Search results for: attraction system

Authors: Victoria L. Chester, Usha Kuruganti

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The forest industry is a major economic sector of Canada and also one of the most dangerous industries for workers. The use of mechanized mobile forestry harvesting machines has successfully reduced the incidence of injuries in forest workers related to manual labor. However, these machines have also created additional concerns, including a high machine operation learning curve, increased the length of the workday, repetitive strain injury, cognitive load, physical and mental fatigue, and increased postural loads due to sitting in a confined space. It is critical to obtain objective performance data for employers to develop appropriate work practices for this industry, however ergonomic field studies of this industry are lacking mainly due to the difficulties in obtaining comprehensive data while operators are cutting trees in the woods. The purpose of this study was to establish a measurement and experimental protocol to examine the effects of worker skill level and movement training speed (joystick crane speed) on harvesting performance using a forestry simulator. A custom wrist angle measurement device was developed as part of the study to monitor Euler angles during operation of the simulator. The device of the system consisted of two accelerometers, a Bluetooth module, three 3V coin cells, a microcontroller, a voltage regulator and an application software. Harvesting performance and crane data was provided by the simulator software and included tree to frame collisions, crane to tree collisions, boom tip distance, number of trees cut, etc. A pilot study of 3 operators with various skill levels was tested to identify factors that distinguish highly skilled operators from novice or intermediate operators. Dependent variables such as reaction time, math skill, past work experience, training movement speed (e.g. joystick control speeds), harvesting experience level, muscle activity, and wrist biomechanics were measured and analyzed. A 10-channel wireless surface EMG system was used to monitor the amplitude and mean frequency of 10 upper extremity muscles during pre and postperformance on the forestry harvest stimulator. The results of the pilot study showed inconsistent changes in median frequency pre-and postoperation, but there was the increase in the activity of the flexor carpi radialis, anterior deltoid and upper trapezius of both arms. The wrist sensor results indicated that wrist supination and pronation occurred more than flexion and extension with radial-ulnar rotation demonstrating the least movement. Overall, wrist angular motion increased as the crane speed increased from slow to fast. Further data collection is needed and will help industry partners determine those factors that separate skill levels of operators, identify optimal training speeds, and determine the length of training required to bring new operators to an efficient skill level effectively. In addition to effective and employment training programs, results of this work will be used for selective employee recruitment strategies to improve employee retention after training. Further, improved training procedures and knowledge of the physical and mental demands on workers will lead to highly trained and efficient personnel, reduced risk of injury, and optimal work protocols.

Keywords: EMG, forestry, human factors, wrist biomechanics

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Authors: Amin Noor, Roslinda Nazar, Norihan Md. Arifin

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In this paper, a numerical and theoretical study has been performed for the stagnation-point boundary layer flow and heat transfer towards a shrinking sheet in a nanofluid. The mathematical nanofluid model in which the effect of the nanoparticle volume fraction is taken into account is considered. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations using a similarity transformation which is then solved numerically using the function bvp4c from Matlab. Numerical results are obtained for the skin friction coefficient, the local Nusselt number as well as the velocity and temperature profiles for some values of the governing parameters, namely the nanoparticle volume fraction Φ, the shrinking parameter λ and the Prandtl number Pr. Three different types of nanoparticles are considered, namely Cu, Al2O3 and TiO2. It is found that solutions do not exist for larger shrinking rates and dual (upper and lower branch) solutions exist when λ < -1.0. A stability analysis has been performed to show which branch solutions are stable and physically realizable. It is also found that the upper branch solutions are stable while the lower branch solutions are unstable.

Keywords: heat transfer, nanofluid, shrinking sheet, stability analysis, stagnation-point flow

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Authors: Pranitha Janapatla, Venkata Suman Gontla

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The present paper investigates the effects of MHD, double dispersion and variable properties on mixed convection flow from a vertical surface in a power-law fluid saturated non-Darcy porous medium. The governing non-linear partial differential equations are reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations by using a special form of Lie group transformations viz. scaling group of transformations. These ordinary differential equations are solved numerically by using Shooting technique. The influence of relevant parameters on the non-dimensional velocity, temperature, concentration for pseudo-plastic fluid, Newtonian and dilatant fluid are discussed and displayed graphically. The behavior of heat and mass transfer coefficients are shown in tabular form. Comparisons with the published works are performed and are found to be in very good agreement. From this analysis, it is observed that an increase in variable viscosity causes to decrease in velocity profile and increase the temperature and concentration distributions. It is also concluded that increase in the solutal dispersion decreases the velocity and concentration but raises the temperature profile.

