Search results for: Environmental management systems

Authors: Kurniawan D. Irianto, Demetres D. Kouvatsos

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The growth of wireless devices affects the availability of limited frequencies or spectrum bands as it has been known that spectrum bands are a natural resource that cannot be added. Meanwhile, the licensed frequencies are idle most of the time. Cognitive radio is one of the solutions to solve those problems. Cognitive radio is a promising technology that allows the unlicensed users known as secondary users (SUs) to access licensed bands without making interference to licensed users or primary users (PUs). As cloud computing has become popular in recent years, cognitive radio networks (CRNs) can be integrated with cloud platform. One of the important issues in CRNs is security. It becomes a problem since CRNs use radio frequencies as a medium for transmitting and CRNs share the same issues with wireless communication systems. Another critical issue in CRNs is performance. Security has adverse effect to performance and there are trade-offs between them. The goal of this paper is to investigate the performance related to security trade-off in CRNs with supporting cloud platforms. Furthermore, Queuing Network Models with preemptive resume and preemptive repeat identical priority are applied in this project to measure the impact of security to performance in CRNs with or without cloud platform. The generalized exponential (GE) type distribution is used to reflect the bursty inter-arrival and service times at the servers. The results show that the best performance is obtained when security is disabled and cloud platform is enabled.

Keywords: Cloud Platforms, Cognitive Radio Networks, GEtype Distribution, Performance Vs Security.

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Authors: Satish Kumar Peddapelli

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This paper presents advances in pulse width modulation techniques which refers to a method of carrying information on train of pulses and the information be encoded in the width of pulses. Pulse Width Modulation is used to control the inverter output voltage. This is done by exercising the control within the inverter itself by adjusting the ON and OFF periods of inverter. By fixing the DC input voltage we get AC output voltage. In variable speed AC motors the AC output voltage from a constant DC voltage is obtained by using inverter. Recent developments in power electronics and semiconductor technology have lead improvements in power electronic systems. Hence, different circuit configurations namely multilevel inverters have became popular and considerable interest by researcher are given on them. A fast space-vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) method for five-level inverter is also discussed. In this method, the space vector diagram of the five-level inverter is decomposed into six space vector diagrams of three-level inverters. In turn, each of these six space vector diagrams of three-level inverter is decomposed into six space vector diagrams of two-level inverters. After decomposition, all the remaining necessary procedures for the three-level SVPWM are done like conventional two-level inverter. The proposed method reduces the algorithm complexity and the execution time. It can be applied to the multilevel inverters above the five-level also. The experimental setup for three-level diode-clamped inverter is developed using TMS320LF2407 DSP controller and the experimental results are analyzed.

Keywords: Five-level inverter, Space vector pulse wide modulation, diode clamped inverter.

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Authors: Victor Emery David Jr, Jiang Wenchao, Yasinta John, Md. Sahadat Hossain

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Sludge originates from the process of treatment of wastewater. It is the byproduct of wastewater treatment containing concentrated heavy metals and poorly biodegradable trace organic compounds, as well as potentially pathogenic organisms (viruses, bacteria, etc.) which are usually difficult to treat or dispose of. China, like other countries, is no stranger to the challenges posed by increase of wastewater. Treatment and disposal of sludge has been a problem for most cities in China. However, this problem has been exacerbated by other issues such as lack of technology, funding, and other factors. Suitable methods for such climatic conditions are still unavailable for modern cities in China. Against this background, this paper seeks to describe the methods used for treatment and disposal of sludge from industries and suggest a suitable method for treatment and disposal in Chongqing/China. From the research conducted, it was discovered that the highest treatment rate of sludge in Chongqing was 10.08%. The industrial waste piping system is not separated from the domestic system. Considering the proliferation of industry and urbanization, there is a likelihood that the production of sludge in Chongqing will increase. If the sludge produced is not properly managed, this may lead to adverse health and environmental effects. Disposal costs and methods for Chongqing were also included in this paper’s analysis. Research showed that incineration is the most expensive method of sludge disposal in China/Chongqing. Subsequent research therefore considered optional alternatives such as composting. Composting represents a relatively cheap waste disposal method considering the vast population, current technology and economic conditions of Chongqing, as well as China at large.

Keywords: Sludge, disposal of sludge, treatment, industrial sludge, Chongqing, wastewater.

