Search results for: reliability index

Authors: Béchir Wanassi, Béchir Azzouz, Taher Halimi, Mohamed Ben Hassen

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Mechanical recycling of post-industrial cotton yarn wastes, as well as the effects of passage number on the properties of reclaimed fibers, have been investigated. A new Modified Fiber Quality Index (MFQI) and Spinning Consistency Index (MSCI) for the characterization of the quality are presented. This index gives the real potential of spinnability according to its physical properties. The best quality of reclaimed fibers (after 7th passage) was used to produce rotor yarns. 100% recycling cotton yarns were produced in open-end spinning system with different rotor speed (i.e. 65000, 70000, and 80000 rpm), opening roller speed (i.e. 7700, 8200, and 8700 rpm) and twist factor (i.e. 137, 165, and 183). The effects of spinning parameters were investigated to evaluate a 100% recycling cotton yarns quality (TQI, hairiness, thin places, and thick places) using DOE method.

Keywords: cotton wastes, DOE, mechanical recycling, rotor spinning

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Authors: Kuo-Wei Liao, Jessica Gitomarsono

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Bridge reliability against natural hazards such as floods or earthquakes is an interdisciplinary problem that involves a wide range of knowledge. Moreover, due to the global climate change, engineers have to design a structure against the multi-hazard threats. Currently, few of the practical design guideline has included such concept. The bridge foundation in Taiwan often does not have a uniform width. However, few of the researches have focused on safety evaluation of a bridge with a complex pier. Investigation of the scouring depth under such situation is very important. Thus, this study first focuses on investigating and improving the scour prediction formula for a bridge with complicated foundation via experiments and artificial intelligence. Secondly, a probabilistic design procedure is proposed using the established prediction formula for practical engineers under the multi-hazard attacks.

Keywords: bridge, reliability, multi-hazards, scour

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Authors: M. Firoz Kalam, Wilfried Schuetz, Jan Hendrik Bredehoeft

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In this research, diesel oil properties, such as aniline point, density, diesel index, cetane index and cetane number before and after treatment were studied. The investigation was considered for diesel oil samples after batch adsorption process using powdered activated carbon. Batch distillation process was applied to all treated diesel oil samples for separation of the solid-liquid mixture. The diesel oil properties were studied to observe the impact of adsorptive desulfurization process on fuel quality. Results showed that the best cetane number for desulfurized diesel oil was found at the best-operating conditions 60℃, 10g activated carbon and 180 minute contact time. The best-desulfurized diesel oil cetane number was obtained around 51 while the cetane number of untreated diesel oil was 34. Results also showed that the calculated cetane number increases as the operating temperature and amounts of adsorbent increases. This behavior was same for other diesel oil properties such as aniline point, diesel index, cetane index and density. The best value for all the fuel properties was found at same operating conditions mentioned above. Thus, it can be concluded that adsorptive desulfurization using powdered activated carbon as adsorbent had significantly improved the fuel quality of diesel oil by reducing aromatic contents of diesel oil.

Keywords: activated carbon, adsorption, desulfurization, diesel oil, fuel quality

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Authors: Dwi Wijiastutik, Tarjo, Yuni Rimawati

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The purpose of this empirical study is to analyse how to the market reaction and the conservative degree changes on the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standart (IFRS) through Jakarta Islamic Index. The study also has given others additional analysis on the profitability, capital structure and size company toward IFRS adoption. The data collection methods used in this study reveals as secondary data and deep analysis to the company’s annual report and daily price stock at yahoo finance. We analyse 40 companies listed on Jakarta Islamic Index from 2010 to 2014. The result of the study concluded that IFRS has given a different on the depth analysis to the two of variance analysis: Moderated Regression Analysis and Wilcoxon Signed Rank to test developed hypotheses. Our result on the regression analysis shows that market response and conservatism principle is not significantly after IFRS Adoption in Jakarta Islamic Index. Furthermore, in addition, analysis on profitability, capital structure, and company size show that significantly after IFRS adoption. The findings of our study help investor by showing the impact of IFRS for making decided investment.

Keywords: IFRS, earnings response coefficient, conservatism principle

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Authors: Mesbaholdin Salami, Farzad Movahedi Sobhani, Mohammad Sadegh Ghazizadeh

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Evaluation of organizational performance is among the most important measures that help organizations and entities continuously improve their efficiency. Organizations can use the existing data and results from the comparison of units under investigation to obtain an estimation of their performance. The Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) is an important index in the evaluation of overall productivity, which considers technological developments and technical efficiency at the same time. This article proposed a model based on the multistage MPI, considering limited data (Grey’s theory). This model can evaluate the performance of units using limited and uncertain data in a multistage process. It was applied by the electricity market manager to Iran’s electric power supply chain (EPSC), which contains uncertain data, to evaluate the performance of its actors. Results from solving the model showed an improvement in the accuracy of future performance of the units under investigation, using the Grey’s system theory. This model can be used in all case studies, in which MPI is used and there are limited or uncertain data.

