Search results for: decoupled mode shapes

Authors: Osama Mohamed Elrajubi, Idris El-Feghi, Mohamed Abu Baker Saghayer

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This paper describes an identification of specific shapes within binary images using the morphological Hit-or-Miss Transform (HMT). Hit-or-Miss transform is a general binary morphological operation that can be used in searching of particular patterns of foreground and background pixels in an image. It is actually a basic operation of binary morphology since almost all other binary morphological operators are derived from it. The input of this method is a binary image and a structuring element (a template which will be searched in a binary image) while the output is another binary image. In this paper a modification of Hit-or-Miss transform has been proposed. The accuracy of algorithm is adjusted according to the similarity of the template and the sought template. The implementation of this method has been done by C language. The algorithm has been tested on several images and the results have shown that this new method can be used for similar shape detection.

Keywords: hit-or-miss operator transform, HMT, binary morphological operation, shape detection, binary images processing

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Authors: Alexandre Marin, Alexandra Bac, Laurent Astart

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New numerical methods for PDE resolution (such as Finite Volumes (FV) or Virtual Elements Method (VEM)) open new needs in terms of meshing of domains of interest, and in particular, polyhedral meshes have many advantages. One way to build such meshes consists of constructing Restricted Voronoi Diagrams (RVDs) whose boundaries respect the domain of interest. By minimizing a function defined for RVDs, the shapes of cells can be controlled, e.g., elongated according to user-defined directions or adjusted to comply with given aspect ratios (anisotropy) and density variations. In this paper, our contribution is threefold: First, we introduce a new gradient formula for the Voronoi tessellation energy under a continuous anisotropy field. Second, we describe a meshing algorithm based on the optimisation of this function that we validate against state-of-the-art approaches. Finally, we propose a hierarchical approach to speed up our meshing algorithm.

Keywords: anisotropic Voronoi diagrams, meshes for numerical simulations, optimisation, volumic polyhedral meshing

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Authors: Jinlu Sun, Shouxiang Lu, Siuming Lo

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Large passenger ship, especially luxury cruise, is one of the most prevalent means of marine transportation and tourism nowadays. In case of an accident, an effective evacuation would be the ultimate way to minimize the consequence. Ship heeling and trim has a considerable influence on passenger walking speed and posture during ship evacuation. To investigate passenger movement pattern under the combined effect of ship heeling and trim, a ship corridor simulator was developed. Both fast and freely individual walking experiments by male and female experimental subjects under heeling and trim conditions were conducted and recorded therein. It is found that routes of experimental subjects would change due to the heeling and trim angles, although they always walk along the right side because of cultural factors. Experimental subjects would also change their posture to adapt the combined heeling and trim conditions, such as leaning forward, adopting larger arm swaying, shorter and more frequent steps. While for individual walking speed, the speed would decrease with the increasing heeling and trim angles. But the maximum individual walking speed is achieved at heeling angle of 0° with trim angle ranging from -15° to -5 °, instead of on level ground, which may be attributable to the effect of the gravitational acceleration. Female is approximately 10% slower than male due to the discrepancy in physical quality. Besides, individual walking speed shows similar trends in both fast and freely walking modes, and the speed value in freely walking mode is about 78% of that in fast walking mode under each experimental condition. Furthermore, to designate the movement pattern of passengers in heeling and trim conditions, a model of the walking speed reduction was proposed. This work would provide guidance on the development of evacuation models and the design of evacuation facilities on board.

Keywords: evacuation, heeling, individual walking speed, ship corridor simulator, trim

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Authors: Lorenzo Gontrani, Marilena Carbone, Domenica Tommasa Donia, Elvira Maria Bauer, Pietro Tagliatesta

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One of the fields where DES shows remarkable added values is the synthesis Of inorganic materials, in particular nanoparticles. In this field, the higher- ent and highly-tunable nano-homogeneities of DES structure give origin to a marked templating effect, a precious role that has led to the recent bloom of a vast number of studies exploiting these new synthesis media to prepare Nanomaterials and composite structures of various kinds. In this contribution, the most recent developments in the field will be reviewed, and some ex-citing examples of novel metal oxide nanoparticles syntheses using non-toxic type-IV Deep Eutectic Solvents will be described. The prepared materials possess nanometric dimensions and show flower-like shapes. The use of the pre- pared nanoparticles as fluorescent materials for the detection of various contaminants is under development.

