Search results for: damage level monitoring.

Authors: Widi Astuti, Agus Prasetya, Endang Tri Wahyuni, I Made Bendiyasa

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Coal fly ash (CFA) generated by coal-based thermal power plants is mainly composed of some oxides having high crystallinity, like quartz and mullite. In this study, the effect of CFA crystallinity toward lead adsorption capacity was investigated. To get solid with various crystallinity, the solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) of 1-7 M was used to treat CFA at various temperature and reflux time. Furthermore, to evaluate the effect of NaOH-treated CFA with respect to adsorption capacity, the treated CFA were examine as adsorbent for removing lead in the solution. The result shows that using NaOH to treat CFA causes crystallinity of quartz and mullite decrease. At higher NaOH concentration (>3M), in addition the damage of quartz and mullite crystallinity is followed by crystal formation called hydroxysodalite. The lower crystalllinity, the higher adsorption capacity.

Keywords: Coal fly ash, crystallinity, lead, adsorption capacity

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Authors: A. Faro, D. Giordano, C. Spampinato

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Traffic management in an urban area is highly facilitated by the knowledge of the traffic conditions in every street or highway involved in the vehicular mobility system. Aim of the paper is to propose a neuro-fuzzy approach able to compute the main parameters of a traffic system, i.e., car density, velocity and flow, by using the images collected by the web-cams located at the crossroads of the traffic network. The performances of this approach encourage its application when the traffic system is far from the saturation. A fuzzy model is also outlined to evaluate when it is suitable to use more accurate, even if more time consuming, algorithms for measuring traffic conditions near to saturation.

Keywords: Neuro-fuzzy networks, computer vision, Fuzzy systems, intelligent transportation system.

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Authors: A. Y. Dutse, S. I. Ningi

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The adoption and diffusion of Information Technology (IT) is one of the fastest growing trends in organizations operating within Nigeria’s economy. Public and private organizations make huge capital investments in an attempt acquire and adopt the state-of-the-art IT for improving operational efficiency. In this study the level of IT adoption is considered the primary driver of efficiency witnessed by organizations. The research gathered data on the intensity of IT usage, and resultant efficiency increase in the organizations’ operations. The data was analyzed using multiple regression analysis and reveals that high level of IT usage has enhance efficiency of private and public organizations in Northern part of Nigeria with organizations having strategic intent on IT adoption indicating higher efficiency gains.

Keywords: IT Adoption, Nigeria, Organizational efficiency.

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Authors: Somtop Keawchuer

Abstract:

The objective of this research was to study the factors related to the satisfaction of consumers who purchased a Toyota SUV Fortuner. This paper was a survey data which collected 400 samples from 65 car dealerships. The survey was conducted mainly in Bangkok, Thailand. The statistics utilized in this paper included percentage, mean, standard deviation and Pearson Product-Moment. The findings revealed that the majority of respondent were male with an undergraduate degree, married and live together. The average income of the respondents was between 20,001 - 30,000 baht. Most of them worked for private companies. Most of them had a family with the average of 4 members. The hypotheses testing revealed that the factors of marketing mix in terms of product (ability, gas mileage, and safety) were related to overall satisfaction at the medium level. However, the findings also revealed that the factors of marketing mix in terms of product (image), price, and promotion, and service center were related to the overall satisfaction at the low level.

Keywords: Car Consumers, Factors related, Overall Satisfaction.

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Authors: J. Marzbanrad, A. Yadollahi

Abstract:

In the present paper, Fatigue life assessment of an anti-roll bar component of a passenger vehicle, is investigated by ANSYS 11 software. A stress analysis is also carried out by the finite element technique for the determination of highly stressed regions on the bar. Anti-roll bar is a suspension element used at the front, rear, or at both ends of a car that reduces body roll by resisting any unequal vertical motion between the pair of wheels to which it is connected. As a first stage, fatigue damage models proposed by some well-known references and the corresponding assumptions are discussed and some enhancements are proposed. Then, fracture analysis of an anti-roll bar of an automobile is carried out. The analysed type of the anti-roll bar is especially important as many cases are reported about the fracture after a 100,000 km of travel fatigue and fracture conditions. This paper demonstrates fatigue life of an anti-roll bar and then evaluated by experimental analytically results from other researcher.

