Search results for: Road performance

Authors: A. S. Adegoke, O. N. Popoola

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The central purpose of management in any organization is that of coordinating the efforts of people towards the achievement of its goal. Effective and productive management is the function of leadership. Leadership plays a critical role in helping groups, organizations and societies to achieve their goals. Factors considered to make leadership to be effective are intelligence, social maturity, inner motivation and achievement drives and lastly, human relations attitudes. The factors affecting leadership style and effectiveness were examined. Also, the study examined which of the various leadership style best befits an organization and discussed the ways in which the style was determined. In order to meet the objectives of this study, different types of methods of data gathering were carried out. The methods include data from primary and secondary sources. The primary sources include personal interview, personal observation, and questionnaire while data from secondary sources were derived from various books, journal write up and other documentary records. Data were collected from respondents through questionnaire, and the field research carried out through oral interview to test each of the related hypotheses. From the data analysed it was determined that 45% strongly agreed that leadership traits are inborn not acquired and 28.3% agreed that leadership traits are inborn, while 11.7% and 10% strongly disagreed and disagreed respectively and 5% were undecided. 48.4% strongly agreed, and 43.3% agreed that environmental factors determined the appropriate style of leadership to be employed while 3.3% strongly disagreed, 1.7% disagreed and 3.3% were undecided. From the study, no single style of leadership is appropriate in any situation instead of concentrating on single leadership style; leader can vary approaches depending on forces in the leaders, characteristic of the subordinates, situational forces of the organization, lastly the expectations and behaviour of superior.

Keywords: hypothesis, leadership, management, organization

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Amir AlAmeeri, Mohamed Ibrahim

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Various data points are constantly being measured in the production system, and due to the nature of the wells, these data points, such as pressure, temperature, water cut, etc.., fluctuations are constant, which requires high frequency monitoring and collection. It is a very difficult task to analyze these parameters manually using spreadsheets and email. An automated system greatly enhances efficiency, reduce errors, the need for constant emails which take up disk space, and frees up time for the operator to perform other critical tasks. Various production data is being recorded in an oil field, and this huge volume of data can be seen as irrelevant to some, especially when viewed on its own with no context. In order to fully utilize all this information, it needs to be properly collected, verified and stored in one common place and analyzed for surveillance and monitoring purposes. This paper describes how data is recorded by different parties and departments in the field, and verified numerous times as it is being loaded into a repository. Once it is loaded, a final check is done before being entered into a production monitoring system. Once all this is collected, various calculations are performed to report allocated production. Calculated production data is used to report field production automatically. It is also used to monitor well and surface facility performance. Engineers can use this for their studies and analyses to ensure field is performing as it should be, predict and forecast production, and monitor any changes in wells that could affect field performance.

Keywords: automation, oil production, Cheleken, exploration and production (E&P), Caspian Sea, allocation, forecast

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Flavio Cordeiro Fontanella, Asla Medeiros e Sá, Moacyr Alvim Horta Barbosa da Silva

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In the present work, we analyse the performance of football results forecasting models. In order to do so, we have performed the data collection from eight different forecasting models during the 2021 Brazilian football season. First, we guide the analysis through visual representations of the data, designed to highlight the most prominent features and enhance the interpretation of differences and similarities between the models. We propose using a 2-simplex triangle to investigate visual patterns from the results forecasting models. Next, we compute the expected points for every team playing in the championship and compare them to the final league standings, revealing interesting contrasts between actual to expected performances. Then, we evaluate forecasts’ accuracy using the Ranked Probability Score (RPS); models comparison accounts for tiny scale differences that may become consistent in time. Finally, we observe that the Wisdom of Crowds principle can be appropriately applied in the context, driving into a discussion of results forecasts usage in practice. This paper’s primary goal is to encourage football forecasts’ performance discussion. We hope to accomplish it by presenting appropriate criteria and easy-to-understand visual representations that can point out the relevant factors of the subject.

Keywords: accuracy evaluation, Brazilian championship, football results forecasts, forecasting models, visual analysis

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Authors: Marija Mihajlovic Pereira

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Teaching and learning a musical instrument is challenging for both teachers and students. Teachers generally use diverse strategies to resolve students' particular issues in a one-to-one context. Considering individual sessions as a supportive educational context, the teacher can play a decisive role in stimulating and promoting self-regulated learning strategies, especially with beginning learners. The teachers who promote self-controlling behaviors, strategic monitoring, and regulation of actions toward goals could expect their students to practice more qualitatively and consciously. When encouraged to adopt self-regulation habits, students' could benefit from greater productivity on a longer path. Founded on Bary Zimmerman's cyclical model that comprehends three phases - forethought, performance, and self-reflection, this work aims to articulate self-regulated and music learning. Self-regulated learning appeals to the individual's attitude in planning, controlling, and reflecting on their performance. Furthermore, this study aimed to present an observation grid for perceiving teaching instructions that encourage students' controlling cognitive behaviors in light of the belief that conscious promotion of self-regulation may motivate strategic actions toward goals in musical performance. The participants, two teachers, and two students have been involved in the social inclusion project in Lisbon (Portugal). The author and one independent inter-observer analyzed six video-recorded string instrument lessons. The data correspond to three sessions per teacher lectured to one (different) student. Violin (f) and violoncello (m) teachers hold a Master's degree in music education and approximately five years of experience. In their second year of learning an instrument, students have acquired reasonable skills in musical reading, posture, and sound quality until then. The students also manifest positive learning behaviors, interest in learning a musical instrument, although their study habits are still inconsistent. According to the grid's four categories (parent codes), in-class rehearsal frames were coded using MaxQda software, version 20, according to the grid's four categories (parent codes): self-regulated learning, teaching verbalizations, teaching strategies, and students' in-class performance. As a result, selected rehearsal frames qualitatively describe teaching instructions that might promote students' body and hearing awareness, such as "close the eyes while playing" or "sing to internalize the pitch." Another analysis type, coding the short video events according to the observation grid's subcategories (child codes), made it possible to perceive the time teachers dedicate to specific verbal or non-verbal strategies. Furthermore, a coding overlay analysis indicated that teachers tend to stimulate. (i) Forethought – explain tasks, offer feedback and ensure that students identify a goal, (ii) Performance – teach study strategies and encourage students to sing and use vocal abilities to ensure inner audition, (iii) Self-reflection – frequent inquiring and encouraging the student to verbalize their perception of performance. Although developed in the context of individual string instrument lessons, this classroom observation grid brings together essential variables in a one-to-one lesson. It may find utility in a broader context of music education due to the possibility to organize, observe and evaluate teaching practices. Besides that, this study contributes to cognitive development by suggesting a practical approach to fostering self-regulated learning.