Keywords: power-law fluid, thermal conductivity, thermal dispersion, solutal dispersion, variable viscosity

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Authors: Nura Bello

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Sokoto caliphate is the product of a hectic revolutionary movement that took place in the first decade of the nineteenth century under the leadership of Seikh Usmanu Danfodio. The movement led to the overthrow of the Sarauta system in Hausa Land, leading to the emergence of the Sokoto caliphate and Sokoto city as its headquarters. This development led to the collapse of Alkalawa (headquarters of the Gobir Kingdom) in 1808. A year later, in 1809, Sokoto city emerged as the headquarter of the Sokoto Caliphate. Due to the open door policy adopted by the leaders, the city came to experience an influx of people especially craft manufacturers from all over Hausa Land and beyond, who occupied many areas of the city and engaged in different craft production. This paper aims to highlight the development of crafts manufacturing in the 19th century Sokoto city and its contribution to transforming the city into a major economic base of the caliphate. In dealing with the above issue, qualitative research methods that mainly involve the use of oral and archival data will be adopted. Finally, the paper identified that the expansion of craft manufacturing in the 19th century Sokoto city could have resulted from the role played by the leadership of the caliphate, which favoured such development. The paper argues that if those industries were revived in Nigeria today, they would ultimately create various jobs among the younger generations, which would result in economic prosperity.

Keywords: craft manufacturing, diversification, economy, migration

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Authors: Mohammad Jalali Varnamkhasti

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The genetic algorithms have been very successful in handling difficult optimization problems. The fundamental problem in genetic algorithms is premature convergence. This paper, present a new fuzzy genetic algorithm based on chaotic values instead of the random values in genetic algorithm processes. In this algorithm, for initial population is used chaotic sequences and then a new sexual selection proposed for selection mechanism. In this technique, the population is divided such that the male and female would be selected in an alternate way. The layout of the male and female chromosomes in each generation is different. A female chromosome is selected by tournament selection size from the female group. Then, the male chromosome is selected, in order of preference based on the maximum Hamming distance between the male chromosome and the female chromosome or The highest fitness value of male chromosome (if more than one male chromosome is having the maximum Hamming distance existed), or Random selection. The selections of crossover and mutation operators are achieved by running the fuzzy logic controllers, the crossover and mutation probabilities are varied on the basis of the phenotype and genotype characteristics of the chromosome population. Computational experiments are conducted on the proposed techniques and the results are compared with some other operators, heuristic and local search algorithms commonly used for solving p-median problems published in the literature.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, fuzzy system, chaos, sexual selection

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Authors: K. Zehouani, I. Oldal

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Purpose: In the human knee joint, degenerative joint disease may happen with time. The standard treatment of this disease is the total knee replacement through prosthesis implanting. The reason lies in the fact that this phenomenon causes different material abrasion as compare to pure sliding or rolling alone. This study focuses on developing a knee prosthesis geometry, which fulfills the mechanical and kinematical requirements. Method: The MSC ADAMS program is used to describe the rotation of the human knee joint as a function of flexion, and to investigate how the flexion and rotation movement changes between the condyles of a multi-body model of the knee prosthesis as a function of flexion angle (in the functional arc of the knee (20-120º)). Moreover, the multi-body model with identical boundary conditions is constituted, and the numerical simulations are carried out using the MSC ADAMS program system. Results: It is concluded that the use of the multi-body model reduces time and cost since it does not need to manufacture the tibia and the femur as it requires for the knee prosthesis of the test machine. Moreover, without measuring or by dispensing with a test machine for the knee prosthesis geometry, approximation of the results of our model to a human knee is carried out directly. Conclusion: The pattern obtained by the multi-body model provides an insight for future experimental tests related to the rotation and flexion of the knee joint concerning the actual average and friction load.

Keywords: biomechanics, knee joint, rotation, flexion, kinematics, MSC ADAMS

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Authors: Ming-Jong Tsai, T. M. Wu, R. C. Chu

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The purpose of this study is to develop an Advanced linear calibration Technique for air flow sensing by using CTA-based Hot wire Anemometry. It contains a host PC with Human Machine Interface, a wind tunnel, a wind speed controller, an automatic data acquisition module, and nonlinear calibration model. To improve the fitting error by using single fitting polynomial, this study proposes a Multiple three-order Polynomial Fitting Method (MPFM) for fitting the non-linear output of a CTA-based Hot wire Anemometry. The CTA-based anemometer with built-in fitting parameters is installed in the wind tunnel, and the wind speed is controlled by the PC-based controller. The Hot-Wire anemometer's thermistor resistance change is converted into a voltage signal or temperature differences, and then sent to the PC through a DAQ card. After completion measurements of original signal, the Multiple polynomial mathematical coefficients can be automatically calculated, and then sent into the micro-processor in the Hot-Wire anemometer. Finally, the corrected Hot-Wire anemometer is verified for the linearity, the repeatability, error percentage, and the system outputs quality control reports.

