Search results for: indigenous social work

Authors: Esther Lorrayne M. Pereira, Adriana Souza M. Batista, Fabíola A. S. Ribeiro, Adelina P. Santos, Clascídia A. Furtado, Luiz O. Faria

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The combination of multi–walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with polymers offers an attractive route to reinforce the macromolecular compounds as well as the introduction of new properties based on morphological modifications or electronic interactions between the two constituents. As they are only a few nanometers in dimension, it offers ultra-large interfacial area per volume between the nano-element and polymer matrix. Nevertheless, the use of MWCNTs as a rough material in different applications has been largely limited by their poor processability, insolubility, and infusibility. Studies concerning the nanofiller reinforced polymer composites are justified in an attempt to overcome these limitations. This work presents one preliminary study of MWCNTs dispersion into the PVDF homopolymer. For preparation, the composite components were diluted in n,n-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) with mechanical agitation assistance. After complete dilution, followed by slow evaporation of the solvent at 60°C, the samples were dried. Films of about 80 μm were obtained. FTIR and UV-Vis spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize the nanocomposites. The appearance of absorption bands in the FTIR spectra of nanofilled samples, when compared to the spectrum of pristine PVDF samples, are discussed and compared with the UV-Vis measurements.

Keywords: composites materials, FTIR, MWNTs, PVDF, UV-vis

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Authors: K. R. Guna, Aldin Justin Sundararaj, B. C. Pillai, A. N. Subash

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A systematic study has been made for ignition delay times measurement behind a reflected shock wave for the low molecular weight hydrocarbon fuel in argon simulated gas mixtures. The low molecular hydrocarbon fuel–oxygen was diluted with argon for desired concentration is taken for the study. The suitability of the shock tube for measuring the ignition delay time is demonstrated by measuring the ignition delay for the liquefied petroleum gas for equivalence ratios (ф=0.5 & 1) in the temperature range 1150-1650 K. The pressure range was fixed from 5-15 bar. The ignition delay was measured by recording the ignition-induced pressure jump and emission from CH radical simultaneously. From conducting experiments, it was found that the ignition delay time for liquefied petroleum gas reduces with increase in temperature. The shock tube was calibrated for ethane-oxygen gas mixture and the results obtained from this study is compared with the earlier reported values and found to be comparably well suited for the measurement of ignition delay times. The above work was carried out using the shock tube facility at propulsion and high enthalpy laboratory, Karunya University.

Keywords: ignition delay, LPG, reflected shock, shock wave

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Authors: Artem A. Krylov

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Instrumental seismological researches in water areas are complicated and expensive, that leads to the lack of strong motion records in most offshore regions. In the same time the number of offshore industrial infrastructure objects, such as oil rigs, subsea pipelines, is constantly increasing. The empirical Green’s function technique proved to be very effective for accelerograms synthesis under the conditions of poorly described seismic wave propagation medium. But the selection of suitable small earthquake record in offshore regions as an empirical Green’s function is a problem because of short seafloor instrumental seismological investigation results usually with weak micro-earthquakes recordings. An approach based on moving average smoothing in the frequency domain is presented for preliminary processing of weak micro-earthquake records before using it as empirical Green’s function. The method results in significant waveform correction for modeled event. The case study for 2009 L’Aquila earthquake was used to demonstrate the suitability of the method. This work was supported by the Russian Foundation of Basic Research (project № 18-35-00474 mol_a).

Keywords: accelerogram synthesis, empirical Green's function, marine seismology, microearthquakes

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Authors: Talal Alhajri, Mahmood M. Tahir, Khaled Alenezi, Mohamad Ragaee

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This work presents the experimental tests carried out to evaluate the behaviour of different types of shear connectors proposed for cold formed steel (CFS) section integrated with ferrocement slab as potential used for composite beam. Ten push-out test specimens of cold-formed steel lipped channel sections connected with ferrocement slab were tested. Three types of shear connectors were studied comprised of bolts, self-drilling-screw and bar angle. The connection behavior is analysed in terms of its load-slip relationship and the failure mode. The parametric studies were performed to investigate the effect on the shear connector’s capacity by varying the number of layers of wire mesh used in ferrocement slab and types of shear connector used. An analytical analysis using ANSYS program and theoretical analysis (Eurocode 4) were carried out to verify the experiment results. The results show that the experimental, theoretical, and numerical values proved to have good agreement with each other.