Keywords: Anti-roll bar, Fracture, Fatigue life, Random loading

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Authors: Richard Grünes, Karel Roubik

Abstract:

The article deals with technical support of intracranial single unit activity measurement. The parameters of the whole measuring set were tested in order to assure the optimal conditions of extracellular single-unit recording. Metal microelectrodes for measuring the single-unit were tested during animal experiments. From signals recorded during these experiments, requirements for the measuring set parameters were defined. The impedance parameters of the metal microelectrodes were measured. The frequency-gain and autonomous noise properties of preamplifier and amplifier were verified. The measurement and the description of the extracellular single unit activity could help in prognoses of brain tissue damage recovery.

Keywords: Measuring set, metal microelectrodes, single-unit, noise, impedance parameters, gain characteristics.

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Authors: M. D. Haneef, R. B. Randall, Z. Peng

Abstract:

Journal bearings used in IC engines are prone to premature failures and are likely to fail earlier than the rated life due to highly impulsive and unstable operating conditions and frequent starts/stops. Vibration signature extraction and wear debris analysis techniques are prevalent in industry for condition monitoring of rotary machinery. However, both techniques involve a great deal of technical expertise, time, and cost. Limited literature is available on the application of these techniques for fault detection in reciprocating machinery, due to the complex nature of impact forces that confounds the extraction of fault signals for vibration-based analysis and wear prediction. In present study, a simulation model was developed to investigate the bearing wear behaviour, resulting because of different operating conditions, to complement the vibration analysis. In current simulation, the dynamics of the engine was established first, based on which the hydrodynamic journal bearing forces were evaluated by numerical solution of the Reynold’s equation. In addition, the essential outputs of interest in this study, critical to determine wear rates are the tangential velocity and oil film thickness between the journals and bearing sleeve, which if not maintained appropriately, have a detrimental effect on the bearing performance. Archard’s wear prediction model was used in the simulation to calculate the wear rate of bearings with specific location information as all determinative parameters were obtained with reference to crank rotation. Oil film thickness obtained from the model was used as a criterion to determine if the lubrication is sufficient to prevent contact between the journal and bearing thus causing accelerated wear. A limiting value of 1 μm was used as the minimum oil film thickness needed to prevent contact. The increased wear rate with growing severity of operating conditions is analogous and comparable to the rise in amplitude of the squared envelope of the referenced vibration signals. Thus on one hand, the developed model demonstrated its capability to explain wear behaviour and on the other hand it also helps to establish a co-relation between wear based and vibration based analysis. Therefore, the model provides a cost effective and quick approach to predict the impending wear in IC engine bearings under various operating conditions.

Keywords: Condition monitoring, IC engine, journal bearings, vibration analysis, wear prediction.

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Authors: Pornpapatsorn Princhankol, Kannika Udnunkarn

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This research was aimed to develop and determine the quality of online learning activities kit as well as to examine the learning achievement of students and their satisfaction towards the kit through authentic assessment. The tools in this research contained online learning activities kit on plant in Thai literature in compliance with the School Botanical Garden of Plant Genetic Conservation Project under the Royal Initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the assessment form, the learning achievement test, the satisfaction form and the authentic assessment form. The population consisted of 40 students in the second range of primary years (Prathomsuksa 4 to 6) at Ban Khao Rak School, Suratthani Province, Thailand. The research results showed that the content quality of the developed online learning activities kit as assessed by the experts was 4.70 on average or at very high level. The pre-test and post-test comparison was made to examine the learning achievement and it revealed that the post-test score was higher than the pre-test score with statistical significance at the .01 level. The satisfaction of the sampling group towards the online learning activities kit was 4.74 or at the highest level. The authentic assessment showed an average of 1.69 or at good level. Therefore, the online learning activities kit on plant in Thai literature in compliance with the School Botanical Garden of Plant Genetic Conservation Project under the Royal Initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn could be used in real classroom situations.

