Search results for: batch test strategy

Authors: Yin Jie, Qin Qiming, Yin Yong

Abstract:

As a tool for human spatial cognition and thinking, the map has been playing an important role. Maps are perhaps as fundamental to society as language and the written word. Economic and social development requires extensive and in-depth understanding of their own living environment, from the scope of the overall global to urban housing. This has brought unprecedented opportunities and challenges for traditional cartography . This paper first proposed the concept of scaleless-map and its basic characteristics, through the analysis of the existing multi-scale representation techniques. Then some strategies are presented for automated mapping compilation. Taking into account the demand of automated map compilation, detailed proposed the software - WJ workstation must have four technical features, which are generalization operators, symbol primitives, dynamically annotation and mapping process template. This paper provides a more systematic new idea and solution to improve the intelligence and automation of the scaleless cartography.

Keywords: scaleless-map, strategy, map generalization, automated compilation, WJ workstation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1432

Authors: Roya Maqami, Kaveh Qaderi Bagajan, Mohammad Mahdi Yousefi, Saeed Moradi

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of solution-focused group therapy on improving the depressed mothers of child abuser families. This study was carried out in the form of a semi-pilot, pre-test and post-test on two groups (experimental and control). Subjects include all mothers and their children that are the members of Shush and Naser Khosro child home. Beck Depression Inventory and Child Trauma Questionnaire were used to collect data. First, child abuse questionnaire was completed by children, Then Beck Depression Inventory was completed by their mothers that 22 of them were recognized as depressed and randomly divided in two groups of experimental and control. After applying pre-test for both of these groups, the intervention of solution- focused group therapy was performed in five sessions on experimental group. Finally, post-test was applied on both groups and subsequently in a month, follow-up test was performed. T-test, multivariate variance, and repeated measurement analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. According to the findings, it can be concluded that this therapy leads to the improvement of depressed mother's mood. As a result, the intervention of solution-focused group therapy is useful in order to improve the depressing mood of mothers of child abuser families.

Keywords: Child Abuse, Depressed Mothers, Child Abuser Families, Solution-focused Group Therapy.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1782

Authors: C. Ardil

Abstract:

This paper introduces the concept of neutral sets (NSs) and explores various operations on NSs, along with their associated properties. The foundation of the Neutral Set framework lies in ontological neutrality and the principles of logic, including the Law of Non-Contradiction. By encompassing components for possibility, indeterminacy, and necessity, the NS framework provides a flexible representation of truth, uncertainty, and necessity, accommodating diverse ontological perspectives without presupposing specific existential commitments. The inclusion of Possibility acknowledges the spectrum of potential states or propositions, promoting neutrality by accommodating various viewpoints. Indeterminacy reflects the inherent uncertainty in understanding reality, refraining from making definitive ontological commitments in uncertain situations. Necessity captures propositions that must hold true under all circumstances, aligning with the principle of logical consistency and implicitly supporting the Law of Non-Contradiction. Subsequently, a neutral set-TOPSIS approach is applied in the maintenance strategy selection problem, demonstrating the practical applicability of the NS framework. The paper further explores uncertainty relations and presents the fundamental preliminaries of NS theory, emphasizing its role in fostering ontological neutrality and logical coherence in reasoning.

Keywords: Uncertainty sets, neutral sets, maintenance strategy selection multiple criteria decision-making analysis, MCDM, uncertainty decision analysis, distance function, multiple attribute, decision making, selection method, uncertainty, TOPSIS

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 117

Authors: A. Goel, S.C. Gupta, S.K.Wasan

Abstract:

Testable software has two inherent properties – observability and controllability. Observability facilitates observation of internal behavior of software to required degree of detail. Controllability allows creation of difficult-to-achieve states prior to execution of various tests. In this paper, we describe COTT, a Controllability and Observability Testing Tool, to create testable object-oriented software. COTT provides a framework that helps the user to instrument object-oriented software to build the required controllability and observability. During testing, the tool facilitates creation of difficult-to-achieve states required for testing of difficultto- test conditions and observation of internal details of execution at unit, integration and system levels. The execution observations are logged in a test log file, which are used for post analysis and to generate test coverage reports.

