Search results for: structural integrity management

Authors: Sawsan J. Al-husseini, Talib A. Dosa

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Educational institutions are today facing increasing pressures due to economic, political and social upheaval. This is only exacerbated by the nature of education as an intangible good which relies upon the intellectual assets of the organisation, its staff. Top management support has been acknowledged as having a positive general influence on knowledge management and creativity. However, there is a lack of models linking top management support, knowledge sharing, and innovation within higher education institutions, in general within developing countries, and particularly in Iraq. This research sought to investigate the impact of top management support on innovation through the mediating role of knowledge sharing in Iraqi private HEIs. A quantitative approach was taken and 262 valid responses were collected to test the causal relationships between top management support, knowledge sharing, and innovation. Employing structural equation modelling with AMOS v.25, the research demonstrated that knowledge sharing plays a pivotal role in the relationship between top management support and innovation. The research has produced some guidelines for researchers as well as leaders, and provided evidence to support the use of knowledge sharing to increase innovation within the higher education environment in developing countries, particularly Iraq.

Keywords: top management support, knowledge sharing, innovation, structural equation modelling

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Authors: Seyed Abdolreza Mosavi, Alireza Babakhan, Elham Sadat Hoseinifard

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Knowledge-based firms need to design mechanisms for continuous absorptive and creation of knowledge in order to ensure their survival in the competitive arena and to follow the path of development. Considering the project-oriented nature of product development activities in knowledge-based firms on the one hand and the importance of analyzing the factors affecting knowledge absorptive capacity in these firms on the other, the purpose of this study is to identify and classify the factors affecting project management practices on absorptive knowledge capacity. For this purpose, we have studied and reviewed the theoretical literature in the field of project management and absorptive knowledge capacity so as to clarify its dimensions and indexes. Then, using the ISM method, the relationship between them has been studied. To collect data, 21 questionnaires were distributed in project-oriented knowledge-based companies. The results of the ISM method analysis provide a model for the relationship between project management activities and knowledge absorptive capacity, which includes knowledge acquisition capacity, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource management, communications management, procurement management, risk management, stakeholders management and integration management. Having conducted the MICMAC analysis, we divided the variables into three groups of independent, relational and dependent variables and came up with no variables to be included in the group of autonomous variables.

Keywords: knowledge absorptive capacity, project management practices, knowledge-based firms, interpretive structural modeling

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Authors: Louk Aourelien Andrianos, Edward Dommen, Athena Peralta

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Greed, as epitomized by overconsumption of natural resources, is at the root of ecological destruction and unsustainability of modern societies. Presently economies rely on unrestricted structural greed which fuels unlimited economic growth, overconsumption, and individualistic competitive behavior. Structural greed undermines the life support system on earth and threatens ecological integrity, social justice and peace. The World Council of Churches (WCC) has developed a program on ecological and economic justice (EEJ) with the aim to promote an economy of life where the economy is embedded in society and society in ecology. This paper aims at analyzing and assessing the economy of life (EcoLife) by offering an empirical tool to measure and monitor the root causes and effects of unsustainability resulting from human greed on global, national, institutional and individual levels. This holistic approach is based on the integrity of ecology and economy in a society founded on justice. The paper will discuss critical questions such as ‘what is an economy of life’ and ‘how to measure and control it from the effect of greed’. A model called GLIMS, which stands for Greed Lines and Indices Measurement System is used to clarify the concept of greed and help measuring the economy of life index by fuzzy logic reasoning. The inputs of the model are from statistical indicators of natural resources consumption, financial realities, economic performance, social welfare and ethical and political facts. The outputs are concrete measures of three primary indices of ecological, economic and socio-political greed (ECOL-GI, ECON-GI, SOCI-GI) and one overall multidimensional economy of life index (EcoLife-I). EcoLife measurement aims to build awareness of an economy life and to address the effects of greed in systemic and structural aspects. It is a tool for ethical diagnosis and policy making.

Keywords: greed line, sustainability indicators, fuzzy logic, eco-justice, World Council of Churches (WCC)

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Authors: Alli Smith Yemisi Rufina, Adanlawo Isaac Gbadura

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Liver disorders are one of the major problems of the world. Despite its frequent occurrence, high morbidity, and high mortality, its medical management is currently inadequate. This study was designed to evaluate the Hepatoprotective effect of saponin extract of the root of Garcinia kola on the integrity of the liver of paracetamol induced Wistar albino rats. Twenty-five male adult Wistar albino rats were divided into five (5) groups. Group I, was the Control group that received distilled water only, group II was the negative control that received 2 g/kg of paracetamol on the 13th day, and group III, IV, and V were pre-treated with 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of the saponin extract before inducing the liver damage on the 13th day with 2 g/kg of paracetamol. Twenty-four hours after administration, the rats were sacrificed, and blood samples were collected. The serum Alanine Transaminase (ALT), Aspartate Transaminase (AST), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activities, Bilirubin and Conjugated Bilirubin, Glucose and Protein concentrations were evaluated. The liver was fixed immediately in Formalin and was processed and stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E). Administration of saponin extract from the root of Garcinia kola significantly decreased paracetamol induced elevated enzymes in the test group. Also, histological observations showed that saponin extract of the root of Garcinia kola exhibited a significant liver protection against the toxicant as evident by the cells trying to return to normal. Saponin extract from the root of Garcinia kola indicated a protection of the structural integrity of the hepatocytic cell membrane and regeneration of the damaged liver.

