Search results for: random effects model

Authors: Halim Djerroud, Arab Ali Cherif

Abstract:

We assume that conscious functions are implemented automatically. In other words that consciousness as well as the non-consciousness aspect of human thought, planning and perception, are produced by biologically adaptive algorithms. We propose that the mechanisms of consciousness can be produced using similar adaptive algorithms to those executed by the mechanism. In this paper, we present a computational model of consciousness, the ”Global Abstraction Workspace” which is an internal environmental modelling perceived as a multi-agent system. This system is able to evolve and generate new data and processes as well as actions in the environment.

Keywords: Artificial consciousness, cognitive architecture, global abstraction workspace, mutli-agents system.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1584

Authors: Ameer A. Jebur, William Atherton, Rafid M. Alkhaddar, Edward Loffill

Abstract:

Superstructures like offshore platforms, tall buildings, transition towers, skyscrapers and bridges are normally designed to resist compression, uplift and lateral forces from wind waves, negative skin friction, ship impact and other applied loads. Better understanding and the precise simulation of the response of batter piles under the action of independent uplift loads is a vital topic and an area of active research in the field of geotechnical engineering. This paper investigates the use of finite element code (FEC) to examine the behaviour of model batter piles penetrated in dense sand, subjected to pull-out pressure by means of numerical modelling. The concept of the Winkler Model (beam on elastic foundation) has been used in which the interaction between the pile embedded depth and adjacent soil in the bearing zone is simulated by nonlinear p-y curves. The analysis was conducted on different pile slenderness ratios (lc⁄d) ranging from 7.5, 15.22 and 30 respectively. In addition, the optimum batter angle for a model steel pile penetrated in dense sand has been chosen to be 20° as this is the best angle for this simulation as demonstrated by other researcher published in literature. In this numerical analysis, the soil response is idealized as elasto-plastic and the model piles are described as elastic materials for the purpose of simulation. The results revealed that the applied loads affect the pullout pile capacity as well as the lateral pile response for dense sand together with varying shear strength parameters linked to the pile critical depth. Furthermore, the pile pull-out capacity increases with increasing the pile aspect ratios.

Keywords: Slenderness ratio, soil-pile interaction, winkler model (beam on elastic foundation), pull-out capacity.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1622

Authors: Md. Emaj Uddin

Abstract:

This study compared socio-economic status attainment between the Muslim and Santal couples in rural Bangladesh. For this we hypothesized that socio-economic status attainment (occupation, education and income) of the Muslim couples was higher than the Santal ones in rural Bangladesh. In order to examine the hypothesis 288 couples (145 couples for Muslim and 143 couples for Santal) selected by cluster random sampling from Kalna village, Bangladesh were individually interviewed with semistructured questionnaire method. The results of Pearson Chi-Squire test suggest that there were significant differences in socio-economic status attainment between the two communities- couples. In addition, Pearson correlation coefficients also suggest that there were significant associations between the socio-economic statuses attained by the two communities- couples in rural Bangladesh. Further crosscultural study should conduct on how inter-community relations in rural social structure of Bangladesh influence the differences among the couples- socio-economic status attainment

Keywords: Bangladesh, Couple, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Muslim, Socio-Economic Status Attainment, Santal.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2235

Authors: S. Woothipatanapan, S. Prakobkit

Abstract:

This paper presents a model for analysis the induced voltage of transmission lines (energized) acting on neighboring distribution lines (de-energized). From environmental restrictions, 22 kV distribution lines need to be installed under 115 kV transmission lines. With the installation of the two parallel circuits like this, they make the induced voltage which can cause harm to operators. This work was performed with the ATP-EMTP modeling to analyze such phenomenon before field testing. Simulation results are used to find solutions to prevent danger to operators who are on the pole.

