Search results for: consumption behavior

Authors: Chaitanya Sharma, Vikas Upadhyay, A. Tripathi

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Friction stir welding and tungsten inert gas welding techniques were employed to weld armor grade aluminum alloy to investigate the effect of welding processes on tensile behavior of weld joints. Tensile tests, Vicker microhardness tests and optical microscopy were performed on developed weld joints and base metal. Welding process influenced tensile behavior and microstructure of weld joints. Friction stir welded joints showed tensile behavior better than tungsten inert gas weld joints.

Keywords: friction stir welding, microstructure, tensile properties, fracture locations

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Authors: Melih Cattik

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The present study investigate effectiveness of video modeling procedures on request an item behavior of children with ASD. Two male and a female children with ASD participated in the study. A multiple baseline across participant single-subject design was used to evaluate the effects of the video modeling procedures on request an item behavior. During baseline, no prompts were presented to participants. In the intervention phase, the teacher gave video model to the participant and than created opportunity for request an item to him/her. When the first participant reached to criterion, the second participant began intervention. This procedure continued till all participants completed intervention. Finally, all three participants learned to request an item behavior. Based upon findings of this study, it will make suggestions to future researches.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, video modeling procedures, request an item behavior, single subject design

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Authors: Siva Kumar Reddy, Anwesha Mukherjee, Abha Misra

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Excellent energy absorption capability in carbon nanotubes (CNT) is shown in their bulk structure that behaves like super compressible foam. Furthermore, a tunable mechanical behavior of CNT foam is achieved using several methods like changing the concentration of precursors, polymer impregnation, non covalent functionalization of CNT microstructure etc. Influence of magnetic field on compressive behavior of magnetic CNT demonstrated an enhanced peak stress and energy absorption capability, which does not require any surface and structural modification of the foam. This presentation discusses the mechanical behavior of micro porous CNT foam that is impregnated in magnetic field responsive fluid. Magnetic particles are dispersed in a nonmagnetic fluid so that alignment of both particles and CNT could play a crucial role in controlling the stiffness of the overall structure. It is revealed that the compressive behavior of CNT foam critically depends on the fluid viscosity as well as magnetic field intensity. Both peak Stress and energy absorption in CNT foam followed a power law behavior with the increase in the magnetic field intensity. However, in the absence of magnetic field, both peak stress and energy absorption capability of CNT foam presented a linear dependence on the fluid viscosity. Hence, this work demonstrates the role magnetic filed in controlling the mechanical behavior of the foams prepared at nanoscale.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, magnetic field, energy absorption capability and viscosity

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Authors: Abdmohammad Mousavi, Mohsen Shams, Mehdi Akbartabar Toori, Ali Mousavizadeh, Mohammad Ali Morowatisharifabad

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The effectiveness of Transtheoretical Model (TTM) on nutritional behavior change and lose weight has been subject to questions by some studies. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of nutritional behavior change and lose weight interventions based on TTM in obese and overweight women. This experimental study that was a 8 months trial nutritional behavior change and weight loss program based on TTM with two conditions and pre–post intervention measurements weight mean. 299 obese and overweight 20-44 years old women were selected from two health centers include training (142) and control (157) groups in Yasuj, a city in south west of Iran. Data were analyzed using paired T-test and One–Way ANOVA tests. In baseline, adherence with nutritional healthy behavior in training group(9.4%) compare with control(38.8%) were different significantly(p=.003), weight mean of training(Mean=78.02 kg, SD=11.67) compared with control group(Mean=77.23 kg, SD=10.25) were not (P=.66). In post test, adherence with nutritional healthy behavior in training group(70.1%) compare with control (37.4%) were different significantly (p=.000), weight mean of training (Mean=74.65 kg, SD=10.93, p=.000) compare with pre test were different significantly and control (Mean=77.43 kg, SD=10.43, p=.411) were not. The training group has lost 3.37 kg weight, whereas the control group has increased .2 kg weight. These results supported the applicability of the TTM for women weight lose intervention.

Keywords: nutritional behavior, Transtheoretical Model, weight lose, women

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Authors: Tanida Julvanichpong

