Search results for: Waheed Mohamed Saeid Ba Amer
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1700

Search results for: Waheed Mohamed Saeid Ba Amer

1610 Creep Effect on Composite Beam with Perfect Steel-Concrete Connection

Authors: Souici Abdelaziz, Tehami Mohamed, Rahal Nacer, Said Mohamed Bekkouche, Berthet Jean-Fabien

Abstract:

In this paper, the influence of the concrete slab creep on the initial deformability of a bent composite beam is modelled. This deformability depends on the rate of creep. This means the rise in value of the longitudinal strain ε c(x,t), the displacement D eflec(x,t) and the strain energy E(t). The variation of these three parameters can easily affect negatively the good appearance and the serviceability of the structure. Therefore, an analytical approach is designed to control the status of the deformability of the beam at the instant t. This approach is based on the Boltzmann’s superposition principle and very particularly on the irreversible law of deformation. For this, two conditions of compatibility and two other static equilibrium equations are adopted. The two first conditions are set according to the rheological equation of Dischinger. After having done a mathematical arrangement, we have reached a system of two differential equations whose integration allows to find the mathematical expression of each generalized internal force in terms of the ability of the concrete slab to creep.

Keywords: composite section, concrete, creep, deformation, differential equation, time

Procedia PDF Downloads 362
1609 Critical Buckling Load of Carbon Nanotube with Non-Local Timoshenko Beam Using the Differential Transform Method

Authors: Tayeb Bensattalah, Mohamed Zidour, Mohamed Ait Amar Meziane, Tahar Hassaine Daouadji, Abdelouahed Tounsi

Abstract:

In this paper, the Differential Transform Method (DTM) is employed to predict and to analysis the non-local critical buckling loads of carbon nanotubes with various end conditions and the non-local Timoshenko beam described by single differential equation. The equation differential of buckling of the nanobeams is derived via a non-local theory and the solution for non-local critical buckling loads is finding by the DTM. The DTM is introduced briefly. It can easily be applied to linear or nonlinear problems and it reduces the size of computational work. Influence of boundary conditions, the chirality of carbon nanotube and aspect ratio on non-local critical buckling loads are studied and discussed. Effects of nonlocal parameter, ratios L/d, the chirality of single-walled carbon nanotube, as well as the boundary conditions on buckling of CNT are investigated.

Keywords: boundary conditions, buckling, non-local, differential transform method

Procedia PDF Downloads 269
1608 Responding of Vertical Gardens and Green Facades in Urban Design to the Global Environmental Impacts and the Call for Greening in Urban Spaces

Authors: Esraa Mohamed Ezzat Ramadan Elkhaiary, Ayah Mohamed Ezzat Ramadan Elkhaiary, Ahmed Yehia Ismaiel

Abstract:

Vertical lawn is crucial for the development of the constructed surroundings’ sustainability. Their implementation is also ecologically and aesthetically ideal as a good enough architectural characteristic that enhancements facades. Furthermore, their exploitation ends in a power-conscious design that prevents densely populated city areas in Cairo from transforming right into a deteriorated natural environment. After collaborative studies and analysis, it concluded that installing the vertical garden will not simply enhance urban spaces and informal settlements’ homes aesthetically but also offer an excellent role version to the metropolis in how future buildings can be constructed with vertical gardens established. Most significantly, it will enhance the general public consciousness of the inexperienced functions of the vertical garden to the constructing customers and visitors.

Keywords: vertical gardens, green facades, urban rehabilitation, urban spaces

Procedia PDF Downloads 42
1607 Mindfulness among Educators in General and Special Education at Independent Schools in Qatar and Its Effects on Their Academic Performance and Self-Efficacy

Authors: Mohamed S. Osman, Mohamed R. Nosair

Abstract:

The study aims to determine the effects of mindfulness on self-efficacy and professional success among educators of general and special education at Qatar Independent. The study sample will consist of 100 educators from the males and females divided to (50) educators of general education and (50) educators of Special Education in primary, and high schools. They will response to mindfulness scale and the scale of self-efficacy. In addition, use reports of the assessment by the Department of Education for their performance and assessments of their supervisors. The study will examine the effect of some variables such as differences between educators from general and special education, as well as the differences between males and females and years of experience. The study will use a statistic descriptive approach and Correlative analysis such as; means and the Pearson correlation coefficient. The study may predicts differences between educators in all variables study.

