Search results for: photovoltaic water pumping system

Authors: Ashish Jain, Shivam Tayal

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There has been great interest in the field of Iontophoresis since few years due to its great applications in the field of controlled transdermal drug delivery system. It is an technique which is used to enhance the transdermal permeation of ionized high molecular weight molecules across the skin membrane especially Peptides & Proteins by the application of direct current of 1-4 mA for 20-40 minutes whereas chemical must be placed on electrodes with same charge. Iontophoresis enhanced the delivery of drug into the skin via pores like hair follicles, sweat gland ducts etc. rather than through stratum corneum. It has wide applications in the field of experimental, Therapeutic, Diagnostic, Dentistry etc. Medical science is using it to treat Hyperhidrosis (Excessive sweating) in hands and feet and to treat other ailments like hypertension, Migraine etc. Nowadays commercial transdermal iontophoretic patches are available in the market to treat different ailments. Researchers are keen to research in this field due to its vast applications and advantages.

Keywords: iontophoresis, novel drug delivery, transdermal, permeation enhancer

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Emad Khorshid, Habib Awada

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Newly developed Ergonomic speed control hump/Dip designs are conducted. The numerical simulation for the driver-vehicle-hump dynamic system will be performed using computer software. The design problem for which the speed hump or dip should provide: (1) discomfort feeling to the driver if speed is over the specified limit, and (2) normal/good comfort level to the driver (and or other passengers) if the speed is within the limit. For comparison reasons, different vehicles suspension systems (active, semi-active and non-active suspension) are used in the simulation. The measuring of the acceptable range of vibration will be referenced to the British standard BS6841, ISO 2631/1 and the new ISO 2631/5. All these standards are related to human health and comfort level in terms of acceptable range of whole body vibration exposure.

Keywords: speed hump, speed dip, ergonomic design, human health, vehicle modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Michael B. C. Khoo, J. L. Khoo, W. C. Yeong, W. L. Teoh

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The Shewhart Xbar control chart is a useful process monitoring tool in manufacturing industries to detect the presence of assignable causes. However, it is insensitive in detecting small process shifts. To circumvent this problem, adaptive control charts are suggested. An adaptive chart enables at least one of the chart’s parameters to be adjusted to increase the chart’s sensitivity. Two common adaptive charts that exist in the literature are the double sampling (DS) Xbar and variable sampling interval (VSI) Xbar charts. This paper compares the performances of the DS and VSI Xbar charts, based on the average time to signal (ATS) criterion. The ATS profiles of the DS Xbar and VSI Xbar charts are obtained using the Mathematica and Statistical Analysis System (SAS) programs, respectively. The results show that the VSI Xbar chart is generally superior to the DS Xbar chart.

Keywords: adaptive charts, average time to signal, double sampling, charts, variable sampling interval

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Mbida Mohamed, Ezzati Abdellah

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A strong challenge in the wireless sensor networks (WSN) is to save the energy and have a long life time in the network without having a high rate of loss information. However, topology control (TC) protocols are designed in a way that the network is divided and having a standard system of exchange packets between nodes. In this article, we will propose a clustering based and centralized routing table protocol of TC (CBCRT) which delegates a leader node that will encapsulate a single routing table in every cluster nodes. Hence, if a node wants to send packets to the sink, it requests the information's routing table of the current cluster from the node leader in order to root the packet.

Keywords: mobile wireless sensor networks, routing, topology of control, protocols

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Renee Yi-Mond Yuan

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The fast development of tourism industries around the world, has largely contributed to many cities, and countries economical and social progress. Past year Taiwan in particular was ranked among one of fastest raise growth country. Thanks to the prominent importance of this phenomenon; seasonal mobility or multipurpose trips have reached more than 1 Billion tourists crossing International borders and more than 4 billion intramural travelers that have nourished the economy and employment in the service sector in most attractive regions, representing about one tenth of World GDP amount, including trade, research, cultural or journalistic purposes. Then the increased activities are giving pressure to the consumption of energy, water, resources, and Greenhouse Gas emissions. The further concentration of tourists in most beautiful sites of the World with consistent supply and reduced pollutions and means for waste control and risks management are challenging the preservation and protection of the natural original environment, including species and their ecosystems, ethnics and their cultures or languages, protection of inherited landscapes and monuments for the future generations to come. In this article, few projects will be analyzed, methods and directions in the EU sustainable development scheme giving way to economical and social activities and preserve rural areas and remote countryside as well as smarter cities development. EU ETS forecasting escalation in the next few decades for road and air, and will reconsider investments and reliance on Biobased alternatives that may turn out solutions and contributions to sustain popularization of tourism development. Study of Examples of Stakeholders practices and Governments efforts, consumer’s attitude to bring new forms of more responsible holidays models: ecotourism, eco-certification, partnerships, investment in technologies and facilities, and possibly create greener perceptions and less impacting demands for the longer term through association, organizations and awards.

