Search results for: significant wave height

Authors: Abdelgawad, Salah El-Tahawy

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This paper aimed to establish econometrical equation models for the Nile delta region in Egypt, which will represent a basement for future predictions of Lumpy skin disease outbreaks and its pathway in relation to climate change. Data of lumpy skin disease (LSD) outbreaks were collected from the cattle farms located in the provinces representing the Nile delta region during 1 January, 2015 to December, 2015. The obtained results indicated that there was a significant association between the degree of the LSD outbreaks and the investigated climate factors (temperature, wind speed, and humidity) and the outbreaks peaked during the months of June, July, and August and gradually decreased to the lowest rate in January, February, and December. The model obtained depicted that the increment of these climate factors were associated with evidently increment on LSD outbreaks on the Nile Delta of Egypt. The model validation process was done by the root mean square error (RMSE) and means bias (MB) which compared the number of LSD outbreaks expected with the number of observed outbreaks and estimated the confidence level of the model. The value of RMSE was 1.38% and MB was 99.50% confirming that this established model described the current association between the LSD outbreaks and the change on climate factors and also can be used as a base for predicting the of LSD outbreaks depending on the climatic change on the future.

Keywords: LSD, climate factors, econometric models, Nile Delta.

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Authors: B. Marasović, S. Pivac, S. V. Vukasović

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Constructing a portfolio of investments is one of the most significant financial decisions facing individuals and institutions. In accordance with the modern portfolio theory maximization of return at minimal risk should be the investment goal of any successful investor. In addition, the costs incurred when setting up a new portfolio or rebalancing an existing portfolio must be included in any realistic analysis. In this paper rebalancing an investment portfolio in the presence of transaction costs on the Croatian capital market is analyzed. The model applied in the paper is an extension of the standard portfolio mean-variance optimization model in which transaction costs are incurred to rebalance an investment portfolio. This model allows different costs for different securities, and different costs for buying and selling. In order to find efficient portfolio, using this model, first, the solution of quadratic programming problem of similar size to the Markowitz model, and then the solution of a linear programming problem have to be found. Furthermore, in the paper the impact of transaction costs on the efficient frontier is investigated. Moreover, it is shown that global minimum variance portfolio on the efficient frontier always has the same level of the risk regardless of the amount of transaction costs. Although efficient frontier position depends of both transaction costs amount and initial portfolio it can be concluded that extreme right portfolio on the efficient frontier always contains only one stock with the highest expected return and the highest risk.

Keywords: Croatian capital market, Fractional quadratic programming, Markowitz model, Portfolio optimization, Transaction costs.

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Authors: Sanjay Baburao Kulkarni

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Exact solution of an unsteady flow of elastico-viscous fluid through a porous media in a tube of spherical cross section under the influence of constant pressure gradient has been obtained in this paper. Initially, the flow is generated by a constant pressure gradient. After attaining the steady state, the pressure gradient is suddenly withdrawn and the resulting fluid motion in a tube of spherical cross section by taking into account of the porosity factor of the bounding surface is investigated. The problem is solved in twostages the first stage is a steady motion in tube under the influence of a constant pressure gradient, the second stage concern with an unsteady motion. The problem is solved employing separation of variables technique. The results are expressed in terms of a nondimensional porosity parameter (K) and elastico-viscosity parameter (β), which depends on the Non-Newtonian coefficient. The flow parameters are found to be identical with that of Newtonian case as elastic-viscosity parameter tends to zero and porosity tends to infinity. It is seen that the effect of elastico-viscosity parameter, porosity parameter of the bounding surface has significant effect on the velocity parameter.

Keywords: Elastico-viscous fluid, Porous media, Second order fluids, Spherical cross-section.

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Authors: Thanura Abeywardena

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This study recognized the effectiveness of cold-water immersion recovery post short-term exhaustive exercise. The purpose of this study was to understand if 16-20 °C of cold-water immersion would be beneficial in a tropical environment to achieve an optimal recovery in sprint swim performance in comparison to 10-15 °C of water immersion. Two 100 m-sprint swim performance times were measured along with blood lactate (BLa), heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) in a 25 m swimming pool with full body head out horizontal water immersions of 10-15 °C, 16-20 °C and 29-32 °C (pool temperature) for 10 minutes followed by 5 minutes of seated passive rest outside; in between the two swim performances. 10 well-trained adult swimmers (5 male and 5 female) within the top twenty in the Sri Lankan nationals swimming championships in 100m Butterfly and Freestyle in the years 2020 & 2021 volunteered for this study. One-way ANOVA analysis (p < 0.05) suggested performance time, BLa and HR had no significant differences between the three conditions after the second sprint, however RPE was significantly different with p = 0.034 between 10-15 °C and 16-20 °C immersion conditions. The study suggested that the recovery post the two cold-water immersion conditions were similar in terms of performance and physiological factors however the 16-20 °C temperature had a better “feel good” factor post sprint 2. Further study is recommended as there was participant bias with the swimmers not reaching optimal levels in sprint 1. Therefore, they might have been possibly fully recovered before sprint 2 invalidating the physiological effect of recovery.

