Search results for: Islamic sources

Authors: Sajeesh Sulaiman, Gomathisankar A., Aravind Devaraj, Aswin R., Vijay Kumar G., Rachana Raj

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Wind turbines are the next big answer to the emerging and ever-growing demand for electricity, and this need is increasing day by day. These high mast structures, whether on land or on the sea, has also become one of the big sources of electromagnetic interferences (EMI) in the not so distant past. With the emergence of the AC-AC converter and drawing of large power cables through the wind turbine towers has made this clean and efficient source of renewable energy to become one of the culprits in creating electromagnetic interference. This paper will present the sources of such EMIs, a comparison of radiated emissions (both electric and magnetic field) patterns in wind turbine towers for both onshore and offshore wind turbines and close look into the IEC 61400-40 (new standard for EMC design on wind turbine). At present, offshore wind turbines are tested in onshore facilities. This paper will present the anomaly in results for offshore wind turbines when tested in onshore, which the existing standards and the upcoming standards have failed to address.

Keywords: emissions, electric field, magnetic field, wind turbine, tower, standards and regulations

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Mochamad Beta Auditama, Yusuf Kurniawan

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A smartphone or tablet require a strong randomness to establish secure encrypted communication, encrypt files, etc. Therefore, random number generation is one of the main keys to provide secrecy. Android devices are equipped with hardware-based sensors, such as accelerometer, gyroscope, etc. Each of these sensors provides a stochastic process which has a potential to be used as an extra randomness source, in addition to /dev/random and /dev/urandom pseudorandom number generators. Android sensors can provide randomness automatically. To obtain randomness from Android sensors, each one of Android sensors shall be used to construct an entropy source. After all entropy sources are constructed, output from these entropy sources are combined to provide more entropy. Then, a deterministic process is used to produces a sequence of random bits from the combined output. All of these processes are done in accordance with NIST SP 800-22 and the series of NIST SP 800-90. The operation conditions are done 1) on Android user-space, and 2) the Android device is placed motionless on a desk.

Keywords: Android hardware-based sensor, deterministic process, entropy source, random number generation/generators

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Authors: Kali Prasad Sarma, Nibedita Baul, Jinu Deka

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In the present study, pollution level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) in surface soil of historic Tezpur town located in the north bank of the River Brahmaputra were evaluated. In order to determine the seasonal distribution and concentration level of 16 USEPA priority PAHs surface soil samples were collected from 12 different sampling sites with various land use type. The total concentrations of 16 PAHs (∑16 PAHs) varied from 242.68µgkg-1to 7901.89µgkg-1. Concentration of total probable carcinogenic PAH ranged between 7.285µgkg-1 and 479.184 µgkg-1 in different seasons. However, the concentration of BaP, the most carcinogenic PAH, was found in the range of BDL to 50.01 µgkg-1. The composition profiles of PAHs in 3 different seasons were characterized by following two different types of ring: (1) 4-ring PAHs, contributed to highest percentage of total PAHs (43.75%) (2) while in pre- and post- monsoon season 3- ring compounds dominated the PAH profile, contributing 65.58% and 74.41% respectively. A high PAHs concentration with significant seasonality and high abundance of LMWPAHs was observed in Tezpur town. Soil PAHs toxicity was evaluated taking toxic equivalency factors (TEFs), which quantify the carcinogenic potential of other PAHs relative to BaP and estimate benzo[a]pyrene-equivalent concentration (BaPeq). The calculated BaPeq value signifies considerable risk to contact with soil PAHs. We applied cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) with multivariate linear regression (MLR) to apportion sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface soil of Tezpur town, based on the measured PAH concentrations. The results indicate that petrogenic and pyrogenic sources are the important sources of PAHs. A combination of chemometric and molecular indices were used to identify the sources of PAHs, which could be attributed to vehicle emissions, a mixed source input, natural gas combustion, wood or biomass burning and coal combustion. Source apportionment using absolute principle component scores–multiple linear regression showed that the main sources of PAHs are 22.3% mix sources comprising of diesel and biomass combustion and petroleum spill,13.55% from vehicle emission, 9.15% from diesel and natural gas burning, 38.05% from wood and biomass burning and 16.95% contribute coal combustion. Pyrogenic input was found to dominate source of PAHs origin with more contribution from vehicular exhaust. PAHs have often been found to co-emit with other environmental pollutants like heavy metals due to similar source of origin. A positive correlation was observed between PAH with Cr and Pb (r2 = 0.54 and 0.55 respectively) in monsoon season and PAH with Cd and Pb (r2 = 0.54 and 0.61 respectively) indicating their common source. Strong correlation was observed between PAH and OC during pre- and post- monsoon (r2=0.46 and r2=0.65 respectively) whereas during monsoon season no significant correlation was observed (r2=0.24).

Keywords: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, Tezpur town, chemometric analysis, ecological risk assessment, pollution

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Authors: DucTho Le, Duy Kien Dao, Quoc Tinh Bui, Haidang Phan

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The article is concerned with the motion of ultrasonic guided waves in a unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite plate under acoustic sources. Such unidirectional composite material has orthotropic elastic properties as it is very stiff along the fibers and rather compliant across the fibers. The dispersion equations of free Lamb waves propagating in an orthotropic layer are derived that results in the dispersion curves. The connection of these equations to the Rayleigh-Lamb frequency relations of isotropic plates is discussed. By the use of reciprocity in elastodynamics, closed-form solutions of elastic wave motions subjected to time-harmonic loads in the layer are computed in a simple manner. We also consider the problem of Lamb waves generated by a set of time-harmonic sources. The obtained computations can be very useful for developing ultrasound-based methods for nondestructive evaluation of composite structures.