Keywords: hepatoprotective, liver damage, Garcinia kola, saponin, paracetamol

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Authors: Ramya P, Lino Abraham Varghese, S. Bose

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By cloud storage services, the data can be stored in the cloud, and can be shared across multiple users. Due to the unexpected hardware/software failures and human errors, which make the data stored in the cloud be lost or corrupted easily it affected the integrity of data in cloud. Some mechanisms have been designed to allow both data owners and public verifiers to efficiently audit cloud data integrity without retrieving the entire data from the cloud server. But public auditing on the integrity of shared data with the existing mechanisms will unavoidably reveal confidential information such as identity of the person, to public verifiers. Here a privacy-preserving mechanism is proposed to support public auditing on shared data stored in the cloud. It uses group signatures to compute verification metadata needed to audit the correctness of shared data. The identity of the signer on each block in shared data is kept confidential from public verifiers, who are easily verifying shared data integrity without retrieving the entire file. But on demand, the signer of the each block is reveal to the owner alone. Group private key is generated once by the owner in the static group, where as in the dynamic group, the group private key is change when the users revoke from the group. When the users leave from the group the already signed blocks are resigned by cloud service provider instead of owner is efficiently handled by efficient proxy re-signature scheme.

Keywords: data integrity, dynamic group, group signature, public auditing

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Authors: Aastha Paliwal, H. N. Chanakya, S. Dasappa

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Lignocellulose, as an alternate feedstock for biogas production, has been an active area of research. However, lignocellulose poses a lot of operational difficulties- widespread variation in the structural organization of lignocellulosic matrix, amenability to degradation, low bulk density, to name a few. Amongst these, the low bulk density of the lignocellulosic feedstock is crucial to the process operation and optimization. Low bulk densities render the feedstock floating in conventional liquid/wet digesters. Low bulk densities also restrict the maximum achievable organic loading rate in the reactor, decreasing the power density of the reactor. However, during digestion, lignocellulose undergoes very high compaction (up to 26 times feeding density). This first reduces the achievable OLR (because of low feeding density) and compaction during digestion, then renders the reactor space underutilized and also imposes significant mass transfer limitations. The objective of this paper was to understand the effects of compacting lignocellulose on mass transfer and the influence of loss of different components on the bulk density and hence structural integrity of the digesting lignocellulosic feedstock. 10 different lignocellulosic feedstocks (monocots and dicots) were digested anaerobically in a fed-batch, leach bed reactor -solid-state stratified bed reactor (SSBR). Percolation rates of the recycled bio-digester liquid (BDL) were also measured during the reactor run period to understand the implication of compaction on mass transfer. After 95 ds, in a destructive sampling, lignocellulosic feedstocks digested at different SRT were investigated to quantitate the weekly changes in bulk density and lignocellulosic composition. Further, percolation rate data was also compared to bulk density data. Results from the study indicate loss of hemicellulose (r²=0.76), hot water extractives (r²=0.68), and oxalate extractives (r²=0.64) had dominant influence on changing the structural integrity of the studied lignocellulose during anaerobic digestion. Further, feeding bulk density of the lignocellulose can be maintained between 300-400kg/m³ to achieve higher OLR, and bulk density of 440-500kg/m³ incurs significant mass transfer limitation for high compacting beds of dicots.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, bulk density, feed compaction, lignocellulose, lignocellulosic matrix, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, extractives, mass transfer

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Authors: N. Benkhettoua, Y. Barkata

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We present first-principles studies of structural and thermodynamic properties of MnNi According to the calculated total energies, by using an all-electron full-potential linear muffin–tin orbital method (FP-LMTO) within LDA and the quasi-harmonic Debye model implemented in the Gibbs program is used for the temperature effect on structural and calorific properties.

