Search results for: quality properties

Authors: Benaissa Fatima, Alkama Rezak, Annesi-Maesano Isabella

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To assess the health impact of the air pollution on the population of Béjaia, we carried out a descriptive epidemiologic inquiry near the medical establishments of three areas. From the registers of hospital admissions, we collected data on the hospital mortality and admissions relating to the various cardiorespiratory pathologies generated by this type of pollution. In parallel, data on the automobile fleet of Bejaia and other measurements were exploited to show that the concentrations of the pollutants are strongly correlated with the concentration the urban traffic. This study revealed that the whole of the population is touched, but the sensitivity to pollution can show variations according to the age, the sex and the place of residence. So the under population of the town of Bejaia marked the most raised death and morbidity rates, followed that of Kherrata. Weak rates are recorded for under rural population of Feraoun. This approach enables us to conclude that the population of Béjaia could not escape the urban pollution generated by her old automobile fleet. To install a monitoring and measuring site of the air pollution in this city could provide a beneficial tool to protect its inhabitants by them informing on quality from the air that they breathe and measurements to follow to minimize the impacts on their health and by alerting the authorities during the critical situations.

Keywords: air, urban pollution, health, impacts

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Authors: Sarah Nauwelaerts, Koen De Cremer, Alfred Bernard, Meredith Verlooy, Kristel Heremans, Natalia Bustos Sierra, Katrien Tersago, Tim Nawrot, Jordy Vercauteren, Christophe Stroobants, Sigrid C. J. De Keersmaecker, Nancy Roosens

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Projected climate changes could lead to exacerbation of respiratory disorders associated with reduced air quality. Air pollution and climate changes influence each other through complex interactions. The poor air quality in urban and rural areas includes high levels of particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), representing a major threat to public health and especially for the most vulnerable population strata, and especially young children. In this study, we aim to develop generic standardized policy supporting tools and methods that allow evaluating in future follow-up larger scale epidemiological studies the risks of the combined short-term effects of O3 and PM on the cardiorespiratory system of children. We will use non-invasive indicators of airway damage/inflammation and of genetic or epigenetic variations by using urine or saliva as alternative to blood samples. Therefore, a multi-phase field study will be organized in order to assess the sensitivity and applicability of these tests in large cohorts of children during episodes of air pollution. A first test phase was planned in March 2018, not yet taking into account ‘critical’ pollution periods. Working with non-invasive samples, choosing the right set-up for the field work and the volunteer selection were parameters to consider, as they significantly influence the feasibility of this type of study. During this test phase, the selection of the volunteers was done in collaboration with medical doctors from the Centre for Student Assistance (CLB), by choosing a class of pre-pubertal children of 9-11 years old in a primary school in Flemish Brabant, Belgium. A questionnaire, collecting information on the health and background of children and an informed consent document were drawn up for the parents as well as a simplified cartoon-version of this document for the children. A detailed study protocol was established, giving clear information on the study objectives, the recruitment, the sample types, the medical examinations to be performed, the strategy to ensure anonymity, and finally on the sample processing. Furthermore, the protocol describes how this field study will be conducted in relation with the prevision and monitoring of air pollutants for the future phases. Potential protein, genetic and epigenetic biomarkers reflecting the respiratory function and the levels of air pollution will be measured in the collected samples using unconventional technologies. The test phase results will be used to address the most important bottlenecks before proceeding to the following phases of the study where the combined effect of O3 and PM during pollution peaks will be examined. This feasibility study will allow identifying possible bottlenecks and providing missing scientific knowledge, necessary for the preparation, implementation and evaluation of federal policies/strategies, based on the most appropriate epidemiological studies on the health effects of air pollution. The research leading to these results has been funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office through contract No.: BR/165/PI/PMOLLUGENIX-V2.

Keywords: air pollution, biomarkers, children, field study, feasibility study, non-invasive

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Authors: Arturo J. Anci Alméstar, Jose D. Fernandez Huapaya, David Mauricio

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Companies make erroneous decisions by not evaluating the inherent difficulties of entering electronic commerce without a prior review of current digital and alternate means of payment. For this reason, it is very important for businesses to have reliable, complete and integrated information on the means of current digital and alternate payments that allow decisions to be made about which of these to use. However, there is no such consolidated information or criteria that companies use to make decisions about the means of payment according to their needs. In this paper, we propose a decision tree model based on a taxonomy that presents us with a categorization of digital and alternative means of payment, as well as the visualization of the flow of information at a high level from the company to obtain a recommendation. This will allow the company to make the most appropriate decision about the implementation of the digital means of payment or alternative ideal for their needs, which allows a reduction in costs and complexity of the payment process. Likewise, the efficiency of the proposed model was evaluated through a satisfaction survey presented to company personnel, confirming the satisfactory quality level of the recommendations obtained by the model.

