Search results for: rolling stocks

Authors: Eugen Dimant, Tim Krieger, Margarete Redlin

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This paper analyzes the impact of migration on destination-country corruption levels. Capitalizing on a comprehensive dataset consisting of annual immigration stocks of OECD coun-tries from 207 countries of origin for the period 1984-2008, we explore different channels through which corruption might migrate. We employ different estimation methods using fixed effects and Tobit regressions in order to validate our findings. What is more, we also address the issue of endogeneity by using the Difference-Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator. Independent of the econometric methodology we consistently find that while general migration has an insignificant effect on the destination country’s corruption level, immigration from corruption-ridden origin countries boosts corruption in the destination country. Our findings provide a more profound understanding of the economic implications associated with migration flows.

Keywords: corruption, migration, impact of migration, destination-country corruption

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Authors: Hooshag Asadi Haroni, Maryam Veiskarami, Yongjun Lu

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The Dalli gold-rich porphyry deposit (17 Mt @ 0.5% Cu and 0.65 g/t Au) is located in the Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc (UDMA), a small segment of the Tethyan metallogenic belt, hosting several porphyry Cu (Mo-Au) systems in Iran. This research characterizes the Dalli deposit to define exploration criteria in advanced exploration such as the drilling of possible blind porphyry centers. Geological map, trench/drill hole geochemical and ground magnetic data, and age dating and isotope trace element analyses, carried out at the John De Laeter Research Center of Curtin University, were used to characterize the Delli deposit. Mineralization at Dalli is hosted by NE-trending quartz-diorite porphyry stocks (~ 200m in diameter) intruded by a wall-rock andesite porphyry. Disseminated and stockwork Cu-Au mineralization is related to potassic alteration, comprising magnetite, late K-feldspar and biotite, and quartz-sericite-specularite overprint, surrounded by extensive barren argillic and propylitic alterations. In the peripheries of the porphyry centers, there are N-trending vuggy quartz veins, hosting epithermal Au-Ag-As-Sb mineralization. Geochemical analyses of drill core samples showed that the core of the porphyry stocks is low-grade, whereas the high-grade disseminated and stockwork mineralization (~ 1% Cu and ~ 1.2 g/t Au) occurred at the contact of the porphyry stocks and andesite porphyry. Geochemical studies of the drill hole and trench samples showed a strong correlation between Cu and Au and both show a second-order correlation with Fe and As. Magnetic survey revealed two significant magnetic anomalies, associated with intensive potassic alteration, in the reduced-to-the-pole magnetic map of the area. A relatively weaker magnetic anomaly, showing no surface porphyry expressions, is located on a lithocap, consisting of advanced argillic alteration, vuggy quartz veins, and surface expressions of epithermal geochemical signatures. The association of the lithocap and the weak magnetic anomaly could be indicative of a hidden mineralized porphyry center. Litho-geochemical analyses of the least altered Dalli intrusions and volcanic rocks indicated high Sr/Y (49-61) and Eu/Eu* (0.89-0.92), features typical of Cu porphyries. The U-Pb dating of zircons of the mineralized quartz diorite and andesite porphyry, carried out by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, yielded magmatic crystallization ages of 15.4-16.0 Ma (Middle Miocene). The zircon trace element concentrations of Dalli are characterized by high Eu/Eu* (0.3-0.8), (Ce/Nd)/Y (0.01-0.3), and 10000*(Eu/Eu*)/Y (2-15) ratios, similar to fertile porphyry suites such as the giant Sar-Cheshmeh and Qulong porphyry Cu deposits along the Tethyan belt. This suggests that the Middle Miocene Dalli intrusions are fertile and require extensive deep drillings to define their potential. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns show no significant Eu anomalies, and are characterized by light-REE enrichments (La/Sm)n = 2.57–6.40). In normalized multi-element diagrams, analyzed rocks are characterized by enrichments in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and depletions in high field strength elements (HFSE), and display typical features of subduction-related calc-alkaline magmas. The characteristics of the Dalli deposit provided several recognition criteria for detailed exploration of Cu-Au porphyry deposits and highlighted the importance of the UDMA as a potentially significant, economically important, but relatively underexplored porphyry province.

