Search results for: Abdul Majid

Authors: Ahmad Dahlan Salleh, Nik Abdul Rahim Nik Abdul Ghani, Muhamad Firdaus M. Hatta

Abstract:

Risk management has implications on pricing, governance arrangements, business practices and strategy. Nowadays, home financing contract offers more in the risk transfer form to increase bank profit. This is parallel with Islamic jurisprudence method al-Kharaj bi al-thaman (gain accompanies liability for loss) and al-ghurm bil ghunm (gain is justified with risk) that determine the matching between risk transfer and returns. Malaysian financing trend is to buy house. Besides, exists transparency lacking risk transfer issues to the clients because of not been informed clearly. Terms and conditions of each financing also do not reflect clearly that the risk has been transferred to the client, justifying a determination price been made. The assumption on risk occurrence is also inaccurate as each risk is different with the type of financing contract. This makes the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 in providing standards that transparent and consistent can be used by Islamic financial institution less effective. This study examines how far the level of the risk and obligation incurred by bank and client under various Islamic home financing contract. This research is qualitative by using two methods, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews. Document analysis from literature review to identify profile, themes and risk transfer element in home financing from Islamic jurisprudence perspective. This study finds that need to create a risk transfer parameter by banks which are consistent with risk transfer theory according to Islamic jurisprudence. This study has potential to assist the authority in Islamic finance such as The Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia) in regulating Islamic banking industry so that the risk transfer valuation in home financing contract based on home financing good practice and determined risk limits.

Keywords: risk transfer, home financing contract, Sharia compliant, Malaysia

Procedia PDF Downloads 389

Authors: Majid Abdolrazzagh-Nezhad, Salwani Abdullah

Abstract:

The job-shop scheduling problem (JSSP) is an important decision facing those involved in the fields of industry, economics and management. This problem is a class of combinational optimization problem known as the NP-hard problem. JSSPs deal with a set of machines and a set of jobs with various predetermined routes through the machines, where the objective is to assemble a schedule of jobs that minimizes certain criteria such as makespan, maximum lateness, and total weighted tardiness. Over the past several decades, interest in meta-heuristic approaches to address JSSPs has increased due to the ability of these approaches to generate solutions which are better than those generated from heuristics alone. This article provides the classification, constraints and objective functions imposed on JSSPs that are available in the literature.

Keywords: job-shop scheduling, classification, constraints, objective functions

Procedia PDF Downloads 411

Authors: Majid A. AlSayari

Abstract:

The study reported here investigated social cognitive theory (SCT) in the context of Vocational Rehab (VR) for people with disabilities. The prime purpose was to increase knowledge of VR phenomena and make recommendations for improving VR services. The sample consisted of 242 persons with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) who completed questionnaires. A further 32 participants were Trainers. Analysis of questionnaire data was carried out using factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and thematic analysis. The analysis suggested that, in motivational terms, and consistent with research carried out in other academic contexts, self-efficacy was the best predictor of VR performance. The author concludes that that VR self-efficacy predicted VR training performance.

Keywords: people with physical disabilities, social cognitive theory, self-efficacy, vocational training

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Seyedeh Belin Tavakoly Sany, Rosli Hashim, Majid Rezayi, Aishah Salleh

Abstract:

The primary objectives of this study were to investigate the distribution and composition of the macrobenthic community and their response to environmental parameters in the North Port, west coastal waters of Malaysia. A total of 25 species were identified, including 13 bivalvia, 4 gastropoda, and 3 crustacea. The other taxa were less diversified. There were no temporal changes in the macrobenthic community composition, but significant effects (p < 0.05) on the benthic community composition were found on a spatial scale. The correlation analyses and similarity tests were in good agreement, confirming the significant response of macrobenthic community composition to variations of environmental parameters.

Keywords: distribution, macrobenthic community, diversity, North Port, Malaysia

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Rehab I. Abdul Rahman, Mazhar B. Tayel

Abstract:

This paper presents a method of hardening the 8051 microcontroller, that able to assure reliable operation in the presence of bit flips caused by radiation. Aiming at avoiding such faults in the 8051 microcontroller, Hamming code protection was used in its SRAM memory and registers. A VHDL code and its simulation have been used for this hamming code protection.