Keywords: digital payment medium, decision tree, decision making, digital payments taxonomy

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Authors: Paul G. Bolz, Paul G. Lindner, Frohmut Wellner, Christian Schulze, Joern Huebelt

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Concrete, as a result of its use as a construction material, is not only subject to static loads but is also exposed to variables, time-variant, and oscillating stresses. In order to ensure the suitability of construction materials for resisting these cyclic stresses, different test methods are used for the systematic fatiguing of specimens, like the cyclic indirect tensile test. A procedure is presented that allows the estimation of the degradation of cylindrical concrete specimens during the cyclic indirect tensile test by measuring the dynamic modulus of elasticity in different states of the specimens’ fatigue process. Two methods are used in addition to the cyclic indirect tensile test in order to examine the dynamic modulus of elasticity of cylindrical concrete specimens. One of the methods is based on the analysis of eigenfrequencies, whilst the other one uses ultrasonic pulse measurements to estimate the material properties. A comparison between the dynamic moduli obtained using the three methods that operate in different frequency ranges shows good agreement. The concrete specimens’ fatigue process can therefore be monitored effectively and reliably.

Keywords: concrete, cyclic indirect tensile test, degradation, dynamic modulus of elasticity, eigenfrequency, fatigue, natural frequency, ultrasonic, ultrasound, Young’s modulus

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Authors: T. O. Babarinde

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Interest in natural refrigerants, such as hydrocarbons has been renewed in recent years because of the environmental problems associated with synthetic chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and hydro-chlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants. Due to the depletion of ozone-layer and global warming effects, synthetic refrigerants are being gradually phased out in accordance with the international protocols that aim to protect the environment. In this work, a refrigerator designed to work with R134a was used for this experiment, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which consists of commercial propane and butane in a single evaporator domestic refrigerator with a total volume of 62 litres. In this experiment, type K thermocouples with their probes were used to measure the temperatures of four major components (evaporator, compressor, condenser and expansion device) of the refrigeration system. Also the system was instrumented with two pressure gauges at the inlet and outlet of the compressor for measuring the suction and discharged pressures. Four sets of experiments were carried out using different charges and the charges were measured with a digital charging scale. Thermodynamic properties of the LPG refrigerant were determined. The results obtained showed that the design temperature and pull-down time set by International Standard Organisation (ISO) for refrigerator was achieved using LPG charge of 60g. The system COP increases with 14.6% and the power consumption reduced with 9.8% when compared with R134a. Therefore, LPG can replace R134a in domestic refrigerator.

Keywords: domestic refrigerator, experimental, R290/R600, R134a

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Authors: C. Jouhar, B. Rajesh Kamath, M. K. Veeraiah, M. Z. Kurian

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Since long time ago, petroleum-based mineral oils have been used for liquid insulation in high voltage equipments. Mineral oils are widely used as insulation for transmission and distribution power transformers, capacitors and other high voltage equipment. Petroleum-based insulating oils have excellent dielectric properties such as high electric field strength, low dielectric losses and good long-term performance. Due to environmental consideration, an attempt to search the alternate liquid insulation is required. The influence of particles on the voltage breakdown in insulating oil and other liquids has been recognized for many years. Particles influence both AC and DC voltage breakdown in insulating oil. Experiments are conducted under AC voltage. The breakdown process starts with a microscopic bubble, an area of large distance where ions or electrons initiate avalanches. Insulating liquids drive their dielectric strength from the much higher density compare to gases. Experiments are carried out under High Voltage AC (HVAC) in different types of oils namely castor oil, vegetable oil and mineral oil. The Breakdown Voltage (BDV) with presence of moisture and particle contamination in different types of oils is studied. The BDV of vegetable oil is better when compared to other oils without contamination. The BDV of mineral oil is better when compared to other types of oils in presence of contamination.

