Search results for: Capacity building

Authors: Nurzaki Ikhsan, Ahmad Saifizul Abdullah, Rahizar Ramli

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One of the functions of the commercial heavy vehicle is to safely and efficiently transport goods and people. Due to its size and carrying capacity, it is important to study the vehicle dynamic stability during cornering. Study has shown that there are a number of overloaded heavy vehicles or permissible Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) violations recorded at selected areas in Malaysia assigned by its type and category. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the correlation and effect of the GVW on heavy vehicle stability during cornering event using simulation. Various selected heavy vehicle types and category are simulated using IPG/Truck Maker® with different GVW and road condition (coefficient of friction of road surface), while the speed, driver characteristic, center of gravity of load and road geometry are constant. Based on the analysis, the relationship between GVW and lateral acceleration were established. As expected, on the same value of coefficient of friction, the maximum lateral acceleration would be increased as the GVW increases.

Keywords: Heavy Vehicle, Road Safety, Vehicle Stability, Lateral Acceleration, Gross Vehicle Weight.

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Authors: Dubbale Daniel A., Tsutsumi J.

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This research work takes a different approach in the discussion of urban form impacts on transport planning and auto dependency. Concentrated density represented by effective density explains auto dependency better than the conventional density and it is proved to be a realistic density representative for the urban transportation analysis. Model analysis reveals that effective density is influenced by the shopping accessibility index as well as job density factor. It is also combined with the job access variable to classify four levels of Transport Activity Centers (TACs) in Okinawa, Japan. Trip attraction capacity and levels of the newly classified TACs was found agreeable with the amount of daily trips attracted to each center. The trip attraction data set was drawn from a 2007 Okinawa personal trip survey. This research suggests a planning methodology which guides logical transport supply routes and concentrated local development schemes.

Keywords: Effective density, urban form, auto-dependency, transport activity centers

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Authors: Bao Thach Nguyen, Abbas Mohajerani

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The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) has been acknowledged as an important parameter to characterize the bearing capacity of earth structures, such as earth dams, road embankments, airport runways, bridge abutments and pavements. Technically, the CBR test can be carried out in the laboratory or in the field. The CBR test is time-consuming and is infrequently performed due to the equipment needed and the fact that the field moisture content keeps changing over time. Over the years, many correlations have been developed for the prediction of CBR by various researchers, including the dynamic cone penetrometer, undrained shear strength and Clegg impact hammer. This paper reports and discusses some of the results from a study on the prediction of CBR. In the current study, the CBR test was performed in the laboratory on some finegrained subgrade soils collected from various locations in Victoria. Based on the test results, a satisfactory empirical correlation was found between the CBR and the physical properties of the experimental soils.

Keywords: California bearing ratio, fine-grained soils, pavement, soil physical properties.

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Authors: A. R. Salimi, M. Esmaeili, B. Salehi

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The development and extension of large cities induced a need for shallow tunnel in soft ground of building areas. Estimation of ground settlement caused by the tunnel excavation is important engineering point. In this paper, prediction of surface subsidence caused by tunneling in one section of seventh line of Tehran subway is considered. On the basis of studied geotechnical conditions of the region, tunnel with the length of 26.9km has been excavated applying a mechanized method using an EPB-TBM with a diameter of 9.14m. In this regard, settlement is estimated utilizing both analytical and numerical finite element method. The numerical method shows that the value of settlement in this section is 5cm. Besides, the analytical consequences (Bobet and Loganathan-Polous) are 5.29 and 12.36cm, respectively. According to results of this study, due tosaturation of this section, there are good agreement between Bobet and numerical methods. Therefore, tunneling processes in this section needs a special consolidation measurement and support system before the passage of tunnel boring machine.

Keywords: TBM, Subsidence, Numerical Method, Analytical Method.

