Search results for: Current spectrum
1458 Organizational Culture and Innovation Adoption/Generation: A Proposed Model for Architectural Firms
Authors: Kong-Seng, Lai, Nor'Aini Yusof
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Organizational culture fosters innovation, and innovation is the main engine to be sustained within the uncertainty market. Like other countries, the construction industry significantly contributes to the economy, society and technology of Malaysia, yet, innovation is still considered slow compared to other industries such as manufacturing. Given the important role of an architect as the key player and the contributor of new ideas in the construction industry, there is a call to identify the issue and improve the current situation by focusing on the architectural firms. In addition, the existing studies tend to focus only on a few dimensions of organizational culture and very few studies consider whether innovation is being generated or adopted. Hence, the present research tends to fill in the gap by identifying the organizational cultures that foster or hinder innovation generation and/or innovation adoption, and propose a model of organizational culture and innovation generation and/or adoption.
Keywords: Innovation adoption, innovation generation, architectural firm, organizational culture
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13891457 A Sociocybernetics Data Analysis Using Causality in Tourism Networks
Authors: M. Lloret-Climent, J. Nescolarde-Selva
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The aim of this paper is to propose a mathematical model to determine invariant sets, set covering, orbits and, in particular, attractors in the set of tourism variables. Analysis was carried out based on a pre-designed algorithm and applying our interpretation of chaos theory developed in the context of General Systems Theory. This article sets out the causal relationships associated with tourist flows in order to enable the formulation of appropriate strategies. Our results can be applied to numerous cases. For example, in the analysis of tourist flows, these findings can be used to determine whether the behaviour of certain groups affects that of other groups and to analyse tourist behaviour in terms of the most relevant variables. Unlike statistical analyses that merely provide information on current data, our method uses orbit analysis to forecast, if attractors are found, the behaviour of tourist variables in the immediate future.
Keywords: Attractor, invariant set, orbits, tourist variables.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17451456 Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment Tools: A Conceptual Framework for Their Use in Building Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change
Authors: Sally Naji, Julie Gwilliam
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Climate change remains a challenging matter for the human and the built environment in the 21st century, where the need to consider adaptation to climate change in the development process is paramount. However, there remains a lack of information regarding how we should prepare responses to this issue, such as through developing organized and sophisticated tools enabling the adaptation process. This study aims to build a systematic framework approach to investigate the potentials that Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment tools (NSA) might offer in enabling both the analysis of the emerging adaptive capacity to climate change. The analysis of the framework presented in this paper aims to discuss this issue in three main phases. The first part attempts to link sustainability and climate change, in the context of adaptive capacity. It is argued that in deciding to promote sustainability in the context of climate change, both the resilience and vulnerability processes become central. However, there is still a gap in the current literature regarding how the sustainable development process can respond to climate change. As well as how the resilience of practical strategies might be evaluated. It is suggested that the integration of the sustainability assessment processes with both the resilience thinking process, and vulnerability might provide important components for addressing the adaptive capacity to climate change. A critical review of existing literature is presented illustrating the current lack of work in this field, integrating these three concepts in the context of addressing the adaptive capacity to climate change. The second part aims to identify the most appropriate scale at which to address the built environment for the climate change adaptation. It is suggested that the neighborhood scale can be considered as more suitable than either the building or urban scales. It then presents the example of NSAs, and discusses the need to explore their potential role in promoting the adaptive capacity to climate change. The third part of the framework presents a comparison among three example NSAs, BREEAM Communities, LEED-ND, and CASBEE-UD. These three tools have been selected as the most developed and comprehensive assessment tools that are currently available for the neighborhood scale. This study concludes that NSAs are likely to present the basis for an organized framework to address the practical process for analyzing and yet promoting Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change. It is further argued that vulnerability (exposure & sensitivity) and resilience (Interdependence & Recovery) form essential aspects to be addressed in the future assessment of NSA’s capability to adapt to both short and long term climate change impacts. Finally, it is acknowledged that further work is now required to understand impact assessment in terms of the range of physical sectors (Water, Energy, Transportation, Building, Land Use and Ecosystems), Actor and stakeholder engagement as well as a detailed evaluation of the NSA indicators, together with a barriers diagnosis process.Keywords: Adaptive capacity, climate change, NSA tools, resilience, vulnerability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21721455 Economic Impact of Rana Plaza Collapse
