Search results for: edge enhancement

Authors: Isao Tomita

Abstract:

We develop a periodically-poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) device for highly-efficient third-harmonic generation (THG), where the THG efficiency is enhanced with a cavity. THG can usually be produced via χ(3)-nonlinear materials by optical pumping with very high pump-power. Instead, we here propose THG by moderate-power pumping through a specially-designed PPLN device containing only χ(2)-nonlinearity, where sum-frequency generation in the χ(2) process is employed for the mixing of a pump beam and a second-harmonic-generation (SHG) beam produced from the pump beam. The cavity is designed to increase the SHG power with dichroic mirrors attached to both ends of the device that perfectly reflect the SHG beam back to the device and yet let the pump and THG beams pass through the mirrors. This brings about a THG-power enhancement because of THG power proportional to the enhanced SHG power. We examine the THG-efficiency dependence on the mirror reflectance and show that very high THG-efficiency is obtained at moderate pump-power when compared with that of a cavity-free PPLN device.

Keywords: Cavity, periodically-poled LiNbO3, sum-frequency generation, third-harmonic generation.

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Authors: Varun Joshi, Manish K. Rathod

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The latent heat thermal energy storage system is a thrust area of research due to exuberant thermal energy storage potential. The thermal performance of PCM is significantly augmented by installation of the high thermal conductivity fins. The objective of the present study is to obtain optimum size and location of the fins to enhance diffusion heat transfer without altering overall melting time. Hence, the constructal theory is employed to eliminate, resize, and re-position the fins. A numerical code based on conjugate heat transfer coupled enthalpy porosity approached is developed to solve Navier-Stoke and energy equation.The numerical results show that the constructal fin design has enhanced the thermal performance along with the increase in the overall volume of PCM when compared to conventional. The overall volume of PCM is found to be increased by half of total of volume of fins. The elimination and repositioning the fins at high temperature gradient from low temperature gradient is found to be vital.

Keywords: Constructal theory, enthalpy porosity approach, phase change materials, fins.

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Authors: K. Krishnaprasad, Raghu V. Prakash

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Constant amplitude fatigue crack growth (FCG) tests were performed on dissimilar metal welded plates of Type 316L Stainless Steel (SS) and IS 2062 Grade A Carbon steel (CS). The plates were welded by TIG welding using SS E309 as electrode. FCG tests were carried on the Side Edge Notch Tension (SENT) specimens of 5 mm thickness, with crack initiator (notch) at base metal region (BM), weld metal region (WM) and heat affected zones (HAZ). The tests were performed at a test frequency of 10 Hz and at load ratios (R) of 0.1 & 0.6. FCG rate was found to increase with stress ratio for weld metals and base metals, where as in case of HAZ, FCG rates were almost equal at high ΔK. FCG rate of HAZ of stainless steel was found to be lowest at low and high ΔK. At intermediate ΔK, WM showed the lowest FCG rate. CS showed higher crack growth rate at all ΔK. However, the scatter band of data was found to be narrow. Fracture toughness (Kc) was found to vary in different locations of weldments. Kc was found lowest for the weldment and highest for HAZ of stainless steel. A novel method of characterizing the FCG behavior using an Infrared thermography (IRT) camera was attempted. By monitoring the temperature rise at the fast moving crack tip region, the amount of plastic deformation was estimated.

Keywords: Dissimilar metal weld, Fatigue Crack Growth, fracture toughness, Infrared thermography.

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Authors: Mohamed Haffar, Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Ahmad Ghoneim

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The importance of having a good organizational culture that supports employee job satisfaction has fascinated both the business and academic world because of a tantalizing promise: culture can be fundamental to the enhancement of financial performance. This promise has led to growing interest for both researchers and practitioners in attempting to understand the influence of organizational culture on employees’ satisfaction and organizational performance. Even though the relationship between organizational culture and employee job satisfaction have gained attention in the literature, the majority of studies have been conducted within manufacturing organizations and tend to oversee the impact of culture on employee job satisfaction in a service-based environment. Thus, the main driving force of this study was to explore the role of organizational culture types in facilitating employee job satisfaction at Emerald Publishing Group. Interviews qualitative data analysis indicated that Emerald’s culture dominated by adhocracy and clan culture values. In addition, the findings provided evidence, which demonstrated that group and adhocracy organizational culture types play key roles in facilitating employee job satisfaction in a service-based environment.