Keywords: Controllability, Observability, Test Coverage and Testing Tool.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1621

Authors: Hannachi Med Tahar, H. Djebaili, B. Daheche

Abstract:

In this approach, we have tried to describe the flattening of welded tubes, and its experimental application. The test is carried out at the (National product processing company dishes and tubes production). Usually, the final products (tubes) undergo a series of non-destructive inspection online and offline welding, and obviously destructive mechanical testing (bending, flattening, flaring, etc.). For this and for the purpose of implementing the flattening test, which applies to the processing of round tubes in other forms, it took four sections of welded tubes draft (before stretching hot) and welded tubes finished (after drawing hot and annealing), it was also noted the report 'health' flattened tubes must not show or crack or tear. The test is considered poor if it reveals a lack of ductility of the metal.

Keywords: Flattening, destructive testing, tube drafts, finished tube, Castem 2001.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1275

Authors: Zainudin Arsad, Norul Baine Mat Johor

Abstract:

Tourism industry is an important sector in Malaysia economy and this motivates the examination of long-run relationships between tourist arrivals from three selected European countries in Malaysia and four possible determinants; relative prices, exchange rates, transportation cost and relative prices of substitute destination. The study utilizes data from January 1999 to September 2008 and employs standard econometric techniques that include unit root test and cointegration test. The estimated demand model indicates that depreciation of local currency and increases in prices at substitute destination have positive impact on tourist arrivals while increase in transportation cost has negative impact on tourist arrivals. In addition, the model suggests that higher rate of increase in local prices relative to prices at tourist country of origin may not deter tourists from coming to Malaysia

Keywords: origin country, unit root test, cointegration test

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2383

Authors: F. S. Eguakun, P. O. Adesoye

Abstract:

One of the major problems being faced by human society is that the global temperature is believed to be rising due to human activity that releases carbon IV Oxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. Carbon IV Oxide is the most important greenhouse gas influencing global warming and possible climate change. With climate change becoming alarming, reducing CO2 in our atmosphere has become a primary goal of international efforts. Forest lands are major sink and could absorb large quantities of carbon if the trees are judiciously managed. The study aims at estimating the carbon sequestration capacity of Pinus caribaea (pine) and Tectona grandis (Teak) under the prevailing environmental conditions and exploring tree growth variables that influences the carbon sequestration capacity in Omo Forest Reserve, Ogun State, Nigeria. Improving forest management by manipulating growth characteristics that influences carbon sequestration could be an adaptive strategy of forestry to climate change. Random sampling was used to select Temporary Sample Plots (TSPs) in the study area from where complete enumeration of growth variables was carried out within the plots. The data collected were subjected to descriptive and correlational analyses. The results showed that average carbon stored by Pine and Teak are 994.4±188.3 Kg and 1350.7±180.6 Kg respectively. The difference in carbon stored in the species is significant enough to consider choice of species relevant in climate change adaptation strategy. Tree growth variables influence the capacity of the tree to sequester carbon. Height, diameter, volume, wood density and age are positively correlated to carbon sequestration. These tree growth variables could be manipulated by the forest manager as an adaptive strategy for climate change while plantations of high wood density species could be relevant for management strategy to increase carbon storage.

Keywords: Adaptation, carbon sequestration, climate change, growth variables, wood density.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2315

Authors: Thi Nguyen, Lee Gordon-Brown, Jim Peterson, Peter Wheeler

Abstract:

An additive fuzzy system comprising m rules with n inputs and p outputs in each rule has at least t m(2n + 2 p + 1) parameters needing to be tuned. The system consists of a large number of if-then fuzzy rules and takes a long time to tune its parameters especially in the case of a large amount of training data samples. In this paper, a new learning strategy is investigated to cope with this obstacle. Parameters that tend toward constant values at the learning process are initially fixed and they are not tuned till the end of the learning time. Experiments based on applications of the additive fuzzy system in function approximation demonstrate that the proposed approach reduces the learning time and hence improves convergence speed considerably.