Keywords: lamb waves, fiber-reinforced composite plates, dispersion equations, nondestructive evaluation, reciprocity theorems

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Authors: Lailial Muhtifah, Sirtul Marhamah

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This article forwards the conceptual framework of continuous academic lecturer model in Islamic higher education (IHE). It is intended to make a contribution to the broader issue of how the concept of excellence can promote adherence to standards in higher education and drive quality enhancement. This model reveals a process and steps to increase performance and achievement of excellence regular lecturer gradually. Studies in this model are very significant to realize excellence academic culture in IHE. Several steps were identified from previous studies through literature study and empirical findings. A qualitative study was conducted at institute. Administrators and lecturers were interviewed, and lecturers learning communities observed to explore institute culture policies, and procedures. The original in this study presents and called Continuous Academic Lecturer Model (CALM) with its components, namely Standard, Quality, and Excellent as the basis for this framework (SQE). Innovation Excellence Framework requires Leaders to Support (LS) lecturers to achieve a excellence culture. So, the model named CALM-SQE+LS. Several components of performance and achievement of CALM-SQE+LS Model should be disseminated and cultivated to all lecturers in university excellence in terms of innovation. The purpose of this article is to define the concept of “CALM-SQE+LS”. Originally, there were three components in the Continuous Academic Lecturer Model i.e. standard, quality, and excellence plus leader support. This study is important to the community as specific cases that may inform educational leaders on mechanisms that may be leveraged to ensure successful implementation of policies and procedures outline of CALM with its components (SQE+LS) in institutional culture and professional leader literature. The findings of this study learn how continuous academic lecturer is part of a group's culture, how it benefits in university. This article blends the available criteria into several sub-component to give new insights towards empowering lecturer the innovation excellence at the IHE. The proposed conceptual framework is also presented.

Keywords: continuous academic lecturer model, excellence, quality, standard

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Authors: Debajyoti Bose

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Chitosan has received much attention as a functional biopolymer for diverse applications, especially in pharmaceutics and medicine. Chitosan is a positively charged natural biodegradable and biocompatible polymer. It is a linear polysaccharide consisting of β-1,4 linked monomers of glucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine. Chitosan can be mainly obtained from fungal sources during large fermentation process. In this study,three different fungal strains Aspergillus niger NCIM 1045, Aspergillus oryzae NCIM 645 and Mucor indicus MTCC 3318 were used for the production of chitosan. The growth mediums were optimized for maximum fungal production. The produced chitosan was characterized by determining degree of deacetylation. Chitosan possesses one reactive amino at the C-2 position of the glucosamine residue, and these amines confer important functional properties to chitosan which can be exploited for biofabrication to generate various chemically modified derivatives and explore their potential for pharmaceutical field. Chitosan nanoparticles were prepared by ionic cross-linking with tripolyphosphate (TPP). The major effect on encapsulation and release of protein (e.g. enzyme diastase) in chitosan-TPP nanoparticles was investigated in order to control the loading and release efficiency. It was noted that the chitosan loading and releasing efficiency as a nanocapsule, obtained from different fungal sources was almost near to initial enzyme activity(12026 U/ml) with a negligible loss. This signify, chitosan can be used as a polymeric drug as well as active component or protein carrier material in dosage by design due to its appealing properties such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity and relatively low production cost from abundant natural sources. Based upon these initial experiments, studies were also carried out on modification of chitosan based nanocapsules incorporated with physiologically important enzymes and nutraceuticals for target delivery.

Keywords: fungi, chitosan, enzyme, nanocapsule

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Authors: Sevcan Ozturk

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The overall aim of this paper is to present a Kierkegaardian approach to Iqbal’s use of literature as a form of communication. Despite belonging to different historical, cultural, and religious backgrounds, the philosophical approaches of Soren Kierkegaard, ‘the father of existentialism,' and Muhammad Iqbal ‘the spiritual father of Pakistan’ present certain parallels. Both Kierkegaard and Iqbal take human existence as the starting point for their reflections, emphasise the subject of becoming genuine religious personalities, and develop a notion of the self. While doing these they both adopt parallel methods, employ literary techniques and poetical forms, and use their literary works as a form of communication. The problem is that Iqbal does not provide a clear account of his method as Kierkegaard does in his works. As a result, Iqbal’s literary approach appears to be a collection of contradictions. This is mainly because despite he writes most of his works in the poetical form, he condemns all kinds of art including poetry. Moreover, while attacking on Islamic mysticism, he, at the same time, uses classical literary forms, and a number of traditional mystical, poetic symbols. This paper will argue that the contradictions found in Iqbal’s approach are actually a significant part of Iqbal’s way of communicating his reader. It is the contention of this paper that with the help of the parallels between the literary and philosophical theories of Kierkegaard and Iqbal, the application of Kierkegaard’s method to Iqbal’s use of poetry as a communicative act will make it possible to dispel the seeming ambiguities in Iqbal’s literary approach. The application of Kierkegaard’s theory to Iqbal’s literary method will include an analysis of the main principles of Kierkegaard’s own literary technique of ‘indirect communication,' which is a crucial term of his existentialist philosophy. Second, the clash between what Iqbal’s says about art and poetry and what he does will be highlighted in the light of Kierkegaardian theory of indirect communication. It will be argued that Iqbal’s literary technique can be considered as a form of ‘indirect communication,' and that reading his technique in this way helps on dispelling the contradictions in his approach. It is hoped that this paper will cultivate a dialogue between those who work in the fields of comparative philosophy Kierkegaard studies, existentialism, contemporary Islamic thought, Iqbal studies, and literary criticism.

