Search results for: aggregate angularity

Authors: Cheryl Leggon

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Although women in the aggregate are earning more doctorates in science and engineering from U.S. institutions, they continue to concentrate in some fields--e.g., biology--and underrepresented in others--e.g., engineering. Traditionally, most studies of women doctorate recipients in the sciences (including the social, behavioral and economic sciences) or engineering do not report their findings by demographic subgroups. This study extends the literature on these topics by using an intersectional approach to examine decadal trends. Intersectionality suggests that race, gender, and nation are not separate mutually exclusive entities whose impacts are summative, but rather as a confluence of synergistic factors that shape complex social inequities. Drawing on critical aspects of the intersectionality approach is particularly well suited for a more fine-grained analysis of the representation of women doctorate recipients in science and engineering. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of policies and evidence-based programmatic strategies for enhancing women’s participation in fields in which they are especially underrepresented.

Keywords: doctorates, engineering, science, women

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Authors: Igor V. Kuzminov

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According to its content, the proposed article is a collection of articles with comments and additions. All articles, in one way or another, have a connection with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The content of the articles is given in a concise form. The articles were published in different journals at different times. Main topics are presented: gravity, biography of the Earth, physics of global warming-cooling cycles, multiverse. The articles are based on the laws of classical physics. Along the way, it should be noted that the Second Law of thermodynamics can be formulated as the Law of Matter Cooling. As it cools down, the processes of condensation, separation, and changes in the aggregate states of matter occur. In accordance with these changes, a picture of the world is being formed. Also, the main driving force of these processes is the inverse temperature dependence of the forces of gravity. As matter cools, the forces of gravity increase. The actions of these phenomena in the compartment form a picture of the world.

Keywords: gravitational forces, cooling of matter, inverse temperature dependence of gravitational forces, planetary model of the atom

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Authors: X. Gumara Rigol, I. Martínez de Apellaniz Anzuola, A. Garcia Serrano, A. Franzi Cros, O. Vidal Calbet, A. Al Maruf

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Traditional federated architectures for data warehousing work well when corporations have existing regional data warehouses and there is a need to aggregate data at a global level. Schibsted Media Group has been maturing from a decentralised organisation into a more globalised one and needed to build both some of the regional data warehouses for some brands at the same time as the global one. In this paper, we present the architectural alternatives studied and why a custom federated approach was the notable recommendation to go further with the implementation. Although the data warehouses are logically federated, the implementation uses a single database system which presented many advantages like: cost reduction and improved data access to global users allowing consumers of the data to have a common data model for detailed analysis across different geographies and a flexible layer for local specific needs in the same place.

Keywords: data integration, data warehousing, federated architecture, Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)

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Authors: Xia Chen, Hua-Quan Yang, Shi-Hua Zhou

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Alkali-active sandstone aggregate was ground by vertical and ball mill into particles with residue over 45 μm less than 12%, and investigations have been launched on particles distribution and characterization of ground sandstone powder, fluidity, heat of hydration, strength as well as hydration products morphology of pastes with incorporation of ground sandstone powder. Results indicated that ground alkali-active sandstone powder with residue over 45 μm less than 8% was easily obtainable, and specific surface area was more sensitive to characterize its fineness with extension of grinding length. Incorporation of sandstone powder resulted in higher water demand and lower strength, advanced hydration of C₃A and C₂S within 3days and refined pore structure. Based on its manufacturing, characteristics and influence on properties of pastes, it was concluded that sandstone powder was a good selection for use in concrete as mineral admixture.

Keywords: concrete, mineral admixture, hydration, structure

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Authors: Flavio Araujo, Fabiolla Lima, Julio Lima, Paulo Scalize, Antonio Albuquerque, Heitor Reis

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One of the great environmental problems in the management of water treatment (WTP) is on the disposal of waste generated during the treatment process. The same occurs with the waste generated during rectification of porcelain tiles. Despite environmental laws in Brazil the residues does not have an ecologically balanced destination. Thus, with the purpose to identify an environmentally sustainable disposal, residues were used to replace part of the soil, for production soil-cement bricks. It was used the residues from WTP and coatings industry Cecrisa (Brazil). Consequently, a greater amount of fine aggregate in the two samples of residues was found. The residue affects the quality of bricks produced, compared to the sample without residues. However, the results of compression and water absorption tests were obtained values that meet the standards, respectively 2.0 MPa and 20% absorption.