Keywords: Malmquist Index, Grey's Theory, CCR Model, network data envelopment analysis, Iran electricity power chain

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Authors: B. J. Kim, K. W. Nam, S. J. Lee

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Traditional social network services provide users with more information than is needed, and it is not easy to verify the authenticity of the information. This paper proposes a system that can only post messages where users are located to enhance the reliability of social networking services. The proposed system implements a Google Map API to post postings on the map and to read postings within a range of distances from the users’ location. The proposed system will only provide alerts, memories, and information about locations within a given range depending on the users' current location, providing reliable information that they believe will be necessary in real time. It is expected that the proposed system will be able to meet the real demands of users and create a more reliable social network services environment.

Keywords: social network, location, reliability, posting

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Authors: Ali Abojassim, Nabeel Kadhim, Adil Jaber, Ali Hussein

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Water quality index (WQI) is valuable and unique rating to depict the total water quality status in a single term that is helpful for the selection of appropriate treatment technique to meet the concerned issues. Fifteen surface water samples were collected from the Euphrates river within AlHaydria is sub district of AL-Najaf (Iraq). The quality of surface water were evaluated by testing various physicochemical parameters such as pH, Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), , Calcium, Chloride, Sulphate and Electrical conductivity. The WQI for all samples were found in the range of 25.92 to 47.22. The highest value of WQI was observed in the Ali Hajj Hassan(SW4,SW8), El Haj Abdel Sayed (SW 10 to SW 12)and Hasan alsab(SW 14) sampling locations. Most of the water samples within study area were found good to moderate categories. most of the water samples for study area were found good as well as moderate categories

Keywords: water quality index, GIS, physicochemical parameters, Iraq Standards for irrigation purpose 2012

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Authors: Mohd Azraei Pangah Pa'at, Mohd Ruzlin Mohd Mokhtar, Norhidayu Rameli, Tashia Marie Anthony, Huzainie Shafi Abd Halim

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Partial Discharge (PD) diagnostic mapping testing is one of the main diagnostic testing techniques that are widely used in the field or onsite testing for underground power cable in medium voltage level. The existence of PD activities is an early indication of insulation weakness hence early detection of PD activities can be determined and provides an initial prediction on the condition of the cable. To effectively manage the results of PD Mapping test, it is important to have acceptable criteria to facilitate prioritization of mitigation action. Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) through Distribution Network (DN) division have developed PD severity model name Severity Index (SI) for offline PD mapping test since 2007 based on onsite test experience. However, this severity index recommendation action had never been revised since its establishment. At presence, PD measurements data have been extensively increased, hence the severity level indication and the effectiveness of the recommendation actions can be analyzed and verified again. Based on the new revision, the recommended action to be taken will be able to reflect the actual defect condition. Hence, will be accurately prioritizing preventive action plan and minimizing maintenance expenditure.

Keywords: partial discharge, severity index, diagnostic testing, medium voltage, power cable

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Obesity is a clinical state associated with low-grade inflammation. It is also a major risk factor for insulin resistance (IR). In its advanced stages, metabolic syndrome (MetS), a much more complicated disease which may lead to life-threatening problems, may develop. Obesity-mediated IR seems to correlate with the inflammation. Human studies performed particularly on pediatric population are scarce. The aim of this study is to detect possible associations between inflammation and IR in terms of some related ratios. 549 children were grouped according to their age- and sex-based body mass index (BMI) percentile tables of WHO. MetS components were determined. Informed consent and approval from the Ethics Committee for Clinical Investigations were obtained. The principles of the Declaration of Helsinki were followed. The exclusion criteria were infection, inflammation, chronic diseases and those under drug treatment. Anthropometric measurements were obtained. Complete blood cell, fasting blood glucose, insulin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) analyses were performed. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), systemic immune inflammation (SII) index, tense index, alanine aminotransferase to aspartate aminotransferase ratio (ALT/AST), neutrophils to lymphocyte (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte, and lymphocyte to monocyte ratios were calculated. Data were evaluated by statistical analyses. The degree for statistical significance was 0.05. Statistically significant differences were found among the BMI values of the groups (p < 0.001). Strong correlations were detected between the BMI and waist circumference (WC) values in all groups. Tense index values were also correlated with both BMI and WC values in all groups except overweight (OW) children. SII index values of children with normal BMI were significantly different from the values obtained in OW, obese, morbid obese and MetS groups. Among all the other lymphocyte ratios, NLR exhibited a similar profile. Both HOMA-IR and ALT/AST values displayed an increasing profile from N towards MetS3 group. BMI and WC values were correlated with HOMA-IR and ALT/AST. Both in morbid obese and MetS groups, significant correlations between CRP versus SII index as well as HOMA-IR versus ALT/AST were found. ALT/AST and HOMA-IR values were correlated with NLR in morbid obese group and with SII index in MetS group, (p < 0.05), respectively. In conclusion, these findings showed that some parameters may exhibit informative differences between the early and late stages of obesity. Important associations among HOMA-IR, ALT/AST, NLR and SII index have come to light in the morbid obese and MetS groups. This study introduced the SII index and NLR as important inflammatory markers for the discrimination of normal and obese children. Interesting links were observed between inflammation and IR in morbid obese children and those with MetS, both being late stages of obesity.