Keywords: porphyry, gold, geochronology, magnetic, exploration

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Authors: Ji Chan Kim, Seok Hong Min, Tae Kwon Ha

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The effect of Yttrium addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Sn-Zn eutectic alloy, which has been attracting intensive focus as a Pb-free solder material, was investigated in this study. Phase equilibrium has been calculated by using FactSage® to evaluate the composition and fraction of equilibrium intermetallic compounds and construct a phase diagram. In the case of Sn-8.8 Zn eutectic alloy, the as-cast microstructure was typical lamellar. With addition of 0.25 wt. %Y, a large amount of pro-eutectic phases have been observed and various YZnx intermetallic compounds were expected to successively form during cooling. Hardness of Sn-8.8 Zn alloy was not affected by Y-addition and both alloys could be rolled by 90% at room temperature.

Keywords: lead-free solder, zn-al-sn alloy, phase equilibrium, rolling, microstructure, hardness

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Authors: Mohammad Hosein Panahi, Naser Yazdani

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we present a technical trading strategy that leverages the FinBERT language model and financial news analysis with a focus on news related to a subset of Nasdaq 100 stocks. Our approach surpasses the baseline Range Break-out strategy in the Bitcoin market, yielding a remarkable 24.8% increase in the win ratio for all Friday trades and an impressive 48.9% surge in short trades specifically on Fridays. Moreover, we conduct rigorous hypothesis testing to establish the statistical significance of these improvements. Our findings underscore considerable potential of our NLP-driven approach in enhancing trading strategies and achieving greater profitability within financial markets.

Keywords: quantitative finance, technical analysis, bitcoin market, NLP, language models, FinBERT, technical trading

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Authors: Shashwat Gangwal

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This paper analyses the effect of adding Bitcoin, to the portfolio (stocks, bonds, Baltic index, MXEF, gold, real estate and crude oil) of an international investor by using daily data available from 2^nd of July, 2010 to 2^{nd of} August, 2016. We conclude that adding Bitcoin to portfolio, over the course of the considered period, always yielded a higher Sharpe ratio. This means that Bitcoin’s returns offset its high volatility. This paper, recognizing the fact that Bitcoin is a relatively new asset class, gives the readers a basic idea about the working of the virtual currency, the increasing number developments in the financial industry revolving around it, its unique features and the detailed look into its continuously growing acceptance across different fronts (Banks, Merchants and Countries) globally. We also construct optimal portfolios to reflect the highly lucrative and largely unexplored opportunities associated with investment in Bitcoin.

Keywords: bitcoin, financial instruments, portfolio management, risk adjusted return

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Authors: Shiming Li, Qingwang Liu, Honggan Wu, Jianbing Zhang

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Plantation forests are useful for timber production, recreation, environmental protection and social development. Stands height is an important parameter for the estimation of forest volume and carbon stocks. Although lidar is suitable technology for the vertical parameters extraction of forests, but high costs make it not suitable for operational inventory. With the development of computer vision and photogrammetry, aerial photos from unmanned aerial system can be used as an alternative solution for height mapping. Structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry technique can be used to extract DSM and DEM information. Canopy height model (CHM) can be achieved by subtraction DEM from DSM. Our result shows that overlapping aerial photos is a potential solution for plantation forests height mapping.

Keywords: forest height mapping, plantation forests, structure-from-motion photogrammetry, UAS

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Authors: A. Mekroud, A. Khemis, M. S. Mecibah

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The tribological behavior of a pin of paramagnetic material (aluminum), rolling on a rotating disk made of ferromagnetic material (steel XC48) in the presence of an externally applied alternating magnetic field, with the passage of electric current were studied. All tests were performed using a conventional tribometer pin- disk. Structural characterization of the surfaces in contact, oxides and wear debris, by X-ray diffraction (θ-2θ angle), showed the significant effect of magnetic field on the activation of the contact surface of the pin in no ferromagnetic material. The absence of the magnetic field causes a change of wear mode.

