Search results for: economic experiment

Authors: Dongseok Cho, Mitchell Driedger, Sera Han, Noman Khan, Mohammed Elmorsy, Mohamad El-Hajj

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Since the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine in late 2020, vaccination rates have varied around the globe. Access to a vaccine supply, mandated vaccination policy, and vaccine hesitancy contribute to these rates. This study used COVID-19 vaccination data from Our World in Data and the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 to create two COVID-19 vaccination indices. The first index is the Vaccine Utilization Index (VUI), which measures how effectively each country has utilized its vaccine supply to doubly vaccinate its population. The second index is the Vaccination Acceleration Index (VAI), which evaluates how efficiently each country vaccinated its population within its first 150 days. Pearson correlations were created between these indices and country indicators obtained from the World Bank. The results of these correlations identify countries with stronger health indicators, such as lower mortality rates, lower age dependency ratios, and higher rates of immunization to other diseases, displaying higher VUI and VAI scores than countries with lesser values. VAI scores are also positively correlated to Governance and Economic indicators, such as regulatory quality, control of corruption, and GDP per capita. As represented by the VUI, proper utilization of the COVID-19 vaccine supply by country is observed in countries that display excellence in health practices. A country’s motivation to accelerate its vaccination rates within the first 150 days of vaccinating, as represented by the VAI, was largely a product of the governing body’s effectiveness and economic status, as well as overall excellence in health practises.

Keywords: data mining, Pearson correlation, COVID-19, vaccination rates and hesitancy

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Angelica Alvarez-Lee, Sergio Martinez-Diaz, Jose Luis Garcia-Corona, Humberto Lanz-Mendoza

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World aquaculture is always looking for improvements to achieve productions with high yields avoiding the infection by pathogenic agents. The best way to achieve this is to know the biological model to create alternative treatments that could be applied in the hatcheries, which results in greater economic gains and improvements in human public health. In the last decade, immunomodulation in shrimp culture with probiotics, organic acids and different carbon sources has gained great interest, mainly in larval and juvenile stages. Immune priming is associated with a strong protective effect against a later pathogen challenge. This work provides another perspective about immunostimulation from spawning until hatching. The stimulation happens during development embryos and generates resistance to infection by pathogenic bacteria. Massive spawnings of white shrimp L. vannamei were obtained and placed in experimental units with 700 mL of sterile seawater at 30 °C, salinity of 28 ppm and continuous aeration at a density of 8 embryos.mL⁻¹. The immunostimulating effect of three death strains of non-pathogenic bacterial (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) and a pathogenic strain for white shrimp (Vibrio parahaemolyticus) was evaluated. The strains killed by heat were adjusted to O.D. 0.5, at A 600 nm, and directly added to the seawater of each unit at a ratio of 1/100 (v/v). A control group of embryos without inoculum of dead bacteria was kept under the same physicochemical conditions as the rest of the treatments throughout the experiment and used as reference. The duration of the stimulus was 12 hours, then, the larvae that hatched were collected, counted and transferred to a new experimental unit (same physicochemical conditions but at a salinity of 28 ppm) to carry out a challenge of infection against the pathogen V. parahaemolyticus, adding directly to seawater an amount 1/100 (v/v) of the live strain adjusted to an OD 0.5; at A 600 nm. Subsequently, 24 hrs after infection, nauplii survival was evaluated. The results of this work shows that, after 24 hrs, the hatching rates of immunostimulated shrimp embryos with the dead strains of B. subtillis and V. parahaemolyticus are significantly higher compared to the rest of the treatments and the control. Furthermore, survival of L. vanammei after a challenge of infection of 24 hrs against the live strain of V. parahaemolyticus is greater (P < 0.05) in the larvae immunostimulated during the embryonic development with the dead strains B. subtillis and V. parahaemolyticus, followed by those that were treated with E. coli. In summary superficial antigens can stimulate the development cells to promote hatching and can have normal development in agreeing with the optical observations, plus exist a differential response effect between each treatment post-infection. This research provides evidence of the immunostimulant effect of death pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacterial strains in the rate of hatching and oversight of shrimp L. vannamei during embryonic and larval development. This research continues evaluating the effect of these death strains on the expression of genes related to the defense priming in larvae of L. vannamei that come from massive spawning in hatcheries before and after the infection challenge against V. parahaemolyticus.

Keywords: immunostimulation, L. vannamei, hatching, survival

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Authors: Sahil Anand, John Luetke, Nikhil Venkatesh, Dorothy Wong

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Trust plays an important role in building and sustaining long-term relationships between people. In this paper, we present a robot that communicates using nonverbal behaviors such as facial expressions and body movements. Our study reports on an experiment in which participants were asked to team up with the robot to perform specific tasks. We varied the expressivity of the robot and measured the effects on trust, quality of interactions as well as on the praising and punishing behavior of the participant towards the robot. We found that participants developed a stronger affinity towards the expressive robot, but did not show any significant differences in the level of trust. When the same robot made mistakes, participants unconsciously punished it with lesser intensity compared to the neutral robot. The results emphasize the role of expressive behaviors on participant’s perception of the robot and also on the quality of interactions between humans and robots.

