Search results for: flexible pavement alternative

Authors: Humphrey Danso, Seth Adu

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The high cost of cement and its greenhouse effect on the environment have led to the use of alternative building materials in the production of block and bricks. This study seeks to investigate the properties of compressed earth blocks (CEBs) enhanced with clay pozzolana. CEBs of size 290 × 140 × 100 mm were prepared with 10, 20 and 30 % weight of clay pozzolana. The CEBs were compressed at a constant pressure of 5 MPa and cured for 28 days. The blocks, after 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of curing were tested for density, water absorption, compressive strength and erosion. It was found that amount of pozzolana content did not have much influence on blocks’ density. There was a decline in water absorption of the stabilised blocks ranged between 32.8% and 252.2% over the unstabilised blocks. The highest compressive strength (3.75MPa) of the stabilized blocks was achieved at 28th day of curing with 30% clay pozzolana content, which showed an improvement of 116.8% strength over the unstabilised blocks. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant difference in the erosion resistance between the stabilized blocks and the unstabilised blocks. The study concludes that the inclusion of the clay pozzolana increased the properties of the CEBs, and therefore recommended for use in the building of houses.

Keywords: clay pozzolana, compressed earth blocks (CEBs), compressive strength, erosion test

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Authors: Abirham Simeneh Ayalew, Seada Hussen Adem, Frie Ayalew Yimam

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Battery energy storage has a great role on storing energy harnessed from different alternative resources and greatly benefit the power sector by supply energy back to the system during outage and regular operation in power sectors. Most of the study shows that there is an exponential increase in the quantity of lithium - ion battery energy storage system due to their power density, economical aspects and its performance. But this lithium ion battery failures resulted in fire and explosion due to its having flammable electrolytes (chemicals) which can create those hazards. Hazards happen in these energy storage system lead to minimize battery life spans or efficiency. Identifying the real cause of these hazards and its mitigation techniques can be the solution to improve the efficiency of battery technologies and the electrode materials should have high electrical conductivity, large surface area, stable structure and low resistance. This paper asses the real causes of chemical hazards, its impact on efficiency, proposed solution for mitigating those hazards associated with efficiency improvement and summery of researchers new finding related to the field.

Keywords: battery energy storage, battery energy storage efficiency, chemical hazards, lithium ion battery

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Authors: Oluwatosin Olofintoye, Josiah Adeyemo, Gbemileke Shomade

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The relationship between rainfall and runoff is an important issue in surface water hydrology therefore the understanding and development of accurate rainfall-runoff models and their applications in water resources planning, management and operation are of paramount importance in hydrological studies. This paper reviews some of the previous works on the rainfall-runoff process modeling. The hydrologic applications of conceptual models and artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the precipitation-runoff process modeling were studied. Gradient training methods such as error back-propagation (BP) and evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are discussed in relation to the training of artificial neural networks and it is shown that application of EAs to artificial neural networks training could be an alternative to other training methods. Therefore, further research interest to exploit the abundant expert knowledge in the area of artificial intelligence for the solution of hydrologic and water resources planning and management problems is needed.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, artificial neural networks, evolutionary algorithms, gradient training method, rainfall-runoff model

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Authors: Illyas Md Isa, Mohamad Idris Saidin, Mustaffa Ahmad, Norhayati Hashim

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A highly selective and sensitive carbon paste electrode modified with multiwall carbon nanotubes and 2,6–diacetylpyridine-di-(1R)–(-)–fenchone diazine tetracarbonylmolybdenum(0) complex was used for determination of trace amounts of Cu(II) using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). The influences of experimental variables on the proposed electrode such as pH, supporting electrolyte, preconcentration potential and time, and square wave parameters were investigated. Under optimal conditions, the proposed electrode showed a linear relationship with concentration in the range of 1.0 × 10–10 to 1.0 × 10– 6 M Cu(II) with a limit of detection 8.0 × 10–11 M. The relative standard deviation (n = 5) for a solution containing 1.0 × 10– 6 M of Cu(II) was 0.036. The presence of various cations (in 10 and 100-folds concentration) did not interfere. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the charge transfer at the electrode-solution interface was favourable. The proposed electrode was applied for the determination of Cu(II) in several water samples. Results agreed very well with those obtained by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. The modified electrode was then proposed as an alternative for determination of Cu(II).

