Search results for: second order work

Authors: Ujjwala Bhand, Mridula Goel

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Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) prepared by World Economic Forum has become a benchmark in studying the competitiveness of countries and for understanding the factors that enable competitiveness. Innovation is a key pillar in competitiveness and has the unique property of enabling exponential economic growth. This paper attempts to analyze how the pillars comprising the Global Competitiveness Index affect innovation and whether GDP growth can directly affect innovation outcomes for a country. The key objective of the study is to identify areas on which governments of developing countries can focus policies and programs to improve their country’s innovativeness. We have compiled a panel data set for top innovating countries and large emerging economies called BRICS from 2007-08 to 2014-15 in order to find the significant factors that affect innovation. The results of the regression analysis suggest that government should make policies to improve labor market efficiency, establish sophisticated business networks, provide basic health and primary education to its people and strengthen the quality of higher education and training services in the economy. The achievements of smaller economies on innovation suggest that concerted efforts by governments can counter any size related disadvantage, and in fact can provide greater flexibility and speed in encouraging innovation.

Keywords: Innovation, Global Competitiveness Index, BRICS, economic growth.

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Authors: Gbenga F. Akomolafe, Joseph Omojola, Ezekiel S. Joshua, Seyi C. Adediwura, Elijah T. Adesuji, Michael O. Odey, Oyinade A. Dedeke, Ayo H. Labulo

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Microgravity is known to be a major abiotic stress in space which affects plants depending on the duration of exposure. In this work, tomatoes seeds were exposed to long hours of simulated microgravity condition using a one-axis clinostat. The seeds were sown on a 1.5% combination of plant nutrient and agar-agar solidified medium in three Petri dishes. One of the Petri dishes was mounted on the clinostat and allowed to rotate at the speed of 20 rpm for 72 hours, while the others were subjected to the normal gravity vector. The anatomical sections of both clinorotated and normal gravity plants were made after 72 hours and observed using a Phase-contrast digital microscope. The percentage germination, as well as the growth rate of the normal gravity seeds, was higher than the clinorotated ones. The germinated clinorotated roots followed different directions unlike the normal gravity ones which grew towards the direction of gravity vector. The clinostat was able to switch off gravistimulation. Distinct cellular arrangement was observed for tomatoes under normal gravity condition, unlike those of clinorotated ones. The root epidermis and cortex of normal gravity are thicker than the clinorotated ones. This implied that under long-term microgravity influence, plants do alter their anatomical features as a way of adapting to the stress condition.

Keywords: Anatomy, Clinostat, Germination, Microgravity, Lycopersicon esculentum.

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Kangavari, Samira Ghandchi, Manak Golpour

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Most of the Question Answering systems composed of three main modules: question processing, document processing and answer processing. Question processing module plays an important role in QA systems. If this module doesn't work properly, it will make problems for other sections. Moreover answer processing module is an emerging topic in Question Answering, where these systems are often required to rank and validate candidate answers. These techniques aiming at finding short and precise answers are often based on the semantic classification. This paper discussed about a new model for question answering which improved two main modules, question processing and answer processing. There are two important components which are the bases of the question processing. First component is question classification that specifies types of question and answer. Second one is reformulation which converts the user's question into an understandable question by QA system in a specific domain. Answer processing module, consists of candidate answer filtering, candidate answer ordering components and also it has a validation section for interacting with user. This module makes it more suitable to find exact answer. In this paper we have described question and answer processing modules with modeling, implementing and evaluating the system. System implemented in two versions. Results show that 'Version No.1' gave correct answer to 70% of questions (30 correct answers to 50 asked questions) and 'version No.2' gave correct answers to 94% of questions (47 correct answers to 50 asked questions).

Keywords: Answer Processing, Classification, QuestionAnswering and Query Reformulation.

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Authors: R. Reka, R. S. D. Wahidabanu

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The conventional routing protocol designed for MANET fail to handle dynamic movement and self-starting behavior of the node effectively. Every node in MANET is considered as forward as well receiver node and all of them participate in routing the packet from source to the destination. While the interconnection topology is highly dynamic, the performance of the most of the routing protocol is not encouraging. In this paper, a reliable broadcast approach for MANET is proposed for improving the transmission rate. The MANET is considered with asymmetric characteristics and the properties of the source and destination nodes are different. The non-forwarding node list is generated with a downstream node and they do not participate in the routing. While the forwarding and non-forwarding node is constructed in a conventional way, the number of nodes in non-forwarding list is more and increases the load. In this work, we construct the forwarding and non-forwarding node optimally so that the flooding and broadcasting is reduced to certain extent. The forwarded packet is considered as acknowledgements and the non-forwarding nodes explicitly send the acknowledgements to the source. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated in NS2 environment. Since the proposed approach reduces the flooding, we have considered functionality of the proposed approach with AODV variants. The effect of network density on the overhead and collision rate is considered for performance evaluation. The performance is compared with the AODV variants found that the proposed approach outperforms all the variants.