Keywords: Online learning activities kit, Plants in Thai literature, School Botanical garden

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Authors: Hai Quang Hong Dam, Hai Ho, Minh Hoang Le Ngo

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This paper investigates the problem of blind speech separation from the speech mixture of two speakers. A voice activity detector employing the Steered Response Power - Phase Transform (SRP-PHAT) is presented for detecting the activity information of speech sources and then the desired speech signals are extracted from the speech mixture by using an optimal beamformer. For evaluation, the algorithm effectiveness, a simulation using real speech recordings had been performed in a double-talk situation where two speakers are active all the time. Evaluations show that the proposed blind speech separation algorithm offers a good interference suppression level whilst maintaining a low distortion level of the desired signal.

Keywords: Blind speech separation, voice activity detector, SRP-PHAT, optimal beamformer.

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Authors: Beata Ślusarczyk, Sebastian Kot

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In subjective terms, Polish SME sector occupies a prominent position in the national economic development, in which planning of the management strategies should be primarily based on identifying and meeting the innovation needs. As a research sample, there is chosen a printing sector of industry. SMEs share in printing sector in Poland is estimated at the level of 81% of all enterprises. In recent years, the printing industry achieved one of the highest levels of EU support in Poland. There is a relatively high increase in the development of technological innovations in equipment and the associated significant increase in production capacity. It can be also noticed that on average, every third enterprise belonging to the printing industry has implemented innovations, but not all of them effected in better economic results. Therefore, the aim of this article is to evaluate the impact of the implementation of innovation projects financed from the EU funds for performance of SMEs in the printing industry. As the results of research of EU funds co-financing effects on the development of innovation in the printing industry, it was specified that examined SMEs prefer to implement product innovation to receive a grant to the project at a level between 40% to 60%, the remaining part of the investment is usually covered with equity. The most common type of innovation had indicated a single implementation, related only to the change in process, technology, or organization. The relationship between variables of the EU funds and management of innovative activities was verified. It has been observed that the identified variables arising from the support in a form of the EU funds had a positive effect on the level of earned revenue, the increase in margin and in increase in employment as well. It was confirmed that the implemented innovations supported by the European funds have a positive impact on the performance of the printing companies. Although there is a risk that due to the decreasing demand for printing services such a high level of funding the companies in this sector will significantly increase competition in the long term, that may also contribute to the economic problems of the enterprises belonging to the analyzed branch.

Keywords: Innovations, SMEs, performance, results.

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Authors: Akihiro Iijima, Kimiyo Kumagai

Abstract:

A long-term campaign for monitoring the concentration of atmospheric Particulate Matter (PM) was conducted at multiple sites located in the center and suburbs of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area in Japan. The concentration of fine PM has shown a declining trend over the last two decades. A positive matrix factorization model elucidated that the contribution of combustion sources was drastically reduced. In Japan, the regulations on vehicle exhaust emissions were phased in and gradually tightened over the last two decades, which has triggered a notable reduction in PM emissions from automobiles and has contributed to the mitigation of the problem of fine PM pollution.

Keywords: Air pollution, Diesel-powered vehicle, Positive matrix factorization, Receptor modeling.

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Authors: Zhiyuan Du, Baisravan Hom Chaudhuri, Pierluigi Pisu

Abstract:

In connected vehicle systems where wireless communication is available among the involved vehicles and intersection controllers, it is possible to design an intersection coordination strategy that leads the connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) travel through the road intersections without the conventional traffic light control. In this paper, we present a distributed coordination strategy for the CAVs at multiple interconnected intersections that aims at improving system fuel efficiency and system mobility. We present a distributed control solution where in the higher level, the intersection controllers calculate the road desired average velocity and optimally assign reference velocities of each vehicle. In the lower level, every vehicle is considered to use model predictive control (MPC) to track their reference velocity obtained from the higher level controller. The proposed method has been implemented on a simulation-based case with two-interconnected intersection network. Additionally, the effects of mixed vehicle types on the coordination strategy has been explored. Simulation results indicate the improvement on vehicle fuel efficiency and traffic mobility of the proposed method.

Keywords: Connected vehicles, automated vehicles, intersection coordination systems, multiple interconnected intersections, model predictive control.

