Search results for: Eugene Chan

Authors: Eugene Rybin

Abstract:

Reduction of nutrient losses when using mineral fertilizers is a very important and urgent challenge, which is of both economic and environmental significance. This paper shows the production of slow- and controlled release fertilizers through application of inorganic coatings, which make the released nutrients plant-available. The method of production of coated fertilizers with inorganic cover material is an alternative to other methods where polymer coatings are used. The method is based on spraying an aqueous slurry onto the surface of granules with simultaneous drying in drums under certain conditions and subsequent cooling of granules. This method of production of slow- and controlled-release fertilizers is more ecofriendly compared with others because inorganic materials are used to create a membrane. That is why the coating material is definitely biodegradable. There is also shown the effect of these coatings on the properties of fertilizers, as well as on the agrochemical efficiency and nutrient efficiency/ availability to the plants. The agrochemical tests have proved the increase of nutrient efficiency for every nutrient in compound fertilizers (NPK, NPS) for 3 consecutive years by 10-20 % and by 25-28% for urea, as well as an increase in crop yield, by 10-15% in general, and its quality. Moreover, the decrease in caking by almost 70% was proven as well as slowing down the release rate of nutrients from fertilizers. Control of the release rate was achieved by regulation of thickness and contents of coating materials. All of those characteristics were researched according to the standard-used methods. The performed research has developed the fertilizer technology of slow- and controlled release of nutrients through applying of plant-available inorganic coatings. It leads to a better synchronization of nutrient release rate and plants needs, as well as reduces the harmful effects on the environment from the fertilizers applied.

Keywords: controlled release, fertilizers, nutrients, plant-available coatings

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Rita Gill Singh, Alex Chun Koon, Cindy Sing Bik Ngai, Joanna Wen Ying Ho, Mei Li Khong, Enoch Chan, Terrence Lau

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Although humour is viewed as a beneficial element in teaching, there has been little attempt to systematize humour in teaching, possibly because it is difficult to teach someone to be humorous. This study integrated planned humour pedagogical approach into teaching and learning activities and examined the effect of systematically planned humour on students’ engagement and learning in different courses. Specifically, appropriate types of humour (i.e. analogy, absurdity and wordplay) and incorporation methods and frequency were systematically integrated into the lessons of courses at some higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The results showed that the planned humour pedagogical approach increased student engagement, as well as enhanced learning and motivation while reducing students’ stress. The pedagogical implications of this study will be useful for researchers, practitioners, and educators.

Keywords: higher education, pedagogy, humour, student engagement, learning, motivation

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Authors: Eugene Mashapa

Abstract:

The age of information has witnessed countless unprecedented technological developments, which signal the articulation of succinct technological capabilities that can match these cutting-edge technological trends. These changes have impacted patterns in the production, distribution, and consumption of media content, a space that the Film and Publication Board (FPB) is concerned with. Consequently, the FPB is keen to understand the nature and impact of these technological changes on media content regulation. This exploratory study sought to investigate how content regulators in high and middle-income economies have adapted to the changes in this space, seeking insights into innovations, technological and operational, that facilitate continued relevance during this fast-changing environment. The study is aimed at developing recommendations that could assist and inform the organisation in regulating media content as it evolves. Thus, the overall research strategy in this analysis is applied research, and the analytical model adopted is a mixed research design guided by both qualitative and quantitative research instruments. It was revealed in the study that the FPB was significantly impacted by the unprecedented technological advancements in the media regulation space. Additionally, there exists a need for the FPB to understand the current and future penetrations of 4IR technology in the industry and its impact on media governance and policy implementation. This will range from reskilling officials to align with the technological skills to developing technological innovations as well as adopting co-regulatory or self-regulatory arrangements together with content distributors, where more content is distributed in higher volumes and with increased frequency. Importantly, initiating an interactive learning process for both FPB employees and the general public can assist the regulator and improve FPB’s operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Keywords: media, regulation, technology, film and publications board

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Authors: Hamouda M. Mousa, M. Obaid, Chan Hee Park, Cheol Sang Kim

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The rate of copper cementation on iron rod was investigated. The study was mainly dedicated to illustrate the effect of application of electromagnetic field (EMF) on the rate of cementation. The magnetic flux was placed parallel to the iron rod and different magnetic field strength was studied. The results showed that without EMF, the rate of mass transfer was correlated by the equation: Sh= 1.36 Re0. 098 Sc0.33. The application of EMF enhanced the time required to reach high percentage copper cementation by 50%. The rate of mass transfer was correlated by the equation: Sh= 2.29 Re0. 95 Sc0.33, with applying EMF. This work illustrates that the enhancement of copper recovery in presence of EMF is due to the induced motion of Fe+n in the solution which is limited in the range of rod rotation speed of 300~900 rpm. The calculation of power consumption of EMF showed that although the application of EMF partially reduced the cementation time, the reduction of power consumption due to utilization of magnetic field is comparable to the increase in power consumed by introducing magnetic field of 2462 A T/m.