Authors: Md. Omar Bin Harun Khan
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The collapse of the infamous Rana Plaza, a multi-storeyed commercial building in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh has brought with it a plethora of positive and negative consequences. Bangladesh being a key player in the export of clothing, found itself amidst a wave of economic upheaval following this tragic incident that resulted in numerous Bangladeshis, most of whom were factory workers. This paper compares the consequences that the country’s Ready Made Garments (RMG) sector is facing now, two years into the incident. The paper presents a comparison of statistical data from study reports and brings forward perspectives from all dimensions of Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations in Bangladesh following the event. The paper brings across the viewpoint of donor organizations and donor countries, the impacts of several initiatives taken by foreign organizations like the International Labour Organization, and local entities like the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in order to reinforce compliance and stabilize the shaky foundation that the RMG sector had found itself following the collapse. Focus of the paper remains on the stance taken by the suppliers in Bangladesh, with inputs from buying houses and factories, and also on the reaction of foreign brands. The paper also focuses on the horrific physical, mental and financial implications sustained by the victims and their families, and the consequent uproar from workers in general regarding compliance with work safety and workers’ welfare conditions. The purpose is to get across both sides of the scenario: the economic impact that suppliers / factories/ sellers/ buying houses/exporters have faced in Bangladesh as a result of complete loss of reliability on them regarding working standards; and also to cover the aftershock felt on the other end of the spectrum by the importers/ buyers, particularly the foreign entities, in terms of the sudden accountability of being affiliated with non- compliant factories. The collapse of Rana Plaza has received vast international attention and strong criticism. Nevertheless, the almost immediate strengthening of labourrights and the wholesale reform undertaken on all sides of the supply chain, evidence a move of all local and foreign stakeholders towards greater compliance and taking of precautionary steps for prevention of further disasters. The tragedy that Rana Plaza embodies served as a much-needed epiphany for the soaring RMG Sector of Bangladesh. Prompt co-operation on the part of all stakeholders and regulatory bodies now show a move towards sustainable development, which further ensures safeguarding against any future irregularities and pave the way for steady economic growth.
Keywords: Economy, employment standards, Ranaplaza, RMG.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 45501454 Design and Analysis of Two-Phase Boost DC-DC Converter
Authors: Taufik Taufik, Tadeus Gunawan, Dale Dolan, Makbul Anwari
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Multiphasing of dc-dc converters has been known to give technical and economical benefits to low voltage high power buck regulator modules. A major advantage of multiphasing dc-dc converters is the improvement of input and output performances in the buck converter. From this aspect, a potential use would be in renewable energy where power quality plays an important factor. This paper presents the design of a 2-phase 200W boost converter for battery charging application. Analysis of results from hardware measurement of the boost converter demonstrates the benefits of using multiphase. Results from the hardware prototype of the 2-phase boost converter further show the potential extension of multiphase beyond its commonly used low voltage high current domains.
Keywords: Multiphase, boost converter, power electronics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 47051453 Treatment of Olive Mill Wastewater by Electrocoagulation Processes and Water Resources Management
Authors: Walid K. M. Bani Salameh, Hesham Ahmad, Mohammad Al-Shannag
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In Jordan having deficit atmospheric precipitation, an increase in water demand occurs during summer months. Jordan can be regarded with a relatively high potential for wastewater recycling and reuse. The main purpose of this paper was to investigate the removal of total suspended solids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) for olive mill wastewater (OMW) by electrocoagulation (EC) process. In the combination of electrocoagulation by using coupled iron–aluminum electrodes, the optimum working pH was found to be around 6. Results indicated that the electrocoagulation process allowed removal of TSS and COD of about 82.5% and 47.5%, respectively at 45 mA/cm2 after 70 minutes by using coupled iron–aluminum electrodes. It was demonstrated that the maximum TSS and COD removals were obtained at some optimum experimental parameters for current density, pH, and reaction time.