Keywords: cold-formed steel, composite beam, ferrocement, finite element method, push-out test, shear connector

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Authors: M. Tarawneh

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This work is an experimental study on the heat transfer characteristics and pressure drop of different refrigerants during the condensation and evaporation processes in porous media. Four different refrigerants (R134a, R407C, 600a, R290), with different porosities were used to reach a real understanding of the actual heat transfer characteristics and pressure drop when using porous material inside the condenser and evaporator. Steel balls were used as porous media with different porosities (38%, 43%, 48%). The main goal of this project is to enhance the heat transfer coefficient during the condensation and evaporation processes when using different refrigerants and different porosities. Different correlations for the heat transfer coefficient and the pressure drop of the different refrigerants were developed. Also a generalized empirical correlation was developed for the different refrigerants. The experimental and predicted heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops were compared. It was found that, the Absolute standard deviation for the heat transfer coefficient and the pressure drop not exceeded values of 15% and 20%, respectively.

Keywords: condensation, evaporation, porous media, horizontal tubes, heat transfer coefficient, propane, butane

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Authors: Md. Maksudur Rahman Khan, Chee Wai Woon, Huei Ruey Ong, Vignes Rasiah, Chin Kui Cheng, Kar Min Chan, E. Baranitharan

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The present work represents a preparation of non-precious iron-based electrocatalyst (FeN) for ORR in air-cathode microbial fuel cell by pyrolysis treatment. Iron oxalate which recovered from the industrial wastewater and Phenanthroline (Phen) were used as the iron and nitrogen precursors, respectively in preparing FeN catalyst. The performance of as prepared catalyst (FeN) was investigated in a single chambered air cathode MFC in which anaerobic sludge was used as inoculum and palm oil mill effluent as substrate. The maximum open circuit potential (OCV) and the highest power density recorded were 0.543 V and 4.9 mW/m2, respectively. Physical characterization of FeN was elucidated by using Brunauner Emmett Teller (BET), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) while the electrochemical properties were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) analysis. The presence of biofilm on anode surface was examined using FESEM and confirmed using Infrared Spectroscopy and Thermogravimetric Analysis. The findings of this study demonstrated that FeN is electrochemically active and further modification is needed to increase the ORR catalytic activity.

Keywords: iron based catalyst, microbial fuel cells, oxygen reduction reaction, palm oil mill effluent

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Authors: Benseghir Omar, Bahmed Mohamed

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In this work, we presented a numerical study of the phenomenon of heat transfer through the laminar, incompressible and steady mixed convection in a closed square cavity with the left vertical wall of the cavity is subjected to a warm temperature, while the right wall is considered to be cold. The horizontal walls are assumed adiabatic. The governing equations were discretized by finite volume method on a staggered mesh and the SIMPLER algorithm was used for the treatment of velocity-pressure coupling. The numerical simulations were performed for a wide range of Reynolds numbers 1, 10, 100, and 1000 numbers are equal to 0.01,0.1 Richardson, 0.5,1 and 10.The analysis of the results shows a flow bicellular (two cells), one is created by the speed of the fan placed in the inner cavity, one on the left is due to the difference between the temperatures right wall and the left wall. Knowledge of the intensity of each of these cells allowed us to get an original result. And the values obtained from each of Nuselt convection which allow to know the rate of heat transfer in the cavity.Finally we find that there is a significant influence on the position of the fan on the heat transfer (Nusselt evolution) for values of Reynolds studied and for low values of Richardson handed this influence is negligible for high values of the latter.

Keywords: thermal transfer, mixed convection, square cavity, finite volume method

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Authors: Salami Akeem Olanrewaju

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The transportation models or problems are primarily concerned with the optimal (best possible) way in which a product produced at different factories or plants (called supply origins) can be transported to a number of warehouses or customers (called demand destinations). The objective in a transportation problem is to fully satisfy the destination requirements within the operating production capacity constraints at the minimum possible cost. The objective of this study is to determine ways of minimizing transport cost in order to maximum profit. Data were gathered from the records of the Distribution Department of 7-Up Bottling Company Plc. Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) while applying the three methods of solving a transportation problem. The three methods produced the same results; therefore, any of the method can be adopted by the company in transporting its final products to the wholesale dealers in order to minimize total production cost.

