Search results for: lost sale rate

Authors: R. Roznowski

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This paper is an examination of a recent Michigan State University production of the classic musical, Peter Pan. In this production, approved by the licensor, the action was moved to Colonial India transforming the musical’s message to include themes of cultural identity, racism, classism and ultimately inclusion. Major character changes and casting decisions expanded the scope of the musical while still retaining the original book and score. Major changes included reframing the Darlings as British Colonials stationed in India. The Lost Boy’s as mixed race children of British officials and their Indian nannies, the Pirates were a female 'fishing fleet' a group of women sent from England to keep the British soldiers from mixing with the locals and the Michigan State University Bhangra Dance Team played the Indians in the production. Traditional Indian theatrical techniques were also employed in the storytelling. The presentation will cover the key changes to the musical, the rehearsal process, historical accuracy and audience reaction. A final analysis of cultural appropriation versus historical reframing will be examined.

Keywords: directing, history, musical theatre, producing

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Authors: Rakesh Dubey, Vaishali Bahl, Dalveer Kaur

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The spiralling urge for high rate data transmission over wireless mediums needs intelligent use of electromagnetic resources considering restrictions like power ingestion, spectrum competence, robustness against multipath propagation and implementation intricacy. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a capable technique for next generation wireless communication systems. For such high rate data transfers there is requirement of proper allocation of resources like power and capacity amongst the sub channels. This paper illustrates various available methods of allocating power and the capacity requirement with the constraint of Shannon limit.

Keywords: Additive White Gaussian Noise, Multi-Carrier Modulation, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), Water Filling

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Authors: Yibeltal T. Bayou, Yohana S. Mashalla, Gloria Thupayagale-Tshweneagae

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Background: According to the World Health Organization, caesarean section delivery rates of more than 10-15% caesarean section deliveries in any specific geographic region in the world are not justifiable. The aim of the study was to describe the level and analyse determinants of caesarean section delivery in Addis Ababa. Methods: Data was collected in Addis Ababa using a structured questionnaire administered to 901 women aged 15-49 years through a stratified two-stage cluster sampling technique. Binary logistic regression model was employed to identify predictors of caesarean section delivery. Results: Among the 835 women who delivered their last birth at healthcare facilities, 19.2% of them gave birth by caesarean section. About 9.0% of the caesarean section births were due to mother’s request or service provider’s influence without any medical indication. The caesarean section delivery rate was much higher than the recommended rate particularly among the non-slum residents (27.2%); clients of private healthcare facilities (41.1%); currently married women (20.6%); women with secondary (22.2%) and tertiary (33.6%) level of education; and women belonging to the highest wealth quintile household (28.2%). The majority (65.8%) of the caesarean section clients were not informed about the consequences of caesarean section delivery by service providers. The logistic regression model shows that older age (30-49), secondary and above education, non-slum residence, high-risk pregnancy and receiving adequate antenatal care were significantly positively associated with caesarean section delivery. Conclusion: Despite the unreserved effort towards achieving MDG 5 through safe skilled delivery assistance among others, the high caesarean section rate beyond the recommend limit, and the finding that caesarean sections done without medical indications were also alarming. The government and city administration should take appropriate measures before the problems become setbacks in healthcare provision. Further investigations should focus on the effect of caesarean section delivery on maternal and child health outcomes in the study area.

Keywords: Addis Ababa, caesarean section, mode of delivery, slum residence

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Authors: Bouneua Khamphilavanh, Toshihiko Masui

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The penetration of EV (electric vehicle) technology in Lao road transportation, in this study, was analyzed by using the AIM/CGE [Laos] model. The computable general equilibrium (CGE) model was developed by the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model (AIM) team. In line with the increase of the number of road vehicles, the energy demand in the transport sector has been gradually increased which resulted in a large amount of budget spent for importing fossil fuels during the last decade, and a high carbon dioxide emission from the transport sector, hence the aim of this research is to analyze the impact of EVs penetration on economic and CO₂ emission in short-term, middle-term, and long-term. By the year 2050, the expected gross domestic product (GDP) value, due to Laos will spend more budget for importing the EV, will be gradually lost up to one percent. The cumulative CO₂ emission from 2020 to 2050 in BAU case will be 12,000 GgCO₂eq, and those in the EV mitigation case will be 9,300 GgCO₂eq, which accounting for likely 77% cumulative CO₂ emission reduction in the road transport sector by introducing the EV technology.

Keywords: GDP, CO₂ mitigation, CGE model, EV technology, transport

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Authors: D. Kumar, S. Kumar, A. G. Memon, R. A. Memon, K. Harijan

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A considerable amount of energy is usually lost due to compression of insulation in Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) duct. In this paper, the economic impact of compression of insulation is estimated. Relevant mathematical models were used to estimate the optimal thickness at the points of compression. Furthermore, the payback period is calculated for the optimal thickness at the critical parts of supply air duct (SAD) and return air duct (RAD) considering natural gas (NG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as fuels for chillier operation. The mathematical model is developed using preliminary data obtained for an HVAC system of a pharmaceutical company. The higher heat gain and cooling loss, due to compression of thermal insulation, is estimated using relevant heat transfer equations. The results reveal that maximum energy savings (ES) in SAD is 34.5 and 40%, while in RAD is 22.9% and 29% for NG and LPG, respectively. Moreover, the minimum payback period (PP) for SAD is 2 and 1.6years, while in RAD is 4.3 and 2.7years for NG and LPG, respectively. The optimum insulation thickness (OIT) corresponding to maximum ES and minimum PP is estimated to be 35 and 42mm for SAD, while 30 and 38mm for RAD in case of NG and LPG, respectively.

