Search results for: Area and Economic Variables

Authors: Lalla Nezha Lakmiti, Abdelkahar Zahid

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Due to the setbacks on the international scene and the wave of cacophonic financial scandals affecting large international groups, the new Islamic finance industry is not immune despite its initial resistance. The purpose of this paper is to understand and analyze the meaning of the Corporate Governance (CG) concept in Moroccan Islamic banking systems with specific reference to their institutions. The research objective is to identify also the path taken and adopted by these banks recently set up in Morocco. The foundation is rooted in shari'a, in particular, no stakeholder (the shareholding approach) must be harmed, and the ethical value is reflected into these parties’ behavior. We chose a qualitative method, semi-structured interviews where six managers provided answers about their banking systems. Since these respondents held a senior position (directors) within their organizations, it is felt that they are well placed and have the necessary knowledge to provide us with information to answer the questions asked. The results identified the orientation of participating banks and assessing how governance works, while determining which party is fovoured: shareholders, stakeholders or both. This study discusses the favorable condition to the harmonization of the regulations and therefore a better integration between Islamic finance and conventional ones in the economic context of Morocco.

Keywords: Corporate governance, participating banks, stakeholders, shareholders, and interests.

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Authors: A. Gamil, G. Herold

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The concept of differential protection based on current quantities has been discussed in many paper and researches. For certificating and inverting of currents and voltages through converter systems, there is no conventional current differential relay, which can compare current quantities, because they are different in form and frequencies. An overview over a new concept of differential protection for converters based on instantaneous power quantities will be discussed in this paper. To drive the power quantities a mathematical background of the space vectors will be introduced. A simple DCLink is preceded in this paper and a power analysis description and simulation is derived using Matlab®/ SimulinkTM concerning a certain construction scheme of Power Differential Relay System. Finally a complete analysis of three phase fault in DC-Link Rectifier is discussed to ensure the ability of Power Differential Protection System to detect the fault in main and selectivity protection sections.

Keywords: Space Vectors, Power Differential Relay (PDR), Short Circuit Power, Diode Recovery Energy, Detected Power Differential Signal (DPDS), Power Space Vector (PSV), Power Space Vector Protection Area (PSVPA).

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Authors: Sunil M. Gaikwad, Yogesh J. Koli, Gopal A. Raut, Ganesh P. Bhawane

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The present investigation was directed to study the diversity of short-horned grasshoppers from a forested area of Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India, which is spread along the hilly terrain of the Northern Western Ghats. The collection was made during 2013 to 2015, and identified with the help of a reference collection of ZSI, Kolkata, and recent literature and dry preserved. The study resulted in the enumeration of 40 species of short-horned grasshoppers belonging to four families of suborder: Caelifera. The family Acrididae was dominant (27 species) followed by Tetrigidae (eight species), Pyrgomorphidae (four species) and Chorotypidae (one species). The report of 40 species from the forest habitat of the study region highlights the significance of the Western Ghats. Ecologically, short-horned grasshoppers are integral to food chains, being consumed by a wide variety of animals. The observations of the present investigation may prove useful for conservation of the Diversity in Northern Western Ghats.

Keywords: Diversity, Kolhapur, Northern Western Ghats, Short-horned grasshoppers.

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Authors: B. Kędra, R. Małkowski

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This paper presents information on Power System Component Simulator – a device designed for LINTE^2 laboratory owned by Gdansk University of Technology in Poland. In this paper, we first provide an introductory information on the Power System Component Simulator and its capabilities. Then, the concept of the unit is presented. Requirements for the unit are described as well as proposed and introduced functions are listed. Implementation details are given. Hardware structure is presented and described. Information about used communication interface, data maintenance and storage solution, as well as used Simulink real-time features are presented. List and description of all measurements is provided. Potential of laboratory setup modifications is evaluated. Lastly, the results of experiments performed using Power System Component Simulator are presented. This includes simulation of under frequency load shedding, frequency and voltage dependent characteristics of groups of load units, time characteristics of group of different load units in a chosen area.

