Search results for: active forms of counteracting unemployment

Authors: Yu-Chuan Chang, Chen Shi-Kai

Abstract:

A water reuse system in wetland paddy was simulated to supply water for industrial in this paper. A two-tank model was employed to represent the return flow of the wetland paddy.Historical data were performed for parameter estimation and model verification. With parameters estimated from the data, the model was then used to simulate a reasonable return flow rate from the wetland paddy. The simulation results show that the return flow ratio was 11.56% in the first crop season and 35.66% in the second crop season individually; the difference may result from the heavy rainfall in the second crop season. Under the existent pond with surplus active capacity, the water reuse ratio was 17.14%, and the water supplementary ratio was 21.56%. However, the pattern of rainfall, the active capacity of the pond, and the rate of water treatment limit the volume of reuse water. Increasing the irrigation water, dredging the depth of pond before rainy season and enlarging the scale of module are help to develop water reuse system to support for the industrial water use around wetland paddy.

Keywords: Return flow, water reuse, wetland paddy, return flow ratio (RR), water reuse ratio (WRR), water supplementary ratio(WSR)

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Authors: Kawinphat Lertpongmanee

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The problems of trafficking human beings were continuously violent in Thailand. The problems occurred from a variety of factors such as unemployment, agricultural workers’ urban immigration, sex tour, attitude of materialism society, divorced family, unsavourily effected law, and officers’ ignorance. The purposes of this study were to study the structure, connection, a number of trafficking human beings in Thailand. Qualitative and quantitative and results of previous research were used in this research. The previous procurers, interested persons, experienced people, human beings-aiding organization, and women-children rights organization were interviewed in depth. The field was used in a variety of regions. The findings showed that the structure and connection of trafficking human beings and their values are $8,750 million. There are 240,000 people in trafficked human beings. The trend of trafficking human beings grows continuously. It is changed according to economic circumstance, society and culture, and law. The state must be aware of its problem. The law is enacted by adding high penalty for serious fear.

Keywords: Human Trade, Prostitution trafficking, trafficking in women and children.

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Authors: Huda Ahmed Al Taisan

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This paper investigates a phonological phenomenon, which exhibits variation ‘alternation’ in terms of the uvular consonants [q] and [ʁ] in Hasawi Arabic. This dialect is spoken in Alahsa city, which is located in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. To the best of our knowledge, no such research has systematically studied this phenomenon in Hasawi Arabic dialect. This paper is significant because it fills the gap in the literature about this alternation phenomenon in this understudied dialect. A large amount of the data is extracted from several interviews the author has conducted with 10 participants, native speakers of the dialect, and complemented by additional forms from social media. The latter method of collecting the data adds to the significance of the research. The analysis of the data is carried out in Harmonic Serialism Optimality Theory (HS-OT), a version of the Optimality Theoretic (OT) framework, which holds that linguistic forms are the outcome of the interaction among violable universal constraints, and in the recent development of OT into a model that accounts for linguistic variation in harmonic derivational steps. This alternation process is assumed to be phonologically unconditioned and in free variation in other varieties of Arabic dialects in the area. The goal of this paper is to investigate whether this phenomenon is in free variation or governed, what governs this alternation between [q] and [ʁ] and whether the alternation is phonological or other linguistic constraints are in action. The results show that the [q] and [ʁ] alternation is not free and it occurs due to different assimilation processes. Positional, segmental sequence and vowel adjacency factors are in action in Hasawi Arabic.

Keywords: Harmonic serialism, Hasawi, uvular, alternation.

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Authors: M. Kumpugdee-Vollrath, J.-P. Krause, S. Bürk

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Most of the drugs used for pharmaceutical purposes are poorly water-soluble drugs. About 40% of all newly discovered drugs are lipophilic and the numbers of lipophilic drugs seem to increase more and more. Drug delivery systems such as nanoparticles, micelles or liposomes are applied to improve their solubility and thus their bioavailability. Besides various techniques of solubilization, oil-in-water emulsions are often used to incorporate lipophilic drugs into the oil phase. To stabilize emulsions surface active substances (surfactants) are generally used. An alternative method to avoid the application of surfactants was of great interest. One possibility is to develop O/W-emulsion without any addition of surface active agents or the so called “surfactant-free emulsion or SFE”. The aim of this study was to develop and characterize SFE as a drug carrier by varying the production conditions. Lidocaine base was used as a model drug. The injection method was developed. Effects of ultrasound as well as of temperature on the properties of the emulsion were studied. Particle sizes and release were determined. The long-term stability up to 30 days was performed. The results showed that the surfactant-free O/W emulsions with pharmaceutical oil as drug carrier can be produced.