Keywords: breakdown voltage, high voltage AC, insulating oil, oil breakdown

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Authors: Po-Jen Su, Huann-Ming Chou

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In this article we uses the residual correction method to deal with transient thermoelastic problems with a hollow spherical region when the continuum medium possesses spherically isotropic thermoelastic properties. Based on linear thermoelastic theory, the equations of hyperbolic heat conduction and thermoelastic motion were combined to establish the thermoelastic dynamic model with consideration of the deformation acceleration effect and non-Fourier effect under the condition of transient thermal shock. The approximate solutions of temperature and displacement distributions are obtained using the residual correction method based on the maximum principle in combination with the finite difference method, making it easier and faster to obtain upper and lower approximations of exact solutions. The proposed method is found to be an effective numerical method with satisfactory accuracy. Moreover, the result shows that the effect of transient thermal shock induced by deformation acceleration is enhanced by non-Fourier heat conduction with increased peak stress. The influence on the stress increases with the thermal relaxation time.

Keywords: maximum principle, non-Fourier heat conduction, residual correction method, thermo-elastic response

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Authors: Ping Chou, Xiaoyan Zhou

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Domestically and internationally, the Chinese education has long been criticized for being test-oriented, and in spite of efforts made by the Chinese government, it remains hard to find a solution. This paper intends to look at the situation in a comparatively objective manner and discuss the significance of the Shanghai Model as a newly-scheduled experiment for education reform. As a breakthrough, in addition to comprehensive inner-quality evaluation, a small but important step is to be taken in shifting focus of attention back to students by giving them more freedom in selecting certain courses for aptitude tests for college admission. As the first author of the paper has studied and taught both in Chinese and American colleges and universities, comparisons are made when the situation becomes relevant. The official solution for test-oriented education is to make students well-rounded but the writers of this paper believe that it is even more important to make the system well-rounded so it can accept a spectrum of diverse individuals with different potential.

Keywords: college admission, education reform, Shanghai model, test-oriented education

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Authors: Neerav Kumar, Naumaan Nayyar, Sharath Kashyap

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Most companies see an increase in the adoption of machine learning (ML) applications across internal and external-facing use cases. ML applications vend output either in batch or real-time patterns. A complete batch ML pipeline architecture comprises data sourcing, feature engineering, model training, model deployment, model output vending into a data store for downstream application. Due to unclear role expectations, we have observed that scientists specializing in building and optimizing models are investing significant efforts into building the other components of the architecture, which we do not believe is the best use of scientists’ bandwidth. We propose a system architecture created using AWS services that bring industry best practices to managing the workflow and simplifies the process of model deployment and end-to-end data integration for an ML application. This narrows down the scope of scientists’ work to model building and refinement while specialized data engineers take over the deployment, pipeline orchestration, data quality, data permission system, etc. The pipeline infrastructure is built and deployed as code (using terraform, cdk, cloudformation, etc.) which makes it easy to replicate and/or extend the architecture to other models that are used in an organization.

Keywords: data pipeline, machine learning, AWS, architecture, batch machine learning

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Authors: Wafa Nouari

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The paper investigates the advantages and drawbacks of online creative writing courses for Algerian university students, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper employs a mixed-methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative data from surveys, interviews, and online course evaluations. The paper examines three online creative writing courses offered by Oxford University, Stanford University, and Coursera. The paper shows that online creative writing courses can improve the student's writing abilities, enthusiasm, and self-confidence, as well as introduce them to various literary forms and cultures. However, the paper also highlights some challenges and obstacles that the students encounter, such as technical problems, language difficulties, cultural gaps, and lack of feedback and interaction. The paper argues that online creative writing courses can be a useful alternative or addition to conventional classroom instruction, especially during the pandemic. The paper also offers some suggestions for enhancing the quality and effectiveness of online creative writing courses, such as giving more direction, support, and feedback to the students, as well as creating a sense of community and cooperation among them.

Keywords: online creative writing courses, Algerian university students, mixed methods approach, benefits and chanllenges

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Authors: S. Kamil Akin, Turgut Acikara

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In recent years the world and our country has experienced several explosion events occurred due to terrorist attacks and accidents. In these explosion events many people have lost their lives and many buildings have been damaged. If structures were designed taking the blast loads into account, these results may not have happened or the casualties would have been less. In this thesis analysis of the protection walls have been conducted to prevent the building damage from blast loads. These analyzes was carried out for two different types of wall, concrete and reinforced concrete. Analyses were carried out on four different thicknesses of each wall element. In each wall element the stresses and displacements of the exposed surface due to the detonation charge has been calculated. The limit shear stress and displacement of the wall element according to their material properties has been taken into account. As the result of the analyses the standoff distances and TNT equivalent amount has been determined. According to equivalent TNT amounts and standoff distances the structural response of the protective wall elements has been observed. These structural responses have been observed by ABAQUS finite element package. Explosion loads were brought into effect to the protective wall element models by using the ABAQUS / CONWEP.