Keywords: water treatment residue, porcelain tile residue, WTP, brick

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Authors: Esma Gizem Daskiran, Mehmet Mustafa Daskiran

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This paper investigates the effectiveness of two natural zeolites in reducing expansion of concrete due to alkali-silica reaction. These natural zeolites have different reactive silica content. Three aggregates; two natural sand and one crushed stone aggregate were used while preparing mortar bars in accordance with accelerated mortar bar test method, ASTM C1260. Performance of natural zeolites are compared by examining the expansions due to alkali silica reaction. Natural zeolites added to the mixtures at %10 and %20 replacement levels by weight of cement. Natural zeolite with high reactive silica content had better performance on reducing expansions due to ASR. In this research, using high reactive zeolite at %20 replacement level was effective in mitigating expansions.

Keywords: alkali silica reaction, natural zeolite, durability, expansion

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Authors: J. Hroudova, J. Zach, L. Vodova

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When insulation and rehabilitation of structures is important to use quality building materials with high utility value. One potentially interesting and promising groups of construction materials in this area are advanced, thermally insulating plaster silicate based. With the present trend reduction of energy consumption of building structures and reducing CO2 emissions to be developed capillary-active materials that are characterized by their low density, low thermal conductivity while maintaining good mechanical properties. The paper describes the results of research activities aimed at the development of thermal insulating and rehabilitation material ongoing at the Technical University in Brno, Faculty of Civil Engineering. The achieved results of this development will be the basis for subsequent experimental analysis of the influence of thermal and moisture loads developed on these materials.

Keywords: insulation materials, rehabilitation materials, lightweight aggregate, fly ash, slag, hemp fibers, glass fibers, metakaolin

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Authors: Mohammed Sherzad

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The absorbedness of solar radiation within the concrete building is higher than other buildings type, especially in hot climate zones. However, one of the primary issues of architects and the owners in hot climate zones is the building’s exterior plastered and painted finishing which is commonly used are fading and peeling adding a high cost on maintenance. Case studies of different exterior finishing’ treatments used in vernacular and contemporary dwellings in the United Arab Emirates were surveyed. The traditional plastered façade treatment was more sustainable than new buildings. In addition, using precast concrete insulated sandwich panels with the exposed colored aggregate surface in contemporary designed dwellings sustained the extensive heat reducing the overall cost of maintenance and contributed aesthetically to the buildings’ envelope in addition to its thermal insulation property.

Keywords: precast concrete panels, façade treatment, hot climate

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Authors: Han Wang, Zhuoxian Dai, Zhe Zhu, Hui Zhang, Zhenyu Zeng

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In traditional microscopic traffic simulation, various approaches have been suggested to implement the single-agent behaviors about lane changing and intelligent driver model. However, when it comes to very large metropolitan areas, microscopic traffic simulation requires more resources and become time-consuming, then macroscopic traffic simulation aggregate trends of interests rather than individual vehicle traces. In this paper, we describe the architecture and implementation of the actor system of microscopic traffic simulation, which exploits the distributed architecture of modern-day cloud computing. The results demonstrate that our architecture achieves high-performance and outperforms all the other traditional microscopic software in all tasks. To the best of our knowledge, this the first system that enables single-agent behavior in macroscopic traffic simulation. We thus believe it contributes to a new type of system for traffic simulation, which could provide individual vehicle behaviors in microscopic traffic simulation.