Keywords: optimum insulation thickness, life cycle cost analysis, payback period, HVAC system

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Authors: Lee Sunghyoun, Yu Byeongkee, Kim Hyuckjoo, Yun Namkyu, Jung Jongcheon

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Most of the recent on-sale oyster mushrooms are raised in a oyster mushroom house, in which the necessary adjustment of growing condition is feasible. The rationale for such artificial growing is the impossibility of successive cultivation in the case of a natural cultivation due to external weather conditions. A oyster mushroom house adopts an equipment called growing bed, laying one growing bed upon another in a multi-column fashion, growing and developing the mushrooms on the respective equipments. The indispensable environment management factors of mushroom cultivation are temperature, humidity, and CO2; on which an appropriate regulation of the three requisites is a necessitated condition for the sake of the total output’s increase. However, due to the multiple layers of growing bed’s disturbance on air circulation, a oyster mushroom house’s internal environmental uniformity meets with considerable instability. This research presents a technology which assures the facilitation of environment regulation over all the internal space of a oyster mushroom house, irrespective of its location. The research staff reinforced the oyster mushroom house’s insulation in order to minimize the external environment’s influence on the oyster mushroom house’s internal environment and installed circulation fan to improve the oyster mushroom house’s interior environmental uniformity. Also, the humidifier nozzle’s position was set to prevent dew condensation when humidifying. As a result, a highly sophisticated management over all the oyster mushroom house‘s internal space was realized with the temperature of 0.2~1.3℃, and the relative humidity of 2~7% at the cultivating stage of mushroom’s growth. Therefore, to maximize oyster mushroom house‘s internal environmental uniformity, it can be concluded that consideration of various factors such as insulation reinforcement, decision on the humidifier nozzle’s location, disposition of circulation fan’s installation and the direction of wind discharge is needed.

Keywords: mushroom growing facility, environmental uniformity, temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration

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Authors: Ibrahim Yakubu Seini, Oluwole Daniel Makinde

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MHD chemically reacting viscous fluid flow towards a vertical surface with slip and convective boundary conditions has been conducted. The temperature and the chemical species concentration of the surface and the velocity of the external flow are assumed to vary linearly with the distance from the vertical surface. The governing differential equations are modeled and transformed into systems of ordinary differential equations, which are then solved numerically by a shooting method. The effects of various parameters on the heat and mass transfer characteristics are discussed. Graphical results are presented for the velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles whilst the skin-friction coefficient and the rate of heat and mass transfers near the surface are presented in tables and discussed. The results revealed that increasing the strength of the magnetic field increases the skin-friction coefficient and the rate of heat and mass transfers toward the surface. The velocity profiles are increased towards the surface due to the presence of the Lorenz force, which attracts the fluid particles near the surface. The rate of chemical reaction is seen to decrease the concentration boundary layer near the surface due to the destructive chemical reaction occurring near the surface.

Keywords: boundary layer, surface slip, MHD flow, chemical reaction, heat transfer, mass transfer

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Authors: Shengjun Yan, Xuan Wang

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Water level changes in a shallow lake always introduce dramatic land pattern changes. To achieve sustainable ecosystem service, it is necessary to evaluate habitat quality dynamic and its spatio-temporal variation resulted from water level changes, which can provide a scientific basis for protection of biodiversity and planning of wetland ecological system. Landsat data in the spring was chosen to obtain landscape data at different times based on the high, moderate and low water level of Baiyangdian Shallow Lake. We used the InVEST to evaluate the habitat quality, habitat degradation, and habitat scarcity. The result showed that: 1) the water level of shallow lake changes from high to low lead to an obvious landscape pattern changes and habitat degradation, 2) the most change area occurred in northwestward and southwest of Baiyangdian Shallow Lake, which there was a 21 percent of suitable habitat and 42 percent of moderately suitable habitat lost. Our findings show that the changes of water level in the shallow lake would have a strong relationship with the habitat quality.

Keywords: habitat quality, habitat degradation, water level changes, shallow lake

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Authors: Alexandra-Veronica Luca, Letitia Petrescu