Keywords: metal deep eutectic solvents, nanoparticles, inorganic synthesis, type IV DES, lamellar

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Authors: Amany ElShazly, Lubna A. Sherif

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The entanglement of humans with the environment has always been inevitable and often causes destruction. In this respect, ‘Ecolinguistics’ helps humans to understand the link between languages and the environment. Stibbe (2014a) has indicated that ‘linguistics’, particularly, Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), provides an interpretation of language which shapes world views, while the ‘eco’ side maintains the life-sustaining interactions of humans and the physical environment. This paper considers two key ecological instances, namely: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as a focal point of political dispute and THE LINE project as well as Etthadar lel Akhdar (Go Green Initiative) as two examples of combating ecological degradation. ‘Ecosophy’ as explained by Naess (1996) is used to describe the ecolinguistic framework, which assesses discourse where the linguistic lens focuses on the use of metaphor, and ‘Positive Discourse’ framework, which resonates with respect and care for the natural world.

Keywords: ecosophy, critical discourse studies, metaphor, positive discourse, social semiotics, ecolinguistics

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Authors: Mengqi Wu, Haiping Zhu, Chin J. Leo

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In this study, six experimental cases with different components (dry and wet soils and rocks) were considered to elucidate the influence of material composition on landslide profiles. The results show that the accumulation zone for all cases considered has a quadrilateral shape with two different bottom angles. The asymmetry of the accumulation zone can be attributed to the fact that soils in different parts of the landslide sliding can produce different speeds and suffer different resistances. The higher soil moisture can generate stronger cohesion between soils to reduce the volume of the sliding body during the landslide. The rock content can increase the accumulation angles to improve slope stability. The interaction between the irregular shapes of rocks and soils provides more resistance than that between spherical rocks and soils, which causes the slope with irregular rocks and soils to have higher stability.

Keywords: landslide, soil moisture, rock content, experimental simulation

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Authors: Fatemeh Rezaei, Mohammad H. Yarmohammadian, Masoud Ferdosi, Abbas Haghshnas

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Background: Failure Modes and Effect Analysis is now having known as the main methods of risk assessment and the accreditation requirements for many organizations. The Risk Priority Number (RPN) approach is generally preferred, especially for its easiness of use. Indeed it does not require statistical data, but it is based on subjective evaluations given by the experts about the Occurrence (O i), the Severity (Si) and the Detectability (D i) of each cause of failure. Methods: This study is a quantitative – qualitative research. In terms of qualitative dimension, method of focus groups with inductive approach is used. To evaluate the results of the qualitative study, quantitative assessment was conducted to calculate RPN score. Results; We have studied patient’s journey process in surgery ward and the most important phase of the process determined Transport of the patient from the holding area to the operating room. Failures of the phase with the highest priority determined by defining inclusion criteria included severity (clinical effect, claim consequence, waste of time and financial loss), occurrence (time- unit occurrence and degree of exposure to risk) and preventability (degree of preventability and defensive barriers) and quantifying risks priority criteria in the context of RPN index. Ability of improved RPN reassess by root cause (RCA) analysis showed some variations. Conclusions: Finally, It could be concluded that understandable criteria should have been developed according to personnel specialized language and communication field. Therefore, participation of both technical and clinical groups is necessary to modify and apply these models.

Keywords: failure mode, effects analysis, risk priority number(RPN), health system, risk assessment

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Authors: Belal Almassri, Amjad Kreit, Firas Al Mahmoud, Raoul François

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Corrosion of steel in reinforced concrete leads to several major defects. Firstly, a reduction in the crosssectional area of the reinforcement and in its ductility results in premature bar failure. Secondly, the expansion of the corrosion products causes concrete cracking and steel–concrete bond deterioration and also affects the bending stiffness of the reinforced concrete members, causing a reduction in the overall load-bearing capacity of the reinforced concrete beams. This paper investigates the validity of a repair technique using Near Surface Mounted (NSM) carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) rods to restore the mechanical performance of corrosion-damaged RC beams. In the NSM technique, the CFRP rods are placed inside pre-cut grooves and are bonded to the concrete with epoxy adhesive. Experimental results were obtained on two beams: a corroded beam that had been exposed to natural corrosion for 25 years and a control beam, (both are 3 m long) repaired in bending only. Each beam was repaired with one 6-mm-diameter NSM CFRP rod. The beams were tested in a three-point bending test up to failure. Overall stiffness and crack maps were studied before and after the repair. Ultimate capacity, ductility and failure mode were also reviewed. Finally some comparisons were made between repaired and non-repaired beams in order to assess the effectiveness of the NSM technique. The experimental results showed that the NSM technique improved the overall characteristics (ultimate load capacity and stiffness) of the control and corroded beams and allowed sufficient ductility to be restored to the repaired corroded elements, thus restoring the safety margin, despite the non-classical mode of failure that occurred in the corroded beam, with the separation of the concrete cover due to corrosion products.

