Search results for: total harmonic distortions (THD)

Authors: Chang, Chun-Lang, Liu, Chun-Kai

Abstract:

This study, for its research subjects, uses patients who had undergone total knee replacement surgery from the database of the National Health Insurance Administration. Through the review of literatures and the interviews with physicians, important factors are selected after careful screening. Then using Cross Entropy Method, Genetic Algorithm Logistic Regression, and Particle Swarm Optimization, the weight of each factor is calculated and obtained. In the meantime, Excel VBA and Case Based Reasoning are combined and adopted to evaluate the system. Results show no significant difference found through Genetic Algorithm Logistic Regression and Particle Swarm Optimization with over 97% accuracy in both methods. Both ROC areas are above 0.87. This study can provide critical reference to medical personnel as clinical assessment to effectively enhance medical care quality and efficiency, prevent unnecessary waste, and provide practical advantages to resource allocation to medical institutes.

Keywords: Total knee replacement, Case Based Reasoning, Cross Entropy Method, Genetic Algorithm Logistic Regression, Particle Swarm Optimization.

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Authors: Jitendra Jain, Cassandra Hidajat, Hansraj Riteesh Bookun

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Graft patency underpins long-term prognosis after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG). The benefits of the combined use of only the left internal mammary artery and radial artery, referred to as total arterial revascularisation (TAR), on long-term clinical outcomes and quality of life are relatively unknown. The aim of this study was to identify whether there were differences in long term clinical outcomes between recipients of TAR compared to a cohort of mostly arterial revascularization involving the left internal mammary, at least one radial artery and at least one saphenous vein graft. A retrospective analysis was performed on all patients who underwent TAR or were re-vascularized with supplementary saphenous vein graft from February 1996 to December 2004. Telephone surveys were conducted to obtain clinical outcome parameters including major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) and Short Form (SF-36v2) Health Survey responses. A total of 176 patients were successfully contacted to obtain postop follow up results. The mean follow-up length from time of surgery in our study was TAR 12.4±1.8 years and conventional 12.6±2.1. PCS score was TAR 45.9±8.8 vs LIMA/Rad/ SVG 44.9±9.2 (p=0.468) and MCS score was TAR 52.0±8.9 vs LIMA/Rad/SVG 52.5±9.3 (p=0.723). There were no significant differences between groups for NYHA class 3+ TAR 9.4% vs. LIMA/Rad/SVG 6.6%; or CCS 3+ TAR 2.35% vs. LIMA/Rad/SVG 0%.

Keywords: CABG, MACCEs, quality of life, total arterial revascularization.

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Authors: Cenk Sezen, Turgay Partal

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North Sea Caspian Pattern Index (NCP) refers to an atmospheric teleconnection between the North Sea and North Caspian at the 500 hPa geopotential height level. The aim of this study is to search for effects of NCP on annual and seasonal mean temperature and also annual and seasonal precipitation totals in the Aegean region of Turkey. The study contains the data that consist of 46 years obtained from nine meteorological stations. To determine the relationship between NCP and the climatic parameters, firstly the Pearson correlation coefficient method was utilized. According to the results of the analysis, most of the stations in the region have a high negative correlation NCPI in all seasons, especially in the winter season in terms of annual and seasonal mean temperature (statistically at significant at the 90% level). Besides, high negative correlation values between NCPI and precipitation totals are observed during the winter season at the most of stations. Furthermore, the NCPI values were divided into two group as NCPI(-) and NCPI(+), and then mean temperature and precipitation total values, which are grouped according to the NCP(-) and NCP(+) phases, were determined as annual and seasonal. During the NCPI(-), higher mean temperature values are observed in all of seasons, particularly in the winter season compared to the mean temperature values under effect of NCP(+). Similarly, during the NCPI(-) in winter season precipitation total values have higher than the precipitation total values under the effect of NCP(+); however, in other seasons there no substantial changes were observed between the precipitation total values. As a result of this study, significant proof is obtained with regards to the influences of NCP on the temperature and precipitation regime in the Aegean region of Turkey.

Keywords: Aegean Region, North Sea Caspian Pattern, precipitation, temperature.