Keywords: music education, observation grid, self-regulated learning, string instruments, teaching practices

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Authors: Mustafa M. Bob, Siti Izaidah Azmi, Mohd Hakim Ab Halim, Nur Syahida Abdul Jamal, Aznah Nor-Anuar, Zaini Ujang

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In this research, the formation and development of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) for domestic wastewater treatment application in hot climate conditions was studied using a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The performance of the developed AGS in the removal of organic matter and nutrients from wastewater was also investigated. The operation of the reactor was based on the sequencing batch system with a complete cycle time of 3 hours that included feeding, aeration, settling, discharging and idling. The reactor was seeded with sludge collected from the municipal wastewater treatment plant in Madinah city, Saudi Arabia and operated at a temperature of 40ºC using synthetic wastewater as influent. Results showed that granular sludge was developed after an operation period of 30 days. The developed granular sludge had a good settling ability with the average size of the granules ranging from 1.03 to 2.42 mm. The removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and total phosphorus (TP) were 87.31%, 91.93% and 61.25% respectively. These results show that AGS can be developed at elevated temperatures and it is a promising technique to treat domestic wastewater in hot and low humidity climate conditions such as those encountered in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: aerobic granular sludge, hot climate, sequencing batch reactor, domestic wastewater treatment

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Authors: Taiki Baba, Tomoaki Hashimoto

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The random dither quantization method enables us to achieve much better performance than the simple uniform quantization method for the design of quantized control systems. Motivated by this fact, the stochastic model predictive control method in which a performance index is minimized subject to probabilistic constraints imposed on the state variables of systems has been proposed for linear feedback control systems with random dither quantization. In other words, a method for solving optimal control problems subject to probabilistic state constraints for linear discrete-time control systems with random dither quantization has been already established. To our best knowledge, however, the feasibility of such a kind of optimal control problems has not yet been studied. Our objective in this paper is to investigate the feasibility of stochastic model predictive control problems for linear discrete-time control systems with random dither quantization. To this end, we provide the results of numerical simulations that verify the feasibility of stochastic model predictive control problems for linear discrete-time control systems with random dither quantization.

Keywords: model predictive control, stochastic systems, probabilistic constraints, random dither quantization

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Authors: Hyeon-Kyo Lim, Tong-il Jang, Yong-Hee Lee

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As for any nuclear power plant, human error is one of the most dreaded factors that may result in unexpected accidents. Thus, for accident prevention, it is quite indispensable to analyze and to manage the influence of any factor which may raise the possibility of human errors. Among lots factors, stress has been reported to have significant influence on human performance. Stress level of a person may fluctuate over time. To handle the possibility over time, robust stress management program is required, especially in nuclear power plants. Therefore, to overcome the possibility of human errors, this study aimed to develop a stress management program as a part of Fitness-for-Duty (FFD) Program for the workers in nuclear power plants. The meaning of FFD might be somewhat different by research objectives, appropriate definition of FFD was accomplished in this study with special reference to human error prevention, and diverse stress factors were elicited for management of human error susceptibility. In addition, with consideration of conventional FFD management programs, appropriate tests and interventions were introduced over the whole employment cycle including selection and screening of workers, job allocation, job rotation, and disemployment as well as Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP). The results showed that most tools mainly concentrated their weights on common organizational factors such as Demands, Supports, and Relationships in sequence, which were referred as major stress factors.

Keywords: human error, accident prevention, work performance, stress, fatigue

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Authors: Roudane Mohamed

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In this study we are interested in improving the efficiency of a steam boiler to 4.5T/h and minimize fume discharge temperature by the addition of a heat exchanger against the current in the energy system, the output of the boiler. The mathematical approach to the problem is based on the use of heat transfer by convection and conduction equations. These equations have been chosen because of their extensive use in a wide range of application. A software and developed for solving the equations governing these phenomena and the estimation of the thermal characteristics of boiler through the study of the thermal characteristics of the heat exchanger by both LMTD and NUT methods. Subsequently, an analysis of the thermal performance of the steam boiler by studying the influence of different operating parameters on heat flux densities, temperatures, exchanged power and performance was carried out. The study showed that the behavior of the boiler is largely influenced. In the first regime (P = 3.5 bar), the boiler efficiency has improved significantly from 93.03 to 99.43 at the rate of 6.47% and 4.5%. For maximum speed, the change is less important, it is of the order of 1.06%. The results obtained in this study of great interest to industrial utilities equipped with smoke tube boilers for the preheating air temperature intervene to calculate the actual temperature of the gas so the heat exchanged will be increased and minimize temperature smoke discharge. On the other hand, this work could be used as a model of computation in the design process.