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Authors: Ho-Jun Jo, Wook-Won Kim, Yong-Sung Kim, Jin-O Kim

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The application of ESS (Energy Storage Systems) in the future grids has been the solution of the microgrid. However, high investment costs necessitate accurate modeling and control strategy of ESS to justify its economic viability and further underutilization. Therefore, the reasonable control strategy for ESS which is subjected to generator and usage helps to curtail the cost of investment and operation costs. The rated frequency in power system is decreased when the load is increasing unexpectedly; hence the thermal power is operated at the capacity of only its 95% for the Governor Free (GF) to adjust the frequency as reserve (5%) in practice. The ESS can be utilized with governor at the same time for the frequency response due to characteristic of its fast response speed and moreover, the cost of ESS is declined rapidly to the reasonable price. This paper presents the ESS control strategy to extend usage of the ESS taken account into governor’s ramp rate and reduce the governor’s intervention as well. All results in this paper are simulated by MATLAB.

Keywords: Micro grid, energy storage systems, ramp rate, control strategy.

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Authors: Viktória Sugár, Attila Talamon, András Horkai, Michihiro Kita

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The dense urban fabric of the 7^th district of Budapest -known as the former Jewish Quarter-, contains mainly historical style, multi-story tenement houses with courtyards. The high population density and the unsatisfactory energetic state of the buildings result high energy consumption. As a preliminary survey of a complex rehabilitation plan, the authors aim to determine the energy demand of the area. The energy demand was calculated by analyzing the structure and the energy consumption of each building by using Geographic Information System (GIS) methods. The carbon dioxide emission was also calculated, to assess the potential of reducing the present state value by complex structural and energetic rehabilitation. As a main focus of the survey, an energy intensity map has been created about the area.

Keywords: Carbon dioxide, energy intensity map, geographic information system, GIS, Hungary, Jewish quarter, rehabilitation.

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Authors: Analiza Acuña-Villacorte

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The underlying principle behind the harmonization in international education does not solely aim for the comparability but also the compatibility of outputs produced. The international standard in the different professions particularly in engineering defines the required graduate attributes to attain suitable qualifications and recognitions. This study described the language practices of the Electronics Engineering students of Bulacan State University, Philippines who will be deployed for their internship program. The purpose of the study was achieved by determining the language proficiency of the students in terms of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and checking the adherence of the University to the commitment of intensifying community building for the Association of Southeast Asian Nation Vision 2020. The analysis of variance of the variables defined the significance between the causal variables and dependent variables. Thus, this study identified the mechanism that would regulate language practices in the Electronics Engineering program.

Keywords: Communicative competence, descriptive design, language practices, mechanisms, outcomes-based education.

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Authors: Wei Quan, Liu Chao, Mohammed N. Afsar

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The dielectric properties and ionic conductivity of novel "ceramic state" polymer electrolytes for high capacity lithium battery are characterized by Radio frequency and Microwave methods in two broad frequency ranges from 50 Hz to 20 KHz and 4 GHz to 40 GHz. This innovative solid polymer electrolyte which is highly ionic conductive (10-3 S/cm at room temperature) from -40oC to +150oC can be used in any battery application. Such polymer exhibits properties more like a ceramic rather than polymer. The various applied measurement methods produced accurate dielectric results for comprehensive analysis of electrochemical properties and ion transportation mechanism of this newly invented polymer electrolyte. Two techniques and instruments employing air gap measurement by Capacitance Bridge and in-waveguide measurement by vector network analyzer are applied to measure the complex dielectric spectra. The complex dielectric spectra are used to determine the complex alternating current electrical conductivity and thus the ionic conductivity.

Keywords: Polymer electrolyte, dielectric permittivity, lithium battery, ionic relaxation, microwave measurement.

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Authors: M. Shirinbayan, J. Fitoussi, N. Abbasnezhad, A. Lucas, A. Tcharkhtchi

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Sheet Molding Compounds (SMCs) with special microstructures are very attractive to use in automobile structures especially when they are accidentally subjected to collision type accidents because of their high energy absorption capacity. These are materials designated as standard SMC, Advanced Sheet Molding Compounds (A-SMC), Low-Density SMC (LD-SMC) and etc. In this study, testing methods have been performed to compare the mechanical responses and damage phenomena of SMC, LD-SMC, and A-SMC under quasi-static and high strain rate tensile tests. The paper also aims at investigating the effect of an initial pre-damage induced by fatigue on the tensile dynamic behavior of A-SMC. In the case of SMCs and A-SMCs, whatever the fibers orientation and applied strain rate are, the first observed phenomenon of damage corresponds to decohesion of the fiber-matrix interface which is followed by coalescence and multiplication of these micro-cracks and their propagations. For LD-SMCs, damage mechanisms depend on the presence of Hollow Glass Microspheres (HGM) and fibers orientation.