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Authors: Ifeyinwa E. Achumba, Djamel Azzi, Rinat Khusainov

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There are three approaches to complete Bayesian Network (BN) model construction: total expert-centred, total datacentred, and semi data-centred. These three approaches constitute the basis of the empirical investigation undertaken and reported in this paper. The objective is to determine, amongst these three approaches, which is the optimal approach for the construction of a BN-based model for the performance assessment of students- laboratory work in a virtual electronic laboratory environment. BN models were constructed using all three approaches, with respect to the focus domain, and compared using a set of optimality criteria. In addition, the impact of the size and source of the training, on the performance of total data-centred and semi data-centred models was investigated. The results of the investigation provide additional insight for BN model constructors and contribute to literature providing supportive evidence for the conceptual feasibility and efficiency of structure and parameter learning from data. In addition, the results highlight other interesting themes.

Keywords: Bayesian networks, model construction, parameterlearning, structure learning, performance index, model comparison.

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Authors: Chiu-Wen Chen, Chih-Feng Chen, Cheng-Di Dong

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The distribution, enrichment, accumulation, and potential ecological risk of copper (Cu) in the surface sediments of northern Kaohsiung Harbor, Taiwan were investigated. Sediment samples from 12 locations of northern Kaohsiung Harbor were collected and characterized for Cu, aluminum, water content, organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorous, total grease and grain size. Results showed that the Cu concentrations varied from 6.9–244 mg/kg with an average of 109±66 mg/kg. The spatial distribution of Cu reveals that the Cu concentration is relatively high in the river mouth region, and gradually diminishes toward the harbor entrance region. This indicates that upstream industrial and municipal wastewater discharges along the river bank are major sources of Cu pollution. Results from the enrichment factor and geo-accumulation index analyses imply that the sediments collected from the river mouth can be characterized between moderate and moderately severe degree enrichment and between none to medium and moderate accumulation of Cu, respectively. However, results of potential ecological risk index indicate that the sediment has low ecological potential risk.

Keywords: Accumulation, ecological risk, enrichment, copper, sediment.

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Authors: Hadi Ghorbani, Samira Mohammadi Sadabad

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Shirvan is located in plain in Northern Khorasan province north east of Iran and has semiarid to temperate climate. To investigate the annual changes in some qualitative parameters such as electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids and chloride concentrations which have increased during ten continuous years. Fourteen groundwater sources including deep as well as semi-deep wells were sampled and were analyzed using standard methods. The trends of obtained data were analyzed during these years and the effects of different factors on the changes in electrical conductivity, concentration of chloride and total dissolved solids were clarified. The results showed that the amounts of some qualitative parameters have been increased during 10 years time which has led to decrease in water quality. The results also showed that increased in urban populations as well as extensive industrialization in the studied area are the most important reasons to influence underground water quality. Furthermore decrease in water quantity is also evident due to more water utilization and occurrence of recent droughts in the region during recent years.

Keywords: Chloride, Electrical Conductivity, Shirvan, Total Dissolved Solids.

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Authors: A. Deswal, N. S. Deora, H. N. Mishra

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The aim of the present study was to develop a rapid method for electronic nose for online quality control of oat milk. Analysis by electronic nose and bacteriological measurements were performed to analyze spoilage kinetics of oat milk samples stored at room temperature and refrigerated conditions for up to 15 days. Principal component analysis (PCA), Discriminant Factorial Analysis (DFA) and Soft Independent Modelling by Class Analogy (SIMCA) classification techniques were used to differentiate the samples of oat milk at different days. The total plate count (bacteriological method) was selected as the reference method to consistently train the electronic nose system. The e-nose was able to differentiate between the oat milk samples of varying microbial load. The results obtained by the bacteria total viable countsshowed that the shelf-life of oat milk stored at room temperature and refrigerated conditions were 20hrs and 13 days, respectively. The models built classified oat milk samples based on the total microbial population into “unspoiled” and “spoiled”.

Keywords: Electronic-nose, bacteriological, shelf-life, classification.

