Search results for: Condition assessment
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2759

Search results for: Condition assessment

2039 Modeling Non-Darcy Natural Convection Flow of a Micropolar Dusty Fluid with Convective Boundary Condition

Authors: F. M. Hady, A. Mahdy, R. A. Mohamed, Omima A. Abo Zaid

Abstract:

A numerical approach of the effectiveness of numerous parameters on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) natural convection heat and mass transfer problem of a dusty micropolar fluid in a non-Darcy porous regime is prepared in the current paper. In addition, a convective boundary condition is scrutinized into the micropolar dusty fluid model. The governing boundary layer equations are converted utilizing similarity transformations to a system of dimensionless equations to be convenient for numerical treatment. The resulting equations for fluid phase and dust phases of momentum, angular momentum, energy, and concentration with the appropriate boundary conditions are solved numerically applying the Runge-Kutta method of fourth-order. In accordance with the numerical study, it is obtained that the magnitude of the velocity of both fluid phase and particle phase reduces with an increasing magnetic parameter, the mass concentration of the dust particles, and Forchheimer number. While rises due to an increment in convective parameter and Darcy number. Also, the results refer that high values of the magnetic parameter, convective parameter, and Forchheimer number support the temperature distributions. However, deterioration occurs as the mass concentration of the dust particles and Darcy number increases. The angular velocity behavior is described by progress when studying the effect of the magnetic parameter and microrotation parameter.

Keywords: Micropolar dusty fluid, convective heating, natural convection, MHD, porous media.

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2038 Solving Linear Matrix Equations by Matrix Decompositions

Authors: Yongxin Yuan, Kezheng Zuo

Abstract:

In this paper, a system of linear matrix equations is considered. A new necessary and sufficient condition for the consistency of the equations is derived by means of the generalized singular-value decomposition, and the explicit representation of the general solution is provided.

Keywords: Matrix equation, Generalized inverse, Generalized singular-value decomposition.

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2037 Environmental Impact of Sustainability Dispersion of Chlorine Releases in Coastal Zone of Alexandra: Spatial-Ecological Modeling

Authors: Mohammed El Raey, Moustafa Osman Mohammed

Abstract:

The spatial-ecological modeling is relating sustainable dispersions with social development. Sustainability with spatial-ecological model gives attention to urban environments in the design review management to comply with Earth’s system. Naturally exchanged patterns of ecosystems have consistent and periodic cycles to preserve energy flows and materials in Earth’s system. The Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) technique is utilized to assess the safety of an industrial complex. The other analytical approach is the Failure-Safe Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) for critical components. The plant safety parameters are identified for engineering topology as employed in assessment safety of industrial ecology. In particular, the most severe accidental release of hazardous gaseous is postulated, analyzed and assessment in industrial region. The IAEA-safety assessment procedure is used to account the duration and rate of discharge of liquid chlorine. The ecological model of plume dispersion width and concentration of chlorine gas in the downwind direction is determined using Gaussian Plume Model in urban and rural areas and presented with SURFER®. The prediction of accident consequences is traced in risk contour concentration lines. The local greenhouse effect is predicted with relevant conclusions. The spatial-ecological model is predicted for multiple factors distribution schemes of multi-criteria analysis. The input–output analysis is explored from the spillover effect, and we conducted Monte Carlo simulations for sensitivity analysis. Their unique structure is balanced within “equilibrium patterns”, such as the composite index for biosphere with collective structure of many distributed feedback flows. These dynamic structures are related to have their physical and chemical properties and enable a gradual and prolonged incremental pattern. While this spatial model structure argues from ecology, resource savings, static load design, financial and other pragmatic reasons, the outcomes are not decisive in an artistic/architectural perspective. The hypothesis is deployed to unify analytic and analogical spatial structure in development urban environments using optimization loads as an example of integrated industrial structure where the process is based on engineering topology of systems ecology.

Keywords: Spatial-ecological modeling, spatial structure orientation impact, composite structure, industrial ecology.

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2036 A Pilot Study of Robot Reminiscence in Dementia Care

Authors: Ryuji Yamazaki, Masahiro Kochi, Weiran Zhu, Hiroko Kase

Abstract:

In care for older adults, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) like agitation and aggression are distressing for patients and their caretakers, often resulting in premature institutionalization with increased costs of care. To improve mood and mitigate symptoms, as a non-pharmaceutical approach, emotion-oriented therapy like reminiscence work is adopted in face-to-face communication. Telecommunication support is expected to be provided by robotic media as a bridge for digital divide for those with dementia and facilitate social interaction both verbally and nonverbally. The purpose of this case study is to explore the conditions in which robotic media can effectively attract attention from older adults with dementia and promote their well-being. As a pilot study, we introduced the pillow-phone Hugvie®, a huggable humanly shaped communication medium to five residents with dementia at a care facility, to investigate how the following conditions work for the elderly when they use the medium; 1) no sound, 2) radio, non-interactive, 3) daily conversation, and 4) reminiscence work. As a result, under condition 4, reminiscence work, the five participants kept concentration in interacting with the medium for a longer duration than other conditions. In condition 4, they also showed larger amount of utterances than under other conditions. These results indicate that providing topics related to personal histories through robotic media could affect communication positively and should, therefore, be further investigated. In addition, the issue of ethical implications by using persuasive technology that affects emotions and behaviors of older adults is also discussed.

