Search results for: research higher degree students.

Authors: Carey Curtis

Abstract:

There is a renewed interest in land use transport integration as a means of achieving sustainable accessibility. Such accessibility requires designing more than simply the transport network; it also requires attention to place (built form). Transitoriented development would appear to capture many of the criteria deemed important in land use transport integration. In Perth, Australia, there have been planning policies for the past 20 years requiring transit-oriented development around railway stations throughout the metropolitan area. While the policy intent, particularly at the State level, is clear the implementation of policy has been fairly ineffective. The first part of this paper provides an examination of state and local government planning and transport policies, evaluating them using a set of land use transport integration criteria considered all encompassing. This provides some insight into the extent of state and local government capacity to deliver land use transport integration. The second part of this paper examines the extent of implementation by examining existing and proposed land use around station precincts throughout metropolitan Perth. The findings of this research suggest that the capacity of state and local government to deliver land use transport integration is reasonable in a planning policy sense. Implementation, despite long policy lead times, has been lacking. It appears to be more effective where local planning controls have been suspended with new redevelopment authorities given powers to develop land around railway stations.

Keywords: Transit-oriented development, sustainable transport, transport policy.

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Authors: Juan A. Ferriz-Papi, Simon Thomas

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The construction industry generates large amounts of waste, usually mixed, which can be composed of different origin materials, most of them catalogued as non-hazardous. The European Union targets for this waste for 2020 have been already achieved by the UK, but it is mainly developed in downcycling processes (backfilling) whereas upcycling (such as recycle in new concrete batches) still keeps at a low percentage. The aim of this paper is to explore further in the use of recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste (CDW) in concrete mixes so as to improve upcycling. A review of most recent research and legislation applied in the UK is developed regarding the production of concrete blocks. As a case study, initial tests were developed with a CDW recycled aggregate sample from a CDW plant in Swansea. Composition by visual inspection and sieving tests of two samples were developed and compared to original aggregates. More than 70% was formed by soil waste from excavation, and the rest was a mix of waste from mortar, concrete, and ceramics with small traces of plaster, glass and organic matter. Two concrete mixes were made with 80% replacement of recycled aggregates and different water/cement ratio. Tests were carried out for slump, absorption, density and compression strength. The results were compared to a reference sample and showed a substantial reduction of quality in both mixes. Despite that, the discussion brings to identify different aspects to solve, such as heterogeneity or composition, and analyze them for the successful use of these recycled aggregates in the production of concrete blocks. The conclusions obtained can help increase upcycling processes ratio with mixed CDW as recycled aggregates in concrete mixes.

Keywords: Recycled aggregate, concrete, concrete block, construction and demolition waste, recycling.

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Authors: A. R. Ommani, M. Chizari

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The purpose of the study reported here was designing Information Dissemination System (IDS) based E-learning in agricultural of Iran. A questionnaire was developed to designing Information Dissemination System. The questionnaire was distributed to 96 extension agents who work for Management of Extension and Farming System of Khuzestan province of Iran. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Appropriate statistical procedures for description (frequencies, percent, means, and standard deviations) were used. In this study there was a significant relationship between the age , IT skill and knowledge, years of extension work, the extend of information seeking motivation, level of job satisfaction and level of education with use of information technology by extension agent. According to extension agents five factors were ranked respectively as five top essential items to designing Information Dissemination System (IDS) based E-learning in agricultural of Iran. These factors include: 1) Establish communication between farmers, coordinators (extension agents), agricultural experts, research centers, and community by information technology. 2) The communication between all should be mutual. 3) The information must be based farmers need. 4) Internet used as a facility to transfer the advanced agricultural information to the farming community. 5) Farmers can be illiterate and speak a local and they are not expected to use the system directly. Knowledge produced by the agricultural scientist must be transformed in to computer understandable presentation. To designing Information Dissemination System, electronic communication, in the agricultural society and rural areas must be developed. This communication must be mutual between all factors.

Keywords: E-learning, information dissemination system, information technology.

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Authors: A. Dionísio, L. Roseiro, J. Fonseca, P. Nicolau

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Thermography is a non-radiating and contact-free technology which can be used to monitor skin temperature. The efficiency and safety of thermography technology make it a useful tool for detecting and locating thermal changes in skin surface, characterized by increases or decreases in temperature. This work intends to be a contribution for the use of thermography as a methodology for evaluation of skin temperature in the context of orofacial biomechanics. The study aims to identify the oscillations of skin temperature in the left and right hemiface regions of the masseter muscle, during and after thermal stimulus, and estimate the time required to restore the initial temperature after the application of the stimulus. Using a FLIR T430sc camera, a data acquisition protocol was followed with a group of eight volunteers, aged between 22 and 27 years. The tests were performed in a controlled environment with the volunteers in a comfortably static position. The thermal stimulus involves the use of an ice volume with controlled size and contact surface. The skin surface temperature was recorded in two distinct situations, namely without further stimulus and with the additions of a stimulus obtained by a chewing gum. The data obtained were treated using FLIR Research IR Max software. The time required to recover the initial temperature ranged from 20 to 52 minutes when no stimulus was added and varied between 8 and 26 minutes with the chewing gum stimulus. These results show that recovery is faster with the addition of the stimulus and may guide clinicians regarding the pre and post-operative times with ice therapy, in the presence or absence of mechanical stimulus that increases muscle functions (e.g. phonetics or mastication).

