Search results for: ASHRAE case study

Authors: Emad Askar, Eldesoky Elsoaly, Mohamed Kamel, Hisham Kamel

Abstract:

The objective of this article is to improve the passive vibration damping of solar array (SA) used in space structures, by the effective application of numerical optimization. A case study of a SA is used for demonstration. A finite element (FE) model was created and verified by experimental testing. Optimization was then conducted by implementing the FE model with the genetic algorithm, to find the optimal placement of aluminum circular patches, to suppress the first two bending mode shapes. The results were verified using experimental testing. Finally, a parametric study was conducted using the FE model where patch locations, material type, and shape were varied one at a time, and the results were compared with the optimal ones. The results clearly show that through the proper application of FE modeling and numerical optimization, passive vibration damping of space structures has been successfully achieved.

Keywords: Damping optimization, genetic algorithm optimization, passive vibration damping, solar array vibration damping.

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Authors: V. Goremikins, K. Rocens, D. Serdjuks

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Suspended cable structures are most preferable for large spans covering due to rational use of structural materials, but the problem of suspended cable structures is initial shape change under the action of non-symmetrical load. The problem can be solved by increasing of relation of dead weight and imposed load, but this methods cause increasing of materials consumption.Prestressed cable truss usage is another way how the problem of shape change under the action of non-symmetrical load can be fixed. The better results can be achieved if we replace top chord with cable truss with cross web. Rational structure of the cable truss for prestressed cable truss top chord was developed using optimization realized in FEM program ANSYS 12 environment. Single cable and cable truss model work was discovered.Analytical and model testing results indicate, that usage of cable truss with the cross web as a top chord of prestressed cable truss instead of single cable allows to reduce total displacements by 13-16% in the case of non-symmetrical load. In case of uniformly distributed load single cable is preferable.

Keywords: Cable trusses, Non-symmetrical load, Cable truss models, Vertical displacements

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Authors: Seyedeh Belin Tavakoly Sany, H. Rosli, R. Majid, S. Aishah

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In this study, water monitoring was performed from Nov. 2012 to Oct. 2013 to assess water quality and evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of physicochemical and biological variables in water. Water samples were collected from 10 coastal water stations of West Port. In the case of water-quality assessment, multi-metric indices and operational indicators have been proposed to classify the trophic status at different stations. The trophic level of West Port coastal water ranges from eutrophic to hypertrophic. Chl-a concentration was used to estimate the biological response of phytoplankton biomass and indicated eutrophic conditions in West Port and mesotrophic conditions at the control site. During the study period, no eutrophication events or secondary symptoms occurred, which may be related to hydrodynamic turbulence and water exchange, which prevent the development of eutrophic conditions in the West Port.

Keywords: Water quality, multi-metric indices, operational indicator, Malaysia, West Port.

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Authors: Seemaa Diwedi

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The study area receives a wide variety of wastes generated by municipalities and the industries like paints and pigments, metal processing industries, thermal power plants electroprocessing industries etc. The Physico-chemical and structural investigation of water from river Pandu indicated high level of chlorides and calcium which made the water unsuitable for human use. Algae like Cyclotella fumida, Asterionella Formosa, Cladophora glomerata, Pediastrum simplex, Scenedesmus bijuga, Cladophora glomerata were the dominant pollution tolerant species recorded under these conditions. The sensitive and less abundant species of algae included Spirogyra sps., Merismopedia sps. The predominance colonies of Zygnema sps, Phormidium sps, Mycrocystis aeruginosa, Merismopedia minima, Pandorina morum, seems to correlate with high organic contents of Pandu river water. This study assumes significance as some algae can be used as bioindicators of water pollution and algal floral of a municipal drain carrying waste effluents from industrial area Kanpur and discharge them into the river Pandu flowing onto southern outskirts of Kanpur city.

Keywords: Kanpur, North India, Physico-chemical, Pollution, River Pandu.

