Search results for: static behavior

Authors: Hamed Sadeghi, Pouya A. Panahi, Hamed Nasiri, Mohammad Sadeghi

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Collapsible soils like loess comprise an important category of problematic soils for construction purposes and sustainable development. As a result, research on both geological and geotechnical aspects of this type of soil have been in progress for decades. However, considerable natural variability in physical properties of in-situ loess strata even in a single block sample challenges the fundamental laboratory investigations. The reason behind this is that it is somehow impossible to remove the effect of a specific factor like void ratio from fair comparisons to come with a reliable conclusion. In order to cope with this limitation, two types of artificially made dispersive and calcareous loess are introduced which can be easily reproduced in any soil mechanics laboratory provided that all its compositions are known and controlled. The collapse potential is explored for a variety of soil water salinity and lime content and comparisons are made against the natural soil behavior. Trends are reported for the influence of pore water salinity on collapse potential under different osmotic flow conditions. The most important advantage of artificial loess is the ease of controlling cementing agent content like calcite or dispersive potential for studying their influence on mechanical soil behavior.

Keywords: artificial loess, unsaturated soils, collapse potential, dispersive clays, laboratory tests

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Mokhlisur Rahman

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Consumers' understanding of the products depends on what levels of information the advertisement contains. Consumers' attitudes vary widely depending on factors such as their level of environmental awareness, their perception of the company's motives, and the perceived effectiveness of the advertising campaign. Considering the growing eco-consciousness among consumers and their concern for the environment, strategies for green advertising have become equally significant for companies to attract new consumers. It is important to understand consumers' habits of purchasing, knowledge, and attitudes regarding eco-friendly products depending on promotion because of the limitless options of the products in the market. Additionally, encouraging consumers to buy sustainable products requires a platform that can message the world that being a stakeholder in sustainability is possible if consumers show eco-friendly behavior on a larger scale. Social media platforms provide an excellent atmosphere to promote companies' sustainable efforts to be connected engagingly with their potential consumers. The unique strategies of green advertising use techniques to carry information and rewards for the consumers. This study aims to understand the consumer behavior and effectiveness of green advertising by experimenting in collaboration with three companies in promoting their eco-friendly products using green designs on the products. The experiment uses three sustainable personalized offerings, Nike shoes, H&M t-shirts, and Patagonia school bags. The experiment uses a pretest and posttest design. 300 randomly selected participants take part in this experiment and survey through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Nike, H&M, and Patagonia share the post of the experiment on their social media homepages with a video advertisement for the three products. The consumers participate in a pre-experiment online survey before making a purchase decision to assess their attitudes and behavior toward eco-friendly products. The audio-only feature explains the product's information, like their use of recycled materials, their manufacturing methods, sustainable packaging, and their impact on the environment during the purchase while the consumer watches the product video. After making a purchase, consumers take a post-experiment survey to know their perception and behavior toward eco-friendly products. For the data analysis, descriptive statistical tools mean, standard deviation, and frequencies measure the pre- and post-experiment survey data. The inferential statistical tool paired sample t-test measures the difference in consumers' behavior and attitudes between pre-purchase and post-experiment survey results. This experiment provides consumers ample time to consider many aspects rather than impulses. This research provides valuable insights into how companies can adopt sustainable and eco-friendly products. The result set a target for the companies to achieve a sustainable production goal that ultimately supports companies' profit-making and promotes consumers' well-being. This empowers consumers to make informed choices about the products they purchase and support their companies of interest.

Keywords: green-advertising, sustainability, consumer-behavior, social media

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: George Adomako Kumi

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The response of structural members, when subjected to various forms of non-proportional loading, plays a major role in the overall stability and integrity of a structure. This research seeks to present the outcome of a finite element investigation conducted by the use of finite element programming software ABAQUS to validate the experimental results of elastic and inelastic behavior and strength of beam-columns subjected to axial loading, biaxial bending, and torsion under ambient temperature conditions. The application of the rigorous and highly complicated ABAQUS finite element software will seek to account for material, non-linear geometry, deformations, and, more specifically, the contact behavior between the beam-columns and support surfaces. Comparisons of the three-dimensional model with the results of actual tests conducted and results from a solution algorithm developed through the use of the finite difference method will be established in order to authenticate the veracity of the developed model. The results of this research will seek to provide structural engineers with much-needed knowledge about the behavior of steel beam columns and their response to various non-proportional loading conditions under ambient temperature conditions.