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Steel production is a major contributor to global warming potential. An average value of 1.83 tons of CO₂ is emitted for every ton of steel produced, resulting in over 3.3 Mt of CO₂ emissions each year. The present paper is focused on the investigation and comparison of two O₂ separation methods and two CO₂ capture technologies applicable to iron and steel industry. The O₂ used in steel production comes from an Air Separation Unit (ASU) using distillation or from air separation using membranes. The CO₂ capture technologies are represented by a two-stage membrane separation process and the gas-liquid absorption using methyl di-ethanol amine (MDEA). Process modelling and simulation tools, as well as environmental tools, are used in the present study. The production capacity of the steel mill is 4,000,000 tones/year. In order to compare the two CO₂ capture technologies in terms of efficiency, performance, and sustainability, the following cases have been investigated: Case 1: steel production using O₂ from ASU and no CO₂ capture; Case 2: steel production using O₂ from ASU and gas-liquid absorption for CO₂ capture; Case 3: steel production using O₂ from ASU and membranes for CO₂ capture; Case 4: steel production using O₂ from membrane separation method and gas-liquid absorption for CO₂ capture and Case-5: steel production using membranes for air separation and CO₂ capture. The O₂ separation rate obtained in the distillation technology was about 96%, and about 33% in the membrane technology. Similarly, the O₂ purity resulting in the conventional process (i.e. distillation) is higher compared to the O₂ purity obtained in the membrane unit (e.g., 99.50% vs. 73.66%). The air flow-rate required for membrane separation is about three times higher compared to the air flow-rate for cryogenic distillation (e.g., 549,096.93 kg/h vs. 189,743.82 kg/h). A CO₂ capture rate of 93.97% was obtained in the membrane case, while the CO₂ capture rate for the gas-liquid absorption was 89.97%. A quantity of 6,626.49 kg/h CO₂ with a purity of 95.45% is separated from the total 23,352.83 kg/h flue-gas in the membrane process, while with absorption of 6,173.94 kg/h CO₂ with a purity of 98.79% is obtained from 21,902.04 kg/h flue-gas and 156,041.80 kg/h MDEA is recycled. The simulation results, performed using ChemCAD process simulator software, lead to the conclusion that membrane-based technology can be a suitable alternative for CO₂ removal for steel production. An environmental evaluation using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was also performed. Considering the electricity consumption, the performance, and environmental indicators, Case 3 can be considered the most effective. The environmental evaluation, performed using GaBi software, shows that membrane technology can lead to lower environmental emissions if membrane production is based on benzene derived from toluene hydrodealkilation and chlorine and sodium hydroxide are produced using mixed technologies.

Keywords: CO₂ capture, gas-liquid absorption, Life Cycle Assessment, membrane separation, steel production

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Authors: Peng Lu, Branimir Radisavljevic, Martin Seeger, Daniel Over, Torsten Votteler, Bernardo Galletti

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CO₂-based gas mixtures exhibit huge potential as the interruption medium for replacing SF₆ in high voltage switchgears. In this paper, the recovery characteristics of dielectric strength of CO₂-O₂ mixture in the post arc phase after the current zero are presented. As representative examples, the dielectric recovery curves under conditions of different gas filling pressures and short-circuit current amplitudes are presented. A series of dielectric recovery measurements suggests that the dielectric recovery rate is proportional to the mass flux of the blowing gas, and the dielectric strength recovers faster in the case of lower short circuit currents.

Keywords: CO₂ mixture, high voltage circuit breakers, dielectric recovery rate, short-circuit current, mass flux

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Authors: Duong Thi Hong, Nguyen Van Hung, Martin Gummert

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Good practices of mechanical drying can reduce losses of grain quality. Recently, with demands of higher capacity for paddy drying in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam, columnar dryers have been introduced rapidly in this area. To improve the technology, this study was conducted to investigate and optimize the parameters for drying Jasmine paddy using an empirical cross-flow columnar dryer. The optimum parameters were resulted in air flow rate and drying temperature that are 1-1.5 m³ s-¹ t-¹ of paddy and 40-42°C, respectively. The investigation also addressed a solution of reversing drying air to achieve the uniformity of grain temperature and quality. Results of this study should be significant for developments of grain drying, contributing to reduce post harvest losses

Keywords: paddy drying, columnar dryer, air flow rate, drying temperature

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Authors: Malik Muhammad Arslan, Muneeb Ullah, Dai Shihan, Faizan Khan, Xiaodong Yang

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Internet Service Providers are driving endless demands for higher bandwidth and data throughput as new services and applications require higher bandwidth. Users want immediate and accurate data delivery. This article focuses on converting old conventional networks into passive optical networks based on time division and wavelength division multiplexing. The main focus of this research is to use a hybrid of time-division multiplexing and wavelength-division multiplexing to improve network efficiency and performance. In this paper, we design an 80 Gbps Passive Optical Network (PON), which meets the need of the Next Generation PON Stage 2 (NGPON2) proposed in this paper. The hybrid of the Time and Wavelength division multiplexing (TWDM) is said to be the best solution for the implementation of NGPON2, according to Full-Service Access Network (FSAN). To co-exist with or replace the current PON technologies, many wavelengths of the TWDM can be implemented simultaneously. By utilizing 8 pairs of wavelengths that are multiplexed and then transmitted over optical fiber for 40 Kms and on the receiving side, they are distributed among 256 users, which shows that the solution is reliable for implementation with an acceptable data rate. From the results, it can be concluded that the overall performance, Quality Factor, and bandwidth of the network are increased, and the Bit Error rate is minimized by the integration of this approach.