Keywords: chemically modified electrode, Cu(II), square wave anodic stripping voltammetry, tetracarbonylmolybdenum(0)

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Authors: Yueh Hsiu Giffen Cheng, Teng Jung Wang

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According to the study of British national advisory council on creative and cultural education（NACCCE, what the present and the future need awesome innovative and creative people from the perspective of commercial human resources. Therefore, we can know from above, creativity plays an important role in today’s enterprise indeed. Besides, many companies are aimed at developing team work as their main goal, so “creativity” and “teamwork” become more and more important factors to succeed and team creativity also turn into an important issue gradually. Then, the study takes in-depth interviews of design companies’ leaders and uses self-designed questionnaire regarding affecting team creativity to conduct cross-analysis. The results show that for those creative-oriented integrated design companies, their design strategies don’t begin until data collection and their scripts are usually the best way to inspire creativity. Besides, passing down a legacy of experiences are their common educational training. Most important of all, their organizational resources and leaders can assist all the team to learn and grow effectively and the good interaction between the leader and the member can also bring work flexibility and efficiency. In short, the leader’s expectation of members’ performance can cause them to encourage each other to progress. Moreover, the analysis of questionnaire indicates that members who are open-minded and leaders who have transformational leadership style can both help to establish a good team interaction. Furthermore, abundant resources and training system are also good approaches to establish a harmonious relationship. Finally, through integrating the outcomes of interviews and questionnaires, we can infer that those integrated design companies’ circumstances of design progress are mainly from their leaders’ guidance. In addition, the analysis of design problems are focused on their creative strategies and their scripts and sketches can also inspire their creativity. In sum, the feature of all team is influenced by 4 factors: leaders who have transformational leadership style, open-minded members, flexible working environment, resources and interactive relationship. Ultimately, the study hopes that the result above can apply to the design-related industries or help general companies elevate the team creativity.

Keywords: creativity, team creativity, integrated design companies, design process

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Authors: Josiane R. Pires, Marco A. S. González, Bruna L. Brenner, Luciana S. Roos

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The concern with sustainability brought the need for optimization of the buildings to reduce consumption of natural resources. Almost 1/3 of energy demanded by Brazilian housings is used to provide thermal solutions. AEC sector may contribute applying bioclimatic strategies on building design. The aim of this research is to investigate the viability of applying some alternative solutions in residential buildings. The research was developed with computational simulation on single family social housing, examining envelope type, absorptance, and insolation. The analysis of the thermal performance applied both Brazilian standard NBR 15575 and degree-hour method, in the scenery of Porto Alegre, a southern Brazilian city. We used BIM modeling through Revit/Autodesk and used Energy Plus to thermal simulation. The payback of the investment was calculated comparing energy savings and building costs, in a period of 50 years. The results shown that with the increment of envelope’s insulation there is thermal comfort improvement and energy economy, with a pay-back period of 24 to 36 years, in some cases.

Keywords: civil construction, design, thermal performance, energy, economic analysis

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Authors: Rita Sassine, Yassine Hassani, Mohamad Al Omari, Stéphanie Guibert

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Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the process of creating, managing, and centralizing information during the building lifecycle. BIM can be used all over a construction project, from the initiation phase to the planning and execution phases to the maintenance and lifecycle management phase. For existing buildings, BIM can be used for specific applications such as lifecycle management. However, most of the existing buildings don’t have a BIM model. Creating a compatible BIM for existing buildings is very challenging. It requires special equipment for data capturing and efforts to convert these data into a BIM model. The main difficulties for such projects are to define the data needed, the level of development (LOD), and the methodology to be adopted. In addition to managing information for an existing building, studying the impact of the built environment is a challenging topic. So, integrating the existing terrain that surrounds buildings into the digital model is essential to be able to make several simulations as flood simulation, energy simulation, etc. Making a replication of the physical model and updating its information in real-time to make its Digital Twin (DT) is very important. The Digital Terrain Model (DTM) represents the ground surface of the terrain by a set of discrete points with unique height values over 2D points based on reference surface (e.g., mean sea level, geoid, and ellipsoid). In addition, information related to the type of pavement materials, types of vegetation and heights and damaged surfaces can be integrated. Our aim in this study is to define the methodology to be used in order to provide a 3D BIM model for the site and the existing building based on the case study of “Ecole Spéciale des Travaux Publiques (ESTP Paris)” school of engineering campus. The property is located on a hilly site of 5 hectares and is composed of more than 20 buildings with a total area of 32 000 square meters and a height between 50 and 68 meters. In this work, the campus precise levelling grid according to the NGF-IGN69 altimetric system and the grid control points are computed according to (Réseau Gédésique Français) RGF93 – Lambert 93 french system with different methods: (i) Land topographic surveying methods using robotic total station, (ii) GNSS (Global Network Satellite sytem) levelling grid with NRTK (Network Real Time Kinematic) mode, (iii) Point clouds generated by laser scanning. These technologies allow the computation of multiple building parameters such as boundary limits, the number of floors, the floors georeferencing, the georeferencing of the 4 base corners of each building, etc. Once the entry data are identified, the digital model of each building is done. The DTM is also modeled. The process of altimetric determination is complex and requires efforts in order to collect and analyze multiple data formats. Since many technologies can be used to produce digital models, different file formats such as DraWinG (DWG), LASer (LAS), Comma-separated values (CSV), Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and ReViT (RVT) will be generated. Checking the interoperability between BIM models is very important. In this work, all models are linked together and shared on 3DEXPERIENCE collaborative platform.