Keywords: Emulsion, lidocaine, Miglyol, size, surfactant, light scattering, release, injection, ultrasound, stability.

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Authors: S. Ahmed Sinthia

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Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is one of the densely populated cities in the world. Due to rapid urbanization 60% of its population lives in slum and squatter settlements. The reason behind this poverty is low economic growth, inequitable distribution of income, unequal distribution of productive assets, unemployment and underemployment, high rate of population growth, low level of human resource development, natural disasters, and limited access to public services. Along with poverty, creating pressure on urban land, shelter, plots, open spaces this creates environmental and ecological degradation. These constraints are mostly resulted from the failures of the government policies and measures and only Government can solve this problem. This is now prime time to establish planning and environmental management policy and sustainable urban development for the city and for the urban slum dwellers which are free from eviction, criminals, rent seekers and other miscreants.

Keywords: Economic and resource constraints, environmental degradation and management, government policy, land management and policy, sustainable development.

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Authors: Chien-Hui Yang, Che-Yang Lin, Ya-Chen Hsu

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Gold passbook is an investing tool that is especially suitable for investors to do small investment in the solid gold. The gold passbook has the lower risk than other ways investing in gold, but its price is still affected by gold price. However, there are many factors can cause influences on gold price. Therefore, building a model to predict the price of gold passbook can both reduce the risk of investment and increase the benefits. This study investigates the important factors that influence the gold passbook price, and utilize the Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) to build the predictive model. This method can not only obtain the significant variables but also perform well in prediction. Finally, the significant variables of gold passbook price, which can be predicted by GMDH, are US dollar exchange rate, international petroleum price, unemployment rate, whole sale price index, rediscount rate, foreign exchange reserves, misery index, prosperity coincident index and industrial index.

Keywords: Gold price, Gold passbook price, Group Method ofData Handling (GMDH), Regression.

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Authors: A. Breda, C. Cruz

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The Japanese art of origami provides a rich context for designing exploratory mathematical activities for children and young people. By folding a simple sheet of paper, fascinating and surprising planar and spatial configurations emerge. Equally surprising is the unfolding process, which also produces striking patterns. The procedure of folding, unfolding, and folding again allows the exploration of interesting geometric patterns. When adequately and systematically done, we may deduce some of the mathematical rules ruling origami. As the child/youth folds the sheet of paper repeatedly, he can physically observe how the forms he obtains are transformed and how they relate to the pattern of the corresponding unfolding, creating space for the understanding/discovery of mathematical principles regulating the folding-unfolding process. As part of a 2023 Summer Academy organized by a Portuguese university, a session entitled “Folding, Thinking and Generalizing” took place. 23 students attended the session, all enrolled in the 2nd cycle of Portuguese Basic Education and aged between 10 and 12 years old. The main focus of this session was to foster the development of critical cognitive and socio-emotional skills among these young learners, using origami. These skills included creativity, critical analysis, mathematical reasoning, collaboration, and communication. Employing a qualitative, descriptive, and interpretative analysis of data, collected during the session through field notes and students’ written productions, our findings reveal that structured origami-based activities not only promote student engagement with mathematical concepts in a playful and interactive but also facilitate the development of socio-emotional skills, which include collaboration and effective communication between participants. This research highlights the value of integrating origami into educational practices, highlighting its role in supporting comprehensive cognitive and emotional learning experiences.

Keywords: Active learning, hands-on activities, origami, creativity, critical thinking.