Keywords: Flooding, Forwarded Nodes, MANET, Non-forwarding nodes, Routing protocols.

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Authors: Sara Ramezanzadeh, Nashid Nabian

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Historically, pandemics in different periods have caused compulsory changes in human life. In the case of COVID-19, according to the limitations and established care instructions, spatial alignment with the conditions is important. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the question raised in this study is how to do spatial design in five scales, namely object, space, architecture, city, and infrastructure, in response to the consequences created in the realms under study. From the beginning of the pandemic until now, some changes in the spatial realm have been created spontaneously or by space users. These transformations have been mostly applied in modifiable parts such as furniture arrangement, especially in work-related spaces. To implement other comprehensive requirements, flexibility and adaptation of space design to the conditions resulting from the pandemics are needed during and after the outbreak. Studying the effects of pandemics from the past to the present, this research covers eight major realms, including three categories of ramifications, solutions, and paradigm shifts, and analytical conclusions about the solutions that have been created in response to them. Finally, by the consideration of epidemiology as a modern discipline influencing the design, spatial solutions in the five scales mentioned (in response to the effects of the eight realms for spatial adaptation in the face of pandemics and their following conditions) are presented as a series of guidelines. Due to the unpredictability of possible pandemics in the future, the possibility of changing and updating the provided guidelines is considered.

Keywords: Pandemics, COVID-19, spatial design, ramifications, paradigm shifts, guidelines.

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Authors: I. Sarenkova, I. Ciprovica, I. Cinkmanis

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Lactobionic acid is a disaccharide formed from gluconic acid and galactose, and produced by oxidation of lactose. Productivity of lactobionic acid by microbial synthesis can be affected by various factors, and one of them is a presence of potassium, magnesium and manganese ions. In order to extend lactobionic acid production efficiency, it is necessary to increase the yield of lactobionic acid by optimising the fermentation conditions and available substrates for Pseudomonas taetrolens growth. The object of the research was to determinate the application of K₂HPO₄, MnSO₄, MgSO₄ × 7H₂O salts in different concentration for effective lactose oxidation to lactobionic acid by Pseudomonas taetrolens. Pseudomonas taetrolens NCIB 9396 (NCTC, England) and Pseudomonas taetrolens DSM 21104 (DSMZ, Germany) were used for the study. The acid whey was used as the study object. The content of lactose in whey samples was determined using MilcoScan^TM Mars (Foss, Denmark) and high performance liquid chromatography (Shimadzu LC 20 Prominence, Japan). The content of lactobionic acid in whey samples was determined using the high performance liquid chromatography. The impact of studied salts differs, Mn²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions enhanced fermentation instead of K⁺ ions. Results approved that Mn²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions are necessary for Pseudomonas taetrolens growth. The study results will help to improve the effectiveness of lactobionic acid production with Pseudomonas taetrolens NCIB 9396 and DSM 21104.

Keywords: lactobionic acid, lactose oxidation, Pseudomonas taetrolens, whey.

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Authors: Elham S. Hasham, Anthony S. Hasham

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The construction industry is one of Australia’s fastest growing industries and its success is a result of a firm’s client satisfaction with focus on product determinants such as price and quality. Ensuring quality at every phase is a must and building rapport with the client will go a long way. To capitalize on the growing demand for Engineering Consulting Firms (ECFs), it is imperative to stress the implication of customer satisfaction and excellence in standards and performance. Consequently, the emphasis should be on improving employee skills through various training provisions. Clients seek consistency and thus expect that all services should be similar in respect to quality and the ability of the service to meet their needs. This calls for empowerment and comfortable work conditions to motivate employees and give them incentive to deliver quality and excellent output. The methodology utilized is triangulation - a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research. The case study - Australian Consulting Engineers (ACE) - was established in Australia in 1995 and has operations throughout Australia, the Philippines, Europe, UAE, KSA, and with a branch in Lebanon. ACE is affiliated with key agencies and support organizations in the engineering industry with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications in Safety and Quality Management. The objective of this study, conducted in Australia, is significant as it sheds light on employee motivation and client satisfaction as imperative determinants of the success of an organization.

Keywords: Organizational behaviour, leadership, satisfaction, motivation, quality service.