Keywords: Olive Mill Wastewater, Electrode, Electrocoagulation (EC), TSS, COD.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27331452 Current Status of Nitrogen Saturation in the Upper Reaches of the Kanna River, Japan
Authors: Sakura Yoshii, Masakazu Abe, Akihiro Iijima
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Nitrogen saturation has become one of the serious issues in the field of forest environment. The watershed protection forests located in the downwind hinterland of Tokyo Metropolitan Area are believed to be facing nitrogen saturation. In this study, we carefully focus on the balance of nitrogen between load and runoff. Annual nitrogen load via atmospheric deposition was estimated to 461.1 t-N/year in the upper reaches of the Kanna River. Annual nitrogen runoff to the forested headwater stream of the Kanna River was determined to 184.9 t-N/year, corresponding to 40.1% of the total nitrogen load. Clear seasonal change in NO3-N concentration was still observed. Therefore, watershed protection forest of the Kanna River is most likely to be in Stage-1 on the status of nitrogen saturation.
Keywords: Atmospheric deposition, Nitrogen accumulation, Denitrification, Forest ecosystems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17141451 A Programmer’s Survey of the Quantum Computing Paradigm
Authors: Philippe Jorrand
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Research in quantum computation is looking for the consequences of having information encoding, processing and communication exploit the laws of quantum physics, i.e. the laws which govern the ultimate knowledge that we have, today, of the foreign world of elementary particles, as described by quantum mechanics. This paper starts with a short survey of the principles which underlie quantum computing, and of some of the major breakthroughs brought by the first ten to fifteen years of research in this domain; quantum algorithms and quantum teleportation are very biefly presented. The next sections are devoted to one among the many directions of current research in the quantum computation paradigm, namely quantum programming languages and their semantics. A few other hot topics and open problems in quantum information processing and communication are mentionned in few words in the concluding remarks, the most difficult of them being the physical implementation of a quantum computer. The interested reader will find a list of useful references at the end of the paper.
Keywords: Quantum information processing, quantum algorithms, quantum programming languages.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20041450 A Method for Improving Dental Crown Fit-Increasing the Robustness
Authors: Kero T., Söderberg R., Andersson M., Lindkvist L.
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The introduction of mass-customization has enabled new ways to treat patients within medicine. However, the introduction of industrialized treatments has also meant new obstacles. The purpose of this study was to introduce and theoretically test a method for improving dental crown fit. The optimization method allocates support points in order to check the final variation for dental crowns. Three different types of geometries were tested and compared. The three geometries were also divided into three sub-geometries: Current method, Optimized method and Feasible method. The Optimized method, using the whole surface for support points, provided the best results. The results support the objective of the study. It also seems that the support optimization method can dramatically improve the robustness of dental crown treatments.Keywords: Bio-medicine, Dentistry, Mass-customization, Optimization and Robust design.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16211449 Phenols and Manganese Removal from Landfill Leachate and Municipal Wastewater Using the Constructed Wetland
Authors: Amin Mojiri, Lou Ziyang
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Constructed Wetland (CW) is a reasonable method to treat wastewater. Current study was carried out to co-treat landfill leachate and domestic wastewater using a CW system. Typha domingensis was transplanted to CW, which encloses two substrate layers of adsorbents named ZELIAC and zeolite. Response surface methodology and central composite design were employed to evaluate experimental data. Contact time (h) and leachate-towastewater mixing ratio (%; v/v) were selected as independent factors. Phenols and manganese removal were selected as dependent responses. At optimum contact time (48.7 h) and leachate-towastewater mixing ratio (20.0%), removal efficiencies of phenols and manganese removal efficiencies were 90.5%, and 89.4%, respectively.Keywords: Constructed wetland, manganese, phenols, Thypha domingensis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23191448 Simulink Model of Reference Frame Theory Based Three Phase Shunt Active Filter
Authors: P. Nammalvar, P. Meganathan, A. Balamuguran
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Among various active filters, shunt active filter is a viable solution for reactive power and harmonics compensation. In this paper, the SRF plan is used to generate current reference for compensation and conventional PI controllers were used as the controller to compensate the reactive power. The design of the closed loop controllers is reserved simple by modeling them as first order systems. Computationally uncomplicated and efficient SVM system is used in the present work for better utilization of dc bus voltage. The rating of shunt active filter has been finalized based on the reactive power demand of the selected reactive load. The proposed control and SVM technique are validated by simulating in MATLAB software.Keywords: Shunt Active Filter, Space vector pulse width modulation, Voltage Source Converter, Reactive Power, Synchronous Reference Frame, Point of common coupling.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25871447 Detecting the Capacity Reserve in an Overhead Line
Authors: S. Berjozkina, A. Sauhats, V. Bargels, E. Vanzovichs
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There are various solutions for improving existing overhead line systems with the general purpose of increasing their limited capacity. The capacity reserve of the existing overhead lines is an important problem that must be considered from different aspects. The paper contains a comparative analysis of the mechanical and thermal limitations of an existing overhead line based on certain calculation conditions characterizing the examined variants. The methodology of the proposed estimation of the permissible conductor temperature and maximum load current is described in detail. The transmission line model consists of specific information of an existing overhead line of the Latvian power network. The main purpose of the simulation tasks is to find an additional capacity reserve by using accurate mathematical models. The results of the obtained data are presented.