Keywords: numerical simulation, efficiency, fire tube, heat exchanger, convection and conduction

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Authors: Bhanu Pant, Sanjay H. Upadhyay

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Titanium alloys, owing to their high specific strength coupled with excellent resistance to corrosion in many severe environments, find extensive usage in the aerospace sector. Alpha and beta lean Titanium alloys have an additional characteristic of exhibiting high toughness with an NTS/ UTS ratio greater than one down to liquid oxygen and liquid helium temperatures. The cryogenic stage of high-performance rockets utilizes cryo-fluid submerged pressurizing tanks to improve volume to mass performance factor. A superior volume-to-mass ratio is achieved for LH2-submerged pressurizing tanks as compared to those submerged in LOX. Such high-efficiency tanks for LH2 submerged application necessitate the use of difficult to process alpha type Ti5Al2.5Sn-ELI alloy, which requires close control of process parameters to develop the tanks. In the present paper, a comparison of this alpha-type cryogenic Titanium alloy has been brought out with conventional alpha-beta Ti6Al4V-ELI alloy, which is usable up to LOX temperatures. Specific challenges faced during the development of these cryogenic pressurizing tanks for a launch vehicle based on the author's experience are included in the paper on the comparatively lesser-studied alpha Ti5Al2.5Sn-ELI alloy.

Keywords: cryogenic tanks, titanium Alloys, NTS/UTS ratio, alpha and alpha-beta ELI alloys

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Authors: Min Yu, Olivier T. Picot, Theo Graves Saunders, Ivo Dlouhy, Amit Mahajan, Michael J. Reece

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Graphene was successfully introduced into a polymer-derived silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) matrix by phase transfer of graphene oxide (GO) from an aqueous (GO dispersed in water) to an organic phase (copolymer as SiOC precursor in diethyl ether). With GO concentrations increasing up to 2 vol%, graphene-containing flakes self-assembled into a lamellar structure in the matrix leading to composite with the anisotropic property. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) was applied to densify the composites with four different GO concentrations (0, 0.5, 1 and 2 vol%) up to ~2.3 g/cm3. The fracture toughness of SiOC-2 vol% GO composites was significantly increased by ~91% (from 0.70 to 1.34 MPa·m¹/²), at the expense of a decrease in the flexural strength (from 85MPa to 55MPa), compared to SiOC-0 vol% GO composites. Moreover, the electrical conductivity in the perpendicular direction (σ┴=3×10⁻¹ S/cm) in SiOC-2 vol% GO composite was two orders of magnitude higher than the parallel direction (σ║=4.7×10⁻³ S/cm) owing to the self-assembled lamellar structure of graphene in the SiOC matrix. The composites exhibited increased electrical conductivity (σ┴) from 8.4×10⁻³ to 3×10⁻¹ S/cm, with the increasing GO content from 0.5 to 2 vol%. The SiOC-2 vol% GO composites further showed the better electrochemical performance of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) than pure graphene, exhibiting a similar onset potential (~0.75V vs. RHE) and more positive half-wave potential (~0.6V vs. RHE).

Keywords: composite, fracture toughness, flexural strength, electrical conductivity, electrochemical performance

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Authors: David Serero, Loic Couton, Jean-Denis Parisse, Robert Leroy

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This paper presents an analysis method of airflow at the periphery of several typologies of architectural volumes. To understand the complexity of the urban environment on the airflows in the city, we compared three sites at different architectural scale. The research sets a method to identify the optimal location for the installation of wind turbines on the edges of a building and to achieve an improvement in the performance of energy extracted by precise localization of an accelerating wing called “aero foil”. The objective is to define principles for the installation of wind turbines and natural ventilation design of buildings. Instead of theoretical winds analysis, we combined numerical aeraulic simulations using STAR CCM + software with wind data, over long periods of time (greater than 1 year). If airflows computer fluid analysis (CFD) simulation of buildings are current, we have calibrated a virtual wind tunnel with wind data using in situ anemometers (to establish localized cartography of urban winds). We can then develop a complete volumetric model of the behavior of the wind on a roof area, or an entire urban island. With this method, we can categorize: - the different types of wind in urban areas and identify the minimum and maximum wind spectrum, - select the type of harvesting devices - fixing to the roof of a building, - the altimetry of the device in relation to the levels of the roofs - The potential nuisances around. This study is carried out from the recovery of a geolocated data flow, and the connection of this information with the technical specifications of wind turbines, their energy performance and their speed of engagement. Thanks to this method, we can thus define the characteristics of wind turbines to maximize their performance in urban sites and in a turbulent airflow regime. We also study the installation of a wind accelerator associated with buildings. The “aerofoils which are integrated are improvement to control the speed of the air, to orientate it on the wind turbine, to accelerate it and to hide, thanks to its profile, the device on the roof of the building.