Keywords: human-robot interaction, nonverbal communication, relationships, social robot, trust

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Authors: Nattawat Thongpraphai, Anusorn Boonpoke

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This study aimed to determine the removal of colour and curcuminoids from turmeric wastewater using granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic behavior of colour and curcuminoids was invested using batch and fixed bed columns tests. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of colour and curcuminoids were 80.13 and 78.64%, respectively at 8 hr of equilibrium time. The adsorption isotherm of colour and curcuminoids were well fitted with the Freundlich adsorption model. The maximum adsorption capacity of colour and curcuminoids were 130 Pt-Co/g and 17 mg/g, respectively. The continuous experiment data showed that the exhaustion concentration of colour and curcuminoids occurred at 39 hr of operation time. The adsorption characteristic of colour and curcuminoids from turmeric wastewater by GAC can be described by the Thomas model. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained from kinetic approach were 39954 Pt-Co/g and 0.0516 mg/kg for colour and curcuminoids, respectively. Moreover, the decrease of colour and curcuminoids concentration during the service time showed a similar trend.

Keywords: adsorption, turmeric, colour, curcuminoids, activated carbon

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Authors: Wei-Hao Lee, Ta-Wui Cheng, Yung-Chin Ding, Tai-Tien Wang

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The purpose of this study is trying to use marble wastes as the raw material to fabricate geopolymer green mortar / concrete. Experiment results show that using marble to make geopolymer mortar and concrete, the compressive strength after 28 days curing can reach 35 MPa and 25 MPa, respectively. The characteristics of marble-based geopolymer green mortar and concrete will keep testing for a long term in order to understand the effect parameters. The study is based on resource recovery and recycling. Its basic characteristics are low consumption, low carbon dioxide emission and high efficiency that meet the international tendency 'Circular Economy.' By comparing with Portland cement mortar and concrete, production 1 ton of marble-based geopolymer mortar and concrete, they can be saved around 50.3% and 49.6% carbon dioxide emission, respectively. Production 1 m3 of marble-based geopolymer concrete costs about 62 USD that cheaper than that of traditional Portland concrete. It is proved that the marble-based geopolymer concrete has great potential for further engineering development.

Keywords: marble, geopolymer, geopolymer concrete, CO₂ emission

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Authors: Nirmal Kundu, Chandan Bhar, Visveswaran Pandurangan

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Technology is the most valued possession for a country or an organization. The economic development depends not on stock of technology but on the capabilities how the technology is being exploited. The technology transfer is the best way how the developing countries have an access to state-of- the-art technology. Traditional technology transfer is a unidirectional phenomenon where technology is transferred from developed to developing countries. But now there is a change of wind. There is a general agreement that global shift of economic power is under way from west to east. As China and India are making the transition from users to producers, and producers to innovators, this has increasing important implications on economy, technology and policy of global trade. As a result, Reverse technology transfer has become a phenomenon and field of study in technology management. The term “Reverse Technology Transfer” is not well defined. Initially the concept of Reverse technology transfer was associated with the phenomenon of “Brain drain” from developing to developed countries. In the second phase, Reverse Technology Transfer was associated with the transfer of knowledge and technology from subsidiaries to multinationals. Finally, time has come now to extend the concept of reverse technology transfer to two different organizations or countries related or unrelated by traditional technology transfer but the transfer or has essentially received the technology through traditional mode of technology transfer. The objective of this paper is to study; 1) the present status of Reverse technology transfer, 2) the factors which are the enablers and barriers of Reverse technology transfer and 3) how the reverse technology transfer strategy can be integrated in the technology policy of a country which will give the countries an economic boost. The research methodology used in this study is a combination of literature review, case studies and key informant interviews. The literature review includes both published as well as unpublished sources of literature. In case study, attempt has been made to study the records of reverse technology transfer that have been occurred in developing countries. In case of key informant interviews, informal telephonic discussions have been carried out with the key executives of the organizations (industry, university and research institutions) who are actively engaged in the process of technology transfer- traditional as well as reverse. Reverse technology transfer is possible only by creating technological capabilities. Following four important enablers coupled with government active and aggressive action can help to build technology base to reach to the goal of Reverse technology transfer 1) Imitation to innovation, 2) Reverse engineering, 3) Collaborative R & D approach, and 4) Preventing reverse brain drain. The barriers that come in the way are the mindset of over dependence, over subordination and parent–child attitude (not adult attitude). Exploitation of these enablers and overcoming the barriers of reverse technology transfer, the developing countries like India and China can prove that going “reverse” is the best way to move forward and again establish themselves as leader of the future world.

Keywords: barriers of reverse technology transfer, enablers of reverse technology transfer, knowledge transfer, reverse technology transfer, technology transfer

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Authors: Ujjal Chattaraj, Pbharat Saikumar, Thinley Dorji

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Earth is going to be a planet where no further life can sustain if people continue to pollute the environment. We need energy and fuels everyday for heating and lighting purposes in our life. It’s high time we know this problem and take measures at-least to reduce pollution and take alternative measures for everyday livelihood. Biogas is one of them. It is very essential to define and control the parameters for optimization of biogas production. Biogas plants can be made of different size, but it is very vital to make a biogas which will be cost effective, with greater efficiency (more production) and biogas plants that will sustain for a longer period of time for usage. In this research, experiments were carried out only on cow dung and Chicken manure depending on the substrates people out there (Bhutan) used. The experiment was done within 25 days and was tested for different temperatures and found out which produce more amount. Moreover, it was also statistically tested for their dependency and non-dependency which gave clear idea more on their production.

