Search results for: theoretical and practical methodologies.

Authors: Three-Dimensional Modeling of a Twisted-Blade Darrieus Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine

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A complete CAD procedure to model a twisted-bladed vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) is presented with the aim of determining some practical guidelines to be used for the generation of an easily-meshable CAD geometry to be adopted as the basis of both CFD and FEM numerical simulations.

Keywords: Vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT), twisted blade, CAD, 3D modeling.

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Authors: Marc Landry, Azeddine Kaddouri, Yassine Bouslimani, Mohsen Ghribi

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In this paper, a new alignment method based on the particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique is presented. The PSO algorithm is used for locating the optimal coupling position with the highest optical power with three-degrees of freedom alignment. This algorithm gives an interesting results without a need to go thru the complex mathematical modeling of the alignment system. The proposed algorithm is validated considering practical tests considering the alignment of two Single Mode Fibers (SMF) and the alignment of SMF and PCF fibers.

Keywords: Particle-swarm optimization, optical fiber, automatic alignment.

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Authors: Liu Ying-jie, Lu Wen-bo, Peng Cheng-jian

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With the development of the automotive technology and electric vehicle, the contribution of the wind noise on the interior noise becomes the main source of noise. The main transfer path which the exterior excitation is transmitted through is the greenhouse panels and side windows. Simulating the wind noise transmitted into the vehicle accurately in the early development stage can be very challenging. The basic methodologies of this study were based on the Lighthill analogy; the exterior flow field around a passenger car was computed using unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) firstly and then a Finite Element Method (FEM) was used to compute the interior acoustic response. The major findings of this study include: 1) The Sound Pressure Level (SPL) response at driver’s ear locations is mainly induced by the turbulence pressure fluctuation; 2) Peaks were found over the full frequency range. It is found that the methodology used in this study could predict the interior wind noise induced by the exterior aerodynamic excitation in industry.

Keywords: Wind noise, computational fluid dynamics, finite element method, passenger car.

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Authors: T.R. Sahroni, S. Sulaiman, I. Romli, M.R. Salleh, H.A. Ariff

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The thermal expansion behaviour of silicon carbide (SCS-2) fibre reinforced 6061 aluminium matrix composite subjected to the influenced thermal mechanical cycling (TMC) process were investigated. The thermal stress has important effect on the longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient of the composites. The present paper used experimental data of the thermal expansion behaviour of a SiC/Al composite for temperatures up to 370°C, in which their data was used for carrying out modelling of theoretical predictions.

Keywords: Nonlinear, thermal, fibre reinforced, metal matrixcomposites

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Authors: Cathy Smilan

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In our current political climate of assessment and accountability initiatives we are failing to prepare our children for a participatory role in the creative economy. The field of education is increasingly falling prey to didactic methodologies which train a nation of competent test takers, foregoing the opportunity to educate students to find problems and develop multiple solutions. No where is this more evident than in the area of art education. Due to a myriad of issues including budgetary shortfalls, time constraints and a general misconception that anyone who enjoys the arts is capable of teaching the arts, our students are not developing the skills they require to become fully literate in critical thinking and creative processing. Although art integrated curriculum is increasingly being viewed as a reform strategy for motivating students by offering alternative presentation of concepts and representation of knowledge acquisition, misinformed administrators are often excluding the art teacher from the integration equation. The paper to follow addresses the problem of the need for divergent thinking and conceptualization in our schools. Furthermore, this paper explores the role of education, and specifically, art education in the development of a creatively literate citizenry.

Keywords: Art Integration, Creativity, Artist/Teacher/Leaders, Educating for a Creative Economy.

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Authors: Raquel P. F. Guiné, Susana R. Matos, Daniela V. T. A. Costa, Fernando J. Gonçalves

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Because blueberries are worldwide recognized as a good source of beneficial components, their consumption has increased in the past decades, and so have the scientific works about their properties. Hence, this work was undertaken to evaluate the effect of some production and conservation factors on the properties of blueberries from cultivar Bluecrop. The physical and chemical analyses were done according to established methodologies and then all data was treated using software SPSS for assessment of the possible differences among the factors investigated and/or the correlations between the variables at study. The results showed that location of production influenced some of the berries properties (caliber, sugars, antioxidant activity, color and texture) and that the age of the bushes was correlated with moisture, sugars and acidity, as well as lightness. On the other hand, altitude of the farm only was correlated to sugar content. With regards to conservation, it influenced only anthocyanins content and DPPH antioxidant activity. Finally, the type of extract and the order of extraction had a pronounced influence on all the phenolic properties evaluated.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, blueberry, conservation, geographical origin, phenolic compounds, statistical analysis.

