Search results for: building energy model

Authors: Md. Masum Billah, Mohiuddin Ahmed, Soheli Farhana

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In modern day disaster recovery mission has become one of the top priorities in any natural disaster management regime. Smart autonomous robots may play a significant role in such missions, including search for life under earth quake hit rubbles, Tsunami hit islands, de-mining in war affected areas and many other such situations. In this paper current state of many walking robots are compared and advantages of hexapod systems against wheeled robots are described. In our research we have selected a hexapod spider robot; we are developing focusing mainly on efficient navigation method in different terrain using apposite gait of locomotion, which will make it faster and at the same time energy efficient to navigate and negotiate difficult terrain. This paper describes the method of terrain negotiation navigation in a hazardous field.

Keywords: Walking robots, locomotion, hexapod robot, gait, hazardous field.

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Authors: Yousra Zakaria Ahmed, Ahmed El Gendy, Salah El Haggar

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In this paper, our methodology to assess sustainability of wastewater treatment technologies in Egypt is presented. The preliminary list of factors to be considered, as well as their ranking listed. The factors include, but are not limited to pollutants removal efficiency and energy consumption under the environmental dimension, construction cost, operation and maintenance costs and required land area cost under the economic dimension and public acceptance, noise and generating job opportunities for local residents. This methodology is intended to be a user-friendly screening tool to support the decision making process when investigating different wastewater treatment technologies in Egypt. Based on the research work results presented in this paper, it can be generally concluded that the categorization of some of the social and environmental aspects of sustainability is subjective and highly dependent on the local conditions and researchers’ background.

Keywords: Sustainability, wastewater treatment, sustainability assessment, Egypt.

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Authors: Pei-Ti Hsu, I-Ju Chen, Jeu-Jung Chen, Cheng-Fen Chang, Shiu-Yan Yang

Abstract:

Background: Taiwan now is an aging society. Research on the elderly should not be confined to caring for seniors, but should also be focused on ways to improve health and the quality of life. Senior citizens who participate in volunteer services could become less lonely, have new growth opportunities, and regain a sense of accomplishment. Thus, the question of how to get the elderly to participate in volunteer service is worth exploring. Objective: Apply the Transtheoretical Model to understand stages of change in regular volunteer service and voluntary service behaviour among the seniors. Methods: 1525 adults over the age of 65 from the Renai district of Keelung City were interviewed. The research tool was a self-constructed questionnaire, and individual interviews were conducted to collect data. Then the data was processed and analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 20 (Windows version) statistical software program. Results: In the past six months, research subjects averaged 9.92 days of volunteer services. A majority of these elderly individuals had no intention to change their regular volunteer services. We discovered that during the maintenance stage, the self-efficacy for volunteer services was higher than during all other stages, but self-perceived barriers were less during the preparation stage and action stage. Self-perceived benefits were found to have an important predictive power for those with regular volunteer service behaviors in the previous stage, and self-efficacy was found to have an important predictive power for those with regular volunteer service behaviors in later stages. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: The research results support the conclusion that community nursing staff should group elders based on their regular volunteer services change stages and design appropriate behavioral change strategies.

Keywords: Seniors, stages of change in regular volunteer services, volunteer service behavior, self-efficacy, self-perceived benefits.

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Authors: A. Elragig, S. Townley, H. Dreiwi

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In this paper we introduce a bacteria-leukocyte model with bacteria chemotaxsis. We assume that bacteria develop a tactic defence mechanism as a response to Leukocyte phagocytosis. We explore the effect of this tactic motion on Turing space in two parameter spaces. A fine tuning of bacterial chemotaxis shows a significant effect on developing a non-uniform steady state.

Keywords: Chemotaxis-diffusion driven instability, bacterial chemotaxis.