Keywords: Thermography, orofacial biomechanics, skin temperature, ice therapy.

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Authors: Yongxian Jin, Jingzhou Huang

Abstract:

In an open real-time system environment, the coexistence of different kinds of real-time and non real-time applications makes the system scheduling mechanism face new requirements and challenges. One two-level scheduling scheme of the open real-time systems is introduced, and points out that hard and soft real-time applications are scheduled non-distinctively as the same type real-time applications, the Quality of Service (QoS) cannot be guaranteed. It has two flaws: The first, it can not differentiate scheduling priorities of hard and soft real-time applications, that is to say, it neglects characteristic differences between hard real-time applications and soft ones, so it does not suit a more complex real-time environment. The second, the worst case execution time of soft real-time applications cannot be predicted exactly, so it is not worth while to cost much spending in order to assure all soft real-time applications not to miss their deadlines, and doing that may cause resource wasting. In order to solve this problem, a novel two-level real-time scheduling mechanism (including scheduling profile and scheduling algorithm) which adds the process of dealing with soft real-time applications is proposed. Finally, we verify real-time scheduling mechanism from two aspects of theory and experiment. The results indicate that our scheduling mechanism can achieve the following objectives. (1) It can reflect the difference of priority when scheduling hard and soft real-time applications. (2) It can ensure schedulability of hard real-time applications, that is, their rate of missing deadline is 0. (3) The overall rate of missing deadline of soft real-time applications can be less than 1. (4) The deadline of a non-real-time application is not set, whereas the scheduling algorithm that server 0 S uses can avoid the “starvation" of jobs and increase QOS. By doing that, our scheduling mechanism is more compatible with different types of applications and it will be applied more widely.

Keywords: Hard real-time, two-level scheduling profile, open real-time system, non-distinctive schedule, soft real-time

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Authors: Al-Khalid Othman, Wan A. Wan Zainal Abidin, Kee M. Lee, Hushairi Zen, Tengku. M. A. Zulcaffle, Kuryati Kipli

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This paper provides an in-depth study of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) application to monitor and control the swiftlet habitat. A set of system design is designed and developed that includes the hardware design of the nodes, Graphical User Interface (GUI) software, sensor network, and interconnectivity for remote data access and management. System architecture is proposed to address the requirements for habitat monitoring. Such applicationdriven design provides and identify important areas of further work in data sampling, communications and networking. For this monitoring system, a sensor node (MTS400), IRIS and Micaz radio transceivers, and a USB interfaced gateway base station of Crossbow (Xbow) Technology WSN are employed. The GUI of this monitoring system is written using a Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW) along with Xbow Technology drivers provided by National Instrument. As a result, this monitoring system is capable of collecting data and presents it in both tables and waveform charts for further analysis. This system is also able to send notification message by email provided Internet connectivity is available whenever changes on habitat at remote sites (swiftlet farms) occur. Other functions that have been implemented in this system are the database system for record and management purposes; remote access through the internet using LogMeIn software. Finally, this research draws a conclusion that a WSN for monitoring swiftlet habitat can be effectively used to monitor and manage swiftlet farming industry in Sarawak.

Keywords: Swiftlet, WSN, Habitat Monitoring, Networking.

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Authors: Shivani Chaturvedi, Santosh Satya, S. K. Tiwari

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Recent research on seeds of bio-diesel plants like Jatropha curcas, constituting 40-50% bio-crude oil indicates its potential as one of the most promising alternatives to conventional sources of energy. Also, limited studies on utilization of de-oiled cake have revealed that Jatropha bio-waste has good potential to be used as organic fertilizers produced via aerobic and anaerobic treatment. However, their commercial exploitation has not yet been possible. The present study aims at developing appropriate bio-processes and formulations utilizing Jatropha seed cake as organic fertilizer, for improving the growth of Polianthes tuberose L. (Tuberose). Pot experiments were carried out by growing tuberose plants on soil treated with composted formulations of Jatropha de-oiled cake, Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and inorganic fertilizers were also blended in soil. The treatment was carried out through soil amendment as well as foliar spray. The growth and morphological parameters were monitored for entire crop cycle. The growth Length and number of leaves, spike length, rachis length, number of bulb per plant and earliness of sprouting of bulb and yield enhancement were comparable to that achieved under inorganic fertilizer. Furthermore, performance of inorganic fertilizer also showed an improvement when blended with composted bio-waste. These findings would open new avenues for Jatropha based bio-wastes to be composted and used as organic fertilizers for commercial floriculture.

Keywords: Organic fertilizer, Jaropha cake, Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.).