Keywords: tourism, sustainability, protection, risks management, change in rural/urban environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Soyon Kim, Edward Kim

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In order to retrieve information from the massive stream of songs in the music industry, music search by title, lyrics, artist, mood, and genre has become more important. Despite the subjectivity and controversy over the definition of music genres across different nations and cultures, automatic genre classification systems that facilitate the process of music categorization have been developed. Manual genre selection by music producers is being provided as statistical data for designing automatic genre classification systems. In this paper, an automatic music genre classification system utilizing non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is proposed. Short-term characteristics of the music signal can be captured based on the timbre features such as mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC), decorrelated filter bank (DFB), octave-based spectral contrast (OSC), and octave band sum (OBS). Long-term time-varying characteristics of the music signal can be summarized with (1) the statistical features such as mean, variance, minimum, and maximum of the timbre features and (2) the modulation spectrum features such as spectral flatness measure, spectral crest measure, spectral peak, spectral valley, and spectral contrast of the timbre features. Not only these conventional basic long-term feature vectors, but also NMF based feature vectors are proposed to be used together for genre classification. In the training stage, NMF basis vectors were extracted for each genre class. The NMF features were calculated in the log spectral magnitude domain (NMF-LSM) as well as in the basic feature vector domain (NMF-BFV). For NMF-LSM, an entire full band spectrum was used. However, for NMF-BFV, only low band spectrum was used since high frequency modulation spectrum of the basic feature vectors did not contain important information for genre classification. In the test stage, using the set of pre-trained NMF basis vectors, the genre classification system extracted the NMF weighting values of each genre as the NMF feature vectors. A support vector machine (SVM) was used as a classifier. The GTZAN multi-genre music database was used for training and testing. It is composed of 10 genres and 100 songs for each genre. To increase the reliability of the experiments, 10-fold cross validation was used. For a given input song, an extracted NMF-LSM feature vector was composed of 10 weighting values that corresponded to the classification probabilities for 10 genres. An NMF-BFV feature vector also had a dimensionality of 10. Combined with the basic long-term features such as statistical features and modulation spectrum features, the NMF features provided the increased accuracy with a slight increase in feature dimensionality. The conventional basic features by themselves yielded 84.0% accuracy, but the basic features with NMF-LSM and NMF-BFV provided 85.1% and 84.2% accuracy, respectively. The basic features required dimensionality of 460, but NMF-LSM and NMF-BFV required dimensionalities of 10 and 10, respectively. Combining the basic features, NMF-LSM and NMF-BFV together with the SVM with a radial basis function (RBF) kernel produced the significantly higher classification accuracy of 88.3% with a feature dimensionality of 480.

Keywords: mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC), music genre classification, non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), support vector machine (SVM)

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Joana Antunes, Thomas Levée, Barbara Radovani, Anu Suonpää, Paulina Saloranta, Liji Sobhana, Petri Ihalainen

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Lignin is an important component in the exploitation of lignocellulosic biomass. It has been shown that within the next years, the yield of added-value lignin-based chemicals and materials will generate renewable alternatives to oil-based products (e.g. polymeric composites, resins and adhesives) and enhance the economic feasibility of biorefineries. In this paper, a novel technology for lignin valorisation (METNIN™) is presented. METNIN™ is based on the oxidative action of an alkaliphilic enzyme in aqueous alkaline conditions (pH 10-11) at mild temperature (40-50 °C) combined with a cascading membrane operation, yielding a collection of lignin fractions (from oligomeric down to mixture of tri-, di- and monomeric units) with distinct molecular weight distribution, low polydispersity and favourable physicochemical properties. The alkaline process conditions ensure the high processibility of crude lignin in an aqueous environment and the efficiency of the enzyme, yielding better compatibility of lignin towards targeted applications. The application of a selected lignin fraction produced by METNIN™ as a suitable lignopolyol to completely replace a commercial polyol in polyurethane rigid foam formulations is presented as a prototype. Liquid lignopolyols with a high lignin content were prepared by oxypropylation and their full utilization in the polyurethane rigid foam formulation was successfully demonstrated. Moreover, selected technical specifications of different foam demonstrators were determined, including closed cell count, water uptake and compression characteristics. These specifications are within industrial standards for rigid foam applications. The lignin loading in the lignopolyol was a major factor determining the properties of the foam. In addition to polyurethane foam demonstrators, other examples of lignin-based products related to resins and sizing applications will be presented.