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Authors: B. Farhadinia

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In this article, it is considered a class of optimal control problems constrained by differential and integral constraints are called canonical form. A modified measure theoretical approach is introduced to solve this class of optimal control problems.

Keywords: control problem, Canonical form, Measure theory.

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Authors: Karen Armstrong

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This paper offers suggestions for educators at all levels about how to better prepare our students for the future, by building on the past. The discussion begins with a summary of changes in the World Wide Web, especially as the term Web 3.0 is being heard. The bulk of the discussion is retrospective and concerned with an overview of traditional teaching and research approaches as they evolved during the 20th century beginning with those grounded in the Cartesian reality of IA Richards- (1929) Practical Criticism. The paper concludes with a proposal of five strategies which incorporate timeless elements from the past as well as cutting-edge elements from today, in order to better prepare our students for the future.

Keywords: Web 3.0, Web 2.0 IA Richards, literacy education, new literacies, technology, paradigm shifts.

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Authors: Zhengsheng Wang, Xiangyong Ji, Yong Du

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The projection methods, usually viewed as the methods for computing eigenvalues, can also be used to estimate pseudospectra. This paper proposes a kind of projection methods for computing the pseudospectra of large scale matrices, including orthogonalization projection method and oblique projection method respectively. This possibility may be of practical importance in applications involving large scale highly nonnormal matrices. Numerical algorithms are given and some numerical experiments illustrate the efficiency of the new algorithms.

Keywords: Pseudospectra, eigenvalue, projection method, Arnoldi, IOM(q)

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Authors: Ramin Halavati, Mansour Jamzad, Mahdieh Soleymani

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Persian (Farsi) script is totally cursive and each character is written in several different forms depending on its former and later characters in the word. These complexities make automatic handwriting recognition of Persian a very hard problem and there are few contributions trying to work it out. This paper presents a novel practical approach to online recognition of Persian handwriting which is based on representation of inputs and patterns with very simple visual features and comparison of these simple terms. This recognition approach is tested over a set of Persian words and the results have been quite acceptable when the possible words where unknown and they were almost all correct in cases that the words where chosen from a prespecified list.

Keywords: Image Processing, Pattern Recognition.

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Authors: Kalinga Ellen A., Bagile Burchard B.

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Tanzania Secondary Schools e-Learning (TanSSe-L) system is a customized learning management system (LMS) developed to enable ICT support in teaching and learning functions. Methodologies involved in the development of TanSSe-L system are Object oriented system analysis and design with UML to create and model TanSSe-L system database structure in the form of a design class diagram, Model Driven Architecture (MDA) to provide a well defined process in TanSSe-L system development, where MDA conceptual layers were integrated with system development life cycle and customization of open source learning management system which was used during implementation stage to create a timely functional TanSSe-L system. Before customization, a base for customization was prepared. This was the manual transformation from TanSSe-L system platform independent models (PIM) to TanSSe-L system specific PIM. This paper presents how Moodle open source LMS was analyzed and prepared to be the TanSSe-L system specific PIM as applied by MDA.

Keywords: Customization, e-Learning, MDA Transformation, Moodle, Secondary Schools, Tanzania.

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Authors: E. Farshidi

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This paper presents a new general technique for analysis of noise in static log-domain translinear circuits. It is demonstrated that employing this technique, leads to a general, simple and routine method of the noise analysis. The circuit has been simulated by HSPICE. The simulation results are seen to conform to the theoretical analysis and shows benefits of the proposed circuit.

Keywords: Noise analysis, log-domain, static, dynamic, translinear loop, companding.

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Authors: Mohamed Abdallah, Mostafa Warith, Roberto Narbaitz, Emil Petriu, Kevin Kennedy

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Heterogeneity of solid waste characteristics as well as the complex processes taking place within the landfill ecosystem motivated the implementation of soft computing methodologies such as artificial neural networks (ANN), fuzzy logic (FL), and their combination. The present work uses a hybrid ANN-FL model that employs knowledge-based FL to describe the process qualitatively and implements the learning algorithm of ANN to optimize model parameters. The model was developed to simulate and predict the landfill gas production at a given time based on operational parameters. The experimental data used were compiled from lab-scale experiment that involved various operating scenarios. The developed model was validated and statistically analyzed using F-test, linear regression between actual and predicted data, and mean squared error measures. Overall, the simulated landfill gas production rates demonstrated reasonable agreement with actual data. The discussion focused on the effect of the size of training datasets and number of training epochs.