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Authors: Saad M. Al-Garni, Adel A. Abdennour

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Vehicle detection is the critical step for highway monitoring. In this paper we propose background subtraction and edge detection technique for vehicle detection. This technique uses the advantages of both approaches. The practical applications approved the effectiveness of this method. This method consists of two procedures: First, automatic background extraction procedure, in which the background is extracted automatically from the successive frames; Second vehicles detection procedure, which depend on edge detection and background subtraction. Experimental results show the effective application of this algorithm. Vehicles detection rate was higher than 91%.

Keywords: Image processing, Automatic background extraction, Moving vehicle detection.

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Authors: Akram Shahriyari, Reza Mokhtari Malek Abadi

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E-tourism is among the issues that have recently been entered into the field of tourism. In order to achieve this type of tourism, Information and Communications Technology or ICT infrastructures as well as Co-governmental organizations and tourism resources are important. In this study, the opinions of managers and tourism officials about the e-tourism in Lenjan city were measured; it also surveyed the impact of level of digital literacy of managers and tourism officials on attracting tourists in Lenjan city. This study was conducted in Lenjan, one of the environs of the Esfahan province. This study is a documentary – survey and the sources include library resources and also questionnaires. The results obtained indicate that if managers use ICT, it may help E-tourism to be developed in the region, and increasing managers’ beliefs on e-tourism and upgrading their level of digital literacy may affect e-tourism development.

Keywords: ICT, e-tourism, opinion of managers and officials.

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Authors: S. S. Salehi, A. Shamloo

Abstract:

Poor ability of cartilage tissue when experiencing a damage leads scientists to use tissue engineering as a reliable and effective method for regenerating or replacing damaged tissues. An artificial tissue should have some features such as biocompatibility, biodegradation and, enough mechanical properties like the original tissue. In this work, a composite hydrogel is prepared by using natural and synthetic materials that has high porosity. Mechanical properties of different combinations of polymers such as modulus of elasticity were tested, and a hydrogel with good mechanical properties was selected. Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells were also seeded into the pores of the sponge, and the results showed the adhesion and proliferation of cells within the hydrogel after one month. In comparison with previous works, this study offers a new and efficient procedure for the fabrication of cartilage like tissue and further cartilage repair.

Keywords: Cartilage tissue engineering, hydrogel, mechanical strength, mesenchymal stem cell.

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Authors: Melani Arnaldi, Suzy Yusna Dewi

Abstract:

School brawls have taken casualties to the life of students in Jakarta. In the last time, school brawl studies investigate the cause with groups approach such as cognitive dissonance that provocation and resentment among student in the schools. This research focus on individual factors as the cause of school brawls, where the characteristics of children with ADHD, lack of self-control regulation, and level of depression. The results show that in fact the lower influence of individual factor to be come conduct disorder. The meaning students have good self-regulation control, insignificant characteristics of children with ADHD, and moderate of depression level. Concluded group factor more significant than individual factor to caused school brawl.

Keywords: ADHD, depression, school brawl, self-regulation control.

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Authors: Wiroon Sriborrirux, Sorakrai Kraipui, Nakorn Indra-Payoong

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One of the most importance of intelligence in-car and roadside systems is the cooperative vehicle-infrastructure system. In Thailand, ITS technologies are rapidly growing and real-time vehicle information is considerably needed for ITS applications; for example, vehicle fleet tracking and control and road traffic monitoring systems. This paper defines the communication protocols and software design for middleware components of B-VIS (Burapha Vehicle-Infrastructure System). The proposed B-VIS middleware architecture serves the needs of a distributed RFID sensor network and simplifies some intricate details of several communication standards.

Keywords: Middleware, RFID sensor network, Cooperativevehicle-infrastructure system, Enterprise Java Bean.

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Authors: S. Forkapic, J. Nikolov, N. Todorovic, D. Mrdja, I. Bikit

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Tritium activity concentration in Danube river water in Serbia has been determinate using a liquid scintillation counter Quantulus 1220. During December 2010, water samples were taken along the entire course of Danube through Serbia, from Hungarian- Serbian to Romanian-Serbian border. This investigation is very important because of the nearness of nuclear reactor Paks in Hungary. Sample preparation was performed by standard test method using Optiphase HiSafe 3 scintillation cocktail. We used a rapid method for the preparation of environmental samples, without electrolytic enrichment.