Keywords: cost minimization, resources utilization, distribution system, allocation problem

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Authors: Qura-tul-aain Khair

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Purpose- The purpose of this paper is to empirically examining the strength of association of responsive market orientation and proactive market orientation with new product performance and exploring the possible moderating role of organizational learning based on contingency theory. Design/methodology/approach- Data for this study was collected from FMCG manufacturing industry and services industry, where customers are in contact frequently and responses are recorded on continuous basis. Sample was collected through convenience sampling. The data collected from different marketing department and sales personnel were analysed using SPSS 16 version. Findings- The paper finds that responsive market orientation is more strongly associated with new product performance. The moderator, organizational learning, plays it significant role on the relationship between responsive market orientation and new product performance. Research limitations/implications- this paper has taken sample from just FMCG industry and service industry, more work can be done regarding how different-markets require different market orientation behaviours. Originality/value- This paper will be useful for foreign business looking for investing and expanding in Pakistan, they can find opportunity to get sustained competitive advantage through exploring the proactive side of market orientation and importance of organizational learning.

Keywords: organizational learning, proactive market orientation, responsive market orientation, new product performance

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Authors: Salah Gariani, Islam Shyha, Fawad Inam, Dehong Huo

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A controlled cutting fluid impinging supply system (CUT-LIST) was developed to deliver an accurate amount of cutting fluid into the machining zone via well-positioned coherent nozzles based on a calculation of the heat generated. The performance of the CUT-LIST was evaluated against a conventional flood cutting fluid supply system during step shoulder milling of Ti-6Al-4V using vegetable oil-based cutting fluid. In this paper, the micro-hardness of the machined surface was used as the main criterion to compare the two systems. CUT-LIST provided significant reductions in cutting fluid consumption (up to 42%). Both systems caused increased micro-hardness value at 100 µm from the machined surface, whereas a slight reduction in micro-hardness of 4.5% was measured when using CUL-LIST. It was noted that the first 50 µm is the soft sub-surface promoted by thermal softening, whereas down to 100 µm is the hard sub-surface caused by the cyclic internal work hardening and then gradually decreased until it reached the base material nominal hardness. It can be concluded that the CUT-LIST has always given lower micro-hardness values near the machined surfaces in all conditions investigated.

Keywords: impinging supply system, micro-hardness, shoulder milling, Ti-6Al-4V, vegetable oil-based cutting fluid

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Authors: Yu H. Chen, Li C. Chen, Hsiang Y. Wu, Wan Y. Chen, Yin S. Lai, Sarah S. Chen

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Little has been done to customize an appropriate program on gratitude for nurses, who work in high-stress environments. The purpose of this study is to design an appropriate program on gratitude for nurses and to investigate the effects of the program. Based on research done by Kaohsiung Medical University’s Positive Psychology Center, the only one of its kind in Taiwan, one of the top five strengths of nurses is gratitude. Instead of adapting from an older model created from past research, the Gratitude Workshop is developed from a quasi-experimental approach and designed with five additional dimensions that emphasize gratitude: thanking others, thanking one's surroundings, cherishing what one has, appreciating hardships, and appreciating the present. A sample of 84 nurses was randomly selected from the Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital; 43 of who participated in the nine-hour Gratitude Workshop that spanned over three weeks, while the other 41 were part of the waitlist control group. The pretest and posttest included five questionnaires: Inventory of Undergraduates' Gratitude, The Gratitude Questionnaire-6, Mental Health Continuum‐Short Form, Perceived Stress Scale, and the Stress Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Results of the research showed that the Gratitude Workshop elevates gratitude, well-being, and perceived stress on the nurses; however, it was also found in the Stress Coping Strategies Questionnaire that the Gratitude Workshop only heightened the regulation of emotions.

Keywords: gratitude, nurses, positive psychology, well-being

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Authors: P. Ramesh, Aby Joseph, Arya G. Lal, U. S. Aji