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Authors: M.R. Mustafa, M.H. Isa, R.B. Rezaur

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Prediction of highly non linear behavior of suspended sediment flow in rivers has prime importance in the field of water resources engineering. In this study the predictive performance of two Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) namely, the Radial Basis Function (RBF) Network and the Multi Layer Feed Forward (MLFF) Network have been compared. Time series data of daily suspended sediment discharge and water discharge at Pari River was used for training and testing the networks. A number of statistical parameters i.e. root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), coefficient of efficiency (CE) and coefficient of determination (R2) were used for performance evaluation of the models. Both the models produced satisfactory results and showed a good agreement between the predicted and observed data. The RBF network model provided slightly better results than the MLFF network model in predicting suspended sediment discharge.

Keywords: ANN, discharge, modeling, prediction, suspendedsediment,

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Authors: D. Moser, D. Pinto, A. Cipriano

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A Disaster Management System (DMS) is very important for countries with multiple disasters, such as Chile. In the world (also in Chile)different disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruption, fire or other natural or man-made disasters) happen and have an effect on the population. It is also possible that two or more disasters occur at the same time. This meansthata multi-risk situation must be mastered. To handle such a situation a Decision Support System (DSS) based on multiagents is a suitable architecture. The most known DMSs are concernedwith only a singledisaster (sometimes thecombination of earthquake and tsunami) and often with a particular disaster. Nevertheless, a DSS helps for a better real-time response. Analyze the existing systems in the literature and expand them for multi-risk disasters to construct a well-organized system is the proposal of our work. The here shown work is an approach of a multi-risk system, which needs an architecture and well defined aims. In this moment our study is a kind of case study to analyze the way we have to follow to create our proposed system in the future.

Keywords: Decision Support System, Disaster Management System, Multi-Risk, Multiagent System.

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Authors: Ju Peng Poh, Jun Yu Charles Lee, Jonathan Chew Hoe Khoo

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The emergence of digital twin technology, a digital replica of physical world, has improved the real-time access to data from sensors about the performance of buildings. This digital transformation has opened up many opportunities to improve the management of the building by using the data collected to help monitor consumption patterns and energy leakages. One example is the integration of predictive models for anomaly detection. In this paper, we use the GAM (Generalised Additive Model) for the anomaly detection of Air Handling Units (AHU) power consumption pattern. There is ample research work on the use of GAM for the prediction of power consumption at the office building and nation-wide level. However, there is limited illustration of its anomaly detection capabilities, prescriptive analytics case study, and its integration with the latest development of digital twin technology. In this paper, we applied the general GAM modelling framework on the historical data of the AHU power consumption and cooling load of the building between Jan 2018 to Aug 2019 from an education campus in Singapore to train prediction models that, in turn, yield predicted values and ranges. The historical data are seamlessly extracted from the digital twin for modelling purposes. We enhanced the utility of the GAM model by using it to power a real-time anomaly detection system based on the forward predicted ranges. The magnitude of deviation from the upper and lower bounds of the uncertainty intervals is used to inform and identify anomalous data points, all based on historical data, without explicit intervention from domain experts. Notwithstanding, the domain expert fits in through an optional feedback loop through which iterative data cleansing is performed. After an anomalously high or low level of power consumption detected, a set of rule-based conditions are evaluated in real-time to help determine the next course of action for the facilities manager. The performance of GAM is then compared with other approaches to evaluate its effectiveness. Lastly, we discuss the successfully deployment of this approach for the detection of anomalous power consumption pattern and illustrated with real-world use cases.

Keywords: Anomaly detection, digital twin, Generalised Additive Model, Power Consumption Model.

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Authors: B. Fahimnia, L.H.S. Luong, R. M. Marian

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The Aggregate Production Plan (APP) is a schedule of the organization-s overall operations over a planning horizon to satisfy demand while minimizing costs. It is the baseline for any further planning and formulating the master production scheduling, resources, capacity and raw material planning. This paper presents a methodology to model the Aggregate Production Planning problem, which is combinatorial in nature, when optimized with Genetic Algorithms. This is done considering a multitude of constraints of contradictory nature and the optimization criterion – overall cost, made up of costs with production, work force, inventory, and subcontracting. A case study of substantial size, used to develop the model, is presented, along with the genetic operators.