Keywords: beam-columns, axial loading, biaxial bending, torsion, ABAQUS, finite difference method

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Jiří Vágner, Dana Fialová

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The Covid-19 pandemic and its effects have triggered significant changes in travel behavior. On the contrary to a deep decline in international tourism, domestic tourism has recovered. It has not fully replaced the total volume of national tourism so far. However, from a regional point of view, and especially according to the type of destinations, regional targeting has changed significantly compared to the previous period. Urban destinations, which used to be the domain of foreign tourists, have been relatively orphaned, in contrast to destinations tied to natural attractions, which have seen seasonal increases. Even here, at a lower hierarchical geographic level, we can observe the differentiation resulting from the existing localization and infrastructure. The case study is focused on the three largest water reservoirs of the Vltava Cascade in Czechia– Lipno, Orlík, and Slapy. Based on a detailed field survey, in the periods before and during the pandemic, as well as available statistical data (Tourdata; Czech Statistical Office, Czech Cadaster and Ordnance Survey), different trends in the exploitation of these destinations with regard to existing or planned infrastructure are documented, analyzed and explained. This gives us the opportunity to discuss on concrete examples of generally known phenomena that are usually neglected in tourism: slum, brownfield, greenfield. Changes in travel behavior – especially the focus on spending leisure time individually in naturally attractive destinations – can affect the use of sites, which can be defined as a tourist or recreational slum, brownfield, but also as a tourist greenfield development. Sociocultural changes and perception of destinations by tourists and other actors represent, besides environmental changes, major trends in current tourism.

Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, czechia, sociocultural and environmental impacts, tourist infrastructure, travel behavior, the Vltava Cascade water reservoirs

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Mojdeh Mohseni

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In the context of tissue engineering, the effect of microtopography as afforded by scaffold morphology is an important design parameter. Since the morphology of pores can effect on cell behavior, in this study, porous Chitosan (CHIT) - Gelatin (GEL)- Alginate (ALG) scaffolds with microtubule orientation structure were manufactured by unidirectional freeze-drying method and the effect of pore morphology on differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) was investigated. This study showed that, the provided scaffold with natural polymer had good properties for cell behavior and the pores with highest orientation rate have produced appropriate substrate for the differentiation of stem cells.

Keywords: Chitosan, gelatin, Alginate, pore morphology, stem cell differentiation

Procedia PDF Downloads 462

Authors: Phan Hong, David Lishner, Matthew Hanson

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Sixty-five children across four school research sites participated in the present experiment, which was designed to examine whether mindfulness promotes eating enjoyment and diverse eating behaviors in preschool- and early elementary-age children. Children, ages 3-9 years old, were randomly assigned to a 4-week mindfulness intervention condition or a 4-week exposure, control condition. Each week for four days, children received one of four different foods (celery, cauliflower, kidney beans, or garbanzo beans). Children either received instructions to mindfully engage with the food or were given the food and allowed to eat without mindfulness prompts from the researchers. Following the eating exercise, they recorded the amount eaten and rated their enjoyment level. Across all sessions, researchers modeled eating behaviors for the children by eating all the offered food. Results suggested that a brief mindfulness intervention promoted more diverse eating behaviors and more overall food consumption of typically not preferred and unfamiliar foods (celery, cauliflower, and garbanzo beans), compared with an exposure, control condition in preschool children and elementary-age children. However, food enjoyment ratings did not significantly differ between the two conditions for any of the foods. Implications of the finding for addressing eating behavior of young children are considered.

Keywords: children, control trial, eating behavior, eating enjoyment, mindfulness, schools

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Jagdish Prasad Sahoo

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The increase in active earth pressure during the event of an earthquake results sliding, overturning and tilting of earth retaining structures. In order to improve upon the stability of structures, the soil mass is often reinforced with various types of reinforcements such as metal strips, geotextiles, and geogrids etc. The stresses generated in the soil mass are transferred to the reinforcements through the interface friction between the earth and the reinforcement, which in turn reduces the lateral earth pressure on the retaining walls. Hence, the evaluation of earth pressure in the presence of seismic forces with an inclusion of reinforcements is important for the design retaining walls in the seismically active zones. In the present analysis, the effect of reinforcing horizontal layers of reinforcements in the form of sheets (Geotextiles and Geogrids) in sand used as backfill, on reducing the active earth pressure due to earthquake body forces has been studied. For carrying out the analysis, pseudo-static approach has been adopted by employing upper bound theorem of limit analysis in combination with finite elements and linear optimization. The computations have been performed with and out reinforcements for different internal friction angle of sand varying from 30 ° to 45 °. The effectiveness of the reinforcement in reducing the active earth pressure on the retaining walls is examined in terms of active earth pressure coefficient for presenting the solutions in a non-dimensional form. The active earth pressure coefficient is expressed as functions of internal friction angle of sand, interface friction angle between sand and reinforcement, soil-wall interface roughness conditions, and coefficient of horizontal seismic acceleration. It has been found that (i) there always exists a certain optimum depth of the reinforcement layers corresponding to which the value of active earth pressure coefficient becomes always the minimum, and (ii) the active earth pressure coefficient decreases significantly with an increase in length of reinforcements only up to a certain length beyond which a further increase in length hardly causes any reduction in the values active earth pressure. The optimum depth of the reinforcement layers and the required length of reinforcements corresponding to the optimum depth of reinforcements have been established. The numerical results developed in this analysis are expected to be useful for purpose of design of retaining walls.

