Search results for: Statistical data analysis

Authors: A. S. Telang, P. P. Bedekar

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Flexible AC transmission system controllers play an important role in controlling the line power flow and in improving voltage profiles of the power system network. They can be used to increase the reliability and efficiency of transmission and distribution system. The modeling of these FACTS controllers in power flow calculations have become a challenging research problem. This paper presents a simple and systematic approach for a steady state power flow calculations of power system with STATCOM (Static Synchronous Compensator). It shows how systematically STATCOM can be implemented in conventional power flow calculations. The main contribution of this paper is to investigate this approach for two special conditions i.e. consideration of load increase pattern incorporating load change (active, reactive and both active and reactive) at all load buses simultaneously and the line contingencies under such load change. Such investigation proves to be relevant for determination of strategy for the optimal placement of STATCOM to enhance the voltage stability. The performance has been evaluated on many standard IEEE test systems. The results for standard IEEE-30 bus test system are presented here.

Keywords: Load flow analysis, Newton-Raphson (N-R) power flow, Flexible AC transmission system, FACTS, Static synchronous compensator, STATCOM, voltage profile.

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Authors: H. Al-Jabli

Abstract:

Using the freeze-melting process for the disposing of high saline brines was the aim of the paper by confirming the performance estimation of the treatment system. A laboratory bench scale freezing technique test unit was designed, constructed, and tested at Doha Research Plant (DRP) in Kuwait. The principal unit operations that have been considered for the laboratory study are: ice crystallization, separation, washing, and melting. The applied process is characterized as “the secondary-refrigerant indirect freezing”, which is utilizing normal freezing concept. The high saline brine was used as definite feed water, i.e. average TDS of 250,000 ppm. Kuwait desalination plants were carried out in the experimental study to measure the performance of the proposed treatment system. Experimental analysis shows that the freeze-melting process is capable of dropping the TDS of the feed water from 249,482 ppm to 56,880 ppm of the freeze-melting process in the two-phase’s course, whereas overall recovery results of the salt passage and salt rejection are 31.11%, 19.05%, and 80.95%, correspondingly. Therefore, the freeze-melting process is encouraging for the proposed application, as it shows on the results, which approves the process capability of reducing a major amount of the dissolved salts of the high saline brine with reasonable sensible recovery. This process might be reasonable with other brine disposal processes.

Keywords: High saline brine, freeze-melting process, ice crystallization, brine disposal process.

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Authors: Syed Muzyan Shahzad, Liu Jianxin, Asim Shahzad, Muhammad Sharjeel Raza, Sun Ya, Fanidi Meryem

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Electrical resistivity investigation was conducted in vicinity of Tarbela Ghazi, in order to study the subsurface layer with a view of determining the depth to the aquifer and thickness of groundwater potential zones. Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) using Schlumberger array was carried out at 16 VES stations. Well logging data at four tube wells have been used to mark the super saturated zones with great discharge rate. The present paper shows a geoelectrical identification of the lithology and an estimate of the relationship between the resistivity and Dar Zarrouk parameters (transverse unit resistance and longitudinal unit conductance). The VES results revealed both homogeneous and heterogeneous nature of the subsurface strata. Aquifer is unconfined to confine in nature, and at few locations though perched aquifer has been identified, groundwater potential zones are developed in unconsolidated deposits layers and more than seven geo-electric layers are observed at some VES locations. Saturated zones thickness ranges from 5 m to 150 m, whereas at few area aquifer is beyond 150 m thick. The average anisotropy, transvers resistance and longitudinal conductance values are 0.86 %, 35750.9821 Ω.m², 0.729 Siemens, respectively. The transverse unit resistance values fluctuate all over the aquifer system, whereas below at particular depth high values are observed, that significantly associated with the high transmissivity zones. The groundwater quality in all analyzed samples is below permissible limit according to World Health Standard (WHO).

Keywords: Geoelectric layers, Dar Zarrouk parameters, Aquifer, Electro-stratigraphic.

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Authors: A. Rong, P. B. Luh, R. Lahdelma

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High penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources (RES) such as solar power and wind power into the energy system has caused temporal and spatial imbalance between electric power supply and demand for some countries and regions. This brings about the critical need for coordinating power production and power exchange for different regions. As compared with the power-only systems, the combined heat and power (CHP) systems can provide additional flexibility of utilizing RES by exploiting the interdependence of power and heat production in the CHP plant. In the CHP system, power production can be influenced by adjusting heat production level and electric power can be used to satisfy heat demand by electric boiler or heat pump in conjunction with heat storage, which is much cheaper than electric storage. This paper addresses multi-site CHP systems without considering RES, which lay foundation for handling penetration of RES. The problem under study is the unit commitment (UC) of the transmission-constrained multi-site CHP systems. We solve the problem by combining linear relaxation of ON/OFF states and sequential dynamic programming (DP) techniques, where relaxed states are used to reduce the dimension of the UC problem and DP for improving the solution quality. Numerical results for daily scheduling with realistic models and data show that DP-based algorithm is from a few to a few hundred times faster than CPLEX (standard commercial optimization software) with good solution accuracy (less than 1% relative gap from the optimal solution on the average).

