Search results for: thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC)

Authors: Nick Papanikolaou

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In modern world politics, International relations are very complex not only in their construction but also in their interpretation the ex-Yugoslavian(western Balkans) countries, due to the establishment of independent states, have also risen pending geopolitical and territorial issues such as the Kosovo dispute widely known as an active frozen conflict. Science of anthropology and its subfield of anthropology of conflict can suggest a sustainable plan of communities coexistence and abolishment of fondamentalism. The 1244 Security Council Resolution provides a framework of implementation of a transitional international joint international armed presence for ensuring control and stability in the territory. The changing international relations landscape and the rise of the integration of the Western Balkans in the European Union have brought the question of Kosovo and all the till now internationally controlled system of governance to a dead end. A new solution that will ensure a sustainable future needs to be applied in order to solve this case in a way that rights of both albanians and Serbians will be equally respected and both populations will coexist peacefully. What this presentation aims for is to present a plan for the peaceful coexistence and sovreignty of habitants of Kosovo in a whole new way of governance.

Keywords: sovereignty, Kosovo, Western Balkans, anthropology of conflict

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Authors: Hsiu Hua Hu

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Digital transformation has widely affected various industries. It provides technological innovation, process redesign, new business model construction, and talent value creation. This transformation not only allows organizations to obtain and deploy specific technologies and methods suitable for organizational reengineering but also is an important way to solve management problems in human resource (HR) reengineering, business efficiency, and process redesign. In this study, we present the results of a qualitative study that offers insight into a series of key feature of reengineering related to the digital transformation and how to create talent value when the companies successfully perform digital transformation and human resource reengineering, which is led by business digitalization strategies including talent planning, talent acquisition, talent adjustment, and talent development. Drawing from the qualitative investigation findings, we built an inductive model of HR reengineering, which aims to provide research and practical references on future digital transformation and management inquiry.

Keywords: talent value creation, digital transformation, HR reengineering, qualitative study

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Authors: Pawinee Innark, Hudsaya Punyanitikul, Chanuluk Khanobdee, Chatchawan Jantasuriyarat, Sompid Samipak

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One of the most devastating diseases in cucumber is downy mildew caused by the fungus Pseudoperonospora cubensis. To enable the use of marker-assisted breeding for resistance cultivars, sixty six microsatellite markers were used to map (quantitative trait loci) QTLs for DM resistance. Total of 315 F2 population from the cross between DM-resistant inbred line CSL0067 and susceptible CSL0139 were evaluated for downy mildew resistance in cotyledon, first and second true leaf at 7, 10, and 14 day after inoculation. The QTL analysis revealed that the downy mildew resistant genes were controlled by multiple recessive genes. From eight linkage groups (LG 1.1, 1.2, 2, 3, 4, 5.1, 5.2 and 6), fourteen QTL positions were detected on 4 linkage groups (LG 1.1, 2, 5.1 and 6) with the log of odd scores ranged from 3.538 to 9.165. Among them, Cot7_5.1_2 and Cot10_5.1 had major-effect QTL with the R2 values of 10.9 and 12.5%, respectively. The flanking markers for Cot7_5.1_2 were SSR19172 - SSR07531 markers and for Cot10_5.1 were SSR03943 - SSR00772. Besides QTLs on chromosome 1, 5 and 6 that were previously reported, this study also revealed a QTL for DM resistance on chromosome 2 that can be used as a new source in cucumber breeding program.

Keywords: cucumber, DNA marker, downy mildew, QTL

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Authors: Craig Mahlasi

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The Subtropical Thicket Biome has been in peril of transformation. Estimates indicate that as much as 63% of the Subtropical Thicket Biome is severely degraded. Agricultural expansion is the main driver of transformation. While several studies have sought to document and map the long term transformations, there is a lack of information on disturbance events that allow for timely intervention by authorities. Furthermore, tools that seek to perform continuous land cover change detection are often developed for forests and thus tend to perform poorly in thicket ecosystems. This study investigates the utility of Earth Observation data for continuous land cover change detection in Subtropical Thicket ecosystems. Temporal Neural Networks are implemented on a time series of Sentinel-2 observations. The model obtained 0.93 accuracy, a recall score of 0.93, and a precision score of 0.91 in detecting Thicket disturbances. The study demonstrates the potential of continuous land cover change in Subtropical Thicket ecosystems.