Keywords: BPSD, reminiscence, tactile telecommunication, utterances.

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2035 Turbine Compressor Vibration Analysis and Rotor Movement Evaluation by Shaft Center Line Method (The Case History Related to Main Turbine Compressor of an Olefin Plant in Iran Oil Industries)

Authors: Omid A. Zargar

Abstract:

Vibration monitoring methods of most critical equipment like main turbine and compressors always plays important role in preventive maintenance and management consideration in big industrial plants. There are a number of traditional methods like monitoring the overall vibration data from Bently Nevada panel and the time wave form (TWF) or fast Fourier transform (FFT) monitoring. Besides, Shaft centerline monitoring method developed too much in recent years. There are a number of arguments both in favor of and against this method between people who work in preventive maintenance and condition monitoring systems (vibration analysts). In this paper basic principal of Turbine compressor vibration analysis and rotor movement evaluation by shaft centerline method discussed in details through a case history. This case history is related to main turbine compressor of an olefin plant in Iran oil industry. In addition, some common mistakes that may occur by vibration analyst during the process discussed in details. It is worthy to know that, these mistakes may one of the reasons that sometimes this method seems to be not effective. Furthermore, recent patent and innovation in shaft position and movement evaluation are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Shaft centerline position, attitude angle, journal bearing, sleeve bearing, tilting pad, steam turbine, main compressor, multistage compressor, condition monitoring, non-contact probe

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2034 Seismic Behavior and Loss Assessment of High-Rise Buildings with Light Gauge Steel-Concrete Hybrid Structure

Authors: Bing Lu, Shuang Li, Hongyuan Zhou

Abstract:

The steel-concrete hybrid structure has been extensively employed in high-rise buildings and super high-rise buildings. The light gauge steel-concrete hybrid structure, including light gauge steel structure and concrete hybrid structure, is a type of steel-concrete hybrid structure, which possesses some advantages of light gauge steel structure and concrete hybrid structure. The seismic behavior and loss assessment of three high-rise buildings with three different concrete hybrid structures were investigated through finite element software. The three concrete hybrid structures are reinforced concrete column-steel beam (RC-S) hybrid structure, concrete-filled steel tube column-steel beam (CFST-S) hybrid structure, and tubed concrete column-steel beam (TC-S) hybrid structure. The nonlinear time-history analysis of three high-rise buildings under 80 earthquakes was carried out. After simulation, it indicated that the seismic performances of three high-rise buildings were superior. Under extremely rare earthquakes, the maximum inter-story drifts of three high-rise buildings are significantly lower than 1/50. The inter-story drift and floor acceleration of high-rise building with CFST-S hybrid structure were bigger than those of high-rise buildings with RC-S hybrid structure, and smaller than those of high-rise building with TC-S hybrid structure. Then, based on the time-history analysis results, the post-earthquake repair cost ratio and repair time of three high-rise buildings were predicted through an economic performance analysis method proposed in FEMA-P58 report. Under frequent earthquakes, basic earthquakes and rare earthquakes, the repair cost ratio and repair time of three high-rise buildings were less than 5% and 15 days, respectively. Under extremely rare earthquakes, the repair cost ratio and repair time of high-rise buildings with TC-S hybrid structure were the most among three high rise buildings. Due to the advantages of CFST-S hybrid structure, it could be extensively employed in high-rise buildings subjected to earthquake excitations.

Keywords: seismic behavior, loss assessment, light gauge steel, concrete hybrid structure, high-rise building, time-history analysis

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2033 Development and Validation of the Response to Stressful Situations Scale in the General Population

Authors: C. Barreto Carvalho, C. da Motta, M. Sousa, J. Cabral, A. L. Carvalho, E. B. Peixoto

Abstract:

The aim of the current study was to develop and validate a Response to Stressful Situations Scale (RSSS) for the Portuguese population. This scale assesses the degree of stress experienced in scenarios that can constitute positive, negative and more neutral stressors, and also describes the physiological, emotional and behavioral reactions to those events according to their intensity. These scenarios include typical stressor scenarios relevant to patients with schizophrenia, which are currently absent from most scales, assessing specific risks that these stressors may bring on subjects, which may prove useful in non-clinical and clinical populations (i.e. Patients with mood or anxiety disorders, schizophrenia). Results from Principal Components Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of two adult samples from general population allowed to confirm a three-factor model with good fit indices: χ2 (144)= 370.211, p = 0.000; GFI = 0.928; CFI = 0.927; TLI = 0.914, RMSEA = 0.055, P(rmsea ≤0.005) = .096; PCFI = .781. Further data analysis of the scale revealed that RSSS is an adequate assessment tool of stress response in adults to be used in further research and clinical settings, with good psychometric characteristics, adequate divergent and convergent validity, good temporal stability and high internal consistency.

Keywords: Assessment, stress events, stress response, stress vulnerability.