Keywords: Power converter, Simulink real-time, MATLAB, load, tap controller.

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Authors: Varun Joshi, Manish K. Rathod

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The latent heat thermal energy storage system is a thrust area of research due to exuberant thermal energy storage potential. The thermal performance of PCM is significantly augmented by installation of the high thermal conductivity fins. The objective of the present study is to obtain optimum size and location of the fins to enhance diffusion heat transfer without altering overall melting time. Hence, the constructal theory is employed to eliminate, resize, and re-position the fins. A numerical code based on conjugate heat transfer coupled enthalpy porosity approached is developed to solve Navier-Stoke and energy equation.The numerical results show that the constructal fin design has enhanced the thermal performance along with the increase in the overall volume of PCM when compared to conventional. The overall volume of PCM is found to be increased by half of total of volume of fins. The elimination and repositioning the fins at high temperature gradient from low temperature gradient is found to be vital.

Keywords: Constructal theory, enthalpy porosity approach, phase change materials, fins.

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Authors: Yolanda Ramírez, Ángel Tejada, Agustín Baidez

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In the higher education setting, there is a current trend in society toward greater openness and transparency. The economic, social and political changes that have occurred in recent years in public sector universities (particularly the New Public Management, the Bologna Process and the emergence of the “third mission”) call for a wider disclosure of value created by universities to support fundraising activities, to ensure accountability in the use of public funds and the outcomes of research and teaching, as well as close relationships with industries and territories. The paper has two purposes: 1) to explore the intellectual capital (IC) disclosure in Spanish universities through their websites, and 2) to identify university profiles. This study applies a content analysis to analyze the institutional websites of Spanish public universities and a cluster analysis. The analysis reveals that Spanish universities’ website content usually relates to human capital, while structural and relational capitals are less widely disclosed. Our research identifies three behavioral profiles of Spanish universities with regard to the online disclosure of IC (universities more proactive, universities less proactive and universities adopt a middle position in this regard. The results can serve as encouragement to university managers to enhance online IC disclosure to meet the information needs of university stakeholders.

Keywords: Universities, intellectual capital, disclosure, Internet.

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Authors: Morteza Zahedi, Philippe Dreuw, Thomas Deselaers, Hermann Ney

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Sign language is used by the deaf and hard of hearing people for communication. Automatic sign language recognition is a challenging research area since sign language often is the only way of communication for the deaf people. Sign language includes different components of visual actions made by the signer using the hands, the face, and the torso, to convey his/her meaning. To use different aspects of signs, we combine the different groups of features which have been extracted from the image frames recorded directly by a stationary camera. We combine the features in two levels by employing three techniques. At the feature level, an early feature combination can be performed by concatenating and weighting different feature groups, or by concatenating feature groups over time and using LDA to choose the most discriminant elements. At the model level, a late fusion of differently trained models can be carried out by a log-linear model combination. In this paper, we investigate these three combination techniques in an automatic sign language recognition system and show that the recognition rate can be significantly improved.

Keywords: American sign language, appearance-based features, Feature combination, Sign language recognition

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Authors: Saemee Jun, Dong-Hyeon Shin, Tae-Sang Ahn, Hyung-Joon Kim

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Building loss estimation methodologies which have been advanced considerably in recent decades are usually used to estimate socio and economic impacts resulting from seismic structural damage. In accordance with these methods, this paper presents the evaluation of an annual loss probability of a reinforced concrete moment resisting frame designed according to Korean Building Code. The annual loss probability is defined by (1) a fragility curve obtained from a capacity spectrum method which is similar to a method adopted from HAZUS, and (2) a seismic hazard curve derived from annual frequencies of exceedance per peak ground acceleration. Seismic fragilities are computed to calculate the annual loss probability of a certain structure using functions depending on structural capacity, seismic demand, structural response and the probability of exceeding damage state thresholds. This study carried out a nonlinear static analysis to obtain the capacity of a RC moment resisting frame selected as a prototype building. The analysis results show that the probability of being extensive structural damage in the prototype building is expected to 0.01% in a year.