Keywords: building information modeling, digital terrain model, existing buildings, interoperability

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Authors: Omid Amini

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Nowadays, technology plays the most important role in the life of human beings because people use technology to share data and to communicate with each other, but the challenge is the security of this data. For instance, as more people turn to technology in the world, more data is generated, and more hackers try to steal or infiltrate data. In addition, the data is under the control of the central authority, which can trigger the challenge of losing information and changing information; this can create widespread anxiety for different people in different communities. In this paper, we sought to investigate Blockchain technology that can guarantee information security and eliminate the challenge of central authority access to information. Now a day, people are suffering from the current voting system. This means that the lack of transparency in the voting system is a big problem for society and the government in most countries, but blockchain technology can be the best alternative to the previous voting system methods because it removes the most important challenge for voting. According to the results, this research can be a good start to getting acquainted with this new technology, especially on the security part and familiarity with how to use a voting system based on blockchain in the world. At the end of this research, it is concluded that the use of blockchain technology can solve the major security problem and lead to a secure and transparent election.

Keywords: blockchain, technology, security, information, voting system, transparency

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Authors: Joshua Midha

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The basis for information campaigns and behavioral interventions has long reigned as a tactic. From the Soviet-era propaganda machines to the opinion hijacks in Iran, these measures are now commonplace and are used for dissemination and disassembly. However, the use of these tools for strategic diffusion, specifically in a counter-terrorism setting, has only been explored on the surface. This paper aims to introduce a larger conceptual portion of guided information campaigns into preexisting terror cells and situations. It provides an alternative, low-risk intervention platform for future military strategy. This paper highlights a theoretical framework to lay out the foundationary details and explanations for behavioral interventions and moves into using a case study to highlight the possibility of implementation. It details strategies, resources, circumstances, and risk factors for intervention. It also sets an expanding foundation for offensive PsyOps and argues for tactical diffusion of information to battle extremist sentiment. The two larger frameworks touch on the internal spread of information within terror cells and external political sway, thus charting a larger holistic purpose of strategic operations.

Keywords: terrorism, behavioral intervention, propaganda, SNA, extremism

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Authors: Rodrigo I. Ullauri, Santiago E. Tinajero, Omar O. Ramos, Paola R. Quintana

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The increase of CO₂ emissions in the atmosphere and its impact on climate change is a global concern. The transportation sector is a significant consumer of fossil fuels and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. The current challenge is to find ways to reduce the use of fossil fuels in transportation. In Ecuador, where 92% of electricity is generated from clean sources, the concept of e-mobility is considered an attractive alternative to address the challenge of sustainable mobility. The proposal is to migrate from combustion-powered vehicles to electric vehicles in the electric companies of Ecuador, using a methodology to standardize criteria, determine specific requirements, contrast technical characteristics, and estimate emission reductions. The results showed that there are three categories of vehicles that have electric counterparts suitable for performing activities under certain operation parameters inherent to current technology limitations but with a significant contribution to the reduction of annual CO₂ emissions.

Keywords: climate change, electro mobility, energy, sustainable transportation

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Authors: A. Deswal, N. S. Deora, H. N. Mishra

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The aim of the present study was to develop a rapid method for electronic nose for online quality control of oat milk. Analysis by electronic nose and bacteriological measurements were performed to analyse spoilage kinetics of oat milk samples stored at room temperature and refrigerated conditions for up to 15 days. Principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant factorial analysis (DFA) and soft independent modelling by class analogy (SIMCA) classification techniques were used to differentiate the samples of oat milk at different days. The total plate count (bacteriological method) was selected as the reference method to consistently train the electronic nose system. The e-nose was able to differentiate between the oat milk samples of varying microbial load. The results obtained by the bacteria total viable counts showed that the shelf-life of oat milk stored at room temperature and refrigerated conditions were 20 hours and 13 days, respectively. The models built classified oat milk samples based on the total microbial population into “unspoiled” and “spoiled”.

Keywords: electronic-nose, bacteriological, shelf-life, classification

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Authors: Jenny Oliveros Lao Phillips, Arturo E. Osorio, José Alves

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Family business are the dominant form of business in the world, and Chinese family business (CFB) is a unique type of family business that relies on collective action to survive. This paper argues that in CFBs, entrepreneurial actions are transgenerational collective endeavors, and successors are groomed as stewards of the family legacy. Work-life relationship in CFBs is about synergy and not balance because the family identity is the business identity, and vice-versa. Using five in-depth case studies, this research introduces an alternative understanding of CFBs and proposes a model of work-life synergy in transgenerational entrepreneurship based on discussion of five theory-based propositions. This model explains that through emphasizing on the business family’s shared value and entrepreneurial legacy, elements of trust, shared identity and stewardship of family members are enhanced which leads to collective action and goal of the business family, resulting in transgenerational entrepreneurship. Limitations and future research are presented.

