Search results for: identify crashes of application under heavy load

Authors: A. M. Ashraful, H .H. Masjuki, M. A. Kalam

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Comparative investigations were performed on the particles matter emitted from a DI diesel engine utilizing palm biodiesel. In this experiment, palm biodiesel PB10 (90% diesel and 10% palm biodiesel), PB20 (80% diesel, 20% palm biodiesel) and diesel fuel samples exhaust were investigated at different working condition (25% and 50% load at 1500 rpm constant speed). Observation of this experiment it clearly seen that at low load condition particle matter concentration of palm biodiesel exhaust were de-creased than that of diesel fuel. At no load and 25% load condition PB10 biodiesel blend exhibited 2.2 times lower PM concentration than that of diesel fuel. On the other hand, elemental carbon (EC) and organic emission for PB10 showed decreases trend as varies 4.2% to 6.6% and 32 to 39% respectively, while elemental carbon percentage increased by 0.85 to 10% respectively. Similarly, metal composition of PB10 biodiesel blend increased by 4.8 to 26.5% respectively. SEM images for B10 and B20 demonstrated granular structure particulates with greater grain sizes compared with diesel fuel. Finally, the experimental outcomes showed that the blend composition and degree of unsaturation of the methyl ester present in biodiesel influence on the particulate matter formation.

Keywords: particulate matter, elemental carbon, organic carbon, biodiesel

Procedia PDF Downloads 391

Authors: Ramdane Gaouir

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Farmers in the two regions of Tizi-Ouzou, DBK and Tadmait, face different crop pests, namely, fungal diseases, insect attack as well as different types of deficiencies. To fight against all these threats, they resort to the use of a wide variety of chemicals. Our survey carried out in these two regions, aims to identify the different types of pesticides used, the method of management of the packaging generated by these phytosanitary products as well as the evaluation of the effect of these products on the farmers' health and the environment. The results obtained highlighted the use of two types of pesticides with a very wide application, namely fungicides and insecticides. The two most widely identified chemical families are neonicotoids and organophosphates, which are among the most toxic and persistent pesticides in the environment. The management method of packaging and the application of products by spraying reflect the lack of training and the unawareness of farmers vis-à-vis the impact of pesticides on their health and on the environment.

Keywords: farmers, crops, pesticides, fungicides, neonicotinoids, organochlorines

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: Saad Odeh

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Thermal performance is considered to be a key measure in building sustainability. One of the technologies used in the current building sustainable design is the rooftop solar PV power generators. The application of this type of technology has expanded vastly during the last five years in many countries. This paper studies the effect of roof shading developed by the solar PV panels on dwellings’ thermal performance. The analysis in this work is performed by using two types of packages: “AccuRate Sustainability” for rating the energy efficiency of residential building design, and “PVSYST” for the solar PV power system design. The former package is used to calculate the annual heating and cooling load, and the later package is used to evaluate the power production from the roof top PV system. The analysis correlates the electrical energy generated from the PV panels to the change in the heating and cooling load due to roof shading. Different roof orientation, roof inclination, roof insulation, as well as PV panel area are considered in this study. The analysis shows that the drop in energy efficiency due to the shaded area of the roof by PV panels is negligible compared to the energy generated by these panels.

Keywords: PV panel, thermal performance, roof shading, energy efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Raja Umer Sajjad, Chang Hee Lee

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Stormwater runoff is the leading contributor to pollution of receiving waters. In response, an efficient stormwater monitoring program is required to quantify and eventually reduce stormwater pollution. The overall goals of stormwater monitoring programs primarily include the identification of high-risk dischargers and the development of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs). The challenge in developing better monitoring program is to reduce the variability in flux estimates due to sampling errors; however, the success of monitoring program mainly depends on the accuracy of the estimates. Apart from sampling errors, manpower and budgetary constraints also influence the quality of the estimates. This study attempted to develop optimum stormwater monitoring design considering both cost and the quality of the estimated pollutants flux. Three years stormwater monitoring data (2012 – 2014) from a mix land use located within Geumhak watershed South Korea was evaluated. The regional climate is humid and precipitation is usually well distributed through the year. The investigation of a large number of water quality parameters is time-consuming and resource intensive. In order to identify a suite of easy-to-measure parameters to act as a surrogate, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied. Means, standard deviations, coefficient of variation (CV) and other simple statistics were performed using multivariate statistical analysis software SPSS 22.0. The implication of sampling time on monitoring results, number of samples required during the storm event and impact of seasonal first flush were also identified. Based on the observations derived from the PCA biplot and the correlation matrix, total suspended solids (TSS) was identified as a potential surrogate for turbidity, total phosphorus and for heavy metals like lead, chromium, and copper whereas, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) was identified as surrogate for organic matter. The CV among different monitored water quality parameters were found higher (ranged from 3.8 to 15.5). It suggests that use of grab sampling design to estimate the mass emission rates in the study area can lead to errors due to large variability. TSS discharge load calculation error was found only 2 % with two different sample size approaches; i.e. 17 samples per storm event and equally distributed 6 samples per storm event. Both seasonal first flush and event first flush phenomena for most water quality parameters were observed in the study area. Samples taken at the initial stage of storm event generally overestimate the mass emissions; however, it was found that collecting a grab sample after initial hour of storm event more closely approximates the mean concentration of the event. It was concluded that site and regional climate specific interventions can be made to optimize the stormwater monitoring program in order to make it more effective and economical.