Keywords: Dynamic programming, multi-site combined heat and power system, relaxed states, transmission-constrained generation unit commitment.

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Authors: H. Alnajajra, A. Touqan, M. Dwaikat

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The vast majority of the Middle East countries are prone to earthquakes. Despite that and from a seismic hazard point of view, the higher values of the superimposed dead load intensity of partitions and wearing materials of the constructed reinforced concrete slabs in these countries can increase the earthquake vulnerability of the structures. The primary objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of reducing superimposed dead load on the lateral seismic deformations of structures, the inter-story drifts and the seismic pounding damages. The study utilizes a group of three reinforced concrete structures at three different site conditions. These structures are assumed to be constructed in Nablus city of Palestine, and having superimposed dead load value as 1 kN/m², 3 kN/m², and 5 kN/m², respectively. SAP2000 program, Version 18.1.1, is used to perform the response spectrum analysis to obtain the potential lateral seismic deformations of the studied models. Amazingly, the study points that, at the same site, superimposed dead load has a minor effect on the lateral deflections of the models. This, however, promotes the hypothesis that buildings failed during earthquakes mainly because they were not designed appropriately against gravity loads.

Keywords: Gravity loads, inter-story drifts, lateral seismic deformations, reinforced concrete slabs, response spectrum method, SAP2000, seismic design, seismic pounding, superimposed dead load.

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Authors: Yong-Sung Kim, Je-Seok Shin, Ho-Jun Jo Jin-O Kim

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Home Energy Management System (HEMS), which makes the residential consumers, contribute to the demand response is attracting attention in recent years. An aim of HEMS is to minimize their electricity cost by controlling the use of their appliances according to electricity price. The use of appliances in HEMS may be affected by some conditions such as external temperature and electricity price. Therefore, the user’s usage pattern of appliances should be modeled according to the external conditions, and the resultant usage pattern is related to the user’s comfortability on use of each appliances. This paper proposes a methodology to model the usage pattern based on the historical data with the copula function. Through copula function, the usage range of each appliance can be obtained and is able to satisfy the appropriate user’s comfort according to the external conditions for next day. Within the usage range, an optimal scheduling for appliances would be conducted so as to minimize an electricity cost with considering user’s comfort. Among the home appliance, electric heater (EH) is a representative appliance, which is affected by the external temperature. In this paper, an optimal scheduling algorithm for an electric heater (EH) is addressed based on the method of branch and bound. As a result, scenarios for the EH usage are obtained according to user’s comfort levels and then the residential consumer would select the best scenario. The case study shows the effects of the proposed algorithm compared with the traditional operation of the EH, and it represents impacts of the comfort level on the scheduling result.

Keywords: Load scheduling, usage pattern, user’s comfort, copula function, branch, bound, electric heater.

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Authors: Amr R. El-Gamal, Ashraf Essa, Ayman Ismail

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The tension leg platform (TLP) is a vertically moored structure with excess buoyancy. The TLP is regarded as moored structure in horizontal plan, while inherit stiffness of fixed platform in vertical plane. In this paper, a numerical study using modified Morison equation was carried out in the time domain to investigate the influence of nonlinearities due to hydrodynamic forces and the coupling effect between surge, sway, heave, roll, pitch and yaw degrees of freedom on the dynamic behavior of TLP's. The stiffness of the TLP was derived from a combination of hydrostatic restoring forces and restoring forces due to cables and the nonlinear equations of motion were solved utilizing Newmark’s beta integration scheme. The effect of tethers length and wave characteristics such as wave period and wave height on the response of TLP's was evaluated.

Only uni-directional waves in the surge direction was considered in the analysis. It was found that for short wave periods (i.e. 10 sec.), the surge response consisted of small amplitude oscillations about a displaced position that is significantly dependent on tether length, wave height; whereas for longer wave periods, the surge response showed high amplitude oscillations about that is significantly dependent on tether length.

Keywords: Hydrodynamic wave forces, tension leg platforms, tethers length, wave characteristic.

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Authors: Roberto Sabatini, Alessandro Gardi, Mark A. Richardson

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The availability of powerful eye-safe laser sources and the recent advancements in electro-optical and mechanical beam-steering components have allowed laser-based Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) to become a promising technology for obstacle warning and avoidance in a variety of manned and unmanned aircraft applications. LIDAR outstanding angular resolution and accuracy characteristics are coupled to its good detection performance in a wide range of incidence angles and weather conditions, providing an ideal obstacle avoidance solution, which is especially attractive in low-level flying platforms such as helicopters and small-to-medium size Unmanned Aircraft (UA). The Laser Obstacle Avoidance Marconi (LOAM) system is one of such systems, which was jointly developed and tested by SELEX-ES and the Italian Air Force Research and Flight Test Centre. The system was originally conceived for military rotorcraft platforms and, in this paper, we briefly review the previous work and discuss in more details some of the key development activities required for integration of LOAM on UA platforms. The main hardware and software design features of this LOAM variant are presented, including a brief description of the system interfaces and sensor characteristics, together with the system performance models and data processing algorithms for obstacle detection, classification and avoidance. In particular, the paper focuses on the algorithm proposed for optimal avoidance trajectory generation in UA applications.