Keywords: Chinese family business, family legacy, stewardship, transgenerational entrepreneurship, work-life synergy

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Authors: Wilawan Kanhachon, Yodchai Boonprakob, Uraiwon Chatchawan, Junichiro Yamauchi

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Introduction: Paslop is a traditional dance from Laos, which is popular in Laos and northeastern of Thailand. This unique type of Paslop dancing is to control body movement with the song. While dancing to the beat, dancers should contract their abdomen and back muscle all the time. Paslop may be a good alternative to improve strengthening, balance and flexibility. Objective: To investigate the effects of Paslop dance exercise on core strength, balance, and flexibility. Methods: Seven healthy participants (age, 20.57±1.13 yrs; height, 162.29±6.16 cm; body mass, 58.14±7.03 kg; mean± S.D.) were volunteered to perform the 45-minute Paslop dance exercise in three times a week for 8 weeks. Before, during and after the exercise period, core strength, balance and flexibility were measured with the pressure biofeedback unit (PBU), one-leg stance test (OLST), and sit and reach test (SAR), respectively. Result: PBU score for core strength increased from 2.12 mmHg in baseline to 6.34 mmHg at the 4th week and 10.10 mmHg at the 8th week after the Paslop dance training, while OLST and SAR did not change. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that 8-week Paslop dancing exercise can improve the core strength.

Keywords: balance, core strength, flexibility, Paslop

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Authors: Eman Tadros

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Solution Focused Therapy sheds a positive light on a client’s problem(s) by instilling hope, focusing on the connection with the client, and describing the problem in a way to display change being possible. Solution focused therapists highlight clients’ positive strengths, reframe what clients say, do, or believe in a positive statement, action, or belief. Narrative Therapy focuses on the stories individuals tell about their past in which shape their current and future lives. Changing the language used aids clients in reevaluating their values and views of themselves, this then constructs a more positive way of thinking about their story. Both therapies are based on treating each client as an individual with a problem rather than that the individual is a problem and being able to give power back to the client. The purpose of these ideologies is to open a client to alternative understandings. This paper displays how clinicians can empower and identify their clients’ positive strengths and resiliency factors. Narrative and Solution-Focused Techniques will be integrated to instill positivity and empowerment in clients. Techniques such as deconstruction, collaboration, complimenting, miracle/exception/scaling questioning will be analyzed and modeled. Furthermore, bridging Solution Focused Therapy and Narrative Therapy gives a voice to unheard client(s).

Keywords: solution focused therapy, narrative therapy, empowerment, resilience

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Authors: Alami Ilyass, Kharchoufa Loubna, Alachouri Mostafa

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Cardiovascular disease (CDV) remains the major cause of morbidity; mortality and disability throughout the world. The ethnopharmcological and ethnobotanical studies are the paramount importance to set a high value on phytogenetic resources and to address health problems of some communities; especially poor peoples. Our work presents an analysis of published data from studies, that have been undertaken, in Morocco, by different seeker teams in separately areas during the last decades. Objectives: Evaluate and identify medicinal plants used for cardiovascular treatment by Moroccan people. Methodology: All these studies have the same approaches ; they were conducted by interviewing people suffering from diabetes. We use Factorial Analysis (FA) and principal Components analysis (PCA) to analyse the aggregated data from the different studies. Results: globally; 95 plants species were listed; all these plant were used empirically by Moroccan society for treating cardiovascular problems. These plants were divided in to 42 families and 87 genus. The lamiaceae; asteraceae; Apiaceae and poaceae are the botanical families with high number of plant species. Coclusion: Traditional medecine has been widely used for treatment of cardiovascular problems and it has been recognized as an interesting alternative to conventional medicine.

Keywords: cardiovascular, ethnobotanical, medicinal plants, Morocco

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Authors: Mohamad Alkhalidi, S. Neelamani, Noor Alanjari

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The main purpose of harbors and marinas is to create a calm and safe docking space for marine vessels. Standard rubble mound breakwaters, although widely used, occupy port space and require large amounts of stones or rocks. Kuwait does not have good quality stone, so they are imported at a very high cost. Therefore, there is a need for a new wave energy dissipating structure where stones and rocks are scarce. While permeable slotted vertical walls have been proved to be a suitable alternative to rubble mound breakwaters, the introduction of sloped slotted walls may be more efficient in dissipating wave energy. For example, two slotted barriers with 60degree inclination may be equivalent to three vertical slotted barriers from wave energy dissipation point of view. A detailed physical model study is carried out to determine the effects of slope angle, porosity, and a number of walls on wave energy dissipation for a wide range of random and regular waves. The results of this study can be used to improve and optimize energy dissipation and reduce construction cost.