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Exercise has been regarded as a necessary and important aspect to enhance physical performance and psychology health. Body weight statistics of students in junior high school students in Chonburi Province beyond a standard risk of obesity. Promoting exercise among Junior high school students in Chonburi Province, essential knowledge concerning factors influencing exercise is needed. Therefore, this study aims to (1) determine the levels of perceived exercise behavior, exercise behavior in the past, perceived barriers to exercise, perceived benefits of exercise, perceived self-efficacy to exercise, feelings associated with exercise behavior, influence of the family to exercise, influence of friends to exercise, and the perceived influence of the environment on exercise. (2) examine the predicting ability of each of the above factors while including personal factors (sex, educational level) for exercise behavior. Pender’s Health Promotion Model was used as a guide for the study. Sample included 652 students in junior high schools, Chonburi Provience. The samples were selected by Multi-Stage Random Sampling. Data Collection has been done by using self-administered questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient, Eta, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The research results showed that: 1. Perceived benefits of exercise, influence of teacher, influence of environmental, feelings associated with exercise behavior were at a high level. Influence of the family to exercise, exercise behavior, exercise behavior in the past, perceived self-efficacy to exercise and influence of friends were at a moderate level. Perceived barriers to exercise were at a low level. 2. Exercise behavior was positively significant related to perceived benefits of exercise, influence of the family to exercise, exercise behavior in the past, perceived self-efficacy to exercise, influence of friends, influence of teacher, influence of environmental and feelings associated with exercise behavior (p < .01, respectively) and was negatively significant related to educational level and perceived barriers to exercise (p < .01, respectively). Exercise behavior was significant related to sex (Eta = 0.243, p=.000). 3. Exercise behavior in the past, influence of the family to exercise significantly contributed 60.10 percent of the variance to the prediction of exercise behavior in male students (p < .01). Exercise behavior in the past, perceived self-efficacy to exercise, perceived barriers to exercise, and educational level significantly contributed 52.60 percent of the variance to the prediction of exercise behavior in female students (p < .01).

Keywords: predictive factors, exercise behaviors, Junior high school, Chonburi Province

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Authors: Vivienne Langhorne, Helen Sharpe

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Body dissatisfaction begins developing in middle childhood, with wide-ranging implications for mental health and well-being. Previous research on parent behavior has focused on the role of explicit parent behaviors in adolescent and young adult body dissatisfaction, leaving a gap in understanding how implicit parent behaviors relate to body dissatisfaction in childhood. The current study investigated how implicit parent behavior (such as modeling own body dissatisfaction and dieting) relates to parent and child body dissatisfaction. It was hypothesized that implicit behavior would be directly related to parent and child body dissatisfaction and mediate the relationship between the two. Furthermore, this study aimed to examine child gender as a potential moderator in this mediation, as research shows that boys and girls experience body dissatisfaction differently. This study analyzed survey responses on parent body dissatisfaction, implicit behavior, and child body dissatisfaction measures from a sample of 166 parent-child dyads with children between the ages of 6 to 9 years old. Regression analyses revealed that parent body dissatisfaction is related to both parent-implicit behavior and child body dissatisfaction. However, implicit behavior did not mediate the relationship between the two body dissatisfaction variables. Additionally, the results of moderated mediation indicated there were no child gender differences in the strength of the association between parental implicit behaviors and child body dissatisfaction. These findings highlight the need for further research into the mechanisms behind parent and child body dissatisfaction to better understand the process through which intergenerational transmission occurs.

Keywords: body dissatisfaction, implicit behaviour, middle childhood, parenting

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Authors: Sana Ridene, Soumaya Sayeb, Houda Helali, Mohammed Ben Hassen

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Nonwoven structures have a range of applications which include Medical, filtration, geotextile and recently this unconventional fabric is finding a niche in fashion apparel. In this paper, a modified form of Vangheluwe rheological model is used to describe the mechanical behavior of nonwovens fabrics in uniaxial tension. This model is an association in parallel of three Maxwell elements characterized by damping coefficients η1, η2 and η3 and E1, E2, E3 elastic modulus and a nonlinear spring C. The model is verified experimentally with two types of nonwovens (50% viscose /50% Polyester) and (40% viscose/60% Polyester) and a range of three square weights values. Comparative analysis of the theoretical model and the experimental results of tensile test proofs a high correlation between them. The proposed model can fairly well replicate the behavior of nonwoven fabrics during relaxation and sample traction. This allowed us to predict the mechanical behavior in tension and relaxation of fabrics starting only from their technical parameters (composition and weight).

Keywords: mechanical behavior, tensile strength, relaxation, rheological model

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Authors: Wasihun Girma Hailemariam

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Energy is one of the key elements required for every agricultural activity, especially for large scale agricultural production such as sugarcane cultivation which mostly is used to produce sugar and bioethanol from sugarcane. In such kinds of resource (energy) intensive activities, energy analysis of the production system and looking for other alternatives which can reduce energy inputs of the sugarcane production process are steps forward for resource management. The purpose of this study was to determine input energy (direct and indirect) per hectare of sugarcane production sector of Metehara sugar factory in Ethiopia. Total energy consumption of the production system was 61,642 MJ/ha-yr. This total input energy is a cumulative value of different inputs (direct and indirect inputs) in the production system. The contribution of these different inputs is discussed and a scenario of substituting the most influential input by other alternative input which can replace the original input in its nutrient content was discussed. In this study the most influential input for increased energy consumption was application of organic fertilizer which accounted for 50 % of the total energy consumption. Filter cake which is a residue from the sugar production in the factory was used to substitute the organic fertilizer and the reduction in the energy consumption of the sugarcane production was discussed