Keywords: mindfulness, educators, general education, special education, academic performance, self-efficacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 326
1606 Providing a Practical Model to Reduce Maintenance Costs: A Case Study in GeG Company

Authors: Iman Atighi, Jalal Soleimannejad, Reza Pourjafarabadi, Saeid Moradpour

Abstract:

In the past, we could increase profit by increasing product prices. But in the new decade, a competitive market does not let us to increase profit with increased prices. Therefore, the only way to increase profit will be to reduce costs. A significant percentage of production costs are the maintenance costs, and analysis of these costs could achieve more profit. Most maintenance strategies such as RCM (Reliability-Center-Maintenance), TPM (Total Productivity Maintenance), PM (Preventive Maintenance) and etc., are trying to reduce maintenance costs. In this paper, decreasing the maintenance costs of Concentration Plant of Golgohar Iron Ore Mining & Industrial Company (GeG) was examined by using of MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) analyses. These analyses showed that instead of buying new machines and increasing costs in order to promote capacity, the improving of MTBF and MTTR indexes would solve capacity problems in the best way and decrease costs.

Keywords: GeG company, maintainability, maintenance costs, reliability-center-maintenance

Procedia PDF Downloads 190
1605 A Highly Sensitive Dip Strip for Detection of Phosphate in Water

Authors: Hojat Heidari-Bafroui, Amer Charbaji, Constantine Anagnostopoulos, Mohammad Faghri

Abstract:

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant life which is most frequently found as phosphate in water. Once phosphate is found in abundance in surface water, a series of adverse effects on an ecosystem can be initiated. Therefore, a portable and reliable method is needed to monitor the phosphate concentrations in the field. In this paper, an inexpensive dip strip device with the ascorbic acid/antimony reagent dried on blotting paper along with wet chemistry is developed for the detection of low concentrations of phosphate in water. Ammonium molybdate and sulfuric acid are separately stored in liquid form so as to improve significantly the lifetime of the device and enhance the reproducibility of the device’s performance. The limit of detection and quantification for the optimized device are 0.134 ppm and 0.472 ppm for phosphate in water, respectively. The device’s shelf life, storage conditions, and limit of detection are superior to what has been previously reported for the paper-based phosphate detection devices.

Keywords: phosphate detection, paper-based device, molybdenum blue method, colorimetric assay

Procedia PDF Downloads 141
1604 Predictive Value of Coagulopathy in Patients with Isolated Blunt Traumatic Brain Injury: A Cohort of Pakistani Population

Authors: Muhammad Waqas, Shahan Waheed, Mohsin Qadeer, Ehsan Bari, Salman Ahmed, Iqra Patoli

Abstract:

Objective: To determine the value of aPTT, platelets and INR as the predictor of unfavorable outcomes in patients with blunt isolated traumatic brain injury. Methods: This was an observational cohort study conducted in a tertiary care facility from 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2012. All the patients with isolated traumatic brain injury presenting within 24 hours of injury were included in the study. Coagulation parameters at presentation were recorded and Glasgow Outcome Scale calculated on last follow up. Outcomes were dichotomized into favorable and unfavorable outcomes. Relationship of coagulopathy with GOS and unfavorable outcomes was calculated using Spearman`s correlation and area under curve ROC analysis. Results: 121 patients were included in the study. The incidence of coagulopathy was found to be 6 %. aPTT was found to a significantly associated with unfavorable outcomes with an AUC = 0.702 (95%CI = 0.602-0.802). Predictive value of platelets and INR was not found to be significant. Conclusion: Incidence of coagulopathy was found to be low in current population compared to data from the West. aPTT was found to be a good predictor of unfavorable outcomes compared with other parameters of coagulation.

Keywords: aPTT, coagulopathy, unfavorable outcomes, parameters

Procedia PDF Downloads 455
1603 The Mediatory Role of Innovation in the Link between Social and Financial Performance

Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Amin Jahangard, Milad Samavat, Saeid Homayoun

Abstract:

In the modern competitive business environment, one cannot overstate the importance of corporate social responsibility. The controversial link between the social and financial performance of firms has become a topic of interest for scholars. Hence, this study examines the social and financial performance link by taking into account the mediating role of innovation performance. We conducted the Covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) method on an international sample of firms provided by the ASSET4 database. In this research, to explore the black box of the social and financial performance relationship, we first examined the effect of social performance separately on financial performance and innovation; then, we measured the mediation role of innovation in the social and financial performance link. While our results indicate the positive effect of social performance on financial performance and innovation, we cannot document the positive mediating role of innovation. This possibly relates to the long-term nature of benefits from investments in innovation.