Keywords: first flush, pollutant load, stormwater monitoring, surrogate parameters

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Authors: Roseline Unoma Chidobi

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The purpose of this study is to identify the extent of Information Communication Technology (ICT) application in record management and some factors militating against the utilization of e-learning in the universities in Enugu state. The study was a survey research the quantitative data were collected through a 30 – item questionnaire title extent of ICT Application in Record management and militating Factors in the utilization of e-learning (EIARMMFUE). This was administered on a population of 603 respondents made up of university academic staff and senior administrative staff. The data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics on a modified 4 point rating scale. Findings of the study revealed among others that ICT are not adequately applied in the management of records in the Universities in Nigeria. Factors like wrong notion or superstitious believe hinder the effective utilization of e – learning approach. The study recommended that the use of ICT in record management should be enhanced in order to achieve effective school management. All the factors militating against the effective utilization of e-learning approach should be addressed for the maximum realization of teaching and learning.

Keywords: e-learning, information communication, teaching, technology, tertiary institution

Procedia PDF Downloads 525

Authors: Tomasz Łęga, Marta Sosnowska, Mirosława Panasiuk, Lilit Hovhannisyan, Beata Gromadzka, Marcin Olszewski, Sabina Zoledowska, Dawid Nidzworski

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Toxic heavy metal ion contamination of industrial wastewater has recently become a significant environmental concern in many regions of the world. Although the majority of heavy metals are naturally occurring elements found on the earth's surface, anthropogenic activities such as mining and smelting, industrial production, and agricultural use of metals and metal-containing compounds are responsible for the majority of environmental contamination and human exposure. The permissible limits (ppm) for heavy metals in food, water and soil are frequently exceeded and considered hazardous to humans, other organisms, and the environment as a whole. Human exposure to highly nickel-polluted environments causes a variety of pathologic effects. In 2008, nickel received the shameful name of “Allergen of the Year” (GILLETTE 2008). According to the dermatologist, the frequency of nickel allergy is still growing, and it can’t be explained only by fashionable piercing and nickel devices used in medicine (like coronary stents and endoprostheses). Effective remediation methods for removing heavy metal ions from soil and water are becoming increasingly important. Among others, methods such as chemical precipitation, micro- and nanofiltration, membrane separation, conventional coagulation, electrodialysis, ion exchange, reverse and forward osmosis, photocatalysis and polymer or carbon nanocomposite absorbents have all been investigated so far. The importance of environmentally sustainable industrial production processes and the conservation of dwindling natural resources has highlighted the need for affordable, innovative biosorptive materials capable of recovering specific chemical elements from dilute aqueous solutions. The use of combinatorial phage display techniques for selecting and recognizing material-binding peptides with a selective affinity for any target, particularly inorganic materials, has gained considerable interest in the development of advanced bio- or nano-materials. However, due to the limitations of phage display libraries and the biopanning process, the accuracy of molecular recognition for inorganic materials remains a challenge. This study presents the isolation, identification and characterisation of metal binding phage clones that preferentially recover nickel.

Keywords: Heavy metal recovery, cleaning water, phage display, nickel

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Hueiwang Anna Jeng, Norou Diawara, Nancy Welch, Cynthia Jackson, Rekha Singh, Kyle Curtis, Raul Gonzalez, David Jurgens, Sasanka Adikari

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Modeling effort is needed to predict the COVID-19 trends for developing management strategies and adaptation measures. The objective of this study was to assess whether SARS-CoV-2 viral load in wastewater could serve as a predictor for forecasting COVID-19 cases, hospitalization cases, and death cases using copula-based time series modeling. SARS-CoV-2 RNA load in raw wastewater in Chesapeake VA was measured using the RT-qPCR method. Gaussian copula time series marginal regression model, incorporating an autoregressive moving average model and the copula function, served as a forecasting model. COVID-19 cases were correlated with wastewater viral load, hospitalization cases, and death cases. The forecasted trend of COVID-19 cases closely paralleled one of the reported cases, with over 90% of the forecasted COVID-19 cases falling within the 99% confidence interval of the reported cases. Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 viral load could serve as a predictor for COVID-19 cases and hospitalization cases.