Keywords: carbon fibre, corrosion, strength, mechanical testing

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Authors: Aakanchha Jain, D. V. Kohli

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Cubosomes are nanoparticles but instead of the solid particles, cubosomes are self-assembled liquid crystalline particles of certain surfactant with proper ratio of water with a microstructure that provides unique properties of practical interest. Cubosomes encapsulating Fluconazole were prepared by emulsification method and characterized for particle size, entrapment efficiency. The cubosomes prepared were 257.2±2.94 nm in size with drug entrapment efficiency of 66.2±2.69%. The optimized formulation characterized for shape and surface morphology by TEM and SEM analysis. SEM photograph showed the smooth surface of optimized cubosomes and TEM photograph revealed square somewhat circular intact shapes of cubosomes. MIC was determined by XTT based method and antifungal activity was determined in vitro. The cumulative percentage of Fnz from cubosomes permeated via dialysis membrane (MWCO 12-14 KD) showed a percent cumulative drug release of 76.86% while Fnz solution showed release up to 91.04% in 24 hours in PBS (pH 6.5)(p < 0.005).

Keywords: Candids albicans, cubosomes, fluconazole, topical delivery

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Authors: Hyeongdo Jeong, Jong Kook Lee

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Granule morphology and microstructure were affected by slurry viscosity, chemical composition, particle size and spray drying process. In this study, we investigated granule morphology of zirconia powder with solid content on two-fluid spray drying. Zirconia granules after spray drying show sphere-like shapes with a diameter of 40-70 μm at low solid contents (30 or 40 wt%) and specific surface area of 5.1-5.6 m²/g. But a donut-like shape with a few cracks were observed on zirconia granules prepared from the slurry of high solid content (50 wt %), green compacts after cold isostatic pressing under the pressure of 200 MPa have the density of 2.1-2.2 g/cm³ and homogeneous fracture surface by complete destruction of granules. After the sintering at 1500 °C for 2 h, all specimens have relative density of 96.2-98.3 %. With increasing a solid content from 30 to 50 wt%, grain size increased from 0.3 to 0.6 μm, but relative density was inversely decreased from 98.3 to 96.2 %.

Keywords: zirconia, solid content, granulation, spray drying

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Authors: M. Khal, Ab. Algouti, A. Algouti

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Water erosion is the major cause of the erosion that shapes the earth's surface. Modeling water erosion requires the use of software and GIS programs, commercial or closed source. The very high prices for commercial GIS licenses, motivates users and researchers to find open source software as relevant and applicable as the proprietary GIS. The objective of this study is the modeling of water erosion and the hydrogeological and morphophysical characterization of the Oued M'Goun watershed (southern flank of the Central High Atlas) developed by free programs of GIS. The very pertinent results are obtained by executing tasks and algorithms in a simple and easy way. Thus, the various geoscientific and geostatistical analyzes of a digital elevation model (SRTM 30 m resolution) and their combination with the treatments and interpretation of satellite imagery information allowed us to characterize the region studied and to map the area most vulnerable to water erosion.

Keywords: central High-Atlas, hydrogeology, M’Goun watershed, OpenGis, water erosion

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Authors: Klara Strecker

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During times of globalization, socioeconomic systems have become connected across the world through global supply chains. As a result, consumption and production locations have increasingly become spatially decoupled. This decoupling leads to complex entanglements of systems and sustainability challenges across distances -entanglements which can be conceptualized as telecouplings. Through telecouplings, people and environments across the world have become closely connected, bringing challenges as well as opportunities. Some argue that telecoupling dynamics started taking shape during times of colonization when resources were first traded across the world. An example of such a telecoupling is that of the rose. Every third rose sold in Europe is grown in Kenya and enters the European market through the Dutch flower auction system. Many Kenyan farms are Dutch-owned, closely entangling Kenya and the Netherlands through the trade of roses. Furthermore, the globalization of the flower industry and the resulting shift of production away from the Netherlands and towards Kenya has led to significant changes in the Dutch horticulture sector. However, the sustainability effects of this rose telecoupling is limited neither to the horticulture sector nor to the Netherlands and Kenya. Alongside the flow of roses between these countries come complex financial, knowledge-based, and regulatory flows. The rose telecoupling also creates spillover effects to other countries, such as Ethiopia, and other industries, such as Kenyan tourism. Therefore, telecoupling dynamics create complex entanglements that cut across sectors, environments, communities, and countries, which makes effectively governing and managing telecouplings and their sustainability implications challenging. Indeed, sustainability can no longer be studied in spatial and temporal isolation. This paper aims to map the rose telecoupling’s complex environmental and social interactions to identify points of tension guiding sustainability-targeted interventions. Mapping these interactions will provide a more holistic understanding of the sustainability challenges involved in the Dutch-Kenyan rose trade. This interdisciplinary telecoupling approach reframes and integrates interdisciplinary knowledge about the rose trade between the Netherlands, Kenya, and beyond.