Keywords: ESG, financial performance, innovation, social performance, structural equation modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 66
1602 An Update on Linezolid against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Clinical Isolates from Pakistan

Authors: Tayaba Dastgeer, Farhan Rasheed, Muhammad Saeed, Maqsood Ahmad, Zia Ashraf, Abdul Waheed, Muhammad Kamran, Mohsin Khurshid

Abstract:

Objectives: The study aimed to determine the efficacy of linezolid against clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the microbiology department of Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore from August 2017 to September 2019. Isolates were confirmed as MRSA via the presence of the mec-A gene. Confirmed MRSA isolates were processed for susceptibility testing against different antimicrobials, especially linezolid, via the disc diffusion method. Zone sizes were interpreted according to CLSI guidelines. Results: Various types of clinical samples were included in the study; however, the highest frequency of MRSA isolates was found in pus samples, followed by other clinical samples. Among hospitalized patients, most MRSA isolates were obtained from patients in the surgical ward. Of 243 mec-A gene detected isolates, Vancomycin and linezolid showed 100% susceptibility, chloramphenicol showed declining resistance 78 (32.09%), and emerging sensitivity 165 (67.90%) against MRSA. Conclusion: Linezolid is a very efficient drug against MRSA, but the use of this novel drug must be conserved for vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or when more resistant pathogens are suspected.

Keywords: MRSA, chloramphenicol, linezolid, nosocomial infections

Procedia PDF Downloads 67
1601 Optical and Double Folding Model Analysis for Alpha Particles Elastically Scattered from 9Be and 11B Nuclei at Different Energies

Authors: Ahmed H. Amer, A. Amar, Sh. Hamada, I. I. Bondouk, F. A. El-Hussiny

Abstract:

Elastic scattering of α-particles from 9Be and 11B nuclei at different alpha energies have been analyzed. Optical model parameters (OMPs) of α-particles elastic scattering by these nuclei at different energies have been obtained. In the present calculations, the real part of the optical potential are derived by folding of nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction into nuclear matter density distribution of the projectile and target nuclei using computer code FRESCO. A density-dependent version of the M3Y interaction (CDM3Y6), which is based on the G-matrix elements of the Paris NN potential, has been used. Volumetric integrals of the real and imaginary potential depth (JR, JW) have been calculated and found to be energy dependent. Good agreement between the experimental data and the theoretical predictions in the whole angular range. In double folding (DF) calculations, the obtained normalization coefficient Nr is in the range 0.70–1.32.

Keywords: elastic scattering, optical model, double folding model, density distribution

Procedia PDF Downloads 272
1600 Providing a Practical Model to Reduce Maintenance Costs: A Case Study in Golgohar Company

Authors: Iman Atighi, Jalal Soleimannejad, Ahmad Akbarinasab, Saeid Moradpour

Abstract:

In the past, we could increase profit by increasing product prices. But in the new decade, a competitive market does not let us to increase profit with increase prices. Therefore, the only way to increase profit will be reduce costs. A significant percentage of production costs are the maintenance costs, and analysis of these costs could achieve more profit. Most maintenance strategies such as RCM (Reliability-Center-Maintenance), TPM (Total Productivity Maintenance), PM (Preventive Maintenance) etc., are trying to reduce maintenance costs. In this paper, decreasing the maintenance costs of Concentration Plant of Golgohar Company (GEG) was examined by using of MTBF (Mean Time between Failures) and MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) analyses. These analyses showed that instead of buying new machines and increasing costs in order to promote capacity, the improving of MTBF and MTTR indexes would solve capacity problems in the best way and decrease costs.