Keywords: digester, mesophilic temperature, organic manure, statistical analysis, thermophilic temperature, t-test

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Authors: G. Baraneedaran, Deepak Singh, Kollipara Tejesh

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The wireless sensors network has been an active research area over the y-ear passed. Due to the limited energy and communication ability of sensor nodes, it seems especially important to design a routing protocol for WSNs so that sensing data can be transmitted to the receiver effectively, an energy-balanced routing method based on forward-aware factor (FAF-EBRM) is proposed in this paper. In FAF-EBRM, the next-hop node is selected according to the awareness of link weight and forward energy density. A spontaneous reconstruction mechanism for Local topology is designed additionally. In this experiment, FAF-EBRM is compared with LEACH and EECU, experimental results show that FAF-EBRM outperforms LEACH and EECU, which balances the energy consumption, prolongs the function lifetime and guarantees high Qos of WSN.

Keywords: energy balance, forward-aware factor (FAF), forward energy density, link weight, network performance

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Authors: Pragya Pandey

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A major discussion in the 21st -century international affairs has been around the shifting economic and political center of gravity to Asia. In the maritime realm, it translates into a shift in focus from the Atlantic to the Pacific-Indian Ocean region or what is now popularly called the Indo-Pacific region. The Indo-Pacific is rapidly eclipsing once dominant Asia-Pacific as center of trade, investment, competition and cooperation. The growing inter-connectivity between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean is bringing forth the ‘confluence of the two seas’. Therefore, the Indo-Pacific strategic arc is acquiring greater salience in consonance with the changing realities of the time. The region is undergoing unprecedented transformation in its security outlook. At present, the region is at an interesting historic epoch- witnessing the simultaneous rise India and China, their economic growth, naval modernization and power projection capabilities, alongside the continued presence of the United States, particularly with its rebalancing strategy. Besides the interplay among the three major stakeholders, other regional players like Japan, Australia, and Indonesia, would play a crucial role in the geopolitical re-arrangement of the Indo-Pacific region. The region will be the future theater of activities to determine the shifts and distribution of sea power, by the virtue of its strategic location, intrinsic value of the energy resources and significant maritime trade routes of the region. Therefore, the central theme of the paper would be to scrutinize the maritime security environment of the region against the backdrop of the tricky geopolitical landscape, contributing to the change in the regional and global balance of power.

Keywords: China, geopolitics, India, United States

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Authors: Peggy S. C. van Teunenbroek

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Recently, philanthropic crowd-funding -the raising of external funding from a large audience via social networks or social media- emerged as a new funding instrument for the Dutch cultural sector. However, such philanthropic crowdfunding in the US and the Netherlands is less successful than any other form of crowdfunding. We argue that social aspects are an important stimulus in philanthropic crowd-funding since previous research has shown that crowdfunding is stimulated by something beyond financial merits. Put simply, crowd-funding seems to be a socially motivated activity. In this paper we focus on the effect of social information, described as information about the donation behavior of previous donors. Using a classroom experiment we demonstrated a positive effect of social information on the donation behavior in crowdfunding campaigns. Our study extends previous research by showing who is affected by social information and why, and highlights how social information can be used to stimulate individuals to donate more to crowdfunding projects.

Keywords: online donation behavior, philanthropic crowdfunding, social information, social influence, social motivation

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Authors: Amel Bouderhem, Aminata Ould El Hadj Khelil, Amina N. Djrarbaoui, Aroussi Aroussi

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The present work aims to find the influence of the nature of the soil on the effectiveness of the biodegradation of hydrocarbons by a mixture of bacterial strains hydrocarbonoclastes. Processes of bioaugmentation and biostimulation trial are applied to samples of soils polluted voluntarily by the crude oil. For the evaluation of the biodegradation of hydrocarbons, the bacterial load, the pH and organic carbon total are followed in the different experimental batches. He bacterial load of the sandy soil varies among the witnesses of 45,2 .108 CFU/ml at the beginning of the experimentation to 214,07.108 CFU/ml at the end of the experiment. Of the soil silty-clay varies between 103,31 .108 CFU/ml and 614,86.108 CFU/ml . It was found a strong increase in the bacterial biomass during the processing of all samples. This increase is more important in the samples of sand bioaugmente or biomass increased from 63.16 .108 CFU/ml to 309.68 .108 CFU/ml than in soil samples silty clay- bioaugmente whose content in bacteria evolved of 73,01 .108 CFU/ml to 631.80 . 108CFU/ml

Keywords: pollution, hydrocarbons, bioremediation, bacteria hydrocarbonoclastes, ground, texture

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Authors: T. Hirata, M. G. Silva, L. M. Rosa

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The balance ability during task kick in soccer is a determining factor in the execution of functional movements that require a high-performance motor coordination. The current experiment explored it during an instep soccer kick and functional task kicking. Their kicking performance was measured in terms of the sway characteristics using lateral and antero-posterior balance of the center of pressure (COP) for the supporting leg and the kinematic data, the supporting leg’s knee angle. The motion was realized with one-legged stance of five male indoor soccer players and using the trigger device ball controller. The results showed large balance in antero-posterior direction than in lateral direction. However, each player adopts a different way to kick the ball, and the media-lateral displacement of the COP showed no correlation with the balance skill.

