in the commercial streets of the new urban-center districts requires more attention. The different street spatial layout will change the wind environment in the street and then influence the pedestrian comfort. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are used to study the correlation between the street aspect ratio and wind environment, under the simulation with relevant weather conditions. The results show that the wind speed in the city streets is inversely proportional to the street aspect ratio. The conclusion will provide an evaluation basis for urban planners and architects at the beginning stage of the design to effectively avoid the potential poor physical environment.

Keywords: street spatial layout, wind environment, street aspect ratio, pedestrian comfort

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Authors: Liu Canqi, Zeng Junsheng

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This study identifies two typical bottlenecks that occur when a vehicle cannot change lanes: car following and car stopping. The ideas of traffic field and traffic mass are presented in this work. When there are other vehicles in front of the target vehicle within a particular distance, a force is created that affects the target vehicle's driving speed. The characteristics of the driver and the vehicle collectively determine the traffic mass; the driving speed of the vehicle and external variables have no bearing on this. From a physical level, this study examines the vehicle's bottleneck when following a car, identifies the outside factors that have an impact on how it drives, takes into account that the vehicle will transform kinetic energy into potential energy during deceleration, and builds a calculation model for traffic mass. The energy-time conversion coefficient is created from an economic standpoint utilizing the social average wage level and the average cost of motor fuel. Vissim simulation program measures the vehicle's deceleration distance and delays under the Wiedemann car-following model. The difference between the measured value of deceleration delay acquired by simulation and the theoretical value calculated by the model is compared using the conversion calculation model of traffic mass and deceleration delay. The experimental data demonstrate that the model is reliable since the error rate between the theoretical calculation value of the deceleration delay obtained by the model and the measured value of simulation results is less than 10%. The article's conclusion is that the traffic field has an impact on moving cars on the road and that physical and socioeconomic factors should be taken into account while studying vehicle-following behavior. The deceleration delay value of a vehicle's driving and traffic mass have a socioeconomic relationship that can be utilized to calculate the energy-time conversion coefficient when dealing with the bottleneck of cars stopping and starting.

Keywords: traffic field, social economics, traffic mass, bottleneck, deceleration delay

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Authors: Sneha Kumari, Ravi Krishnan Elangovan

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This abstract describes the development of a high-speed tracking method by modification in motor components for nanoparticle attachment. Myosin motors are nano-sized protein machines powering movement that defines life. These miniature molecular devices serve as engines utilizing chemical energy stored in ATP to produce useful mechanical energy in the form of a few nanometre displacement events leading to force generation that is required for cargo transport, cell division, cell locomotion, translated to macroscopic movements like running etc. With the advent of in vitro motility assay (IVMA), detailed functional studies of the actomyosin system could be performed. The major challenge with the currently available IVMA for tracking actin filaments is a resolution limitation of ± 50nm. To overcome this, we are trying to develop Single Molecule IVMA in which nanoparticle (GNP/QD) will be attached along or on the barbed end of actin filaments using CapZ protein and visualization by a compact TIRF module called ‘cTIRF’. The waveguide-based illumination by cTIRF offers a unique separation of excitation and collection optics, enabling imaging by scattering without emission filters. So, this technology is well equipped to perform tracking with high precision in temporal resolution of 2ms with significantly improved SNR by 100-fold as compared to conventional TIRF. Also, the nanoparticles (QD/GNP) attached to actin filament act as a point source of light coffering ease in filament tracking compared to conventional manual tracking. Moreover, the attachment of cargo (QD/GNP) to the thin filament paves the way for various nano-technological applications through their transportation to different predetermined locations on the chip

Keywords: actin, cargo, IVMA, myosin motors and single-molecule system

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Authors: Andreas Savvides, Chloe Kadi

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The objective of this study is to investigate how the planning and design of open parks within neighborhoods and communities can promote physical activity in order to enhance the health of the local population. An extensive literature review was conducted for studies regarding the relationship between health and physical activity and the park characteristics that can promote physical activity among people. The findings of the literature review were then compared and analysed, in order to identify the main characteristics of urban parks that can promote physical activity and enhance public health. In order to find out how the characteristics identified in the literature were applied in real life, an analysis of three existing parks in three different countries was conducted. The parks, apart from their geographical location, also vary in size and layout. The parks were chosen because they are urban open parks and they include facilities for physical activity.