Keywords: remote sensing, land cover change detection, subtropical thickets, near-real time

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Authors: Mohamed Sanad, Noha Hassan

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A low wind-load light-weight broad-band multi-beam base station antenna has been developed. It can generate any required number of beams with the required beamwidths. It can have horizontal and vertical sectorization at the same time. Vertical sectorization doubles the overall number of beams. It will be very valuable in LTE-A and 5G. It can be used to serve vertically split inner and outer cells, which improves system performance. The intersection between the beams of the proposed multi-beam antenna can be controlled by optimizing the design parameters of the antenna. The gain at the points of intersection between the beams, the null filling and the overlap between the beams can all be modified. The proposed multi-beam base station antenna can cover an unlimited number of wireless applications, regardless of their frequency bands. It can simultaneously cover all, current and future, wireless technology generations such as 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE), --- etc. For example, in LTE, it covers the bands 450-470 MHz, 690-960 MHz, 1.4-2.7 GHz and 3.3-3.8 GHz. It has at least 2 ports for each band in each beam for ±45° polarizations. It can include up to 72 ports or even more, which could facilitate any further needed capacity expansions.

Keywords: base station antenna, multi-beam antenna, smart antenna, vertical sectorization

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Authors: Gülbuğ Erol, Caner Çakı

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In Europe, it is seen that the immigrant population has increased in recent years. The rapid increase in the immigrant population has led to that some extreme right-wing parties increased their harsh discourse against the immigrants in Europe. In particular, it is seen that some right-wing parties in some European countries have demanded that the immigrant population could be controlled in the countries they are in, and even those immigrants should be removed from their countries. In this process, it is seen that these parties have effectively used social media platforms in the propaganda activities carried out for immigrants in recent years. In particular, the social media has great advantages in that these parties can address to the entire population in the country, apart from the limited masses that political parties address. How these political parties benefit from these advantages has great importance for the political parties to demonstrate their influence in political arena. In this study, it was tried to investigate how and why the extreme right-wing parties in Europe have used social media in their propaganda activities towards immigrant populations in Europe. For this purpose, the political parties of the three German-speaking countries in Europe were elected; Die Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) from Germany, Die Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) from Austria, Die Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP) from Switzerland. As social media platform, only their Facebook accounts were analyzed in this study. Accounts The political parties selected were examined with content analysis, and that social media was effectively used by extreme right-wing parties for propaganda purposes towards immigrants in Europe revealed.In this process, it is seen that these parties have effectively used social media platforms in the propaganda activities carried out for immigrants in recent years. In particular, the social media has great advantages in that these parties can address to the entire population in the country, apart from the limited masses that political parties address. How these political parties benefit from these advantages has great importance for the political parties to demonstrate their influence in political arena. In Europe, it is seen that the immigrant population has increased in recent years. The rapid increase in the immigrant population has led to that some extreme right-wing parties increased their harsh discourse against the immigrants in Europe. In particular, it is seen that some right-wing parties in some European countries have demanded that the immigrant population should be controlled in the countries they are in, and even those immigrants should be removed from their countries. In this process, it is seen that these parties have effectively used social media platforms in the propaganda activities carried out for immigrants in recent years. In particular, the social media has great advantages in that these parties can address to the entire population in the country, apart from the limited masses that political parties address. How these political parties benefit from these advantages has great importance for the political parties to demonstrate their influence in political arena. In this study, it was tried to investigate how and why the extreme right-wing parties in Europe have used social media in their propaganda activities towards immigrant populations in Europe. For this purpose, the political parties of the three German-speaking countries in Europe were elected; Die Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) from Germany, Die Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) from Austria, Die Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP) from Switzerland. As social media platform, only their Facebook accounts were analyzed in this study. Accounts The political parties selected were examined with content analysis and that social media was effectively used by extreme right-wing parties for propaganda purposes towards immigrants in Europe revealed.

Keywords: content analysis, political parties, propaganda, social media

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Authors: Emrah Denizhan

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Policing studies have drawn attention to the changing role of law enforcement in favour of harsh policing strategies throughout the world. Turkey has become part of this global transition process by restructuring its policing through a series of allegedly democratic amendments to Turkish law. Nevertheless, severe violations of human rights continue to be widely experienced phenomena. This paper suggests problematizing the changing judicial framework of policing together with the persistent aggressive policing in Turkey, by considering Agamben's concept of police as a sovereign entity – sovereign police. In so doing, the paper analytically dissects sovereign police into three premises: the criminalization of the (perceived) enemy, the militarization of the police, and finally, the discretionary use of force. This examination of the state’s early ethno-racial policies and the history of the Turkish police force, and of the changing judicial framework of police-related laws in the 2000s, demonstrates that certain ‘internal enemies’ have been criminalized by increasingly militarized police using escalating discretionary use of force.

