Search results for: order picking
13278 The Relationship between Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Turkey: A Time Series Analysis
Authors: Burcu Guvenek, Volkan Alptekin
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Turkey is a country in the process of development and its economy has undergone structural reforms in order to realize a sustainable development and energy has vital role as a basic input for this aim. Turkey has been in the process of economic growth and development and, because of this, has an increasing energy need. This paper investigates relationship between economic growth and electricity consumption using annual data for Turkey between 1970-2008 by using bounds test. As economic growth and energy consumption variables used in empirical analysis was different order of integration I(0) and I(1), we employed bounds test approach. We have not found co-integration relationship between the variables.Keywords: bounds test, economic growth, energy consumption, Turkey
Procedia PDF Downloads 36313277 Adjustments of Mechanical and Hydraulic Properties of Wood Formed under Environmental Stresses
Authors: B. Niez, B. Moulia, J. Dlouha, E. Badel
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Trees adjust their development to the environmental conditions they experience. Storms events of last decades showed that acclimation of trees to mechanical stresses due to wind is a very important process that allows the trees to sustain for long years. In the future, trees will experience new wind patterns, namely, more often strong winds and fewer daily moderate winds. Moreover, these patterns will go along with drought periods that may interact with the capacity of trees to adjust their growth to mechanical stresses due to wind. It is necessary to understand the mechanisms of wood functional acclimations to environmental conditions in order to predict their behaviour and in order to give foresters and breeders the relevant tools to adapt their forest management. This work aims to study how trees adjust the mechanical and hydraulic functions of their wood to environmental stresses and how this acclimation may be beneficial for the tree to resist to future stresses. In this work, young poplars were grown under controlled climatic conditions that include permanent environmental stress (daily mechanical stress of the stem by bending and/or hydric stress). Then, the properties of wood formed under these stressed conditions were characterized. First, hydraulic conductivity and sensibility to cavitation were measured at the tissue level in order to evaluate the changes in water transport capacity. Secondly, bending tests and Charpy impact tests were carried out at the millimetric scale to locally measure mechanical parameters such as elastic modulus, elastic limit or rupture energy. These experimental data allow evaluating the impacts of mechanical and water stress on the wood material. At the stem level, they will be merged in an integrative model in order to evaluate the beneficial aspect of wood acclimation for trees.Keywords: acclimation, environmental stresses, hydraulics, mechanics, wood
Procedia PDF Downloads 20413276 Design of an Eddy Current Brake System for the Use of Roller Coasters Based on a Human Factors Engineering Approach
Authors: Adam L. Yanagihara, Yong Seok Park
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The goal of this paper is to converge upon a design of a brake system that could be used for a roller coaster found at an amusement park. It was necessary to find what could be deemed as a “comfortable” deceleration so that passengers do not feel as if they are suddenly jerked and pressed against the restraining harnesses. A human factors engineering approach was taken in order to determine this deceleration. Using a previous study that tested the deceleration of transit vehicles, it was found that a -0.45 G deceleration would be used as a design requirement to build this system around. An adjustable linear eddy current brake using permanent magnets would be the ideal system to use in order to meet this design requirement. Anthropometric data were then used to determine a realistic weight and length of the roller coaster that the brake was being designed for. The weight and length data were then factored into magnetic brake force equations. These equations were used to determine how the brake system and the brake run layout would be designed. A final design for the brake was determined and it was found that a total of 12 brakes would be needed with a maximum braking distance of 53.6 m in order to stop a roller coaster travelling at its top speed and loaded to maximum capacity. This design is derived from theoretical calculations, but is within the realm of feasibility.Keywords: eddy current brake, engineering design, design synthesis, human factors engineering
Procedia PDF Downloads 12313275 Strategic Business Solutions for an Ageing SME
Authors: N. G. Teik Hiang, Fathyah Hashim
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This is a case of how strategic management techniques can be used to help resolving problems faced by an ageing Small and Medium Enterprise (SME). Strategic way of resolving problems had been proven to be possible in this case despite general thought that strategic management is useful mostly for large corporations. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can also use strategic management in managing their business and determining their future cause of action and strategies in order to survive in this ever competent world. Strategic orientation is the key to survival and development of small and medium enterprises. In order to adapt to the fierce market competition, ageing SMEs should improve competitiveness and operational efficiency. They must therefore establish a sense of strategic management to improve the strategic management skills, combined with its own unique characteristics, and work out practical strategies to develop core competitiveness of enterprises in the fierce market competition in order to be sustainable. In this case, internal strengths and weaknesses of an SME had been identified. Strategic internal factors and external factors had been classified and further utilized to formulate potential strategies to encounter various problems faced by the SME. These strategies had been further match to take advantages of the opportunities and to overcome the weaknesses and minimize the threats it is facing. Tan, a consultant who was given the opportunity to formulate a plan for the business started with the environmental scanning (internal and external environmental analysis), assessing strengths and weaknesses for the company, strategies generation, analysis and evaluation. He had numerous discussions with the owner of the business and the senior management in order to match the key internal and external factors to formulate alternative strategies for solving the problems that the company facing. Some of the recommendations or solutions are generated from the inspiration of the owner of the business who is a very enterprising and experience businessman.Keywords: strategic orientation, strategic management, SME, core competitiveness, sustainable
Procedia PDF Downloads 41913274 Why Trust Matters for Women Entrepreneurs: Insights from Malaysia
Authors: Suraini Mohd Rhouse, Noor Lela Ahmad, Nek Kamal Yeop Yunus, Rosfizah Md Taib
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This article aims to explore the importance of trust to women entrepreneurs. In particular, the research uses a social constructionist lens to examine ways in which women entrepreneurs construct trust in relation to their various stakeholders. A semi-structured interview was used to gather the data. The findings suggest women highlight the importance of trust in order to establish customer satisfaction that can further develop customer loyalty. In addition, aspect of trust with the employees is seen as vital for building organizational commitment to the business organization. Women also see the trust dimension in terms of their relationships with financial providers in order to gain approval for financial resources. This article contributes to the literature on the value of trust to women’s business environments.Keywords: qualitative, social constructionist, trust, women entrepreneurship
Procedia PDF Downloads 56013273 Total Controllability of the Second Order Nonlinear Differential Equation with Delay and Non-Instantaneous Impulses
Authors: Muslim Malik, Avadhesh Kumar
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A stronger concept of exact controllability which is called Total Controllability is introduced in this manuscript. Sufficient conditions have been established for the total controllability of a control problem, governed by second order nonlinear differential equation with delay and non-instantaneous impulses in a Banach space X. The results are obtained using the strongly continuous cosine family and Banach fixed point theorem. Also, the total controllability of an integrodifferential problem is investigated. At the end, some numerical examples are provided to illustrate the analytical findings.Keywords: Banach fixed point theorem, non-instantaneous impulses, strongly continuous cosine family, total controllability
Procedia PDF Downloads 29813272 EMG Based Orthosis for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Hemiparesis Patients
Authors: Nancy N. Sharmila, Aparna Mishra
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Hemiparesis affects almost 80% of stroke patients each year. It is marked by paralysis or weakness on one half of the body. Our model provides both assistance and physical therapy for hemiparesis patients for swift recovery. In order to accomplish our goal a force is provided that pulls the forearm up (as in flexing the arm), and pushes the forearm down (as in extending the arm), which will also assist the user during ADL (Activities of Daily Living). The model consists of a mechanical component which is placed around the patient’s bicep and an EMG control circuit to assist patients in daily activities, which makes it affordable and easy to use. In order to enhance the neuromuscular system’s effectiveness in synchronize the movement, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) concept is used. The EMG signals are acquired from the unaffected arm as an input to drive the orthosis. This way the patient is invigorated to use the orthosis for regular exercise.Keywords: EMG, hemiparesis, orthosis, rehabilitation
Procedia PDF Downloads 44513271 Soil Water Retention and Van Genuchten Parameters following Tillage and Manure Effects
Authors: Shahin Farajifar, Azadeh Safadoust, Ali Akbar Mahboubi
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A study was conducted to evaluate hydraulic properties of a sandy loam soil and corn (Zea mays L.) crop production under a short-term tillage and manure combinations field experiment carried out in west of Iran. Treatments included composted cattle manure application rates [0, 30, and 60 Mg (dry weight) ha-1] and tillage systems [no-tillage (NT), chisel plowing (CP), and moldboard plowing (MP)] arranged in a split-plot design. Soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) were significantly affected by manure and tillage treatments. At any matric suction, the soil water content was in the order of MP>CP>NT. At all matric suctions, the amount of water retained by the soil increased as manure application rate increased (i.e. 60>30>0 Mg ha-1). Similar to the tillage effects, at high suctions the differences of water retained due to manure addition were less than that at low suctions. The change of SWCC from tillage methods and manure applications may attribute to the change of pore size and aggregate size distributions. Soil Ks was in the order of CP>MP>NT for the first two layers and in the order of MP>CP and NT for the deeper soil layer. The Ks also increased with increasing rates of manure application (i.e. 60>30>0 Mg ha-1). This was due to the increase in the total pore size and continuity.Keywords: corn, manuure, saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil water characteristic curve, tillage