Keywords: Dutch-Kenyan rose trade, globalization, socio-ecological system, sustainability, telecoupling

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Authors: Taehan Bae

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In this paper, a class of length-biased Weibull mixtures is presented to model loss severity data. The proposed model generalizes the Erlang mixtures with the common scale parameter, and it shares many important modelling features, such as flexibility to fit various data distribution shapes and weak-denseness in the class of positive continuous distributions, with the Erlang mixtures. We show that the asymptotic tail estimate of the length-biased Weibull mixture is Weibull-type, which makes the model effective to fit loss severity data with heavy-tailed observations. A method of statistical estimation is discussed with applications on real catastrophic loss data sets.

Keywords: Erlang mixture, length-biased distribution, transformed gamma distribution, asymptotic tail estimate, EM algorithm, expectation-maximization algorithm

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Authors: Edwina G. Rodrigues, S. J. Bindhu, A. V. Rajesh

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This paper proposes a switched capacitor based driver circuit for high power light emitting diodes with a front end rectifier. LEDs are low-voltage light sources, requiring a constant DC voltage or current to operate optimally. LEDs, therefore, require a device that can convert incoming AC power to the proper DC voltage, and regulate the current flowing through the LED during operation. Proposed topology has a front end converter. It is an AC-DC rectifier that works on bridgeless boost topology which shapes the input current waveform. The front end converter is followed by a DC-DC converter which provides a constant DC voltage across the LEDs. A 12V AC input is given to the input of frontend converter which rectifies and boost the voltage to 24v DC and gives it to the DC-DC converter. The DC-DC converter converts the 24V DC and regulates this constant DC voltage across the LEDs.

Keywords: bridgeless rectifier, power factor correction(PFC), SC converter, total harmonic distortion (THD)

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Authors: Moshe Mello, Hilary Rutto, Tumisang Seodigeng

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Tires are extremely challenging to recycle due to the available chemically cross-linked polymer which constitutes their nature and therefore, they are neither fusible nor soluble and consequently, cannot be remoulded into other shapes without serious degradation. Pyrolysis of tires produces four valuable products namely; char, steel, tire pyrolytic oil (TPO) and non-condensable gases. TPO has been reported to have similar properties to commercial diesel fuel (CDF). In this study, distillation of TPO was carried out in a batch distillation column and biodiesel was produced from waste cooking oil. FTIR analysis proved that TPO can be used as a fuel due to the available compounds detected and GC analysis displayed 94% biodiesel concentration from waste cooking oil. Different blends of TPO/biodiesel, TPO/CDF and biodiesel/CDF were prepared at different ratios. Fuel properties such as viscosity, density, flash point, and calorific value were studied. Viscosity and density models were also studied to measure the quality of different blends.

Keywords: biodiesel, distillation, pyrolysis, tire

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Authors: Alaa Fezai, Anuj Sharma, Wolfgang Mueller-Hirsch, André Zimmermann