Keywords: blast loading, blast wave, TNT equivalent method, CONWEP, finite element analysis, detonation

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Authors: Zeenath Solih

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The aim of the study is to analyze the factors that influence the decision to pursue a hospitality and tourism program for students of Maldives when pursuing higher education options. This research would further explore the implications and relationship between the universities and students. Quantitative research method will be used to demonstrate the hypothesis and achieve the objectives of this research, a questionnaire consisting of 30 closed questions will be used which will be analyzed based on SPSS18 software to handle and extract the data.10 public school and 3 private schools with secondary education and 3 universities with higher education facilities and a total of 500 students participated in the survey. The findings include selection criteria for decision making for higher studies being the university’s reputation, excellence and quality of educational program, the preference of pursuing further studies from a public over private universities and the academic, cultural and socio demographic factors that influence the students choice of program and university. Finally the study will provide valuable insight to how universities need to market their programs to attract the right students.

Keywords: choice criteria, higher education, hospitality and tourism studies, information sources

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Authors: A. D. Susanti, W. B. Sediawan, S. K. Wirawan, Budhijanto, Ritmaleni

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Rice bran oil contains significant amounts of oryzanol, a natural antioxidant that considered has higher antioxidant activity than vitamin E (tocopherol). Oryzanol reviewed has several health properties and interested in pharmacy, nutrition, and cosmetics. For practical usage, isolation and purification would be necessary due to the low concentration of oryzanol in crude rice bran oil (0.9-2.9%). Batch chromatography has proved as a promising process for the oryzanol recovery, but productivity was still low and scale-up processes of industrial interest have not yet been described. In order to improve productivity of batch chromatography, a continuous chromatography design namely Simulated Moving Bed (SMB) concept have been proposed. The SMB concept has interested for continuous commercial scale separation of binary system (oryzanol and rice bran oil), and rice bran oil still obtained as side product. Design of SMB chromatography for oryzanol separation requires quantification of its equilibrium. In this study, equilibrium of oryzanol separation conducted in batch adsorption using silica as the adsorbent and n-hexane/acetone (9:1) as the eluent. Three isotherm models, namely the Henry, Langmuir, and Freundlich equations, have been applied and modified for the experimental data to establish appropriate correlation for each sample. It turned out that the model quantitatively describe the equilibrium experimental data and will directed for design of SMB chromatography.

Keywords: adsorption, equilibrium, oryzanol, rice bran oil, simulated moving bed

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Authors: Emel Kızılkaya Aydogan, Mihrimah Ozmen, Yılmaz Delice

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In recent days, there is a change and the ongoing development of the telecommunications sector in the global market. In this sector, churn analysis techniques are commonly used for analysing why some customers terminate their service subscriptions prematurely. In addition, customer churn is utmost significant in this sector since it causes to important business loss. Many companies make various researches in order to prevent losses while increasing customer loyalty. Although a large quantity of accumulated data is available in this sector, their usefulness is limited by data quality and relevance. In this paper, a cost-sensitive feature selection framework is developed aiming to obtain the feature reducts to predict customer churn. The framework is a cost based optional pre-processing stage to remove redundant features for churn management. In addition, this cost-based feature selection algorithm is applied in a telecommunication company in Turkey and the results obtained with this algorithm.

Keywords: churn prediction, data mining, decision-theoretic rough set, feature selection

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Authors: Joaquin Navarro Perales, Ana Lidia Franzoni Velázquez, Francisco Cervantes Pérez

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The Mexican educational system faces diverse challenges related with the quality and coverage of education. The development of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) may help to solve some of them by helping teachers to customize their classes according to the performance of the students in online courses. In this work, we propose the adaptation of a functional ITS based on Bloom’s taxonomy called Sistema de Apoyo Generalizado para la Enseñanza Individualizada (SAGE), to measure student’s metacognition and their emotional response based on Marzano’s taxonomy. The students and the system will share the control over the advance in the course, so they can improve their metacognitive skills. The system will not allow students to get access to subjects not mastered yet. The interaction between the system and the student will be implemented through Natural Language Processing techniques, thus avoiding the use of sensors to evaluate student’s response. The teacher will evaluate student’s knowledge utilization, which is equivalent to the last cognitive level in Marzano’s taxonomy.