Keywords: magnetic materials, structural properties, thermodynamic properties, metallurgical and materials engineering

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Authors: F. M. Pisano, M. Ciminello

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Aerospace, mechanical, and civil engineering infrastructures can take advantages from damage detection and identification strategies in terms of maintenance cost reduction and operational life improvements, as well for safety scopes. The challenge is to detect so called “barely visible impact damage” (BVID), due to low/medium energy impacts, that can progressively compromise the structure integrity. The occurrence of any local change in material properties, that can degrade the structure performance, is to be monitored using so called Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems, in charge of comparing the structure states before and after damage occurs. SHM seeks for any "anomalous" response collected by means of sensor networks and then analyzed using appropriate algorithms. Independently of the specific analysis approach adopted for structural damage detection and localization, textual reports, tables and graphs describing possible outlier coordinates and damage severity are usually provided as artifacts to be elaborated for information extraction about the current health conditions of the structure under investigation. Visual Analytics can support the processing of monitored measurements offering data navigation and exploration tools leveraging the native human capabilities of understanding images faster than texts and tables. Herein, a SHM system enrichment by integration of a Visual Analytics component is investigated. Analytical dashboards have been created by combining worksheets, so that a useful Visual Analytics tool is provided to structural analysts for exploring the structure health conditions examined by a Principal Component Analysis based algorithm.

Keywords: interactive dashboards, optical fibers, structural health monitoring, visual analytics

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Authors: Chrysanthos Maraveas, Argiris Plesias, Garyfalia G. Triantafyllou, Konstantinos Petronikolos

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The current paper presents a structural assessment and proposals for retrofit of the National Youth Foundation Building, an existing reinforced concrete (RC) building in the city of Igoumenitsa, Greece. The building is scheduled to be renovated in order to create a Municipal Cultural Center. The bearing capacity and structural integrity have been investigated in relation to the provisions and requirements of the Greek Retrofitting Code (KAN.EPE.) and European Standards (Eurocodes). The capacity of the existing concrete structure that makes up the two central buildings in the complex (buildings II and IV) has been evaluated both in its present form and after including several proposed architectural interventions. The structural system consists of spatial frames of columns and beams that have been simulated using beam elements. Some RC elements of the buildings have been strengthened in the past by means of concrete jacketing and have had cracks sealed with epoxy injections. Static-nonlinear analysis (Pushover) has been used to assess the seismic performance of the two structures with regard to performance level B1 from KAN.EPE. Retrofitting scenarios are proposed for the two buildings, including type Λ steel bracings and placement of concrete shear walls in the transverse direction in order to achieve the design-specification deformation in each applicable situation, improve the seismic performance, and reduce the number of interventions required.

Keywords: earthquake resistance, pushover analysis, reinforced concrete, retrofit, strengthening

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Authors: D. Jagath Kumari, K. Srinivasa Rao

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Reinforced concrete column is an important structural element in a building. Concrete usually performs well in building fires. However, when it is subjected to prolonged fire exposure or unusually high temperatures, and then it will suffer significant distress. Because concrete pre-fire compressive strength generally exceeds design requirements, therefore an average strength reduction can be tolerated. However high temperature reduces the compressive strength of concrete so much that the concrete retains no useful structural strength. Therefore the residual strength and its performance of structure can be assed by NDT testing. In this paper, rebound hammer test and the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) are used to evaluate the residual compressive strength and material integrity of post-fire-curing concrete subjected to elevated temperatures. Also considering the large availability of fly ash in most of the countries, an attempt was made to study the effect of high volume fly ash concrete exposed to elevated temperatures. 32 RC column specimens were made with a M20 grade concrete mix. Out of 32 column specimens 16 column specimens were made with OPC concrete and other 16 column specimens were made with HVFA concrete. All specimens having similar cross-section details. Columns were exposed to fire for temperatures from 100oC to 800o C with increments of 100o C for duration of 3 hours. Then the specimens allowed cooling to room temperature by two methods natural air cooling method and immediate water quenching method. All the specimens were tested identically, for the compressive strengths and material integrity by rebound hammer and ultrasonic pulse velocity meter respectively for study. These two tests were carried out on preheating and post heating of the column specimens. The percentage variation of compressive strengths of RCC columns with the increase in temperature has been studied and compared the results for both OPC and HVFA concretes. Physical observations of the heated columns were observed.

Keywords: HVFA concrete, NDT testing, residual strength

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Authors: Zineb Touati Hamad, Mohamed Ridda Laouar, Issam Bendib

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With the massive development of technology today, the Arabic language has gained a prominent position among the languages most used for writing articles, expressing opinions, and also for citing in many websites, defying its growing sensitivity in terms of structure, language skills, diacritics, writing methods, etc. In the context of the spread of the Arabic language, the Holy Quran represents the most prevalent Arabic text today in many applications and websites for citation purposes or for the reading and learning rituals. The Quranic verses / surahs are published quickly and without cost, which may cause great concern to ensure the safety of the content from tampering and alteration. To protect the content of texts from distortion, it is necessary to refer to the original database and conduct a comparison process to extract the percentage of distortion. The disadvantage of this method is that it takes time, in addition to the lack of any guarantee on the integrity of the database itself as it belongs to one central party. Blockchain technology today represents the best way to maintain immutable content. Blockchain is a distributed database that stores information in blocks linked to each other through encryption, where the modification of each block can be easily known. To exploit these advantages, we seek in this paper to justify the use of this technique in preserving the integrity of Arabic texts sensitive to change by building a decentralized framework to authenticate and verify the integrity of the digital Quranic verses/surahs spread on websites.