Keywords: criminalization, discretionary use of force, policing, sovereignty

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Authors: Alisha Gupta

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis which is a degenerative joint disease causing joints to begin to break down and underlying bones to change. This “wear and tear” most frequently affects hands, hips, and knees. This is important because OA pain is considered to be a leading cause of mobility impairment in older adults, with hip and knee OA ranked 11th highest contributors to global disability. Bone tissue engineering utilizing polymer scaffolds and hydrogels is an emerging field for treating osteoarthritis. Polymer scaffolds provide a three-dimensional structure for tissue growth, and hydrogels can be used to deliver drugs and growth factors. The combination of the two materials creates a hybrid structure that can better withstand physiological and mechanical demands while also providing a more controlled environment for drug and nutrient delivery. I think using bone tissue engineering for making scaffold-hydrogel composites that are self-regenerating and vascularizing might be useful in solving this problem. Successful implementation can reconstruct healthy, simulated bone tissue on deficient applicants.

Keywords: tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, scaffold-hydrogel composites, osteoarthritis

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Authors: Mami Nishida

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This paper presented a study on the development and control of a small biped soft robot using shape memory alloys (SMAs). Author proposed a flexible flat plate (FFP) actuators consisting of a thin　polyethylene plate and SMAs. This actuator has a nail like an insect. This robot moves from the front to back and from left to right using two nails. The walking robot has two degrees of freedom and is controlled by switching the ON-OFF current signals to the SMA based FFPs. The resulting small biped soft robot weighs a mere 4.7 g (with a height of 67 mm). The small robot realizes biped walking by transferring the elastic potential energy (generated by deflections of the SMA based FFPs) to kinematic energy. Experimental results demonstrated the viability and utility of the small biped soft robot with the proposed SMA-based FFPs and the control strategy to achieve walking behavior.

Keywords: biped soft robot with nails, flexible flat plate (FFP) actuators, ON-OFF control strategy, shape memory alloys (SMA)

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Authors: Nkiru I. Ibeakuzie, Paul D. J. Watson, John F. Pescatore

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In roadway construction, the cost of soil-cement stabilization per unit area is significantly influenced by the binder content, hence the need to optimise cement usage. This research work will characterize the influence of soil fractal geometry on properties of cement-stabilized soil, and strive to determine a correlation between mechanical proprieties of cement-stabilized soil and the mass fractal dimension Dₘ indicated by particle size distribution (PSD) of aggregate mixtures. Since strength development in cemented soil relies not only on cement content but also on soil PSD, this study will investigate the possibility of reducing cement content by changing the PSD of soil, without compromising on strength, reduced permeability, and compressibility. A series of soil aggregate mixes will be prepared in the laboratory. The mass fractal dimension Dₘ of each mix will be determined from sieve analysis data prior to stabilization with cement. Stabilized soil samples will be tested for strength, permeability, and compressibility.

Keywords: fractal dimension, particle size distribution, cement stabilization, cement content

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Authors: T. M. Aminu, A. Salisu, B. Abdu, H. U. Alhassan, T. H. Dharma

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Thin films of CuAlO2 were deposited on clean glass substrate using the chemical solution deposition (sol-gel) method of deposition with CuCl and AlCl3 taken as the starting materials. CuCl was dissolved in HCl while AlCl₃ in distilled water, pH value of the mixture was controlled by addition of NaOH. The samples were annealed at different temperatures in order to determine the effect of annealing temperatures on the morphological and optical properties of the deposited CuAlO₂ thin film. The surface morphology reveals an improved crystalline as annealing temperature increases. The results of the UV-vis and FT-IR spectrophotometry indicate that the absorbance for all the samples decreases sharply from a common value of about 89% at about 329 nm to a range of values of 56.2%-35.2% and the absorption / extinction coefficients of the films decrease with increase in annealing temperature from 1.58 x 10⁻⁶ to1.08 x 10⁻⁶ at about 1.14eV in the infrared region to about 1.93 x 10⁻⁶ to 1.29 x 10⁻⁶ at about 3.62eV in the visible region, the transmittance, reflectance and band gaps vary directly with annealing temperature, the deposited films were found to be suitable in optoelectronic applications.