Keywords: bit error rate, fiber to the home, passive optical network, time and wavelength division multiplexing

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Authors: Siphat Lim

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This study used Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration. In the long-run the general price level and exchange rate have a positively significant effect on domestic output. The estimated result further revealed that fiscal stimulus help stimulate domestic output in the long-run, but not in the short-run, while monetary expansion help to stimulate output in both short-run and long-run. The result is complied with the theory which is the macroeconomic policies, fiscal and monetary policy; help to stimulate domestic output in the long-run. The estimated result of the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) has indicated more clearly that the consumer price index has a positive effect on output with highly statistically significant. Increasing in the general price level would increase the competitiveness among producers than increase in the output. However, the exchange rate also has a positive effect and highly significant on the gross domestic product. The exchange rate depreciation might increase export since the purchasing power of foreigners has increased. More importantly, fiscal stimulus would help stimulate the domestic output in the long-run since the coefficient of government expenditure is positive. In addition, monetary expansion would also help stimulate the output and the result is highly significant. Thus, fiscal stimulus and monetary expansionary would help stimulate the domestic output in the long-run in Cambodia.

Keywords: fiscal policy, monetary policy, ARDL, VECM

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Authors: Samuel McLennan, Tane Moleta, Andre Brown, Marc Aurel Schnabel

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The development of Ecclesiastical buildings within New Zealand has produced some unique design characteristics that take influence from both international styles and local building methods. What this research looks at is how procedural modelling can be used to define such common characteristics and understand how they are shared and developed within different examples of a similar architectural style. This will be achieved through the creation of procedural digital reconstructions of the various timber Gothic Churches built during the 19th century in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. ‘Procedural modelling’ is a digital modelling technique that has been growing in popularity, particularly within the game and film industry, as well as other fields such as industrial design and architecture. Such a design method entails the creation of a parametric ‘ruleset’ that can be easily adjusted to produce many variations of geometry, rather than a single geometry as is typically found in traditional CAD software. Key precedents within this area of digital heritage includes work by Haegler, Müller, and Gool, Nicholas Webb and Andre Brown, and most notably Mark Burry. What these precedents all share is how the forms of the reconstructed architecture have been generated using computational rules and an understanding of the architects’ geometric reasoning. This is also true within this research as Gothic architecture makes use of only a select range of forms (such as the pointed arch) that can be accurately replicated using the same standard geometric techniques originally used by the architect. The methodology of this research involves firstly establishing a sample group of similar buildings, documenting the existing samples, researching any lost samples to find evidence such as architectural plans, photos, and written descriptions, and then culminating all the findings into a single 3D procedural asset within the software ‘Houdini’. The end result will be an adjustable digital model that contains all the architectural components of the sample group, such as the various naves, buttresses, and windows. These components can then be selected and arranged to create visualisations of the sample group. Because timber gothic churches in New Zealand share many details between designs, the created collection of architectural components can also be used to approximate similar designs not included in the sample group, such as designs found beyond the Wellington Region. This creates an initial library of architectural components that can be further expanded on to encapsulate as wide of a sample size as desired. Such a methodology greatly improves upon the efficiency and adjustability of digital modelling compared to current practices found in digital heritage reconstruction. It also gives greater accuracy to speculative design, as a lack of evidence for lost structures can be approximated using components from still existing or better-documented examples. This research will also bring attention to the cultural significance these types of buildings have within the local area, addressing the public’s general unawareness of architectural history that is identified in the Wellington based research ‘Moving Images in Digital Heritage’ by Serdar Aydin et al.

Keywords: digital forensics, digital heritage, gothic architecture, Houdini, procedural modelling

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Authors: Hyun-Jun Shin, Jae-Jeong Kim, Hyoung-Kyu Song

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In broadcasting and cellular system, a cooperative scheme is proposed for the improvement of performance of bit error rate. Up to date, the coverage of broadcasting system coexists with the coverage of cellular system. Therefore each user in a cellular coverage is frequently involved in a broadcasting coverage. The proposed cooperative scheme is derived from the shared areas. The users receive signals from both broadcasting base station and cellular base station. The proposed scheme selects a cellular base station of a worse channel to achieve better performance of bit error rate in cooperation. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated in fading channel.

Keywords: cooperative communication, diversity, STBC, CDD, channel condition, broadcasting system, cellular system

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Authors: Sourour Chaabane, Davide Clematis, Marco Panizza

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This study investigates the oxidation of Erythrosine B (EB) food dye by a homogeneous electro-Fenton process using iron (II) sulfate heptahydrate as a catalyst, carbon felt as cathode, and Ti/RuO2. The treated synthetic wastewater contains 100 mg L⁻¹ of EB and has a pH = 3. The effects of three independent variables have been considered for process optimization, such as applied current intensity (0.1 – 0.5 A), iron concentration (1 – 10 mM), and stirring rate (100 – 1000 rpm). Their interactions were investigated considering response surface methodology (RSM) based on Doehlert design as optimization method. EB removal efficiency and energy consumption were considered model responses after 30 minutes of electrolysis. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the quadratic model was adequately fitted to the experimental data with R² (0.9819), adj-R² (0.9276) and low Fisher probability (< 0.0181) for EB removal model, and R² (0.9968), adj-R² (0.9872) and low Fisher probability (< 0.0014) relative to the energy consumption model reflected a robust statistical significance. The energy consumption model significantly depends on current density, as expected. The foregoing results obtained by RSM led to the following optimal conditions for EB degradation: current intensity of 0.2 A, iron concentration of 9.397 mM, and stirring rate of 500 rpm, which gave a maximum decolorization rate of 98.15 % with a minimum energy consumption of 0.74 kWh m⁻³ at 30 min of electrolysis.

