Search results for: climate adaptive Building Shells (CABS).
Commenced in January 2007
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Edition: International
Paper Count: 2405

Search results for: climate adaptive Building Shells (CABS).

545 Multiproject Scheduling in Construction Industry

Authors: Y. Gholipour

Abstract:

In this paper, supply policy and procurement of shared resources in some kinds of concurrent construction projects are investigated. This could be oriented to the problems of holding construction companies who involve in different projects concurrently and they have to supply limited resources to several projects as well as prevent delays to any project. Limits on transportation vehicles and storage facilities for potential construction materials and also the available resources (such as cash or manpower) are some of the examples which affect considerably on management of all projects over all. The research includes investigation of some real multi-storey buildings during their execution periods and surveying the history of the activities. It is shown that the common resource demand variation curve of the projects may be expanded or displaced to achieve an optimum distribution scheme. Of course, it may cause some delay to some projects, but it has minimum influence on whole execution period of all projects and its influence on procurement cost of the projects is considerable. These observations on investigation of some multistorey building which are built in Iran will be presented in this paper.

Keywords: Construction Management, Supply Management, Resources Sharing, Multi-Project, Resource Procurement.

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544 Simulation Data Management Approach for Developing Adaptronic Systems – The W-Model Methodology

Authors: Roland S. Nattermann, Reiner Anderl

Abstract:

Existing proceeding-models for the development of mechatronic systems provide a largely parallel action in the detailed development. This parallel approach is to take place also largely independent of one another in the various disciplines involved. An approach for a new proceeding-model provides a further development of existing models to use for the development of Adaptronic Systems. This approach is based on an intermediate integration and an abstract modeling of the adaptronic system. Based on this system-model a simulation of the global system behavior, due to external and internal factors or Forces is developed. For the intermediate integration a special data management system is used. According to the presented approach this data management system has a number of functions that are not part of the "normal" PDM functionality. Therefore a concept for a new data management system for the development of Adaptive system is presented in this paper. This concept divides the functions into six layers. In the first layer a system model is created, which divides the adaptronic system based on its components and the various technical disciplines. Moreover, the parameters and properties of the system are modeled and linked together with the requirements and the system model. The modeled parameters and properties result in a network which is analyzed in the second layer. From this analysis necessary adjustments to individual components for specific manipulation of the system behavior can be determined. The third layer contains an automatic abstract simulation of the system behavior. This simulation is a precursor for network analysis and serves as a filter. By the network analysis and simulation changes to system components are examined and necessary adjustments to other components are calculated. The other layers of the concept treat the automatic calculation of system reliability, the "normal" PDM-functionality and the integration of discipline-specific data into the system model. A prototypical implementation of an appropriate data management with the addition of an automatic system development is being implemented using the data management system ENOVIA SmarTeam V5 and the simulation system MATLAB.

Keywords: Adaptronic, Data-Management, LOEWE-CentreAdRIA

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543 Verification and Validation for Java Classes using Design by Contract. The Modular External Approach

Authors: Dario Ramirez de Leon, Oscar Chavez Bosquez, Julian J. Francisco Leon

Abstract:

Since the conception of JML, many tools, applications and implementations have been done. In this context, the users or developers who want to use JML seem surounded by many of these tools, applications and so on. Looking for a common infrastructure and an independent language to provide a bridge between these tools and JML, we developed an approach to embedded contracts in XML for Java: XJML. This approach offer us the ability to separate preconditions, posconditions and class invariants using JML and XML, so we made a front-end which can process Runtime Assertion Checking, Extended Static Checking and Full Static Program Verification. Besides, the capabilities for this front-end can be extended and easily implemented thanks to XML. We believe that XJML is an easy way to start the building of a Graphic User Interface delivering in this way a friendly and IDE independency to developers community wich want to work with JML.

Keywords: Model checking, verification and validation, JML, XML, java, runtime assertion checking, extended static checking, full static program verification.