Keywords: porosity, slope, wave reflection, wave transmission

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Authors: Jamshaid ul Rahman, Akhter Ali, Adnan Manzoor

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Learning-based systems have received increasing interest in recent years; recognition structures, including end-to-end speak recognition, are one of the hot topics in this area. A famous work on end-to-end speaker verification by using Angular Softmax Loss gained significant importance and is considered useful to directly trains a discriminative model instead of the traditional adopted i-vector approach. The margin-based strategy in angular softmax is beneficial to learn discriminative speaker embeddings where the random selection of margin values is a big issue in additive angular margin and multiplicative angular margin. As a better solution in this matter, we present an alternative approach by introducing a bit similar form of an additive parameter that was originally introduced for face recognition, and it has a capacity to adjust automatically with the corresponding margin values and is applicable to learn more discriminative features than the Softmax. Experiments are conducted on the part of Fisher dataset, where it observed that the additive parameter with angular softmax to train the front-end and probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) in the back-end boosts the performance of the structure.

Keywords: additive parameter, angular softmax, speaker verification, PLDA

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Authors: Muneeb Banday, Anukriti Dixit

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Change in organizations is viewed as a conversion process of the organizational functioning. One of the crucial elements of this conversion process is the employee resistance to organizational change. The existing literature on change resistance has generally treated resistance as a barrier or an opportunity for successful implementation of change. However, there is little empirical research exploring how resistance to change is managed. This may be partially due to difficulty in getting information on resistance to change. The top management does not divulge such information to avoid negative evaluation whereas employees face huge risk in sharing information related to resistance. The focus of the study is to understand how the organization under study dealt with the employee resistance to change. The conversion process is a story of how the organization went from one stage to another. We used narrative approach to change. Data was collected data through company visits and interviews. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and themes were identified. We focused on the strands that left huge scope for alternative interpretations than the dominant narrative of change prevalent in the organization. The study reveals that the top management strategically uses the legitimacy of leadership, roles of key employees, and rationality of change to manage resistance.

Keywords: employee resistance, legitimacy of leadership, narrative analysis, organisational change

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Authors: O. Fiquet, P. Lemarignier

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Additive manufacturing may find numerous applications in the nuclear industry, for the same reason as for other industries, to enlarge design possibilities and performances and develop fabrication methods as a flexible route for future innovation. Additive Manufacturing applications in the design of structural metallic components for reactors are already developed at a high Technology Readiness Level (TRL). In the case of a Pressured Water Reactor using uranium oxide fuel pellets, which are ceramics, the transposition of already optimized Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes to UO₂ remains a challenge, and the progress remains slow because, to our best knowledge, only a few laboratories have the capability of developing processes applicable to UO₂. After the Fukushima accident, numerous research fields emerged with the study of ATF (Accident tolerant Fuel) fuel concepts, which aimed to improve fuel behaviour. One item concerns the increase of the pellet thermal performance by, for example, the addition of high thermal conductivity material into fissile UO₂. This additive phase may be metallic, and the end product will constitute a CERMET composite. Innovative designs of an internal metallic framework are proposed based on predictive calculations. However, because the well-known reference pellet manufacturing methods impose many limitations, manufacturing such a composite remains an arduous task. Therefore, the AM process appears as a means of broadening the design possibilities of CERMET manufacturing. If the external form remains a standard cylindrical fuel pellet, the internal metallic design remains to be optimized based on process capabilities. This project also considers the limitation to a maximum of 10% volume of metal, which is a constraint neutron physics considerations impose. The AM technique chosen for this development is robocasting because of its simplicity and low-cost equipment. It remains, however, a challenge to adapt a ceramic 3D printing process for the fabrication of UO₂ fuel. The investigation starts with surrogate material, and the optimization of slurry feedstock is based on alumina. The paper will present the first printing of Al2O3-Mo CERMET and the expected transition from ceramic-based alumina to UO₂ CERMET.

