Search results for: remote secure base

Authors: Pibool Waijittragum

Abstract:

The purpose of this research is to analyze the marketing strategies of Thai Halal products which related to the way of life for Thai Muslims. The expected benefit is the marketing strategy for brand building process for Halal products in Thailand. 4 elements of marketing strategies which necessary for the brand identity creation is the research framework: consists of Attributes, Benefits, Values and Personality. The research methodology was applied using qualitative and quantitative; 19 marketing experts with dynamic roles in Thai consumer products were interviewed. In addition, a field survey of 122 Thai Muslims selected from 175 Muslim communities in Bangkok was studied. Data analysis will be according to 5 categories of Thai Halal product: 1) Meat 2) Vegetable and Fruits 3) Instant foods and Garnishing ingredient 4) Beverages, Desserts and Snacks 5) Hygienic daily products; such as soap, shampoo and body lotion. The results will explain some suitable representation in the marketing strategies of Thai Halal products as are: 1) Benefit; the characteristics of the product with its benefit. Consumers will purchase this product with the reason of; it is beneficial nutrients product, there are no toxic or chemical residues. Fresh and clean materials 2) Attribute; the exterior images that attract to consumer. Consumers will purchase this product with the reason of; there is a standard proof mark, food and drug secure proof mark and Halal products mark. Packaging and its materials should be draw attention. Use an attractive graphic. Use outstanding images of product, material or ingredients. 3) Value; the value of products that affect to consumers perception; it is healthy products. Accumulate quality of life. It is a product of expertise, manufacturing of research result. Consumers are important. It’s sincere, honest and reliable to all. 4) Personality; reflection of consumers thought. The Personality feedback to them after they were consumes this product; they are health care persons. They are the rational person, moral person, justice person and thoughtful person like a progressive thinking.

Keywords: Marketing strategies, Product identity, Branding, Thai Halal products.

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Authors: Ziya Uddin

Abstract:

This paper deals with the theoretical and numerical investigation of magneto hydrodynamic boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a wedge shaped wick in heat pipe used for the cooling of electronic components and different type of machines. To incorporate the effect of nanoparticle diameter, concentration of nanoparticles in the pure fluid, nanothermal layer formed around the nanoparticle and Brownian motion of nanoparticles etc., appropriate models are used for the effective thermal and physical properties of nanofluids. To model the rotation of nanoparticles inside the base fluid, microfluidics theory is used. In this investigation ethylene glycol (EG) based nanofluids, are taken into account. The non-linear equations governing the flow and heat transfer are solved by using a very effective particle swarm optimization technique along with Runge-Kutta method. The values of heat transfer coefficient are found for different parameters involved in the formulation viz. nanoparticle concentration, nanoparticle size, magnetic field and wedge angle etc. It is found that, the wedge angle, presence of magnetic field, nanoparticle size and nanoparticle concentration etc. have prominent effects on fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics for the considered configuration.

Keywords: Heat transfer, Heat pipe, numerical modeling, nanofluid applications, particle swarm optimization, wedge shaped wick.

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Authors: M. Ahmadi, M. Kafil, H. Ebrahimi

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Nowadays, induction motors have a significant role in industries. Condition monitoring (CM) of this equipment has gained a remarkable importance during recent years due to huge production losses, substantial imposed costs and increases in vulnerability, risk, and uncertainty levels. Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is one of the most important techniques in CM. This method can be used for rotor broken bars detection. Signal processing methods such as Fast Fourier transformation (FFT), Wavelet transformation and Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) are used for analyzing MCSA output data. In this study, these signal processing methods are used for broken bar problem detection of Mobarakeh steel company induction motors. Based on wavelet transformation method, an index for fault detection, CF, is introduced which is the variation of maximum to the mean of wavelet transformation coefficients. We find that, in the broken bar condition, the amount of CF factor is greater than the healthy condition. Based on EMD method, the energy of intrinsic mode functions (IMF) is calculated and finds that when motor bars become broken the energy of IMFs increases.

Keywords: Broken bar, condition monitoring, diagnostics, empirical mode decomposition, Fourier transform, wavelet transform.

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Authors: Emmanuel Agunloye, Asterios Gavriilidis, Luca Mazzei

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Gold nanoparticles are commonly synthesized by reducing chloroauric acid with sodium citrate. This method, referred to as the citrate method, can produce spherical gold nanoparticles (NPs) in the size range 10-150 nm. Gold NPs of this size are useful in many applications. However, the NPs are usually polydisperse and irreproducible. A better understanding of the synthesis mechanisms is thus required. This work thoroughly investigated the only model that describes the synthesis. This model combines mass and population balance equations, describing the NPs synthesis through a sequence of chemical reactions. Chloroauric acid reacts with sodium citrate to form aurous chloride and dicarboxy acetone. The latter organizes aurous chloride in a nucleation step and concurrently degrades into acetone. The unconsumed precursor then grows the formed nuclei. However, depending on the pH, both the precursor and the reducing agent react differently thus affecting the synthesis. In this work, we investigated the model for different conditions of pH, temperature and initial reactant concentrations. To solve the model, we used Parsival, a commercial numerical code, whilst to test it, we considered various conditions studied experimentally by different researchers, for which results are available in the literature. The model poorly predicted the experimental data. We believe that this is because the model does not account for the acid-base properties of both chloroauric acid and sodium citrate.