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542 Assessment of Water Resources and Inculcation of Controlled Water Consumption System

Authors: Vakhtang Geladze, Nana Bolashvili, Tamazi Karalashvili, Nino Machavariani, Vajha Neidze, Nana Kvirkvelia, Tamar Chichinadze

Abstract:

Deficiency of fresh water is a vital global problem today. It must be taken into consideration that in the nearest future fresh water crisis will become even more acute owing to the global climate warming and fast desertification processes in the world. Georgia has signed the association agreement with Euro Union last year where the priority spheres of cooperation are the management of water resources, development of trans-boundary approach to the problem and active participation in the “Euro Union water initiative” component of “the East Europe, Caucasus and the Central Asia”. Fresh water resources are the main natural wealth of Georgia. According to the average water layer height, Georgia is behind such European countries only as Norway, Switzerland and Austria. The annual average water provision of Georgia is 4-8 times higher than in its neighbor countries Armenia and Azerbaijan. Despite abundant water resources in Georgia, there is considerable discrepancy between their volume and use in some regions because of the uneven territorial distribution. In the East Georgia, water supply of the territory and population is four times less than in the West Georgia.

Keywords: GIS, sociological survey, water consumption, water resources.

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541 Effect of Social Media on Knowledge Work

Authors: Pekka Makkonen, Georgios Lampropoulos, Kerstin Siakas

Abstract:

This paper examines the impact of social media on knowledge work. It discloses and highlights which specific aspects, areas and tasks of knowledge work can be improved by the use of social media. Moreover, the study includes a survey about higher education students’ viewpoints in regard to the use of social media as a means to enhance knowledge work and knowledge sharing. The analysis has been conducted based both on empirical data and on discussions about the sources dealing with knowledge work and how it can be enhanced by using social media. The results show that social media can improve knowledge work, knowledge building and maintenance tasks in which communication, information sharing and collaboration play a vital role. Additionally, by using social media, personal, collaborative and supplementary work activities can be enhanced. Based on the results of the study, we suggest how knowledge work can be enhanced when using the contemporary information and communications technologies (ICTs) of the 21st century and recommend future directions towards improving knowledge work.

Keywords: Knowledge work, social media, social media services, improving work performance.

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540 Effect of Zeolite on the Decomposition Resistance of Organic Matter in Tropical Soils under Global Warming

Authors: Mai Thanh Truc, Masao Yoshida

Abstract:

Global temperature had increased by about 0.5oC over the past century, increasing temperature leads to a loss or a decrease of soil organic matter (SOM). Whereas soil organic matter in many tropical soils is less stable than that of temperate soils, and it will be easily affected by climate change. Therefore, conservation of soil organic matter is urgent issue nowadays. This paper presents the effect of different doses (5%, 15%) of Ca-type zeolite in conjunction with organic manure, applied to soil samples from Philippines, Paraguay and Japan, on the decomposition resistance of soil organic matter under high temperature. Results showed that a remain or slightly increase the C/N ratio of soil. There are an increase in percent of humic acid (PQ) that extracted with Na4P2O7. A decrease of percent of free humus (fH) after incubation was determined. A larger the relative color intensity (RF) value and a lower the color coefficient (6logK) value following increasing zeolite rates leading to a higher degrees of humification. The increase in the aromatic condensation of humic acid (HA) after incubation, as indicates by the decrease of H/C and O/C ratios of HA. This finding indicates that the use of zeolite could be beneficial with respect to SOM conservation under global warming condition.

Keywords: Global warming, Humic substances, Soil organicmatter, Zeolite.

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539 Reduction of Differential Column Shortening in Tall Buildings

Authors: Hansoo Kim, Seunghak Shin

Abstract:

The differential column shortening in tall buildings can be reduced by improving material and structural characteristics of the structural systems. This paper proposes structural methods to reduce differential column shortening in reinforced concrete tall buildings; connecting columns with rigidly jointed horizontal members, using outriggers, and placing additional reinforcement at the columns. The rigidly connected horizontal members including outriggers reduce the differential shortening between adjacent vertical members. The axial stiffness of columns with greater shortening can be effectively increased by placing additional reinforcement at the columns, thus the differential column shortening can be reduced in the design stage. The optimum distribution of additional reinforcement can be determined by applying a gradient based optimization technique.