Keywords: LIDAR, Low-Level Flight, Nap-of-the-Earth Flight, Near Infra-Red, Obstacle Avoidance, Obstacle Detection, Obstacle Warning System, Sense and Avoid, Trajectory Optimisation, Unmanned Aircraft.

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Authors: Francisco Javier Reyes Salazar, Héctor Mauricio Ramírez

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The coastal zones are home to mangrove swamps, coral reefs, and seagrass ecosystems, which are the most biodiverse and fragile on the planet. These areas support a great diversity of marine life; they are also extraordinarily important for humans in the provision of food, water, wood, and other associated goods and services; they also contribute to climate regulation. The lack of an automated model that generates information on the dynamics of changes in coastlines and coastal erosion is identified as a central problem. In this paper, coastlines were determined from 1984 to 2020 on the Google Earth Engine platform from Landsat and Sentinel images. Then, we determined the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) and used Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) v5.0. Starting from the 2020 coastline; the 10-year prediction (Year 2031) was determined with the erosion of 238.32 hectares and an accretion of 181.96 hectares. For the 20-year prediction (Year 2041) will be presented an erosion of 544.04 hectares and an accretion of 133.94 hectares. The erosion and accretion of Playa Muelle in the municipality of Puerto Colombia were established, which will register the highest value of erosion. The coverage that presented the greatest change was that of artificialized territories.

Keywords: Coastline, coastal erosion, MNDWI, Google Earth Engine, Colombia.

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Authors: M. Linek

Abstract:

This article presents the comparison of selected evaluation methods regarding microstructure modification of hardened cement concrete intended for airfield pavements. Basic test results were presented for two pavement quality concrete lots. Analysis included standard concrete used for airfield pavements and modern material solutions based on concrete composite modification. In case of basic grain size distribution of concrete cement CEM I 42,5HSR NA, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate fractions in the form of granite chippings, water and admixtures were considered. In case of grain size distribution of modified concrete, the use of modern modifier as substitute of fine aggregate was suggested. Modification influence on internal concrete structure parameters using scanning electron microscope was defined. Obtained images were compared to the results obtained using computed tomography. Opportunity to use this type of equipment for internal concrete structure diagnostics and an attempt of its parameters evaluation was presented. Obtained test results enabled to reach a conclusion that both methods can be applied for pavement quality concrete diagnostics, with particular purpose of airfield pavements.

Keywords: Scanning electron microscope, computed tomography, cement concrete, airfield pavements.

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Authors: Chaiyakrit Raoupatham, Ram Hari Dhakal, Chalermchai Wanichlamlert

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This paper aimed to introduce the solution of concrete slump recovery using chemical admixture type-F (superplasticizer, naphthalene base) to the practice in order to solve unusable concrete problem due to concrete loss its slump, especially for those tropical countries that have faster slump loss rate. In the other hand, randomly adding superplasticizer into concrete can cause concrete to segregate. Therefore, this paper also develops the estimation model used to calculate amount of second dose of superplasticizer need for concrete slump recovery. Fresh properties of ordinary Portland cement concrete with volumetric ratio of paste to void between aggregate (paste content) of 1.1-1.3 with water-cement ratio zone of 0.30 to 0.67 and initial superplasticizer (naphthalene base) of 0.25%-1.6% were tested for initial slump and slump loss for every 30 minutes for one and half hour by slump cone test. Those concretes with slump loss range from 10% to 90% were re-dosed and successfully recovered back to its initial slump. Slump after re-dosed was tested by slump cone test. From the result, it has been concluded that, slump loss was slower for those mix with high initial dose of superplasticizer due to addition of superplasticizer will disturb cement hydration. The required second dose of superplasticizer was affected by two major parameters, which were water-cement ratio and paste content, where lower water-cement ratio and paste content cause an increase in require second dose of superplasticizer. The amount of second dose of superplasticizer is higher as the solid content within the system is increase, solid can be either from cement particles or aggregate. The data was analyzed to form an equation use to estimate the amount of second dosage requirement of superplasticizer to recovery slump to its original.

Keywords: Estimation model, second superplasticizer dosage, slump loss, slump recovery.