Keywords: Gold nanoparticles, Citrate method, Turkevich organizer theory, population balance modelling.

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Authors: Yongquan Zhao, Bo Huang

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Spatial, Temporal, and Spectral Resolution (STSR) are three key characteristics of Earth observation satellite sensors; however, any single satellite sensor cannot provide Earth observations with high STSR simultaneously because of the hardware technology limitations of satellite sensors. On the other hand, a conflicting circumstance is that the demand for high STSR has been growing with the remote sensing application development. Although image fusion technology provides a feasible means to overcome the limitations of the current Earth observation data, the current fusion technologies cannot enhance all STSR simultaneously and provide high enough resolution improvement level. This study proposes a Hybrid Spatial-Temporal-Spectral image Fusion Model (HSTSFM) to generate synthetic satellite data with high STSR simultaneously, which blends the high spatial resolution from the panchromatic image of Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), the high temporal resolution from the multi-spectral image of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the high spectral resolution from the hyper-spectral image of Hyperion to produce high STSR images. The proposed HSTSFM contains three fusion modules: (1) spatial-spectral image fusion; (2) spatial-temporal image fusion; (3) temporal-spectral image fusion. A set of test data with both phenological and land cover type changes in Beijing suburb area, China is adopted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results indicate that HSTSFM can produce fused image that has good spatial and spectral fidelity to the reference image, which means it has the potential to generate synthetic data to support the studies that require high STSR satellite imagery.

Keywords: Hybrid spatial-temporal-spectral fusion, high resolution synthetic imagery, least square regression, sparse representation, spectral transformation.

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Authors: Kyoung-jae Kim

Abstract:

Recommender systems are usually regarded as an important marketing tool in the e-commerce. They use important information about users to facilitate accurate recommendation. The information includes user context such as location, time and interest for personalization of mobile users. We can easily collect information about location and time because mobile devices communicate with the base station of the service provider. However, information about user interest can-t be easily collected because user interest can not be captured automatically without user-s approval process. User interest usually represented as a need. In this study, we classify needs into two types according to prior research. This study investigates the usefulness of data mining techniques for classifying user need type for recommendation systems. We employ several data mining techniques including artificial neural networks, decision trees, case-based reasoning, and multivariate discriminant analysis. Experimental results show that CHAID algorithm outperforms other models for classifying user need type. This study performs McNemar test to examine the statistical significance of the differences of classification results. The results of McNemar test also show that CHAID performs better than the other models with statistical significance.

Keywords: Customer need type, Data mining techniques, Recommender system, Personalization, Mobile user.

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Authors: Ganesh D. Kale, Sheela N. Vadsola

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Soil erosion is the most serious problem faced at global and local level. So planning of soil conservation measures has become prominent agenda in the view of water basin managers. To plan for the soil conservation measures, the information on soil erosion is essential. Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation 1 (RUSLE1or RUSLE) and Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE), RUSLE 1.06, RUSLE1.06c, RUSLE2 are most widely used conventional erosion estimation methods. The essential drawbacks of USLE, RUSLE1 equations are that they are based on average annual values of its parameters and so their applicability to small temporal scale is questionable. Also these equations do not estimate runoff generated soil erosion. So applicability of these equations to estimate runoff generated soil erosion is questionable. Data used in formation of USLE, RUSLE1 equations was plot data so its applicability at greater spatial scale needs some scale correction factors to be induced. On the other hand MUSLE is unsuitable for predicting sediment yield of small and large events. Although the new revised forms of USLE like RUSLE 1.06, RUSLE1.06c and RUSLE2 were land use independent and they have almost cleared all the drawbacks in earlier versions like USLE and RUSLE1, they are based on the regional data of specific area and their applicability to other areas having different climate, soil, land use is questionable. These conventional equations are applicable for sheet and rill erosion and unable to predict gully erosion and spatial pattern of rills. So the research was focused on development of nonconventional (other than conventional) methods of soil erosion estimation. When these non-conventional methods are combined with GIS and RS, gives spatial distribution of soil erosion. In the present paper the review of literature on non- conventional methods of soil erosion estimation supported by GIS and RS is presented.

Keywords: Conventional methods, GIS, non-conventionalmethods, remote sensing, soil erosion modeling

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Authors: Mohd F. Taha, Chong F. Kiat, Maizatul S. Shaharun, Anita Ramli

Abstract:

The abundance and availability of rice husk, an agricultural waste, make them as a good source for precursor of activated carbon. In this work, rice husk-based activated carbons were prepared via base treated chemical activation process prior the carbonization process. The effect of carbonization temperatures (400, 600 and 800oC) on their pore structure was evaluated through morphology analysis using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Sample carbonized at 800oC showed better evolution and development of pores as compared to those carbonized at 400 and 600oC. The potential of rice husk-based activated carbon as an alternative adsorbent was investigated for the removal of Ni(II), Zn(II) and Pb(II) from single metal aqueous solution. The adsorption studies using rice husk-based activated carbon as an adsorbent were carried out as a function of contact time at room temperature and the metal ions were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The ability to remove metal ion from single metal aqueous solution was found to be improved with the increasing of carbonization temperature. Among the three metal ions tested, Pb(II) ion gave the highest adsorption on rice husk-based activated carbon. The results obtained indicate the potential to utilize rice husk as a promising precursor for the preparation of activated carbon for removal of heavy metals.