Keywords: Hydrotherapy, blood lactate, fatigue, recovery, sprint-performance, sprint-swimming.

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Authors: Melissa C. LaDuke

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This systematic literature review sought to explore the dimensions of diversity that can affect classroom learning. This review is significant as it can aid educators in reaching more of their diverse student population and creating supportive classrooms for teachers and students. For this study, peer-reviewed articles were found and compiled using Google Scholar. Key terms used in the search include student individuality, classroom equality, student development, teacher development, and teacher individuality. Relevant educational standards such as Common Core and Partnership for the 21st Century were also included as part of this review. Student and teacher individuality and equality is discussed as well as methods to grow both within educational settings. Embracing student and teacher individuality was found to be key as it may affect how each person interacts with given information. One method to grow individuality and equality in educational settings included drafting and employing revised teaching standards which include various Common Core and US State standards. Another was to use educational theories such as constructivism, cognitive learning, and Experiential Learning Theory. However, barriers to growing individuality, such as not acknowledging differences in a population’s dimensions of diversity, still exist. Studies found preserving the dimensions of diversity owned by both teachers and students yielded more positive and beneficial classroom experiences.

Keywords: Classroom equality, student development, student individuality, teacher development, teacher individuality.

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Authors: Reza Keihani, Ali Bahadori-Jahromi, Timothy James Clacy

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Plastic as an environmental burden is a well-rehearsed topic in the research area. This is due to its global demand and destructive impacts on the environment, which has been a significant concern to the governments. Typically, the use of plastic in the construction industry is seen across low-density, non-structural applications due to its diverse range of benefits including high strength-to-weight ratios, manipulability and durability. It can be said that with the level of plastic consumption experienced in the construction industry, an ongoing responsibility is shown for this sector to continually innovate alternatives for application of recycled plastic waste such as using plastic made replacement from polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl and polypropylene in the concrete mix design. In this study, the impact of partially replaced fine aggregate with polypropylene in the concrete mix design was investigated to evaluate the concrete’s compressive strength by conducting an experimental work which comprises of six concrete mix batches with polypropylene replacements ranging from 0.5 to 3.0%. The results demonstrated a typical decline in the compressive strength with the addition of plastic aggregate, despite this reduction generally mitigated as the level of plastic in the concrete mix increased. Furthermore, two of the six plastic-containing concrete mixes tested in the current study exceeded the ST5 standardised prescribed concrete mix compressive strength requirement at 28-days containing 1.50% and 2.50% plastic aggregates, which demonstrated the potential for use of recycled polypropylene in structural applications, as a partial by mass, fine aggregate replacement in the concrete mix.

Keywords: Compressive strength, concrete, polypropylene, sustainability.

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Authors: Reihaneh Ahmadzadeh Ghavidel, Mehdi Ghiafeh Davoodi

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The usefulness of weaning foods to meet the nutrient needs of children is well recognized, and most of them are precooked roller dried mixtures of cereal and/or legume flours which posses a high viscosity and bulk when reconstituted. The objective of this study was to formulate composite weaning foods using cereals, malted legumes and vegetable powders and analyze them for nutrients, functional properties and sensory attributes. Selected legumes (green gram and lentil) were germinated, dried and dehulled. Roasted wheat, rice, carrot powder and skim milk powder also were used. All the ingredients were mixed in different proportions to get four formulations, made into 30% slurry and dried in roller drier. The products were analyzed for proximate principles, mineral content, functional and sensory qualities. The results of analysis showed following range of constituents per 100g of formulations on dry weight basis, protein, 18.1-18.9 g ; fat, 0.78-1.36 g ; iron, 5.09-6.53 mg; calcium, 265-310 mg. The lowest water absorption capacity was in case of wheat green gram based and the highest was in rice lentil based sample. Overall sensory qualities of all foods were graded as “good" and “very good" with no significant differences. The results confirm that formulated weaning foods were nutritionally superior, functionally appropriate and organoleptically acceptable.