Keywords: SMC, LD-SMC, A-SMC, HGM, damage.

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Authors: S. Zouari, H. Daoud, M. Loulou, P. Loumeau, N. Masmoudi

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A wideband 2-1-1 cascaded ΣΔ modulator with a single-bit quantizer in the two first stages and a 4-bit quantizer in the final stage is developed. To reduce sensitivity of digital-to-analog converter (DAC) nonlinearities in the feedback of the last stage, dynamic element matching (DEM) is introduced. This paper presents two modelling approaches: The first is MATLAB description and the second is VHDL-AMS modelling of the proposed architecture and exposes some high-level-simulation results allowing a behavioural study. The detail of both ideal and non-ideal behaviour modelling are presented. Then, the study of the effect of building blocks nonidealities is presented; especially the influences of nonlinearity, finite operational amplifier gain, amplifier slew rate limitation and capacitor mismatch. A VHDL-AMS description presents a good solution to predict system-s performances and can provide sensitivity curves giving the impact of nonidealities on the system performance.

Keywords: behavioural study, DAC nonlinearity, DEM, ΣΔ modulator, VHDL-AMS modelling.

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Authors: M. Aminu Sanda

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This paper explores competencies that managers of small firms in Ghana use to enhance operational flexibility towards the attainment of higher productivity. This is because the requisite competence required of such managers to be effective performers continues to be a challenge. Data was collected from managers of three hundred small firms using a standardized self-completion questionnaire and analyzed using the Amos-based structural equation model approach. Findings from factor and confirmatory factor analyses showed that the only competence exhibited by managers toward effective performance is realistic practices evident at the workplace. It is concluded that a manager’s self-confidence and involvement in areas that he/she is good at, and his/her possession of skills that enables performance at high capacity are indications of the manger’s effectiveness. The study outcome provides a knowledge base helpful to policy-makers, especially in Ghana, in determining the requisite managerial competences required by small firm managers for effective performance.

Keywords: Managerial competence, small firm, effective performance, developing economy, Ghana.

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Authors: Sagir M. Yusuf, Chris Baber

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We describe issues bedeviling the coordination of heterogeneous (different sensors carrying agents) multi-agent missions such as belief conflict, situation reasoning, etc. We applied Bayesian and agents' presumptions inferential reasoning to solve the outlined issues with the heterogeneous multi-agent belief variation and situational-base reasoning. Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) was used in modeling the agents' belief conflict due to sensor variations. Simulation experiments were designed, and cases from agents’ missions were used in training the BBN using gradient descent and expectation-maximization algorithms. The output network is a well-trained BBN for making inferences for both agents and human experts. We claim that the Bayesian learning algorithm prediction capacity improves by the number of training data and argue that it enhances multi-agents robustness and solve agents’ sensor conflicts.

Keywords: Distributed constraint optimization problem, multi-agent system, multi-robot coordination, autonomous system, swarm intelligence.

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Authors: Behnam Shirkhanghah, Ali Darabadi-Zare, Houshyar Eimani-Kalesar, Babak Pahlevan

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Prestressing in structure increases ratio of load-bearing capacity to weight. Suspendomes are single-layer braced domes reinforced with cable and strut. Prestressing of cables alter value and distribution of stress in structure. In this study two configuration, diamatic and lamella domes is selected. Investigated domes have span of 100m with rise-to-span ratios of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3. Single layer domes loaded under service load combinations according to ISO code. After geometric nonlinear analysis, models are designed with tubular and I-shaped sections then reinforced with cable and strut and converted to suspendomes. Displacements and stresses of some groups of nodes and elements in all of single-layer domes and suspendomes for three load combinations, symmetric snow, asymmetric snow and wind are compared. Variation due to suspending system is investigated. Suspendomes are redesigned and minimum possible weight after addition of cable and strut is obtained.