Procedia PDF Downloads 7413270 Analyzing Keyword Networks for the Identification of Correlated Research Topics
Authors: Thiago M. R. Dias, Patrícia M. Dias, Gray F. Moita
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The production and publication of scientific works have increased significantly in the last years, being the Internet the main factor of access and distribution of these works. Faced with this, there is a growing interest in understanding how scientific research has evolved, in order to explore this knowledge to encourage research groups to become more productive. Therefore, the objective of this work is to explore repositories containing data from scientific publications and to characterize keyword networks of these publications, in order to identify the most relevant keywords, and to highlight those that have the greatest impact on the network. To do this, each article in the study repository has its keywords extracted and in this way the network is characterized, after which several metrics for social network analysis are applied for the identification of the highlighted keywords.Keywords: bibliometrics, data analysis, extraction and data integration, scientometrics
Procedia PDF Downloads 25813269 Invisible to Invaluable - How Social Media is Helping Tackle Stigma and Discrimination Against Informal Waste Pickers of Bengaluru
Authors: Varinder Kaur Gambhir, Neema Gupta, Sonal Tickoo Chaudhuri
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Bengaluru, a rapidly growing metropolis in India, with a population of 12.5 million citizens, generates 5,757 metric tonnes of solid waste per day. Despite their invaluable contribution to waste management, society and the economy, waste pickers face significant stigma, suspicion and contempt and are left with a sense of shame about their work. In this context, BBC Media Action was funded by the H&M Foundation to develop a 3-year multi-phase social media campaign to shift perceptions of waste picking and informal waste pickers amongst the Bengaluru population. Research has been used to inform project strategy and adaptation, at all stages. Formative research to inform campaign strategy used mixed methods– 14 focused group discussions followed by 406 online surveys – to explore people’s knowledge of, and attitudes towards waste pickers, and identify potential barriers and motivators to changing perceptions. Use of qualitative techniques like metaphor maps (using bank of pictures rather than direct questions to understand mindsets) helped establish the invisibility of informal waste pickers, and the quantitative research enabled audience segmentation based on attitudes towards informal waste pickers. To pretest the campaign idea, eight I-GDs (individual interaction followed by group discussions) were conducted to allow interviewees to first freely express their feelings individually, before discussing in a group. Robert Plucthik’s ‘wheel of emotions’ was used to understand audience’s emotional response to the content. A robust monitoring and evaluation is being conducted (baseline and first phase of monitoring already completed) using a rotating longitudinal panel of 1,800 social media users (exposed and unexposed to the campaign), recruited face to face and representative of the social media universe of Bengaluru city. In addition, qualitative in-depth interviews are being conducted after each phase to better understand change drivers. The research methodology and ethical protocols for impact evaluation have been independently reviewed by an Institutional Review Board. Formative research revealed that while waste on the streets is visible and is of concern to the public, informal waste pickers are virtually ‘invisible’, for most people in Bengaluru Pretesting research revealed that the creative outputs evoked emotions like acceptance and gratitude towards waste-pickers, suggesting that the content had the potential to encourage attitudinal change. After the first phase of campaign, social media analytics show that #Invaluables content reached at least 2.6 million unique people (21% of the Bengaluru population) through Facebook and Instagram. Further, impact monitoring results show significant improvements in spontaneous awareness of different segments of informal waste pickers ( such as sorters at scrap shops or dry waste collection centres -from 10% at baseline to 16% amongst exposed and no change amongst unexposed), recognition that informal waste pickers help the environment (71% at baseline to 77% among exposed and no change among unexposed) and greater discussion about informal waste pickers among those exposed (60%) as against not exposed (49%). Using the insights from this research, the planned social media intervention is designed to increase the visibility of and appreciation for the work of waste pickers in Bengaluru, supporting a more inclusive society.Keywords: awareness, discussion, discrimination, informal waste pickers, invisibility, social media campaign, waste management
Procedia PDF Downloads 10713268 Longitudinal Vibration of a Micro-Beam in a Micro-Scale Fluid Media
Authors: M. Ghanbari, S. Hossainpour, G. Rezazadeh
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In this paper, longitudinal vibration of a micro-beam in micro-scale fluid media has been investigated. The proposed mathematical model for this study is made up of a micro-beam and a micro-plate at its free end. An AC voltage is applied to the pair of piezoelectric layers on the upper and lower surfaces of the micro-beam in order to actuate it longitudinally. The whole structure is bounded between two fixed plates on its upper and lower surfaces. The micro-gap between the structure and the fixed plates is filled with fluid. Fluids behave differently in micro-scale than macro, so the fluid field in the gap has been modeled based on micro-polar theory. The coupled governing equations of motion of the micro-beam and the micro-scale fluid field have been derived. Due to having non-homogenous boundary conditions, derived equations have been transformed to an enhanced form with homogenous boundary conditions. Using Galerkin-based reduced order model, the enhanced equations have been discretized over the beam and fluid domains and solve simultaneously in order to obtain force response of the micro-beam. Effects of micro-polar parameters of the fluid as characteristic length scale, coupling parameter and surface parameter on the response of the micro-beam have been studied.Keywords: micro-polar theory, Galerkin method, MEMS, micro-fluid
