Search results for: residue number system

Authors: Yamina Boukari, Nashiru Billa, Andrew Morris, Stephen Doughty, Kevin Shakesheff

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Poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) is a synthetic polymer that can be used in bone tissue engineering with the aim of creating a scaffold in order to support the growth of cells. The formation of microspheres from this polymer is an attractive strategy that would allow for the development of an injectable system, hence avoiding invasive surgical procedures. The aim of this study was to develop a microsphere delivery system for use as an injectable scaffold in bone tissue engineering and evaluate various formulation parameters on its properties. Porous and lysozyme-containing PLGA microspheres were prepared using the double emulsion solvent evaporation method from various molecular weights (MW). Scaffolds were formed by sintering to contain 1 -3mg of lysozyme per gram of scaffold. The mechanical and physical properties of the scaffolds were assessed along with the release of lysozyme, which was used as a model protein. The MW of PLGA was found to have an influence on microsphere size during fabrication, with increased MW leading to an increased microsphere diameter. An inversely proportional relationship was displayed between PLGA MW and mechanical strength of formed scaffolds across loadings for low, intermediate and high MW respectively. Lysozyme release from both microspheres and formed scaffolds showed an initial burst release phase, with both microspheres and scaffolds fabricated using high MW PLGA showing the lowest protein release. Following the initial burst phase, the profiles for each MW followed a similar slow release over 30 days. Overall, the results of this study demonstrate that lysozyme can be successfully incorporated into porous PLGA scaffolds and released over 30 days in vitro, and that varying the MW of the PLGA can be used as a method of altering the physical properties of the resulting scaffolds.

Keywords: bone, microspheres, PLGA, tissue engineering

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Authors: M. E. Abou-Hashem El Dib, M. K. Swailem, M. M. Metwally, A. I. El Awady

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The present work illustrates a parametric study for the effect of stiffeners on the performance of slender built up steel I-columns. To achieve the desired analysis, finite element technique is used to develop nonlinear three-dimensional models representing the investigated columns. The finite element program (ANSYS 13.0) is used as a calculation tool for the necessary nonlinear analysis. A validation of the obtained numerical results is achieved. The considered parameters in the study are the column slenderness ratio and the horizontal stiffener's dimensions as well as the number of stiffeners. The dimensions of the stiffeners considered in the analysis are the stiffener width and the stiffener thickness. Numerical results signify a considerable effect of stiffeners on the performance and failure load of slender built up steel I-columns.

Keywords: columns, local buckling, slender, stiffener, thin walled section

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Authors: Kelly F. Delgado-De Agrela, Sonia E. Ruiz, Marco A. Santos-Santiago

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An approach is proposed for the design of regular buildings equipped with non-linear viscous dissipating devices. The approach is based on a direct-displacement seismic design method which satisfies seismic performance objectives. The global system involved is formed by structural regular moment frames capable of supporting gravity and lateral loads with elastic response behavior plus a set of non-linear viscous dissipating devices which reduce the structural seismic response. The dampers are characterized by two design parameters: (1) a positive real exponent α which represents the non-linearity of the damper, and (2) the damping coefficient C of the device, whose constitutive force-velocity law is given by F=Cvᵃ, where v is the velocity between the ends of the damper. The procedure is carried out using a substitute structure. Two limits states are verified: serviceability and near collapse. The reduction of the spectral ordinates by the additional damping assumed in the design process and introduced to the structure by the viscous non-linear dampers is performed according to a damping reduction factor. For the design of the non-linear damper system, the real velocity is considered instead of the pseudo-velocity. The proposed design methodology is applied to an 8-story steel moment frame building equipped with non-linear viscous dampers, located in intermediate soil zone of Mexico City, with a dominant period Tₛ = 1s. In order to validate the approach, nonlinear static analyses and nonlinear time history analyses are performed.

Keywords: based design, direct-displacement based design, non-linear viscous dampers, performance design

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Authors: Muhammad Naeem, Abdulrahman A. Al-Rabiah, Wasif Mughees

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Technical mixture of C4 containing 1-butene and n-butane are very close to each other with regard to their boiling points i.e. -6.3°C for 1-butene and -1°C for n-butane. Extractive distillation process is used for the separation of 1-butene from the existing mixture of C4. The solvent is the essential of extractive distillation, and an appropriate solvent plays an important role in the process economy of extractive distillation. Aspen Plus has been applied for the separation of these hydrocarbons as a simulator. Moreover, NRTL activity coefficient model was used in the simulation. This model indicated that the material balances in this separation process were accurate for several solvent flow rates. Mixture of acetonitrile and water used as a solvent and 99% pure 1-butene was separated. This simulation proposed the ratio of the feed to solvent as 1: 7.9 and 15 plates for the solvent recovery column. Previously feed to solvent ratio was more than this and the number of proposed plates were 30, which shows that the separation process can be economized.