Keywords: enzyme, lignin valorisation, polyol, polyurethane foam

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Sara S. Fouad, Omneya Messallam

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In 1818, a seventy-five kilometer long canal was dug (called the Mahmoudiyah canal) connecting between Alexandria city in Egypt and the western branch of the Nile. It was a productive resource and vital to its environment, context, transportation, and recreation. It played a significant role in people’s lives and Alexandria city’s shape. The canal, which was the main vein of goods’ transporting from Alexandria’s seaport to the different parts of Egypt, was still in use today as a major source of clear water in the city. But nowadays, Mahmoudiyah canal is converting into ‘dead waterway’. The canal became sources of pollution as a result of solid and industrial waste thus causing many diseases, destroying communities and biodiversity, with urban invasion, the loss of community aesthetic value and healthy environment. Therefore, this paper aims to propose an urban strategy, as a solution to revive the forgotten canal, through recreating a cultural promenade on its shore. The main aim of this research is to formulate decent quality of life, unpolluted space, an area gathering the city space for nature, tourism and investments. As a case study, this paper investigates Mahmoudiyah canal through urban and ecological analyses, aiming to design an urban strategy for reviving it by creating a cultural promenade enriched with public spaces and green areas, which can most probably enhance the quality of life, city re-living and development. Community participation is also considered as vital and intrinsic implementation stage. The empirical research involved using several data assembly methods such as interviews, mental mapping, structural observations and questionnaires. The paper ends with a set of conclusions leading to proposals for the Mahmoudiyah canal revitalization considering the complex challenges and processes of sustainable regeneration focusing on city’s rehabilitation and lost identity.

Keywords: Mahmoudiyah canal, community aesthetic value, city re-living, cultural promenade

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Mohamed Jama Madar, Oso Wilis

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E-learning is the application of information technology in the teaching and learning process. This paper presents the Funnel model as a solution for the problems of implementation of e-learning in tertiary education institutions. While existing models such as TAM, theory-based e-learning and pedagogical model have been used over time, they have generally been found to be inadequate because of their tendencies to treat materials development, instructional design, technology, delivery and governance as separate and isolated entities. Yet it is matching components that bring framework of e-learning strategic implementation. The Funnel model enhances all these into one and applies synchronously and asynchronously to e-learning implementation where the only difference is modalities. Such a model for e-learning implementation has been lacking. The proposed Funnel model avoids ad-ad-hoc approach which has made other systems unused or inefficient, and compromised educational quality. Therefore, the proposed Funnel model should help tertiary education institutions adopt and develop effective and efficient e-learning system which meets users’ requirements.

Keywords: e-learning, pedagogical, technology, strategy

Procedia PDF Downloads 437

Authors: Aysan Esgandanian, Sabalan Daneshvar

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The study is done to determine the comparison between proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller) and tilt-integral-derivative (TID controller) for cardiac pacemaker systems, which can automatically control the heart rate to accurately track a desired preset profile. The controller offers good adaption of heart to the physiological needs of the patient. The parameters of the both controllers are tuned by particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm which uses the integral of time square error as a fitness function to be minimized. Simulation results are performed on the developed cardiovascular system of humans and results demonstrate that the TID controller produces superior control performance than PID controllers. In this paper, all simulations were performed in Matlab.

Keywords: integral of time square error, pacemaker systems, proportional-integral-derivative controller, PSO algorithm, tilt-integral-derivative controller

Procedia PDF Downloads 446

Authors: Jac J. W. Andrews, James B. Hale

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Effective practicing psychologists require ongoing skill development that is constructivist and recursive in nature, with mentor, colleague, co-worker, and patient feedback critical to successful acquisition and maintenance of professional competencies. This paper will provide an overview of the nature and scope of psychologist skill development through multisource feedback (MSF) or 360 degree evaluation, present a rationale for its use for assessing practicing psychologist performance, and advocate its use in psychology given the demonstrated model utility in other health professions. The paper will conclude that an international research design is needed to assess the feasibility, reliability, and validity of MSF system ratings intended to solicit feedback from mentors, colleagues, coworkers, and patients about psychologist competencies. If adopted, the MSF model could lead to enhanced skill development that fosters patient satisfaction within and across countries.

Keywords: psychologist, multisource feedback, psychologist competency, professionalism

Procedia PDF Downloads 430

Authors: Masoud Ghaemi, MohammadJafar Hedayati, Faezeh Yousefzadeh, Hoseinali Heydarzadeh

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According to the statistics of the International Committee on Large Dams, internal erosion and piping (scour) are major causes of the destruction of earth-fill dams. If such dams are constructed in narrow valleys, the valley walls will increase the arching of the dam body due to the transfer of vertical and horizontal stresses, so the occurrence of hydraulic fracturing in these embankments is more likely. Roudbar Dam in Lorestan is a clay-core pebble earth-fill dam constructed in a relatively narrow valley in western Iran. Three years after the onset of impoundment, there has been a fall in dam behavior. Evaluation of the dam behavior based on the data recorded on the instruments installed inside the dam body and foundation confirms the occurrence of internal erosion in the lower and adjacent parts of the core on the left support (abutment). The phenomenon of hydraulic fracturing is one of the main causes of the onset of internal erosion in this dam. Accordingly, the main objective of this paper is to evaluate the validity of this hypothesis. To evaluate the validity of this hypothesis, the dam behavior during construction and impoundment has been first simulated with a three-dimensional numerical model. Then, using validated empirical equations, the safety factor of the occurrence of hydraulic fracturing phenomenon upstream of the dam score was calculated. Then, using the artificial neural network, the failure time of the given section was predicted based on the maximum stress trend created. The study results show that steep slopes of valley walls, sudden changes in coefficient, and differences in compressibility properties of dam body materials have caused considerable stress transfer from core to adjacent valley walls, especially at its lower levels. This has resulted in the coefficient of confidence of the occurrence of hydraulic fracturing in each of these areas being close to one in each of the empirical equations used.