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2032 Hydraulic Unbalance in Oil Injected Twin Rotary Screw Compressor Vibration Analysis (A Case History Related to Iran Oil Industries)

Authors: Omid A. Zargar

Abstract:

Vibration analysis of screw compressors is one of the most challenging cases in preventive maintenance. This kind of equipment considered as vibration bad actor facilities in industrial plants. On line condition monitoring systems developed too much in recent years. The high frequency vibration of ball bearings, gears, male and female caused complex fast Fourier transform (FFT) and time wave form (TWF) in screw compressors. The male and female randomly are sent to balance shop for balancing operation. This kind of operation usually caused some bending in rotors during the process that could cause further machining in such equipment. This kind of machining operation increased the vibration analysis complexity beside some process characteristic abnormality like inlet and out let pressure and temperature. In this paper mechanical principal and different type of screw compressors explained. Besides, some new condition monitoring systems and techniques for screw compressors discussed. Finally, one of the common behavior of oil injected twin rotary screw compressors called hydraulic unbalance that usually occurred after machining operation of male or female and have some specific characteristics in FFT and TWF discussed in details through a case history related to Iran oil industries.

Keywords: Vibration analysis, twin screw compressor, oil injected screw compressor, time wave form (TWF), fast Fourier transform (FFT), Hydraulic unbalance and rotor unbalance.

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2031 Moderation in Temperature Dependence on Counter Frictional Coefficient and Prevention of Wear of C/C Composites by Synthesizing SiC around Surface and Internal Vacancies

Authors: Noboru Wakamoto, Kiyotaka Obunai, Kazuya Okubo, Toru Fujii

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to moderate the dependence of counter frictional coefficient on temperature between counter surfaces and to reduce the wear of C/C composites at low temperature. To modify the C/C composites, Silica (SiO2) powders were added into phenolic resin for carbon precursor. The preform plate of the precursor of C/C composites was prepared by conventional filament winding method. The C/C composites plates were obtained by carbonizing preform plate at 2200 °C under an argon atmosphere. At that time, the silicon carbides (SiC) were synthesized around the surfaces and the internal vacancies of the C/C composites. The frictional coefficient on the counter surfaces and specific wear volumes of the C/C composites were measured by our developed frictional test machine like pin-on disk type. The XRD indicated that SiC was synthesized in the body of C/C composite fabricated by current method. The results of friction test showed that coefficient of friction of unmodified C/C composites have temperature dependence when the test condition was changed. In contrast, frictional coefficient of the C/C composite modified with SiO2 powders was almost constant at about 0.27 when the temperature condition was changed from Room Temperature (RT) to 300 °C. The specific wear rate decreased from 25×10-6 mm2/N to 0.1×10-6 mm2/N. The observations of the surfaces after friction tests showed that the frictional surface of the modified C/C composites was covered with a film produced by the friction. This study found that synthesizing SiC around surface and internal vacancies of C/C composites was effective to moderate the dependence on the frictional coefficient and reduce to the abrasion of C/C composites.

Keywords: C/C composites, frictional coefficient, SiC, wear.

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2030 Determination and Assessment of Ground Motion and Spectral Parameters for Iran

Authors: G. Ghodrati Amiri, M. Khorasani, Razavian Ameri, M.Mohamadi Dehcheshmeh, S.Fathi

Abstract:

Many studies have been conducted for derivation of attenuation relationships worldwide, however few relationships have been developed to use for the seismic region of Iranian plateau and only few of these studies have been conducted for derivation of attenuation relationships for parameters such as uniform duration. Uniform duration is the total time during which the acceleration is larger than a given threshold value (default is 5% of PGA). In this study, the database was same as that used previously by Ghodrati Amiri et al. (2007) with same correction methods for earthquake records in Iran. However in this study, records from earthquakes with MS< 4.0 were excluded from this database, each record has individually filtered afterward, and therefore the dataset has been expanded. These new set of attenuation relationships for Iran are derived based on tectonic conditions with soil classification into rock and soil. Earthquake parameters were chosen to be hypocentral distance and magnitude in order to make it easier to use the relationships for seismic hazard analysis. Tehran is the capital city of Iran wit ha large number of important structures. In this study, a probabilistic approach has been utilized for seismic hazard assessment of this city. The resulting uniform duration against return period diagrams are suggested to be used in any projects in the area.

Keywords: Attenuation Relationships, Iran, Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis, Tehran, Uniform Duration

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2029 Using the Combined Model of PROMETHEE and Fuzzy Analytic Network Process for Determining Question Weights in Scientific Exams through Data Mining Approach

Authors: Hassan Haleh, Amin Ghaffari, Parisa Farahpour

Abstract:

Need for an appropriate system of evaluating students- educational developments is a key problem to achieve the predefined educational goals. Intensity of the related papers in the last years; that tries to proof or disproof the necessity and adequacy of the students assessment; is the corroborator of this matter. Some of these studies tried to increase the precision of determining question weights in scientific examinations. But in all of them there has been an attempt to adjust the initial question weights while the accuracy and precision of those initial question weights are still under question. Thus In order to increase the precision of the assessment process of students- educational development, the present study tries to propose a new method for determining the initial question weights by considering the factors of questions like: difficulty, importance and complexity; and implementing a combined method of PROMETHEE and fuzzy analytic network process using a data mining approach to improve the model-s inputs. The result of the implemented case study proves the development of performance and precision of the proposed model.