Keywords: structural characterization of the surfaces, oxides and wear debris, X-ray diffraction

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Authors: Nada Souissi, Mourad Mroua

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The main purpose of this study is to examine the interaction between financial asset volatility, economic factors and investor's behavioral indicators related to both the company's and the markets stocks for the period from January 2000 to January2020. Using multiple linear regression and Bayesian Networks modeling, results show a positive and negative relationship between investor's psychology index, economic factors and predicted stock market return. We reveal that the application of the Bayesian Discrete Network contributes to identify the different cause and effect relationships between all economic, financial variables and psychology index.

Keywords: Financial asset return predictability, Economic factors, Investor's psychology index, Bayesian approach, Probabilistic networks, Parametric learning

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Authors: Piotr Fiszeder, Marcin Fałdziński, Peter Molnár

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The dynamic conditional correlation model of Engle (2002) is one of the most popular multivariate volatility models. However, this model is based solely on closing prices. It has been documented in the literature that the high and low price of the day can be used in an efficient volatility estimation. We, therefore, suggest a model which incorporates high and low prices into the dynamic conditional correlation framework. Empirical evaluation of this model is conducted on three datasets: currencies, stocks, and commodity exchange-traded funds. The utilisation of realized variances and covariances as proxies for true variances and covariances allows us to reach a strong conclusion that our model outperforms not only the standard dynamic conditional correlation model but also a competing range-based dynamic conditional correlation model.

Keywords: volatility, DCC model, high and low prices, range-based models, covariance forecasting

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Authors: P. Sankar, P. James Daniel Paul, Siddhant Sahu

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A brief review of the empirical studies on the methodology of the stock market decision support would indicate that they are at a threshold of validating the accuracy of the traditional and the fuzzy, artificial neural network and the decision trees. Many researchers have been attempting to compare these models using various data sets worldwide. However, the research community is on the way to the conclusive confidence in the emerged models. This paper attempts to use the automotive sector stock prices from National Stock Exchange (NSE), India and analyze them for the intra-sectorial support for stock market decisions. The study identifies the significant variables and their lags which affect the price of the stocks using OLS analysis and decision tree classifiers.

Keywords: Indian automotive sector, stock market decisions, equity portfolio analysis, decision tree classifiers, statistical data analysis

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Authors: Stanis Koko Nyalongomo, Benjamin Mputela Bankanza, Moise Kisempa Mahungudi

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Several areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) experience serious problems of streaming and soil erosion. Erosion leads to degradation of soil health, and the three main causative factors of similar importance are deforestation, overgrazing, and land agricultural mismanagement. Degradation of soil health leads to a decrease in agricultural productivity and carbon dioxide (CO₂), and other greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural productivity low, and sanitation-related diseases are a concern of a majority of DRC rural people -whose main livelihoods are conventional smallholder agriculture- due to degradation of agricultural soil health and prevalence of inappropriate sanitation in rural areas. Land management practices that increase soil carbon stocks on agricultural lands with practices including conservation agriculture and agroforestry do not only limit CO₂ emissions but also help prevent erosion while enhancing soil health and productivity. Promotion to adopt sustainable land management practices, especially conversion to well-managed agroforestry practices, is a necessity. This needs to be accompanied by incentives. Methods that incite smallholders to adopt practices that increase carbon stocks in agricultural lands and enhance soil health and productivity for social, economic, and environmental benefits, and give them the ability to get and use household dry toilets -included activities to inform and raise smallholder households awareness on the conversion of croplands to well-managed agroforestry systems through planting at least 20 fruit trees and/or acacias, soil carbon and practices that sequester it in soil and ecological sanitation; and offer smallholders technique and material supports and incentives under the form of dry toilets constructed for free for well-managed agroforestry implementation- were carried out to address problems of soil erosion as well as agricultural productivity and sanitation-related diseases. In 2018 and 2019, 19 of 23 targeted smallholder households expressed their satisfaction and converted their croplands to agroforestry through planting 374 trees, and each gotten 1 dry toilet constructed for free. Their neighbors expressed a willingness to participate in the project. Conversion to well-managed agroforestry practices offers many advantages to both farmers and the environment. The strategy of offering smallholders incentives for soil-friendly agricultural practices, especially well-managed agroforestry, is one of the solutions to prevent soil erosion. DRC rural people whose majority are smallholder households, need to be able to get and use dry toilets. So, dry toilets could be offered like incentives for well-managed agroforestry practices. Given the many advantages agroforestry and dry toilet can offer, recommendations are made for funding organizations to support such projects that promote the adoption of soil health practices.