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Authors: M. N. Eshtiaghi, N. Yoswathana

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The aim of this study was to extract sugar from sugarcane using high electric field pulse (HELP) as a non-thermal cell permeabilization method. The result of this study showed that it is possible to permeablize sugar cane cells using HELP at very short times (less than 10 sec.) and at room temperature. Increasing the field strength (from 0.5kV/cm to 2kV/cm) and pulse number (1 to 12) led to increasing the permeabilization of sugar cane cells. The energy consumption during HELP treatment of sugar cane (2.4 kJ/kg) was about 100 times less compared to thermal cell disintegration at 85 <=C (about 271.7 kJ/kg). In addition, it was possible to extract sugar cane at a moderate temperature (45 <=C) using HELP pretreatment. With combination of HELP pretreatment followed by thermal extraction at 75 <=C, extraction resulted in up to 3% more sugar (on the basis of total extractable sugar) compared to samples without HELP pretreatment.

Keywords: Cell permeabilization, High electric field pulses, Non-thermal processing, Sugar cane extraction.

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Authors: Faris Tarlochan, Siva Mahesh Tangutooru

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Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN) is the relay center in the visual pathway as it receives most of the input information from retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and sends to visual cortex. Low threshold calcium currents (IT) at the membrane are the unique indicator to characterize this firing functionality of the LGN neurons gained by the RGC input. According to the LGN functional requirements such as functional mapping of RGC to LGN, the morphologies of the LGN neurons were developed. During the neurological disorders like glaucoma, the mapping between RGC and LGN is disconnected and hence stimulating LGN electrically using deep brain electrodes can restore the functionalities of LGN. A computational model was developed for simulating the LGN neurons with three predominant morphologies each representing different functional mapping of RGC to LGN. The firings of action potentials at LGN neuron due to IT were characterized by varying the stimulation parameters, morphological parameters and orientation. A wide range of stimulation parameters (stimulus amplitude, duration and frequency) represents the various strengths of the electrical stimulation with different morphological parameters (soma size, dendrites size and structure). The orientation (0-1800) of LGN neuron with respect to the stimulating electrode represents the angle at which the extracellular deep brain stimulation towards LGN neuron is performed. A reduced dendrite structure was used in the model using Bush–Sejnowski algorithm to decrease the computational time while conserving its input resistance and total surface area. The major finding is that an input potential of 0.4 V is required to produce the action potential in the LGN neuron which is placed at 100 μm distance from the electrode. From this study, it can be concluded that the neuroprostheses under design would need to consider the capability of inducing at least 0.4V to produce action potentials in LGN.

Keywords: Lateral geniculate nucleus, visual cortex, finite element, glaucoma, neuroprostheses.

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Authors: M. Khoshtinat, N. A. S. Amin, I. Noshadi

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Direct conversion of methane to methanol by partial oxidation in a thermal reactor has a poor yield of about 2% which is less than the expected economical yield of about 10%. Conventional thermal catalytic reactors have been proposed to be superseded by plasma reactors as a promising approach, due to strength of the electrical energy which can break C-H bonds of methane. Among the plasma techniques, non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma chemical process is one of the most future promising technologies in synthesizing methanol. The purpose of this paper is presenting a brief review of CH4 oxidation with O2 in DBD plasma reactors based on the recent investigations. For this reason, the effect of various parameters of reactor configuration, feed ratio, applied voltage, residence time (gas flow rate), type of applied catalyst, pressure and reactor wall temperature on methane conversion and methanol selectivity are discussed.

Keywords: Dielectric barrier discharge, methane, methanol, partial oxidation, Plasma.

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Authors: Nemat Abazari, Ilgin Sager

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In this paper smooth trajectories are computed in the Lie group SO(2, 1) as a motion planning problem by assigning a Frenet frame to the rigid body system to optimize the cost function of the elastic energy which is spent to track a timelike curve in Minkowski space. A method is proposed to solve a motion planning problem that minimizes the integral of the Lorentz inner product of Darboux vector of a timelike curve. This method uses the coordinate free Maximum Principle of Optimal control and results in the theory of integrable Hamiltonian systems. The presence of several conversed quantities inherent in these Hamiltonian systems aids in the explicit computation of the rigid body motions.

Keywords: Optimal control, Hamiltonian vector field, Darboux vector, maximum principle, lie group, rigid body motion, Lorentz metric.