Keywords: Employee satisfaction, organizational culture, performance, service based environment.

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Authors: Pei-Lin Yueh, Bor-Yann Chen, Chuan-Chung Hsueh

Abstract:

This first-attempt study revealed that decolorized intermediates of azo dyes could act as redox mediators to assist wastewater (WW) decolorization due to enhancement of electron-transport phenomena. Electrochemical impedance spectra indicated that hydroxyl and amino-substituent(s) were functional group(s) as redox-mediator(s). As azo dyes are usually multiple benzene-rings structured, their derived decolorized intermediates are likely to play roles of electron shuttles due to lower barrier of energy gap for electron shuttling. According to cyclic voltammetric profiles, redox mediating characteristics of decolorized intermediates of azo dyes (e.g., RBu171, RR198, RR141, RBk5) were clearly disclosed. With supplementation of biodecolorized metabolites of RR141 and 198, decolorization performance of could be evidently augmented. This study also suggested the optimal modes of microbial fuel cell (MFC)-assisted WW decolorization would be plug-flow or batch mode of operation with no mix. Single chamber-MFCs would be more favourable than double chamber MFCs due to non-mixing contacting reactor scheme for operation.

Keywords: Redox mediators, dye decolorization, bioelectricity generation, microbial fuel cells.

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Authors: M. Hammerton, J. Trevathan, T. Myers, W. Read

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The transfer rate of messages in distributed sensor network applications is a critical factor in a system's performance. The Sensor Abstraction Layer (SAL) is one such system. SAL is a middleware integration platform for abstracting sensor specific technology in order to integrate heterogeneous types of sensors in a network. SAL uses Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) as its connection method, which has unsatisfying transfer rates, especially for streaming data.  This paper analyses different connection methods to optimize data transmission in SAL by replacing RMI.  Our results show that the most promising Java-based connections were frameworks for Java New Input/Output (NIO) including Apache MINA, JBoss Netty, and xSocket. A test environment was implemented to evaluate each respective framework based on transfer rate, resource usage, and scalability. Test results showed the most suitable connection method to improve data transmission in SAL JBoss Netty as it provides a performance enhancement of 68%.

Keywords: Wireless sensor networks, remote method invocation, transmission time.

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Authors: Samir K. Deshmukh, Mayur M. Tajane

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In this work Membrane Distillation is applied to concentrate orange Juice. Clarified orange juice (11o Brix) obtained from fresh fruits and a sugar solution was subjected to membrane distillation. The experiments were performed on a flat sheet module using orange juice and sucrose solution as feeds. The concentration of a sucrose solution, used as a model fruit juice and also orange juice, was carried out in a direct contact membrane distillation using hydrophobic PTFE membrane of pore size 0.2 μm and porosity 70%. Surface modification of PTFE membrane has been carried out by treating membrane with alcohol and water solution to make it hydrophilic and then hydrophobicity was regained by drying. The influences of the feed temperature, feed concentration, flow rate, operating time on the permeate flux were studied for treated and non treated membrane. In this work treated and non treated membrane were compared in terms of water flux, Within the tested range, MD with surface modified membrane the water flux has been significantly improved by treating the membrane surface.

Keywords: Membrane Distillation, Surface Modification, Orange Juice. Polytetrafluoroethylene.

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Authors: Guanqiao Wang, Hongyang Yu

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There is a lot of repetitive work in the traditional construction industry. These repetitive tasks can significantly improve production efficiency by replacing manual tasks with robots. Therefore, robots appear more and more frequently in the construction industry. Navigation and positioning is a very important task for construction robots, and the requirements for accuracy of positioning are very high. Traditional indoor robots mainly use radio frequency or vision methods for positioning. Compared with ordinary robots, the indoor plastering robot needs to be positioned closer to the wall for wall plastering, so the requirements for construction positioning accuracy are higher, and the traditional navigation positioning method has a large error, which will cause the robot to move. Without the exact position, the wall cannot be plastered or the error of plastering the wall is large. A positioning method is proposed, which is assisted by line lasers and uses image processing-based positioning to perform more accurate positioning on the traditional positioning work. In actual work, filter, edge detection, Hough transform and other operations are performed on the images captured by the camera. Each time the position of the laser line is found, it is compared with the standard value, and the position of the robot is moved or rotated to complete the positioning work. The experimental results show that the actual positioning error is reduced to less than 0.5 mm by this accurate positioning method.