Keywords: Column shortening, long-term behavior, optimization, tall building.

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538 Influence of Differences of Heat Insulation Methods on Thermal Comfort of Apartment Buildings

Authors: Hikaru Sato, Hiroatsu Fukuda, Yupeng Wang

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to analyze influence of differences of heat insulation methods on indoor thermal environment and comfort of apartment buildings. This study analyzes indoor thermal environment and comfort on units of apartment buildings using calculation software "THERB" and compares three different kinds of heat insulation methods. Those are outside insulation on outside walls, inside insulation on outside walls and interior insulation. In terms of indoor thermal environment, outside insulation is the best to stabilize room temperature. In winter, room temperature on outside insulation after heating is higher than other and it is kept 3-5 degrees higher through all night. But the surface temperature with outside insulation did not dramatically increase when heating was used, which was 3 to 5oC lower than the temperature with other insulation. The PMV of interior insulation fall nearly range of comfort when the heating and cooling was use.

Keywords: Apartment Building, Indoor Thermal Environment, Insulation, PMV

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537 The Influence of User Involvement and Personal Innovativeness on User Behavior

Authors: Anne M. Sørebø, Øystein Sørebø, Maung K. Sein

Abstract:

The search for factors that influence user behavior has remained an important theme for both the academic and practitioner Information Systems Communities. In this paper we examine relevant user behaviors in the phase after adoption and investigate two factors that are expected to influence such behaviors, namely User Involvement (UI) and Personal Innovativeness in IT (PIIT). We conduct a field study to examine how these factors influence postadoption behavior and how they are interrelated. Building on theoretical premises and prior empirical findings, we propose and test two alternative models of the relationship between these factors. Our results reveal that the best explanation of post-adoption behavior is provided by the model where UI and PIIT independently influence post-adoption behavior. Our findings have important implications for research and practice. To that end, we offer directions for future research.

Keywords: User involvement, personal innovativeness in IT, use of systems, user support, post-adoption behavior.

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536 Determining Earthquake Performances of Existing Reinforced Concrete Buildings by Using ANN

Authors: Musa H. Arslan, Murat Ceylan, Tayfun Koyuncu

Abstract:

In this study, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analytical method has been developed for analyzing earthquake performances of the Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings. 66 RC buildings with four to ten storeys were subjected to performance analysis according to the parameters which are the existing material, loading and geometrical characteristics of the buildings. The selected parameters have been thought to be effective on the performance of RC buildings. In the performance analyses stage of the study, level of performance possible to be shown by these buildings in case of an earthquake was determined on the basis of the 4-grade performance levels specified in Turkish Earthquake Code-2007 (TEC-2007). After obtaining the 4-grade performance level, selected 23 parameters of each building have been matched with the performance level. In this stage, ANN-based fast evaluation algorithm mentioned above made an economic and rapid evaluation of four to ten storey RC buildings. According to the study, the prediction accuracy of ANN has been found about 74%.

Keywords: Artificial neural network, earthquake, performance, reinforced concrete.

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535 Improving the Road Construction Supply Chain by Developing a National Level Performance Measurement System: the Case of Estonia

Authors: Kati Kõrbe Kaare, Ott Koppel

Abstract:

Transport and logistics are the lifeblood of societies. There is a strong correlation between overall growth in economic activity and growth of transport. The movement of people and goods has the potential for creating wealth and prosperity, therefore the state of transportation infrastructure and especially the condition of road networks is often a governmental priority. The design, building and maintenance of national roads constitute a substantial share of government budgets. Taking into account the magnitude and importance of these investments, the expedience, efficiency and sustainability of these projects are of great public interest. This paper provides an overview of supply chain management principles applied to road construction. In addition, road construction performance measurement systems and ICT solutions are discussed. Road construction in Estonia is analyzed. The authors propose the development of a national performance measurement system for road construction.

Keywords: ICT in road construction, key performance indicators, quality performance measurement, road construction supply chain.