Keywords: Expected annual loss, Loss estimation, RC structure, Fragility analysis.

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Authors: F. O. Faithpraise, J. Idung, C. R. Chatwin, R. C. D. Young, P. Birch, H. Lu

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Taro Scarab beetles (Papuana uninodis, Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) inflict severe damage on important root crops and plants such as Taro or Cocoyam, yam, sweet potatoes, oil palm and coffee tea plants across Africa and Asia resulting in economic hardship and starvation in some nations. Scoliid wasps and Metarhizium anisopliae fungus - bio-control agents; are shown to be able to control the population of Scarab beetle adults and larvae using a newly created simulation model based on non-linear ordinary differential equations that track the populations of the beetle life cycle stages: egg, larva, pupa, adult and the population of the scoliid parasitoid wasps, which attack beetle larvae. In spite of the challenge driven by the longevity of the scarab beetles, the combined effect of the larval wasps and the fungal bio-control agent is able to control and drive down the population of both the adult and the beetle eggs below the environmental carrying capacity within an interval of 120 days, offering the long term prospect of a stable and eco-friendly environment; where the population of scarab beetles is: regulated by parasitoid wasps and beneficial soil saprophytes.

Keywords: Metarhizium anisopliae, Scoliid wasps, Sustainable control, Taro beetles, parasitoids.

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Authors: Antoni Grau, Yolanda Bolea, Alberto Sanfeliu

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Embedding Sustainability in technological curricula has become a crucial factor for educating engineers with competences in sustainability. The Technical University of Catalonia UPC, in 2008, designed the Sustainable Technology Excellence Program STEP 2015 in order to assure a successful Sustainability Embedding. This Program takes advantage of the opportunity that the redesign of all Bachelor and Master Degrees in Spain by 2010 under the European Higher Education Area framework offered. The STEP program goals are: to design compulsory courses in each degree; to develop the conceptual base and identify reference models in sustainability for all specialties at UPC; to create an internal interdisciplinary network of faculty from all the schools; to initiate new transdisciplinary research activities in technology-sustainability-education; to spread the know/how attained; to achieve international scientific excellence in technology-sustainability-education and to graduate the first engineers/architects of the new EHEA bachelors with sustainability as a generic competence. Specifically, in this paper authors explain their experience in leading the STEP program, and two examples are presented: Industrial Robotics subject and the curriculum for the School of Architecture.

Keywords: Sustainability, curricula improvement, robotics.

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Authors: R. Biondi, G. Dys, G. Ferone, T. Renard, M. Zysman

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This paper describes an automated implementable system for impulsive signals detection and recognition. The system uses a Digital Signal Processing device for the detection and identification process. Here the system analyses the signals in real time in order to produce a particular response if needed. The system analyses the signals in real time in order to produce a specific output if needed. Detection is achieved through normalizing the inputs and comparing the read signals to a dynamic threshold and thus avoiding detections linked to loud or fluctuating environing noise. Identification is done through neuronal network algorithms. As a setup our system can receive signals to “learn” certain patterns. Through “learning” the system can recognize signals faster, inducing flexibility to new patterns similar to those known. Sound is captured through a simple jack input, and could be changed for an enhanced recording surface such as a wide-area recorder. Furthermore a communication module can be added to the apparatus to send alerts to another interface if needed.

Keywords: Sound Detection, Impulsive Signal, Background Noise, Neural Network.

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Authors: Simisola I. Akintoye, Sunday K. Iyaniwura

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Recent global corporate failures have called for increase in the need to regulate corporate governance across the world. In Nigeria, the impact of corporate governance regulation in the banking sector has reached epidemic levels contributing to the country’s economic depression. This study critically evaluates Nigeria’s corporate governance regime and explores how weak regulation has impacted on the banking sector. By adopting a socio legal methodology, the study analyses both theoretical and empirical works from a socio-scientific point of view to examine the role of Nigeria’s legal, cultural and social arrangements in corporate governance regulation. The study reveals that Nigeria’s institutional arrangement has contributed to its weak system of corporate governance regulation with adverse effects on the banking sector. The research mainly impacts on current global corporate governance literature in sub-Saharan Africa by contributing to knowledge of the peculiarities of corporate governance regulation in different institutional jurisdictions. The particular focus on emerging economies such as Nigeria expands on the need for countries to develop a bespoke system of corporate governance regulation that takes into consideration the peculiarities of individual countries devoid of external influence.