Keywords: comparative philosophy, existentialism, indirect communication, intercultural philosophy, literary communication, Muhammad Iqbal, Soren Kierkegaard

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Authors: Farhana Tarannum

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Ambient (outdoor) air pollution is now recognized as an important problem, both nationally and worldwide. The concentrations of gaseous pollutants (SOx, NOx, CO and O3) have been determined from samples collected at Kallyanpur along Shamoli corridor in Dhaka city. Pollutants were determined in a sample collected at ground level and a roof of a 7-storied building. These pollutants are emitted largely from stationary sources like fossil fuel fired power plants, industrial plants, and manufacturing facilities as well as mobile sources. The incomplete combustion of fuel, wood and the Sulphur containing fuel used in the vehicles are one of the main causes of CO and SOx respectively in our natural environment. When the temperature of combustion in high enough and some of that nitrogen reacts with oxygen in the air, various nitrogen oxides (NOx) are then formed. The VOCs react with NOx in the presence of sunlight to form O3. UV Visible spectrophotometric method has been used for the determination of SOx, NOx and O3. The sensor type device was used for the estimation of CO. It was found that the air pollutants (CO, SOx, NOx and O3) of a sample collected at the roof of a building were lower compared to the ground level; it indicated that ground level people are mostly affected by the gaseous pollutants.

Keywords: gaseous pollutants, UV-visible spectrophotometry, ambient air quality, Dhaka city

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Authors: Abdulmalik Altuwayjiri, Milad Pirhadi, Sina Taghvaee, Constantinos Sioutas

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A significant portion of PM₂.₅ mass concentration is carbonaceous matter (CM), which majorly exists in the form of organic carbon (OC). Ambient OC originates from a multitude of sources and plays an important role in global climate effects, visibility degradation, and human health. In this study, positive matrix factorization (PMF) was utilized to identify and quantify the long-term contribution of PM₂.₅ sources to total OC mass concentration in central Los Angeles (CELA) and Riverside (i.e., receptor site), using the chemical speciation network (CSN) database between 2005 and 2015, a period during which several state and local regulations on tailpipe emissions were implemented in the area. Our PMF resolved five different factors, including tailpipe emissions, non-tailpipe emissions, biomass burning, secondary organic aerosol (SOA), and local industrial activities for both sampling sites. The contribution of vehicular exhaust emissions to the OC mass concentrations significantly decreased from 3.5 µg/m³ in 2005 to 1.5 µg/m³ in 2015 (by about 58%) at CELA, and from 3.3 µg/m³ in 2005 to 1.2 µg/m³ in 2015 (by nearly 62%) at Riverside. Additionally, SOA contribution to the total OC mass, showing higher levels at the receptor site, increased from 23% in 2005 to 33% and 29% in 2010 and 2015, respectively, in Riverside, whereas the corresponding contribution at the CELA site was 16%, 21% and 19% during the same period. The biomass burning maintained an almost constant relative contribution over the whole period. Moreover, while the adopted regulations and policies were very effective at reducing the contribution of tailpipe emissions, they have led to an overall increase in the fractional contributions of non-tailpipe emissions to total OC in CELA (about 14%, 28%, and 28% in 2005, 2010 and 2015, respectively) and Riverside (22%, 27% and 26% in 2005, 2010 and 2015), underscoring the necessity to develop equally effective mitigation policies targeting non-tailpipe PM emissions.

Keywords: PM₂.₅, organic carbon, Los Angeles megacity, PMF, source apportionment, non-tailpipe emissions

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Authors: O. Onoriode Emoyan, E. Eyitemi Akporhonor, Charles Otobrise

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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed mainly as a result of incomplete combustion of organic materials during industrial, domestic activities or natural occurrence. Their toxicity and contamination of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem have been established. Though with limited validity index, previous research has focused on PAHs isomer pair ratios of variable physicochemical properties in source identification. The objective of this investigation was to determine the empirical validity of Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) and cluster analysis (CA) in PAHs source identification along soil samples of different land uses. Therefore, 16 PAHs grouped as endocrine disruption substances (EDSs) were determined in 10 sample stations in top and sub soils seasonally. PAHs was determined the use of Varian 300 gas chromatograph interfaced with flame ionization detector. Instruments and reagents used are of standard and chromatographic grades respectively. PCC and CA results showed that the classification of PAHs along kinetically and thermodyanamically-favoured and those derived directly from plants product through biologically mediated processes used in source signature is about the predominance PAHs are likely to be. Therefore the observed PAHs in the studied stations have trace quantities of the vast majority of the sixteen un-substituted PAHs which may ultimately inhabit the actual source signature authentication. Type and extent of bacterial metabolism, transformation products/substrates, and environmental factors such as: salinity, pH, oxygen concentration, nutrients, light intensity, temperature, co-substrates and environmental medium are hereby recommended as factors to be considered when evaluating possible sources of PAHs.

Keywords: comparative correlation, kinetically and thermodynamically-favored PAHs, pearson correlation coefficient, cluster analysis, sources evaluation

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Authors: Oksana Razina, Shakeel Ahmad, Jessie Qun Ren, Olufemi Isiaq

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The modern life of businesses is categorically reliant on their established position online, where digital (and particularly website) content plays a significant role as the first point of information. Digital content, therefore, becomes essential – from making the first impression to the building and development of client relationships. Despite a number of valuable papers suggesting a strategic approach when dealing with digital data, other sources often do not view or accept the approach to digital content as a holistic or continuous process. Associations are frequently made with merely a one-off marketing campaign or similar. The challenge is to establish an agreed definition for the notion of Digital Content Strategy, which currently does not exist, as DCS is viewed from an excessive number of different angles. A strategic approach to content, nonetheless, is required, both practically and contextually. The researchers, therefore, aimed at attempting to identify the key content components comprising a digital content strategy to ensure all the aspects were covered and strategically applied – from the company’s understanding of the content value to the ability to display flexibility of content and advances in technology. This conceptual project evaluated existing literature on the topic of Digital Content Strategy (DCS) and related aspects, using the PRISMA Systematic Review Method, Document Analysis, Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria, Scoping Review, Snow-Balling Technique and Thematic Analysis. The data was collected from academic and statistical sources, government and relevant trade publications. Based on the suggestions from academics and trading sources related to the issues discussed, the researchers revealed the key actions for content creation and attempted to define the notion of DCS. The major finding of the study presented Key Content Components of Digital Content Strategy and can be considered for implementation in a business retail setting.