Keywords: malted legumes, weaning foods, nutrition, functional properties

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Authors: J. Thirunavukkarasu, M. Poulet, T. Turner, S. Pickering

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Composite waste from manufacturing can consist of different fiber materials, including blends of different fiber. Commercially, the recycling of composite waste is currently limited to carbon fiber waste and recycling glass fiber waste is currently not economically viable due to the low cost of virgin glass fiber and the reduced mechanical properties of the recovered fibers. For this reason, the recycling of hybrid fiber materials, where carbon fiber is blended with glass fibers, cannot be processed economically. Therefore, a separation method is required to remove the glass fiber materials during the recycling process. An electrostatic separation method is chosen for this work because of the significant difference between carbon and glass fiber electrical properties. In this study, an experimental rig has been developed to measure the electrostatic charge achievable as the materials are passed through a tube. A range of particle lengths (80-100 µm, 6 mm and 12 mm), surface state conditions (0%SA, 2%SA and 6%SA), and several tube wall materials have been studied. A polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube and recycled fiber without sizing agent were identified as the most suitable parameters for the electrical separation method. It was also found that shorter fiber lengths helped to encourage particle flow and attain higher charge values. These findings can be used to develop a separation process to enable the cost-effective recycling of hybrid fiber composite waste. 

Keywords: electrostatic charging, hybrid fiber composite, recycling, short fiber composites

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Authors: Mehdi Modabberifar, Milad Roodi, Ehsan Souri

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In recent years, honeycomb fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) sandwich panels have been increasingly used in various industries. Low weight, low price and high mechanical strength are the benefits of these structures. However, their mechanical properties and behavior have not been fully explored. The objective of this study is to conduct a combined numerical-statistical investigation of honeycomb FRP sandwich beams subject to torsion load. In this paper, the effect of geometric parameters of sandwich panel on maximum shear strain in both face and core and angle of torsion in a honeycomb FRP sandwich structures in torsion is investigated. The effect of Parameters including core thickness, face skin thickness, cell shape, cell size, and cell thickness on mechanical behavior of the structure were numerically investigated. Main effects of factors were considered in this paper and regression equations were derived. Taguchi method was employed as experimental design and an optimum parameter combination for the maximum structure stiffness has been obtained. The results showed that cell size and face skin thickness have the most significant impacts on torsion angle, maximum shear strain in face and core.

Keywords: Finite element, honeycomb FRP sandwich panel, torsion, civil engineering.

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Authors: Sotirios Raptis

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Linking social needs to social classes using different criteria may lead to social services misuse. The paper discusses using ML and Neural Networks (NNs) in linking public services in Scotland in the long term and advocates, this can result in a reduction of the services cost connecting resources needed in groups for similar services. The paper combines typical regression models with clustering and cross-correlation as complementary constituents to predict the demand. Insurance companies and public policymakers can pack linked services such as those offered to the elderly or to low-income people in the longer term. The work is based on public data from 22 services offered by Public Health Services (PHS) Scotland and from the Scottish Government (SG) from 1981 to 2019 that are broken into 110 years series called factors and uses Linear Regression (LR), Autoregression (ARMA) and 3 types of back-propagation (BP) Neural Networks (BPNN) to link them under specific conditions. Relationships found were between smoking related healthcare provision, mental health-related health services, and epidemiological weight in Primary 1(Education) Body Mass Index (BMI) in children. Primary component analysis (PCA) found 11 significant factors while C-Means (CM) clustering gave 5 major factors clusters.

Keywords: Probability, cohorts, data frames, services, prediction.

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Authors: Jin-Tae Lee, Jung-Hoon Suh, Sang-Soo Jang, Jae-Il Lee

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Information and communication service providers (ICSP) that are significant in size and provide Internet-based services take administrative, technical, and physical protection measures via the information security check service (ISCS). These protection measures are the minimum action necessary to secure the stability and continuity of the information and communication services (ICS) that they provide. Thus, information assets are essential to providing ICS, and deciding the relative importance of target assets for protection is a critical procedure. The risk analysis model designed to decide the relative importance of information assets, which is described in this study, evaluates information assets from many angles, in order to choose which ones should be given priority when it comes to protection. Many-sided risk analysis (MSRS) grades the importance of information assets, based on evaluation of major security check items, evaluation of the dependency on the information and communication facility (ICF) and influence on potential incidents, and evaluation of major items according to their service classification, in order to identify the ISCS target. MSRS could be an efficient risk analysis model to help ICSPs to identify their core information assets and take information protection measures first, so that stability of the ICS can be ensured.

