Search results for: case study

Authors: A. Rouili

Abstract:

In the present paper the results of a numerical study are presented, numerical models were developed to simulate the behaviour of vertical massive dikes. The proposed models were developed according to the geometry, boundary conditions, loading conditions and initial conditions of a physical model taken as reference. The results obtained were compared to the experimental data. As far as the overall behaviour, the displacements and the failure mechanisms of the dikes is concerned, the numerical results were in good agreement with the experimental results, which clearly indicates a good quality of numerical modelling. The validated numerical models were used in a parametric study were the displacements and failure mechanisms were fully investigated. Out of the results obtained, some conclusions and recommendations related to the design of massive dikes are proposed.

Keywords: Water conservation, dikes, risk assessment and numerical modelling.

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Authors: S. Levitsky, R. Bergman

Abstract:

Fluid rheology may have essential impact on sound propagation in a liquid-filled pipe, especially, in a low frequency range. Rheological parameters of liquid are temperature-sensitive, which ultimately results in a temperature dependence of the wave speed and attenuation in the waveguide. The study is devoted to modeling of this effect at sound propagation in an elastic pipe with polymeric liquid, described by generalized Maxwell model with non-zero high-frequency viscosity. It is assumed that relaxation spectrum is distributed according to the Spriggs law; temperature impact on the liquid rheology is described on the basis of the temperature-superposition principle and activation theory. The dispersion equation for the waveguide, considered as a thin-walled tube with polymeric solution, is obtained within a quasi-one-dimensional formulation. Results of the study illustrate the influence of temperature on sound propagation in the system.

Keywords: Elastic tube, sound propagation, temperature effect, viscoelastic liquid.

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Authors: Jeong-Hwan Choi, Hyo-Sang Park, Tae-Hyung Lee

Abstract:

The transmission tower is one of the crucial lifeline structures in a modern society, and it needs to be protected against extreme loading conditions. However, the transmission tower is a very complex structure and, therefore, it is very difficult to simulate the actual damage and the collapse behavior of the tower structure. In this study, the actual collapse behavior of the transmission tower due to lateral loading conditions such as wind load is evaluated through the computational simulation. For that, a progressive collapse procedure is applied to the simulation. In this procedure, after running the simulation, if a member of the tower structure fails, the failed member is removed and the simulation run again. The 154kV transmission tower is selected for this study. The simulation is performed by nonlinear static analysis procedure, namely pushover analysis, using OpenSEES, an earthquake simulation platform. Three-dimensional finite element models of those towers are developed.

Keywords: Transmission tower, OpenSEES, pushover analysis, progressive collapse.

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Authors: Alireza Vakili, Mohsen Danesh Mesgaran, Majid Abdollazade

Abstract:

In this study four Holstein steers with rumen fistula fed 7 kg of dry matter (DM) of diets differing in concentrate to alfalfa hay ratios as 60:40, 70:30, 80:20, and 90:10 in a 4 × 4 latin square design. The pH of the ruminal fluid was measured before the morning feeding (0.0 h) to 8 h post feeding. In this study, a two-layered feed-forward neural network trained by the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm was used for modelling of ruminal pH. The input variables of the network were time, concentrate to alfalfa hay ratios (C/F), non fiber carbohydrate (NFC) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). The output variable was the ruminal pH. The modeling results showed that there was excellent agreement between the experimental data and predicted values, with a high determination coefficient (R2 >0.96). Therefore, we suggest using these model-derived biological values to summarize continuously recorded pH data.

Keywords: Ruminal pH, Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Non Fiber Carbohydrate, Neutral Detergent Fiber.