Keywords: children, inflammation, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity

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Authors: Jiameng Wang, Yunfei Yin, Xiyu Deng

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Parallel optimization is one of the important research topics of data mining at this stage. Taking Classification and Regression Tree (CART) parallelization as an example, this paper proposes a parallel data mining algorithm based on SSP-OGini-PCCP. Aiming at the problem of choosing the best CART segmentation point, this paper designs an S-SP model without data association; and in order to calculate the Gini index efficiently, a parallel OGini calculation method is designed. In addition, in order to improve the efficiency of the pruning algorithm, a synchronous PCCP pruning strategy is proposed in this paper. In this paper, the optimal segmentation calculation, Gini index calculation, and pruning algorithm are studied in depth. These are important components of parallel data mining. By constructing a distributed cluster simulation system based on SPARK, data mining methods based on SSP-OGini-PCCP are tested. Experimental results show that this method can increase the search efficiency of the best segmentation point by an average of 89%, increase the search efficiency of the Gini segmentation index by 3853%, and increase the pruning efficiency by 146% on average; and as the size of the data set increases, the performance of the algorithm remains stable, which meets the requirements of contemporary massive data processing.

Keywords: classification, Gini index, parallel data mining, pruning ahead

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Authors: Majid Galoie, Khodadad Safavi, Abdolreza Karami Nejad, Reza Roshan

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In this study, a comprehensive scouring model has been developed in order to evaluate the accuracy of various empirical relationships which were suggested for prediction of scour hole depth in plunge pools by Martins, Mason, Chian and Veronese. For this reason, scour hole depths caused by free falling jets from a flip bucket to a plunge pool were investigated. In this study various discharges, angles, scouring times, etc. have been considered. The final results demonstrated that the all mentioned empirical formulas, except Mason formula, were reasonably agreement with the experimental data.

Keywords: scour hole depth, plunge pool, physical model, reliability assessment

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Authors: Chaiyaporn Yuksen, Tapanawat Chaiwan

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Introduction: Emergency medical service (EMS) care for trauma patients must be provided on-scene assessment and essential treatment and have appropriate transporting to the trauma center. The shock index (SI), reverse shock index Glasgow Coma Scale (rSIG), and National Early Warning Score (NEWS) triage tools are easy to use in a prehospital setting. There is no standardized on-scene triage protocol in prehospital care. The primary objective was to determine the accuracy of SI, rSIG, and NEWS to predict the severity of trauma patients in the emergency department (ED). Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional and diagnostic research conducted on trauma patients transported by EMS to the ED of Ramathibodi Hospital, a university-affiliated super tertiary care hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, from January 2015 to September 2022. We included the injured patients receiving prehospital care and transport to the ED of Ramathibodi Hospital by the EMS team from January 2015 to September 2022. We compared the on-scene parameter (SI, rSIG, and NEWS) and ED (Emergency Severity Index) with the area under ROC. Results: 218 patients were traumatic patients transported by EMS to the ED. 161 was ESI level 1-2, and 57 was level 3-5. NEWS was a more accurate triage tool to discriminate the severity of trauma patients than rSIG and SI. The area under the ROC was 0.743 (95%CI 0.70-0.79), 0.649 (95%CI 0.59-0.70), and 0.582 (95%CI 0.52-0.65), respectively (P-value <0.001). The cut point of NEWS to discriminate was 6 points. Conclusions: The NEWs was the most accurate triage tool in prehospital seeing in trauma patients.

Keywords: on-scene triage, trauma patient, ED triage, accuracy, NEWS

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Authors: S. Zhang, L. Zhang, X. Chen

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Due to the large uncertainty on the mechanical properties of FRP (fibre reinforced plastic), the reliability evaluation of FRP structures are currently receiving much attention in industry. However, possible statistical correlation between ply mechanical properties has been so far overlooked, and they are mostly assumed to be independent random variables. In this study, the statistical correlation between ply mechanical properties of uni-directional and plain weave composite is firstly analyzed by a combination of Monte-Carlo simulation and finite element modeling of the FRP unit cell. Large linear correlation coefficients between the in-plane mechanical properties are observed, and the correlation coefficients are heavily dependent on the uncertainty of the fibre volume ratio. It is also observed that the correlation coefficients related to Poisson’s ratio are negative while others are positive. To experimentally achieve the statistical correlation coefficients between in-plane mechanical properties of FRP, all concerned in-plane mechanical properties of the same specimen needs to be known. In-plane shear modulus of FRP is experimentally derived by the approach suggested in the ASTM standard D5379M. Tensile tests are conducted using the same specimens used for the shear test, and due to non-uniform tensile deformation a modification factor is derived by a finite element modeling. Digital image correlation is adopted to characterize the specimen non-uniform deformation. The preliminary experimental results show a good agreement with the numerical analysis on the statistical correlation. Then, failure probability of laminate plates is calculated in cases considering and not considering the statistical correlation, using the Monte-Carlo and Markov Chain Monte-Carlo methods, respectively. The results highlight the importance of accounting for the statistical correlation between ply mechanical properties to achieve accurate failure probability of laminate plates. Furthermore, it is found that for the multi-layer laminate plate, the statistical correlation between the ply elastic properties significantly affects the laminate reliability while the effect of statistical correlation between the ply strength is minimal.