Keywords: Information Asset, Information CommunicationFacility, Evaluation, ISCS (Information Security Check Service), Evaluation, Grade.

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Authors: Sulaiman Yunus

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The need for modeling response to urban fire disaster cannot be over emphasized, as recurrent fire outbreaks have gutted most cities of the world. This necessitated the need for a prompt and efficient response system in order to mitigate the impact of the disaster. Promptness, as a function of time, is seen to be the fundamental determinant for efficiency of a response system and magnitude of a fire disaster. Delay, as a result of several factors, is one of the major determinants of promptgness of a response system and also the magnitude of a fire disaster. Response Delay Model (RDM) intends to bridge the gap in urban fire disaster response system through incorporating and synchronizing the delay moments in measuring the overall efficiency of a response system and determining the magnitude of a fire disaster. The model identified two delay moments (pre-notification and Intra-reflex sequence delay) that can be elastic and collectively plays a significant role in influencing the efficiency of a response system. Due to variation in the elasticity of the delay moments, the model provides for measuring the length of delays in order to arrive at a standard average delay moment for different parts of the world, putting into consideration geographic location, level of preparedness and awareness, technological advancement, socio-economic and environmental factors. It is recommended that participatory researches should be embarked on locally and globally to determine standard average delay moments within each phase of the system so as to enable determining the efficiency of response systems and predicting fire disaster magnitudes.

Keywords: Delay moment, fire disaster, reflex sequence, response, response delay moment.

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Authors: Fawad Hussain, Mohammad Basir Bin Saud, Mohd Azwardi Md Isa

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The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the mediating impact of export performance (EP) between technological advancement capabilities and business performance (BP) of Malaysian manufacturing micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSME’s). Firm’s technological advancement resources are hypothesized as a platform to enhance both exports and BP of manufacturing MSMEs in Malaysia. This study is twofold, primary it has investigated that technological advancement capabilities helps to appreciates main performance measures noted in terms of EP and Secondly, it investigates that how efficiently and effectively technological advancement capabilities can contribute in overall Malaysian MSME’s BP. Smart PLS-3 statistical software is used to know the association between technological advancement capabilities, MSME’s EP and BP. In this study, the data was composed from Malaysian manufacturing MSME’s in east coast industrial zones known as the manufacturing hub of MSMEs. Seven hundred and fifty (750) questionnaires were distributed, but only 148 usable questionnaires are returned. The finding of this study indicated that technological advancement capabilities helps to strengthen the export in term of time and cost efficient and it plays a significant role in appreciating their BP. This study is helpful for small and medium enterprise owners who intend to expand their business overseas and though smart technological advancement resources they can achieve their business competitiveness and excellence both at local and international markets.

Keywords: Technological advancement capabilities, export performance, business performance, small and medium manufacturing enterprises, Malaysia.

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Authors: Fooad Karimi Ghaleh Jough, Mohsen Soori

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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.

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Authors: Md. Emaj Uddin

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This study compares family communication patterns in association with family socio-cultural status, especially marriage and family pattern, and couples- socio-economic status between Muslim and Santal communities in rural Bangladesh. A total of 288 couples, 145 couples from the Muslim and 143 couples from the Santal were randomly selected through cluster sampling procedure from Kalna village situated in Tanore Upazila of Rajshahi district of Bangladesh, where both the communities dwell as neighbors. In order to collect data from the selected samples, interview method with semistructural questionnaire schedule was applied. The responses given by the respondents were analyzed by Pearson-s chi-squire test and bivariate correlation techniques. The results of Pearson-s chi-squire test revealed that family communication patterns (X2= 25. 90, df= 2, p<0.01, p>0.05) were significantly different between the Muslim and Santal communities. In addition, Spearman-s bivariate correlation coefficients suggested that among the exogenous factors, family type (rs=.135, p<0.05) and occupation of both husband (rs= .197, p<0.01) and wife (rs= .265, p<0.01) were significantly positive associations, and marital arrangement (rs= -.177, p<0.01), education of husband (rs= -.108, p<0.05) and wife (rs= -.142, p<0.01 & p<0.05), and family income (rs= -.164, p<0.01) were significantly negative relations with the family communication patterns followed between the two communities, although age difference between husband and wife, family head and residence patterns were not significant relations with ones.

Keywords: Bangladesh, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Family Communication Patterns, Family Socio-Cultural Status, Muslim, Santal.