Keywords: wind energy harvesting, wind turbine selection, urban wind potential analysis, CFD simulation for architectural design

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Sunil P. Lonkar, Vishnu V. Pillai, Saeed Alhassan

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Design and development of highly efficient, inexpensive, and long-term stable earth-abundant electrocatalysts hold tremendous promise for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water electrolysis. The 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, especially molybdenum disulfide attracted a great deal of interests due to its high electrocatalytic activity. However, due to its poor electrical conductivity and limited exposed active sites, the performance of these catalysts is limited. In this context, a facile and scalable synthesis method for fabrication nanostructured electrocatalysts composed 3D graphene porous aerogels supported with MoS₂ and WS₂ is highly desired. Here we developed a highly active and stable electrocatalyst catalyst for the HER by growing it into a 3D porous architecture on conducting graphene. The resulting nanohybrids were thoroughly investigated by means of several characterization techniques to understand structure and properties. Moreover, the HER performance of these 3D catalysts is expected to greatly improve in compared to other, well-known catalysts which mainly benefits from the improved electrical conductivity of the by graphene and porous structures of the support. This technologically scalable process can afford efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) and hydrodesulfurization catalysts for sulfur-rich petroleum fuels. Owing to the lower cost and higher performance, the resulting materials holds high potential for various energy and catalysis applications. In typical hydrothermal method, sonicated GO aqueous dispersion (5 mg mL⁻¹) was mixed with ammonium tetrathiomolybdate (ATTM) and tungsten molybdate was treated in a sealed Teflon autoclave at 200 ◦C for 4h. After cooling, a black solid macroporous hydrogel was recovered washed under running de-ionized water to remove any by products and metal ions. The obtained hydrogels were then freeze-dried for 24 h and was further subjected to thermal annealing driven crystallization at 600 ◦C for 2h to ensure complete thermal reduction of RGO into graphene and formation of highly crystalline MoS₂ and WoS₂ phases. The resulting 3D nanohybrids were characterized to understand the structure and properties. The SEM-EDS clearly reveals the formation of highly porous material with a uniform distribution of MoS₂ and WS₂ phases. In conclusion, a novice strategy for fabrication of 3D nanostructured MoS₂-WS₂/graphene is presented. The characterizations revealed that the in-situ formed promoters uniformly dispersed on to few layered MoS₂¬-WS₂ nanosheets that are well-supported on graphene surface. The resulting 3D hybrids hold high promise as potential electrocatalyst and hydrodesulfurization catalyst.

Keywords: electrocatalysts, graphene, transition metal chalcogenide, 3D assembly

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Hung-Yuan Chang, Wen-Lung Chiang, Kuo-Liang Wu, Chen-Tsung Lin

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National Space Organization (NSPO) has completed in 2014 the development of a space-borne GPS receiver, including design, manufacture, comprehensive functional test, environmental qualification test and so on. The main performance of this receiver include 8-meter positioning accuracy, 0.05 m/sec speed-accuracy, the longest 90 seconds of cold start time, and up to 15g high dynamic scenario. The receiver will be integrated in the autonomous FORMOSAT-7 NSPO-Built satellite scheduled to be launched in 2019 to execute pre-defined scientific missions. The flight model of this receiver manufactured in early 2015 will pass comprehensive functional tests and environmental acceptance tests, etc., which are expected to be completed by the end of 2015. The space-borne GPS receiver is a pure software design in which all GPS baseband signal processing are executed by a digital signal processor (DSP), currently only 50% of its throughput being used. In response to the booming global navigation satellite systems, NSPO will gradually expand this receiver to become a multi-mode, multi-band, high-precision navigation receiver, and even a science payload, such as the reflectometry receiver of a global navigation satellite system. The fundamental purpose of this extension study is to port some software algorithms such as signal acquisition and correlation, reused code and large amount of computation load to the FPGA whose processor is responsible for operational control, navigation solution, and orbit propagation and so on. Due to the development and evolution of the FPGA is pretty fast, the new system architecture upgraded via an FPGA should be able to achieve the goal of being a multi-mode, multi-band high-precision navigation receiver, or scientific receiver. Finally, the results of tests show that the new system architecture not only retains the original overall performance, but also sets aside more resources available for future expansion possibility. This paper will explain the detailed DSP/FPGA architecture, development, test results, and the goals of next development stage of this receiver.

Keywords: space-borne, GPS receiver, DSP, FPGA, multi-mode multi-band

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Authors: Ali A. Al-Jazaairry, Tahsin T. Sabbagh

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Presence of cavities in soil predictably induces ground deformation and changes in soil stress, which might influence adjacent existing pile foundations, though the effect of twin cavities on a nearby pile needs to be understood. This research is an attempt to identify the behaviour of piles subjected to axial load and embedded in cavitied clayey soil. A series of finite element modelling were conducted to investigate the performance of piled foundation located in such soils. The validity of the numerical simulation was evaluated by comparing it with available field test and alternative analytical model. The study involved many parameters such as twin cavities size, depth, spacing between cavities, and eccentricity of cavities from the pile axis on the pile performance subjected to axial load. The study involved many cases; in each case, a critical value has been found in which cavities’ presence has shown minimum impact on the behaviour of pile. Load-displacement relationships of the affecting parameters on the pile behaviour were presented to provide helpful information for designing piled foundation situated near twin underground cavities. It was concluded that the presence of the cavities within the soil mass reduces the ultimate capacity of pile. This reduction differs according to the size and location of the cavity.

Keywords: axial load, clay, finite element, pile, twin cavities, ultimate capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Pradeep Kumar, Shibashish Chakraborty, Sasadhar Bera

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In the anticipation of demand fluctuations, services cannot be inventoried and hence it creates a difficult problem in marketing of services. The inability to meet customers (patients) requirements in healthcare context has more serious consequences than other service sectors. In order to meet patient requirements in the current uncertain environment, healthcare organizations are seeking ways for improved service delivery. Flexibility provides a mechanism for reducing variability in service encounters and improved performance. Flexibility is defined as the ability of the organization to cope with changing circumstances or instability caused by the environment. Patient satisfaction is an important performance outcome of healthcare organizations. However, the paucity of information exists in healthcare delivery context to examine the impact of flexibility on patient satisfaction and behavioral intention. The present study is an attempt to develop a conceptual foundation for investigating overall impact of flexibility on patient satisfaction and behavioral intention. Several dimensions of flexibility in healthcare context are examined and proposed to have a significant impact on patient satisfaction and intention. Furthermore, the study involves a critical examination of determinants of patient satisfaction and development of a comprehensive view the relationship between flexibility, patient satisfaction and behavioral intention. Finally, theoretical contributions and implications for healthcare professionals are suggested from flexibility perspective.