Keywords: COVID-19, modeling, time series, copula function

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Authors: Ami Nomura, Ken Imanishi, Etsuko Ueda, Tadahiro Wada, Shinichi Enoki

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Recently, there have been a lot of earthquakes in Japan. It is necessary to promote seismic isolation devices for buildings. The devices have been hardly diffused in attached houses, because the devices are very expensive. We should develop a low-cost seismic isolation device for detached houses. We suggested a new seismic isolation device which uses a two-layer circular tube as a unit. If hysteresis is produced in the two-layer circular tube under lateral compression load, we think that the two-layer circular tube can have energy absorbing capacity. It is necessary to contact the outer layer and the inner layer to produce hysteresis. We have previously reported how the inner layer comes in contact with the outer layer from a perspective of analysis used mechanics of materials. We have clarified that the inner layer comes in contact with the outer layer under a lateral compression load. In this paper, we explored contact area between the outer layer and the inner layer under a lateral compression load by using FEA. We think that changing the inner layer’s thickness is effective in increase the contact area. In order to change the inner layer’s thickness, we changed the shape of the inner layer. As a result, the contact area changes depending on the inner layer’s thickness. Additionally, we experimented to check whether hysteresis occurs in fact. As a consequence, we can reveal hysteresis in the two-layer circular tube under the condition.

Keywords: contact area, energy absorbing capacity, hysteresis, seismic isolation device

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Authors: Yu Li, Jingwu He, Yuexi Xiong

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The spar layout will affect the wing’s stiffness characteristics, and irrational spar arrangement will reduce the overall bending and twisting resistance capacity of the wing. In this paper, the active structural stiffness design theory is used to match the stiffness-center axis position and load-cases under the corresponding multiple flight conditions, in order to achieve better stiffness properties of the wing. The combination of active stiffness method and principle of stiffness distribution is proved to be reasonable supplying an initial reference for wing designing. The optimized layout of spars is eventually obtained, and the high-aspect-ratio wing will have better stiffness characteristics.

Keywords: active structural stiffness design theory, high-aspect-ratio wing, flight load cases, layout of spars

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Authors: Muhammad Suhaib

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Requirements Analysis are the most important part of software Engineering for both system application development, and project requirements. Conflicts often arise during the requirements gathering and analysis phase. This research aims to identify conflicts during the requirements gathering phase in software development life cycle, Research, Development, and Technology converted the world into a global village. During requirements elicitation/gathering phase it’s very difficult to understand the main objective of stakeholders, after completion of requirements elicitation task final results are used for Software Requirements Specification (SRS), SRS is the highly important outcome of the requirements analysis phase. this is the foundation between the developers and stakeholders or customers, proposed methodology will be helpful to identify those conflicts in a very easy manner during the initial phase of the project.

Keywords: goal oriented requirements analysis, conflicts identification model, requirements analysis, requirements engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Akbar Cahyadhi Pratama Putra, Tantri Utami Widhaningtyas, M. Randy Aswin

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Indonesia as an archipelagic nation have very long coastline which have large potential marine resources, one of that is the mangrove ecosystems. Lapindo mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java requires mudflow flowed into the sea through the river Brantas and Porong. Mud material that transported by river flow is feared dangerous because they contain harmful substances such as heavy metals. This study aims to map the mangrove ecosystem seen from its density and knowing how big the impact of a disaster on the Lapindo mud to mangrove ecosystem and accompanied by efforts to address the mangrove ecosystem that maintained continuity. Mapping coastal mangrove conditions of Sidoarjo was done using remote sensing products that Landsat 7 ETM + images with dry months of recording time in 2002, 2006, 2009, and 2014. The density of mangrove detected using NDVI that uses the band 3 that is the red channel and band 4 that is near IR channel. Image processing was used to produce NDVI using ENVI 5.1 software. NDVI results were used for the detection of mangrove density is 0-1. The development of mangrove ecosystems of both area and density from year to year experienced has a significant increase. Mangrove ecosystems growths are affected by material deposition area of Lapindo mud on Porong and Brantas river estuary, where the silt is growing medium suitable mangrove ecosystem and increasingly growing. Increasing the density caused support by public awareness to prevent heavy metals in the material so that the Lapindo mud mangrove breeding done around the farm.