Keywords: urban planning, active living behaviour, open parks, sustainable mobility

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Authors: Gokhan Kilic, Pelin Celik

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Structural health monitoring (SHM) is widely used in evaluating the state and health of membrane structures. In the past, in order to collect data and send it to a data collection unit on membrane structures, wire sensors had to be put as part of the SHM process. However, this study recommends using wireless sensors instead of traditional wire ones to construct an economical, useful, and easy-to-install membrane structure health monitoring system. Every wireless sensor uses a software translation program that is connected to the monitoring server. Operational neural networks (ONNs) have recently been developed to solve the shortcomings of convolutional neural networks (CNNs), such as the network's resemblance to the linear neuron model. The results of using ONNs for monitoring to evaluate the structural health of a membrane are presented in this work.

Keywords: wireless sensor network, non-destructive testing, operational neural networks, membrane structures, dynamic monitoring

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Authors: Hyun-Woo Cho

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The detection and identification of multivariate manufacturing processes are quite important in order to maintain good product quality. Unusual behaviors or events encountered during its operation can have a serious impact on the process and product quality. Thus they should be detected and identified as soon as possible. This paper focused on the efficient representation of process measurement data in detecting and identifying abnormalities. This qualitative method is effective in representing fault patterns of process data. In addition, it is quite sensitive to measurement noise so that reliable outcomes can be obtained. To evaluate its performance a simulation process was utilized, and the effect of adopting linear and nonlinear methods in the detection and identification was tested with different simulation data. It has shown that the use of a nonlinear technique produced more satisfactory and more robust results for the simulation data sets. This monitoring framework can help operating personnel to detect the occurrence of process abnormalities and identify their assignable causes in an on-line or real-time basis.

Keywords: detection, monitoring, identification, measurement data, multivariate techniques

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Authors: S. Ahmed, P. Dlask, B. Hasan

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There are several ways to estimate the cost of the construction project: simple and detailed. The process of estimating cost is usually done during the design stage, which should take long-time and the designer must give attention to all details. This paper explain the causes of the deviations occurring in the cost of the construction project, and determines the reasons of these differences between contractual cost and final cost of the construction project, through the study of literature review related to this field, and benefiting from the experience of workers in the field of building (owners, contractors) through designing a questionnaire, and finding the most ten important reasons and explain the relation between the contractual cost and the final cost according to these reasons. The difference between those values will be showed through diagrams drawn using the statistical program. In addition to studying the effects of overrun costs on the advancing of the project, and identify the most five important effects. According to the results, we can propose the right direction for the final cost evaluation and propose some measures that would help to control and adjust the deviation in the costs.

Keywords: construction projects, building, cost, estimating costs, delay, overrun

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Authors: Arti Devi, Parthasarthi Choudhury

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Extreme rainfall frequency analysis for Meteorological Sub-Division 4 of India was analysed using L-moments approach. Serial Correlation and Mann Kendall tests were conducted for checking serially independent and stationarity of the observations. The discordancy measure for the sites was conducted to detect the discordant sites. The regional homogeneity was tested by comparing with 500 generated homogeneous regions using a 4 parameter Kappa distribution. The best fit distribution was selected based on ZDIST statistics and L-moments ratio diagram from the five extreme value distributions GPD, GLO, GEV, P3 and LP3. The LN3 distribution was selected and regional rainfall frequency relationship was established using index-rainfall procedure. A regional mean rainfall relationship was developed using multiple linear regression with latitude and longitude of the sites as variables.