Keywords: Golgohar Iron Ore Mining and Industrial Company, maintainability, maintenance costs, reliability-center-maintenance

Procedia PDF Downloads 270
1599 Microwave Accelerated Simultaneous Distillation –Extraction: Preparative Recovery of Volatiles from Food Products

Authors: Ferhat Mohamed, Boukhatem Mohamed Nadjib, Chemat Farid

Abstract:

Simultaneous distillation–extraction (SDE) is routinely used by analysts for sample preparation prior to gas chromatography analysis. In this work, a new process design and operation for microwave assisted simultaneous distillation – solvent extraction (MW-SDE) of volatile compounds was developed. Using the proposed method, isolation, extraction and concentration of volatile compounds can be carried out in a single step. To demonstrate its feasibility, MW-SDE was compared with the conventional technique, Simultaneous distillation–extraction (SDE), for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of volatile compounds in a fresh orange juice and a dry spice “carvi seeds”. SDE method required long time (3 h) to isolate the volatile compounds, and large amount of organic solvent (200 mL of hexane) for further extraction, while MW-SDE needed little time (only 30 min) to prepare sample, and less amount of organic solvent (10 mL of hexane). These results show that MW-SDE–GC-MS is a simple, rapid and solvent-less method for determination of volatile compounds from aromatic plants.

Keywords: essential oil, extraction, distillation, carvi seeds

Procedia PDF Downloads 534
1598 The Impact of Basic TRIZ Training on Psychological Flexibility among University Students

Authors: Bakr M. Saeid

Abstract:

Psychological flexibility is a basic ability that allows people to adapt to a changing, difficult world. TRIZ is a Theory of Solving Inventive Problems that has many applications in both science & technology and creativity development; this research aimed to investigate the impact of basic TRIZ training on psychological flexibility among university students. The research sample included (30) university students divided into two groups: experimental group (n=15) and control group (n=15). The Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (PFQ) was conducted in the pre-test and post-test on the experimental and control group, as the study treatment was applied to the experimental group only. Data were analyzed statistically by the Mann-Whitney test and Wilcoxon z test; results showed the effectiveness of the TRIZ training program on the development of psychological flexibility and its five factors. Results were interpreted, recommendations were presented.

Keywords: psychological flexibility, TRIZ, positive perception of change, self as flexible and innovative, perception of reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 132
1597 The Fit of the Partial Pair Distribution Functions of BaMnFeF7 Fluoride Glass Using the Buckingham Potential by the Hybrid RMC Simulation

Authors: Sidi Mohamed Mesli, Mohamed Habchi, Arslane Boudghene Stambouli, Rafik Benallal

Abstract:

The BaMnMF7 (M=Fe,V, transition metal fluoride glass, assuming isomorphous replacement) have been structurally studied through the simultaneous simulation of their neutron diffraction patterns by reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) and by the Hybrid Reverse Monte Carlo (HRMC) analysis. This last is applied to remedy the problem of the artificial satellite peaks that appear in the partial pair distribution functions (PDFs) by the RMC simulation. The HRMC simulation is an extension of the RMC algorithm, which introduces an energy penalty term (potential) in acceptance criteria. The idea of this work is to apply the Buckingham potential at the title glass by ignoring the van der Waals terms, in order to make a fit of the partial pair distribution functions and give the most possible realistic features. When displaying the partial PDFs, we suggest that the Buckingham potential is useful to describe average correlations especially in similar interactions.

Keywords: fluoride glasses, RMC simulation, hybrid RMC simulation, Buckingham potential, partial pair distribution functions

Procedia PDF Downloads 475
1596 Influence of Environment-Friendly Organic Wastes on the Properties of Sandy Soil under Growing Zea mays L. in Arid Regions

Authors: Mohamed Rashad, Mohamed Hafez, Mohamed Emran, Emad Aboukila, Ibrahim Nassar

Abstract:

Environment-friendly organic wastes of Brewers' spent grain, a byproduct of the brewing process, have recently used as soil amendment to improve soil fertility and plant production. In this work, treatments of 1% (T1) and 2% (T2) of spent grains, 1% (C1) and 2% (C2) of compost and mix of both sources (C1T1) were used and compared to the control for growing Zea mays L. on sandy soil under arid Mediterranean climate. Soils were previously incubated at 65% saturation capacity for a month. The most relevant soil physical and chemical parameters were analysed. Water holding capacity and soil organic matter (OM) increased significantly along the treatments with the highest values in T2. Soil pH decreased along the treatments and the lowest pH was in C1T1. Bicarbonate decreased by 69% in C1T1 comparing to control. Total nitrogen (TN) and available P varied significantly among all treatments and T2, C1T1 and C2 treatments increased 25, 17 and 11 folds in TN and 1.2, 0.6 and 0.3 folds in P, respectively related to control. Available K showed the highest values in C1T1. Soil micronutrients increased significantly along all treatments with the highest values in T2. After corn germination, significant variation was observed in the velocity of germination coefficients (VGC) among all treatments in the order of C1T1>T2>T1>C2>C1>control. The highest records of final germination and germination index were in C1T1 and T2. The spent grains may compensate deficiencies of macro and micronutrients in newly reclaimed sandy soils without adverse effects to sustain crop production with a rider that excessive or continuous use need to be circumvented.