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Integration of distributed green renewable energy sources in addition with battery energy storage is an inevitable requirement in a smart grid environment. To achieve this, an Intelligent Green Energy Management System (i-GEMS) needs to be incorporated to ensure coordinated operation between supply and load demand based on the hierarchy of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), battery energy storage and distribution grid. A bi-directional energy harvester is an integral component facilitating Intelligent Green Energy Management System (i-GEMS) and it is required to meet the technical challenges mentioned as follows: (1) capability for bi-directional mode of operation (buck/boost) (2) reduction of circuit parasitic to suppress voltage spikes (3) converter startup problem (4) high frequency magnetics (5) higher power density (6) mode transition issues during battery charging and discharging. This paper is focused to address the above mentioned issues and targeted to design, develop and implement a bi-directional energy harvester with galvanic isolation. In this work, the hardware architecture for bi-directional energy harvester rated 3.5 kW is developed with Isolated Full Bridge Boost Converter (IFBBC) as well as Dual Active Bridge (DAB) Converter configuration using modular power electronics hardware which is identical for both solar PV array and battery energy storage. In IFBBC converter, the current fed full bridge circuit is enabled and voltage fed full bridge circuit is disabled through Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) pulses for boost mode of operation and vice-versa for buck mode of operation. In DAB converter, all the switches are in active state so as to adjust the phase shift angle between primary full bridge and secondary full bridge which in turn decides the power flow directions depending on modes (boost/buck) of operation. Here, the control algorithm is developed to ensure the regulation of the common DC link voltage and maximum power extraction from the renewable energy sources depending on the selected mode (buck/boost) of operation. The circuit analysis and simulation study are conducted using PSIM 9.0 in three scenarios which are - 1.IFBBC with passive clamp, 2. IFBBC with active clamp, 3. DAB converter. In this work, a common hardware prototype for bi-directional energy harvester with 3.5 kW rating is built for IFBBC and DAB converter configurations. The power circuit is equipped with right choice of MOSFETs, gate drivers with galvanic isolation, high frequency transformer, filter capacitors, and filter boost inductor. The experiment was conducted for IFBBC converter with passive clamp under boost mode and the prototype confirmed the simulation results showing the measured efficiency as 88% at 2.5 kW output power. The digital controller hardware platform is developed using floating point microcontroller TMS320F2806x from Texas Instruments. The firmware governing the operation of the bi-directional energy harvester is written in C language and developed using code composer studio. The comprehensive analyses of the power circuit design, control strategy for battery charging/discharging under buck/boost modes and comparative performance evaluation using simulation and experimental results will be presented.

Keywords: bi-directional energy harvester, dual active bridge, isolated full bridge boost converter, intelligent green energy management system, maximum power point tracking, renewable energy sources

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Authors: Camille Rault, Mark Bahr

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The aim of the present study was to develop a contemporaneous instrument measuring adolescent’s subjective well-being (SWB). The instrument development underwent a three-phase pilot study. Phase one (N = 31) used a qualitative approach to generate domains of SWB relevant to adolescents. During the second phase (N = 22), items were tested targeting these domains. Finally, the third phase (N = 22) assisted in addition, deletion and refinement according to the first two phases of the pilot. A total of 49 items were retained for the final version of the instrument. The Contemporary Adolescent Well-Being Scale (CAWBS) was administered to 1071 school children (599 girls) aged between ten to 18 years old (M = 14,70; SD = 1.45) from Queensland, Australia. Results confirmed the seven-factor construct hypothesized and explained 45% of the variance. The questionnaire pertained to seven domains of adolescent’s SWB, namely; Overall life satisfaction; Bullying; Body image; Social connectedness; Activities; Control appraisal; and Negative feelings. Reliability was shown to be acceptable with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from .58 to .89. Future research should refine the CAWBS and investigate the psychometric properties of this instrument.

Keywords: adolescence, construct validity, instrument, subjective well-being

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Authors: Jian Zheng

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Three-dimensional (3D) network structure has been recognized as an effective approach to enhance the mechanical and thermal conductive properties of polymeric composites. However, it has not been applied in energetic materials. In this work, a fluoropolymer based composite with vertically oriented and interconnected 3D graphite network was fabricated for polymer bonded explosives (PBXs). Here, the graphite and graphene oxide platelets were mixed, and self-assembled via rapid freezing and using crystallized ice as the template. The 3D structure was finally obtained by freezing-dry and infiltrating with the polymer. With the increasing of filler fraction and cooling rate, the thermal conductivity of the polymer composite was significantly improved to 2.15 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ by 1094% than that of pure polymer. Moreover, the mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and elastic modulus, were enhanced by 82% and 310%, respectively, when the highly ordered structure was embedded in the polymer. We attribute the increased thermal and mechanical properties to this 3D network, which is beneficial to the effective heat conduction and force transfer. This study supports a desirable way to fabricate the strong and thermal conductive fluoropolymer composites used for the high-performance polymer bonded explosives (PBXs).

