Search results for: Extreme values theory

Authors: I. Benning

Abstract:

Using technology to expand the learning space is critical for a productive mathematical discourse. This is a case study of two teachers who developed and enacted GeoGebra-based mathematics lessons following their engagement in a two-year professional development. The didactical and semiotic affordance of GeoGebra in widening the learning space for a productive mathematical discourse was explored. The approach of thematic analysis was used for lesson artefact, lesson observation, and interview data. The results indicated that constructing tools in GeoGebra provided a didactical milieu where students used them to explore mathematical concepts with little or no support from their teacher. The prompt feedback from the GeoGebra motivated students to practice mathematical concepts repeatedly in which they privately rethink their solutions before comparing their answers with that of their colleagues. The constructing tools enhanced self-discovery, team spirit, and dialogue among students. With regards to the semiotic construct, the tools widened the physical and psychological atmosphere of the classroom by providing animations that served as virtual concrete to enhance the recording, manipulation, testing of a mathematical idea, construction, and interpretation of geometric objects. These findings advance the discussion of widening the classroom for a productive mathematical discourse within the context of the mathematics curriculum of Ghana and similar sub-Saharan African countries.

Keywords: GeoGebra, theory of didactical situation, semiotic mediation, mathematics laboratory, mathematical discussion.

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Authors: Mahdi Hamzehei

Abstract:

In this research, heat transfer of a poly Ethylene fluidized bed reactor without reaction were studied experimentally and computationally at different superficial gas velocities. A multifluid Eulerian computational model incorporating the kinetic theory for solid particles was developed and used to simulate the heat conducting gas–solid flows in a fluidized bed configuration. Momentum exchange coefficients were evaluated using the Syamlal– O-Brien drag functions. Temperature distributions of different phases in the reactor were also computed. Good agreement was found between the model predictions and the experimentally obtained data for the bed expansion ratio as well as the qualitative gas–solid flow patterns. The simulation and experimental results showed that the gas temperature decreases as it moves upward in the reactor, while the solid particle temperature increases. Pressure drop and temperature distribution predicted by the simulations were in good agreement with the experimental measurements at superficial gas velocities higher than the minimum fluidization velocity. Also, the predicted time-average local voidage profiles were in reasonable agreement with the experimental results. The study showed that the computational model was capable of predicting the heat transfer and the hydrodynamic behavior of gas-solid fluidized bed flows with reasonable accuracy.

Keywords: Gas-solid flows, fluidized bed, Hydrodynamics, Heat transfer, Turbulence model, CFD

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Authors: A. Selmi

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Free vibration analysis of homogenous and axially functionally graded simply supported beams within the context of Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is presented in this paper. The material properties of the beams are assumed to obey the linear law distribution. The effective elastic modulus of the composite was predicted by using the rule of mixture. Here, the complexities which appear in solving differential equation of transverse vibration of composite beams which limit the analytical solution to some special cases are overcome using a relatively new approach called the Differential Transformation Method. This technique is applied for solving differential equation of transverse vibration of axially functionally graded beams. Natural frequencies and corresponding normalized mode shapes are calculated for different Young’s modulus ratios. MATLAB code is designed to solve the transformed differential equation of the beam. Comparison of the present results with the exact solutions proves the effectiveness, the accuracy, the simplicity, and computational stability of the differential transformation method. The effect of the Young’s modulus ratio on the normalized natural frequencies and mode shapes is found to be very important.

Keywords: Differential transformation method, functionally graded material, mode shape, natural frequency.

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Authors: Nkechi Neboh, Josiah Adeyemo, Abimbola Enitan, Oludayo Olugbara

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Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) have been used widely through evolution theory to discover acceptable solutions that corresponds to challenges such as natural resources management. EAs are also used to solve varied problems in the real world. EAs have been rapidly identified for its ease in handling multiple objective problems. Reservoir operations is a vital and researchable area which has been studied in the last few decades due to the limited nature of water resources that is found mostly in the semi-arid regions of the world. The state of some developing economy that depends on electricity for overall development through hydropower production, a renewable form of energy, is appalling due to water scarcity. This paper presents a review of the applications of evolutionary algorithms to reservoir operation for hydropower production. This review includes the discussion on areas such as genetic algorithm, differential evolution, and reservoir operation. It also identified the research gaps discovered in these areas. The results of this study will be an eye opener for researchers and decision makers to think deeply of the adverse effect of water scarcity and drought towards economic development of a nation. Hence, it becomes imperative to identify evolutionary algorithms that can address this issue which can hamper effective hydropower generation.