Procedia PDF Downloads 18413267 Strong Antiferromagnetic Super Exchange in AgF2
Authors: Wojciech Grochala
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AgF2 is an important two-dimensional antiferromagnet and an analogue of [CuO2]2– sheet. However, the strength of magnetic superexchange as well as magnetic dimensionality have not been explored before . Here we report our recent Raman and neutron scattering experiments which led to better understanding of the magnetic properties of the title compound. It turns out that intra-sheet magnetic superexchange constant reaches 70 meV, thus some 2/3 of the value measured for parent compounds of oxocuprate superconductors which is over 100 meV. The ratio of intra-to-inter-sheet superexchange constants is of the order of 102 rendering AgF2 a quasi-2D material, similar to the said oxocuprates. The quantum mechanical calculations reproduce the abovementioned values quite well and they point out to substantial covalence of the Ag–F bonding. After 3 decades of intense research on layered oxocuprates, AgF2 now stands as a second-to-none analogue of these fascinating systems. It remains to be seen whether this 012 parent compound may be doped in order to achieve superconductivity.Keywords: antiferromagnets, superexchange, silver, fluorine
Procedia PDF Downloads 12913266 Improvement of Contractor’s Competitiveness through Sustainable Construction Practices in UAE
Authors: Sareh Rajabi, Taha Anjamrooz, Salwa Bheiry
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Sustainability of construction projects is an important issue to be addressed since the sector will continue to be developed in the coming years, especially in developing countries. Thus, it is significant to discover approaches and solutions for improving sustainability. Currently, the construction industry is the largest consumer of natural resources. This is the same in other countries in the Gulf region, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has limited natural resources such as water, electricity, etc. Recently, the UAE has taken several actions in order to implement sustainable initiatives within its construction industry. Within the industry, the contractors’ role is significant in promoting sustainable development by taking the responsibility to minimize their negative impacts on the environment and society, and maximize their economic distribution. In this research, sustainability will be studied as an important key to bring competitive advantages to contracting organizations. The contractors should understand the need to improve their sustainable performance in order to expand their business competitiveness. Competitiveness at the construction project level refers to a contractor’s ability to compete for a project. There is less focus on how to improve contractors’ competitiveness by implementing sustainable construction practices. Based on an inclusive literature review on the relationship between sustainability performance and business competitiveness, this research will conduct a study of sustainable practice in the construction industry and the relationship between sustainability performance and business competitiveness in order to develop a framework for evaluating how contractors can improve their competitiveness in terms of more efficient processes, enhancements in productivity, and lower costs of compliance in order to reduce the initial project cost and obtain market opportunities in the UAE. The research findings will provide a framework that can be a useful guideline for contractors to develop their sustainability policy, strategy and practice for meeting the increased requirements for sustainable development in construction.Keywords: sustainable construction practice, sustainability, competitiveness, construction industry, contractors
Procedia PDF Downloads 12113265 Advance Hybrid Manufacturing Supply Chain System to Get Benefits of Push and Pull Systems
Authors: Akhtar Nawaz, Sahar Noor, Iftikhar Hussain
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This paper considers advanced hybrid manufacturing planning both push and pull system in which each customer order has a due date by demand forecast and customer orders. We present a tool for model for tool development that requires an absolute due dates and customer orders in a manufacturing supply chain. It is vital for the manufacturing companies to face the problem of variations in demands, increase in varieties by maintaining safety stock and to minimize components obsolescence and uselessness. High inventory cost and low delivery lead time is expected in push type of system and on contrary high delivery lead time and low inventory cost is predicted in the pull type. For this tool for model we need an MRP system for the push and pull environment and control of inventories in push parts and lead time in the pull part. To retain process data quickly, completely and to improve responsiveness and minimize inventory cost, a tool is required to deal with the high product variance and short cycle parts. In practice, planning and scheduling are interrelated and should be solved simultaneously with supply chain to ensure that the due dates of customer orders are met. The proposed tool for model considers alternative process plans for job types, with precedence constraints for job operations. Such a tool for model has not been treated in the literature. To solve the model, tool was developed, so a new technique was required to deal with the issue of high product variance and short life cycles in assemble to order.Keywords: hybrid manufacturing system, supply chain system, make to order, make to stock, assemble to order