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Authors: T. M. Agbede, A. O. Adekiya

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Field experiments were conducted during 2013, 2014 and 2015 cropping seasons at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, southwest Nigeria. The objective of the investigation was to determine the effect of Cocoa Pod Ash (CPA) and Poultry Manure (PM) applied solely and their combined form, as sources of fertilizers on soil properties, leaf nutrient composition, growth and yield of yam. Three soil amendments: CPA, PM (sole forms), CPA and PM (mixture), were applied at 20 t ha^-1 with an inorganic fertilizer (NPK 15-15-15) at 400 kg ha^-1 as a reference and a natural soil fertility, NSF (control). The five treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The test soil was slightly acidic, low in organic carbon (OC), N, P, K, Ca and Mg. Results showed that soil amendments significantly increased (p = 0.05) tuber weights and growth of yam, soil and leaf N, P, K, Ca and Mg, soil pH and OC concentrations compared with the NSF (control). The mixture of CPA+PM treatment increased tuber weights of yam by 36%, compared with inorganic fertilizer (NPK) and 19%, compared with PM alone. Sole PM increased tuber weight of yam by 15%, compared with NPK. Sole or mixed forms of soil amendments showed remarkable improvement in soil physical properties, nutrient availability, compared with NPK and the NSF (control). Integrated application of CPA at 10 t ha^-1 + PM at 10 t ha^-1 was the most effective treatment in improving soil physical properties, increasing nutrient availability and yam performance than sole application of any of the fertilizer materials.

Keywords: Cocoa pod ash, leaf nutrient composition, poultry manure, soil properties, yam.

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Authors: S. Nandagopalan, N. Pradeep

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The aim of this paper is to propose a general framework for storing, analyzing, and extracting knowledge from two-dimensional echocardiographic images, color Doppler images, non-medical images, and general data sets. A number of high performance data mining algorithms have been used to carry out this task. Our framework encompasses four layers namely physical storage, object identification, knowledge discovery, user level. Techniques such as active contour model to identify the cardiac chambers, pixel classification to segment the color Doppler echo image, universal model for image retrieval, Bayesian method for classification, parallel algorithms for image segmentation, etc., were employed. Using the feature vector database that have been efficiently constructed, one can perform various data mining tasks like clustering, classification, etc. with efficient algorithms along with image mining given a query image. All these facilities are included in the framework that is supported by state-of-the-art user interface (UI). The algorithms were tested with actual patient data and Coral image database and the results show that their performance is better than the results reported already.

Keywords: Active Contour, Bayesian, Echocardiographic image, Feature vector.

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Authors: H. Fallah, Z. Naddaf Baghdadabadi

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Planning of economic activities development has various dimensions one of which determines adequate capacity of economic activities in provinces regarding the government-s goals. Paralleling planning goals of economic activities development including subjects being focused on the view statement is effective to better realize the statement's goals. Current paper presents a native framework for economic activities development in provincial level. Triple steps within the framework are concordant with the view statement-s goals achievement. At first step of the proposed framework, economic activities are being prioritized in terms of employment indices, and secondly economic activities regarding to the province's relative advantages are being recognized. In the third step, desirable capacity of economic activities is determined with regards to the government's goals and effective constraints in economic activities development. Development of economic activities related to the provinces- relative advantages, contributes on regional balance and on equal development of economic activities. Furthermore, results of the framework enable more confident investment, affect employment development and remove unemployment concern as the main goals of the view statement.

Keywords: Development, economic activity, regional planning, view statement.

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Authors: Hui-Yu Huang, Shih-Hang Hsu

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In this paper, we propose a robust scheme to work face alignment and recognition under various influences. For face representation, illumination influence and variable expressions are the important factors, especially the accuracy of facial localization and face recognition. In order to solve those of factors, we propose a robust approach to overcome these problems. This approach consists of two phases. One phase is preprocessed for face images by means of the proposed illumination normalization method. The location of facial features can fit more efficient and fast based on the proposed image blending. On the other hand, based on template matching, we further improve the active shape models (called as IASM) to locate the face shape more precise which can gain the recognized rate in the next phase. The other phase is to process feature extraction by using principal component analysis and face recognition by using support vector machine classifiers. The results show that this proposed method can obtain good facial localization and face recognition with varied illumination and local distortion.