Keywords: Evolutionary algorithms, genetic algorithm, hydropower, multi-objective, reservoir operations.

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Authors: Hmway Hmway Tar, Thi Thi Soe Nyaunt

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Documents clustering become an essential technology with the popularity of the Internet. That also means that fast and high-quality document clustering technique play core topics. Text clustering or shortly clustering is about discovering semantically related groups in an unstructured collection of documents. Clustering has been very popular for a long time because it provides unique ways of digesting and generalizing large amounts of information. One of the issues of clustering is to extract proper feature (concept) of a problem domain. The existing clustering technology mainly focuses on term weight calculation. To achieve more accurate document clustering, more informative features including concept weight are important. Feature Selection is important for clustering process because some of the irrelevant or redundant feature may misguide the clustering results. To counteract this issue, the proposed system presents the concept weight for text clustering system developed based on a k-means algorithm in accordance with the principles of ontology so that the important of words of a cluster can be identified by the weight values. To a certain extent, it has resolved the semantic problem in specific areas.

Keywords: Clustering, Concept Weight, Document clustering, Feature Selection, Ontology

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Authors: Hikmat A. M. Abd-El-Jaber, Tengku M. T. Sembok

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The information on the Web increases tremendously. A number of search engines have been developed for searching Web information and retrieving relevant documents that satisfy the inquirers needs. Search engines provide inquirers irrelevant documents among search results, since the search is text-based rather than semantic-based. Information retrieval research area has presented a number of approaches and methodologies such as profiling, feedback, query modification, human-computer interaction, etc for improving search results. Moreover, information retrieval has employed artificial intelligence techniques and strategies such as machine learning heuristics, tuning mechanisms, user and system vocabularies, logical theory, etc for capturing user's preferences and using them for guiding the search based on the semantic analysis rather than syntactic analysis. Although a valuable improvement has been recorded on search results, the survey has shown that still search engines users are not really satisfied with their search results. Using ontologies for semantic-based searching is likely the key solution. Adopting profiling approach and using ontology base characteristics, this work proposes a strategy for finding the exact meaning of the query terms in order to retrieve relevant information according to user needs. The evaluation of conducted experiments has shown the effectiveness of the suggested methodology and conclusion is presented.

Keywords: information retrieval, user profiles, semantic Web, ontology, search engine.

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Authors: Mohamed Haffar, Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Ahmad Ghoneim

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The importance of having a good organizational culture that supports employee job satisfaction has fascinated both the business and academic world because of a tantalizing promise: culture can be fundamental to the enhancement of financial performance. This promise has led to growing interest for both researchers and practitioners in attempting to understand the influence of organizational culture on employees’ satisfaction and organizational performance. Even though the relationship between organizational culture and employee job satisfaction have gained attention in the literature, the majority of studies have been conducted within manufacturing organizations and tend to oversee the impact of culture on employee job satisfaction in a service-based environment. Thus, the main driving force of this study was to explore the role of organizational culture types in facilitating employee job satisfaction at Emerald Publishing Group. Interviews qualitative data analysis indicated that Emerald’s culture dominated by adhocracy and clan culture values. In addition, the findings provided evidence, which demonstrated that group and adhocracy organizational culture types play key roles in facilitating employee job satisfaction in a service-based environment.

Keywords: Employee satisfaction, organizational culture, performance, service based environment.