Keywords: Additive fuzzy system, improving convergence, parameter learning process, unsupervised learning.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1513

Authors: Bao Thach Nguyen, Abbas Mohajerani

Abstract:

The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) has been acknowledged as an important parameter to characterize the bearing capacity of earth structures, such as earth dams, road embankments, airport runways, bridge abutments and pavements. Technically, the CBR test can be carried out in the laboratory or in the field. The CBR test is time-consuming and is infrequently performed due to the equipment needed and the fact that the field moisture content keeps changing over time. Over the years, many correlations have been developed for the prediction of CBR by various researchers, including the dynamic cone penetrometer, undrained shear strength and Clegg impact hammer. This paper reports and discusses some of the results from a study on the prediction of CBR. In the current study, the CBR test was performed in the laboratory on some finegrained subgrade soils collected from various locations in Victoria. Based on the test results, a satisfactory empirical correlation was found between the CBR and the physical properties of the experimental soils.

Keywords: California bearing ratio, fine-grained soils, pavement, soil physical properties.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6615

Authors: A. Daverey, K. Pakshirajan, P. Sangeetha

Abstract:

Sophorolipids (SLs) production by the yeast Candida bombicola was studied in batch shake flasks using synthetic dairy wastewaters (SDWW) with or without any added external carbon and nitrogen sources. A maximum SLs production of 38.76 g/l was observed with the SDWW supplemented with low cost substrate of sugarcane molasses at 50 g/l and soybean oil at 50 g/l. When the SDWW was supplemented with more costly glucose, yeast extract, urea and soybean oil, the production, however, got lowered to only 29.49 g/l, but with a maximum biomass production of 17.38 g/l together with a complete utilization of the carbon sources.

Keywords: Candida bombicola, dairy wastewater, fat and oil, sophorolipids.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3094

Authors: J. M. Breed, E. Taylor

Abstract:

In this paper challenges associated with a new generation of Computer Science students are examined. The mode of education in tertiary institutes has progressed slowly while the needs of students have changed rapidly in an increasingly technological world. The major learning paradigms and learning theories within these paradigms are studied to find a suitable strategy for educating modern students. These paradigms include Behaviourism, Constructivism, Humanism and Cogntivism. Social Learning theory and Elaboration theory are two theories that are further examined and a survey is done to determine how these strategies will be received by students. The results and findings are evaluated and indicate that students are fairly receptive to a method that incorporates both Social Learning theory and Elaboration theory, but that some aspects of all paradigms need to be implemented to create a balanced and effective strategy with technology as foundation.

Keywords: Computer Science, Education, Elaboration Theory, Learning Paradigms, Social Learning Theory.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2165

Authors: Juha Kettunen

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to visualize the strategic network of higher education institutions and its strategic directions. The strategy map of the balanced scorecard approach is developed to describe the strategic objectives and their causal relationships in higher education. The empirical part of the study presents the survey results of the desired strategic directions of the network obtained from the teachers and other staff of the member institutions. Research and development projects are the most important form of activity in the network, but education and many other forms also turn out to be important. The results of this study support the argument that a strategic innovation alliance is a suitable and useful way to promote collaboration among European higher education institutions. The results of the study can be used by those who wish to promote such international collaboration among higher education institutions.

Keywords: Balanced scorecard, higher education, social networking, strategic planning.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1836

Authors: Khashayar Jafari, Mostafa Jafarian Abyaneh, Vahab Toufigh

Abstract:

Polymer concrete (PC) is a distinct concrete with superior characteristics in comparison to ordinary cement concrete. It has become well-known for its applications in thin overlays, floors and precast components. In this investigation, the mechanical properties of PC with different epoxy resin contents, ordinary cement concrete (OCC) and lightweight concrete (LC) have been studied under uniaxial compression test. The study involves five types of concrete, with each type being tested four times. Their complete elastic-plastic behavior was compared with each other through the measurement of volumetric strain during the tests. According to the results, PC showed higher strength, ductility and energy absorption with respect to OCC and LC.