Keywords: active, finite elements, limit analysis, presudo-static, reinforcement

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Bhawna Verma

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Looking at the contraceptive use and unmet need specific to the different age groups would help to understand various determinants and characteristics of women from different age groups, which are often being neglected. The study explores contraceptive behavior, unmet need for family planning and its correlates among young nulliparous women aged 15-29, using data from NFHS-4 (2015-16), India. Method: The study utilized information from 26,924 currently married women, who has no child or who have had first terminated pregnancy and was aged 15-29 at the time of the survey. Chi-Square and logistic regression analysis have been used to assess the effects of socio-economic characteristics. Results: Of all the considered explanatory variables religion, caste, education, current age, age at marriage, media exposure and regional differences were found to be significantly affecting the behavior of contraceptive use. Women of the 25-29 age group are 0.6 percent less likely to have an unmet need than women of 12-19 age group. Unmet need is increasing with the increased level of education. Muslim women are 0.3 percent less likely to have an unmet need than women of Hindu category. Conclusion: Separate considerations must be given to the needs for family planning formation among nulliparous women along with the factors associated with the use and non-use of contraceptives among them. Separate considerations must be given for effective promotion of FP knowledge through print, electronic media, towards the unequal access to the contraceptives among nulliparous women. Marriages after legal minimum age and encouraging women for higher education may address existing socio-economic barriers.

Keywords: contraceptive use, unmet need, family planning, contraceptive behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Velly Anatasia

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In the last few decades extensive research has been conducted into information technology (IT) adoption, testing a series of factors considered to be essential for improved diffusion. Some studies analyze IT characteristics such as usefulness, ease of use and/or security, others focus on the emotions and experiences of users and a third group attempts to determine the importance of socioeconomic user characteristics such as gender, educational level and income. The situation is similar regarding e-commerce, where the majority of studies have taken for granted the importance of including these variables when studying e-commerce adoption, as these were believed to explain or forecast who buys or who will buy on the internet. Nowadays, the internet has become a marketplace suitable for all ages and incomes and both genders and thus the prejudices linked to the advisability of selling certain products should be revised. The objective of this study is to test whether the socioeconomic characteristics of experienced e-shoppers such as gender rally moderate the effect of their perceptions of online shopping behavior. Current development of the online environment and the experience acquired by individuals from previous e-purchases can attenuate or even nullify the effect of these characteristics. The individuals analyzed are experienced e-shoppers i.e. individuals who often make purchases on the internet. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was broadened to include previous use of the internet and perceived self-efficacy. The perceptions and behavior of e-shoppers are based on their own experiences. The information obtained will be tested using questionnaires which were distributed and self-administered to respondent accustomed using internet. The causal model is estimated using structural equation modeling techniques (SEM), followed by tests of the moderating effect of socioeconomic variables on perceptions and online shopping behavior. The expected findings of this study indicated that gender moderate neither the influence of previous use of the internet nor the perceptions of e-commerce. In short, they do not condition the behavior of the experienced e-shopper.

Keywords: Internet shopping, age groups, gender, income, electronic commerce

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Benalia Nadia, Bensiali Nadia, Zezouri Noura

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This paper studies the effects of voltage sags, both symmetrical and unsymmetrical, on the three-phase Synchronous Machine (SM) when powering an isolate load or infinite bus bar. The vast majority of the electrical power generation systems in the world is consist of synchronous generators coupled to the electrical network though a transformer. Voltage sags on SM cause speed variations, current and torque peaks and hence may cause tripping and equipment damage. The consequences of voltage sags in the machine behavior depends on different factors such as its magnitude (or depth), duration , the parameters of the machine and also the size of load. In this study, we consider the machine feeds an infinite bus bar in the first and the isolate load using symmetric and asymmetric defaults to see the behavior of the machine in both case the simulation have been used on SIMULINK MATLAB.

Keywords: power quality, voltage sag, synchronous generator, infinite system

Procedia PDF Downloads 679

Authors: Chun-Lin Zhang, Min Wan

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With the upgrade development of the tourism industry from the simple sightseeing tour to the leisure and vacation, people's travel idea has undergone a fundamental change. More and more people begin to pursue liberal and personal tourism, so self-driving tourism has become the main form of current tourism activities. With the self-driving tourism representing the general trend, the importance of convenient tourism transportation and perfect road traffic signs have become more and more prominent. A clear urban road traffic signs can help visitors quickly identify the direction and distance to the tourism destination. The purpose of this article is analyzing the planning of urban road traffic signs which can bring positive impact on the participation in the recreation involved of self-driving tourists. The content of this article is divided into three parts. Based on the literature review and theoretical analysis, the first part constructs a structural variance model. The model is from three dimensions: the attention of the self-driving tourists to the urban traffic signs along the road, the perception of the self-driving tourists to the road traffic signs itself, the perceptions of the self-driving tourists to the tourism destination information on the traffic signs. Through this model, the paper aims to explore the influence of the urban road traffic signs to the leisure psychological involvement and leisure behavior involvement of the self-driving tourists. The second part aims to verify through the hypothesis model the questionnaire survey and come to preliminary conclusions. The preliminary conclusions are as follows: firstly, the color, shape, size, setting mode and occurrence frequency of urban road traffic sign have significant influence on the leisure psychological involvement and leisure behavior involvement of the self-driving tourists. Secondly, the influence on the leisure behavior involvement is obviously higher than the influence on the leisure psychological involvement. Thirdly, the information about the tourism destination marked on the urban road traffic signs has not obviously influence on the leisure psychological involvement, but it has distinct influence on the leisure behavior involvement of self-driving tourists. The third part puts forward that the planning of urban road traffic signs should focus on the angle of the impact of road traffic signs on people's psychology and behavior. On the basis of the above conclusions, the paper researches the color, shape, size, setting mode and information labeling of urban road traffic signs so that they can preferably satisfy the demand of the leisure involvement of self-driving tourists.