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Authors: Ahmed O. Apampa, Yinusa A. Jimoh

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The paper examines the mechanism of pozzolan-soil reactions, using a recent study on the chemical stabilization of a Class A-2-7 (3) lateritic soil, with corn cob ash (CCA) as case study. The objectives are to establish a nexus between cation exchange capacity of the soil, the alkaline forming compounds in CCA and percentage CCA addition to soil beyond which no more improvement in strength properties can be achieved; and to propose feasible chemical reactions to explain the chemical stabilization of the lateritic soil with CCA alone. The lateritic soil, as well as CCA of pozzolanic quality Class C were separately analysed for their metallic oxide composition using the X-Ray Fluorescence technique. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil and the CCA were computed theoretically using the percentage composition of the base cations Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ K⁺ and Na²⁺ as 1.48 meq/100 g and 61.67 meq/100 g respectively, thus indicating a ratio of 0.024 or 2.4%. This figure, taken as the theoretical amount required to just fill up the exchangeable sites of the clay molecules, compares well with the laboratory observation of 1.5% for the optimum level of CCA addition to lateritic soil. The paper went on to present chemical reaction equations between the alkaline earth metals in the CCA and the silica in the lateritic soil to form silicates, thereby proposing an extension of the theory of mechanism of soil stabilization to cover chemical stabilization with pozzolanic ash only. The paper concluded by recommending further research on the molecular structure of soils stabilized with pozzolanic waste ash alone, with a view to confirming the chemical equations advanced in the study.

Keywords: Cation exchange capacity, corn cob ash, lateritic soil, soil stabilization.

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Authors: Mine Uslu Uysal

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This paper interested in the mechanical deformation behavior of shear deformable functionally graded ceramic-metal (FGM) plates. Theoretical formulations are based on power law theory when build up functional graded material. The mechanical properties of the plate are graded in the thickness direction according to a power-law Displacement and stress is obtained using finite element method (FEM). The load is supposed to be a uniform distribution over the plate surface (XY plane) and varied in the thickness direction only. An FGM’s gradation in material properties allows the designer to tailor material response to meet design criteria. An FGM made of ceramic and metal can provide the thermal protection and load carrying capability in one material thus eliminating the problem of thermo-mechanical deformation behavior. This thesis will explore analysis of FGM flat plates and shell panels, and their applications to r structural problems. FGMs are first characterized as flat plates under pressure in order to understand the effect variation of material properties has on structural response. In addition, results are compared to published results in order to show the accuracy of modeling FGMs using ABAQUS software.

Keywords: Functionally graded material, finite element method, thermal and structural loading.

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Authors: Houda Najeh, Stéphane Ploix, Mahendra Pratap Singh, Karim Chabir, Mohamed Naceur Abdelkrim

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Building systems are highly vulnerable to different kinds of faults and failures. In fact, various faults, failures and human behaviors could affect the building performance. This paper tackles the detection of unreliable sensors in buildings. Different literature surveys on diagnosis techniques for sensor grids in buildings have been published but all of them treat only bias and outliers. Occurences of data gaps have also not been given an adequate span of attention in the academia. The proposed methodology comprises the automatic thresholding for data gap detection for a set of heterogeneous sensors in instrumented buildings. Sensor measurements are considered to be regular time series. However, in reality, sensor values are not uniformly sampled. So, the issue to solve is from which delay each sensor become faulty? The use of time series is required for detection of abnormalities on the delays. The efficiency of the method is evaluated on measurements obtained from a real power plant: an office at Grenoble Institute of technology equipped by 30 sensors.

Keywords: Building system, time series, diagnosis, outliers, delay, data gap.

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Authors: Z. Sakka, I. Assakkaf, T. Al-Yaqoub, J. Parol

Abstract:

reliability-based methodology for the assessment and evaluation of reinforced concrete (R/C) structural elements of concrete structures is presented herein. The results of the reliability analysis and assessment for R/C structural elements were verified by the results obtained through deterministic methods. The outcomes of the reliability-based analysis were compared against currently adopted safety limits that are incorporated in the reliability indices β’s, according to international standards and codes. The methodology is based on probabilistic analysis using reliability concepts and statistics of the main random variables that are relevant to the subject matter, and for which they are to be used in the performance-function equation(s) associated with the structural elements under study. These methodology techniques can result in reliability index β, which is commonly known as the reliability index or reliability measure value that can be utilized to assess and evaluate the safety, human risk, and functionality of the structural component. Also, these methods can result in revised partial safety factor values for certain target reliability indices that can be used for the purpose of redesigning the R/C elements of the building and in which they could assist in considering some other remedial actions to improve the safety and functionality of the member.