Keywords: Transmission system, distribution system, induced voltage, off-line operation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3572

Authors: Xi Gu, Guan Heng Yeoh, Victoria Timchenko

Abstract:

In the current work, a three-dimensional geometry of a 75% stenosed blood vessel is analyzed. Large eddy simulation (LES) with the help of a dynamic subgrid scale Smagorinsky model is applied to model the turbulent pulsatile flow. The geometry, the transmural pressure and the properties of the blood and the elastic boundary were based on clinical measurement data. For the flexible wall model, a thin solid region is constructed around the 75% stenosed blood vessel. The deformation of this solid region was modelled as a deforming boundary to reduce the computational cost of the solid model. Fluid-structure interaction is realized via a twoway coupling between the blood flow modelled via LES and the deforming vessel. The information of the flow pressure and the wall motion was exchanged continually during the cycle by an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method. The boundary condition of current time step depended on previous solutions. The fluctuation of the velocity in the post-stenotic region was analyzed in the study. The axial velocity at normalized position Z=0.5 shows a negative value near the vessel wall. The displacement of the elastic boundary was concerned in this study. In particular, the wall displacement at the systole and the diastole were compared. The negative displacement at the stenosis indicates a collapse at the maximum velocity and the deceleration phase.

Keywords: Large Eddy Simulation, Fluid Structural Interaction, Constricted Artery, Computational Fluid Dynamics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2344

Authors: Gyo Woo Lee, Man Young Kim

Abstract:

A mathematical heat transfer model for the prediction of transient heating of the slab in a direct-fired walking beam type reheating furnace has been developed by considering the nongray thermal radiation with given furnace environments. The furnace is modeled as radiating nongray medium with carbon dioxide and water with five-zoned gas temperature and the furnace wall is considered as a constant temperature lower than furnace gas one. The slabs are moving with constant velocity depending on the residence time through the non-firing, charging, preheating, heating, and final soaking zones. Radiative heat flux obtained by considering the radiative heat exchange inside the furnace as well as convective one from the surrounding hot gases are introduced as boundary condition of the transient heat conduction within the slab. After validating thermal radiation model adopted in this work, thermal fields in both model and real reheating furnace are investigated in terms of radiative heat flux in the furnace and temperature inside the slab. The results show that the slab in the furnace can be more heated with higher slab emissivity and residence time.

Keywords: Reheating Furnace, Steel Slab, Radiative Heat Transfer, WSGGM, Emissivity, Residence Time.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4175

Authors: Zhen Chen, Haitao Zhang, Weiyong Ying, Dingye Fang

Abstract:

The direct synthesis process of dimethyl ether (DME) from syngas in slurry reactors is considered to be promising because of its advantages in caloric transfer. In this paper, the influences of operating conditions (temperature, pressure and weight hourly space velocity) on the conversion of CO, selectivity of DME and methanol were studied in a stirred autoclave over Cu-Zn-Al-Zr slurry catalyst, which is far more suitable to liquid phase dimethyl ether synthesis process than bifunctional catalyst commercially. A Langmuir- Hinshelwood mechanism type global kinetics model for liquid phase DME direct synthesis based on methanol synthesis models and a methanol dehydration model has been investigated by fitting our experimental data. The model parameters were estimated with MATLAB program based on general Genetic Algorithms and Levenberg-Marquardt method, which is suitably fitting experimental data and its reliability was verified by statistical test and residual error analysis.

Keywords: alcohol/ether fuel, Cu-Zn-Al-Zr slurry catalyst, global kinetics, slurry reactor

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5522

Authors: Asim N., M. Mazhar Manzoor, Shariq A.

Abstract:

Knowledge is renowned as a significant component for sustaining competitive advantage and gives leading edge in business. This study emphasizes towards proper and effectuate utilization of internal and external (both either explicit or tacit) knowledge comes from stakeholders, highly supportive to combat with the challenges and enhance organizational productivity. Furthermore, it proposed a model under context of IRSA framework which facilitates the organization including flow of knowledge and experience sharing among employees. In discussion section an innovative model which indulges all functionality as mentioned in analysis section.