Procedia PDF Downloads 56413264 Quartic Spline Method for Numerical Solution of Self-Adjoint Singularly Perturbed Boundary Value Problems
Authors: Reza Mohammadi
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Using quartic spline, we develop a method for numerical solution of singularly perturbed two-point boundary-value problems. The purposed method is fourth-order accurate and applicable to problems both in singular and non-singular cases. The convergence analysis of the method is given. The resulting linear system of equations has been solved by using a tri-diagonal solver. We applied the presented method to test problems which have been solved by other existing methods in references, for comparison of presented method with the existing methods. Numerical results are given to illustrate the efficiency of our methods.Keywords: second-order ordinary differential equation, singularly-perturbed, quartic spline, convergence analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 36113263 The Relationship between General Self-Efficacy, Perfectionism and Trait Anxiety: A Study among Gifted Students
Authors: Marialena Kostouli, Georgia Tsoulfa
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The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between general self-efficacy, perfectionism, and gifted students’ trait anxiety. One hundred fifty three students, who were all selected and enrolled at the Center for Talented Youth (CTY) - Greece summer program, participated in the study. The sample consisted of 78 males (51%) and 75 females (49%), with a mean age of 14.96 years (SD = 1.16 years). Three self-report questionnaires were used for the purposes of the current study, the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism scale, the State-Trait anxiety inventory and the General Self-Efficacy scale. The results revealed a significant correlation between trait anxiety, general self-efficacy and the four sub-scales of perfectionism (concern over mistakes and doubts about actions, excessive concern with parents’ expectations and evaluation, excessively high personal standards and concern with precision, order, and organization). It was also found that the female CTY students experience greater levels of trait anxiety compared to the male CTYers. Moreover, a multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to determine the possible predictors of gifted students’ trait anxiety. The analysis showed that general self-efficacy and the concern over mistakes and doubts about actions significantly predicted the trait anxiety of the gifted children that we examined. Avenues of further research and implications for the development of interventions to help gifted students promote their general self-efficacy, reduce their concern over their actions and develop strategies in order to cope with their anxiety are discussed.Keywords: general self-efficacy, gifted students, perfectionism, trait anxiety
Procedia PDF Downloads 34113262 Economic Assessment Methodology to Support Decisions for Transport Infrastructure Development
Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou
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The decades after the end of the second War provide evidence that infrastructures investments contibute to economic development, on terms of productivity and income growth. In order to force productivity and increase competitiveness the financing of large transport infrastructure projects are on the top of the agenda in strategic planning process. Such a decision may take form some days to some decades and stakeholders as well as decision makers need tools in order to estimate the economic impact on natioanl economy of such an investment. The key question in such decisions is if the effects caused by the new infrastructure could be able to boost economic development on one hand, and create new jobs and activities on the other. This paper deals with the review of estimation of the mega transport infrastructure projects economic effects in economy.Keywords: economic impact, transport infrastructure, strategic planning, decision making
Procedia PDF Downloads 29013261 Integrating Concepts in Positive Psychology with Suicide Prevention in Children and Adolescents
Authors: S. Wietrzychowski
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This systematic review incorporates concepts used in the field of positive psychology in order to integrate important elements into suicide prevention programs for children and adolescents. The goal of this review is to help students and professionals gain insight to available prevention programs for suicide and to incorporate aspects of positive psychology into these programs. Evidence-based interventions such as Positive Youth Development will be discussed in detail in its relation to prevention and positive psychology. Concepts such as hope, optimism, coping, and resilience will be related to these interventions in order to improve these interventions. The review will also explain how these programs can help prevent suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors. Research on mentorship programs and early intervention programs will be included and related to the aforementioned positive psychology concepts. Since children and adolescents are such a vulnerable population, the review will highlight specific considerations for working with children in order to prevent risk factors for suicide and to build protective factors. This review will discuss the effectiveness of school-based programs that are integrated with positive psychology. Elements of these programs that have been shown to be most effective in preventing suicide in schools will also be identified. As a result of this presentation, participants will be able to 1) List at least 2 evidence-based suicide prevention programs, 2) Understand the connection between specific positive psychology concepts and suicide prevention, 3) Identify at least 3 factors which protect against suicide, 4) Describe at least 3 risk factors for suicide, and 5) Think critically about the positive elements of suicide prevention programs.Keywords: children, adolescents, suicide, positive