Keywords: Assessing students, Analytic network process, Clustering, Data mining, Fuzzy sets, Multi-criteria decision making, and Preference function.

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2028 Combination of Tensile Strength and Elongation of Reverse Rolled TaNbHfZrTi Refractory High Entropy Alloy

Authors: M. Veerasham

Abstract:

The refractory high entropy alloys are potential materials for high-temperature applications because of their ability to retain high strength up to 1600°C. However, their practical applications were limited due to poor elongation at room temperature. Therefore, decreasing the average valence electron concentrations (VEC) is an effective design strategy to improve the intrinsic ductility of refractory high entropy alloys. In this work, the high-entropy alloy TaNbHfZrTi was processed at room temperature by each step reverse rolling up to a 90% reduction in thickness. Subsequently, the reverse rolled 90% samples were utilized for annealing treatment at 800°C and 1000°C for 1 h to understand phase stability, microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties. The reverse rolled 90% condition contains body-centered cubic (BCC) single-phase; upon annealing at 800 °C, the formation of secondary phase BCC-2 prevailed. The partial recrystallization and complete recrystallization microstructures were developed for annealed at 800°C and 1000°C, respectively. The reverse rolled condition and 1000°C annealed temperature exhibit extraordinary room temperature tensile properties with high ultimate tensile strength (UTS) without compromising loss of ductility called “strength-ductility” trade-off. The reverse-rolled 90% and annealing treatment carried out at temperature about 1000°C for 1 h consist of UTS 1430 MPa and 1556 MPa with an appreciable amount of 21% and 20% elongation, respectively. The development of hierarchical microstructure prevailed for the annealed 1000°C which led to the simultaneous increase in tensile strength and elongation.

Keywords: refractory high entropy alloys, reverse rolling, recrystallization, microstructure, tensile properties

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2027 Contamination in Industrial Areas and Environmental Management in Latvia

Authors: Juris Burlakovs, Maris Klavins, Raimonds Ernsteins, Armands Ruskulis

Abstract:

Environmental contamination is a common problem in ex-industrial and industrial sites. This article gives a brief description of general applied environmental investigation methodologies and possible remediation applications in Latvia. Most of contaminated areas are situated in former and active industrial, military areas and ports. Industrial and logistic activities very often have been with great impact for more than hundred years thus the contamination level with heavy metals, hydrocarbons, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants is high and is threatening health and environment in general. 242 territories now are numbered as contaminated and fixed in the National Register of contaminated territories in Latvia. Research and remediation of contamination in densely populated areas are of important environmental policy domain. Four different investigation case studies of contaminated areas are given describing the history of use, environmental quality assessment as well as planned environmental management actions. All four case study locations are situated in Riga - the capital of the Republic of Latvia. The aim of this paper is to analyze the situation and problems with management of contaminated areas in Latvia, give description of field research methods and recommendations for remediation industry based on scientific data and innovations.

Keywords: Remediation technology, environmental quality assessment, heavy metals, hydrocarbon contamination, environmental management.

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2026 Anti-Homomorphism in Fuzzy Ideals

Authors: K. Chandrasekhara Rao, V. Swaminathan

Abstract:

The anti-homomorphic image of fuzzy ideals, fuzzy ideals of near-rings and anti ideals are discussed in this note. A necessary and sufficient condition has been established for near-ring anti ideal to be characteristic.

Keywords: Fuzzy Ideals, Anti fuzzy subgroup, Anti fuzzy ideals, Anti homomorphism, Lower α level cut.

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2025 Vibration Analysis of Gas Turbine SIEMENS 162MW - V94.2 Related to Iran Power Plant Industry in Fars Province

Authors: Omid A. Zargar

Abstract:

Vibration analysis of most critical equipment is considered as one of the most challenging activities in preventive maintenance. Utilities are heart of the process in big industrial plants like petrochemical zones. Vibration analysis methods and condition monitoring systems of these kinds of equipments are developed too much in recent years. On the other hand, there are too much operation factors like inlet and outlet pressures and temperatures that should be monitored. In this paper, some of the most effective concepts and techniques related to gas turbine vibration analysis are discussed. In addition, a gas turbine SIEMENS 162MW - V94.2 vibration case history related to Iran power industry in Fars province is explained. Vibration monitoring system and machinery technical specification are introduced. Besides, absolute and relative vibration trends, turbine and compressor orbits, Fast Fourier transform (FFT) in absolute vibrations, vibration modal analysis, turbine and compressor start up and shut down conditions, bode diagrams for relative vibrations, Nyquist diagrams and waterfall or three-dimensional FFT diagrams in startup and trip conditions are discussed with relative graphs. Furthermore, Split Resonance in gas turbines is discussed in details. Moreover, some updated vibration monitoring system, blade manufacturing technique and modern damping mechanism are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Gas turbine, turbine compressor, vibration data collector, utility, condition monitoring, non-contact probe, Relative Vibration, Absolute Vibration, Split Resonance, Time Wave Form (TWF), Fast Fourier transform (FFT).