Keywords: mechanical properties, oriented network, graphite polymer composite, thermal conductivity

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Authors: T. D. Tran, H. Schlegel, R. Neugebauer

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Ball screws are an important component in machine tools. In mechatronic systems and machine tools, a ball screw has to work usually at a high speed. Otherwise the axial compliance of the ball screw, in combination with the inertia of the slide, the motor, the coupling and the screw, will cause an oscillation resonance, which limits the systems bandwidth and consequently influences performance of the motion controller. In this paper, the modal analysis method by measuring and analysing the vibrating parameters of the ball screw system to determine the dynamic characteristic of existing structures is used. On the one hand, the results of this study were obtained by the theoretical analysis and the modal testing of a ball screw system test station with the help of an impact hammer, respectively using excitation by motor. The experimental study showed oscillating forms of the ball screw for each frequency and obtained eigenfrequencies of the ball screw system. On the other hand, in this research a simulation with the help of the numerical modal analysis in order to analyse the oscillation and to find the eigenfrequencies of the ball screw system is used. Furthermore, the model order reduction by modal reduction and also according to Guyan is carried out. On the basis of these results a secure and also rapid commissioning of the control loops with regard to operating in their optimal function is targeted.

Keywords: modal analysis, ball screw, controller system, machine tools

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Authors: Eiji Okano, Kazuyuki Inagaki

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We revisit Uribe's `Fiscal Theory of Sovereign Risk' advocating that there is a trade-off between stabilizing inflation and suppressing default. We develop a class of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with nominal rigidities and compare two de facto inflation stabilization policies, optimal monetary policy and optimal monetary and fiscal policy with the minimizing interest rate spread policy which completely suppress the default. Under the optimal monetary and fiscal policy, not only the nominal interest rate but also the tax rate work to minimize welfare costs through stabilizing inflation. Under the optimal monetary both inflation and output gap are completely stabilized although those are fluctuating under the optimal monetary policy. In addition, volatility in the default rate under the optimal monetary policy is considerably lower than one under the optimal monetary policy. Thus, there is not the SI-SD trade-off. In addition, while the minimizing interest rate spread policy makes inflation rate severely volatile, the optimal monetary and fiscal policy stabilize both the inflation and the default. A trade-off between stabilizing inflation and suppressing default is not so severe what pointed out by Uribe.

Keywords: sovereign risk, optimal monetary policy, fiscal theory of the price level, DSGE

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Authors: Qi Xiu, Hiromu Hota, Yohsuke Ishii, Takuya Oda

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Recently, collectable manufacturing data are rapidly increasing. On the other hand, mega recall is getting serious as a social problem. Under such circumstances, there are increasing needs for preventing mega recalls by defect analysis such as root cause analysis and abnormal detection utilizing manufacturing data. However, the time to classify strings in manufacturing data by traditional method is too long to meet requirement of quick defect analysis. Therefore, we present String Length Distribution Classification method (SLDC) to correctly classify strings in a short time. This method learns character features, especially string length distribution from Product ID, Machine ID in BOM and asset list. By applying the proposal to strings in actual manufacturing data, we verified that the classification time of strings can be reduced by 80%. As a result, it can be estimated that the requirement of quick defect analysis can be fulfilled.

Keywords: string classification, data quality, feature selection, probability distribution, string length

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Authors: Sandhya Rao Mehta

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As ChatGpt and other Artificial Intelligence (AI) forms are becoming part of our regular academic world, the consequences are being gradually discussed. The extent to which an essay written by a student is itself of any value if it has been downloaded by some form of AI is perhaps central to this discourse. A larger question is whether writing should be taught as an academic skill at all. In literature classrooms, this has major consequences as writing a traditional paper is still the single most preferred form of assessment. This study suggests that it is imperative to investigate alternative forms of assessment in literature, not only because the existing forms can be written by AI, but in a larger sense, students are increasingly skeptical of the purpose of such work. The extent to which an essay actually helps the students professionally is a question that academia has not yet answered. This paper suggests that using real-world tasks like creating podcasts, video tutorials, and websites is a far better way to evaluate students' critical thinking and application of ideas, as well as to develop digital skills which are important to their future careers. Using the example of a course in literature, this study will examine the possibilities and challenges of creating digital projects as a way of confronting the complexities of student evaluation in the future. The study is based on a specific university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context.