Keywords: Banks, corporate governance, emerging economies, Nigeria.

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Authors: R. Estrada, A. Henriquez, R. Becerra, C. Laguna

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Spatial Augmented Reality is a variation of Augmented Reality where the Head-Mounted Display is not required. This variation of Augmented Reality is useful in cases where the need for a Head-Mounted Display itself is a limitation. To achieve this, Spatial Augmented Reality techniques substitute the technological elements of Augmented Reality; the virtual world is projected onto a physical surface. To create an interactive spatial augmented experience, the application must be aware of the spatial relations that exist between its core elements. In this case, the core elements are referred to as a projection system and an input system, and the process to achieve this spatial awareness is called system calibration. The Spatial Augmented Reality system is considered calibrated if the projected virtual world scale is similar to the real-world scale, meaning that a virtual object will maintain its perceived dimensions when projected to the real world. Also, the input system is calibrated if the application knows the relative position of a point in the projection plane and the RGB-depth sensor origin point. Any kind of projection technology can be used, light-based projectors, close-range projectors, and screens, as long as it complies with the defined constraints; the method was tested on different configurations. The proposed procedure does not rely on a physical marker, minimizing the human intervention on the process. The tests are made using a Kinect V2 as an input sensor and several projection devices. In order to test the method, the constraints defined were applied to a variety of physical configurations; once the method was executed, some variables were obtained to measure the method performance. It was demonstrated that the method obtained can solve different arrangements, giving the user a wide range of setup possibilities.

Keywords: Color depth sensor, human computer interface, interactive surface, spatial augmented reality.

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Authors: E. A. Feilat, I. A. Metwally, S. Al-Matri, A. S. Al-Abri

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This paper presents the results of a comprehensive investigation of five blackouts that occurred on 28 August to 8 September 2011 due to bushing failures of the 132/33 kV, 125 MVA transformers at JBB Ali Grid station. The investigation aims to explore the root causes of the bushing failures and come up with recommendations that help in rectifying the problem and avoiding the reoccurrence of similar type of incidents. The incident reports about the failed bushings and the SCADA reports at this grid station were examined and analyzed. Moreover, comprehensive power quality field measurements at ten 33/11 kV substations (S/Ss) in JBB Ali area were conducted, and frequency scans were performed to verify any harmonic resonance frequencies due to power factor correction capacitors. Furthermore, the daily operations of the on-load tap changers (OLTCs) of both the 125 MVA and 20 MVA transformers at JBB Ali Grid station have been analyzed. The investigation showed that the five bushing failures were due to a local problem, i.e. internal degradation of the bushing insulation. This has been confirmed by analyzing the time interval between successive OLTC operations of the faulty grid transformers. It was also found that monitoring the number of OLTC operations can help in predicting bushing failure.

Keywords: Modeling and simulation, power system, transformer, bushing, OLTC, power quality, partial discharge.

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Authors: A. Khanal, A. Osareh, G. Lebby

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Wind energy offers a significant advantage such as no fuel costs and no emissions from generation. However, wind energy sources are variable and non-dispatchable. The utility grid is able to accommodate the variability of wind in smaller proportion along with the daily load. However, at high penetration levels, the variability can severely impact the utility reserve requirements and the cost associated with it. In this paper the impact of wind energy is evaluated in detail in formulating the total utility cost. The objective is to minimize the overall cost of generation while ensuring the proper management of the load. Overall cost includes the curtailment cost, reserve cost and the reliability cost, as well as any other penalty imposed by the regulatory authority. Different levels of wind penetrations are explored and the cost impacts are evaluated. As the penetration level increases significantly, the reliability becomes a critical question to be answered. Here we increase the penetration from the wind yet keep the reliability factor within the acceptable limit provided by NERC. This paper uses an economic dispatch (ED) model to incorporate wind generation into the power grid. Power system costs are analyzed at various wind penetration levels using Linear Programming. The goal of this study is show how the increases in wind generation will affect power system economics.