Keywords: leisure involvement, self-driving tourism, structural equation, urban road traffic signs

Procedia PDF Downloads 238

Authors: Nicolas Bigot, M'hamed Boutaous, Nahiene Hamila, Shihe Xin

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Composite materials with polymer matrices are widely used in most industrial areas, particularly in aeronautical and automotive ones. Thanks to the development of a high-performance thermoplastic semicrystalline polymer matrix, those materials exhibit more and more efficient properties. The polymer matrix in composite materials can manifest a specific crystalline structure characteristic of crystallization in a fibrous medium. In order to guarantee a good mechanical behavior of structures and to optimize their performances, it is necessary to define realistic mechanical constitutive laws of such materials considering their physical structure. The interaction between fibers and matrix is a key factor in the mechanical behavior of composite materials. Transcrystallization phenomena which develops in the matrix around the fibers constitute the interphase which greatly affects and governs the nature of the fiber-matrix interaction. Hence, it becomes fundamental to quantify its impact on the thermo-mechanical behavior of composites material in relationship with processing conditions. In this work, we propose a numerical model coupling the thermal and crystallization kinetics in long fiber-based composite materials, considering both the spherulitic and transcrystalline types of the induced structures. After validation of the model with comparison to results from the literature and noticing a good correlation, a parametric study has been led on the effects of the thermal kinetics, the fibers volume fractions, the deformation, and the pressure on the crystallization rate in the material, under processing conditions. The ratio of the transcrystallinity is highlighted and analyzed with regard to the thermal kinetics and gradients in the material. Experimental results on the process are foreseen and pave the way to establish a mechanical constitutive law describing, with the introduction of the role on the crystallization rates and types on the thermo-mechanical behavior of composites materials.

Keywords: composite materials, crystallization, heat transfer, modeling, transcrystallization

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Assad Maalouf, Lunjin Lu, James Lynott

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We design and implement a precise model of string operations using finite state machine transformers and state transformers to approximate the values string variables can take throughout the execution of the program.We use our model to analyze Android program string variables. Our experimental results show that our string analysis is very efficient at detecting the contextual effect of string operations on the string variables. Our model proved to be very useful when it came to verifying statements about the string variables of the program.

Keywords: abstract interpretation, android, static analysis, string analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: M. I. Oshimagye, V. O. Ayuba, P. A. Annune

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The effect of Sublethal Concentrations of Parkia biglobosa pod extract on the growth and survival of Clarias gariepinus juveniles (mean weight 32.73g ± 0.0) were investigated under laboratory conditions for 8 weeks using the static renewal and continuous aeration system. Statistical analysis showed that fish exposed to various concentrations had significantly lower (P<0.05) growth rate than the control groups. The reduction in growth was observed to be directly proportional to increase in concentration. However, at 50 mg/L no significant depression in weight was observed.

Keywords: Clarias gariepinus, Parkia biglobosa, pod, weight

Procedia PDF Downloads 499

Authors: Martin Goubej, Tomas Popule, Alois Krejci

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This paper deals with experimental identification of mechanical systems with nonlinear friction characteristics. Dynamic LuGre friction model is adopted and a systematic approach to parameter identification of both linear and nonlinear subsystems is given. The identification procedure consists of three subsequent experiments which deal with the individual parts of plant dynamics. The proposed method is experimentally verified on an industrial-grade robotic manipulator. Model fidelity is compared with the results achieved with a static friction model.

Keywords: mechanical friction, LuGre model, friction identification, motion control

Procedia PDF Downloads 414

Authors: Nato Asatiani

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The research underscores the critical role of a positive school climate in combating bullying. The results can be generalized and assumed that bullying behavior occurs when there is a victim, and the environment allows the realization of aggression; school culture is a strong predictor of bullying behavior; the probability of becoming a victim (victimhood) is high among those teenagers who experience high levels of stress in the environment; when a teenager experiences a sense of threat, such physical, psychological, or social symptoms are developed that makes teenagers vulnerable to bullying; the school culture that is oriented to adherence to the rules of communication and mutual respect in the group reduces the likelihood of a teenager to become a victim; consequently, when a teenager has a sense of wellness even in combination with aggression, this sense reduces the likelihood of a teenager to become a victim.