Keywords: Concrete Structures, FORM, Monte Carlo Simulation, Structural Reliability.

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Authors: Mahmoud R. Shaghaghian

Abstract:

Amount of dissolve oxygen in a river has a great direct affect on aquatic macroinvertebrates and this would influence on the region ecosystem indirectly. In this paper it is tried to predict dissolved oxygen in rivers by employing an easy Fuzzy Logic Modeling, Wang Mendel method. This model just uses previous records to estimate upcoming values. For this purpose daily and hourly records of eight stations in Au Sable watershed in Michigan, United States are employed for 12 years and 50 days period respectively. Calculations indicate that for long period prediction it is better to increase input intervals. But for filling missed data it is advisable to decrease the interval. Increasing partitioning of input and output features influence a little on accuracy but make the model too time consuming. Increment in number of input data also act like number of partitioning. Large amount of train data does not modify accuracy essentially, so, an optimum training length should be selected.

Keywords: Dissolved oxygen, Au Sable, fuzzy logic modeling, Wang Mendel.

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Authors: P. I. Itoua, D. Sun, S. Shen

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This study aimed at investigating the properties of asphalt and mix asphalt based on the effects of waste toner sources (WT1 and WT2) with 8% dosage waste toner powders (WT). The test results included penetration, softening points, ductility, G*sinδ, G*/sinδ, Ideal cracking test (IDEAL-CT), and Ideal shear rutting test (IDEAL-RT). The results showed that the base binder with WT2 had a significantly higher viscosity value compared to the WT1 modified binder, and thus, higher energy for mixing and compaction is needed. Furthermore, the results of penetration, softening points, G*sinδ, and G*/sinδ were all affected by waste toner type. In terms of asphalt mixture, the IDEAL-RT test revealed that the addition of waste toner improved the rutting resistance of the asphalt mixture regardless of toner type. Further, CTindex values for waste toner-modified asphalt mixtures show no significant difference. Above all, WT-modified asphalt mixtures produced by the wet process have better rutting performance.

Keywords: Waste toner, waste toner-modified asphalt, asphalt mixture properties, IDEAL-RT test, IDEAL-CT test.

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Authors: Abdulhamid Abubakar, Sani Ibrahim, Fakai I. Musa

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The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential use of the selected seed oils. The oil was extracted using Soxhlet apparatus and the physicochemical characteristics of the oil determined using standard methods. The following results were obtained for the physicochemical parameters analysed: for Egusi seed oil, Oil yield 53.20%, Saponification value 178.03±1.25 mgKOH/g, Iodine value 49.10±0.32 g I2/100g, Acid value 4.30±0.86 mgKOH/g, and Peroxide value 5.80±0.27 meq/kg were obtained. For Pawpaw seed oil, Oil yield 40.10%, Saponification value 24.13±3.93 mgKOH/g, Iodine value 24.87±0.19 g I2/100g, Acid value 9.46±0.40 mgKOH/g, and Peroxide value 3.12±1.22 meq/kg were obtained. For Sweet orange seed oil, Oil yield 43.10%, Saponification value 106.30±2.37 mgKOH/g, Iodine value 37.08±0.04 g I2/100g, Acid value 7.59±0.77 mgKOH/g, and Peroxide value 2.21±0.46 meq/kg were obtained. From the obtained values of the determined parameters, the oils can be extracted from the three selected seeds in commercial quantities and that the egusi and sweet orange seed oils may be utilized in the industrial soap production.

Keywords: Carica papaya, Citrus sinensis, iodine value, peroxide value, physicochemical.