Keywords: Braced dome, Prestressing, Single-layer, Suspendome.

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Authors: G. E. Nadirova, Sh. S. Kaliyeva, A. A. Mustafaeva, B. Zh. Aktaulova

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Discussion and development of principles of the uniform nation formation within the limits of the Kazakhstan state obviously became one of the most pressing questions of the day. The fact that this question has not been solved "from above" as many other questions has caused really brisk discussion, shows us increase of civil consciousness in Kazakhstan society, and also the actuality of this theme which can be carried in the category of fatal questions. In any sense, nation building has raised civil society to a much higher level. It would be better to begin with certain definitions. First is the word "nation". The second is the "state". Both of these terms are very closely connected with each other, so that in English language they are in general synonyms. In Russian more shades of these terms exist. For example in Kazakhstan the citizens of the country irrespective of nationality (but mainly with reference to non-kazakhs) are called «kazakhstanians», while the name of the title nation is \"Kazakhs\". The same we can see in Russia, where, for example, the Chechen or the Yakut –are \"Rossiyane\" which means “the citizens of Russian Federation, but not \"Russians\". The paper was written under the research project “Islam in modern Kazakhstan: the nature and outcome of the religious revival”.

Keywords: Islamic revival, Kazakhs, Kazakhstan, Nation, National idea.

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Authors: J. R. Wang, Y. Chiang, W. S. Hsu, H. C. Chen, S. H. Chen, J. H. Yang, S. W. Chen, C. Shih

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In this study, the RASCAL and ALOHA codes are used to establish an analysis methodology for hydrogen fluoride (HF) evaluation. There are three main steps in this study. First, the UF₆ data were collected. Second, one postulated case was analyzed by using the RASCAL and UF₆ data. This postulated case assumes that fire occurring and UF₆ is releasing from a building. Third, the results of RASCAL for HF mass were as the input data of ALOHA. Two postulated cases of HF were analyzed by using ALOHA code and the results of RASCAL. These postulated cases assume fire occurring and HF is releasing with no raining (Case 1) or raining (Case 2) condition. According to the analysis results of ALOHA, the HF concentration of Case 2 is smaller than Case 1. The results can be a reference for the preparing of emergency plans for the release of HF.

Keywords: RASCAL, ALOHA, UF6, hydrogen fluoride.

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Authors: Richard Ji

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Nondestructive deflection testing has been accepted widely as a cost-effective tool for evaluating the structural condition of airfield pavements. Backcalculation of pavement layer moduli can be used to characterize the pavement existing condition in order to compute the load bearing capacity of pavement. This paper presents an improved best-fit backcalculation methodology based on deflection predictions obtained using finite element method (FEM). The best-fit approach is based on minimizing the squared error between falling weight deflectometer (FWD) measured deflections and FEM predicted deflections. Then, concrete elastic modulus and modulus of subgrade reaction were back-calculated using Heavy Weight Deflectometer (HWD) deflections collected at the National Airport Pavement Testing Facility (NAPTF) test site. It is an alternative and more versatile method in considering concrete slab geometry and HWD testing locations compared to methods currently available.

Keywords: Nondestructive testing, Pavement moduli backcalculation, Finite Element Method, FEM, concrete pavements.

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Authors: Abeer A. M., Allawi A. A., Chai H. K.

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A new analytical method to predict the torsional capacity and behavior of R.C multi-cell box girders strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets is presented. Modification was done on the Softened Truss Model (STM) in the proposed method; the concrete torsional problem is solved by combining the equilibrium conditions, compatibility conditions and constitutive laws of materials by taking into account the confinement of concrete with CFRP sheets. A specific algorithm is developed to predict the torsional behavior of reinforced concrete multi-cell box girders with or without strengthening by CFRP sheets. Applications of the developed method as an assessment tool to strengthened multicell box girders with CFRP and first analytical example that demonstrate the contribution of the CFRP materials on the torsional response is also included.

Keywords: Carbon fiber reinforced polymer, Concrete torsion, Modified Softened Truss Model, Multi-Cell box girder.