Keywords: Activated carbon, metal ion adsorption, rice husk, wastewater treatment.

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Authors: Toi Limazie, Xun'an Zhang, Xianjie Wang

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This paper focuses on the Mega-Sub Controlled Structure Systems (MSCSS) performances and characteristics regarding the new control principle contained in MSCSS subjected to strong earthquake excitations. The adopted control scheme consists of modulated sub-structures where the control action is achieved by viscous dampers and sub-structure own configuration. The elastic-plastic time history analysis under severe earthquake excitation is analyzed base on the Finite Element Analysis Method (FEAM), and some comparison results are also given in this paper. The result shows that the MSCSS systems can remarkably reduce vibrations effects more than the mega-sub structure (MSS). The study illustrates that the improved MSCSS presents good seismic resistance ability even at 1.2g and can absorb seismic energy in the structure, thus imply that structural members cross section can be reduce and achieve to good economic characteristics. Furthermore, the elasto-plastic analysis demonstrates that the MSCSS is accurate enough regarding international building evaluation and design codes. This paper also shows that the elasto-plastic dynamic analysis method is a reasonable and reliable analysis method for structures subjected to strong earthquake excitations and that the computed results are more precise.

Keywords: controlling effectiveness, Elasto-plastic dynamic analysis, Mega-Sub Controlled Structure, Plastic hinge pattern.

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Authors: Jalal M. Abdallah

Abstract:

This paper presents an experimental investigation of transformer dielectric response and solid insulation water content. The dielectric response was carried out on the base of Hybrid Frequency Dielectric Spectroscopy and Polarization Current measurements method (FDS &PC). The calculation of the water content in paper is based on the water content in oil and the obtained equilibrium curves. A reference measurements were performed at equilibrium conditions for water content in oil and paper of transformer at different stable temperatures (25, 50, 60 and 70°C) to prepare references to evaluate the insulation behavior at the not equilibrium conditions. Some measurements performed at the different simulated normal working modes of transformer operation at the same temperature where the equilibrium conditions. The obtained results show that when transformer temperature is mach more than the its ambient temperature, the transformer temperature decreases immediately after disconnecting the transformer from the network and this temperature reduction influences the transformer insulation condition in the measuring process. In addition to the oil temperature at the near places to the sensors, the temperature uniformity in transformer which can be changed by a big change in the load of transformer before the measuring time will influence the result. The investigations have shown that the extremely influence of the time between disconnecting the transformer and beginning the measurements on the results. And the online monitoring for water content in paper measurements, on the basis of the oil water content on line monitoring and the obtained equilibrium curves. The measurements where performed continuously and for about 50 days without any disconnection in the prepared the adiabatic room.

Keywords: Conductivity, Moisture, Temperature, Oil-paperinsulation, Online monitoring, Water content in oil.

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Authors: M. Israil Hossain, T. P. Tiwari, Ashrafuzzaman Gulandaz, Nusrat Jahan

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Two-wheel tractor (power tiller) is a common tillage tool in Bangladesh agriculture for easy access in fragmented land with affordable price of small farmers. Traditional maize sheller needs to be carried from place to place by hooking with two-wheel tractor (2WT) and set up again for shelling operation which takes longer time for preparation of maize shelling. The mobile maize sheller eliminates the transportation problem and can start shelling operation instantly any place as it is attached together with 2WT. It is counterclockwise rotating cylinder, axial flow type sheller, and grain separated with a frictional force between spike tooth and concave. The maize sheller is attached with nuts and bolts in front of the engine base of 2WT. The operating power of the sheller comes from the fly wheel of the engine of the tractor through ‘V” belt pulley arrangement. The average shelling capacity of the mobile sheller is 2.0 t/hr, broken kernel 2.2%, and shelling efficiency 97%. The average maize shelling cost is Tk. 0.22/kg and traditional custom hire rate is Tk.1.0/kg, respectively (1 US$=Tk.78.0). The service provider of the 2WT can transport the mobile maize sheller long distance in operator’s seating position. The manufacturers started the fabrication of mobile maize sheller. This mobile maize sheller is also compatible for the other countries where 2WT is available for farming operation.

Keywords: Cost effective, mobile maize sheller, maize shelling capacity, small farmers, two-wheel tractor.