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Authors: Goreti Botelho, Filomena Gomes, Fernanda M. Ferreira, Ilda Caldeira

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The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) is a small tree or shrub from botanical Ericaceae family that grows spontaneously nearby the Mediterranean basin and produce edible red fruits. A traditional processed fruit application, in Mediterranean countries, is the production of a spirit (known as aguardente de medronho, in Portugal) obtained from the fermented fruit. The main objective of our study was to contribute to the knowledge about the influence of the degree of maturation of fruits in the volatile composition and quality of arbutus spirit. The major volatiles in the three distillates fractions (head, heart and tail) obtained from fermentation of two different fruit maturation levels were quantified by GC-FID analysis and ANOVA one-way was performed. Additionally, the total antioxidant capacity and total phenolic compounds of both arbutus fruit spirits were determined, by ABTS and Folin-Ciocalteau method, respectively. The methanol concentration is higher (1022.39 g/hL a.a.) in the spirit made from fruits with highest total soluble solids, which is a value above the legal limit (1000 g/hL a.a.). Overall, our study emphasizes, for the first time, the influence of maturation degree of arbutus fruits in the spirit volatile composition and quality.

Keywords: Arbutus fruit, maturation, quality, spirit.

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Authors: Phruksaphanrat B.

Abstract:

This research proposes a preemptive fuzzy goal programming model for multi-objective multi-mode resource constrained project scheduling problem. The objectives of the problem are minimization of the total time and the total cost of the project. Objective in a multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problem is often a minimization of makespan. However, both time and cost should be considered at the same time with different level of important priorities. Moreover, all elements of cost functions in a project are not included in the conventional cost objective function. Incomplete total project cost causes an error in finding the project scheduling time. In this research, preemptive fuzzy goal programming is presented to solve the multi-objective multi-mode resource constrained project scheduling problem. It can find the compromise solution of the problem. Moreover, it is also flexible in adjusting to find a variety of alternative solutions. 

Keywords: Multi-mode resource constrained project scheduling problem, Fuzzy set, Goal programming, Preemptive fuzzy goal programming.

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Authors: Saeed Asiri, Hassan Hedia, Wael Eissa

Abstract:

The aim of the work was to attenuate the vibration amplitude in CESNA 172 airplane wing by using Functionally Graded Material instead of uniform or composite material. Wing strength was achieved by means of stress analysis study, while wing vibration amplitudes and shapes were achieved by means of Modal and Harmonic analysis. Results were verified by applying the methodology in a simple cantilever plate to the simple model and the results were promising and the same methodology can be applied to the airplane wing model. Aluminum models, Titanium models, and functionally graded materials of Aluminum and titanium results were compared to show a great vibration attenuation after using the FGM. Optimization in FGM gradation satisfied our objective of reducing and attenuating the vibration amplitudes to show the effect of using FGM in vibration behavior. Testing the Aluminum rich models, and comparing it with the titanium rich model was an optimization in this paper. Results have shown a significant attenuation in vibration magnitudes when using FGM instead of Titanium Plate, and Aluminium wing with FGM Spurs instead of Aluminium wings. It was also recommended that in future, changing the graphical scale to 1:10 or even 1:1 when the computers- capabilities allow.

Keywords: Vibration, Attenuation, FGM, ANSYS2011, FEM.

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Authors: Tatjana Rakcejeva, Ingrida Augspole, Lija Dukalska, Fredijs Dimins

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carrot is one of the important root vegetable crops, and it is highly nutritious as it contains appreciable amount of vitamins, minerals and β-carotene. The major objective of current research was to evaluate the chemical composition of carrot variety 'Nante' hybrids in general and to select the best samples for fresh-cut salad production. The research was accomplished on fresh in Latvia cultivated carrots harvested in Zemgale region in the first part of October, 2011 and immediately used for experiments. Late-bearing variety 'Nante' hybrid carrots were used for analysis: 'Nante/Berlikum', 'Nante/Maestro', 'Nante/Forto', 'Nante/Bolero' and 'Nante/Champion'. The quality parameters as moisture, soluble solid, firmness, b-carotene, carotenoid, color, polyphenols, total phenolic compounds and total antioxidant capacity were analyzed using standard methods. For fresh-cut salad production as more applicable could be recommended hybrids 'Nante/Forto' and 'Nante/Berlikum' - mainly because it-s higher nutritive value, as higher total phenolic compounds, polyphenols and pronounced antioxidant capacity.