Keywords: kicking performance, center of pressure, one-legged stance, balance ability

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Authors: Abdul Rauf, Xiaoxing Liu, Waqas Amin

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Stock markets are fascinating more and more conductive to each other due to liberalization and globalization trends in recent years. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has dragged Pakistan stock exchange to the new heights and global investors are making investments to reap its benefits. So, in investors and government perspective, the study focuses co-integration of Pakistan stock exchange with world’s five big economies i-e US, China, England, Japan, and France. The time period of study is seven years i-e 2010 to 2016 and daily values of major indices of corresponding stock exchanges collected. All variables of that particular study are stationary at first difference confirmed by unit root test. The study Johansen system co integration test for analysis of data along with Granger causality test is performed for result purpose. Co integration test asserted that Pakistan stock exchange integrated with Shanghai stock exchange (SSE) and NIKKEI stock exchange in short run. Granger causality test also proclaimed these results. But NASDAQ, FTSE, DAX not co integrated and Granger cause at a short run but long run these markets are bonded with Pakistan stock exchange (KSE). VECM also confirmed this liaison in short and long run. Investors, therefore, need to be updated regarding co-integration of world’s stock exchanges to ensure well diversified and risk adjusted high returns. Equally, governments also need updated status so that they could reduce co-integration through multiple steps and hence drag investors for diversified investment.

Keywords: CPEC, DAX, FTSE, liberalization, NASDAQ, NIKKEI, SSE, stock markets

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Authors: Lisdey Espinoza Pedraza

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In places from Latin America to Africa, a big number of authoritarian regimes have given way to democratic forces and increasingly responsive and open societies. Many countries have embarked upon a process of democratisation for the first time while many others have moved to restore their democratic roots. Mexico is one of these countries, and although the Mexican state is not democratic neither dictatorial in the strict sense the Anglo-Saxon and European tradition has defined these concepts, it is possible to find elements that combine both concepts. History helps us understand and study the past, interpret the present and predict the future. In the case of the Mexican political system, history has had a very specific effect in each of the areas that comprise the making of what it is now the contemporary Mexican system. Each of the different historical periods has left a legacy that has marked the way the political system has evolved. The historical periods that Mexico has undergone since its emergence as an independent state, have permeated until modern days and some of these legacies are the ones which will help us understand and interpret many of the structures of the current Mexican political system. The most notorious characteristic of contemporary Latin America is its dependency, underdevelopment and economic disparity once this region if compared with Europe and North America. There is a widespread persistence of economic dependence and social problems despite the creation of independent countries. The role of the state is to supervise the development of relations among actors. The political phenomenon is full of a constant process of transitions and the particular case of the formation of the Mexican state evidences this.

Keywords: Mexico, democratisation process, PRI, authoritarian regimes, political transitions, Latin America

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Authors: Muhammad Abdullah, Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman Tariq, Faraz Ul Haq

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In developed countries, sustainability measures are widely accepted and acknowledged as crucial for addressing environmental concerns. Hydroponics, a soilless cultivation technique, has emerged as a potentially sustainable solution as it can reduce water consumption, land use, and environmental impacts. However, hydroponics may not be economically viable, especially when using reclaimed water, which may entail additional costs and risks. This study aims to address the critical question of whether hydroponics using reclaimed water can achieve a balance between sustainability and financial viability. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost (LCC) will be integrated to assess the potential of hydroponics whether it is environmentally sustainable and economically viable. Life cycle assessment, or LCA, is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. While Life Cycle Cost (LCC) is an approach that assesses the total cost of an asset over its life cycle, including initial capital costs and maintenance costs. The expected benefits of this study include supporting evidence-based decision-making for policymakers, farmers, and stakeholders involved in agriculture. By quantifying environmental impacts and economic costs, this research will facilitate informed choices regarding the adoption of hydroponics with reclaimed water. It is believed that the outcomes of this research work will help to achieve a sustainable approach to agricultural production, aligning with sustainability goals while considering economic factors by adopting hydroponic technique.