Keywords: Gabor filter, improved active shape model (IASM), principal component analysis (PCA), face alignment, face recognition, support vector machine (SVM)

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Authors: Fahri Benli, Sitalakshmi Venkatraman, Ye Wei, Fiona Wahr

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A flipped classroom which is a form of blended learning shifts the focus from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered approach. However, not all learners are ready to take the active role of knowledge and skill acquisition through a flipped classroom and they continue to delve in a passive mode of learning. This challenges educators in designing, scaffolding and facilitating in-class activities for students to have active learning experiences in a flipped classroom environment. Experiential learning theories have been employed by educators in the past in physical classrooms based on the principle that knowledge could be actively developed through direct experience. However, with more of online teaching witnessed recently, there are inherent limitations in designing and simulating an experiential learning activity for an online environment. In this paper, we explore enhancing experiential learning using smart digital tools that could be employed in a flipped classroom within a higher education setting. We present the use of smart collaborative tools online to enhance the experiential learning activity to teach higher-order cognitive concepts of business process modeling as a case study.

Keywords: Experiential learning, flipped classroom, smart software tools, online learning higher-order learning attributes.

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Authors: Chih-Jer Lin, Chun-Ying Lee, Ying Liu, Chiang-Ho Cheng

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The main objective of this article is to present the semi-active vibration control using an electro-rheological fluid embedded sandwich structure for a cantilever beam. ER fluid is a smart material, which cause the suspended particles polarize and connect each other to form chain. The stiffness and damping coefficients of the ER fluid can be changed in 10 micro seconds; therefore, ERF is suitable to become the material embedded in the tunable vibration absorber to become a smart absorber. For the ERF smart material embedded structure, the fuzzy control law depends on the experimental expert database and the proposed self-tuning strategy. The electric field is controlled by a CRIO embedded system to implement the real application. This study investigates the different performances using the Type-1 fuzzy and interval Type-2 fuzzy controllers. The Interval type-2 fuzzy control is used to improve the modeling uncertainties for this ERF embedded shock absorber. The self-tuning vibration controllers using Type-1 and Interval Type-2 fuzzy law are implemented to the shock absorber system. Based on the resulting performance, Internal Type-2 fuzzy is better than the traditional Type-1 fuzzy control for this vibration control system.

 

Keywords: Electro-Rheological Fluid, Semi-active vibration control, shock absorber, type 2 fuzzy control.

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Authors: Victor Maldonado

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Recent concerns of the growing impact of aviation on climate change has prompted the emergence of a field referred to as Sustainable or “Green” Aviation dedicated to mitigating the harmful impact of aviation related CO2 emissions and noise pollution on the environment. In the current paper, a unique “green” business jet aircraft called the TransAtlantic was designed (using analytical formulation common in conceptual design) in order to show the feasibility for transatlantic passenger air travel with an aircraft weighing less than 10,000 pounds takeoff weight. Such an advance in fuel efficiency will require development and integration of advanced and emerging aerospace technologies. The TransAtlantic design is intended to serve as a research platform for the development of technologies such as active flow control. Recent advances in the field of active flow control and how this technology can be integrated on a sub-scale flight demonstrator are discussed in this paper. Flow control is a technique to modify the behavior of coherent structures in wall-bounded flows (over aerodynamic surfaces such as wings and turbine nozzles) resulting in improved aerodynamic cruise and flight control efficiency. One of the key challenges to application in manned aircraft is development of a robust high-momentum actuator that can penetrate the boundary layer flowing over aerodynamic surfaces. These deficiencies may be overcome in the current development and testing of a novel electromagnetic synthetic jet actuator which replaces piezoelectric materials as the driving diaphragm. One of the overarching goals of the TranAtlantic research platform include fostering national and international collaboration to demonstrate (in numerical and experimental models) reduced CO2/ noise pollution via development and integration of technologies and methodologies in design optimization, fluid dynamics, structures/ composites, propulsion, and controls.

Keywords: Aircraft Design, Sustainable “Green” Aviation, Active Flow Control, Aerodynamics.