Keywords: actor system, cloud computing, distributed system, traffic simulation

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Authors: Hyeonuk Shin, Hun Song, Yongsik Chu, Jongkyu Lee, Dongcheon Park

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Although much current research has been devoted to reusing concrete in the form of recycled aggregate, insufficient attention has been given to researching the utilization of waste concrete powder, which constitutes 20 % or more of waste concrete and therefore the majority of waste cementitious powder is currently being discarded or buried in landfills. This study consists of foundational research for the purpose of reusing waste cementitious powder in the form of recycled cement that can answer the need for low carbon green growth. Progressing beyond the conventional practice of using the waste cementitious powder as inert filler material, this study contributes to the aim of manufacturing high value added materials that exploits the chemical properties of the waste cementitious powder, by presenting a pre-treatment method for the material and an optimal method of proportioning the mix of materials to develop a low carbon type of recycled cement.

Keywords: Low carbon type cement, Waste cementitious powder, Waste recycling

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Authors: Sourita Ghosh, Falguni Pati, Suhanya Duraiswamy

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Spheroid, a simple three-dimensional cellular aggregate, allows us to simulate the in-vivo complexity of cellular signaling and interactions in greater detail than traditional 2D cell culture. It can be used as an in-vitro model for drug toxicity testing, tumor modeling and many other such applications specifically for cancer. Our work is focused on the development of an affordable, user-friendly, robust, reproducible, high throughput microfluidic device for water in oil droplet production, which can, in turn, be used for spheroids manufacturing. Here, we have investigated the droplet breakup between two non-Newtonian fluids, viz. silicone oil and decellularized liver matrix, which acts as our extra cellular matrix (ECM) for spheroids formation. We performed some biochemical assays to characterize the liver ECM, as well as rheological studies on our two fluids and observed a critical dependence of capillary number (Ca) on droplet breakup and homogeneous drop formation

Keywords: chip less, droplets, extracellular matrix, liver spheroid

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Authors: Flavio Araujo, Livia Dias, Fabiolla Lima, Paulo Scalize, Antonio Albuquerque

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Water treatment residues (WTR) are solid waste produced during drinking water treatment and have recently been seen as a reusable material. The aim of this research was show how to use the residue generated in a Water Treatment Plant, located in Goiania, Brazil, following the considerations of the law of solid waste to obtain normative parameters and consider sustainable alternatives for reincorporation of the residues in the productive chain for manufacturing various materials construction. In order to reduce the environmental liabilities generated by sanitation companies and discontinue unsustainable forms of disposal. The analyzes performed: Granulometry, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Diffraction demonstrated the potential application of residues to replace the soil and sand, because it has characteristics compatible with small aggregate and can be used as feedstock for the manufacture of materials as ceramic and soil-cement bricks, mortars, interlocking floors and concrete artifacts.

Keywords: residue, sustainable, water treatment plants, WTR, WTP

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Authors: Hayder Shanbara, Felicite Ruddock, William Atherton, Ali Al-Rifaie

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In highways construction, Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) is used predominantly as a paving material from many years. Around 90 percent of the world road network is laid by flexible pavements. However, there are some restrictions on paving hot mix asphalt such as immoderate greenhouse gas emission, rainy season difficulties, fuel and energy consumption and cost. Therefore, Cold Bitumen Emulsion Mixture (CBEM) is considered an alternative mix to the HMA. CBEM is the popular type of Cold Mix Asphalt (CMA). It is unheated emulsion, aggregate and filler mixtures, which can be prepared and mixed at ambient temperature. This research presents a simple and more practicable design procedure of CBEM and discusses limitations of this design. CBEM is a mixture of bitumen emulsion and aggregates that mixed and produced at ambient temperature. It is relatively easy to produce, but the design procedure that provided by Asphalt Institute (Manual Series 14 (1989)) pose some issues in its practical application.

Keywords: cold bitumen, emulsion mixture, design procedure, pavement

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Authors: Massimo Ferrari, Maria Sole Pagliari