Keywords: L-moments, ZDIST statistics, serial correlation, Mann Kendall test

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Authors: Quoc Hung Le Pham

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Human beings are motivated to satisfy the physiological needs and psychological needs. In the fundamental needs, bodily excretion is the most basic one, while physiological excretion refers to the final products produced in the process of discharging the body. This physiological process is a common human phenomenon. For instance, bodily secretion is totally natural, but people of various nationalities through the times avoid saying it directly. Terms like ‘shit’ are often negatively regarded as dirty, smelly and vulgar; it will lead people to negative thinking. In fact, it is in the psychology of human beings to avoid such unsightly terms. Especially in social situations where you have to take care of your image, and you have to release. The best way to solve this is to approach the use of euphemism. People prefer to say it as ‘answering nature's call’ or ‘to pass a motion’ instead. Chinese and Vietnamese nations are referring to use euphemisms to replace bodily secretions, so this research will take this phenomenon as the object aims to explore the similarities and dissimilarities between two languages euphemism. The basic of the niche of this paper is human physiological phenomenon excretion. As the preliminary results show, in expressing bodily secretions the deeply impacting factor is language and cultural factors. On language factor terms, two languages are using assonance to replace human nature discharge, whilst the dissimilarities are metonymy, loan word and personification. On culture factor terms, the convergences are metonymy and application of the semantically-contrary-word-euphemism, whilst the difference is Chinese euphemism using allusion but Vietnamese euphemism does not.

Keywords: cultural factors, euphemism, human needs, language factors

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Authors: Tamou Nasser, Ahmed Essadki, Ali Boukhriss

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This paper presents the control of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) used in the wind energy conversion systems. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) strategy is used to extract the maximum of power during the conversion and taking care that the system does not exceed the operating limits. This is done by acting on the pitch angle to control the orientation of the turbine's blades. Having regard to its robustness and performance, active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) based on the extended state observer (ESO) is employed to achieve the control of both rotor and grid side converters. Simulations are carried out using MATLAB simulink.

Keywords: active disturbance rejection control, extended state observer, doubly fed induction generator, maximum power point tracking

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Authors: Devender Mandala, Paul Watts

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Cis-Nucleosides mainly lamivudine (3TC) and emtricitabine (FTC) are an important tool in the treatment of Human immune deficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Human T-Lymotropoic virus (HTLV). Lamivudine and emtricitabine are potent nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (nRTI). These two drugs are synthesized by a four-stage process from the starting materials: menthyl glyoxylate hydrate and 1,4-dithane-2,5-diol to produce the 5-hydroxy oxathiolane which upon acetylation with acetic anhydride to yield 5-acetoxy oxathiolane. Then glycosylation of this acetyl product with silyl protected nucleoside to produce the intermediate. The reduction of this intermediates can provide the final targets. Although there are several different methods reported for the synthesis of lamivudine and emtricitabine as a single enantiomer, we required an efficient route, which was suitable for large-scale synthesis to support the development of these compounds. In this process, we successfully prepared the intermediates of lamivudine and emtricitabine without using any solvents and catalyst, thus promoting the green synthesis. All the synthesized compound were confirmed by TLC, GC, Mass, NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy.

Keywords: emtricitabine, green synthesis, lamivudine, nucleoside

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Authors: Abdelrahman Taha, Niloofar Malekghaini, Hamed Ebrahimian, Ramin Motamed

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This paper compares the substructure and direct methods for soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis in the time domain. In the substructure SSI method, the soil domain is replaced by a set of springs and dashpots, also referred to as the impedance function, derived through the study of the behavior of a massless rigid foundation. The impedance function is inherently frequency dependent, i.e., it varies as a function of the frequency content of the structural response. To use the frequency-dependent impedance function for time-domain SSI analysis, the impedance function is approximated at the fundamental frequency of the structure-soil system. To explore the potential limitations of the substructure modeling process, a two-dimensional reinforced concrete frame structure is modeled using substructure and direct methods in this study. The results show discrepancies between the simulated responses of the substructure and the direct approaches. To isolate the effects of higher modal responses, the same study is repeated using a harmonic input motion, in which a similar discrepancy is still observed between the substructure and direct approaches. It is concluded that the main source of discrepancy between the substructure and direct SSI approaches is likely attributed to the way the impedance functions are calculated, i.e., assuming a massless rigid foundation without considering the presence of the superstructure. Hence, a refined impedance function, considering the presence of the superstructure, shall be developed. This refined impedance function is expected to significantly improve the simulation accuracy of the substructure approach for structural systems whose behavior is dominated by the fundamental mode response.