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Authors: Magdalena Musiał-Karg

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The expansion of telecommunication and progress of electronic media constitute important elements of our times. The recent worldwide convergence of information and communication technologies (ICT) and dynamic development of the mass media is leading to noticeable changes in the functioning of contemporary states and societies. Currently, modern technologies play more and more important roles and filter down to almost every field of contemporary human life. It results in the growth of online interactions that can be observed by the inconceivable increase in the number of people with home PCs and Internet access. The proof of it is undoubtedly the emergence and use of concepts such as e-society, e-banking, e-services, e-government, e-government, e-participation and e-democracy. The newly coined word e-democracy evidences that modern technologies have also been widely used in politics. Without any doubt in most countries all actors of political market (politicians, political parties, servants in political/public sector, media) use modern forms of communication with the society. Most of these modern technologies progress the processes of getting and sending information to the citizens, communication with the electorate, and also – which seems to be the biggest advantage – electoral procedures. Thanks to implementation of ICT the interaction between politicians and electorate are improved. The main goal of this text is to analyze electronic voting (e-voting) as one of the important forms of electronic democracy in terms of security aspects. The author of this paper aimed at answering the questions of security of electronic voting as an additional form of participation in elections and referenda.

Keywords: Electronic democracy, electronic participation, electronic voting, security of e-voting, ICT.

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Authors: Zharama M. Llarena

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Green chemistry for plant extraction of active principles is the main interest of many researchers concerned with climate change. While classical organic solvents are detrimental to our environment, greener alternatives to ionic liquids are very promising for sustainable organic chemistry. This study focused on the determination of functional groups observed in the main constituents from the ionic liquid extracts of Coleus aromaticus Benth leaves using FT-IR Spectroscopy. Moreover, this research aimed to determine the best ionic liquid that can separate functionalized plant constituents from the leaves Coleus aromaticus Benth using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Coleus aromaticus Benth leaf extract in different ionic liquids, elucidated pharmacologically important functional groups present in major constituents of the plant, namely, rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid. In connection to distinctive appearance of functional groups in the spectrum and highest % transmittance, potassium chloride-glycerol is the best ionic liquid for green extraction.

Keywords: Coleus aromaticus, ionic liquid, rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid.

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Authors: Dmitry Yu. Korulkin, Raissa A. Muzychkina, Evgenii N. Kojaev

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In review the generalized data about biological activity of anthraquinone-containing plants and specimens on their basis is presented. Data of traditional medicine, results of bioscreening and clinical researches of specimens are analyzed.

Keywords: Anthraquinones, physiologically active substances, phytopreparation, Ramon.

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Authors: Ehi E. Aimiuwu

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As of 2017, many researchers in educational journals are still wondering if students are effectively and efficiently engaged in active learning in the online learning environment. The goal of this qualitative single case study and narrative research is to explore if students are actively engaged in their online learning. Seven online students in the United States from LinkedIn and residencies were interviewed for this study. Eleven online learning techniques from research were used as a framework.  Data collection tools were used for the study that included a digital audiotape, observation sheet, interview protocol, transcription, and NVivo 12 Plus qualitative software.  Data analysis process, member checking, and key themes were used to reach saturation. About 85.7% of students preferred individual grading. About 71.4% of students valued professor’s interacting 2-3 times weekly, participating through posts and responses, having good internet access, and using email.  Also, about 57.1% said students log in 2-3 times weekly to daily, professor’s social presence helps, regular punctuality in work submission, and prefer assessments style of research, essay, and case study.  About 42.9% appreciated syllabus usefulness and professor’s expertise.

Keywords: Class facilitation, course management, online teaching, online education, student engagement.

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Authors: Jinliang Yuan, Jong-Sung Yu, Bengt Sundén

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A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed for rechargeable non-aqueous electrolyte lithium-air batteries with a partial opening for oxygen supply to the cathode. Multi-phase transport phenomena occurred in the battery are considered, including dissolved lithium ions and oxygen gas in the liquid electrolyte, solid-phase electron transfer in the porous functional materials and liquid-phase charge transport in the electrolyte. These transport processes are coupled with the electrochemical reactions at the active surfaces, and effects of discharge reaction-generated solid Li2O2 on the transport properties and the electrochemical reaction rate are evaluated and implemented in the model. The predicted results are discussed and analyzed in terms of the spatial and transient distribution of various parameters, such as local oxygen concentration, reaction rate, variable solid Li2O2 volume fraction and porosity, as well as the effective diffusion coefficients. It is found that the effect of the solid Li2O2 product deposited at the solid active surfaces is significant on the transport phenomena and the overall battery performance.

Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Modeling, Multi-phase, Transport Phenomena, Lithium-air battery.