Keywords: arching, artificial neural network, FLAC3D, hydraulic fracturing, internal erosion, pore water pressure

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: K. Almi, S. Lakel, A. Benchabane, A. Kriker

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The fiber–matrix compatibility can be improved if suitable enforcements are chosen. Whenever the reinforcements have more thermal stability, they can resist to the main processes for wood–thermoplastic composites. Several researches are focused on natural resources for the production of biomaterials intended for technical applications. Date palm wood present one of the world’s most important natural resource. Its use as insulating materials will help to solve the severe environmental and recycling problems which other artificial insulating materials caused. This paper reports the results of an experimental investigation on the thermal proprieties of date palm wood from Algeria. A study of physical, chemical and mechanical properties is also carried out. The goal is to use this natural material in the manufacture of thermal insulation materials for buildings. The local natural resources used in this study are the date palm fibers from Biskra oasis in Algeria. The results have shown that there is no significant difference in the morphological proprieties of the four types of residues. Their chemical composition differed slightly; with the lowest amounts of cellulose and lignin content belong to Petiole. Water absorption study proved that Rachis has a low value of sorption whereas Petiole and Fibrillium have a high value of sorption what influenced their mechanical properties. It is seen that the Rachis and leaflets exhibit a high tensile strength values compared to the other residue. On the other hand the low value of bulk density of Petiole and Fibrillium leads to high value of specific tensile strength and young modulus. It was found that the specific young modulus of Petiole and Fibrillium was higher than that of Rachis and Leaflets and that of other natural fibers or even artificial fibers. Compared to the other materials date palm wood provide a good thermal proprieties thus, date palm wood will be a good candidate for the manufacturing efficient and safe insulating materials.

Keywords: composite materials, date palm fiber, natural fibers, tensile tests, thermal proprieties

Procedia PDF Downloads 630

Authors: Khadija Al Farei, Prakash Kumar, Vikas Rao Naidu

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Games are being developed with different genres for different age groups, for many decades. In many places, educational games are playing a vital role for active classroom environment and better learning among students. Currently, the educational games have assumed an important place in children and teenagers lives. The role of educational games is important for improving the learning capability among the students especially of this generation, who really live among electronic gadgets. Hence, it is now important to make sure that in our educational system, we are updated with all such advancement in technologies. Already much research is going on in this area of edutainment. This research paper will review around ten different research papers to find the relation between the education learning techniques and games. The result of this review provides guidelines for enhanced teaching and learning solutions in education. In-house developed educational games proved to be more effective, compared to the one which is readily available in the market.

Keywords: education, education game, educational technology, edutainment, game genres, gaming in education

Procedia PDF Downloads 394

Authors: Anastasios Charisis, Evangelos Kaisar, Steven Spana, Lili Du

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Logistics play a vital role in the prosperity of today’s cities, but current urban logistics practices are proving problematic, causing negative effects such as traffic congestion and environmental impacts. This paper proposes an alternative urban logistics system, leasing hubs inside cities for designated time intervals, and using handcarts for last-mile deliveries. A mathematical model for selecting the locations of hubs and allocating customers, while also scheduling the optimal times during the day for leasing hubs is developed. The proposed model is compared to current delivery methods requiring door-to-door truck deliveries. It is shown that truck traveled distances decrease by more than 60%. In addition, analysis shows that in certain conditions the approach can be economically competitive and successfully applied to address real problems.

Keywords: hub location, last-mile, logistics, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Mohammad Arif, Soumen Chatterjee, Krishnendu Gupta

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The peri-urban interface is an area of transition where the urban and rural areas meet and interact. So the peri-urban areas, which is characterized by strong urban influence, easy access to markets, services and other inputs, are ready supplies of labour but distant from the land paucity and pollution related to urban growth. Hence, the present study is primarily aimed at quantifying the spatio-temporal pattern of land use/land cover change during the last three decades (i.e., 1987 to 2016) in the peri-urban area of Burdwan city. In the recent past, the morphology of the study region has rapid change due to high growth of population and establishment of industries. The change has predominantly taken place along the State and National Highway 2 (NH-2) and around the Burdwan Municipality for meeting both residential and commercial purposes. To ascertain the degree of change in land use and land cover, over the specified time, satellite imageries and topographical sheets are employed. The data is processed through appropriate software packages to arrive at a deduction that most of the land use changes have occurred by obliterating agricultural land & water bodies and substituting them by built area and industrial spaces. Geospatial analysis of study area showed that this area has experienced a steep increase (30%) of built-up areas and excessive decrease (15%) in croplands between 1987 and 2016. Increase in built-up areas is attributed to the increase of out-migration during this period from the core city. This study also examined social, economic and institutional factors that lead to this rapid land use change in peri-urban areas of the Burdwan city by carrying out a field survey of 250 households in peri-urban areas. The research concludes with an urgency for regulating land subdivisions in peri-urban areas to prevent haphazard land use development. It is expected that the findings of the study would go a long way in facilitating better policy making.