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Authors: N. Phattanakulkaewmorie, T. Paseephol, A.Moongngarm

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This study investigated the effect of germination on chemical compositions, physio-chemical properties of malted (germinated) red sorghum flours and evaluated characteristics of gluten free breads from sorghum flour. Results showed that germinated sorghum flour had higher amylase activity, swelling power and solubility at 95°C, but lower in the peak, break down, final and set back viscosities than ungerminated sample (p≤0.05). Five gluten free breads made from sorghum flour blends, with different ratios of ungerminated and germinated sorghum flour, were compared for the physical properties with those made from wheat flour. Crumb hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness of sorghum breads were found significantly higher than those of wheat bread. With increasing of ungerminated flour proportion, the bread hardness increased while the cohesiveness declined. Sorghum breads appeared red to human eyes with a*values of 10.41-15.77.Their crust and crumb colors differed significantly from those of wheat bread.

Keywords: Flour, germination, gluten free bread, sorghum.

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Authors: Yin Yin Phyo, Tun Lin Naing

Abstract:

This paper investigated the simulation of two-phase interleaved boost converter (IBC) with free and open-source software Scilab/Xcos. By using interleaved method, it can reduce current stress on components, components size, input current ripple and output voltage ripple. The required mathematical model is obtained from the equivalent circuit of its different four modes of operation for simulation. The equivalent circuits are considered in continuous conduction mode (CCM). The average values of the system variables are derived from the state-space equation to find the equilibrium point. Scilab is now becoming more and more popular among students, engineers and scientists because it is open-source software and free of charge. It gives a great convenience because it has powerful computation and simulation function. The waveforms of output voltage, input current and inductors current are obtained by using Scilab/Xcos.

Keywords: Two-phase boost converter, continuous conduction mode, free and open-source, interleaved method, dynamic simulation.

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Authors: Sanjay Kanade, Danielle Camara, Dijana Petrovska-Delacretaz, Bernadette Dorizzi

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In this paper, a two factor scheme is proposed to generate cryptographic keys directly from biometric data, which unlike passwords, are strongly bound to the user. Hash value of the reference iris code is used as a cryptographic key and its length depends only on the hash function, being independent of any other parameter. The entropy of such keys is 94 bits, which is much higher than any other comparable system. The most important and distinct feature of this scheme is that it regenerates the reference iris code by providing a genuine iris sample and the correct user password. Since iris codes obtained from two images of the same eye are not exactly the same, error correcting codes (Hadamard code and Reed-Solomon code) are used to deal with the variability. The scheme proposed here can be used to provide keys for a cryptographic system and/or for user authentication. The performance of this system is evaluated on two publicly available databases for iris biometrics namely CBS and ICE databases. The operating point of the system (values of False Acceptance Rate (FAR) and False Rejection Rate (FRR)) can be set by properly selecting the error correction capacity (ts) of the Reed- Solomon codes, e.g., on the ICE database, at ts = 15, FAR is 0.096% and FRR is 0.76%.

Keywords:

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Authors: Hiroki Yoshikai, Shin’ichi Arakawa, Tetsuya Takine, Masayuki Murata

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API (Application Programming Interface) economy is expected to create new value by converting corporate services such as information processing and data provision into APIs and using these APIs to connect services. Understanding dynamics of a market of API economy under strategies of participants is crucial to fully maximize the values of API economy. To capture the behavior of a market in which the number of participants changes over time, we present a time-evolving market model for a platform in which API providers who provide APIs to service providers participate in addition to service providers and consumers. Then, we use the market model to clarify the role API providers play in expanding market participants and forming ecosystems. The results show that the platform with API providers increased the number of market participants by 67% and decreased the cost to develop services by 25% compared to the platform without API providers. Furthermore, during the expansion phase of the market, it is found that the profits of participants are mostly the same when 70% of the revenue from consumers is distributed to service providers and API providers. It is also found that, when the market is mature, the profits of the service provider and API provider will decrease significantly due to their competitions and the profit of the platform increases.

Keywords: API Economy, ecosystem, platform, API providers.