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534 Effect of Nigerian Portland-Limestone Cement Grades on Concrete Compressive Strength

Authors: Kazeem K. Adewole, Festus. A. Olutoge, Hamzat Habib

Abstract:

In this paper, the effect of grades 32.4 and 42.5 Portland-limestone cements generally used for concrete production in Nigeria on concrete compressive strength is investigated. Investigation revealed that the compressive strength of concrete produced with Portland-limestone cement grade 42.5 is generally higher than that produced with cement grade 32.5. The percentage difference between the compressive strengths of the concrete cubes produced with Portland-limestone cement grades 42.5 and 32.5 is inversely proportional to the richness of the concrete with the highest and the least percentage difference associated with the 1:2:4 and 1:1:2 mix ratios respectively. It is recommended that cement grade 42.5 be preferred for construction in Nigeria as this will lead to the construction of stronger concrete structures, which will reduce the incidence of failure of building and other concrete structures at no additional cost since the cost of both cement grades are the same.

Keywords: Cement grades, Concrete, Compressive strength, Portland-limestone cement, Ordinary Portland cement.

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533 Structure and Functions of Urban Surface Water System in Coastal Areas: The Case of Almere

Authors: Tao Zou, Zhengnan Zhou

Abstract:

In the context of global climate change, flooding and sea level rise is increasingly threatening coastal urban areas, in which large population is continuously concentrated. Dutch experiences in urban water system management provide high reference value for sustainable coastal urban development projects. Preliminary studies shows the urban water system in Almere, a typical Dutch polder city, have three kinds of operational modes, achieving functions as: (1) coastline control – strong multiple damming system prevents from storm surges and maintains sufficient capacity upon risks; (2) high flexibility – large area and widely scattered open water system greatly reduce local runoff and water level fluctuation; (3) internal water maintenance – weir and sluice system maintains relatively stable water level, providing excellent boating and landscaping service, coupling with water circulating model maintaining better water quality. Almere has provided plenty of hints and experiences for ongoing development of coastal cities in emerging economies.

Keywords: Coastal area, resilience, sustainable urban watersystem, water circulation.

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532 Carbon-Based Composites Enable Monitoring of Internal States in Concrete Structures

Authors: René Čechmánek, Jiří Junek, Bohdan Nešpor, Pavel Šteffan

Abstract:

Regarding previous research studies it was concluded that thin-walled fiber-cement composites are able to conduct electric current under specific conditions. This property is ensured by using of various kinds of carbon materials. Though carbon fibers are less conductive than metal fibers, composites with carbon fibers were evaluated as better current conductors than the composites with metal fibers. The level of electric conductivity is monitored by the means of impedance measurement of designed samples. These composites could be used for a range of applications such as heating of trafficable surfaces or shielding of electro-magnetic fields. The aim of the present research was to design an element with the ability to monitor internal processes in building structures and prevent them from collapsing. As a typical element for laboratory testing there was chosen a concrete column, which was repeatedly subjected to load by simple pressure with continual monitoring of changes in electrical properties.

Keywords: Carbon, conductivity, loading, monitoring.

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531 Political Preconditions for National Values of the Kazakhstan Nation

Authors: Zhazira Kuanyshbayeva

Abstract:

Article is devoted to the problem of Kazakhstan people national values in the conditions of the Republic of Kazakhstan independence. Formation of ethnos national values is viewed as the mandatory constituent of this process in contemporary conditions. The article shows the dynamics of forming socialspiritual basis of Kazakhstan people-s national values. It depicts peculiarities of interethnic relations in poly-ethnic and multiconfessional Kazakhstan. The study reviews in every detail various directions of the state social policy development in the sphere of national values. It is aimed to consolidation of the society to achieve the shared objective, i.e. building democratic and civilized state. The author discloses peculiarities of ethnos national values development using specific sources. It is underlined that renewal and modernization of Kazakhstan society represents new stage in the national value development, and its typical feature is integration process based on peoples- friendship, cultural principles of interethnic communication.

Keywords: Interethnic relation, Kazakhstan people, national policy, national values.