Keywords: nuclear, fuel, CERMET, robocasting

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Authors: Ed de Jong

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Avantium is a leading technology development company and a frontrunner in renewable chemistry. Avantium develops disruptive technologies that enable the production of sustainable high value products from renewable materials and actively seek out collaborations and partnerships with like-minded companies and academic institutions globally, to speed up introductions of chemical innovations in the marketplace. In addition, Avantium helps companies to accelerate their catalysis R&D to improve efficiencies and deliver increased sustainability, growth, and profits, by providing proprietary systems and services to this regard. Many chemical building blocks and materials can be produced from biomass, nowadays mainly from 1st generation based carbohydrates, but potential for competition with the human food chain leads brand-owners to look for strategies to transition from 1st to 2nd generation feedstock. The use of non-edible lignocellulosic feedstock is an equally attractive source to produce chemical intermediates and an important part of the solution addressing these global issues (Paris targets). Avantium’s Dawn Technology™ separates the glucose, mixed sugars, and lignin available in non-food agricultural and forestry residues such as wood chips, wheat straw, bagasse, empty fruit bunches or corn stover. The resulting very pure lignin is dense in energy and can be used for energy generation. However, such a material might preferably be deployed in higher added value applications. Bitumen, which is fossil based, are mostly used for paving applications. Traditional hot mix asphalt emits large quantities of the GHG’s CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O, which is unfavorable for obvious environmental reasons. Another challenge for the bitumen industry is that the petrochemical industry is becoming more and more efficient in breaking down higher chain hydrocarbons to lower chain hydrocarbons with higher added value than bitumen. This has a negative effect on the availability of bitumen. The asphalt market, as well as governments, are looking for alternatives with higher sustainability in terms of GHG emission. The usage of alternative sustainable binders, which can (partly) replace the bitumen, contributes to reduce GHG emissions and at the same time broadens the availability of binders. As lignin is a major component (around 25-30%) of lignocellulosic material, which includes terrestrial plants (e.g., trees, bushes, and grass) and agricultural residues (e.g., empty fruit bunches, corn stover, sugarcane bagasse, straw, etc.), it is globally highly available. The chemical structure shows resemblance with the structure of bitumen and could, therefore, be used as an alternative for bitumen in applications like roofing or asphalt. Applications such as the use of lignin in asphalt need both fundamental research as well as practical proof under relevant use conditions. From a fundamental point of view, rheological aspects, as well as mixing, are key criteria. From a practical point of view, behavior in real road conditions is key (how easy can the asphalt be prepared, how easy can it be applied on the road, what is the durability, etc.). The paper will discuss the fundamentals of the use of lignin as bitumen replacement as well as the status of the different demonstration projects in Europe using lignin as a partial bitumen replacement in asphalts and will especially present the results of using Dawn Technology™ lignin as partial replacement of bitumen.

Keywords: biorefinery, wood fractionation, lignin, asphalt, bitumen, sustainability

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Authors: Hamidreza Sharifan, Audra Morse

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Accurate assessments of contaminant concentrations based on traditional grab sampling methods are not always possible. Passive samplers offer an attractive alternative to traditional sampling methods that overcomes these limitations. The POCIS approach has been used as a screening tool for determining the presence/absence, possible sources and relative amounts of organic compounds at field sites. The objective for the present research is on mass transfer of five water contaminants (atrazine, caffeine, bentazon, ibuprofen, atenolol) through the Water Boundary Layer (WBL) and membrane. More specific objectives followed by establishing a relationship between the sampling rate and water solubility of the compounds, as well as comparing the molecular weight of the compounds and concentration of the compounds at the time of equilibrium. To determine whether water boundary layer effects transport rate through the membrane is another main objective in this paper. After GC mass analysis of compounds, regarding the WBL effect in this experiment, Sherwood number for the experimental tank developed. A close relationship between feed concentration of compound and sampling rate has been observed.

Keywords: passive sampler, water contaminants, PES-transfer rate, contaminant concentrations

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Authors: S. Behnia, S. Fathizadeh, A. Akhshani

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In the recent decades, DNA has increasingly interested in the potential technological applications that not directly related to the coding for functional proteins that is the expressed in form of genetic information. One of the most interesting applications of DNA is related to the construction of nanostructures of high complexity, design of functional nanostructures in nanoelectronical devices, nanosensors and nanocercuits. In this field, DNA is of fundamental interest to the development of DNA-based molecular technologies, as it possesses ideal structural and molecular recognition properties for use in self-assembling nanodevices with a definite molecular architecture. Also, the robust, one-dimensional flexible structure of DNA can be used to design electronic devices, serving as a wire, transistor switch, or rectifier depending on its electronic properties. In order to understand the mechanism of the charge transport along DNA sequences, numerous studies have been carried out. In this regard, conductivity properties of DNA molecule could be investigated in a simple, but chemically specific approach that is intimately related to the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model. In SSH model, the non-diagonal matrix element dependence on intersite displacements is considered. In this approach, the coupling between the charge and lattice deformation is along the helix. This model is a tight-binding linear nanoscale chain established to describe conductivity phenomena in doped polyethylene. It is based on the assumption of a classical harmonic interaction between sites, which is linearly coupled to a tight-binding Hamiltonian. In this work, the Hamiltonian and corresponding motion equations are nonlinear and have high sensitivity to initial conditions. Then, we have tried to move toward the nonlinear dynamics and phase space analysis. Nonlinear dynamics and chaos theory, regardless of any approximation, could open new horizons to understand the conductivity mechanism in DNA. For a detailed study, we have tried to study the current flowing in DNA and investigated the characteristic I-V diagram. As a result, It is shown that there are the (quasi-) ohmic areas in I-V diagram. On the other hand, the regions with a negative differential resistance (NDR) are detectable in diagram.