Keywords: Indoor plastering robot, navigation, precise positioning, line laser, image processing.

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Authors: T. P. Athira, Gibin Chacko George

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This paper proposes a dual tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT) based directional interpolation scheme for noisy images. The problems of denoising and interpolation are modelled as to estimate the noiseless and missing samples under the same framework of optimal estimation. Initially, DT-CWT is used to decompose an input low-resolution noisy image into low and high frequency subbands. The high-frequency subband images are interpolated by linear minimum mean square estimation (LMMSE) based interpolation, which preserves the edges of the interpolated images. For each noisy LR image sample, we compute multiple estimates of it along different directions and then fuse those directional estimates for a more accurate denoised LR image. The estimation parameters calculated in the denoising processing can be readily used to interpolate the missing samples. The inverse DT-CWT is applied on the denoised input and interpolated high frequency subband images to obtain the high resolution image. Compared with the conventional schemes that perform denoising and interpolation in tandem, the proposed DT-CWT based noisy image interpolation method can reduce many noise-caused interpolation artifacts and preserve well the image edge structures. The visual and quantitative results show that the proposed technique outperforms many of the existing denoising and interpolation methods.

Keywords: Dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT), denoising, interpolation, optimal estimation, super resolution.

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Authors: Roxan Venter

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Ombudsmen often face the challenge of a lack of authority to have their decisions and recommendations enforced. This lack of authority may be seen as one of the major obstacles in the way of the effectiveness of the institutions of Ombudsman and also the South African Public Protector. The paper will address the current legal position in South Africa with regard to the status of the decisions and recommendations of the South African Public Protector and the enforcement thereof. In addition, the paper will compare the South African position with the experiences of other jurisdictions, including Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Denmark and Norway, but also New Zealand and Northern Ireland, with regard to the enforcement of the decisions of Ombudsmen. Finally, the paper will make recommendations with regard to the enhancement of the power and authority of Ombudsmen in order to effectively enforce their decisions. It is submitted that the creation of the office of Ombudsman, and the Public Protector in the South African system, is an essential tool to ensure the protection of society against governmental abuse of power and it is therefore imperative to ensure that these watchdogs of democracy are not muzzled by a lack of powers of enforcement.

Keywords: Enforcement of decisions of Ombudsmen, Governmental control, Ombudsman, South African Public Protector.

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou, Maria F. Sartzetaki, Simoni K. Lintzerakou

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Air transport links markets and individuals, promoting social and economic development. The review of management direction towards social responsibility and especially for the enhancement of passengers with autism is the key objective of this paper. According to a top-down approach, the key dimensions that affect the basic principles and directions of airport enterprises management towards social responsibility for the case of passengers with autism are presented. Conventional wisdom is to present actions undertaken in improving accessibility for special population groups and highlight the social dimension in the management of transport hubs. The target is to focus on transport hubs serving special groups of passengers such as passengers with autism and highlight good practices and motivate transport infrastructure management authorities and decision makers to promote the social footprint of transport. The highlights and key findings are essential for managers and decision makers to support actions and plans towards management of airport enterprises towards social responsibility, focusing on the case of passengers traveling with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Keywords: Social responsibility, special groups, airport enterprises.

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Authors: Salma Parvin, M. A. Alim

Abstract:

The convective and radiative heat transfer performance and entropy generation on forced convection through a direct absorption solar collector (DASC) is investigated numerically. Four different fluids, including Cu-water nanofluid, Al₂O₃-waternanofluid, TiO₂-waternanofluid, and pure water are used as the working fluid. Entropy production has been taken into account in addition to the collector efficiency and heat transfer enhancement. Penalty finite element method with Galerkin’s weighted residual technique is used to solve the governing non-linear partial differential equations. Numerical simulations are performed for the variation of mass flow rate. The outcomes are presented in the form of isotherms, average output temperature, the average Nusselt number, collector efficiency, average entropy generation, and Bejan number. The results present that the rate of heat transfer and collector efficiency enhance significantly for raising the values of m up to a certain range.