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Authors: Thomas V. Prevenslik

Abstract:

Ovshinsky initiated scientific research in the field of amorphous and disordered materials that continues to this day. The Ovshinsky Effect where the resistance of thin GST films is significantly reduced upon the application of low voltage is of fundamental importance in phase-change - random access memory (PC-RAM) devices.GST stands for GdSbTe chalcogenide type glasses.However, the Ovshinsky Effect is not without controversy. Ovshinsky thought the resistance of GST films is reduced by the redistribution of charge carriers; whereas, others at that time including many PC-RAM researchers today argue that the GST resistance changes because the GST amorphous state is transformed to the crystalline state by melting, the heat supplied by external heaters. In this controversy, quantum mechanics (QM) asserts the heat capacity of GST films vanishes, and therefore melting cannot occur as the heat supplied cannot be conserved by an increase in GST film temperature.By precluding melting, QM re-opens the controversy between the melting and charge carrier mechanisms. Supporting analysis is presented to show that instead of increasing GST film temperature, conservation proceeds by the QED induced creation of photons within the GST film, the QED photons confined by TIR. QED stands for quantum electrodynamics and TIR for total internal reflection. The TIR confinement of QED photons is enhanced by the fact the absorbedheat energy absorbed in the GST film is concentrated in the TIR mode because of their high surface to volume ratio. The QED photons having Planck energy beyond the ultraviolet produce excitons by the photoelectric effect, the electrons and holes of which reduce the GST film resistance.

Keywords: Ovshinsky, phase change memory, PC-RAM, chalcogenide, quantummechanics, quantum electrodynamics.

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Authors: S. Doyle, G. A. Aggidis

Abstract:

Wave energy converter technologies continue to show good progress in worldwide research. One of the most researched technologies, the Oscillating Water Column (OWC), is arguably one of the most popular categories within the converter technologies due to its robustness, simplicity and versatility. However, the versatility of the OWC is still largely untapped with most deployments following similar trends with respect to applications and operating systems. As the competitiveness of the energy market continues to increase, the demand for wave energy technologies to be innovative also increases. For existing wave energy technologies, this requires identifying areas to diversify for lower costs of energy with respect to applications and synergies or integrated systems. This paper provides a review of all OWCs systems integrated into alternative applications in the past and present. The aspects and variation in their design, deployment and system operation are discussed. Particular focus is given to the Multi-OWCs (M-OWCs) and their great potential to increase capture on a larger scale, especially in synergy applications. It is made clear that these steps need to be taken in order to make wave energy a competitive and viable option in the renewable energy mix as progression to date shows that stand alone single function devices are not economical. Findings reveal that the trend of development is moving toward these integrated applications in order to reduce the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) and will ultimately continue in this direction in efforts to make wave energy a competitive option in the renewable energy mix.

Keywords: Ocean energy, wave energy, oscillating water column, renewable energy, review.

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Authors: Mohamed El Morsy, Gabriela Achtenová

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Research on damage of gears and gear pairs using vibration signals remains very attractive, because vibration signals from a gear pair are complex in nature and not easy to interpret. Predicting gear pair defects by analyzing changes in vibration signal of gears pairs in operation is a very reliable method. Therefore, a suitable vibration signal processing technique is necessary to extract defect information generally obscured by the noise from dynamic factors of other gear pairs.This article presents the value of cepstrum analysis in vehicle gearbox fault diagnosis. Cepstrum represents the overall power content of a whole family of harmonics and sidebands when more than one family of sidebands is present at the same time. The concept for the measurement and analysis involved in using the technique are briefly outlined. Cepstrum analysis is used for detection of an artificial pitting defect in a vehicle gearbox loaded with different speeds and torques. The test stand is equipped with three dynamometers; the input dynamometer serves asthe internal combustion engine, the output dynamometers introduce the load on the flanges of the output joint shafts. The pitting defect is manufactured on the tooth side of a gear of the fifth speed on the secondary shaft. Also, a method for fault diagnosis of gear faults is presented based on order Cepstrum. The procedure is illustrated with the experimental vibration data of the vehicle gearbox. The results show the effectiveness of Cepstrum analysis in detection and diagnosis of the gear condition.

Keywords: Cepstrum analysis, fault diagnosis, gearbox.

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Authors: Christopher Paterson, Richard Curry, Alan Purvis, Simon Johnson

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Emerging Bio-engineering fields such as Brain Computer Interfaces, neuroprothesis devices and modeling and simulation of neural networks have led to increased research activity in algorithms for the detection, isolation and classification of Action Potentials (AP) from noisy data trains. Current techniques in the field of 'unsupervised no-prior knowledge' biosignal processing include energy operators, wavelet detection and adaptive thresholding. These tend to bias towards larger AP waveforms, AP may be missed due to deviations in spike shape and frequency and correlated noise spectrums can cause false detection. Also, such algorithms tend to suffer from large computational expense. A new signal detection technique based upon the ideas of phasespace diagrams and trajectories is proposed based upon the use of a delayed copy of the AP to highlight discontinuities relative to background noise. This idea has been used to create algorithms that are computationally inexpensive and address the above problems. Distinct AP have been picked out and manually classified from real physiological data recorded from a cockroach. To facilitate testing of the new technique, an Auto Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) noise model has been constructed bases upon background noise of the recordings. Along with the AP classification means this model enables generation of realistic neuronal data sets at arbitrary signal to noise ratio (SNR).