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Authors: Mylena McCoggle, Shyra Wilson, Andrea Rivera, Rocio Alba-Flores, Valentin Soloiu

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This work describes a system that uses electromyography (EMG) signals obtained from muscle sensors and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for signal classification and pattern recognition that is used to control a small unmanned aerial vehicle using specific arm movements. The main objective of this endeavor is the development of an intelligent interface that allows the user to control the flight of a drone beyond direct manual control. The sensor used were the MyoWare Muscle sensor which contains two EMG electrodes used to collect signals from the posterior (extensor) and anterior (flexor) forearm, and the bicep. The collection of the raw signals from each sensor was performed using an Arduino Uno. Data processing algorithms were developed with the purpose of classifying the signals generated by the arm’s muscles when performing specific movements, namely: flexing, resting, and motion of the arm. With these arm motions roll control of the drone was achieved. MATLAB software was utilized to condition the signals and prepare them for the classification. To generate the input vector for the ANN and perform the classification, the root mean square and the standard deviation were processed for the signals from each electrode. The neuromuscular information was trained using an ANN with a single 10 neurons hidden layer to categorize the four targets. The result of the classification shows that an accuracy of 97.5% was obtained. Afterwards, classification results are used to generate the appropriate control signals from the computer to the drone through a Wi-Fi network connection. These procedures were successfully tested, where the drone responded successfully in real time to the commanded inputs.

Keywords: Biosensors, electromyography, Artificial Neural Network, Arduino, drone flight control, machine learning.

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Authors: D. Arjmandi

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The notion of power and gender domination is one of the inseparable aspects of themes in postmodern literature. The reason of its importance has been discussed frequently since the rise of Michel Foucault and his insight into the circulation of power and the transgression of forces. Language and society operate as the basic grounds for the study, as all human beings are bound to the set of rules and norms which shape them in the acceptable way in the macrocosm. How different genders in different positions behave and show reactions to the provocation of social forces and superiority of one another is of great interest to writers and literary critics. Mamet’s works are noticeable for their controversial but timely themes which illustrate human conflicts with the society and greed for power. Many critics like Christopher Bigsby and Harold Bloom have discussed Mamet and his ideas in recent years. This paper is the study of Oleanna, Mamet’s masterpiece about the teacher-student relationship and the circulation of power between a man and woman. He shows the very breakable boundaries in the domination of a gender and the downfall of speech as the consequence of transgression and freedom. The failure of the language the teacher uses and the abuse of his own words by a student who seeks superiority and knowledge are the main subjects of the discussion. Supported by the ideas of Foucault, the language Mamet uses to present his characters becomes the fundamental premise in this study. As a result, language becomes both the means of achievement and downfall.

Keywords: Domination, foucault, language, mamet, oleanna, power, transgression.

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Authors: S. Fore, L. Zuze

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Frequent machine breakdowns, low plant availability and increased overtime are a great threat to a manufacturing plant as they increase operating costs of an industry. The main aim of this study was to improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) at a manufacturing company through the implementation of innovative maintenance strategies. A case study approach was used. The paper focuses on improving the maintenance in a manufacturing set up using an innovative maintenance regime mix to improve overall equipment effectiveness. Interviews, reviewing documentation and historical records, direct and participatory observation were used as data collection methods during the research. Usually production is based on the total kilowatt of motors produced per day. The target kilowatt at 91% availability is 75 Kilowatts a day. Reduced demand and lack of raw materials particularly imported items are adversely affecting the manufacturing operations. The company had to reset its targets from the usual figure of 250 Kilowatt per day to mere 75 per day due to lower availability of machines as result of breakdowns as well as lack of raw materials. The price reductions and uncertainties as well as general machine breakdowns further lowered production. Some recommendations were given. For instance, employee empowerment in the company will enhance responsibility and authority to improve and totally eliminate the six big losses. If the maintenance department is to realise its proper function in a progressive, innovative industrial society, then its personnel must be continuously trained to meet current needs as well as future requirements. To make the maintenance planning system effective, it is essential to keep track of all the corrective maintenance jobs and preventive maintenance inspections. For large processing plants these cannot be handled manually. It was therefore recommended that the company implement (Computerised Maintenance Management System) CMMS.

Keywords: Maintenance, Manufacturing, Overall Equipment Effectiveness

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Authors: Taylan Kabbani, Ekrem Duman

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Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) algorithms can scale to previously intractable problems. The automation of profit generation in the stock market is possible using DRL, by combining  the financial assets price ”prediction” step and the ”allocation” step of the portfolio in one unified process to produce fully autonomous systems capable of interacting with its environment to make optimal decisions through trial and error. This work represents a DRL model to generate profitable trades in the stock market, effectively overcoming the limitations of supervised learning approaches. We formulate the trading problem as a Partially observed Markov Decision Process (POMDP) model, considering the constraints imposed by the stock market, such as liquidity and transaction costs. We then solved the formulated POMDP problem using the Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (TD3) algorithm and achieved a 2.68 Sharpe ratio on the test dataset. From the point of view of stock market forecasting and the intelligent decision-making mechanism, this paper demonstrates the superiority of DRL in financial markets over other types of machine learning and proves its credibility and advantages of strategic decision-making.

Keywords: Autonomous agent, deep reinforcement learning, MDP, sentiment analysis, stock market, technical indicators, twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient.