Keywords: copper aluminium-oxide (CuAlO2), absorbance, transmittance, reflectance, band gaps

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Authors: Gurpreet Kaur, Manoj Kumar, Vandana Bhalla

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Strong acceptor-weak acceptor system FN-TPy has been designed and synthesized which undergoes solvent dependent self-assembly in mixed aqueous media to generate through space intermolecular charge transfer assemblies. The as prepared entropically favoured assemblies of FN-TPy exhibit excellent photostability and photosensitizing properties in the assembled state to activate aerial oxygen for efficient generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) through Type-I and Type-II pathways. The FN-TPy assemblies exhibit excellent potential for regulated oxidation of alcohols and aldehydes under mild reaction conditions (visible light irradiation, aqueous media, room temperature) using aerial oxygen as the ‘oxidant’. The present study demonstrates the potential of FN-TPy assemblies to catalyze controlled oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and to corresponding benzoic acid.

Keywords: oxidations, photosensitizer, reactive oxygen species, supramolecular assemblies, through space charge transfer.

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Authors: Jeff Letcher, Dennis Tierney, Haider Raad

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Antennas are devices for transmitting and/or receiving signals which make them a necessary component of any wireless system. In this paper, a thermal deposition technique is utilized as a method to fabricate antenna structures on substrates. Thin-film deposition is achieved by evaporating a source material (metals in our case) in a vacuum which allows vapor particles to travel directly to the target substrate which is encased with a mask that outlines the desired structure. The material then condenses back to solid state. This method is used in comparison to screen printing, chemical etching, and ink jet printing to indicate advantages and disadvantages to the method. The antenna created undergoes various testing of frequency ranges, conductivity, and a series of flexing to indicate the effectiveness of the thermal deposition technique. A single band antenna that is operated at 2.45 GHz intended for wearable and flexible applications was successfully fabricated through this method and tested. It is concluded that thermal deposition presents a feasible technique of producing such antennas.

Keywords: thermal deposition, wearable antennas, bluetooth technology, flexible electronics

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Authors: A. Bardey, P. James

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With the rise of fast-fashion, over consumerism and overproduction, the fashion industry is believed to be one of the most polluting industry. It is a matter of importance today to further understand the factors involved in green consumerism to enhance sustainable fashion. One of the critical issues in also evaluating green consumerism, particularly in fashion, is the attitude-behaviour gap. Indeed, many consumers report a positive attitude towards sustainable fashion consumerism, but this attitude is not always actioned into behaviour. This study aims to further investigate the attitude-behaviour gap in sustainable fashion consumerism. S triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. Focus groups were used to gain opinions and understanding of the barriers to sustainable fashion consumption. A quantitative online questionnaire was then used to quantify the barriers identified in Study 1 and measure their influence on the attitude-behaviour gap. The results suggest that knowledge about sustainable fashion is the key factor in the attitude-behaviour gap in sustainable fashion consumerism. Accessibility was also identified as a factor, but this relationship is more complex. It is suggested that knowledge is the main factor in the attitude-behaviour gap and that once knowledge is controlled for, accessibility will become a main factor. The present study is the first one to identify the factors involved in sustainable fashion consumerism.

Keywords: fashion, consumer behaviour, sustainable consumerism, attitude-behavioural gap

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Authors: Youngmin Kim, Jae-Hwan Ahn, Seog-Ku Kim, Hye-Cheol Oh, Bokjin Lee, Hee-Jun Kang

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The high energy consuming processes such as advanced oxidation and reverse osmosis are used as a reuse process. This study aims at developing an energy efficient reuse process by combination of nanofiltration (NF) and capacitive deionization processes (CDI) processes. Lab scale experiments were conducted by using effluents from a wastewater treatment plant located at Koyang city in Korea. Commercial NF membrane (NE4040-70, Toray Ltd.) and CDI module (E40, Siontech INC.) were tested in series. The pollutant removal efficiencies were evaluated on the basis of Korean water quality criteria for water reuse. In addition, the energy consumptions were also calculated. As a result, the hybrid process showed lower energy consumption than conventional reverse osmosis process even though its effluent did meet the Korean standard. Consequently, this study suggests that the hybrid process is feasible for the energy efficient water reuse.