Keywords: energy analysis, organic fertilizer, resource management, sugarcane

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Authors: S. M. Ali, A. Salam Khan, A. U. Khan, M. Tariq, M. S. Hussain, B. A. Abbasi, I. Hussain, U. Farid

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Environment and surrounding plays a pivotal rule in structuring life-style of the consumers. Living standards intern effect the energy consumption of the consumers. In smart grid paradigm, climate drifts, weather parameter and green environmental directly relates to the energy profiles of the various consumers, such as residential, commercial and industrial. Considering above factors helps policy in shaping utility load curves and optimal management of demand and supply. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop correlation models of load and weather parameters and critical analysis of the factors effecting energy profiles of smart grid consumers. In this paper, we elaborated various environment and weather parameter factors effecting demand of consumers. Moreover, we developed correlation models, such as Pearson, Spearman, and Kendall, an inter-relation between dependent (load) parameter and independent (weather) parameters. Furthermore, we validated our discussion with real-time data of Texas State. The numerical simulations proved the effective relation of climatic drifts with energy consumption of smart grid consumers.

Keywords: climatic drifts, correlation analysis, energy consumption, smart grid, weather parameter

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Authors: Racidon P. Bernarte, Vincent Jude G. Estella, Dominador Jr. M. Nucon, Jin Danniel O. Villatema

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Purpose: Internet pornography has many negative effects, but one of the disturbing phases of pornography usage is; users are insentient on how pornography influences and affects them. The acceptance of Internet pornography use in a relationship has been found to be higher among men than among women. The use of pornography directly correlates to a decrease in sexual intimacy. Hence, this might lead to the weakening of the relationship of the married individuals to their partner. To find out the relevance of the claim, the researchers aimed to explore the relationship of Internet pornography consumption to the relationship commitment of married individuals in the Philippines. Different factors such as level of satisfaction, the size of the investment, quality of alternatives, relationship stability, and viewing habits of the Filipino married individuals were also considered in determining the relationship of watching pornography online and the relationship commitment of the Filipino married individuals. Design/ Methodology/ Approach –The study used the quantitative research approach, specifically descriptive method and correlation in order to further analyze the gathered data. A self-administered survey was distributed to 400 selected Filipino married individuals who were married individuals that are watching pornography on the Internet who are living in Quezon City. Findings –It is revealed that Internet pornography consumption has a negative effect on the relationship commitment of married individuals. Furthermore, watching pornography online weakened the relationship commitment of the Filipino married individuals that leads to an unstable relationship.

Keywords: internet pornography consumption, relationship commitment, married individuals, polytechnic university of the Philippines

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Authors: Reza Ziaie Moayed, Javad Shamsi Soosahab

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Helical piles are being used extensively in engineering applications all over the world. There are insufficient studies on the helical piles' behavior in anisotropic soils. In this paper, numerical modeling was adopted to investigate the effect of elastic modulus anisotropy on helical pile behavior resting on anisotropic sand by using a finite element limit analysis. The load-displacement behavior of helical piles under compression and tension loads is investigated in different relative densities of soils, and the effect of the ratio of horizontal elastic modulus with respect to vertical elastic modulus (EH/EV) is evaluated. The obtained results illustrate that in sandy soils, the anisotropic ratio of elastic modulus (EH/EV) has notable effect on bearing capacity of helical piles in different relative density. Therefore, it may be recommended that the effect of anisotropic condition of soil elastic modulus should be considered in helical piles behavior.

Keywords: helical piles, bearing capacity, numerical modeling, soil anisotropy

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Authors: Jinhoa Lee

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The relationships between environmental quality, energy use and economic output have created growing attention over the past decades among researchers and policy makers. Focusing on the empirical aspects of the role of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and energy use in affecting the economic output, this paper is an effort to fulfill the gap in a comprehensive case study at a country level using modern econometric techniques. To achieve the goal, this country-specific study examines the short-run and long-run relationships among energy consumption (using disaggregated energy sources: crude oil, coal, natural gas, electricity), CO2 emissions and gross domestic product (GDP) for Egypt using time series analysis from the year 1980-2010. To investigate the relationships between the variables, this paper employs the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test for stationarity, Johansen maximum likelihood method for co-integration and a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) for both short- and long-run causality among the research variables for the sample. The long-run equilibrium in the VECM suggests some negative impacts of the CO2 emissions and the coal and natural gas use on the GDP. Conversely, a positive long-run causality from the electricity consumption to the GDP is found to be significant in Egypt during the period. In the short-run, some positive unidirectional causalities exist, running from the coal consumption to the GDP, and the CO2 emissions and the natural gas use. Further, the GDP and the electricity use are positively influenced by the consumption of petroleum products and the direct combustion of crude oil. Overall, the results support arguments that there are relationships among environmental quality, energy use, and economic output in both the short term and long term; however, the effects may differ due to the sources of energy, such as in the case of Egypt for the period of 1980-2010.