Keywords: healthcare, flexibility, patient satisfaction, behavioral intention

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Authors: Fatima Zohra Rahou, A.Guen Bouazza, B. Bouazza

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SOI TRI GATE FinFET transistors have emerged as novel devices due to its simple architecture and better performance: better control over short channel effects (SCEs) and reduced power dissipation due to reduced gate leakage currents. As the oxide thickness scales below 2 nm, leakage currents due to tunneling increase drastically, leading to high power consumption and reduced device reliability. Replacing the SiO2 gate oxide with a high-κ material allows increased gate capacitance without the associated leakage effects. In this paper, SOI TRI-GATE FinFET structure with use of high K dielectric materials (HfO2) and SiO2 dielectric are simulated using the 3-D device simulator Devedit and Atlas of TCAD Silvaco. The simulated results exhibits significant improvements in the performances of SOI TRI GATE FinFET with gate oxide HfO2 compared with conventional gate oxide SiO2 for the same structure. SOI TRI-GATE FinFET structure with the use of high K materials (HfO2) in gate oxide results into the increase in saturation current, threshold voltage, on-state current and Ion/Ioff ratio while off-state current, subthreshold slope and DIBL effect are decreased.

Keywords: technology SOI, short-channel effects (SCEs), multi-gate SOI MOSFET, SOI-TRI Gate FinFET, high-K dielectric, Silvaco software

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Authors: C. Minguez, J. Bueso-Rodenas, C. Ibanez, A. Calvo

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Mannan oligosaccharides (MOS) is one of the prebiotic most used in livestock nutrition. In this research, the effect of MOS dietary supplementation on growth performance and mortality in meat guinea pigs were studied. Three different experimental groups were compared: Control group (no additives); MOS 1 (1.5 g kg−1); MOS 2 (2 g kg−1). Guinea pigs were housed in 15 collective cages (n = 50 animals in each trial; 10 animals per cage). The young guinea pigs were weaning at day 28 and individually identified by a little ear tag. The fattening period was 49 days. Guinea pigs in both groups were fed ad libitum, with a standard commercial pellet diet (10 MJ of digestible energy/kg, 17% crude protein, 11% crude fiber, and 4.5% crude fat) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) as forage. Growth traits, including body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR), were measured weekly. On day 74, the animals were slaughtered. Contrasts between groups were obtained by calculated generalized least squares values. Mortality were evaluated by Fisher's exact test. Between MOS groups no significant differences were observed for growth traits and mortality. However, significant differences against the control group were observed for traits studied (pvalue < 0.05). In conclusion, the use of MOS could be a good prebiotic supplement to raise guinea pigs because it MOS has shown positive effects in growth traits and immune response in animals.

Keywords: guinea pig, growth, mannan oligosaccharides, mortality

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Authors: Ujjval J. Solanki, Prof.(Dr.) P.J. Gundaliya, Prof.M.D. Barasara

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The application of Falling Weight Deflectometer is to evaluate structural performance of the flexible pavement. The exercise of back calculation is required to know the modulus of elasticity of existing in-service pavement. The process of back calculation needs in-depth field experience for the input of range of modulus of elasticity of bituminous, granular and subgrade layer, and its required number of trial to find such matching moduli with the observed FWD deflection on the field. The study carried out at Barnala-Mansa State Highway Punjab-India using FWD before and after overlay; the deflections obtained at 0 on the load cell, 300, 600, 900,1200, 1500 and 1800 mm interval from the load cell these seven deflection results used to calculate Surface Curvature Index (SCI), Base damage Index (BDI), Base curvature index (BCI). This SCI, BCI and BDI indices are useful to predict the structural performance of in-service pavement and also useful to identify homogeneous section for condition assessment. The SCI, BCI and BDI range are determined for before and after overlay the range of SCI 520 to 51 BDI 294 to 63 BCI 83 to 0.27 for old pavement and SCI 272 to 23 BDI 228 to 28, BCI 25.85 to 4.60 for new pavement. It also shows good correlation with back calculated modulus of elasticity of all the three layer.

Keywords: back calculation, base damage index, base curvature index, FWD (Falling Weight Deflectometer), surface curvature index

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Authors: Xiang Jianhong, Wang Cong, Wang Linyu

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With the rise of medical IoT technologies, Wireless body area networks (WBANs) can collect fetal electrocardiogram (FECG) signals to support telemedicine analysis. The compressed sensing (CS)-based WBANs system can avoid the sampling of a large amount of redundant information and reduce the complexity and computing time of data processing, but the existing algorithms have poor signal compression and reconstruction performance. In this paper, a Joint block multi-orthogonal least squares (JBMOLS) algorithm is proposed. We apply the FECG signal to the Joint block sparse model (JBSM), and a comparative study of sparse transformation and measurement matrices is carried out. A FECG signal compression transmission mode based on Rbio5.5 wavelet, Bernoulli measurement matrix, and JBMOLS algorithm is proposed to improve the compression and reconstruction performance of FECG signal by CS-based WBANs. Experimental results show that the compression ratio (CR) required for accurate reconstruction of this transmission mode is increased by nearly 10%, and the runtime is saved by about 30%.