Keywords: failure probability, FRP, reliability, statistical correlation

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Authors: Rabab A. El Wahsh, Hatem M. Marey, Maha Yousif, Asmaa M. Ibrahim

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Background: OSA and COPD are associated with microvascular changes. Retinal microvasculature can be directly and non-invasively examined. Aim: to evaluate retinal vascular tortuosity in patients with COPD, OSA, and overlap syndrome. Subjects and method: Sixty subjects were included; 15 OSA patients, 15 COPD patients, 15 COPD-OSA overlap patients, and 15 matched controls. They underwent digital retinal photography, polysomnography, arterial blood gases, spirometry, ESS, and stop-bang questionnaires. Results: Tortuosity of most retinal vessels was higher in all patient groups compared to the control group; tortuosity was more marked in overlap syndrome. There was a negative correlation between tortuosity of retinal vessels and PO2, O2 saturation, and minimum O2 desaturation, and a positive correlation with PCO2, AHI, O2 desaturation index, BMI and smoking index. Conclusion: Retinal vascular tortuosity occurs in OSA, COPD and overlap syndrome. Retinal vascular tortuosity is correlated with arterial blood gases parameters, polysomnographic findings, smoking index and BMI.

Keywords: OSA, COPD, overlap syndrome, retinal vascular tortuosity

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Authors: Bi-Huei Tsai

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Previous studies on financial distress prediction choose the conventional failing and non-failing dichotomy; however, the distressed extent differs substantially among different financial distress events. To solve the problem, “non-distressed”, “slightly-distressed” and “reorganization and bankruptcy” are used in our article to approximate the continuum of corporate financial health. This paper explains different financial distress events using the two-stage method. First, this investigation adopts firm-specific financial ratios, corporate governance and market factors to measure the probability of various financial distress events based on multinomial logit models. Specifically, the bootstrapping simulation is performed to examine the difference of estimated misclassifying cost (EMC). Second, this work further applies macroeconomic factors to establish the credit cycle index and determines the distressed cut-off indicator of the two-stage models using such index. Two different models, one-stage and two-stage prediction models, are developed to forecast financial distress, and the results acquired from different models are compared with each other, and with the collected data. The findings show that the two-stage model incorporating financial ratios, corporate governance and market factors has the lowest misclassification error rate. The two-stage model is more accurate than the one-stage model as its distressed cut-off indicators are adjusted according to the macroeconomic-based credit cycle index.

Keywords: Multinomial logit model, corporate governance, company failure, reorganization, bankruptcy

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Authors: Jongsung Kim, Daegun Han, Myungjin Lee, Soojun Kim, Hung Soo Kim

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Recently, the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters are gradually increasing due to climate change. Especially in Korea, large-scale damage caused by heavy rainfall frequently occurs due to rapid urbanization. Therefore, this study proposed a Heavy rain Damage Risk Index (HDRI) using PSR (Pressure – State - Response) structure for heavy rain risk assessment. We constructed pressure index, state index, and response index for the risk assessment of each local government in Gyeonggi-do province, and the evaluation indices were determined by principal component analysis. The indices were standardized using the Z-score method then HDRIs were obtained for 31 local governments in the province. The HDRI is categorized into three classes, say, the safest class is 1st class. As the results, the local governments of the 1st class were 15, 2nd class 7, and 3rd class 9. From the study, we were able to identify the risk class due to the heavy rainfall for each local government. It will be useful to develop the heavy rainfall prediction function by risk class, and this was performed in this issue. Also, this risk class could be used for the decision making for efficient disaster management. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2017R1A2B3005695).

Keywords: natural disaster, heavy rain risk assessment, HDRI, PSR

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Authors: Saba Rahman, Arvind K. Jain, S. D. Bharti, T. K. Datta