Keywords: capacity of an overhead line, mechanical conditions, permissible conductor temperature, thermal conditions.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20031446 Pollutants Removal from Synthetic Wastewater by the Combined Electrochemical Sequencing Batch Reactor
Authors: Amin Mojiri, Akiyoshi Ohashi, Tomonori Kindaichi
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Synthetic domestic wastewater was treated via combining treatment methods, including electrochemical oxidation, adsorption, and sequencing batch reactor (SBR). In the upper part of the reactor, an anode and a cathode (Ti/RuO2-IrO2) were organized in parallel for the electrochemical oxidation procedure. Sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) with a concentration of 2.5 g/L was applied as the electrolyte. The voltage and current were fixed on 7.50 V and 0.40 A, respectively. Then, 15% working value of the reactor was filled by activated sludge, and 85% working value of the reactor was added with synthetic wastewater. Powdered cockleshell, 1.5 g/L, was added in the reactor to do ion-exchange. Response surface methodology was employed for statistical analysis. Reaction time (h) and pH were considered as independent factors. A total of 97.0% biochemical oxygen demand, 99.9% phosphorous and 88.6% cadmium were eliminated at the optimum reaction time (80.0 min) and pH (6.4).Keywords: Adsorption, electrochemical oxidation, metals, sequencing batch reactor.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7971445 The Fluid Limit of the Critical Processor Sharing Tandem Queue
Authors: Amal Ezzidani, Abdelghani Ben Tahar, Mohamed Hanini
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A sequence of finite tandem queue is considered for this study. Each one has a single server, which operates under the egalitarian processor sharing discipline. External customers arrive at each queue according to a renewal input process and having a general service times distribution. Upon completing service, customers leave the current queue and enter to the next. Under mild assumptions, including critical data, we prove the existence and the uniqueness of the fluid solution. For asymptotic behavior, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the invariant state and the convergence to this invariant state. In the end, we establish the convergence of a correctly normalized state process to a fluid limit characterized by a system of algebraic and integral equations.Keywords: Fluid Limit, fluid model, measure valued process, processor sharing, tandem queue.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4771444 A Literature Survey of Neural Network Applications for Shunt Active Power Filters
Authors: S. Janpong, K-L. Areerak, K-N. Areerak
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This paper aims to present the reviews of the application of neural network in shunt active power filter (SAPF). From the review, three out of four components of SAPF structure, which are harmonic detection component, compensating current control, and DC bus voltage control, have been adopted some of neural network architecture as part of its component or even substitution. The objectives of most papers in using neural network in SAPF are to increase the efficiency, stability, accuracy, robustness, tracking ability of the systems of each component. Moreover, minimizing unneeded signal due to the distortion is the ultimate goal in applying neural network to the SAPF. The most famous architecture of neural network in SAPF applications are ADALINE and Backpropagation (BP).Keywords: Active power filter, neural network, harmonic distortion, harmonic detection and compensation, non-linear load.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 30651443 Energy Performance of Buildings Due to Downscaled Seasonal Models
Authors: Anastasia K. Eleftheriadou, Athanasios Sfetsos, Nikolaos Gounaris
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The current paper presents an extensive bottom-up framework for assessing building sector-specific vulnerability to climate change: energy supply and demand. The research focuses on the application of downscaled seasonal models for estimating energy performance of buildings in Greece. The ARW-WRF model has been set-up and suitably parameterized to produce downscaled climatological fields for Greece, forced by the output of the CFSv2 model. The outer domain, D01/Europe, included 345 x 345 cells of horizontal resolution 20 x 20 km2 and the inner domain, D02/Greece, comprised 180 x 180 cells of 5 x 5 km2 horizontal resolution. The model run has been setup for a period with a forecast horizon of 6 months, storing outputs on a six hourly basis.Keywords: Urban environment, vulnerability, climate change, energy performance, seasonal forecast models.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17431442 CMOS Solid-State Nanopore DNA System-Level Sequencing Techniques Enhancement
Authors: Syed Islam, Yiyun Huang, Sebastian Magierowski, Ebrahim Ghafar-Zadeh
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This paper presents system level CMOS solid-state nanopore techniques enhancement for speedup next generation molecular recording and high throughput channels. This discussion also considers optimum number of base-pair (bp) measurements through channel as an important role to enhance potential read accuracy. Effective power consumption estimation offered suitable range of multi-channel configuration. Nanopore bp extraction model in statistical method could contribute higher read accuracy with longer read-length (200 < read-length). Nanopore ionic current switching with Time Multiplexing (TM) based multichannel readout system contributed hardware savings.