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Authors: B. Salmasian, A. Rabiee, T. Yousefzadeh

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In this research, the risk assessment of radiation hazard for the Research Nuclear Reactor has been studied. In the current study, the MCNPx computational code has been used and coupled with a developed program using MATLAB software to evaluate Total Effective Dose Equivalent (TEDE) and cancer risk according to the BEIR equations for various human organs. In this study, the risk assessment of cancer has been calculated for ten years after exposure, in each of body organs of different ages and sexes. Also, the risk assessment of cancer has been calculated in each of body organs of different ages and sexes due to exposure after the retirement of the reactor staff. According to obtained results, a conservative whole-body dose rate, during a year, is 0.261 Sv and the probability the cancer risk for women is more than men and for children is more than adults. It has been shown that thyroid cancer was more possible than others.

Keywords: MCNPx code, BEIR equation, equivalent dose, risk analysis.

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Authors: Zh. Karaulova, D. Baizhigitov

Abstract:

At the Aktogay deposit, the oxidized ore section has been developed since 2015; by now, the reserves of easily enriched ore are decreasing, and a large number of copper-poor, difficult-to-enrich ores has been accumulated in the dumps of the KAZ Minerals Aktogay deposit, which is unprofitable to mine using the traditional mining methods. Hence, another technology needs to be implemented, which will significantly expand the raw material base of copper production in Kazakhstan and ensure the efficient use of natural resources. Heap and dump bacterial recovery are the most acceptable technologies for processing low-grade secondary copper sulfide ores. Test objects were the copper ores of Aktogay deposit and chemolithotrophic bacteria Leptospirillum ferrooxidans (L.f.), Acidithiobacillus caldus (A.c.), Sulfobacillus acidophilus (S.a.), represent mixed cultures utilized in bacterial oxidation systems. They can stay active in the 20-40 °C temperature range. Biocatalytic acceleration was achieved as a result of bacteria oxidizing iron sulfides to form iron sulfate, which subsequently underwent chemical oxidation to become sulfate oxide. The following results have been achieved at the initial stage: the goal was to grow and maintain the life activity of bacterial cultures under laboratory conditions. These bacteria grew the best within the pH 1,2-1,8 range with light stirring and in an aerated environment. The optimal growth temperature was 30-33 оC. The growth rate decreased by one-half for each 4-5 °C fall in temperature from 30 °C. At best, the number of bacteria doubled every 24 hours. Typically, the maximum concentration of cells that can be grown in ferrous solution is about 107/ml. A further step researched in this case was the adaptation of microorganisms to the environment of certain metals. This was followed by mass production of inoculum and maintenance for their further cultivation on a factory scale. This was done by adding sulfide concentrate, allowing the bacteria to convert the ferrous sulfate as indicated by the Eh (> 600 mV), then diluting to double the volume and adding concentrate to achieve the same metal level. This process was repeated until the desired metal level and volumes were achieved. The final stage of bacterial recovery was the transportation and irrigation of secondary sulfide copper ores of the oxidized ore section. In conclusion, the project was implemented at the Aktogay mine since the bioleaching process was prolonged. Besides, the method of bacterial recovery might compete well with existing non-biological methods of extraction of metals from ores.

Keywords: Bacterial recovery, copper ore, bioleaching, bacterial inoculum.

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Authors: Boonlert Watjatrakul

Abstract:

Educational institutions increasingly adopt the students-as-customers concept to satisfy their students. Understanding students- perspectives on the use of this business concept in educational institutions is necessary for the institutions to effectively align these perspectives with their management practice. The study investigates whether students in technology and business disciplines have significantly different attitudes toward using the students-as-customers concept in educational institutions and explores the impact of treating students as customers in technology disciplines under students- perspectives. The results from quantitative and qualitative data analyses show that technology students, in contrast to business students, fairly disagree with educational institutions to treat students as customers. Treating students as customers in technology disciplines will have a negative influence on teaching performance, instructor-student relationships and educational institutions- aim, but a positive influence on service quality in educational institutions. The paper discusses the findings and concludes with implications and limitations of the study.

Keywords: Education, information technology, students-ascustomers, technology disciplines.