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Chimneys are generally tall and slender structures with circular cross-sections, due to which they are highly prone to wind forces. Wind exerts pressure on the wall of the chimneys, which produces unwanted forces. Vortex-induced oscillation is one of such excitations which can lead to the failure of the chimneys. Therefore, vortex-induced oscillation of chimneys is of great concern to researchers and practitioners since many failures of chimneys due to vortex shedding have occurred in the past. As a consequence, extensive research has taken place on the subject over decades. Many laboratory experiments have been performed to verify the theoretical models proposed to predict vortex-induced forces, including aero-elastic effects. Comparatively, very few proto-type measurement data have been recorded to verify the proposed theoretical models. Because of this reason, the theoretical models developed with the help of experimental laboratory data are utilized for analyzing the chimneys for vortex-induced forces. This calls for reliability analysis of the predictions of the responses of the chimneys produced due to vortex shedding phenomena. Although several works of literature exist on the vortex-induced oscillation of chimneys, including code provisions, the reliability analysis of chimneys against failure caused due to vortex shedding is scanty. In the present study, the reliability analysis of chimneys against vortex shedding failure is presented, assuming the uncertainty in vortex shedding phenomena to be significantly more than other uncertainties, and hence, the latter is ignored. The vortex shedding is modeled as a stationary random process and is represented by a power spectral density function (PSDF). It is assumed that the vortex shedding forces are perfectly correlated and act over the top one-third height of the chimney. The PSDF of the tip displacement of the chimney is obtained by performing a frequency domain spectral analysis using a matrix approach. For this purpose, both chimney and random wind forces are discretized over a number of points along with the height of the chimney. The method of analysis duly accounts for the aero-elastic effects. The double barrier threshold crossing level, as proposed by Vanmarcke, is used for determining the probability of crossing different threshold levels of the tip displacement of the chimney. Assuming the annual distribution of the mean wind velocity to be a Gumbel type-I distribution, the fragility curve denoting the variation of the annual probability of threshold crossing against different threshold levels of the tip displacement of the chimney is determined. The reliability estimate is derived from the fragility curve. A 210m tall concrete chimney with a base diameter of 35m, top diameter as 21m, and thickness as 0.3m has been taken as an illustrative example. The terrain condition is assumed to be that corresponding to the city center. The expression for the PSDF of the vortex shedding force is taken to be used by Vickery and Basu. The results of the study show that the threshold crossing reliability of the tip displacement of the chimney is significantly influenced by the assumed structural damping and the Gumbel distribution parameters. Further, the aero-elastic effect influences the reliability estimate to a great extent for small structural damping.

Keywords: chimney, fragility curve, reliability analysis, vortex-induced vibration

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Authors: Tolga Barisik, Ali Fuat Guneri, K. Dastan

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Major industrial facilities have a high potential for fire risk. In particular, the indices used for the detection of hidden fire are used very effectively in order to prevent the fire from becoming dangerous in the initial stage. These indices provide the opportunity to prevent or intervene early by determining the stage of the fire, the potential for hazard, and the type of the combustion agent with the percentage values of the ambient air components. In this system, artificial neural network will be modeled with the input data determined using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, which is a multi-layer sensor (CAA) (teacher-learning) type, before modeling the modeling methods in the literature. The actual values produced by the indices will be compared with the outputs produced by the network. Using the neural network and the curves to be created from the resulting values, the feasibility of performance determination will be investigated.

Keywords: artifical neural networks, fire, Graham Index, levenberg-marquardt algoritm, oxygen decrease percentage index, risk assessment, Trickett Index

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Anthropometric measurements are essential for obesity studies. Waist circumference (WC) is the most frequently used measure, and along with hip circumference (HC), it is used in most equations derived for the evaluation of obese individuals. Morbid obesity is the most severe clinical form of obesity, and such individuals may also exhibit some clinical findings leading to metabolic syndrome (MetS). Then, it becomes a requirement to discriminate morbid obese children with (MOMetS+) and without (MOMetS-) MetS. Almost all obesity indices can differentiate obese (OB) children from children with normal body mass index (N-BMI). However, not all of them are capable of making this distinction. A recently introduced anthropometric obesity index, waist circumference + hip circumference/2 ((WC+HC)/2), was confirmed to differ OB children from those with N-BMI, however it has not been tested whether it will find clinical usage for the differential diagnosis of MOMetS+ and MOMetS-. This study was designed to find out the availability of (WC+HC)/2 for the purpose and to compare the possible preponderance of it over some other anthropometric or fat-based obesity indices. Forty-five MOMetS+ and forty-five MOMetS- children were included in the study. Participants have submitted informed consent forms. The study protocol was approved by the Non-interventional Ethics Committee of Tekirdag Namik Kemal University. Anthropometric measurements were performed. Body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip circumference (W/H), (WC+HC)/2, trunk-to-leg fat ratio (TLFR), trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio (TAFR), trunk fat+leg fat/2 ((trunk+leg fat)/2), diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index-2 (D2I) and fat mass index (FMI) were calculated for both groups. Study data was analyzed statistically, and 0.05 for p value was accepted as the statistical significance degree. Statistically higher BMI, WC, (WC+HC)/2, (trunk+leg fat)/2 values were found in MOMetS+ children than MOMetS- children. No statistically significant difference was detected for W/H, TLFR, TAFR, D2I, and FMI between two groups. The lack of difference between the groups in terms of FMI and D2I pointed out the fact that the recently developed fat-based index; (trunk+leg fat)/2 gives much more valuable information during the evaluation of MOMetS+ and MOMetS- children. Upon evaluation of the correlations, (WC+HC)/2 was strongly correlated with D2I and FMI in both MOMetS+ and MOMetS- groups. Neither D2I nor FMI was correlated with W/H. Strong correlations were calculated between (WC+HC)/2 and (trunk+leg fat)/2 in both MOMetS- (r=0.961; p<0.001) and MOMetS+ (r=0.936; p<0.001) groups. Partial correlations between (WC+HC)/2 and (trunk+leg fat)/2 after controlling the effect of basal metabolic rate were r=0.726; p<0.001 in MOMetS- group and r=0.932; p<0.001 in MOMetS+ group. The correlation in the latter group was higher than the first group. In conclusion, recently developed anthropometric obesity index (WC+HC)/2 and fat-based obesity index (trunk+leg fat)/2 were of preponderance over the previously introduced classical obesity indices such as W/H, D2I and FMI during the differential diagnosis of MOMetS+ and MOMetS- children.