Keywords: DASC, forced convection, mass flow rate, nanofluid.

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Authors: Rotchanaphan Hengaroonprasan, Malinee Sriariyanun, Prapakorn Tantayotai, Supacharee Roddecha, Kraipat Cheenkachorn

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Lignocellolusic material is a substance that is resistant to be degraded by microorganisms or hydrolysis enzymes. To be used as materials for biofuel production, it needs pretreatment process to improve efficiency of hydrolysis. In this work, chemical pretreatments on rice straw using three diluted organic acids, including acetic acid, citric acid, oxalic acid, were optimized. Using Response Surface Methodology (RSM), the effect of three pretreatment parameters, acid concentration, treatment time, and reaction temperature, on pretreatment efficiency were statistically evaluated. The results indicated that dilute oxalic acid pretreatment led to the highest enhancement of enzymatic saccharification by commercial cellulase and yielded sugar up to 10.67 mg/ml when using 5.04% oxalic acid at 137.11 oC for 30.01 min. Compared to other acid pretreatment by acetic acid, citric acid, and hydrochloric acid, the maximum sugar yields are 7.07, 6.30, and 8.53 mg/ml, respectively. Here, it was demonstrated that organic acids can be used for pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials to enhance of hydrolysis process, which could be integrated to other applications for various biorefinery processes. 

Keywords: Lignocellolusic biomass, pretreatment, organic acid response surface methodology, biorefinery.

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Authors: Aya Salama

Abstract:

Digital Twin has emerged as a compelling research area, capturing the attention of scholars over the past decade. It finds applications across diverse fields, including smart manufacturing and healthcare, offering significant time and cost savings. Notably, it often intersects with other cutting-edge technologies such as Data Mining, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning. However, the concept of a Human Digital Twin (HDT) is still in its infancy and requires further demonstration of its practicality. HDT takes the notion of Digital Twin a step further by extending it to living entities, notably humans, who are vastly different from inanimate physical objects. The primary objective of this research was to create an HDT capable of automating real-time human responses by simulating human behavior. To achieve this, the study delved into various areas, including clustering, supervised classification, topic extraction, and sentiment analysis. The paper successfully demonstrated the feasibility of HDT for generating personalized responses in social messaging applications. Notably, the proposed approach achieved an overall accuracy of 63%, a highly promising result that could pave the way for further exploration of the HDT concept. The methodology employed Random Forest for clustering the question database and matching new questions, while K-nearest neighbor was utilized for sentiment analysis.

Keywords: Human Digital twin, sentiment analysis, topic extraction, supervised machine learning, unsupervised machine learning, classification and clustering.

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Authors: Hee-Chang Lim

Abstract:

The study aims to understand the surface pressure distribution around the bodies such as the suction pressure in the leading edge on the top and side-face when the aspect ratio of bodies and the wind direction are changed, respectively. We carried out the wind tunnel measurement and numerical simulation around a series of rectangular bodies (40^d×80^w×80^h, 80^d×80^w×80^h, 160^d×80^w×80^h, 80^d×40^w×80^h and 80^d×160^w×80^h in mm³) placed in a deep turbulent boundary layer. Based on a modern numerical platform, the Navier-Stokes equation with the typical 2-equation (k-ε model) and the DES (Detached Eddy Simulation) turbulence model has been calculated, and they are both compared with the measurement data. Regarding the turbulence model, the DES model makes a better prediction comparing with the k-ε model, especially when calculating the separated turbulent flow around a bluff body with sharp edged corner. In order to observe the effect of wind direction on the pressure variation around the cube (e.g., 80^d×80^w×80^h in mm), it rotates at 0º, 10º, 20º, 30º, and 45º, which stands for the salient wind directions in the tunnel. The result shows that the surface pressure variation is highly dependent upon the approaching wind direction, especially on the top and the side-face of the cube. In addition, the transverse width has a substantial effect on the variation of surface pressure around the bodies, while the longitudinal length has little or no influence.