Keywords: copper cementation, electromagnetic field, copper ions, iron cylinder

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Authors: Carmen W. H. Chan, Helen Y. L. Chan, Kai Chow Choi, Ka Ming Chow, Cecilia W. M. Kwan, Nancy H. Y. Ng, Jackie Robinson

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Introduction: In Hong Kong, a significant number of deaths occur in acute care wards, which requires nurses in these settings to provide end-of-life care and lead ACP implementation. However, nurses in these settings, in fact, have very low-level involvement in ACP discussions because of limited training in ACP conversations. Objective: This study aims to assess the impact of a multi-media experiential ACP (MEACP) training program, which is guided by the experiential learning model and theory of planned behaviour, on nurses' knowledge and confidence in assisting patients with ACP. Methodology: The study utilizes a cluster randomized controlled trial with a 12-week follow-up. Eligible nurses working in acute care hospital wards are randomly assigned at the ward level, in a 1:1 ratio, to either the control group (no ACP education) or the intervention group (4-week MEACP training program). The training programme includes training through a webpage and mobile application, as well as a face-to-face training workshop with enhanced lectures and role play, which is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and Kolb's Experiential Learning Model. Questionnaires were distributed to assess nurses' knowledge (a 10-item true/false questionnaire) and level of confidence (five-point Likert scale) in ACP at baseline (T0), four weeks after the baseline assessment (T1), and 12 weeks after T1 (T2). In this interim report, data analysis was mainly descriptive in nature. Result: The interim report focuses on the preliminary results of 165 nurses at T0 (Control: 74, Intervention: 91) over a 5-month period, 69 nurses from the control group who completed the 4-week follow-up and 65 nurses from the intervention group who completed the 4-week MEACP training program at T1. The preliminary attrition rate is 6.8% and 28.6% for the control and intervention groups, respectively, as some nurses did not complete the whole set of online modules. At baseline, the two groups were generally homogeneous in terms of their years of nursing practice, weekly working hours, working title, and level of education, as well as ACP knowledge and confidence levels. The proportion of nurses who answered all ten knowledge questions correctly increased from 13.8% (T0) to 66.2% (T1) for the intervention group and from 13% (T0) to 20.3% (T1) for the control group. The nurses in the intervention group answered an average of 7.57 and 9.43 questions correctly at T0 and T1, respectively. They showed a greater improvement in the knowledge assessment at T1 with respect to T0 when compared with their counterparts in the control group (mean difference of change score, Δ=1.22). They also exhibited a greater gain in level of confidence at T1 compared to their colleagues in the control group (Δ=0.91). T2 data is yet available. Conclusion: The prevalence of nurses engaging in ACP and their level of knowledge about ACP in Hong Kong is low. The MEACP training program can enrich nurses by providing them with more knowledge about ACP and increasing their confidence in conducting ACP.

Keywords: advance directive, advance care planning, confidence, knowledge, multi-media experiential, randomised control trial

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Authors: Hsu-Yung Cheng, Kuo-Chang Hsu, Chi-Chang Chan, Mei-Hui Tseng, Chih-Chang Yu, Ya-Sheng Liu

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Photovoltaics modules are usually not installed horizontally to avoid water or dust accumulation. However, the measured irradiance data on tilted surfaces are rarely available since installing pyranometers with various tilt angles induces high costs. Therefore, estimating solar irradiance on tilted surfaces is an important research topic. In this work, artificial neural networks (ANN) are utilized to construct the transfer model to estimate solar irradiance on tilted surfaces. Instead of predicting tilted irradiance directly, the proposed method estimates the differences between the horizontal irradiance and the irradiance on a tilted surface. The outputs of the ANNs in the proposed design are differential values. The experimental results have shown that the proposed ANNs with differential outputs can substantially improve the estimation accuracy compared to ANNs that estimate the titled irradiance directly.