Keywords: agroforestry, croplands, soil carbon, soil health

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Authors: Y. C. Bhattacharyulu, Amit J. Agrawal, Vikram S. Chatake, Ketan S. Desai

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In recent years, the improper disposal of waste polymeric materials like plastics, rubber, liquid containers, daily household materials, etc. is posing a grave problem by polluting the environment. On the other hand fluctuations in the oil market and limited stocks of fossil fuels have diverted the interest of researchers to study the production of fuels and hydrocarbons from alternative sources. Hence, to study the production of fuels from waste plastic is the need of hour at present. Effect of alkali solutions of different concentrations with copper comprising catalyst on depolymerisation reactions was studied here. The present study may become a preliminary method for obtaining valuable hydrocarbons from waste plastics and an effective way for depolymerising or degrading waste plastics for their safe disposal without causing any environmental problems.

Keywords: catalyst, depolymerisation, disposal, hydrocarbon liquids, waste plastic

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Authors: G. Guramishvili, M. Moistsrapishvili, L. Andghuladze

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In the article are considered the problems arising at increasing of transferring from rolling stock axles on rail loading from 210 KN up to 270 KN and is offered for rail strength analysis definition of rail force loading complex integral characteristic with taking into account all affecting force factors that is characterizing specific operation condition of rail structure and defines the working capability of structure. As result of analysis due mentioned method is obtained that in the conditions of 270 KN loading the rail meets the working assessment criteria of rail and rail structures: Strength, rail track stability, rail links stability and its transverse stability, traffic safety condition that is rather important for post-Soviet countries railways.

Keywords: axial loading, rail force loading, rail structure, rail strength analysis, rail track stability

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Authors: Thirawudh Pongprayoon, Watcharin Rassamee

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Silica-filled natural rubber compounds were prepared from unmodified and surface-modified silica. The modified silica was coated by ultrathin film of polyisoprene by admicellar polymerization. FTIR and SEM were applied to characterize the modified silica. The cure, mechanic, and dynamics properties were investigated with the comparison of the compounds. Cure characterization of modified silica rubber compound was shorter than that of unmodified silica compound. Strength and abrasion resistance of modified silica compound were better than those of unmodified silica rubber compound. Wet grip and rolling resistance analyzed by DMA from tanδ at 0°C and 60°C using 5 Hz were also better than those of unmodified silica rubber compound.

Keywords: silica, admicellar polymerization, rubber compounds, mechanical properties, dynamic properties

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Authors: Yujeong Shin, Seong Jin Cho, Jin Ho Kim

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In the textile-weaving machine, the reed is the core component to separate thousands of strands of yarn and to produce the fabric in a continuous high-speed movement. In addition, the reed affects the quality of the fiber. Therefore, the wire forming analysis of the main raw materials of the reed needs to be considered. Roll-forming is a key technology among the manufacturing process of reed wire using textile machine. A simulation of roll-forming line in accordance with the reduction rate is performed using LS-DYNA. The upper roller, fixed roller and reed wire are modeled by finite element. The roller is set to be rigid body and the wire of SUS430 is set to be flexible body. We predict the variation of the cross-sectional shape of the wire depending on the reduction ratio.

Keywords: textile machine, reed, rolling, reduction ratio, wire

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Authors: Wilaiwan Sornpoon, Sébastien Bonnet, Savitri Garivait

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Open burning of sugarcane fields is recognized to have a negative impact on soil by degrading its properties, especially soil organic carbon (SOC) content. Better understating the effect of open burning on soil carbon dynamics is crucial for documenting the carbon sequestration capacity of agricultural soils. In this study, experiments to investigate soil carbon stocks under burned and unburned sugarcane plantation systems in Thailand were conducted. The results showed that cultivation fields without open burning during 5 consecutive years enabled to increase the SOC content at a rate of 1.37 Mg ha-1y-1. Also it was found that sugarcane fields burning led to about 15% reduction of the total carbon stock in the 0-30 cm soil layer. The overall increase in SOC under unburned practice is mainly due to the large input of organic material through the use of sugarcane residues.