Keywords: digital content strategy, key content components, websites, digital marketing strategy

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Authors: Francesco Saverio Angiò

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The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant / Syria (ISIL/S), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad, also known as ‘Boko Haram’ (BH), have fought successfully against Syria and Iraq, Mali, Nigeria’s government, respectively. According to Napoleoni, the ‘shell-state’ concept can explain the economic dimension and the financing model of the ISIL insurgency. However, she argues that AQIM and BH did not properly plan their financial model. Consequently, her idea would not be suitable to these groups. Nevertheless, AQIM and BH’s economic performances and their (short) territorialisation suggest that their financing models respond to a well-defined strategy, which they were able to adapt to new circumstances. Therefore, Napoleoni’s idea of ‘shell-state’ can be applied to the three jihadist armed groups. In the last five years, together with other similar entities, ISIL/S, AQIM and BH have been fighting against governments with insurgent tactics and terrorism acts, conquering and ruling a quasi-state; a physical space they presented as legitimate territorial entity, thanks to a puritan version of the Islamic law. In these territories, they have exploited the traditional local economic networks. In addition, they have contributed to the development of legal and illegal transnational business activities. They have also established a justice system and created an administrative structure to supply services. Napoleoni’s ‘shell-state’ can describe the evolution of ISIL/S, AQIM and BH, which has switched from an insurgency to a proto or a quasi-state entity, enjoying a significant share of power over territories and populations. Napoleoni first developed and applied the ‘Shell-state’ concept to describe the nature of groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), before using it to explain the expansion of ISIL. However, her original conceptualisation emphasises on the economic dimension of the rise of the insurgency, focusing on the ‘business’ model and the insurgents’ financing management skills, which permits them to turn into an organisation. However, the idea of groups which use, coordinate and grab some territorial economic activities (at the same time, encouraging new criminal ones), can also be applied to administrative, social, infrastructural, legal and military levels of their insurgency, since they contribute to transform the insurgency to the same extent the economic dimension does. In addition, according to Napoleoni’s view, the ‘shell-state’ prism is valid to understand the ISIL/S phenomenon, because the group has carefully planned their financial steps. Napoleoni affirmed that ISIL/S carries out activities in order to promote their conversion from a group relying on external sponsors to an entity that can penetrate and condition local economies. On the contrary, ‘shell-state’ could not be applied to AQIM or BH, which are acting more like smugglers. Nevertheless, despite its failure to control territories, as ISIL has been able to do, AQIM and BH have responded strategically to their economic circumstances and have defined specific dynamics to ensure a flow of stable funds. Therefore, Napoleoni’s theory is applicable.

Keywords: shell-state, jihadist insurgency, proto or quasi-state entity economic planning, strategic financing

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Authors: Byung Lee, Charles Perschau

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This study analyzes the development of a communication journal, the Journal of Advertising Education (JAE) over the past 20 years by examining citations of all research articles there. The purpose of a journal is to offer a stable and transparent forum for the presentation, scrutiny, and discussion of research in a targeted domain. This study asks whether JAE has fulfilled this purpose. The authors and readers who are involved in a journal need to have common research topics of their interest. In the case of the discipline of communication, scholars have a variety of backgrounds beyond communication itself since the social scientific study of communication is a relatively recent development, one that emerged after World War II, and the discipline has been heavily indebted to other social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, social psychology, and political science. When authors impart their findings and knowledge to others, their work is not done in isolation. They have to stand on previous studies, which are listed as sources in the bibliography. Since communication has heavily piggybacked on other disciplines, cited sources should be as diverse as the resources it taps into. This paper analyzes 4,244 articles that were cited by JAE articles in the past 36 issues. Since journal article authors reveal their intellectual linkage by using bibliographic citations, the analysis of citations in journal articles will reveal various networks of relationships among authors, journal types, and fields in an objective and quantitative manner. The study found that an easier access to information sources because of the development of electronic databases and the growing competition among scholars for publication seemed to influence authors to increase the number of articles cited even though some variations existed during the examined period. The types of articles cited have also changed. Authors have more often cited journal articles, periodicals (most of them available online), and web site sources, while decreased their dependence on books, conference papers, and reports. To provide a forum for discussion, a journal needs a common topic or theme. This can be realized when an author writes an article about a topic, and that article is cited and discussed in another article. Thus, the citation of articles in the same journal is vital for a journal to form a forum for discussion. JAE has gradually increased the citations of in-house articles with a few fluctuations over the years. The study also examines not only specific articles that are often cited, but also specific authors often cited. The analysis of citations in journal articles shows how JAE has developed into a full academic journal while offering a communal forum even though the speed of its formation is not as fast as desired probably because of its interdisciplinary nature.

Keywords: citation, co-citation, the Journal of Advertising Education, development of a journal

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Authors: Selamat Muliadi

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This study aimed to explain conceptual the role of Zakat on sustainable economic development by Rumah Zakat. Rumah Zakat is a philanthropic institution that manages zakat and other social funds through community empowerment programs. In running the program, including economic empowerment and socio health services are designed for these recipients. Rumah Zakat's connection with the establisment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is to help impoverished recipients economically and socially. It’s an important agenda that the government input into national development, even the region. The primary goal of Zakat on sustainable economic development, not only limited to economic variables but based on Islamic principles, has comprehensive characteristics. The characteristics include moral, material, spiritual, and social aspects. In other words, sustainable economic development is closely related to improving people’s living standard (Mustahiq). The findings provide empiricial evidence regarding the positive contribution and effectiveness of zakat targeting in reducing poverty and improve the welfare of people related with the management of zakat. The purpose of this study was to identify the role of Zakat on sustainable economic development, which was applied by Rumah Zakat. This study used descriptive method and qualitative analysis. The data source was secondary data collected from documents and texts related to the research topic, be it books, articles, newspapers, journals, or others. The results showed that the role of zakat on sustainable economic development by Rumah Zakat has been quite good and in accordance with the principle of Islamic economics. Rumah Zakat programs are adapted to support intended development. The contribution of the productive program implementation has been aligned with four goals in the Sustainable Development Goals, i.e., Senyum Juara (Quality Education), Senyum Lestari (Clean Water and Sanitation), Senyum Mandiri (Entrepreneur Program) and Senyum Sehat (Free Maternity Clinic). The performance of zakat in the sustainable economic empowerment community at Rumah Zakat is taking into account dimensions such as input, process, output, and outcome.