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530 Resilient Modulus and Deformation Responses of Waste Glass in Flexible Pavement System

Authors: M. Al-Saedi, A. Chegenizadeh, H. Nikraz

Abstract:

Experimental investigations are conducted to assess a layered structure of glass (G) - rock (R) blends under the impact of repeated loading. Laboratory tests included sieve analyses, modified compaction test and repeated load triaxial test (RLTT) is conducted on different structures of stratified GR samples to reach the objectives of this study. Waste materials are such essential components in the climate system, and also commonly used in minimising the need for natural materials in many countries. Glass is one of the most widely used groups of waste materials which have been extensively using in road applications. Full range particle size and colours of glass are collected and mixed at different ratios with natural rock material trying to use the blends in pavement layers. Whole subsurface specimen sequentially consists of a single layer of R and a layer of G-R blend. 12G/88R and 45G/55R mix ratios are employed in this research, the thickness of G-R layer was changed, and the results were compared between the pure rock and the layered specimens. The relations between resilient module (Mr) and permanent deformation with sequence number are presented. During the earlier stages of RLTT, the results indicated that the 45G/55R specimen shows higher moduli than R specimen.

Keywords: Rock base course, layered structure, glass, resilient modulus.

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529 Comprehensive Regional Drought Assessment Index

Authors: A. Zeynolabedin, M. A. Olyaei, B. Ghiasi

Abstract:

Drought is an inevitable part of the earth’s climate. It occurs regularly with no clear warning and without recognizing borders. In addition, its impact is cumulative and not immediately discernible. Iran is located in a semi-arid region where droughts occur periodically as natural hazard. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Surface Water Supply Index (SWSI), and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) are three well-known indices which describe drought severity; each has its own advantages and disadvantages and can be used for specific types of drought. These indices take into account some factors such as precipitation, reservoir storage and discharge, temperature, and potential evapotranspiration in determining drought severity. In this paper, first all three indices are calculated in Aharchay river watershed located in northwestern part of Iran in East Azarbaijan province. Next, based on two other important parameters which are groundwater level and solar radiation, two new indices are defined. Finally, considering all five aforementioned indices, a combined drought index (CDI) is presented and calculated for the region. This combined index is based on all the meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural features of the region. The results show that the most severe drought condition in Aharchay watershed happened in Jun, 2004. The result of this study can be used for monitoring drought and prepare for the drought mitigation planning.

Keywords: Drought, index variation, regional assessment, monitoring.

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528 Extensions to Some AOSE Methodologies

Authors: Louay M. Jeroudaih, Mohamed S. Hajji

Abstract:

This paper looks into areas not covered by prominent Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) methodologies. Extensive paper review led to the identification of two issues, first most of these methodologies almost neglect semantic web and ontology. Second, as expected, each one has its strength and weakness and may focus on some phases of the development lifecycle but not all of the phases. The work presented here builds extensions to a highly regarded AOSE methodology (MaSE) in order to cover the areas that this methodology does not concentrate on. The extensions include introducing an ontology stage for semantic representation and integrating early requirement specification from a methodology which mainly focuses on that. The integration involved developing transformation rules (with the necessary handling of nonmatching notions) between the two sets of representations and building the software which automates the transformation. The application of this integration on a case study is also presented in the paper. The main flow of MaSE stages was changed to smoothly accommodate the new additions.

Keywords: Agents, Intelligent Agents, Software Engineering(SE), UML, AUML, and Design Patterns.

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527 Incremental Mining of Shocking Association Patterns

Authors: Eiad Yafi, Ahmed Sultan Al-Hegami, M. A. Alam, Ranjit Biswas

Abstract:

Association rules are an important problem in data mining. Massively increasing volume of data in real life databases has motivated researchers to design novel and incremental algorithms for association rules mining. In this paper, we propose an incremental association rules mining algorithm that integrates shocking interestingness criterion during the process of building the model. A new interesting measure called shocking measure is introduced. One of the main features of the proposed approach is to capture the user background knowledge, which is monotonically augmented. The incremental model that reflects the changing data and the user beliefs is attractive in order to make the over all KDD process more effective and efficient. We implemented the proposed approach and experiment it with some public datasets and found the results quite promising.