Keywords: archipelagic nation, mangrove, Lapindo mudflow disaster, NDVI

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Authors: Dawei Cai, Yuya Tokuda

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The market of localization based service (LBS) is expanding. The acquisition of physical location is the fundamental basis for LBS. GPS, the de facto standard for outdoor localization, does not work well in indoor environment due to the blocking of signals by walls and ceiling. To acquire high accurate localization in an indoor environment, many techniques have been developed. Triangulation approach is often used for identifying the location, but a heavy and complex computation is necessary to calculate the location of the distances between the object and several source points. This computation is also time and power consumption, and not favorable to a mobile device that needs a long action life with battery. To provide a low power consumption approach for a mobile device, this paper presents a fast calculation approach to identify the location of the object without online solving solutions to simultaneous quadratic equations. In our approach, we divide the location identification into two parts, one is offline, and other is online. In offline mode, we make a mapping process that maps the location area to distance space and find a simple formula that can be used to identify the location of the object online with very light computation. The characteristic of the approach is a good tradeoff between the accuracy and computational amount. Therefore, this approach can be used in smartphone and other mobile devices that need a long work time. To show the performance, some simulation experimental results are provided also in the paper.

Keywords: indoor localization, location based service, triangulation, fast calculation, mobile device

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Authors: Abdul Hakim Chikho

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Calculating the ultimate load of a column in a sway framed structure involves, in the currently used design method, the calculation of the column effective length and utilizing the interaction formulas or tables. Therefore, no allowance is usually made for the effects of the presence of semi rigid connections or the presence of infill panels. In this paper, a new and simple design procedure is recommend to calculate the ultimate load of a framed Column allowing for the presence of rotational end restraints, semi rigid connections, the column end moments resulted from the applied vertical and horizontal loading and infill panels in real steel structure. In order to verify the accuracy of the recommended method to predict good and safe estimations of framed column ultimate loads, several examples have been solved utilizing the recommended procedure, and the results were compared to those obtained using a second order computer program, and good correlation had been obtained. Therefore, the accuracy of the proposed method to predict the Behaviour of practical steel columns in framed structures has been verified.

Keywords: column ultimate load, semi rigid connections, steel column, infill panel, steel structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Gagandeep Kaur

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Cloud computing uses various computing resources such as CPU, memory, processor etc. which is used to deliver service over the network and is one of the emerging fields for large scale distributed computing. In cloud computing, execution of large number of tasks with available resources to achieve high performance, minimal total time for completion, minimum response time, effective utilization of resources etc. are the major research areas. In the proposed research, an algorithm has been proposed to achieve high performance in load balancing and resource utilization. The proposed algorithm is used to reduce the makespan, increase the resource utilization and performance cost for independent tasks. Further scheduling metrics based on algorithm in cloud computing has been proposed.

Keywords: resource utilization, response time, load balancing, performance cost

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Yadgar Tayfur, Antony Darby, Tim Ibell, Mark Evernden, John Orr

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Fabric form-work is a technique to cast concrete structures with a great advantage of saving concrete material of up to 40%. This technique is particularly associated with the optimized concrete structures that usually have smaller cross-section dimensions than equivalent prismatic members. However, this can make the structural system produced from these members prone to smaller serviceability safety margins. Therefore, it is very important to understand the serviceability issue of non-prismatic concrete structures. In this paper, an analytical computer-based model to optimize concrete beams and to predict load-deflection behaviour of both prismatic and non-prismatic concrete beams is presented. The model was developed based on the method of sectional analysis and integration of curvatures. Results from the analytical model were compared to load-deflection behaviour of a number of beams with different geometric and material properties from other researchers. The results of the comparison show that the analytical program can accurately predict the load-deflection response of concrete beams with medium reinforcement ratios. However, it over-estimates deflection values for lightly reinforced specimens. Finally, the analytical program acceptably predicted load-deflection behaviour of on-prismatic concrete beams.

Keywords: fabric-formed concrete, continuous beams, optimisation, serviceability

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Authors: Qian Pei, Hengjian Tong, Weitao Chen, Hai Wang, Yanrong Feng

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Horizontal parallax is the foundation of stereoscopic viewing. However, the human eye will feel uncomfortable and it will occur diplopia if horizontal parallax is larger than eye separation. Therefore, we need to do parallax refining before conducting stereoscopic observation. Although some scholars have been devoted to online remote sensing refining, the main work of image refining is completed on the server side. There will be a significant delay when multiple users access the server at the same time. The emergence of HTML5 technology in recent years makes it possible to develop rich browser web application. Authors complete the image parallax refining on the browser side based on HTML5, while server side only need to transfer image data and parallax file to browser side according to the browser’s request. In this way, we can greatly reduce the server CPU load and allow a large number of users to access server in parallel and respond the user’s request quickly.