Keywords: corn and squash germination, environmentally friendly organic wastes, soil carbon sequestration, spent grains as soil amendment, water holding capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 477
1595 Comparative Study of Concrete Filled Steel I-Girder Bridge with Conventional Type of Bridge

Authors: Waheed Ahmad Safi, Shunichi Nakamura, Abdul Habib Ghaforzai

Abstract:

Steel and concrete composite bridge with concrete filled steel I-girder (CFIG) was proposed and FEM and laboratory tests were conducted to analysis bending and shear behavior. The proposed form of structural steel I-section is mainly used at the intermediate support zone by placing infilled concrete into the top and bottom flanges of steel I-section to resist negative bending moment. The bending and shear tests were carried out to find out the significance of CFIG section. The result for test showing that the bending and shear capacity of proposed CFIG is at least 3 times and 2 times greater than conventional steel I-section (IG) respectively. Finite element study was also carried out to ensure the result for laboratory tests due to bending and shear behavior and load transfer behavior of proposed structural form. Finite element result result agreed the test result. A design example was carried out for a four-span continuous highway bridge and design method was established.

Keywords: bending strength, concrete filled steel I-girder, steel I-girder, FEM, limit states design and shear strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 100
1594 Hybrid Diagrid System for High-Rise Buildings

Authors: Seyed Saeid Tabaee, Mohammad Afshari, Bahador Ziaeemehr, Omid Bahar

Abstract:

Nowadays, using modern structural systems with specific capabilities, like Diagrid, is emerging around the world. In this paper, a new resisting system, a combination of both Diagrid axial behavior and proper seismic performance of regular moment frames in tall buildings, named 'Hybrid Diagrid' is presented. The scaled specimen of the suggested hybrid system was built and tested using IIEES shaking table. The natural frequency and structural response of the analytical model were updated with the real experimental results. In order to compare its performance with the traditional Diagrid and moment frame systems, time history analysis was carried out. Extensive analysis shows the efficient seismic responses and economical behavior of Hybrid Diagrid structure with respect to the other two systems.

Keywords: hybrid diagrid system, moment frame, shaking table, tall buildings, time history analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 188
1593 Provenance in Scholarly Publications: Introducing the provCite Ontology

Authors: Maria Joseph Israel, Ahmed Amer

Abstract:

Our work aims to broaden the application of provenance technology beyond its traditional domains of scientific workflow management and database systems by offering a general provenance framework to capture richer and extensible metadata in unstructured textual data sources such as literary texts, commentaries, translations, and digital humanities. Specifically, we demonstrate the feasibility of capturing and representing expressive provenance metadata, including more of the context for citing scholarly works (e.g., the authors’ explicit or inferred intentions at the time of developing his/her research content for publication), while also supporting subsequent augmentation with similar additional metadata (by third parties, be they human or automated). To better capture the nature and types of possible citations, in our proposed provenance scheme metaScribe, we extend standard provenance conceptual models to form our proposed provCite ontology. This provides a conceptual framework which can accurately capture and describe more of the functional and rhetorical properties of a citation than can be achieved with any current models.

Keywords: knowledge representation, provenance architecture, ontology, metadata, bibliographic citation, semantic web annotation

Procedia PDF Downloads 85
1592 The Effect of Entertainment, Interactivity, and Authenticity Features of Tourism E-Commerce Live Streaming on Tourism Consumer’s Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Social Presence

Authors: Muhammad Munir, Moazzam, Attia Saddique, Muhammad Waheed

Abstract:

This study examines the complex interactions between entertainment, interaction, and authenticity aspects in the context of live streaming tourism e-commerce and how they affect tourists' intent to purchase. In the context of e-commerce live streaming, the goal of this study is to offer a thorough understanding of how these factors work together to influence consumers' intents to make purchases related to tourism. A sample of 250 respondents' information was gathered, and it was analyzed through Smart PLS 4. To ensure reliable measurement constructs, convergent and discriminant validity were evaluated. Discriminant validity was evaluated using the HTMT ratio approach, and the structural model was evaluated using structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrapping. Results showed that entertainment had a strong beneficial impact on social presence, highlighting the value of compelling content in raising users' sense of presence on live streaming platforms for tourism-related e-commerce. The lack of a direct relationship between Interactivity and Authenticity and Social Presence emphasizes the need for more research into certain characteristics of these dimensions that appeal to consumers in this situation.