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2024 Effect of Porous Multi-Layer Envelope System on Effective Wind Pressure of Building Ventilation

Authors: Ying-Chang Yu, Yuan-Lung Lo

Abstract:

Building ventilation performance is an important indicator of indoor comfort. However, in addition to the geometry of the building or the proportion of the opening, the ventilation performance is also very much related to the actual wind pressure of the building. There are more and more contemporary building designs built with multi-layer exterior envelope. Due to ventilation and view observatory requirement, the porous outer layer of the building is commonly adopted and has a significant wind damping effect, causing the phenomenon of actual wind pressure loss. However, the relationship between the wind damping effect and the actual wind pressure is not linear. This effect can make the indoor ventilation of the building rationalized to reasonable range under the condition of high wind pressure, and also maintain a good amount of ventilation performance under the condition of low wind pressure. In this study, wind tunnel experiments were carried out to simulate the different wind pressures flow through the porous outer layer, and observe the actual wind pressure strength engage with the window layer to find the decreasing relationship between the damping effect of the porous shell and the wind pressure. Experiment specimen scale was designed to be 1:50 for testing real-world building conditions; the study found that the porous enclosure has protective shielding without affecting low-pressure ventilation. Current study observed the porous skin may damp more wind energy to ease the wind pressure under high-speed wind. Differential wind speed may drop the pressure into similar pressure level by using porous skin. The actual mechanism and value of this phenomenon will need further study in the future.

Keywords: Renault number, porous media, wind damping, wind tunnel test, building ventilation.

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2023 A Sufficient Condition for Graphs to Have Hamiltonian [a, b]-Factors

Authors: Sizhong Zhou

Abstract:

Let a and b be nonnegative integers with 2 ≤ a < b, and let G be a Hamiltonian graph of order n with n ≥ (a+b−4)(a+b−2) b−2 . An [a, b]-factor F of G is called a Hamiltonian [a, b]-factor if F contains a Hamiltonian cycle. In this paper, it is proved that G has a Hamiltonian [a, b]-factor if |NG(X)| > (a−1)n+|X|−1 a+b−3 for every nonempty independent subset X of V (G) and δ(G) > (a−1)n+a+b−4 a+b−3 .

Keywords: graph, minimum degree, neighborhood, [a, b]-factor, Hamiltonian [a, b]-factor.

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2022 Earthquake Vulnerability and Repair Cost Estimation of Masonry Buildings in the Old City Center of Annaba, Algeria

Authors: Allaeddine Athmani, Abdelhacine Gouasmia, Tiago Ferreira, Romeu Vicente

Abstract:

The seismic risk mitigation from the perspective of the old buildings stock is truly essential in Algerian urban areas, particularly those located in seismic prone regions, such as Annaba city, and which the old buildings present high levels of degradation associated with no seismic strengthening and/or rehabilitation concerns. In this sense, the present paper approaches the issue of the seismic vulnerability assessment of old masonry building stocks through the adaptation of a simplified methodology developed for a European context area similar to that of Annaba city, Algeria. Therefore, this method is used for the first level of seismic vulnerability assessment of the masonry buildings stock of the old city center of Annaba. This methodology is based on a vulnerability index that is suitable for the evaluation of damage and for the creation of large-scale loss scenarios. Over 380 buildings were evaluated in accordance with the referred methodology and the results obtained were then integrated into a Geographical Information System (GIS) tool. Such results can be used by the Annaba city council for supporting management decisions, based on a global view of the site under analysis, which led to more accurate and faster decisions for the risk mitigation strategies and rehabilitation plans.

Keywords: Damage scenarios, masonry buildings, old city center, seismic vulnerability, vulnerability index.

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2021 Landscape Assessment of the Dam and Motorway Networks that Provide Visual and Recreational Opportunities: Case Study of Artvin, Turkey

Authors: Banu Karaşah, Derya Sarı

Abstract:

Nature constantly changes as a result of human necessities. This change mostly feels in natural water sources which are reconstructed with an effect of dams and motorways. In other respects, visual quality of the landscape gets a new and different character during and after the construction of dams and motorways. Changing and specialization new landscapes will be very important to protection-usage balance to explore sustainable usage facilities. The main cause of the selection of Artvin city is that it has very important geographical location and one of the most attraction points in the World with its biodiversity, conservation areas and natural landscape characteristics. Many hydroelectric station and 7 dams are situated, 3 of them have already been built on the Çoruh River in the province of Artvin. As a result of dams, motorways route were reshaped and the ways which have already changed because of elevation is directly affected several of natural destruction. In contrast, many different reservoirs in Coruh Basin provide new vista point that has high visual quality. In this study, we would like to evaluate with sustainable landscape design in 76 km river corridor, which is mainly based on Deriner, Borçka and Muratlı Dams and determination of their basin-lakes recreational potential and opportunities. Lastly, we are going to give some suggestion about the potential of the corridor.

Keywords: Artvin, dam reservoirs, landscape assessment, river corridor, visual quality.