Keywords: Action potential detection, Low SNR, Phase spacediagrams/trajectories, Unsupervised/no-prior knowledge.

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Authors: Afef Badri

Abstract:

Metaphorical creativity does not constitute a static property of discourse. It is an interactive dynamic process created online. There has been a lack of research concerning online produced metaphorical creativity. This paper intends to account for metaphorical creativity in online talk-in-interaction as a dynamic process that emerges as discourse unfolds. It brings together insights from the emergentist approach to the study of metaphor in verbal interactions and insights from conceptual blending approach as a model for analysing online metaphorical constructions to propose a model for studying metaphorical creativity in interactive talk. The model is based on three focal points. First, metaphorical creativity is a dynamic emergent and open-to-change process that evolves in real time as interlocutors constantly blend and re-blend previous metaphorical contributions. Second, it is not a product of isolated individual minds but a joint achievement that is co-constructed and co-elaborated by interlocutors. The third and most important point is that the emergent process of metaphorical creativity is tightly shaped by contextual variables surrounding talk-in-interaction. It is grounded in the framework of interpretation of interlocutors. It is constrained by preceding contributions in a way that creates textual cohesion of the verbal exchange and it is also a goal-oriented process predefined by the communicative intention of each participant in a way that reveals the ideological coherence/incoherence of the entire conversation.

Keywords: Communicative intention, conceptual blending, contextual variables, the emergentist approach, ideological coherence, metaphorical creativity, textual cohesion

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Authors: Rohit Gupta, Ravinder Agarwal

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Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signal has the potential to identify the human activities and intention. This potential is further exploited to control the artificial limbs using the sEMG signal from residual limbs of amputees. The paper deals with the development of multichannel cost efficient sEMG signal interface for research application, along with evaluation of proposed class dependent statistical approach of the feature selection method. The sEMG signal acquisition interface was developed using ADS1298 of Texas Instruments, which is a front-end interface integrated circuit for ECG application. Further, the sEMG signal is recorded from two lower limb muscles for three locomotions namely: Plane Walk (PW), Stair Ascending (SA), Stair Descending (SD). A class dependent statistical approach is proposed for feature selection and also its performance is compared with 12 preexisting feature vectors. To make the study more extensive, performance of five different types of classifiers are compared. The outcome of the current piece of work proves the suitability of the proposed feature selection algorithm for locomotion recognition, as compared to other existing feature vectors. The SVM Classifier is found as the outperformed classifier among compared classifiers with an average recognition accuracy of 97.40%. Feature vector selection emerges as the most dominant factor affecting the classification performance as it holds 51.51% of the total variance in classification accuracy. The results demonstrate the potentials of the developed sEMG signal acquisition interface along with the proposed feature selection algorithm.

Keywords: Classifiers, feature selection, locomotion, sEMG.

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Authors: Ammal M. Metwally, Dalia M. Elmosalami, Walaa A. Fouad, Abla G. Khalifa, Lobna A. El Etreby, Mohamed AbdelRahman

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People with hepatitis C are likely to experience psychological distress related to adjustment issues following diagnosis. Objective: The study was conducted to determine the psycho-social stressors accompanying Hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection. The study focused on immediate and later on reactions to being diagnosed as infected HCV patients. Effect of HCV on disruption of patients’ relationships in term of family relationship and friendship, employment and financial status was assessed. The magnitude and causes of the social stigma and its relation to awareness about illness, level of education were also assessed. Methods: During this study the subjective experiences of people having HCV was explored through a designed questionnaire targeted 540 cases; 359 males and 181 females from ten out of 21 National Treatment Reference Centers of National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institutes of Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals. The study was conducted along a period of six months from September 2011 to March 2012. Results: The study revealed that the financial problems are the commonest problems faced by 75.5% of the cases. More than 70% of the cases suffered from immediate sadness versus 67.4% suffered from worry. Social stigma was reported by 13 % of HCV +patients, the majority of which were females. Conclusions: Exploring the psychosocial consequences of HCV infection can act as pressing motivators for behavior change needed for limiting HCV endemicity in Egypt.

Keywords: Egypt, HCV infection, psychosocial adjustment, stigma.

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Authors: Yun-na Wu, Zhen Wang

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Due to the economic downturn and the deterioration of the living environment, the development of residential buildings as high energy consuming building is gradually changing from “extensive” to green building in China. So, the evaluation system of green building is continuously improved, but the current evaluation work has the following problems: (1) There are differences in the cost of the actual investment and the purchasing power of residents, also construction target of green residential building is single and lacks multi-objective performance development. (2) Green building evaluation lacks regional characteristics and cannot reflect the different regional residents demand. (3) In the process of determining the criteria weight, the experts’ judgment matrix is difficult to meet the requirement of consistency. Therefore, to solve those problems, questionnaires which are about the green residential building for Ningxia area are distributed, and the results of questionnaires can feedback the purchasing power of residents and the acceptance of the green building cost. Secondly, combined with the geographical features of Ningxia minority areas, the evaluation criteria system of green residential building is constructed. Finally, using the improved group AHP method and the grey clustering method, the criteria weight is determined, and a real case is evaluated, which is located in Xing Qing district, Ningxia. A conclusion can be obtained that the professional evaluation for this project and good social recognition is basically the same.