Keywords: arabic text, authentication, blockchain, integrity, quran, verification

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Authors: M. Aruna, Uma Gunasilan

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Hospitals play an ample role in securing the health of a country. Nevertheless, they also have an unhealthy side. Ecological issues strengthen ill-health throughout the domain which subsequently puts pressure on hospital supply chains. Medical waste indeed is hazardous for environment and subsequently for human. The hospital waste management is of immense prominence due to its infectious and hazardous nature that can source many effects on human health and the environment. Government regulations and public cognizance regarding hospital waste issues have imposed hospital units to admit these strategies. The innovative technologies and instruments have been developed to handle hospital wastes. Green supply chain management practices are common in the United States. In India, Green Supply Chain management (GSCM) has just started to be recognized and practiced. GSCM are green, integrated and ecologically optimized. In Green supply chain management environmental sustainability is found to be an important driver. Eleven barriers are identified in this work. Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) technique is used for ranking the obstructions.

Keywords: green supply chain management (GSCM), hospital waste management (HWM), interpretive structural modeling (ISM), medical waste (MW)

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Authors: Wichian Sriprachan, Chutikarn Sriviboon

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The objectives of this research were to study the management of local towns and to develop a better model of town management according to the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy. This study utilized qualitative research, field research, as well as documentary research at the same time. A total of 10 local towns or Tambons of Supanburi province, Thailand were selected for an in-depth interview. The findings revealed that the model of local town management according to Philosophy of Sufficient Economy was in a level of “good” and the model of management has the five basic guidelines: 1) ability to manage budget information and keep it up-to-date, 2) ability to decision making according to democracy rules, 3) ability to use check and balance system, 4) ability to control, follow, and evaluation, and 5) ability to allow the general public to participate. In addition, the findings also revealed that the human resource management according to Philosophy of Sufficient Economy includes obeying laws, using proper knowledge, and having integrity in five areas: plan, recruit, select, train, and maintain human resources.

Keywords: management, local town (Tambon), principles of sufficiency economy, marketing management

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Authors: Joana Mourão

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Transition to a low carbon economy requires changes in consumption and production patterns, including the improvement of existing buildings’ environmental performance. Urban rehabilitation is a top policy priority in Europe, creating an opportunity to increase this performance. However, urban rehabilitation comprises different typologies of interventions with distinct levels of consideration for cultural urban heritage values and for environmental values, thus with different impacts. Cities rely on both material and non-material forms of heritage that are deep-rooted and resilient. One of the most relevant parts of that urban heritage is the historical pre-industrial housing stock, with an extensive presence in many European cities, as Lisbon. This stock is rehabilitated and transformed at the framework of urban management and local governance traditions, as well as the framework of the global economy, and in that context, faces opportunities and threats that need evaluation and control. The scope of this article is to define methodological bases and research lines for the assessment of impacts that urban rehabilitation initiatives set on the vulnerable and historical pre-industrial urban housing stock, considering it as an environmental and cultural unreplaceable material value and resource. As a framework, this article reviews the concepts of urban regeneration, urban renewal, current buildings conservation and refurbishment, and energy refurbishment of buildings, seeking to define key typologies of urban rehabilitation that represent different approaches to the urban fabric, in terms of scope, actors, and priorities. Moreover, main types of interventions - basing on a case-study in a XVIII century neighborhood in Lisbon - are defined and analyzed in terms of the elements lost in each type of intervention, and relating those to urbanistic, architectonic and constructive values of urban heritage, as well as to environmental and energy efficiency. Further, the article overviews environmental cultural heritage assessment and life-cycle assessment tools, selecting relevant and feasible impact assessment criteria for urban buildings rehabilitation regulation, focusing on multi-level urban heritage integrity. Urbanistic, architectonic, constructive and energetic integrity are studied as criteria for impact assessment and specific indicators are proposed. The role of these criteria in sustainable urban management is discussed. Throughout this article, the key challenges for urban rehabilitation planning and management, concerning urban built heritage as a resource for sustainability, are discussed and clarified.