Keywords: capacitive deionization, energy efficient process, nanofiltration, water reuse

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Authors: Baghdasaryan Marinka

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The particular significance of comprehensive estimation of the increase in the operation efficiency of the mill motor electromechanical system, providing the main technological process for obtaining a metallic concentrate, as well as the technical state of the system are substantiated. The works carried out in the sphere of investigating, creating, and improving the operation modes of electric drive motors and ore-grinding mills have been studied. Analytic dependences for estimating the operation modes of the ore-grinding mills aimed at improving the ore-crashing process maintenance and technical service efficiencies have been obtained. The obtained analytic dependencies establish a link between the technological and power parameters of the electromechanical system, and allow to estimate the state of the system and reveal the controlled parameters required for the efficient management in case of changing the technological parameters. It has been substantiated that the changes in the technological factors affecting the consumption power of the drive motor do not cause an instability in the electromechanical system.

Keywords: electromechanical system, estimation, operation mode, productivity, technological process, the mill filling degree

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Authors: Joon-Suk Kim, Hae-Woo Lee

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This study discusses the effect of welding heat input on intergranular corrosion of the weld metal of Inconel 625 alloy. A specimen of Inconel 625 with a weld metal that controlled welding heat input was manufactured, and aging heat treatment was conducted to investigate sensitization by chromium carbides. The electrochemical SL and DL EPR experiments, together with the chemical ferric sulfate-sulfuric acid and nitric acid tests, were conducted to determine intergranular corrosion susceptibility between the specimens. In the SL and DL EPR experiments, specimens were stabilized in the weld metal, and therefore intergranular corrosion susceptibility could not be determined. However, in the ferric sulfate-sulfuric acid and nitric acid tests, the corrosion speed increased as heat input increased. This was because the amount of diluted Fe increased as the welding heat input increased, leading to microsegregation between the dendrites, which had a negative effect on the corrosion resistance.

Keywords: Inconel 625, weling, overlay, heat input, intergranular corrosion

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Shuge Lei, Haonan Hu, Dasheng Sun, Huabin Zhang, Kehong Yuan, Jian Dai, Yan Tong

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It remains challenging to measure reliability from classification results from different machine learning models. This paper proposes a reliable soup optimization algorithm based on the model weight fusion algorithm Model Soup, aiming to improve reliability by using dual-channel reliability as the objective function to fuse a series of weights in the breast ultrasound classification models. Experimental results on breast ultrasound clinical datasets demonstrate that reliable soup significantly enhances the reliability of breast ultrasound image classification tasks. The effectiveness of the proposed approach was verified via multicenter trials. The results from five centers indicate that the reliability optimization algorithm can enhance the reliability of the breast ultrasound image classification model and exhibit low multicenter correlation.

Keywords: breast ultrasound image classification, feature attribution, reliability assessment, reliability optimization

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Authors: M. Shaban, A. Alibeigloo

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This paper studies free vibration behavior of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) embedded on elastic medium based on three-dimensional theory of elasticity. To accounting the size effect of carbon nanotubes, nonlocal theory is adopted to shell model. The nonlocal parameter is incorporated into all constitutive equations in three dimensions. The surrounding medium is modeled as two-parameter elastic foundation. By using Fourier series expansion in axial and circumferential direction, the set of coupled governing equations are reduced to the ordinary differential equations in thickness direction. Then, the state-space method as an efficient and accurate method is used to solve the resulting equations analytically. Comprehensive parametric studies are carried out to show the influences of the nonlocal parameter, radial and shear elastic stiffness, thickness-to-radius ratio and radius-to-length ratio.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, embedded, nonlocal, free vibration

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Authors: Igor Shardakov, Anton Bykov, Alexey Shestakov, Irina Glot

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This article focuses on the cycle of experimental studies of the formation of cracks and debondings in the concrete reinforced with carbon fiber. This research was carried out in Perm National Research Polytechnic University. A series of CFRP-strengthened RC beams was tested to investigate the influence of preload and crack repairing factors on CFRP debonding. IRT was applied to detect the early stage of IC debonding during the laboratory bending tests. It was found that for the beams strengthened under load after crack injecting, СFRP debonding strain is 4-65% lower than for the preliminary strengthened beams. The beams strengthened under the load had a relative area of debonding of 2 times higher than preliminary strengthened beams. The СFRP debonding strain is weakly dependent on the strength of the concrete substrate. For beams with a transverse wrapping anchorage in support sections FRP debonding is not a failure mode.