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Authors: Norziana Aminudin, Titik Khawa Abdul Rahman, Ismail Musirin

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One of the factors to maintain system survivability is the adequate reactive power support to the system. Lack of reactive power support may cause undesirable voltage decay leading to total system instability. Thus, appropriate reactive power support scheme should be arranged in order to maintain system stability. The strength of a system capacity is normally denoted as system loadability. This paper presents the enhancement of system loadability through optimal reactive power planning technique using a newly developed optimization technique, termed as Multiagent Immune Evolutionary Programming (MAIEP). The concept of MAIEP is developed based on the combination of Multiagent System (MAS), Artificial Immune System (AIS) and Evolutionary Programming (EP). In realizing the effectiveness of the proposed technique, validation is conducted on the IEEE-26-Bus Reliability Test System. The results obtained from pre-optimization and post-optimization process were compared which eventually revealed the merit of MAIEP.

Keywords: Load margin, MAIEP, Maximum loading point, ORPP.

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Authors: Aijaz A. Shaikh, Richard Glavee-Geo, Heikki Karjaluoto

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Adoption of Information Systems (IS) is receiving increasing attention such that its implications have been closely monitored and studied by the IS management community, industry and professional gatekeepers. Building on previous research regarding the adoption of technology, this paper develops and validates an integrated model of the adoption of mobile banking. The model originates from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This paper intends to offer a preliminary scrutiny of the antecedents of the adoption of mobile banking services in the context of a developing country. Data was collected from Pakistan. The findings showed that an integrated TAM and TPB model greatly explains the adoption intention of mobile banking; and perceived behavioural control and its antecedents play a significant role in predicting adoption Theoretical and managerial implications of findings are presented and discussed.

Keywords: Developing country, mobile banking service adoption, technology acceptance model, theory of planned behaviour.

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Authors: Jether Gomes, Thiago M. R. Dias, Gray F. Moita

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The production and publication of scientific works have increased significantly in the last years, being the Internet the main factor of access and diffusion of these. In view of this, researchers from several areas of knowledge have carried out several studies on scientific production data in order to analyze phenomena and trends about science. The understanding of how research has evolved can, for example, serve as a basis for building scientific policies for further advances in science and stimulating research groups to become more productive. In this context, the objective of this work is to analyze the main research topics investigated along the trajectory of the Brazilian science of researchers working in the areas of engineering, in order to map scientific knowledge and identify topics in highlights. To this end, studies are carried out on the frequency and relationship of the keywords of the set of scientific articles registered in the existing curricula in the Lattes Platform of each one of the selected researchers, counting with the aid of bibliometric analysis features.

Keywords: Research topics, bibliometrics, topics of interest, Lattes Platform.

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Authors: H. Iranmanesh, M. Madadi

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Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is one of the most vital planning processes of the project management since it is considered to be the fundamental of other processes like scheduling, controlling, assigning responsibilities, etc. In fact WBS or activity list is the heart of a project and omission of a simple task can lead to an irrecoverable result. There are some tools in order to generate a project WBS. One of the most powerful tools is mind mapping which is the basis of this article. Mind map is a method for thinking together and helps a project manager to stimulate the mind of project team members to generate project WBS. Here we try to generate a WBS of a sample project involving with the building construction using the aid of mind map and the artificial intelligence (AI) programming language. Since mind map structure can not represent data in a computerized way, we convert it to a semantic network which can be used by the computer and then extract the final WBS from the semantic network by the prolog programming language. This method will result a comprehensive WBS and decrease the probability of omitting project tasks.

Keywords: Expert System, Mind map, Semantic network, Work breakdown structure,

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Authors: Noman Khan, B. S. Chowdhry, A.Q.K Rajput

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Integrated fiber-wireless (FiWi) access networks are a viable solution that can deliver the high profile quadruple play services. Passive optical networks (PON) networks integrated with wireless access networks provide ubiquitous characteristics for high bandwidth applications. Operation of PON improves by employing a variety of multiplexing techniques. One of it is time division/wavelength division multiplexed (TDM/WDM) architecture that improves the performance of optical-wireless access networks. This paper proposes a novel feedback-based TDM/WDM-PON architecture and introduces a model of integrated PON-FiWi networks. Feedback-based link architecture is an efficient solution to improves the performance of optical-line-terminal (OLT) and interlink optical-network-units (ONUs) communication. Furthermore, the feedback-based WDM/TDM-PON architecture is compared with existing architectures in terms of capacity of network throughput.