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Authors: Ahmed Kayad Abdourazak, Abderafi Souad, Zejli Driss, Idriss Abdoulkader Ibrahim

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In this paper Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used to predict the solar irradiation in Djibouti for the first Time that is useful to the integration of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) and sites selections for new or future solar plants as part of solar energy development. An ANN algorithm was developed to establish a forward/reverse correspondence between the latitude, longitude, altitude and monthly solar irradiation. For this purpose the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) data of eight Djibouti sites were used as training and testing in a standard three layers network with the back propagation algorithm of Lavenber-Marquardt. Results have shown a very good agreement for the solar irradiation prediction in Djibouti and proves that the proposed approach can be well used as an efficient tool for prediction of solar irradiation by providing so helpful information concerning sites selection, design and planning of solar plants.

Keywords: Artificial neural network, solar irradiation, concentrated solar power, Lavenberg-Marquardt.

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Authors: Mahdi Asghari

Abstract:

The cavitation phenomenon is the formation and production of micro-bubbles and eventually the bursting of the micro-bubbles inside the liquid fluid, which results in localized high pressure and temperature, causing physical and chemical fluid changes. This pressure and temperature are predicted to be 2000 atmospheres and 5000 °C, respectively. As a result of small bubbles bursting from this process, temperature and pressure increase momentarily and locally, so that the intensity and magnitude of these temperatures and pressures provide the energy needed to break the molecular bonds of heavy compounds such as fuel oil. In this paper, we study the theory of cavitation and the methods of cavitation production by acoustic and hydrodynamic methods and the necessary mechanical equipment and reactors for industrial application of the hydrodynamic cavitation method to break down the molecular bonds of the fuel oil and convert it into useful and economical products.

Keywords: Cavitation, hydrodynamic cavitation, cavitation reactor, fuel oil.

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Authors: Jonathan Bohn, Jorge Rebaza, Kaitlin Speer

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The dynamics of a predator-prey model with continuous threshold policy harvesting functions on the prey is studied. Theoretical and numerical methods are used to investigate boundedness of solutions, existence of bionomic equilibria, and the stability properties of coexistence equilibrium points and periodic orbits. Several bifurcations as well as some heteroclinic orbits are computed.

Keywords: Predator-prey models, threshold harvesting, dynamicalsystems

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Authors: Kaznah Alshammari, Thomas Beach, Yacine Rezgui

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Technological advances in the construction sector are helping to make smart cities a reality by means of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). CPS integrate information and the physical world through the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT). An increasingly common goal in the built environment is to integrate Building Information Models (BIM) with Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor technologies using CPS. Future advances could see the adoption of digital twins, creating new opportunities for CPS using monitoring, simulation and optimisation technologies. However, researchers often fail to fully consider the security implications. To date, it is not widely possible to assimilate BIM data and cybersecurity concepts and, therefore, security has thus far been overlooked. This paper reviews the empirical literature concerning IoT applications in the built environment and discusses real-world applications of the IoT intended to enhance construction practices, people’s lives and bolster cybersecurity. Specifically, this research addresses two research questions: (a) How suitable are the current IoT and CPS security stacks to address the cybersecurity threats facing digital twins in the context of smart buildings and districts? and (b) What are the current obstacles to tackling cybersecurity threats to the built environment CPS? To answer these questions, this paper reviews the current state-of-the-art research concerning digital twins in the built environment, the IoT, BIM, urban cities and cybersecurity. The results of the findings of this study confirmed the importance of using digital twins in both IoT and BIM. Also, eight reference zones across Europe have gained special recognition for their contributions to the advancement of IoT science. Therefore, this paper evaluates the use of digital twins in CPS to arrive at recommendations for expanding BIM specifications to facilitate IoT compliance, bolster cybersecurity and integrate digital twin and city standards in the smart cities of the future.

Keywords: BIM, cybersecurity, digital twins, IoT, urban cities.

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Authors: Tanapong Khomyat, Peerapong Uthansakul, Monthippa Uthansakul

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In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the Hybrid-MIMO Receiver Scheme (HMRS) in Cognitive Radio network (CR-network). We investigate the efficiency of the proposed scheme which the energy level and user number of primary user are varied according to the characteristic of CR-network. HMRS can allow users to transmit either Space-Time Block Code (STBC) or Spatial-Multiplexing (SM) streams simultaneously by using Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) and Maximum Likelihood Detection (MLD). From simulation, the results indicate that the interference level effects to the performance of HMRS. Moreover, the exact closed-form capacity of the proposed scheme is derived and compared with STBC scheme.