Keywords: entertainment, interactivity, authenticity, tourism consumer’s purchase intention, social presence

Procedia PDF Downloads 27
1591 LiDAR Based Real Time Multiple Vehicle Detection and Tracking

Authors: Zhongzhen Luo, Saeid Habibi, Martin v. Mohrenschildt

Abstract:

Self-driving vehicle require a high level of situational awareness in order to maneuver safely when driving in real world condition. This paper presents a LiDAR based real time perception system that is able to process sensor raw data for multiple target detection and tracking in dynamic environment. The proposed algorithm is nonparametric and deterministic that is no assumptions and priori knowledge are needed from the input data and no initializations are required. Additionally, the proposed method is working on the three-dimensional data directly generated by LiDAR while not scarifying the rich information contained in the domain of 3D. Moreover, a fast and efficient for real time clustering algorithm is applied based on a radially bounded nearest neighbor (RBNN). Hungarian algorithm procedure and adaptive Kalman filtering are used for data association and tracking algorithm. The proposed algorithm is able to run in real time with average run time of 70ms per frame.

Keywords: lidar, segmentation, clustering, tracking

Procedia PDF Downloads 386
1590 Micro-CT Assessment of Fracture Healing with Targeted Delivery of Tocotrienol in Osteoporosis Model

Authors: Ahmad Nazrun Shuid, Isa Naina Mohamed, Nurul Izzah Ibrahim, Norazlina Mohamed

Abstract:

Studies have shown that oral tocotrienol, a potent vitamin E, promoted fracture healing of osteoporotic bone. In this study, tocotrienol was combined with a polymer carrier (PLGA), and injected to the fracture site. The slow and constant release of tocotrienol particles would promote fracture healing of post-menopausal osteoporosis rat model. Fracture healing was assessed using micro-CT. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were ovariectomised or sham-operated and the left tibiae were fractured and fixed with plate and screws. The fractures were created at the upper third of the left tibiae. The rats were divided into 3 groups: sham-operated (SO), ovariectomised-control (OVxC) and PLGA-incorporated tocotrienol treatment (OVx + TT) groups. After 4 weeks, the OVx + TT group showed significantly better callus fracture healing than the OVxC group. In conclusion, tocotrienol-incorporated PLGA was able to promote fracture healing of osteoporotic bone.

Keywords: osteoporosis, micro-CT, tocotrienol, PLGA, fracture

Procedia PDF Downloads 636
1589 Operation Strategies of Residential Micro Combined Heat and Power Technologies

Authors: Omar A. Shaneb, Adell S. Amer

Abstract:

Reduction of CO2 emissions has become a priority for several countries due to increasing concerns about global warming and climate change, especially in the developed countries. Residential sector is considered one of the most important sectors for considerable reduction of CO2 emissions since it represents a significant amount of the total consumed energy in those countries. A significant CO2 reduction cannot be achieved unless some initiatives have been adopted in the policy of these countries. Introducing micro combined heat and power (µCHP) systems into residential energy systems is one of these initiatives, since such a technology offers several advantages. Moreover, µCHP technology has the opportunity to be operated not only by natural gas but it could also be operated by renewable fuels. However, this technology can be operated by different operation strategies. Each strategy has some advantages and disadvantages. This paper provides a review of different operation strategies of such a technology used for residential energy systems, especially for single dwellings. The review summarizes key points that outline the trend of previous research carried out in this field.

Keywords: energy management, µCHP systems, residential energy systems, sustainable houses, operation strategy.