Keywords: extractive distillation, 1-butene, aspen plus, ACN solvent

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Authors: Johns Paul, Santhosh J. Nalluveettil, P. Purushothaman, M. Premdas

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Lunar landing is one of the most critical phases of lunar mission. The lander is provided with a soft landing system to prevent structural damage of lunar module by absorbing the landing shock and also assure stability during landing. Presently available software are not capable to simulate the rigid body dynamics coupled with contact simulation and elastic/plastic deformation analysis. Hence a separate mathematical model has been generated for studying the dynamics of a typical lunar soft lander. Parameters used in the analysis includes lunar surface slope, coefficient of friction, initial touchdown velocity (vertical and horizontal), mass and moment of inertia of lander, crushing force due to energy absorbing material in the legs, number of legs and geometry of lander. The mathematical model is capable to simulate plastic and elastic deformation of honey comb, frictional force between landing leg and lunar soil, surface contact simulation, lunar gravitational force, rigid body dynamics and linkage dynamics of inverted tripod landing gear. The non linear differential equations generated for studying the dynamics of lunar lander is solved by numerical method. Matlab programme has been used as a computer tool for solving the numerical equations. The position of each kinematic joint is defined by mathematical equations for the generation of equation of motion. All hinged locations are defined by position vectors with respect to body fixed coordinate. The vehicle rigid body rotations and motions about body coordinate are only due to the external forces and moments arise from footpad reaction force due to impact, footpad frictional force and weight of vehicle. All these force are mathematically simulated for the generation of equation of motion. The validation of mathematical model is done by two different phases. First phase is the validation of plastic deformation of crushable elements by employing conservation of energy principle. The second phase is the validation of rigid body dynamics of model by simulating a lander model in ADAMS software after replacing the crushable elements to elastic spring element. Simulation of plastic deformation along with rigid body dynamics and contact force cannot be modeled in ADAMS. Hence plastic element of primary strut is replaced with a spring element and analysis is carried out in ADAMS software. The same analysis is also carried out using the mathematical model where the simulation of honeycomb crushing is replaced by elastic spring deformation and compared the results with ADAMS analysis. The rotational motion of linkages and 6 degree of freedom motion of lunar Lander about its CG can be validated by ADAMS software by replacing crushing element to spring element. The model is also validated by the drop test results of 4 leg lunar lander. This paper presents the details of mathematical model generated and its validation.

Keywords: honeycomb, landing leg tripod, lunar lander, primary link, secondary link

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Authors: Ambeck Celyne Tebid, Harry S. Rampa

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The South African Education system recognises the need for all learners including those experiencing learning difficulties, to have access to a single unified system of education. For teachers to be pedagogically responsive to an increasingly diverse learner population without appropriate support has been proven to be unrealistic. As such, this has considerably hampered interest amongst teachers, especially those at the foundation phase to work within an Inclusive Education (IE) and training system. This qualitative study aimed at investigating foundation phase teachers’ experiences of school-based support teams (SBSTs) in two Full-Service (inclusive schools) and one Mainstream public primary school in the Gauteng province of South Africa; with particular emphasis on finding ways to supporting them, since teachers claimed they were not empowered in their initial training to teach learners experiencing learning difficulties. Hence, SBSTs were created at school levels to fill this gap thereby, supporting teaching and learning by identifying and addressing learners’, teachers’ and schools’ needs. With the notion that IE may be failing because of systemic reasons, this study uses Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecosystemic as well as Piaget’s (1980) maturational theory to examine the nature of support and experiences amongst teachers taking individual and systemic factors into consideration. Data was collected using in-depth, face-to-face interviews, document analysis and observation with 6 foundation phase teachers drawn from 3 different schools, 3 SBST coordinators, and 3 school principals. Data was analysed using the phenomenological data analysis method. Amongst the findings of the study is that South African full- service and mainstream schools have functional SBSTs which render formal and informal support to the teachers; this support varies in quality depending on the socio-economic status of the relevant community where the schools are situated. This paper, however, argues that what foundation phase teachers settled for as ‘support’ is flawed; as well as how they perceive the SBST and its role is problematic. The paper conclude by recommending that, the SBST should consider other approaches at foundation phase teacher support such as, empowering teachers with continuous practical experiences on how to deal with real classroom scenarios, as well as ensuring that all support, be it on academic or non-academic issues should be provided within a learning community framework where the teacher, family, SBST and where necessary, community organisations should harness their skills towards a common goal.

Keywords: foundation phase, full- service schools, inclusive education, learning difficulties, school-based support teams, teacher support

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Authors: P. K. Sarkar, Amit Kumar Jain

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The demand for Urban transportation is characterised by a large scale temporal and spatial variations which causes heavy congestion inside metro trains in peak hours near Centre Business District (CBD) of the city. The conventional approach to address peak hour congestion, metro trains has been to increase the supply by way of introduction of more trains, increasing the length of the trains, optimising the time table to increase the capacity of the system. However, there is a limitation of supply side measures determined by the design capacity of the systems beyond which any addition in the capacity requires huge capital investments. The demand side interventions are essentially required to actually spread the demand across the time and space. In this study, an attempt has been made to identify the potential Transport Demand Management tools applicable to Urban Rail Transportation systems with a special focus on differential pricing. A conceptual price elasticity model has been developed to analyse the effect of various combinations of peak and nonpeak hoursfares on demands. The elasticity values for peak hour, nonpeak hour and cross elasticity have been assumed from the relevant literature available in the field. The conceptual price elasticity model so developed is based on assumptions which need to be validated with actual values of elasticities for different segments of passengers. Once validated, the model can be used to determine the peak and nonpeak hour fares with an objective to increase overall ridership, revenue, demand levelling and optimal utilisation of assets.