Keywords: DNA, Nanopore, Amplifier, ADC, Multichannel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29321441 Hysteresis Control of Power Conditioning Unit for Fuel Cell Distributed Generation System
Authors: Kanhu Charan Bhuyan, Subhransu Padhee, Rajesh Kumar Patjoshi, Kamalakanta Mahapatra
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Fuel cell is an emerging technology in the field of renewable energy sources which has the capacity to replace conventional energy generation sources. Fuel cell utilizes hydrogen energy to produce electricity. The electricity generated by the fuel cell can’t be directly used for a specific application as it needs proper power conditioning. Moreover, the output power fluctuates with different operating conditions. To get a stable output power at an economic rate, power conditioning circuit is essential for fuel cell. This paper implements a two-staged power conditioning unit for fuel cell based distributed generation using hysteresis current control technique.
Keywords: Fuel cell, power conditioning unit, hysteresis control.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24231440 Winged Test Rocket with Fully Autonomous Guidance and Control for Realizing Reusable Suborbital Vehicle
Authors: Koichi Yonemoto, Hiroshi Yamasaki, Masatomo Ichige, Yusuke Ura, Guna S. Gossamsetti, Takumi Ohki, Kento Shirakata, Ahsan R. Choudhuri, Shinji Ishimoto, Takashi Mugitani, Hiroya Asakawa, Hideaki Nanri
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This paper presents the strategic development plan of winged rockets WIRES (WInged REusable Sounding rocket) aiming at unmanned suborbital winged rocket for demonstrating future fully reusable space transportation technologies, such as aerodynamics, Navigation, Guidance and Control (NGC), composite structure, propulsion system, and cryogenic tanks etc., by universities in collaboration with government and industries, as well as the past and current flight test results.Keywords: Autonomous guidance and control, reusable rocket, space transportation system, suborbital vehicle, winged rocket.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25531439 Ballast Water Management Triad: Administration, Ship Owner and the Seafarer
Authors: Rajoo Balaji, Omar Yaakob
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The Ballast Water Convention requires less than 5% of the world tonnage for ratification. Consequently, ships will have to comply with the requirements. Compliance evaluation and enforcement will become mandatory. Ship owners have to invest in treatment systems and shipboard personnel have to operate them and ensure compliance. The monitoring and enforcement will be the responsibilities of the Administrations. Herein, a review of the current status of the Ballast Water Management and the issues faced by these are projected. Issues range from efficacy and economics of the treatment systems to sampling and testing. Health issues of chemical systems, paucity of data for decision support etc., are other issues. It is emphasized that management of ballast water must be extended to ashore and sustainable solutions must be researched upon. An exemplar treatment system based on ship’s waste heat is also suggested.
Keywords: Ballast water management, Compliance evaluation, Compliance enforcement, Sustainability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21901438 Paranoid Thoughts and Thought Control Strategies in a Nonclinical Population
Authors: Takashi Yamauchi, Anju Sudo, Yoshihiko Tanno
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Recently, it has been suggested that thought control strategies aimed at controlling unwanted thoughts may be used to cope with paranoid thoughts in both clinical and nonclinical samples. The current study aims to examine the type of thought control strategies that were associated with the frequency of paranoid thoughts in nonclinical samples. A total of 159 Japanese undergraduate students completed the two scales–the Paranoia Checklist and the Thought Control Questionnaire. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis demonstrated that worry-based control strategies were associated with paranoid thoughts, whereas distraction- and social-based control strategies were inversely associated with paranoid thoughts. Our findings suggest that in a nonclinical population, worry-based strategies may be especially maladaptive, whereas distraction- and social-based strategies may be adaptive to paranoid thoughts.