Keywords: Adaptive neural fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), gas production, landfill

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Authors: Nathaniel Bryan

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American public schools should be the place that reflects America-s diverse society. The recent Supreme Court decision to discontinue the use of race as a factor in school admission policies has caused major setbacks in America-s effort to repair its racial divide, to improve public schools, and to provide opportunities for all people, regardless of race or creed. However, educators should not allow such legal decision to hinder their ability to teach children tolerance of others in schools and classrooms in America.

Keywords: Race, Supreme Court, injustice, racial quotas.

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Authors: Venkatesh Bagaria, Nagesh AS, Varun AV

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In the domain of machine vision, the measurement of length is done using cameras where the accuracy is directly proportional to the resolution of the camera and inversely to the size of the object. Since most of the pixels are wasted imaging the entire body as opposed to just imaging the edges in a conventional system, a double aperture system is constructed to focus on the edges to measure at higher resolution. The paper discusses the complexities and how they are mitigated to realize a practical machine vision system.

Keywords: Machine Vision, double aperture camera, accurate length measurement

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Authors: A. Chowdhury, P. Egodawatta, J. M. McGree, A. Goonetilleke

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Hydrologic models are increasingly used as tools to predict stormwater quantity and quality from urban catchments. However, due to a range of practical issues, most models produce gross errors in simulating complex hydraulic and hydrologic systems. Difficulty in finding a robust approach for model calibration is one of the main issues. Though automatic calibration techniques are available, they are rarely used in common commercial hydraulic and hydrologic modelling software e.g. MIKE URBAN. This is partly due to the need for a large number of parameters and large datasets in the calibration process. To overcome this practical issue, a framework for automatic calibration of a hydrologic model was developed in R platform and presented in this paper. The model was developed based on the time-area conceptualization. Four calibration parameters, including initial loss, reduction factor, time of concentration and time-lag were considered as the primary set of parameters. Using these parameters, automatic calibration was performed using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). ABC is a simulation-based technique for performing Bayesian inference when the likelihood is intractable or computationally expensive to compute. To test the performance and usefulness, the technique was used to simulate three small catchments in Gold Coast. For comparison, simulation outcomes from the same three catchments using commercial modelling software, MIKE URBAN were used. The graphical comparison shows strong agreement of MIKE URBAN result within the upper and lower 95% credible intervals of posterior predictions as obtained via ABC. Statistical validation for posterior predictions of runoff result using coefficient of determination (CD), root mean square error (RMSE) and maximum error (ME) was found reasonable for three study catchments. The main benefit of using ABC over MIKE URBAN is that ABC provides a posterior distribution for runoff flow prediction, and therefore associated uncertainty in predictions can be obtained. In contrast, MIKE URBAN just provides a point estimate. Based on the results of the analysis, it appears as though ABC the developed framework performs well for automatic calibration.

Keywords: Automatic calibration framework, approximate Bayesian computation, hydrologic and hydraulic modelling, MIKE URBAN software, R platform.

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Authors: V. Vassiliou, M. Charalambides, M. Menicou

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Fish-feed is a major cost component of operating expenses for any aquaculture farm. Due to soaring prices of fish-feed ingredients, the need for better feeding schedule management has become imperative. On such factor that influences the utilization rate of fish-feed are sea currents. Up to now, practical monitoring of fishfeed loss due to sea currents is not exercised. This paper gives a description of an economic methodology that aims at quantifying the amount of fish-feed lost due to sea currents and draws on data from a Mediterranean aquaculture farm to formulate the associated model.

Keywords: Aquaculture, economic model, fish-feed loss, sea currents.