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Viscoelastic materials have been widely used in the automotive industry over the last few decades with different functionalities. Besides their main application as a simple and efficient surface damping treatment, they may ensure optimal operating conditions for on-board electronics as thermal interface or sealing layers. The dynamic behavior of viscoelastic materials is generally dependent on many environmental factors, the most important being temperature and strain rate or frequency. Prior to the reliability analysis of systems including viscoelastic layers, it is, therefore, crucial to accurately predict the dynamic and lifetime behavior of these materials. This includes the identification of the dynamic material parameters under critical temperature and frequency conditions along with a precise damage localization and identification methodology. The goal of this work is twofold. The first part aims at applying an inverse viscoelastic material-characterization approach for a wide frequency range and under different temperature conditions. For this sake, dynamic measurements are carried on a single lap joint specimen using an electrodynamic shaker and an environmental chamber. The specimen consists of aluminum beams assembled to adapter plates through a viscoelastic adhesive layer. The experimental setup is reproduced in finite element (FE) simulations, and frequency response functions (FRF) are calculated. The parameters of both the generalized Maxwell model and the fractional derivatives model are identified through an optimization algorithm minimizing the difference between the simulated and the measured FRFs. The second goal of the current work is to guarantee an on-line detection of the damage, i.e., delamination in the viscoelastic bonding of the described specimen during frequency monitored end-of-life testing. For this purpose, an inverse technique, which determines the damage location and size based on the modal frequency shift and on the change of the mode shapes, is presented. This includes a preliminary FE model-based study correlating the delamination location and size to the change in the modal parameters and a subsequent experimental validation achieved through dynamic measurements of specimen with different, pre-generated crack scenarios and comparing it to the virgin specimen. The main advantage of the inverse characterization approach presented in the first part resides in the ability of adequately identifying the material damping and stiffness behavior of soft viscoelastic materials over a wide frequency range and under critical temperature conditions. Classic forward characterization techniques such as dynamic mechanical analysis are usually linked to limitations under critical temperature and frequency conditions due to the material behavior of soft viscoelastic materials. Furthermore, the inverse damage detection described in the second part guarantees an accurate prediction of not only the damage size but also its location using a simple test setup and outlines; therefore, the significance of inverse numerical-experimental approaches in predicting the dynamic behavior of soft bonding layers applied in automotive electronics.

Keywords: damage detection, dynamic characterization, inverse approaches, vibration testing, viscoelastic layers

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Authors: Runlin Liu, Shilong Li

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China is a mountainous country, with two-thirds of its territory covered by plateaus, hills, and mountains, and nearly half of the cities and towns are distributed in mountainous areas. Compared with the environmental constraints in the development path of cities and towns in the plains, there are heterogeneities in aspects such as spatial characteristics, growth mode, and ecological protection and so on for mountain village and townlets, and the development path of mountain village and townlets has a bidirectional relationship between mountain space and economic growth. Based on classical growth theory, this article explores the two-dimensional coupling relation between space and economy in mountain village and townlets under background of rural rejuvenation. GIS technology is adopted in the study to analyze spatial trends and patterns, economical spatial differentiation characteristics of village and townlets. This powerful tool can also help differentiate and analyze limiting factors and assessment systems in the economic growth of village and townlets under spatial dimension of mountainous space. To make the research more specific, this article selects mountain village and townlets in Southwest China as the object of study; this provides good cases for analyzing parallel coupling mechanism of the duality structure system between economic growth and spatial expansion and discussing the path selection of spatial economic growth of mountain village and towns with multiple constraints. The research results can provide quantitative references for the spatial and economic development paths of mountain villages and towns, which is helpful in realizing efficient and high-quality development mode with equal emphasis on spatial and economic benefits for these type of towns.

Keywords: coupling mechanism, geographic information technology, mountainous town, synergetic development, spatial economy

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Authors: Aderonke Olaitan Adesina

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Background: The paradigm shift to knowledge, as the key to organizational innovation and competitive advantage, has made the management of knowledge resources in organizations a mandate. A key component of the knowledge management (KM) cycle is knowledge creation, which is researched to be the result of the interaction between explicit and tacit knowledge. An effective knowledge creation process requires the use of the right model. The SECI (Socialisation, Externalisation, Combination, and Internalisation) model, proposed in 1995, is attested to be a preferred model of choice for knowledge creation activities. The model has, however, been criticized by researchers, who raise their concern, especially about its sequential nature. Therefore, this paper reviews extant literature on the practical application of each mode of the SECI model, from 1995 to date, with a view to ascertaining the relevance in modern-day KM practice. The study will establish the trends of use, with regards to the location and industry of use, and the interconnectedness of the modes. The main research question is, for organizational knowledge creation activities, is the SECI model indeed linear and sequential? In other words, does the model need to be reviewed in today’s KM practice? The review will generate a compendium of the usage of the SECI modes and propose a framework of use, based on the strength weaknesses opportunities and threats (SWOT) findings of the study. Method: This study will employ the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology to investigate the usage and SWOT of the modes, in order to ascertain the success, or otherwise, of the sequential application of the modes in practice from 1995 to 2019. To achieve the purpose, four databases will be explored to search for open access, peer-reviewed articles from 1995 to 2019. The year 1995 is chosen as the baseline because it was the year the first paper on the SECI model was published. The study will appraise relevant peer-reviewed articles under the search terms: SECI (or its synonym, knowledge creation theory), socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization in the title, abstract, or keywords list. This review will include only empirical studies of knowledge management initiatives in which the SECI model and its modes were used. Findings: It is expected that the study will highlight the practical relevance of each mode of the SECI model, the linearity or not of the model, the SWOT in each mode. Concluding Statement: Organisations can, from the analysis, determine the modes of emphasis for their knowledge creation activities. It is expected that the study will support decision making in the choice of the SECI model as a strategy for the management of organizational knowledge resources, and in appropriating the SECI model, or its remodeled version, as a theoretical framework in future KM research.