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Authors: F. Al-Mufadi, F. Djavanroodi

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During the last decade ultrafine grained (UFG) and nano-structured (NS) materials have experienced a rapid development. In this research work finite element analysis has been carried out to investigate the plastic strain distribution in equal channel angular process (ECAP). The magnitudes of Standard deviation (S. D.) and inhomogeneity index (C_i) were compared for different ECAP passes. Verification of a three-dimensional finite element model was performed with experimental tests. Finally the mechanical property including impact energy of ultrafine grained pure commercially pure Aluminum produced by severe plastic deformation method has been examined. For this aim, equal channel angular pressing die with the channel angle, outer corner angle and channel diameter of 90^°, 20^° and 20mm had been designed and manufactured. Commercial pure Aluminum billets were ECAPed up to four passes by route B_C at the ambient temperature. The results indicated that there is a great improvement at the hardness measurement, yield strength and ultimate tensile strength after ECAP process. It is found that the magnitudes of HV reach 67HV from 21HV after the final stage of process. Also, about 330% and 285% enhancement at the YS and UTS values have been obtained after the fourth pass as compared to the as-received conditions, respectively. On the other hand, the elongation to failure and impact energy have been reduced by 23% and 50% after imposing four passes of ECAP process, respectively.

Keywords: SPD, ECAP, FEM, Pure Al, Mechanical properties.

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Authors: Mohd F. Taha, Chong F. Kiat, Maizatul S. Shaharun, Anita Ramli

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The abundance and availability of rice husk, an agricultural waste, make them as a good source for precursor of activated carbon. In this work, rice husk-based activated carbons were prepared via base treated chemical activation process prior the carbonization process. The effect of carbonization temperatures (400, 600 and 800oC) on their pore structure was evaluated through morphology analysis using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Sample carbonized at 800oC showed better evolution and development of pores as compared to those carbonized at 400 and 600oC. The potential of rice husk-based activated carbon as an alternative adsorbent was investigated for the removal of Ni(II), Zn(II) and Pb(II) from single metal aqueous solution. The adsorption studies using rice husk-based activated carbon as an adsorbent were carried out as a function of contact time at room temperature and the metal ions were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The ability to remove metal ion from single metal aqueous solution was found to be improved with the increasing of carbonization temperature. Among the three metal ions tested, Pb(II) ion gave the highest adsorption on rice husk-based activated carbon. The results obtained indicate the potential to utilize rice husk as a promising precursor for the preparation of activated carbon for removal of heavy metals.

Keywords: Activated carbon, metal ion adsorption, rice husk, wastewater treatment.

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Authors: Khaled S. Ragab

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This paper deals with behavior and capacity of punching shear force for flat slabs produced from steel fiber reinforced self compacting concrete (SFRSCC) by application nonlinear finite element method. Nonlinear finite element analysis on nine slab specimens was achieved by using ANSYS software. A general description of the finite element method, theoretical modeling of concrete and reinforcement are presented. The nonlinear finite element analysis program ANSYS is utilized owing to its capabilities to predict either the response of reinforced concrete slabs in the post elastic range or the ultimate strength of a flat slabs produced from steel fiber reinforced self compacting concrete (SFRSCC). In order to verify the analytical model used in this research using test results of the experimental data, the finite element analysis were performed then a parametric study of the effect ratio of flexural reinforcement, ratio of the upper reinforcement, and volume fraction of steel fibers were investigated. A comparison between the experimental results and those predicted by the existing models are presented. Results and conclusions may be useful for designers, have been raised, and represented.

Keywords: Nonlinear FEM, Punching shear behavior, Flat slabs and Steel fiber reinforced self compacting concrete (SFRSCC).

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Authors: Saeed Sayyad Hagh Shomar

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Traffic congestion pricing in urban streets is one of the most suitable options for solving the traffic problems and environment pollutions in the cities of the country. Unlike its acceptable outcomes, there are problems concerning the necessity to pay by the mass. Regarding the fact that public response in order to succeed in this strategy is so influential, studying their response and behavior to get the feedback and improve the strategies is of great importance. In this study, a questionnaire was used to examine the public reactions to the traffic congestion pricing schemes at the center of Tehran metropolis and the factors involved in people’s decision making in accepting or rejecting the congestion pricing schemes were assessed based on the data obtained from the questionnaire as well as the international experiences. Then, by analyzing and comparing the schemes, guidelines to reduce public objections to them are discussed. The results of reviewing and evaluating the public reactions show that all the pros and cons must be considered to guarantee the success of these projects. Consequently, with targeted public education and consciousness-raising advertisements, prior to initiating a scheme and ensuring the mechanism of the implementation after the start of the project, the initial opposition is reduced and, with the gradual emergence of the real and tangible benefits of its implementation, users’ satisfaction will increase.

Keywords: Demand management, international experiences, traffic congestion pricing, public acceptance, public objection.