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Authors: T. Sattarpour, D. Nazarpour

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This paper investigates the effect of simultaneous placement of DGs and smart meters (SMs), on voltage profile improvement in active distribution networks (ADNs). A substantial center of attention has recently been on responsive loads initiated in power system problem studies such as distributed generations (DGs). Existence of responsive loads in active distribution networks (ADNs) would have undeniable effect on sizing and siting of DGs. For this reason, an optimal framework is proposed for sizing and siting of DGs and SMs in ADNs. SMs are taken into consideration for the sake of successful implementing of demand response programs (DRPs) such as direct load control (DLC) with end-side consumers. Looking for voltage profile improvement, the optimization procedure is solved by genetic algorithm (GA) and tested on IEEE 33-bus distribution test system. Different scenarios with variations in the number of DG units, individual or simultaneous placing of DGs and SMs, and adaptive power factor (APF) mode for DGs to support reactive power have been established. The obtained results confirm the significant effect of DRPs and APF mode in determining the optimal size and site of DGs to be connected in ADN resulting to the improvement of voltage profile as well.

Keywords: Active distribution network (ADN), distributed generations (DGs), smart meters (SMs), demand response programs (DRPs), adaptive power factor (APF).

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Authors: Achim Kampker, Kai Kreiskoether, Johannes Wagner, Sarah Fluchs

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The growing speed of innovation in related industries requires the automotive industry to adapt and increase release frequencies of new vehicle derivatives which implies a significant reduction of investments per vehicle and ramp-up times. Emerging markets in various parts of the world augment the currently dominating established main automotive markets. Local content requirements such as import tariffs on final products impede the accessibility of these micro markets, which is why in the future market exploitation will not be driven by pure sales activities anymore but rather by setting up local assembly units. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the concept of decentralized assembly and to discuss and critically assess some currently researched and crucial approaches in production technology. In order to determine the scope in which complementary mobile assembly can be profitable for manufacturers, a general cost model is set up and each cost driver is assessed with respect to varying levels of decentralization. One main result of the paper is that the presented approaches offer huge cost-saving potentials and are thus critical for future production strategies. Nevertheless, they still need to be further exploited in order for decentralized assembly to be profitable for companies. The optimal level of decentralization must, however, be specifically determined in each case and cannot be defined in general.

Keywords: Automotive assembly, e-mobility, production technology, small series assembly.

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Authors: Rashid S. Mohammad, Shicheng Zhang, Sun Lu, Syed Jamal-Ud-Din, Xinzhe Zhao

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A compositional reservoir simulation model (CMG-GEM) was used for cyclic CO₂ injection process in unconventional tight reservoir. Cyclic CO₂ injection is an enhanced oil recovery process consisting of injection, shut-in, and production. The study of cyclic CO₂ injection and hydrocarbon recovery in ultra-low permeability reservoirs is mainly a function of rock, fluid, and operational parameters. CMG-GEM was used to study several design parameters of cyclic CO₂ injection process to distinguish the parameters with maximum effect on the oil recovery and to comprehend the behavior of cyclic CO₂ injection in tight reservoir. On the other hand, permeability reduction induced by asphaltene precipitation is one of the major issues in the oil industry due to its plugging onto the porous media which reduces the oil productivity. In addition to asphaltene deposition, solubility of CO₂ in the aquifer is one of the safest and permanent trapping techniques when considering CO₂ storage mechanisms in geological formations. However, the effects of the above uncertain parameters on the process of CO₂ enhanced oil recovery have not been understood systematically. Hence, it is absolutely necessary to study the most significant parameters which dominate the process. The main objective of this study is to improve techniques for designing cyclic CO₂ injection process while considering the effects of asphaltene deposition and solubility of CO₂ in the brine in order to prevent asphaltene precipitation, minimize CO₂ emission, optimize cyclic CO₂ injection, and maximize oil production.

Keywords: Tight reservoirs, cyclic O2 injection, asphaltene, solubility, reservoir simulation.

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Authors: M. Fareed Ahmed, M. Fadhil Nuruddin, Nasir Shafiq

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Due to growing environmental concerns of the cement industry, alternative cement technologies have become an area of increasing interest. It is now believed that new binders are indispensable for enhanced environmental and durability performance. Self-compacting Geopolymer concrete is an innovative method and improved way of concreting operation that does not require vibration for placing it and is produced by complete elimination of ordinary Portland cement. This paper documents the assessment of the compressive strength and workability characteristics of low-calcium fly ash based selfcompacting geopolymer concrete. The essential workability properties of the freshly prepared Self-compacting Geopolymer concrete such as filling ability, passing ability and segregation resistance were evaluated by using Slump flow, V-funnel, L-box and J-ring test methods. The fundamental requirements of high flowability and segregation resistance as specified by guidelines on Self Compacting Concrete by EFNARC were satisfied. In addition, compressive strength was determined and the test results are included here. This paper also reports the effect of extra water, curing time and curing temperature on the compressive strength of self-compacting geopolymer concrete. The test results show that extra water in the concrete mix plays a significant role. Also, longer curing time and curing the concrete specimens at higher temperatures will result in higher compressive strength.