Procedia PDF Downloads 38713260 Performance Tracking of Thermal Plant Systems of Kuwait and Impact on the Environment
Authors: Abdullah Alharbi
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Purpose: This research seeks to take a holistic strategic evaluation of the thermal power plants in Kuwait at both policy and technical level in order to allow a systematic retrofitting program. The new world order in energy generation and consumption demand that sources of energy can safeguard the use of natural resources and generate minimal impacts on the environment. For Kuwait, the energy used per capita is mainly associated with desalination plants. The overall impact of thermal power plant installations manifests indisposed of seawater and the health of marine life. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopts a case study based evaluation of performance data and documents of thermal plant installations in Kuwait. Findings: Research findings on the performance of existing thermal plants demand policy benchmarking with internationally acceptable standards in order to create clarity on decisions regarding demolition, retrofitting, or renewal. Research implications: This research has the potential to strategically inform and influence the piecemeal changes to power plants, including the replacement of power generation equipment, considering the varied technologies for thermal plants. Originality/value: This research provides evidence based data that can be useful for influencing operational efficiency after a holistic evaluation of existing capacity in comparison with future demands.Keywords: energy, Kuwait, performance, stainability, tracking, thermal plant
Procedia PDF Downloads 9813259 Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting by Using a Rectenna with a Metamaterial Lens
Authors: Ursula D. C. Resende, Fabiano S. Bicalho, Sandro T. M. Gonçalves
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The growing demand for cheap and clean energy sources have been motivated by the study and development of distinct technologies and devices able to provide different amounts of energy. In order to supply energy for small loads, the energy from the electromagnetic spectrum can be harvested. This possibility is particularly interesting because this kind of energy is constantly available in the environment and the number of radiofrequency sources is permanently increasing, due to advances in telecommunications services. A rectenna, which is a combination of an antenna and a rectifier circuit, is an equipment that can efficiently perform the electromagnetic energy harvesting. However, since the amount of electromagnetic energy available in the environment is very small, limited values of power can be harvested by the rectenna. Therefore, several technical strategies have been investigated in order to increase this amount of power. In this work, a metamaterial electromagnetic lens is used to improve the electromagnetic energy harvesting. The rectenna investigated was designed and optimized to charge a Li-Ion battery using the electromagnetic energy from an internet Wi-Fi commercial router model TL-WR841HP operating in 2.45 GHz with maximal output power equal to 18 dBm. The rectenna consists of a high directive antenna, a double voltage rectifier circuit and a metamaterial lens. The printed antenna, constituted of two rectangular radiator elements, was projected and optimized by using the Computer Simulation Software (CST) in order to obtain high directivities and values of S11 parameter below -10 dB in 2.45 GHz. The antenna was printed over a double-sided copper fiberglass substrate, FR4, with characterized relative electric permittivity εr = 4.3 and tangent of losses δ = 0.01. The rectifier circuit, which incorporates a circuit for impedance matching and uses the Schottky diode HSMS-2852, was projected and optimized by using Advanced Design Software (ADS) and built over the same FR4 substrate. The metamaterial cell is composed of two Square Split Ring Resonator (S-SRR) and a thin wire in order to operate with negative values of εr and relative magnetic permeability in 2.45 GHz. In order to evaluate the performance of the purposed rectenna two experimental charging tests were performed, one without and other with the metamaterial lens. The result obtained demonstrate that the electromagnetic lens was able to significantly increase the levels of electric current delivered to the battery, approximately 44%.Keywords: electromagnetic energy harvesting, electromagnetic lens, metamaterial, rectenna
Procedia PDF Downloads 14313258 A Fast Parallel and Distributed Type-2 Fuzzy Algorithm Based on Cooperative Mobile Agents Model for High Performance Image Processing
Authors: Fatéma Zahra Benchara, Mohamed Youssfi, Omar Bouattane, Hassan Ouajji, Mohamed Ouadi Bensalah
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The aim of this paper is to present a distributed implementation of the Type-2 Fuzzy algorithm in a parallel and distributed computing environment based on mobile agents. The proposed algorithm is assigned to be implemented on a SPMD (Single Program Multiple Data) architecture which is based on cooperative mobile agents as AVPE (Agent Virtual Processing Element) model in order to improve the processing resources needed for performing the big data image segmentation. In this work we focused on the application of this algorithm in order to process the big data MRI (Magnetic Resonance Images) image of size (n x m). It is encapsulated on the Mobile agent team leader in order to be split into (m x n) pixels one per AVPE. Each AVPE perform and exchange the segmentation results and maintain asynchronous communication with their team leader until the convergence of this algorithm. Some interesting experimental results are obtained in terms of accuracy and efficiency analysis of the proposed implementation, thanks to the mobile agents several interesting skills introduced in this distributed computational model.Keywords: distributed type-2 fuzzy algorithm, image processing, mobile agents, parallel and distributed computing