Keywords: photovoltaics, artificial neural networks, tilted irradiance, solar energy

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Authors: Jean Pierre Hagenimana, Paulin Ruhato Banguti, Rebecca Lynn Churchill Anderson, Jean de Dieu Tuyishime, Gaston Nyirigira, Eugene Tuyishime

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Background: Little is known regarding the effectiveness of pain protocols and guidelines used in Emergency Departments (ED) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Therefore, to shed light on this research gap, this study aimed to evaluate the quality of pain management following the implementation of both the WHO pain ladder-based trauma pain management protocol in two Rwandan teaching hospitals. Methods: This was a pre-and post-intervention study. The intervention was a 1-day acute pain course training for ED clinical staff followed by 1 week of mentorship on the use of the WHO pain ladder-based trauma pain management. Results: 261 participants were enrolled in the study (124 before the intervention and 137 after the intervention). The number of patients with undocumented pain scores decreased from 58% to 24% after the intervention (p-value > 0.001), and most patients (62%) had mild pain. In addition, patients who were satisfied with the quality of pain management increased significantly from 42% before the intervention to 80% (p-value > 0.001). Barriers were identified, however, including inadequate training and experience, shortage of staff, and patient’s reluctance to report pain. Conclusion: The implementation of the WHO pain ladder-based trauma pain management protocol significantly improved the quality of pain management in both CHUK and CHUB referral Hospital emergency departments. Despite this, some barriers remain, such as inadequate training and experience, shortage of staff, and patient’s reluctance to report pain. Appropriate interventions should be implemented to address the identified barriers and ensure adequate pain management for patients admitted at the emergency departments in referral hospitals in Rwanda.

Keywords: pain management, trauma, emergency departments, Rwanda

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Authors: Sthanu Mahadev, Wen Chan, Melanie Lim

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Anisotropy dominated continuous-fiber composite materials have garnered attention in numerous mechanical and aerospace structural applications. Tailored mechanical properties in advanced composites can exhibit superiority in terms of stiffness-to-weight ratio, strength-to-weight ratio, low-density characteristics, coupled with significant improvements in fatigue resistance as opposed to metal structure counterparts. Extensive research has demonstrated their core potential as more than just mere lightweight substitutes to conventional materials. Prior work done by Mahadev and Chan focused on formulating a modified composite shell theory based prognosis methodology for investigating the structural response of thin-walled circular cylindrical shell type composite configurations under in-plane mechanical loads respectively. The prime motivation to develop this theory stemmed from its capability to generate simple yet accurate closed-form analytical results that can efficiently characterize circular composite shell construction. It showcased the development of a novel mathematical framework to analytically identify the location of the centroid for thin-walled, open cross-section, curved composite shells that were characterized by circumferential arc angle, thickness-to-mean radius ratio, and total laminate thickness. Ply stress variations for curved cylindrical shells were analytically examined under the application of centric tensile and bending loading. This work presents a cost-effective, small-platform experimental methodology by taking advantage of the full-field measurement capability of digital image correlation (DIC) for an accurate assessment of key mechanical parameters such as in-plane mechanical stresses and strains, centroid location etc. Mechanical property measurement of advanced composite materials can become challenging due to their anisotropy and complex failure mechanisms. Full-field displacement measurements are well suited for characterizing the mechanical properties of composite materials because of the complexity of their deformation. This work encompasses the fabrication of a set of curved cylindrical shell coupons, the design and development of a novel test-fixture design and an innovative experimental methodology that demonstrates the capability to very accurately predict the location of centroid in such curved composite cylindrical strips via employing a DIC based strain measurement technique. Error percentage difference between experimental centroid measurements and previously estimated analytical centroid results are observed to be in good agreement. The developed analytical modified-shell theory provides the capability to understand the fundamental behavior of thin-walled cylindrical shells and offers the potential to generate novel avenues to understand the physics of such structures at a laminate level.

Keywords: anisotropy, composites, curved cylindrical shells, digital image correlation

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Authors: Parisa Amouzgar, Chan Eng Seng, Babak Salamatinia

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Pharmaceutical products are being increasingly detected in the environment. However, conventional treatment systems do not provide an adequate treatment for pharmaceutical drug elimination and still there is not a regulated standard for their limitation in water. Since decades before, pharmaceuticals have been in the water but only recently, their levels in the environment have been recognized and quantified as potentially hazardous to ecosystems. In this study chitosan with a bio-based NAC (Ct-NAC) were made as beads with extrusion dripping method and investigated for acetaminophen removal from water. The effects of beading parameters such as flow rate in dripping, the distance from dipping tip to the solution surface, concentration of chitosan and percentage of NAC were analyzed to find the optimum condition. Based on the results, the overall adsorption rate and removal efficiency increased during the time till the equilibrium rate which was 80% removal of acetaminophen. The maximum adsorption belonged to the beads with 1.75% chitosan, 60% NAC, flow-rate of 1.5 ml/min while the distance of dripping was 22.5 cm.