Keywords: growth, land use land cover, morphology, peri-urban, policy making

Procedia PDF Downloads 161

Authors: Gurjit Kaur, Neena Gupta

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In this paper, we have analyzed and compared the performance of various coding schemes. The basic ID prime sequence codes are unique in only dimension, i.e. time slots, whereas 2D coding techniques are not unique by their time slots but with their wavelengths also. In this research, we have evaluated and compared the performance of 1D and 2D coding techniques constructed using prime sequence coding pattern for Optical Code Division Multiple Access (OCDMA) system on a single platform. Analysis shows that 2D prime code supports lesser number of active users than 1D codes, but they are having large code family and are the most secure codes compared to other codes. The performance of all these codes is analyzed on basis of number of active users supported at a Bit Error Rate (BER) of 10-9.

Keywords: CDMA, OCDMA, BER, OOC, PC, EPC, MPC, 2-D PC/PC, λc, λa

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: J. Martin Leal-Graciano, Juan J. Pérez-Gavilán, A. Reyes-Salazar, J. H. Castorena, J. L. Rivera-Salas

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The experimental results about the global behavior of twelve 1:2 scaled reinforced concrete frames subject to in-plane lateral load are presented. The main objective was to generate experimental evidence about the use of steel bars within mortar bed joints as shear reinforcement in infill walls. Similar to the Canadian and New Zealand standards, the Mexican code includes specifications for this type of reinforcement. However, these specifications were obtained through experimental studies of load-bearing walls, mainly confined walls. Little information is found in the existing literature about the effects of joint reinforcement on the seismic behavior of infill masonry walls. Consequently, the Mexican code establishes the same equations to estimate the contribution of joint reinforcement for both confined walls and infill walls. Confined masonry construction and a reinforced concrete frame infilled with masonry walls have similar appearances. However, substantial differences exist between these two construction systems, which are mainly related to the sequence of construction and to how these structures support vertical and lateral loads. To achieve the objective established, ten reinforced concrete frames with masonry infill walls were built and tested in pairs, having both specimens in the pair identical characteristics except that one of them included joint reinforcement. The variables between pairs were the type of units, the size of the columns of the frame, and the aspect ratio of the wall. All cases included tie columns and tie beams on the perimeter of the wall to anchor the joint reinforcement. Also, two bare frames with identical characteristics to the infilled frames were tested. The purpose was to investigate the effects of the infill wall on the behavior of the system to in-plane lateral load. In addition, the experimental results were compared with the prediction of the Mexican code. All the specimens were tested in a cantilever under reversible cyclic lateral load. To simulate gravity load, constant vertical load was applied on the top of the columns. The results indicate that the contribution of the joint reinforcement to lateral strength depends on the size of the columns of the frame. Larger size columns produce a failure mode that is predominantly a sliding mode. Sliding inhibits the production of new inclined cracks, which are necessary to activate (deform) the joint reinforcement. Regarding the effects of joint reinforcement in the performance of confined masonry walls, many facts were confirmed for infill walls. This type of reinforcement increases the lateral strength of the wall, produces a more distributed cracking, and reduces the width of the cracks. Moreover, it reduces the ductility demand of the system at maximum strength. The prediction of the lateral strength provided by the Mexican code is a property in some cases; however, the effect of the size of the columns on the contribution of joint reinforcement needs to be better understood.

Keywords: experimental study, infill wall, infilled frame, masonry wall

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: O. Akinola, R. Mustapha

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Obesity is the most serious long-term health problem currently facing adolescents and its prevalence increasing worldwide including developing countries. A cross-sectional study was carried out among age 11-19 years in both public and private school in the urban area of the state. The data was collected using pretest self-administered questionnaire; Anthropometric measurement was also used to examine their nutritional status. Obesity status were determined using BMI cut off point, the overweight was found to be 3.06% among female and 0.6% among male whereas the prevalence of obesity was 0.46% in female and non among male. 62.6% snack daily, fruit consumption pattern was low 0.6%, and 43.7% spend between 4-5 hours watching television daily after school. A positive association exists between the lifestyle and nutritional status of the respondents. Education effort to improve nutrition knowledge can be incorporated into course curriculum and focus on various components within the system when implementing preventive measure on obesity.