Keywords: soil organic carbon, soil inorganic carbon, carbon sequestration, open burning, sugarcane

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Authors: Matloub Hussaina

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This paper investigates the impact of information sharing and capacity constraints on backlog bullwhip effect of Automatic Pipe Line Inventory and Order Based Production Control System (APIOBPCS). System dynamic simulation using iThink Software has been applied. It has been found that smooth ordering by Tier 1 can be achieved when Tier 1 has medium capacity constraints. Simulation experiments also show that information sharing helps to reduce 50% of backlog bullwhip effect in capacitated supply chains. This knowledge is of value per se, giving supply chain operations managers and designers a practical way in to controlling the backlog bullwhip effect. Future work should investigate the total cost implications of capacity constraints and safety stocks in multi-echelon supply chain.

Keywords: supply chain dynamics, information sharing, capacity constraints, simulation, APIOBPCS

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Authors: Guillaume Craveur

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The evaluation of the passenger exchange time is necessary for railway operators in order to optimize and dimension rail traffic. Several influential parameters are identified and studied. Each parameter leads to a modeling completed with the buildingEXODUS software. The objective is the modelling of passenger exchanges measured by passenger counting. Population size is dimensioned using passenger counting files which are a report of the train service and contain following useful informations: number of passengers who get on and leave the train, exchange time. These information are collected by sensors placed at the top of each train door. With passenger counting files it is possible to know how many people are engaged in the exchange and how long is the exchange, but it is not possible to know passenger flow of the door. All the information about observed exchanges are thus not available. For this reason and in order to minimize inaccuracies, only short exchanges (less than 30 seconds) with a maximum of people are performed.

Keywords: passengers exchange, numerical tools, rolling stock, platforms

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Authors: Ana Breda, Catarina Cruz

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Daily, we face unpredictable events, often attributed to chance, as there is no justification for such an occurrence. Chance, understood as a source of uncertainty, is present in several aspects of human life, such as weather forecasts, dice rolling, and lottery. Surprisingly, humans and some animals can quickly adjust their behavior to handle efficiently doubly stochastic processes (random events with two layers of randomness, like unpredictable weather affecting dice rolling). This adjustment ability suggests that the human brain has built-in mechanisms for perceiving, understanding, and responding to simple probabilities. It also explains why current trends in mathematics education include probability concepts in official curriculum programs, starting from the third year of primary education onwards. In the first years of schooling, children learn to use a certain type of (specific) vocabulary, such as never, always, rarely, perhaps, likely, and unlikely, to help them to perceive and understand the probability of some events. These are keywords of crucial importance for their perception and understanding of probabilities. The development of the probabilistic concepts comes from facts and cause-effect sequences resulting from the subject's actions, as well as the notion of chance and intuitive estimates based on everyday experiences. As part of a junior summer school program, which took place at a Portuguese university, a non-formal learning experiment was carried out with 18 children in the 5th and 6th grades. This experience was designed to be implemented in a dynamic of a serious ice-breaking game, to assess their levels of probabilistic, critical, and creative thinking in understanding impossible, certain, equally probable, likely, and unlikely events, and also to gain insight into how the non-formal learning context influenced their achievements. The criteria used to evaluate probabilistic thinking included the creative ability to conceive events classified in the specified categories, the ability to properly justify the categorization, the ability to critically assess the events classified by other children, and the ability to make predictions based on a given probability. The data analysis employs a qualitative, descriptive, and interpretative-methods approach based on students' written productions, audio recordings, and researchers' field notes. This methodology allowed us to conclude that such an approach is an appropriate and helpful formative assessment tool. The promising results of this initial exploratory study require a future research study with children from these levels of education, from different regions, attending public or private schools, to validate and expand our findings.

Keywords: critical and creative thinking, non-formal mathematics learning, probabilistic thinking, serious game

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Authors: Roya Khajepour, Alireza B. Novinzadeh

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A major issue with spherical robot is it surface shape, which is not always predictable. This means that given only the dynamic model of the robot, it is not possible to control the robot. Due to the fact that in certain conditions it is not possible to measure surface friction, control methods must be prepared for these conditions. Moreover, although spherical robot never becomes unstable or topples thanks to its special shape, since it moves by rolling it has a non-holonomic constraint at point of contact and therefore it is considered a non-holonomic system. Existence of such a point leads to complexity and non-linearity of robot's kinematic equations and makes the control problem difficult. Due to the non-linear dynamics and presence of uncertainty, the sliding-mode control is employed. The proposed method is based on Lyapunov Theory and guarantees system stability. This controller is insusceptible to external disturbances and un-modeled dynamics.