Keywords: pharmaceuticals, water treatment, chitosan nano activated carbon beads, Acetaminophen

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Authors: Hanna Lu, Sandra S. M. Chan, Linda C. W. Lam

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Objectives: Intra-individual variability (IIV) has been considered as a biomarker of healthy ageing. However, the composite role of IIV in attention, as an impending indicator for neurocognitive disorders warrants further exploration. This study aims to investigate the IIV, as well as their relationships with attention network functions in adults with neurocognitive disorders (NCD). Methods: 36adults with NCD due to Alzheimer’s disease(NCD-AD), 31adults with NCD due to vascular disease (NCD-vascular), and 137 healthy controls were recruited. Intraindividual standard deviations (iSD) and intraindividual coefficient of variation of reaction time (ICV-RT) were used to evaluate the IIV. Results: NCD groups showed greater IIV (iSD: F= 11.803, p < 0.001; ICV-RT:F= 9.07, p < 0.001). In ROC analyses, the indices of IIV could differentiateNCD-AD (iSD: AUC value = 0.687, p= 0.001; ICV-RT: AUC value = 0.677, p= 0.001) and NCD-vascular (iSD: AUC value = 0.631, p= 0.023;ICV-RT: AUC value = 0.615, p= 0.045) from healthy controls. Moreover, the processing speed could distinguish NCD-AD from NCD-vascular (AUC value = 0.647, p= 0.040). Discussion: Intra-individual variability in attention provides a stable measure of cognitive performance, and seems to help distinguish the senior adults with different cognitive status.

Keywords: intra-individual variability, attention network, neurocognitive disorders, ageing

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Authors: Lydia Chan, Islam Shyha, Dale Dreyer, John Hamilton, Phil Hackney

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Nickel-based superalloys are generally known to be difficult to cut due to their strength, low thermal conductivity, and high work hardening tendency. Superalloy such as alloy 625 is often used in the oil and gas industry as a surfacing material to provide wear and corrosion resistance to components. The material is typically applied onto a metallic substrate through weld overlay cladding, an arc welding technique. Cladded surfaces are always rugged and carry a tough skin; this creates further difficulties to the machining process. The present work utilised design of experiment to optimise the internal cylindrical rough turning for weld overlay surfaces. An L27 orthogonal array was used to assess effects of the four selected key process variables: cutting insert, depth of cut, feed rate, and cutting speed. The optimal cutting conditions were determined based on productivity and the level of tool wear.

Keywords: cylindrical turning, nickel superalloy, turning of overlay, weld overlay

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Authors: Danzhao Cheng, Eugene Ch'ng

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Virtual Reality technologies can reconstruct cultural heritage objects and sites to a level of realism. Concentrating mostly on documenting authentic data and accurate representations of tangible contents, current virtual heritage is limited to accumulating visually presented objects. Such constructions, however, are fragmentary and may not convey the inherent significance of heritage in a meaningful way. In order to contextualise fragmentary historical contents where history can be told, a strategy is to create a guided narrative via role-playing. Such an approach can strengthen the logical connections of cultural elements and facilitate creative synthesis within the virtual world. This project successfully reconstructed the Ningbo Sanjiangkou VR site in Yuan Dynasty combining VR technology and role-play game approach. The results with 80 pairs of participants suggest that VR role-playing can be beneficial in a number of ways. Firstly, it creates thematic interactivity which encourages users to explore the virtual heritage in a more entertaining way with task-oriented goals. Secondly, the experience becomes highly engaging since users can interpret a historical context through the perspective of specific roles that exist in past societies. Thirdly, personalisation allows open-ended sequences of the expedition, reinforcing user’s acquisition of procedural knowledge relative to the cultural domain. To sum up, role-playing in VR poses great potential for experiential learning as it allows users to interpret a historical context in a more entertaining way.

Keywords: experiential learning, maritime silk road, role-playing, virtual heritage, virtual reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Sherly M. A., Varsha Vijaykumar, Subhankar Karmakar, Terence Chan, Christian Rau

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This study aims at proposing an indicator-based framework for assessing social vulnerability of any coastal megacity to floods. The final set of indicators of social vulnerability are chosen from a set of feasible and available indicators which are prepared using a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework on a smaller scale considering 1-km grid cell to provide an insight into the spatial variability of vulnerability. The optimal weight for each individual indicator is assigned using data envelopment analysis (DEA) as it avoids subjective weights and improves the confidence on the results obtained. In order to de-correlate and reduce the dimension of multivariate data, principal component analysis (PCA) has been applied. The proposed methodology is demonstrated on twenty four wards of Mumbai under the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). This framework of vulnerability assessment is not limited to the present study area, and may be applied to other urban damage centers.