Keywords: intelligent tutoring systems, student modelling, metacognition, affective computing, natural language processing

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Authors: A. Coetzee, C. F. Kelly, E. Even-Zahav

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Dominant approaches to livestock production are harmful to the environment, human health and animal welfare, yet global meat consumption is rising. Sustainable alternative production approaches are therefore urgently required, and ‘free range’ is the main alternative for chicken meat offered in South Africa (and globally). Although the South African Poultry Association provides non-binding guidelines, there is a lack of formal definition and regulation of free range chicken production, meaning it is unclear what this alternative entails and if it is consistently practised (a trend observed globally). The objective of this exploratory qualitative case study is therefore to investigate who and what determines free range chicken. The case study, conducted from a social constructivist worldview, uses semi-structured interviews, photographs and document analysis to collect data. Interviews are conducted with those involved with bringing free range chicken to the market - farmers, chefs, retailers, and regulators. Data is analysed using thematic analysis to establish dominant patterns in the data. The five major themes identified (based on prevalence in data and on achieving the research objective) are: 1) free range means a bird reared with good animal welfare in mind, 2) free range means quality meat, 3) free range means a profitable business, 4) free range is determined by decision makers or by access to markets, and 5) free range is coupled with concerns about the lack of regulation. Unpacking the findings in the context of the literature reveals who and what determines free range. The research uncovers wide-ranging interpretations of ‘free range’, driven by the absence of formal regulation for free range chicken practices and the lack of independent private certification. This means that the term ‘free range’ is socially constructed, thus varied and complex. The case study also shows that whether chicken meat is free range is generally determined by those who have access to markets. Large retailers claim adherence to the internationally recognised Five Freedoms, also include in the South African Poultry Association Code of Good Practice, which others in the sector say are too broad to be meaningful. Producers describe animal welfare concerns as the main driver for how they practice/view free range production, yet these interpretations vary. An additional driver is a focus on human health, which participants achieve mainly through the use of antibiotic-free feed, resulting in what participants regard as higher quality meat. The participants are also strongly driven by business imperatives, with most stating that free range chicken should carry a higher price than conventionally-reared chicken due to increased production costs. Recommendations from this study focus on, inter alia, a need to understand consumers’ perspectives on free range chicken, given that those in the sector claim they are responding to consumer demand, and conducting environmental research such as life cycle assessment studies to establish the true (environmental) sustainability of free range production. At present, it seems the sector mostly responds to social sustainability: human health and animal welfare.

Keywords: chicken meat production, free range, socially constructed, sustainability

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Authors: Ghada Salem, Nihal Kabel

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Objective: This in vitro study was carried out to assess the microleakage properties of nano-filled glass ionomer in comparison to resin-reinforced glass ionomers. Material and Methods: 40 deciduous molar teeth were included in this study. Class-II cavity was prepared in a standard form for all the specimens. The teeth were randomly distributed into two groups (20 per group) according to the restorative material used either nano-glass ionomer or Photac Fill glass ionomer restoration. All specimens were thermocycled for 1000 cycles between 5 and 55 °C. After that, the teeth were immersed in 2% methylene blue dye then sectioned and evaluated under a stereomicroscope. Microleakage was assessed using linear dye penetration and on a scale from zero to five. Results: Two way ANOVA test revealed a statistically significant lower degree of microleakage in both occlusal and gingival restorations (0.4±0.2), (0.9±0.1) for nano-filled glass ionomer group in comparison to resin modified glass ionomer (2.3±0.7), (2.4±0.5). No statistical difference was found between gingival and occlusal leakage regarding the effect of the measured site. Conclusion: Nano-filled glass ionomer shows superior sealing ability which enables this type of restoration to be used in minimum invasive treatment.

Keywords: microleakage, nanoionomer, resin-reinforced glass ionomer, proximal cavity preparation

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Authors: Shank Kulkarni, Alireza Tabarraei

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The fantastic properties of polyurea such as flexibility, durability, and chemical resistance have brought it a wide range of application in various industries. Effective prediction of the response of polyurea under different loading and environmental conditions necessitates the development of an accurate constitutive model. Similar to most polymers, the behavior of polyurea depends on both strain and strain rate. Therefore, the constitutive model should be able to capture both these effects on the response of polyurea. To achieve this objective, in this paper, a nonlinear hyper-viscoelastic constitutive model is developed by the superposition of a hyperelastic and a viscoelastic model. The proposed constitutive model can capture the behavior of polyurea under compressive loading conditions at various strain rates. Four parameter Ogden model and Mooney Rivlin model are used to modeling the hyperelastic behavior of polyurea. The viscoelastic behavior is modeled using both a three-parameter standard linear solid (SLS) model and a K-BKZ model. Comparison of the modeling results with experiments shows that Odgen and SLS model can more accurately predict the behavior of polyurea. The material parameters of the model are found by curve fitting of the proposed model to the uniaxial compression test data. The proposed model can closely reproduce the stress-strain behavior of polyurea for strain rates up to 6500 /s.