Keywords: Balancing Reserves, Optimization, Wind Energy.

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Authors: Fattah Alizadeh, Saeed Nalousi, Chiman Savari

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Because of increasing demands for security in today-s society and also due to paying much more attention to machine vision, biometric researches, pattern recognition and data retrieval in color images, face detection has got more application. In this article we present a scientific approach for modeling human skin color, and also offer an algorithm that tries to detect faces within color images by combination of skin features and determined threshold in the model. Proposed model is based on statistical data in different color spaces. Offered algorithm, using some specified color threshold, first, divides image pixels into two groups: skin pixel group and non-skin pixel group and then based on some geometric features of face decides which area belongs to face. Two main results that we received from this research are as follow: first, proposed model can be applied easily on different databases and color spaces to establish proper threshold. Second, our algorithm can adapt itself with runtime condition and its results demonstrate desirable progress in comparison with similar cases.

Keywords: face detection, skin color modeling, color, colorfulimages, face recognition.

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Authors: Sheng-Lan Zeng, Ting-Ting Zhang, Yu Gao, Zu-Tao Ouyang, Jia-Kuan Chen, Bo Li, Bin Zhao

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Urbanization and related anthropogenic modifications cause extent of habitat fragmentation and directly lead to decline of local biodiversity. Conservation biologists advocate corridor creation as one approach to rescue biodiversity. Here we examine the utility of roads as corridors in preserving plant diversity by investigating roadside vegetation in Yellow River Delta (YRD), China. We examined the spatio-temporal distribution pattern of plant species richness, diversity and composition along roadside. The results suggest that roads, as dispersal conduits, increase occurrence probability of new settlers to a new area, meanwhile, roads accumulate the greater propagule pressure and favourable survival condition during operation phase. As a result, more species, including native and alien plants, non- halophyte and halophyte species, threatened and cosmopolitic species, were found prosperous at roadside. Roadside may be a refuge for more species, and the pattern of vegetation distribution is affected by road age and the distance from road verge.

Keywords: Native and alien species, Plant diversity conservation, Road construction, Road disturbance

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Authors: L. Grinis, N. Lubashevsky, Y. Ostrovski

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In wastewater treatment processes, aeration introduces air into a liquid. In these systems, air is introduced by different devices submerged in the wastewater. Smaller bubbles result in more bubble surface area per unit of volume and higher oxygen transfer efficiency. Jet pumps are devices that use air bubbles and are widely used in wastewater treatment processes. The principle of jet pumps is their ability to transfer energy of one fluid, called primary or motive, into a secondary fluid or gas. These pumps have no moving parts and are able to work in remote areas under extreme conditions. The objective of this work is to study experimentally the characteristics of the jet pump and the size of air bubbles in the laboratory water tank. The effect of flow rate ratio on pump performance is investigated in order to have a better understanding about pump behavior under various conditions, in order to determine the efficiency of receiving air bubbles different sizes. The experiments show that we should take care when increasing the flow rate ratio while seeking to decrease bubble size in the outlet flow. This study will help improve and extend the use of the jet pump in many practical applications.

Keywords: Jet pump, air bubbles size, retention time.