Keywords: hydroponic, life cycle assessment, life cycle cost, sustainability

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Authors: Mizuno Norihito

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This study attempts to examine Japanese views of Thailand primarily in the 1920s and 1930s through the analysis of documents published by the Office of Governor-General of Taiwan (Taiwan Sotokufu) and its affiliated organizations. Japan regarded Taiwan, under its control since 1895, as a foothold to making inroads into the South, and The governor-general office was active in investigations and intelligence gathering in Southeast Asia, as well as the southern part of the Chinese continent. Documents published by the governor-general office and its related organizations, especially those in a couple of decades following the First World War, reveal that the Japanese paid attention to the presence of the-Thai-Chinese during the time period. It would not be surprising that the desiring to penetrating into the Thai market, as well as the markets of the rest of Southeast Asia, the Japanese could not ignore the presence of the Thai-Chinese because of their local economic influences. The increased Japanese concern about the Thai-Chinese toward the end of the 1920s and throughout the 1930s was, moreover, intertwined with the increased tension between China and Japan. In other words, Thailand, as well as the rest of Southeast Asia, became another arena of Sino-Japanese confrontation. The rise of nationalism against Japan in China infected the Thai-Chinese communities and threatened Japanese economic activities in the country. However, the Japanese simultaneously found out that Thai-Chinese concert with anti-Japanese in China did not necessarily match their business interests and that the Thai government’s efforts to assimilate the Thai-Chinese into the Thais society and strategic approach to Japan in the late 1930s hampered their anti-Japanese actions.

Keywords: Japanese-Thai Relations, Sino-Japanese relations, Thai Chinese, Overseas Japanese

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Authors: Luca Martignoni, Joseph Nserat, Eric Arand, Marvin Braun

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The increasing application of conversational agents in healthcare and the demand for applications that enable patients to take informed decisions is changing the way patients access healthcare and take decisions. Promising results related to the acceptance of CAs in healthcare have been accomplished. In that regard, understanding how to design CAs in a way that patients trust their recommendations and decisions constitutes an important area of research. Our study examines self-disclosure and transparency as drivers of trust to enhance the medical assistance of CAs for patients. Accordingly, we examined the effects of self-disclosure and transparency on patients trust and service satisfaction by conducting an online experiment with 136 participants. Our results show that the expression of both self-disclosure and conversational agents transparency leads to an increased perception of trust but does not necessarily improve the service satisfaction. Therefore, developers should implement self-disclosure and transparency to create a trustworthy environment.

Keywords: conversational agent, transparency, self-disclosure, healthcare

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Authors: Somnath Mukhuti, Prem Kumar Ghosh

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Background and significance of the study Indian stock market has undergone sudden changes after the current China crisis in terms of turnover, market capitalization, share prices, etc. The average returns on equity investment in both markets have more than three and half times after global financial crisis owing to the development of industrial activity, corporate sectors development, enhancement in global consumption, change of global financial association and fewer imports from developed countries. But the economic policies of both the economies are far different, that is to say, where Indian economy maintaining a conservative policy, Chinese economy maintaining an aggressive policy. Besides this, Chinese economy recently lowering its currency for increasing mysterious growth but Indian does not. But on August 24, 2015 Indian stock market and world stock markets were fall down due to the reason of Chinese stock market. Keeping in view of the above, this study seeks to examine the influence of Chinese stock on Indian stock market. Methodology This research work is based on daily time series data obtained from yahoo finance database between 2009 (April 1) to 2015 (September 28). This study is based on two important stock markets, that is, Indian stock market (Bombay Stock Exchange) and Chinese stock market (Shanghai Stock Exchange). In the course of analysis, the daily raw data were converted into natural logarithm for minimizing the problem of heteroskedasticity. While tackling the issue, correlation statistics, ADF and PP unit root test, bivariate cointegration test and causality test were used. Major findings Correlation statistics show that both stock markets are associated positively. Both ADF and PP unit root test results demonstrate that the time series data were not normal and were not stationary at level however stationary at 1st difference. The bivariate cointegration test results indicate that the Indian stock market was associated with Chinese stock market in the long-run. The Granger causality test illustrates there was a unidirectional causality between Indian stock market and Chinese stock market. Concluding statement The empirical results recommend that India’s stock market was not very much dependent on Chinese stock market because of Indian economic conservative policies. Nevertheless, Indian stock market might be sturdy if Indian economic policies are changed slightly and if increases the portfolio investment with Chinese economy. Indian economy might be a third largest economy in 2030 if India increases its portfolio investment and trade relations with both Chinese economy and US economy.

Keywords: Indian stock market, China stock market, bivariate cointegration, causality test

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: M. A. Fouad, M. A. Badr, Z. S. Abd El-Rehim, Taher Halawa, Mahmoud Bayoumi, M. M. Ibrahim

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Renewable energy-based micro-grids are presently attracting significant consideration. The smart grid system is presently considered a reliable solution for the expected deficiency in the power required from future power systems. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal components sizes of a micro-grid, investigating technical and economic performance with the environmental impacts. The micro grid load is divided into two small factories with electricity, both on-grid and off-grid modes are considered. The micro-grid includes photovoltaic cells, back-up diesel generator wind turbines, and battery bank. The estimated load pattern is 76 kW peak. The system is modeled and simulated by MATLAB/Simulink tool to identify the technical issues based on renewable power generation units. To evaluate system economy, two criteria are used: the net present cost and the cost of generated electricity. The most feasible system components for the selected application are obtained, based on required parameters, using HOMER simulation package. The results showed that a Wind/Photovoltaic (W/PV) on-grid system is more economical than a Wind/Photovoltaic/Diesel/Battery (W/PV/D/B) off-grid system as the cost of generated electricity (COE) is 0.266 $/kWh and 0.316 $/kWh, respectively. Considering the cost of carbon dioxide emissions, the off-grid will be competitive to the on-grid system as COE is found to be (0.256 $/kWh, 0.266 $/kWh), for on and off grid systems.