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Pollution is a classic example of economic externality: agents who produce it do not face direct costs from emissions. Therefore, there are no direct economic incentives for reducing pollution. One way to address this market failure would be directly taxing emissions. However, because emissions are global, governments might as well find it optimal to wait let foreign countries to tax emissions so that they can enjoy the benefits of lower pollution without facing its direct costs. In this paper, we first document the empirical relation between pollution and economic output with static and dynamic regression methods. We show that there is a negative relation between aggregate output and the stock of pollution (measured as the stock of CO₂ emissions). This relationship is also highly non-linear, increasing at an exponential rate. In the second part of the paper, we develop and estimate a two-country, two-sector model for the US and the euro area. With this model, we aim at analyzing how the public sector should respond to higher emissions and what are the direct costs that these policies might have. In the model, there are two types of firms, brown firms (which produce a polluting technology) and green firms. Brown firms also produce an externality, CO₂ emissions, which has detrimental effects on aggregate output. As brown firms do not face direct costs from polluting, they do not have incentives to reduce emissions. Notably, emissions in our model are global: the stock of CO₂ in the economy affects all countries, independently from where it is produced. This simplified economy captures the main trade-off between emissions and production, generating a classic market failure. According to our results, the current level of emission reduces output by between 0.4 and 0.75%. Notably, these estimates lay in the upper bound of the distribution of those delivered by studies in the early 2000s. To address market failure, governments should step in introducing taxes on emissions. With the tax, brown firms pay a cost for polluting hence facing the incentive to move to green technologies. Governments, however, might also adopt a beggar-thy-neighbour strategy. Reducing emissions is costly, as moves production away from the 'optimal' production mix of brown and green technology. Because emissions are global, a government could just wait for the other country to tackle climate change, ripping the benefits without facing any costs. We study how this strategic game unfolds and show three important results: first, cooperation is first-best optimal from a global prospective; second, countries face incentives to deviate from the cooperating equilibria; third, tariffs on imported brown goods (the only retaliation policy in case of deviation from the cooperation equilibrium) are ineffective because the exchange rate would move to compensate. We finally study monetary policy under when costs for climate change rise and show that the monetary authority should react stronger to deviations of inflation from its target.

Keywords: climate change, general equilibrium, optimal taxation, monetary policy

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Authors: Sondos M. Hammad, Sherin M. ElGokhy, Mahmoud M. Fahmy, Elsayed A. Sallam

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In this paper, an ensemble-based Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification approach is proposed. It is used for miRNA prediction. Three problems, commonly associated with previous approaches, are alleviated. These problems arise due to impose assumptions on the secondary structural of premiRNA, imbalance between the numbers of the laboratory checked miRNAs and the pseudo-hairpins, and finally using a training data set that does not consider all the varieties of samples in different species. We aggregate the predicted outputs of three well-known SVM classifiers; namely, Triplet-SVM, Virgo and Mirident, weighted by their variant features without any structural assumptions. An additional SVM layer is used in aggregating the final output. The proposed approach is trained and then tested with balanced data sets. The results of the proposed approach outperform the three base classifiers. Improved values for the metrics of 88.88% f-score, 92.73% accuracy, 90.64% precision, 96.64% specificity, 87.2% sensitivity, and the area under the ROC curve is 0.91 are achieved.

Keywords: MiRNAs, SVM classification, ensemble algorithm, assumption problem, imbalance data

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Authors: Manju Pandey, Nilay Khare, S. C. Shrivastava

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This paper is the final in a series, which has defined two new classes of aggregation operators for triangular and trapezoidal fuzzy numbers based on the geometrical characteristics of their fuzzy membership functions. In the present paper, a new aggregation operator for trapezoidal fuzzy numbers has been defined. The new operator is based on the geometric mean of the membership lines to the left and right of the maximum possibility interval. The operator is defined and the analytical relationships have been derived. Computation of the aggregate is demonstrated with a numerical example. Corresponding arithmetic and geometric aggregates as well as results from the recent work of the authors on TrFN aggregates have also been computed.

Keywords: LR fuzzy number, interval fuzzy number, triangular fuzzy number, trapezoidal fuzzy number, apex angle, left apex angle, right apex angle, aggregation operator, arithmetic and geometric mean

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Authors: Ivana Lolic, Petar Soric, Mirjana Cizmesija

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Based on Business and Consumer Survey (BCS) data, the European Commission (EC) regularly publishes the monthly Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for each EU member state. ESI is conceptualized as a leading indicator, aimed ad tracking the overall economic activity. In calculating ESI, the EC employs arbitrarily chosen weights on 15 BCS response balances. This paper raises the predictive quality of ESI by applying nonlinear programming to find such weights that maximize the correlation coefficient of ESI and year-on-year GDP growth. The obtained results show that the highest weights are assigned to the response balances of industrial sector questions, followed by questions from the retail trade sector. This comes as no surprise since the existing literature shows that the industrial production is a plausible proxy for the overall Croatian economic activity and since Croatian GDP is largely influenced by the aggregate personal consumption.