Keywords: sliding mode, spherical robot, non-holomonic constraint, system stability

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Authors: Mokali Veeresham

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The microstructure and texture evolution of cryo rolled and annealed ductile TaHfNbZrTi refractory high entropy alloy was investigated. To obtain that, the alloy is severely cryo rolled and subsequently annealed for the recrystallization process. The cryo rolled – 90% shows the presence of very fine grains and microstructural heterogeneity. The cryo rolled samples are annealed at a temperature ranging from 800°C to 1400°C, the partial recrystallization is observed at 800°C annealed condition, and at higher annealing temperatures the complete recrystallization process is noticed. The development of ND fiber texture is observed after the annealing.

Keywords: refractory high entropy alloy, cryo-rolling, annealing, microstructure, texture

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Authors: Dilek Zorlu Kaya, Sena Çenesiz, Utku Duran

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Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus is a disease of great concern in aquaculture, causing mortality of 80 - 90% of the stocks in salmonid production. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of quercetin on oxidant and antioxidant parameters of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus, which is important for fish farming and economy in vitro. Quercetin experimental model was used in the cell culture of Oncorhynchus mykiss infected with infectious pancreatic necrosis virus. Malondialdehyde, ceruloplasmin, total oxidant capacity, total antioxidant levels, and glutathione-peroxidase were measured in the samples. As a result of the study, it was observed that quercetin can minimize the damage caused by scavenging free radicals in cells infected with infectious pancreatic necrosis virus. Thus, we think that an important development can be achieved for fish farming and the economy.

Keywords: IPNV, oncorhynchus mykiss, TAS, TOS, quercetin

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Authors: Ji Chan Kim, Seok Hong Min, Tae Kwon Ha

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Effect of boron addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ91D Mg alloy was investigated in this study. Through calculation of phase equilibria, carried out by using FactSage® and FTLite database, solution treatment temperature was decided as 420 °C where supersaturated solid solution can be obtained. Solid solution treatment was conducted at 420 °C for 24 hrs followed by hot rolling at 420 °C and the total reduction was about 60%. Recrystallization heat treatment was followed at 420 °C for 6 hrs to obtain equiaxed microstructure. After recrystallization treatment, aging heat treatment was conducted at temperature of 200 °C for time intervals from 1 min to 200 hrs and hardness of each condition was measured by micro-Vickers method. Peak hardness was observed after 20 hrs. Tensile tests were also conducted on the specimens aged for various time intervals and the results were compared with hardness.

Keywords: AZ91D Mg alloy, boron, heat treatment, microstructure, mechanical properties, hardness

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Authors: Davide Cocchi, Andrea Zucchelli, Luca Raimondi, Maria Brugo Tommaso

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The increasing attention is given to the issues of environmental pollution and climate change is exponentially stimulating the development of electrically propelled vehicles powered by renewable energy, in particular, the solar one. Given the small amount of solar energy that can be stored and subsequently transformed into propulsive energy, it is necessary to develop vehicles with high mechanical, electrical and aerodynamic efficiencies along with reduced masses. The reduction of the masses is of fundamental relevance especially for the unsprung masses, that is the assembly of those elements that do not undergo a variation of their distance from the ground (wheel, suspension system, hub, upright, braking system). Therefore, the reduction of unsprung masses is fundamental in decreasing the rolling inertia and improving the drivability, comfort, and performance of the vehicle. This principle applies even more in solar propelled vehicles, equipped with an electric motor that is connected directly to the wheel hub. In this solution, the electric motor is integrated inside the wheel. Since the electric motor is part of the unsprung masses, the development of compact and lightweight solutions is of fundamental importance. The purpose of this research is the design development and optimization of a CFRP 16 wheel hub motor for solar propulsion vehicles that can carry up to four people. In addition to trying to maximize aspects of primary importance such as mass, strength, and stiffness, other innovative constructive aspects were explored. One of the main objectives has been to achieve a high geometric packing in order to ensure a reduced lateral dimension, without reducing the power exerted by the electric motor. In the final solution, it was possible to realize a wheel hub motor assembly completely comprised inside the rim width, for a total lateral overall dimension of less than 100 mm. This result was achieved by developing an innovative connection system between the wheel and the rotor with a double purpose: centering and transmission of the driving torque. This solution with appropriate interlocking noses allows the transfer of high torques and at the same time guarantees both the centering and the necessary stiffness of the transmission system. Moreover, to avoid delamination in critical areas, evaluated by means of FEM analysis using 3D Hashin damage criteria, electrospun nanofibrous mats have been interleaved between CFRP critical layers. In order to reduce rolling resistance, the rim has been designed to withstand high inflation pressure. Laboratory tests have been performed on the rim using the Digital Image Correlation technique (DIC). The wheel has been tested for fatigue bending according to E/ECE/324 R124e.