Keywords: direct approach, impedance function, soil-structure interaction, substructure approach

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Authors: Mostafa Feiz, Mohammad Safari, Hossein Hadizadeh

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The Chalpo copper area is located in northeastern Iran, which is part of the structural zone of central Iran and the back-arc basin of Sabzevar. This sedimentary basin accumulated in destructive-oligomiocene sediments is named the Nasr-Chalpo-Sangerd (NCS) basin. The sedimentary layers in this basin originated mainly from Upper Cretaceous ophiolitic rocks and intermediate to mafic-post ophiolitic volcanic rocks, deposited as a nonconformity. The mineralized sandstone layers in the Chalpo area include leached zones (with a thickness of 5 to 8 meters) and mineralized lenses with a thickness of 0.5 to 0.7 meters. Ore minerals include primary sulfide minerals, such as chalcocite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite, as well as secondary minerals, such as covellite, digenite, malachite, and azurite, formed in three stages that comprise primary, simultaneously, and supergene stage. The best agents that control the mineralization in this area include the permeability of host rocks, the presence of fault zones as the conduits for copper oxide solutions, and significant amounts of plant fossils, which create a reducing environment for the deposition of mineralized layers. The calculations of mass changes on copper-bearing layers and primary sandstone layers indicate that Pb, As, Cd, Te, and Mo are enriched in the mineralized zones, whereas SiO₂, TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, V, Sr, and Ba are depleted. The combination of geological, stratigraphic, and geochemical studies suggests that the origin of copper may have been the underlying red strata that contained hornblende, plagioclase, biotite, alkaline feldspar, and labile minerals. Dehydration and hydrolysis of these minerals during the diagenetic process caused the leaching of copper and associated elements by circling fluids, which formed an oxidant-hydrothermal solution. Copper and silver in this oxidant solution might have moved upwards through the basin-fault zones and deposited in the reducing environments in the sandstone layers that have had abundant organic matter. Copper in these solutions was probably carried by chloride complexes. The collision of oxidant and reduced solutions caused the deposition of Cu and Ag, whereas some s elements in oxidant environments (e.g., Fe₂O₃, TiO₂, SiO₂, REEs) become uns in the reduced condition. Therefore, the copper-bearing sandstones in the study area are depleted from these elements resulting from the leaching process. The results indicate that during the mineralization stage, LREEs and MREEs were depleted, but Cu, Ag, and S were enriched. Based on field evidence, it seems that the circulation of connate fluids in the reb-bed strata, produced by diagenetic processes, encountered to reduced facies, which formed earlier by abundant fossil-plant debris in the sandstones, is the best model for precipitating sulfide-copper minerals.

Keywords: Chalpo, Oligo-Miocene red beds, sandstone-hosted copper mineralization, mass change, LREEs and MREEs