Keywords: Evaluation, green residential building, grey clustering method, group AHP.

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Authors: Dinesh Acharya U., N. V. Subba Reddy, Krishnamoorthi Makkithaya

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The recognition of handwritten numeral is an important area of research for its applications in post office, banks and other organizations. This paper presents automatic recognition of handwritten Kannada numerals based on structural features. Five different types of features, namely, profile based 10-segment string, water reservoir; vertical and horizontal strokes, end points and average boundary length from the minimal bounding box are used in the recognition of numeral. The effect of each feature and their combination in the numeral classification is analyzed using nearest neighbor classifiers. It is common to combine multiple categories of features into a single feature vector for the classification. Instead, separate classifiers can be used to classify based on each visual feature individually and the final classification can be obtained based on the combination of separate base classification results. One popular approach is to combine the classifier results into a feature vector and leaving the decision to next level classifier. This method is extended to extract a better information, possibility distribution, from the base classifiers in resolving the conflicts among the classification results. Here, we use fuzzy k Nearest Neighbor (fuzzy k-NN) as base classifier for individual feature sets, the results of which together forms the feature vector for the final k Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) classifier. Testing is done, using different features, individually and in combination, on a database containing 1600 samples of different numerals and the results are compared with the results of different existing methods.

Keywords: Fuzzy k Nearest Neighbor, Multiple Classifiers, Numeral Recognition, Structural features.

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Authors: T. T. Olugbenga, A. I. Augie

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This research proposes an interpretation of the Bouguer’ gravity anomaly data of some parts of Sokoto basin for the estimation of crustal thickness. The study area is bounded between latitudes 11⁰0′0″N and 13⁰0′0″N, and longitudes 4⁰0′0″E and 6⁰0′0″E that covered Koko, Jega, B/Kebbi, Argungu, Lema, Bodinga, Tamgaza, Gunmi,Daki Takwas, Dange, Sokoto, Ilella, T/Mafara, Anka, Maru, Gusau, K/Namoda, and Sabon Birni within Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara state respectively. The established map of the study area was digitized in X, Y and Z format using excel software package and the digitized data were processed using Surfer version 13 software. The Moho and Conrad depths based on a relationship between Bouguer’ gravity anomaly determined crustal thickness were estimated as 35 to 37 km and 19 to 21 km, respectively. The crustal region has been categorized into: Crustal thinning zone that is the region with high gravity anomaly value due to its greater geothermal energy and also Crustal thickening zone which the region with low anomaly values due to its lower geothermal energy. Birnin kebbi, Jega, Sokoto were identified as the region of hydrocarbon potential with an estimate of 35 km thickness within the crustal region which is referred to as crustal thickening as a result of its low but sufficient geothermal energy to decompose organic matter within the region to form hydrocarbons.

Keywords: Bouguer gravity anomaly, crustal thickness, geothermal energy, hydrocarbons, Moho and Conrad Depths.

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Authors: Kalsoom Sumra

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The increasing concern of public sector reforms brings new challenges to public service ethics in developing countries not only at central level but also at local level. This paper aims to identify perceptions on public service ethics of public officials and examines more generally the understanding of public servants in Pakistan towards public service ethics in local public organizations. The study uses an independently administered structured questionnaire to collect data to know the extent of the recognition of public service ethics in local organizations. A total of 150 completed questionnaires are analyzed received from public servants working at the local level in Pakistan. The analysis explores how traditional, social patterns and cultural ethics can provide us with a rounded picture of the main antecedents, moderators of public service ethics in Pakistan. Moreover, the findings of this study contribute in association of public service ethics which are crucial in ongoing political and administrative culture of Pakistan, the most crucial core for public organizational ethical climate. This study also has numerous implications for local public administration and it highlights the importance of expanding research agenda on public service ethics in developing settings with challenging institutional contexts with imperfect training and operating environments. This study may well be particularly important for practice of public service ethics in developing countries in public administration. To the best of author’s knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to provide an initial step in practical implications to emphasize relevant public service ethics in public administration in developing transparent and accountable organization.

Keywords: Public service ethics, accountability and transparency, public service reforms, public administration, organizational ethical climate.

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Authors: Jefrey Pilusa, Tumisang Seodigeng

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This research discusses a South African case study for the potential of utilizing refuse-derived fuel (RDF) obtained from non-burn treatment of health care risk waste (HCRW) as potential feedstock for green energy production. This specific waste stream can be destroyed via non-burn treatment technology involving high-speed mechanical shredding followed by steam or chemical injection to disinfect the final product. The RDF obtained from this process is characterised by a low moisture, low ash, and high calorific value which means it can be potentially used as high-value solid fuel. Due to the raw feed of this RDF being classified as hazardous, the final RDF has been reported to be non-infectious and can blend with other combustible wastes such as rubber and plastic for waste to energy applications. This study evaluated non-burn treatment technology as a possible solution for on-site destruction of HCRW in South African private and public health care centres. Waste generation quantities were estimated based on the number of registered patient beds, theoretical bed occupancy. Time and motion study was conducted to evaluate the logistics viability of on-site treatment. Non-burn treatment technology for HCRW is a promising option for South Africa, and successful implementation of this method depends upon the initial capital investment, operational cost and environmental permitting of such technology; there are other influencing factors such as the size of the waste stream, product off-take price as well as product demand.