Keywords: 3D remote sensing images, parallax, online refining, rich browser web application, HTML5

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Authors: Seyed Amin Vakili, Sahar Sadat Vakili, Seyed Ehsan Vakili, Nader Abdoli Yazdi

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The main purpose of this paper is to present the Modified Newmark Method as a method of non-linear frame analysis by considering the effect of the axial load (second order analysis). The discussion will be restricted to plane frameworks containing a constant cross-section for each element. In addition, it is assumed that the frames are prevented from out-of-plane deflection. This part of the investigation is performed to generalize the established method for the assemblage structures such as frameworks. As explained, the governing differential equations are non-linear and cannot be formulated easily due to unknown axial load of the struts in the frame. By the assumption of constant axial load, the governing equations are changed to linear ones in most methods. Since the modeling and the solutions of the non-linear form of the governing equations are cumbersome, the linear form of the equations would be used in the established method. However, according to the ability of the method to reconsider the minor omitted parameters in modeling during the solution procedure, the axial load in the elements at each stage of the iteration can be computed and applied in the next stage. Therefore, the ability of the method to present an accurate approach to the solutions of non-linear equations will be demonstrated again in this paper.

Keywords: nonlinear, stability, buckling, modified newmark method

Procedia PDF Downloads 426

Authors: Yavuz Demir, Mucip Genisel, Hulya Turk, Turgay Sisman, Serkan Erdal

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In this study, the changes in contents of inorganic elements in the aquatic plant (Potamogeton natans) as a reflection of the impact of chemical nature pollution in a cement factory region (CFR) was evaluated. For this purpose, P, S, K, Ca, Fe, Cl, Mn, Cu, Zn, Mo, Ni, Si, Al, and Cd concentrations were measured in the aquatic plant (Potamogeton natans) taken from a CFR. As a control, aquatic plant was collected at a distance of 2000 m from the outer zone of the cement factory. Inorganic element compositions were measured by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF). Three aquatic plant exhibited similar changes in contents of microelements and macroelements in their leaves. P, S, K, Cl, Ca, and Mo contents in plant grown in the CFR were reduced significantly compared to control plant, whereas their contents of Al, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd were very high. According to these findings, it is possible that aquatic plant (Potamogeton natans) inhabiting in the vicinity of cement factory sustains the deficiency of important essential elements like P, S, K, Ca, and Mo and greatly accumulate heavy metals like Al, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd. In addition, results of water analysis showed that heavy metal content such as Cu, Pb, Zn, Co, and Al of water taken from CFR was remarkably high than that of outer zone of CFR. These findings with relation to changes in inorganic composition can contribute to be elucidated of effect mechanism on growth and development of aquatic plant (Potamogeton natans) of pollution resulted from cement factories.

Keywords: aquatic plant, cement factory, heavy metal pollution, inorganic element, Potamogeton natans

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Authors: Seema Kaushik

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Skinfold measurements provide considerably meaningful and consistent information about subcutaneous fat and its distribution. Physical activities in the form of conditioning and/or training leads to various structural, functional and mechanical changes and numerous training programmes exist for the improvement of physical fitness, however, most of the studies are conducted on foreign soil with foreign population as sample, which may/may not be applicable to the Indian conditions. Moreover, there is not even a single training/ conditioning programme that caters to the need of male students of University of Delhi with regard to various skinfold thickness measurements. Hence, the present study aimed at studying the effect of progressive and constant load training on selected skinfold measurements of male students of University of Delhi in form of percentage change. The sample size for the study was 90 having three groups of male; 30 samples in each group (mean age = 20.04±0.49 years). The variables included triceps, sub-scapular, supra-iliac and calf skinfolds. The experimental design adopted for the study was multi-group repeated measure design. Three different groups were measured four times repeatedly at an interval of 6 weeks, on completion of each of the three meso-cycles. Standard landmarks and protocols were followed to measure the selected variables. Mean, standard deviation and percentage were computed to analyze the data statistically. The study concluded that both the progressive and constant load of physical training bring changes in the skinfold thickness measurements of male students of University of Delhi.