Keywords: Aggregate Production Planning, Costs, and Optimization.

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Authors: Nerey H. Mvungi, Mosses Makoko

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In today-s highly globalised and competitive world access to information plays key role in having an upper hand between business rivals. Hence, proper protection of such crucial resource is core to any modern business. Implementing a successful information security system is basically centered around three pillars; technical solution involving both software and hardware, information security controls to translate the policies and procedure in the system and the people to implement. This paper shows that a lot needs to be done for countries adapting information technology to process, store and distribute information to secure adequately such core resource.

Keywords: security, information systems, controls, technology, practices.

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Authors: Marios N. Moschakis

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This paper deals with the assessment of faulted area around an industrial customer connected to a particular electric grid that will cause a certain sag magnitude on this customer. The faulted (critical or exposed) area’s length is calculated by adding all line lengths in the neighborhood of the critical node (customer). The applied method is the so-called Method of Critical Distances. By using advanced short-circuit analysis, the Critical Area can be accurately calculated for radial and meshed power networks due to all symmetrical and asymmetrical faults. For the demonstration of the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, a study case is used.

Keywords: Critical area, fault-induced voltage sags, industrial customers, power quality.

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Authors: Lele Zhang, HuiLeng Choo, Alexander Konyukhov, Shuguang Li

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China is currently the world's largest producer and distributor of electric bicycle (e-bike). The increasing number of e-bikes on the road is accompanied by rising injuries and even deaths of e-bike drivers. Therefore, there is a growing need to improve the safety structure of e-bikes. This 3D frictionless contact analysis is a preliminary, but necessary work for further structural design improvement of an e-bike. The contact analysis between e-bike and the ground was carried out as follows: firstly, the Penalty method was illustrated and derived from the simplest spring-mass system. This is one of the most common methods to satisfy the frictionless contact case; secondly, ANSYS static analysis was carried out to verify finite element (FE) models with contact pair (without friction) between e-bike and the ground; finally, ANSYS transient analysis was used to obtain the data of the penetration p(u) of e-bike with respect to the ground. Results obtained from the simulation are as estimated by comparing with that from theoretical method. In the future, protective shell will be designed following the stability criteria and added to the frame of e-bike. Simulation of side falling of the improvedsafety structure of e-bike will be confirmed with experimental data.

Keywords: Frictionless contact, penalty method, e-bike, finite element.

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Authors: Marcos Amado Petroli

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This paper investigates civic representation in mid-century diplomatic buildings through the case of the U.S. Embassy in Karachi (1955-59), Pakistan, designed by the Austrian-American architect Richard Neutra (1892-1970) and the American architect Robert Alexander (1907-92). Texts, magazines, and oral histories at that time highlighted the need for a new postwar expression of American governmental architecture, leaning toward modernization, technology, and monumentality. Descriptive, structural, and historical analyses of the U.S. Embassy in Karachi revealed the emergence of a new prototypical solution for postwar diplomatic buildings: the combination of one main orthogonal block, seen as a modern-day corps de logis, and a flanking arcuated pavilion, often organized in one or two stories. Although the U.S. Embassy relied on highly industrialized techniques and abstract images of social progress, archival work at the Neutra’s archives at the University of California, Los Angeles, revealed that much of this project was adapted to vernacular elements and traditional forms—such as the intriguing use of reinforced concrete barrel vaults.

Keywords: Modern monumentality, post-WWII diplomatic buildings, theory of character, thin-shells.

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Authors: H. B. Nguendo Yongsi, Thora M. Herrmann, A. Lutumba Ntetu, Rémy Sietchiping, Christopher Bryant

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Health problems linked to urban growth are current major concerns of developing countries. In 2002 and 2005, an interdisciplinary program “Populations et Espaces ├á Risques SANitaires" (PERSAN) was set up under the patronage of the Development and Research Institute. Centered on health in Cameroon-s urban environment, the program mainly sought to (i) identify diarrhoea risk factors in Yaoundé, (ii) to measure their prevalence and apprehend their spatial distribution. The crosssectional epidemiological study that was carried out revealed a diarrheic prevalence of 14.4% (437 cases of diarrhoea on the 3,034 children examined). Also, among risk factors studied, household refuse management methods used by city dwellers were statistically associated to these diarrhoeas. Moreover, it happened that levels of diarrhoeal attacks varied consistently from one neighbourhood to another because of the discrepancy urbanization process of the Yaoundé metropolis.