Keywords: Effective Decision-Making, Internal & ExternalKnowledge, Knowledge Management, Tacit & Explicit Knowledge.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1316

Authors: Fooad Karimi Ghaleh Jough, Mohsen Soori

Abstract:

Today, the occurrence of progressive failure in structures has become a challenging issue, requiring the presentation of suitable solutions for structural resistance to this phenomenon. It is also necessary to evaluate the vulnerability of existing and under-construction buildings to progressive failure. The kind of lateral load-resisting system the building and its connections have is one of the most significant and influential variables in structural resistance to the risk of progressing failure. Using the "Alternative Path" approach suggested by the GSA2003 and UFC2013 recommendations, different configurations of semi-rigid connections against progressive failure are offered in this study. In order to do this, the Opensees program was used to model nine distinct semi-rigid connection configurations on a three-story Special Area of Conservation (SAC) structure, accounting for the impact of connection stiffness. Then, using nonlinear dynamic analysis, the effects of column removal were explored in two scenarios: corner column removal and middle column removal on the first level. Nonlinear static analysis results showed that when a column is removed, structures with semi-rigid connections experience larger displacements, which result in the construction of a plastic hinge. Furthermore, it was clear from the findings of the nonlinear static analysis that the possibility of progressive failure increased with the number of semi-rigid connections in the structure.

Keywords: Semi-rigid, nonlinear static analysis, progressive collapse, alternative path.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Ying Shang, Chencheng Wang

Abstract:

The wind field is the main driving factor for the spread of forest fires. For the simulation results of forest fire spread to be more accurate, it is necessary to obtain more detailed wind field data. Therefore, this paper studied the mountainous fine wind field simulation method coupled with WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting Model) and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) to realize the numerical simulation of the wind field in a mountainous area with a scale of 30 m and a small measurement error. Local topographical changes have an important impact on the wind field. Based on the Rothermel fire spread model, a forest fire in Idaho in the western United States was simulated. The historical data proved that the simulation results had a good accuracy. They showed that the fire spread rate will decrease rapidly with time and then reach a steady state. After reaching a steady state, the fire spread growth area will not only be affected by the slope, but will also show a significant quadratic linear positive correlation with the wind speed change.

Keywords: Wind field, numerical simulation, forest fire spread, fire behavior model, complex terrain.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 380

Authors: Elison Eduardo Jardim Bierhals, Claudineia Brazil, Deivid Pires, Rafael Haag, Elton Gimenez Rossini

Abstract:

The objective of this work is to evaluate the results of solar radiation projections between 2006 and 2013 for the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The projections are provided by the General Circulation Models (MCGs) belonging to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Phase 5 (CMIP5). In all, the results of the simulation of six models are evaluated, compared to monthly data, measured by a network of thirteen meteorological stations of the National Meteorological Institute (INMET). The performance of the models is evaluated by the Nash coefficient and the Bias. The results are presented in the form of tables, graphs and spatialization maps. The ACCESS1-0 RCP 4.5 model presented the best results for the solar radiation simulations, for the most optimistic scenario, in much of the state. The efficiency coefficients (CEF) were between 0.95 and 0.98. In the most pessimistic scenario, HADGen2-AO RCP 8.5 had the best accuracy among the analyzed models, presenting coefficients of efficiency between 0.94 and 0.98. From this validation, solar radiation projection maps were elaborated, indicating a seasonal increase of this climatic variable in some regions of the Brazilian territory, mainly in the spring.

Keywords: climate change, projections, solar radiation, validation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 860

Authors: Makoto Sakamoto, Yasuo Uchida, Makoto Nagatomo, Takao Ito, Tsunehiro Yoshinaga, Satoshi Ikeda, Masahiro Yokomichi, Hiroshi Furutani

Abstract:

In theoretical computer science, the Turing machine has played a number of important roles in understanding and exploiting basic concepts and mechanisms in computing and information processing [20]. It is a simple mathematical model of computers [9]. After that, M.Blum and C.Hewitt first proposed two-dimensional automata as a computational model of two-dimensional pattern processing, and investigated their pattern recognition abilities in 1967 [7]. Since then, a lot of researchers in this field have been investigating many properties about automata on a two- or three-dimensional tape. On the other hand, the question of whether processing fourdimensional digital patterns is much more difficult than two- or threedimensional ones is of great interest from the theoretical and practical standpoints. Thus, the study of four-dimensional automata as a computasional model of four-dimensional pattern processing has been meaningful [8]-[19],[21]. This paper introduces a cooperating system of four-dimensional finite automata as one model of four-dimensional automata. A cooperating system of four-dimensional finite automata consists of a finite number of four-dimensional finite automata and a four-dimensional input tape where these finite automata work independently (in parallel). Those finite automata whose input heads scan the same cell of the input tape can communicate with each other, that is, every finite automaton is allowed to know the internal states of other finite automata on the same cell it is scanning at the moment. In this paper, we mainly investigate some accepting powers of a cooperating system of eight- or seven-way four-dimensional finite automata. The seven-way four-dimensional finite automaton is an eight-way four-dimensional finite automaton whose input head can move east, west, south, north, up, down, or in the fu-ture, but not in the past on a four-dimensional input tape.