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Authors: Maryam Ziaee

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This research proposes a new approach and provides an opportunity for manufacturing companies to produce large amounts of products that meet their prospective customers’ tastes, needs, and expectations and simultaneously enable manufacturers to increase their profit. Mass customization is the production of products or services to meet each individual customer’s desires to the greatest possible extent in high quantities and at reasonable prices. This process takes place at different levels such as the customization of goods’ design, assembly, sale, and delivery status, and classifies in several categories. The main focus of this study is on one class of mass customization, called optional customization, in which companies try to provide their customers with as many options as possible to customize their products. These options could range from the design phase to the manufacturing phase, or even methods of delivery. Mass customization values customers’ tastes, but it is only one side of clients’ satisfaction; on the other side is companies’ fast responsiveness delivery. It brings the concept of agility, which is the ability of a company to respond rapidly to changes in volatile markets in terms of volume and variety. Indeed, mass customization is not effectively feasible without integrating the concept of agility. To gain the customers’ satisfaction, the companies need to be quick in responding to their customers’ demands, thus highlighting the significance of agility. This research offers a different method that successfully integrates mass customization and fast production in manufacturing industries. This research is built upon the hypothesis that the success key to being agile in mass customization is to forecast demand, cooperate with suppliers, and control inventory. Therefore, the significance of the supply chain (SC) is more pertinent when it comes to this stage. Since SC behavior is dynamic and its behavior changes constantly, companies have to apply one of the predicting techniques to identify the changes associated with SC behavior to be able to respond properly to any unwelcome events. System dynamics utilized in this research is a simulation approach to provide a mathematical model among different variables to understand, control, and forecast SC behavior. The final stage is delayed differentiation, the production strategy considered in this research. In this approach, the main platform of products is produced and stocked and when the company receives an order from a customer, a specific customized feature is assigned to this platform and the customized products will be created. The main research question is to what extent applying system dynamics for the prediction of SC behavior improves the agility of mass customization. This research is built upon a qualitative approach to bring about richer, deeper, and more revealing results. The data is collected through interviews and is analyzed through NVivo software. This proposed model offers numerous benefits such as reduction in the number of product inventories and their storage costs, improvement in the resilience of companies’ responses to their clients’ needs and tastes, the increase of profits, and the optimization of productivity with the minimum level of lost sales.

Keywords: agility, manufacturing, resilience, supply chain

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Authors: Joel Mintz, Kyle Huntley, Waseem Wahood, Samuel Raine, Farzanna Haffizulla

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The effect of different state government interventions on COVID-19 health outcomes is currently unknown. Stay at home (SAH) orders, all non-essential business closures and school closures in the Northeastern US were examined. A linear correlation between the peak number of new daily COVID-19 positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths per capita and the elapsed time between government issued guidance and a fixed number of COVID-19 deaths in each state was performed. Earlier government interventions were correlated with lower peak healthcare burden. Statewide closures of schools and non-essential businesses showed significantly greater (p<.001) correlation to peak COVID-19 disease burden as compared to a statewide SAH. The implications of these findings require further study to determine the effectiveness of these interventions.

Keywords: Coronavirus, epidemiology, government intervention, public health, social distancing

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Authors: Davide Forcellini, James Marshal Kelly

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Seismic isolation using multi-layer elastomeric isolators has been used in the United States for more than 20 years. Although isolation bearings normally have a large factor of safety against buckling due to low shear stiffness, this phenomenon has been widely studied. In particular, the linearly elastic theory adopted to study this phenomenon is relatively accurate and adequate for most design purposes. Unfortunately it cannot consider the large deformation response of a bearing when buckling occurs and the unresolved behaviour of the stability of the post-buckled state. The study conducted in this paper may be viewed as a development of the linear theory of multi-layered elastomeric bearing, simply replacing the differential equations by algebraic equations, showing how it is possible to evaluate the post-buckling behaviour and the interactions at large deformations.

Keywords: multi-layer elastomeric isolators, large deformation, compressive load, tensile load, post-buckling behaviour

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Authors: Thomas James Bell III