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Authors: Rodolfo Lorbieski, Silvia Modesto Nassar

Abstract:

Many supervised machine learning tasks require decision making across numerous different classes. Multi-class classification has several applications, such as face recognition, text recognition and medical diagnostics. The objective of this article is to analyze an adapted method of Stacking in multi-class problems, which combines ensembles within the ensemble itself. For this purpose, a training similar to Stacking was used, but with three levels, where the final decision-maker (level 2) performs its training by combining outputs from the tree-based pair of meta-classifiers (level 1) from Bayesian families. These are in turn trained by pairs of base classifiers (level 0) of the same family. This strategy seeks to promote diversity among the ensembles forming the meta-classifier level 2. Three performance measures were used: (1) accuracy, (2) area under the ROC curve, and (3) time for three factors: (a) datasets, (b) experiments and (c) levels. To compare the factors, ANOVA three-way test was executed for each performance measure, considering 5 datasets by 25 experiments by 3 levels. A triple interaction between factors was observed only in time. The accuracy and area under the ROC curve presented similar results, showing a double interaction between level and experiment, as well as for the dataset factor. It was concluded that level 2 had an average performance above the other levels and that the proposed method is especially efficient for multi-class problems when compared to binary problems.

Keywords: Stacking, multi-layers, ensemble, multi-class.

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Authors: Mohamed Ali AlShaari, Khalid M. ElFitori

Abstract:

In the field of Quran Studies known as GHAREEB AL QURAN (The study of the meanings of strange words and structures in Holy Quran), it is difficult to distinguish some pragmatic meanings from conceptual meanings. One who wants to study this subject may need to look for a common usage between any two words or more; to understand general meaning, and sometimes may need to look for common differences between them, even if there are synonyms (word sisters).

Some of the distinguished scholars of Arabic linguistics believe that there are no synonym words, they believe in varieties of meaning and multi-context usage. Based on this viewpoint, our method was designedto look for synonyms of a word, then the differences that distinct the word and their synonyms.

There are many available books that use such a method e.g. synonyms books, dictionaries, glossaries, and some books on the interpretations of strange vocabulary of the Holy Quran, but it is difficult to look up words in these written works.

For that reason, we proposed a logical entity, which we called Differences Matrix (DM).

DM groups the synonyms words to extract the relations between them and to know the general meaning, which defines the skeleton of all word synonyms; this meaning is expressed by a word of its sisters.

In Differences Matrix, we used  the sisters(words) as titles for rows and columns, and in the obtained  cells we tried to define the row title (word) by using column title (her sister), so the relations between sisters appear, the expected result is well defined groups of sisters for each word. We represented the obtained results formally, and used the defined groups as a base for building the ontology of the Holy Quran synonyms.

Keywords: Quran, synonyms, Differences Matrix, ontology

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Authors: B. Arzhanov, A. Correia, P. Delgado, J. Meireles

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Quad Flat No-Lead (QFN) packages have become very popular for turners, converters and audio amplifiers, among others applications, needing efficient power dissipation in small footprints. Since semiconductor junction temperature (T_J) is a critical parameter in the product quality. And to ensure that die temperature does not exceed the maximum allowable T_J, a thermal analysis conducted in an earlier development phase is essential to avoid repeated re-designs process with huge losses in cost and time. A simulation tool capable to estimate die temperature of components with QFN package was developed. Allow establish a non-empirical way to define an acceptance criterion for amount of voids in solder interface between its exposed pad and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) to be applied during industrialization process, and evaluate the impact of PCB designs parameters. Targeting PCB layout designer as an end user for the application, a user-friendly interface (GUI) was implemented allowing user to introduce design parameters in a convenient and secure way and hiding all the complexity of finite element simulation process. This cost effective tool turns transparent a simulating process and provides useful outputs after acceptable time, which can be adopted by PCB designers, preventing potential risks during the design stage and make product economically efficient by not oversizing it. This article gathers relevant information related to the design and implementation of the developed tool, presenting a parametric study conducted with it. The simulation tool was experimentally validated using a Thermal-Test-Chip (TTC) in a QFN open-cavity, in order to measure junction temperature (T_J) directly on the die under controlled and knowing conditions. Providing a short overview about standard thermal solutions and impacts in exposed pad packages (i.e. QFN), accurately describe the methods and techniques that the system designer should use to achieve optimum thermal performance, and demonstrate the effect of system-level constraints on the thermal performance of the design.

Keywords: Quad Flat No-Lead packages, exposed pads, junction temperature, thermal management and measurements.

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Authors: Apichaya Kaewuthai

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To study the meaning of Muslim name in order to analyze the underlining value and identity from first year to forth year Muslim students at Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai Campus. The questionnaires are employed as a main analytical tool to acquire the names from 80 Muslim students in four study years. The meanings of obtained names are subsequently analyzed and summarized base upon related documents to uncover the beneath value. The study reveals that name of male is derived from the name of prophet; Nabi Muhammad, merit, dignity, origins, leadership and the faith in Islam. For female, on the other hand, their names are related to virtue and beauty, cleanliness and peace, hope and flowers which comply with their characteristics. One of the reasons contribute to the principle of naming is the regulation of Ministry of Culture which states that the name should represent one’s nature and characters. The given name reflects value and identity of Muslim which can be classified into three categories including 1) Value related to belief in Islam 2) value related to relationship among families and relatives 3) value about relationship with nature and environment. All the above mentioned reflect Muslim value and identity vividly.    The name of Muslim students allows the researcher to perceive the perspective, belief and value in giving the name of Thai Muslim. Besides, it reveals social condition and their culture. It can also be the fundamental of studying the meaning of name in other races.