Keywords: combination, externalisation, internalisation, knowledge management, SECI model, socialisation

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Authors: Yixuan Wang, A. C. Y. Wong, J. M. Y. Chiu, S. G. Cheung

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After being released into the ocean, microplastics (MPs) are quickly colonized by microbes. The biofilm that forms on MPs alters their characteristics and perplexes users, including filter-feeders, some of whom choose to eat MPs that have biofilm. It has been proposed that filter feeders like mussels and other bivalves could serve as bioindicators of MP pollution. Mussels are considered selective feeders with particle sorting capability. Two sizes (27-32 µm and 90-106 µm), shapes (microspheres and microfibers), and types (polyethylene, polystyrene and polyester) of MPs were available for the green mussel, Perna viridis, at three concentrations (100 P/ml, 1000 P/ml and 10,000 P/ml). These MPs were incubated in the sea for 0, 3 or 14 days for biofilm development. The presence of the biofilm significantly affected the ingestion of MPs, and the mussels preferred MPs with biofilm, with a higher preference observed for biofilm with a longer incubation period. Additionally, the ingestion rate varied with the interaction between the concentration, size and form of MPs. The findings are discussed in relation to the possibility that mussels serve as MP bioindicators.

Keywords: marine miroplastics, biofilm, bioindicator, green mussel perna viridis

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Authors: Babagana Mohammed, Fidelis Patrick Afangide

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This research investigated the possibility of using waste low-dense polyethylene and waste plastic bottles for the production of interlock pavement blocks. In many parts of the world, interlock pavement block is used widely as modern day solution to outdoor flooring applications and the blocks have different shapes, sizes and colours suiting the imagination of landscape architects. Using suitable and conventional mould having a 220 x 135 x 50 mm³ shape, the interlock blocks were produced. The material constituents of the produced blocks were waste low-dense polyethylene and waste plastic bottles mixed in varying, respective percentage-weight proportions of; 100%+0%, 75%+25%, 50%+50% and 25%+75%. The blocks were then tested for unconfined compressive strength and water absorption properties. The test results compared well with those of conventional concrete interlock blocks and the research demonstrates the possibility of value recovery from the waste streams which are currently dumped in open-spaces thereby affecting the environment.

Keywords: pavement blocks, polyethylene, plastic bottle, wastes, valorization

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Authors: Samy M. Shaban, Ismail Aiad, Mohamed M. El-Sukkary, E. A. Soliman, Moshira Y. El-Awady

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In situ and green synthesis of cubic and spherical silver nanoparticles were developed using sun light as reducing agent in the presence of newly prepared cationic surfactant which acting as capping agents. The morphology of prepared silver nanoparticle was estimated by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and the size distribution determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS). The hydrophobic chain length of the prepared surfactant effect on the stability of the prepared silver nanoparticles as clear from zeta-potential values. Also by increasing chain length of the used capping agent the amount of formed nanoparticle increase as indicated by increasing the absorbance. Both prepared surfactants and surfactants capping silver nanoparticles showed high antimicrobial activity against gram positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Keywords: photosynthesis, hexaonal shapes, zetapotential, biological activity

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Authors: Fangyuan Shao, Wei Liu, Deli Gao

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Polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits have occupied a large market of unconventional oil and gas drilling. The application of PDC bits benefits from the efficient rock breaking of PDC cutters. In response to increasingly complex formations, many shaped cutters have been invited, but many of them have not been solved by the mechanism of rock breaking. In this paper, two kinds of PDC cutters: a new axe-shaped (NAS) cutter and cylindrical cutter (benchmark) were studied by laboratory experiments. NAS cutter is obtained by optimizing two sides of axe-shaped cutter with curved surfaces. All the cutters were put on a vertical turret lathe (VTL) in the laboratory for cutting tests. According to the cutting distance, the VTL tests can be divided into two modes: single-turn rotary cutting and continuous cutting. The cutting depth of cutting (DOC) was set at 1.0 mm and 2.0 mm in the former mode. The later mode includes a dry VTL test for thermal stability and a wet VTL test for wear resistance. Load cell and 3D optical profiler were used to obtain the value of cutting forces and wear area, respectively. Based on the findings of the single-turn rotary cutting VTL tests, the performance of A NAS cutter was better than the benchmark cutter on elastoplastic material cutting. The cutting forces (normal forces, tangential force, and radial force) and special mechanical energy (MSE) of a NAS cutter were lower than that of the benchmark cutter under the same condition. It meant that a NAS cutter was more efficient on elastoplastic material breaking. However, the wear resistance of a new axe-shaped cutter was higher than that of a benchmark cutter. The results of the dry VTL test showed that the thermal stability of a NAS cutter was higher than that of a benchmark cutter. The cutting efficiency can be improved by optimizing the geometric structure of the PDC cutter. The change of thermal stability may be caused by the decrease of the contact area between cutter and rock at given DOC. The conclusions of this paper can be used as an important reference for PDC cutters designers.