Keywords: Rectangular bodies, wind direction, aspect ratio, surface pressure distribution, wind-tunnel measurement, k-ε model, DES model, CFD.

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Authors: Jong-Bae Lee, Seongsoo Lee

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This paper proposes an adaptive discharge time control method to balance cell voltages in alternating battery cell discharging method. In the alternating battery cell discharging method, battery cells are periodically discharged in turn. Recovery effect increases battery output voltage while the given battery cell rests without discharging, thus battery operation time of target system increases. However, voltage mismatch between cells leads two problems. First, voltage difference between cells induces inter-cell current with wasted power. Second, it degrades battery operation time, since system stops when any cell reaches to the minimum system operation voltage. To solve this problem, the proposed method adaptively controls cell discharge time to equalize both cell voltages. In the proposed method, battery operation time increases about 19%, while alternating battery cell discharging method shows about 7% improvement.

Keywords: Battery, Recovery Effect, Low-Power, Alternating Battery Cell Discharging, Adaptive Discharge Time Control.

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Authors: S. Levitsky

Abstract:

Acoustic properties of polymeric liquids are high sensitive to free gas traces in the form of fine bubbles. Their presence is typical for such liquids because of chemical reactions, small wettability of solid boundaries, trapping of air in technological operations, etc. Liquid temperature influences essentially its rheological properties, which may have an impact on the bubble pulsations and sound propagation in the system. The target of the paper is modeling of the liquid temperature effect on single bubble dynamics and sound dispersion and attenuation in polymeric solution with spherical gas bubbles. The basic sources of attenuation (heat exchange between gas in microbubbles and surrounding liquid, rheological and acoustic losses) are taken into account. It is supposed that in the studied temperature range the interface mass transfer has a minor effect on bubble dynamics. The results of the study indicate that temperature raise yields enhancement of bubble pulsations and increase in sound attenuation in the near-resonance range and may have a strong impact on sound dispersion in the liquid-bubble mixture at frequencies close to the resonance frequency of bubbles.

Keywords: Sound propagation, gas bubbles, temperature effect, polymeric liquid.

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Authors: C. Photiphitak, P. Rakkwamsuk, P. Muthitamongkol, C. Thanachayanont

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TiO2/MgO composite films were prepared by coating the magnesium acetate solution in the pores of mesoporous TiO2 films using a dip coating method. Concentrations of magnesium acetate solution were varied in a range of 1x10-4 – 1x10-1 M. The TiO2/MgO composite films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscropy (TEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) , transient voltage decay and I-V test. The TiO2 films and TiO2/MgO composite films were immersed in a 0.3 mM N719 dye solution. The Dye-sensitized solar cells with the TiO2/MgO/N719 structure showed an optimal concentration of magnesium acetate solution of 1x10-3 M resulting in the MgO film estimated thickness of 0.0963 nm and giving the maximum efficiency of 4.85%. The improved efficiency of dyesensitized solar cell was due to the magnesium oxide film as the wide band gap coating decays the electron back transfer to the triiodide electrolyte and reduce charge recombination.

Keywords: Magnesium oxide thin film, TiO2/MgO composite films, Electrochemical Impedance Spectrum, Transient voltage decay

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Authors: Srinivasan Aruchamy, Partha Bhattacharjee, Goutam Sanyal

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Optic disk segmentation plays a key role in the mass screening of individuals with diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma ailments. An efficient hardware-based algorithm for optic disk localization and segmentation would aid for developing an automated retinal image analysis system for real time applications. Herein, TMS320C6416DSK DSP board pixel intensity based fractal analysis algorithm for an automatic localization and segmentation of the optic disk is reported. The experiment has been performed on color and fluorescent angiography retinal fundus images. Initially, the images were pre-processed to reduce the noise and enhance the quality. The retinal vascular tree of the image was then extracted using canny edge detection technique. Finally, a pixel intensity based fractal analysis is performed to segment the optic disk by tracing the origin of the vascular tree. The proposed method is examined on three publicly available data sets of the retinal image and also with the data set obtained from an eye clinic. The average accuracy achieved is 96.2%. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first work reporting the use of TMS320C6416DSK DSP board and pixel intensity based fractal analysis algorithm for an automatic localization and segmentation of the optic disk. This will pave the way for developing devices for detection of retinal diseases in the future.