Keywords: The naming, Thai Muslim.

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Authors: Md Rashadul Islam, Umme Amina Mannan, Rafiqul A. Tarefder

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Stiffness of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) in flexible pavement is largely dependent of temperature, mode of testing and age of pavement. Accurate measurement of HMA stiffness is thus quite challenging. This study determines HMA stiffness based on Finite Element Model (FEM) and validates the results using field data. As a first step, stiffnesses of different layers of a pavement section on Interstate 40 (I-40) in New Mexico were determined by Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) test. Pavement temperature was not measured at that time due to lack of temperature probe. Secondly, a FE model is developed in ABAQUS. Stiffness of the base, subbase and subgrade were taken from the FWD test output obtained from the first step. As HMA stiffness largely varies with temperature it was assigned trial and error approach. Thirdly, horizontal strain and vertical stress at the bottom of the HMA and temperature at different depths of the pavement were measured with installed sensors on the whole day on December 25th, 2012. Fourthly, outputs of FEM were correlated with measured stress-strain responses. After a number of trials a relationship was developed between the trial stiffness of HMA and measured mid-depth HMA temperature. At last, the obtained relationship between stiffness and temperature is verified by further FWD test when pavement temperature was recorded. A promising agreement between them is observed. Therefore, conclusion can be drawn that linear elastic FEM can accurately predict the stiffness and the structural response of flexible pavement.

Keywords: Asphalt pavement, falling weight deflectometer test, field instrumentation, finite element model, horizontal strain, temperature probes.

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Authors: Japhet N. Mwambusi

Abstract:

High tropical forests deforestation for solid wood furniture industry is among of climate change contributing agents. This pressure indirectly is caused by furniture joints failure due to poor gluing technology based on improper use of different glues to different wood species which lead to low quality and weak wood-glue joints. This study was carried in order to run performance tests of wood glues on different wood species used in wood workshops: Morogoro Tanzania whereby three popular wood species of C. lusitanica, T. glandis and E. maidenii were tested against five glues of Woodfix, Bullbond, Ponal, Fevicol and Coral found in the market. The findings were necessary on developing a guideline for proper glue selection for a particular wood species joining. Random sampling was employed to interview carpenters while conducting a survey on the background of carpenters like their education level and to determine factors that influence their glues choice. Monsanto Tensiometer was used to determine bonding strength of identified wood glues to different wood species in use under British Standard of testing wood shear strength (BS EN 205) procedures. Data obtained from interviewing carpenters were analyzed through Statistical Package of Social Science software (SPSS) to allow the comparison of different data while laboratory data were compiled, related and compared by the use of MS Excel worksheet software as well as Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results revealed that among all five wood glues tested in the laboratory to three different wood species, Coral performed much better with the average shear strength 4.18 N/mm², 3.23 N/mm² and 5.42 N/mm² for Cypress, Teak and Eucalyptus respectively. This displays that for a strong joint to be formed to all tree wood species for soft wood and hard wood, Coral has a first priority in use. The developed table of guideline from this research can be useful to carpenters on proper glue selection to a particular wood species so as to meet glue-bond strength. This will secure furniture market as well as reduce pressure to the forests for furniture production because of the strong existing furniture due to their strong joints. Indeed, this can be a good strategy on reducing climate change speed in tropics which result from high deforestation of trees for furniture production.

Keywords: Climate change, deforestation, gluing technology, joint failure, wood-glue, wood species.

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Authors: Michael G. Pantelyat

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Fundamental basics of pure and applied research in the area of magneto-thermo-mechanical numerical analysis and design of innovative electromagnetic devices (modern induction heaters, novel thermoelastic actuators, rotating electrical machines, induction cookers, electrophysical devices) are elaborated. Thus, mathematical models of magneto-thermo-mechanical processes in electromagnetic devices taking into account main interactions of interrelated phenomena are developed. In addition, graphical representation of coupled (multiphysics) phenomena under consideration is proposed. Besides, numerical techniques for nonlinear problems solution are developed. On this base, effective numerical algorithms for solution of actual problems of practical interest are proposed, validated and implemented in applied 2D and 3D computer codes developed. Many applied problems of practical interest regarding modern electrical engineering devices are numerically solved. Investigations of the influences of various interrelated physical phenomena (temperature dependences of material properties, thermal radiation, conditions of convective heat transfer, contact phenomena, etc.) on the accuracy of the electromagnetic, thermal and structural analyses are conducted. Important practical recommendations on the choice of rational structures, materials and operation modes of electromagnetic devices under consideration are proposed and implemented in industry.

Keywords: Electromagnetic devices, multiphysics, numerical analysis, simulation and design.