Keywords: bullying, adolescence, aggression, school climate

Procedia PDF Downloads 32

Authors: Timothy O. Adekunle, Sigridur Bjarnadottir

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Several studies have investigated thermal behavior of buildings with limited studies focusing on high-rise buildings. Of the limited investigations that have considered thermal performance of high-rise buildings, only a few studies have considered thermal behavior of high-rise structural sustainable buildings. As a result, this study investigates the thermal behavior of a high-rise structural timber building. The study aims to understand the thermal environment of a high-rise structural timber block of apartments located in East London, UK by comparing the indoor environmental conditions at different floors (ground and upper floors) of the building. The environmental variables (temperature and relative humidity) were measured at 15-minute intervals for a few weeks in the summer of 2012 to generate data that was considered for calibration and validation of the simulated results. The study employed mainly dynamic thermal building simulation using DesignBuilder by EnergyPlus and supplemented with environmental monitoring as major techniques for data collection and analysis. The weather file (Test Reference Years- TRYs) for the 2000s from the weather generator carried out by the Prometheus Group was considered for the simulation since the study focuses on investigating thermal behavior of high-rise structural timber buildings in the summertime and not in extreme summertime. In this study, the simulated results (May-September of the 2000s) will be the focus of discussion, but the results will be briefly compared with the environmental monitoring results. The simulated results followed a similar trend with the findings obtained from the short period of the environmental monitoring at the building. The results revealed lower temperatures are often predicted (at least 1.1°C lower) at the ground floor than the predicted temperatures at the upper floors. The simulated results also showed that higher temperatures are predicted in spaces at southeast facing (at least 0.5°C higher) than spaces in other orientations across the floors considered. There is, however, a noticeable difference between the thermal environment of spaces when the results obtained from the environmental monitoring are compared with the simulated results. The field survey revealed higher temperatures were recorded in the living areas (at least 1.0°C higher) while higher temperatures are predicted in bedrooms (at least 0.9°C) than living areas for the simulation. In addition, the simulated results showed spaces on lower floors of high-rise structural timber buildings are predicted to provide more comfortable thermal environment than spaces on upper floors in summer, but this may not be the same in wintertime due to high upward movement of hot air to spaces on upper floors.

Keywords: building simulation, high-rise, structural timber buildings, sustainable, temperatures, thermal behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Nour Charara, Hussein Charara, Omar Abou Khaled, Hani Abdallah, Elena Mugellini

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In this paper, we present a human behavior modeling approach in videos scenes. This approach is used to model the normal behaviors in the conference halls. We exploited the Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis technique (PLSA), using the 'Bag-of-Terms' paradigm, as a tool for exploring video data to learn the model by grouping similar activities. Our term vocabulary consists of 3D spatio-temporal patch groups assigned by the direction of motion. Our video representation ensures the spatial information, the object trajectory, and the motion. The main importance of this approach is that it can be adapted to detect abnormal behaviors in order to ensure and enhance human security.

Keywords: activity modeling, clustering, PLSA, video representation

Procedia PDF Downloads 394

Authors: Santi Termprasertsakul, Jakkrich Jearviriyaboonya

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This paper studies the market power and pricing behavior of products in iron and steel industry by investigating the impact of vertical product differentiation (VPD) on exchange rate pass-through (ERPT). Vietnam has become one of the major trading partners of Thailand since 2017. The iron and steel export value to Vietnam is more than $300 million a year. Particularly, the average growth rate of importing iron and steel is approximately 30% per year. The VPD is applied to analyze the quality difference of iron and steel between Thailand and Vietnam. The 20 products in iron and steel industry are investigated. The monthly pricing behavior of Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System 4-digit products is observed from 2010 to 2019. The Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag is also used to analyze the asymmetry of ERPT in this paper. The empirical results basically reveal an incomplete pass-through between Thai Baht and Vietnamese Dong. The ERPT also varies with the degree of VPD. The product with higher VPD, indicating higher unit values, has higher ERPT. This result suggests the higher market power of the Thai iron and steel industry. In addition, the asymmetry of ERPT exists.

Keywords: exchange rate pass-through, iron and steel industry, pricing behavior, vertical product differentiation

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Husam El-Asfour, Fateh Adhnouss, Kenneth McIsaac, Abdul Mutalib Wahaishi, Raafat Aburukba, Idris El-Feghia

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Although intelligence is commonly referred to as the observable behavior in various fields and domains, it must also be shown how it develops by exhibiting multiple forms and without observing the inherent behavior. There have been several official and informal definitions of intelligence in various areas; however, no scientific agreement on a definition has been agreed upon. There must be a single definition, structure, and precise modeling for articulating how intelligence is perceived by people and machines in order to comprehend intelligence. Another key challenge is defining the different environment types based on the integral elements (agents) and their possible interactions. On the basis of conceptualization, this paper proposes a formal model for defining and developing intelligence. Forms of intelligence are derived from an ontological view, and thus intelligence is defined, described, and modeled based on the various types of environments.