Keywords: telemedicine, fetal ECG, compressed sensing, joint sparse reconstruction, block sparse signal

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Authors: Ghita Benayad

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Asset allocation, which affects the long-term profitability of portfolios by distributing assets to fulfill a range of investment objectives, is the cornerstone of investment management in the dynamic and complicated world of financial markets. This paper offers a technique for optimizing strategic asset allocation with the goal of improving portfolio performance by addressing the inherent complexity and uncertainty of the market through the use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in a multi-objective modeling framework. The study's first section starts with a critical evaluation of conventional asset allocation techniques, highlighting how poorly they are able to capture the intricate relationships between assets and the volatile nature of the market. In order to overcome these challenges, the project suggests a PCA-driven methodology that isolates important characteristics influencing asset returns by decreasing the dimensionality of the investment universe. This decrease provides a stronger basis for asset allocation decisions by facilitating a clearer understanding of market structures and behaviors. Using a multi-objective optimization model, the project builds on this foundation by taking into account a number of performance metrics at once, including risk minimization, return maximization, and the accomplishment of predetermined investment goals like regulatory compliance or sustainability standards. This model provides a more comprehensive understanding of investor preferences and portfolio performance in comparison to conventional single-objective optimization techniques. While applying the PCA-driven multi-objective optimization model to historical market data, aiming to construct portfolios better under different market situations. As compared to portfolios produced from conventional asset allocation methodologies, the results show that portfolios optimized using the proposed method display improved risk-adjusted returns, more resilience to market downturns, and better alignment with specified investment objectives. The study also looks at the implications of this PCA technique for portfolio management, including the prospect that it might give investors a more advanced framework for navigating financial markets. The findings suggest that by combining PCA with multi-objective optimization, investors may obtain a more strategic and informed asset allocation that is responsive to both market conditions and individual investment preferences. In conclusion, this capstone project improves the field of financial engineering by creating a sophisticated asset allocation optimization model that integrates PCA with multi-objective optimization. In addition to raising concerns about the condition of asset allocation today, the proposed method of portfolio management opens up new avenues for research and application in the area of investment techniques.

Keywords: asset allocation, portfolio optimization, principle component analysis, multi-objective modelling, financial market

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Authors: N. Rassoul-ibrahim, E. Siahmed, L. Tadrist

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Water management plays a crucial role in the performance and durability of PEM fuel cells. Whereas the membrane must be hydrated enough, liquid droplets formed by water in excess can block the flow in the gas distribution channels and hinder the fuel cell performance. The main purpose of this work is to increase the understanding of liquid transport and mixing through mini- or micro-channels for various engineering or medical process applications including cool-ing of equipment according to the operations considered. For that purpose and as a first step, a technique was devel-oped to automatically detect and characterize two-phase flow patterns that may appear in such. The investigation, mainly experimental, was conducted on transparent channel with a 1mm x 1mm square cross section and a 0.3mm x 0.3 mm water injection normal to the gas channel. Three main flow patterns were identified liquid slug, bubble flow and annular flow. A flow map has been built accord-ing to the flow rate of both phases. As a sample the follow-ing figures show representative images of the flow struc-tures observed. An analysis and discussion of the flow pattern, in mini-channel, will be provided and compared to the case old micro-channel. . Keywords: Two phase flow, Clean Energy, Minichannels, Fuel Cells. Flow patterns, Maps.

Keywords: two phase flox, T-juncion, Micro and minichannels, clean energy, flow patterns, maps

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Authors: Omojokun Gabriel Aju

Abstract:

Communication network is a process of exchanging data between two or more devices via some forms of transmission medium using communication protocols. The data could be in form of text, images, audio, video or numbers which can be grouped into FTP, Email, HTTP, VOIP or Video applications. The effectiveness of such data exchange will be proved if they are accurately delivered within specified time. While some senders will not really mind when the data is actually received by the receiving device, inasmuch as it is acknowledged to have been received by the receiver. The time a data takes to get to a receiver could be very important to another sender, as any delay could cause serious problem or even in some cases rendered the data useless. The validity or invalidity of a data after delay will therefore definitely depend on the type of data (information). It is therefore imperative for the network device (such as router) to be able to differentiate among the packets which are time sensitive and those that are not, when they are passing through the same network. So, here is where the queuing disciplines comes to play, to handle network resources when such network is designed to service widely varying types of traffics and manage the available resources according to the configured policies. Therefore, as part of the resources allocation mechanisms, a router within the network must implement some queuing discipline that governs how packets (data) are buffered while waiting to be transmitted. The implementation of the queuing discipline will regulate how the packets are buffered while waiting to be transmitted. In achieving this, various queuing disciplines are being used to control the transmission of these packets, by determining which of the packets get the highest priority, less priority and which packets are dropped. The queuing discipline will therefore control the packets latency by determining how long a packet can wait to be transmitted or dropped. The common queuing disciplines are first-in-first-out queuing, Priority queuing and Weighted-fair queuing (FIFO, PQ and WFQ). This paper critically evaluates and analyse through the use of Optimized Network Evaluation Tool (OPNET) Modeller, Version 14.5 the effects of three queuing disciplines (FIFO, PQ and WFQ) on the performance of 5 different applications (FTP, HTTP, E-Mail, Voice and Video) within specified parameters using packets sent, packets received and transmission delay as performance metrics. The paper finally suggests some ways in which networks can be designed to provide better transmission performance while using these queuing disciplines.