Keywords: flow rate sensing, hot wire, constant temperature anemometry (CTA), linear calibration, multiple three-order polynomial fitting method (MPFM), temperature compensation

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Authors: Aijuka Nicholas

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A research study was undertaken to characterize the aquifers and identify the potential groundwater recharge zones in the Kagandi district. Quantitative characterization of hydraulic conductivities of aquifers is of fundamental importance to the study of groundwater flow and contaminant transport in aquifers. A conditional approach is used to represent the spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity. Briefly, it involves using qualitative and quantitative geologic borehole-log data to generate a three-dimensional (3D) hydraulic conductivity distribution, which is then adjusted through calibration of a 3D groundwater flow model using pumping-test data and historic hydraulic data. The approach consists of several steps. The study area was divided into five sub-watersheds on the basis of artificial drainage divides. A digital terrain model (DTM) was developed using Arc GIS to determine the general drainage pattern of Kagandi watershed. Hydrologic characterization involved the determination of the various hydraulic properties of the aquifers. Potential groundwater recharge zones were identified by integrating various thematic maps pertaining to the digital elevation model, land use, and drainage pattern in Arc GIS and Sufer golden software. The study demonstrates the potential of GIS in delineating groundwater recharge zones and that the developed methodology will be applicable to other watersheds in Uganda.

Keywords: aquifers, Arc GIS, groundwater recharge, recharge zones

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Authors: E. Feulefack Songong, A. Zingoni

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A vibration is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. Although vibrations can be linear or nonlinear depending on the basic components of the system, the interest is mostly pointed towards nonlinear vibrations. This is because most structures around us are to some extent nonlinear and also because we need more accurate values in an analysis. The goal of this research is the integration of nonlinearities in the development and validation of structural models and to ameliorate the resistance of structures when subjected to loads. Although there exist many types of nonlinearities, this thesis will mostly focus on the vibration of free and undamped systems incorporating nonlinearity due to stiffness. Nonlinear stiffness has been a concern to many engineers in general and Civil engineers in particular because it is an important factor that can bring a good modification and amelioration to the response of structures when subjected to loads. The analysis of systems will be done analytically and then numerically to validate the analytical results. We will first show the benefit and importance of stiffness nonlinearity when it is implemented in the structure. Secondly, We will show how its integration in the structure can improve not only the structure’s performance but also its response when subjected to loads. The results of this study will be valuable to practicing engineers as well as industry practitioners in developing better designs and tools for their structures and mechanical devices. They will also serve to engineers to design lighter and stronger structures and to give good predictions as for the behavior of structures when subjected to external loads.

Keywords: elastic foundation, nonlinear, plates, stiffness, structures, vibration

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Authors: Mu-Yen Chen, Min-Hsuan Fan, Chia-Chen Chen, Siang-Yu Jhong

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In recent years, real estate prediction or valuation has been a topic of discussion in many developed countries. Improper hype created by investors leads to fluctuating prices of real estate, affecting many consumers to purchase their own homes. Therefore, scholars from various countries have conducted research in real estate valuation and prediction. With the back-propagation neural network that has been popular in recent years and the orthogonal array in the Taguchi method, this study aimed to find the optimal parameter combination at different levels of orthogonal array after the system presented different parameter combinations, so that the artificial neural network obtained the most accurate results. The experimental results also demonstrated that the method presented in the study had a better result than traditional machine learning. Finally, it also showed that the model proposed in this study had the optimal predictive effect, and could significantly reduce the cost of time in simulation operation. The best predictive results could be found with a fewer number of experiments more efficiently. Thus users could predict a real estate transaction price that is not far from the current actual prices.

Keywords: artificial neural network, Taguchi method, real estate valuation model, investors

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Authors: Mehaiguene Madjid, Meddi Mohamed

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The results of applying the model WEAP 21 or 'Water Evaluation and Planning System' in Upper and Middle Cheliff are presented in cartographic and graphic forms by considering two scenarios: -Reference scenario 1961-1990, -Climate change scenarios (low and high) for 2020 and 2050. These scenarios are presented together in the results and compared them to know the impact on aquatic systems and water resources. For the low scenario for 2050, a decrease in the rate of runoff / infiltration will be 81.4 to 3.7 Hm3 between 2010 and 2050. While for the high scenario for 2050, the reduction will be 87.2 to 78.9 Hm3 between 2010 and 2050. Comparing the two scenarios, shows that the water supplied will increase by 216.7 Hm3 to 596 Hm3 up to 2050 if we do not take account of climate change. Whereas, if climate change will decrease step by step: from 2010 to 2026: for the climate change scenario (high scenario) by 2050, water supplied from 346 Hm3 to 361 Hm3. That of the reference scenario (1961-1990) will increase to 379.7 Hm3 in 2050. This is caused by the increased demand (increased population, irrigated area, etc ). The balance water management basin is positive for the different Horizons and different situations. If we do not take account of climate change will be the outflow of 5881.4 Hm3. This excess at the basin can be used as part of a transfer for example.