Keywords: Polymer concrete, ordinary cement concrete, lightweight concrete, uniaxial compression test, volumetric strain.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1164

Authors: M. O. Hamzah, M. R. M. Hasan

Abstract:

Binder drainage test is widely used to set an upper limit to the design binder content of porous asphalt. However, the presence of high amount of fine particles in the drained binder may affect the accuracy of the test result. This paper presents a study to characterize the composition and particle size distribution of fine particles accumulated in the drained binder. Fine aggregates and filler in the drained binder were extracted using a suitable solvent. Then, wet and dry sieve analysis was carried out to identify the actual composition of the extracted fine aggregates and filler. From the results, almost half of the drained binder consisted of fine aggregates and this significantly affects the accuracy of the design binder content of porous asphalt mix. This simple finding highlights the importance of taking into account the presence of fine aggregates in the calculation of drained binder.

Keywords: Porous asphalt, Binder drainage test, Drained binder, Fine particle proportion

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1591

Authors: E. Ghabouli

Abstract:

Intermediate cities which also called medium size cities have an important role in the process of globalization. It is argued that, in some cases this type of cities may be depopulated or in otherwise may be transformed as the periphery of metropolitans, so that the personal identity of the city and its local cultural heritage could suffer from its neighbor metropolitan. Over the last decades, the role of tourism in the development process and the cultural heritage has increased. The impact of tourism on socioeconomic growth makes motivation for the study of tourism development in regional and urban planning process. There are evidences that tourism has a positive impact in local development and makes economic motivations for cultural heritage protection. In this study, by considering the role of tourism in local development, especially by its economic and socio-cultural impacts, it is tried to introduce a strategy for tourism development through a method of urban planning for intermediate cities called as Base plan. Damavand is an intermediate city located in Tehran province, Iran with a high potential in tourism by its local specific characteristic like social structure, antiquities and natural attractions. It’s selected as a suitable case study for intended strategy which is a combination of urban planning and tourism development methods. Focusing on recognition of the historical and cultural heritage of Damavand, in this paper through “base plan methodology” a strategy of urban planning toward tourism development is prepared in order to make tourism development as a support for cultural heritage of this city.

Keywords: Urban planning, tourism, cultural heritage, intermediate cities.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1538

Authors: Simin Sadeghi-Saeb

Abstract:

Metacognitive strategies consistently play important roles in reading comprehension. The metacognitive strategies involve the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of the cognitive processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear. In this paper, the effect of instruction in using metacognitive strategies on reading academic materials, type of metacognitive strategies were mostly used by college university students before and after the instruction and the level they use those strategies before and after the instruction were studied. For these aims, 50 female college students were chosen. Then, they were divided randomly into two groups, experimental and control groups. At first session, students in both groups took the standard TOFEL exam. After the pre-test had been administered, the instruction began. After treatment, a post-test was taken. It is useful to state that after pre-test and post-test the same questionnaire was handed to the students of experimental group. The results of this research show that the instruction of metacognitive strategies has positive effect on the students' scores in reading comprehension tests. Furthermore, it showed that before and after the instruction, the students' usage of metacognitive strategies changed. Also, it demonstrated that the instruction affected the students' level of metacognitive strategies' usage.

Keywords: EFL students, English reading comprehension, instruction, metacognitive strategies.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1583

Authors: Naima Ikken, Abdelhadi Bouknadel, Nour-eddine Tariba Ahmed Haddou, Hafsa El Omari

Abstract:

The operation of grid-connected inverters necessity a single-phase phase locked loop (PLL) is proposed in this article to accurately and quickly estimate and detect the grid phase angle. This article presents the improvement of a method of phase-locked loop. The novelty is to generate a method (PLL) of synchronizing the grid with a Notch filter based on adaptive fuzzy logic for inverter systems connected to the grid. The performance of the proposed method was tested under normal and abnormal operating conditions (amplitude, frequency and phase shift variations). In addition, simulation results with ISPM software are developed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method strategy. Finally, the experimental test will be used to extract the result and discuss the validity of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords: Phase locked loop, PLL, notch filter, fuzzy logic control.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 764

Authors: Andreas Theissler, Ian Dear

Abstract:

In the automotive industry test drives are being conducted during the development of new vehicle models or as a part of quality assurance of series-production vehicles. The communication on the in-vehicle network, data from external sensors, or internal data from the electronic control units is recorded by automotive data loggers during the test drives. The recordings are used for fault analysis. Since the resulting data volume is tremendous, manually analysing each recording in great detail is not feasible. This paper proposes to use machine learning to support domainexperts by preventing them from contemplating irrelevant data and rather pointing them to the relevant parts in the recordings. The underlying idea is to learn the normal behaviour from available recordings, i.e. a training set, and then to autonomously detect unexpected deviations and report them as anomalies. The one-class support vector machine “support vector data description” is utilised to calculate distances of feature vectors. SVDDSUBSEQ is proposed as a novel approach, allowing to classify subsequences in multivariate time series data. The approach allows to detect unexpected faults without modelling effort as is shown with experimental results on recordings from test drives.