Keywords: Color retinal fundus images, Diabetic retinopathy, Fluorescein angiography retinal fundus images, Fractal analysis.

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Authors: Kuppusamy Singaravelloo, Zahra Kamiab

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This study explores the mediating effects of motivation in the relationship between human values and service quality. To examine the fundamental relationships among human values, motivation, and service quality, a Structural Equation Model (SEM) with a full mediation model was adopted. The model was designed and subsequently analyzed by utilizing the Partial Least Squares (PLS) procedure on data collected from a survey that yielded 936 usable questionnaires. The survey was sent to all 117 branches of two local commercial banks (CIMB and Maybank) operating in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both banks ranked the highest in terms of asset size and market capitalization. The mediating role of motivation was examined in the relationship between four dimensions of human values and bank service quality, whereby human values initiate service quality. The results support the notion that employee motivation fully mediates the relationship between self-enhancement values and service quality in commercial banks. These results demonstrate the unpredictable role of the interaction structures of human values on bank service quality.

Keywords: Human values, service quality, mediation, motivation, commercial bank.

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Authors: Suleiman Musa, Shuaibu Sidi Safiyanu

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This study examined the digital preservation in Nigeria university libraries. A comparison between the university of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (ABU, Zaria). The study utilized primary source of data obtained from two selected institution librarians. Finding revealed varying results in terms of skills acquired by librarians before and after digitization of the two institutions. The study reports that journals publication, text book, CD-ROMS, conference papers and proceedings, theses, dissertations and seminar papers are among the information resources available for digitization. The study further documents that copyright issue, power failure, and unavailability of needed materials are among the challenges facing the digitization of library of the institution. On the basis of the finding, the study concluded that digitization of library enhances efficiency in organization and retrieval of information services. The study therefore recommended that software should be upgraded with backup, training of the librarians on digital process, installation of antivirus and enhancement of technical collaboration between the library and MIS.

Keywords: Digitalization, preservation, libraries, comparison.

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Authors: Faten A. Dawood, Rahmita W. Rahmat, Suhaini B. Kadiman, Lili N. Abdullah, Mohd D. Zamrin

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Echocardiography imaging is one of the most common diagnostic tests that are widely used for assessing the abnormalities of the regional heart ventricle function. The main goal of the image enhancement task in 2D-echocardiography (2DE) is to solve two major anatomical structure problems; speckle noise and low quality. Therefore, speckle noise reduction is one of the important steps that used as a pre-processing to reduce the distortion effects in 2DE image segmentation. In this paper, we present the common filters that based on some form of low-pass spatial smoothing filters such as Mean, Gaussian, and Median. The Laplacian filter was used as a high-pass sharpening filter. A comparative analysis was presented to test the effectiveness of these filters after being applied to original 2DE images of 4-chamber and 2-chamber views. Three statistical quantity measures: root mean square error (RMSE), peak signal-to-ratio (PSNR) and signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) are used to evaluate the filter performance quantitatively on the output enhanced image.

Keywords: Gaussian operator, median filter, speckle texture, peak signal-to-ratio

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Authors: Bijit Kalita, K. V. N. Surendra

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Rotating disk is one of the most indispensable parts of a rotating machine. Rotating disk has found many applications in the diverging field of science and technology. In this paper, we have taken into consideration the problem of a heavy spinning disk mounted on a rotor system acted upon by boundary traction. Finite element modelling is used at various loading condition to determine the mixed mode stress intensity factors. The effect of combined shear and normal traction on the boundary is incorporated in the analysis under the action of gravity. The variation near the crack tip is characterized in terms of the stress intensity factor (SIF) with an aim to find the SIF for a wide range of parameters. The results of the finite element analyses carried out on the compressed disk of a belt pulley arrangement using fracture mechanics concepts are shown. A total of hundred cases of the problem are solved for each of the variations in loading arc parameter and crack orientation using finite element models of the disc under compression. All models were prepared and analyzed for the uncracked disk, disk with a single crack at different orientation emanating from shaft hole as well as for a disc with pair of cracks emerging from the same center hole. Curves are plotted for various loading conditions. Finally, crack propagation paths are determined using kink angle concepts.