Keywords: business and consumer survey, economic sentiment indicator, leading indicator, nonlinear optimization with constraints

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Authors: Egemen Sert, Leila Hedayatifar, Rachel A. Rigg, Amir Akhavan, Olha Buchel, Dominic Elias Saadi, Aabir Abubaker Kar, Alfredo J. Morales, Yaneer Bar-Yam

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The complexity of providing timely and cost-effective distribution of finished goods from industrial facilities to customers makes effective operational coordination difficult, yet effectiveness is crucial for maintaining customer service levels and sustaining a business. Logistics planning becomes increasingly complex with growing numbers of customers, varied geographical locations, the uncertainty of future orders, and sometimes extreme competitive pressure to reduce inventory costs. Linear optimization methods become cumbersome or intractable due to a large number of variables and nonlinear dependencies involved. Here we develop a complex systems approach to optimizing logistics networks based upon dimensional reduction methods and apply our approach to a case study of a manufacturing company. In order to characterize the complexity in customer behavior, we define a “customer space” in which individual customer behavior is described by only the two most relevant dimensions: the distance to production facilities over current transportation routes and the customer's demand frequency. These dimensions provide essential insight into the domain of effective strategies for customers; direct and indirect strategies. In the direct strategy, goods are sent to the customer directly from a production facility using box or bulk trucks. In the indirect strategy, in advance of an order by the customer, goods are shipped to an external warehouse near a customer using trains and then "last-mile" shipped by trucks when orders are placed. Each strategy applies to an area of the customer space with an indeterminate boundary between them. Specific company policies determine the location of the boundary generally. We then identify the optimal delivery strategy for each customer by constructing a detailed model of costs of transportation and temporary storage in a set of specified external warehouses. Customer spaces help give an aggregate view of customer behaviors and characteristics. They allow policymakers to compare customers and develop strategies based on the aggregate behavior of the system as a whole. In addition to optimization over existing facilities, using customer logistics and the k-means algorithm, we propose additional warehouse locations. We apply these methods to a medium-sized American manufacturing company with a particular logistics network, consisting of multiple production facilities, external warehouses, and customers along with three types of shipment methods (box truck, bulk truck and train). For the case study, our method forecasts 10.5% savings on yearly transportation costs and an additional 4.6% savings with three new warehouses.

Keywords: logistics network optimization, direct and indirect strategies, K-means algorithm, dimensional reduction

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Authors: S. K. Ling, A. K. H. Kwan

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The production of SCC (self-consolidating concrete) generally requires a fairy high paste volume, ranging from 35% to 40% of the total concrete volume. Such high paste volume would lead to low dimensional stability and high carbon footprint. Direct lowering the paste volume would deteriorate the performance of SCC, especially the passing ability. It is often observed that at narrow gap of congested reinforcements, the paste often flows in the front leaving the coarse aggregate particle behind to block the subsequent flow of concrete. Herein, it is suggested to increase the mortar volume through incorporating ground sand with a mean size of 0.3 mm while keeping the paste volume small. Trial concrete mixes with paste volumes of 30% and 34% and different ground sand contents have been tested to demonstrate how the paste volume can be lowered without sacrificing the passing ability. Overall, the results demonstrated that the addition of ground sand would enable the achievement of high passing ability at a relatively small paste volume.