Keywords: urban rehabilitation, impact assessment criteria, buildings integrity, embodied energy

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Authors: R. M. Chandima Ratnayake, Daniel Dyakov

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Super steel materials play vital role in construction and fabrication of structural, piping and pipeline components. They enable to minimize the life cycle costs in assuring the integrity of onshore and offshore operating systems. In this context, Duplex stainless steel (DSS) material related welding on constructions and fabrications play a significant role in maintaining and assuring integrity at an optimal expenditure over the life cycle of production and process systems as well as associated structures. In DSS welding, the factors such as gap geometry, shielding gas supply rate, welding current, and type of the welding process play a vital role on the final joint performance. Hence, an experimental investigation has been performed using engineering robust design approach (ERDA) to investigate the optimal settings that generate optimal super DSS (i.e. UNS S32750) joint performance. This manuscript illustrates the mathematical approach and experimental design, optimal parameter settings and results of verification experiment.

Keywords: duplex stainless steel welding, engineering robust design, mathematical framework, optimal parameter settings

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Authors: Tejinder Singh

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Information system is the flow of data from different levels to different directions for decision making and data operations in information system (IS). Data can be violated by different manner like manual or technical errors, data tampering or loss of integrity. Security system called firewall of IS is effected by such type of violations. The flow of data among various levels of Information System is done by networking system. The flow of data on network is in form of packets or frames. To protect these packets from unauthorized access, virus attacks, and to maintain the integrity level, network security is an important factor. To protect the data to get pirated, various security techniques are used. This paper represents the various security techniques and signifies different harmful attacks with the help of detailed data analysis. This paper will be beneficial for the organizations to make the system more secure, effective, and beneficial for future decisions making.

Keywords: information systems, data integrity, TCP/IP network, vulnerability, decision, data

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Authors: N. Hedayat, E. Karamifar

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Sustainable food and fiber production is emerging as an irresistible option in agrarian planning. Although one should not underestimate the successes of the Green Revolution in enhancing crop production, its adverse environmental and ecosystem consequences have also been remarkable. The aim of this paper is to identify ways of improving crop production to ensure agricultural sustainability and environmental integrity. Systematic observations are used for data collection on intensive farming, deforestation and the environmental implications of industrial pollutants on agricultural sustainability at national and international levels. These were achieved within a comparative analytical model of data interpretation. Results show that while multiple factors enhance yield, they have a simultaneous effect in undermining the ecosystem and environmental integrity. Results show that application of excessive agrichemical have been one of the major cause of polluting the surface and underground water bodies as well as soil layers in affected croplands. Results consider rapid deforestation in the tropical regions has been the underlying cause of impairing the integrity of biodiversity and oxygen-generation regime. These, coupled with production of greenhouse gasses, have contributed to global warming and hydrological irregularities. Continuous production of pollutants and effluents has affected marine and land biodiversity arising from acid rains generated by modern farming and deforestation. Continuous production of greenhouse gases has also been instrumental in affecting climatic behavior manifested in recurring draughts and contraction of lakes and ponds as well as emergence of potential flooding of waterways and floodplains in the future.

Keywords: agricultural sustainability, environmental integrity, pollution, eco-system

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Authors: Antonio Pizzarello, Oris Friesen

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Networks, such as the electric power grid, must demonstrate exemplary performance and integrity. Integrity depends on the quality of both the system design model and the deployed software. Integrity of the deployed software is key, for both the original versions and the many that occur throughout numerous maintenance activity. Current software engineering technology and practice do not produce adequate integrity. Distributed systems utilize networks where each node is an independent computer system. The connections between them is realized via a network that is normally redundantly connected to guarantee the presence of a path between two nodes in the case of failure of some branch. Furthermore, at each node, there is software which may fail. Self-stabilizing protocols are usually present that recognize failure in the network and perform a repair action that will bring the node back to a correct state. These protocols first introduced by E. W. Dijkstra are currently present in almost all Ethernets. Super stabilization protocols capable of reacting to a change in the network topology due to the removal or addition of a branch in the network are less common but are theoretically defined and available. This paper describes how to use the Software Integrity Assessment (SIA) methodology to analyze self-stabilizing software. SIA is based on the UNITY formalism for parallel and distributed programming, which allows the analysis of code for verifying the progress property p leads-to q that describes the progress of all computations starting in a state satisfying p to a state satisfying q via the execution of one or more system modules. As opposed to demonstrably inadequate test and evaluation methods SIA allows the analysis and verification of any network self-stabilizing software as well as any other software that is designed to recover from failure without external intervention of maintenance personnel. The model to be analyzed is obtained by automatic translation of the system code to a transition system that is based on the use of the weakest precondition.