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Authors: Nicolò Vaiana, Giorgio Serino

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In this paper, an advanced Nonlinear Exponential Model (NEM), able to simulate the uniaxial dynamic behavior of seismic isolators having a continuously decreasing tangent stiffness with increasing displacement in the relatively large displacements range and a hardening or softening behavior at large displacements, is presented. The mathematical model is validated by comparing the experimental force-displacement hysteresis loops obtained during cyclic tests, conducted on a helical wire rope isolator and a recycled rubber-fiber reinforced bearing, with those predicted analytically. Good agreement between the experimental and simulated results shows that the proposed model can be an effective numerical tool to predict the force-displacement relationship of seismic isolation devices within the large displacements range. Compared to the widely used Bouc-Wen model, unable to simulate the response of seismic isolators at large displacements, the proposed one allows to avoid the numerical solution of a first order nonlinear ordinary differential equation for each time step of a nonlinear time history analysis, thus reducing the computation effort. Furthermore, the proposed model can simulate the smooth transition of the hysteresis loops from small to large displacements by adopting only one set of five parameters determined from the experimental hysteresis loops having the largest amplitude.

Keywords: Base isolation, hardening behavior, nonlinear exponential model, seismic isolators, softening behavior.

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Authors: Ime R. Udotong, Justina I. R. Udotong

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Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and the highest crude oil & condensate producer in Nigeria has its operational base and an oil terminal, the Qua Iboe terminal (QIT) located at Ibeno, Nigeria. Other oil companies like Network Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd, Frontier Oil Ltd; Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd; Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd and Nigerian Agip Energy, a subsidiary of the Italian ENI E&P operate onshore, on the continental shelf and in deep offshore of the Atlantic Ocean, respectively with the coastal waters of Ibeno, Nigeria as the nearest shoreline. This study was designed to delineate the oil-polluted sites in Ibeno, Nigeria using microbiological and physico-chemical characterization of soils, sediments and ground and surface water samples from the study area. Results obtained revealed that there have been significant recent hydrocarbon inputs into this environment as observed from the high counts of hydrocarbonoclastic microorganisms in excess of 1% at all the stations sampled. Moreover, high concentrations of THC, BTEX and heavy metals contents in all the samples analyzed corroborate the high recent crude oil input into the study area. The results also showed that the pollution of the different environmental media sampled were of varying degrees, following the trend: ground water > surface water > sediments > soils.

Keywords: Microbiological characterization, oil-polluted sites, physico-chemical analyses, total hydrocarbon content.

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Authors: Ahmad Sharif Ahmadi, Yoshitaka Kajita

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Kabul, the capital and largest city in Afghanistan has been experiencing a massive population expansion and fast economic development in last decade, in which urban land has increasingly expanded and formed a high informal development territory in the city. This paper investigates the urban land development direction based on the integrated urbanization trends in Kabul city since the last and the fastest ever urban land growth period (1999-2008), which is parallel with the establishment of the new government in Afghanistan. Considering the existing challenges in terms of informal settlements, squatter settlements, the population expansion of the city, and fast economic development, as well as the huge influx of returning refugees from neighboring countries, and the sprawl direction of urbanization of the Kabul city urban fringes, this research focuses on the possible urban land development direction and trends for the city. The paper studies the feasible future land development direction of Kabul city in the northern part called Shamali basin, in which district 17 is the gateway for future development. The area has much developable area including eight districts of Kabul province, and the vast area of Parwan and Kapisa provinces. The northern area of the Kabul city generally has favorable conditions for further urbanization from the city. It is a large and relatively flat area of area in the northern part of Kabul city, with ample water resources available from the Panjshir basin as a base principle of land development direction in the area.

Keywords: Kabul city, land development trends, urban land development, urbanization.

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Authors: Pavel Shcherban, Viktoria Ivanova, Alexander Neprokin, Vladislav Golovanov

Abstract:

Currently, LLC «Lukoil-Kaliningradmorneft» is implementing a comprehensive program for the development of offshore fields of the Kaliningrad region. This is largely associated with the depletion of the resource base of land in the region, as well as the positive results of geological investigation surrounding the Baltic Sea area and the data on the volume of hydrocarbon recovery from a single offshore field are working on the Kaliningrad region – D-6 «Kravtsovskoye».The article analyzes the main stages of the LLC «Lukoil-Kaliningradmorneft»’s development program for the development of the hydrocarbon resources of the region's shelf and suggests an optimization algorithm that allows managing a multi-criteria process of development of shelf deposits. The algorithm is formed on the basis of the problem of sequential decision making, which is a section of dynamic programming. Application of the algorithm during the consolidation of the initial data, the elaboration of project documentation, the further exploration and development of offshore fields will allow to optimize the complex of technical and technological solutions and increase the economic efficiency of the field development project implemented by LLC «Lukoil-Kaliningradmorneft».

Keywords: Offshore fields of hydrocarbons of the Baltic Sea, Development of offshore oil and gas fields, Optimization of the field development scheme, Solution of multi-criteria tasks in the oil and gas complex, Quality management of technical and technological processes.