Keywords: Fiber-wireless (FiWi), Passive Optical Network (PON), TDM/WDM architecture

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Authors: M. Laamim, A. Benazzouz, A. Rochd, A. Ghennioui, A. El Fadili, M. Benzaazoua

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Smart grids have recently sparked a lot of interest in the energy sector as they allow for the modernization and digitization of the existing power infrastructure. Smart grids have several advantages in terms of reducing the environmental impact of generating power from fossil fuels due to their capacity to integrate large amounts of distributed energy resources. On the other hand, smart grid technologies necessitate many field investigations and requirements. This paper focuses on the major difficulties that governments face around the world and compares them to the situation in Morocco. Also presented in this study are the current works and projects being developed to improve the penetration of smart grid technologies into the electrical system. Furthermore, the findings of this study will be useful to promote the smart grid revolution in Morocco, as well as to construct a strong foundation and develop future needs for better penetration of technologies that aid in the integration of smart grid features.

Keywords: Smart grids, microgrids, virtual power plants, digital twin, distributed energy resources, vehicle-to-grid, advanced metering infrastructure.

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Authors: P.P. Diale, S.S.L. Mkhize, E. Muzenda, J. Zimba

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For more than 120 years, gold mining formed the backbone the South Africa-s economy. The consequence of mine closure was observed in large-scale land degradation and widespread pollution of surface water and groundwater. This paper investigates the feasibility of using natural zeolite in removing heavy metals contaminating the Wonderfonteinspruit Catchment Area (WCA), a water stream with high levels of heavy metals and radionuclide pollution. Batch experiments were conducted to study the adsorption behavior of natural zeolite with respect to Fe2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+. The data was analysed using the Langmuir and Freudlich isotherms. Langmuir was found to correlate the adsorption of Fe2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+ better, with the adsorption capacity of 11.9 mg/g, 1.2 mg/g, 1.3 mg/g, and 14.7 mg/g, respectively. Two kinetic models namely, pseudo-first order and pseudo second order were also tested to fit the data. Pseudo-second order equation was found to be the best fit for the adsorption of heavy metals by natural zeolite. Zeolite functionalization with humic acid increased its uptake ability.

Keywords: gold-mining, natural zeolites, water pollution, WestRand.

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Authors: Khawla Ben Abderrahim

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In order to define a new model of Tunisian foot sizes and for building the most comfortable shoes, Tunisian industrialists must be able to offer for their customers products able to put on and adjust the majority of the target population concerned. Moreover, the use of models of shoes, mainly from others country, causes a mismatch between the foot and comfort of the Tunisian shoes. But every foot is unique; these models become uncomfortable for the Tunisian foot. We have a set of measures produced from a 3D scan of the feet of a diverse population (women, men ...) and we try to analyze this data to define a model of foot specific to the Tunisian footwear design. In this paper we propose tow new approaches to modeling a new foot sizes model. We used, indeed, the neural networks, and specially the Kohonen network. Next, we combine neural networks with the concept of half-foot size to improve the models already found. Finally, it was necessary to compare the results obtained by applying each approach and we decide what-s the best approach that give us the most model of foot improving more comfortable shoes.

Keywords: Morphology of the foot, foot size, half foot size, neural network, Kohonen network, model of foot size.

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Authors: WooYoung Jung, Buntheng Chhorn, Min-Gi Kim

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Recently, damage to domestic facilities by strong winds and typhoons are growing. Therefore, this study focused on sign structure among various vulnerable facilities. The evaluation of the wind fragility was carried out considering the destruction of the anchor, which is one of the various failure modes of the sign structure. The performance evaluation of the anchor was carried out to derive the wind fragility. Two parameters were set and four anchor types were selected to perform the pull-out and shear tests. The resistance capacity was estimated based on the experimental results. Wind loads were estimated using Monte Carlo simulation method. Based on these results, we derived the wind fragility according to anchor type and wind exposure category. Finally, the evaluation of the wind fragility was performed according to the experimental parameters such as anchor length and anchor diameter. This study shows that the depth of anchor was more significant for the safety of structure compare to diameter of anchor.