Keywords: Knowledge discovery in databases (KDD), Data mining, Incremental Association rules, Domain knowledge, Interestingness, Shocking rules (SHR).

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526 Big Data Analytics and Data Security in the Cloud via Fully Homomorphic Encryption

Authors: Victor Onomza Waziri, John K. Alhassan, Idris Ismaila, Moses Noel Dogonyaro

Abstract:

This paper describes the problem of building secure computational services for encrypted information in the Cloud Computing without decrypting the encrypted data; therefore, it meets the yearning of computational encryption algorithmic aspiration model that could enhance the security of big data for privacy, confidentiality, availability of the users. The cryptographic model applied for the computational process of the encrypted data is the Fully Homomorphic Encryption Scheme. We contribute a theoretical presentations in a high-level computational processes that are based on number theory and algebra that can easily be integrated and leveraged in the Cloud computing with detail theoretic mathematical concepts to the fully homomorphic encryption models. This contribution enhances the full implementation of big data analytics based cryptographic security algorithm.

Keywords: Data Analytics, Security, Privacy, Bootstrapping, and Fully Homomorphic Encryption Scheme.

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525 A New Method for Image Classification Based on Multi-level Neural Networks

Authors: Samy Sadek, Ayoub Al-Hamadi, Bernd Michaelis, Usama Sayed

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a supervised method for color image classification based on a multilevel sigmoidal neural network (MSNN) model. In this method, images are classified into five categories, i.e., “Car", “Building", “Mountain", “Farm" and “Coast". This classification is performed without any segmentation processes. To verify the learning capabilities of the proposed method, we compare our MSNN model with the traditional Sigmoidal Neural Network (SNN) model. Results of comparison have shown that the MSNN model performs better than the traditional SNN model in the context of training run time and classification rate. Both color moments and multi-level wavelets decomposition technique are used to extract features from images. The proposed method has been tested on a variety of real and synthetic images.

Keywords: Image classification, multi-level neural networks, feature extraction, wavelets decomposition.

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524 Impact of Ship Traffic to PM2.5 and Particle Number Concentrations in Three Port-Cities of the Adriatic/Ionian Area

Authors: Daniele Contini, Antonio Donateo, Andrea Gambaro, Athanasios Argiriou, Dimitrios Melas, Daniela Cesari, Anastasia Poupkou, Athanasios Karagiannidis, Apostolos Tsakis, Eva Merico, Rita Cesari, Adelaide Dinoi

Abstract:

Emissions of atmospheric pollutants from ships and harbour activities are a growing concern at international level given their potential impacts on air quality and climate. These close-to-land emissions have potential impact on local communities in terms of air quality and health. Recent studies show that the impact of maritime traffic to atmospheric particulate matter concentrations in several coastal urban areas is comparable with the impact of road traffic of a medium size town. However, several different approaches have been used for these estimates making difficult a direct comparison of results. In this work, an integrated approach based on emission inventories and dedicated measurement campaigns has been applied to give a comparable estimate of the impact of maritime traffic to PM2.5 and particle number concentrations in three major harbours of the Adriatic/Ionian Seas. The influences of local meteorology and of the logistic layout of the harbours are discussed.

Keywords: Ship emissions, PM2.5, particle number concentrations, impact of shipping to atmospheric aerosol.

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523 Groebner Bases Computation in Boolean Rings is P-SPACE

Authors: Quoc-Nam Tran

Abstract:

The theory of Groebner Bases, which has recently been honored with the ACM Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award, has become a crucial building block to computer algebra, and is widely used in science, engineering, and computer science. It is wellknown that Groebner bases computation is EXP-SPACE in a general polynomial ring setting. However, for many important applications in computer science such as satisfiability and automated verification of hardware and software, computations are performed in a Boolean ring. In this paper, we give an algorithm to show that Groebner bases computation is PSPACE in Boolean rings. We also show that with this discovery, the Groebner bases method can theoretically be as efficient as other methods for automated verification of hardware and software. Additionally, many useful and interesting properties of Groebner bases including the ability to efficiently convert the bases for different orders of variables making Groebner bases a promising method in automated verification.