Keywords: balance water, management basin, climate change scenario, Upper and Middle Cheliff

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Authors: Maria Bercea, Bernhard A. Wolf

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The thermodynamic behavior for solutions of poly (methyl methacrylate-ran-t-butyl methacrylate) of variable composition as compared with the corresponding homopolymers was investigated by light scattering measurements carried out for dilute solutions and vapor pressure measurements of concentrated solutions. The complex dependencies of the Flory Huggins interaction parameter on concentration and copolymer composition in solvents of different polarity (toluene and chloroform) can be understood by taking into account the ability of the polymers to rearrange in a response to changes in their molecular surrounding. A recent unified thermodynamic approach was used for modeling the experimental data, being able to describe the behavior of the different solutions by means of two adjustable parameters, one representing the effective number of solvent segments and another one accounting for the interactions between the components. Thus, it was investigated how the solvent quality changes with the composition of the copolymers through the Gibbs energy of mixing as a function of polymer concentration. The largest reduction of the Gibbs energy at a given composition of the system was observed for the best solvent. The present investigation proves that the new unified thermodynamic approach is a general concept applicable to homo- and copolymers, independent of the chain conformation or shape, molecular and chemical architecture of the components and of other dissimilarities, such as electrical charges.

Keywords: random copolymers, Flory Huggins interaction parameter, Gibbs energy of mixing, chemical architecture

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Authors: Kimuli Ismail, Michael Lubwama, John Baptist Kirabira, Adam Sebbit

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This study develops 4 energy scenarios for Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA). GKMA is Uganda’s capital with a population of 4.1million and a GDP growth rate of 5.8 with a nonsustainable energy management system. The study uses TIMES-VEDA to examine the energy impacts of business as usual (BAU), Kabejja, Carbon-Tax, and Lutta scenarios in commercial, industrial, transportation, residential, agricultural, and electricity generation activities. BAU is the baseline scenario with limited CO2 emissions restrictions against which Kabejja with 20% CO2 emissions restriction, a carbon tax of $100/ton imposed in 2050 for Carbon-Tax scenario, and Lutta with 95% CO2 emissions restriction is made. The analysis suggests that if the current policy trends continue as BAU, consumption would increase from 139.6PJ to 497.42PJ and CO2 emissions will increase from 4.6mtns to 7mtns. However, consumption would decrease by 2.3% in Kabejja, 3.4% in Carbon-Tax, and 3.3 % in Lutta compared to BAU. The CO2 emissions would decrease by 8.57% in Kabejja, 55.14% in Carbon-Tax, and 60% in Lutta compared to BAU. Sustainability is achievable when low-carbon electricity is increased by 53.68% in the EMS, and setting up an electrified Kampala metro. The study recommends Lutta as the sustainable pathway to a lowcarbon 2050.

Keywords: Sustainability, Scenario Plannnig, Times-Veda Modelling, Energy Policy Development

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Authors: M. Abdullah Al Faruque, Ram Balachandar

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An experimental study with four different types of bed conditions was carried out to understand the effect of roughness in open channel flow at two different Reynolds numbers. The bed conditions include a smooth surface and three different roughness conditions which were generated using sand grains with a median diameter of 2.46 mm. The three rough conditions include a surface with distributed roughness, a surface with continuously distributed roughness and a sand bed with a permeable interface. A commercial two-component fibre-optic LDA system was used to conduct the velocity measurements. The variables of interest include the mean velocity, turbulence intensity, the correlation between the streamwise and the wall normal turbulence, Reynolds shear stress and velocity triple products. Quadrant decomposition was used to extract the magnitude of the Reynolds shear stress of the turbulent bursting events. The effect of roughness was evident throughout the flow depth. The results show that distributed roughness has the greatest roughness effect followed by the sand bed and the continuous roughness. Compared to the smooth bed, the streamwise turbulence intensity reduces but the vertical turbulence intensity increases at a location very close to the bed due to the introduction of roughness. Although the same sand grain is used to create the three different rough bed conditions, the difference in the turbulence intensity is an indication that the specific geometry of the roughness has an influence on turbulence structure.