Keywords: electrofenton, erythrosineb, dye, response serface methdology, carbon felt

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Authors: Alonggot Limcharoen Kaeochotchuangkul, Pathomporn Sawatchai

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This research aims to design and build a wet etching system, which is suitable for anisotropic wet etching, in order to reduce etching time, to reduce hillocks on the etched surface (to reduce roughness), and to create a 45-degree wall angle (micro-mirror). This study would start by designing a wet etching system. There are four main components in this system: an ultrasonic cleaning, a condenser, a motor and a substrate holder. After that, an ultrasonic machine was modified by applying a condenser to maintain the consistency of the solution concentration during the etching process and installing a motor for improving the roughness. This effect on the etch rate and the roughness showed that the etch rate increased and the roughness was reduced.

Keywords: anisotropic wet etching, wet etching system, hillocks, ultrasonic cleaning

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Authors: Ibrahim A. H. Barakat, Ahmed R. Al-Himaidi

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The present study was conducted to determine the role and optimum concentration of fenugreek seed extract during in-vitro maturation on in-vitro maturation and developmental competence of Neaimi sheep oocytes following in-vitro fertilization. The Cumulus Oocyte Complexes (COCs) collected from sheep slaughterhouse ovaries were randomly divided into three groups, and they were matured for 24 hrs. in maturation medium containing fenugreek seed extract (0, 1 and 10 µg ml-1). Oocytes of a control group were matured in a medium containing 1 µg ml-1 estradiol 17β. After maturation, half of oocytes were fixed and stained for evaluation of nuclear maturation. The rest of oocytes were fertilized in vitro with fresh semen, then cultured for 9 days for the assessment of the developmental capacity of the oocytes. The results showed that the mean values of oocytes with expanded cumulus cells percentage were not significantly different among all groups (P < 0.05). But nuclear maturation rate of oocytes matured with 10 µg ml-1 fenugreek seed extract was significantly higher than that of the control group. The maturation rate and development to morula and blastocyst stage for oocytes matured at 10 µg ml-1 fenugreek seed extract was significantly higher than those matured at 1µg ml-1 of fenugreek seed extract and the control group. In conclusion, better maturation and developmental capacity rate to morula and blastocyst stage were obtained by the addition of 10 µg ml-1 fenugreek seed extract to maturation medium than addition of 1 µg ml-1 estradiol-17β (P < 0.05).

Keywords: fenugreek seed extract, in vitro maturation, sheep oocytes, in vitro fertilization, embryo development

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Authors: Nabil Majd Alawi, Gia Hung Pham, Ahmed Barifcani

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Dry reforming of methane that converts two greenhouses gases (CH₄ and CO₂) to synthesis gas (a mixture of H₂ and CO) was studied in a commercial bench scale microwave (MW) plasma reactor system at atmospheric pressure. The CO₂, CH₄ and N₂ conversions; H₂, CO selectivities and yields, and syngas ratio (H₂/CO) were investigated in a wide range of total feed flow rate (0.45 – 2.1 L/min), MW power (700 – 1200 watt) and CO₂/CH₄ molar ratio (2 – 5). At the feed flow rates of CH₄, CO₂ and N₂ of 0.2, 0.4 and 1.5 L/min respectively, and the MWs input power of 700 W, the highest conversions of CH₄ and CO₂, selectivity and yield of H₂, CO and H₂/CO ratio of 79.35%, 44.82%, 50.12, 58.42, 39.77%, 32.89%, and 0.86, respectively, were achieved. The results of this work show that the product ratio increases slightly with the increasing total feed flow rate, but it decreases significantly with the increasing MW power and feeds CO₂/CH₄ ratio.

Keywords: dry reforming of methane, microwave discharge, plasma technology, synthesis gas production

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Authors: Bakhtiar Azadbakht, Karim Adinehvand, Amin Sahebnasagh

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate dependence of PAGAT polymer gel dosimeter 1/T2 on different electron and photon energies as well as on different mean dose rates for a standard clinically used Co-60 therapy unit and an ELECTA linear accelerator. A multi echo sequence with 32 equidistant echoes was used for the evaluation of irradiated polymer gel dosimeters. The optimal post-manufacture irradiation and post imaging times were both determined to be one day. The sensitivity of PAGAT polymer gel dosimeter with irradiation of photon and electron beams was represented by the slope of calibration curve in the linear region measured for each modality. The response of PAGAT gel with photon and electron beams is very similar in the lower dose region. The R2-dose response was linear up to 30Gy. In electron beams the R2-dose response for doses less than 3Gy is not exact, but in photon beams the R2-dose response for doses less than 2Gy is not exact. Dosimeter energy dependence was studied for electron energies of 4, 12 and 18MeV and photon energies of 1.25, 4, 6 and 18MV. Dose rate dependence was studied in 6MeV electron beam and 6MV photon beam with the use of dose rates 80, 160, 240, 320, 400, and 480cGy/min. Evaluation of dosimeters were performed on Siemens Symphony, Germany 1.5T Scanner in the head coil. In this study no trend in polymer-gel dosimeter 1/T2 dependence was found on mean dose rate and energy for electron and photon beams.