Keywords: computational complexity, cooperating system, finite automaton, four-dimension, hierarchy, multihead.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1888

Authors: Khalid S. Hashim, Andy Shaw, Rafid Alkhaddar, Montserrat Ortoneda Pedrola

Abstract:

A flow column has been innovatively used in the design of a new electrocoagulation reactor (ECR1) that will reduce the temperature of water being treated; where the flow columns work as a radiator for the water being treated. In order to investigate the performance of ECR1 and compare it to that of traditional reactors; 600 mL water samples with an initial temperature of 350C were pumped continuously through these reactors for 30 min at current density of 1 mA/cm2. The temperature of water being treated was measured at 5 minutes intervals over a 30 minutes period using a thermometer. Additional experiments were commenced to investigate the effects of initial temperature (15-350C), water conductivity (0.15 – 1.2 S) and current density (0.5 -3 mA/cm2) on the performance of ECR1. The results obtained demonstrated that the ECR1, at a current density of 1 mA/cm2 and continuous flow model, reduced water temperature from 350C to the vicinity of 280C during the first 15 minutes and kept the same level till the end of the treatment time. While, the temperature increased from 28.1 to 29.80C and from 29.8 to 31.90C in the batch and the traditional continuous flow models respectively. In term of initial temperature, ECR1 maintained the temperature of water being treated within the range of 22 to 280C without the need for external cooling system even when the initial temperatures varied over a wide range (15 to 350C). The influent water conductivity was found to be a significant variable that affect the temperature. The desirable value of water conductivity is 0.6 S. However, it was found that the water temperature increased rapidly with a higher current density.

Keywords: Water temperature, flow column, electrocoagulation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2350

Authors: M. A. At-Tasneem, N. T. Rao, T. M. Y. S. Tuan Ya, M. S. Idris, M. Ammar

Abstract:

River flow over micro hydro power (MHP) turbines of multiple arrays arrangement is simulated with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to obtain the flow characteristics. In this paper, CFD software is used to simulate the water flow over MHP turbines as they are placed in a river. Multiple arrays arrangement of MHP turbines lead to generate large amount of power. In this study, a river model is created and simulated in CFD software to obtain the water flow characteristic. The process then continued by simulating different types of arrays arrangement in the river model. A MHP turbine model consists of a turbine outer body and static propeller blade in it. Five types of arrangements are used which are parallel, series, triangular, square and rhombus with different spacing sizes. The velocity profiles on each MHP turbines are identified at the mouth of each turbine bodies. This study is required to obtain the arrangement with increasing spacing sizes that can produce highest power density through the water flow variation.

Keywords: Micro hydro power, CFD, arrays arrangement, spacing sizes, velocity profile, power.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2110

Authors: Hynek Chlup, Lukas Horny, Rudolf Zitny, Svatava Konvickova, Tomas Adamek

Abstract:

Coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) are widely studied with respect to hemodynamic conditions which play important role in presence of a restenosis. However, papers which concern with constitutive modeling of CABG are lacking in the literature. The purpose of this study is to find a constitutive model for CABG tissue. A sample of the CABG obtained within an autopsy underwent an inflation–extension test. Displacements were recoredered by CCD cameras and subsequently evaluated by digital image correlation. Pressure – radius and axial force – elongation data were used to fit material model. The tissue was modeled as onelayered composite reinforced by two families of helical fibers. The material is assumed to be locally orthotropic, nonlinear, incompressible and hyperelastic. Material parameters are estimated for two strain energy functions (SEF). The first is classical exponential. The second SEF is logarithmic which allows interpretation by means of limiting (finite) strain extensibility. Presented material parameters are estimated by optimization based on radial and axial equilibrium equation in a thick-walled tube. Both material models fit experimental data successfully. The exponential model fits significantly better relationship between axial force and axial strain than logarithmic one.