Keywords: adolescent, obesity, overweight, prevalence

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Authors: Maria Reznakova, Michala Strnadova, Lukas Reznak

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Successful achievement of strategic goals requires an effective performance management system, i.e. determining the appropriate indicators measuring the rate of goal achievement. Assuming that the goal of the owners is to grow the assets they invested in, it is vital to identify the key performance indicators, which contribute to value creation. These indicators are known as value drivers. Based on the undertaken literature search, a value driver is defined as any factor that affects the value of an enterprise. The important factors are then monitored by both financial and non-financial indicators. Financial performance indicators are most useful in strategic management, since they indicate whether a company's strategy implementation and execution are contributing to bottom line improvement. Non-financial indicators are mainly used for short-term decisions. The identification of value drivers, however, is problematic for companies which are not publicly traded. Therefore financial ratios continue to be used to measure the performance of companies, despite their considerable criticism. The main drawback of such indicators is the fact that they are calculated based on accounting data, while accounting rules may differ considerably across different environments. For successful enterprise performance management it is vital to avoid factors that may reduce (or even destroy) its value. Among the known factors reducing the enterprise value are the lack of capital, lack of strategic management system and poor quality of production. In order to gain further insight into the topic, the paper presents results of the research identifying factors that adversely affect the performance of mechanical engineering enterprises in the Czech Republic. The research methodology focuses on both the qualitative and the quantitative aspect of the topic. The qualitative data were obtained from a questionnaire survey of the enterprises senior management, while the quantitative financial data were obtained from the Analysis Major Database for European Sources (AMADEUS). The questionnaire prompted managers to list factors which negatively affect business performance of their enterprises. The range of potential factors was based on a secondary research – analysis of previously undertaken questionnaire surveys and research of studies published in the scientific literature. The results of the survey were evaluated both in general, by average scores, and by detailed sub-analyses of additional criteria. These include the company specific characteristics, such as its size and ownership structure. The evaluation also included a comparison of the managers’ opinions and the performance of their enterprises – measured by return on equity and return on assets ratios. The comparisons were tested by a series of non-parametric tests of statistical significance. The results of the analyses show that the factors most detrimental to the enterprise performance include the incompetence of responsible employees and the disregard to the customers‘ requirements.

Keywords: business value, financial ratios, performance measurement, value drivers

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Authors: C. Lanzerstorfer, M. Hinterberger

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The iron content of the ore used is crucial for the productivity and coke consumption rate in blast furnace pig iron production. Therefore, most iron ore deposits are processed in beneficiation plants to increase the iron content and remove impurities. In several comminution stages, the particle size of the ore is reduced to ensure that the iron oxides are physically liberated from the gangue. Subsequently, physical separation processes are applied to concentrate the iron ore. The fine-grained ore concentrates produced need to be transported, stored, and processed. For smooth operation of these processes, the flow properties of the material are crucial. The flowability of powders depends on several properties of the material: grain size, grain size distribution, grain shape, and moisture content of the material. The flowability of powders can be measured using ring shear testers. In this study, the influence of the moisture content on the flowability for the Krivoy Rog magnetite iron ore concentrate was investigated. Dry iron ore concentrate was mixed with varying amounts of water to produce samples with a moisture content in the range of 0.2 to 12.2%. The flowability of the samples was investigated using a Schulze ring shear tester. At all measured values of the normal stress (1.0 kPa – 20 kPa), the flowability decreased significantly from dry ore to a moisture content of approximately 3-5%. At higher moisture contents, the flowability was nearly constant, while at the maximum moisture content the flowability improved for high values of the normal stress only. The results also showed an improving flowability with increasing consolidation stress for all moisture content levels investigated. The wall friction angle of the dust with carbon steel (S235JR), and an ultra-high molecule low-pressure polyethylene (Robalon) was also investigated. The wall friction angle increased significantly from dry ore to a moisture content of approximately 3%. For higher moisture content levels, the wall friction angles were nearly constant. Generally, the wall friction angle was approximately 4° lower at the higher wall normal stress.

Keywords: iron ore concentrate, flowability, moisture content, wall friction angle

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Authors: Cara Williams

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In 2006, the UK Labour government published a Green Paper introducing Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) as a replacement for Incapacity Benefit (IB), as well as a new Work Capability Assessment (WCA); signalling a controversial political and economic shift in disability welfare policy. In 2016, the Conservative government published Improving Lives: The Work, Health, and Disability Green Paper, as part of their social reform agenda, evidently to address the ‘injustice’ of the ‘disability employment gap’. This paper contextualises ESA in the wider ideology and rhetoric of ‘welfare to work’, ‘dependency’ and ‘responsibility’. Using the British ‘social model of disability’ as a theoretical framework, the study engages in a critical discourse analysis of these two Green Papers. By uncovering the medicalised conceptions embedded in the texts, the analysis has revealed ESA is linked with late capitalisms concern with the ‘disability category’.