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Pedagogy is thought of as one's philosophy, theory, or teaching method. This study examines the science of learning, considering the forced reconsideration of effective pedagogy brought on by the aftermath of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. With the aid of various technologies, online education holds challenges and promises to enhance the learning environment if implemented to facilitate student learning. Behaviorism centers around the belief that the instructor is the sage on the classroom stage using repetition techniques as the primary learning instrument. This approach to pedagogy ascribes complete control of the learning environment and works best for students to learn by allowing students to answer questions with immediate feedback. Such structured learning reinforcement tends to guide students' learning without considering learners' independence and individual reasoning. And such activities may inadvertently stifle the student's ability to develop critical thinking and self-expression skills. Fundamentally liberationism pedagogy dismisses the concept that education is merely about students learning things and more about the way students learn. Alternatively, the liberationist approach democratizes the classroom by redefining the role of the teacher and student. The teacher is no longer viewed as the sage on the stage but as a guide on the side. Instead, this approach views students as creators of knowledge and not empty vessels to be filled with knowledge. Moreover, students are well suited to decide how best to learn and which areas improvements are needed. This study will explore the classroom instructor as a servant leader in the twenty-first century, which allows students to integrate technology that encapsulates more individual learning styles. The researcher will examine the Professional Scrum Master (PSM I) exam pass rate results of 124 students in six sections of an Agile scrum course. The students will be separated into two groups; the first group will follow a structured instructor-led course outlined by a course syllabus. The second group will consist of several small teams (ten or fewer) of self-led and self-empowered students. The teams will conduct several event meetings that include sprint planning meetings, daily scrums, sprint reviews, and retrospective meetings throughout the semester will the instructor facilitating the teams' activities as needed. The methodology for this study will use the compare means t-test to compare the mean of an exam pass rate in one group to the mean of the second group. A one-tailed test (i.e., less than or greater than) will be used with the null hypothesis, for the difference between the groups in the population will be set to zero. The major findings will expand the pedagogical approach that suggests pedagogy primarily exist in support of teacher-led learning, which has formed the pillars of traditional classroom teaching. But in light of the fourth industrial revolution, there is a fusion of learning platforms across the digital, physical, and biological worlds with disruptive technological advancements in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing, robotics, and others.

Keywords: pedagogy, behaviorism, liberationism, flipping the classroom, servant leader instructor, agile scrum in education

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Authors: Farrukh Jamil, Ala'A H. Al-Muhtaseb, Lamya Al-Haj, Mohab A. Al-Hinai

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Environmental problems and the security of energy supply have motivated the attention in the expansion of alternatives for fossil based fuels. Biomass has been recognized as a capable resource because it is plentifully available and in principle carbon dioxide neutral. Present study focuses on utilization date seeds oil for synthesizing high value fuels formulations such as green diesel and jet fuel. The hydrodeoxygenation of date seeds oil occurred to be highly efficient at following operating conditions temperature 300°C pressure 10bar with continuous stirring at 500 rpm. Products characterization revealed the efficiency of hydrodeoxygenation by formation of linear hydrocarbons (paraffin) in larger fraction. Based on the type of components in product oil it was calculated that maximum fraction lies within the range of green diesel 72.78 % then jet fuel 28.25 % by using Pt/C catalyst. It can be concluded that waste date seeds oil has potential to be used for obtaining high value products.

Keywords: date seeds, hydrodeoxygenation, paraffin, deoxygenation

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Authors: Nazirah Zainul Abidin, Nurul Zahirah Mokhtar Azizi

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Cost has always been the leading concern in green building development. The perception that construction cost for green building is higher than conventional buildings has only made the discussion of green building cost more difficult. Understanding the factors that will influence the cost of green construction is expected to shed light into what makes green construction more or at par with conventional projects, or perhaps, where cost can be optimised. This paper identifies the elements of cost before shifting the attention to the influencing factors. Findings from past studies uncovered various factors related to cost which are grouped into five focal themes i.e. awareness, knowledge, financial, technical, and government support. A conceptual framework is produced in a form of a flower diagram indicating the cost influencing factors of green building development. These factors were found to be both physical and non-physical aspects of a project. The framework provides ground for the next stage of research that is to further explore how these factors influence the project cost and decision making.