Keywords: intelligence, forms, transformation, conceptualization, ontological view

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Angga S. Fajar, Y. Takahashi, J. Kiyono, S. Sawada

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The problem of medium span bridge bearing support in the extreme temperatures fluctuation region is deterioration in case the suppression of superstructure that sustains temperature expansion. The other hand, the behavior and the parameter of RC column accompanied with friction damping mechanism were determined successfully based on the experiment and numerical analysis. This study proposes the structural system of RC pier accompanied with multi sliding friction damping mechanism to substitute the conventional system of pier together with bearing support. In this system, the pier has monolith behavior to the superstructure with flexible small deformation to accommodate thermal expansion of the superstructure. The flexible small deformation behavior is realized by adding the gap mechanism in the multi sliding friction devices form. The important performances of this system are sufficient lateral flexibility in small deformation, sufficient elastic deformation capacity, sufficient lateral force resistance, and sufficient energy dissipation. Numerical analysis performed for this system with fiber element model. It shows that the structural system has good performance not only under small deformation due to thermal expansion of the superstructure but also under seismic load.

Keywords: RC Pier, thermal expansion, multi sliding friction device, flexible small deformation

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: Maryam Amiri Resketi, Sakineh Yeganeh, Khosro Jani Khalili

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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary lemon peel essential oil (Citrus limon) on serum parameters and liver enzyme activity of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was exposed to deltamethrin. The 96-hour lethal concentrations of the toxin on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), was determined according to standard procedures O.E.C.D in static (Static). 96-hour LC50 was obtained 0.0082 mg/l by using statistical methods Probit program version. The maximum allowable concentration of deltamethrin was calculated 0.00082 mg/l in natural environment and was used for this experiment. Eight treatments were designed based on 3 levels of lemon essential oil 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg and 2 levels of deltamethrin 0 and 0.00082. Rainbow trout with an average weight of 95.14 ± 3.8 g were distributed in 300-liter tanks and cultured for eight weeks. Fish were fed in an amount of 2% of body weight. Water changes were done on a daily basis (90 percent of the tank). About the tanks containing 10 % deltamethrin, after dewatering, suitable concentration of toxin was added to water. At the end of the test, serum biochemical parameters (total protein, albumin, glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides) and liver enzymes (ALP, AST, ALT and LDH) were evaluated. In treatments without and with toxin, increasing 400 mg/kg oil increased total protein and albumin levels and lower cholesterol and triglycerides were observed (p < 0.05). Rise to the level of 400 mg/kg of lemon peel essential oil treatments contain pesticides, reduced the amount of enzymes ALP, ALT and LDH compared to treatment of toxin-free lemon peel essential oil (p < 0.05). The results showed that usage of lemon peel essential oil in fish diet can increase the immune system parameters and strengthen it with strong antioxidant activity followed by reducing the effect of deltamethrin on the immune system of fish and effective dose can prevent the adverse effects of toxin due to the weakening of the fish immune system at the time of toxic pollutant entrance in fish farms.

Keywords: deltamethrin, Oncorhynchus mykiss, LC5096h, lemon peel (citrus limon) essential oil, serum parameters, liver enzymes

Procedia PDF Downloads 201

Authors: Hadi Chahal, Irini Djeran-Maigre

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This paper focuses on the hydro-mechanical behavior of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) polluted sediments when stored in landfills and the interaction between PCBs and geosynthetic clay liners (GCL) with respect to hydraulic performance of the liner and the overall performance and stability of landfills. A European decree, adopted in the French regulation forbids the reintroducing of contaminated dredged sediments containing more than 0,64mg/kg Σ 7 PCBs to rivers. At these concentrations, sediments are considered hazardous and a remediation process must be adopted to prevent the release of PCBs into the environment. Dredging and landfilling polluted sediments is considered an eco-environmental remediation solution. French regulations authorize the storage of PCBs contaminated components with less than 50mg/kg in municipal solid waste facilities. Contaminant migration via leachate may be possible. The interactions between PCBs contaminated sediments and the GCL barrier present in the bottom of a landfill for security confinement are not known. Moreover, the hydro-mechanical behavior of stored sediments may affect the performance and the stability of the landfill. In this article, hydro-mechanical characterization of the polluted sediment is presented. This characterization led to predict the behavior of the sediment at the storage site. Chemical testing showed that the concentration of PCBs in sediment samples is between 1.7 and 2,0 mg/kg. Physical characterization showed that the sediment is organic silty sand soil (%Silt=65, %Sand=27, %OM=8) characterized by a high plasticity index (Ip=37%). Permeability tests using permeameter and filter press showed that sediment permeability is in the order of 10-9 m/s. Compressibility tests showed that the sediment is a very compressible soil with Cc=0,53 and Cα =0,0086. In addition, effects of PCB on the swelling behavior of bentonite were studied and the hydraulic performance of the GCL in interaction with PCBs was examined. Swelling tests showed that PCBs don’t affect the swelling behavior of bentonite. Permeability tests were conducted on a 1.0 m pilot scale experiment, simulating a storage facility. PCBs contaminated sediments were directly placed over a passive barrier containing GCL to study the influence of the direct contact of polluted sediment leachate with the GCL. An automatic water system has been designed to simulate precipitation. Effluent quantity and quality have been examined. The sediment settlements and the water level in the sediment have been monitored. The results showed that desiccation affected the behavior of the sediment in the pilot test and that laboratory tests alone are not sufficient to predict the behavior of the sediment in landfill facility. Furthermore, the concentration of PCB in the sediment leachate was very low ( < 0,013 µg/l) and that the permeability of the GCL was affected by other components present in the sediment leachate. Desiccation and cracks were the main parameters that affected the hydro-mechanical behavior of the sediment in the pilot test. In order to reduce these infects, the polluted sediment should be stored at a water content inferior to its shrinkage limit (w=39%). We also propose to conduct other pilot tests with the maximum concentration of PCBs allowed in municipal solid waste facility of 50 mg/kg.