Keywords: Autoclave, disposal, fuel, incineration, medical waste.

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Authors: G. Erkomaishvili, M. Kobalava, T. Lazariashvili, N. Damenia

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Current state of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia is analyzed and evaluated in the paper, the existing legislative background for regulating investments and stimulating policies to attract investments are shown. It is noted that in developing countries encouragement of investment activity, support and implementation are of the most important tasks, implying a consistent investment policy, investor-friendly tax regime and the legal system, reducing administrative barriers and restrictions, fare competitive conditions and business development infrastructure. The work deals with the determining factor of FDIs and the main directions of stimulation, as well as prospective industries where new investments are needed. Contributing and hindering factors and stimulating measures are analyzed. As a result of the research, the direct and indirect factors attracting FDI have been identified. Facilitating factors to FDI inflow are as follows: simplicity of starting business, geopolitical location, low taxes, access to credit, ease of ownership registration, natural resources, low burden of regulations, low level of corruption and low crime rates. Hindering factors to FDI inflow are as follows: small market, lack of policy for attracting investments, low qualification of the workforce (despite the large number of unemployed people it is difficult to find workers with necessary special skills and qualifications), high interest rates, instability of national currency exchange rate, presence of conflict zones within the country and so forth.

Keywords: Foreign direct investment, investment attracting policies, investor, reinvestment.

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Authors: Yusri Yusof, Stephen Newman, Aydin Nassehi, Keith Case

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The changing economic climate has made global manufacturing a growing reality over the last decade, forcing companies from east and west and all over the world to collaborate beyond geographic boundaries in the design, manufacture and assemble of products. The ISO10303 and ISO14649 Standards (STEP and STEP-NC) have been developed to introduce interoperability into manufacturing enterprises so as to meet the challenge of responding to production on demand. This paper describes and illustrates a STEP compliant CAD/CAPP/CAM System for the manufacture of rotational parts on CNC turning centers. The information models to support the proposed system together with the data models defined in the ISO14649 standard used to create the NC programs are also described. A structured view of a STEP compliant CAD/CAPP/CAM system framework supporting the next generation of intelligent CNC controllers for turn/mill component manufacture is provided. Finally a proposed computational environment for a STEP-NC compliant system for turning operations (SCSTO) is described. SCSTO is the experimental part of the research supported by the specification of information models and constructed using a structured methodology and object-oriented methods. SCSTO was developed to generate a Part 21 file based on machining features to support the interactive generation of process plans utilizing feature extraction. A case study component has been developed to prove the concept for using the milling and turning parts of ISO14649 to provide a turn-mill CAD/CAPP/CAM environment.

Keywords:

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Authors: Ali A. Al-Jazaairry, Tahsin T. Sabbagh

Abstract:

One of the important concerns within the field of geotechnical engineering is the presence of cavities in soils. This present work is an attempt to understand the behaviour of strip footing subjected to inclined load and constructed on cavitied soil. The failure mechanism of strip footing located above such soils was studied analytically. The capability of analytical model to correctly expect the system behaviour is assessed by carrying out verification analysis on available studies. The study was prepared by finite element software (PLAXIS) in which an elastic-perfectly plastic soil model was used. It was indicated, from the results of the study, that the load carrying capacity of foundation constructed on cavity can be analysed well using such analysis. The research covered many foundation cases, and in each foundation case, there occurs a critical depth under which the presence of cavities has shown minimum impact on the foundation performance. When cavities are found above this critical depth, the load carrying capacity of the foundation differs with many influences, such as the location and size of the cavity and footing depth. Figures involving the load carrying capacity with the affecting factors studied are presented. These figures offer information beneficial for the design of strip footings rested on underground cavities. Moreover, the results might be used to design a shallow foundation constructed on cavitied soil, whereas the obtained failure mechanisms may be employed to improve numerical solutions for this kind of problems.

Keywords: Axial load, cavity, inclined load, strip footing.

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Authors: Su-Yan Tang, Wei Zhang, Shan Mei, Yi-Fan Zhu

Abstract:

Network-Centric Air Defense Missile Systems (NCADMS) represents the superior development of the air defense missile systems and has been regarded as one of the major research issues in military domain at present. Due to lack of knowledge and experience on NCADMS, modeling and simulation becomes an effective approach to perform operational analysis, compared with those equation based ones. However, the complex dynamic interactions among entities and flexible architectures of NCADMS put forward new requirements and challenges to the simulation framework and models. ABS (Agent-Based Simulations) explicitly addresses modeling behaviors of heterogeneous individuals. Agents have capability to sense and understand things, make decisions, and act on the environment. They can also cooperate with others dynamically to perform the tasks assigned to them. ABS proves an effective approach to explore the new operational characteristics emerging in NCADMS. In this paper, based on the analysis of network-centric architecture and new cooperative engagement strategies for NCADMS, an agent-based simulation framework by expanding the simulation framework in the so-called System Effectiveness Analysis Simulation (SEAS) was designed. The simulation framework specifies components, relationships and interactions between them, the structure and behavior rules of an agent in NCADMS. Based on scenario simulations, information and decision superiority and operational advantages in NCADMS were analyzed; meanwhile some suggestions were provided for its future development.