Keywords: urban floods, vulnerability, data envelopment analysis, principal component analysis

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Authors: Andrey A. Chernousov, Ben Y. B. Chan

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The thermal behavior of a large-scale, phase change material (PCM) enhanced building envelope system was studied in regard to the need for pre-fabricated construction in subtropical regions. The proposed large-scale envelope consists of a reinforced aluminum skin, insulation core, phase change material and reinforced gypsum board. The PCM impact on an energy efficiency of an enveloped room was resolved by validation of the Energy Plus numerical scheme and optimization of a smart material location in the core. The PCM location was optimized by a minimization method of a cooling energy demand. It has been shown that there is good agreement between the test and simulation results. The optimal location of the PCM layer in Hong Kong summer conditions has been then recomputed for core thicknesses of 40, 60 and 80 mm. A non-dimensional value of the optimal PCM location was obtained to be same for all the studied cases and the considered external and internal conditions.

Keywords: thermal performance, phase change material, energy efficiency, PCM optimization

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Authors: Deepen Sharma, Eugene F. Hill

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For nearly 100 years, hydro-turbine governors have operated with only a frequency set point. This natural governor action means that the governor responds with changing megawatt output to disturbances in system frequency. More and more, power system managers are demanding that governors operate with constant megawatt output. One way of doing this is to introduce a second set point in the control structure called a power set point. The control structure investigated and analyzed in this paper is unique in the way that it utilizes a power reference set point in addition to the conventional frequency reference set point. An optimum set of temporary droop parameters derived based on the turbine-generator inertia constant and the penstock water start time for stable islanded operation are shown to be also equally applicable for a satisfactory rate of generator loading during its grid connected mode. A theoretical development shows why this is the case. The performance of the control structure has been investigated and established based on the simulation study made in MATLAB/Simulink as well as through testing the real time controller performance on a 15 MW Kaplan Turbine and generator. Recordings have been made using the labVIEW data acquisition platform. The hydro-turbine governor control structure and its performance investigated in this paper thus eliminates the need to have a separate set of temporary droop parameters, one valid for islanded mode and the other for interconnected operations mode.

Keywords: frequency set point, hydro governor, interconnected operation, isolated operation, power set point

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Hsiao-Lung Chan, Ching-Yi Wu, Yan-Zou Lin, Yo Chiao, Ya-Ju Chang

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Robot-assisted bilateral arm training has demonstrated useful to improve motor control in stroke patients and save human resources. In clinics, the efficiency of this treatment is mostly performed by comparing functional scales before and after rehabilitation. However, most of these assessments are based on behavior evaluation. The underlying improvement of muscle activation and coordination is unknown. Moreover, stroke patients are easier to have muscle fatigue under robot-assisted rehabilitation due to the weakness of muscles. This safety issue is still less studied. In this study, EMG analysis was applied during training. Our preliminary results showed the co-contraction index and co-contraction area index can delineate the improved muscle coordination of biceps brachii vs. flexor carpiradialis. Moreover, the smoothed, normalized cycle-by-cycle median frequency of left and right extensor carpiradialis decreased as the training progress, implying the occurrence of muscle fatigue.

Keywords: robot-assisted rehabilitation, strokes, muscle coordination, muscle fatigue

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Authors: Namwinwelbere Dabire, Eugene C. Ezin, Adandedji M. Firmin

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The prediction of hydrological flows (rainfall-depth or rainfall-discharge) is becoming increasingly important in the management of hydrological risks such as floods. In this study, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network, a state-of-the-art algorithm dedicated to time series, is applied to predict the daily water level of Nokoue Lake in Benin. This paper aims to provide an effective and reliable method enable of reproducing the future daily water level of Nokoue Lake, which is influenced by a combination of two phenomena: rainfall and river flow (runoff from the Ouémé River, the Sô River, the Porto-Novo lagoon, and the Atlantic Ocean). Performance analysis based on the forecasting horizon indicates that LSTM can predict the water level of Nokoué Lake up to a forecast horizon of t+10 days. Performance metrics such as Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), coefficient of correlation (R²), Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) agree on a forecast horizon of up to t+3 days. The values of these metrics remain stable for forecast horizons of t+1 days, t+2 days, and t+3 days. The values of R² and NSE are greater than 0.97 during the training and testing phases in the Nokoué Lake basin. Based on the evaluation indices used to assess the model's performance for the appropriate forecast horizon of water level in the Nokoué Lake basin, the forecast horizon of t+3 days is chosen for predicting future daily water levels.