Keywords: children, hip circumference, metabolic syndrome, morbid obesity, waist circumference

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Authors: R. Periyasamy, Deepak Joshi, Sneh Anand

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Foot posture assessment is important to evaluate foot type, causing gait and postural defects in all age groups. Although different methods are used for classification of foot arch type in clinical/research examination, there is no clear approach for selecting the most appropriate measurement system. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a system for evaluation of foot type as clinical decision-making aids for diagnosis of flat and normal arch based on the Arch Index (AI) and foot pressure distribution parameter - Power Ratio (PR) data. The accuracy of the system was evaluated for 27 subjects with age ranging from 24 to 65 years. Foot area measurements (hind foot, mid foot, and forefoot) were acquired simultaneously from foot pressure intensity image using portable PedoPowerGraph system and analysis of the image in frequency domain to obtain foot pressure distribution parameter - PR data. From our results, we obtain 100% classification accuracy of normal and flat foot by using the linear discriminant analysis method. We observe there is no misclassification of foot types because of incorporating foot pressure distribution data instead of only arch index (AI). We found that the mid-foot pressure distribution ratio data and arch index (AI) value are well correlated to foot arch type based on visual analysis. Therefore, this paper suggests that the proposed system is accurate and easy to determine foot arch type from arch index (AI), as well as incorporating mid-foot pressure distribution ratio data instead of physical area of contact. Hence, such computational tool based system can help the clinicians for assessment of foot structure and cross-check their diagnosis of flat foot from mid-foot pressure distribution.

Keywords: arch index, computational tool, static foot pressure intensity image, foot pressure distribution, linear discriminant analysis

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Authors: Rajesh Karki, Safal Bhattarai, Saket Adhikari

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Reliable and economic operation of power systems are becoming extremely challenging with large scale integration of renewable energy sources due to the intermittency and uncertainty associated with renewable power generation. It is, therefore, important to make a quantitative risk assessment and explore the potential resources to mitigate such risks. Probabilistic models for different energy storage systems (ESS), such as the flywheel energy storage system (FESS) and the compressed air energy storage (CAES) incorporating specific charge/discharge performance and failure characteristics suitable for probabilistic risk assessment in power system operation and planning are presented in this paper. The proposed methodology used in FESS modelling offers flexibility to accommodate different configurations of plant topology. It is perceived that CAES has a high potential for grid-scale application, and a hybrid approach is proposed, which embeds a Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS) method in an analytical technique to develop a suitable reliability model of the CAES. The proposed ESS models are applied to a test system to investigate the economic and reliability benefits of the energy storage technologies in system operation and planning, as well as to assess their contributions in facilitating wind integration during different operating scenarios. A comparative study considering various storage system topologies are also presented. The impacts of failure rates of the critical components of ESS on the expected state of charge (SOC) and the performance of the different types of ESS during operation are illustrated with selected studies on the test system. The paper also applies the proposed models on the test system to investigate the economic and reliability benefits of the different ESS technologies and to evaluate their contributions in facilitating wind integration during different operating scenarios and system configurations. The conclusions drawn from the study results provide valuable information to help policymakers, system planners, and operators in arriving at effective and efficient policies, investment decisions, and operating strategies for planning and operation of power systems with large penetrations of renewable energy sources.

Keywords: flywheel energy storage, compressed air energy storage, power system reliability, renewable energy, system planning, system operation

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Authors: Akram Boubakri, Fethi Choubeni, Tan Hoa Vuong, Jacques David

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The control of electromagnetic waves is a key aim of several researches over the past decade. In this regard, Metamaterials have shown a strong ability to manipulate the electromagnetic waves on a subwavelength scales thanks to its unconventional properties that are not available in natural materials such as negative refraction index, super imaging and invisibility cloaking. Metalenses were used to avoid some drawbacks presented by conventional lenses since focusing with conventional lenses suffered from the limited resolution because they were only able to focus the propagating wave component. Nevertheless, Metalenses were able to go beyond the diffraction limit and enhance the resolution not only by collecting the propagating waves but also by restoring the amplitude of evanescent waves that decay rapidly when going far from the source and that contains the finest details of the image. Metasurfaces have many mechanical advantages over three-dimensional metamaterial structures especially the ease of fabrication and a smaller required volume. Those structures have been widely used for antenna performance improvement and to build flat metalenses. In this work, we showed that a well-designed metasurface lens operating at the frequency of 5.9GHz, has efficiently enhanced the radiation characteristics of a patch antenna and can be used for WLAN applications (IEEE 802.11 a). The proposed metasurface lens is built with a geometrically modified unit cells which lead to a change in the response of the lens at different position and allow the control of the wavefront beam of the incident wave thanks to the gradient refractive index.