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Authors: Ahmed E. Hodaib, Samar F. Abdel Fattah

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High-speed transportation is a growing concern. To develop high-speed rails and to increase high-speed efficiencies, the idea of Hyperloop was introduced. The challenge is to overcome the difficulties of managing friction and air-resistance which become substantial when vehicles approach high speeds. In this paper, we are presenting the methodologies of the capsule design which got a design concept innovation award at SpaceX competition in January, 2016. MATLAB scripts are written for the levitation and propulsion calculations and iterations. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to simulate the air flow around the capsule considering the effect of the axial-flow air compressor and the levitation cushion on the air flow. The design procedures of a single-sided linear induction motor are analyzed in detail and its geometric and magnetic parameters are determined. A structural design is introduced and Finite Element Method (FEM) is used to analyze the stresses in different parts. The configuration and the arrangement of the components are illustrated. Moreover, comments on manufacturing are made.

Keywords: High-speed transportation, Hyperloop, railways transportation, single-sided linear induction motor.

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Authors: Rashad Al Araj, Adil K. Tamimi

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Concrete, despite being one of the most produced materials in the world, still has weaknesses and drawbacks. Significant concern of the cementitious materials in structural applications is their quasi-brittle behavior, which causes the material to crack and lose its durability. One of the very recently proposed mitigations for this problem is the implementation of nanotechnology in the concrete mix by adding carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to it. CNTs can enhance the critical mechanical properties of concrete as a structural material. Thus, this paper demonstrates a state-of-the-art review of reinforcing concrete with CNTs, emphasizing on the structural performance. It also goes over the properties of CNTs alone, the present methods and costs associated with producing them, the possible special applications of concretes reinforced with CNTs, the key challenges and drawbacks that this new technology still encounters, and the most reliable practices and methodologies to produce CNT-reinforced concrete in the lab. This work has shown that the addition of CNTs to the concrete mix in percentages as low as 0.25% weight of cement could increase the flexural strength and toughness of concrete by more than 45% and 25%, respectively, and enhance other durability-related properties, given that an effective dispersion of CNTs in the cementitious mix is achieved. Since nano reinforcement for cementitious materials is a new technology, many challenges have to be tackled before it becomes practiced at the mass level.

Keywords: Sustainability, carbon nanotube, microsilica, concrete.

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Authors: Saeed Vaneshani, Hooshang Jazayeri-Rad

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Fuzzy logic control (FLC) systems have been tested in many technical and industrial applications as a useful modeling tool that can handle the uncertainties and nonlinearities of modern control systems. The main drawback of the FLC methodologies in the industrial environment is challenging for selecting the number of optimum tuning parameters. In this paper, a method has been proposed for finding the optimum membership functions of a fuzzy system using particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. A synthetic algorithm combined from fuzzy logic control and PSO algorithm is used to design a controller for a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with the aim of achieving the accurate and acceptable desired results. To exhibit the effectiveness of proposed algorithm, it is used to optimize the Gaussian membership functions of the fuzzy model of a nonlinear CSTR system as a case study. It is clearly proved that the optimized membership functions (MFs) provided better performance than a fuzzy model for the same system, when the MFs were heuristically defined.

Keywords: continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), fuzzy logiccontrol (FLC), membership function(MF), particle swarmoptimization (PSO)

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Authors: Vesna Vulić

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Croatia has made large steps forward in the development of higher education over the past 10 years. Purposes and objectives of the tertiary education system are focused on the personal development of young people so that they obtain competences for employment on a flexible labour market. The most frequent tensions between the tertiary institutions and employers are complaints that the current tertiary education system still supplies students with an abundance of theoretical knowledge and not enough practical skills. Polytechnics and schools of professional higher education should deliver professional education and training that will satisfy the needs of their local communities. The 21^st century sets demand on undergraduates as well as their lecturers to strive for the highest standards. The skills students acquire during their studies should serve the needs of their future professional careers. In this context, teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) presents an enormous challenge for teachers. They have to cope with teaching the language in classes with a large number of students, limitations of time, inadequate equipment and teaching material; most frequently, this leads to focusing on specialist vocabulary neglecting the development of skills and competences required for future employment. Globalization has transformed the labour market and set new standards a perspective employee should meet. When knowledge of languages is considered, new generic skills and competences are required. Not only skillful written and oral communication is needed, but also information, media, and technology literacy, learning skills which include critical and creative thinking, collaborating and communicating, as well as social skills. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the needs of two groups of ESP first year Undergraduate Professional Administrative Study students taking ESP as a mandatory course: 47 first-year Undergraduate Professional Administrative Study students, 21 first-year employed part-time Undergraduate Professional Administrative Study students and 30 graduates with a degree in Undergraduate Professional Administrative Study with various amounts of work experience. The survey adopted a quantitative approach with the aim to determine the differences between the groups in their perception of the four language skills and different areas of law, as well as getting the insight into students' satisfaction with the current course and their motivation for studying ESP. Their perceptions will be compared to the results of the questionnaire conducted among sector professionals in order to examine how they perceive the same elements of the ESP course content and to what extent it fits into their working environment. The results of the survey indicated that there is a strong correlation between acquiring work experience and the level of importance given to particular areas of law studied in an ESP course which is in line with our initial hypothesis. In conclusion, the results of the survey should help lecturers in re-evaluating and updating their ESP course syllabi.