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Authors: Sawsan J. Al-Husseini

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Transformational leadership (TL) has been found to have an important influence on knowledge and knowledge management (KM). It can contribute to organizational learning, employees’ creativity, encourage followers to participate in educational programs and develop the skills needed to achieve exceptional performance. This research sought to examine the impact of TL on knowledge donating and collecting and the differences between these impacts in public and private higher education institutes (HEIs) in Iraq. A mixed method approach was taken and 580 valid responses were collected to test the causal relationships between the factors, then 12 interviews were conducted with the leaders of HEIs to give more insight of the findings from quantitative stage. Employing structural equation modelling with AMOS v.24, the research found that TL would be ideal in an educational context, promoting knowledge sharing activities in both sectors. The interviews revealed differences between public and private HEIs in terms of the effects relationships. Guidelines are developed for academics as well as leaders and provided evidence to support the use of TL to encourage knowledge sharing activities within higher education in developing countries particularly Iraq.

Keywords: Transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, higher education, multi-groups.

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Authors: Amid Ranjkesh, Milan Ambrožič, Samo Kralj

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We study the typical domain size and configuration character of a randomly perturbed system exhibiting continuous symmetry breaking. As a model system we use rod-like objects within a cubic lattice interacting via a Lebwohl–Lasher-type interaction. We describe their local direction with a headless unit director field. An example of such systems represents nematic LC or nanotubes. We further introduce impurities of concentration p, which impose the random anisotropy field-type disorder to directors. We study the domain-type pattern of molecules as a function of p, anchoring strength w between a neighboring director and impurity, temperature, history of samples. In simulations we quenched the directors either from the random or homogeneous initial configuration. Our results show that a history of system strongly influences: i) the average domain coherence length; and ii) the range of ordering in the system. In the random case the obtained order is always short ranged (SR). On the contrary, in the homogeneous case, SR is obtained only for strong enough anchoring and large enough concentration p. In other cases, the ordering is either of quasi long range (QLR) or of long range (LR). We further studied memory effects for the random initial configuration. With increasing external ordering field B either QLR or LR is realized.

Keywords: Lebwohl-Lasher model, liquid crystals, disorder, memory effect, orientational order.

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Authors: Farhan Beg, Raymond Moberly

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The Indian subcontinent is facing a massive challenge with regards to energy security in its member countries; to provide reliable electricity to facilitate development across various sectors of the economy and consequently achieve the developmental targets. The instability of the current precarious situation is observable in the frequent system failures and blackouts.

The deployment of interconnected electricity ‘Supergrid’ designed to carry huge quanta of power across the Indian sub-continent is proposed in this paper. Not only enabling energy security in the subcontinent it will also provide a platform for Renewable Energy Sources (RES) integration. This paper assesses the need and conditions for a Supergrid deployment and consequently proposes a meshed topology based on Voltage Source High Voltage Direct Current (VSC- HVDC) converters for the Supergrid modeling. Various control schemes for the control of voltage and power are utilized for the regulation of the network parameters. A 3 terminal Multi Terminal Direct Current (MTDC) network is used for the simulations.

Keywords: Super grid, Wind and Solar energy, High Voltage Direct Current, Electricity management, Load Flow Analysis.

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Authors: Martin Doran, Roy Sterritt, George Wilkie

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The majority of today’s mobile robots are very dependent on battery power. Mobile robots can operate untethered for a number of hours but eventually they will need to recharge their batteries in-order to continue to function. While computer processing and sensors have become cheaper and more powerful each year, battery development has progress very little. They are slow to re-charge, inefficient and lagging behind in the general progression of robotic development we see today. However, batteries are relatively cheap and when fully charged, can supply high power output necessary for operating heavy mobile robots. As there are no cheap alternatives to batteries, we need to find efficient ways to manage the power that batteries provide during their operational lifetime. This paper proposes the use of autonomic principles of self-adaption to address the behavioral changes a battery experiences as it gets older. In life, as we get older, we cannot perform tasks in the same way as we did in our youth; these tasks generally take longer to perform and require more of our energy to complete. Batteries also suffer from a form of degradation. As a battery gets older, it loses the ability to retain the same charge capacity it would have when brand new. This paper investigates how we can adapt the current state of a battery charge and cycle count, to the requirements of a mobile robot to perform its tasks.

Keywords: Autonomic, self-adaptive, self-optimizing, degradation.