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Authors: Md. Soebur Rahman, Mahbuba Begum, Raquib Ahsan

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Composite column is a structural member that uses a combination of structural steel shapes, pipes or tubes with or without reinforcing steel bars and reinforced concrete to provide adequate load carrying capacity to sustain either axial compressive loads alone or a combination of axial loads and bending moments. Composite construction takes the advantages of the speed of construction, light weight and strength of steel, and the higher mass, stiffness, damping properties and economy of reinforced concrete. The most usual types of composite columns are the concrete filled steel tubes and the partially or fully encased steel profiles. Fully encased composite column (FEC) provides compressive strength, stability, stiffness, improved fire proofing and better corrosion protection. This paper reports experimental and numerical investigations of the behaviour of concrete encased steel composite columns subjected to short-term axial load. In this study, eleven short FEC columns with square shaped cross section were constructed and tested to examine the load-deflection behavior. The main variables in the test were considered as concrete compressive strength, cross sectional size and percentage of structural steel. A nonlinear 3-D finite element (FE) model has been developed to analyse the inelastic behaviour of steel, concrete, and longitudinal reinforcement as well as the effect of concrete confinement of the FEC columns. FE models have been validated against the current experimental study conduct in the laboratory and published experimental results under concentric load. It has been observed that FE model is able to predict the experimental behaviour of FEC columns under concentric gravity loads with good accuracy. Good agreement has been achieved between the complete experimental and the numerical load-deflection behaviour in this study. The capacities of each constituent of FEC columns such as structural steel, concrete and rebar's were also determined from the numerical study. Concrete is observed to provide around 57% of the total axial capacity of the column whereas the steel I-sections contributes to the rest of the capacity as well as ductility of the overall system. The nonlinear FE model developed in this study is also used to explore the effect of concrete strength and percentage of structural steel on the behaviour of FEC columns under concentric loads. The axial capacity of FEC columns has been found to increase significantly by increasing the strength of concrete.

Keywords: Composite, columns, experimental, finite element, fully encased, strength.

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Authors: Nasser M. Amaitik, Mohammed J. El-Sahli

Abstract:

Evaluation of educational portals is an important subject area that needs more attention from researchers. A university that has an educational portal which is difficult to use and interact by teachers or students or management staff can reduce the position and reputation of the university. Therefore, it is important to have the ability to make an evaluation of the quality of e-services the university provide to improve them over time. The present study evaluates the usability of the Information Technology Faculty portal at University of Benghazi. Two evaluation methods were used: a questionnaire-based method and an online automated tool-based method. The first method was used to measure the portal's external attributes of usability (Information, Content and Organization of the portal, Navigation, Links and Accessibility, Aesthetic and Visual Appeal, Performance and Effectiveness and educational purpose) from users' perspectives, while the second method was used to measure the portal's internal attributes of usability (number and size of HTML files, number and size of images, load time, HTML check errors, browsers compatibility problems, number of bad and broken links), which cannot be perceived by the users. The study showed that some of the usability aspects have been found at the acceptable level of performance and quality, and some others have been found otherwise. In general, it was concluded that the usability of IT faculty educational portal generally acceptable. Recommendations and suggestions to improve the weakness and quality of the portal usability are presented in this study.

Keywords: Automated tools-based evaluation, Educational portals, Evaluation criteria, Questionnaire-based evaluation, Usability evaluation.

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Authors: Mohamed Haffar, Loredana Perez

Abstract:

Significant attention has recently been paid to the cross-cultural negotiations due to the growth of international businesses. Despite the substantial body of literature examining the influence of National Culture (NC) dimensions on negotiations, there is a lack of studies comparing the influence of NC in Latin America with a Western European countries, In particular, an extensive review of the literature revealed that a contribution to knowledge would be derived from the comparison of the influence of NC dimensions on negotiations in UK and Venezuela. The primary data was collected through qualitative interviews, to obtain an insight about the perceptions and beliefs of Venezuelan and British business managers about their negotiating styles. The findings of this study indicated that NC has a great influence on the negotiating styles. In particular, Venezuelan and British managers demonstrated to have opposed negotiating styles, affecting the way they communicate, approach people and their willingness to take risks.