Procedia PDF Downloads 42913257 The Influence of Marxism Theory in Malaka's Perspective in Indonesia
Authors: Farhan Alam Farhan Alam, Fatah Nugroho, Setyawan Wahyu Pradana
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Tan Malaka was a great Indonesian Marxism thinker. His idea of Marxism give encouragement to the struggle for Indonesian independence. Furthermore, it refers to what Marx said as the flexibility of a Marxist. Tan Malaka developed the Marxist theory against what have already existed so that Marxism can be harmonized and compatible with the context of Indonesia. For example, Tan Malaka initiated the cooperation between the Marxist movement and Pan-Islamism. The collaboration of Islam with Marxism which is so contradictive at that time was seen by Tan Malaka as a necessity in order to against capitalism. By using study literature and historiography methods, this paper attempts to analyze the application of the Marxism theory in the Tan Malaka’s perspective in Indonesia today in order to counter capitalism currently. His perspective combines Marxism with Islam as a solid collaboration of ideology.Keywords: Indonesia, Marxism, Islam, Marxist theory, Tan Malaka
Procedia PDF Downloads 30613256 Perceptual Organization within Temporal Displacement
Authors: Michele Sinico
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The psychological present has an actual extension. When a sequence of instantaneous stimuli falls in this short interval of time, observers perceive a compresence of events in succession and the temporal order depends on the qualitative relationships between the perceptual properties of the events. Two experiments were carried out to study the influence of perceptual grouping, with and without temporal displacement, on the duration of auditory sequences. The psychophysical method of adjustment was adopted. The first experiment investigated the effect of temporal displacement of a white noise on sequence duration. The second experiment investigated the effect of temporal displacement, along the pitch dimension, on temporal shortening of sequence. The results suggest that the temporal order of sounds, in the case of temporal displacement, is organized along the pitch dimension.Keywords: time perception, perceptual present, temporal displacement, Gestalt laws of perceptual organization
Procedia PDF Downloads 25113255 Electro-Winning of Dilute Solution of Copper Metal from Sepon Mine, Lao PDR
Authors: S. Vasailor, C. Rattanakawin
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Electro-winning of copper metal from dilute sulfate solution (13.7 g/L) was performed in a lab electrolytic cell with stainless-steel cathode and lead-alloy anode. The effects of various parameters including cell voltage, electro-winning temperature and time were studied in order to acquire an appropriate current efficiency of copper deposition. The highest efficiency is about 95% obtaining from electro-winning condition of 3V, 55°C and 3,600 s correspondingly. The cathode copper with 95.5% Cu analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry can be obtained from this single-winning condition. In order to increase the copper grade, solvent extraction should be used to increase the sulfate concentration, say 50 g/L, prior to winning the cathode copper effectively.Keywords: copper metal, current efficiency, dilute sulfate solution, electro-winning
Procedia PDF Downloads 13813254 Analysis of Business Intelligence Tools in Healthcare
Authors: Avishkar Gawade, Omkar Bansode, Ketan Bhambure, Bhargav Deore
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In recent year wide range of business intelligence technology have been applied to different area in order to support decision making process BI enables extraction of knowledge from data store. BI tools usually used in public health field for financial and administrative purposes.BI uses a dashboard in presentation stage to deliver information to information to end users.In this paper,we intend to analyze some open source BI tools on the market and their applicability in the clinical sphere taking into consideration the general characteristics of the clinical environment.A pervasive BI platform was developed using a real case in order to prove the tool viability.Analysis of various BI Tools in done with the help of several parameters such as data security,data integration,data quality reporting and anlaytics,performance,scalability and cost effectivesness.Keywords: CDSS, EHR, business intelliegence, tools
Procedia PDF Downloads 13713253 Air Pollution and Respiratory-Related Restricted Activity Days in Tunisia
Authors: Mokhtar Kouki Inès Rekik
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This paper focuses on the assessment of the air pollution and morbidity relationship in Tunisia. Air pollution is measured by ozone air concentration and the morbidity is measured by the number of respiratory-related restricted activity days during the 2-week period prior to the interview. Socioeconomic data are also collected in order to adjust for any confounding covariates. Our sample is composed by 407 Tunisian respondents; 44.7% are women, the average age is 35.2, near 69% are living in a house built after the 1980, and 27.8% have reported at least one day of respiratory-related restricted activity. The model consists on the regression of the number of respiratory-related restricted activity days on the air quality measure and the socioeconomic covariates. In order to correct for zero-inflation and heterogeneity, we estimate several models (Poisson, Negative binomial, Zero inflated Poisson, Poisson hurdle, Negative binomial hurdle and finite mixture Poisson models). Bootstrapping and post-stratification techniques are used in order to correct for any sample bias. According to the Akaike information criteria, the hurdle negative binomial model has the greatest goodness of fit. The main result indicates that, after adjusting for socioeconomic data, the ozone concentration increases the probability of positive number of restricted activity days.Keywords: bootstrapping, hurdle negbin model, overdispersion, ozone concentration, respiratory-related restricted activity days