Keywords: Hybrid-MIMO, Cognitive radio network (CRnetwork), Symbol Error Rate (SER), Successive interference cancellation (SIC), Maximum likelihood detection (MLD).

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Authors: P. Sowa

Abstract:

The new idea of analyze of power system failure with use of artificial neural network is proposed. An analysis of the possibility of simulating phenomena accompanying system faults and restitution is described. It was indicated that the universal model for the simulation of phenomena in whole analyzed range does not exist. The main classic method of search of optimal structure and parameter identification are described shortly. The example with results of calculation is shown.

Keywords: Dynamic equivalents, Network reduction, Neural networks, Power system analysis.

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Authors: Ying-Ming Su, Mei-Shu Huang

Abstract:

To mitigate the urban heat island effect has become a global issue when we are faced with the challenge of climate change. Through literature review, plant photosynthesis can reduce the carbon dioxide and mitigate the urban heat island effect to a degree. Because there are not enough open space and parks, green roof has become an important policy in Taiwan. We selected elementary school buildings in northern New Taipei City as research subjects since elementary schools are asked with priority to build green roof and important educational place to promote green roof concept. Testo175-H1 recording device was used to record the temperature and humidity differences between roof surface and interior space below roof with and without green roof in the long-term. We also use questionnaires to investigate the awareness of comfort level of green roof and sensation of teachers and students of the elementary schools. The results indicated that the temperature of roof without greening was higher than that with greening by about 2°C. But sometimes during noontime, the temperature of green roof was higher than that of non-green roof probably because of the character of the accumulation and dissipation of heat of greening. The temperature of the interior space below green roof was normally lower than that without green roof by about 1°C, showing that green roof could lower the temperature. The humidity of the green roof was higher than the one without greening also indicated that green roof retained water better. Teachers liked to combine green roof concept in the curriculum, and students wished all classes can take turns to maintain the green roof. Teachers and students whose school had integrated green roof concept in the curriculum were more willing to participate in the maintenance work of green roof. Teachers and students who may have access to and touch the green roof can be more aware of the green roof benefit. We suggest architects to increase the accessibility and visibility of green roof, such as use it as a part of the activity space. This idea can be a reference to the green roof curriculum design.

Keywords: Comfort level, elementary school, green roof, heat island effect.

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Authors: Jiun-Wei Chen, Chih-Yang Wu, Ming-Feng Hou

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A numerical study on the heat transfer in the thermal barrier coatings and the substrates of a parallel-plate enclosure is carried out. Some of the thermal barrier coatings, such as ceramics, are semitransparent and are of interest for high-temperature applications where radiation effects are significant. The radiative transfer equations and the energy equations are solved by using the discrete ordinates method and the finite difference method. Illustrative results are presented for temperature distributions in the coatings and the opaque walls under various heating conditions. The results show that the temperature distribution is more uniform in the interior portion of each coating away from its boundary for the case with a larger average of varying refractive index and a positive gradient of refractive index enhances radiative transfer to the substrates.

Keywords: Radiative transfer, parallel-plate enclosure, coatings, varying refractive index

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Authors: A. Mourtzikou, D. Sygkridou, T. Georgakopoulos, G. Katsagounos, E. Stathatos

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Over 60% highly transparent quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with dimension of 50x50 cm² were fabricated via inkjet printing process using nanocomposite inks as raw materials and tested under outdoor illumination conditions. The cells were electrically characterized, and their possible application to the shell of greenhouses was also examined. The panel design was in Z-interconnection, where the working electrode was inkjet printed on one conductive glass and the counter electrode on a second glass in a sandwich configuration. Silver current collective fingers were printed on the glasses to make the internal electrical connections. In that case, the adjacent cells were connected in series via silver fingers and finally insulated using a UV curing resin to protect them from the corrosive (I^-/I₃^-) redox couple of the electrolyte.