Keywords: Fly ash, Geopolymer Concrete, Self-compactingconcrete, Self-compacting Geopolymer concrete

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

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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.

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Authors: Mansour Nikpour, Mohd Zin kandar, Mohammad Ghomeshi, Nima Moeinzadeh, Mohsen Ghasemi

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So much energy is used in high rise buildings to fulfill the basic needs of users such as lighting and thermal comfort. Malaysia has hot and humid climate, buildings especially high rise buildings receive unnecessary solar radiation that cause more solar heat gain. Energy use specially electricity consumption in high rise buildings has increased. There have been growing concerns about energy consumption and its effect on environment. Building, energy and the environment are important issues that the designers should consider to them. Self protected form is one of possible ways against the impact of solar radiation in high rise buildings. The Energy performance of building envelopes was investigated in term of the Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV ).In this paper, the amount of OTTV reduction was calculated through OTTV Equations to clear the effectiveness of self shading strategy on minimizing energy consumption for cooling interior spaces in high rise buildings which has considerable envelope areas against solar radiation. Also increasing the optimum window area was investigated using self-shading strategy in designing high rise buildings. As result, the significant reduction in OTTV was shown based on WWR.In addition slight increase was demonstrated in WWR that can influence on visible comfort interior spaces.

Keywords: Self-shading strategy, high rise buildings, Overall thermal transfer value (OTTV ), Window to wall ratio (WWR).

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Authors: Fatih Özogul, Nurten Toy, Yesim Özogul

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The influences of cell-free solutions (CFSs) of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on cadaverine and other biogenic amines production by Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus were investigated in lysine decarboxylase broth (LDB) using HPLC. Cell free solutions were prepared from Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris, Pediococcus acidilactici and Streptococcus thermophiles. Two different concentrations that were 50% and 25% CFS and the control without CFSs were prepared. Significant variations on biogenic amine production were observed in the presence of L. monocytogenes and S. aureus (P < 0.05). The function of CFS on biogenic amine production by foodborne pathogens varied depending on strains and specific amine. Cadaverine formation by L. monocytogenes and S. aureus in control were 500.9 and 948.1 mg/L, respectively while the CFSs of LAB induced 4-fold lower cadaverine production by L. monocytogenes and 7-fold lower cadaverine production by S. aureus. The CFSs resulted in strong decreases in cadaverine and putrescine production by L. monocytogenes and S. aureus, although remarkable increases were observed for histamine, spermidine, spermine, serotonin, dopamine, tyramine and agmatine in the presence of LAB in lysine decarboxylase broth.

Keywords: Cell-free solution, lactic acid bacteria, cadaverine, food borne-pathogen.

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Authors: Abd Latif Abdul Rahman, Adnan Jamaludin, Zamalia Mahmud

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Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model has demonstrated the influencing factors for generic information systems use such as tablet personal computer (TPC) and mobile communication. However, in the context of digital library system, there has been very little effort to determine factors affecting the intention to use digital library based on the UTAUT model. This paper investigates factors that are expected to influence the intention of postgraduate students to use digital library based on modified UTAUT model. The modified model comprises of constructs represented by several latent variables, namely performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), information quality (IQ) and service quality (SQ) and moderated by age, gender and experience in using digital library. Results show that performance expectancy, effort expectancy and information quality are positively related to the intention to use digital library, while service quality is negatively related to the intention to use digital library. Age and gender have shown no evidence of any significant interactions, while experience in using digital library significantly interacts with effort expectancy and intention to use digital library. This has provided the evidence of a moderating effect of experience in the intention to use digital library. It is expected that this research will shed new lights into research of acceptance and intention to use the library in a digital environment.

Keywords: Intention to use digital library, UTAUT model, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, information quality, service quality.