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Authors: Mouna Benfssahi, Zoubir El Felsoufi

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For many enterprises, the delocalization of a part or the totality of their supply chain to low cost countries is the best way to reduce costs and remain competitive against the growing globalized market. This new tendency is driven by logistics advantages, as well as, financial and tax discount offered by the host countries. The objective of this article is to examine the new financial challenges introduced by the project of base erosion and profits shifting (BEPS), published in 2015, and also their impact on the decision of delocalization. In fact, the strategy adopted by multinational firms for determining the transfer price (TP) of goods and services, as well as the shared amount of revenues and expenses have a major impact upon group profit and may contribute to divergent results. In order to get more profit, a coherent decision of delocalization should be based on an evaluation of all the operational and financial characteristics associated with such movement. Therefore, it is interesting to model these new constraints and integrate them in a more global decision model. The established model will enable to measure how much these financial constraints impact the decision of delocalization and will give new helpful directives for enterprise managers.

Keywords: Delocalization, intragroup transaction, multinational firms, optimization model, supply chain management, transfer pricing.

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Authors: Burcu Akyildiz, Cigdem Kadaifci, Y. Ilker Topcu, Burc Ulengin

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In today’s business environment, companies should  make strategic decisions to gain sustainable competitive advantage.  Order selection is a crucial issue among these decisions especially for  steel production industry. When the companies allocate a high  proportion of their design and production capacities to their ongoing  projects, determining which customer order should be chosen among  the potential orders without exceeding the remaining capacity is the  major critical problem. In this study, it is aimed to identify and  prioritize the evaluation factors for the customer order selection  problem. Conjoint Analysis is used to examine the importance level  of each factor which is determined as the potential profit rate per unit  of time, the compatibility of potential order with available capacity,  the level of potential future order with higher profit, customer credit  of future business opportunity, and the negotiability level of  production schedule for the order.

 

Keywords: Conjoint analysis, order prioritization, profit management, structural steel firm.

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Authors: Sumiko Anno, Keiji Imaoka, Takeo Tadono, Tamotsu Igarashi, Subramaniam Sivaganesh, Selvam Kannathasan, Vaithehi Kumaran, Sinnathamby Noble Surendran

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Dengue outbreaks are affected by biological, ecological, socio-economic and demographic factors that vary over time and space. These factors have been examined separately and still require systematic clarification. The present study aimed to investigate the spatial-temporal clustering relationships between these factors and dengue outbreaks in the northern region of Sri Lanka. Remote sensing (RS) data gathered from a plurality of satellites were used to develop an index comprising rainfall, humidity and temperature data. RS data gathered by ALOS/AVNIR-2 were used to detect urbanization, and a digital land cover map was used to extract land cover information. Other data on relevant factors and dengue outbreaks were collected through institutions and extant databases. The analyzed RS data and databases were integrated into geographic information systems, enabling temporal analysis, spatial statistical analysis and space-time clustering analysis. Our present results showed that increases in the number of the combination of ecological factor and socio-economic and demographic factors with above the average or the presence contribute to significantly high rates of space-time dengue clusters.

Keywords: ALOS/AVNIR-2, Dengue, Space-time clustering analysis, Sri Lanka.

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Authors: Abdallah Al Sabbagh

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Next Generation Wireless Network (NGWN) is expected to be a heterogeneous network which integrates all different Radio Access Technologies (RATs) through a common platform. A major challenge is how to allocate users to the most suitable RAT for them. An optimized solution can lead to maximize the efficient use of radio resources, achieve better performance for service providers and provide Quality of Service (QoS) with low costs to users. Currently, Radio Resource Management (RRM) is implemented efficiently for the RAT that it was developed. However, it is not suitable for a heterogeneous network. Common RRM (CRRM) was proposed to manage radio resource utilization in the heterogeneous network. This paper presents a user level Markov model for a three co-located RAT networks. The load-balancing based and service based CRRM algorithms have been studied using the presented Markov model. A comparison for the performance of load-balancing based and service based CRRM algorithms is studied in terms of traffic distribution, new call blocking probability, vertical handover (VHO) call dropping probability and throughput.

Keywords: Heterogeneous Wireless Network, Markov chain model, load-balancing based and service based algorithm, CRRM algorithms, Beyond 3G network.

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Authors: C. Valderrama-Ulloa, C. Schmitt, J.-P. Marchetti, V. Bucarey

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Access to adequate housing is a fundamental human right and a crucial factor for health. Housing should be inclusive, accessible, and able to meet the needs of all its inhabitants at every stage of their lives without hindering their health, autonomy, or independence. This article addresses the importance of designing housing for people with disabilities, which varies depending on individual abilities, preferences, and cultural considerations. Based on the components of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, wheelchair users, little people (achondroplasia), children with autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome were characterized, and six domains of activities related to daily life inside homes were defined. The article describes the main barriers homes present for this group of people. It proposes a list of architectural and design aspects to reduce barriers to housing use. The aspects are divided into three main groups: space management, building services, and supporting facilities. The article emphasizes the importance of consulting professionals and users with experience designing for diverse needs to create inclusive, safe, and supportive housing for people with disabilities.