Keywords: Anomaly detection, fault detection, test drive analysis, machine learning.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2477

Authors: Sidshchadhaa Aumted, Shuhei Shiina, Hiroshi Takami

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose an advanced ILQ control for the buck-converter via two-degrees of freedom servo-system. Our presented strategy is based on Inverse Linear Quadratic (ILQ) servo-system controller without solving Riccati-s equation directly. The optimal controller of the current and voltage control system is designed. The stability and robust control are analyzed. A conscious and persistent effort has been made to improve ILQ control via two-degrees of freedom guarantees the optimal gains on the basis of polynomial pole assignment, which our results of the proposed strategy shows that the advanced ILQ control can be controlled independently the step response and the disturbance response by appending a feed-forward compensator.

Keywords: Optimal voltage control, inverse LQ design method, second order polynomial, two-degrees of freedom.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1981

Authors: Hidehiko Okada, Jumpei Tokida

Abstract:

Researchers have been applying tional intelligence (AI/CI) methods to computer games. In this research field, further researchesare required to compare AI/CI methods with respect to each game application. In th our experimental result on the comparison of three evolutionary algorithms – evolution strategy, genetic algorithm, and their hybrid applied to evolving controller agents for the CIG 2007 Simulated Car Racing competition. Our experimental result shows that, premature convergence of solutions was observed in the case of ES, and GA outperformed ES in the last half of generations. Besides, a hybrid which uses GA first and ES next evolved the best solution among the whole solutions being generated. This result shows the ability of GA in globally searching promising areas in the early stage and the ability of ES in locally searching the focused area (fine-tuning solutions).

Keywords: Evolutionary algorithm, autonomous agent, neuroevolutions, simulated car racing.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1809

Authors: Igor Astrov, Andrus Pedai

Abstract:

This paper focuses on a critical component of the situational awareness (SA), the control of autonomous vertical flight for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Autonomous vertical flight is a challenging but important task for tactical UAVs to achieve high level of autonomy under adverse conditions. With the SA strategy, we proposed a two stage flight control procedure using two autonomous control subsystems to address the dynamics variation and performance requirement difference in initial and final stages of flight trajectory for a nontrivial nonlinear trirotor mini-UAV model. This control strategy for chosen mini-UAV model has been verified by simulation of hovering maneuvers using software package Simulink and demonstrated good performance for fast SA in realtime search-and-rescue operations.

Keywords: Flight control, trirotor aircraft, situational awareness, unmanned aerial vehicle.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2165

Authors: Najmeh Bolbolamiri, Maryam Setayesh Sanai, Ahmad Mirabadi

Abstract:

This paper deals with condition monitoring of electric switch machine for railway points. Point machine, as a complex electro-mechanical device, switch the track between two alternative routes. There has been an increasing interest in railway safety and the optimal management of railway equipments maintenance, e.g. point machine, in order to enhance railway service quality and reduce system failure. This paper explores the development of Kolmogorov- Smirnov (K-S) test to detect some point failures (external to the machine, slide chairs, fixing, stretchers, etc), while the point machine (inside the machine) is in its proper condition. Time-domain stator Current signatures of normal (healthy) and faulty points are taken by 3 Hall Effect sensors and are analyzed by K-S test. The test is simulated by creating three types of such failures, namely putting a hard stone and a soft stone between stock rail and switch blades as obstacles and also slide chairs- friction. The test has been applied for those three faults which the results show that K-S test can effectively be developed for the aim of other point failures detection, which their current signatures deviate parametrically from the healthy current signature. K-S test as an analysis technique, assuming that any defect has a specific probability distribution. Empirical cumulative distribution functions (ECDF) are used to differentiate these probability distributions. This test works based on the null hypothesis that ECDF of target distribution is statistically similar to ECDF of reference distribution. Therefore by comparing a given current signature (as target signal) from unknown switch state to a number of template signatures (as reference signal) from known switch states, it is possible to identify which is the most likely state of the point machine under analysis.