Keywords: polymer gels, PAGAT gel, electron and photon beams, MRI

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Authors: Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay, Subhashis Kundu, Mayank Tiwari, Sameeran Pani, Padmapal, Uttam Singh

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Blast Furnace is a counter current process where burden descends from top and hot gases ascend from bottom and chemically reduce iron oxides into liquid hot metal. One of the major problems of blast furnace operation is the erratic burden descent inside furnace. Sometimes this problem is so acute that burden descent stops resulting in Hanging and instability of the furnace. This problem is very frequent in blast furnaces worldwide and results in huge production losses. This situation becomes more adverse when blast furnaces are operated at low coke rate and high coal injection rate with adverse raw materials like high alumina ore and high coke ash. For last three years, H-Blast Furnace Tata Steel was able to reduce coke rate from 450 kg/thm to 350 kg/thm with an increase in coal injection to 200 kg/thm which are close to world benchmarks and expand profitability. To sustain this regime, elimination of irregularities of blast furnace like hanging, channeling, and scaffolding is very essential. In this paper, sustaining of zero hanging spell for consecutive three years with low coke rate operation by improvement in burden characteristics, burden distribution, changes in slag regime, casting practices and adequate automation of the furnace operation has been illustrated. Models have been created to comprehend and upgrade the blast furnace process understanding. A model has been developed to predict the process of maintaining slag viscosity in desired range to attain proper burden permeability. A channeling prediction model has also been developed to understand channeling symptoms so that early actions can be initiated. The models have helped to a great extent in standardizing the control decisions of operators at H-Blast Furnace of Tata Steel, Jamshedpur and thus achieving process stability for last three years.

Keywords: hanging, channelling, blast furnace, coke

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Authors: José M. Brotons, Manuel E. Sansalvador

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The relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and financial performance (FP) is a subject of great interest that has not yet been resolved. In this work, we have developed a new and original tool to measure this relation. The tool quantifies the value contributed to companies that are committed to CSR. The theoretical model used is the fuzzy discounted cash flow method. Two assumptions have been considered, the first, the company has implemented the IQNet SR10 certification, and the second, the company has not implemented that certification. For the first one, the growth rate used for the time horizon is the rate maintained by the company after obtaining the IQNet SR10 certificate. For the second one, both, the growth rates company prior to the implementation of the certification, and the evolution of the sector will be taken into account. By using triangular fuzzy numbers, it is possible to deal adequately with each company’s forecasts as well as the information corresponding to the sector. Once the annual growth rate of the sales is obtained, the profit and loss accounts are generated from the annual estimate sales. For the remaining elements of this account, their regression with the nets sales has been considered. The difference between these two valuations, made in a fuzzy environment, allows obtaining the value of the IQNet SR10 certification. Although this study presents an innovative methodology to quantify the relation between CSR and FP, the authors are aware that only one company has been analyzed. This is precisely the main limitation of this study which in turn opens up an interesting line for future research: to broaden the sample of companies.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, case study, financial performance, company valuation

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Authors: Khater N., Rahmine S., Bougoffa C., Bouguenna T., Ouanes H.

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Moringa oleifera L. species is considered one of the most useful trees in the world, possessing many interesting properties that make it of great scientific interest. It has been described as the miracle tree, the tree of a thousand virtues, the tree of life and God's gift to man. The present study aims to introduce, produce, and develop Moringa Oleifera as a species with high ecological potential (resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and productivity), high added value, and multiple virtues. The aim of this work is to study the germination potential of this species under different temperature conditions. In this study, the germination assay was tested in two different temperature ranges: internal (laboratory ambient temperature between 22°c and 25°c) and external (seasonal temperature between 4°c and 8°c). Morphological and physiological analyses were carried out by Shoot length (SL), root length (RL), diameter at the crown (DC), fresh weight of shoots (FWS), fresh weight of roots (FWR), dry weight of shoots (DWS) and dry weight of roots (DWS). For all these variables, the results of the study reveal a significant difference between the two temperature intervals, with a high germination rate of 81. 81% and plant growth was rapid (7cm during 24h) in the laboratory temperature; in contrast to the external temperatures, a germination rate value of around 27% was recorded, and germination took place after 20 days of sowing, with slower plant growth. The results obtained show that a temperature greater than or equal to 25° is the ideal temperature for the germination and growth of moringa seeds and has a positive influence on the speed and percentage of germination.

Keywords: moringa oleifera, temperature, germination rate, growth, biomass

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Authors: Mahdi Karazmodeh, Pooyan Jafari

Abstract:

One of the most interesting topics in finance is the relation between stock prices and exchange rates. During the past decades different stock markets in different countries have been the subject of study for researches. The volatilities of exchange rates and its effect on stock prices during the past 10 years have continued to be an attractive research topic. The subject of this study is one of the most important indices, FTSE 100. 20 firms with the highest market capitalization in 5 different industries are chosen. Firms are included in oil and gas, mining, pharmaceuticals, banking and food related industries. 5 different criteria have been introduced to evaluate the relationship between stock markets and exchange rates. Return of market portfolio, returns on broad index of Sterling are also introduced. The results state that not all firms are sensitive to changes in exchange rates. Furthermore, a Granger Causality test has been run to observe the route of changes between stock prices and foreign exchange rates. The results are consistent, to some level, with the previous studies. However, since the number of firms is not large, it is suggested that a larger number of firms being used to achieve the best results. However results showed that not all firms are affected by foreign exchange rates changes. After testing Granger Causality, this study found out that in some industries (oil and gas, pharmaceuticals), changes in foreign exchange rate will not cause any changes in stock prices (or vice versa), however, in banking sector the situation was different. This industry showed more reaction to these changes. The results are similar to the ones with Richards and Noel, where a variety of firms in different industries were evaluated.