Keywords: renewable energy sources, micro-grid system, modeling and simulation, on/off grid system, environmental impacts

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: P. Brunne, K. Ciechowska, K. Gajc, K. Gawin, M. Gawin, M. Kania, J. Kindracki, Z. Kusznierewicz, D. Pączkowska, F. Perczyński, K. Pilarski, D. Rafało, E. Ryszawa, M. Sobiecki, I. Uwarowa

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Big amount of space debris constitutes nowadays a real thread for operating space crafts; therefore the main purpose of PW-Sat2’ team was to create a system that could help cleanse the Earth’s orbit after each small satellites’ mission. After 4 years of development, the motorless, low energy consumption and low weight system has been created. During series of tests, the system has shown high reliable efficiency. The PW-Sat2’s deorbit system is a square-shaped sail which covers an area of 4m². The sail surface is made of 6 μm aluminized Mylar film which is stretched across 4 diagonally placed arms, each consisting of two C-shaped flat springs and enveloped in Mylar sleeves. The sail is coiled using a special, custom designed folding stand that provides automation and repeatability of the sail unwinding tests and placed in a container with inner diameter of 85 mm. In the final configuration the deorbit system weights ca. 600 g and occupies 0.6U (in accordance with CubeSat standard). The sail’s releasing system requires minimal amount of power based on thermal knife that burns out the Dyneema wire, which holds the system before deployment. The Sail is being pushed out of the container within a safe distance (20 cm away) from the satellite. The energy for the deployment is completely assured by coiled C-shaped flat springs, which during the release, unfold the sail surface. To avoid dynamic effects on the satellite’s structure, there is the rotational link between the sail and satellite’s main body. To obtain complete knowledge about complex dynamics of the deployment, a number of experiments have been performed in varied environments. The numerical model of the dynamics of the Sail’s deployment has been built and is still under continuous development. Currently, the integration of the flight model and Deorbit Sail is performed. The launch is scheduled for February 2018. At the same time, in cooperation with United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, sail models and requested facilities are being prepared for the sail deployment experiment under micro-gravity and low pressure conditions at Bremen Drop Tower, Germany. Results of those tests will provide an ultimate and wide knowledge about deployment in space environment to which system will be exposed during its mission. Outcomes of the numerical model and tests will be compared afterwards and will help the team in building a reliable and correct model of a very complex phenomenon of deployment of 4 c-shaped flat springs with surface attached. The verified model could be used inter alia to investigate if the PW-Sat2’s sail is scalable and how far is it possible to go with enlarging when creating systems for bigger satellites.

Keywords: cubesat, deorbitation, sail, space, debris

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Authors: Sukanta K. Shill, Md. M. Hoque, Md. Shaifullah

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An experiment on the punching of RC column footing, comparison of test result to established different codes for punching shear calculation of column footings is presented in the paper. The principal aim of this study is to investigate the punching shear behavior of an isolated column footing using brick aggregate as coarse aggregate. Consequence, a RC model footing was constructed on a stabilized soil and tested the footing under field condition. The test result yields that the experimental punching shear capacity is greater than all the theoretical punching shear capacities obtained by using different codes of practices. It can be stated that BNBC 1993, as well as ACI 318, 2002 code formulae are very conservative in predicting the punching shear resistance of RC footing, whereas the CEB-FIP MC, 1990 formula and Eurocode2 formula are less conservative in predicting the punching shear resistance of footing.

Keywords: footing, punching shear, field condition, stabilized soil, brick aggregate

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Authors: V. Nikkhah Rashidabad, M. Manteghian, M. Masoumi, S. Mousavian, D. Ashouri

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In this research, the capability of neural networks in modeling and learning complicated and nonlinear relations has been used to develop a model for the prediction of changes in the diameter of bubbles in pool boiling distilled water. The input parameters used in the development of this network include element temperature, heat flux, and retention time of bubbles. The test data obtained from the experiment of the pool boiling of distilled water, and the measurement of the bubbles form on the cylindrical element. The model was developed based on training algorithm, which is typologically of back-propagation type. Considering the correlation coefficient obtained from this model is 0.9633. This shows that this model can be trusted for the simulation and modeling of the size of bubble and thermal transfer of boiling.

Keywords: bubble diameter, heat flux, neural network, training algorithm

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Authors: A. W. Zularisam, Lakhveer Singh, Mimi Sakinah Abdul Munaim

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In this study, the optimization of hydrogen production using polyethylene glycol (PEG) immobilized sludge was investigated in batch tests. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is used as a substrate that can act as a carbon source. Experiment focus on the effect of some important affecting factors on fermentative hydrogen production. Results showed that immobilized sludge demonstrated the maximum hydrogen production rate of 340 mL/L-POME/h under follow optimal condition: amount of biomass 10 mg VSS/ g bead, PEG concentration 10%, and cell age 24 h or 40 h. More importantly, immobilized sludge not only enhanced hydrogen production but can also tolerate the harsh environment and produce hydrogen at the wide ranges of pH. The present results indicate the potential of PEG-immobilized sludge for large-scale operations as well; these factors play an important role in stable and continuous hydrogen production.