Keywords: forecasting, long short-term memory cell, recurrent artificial neural network, Nokoué lake

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Authors: Rita Hairani, Warinthorn Chavasiri

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Naphthoquinones are secondary metabolites widespread in nature and can be produced by plants, fungi and actinomycetes. The interest of naphthoquinones is not only limited as organic dyes, but also their wide variety of biological activities such as antitumor, antibacterial, and cytotoxic activities. Typical 1,2-naphthoquinones such as mansonones can be found in Mansonia gagei Drumm. (“chan-cha-mod”), Sterculaceae family. This plant has been used traditionally to treat some diseases such as antiemetic and antidepressant. In this study, some natural mansonones isolated from the CH2Cl2 extract of M. gagei heartwood have been assessed for their antibacterial activities using agar well diffusion method. According to the antibacterial activity results of four natural mansonones (mansonones C, E, G and H), mansonones E and G showed higher activities than the others against Staphylococcus aureus, Propionibacterium acnes and Salmonella typhi, respectively. Since mansonone G exhibited good antibacterial activity and was obtained in the highest yield, we decided to derivertize mansonone G into five ether analogues. Based on the antibacterial activities of these synthesized compounds, four ether analogues (compounds 1-4) revealed higher antibacterial activities than its natural mansonone G against S. aureus and S. typhi.

Keywords: Mansonia gagei Drumm., antibacterial activities, mansonone G, ether analogues

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Authors: Ke Fan, Edwin H. W. Chan

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Economic incentives of green building (GB) have been implemented to promote green building and address the market barriers. However, if developers could gain from the incentives, why not all the buildings are green? This paper aims to study this problem and provide a new perspective to look at the economic incentives. The theories of Transitional Gains Trap (TGP) and Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) are employed to explain the developers’ gains and losses from the economic incentives. This paper takes the GFA (gross floor area) concession incentive in Hong Kong, which is one of the most popular incentives, as the case to conduct in-depth case study and it did interview to validate the results. The results show that after implementing the GFA concession scheme, the benefit of the GFA concession is capitalized into land value. Therefore, developers have to bear the increased land cost, which supports the theory of the TGP. Even though, some developers are still not willing to participate in the incentive scheme because of high transaction costs (TCs).

Keywords: green building, economic incentives, transitional gains trap, transaction cost

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Authors: Gou-Moon Choi, Woo-Young Jung, Chan-Young Yune

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Recently, the natural disaster has increased worldwide. In Korea, the damage to life and property caused by a typhoon, heavy rain, heavy snow, and an extreme wind also increases every year. Among natural disasters, the frequency and the strength of wind have increased because sea surface temperature has risen due to the increase of the average temperature of the Earth. In the case of extreme wind disaster, it is impossible to control or reduce the occurrence, and the recovery cost always exceeds the damage cost. Therefore, quantitative estimation of the damage cost for extreme wind needs to be established beforehand to install proactive countermeasures. In this study, the damage cost for private properties was analyzed based on the data for the past 10 years in Korea. The damage cost curve was also suggested for the metropolitan cities and provinces. The result shows the possibility for the regional application of the damage cost curve because the damage cost of the regional area is estimated based on the cost of cities and provinces.

Keywords: damage cost, extreme wind, natural disaster, private property

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Authors: Edward C. W. Chan, Benny C. F. Cheung

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In the knowledge economy, the financial indicator is not the unique instrument to gauge the performance of a company. The role of intellectual capital contributing to the company performance is increasing. To measure the company performance due to intellectual capital, the value-added intellectual capital (VAIC) model is adopted to measure the intellectual capital utilisation efficiency of the subject companies. The purpose of this study is to review the readiness of measuring intellectual capital for the Hong Kong listed companies in the property development and property investment industry by using VAIC model. This study covers the financial reports from the representative Hong Kong listed property development companies and property investment companies in the period 2014-2019. The findings from this study indicated the industry is ready for IC measurement employing VAIC framework but not yet ready for using the extended VAIC model.

Keywords: intellectual capital, intellectual capital measurement, property development, property investment, Skandia navigator, VAIC

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Authors: John Chan, Jake Linnenbank, Gavin Caird

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Automatic Selective Door Operation (ASDO) systems are increasingly used in railways to provide Correct Side Door Enable (CSDE) protection as well as to protect passenger doors opening off the platform where the train is longer than the platform, or in overshoot or undershoot scenarios. Such ASDO systems typically utilise trackside-installed RFID beacons, such as Eurobalises for odometry positioning purposes. Installing such trackside infrastructure may not be desirable or possible due to various factors such as conflict with existing infrastructure, potential damage from track tamping and jurisdiction constraints. Ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning technology could enable ASDO positioning requirements to be met without requiring installation of equipment directly on track since UWB technology can be installed on adjacent infrastructure such as on platforms. This paper will explore the feasibility of upgrading existing ASDO systems with UWB positioning technology, the feasibility of retrofitting UWB-enabled ASDO systems onto unfitted trains, and any other considerations relating to the use of UWB positioning for ASDO applications.