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Authors: Mohammadhossein Moghimi, Robert Stone, Pia Rotshtein

Abstract:

Recording psychological and physiological correlates of human performance within virtual environments and interpreting their impacts on human engagement, ‘immersion’ and related emotional or ‘effective’ states is both academically and technologically challenging. By exposing participants to an effective, real-time (game-like) virtual environment, designed and evaluated in an earlier study, a psychophysiological database containing the EEG, GSR and Heart Rate of 30 male and female gamers, exposed to 10 games, was constructed. Some 174 features were subsequently identified and extracted from a number of windows, with 28 different timing lengths (e.g. 2, 3, 5, etc. seconds). After reducing the number of features to 30, using a feature selection technique, K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) methods were subsequently employed for the classification process. The classifiers categorised the psychophysiological database into four effective clusters (defined based on a 3-dimensional space – valence, arousal and dominance) and eight emotion labels (relaxed, content, happy, excited, angry, afraid, sad, and bored). The KNN and SVM classifiers achieved average cross-validation accuracies of 97.01% (±1.3%) and 92.84% (±3.67%), respectively. However, no significant differences were found in the classification process based on effective clusters or emotion labels.

Keywords: Virtual Reality, effective computing, effective VR, emotion-based effective physiological database.

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Authors: Parmjit S. Panesar, Rupinder Kaur, Ram S. Singh

Abstract:

Enzymes are the biocatalysts which catalyze the biochemical processes and thus have a wide variety of applications in the industrial sector. β-Galactosidase (E.C. 3.2.1.23) also known as lactase, is one of the prime enzymes, which has significant potential in the dairy and food processing industries. It has the capability to catalyze both the hydrolytic reaction for the production of lactose hydrolyzed milk and transgalactosylation reaction for the synthesis of prebiotics such as lactulose and galactooligosaccharides. These prebiotics have various nutritional and technological benefits. Although, the enzyme is naturally present in almonds, peaches, apricots and other variety of fruits and animals, the extraction of enzyme from these sources increases the cost of enzyme. Therefore, focus has been shifted towards the production of low cost enzyme from the microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast and fungi. As compared to yeast and bacteria, fungal β-galactosidase is generally preferred as being extracellular and thermostable in nature. Keeping the above in view, the present study was carried out for the isolation of the β-galactosidase producing fungal strain from the food as well as the agricultural wastes. A total of more than 100 fungal cultures were examined for their potential in enzyme production. All the fungal strains were screened using X-gal and IPTG as inducers in the modified Czapek Dox Agar medium. Among the various isolated fungal strains, the strain exhibiting the highest enzyme activity was chosen for further phenotypic and genotypic characterization. The strain was identified as Rhizomucor pusillus on the basis of 5.8s RNA gene sequencing data.

Keywords: β-galactosidase, enzyme, fungus, isolation.

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Authors: Y. Sunecher, N. Mamode Khan, V. Jowaheer

Abstract:

This paper considers the modelling of a non-stationary bivariate integer-valued autoregressive moving average of order one (BINARMA(1,1)) with correlated Poisson innovations. The BINARMA(1,1) model is specified using the binomial thinning operator and by assuming that the cross-correlation between the two series is induced by the innovation terms only. Based on these assumptions, the non-stationary marginal and joint moments of the BINARMA(1,1) are derived iteratively by using some initial stationary moments. As regards to the estimation of parameters of the proposed model, the conditional maximum likelihood (CML) estimation method is derived based on thinning and convolution properties. The forecasting equations of the BINARMA(1,1) model are also derived. A simulation study is also proposed where BINARMA(1,1) count data are generated using a multivariate Poisson R code for the innovation terms. The performance of the BINARMA(1,1) model is then assessed through a simulation experiment and the mean estimates of the model parameters obtained are all efficient, based on their standard errors. The proposed model is then used to analyse a real-life accident data on the motorway in Mauritius, based on some covariates: policemen, daily patrol, speed cameras, traffic lights and roundabouts. The BINARMA(1,1) model is applied on the accident data and the CML estimates clearly indicate a significant impact of the covariates on the number of accidents on the motorway in Mauritius. The forecasting equations also provide reliable one-step ahead forecasts.