Keywords: Zakat, social welfare, sustainable economic development, charity

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Authors: A. Q. Ahmed, S. Gao

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In this paper, the energy saving and human thermal comfort in a typical office room are investigated. The impact of a combined system of exhaust inlet air with light slots located at the ceiling level in a room served by displacement ventilation system is numerically modelled. Previous experimental data are used to validate the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model. A case study of simulated office room includes two seating occupants, two computers, two data loggers and four lamps. The combined system is located at the ceiling level above the heat sources. A new method of calculation for the cooling coil load in stratified air distribution (STRAD) system is used in this study. The results show that 47.4 % energy saving of space cooling load can be achieved by combing the exhaust inlet air with light slots at the ceiling level above the heat sources.

Keywords: air conditioning, displacement ventilation, energy saving, thermal comfort

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Authors: Luis Felipe Pinzon Uribe, Hernando Sotelo Rojas

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The water is an essential factor for the development and the conservation of biological diversity in Colombia; its abundant natural wealth has its origin in their water sources. These during the past few years have been altered by anthropogenic activities, in particular pollutants such as heavy metals, given its ability to infiltrate the sediments reducing its natural capacity of absorption and clean of the ecosystem. The pollutant loads by bio-accumulation remain in the ecosystem for many years; the Bogota River, located in the Cundinamarca Department, is an example of this process. Since that form in the Villapinzón municipality up to its mouth in the Magdalena River, in the Girardot municipality, along with its route it receives large amount of polluted waters from different sources. The study focused on five points of the high basin of the river; this allowed the analysis of the impact that generates the economic development of the neighboring municipalities and where the poor conditions of the ecosystem, along with low levels of oxygen generates the high values of BOD, dissolved QOD, SS TSS and DS. They have been decisive factors in the decline of the species of its own and a decrease in the supply of the eco-services.

Keywords: anthropic activities, wastes water, water quality, heavy metals

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Authors: Doaa Abbas Zaher

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For the past two decades demand for knowledge has been increasing. Management of society’s knowledge has far reaching effects to economic growth through increased capacity to complete viable activities. Organizations use information technology to effect organizational change. This is a challenge for the less developed nations whose capacity to integrate knowledge in core functions is limited. This creates organizational problems as there is global competition amongst organizations. Cross-cultural perceptions influence difference knowledge Management. This study provides a cross-cultural analysis on the influence in knowledge culture in Japan and Saudi Arabia to effect change in organizations. Since different countries adopt different knowledge management strategies, this dictates the state of organizational development through enriched organizational culture. The research uses a mixed approach design to collect data from primary and secondary sources. Primary source will use the questionnaires while secondary sources uses case analysis from books, articles, reports, and journals. The study will take a period of three years to come up with a complete paper.

Keywords: knowledge management, organizational culture, information, society knowledge

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Authors: Mehmet Uysal, Yavuz Arat, Uğur Tuztaşı

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As man constructed the spaces that he lived in he also designed spaces where their dead will stay according to their belief systems. These spaces are sometimes monumentalized by the means of a stone on the top of a mountain, sometimes signed by totems and sometimes became structures to protect graves and symbolize the person or make him unforgettable. Various grave monuments have been constructed from the earliest primitive societies to developed societies. Every belief system built structures for itself; Pyramids for pharaohs, grave monuments for kings and emperors, temples and tombs for important men of religion. These spaces are also architectural works like a school or a dwelling and have importance in history of architecture. After Turks embraced Islamism, examples of very beautiful tombs are built in Middle Asia during the Seljuk Period. By the time Seljuks came to Anatolia they built important tombs having peerless architectural characteristics firstly around Ahlat. After Anatolia Seljuks made Konya the capital city and Konya became administrative, cultural and scientific center, very important tombs were built in Konya. Different from the local tomb architecture, the architecture of tombs with half-open “eyvan/Iwan” is significant. Although iwan buildings is vastly used in Anatolian civil architecture and monumental buildings its best exmaples are observed in 13th century Medrese buildings. The iwan tomb tradition which was observed during the time period when this building typology was shaped and departed from the resident tradition in the form of iwan tombs are rarely represented. However, similar tombs were build in resemblance to this tradition. This study provides information on samples of iwan tombs (Gömeç Hatun Tomb, Emir Yavaştagel Tomb, and Beşparmak Tomb) and evaluates the departures from iwan building complexes in view of architectural language. This paper also gives information about iwan tombs among tombs having importance in Islamic Architectural Heritage.