Keywords: Nonclinical population, paranoid thoughts, thoughtcontrol strategies.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20301437 Optimization of Biodiesel Production from Sunflower Oil Using Central Composite Design
Authors: Pascal Mwenge, Jefrey Pilusa, Tumisang Seodigeng
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The current study investigated the effect of catalyst ratio and methanol to oil ratio on biodiesel production by using central composite design. Biodiesel was produced by transesterification using sodium hydroxide as a homogeneous catalyst, a laboratory scale reactor consisting of flat bottom flask mounts with a reflux condenser and a heating plate was used to produce biodiesel. Key parameters, including, time, temperature and mixing rate were kept constant at 60 minutes, 60 oC and 600 RPM, respectively. From the results obtained, it was observed that the biodiesel yield depends on catalyst ratio and methanol to oil ratio. The highest yield of 50.65% was obtained at catalyst ratio of 0.5 wt.% and methanol to oil mole ratio 10.5. The analysis of variances of biodiesel yield showed the R Squared value of 0.8387. A quadratic mathematical model was developed to predict the biodiesel yield in the specified parameters ranges.
Keywords: ANOVA, biodiesel, catalyst, CCD, transesterification.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11011436 Software Development Processes Maturity versus Software Processes and Products Measurement
Authors: Beata Czarnacka-Chrobot
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Unsatisfactory effectiveness of software systems development and enhancement projects is one of the main reasons why in software engineering there are attempts being made to use experiences coming from other engineering disciplines. In spite of specificity of software product and process a belief had come out that the execution of software could be more effective if these objects were subject to measurement – as it is true in other engineering disciplines for which measurement is an immanent feature. Thus objective and reliable approaches to the measurement of software processes and products have been sought in software engineering for several dozens of years already. This may be proved, among others, by the current version of CMMI for Development model. This paper is aimed at analyzing the approach to the software processes and products measurement proposed in the latest version of this very model, indicating growing acceptance for this issue in software engineering.Keywords: CMMI for Development (1.3), ISO/IEC standards, measurement and analysis process area, software process measurement, software product measurement.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17901435 Explicit Delay and Power Estimation Method for CMOS Inverter Driving on-Chip RLC Interconnect Load
Authors: Susmita Sahoo, Madhumanti Datta, Rajib Kar
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The resistive-inductive-capacitive behavior of long interconnects which are driven by CMOS gates are presented in this paper. The analysis is based on the ¤Ç-model of a RLC load and is developed for submicron devices. Accurate and analytical expressions for the output load voltage, the propagation delay and the short circuit power dissipation have been proposed after solving a system of differential equations which accurately describe the behavior of the circuit. The effect of coupling capacitance between input and output and the short circuit current on these performance parameters are also incorporated in the proposed model. The estimated proposed delay and short circuit power dissipation are in very good agreement with the SPICE simulation with average relative error less than 6%.Keywords: Delay, Inverter, Short Circuit Power, ¤Ç-Model, RLCInterconnect, VLSI
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16921434 International Service Learning 3.0: Using Technology to Improve Outcomes and Sustainability
Authors: Anthony Vandarakis
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Today’s International Service Learning practices require an update: modern technologies, fresh educational frameworks, and a new operating system to accountably prosper. This paper describes a model of International Service Learning (ISL), which combines current technological hardware, electronic platforms, and asynchronous communications that are grounded in inclusive pedagogy. This model builds on the work around collaborative field trip learning, extending the reach to international partnerships across continents. Mobile technology, 21st century skills and summit-basecamp modeling intersect to support novel forms of learning that tread lightly on fragile natural ecosystems, affirm local reciprocal partnership in projects, and protect traveling participants from common yet avoidable cultural pitfalls.Keywords: International Service Learning, ISL, field experiences, mobile technology, ‘out there in here’, summit basecamp pedagogy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5621433 The Experience of Iranian Architecture in Direction of Urban Passages and Forming of Urban Structures to Increase Climatic Comfort
Authors: N. Utaberta, N. Sharifi, M. Surat, A. I. Che-Ani, N.M. Tawil
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Iran has diverse climates and each have established distinct properties in their area. The extent and intensity of climatic factors effects on the lives of people living in various regions of Iran is so great that it cannot be simply ignored. In a large part of Iran known as the Central Plateau there is no precipitation for more than half of the year and dry weather and scarcity of fresh water pose an ever present problem for the people of these regions while in north of Iran upon the southern shores of the Caspian Sea the people face 80% humidity caused by the sea and 2 meters of annual precipitation. This article tries to review the past experiences of local architecture of Iran-s various regions so that they can be used to reshape and redirect the urban areas and structure of Iran-s current cities to provide environmental comfort by minimum use of fossil fuels.