Keywords: assessment, literature, digital humanities, chatgpt

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Authors: Lourdes I. Meriño, Viatcheslav Kafarov, Maria Gómez

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Fuel gas used in the burner receives as contributors other gases from different processes and this result in variability in the composition, which may cause an incomplete combustion. The burners are designed to operate in a certain curve, the calorific power dependent on the pressure and gas burners. When deviation of propane and C5+ is huge, there is a large release of energy, which causes it to work out the curves of the burners, because less pressure is required to force curve into operation. That increases the risk of explosion in an oven, besides of a higher environmental impact. There should be flame detection systems, and instrumentation equipment, such as local pressure gauges located at the entrance of the gas burners, to permit verification by the operator. Additionally, distributed control systems must be configured with different combustion instruments associated with respective alarms, as well as its operational windows, and windows control guidelines of integrity, leaving the design information of this equipment. Therefore, it is desirable to analyze when a plant is taken out of service and make good operational analysis to determine the impact of changes in fuel gas streams contributors, by varying the calorific power. Hence, poor combustion is one of the cause instability in the flame of the burner and having a great impact on process safety, the integrity of individuals and teams and environment.

Keywords: combustion process, fuel composition, safety, fuel gas

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Authors: Siti Hasnah Kamarudin, Luqman Chuah Abdullah, Min Min Aung, Chantara Thevy Ratnam

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The primary objective of this work was to develop fully nanocomposite material based on poly(lactic acid), epoxidized jatropha oil (EJO) and nanocrystalline cellulose. EJO was investigated as a sustainable alternative to petrochemical-based plasticizers to reinforce the ductility and toughness of plastics, in this case, nanocellulose/poly(lactic acid) (PLA). The EJO was melt blended into nanocellulose/PLA at concentrations from 1 wt% to 5 wt%. The blends were then hot-pressed into sheets to characterize their mechanical and physical properties. Microcrystalline cellulose had been converted to nanocrystalline cellulose by acid mercerisation technique and the effects thereof on the composites’ tensile, flexural, and impact properties, as well as their water absorption and density, were studied. The impact strengths of the nanocomposites were improved with the addition of NCC up to 0.5 wt%, with a maximum over 10 times that of the neat PLA. The flexural strength and modulus increased 4% and 50%, respectively, for NCC/PLA plasticized with EJO. This increase demonstrated the nanocrystalline cellulose addition gave notable improvements to the composites’ properties. Furthermore, analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the nanocomposites’ tensile fracture surfaces indicated better interaction adhesion of the NCC/PLA plasticized with EJO compared with the PLA/EJO composites.

Keywords: nanocrystalline cellulose, nanocomposite, poly (lactic acid), epoxidised jatropha oil

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Authors: Hemadri Raut

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The city is a blend of the possible interactions of the built form, open spaces and their spatial organization layout in a geographical area to obtain an integrated pattern and environment with building facades being a dominant figure in the body of a city. Façades of each city have their own inherent properties responsive to the human behaviour, weather conditions, safety factors, material availability and composition along with the necessary aesthetics in coordination with adjacent building facades. Cities experience a huge transformation in the culture, lifestyle; socioeconomic conditions and technology nowadays because of the increasing population, urban sprawl, industrialization, contemporary architectural style, post-disaster consequences, war reconstructions, etc. This leads to the loss of the actual identity and architectural character of the city which in turn induces chaos and turbulence in the city. This paper attempts to identify and learn from the traditional elements that would make us more aware of the unique identity of the local communities in a city. It further studies the architectural style, color, shape, and design techniques through the case studies of contextual cities. The work focuses on the observation and transformation of the image of the city through these considerations in the designing of the facades to achieve the reconciliation of the people with urban spaces.

Keywords: building facades, city, community, heritage, identity, transformation, urban

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Authors: Daphne Alroy-Thiberge

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Trauma-impacted individuals present unique treatment challenges that include high reactivity, hyper-and hypo-arousal, poor adherence to therapy, as well as powerful transference and counter-transference experiences in therapy. This work provides an overview of the clinical tenets most often encountered in trauma-impacted individuals. Further, it provides readily applicable clinical techniques to optimize therapeutic rapport and facilitate accelerated positive mental health outcomes. Finally, integrated neuroscience and clinical evidence-based data are discussed to shed new light on crisis states in trauma-impacted individuals. This knowledge is utilized to provide effective and concrete interventions towards rapid and successful de-escalation of the impacted individual. A highly interactive, adult-learning-principles-based modality is utilized to provide an organic learning experience for participants. The information and techniques learned aim to increase clinical effectiveness, reduce staff injuries and burnout, and significantly enhance positive mental health outcomes and self-determination for the trauma-impacted individuals treated.