Keywords: Sign structure, wind fragility, set anchor, pull-out test, shear test, Monte Carlo simulation.

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Authors: Ali Akbar

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The main purpose of this essay is to examine whether or not the earthly punishments in regards to apostates that are often found in classical Islamic sources are applicable in the present context. The paper indeed addresses how Muslims should understand the question of apostasy in the contemporary context. To do so, the paper first argues that an accurate understanding of the way the Quranic verses and prophetic hadiths deal with the concept of apostasy could help us rethink and re-examine the classical Islamic laws on apostasy in the present context. In addition, building on Abdolkarim Soroush’s theory of contraction and expansion of religious knowledge, this article argues that approaches to apostasy in the present context can move away from what prescribed by classical Islamic laws. Finally, it argues that instances of persecution of apostates in the early days of Islam during the Medinan period of Muhammad’s prophetic mission should be interpreted in their own socio-historical context. Rereading these reports within our modern context supports the mutability of the traditional corporal punishments of apostasy.

Keywords: Apostasy, Islam, Quran, hadith, Abdolkarim Soroush, contextualization.

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Authors: Mohammed S. Al-Ansari

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This paper presents an analytical model to estimate the cost of an optimized design of reinforced concrete isolated footing base on structural safety. Flexural and optimized formulas for square and rectangular footingare derived base on ACI building code of design, material cost and optimization. The optimization constraints consist of upper and lower limits of depth and area of steel. Footing depth and area of reinforcing steel are to be minimized to yield the optimal footing dimensions. Optimized footing materials cost of concrete, reinforcing steel and formwork of the designed sections are computed. Total cost factor TCF and other cost factors are developed to generalize and simplify the calculations of footing material cost. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the model capability of estimating the material cost of the footing for a desired axial load.

Keywords: Footing, Depth, Concrete, Steel, Formwork, Optimization, Material cost, Cost Factors.

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Authors: J. F. Marina Araujo, F. Marcus Vinicius Araujo, R. Daniella Mulinari

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Due to the resultant leachate from waste decomposition in landfills has polluter potential hundred times greater than domestic sewage, this is considered a problem related to the depreciation of environment requiring pre-disposal treatment.In seeking to improve this situation, this project proposes the treatment of landfill leachate using natural fibers intercropped with advanced oxidation processes. The selected natural fibers were palm, coconut and banana fiber.These materials give sustainability to the project because, besides having adsorbent capacity, are often part of waste discarded. The study was conducted in laboratory scale.In trials, the effluents were characterized as Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Turbidity and Color. The results indicate that is technically promising since that there were extremely oxidative conditions, the use of certain natural fibers in the reduction of pollutants in leachate have been obtained results of COD removals between 67.9% and 90.9%, Turbidity between 88.0% and 99.7% and Color between 67.4% and 90.4%.The expectation generated is to continue evaluating the association of efficiency of other natural fibers with other landfill leachate treatment processes.

Keywords: Landfill leachate, chemical treatment, natural Fibers, advanced oxidation processes.

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Authors: Chimaobi Valentine Okolo

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This paper seeks to assess the implications of bank consolidation on lending, which largely determine the survival and performance of small and medium scale enterprises and in turn the development of the Nigerian economy. Ordinary least square technique, correlation matrix test and Granger –causality test were employed to measure the extent to which lending to small and medium scale enterprises were influenced. The result showed that bank deposit (BD) impacted on lending to small and medium scale enterprises. Commercial and merchant bank lending rate had statistically insignificant effect on the dependent variable. There is a shift of focus by commercial banks from small and medium scale enterprises (small customers) to major investors (big customers). While micro finance banks work hard at providing funds to small and medium scale entrepreneurs, their capacity to meet the needs of these entrepreneurs is constrained. The capital and deposits of micro finance bank should be boosted in order to effectively support small and medium scale enterprises through loans.

Keywords: Asset size, bank consolidation, lending, small and medium enterprises.

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