Keywords: Urban Passage, Architecture in Iran, Urban Structure, Climatic Comfort
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16251432 Arabic and Islamic Education in Nigeria: The Case of Al-Majiri Schools
Authors: Abdul Ganiy A. S. Oladosu
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The AL-MAJIRI school system is a variant of private Arabic and Islamic schools which cater for the religious and moral development of Muslims. In the past, the system produced clerics, scholars, judges, religious reformers, eminent teachers and great men who are worthy of emulation, particularly in northern Nigeria. Gradually, the system lost its glory but continued to discharge its educational responsibilities to a certain extent. This paper takes a look at the activities of the AL-MAJIRI schools. The introduction provides background information about Nigeria where the schools operate. This is followed by an overview of the Nigerian educational system, the nature and the features of the AL-MAJIRI school system, its weaknesses and the current challenges facing the schools. The paper concludes with emphasis on the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the curriculum content of the schools. The step by step procedure required for the reform is discussed.Keywords: AL-MAJIRI, Arabic and Islamic schools, Nigeria.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 51281431 Numerical Analyze of Corona Discharge on HVDC Transmission Lines
Authors: H. Nouri, A. Tabbel, N. Douib, H. Aitsaid, Y. Zebboudj
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This study and the field test comparisons were carried out on the Algerian Derguna – Setif transmission systems. The transmission line of normal voltage 225 kV is 65 km long, transported and uses twin bundle conductors protected with two shield wires of transposed galvanized steel. An iterative finite-element method is used to solve Poisons equation. Two algorithms are proposed for satisfying the current continuity condition and updating the space-charge density. A new approach to the problem of corona discharge in transmission system has been described in this paper. The effect of varying the configurations and wires number is also investigated. The analysis of this steady is important in the design of HVDC transmission lines. The potential and electric field have been calculating in locations singular points of the system.Keywords: Corona discharge, Electric field, Finite element method, HVDC.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22631430 A Survey on MAC Protocols for Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks
Authors: B. Cynthia Sherin, E. A. Mary Anita
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Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) is an emerging and very promising technology that has great demand on the access capability of the existing wireless technology. VANETs help improve traffic safety and efficiency. Each vehicle can exchange their information to inform the other vehicles about the current status of the traffic flow or a dangerous situation such as an accident. To achieve these, a reliable and efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol with minimal transmission collisions is required. High speed nodes, absence of infrastructure, variations in topology and their QoS requirements makes it difficult for designing a MAC protocol in vehicular networks. There are several MAC protocols proposed for VANETs to ensure that all the vehicles could send safety messages without collisions by reducing the end-to-end delay and packet loss ratio. This paper gives an overview of the several proposed MAC protocols for VANETs along with their benefits and limitations and presents an overall classification based on their characteristics.
Keywords: MAC Protocols, QoS, VANET, V2V, V2I.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9461429 Effect of Horizontal Joint Reinforcement on Shear Behaviour of RC Knee Connections
Authors: N. Zhang, J. S. Kuang, S. Mogili
Abstract:
To investigate seismic performance of beam-column knee joints, four full-scale reinforced concrete beam-column knee joints, which were fabricated to simulate those in as-built RC frame buildings designed to ACI 318-14 and ACI-ASCE 352R-02, were tested under reversed cyclic loading. In the experimental programme, particular emphasis was given to the effect of horizontal reinforcement (in format of inverted U-shape bars) on the shear strength and ductility capacity of knee joints. Test results are compared with those predicted by four seismic design codes, including ACI 318-14, EC8, NZS3101 and GB50010. It is seen that the current design codes of practice cannot accurately predict the shear strength of seismically designed knee joints.
Keywords: Large-scale tests, RC beam-column knee joints, seismic performance, shear strength.
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