Keywords: radiation, hardening, bitflip, hamming

Procedia PDF Downloads 474

Authors: Rahil Samani, Saeed Soleimani, Ehsan Adib, Majid Pahlevani

Abstract:

This paper presents an inverting high step-up DC/DC converter. Basically, this high step-up DC/DC converter is an appealing interface for solar applications. The proposed topology takes advantage of using coupled inductors. Due to the leakage inductances of these coupled inductors, the power MOSFET has the zero current switching (ZCS) condition, which results in decreased switching losses. This will substantially improve the overall efficiency of the power converter. Furthermore, employing coupled inductors has led to a higher voltage gain. Theoretical analysis and experimental results of a 100W 20V/220V prototype are presented to verify the superior performance of the proposed DC/DC converter.

Keywords: coupled inductors, high step-up DC/DC converter, zero-current switching, Cuk converter, SEPIC converter

Procedia PDF Downloads 685

Authors: A. Abdul-Ameer

Abstract:

The equations governing the distance, pressure- volume flow relationships for the pipeline transportation of gaseous mixtures, are considered. A derivation based on differential calculus, for an element of this system model, is addressed. Solutions, yielding the input- output response following pressure changes, are reviewed. The technical problems associated with these analytical results are identified. Procedures resolving these difficulties providing thereby an attractive, simple, analysis route are outlined. Computed responses, validating thereby calculated predictions, are presented.

Keywords: pressure, distance, flow, dissipation, models

Procedia PDF Downloads 449

Authors: Seyedeh Belin Tavakoly Sany, Rosli Hashim, Majid Rezayi, Aishah Salleh, Omid Safari

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to describe the main characteristics of macroinvertebrate species in response to environmental forcing factors. Overall, 23 species of Mollusca, 4 species of Arthropods, 3 species of Echinodermata and 3 species of Annelida were identified at the 9 sampling stations during four sampling periods. Individual species of Mollusca constituted 36.4% of the total abundance, followed by Arthropods (27.01%), Annelida (34.3%) and Echinodermata (2.4%). The results of Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that a significant difference (p <0.05) in the abundance, richness and diversity of the macro-benthic community in different stations. The correlation analysis revealed that anthropogenic pollution and natural variability caused by these variations in spatial scales.

Keywords: benthic invertebrates, diversity, abundance, West Port

Procedia PDF Downloads 405

Authors: Majid Rezayi, Sh. Shahaboddin, HNM E. Mahmud, A. Yadollah, A. Saeid, A. Yatimah

Abstract:

In this study, the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was applied to obtain the membrane composition model affecting the potential response of our reported polymeric PVC sensor for determining the titanium (III) ions. The performance statistics of the artificial neural network (ANN) and linear regression models for potential slope prediction of membrane composition of titanium (III) ion selective electrode were compared with ANFIS technique. The results show that the ANFIS model can be used as a practical tool for obtaining the Nerntian slope of the proposed sensor in this study.

Keywords: adaptive neuro fuzzy inference, PVC sensor, titanium (III) ions, Nerntian slope

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: Norman Farb, Anirudh Kumar, Abdul Subhan, Pallavi Gupta, Jahnavi Mundluru, Abdul Subhan, Shankar Pathmakanthan

Abstract:

Long term meditation practice is increasingly recognized for its health benefits. Among a diversity of contemplative traditions, Heartfulness meditation represents a quickly growing set of practices that is largely unstudied. Heartfulness is unique in that it is a meditation practice that focuses on the Heart. It helps individuals to connect to themselves and find inner peace while meditating. In order to deepen ones’ meditation on the heart, the element of Yogic Energy (‘pranahuti’) is used as an aid during meditation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether consistent EEG effects of Heartfulness meditation be observed in sixty experienced Heartfulness meditators, each of whom attended 6 testing sessions. In each session, participants performed three conditions: a set of cognitive tasks, Heartfulness guided relaxation, and Heartfulness Meditation. To measure EEG, the MUSE EEG head band (product of Interaxon Inc) was used. Participants during the cognitive portion were required to answer questions that tested their logical thinking (Cognitive Reflective Test) and creative thinking skills. (Random Associative Test) The order of condition was randomly counter balanced across six sessions. It was hypothesized that Heartfulness meditation would bring increased alpha (8-12Hz) brain activity during meditation and better cognitive task scores in sessions where the tasks followed meditation. Results show that cognitive task scores were higher after meditation in both CRT and RAT, suggesting stronger right brain and left brain activation. Heartfulness meditation produces a significant decrease in brain activity (as indexed by higher levels of alpha) during the early stages of meditation. As the meditation progressed deep meditative state (as indexed by higher levels of delta) were observed until the end of the condition. This lead to the conclusion that Heartfulness Meditation produces a state that is clearly distinguishable from effortful problem solving.

Keywords: heartfulness meditation, neuroplasticity, brain activity, relaxation response

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: Kamyar Kabirifar, Majid Azarniush, Behbood Maashkar

Abstract:

A proper house is a suitable residential area which provides comfort, proper accessibility, security, stability and permanence of structure, enough lighting, Proper initial infrastructures and ventilation for its inhabitants and the most important of all, it should be proportional to the family’s financial power. Saving energy and making optimal usage of it and also taking advantage of stable energies are the bases of green buildings. Making green building will help the health of a person living in it and in its surrounding. It will support the people and provoke their satisfaction. Not only it will bring about the raise of level of the quality of life for building inhabitants, but also it will cause the promotion of quality level of life of the people living in the surrounding area and the society.

Keywords: quality of life, green building, environment pollution, sick building

Procedia PDF Downloads 485

Authors: Nazatul Aini Abd Majid, Faridah Yunus, Haslina Arshad, Mohammad Farhan Mohammad Johari

Abstract:

Mobile technology, augmented reality, and game-based learning are some of the key learning technologies that can be fully optimized to promote pre-literacy skills. The problem is how to design an effective pre-literacy kit that utilizes some of the learning technologies. This paper presents a framework based on mobile augmented reality for the development of pre-literacy kit. This pre-literacy kit incorporates three main components which are contents, design, and tools. A prototype of a mobile app based on the three main components was developed for promoting pre-literacy. The results show that the children and teachers gave positive feedbacks after using the mobile app for the pre-literacy.

Keywords: framework, mobile technology, augmented reality, pre-literacy skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 559

Authors: Majid Moshirfar, Kyle Margulies, Yasmyne C. Ronquillo, Phillip Hoopes

Abstract:

A total of 66 articles were reviewed to compare glaucoma and its associated surgeries' effect on central corneal endothelium cell density (CECD). The paper reports the average reported central CECD loss at 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, 36-, 48-, and 60-month post-operation for each glaucoma surgery. ALT, MLT, SLT, CS AGV, VC BGI, Hydrus + phaco, XEN gel + phaco, PRESERFLO, Dual iStent, or Trabectome had no significant impact on postoperative CECD compared to either preoperative CECD or control group CECD. The highest CECD loss was found to be EXPRESS-phaco, AC AGV, CS BGI, CS BGI, AC BGI, and AC BGI at the 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, 36-, 48-, and 60-month follow-ups, respectively. AC AGV, Trab + MMC, Trab, AC BGI, Trab + MMC, Cypass, and Cypass showed the smallest reduction of CECD at the 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, 36-, 48-, and 60-month follow-ups.

Keywords: glaucoma, corneal endothelium, cell density, surgery outcome

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Saeid Jalilzadeh, Majid Pakdel

Abstract:

The customer demand for better power quality and higher reliability has forced the power industry to use distributed generations (DGs) such as wind power and photo voltaic arrays. Islanding is a phenomenon occurs when a power grid becomes electrically isolated from the power system and the distribution system is energized by distributed generators. It is necessary to disconnect all distributed generators immediately after islanding occurrence. Therefore a DG system should have the capability to detect islanding phenomena. In this paper, a novel micro controller based relay for anti-islanding protection of a typical DG system is proposed. The simulation results using Proteus software verify the proper operation and effectiveness of the proposed protective relay.