Keywords: composite laminate, delamination, DIC, lightweight vehicle, motor hub wheel, nanofiber

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Authors: Pawan S. Nagda, Purnank S. Bhatt, Mit K. Shah

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Earing defect in drawing process is highly undesirable not only because it adds on an additional trimming operation but also because the uneven material flow demands extra care. The objective of this work is to study the earing problem in the Deep Drawing of circular cup and to optimize the blank shape to reduce the earing. A finite element model is developed for 3-D numerical simulation of cup forming process in ABAQUS. Extra-deep-drawing (EDD) steel sheet has been used for simulation. Properties and tool design parameters were used as input for simulation. Earing was observed in the simulated cup and it was measured at various angles with respect to rolling direction. To reduce the earing defect initial blank shape was modified with the help of anisotropy coefficient. Modified blanks showed notable reduction in earing.

Keywords: anisotropy, deep drawing, earing, finite element simulation

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Authors: Temiloluwa J. Akinyemi, Denis W. Aheto, Wisdom Akpalu

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Capture fisheries in developing countries provide significant animal protein and directly supports the livelihoods of several communities. However, the misperception of biophysical dynamics owing to a lack of adequate scientific data has contributed to the suboptimal management in marine capture fisheries. This is because yield and catch potentials are sensitive to the quality of catch and effort data. Yet, studies on fisheries data collection practices in developing countries are hard to find. This study investigates the data collection methods utilized by fisheries technical officers within the four fishing regions of Ghana. We found that the officers employed data collection and sampling procedures which were not consistent with the technical guidelines curated by FAO. For example, 50 instead of 166 landing sites were sampled, while 290 instead of 372 canoes were sampled. We argue that such sampling errors could result in the over-capitalization of capture fish stocks and significant losses in resource rents.

Keywords: Fisheries data quality, fisheries management, Ghana, Sustainable Fisheries