Keywords: carrots, chemical composition, evaluation

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Authors: E. Abustam, M. Yusuf, H. M. Ali, M. I. Said, F. N. Yuliati

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to improve the durability and quality of Bali beef (M. Longissimus dorsi) and broiler carcass through the addition of liquid smoke as a natural preservative. This study was using Longissimus dorsi muscle from male Bali beef aged 3 years, broiler breast and thigh aged 40 days. Three types of meat were marinated in liquid smoke with concentrations of 0, 5, and 10% for 30 minutes at the level of 20% of the sample weight (w/w). The samples were storage at 2-5°C for 1 month. This study designed as a factorial experiment 3 x 3 x 4 based on a completely randomized design with 5 replications; the first factor was meat type (beef, chicken breast and chicken thigh); the 2^nd factor was liquid smoke concentrations (0, 5, and 10%), and the 3^rd factor was storage duration (1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks). Parameters measured were TBA value, total bacterial colonies, water holding capacity (WHC), shear force value both before and after cooking (80°C – 15min.), and cooking loss. The results showed that the type of meat produced WHC, shear force value, cooking loss and TBA differed between the three types of meat. Higher concentration of liquid smoke, the WHC, shear force value, TBA, and total bacterial colonies were decreased; at a concentration of 10% of liquid smoke, the total bacterial colonies decreased by 57.3% from untreated with liquid smoke. Longer storage, the total bacterial colonies and WHC were increased, while the shear force value and cooking loss were decreased. It can be concluded that a 10% concentration of liquid smoke was able to maintain fat oxidation and bacterial growth in Bali beef and chicken breast and thigh.

Keywords: Bali beef, chicken meat, liquid smoke, meat quality.

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Authors: B. Cilek Tatar, G. Sumnu, M. Oztop, E. Ayaz

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Encapsulation protects sensitive food ingredients against heat, oxygen, moisture and pH until they are released to the system. It can mask the unwanted taste of nutrients that are added to the foods for fortification purposes. Cherry laurels (Prunus laurocerasus) contain phenolic compounds which decrease the proneness to several chronic diseases such as types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this research was to study the effects of centrifugation, different coating materials and homogenization methods on microencapsulation of powders obtained from cherry laurels. In this study, maltodextrin and mixture of maltodextrin:whey protein with a ratio of 1:3 (w/w) were chosen as coating materials. Total solid content of coating materials was kept constant as 10% (w/w). Capsules were obtained from powders of freeze-dried cherry laurels through encapsulation process by silent crusher homogenizer or microfluidization. Freeze-dried cherry laurels were core materials and core to coating ratio was chosen as 1:10 by weight. To homogenize the mixture, high speed homogenizer was used at 4000 rpm for 5 min. Then, silent crusher or microfluidizer was used to complete encapsulation process. The mixtures were treated either by silent crusher for 1 min at 75000 rpm or microfluidizer at 50 MPa for 3 passes. Freeze drying for 48 hours was applied to emulsions to obtain capsules in powder form. After these steps, dry capsules were grounded manually into a fine powder. The microcapsules were analyzed for total antioxidant activity with DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging method. Prior to high speed homogenization, the samples were centrifuged (4000 rpm, 1 min). Centrifugation was found to have positive effect on total antioxidant activity of capsules. Microcapsules treated by microfluidizer were found to have higher total antioxidant activities than those treated by silent crusher. It was found that increasing whey protein concentration in coating material (using maltodextrin:whey protein 1:3 mixture) had positive effect on total antioxidant activity for both silent crusher and microfluidization methods. Therefore, capsules prepared by microfluidization of centrifuged mixtures can be selected as the best conditions for encapsulation of cherry laurel powder by considering their total antioxidant activity. In this study, it was shown that capsules prepared by these methods can be recommended to be incorporated into foods in order to enhance their functionality by increasing antioxidant activity.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, cherry laurel, microencapsulation, microfluidization.

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Authors: M. Safaei, M. Seifert, K. D. Thoben

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Supply network management adopts a systematic and integrative approach to managing the operations and relationships of various parties in a supply network. The objective of the manufactures in their supply network is to reduce inventory costs and increase customer satisfaction levels. One way of doing that is to synchronize delivery performance. A supply network can be described by nodes representing the companies and the links (relationships) between these nodes. Uncertainty in delivery time depends on type of network relationship between suppliers. The problem is to understand how the individual uncertainties influence the total uncertainty of the network and identify those parts of the network, which has the highest potential for improving the total delivery time uncertainty.