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Authors: S. Z. Moussavi, A. Badri, F. Rastegar Kashkooli

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Wind farms (WFs) with high level of penetration are being established in power systems worldwide more rapidly than other renewable resources. The Independent System Operator (ISO), as a policy maker, should propose appropriate places for WF installation in order to maximize the benefits for the investors. There is also a possibility of congestion relief using the new installation of WFs which should be taken into account by the ISO when proposing the locations for WF installation. In this context, efficient wind farm (WF) placement method is proposed in order to reduce burdens on congested lines. Since the wind speed is a random variable and load forecasts also contain uncertainties, probabilistic approaches are used for this type of study. AC probabilistic optimal power flow (P-OPF) is formulated and solved using Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS). In order to reduce computation time, point estimate methods (PEM) are introduced as efficient alternative for time-demanding MCS. Subsequently, WF optimal placement is determined using generation shift distribution factors (GSDF) considering a new parameter entitled, wind availability factor (WAF). In order to obtain more realistic results, N-1 contingency analysis is employed to find the optimal size of WF, by means of line outage distribution factors (LODF). The IEEE 30-bus test system is used to show and compare the accuracy of proposed methodology.

Keywords: Probabilistic optimal power flow, Wind power, Pointestimate methods, Congestion management

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Authors: Surinder Deswal, Vineet Verma

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Air Quality Index (AQI) is used as a tool to indicate the level of severity and disseminate the information on air pollution to enable the public to understand the health and environmental impacts of air pollutant concentration levels. The annual and seasonal variation of criteria air pollutants concentration based on the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme has been conducted for a period of nine years (2006-2014) using the AQI system. AQI was calculated using IND-AQI methodology and Maximum Operator Concept is applied. An attempt has been made to quantify the variations in AQI on an annual and seasonal basis over a period of nine years. Further, year-wise frequency of occurrence of AQI in each category for all the five stations is analysed, which presents in depth analysis of trends over the period of study. The best air quality was observed in the Noida residential area, followed by Noida industrial area during the study period; whereas, Bulandshahar industrial area and Faridabad residential area were observed to have the worst air quality. A shift in the worst air quality from winter to summer season has also been observed during the study period. Further, the level of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter was found to be above permissible limit at all the stations. The present study helps in enhancing public awareness and calls for the need of immediate measures to be taken to counter-effect the cause of the increasing level of air pollution.

Keywords: Air quality index, annual trends, criteria pollutants, seasonal variation.

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Authors: Hamze Torabian, Mohammad Mehrabioun Mohammadi

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Like many other industries, the payment industry has been affected by digital transformation. The importance of digital transformation in the payment industry is very crucial. Because the payment industry is considered a leading industry in digital and emerging technologies, and the digitalization of other industries such as retail, health, and telecommunication, it also depends on the growth rate of digitalized payment systems. One of the technological innovations in service management is Field Service Management (FSM). Despite the widespread use of FSM in various industries such as petrochemical, health, maintenance, etc., this technology can also be recruited in the payment industry, transforming the payment industry into a more agile and efficient one. Accordingly, the present study pays close attention to the application of FSM in the payment industry. Given the importance of merchants' bargaining power in the payment industry, this study aims to use FSM in the digital transformation initiative with a targeted focus on providing real-time services to merchants. The research method consists of three parts. Firstly, conducting the review of past research, applications of FSM in the payment industry are considered. In the next step, merchants' benefits such as emotional, functional, economic, and social benefits in using FSM are identified using in-depth interviews and content analysis methods. The related business model in helping the payment industry transforming into a more agile and efficient industry is considered in the following step. The results revealed the 10 main pillars required to realize the digital transformation of payment systems using FSM.

Keywords: Digital transformation, field service management, merchant support systems, payment industry.

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Authors: Anna Grichting, Sara Al Sada, Angelica Caccam, Urshi Khan

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Qatar, a Gulf country highly dependent on its oil and gas revenues – is looking to innovate, diversify, and ultimately reach its aim of creating a knowledge economy to prepare for its post-oil era. One area that the country is investing in is Contemporary Art, and world renowned artists such as Damien Hirst and Richard Serra – have been commissioned to design site-specific art for the public spaces of the city of Doha as well as in more remote desert locations. This research discusses the changing presence, role and context of public art in Doha, both from a historical and cultural overview, and the different forms and media as well as the typologies of urban and public spaces in which the art is installed. It examines the process of implementing site-specific artworks, looking at questions of scale, history, social meaning and formal aesthetics. The methodologies combine theoretical research on the understanding of public art and its role and placement in public space, as well as empirical research on contemporary public art projects in Doha, based on documentation and interviews and as well as site and context analysis of the urban or architectural spaces within which the art is situated. Surveys and interviews – using social media - in different segments of the contemporary Qatari society, including all nationalities and social groups, are used to measure and qualify the impacts and effects on the population.

Keywords: Contemporary Public Art, Knowledge Economy, Public Realm, Site Specific Art Works.