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Authors: A. Umemuro, M. Sato, M. Narita, S. Hori, S. Sakurai, T. Nakayama, A. Nakazawa, T. Ogura

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Mammography requires the detection of very small calcifications, and physicians search for microcalcifications by magnifying the images as they read them. The mouse is necessary to zoom in on the images, but this can be tiring and distracting when many images are read in a single day. Therefore, an image magnification system combining an eye-detector and a simple electroencephalograph (EEG) scanner was devised, and its operability was evaluated. Two experiments were conducted in this study: the measurement of eye-detection error using an eye-detector and the measurement of the time required for image magnification using a simple EEG scanner. Eye-detector validation showed that the mean distance of eye-detection error ranged from 0.64 cm to 2.17 cm, with an overall mean of 1.24 ± 0.81 cm for the observers. The results showed that the eye detection error was small enough for the magnified area of the mammographic image. The average time required for point magnification in the verification of the simple EEG scanner ranged from 5.85 to 16.73 seconds, and individual differences were observed. The reason for this may be that the size of the simple EEG scanner used was not adjustable, so it did not fit well for some subjects. The use of a simple EEG scanner with size adjustment would solve this problem. Therefore, the image magnification system using the eye-detector and the simple EEG scanner is useful.

Keywords: EEG scanner, eye-detector, mammography, observers.

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Authors: Bashaiar Alsanaa

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Never has a revolution affected all aspects of humanity as the communication revolution during the past two decades. This revolution, with all its advances and utilities, swept the world thus becoming an integral part of our lives, hence giving way to emerging applications at the social, economic, political, and educational levels. More specifically, such applications have changed the delivery system through which learning is acquired by students. Interaction with educators, accessibility to content, and creative delivery options are but a few facets of the new learning experience now being offered through the use of technology in the educational field. With different success rates, third world countries have tried to pace themselves with use of educational technology in advanced parts of the world. One such country is the small rich-oil state of Kuwait which has tried to adopt the e-educational model, however, an evaluation of such trial is yet to be done. This study aimed to fill the void of research conducted around that topic. The study explored students' acceptance of incorporating communication technologies in higher education in Kuwait. Students' responses to survey questions presented an overview of the e-learning experience in this country, and drew a framework through which implications and suggestions for future research were discussed to better serve the advancement of e-education in developing countries.

Keywords: Communication technologies, E-learning, Kuwait, Social media

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Authors: N. Poorang

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In order to respond the human needs, all regional, social, and economical factors are available to gain residents’ comfort and ideal architecture. There is no doubt the thermal comfort has to satisfy people not only for daily and physical activities but also creating pleasant area for mental activities and relaxing. It costs energy and increases greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing energy use in buildings is a critical component of meeting carbon reduction commitments. Hence housing design represents a major opportunity to cut energy use and CO₂ emissions.

In terms of energy efficiency, it is vital to propose and research modern design methods for buildings however vernacular architecture techniques are proven empirical existing practices which have to be considered. This research tries to compare two architectural solution were proposed by Persian vernacular architecture, to achieve energy efficiency in hot areas.

The aim of this research is to analyze two forms of traditional Persian architecture in different locations in order to develop a systematic research and sustainable technologies on adaptation to contemporary living standards.

Keywords: Comparative Analysis, Persian Vernacular Architecture, Sustainable architecture.

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Authors: C. Matasane, C. Dwarika, R. Naidoo

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The mathematical analysis on radiation obtained and the development of the solar photovoltaic (PV) array groundwater pumping is needed in the rural areas of Thohoyandou for sizing and power performance subject to the climate conditions within the area. A simple methodology approach is developed for the directed coupled solar, controller and submersible ground water pump system. The system consists of a PV array, pump controller and submerged pump, battery backup and charger controller. For this reason, the theoretical solar radiation is obtained for optimal predictions and system performance in order to achieve different design and operating parameters. Here the examination of the PV schematic module in a Direct Current (DC) application is used for obtainable maximum solar power energy for water pumping. In this paper, a simple efficient photovoltaic water pumping system is presented with its theoretical studies and mathematical modeling of photovoltaics (PV) system.

Keywords: Renewable energy sources, solar groundwater pumping, theoretical and mathematical analysis of photovoltaic (PV) system, theoretical solar radiation.