Keywords: Diarrhea, health risk, household refuses handling, sanitation, Yaoundé.

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Authors: Vallejo Michael, Acuña Edgar, Roa Juan David, Peñuela Rosa, Parra Alejandra, Casallas Daniela, Rodriguez Sheyla

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Congenital Zika Virus Syndrome is an entity composed by a variety of birth defects presented in newborns that have been exposed to the Zika Virus during pregnancy. The syndrome characteristic features are severe microcephaly, cerebral tissue abnormalities, ophthalmological abnormalities such as uveitis and chorioretinitis, arthrogryposis, clubfoot deformity and muscular tone abnormalities. The confirmatory test is the Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) associated to the physical findings. Here we present the case of a newborn with microcephaly whose mother presented a confirmed Zika Virus infection during the third trimester of pregnancy, despite of the evident findings and the history of Zika infection the RT-PCR in amniotic and cerebrospinal fluid of the newborn was negative. RT-PCR has demonstrated a low sensibility in samples with low viral loads, reason why, we propose a clinical diagnosis in patients with clinical history of Zika Virus infection during pregnancy accompanied by evident clinical manifestations of the child.

Keywords: Zika Virus, polymerase chain reaction, microcephaly, amniotic fluid.

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Authors: Amer Ezoji, Mohammad Sedighi

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In the article, the wire winding process for the reinforcement of a pressure vessel frame has been studied. Firstly, the importance of the wire winding method has been explained and literature was reviewed. The main step in the design process is the methodology axial force control. The frame consists of two columns and two semi-cylinders with circumstantial wires. A computational algorithm has been presented based on the governing equations and relations on stress-strain behavior of the whole system of the frame.  Then a case study was studied to calculate the frame dimensions and wire winding procedure.

Keywords: Wire winding, Frame, stress, Design for Manufacturing.

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Authors: Jaroslav Burian, Kateřina Sorbiová, Pavel Tuček, Michaela Tučková

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The article describes problems of city centers with regard to possibilities of their delimitation in a GIS environment. First the definitions and delimitations of a city centre which are in use are mentioned, furthermore a chosen case study (the historical centre of Olomouc city in the Czech Republic) is employed to describe the methods of delimitation in use. In addition to describing the current state, the article also deals with possibilities of delimitation of a city centre in GIS environment by means of several chosen approaches. The authors describe, compare and discuss the chosen methods and assess the achieved results and also applicability of the designed methods for other cities.

Keywords: analysis, city center, GIS, spatial structures

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Authors: Ahmed A. Hassan, Hassan I. Ali, Abdallah A. Salum, Asia M. Kassim, Yussuf N. Elmoge, Ali A. Amour

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of chemistry in Zanzibar Secondary Schools. It was conducted in all regions of Zanzibar in public and private secondary schools and Ministry of Education officials. The objective of the study included finding out causes of poor performance in chemistry. Views, opinions, and suggestions of teachers and students to improve performance of chemistry and a descriptive survey was adopted for the study. 45 teachers and 200 students were randomly sampled from 15 secondary schools in Zanzibar and ten Ministry of Education officials were purposively sampled for the study. Questionnaires and open-ended interview schedules were the main instruments used in obtaining relevant data from respondents. Data collected from the field was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative analysis involved content analysis of the responses obtained through interviews and quantitative analysis involved generation of tables, frequencies and percentages. The results revealed that there were shortages of trained teachers, lack of proficiency in the language of instruction (English) and major facilities like laboratories and books. These led to poor delivery of subject matter and consequently resulting in poor performance. Based on the findings, this study recommends that provision of trained, competent, and effective teachers as vital aspects to be considered. Government through Ministry of Education should put effort to stalk libraries and equip laboratories with modern books and instruments. In addition, the ministry should strengthen teachers’ training and encourage use of instructional media in class and make conducive learning environment to both teachers and students.