Keywords: clinical competencies, crisis interventions, psychotherapy techniques, trauma informed care

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Authors: D. Latha, V. Sunitha, Samson Mathew

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In India, most of the pavement is laid by bituminous road and the consumption of binder is high for pavement construction and also modified binders are used to satisfy any specific pavement requirement. Since the binders are visco-elastic material which is having the mechanical properties of binder transition from visco-elastic solid to visco-elastic fluid. In this paper, two different protocols were used to measure the viscosity property of binder using a Brookfield Viscometer and there is a need to find the appropriate mixing and compaction temperatures of various types of binders which can result in complete aggregate coating and adequate field density of HMA mixtures. The aim of this work is to find the transition temperature from Non-Newtonian behavior to Newtonian behavior of the binder by adopting a steady shear protocol and the shear rate ramp protocol. The transition from non-Newtonian to Newtonian can occur through an increase of temperature and shear of the material. The test has been conducted for unmodified binder VG 30. The transition temperature was found in the unmodified binder VG is 120oC. So the application of both modified binder and unmodified binder in the pavement construction needs to be studied properly by considering temperature and traffic loading factors of the respective project site.

Keywords: unmodified and modified binders, Brookfield viscometer, transition temperature, steady shear and shear rate protocol

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Authors: Vaishnavi Unde, Srikanth Mutnuri

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Today dye stuff sector is one of the major chemical industries in India. Indigo is a blue coloured dye used all over the world in large quantity. The indigo dye produced and used in textile industries is synthetic having toxic effect, thus there is an increase in interest for natural dyes owing to the environmental concerns. The present study focuses on the use of a strain Pandoraea sp. isolated from garage soil, for the production of indigo in fed batch bioreactor. A comparative study between single phase and two phase production was carried out in this work. The blue colour produced during the experiments was analyzed using, TLC, UV-visible spectrophotometer and FTIR technique. The blue pigment was found to be indigo. The production of bio-indigo was done in a single phase fermentor carrying medium and substrate indole in dissolved form and was found to produce maximum of 0.041 g/L of indigo. Whereas there was an increase in production of indigo to 0.068 g/L in a two phase, water-silicone oil system. In this study the advantage of using second phase as silicone oil has enhanced the indigo production, as the second phase made the substrate available to the bacteria by increasing the surface area as well as it helped to prevent the inhibition effect of the high concentration of substrate, indole. The effect of single and two phases on the growth of bacteria was also studied.

Keywords: dyes, fed batch reactor, indole, Indigo

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Authors: Vladimir A. Grachev

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Today, in the context of rapidly developing technosphere and hourly emerging new technologies, the industrial and environmental safety issue is ever more pressing. The article is devoted to the relationship of social, environmental, and industrial policies with industrial safety, occupational health and safety, environmental safety, and environmental protection. The author assesses the up-to-day situation through system analysis and on the basis of the existing practices. A complex system of the policies implementation without "gaps" and missing links ensures preservation of human lives, health and a favorable living environment. The author demonstrates that absence of an "environmental safety" high-priority link can lead to a significant loss of human lives and health and the global changes in the environment. The role of implementing the environmental policy of enterprises and organizations, and of economic sectors in the implementation of national environmental policy is shown. It was established that the system for implementing environmental policy should be based on a system analysis.

Keywords: environmental protection, environmental safety, industrial safety, occupational health and safety

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Authors: Sobhy M. Mohsen, Mohamed M. El-Nikeety, Tarek G. Mohamed, Michael Murkovic

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The present work aimed to study the use of ohmic heating in the processing of mango pulp comparing to conventional method. Mango pulp was processed by using ohmic heating under the studied suitable conditions. Physical, chemical and microbiological properties of mango pulp were studied. The results showed that processing of mango pulp by using either ohmic heating or conventional method caused a decrease in the contents of TSS, total carbohydrates, total acidity, total sugars (reducing and non-reducing sugar) and an increase in phenol content, ascorbic acid and carotenoids compared to the conventional process. The increase in electric conductivity of mango pulp during ohmic heating was due to the addition of some electrolytes (salts) to increase the ions and enhance the process. The results also indicate that mango pulp processed by ohmic heating contained more phenols, carbohydrates and vitamin C and less HMF compared to that produced by conventional one. Total pectin and its fractions had slightly reduced by ohmic heating compared to conventional method. Enzymatic activities showed a reduction in poly phenoloxidase (PPO) and polygalacturonase (PG) activity in mango pulp processed by conventional method. However, ohmic heating completely inhibited PPO and PG activities.