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Authors: Farid Arya, Trevor Hyde, Paul Henshall, Phillip Eames, Roger Moss, Stan Shire

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Vacuum flat plate solar thermal collectors offer several advantages over other collectors namely the excellent optical and thermal characteristics they exhibit due to a combination of their wide surface area and high vacuum thermal insulation. These characteristics can offer a variety of applications for industrial process heat as well as for building integration as they are much thinner than conventional collectors making installation possible in limited spaces. However, many technical challenges which need to be addressed to enable wide scale adoption of the technology still remain. This paper will discuss the challenges, expectations and requirements for the flat-plate vacuum solar collector development. In addition, it will provide an overview of work undertaken in Ulster University, Loughborough University, and the University of Warwick on flat-plate vacuum solar thermal collectors. Finally, this paper will present a detailed experimental investigation on the development of a vacuum panel with a novel sealing method which will be used to accommodate a novel slim hydroformed solar absorber.

Keywords: Hot box calorimeter, infrared thermography, solar thermal collector, vacuum insulation.

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Authors: E. Kharaishvili, M. Chavleishvili, M. Natsvaladze

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The article presents the trends in Georgian wine market development and evaluates the competitive advantages of Georgia to enter the wine market based on its customs, traditions and historical practices combined with modern technologies. In order to analyze the supply of wine, dynamics of vineyard land area and grape varieties are discussed, trends in wine production are presented, trends in export and import are evaluated, local wine market, its micro and macro environments are studied and analyzed based on the interviews with experts and analysis of initial recording materials. For strengthening its position on the international market, the level of competitiveness of Georgian wine is defined, which is evaluated by “ex-ante” and “ex-post” methods, as well as by four basic and two additional factors of the Porter’s diamond method; potential advantages and disadvantages of Georgian wine are revealed. Conclusions are made by identifying the factors that hinder the development of Georgian wine market. Based on the conclusions, relevant recommendations are developed.

Keywords: Georgian wine market, competitive advantage, bio wine, export-import, Porter's diamond model.

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Authors: Norasmah Othman, Suzana Mohamed, Salpiah Suradi

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Copreneurship is a term used to describe the business pattern of operations run by married couples who share commitment, goals, and responsibilities in handling a business. Research conducted overseas showed that copreneurship business activities grew quickly and played a role in elevating families’ and nations’ socio-economic standards. In Malaysia, copreneurship has long been cultivated by spouses. Thus, this study aimed to explore the factors that motivate married partners to start a copreneurship business, and who is the dominant partner in the management of this business. The study participants are four entrepreneurial couples who are SME business operators selected through purposive sampling. In-depth interviews and direct observation were used as methods of measurement for triangulation of qualitative data in this study. The findings of the interviews were administered using NVivo 8.0 software. The result shows that freedom is a key factor that drives entrepreneurs to set up copreneurship businesses, and that the husband dominates the management aspects of the business. The study gives an overview of the parties involved in entrepreneurship to provide understanding of the copreneurship concept as it is practiced. This study provides academic value by creating understanding of the importance of a harmonious family institution specifically for forming entrepreneurs in the familial environment in Malaysia.

Keywords: Copreneurs, copreneurship, business management, enterprise.

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Authors: J. Y. Jang, C. Y. Tseng

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A three-dimensional numerical model of thermoelectric generator (TEG) modules attached to a large chimney plate is proposed and solved numerically using a control volume based finite difference formulation. The TEG module consists of a thermoelectric generator, an elliptical pin-fin heat sink, and a cold plate for water cooling. In the chimney, the temperature of flue gases is 450-650K. Although the TEG hot-side temperature and thus the electric power output can be increased by inserting an elliptical pin-fin heat sink into the chimney tunnel to increase the heat transfer area, the pin fin heat sink would cause extra pumping power at the same time. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of geometrical parameters on the electric power output and chimney pressure drop characteristics. The effects of different operating conditions, including various inlet velocities (Vin= 1, 3, 5 m/s), inlet temperatures (Tgas = 450, 550, 650K) and different fin height (0 to 150 mm) are discussed in detail. The predicted numerical data for the power vs. current (P-I) curve are in good agreement (within 11%) with the experimental data.