Keywords: English for Specific Purposes, ESP, language skills, motivation, needs analysis.

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Authors: N. W. K. Jayatissa, R. Attalage, Prabath Hewageegana, P. A. A. Perera, M. A. Punyasena

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Per capita energy usage in any country is exponentially increasing with their development. As a result, the country’s dependence on the fossil fuels for energy generation is also increasing tremendously creating economic and environmental concerns. Tropical countries receive considerable amount of solar radiation throughout the year, use of solar energy with different energy storage and conversion methodologies is a viable solution to minimize the ever increasing demand for the depleting fossil fuels. Salinity gradient solar pond is one such solar energy application. This paper reports the characteristics and performance of a thermally insulated, experimental salinity-gradient solar pond, built at the premises of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Particular stress is given to the behavior of the evolution of the three layer structure exist at the stable state of a salinity gradient solar pond over a long period of time, under different environmental conditions. The operational procedures required to maintain the long term thermal stability are also reported in this article.

Keywords: Salt-gradient, solar pond, solar radiation, renewable energy.

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Authors: Veljko Jeremic, Milica Kostic-Stankovic, Aleksandar Markovic, Milan Martic

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Evaluating the efficiency of decision making units has been frequently elaborated on in numerous publications. In this paper, the theoretical framework for a novel method of Distance Based Analysis (DBA) is presented. In addition, the method is performed on a sample of the ARWU’s top 54 Universities of the United States; the findings of which clearly demonstrate that the best ranked Universities are far from also being the most efficient.

Keywords: Evaluating Efficiency, Distance Based Analysis, Ranking of Universities, ARWU.

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Authors: Rizwan Asghar, Dake Liu

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A hardware efficient, multi mode, re-configurable architecture of interleaver/de-interleaver for multiple standards, like DVB, WiMAX and WLAN is presented. The interleavers consume a large part of silicon area when implemented by using conventional methods as they use memories to store permutation patterns. In addition, different types of interleavers in different standards cannot share the hardware due to different construction methodologies. The novelty of the work presented in this paper is threefold: 1) Mapping of vital types of interleavers including convolutional interleaver onto a single architecture with flexibility to change interleaver size; 2) Hardware complexity for channel interleaving in WiMAX is reduced by using 2-D realization of the interleaver functions; and 3) Silicon cost overheads reduced by avoiding the use of small memories. The proposed architecture consumes 0.18mm2 silicon area for 0.12μm process and can operate at a frequency of 140 MHz. The reduced complexity helps in minimizing the memory utilization, and at the same time provides strong support to on-the-fly computation of permutation patterns.

Keywords: Hardware interleaver implementation, WiMAX, DVB, block interleaver, convolutional interleaver, hardwaremultiplexing.

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Authors: Artur Krukowski, Emmanouela Vogiatzaki

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The article presents an ongoing work in research projects such as SCAN4RECO or ARCH, both funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 program. The former one concerns multimodal and multispectral scanning of Cultural Heritage assets for their digitization and conservation via spatiotemporal reconstruction and 3D printing, while the latter one aims to better preserve areas of cultural heritage from hazards and risks. It co-creates tools that would help pilot cities to save cultural heritage from the effects of climate change. It develops a disaster risk management framework for assessing and improving the resilience of historic areas to climate change and natural hazards. Tools and methodologies are designed for local authorities and practitioners, urban population, as well as national and international expert communities, aiding authorities in knowledge-aware decision making. In this article we focus on 3D modelling of object geometry using primarily photogrammetric methods to achieve very high model accuracy using consumer types of devices, attractive both to professions and hobbyists alike.

Keywords: 3D modeling, UAS, cultural heritage, preservation.