Keywords: geosynthetic clay liners, landfill, polychlorinated biphenyl, polluted dredged materials

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Iva Dvornik, Sandro Božić, Žana Božić Brkić

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System-dynamic simulating modelling is one of the most appropriate and successful scientific methods of the complex, non-linear, natural, technical and organizational systems. In the recent practice its methodology proved to be efficient in solving the problems of control, behavior, sensitivity and flexibility of the system dynamics behavior having a high degree of complexity, all these by computing simulation i.e. “under laboratory conditions” what means without any danger for observed realities. This essay deals with the research of the gas turbine dynamic process as well as the operating pump units and transformation of gas energy into hydraulic energy has been simulated. In addition, system mathematical model has been also researched (gas turbine- centrifugal pumps – pipeline pressure system – storage vessel).

Keywords: system dynamics, modelling, centrifugal pump, turbine, gases, continuous and discrete simulation, heuristic optimisation

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Authors: Abdullah A. H. Alzahrani, Majd Zohri Yafi, Fawaz K. Alarfaj

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Unified Modelling Language (UML) is a software modelling language that is widely used and accepted. One significant drawback, of which, is that the language lacks formality. This makes carrying out any type of rigorous analysis difficult process. Many researchers attempt to introduce their approaches to formalize UML diagrams. However, it is always hard to decide what language and/or approach to use. Therefore, in this paper, we highlight some of the advantages and disadvantages of number of those approaches. We also try to compare different counterpart approaches. In addition, we draw some guidelines to help in choosing the suitable approach. Special concern is given to the formalization of the static aspects of UML shown is class diagrams.

Keywords: UML formalization, object constraints language, description logic, z language

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Authors: S. Lecheb, A. Nour, A. Chellil, H. Mechakra, N. Tchina, H. Kebir

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This study concerned the dynamic behavior of the wind turbine rotor. Before all, we have studied the loads applied to the rotor, which allows the knowledge their effect on the fatigue. We also studied the movement of the longitudinal cracked rotor in order to determine stress, strain and displacement. Moreover, to study the issues of cracks in the critical zone ABAQUS software is used, which based to the finite element to give the results. In the first we compared the first six modes shapes between cracking and uncracking of HAWT rotor. In the second part, we show the evolution of six first naturals frequencies with longitudinal crack propagation. Finally, we conclude that the residual change in the naturals frequencies can be used as in shaft crack diagnosis predictive maintenance.

Keywords: wind turbine rotor, natural frequencies, longitudinal crack growth, life time

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Authors: Mahmoud Mohamed Emam, Yasser Fathy Hendawy Al-Mahdy

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Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Arab countries have witnessed large scope transformations as a result of embracing globalised practices. The introduction of program academic accreditation in HEIs in the Arab context has been regarded as a change enterprise that has proponents and opponents. In essence, introducing new systems or practices trigger changes that may shatter employees at a given organization. Therefore, it is argued that the interaction between organizational, contextual, and individual-related variables are likely to determine how the organization succeeds in facing resistance to change. This study investigated a mediated-effects model of organizational support and citizenship behavior. The model proposes organizational support as an antecedent of citizenship behavior and commitment to change as a mediator in the organizational support–citizenship behavior relationship. Survey data were collected and analyzed from university faculty (n=221) using structural equation modeling. Findings showed that organizational support significantly contributes to increasedcitizenshipbehaviour and the commitment of university faculty to program accreditation as a change enterprise, which has a significant and direct impact on their citizenship behaviour. We conclude that university-level organizational support shapes faculty’s commitment to change both directly and indirectly. The findings have significant practical implications for HEIs in Arab countries when they introduce new practices that aim at improving institutional effectiveness.

Keywords: organizational support, accreditation, commitment, citizenship behaviour

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Authors: M. Boumaiza, S. Mohamadi, B. Moussai

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In this article the study of the seismic response of an earth dam with sealing walls has been made by introducing the effect of the change of position and depth of the sealing wall and the effect of non-linear behavior of soil of the foundation by taking into account the variation of the viscous damping and shear modulus in each layer of soil on the seismic response of the dam. As a case study, we take the Algerian dam Kef-Eddir which lies in the far west of the territory of the Wilaya of Tipaza (wadi Eddamous), classified according to the RPA 2003 as a high seismicity zone (zone III). With a height of 71m above the foundation and a width of 478m. The seismic event applied to the rock, is the earthquake of Chenoua (29 October, 1989), with a magnitude Mw=6 that hit the region.