Keywords: Achondroplasia, autism spectrum disorder, disability, down syndrome, wheelchair user.

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Authors: Ashish Saini, A.K. Saxena

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The genetic algorithm (GA) based solution techniques are found suitable for optimization because of their ability of simultaneous multidimensional search. Many GA-variants have been tried in the past to solve optimal power flow (OPF), one of the nonlinear problems of electric power system. The issues like convergence speed and accuracy of the optimal solution obtained after number of generations using GA techniques and handling system constraints in OPF are subjects of discussion. The results obtained for GA-Fuzzy OPF on various power systems have shown faster convergence and lesser generation costs as compared to other approaches. This paper presents an enhanced GA-Fuzzy OPF (EGAOPF) using penalty factors to handle line flow constraints and load bus voltage limits for both normal network and contingency case with congestion. In addition to crossover and mutation rate adaptation scheme that adapts crossover and mutation probabilities for each generation based on fitness values of previous generations, a block swap operator is also incorporated in proposed EGA-OPF. The line flow limits and load bus voltage magnitude limits are handled by incorporating line overflow and load voltage penalty factors respectively in each chromosome fitness function. The effects of different penalty factors settings are also analyzed under contingent state.

Keywords: Contingent operation state, Fuzzy rule base, Genetic Algorithms, Optimal Power Flow.

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Authors: Vinay Agrawal, Suyash Garg, Ravindra Nagar, Vinay Chandwani

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Open ground storey with floating columns is a typical feature in the modern multistory constructions in urban India. Such features are very much undesirable in buildings built in seismically active areas. The present study proposes a feasible solution to mitigate the effects caused due to non-uniformity of stiffness and discontinuity in load path and to simultaneously hold the functional use of the open storey particularly under the floating column, through a combination of various lateral strengthening systems. An investigation is performed on an example building with nine different analytical models to bring out the importance of recognising the presence of open ground storey and floating columns. Two separate analyses on various models of the building namely, the equivalent static analysis and the response spectrum analysis as per IS: 1893-2002 were performed. Various measures such as incorporation of Chevron bracings and shear walls, strengthening the columns in the open ground storey, and their different combinations were examined. The analysis shows that, in comparison to two short ones separated by interconnecting beams, the structural walls are most effective when placed at the periphery of the buildings and used as one long structural wall. Further, it can be shown that the force transfer from floating columns becomes less horizontal when the Chevron Bracings are placed just below them, thereby reducing the shear forces in the beams on which the floating column rests.

Keywords: Equivalent static analysis, floating column, open ground storey, response spectrum analysis, shear wall, stiffness irregularity.

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Authors: Herti Utami, Sutijan, Roto, Wahyudi Budi Sediawan

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α-Pinene is the main component of the most turpentine oils. The hydration of α-pinene with acid catalysts leads to a complex mixture of monoterpenes. In order to obtain more valuable products, the α-pinene in the turpentine can be hydrated in dilute mineral acid solutions to produce α-terpineol. The design of separation processes requires information on phase equilibrium and related thermodynamic properties. This paper reports the results of study on liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) of system containing α- pinene + water and α-terpineol + water. Binary LLE for α-pinene + water system, and α-terpineol + water systems were determined by experiment at 301K and atmospheric pressure. The two component mixture was stirred for about 30min, then the mixture was left for about 2h for complete phase separation. The composition of both phases was analyzed by using a Gas Chromatograph. The experimental data were correlated by considering both NRTL and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models. The LLE data for the system of α-pinene + water and α-terpineol + water were correlated successfully by the NRTL model. The experimental data were not satisfactorily fitted by the UNIQUAC model. The NRTL model (α =0.3) correlates the LLE data for the system of α-pinene + water at 301K with RMSD of 0.0404%. And the NRTL model (α =0.61) at 301K with RMSD of 0.0058 %. The NRTL model (α =0.3) correlates the LLE data for the system of α- terpineol + water at 301K with RMSD of 0.1487% and the NRTL model (α =0.6) at 301K with RMSD of 0.0032%, between the experimental and calculated mole fractions.