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Authors: Dong Wook Lee, Seung Hyun Kim, Jeongho Oh

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With the strengthened regulation on the mandatory use of recycled aggregate, development of construction materials using recycled aggregate has recently increased. This study aimed to secure the performance of asphalt concrete mixture by developing recycled-modified asphalt using recycled basalt aggregate from the Jeju area. The strength of the basalt aggregate from the Jeju area used in this study was similar to that of general aggregate, while the specific surface area was larger due to the development of pores. Modified asphalt was developed using a general aggregate-recycled aggregate ratio of 7:3, and the results indicated that the Marshall stability increased by 27% compared to that of asphalt concrete mixture using only general aggregate, and the flow values showed similar levels. Also, the indirect tensile strength increased by 79%, and the toughness increased by more than 100%. In addition, the TSR for examining moisture resistance was 0.95 indicating that the reduction in the indirect tensile strength due to moisture was very low (5% level), and the developed recycled-modified asphalt could satisfy all the quality standards of asphalt concrete mixture.

Keywords: Asphalt Concrete Mixture, Performance Grade, Recycled Basalt Aggregate, Recycled-Modified Asphalt.

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Authors: C. Iihoshi, G.A. MacRae, G.W. Rodgers, J.G. Chase

Abstract:

Slab sliding system (SSS) with Coulomb friction  interface between slab and supporting frame is a passive structural  vibration control technology. The system can significantly reduce the  slab acceleration and accompanied lateral force of the frame. At the  same time it is expected to cause the slab displacement magnification  by sliding movement. To obtain the general comprehensive seismic  response of a single story structure, inelastic response spectra were  computed for a large ensemble of ground motions and a practical range  of structural periods and friction coefficient values. It was shown that  long period structures have no trade-off relation between force  reduction and displacement magnification with respect to elastic  response, unlike short period structures. For structures with the  majority of mass in the slab, the displacement magnification value can  be predicted according to simple inelastic displacement relation for  inelastically responding SDOF structures because the system behaves  elastically to a SDOF structure.

 

Keywords: Earthquake, Isolation, Slab, Sliding.

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Authors: M. van der Bank, C. M. van der Bank

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Alternative Dispute Resolution denotes all forms of dispute resolution other than litigation or adjudication through the courts. This definition of Alternative Dispute Resolution, however, makes no mention of a vital consideration. ADR is the generally accepted acronym for alternative dispute resolution. Despite the choice not to proceed before a court or statutory tribunal, ADR will still be regulated by law and by the Constitution. Fairness is one of the core values of the South African constitutional order. Environmental disputes occur frequently, but due to delays and costs, ADR is a mechanism to resolve this kind of disputes which is a resolution of non-judicial mechanism. ADR can be used as a mechanism in environmental disputes that are less expensive and also more expeditious than formal litigation. ADR covers a broad range of mechanisms and processes designed to assist parties in resolving disputes creatively and effectively. In so far as this may involve the selection or design of mechanisms and processes other than formal litigation, these mechanisms and processes are not intended to supplant court adjudication, but rather to supplement it. A variety of ADR methods have been developed to deal with numerous problems encountered during environmental disputes. The research questions are: How can ADR facilitate environmental disputes in South Africa? Are they appropriate? And what improvements should be made?

Keywords: Alternative dispute, environmental disputes, non-judicial, resolution and settlement.

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Authors: Mohamed S. El-Mahallawy, Attalah Hashad, Hazem Hassan Ali, Heba Sami Zaky

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This paper presents an evaluation for a wavelet-based digital watermarking technique used in estimating the quality of video sequences transmitted over Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel in terms of a classical objective metric, such as Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) without the need of the original video. In this method, a watermark is embedded into the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) domain of the original video frames using a quantization method. The degradation of the extracted watermark can be used to estimate the video quality in terms of PSNR with good accuracy. We calculated PSNR for video frames contaminated with AWGN and compared the values with those estimated using the Watermarking-DWT based approach. It is found that the calculated and estimated quality measures of the video frames are highly correlated, suggesting that this method can provide a good quality measure for video frames transmitted over AWGN channel without the need of the original video.

Keywords: AWGN, DWT, PSNR, Watermarking, VideoQuality.