Keywords: network, power grid, self-stabilization, software integrity assessment, UNITY, weakest precondition

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Authors: Jordan Fallow

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Service and advocacy organisations that serve refugee populations are often staffed by a large percentage of former refugees themselves, and this carries a number of implications for refugee rights, specifically economic and social rights. This paper makes an argument for the importance of introducing an understanding of intersectionality theory into organizations who provide services to and employ, refugee staff. The benefits of this are threefold; on an individual level it reduces the risks of burn out, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue while increasing employee satisfaction and development, at an organizational level services become more effective, and at a systems level it helps reduce structural violence, which may itself have been a contributing factor in the movement of refugee staff from their origin countries. In support of this argument, a case study of an Australian settlement services organization is provided. Mixed methods research, utilising both qualitative and quantitative data, measured the perceived efficacy of diversity management tools at the organization and the impact this had on staff performance, retention and wellbeing. The paper also draws on strategic human resource and reward management, diversity management, international development and intersectionality texts.

Keywords: structural violence, employment, human resource management, intersectionality

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Authors: Tabti Lahouaria, Kahlouche Salem, Benadda Belkacem, Beldjilali Bilal

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The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) provides an augmentation signal to GPS (Global Positioning System) single point positioning. Presently EGNOS provides data correction and integrity information using the GPS L1 (1575.42 MHz) frequency band. The main objective of this system is to provide a better real-time positioning precision than using GPS only. They are expected to be used with single-frequency code observations. EGNOS offers navigation performance for an open service (OS), in terms of precision and availability this performance gradually degrades as moving away from the service area. For accurate system performance, the service will become less and less available as the user moves away from the EGNOS service. The improvement in position solution is investigated using the two collocated dual frequency GPS, where no EGNOS Ranging and Integrity Monitoring Station (RIMS) exists. One of the pseudo-range was kept as GPS stand-alone and the other was corrected by EGNOS to estimate the planimetric and altimetric precision for different dates. It is found that precision in position improved significantly in the second due to EGNOS correction. The performance of EGNOS system in the north of Algeria is also investigated in terms of integrity. The results show that the horizontal protection level (HPL) value is below 18.25 meters (95%) and the vertical protection level (VPL) is below 42.22 meters (95 %). These results represent good integrity information transmitted by EGNOS for APV I service. This service is thus compliant with the aviation requirements for Approaches with Vertical Guidance (APV-I), which is characterised by 40 m HAL (horizontal alarm limit) and 50 m VAL (vertical alarm limit).

Keywords: EGNOS, GPS, positioning, integrity, protection level

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Authors: Tanvir Hasan, Minhaz Uddin, Anwar Sadat Anik

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A pressurizer is a safety-related reactor component that maintains the reactor operating pressure to guarantee safety. Its structure is usually made of high thermal and pressure resistive material. The mechanical structure of these components should be maintained in all working settings, including transient to severe accidents conditions. The goal of this study is to examine the structural integrity and stress of the pressurizer in order to ensure its design integrity towards transient situations. For this, the finite element method (FEM) was used to analyze the mechanical stress on pressurizer components in this research. ANSYS MECHANICAL tool was used to analyze a 3D model of the pressurizer. The material for the body and safety relief nozzle is selected as low alloy steel i.e., SA-508 Gr.3 Cl.2. The model was put into ANSYS WORKBENCH and run under the boundary conditions of (internal Pressure, -17.2 MPa, inside radius, -1348mm, the thickness of the shell, -127mm, and the ratio of the outside radius to an inside radius, - 1.059). The theoretical calculation was done using the formulas and then the results were compared with the simulated results. When stimulated at design conditions, the findings revealed that the pressurizer stress analysis completely fulfilled the ASME standards.

Keywords: pressurizer, stress analysis, finite element method, nuclear reactor

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Authors: Efstratios Karavasilis, Foteini Christidi, Georgios Velonakis, Agapi Plousi, Kalliopi Platoni, Nikolaos Kelekis, Ioannis Evdokimidis, Efstathios Efstathopoulos