Keywords: Thermoelectric generator, Waste heat recovery, Elliptical pin-fin heat sink.

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Authors: Jianzheng Wei, Duo Zhen, Zhihan Yang, Huifeng Tan

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The deployable descent technology is a lightweight entry method using an inflatable heat shield. The heatshield consists of a pressurized core which is covered by different layers of thermal insulation and flexible ablative materials in order to protect against the thermal loads. In this paper, both aluminum and silicon-aluminum aerogels were prepared by freeze-drying method. The latter material has bigger specific surface area and nano-scale pores. Mullite fibers are used as the reinforcing fibers to prepare the aerogel matrix to improve composite flexibility. The flexible composite materials were performed as an insulation layer to an underlying aramid fabric by a thermal shock test at a heat flux density of 120 kW/m² and uniaxial tensile test. These results show that the aramid fabric with untreated mullite fibers as the thermal protective layer is completely carbonized at the heat of about 60 s. The aramid fabric as a thermal resistance layer of the composite material still has good mechanical properties at the same heat condition.

Keywords: Aerogel, aramid fabric, flexibility, thermal resistance.

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Authors: Rayeheh Khatami, Toktam Hanaei, Mohammad Reza Mansouri Daneshvar

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Today, many local and national governments are developing urban agriculture as an effective tool in responding to challenges such as food security, poverty and environmental problems. In fact, urban agriculture plays an important role in food system, which can provide citizens' income and become one of the components of economic, social and environmental systems. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the urban agriculture and urban food systems in order to understand the impact of urban foods production on environmental planning in non-western city region context. To achieve such objective, we carry out a case study in Mashhad city of Iran by using qualitative approaches. A survey on documentary studies and planning tools integrate with face to face interview with experts which explain the role of food system in environmental planning process. The paper extends the use of food in the environmental planning, specifically to examine this role to create agricultural garden as a mean to improve agricultural system in non-western country. The paper is concluded with a set of recommendations for researchers and policymakers who seek to create spaces in order to implement urban agriculture in cities for food justice.

Keywords: Urban agriculture, food system, environmental planning, agricultural garden, Mashhad.

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Authors: Francisco Ben, Tracey Price, Chad Morrison, Victoria Warren, Willy Gollan, Robyn Dunbar, Frank Davies, Mark Sorrell

Abstract:

This paper focuses particularly on the educational aspects that contribute to the overall educational satisfaction rated by Tabor School of Education students who participated in the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in 2010, 2012 and 2013. In all three years of participation, Tabor ranked first especially in the area of overall student satisfaction. By using a single level path analysis in relation to the AUSSE datasets collected using the Student Engagement Questionnaire (SEQ) for Tabor School of Education, seven aspects that contribute to overall student satisfaction have been identified. There appears to be a direct causal link between aspects of the Supportive Learning Environment, Work Integrated Learning, Career Readiness, Academic Challenge, and overall educational satisfaction levels. A further three aspects, being Student and Staff Interactions, Active Learning, and Enriching Educational Experiences, indirectly influence overall educational satisfaction levels.

Keywords: Tertiary student satisfaction, tertiary educational experience, pre-service teacher education, path analysis.

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Authors: Morakot Worachairungreung

Abstract:

The objectives of the research are to study patterns of fire location distribution and develop techniques of Geographic Information System application in fire risk assessment for fire planning and management. Fire risk assessment was based on two factors: the vulnerability factor such as building material types, building height, building density and capacity for mitigation factor such as accessibility by road, distance to fire station, distance to hydrants and it was obtained from four groups of stakeholders including firemen, city planners, local government officers and local residents. Factors obtained from all stakeholders were converted into Raster data of GIS and then were superimposed on the data in order to prepare fire risk map of the area showing level of fire risk ranging from high to low. The level of fire risk was obtained from weighted mean of each factor based on the stakeholders. Weighted mean for each factor was obtained by Analytical Hierarchy Analysis.

Keywords: Fire Risk Assessment, Geographic Information System: GIS, Raster Analysis and Analytical Hierarchy Analysis.

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