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2020 Evaluation of Video Quality Metrics and Performance Comparison on Contents Taken from Most Commonly Used Devices

Authors: Pratik Dhabal Deo, Manoj P.

Abstract:

With the increasing number of social media users, the amount of video content available has also significantly increased. Currently, the number of smartphone users is at its peak, and many are increasingly using their smartphones as their main photography and recording devices. There have been a lot of developments in the field of video quality assessment in since the past years and more research on various other aspects of video and image are being done. Datasets that contain a huge number of videos from different high-end devices make it difficult to analyze the performance of the metrics on the content from most used devices even if they contain contents taken in poor lighting conditions using lower-end devices. These devices face a lot of distortions due to various factors since the spectrum of contents recorded on these devices is huge. In this paper, we have presented an analysis of the objective Video Quality Analysis (VQA) metrics on contents taken only from most used devices and their performance on them, focusing on full-reference metrics. To carry out this research, we created a custom dataset containing a total of 90 videos that have been taken from three most commonly used devices, and Android smartphone, an iOS smartphone and a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. On the videos taken on each of these devices, the six most common types of distortions that users face have been applied in addition to already existing H.264 compression based on four reference videos. These six applied distortions have three levels of degradation each. A total of the five most popular VQA metrics have been evaluated on this dataset and the highest values and the lowest values of each of the metrics on the distortions have been recorded. Finally, it is found that blur is the artifact on which most of the metrics did not perform well. Thus, in order to understand the results better the amount of blur in the data set has been calculated and an additional evaluation of the metrics was done using High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) codec, which is the next version of H.264 compression, on the camera that proved to be the sharpest among the devices. The results have shown that as the resolution increases, the performance of the metrics tends to become more accurate and the best performing metric among them is VQM with very few inconsistencies and inaccurate results when the compression applied is H.264, but when the compression is applied is HEVC, Structural Similarity (SSIM) metric and Video Multimethod Assessment Fusion (VMAF) have performed significantly better.

Keywords: Distortion, metrics, recording, frame rate, video quality assessment.

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2019 Solution of The KdV Equation with Asymptotic Degeneracy

Authors: Tapas Kumar Sinha, Joseph Mathew

Abstract:

Recently T. C. Au-Yeung, C.Au, and P. C. W. Fung [2] have given the solution of the KdV equation [1] to the boundary condition , where b is a constant. We have further extended the method of [2] to find the solution of the KdV equation with asymptotic degeneracy. Via simulations we find both bright and dark Solitons (i.e. Solitons with opposite phases).

Keywords: KdV equation, Asymptotic Degeneracy, Solitons, Inverse Scattering

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2018 Exploring Social Impact of Emerging Technologies from Futuristic Data

Authors: Heeyeul Kwon, Yongtae Park

Abstract:

Despite the highly touted benefits, emerging technologies have unleashed pervasive concerns regarding unintended and unforeseen social impacts. Thus, those wishing to create safe and socially acceptable products need to identify such side effects and mitigate them prior to the market proliferation. Various methodologies in the field of technology assessment (TA), namely Delphi, impact assessment, and scenario planning, have been widely incorporated in such a circumstance. However, literatures face a major limitation in terms of sole reliance on participatory workshop activities. They unfortunately missed out the availability of a massive untapped data source of futuristic information flooding through the Internet. This research thus seeks to gain insights into utilization of futuristic data, future-oriented documents from the Internet, as a supplementary method to generate social impact scenarios whilst capturing perspectives of experts from a wide variety of disciplines. To this end, network analysis is conducted based on the social keywords extracted from the futuristic documents by text mining, which is then used as a guide to produce a comprehensive set of detailed scenarios. Our proposed approach facilitates harmonized depictions of possible hazardous consequences of emerging technologies and thereby makes decision makers more aware of, and responsive to, broad qualitative uncertainties.

Keywords: Emerging technologies, futuristic data, scenario, text mining.

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2017 New Classes of Salagean type Meromorphic Harmonic Functions

Authors: Hakan Bostancı, Metin Öztürk

Abstract:

In this paper, a necessary and sufficient coefficient are given for functions in a class of complex valued meromorphic harmonic univalent functions of the form f = h + g using Salagean operator. Furthermore, distortion theorems, extreme points, convolution condition and convex combinations for this family of meromorphic harmonic functions are obtained.

Keywords: Harmonic mappings, Meromorphic functions, Salagean operator.