Keywords: detection limit, liquid scintillation counter, low-leveltritium analysis, monitoring.

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Authors: Wissam B. Fahed

Abstract:

Entrepreneurship has become an important and extensively researched concept in business studies. Research on foreign direct investment (FDI) has become widespread due to the growth of FDI and its importance in globalization. Most entrepreneurship studies examined the importance and influence of entrepreneurial orientation in a micro-level context. On the other hand, studies and research concerning FDI used statistical techniques to analyze the effect, determinants, and motives of FDI on a macroeconomic level, ignoring empirical studies on other noneconomic determinants. In order to bridge the gap between the theory and empirical evidence on FDI and the theory and research on entrepreneurship, this study examines the impact of entrepreneurship on inward foreign direct investment. The relationship between entrepreneurship and foreign direct investment is investigated through regression analysis of pooled time-series and cross-sectional data. The results suggest that entrepreneurship has a significant effect on FDI.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, foreign direct investment, globalization, economic freedom.

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Authors: Renbin Dai, Rana Arslan Ali Khan

Abstract:

The design of Class A and Class AB 2-stage X band Power Amplifier is described in this report. This power amplifier is part of a transceiver used in radar for monitoring iron characteristics in a blast furnace. The circuit was designed using foundry WIN Semiconductors. The specification requires 15dB gain in the linear region, VSWR nearly 1 at input as well as at the output, an output power of 10 dBm and good stable performance in the band 10.9-12.2 GHz. The design was implemented by using inter-stage configuration, the Class A amplifier was chosen for driver stage i.e. the first amplifier focusing on the gain and the output amplifier conducted at Class AB with more emphasis on output power.

Keywords: Power amplifier, Class AB, Class A, MMIC, 2-stage, X band.

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Authors: Ali Farhaninejad, Rizal Zahari, Ehsan Rasooliyazdi

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Increasing energy absorption is a significant parameter in vehicle design. Absorbing more energy results in decreasing occupant damage. Limitation of the deflection in a side impact results in decreased energy absorption (SEA) and increased peak load (PL). Hence a high crash force jeopardizes passenger safety and vehicle integrity. The aims of this paper are to determine suitable dimensions and material of a square beam subjected to side impact, in order to maximize SEA and minimize PL. To achieve this novel goal, the geometric parameters of a square beam are optimized using the response surface method (RSM).multi-objective optimization is performed, and the optimum design for different response features is obtained.

Keywords: Crashworthiness, side impact, energy absorption, multi-objective optimization, Square beam, SEA

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Authors: Mohammed F. Haddad, Mohammad A. Albenayyan

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Realistically, 3-D printing as a technology has not yet reached the required maturity level to handle construction housing projects for citizens on a country scale. However, potentially, it has all of the required elements for addressing this issue. There are two main high-level elements of this technology that need to be capitalized on in order for the technology to reach its full potential: technical and logistical. This paper aims to cover how 3-D printing can be a viable technical solution for housing projects and describes the impact of 3-D printing technical features on the logistical aspects of completing a housing project. Additionally, a perspective about 3-D printing in Saudi Arabia will be presented in order to give the reader an idea of where the Kingdom stands in the deployment of this technology. Finally, a glimpse will be given regarding the potential utilization of this technology for space applications.

Keywords: Large-scale 3-D printing, additive manufacturing, D-shape, contour crafting.

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Authors: Andrey V. Timofeev

Abstract:

The paper presents new results concerning selection of optimal information fusion formula for ensembles of C-OTDR channels. The goal of information fusion is to create an integral classificator designed for effective classification of seismoacoustic target events. The LPBoost (LP-β and LP-B variants), the Multiple Kernel Learning, and Weighing of Inversely as Lipschitz Constants (WILC) approaches were compared. The WILC is a brand new approach to optimal fusion of Lipschitz Classifiers Ensembles. Results of practical usage are presented.

Keywords: Lipschitz Classifier, Classifiers Ensembles, LPBoost, C-OTDR systems, ν-OTDR systems.