Keywords: open channel flow, smooth and rough bed, Reynolds number, turbulence

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Authors: Nelson Andres, Meeko C. Masangcap, John Denver D. Catapang

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Balanga City as, the heart of Bataan, is a growing City and is now at its fast pace of development. The growth of commerce in the city results to an increase in commuters who travel back and forth through the city, leading to congestions. Consequently, queuing of vehicles along national roads and even in the highways of the city have become a regular occurrence. This common scenario of commuters flocking the city, private and public vehicles going bumper to bumper, especially during the rush hours, greatly affect the flow of traffic vehicles and is now a burden not only to the commuters but also to the government who is trying to address this dilemma. Seeing these terrible events, the implementation of an elevated Automated Guide-way transit is seen as a possible solution to help in the decongestion of the affected parts of Balanga City.In response to the problem, the researchers identify if it is feasible to have an elevated guide-way transit in the vicinity of Sapphire Street in Balanga City, Bataan. Specifically, the study aims to determine who will be the riders based on the demographic profile, where the trip can be generated and distributed, the time when volume of people usually peaks and the estimated volume of passengers. Statistical analysis is applied to the data gathered to find out if there is an important relationship between the demographic profile of the respondents and their preference of having an elevated railway transit in the City of Balanga.

Keywords: ridership, AGT, railway, elevated track

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Authors: N. Balamurugan, N. V. Mahalakshmi

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Compression ignition (CI) engines are known for their high thermal efficiency in comparison with spark-ignited (SI) engines. This makes CI engines a potential candidate for the future prime source of power for transportation sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to shrink carbon footprint. However, CI engines produce high levels of NOx and soot emissions. Conventional methods to reduce NOx and soot emissions often result in the infamous NOx-soot trade-off. The injection parameters are one of the most important factors in the working of CI engines. The engine performance, power output, economy etc., is greatly dependent on the effectiveness of the injection parameters. The injection parameter has their direct impact on combustion process and pollutant formation. The injection parameter’s values are required to be optimised according to the application of the engine. Control of fuel injection mode is one method for reduction of NOx and soot emissions that is achievable. This study aims to assess, compare and analyse the influence of the effect of injection characteristics that is SOI timing studied on combustion and emissions in in-cylinder combustion processes with that of conventional DI Diesel Engine system using the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) package STAR- CD ES-ICE.

Keywords: variation of injection timing, compression ignition engine, spark-ignited, Computational Fluid Dynamic

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Authors: Alena Zemanová, Jan Zeman, Michal Šejnoha

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The polymer foil used for manufacturing of laminated glass members behaves in a viscoelastic manner with temperature dependence. This contribution aims at incorporating the time/temperature-dependent behavior of interlayer to our earlier elastic finite element model for laminated glass beams. The model is based on a refined beam theory: each layer behaves according to the finite-strain shear deformable formulation by Reissner and the adjacent layers are connected via the Lagrange multipliers ensuring the inter-layer compatibility of a laminated unit. The time/temperature-dependent behavior of the interlayer is accounted for by the generalized Maxwell model and by the time-temperature superposition principle due to the Williams, Landel, and Ferry. The resulting system is solved by the Newton method with consistent linearization and the viscoelastic response is determined incrementally by the exponential algorithm. By comparing the model predictions against available experimental data, we demonstrate that the proposed formulation is reliable and accurately reproduces the behavior of the laminated glass units.

Keywords: finite element method, finite-strain Reissner model, Lagrange multipliers, generalized Maxwell model, laminated glass, Newton method, Williams-Landel-Ferry equation

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Authors: Ammar Manaa

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The late Pleistocene raised coral reef terraces, 1 to 5 m above present sea level, are distinguished in Rabigh area into two marine terraces at elevations 0.5 m and 3.20 m, in addition to back-reef facies. The lower and upper terraces consist mainly of corals that increased in abundance and distribution in the upper terrace, with a minor occurrence of detrital quartz and feldspar. The back-reef facies consist mainly of coralline algae with a minor occurrence of corals. The upper terrace was interpreted as a reef crest or algal ridge due to the dominance of bindstone facies. The lower terrace indicates an outer reef flat with the occurrence of grainstone and rudstone facies. The coral framework in the upper terrace indicates a low energy environment. Within the back-reef terrace, calcareous mud was dominant, which indicates low energy, lagoon environment. The XRD results for the studied terraces revealed a variable abundance of aragonite, high-Mg calcite, and low-Mg calcite, with a slight increase in calcite and high-Mg calcite in the upper terrace. The dominant diagenetic processes in the terraces are cementation by fibrous and blocky calcite and dissolution that varied slightly between the lower and upper terraces. This study provides a coral reef model relevant to a low energy system in a dry and hot environment.