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Authors: M. Moeinaddini, Z. Asadi-Shekari, Z. Sultan, M. Zaly Shah

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Happiness can be related to everything that can provide a feeling of satisfaction or pleasure. This study tries to consider the relationship between land use factors and feeling of happiness at the neighbourhood level. Land use variables (beautiful and attractive neighbourhood design, availability and quality of shopping centres, sufficient recreational spaces and facilities, and sufficient daily service centres) are used as independent variables and the happiness score is used as the dependent variable in this study. In addition to the land use variables, socio-economic factors (gender, race, marital status, employment status, education, and income) are also considered as independent variables. This study uses the Oxford happiness questionnaire to estimate happiness score of more than 300 people living in six neighbourhoods. The neighbourhoods are selected randomly from Skudai neighbourhoods in Johor, Malaysia. The land use data were obtained by adding related questions to the Oxford happiness questionnaire. The strength of the relationship in this study is found using generalised linear modelling (GLM). The findings of this research indicate that increase in happiness feeling is correlated with an increasing income, more beautiful and attractive neighbourhood design, sufficient shopping centres, recreational spaces, and daily service centres. The results show that all land use factors in this study have significant relationship with happiness but only income, among socio-economic factors, can affect happiness significantly. Therefore, land use factors can affect happiness in Skudai more than socio-economic factors.

Keywords: Neighbourhood land use, neighbourhood design, happiness, socio-economic factors, generalised linear modelling.

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Authors: Franklin Nantui Mabe, Samuel A. Donkoh, Seidu Al-Hassan

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Rice yields among agro-ecological zones are heterogeneous. Farmers, researchers and policy makers are making frantic efforts to bridge rice yield gaps between agro-ecological zones through the promotion of improved agricultural technologies (IATs). Farmers are also modifying these IATs and blending them with indigenous farming practices (IFPs) to form farmer innovation systems (FISs). Also, different metafrontier models have been used in estimating productivity performances and their drivers. This study used the two-step stochastic metafrontier model to estimate the productivity performances of rice farmers and their determining factors in GSZ, FSTZ and CSZ. The study used both primary and secondary data. Farmers in CSZ are the most technically efficient. Technical inefficiencies of farmers are negatively influenced by age, sex, household size, education years, extension visits, contract farming, access to improved seeds, access to irrigation, high rainfall amount, less lodging of rice, and well-coordinated and synergized adoption of technologies. Albeit farmers in CSZ are doing well in terms of rice yield, they still have the highest potential of increasing rice yield since they had the lowest TGR. It is recommended that government through the ministry of food and agriculture, development partners and individual private companies promote the adoption of IATs as well as educate farmers on how to coordinate and synergize the adoption of the whole package. Contract farming concept and agricultural extension intensification should be vigorously pursued to the latter.

Keywords: Efficiency, farmer innovation systems, improved agricultural technologies, two-step stochastic metafrontier approach.

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Authors: Teti Estiasih, Harijono, Weny Bekti Sunarharum, Atina Rahmawati

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This research studied the hypoglycemic effect of water soluble polysaccharide (WSP) extracted from yam (Dioscorea hispida) tuber by three different methods: aqueous extraction, papain assisted extraction, and tempeh inoculums assisted extraction. The two later extraction methods were aimed to remove WSP binding protein to have more pure WSP. The hypoglycemic activities were evaluated by means in vivo test on alloxan induced hyperglycemic rats, glucose response test (GRT), in situ glucose absorption test using everted sac, and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) analysis. All yam WSP extracts exhibited ability to decrease blood glucose level in hyperglycemia condition as well as inhibited glucose absorption and SCFA formation. The order of hypoglycemic activity was tempeh inoculums assisted- >papain assisted- >aqueous WSP extracts. GRT and in situ glucose absorption test showed that order of inhibition was papain assisted- >tempeh inoculums assisted- >aqueous WSP extracts. Digesta of caecum of yam WSP extracts oral fed rats had more SCFA than control. Tempeh inoculums assisted WSP extract exhibited the most significant hypoglycemic activity.

Keywords: hypoglycemic activity, papain, tempeh inoculums, water soluble polysaccharides, yam (Discorea hispida)

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Authors: Ferhat Kadioglu, Hasan Puskul

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A composite material with carbon fiber and polymer matrix has been used as adherent for manufacturing adhesive joints. In order to evaluate different fiber orientations on joint performance, the adherents with the 0°, ±15°, ±30°, ±45° fiber orientations were used in the single lap joint configuration. The joints with an overlap length of 25 mm were prepared according to the ASTM 1002 specifications and subjected to tensile loadings. The structural adhesive used was a two-part epoxy to be cured at 70°C for an hour. First, mechanical behaviors of the adherents were measured using three point bending test. In the test, considerations were given to stress to failure and elastic modulus. The results were compared with theoretical ones using rule of mixture. Then, the joints were manufactured in a specially prepared jig, after a proper surface preparation. Experimental results showed that the fiber orientations of the adherents affected the joint performance considerably; the joints with ±45° adherents experienced the worst shear strength, half of those with 0° adherents, and in general, there was a great relationship between the fiber orientations and failure mechanisms. Delamination problems were observed for many joints, which were thought to be due to peel effects at the ends of the overlap. It was proved that the surface preparation applied to the adherent surface was adequate. For further explanation of the results, a numerical work should be carried out using a possible non-linear analysis.