Keywords: National culture, negotiation, international business, Venezula, UK.

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Authors: Ashish Pathak, Dong-Jin Kim, Haragobinda Srichandan, Byoung-Gon Kim

Abstract:

Microbial depyritization of coal using chemoautotrophic bacteria is gaining acceptance as an efficient and eco-friendly technique. The process uses the metabolic activity of chemoautotrophic bacteria in removing sulfur and pyrite from the coal. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans in removing the pyritic sulfur and iron from high iron and sulfur containing US coal. The experiment was undertaken in 8L bench scale stirred tank reactor having 1% (w/v) pulp density of coal. The reactor was operated at 35ºC and aerobic conditions were maintained by sparging the air into the reactor. It was found that at the end of bio-depyritization process, about 90% of pyrite and 67% of pyritic sulfur was removed from the coal. The results indicate that the bio-depyritization process is an efficient process in treating the high pyrite and sulfur containing coal. 

Keywords: At. ferrooxidans, Batch reactor, Coal desulfurization, Pyrite.

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Authors: Elizabeth D. Ramos

Abstract:

Peace education supports a holistic appreciation for the value of life and the interdependence of all living systems. Peace education aims to build a culture of peace. One way of building a culture of peace is through environmental stewardship. This study sought to find out the environmental stewardship practices in selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines and how these environmental stewardship practices lead to building a culture of peace. The findings revealed that there is still room for improvement in implementing environmental stewardship in schools through academic service learning. In addition, the following manifestations are implemented very satisfactorily in schools: 1) waste reduction, reuse, and recycling, 2) community service, and 3) clean and green surroundings. Administrators of schools in the study lead their staff and students in implementing environmental stewardship. It could be concluded that those involved in environmental stewardship display an acceptable culture of peace, particularly solidarity, respect for persons, and inner peace.

Keywords: Academic service learning, environmental stewardship, leadership support, peace, solidarity.

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Authors: Agneta Sundström, Zahra Ahmadi, Akmal Hyder

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The purpose of this paper is to develop a typology based on market orientation (MO) and innovation orientation (IO), and to illustrate to what extent housing companies in Sweden fit within this framework. A qualitative study on 11 public housing companies in the central part of Sweden has been conducted by the help of open and semi-structured questions for data collection. Four public housing company types- i.e. reactive prospector, proactive prospector, reactive defender and proactive defender have been identified by the combination of MO-IO dimensions. Future research can include other dimensions like entrepreneurship and network to observe how it particularly affects MO. An empirical study can compare public and private housing companies on the basis of MO and IO dimensions. One major contribution of the paper is the proposition of typology which can be used to describe public housing companies and deciding their future course of actions.

Keywords: Customer-led, economy, innovativeness, market orientation.

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Authors: N. Tugrul, E. Moroydor Derun, E. Cinar, A. S. Kipcak, N. Baran Acarali, S. Piskin

Abstract:

Fly ash is an important waste, produced in thermal power plants which causes very important environmental pollutions. For this reason the usage and evaluation the fly ash in various areas are very important. Nearly, 15 million tons/year of fly ash is produced in Turkey. In this study, usage of fly ash with diatomite and molasses for heavy metal (Cd) adsorption from wastewater is investigated. The samples of Seyitomer region fly ash were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) then diatomite (0 and 1% in terms of fly ash, w/w) and molasses (0-0.75 mL) were pelletized under 30 MPa of pressure for the usage of cadmium (Cd) adsorption in wastewater. After the adsorption process, samples of Seyitomer were analyzed using Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). As a result, it is seen that the usage of Seyitomer fly ash is proper for cadmium (Cd) adsorption and an optimum adsorption yield with 52% is found at a compound with Seyitomer fly ash (10 g), diatomite (0.5 g) and molasses (0.75 mL) at 2.5 h of reaction time, pH:4, 20ºC of reaction temperature and 300 rpm of stirring rate.