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Authors: Feddaoui Amina

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In a broad sense, corporate governance covers the organization of the control and management. The term is also used in a narrower sense, to refer to the relationship between shareholders, and the company’s board. There are a lot of discussions devoted to the understanding of the corporate governance role and its principles. In this paper, we are going to describe the definition of corporate governance as a control system and its principles, and find the role of corporate governance and its pillars. Finally, we are going to drop the theoretical study on the case of Japan.

Keywords: Corporate governance, place, role, Japan.

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Authors: Z. Haddad, C. Abid, O. Rahli, O. Margeat, W. Dachraoui, A. Mataoui

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The present study aims to measure the volumetric mass density of NiPd-heptane nanofluids synthesized using a one step method known as thermal decomposition of metal-surfactant complexes. The particle concentration is up to 7.55g/l and the temperature range of the experiment is from 20°C to 50°C. The measured values were compared with the mixture theory and good agreement between the theoretical equation and measurement were obtained. Moreover, the available nanofluids volumetric mass density data in the literature is reviewed.

Keywords: NiPd nanoparticles, nanofluids, volumetric mass density, stability.

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Authors: Changjin Xu

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In this paper, we consider a two-neuron system with time-delayed connections between neurons. By analyzing the associated characteristic transcendental equation, its linear stability is investigated and Hopf bifurcation is demonstrated. Some explicit formulae for determining the stability and the direction of the Hopf bifurcation periodic solutions bifurcating from Hopf bifurcations are obtained by using the normal form theory and center manifold theory. Some numerical simulation results are given to support the theoretical predictions. Finally, main conclusions are given.

Keywords: Two-neuron system, delay, stability, Hopf bifurcation.

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Authors: Helene Eller

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The aim of non-profit organizations (NPO) is to provide services and goods for its clientele, with profit being a minor objective. By having this definition as the basic purpose of doing business, it is obvious that the goal of an organisation is to serve several bottom lines and not only the financial one. This approach is underpinned by the non-distribution constraint which means that NPO are allowed to make profits to a certain extent, but not to distribute them. The advantage is that there are no single shareholders who might have an interest in the prosperity of the organisation: there is no pie to divide. The gained profits remain within the organisation and will be reinvested in purposeful projects. Good governance is mandatory to support the aim of NPOs. Looking for a measure of good governance the principals of corporate governance (CG) will come in mind. The purpose of CG is direction and control, and in the field of NPO, CG is enlarged to consider the relationship to all important stakeholders who have an impact on the organisation. The recognition of more relevant parties than the shareholder is the link to corporate social responsibility (CSR). It supports a broader view of the bottom line: It is no longer enough to know how profits are used but rather how they are made. Besides, CSR addresses the responsibility of organisations for their impact on society. When transferring the concept of CSR to the non-profit area it will become obvious that CSR with its distinctive features will match the aims of NPOs. As a consequence, NPOs who apply CG apply also CSR to a certain extent. The research is designed as a comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis. First, the investigation focuses on the theoretical basis of both concepts. Second, the similarities and differences are outlined and as a result the interconnection of both concepts will show up. The contribution of this research is manifold: The interconnection of both concepts when applied to NPOs has not got any attention in science yet. CSR and governance as integrated concept provides a lot of advantages for NPOs compared to for-profit organisations which are in a steady justification to show the impact they might have on the society. NPOs, however, integrate economic and social aspects as starting point. For NPOs CG is not a mere concept of compliance but rather an enhanced concept integrating a lot of aspects of CSR. There is no “either-nor” between the concepts for NPOs.

Keywords: Business ethics, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, non-profit organisations, stakeholder theory.

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Authors: O. J. Olaniran, P. E. D. Love, D. J. Edwards, O. Olatunji, J. Matthews

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Cost overruns are a persistent problem in oil and gas megaprojects. Whilst the extant literature is filled with studies on incidents and causes of cost overruns, underlying theories to explain their emergence in oil and gas megaprojects are few. Yet, a way to contain the syndrome of cost overruns is to understand the bases of ‘how and why’ they occur. Such knowledge will also help to develop pragmatic techniques for better overall management of oil and gas megaprojects. The aim of this paper is to explain the development of cost overruns in hydrocarbon megaprojects through the perspective of chaos theory. The underlying principles of chaos theory and its implications for cost overruns are examined and practical recommendations proposed. In addition, directions for future research in this fertile area provided.

Keywords: Chaos theory, oil and gas, cost overruns, megaprojects.

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