Keywords: axe-shaped cutter, PDC cutter, rotary cutting test, vertical turret lathe

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Authors: Yang Liu

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The work team has been being adopted by the CCP for special missions in a limited time. Since the 18th National Congress of CCP, the unprecedented practice of the work team has had impacts beyond the original goal of poverty alleviation, their functions in village governance have still not been well studied. As the state agents that come from the outside of the village community, this article argues that the work team is a group that represents the coexistence of political, economic, and cultural capital, which contributes to effectively empower the state, and the village cadres and the peasants. For the state, more accurate bottom-up information could be collected by the work team, and policies could be made scientifically and implemented without distortion. For the village cadres, they can learn leadership skills and share more resources owned or mobilized by the work team. For the peasants, they have more access to participate the public affairs of their village and express their claims. The multiple empowerments have greatly improved the relationship among the state, the peasants, and the village cadres since a series of reforms from 1980s to 2000s that alienated the relationship among them.

Keywords: state, village cadre, empowerment, work team, peasants

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Authors: Girish Chandran, Milu Tigi

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Brian O'Doherty's seminal essay, Inside the white Cube theorized and named the dominant mode of display and exhibition of Modern Art museums. Ever since the advent of Biennales and other site-specific public art projects we have seen a departure from the white cube mode of exhibition. The physicality, materiality and context within which an artwork is framed has a role in the production of meaning of public art. Equally, artworks contribute to the meaning and identity of a place. This to and fro relationship between the site and artwork and its influence on the sense of place and production of meaning is being explored in this paper in the context of Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB). Known as the Peoples biennale with over 5 lakh visitors, it is India's first Biennale and its largest art exhibition of contemporary art. The paper employs place theory and contemporary curatorial theories to present the case. The KMB has an interesting mix of exhibition spaces which includes existing galleries and halls, site-specific projects in public spaces, infill developments and adaptive reuse of heritage and other unused architecture. The biennale was envisioned as an event connecting to the history, socio-political peculiarities of the cultural landscape of Kerala and more specifically Kochi. The paper explains the role of spatial elements in forming a curatorial narrative connected to the above mentioned ambitions.The site-specific nature of exhibition and its use of unused architecture helps in the formation of exhibition spaces unique in type and materiality. The paper argues how this helps in the creation of an 'archeology of the place'. The research elucidates how a composite nature of experience helps connect with the thematic ambitions of the Biennale and how it brings about an aesthetics distinct to KMB.

Keywords: public art, curatorial practice, architecture, place, contemporary art, site specificity

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Authors: Shatha Khuzaee

Abstract:

The study develops multimodal stylistic approach to analyse a number of BBC online news articles reporting some key events from the so called ‘Arab Uprisings’. Critical stylistics (CS) and visual grammar (VG) provide insightful arguments to the ways ideology is projected through different verbal and visual modes, yet they are mode specific because they examine how each mode projects its meaning separately and do not attempt to clarify what happens intersemiotically when the two modes co-occur. Therefore, it is the task undertaken in this research to propose multimodal stylistic approach that addresses the issue of ideology construction when the two modes co-occur. Informed by functional grammar and social semiotics, the analysis attempts to integrate three linguistic models developed in critical stylistics, namely, transitivity choices, prioritizing and hypothesizing along with their visual equivalents adopted from visual grammar to investigate the way ideology is constructed, in multimodal text, when text/image participate and interrelate in the process of meaning making on the textual level of analysis. The analysis provides comprehensive theoretical and analytical elaborations on the different points of integration between CS linguistic models and VG equivalents which operate on the textual level of analysis to better account for ideology construction in news as non-literary multimodal texts. It is argued that the analysis well thought out a plan that would remark the first step towards the integration between the well-established linguistic models of critical stylistics and that of visual analysis to analyse multimodal texts on the textual level. Both approaches are compatible to produce multimodal stylistic approach because they intend to analyse text and image depending on whatever textual evidence is available. This supports the analysis maintain the rigor and replicability needed for a stylistic analysis like the one undertaken in this study.