Keywords: islanding, distributed generation (DG), protective relay, micro controller, proteus software

Procedia PDF Downloads 545

Authors: Mohsen Ehsanpour, Maryam Ehsanpour, ‎Majid Afkhami, Fatemeh Afkhami ‎

Abstract:

Heavy metals are increasingly being released into natural waters from geological and anthropogenic sources. The distribution of several heavy metals (Cd, Pb) was investigated in muscle, liver in six different fish species seasonally collected in Persian Gulf (autumn 2009-summer 2010). The concentrations of all metals were lower in flesh than those recorded in liver due to their physiological roles. The THQ index for fish was calculated. Estimation of target hazard quotients calculations for the contaminated fish consumption was calculated to evaluate the effect of pollution on health. Total metal THQs values (Pb and Cd) for adults were 0.05 and 0.04 in Bushehr and Bandar-Genaveh, respectively, and for children they were 0.08 and 0.05 in Bandar-Abbas and Bandar-Lengeh, respectively.

Keywords: Persian Gulf, heavy metals, health risks, THQ index

Procedia PDF Downloads 673

Authors: Hossein Shokouhmand, Majid Hasanpour

Abstract:

A new modification to the Strelow method of chevron-type plate heat exchangers (PHX) modeling is proposed. The effects of maldistribution are accounted in the resulting equation. The results of calculations are validated by reported experiences. The good accuracy of heat transfer performance prediction is shown. The results indicate that considering flow maldistribution improve the accuracy of predicting the flow and thermal behavior of the plate exchanger. Additionally, a wide range of the parametric study has been presented which brings out the effects of chevron angle of PHE on its thermal efficiency with considering maldistribution effect. In addition, the thermally optimal corrugation discussed for the chevron-type PHEs.

Keywords: chevron angle, plate heat exchangers, maldistribution, strelow method

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Majid Mokhtarnia, Alireza Amini

Abstract:

Mobile operators deal with increasing in the data traffic as a critical issue. As a result, a vital responsibility of the operators is to deal with such a trend in order to create added values. This paper addresses a bundling method in a Canvas business model in a WiFi Data Offloading (WDO) strategy by which some elements of the model may be affected. In the proposed method, it is supposed to sell a number of data packages for subscribers in which there are some packages with a free given volume of data-offloaded WiFi complimentary. The paper on hands analyses this method in the views of attractiveness and profitability. The results demonstrate that the quality of implementation of the WDO strongly affects the final result and helps the decision maker to make the best one.

Keywords: bundling, canvas business model, telecommunication, WiFi data offloading

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Majid Galoie, Khodadad Safavi, Abdolreza Karami Nejad, Reza Roshan

Abstract:

In this study, a comprehensive scouring model has been developed in order to evaluate the accuracy of various empirical relationships which were suggested for prediction of scour hole depth in plunge pools by Martins, Mason, Chian and Veronese. For this reason, scour hole depths caused by free falling jets from a flip bucket to a plunge pool were investigated. In this study various discharges, angles, scouring times, etc. have been considered. The final results demonstrated that the all mentioned empirical formulas, except Mason formula, were reasonably agreement with the experimental data.

Keywords: scour hole depth, plunge pool, physical model, reliability assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 501

Authors: Hayder Raad Hafuze, Munqith Saleem Dawood, Jamal Abdul Jabbar

Abstract:

The effect of using both ultrasounds with laser in medical imaging of the biological tissue has been studied in this paper. Different wave lengths of incident laser light (405 nm, 532 nm, 650 nm, 808 nm and 1064 nm) were used with different ultrasound frequencies (1MHz and 3.3MHz). The results showed that, the change of acoustic intensity enhance the laser penetration of the tissue for different thickness. The existence of the ideal Raman-Nath diffraction pattern were investigated in terms of phase delay and incident angle.