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Authors: Mandana Kariminejad, Ali Ghaffari

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Today, the treatment of cancer, in a relatively short period, with minimum adverse effects is a great concern for oncologists. In this paper, based on a recently used mathematical model for cancer, a guideline has been proposed for the amount and duration of drug doses for cancer treatment by immunotherapy. Dynamically speaking, the mathematical ordinary differential equation (ODE) model of cancer has different equilibrium points; one of them is unstable, which is called the no tumor equilibrium point. In this paper, based on the number of tumor cells an intelligent soft computing controller (a combination of fuzzy logic controller and genetic algorithm), decides regarding the amount and duration of drug doses, to eliminate the tumor cells and stabilize the unstable point in a relatively short time. Two different immunotherapy approaches; active and adoptive, have been studied and presented. It is shown that the rate of decay of tumor cells is faster and the doses of drug are lower in comparison with the result of some other literatures. It is also shown that the period of treatment and the doses of drug in adoptive immunotherapy are significantly less than the active method. A recommendation to oncologists has also been presented.

Keywords: Tumor, immunotherapy, fuzzy controller, Genetic algorithm, mathematical model.

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Authors: G. V. Novikov, V. S. Sivozhelezov, S. S. Kolesnikov, K. V. Shaitan

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The study reports about the influence of binding of orthosteric ligands as well as point mutations on the conformational dynamics of β-2-adrenoreceptor. Using molecular dynamics simulation we found that there was a little fraction of active states of the receptor in its apo (ligand free) ensemble corresponded to its constitutive activity. Analysis of MD trajectories indicated that such spontaneous activation of the receptor is accompanied by the motion in intracellular part of its alpha-helices. Thus receptor’s constitutive activity directly results from its conformational dynamics. On the other hand the binding of a full agonist resulted in a significant shift of the initial equilibrium towards its active state. Finally, the binding of the inverse agonist stabilized the receptor in its inactive state. It is likely that the binding of inverse agonists might be a universal way of constitutive activity inhibition in vivo. Our results indicate that ligand binding redistribute pre-existing conformational degrees of freedom (in accordance to the Monod-Wyman-Changeux-Model) of the receptor rather than cause induced fit in it. Therefore, the ensemble of biologically relevant receptor conformations is encoded in its spatial structure, and individual conformations from that ensemble might be used by the cell in conformity with the physiological behavior.

Keywords: Seven-transmembrane receptors, constitutive activity, activation, x-ray crystallography, principal component analysis, molecular dynamics simulation.

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Authors: P. D. Pastuszak

Abstract:

The present work is devoted to thermographic studies of curved composite panels (unidirectional GFRP) with subsurface defects. Various artificial defects, created by inserting PTFE stripe between individual layers of a laminate during manufacturing stage are studied. The analysis is conducted both with the use finite element method and experiments. To simulate transient heat transfer in 3D model with embedded various defect sizes, the ANSYS package is used. Pulsed Thermography combined with optical excitation source provides good results for flat surfaces. Composite structures are mostly used in complex components, e.g., pipes, corners and stiffeners. Local decrease of mechanical properties in these regions can have significant influence on strength decrease of the entire structure. Application of active procedures of thermography to defect detection and evaluation in this type of elements seems to be more appropriate that other NDT techniques. Nevertheless, there are various uncertainties connected with correct interpretation of acquired data. In this paper, important factors concerning Infrared Thermography measurements of curved surfaces in the form of cylindrical panels are considered. In addition, temperature effects on the surface resulting from complex geometry and embedded and real defect are also presented.

Keywords: Active thermography, finite element analysis, composite, curved structures, defects.

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Authors: Chuan-Ching Sue, Shi-Zhou Chen, Ting-Yu Huang

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Dynamic bandwidth allocation in EPONs can be generally separated into inter-ONU scheduling and intra-ONU scheduling. In our previous work, the active intra-ONU scheduling (AS) utilizes multiple queue reports (QRs) in each report message to cooperate with the inter-ONU scheduling and makes the granted bandwidth fully utilized without leaving unused slot remainder (USR). This scheme successfully solves the USR problem originating from the inseparability of Ethernet frame. However, without proper setting of threshold value in AS, the number of QRs constrained by the IEEE 802.3ah standard is not enough, especially in the unbalanced traffic environment. This limitation may be solved by enlarging the threshold value. The large threshold implies the large gap between the adjacent QRs, thus resulting in the large difference between the best granted bandwidth and the real granted bandwidth. In this paper, we integrate AS with a cooperative prediction mechanism and distribute multiple QRs to reduce the penalty brought by the prediction error. Furthermore, to improve the QoS and save the usage of queue reports, the highest priority (EF) traffic which comes during the waiting time is granted automatically by OLT and is not considered in the requested bandwidth of ONU. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme has better performance metrics in terms of bandwidth utilization and average delay for different classes of packets.