Keywords: multimodality, stylistics, visual grammar, social semiotics, functional grammar

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Authors: Ashwani Kumar

Abstract:

In human beings, eyes play a vital role. A very less research has been done for rehabilitation of blindness for the blind people. This paper discusses the work that helps blind people for recognizing the basic shapes of the objects like circle, square, triangle, horizontal lines, vertical lines, diagonal lines and the wave forms like sinusoidal, square, triangular etc. This is largely achieved by using a digital camera, which is used to capture the visual information present in front of the blind person and a software program, which achieves the image processing operations, and finally the processed image is converted into sound. After the sound generation process, the generated sound is fed to the blind person through headphones for visualizing the imaginary image of the object. For visualizing the imaginary image of the object, it needs to train the blind person. Various training process methods had been applied for recognizing the object.

Keywords: image processing, pixel, pitch, loudness, sound generation, edge detection, brightness

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Authors: Cut Maisyarah Karyati, Aries Muslim, Sulardi

Abstract:

Digital image processing techniques to obtain detailed information from an image have been used in various fields, including in civil engineering, where the use of solid beam profiles in buildings and bridges has often been encountered since the early development of beams. Along with this development, the founded castellated beam profiles began to be more diverse in shape, such as the shape of a hexagon, triangle, pentagon, circle, ellipse and oval that could be a practical solution in optimizing a construction because of its characteristics. The purpose of this research is to create a computer application to edge detect the profile of various shapes of the castella beams hole. The digital image segmentation method has been used to obtain the grayscale images and represented in 2D and 3D formats. This application has been successfully made according to the desired function, which is to provide information on the type of castella beam hole.

Keywords: digital image, image processing, edge detection, grayscale, castella beams

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Authors: Sudip Sudhir Godbole

Abstract:

In transmission line surface potential gradient is a critical design parameter for planning overhead line, as it determines the level of corona loss (CL), radio interference (RI) and audible noise (AN).With increase of transmission line voltage level bulk power transfer is possible, using bundle conductor configuration used, it is more complex to find accurate surface stress in bundle configuration. The majority of existing models for surface gradient calculations are based on analytical methods which restrict their application in simulating complex surface geometry. This paper proposes a novel technique which utilizes both analytical and numerical procedure to predict the surface gradient. One of 400 kV transmission line configurations has been selected as an example to compare the results for different methods. The different strand shapes are a key variable in determining.

Keywords: surface gradient, Maxwell potential coefficient method, market and Mengele’s method, successive images method, charge simulation method, finite element method

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Authors: Lotfi Beji, Laredj Benchikh

Abstract:

Underground tunnel face bolting and pipe umbrella reinforcement are one of the most challenging tasks in construction whether industrial or not, and infrastructures such as roads or pipelines. It is one of the first sectors of economic activity in the world. Through a variety of soil and rock, a cyclic Conventional Tunneling Method (CTM) remains the best one for projects with highly variable ground conditions or shapes. CTM is the only alternative for the renovation of existing tunnels and creating emergency exit. During the drilling process, a wide variety of non-desired vibrations may arise, and a method using a robot arm is proposed. The main kinds of drilling through vibration here is the bit-bouncing phenomenon (resonant axial vibration). Hence, assisting the task by a robot arm may play an important role on drilling performances and security. We propose to control the axial-vibration phenomenon along the drillstring at a practical resonant frequency, and embed a Resonant Sonic Drilling Head (RSDH) as a robot end effector for drilling. Many questionable industry drilling criteria and stability are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: drilling, resonant vibration, robot arm, control

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Mohamed Omar

Abstract:

Steel bracing members are widely used in steel structures to reduce lateral displacement and dissipate energy during earthquake motions. Concentric steel bracing provide an excellent approach for strengthening and stiffening steel buildings. Using these braces the designer can hardly adjust the stiffness together with ductility as needed because of buckling of braces in compression. In this study the use of SMA bracing and steel bracing (Mega) utilized in steel frames are investigated. The effectiveness of these two systems in rehabilitating a mid-rise eight-storey steel frames were examined using time-history nonlinear analysis utilizing Seismo-Struct software. Results show that both systems improve the strength and stiffness of the original structure but due to excellent behavior of SMA in nonlinear phase and under compressive forces this system shows much better performance than the rehabilitation system of Mega bracing.

Keywords: finite element analysis, seismic response, shapes memory alloy, steel frame, mega bracing

Procedia PDF Downloads 320