Keywords: stator currents monitoring, railway points, point failures, fault detection and diagnosis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, time-domain analysis.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1835

Authors: Thaniya Kaosol, Narumol Sohgrathok

Abstract:

In this paper, a Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) test provides a measure of the energy production potential from codigestion between the frozen seafood wastewater and the decanter cake. The experiments were conducted in laboratory-scale. The suitable ratio of the frozen seafood wastewater and the decanter cake was observed in the BMP test. The ratio of the co-digestion between the frozen seafood wastewater and the decanter cake has impacts on the biogas production and energy production potential. The best performance for energy production potential using BMP test observed from the 180 ml of the frozen seafood wastewater and 10 g of the decanter cake ratio. This ratio provided the maximum methane production at 0.351 l CH4/g TCODremoval. The removal efficiencies are 76.18%, 83.55%, 43.16% and 56.76% at TCOD, SCOD, TS and VS, respectively. The result can be concluded that the decanter cake can improve the energy production potential of the frozen seafood wastewater. The energy provides from co-digestion between frozen seafood wastewater and decanter cake approximately 19x109 MJ/year in Thailand.

Keywords: Frozen seafood wastewater, decanter cake, biogas, methane, BMP test.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2270

Authors: Chang S. Woo, Hyun S. Park, Wan D. Kim

Abstract:

Fatigue life prediction and evaluation are the key technologies to assure the safety and reliability of automotive rubber components. The objective of this study is to develop the fatigue analysis process for vulcanized rubber components, which is applicable to predict fatigue life at initial product design step. Fatigue life prediction methodology of vulcanized natural rubber was proposed by incorporating the finite element analysis and fatigue damage parameter of maximum strain appearing at the critical location determined from fatigue test. In order to develop an appropriate fatigue damage parameter of the rubber material, a series of displacement controlled fatigue test was conducted using threedimensional dumbbell specimen with different levels of mean displacement. It was shown that the maximum strain was a proper damage parameter, taking the mean displacement effects into account. Nonlinear finite element analyses of three-dimensional dumbbell specimens were performed based on a hyper-elastic material model determined from the uni-axial tension, equi-biaxial tension and planar test. Fatigue analysis procedure employed in this study could be used approximately for the fatigue design.

Keywords: Rubber, Material test, Finite element analysis, Strain, Fatigue test, Fatigue life prediction.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4661

Authors: Bella Llego

Abstract:

The purpose of this research is: a) to investigate how the HR practices influence psychological contracts, b) to examine the influence of psychological contracts to individual behavior and to contribute individually, c) to study the psychological contact through leadership. This research using mixed methods, qualitative and quantitative research methods were utilized to gather the data collected using a qualitative method by the HR Manager who is in charge of the trainings from the staffs and quantitative method (survey) by using questionnaire was utilized to draw upon and to elaborate on the recurring themes present during the interviews. The survey was done to 400 staffs of the company. The study found that leadership styles supporting the firm’s HR strategy is the key in making psychological contracts that benefit both the firm and its members.

Keywords: Human Resource Performance Practice, and Leadership, Psychological Contacts, Relationship of Managers and staffs.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4008

Authors: Maria D. Nikolaki, Katerina N. Zerva, Constantine. J. Philippopoulos

Abstract:

The photochemical and photo-Fenton oxidation of 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol was performed in a batch reactor, at room temperature, using UV radiation, H2O2 as oxidant, and Fenton-s reagent. The effect of the oxidative agent-s initial concentration was investigated as well as the effect of the initial concentration of Fe(II) by following the target compound degradation, the total organic carbon removal and the chloride ion production. Also, from the kinetic analysis conducted and proposed reaction scheme it was deduced that the addition of Fe(II) significantly increases the production and the further oxidation of the chlorinated intermediates.

Keywords: 1, 3-dichloro-2-propanol, hydrogen peroxide, photo- Fenton, UV .