Keywords: Dye-sensitized solar panels, inkjet printing, quasi-solid-state electrolyte, semi-transparency, scale up.

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Authors: Ziping Li, Yongkun Li

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In this paper, we consider the almost periodic solutions of a discrete cooperation system with feedback controls. Assuming that the coefficients in the system are almost periodic sequences, we obtain the existence and uniqueness of the almost periodic solution which is uniformly asymptotically stable.

Keywords: Discrete cooperation model, almost periodic solution, feedback control, Lyapunov function.

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Authors: Kelaiaia Mounia Samira, Labar Hocine, Bounaya Kamel, Kelaiaia Samia

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With the rapid advanced of technology, the industrial processes become increasingly demanding, from the point of view, power quality and controllability. The advent of multi levels inverters responds partially to these requirements. But actually, the new generation of multi-cells inverters permits to reach more performances, since, it offers more voltage levels. The disadvantage in the increase of voltage levels by the number of cells in cascades is on account of series igbts synchronisation loss, from where, a limitation of cells in cascade to 4. Regarding to these constraints, a new topology is proposed in this paper, which increases the voltage levels of the three-cell inverter from 4 to 8; with the same number of igbts, and using less stored energy in the flaying capacitors. The details of operation and modelling of this new inverter structure are also presented, then tested thanks to a three phase induction motor. KeywordsFlaying capacitors, Multi-cells inverter, pwm, switchers, modelling.

Keywords: Flaying capacitors, Multi-cells inverter, pwm, switchers, modelling.

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Authors: Mohamed Elghorab, Vendra C. Madhav Rao, Jennifer X. Wen

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Turbulence modelling is still evolving, and efforts are on to improve and develop numerical methods to simulate the real turbulence structures by using the empirical and experimental information. The monotonically integrated large eddy simulation (MILES) is an attractive approach for modelling turbulence in high Re flows, which is based on the solving of the unfiltered flow equations with no explicit sub-grid scale (SGS) model. In the current work, this approach has been used, and the action of the SGS model has been included implicitly by intrinsic nonlinear high-frequency filters built into the convection discretization schemes. The MILES solver is developed using the opensource CFD OpenFOAM libraries. The role of flux limiters schemes namely, Gamma, superBee, van-Albada and van-Leer, is studied in predicting turbulent statistical quantities for a fully developed channel flow with a friction Reynolds number, Re_T = 180, and compared the numerical predictions with the well-established Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) results for studying the wall generated turbulence. It is inferred from the numerical predictions that Gamma, van-Leer and van-Albada limiters produced more diffusion and overpredicted the velocity profiles, while superBee scheme reproduced velocity profiles and turbulence statistical quantities in good agreement with the reference DNS data in the streamwise direction although it deviated slightly in the spanwise and normal to the wall directions. The simulation results are further discussed in terms of the turbulence intensities and Reynolds stresses averaged in time and space to draw conclusion on the flux limiter schemes performance in OpenFOAM context.

Keywords: Flux limiters, MILES, OpenFOAM, turbulence structures, TVD schemes.

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Authors: Aurora Garrido-Moreno, Antonio Padilla-Meléndez, Ana Rosa Del Águila-Obra

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After reporting a literature review on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and knowledge management, some important issued arise, in particular related to the lack of success of CRM strategies implementation. The paper contributes to this proposing an integrated model of CRM success taking into account complementary factors such as organizational factors, technology, knowledge management and customer orientation.

Keywords: knowledge management, CRM, CRM success, organizational factors.