Keywords: tissue, laser, ultrasound, effect, imaging

Procedia PDF Downloads 396

Authors: Majid Khalili, Hamed Tayebi

Abstract:

This paper considers a stochastic flexible job-shop scheduling (SFJSS) problem in the presence of production disruptions, and reactive scheduling is implemented in order to find the optimal solution under uncertainty. In this problem, there are two main disruptions including machine failure which influences operation time, and modification or cancellation of the order delivery date during production. In order to decrease the negative effects of these difficulties, two derived strategies from reactive scheduling are used; the first one is relevant to being able to allocate multiple machine to each job, and the other one is related to being able to select the best alternative process from other job while some disruptions would be created in the processes of a job. For this purpose, a Mixed Integer Linear Programming model is proposed.

Keywords: flexible job-shop scheduling, reactive scheduling, stochastic environment, mixed integer linear programming

Procedia PDF Downloads 334

Authors: Kavian Khosravinia, Mohd Khair Hassan, Ribhan Zafira Abdul Rahman, Syed Abdul Rahman Al-Haddad

Abstract:

The CAN (controller area network) bus is introduced as a multi-master, message broadcast system. The messages sent on the CAN are used to communicate state information, referred as a signal between different ECUs, which provides data consistency in every node of the system. OBD-II Dongles that are based on request and response method is the wide-spread solution for extracting sensor data from cars among researchers. Unfortunately, most of the past researches do not consider resolution and quantity of their input data extracted through OBD-II technology. The maximum feasible scan rate is only 9 queries per second which provide 8 data points per second with using ELM327 as well-known OBD-II dongle. This study aims to develop and design a programmable, and latency-sensitive vehicle data acquisition system that improves the modularity and flexibility to extract exact, trustworthy, and fresh car sensor data with higher frequency rates. Furthermore, the researcher must break apart, thoroughly inspect, and observe the internal network of the vehicle, which may cause severe damages to the expensive ECUs of the vehicle due to intrinsic vulnerabilities of the CAN bus during initial research. Desired sensors data were collected from various vehicles utilizing Raspberry Pi3 as computing and processing unit with using OBD (request-response) and direct CAN method at the same time. Two types of data were collected for this study. The first, CAN bus frame data that illustrates data collected for each line of hex data sent from an ECU and the second type is the OBD data that represents some limited data that is requested from ECU under standard condition. The proposed system is reconfigurable, human-readable and multi-task telematics device that can be fitted into any vehicle with minimum effort and minimum time lag in the data extraction process. The standard operational procedure experimental vehicle network test bench is developed and can be used for future vehicle network testing experiment.

Keywords: CAN bus, OBD-II, vehicle data acquisition, connected cars, telemetry, Raspberry Pi3

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Majid Davoodi Makinejad, Reza Ghaeli

Abstract:

Developing sustainable and environment-friendly products has become a major concern in the car manufacturing industry. New legislation ‘End of Life Vehicle’ increased design complexities of bumper system parameters e.g. design for disassembly, design for remanufacturing and recycling. ELV processing employs dismantling, shredding and landfill. The bumper is designed to prevent physical damage, reduce aerodynamic drag force as well as being aesthetically pleasing to the consumer. Design for dismantling is the first step in ELVs approach in the bumper system. This study focused on the analysis of ELV value in redesign solutions of the bumper system in comparison with the conventional concept. It provided a guideline to address the critical consideration in material, manufacturing and joining methods of bumper components to take advantages in easy dismounting, separation and recycling.

Keywords: sustainable development, environmental friendly, bumper system, end of life vehicle

Procedia PDF Downloads 353

Authors: Majid Omidikhankahdani, Maryam Omidikhankahdani

Abstract:

Chabahar city located southeast of Iran and is one of strategic regional port in Oman sea aim of this study was measuring Chabahar city resident perceptions about tourism positive and negative effect. 322 participants selected via random sampling and fill questionnaire about their attitude toward tourism economic, social cultural and environment positive and negative impact. the result showed perspective of resident tourism have more positive effect than negative effect, also pair sample t test showed significant difference between positive and negative effect of tourism in favor positive effect.