Keywords: Delivery time uncertainty, Distribution function, Statistical method, Supply Network.

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Authors: Marija R. Jokanović, Vladimir M. Tomović, Mihajlo T. Jović, Branislav V. Šojić, Snežana B. Škaljac, Tatjana A. Tasić, Predrag M. Ikonić

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Proximate composition (moisture, protein, total fat, and total ash) and textural characteristics (hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness and firmness and work of shear) of cooked sausages formulated from mechanically deboned chicken meat (MDCM) with addition of chicken offal (heart, gizzard or liver) were investigated. Chicken offal replaced equal weight (15 kg) of MDCM in standard sausage formulation. Regarding proximate composition sausage with heart addition was significantly (P<0.05) lower in moisture content (70.45%) than sausage with liver addition (71.35%), and significantly (P<0.05) the highest in total ash content (2.83%). Sausage with gizzard addition was significantly higher in protein content (9.77%) than sausage with liver addition (9.42%). Total fat content didn’t significantly (P>0.05) differ among all three sausages. The effect of offal addition was more notable in Warner-Bratzler shear test results than in texture profile analysis test. Firmness and work of shear were significantly different (P<0.05) among all three sausages. Sausage with liver addition was significantly (P<0.05) lower in hardness (1672 g) and chewiness (1020 g) and numerically the lowest in springiness (0.90) and adhesiveness (–70 g*s) comparing with other two sausages. Sausage with heart addition was significantly (P<0.05) higher in cohesiveness (0.74) comparing with other two sausages.

Keywords: Cooked sausage, mechanically deboned chicken meat, offal, proximate composition, texture

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Authors: A. Argiri, A. Molla, Tzouvalekas, E. Skoufogianni, N. Danalatos

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The release of heavy metals into the environment has increased over the last years. In this study, 25 soil samples (0-15 cm) from the fields near the mining area in Drama region were selected. The samples were analyzed in the laboratory for their physicochemical properties and for seven “pseudo-total’’ heavy metals content, namely Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Mn. The total metal concentrations (Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Mn) in digests were determined by using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. According to the results, the mean concentration of the listed heavy metals in 25 soil samples are Cd 1.1 mg/kg, Cr 15 mg/kg, Cu 21.7 mg/kg, Ni 30.1 mg/kg, Pd 50.8 mg/kg, Zn 99.5 mg/kg and Mn 815.3 mg/kg. The results show that the heavy metals remain in the soil even if the mining closed many years ago.

Keywords: Greece, heavy metals, mining, pollution

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Authors: Saleh S. Hamad Elawgali

Abstract:

Current spectrums of a high power induction machine was calculated for the cases of full symmetry, static and dynamic eccentricity. The calculations involve integration of 93 electrical plus four mechanical ordinary differential equations. Electrical equations account for variable inductances affected by slotting and eccentricities. The calculations were followed by Fourier analysis of the stator currents in steady state operation. The paper presents the stator current spectrums in full symmetry, static and dynamic eccentricity cases, and demonstrates the harmonics present in each case. The effect of dynamic eccentricity is demonstrating via comparing the current spectrums related to dynamic eccentricity cases with the full symmetry one. The paper includes one case study, refers to dynamic eccentricity, to present the spectrum of the measured current and demonstrate the existence of the harmonics related to dynamic eccentricity. The zooms of current spectrums around the main slot harmonic zone are included to simplify the comparison and prove the existence of the dynamic eccentricity harmonics in both calculated and measured current spectrums.

Keywords: Current spectrum, diagnostics, harmonics, Induction machine

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Authors: Cigdem Yangin-Gomec, Aigerim Jaxybayeva, Orhan Ince

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In this study, the anaerobic treatability of chicken manure diluted with tap water (with an influent feed ratio of 1 kg of fresh chicken manure to 6 liter of tap water) was investigated in a lab-scale anaerobic sludge bed (ASB) reactor inoculated with the granular sludge already adapted to chicken manure. The raw waste digested in this study was the manure from laying-hens having average total solids (TS) of about 30% with ca. 60% volatile content. The ASB reactor was fed semi-continuously at ambient operating temperature range (17-23^◦C) at a HRT of 13 and 26 days for about 6 months, respectively. The respective average total and soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) removals were ca. 90% and 75%, whereas average biomethane production rate was calculated ca. 180 lt per kg of COD_removed from the ASB reactor at an average HRT of 13 days. Moreover, total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS) in the influent were reduced more than 97%. Hence, high removals of the organic compounds with respective biogas production made anaerobic stabilization of the diluted chicken manure by ASB reactor at ambient operating temperatures viable. By this way, external heating up to 35^◦C (i.e. anaerobic processes have been traditionally operated at mesophilic conditions) could be avoided in the scope of this study.