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Authors: Karunakar A K, Manohara Pai M M

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In 3D-wavelet video coding framework temporal filtering is done along the trajectory of motion using Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering (MCTF). Hence computationally efficient motion estimation technique is the need of MCTF. In this paper a predictive technique is proposed in order to reduce the computational complexity of the MCTF framework, by exploiting the high correlation among the frames in a Group Of Picture (GOP). The proposed technique applies coarse and fine searches of any fast block based motion estimation, only to the first pair of frames in a GOP. The generated motion vectors are supplied to the next consecutive frames, even to subsequent temporal levels and only fine search is carried out around those predicted motion vectors. Hence coarse search is skipped for all the motion estimation in a GOP except for the first pair of frames. The technique has been tested for different fast block based motion estimation algorithms over different standard test sequences using MC-EZBC, a state-of-the-art scalable video coder. The simulation result reveals substantial reduction (i.e. 20.75% to 38.24%) in the number of search points during motion estimation, without compromising the quality of the reconstructed video compared to non-predictive techniques. Since the motion vectors of all the pair of frames in a GOP except the first pair will have value ±1 around the motion vectors of the previous pair of frames, the number of bits required for motion vectors is also reduced by 50%.

Keywords: Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering, predictivemotion estimation, lifted wavelet transform, motion vector

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Authors: Sandu L., Topală F., Porojan S.

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Restoration of endodontically treated teeth is a common problem in dentistry, related to the fractures occurring in such teeth and to concentration of forces little information regarding variation of basic preparation guidelines in stress distribution has been available. To date, there is still no agreement in the literature about which material or technique can optimally restore endodontically treated teeth. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of the core height and restoration materials on corono-radicular restored upper first premolar. The first step of the study was to achieve 3D models in order to analyze teeth, dowel and core restorations and overlying full ceramic crowns. The FEM model was obtained by importing the solid model into ANSYS finite element analysis software. An occlusal load of 100 N was conducted, and stresses occurring in the restorations, and teeth structures were calculated. Numerical simulations provide a biomechanical explanation for stress distribution in prosthetic restored teeth. Within the limitations of the present study, it was found that the core height has no important influence on the stress generated in coronoradicular restored premolars. It can be drawn that the cervical regions of the teeth and restorations were subjected to the highest stress concentrations.

Keywords: 3D models, finite element analysis, dowel and core restoration, full ceramic crown, premolars, structural simulations.

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Authors: Mingxin Zhang, Zhaogan Lu, Junyi Shen

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In current common research reports, salient regions are usually defined as those regions that could present the main meaningful or semantic contents. However, there are no uniform saliency metrics that could describe the saliency of implicit image regions. Most common metrics take those regions as salient regions, which have many abrupt changes or some unpredictable characteristics. But, this metric will fail to detect those salient useful regions with flat textures. In fact, according to human semantic perceptions, color and texture distinctions are the main characteristics that could distinct different regions. Thus, we present a novel saliency metric coupled with color and texture features, and its corresponding salient region extraction methods. In order to evaluate the corresponding saliency values of implicit regions in one image, three main colors and multi-resolution Gabor features are respectively used for color and texture features. For each region, its saliency value is actually to evaluate the total sum of its Euclidean distances for other regions in the color and texture spaces. A special synthesized image and several practical images with main salient regions are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed saliency metric and other several common metrics, i.e., scale saliency, wavelet transform modulus maxima point density, and important index based metrics. Experiment results verified that the proposed saliency metric could achieve more robust performance than those common saliency metrics.

Keywords: salient regions, color and texture features, image segmentation, saliency metric

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Authors: Porntip Ruengtam

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This article is an extension of previous research presenting the relevant factors related to environmental perceptions, residential community, and the design of a healing environment, which have effects on the well-being and requirements of Thai elderly. Research methodology began with observations and interviews in three case studies in terms of the management processes and environment design of similar existing projects in Thailand. The interview results were taken to summarize with related theories and literature. A questionnaire survey was designed for data collection to confirm the factors of requirements in a residential community intended for the Thai elderly. A structural equation model (SEM) was formulated to explain the cause-effect factors for the requirements of a residential community for Thai elderly. The research revealed that the requirements of a residential community for Thai elderly were classified into three groups when utilizing a technique for exploratory factor analysis. The factors were comprised of (1) requirements for general facilities and activities, (2) requirements for facilities related to health and security, and (3) requirements for facilities related to physical exercise in the residential community. The results from the SEM showed the background of elderly people had a direct effect on their requirements for a residential community from various aspects. The results should lead to the formulation of policies for design and management of residential communities for the elderly in order to enhance quality of life as well as both the physical and mental health of the Thai elderly.

Keywords: Elderly, environmental design, residential community, structural equation modeling.