Keywords: Zanzibar, secondary schools, chemistry, science, performance and factors.

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Authors: Rabiˆı DARITI, El Mamoun SOUIDI

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Linear error-block codes are a natural generalization of linear error correcting codes. The purpose of this paper is to generalize some results on the packing and the covering radii to the error-block case. We study their properties when a code undergoes some specific modifications and combinations with another code. We give a few bounds on the packing and the covering radii of these codes.

Keywords: Linear error-block codes, π-distance, Correction capacity, Packing radius, Covering radius.

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Authors: Thomas Klauß

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In networks, mainly small and medium-sized businesses benefit from the knowledge, experiences and solutions offered by experts from industry and science or from the exchange with practitioners. Associations which focus, among other things, on networking, information and knowledge transfer and which are interested in supporting such cooperations are especially well suited to provide such networks and the appropriate web platforms. Using METORA as an example – a project developed and run by the Federal Association for Information Economy, Telecommunications and New Media e.V. (BITKOM) for the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) – This paper will discuss how associations and other network organizations can achieve this task and what conditions they have to consider.

Keywords: Associations, collaboration, communities, crossdepartmental organizations, semantic web, web 2.0.

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Authors: Tanveer A. Khan, Xue Y. Deng, Yan K. Wang, Xu Si-Wen

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Experiments have been carried out at sub-critical Reynolds number to investigate free-to-roll motions induced by forebody and/or wings complex flow on a 30° swept back nonslender wings-slender body-model for static and dynamic (pitch-up) cases. For the dynamic (pitch-up) case it has been observed that roll amplitude decreases and lag increases with increase in pitching speed. Decrease in roll amplitude with increase in pitch rate is attributed to low disturbing rolling moment due to weaker interaction between forebody and wing flow components. Asymmetric forebody vortices dominate and control the roll motion of the model in dynamic case when non-dimensional pitch rate ≥ 1x10-2. Effectiveness of the active control scheme utilizing rotating nose with artificial tip perturbation is observed to be low in the angle of attack region where the complex flow over the wings has contributions from both forebody and wings.

Keywords: Artificial Tip Perturbation, ExperimentalInvestigations, Forebody Asymmetric Vortices, Non-slender Wings-Body Model, Wing Rock

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Authors: Youn-Sung Kim, Mi-Sung Kim, Jae-Kun Lee

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This paper deals with the accelerated life cycle test method of the motor for home appliances that demand high reliability. Life Cycle of parts in home appliances also should be 10 years because life cycle of the home appliances such as washing machine, refrigerator, TV is at least 10 years. In case of washing machine, the life cycle test method of motor is advanced for 3000 cycle test (1cycle = 2hours). However, 3000 cycle test incurs loss for the time and cost. Objectives of this study are to reduce the life cycle test time and the number of test samples, which could be realized by using acceleration factor for the test time and reduction factor for the number of sample.

Keywords: Accelerated life cycle test, motor reliability test, motor for washing machine, BLDC motor.

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Authors: S. Dhahri, A. Zitouni, H. Chaouch, R. Tourki

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This paper presents an adaptive motion estimator that can be dynamically reconfigured by the best algorithm depending on the variation of the video nature during the lifetime of an application under running. The 4 Step Search (4SS) and the Gradient Search (GS) algorithms are integrated in the estimator in order to be used in the case of rapid and slow video sequences respectively. The Full Search Block Matching (FSBM) algorithm has been also integrated in order to be used in the case of the video sequences which are not real time oriented. In order to efficiently reduce the computational cost while achieving better visual quality with low cost power, the proposed motion estimator is based on a Variable Block Size (VBS) scheme that uses only the 16x16, 16x8, 8x16 and 8x8 modes. Experimental results show that the adaptive motion estimator allows better results in term of Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), computational cost, FPGA occupied area, and dissipated power relatively to the most popular variable block size schemes presented in the literature.