Keywords: UWB, ASDO, automatic selective door operations, CSDE, correct side door enable

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Authors: Joon-Hyung Kim, Him-Chan Lee, Jin-Hyuk Kim, Yong-Kab Lee, Young-Seok Choi

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The crude oil in an oil well exists in various phases such as gas, seawater, and sand, as well as oil. Therefore, a phase separator is needed at the front of a single-phase pump for pressurization and transfer. On the other hand, the application of a multiphase pump can provide such advantages as simplification of the equipment structure and cost savings, because there is no need for a phase separation process. Therefore, the crude oil transfer method using a multiphase pump is being applied to recently developed oil wells. Due to this increase in demand, technical demands for the development of multiphase pumps are sharply increasing, but the progress of research into related technologies is insufficient, due to the nature of multiphase pumps that require high levels of skills. This study was conducted to verify the reliability of pump performance evaluation using numerical analysis, which is the basis of the development of a multiphase pump. For this study, a model was designed by selecting the specifications of the pump under study. The performance of the designed model was evaluated through numerical analysis and experiment, and the results of the performance evaluation were compared to verify the reliability of the result using numerical analysis.

Keywords: multiphase pump, numerical analysis, experiment, performance evaluation, reliability verification

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Authors: Ki Hyun Park, Hye Min Park, Jeong Ho Kim, Chan Jong Park, Koan Sik Joo

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In the modern days, the use of radioactive substances is on the rise in the areas like chemical weaponry, industrial usage, and power plants. Although there are various technologies available to detect and monitor radioactive substances in the air, the technologies to detect underwater radioactive substances are scarce. In this study, computer simulation of the underwater detection system measuring beta-ray, a radioactive substance, has been done through MCNP. CaF₂, YAP(Ce) and YAG(Ce) have been used in the computer simulation to detect beta-ray as scintillator. Also, the source used in the computer simulation is Sr-90 and Y-90, both of them emitting only pure beta-ray. The distance between the source and the detector was shifted from 1mm to 10mm by 1 mm in the computer simulation. The result indicated that Sr-90 was impossible to measure below 1 mm since its emission energy is low while Y-90 was able to be measured up to 10mm underwater. In addition, the detector designed with CaF₂ had the highest efficiency among 3 scintillators used in the computer simulation. Since it was possible to verify the detectable range and the detection efficiency according to modeling through MCNP simulation, it is expected that such result will reduce the time and cost in building the actual beta-ray detector and evaluating its performances, thereby contributing the research and development.

Keywords: Beta-ray, CaF₂, detector, MCNP simulation, scintillator

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Authors: So-Ra Jeon, Chan Byon

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This study investigates the heat transfer characteristics of aluminum foam heat sink and pin fin heat sink subjected to an impinging air jet under a fixed pumping power condition as well as fixed flow rate condition. The effects of dimensionless pumping power or the Reynolds number and the impinging distance ratio on the Nusselt number are considered. The result shows that the effect of the impinging distance on the Nusselt number is negligible under a fixed pumping power condition, while the Nusselt number increases with decreasing the impinging distance under a fixed pumping power condition. A correlation for the pressure drop is obtained as a function of the flow rate and the impinging distance ratio. And correlations for the stagnation Nusselt number of the impinging jet are developed as a function of the pumping power. The aluminum foam heat sinks did not show higher thermal performance compared to a conventional pin fin heat sink under a fixed pumping power condition.

Keywords: aluminum foam, heat sinks, impinging jet, pumping power

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Authors: Wing Cheuk Chan

Abstract:

It is well-known that Heidegger was highly critical of Sartre’s existential philosophy. In his famous “Letter on Humanism,” Heidegger not only draw a clear cutline between his thinking of Being and Sartre’s existentialism but also introduced a kind of anti-humanism. Such a hostile attitude towards Sartre’sExistentialism as Humanism seems to have created an unbridgeable gap between these them. Indeed, already in his Being and Nothingness, Sartre complained: Heidegger “has completely avoided any appeal to consciousness in his description of Dasein.”In reality, Sartre was mainly faithful to Husserlianphenomenology, in spite of his rejection of Husserl’s idealism. Thanks to the Japanese Buddhist scholar Yoshifumi Ueda’s work on the Old School of Yogācāra Buddhismas represented by Sthiramati and Paramārtha, we learn that in additional to thethesis of transforming vijñāna (knowing consciousness) into jñāna (wisdom), there is an idea of pṛṣṭa-labdha-jñāna (the subsequently acquired wisdom). According to Ueda, the latter is a “non-discriminative discrimination.” This gives rise to a possibility of synthesizing Heidegger’s thinking of Being and Sartre’s existential phenomenology. Structurally, this paper will firstshow that Heidegger focuses on the side of non-discrimination, whereas Sartre concentrates on the side of discrimination. It will then clarify in what sense thateach of them, in itself, remains incomplete. Finally, it will demonstratehow to synthesize them in term of the notion of “non-discriminative discrimination.”