Keywords: Constitutive model, coronary artery bypass graft, digital image correlation, fiber reinforced composite, inflation test, saphenous vein.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1643

Authors: Takuya Sumi, Syoko Nukaya, Takashi Kaburagi, Hiroshi Tanaka, Kajiro Watanabe, Yosuke Kurihara

Abstract:

We propose an unconstrained measurement system for scratching motion based on mathematical model of unconstrained bed sensing method which could measure the bed vibrations due to the motion of the person on the bed. In this paper, we construct mathematical model of the unconstrained bed monitoring system; and we apply the unconstrained bed sensing method to the system for detecting scratching motion. The proposed sensors are placed under the three bed feet. When the person is lying on the bed, the output signals from the sensors are proportional to the magnitude of the vibration due to the scratching motion. Hence, we could detect the subject’s scratching motion from the output signals from ceramic sensors. We evaluated two scratching motions using the proposed system in the validity experiment as follows: 1st experiment is the subject’s scratching the right side cheek with his right hand, and; 2nd experiment is the subject’s scratching the shin with another foot. As the results of the experiment, we recognized the scratching signals that enable the determination when the scratching occurred. Furthermore, the difference among the amplitudes of the output signals enabled us to estimate where the subject scratched.

Keywords: Unconstrained bed sensing method, scratching, body movement, itchy, piezoceramics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1734

Authors: Ziya Uddin

Abstract:

This paper deals with the theoretical and numerical investigation of magneto hydrodynamic boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a wedge shaped wick in heat pipe used for the cooling of electronic components and different type of machines. To incorporate the effect of nanoparticle diameter, concentration of nanoparticles in the pure fluid, nanothermal layer formed around the nanoparticle and Brownian motion of nanoparticles etc., appropriate models are used for the effective thermal and physical properties of nanofluids. To model the rotation of nanoparticles inside the base fluid, microfluidics theory is used. In this investigation ethylene glycol (EG) based nanofluids, are taken into account. The non-linear equations governing the flow and heat transfer are solved by using a very effective particle swarm optimization technique along with Runge-Kutta method. The values of heat transfer coefficient are found for different parameters involved in the formulation viz. nanoparticle concentration, nanoparticle size, magnetic field and wedge angle etc. It is found that, the wedge angle, presence of magnetic field, nanoparticle size and nanoparticle concentration etc. have prominent effects on fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics for the considered configuration.

Keywords: Heat transfer, Heat pipe, numerical modeling, nanofluid applications, particle swarm optimization, wedge shaped wick.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2310

Authors: D. Kriebel, J. E. Mehner

Abstract:

The paper introduces a method to efficiently simulate nonlinear changing electrostatic fields occurring in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Large deflections of the capacitor electrodes usually introduce nonlinear electromechanical forces on the mechanical system. Traditional finite element methods require a time-consuming remeshing process to capture exact results for this physical domain interaction. In order to accelerate the simulation process and eliminate the remeshing process, a formulation of a strongly coupled electromechanical transducer element will be introduced which uses a combination of finite-element with an advanced mesh morphing technique using radial basis functions (RBF). The RBF allows large geometrical changes of the electric field domain while retain high element quality of the deformed mesh. Coupling effects between mechanical and electrical domains are directly included within the element formulation. Fringing field effects are described accurate by using traditional arbitrary shape functions.

Keywords: electromechanical, electric field, transducer, simulation, modeling, finite-element, mesh morphing, radial basis function

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 517

Authors: Diqiao S. Wei, M. Hossain, Zaid S. Saleh

Abstract:

Polyphenolics and sugar are the components of many fruit juices. In this work, the performance of ultra-filtration (UF) for separating phenolic compounds from apple juice was studied by performing batch experiments in a membrane module with an area of 0.1 m2 and fitted with a regenerated cellulose membrane of 1 kDa MWCO. The effects of various operating conditions: transmembrane pressure (3, 4, 5 bar), temperature (30, 35, 40 ºC), pH (2, 3, 4, 5), feed concentration (3, 5, 7, 10, 15 ºBrix for apple juice) and feed flow rate (1, 1.5, 1.8 L/min) on the performance were determined. The optimum operating conditions were: transmembrane pressure 4 bar, temperature 30 ºC, feed flow rate 1 – 1.8 L/min, pH 3 and 10 Brix (apple juice). After performing ultrafiltration under these conditions, the concentration of polyphenolics in retentate was increased by a factor of up to 2.7 with up to 70% recovered in the permeate and with approx. 20% of the sugar in that stream.. Application of diafiltration (addition of water to the concentrate) can regain the flux by a factor of 1.5, which has been decreased due to fouling. The material balance performed on the process has shown the amount of deposits on the membrane and the extent of fouling in the system. In conclusion, ultrafiltration has been demonstrated as a potential technology to separate the polyphenolics and sugars from their mixtures and can be applied to remove sugars from fruit juice.