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Authors: Roozbeh Molavi, Davood A. Khaburi

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The permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) is very useful in many applications. Vector control of PMSM is popular kind of its control. In this paper, at first an optimal vector control for PMSM is designed and then results are compared with conventional vector control. Then, it is assumed that the measurements are noisy and linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) methodology is used to filter the noises. The results of noisy optimal vector control and filtered optimal vector control are compared to each other. Nonlinearity of PMSM and existence of inverter in its control circuit caused that the system is nonlinear and time-variant. With deriving average model, the system is changed to nonlinear time-invariant and then the nonlinear system is converted to linear system by linearization of model around average values. This model is used to optimize vector control then two optimal vector controls are compared to each other. Simulation results show that the performance and robustness to noise of the control system has been highly improved.

Keywords: Kalman filter, Linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG), Linear quadratic regulator (LQR), Permanent-Magnet synchronousmotor (PMSM).

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Authors: Alena Zemanová, Jan Zeman, Michal Šejnoha

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The polymer foil used for manufacturing of laminated glass members behaves in a viscoelastic manner with temperature dependance. This contribution aims at incorporating the time/temperature-dependent behavior of interlayer to our earlier elastic finite element model for laminated glass beams. The model is based on a refined beam theory: each layer behaves according to the finite-strain shear deformable formulation by Reissner and the adjacent layers are connected via the Lagrange multipliers ensuring the inter-layer compatibility of a laminated unit. The time/temperature-dependent behavior of the interlayer is accounted for by the generalized Maxwell model and by the time-temperature superposition principle due to the Williams, Landel, and Ferry. The resulting system is solved by the Newton method with consistent linearization and the viscoelastic response is determined incrementally by the exponential algorithm. By comparing the model predictions against available experimental data, we demonstrate that the proposed formulation is reliable and accurately reproduces the behavior of the laminated glass units.

Keywords: Laminated glass, finite element method, finite-strain Reissner model, Lagrange multipliers, generalized Maxwell model, Williams-Landel-Ferry equation, Newton method.

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Authors: I. Grigoratos, R. Monteiro

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Regions with a significant percentage of non-seismically designed buildings and reduced urban planning are particularly vulnerable to natural hazards. In this context, the project ‘Improved Tools for Disaster Risk Mitigation in Algeria’ (ITERATE) aims at seismic risk mitigation in Algeria. Past earthquakes in North Algeria caused extensive damages, e.g. the El Asnam 1980 moment magnitude (Mw) 7.1 and Boumerdes 2003 Mw 6.8 earthquakes. This paper will address a number of proposed developments and considerations made towards a further improvement of the component of seismic hazard. In specific, an updated earthquake catalog (until year 2018) is compiled, and new conversion equations to moment magnitude are introduced. Furthermore, a network-based method for the estimation of the spatial and temporal distribution of the minimum magnitude of completeness is applied. We found relatively large values for M_c, due to the sparse network, and a nonlinear trend between M_w and body wave (m_b) or local magnitude (M_L), which are the most common scales reported in the region. Lastly, the resulting b-value of the Gutenberg-Richter distribution is sensitive to the declustering method.

Keywords: Conversion equation, magnitude of completeness, seismic events, seismic hazard.

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Authors: Dávid Csercsik, Sándor Imre

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The performance of state of the art worldwide telecommunication networks strongly depends on the efficiency of the applied routing mechanism. Game theoretical approaches to this problem offer new solutions. In this paper a new continuous network routing model is defined to describe data transfer in fixed telecommunication networks of multiple hosts. The nodes of the network correspond to routers whose latency is assumed to be traffic dependent. We propose that the whole traffic of the network can be decomposed to a finite number of tasks, which belong to various hosts. To describe the different latency-sensitivity, utility functions are defined for each task. The model is used to compare router and host intelligent types of routing methods, corresponding to various data transfer protocols. We analyze host intelligent routing as a transferable utility cooperative game with externalities. The main aim of the paper is to provide a framework in which the efficiency of various routing algorithms can be compared and the transferable utility game arising in the cooperative case can be analyzed.