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Authors: I. Ludviga, A. Kalvina

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This paper aims to link together the concepts of job satisfaction, work engagement, trust, job meaningfulness and loyalty to the organisation focusing on specific type of employment – academic jobs. The research investigates the relationships between job satisfaction, work engagement and loyalty as well as the impact of trust and job meaningfulness on the work engagement and loyalty. The survey was conducted in one of the largest Latvian higher education institutions and the sample was drawn from academic staff (n=326). Structured questionnaire with 44 reflective type questions was developed to measure the constructs. Data was analysed using SPSS and Smart-PLS software. Variance based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique was used to test the model and to predict the most important factors relevant to employee engagement and loyalty. The first order model included two endogenous constructs (loyalty and intention to stay and recommend to work in this organisation, and employee engagement), as well as six exogenous constructs (feeling of fair treatment and trust in management; career growth opportunities; compensation, pay and benefits; management; colleagues and teamwork; and finally job meaningfulness). Job satisfaction was developed as second order construct and both: first and second order models were designed for data analysis. It was found that academics are more engaged than satisfied with their work and main reason for that was found to be job meaningfulness, which is significant predictor for work engagement, but not for job satisfaction. Compensation is not significantly related to work engagement, but only to job satisfaction. Trust was not significantly related neither to engagement, nor to satisfaction, however, it appeared to be significant predictor of loyalty and intentions to stay with the University. Paper revealed academic jobs as specific kind of employment where employees can be more engaged than satisfied and highlighted the specific role of job meaningfulness in the University settings.

Keywords: Job satisfaction, job meaningfulness, higher education, work engagement.

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Authors: C. Ardil

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the complex and multifaceted relationship between societal structures and public health, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to understanding pandemic responses. This study utilizes a clinical sociological perspective to analyze the social impacts of pandemics, with a particular focus on how social determinants such as income, education, race, and geographical location influence vulnerability and resilience. It explores the critical role of risk perception, communication strategies, and community dynamics in shaping public adherence to precautionary measures like mask-wearing, social distancing, and vaccination. By examining the ways in which social norms, structural inequalities, and trust in institutions affect public behavior, this study provides insights into the challenges of managing health crises in diverse communities. Comparative case studies and policy analysis are employed to highlight the variations in pandemic responses across different countries and regions, illustrating the importance of coordinated strategies and community-based interventions. The findings underscore that effective pandemic response requires addressing underlying social inequities, fostering community cohesion, and ensuring equitable access to healthcare and information. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the broader societal implications of pandemics and offers recommendations for building more resilient, inclusive public health systems capable of mitigating the impact of future global health emergencies.

Keywords: Behavioral medicine, clinical sociology, community health, COVID-19, COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiology, infectious diseases, pandemics, precautions, psychology, public health, risks, social determinants, social dynamics, social psychiatry, social psychology, socioeconomic status, structural functionalism

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Authors: Bakhtiar Ul Haq, R. Ahmed, A. Shaari, Mazmira Binti Mohamed, Nisar Ali

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The capability of exploiting the electronic charge and spin properties simultaneously in a single material has made diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) remarkable in the field of spintronics. We report the designing of DMS based on zinc-blend ZnO doped with Cr impurity. The full potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbital FP-L(APW+lo) method in density functional theory (DFT) has been adapted to carry out these investigations. For treatment of exchange and correlation energy, generalized gradient approximations have been used. Introducing Cr atoms in the matrix of ZnO has induced strong magnetic moment with ferromagnetic ordering at stable ground state. Cr:ZnO was found to favor the short range magnetic interaction that reflect tendency of Cr clustering. The electronic structure of ZnO is strongly influenced in the presence of Cr impurity atoms where impurity bands appear in the band gap.

Keywords: ZnO, Density functional theory, Diluted magnetic semiconductors, Ferromagnetic materials, FP-L(APW+lo).

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Authors: Lenka Markovičová, Viera Zatkalíková, Tomasz Garbacz

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The development of composite materials and the related design and manufacturing technologies is one of the most important advances in the history of materials. Composites are multifunctional materials having unprecedented mechanical and physical properties that can be tailored to meet the requirements of a particular application. Some composites also exhibit great resistance to high-temperature corrosion, oxidation, and wear. Polymers are widely used indoors and outdoors, therefore they are exposed to a chemical environment which may include atmospheric oxygen, acidic fumes, acidic rain, moisture heat and thermal shock, ultra-violet light, high energy radiation, etc. Different polymers are affected differently by these factors even though the amorphous polymers are more sensitive. Ageing is also important and it is defined as the process of deterioration of engineering materials resulting from the combined effects of atmospheric radiation, heat, oxygen, water, microorganisms and other atmospheric factors.