Keywords: Ambient anaerobic digestion, biogas recovery, poultry manure.

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Authors: M. Bernasconi, M. Grothkopp, T. Friedli

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The objective of this paper is to examine the relationships between technical and social lean bundles as well as operational performance in the context of the pharmaceutical industry. We investigate the direct and mediating effects of the lean bundles Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Total Quality Management (TQM), Just-In-Time (JIT), and Human Resource Management (HRM) on operational performance. Our analysis relies on 113 manufacturing facilities from the St.Gallen OPEX benchmarking database. The results show that HRM has a positive indirect effect on operational performance mediated by the technical lean bundles.

Keywords: Human resource management, operational performance, pharmaceutical industry, technical lean practices.

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Authors: B. Jabbari, N. Tahouni, M. H. Panjeshahi

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In this study the integration of an absorption heat pump (AHP) with the concentration section of an industrial pulp and paper process is investigated using pinch technology. The optimum design of the proposed water-lithium bromide AHP is then achieved by minimizing the total annual cost. A comprehensive optimization is carried out by relaxation of all stream pressure drops as well as heat exchanger areas involving in AHP structure. It is shown that by applying genetic algorithm optimizer, the total annual cost of the proposed AHP is decreased by 18% compared to one resulted from simulation.

Keywords: Absorption Heat Pump, Genetic Algorithm, Kraft Industry, Pinch Technology

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Authors: Olufunke O. Ezekiel, Ogugua C. Aworh

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Solid state fermentation of cassava peel with emphasis on protein enrichment using Trichoderma viride was evaluated. The effect of five variables: moisture content, pH, particle size (p), nitrogen source and incubation temperature; on the true protein and total sugars of cassava peel was investigated. The optimum fermentation period was established to be 8 days. Total sugars were 5-fold higher at pH 6 relative to pH 4 and 7-fold higher when cassava peels were fermented at 30oC relative to 25oC as well as using ammonium sulfate as the nitrogen source relative to urea or a combination of both. Total sugars ranged between 123.21mg/g at 50% initial moisture content to 374mg/g at 60% and from 190.59mg/g with particle size range of 2.00>p>1.41mm to 310.10mg/g with 4.00>p>3.35mm.True protein ranged from 229.70 mg/g at pH 4 to 284.05 mg/g at pH 6; from 200.87 mg/g with urea as nitrogen source and to 254.50mg/g with ammonium sulfate; from 213.82mg/g at 50% initial moisture content to 254.50mg/g at 60% moisture content, from 205.75mg/g in cassava peel with 5.6>p> 4.75mm to 268.30 in cassava peel with particle size 4.00>p>3.35mm, from 207.57mg/g at 25oC to 254.50mg/g at 30oC Cassava peel with particle size 4.00>p>3.35 mm and initial moisture content of 60% at pH 6.0, 30oC incubation temperature with ammonium sulfate (10g N / kg substrate) was most suitable for protein enrichment with Trichoderma viride. Crude protein increased from 4.21 % in unfermented cassava peel samples to 10.43 % in fermented samples.

Keywords: Cassava peel, Solid state fermentation, Trichoderma viride, Total sugars, True protein.

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Authors: H. Silvestre

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to know the sociodemographic and operational-financial determinants of the services quality perceived by users of the national health services. Through the use of an inquiry conducted by the Ministry of Health, comprehending 16.936 interviews in 2006, we intend to find out if there is any characteristic that determines the 2006 inquiry results. With the revision of the literature we also want to know if the operational-financial results have implications in hospitals users- perception on the quality of the received services. In order to achieve our main goals we will make use of the regression analysis to find out the possible dimensions that determine those results.

Keywords: Management by Results, Quality Approach, Tableau de Bord, Total Quality Management, Services quality.