Keywords: CO2 emissions, Egypt, energy consumption, GDP, time series analysis

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Authors: Czar Matthew Gerard Dayday, Danielle Marie Estrera, Philippe Jefferson Galban, Gabrielle Marie Heredia

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The study aimed to examine the effects of self-construal and direct mimicry on prosocial behavior. The study made use of a 2 (Self-construal: independent or interdependent) x 2 (Mimicry: mimicry or non-mimicry) between subjects factorial design where effects of self-construal was cognitively-induced through a story with varying pronouns (We, Us, Ourselves vs. Me, I, Myself), and prosocial behavior was measured with the amount of money donated to a fabricated advocacy. The research was conducted with a convenience sampling comprised of 88 undergraduate students (58 Females, 33 Males) aged 16 to 26 years olds from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Results from the experiment show that both factors do not have significant main effects on prosocial behavior. Additionally, their interaction also does not have a significant effect to prosocial behavior with No Mimicry x Independent ranking highest in amount of money donated and Mimicry x Interdependent ranking lowest. These results can be attributed to multiple factors, which include the collectivist orientation and sense of kapwa of Filipinos, a role reversal in the methodology and the lack of Chameleon Effect, and a weak priming of self-construal with respect to self-relatedness.

Keywords: behavior, mimicry, prosocial, self-construal

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Authors: Gaurav Kumar Sinha

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In an era marked by increasing concerns about energy sustainability, this research endeavors to address the pressing challenge of energy consumption in buildings and industries. This study delves into the transformative potential of AWS services in optimizing energy efficiency. The research is founded on the recognition that effective management of energy consumption is imperative for both environmental conservation and economic viability. Buildings and industries account for a substantial portion of global energy use, making it crucial to develop advanced techniques for analysis and reduction. This study sets out to explore the integration of AWS services with big data analytics to provide innovative solutions for energy consumption analysis. Leveraging AWS's cloud computing capabilities, scalable infrastructure, and data analytics tools, the research aims to develop efficient methods for collecting, processing, and analyzing energy data from diverse sources. The core focus is on creating predictive models and real-time monitoring systems that enable proactive energy management. By harnessing AWS's machine learning and data analytics capabilities, the research seeks to identify patterns, anomalies, and optimization opportunities within energy consumption data. Furthermore, this study aims to propose actionable recommendations for reducing energy consumption in buildings and industries. By combining AWS services with metrics-driven insights, the research strives to facilitate the implementation of energy-efficient practices, ultimately leading to reduced carbon emissions and cost savings. The integration of AWS services not only enhances the analytical capabilities but also offers scalable solutions that can be customized for different building and industrial contexts. The research also recognizes the potential for AWS-powered solutions to promote sustainable practices and support environmental stewardship.

Keywords: energy consumption analysis, big data analytics, AWS services, energy efficiency

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Authors: Rani Danavath, V. B. Narsimha

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Cloud computing is emerging as a new paradigm of large scale distributed computing. Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., three service models, and four deployment networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics models. Load balancing is one of the main challenges in cloud computing, which is required to distribute the dynamic workload across multiple nodes, to ensure that no single node is overloaded. It helps in optimal utilization of resources, enhancing the performance of the system. The goal of the load balancing is to minimize the resource consumption and carbon emission rate, that is the direct need of cloud computing. This determined the need of new metrics energy consumption and carbon emission for energy-efficiency load balancing techniques in cloud computing. Existing load balancing techniques mainly focuses on reducing overhead, services, response time and improving performance etc. In this paper we introduced a Technique for energy-efficiency, but none of the techniques have considered the energy consumption and carbon emission. Therefore, our proposed work will go towards energy – efficiency. So this energy-efficiency load balancing technique can be used to improve the performance of cloud computing by balancing the workload across all the nodes in the cloud with the minimum resource utilization, in turn, reducing energy consumption, and carbon emission to an extent, which will help to achieve green computing.