Keywords: α-Pinene, α-Terpineol, Liquid-liquid Equilibrium, NRTL model, UNIQUAC model

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Authors: Faisal Alazzaz, Andrew Whyte

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Off-site construction methods have played an important role in the construction sector in the past few decades. It is increasingly becoming a major alternative technique and strategic direction compared to traditional in-situ method. It produces a significant amount of value for the construction industry and the economy more generally. To date, an impressive number of studies have been lunched on the perceived perception of off-site construction. However, it seems that a quantifying benefit on the offsite construction area is lacking. Therefore, this paper examines the recent research literature on the benefits of off- site construction and provides future direction. In the beginning, this paper provides a brief history and current value of the off-site construction followed by a detailed discussion on the benefit of off-site construction. These benefits include but not limited to time saving, quality improvement, relieving skills shortages, cost reduction and productivity improvement. Toward this end, off-site construction should learn from other productive industry similar to services or manufacturing industry by applying operational management tools and techniques with extensive focus on employee empowerment will shed the light on future uptake of Off-site construction. This study is of value in providing scholars have a clear picture of perceived benefit of off-site construction research and give an opportunities for future uptake of off-site method.

Keywords: Building projects, Employer empowerment, Off-site construction benefits, Productivity.

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Authors: Hossein Shabanali Fami, Omid Sharifi, Javad Ghasemi, Mahtab Pouratashi, Mona Sadat Moghadasian

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The main purpose of this study was to investigate perception of greenhouse vegetable growers regarding use of biological control practices during the growing season. The statistical population of the study included greenhouse vegetable growers in Jiroft county (N=1862). A sample of 137 vegetable growers was selected, using random sampling method. Data were collected via a questionnaire. The validity of the instrument was obtained by the faculty members of the Department of Agricultural Development and Management in the University of Tehran. Cronbach’s alpha was applied to estimate the reliability which showed a high reliability for the instrument. Data was analyzed using SPSS/Windows 13.5. The results revealed that greenhouse vegetable growers had moderate level of perception regarding biological control practices. Levels of vegetable growers’ perceptions regarding biological control practices were different on the basis of their academic qualifications as well as educational level and job. In addition, the results indicated that about 54.1% of variations in vegetable growers’ perceptions could be explained by variables such as awareness of biological control practices, knowledge on pests, annual production and age.

Keywords: Greenhouse, biological control, biological agents, perception, vegetable grower.

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Authors: Jihad S. Daba, J. P. Dubois

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Fading noise degrades the performance of cellular communication, most notably in femto- and pico-cells in 3G and 4G systems. When the wireless channel consists of a small number of scattering paths, the statistics of fading noise is not analytically tractable and poses a serious challenge to developing closed canonical forms that can be analysed and used in the design of efficient and optimal receivers. In this context, noise is multiplicative and is referred to as stochastically local fading. In many analytical investigation of multiplicative noise, the exponential or Gamma statistics are invoked. More recent advances by the author of this paper utilized a Poisson modulated-weighted generalized Laguerre polynomials with controlling parameters and uncorrelated noise assumptions. In this paper, we investigate the statistics of multidiversity stochastically local area fading channel when the channel consists of randomly distributed Rayleigh and Rician scattering centers with a coherent Nakagami-distributed line of sight component and an underlying doubly stochastic Poisson process driven by a lognormal intensity. These combined statistics form a unifying triply stochastic filtered marked Poisson point process model.

Keywords: Cellular communication, femto- and pico-cells, stochastically local area fading channel, triply stochastic filtered marked Poisson point process.

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Authors: Muhammad Waseem Ashraf, Shahzadi Tayyaba, Nitin Afzulpurkar, Asim Nisar, Adisorn Tuantranont, Erik L J Bohez

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In this paper, design, fabrication and coupled multifield analysis of hollow out-of-plane silicon microneedle array with piezoelectrically actuated microfluidic device for transdermal drug delivery (TDD) applications is presented. The fabrication process of silicon microneedle array is first done by series of combined isotropic and anisotropic etching processes using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching technology. Then coupled multifield analysis of MEMS based piezoelectrically actuated device with integrated 2×2 silicon microneedle array is presented. To predict the stress distribution and model fluid flow in coupled field analysis, finite element (FE) and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis using ANSYS rather than analytical systems has been performed. Static analysis and transient CFD analysis were performed to predict the fluid flow through the microneedle array. The inlet pressure from 10 kPa to 150 kPa was considered for static CFD analysis. In the lumen region fluid flow rate 3.2946 μL/min is obtained at 150 V for 2×2 microneedle array. In the present study the authors have performed simulation of structural, piezoelectric and CFD analysis on three dimensional model of the piezoelectrically actuated mcirofluidic device integrated with 2×2 microneedle array.