Keywords: applications, first-in-first-out queuing (FIFO), optimised network evaluation tool (OPNET), packets, priority queuing (PQ), queuing discipline, weighted-fair queuing (WFQ)

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Authors: Ebrahim Solgi, Zahra Hamedani, Behrouz Mohammad Kari, Ruwan Fernando, Henry Skates

Abstract:

The use of thermal energy storage (TES) as part of a passive design strategy can reduce a building’s energy demand. TES materials do this by increasing the lag between energy consumption and energy supply by absorbing, storing and releasing energy in a controlled manner. The increase of lightweight construction in the building industry has made it harder to utilize thermal mass. Consequently, Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are a promising alternative as they can be manufactured in thin layers and used with lightweight construction to store latent heat. This research investigates utilizing PCMs, with the first step being measuring their performance under experimental conditions. To do this requires three components. The first is a calorimeter for measuring indoor thermal conditions, the second is a pyranometer for recording the solar conditions: global, diffuse and direct radiation and the third is a data-logger for recording temperature and humidity for the studied period. This paper reports on the design and implementation of an experimental setup used to measure the thermal characteristics of PCMs as part of a wall construction. The experimental model has been simulated with the software EnergyPlus to create a reliable simulation model that warrants further investigation.

Keywords: phase change materials, EnergyPlus, experimental evaluation, night ventilation

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Authors: Noor Khan, Hira Waris

Abstract:

This study was conducted on genetically male tilapia (GMT) fry reared in glass aquarium for three months to examine the synergetic effect of essential amino acids (EAA) supplementation on growth, body composition, and enzyme activities. Fish having average body weight of 16.56 ± 0.42g were fed twice a day on artificial feed (20% crude protein) procured from Oryza Organics (commercial feed) supplemented with EAA; methionine (M) and lysine (L) designated as T1 (0.3%M and 2%L), T2 (0.6%M and 4%L), T3 (0.9%M and 6%L) and control without EAA. Significantly higher growth performance was observed in T1, followed by T2, T3, and control. The results revealed that whole-body dry matter and crude protein were significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) in T3 (0.9% and 6%) feeding fish, while the crude fat was lower (p ≤ 0.05) in a similar group of fish. Additionally, protease, amylase, and lipase activities were also observed maximum (p ≤ 0.05) in response to T3 than other treatments and control. However, the EAA, especially lysine and methionine, were found significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) in T1 compared to other treatments. Conclusively, the addition of EAA, methionine, and lysine in the feed not only enhanced the growth performance of GMT fry but also improved body proximate composition and essential amino acid profile.

Keywords: genetically male tilapia, body composition, digestive enzyme activities, amino acid profile

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Zhaoyang Liu

Abstract:

It has been highly desired to develop a high-performance membrane for separating oil/water emulsions with the combined features of high water flux, high oil separation efficiency, and high mechanical stability. Here, we demonstrated a design for high-performance membranes constructed with ultra-long titanate nanofibers (over 30 µm in length)/cellulose microfibers. An integrated network membrane was achieved with these ultra-long nano/microfibers, contrast to the non-integrated membrane constructed with carbon nanotubes (5 µm in length)/cellulose microfibers. The morphological properties of the prepared membranes were characterized by A FEI Quanta 400 (Hillsboro, OR, United States) environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). The hydrophilicity, underwater oleophobicity and oil adhesion property of the membranes were examined using an advanced goniometer (Rame-hart model 500, Succasunna, NJ, USA). More specifically, the hydrophilicity of membranes was investigated by analyzing the spreading process of water into membranes. A filtration device (Nalgene 300-4050, Rochester, NY, USA) with an effective membrane area of 11.3 cm² was used for evaluating the separation properties of the fabricated membranes. The prepared oil-in-water emulsions were poured into the filtration device. The separation process was driven under vacuum with a constant pressure of 5 kPa. The filtrate was collected, and the oil content in water was detected by a Shimadzu total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer (Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan) to examine the separation efficiency. Water flux (J) of the membrane was calculated by measuring the time needed to collect some volume of permeate. This network membrane demonstrated good mechanical flexibility and robustness, which are critical for practical applications. This network membrane also showed high separation efficiency (99.9%) for oil/water emulsions with oil droplet size down to 3 µm, and meanwhile, has high water permeation flux (6.8 × 10³ L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹) at low operation pressure. The high water flux is attributed to the interconnected scaffold-like structure throughout the whole membrane, while the high oil separation efficiency is attributed to the nanofiber-made nanoporous selective layer. Moreover, the economic materials and low-cost fabrication process of this membrane indicate its great potential for large-scale industrial applications.

Keywords: membrane, inorganic nanofibers, oil/water separation, emulsions

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Authors: Hossein Bakhtiari, Mathias Cehlin, Jan Akander

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Envelopes with low thermal performance is a common characteristic in many European historic buildings which leads to higher energy demand for heating and cooling as well as insufficient thermal comfort for the occupants. This paper presents the results of a study on the thermal comfort in the City Hall (Rådhuset) in Gävle, Sweden. This historic building is currently used as an office building. It is equipped with two relatively modern mechanical heat recovery ventilation systems with displacement ventilation supply devices in the offices. The district heating network heats the building via pre-heat supply air and radiators. Summer cooling comes from an electric heat pump that rejects heat into the exhaust ventilation air. A building management system controls HVAC equipment (heating, ventilation and air conditioning). The methodology is based on on-site measurements, data logging on the management system and evaluating the occupants’ perception of a summer and a winter period indoor environment using a standardized questionnaire. The main aim of the study is to investigate whether or not it is enough to have modernized HVAC systems to get adequate thermal comfort in a historic building with poor envelope performance used as an office building in Nordic climate conditions.