Keywords: cloud computing, distributed computing, energy efficiency, green computing, load balancing, energy consumption, carbon emission

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Authors: Kashif Mahmood, Tehreem Fatima, Adeel Hassan

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Firms are always concerned with their performance which is directly linked to employees’ performance. In the thrive of this goal, number of researches have been conducted where Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and Counterproductive Work Behavior (CPWB) is among those studies. This study is aimed at investigating the role OCB by considering altruism and conscientiousness in an employee’s job performance with the mediating role of CPWB by considering sabotage and withdraw among the employees of hotel industry in Pakistan. A quantitative method was used by following deductive approach in positivist paradigm where survey was conducted through self-administered questionnaires and data was collected from the employees working in hotel industry of Pakistan. Top 10 hotels from the region of Lahore, Punjab was selected as population, and 500 questionnaires were distributed among their employees by using stratified random sampling technique. There is a positive impact of OCB is found on job performance of an employee whereas full mediation of CPWB is also found between OCB and job performance. The study is important for the practitioners in a way that hotel industry is growing at an enormous rate where employee behavior is always a concern specifically in emerging markets due to the exploitation of employees at the workplace, so the findings of the study can be helpful for practitioners and policy makers.

Keywords: organizational citizenship behavior, counterproductive work behavior, employee performance, altruism, conscientiousness, sabotage, withdraw, hotel industry

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Authors: Razan Salem

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Men and women are different, and so their investment behaviors may also vary. To the author’s best knowledge, women's investment behavior and its association with demographic factors have not been explored directly in the behavioral finance literature, however, particularly in respect to the Arab region. Thus, this study extends the literature by focusing on examining the association of demographic factors (age, annual income, and education) with Arab women’s investment behavior. To achieve the study’s aim, the researcher distributed 600 close-ended online questionnaires to a sample of Arab male and female individual investors in both Saudi Arabia and Jordan; using Kruskal-Wallis H Test and the Mann-Whitney U Test to analyze the data. The findings reveal that age, education, and level of income are associated with Arab women’s investment behavior. Educational level and level of income are positively associated with Arab women investment confidence level. On the contrary, age is negatively associated with Arab women financial risk tolerance. According to annual income, Arab women with lower incomes have lower confidence and investment literacy levels. Overall, the study concludes that age, income, and education are important demographic factors that must be considered when investigating the investment behavior of women in the Arab region.

Keywords: Arab region, demographic factors, investment behavior, women investors

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Authors: Saeed Wahass

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Objective: Obesity is epidemic, affecting all societies and cultures. Most serious medical illnesses are attributed to obesity. For this reason, all healthcare systems worldwide have focused on obesity for both intervention and prevention. However, there is scientific evidence supporting that obesity is treatable through implementing different modalities of interventions. They include biological interventions like medications and bariatric surgeries and behavioral interventions. It seems healthcare professionals may suggest the quick and the easiest interventions for obesity like surgery, ignoring other modesties that might require efforts from their sides and patients as well. Searching on the onset, progression and prevention, behavior plays a major role. As a result, psychological interventions have become increasingly core for intervention and prevention of obesity. They are effective and cost effective in dealing with obesity. Methods: A questionnaire describing the role of behavior on obesity and the way it can be prevented and treated was distributed to a group of health professionals who are dealing with obesity e.g. bariatric surgeons, bariatric physicians, psychologists, health educators, nurses and social workers. Results: 88% of healthcare professionals believed that behavior plays a major role on the onset and progression of obesity, 95% of them recognized that obesity can be prevented with consideration for behavior factors. A major proportion (87%) of the respondents see that psychological interventions are effective and cost effective in treating obesity. Conclusions: It optimistically appears that the majority of healthcare professionals believe that behavior is a key component in understanding, preventing and treating obesity. This outcome may help in developing specific training courses for healthcare professionals, who are dealing with obesity concerning the way they can treat patients behaviorally and, moreover, educating the community.

Keywords: behavior, obesity, healthcare provider, psychological interventions

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Authors: Watcharet Kongwarakom, Tosaphol Ratniyomchai, Thanatchai Kulworawanichpong

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This paper presents a design and analysis of wireless charging lane system (WCLS) for light rail transit (LRT) by considering the performance of wireless charging, traffic conditions and energy consumption drawn by the LRT system. The dynamic of the vehicle movement in terms of the vehicle speed profile during running on the WCLS, a dwell time during stopping at the station for taking the WCLS and the capacity of the WCLS in each section are taken into account to alignment design of the WCLS. This paper proposes a case study of the design of the WCLS into 2 sub-cases including continuous and discontinuous WCLS with the same distance of WCLS in total. The energy consumption by the LRT through the WCLS with the different designs of the WCLS is compared to find out the better configuration of those two cases by considering the best performance of the power transfer between the LRT and the WCLS.