Keywords: DNA conductivity, Landauer resistance, negative dierential resistance, Chaos theory, mean Lyapunov exponent

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Authors: A. W. Chalmers, O. M. van den Broek

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This article examines the relationship between the global financial crisis and corporate social responsibility activities of financial services firms. It challenges the general consensus in existing studies that firms, when faced with economic hardship, tend to jettison CSR commitments. Instead, and building on recent insights into the institutional determinants of CSR, it is argued that firms are constrained in their ability to abandon CSR by the extent to which they are subject to intense public scrutiny by regulators and the news media. This argument is tested in the context of the European sovereign debt crisis drawing on a unique dataset of 170 firms in 15 different countries over a six-year period. Controlling for a battery of alternative explanations and comparing financial service providers to firms operating in other economic sectors, results indicate considerable evidence supporting the main argument. Rather than abandoning CSR during times of economic hardship, financial industry firms ramp up their CSR commitments in order to manage their public image and foster public trust in light of intense public scrutiny.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility (CSR), public scrutiny, global financial crisis, financial services firms

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Authors: Hsiao-Yung Wang

Abstract:

This paper aims to elaborate methodology of visual rhetoric with constant reference to Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of “chronotope”. First, it attempts to outline Ronald Barthes, the most representative scholar of visual rhetoric and structuralism, perspective on visual rhetoric and its time-space category by referring to the concurrent word-image, the symbolic systematicity, the outer dialogicity. Second, an alternative approach is explored for grasping the dynamics and functions of visual rhetoric by articulating Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of “chronotope.” Furthermore, that visual rhetorical consciousness could be identified as “the meaning parabola which projects from word to image,” “the symbolic system which proceeds from sequence to disorder,” “the ideological environment which struggles from the local to the global.” Last but not least, primary vision of the 2014 Taipei LGBT parade would be analyzed preliminarily to evaluate the effectiveness and persuasiveness embodied by specific visual rhetorical strategies. How Bakhtin’s concept of “chronotope” to explain the potential or possible ideological struggle deployed by visual rhetoric might be interpreted empirically and extensively.

Keywords: barthes, chronotope, Mikhail Bakhtin, Taipei LGBT parade, visual rhetoric

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Authors: Yasser Khamis Ragab Aman

Abstract:

Tawfiq Al-Hakim (1898-1987) celebrated the 1919 Revolution by writing The Return of The Spirit published in 1933, a novel which portrayed national awakening and illustrated the cult of a nationalist leader, such as Saad Zaghloul so much that it influenced Egypt’s first president Gamal Abdel Nasser. However, in 1974, and because of an excruciating sense of disappointment, Al-Hakim wrote The Return of Consciousness. Between losing and regaining consciousness, Al-Hakim wrote The River of Madness, a short play published in 1937. It portrays an old kingdom established in a distant place where there is a conflict between the King and his minister, who have not drunk from the river of madness, on the one hand, and the inhabitants of the kingdom who thought that the King and the minister have gone mad because they refused to drink from the river. (Each party doubted the sanity of the other). In fact, the King and the minister differ in their political stance from the rest of the people. By philosophical reasoning, the minister convinces the King that it is safer to go mad with the majority than to be treated as an unwanted minority. It is believed that in The River of Madness, Al-Hakim deftly portrays an example of ideological passing as an alternative solution that can save the country from the woes of the aftermath of revolution and civil war.

Keywords: ideological passing, Al Hakim, The River of Madness, Arabic literature

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Authors: Caio Marcelo Nunes, Anderson da Silva Soares, Gustavo Teodoro Laureano, Clarimar Jose Coelho

Abstract:

This paper presents a methodology to pixel recognition in aerial images using fuzzy $c$-means algorithm. This algorithm is a alternative to recognize areas considering uncertainties and inaccuracies. Traditional clustering technics are used in recognizing of multispectral images of earth's surface. This technics recognize well-defined borders that can be easily discretized. However, in the real world there are many areas with uncertainties and inaccuracies which can be mapped by clustering algorithms that use fuzzy sets. The methodology presents in this work is applied to multispectral images obtained from Landsat-5/TM satellite. The pixels are joined using the $c$-means algorithm. After, a classification process identify the types of surface according the patterns obtained from spectral response of image surface. The classes considered are, exposed soil, moist soil, vegetation, turbid water and clean water. The results obtained shows that the fuzzy clustering identify the real type of the earth's surface.