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2016 Analysis and Control of Camera Type Weft Straightener

Authors: Jae-Yong Lee, Gyu-Hyun Bae, Yun-Soo Chung, Dae-Sub Kim, Jae-Sung Bae

Abstract:

In general, fabric is heat-treated using a stenter machine in order to dry and fix its shape. It is important to shape before the heat treatment because it is difficult to revert back once the fabric is formed. To produce the product of right shape, camera type weft straightener has been applied recently to capture and process fabric images quickly. It is more powerful in determining the final textile quality rather than photo-sensor. Positioning in front of a stenter machine, weft straightener helps to spread fabric evenly and control the angle between warp and weft constantly as right angle by handling skew and bow rollers. To process this tricky procedure, the structural analysis should be carried out in advance, based on which, its control technology can be drawn. A structural analysis is to figure out the specific contact/slippage characteristics between fabric and roller. We already examined the applicability of camera type weft straightener to plain weave fabric and found its possibility and the specific working condition of machine and rollers. In this research, we aimed to explore another applicability of camera type weft straightener. Namely, we tried to figure out camera type weft straightener can be used for fabrics. To find out the optimum condition, we increased the number of rollers. The analysis is done by ANSYS software using Finite Element Analysis method. The control function is demonstrated by experiment. In conclusion, the structural analysis of weft straightener is done to identify a specific characteristic between roller and fabrics. The control of skew and bow roller is done to decrease the error of the angle between warp and weft. Finally, it is proved that camera type straightener can also be used for the special fabrics.

Keywords: Camera type weft straightener, structure analysis, control, skew and bow roller.

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2015 Assessment of Physicochemical Characteristics and Heavy Metals Concentration in Freshwater from Jega River, Kebbi State, Nigeria

Authors: D. Y. Bawa, M. I. Ribah, I. S. Jega, V. O. Oyedepo

Abstract:

This study was conducted to determine the physicochemical characteristics and heavy metal concentration (Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb) and Zinc (Zn)) in freshwater from Jega river. 30 water samples were collected in two 1-liter sterile plastic containers from three designated sampling points, namely; Station A (before the bridge; upstream), Station B (at the bridge where human activities such as washing of cars, motorbike, clothes, bathing and other household materials are concentrated), Station C (after the bridge; downstream) fortnightly, between March and July 2014. Results indicated that the highest pH mean value of 7.08 ± 1.12 was observed in station C, the highest conductivity with the mean 58.75 ± 7.87 µs/cm was observed at station A, the highest mean value of the water total hardness was observed at station A (54 ± 16.11 mg/L), the highest mean value of nitrate deposit was observed in station A (1.66 ± 1.33 mg/L), the highest mean value of alkalinity was observed at station B (51.33 ± 6.66 mg/L) and the highest mean (39.56 ± 3.24 mg/L) of total dissolved solids was observed at station A. The highest concentration mean value of Fe was observed in station C (65.33 ± 4.50 mg/L), the highest concentrations of Cd was observed in station C (0.99 ± 0.36 mg/L), the mean value of 2.13 ± 1.99 mg/L was the highest concentration of Zn observed in station B, the concentration of Pb was not detected (ND) and the highest concentration of Cu with the mean value of 0.43 ± 0.16 mg/L was observed in station B, while the lowest concentration was observed at station C (0.27 ± 0.26 mg/L). Statistical analysis shows no significant difference (P > 0.05) among the sampling stations for both the physicochemical characteristics and heavy metal concentrations. The results were found to be within the internationally acceptable standard limits.

Keywords: Assessment, freshwater, heavy metal concentration, physicochemical.

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2014 A Mathematical Representation for Mechanical Model Assessment: Numerical Model Qualification Method

Authors: Keny Ordaz-Hernandez, Xavier Fischer, Fouad Bennis

Abstract:

This article illustrates a model selection management approach for virtual prototypes in interactive simulations. In those numerical simulations, the virtual prototype and its environment are modelled as a multiagent system, where every entity (prototype,human, etc.) is modelled as an agent. In particular, virtual prototyp ingagents that provide mathematical models of mechanical behaviour inform of computational methods are considered. This work argues that selection of an appropriate model in a changing environment,supported by models? characteristics, can be managed by the deter-mination a priori of specific exploitation and performance measures of virtual prototype models. As different models exist to represent a single phenomenon, it is not always possible to select the best one under all possible circumstances of the environment. Instead the most appropriate shall be selecting according to the use case. The proposed approach consists in identifying relevant metrics or indicators for each group of models (e.g. entity models, global model), formulate their qualification, analyse the performance, and apply the qualification criteria. Then, a model can be selected based on the performance prediction obtained from its qualification. The authors hope that this approach will not only help to inform engineers and researchers about another approach for selecting virtual prototype models, but also assist virtual prototype engineers in the systematic or automatic model selection.

Keywords: Virtual prototype models, domain, qualification criterion, model qualification, model assessment, environmental modelling.

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2013 Education and Assessment of Civil Employees in e-Government: The Case of a Moodle Based Platform

Authors: Stamatios A. Theocharis, George A. Tsihrintzis

Abstract:

One of the most important factors for the success of e-government is training and preparing the workforce of the public sector. As changes and innovation in the public sector progress at a very slow pace and more slowly than in the private sector, issues related to human resources require special care. This is because the workforce will eventually seize the opportunities of the technological solutions used in e-Government. Thus, the central administration should provide employees with continuous and focused training not only on new technologies but also on a wide range of subjects and also improve interdepartmental interaction.

To achieve all this, new methods and training tools need to be implemented in addition to assessment of the employees. In this spirit, we propose the development of an educational platform with user personalization features. We propose the development of this platform using Moodle as the basic tool. Incorporating a personalization mechanism is very important since different employees have different backgrounds, education levels, computer skills, or different capability to develop further. Key features of the proposed platform include, besides typical e-learning tools, communities organized in order to exchange experiences and knowledge, groups of users based on certain criteria, automatic evaluation of users and potential self-education and self-assessment. In its fully developed form, this platform can be part of a more comprehensive knowledge management system for the public sector.