Keywords: historic buildings, on-site measurements, standardized questionnaire, thermal comfort

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Joshua Bradley, Matthew Buns

Abstract:

This study aimed to identify the effect of concurrent nutritional supplementation on soccer performance as players ingested either carbohydrate CHO (52 g of Cytocarb Maltodextrin) or a combined carbohydrate and protein PRO (Muscle Milk Pro Series 17g CHO + 50 g PRO liquid) supplement. Twelve male, junior college soccer players (age: 18 ± 6 years, wt. 73.3 ± 8.6 kg) completed three trials wearing global positioning systems (GPS) to measure total running distance and sprinting distance during soccer simulation games. The first match simulation was a baseline match with no supplementation. One hour prior to the second match, simulation players were randomly assigned to one of two supplemental groups CHO or CHO + PRO. A repeated measures ANOVA with a Greenhouse-Geisser correction revealed a statistically significant increase in the total distance run for the CHO supplementation group in comparison to the CHO + PRO group (10.19 ± .200 km vs. 9.77± .194km, p = .035). Although the total running distance was meaningfully influenced by the supplementation, the pattern of response for total sprinting distance was not influenced by supplementation. There was a decline in sprinting distance and total running distance from first half to second half, both for the control (M = -0.01 km, SD = 0.17) and CHO supplementation group (-0.04 km, SD = .19), although these differences were not statistically meaningful. There was a positive correlation between sprinting distance and total distance, which was statistically significant (r = -.514, n = 36, p = .01) In conclusion, supplementation influenced the pattern of activity and demonstrated between-trial differences.

Keywords: GPS, nutrition, simulation, supplementation

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Authors: Kien-Trinh Thi Bui, Cuong Manh Nguyen

Abstract:

In order to simulate and reproduce the operational characteristics of a dam visually, it is necessary to capture the displacement at different measurement points and analyze the observed movement data promptly to forecast the dam safety. The accuracy of forecasts is further improved by applying machine learning methods to data analysis progress. In this study, the horizontal displacement monitoring data of the Ialy hydroelectric dam was applied to machine learning algorithms: Gaussian processes, multi-layer perceptron neural networks, and the M5-rules algorithm for modelling and forecasting of horizontal displacement of the Ialy hydropower dam (Vietnam), respectively, for analysing. The database which used in this research was built by collecting time series of data from 2006 to 2021 and divided into two parts: training dataset and validating dataset. The final results show all three algorithms have high performance for both training and model validation, but the MLPs is the best model. The usability of them are further investigated by comparison with a benchmark models created by multi-linear regression. The result show the performance which obtained from all the GP model, the MLPs model and the M5-Rules model are much better, therefore these three models should be used to analyze and predict the horizontal displacement of the dam.

Keywords: Gaussian processes, horizontal displacement, hydropower dam, Ialy dam, M5-Rules, multi-layer perception neural networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Linyue Jia, Wenbo Du, Zhaohui Wang, Ke Liu, Shubo Li

Abstract:

Due to the great potential for weight reduction in aerospace and automotive industries, magnesium-rare earth (Mg-RE) based alloys with outstanding mechanical performance have been widely investigated for decades. However, magnesium alloys are still restricted in engineering applications because of their lower strength and ductility. Hence, there are large spaces and challenges in achieving high-performance Mg alloys. This work reports an Mg-Gd-Er-Zn-Zr alloy with ultrahigh strength and good ductility developed via hot extrusion, pre-deformation, and two-stage aging. The extruded alloy comprises fine dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) grains and coarse worked grains with a large aspect ratio. Pre-deformation has little effect on the microstructure and macro-texture and serves primarily to introduce a large number of dislocations, resulting in strain hardening and higher precipitation strengthening during subsequent aging due to more nucleation sites. As a result, the alloy exhibits a yield strength (YS) of 506 MPa, an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 549 MPa, and elongation (EL) of 8.2% at room temperature, showing superior strength-ductility balance than the other wrought Mg-RE alloys previously reported. The current study proposes a combination of pre-deformation and two-stage aging to further improve the mechanical properties of wrought Mg alloys for engineering applications.

Keywords: magnesium alloys, mechanical properties, microstructure, pre-deformation, two-stage aging

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Khalid Mahmud

Abstract:

In this paper, an analytic approach is presented to evaluate the Bit Error Rate (BER) and round trip distance for a UWB chipless RFID system using diversity technique at the reader receiver using different modulation technique. The analysis is carried out with multiresonator based chipless RFID tags using frequency range from 3 GHz − 6 GHz and bandwidth of 500 M Hz in outdoor non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environment. SISO configuration is used to communicate from the reader to the tag and SIMO configuration is used do vice versa. Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) technique is used in the reader. MPSK, DQPSK, DBPSK, BPSK, QPSK and DMPSK modulation techniques are considered with coherent demodulation to evaluate the BER performance. From the numerical analysis of the results, it is found that at a given BER maximum possible round trip distance can be achieved using DMPSK modulation technique. In addition, it has been proved that, while using DMPSK modulation technique, the application of diversity has very little effect on the overall improvement in reader receiver sensitivity and achievable distance. Finally the method not only proves to be a very good way for tag detection in case of a chipless RFID system but also gives a clear insight regarding the interrelationship between BER, read range, reader received power, number of receiving antenna in outdoor NLOS environment.

Keywords: EGC, MRC, BER, read range, diversity

Procedia PDF Downloads 338