Keywords: Composite materials, adhesive bonding, bonding strength, lap joint, tensile strength.

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Authors: F. Stazi, C. Di Perna, C. Filiaci, A. Stazi

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Passive systems were born with the purpose of the greatest exploitation of solar energy in cold climates and high altitudes. They spread themselves until the 80-s all over the world without any attention to the specific climate and the summer behavior; this caused the deactivation of the systems due to a series of problems connected to the summer overheating, the complex management and the rising of the dust. Until today the European regulation limits only the winter consumptions without any attention to the summer behavior but, the recent European EN 15251 underlines the relevance of the indoor comfort, and the necessity of the analytic studies validation by monitoring case studies. In the porpose paper we demonstrate that the solar wall is an efficient system both from thermal comfort and energy saving point of view and it is the most suitable for our temperate climates because it can be used as a passive cooling sistem too. In particular the paper present an experimental and numerical analisys carried out on a case study with nine different solar passive systems in Ancona, Italy. We carried out a detailed study of the lodging provided by the solar wall by the monitoring and the evaluation of the indoor conditions. Analyzing the monitored data, on the base of recognized models of comfort (ISO, ASHRAE, Givoni-s BBCC), is emerged that the solar wall has an optimal behavior in the middle seasons. In winter phase this passive system gives more advantages in terms of energy consumptions than the other systems, because it gives greater heat gain and therefore smaller consumptions. In summer, when outside air temperature return in the mean seasonal value, the indoor comfort is optimal thanks to an efficient transversal ventilation activated from the same wall.

Keywords: Building envelope, energy saving, passive solarwall, thermal comfort.

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Authors: Guorong Yan, Subhash Rakheja

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The liquid cargo contained in a partly-filled road tank vehicle is prone to dynamic slosh movement when subjected to external disturbances. The slosh behavior has been identified as a significant factor impairing the safety of liquid cargo transportation. The laboratory experiments have been conducted for analyzing fluid slosh in partly filled tanks. The experiment results measured under forced harmonic excitations reveal the three-dimensional nature of the fluid motion and coupling between the lateral and longitudinal fluid slosh at resonance. Several spectral components are observed for the transient slosh forces, which can be associated with the excitation, resonance, and beat frequencies. The peak slosh forces and moments in the vicinity of resonance are significantly larger than those of the equivalent rigid mass. Due to the nature of coupling between sloshing fluid and vehicle body, the issue of the dynamic fluid-structure interaction is essential in the analysis of tank-vehicle dynamics. A dynamic pitch plane model of a Tridem truck incorporated the fluid slosh dynamics is developed to analyze the fluid-vehicle interaction under the straight-line braking maneuvers. The results show that the vehicle responses are highly associated with the characteristics of fluid slosh force and moment.

Keywords: Braking performance, fluid induced vibration, fluidslosh, fluid structure interaction, tank trucks, vehicle dynamics.

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Authors: Falntina Ahmad Alata, Natheer Abu Obeid

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This paper revolves around the concept of affordance. It aims to discover and develop an architectural typology based on the ecological concept of affordance. In order to achieve this aim, an analytical study is conducted and two sources were taken into account: 1- Gibson's definition of the concept of affordance and 2- The researches that are concerned on the affordance categorisation. As a result, this paper concluded 16 typologies of affordances, including the possibilities of mixing them based on both sources. To clarify these typologies and provide further understanding, a wide range of architectural examples are presented and proposed in the paper. To prove this vocabulary’s capability to diagnose and evaluate the affordance of different environments, an experimental study with two processes have been adapted: 1. Diagnostic process: the interpretation of the environments with regards to its affordance by using the new vocabulary (the developed typologies). 2. Evaluating process: the evaluation of the environments that have been interpreted and classified with regards to their affordances. By using the measures of emotional experience (the positive affect ‘PA’ and the negative affect ‘NA’) and the architectural evaluation criteria (beauty, economy and function). The experimental study proves that the typologies are capable of reading the affordance within different environments. Additionally, it explains how these different typologies reflect different interactions based on the previous processes. The data which are concluded from the evaluation of measures explain how different typologies of affordance that have already reflected different environments had different evaluations. In fact, some of them are recommended while the others are not. In other words, the paper draws a roadmap for designers to diagnose, evaluate and analyse the affordance into different architectural environments. After that, it guides them through adapting the best interaction (affordance category), which they intend to adapt into their proposed designs.

Keywords: Affordance theory, affordance categories, architectural environments, architectural evaluation criteria, emotional experience.