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Authors: King Kuok Kuok, Po Chan Chiu

Abstract:

Floods are natural phenomena, which may turn into disasters causing widespread damage, health problems and even deaths. Nowadays, floods had become more serious and more frequent due to climatic changes. During flooding, discharge measurement still can be taken by standing on the bridge across the river using portable measurement instrument. However, it is too dangerous to get near to the river especially during high flood. Therefore, this study employs Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) as a tool to measure the surface flow velocity. PIV is a image processing technique to track the movement of water from one point to another. The PIV codes are developed using Matlab. In this study, 18 ping pong balls were scattered over the surface of the drain and images were taken with a digital SLR camera. The images obtained were analyzed using the PIV code. Results show that PIV is able to produce the flow velocity through analyzing the series of images captured.

Keywords: Particle Image Velocimetry, flow velocity, surface flow.

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Authors: Mohammad K. Abedin, Mohammad Shahjahan, Zeenat Sultana, Tawfique Jahan, Jesmin Akter

Abstract:

To strengthen social and behavior change communication (SBCC) capacity of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) of the Government of Bangladesh, BCCP/BKMI developed two eLearning courses providing opportunities for professional development of SBCC Program Managers who have no access to training or refreshers training. The two eLearning courses – Message and Material Development (MMD) and Monitoring and Evaluation (MandE) of SBCC programs – went online in September 2015, where all users could register their participation so results could be monitored. Methodology: To assess the uses of these courses a randomly selected sample was collected to run a pre and post-test analyses and a phone survey were conducted. Systematic random sampling was used to select a sample of 75 MandE and 25 MMD course participants from a sampling frame of 179 and 51 respectively. Results: As of September 2016, more than 179 learners have completed the MandE course, and 49 learners have completed the MMD course. The users of these courses are program managers, university faculty members, and students. Encouraging results were revealed from the analysis of pre and post-test scores and a phone survey three months after course completion. Test scores suggested a substantial increase in knowledge. The pre-test scores findings suggested that about 19% learners scored high on the MandE. The post-test scores finding indicated a high score (92%) of the sample across 4 modules of MandE. For MMD course in pre-test scoring, 30% of the learners scored high, and 100% scored high at the post-test. It was found that all the learners in the phone survey have discussed the courses. Most of the sharing occurred with colleagues and friends, usually through face to face (70%) interaction. The learners reported that they did recommend the two courses to concerned people. About 67% MandE and 76% MMD learners stated that the concepts that they had to learn during the course were put into practice in their work settings. The respondents for both MandE and MMD courses have provided a valuable set of suggestions that would further strengthen the courses. Conclusions: The study showed that the initiative offered ample opportunities to build capacity in various ways in which the eLearning courses were used. It also highlighted the importance of scaling up these efforts to further strengthen the outcomes.

Keywords: E-learning course, message and material development, monitoring and evaluation, social and behavior change communication.

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Authors: Jiang Fan

Abstract:

With growth of PV market in tropical region, it is necessary to investigate the performance of different types of PV technology under the tropical weather conditions. Singapore Polytechnic was funded by Economic Development Board (EDB) to set up a solar PV test-bed for the research on performance of different types of PV modules in the country. The PV test-bed installed the nine different types of PV systems that are integrated to power utility grid for monitoring and analyzing their operating performances. This paper presents the 12 months operational data of nine different PV systems and analyses on performances of installed PV systems using energy yield and performance ratio. The nine types of PV systems under test have shown their energy yields ranging from 2.67 to 3.36 kWh/kW_p and their performance ratios (PRs) ranging from 70% to 88%.

Keywords: Monocrystalline, Multicrystalline, Amorphous Silicon, Cadmium Telluride and thin film PV.

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Authors: Dandong Ge, Lei Tong

Abstract:

This paper studies the cultural creative industry's characteristics between the eastern and western of Zhejiang Province. Through the Comparative analysis, this paper works out that the cultural creative industry in western Zhejiang Province is mainly promoted by the inside force, and its level of development is obviously much lower than the eastern Zhejiang Province whose cultural creative industry is mainly pulled by outside forces. So this paper worked out some strategies for the development of cultural creative industry in western Zhejiang Province, which are based on the economic foundation and the cultural resource endowments. Finally these strategies will help to improve the whole development level of western Zhejiang Province, and contribute to the balance development between the west and east of Zhejiang Province.