Keywords: Routing, Telecommunication networks, Performance evaluation, Cooperative game theory, Partition function form games

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Authors: Rusudan Kinkladze, Guguli Kurashvili, Ketevan Chitaladze

Abstract:

Foreign direct investment is a driving force in the development of the interdependent national economies, and the study and analysis of investments is an urgent problem. It is particularly important for transitional economies, such as Georgia, and the study and analysis of investments is an urgent problem. Consequently, the goal of the research is the study and analysis of direct foreign investments in Georgia, and identification and forecasting of modern trends, and covers the period of 2006-2015. The study uses the methods of statistical observation, grouping and analysis, the methods of analytical indicators of time series, trend identification and the predicted values are calculated, as well as various literary and Internet sources relevant to the research. The findings showed that modern investment policy In Georgia is favorable for domestic as well as foreign investors. Georgia is still a net importer of investments. In 2015, the top 10 investing countries was led by Azerbaijan, United Kingdom and Netherlands, and the largest share of FDIs were allocated in the transport and communication sector; the financial sector was the second, followed by the health and social work sector, and the same trend will continue in the future. 

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investments, methods, statistics, analysis.

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Authors: A. Żebrowska, A. Kochańska-Dziurowicz, A. Stanjek-Cichoracka

Abstract:

We investigated the response of testosterone (T), growth hormone (GH), cortisol (C), steroid hormone binding globulin (SHBG), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), and some anaboliccatabolic indexes, i.e.: T/C, T/SHBG, and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 to maximal exercise in endurance-trained athletes (TREN) and untrained subjects (CG). The baseline concentration of IGF-1 was higher in athletes (TREN) when compared to the CG (p<0.05). The GH concentration and GH/IGF-1 ratio increased after exercise in all subjects compared to respective values at rest. The resting IGF- 1/IGFBP-3 ratio was significantly higher in athletes. The maximal exercise test induced an increase in post-exercise T/SHGB ratio in athletes compared to CG (p<0.05). These results indicate that elevation of baseline serum IGF-1/IGFBP-3 and T/SHGB ratio after exercise might suggest that free fractions of these hormones may act as a potent stimulant of muscle hypertrophy in trained endurance athletes.

Keywords: anabolic hormones, endurance training, exercise, growth factors

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Authors: Asaad H. Ismail, Mohamad S. Jaafar

Abstract:

This study aims to assess the environmental hazards from radon exhalation rate in the soil samples in selected locations in Iraqi Kurdistan, using passive (CR-39NTDs) and active (RAD7) detecting method. Radon concentration, effective radium content and radon exhalation rate were estimated in soil samples that collected at the depth level of 30 cm inside 124 houses. The results show that the emanation rate for radon gas was variation from location to other, depending on the geological formation. Most health risks come from emanation of radon and its daughter due to its contribution for indoor radon, so the results showed that there is a linear relationship between the ratio of soil and indoor radon concentration (CSoil Rn222/ Cindoor Rn222) and the effective radium content in soil samples. The results show that radon concentration has high and low values in Hajyawa city and Er. Tyrawa Qr, respectively. A comparison between our results with that mentioned in international reports was done.

Keywords: Radon, CR-39NTDs, RAD7, Soil, Iraqi Kurdistan.

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Authors: Sunil Kamboj, Vipin Saini, Suman Bala, Gaurav Sharma

Abstract:

The main aim of the present research was to encapsulate mefenamic acid in niosomes andincorporate the prepared niosomes in the carbopol gel base for sustained therapeutic action. Mefenamic acid loaded niosomes were prepared by thin film hydration technique and evaluated for entrapment efficiency, vesicular size and zeta potential. The entrapment efficiency of the prepared niosomes was found to increase with decreasing the HLB values of surfactants and vesicle size was found to increase with increasing the cholesterol concentration. Niosomal vesicles with good entrapment efficiencies were incorporated in carbopol gel base to form the niosomal gel. The prepared niosomal gel was evaluated for pH, viscosity, spreadability, extrudability and skin permeation study across the rat skin. The results of permeation study revealed that the gel formulated with span 60 niosomes sustained the drug release for 12h. Further the in vivo study showed the good inhibition of inflammation by the gel prepared with span 60 niosomes.

Keywords: Mefenamic acid, niosomal gel, nonionic surfactants, sustained release.

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