Keywords: urban transport, differential fares, congestion, transport demand management, elasticity

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Authors: Khawla Askri, Mohamed Haythem Msaddek, AbdelAziz Sebei

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Climate change combined with the increase in anthropogenic activities will affect coastal groundwater systems around the world and, more particularly, the Cap Bon region in the North East of Tunisia. This study aims to study the impact of climate change and human stress on the salinization and quantification of groundwater in the Wadi Chiba watershed. In this regard, a hydro-climatological study and a hydrogeological study were carried out based on the characterization of the aquifer system of the eastern coast at the level of the watershed of Wadi Chiba in order to seek to identify, first of all, the degradation of the state of the aquifer on the quantitative level by the study of the piezometric and its evolution over time. Secondly, we sought to identify the degradation of the state of the aquifer qualitatively by using the geochemical method, in particular the major elements, to assess the mineralization of the aquifer water and understand its hydrogeochemical functioning. The study of the Na + / Cl- and Ca2 + / Mg2 + chemical relationships confirmed the presence of a marine intrusion downstream of the Wadi Chiba watershed northeast of Cap-Bon accompanied by a piezometric depression. For this purpose, we proceeded to: 1) Mapping of both piezometric data and salinity. 2) The interpretation of the mapping results. 3)Identification of the origin of the localized deterioration in the quality of the aquifer water. Finally, the analysis of the results showed that the scarcity of water is already forcing human actions in the Chiba watershed due to the irrigation of agricultural lands and the overexploitation of the water table in the study area.

Keywords: climate change, human activities, water table, Wadi Chiba watershed, piezometric depression, marine intrusion

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Authors: Ahmed E. Al-Sabri, Mohamed A. Moslem, Sarfaraz Hadi

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To avoid the harmful effects of the chemical fungicides on the human and minimize the environmental pollution, an alternative eco-friendly control strategies should be developed. The extract of Commiphora myhrra L. was tested against twenty fungal genera isolated from the indoor air collected from different rooms in King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Disc diffusion test was modified for use in this study and the collected data was statistically analyzed. Variable antifungal efficacy of different myrrh extract was recorded against the investigated fungal genera. The efficacy of the extract was increased as the concentration increased. The highest growth inhibition (74.6%) was against Acremonium strictum followed by Trichoderma psuedokoningii (70.6%). On contrast, the lowest efficacy (12.7%) was against Ulocladium consortiale. It could be concluded that myrrh extract is promised as a source of substances from which of safer and eco-friendly could be used as antimicrobial agents against a number of pathogenic fungi.

Keywords: antifungal, myrrh, antimicrobial, medicinal plant

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Authors: Jelena Kovačević Vorgučin, Sibila Petenji Arbutina

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The postmodern age brings a rapid development of technology which inevitably leads to man's need to adapt to modern lifestyle. On the one hand, technological achievements have made human life easier, but there are numerous risks involved. Moreover, man's awareness and perception is changing and adapting unconsciously to the world we live in, while communication in the 21st century is predominantly based on the consumption of images. This paper presents sociological aspects of a community which is confined due to turbulent political-economic circumstances and its impact on the development of media literacy in Serbia. Previous researches led to the conclusion that the media culture is on an extremely low level, and that it can have a strong influence on the general development of the society, starting from the youngest segment of the population. Our aim is to use the conceptual authorial photographs inspired by the obtained research results to emphasize the importance that the impact of visual art has in delivering the message, its role in education and in raising awareness of universal social problems. The paper presents a number of stages involved in the conceptual project which is designed to last over a longer period of time in order to facilitate dissemination of information. First, a survey was carried out in several preschool institutions. This resulted in obtaining the necessary information on the habitual use of the medium of television in children and their carers-parents. The second stage focused on the relationship between the parent and the child in TV consumption. Further, an overview of the visual part of the project was made, which consisted of photographs in various dimensions, ranging from miniature to large dimensions, and following various exhibition principles in both gallery and alternative spaces. This stage of the project placed particular emphasis on the non-standard exhibiting formats and alternative exhibition principles which are increasingly present in all kinds of visual art aimed at achieving a higher level of information noticing and memorizing. The motif on the authorial photographs is children's portraits taken while they are watching different television contents, with emphasis on their emotional response. The importance of the medium of TV is particularly emphasized due to the fact that its consumption is the highest, even though there are newer and more advanced information-technological achievements. The already realized part of the project was used for an analysis of the results in the last stage of the project, which led to the conclusion that the response to the entire visual expression campaign was extremely positive, and action as such very useful indeed. The results obtained speak in favour of widening and continuation of the project, both on a greater number of sites locally as well as in other communities in Serbia with the aim of guiding people towards meaningful consumption of the television medium.

Keywords: alternative space exhibiting, children and TV, conceptual portrait photography, media literacy

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Authors: Priyashri Kamlesh Sridhar, Suranga Nanayakkara

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Current frameworks in assessment follow lesson delivery and rely heavily on test performance or teacher’s observations. This, however, neglects the underlying cognitive load during the learning process. Identifying the pivotal points when the load occurs helps design effective pedagogies and tools that respond to learners’ cognitive state. There has been limited research on quantifying cognitive load in preschoolers, real-time. In this study, we recorded electrodermal activity and heart rate variability (HRV) from 10 kindergarteners performing executive function tasks and Johnson Woodcock test of cognitive abilities. Preliminary findings suggest that there are indeed sensitive task-dependent markers in skin conductance (number of SCRs and average amplitude of SCRs) and HRV (mean heart rate and low frequency component) captured during the learning process.