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Authors: E Tolufase

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The demand, high costs and health implications of using energy derived from hydrocarbon compound have necessitated the continuous search for alternative source of energy. The World energy market is facing some challenges viz: depletion of fossil fuel reserves, population explosion, lack of energy security, economic and urbanization growth and also, in Nigeria some rural areas still depend largely on wood, charcoal, kerosene, petrol among others, as the sources of their energy. To overcome these short falls in energy supply and demand, as well as taking into consideration the risks from global climate change due to effect of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from fossil fuels’ combustion, brought a lot of attention on efficiently harnessing the renewable energy sources. A very promising among the renewable energy resources for a clean energy technology for power production, vehicle and domestic usage is biogas. Therefore, optimization of biogas yield and quality is imperative. Hence, this study investigated yield and quality of biogas using low cost bio-digester and combination of various feed stocks referred to as co-digestion. Batch/Discontinuous Bio-digester type was used because it was cheap, easy, plausible and appropriate for different substrates used to get the desired results. Three substrates were used; cow dung, chicken droppings and lemon grass digested in five separate 21 litre digesters, A, B, C, D, and E and the gas collection system was designed using locally available materials. For single digestion we had; cow dung, chicken droppings, lemon grass, in Bio-digesters A, B, and C respectively, the co-digested three substrates in different mixed ratio 7:1:2 in digester D and E in ratio 5:3:2. The respective feed-stocks materials were collected locally, digested and analyzed in accordance with standard procedures. They were pre-fermented for a period of 10 days before being introduced into the digesters. They were digested for a retention period of 28 days, the physiochemical parameters namely; pressure, temperature, pH, volume of the gas collector system and volume of biogas produced were all closely monitored and recorded daily. The values of pH and temperature ranged 6.0 - 8.0, and 220C- 350C respectively. For the single substrate, bio-digester A(Cow dung only) produced biogas of total volume 0.1607m3(average volume of 0.0054m3 daily),while B (Chicken droppings ) produced 0.1722m3 (average of 0.0057m3 daily) and C (lemon grass) produced 0.1035m3 (average of 0.0035m3 daily). For the co-digested substrates in bio-digester D the total biogas produced was 0.2007m³ (average volume of 0.0067m³ daily) and bio-digester E produced 0.1991m³ (average volume of 0.0066m³ daily) It’s obvious from the results, that combining different substrates gave higher yields than when a singular feed stock was used and also mixing ratio played some roles in the yield improvement. Bio-digesters D and E contained the same substrates but mixed with different ratios, but higher yield was noticed in D with mixing ratio of 7:1:2 than in E with ratio 5:3:2.Therefore, co-digestion of substrates and mixing proportions are important factors for biogas production optimization.

Keywords: anaerobic, batch, biogas, biodigester, digestion, fermentation, optimization

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Authors: M. Al-Roumi, A. Al-Yaqout, A. Al-Baz

Abstract:

Recently, sea cucumbers have shown to be significant to global trade and incomes due to their high commercial value for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. This rising demand for sea cucumber products has created increasing harvest stress on the natural populations and led to the depletion of sea cucumbers stocks worldwide and accordingly there is a big concern on the marine environment's health worldwide. Few species have been reported and identified via morophlogical features only. Several sea cucumber species were collected from the North West side reefs at Qaruh Island, and the north side of Umm Al-Maradem Island in Kuwait waters, in the north-western Arabian Gulf, in order to identify the sea cucumber species available in the Kuwaiti waters. The identified species were Holothuria atra, Holothuria arenicola, Holothuria hilla and Holothuria impatiens. Species identification was made using morphological keys and review of their ossicles. This paper reports the species Stichopus hermanni from Kuwait.

Keywords: Stichopus hermanni, Kuwait waters, Arabian Gulf, ossicles

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Namrata Mishra

Abstract:

Health of a person plays a vital role in the collective health of his community and hence the well-being of the society as a whole. But, in today’s fast paced technology driven world, health issues are increasingly being associated with human behaviors – their lifestyle. Social networks have tremendous impact on the health behavior of individuals. Many researchers have used social network analysis to understand human behavior that implicates their social and economic environments. It would be interesting to use a similar analysis to understand human behaviors that have health implications. This paper focuses on concepts of those behavioural analyses that have health implications using social networks analysis and provides possible algorithmic approaches. The results of these approaches can be used by the governing authorities for rolling out health plans, benefits and take preventive measures, while the pharmaceutical companies can target specific markets, helping health insurance companies to better model their insurance plans.

Keywords: breadth first search, directed graph, health behaviors, social network analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 473

Authors: Yusuf Seedat

Abstract:

The necessity to understand global financial markets has increased following the unfortunate spread of the recent financial crisis around the world. Financial markets are considered to be complex systems consisting of highly volatile move-ments whose indexes fluctuate without any clear pattern. Analytic methods of stock prices have been proposed in which financial markets are modeled using common network analysis tools and methods. It has been found that two key components of social network analysis are relevant to modeling financial markets, allowing us to forecast accurate predictions of stock prices within the financial market. Financial markets have a number of interacting components, leading to complex behavioral patterns. This paper describes a social network approach to analyzing financial markets as a viable approach to studying the way complex stock markets function. We also look at how social network analysis techniques and metrics are used to gauge an understanding of the evolution of financial markets as well as how community detection can be used to qualify and quantify in-fluence within a network.

Keywords: network analysis, social networks, financial markets, stocks, nodes, edges, complex networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 192