Procedia PDF Downloads 395
1588 Antimicrobial Activity of Olive Mill Wastewater Fractions

Authors: Chahinez Ait Si Said, Ouassila Touafek, Mohamed Reda Zahi, Smain Sabour, ‎Mohamed El Hattab ‎

Abstract:

Oil mill wastewater (OMW) is a major effluent of the olive industry resulting from olive ‎oil extraction which is a great source for the development of new drugs. The present ‎study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of seven different fractions separated ‎from OMW extract. The sample was recovered from an oil mill in the Blida region ‎‎(Algeria). A crude ethyl acetate extract was prepared from OMW according to a well-‎established protocol; the yield of the extract obtained was 4%. From the extract, ‎different fractions were prepared by fractionating the total extract with an open column ‎chromatography. The obtained fractions were submitted to antimicrobial activity ‎screening in a comparative purpose. All the fractions obtained show great antimicrobial ‎potential. ‎Phytochemical study of the different fractions was assessed by evaluating the total ‎phenolic compounds for all fractions studied as the main compounds found in OMW ‎were phenols like hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, phenolic acids like caffeic, quinic and ferulic ‎acids which show great therapeutic activities. ‎

Keywords: olive mill wastewater, fractionation, total phenolic compound, antimicrobial activity

Procedia PDF Downloads 62
1587 LORA: A Learning Outcome Modelling Approach for Higher Education

Authors: Aqeel Zeid, Hasna Anees, Mohamed Adheeb, Mohamed Rifan, Kalpani Manathunga

Abstract:

To achieve constructive alignment in a higher education program, a clear set of learning outcomes must be defined. Traditional learning outcome definition techniques such as Bloom’s taxonomy are not written to be utilized by the student. This might be disadvantageous for students in student-centric learning settings where the students are expected to formulate their own learning strategies. To solve the problem, we propose the learning outcome relation and aggregation (LORA) model. To achieve alignment, we developed learning outcome, assessment, and resource authoring tools which help teachers to tag learning outcomes during creation. A pilot study was conducted with an expert panel consisting of experienced professionals in the education domain to evaluate whether the LORA model and tools present an improvement over the traditional methods. The panel unanimously agreed that the model and tools are beneficial and effective. Moreover, it helped them model learning outcomes in a more student centric and descriptive way.

Keywords: learning design, constructive alignment, Bloom’s taxonomy, learning outcome modelling

Procedia PDF Downloads 160
1586 CFD Modeling and Optimization of Gas Cyclone Separator for Performance Improvement

Authors: N. Beit Saeid

Abstract:

Cyclones are used in the field of air industrial gases pollution and control the pollution with centrifugal forces that is generated with spatial geometry of the cyclone. Their simple design, low capital and maintenance costs and adaptability to a wide range of operating conditions have made cyclones one of the most widely used industrial dust collectors. Their cost of operation is proportional to the fan energy required to overcome their pressure drop. Optimized geometry of outlet diffuser of the cyclones potentially could reduce exit pressure losses without affecting collection efficiency. Three rectangular outlets and a radial outlet with a variable opening had been analyzed on two cyclones. Pressure drop was investigated for inlet velocities from about 10 to 20 m s−1. The radial outlet reduced cyclone pressure drop by between 8.7 and 11.9 percent when its exit area was equal to the flow area of the cyclone vortex finder or gas exit. A simple payback based on avoided energy costs was estimated to be between 3600 and 5000 h, not including installation cost.

Keywords: cyclone, CFD, optimization, genetic algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 351
1585 The Forensic Swing of Things: The Current Legal and Technical Challenges of IoT Forensics

Authors: Pantaleon Lutta, Mohamed Sedky, Mohamed Hassan

Abstract:

The inability of organizations to put in place management control measures for Internet of Things (IoT) complexities persists to be a risk concern. Policy makers have been left to scamper in finding measures to combat these security and privacy concerns. IoT forensics is a cumbersome process as there is no standardization of the IoT products, no or limited historical data are stored on the devices. This paper highlights why IoT forensics is a unique adventure and brought out the legal challenges encountered in the investigation process. A quadrant model is presented to study the conflicting aspects in IoT forensics. The model analyses the effectiveness of forensic investigation process versus the admissibility of the evidence integrity; taking into account the user privacy and the providers’ compliance with the laws and regulations. Our analysis concludes that a semi-automated forensic process using machine learning, could eliminate the human factor from the profiling and surveillance processes, and hence resolves the issues of data protection (privacy and confidentiality).