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Authors: Dong-Yan Huang, Ee Ping Ong, Susanto Rahardja, Minghui Dong, Haizhou Li

Abstract:

The transformation of vocal characteristics aims at modifying voice such that the intelligibility of aphonic voice is increased or the voice characteristics of a speaker (source speaker) to be perceived as if another speaker (target speaker) had uttered it. In this paper, the current state-of-the-art voice characteristics transformation methodology is reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on voice transformation methodology and issues for improving the transformed speech quality in intelligibility and naturalness are discussed. In particular, it is suggested to use the modulation theory of speech as a base for research on high quality voice transformation. This approach allows one to separate linguistic, expressive, organic and perspective information of speech, based on an analysis of how they are fused when speech is produced. Therefore, this theory provides the fundamentals not only for manipulating non-linguistic, extra-/paralinguistic and intra-linguistic variables for voice transformation, but also for paving the way for easily transposing the existing voice transformation methods to emotion-related voice quality transformation and speaking style transformation. From the perspectives of human speech production and perception, the popular voice transformation techniques are described and classified them based on the underlying principles either from the speech production or perception mechanisms or from both. In addition, the advantages and limitations of voice transformation techniques and the experimental manipulation of vocal cues are discussed through examples from past and present research. Finally, a conclusion and road map are pointed out for more natural voice transformation algorithms in the future.

Keywords: Voice transformation, Voice Quality, Emotion, Individuality, Speaking Style, Speech Production, Speech Perception.

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Authors: Elina Bakhtieva

Abstract:

The variety of available digital tools, strategies and activities might confuse and disorient even an experienced marketer. This applies in particular to B2B companies, which are usually less flexible in uptaking of digital technology than B2C companies. B2B companies are lacking a framework that corresponds to the specifics of the B2B business, and which helps to evaluate a company’s capabilities and to choose an appropriate path. A B2B digital marketing maturity model helps to fill this gap. However, modern marketing offers no widely approved digital marketing maturity model, and thus, some marketing institutions provide their own tools. The purpose of this paper is building an optimized B2B digital marketing maturity model based on a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of existing models. The current study provides an analytical review of the existing digital marketing maturity models with open access. The results of the research are twofold. First, the provided SWOT analysis outlines the main advantages and disadvantages of existing models. Secondly, the strengths of existing digital marketing maturity models, helps to identify the main characteristics and the structure of an optimized B2B digital marketing maturity model. The research findings indicate that only one out of three analyzed models could be used as a separate tool. This study is among the first examining the use of maturity models in digital marketing. It helps businesses to choose between the existing digital marketing models, the most effective one. Moreover, it creates a base for future research on digital marketing maturity models. This study contributes to the emerging B2B digital marketing literature by providing a SWOT analysis of the existing digital marketing maturity models and suggesting a structure and main characteristics of an optimized B2B digital marketing maturity model.

Keywords: B2B digital marketing strategy, digital marketing, digital marketing maturity model, SWOT analysis.

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Authors: Hermann Kuehnle

Abstract:

Applications of the Hausdorff space and its mappings into tangent spaces are outlined, including their fractal dimensions and self-similarities. The paper details this theory set up and further describes virtualizations and atomization of manufacturing processes. It demonstrates novel concurrency principles that will guide manufacturing processes and resources configurations. Moreover, varying levels of details may be produced by up folding and breaking down of newly introduced generic models. This choice of layered generic models for units and systems aspects along specific aspects allows research work in parallel to other disciplines with the same focus on all levels of detail. More credit and easier access are granted to outside disciplines for enriching manufacturing grounds. Specific mappings and the layers give hints for chances for interdisciplinary outcomes and may highlight more details for interoperability standards, as already worked on the international level. The new rules are described, which require additional properties concerning all involved entities for defining distributed decision cycles, again on the base of self-similarity. All properties are further detailed and assigned to a maturity scale, eventually displaying the smartness maturity of a total shopfloor or a factory. The paper contributes to the intensive ongoing discussion in the field of intelligent distributed manufacturing and promotes solid concepts for implementations of Cyber Physical Systems and the Internet of Things into manufacturing industry, like industry 4.0, as discussed in German-speaking countries.

Keywords: Autonomous unit, Networkability, Smart manufacturing unit, Virtualization.

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Authors: R. Taviv, A.C. Brent, H. Fortuin

Abstract:

The Long-range Energy and Alternatives Planning (LEAP) energy planning system has been developed for South Africa, for the 2005 base year and a limited number of plausible future scenarios that may have significant implications (negative or positive) in terms of environmental impacts. The system quantifies the national energy demand for the domestic, commercial, transport, industry and agriculture sectors, the supply of electricity and liquid fuels, and the resulting emissions. The South African National Energy Research Institute (SANERI) identified the need to develop an environmental assessment tool, based on the LEAP energy planning system, to provide decision-makers and stakeholders with the necessary understanding of the environmental impacts associated with different energy scenarios. A comprehensive analysis of indicators that are used internationally and in South Africa was done and the available data was accessed to select a reasonable number of indicators that could be utilized in energy planning. A consultative process was followed to determine the needs of different stakeholders on the required indicators and also the most suitable form of reporting. This paper demonstrates the application of Energy Environmental Sustainability Indicators (EESIs) as part of the developed tool, which assists with the identification of the environmental consequences of energy generation and use scenarios and thereby promotes sustainability, since environmental considerations can then be integrated into the preparation and adoption of policies, plans, programs and projects. Recommendations are made to refine the tool further for South Africa.