Keywords: focusing, gradient index, metasurface, metalens, WLAN Applications

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Authors: S. K. Gupta, Richa Bansal

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In a deregulated power system structure, power producers, and customers share a common transmission network for wheeling power from the point of generation to the point of consumption. All parties in this open access environment may try to purchase the energy from the cheaper source for greater profit margins, which may lead to overloading and congestion of certain corridors of the transmission network. This may result in violation of line flow, voltage and stability limits and thereby undermine the system security. Utilities therefore need to determine adequately their Available Transfer Capability (ATC) to ensure that system reliability is maintained while serving a wide range of bilateral and multilateral transactions. This paper presents power transfer distribution factor based on AC load flow for the determination and enhancement of ATC. The study has been carried out for IEEE 24 bus Reliability Test System.

Keywords: available transfer capability, FACTS devices, power transfer distribution factors, electric

Procedia PDF Downloads 497

Authors: Morenikeji Aliu Balaji

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Gender inequality is seen as persistent discrimination of one group of people based gender, and it manifests itself differently according to race, culture, politics, country and economic situation. Multiple explanations have been offered for gender differences in literacy skill development. Three prominent explanations that precipitated the gender differences are; biological, where the assumption is that differential brain structures and hemispheric activation patterns cause the sexes to be hardwired differently for reading, with girls developing the cognitive skills associated with reading before boys. Secondly, schooling favour girls and ‘girly’ behaviour, and that boys are, as a result, lagging behind on several behavioural, social and academic measures and thirdly, cultural influences, where literacy is defined as a feminine characteristic – propagated by an overrepresentation of female teachers – and that modern culture steers boys towards activities such as sport and computers. Therefore the study investigated the influence of gender inequality on pre – primary school children literacy skills development in Ojo Local Government Area, Lagos State. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. 100 pre-primary school teachers were involved in the study. A self-designed instrument was used for data collection titled ‘Influence of Gender Inequality on Literacy Skill Development in Children Questionnaire (IGILSDCQ)’. The instrument was validated and tested for reliability. The reliability index for IGILSDCQ (α = 0.79). Five research questions were answered using descriptive (frequency count, simple percentage, mean and standard deviation). The findings showed that that gender inequality to some extent influence children phonemic awareness (WA=1.76), the extent to which gender inequality influence children awareness of print is high (WA=2.8), gender inequality to some extent influence children vocabulary development (WA = 2.4), the extent to which gender inequality influence children speaking skill development is high (WA = 2.5) and lastly, the extent to which gender inequality influence children comprehension ability is high (WA = 2.5). It was recommended among others that effort by the school administrators is necessary in the provision of reading materials and literacy skill development packages that are both male-oriented and female-oriented.

Keywords: pre-primart, literacy, awareness, phonemic, gender

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Authors: Titia Izzati, Pebri Hastuti, Gusti Ayu Arwati

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Based on the program of The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Republic of Indonesia, this study compares the Statistikdata of the educational factors and the number of young people to a survey conducted in the five years, 2009-2013. As a result, significant trends are traced through an era filled with events that deeply affected the lives of young people, such as the peak and the ending of the political issues. Changing values under examination include attitudes toward authority and obligations toward others; social values dealing with attitudes toward the work ethic; marriage, family, and the importance of money in defining the meaning of success; and self-fulfillment. While the largest portion of the sample contains college youth, other people between the ages of 16 and 30 are considered, including high school students, blue collar workers, housewives, and high school dropouts. The report provides an overview and interpretation of the data with the presents the research contrasting the values of the college and non-college youth. In the other hand, the youth education profile data also can be utilized in making arrange the youth development index, especially in educational dimension. In order to the formulation of this youth development index, the basic needs of youth in Indonesia have to be listed as the variables. So that, the indicators of the youth development index are really in accordance withthe actual conditions of Indonesian youth. The indicators are the average number of old-school youth, the rate of youth illiterate people, the numbers of youth who are continuing their studies or who have completed the study in college, the number of youth graduate high school/vocational or college graduates were engaged in the labor fair. The formula for the youth development index is arranged in educational dimension with all actual indicators

Keywords: education, young people, Indonesia, ministry programs, youth index development

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Authors: Dongfang Qiu, Yilin Lu

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The measurement of enterprise-university-research cooperative efficiency has important meanings in improving the cooperative efficiency, strengthening the effective integration of regional resource, enhancing the ability of regional innovation and promoting the development of regional economy. The paper constructs the DEA method and DEA-Malmquist productivity index method to research the cooperation efficiency of Hubei by making comparisons with other provinces in China. The study found out the index of technology efficiency is 0.52 and the enterprise-university- research cooperative efficiency is Non-DEA efficient. To realize the DEA efficiency of Hubei province, the amount of 1652.596 R&D employees and 638.368 R&D employees’ full time equivalence should be reduced or 137.89 billion yuan of new products’ sales income be increased. Finally, it puts forward policy recommendations on existing problems to strengthen the standings of the cooperation, realize the effective application of the research results, and improve the level of management of enterprise-university-research cooperation efficiency.