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Authors: Mária Hudáková, Mária Lusková

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This report is focused on widening the theoretical knowledge as well as controlling practical application from the risk management point of view, regarding to dynamic business changes that have occurred in Slovakia which recently has been considered to be an environment full of risk and uncertainty. The idea of the report is the proposal of the controlling operation model in the course of risk management process in an enterprise operating in Slovakia, by which the controller is able to identify early risk factors in suggested major areas of the business management upon appropriate business information integration, consecutive control and prognoses and to prepare in time full-value documents in order to suggest measures for reduction thereof. Dealing with risk factors, that can quickly limit the growth potential of the enterprise, is an essential part of managerial activities on each level. This is the reason why mutual unofficial, ergo collegial cooperation of individual departments is necessary for controlling application from the business risk management point of view. An important part of the report is elaborated survey of the most important risk factors existing in major management areas of enterprises operating in Slovakia. The outcome of the performed survey is a catalogue of the most important enterprise risk factors. The catalogue serves for better understanding risk factors affecting the Slovak enterprises, their importance and evaluation.

Keywords: Controlling, information system, risks management, risk factor, crisis of enterprise.

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Authors: Rupinder Kaur, Parmjit S. Panesar, Ram S. Singh

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Whey is the lactose rich by-product of the dairy industry, having good amount of nutrient reservoir. Most abundant nutrients are lactose, soluble proteins, lipids and mineral salts. Disposing of whey by most of milk plants which do not have proper pre-treatment system is the major issue. As a result of which, there can be significant loss of potential food and energy source. Thus, whey has been explored as the substrate for the synthesis of different value added products such as enzymes. β-galactosidase is one of the important enzymes and has become the major focus of research due to its ability to catalyze both hydrolytic as well as transgalactosylation reaction simultaneously. The enzyme is widely used in dairy industry as it catalyzes the transformation of lactose to glucose and galactose, making it suitable for the lactose intolerant people. The enzyme is intracellular in both bacteria and yeast, whereas for molds, it has an extracellular location. The present work was carried to utilize the whey for the production of β-galactosidase enzyme using both yeast and fungal cultures. The yeast isolate Kluyveromyces marxianus WIG2 and various fungal strains have been used in the present study. Different disruption techniques have also been investigated for the extraction of the enzyme produced intracellularly from yeast cells. Among the different methods tested for the disruption of yeast cells, SDS-chloroform showed the maximum β-galactosidase activity. In case of the tested fungal cultures, Aureobasidium pullulans NCIM 1050 was observed to be the maximum extracellular enzyme producer.

Keywords: β-galactosidase, fungus, yeast, whey.

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Authors: Kamel K. Alzboon, Khalid N.Mahasneh

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The aim of this work is to study the possible use of stone cutting sludge waste in concrete production, which would reduce both the environmental impact and the production cost .Slurry sludge was used a source of water in concrete production, which was obtained from Samara factory/Jordan, The physico-chemical and mineralogical characterization of the sludge was carried out to identify the major components and to compare it with the typical sand used to produce concrete. Samples analysis showed that 96% of slurry sludge volume is water, so it should be considered as an important source of water. Results indicated that the use of slurry sludge as water source in concrete production has insignificant effect on compression strength, while it has a sharp effect on the slump values. Using slurry sludge with a percentage of 25% of the total water content obtained successful concrete samples regarding slump and compression tests. To clarify slurry sludge, settling process can be used to remove the suspended solid. A settling period of 30 min. obtained 99% removal efficiency. The clarified water is suitable for using in concrete mixes, which reduce water consumption, conserve water recourses, increase the profit, reduce operation cost and save the environment. Additionally, the dry sludge could be used in the mix design instead of the fine materials with sizes < 160 um. This application could conserve the natural materials and solve the environmental and economical problem caused by sludge accumulation.

Keywords: Concrete, recycle, sludge, slurry waste, stone cutting waste, waste.

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Authors: Pirom Thangchitpianpol, Suttipong Jumroonrut

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This research investigates the distribution of food demand for animal food and the optimum amount of that food production at minimum cost. The data consist of customer purchase orders for the food of laying hens, price of food for laying hens, cost per unit for the food inventory, cost related to food of laying hens in which the food is out of stock, such as fine, overtime, urgent purchase for material. They were collected from January, 1990 to December, 2013 from a factory in Nakhonratchasima province. The collected data are analyzed in order to explore the distribution of the monthly food demand for the laying hens and to see the rate of inventory per unit. The results are used in a stochastic linear programming model for aggregate planning in which the optimum production or minimum cost could be obtained. Programming algorithms in MATLAB and tools in Linprog software are used to get the solution. The distribution of the food demand for laying hens and the random numbers are used in the model. The study shows that the distribution of monthly food demand for laying has a normal distribution, the monthly average amount (unit: 30 kg) of production from January to December. The minimum total cost average for 12 months is Baht 62,329,181.77. Therefore, the production planning can reduce the cost by 14.64% from real cost.

Keywords: Animal food, Stochastic linear programming, Production planning, Demand Uncertainty.