Keywords: Energy modeling, LEAP, environmental impact, environmental indicators, energy sector emissions, sustainable development, South Africa

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Authors: Mohamed Omar

Abstract:

Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) is accepted when it used as connection in steel structures. The seismic behaviour of steel frames with SMA is being assessed in this study. Three eightstorey steel frames with different SMA systems are suggested, the first one of which is braced with diagonal bracing system, the second one is braced with nee bracing system while the last one is which the SMA is used as connection at the plastic hinge regions of beams. Nonlinear time history analyses of steel frames with SMA subjected to two different ground motion records have been performed using Seismostruct software. To evaluate the efficiency of suggested systems, the dynamic responses of the frames were compared. From the comparison results, it can be concluded that using SMA element is an effective way to improve the dynamic response of structures subjected to earthquake excitations. Implementing the SMA braces can lead to a reduction in residual roof displacement. The shape memory alloy is effective in reducing the maximum displacement at the frame top and it provides a large elastic deformation range. SMA connections are very effective in dissipating energy and reducing the total input energy of the whole frame under severe seismic ground motion. Using of the SMA connection system is more effective in controlling the reaction forces at the base frame than other bracing systems. Using SMA as bracing is more effective in reducing the displacements. The efficiency of SMA is dependant on the input wave motions and the construction system as well.

Keywords: Finite element analysis, seismic response, shapesmemory alloy, steel frame, superelasticity

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Authors: Susanta Banerjee, Sanjaya Kumar Patro

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Buildings with floating column are highly undesirable built in seismically active areas. Many urban multi-storey buildings today have floating column buildings which are adopted to accommodate parking at ground floor or reception lobbies in the first storey. The earthquake forces developed at different floor levels in a building need to be brought down along the height to the ground by the shortest path; any deviation or discontinuity in this load transfer path results in poor performance of the building. Floating column buildings are severely damaged during earthquake. Damage on this structure can be reduce by taking the effect of infill wall. This paper presents the effect of stiffness of infill wall to the damage occurred in floating column building when ground shakes. Modelling and analysis are carried out by non linear analysis programme IDARC-2D. Damage occurred in beams, columns, storey are studied by formulating modified Park & Ang model to evaluate damage indices. Overall structural damage indices in buildings due to shaking of ground are also obtained. Dynamic response parameters i.e. lateral floor displacement, storey drift, time period, base shear of buildings are obtained and results are compared with the ordinary moment resisting frame buildings. Formation of cracks, yield, plastic hinge, are also observed during analysis.

Keywords: Floating column, Infill Wall, Park-Ang Damage Index, Damage State.

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Authors: Ashish Saini, A.K. Saxena

Abstract:

The genetic algorithm (GA) based solution techniques are found suitable for optimization because of their ability of simultaneous multidimensional search. Many GA-variants have been tried in the past to solve optimal power flow (OPF), one of the nonlinear problems of electric power system. The issues like convergence speed and accuracy of the optimal solution obtained after number of generations using GA techniques and handling system constraints in OPF are subjects of discussion. The results obtained for GA-Fuzzy OPF on various power systems have shown faster convergence and lesser generation costs as compared to other approaches. This paper presents an enhanced GA-Fuzzy OPF (EGAOPF) using penalty factors to handle line flow constraints and load bus voltage limits for both normal network and contingency case with congestion. In addition to crossover and mutation rate adaptation scheme that adapts crossover and mutation probabilities for each generation based on fitness values of previous generations, a block swap operator is also incorporated in proposed EGA-OPF. The line flow limits and load bus voltage magnitude limits are handled by incorporating line overflow and load voltage penalty factors respectively in each chromosome fitness function. The effects of different penalty factors settings are also analyzed under contingent state.

Keywords: Contingent operation state, Fuzzy rule base, Genetic Algorithms, Optimal Power Flow.

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Authors: Saliha Gachi, Mouloud Aissani, Fouad Boubenider

Abstract:

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state welding technique that can join material without melting the plates to be welded. In this work, we are interested to demonstrate the potentiality of FSW for joining the heat-treatable aluminum alloy 2024-T3 which is reputed as difficult to be welded by fusion techniques. Thereafter, the FSW joint is compared with another one obtained from a conventional fusion process Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG). FSW welds are made up using an FSW tool mounted on a milling machine. Single pass welding was applied to fabricated TIG joint. The comparison between the two processes has been made on the temperature evolution, mechanical and microstructure behavior. The microstructural examination revealed that FSW weld is composed of four zones: Base metal (BM), Heat affected zone (HAZ), Thermo-mechanical affected zone (THAZ) and the nugget zone (NZ). The NZ exhibits a recrystallized equiaxed refined grains that induce better mechanical properties and good ductility compared to TIG joint where the grains have a larger size in the welded region compared with the BM due to the elevated heat input. The microhardness results show that, in FSW weld, the THAZ contains the lowest microhardness values and increase in the NZ; however, in TIG process, the lowest values are localized on the NZ.

Keywords: Friction stir welding, tungsten inert gaz, aluminum, microstructure.

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