Keywords: Composites with glass fibres, mechanical properties, polyamides, UV degradation.

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Authors: Wang Xu, Yao Yangyang, Lin Ying, Wang Zhenzhen

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Intelligent Transportation System integrates various modern advanced technologies into the ground transportation system, and it will be the goal of urban transport system in the future because of its comprehensive effects. However, it also brings some problems, such as project performance assessment, fairness of benefiting groups, fund management, which are directly related to its operation and implementation. Wuhan has difficulties in organizing transportation because of its nature feature (river and lake), therefore, calling Service of Taxi plays an important role in transportation. This paper researches on calling Service of Taxi in Wuhan, based on quantitative and qualitative analysis. It analyzes its operations management systematically, including business model, finance, usage analysis and users evaluation. As for business model, it is that the government leads the operation at the initial stage, and the third part dominates the operation at the mature stage, which not only eases the pressure of the third part and benefits the spread of the calling service at the initial stage, but also alleviates financial pressure of government and improve the efficiency of the operation at the mature stage. As for finance, it draws that this service will bring heavy financial burden of equipments, but it will be alleviated in the future because of its spread. As for usage analysis, through data comparison, this service can bring some benefits for taxi drivers, and time and spatial distribution of usage have certain features. As for user evaluation, it analyzes using group and the reason why choosing it. At last, according to the analysis above, the paper puts forward the potentials, limitations, and future development strategies for it.

Keywords: Assessment, Calling service of taxi, Operations management, Strategies, Using groups.

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Authors: Marzieh. Savoj, S. Amirhassan. Monadjemi

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Iris localization is a very important approach in biometric identification systems. Identification process usually is implemented in three levels: iris localization, feature extraction, and pattern matching finally. Accuracy of iris localization as the first step affects all other levels and this shows the importance of iris localization in an iris based biometric system. In this paper, we consider Daugman iris localization method as a standard method, propose a new method in this field and then analyze and compare the results of them on a standard set of iris images. The proposed method is based on the detection of circular edge of iris, and improved by fuzzy circles and surface energy difference contexts. Implementation of this method is so easy and compared to the other methods, have a rather high accuracy and speed. Test results show that the accuracy of our proposed method is about Daugman method and computation speed of it is 10 times faster.

Keywords: Convolution, Edge detector filter, Fuzzy circle, Identification

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Authors: Satya P. Dubey, Hrushikesh A. Abhyankar, Veronica Marchante, James L. Brighton, Björn Bergmann

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PLA emerged as a promising polymer because of its property as a compostable, biodegradable thermoplastic made from renewable sources. PLA can be polymerized from monomers (Lactide or Lactic acid) obtained by fermentation processes from renewable sources such as corn starch or sugarcane. For PLA synthesis, ring opening polymerization (ROP) of Lactide monomer is one of the preferred methods. In the literature, the technique mainly developed for ROP of PLA is based on metal/bimetallic catalyst (Sn, Zn and Al) or other organic catalysts in suitable solvent. However, the PLA synthesized using such catalysts may contain trace elements of the catalyst which may cause toxicity. This work estimated the usefulness and drawbacks of using different catalysts as well as effect of alternative energies and future aspects for PLA production.

Keywords: Alternative energy, bio-degradable, metal catalyst, poly lactic acid (PLA), ring opening polymerization (ROP).

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Authors: K. Sekulová, M. Šimon

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The article demonstrates on a case study how it is possible to identify MSD risk. It is based on a dissertation Risk identification model of occupational diseases formation in relation to the work activity that determines what risk can endanger workers who are exposed to the specific risk factors. It is evaluated based on statistical calculations. These risk factors are main cause of upperextremities musculoskeletal disorders.

Keywords: Case study, upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomics.

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Authors: S. Al-Sowayan

Abstract:

The impact of selective excitation of circular helical modes of graded-index fibers on its capacity is analyzed using a model for propagation delay variation with launch offset and angle that resulted from misalignment of source and fiber axis. Results show promising technique to improve graded-index fiber capacities.

Keywords: Fiber measurements, Fiber optic communications.

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