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Introduction: Advanced structural and functional neuroimaging techniques contribute to the study of anatomical and functional brain connectivity and its role in the pathophysiology and symptoms’ heterogeneity in several neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Aim: In the present study, we applied multiparametric neuroimaging techniques to investigate the structural and functional cortico-cerebellar changes in MS patients. Material: We included 51 MS patients (28 with clinically isolated syndrome [CIS], 31 with relapsing-remitting MS [RRMS]) and 51 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) who underwent MRI in a 3.0T MRI scanner. Methodology: The acquisition protocol included high-resolution 3D T1 weighted, diffusion-weighted imaging and echo planar imaging sequences for the analysis of volumetric, tractography and functional resting state data, respectively. We performed between-group comparisons (CIS, RRMS, HC) using CAT12 and CONN16 MATLAB toolboxes for the analysis of volumetric (cerebellar gray matter density) and functional (cortico-cerebellar resting-state functional connectivity) data, respectively. Brainance suite was used for the analysis of tractography data (cortico-cerebellar white matter integrity; fractional anisotropy [FA]; axial and radial diffusivity [AD; RD]) to reconstruct the cerebellum tracts. Results: Patients with CIS did not show significant gray matter (GM) density differences compared with HC. However, they showed decreased FA and increased diffusivity measures in cortico-cerebellar tracts, and increased cortico-cerebellar functional connectivity. Patients with RRMS showed decreased GM density in cerebellar regions, decreased FA and increased diffusivity measures in cortico-cerebellar WM tracts, as well as a pattern of increased and mostly decreased functional cortico-cerebellar connectivity compared to HC. The comparison between CIS and RRMS patients revealed significant GM density difference, reduced FA and increased diffusivity measures in WM cortico-cerebellar tracts and increased/decreased functional connectivity. The identification of decreased WM integrity and increased functional cortico-cerebellar connectivity without GM changes in CIS and the pattern of decreased GM density decreased WM integrity and mostly decreased functional connectivity in RRMS patients emphasizes the role of compensatory mechanisms in early disease stages and the disintegration of structural and functional networks with disease progression. Conclusions: In conclusion, our study highlights the added value of multimodal neuroimaging techniques for the in vivo investigation of cortico-cerebellar brain changes in neurodegenerative disorders. An extension and future opportunity to leverage multimodal neuroimaging data inevitably remain the integration of such data in the recently-applied mathematical approaches of machine learning algorithms to more accurately classify and predict patients’ disease course.

Keywords: advanced neuroimaging techniques, cerebellum, MRI, multiple sclerosis

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Authors: Kavish Kejriwal, Richa Grover

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Consumer awareness and pending legislation have pushed environmental issues into the spotlight, making it imperative for organizations to have a plan of action for “going green.” This is the reason why Green Supply Chain Management has become the integral part of many organization with a goal to reduce cost, increase efficiency and be environmental friendly. Implementation of GSCM involves many factors which act as barriers, making it a tedious task. These barriers have different relationship among themselves creating different impact on implementation Green Supply Chain Management. This work focuses on determining those barriers which have essentially to be removed in the initial stages of GSCM adoption. In this work, the author has taken the case of a petroleum industry in order to come up with a solution. A DEMATEL approach is used to reach the solution.

Keywords: barriers, environment, green supply chain management, impact, interpretive structural modeling

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Authors: Khlif Hamadi

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Customer Relationship Management has become the main interest of researchers and practitioners especially in the domains of Management and Information Systems (IS). This paper is an overview of success factors that could facilitate successful adoption of CRM. There are 2 factors: the organizational climate and the capacity for innovation. The survey was developed with 200 CRM users. Empirical research is in the positivist paradigm based on the hypothetico-deductive method. Indeed, the approach adopted is the quantitative approach based on a questionnaire complied by Tunisian companies operating in different sectors of activity. For the data analyses, the structural equations method was used to conduct our exploratory and confirmatory analysis. The results revealed that the creative organizational climate and high innovation capacity positively influence the success of CRM practice.

Keywords: CRM practices, innovation capacity, organizational climate, the structural equation

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: S. Subrmanian, A. Siva, R. Raghul

Abstract:

In modern construction industry, usage of cold form composite slab has its scope widely due to its light weight, high structural properties and economic factor. To enhance the structural integrity, mechanical interlocking or frictional interlocking was introduced. The role of mechanical interlocking or frictional interlocking is to increase the longitudinal shear between the profiled sheet and concrete. This paper deals with the experimental evaluation of three types of mechanical interlocking devices namely normal stud shear connector, J-Type shear connector, U-Type shear connector. An attempt was made to evolve the shear connector which can be suitable for the composite slab as an interlocking device. Totally six number of composite slabs have been experimented with three types of shear connectors and comparison study is made. The outcome was compared with numerical model was created by ABAQUS software and analyzed for comparative purpose. The result was U-Type shear connector provided better performance and resistance.

Keywords: composite slabs, shear connector, end slip, longitudinal shear

Procedia PDF Downloads 303

Authors: Dongchuan Su, Hai Xie, Naibin Jiang

Abstract:

Under severe accident cases, the nuclear reactor core may meltdown inside the lower head of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). Retaining the melt pool inside the RPV is an important strategy of severe accident management. During this process, the inner wall of the lower head will be heated to high temperature of a thousand centigrade, and the outer wall is immersed in a large amount of cooling water. The material of the lower head will have serious creep damage under the high temperature and the temperature difference, and this produces a great threat to the integrity of the RPV. In this paper, the ANSYS program is employed to build the finite element method (FEM) model of the lower head, the creep phenomena is simulated under the severe accident case, the time dependent strain and stress distribution is obtained, the creep damage of the lower head is investigated, the integrity of the RPV is evaluated and the theoretical basis is provided for the optimized design and safety assessment of the RPV.