Keywords: EPON, Inter-ONU and Intra-ONU scheduling, Prediction, Unused slot remainder

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Authors: Ambalika Ekka

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In today’s world, the growing demand for urban built forms has resulted in the production and consumption of building materials i.e. embodied energy in building construction, leading to pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, new buildings will offer a unique opportunity to implement more energy efficient building without compromising on building performance of the building. Embodied energy of building materials forms major contribution to embodied energy in buildings. The paper results in an approach towards designing an energy efficient apartment building through embodied energy assessment. This paper discusses the trend of residential development in Rourkela, which includes three case studies of the contemporary houses, followed by architectural elements, number of storeys, predominant material use and plot sizes using primary data. It results in identification of predominant material used and other characteristics in urban area. Further, the embodied energy coefficients of various dominant building materials and alternative materials manufactured in Indian Industry is taken in consideration from secondary source i.e. literature study. The paper analyses the embodied energy by estimating materials and operational energy of proposed building followed by altering the specifications of the materials based on the building components i.e. walls, flooring, windows, insulation and roof through res build India software and comparison of different options is assessed with consideration of sustainable parameters. This paper results that autoclaved aerated concrete block only reaches the energy performance Index benchmark i.e. 69.35 kWh/m² yr i.e. by saving 4% of operational energy and as embodied energy has no particular index, out of all materials it has the highest EE 23206202.43  MJ.

Keywords: Energy efficient, embodied energy, energy performance index, building materials.

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Authors: Dmitry Yu. Korulkin, Raissa A. Muzychkina

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In review the generalized data about different methods of synthesis of biological activity acylatedhydrohyanthraquinones is presented. The basic regularity of a synthesis is analyzed. Action of temperature, pH, solubility, catalysts and other factors on a reaction product yield is revealed.

Keywords: Aminoacidic acylation, hydroxyanthraquinones, nucleophilic exchange, physiologically active substances.

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Authors: Dmitriy Yu. Korulkin, Raissa A. Muzychkina

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In review the generalized data about different methods of synthesis of biological activity halogenated di-, tri- and tetrahydroxyanthraquinones is presented. The basic regularity of a synthesis is analyzed. Action of temperature, pH, solubility, catalysts and other factors on a reaction product yield is revealed.

Keywords: Electrophilic substitution, halogenation, hydroxyanthraquinones, physiologically active substances.

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Authors: Niall J. English, Sylvia Leatham, Maria Isabel Meza Silva, Denis P. Dowling

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The training and education of under- and post-graduate students can be promoted by more active learning especially in engineering, overcoming more passive and vicarious experiences and approaches in their documented effectiveness. However, the possibility of outreach to young pupils and school-children in primary and secondary schools is a lesser explored area in terms of Education and Public Engagement (EPE) efforts – as relates to feedback and influence on shaping 3rd-level engineering training and education. Therefore, the outreach and school-visit agenda constitutes an interesting avenue to observe how active learning, careers stimulus and EPE efforts for young children and teenagers can teach the university sector, to improve future engineering-teaching standards and enhance both quality and capabilities of practice. This intervention involved careers-outreach efforts to lead to statistical determinations of motivations towards engineering, manufacturing and training. The aim was to gauge to what extent this intervention would lead to an increased careers awareness in engineering, using the method of the schools-visits programme as the means for so doing. It was found that this led to an increase in engagement by school pupils with engineering as a career option and a greater awareness of the importance of manufacturing. 

Keywords: outreach, education and public engagement, careers, peer interactions

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Authors: Philomena Ibuh Adzongo, Margaret U. Oluwole, Justina Nguveren Jor.