Procedia PDF Downloads 25713252 A Study on the Solutions of the 2-Dimensional and Forth-Order Partial Differential Equations
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In this study, we will carry out a comparative study between the reduced differential transform method, the adomian decomposition method, the variational iteration method and the homotopy analysis method. These methods are used in many fields of engineering. This is been achieved by handling a kind of 2-Dimensional and forth-order partial differential equations called the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equations. Three numerical examples have also been carried out to validate and demonstrate efficiency of the four methods. Furthermost, it is shown that the reduced differential transform method has advantage over other methods. This method is very effective and simple and could be applied for nonlinear problems which used in engineering.Keywords: reduced differential transform method, adomian decomposition method, variational iteration method, homotopy analysis method
Procedia PDF Downloads 43313251 A Hybrid Method for Determination of Effective Poles Using Clustering Dominant Pole Algorithm
Authors: Anuj Abraham, N. Pappa, Daniel Honc, Rahul Sharma
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In this paper, an analysis of some model order reduction techniques is presented. A new hybrid algorithm for model order reduction of linear time invariant systems is compared with the conventional techniques namely Balanced Truncation, Hankel Norm reduction and Dominant Pole Algorithm (DPA). The proposed hybrid algorithm is known as Clustering Dominant Pole Algorithm (CDPA) is able to compute the full set of dominant poles and its cluster center efficiently. The dominant poles of a transfer function are specific eigenvalues of the state space matrix of the corresponding dynamical system. The effectiveness of this novel technique is shown through the simulation results.Keywords: balanced truncation, clustering, dominant pole, Hankel norm, model reduction
Procedia PDF Downloads 59913250 Optimizing a Hybrid Inventory System with Random Demand and Lead Time
Authors: Benga Ebouele, Thomas Tengen
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Implementing either periodic or continuous inventory review model within most manufacturing-companies-supply chains as a management tool may incur higher costs. These high costs affect the system flexibility which in turn affects the level of service required to satisfy customers. However, these effects are not clearly understood because the parameters of both inventory review policies (protection demand interval, order quantity, etc.) are not designed to be fully utilized under different and uncertain conditions such as poor manufacturing, supplies and delivery performance. Coming up with a hybrid model which may combine in some sense the feature of both continuous and a periodic inventory review models should be useful. Therefore, there is a need to build and evaluate such hybrid model on the annual total cost, stock out probability and system’s flexibility in order to search for the most cost effective inventory review model. This work also seeks to find the optimal sets of parameters of inventory management under stochastic condition so as to optimise each policy independently. The results reveal that a continuous inventory system always incurs lesser cost than a periodic (R, S) inventory system, but this difference tends to decrease as time goes by. Although the hybrid inventory is the only one that can yield lesser cost over time, it is not always desirable but also natural to use it in order to help the system to meet high performance specification.Keywords: demand and lead time randomness, hybrid Inventory model, optimization, supply chain
Procedia PDF Downloads 31313249 Chaos Analysis of a 3D Finance System and Generalized Synchronization for N-Dimension
Authors: Muhammad Fiaz
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The article in hand is the study of complex features like Zero Hopf Bifurcation, Chaos and Synchronization of integer and fractional order version of a new 3D finance system. Trusted tools of averaging theory and active control method are utilized for investigation of Zero Hopf bifurcation and synchronization for both versions respectively. Inventiveness of the paper is to find the answer of a question that is it possible to find a chaotic system which can be synchronized with any other of the same dimension? Based on different examples we categorically develop a theory that if a couple of master and slave chaotic dynamical system is synchronized by selecting a suitable gain matrix with special conditions then the master system is synchronized with any chaotic dynamical system of the same dimension. With the help of this study we developed generalized theorems for synchronization of n-dimension dynamical systems for integer as well as fractional versions. it proposed that this investigation will contribute a lot to control dynamical systems and only a suitable gain matrix with special conditions is enough to synchronize the system under consideration with any other chaotic system of the same dimension. Chaotic properties of fractional version of the new finance system are also analyzed at fractional order q=0.87. Simulations results, where required, also provided for authenticity of analytical study.Keywords: complex analysis, chaos, generalized synchronization, control dynamics, fractional order analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 69