Keywords: late Pleistocene, Rabigh, reef terraces, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: Sarah Werner, Michael J. Pritchard

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From pilots to engineers, the skills development within the aerospace industry is exceptionally broad. Employers often struggle with finding the right mixture of qualified skills to fill their organizational demands. This effort to find qualified talent is further complicated by the industrial delineation between two key areas: aviation and aerospace. In a broad sense, the aerospace industry overlaps with the aviation industry. In turn, the aviation industry is a smaller sector segment within the context of the broader definition of the aerospace industry. Furthermore, it could be conceptually argued that -in practice- there is little distinction between these two sectors (i.e., aviation and aerospace). However, through our unstructured text analysis of over 6,000 job listings captured, our team found a clear delineation between aviation-related jobs and aerospace-related jobs. Using techniques in natural language processing, our research identifies an integrated workforce skill pattern that clearly breaks between these two sectors. While the aviation sector has largely maintained its need for pilots, mechanics, and associated support personnel, the staffing needs of the aerospace industry are being progressively driven by integrative engineering needs. Increasingly, this is leading many aerospace-based organizations towards the acquisition of 'system level' staffing requirements. This research helps to better align higher educational institutions with the current industrial staffing complexities within the broader aerospace sector.

Keywords: aerospace industry, job demand, text mining, workforce development

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Authors: Qiang Ren

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A growing number of states are improving domestic law to better protect and promote foreign investment by changing/upgrading the existing law. However, inconsistency occurs because the new law is different from the ‘old’ law. For example, China has issued an unprecedented Foreign Investment Law and several regulations allowing comprehensive market access for foreign investment in most energy sectors since 2020. However, some laws, rules, regulations, etc. enacted previously remain valid, and the provisions regulating foreign investment do not grant full market access to foreign investment as such. The inconsistency above makes it necessary to investigatehow the international investment treaty law and dispute settlement practice respond to the ‘inconsistency and conflict’ in municipal law andwhat remedy foreign investors can seek under international law if the investment is denied due to inconsistency. Ultimately, it aims to examine how international tribunals should balance the gradually developing legal system of host states and the protection of foreign investors and investments if the host states cannot provide consistency during such a transition period of law development. The research seeks to answer these questions by making a comparative analysis of domestic law on market access to foreign investment, international investment treaties, and dispute arbitral practice. The objective is to examine how international investment treaty law and international investment dispute settlement practice evaluate the conflicts in the municipal law of host states in the admission of foreign investment. It also explores the possibility of harmonisation among them.

Keywords: municipal law, protect and promote foreign investment, international law, host states

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Authors: Manjunatha Bangeppagari, Lee Sang Joon

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Recently, graphene-related nanomaterials are receiving fast-increasing attention with augmented applications in various fields. Especially, graphene-related materials have been widely applied to the biomedical field in the past years. In the present study, we evaluated the adverse effects of pristine graphene (pG) in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos in various aspects, such as mortality rate, heart rate, hatching rate, cardiotoxicity, cardiovascular defect, cardiac looping, apoptosis, and globin expression. For various trace concentrations of pG (1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 μg/L), early life-stage parameters were observed at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hpf. As a result, pG induces significant developmental defects including yolk sac edema, pericardial edema, embryonic mortality, delayed hatching, heartbeat, several morphological defects, pericardial toxicity, and bradycardia. Moreover, the exposure to pG was found to be a potential risk factor to the cardiovascular system of zebrafish embryos. However, further study on their properties which vary according to production methods and surface functionalization is essentially required. In addition, the possible risks of pG flakes to aquatic animals, and public health should be evaluated before releasing them to the surrounding environment.

Keywords: apoptosis, cardiovascular toxicity, globin expression, pristine graphene, zebrafish embryos

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Authors: Issam Aouari, Abdelmalek Abdelhamid

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For seismologists, the characterization of seismic demand should include the amplitude and duration of strong shaking in the system. The duration of ground shaking is one of the key parameters in earthquake resistant design of structures. This paper proposes a nonlinear statistical model to estimate earthquake ground motion duration in soft soils using multiple seismicity indicators. Three definitions of ground motion duration proposed by literature have been applied. With a comparative study, we select the most significant definition to use for predict the duration. A stochastic model is presented for the McCann and Shah Method using nonlinear regression analysis based on a data set for moment magnitude, source to site distance and site conditions. The data set applied is taken from PEER strong motion databank and contains shallow earthquakes from different regions in the world; America, Turkey, London, China, Italy, Chili, Mexico...etc. Main emphasis is placed on soft site condition. The predictive relationship has been developed based on 600 records and three input indicators. Results have been compared with others published models. It has been found that the proposed model can predict earthquake ground motion duration in soft soils for different regions and sites conditions.