Keywords: tourism economic effect, tourism environment, residents attitude, tourism social-cultural

Procedia PDF Downloads 465

Authors: Majid Zargar, Frank Bullen, Ron Ayers

Abstract:

One of the important factors in the design of asphalt concrete mixes is the accurate measurement of air voids and their variable distribution. Both can have significant impact on long and short term fatigue and creep behaviour under traffic. While some simple methods exist for overall evaluation of air voids, measuring air void distribution in asphalt concrete is very complex, involving expensive techniques such as X-ray methodologies. The research reported in the paper investigated the use of non-destructive ultrasonic techniques as an alternative to estimate the amount of air voids and their distribution within asphalt samples. Seventy-four Standard AC–14 asphalt samples made with three types of bitumen; Multigrade, PMB and C320 were analysed using ultrasonic techniques. The results have illustrated that ultrasonic testing has the potential of being a rapid, accurate and cost-effective method of estimating air void distribution in asphalt.

Keywords: asphalt concrete, air voids, ultrasonic, mechanical behaviour

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Maryam Hajrezaie, Mahmood Ameen Abdulla, Nazia Abdul Majid, Hapipa Mohd Ali, Pouya Hassandarvish, Maryam Zahedi Fard

Abstract:

Background: Colon cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in the world and is the third leading cause of death among cancers in both males and females. The incidence of colon cancer is ranked fourth among all cancers but varies in different parts of the world. Cancer chemoprevention is defined as the use of natural or synthetic compounds capable of inducing biological mechanisms necessary to preserve genomic fidelity. Andrographolide is the major labdane diterpenoidal constituent of the plant Andrographis paniculata (family Acanthaceae), used extensively in the traditional medicine. Extracts of the plant and their constituents are reported to exhibit a wide spectrum of biological activities of therapeutic importance. Laboratory animal model studies have provided evidence that Andrographolide play a role in inhibiting the risk of certain cancers. Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the chemopreventive efficacy of the Andrographolide in the AOM induced rat model. Methods: To evaluate inhibitory properties of andrographolide on colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF), five groups of 7-week-old male rats were used. Group 1 (control group) were fed with 10% Tween 20 once a day, Group 2 (cancer control) rats were intra-peritoneally injected with 15 mg/kg Azoxymethan, Gropu 3 (drug control) rats were injected with 15 mg/kg azoxymethan and 5-Flourouracil, Group 4 and 5 (experimental groups) were fed with 10 and 20 mg/kg andrographolide each once a day. After 1 week, the treatment group rats received subcutaneous injections of azoxymethane, 15 mg/kg body weight, once weekly for 2 weeks. Control rats were continued on Tween 20 feeding once a day and experimental groups 10 and 20 mg/kg andrographolide feeding once a day for 8 weeks. All rats were sacrificed 8 weeks after the azoxymethane treatment. Colons were evaluated grossly and histopathologically for ACF. Results: Administration of 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg andrographolide were found to be effectively chemoprotective, as evidenced microscopily and biochemically. Andrographolide suppressed total colonic ACF formation up to 40% to 60%, respectively, when compared with control group. Pre-treatment with andrographolide, significantly reduced the impact of AOM toxicity on plasma protein and urea levels as well as on plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) activities. Grossly, colorectal specimens revealed that andrographolide treatments decreased the mean score of number of crypts in AOM-treated rats. Importantly, rats fed andrographolide showed 75% inhibition of foci containing four or more aberrant crypts. The results also showed a significant increase in glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), nitric oxide (NO), and Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) activities and a decrease in malondialdehyde (MDA) level. Histologically all treatment groups showed a significant decrease of dysplasia as compared to control group. Immunohistochemical staining showed up-regulation of Hsp70 and down-regulation of Bax proteins. Conclusion: The current study demonstrated that Andrographolide reduce the number of ACF. According to these data, Andrographolide might be a promising chemoprotective activity, in a model of AOM-induced in ACF.