Keywords: aerial images, fuzzy clustering, image processing, pattern recognition

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Authors: B. Varaprasad, C. Srinivasa Rao

Abstract:

Hard turning has been explored as an alternative to the conventional one used for manufacture of Parts using tool steels. In the present study, the effects of cutting speed, feed rate and Depth of Cut (DOC) on cutting forces, specific cutting force, power and surface roughness in the hard turning are experimentally investigated. Experiments are carried out using mixed ceramic(Al2O3+TiC) cutting tool of corner radius 0.8mm, in turning operations on AISI H13 tool steel, heat treated to a hardness of 62 HRC. Based on Design of Experiments (DOE), a total of 20 tests are carried out. The range of each one of the three parameters is set at three different levels, viz, low, medium and high. The validity of the model is checked by Analysis of variance (ANOVA). Predicted models are derived from regression analysis. Comparison of experimental and predicted values of specific cutting force, power and surface roughness shows that good agreement has been achieved between them. Therefore, the developed model may be recommended to be used for predicting specific cutting force, power and surface roughness in hard turning of tool steel that is AISI H13 steel.

Keywords: hard turning, specific cutting force, power, surface roughness, AISI H13, mixed ceramic

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Authors: Melasurej C. Francisco, Sophia D. Rusit

Abstract:

Old age is a record of one’s own life; this is the crucial phase for most. However, there are individuals who believe that old people retain self-efficacy and self-worth throughout their existence. Geriatric institutions focus on the health of elderly, in which they have been supported with medicines and therapies by clinician thus, indicating that these may suffice physical, emotional, and mental health of the elderly. This study focuses on (1) Describing the level or degree of self-efficacy; (2) Recognizing the extent of self-worth; (3) Determining the significant relationship between self-efficacy and self-worth. It is a mixed method design. A combination of correlational research and in-depth interview. Purposive sampling technique was used to select participants, considering that this assay focused on elderly in geriatric institutions, it follows that respondents and participants are at least sixty years of age and must be living inside the institution. 121 senior citizens took part in this study. Scores from both General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) showed varying levels of self-efficacy and self-worth. SE had μ=28.099, σ=6.6262, σ²=43.9067 while; SW had μ=14.9669, σ=5.3789, σ²28.9322 which denotes that rₒbₜ (121)=0.3164 is higher than rcᵢₜ which is 0.150. Although this exhibits the positive moderate correlation between SE and SW, the relationship between variables is weak. Likewise, the pᵥₐₗᵤₑ (pᵥₐₗᵤₑ=0.000406) is lower than the significance level alpha=0.01, thus, rejecting the null hypothesis, and accepting the alternative hypothesis.

Keywords: elderly, geriatric, self-efficacy, self-worth

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Authors: Justin Reverdi, Sixin Zhang, Saïd Aoues, Fabrice Gamboa, Serge Gratton, Thomas Pellegrini

Abstract:

In vapor cycle systems, the mass flow sensor plays a key role for different monitoring and control purposes. However, physical sensors can be inaccurate, heavy, cumbersome, expensive, or highly sensitive to vibrations, which is especially problematic when embedded into an aircraft. The conception of a virtual sensor, based on other standard sensors, is a good alternative. This paper has two main objectives. Firstly, a data-driven model using a convolutional neural network is proposed to estimate the mass flow of the compressor. We show that it significantly outperforms the standard polynomial regression model (thermodynamic maps) in terms of the standard MSE metric and engineer performance metrics. Secondly, a semi-automatic segmentation method is proposed to compute the engineer performance metrics for real datasets, as the standard MSE metric may pose risks in analyzing the dynamic behavior of vapor cycle systems.

Keywords: deep learning, convolutional neural network, vapor cycle system, virtual sensor

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Authors: A. M. Attalla, A. F. lbrahim, Laila Y. Mostaffa

Abstract:

This study was conducted during three seasons 2010, 2011 and 2012 on Zahhloul date palm cultivar grown in calcareous soil, Alexandria governorate, Egypt. The palms received recommended dose of mineral N only or plus different rates of organic N with or without bio fertilizer to study the effect of such treatments on date palm yield and fruit nitrate and nitrite content due to its negative influence on human, animal and environment. The obtained results clarified that all used treatments of organic and bio fertilizers were effective in improving date palm yield and decreased fruit content of NO2 and NO3 in comparison with 100 % mineral N. It was also noticed that combined treatments of 50 % mineral N + 50 % organic manure with bio fertilizer is the superior treatments for increasing the values of yield and decreasing its content of NO2 and NO3. Hence, it could be concluded that, minimizing the use of chemical nitrogen fertilizer to half of recommended dose through addition of 50 % mineral N + 50 % organic manure with bio fertilizer and also, the utilization of organic and bio fertilizers is considered as a promising alternative for chemical fertilizers to avoid pollution and reduce the costs of mineral fertilizers.

Keywords: organic and bio fertilizers, mineral fertilizer, nitrate, nitrite, zaghloul date palm cv

Procedia PDF Downloads 448