Keywords: duration, earthquake, prediction, regression, soft soil

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Authors: M. Saifudin Ahmed Atique, Santosh Paudyal, Caixia Yang

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In an aircraft, a great portion of energy is wasted due to its inflight structural vibration. Structural components vibrate due to aeroelastic instabilities, gust perturbations and engine rotation at very high rpm. Energy losses due to mechanical vibration can be utilized by harvesting energy from aircraft structure as electrical energy. This harvested energy can be stored in battery panels built into aircraft fuselage and can be used to power inflight auxiliary accessories i.e., lighting and entertainment systems. Moreover, this power can be used for wireless Structural Health Monitoring System (SHM) for aircraft and as an excellent replacement of aircraft Ground Power Unit (GPU)/Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) during passenger onboard time to power aircraft cabin accessories to reduce aircraft ground operation cost significantly. In this paper, we propose the design of a noble aircraft wing in which Piezoelectric panels placed under the composite skin of aircraft wing will generate electrical charges from any inflight aerodynamics or mechanical vibration and store it into battery to power auxiliary inflight systems/accessories as per requirement. Experimental results show that a well-engineered piezoelectric energy harvester based aircraft wing can produce adequate energy to support in-flight lighting and auxiliary cabin accessories.

Keywords: vibration energy, aircraft wing, piezoelectric material, inflight accessories

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Authors: James V. Luisi

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Understanding consciousness requires a synthesis of ideas from multiple disciplines, including obvious ones like psychology, biology, evolution, neurology, and neuroscience, as well as less obvious ones like protozoology, botany, entomology, carcinology, herpetology, mammalogy, and computer sciences. Furthermore, to incorporate the necessary backdrop, it is best presented in a theme of Eastern philosophy, specifically leveraging the teachings of Buddhism for its relevance to early thought on consciousness. These ideas are presented as a multi-level framework that illustrates the various aspects of consciousness within a tapestry of foundational and dependent building blocks as to how living organisms evolved to understand elements of their reality sufficiently to survive, and in the case of Homo sapiens, eventually move beyond meeting the basic needs of survival, but to also achieve survival of the species beyond the eventual fate of our planet. This is not a complete system of thought, but just a framework of consciousness gathering some of the key elements regarding the evolution of consciousness and the advent of free will, and presenting them in a unique way that encourages readers to continue the dialog and thought process as an experience to enjoy long after reading the last page. Readers are encouraged to think for themselves about the issues raised herein and to question every facet presented, as much further exploration is needed. Needless to say, this subject will remain a rapidly evolving one for quite some time to come, and it is probably in the interests of everyone to at least consider attaining both an ability and willingness to participate in the dialog.

Keywords: consciousness, sentience, intelligence, artificial intelligence, Buddhism

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Authors: Raza Abdulla Saeed

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In this study, the three-dimensional cavitating turbulent flow in a complete Francis turbine is simulated using mixture model for cavity/liquid two-phase flows. Numerical analysis is carried out using ANSYS CFX software release 12, and standard k-ε turbulence model is adopted for this analysis. The computational fluid domain consist of spiral casing, stay vanes, guide vanes, runner and draft tube. The computational domain is discretized with a three-dimensional mesh system of unstructured tetrahedron mesh. The finite volume method (FVM) is used to solve the governing equations of the mixture model. Results of cavitation on the runner’s blades under three different boundary conditions are presented and discussed. From the numerical results it has been found that the numerical method was successfully applied to simulate the cavitating two-phase turbulent flow through a Francis turbine, and also cavitation is clearly predicted in the form of water vapor formation inside the turbine. By comparison the numerical prediction results with a real runner; it’s shown that the region of higher volume fraction obtained by simulation is consistent with the region of runner cavitation damage.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, hydraulic francis turbine, numerical simulation, two-phase mixture cavitation model

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Authors: Naser Shagerdi Esmaeli, Mohsen Hamidpour, Parisa Hasankhani Tehrani

Abstract:

Background: The TP53 mutation is frequently detected in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with complex karyotype (CK), but the stability of this mutation during the clinical course remains unclear. Material and Methods: In this study, TP53 mutations were identified in 7% of 500 patients with de novo AML and 58.8% of patients with CK in Tabriz, Iran. TP53 mutations were closely associated with older age, lower white blood cell (WBC) and platelet counts, FAB M6 subtype, unfavorable-risk cytogenetics, and CK, but negatively associated with NPM1 mutation, FLT3/ITD and DNMT3A mutation. Result: Multivariate analysis demonstrated that TP53 mutation was an independent poor prognostic factor for overall survival and disease-free survival among the total cohort and the subgroup of patients with CK. A scoring system incorporating TP53 mutation and nine other prognostic factors, including age, WBC counts, cytogenetics, and gene mutations, into survival analysis proved to be very useful to stratify AML patients. Sequential study of 420 samples showed that TP53 mutations were stable during AML evolution, whereas the mutation was acquired only in 1 of the 126 TP53 wild-type patients when therapy-related AML originated from different clone emerged. Conclusion: In conclusion, TP53 mutations are associated with distinct clinic-biological features and poor prognosis in de novo AML patients and are rather stable during disease progression.