Keywords: ground sand, mortar volume, paste volume, self-consolidating concrete

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Authors: Ali Reza Vaezi, Naser Fakori Ivand, Fereshteh Azarifam

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Interrill erosion is the detachment and transfer of soil particles between the rills due to the impact of raindrops and the shear stress of shallow surface runoff. This erosion can be affected by some soil properties such as texture, amount of organic matter and stability of soil aggregates. Information on the temporal variation of interrill erosion during a rainfall event and the effect soil properties have on it can help in understanding the process of runoff production and soil loss between the rills in hillslopes. The importance of this study is especially grate in semi-arid regions, where the soil is weakly aggregated and vegetation cover is mostly poor. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate the temporal variation of surface flow and interrill erosion and the effect of soil properties on it in some semi-arid soils. A field experiment was done in eight different soil textures under simulated rainfalls with uniform intensity. A total of twenty four plots were installed for eight study soils with three replicates in the form of a random complete block design along the land. The plots were 1.2 m (length) × 1 m (width) in dimensions which designed with a distance of 3 m from each other across the slope. Then, soil samples were purred into the plots. The plots were surrounded by a galvanized sheet, and runoff and soil erosion equipment were placed at their outlets. Rainfall simulation experiments were done using a designed portable simulator with an intensity of 60 mm per hour for 60 minutes. A plastic cover was used around the rainfall simulator frame to prevent the impact of the wind on the free fall of water drops. Runoff production and soil loss were measured during 1 hour time with 5-min intervals. In order to study soil properties, such as particle size distribution, aggregate stability, bulk density, ESP and Ks were determined in the laboratory. Correlation and regression analysis was done to determine the effect of soil properties on runoff and interrill erosion. Results indicated that the study soils have lower booth organic matter content and aggregate stability. The soils, except for coarse textured textures, are calcareous and with relatively higher exchangeable sodium percentages (ESP). Runoff production and soil loss didn’t occur in sand, which was associated with higher infiltration and drainage rates. In other study soils, interrill erosion occurred simultaneously with the generation of runoff. A strong relationship was found between interrill erosion and surface runoff (R2 = 0.75, p< 0.01). The correlation analysis showed that surface runoff was significantly affected by some soil properties consisting of sand, silt, clay, bulk density, gravel, hydraulic conductivity (Ks), lime (calcium carbonate), and ESP. The soils with lower Ks such as fine-textured soils, produced higher surface runoff and more interrill erosion. In the soils, Surface runoff production temporally increased during rainfall and finally reached a peak after about 25-35 min. Time to peak was very short (30 min) in fine-textured soils, especially clay, which was related to their lower infiltration rate.

Keywords: erosion plot, rainfall simulator, soil properties, surface flow

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Authors: Florian Gschösser, Walter Purrer

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The paper shows examples for the (environmental) optimization of production processes for asphalt mixtures applied for typical road pavements in Austria and Switzerland. The conducted “from-cradle-to-gate” LCA firstly analyzes the production one cubic meter of asphalt and secondly all material production processes for exemplary highway pavements applied in Austria and Switzerland. It is shown that environmental impacts can be reduced by the application of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and by the optimization of specific production characteristics, e.g. the reduction of the initial moisture of the mineral aggregate and the reduction of the mixing temperature by the application of low-viscosity and foam bitumen. The results of the LCA study demonstrate reduction potentials per cubic meter asphalt of up to 57 % (Global Warming Potential–GWP) and 77 % (Ozone depletion–ODP). The analysis per square meter of asphalt pavement determined environmental potentials of up to 40 % (GWP) and 56 % (ODP).

Keywords: asphalt mixtures, environmental potentials, life cycle assessment, material production

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Authors: Ģirts Brasliņš, Ilja Arefjevs, Nadežda Tarakanova

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The objective of countercyclical capital buffer is to encourage banks to build up buffers in good times that can be drawn down in bad times. The aim of the report is to assess such decisions by banks derived from three approaches. The approaches are the aggregate credit-to-GDP ratio, credit growth as well as banking sector profits. The approaches are implemented for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for the time period 2000-2012. The report compares three approaches and analyses their relevance to the Baltic states by testing the correlation between a growth in studied variables and a growth of corresponding gaps. Methods used in the empirical part of the report are econometric analysis as well as economic analysis, development indicators, relative and absolute indicators and other methods. The research outcome is a cross-Baltic comparison of two alternative approaches to establish or release a countercyclical capital buffer by banks and their implications for each Baltic country.