Keywords: Seljuk Building Complex, Eyvan/Iwan, Anatolia, Islamic Architectural Heritage, tomb

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Authors: Abdul Rahman Chamseddine

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Tawfiq al-Hakim remains one of the most prominent playwrights in his native in Egypt, and in the broader Arab world. His works, at the time of their release, drew international attention and acclaim. His first 1933 masterpiece Ahl al-Kahf (The People of the Cave) especially, garnered fame and recognition in both Europe and the Arab world. Borrowing its title from the Qur’anic Sura, al-Hakim’s play relays the untold story of the life of those 'three saints' after they wake up from their prolonged sleep. The playwright’s selection of topics upon which to base his works displays a deep appreciation of Arabic and Islamic heritage. Al-Hakim was clearly influenced by Islam, to such a degree that he wrote the biography of the Prophet Muhammad in 1936 very early in his career. Knowing that Al-Hakim was preceded by many poets and creative writers in writing the Prophet Muhammad’s biography. Notably like Al-Barudi, Ahmad Shawqi, Haykal, Al-‘Aqqad, and Taha Husayn who have had their own ways in expressing their views of the Prophet Muhammad. The attempt to understand the concern of all those renaissance men and others in the person of the Prophet would be indispensable in this study. This project will examine the reasons behind al-Hakim’s choice to draw upon these particular texts, embedded as they are in the context of Arabic and Islamic heritage, and how the use of traditional texts serves his contemporary goals. The project will also analyze the image of Islam in al-Hakim’s imagination. Elsewhere, he envisions letters or conversations between God and himself, which offers a window into understanding the powerful impact of the Divine on Tawfiq al-Hakim, one that informs his literature and merits further scholarly attention. His works occupying a major rank in Arabic literature, does not reveal Al-Hakim solely but the unquestioned assumptions operative in the life of his community, its mental make-up and its attitudes. Furthermore, studying the reception of works that touch on sensitive issues, like writing a letter to God, in Al-Hakim’s historical context would be of a great significance in the process of comprehending the mentality of the Muslim community at that time.

Keywords: Arabic language, Arabic literature, Arabic theology, modern Arabic literature

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Authors: A. S. Adegoke, O. N. Popoola

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The central purpose of management in any organization is that of coordinating the efforts of people towards the achievement of its goal. Effective and productive management is the function of leadership. Leadership plays a critical role in helping groups, organizations and societies to achieve their goals. Factors considered to make leadership to be effective are intelligence, social maturity, inner motivation and achievement drives and lastly, human relations attitudes. The factors affecting leadership style and effectiveness were examined. Also, the study examined which of the various leadership style best befits an organization and discussed the ways in which the style was determined. In order to meet the objectives of this study, different types of methods of data gathering were carried out. The methods include data from primary and secondary sources. The primary sources include personal interview, personal observation, and questionnaire while data from secondary sources were derived from various books, journal write up and other documentary records. Data were collected from respondents through questionnaire, and the field research carried out through oral interview to test each of the related hypotheses. From the data analysed it was determined that 45% strongly agreed that leadership traits are inborn not acquired and 28.3% agreed that leadership traits are inborn, while 11.7% and 10% strongly disagreed and disagreed respectively and 5% were undecided. 48.4% strongly agreed, and 43.3% agreed that environmental factors determined the appropriate style of leadership to be employed while 3.3% strongly disagreed, 1.7% disagreed and 3.3% were undecided. From the study, no single style of leadership is appropriate in any situation instead of concentrating on single leadership style; leader can vary approaches depending on forces in the leaders, characteristic of the subordinates, situational forces of the organization, lastly the expectations and behaviour of superior.

Keywords: hypothesis, leadership, management, organization

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Authors: Prashanth Pillai, Purnaprajna Mangsuli

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Oil exploration and production companies invest considerable time and efforts to extract essential well attributes (like well status, surface, and target coordinates, wellbore depths, event timelines, etc.) from unstructured data sources like technical reports, which are often non-standardized, multimodal, and highly domain-specific by nature. It is also important to consider the context when extracting attribute values from reports that contain information on multiple wells/wellbores. Moreover, semantically similar information may often be depicted in different data syntax representations across multiple pages and document sources. We propose a hierarchical multi-source fact extraction workflow based on a deep learning framework to extract essential well attributes at scale. An information retrieval module based on the transformer architecture was used to rank relevant pages in a document source utilizing the page image embeddings and semantic text embeddings. A question answering framework utilizingLayoutLM transformer was used to extract attribute-value pairs incorporating the text semantics and layout information from top relevant pages in a document. To better handle context while dealing with multi-well reports, we incorporate a dynamic query generation module to resolve ambiguities. The extracted attribute information from various pages and documents are standardized to a common representation using a parser module to facilitate information comparison and aggregation. Finally, we use a probabilistic approach to fuse information extracted from multiple sources into a coherent well record. The applicability of the proposed approach and related performance was studied on several real-life well technical reports.

Keywords: natural language processing, deep learning, transformers, information retrieval

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Authors: Evar C. Umeozor, Experience I. Nduagu, Ian D. Gates

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The energy requirements of carbon dioxide utilization (CDU) technologies/processes are diverse, so also are their environmental footprints. This paper explores the energy and environmental impacts of systems for CO₂ conversion to fuels, chemicals, and materials. Energy needs of the technologies and processes deployable in CO₂ conversion systems are met by one or combinations of hydrogen (chemical), electricity, heat, and light. Likewise, the environmental footprint of any CO₂ utilization pathway depends on the systems involved. So far, evaluation of CDU systems has been constrained to particular energy source/type or a subset of the overall system needed to make CDU possible. This introduces limitations to the general understanding of the energy and environmental implications of CDU, which has led to various pitfalls in past studies. A CDU system has an energy source, CO₂ supply, and conversion units. We apply a holistic approach to consider the impacts of all components in the process, including various sources of energy, CO₂ feedstock, and conversion technologies. The electricity sources include nuclear power, renewables (wind and solar PV), gas turbine, and coal. Heat is supplied from either electricity or natural gas, and hydrogen is produced from either steam methane reforming or electrolysis. The CO₂ capture unit uses either direct air capture or post-combustion capture via amine scrubbing, where applicable, integrated configurations of the CDU system are explored. We demonstrate how the overall energy and environmental impacts of each utilization pathway are obtained by aggregating the values for all components involved. Proper accounting of the energy and emission intensities of CDU must incorporate total balances for the utilization process and differences in timescales between alternative conversion pathways. Our results highlight opportunities for the use of clean energy sources, direct air capture, and a number of promising CO₂ conversion pathways for producing methanol, ethanol, synfuel, urea, and polymer materials.