Keywords: Crack-tip deformations, static loading, stress concentration, stress intensity factor.

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Authors: Ashiquer Rahman

Abstract:

The paper focuses on the significance of the university's sustainability strategic plan and emphasizes the usefulness of the collaborative platform-based deliberation matrix. It will equip the university's leadership to handle impending tactics and challenges with the sustainability of the university’s strategic plan. The study addresses the significance of a set of reference points that will precede operational activities for multi-stakeholder multi-criteria evaluation on the optimal standards of Sustainable University, as well as potential action for the strategic blueprint of Sustainable University. It makes reference to the university’s sustainability strategy plan’s effectiveness through a collaborative platform and deliberation matrix. The paper outlines the conceptual framing of a sustainable university by implementing a strategic plan over the collaborative platform and deliberation matrix. Optimistically, these will be a milestone in higher education; a pathway to prepare for the University’s upcoming implementation of its sustainability strategy. In fact, the collaborative platform and deliberation matrix both are enhancement needles for institutional cooperation to the completive world.

Keywords: Sustainable strategies, institutional cooperation, multi-stakeholder multi-criteria assessment, collaborative platform, innovative method and tools.

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Authors: S. Padma, Dr. R. Lakshmipathi, K. Ramash Kumar, P. Nandagopal

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The power system network is becoming more complex nowadays and it is very difficult to maintain the stability of the system. Today-s enhancement of technology makes it possible to include new energy storage devices in the electric power system. In addition, with the aid of power electronic devices, it is possible to independently exchange active and reactive power flow with the utility grid. The main purpose of this paper proposes a Proportional – Integral (PI) control based 48 – pulse Inverter based Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) with and without Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) used for enhancing the transient stability and regulating power flow in automatic mode. Using a test power system through the dynamic simulation in Matlab/Simulink platform validates the performance of the proposed SSSC with and without SMES system.

Keywords: Flexible AC transmission system (FACTS), PIControl, Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES), Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC).

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Authors: Ravi Kiran Pothamsetty, Radha Rani Ghosh, Baby Paul Thaliath

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Radiation therapy has undergone many advancements and evloved from 2D to 3D. Recently, with rapid pace of drug discoveries, cutting edge technology, and clinical trials has made innovative advancements in computer technology and treatment planning and upgraded to intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) which delivers in homogenous dose to tumor and normal tissues. The present study was a hospital-based experience comparing two different conformal radiotherapy techniques for brain tumors. This analytical study design has been conducted at Regional Cancer Centre, India from January 2014 to January 2015. Ten patients have been selected after inclusion and exclusion criteria. All the patients were treated on Artiste Siemens Linac Accelerator. The tolerance level for maximum dose was 6.0 Gyfor lenses and 54.0 Gy for brain stem, optic chiasm and optical nerves as per RTOG criteria. Mean and standard deviation values of PTV98%, PTV 95% and PTV 2% in IMRT were 93.16±2.9, 95.01±3.4 and 103.1±1.1 respectively; for 3DCRT were 91.4±4.7, 94.17±2.6 and 102.7±0.39 respectively. PTV max dose (%) in IMRT and 3D-CRT were 104.7±0.96 and 103.9±1.0 respectively. Maximum dose to the tumor can be delivered with IMRT with acceptable toxicity limits. Variables such as expertise, location of tumor, patient condition, and TPS influence the outcome of the treatment.

Keywords: IMRT, 3D CRT, Brain, tumors, OARs, RTOG.