Keywords: basel III, countercyclical capital buffer, banks, credit growth, baltic states

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Authors: Deng Tingting

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There is a very close interaction between the rapid development of the real estate industry and regional urbanization. The real estate problem can be boiled down to the problem of urbanization, in essence. The growth of hundreds of millions of people in the future will determine the development of low-level demand in the real estate market. At the same time, the practical problems of urbanization also seriously restrict the healthy development of real estate itself. The latter two interact with each other by adjusting the industrial structure, economic aggregate, regional population flow, and many other linkage factors. Through the case analysis of Chongqing, this paper finds that the urbanization of Chongqing and the overall development level of the real estate industry are still in the stage of development and upgrading, and its development potential and future development and application space are still very large. Therefore, from the perspective of the regional economy, studying the interaction between the two is of great significance to accelerate the process of urbanization in Chongqing, promote the healthy development of the real estate industry, and promote the rapid growth of the regional economy.

Keywords: urbanization, demographics, real estate, interrelationships

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Authors: Zhanzhao Fu, Chongyi Ling, Jinlan Wang

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Water splitting and rechargeable air-based batteries are emerging as new renewable energy storage and conversion technologies. However, the discovery of suitable catalysts with high activity and low cost remains a great challenge. In this work, we report a single-atom trifunctional catalyst, namely Ti₃C₂O₂ supported single Pd atom (Pd1@Ti₃C₂O₂), for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). This catalyst is selected from 12 candidates and possesses low overpotentials of 0.22 V, 0.31 V and 0.34 V for the HER, OER and ORR, respectively, making it an excellent electrocatalyst for both overall water splitting and rechargeable air-based batteries. The superior OER and ORR performance originates from the optimal d band center of the supported Pd atom. Moreover, the excellent activity can be maintained even if the single Pd atoms aggregate into small clusters. This work offers new opportunities for advancing the renewable energy storage and conversion technologies and paves a new way for the development of multifunctional electrocatalysts.

Keywords: DFT, SACs, OER, ORR, HER

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Authors: Prachi Singh

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This paper presents a low-cost, eco-friendly and reproducible microbe mediated biosynthesis of TiO₂ nanoparticles. TiO₂ nanoparticles synthesized using the bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, from titanium as a precursor, were confirmed by TEM analysis. The morphological characteristics state spherical shape, with the size of individual or aggregate nanoparticles, around 30-40 nm. Microbial resistance represents a challenge for the scientific community to develop new bioactive compounds. Here, the antibacterial effect of TiO₂ nanoparticles on Escherichia coli was investigated, which was confirmed by CFU (Colony-forming unit). Further, growth curve study of E. coli Hb101 in the presence and absence of TiO₂ nanoparticles was done. Optical density decrease was observed with the increase in the concentration of TiO₂. It could be attributed to the inactivation of cellular enzymes and DNA by binding to electron-donating groups such as carboxylates, amides, indoles, hydroxyls, thiols, etc. which cause little pores in bacterial cell walls, leading to increased permeability and cell death. This justifies that TiO₂ nanoparticles have efficient antibacterial effect and have potential to be used as an antibacterial agent for different purposes.

Keywords: antibacterial effect, CFU, Escherichia coli Hb101, growth curve, TEM, TiO2 nanoparticle, Toxicity, UV-Vis

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Authors: A. O. Mikhailov, N. I. Gerasimov, K. N. Morozov, I. V. Grachev

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The most advanced method of onboard equipment installation on the world shipbuilding practice is modular method, or modularization. The main idea of this is assembly of equipment, pipelines and hull structures in so called assembly units yet at the shopfloor. Those assembly units are thereafter loaded and installed inside the ship's hull. This allows to reduce labour intensiveness and significantly improve assembly quality, due to the fact that a good part of installation work is performed in the shops, instead of restricted onboard premises. Also, this method allows performing equipment installation at very early stages of hull erection. This practice is widely spread in naval submarines building. However, in merchant shipbuilding, equipment is installed mostly individually. To implement modular principles of equipment installation in designing and construction of civil ships and marine rigs, some new technologies are being developed in the following areas. The paper contains main principles and already achieved results in the above mentioned areas.