Keywords: bioydrogen, immobilization, polyethylene glycol, palm oil mill effluent, dark fermentation

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Authors: R. Behrooz, D. Jahanfar, D. Reza

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Organic farming is a fundamental principle in sustainable agriculture. Preventing excessive contamination of water and soil with pesticides and chemical fertilizers is important in order to produce healthy food. For this purpose, two potato cultivars (Sante and Marfona) and seven levels of fertilizer (non-fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, granulated chicken manure, common manure, compost, vermicompost and tea compost) were evaluated by factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. According to the results, the effect of different manure was significant on number of tubers per plant, tuber weight per plant and tuber yield. The highest value of these traits was obtained by using of chicken manure which was significantly superior to other treatments. However, there was no significant difference between the two varieties. According to the results, the use of chicken manure has produced the highest potato yield even in comparison with the use of chemical fertilizer.

Keywords: organic farming, organic manure, potato, tuber yield

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Authors: Szymon Wojciechowski, Damian Przestacki, Tadeusz Chwalczuk

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The paper is focused on the evaluation of surface integrity formed during turning of Inconel 718 with the application of various laser assistance strategies. The primary objective of the work was to determine the relations between the applied machining strategy and the obtained surface integrity, in order to select the effective cutting conditions allowing the obtainment of high surface quality. The carried out experiment included the machining of Inconel 718 in the conventional turning conditions, as well as during the continuous laser assisted machining and sequential laser assistance. The surface integrity was evaluated by the measurements of machined surface topographies, microstructures and the microhardness. Results revealed that surface integrity of Inconel 718 is strongly affected by the selected machining strategy. The significant improvement of the surface roughness formed during machining of Inconel 718, can be reached by the application of simultaneous laser heating and cutting (LAM).

Keywords: Inconel 718, laser assisted machining, surface integrity, turning

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Authors: Jozef Junak, Nadezda Stevulova

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This paper is aimed to the use of different types of industrial wastes in concrete production. From examined waste (crushed concrete waste) our tested concrete samples with dimension 150 mm were prepared. In these samples, fractions 4/8 mm and 8/16 mm by recycled concrete aggregate with a range of variation from 0 to 100% were replaced. Experiment samples were tested for compressive strength after 2, 7, 14 and 28 days of hardening. From obtained results it is evident that all samples prepared with washed recycled concrete aggregates met the requirement of standard for compressive strength of 20 MPa already after 14 days of hardening. Sample prepared with recycled concrete aggregates (4/8 mm: 100% and 8/16 mm: 60%) reached 101% of compressive strength value (34.7 MPa) after 28 days of hardening in comparison with the reference sample (34.4 MPa). The lowest strength after 28 days of hardening (27.42 MPa) was obtained for sample consisting of recycled concrete in proportion of 40% for 4/8 fraction and 100% for 8/16 fraction of recycled concrete.

Keywords: recycled concrete aggregate, re-use, workability, compressive strength

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Authors: Y. Hu, X. Zhao, T. Yamaguchi, M. Sasajima, Y. Koike

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To focus on the vibration mode of a cone loudspeaker, which acts as an electroacoustic transducer, excitation experiments were performed using two types of loudspeaker units: one employing an impulse hammer and the other a sweep signal. The on-axis sound pressure frequency properties of the loudspeaker were evaluated, and the characteristic properties of the loudspeakers were successfully determined in both excitation experiments. Moreover, under conditions identical to the experiment conditions, a coupled analysis of the vibration-acoustics of the cone loudspeaker was performed using an acoustic analysis software program that considers the impact of damping caused by air viscosity. The result of sound pressure frequency properties with the numerical analysis are the most closely match that measured in the excitation experiments over a wide range of frequency bands.

Keywords: anechoic room, finite element method, impulse hammer, loudspeaker, reverberation room, sweep signal

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Authors: Tijing Cai, Qimeng Xu, Daijin Zhou

Abstract:

This paper puts forward a short-baseline dual-antenna BDS/MEMS-IMU integrated navigation, constructs the carrier phase double difference model of BDS (BeiDou Navigation Satellite System), and presents a 2-position initial orientation method on BDS. The Extended Kalman-filter has been introduced for the integrated navigation system. The differences between MEMS-IMU and BDS position, velocity and carrier phase indications are used as measurements. To show the performance of the short-baseline dual-antenna BDS/MEMS-IMU integrated navigation system, the experiment results show that the position error is less than 1m, the pitch angle error and roll angle error are less than 0.1°, and the heading angle error is about 1°.