Keywords: Non-stationary, BINARMA(1, 1) model, Poisson Innovations, CML

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Authors: Marwah Mohsin, Thomas Beach, Alan Kwan, Mahdi Ismail

Abstract:

This paper describes the differences in views on sustainable development between the general public and experts in a developing country, Iraq. This paper will answer the question: How do the views of the public differ from the generally accepted view of experts in the context of sustainable urban development in Iraq? In order to answer this question, the views of both the public and the experts will be analysed. These results are taken from a public survey and a Delphi questionnaire. These will be analysed using statistical methods in order to identify the significant differences. This will enable investigation of the different perceptions between the public perceptions and the experts’ views towards urban sustainable development factors. This is important due to the fact that different viewpoints between policy-makers and the public will impact on the acceptance by the public of any future sustainable development work that is undertaken. The brief findings of the statistical analysis show that the views of both the public and the experts are considered different in most of the variables except six variables show no differences. Those variables are ‘The importance of establishing sustainable cities in Iraq’, ‘Mitigate traffic congestion’, ‘Waste recycling and separating’, ‘Use wastewater recycling’, ‘Parks and green spaces’, and ‘Promote investment’.

Keywords: Urban sustainable development, experts’ views, public views, statistical analysis.

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Authors: V. Sulakatko, F. U. Vogdt, I. Lill

Abstract:

Construction technology and on-site construction activities have a direct influence on the life cycle costs of energy efficiently renovated apartment buildings. The systematic inadequacies of the External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) which occur during the construction phase increase the risk for all stakeholders, reduce mechanical durability and increase the life cycle costs of the building. The economic effect of these shortcomings can be minimised if the risk of the most significant on-site activities is recognised. The objective of the presented ETICS economic assessment concept is to evaluate the economic influence of on-site shortcomings and reveal their significance to the foreseeable future repair costs. The model assembles repair techniques, discusses their direct cost calculation methods, argues over the proper usage of net present value over the life cycle of the building, and proposes a simulation tool to evaluate the risk of on-site activities. As the technique is dependent on the selected real interest rate, a sensitivity analysis is anticipated to determine the validity of the recommendations. After the verification of the model on the sample buildings by the industry, it is expected to increase economic rationality of resource allocation and reduce high-risk systematic shortcomings during the construction process of ETICS.

Keywords: Activity-based cost estimating, Cost estimation, ETICS, Life cycle costing.

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Authors: Asina Gülerarslan

Abstract:

Today-s children, who are born into a more colorful, more creative, more abstract and more accessible communication environment than their ancestors as a result of dizzying advances in technology, have an interesting capacity to perceive and make sense of the world. Millennium children, who live in an environment where all kinds of efforts by marketing communication are more intensive than ever are, from their early childhood on, subject to all kinds of persuasive messages. As regards advertising communication, it outperforms all the other marketing communication efforts in creating little consumer individuals and, as a result of processing of codes and signs, plays a significant part in building a world of seeing, thinking and understanding for children. Children who are raised with metaphorical expressions such as tales and riddles also meet that fast and effective meaning communication in advertisements. Children-s perception of metaphors, which help grasp the “product and its promise" both verbally and visually and facilitate association between them is the subject of this study. Stimulating and activating imagination, metaphors have unique advantages in promoting the product and its promise especially in regard to print advertisements, which have certain limitations. This study deals comparatively with both literal and metaphoric versions of print advertisements belonging to various product groups and attempts to discover to what extent advertisements are liked, recalled, perceived and are persuasive. The sample group of the study, which was conducted in two elementary schools situated in areas that had different socioeconomic features, consisted of children aged 12.

Keywords: Children, metaphor, perception, print advertisements, recall.

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Authors: Vasudha Bansal, M. L. Singla, C. Ghanshyam

Abstract:

The effect of nonthermal pulsed electric field (PEF) and thermal treatment (90⁰C for 60s) was studied on quality parameters of emblica officinalis juice for the period of 6 weeks at 4⁰C using monopolar rectangular pulse of 1µs width. The PEF treatment was given using static chamber at 24kV/cm for 500µs. The quality of emblica officinalis juice was investigated in terms of non enzymatic browning index (NEBI), 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF), total polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity. ⁰Brix, pH and conductivity were evaluated as physical parameters. The aim of the work was to investigate the effect of PEF on the retention of bioactive compounds and retardation of browning activity. The results showed that conventional thermal treatment had led to a significant (p < 0.05) decrease of 48.15% in polyphenol content (129.56 mg of GAE L^-1), with higher NEBI and HMF formation (p < 0.05) whilst PEF suppressed NEBI and retained higher polyphenol compounds (168.59 mg GAE L^-1) with limiting the loss to 32.56% along maximum free radical scavenging activity (92.07%). However, pH, ⁰brix and electrical conductivity of treated juice samples remain unaffected. Therefore, PEF can be considered as an effective nonthermal treatment for retaining bioactive compounds along suppressing browning of emblica juice.

 

Keywords: Emblica officinalis juice, Free radical scavenging activity, Pulsed electric field, Total polyphenol content.

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