Keywords: early childhood, learning, methodologies, pedagogies

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Authors: Laura Alvarez-Alonso, Francisco Garcia-Carro, Jorge Loredo

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Population growth and industrial development imply an increase in the energy demands and the problems caused by emissions of greenhouse effect gases, which has inspired the search for clean sources of energy. Hydrogen (H₂) is expected to play a key role in the world’s energy future by replacing fossil fuels. The properties of H₂ make it a green fuel that does not generate pollutants and supplies sufficient energy for power generation, transportation, and other applications. Supercritical Water Gasification (SCWG) represents an attractive alternative for the recovery of energy from wastes. SCWG allows conversion of a wide range of raw materials into a fuel gas with a high content of hydrogen and light hydrocarbons through their treatment at conditions higher than those that define the critical point of water (temperature of 374°C and pressure of 221 bar). Methane used as a transport fuel is another important gasification product. The number of different uses of gas and energy forms that can be produced depending on the kind of material gasified and type of technology used to process it, shows the flexibility of SCWG. This feature allows it to be integrated with several industrial processes, as well as power generation systems or waste-to-energy production systems. The final aim of this work is to study which conditions and equipment are the most efficient and advantageous to explore the possibilities to obtain streams rich in H₂ from oily wastes, which represent a major problem both for the environment and human health throughout the world. In this paper, the relative complexity of technology needed for feasible gasification process cycles is discussed with particular reference to the different feedstocks that can be used as raw material, different reactors, and energy recovery systems. For this purpose, a review of the current status of SCWG technologies has been carried out, by means of different classifications based on key features as the feed treated or the type of reactor and other apparatus. This analysis allows to improve the technology efficiency through the study of model calculations and its comparison with experimental data, the establishment of kinetics for chemical reactions, the analysis of how the main reaction parameters affect the yield and composition of products, or the determination of the most common problems and risks that can occur. The results of this work show that SCWG is a promising method for the production of both hydrogen and methane. The most significant choices of design are the reactor type and process cycle, which can be conveniently adopted according to waste characteristics. Regarding the future of the technology, the design of SCWG plants is still to be optimized to include energy recovery systems in order to reduce costs of equipment and operation derived from the high temperature and pressure conditions that are necessary to convert water to the SC state, as well as to find solutions to remove corrosion and clogging of components of the reactor.

Keywords: hydrogen production, organic wastes, supercritical water gasification, system integration, waste-to-energy

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Authors: S. B. Provost, Susan Sheng

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An alternative bivariate density estimation methodology is introduced in this presentation. The proposed approach involves estimating the density function associated with the marginal distribution of each of the two variables by means of the saddlepoint approximation technique and applying a bivariate polynomial adjustment to the product of these density estimates. Since the saddlepoint approximation is utilized in the context of density estimation, such estimates are determined from empirical cumulant-generating functions. In the univariate case, the saddlepoint density estimate is itself adjusted by a polynomial. Given a set of observations, the coefficients of the polynomial adjustments are obtained from the sample moments. Several illustrative applications of the proposed methodology shall be presented. Since this approach relies essentially on a determinate number of sample moments, it is particularly well suited for modeling massive data sets.

Keywords: density estimation, empirical cumulant-generating function, moments, saddlepoint approximation

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Authors: M. Ciminello, I. Dimino, S. Ameduri, A. Concilio

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Improving aircraft's efficiency is one of the key elements of Aeronautics. Modern aircraft possess many advanced functions, such as good transportation capability, high Mach number, high flight altitude, and increasing rate of climb. However, no aircraft has a possibility to reach all of this optimized performance in a single airframe configuration. The aircraft aerodynamic efficiency varies considerably depending on the specific mission and on environmental conditions within which the aircraft must operate. Structures that morph their shape in response to their surroundings may at first seem like the stuff of science fiction, but take a look at nature and lots of examples of plants and animals that adapt to their environment would arise. In order to ensure both the controllable and the static robustness of such complex structural systems, a monitoring network is aimed at verifying the effectiveness of the given control commands together with the elastic response. In order to achieve this kind of information, the use of FBG sensors network is, in this project, proposed. The sensor network is able to measure morphing structures shape which may show large, global displacements due to non-standard architectures and materials adopted. Chord -wise variations may allow setting and chasing the best layout as a function of the particular and transforming reference state, always targeting best aerodynamic performance. The reason why an optical sensor solution has been selected is that while keeping a few of the contraindication of the classical systems (like cabling, continuous deployment, and so on), fibre optic sensors may lead to a dramatic reduction of the wires mass and weight thanks to an extreme multiplexing capability. Furthermore, the use of the ‘light’ as ‘information carrier’, permits dealing with nimbler, non-shielded wires, and avoids any kind of interference with the on-board instrumentation. The FBG-based transducers, herein presented, aim at monitoring the actual shape of adaptive trailing edge. Compared to conventional systems, these transducers allow more fail-safe measurements, by taking advantage of a supporting structure, hosting FBG, whose properties may be tailored depending on the architectural requirements and structural constraints, acting as strain modulator. The direct strain may, in fact, be difficult because of the large deformations occurring in morphing elements. A modulation transducer is then necessary to keep the measured strain inside the allowed range. In this application, chord-wise transducer device is a cantilevered beam sliding trough the spars and copying the camber line of the ATE ribs. FBG sensors array position are dimensioned and integrated along the path. A theoretical model describing the system behavior is implemented. To validate the design, experiments are then carried out with the purpose of estimating the functions between rib rotation and measured strain.