Keywords: constitutive modelling, ogden model, polyurea, SLS model, uniaxial compression test

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Authors: Md. Shah Alam

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Mushfiq Ahmad has defined a Mixed Number, which is the sum of a scalar and a Cartesian vector. He has also defined the elementary group operations of Mixed numbers i.e. the norm of Mixed numbers, the product of two Mixed numbers, the identity element and the inverse. It has been observed that Mixed Number is consistent with Pauli matrix algebra and a handy tool to work with Dirac electron theory. Its use as a mathematical method in Physics has been studied. (1) We have applied Mixed number in Quantum Mechanics: Mixed Number version of Displacement operator, Vector differential operator, and Angular momentum operator has been developed. Mixed Number method has also been applied to Klein-Gordon equation. (2) We have applied Mixed number in Electrodynamics: Mixed Number version of Maxwell’s equation, the Electric and Magnetic field quantities and Lorentz Force has been found. (3) An associative transformation of Mixed Number numbers fulfilling Lorentz invariance requirement is developed. (4) We have applied Mixed number algebra as an extension of Complex number. Mixed numbers and the Quaternions have isomorphic correspondence, but they are different in algebraic details. The multiplication of unit Mixed number and the multiplication of unit Quaternions are different. Since Mixed Number has properties similar to those of Pauli matrix algebra, Mixed Number algebra is a more convenient tool to deal with Dirac equation.

Keywords: mixed number, special relativity, quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, pauli matrix

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Authors: Bachir Bentouati, Lakhdar Chaib, Saliha Chettih, Gai-Ge Wang

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The problem of economic dispatch (ED) is the basic problem of power framework, its main goal is to find the most favorable generation dispatch to generate each unit, reduce the whole power generation cost, and meet all system limitations. A heuristic algorithm, recently developed called Stud Krill Herd (SKH), has been employed in this paper to treat non-convex ED problems. The proposed KH has been modified using Stud selection and crossover (SSC) operator, to enhance the solution quality and avoid local optima. We are demonstrated SKH effects in two case study systems composed of 13-unit and 40-unit test systems to verify its performance and applicability in solving the ED problems. In the above systems, SKH can successfully obtain the best fuel generator and distribute the load requirements for the online generators. The results showed that the use of the proposed SKH method could reduce the total cost of generation and optimize the fulfillment of the load requirements.

Keywords: stud krill herd, economic dispatch, crossover, stud selection, valve-point effect

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Authors: Minho Kwon, Seonghyeok Lee, Wooyoung Jung

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In recent years, with increase of construction of skyscraper structures, the study of concrete materials to improve their weight and performance has been emerging as a key of research area. Typically, the concrete structures has disadvantage of increasing the weight due to its mass in comparison to the strength of the materials. Therefore, in order to improve such problems, the light-weight aggregate concrete and high strength concrete materials have been studied during the past decades. On the other hand, the study of light-weight aggregate concrete materials has lack of data in comparison to the concrete structure using high strength materials, relatively. Consequently, this study presents the performance characteristics of light-weight aggregate concrete materials due to the material properties and strength. Also, this study conducted the experimental tests with respect to normal and lightweight aggregate materials, in order to indentify the tensile crack failure of the concrete structures. As a result, the Crack Mouth Opening Displacement (CMOD) from the experimental tests was constructed and the fracture energy using inverse problem analysis was developed from the force-CMOD relationship in this study, respectively.

Keywords: lightweight aggregate concrete, crack mouth opening displacement, inverse analysis, fracture energy

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Authors: Sang Hee Shin

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The technical improving project is for using the domestic construction technology in the weak soil condition. The improved technology is applied directly under local construction site at OOO, OOO. Existing anchor technology was developed for the case of soft ground as N value 10 or less. In case of soft ground and heavy load, the attachment site per one strand is shortened due to the distributed interval so that the installation site is increased relatively and being economically infeasible. In addition, in case of high tensile load, adhesion phenomenon between wedge and block occurs. To solve these problems, it strengthens the function of the attached strands to treat a ‘bulbing’ on the strands. In the solution for minimizing the internal damage and strengthening the removal function, it induces lubricating action using the film and the attached film, and it makes the buffer structure using wedge lubricating structure and the spring. The technology is performed such as in-house testing and the field testing. The project can improve the reliability of the standardized quality technique. As a result, it intended to give the technical competitiveness.