Keywords: Light rail transit, Wireless charging lane, Energy consumption, Power transfer

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Authors: Sharon Cayzer-Haller, Shir Ginosar-Yaari, Ariel Knafo-Noam

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The 21st century emerged as the digital century, and it is marked by a wide range of technological developments and changes, followed by potential changes in human communication skills. This technological revolution has changed human means of communication in many different ways: children and adolescents are spending much of their time in front of screens, participating in all sorts of online activities (even more so since the outbreak of COVID-19). The current study focuses on the role of values in adolescents' online bystanders' behavior. Values are cognitive, abstract representations of desirable goals that motivate behavior, and we hypothesized finding significant associations between specific values and differential online bystanders' feelings and behavior. Data was collected through online questionnaires that measured the participants' values, using Schwartz's short version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (Schwartz, 2012). Participants’ online behavior was assessed in a questionnaire addressing reactions to situations of cyber shaming and cyberbullying, and specifically positive feelings and pro-social behavior (e.g., more supportive reactions) toward the victims, as opposed to different offensive behavioral reactions (such as laughing at the victim or ignoring the situation). Participants were recruited with a commercial research panel company, and 308 Israeli adolescents' values and online behavior were examined (mean age 15.2). As hypothesized, results show significant associations between self-transcendence values (universalism and benevolence) and conservation values (conformity, tradition, and security). These two groups of values were positively correlated with pro-social bystanders' feelings and behavior. On the opposite side of the values scale, the value of power was negatively associated with the participants' pro-social behavior, and positively associated with offensive behavioral reactions. Further research is needed, but we conclude that values serve as crucial guiding factors in directing adolescents' online feelings and behavior.

Keywords: adolescents, values, cyberbullying, online behavior, power

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Authors: Miguel A. Jimenez Barros, Elyn L. Solano Charris, Luis E. Ramirez, Lauren Castro Bolano, Carlos Torres Barreto, Juliana Morales Cubillo

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This project sought to mitigate the high levels of water consumption in industrial processes in accordance with the water-rationing plan promoted at national and international level due to the water consumption projections published by the United Nations. Water consumption has three main uses, municipal (common use), agricultural and industrial where the latter consumes a minimum percentage (around 20% of the total consumption). Awareness on world water scarcity, a Colombian company responsible for generation of massive consumption products, decided to implement politics and techniques for water treatment, recycling, and reuse. The project consisted in a business technology program that permits a better use of wastewater caused by production operations. This approach reduces the potable water consumption, generates better conditions of water in the sewage dumps, generates a positive environmental impact for the region, and is a reference model in national and international levels. In order to achieve the objective, a process flow diagram was used in order to define the industrial processes that required potable water. This strategy allowed the industry to determine a water reuse plan at the operational level without affecting the requirements associated with the manufacturing process and even more, to support the activities developed in administrative buildings. Afterwards, the company made an evaluation and selection of the chemical and biological processes required for water reuse, in compliance with the Colombian Law. The implementation of the business technology program optimized the water use and recirculation rate up to 70%, accomplishing an important reduction of the regional environmental impact.

Keywords: bio-reactor, potable water, reverse osmosis, water treatment

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Authors: Luis González-Cavieres, Mario Perez-Won, Anais Palma-Acevedo, Gipsy Tabilo-Munizaga, Erick Jara-Quijada, Roberto Lemus-Mondaca

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In this study, pulsed electric field (PEF: 2.0 kV/cm) was used as pretreatment in drying methods, vacuum microwave (VMD); freeze-drying (FD); and hot air (HAD), in Chilean abalone mollusk. Drying parameters, quality, energy consumption, and Sustainability parameters were evaluated. PEF+VMD showed better values than the other drying systems, with drying times 67% and 83% lower than PEF+FD and FD. In the quality parameters, PEF+FD showed a significantly lower value for hardness (250 N), and a lower change of color value (ΔE = 12). In the case of HAD, the PEF application did not significantly influence its processing. In energy parameters, VMD and PEF+VMD reduced energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Keywords: PEF technology, vacuum microwave drying, energy consumption, CO2 emissions

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Authors: Helena López-Moreno, Antoni Rodríguez-Sánchez, Carmen Viñas-Arrebola, Cesar Porras-Amores

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The ventilated façade has great advantages when compared to traditional façades as it reduces the air conditioning thermal loads due to the stack effect induced by solar radiation in the air chamber. Optimizing energy consumption by using a ventilated façade can be used not only in newly built buildings but also it can be implemented in existing buildings, opening the field of implementation to energy building retrofitting works. In this sense, the following three prototypes of façade where designed, built and further analyzed in this research: non-ventilated façade (NVF); slightly ventilated façade (SLVF) and strongly ventilated façade (STVF). The construction characteristics of the three facades are based on the Spanish regulation of building construction “Technical Building Code”. The façades have been monitored by type-k thermocouples in a representative day of the summer season in Madrid (Spain). Moreover, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures, studying the thermal lag in the ventilated and no-ventilated façades has been designed. Results show that STVF façade presents higher levels of thermal inertia as the thermal lag reduces up to 100% (daily mean) compared to the non-ventilated façade. In addition, the statistical analysis proves that an increase of the ventilation holes size in STVF façades does not improve the thermal lag significantly (p > 0.05) when compared to the SLVF façade.