Keywords: acute myloblastic leukemia, TP53, FLT3/ITD, Iran

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Authors: A. Khan, H. Mahmood

Abstract:

In Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs), sensor nodes close to water surface (final destination) are often preferred for selection as forwarders. However, their frequent selection makes them depleted of their limited battery power. In consequence, these nodes die during early stage of network operation and create energy holes where forwarders are not available for packets forwarding. These holes severely affect network throughput. As a result, system performance significantly degrades. In this paper, a routing protocol is proposed to avoid energy holes during packets forwarding. The proposed protocol does not require the conventional position information (localization) of holes to avoid them. Localization is cumbersome; energy is inefficient and difficult to achieve in underwater environment where sensor nodes change their positions with water currents. Forwarders with the lowest water pressure level and the maximum number of neighbors are preferred to forward packets. These two parameters together minimize packet drop by following the paths where maximum forwarders are available. To avoid interference along the paths with the maximum forwarders, a packet holding time is defined for each forwarder. Simulation results reveal superior performance of the proposed scheme than the counterpart technique.

Keywords: energy holes, interference, routing, underwater

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Authors: Tareq AlNuaim, Mubashir Alam, Abdulrazaq Aldowesh

Abstract:

The usage of micro-Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs) has witnessed an enormous increase recently. Detection of such drones became a necessity nowadays to prevent any harmful activities. Typically, such targets have low velocity and low Radar Cross Section (RCS), making them indistinguishable from clutter and phase noise. Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Radars have many potentials; it increases the degrees of freedom on both transmit and receive ends. Such architecture allows for flexibility in operation, through utilizing the direct access to every element in the transmit/ receive array. MIMO systems allow for several array processing techniques, permitting the system to stare at targets for longer times, which improves the Doppler resolution. In this paper, a 2×2 MIMO radar prototype is developed using Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology, and its performance is evaluated against a slow-moving low radar cross section micro-UAV used by hobbyists. Radar cross section simulations were carried out using FEKO simulator, achieving an average of -14.42 dBsm at S-band. The developed prototype was experimentally evaluated achieving more than 300 meters of detection range for a DJI Mavic pro-drone

Keywords: digital beamforming, drone detection, micro-UAV, MIMO, phased array

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Authors: Baratali Monfaredraz

Abstract:

The concept of justice has been able to occupy a lot of people’s minds and speeches for a long time. Justice has various dimensions such as economic justice, judicial justice, political justice, educational justice, ethnical justice and etc. Educational justice as one of the most basic dimensions of justice can alter our education in every field and it can flourish the talents and capabilities on macro level. One of the most efficient ways for social justice realization is to provide equal opportunities for all people in the society to be able to access equally to education as their human rights since today how progress occurs in education is regarded as the index of social development. On this basis, especially developing countries try to provide equal opportunities for all people in terms of access to education, specifically in higher education. At present, private education system violates the principles of conducting effort, meeting the needs and in part realizing the capabilities and so it cannot be justified to be a fair conductance. It seems that providing higher quality education in public schools and lowering role of teacher and educational facilities in educational achievement can be considered as a proper way to remove the discrimination in terms of unequal distribution of educational facilities. In addition, higher education development in deprived regions can initialize social activities among the inhabitants of these regions. Justice in educational field can result in access of all people to economic and social situations and job opportunities in future.

Keywords: educational justice, deprivation, private schools, higher education, job opportunities

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Authors: Andrii Shalaginov, Katrin Franke, Xiongwei Huang

Abstract:

One of the leading problems in Cyber Security today is the emergence of targeted attacks conducted by adversaries with access to sophisticated tools. These attacks usually steal senior level employee system privileges, in order to gain unauthorized access to confidential knowledge and valuable intellectual property. Malware used for initial compromise of the systems are sophisticated and may target zero-day vulnerabilities. In this work we utilize common behaviour of malware called ”beacon”, which implies that infected hosts communicate to Command and Control servers at regular intervals that have relatively small time variations. By analysing such beacon activity through passive network monitoring, it is possible to detect potential malware infections. So, we focus on time gaps as indicators of possible C2 activity in targeted enterprise networks. We represent DNS log files as a graph, whose vertices are destination domains and edges are timestamps. Then by using four periodicity detection algorithms for each pair of internal-external communications, we check timestamp sequences to identify the beacon activities. Finally, based on the graph structure, we infer the existence of other infected hosts and malicious domains enrolled in the attack activities.

Keywords: malware detection, network security, targeted attack, computational intelligence

Procedia PDF Downloads 268