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1698

Authors: Jan Sedlacek

Abstract:

The paper focuses on the implementation phase of the strategy of the European Union and the national strategy of the Czech Republic to promote academic and research staff with the potential to produce results that provide innovation useful for economic growth. It deals with the use of financial resources of the Operational Program Education for Competitiveness at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. The author presents an example of two strategic projects in the field of human resources – Excellence in Human Resources as a Source of Competitiveness and New Excellence of Human Resources. The subject of this paper is the potential contribution of newly recruited postdoctoral within these projects for the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen and its internal environment.

Keywords: EU funds, public universities, human resources, results of research, funding.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1572

Authors: I. Parkova, A. Vališevskis, A. Viļumsone

Abstract:

Nocturnal enuresis or bed-wetting is intermittent incontinence during sleep of children after age 5 that may precipitate wide range of behavioral and developmental problems. One of the non-pharmacological treatment methods is the use of a bed-wetting alarm system. In order to improve comfort conditions of nocturnal enuresis alarm system, modular moisture sensor should be replaced by a textile sensor. In this study behavior and moisture detection speed of woven and sewn sensors were compared by analyzing change in electrical resistance after solution (salt water) was dripped on sensor samples. Material of samples has different structure and yarn location, which affects solution detection rate. Sensor system circuit was designed and two sensor tests were performed: system activation test and false alarm test to determine the sensitivity of the system and activation threshold. Sewn sensor had better result in system’s activation test – faster reaction, but woven sensor had better result in system’s false alarm test – it was less sensitive to perspiration simulation. After experiments it was found that the optimum switching threshold is 3V in case of 5V input voltage, which provides protection against false alarms, for example – during intensive sweating.

Keywords: Conductive yarns, moisture textile sensor.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2381

Authors: M. M. Seraj, M. S. Gadala

Abstract:

This study presents a systematic analysis of wetted region due to cooling of aluminum plate by water spray impingement with respect to different water flow rates, spray nozzle heights, and subcooling. Unlike jet impingement, the wetting is not commenced upon spray impingement and there is a delay in wetness of hot test surface. After initiation, the wetting (black zone) progresses gradually to cover all test plate and provides efficient cooling in nucleate boiling regime. Generally, spray cooling is found function of spray flow rate, spray-to-surface distance and water subcooling. Wetting delay is decreasing by increasing of spray flow rate until spray impact area is not become bigger that test surface. Otherwise, higher spray flow rate is not practically accelerated start of wetting. Very fast wetting due to spray cooling can be obtained by dense spray (high floe rate) discharged from adjacent nozzle to the test surface. Highly subcooling water spray also triggers earlier wetting of hot aluminum plate.

Keywords: Water spray, wetting, aluminum plate, flow rate.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1956

Authors: Abiodun M. Lawal, Benjamin O. Olley

Abstract:

Long Distance Truck Drivers (LDTDs) have been found to be a high risk group in the spread of HIV/AIDS globally; perhaps, due to their high Sexual Risk Behaviours (SRBs). Interventions for reducing SRBs in trucking population have not been fully exploited. A quasi-experimental control group pretest-posttest design was used to assess the efficacy of psycho-education and behavioural skills training in reducing SRBs among LDTDs. Sixteen drivers rivers were randomly assigned into either experimental or control groups using balloting technique. Questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. Repeated measures t-test and independent t-test were used to test hypotheses. Intervention had significant effect on the SRBs among LDTDs at post-test (t{7}= 6.01, p<.01) and at follow up (t{7} = 6.42, p<.01). No significant difference in sexual risk behaviour of LDTDs at post-test and at follow-up stage. Similarly, intervention had significant effects on sexual risk behaviour at post-test (t {14} = - 4.69, p<.05) and at follow-up (t {14} = -9.56, p<.05) respectively. At post-test and follow-up stages, drivers in experimental group reported reduced SRBs than those in control group. Drivers in experimental group reported lower sexual risk behaviour a week after intervention as well as at three months follow-up than those in control group. It is concluded that HIV/AIDS preventive intervention that provides the necessary informational and behavioural skills content can significantly impact long distance truck drivers’ sexual risk behaviours.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS interventions, Long distance truck drivers, Nigeria, Sexual risk behaviours.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2228