Keywords: IC debonding, infrared thermography, non-destructive testing methods, quality control, strengthening

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Authors: Reini S. Ilmiaty, Muhammad B. Al Amin, Sarino, Muzamil Jariski

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Kedukan River is an artificial river which serves as a Watershed Boang drainage channel in Palembang. The river has upstream and downstream connected to Musi River, that often overflowing and flooding caused by the huge runoff discharge and high tide water level of Musi River. This study aimed to analyze the flood water surface profile on Kedukan River continued with flood inundation simulation to determine flooding prone areas in research area. The analysis starts from the peak runoff discharge calculations using rational method followed by water surface profile analysis using HEC-RAS program controlled by manual calculations using standard stages. The analysis followed by running flood inundation simulation using ArcGIS program that has been integrated with HEC-GeoRAS. Flood inundation simulation on Kedukan River creates inundation characteristic maps with depth, area, and circumference of inundation as the parameters. The inundation maps are very useful in providing an overview of flood prone areas in Kedukan River.

Keywords: flood modelling, HEC-GeoRAS, HEC-RAS, inundation map

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Authors: Ahmed Mateen, Zhu Qingsheng, Faisal Shahzad

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Requirement Engineering (RE) is a part being created for programming structure during the software development lifecycle. Software product line development is a new topic area within the domain of software engineering. It also plays important role in decision making and it is ultimately helpful in rising business environment for productive programming headway. Decisions are central to engineering processes and they hold them together. It is argued that better decisions will lead to better engineering. To achieve better decisions requires that they are understood in detail. In order to address the issues, companies are moving towards Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) which helps in providing large varieties of products with minimum development effort and cost. This paper proposed a new framework for software product line and compared with other models. The results can help to understand the needs in SPL testing, by identifying points that still require additional investigation. In our future scenario, we will combine this model in a controlled environment with industrial SPL projects which will be the new horizon for SPL process management testing strategies.

Keywords: requirements engineering, software product lines, scoping, process structure, domain specific language

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Authors: Ollie Hall, Salma ElSayed

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Affective adaptation is a novel way for game designers to add an extra layer of engagement to their productions. When player’s emotions factor in game design, endless possibilities for creative gameplay emerge. Whilst gaining popularity, existing affective game research mostly runs controlled experiments carried in restrictive settings and relies on one or more specialist devices for measuring a player’s emotional state. These conditions, albeit effective, are not necessarily realistic. Moreover, the simplified narrative and intrusive wearables may not be suitable for the average player. This exploratory study investigates delivering an immersive affective experience in the wild with minimal requirements in an attempt for the average developer to reach the average player. A puzzle game is created with a rich narrative and creative mechanics. It employs both explicit and implicit adaptation and only requires a web camera. Participants played the game on their own machines in various settings. Whilst it was rated feasible, very engaging, and enjoyable, it remains questionable whether a fully immersive experience was delivered due to the limited sample size.

Keywords: affective games, dynamic adaptation, emotion recognition, game design

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Authors: O. Hinrichs, H. Franz, G. Reiter

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Electron guns have a key function in a series of thermal processes, like EB (electron beam) melting, evaporation or welding. These techniques need a high-intensity continuous electron beam that defocuses itself due to high space charge forces. A proper beam transport throughout the magnetic focusing system can be ensured by a space charge compensation via residual gas ions. The different pressure stages in the EB gun cause various degrees of compensation. A numerical model was installed to simulate realistic charge distributions within the beam by using CST-Particle Studio code. We will present current status of beam dynamic simulations. This contribution will focus on the creation of space charge ions and their influence on beam and gun components. Furthermore, the beam transport in the gun will be shown for different beam parameters. The electron source allows to produce beams with currents of 3 A to 15 A and energies of 40 keV to 45 keV.