Keywords: H264, Configurable Motion Estimator, VariableBlock Size, PSNR, Dissipated power.

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Authors: Paulo R. M. de Andrade, Adriano B. Albuquerque, Otávio F. Frota, Robson V. Silveira, Fátima A. da Silva

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Information technology has been gaining more and more space whether in industry, commerce or even for personal use, but the misuse of it brings harm to the environment and human health as a result. Contribute to the sustainability of the planet is to compensate the environment, all or part of what withdraws it. The green computing also came to propose practical for use in IT in an environmentally correct way in aid of strategic management and communication. This work focuses on showing how a mobile application can help businesses reduce costs and reduced environmental impacts caused by its processes, through a case study of a public company in Brazil.

Keywords: E-government, green computing, information technology, mobile computing, sustainable development.

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Authors: O. Srihakulung, Y. Soongsumal

Abstract:

Among the chemicals used for ammunition production, TNT (Trinitrotoluene) play a significant role since World War I and II. Various types of military weapon utilize TNT in casting process. However, the TNT casting process for warhead is difficult to control the cooling rate of the liquid TNT. This problem occurs because the casting process lacks the equipment to detect the temperature during the casting procedure This study presents the temperature detected by infrared camera to illustrate the cooling rate and cooling zone of curing, and demonstrates the optimization of TNT condition to reduce the risk of air gap occurred in the warhead which can result in the destruction afterward. Premature initiation of explosive-filled projectiles in response to set-back forces during gunfiring cause by casting defects. Finally the study can help improving the process of the TNT casting. The operators can control the curing of TNT inside the case by rising up the heating rod at the proper time. Consequently this can reduce tremendous time of rework if the air gaps occur and increase strength to lower elastic modulus. Therefore, it can be clearly concluded that the use of Infrared Cameras in this process is another method to improve the casting procedure.

Keywords: Infrared camera, TNT casting, warhead, curing.

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Authors: Fucai Lin

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Soft topological spaces are considered as mathematical tools for dealing with uncertainties, and a fuzzy topological space is a special case of the soft topological space. The purpose of this paper is to study soft topological spaces. We introduce some new concepts in soft topological spaces such as soft closed mapping, soft open mappings, soft connected spaces and soft paracompact spaces. We also redefine the concept of soft points such that it is reasonable in soft topological spaces. Moreover, some basic properties of these concepts are explored.

Keywords: soft sets, soft open mappings, soft closed mappings, soft connected spaces, soft paracompact spaces.

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Authors: Denis V. Shutin, Alexander Yu. Babin, Leonid A. Savin

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One of the ways of reducing vibroactivity of rotor systems is to apply active hybrid bearings. Their design allows correction of the rotor’s location by means of separately controlling the supply pressure of the lubricant into the friction area. In a most simple case, the control system is based on a P-regulator. Increase of the gain coefficient allows decreasing the amplitude of rotor’s vibrations. The same effect can be achieved by means of increasing the pressure in the collector of a traditional passive hybrid bearing. However, these approaches affect the dynamic characteristics of the bearing differently. Theoretical studies show that the increase of the gain coefficient of an active bearing increases the stiffness of the bearing, as well as the increase of the pressure in the collector. Nevertheless, in case of a passive bearing, the damping properties deteriorate, whereas the active hybrid bearings obtain higher damping properties, which allow effectively providing the energy dissipation of the rotor vibrations and reducing the load on the constructional elements of a machine.

Keywords: Active bearings, control system, damping, hybrid bearings, stiffness.