Keywords: Coupled multifield, finite element analysis, hollow silicon microneedle, transdermal drug delivery.

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Authors: Supattra Kanchanopast

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The purpose of this paper was to study motivation factors affecting job performance effectiveness. This paper drew upon data collected from an Internal Audit Staffs of Internal Audit Line of Head Office of Krung Thai Public Company Limited. Statistics used included frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation, t-test, and one-way ANOVA test. The finding revealed that the majority of the respondents were female of 46 years of age and over, married and live together, hold a bachelor degree, with an average monthly income over 70,001 Baht. The majority of respondents had over 15 years of work experience. They generally had high working motivation as well as high job performance effectiveness. The hypotheses testing disclosed that employees with different working status had different level of job performance effectiveness at a 0.01 level of significance. Working motivation factors had an effect on job performance in the same direction with high level. Individual working motivation included working completion, reorganization, working progression, working characteristic, opportunity, responsibility, management policy, supervision, relationship with their superior, relationship with co-worker, working position, working stability, safety, privacy, working conditions, and payment. All of these factors related to job performance effectiveness in the same direction with medium level.

Keywords: Internal Audit Staffs, Job Performance Effectiveness, Working Motivation.

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Authors: Xing Zhang

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Since the State Council of China issued the Regulations on the Conservation of Historical Cultural Towns and Villages in 2008, formulation of conservation planning has been carried out in national, provincial and municipal historical and cultural villages for protection needs, which provides a legal basis for inheritance of historical culture and protection of historical resources. Although the quantity and content of the conservation planning are continually increasing, the implementation and application are still ambiguous. To solve the aforementioned problems, this paper explores methods to enhance the implementation of conservation planning from the perspective of planning formulation. Specifically, the technical framework of "overall objectives planning - sub-objectives planning - zoning guidelines - implementation by stages" is proposed to implement the planning objectives in different classifications and stages. Then combined with details of the Qiqiao historical and cultural village conservation planning project in Ningbo, five sub-objectives are set, which are implemented through the village zoning guidelines. At the same time, the key points and specific projects in the near-term, medium-term and long-term work are clarified, and the spatial planning is transformed into the action plan with time scale. The proposed framework and method provide a reference for the implementation and management of the conservation planning of historical and cultural villages in the future.

Keywords: Conservation planning, planning by stages, planning implementation, zoning guidelines.

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Authors: L. Edirisinghe, Z. Jin, A. W. Wijeratne, R. Mudunkotuwa

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Empty container repositioning is a fundamental problem faced by the shipping industry. The virtual container yard is a novel strategy underpinning the container interchange between carriers that could substantially reduce this ever-increasing shipping cost. This paper evaluates the shipping industry perception of the virtual container yard using chi-square tests. It examines if the carriers perceive that the selected independent variables, namely culture, organization, decision, marketing, attitudes, legal, independent, complexity, and stakeholders of carriers, impact the efficiency and benefits of the virtual container yard. There are two major findings of the research. Firstly, carriers view that complexity, attitudes, and stakeholders may impact the effectiveness of container interchange and may influence the perceived benefits of the virtual container yard. Secondly, the three factors of legal, organization, and decision influence only the perceived benefits of the virtual container yard. Accordingly, the implementation of the virtual container yard will be influenced by six key factors, namely complexity, attitudes, stakeholders, legal, organization and decision. Since the virtual container yard could reduce overall shipping costs, it is vital to examine the carriers’ perception of this concept.

Keywords: Virtual container yard, imbalance, management, inventory.

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Authors: Kornchanok Chidchaisuwan

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This project is a study of learning activities of creating experience from actual work performance to enhance career skills and technological usage abilities for uses in advertising career work performance for undergraduate students who enroll in the Creative Strategies for Advertising Course. The instructional model consisted of two learning approaches: (1) simulation-based learning, which is the learning with the use of simulations of working in various sections of creative advertisement work with their own work process and steps as well as the virtual technology learning in advertising companies; and (2) project-based learning, which is the learning that the learners engage in actual work performance based on the process of creating and producing creative advertisement works to be present on new media channels. The results of learning management showed that the effects on the students in various aspects were as follows: (1) the students had experience in the advertising process at the higher level; and (2) the students had work performance skills from the actual work performance that enabled them to possess the abilities to create and present their own work; also, they had created more efficient work outcomes and disseminated them on new media channels at a better level.