Keywords: cloud forensics, data protection Laws, GDPR, IoT forensics, machine Learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 122
1584 A New Distributed Computing Environment Based On Mobile Agents for Massively Parallel Applications

Authors: Fatéma Zahra Benchara, Mohamed Youssfi, Omar Bouattane, Hassan Ouajji, Mohamed Ouadi Bensalah

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a new distributed environment for High Performance Computing (HPC) based on mobile agents. It allows us to perform parallel programs execution as distributed one over a flexible grid constituted by a cooperative mobile agent team works. The distributed program to be performed is encapsulated on team leader agent which deploys its team workers as Agent Virtual Processing Unit (AVPU). Each AVPU is asked to perform its assigned tasks and provides the computational results which make the data and team works tasks management difficult for the team leader agent and that influence the performance computing. In this work we focused on the implementation of the Mobile Provider Agent (MPA) in order to manage the distribution of data and instructions and to ensure a load balancing model. It grants also some interesting mechanisms to manage the others computing challenges thanks to the mobile agents several skills.

Keywords: image processing, distributed environment, mobile agents, parallel and distributed computing

Procedia PDF Downloads 378
1583 Elitist Self-Adaptive Step-Size Search in Optimum Sizing of Steel Structures

Authors: Oğuzhan Hasançebi, Saeid Kazemzadeh Azad

Abstract:

This paper covers application of an elitist selfadaptive
step-size search (ESASS) to optimum design of steel
skeletal structures. In the ESASS two approaches are considered for
improving the convergence accuracy as well as the computational
efficiency of the original technique namely the so called selfadaptive
step-size search (SASS). Firstly, an additional randomness
is incorporated into the sampling step of the technique to preserve
exploration capability of the algorithm during the optimization.
Moreover, an adaptive sampling scheme is introduced to improve the
quality of final solutions. Secondly, computational efficiency of the
technique is accelerated via avoiding unnecessary analyses during the
optimization process using an upper bound strategy. The numerical
results demonstrate the usefulness of the ESASS in the sizing
optimization problems of steel truss and frame structures.

Keywords: structural design optimization, optimal sizing, metaheuristics, self-adaptive step-size search, steel trusses, steel frames

Procedia PDF Downloads 343
1582 Identification and Differentiation of Fagonia Arabica and Fagonia Indica by Using DNA Barcode Region Matk

Authors: Noshaba Dilbar, Aisha Tahir, Amer Jamil

Abstract:

During the last decade, DNA barcoding proved to be an authentic tool for discovery and identification of plants. In the present study, DNA barcoding of two species, Fagonia arabica and Fagonia indica was done for differentiation by using matK region. matK gene is considered as a universal barcode because of its easy alignment and high discrimination ability. In this study, matK yielded 100% sequencing results. The sequences from both plants were aligned at clustal W and observed that there is no nucleotide variation and polymorphism among both sequences. This was further analysed by BLAST which showed the similar sequences from different plants belonging to same family but didn’t find sequence of both species. Considering this, the resulted sequence was submitted by the name of Fagonia arabica with accession number KM276890. In the end, we analysed the results from BOLD which gave us the final conclusion that both plants are same as their matK sequences are 100% identical. In literature, both Fagonia indica and Fagonia arabica names are used for this plant but there is no clear differentiation has been observed in these plants. Results evaluate that Fagonia indica and Fagonia arabica are the alternative names of same plant.

Keywords: DNA barcoding, Fagonia arabica, Fagonia indica, matK

Procedia PDF Downloads 123
1581 Modelling and Optimization of Laser Cutting Operations

Authors: Hany Mohamed Abdu, Mohamed Hassan Gadallah, El-Giushi Mokhtar, Yehia Mahmoud Ismail

Abstract:

Laser beam cutting is one nontraditional machining process. This paper optimizes the parameters of Laser beam cutting machining parameters of Stainless steel (316L) by considering the effect of input parameters viz. power, oxygen pressure, frequency and cutting speed. Statistical design of experiments are carried in three different levels and process responses such as 'Average kerf taper (Ta)' and 'Surface Roughness (Ra)' are measured accordingly. A quadratic mathematical model (RSM) for each of the responses is developed as a function of the process parameters. Responses predicted by the models (as per Taguchi’s L27 OA) are employed to search for an optimal parametric combination to achieve desired yield of the process. RSM models are developed for mean responses, S/N ratio, and standard deviation of responses. Optimization models are formulated as single objective problem subject to process constraints. Models are formulated based on Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using MATLAB environment. Optimum solutions are compared with Taguchi Methodology results.

Keywords: optimization, laser cutting, robust design, kerf width, Taguchi method, RSM and DOE

Procedia PDF Downloads 582