Keywords: air defense missile systems, network-centric, agent-based simulation, simulation framework, information superiority, decision superiority, operational advantages

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Authors: Nagalingam Arun Prasanth, Ahmed Syed Adnan, S. H. Yeo

Abstract:

Surface topography plays a significant role in the functional performance of engineered parts. It is important to have a control on the surface geometry and understanding on the surface details to get the desired performance. Hence, in the current research contribution, a non-contact micro-texturing technique has been explored and developed. The technique involves ultrasonic excitation of a tool as a prime source of surface texturing for aluminum alloy workpieces. The specimen surface is polished first and is then immersed in a liquid bath containing 10% weight concentration of Ti6Al4V grade 5 spherical powders. A submerged slurry jet is used to recirculate the spherical powders under the ultrasonic horn which is excited at an ultrasonic frequency and amplitude of 40 kHz and 70 µm respectively. The distance between the horn and workpiece surface was remained fixed at 200 µm using a precision control stage. Texturing effects were investigated for different process timings of 1, 3 and 5 s. Thereafter, the specimens were cleaned in an ultrasonic bath for 5 mins to remove loose debris on the surface. The developed surfaces are characterized by optical and contact surface profiler. The optical microscopic images show a texture of circular spots on the workpiece surface indented by titanium spherical balls. Waviness patterns obtained from contact surface profiler supports the texturing effect produced from the proposed technique. Furthermore, water droplet tests were performed to show the efficacy of the proposed technique to develop hydrophilic surfaces and to quantify the texturing effect produced.

Keywords: Surface texturing, surface modification, topography, ultrasonic.

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Authors: Mingook Lee, Sungjoo Lee

Abstract:

As technology-based service industries grow drastically worldwide; companies are recognizing the importance of market preoccupancy and have made an effort to capture a large market to gain the upper hand. To this end, a focus on patents can be used to determine the properties of a technology, as well as to capture advantages in technical skills, in comparison with the firm’s competitors. However, technology-based services largely depend not only on their technological value but also their economic value, due to the recognized worth that is passed to a plurality of users. Thus, it is important to determine whether there are any competitors in the target areas and what services they provide in any field. Despite this importance, little effort has been made to systematically benchmark competitors in order to identify business opportunities. Thus, this study aims to not only identify each position of technology-centered service companies in complex market dynamics, but also to discover new business opportunities. For this, we try to consider both technology and market environments simultaneously by utilizing patent data as a representative proxy for technology and trademark dates as an index for a firm’s target goods and services. Theoretically, this is one of the earliest attempts to combine patent data and trademark data to analyze corporate strategies. In practice, the research results are expected to be used as a decision criterion to diagnose the economic value that companies can obtain by entering the market, as well as the technological value to be passed onto their customers. Thus, the proposed approach can be useful to support effective technology and business strategies in a firm.

Keywords: Business opportunity, patent, Portfolio analysis, trademark.

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Authors: Elison Eduardo Jardim Bierhals, Claudineia Brazil, Francisco Pereira, Elton Rossini

Abstract:

The use of alternative energy sources to meet energy demand reduces environmental damage. To diversify an energy matrix and to minimize global warming, a solar energy is gaining space, being an important source of renewable energy, and its potential depends on the climatic conditions of the region. Brazil presents a great solar potential for a generation of electric energy, so the knowledge of solar radiation and its characteristics are fundamental for the study of energy use. Due to the above reasons, this article aims to verify the climatic variability corresponding to the variations in solar radiation anomalies, in the face of climate change scenarios. The data used in this research are part of the Intercomparison of Interconnected Models, Phase 5 (CMIP5), which contributed to the preparation of the fifth IPCC-AR5 report. The solar radiation data were extracted from The Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator (ACCESS) model using the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios that represent an intermediate structure and a pessimistic framework, the latter being the most worrisome in all cases. In order to allow the use of solar radiation as a source of energy in a given location and/or region, it is important, first, to determine its availability, thus justifying the importance of the study. The results pointed out, for the 75-year period (2026-2100), based on a pessimistic scenario, indicate a drop in solar radiation of the approximately 12% in the eastern region of Rio Grande do Sul. Factors that influence the pessimistic prospects of this scenario should be better observed by the responsible authorities, since they can affect the possibility to produce electricity from solar radiation.

Keywords: Climate change, solar radiation, energy utilization.