Keywords: Technical literacy, career skill, experience, simulation-based learning.

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Authors: Hamid Goharnejad, Amir Hossein Eghbali

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Recent investigations have demonstrated the global sea level rise due to climate change impacts. In this study, climate changes study the effects of increasing water level in the strait of Hormuz. The probable changes of sea level rise should be investigated to employ the adaption strategies. The climatic output data of a GCM (General Circulation Model) named CGCM3 under climate change scenario of A1b and A2 were used. Among different variables simulated by this model, those of maximum correlation with sea level changes in the study region and least redundancy among themselves were selected for sea level rise prediction by using stepwise regression. One of models (Discrete Wavelet artificial Neural Network) was developed to explore the relationship between climatic variables and sea level changes. In these models, wavelet was used to disaggregate the time series of input and output data into different components and then ANN was used to relate the disaggregated components of predictors and input parameters to each other. The results showed in the Shahid Rajae Station for scenario A1B sea level rise is among 64 to 75 cm and for the A2 Scenario sea level rise is among 90 t0 105 cm. Furthermore, the result showed a significant increase of sea level at the study region under climate change impacts, which should be incorporated in coastal areas management.

Keywords: Climate change scenarios, sea-level rise, strait of Hormuz, artificial neural network, fuzzy logic.

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Authors: Chee-Ming Chan

Abstract:

In spite of the advent of new materials, clay bricks remain, arguably, the most popular construction materials today. Nevertheless the low cost and versatility of clay bricks cannot always be associated with high environmental and sustainable values, especially in terms of raw material sources and manufacturing processes. At the same time, the worldwide agricultural footprint is fast growing, with vast agricultural land cultivation and active expansion of the agro-based industry. The resulting large quantities of agricultural wastes, unfortunately, are not always well managed or utilised. These wastes can be recycled, such as by retrieving fibres from disposed leaves and fruit bunches, and then incorporated in brick-making. This way the clay bricks are made a 'greener' building material and the discarded natural wastes can be reutilised, avoiding otherwise wasteful landfill and harmful open incineration. This study examined the physical and mechanical properties of clay bricks made by adding two natural fibres to a clay-water mixture, with baked and non-baked conditions. The fibres were sourced from pineapple leaves (PF) and oil palm fruit bunch (OF), and added within the range of 0.25-0.75 %. Cement was added as a binder to the mixture at 5-15 %. Although the two fibres had different effects on the bricks produced, cement appeared to dominate the compressive strength. The non-baked bricks disintegrated when submerged in water, while the baked ones displayed cement-dependent characteristics in water-absorption and density changes. Interestingly, further increase in fibre content did not cause significant density decrease in both the baked and non-baked bricks.

Keywords: natural fibres, clay bricks, strength, water absorption, density.

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Authors: Godwin A. Otogo, Sansanee Wangvoralak, Graham J. Pierce, Lee C. Hastie, Beth Scott

Abstract:

The squid Loligo forbesii is suspected to be an important species in marine food webs, as it can strongly impact its prey and be impacted upon by predation, competition, fishing and/or climate variability. To quantify these impacts in the food web, the measurement of its trophic position and ecological role within well-studied ecosystems is essential. An Ecopath model was balanced and run for the Moray Firth ecosystem and was used to investigate the significance of this squid’s trophic roles. The network analysis routine included in Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) was used to estimate trophic interaction, system indicators (health condition and developmental stage) and food web features. Results indicated that within the Moray Firth squid occupy a top trophic position in the food web and also a major prey item for many other species. Results from Omnivory Index (OI) showed that squid is a generalized feeder transferring energy across wide trophic levels and is more important as a predator than that as a prey in the Moray Firth ecosystem. The results highlight the importance of taking squid into account in the management of Europe’s living marine resources.

Keywords: Ecopath, Loligo forbesii, moray firth, squid, trophic-level.