Keywords: carbon dioxide utilization, processes, energy options, environmental impacts

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Authors: Hen Friman

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Various categories of aqueous solutions are discharged within residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial structures. To safeguard public health and preserve the environment, it is imperative to subject wastewater to treatment processes that eliminate pathogens (such as bacteria and viruses), nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorus), and other compounds. Failure to address untreated sewage accumulation can result in an array of adverse consequences. Israel exemplifies a special case in wastewater management. Appropriate wastewater treatment significantly benefits sectors such as agriculture, tourism, horticulture, and industry. Nevertheless, untreated sewage in settlements lacking proper sewage collection or transportation networks remains an ongoing and substantial threat. Notably, the process of wastewater treatment entails substantial energy consumption. Consequently, this study explores the integration of solar energy as a renewable power source within the wastewater treatment framework. By incorporating renewable energy sources into the process, costs can be minimized, and decentralized facilities can be established even in areas lacking adequate infrastructure for traditional treatment methods.

Keywords: renewable energy, solar energy, innovative, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Luís Miguel Cabeça Marques, Alberto Manuel Martinho Vale, José Pedro Miragaia Trancoso Vaz, Ana Sofia Baptista Fernandes, Rui Alexandre de Barros Coito, Tiago Miguel Prates da Costa

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The detection and localization of hidden radioactive sources are of significant importance in countering the illicit traffic of Special Nuclear Materials and other radioactive sources and materials. Radiation portal monitors are commonly used at airports, seaports, and international land borders for inspecting cargo and vehicles. However, these equipment can be expensive and are not available at all checkpoints. Consequently, the localization of SNM and other radioactive sources often relies on handheld equipment, which can be time-consuming. The current study presents the advantages of real-time analysis of gamma-ray count rate data from a mobile radiation detection system based on simulated data and field tests. The incorporation of profit functions and decision criteria to optimize the detection system's path significantly enhances the radiation field information and reduces survey time during cargo inspection. For source position estimation, a maximum likelihood estimation algorithm is employed, and confidence intervals are derived using the Fisher information. The study also explores the impact of uncertainties, baselines, and thresholds on the performance of the profit function. The proposed detection system, utilizing a plastic scintillator with silicon photomultiplier sensors, boasts several benefits, including cost-effectiveness, high geometric efficiency, compactness, and lightweight design. This versatility allows for seamless integration into any mobile platform, be it air, land, maritime, or hybrid, and it can also serve as a handheld device. Furthermore, integration of the detection system into drones, particularly multirotors, and its affordability enable the automation of source search and substantial reduction in survey time, particularly when deploying a fleet of drones. While the primary focus is on inspecting maritime container cargo, the methodologies explored in this research can be applied to the inspection of other infrastructures, such as nuclear facilities or vehicles.

Keywords: plastic scintillators, profit functions, path planning, gamma-ray detection, source localization, mobile radiation detection system, security scenario

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Authors: Yagya Raj Pandeya, Joonwhoan Lee

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The dynamic behavior of music and video makes it difficult to evaluate musical instrument playing in a video by computer system. Any television or film video clip with music information are rich sources for analyzing musical instruments using modern machine learning technologies. In this research, we integrate the audio and video information sources using convolutional neural network (CNN) and pass network learned features through recurrent neural network (RNN) to preserve the dynamic behaviors of audio and video. We use different pre-trained CNN for music and video feature extraction and then fine tune each model. The music network use 2D convolutional network and video network use 3D convolution (C3D). Finally, we concatenate each music and video feature by preserving the time varying features. The long short term memory (LSTM) network is used for long-term dynamic feature characterization and then use late fusion with generalized mean. The proposed network performs better performance to recognize the musical instrument using audio-video multimodal neural network.

Keywords: multimodal, 3D convolution, music-video feature extraction, generalized mean

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Authors: Mengjie Liu

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This essay mainly analyses the representation of the Apollo and Dionysus spirits in Hermann Hesse’s novel “Steppenwolf.” This analysis adopts a theoretical approach based on Fredrich Nietzsche’s theory of the two separate art worlds, dream and intoxication, which corresponds to the two art deities, Apollo and Dionysus. The essay will discuss Friedrich Nietzsche’s art and aesthetic theory of dream and intoxication in the first part. Then the essay will elaborate on the representation of the Apollo spirit and dream in “Steppenwolf” in the second section from two aspects: (1) Harry Haller’s (the main character) self-recognition and semblance with Hermina. (2) The realization of Hermina’s prophecy of the dream. Then the essay will analyze the representation of the Dionysus spirit and the intoxication in the third part by demonstrating Harry Haller’s self-forgetting and melting into the crowd. The essay will combine the two spirits in the fourth section and discuss the relationship between dream and intoxication as the stimulator (dream) and the realizing (intoxication). This essay takes Nietzsche’s theory as the basic foundation while also drawing sources from psychological analysis theories and other literature sources.