Keywords: constant load, progressive load, physical training, skinfold measurements

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Authors: Esma Birisci, Ronald McGarvey

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One of the common problems in food service industry is demand uncertainty. This research presents a multi-criteria optimization approach to identify the efficient frontier of points lying between the minimum-waste and minimum-shortfall solutions within uncertain demand environment. It also addresses correlation across demands for items (e.g., hamburgers are often demanded with french fries). Reducing overproduction food waste (and its corresponding environmental impacts) and an aversion to shortfalls (leave some customer hungry) need to consider as two contradictory objectives in an all-you-care-to-eat environment food service operation. We identify optimal production adjustments relative to demand forecasts, demand thresholds for utilization of leftovers, and percentages of demand to be satisfied by leftovers, considering two alternative metrics for overproduction waste: mass; and greenhouse gas emissions. Demand uncertainty and demand correlations are addressed using a kernel density estimation approach. A statistical analysis of the changes in decision variable values across each of the efficient frontiers can then be performed to identify the key variables that could be modified to reduce the amount of wasted food at minimal increase in shortfalls. We illustrate our approach with an application to empirical data from Campus Dining Services operations at the University of Missouri.

Keywords: environmental studies, food waste, production planning, uncertain and correlated demand

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Authors: Akanimo Emene, Robert Edyvean

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In developing countries, a low cost method of wastewater treatment is highly recommended. Adsorption is an efficient and economically viable treatment process for wastewater. The utilisation of this process is based on the understanding of the relationship between the growth environment and the metal capacity of the biomaterial. Luffa cylindrica (LC), a plant material, was used as an adsorbent in adsorption design system of heavy metals. The chemically modified LC was used to adsorb heavy metals ions, lead and cadmium, from aqueous environmental solution at varying experimental conditions. Experimental factors, adsorption time, initial metal ion concentration, ionic strength and pH of solution were studied. The chemical nature and surface area of the tissues adsorbing heavy metals in LC biosorption systems were characterised by using electron microscopy and infra-red spectroscopy. It showed an increase in the surface area and improved adhesion capacity after chemical treatment. Metal speciation of the metal ions showed the binary interaction between the ions and the LC surface as the pH increases. Maximum adsorption was shown between pH 5 and pH 6. The ionic strength of the metal ion solution has an effect on the adsorption capacity based on the surface charge and the availability of the adsorption sites on the LC. The nature of the metal-surface complexes formed as a result of the experimental data were analysed with kinetic and isotherm models. The pseudo second order kinetic model and the two-site Langmuir isotherm model showed the best fit. Through the understanding of this process, there will be an opportunity to provide an alternative method for water purification. This will be provide an option, for when expensive water treatment technologies are not viable in developing countries.

Keywords: adsorption, luffa cylindrica, metal-surface complexes, pH

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Authors: Han Bai, Lemei Yu, Tong Zhang, Doudou Xie, Liang Zhao

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The brightness changes at highway tunnel entrance and exit have an effect on the physical and psychological conditions of drivers. It is more conducive for examining driving safety with quantitative analysis of the physical and psychological characteristics of drivers to determine the speed limit sign locations at the tunnel entrance and exit sections. In this study, the physical and psychological effects of tunnels on traffic sign recognition of drivers are analyzed; subsequently, experiments with the assistant of Eyelink-II Type eye movement monitoring system are conducted in the typical tunnels in Ji-Qing freeway and Xi-Zha freeway, to collect the data of eye movement indexes “Fixation Duration” and “Eyeball Rotating Speed”, which typically represent drivers' mental load and visual characteristics. On this basis, the paper establishes a visual recognition model for the speed limit signs at the highway tunnel entrances and exits. In combination with related standards and regulations, it further presents the recommended values for locating speed limit signs under different tunnel conditions. A case application on Panlong tunnel in Ji-Qing freeway is given to generate the helpful improvement suggestions.

Keywords: driver psychological load, eye movement index, speed limit sign location, tunnel entrance and exit

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Authors: Shuen-Tai Wang, Yu-Ching Lin, Hsi-Ya Chang

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With the development of virtualization technologies, a new type of service named cloud computing service is produced. Cloud users usually encounter the problem of how to use the virtualized platform easily over the web without requiring the plug-in or installation of special software. The object of this paper is to develop a system and a method enabling process interfacing within an automation scenario for accessing remote application by using the web browser. To meet this challenge, we have devised a web-based interface that system has allowed to shift the GUI application from the traditional local environment to the cloud platform, which is stored on the remote virtual machine. We designed the sketch of web interface following the cloud virtualization concept that sought to enable communication and collaboration among users. We describe the design requirements of remote application technology and present implementation details of the web application and its associated components. We conclude that this effort has the potential to provide an elastic and resilience environment for several application services. Users no longer have to burden the system maintenances and reduce the overall cost of software licenses and hardware. Moreover, this remote application service represents the next step to the mobile workplace, and it lets user to use the remote application virtually from anywhere.