Keywords: heidegger, sartre, phenomenology, yogācāra buddhism

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Authors: Aklilu Alemu, Tak Cheung Chan

Abstract:

Following the intensification of secondary education in the developing world, the attention of Ethiopia has currently shifted to its quality education and its management. This study is aimed to explore experts’ perceptions of quality management challenges in secondary education in Ethiopia. The researchers employed a case study design recruiting participating supervisors from the Ministry of Education, region, zone, wereda, and cluster by using a purposeful sampling technique. Twenty-six interviewees took part in this study. The researchers employed NVivo 8 versions together with a thematic analysis process to analyze the data. This study revealed that major problems that affected quality management practices in Ethiopia were: lack of qualified experts at all levels; lack of accountability in every echelon; the changing nature of teacher education; the ineffectiveness of teacher-licensing programs; and lack of educational budget and the problem of utilizing this limited budget. The study concluded that the experts at different levels were not genuinely fulfilling their roles and responsibilities. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, together with the concerned parties, needs to reconsider budget allocation for secondary education.

Keywords: education quality, Ethiopia, quality challenge, quality management, secondary education

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Authors: Seyedeh Mozhgan Seyed-Talebi, Weng-Kent Chan, Hsin-Yi Tiffany Chen

Abstract:

Lead-free perovskite photovoltaic (PV) technology employing non-toxic tin halide perovskite absorbers is pivotal for advancing perovskite solar cell (PSC) commercialization. Despite challenges posed by perovskite sensitivity to oxygen and humidity, our study utilizes DFT calculations using VASP and NanoDCAL software and SCAPS-1D simulations to elucidate the charge transport mechanism at the interface of CsSnI₃-FASnI₃ heterojunction. Results reveal how inherent electric fields facilitate efficient carrier transport, reducing recombination losses. We predict optimized power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) and highlight the potential of CsSnI3-FASnI3 heterojunctions for cost-effective and efficient charge transport layer-free (CTLF) photovoltaic devices. Our study provides insights into the future direction of recognizing more efficient, nontoxic heterojunction perovskite devices.

Keywords: charge transport layer free, CsSnI₃-FASnI₃ heterojunction, lead-free perovskite solar cell, tin halide perovskite., Charge transport layer free

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Authors: Chan Ka Lok Sobel

Abstract:

The rapid evolution of digital media platforms has given rise to new forms of narrative engagement, particularly through multi-channel storytelling. This research focuses on exploring the teaching pedagogy and effectiveness of multi-channel storytelling for social media, cinema, games, and streaming platforms. The study employs case studies of the popular series "Squid Game" to investigate the diverse pedagogical approaches and strategies used in teaching multi-channel storytelling. Through qualitative research methods, including interviews, surveys, and content analysis, the research assesses the effectiveness of these approaches in terms of student engagement, knowledge acquisition, critical thinking skills, and the development of digital literacy. The findings contribute to understanding best practices for incorporating multi-channel storytelling into educational contexts and enhancing learning outcomes in the digital media landscape.

Keywords: digital literacy, game-based learning, artificial intelligence, animation production, educational technology

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Authors: Shyaka Eugene

Abstract:

The efficient and safe demolition of structures is a critical challenge in civil engineering and construction. This study focuses on the development of optimal demolition strategies by investigating the crack propagation behavior in beams induced by soundless cracking agents. It is commonly used in controlled demolition and has gained prominence due to its non-explosive and environmentally friendly nature. This research employs a comprehensive experimental and computational approach to analyze the crack initiation, propagation, and eventual failure in beams subjected to soundless cracking agents. Experimental testing involves the application of various cracking agents under controlled conditions to understand their effects on the structural integrity of beams. High-resolution imaging and strain measurements are used to capture the crack propagation process. In parallel, numerical simulations are conducted using advanced finite element analysis (FEA) techniques to model crack propagation in beams, considering various parameters such as cracking agent composition, loading conditions, and beam properties. The FEA models are validated against experimental results, ensuring their accuracy in predicting crack propagation patterns. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into optimizing demolition strategies, allowing engineers and demolition experts to make informed decisions regarding the selection of cracking agents, their application techniques, and structural reinforcement methods. Ultimately, this research contributes to enhancing the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of demolition practices in the construction industry, reducing environmental impact and ensuring the protection of adjacent structures and the surrounding environment.

Keywords: expansion pressure, energy release rate, soundless chemical demolition agent, crack propagation

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