Keywords: Heavy metal, fly ash, molasses, diatomite, adsorption, wastewater.

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Authors: Cheng-Lung Huang, Han-Yu Chien, Michael Conyette

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Social bookmarking is an environment in which the user gradually changes interests over time so that the tag data associated with the current temporal period is usually more important than tag data temporally far from the current period. This implies that in the social tagging system, the newly tagged items by the user are more relevant than older items. This study proposes a novel recommender system that considers the users- recent tag preferences. The proposed system includes the following stages: grouping similar users into clusters using an E-M clustering algorithm, finding similar resources based on the user-s bookmarks, and recommending the top-N items to the target user. The study examines the system-s information retrieval performance using a dataset from del.icio.us, which is a famous social bookmarking web site. Experimental results show that the proposed system is better and more effective than traditional approaches.

Keywords: Recommender systems, Social bookmarking, Tag

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Authors: Hasan Atak

Abstract:

Emerging adulthood, between the ages of 18 and 25, as a distinct developmental stage extending from adolescence to young adulthood. The proportions composing the five-factor model are neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. In the literature, there is any study which includes the relationship between emerging adults loneliness and personality traits. Therefore, the relationship between emerging adults loneliness and personality traits have to be investigated. This study examines the association between the Big Five personality traits, and loneliness among Turkish emerging adults. A total of 220 emerging adults completed the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and the The UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLALS). Correlation analysis showed that three Big Five personality dimensions which are Neuroticism (positively), and Extraversion and Aggreableness (negatively) are moderately correlated with emerging adults loneliness. Regression analysis shows that Extraversion, Aggreableness and Neuroticism are the most important predictors of emerging adults loneliness. Results can be discussed in the context of emerging adulthood theory.

Keywords: Personality, Big Five Traits, Loneliness, Turkish Emerging Adults

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Authors: Chanoknart Mayusoh

Abstract:

The research about Formal Thai National Costume in the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej is an applied research that aimed to study the accurate knowledge concerning to Thai national costume in the reign of King Rama IX, also to study origin of all costumes in the reign of King Rama IX and to study the style, material used, and using accasion. This research methodology which are collect quanlitative data through observation, document, and photograph from key informant of costume in the reign of King Rama IX and from another who related to this field.

The formal Thai national costume of the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej originated from the visit of His Majesty the King to Europe and America in 1960. Since Thailand had no traditional national costume; Her Majesty the Queen initiated the idea to create formal Thai national costumes. In 1964, Her Majesty the Queen selected 8 styles of formal Thai national costume. Later, Her Majesty the Queen confered another 3 formal Thai national costume for men. There are 8 styles of formal Thai national costume for women: Thai Ruean Ton, Thai Chit Lada, Thai Amarin, Thai Borom Phiman, Thai Siwalia, Thai Chakkri, Thai Dusit, and Thai Chakkraphat. There are 3 styles of formal Thai national costume for men: short-sleeve shirt, long-sleeve shirt, and long-sleeve shirt with breechcloth. The costume is widely used in formal ceremony such as greeting ceremony for official foreign visitors, wedding ceremony, or other auspicious ceremonies. Now a day, they are always used as a bridal gown as well. The formal Thai national costume is valuable art that shows Thai identity and, should be preserved for the next generation.

Keywords: The formal Thai national costume for women, The formal Thai national costume for men, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great King Rama IX, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit Queen.