Keywords: MEMS-IMU (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System Inertial Measurement Unit), BDS (BeiDou Navigation Satellite System), dual-antenna, integrated navigation

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Authors: Dean Sinković, Tea Golja, Morena Paulišić

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Upon the end of the vicious war in former Yugoslavia in 1995, international development community widely promoted microfinance as the key development framework to eradicate poverty, create jobs, increase income. Widespread claims were made that microfinance institutions would play vital role in creating a bedrock for sustainable ‘bottom-up’ economic development trajectory, thus, helping newly formed states to find proper way from economic post-war depression. This uplifting neoliberal narrative has no empirical support in the Republic of Croatia. Firstly, the type of enterprises created via microfinance sector are small, unskilled, labor intensive, no technology and with huge debt burden. This results in extremely high failure rates of microenterprises and poor individuals plunging into even deeper poverty, acute indebtedness and social marginalization. Secondly, evidence shows that microcredit is exact reflection of dangerous and destructive sub-prime lending model with ‘boom-to-bust’ scenarios in which benefits are solely extracted by the tiny financial and political elite working around the microfinance sector. We argue that microcredit providers are not proper financial structures through which developing countries should look way out of underdevelopment and poverty. In order to achieve sustainable long-term growth goals, public policy needs to focus on creating, supporting and facilitating the small and mid-size enterprises development. These enterprises should be technically sophisticated, capable of creating new capabilities and innovations, with managerial expertise (skills formation) and inter-connected with other organizations (i.e. clusters, networks, supply chains, etc.). Evidence from South-East Europe suggest that such structures are not created via microfinance model but can be fostered through various forms of social enterprises. Various legal entities may operate as social enterprises: limited liability private company, limited liability public company, cooperative, associations, foundations, institutions, Mutual Insurances and Credit union. Our main hypothesis is that cooperatives are potential agents of social and economic transformation and community development in the region. Financial cooperatives are structures that can foster more efficient allocation of financial resources involving deeper democratic arrangements and more socially just outcomes. In Croatia, pioneers of the first social enterprises were civil society organizations whilst forming a separated legal entity. (i.e. cooperatives, associations, commercial companies working on the principles of returning the investment to the founder). Ever since 1995 cooperatives in Croatia have not grown by pursuing their own internal growth but mostly by relying on external financial support. The greater part of today’s registered cooperatives tend to be agricultural (39%), followed by war veterans cooperatives (38%) and others. There are no financial cooperatives in Croatia. Due to the above mentioned we look at the historical developments and the prevailing social enterprises forms and discuss their advantages and disadvantages as potential agents for social and economic transformation and community development in the region. There is an evident lack of understanding of this business model and of its potential for social and economic development followed by an unfavorable institutional environment. Thus, we discuss the role of governance and management in the formation of social enterprises in Croatia, stressing the challenges for the governance of the country’s social enterprise movement.

Keywords: financial cooperatives, governance and management models, microfinance institutions, social enterprises

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Authors: Bastien Sanglard, Simon Cayez, Guillaume Viau, Thomas Blon, Julian Carrey, Sébastien Lachaize

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The need to develop clean production processes is a key challenge of any industry. Steel and iron industries are particularly concerned since they emit 6.8% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. One key step of the process is the high-temperature reduction of iron ore using coke, leading to large amounts of CO2 emissions. One route to decrease impacts is to get rid of fossil fuels by changing both the heat source and the reducer. The present work aims at investigating experimentally the possibility to use concentrated solar energy and carbon-free reducing agents. Two sets of experimentations were realized. First, in situ X-ray diffraction on pure and industrial powder of hematite was realized to study the phase evolution as a function of temperature during reduction under hydrogen and ammonia. Secondly, experiments were performed on industrial iron ore pellets, which were reduced by NH3 or H2 into a “solar furnace” composed of a controllable 1600W Xenon lamp to simulate and control the solar concentrated irradiation of a glass reactor and of a diaphragm to control light flux. Temperature and pressure were recorded during each experiment via thermocouples and pressure sensors. The percentage of iron oxide converted to iron (called thereafter “reduction ratio”) was found through Rietveld refinement. The power of the light source and the reduction time were varied. Results obtained in the diffractometer reaction chamber show that iron begins to form at 300°C with pure Fe2O3 powder and 400°C with industrial iron ore when maintained at this temperature for 60 minutes and 80 minutes, respectively. Magnetite and wuestite are detected on both powders during the reduction under hydrogen; under ammonia, iron nitride is also detected for temperatures between400°C and 600°C. All the iron oxide was converted to iron for a reaction of 60 min at 500°C, whereas a conversion ratio of 96% was reached with industrial powder for a reaction of 240 min at 600°C under hydrogen. Under ammonia, full conversion was also reached after 240 min of reduction at 600 °C. For experimentations into the solar furnace with iron ore pellets, the lamp power and the shutter opening were varied. An 83.2% conversion ratio was obtained with a light power of 67 W/cm2 without turning over the pellets. Nevertheless, under the same conditions, turning over the pellets in the middle of the experiment permits to reach a conversion ratio of 86.4%. A reduction ratio of 95% was reached with an exposure of 16 min by turning over pellets at half time with a flux of 169W/cm2. Similar or slightly better results were obtained under an ammonia reducing atmosphere. Under the same flux, the highest reduction yield of 97.3% was obtained under ammonia after 28 minutes of exposure. The chemical reaction itself, including the solar heat source, does not produce any greenhouse gases, so solar metallurgy represents a serious way to reduce greenhouse gas emission of metallurgy industry. Nevertheless, the ecological impact of the reducers must be investigated, which will be done in future work.

Keywords: solar concentration, metallurgy, ammonia, hydrogen, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 138