Keywords: fiber optic sensor, morphing structures, strain sensor, shape reconstruction

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Authors: Marine Kobalava

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Modern forms of public relations function in an integrated manner together with marketing communication in business companies. This ensures continuity of communication, elimination of duplication in activities, reduction of costs, and strengthening and efficient use of communication means. There exist a number of challenges in implementing integrated forms of public relations in Georgia, especially in terms of marketing communications and strategies. Objectives: The goal of the study is to reveal public relations challenges in Georgian business companies and to develop recommendations along with perfecting marketing communications and strategies. Methodologies: Bibliographic and empirical research has been conducted. Analysis, induction, synthesis, and other methods have been used. Contributions: The challenges of Public relations in Georgia are identified; the perception of different population groups on integrated forms of PR is determined; effective forms of marketing communication are defined; mechanisms for developing marketing strategies are proposed.

Keywords: public relations, challenges, marketing communication, strategy

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Authors: Yu Zhang, Jie Wu, Li Dong

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Rural tourism is the service industry which regards the agricultural production, rural life, rural nature and cultural landscape as the tourist attraction. It aims to meet the needs of the city tourists such as country sightseeing, vacation, and leisure. According to the difference of the tourist resources, the rural settlements can be divided into different types: The type of tourism resources, scenic spot, and peri-urban. In the past ten years, the rural tourism has promoted the industrial transformation and economic growth in rural areas of China. And it is conducive to the coordinated development of urban and rural areas and has greatly improved the ecological environment and the standard of living for farmers in rural areas. At the same time, a large number of buildings and sites are built in the countryside in order to enhance the tourist attraction and the ability of tourist reception and also to increase the travel comfort and convenience, which has significant influence on the spatial evolution of the village settlement. This article takes the XiangYing Subdistrict, which is in JinPu District of Dalian in China as the exemplification and uses the technology of Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and the technology of Landscape Spatial Analysis to study the influence of the rural tourism development in the rural settlement spaces in four steps. First, acquiring the remote sensing image data at different times of 8 administrative villages in the XiangYing Subdistrict, by using the remote sensing application EDRAS8.6; second, vectoring basic maps of XiangYing Subdistrict including its land-use map with the application of ArcGIS 9.3, associating with social and economic attribute data of rural settlements and analyzing on the rural evolution visually; third, quantifying the comparison of these patches in rural settlements by using the landscape spatial calculation application Fragstats 3.3 and analyzing on the evolution of the spatial structure of settlement in macro and medium scale; finally, summarizing the evolution characteristics and internal reasons of tourism-oriented rural settlements. The main findings of this article include: first of all, there is difference in the evolution of the spatial structure between the developing rural settlements and undeveloped rural settlements among the eight administrative villages; secondly, the villages relying on the surrounding tourist attractions, the villages developing agricultural ecological garden and the villages with natural or historical and cultural resources have different laws of development; then, the rural settlements whose tourism development in germination period, development period and mature period have different characteristics of spatial evolution; finally, the different evolution modes of the tourism-oriented rural settlement space have different influences on the protection and inheritance of the village scene. The development of tourism has a significant impact on the spatial evolution of rural settlement. The intensive use of rural land and natural resources is the fundamental principle to protect the rural cultural landscape and ecological environment as well as the critical way to improve the attraction of rural tourism and promote the sustainable development of countryside.

Keywords: landscape pattern, rural settlement, spatial evolution, tourism-oriented, Xiangying Subdistrict

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Authors: Sawsan Eissa, Momen Gharib, Omnia Kabbany

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A flushing numerical study has been performed for intended artificial islands on the Persian Gulf coast in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The island masterplan was tested for flushing using the DELFT 3D hydrodynamic model, and it was found that its residence time exceeds the acceptable PIANC flushing Criteria. Therefore, a number of mitigation measures were applied and tested one by one using the flushing model. Namely, changing the location of the entrance opening, dredging, removing part of the mangrove existing in the near vicinity to create a channel, removing the mangrove altogether, using culverts of different numbers and locations, and pumping at selected points. The pumping option gave the best solution, but it was disregarded due to high capital and running costs. Therefore, it opted for a combination of other solutions, including removing mangroves, introducing culverts, and adjusting island boundaries and types of protection.

Keywords: hydrodynamics, flushing, delft 3d, Persian Gulf, artificial islands.

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Authors: Burcu Kaya, Jan-Martin Kaiser, Karl-Friedrich Becker, Tanja Braun, Klaus-Dieter Lang

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Quality of the molded packages is strongly influenced by the process parameters of the transfer molding. To achieve a better package quality and a stable transfer molding process, it is necessary to understand the influence of the process parameters on the package quality. This work aims to comprehend the relationship between the process parameters, and to identify the optimum process parameters for the transfer molding process in order to achieve less voids and wire sweep. To achieve this, a DoE is executed for process optimization and a regression analysis is carried out. A systematic approach is represented to generate models which enable an estimation of the number of voids and wire sweep. Validation experiments are conducted to verify the model and the results are presented.