Keywords: disability, employment, social security, welfare

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Nasser Mohamed Ramli, Mohamad Syafiq Mohamad

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Many types of controllers were applied on the continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) unit to control the temperature. In this research paper, Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller are compared with Fuzzy Logic controller for temperature control of CSTR. The control system for temperature non-isothermal of a CSTR will produce a stable response curve to its set point temperature. A mathematical model of a CSTR using the most general operating condition was developed through a set of differential equations into S-function using MATLAB. The reactor model and S-function are developed using m.file. After developing the S-function of CSTR model, User-Defined functions are used to link to SIMULINK file. Results that are obtained from simulation and temperature control were better when using Fuzzy logic control compared to PID control.

Keywords: CSTR, temperature, PID, fuzzy logic

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Authors: Bator Shagdyrov, Elena Zorina, Tamara Nesterenko

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The aim of the research was to develop a design of micromechanical gyroscope, which will be used in the automotive industry, safety systems and anti-lock braking system. The research resulted in improvement of one of the technical parameters – bandwidth. In the process of mass production of micromechanical sensors, problems occurred with their use. One of the problems was a narrow bandwidth typical for the gyroscopes with a high-quality factor. A constructive way of increasing bandwidth is to use multimass systems via secondary oscillations axis. When constructing, the main task was to choose the frequency - phases and antiphases as close to each other as possible, and set the frequency of the primary oscillation evenly between them. Investigations are carried out using the T-Flex CAD finite element program and T-Flex ANALYSIS support package. The results obtained are planned to use in the future for the production of an experimental model of development and testing in practice of characteristics derived by theoretical means.

Keywords: bandwidth, inertial mass, mathematical model, micromechanical gyroscope, micromechanics

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Authors: Narasamma Nippatlapallia

Abstract:

Communities across the world are desperate to get their environment free of toxic per-poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) especially when these chemicals are in aqueous media. In the present study, two different chain length PFAS (PFHxA (C6), PFDA (C10)) are selected for degradation using a modified continuous flow nonthermal plasma. The results showed 82.3% PFHxA and 94.1 PFDA degradation efficiencies, respectively. The defluorination efficiency is also evaluated which is 28% and 34% for PFHxA and PFDA, respectively. The results clearly indicates that the structure of PFAS has a great impact on degradation efficiency. The effect of flow rate is studied. increase in flow rate beyond 2 mL/min, decrease in degradation efficiency of the targeted PFAS was noticed. PFDA degradation was decreased from 85% to 42%, and PFHxA was decreased to 32% from 64% with increase in flow rate from 2 to 5 mL/min. Similarly, with increase in flow rate the percentage defluorination was decreased for both C10, and C6 compounds. This observation can be attributed to mainly because of change in residence time (contact time). Real water/wastewater is a composition of various organic, and inorganic ions that may affect the activity of oxidative species such as 𝑂𝐻. radicals on the target pollutants. Therefore, it is important to consider radicals quenching chemicals to understand the efficiency of the reactor. In gas-liquid NTP discharge reactors 𝑂𝐻. , 𝑒𝑎𝑞 − , 𝑂 . , 𝑂3, 𝐻2𝑂2, 𝐻. are often considered as reactive species for oxidation and reduction of pollutants. In this work, the role played by two distinct 𝑂 .𝐻 Scavengers, ethanol and glycerol, on PFAS percentage degradation, and defluorination efficiency (i,e., fluorine removal) are measured was studied. The addition of scavenging agents to the PFAS solution diminished the PFAS degradation to different extents depending on the target compound molecular structure. In comparison with the degradation of only PFAS solution, the addition of 1.25 M ethanol inhibited C10, and C6 degradation by 8%, and 12%, respectively. This research was supported with energy efficiency, production rate, and specific yield, fluoride, and PFAS concentration analysis with respect to optimum hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the continuous flow reactor.

Keywords: wastewater, PFAS, nonthermal plasma, mineralization, defluorination

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Authors: Jie Ren, Siyao Guo

Abstract:

Laden with phosphates at a low pH value, sewage wastewater aggressive environments constitute a great threat to concrete-based pipes which is made of alkaline cementitious materials such as ordinary Portland cement (OPC). As a promising alternative for OPC-based binders, alkali-activated slag/fly ash (AASF) cementitious binders are generally believed to gain similar or better properties compared to OPC-based counterparts, especially durability. However, there is limited research on the performance of AASF binders in phosphoric acid solution. Moreover, the behavior of AASF binders composited with epoxy resin/TiO₂ when exposed to acidic media has been rarely explored. In this study, the performance of AASF paste with the precursor slag:fly ash (50:50 in mass ratio) enhanced with epoxy resin/TiO₂ composite in phosphoric acid solution (pH = 3.0-4.0) was investigated. The exposure towards acid attack lasted for 90 days. The same AASF mixture without resin/TiO₂ composite was used as a reference. The compressive strength and porous-related properties prior to acidic immersion were tested. The mass variations and degradation depth of the two mixtures of binders were also monitored which is based on phenolphthalein-videomicroscope method. The results show that the binder with epoxy resin/TiO₂ addition gained a higher compressive strength and lower water absorption than the reference. In addition, it also displayed a higher resistance towards acid attack indicated by a less mass loss and less degradation depth compared to the control sample. This improvement can be attributed to a dense microstructure evidenced by the higher compressive strength and related porous structures. It can be concluded that the microstructure can be improved by adding epoxy resin/TiO₂ composite in order to enhance the resistance of AASF binder towards acid attacks.