Keywords: beam dynamic simulation, space charge compensation, thermionic electron source, EB melting, EB thermal processing

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Authors: Naomi Seidu, Edward Poluyi, Chibuikem Ikwuegbuenyi, Eghosa Morgan

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The current poor prognosis of glioblastoma has called for the need for an improvement in treatment methods in order to improve its survival rate. Despite the different interventions currently available for this tumor, the average survival is still only a few months. (12-15). The aim is to create a more favorable prognosis and have a reduction in the resistance to treatment currently being experienced, even with surgical interventions and chemotherapy. From the available literature, there is a relationship between the presence of HOX genes (Homeobox genes) and glioblastoma, which could be attributable to the increasing treatment resistance. Hence silencing these genes can be a key to improving survival rates of glioblastoma. A series of studies have highlighted the role that HOX genes play in glioblastoma prognosis. Promotion of human glioblastoma initiation, aggressiveness, and resistance to Temozolomide has been associated with HOXA9. The role of HOX gene expression in cancer stem cells should be studied as it could provide a means of designing CSC-targeted therapies, as CSCs play a part in the initiation and progression of solid tumors.

Keywords: GBM- glioblastoma, HOXA gene- homeobox genes cluster, signaling pathways, temozolomide

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Authors: Matthew Edmunds, Andrew Hunter, Clare Littlewood, Wisha Gul, Gabriel Heppenstall-Harris, Thomas Humphries

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Background: Revision courses for medical students undertaking their final examinations are commonplace throughout the UK. Traditionally these take the form of a series of lectures over multiple weeks or a single day of intensive lectures. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has required medical educators to create new teaching formats to ensure they adhere to social distancing requirements. It has provided an unexpected opportunity to accelerate the development of students proficiency in the use of ‘technology-enabled communication platforms’, as mandated in the 2018 GMC Outcomes of Graduates. Recent advances in technology have made distance learning possible, whilst also providing novel and more engaging learning opportunities for students. Foundation Year 2 doctors at Aintree University Hospital developed an online series of videos to help prepare medical students in the North West and byond for their final medical school examinations. Method: Eight hour-long videos covering the key topics in medicine and surgery were posted on the Peer Learning Liverpool Youtube channel. These videos were created using new technology such as the screen and audio recording platform, Loom. Each video compromised at least 20 single best answer (SBA) questions, in keeping with the format in most medical school finals. Explanations of the answers were provided, and additional important material was covered. Students were able to ask questions by commenting on the videos, with the authors replying as soon as possible. Feedback was collated using an online Google form. Results: An average of 327 people viewed each video, with 113 students filling in the feedback form. 65.5% of respondents were within one month of their final medical school examinations. The average rating for how well prepared the students felt for their finals was 6.21/10 prior to the course and 8.01/10 after the course. A paired t-test demonstrated a mean increase of 1.80 (95% CI 1.66-1.93). Overall, 98.2% said the online format worked well or very well, and 99.1% would recommend the course to a peer. Conclusions: Based on the feedback received, the online revision course was successful both in terms of preparing students for their final examinations, and with regards to how well the online format worked. Free-text qualitative feedback highlighted advantages such as; students could learn at their own pace, revisit key concepts important to them, and practice exam style questions via the case-based format. Limitations identified included inconsistent audiovisual quality, and requests for a live online Q&A session following the conclusion of the course. This course will be relaunched later in the year with increased opportunities for students to access live feedback. The success of this online course has shown the roll that technology can play in medical education. As well as providing novel teaching modes, online learning allows students to access resources that otherwise would not be available locally, and ensure that they do not miss out on teaching that was previously provided face to face, in the current climate of social distancing.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Medical School, Online learning, Revision course

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Authors: Mohsen Mazidi, Ali Abbaspour, Mahmud Fotuhi-Firuzabad, Mohamamd Rastegar

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To tackle the air pollution issues, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are proposed as an appropriate solution. Charging a large amount of PHEV batteries, if not controlled, would have negative impacts on the distribution system. The control process of charging of these vehicles can be centralized in parking lots that may provide a chance for better coordination than the individual charging in houses. In this paper, an optimization-based approach is proposed to determine the optimum PHEV parking capacities in candidate nodes of the distribution system. In so doing, a profile for charging and discharging of PHEVs is developed in order to flatten the network load profile. Then, this profile is used in solving an optimization problem to minimize the distribution system losses. The outputs of the proposed method are the proper place for PHEV parking lots and optimum capacity for each parking. The application of the proposed method on the IEEE-34 node test feeder verifies the effectiveness of the method.