Keywords: Fouling, membrane, polyphenols, ultrafiltration.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3387

Authors: Azizeh Chalak, Niloufar Nasri

Abstract:

Students' academic achievement, along with the effects of different variables, has been a serious concern of educators since long ago. This study was an attempt to investigate the interplay of Locus of Control (LOC), academic achievement and biological variables among Iranian online EFL Learners. The participants of the study included 100 students of different age groups and genders studying English online at Iran Language Institute (ILI), Isfahan, Iran. The instrument used was Trice Academic LOC questionnaire which identifies orientations of internality or externality. The participants' Grade Point Averages (GPAs) were used as the measure of their academic achievement. A series of independent samples ttests were performed on the data. The results of the study showed that (a) there were no significant differences between male and female participants in LOC orientation, (b) there was no relationship between LOC and academic achievement among internal males and females, (c) external females were better achievers than external males, (d) and the age had no significant relationship with LOC and academic achievement. It can be concluded that the social, cultural patterns of genders have changed. This study might help sociologists and psychologists as well as applied linguists in that they reflect the recent social changes and their effects on the LOC and their consequent implications in teaching languages.

Keywords: Academic achievement, biological variables, Iranian online EFL learners, locus of control.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2257

Authors: Jenny Oliveros Lao Phillips, Arturo E. Osorio, José Alves

Abstract:

Family business are the dominant form of business in the world, and Chinese family business (CFB) is a unique type of family business that relies on collective action to survive. This paper argues that in CFBs, entrepreneurial actions are transgenerational collective endeavors, and successors are groomed as stewards of the family legacy. Work-life relationship in CFBs is about synergy and not balance because the family identity is the business identity, and vice-versa. Using five in-depth case studies, this research introduces an alternative understanding of CFBs and proposes a model of work-life synergy in transgenerational entrepreneurship based on discussion of five theory-based propositions. This model explains that through emphasizing on the business family’s shared value and entrepreneurial legacy, elements of trust, shared identity and stewardship of family members are enhanced which leads to collective action and goal of the business family, resulting in transgenerational entrepreneurship. Limitations and future research are presented.

Keywords: Chinese family business, family legacy, stewardship, transgenerational entrepreneurship, work-life synergy.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 951

Authors: Mahanijah Md Kamal., Dingli Yu

Abstract:

This paper presents a new method of fault detection and isolation (FDI) for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell (FC) dynamic systems under an open-loop scheme. This method uses a radial basis function (RBF) neural network to perform fault identification, classification and isolation. The novelty is that the RBF model of independent mode is used to predict the future outputs of the FC stack. One actuator fault, one component fault and three sensor faults have been introduced to the PEMFC systems experience faults between -7% to +10% of fault size in real-time operation. To validate the results, a benchmark model developed by Michigan University is used in the simulation to investigate the effect of these five faults. The developed independent RBF model is tested on MATLAB R2009a/Simulink environment. The simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method for FDI under an open-loop condition. By using this method, the RBF networks able to detect and isolate all five faults accordingly and accurately.

Keywords: Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, radial basis function neural networks, fault detection, fault isolation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1814

Authors: Mohammad Shafigh, Nasser Fatouraee, Amirsaied Seddighi

Abstract:

Mechanical properties of cerebral arteries are, due to their relationship with cerebrovascular diseases, of clinical worth. To acquire these properties, eight samples were obtained from middle cerebral arteries of human cadavers, whose death were not due to injuries or diseases of cerebral vessels, and tested within twelve hours after resection, by a precise biaxial tensile test device specially developed for the present study considering the dimensions, sensitivity and anisotropic nature of samples. The resulting stress-stretch curve was plotted and subsequently fitted to a hyperelastic three-parameter Fung model. It was found that the arteries were noticeably stiffer in circumferential than in axial direction. It was also demonstrated that the use of multi-parameter hyperelastic constitutive models is useful for mathematical description of behavior of cerebral vessel tissue. The reported material properties are a proper reference for numerical modeling of cerebral arteries and computational analysis of healthy or diseased intracranial arteries.