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Authors: L. Heidari, M. Jalili Ghazizade

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In recent years, different petrochemical complexes have been established to produce aromatic compounds. Among them, Nouri Petrochemical Complex (NPC) is the largest producer of aromatic raw materials in the world, and is located in south of Iran. Environmental concerns have been raised in this region due to generation of different types of solid waste generated in the process of aromatics production, and subsequently, industrial waste characterization has been thoroughly considered. The aim of this study is qualitative and quantitative characterization of industrial waste generated in the aromatics production process and determination of the best method for industrial waste management. For this purpose, all generated industrial waste during the production process was determined using a checklist. Four main industrial wastes were identified as follows: spent industrial soil, spent catalyst, spent molecular sieves and spent N-formyl morpholine (NFM) solvent. The amount of heavy metals and organic compounds in these wastes were further measured in order to identify the nature and toxicity of such a dangerous compound. Then industrial wastes were classified based on lab analysis results as well as using different international lists of hazardous waste identification such as EPA, UNEP and Basel Convention. Finally, the best method of waste disposal is selected based on environmental, economic and technical aspects. 

Keywords: Spent industrial soil, spent molecular sieve, spent normal ¬formyl -morpholine solvent.

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Authors: I. Szer, J. Szer, K. Czarnocki, E. Błazik-Borowa

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People on construction scaffoldings work in dynamically changing, often unfavourable climate. Additionally, this kind of work is performed on low stiffness structures at high altitude, which increases the risk of accidents. It is therefore desirable to define the parameters of the work environment that contribute to increasing the construction worker occupational safety level. The aim of this article is to present how changes in microclimate parameters on scaffolding can impact the development of dangerous situations and accidents. For this purpose, indicators based on the human thermal balance were used. However, use of this model under construction conditions is often burdened by significant errors or even impossible to implement due to the lack of precise data. Thus, in the target model, the modified parameter was used – apparent environmental temperature. Apparent temperature in the proposed Scaffold Use Risk Assessment Model has been a perceived outdoor temperature, caused by the combined effects of air temperature, radiative temperature, relative humidity and wind speed (wind chill index, heat index). In the paper, correlations between component factors and apparent temperature for facade scaffolding with a width of 24.5 m and a height of 42.3 m, located at south-west side of building are presented. The distribution of factors on the scaffolding has been used to evaluate fitting of the microclimate model. The results of the studies indicate that observed ranges of apparent temperature on the scaffolds frequently results in a worker’s inability to adapt. This leads to reduced concentration and increased fatigue, adversely affects health, and consequently increases the risk of dangerous situations and accidental injuries

Keywords: Apparent temperature, health, safety work, scaffoldings.

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Authors: Jiri Plocek, Petr Holec, Simona Kubickova, Barbara Pacakova, Irena Matulkova, Alice Mantlikova, Ivan Nemec, Daniel Niznansky, Jana Vejpravova

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This article presents summary on preparation and characterization of zinc, copper, cadmium and cobalt chromite nanocrystals, embedded in an amorphous silica matrix. The ZnCr2O4/SiO2, CuCr2O4/SiO2, CdCr2O4/SiO2 and CoCr2O4/SiO2 nanocomposites were prepared by a conventional sol-gel method under acid catalysis. Final heat treatment of the samples was carried out at temperatures in the range of 900−1200 ◦C to adjust the phase composition and the crystallite size, respectively. The resulting samples were characterized by Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Raman/FTIR spectroscopy and magnetic measurements. Formation of the spinel phase was confirmed in all samples. The average size of the nanocrystals was determined from the PXRD data and by direct particle size observation on HRTEM; both results were correlated. The mean particle size (reviewed by HRTEM) was in the range from ∼4 to 46 nm. The results showed that the sol-gel method can be effectively used for preparation of the spinel chromite nanoparticles embedded in the silica matrix and the particle size is driven by the type of the cation A2+ in the spinel structure and the temperature of the final heat treatment. Magnetic properties of the nanocrystals were found to be just moderately modified in comparison to the bulk phases.

Keywords: Chromite, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, agnetic properties, nanocomposites, Raman spectroscopy, Rietveld refinement, sol-gel method, spinel.

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Authors: Xun Ge

Abstract:

Recently, X. Ge and J. Qian investigated some relations between higher mathematics scores and calculus scores (resp. linear algebra scores, probability statistics scores) for Chinese university students. Based on rough-set theory, they established an information system S = (U,CuD,V, f). In this information system, higher mathematics score was taken as a decision attribute and calculus score, linear algebra score, probability statistics score were taken as condition attributes. They investigated importance of each condition attribute with respective to decision attribute and strength of each condition attribute supporting decision attribute. In this paper, we give further investigations for this issue. Based on the above information system S = (U, CU D, V, f), we analyze the decision rules between condition and decision granules. For each x E U, we obtain support (resp. strength, certainty factor, coverage factor) of the decision rule C —>x D, where C —>x D is the decision rule induced by x in S = (U, CU D, V, f). Results of this paper gives new analysis of on higher mathematics scores for Chinese university students, which can further lead Chinese university students to raise higher mathematics scores in Chinese graduate student entrance examination.

Keywords: Rough set, support, strength, certainty factor, coverage factor.

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