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Authors: Hamed Sadeghi, Pouya A. Panahi, Hamed Nasiri, Mohammad Sadeghi

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Collapsible soils like loess comprise an important category of problematic soils for construction purposes and sustainable development. As a result, research on both geological and geotechnical aspects of this type of soil have been in progress for decades. However, considerable natural variability in physical properties of in-situ loess strata even in a single block sample challenges the fundamental laboratory investigations. The reason behind this is that it is somehow impossible to remove the effect of a specific factor like void ratio from fair comparisons to come with a reliable conclusion. In order to cope with this limitation, two types of artificially made dispersive and calcareous loess are introduced which can be easily reproduced in any soil mechanics laboratory provided that all its compositions are known and controlled. The collapse potential is explored for a variety of soil water salinity and lime content and comparisons are made against the natural soil behavior. Trends are reported for the influence of pore water salinity on collapse potential under different osmotic flow conditions. The most important advantage of artificial loess is the ease of controlling cementing agent content like calcite or dispersive potential for studying their influence on mechanical soil behavior.

Keywords: Artificial loess, unsaturated soils, collapse potential, dispersive clays, laboratory tests.

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Authors: A. Zaidi, F. Khelifi, R. Masmoudi, M. Bouhicha

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In order to eradicate the degradation of reinforced concrete structures due to the steel corrosion, professionals in constructions suggest using fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) for their excellent properties. Nevertheless, high temperatures may affect the bond between FRP bar and concrete, and consequently the serviceability of FRP-reinforced concrete structures. This paper presents a nonlinear numerical investigation using ADINA software to investigate the effect of the spacing between glass FRP (GFRP) bars embedded in concrete on circumferential thermal deformations and the distribution of radial thermal cracks in reinforced concrete beams submitted to high temperature variations up to 60 °C for asymmetrical problems. The thermal deformations predicted from nonlinear finite elements model, at the FRP bar/concrete interface and at the external surface of concrete cover, were established as a function of the ratio of concrete cover thickness to FRP bar diameter (c/d_b) and the ratio of spacing between FRP bars in concrete to FRP bar diameter (e/d_b). Numerical results show that the circumferential thermal deformations at the external surface of concrete cover are linear until cracking thermal load varied from 32 to 55 °C corresponding to the ratio of e/d_b varied from 1.3 to 2.3, respectively. However, for ratios e/d_b >2.3 and c/d_b >1.6, the thermal deformations at the external surface of concrete cover exhibit linear behavior without any cracks observed on the specified surface. The numerical results are compared to those obtained from analytical models validated by experimental tests.

Keywords: Concrete beam, FRP bars, spacing effect, thermal deformation.

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Authors: Indradip Banerjee, Souvik Bhattacharyya, Gautam Sanyal

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Encrypted messages sending frequently draws the attention of third parties, perhaps causing attempts to break and reveal the original messages. Steganography is introduced to hide the existence of the communication by concealing a secret message in an appropriate carrier like text, image, audio or video. Quantum steganography where the sender (Alice) embeds her steganographic information into the cover and sends it to the receiver (Bob) over a communication channel. Alice and Bob share an algorithm and hide quantum information in the cover. An eavesdropper (Eve) without access to the algorithm can-t find out the existence of the quantum message. In this paper, a text quantum steganography technique based on the use of indefinite articles (a) or (an) in conjunction with the nonspecific or non-particular nouns in English language and quantum gate truth table have been proposed. The authors also introduced a new code representation technique (SSCE - Secret Steganography Code for Embedding) at both ends in order to achieve high level of security. Before the embedding operation each character of the secret message has been converted to SSCE Value and then embeds to cover text. Finally stego text is formed and transmits to the receiver side. At the receiver side different reverse operation has been carried out to get back the original information.

Keywords: Quantum Steganography, SSCE (Secret SteganographyCode for Embedding), Security, Cover Text, Stego Text.

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Authors: Ibrahim Hamidu Magem

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Employee engagement has continued to gain popularity among practitioners, consultants and academicians recent years. This is due to the fact that the engaged employees are central to organizational success in today’s highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment. Employee engagement depicts a situation whereby employee’s harnessed themselves to their work roles. The importance of employee engagement to organizations cannot be overemphasized in today’s rapidly changing business environment. Organizations both large and small are constantly striving to improve their performance, retain employees, reduce absenteeism, and create loyal customers among others. To be able to achieve these organizations need a team of highly engaged employees. In line with this, the study attempts to provide a valuable framework for understanding the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement in organizations. The paper categorizes the antecedents of employee engagement into individual and organizational factors which it is assumed that the existence of such factors could result into engaged employees that will be of benefit to organizations. Therefore, it is recommended that organizations should revisit and redesign its employee engagement system to enable them attain their organizational goals and objectives. In addition, organizations should note that engagement is personal but organizational engagement programmes should be about everyone in the organization. The findings from this paper adds to existing studies about employee engagement and also provide awareness to academics and practitioners about the importance of employee engagement to improve organizations efficiency and effectiveness, as well as to impact to overall firm performance.