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This paper investigated the need for the development of entrepreneurial skills for Benue State University students. The population consisted of all 1,500 final year students in Benue State University. A sample of 100 students was selected using simple random sampling. A 12-item self-constructed and content validated questionnaire by research experts titled, the Need for the Development of Entrepreneurial Skills in Benue State University Students (NDECBSUS) was used to collect the data. The questionnaire items were rated using a 4-point modified rating scale of Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree, assigned the following scores of 4,3,2 and 1, respectively. The questionnaire was administered by the researcher with the help of two research assistants through the primary source. Simple percentages and chi-square were used to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses, respectively. The findings revealed that in business management, business management skills, personal skills, and technical skills need to be developed in students for them to become effective and efficient entrepreneurs and concluded that the acquisition of these skills will reduce the challenge of unemployment. The study recommended that funds should be made available by all education stakeholders for such programmes to remain functional.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial skill, entrepreneurship, need for development, university students.

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Authors: Dmitry Yu. Korulkin, Raissa A. Muzychkina

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In review the generalized data about different methods of synthesis of biological activity aminated hydroxyanthraquinones is presented. The basic regularity of a synthesis is analyzed. Action of temperature, pH, solubility, catalysts and other factors on a reaction product yield is revealed.

Keywords: Amination, hydroxyanthraquinones, nucleophilic exchange, physiologically active substances.

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Authors: Siyamak Ziyaei, Siti Khalijah Mazlan, Petros Lappas

Abstract:

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is primarily composed of methane (CH4), and has a lower carbon to hydrogen ratio than other hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline (C8H18) and diesel (C12H23). Consequently, it has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions compared to conventional fuels. Although Natural Gas (NG) has environmental advantages compared to other hydrocarbon fuels, its main component, CH4, burns at a slower rate compared to the conventional fuels. A higher pressure and leaner cylinder environment will unravel the slow burn characteristic of CH4. Lean combustion and high compression ratios are well-known methods for increasing the efficiency of internal combustion engines. In order to achieve successful a CNG lean combustion in Spark Ignition (SI) engines, a strong ignition system is essential to avoid engine misfires, especially in ultra-lean conditions. Turbulent Jet Ignition (TJI) is an ignition system that employs a pre-combustion chamber to ignite the lean fuel mixture in the main combustion chamber using a fraction of the total fuel per cycle. TJI enables ultra-lean combustion by providing distributed ignition sites through orifices. The fast burn rate provided by TJI enables the ordinary SI engine to be comparable to other combustion systems such as Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) or Controlled Auto-Ignition (CAI) in terms of thermal efficiency, through the increased levels of dilution without the need of sophisticated control systems. Due to the physical geometry of TJI, which contains small orifices that connect the pre-chamber to the main chamber, providing the right mixture of fuel and air has been identified as a key challenge due to the insufficient amount of air that is pushed into the pre-chamber during each compression stroke. There is also the problem of scavenging which contributed to the factors that reduces the TJI performance. Combustion residual gases such as CO2, CO and NOx from the previous combustion cycle dilute the pre-chamber fuel-air mixture preventing rapid combustion in the pre-chamber. An air-controlled active TJI is presented in this paper in order to address these issues. By supplying air into the pre-chamber at a sufficient pressure, residual gases are exhausted, and the air-fuel ratio is controlled within the pre-chamber, thereby improving the quality of the combustion. An investigation of the 3D combustion characteristics of a CNG-fueled SI engine using a direct injection fuelling strategy employing an air channel in the prechamber is presented in this paper. Experiments and simulations were performed at the Worldwide Mapping Point (WWMP) at 1500 revolutions per minute (rpm), 3.3 bar Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP), using only conventional spark plugs as a baseline. With a validated baseline engine simulation, the settings were set for all simulation scenarios at λ=1. Following that, the pre-chambers with and without an auxiliary fuel supply were simulated. In the study of (DI-CNG) SI engine, active TJI was observed to perform better than passive TJI and conventional  spark plug ignition. In conclusion, the active pre-chamber with an air channel demonstrated an improved thermal efficiency (ηth) over other counterparts and conventional spark ignition systems.

Keywords: Turbulent Jet Ignition, Active Air Control Turbulent Jet Ignition, Pre-chamber ignition system, Active and Passive Pre-chamber, thermal efficiency, methane combustion, internal combustion engine combustion emissions.

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