Keywords: stock prices, foreign exchange rate, exchange rate exposure, Granger Causality

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Authors: V. Jayanthi

Abstract:

Urbanization and pace of urbanization have increased tremendously in last few decades. More towns are now getting converted into cities. Urbanization trend is seen all over the world but is becoming most dominant in Asia. Today, the scale of urbanization in India is so huge that Indian cities are among the fastest-growing in the world, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, and Mumbai. Urbanization remains a single predominant factor that is continuously linked to the destruction of urban green spaces. With reference to Chennai as a case study, which is suffering from rapid deterioration of its green spaces, this paper sought to fill this gap by exploring key factors aside urbanization that is responsible for the destruction of green spaces. The paper relied on a research approach and triangulated data collection techniques such as interviews, focus group discussion, personal observation and retrieval of archival data. It was observed that apart from urbanization, problem of ownership of green space lands, low priority to green spaces, poor maintenance, enforcement of development controls, wastage of underpass spaces, and uncooperative attitudes of the general public, play a critical role in the destruction of urban green spaces. Therefore the paper narrows down to a point, that for a city to have a proper sustainable urban green space, broader city development plans are essential. Though rapid urbanization is an indicator of positive development, it is also accompanied by a host of challenges. Chennai lost a lot of greenery, as the city urbanized rapidly that led to a steep fall in vegetation cover. Environmental deterioration will be the big price we pay if Chennai continues to grow at the expense of greenery. Soaring skyscrapers, multistoried complexes, gated communities, and villas, frame the iconic skyline of today’s Chennai city which reveals that we overlook the importance of our green cover, which is important to balance our urban and lung spaces. Chennai, with a clumped landscape at the center of the city, is predicted to convert 36% of its total area into urban areas by 2026. One major issue is that a city designed and planned in isolation creates underused spaces all around the cities which are of negligence. These urban voids are dead, underused, unused spaces in the cities that are formed due to inefficient decision making, poor land management, and poor coordination. Urban voids have huge potential of creating a stronger urban fabric, exploited as public gathering spaces, pocket parks or plazas or just enhance public realm, rather than dumping of debris and encroachments. Flyovers need to justify their existence themselves by being more than just traffic and transport solutions. The vast, unused space below the Kathipara flyover is a case in point. This flyover connects three major routes: Tambaram, Koyambedu, and Adyar. This research will focus on the concept of urban voids, how these voids under the flyovers, can be used for place making process, how this space beneath flyovers which are neglected, can be a part of the urban realm through urban design and landscaping.

Keywords: landscape design, flyovers, public spaces, reclaiming lost spaces, urban voids

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Authors: Mouna Hamed, Ammar B. Brahim

Abstract:

The objective of this work was to develop a theoretical model to study the dynamic thermal behavior of a flat plate solar collector integrated with a phase change material (PCM). The PCM acted as a heat source for the solar system during low intensity solar radiation and night. The energy balance equations for the various components of the collector as well as for the PCM were formulated and numerically solved using MATLAB computational program. The effect of natural convection on heat during the melting process was taken into account by using an effective thermal conductivity. The model was used to investigate the effect of inlet water temperature, water mass flow rate, and PCM thickness on the outlet water temperature and the melt fraction during charging and discharging modes. A comparison with a collector without PCM was made. Results showed that charging and discharging processes of PCM have six stages. The adding of PCM caused a decrease in temperature during charge and an increase during discharge. The rise was most enhanced for higher inlet water temperature, PCM thickness and for lower mass flow rate. Analysis indicated that the complete melting time was shorter than the solidification time due to the high heat transfer coefficient during melting. The increases in PCM height and mass flow rate were not linear with the melting and solidification times.

Keywords: thermal energy storage, phase change material, melting, solidification

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Authors: Kamran Siddique, Hiroyuki Asada, Yoshifumi Ogami

Abstract:

Micro gas turbine (MGT) nowadays has a wide variety of applications from drones to hybrid electric vehicles. As microfabrication technology getting better, the size of MGT is getting smaller. Overall performance of MGT is dependent on the individual components. Each component’s performance is dependent and interrelated with another component. Therefore, careful consideration needs to be given to each and every individual component of MGT. In this study, the focus is on improving the performance of the compressor in order to improve the overall performance of MGT. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is being performed using the software FLUENT to analyze the design of a micro compressor. Operating parameters like mass flow rate and RPM, and design parameters like inner blade angle (IBA), outer blade angle (OBA), blade thickness and number of blades are varied to study its effect on the performance of the compressor. Pressure ratio is used as a tool to measure the performance of the compressor. Higher the pressure ratio, better the design is. In the study, target mass flow rate is 0.2 g/s and RPM to be less than or equal to 900,000. So far, a pressure ratio of above 3 has been achieved at 0.2 g/s mass flow rate with 5 rotor blades, 0.36 mm blade thickness, 94.25 degrees OBA and 10.46 degrees IBA. The design in this study differs from a regular centrifugal compressor used in conventional gas turbines such that compressor is designed keeping in mind ease of manufacturability. So, this study proposes a compressor design which has a good pressure ratio, and at the same time, it is easy to manufacture using current microfabrication technologies.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, FLUENT microfabrication, RPM