Keywords: virtualization technology, virtualized platform, web interface, remote application

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Authors: Eun Young Park, Jongwon Park

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A physical touch of a product can provide ample diagnostic information about the product attributes and quality. However, consumers’ product judgments and purchases can be erroneously influenced by non-diagnostic haptic information. For example, consumers’ evaluations of the coffee they drink could be affected by the heaviness of a cup that is used for just serving the coffee. This important issue has received little attention in prior research. The present research contributes to the literature by identifying when and how non-diagnostic haptic information can have an influence and why such influence occurs. Specifically, five studies experimentally varied the content of non-diagnostic haptic information, such as the weight of a cup (heavy vs. light) and the texture of a cup holder (smooth vs. rough), and then assessed the impact of the manipulation on product judgments and decisions. Results show that non-diagnostic haptic information has a biasing impact on consumer judgments. For example, the heavy (vs. light) cup increases consumers’ perception of the richness of coffee in it, and the rough (vs. smooth) texture of a cup holder increases the perception of the healthfulness of fruit juice in it, which in turn increases consumers’ purchase intentions of the product. When consumers are cognitively distracted during the touch experience, the impact of the content of haptic information is no longer evident, but the valence (positive vs. negative) of the haptic experience influences product judgments. However, consumers are able to avoid the impact of non-diagnostic haptic information, if and only if they are both knowledgeable about the product category and undistracted from processing the touch experience. In sum, the nature of the influence by non-diagnostic haptic information (i.e., assimilation effect vs. contrast effect vs. null effect) is determined by the content and valence of haptic information, the relative impact of which depends on whether consumers can identify the content and source of the haptic information. Theoretically, to our best knowledge, this research is the first to document the empirical evidence of the interplay between cognitive and affective processes that determines the impact of non-diagnostic haptic information. Managerial implications are discussed.

Keywords: consumer behavior, haptic information, product judgments, touch effect

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Authors: T. Varazi, M. Pruidze, M. Kurashvili, N. Gagelidze, M. Sutton

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The complex phytoremediation approach given in the presented work implies joint application of natural sorbents, microorganisms, natural biosurfactants and plants. The approach is based on using the natural mineral composites, microorganism strains with high detoxification abilities, plants-phytoremediators and natural biosurfactants for enhancing the uptake of intermediates of pollutants by plant roots. In this complex strategy of phytoremediation technology, the sorbent serves to uptake and trap the pollutants and thus restrain their emission in the environment. The role of microorganisms is to accomplish the first stage biodegradation of organic contaminants. This is followed by application of a phytoremediation technology through purposeful planting of selected plants. Thus, using of different tools will provide restoration of polluted environment and prevention of toxic compounds’ dissemination from hotbeds of pollution for a considerable length of time. The main idea and novelty of the carried out work is the development of a new approach for the ecological safety. The wide spectrum of contaminants: Organochlorine pesticide – DDT, heavy metal –Cu, oil hydrocarbon (hexadecane) and wax have been used in this work. The presented complex biotechnology is important from the viewpoint of prevention, providing total rehabilitation of soil. It is unique to chemical pollutants, ecologically friendly and provides the control of erosion of soils.

Keywords: bioremediation, phytoremediation, pollutants, soil contamination

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Authors: Memoona Ramzan, Bushra Tabassum, Anwar Khan, Muhammad Tariq, Mudassar Fareed Awan, Idrees Ahmad Nasir, Zahida Qamar, Naila Shahid, Tayyab Husnain

Abstract:

Biological control is a novel approach being used in crop protection nowadays. Bacteria like Bacillus and Pseudomonas are reported for this purpose and few of their products are commercially available too. Rhizosphere and phyllosphere of healthy cotton plants were used as a source to isolate bacteria capable of exhibiting properties worthy for selection as biocontrol agent. For this purpose all isolated strains were screened for the activities like phosphate solubilization, Indole acetic acid (IAA) production and biocontrol against fungi. Two strains S1HL3 and S1HL4 showed phosphate solubilization and IAA production simultaneously while two other JS2HR4 and JS3HR2 were good inhibitors of fungal pathogens. Through biochemical and molecular characterization these bacteria were identified as P. aeruginosa, Burkholderia and Bacillus respectively. In green house trials of these isolates against Cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV), seven treatments including individual bacterial isolate and consortia were included. Treated plants were healthy as compared to control plants in which upto 74% CLCuV symptomatic plants exist. Maximum inhibition of CLCuV was observed in T7 treated plants where viral load was only 0.4% as compared to control where viral load was upto 74%. This treatment consortium included Bacillus and Pseudomonas isolates; S1HL3, S1HL4, JS2HR4 and JS3HR2. Principal Component Biplot depicted highly significant correlation between percentage viral load and the disease incidence.