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Authors: Shahryar Shaghaghi G., Paria Violette Shakiba , Gholamreza Irani

Abstract:

Nowadays, the earth is countered with serious problem of air pollution. This problem has been started from the industrial revolution and has been faster in recent years, so that leads the earth to ecological and environmental disaster. One of its results is the global warming problem and its related increase in global temperature. The most important factors in air pollution especially in urban environments are Automobiles and residential buildings that are the biggest consumers of the fossil energies, so that if the residential buildings as a big part of the consumers of such energies reduce their consumption rate, the air pollution will be decreased. Since Metropolises are the main centers of air pollution in the world, assessment and analysis of efficient strategies in decreasing air pollution in such cities, can lead to the desirable and suitable results and can solve the problem at least in critical level. Tabriz city is one of the most important metropolises in North west of Iran that about two million people are living there. for its situation in cold dry climate, has a high rate of fossil energies consumption that make air pollution in its urban environment. These two factors, being both metropolis and in cold dry climate, make this article try to analyze the strategies of climatic design in old districts of the city and use them in new districts of the future. These strategies can be used in this city and other similar cities and pave the way to reduce energy consumption and related air pollution to save whole world.

Keywords: Air pollution, Urban Environment, Metropolis, Residential building, Fossil energies.

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Authors: Udeme O. Ini, Edikan E. Akpanibah

Abstract:

This paper studies the optimal investment strategies for a plan member (PM) in a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme with transaction cost, taxes on invested funds and couple risky assets (stocks) under the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (O-U) process. The PM’s portfolio is assumed to consist of a risk-free asset and two risky assets where the two risky assets are driven by the O-U process. The Legendre transformation and dual theory is use to transform the resultant optimal control problem which is a nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE) into linear PDE and the resultant linear PDE is then solved for the explicit solutions of the optimal investment strategies for PM exhibiting constant absolute risk aversion (CARA) using change of variable technique. Furthermore, theoretical analysis is used to study the influences of some sensitive parameters on the optimal investment strategies with observations that the optimal investment strategies for the two risky assets increase with increase in the dividend and decreases with increase in tax on the invested funds, risk averse coefficient, initial fund size and the transaction cost.

Keywords: Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, portfolio management, Legendre transforms, CARA utility.

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Authors: Aaron A. R. Nwabude

Abstract:

This study used positivist quantitative approach to examine the mathematical concepts acquisition of- KS4 (14-16) Special Education Needs (SENs) students within the school sector education in England. The research is based on a pilot study and the design is completely holistic in its approach with mixing methodologies. The study combines the qualitative and quantitative methods of approach in gathering formative data for the design process. Although, the approach could best be described as a mix method, fundamentally with a strong positivist paradigm, hence my earlier understanding of the differentiation of the students, student – teacher body and the various elements of indicators that is being measured which will require an attenuated description of individual research subjects. The design process involves four phases with five key stages which are; literature review and document analysis, the survey, interview, and observation; then finally the analysis of data set. The research identified the need for triangulation with Reid-s phases of data management providing scaffold for the study. The study clearly identified the ideological and philosophical aspects of educational research design for the study of mathematics by the special education needs (SENs) students in England using the virtual learning environment (VLE) platform.

Keywords: VLE, Special Education Needs, Key stage4, School, Mathematics, Concepts Acquisition

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Authors: Gangacharyulu Dasaroju, Sumeet Sharma, Sanjay Singh

Abstract:

Heat pipe is characterised as superconductor of heat because of its excellent heat removal ability. The operation of several engineering system results in generation of heat. This may cause several overheating problems and lead to failure of the systems. To overcome this problem and to achieve desired rate of heat dissipation, there is need to study the performance of heat pipe with annular fins under free convection at different inclinations. This study demonstrates the effect of different mass flow rate of hot fluid into evaporator section on the condenser side heat transfer coefficient with annular fins under natural convection at different inclinations. In this study annular fins are used for the experimental work having dimensions of length of fin, thickness of fin and spacing of fin as 10 mm, 1 mm and 6 mm, respectively. The main aim of present study is to discover at what inclination angles the maximum heat transfer coefficient shall be achieved. The heat transfer coefficient on the external surface of heat pipe condenser section is determined by experimental method and then predicted by empirical correlations. The results obtained from experimental and Churchill and Chu relation for laminar are in fair agreement with not more than 22% deviation. It is elucidated the maximum heat transfer coefficient of 31.2 W/(m²-K) at 25˚ tilt angle and minimal condenser heat transfer coefficient of 26.4 W/(m²-K) is seen at 45˚ tilt angle and 200 ml/min mass flow rate. Inclination angle also affects the thermal performance of heat pipe. Beyond 25^o inclination, heat transport rate starts to decrease.

Keywords: Annular fins, condenser heat transfer coefficient, heat pipe, natural convection, tilt angle.

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