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Authors: K. V. Kalinichenko, G. N. Nikovskaya

Abstract:

The efficiency of heavy metals removal from sewage  sludge in bioleaching processes with heterotrophic, chemoautotrophic  (sulphur-oxidizing) sludge cenoses and chemical leaching (in  distilled water, weakly acidic or alkaline medium) was compared.  The efficacy of heavy metals removal from sewage sludge varies  from 83 % (Zn) up to 14 % (Cr) and follows the order: Zn > Mn > Cu  > Ni > Co > Pb > Cr. The advantages of metals bioleaching process  at heterotrophic metabolism were shown. A new process for  bioconversation of sewage sludge into fertilizer at middle  temperatures after partial heavy metals removal was developed. This  process is based on enhancing vital ability of heterotrophic  microorganisms by adding easily metabolized nutrients and synthesis  of metabolites by growing sludge cenoses. These metabolites possess  the properties of heavy metals extractants and flocculants which  provide the enhancement of sludge flocks sedimentation. The process  results in biomineral fertilizer of prolonged action with immobilized  sludge bioelements. The fertilizer satisfies the EU limits for the  sewage sludge of agricultural utilization. High efficiency of the  biomineral fertilizer obtained has been demonstrated in vegetation  experiments.

 

Keywords: Fertilizer, heavy metals, leaching, sewage sludge.

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Authors: Mujahid S. Alharbi

Abstract:

The construction of process plants in oil and gas-producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia, necessitates substantial investment in design and building. Each new plant, while unique, includes common building types, suggesting an opportunity for design standardization. This study investigates the adoption of standardized Issue for Construction (IFC) packages for non-process buildings in Saudi Aramco. A SWOT analysis presents the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of this approach. The approach's benefits are illustrated using the Hawiyah Unayzah Gas Reservoir Storage Program (HUGRSP) as a case study. Standardization not only offers significant cost savings and operational efficiencies, but also expedites project timelines, reduces the potential for change orders, and fosters local economic growth by allocating building tasks to local contractors. Standardization also improves project management by easing interface constraints between different contractors and promoting adaptability to future industry changes. This research underscores the standardization of non-process buildings as a powerful strategy for cost optimization, efficiency enhancement, and local economic development in process plant construction within the oil and gas sector.

Keywords: Building, construction, management, project, standardization.

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Authors: Aikaterini Fountoulaki, Nikos Karacapilidis, Manolis Manatakis

Abstract:

This paper proposes an innovative methodology for Acceptance Sampling by Variables, which is a particular category of Statistical Quality Control dealing with the assurance of products quality. Our contribution lies in the exploitation of machine learning techniques to address the complexity and remedy the drawbacks of existing approaches. More specifically, the proposed methodology exploits Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to aid decision making about the acceptance or rejection of an inspected sample. For any type of inspection, ANNs are trained by data from corresponding tables of a standard-s sampling plan schemes. Once trained, ANNs can give closed-form solutions for any acceptance quality level and sample size, thus leading to an automation of the reading of the sampling plan tables, without any need of compromise with the values of the specific standard chosen each time. The proposed methodology provides enough flexibility to quality control engineers during the inspection of their samples, allowing the consideration of specific needs, while it also reduces the time and the cost required for these inspections. Its applicability and advantages are demonstrated through two numerical examples.

Keywords: Acceptance Sampling, Neural Networks, Statistical Quality Control.

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Authors: Hossein Shokouhmand , Mohammad A. Esmaeili, Koohyar Vahidkhah

Abstract:

This paper presents a numerical study on surface heat transfer characteristics of laminar air flows in parallel-plate dimpled channels. The two-dimensional numerical model is provided by commercial code FLUENT and the results are obtained for channels with symmetrically opposing hemi-cylindrical cavities onto both walls for Reynolds number ranging from 1000 to 2500. The influence of variations in relative depth of dimples (the ratio of cavity depth to the cavity curvature diameter), the number of them and the thermophysical properties of channel walls on heat transfer enhancement is studied. The results are evident for existence of an optimum value for the relative depth of dimples in which the largest wall heat flux and average Nusselt number can be achieved. In addition, the results of conjugation simulation indicate that the overall influence of the ratio of wall thermal conductivity to the one of the fluid on heat transfer rate is not much significant and can be ignored.

Keywords: cavity, conjugation, heat transfer, laminar air flow, Numerical, parallel-plate channel.

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