Keywords: earth dam, earthquake, sealing walls, viscous damping

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Authors: Irene H. Maralit

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Warning labels have been found to inform smokers about the health hazards of smoking, encourage smokers to quit, and prevent nonsmokers from starting to smoke. Warning labels on tobacco products are an ideal way of communicating with smokers. Since the intervention is delivered at the time of smoking, nearly all smokers are exposed to warning labels and pack-a-day smokers could be exposed to the warnings more than 7,000 times per year. Given the reach and frequency of exposure, the proponents want to know the effect of warning labels on smoking behavior. Its aims to identify the profile of the smokers associated with its behavioral variables that best describe the users’ perception. The behavioral variables are AVOID, THINK RISK and FORGO. This research study aims to determine if there is significant relationship between the effect of warning labels on cigarette package on Consumer behavior when grouped according to profile variable. The researcher used quota sampling to gather representative data through purposive means to determine the accurate representation of data needed in the study. Furthermore, the data was gathered through the use of a self-constructed questionnaire. The statistical method used were Frequency count, Chi square, multi regression, weighted mean and ANOVA to determine the scale and percentage of the three variables. After the analysis of data, results shows that most of the respondents belongs to age range 22–28 years old with percentage of 25.3%, majority are male with a total number of 134 with percentage of 89.3% and single with total number of 79 and percentage of 52.7%, mostly are high school graduates with total number of 59 and percentage of 39.3, with regards to occupation, skilled workers have the highest frequency of 37 with 24.7%, Majority of the income of the respondents falls under the range of Php 5,001-Php10,000 with 50.7%. And also with regards to the number of sticks consumed per day falls under 6–10 got the highest frequency with 33.3%. The respondents THINK RISK factor got the highest composite mean which is 2.79 with verbal interpretation of agree. It is followed by FORGO with 2.78 composite mean and a verbal interpretation of agree and AVOID variable with composite mean of 2.77 with agree as its verbal interpretation. In terms of significant relationship on the effects of cigarette label to consumer behavior when grouped according to profile variable, sex and occupation found to be significant.

Keywords: consumer behavior, smokers, warning labels, think risk avoid forgo

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Authors: Ashkan Zargar, Ali Taheri Mirghaed, Zein Talal Barakat, Alireza Khosravi, Hamed Paknejad

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With the increase of bacterial resistance to the chemical antibiotics, replacing it with ecofriendly herbal materials and with no adverse effects in the host body is very important. Therefore, in this study, the effect of combined essential oil (Thymus vulgaris-Origanum magorana and Ziziphora clinopodioides) on the growth behavior of Yersinia ruckeri, Aeromonas hydrophila and Lactococcus garvieae was evaluated. The compositions of the herbal essential oils used in this study were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) while, the investigating of antimicrobial effects was conducted by the agar-disc diffusion method, determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and bacterial growth curves determination relied on optical density (OD) at 630 nm. The main compounds were thymol (40.60 %) and limonene (15.98 %) for Thymus vulgaris while carvacrol (57.86 %) and thymol (13.54 %) were the major compounds in Origanum magorana. As regards Ziziphora clinopodiodes, α-pinene (22.6 %) and carvacrol (21.1 %) represented the major constituents. Concerning Yersinia ruckeri, disc-diffusion results showed that t.O.z (50 % Origanum majorana) combined essential oil was presented the best inhibition zone (30.66 mm) but it was exhibited no significant differences with other tested commercial antibiotics except oxytetracycline (P <0/05). The inhibitory activity and the bactericidal effect of the t.O.z, unveiled by the MIC= 0.2 μL /mL and MBC= 1.6 μL /mL values, were clearly the best between all combined oils. The growth behaviour of Yersinia ruckeri was affected by this combined essential oil and changes in temperature and pH conditions affected herbal oil performance. As regard Aeromonas hydrophila, its results were so similar to Yersinia ruckeri results and t.O.z (50 % Origanum majorana) was the best between all combined oils (inhibition zone= 26 mm, MIC= 0.4 μL /mL and MBC= 3.2 μL /mL, combined essential oil was affected bacterial growth behavior). Also for Lactococcus garvieae, t.O.z (50 % Origanum majorana) was the best between all combined oils having the best inhibition zone= 20.66 mm, MIC= 0.8 μL /mL and MBC= 1.6 μL /mL and best effect on inhibiting bacterial growth. Combined herbal essential oils have a good and noticeable effect on the growth behavior of pathogenic bacteria in the laboratory, and by continuing research in the host, they may be a suitable alternative to control, prevent and treat diseases caused by these bacteria.

Keywords: bacterial pathogen, herbal medicine, growth behavior, fish

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