Keywords: Antecedent, employee engagement, job involvement, organization.

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Authors: Chethana K., Guru Prasad A. S., Vikranth H. N., Varun H., Omkar S. N., Asokan S.

Abstract:

This paper describes a novel application of Fiber Braggs Grating (FBG) sensors in the assessment of human postural stability and balance on an unstable platform. In this work, FBG sensor Stability Analyzing Device (FBGSAD) is developed for measurement of plantar strain to assess the postural stability of subjects on unstable platforms during different stances in eyes open and eyes closed conditions on a rocker board. The studies are validated by comparing the Centre of Gravity (CG) variations measured on the lumbar vertebra of subjects using a commercial accelerometer. The results obtained from the developed FBGSAD depict qualitative similarities with the data recorded by commercial accelerometer. The advantage of the FBGSAD is that it measures simultaneously plantar strain distribution and postural stability of the subject along with its inherent benefits like non-requirement of energizing voltage to the sensor, electromagnetic immunity and simple design which suits its applicability in biomechanical applications. The developed FBGSAD can serve as a tool/yardstick to mitigate space motion sickness, identify individuals who are susceptible to falls and to qualify subjects for balance and stability, which are important factors in the selection of certain unique professionals such as aircraft pilots, astronauts, cosmonauts etc.

Keywords: Biomechanics, Fiber Bragg Gratings, Plantar Strain Measurement, Postural Stability Analysis.

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Authors: R. A. Shahmiri, O. C. Standard, J. N. Hart, C. C. Sorrell

Abstract:

The ceramic yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) has been used as a dental biomaterial for several decades. The strength and toughness of this material can be accounted for by its toughening mechanisms, which include transformation toughening, crack deflection, zone shielding, contact shielding, and crack bridging. Prevention of crack propagation is of critical importance in high-fatigue situations, such as those encountered in mastication and para-function. However, the poor translucence of Y-TZP in polycrystalline form is such that it may not meet the aesthetic requirements due to its white/grey appearance. To improve the optical properties of Y-TZP, more detailed study of the optical properties is required; in particular, precise evaluation of the refractive index, absorption coefficient, and scattering coefficient are necessary. The measurement of the optical parameters has been based on the assumption that light scattered from biological media is isotropically distributed over all angles. In fact, the optical behavior of real biological materials depends on the angular scattering of light due to the anisotropic nature of the materials. The purpose of the present work is to evaluate the optical properties (including color, opacity/translucence, scattering, and fluorescence) of zirconia dental ceramics and their control through modification of the chemical composition, phase composition, and surface microstructure.

Keywords: Optical properties, opacity/translucence, scattering, fluorescence, chemical composition, phase composition, surface microstructure.

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Authors: Ayat E. Ali, Christeen R. Aziz, Merna A. Helmy, Mohammed M. Malek, Sherif H. El-Gohary

Abstract:

Goal: Purpose of the project was to make a plastic surgery prediction by using pre-operative images for the plastic surgeries’ patients and to show this prediction on a screen to compare between the current case and the appearance after the surgery. Methods: To this aim, we implemented a software which used data from the internet for facial skin diseases, skin burns, pre-and post-images for plastic surgeries then the post- surgical prediction is done by using K-nearest neighbor (KNN). So we designed and fabricated a smart mirror divided into two parts a screen and a reflective mirror so patient's pre- and post-appearance will be showed at the same time. Results: We worked on some skin diseases like vitiligo, skin burns and wrinkles. We classified the three degrees of burns using KNN classifier with accuracy 60%. We also succeeded in segmenting the area of vitiligo. Our future work will include working on more skin diseases, classify them and give a prediction for the look after the surgery. Also we will go deeper into facial deformities and plastic surgeries like nose reshaping and face slim down. Conclusion: Our project will give a prediction relates strongly to the real look after surgery and decrease different diagnoses among doctors. Significance: The mirror may have broad societal appeal as it will make the distance between patient's satisfaction and the medical standards smaller.

Keywords: K-nearest neighbor, face detection, vitiligo, bone deformity.