Keywords: severe accident, lower head of RPV, creep, FEM

Procedia PDF Downloads 210

Authors: Khalid Kaddoura, Ahmed Assad, Tarek Zayed

Abstract:

Sewer pipelines are prone to deterioration over-time. In fact, their deterioration does not follow a fixed downward pattern. This is in fact due to the defects that propagate through their service life. Sewer pipeline defects are categorized into distinct groups. However, the main two groups are the structural and operational defects. By definition, the structural defects influence the structural integrity of the sewer pipelines such as deformation, cracks, fractures, holes, etc. However, the operational defects are the ones that affect the flow of the sewer medium in the pipelines such as: roots, debris, attached deposits, infiltration, etc. Yet, the process for each defect to emerge follows a cause and effect relationship. Deformation, which is the change of the sewer pipeline geometry, is one type of an influencing defect that could be found in many sewer pipelines due to many surrounding factors. This defect could lead to collapse if the percentage exceeds 15%. Therefore, it is essential to predict the deformation percentage before confronting such a situation. Accordingly, this study will predict the percentage of the deformation defect in sewer pipelines adopting the multiple regression analysis. Several factors will be considered in establishing the model, which are expected to influence the defamation defect severity. Besides, this study will construct a time-based curve to understand how the defect would evolve overtime. Thus, this study is expected to be an asset for decision-makers as it will provide informative conclusions about the deformation defect severity. As a result, inspections will be minimized and so the budgets.

Keywords: deformation, prediction, regression analysis, sewer pipelines

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Samuel Owoade, Zainab Idowu, Idris Ajibade, Abel Uzoka

Abstract:

Cloud computing adoption continues to soar, with 83% of enterprise workloads estimated to be in the cloud by 2022. However, this rapid migration raises security concerns, needing strong security management solutions to safeguard sensitive data and essential applications. This paper investigates the critical role of technical project managers in orchestrating security management initiatives for cloud environments, evaluating their responsibilities, challenges, and best practices for assuring the resilience and integrity of cloud infrastructures. Drawing from a comprehensive review of industry reports and interviews with cloud security experts, this research highlights the multifaceted landscape of security management in cloud environments. Despite the rapid adoption of cloud services, only 25% of organizations have matured their cloud security practices, indicating a pressing need for effective management strategies. This paper proposes a strategy framework adapted to the demands of technical project managers, outlining the important components of effective cloud security management. Notably, 76% of firms identify misconfiguration as a major source of cloud security incidents, underlining the significance of proactive risk assessment and constant monitoring. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the importance of technical project managers in facilitating cross-functional collaboration, bridging the gap between cybersecurity professionals, cloud architects, compliance officers, and IT operations teams. With 68% of firms seeing difficulties integrating security policies into their cloud systems, effective communication and collaboration are critical to success. Case studies from industry leaders illustrate the practical use of security management projects in cloud settings. These examples demonstrate the importance of technical project managers in using their expertise to address obstacles and generate meaningful outcomes, with 92% of firms reporting improved security practices after implementing proactive security management tactics. In conclusion, this research underscores the critical role of technical project managers in safeguarding cloud environments against evolving threats. By embracing their role as guardians of the cloud realm, project managers can mitigate risks, optimize resource utilization, and uphold the trust and integrity of cloud infrastructures in an era of digital transformation.

Keywords: cloud security, security management, technical project management, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, risk management, compliance

Procedia PDF Downloads 30

Authors: Sireen Irsheid, Stephanie Keeney Parks, Michael A. Lindsey

Abstract:

The medical and mental health field have been organized as reactive systems to respond to symptoms of mental health problems and disability. This becomes problematic particularly for those harmed by structural violence and racism, typically pushing us in the direction of alleviating symptoms and personalizing structural problems. The current paper examines how we assess, diagnose, and treat mental health and disability challenges in clinical spaces. We provide the readers with some context to think about the problem of racism and mental health/disability, ways to deconstruct the problem through the lens of structural violence, and recommendations to critically engage in clinical assessments, diagnosis, and treatment for young people impacted by structural violence and racism.

Keywords: mental health, disability, race and ethnicity, structural violence, structural racism, young people

Procedia PDF Downloads 31

Authors: Roman Kalvin, Anam Nadeem, Saba Arif

Abstract:

Turbocharger is a device that is driven by the turbine and increases efficiency and power output of the engine by forcing external air into the combustion chamber. This study focused on the distribution of stress on the turbine blades and total deformation that may occur during its working along with turbocharger to carry out its static structural analysis of turbine blades. Structural steel was selected as the material for turbocharger. Assembly of turbocharger and turbine blades was designed on PRO ENGINEER. Furthermore, the structural analysis is performed by using ANSYS. This research concluded that by using structural steel, the efficiency of engine is improved and by increasing number of turbine blades, more waste heat from combustion chamber is emitted.

Keywords: turbocharger, turbine blades, structural steel, ANSYS

Procedia PDF Downloads 222