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Authors: B. Gopal, Pannala Krishna Murthy, G. N. Sreenivas

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The increasing demand of electric power is giving an emphasis on the need for the maximum utilization of renewable energy sources. On the other hand maintaining power quality to satisfaction of utility is an essential requirement. In this paper the design aspects of a Unified Power Quality Conditioner integrated with photovoltaic system in a distributed generation is presented. The proposed system consist of series inverter, shunt inverter are connected back to back on the dc side and share a common dc-link capacitor with Distributed Generation through a boost converter. The primary task of UPQC is to minimize grid voltage and load current disturbances along with reactive and harmonic power compensation. In addition to primary tasks of UPQC, other functionalities such as compensation of voltage interruption and active power transfer to the load and grid in both islanding and interconnected mode have been addressed. The simulation model is design in MATLAB/ Simulation environment and the results are in good agreement with the published work.

Keywords: Distributed Generation(DG), Interconnected mode, Islanding mode, Maximum power point tracking (MPPT), Power Quality (PQ), Unified power quality conditioner (UPQC), Photovoltaic array (PV).

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Authors: Ronbanchob Apiratikul

Abstract:

This research studied recycled waste by the Recyclable Material Bank Project of 4 universities in the central region of Thailand for the evaluation of reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared with landfilling activity during July 2012 to June 2013. The results showed that the projects collected total amount of recyclable wastes of about 911,984.80 kilograms. Office paper had the largest amount among these recycled wastes (50.68% of total recycled waste). Groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low according to their amount as paper, plastic, glass, mixed recyclables, and metal, respectively. The project reduced greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to about 2814.969 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The most significant recycled waste that affects the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is office paper which is 70.16% of total reduced greenhouse gasses emission. According to amount of reduced greenhouse gasses emission, groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low significances as paper, plastic, metals, mixed recyclables, and glass, respectively.

Keywords: Recycling, garbage bank, waste management, recyclable wastes, greenhouse gasses.

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Authors: Venkatesh Kumar, Kasun Hewage, Rehan Sadiq

Abstract:

Residential buildings consume significant amounts of energy and produce large amount of emissions and waste. However, there is a substantial potential for energy savings in this sector which needs to be evaluated over the life cycle of residential buildings. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology has been employed to study the primary energy uses and associated environmental impacts of different phases (i.e., product, construction, use, end of life, and beyond building life) for residential buildings. Four different alternatives of residential buildings in Vancouver (BC, Canada) with a 50-year lifespan have been evaluated, including High Rise Apartment (HRA), Low Rise Apartment (LRA), Single family Attached House (SAH), and Single family Detached House (SDH). Life cycle performance of the buildings is evaluated for embodied energy, embodied environmental impacts, operational energy, operational environmental impacts, total life-cycle energy, and total life cycle environmental impacts. Estimation of operational energy and LCA are performed using DesignBuilder software and Athena Impact estimator software respectively. The study results revealed that over the life span of the buildings, the relationship between the energy use and the environmental impacts are identical. LRA is found to be the best alternative in terms of embodied energy use and embodied environmental impacts; while, HRA showed the best life-cycle performance in terms of minimum energy use and environmental impacts. Sensitivity analysis has also been carried out to study the influence of building service lifespan over 50, 75, and 100 years on the relative significance of embodied energy and total life cycle energy. The life-cycle energy requirements for SDH are found to be a significant component among the four types of residential buildings. The overall disclose that the primary operations of these buildings accounts for 90% of the total life cycle energy which far outweighs minor differences in embodied effects between the buildings.

Keywords: Building simulation, environmental impacts, life cycle assessment, life cycle energy analysis, residential buildings.

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Authors: Naci Büyükkaracığan

Abstract:

Hydroclimatic observation values ​​are used in the planning of the project of water resources. Climate variables are the first of the values ​​used in planning projects. At the same time, the climate system is a complex and interactive system involving the atmosphere, land surfaces, snow and bubbles, the oceans and other water structures. The amount and distribution of precipitation, which is an important climate parameter, is a limiting environmental factor for dispersed living things. Trend analysis is applied to the detection of the presence of a pattern or trend in the data set. Many trends work in different parts of the world are usually made for the determination of climate change. The detection and attribution of past trends and variability in climatic variables is essential for explaining potential future alteration resulting from anthropogenic activities. Parametric and non-parametric tests are used for determining the trends in climatic variables. In this study, trend tests were applied to annual total precipitation data obtained in period of 1972 and 2012, in the Konya Basin. Non-parametric trend tests, (Sen’s T, Spearman’s Rho, Mann-Kendal, Sen’s T trend, Wald-Wolfowitz) and parametric test (mean square) were applied to annual total precipitations of 15 stations for trend analysis. The linear slopes (change per unit time) of trends are calculated by using a non-parametric estimator developed by Sen. The beginning of trends is determined by using the Mann-Kendall rank correlation test. In addition, homogeneities in precipitation trends are tested by using a method developed by Van Belle and Hughes. As a result of tests, negative linear slopes were found in annual total precipitations in Konya.

Keywords: Trend analysis, precipitation, hydroclimatology, Konya, Turkey.

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Authors: Yan Su, Jane H. Davidson, F. A. Kulacki

Abstract:

The RANS method with Saffman-s turbulence model was employed to solve the time-dependent turbulent Navier-Stokes and energy equations for oscillating pipe flows. The method of partial sums of the Fourier series is used to analyze the harmonic velocity and temperature results. The complete structures of the oscillating pipe flows and the averaged Nusselt numbers on the tube wall are provided by numerical simulation over wide ranges of ReA and ReR. Present numerical code is validated by comparing the laminar flow results to analytic solutions and turbulence flow results to published experimental data at lower and higher Reynolds numbers respectively. The effects of ReA and ReR on the velocity, temperature and Nusselt number distributions have been di scussed. The enhancement of the heat transfer due to oscillating flows has also been presented. By the way of analyzing the overall Nusselt number over wide ranges of the Reynolds number Re and Keulegan- Carpenter number KC, the optimal ratio of the tube diameter over the oscillation amplitude is obtained based on the existence of a nearly constant optimal KC number. The potential application of the present results in sea water cooling has also been discussed.

Keywords: Keulegan-Carpenter number, Nusselt number, Oscillating pipe flows, Reynolds number

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Authors: Wilaiwan Sornpoon, Sebastien Bonnet, Poonpipope Kasemsap, Savitri Garivait

Abstract:

The understanding on the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration is still very limited, especially for sugarcane. In this study, trenching experiments in sugarcane plantations were conducted to separate and investigate soil respiration for this crop. The measurements were performed for the whole growing period of 344 days to quantify root respiration. The obtained monitoring data showed that the respiration rate is increasing with the age of the plant, accounting for up to 29% of the total soil respiration before harvesting. The root to soil respiration ratio increased rapidly during the young seedling stage, i.e. first five months, then declined and finally got stabilized during yield formation and ripening stages, respectively. In addition, the results from the measurements confirmed that soil respiration was positively correlated with soil moisture content.

Keywords: Soil respiration, root respiration, trenching experiment, sugarcane.

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Authors: Shinpei Kato, Nobuyuki Yamasaki

Abstract:

This paper proposes a scheduling scheme using feedback control to reduce the response time of aperiodic tasks with soft real-time constraints. We design an algorithm based on the proposed scheduling scheme and Total Bandwidth Server (TBS) that is a conventional server technique for scheduling aperiodic tasks. We then describe the feedback controller of the algorithm and give the control parameter tuning methods. The simulation study demonstrates that the algorithm can reduce the mean response time up to 26% compared to TBS in exchange for slight deadline misses.

Keywords: Real-Time Systems, Aperiodic Task Scheduling, Feedback-Control Scheduling, Total Bandwidth Server.

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Authors: Kuriko Iwai, Michihiro Kita

Abstract:

This study aims to clarify constructions which enable to improve socio-cultural values of environments and also to obtain new knowledge on selecting development plans. CVM is adopted as a method of evaluation. As a case of the research, university campus (CP; the following) is selected on account of its various environments, institutions and many users. Investigations were conducted from 4 points of view, total value and utility value of whole CP environments, values of each environment existing in CP or development plan assumed in CP. Furthermore, respondents- attributes were also investigated. In consequence, the following is obtained. 1) Almost all of total value of CP is composed of utility value of direct use. 2) Each of environment and development plans whose value is the highest is clarified. 3) Moreover, development plan to improve environmental value the most is specified.

Keywords: CVM, Development Plans, University Campus, Improvement of Environments Value.

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