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Authors: Mohammed Alshehri, Steve Drew

Abstract:

More and more governments around the world are introducing e-government as a means of reducing costs, improving services, saving time and increasing effectiveness and efficiency in the public sector Therefore e-government has been identified as one of the top priorities for Saudi government and all its agencies. However, the adoption of e-government is facing many challenges and barriers such as technological, cultural, organizational, and social issues which must be considered and treated carefully by any government contemplating its adoption. This paper reports on a pilot study amongst online (e-ready) citizens to identify the challenges and barriers that affect the adoption of e-government services especially from their perspective in Saudi society. Based on the analysis of data collected from an online survey the researcher was able to identify some of the important barriers and challenges from the e-ready citizen perspective. As a result, this study has generated a list of possible strategies to move towards successful adoption of egovernment services in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: Challenges, E-government services, adoption, SaudiArabia

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Authors: Nareelux Suwannobol, Plernpit Promrak, Kiattisak Batsungnoen

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The aim of this study was to investigate the environmental conservation behavior of the Applied Health Science students of Suranaree University of Technology, a green and clean university. The sample group was 184 Applied Health Science students (medical, nursing, and public health). A questionnaire was used to collect information. The result of the study found that the students had more negative than positive behaviors towards energy, water, and forest conservation. This result can be used as basic information for designing long-term behavior modification activities or research projects on environmental conservation. Thus Applied Health Science students will be encouraged to be conscious and also be a good example of environmental conservation behavior.

Keywords: Energy conservation behavior, Water conservationbehavior, Forest conservation behavior, Green and clean University.

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Authors: Adnan Ahmad, Yusri Kamin, Asnol Dahar Minghat, Mohd. Khir Nordin, Dayana Farzeha, Ahmad Nabil

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The purpose of this study is to identify the teaching method practices of the practical work subject in Vocational Secondary School. This study examined the practice of Vocational Teaching Method in Automotive Practical Work. The quantitative method used the sets of the questionnaire. 283 students and 63 teachers involved from ten VSS involved in this research. Research finding showed in conducting the introduction session teachers prefer used the demonstration method and questioning technique. While in deliver the content of practical task, teachers applied group monitoring and problem solving approach. To conclude the task of automotive practical work, teachers choose re-explain and report writing to make sure students really understand all the process of teaching. VTM-APW also involved the competency-based concept to embed in the model. Derived from factors investigated, research produced the combination of elements in teaching skills and vocational skills which could be used as the best teaching method in automotive practical work for school level. As conclusion this study has concluded that the VTM-APW model is able to apply in teaching to make an improvement with current practices in Vocational Secondary School. Hence, teachers are suggested to use this method to enhance student's knowledge in Automotive and teachers will deliver skills to the current and future workforce relevant with the required competency skilled in workplace.

Keywords: Vocational Teaching Method, Practical Task, Teacher Preferences, Student Preferences.

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Authors: Wanida Suwunniponth

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The objectives of this research were to study the influencing factors that contributed to the success of e-collaborative in e-commerce of B2C (Business to Customer) business in Bangkok, Thailand. The influencing factors included organization, people, information technology and the process of e-collaborative. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 200 small e-commerce businesses and the path analysis was utilized as the tool for data analysis. By using the path analysis, it was revealed that the factors concerning with organization, people and information technology played an influence on e-collaborative process and the success of ecollaborative, whereas the process of e-collaborative factor manipulated its success. The findings suggested that B2C ecommerce business in Thailand should opt in improvement approach in terms of managerial structure, leaderships, staff’s skills and knowledge, and investment of information technology in order to capacitate higher efficiency of e-collaborative process that would result in profit and competitive advantage.

Keywords: E-collaborative, E-commerce, B2C.

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Authors: Katsuya Takasaki, Manabu Takao, Toshiaki Setoguchi

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The effect of a 3-dimensional (3D) blade on the turbine characteristics of Wells turbine for wave energy conversion has been investigated experimentally by model testing under steady flow conditions in this study, in order to improve the peak efficiency and stall characteristics. The aim of use of 3D blade is to prevent flow separation on the suction surface near the tip. The chord length is constant with radius and the blade profile changes gradually from the mean radius to tip. The proposed blade profiles in the study are NACA0015 from the hub to mean radius and NACA0025 at the tip. The performances of Wells turbine with 3D blades has been compared with those of the original Wells turbine, i.e., the turbine with 2-dimensional (2D) blades. As a result, it was concluded that although the peak efficiency of Wells turbine can be improved by the use of the proposed 3D blade, its blade does not overcome the weakness of stalling.