Keywords: Cultural creative industry, underdeveloped, western Zhejiang, strategies.

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Authors: D. Liu, D. M. Donskoy

Abstract:

The vibroacoustic modulation method is based on the modulation effect of high-frequency ultrasonic wave (carrier) by low-frequency vibration in the presence of various defects, primarily contact-type such as cracks, delamination, etc. The presence and severity of the defect are measured by the ratio of the spectral sidebands and the carrier in the spectrum of the modulated signal. This approach, however, does not differentiate between amplitude and frequency modulations, AM and FM, respectfully. This paper is an attempt to explain the generation mechanisms of FM and its correlation with the flaw properties. Here we proposed two possible mechanisms leading to FM modulation based on nonlinear local defect resonance and dynamic acoustoelastic models.

Keywords: Non-destructive testing, nonlinear acoustics, structural health monitoring, acoustoelasticity, local defect resonance.

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Authors: V. P. Dhivya, R. Arthi

Abstract:

Underwater acoustic network is one of the rapidly growing areas of research and finds different applications for monitoring and collecting various data for environmental studies. The communication among dynamic nodes and high error probability in an acoustic medium forced to maximize energy consumption in Underwater Sensor Networks (USN) than in traditional sensor networks. Developing energy-efficient routing protocol is the fundamental and a curb challenge because all the sensor nodes are powered by batteries, and they cannot be easily replaced in UWSNs. This paper surveys the various recent routing techniques that mainly focus on energy efficiency.

Keywords: Acoustic channels, Energy efficiency, Routing in sensor networks, Underwater Sensor Network.

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Authors: K. Tunde Olagunju, C. Scott Allen, F.D. (Freek) van der Meer

Abstract:

Identification of hydrocarbon oil in remote sensing images is often the first step in monitoring oil during spill events. Most remote sensing methods adopt techniques for hydrocarbon identification to achieve detection in order to model an appropriate cleanup program. Identification on optical sensors does not only allow for detection but also for characterization and quantification. Until recently, in optical remote sensing, quantification and characterization were only potentially possible using high-resolution laboratory and airborne imaging spectrometers (hyperspectral data). Unlike multispectral, hyperspectral data are not freely available, as this data category is mainly obtained via airborne survey at present. In this research, two operational high-resolution multispectral satellites (WorldView-3 and Sentinel-2) are theoretically assessed for their suitability for hydrocarbon characterization, using the Hydrocarbon Spectra Slope model (HYSS). This method utilized the two most persistent hydrocarbon diagnostic/absorption features at 1.73 µm and 2.30 µm for hydrocarbon mapping on multispectral data. In this research, spectra measurement of seven different hydrocarbon oils (crude and refined oil) taken on 10 different substrates with the use of laboratory ASD Fieldspec were convolved to Sentinel-2 and WorldView-3 resolution, using their full width half maximum (FWHM) parameter. The resulting hydrocarbon slope values obtained from the studied samples enable clear qualitative discrimination of most hydrocarbons, despite the presence of different background substrates, particularly on WorldView-3. Due to close conformity of central wavelengths and narrow bandwidths to key hydrocarbon bands used in HYSS, the statistical significance for qualitative analysis on WorldView-3 sensors for all studied hydrocarbon oil returned with 95% confidence level (P-value ˂ 0.01), except for Diesel. Using multifactor analysis of variance (MANOVA), the discriminating power of HYSS is statistically significant for most hydrocarbon-substrate combinations on Sentinel-2 and WorldView-3 FWHM, revealing the potential of these two operational multispectral sensors as rapid response tools for hydrocarbon mapping. One notable exception is highly transmissive hydrocarbons on Sentinel-2 data due to the non-conformity of spectral bands with key hydrocarbon absorptions and the relatively coarse bandwidth (> 100 nm).

Keywords: hydrocarbon, oil spill, remote sensing, hyperspectral, multispectral, hydrocarbon – substrate combination, Sentinel-2, WorldView-3

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