Keywords: dream, intoxication, Nietzsche, Steppenwolf

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Authors: Muhammad Hikmah

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Based on the population census in 2015, Indonesia consists of 254.9 millions of people, and 80% of them are Muslims (Data of Central Bureau of Statistic). Indonesia becomes the highest number of Muslims civilization in the world. The question would be, is the number of population proportional to the growth of Syariah transaction in Indonesia? It is going to be discussed in this research. The problem limitation of this research is in Syariah Banking. Therefore, Syariah transaction in this study is described as transaction only in Syariah Banking. The researcher focused on the study in Yogyakarta, a city in Indonesia. The development of Syariah Bank assets until January 2016, based on statistic data launched by Financial Services Authority (FSA), has increased Rp 287.44 trillion, however, a total amount of bank achieves Rp 6.198,15 trillions. It means that the assets of Syariah Bank are only 4.64% from the total amount of banking assets in Indonesia, though, Syariah Banking was first established in 1991, known as Bank Muamalat. As we can see that in these 25 years, Syariah Banking could only reach that number. Based on the press conference of FSA and Syariah Banking Exhibition iB Vaganza in 2015, the number of Syariah Bank’s customers are under 10 millions. With 80% of Muslims, Syariah Bank is not able to be a market leader in Indonesia. This will be answered in this research, how much the interest if Muslims in Yogyakarta towards Syariah Bank compared to conventional bank. This study will be conducted in Yogyakarta. The sampling will represent to the muslims having good knowledge of Islam, such as dawn prayer worshipers in some mosques in Yogyakarta. There are some reasons why Indonesian muslims are not interested in Syariah Bank, such as the people do not put trust in Syariah Bank; there are some obligation where they work to have conventional bank; business matters services which is not covered by Syariah Bank where most of them are limited to the laws authorities; and there is no sufficient knowledge about the importance of syariah transaction from religion point of view. Each of them is going to be discussed in this research. The suggestions of this study are we should share our knowledge about Islamic transaction anywhere and we need to support Syariah Bank to have Syariah principles. For those who have the authority should be active as well to announce the rules of the constitution supporting the development of syariah transaction in order to be apply perfectly. We hope that trust from the people will increase, and we should provide Syariah Banking products which fulfill business needs. Finally, syariah transaction will be the solution for all people in the world in bussiness transaction.

Keywords: shariah, Islamic, banking, Indonesia

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Authors: Sandya Mummullage, Prasanna Egodawatta, Ashantha Goonetilleke, Godwin A. Ayoko

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Urban road dust comprises of a range of potentially toxic metal elements and plays a critical role in degrading urban receiving water quality. Hence, assessing the metal composition and concentration in urban road dust is a high priority. This study investigated the variability of metal composition and concentrations in road dust in four different urban land uses in Gold Coast, Australia. Samples from 16 road sites were collected and tested for selected 12 metal species. The data set was analyzed using both univariate and multivariate techniques. Outcomes of the data analysis revealed that the metal concentrations inroad dust differs considerably within and between different land uses. Iron, aluminum, magnesium and zinc are the most abundant in urban land uses. It was also noted that metal species such as titanium, nickel, copper, and zinc have the highest concentrations in industrial land use. The study outcomes revealed that soil and traffic related sources as key sources of metals deposited on road surfaces.

Keywords: metals build-up, pollutant accumulation, stormwater quality, urban road dust

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Authors: Farshid Marbouti, Jale Ulas, Julia Thompson

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The main sources of stress among college students are: changes in sleeping and eating habits, undertaking new responsibilities, and financial difficulties as the most common sources of stress, exams, meeting new people, career decisions, fear of failure, and pressure from parents, transition to university especially if it requires leaving home, working with people that they do not know, trouble with parents, and relationship with the opposite sex. The students use a variety of stress coping strategies, including talking to family and friends, leisure activities and exercising. The Yerkes–Dodson law indicates while a moderate amount of stress may be beneficial for performance, too high stress will result in weak performance. In other words, if students are too stressed, they are likely to have low academic performance. In a preliminary study conducted in 2017 with engineering students enrolled in three high failure rate classes, the majority of the students stated that they have high levels of stress mainly for academic, financial, or family-related reasons. As the second stage of the study, the main purpose of this research is to investigate the students’ level of stress, sources of stress, their relationship with student demographic background, students’ coping strategies, and academic performance. A device is being developed to gather data from students breathing patterns and measure their stress levels. In addition, all participants are asked to fill out a survey. The survey under development has the following categories: exam stressor, study-related stressors, financial pressures, transition to university, family-related stress, student response to stress, and stress management. After the data collection, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis will be conducted in order to identify the relationship among students’ level of stress, coping strategies, and academic performance.

Keywords: college student stress, coping strategies, academic performance, measuring stress

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Authors: Amir Hossein Ghaffari Nejad, Forouhar Ferdowsi, Reza Mashhadi

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In the interest-free banking system of Iran, the savings of society are in the form of bank deposits, and banks using the Islamic contracts, allocate the resources to applicants for obtaining facilities and credit. In the meantime, the central bank, with the aim of introducing monetary policy, determines the maximum interest rate on bank deposits in terms of macroeconomic requirements. But in recent years, the country's economic constraints with the stagflation and the consequence of the institutional weaknesses of the financial market of Iran have resulted in massive disturbances in the balance sheet of the banking system, resulting in a period of mismatch maturity in the banks' assets and liabilities and the implementation of a Ponzi game. This issue caused determination of the interest rate in long-term bank deposit contracts to be associated with non-observance of the maximum rate set by the central bank. The result of this condition was in the allocation of new sources of equipment to meet past commitments towards the old depositors and, as a result, a significant part of the supply of equipment was leaked out of the facilitating cycle and credit crunch emerged. The purpose of this study is to identify the most important factors affecting the occurrence of non-confirmatory financial banking behavior using data from 19 public and private banks of Iran. For this purpose, the causes of this non-confirmatory behavior of banks have been investigated using the panel vector autoregression method (PVAR) for the period of 2007-2015. Granger's causality test results suggest that the return of parallel markets for bank deposits, non-performing loans and the high share of the ratio of facilities to banks' deposits are all a cause of the formation of non-confirmatory behavior. Also, according to the results of impulse response functions and variance decomposition, NPL and the ratio of facilities to deposits have the highest long-term effect and also have a high contribution to explaining the changes in banks' non-confirmatory behavior in determining the interest rate on deposits.

Keywords: non-conformity behavior, Ponzi Game, panel vector autoregression, nonperforming loans

Procedia PDF Downloads 215