Keywords: dielectric analysis, electronic packages, epoxy molding compounds, transfer molding process

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Authors: Marija Zulić, Vanda Hájková, Nina Brkić-Jovanović, Linda Rathousová, Sanja Tomić

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Cerebral palsy is primarily reflected in the disorder of the development of movement and posture, which may be accompanied by sensory disturbances, disturbances of perception, cognition and communication, behavioural disorders and epilepsy. According to current inclusive attitudes towards people with disabilities implies that full social participation of children with cerebral palsy means inclusion in all activities in family, peer, school and leisure environments in the same scope and to the same extent as is the case with the children of proper development and without physical difficulties. Due to the fact that it has been established that the quality of children's participation in primary school is directly related to their social inclusion in future life, the aim of the paper is to identify predictors of social participation, respectively, and in particular, factors that could to improve the quality of social participation of children with cerebral palsy, in the primary school environment in Czech Republic. The study includes children with cerebral palsy (n = 75) in the Czech Republic, aged between six and 12 years who attend mainstream or special primary schools to the sixth grade. The main instrument used was the first and third part of the School function assessment questionnaire. It will also take into account the type of damage assessed according to a scale the Gross motor function classification system, five–level classification system for cerebral palsy. The research results will provide detailed insight into the degree of social participation of children with cerebral palsy and the factors that would be a potential cause of their levels of participation, in regular and special primary schools, in different socioeconomic environments in Czech Republic.

Keywords: cerebral palsy, Czech republic, social participation, the school function assessment

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Authors: Jatin Kumar Choudhary, Naren Rayala, Abbas Eslami Kiasari, Fahimeh Jafari

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The Great Britain has one of the safest road networks in the world. However, the consequences of any death or serious injury are devastating for loved ones, as well as for those who help the severely injured. This paper aims to analyse the Great Britain's road safety situation and show the response measures for areas where the total damage caused by accidents can be significantly and quickly reduced. In this paper, we do an exploratory data analysis using STATS19 data. For the past 30 years, the UK has had a good record in reducing fatalities. The UK ranked third based on the number of road deaths per million inhabitants. There were around 165,000 accidents reported in the Great Britain in 2009 and it has been decreasing every year until 2019 which is under 120,000. The government continues to scale back road deaths empowering responsible road users by identifying and prosecuting the parameters that make the roads less safe.

Keywords: road safety, data analysis, openstreetmap, feature expanding.

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Authors: Hideaki Endo, Mika Goto

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The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected railway businesses. The number of railway passengers decreased due to the decline in the number of commuters and business travelers to avoid crowded trains and a sharp drop in inbound tourists visiting Japan. This has affected not only railway businesses but also related businesses, including hotels, leisure businesses, and retail businesses at station buildings. In 2021, the companies were divided into profitable and loss-making companies. This division suggests that railway companies, particularly loss-making companies, needed to decrease operational inefficiency. To measure the impact of COVID-19 and discuss the sustainable management strategies of railway companies, we examine the cost inefficiency of Japanese listed railway companies by applying stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to their operational and financial data. First, we employ the stochastic frontier cost function approach to measure inefficiency. The cost frontier function is formulated as a Cobb–Douglas type, and we estimated parameters and variables for inefficiency. This study uses panel data comprising 26 Japanese-listed railway companies from 2005 to 2020. This period includes several events deteriorating the business environment, such as the financial crisis from 2007 to 2008 and the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, and we compare those impacts with those of the COVID-19 pandemic after 2020. Second, we identify the characteristics of the best-practice railway companies and examine the drivers of cost inefficiencies. Third, we analyze the factors influencing cost inefficiency by comparing the profiles of the top 10 railway companies and others before and during the pandemic. Finally, we examine the relationship between cost inefficiency and the implementation of efficiency measures for each railway company. We obtained the following four findings. First, most Japanese railway companies showed the lowest cost inefficiency (most efficient) in 2014 and the highest in 2020 (least efficient) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second worst occurred in 2009 when it was affected by the financial crisis. However, we did not observe a significant impact of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. This is because no railway company was influenced by the earthquake in this operating area, except for JR-EAST. Second, the best-practice railway companies are KEIO and TOKYU. The main reason for their good performance is that both operate in and near the Tokyo metropolitan area, which is densely populated. Third, we found that non-best-practice companies had a larger decrease in passenger kilometers than best-practice companies. This indicates that passengers made fewer long-distance trips because they refrained from inter-prefectural travel during the pandemic. Finally, we found that companies that implement more efficiency improvement measures had higher cost efficiency and they effectively used their customer databases through proactive DX investments in marketing and asset management.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, stochastic frontier analysis, railway sector, cost efficiency

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Authors: Armando Luis Vieira, Carlos Costa, Arthur Araújo