Keywords: alkali-activated paste, epoxy resin/TiO₂, composites, mechanical properties, phosphoric acid

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Alexandra P. Alexandropoulou, Andreas Fousteris, Eleni Didaskalou, Dimitrios A. Georgakellos

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As urbanization is becoming a major stress factor not only for the urban environment but also for the wellbeing of city dwellers, incorporating the issues of urban health in strategic city planning and policy-making has never been more relevant. The impact of urbanization can vary from low to severe and relates to all non-communicable diseases caused by the different functions of cities. Air pollution, noise pollution, water and soil pollution, availability of open green spaces, and urban heat island are the major factors that can compromise citizens' health. Urban health describes the effects of the social environment, the physical environment, and the availability and accessibility to health and social services. To assess the quality of urban wellbeing, all urban characteristics that might have an effect on citizens' health must be considered, evaluated, and introduced in integrated local planning. A series of indices and indicators can be used to better describe these effects and set the target values in policy making. Local strategic planning is one of the most valuable development tools a local city administration can possess; thus, it has become mandatory under Greek law for all municipalities. It involves a two-stage procedure; the first aims to collect, analyse and evaluate data on the current situation of the city (administrative data, population data, environmental data, social data, swot analysis), while the second aims to introduce a policy vision described and supported by distinct (nevertheless integrated) actions, plans and measures to be implemented with the aim of city development and citizen wellbeing. In this procedure, the element of health is often neglected or under-evaluated. A relative survey was conducted among all Greek local authorities in order to shed light on the current situation. Evidence shows that the rate of incorporation of health in strategic planning is lacking behind. The survey also highlights key hindrances and concerns raised by local officials and suggests a path for the way forward.

Keywords: urban health, strategic planning, local authorities, integrated development

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Authors: Yamba Dabone, Tounwendyam Frédéric Ouedraogo, Pengwendé Justin Kouraogo, Oumarou Sie

Abstract:

Reliable data transport over the Internet is one of the goals of researchers in the field of computer science. Data such as videos and audio files are becoming increasingly large. As a result, transporting them over the Internet is becoming difficult. Therefore, it has been important to establish a method to locally interconnect autonomous systems (AS) with each other to facilitate traffic exchange. It is in this context that Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) are set up to facilitate local and even regional traffic. They are now the lifeblood of the Internet. Therefore, it is important to think about the factors that can characterize IXPs. However, other more quantifiable characteristics can help determine the quality of an IXP. In addition, these characteristics may allow ISPs to have a clearer view of the exchange node and may also convince other networks to connect to an IXP. To that end, we define five new IXP characteristics: the attraction rate (τₐₜₜᵣ); and the peering rate (τₚₑₑᵣ); the target rate of an IXP (Objₐₜₜ); the number of IXP links (Nₗᵢₙₖ); the resistance rate τₑ𝒻𝒻 and the attraction failure rate (τ𝒻).

Keywords: characteristic, autonomous system, internet service provider, internet exchange point, rate

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Authors: Li Qiang, Yang Ze-Ming, Liu Bao-Xu, Jiang Zheng-Wei

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With the increasing complexity of cyberspace security, the cyber-attack attribution has become an important challenge of the security protection systems. The difficult points of cyber-attack attribution were forced on the problems of huge data handling and key data missing. According to this situation, this paper presented a reasoning method of cyber-attack attribution based on threat intelligence. The method utilizes the intrusion kill chain model and Bayesian network to build attack chain and evidence chain of cyber-attack on threat intelligence platform through data calculation, analysis and reasoning. Then, we used a number of cyber-attack events which we have observed and analyzed to test the reasoning method and demo system, the result of testing indicates that the reasoning method can provide certain help in cyber-attack attribution.

Keywords: reasoning, Bayesian networks, cyber-attack attribution, Kill Chain, threat intelligence

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Authors: Youn-Hwan Kim, Jae-Won Moon, Hae-Joong Kim

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This paper introduces the results of the study on the development of accelerated life test methods for the motor used in machine tools. In recent years, as well as efficiency for motors, there is a growing need for research on life expectancy of motors. It is considered impossible to calculate the acceleration coefficient by increasing the rotational load or temperature load as the acceleration stress in the motor system because the temperature of the copper exceeds the wire thermal class rating. This paper describes the equipment development procedure for the highly accelerated life test (HALT) of the 12kW three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors (SCIMs). After the test, the lifetime analysis was carried out, and it is compared with the life expectancy by finite element method (FEM) and bearing theory.

Keywords: acceleration coefficient, bearing, HALT, life expectancy, motor

Procedia PDF Downloads 262