Keywords: cotton leaf curl virus, biological control, bacillus, pseudomonas

Procedia PDF Downloads 383

Authors: Miroslaw Wendeker, Piotr Kacejko, Marcin Szlachetka, Mariusz Duk

Abstract:

This paper discusses a model of fuel economy in a city bus driving in a dynamic urban environment. Rapid changes in speed result in a constantly changing kinetic energy accumulated in a bus mass and an increased fuel consumption due to hardly recuperated kinetic energy. The model is based on the bench test results achieved from chassis dynamometer, airport and city street researches. The verified model was applied to simulate the behavior of a bus during the Japanese JE05 Emission Test Cycle. The fuel consumption was calculated for three separate research stages, i.e. urban, downtown and motorway. The simulations were performed for several values of vehicle mass and electrical load applied to on-board devices. The research results show fuel consumption is impacted by driving dynamics.

Keywords: city bus, heavy duty vehicle, Japanese JE05 test cycle, kinetic energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: Ami Nomura, Ken Imanishi, Yukinori Taniguchi, Etsuko Ueda, Tadahiro Wada, Shinichi Enoki

Abstract:

Recently, there have been a lot of earthquakes in Japan. It is necessary to promote seismic isolation devices for buildings. The devices have been hardly diffused in attached houses, because the devices are very expensive. We should develop a low-cost seismic isolation device for detached houses. We suggested a new seismic isolation device which uses a two-layer circular tube as a unit. If hysteresis is produced in the two-layer circular tube under lateral compression load, we think that the two-layer circular tube can have energy absorbing capacity. It is necessary to contact the outer layer and the inner layer to produce hysteresis. We have previously reported how the inner layer comes in contact with the outer layer from a perspective of analysis used mechanics of materials. We have clarified that the inner layer comes in contact with the outer layer under a lateral compression load. In this paper, we explored contact area between the outer layer and the inner layer under a lateral compression load by using FEA. We think that changing the inner layer’s thickness is effective in increase the contact area. In order to change the inner layer’s thickness, we changed the shape of the inner layer. As a result, the contact area changes depending on the inner layer’s thickness. Additionally, we experimented to check whether hysteresis occurs in fact. As a consequence, we can reveal hysteresis in the two-layer circular tube under the condition.

Keywords: contact area, energy absorbing capacity, hysteresis, seismic isolation device

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Vesna Karapetkovska Hristova, M. Ayaz Ahmad, Julijana Tomovska, Biljana Bogdanova Popov, Blagojce Najdovski

Abstract:

The average total concentrations of heavy metals; (cadmium [Cd], copper [Cu], nickel [Ni], lead [Pb], and zinc [Zn]) were analyzed in soil and vegetables samples collected from the different region of Macedonia during the years 2010-2012. Basic soil properties such as pH, organic matter and clay content were also included in the study. The average concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn in the A horizon (0-30 cm) of agricultural soils were as follows, respectively: 0.25, 5.3, 6.9, 15.2, 26.3 mg kg-1 of soil. We have found that neural networking model can be considered as a tool for prediction and spatial analysis of the processes controlling the metal transfer within the soil-and vegetables. The predictive ability of such models is well over 80% as compared to 20% for typical regression models. A radial basic function network reflects good predicting accuracy and correlation coefficients between soil properties and metal content in vegetables much better than the back-propagation method. Neural Networking / soft computing can support the decision-making processes at different levels, including agro ecology, to improve crop management based on monitoring data and risk assessment of metal transfer from soils to vegetables.

Keywords: soft computing approach, total concentrations, heavy metals, agricultural soils

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Authors: Davide Fuscà, Kanan Rahimli, Roberto Leuzzi

Abstract:

Preventing abuse and illegal activities in a given area of the sea is a very difficult and expensive task. Artificial intelligence offers the possibility to implement new methods to identify the vessel class type from the kinematic features of the vessel itself. The task strictly depends on the quality of the data. This paper explores the application of a deep, long short-term memory model by using AIS flow only with a relatively low quality. The proposed model reaches high accuracy on detecting nine vessel classes representing the most common vessel types in the Ionian-Adriatic Sea. The model has been applied during the Adriatic-Ionian trial period of the international EU ANDROMEDA H2020 project to identify vessels performing behaviors far from the expected one depending on the declared type.

Keywords: maritime surveillance, artificial intelligence, behavior analysis, LSTM

Procedia PDF Downloads 231