Keywords: ventilated façade, energy efficiency, thermal behavior, statistical analysis

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Authors: Thiago Brito Bezerra

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This paper presents a novel approach to reduce power consumption of digital filters based on dynamic bypassing of partial products in their multipliers. The bypassing elements incorporated into the multiplier hardware eliminate redundant signal transitions, which appear within the carry-save adders when the partial product is zero. This technique reduces the power consumption by around 20%. The circuit implementation was made using the AMS 0.18 um technology. The bypassing technique applied to the circuits is outlined.

Keywords: digital filter, low-power, bypassing technique, low-pass filter

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Authors: Yudia Mailani Putri, Martalena Purba, B. J. Istiti Kandarina

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Background: Obesity has been recognized as a global health problem. Individuals classified as overweight and obese are increasing at an alarming rate. This condition is associated with psychological and physiological problems. as a person reaches adulthood, somatic growth ceases. At this stage, the human body has developed fully, to a stable state. As the capital of Riau Province in Indonesia, Pekanbaru is dominated by Malay ethnic population habitually consuming cholesterol-rich fatty foods as a daily menu, a trigger to the onset of obesity resulting in high prevalence of degenerative diseases. Research objectives: The aim of this study is elaborating the relationship between high-fat consumption pattern, stress level, physical activity and the incidence of obesity in adult women in Pekanbaru city. Research Methods: Among the combined research methods applied in this study, the first stage is quantitative observational, analytical cross-sectional research design with adult women aged 20-40 living in Pekanbaru city. The sample consists of 200 women with BMI≥25. Sample data is processed with univariate, bivariate (correlation and simple linear regression) and multivariate (multiple linear regression) analysis. The second phase is qualitative descriptive study purposive sampling by in-depth interviews. six participants withdrew from the study. Results: According to the results of the bivariate analysis, there are relationships between the incidence of obesity and the pattern of high fat foods consumption (energy intake (p≤0.000; r = 0.536), protein intake (p≤0.000; r=0.307), fat intake (p≤0.000; r=0.416), carbohydrate intake (p≤0.000; r=0.430), frequency of fatty food consumption (p≤0.000; r=0.506) and frequency of viscera foods consumption (p≤0.000; r=0.535). There is a relationship between physical activity and incidence of obesity (p≤0.000; r=-0.631). However, there is no relationship between the level of stress (p=0.741; r=0.019-) and the incidence of obesity. Physical activity is a predominant factor in the incidence of obesity in adult women in Pekanbaru city. Conclusion: There are relationships between high-fat food consumption pattern, physical activity and the incidence of obesity in Pekanbaru city whereas physical activity is a predominant factor in the occurrence of obesity, supported by the unchangeable pattern of high-fat foods consumption.

Keywords: obesity, adult, high in fat, stress, physical activity, consumption pattern

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Authors: Haneffa M. G.

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Retirement preparedness among Malaysian working individuals found to be poor. Prior research proven women consistently have lower retirement confidence as compared to men. Retirement planning still become the vague issues due to saving for the golden years are being stepsided by many people. Most of them think that their contributions in companies and government retirement plan is enough to comfort them in their golden years. The Employee Provident Fund (EPF) claims that most of nearly retired person have inadequate fund to retire. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss the saving behavior of younger cohort of working individuals towards retirement planning in Malaysia. A theoretical framework is developed to understand the relationship between demographic characteristics, financial education, goal clarity, perceived religiosity and retirement savings behavior.

Keywords: retirement planning, savings behavior, perceived religiosity, goal clarity, Malaysia

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Authors: Sarra Kitanou

Abstract:

Water recycling and reuse is an effective measure to solve the water stress problem. The sustainable use of water resource has become a national development strategy in Morocco. A key aspect of improving overall sustainability is the potential for direct wastewater effluent reuse. However, the hybrid technology membrane bioreactors (MBR) have been identified as an attractive option for producing high quality and nutrient-rich effluents for wastewater treatment. It is based on complex interactions between biological processes, filtration process and rheological properties of the liquid to be treated. Currently, with the evolution of wastewater treatment projects in Morocco, the MBR technology can be used as a technology treating different types of wastewaters and to produce effluent with suitable quality for reuse. However, the energetic consumption of this process is a great concern, which can limit the development and implementation of this technology. In this investigation, the electric energy consumption of an ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor process in domestic wastewater treatment is evaluated and compared to some MBR installations based on literature review. Energy requirements of the MBR are linked to operational parameters and reactor performance. The analysis of energy consumption shows that the biological aeration and membrane filtration are more energy consuming than the other components listed as feed and recirculation pumps. Biological aeration needs 53% of the overall energetic consumption and the specific energy consumption for membrane filtration is about 25%. However, aeration is a major energy consumer, often exceeding 50% share of total energy consumption. The optimal results obtained on the MBR process (pressure p = 1.15 bar), hydraulic retention time (15 h) showed removal efficiencies up to 90% in terms of organic compounds removal, 100% in terms of suspended solids presence and up to 80% reduction of total nitrogen and total phosphorus. The effluent from this MBR system could be considered as qualified for irrigation reuse, showing its potential application in the future.

Keywords: hybrid process, membrane bioreactor, wastewater treatment, reuse

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Authors: F. Moghtaderi, M. Burke, J. Troelsen

Abstract:

There has been a significant decline in active travel as well as the massive increase use of car-dependent travel mode in many countries during past two decades. Evidential risks for people’s physical and mental health problems are followed by this increased use of motorized travel mode. These problems range from overweight and obesity to increasing air pollution. In response to these rising concerns, local councils and other interested organizations around the world have introduced a variety of initiatives regarding reduce the dominance of cars for the daily journeys. However, the nature of these kinds of interventions, which related to the human behavior, make lots of complexities. People’s travel behavior and changing this behavior, has two different aspects. People’s attitudes and perceptions toward the sustainable and healthy modes of travel, and motorized travel modes (especially private car use) is one these two aspects. The other one related to people’s behavior change processes. There are no comprehensive model in order to guide policy interventions to increase the level of succeed of such interventions. A comprehensive theoretical framework is required in accordance to facilitate and guide the processes of data collection and analysis to achieve the best possible guidelines for policy makers. Regarding this gaps in the travel behavior change research, this paper attempted to identify and suggest a multidimensional framework in order to facilitate planning interventions. A structured mixed-method is suggested regarding the expand the scope and improve the analytic power of the result according to the complexity of human behavior. In order to recognize people’s attitudes, a theory with the focus on people’s attitudes towards a particular travel behavior was needed. The literature around the theory of planned behavior (TPB) was the most useful, and had been proven to be a good predictor of behavior change. Another aspect of the research, related to the people’s decision-making process regarding explore guidelines for the further interventions. Therefore, a theory was needed to facilitate and direct the interventions’ design. The concept of the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM) was used regarding reach a set of useful guidelines for the further interventions with the aim to increase active travel and sustainable modes of travel. Consequently, a combination of these two theories (TTM and TPB) had presented as an appropriate concept to identify and design implemented travel behavior change interventions.

Keywords: behavior change theories, theoretical framework, travel behavior change interventions, urban research

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Authors: Pegah Eshraghi, Zahra Sadat Zomorodian, Mohammad Tahsildoost

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Over the past decade, energy consumption in educational buildings has steadily increased. The purpose of this research is to provide a method to quickly predict the energy consumption of buildings using separate evaluation of zones and decomposing the building to eliminate the complexity of geometry at the early design stage. To produce this framework, machine learning algorithms such as Support vector regression (SVR) and Artificial neural network (ANN) are used to predict energy consumption and thermal comfort metrics in a school as a case. The database consists of more than 55000 samples in three climates of Iran. Cross-validation evaluation and unseen data have been used for validation. In a specific label, cooling energy, it can be said the accuracy of prediction is at least 84% and 89% in SVR and ANN, respectively. The results show that the SVR performed much better than the ANN.

Keywords: early stage of design, energy, thermal comfort, validation, machine learning

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Authors: Khurram Shahzad, Muhammad Usman

Abstract:

The main aim of this study is to examine the direct and interactive effects of job insecurity and Islamic work ethics on employee’s attitude towards change and organizational citizenship behavior. Design/methodology/approach: The data was collected from 171 male and female university teachers of Pakistan. Self administered, close ended questionnaires were used to collect the data. Data was analyzed through correlation and regression analysis. Findings: Through the analysis of data, it was found that job insecurity has a strong negative effect on the attitude towards change of university teachers. On the contrary, job insecurity has no significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior of university teachers. Our results also show that Islamic work ethics does not moderate the relationship of job insecurity and attitude towards change, while a strong moderation effect of Islamic wok ethics is found on the relationship of job insecurity and organizational citizenship behavior. Originality/value: This study for the first time examines the relationship of job insecurity with employee’s attitude towards change and organizational citizenship behavior with the moderating effect of Islamic work ethics.

Keywords: job security, islamic work ethics, attitude towards change, organizational citizenship behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 475