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Authors: M. Moaeen-ud-Din, G. Bilal, M. Yaqoob

Abstract:

Identification of genes of importance regarding production traits in buffalo is impaired by a paucity of genomic resources. Choice to fill this gap is to exploit data available for cow. The cross-species application of comparative genomics tools is potential gear to investigate the buffalo genome. However, this is dependent on nucleotide sequences similarity. In this study gene diversity between buffalo and cattle was determined by using 86 gene orthologues. There was about 3% difference in all genes in term of nucleotide diversity; and 0.267±0.134 in amino acids indicating the possibility for successfully using cross-species strategies for genomic studies. There were significantly higher non synonymous substitutions both in cattle and buffalo however, there was similar difference in term of dN – dS (4.414 vs 4.745) in buffalo and cattle respectively. Higher rate of non-synonymous substitutions at similar level in buffalo and cattle indicated a similar positive selection pressure. Results for relative rate test were assessed with the chi-squared test. There was no significance difference on unique mutations between cattle and buffalo lineages at synonymous sites. However, there was a significance difference on unique mutations for non synonymous sites indicating ongoing mutagenic process that generates substitutional mutation at approximately the same rate at silent sites. Moreover, despite of common ancestry, our results indicate a different divergent time among genes of cattle and buffalo. This is the first demonstration that variable rates of molecular evolution may be present within the family Bovidae.

Keywords: buffalo, cattle, gene diversity, molecular evolution

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Authors: Zhongfei Cai, Hui He, Changsheng Li

Abstract:

This paper studied in the automatic repeat request (ARQ) transmission technique in Mars detection telecommunications system. An ARQ method applied to proximity-1 space link protocol was proposed by this paper. In order to ensure the efficiency of data reliable transmission, this ARQ method combined these different ARQ maneuvers characteristics. Considering the Mars detection communication environments, this paper analyzed the characteristics of the saturation throughput rate, packet dropping probability, average delay and energy efficiency with different ARQ algorithms. Combined thus results with the theories of ARQ transmission technique, an ARQ transmission project in Mars detection telecommunications system was established. The simulation results showed that this algorithm had excellent saturation throughput rate and energy efficiency with low complexity.

Keywords: ARQ, mars, CCSDS, proximity-1, deepspace

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Authors: Michael Josef Schwerer, Oliver Peschel

Abstract:

Background: The sense and purpose of forensic postmortem examinations are undoubtedly the same in Institutes of Legal Medicine all over the world. Cause and manner of death must be determined, persons responsible for unnatural death must be brought to justice, and accidents demand changes in the respective scenarios to avoid future mishaps. The latter particularly concerns aircraft accidents, not only regarding consequences from criminal or civil law but also in pursuance of the International Civil Aviation Authority’s regulations, which demand lessons from mishap investigations to improve flight safety. Irrespective of the distinct circumstances of a given casualty or the respective questions in subsequent death investigations, a forensic autopsy is the basis for all further casework, the clue to otherwise hidden solutions, and the crucial limitation for final success when not all possible findings have been properly collected. This also implies that the targeted work of police forces and expert witnesses strongly depends on the quality of forensic pathology practice. Deadly events in foreign countries, which lead to investigations not only abroad but also in Germany, can be challenging in this context. Frequently, second-look autopsies after the repatriation of the deceased to Germany are requested by the legal authorities to ensure proper and profound documentation of all relevant findings. Aims and Methods: To validate forensic postmortem practice abroad, a retrospective study using the findings in the corresponding second-look autopsies in the Institute of Legal Medicine Munich over the last 20 years was carried out. New findings unreported in the previous autopsy were recorded and judged for their relevance to solving the respective case. Further, the condition of the corpse at the time of the second autopsy was rated to discuss artifacts mimicking evidence or the possibility of lost findings resulting from, e.g., decomposition. Recommendations for future handling of death cases abroad and efficient autopsy practice were pursued. Results and Discussion: Our re-evaluation confirmed a high quality of autopsy practice abroad in the vast majority of cases. However, in some casework, incomplete documentation of pathology findings was revealed along with either insufficient or misconducted dissection of organs. Further, some of the bodies showed missing parts of some organs, most probably resulting from sampling for histology studies during the first postmortem. For the aeromedical evaluation of a decedent’s health status prior to an aviation mishap, particularly lost or obscured findings in the heart, lungs, and brain impeded expert testimony. Moreover, incomplete fixation of the body or body parts for repatriation was seen in several cases. This particularly involved previously dissected organs deposited back into the body cavities at the end of the first autopsy. Conclusions and Recommendations: Detailed preparation in the first forensic autopsy avoids the necessity of a second-look postmortem in the majority of cases. To limit decomposition changes during repatriation from abroad, special care must be taken to include pre-dissected organs in the chemical fixation process, particularly when they are separated from the blood vessels and just deposited back into the body cavities.

Keywords: autopsy practice, second-look autopsy, retrospective study, quality standards, decomposition changes, repatriation

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