Keywords: green project, factors influencing cost, hard cost, soft cost

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Authors: S. Ziaran, M. Musil, M. Cekan, O. Chlebo

Abstract:

The paper analyzes the response of buildings and industrially structures on seismic waves (low frequency mechanical vibration) generated by blasting operations. The principles of seismic analysis can be applied for different kinds of excitation such as: earthquakes, wind, explosions, random excitation from local transportation, periodic excitation from large rotating and/or machines with reciprocating motion, metal forming processes such as forging, shearing and stamping, chemical reactions, construction and earth moving work, and other strong deterministic and random energy sources caused by human activities. The article deals with the response of seismic, low frequency, mechanical vibrations generated by nearby blasting operations on a residential home. The goal was to determine the fundamental natural frequencies of the measured structure; therefore it is important to determine the resonant frequencies to design a suitable modal damping. The article also analyzes the package of seismic waves generated by blasting (Primary waves – P-waves and Secondary waves S-waves) and investigated the transfer regions. For the detection of seismic waves resulting from an explosion, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and modal analysis, in the frequency domain, is used and the signal was acquired and analyzed also in the time domain. In the conclusions the measured results of seismic waves caused by blasting in a nearby quarry and its effect on a nearby structure (house) is analyzed. The response on the house, including the fundamental natural frequency and possible fatigue damage is also assessed.

Keywords: building structure, seismic waves, spectral analysis, structural response

Procedia PDF Downloads 400

Authors: Hadi Molaei, Yasavoli Davoud, Keshavarz, Mozhde Poordana

Abstract:

The present study aimed was to prediction the academic performance based on academic motivation, self-efficacy and Resiliency in the students. The present study was descriptive and correlational. Population of the study consisted of all students in Arak schools in year 1393-94. For this purpose, the number of 304 schools students in Arak was selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. They all questionnaires, self-efficacy, Resiliency and academic motivation Questionnaire completed. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and multiple regressions. Pearson correlation showed academic motivation, self-efficacy, and Resiliency with academic performance had a positive and significant relationship. In addition, multiple regression analysis showed that the academic motivation, self-efficacy and Resiliency were predicted academic performance. Based on the findings could be conclude that in order to increase the academic performance and further progress of students must provide the ground to strengthen academic motivation, self-efficacy and Resiliency act on them.

Keywords: academic motivation, self-efficacy, resiliency, academic performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 497

Authors: Muhammad Zahid

Abstract:

The mechanical process of smoothing and compressing a molten material by passing it through a number of pairs of heated rolls in order to produce a sheet of desired thickness is called calendering. The rolls that are in combination are called calenders, a term derived from kylindros the Greek word for the cylinder. It infects the finishing process used on cloth, paper, textiles, leather cloth, or plastic film and so on. It is a mechanism which is used to strengthen surface properties, minimize sheet thickness, and yield special effects such as a glaze or polish. It has a wide variety of applications in industries in the manufacturing of textile fabrics, coated fabrics, and plastic sheeting to provide the desired surface finish and texture. An analysis has been presented for the calendering of Pseudoplastic material. The lubrication approximation theory (LAT) has been used to simplify the equations of motion. For the investigation of the nature of the steady solutions that exist, we make use of the combination of exact solution and numerical methods. The expressions for the velocity profile, rate of volumetric flow and pressure gradient are found in the form of exact solutions. Furthermore, the quantities of interest by engineering point of view, such as pressure distribution, roll-separating force, and power transmitted to the fluid by the rolls are also computed. Some results are shown graphically while others are given in the tabulated form. It is found that the non-Newtonian parameter and Reynolds number serve as the controlling parameters for the calendering process.

Keywords: calendering, exact solutions, lubrication approximation theory, numerical solutions, pseudoplastic material

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: W. Sun, W. Wen, J. Lu, A. A. Becker

Abstract:

In this work, methods for determining creep properties which can be used to represent the full life until failure from miniature specimen creep tests based on analytical solutions are presented. Examples used to demonstrate the application of the methods include a miniature rectangular thin beam specimen creep test under three-point bending and a miniature two-material tensile specimen creep test subjected to a steady load. Mathematical expressions for deflection and creep strain rate of the two specimens were presented for the Kachanov-Rabotnov creep damage model. On this basis, an inverse procedure was developed which has potential applications for deriving the full life creep damage constitutive properties from a very small volume of material, in particular, for various microstructure constitutive  regions, e.g. within heat-affected zones of power plant pipe weldments. Further work on validation and improvement of the method is addressed.

Keywords: creep damage property, miniature specimen, inverse approach, finite element modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 231