Keywords: anchor, improving technology, removal anchor, soil reinforcement, weak soil

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Authors: F. Z. Benabid, S. Kridi, F. Zouai, D. Benachour

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The aim of present work is to characterize the PVDF/TiO2 blends as nanocomposites, and study the effect of TiO2 on properties of different compositions and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the method used for filler treatment. Nanocomposite samples were synthesized by molten route in an internal mixer. The TiO2 nanoparticles were treated with stearic acid in order to obtain a good dispersion, and the demonstration of the effectiveness of the treatment on the morphology and roughness of the nanofiller was established by microstructural analysis by FTIR and AFM. The various developed nanocomposite compositions were characterized by different methods; i.e. FTIR, XRD, SEM and optical microscopy. Rheological, dielectric and mechanical studies were also performed. The results showed a remarkable increase in the crystallinity of the PVDF/neat TiO2 nanocomposite containing 1 wt% loading of filler, due to the nucleation effect of TiO2 nanoparticles. A good dispersion was obtained in PVDF/treated TiO2 nanocomposites. The rheological study showed an increase in the fluidity in all developed nanocomposite compositions, involved by the orientation of TiO2 nanoparticles in the flow direction. The dielectric study revealed an increase in electrical conductivity in PVDF/neat TiO2 nanocomposites. However, in PVDF/ treated TiO2 nanocomposites, the electrical conductivity was decreased by the addition of 0.5 and 2 wt% loading of filler.

Keywords: nanocomposites, PVDF, TiO2, comixing, mechanical treatment

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Authors: Hamed Afrasiab, Saeed Khodaygan

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Prediction of machining process capability in the design stage plays a key role to reach the precision design and manufacturing of mechanical products. Inaccuracies in machining process lead to errors in position and orientation of machined features on the part, and strongly affect the process capability in the final quality of the product. In this paper, an efficient systematic approach is given to investigate the machining errors to predict the manufacturing errors of the parts and capability prediction of corresponding machining processes. A mathematical formulation of fixture locators modeling is presented to establish the relationship between the part errors and the related sources. Based on this method, the final machining errors of the part can be accurately estimated by relating them to the combined dimensional and geometric tolerances of the workpiece – fixture system. This method is developed for uncertainty analysis based on the Worst Case and statistical approaches. The application of the presented method is illustrated through presenting an example and the computational results are compared with the Monte Carlo simulation results.

Keywords: process capability, machining error, dimensional and geometrical tolerances, uncertainty analysis

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Authors: Ntite Orji Kalu, Martina Kurowski

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Until recently, the Czech Republic had an educational system dominated by indigenous people, who accounted for 95% of the school population. With the increasing influx of migrants and foreign students, especially from outside European Union, came a great disparity among the quality of learners and their learning needs and consideration for the challenges associated with being a minority and living within a foreign culture. This has prompted the research into ways of tailoring the educational system to meet the rising demand of learning styles and needs for the diverse learners in the Czech classrooms. Literature is reviewed regarding the various ways to accommodate the international students considering racial differences, focusing on theoretical approach and pedagogical principles. This study examines the compulsory educational system of the Czech Republic and the position and responsibility of the teacher in fostering a culturally sensitive and inclusive learning environment. Descriptive and content analysis is relied upon for this study. Recommendations are made for stakeholders to imbibe a more responsive environment that enhances the cultural and social integration of all learners.

Keywords: culturally responsive teaching, cultural competence, diversity, learners, inclusive education, Czech schools

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Authors: Rashmi Yadawad, Disha Narayanan, Ravi Gautam

Abstract:

Through Wall Radar Imaging is gaining increasing importance now a days in the field of Defense and one of the most important criteria that forms the basis for the image quality obtained is the Cross-Range resolution of the image. In this research paper, the Bilateral Back projection algorithm has been implemented for Through Wall Radar Imaging. The sole purpose is to enhance the resolution in the cross range direction of the obtained Back projection image. Synthetic Data is generated for two targets which are placed at various locations in a room of dimensions 8 m by 6m. Two algorithms namely, simple back projection and Bilateral Back projection have been implemented, images are obtained and the obtained images are compared. Numerical simulations have been coded in MATLAB and experimental results of the two algorithms have been shown. Based on the comparison between the two images, it can be clearly seen that the ringing effect and chess board effect have been heavily reduced in the bilaterally back projected image and hence promising results are obtained giving a relatively sharper image with relatively well defined edges.