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Authors: Ayman Abd-Elhamed, Sayed Mahmoud

Abstract:

The present research work investigates the seismic response of reinforced concrete (RC) frame building considering the effect of modeling masonry infill (MI) walls. The seismic behavior of a residential 6-storey RC frame building, considering and ignoring the effect of masonry, is numerically investigated using response spectrum (RS) analysis. The considered herein building is designed as a moment resisting frame (MRF) system following the Egyptian code (EC) requirements. Two developed models in terms of bare frame and infill walls frame are used in the study. Equivalent diagonal strut methodology is used to represent the behavior of infill walls, whilst the well-known software package ETABS is used for implementing all frame models and performing the analysis. The results of the numerical simulations such as base shear, displacements, and internal forces for the bare frame as well as the infill wall frame are presented in a comparative way. The results of the study indicate that the interaction between infill walls and frames significantly change the responses of buildings during earthquakes compared to the results of bare frame building model. Specifically, the seismic analysis of RC bare frame structure leads to underestimation of base shear and consequently damage or even collapse of buildings may occur under strong shakings. On the other hand, considering infill walls significantly decrease the peak floor displacements and drifts in both X and Y-directions.

Keywords: Masonry infill, bare frame, response spectrum, seismic response.

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Authors: Huda Al Salmi, Hisham Al Kadi, Simone Leao

Abstract:

Abu Dhabi is one of the fastest developed cities in the region. On top of all the current and future environmental challenges, Abu Dhabi aims to be among the top governments in the world in sustainable development. Abu Dhabi plans to create an attractive, livable and sustainable managed urban environment in which all necessary services and infrastructure are provided in a sustainable and timely manner. Abu Dhabi is engaged in a difficult challenge to develop credible environmental indicators that would assess the ambitious environmental targets. The aim of those indicators is to provide reliable guidance to decision makers and the public concerning key factors that determine the state of urban environment and identify major areas for policy intervention. In order to ensure sustainable development in UAE in general, and of Abu Dhabi City in particular, relevant and contextual environmental indicators need to be carefully considered. These indicators provide a gauge at a national government scale of how close countries are to establish environmental policy goals. The environment indicators assist city decision-making in such areas as identification of significant environmental aspects and observation of environmental performance trends. Those can help to find ways of reducing environmental pollution and in improving eco-efficiency. This paper outlines recent strategies implemented in Abu Dhabi that aims to improve the sustainable performance of the city-s built environment. The paper explores the variety of current and possible indicators at different levels and their roles in the development of the city.

Keywords: Abu Dhabi, Sustainable Development, Indicators, Assessment Methods.

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Authors: Sophia Hayes, Kenny L. Liang, Sahil Sharma, Austin Shema, Mahmoud Bader, Mohamed Elbarkouky

Abstract:

Despite being one of the most significant economic contributors of the country, Canada’s construction industry is lagging behind other sectors when it comes to labor productivity improvements. The construction industry is very collaborative as a general contractor, will hire trade contractors to perform most of a project’s work; meaning low productivity from one contractor can have a domino effect on the shared success of a project. To address this issue and encourage trade contractors to improve their productivity tracking methods, an investigative study was done on the productivity views and tracking methods of various trade contractors. Additionally, an in-depth review was done on four standard tracking methods used in the construction industry: cost codes, benchmarking, the job productivity measurement (JPM) standard, and WorkFace Planning (WFP). The four tracking methods were used as a baseline in comparing the trade contractors’ responses, determining gaps within their current tracking methods, and for making improvement recommendations. 15 interviews were conducted with different trades to analyze how contractors value productivity. The results of these analyses indicated that there seem to be gaps within the construction industry when it comes to an understanding of the purpose and value in productivity tracking. The trade contractors also shared their current productivity tracking systems; which were then compared to the four standard tracking methods used in the construction industry. Gaps were identified in their various tracking methods and using a framework; recommendations were made based on the type of trade on how to improve how they track productivity.

Keywords: Trade contractors’ productivity, productivity tracking, cost codes, benchmarking, job productivity measurement, JPM, workface planning WFP.

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Authors: Luc Conti, Dimitry Dumont-Fillon, Harald van Lintel, Eric Chappel

Abstract:

Flow control valves comprise a silicon flexible membrane that deflects against a substrate, usually made of glass, containing pillars, an outlet hole, and anti-stiction features. However, there is a strong interest in using silicon instead of glass as substrate material, as it would simplify the process flow by allowing the use of well controlled anisotropic etching. Moreover, specific devices demanding a bending of the substrate would also benefit from the inherent outstanding mechanical strength of monocrystalline silicon. Unfortunately, direct Si-Si bonding is not easily achieved with highly structured wafers since residual stress may prevent the good adhesion between wafers. Using a thermoplastic polymer, such as parylene, as intermediate layer is not well adapted to this design as the wafer-to-wafer alignment is critical. An alternative anodic bonding method using an intermediate borosilicate layer has been successfully tested. This layer has been deposited onto the silicon substrate. The bonding recipe has been adapted to account for the presence of the SOI buried oxide and intermediate glass layer in order not to exceed the breakdown voltage. Flow control valves dedicated to infusion of viscous fluids at very high pressure have been made and characterized. The results are compared to previous data obtained using the standard anodic bonding method.

Keywords: Anodic bonding, evaporated glass, microfluidic valve, drug delivery.

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