Keywords: Fluid machinery, ocean engineering, stall, wave energy conversion, Wells turbine.

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Authors: Sanaa Ali Ahmed Alrashid

Abstract:

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of synchronous music in Gymnastics' motor skill performance among undergraduate female students in physical education college at Basra University. The researcher used experimental design. 20 female students of physical education divided equally into two groups, (10) experimental group with music, (10) control group without music. All participants complete 6 weeks in testing. Data analysis based on T-test shows significant difference at (α = 0.05) in all skills level between experimental and control groups in favor of experimental group. Results of this study contribute to developing the role of synchronous music in improving gymnastic skills performance.

Keywords: Performance, motor skill, music, synchronous.

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Authors: Ravihansa Rajapakse, Malshika Dias, Kanishka Weerasekara, Anuja Dharmaratne, Prasad Wimalaratne

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In this paper we discuss a set of guidelines which could be adapted when designing an audio user interface for the visually impaired. It is based on an audio environment that is focused on audio positioning. Unlike current applications which only interpret Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the visually impaired, this particular audio environment bypasses GUI to provide a direct auditory output. It presents the capability of two dimensional (2D) navigation on audio interfaces. This paper highlights the significance of a 2D audio environment with spatial information in the context of the visually impaired. A thorough usability study has been conducted to prove the applicability of proposed design guidelines for these auditory interfaces. While proving these guidelines, previously unearthed design aspects have been revealed in this study.

Keywords: Human Computer Interaction, Audio User Interfaces, 2D Audio Environment, Visually Impaired Users

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Authors: H.S. Kim

Abstract:

In this study, control performance of a smart base isolation system consisting of a friction pendulum system (FPS) and a magnetorheological (MR) damper has been investigated. A fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is used to modulate the MR damper so as to minimize structural acceleration while maintaining acceptable base displacement levels. To this end, a multi-objective optimization scheme is used to optimize parameters of membership functions and find appropriate fuzzy rules. To demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed multi-objective genetic algorithm for FLC, a numerical study of a smart base isolation system is conducted using several historical earthquakes. It is shown that the proposed method can find optimal fuzzy rules and that the optimized FLC outperforms not only a passive control strategy but also a human-designed FLC and a conventional semi-active control algorithm.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic controller, genetic algorithm, MR damper, smart base isolation system

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Authors: E. M. Anawa, A. G. Olabi

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The dissimilar joint between aluminum/titanium alloys (Al 6082 and Ti G2) were successfully achieved by CO2 laser welding with a single pass and without filler material using the overlap joint design. Laser welding parameters ranges combinations were experimentally determined using Taguchi approach with the objective of producing welded joint with acceptable welding profile and high quality of mechanical properties. In this study a joining of dissimilar Al 6082 / Ti G2 was resulted in three distinct regions fusion area in the weldment. These regions are studied in terms of its microstructural characteristics and microhardness which are directly affecting the welding quality. The weld metal was mainly composed of martensite alpha prime. In two different metals in the two different sides of joint HAZ, grain growth was detected. The microhardness of the joint distribution also has shown microhardness increasing in the HAZ of two base metals and a varying microhardness in fusion zone.

Keywords: Micro-hardness, Microstructure, laser welding, dissimilar jointed materials.

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Authors: K. Kumpas

Abstract:

Bologna process has influenced enhancing studentcentered learning in Estonian higher education since 2009, but there is no information about what helps or hinders students to achieve learning outcomes and how quality of student-centered learning might be improved. The purpose of this study is to analyze two questions from outcome-based course evaluation questionnaire which is used in Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences. In this qualitative research, 384 students from 22 different courses described what helped and hindered them to achieve learning outcomes. The analysis showed that the aspects that hinder students to achieve learning outcomes are mostly personal: time management, family and personal matters, motivation and non-academic activities. The results indicate that students- learning is commonly supported by school, where teacher, teaching and characteristics of teaching methods help mostly to achieve learning outcomes, also learning material, practical assignments and independent study was brought up as one of the key elements.