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The tourism system is viewable as a network of relationships amongst business partners where the success of each actor will ultimately be determined by the success of the whole network. Especially since the publication of Gümmesson’s (1996) ‘theory of imaginary organisations’, which suggests that organisational effectiveness largely depends on managing relationships and sharing resources and activities, relationship quality (RQ) has been increasingly recognised as a main source of value creation and competitive advantage. However, there is still ambiguity around this topic, and managers and researchers have been recurrently reporting the need to better understand and capitalise on the quality of interactions with business partners. This research aims at testing an RQ model from a relational, imaginary organisation’s approach. Two mail surveys provide the perceptions of 725 hotel representatives about their business relationships with tour operators, and 1,224 corporate client representatives about their business relationships with hotels (21.9 % and 38.8 % response rate, respectively). The analysis contributes to enhance our understanding on the linkages between RQ and its determinants, and identifies the role of their dimensions. Structural equation modelling results highlight trust as the dominant dimension, the crucial role of commitment and satisfaction, and suggest customer orientation as complementary building block. Findings also emphasise problem solving behaviour and selling orientation as the most relevant dimensions of customer orientation. The comparison of the two ‘dyads’ deepens the discussion and enriches the suggested theoretical and managerial guidelines concerning the contribution of quality relationships to business performance.

Keywords: corporate clients, destination competitiveness, hotels, relationship quality, structural equations modelling, tour operators

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Authors: Babatunde James Falaye, Shi Hai Dong, Kayode John Oyewumi

Abstract:

We study the effects of oblateness up to J4 of the primaries and power-law density profile (PDP) on the linear stability of libration location of an innitesimal mass within the framework of restricted three body problem (R3BP), by using a more realistic model in which a disc with PDP is rotating around the common center of the system mass with perturbed mean motion. The existence and stability of triangular equilibrium points have been explored. It has been shown that triangular equilibrium points are stable for 0 < μ < μc and unstable for μc ≤ μ ≤ 1/2, where c denotes the critical mass parameter. We find that, the oblateness up to J2 of the primaries and the radiation reduces the stability range while the oblateness up to J4 of the primaries increases the size of stability both in the context where PDP is considered and ignored. The PDP has an eect of about ≈0:01 reduction on the application of c to Earth-Moon and Jupiter-Moons systems. We find that the comprehensive effects of the perturbations have a stabilizing proclivity. However, the oblateness up to J2 of the primaries and the radiation of the primaries have tendency for instability, while coecients up to J4 of the primaries have stability predisposition. In the limiting case c = 0, and also by setting appropriate parameter(s) to zero, our results are in excellent agreement with the ones obtained previously. Libration points play a very important role in space mission and as a consequence, our results have a practical application in space dynamics and related areas. The model may be applied to study the navigation and station-keeping operations of spacecraft (innitesimal mass) around the Jupiter (more massive) -Callisto (less massive) system, where PDP accounts for the circumsolar ring of asteroidal dust, which has a cloud of dust permanently in its wake.

Keywords: libration points, oblateness, power-law density profile, restricted three-body problem

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Authors: Bader Alhumaidi Alsubaei, Zahid H. Akash, Ali Imam Sunny

Abstract:

The heat transfer coefficient can be improved passively by using a dimpled surface on the tube. The contact area where heat transfer takes place can be enlarged and turbulence will be purposefully produced inside the duct; as a consequence, higher heat transfer quality will be achieved by employing an extended inner or outer surface (dimpled surface). In order to compare the rate and quality of heat transfer between a regular-shaped pipe and a dimpled pipe, a dimpled tube with a fixed dimple radius was created. Numerical analysis of the plain and dimpled pipes was performed using ANSYS. A 23% increase in Nusselt number was seen for dimpled tubes compared to plain tubes. In comparison to plain tubes, dimpled tubes' increase in thermal performance index was found to be between 8% and 10%. An increase in pressure drop of 18% was noted.

Keywords: heat transfer, dimpled tube, CFD, ANSYS

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Authors: Lovesh Goyal, Pushkar Dave, Prajyot Jadhav, GonnaYaswanth, Sakshi Giri, Sahil Dharme, Rushika Joshi, Rishabh Verma, Shital Chiddarwar

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With the rising need for human-robot interaction, researchers have proposed and tested multiple models with varying degrees of success. A few of these models performed on aerial platforms are commonly known as Tethered Aerial Systems. These aerial vehicles may be powered continuously by a tether cable, which addresses the predicament of the short battery life of quadcopters. This system finds applications to minimize humanitarian efforts for industrial, medical, agricultural, and service uses. However, a significant challenge in employing such systems is that it necessities attaining smooth and secure robot-human interaction while ensuring that the forces from the tether remain within the standard comfortable range for the humans. To tackle this problem, a hybrid control method that could switch between two control techniques: constant control input and the steady-state solution, is implemented. The constant control approach is implemented when a person is far from the target location, and error is thought to be eventually constant. The controller switches to the steady-state approach when the person reaches within a specific range of the goal position. Both strategies take into account human velocity feedback. This hybrid technique enhances the outcomes by assisting the person to reach the desired location while decreasing the human's unwanted disturbance throughout the process, thereby keeping the interaction between the robot and the subject smooth.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle, tethered system, physical human-robot interaction, hybrid control

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Authors: Zakeia Benmoussa

Abstract:

Pressure on freshwater systems comes from removing too much water to grow crops; contamination from economic activities, land use practices, and human waste. The paper will be focusing on how water management can influence the design, implementation, and impacts of the ecological principles of biomimicry as sustainable methods in recycling wastewater. At Texas State, United States of America, in particular the lower area of the Trinity River refuge, there is a true example of the diversity to be found in that area, whether when exploring the lands or the waterways. However, as the Trinity River supplies water to the state’s residents, the lower part of the river at Liberty County presents several problem of wastewater discharge in the river. Therefore, conservation efforts are particularly important in the Trinity River basin. Clearly, alternative ways must be considered in order to conserve water to meet future demands. As a result, there should be another system provided rather than the conventional water treatment. Mimicking ecosystem's technologies out of context is not enough, but if we incorporate plants into building architecture, in addition to their beauty, they can filter waste, absorb excess water, and purify air. By providing an architectural proposal center, a living system can be explored through several methods that influence natural resources on the micro-scale in order to impact sustainability on the macro-scale. The center consists of an ecological program of Plant and Water Biomimicry study which becomes a living organism that purifies the river water in a natural way through architecture. Consequently, a rich beautiful nature could be used as an educational destination, observation and adventure, as well as providing unpolluted fresh water to the major cities of Texas. As a result, these facts raise a couple of questions: Why is conservation so rarely practiced by those who must extract a living from the land? Are we sufficiently enlightened to realize that we must now challenge that dogma? Do architects respond to the environment and reflect on it in the correct way through their public projects? The method adopted in this paper consists of general research into careful study of the system of the living machine, in how to integrate it at architectural level, and finally, the consolidation of the all the conclusions formed into design proposal. To summarise, this paper attempts to provide a sustainable alternative perspective in bridging physical and mental interaction with biodiversity to enhance nature by using architecture.

Keywords: Biodiversity, Design with Nature, Sustainable architecture, Waste water treatment.

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Marzena Hajduk-Stelmachowicz

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This paper presents the reasons why the implementation of the organizational eco-innovation (based on requirements of the International Standard ISO 14001) can be an expression of a strategic organization approach. An elaboration about different issues associated with the Environmental Management Systems are given.

Keywords: envionmental management system, ISO 14001, organizational ecoinnovativeness, ecoinnovation

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Authors: Adeyemi, Samuel Olusegun

Abstract:

The paper reports on the result of experimental gill net assessment of the fishery of Gbedikere Lake in Kogi State between October 2006 and September 2008. Three stations A-C were sampled. Twelve species from ten families were represented in the experimental gill-net catches. These composed of families Protopteridae, Mormyridae, Clariidae, Mochokidae, Cichlidae, Cyprinidae, Malapteruridae, Osteoglossidae, Gymnarchidae, and Citharinidae. The Cichlids dominated the catches. This is made up of Oreochromis niloticus (17.90%), and Tilapia zilli (13.01%). These combined to make up 30.91% of the total number of fish caught. Also, the Cichlids formed 30.91% of the total catch by weight followed Heterotis niloticus (15.56%), Clarias gariepinus (13.16%), Gmynarchus niloticus (8.78%), Heterobranchus bidorsalis (7.14%), Synodontis nigrita (6.69%), Mormyrus rume (5.68%), Citharinus citharus (3.91%), Labeo senegalensis (2.93%), and Protopterus annectens (2.74%), respectively.

Keywords: experimental gill net, species diversity, abundance, distribution, Oxbow Lake and yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 493

Authors: M. K. Wijayarathna, S. M. Buddika Harshanath

Abstract:

Monitoring student engagement has become a crucial part of the educational process and a reliable indicator of the capacity to retain information. As online learning classrooms are now more common these days, students' attention levels have become increasingly important, making it more difficult to check each student's concentration level in an online classroom setting. To profile student attention to various gradients of engagement, a study is a plan to conduct using machine learning models. Using a convolutional neural network, the findings and confidence score of the high accuracy model are obtained. In this research, convolutional neural networks are using to help discover essential emotions that are critical in defining various levels of participation. Students' attention levels were shown to be influenced by emotions such as calm, enjoyment, surprise, and fear. An improved virtual learning system was created as a result of these data, which allowed teachers to focus their support and advise on those students who needed it. Student participation has formed as a crucial component of the learning technique and a consistent predictor of a student's capacity to retain material in the classroom. Convolutional neural networks have a plan to implement the platform. As a preliminary step, a video of the pupil would be taken. In the end, researchers used a convolutional neural network utilizing the Keras toolkit to take pictures of the recordings. Two convolutional neural network methods are planned to use to determine the pupils' attention level. Finally, those predicted student attention level results plan to display on the graphical user interface of the System.

Keywords: HTML5, JavaScript, Python flask framework, AI, graphical user

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Authors: Karina Zaccari, Ernesto Cordeiro Marujo

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This paper presents a Machine Learning (ML) approach to support Meningitis diagnosis in patients at a children’s hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The aim is to use ML techniques to reduce the use of invasive procedures, such as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection, as much as possible. In this study, we focus on predicting the probability of Meningitis given the results of a blood and urine laboratory tests, together with the analysis of pain or other complaints from the patient. We tested a number of different ML algorithms, including: Adaptative Boosting (AdaBoost), Decision Tree, Gradient Boosting, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Logistic Regression, Random Forest and Support Vector Machines (SVM). Decision Tree algorithm performed best, with 94.56% and 96.18% accuracy for training and testing data, respectively. These results represent a significant aid to doctors in diagnosing Meningitis as early as possible and in preventing expensive and painful procedures on some children.

Keywords: machine learning, medical diagnosis, meningitis detection, pediatric research

Procedia PDF Downloads 139