Keywords: e-Government, civil employees education, education technologies.

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2012 An Analysis of Eco-efficiency and GHG Emission of Olive Oil Production in Northeast of Portugal

Authors: M. Feliciano, F. Maia, A. Gonçalves

Abstract:

Olive oil production sector plays an important role in Portuguese economy. It had a major growth over the last decade, increasing its weight in the overall national exports. International market penetration for Mediterranean traditional products is increasingly more demanding, especially in the Northern European markets, where consumers are looking for more sustainable products. Trying to support this growing demand this study addresses olive oil production under the environmental and eco-efficiency perspectives. The analysis considers two consecutive product life cycle stages: olive trees farming; and olive oil extraction in mills. Addressing olive farming, data collection covered two different organizations: a middle-size farm (~12ha) (F1) and a large-size farm (~100ha) (F2). Results from both farms show that olive collection activities are responsible for the largest amounts of Green House Gases (GHG) emissions. In this activities, estimate for the Carbon Footprint per olive was higher in F2 (188g CO2e/kgolive) than in F1 (148g CO2e/kgolive). Considering olive oil extraction, two different mills were considered: one using a two-phase system (2P) and other with a three-phase system (3P). Results from the study of two mills show that there is a much higher use of water in 3P. Energy intensity (EI) is similar in both mills. When evaluating the GHG generated, two conditions are evaluated: a biomass neutral condition resulting on a carbon footprint higher in 3P (184g CO2e/Lolive oil) than in 2P (92g CO2e/Lolive oil); and a non-neutral biomass condition in which 2P increase its carbon footprint to 273g CO2e/Lolive oil. When addressing the carbon footprint of possible combinations among studied subsystems, results suggest that olive harvesting is the major source for GHG.

Keywords: Carbon footprint, environmental indicators, farming subsystem, industrial subsystem, olive oil.

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2011 Specific Biomarker Level and Function Outcome Changes in Treatment of Patients with Frozen Shoulder Using Dextrose Prolotherapy Injection

Authors: Nuralam Sam, Irawan Yusuf, Irfan Idris, Endi Adnan

Abstract:

Frozen shoulder (FS) is an insidious, painful condition caused by an inflammatory condition that causes fibrosis of the glenohumeral joint capsule, which causes progressive stiffness and restriction of the active and passive range of motion (ROM) of the shoulder. The studies of FS are still limited. This single-blinded randomized controlled trial involved participants with FS. The study participants were divided into two groups. The Prolotherapy group was the study group, and the Normal Saline (NS) group was the control group. Both groups were given injections at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 6. Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and Tissue Inhibitor Metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) were measured at week six and week 12 after the last injection. The Disabilities of The Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) Score and ROM were measured at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 6 before and after injection and week 12. Comparative analysis was performed using repeated measures Paired T-Test, and data processing to assess correlation was using ANOVA. The result showed a significant decrease in The Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) score in prolotherapy injection patients in each measurement week (p < 0.05). While the measurement of ROM, each direction of shoulder motion showed a significant difference in average each week, from week 0 to week 6 (p < 0.05). Dextrose prolotherapy injection results significantly improved the functional outcome of the shoulder joint and ROM. They did not show significant results in assessing the specific biomarker, MMP-1, and TIMP-1, in tissue repair. This study suggests an alternative to injection prolotherapy in FS patients; it has minimal adverse effects and is efficient in time and cost.

Keywords: Frozen Shoulder, ROM, DASH Score, prolotherapy, MMP-1, TIMP-1.

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2010 Developing Leadership and Teamwork Skills of Pre-Service Teacher through Learning Camp

Authors: Sirimanee Banjong

Abstract:

This study aimed to 1) develop pre-service teachers’ leadership skills through camp-based learning, and 2) develop preservice teachers’ teamwork skills through camp-based learning. An applied research methodology was used. The target group was derived from a purposive selection. It involved 32 fourth-year students in Early Childhood Education Program enrolling a course entitled Seminar in Early Childhood Education provided during second semester of academic year 2013. The treatment was camp-based learning activities which applied a PDCA process including four stages: 1) plan, 2) do, 3) check, and 4) act. Research instruments were a learning camp program, a camp-based learning management plan, a 5-level assessment form for leadership skills and a 5-level assessment form for assessing teamwork skills. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results were: 1) pre-service teachers’ leadership skills yielded the before treatment average score at x= 3.4, S.D.=0.6 2and the after-treatment average score at x 4.29 , S.D.=0.66 pre-service teachers’ teamwork skills yielded the before-treatment average score at x=3.31, S.D.=0.60 and the after-treatment average score at x=4.42, S.D.=0.66 Both differences were statistically significant at the .05 level. Thus, the pre-service teachers’ leadership and teamwork skills were significantly improved through the camp-based learning approach.

Keywords: Learning camp, leadership skills, teamwork skills.

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