Keywords: ohmic heating, mango pulp, phenolic, sarotenoids

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Authors: Meng Sun, Bin Wei

Abstract:

In the past decades, design-build has become a more popular project delivery system especially for the large scaled infrastructure project in North America. It provides a one-stop shopping system for the client therefore improves the efficiency of construction, and reduces the risks and overall cost for the clients. Compared to the project with traditional delivery method, design-build project requires contractor and designer to work together efficiently to deliver the best-value solutions through the construction process. How to facilitate a solid integration and efficient interaction between contractor and designer often affects the schedule, budget and quality of the construction therefore becomes a key factor to the success of a design-build project. This paper presents a concept of using modern mobile cloud technology to provide an integrated solution during the design-build construction. It uses mobile cloud architecture to provide a platform for real-time field progress, change request approval, job progress log, and project time entry with devices integration for field information and communications. The paper uses a real filed change notice as an example to demonstrate how mobile cloud technology applies in a design-build project and how it can improve the project efficiency.

Keywords: cloud, design-build, field change notice, mobile application

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Hycham Aboutaleb, Bruno Monsuez

Abstract:

Current systems' complexity has reached a degree that requires addressing conception and design issues while taking into account environmental, operational, social, legal, and financial aspects. Therefore, one of the main challenges is the way complex systems are specified and designed. The exponentially growing effort, cost, and time investment of complex systems in modeling phase emphasize the need for a paradigm, a framework, and an environment to handle the system model complexity. For that, it is necessary to understand the expectations of the human user of the model and his limits. This paper presents a generic framework for designing complex systems, highlights the requirements a system model needs to fulfill to meet human user expectations, and suggests a graph-based formalism for modeling complex systems. Finally, a set of transformations are defined to handle the model complexity.

Keywords: higraph-based, formalism, system engineering paradigm, modeling requirements, graph-based transformations

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Dong Zhang, Kang Hai Tan, Aravind Dasari

Abstract:

Increasing concern on environmental sustainability and waste management has driven the construction and building sector towards renewable materials. In this work, we have explored the usage of natural fibers as an alternative to synthetic fibers like polypropylene (PP) in ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). PP fibers are incorporated into concrete to resist explosive thermal spalling of UHPC during a fire exposure scenario. Experimental studies on the effect of natural fiber on the mechanical properties and spalling resistance of UHCP were conducted. The residual mechanical properties of UHPC with natural fibers were tested after heating to different temperatures. Spalling behavior of UHPC with natural fibers is also assessed by heating the samples according to ISO 834 fire curve. A range of analytical, physical and microscopic characterization techniques was also used on the concrete samples before and after being subjected to elevated temperature to investigate the phase and microstructural change of the sample. The findings show that natural fibers are able to improve fire resistance of UHPC. Adding natural fibers can prevent UHPC from spalling at high temperature. This study provides an alternative, which is at low cost and environmentally friendly, to prevent spalling of UHPC.

Keywords: high temperature, natural fiber, spalling, ultra-high performance concrete

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Aziz Larbi, Widad Sadok

Abstract:

In Morocco, the mountainous regions extend over about 26% of the national territory where 30% of the total population live. They contain opportunities for agriculture, forestry, pastureland and mining. The production systems in these zones are characterised by crop diversification. However, these areas have become vulnerable to the effects of climate change. To understand these effects in relation to the population living in these areas, a study was carried out in the zone of Taliouine, in the Anti-Atlas. The vulnerability of crop productions to climate change was analysed and the different ways of adaptation adopted by farmers were identified. The work was done on saffron, the most profitable crop in the target area even though it requires much water. Our results show that the majority of the farmers surveyed had noticed variations in the climate of the region: irregularity of precipitation leading to a decrease in quantity and an uneven distribution throughout the year; rise in temperature; reduction in the cold period and less snow. These variations had impacts on the cropping system of saffron and its productivity. To cope with these effects, the farmers adopted various strategies: better management and use of water; diversification of agricultural activities; increase in the contribution of non-agricultural activities to their gross income; and seasonal migration.

Keywords: climate change, Taliouine, saffron, perceptions, adaptation strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 46