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Authors: Rizvi Hasan

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Male factor infertility due to endocrine disturbances such as abnormalities in prolactin levels are encountered in a significant proportion. This case control study was carried out to determine the effects of prolactin on the male reproductive tract, using 200 male white rats. The rats were maintained as the control group (G1), hypoprolactinaemic group (G2), 3 hyperprolactinaemic groups induced using oral largactil (G3), low dose fluphenazine (G4) and high dose fluphenazine (G5). After 100 days, rats were subjected to serum prolactin (PRL) level measurements and for basic seminal fluid analysis (BSA). The difference between serum PRL concentrations of rats in G2, G3, G4 and G5 as compared to the control group were highly significant by Student’s t-test (p<0.001). There were statistically significant differences in seminal fluid characteristics of rats with induced prolactin abnormalities when compared with those of control group (p value <0.05), effects were more marked as the PRL levels rise.

Keywords: Male factor infertility, Prolactin, Seminal fluid analysis, animal studies.

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Authors: Ilyas Khan. Liliane Pintelon, Harry Martin, Michael Shömig

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The increasing costs of healthcare on one hand, and the rise in aging population and associated chronic disease, on the other hand, are putting increasing burden on the current health care system in many Western countries. For instance, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common disease and in Europe, the cost of renal replacement therapy (RRT) is very significant to the total health care cost. However, the recent advancement in healthcare technology, provide the opportunity to treat patients at home in their own comfort. It is evident that home healthcare offers numerous advantages apparently, low costs and high patients’ quality of life. Despite these advantages, the intake of home hemodialysis (HHD) therapy is still low in particular in Germany. Many factors are accounted for the low number of HHD intake. However, this paper is focusing on patients’ safety-related factors of current HHD practices in Germany. The aim of this paper is to analyze the current HHD practices in Germany and to identify risks related factors if any exist. A case study has been conducted in a dialysis center which consists of four dialysis centers in the south of Germany. In total, these dialysis centers have 350 chronic dialysis patients, of which, four patients are on HHD. The centers have 126 staff which includes six nephrologists and 120 other staff i.e. nurses and administration. The results of the study revealed several risk-related factors. Most importantly, these centers do not offer allied health services at the pre-dialysis stage, the HHD training did not have an established curriculum; however, they have just recently developed the first version. Only a soft copy of the machine manual is offered to patients. Surprisingly, the management was not aware of any standard available for home assessment and installation. The home assessment is done by a third party (i.e. the machines and equipment provider) and they may not consider the hygienic quality of the patient’s home. The type of machine provided to patients at home is similar to the one in the center. The model may not be suitable at home because of its size and complexity. Even though portable hemodialysis machines, which are specially designed for home use, are available in the market such as the NxStage series. Besides the type of machine, no assistance is offered for space management at home in particular for placing the machine. Moreover, the centers do not offer remote assistance to patients and their carer at home. However, telephonic assistance is available. Furthermore, no alternative is offered if a carer is not available. In addition, the centers are lacking medical staff including nephrologists and renal nurses.

Keywords: Home hemodialysis, home hemodialysis practices, patients’ related risks in the current home hemodialysis practices, patient safety in home hemodialysis.

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Authors: Linda Sau-ling LAI

Abstract:

The story of Alibaba demonstrates a credible example of how a small start-up company can eventually make it big in the global economy through the Internet. This case study does not attempt to present Alibaba as a perfect formula; rather, it discusses the strategies carried out by the firm and, in the process, culls out the important lessons that can guide start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs in the complex world of online trading. Similar to the interesting and exotic Asian cuisine that continuously evolves from the diversity of Asia-s people and their unique culture and personality, Alibaba has successfully transformed itself over the years, adapting to the changes in and demands of online businessto- business (B2B) commerce.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, electronic commerce, leadership, business model, small and medium enterprises.

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Authors: Laura de Zwaan, Tracey West

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There is a sustained observable gender gap in financial literacy, with females consistently having lower levels than males. This research explores the knowledge and experiences of high school students in Australia aged 14 to 18 in order to understand how this gap can be improved. Using a predominantly qualitative approach, we find evidence to support impacts on financial literacy from financial socialization and socio-economic environment. We also find evidence that current teaching and assessment approaches to financial literacy may disadvantage female students. We conclude by offering recommendations to improve the way financial literacy education is delivered within the curriculum.

Keywords: Financial literacy, financial socialization, gender, maths.

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