Keywords: assembly and installation technology, onboard equipment installation, large-scale assembly units, modular method

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Authors: Yassir AbdelRazig, Amine Ghanem

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Construction projects are information intensive in nature and involve many activities that are related to each other. Wireless technologies can be used to improve the accuracy and timeliness of data collected from construction sites and shares it with appropriate parties. Nonetheless, the construction industry tends to be conservative and shows hesitation to adopt new technologies. A main concern for owners, contractors or any person in charge on a job site is the cost of the technology in question. Wireless technologies are not cheap. There are a lot of expenses to be taken into consideration, and a study should be completed to make sure that the importance and savings resulting from the usage of this technology is worth the expenses. This research attempts to assess the effectiveness of using the appropriate wireless technologies based on criteria such as performance, reliability, and risk. The assessment is based on a utility function model that breaks down the selection issue into alternatives attribute. Then the attributes are assigned weights and single attributes are measured. Finally, single attribute are combined to develop one single aggregate utility index for each alternative.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, decision theory, utility function, wireless technologies

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Authors: Kebaili Bachir

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The reuse of concrete waste as a secondary aggregate could be an efficient solution for sustainable development and long-term environmental protection. The variable nature of waste concrete, with various compressive strengths, can have a negative effect on the final compressive strength of recycled concrete. Accordingly, an experimental test programme was developed to evaluate the effect of parent concrete qualities on the performance of recycled concrete. Three grades with different compressive strengths 10MPa, 20MPa, and 30MPa were considered in the study; moreover, an unknown compressive strength was introduced as well. The trial mixes used 40% secondary aggregates (both course and fine) and 60% of natural aggregates. The compressive strength of the test concrete decrease between 15 and 25% compared to normal concrete with no secondary aggregates. This work proves that the strength properties of the parent concrete have a limited effect on the compressive strength of recycled concrete. Low compressive strength parent concrete when crushed generate a high percentage of recycled coarse aggregates with the less attached mortar and give the same compressive strength as an excellent parent concrete. However, the decrease in compressive strength can be mitigated by increasing the cement content 4% by weight of recycled aggregates used.

Keywords: compressive, concrete, quality, recycled, strength

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Authors: Flavio Araujo, Julio Lima, Paulo Scalize, Antonio Albuquerque, Isabela Santos

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to perform the physicochemical characterizations of the residue generated in the Meia-Ponte Water Treatment Plant, seeking to obtain normative parameters and consider sustainable alternatives for reincorporation of the residues in the productive chain for manufacturing various materials construction. In order to reduce the environmental liabilities generated by sanitation companies and discontinue unsustainable forms of disposal as the launching of the residue in the rivers, disposal in landfills or burning it, because such ways pollute watercourses, ground and air. The analyzes performed: Granulometry, identification of clay minerals, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and X-Ray Diffraction demonstrated the potential application of residues to replace the soil and sand, because it has characteristics compatible with small aggregate and can be used as feedstock for the manufacture of materials as ceramic and soil-cement bricks, mortars, interlocking floors and concrete artifacts.

Keywords: recovery of waste, residue, sustainable, water treatment plant, WTR

Procedia PDF Downloads 503

Authors: Juliana Barcelos Cordeiro, Khashayar Mahani, Farbod Farzan, Mohsen A. Jafari

Abstract:

Energy disaggregation has been focused by many energy companies since energy efficiency can be achieved when the breakdown of energy consumption is known. Companies have been investing in technologies to come up with software and/or hardware solutions that can provide this type of information to the consumer. On the other hand, not all people can afford to have these technologies. Therefore, in this paper, we present a methodology for breaking down the aggregate consumption and identifying the highdemanding end-uses profiles. These energy profiles will be used to build the forecast model for optimal control purpose. A facility with high cooling load is used as an illustrative case study to demonstrate the results of proposed methodology. We apply a high level energy disaggregation through a pattern recognition approach in order to extract the consumption profile of its rooftop packaged units (RTUs) and present a forecast model for the energy consumption.  

Keywords: energy consumption forecasting, energy efficiency, load disaggregation, pattern recognition approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 247