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Authors: Roberto Iglesias, Theocharis Kyriacou, Ulrich Nehmzow, Steve Billings

Abstract:

Fundamental sensor-motor couplings form the backbone of most mobile robot control tasks, and often need to be implemented fast, efficiently and nevertheless reliably. Machine learning techniques are therefore often used to obtain the desired sensor-motor competences. In this paper we present an alternative to established machine learning methods such as artificial neural networks, that is very fast, easy to implement, and has the distinct advantage that it generates transparent, analysable sensor-motor couplings: system identification through nonlinear polynomial mapping. This work, which is part of the RobotMODIC project at the universities of Essex and Sheffield, aims to develop a theoretical understanding of the interaction between the robot and its environment. One of the purposes of this research is to enable the principled design of robot control programs. As a first step towards this aim we model the behaviour of the robot, as this emerges from its interaction with the environment, with the NARMAX modelling method (Nonlinear, Auto-Regressive, Moving Average models with eXogenous inputs). This method produces explicit polynomial functions that can be subsequently analysed using established mathematical methods. In this paper we demonstrate the fidelity of the obtained NARMAX models in the challenging task of robot route learning; we present a set of experiments in which a Magellan Pro mobile robot was taught to follow four different routes, always using the same mechanism to obtain the required control law.

Keywords: Mobile robotics, system identification, non-linear modelling, NARMAX.

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Authors: Reza Hadjiaghaie Vafaie, Sevda Givtaj

Abstract:

Automation and control of biological samples and solutions at the microscale is a major advantage for biochemistry analysis and biological diagnostics. Despite the known potential of miniaturization in biochemistry and biomedical applications, comparatively little is known about fluid automation and control at the microscale. Here, we study the electric field effect inside a fluidic channel and proper electrode structures with different patterns proposed to form forward, reversal, and rotational flows inside the channel. The simulation results confirmed that the ac electro-thermal flow is efficient for the control and automation of high-conductive solutions. In this research, the fluid pumping and mixing effects were numerically studied by solving physic-coupled electric, temperature, hydrodynamic, and concentration fields inside a microchannel. From an experimental point of view, the electrode structures are deposited on a silicon substrate and bonded to a PDMS microchannel to form a microfluidic chip. The motions of fluorescent particles in pumping and mixing modes were captured by using a CCD camera. By measuring the frequency response of the fluid and exciting the electrodes with the proper voltage, the fluid motions (including pumping and mixing effects) are observed inside the channel through the CCD camera. Based on the results, there is good agreement between the experimental and simulation studies.

Keywords: Microfluidic, nano/micro actuator, AC electrothermal, Reynolds number, micropump, micromixer, microfabrication, mass transfer, biomedical applications.

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Authors: M. Attom, F. Abed, M. Elemam, M. Nazal, N. ElMessalami

Abstract:

—The main objective of this paper is to study the effect of treated waste-water (TWW) on the compaction and compressibility properties of fine soil. Two types of fine soils (clayey soils) were selected for this study and classified as CH soil and Cl type of soil. Compaction and compressibility properties such as optimum water content, maximum dry unit weight, consolidation index and swell index, maximum past pressure and volume change were evaluated using both tap and treated waste water. It was found that the use of treated waste water affects all of these properties. The maximum dry unit weight increased for both soils and the optimum water content decreased as much as 13.6% for highly plastic soil. The significant effect was observed in swell index and swelling pressure of the soils. The swell indexed decreased by as much as 42% and 33% for highly plastic and low plastic soils, respectively, when TWW is used. Additionally, the swelling pressure decreased by as much as 16% for both soil types. The result of this research pointed out that the use of treated waste water has a positive effect on compaction and compression properties of clay soil and promise for potential use of this water in engineering applications. Keywords—Consolidation, proctor compaction, swell index, treated waste-water, volume change.

Keywords: Consolidation, proctor compaction, swell index, treated waste-water, volume change.

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Authors: Mohamed Belaid, Edison Muzenda, Getrude Mitilene, Mansoor Mollagee

Abstract:

A feasibility study for the design and construction of a pilot plant for the extraction of castor oil in South Africa was conducted. The study emphasized the four critical aspects of project feasibility analysis, namely technical, financial, market and managerial aspects. The technical aspect involved research on existing oil extraction technologies, namely: mechanical pressing and solvent extraction, as well as assessment of the proposed production site for both short and long term viability of the project. The site is on the outskirts of Nkomazi village in the Mpumalanga province, where connections for water and electricity are currently underway, potential raw material supply proves to be reliable since the province is known for its commercial farming. The managerial aspect was evaluated based on the fact that the current producer of castor oil will be fully involved in the project while receiving training and technical assistance from Sasol Technology, the TSC and SEDA. Market and financial aspects were evaluated and the project was considered financially viable with a Net Present Value (NPV) of R2 731 687 and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 18% at an annual interest rate of 10.5%. The payback time is 6years for analysis over the first 10 years with a net income of R1 971 000 in the first year. The project was thus found to be feasible with high chance of success while contributing to socio-economic development. It was recommended for lab tests to be conducted to establish process kinetics that would be used in the initial design of the plant.

Keywords: Mechanical pressing, Net Present Value, Oilextraction, Project feasibility, Solvent extraction

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