Keywords: chemopreventive, andrographolide, colon cancer, aberrant crypt foci (ACF)

Procedia PDF Downloads 407

Authors: Majid Bagherinia

Abstract:

Lime and cement are frequently used as binders in the Deep Mixing Method (DMM) to improve soft clay soils. The most significant disadvantages of these materials are carbon dioxide emissions and the consumption of natural resources. In this study, three different biopolymers, guar gum, locust bean gum, and sodium alginate, were investigated for the improvement of soft clay using DMM. In the experimental study, the effects of the additive ratio and curing time on the Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) of stabilized specimens were investigated. According to the results, the UCS values of the specimens increased as the additive ratio and curing time increased. The most effective additive was sodium alginate, and the highest strength was obtained after 28 days.

Keywords: deep mixing method, soft clays, ground improvement, biopolymers, unconfined compressive strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Mohamed Basheer Abdul Atti Hassan

Abstract:

This research paper will follow the main outlines of the Italian colonization in Libya in a historical geopolitical approach; before we reach the contemporary map. In this study, we are also concerned with following the chain's links, not as drama in time, but as a strategy in place, so that it draws to us a map of power and the distribution of political formations throughout this period within and around Libya. From the sum of these variable distributions and successive balances, we can come up with the basic principles that determined the Italian history in Libya and formed its political entity, which is a compass of guidance and an indication of the future.

Keywords: conflict, Mediterranean, colonization, political history

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Majid Afkhami, Maryam Ehsanpour, Zahra Khoshnood

Abstract:

The concentrations of 10 heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Hg, Cu, Fe, Mn, Al, As, Ni, Zn) were measured in muscle, gill and liver of 6 species from Hormoz Strait in north coast of Persian Gulf in 12 months (April 2009 – March 2010). All samples were analyzed three times for Cd, Pb, Cu, Fe, Mn, Al, As, Ni, Zn by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and for Hg by LECO AMA254 Advanced Mercury Analyzer. Results of this study showed that iron had the highest concentration (total mean concentration) in all species, followed by Zn, Cu, Ni, Al, Pb, Mn, Cd, Hg and lowest concentration in three tissues was As. In addition, the accumulation of metals was species-dependent, and was higher in Scomberomorous commerson and Scomberomorous guttatus (p<0.05) and the lowest concentration was record in Pampus argenteus (p<0.05).

Keywords: Persian Gulf, heavy metals, Hormoz strait, Scomberomorous guttatus, Scomberomorous commerson, Pampus argenteus

Procedia PDF Downloads 617

Authors: Azam Salimi, Majid Delshad

Abstract:

This paper presents a modified design of a sliding mode controller based on fuzzy logic for a New ZVThigh step up DC-DC Converter . Here a proportional - integral (PI)-type current mode control is employed and a sliding mode controller is designed utilizing fuzzy algorithm. Sliding mode controller guarantees robustness against all variations and fuzzy logic helps to reduce chattering phenomenon due to sliding controller, in that way efficiency increases and error, voltage and current ripples decreases. The proposed system is simulated using MATLAB / SIMULINK. This model is tested under variations of input and reference voltages and it was found that in comparison with conventional sliding mode controllers they perform better.

Keywords: switching mode power supplies, DC-DC converters, sliding mode control, robustness, fuzzy control, current mode control, non-linear behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 510

Authors: Shazalina Mat Zin, Ahmad Abd. Majid, Ahmad Izani Md. Ismail, Muhammad Abbas

Abstract:

The generalized wave equation models various problems in sciences and engineering. In this paper, a new three-time level implicit approach based on cubic trigonometric B-spline for the approximate solution of wave equation is developed. The usual finite difference approach is used to discretize the time derivative while cubic trigonometric B-spline is applied as an interpolating function in the space dimension. Von Neumann stability analysis is used to analyze the proposed method. Two problems are discussed to exhibit the feasibility and capability of the method. The absolute errors and maximum error are computed to assess the performance of the proposed method. The results were found to be in good agreement with known solutions and with existing schemes in literature.

Keywords: collocation method, cubic trigonometric B-spline, finite difference, wave equation

Procedia PDF Downloads 502