Keywords: through wall radar imaging, bilateral back projection, cross range resolution, synthetic data

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Authors: Cynthia Mahadi, Norhafezah Kasmuri

Abstract:

Water scarcity is a growing issue these days. As a result, saltwater is being considered a limitless supply of fresh water through the desalination process, which is likely to address the worldwide water crisis, including in Malaysia. This study aims to offer the best management practice for controlling brine discharge in Malaysia by comparing environmental regulations on brine waste management in other countries. Then, a survey was distributed to the public to acquire further information about their level of awareness of the harmful effects of brine waste and to find out their perspective on the proposed solutions to ensure the effectiveness of the measures. As a result, it has been revealed that Malaysia still lacks regulations regarding the disposal of brine waste. Thus, a recommendation based on practices in other nations has been put forth by this study. This study suggests that the government and Malaysia's environmental regulatory body should govern brine waste disposal in the Environmental Quality Act 1974. Also, to add the construction of a desalination plant in Schedule 1 of prescribed activities was necessary. Because desalination plants can harm the environment during both construction and operation, every proposal for the construction of a desalination plant should involve the submission of an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Keywords: seawater desalination, brine waste, environmental impact assessment, fuzzy Delphi method

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Authors: O. T. Oluriz, O. D. Akinyemi, J. A.Olowofela, O. A. Idowu, S. A. Ganiyu

Abstract:

This study was carried out using aeromagnetic data which record variation in the magnitude of the earth magnetic field in order to detect local changes in the properties of the underlying geology. The aeromagnetic data (Sheet No. 261) was acquired from the archives of Nigeria Geological Survey Agency of Nigeria, obtained in 2009. The study present estimation of source parameters within an area of about 3,025 square kilometers on geographic latitude to and longitude to within Ibadan and it’s environs in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria. The area under study belongs to part of basement complex in southwestern Nigeria. Estimation of source parameters of aeromagnetic data was achieve through the application of source imaging parameters (SPI) techniques that provide delineation, depth, dip contact, susceptibility contrast and mineral potentials of magnetic signatures within the region. The depth to the magnetic sources in the area ranges from 0.675 km to 4.48 km. The estimated depth limit to shallow sources is 0.695 km and depth to deep sources is 4.48 km. The apparent susceptibility values of the entire study area obtained ranges from 0.01 to 0.005 [SI]. This study has shown that the magnetic susceptibility within study area is controlled mainly by super paramagnetic minerals.

Keywords: aeromagnetic, basement complex, meta-sediment, precambrian

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Authors: Jaber H. Almutairi, Hosny Z. Abou-Ziyan, Issa F. Almesri, Mosab A. Alrahmani

Abstract:

The present work investigates the behavior of fluid flow inside tunnel kilns using 3D-CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations. The CFD simulations are carried out with the FLUENT software and validated against experimental results on fluid flow and heat transfer in tunnel kilns. A grid dependency study is conducted in the current work to improve the accuracy of the results. Three turbulence models k–ω, standard k–ε, and RNG k–ε are tested where k–ω model gives the best results in comparison with the experiment. The numerical results reveal an intriguing phenomenon where a long flow separation zone behind the setting is observed under different geometric and operation conditions. It was found that the uniformity of flow distribution can be substantially improved by rearranging the geometrical parameters of brick setting relative to kiln/setting. This improvement of flow distribution plays a critical role to enhance the quality and quantity of the production. It can be concluded that a better design and operation of tunnel kilns in terms of productivity and energy consumption can be obtained by taking into consideration the flow uniformity inside the tunnel kilns using CFD modelling.

Keywords: tunnel kilns, flow separation, flow uniformity, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Surendar Vaddepalli

Abstract:

Management education plays a crucial role to enable industry to cope with emerging challenges. It has spread in the last fifteen-twenty years in India and gained popularity as it was aimed at imbibing versatility and multi-tasking abilities in student community. Several management institutions started looking at upgrading their competencies in terms of faculty, research and industry interaction. The competitive business environment has been one of the drivers that paved the way for growing demand for management graduates in the employment market. Industry expects their executives to be engaged in a constant learning process. The ever-increasing demand for managers has led to establish more management institutions; however, the growth was not in line with the expectations from the industry. While top Business Schools are continuously changing the contents and delivery methodologies, academic standards of most of the other Business Schools are not up to the mark and quality of service provided by these institutes has opened various issues for discussion. On this back ground it is important to address the concerns of Indian management education experiencing with time and we have to rethink about the management education and efforts should be made to create a dynamic environment. This paper ties to study the current trends and tries to find out need for value based management education in India to rejuvenate it.

Keywords: management education, management, value based management education, business school, India

Procedia PDF Downloads 368