Keywords: cooperation ability, DEA method, enterprise-university-research cooperation, Malmquist efficiency index

Procedia PDF Downloads 395

Authors: Ashwini Gowda K. S, Archana M. R, Anjaneyappa V

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This paper presents pavement maintenance and management system (PMMS) to obtain optimum pavement maintenance and rehabilitation strategies and maintenance scheduling for a network using a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA). Optimal pavement maintenance & rehabilitation strategy is to maximize the pavement condition index of the road section in a network with minimum maintenance and rehabilitation cost during the planning period. In this paper, NSGA-II is applied to perform maintenance optimization; this maintenance approach was expected to preserve and improve the existing condition of the highway network in a cost-effective way. The proposed PMMS is applied to a network that assessed pavement based on the pavement condition index (PCI). The minimum and maximum maintenance cost for a planning period of 20 years obtained from the non-dominated solution was found to be 5.190x10¹⁰ ₹ and 4.81x10¹⁰ ₹, respectively.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, maintenance and rehabilitation, optimization technique, pavement condition index

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Emilio A. Berny-Brandt, Sonia E. Ruiz

Abstract:

Steel tubular towers serving as support structures for large wind turbines are subject to several hundred million stress cycles arising from the turbulent nature of the wind. This causes high-cycle fatigue which can govern tower design. The practice of maintaining the support structure after wind turbines reach its typical 20-year design life have become common, but without quantifying the changes in the reliability on the tower. There are several studies on this topic, but most of them are based on the S-N curve approach using the Miner’s rule damage summation method, the de-facto standard in the wind industry. However, the qualitative nature of Miner’s method makes desirable the use of fracture mechanics to measure the effects of fatigue in the capacity curve of the structure, which is important in order to evaluate the integrity and reliability of these towers. Temporal and spatially varying wind speed time histories are simulated based on power spectral density and coherence functions. Simulations are then applied to a SAP2000 finite element model and step-by-step analysis is used to obtain the stress time histories for a range of representative wind speeds expected during service conditions of the wind turbine. Rainflow method is then used to obtain cycle and stress range information of each of these time histories and a statistical analysis is performed to obtain the distribution parameters of each variable. Monte Carlo simulation is used here to evaluate crack growth over time in the tower base using the Paris-Erdogan equation. A nonlinear static pushover analysis to assess the capacity curve of the structure after a number of years is performed. The capacity curves are then used to evaluate the changes in reliability of a steel tower located in Oaxaca, Mexico, where wind energy facilities are expected to grow in the near future. Results show that fatigue on the tower base can have significant effects on the structural capacity of the wind turbine, especially after the 20-year design life when the crack growth curve starts behaving exponentially.

Keywords: crack growth, fatigue, Monte Carlo simulation, structural reliability, wind turbines

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Authors: Ritchie Ann Dionela, Jorilyn Tabuena

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This study measured the economic empowerment of women from small-scale fisheries and agriculture sector of Sebaste, Antique. There were a total of 199 respondents selected using stratified random sampling. The Five Domains of Empowerment (5DE) Index was used in measuring the economic empowerment of study participants. Through this composite index, it was determined how women scored in the five domains of empowerment, namely production, resources, income, leadership, and time. The result of the study shows that women fishers are more economically empowered than women farmers. The two sectors showed high disparity in their scores on input in productive decision; autonomy in production; ownership of assets; control over use of income; group member; speaking in public; workload; and leisure. Group member indicator contributed largely to the disempowered population in both sectors. Although income of women farmers is higher than that of women fishers, the latter are still economically empowered which suggests that economic empowerment is not dependent on income alone. The study recommends that fisheries and agriculture organization for women should be established so that their needs and concerns will be heard and addressed. It is further recommended that government projects focused on enhancing women empowerment should also give importance on other factors such as organization and leisure and not just income to totally promote of women empowerment. Further studies on measuring women’s empowerment using other methods should be pursued to provide more information on women’s well-being.

Keywords: agriculture, composite index, fisheries, women economic empowerment

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Magdi M. E. Zumrawi, Mohamed Awad

Abstract:

Determination of Resilient Modulus (M_R) is quite important for characterizing materials in pavement design and evaluation. The main focus of this study is to develop a correlation that predict the resilient modulus of subgrade soils from simple and easy measured soil index properties. To achieve this objective, three subgrade soils representing typical Khartoum soils were selected and tested in the laboratory for measuring resilient modulus. Other basic laboratory tests were conducted on the soils to determine their physical properties. Several soil samples were prepared and compacted at different moisture contents and dry densities and then tested using resilient modulus testing machine. Based on experimental results, linear relationship of M_R with the consistency factor ‘F_c’ which is a combination of dry density, void ratio and consistency index had been developed. The results revealed that very good linear relationship found between the M_R and the consistency factor with a coefficient of linearity (R²) more than 0.9. The consistency factor could be used for the prediction of the M_R of compacted subgrade soils with precise and reliable results.

Keywords: Consistency factor, resilient modulus, subgrade soil, properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 193