Keywords: Anisotropic Tissue, Cerebral Blood Vessels, Fung Model, Nonlinear Material, Plain Stress.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3359

Authors: M.Mirzakhani, M.R.Ardakani , A.Aeene Band , A.H. Shirani Rad, F.Rejali

Abstract:

In order to evaluate the Effects of dual inoculation of Azotobacter and Mycorrhiza with Nitrogen and Phosphorus levels on yield and yield components of spring safflower, this study was carried out in field of Farahan university in Markazi province in 2007. A factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replications was used inoculation of Azotobacter (with inoculation and without inoculation) and Mycorrhiza (with inoculation and without inoculation ) with Nitrogen and Phosphorus levels [F0= N0+ P0 (kg.ha-1), F1= N50+ P25(kg.ha-1), F2= N100+ P50(kg.ha-1) and F3= N150+ P75 (kg.ha-1)] on spring safflower (cultivar IL-111). In this study characteristics such as: Harvest index, Hectolitre weight, Root dry weight, Seed yield, Mycorrhizal Colonization Root, Number of days to maturity were assessed. Results indicated that treatment (A0M1F3) with grain yield (1556 kg.ha-1) and treatment (A0M1F0) with grain yield (918 kg.ha-1) were significantly superior to the other treatments and according to calculated, inoculation seeds in plantig date with Azotobacter and Mycorrhiza to cause increase grain yield about 5/38 percentage. we can by inoculation safflower seeds with Azotobacter and Mycorrhiza too easily at the time sowing date. The purpose of this research, study and evaluation the role of biological fixation N and P, to provide for feeds plants.

Keywords: Spring safflower, grain yield, inoculation, Azotobacter and Mycorrhiza.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1854

Authors: S. S. Dol, M. S. Chan, S. F. Wong, J. S. Lim

Abstract:

Emulsion formation is unavoidable and can be detrimental to an oil field production. The presence of stable emulsions also reduces the quality of crude oil and causes more problems in the downstream refinery operations, such as corrosion and pipeline pressure drop. Hence, it is important to know the effects of emulsions in the pipeline. Light crude oil was used for the continuous phase in the W/O emulsions where the emulsions pass through a flow loop to test the pressure drop across the pipeline. The results obtained shows that pressure drop increases as water cut is increased until it peaks at the phase inversion of the W/O emulsion between 30% to 40% water cut. Emulsions produced by gradual constrictions show a lower stability as compared to sudden constrictions. Lower stability of emulsions in gradual constriction has the higher influence of pressure drop compared to a sudden sharp decrease in diameter in sudden constriction. Generally, sudden constriction experiences pressure drop of 0.013% to 0.067% higher than gradual constriction of the same ratio. Lower constriction ratio cases cause larger pressure drop ranging from 0.061% to 0.241%. Considering the higher profitability in lower emulsion stability and lower pressure drop at the developed flow region of different constrictions, an optimum design of constriction is found to be gradual constriction with a ratio of 0.5.

Keywords: Constriction, pressure drop, turbulence, water cut, water-in-oil emulsions.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1106

Authors: Yan Lyu, Yiqun Pan, Zhizhong Huang

Abstract:

In the design stage of a new building, the energy model of this building is often required for the analysis of the performance on energy efficiency. In practice, a certain degree of geometric simplification should be done in the establishment of building energy models, since the detailed geometric features of a real building are hard to be described perfectly in most energy simulation engine, such as ESP-r, eQuest or EnergyPlus. Actually, the detailed description is not necessary when the result with extremely high accuracy is not demanded. Therefore, this paper analyzed the relationship between the error of the simulation result from building energy models and the geometric simplification of the models. Finally, the following two parameters are selected as the indices to characterize the geometric feature of in building energy simulation: the southward projected area and total side surface area of the building. Based on the parameterization method, the simplification from an arbitrary column building to a typical shape (a cuboid) building can be made for energy modeling. The result in this study indicates that no more than 7% prediction error of annual cooling/heating load will be caused by the geometric simplification for those buildings with the ratio of southward projection length to total perimeter of the bottom of 0.25~0.35, which means this method is applicable for building performance simulation.