Keywords: loss, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), PHEV parking lot, V2G

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Authors: Çağrı Bekir Baysal, Göktuğ Burak Çalık

Abstract:

Armored vehicles may have different traction layouts as a result of terrain capabilities and mobility needs. Two main categories of layouts can be separated as wheeled and tracked. Tracked vehicles have superior off-road capabilities but what they gain on terrain performance they lose on mobility front. Wheeled vehicles on the other hand do not have as good terrain capabilities as tracked vehicles but they have superior mobility capabilities such as top speed, range and agility with respect to tracked vehicles. Conventional armored vehicles employ a diesel ICE as main power source. In these vehicles ICE is mechanically connected to the powertrain. This determines the ICE rpm as a result of speed and torque requested by the driver. ICE efficiency changes drastically with torque and speed required and conventional vehicles suffer in terms of fuel consumption because of this. Hybrid electric vehicles employ at least one electric motor in order to improve fuel efficiency. There are different types of hybrid vehicles but main types are Series Hybrid, Parallel Hybrid and Series-Parallel Hybrid. These vehicles introduce an electric motor for traction and also can have a generator electric motor for range extending purposes. Having an electric motor as the traction power source brings the flexibility of either using the ICE as an alternative traction source while it is in efficient range or completely separating the ICE from traction and using it solely considering efficiency. Hybrid configurations have additional advantages for armored vehicles in addition to fuel efficiency. Heat signature, silent operation and prolonged stationary missions can be possible with the help of the high-power battery pack that will be present in the vehicle for hybrid drivetrain. Because of the reasons explained, hybrid armored vehicles are becoming a target area for military and also for vehicle suppliers. In order to have a better idea and starting point when starting a hybrid armored vehicle design, hybrid drivetrain configuration has to be selected after performing a trade-off study. This study has to include vehicle mobility simulations, integration level, vehicle level and performance level criteria. In this study different hybrid traction configurations possible for an 8x8 vehicle is compared using above mentioned criteria set. In order to compare hybrid traction configurations ease of application, cost, weight advantage, reliability, maintainability, redundancy and performance criteria have been used. Performance criteria points have been defined with the help of vehicle simulations and tests. Results of these simulations and tests also help determining required tractive power for an armored vehicle including conditions like trench and obstacle crossing, gradient climb. With the method explained in this study, each configuration is assigned a point for each criterion. This way, correct configuration can be selected objectively for every application. Also, key aspects of armored vehicles, mine protection and ballistic protection will be considered for hybrid configurations. Results are expected to vary for different types of vehicles but it is observed that having longitudinal differential locking capability improves mobility and having high motor count increases complexity in general.

Keywords: armored vehicles, electric drivetrain, electric mobility, hybrid vehicles

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: F. R. M. Nascimento, E. E. S. Lora, J. C. E. Palácio

Abstract:

A mathematical model to investigate the performance of a two stage fixed bed downdraft gasifier operating with air, steam and oxygen mixtures as the gasifying fluid has been developed. The various conditions of mixtures for a double stage fluid entry, have been performed. The model has been validated through a series of experimental tests performed by NEST – The Excellence Group in Thermal and Distributed Generation of the Federal University of Itajubá. Influence of mixtures are analyzed through the Steam to Biomass (SB), Equivalence Ratio (ER) and the Oxygen Concentration (OP) parameters in order to predict the best operating conditions to obtain adequate output gas quality, once is a key parameter for subsequent gas processing in the synthesis of biofuels, heat and electricity generation. Results show that there is an optimal combination in the steam and oxygen content of the gasifying fluid which allows the user find the best conditions to design and operate the equipment according to the desired application.

Keywords: air, equilibrium, downdraft, fixed bed gasification, mathematical modeling, mixtures, oxygen steam

Procedia PDF Downloads 483

Authors: Hector Carcel Luis Alberiko Gil-Alana

Abstract:

This paper examines the time series behavior of three variables (GDP, Price level of Consumption and Population) in the eight countries that belong to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), which are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The reason for carrying out this study lies in the considerable heterogeneity that can be perceived in the data from these countries. We conduct a long memory and fractional integration modeling framework and we also identify potential breaks in the data. The aim of the study is to perceive up to which degree the eight West African countries that belong to the same monetary union follow the same economic patterns of stability. Testing for mean reversion, we only found strong evidence of it in the case of Senegal for the Price level of Consumption, and in the cases of Benin, Burkina Faso and Senegal for GDP.

Keywords: West Africa, Monetary Union, fractional integration, economic patterns

Procedia PDF Downloads 439