Keywords: Learning outcomes, learning quality, student-centered learning

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Authors: Yanping Liao, Zenan Wu, Ruigang Zhao

Abstract:

Frequency diverse array (FDA) beamforming is a technology developed in recent years, and its antenna pattern has a unique angle-distance-dependent characteristic. However, the beam is always required to have strong concentration, high resolution and low sidelobe level to form the point-to-point interference in the concentrated set. In order to eliminate the angle-distance coupling of the traditional FDA and to make the beam energy more concentrated, this paper adopts a multi-carrier FDA structure based on proposed power exponential frequency offset to improve the array structure and frequency offset of the traditional FDA. The simulation results show that the beam pattern of the array can form a dot-shape beam with more concentrated energy, and its resolution and sidelobe level performance are improved. However, the covariance matrix of the signal in the traditional adaptive beamforming algorithm is estimated by the finite-time snapshot data. When the number of snapshots is limited, the algorithm has an underestimation problem, which leads to the estimation error of the covariance matrix to cause beam distortion, so that the output pattern cannot form a dot-shape beam. And it also has main lobe deviation and high sidelobe level problems in the case of limited snapshot. Aiming at these problems, an adaptive beamforming technique based on exponential correction for multi-carrier FDA is proposed to improve beamforming robustness. The steps are as follows: first, the beamforming of the multi-carrier FDA is formed under linear constrained minimum variance (LCMV) criteria. Then the eigenvalue decomposition of the covariance matrix is ​​performed to obtain the diagonal matrix composed of the interference subspace, the noise subspace and the corresponding eigenvalues. Finally, the correction index is introduced to exponentially correct the small eigenvalues ​​of the noise subspace, improve the divergence of small eigenvalues ​​in the noise subspace, and improve the performance of beamforming. The theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can make the multi-carrier FDA form a dot-shape beam at limited snapshots, reduce the sidelobe level, improve the robustness of beamforming, and have better performance.

Keywords: Multi-carrier frequency diverse array, adaptive beamforming, correction index, limited snapshot, robust.

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Authors: M. R. Vaezi, R. Ghasemi, A. Akramizadeh

Abstract:

Frequency stability of microgrids under islanded operation attracts particular attention recently. A new cooperative frequency control strategy based on centralized multi-agent system (CMAS) is proposed in this study. Based on this strategy, agents sent data and furthermore each component has its own to center operating decisions (MGCC).After deciding on the information, they are returned. Frequency control strategies include primary and secondary frequency control and disposal of multi-stage load in which this study will also provide a method and algorithm for load shedding. This could also be a big problem for the performance of micro-grid in times of disaster. The simulation results show the promising performance of the proposed structure of the controller based on multi agent systems.

Keywords: Frequency Control, Islanded Micro-grid, Load shedding, Multi-agent System.

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Authors: Kyonghoon Kim, Wonyoung Park, Taeil Park

Abstract:

Aging infrastructures became a serious social problem. This brought out the increased need for the legislation of a new strict guideline for infrastructure management. Although existing guidelines provided basics of how to evaluate and manage the condition of infrastructures, they needed improvements for their evaluation procedures. Most guidelines mainly focused on the structural condition of infrastructures and did not properly reflect service aspects of infrastructures such as performance, public demand, capacity, etc., which were significantly valuable to public. Regardless of the importance, these factors were often neglected in infrastructure evaluations, because they were quite subjective and difficult to quantify in rational manner. Thus, this study proposed a framework to properly identify and evaluate the service indicators. This study showed that service indicators could be grouped into two categories and properly evaluated using AHP and Fuzzy. Overall, proposed framework is expected to assist governmental agency in establishing effective investment strategies for infrastructure improvements.

Keywords: Infrastructure, evaluation, serviceability, fuzzy.

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