Keywords: building energy model, simulation, geometric simplification, design, regression

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 625

Authors: Ayşe Onat, Ferruh Yildiz, Mesut Gündüz

Abstract:

In this study, an OCR system for segmentation, feature extraction and recognition of Ottoman Scripts has been developed using handwritten characters. Detection of handwritten characters written by humans is a difficult process. Segmentation and feature extraction stages are based on geometrical feature analysis, followed by the chain code transformation of the main strokes of each character. The output of segmentation is well-defined segments that can be fed into any classification approach. The classes of main strokes are identified through left-right Hidden Markov Model (HMM).

Keywords: Chain Code, HMM, Ottoman Script Recognition, OCR

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2319

Authors: A. Tomruk, G. Guler, B. Tandogan, E. Ozgur, N.N. Ulusu, N. Seyhan

Abstract:

In the present study, we aimed to design the intrauterine and extrauterine exposure to 1800 MHz GSM-like RF radiation and investigate its possible bio-effects on infant female rabbits. Totally thirty-six New Zealand White female rabbits, onemonth old, were randomly divided into four groups which are composed of 9 rabbits; i. Group I [Intrauterine (IU) exposure(-); Extrauterine (EU) exposure (-)], Group II [IU exposure (-); EU exposure (+)], Group III [IU exposure(+);EU exposure(-)], Group IV [IU exposure (+);EU exposure(+)]. The master regulatory enzymes activities of pentose phosphate pathway (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, G-6PD; 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, 6- PGDH) and glutathione-dependent metabolism (glutathione peroxidase, GSH-Px; glutathione reductase, GR; glutathione Stransferase, GST, thioredoxin reductase, TRx) were analyzed in liver tissues of young female rabbits. Decreased G-6PD, 6-PGD, GSH-Px, GR activities were found in Group III compared to Group I (p<0.05, Mann Whitney). Increased GSH-px and TRx activities were found in Group IV compared to Group I (p<0.05, Mann Whitney). It can be concluded that the intrauterine and extrauterine exposure to GSMlike RF radiation may influence the liver regulatory enzymes activities.

Keywords: Radiofrequency (RF), intrauterine (IU) andextrauterine (EU) exposure, infant female rabbits.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2319

Authors: S. Dorbani, M. Badaoui, D. Benouar

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of the building fundamental period of reinforced concrete buildings of (6, 9, and 12-storey), with different floor plans: Symmetric, mono-symmetric, and unsymmetric. These structures are erected at different epicentral distances. Using the Boumerdes, Algeria (2003) earthquake data, we focused primarily on the establishment of the deterministic formulation linking the base shear force to two parameters: The first one is the fundamental period that represents the numerical fingerprint of the structure, and the second one is the epicentral distance used to represent the impact of the earthquake on this force. In a second step, with a view to highlight the effect of uncertainty in these parameters on the analyzed response, these parameters are modeled as random variables with a log-normal distribution. The variability of the coefficients of variation of the chosen uncertain parameters, on the statistics on the seismic base shear force, showed that the effect of uncertainty on fundamental period on this force statistics is low compared to the epicentral distance uncertainty influence.

Keywords: Base shear force, fundamental period, epicentral distance, uncertainty, lognormal variable, statistics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1303

Authors: Arshia Khan, Hans-Dietrich Haasis

Abstract:

Different tools of the supply chain should be managed very efficiently in mass customization. In the automobile industry, there are different strategies to manage these tools. We need to investigate which strategies among the different ones are successful and which are not. There is lack in literature regarding such analysis. Keeping this in view, the purpose of this paper is to construct a framework and model which can help to analyze the supply chain of mass customized automobiles quantitatively for future studies. Furthermore, we will also consider that which type of data can be used for the suggested model and where it can be taken from. Such framework can help to bring insight for future analysis.

Keywords: Mass customization, supply chain, inventory, distribution, automobile industry.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1624