Keywords: Algorithm, Complexity, Groebner basis, Applications of Computer Science.

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522 Formation of Civic Identity in the Process of Globalization: The Example of the U.S.A. and Kazakhstan

Authors: Elnura Assyltayeva, Zhanar Aldubasheva, Zhengisbek Tolen

Abstract:

An attempt has been made several times to identify and discuss the U.S. experience on the formation of political nation in political science. The purpose of this research paper is to identify the main aspects of the formation of civic identity in the United States and Kazakhstan, through the identification of similarities and differences that can get practical application in making decisions of national policy issues in the context of globalization, as well as to answer the questions “What should unite the citizens of Kazakhstan to the nation?" and “What should be the dominant identity: civil or ethnic (national) one?" Can Kazakhstan being multiethnic country like America, adopt its experience in the formation of a civic nation? Since it is believed that the “multi-ethnic state of the population is a characteristic feature of most modern countries in the world," it states that “inter-ethnic integration is one of the most important aspects of the problem of forming a new social community (metaetnic - Kazakh people, Kazakh nation" [1].

Keywords: nation, civic identity, nation building, globalization, interethnic relations, patriotism

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521 Comparisons of Co-Seismic Gravity Changes between GRACE Observations and the Predictions from the Finite-Fault Models for the 2012 Mw = 8.6 Indian Ocean Earthquake Off-Sumatra

Authors: Armin Rahimi

Abstract:

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has been a very successful project in determining math redistribution within the Earth system. Large deformations caused by earthquakes are in the high frequency band. Unfortunately, GRACE is only capable to provide reliable estimate at the low-to-medium frequency band for the gravitational changes. In this study, we computed the gravity changes after the 2012 Mw8.6 Indian Ocean earthquake off-Sumatra using the GRACE Level-2 monthly spherical harmonic (SH) solutions released by the University of Texas Center for Space Research (UTCSR). Moreover, we calculated gravity changes using different fault models derived from teleseismic data. The model predictions showed non-negligible discrepancies in gravity changes. However, after removing high-frequency signals, using Gaussian filtering 350 km commensurable GRACE spatial resolution, the discrepancies vanished, and the spatial patterns of total gravity changes predicted from all slip models became similar at the spatial resolution attainable by GRACE observations, and predicted-gravity changes were consistent with the GRACE-detected gravity changes. Nevertheless, the fault models, in which give different slip amplitudes, proportionally lead to different amplitude in the predicted gravity changes.

Keywords: Undersea earthquake, GRACE observation, gravity change, dislocation model, slip distribution.

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520 Digital Transformation in Developing Countries: A Study into BIM Adoption in Thai Design and Engineering SMEs

Authors: Prompt Udomdech, Eleni Papadonikolaki, Andrew Davies

Abstract:

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the major technological trend among built environment organisations. Digitalising businesses and operations, BIM brings forth a digital transformation in any built environment industry. The adoption of BIM presents challenges for organisations, especially Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The main problem for built environment SMEs is the lack of project actors with adequate BIM competences. The research highlights learning in projects as the key and explores into the learning of BIM in projects of designers and engineers within Thai design and engineering SMEs. The study uncovers three impeding attributes which are: a) lack of English proficiency; b) unfamiliarity with digital technologies; and c) absence of public standards. This research expands on the literature of BIM competences and adoption.

Keywords: BIM competences and adoption, digital transformation, learning in projects, SMEs, and developing built environment industry.

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519 Panel Zone Rigidity Effects on Special Steel Moment-Resisting Frames According to the Performance Based Design

Authors: Mahmoud Miri, Morteza Naghipour, Amir Kashiryfar

Abstract:

The unanticipated destruct of more of the steel moment frames in Northridge earthquake, altered class of regard to the beamto- column connections in moment frames. Panel zone is one the significant part of joints which, it-s stiffness and rigidity has an important effect on the behavior and ductility of the frame. Specifically that behavior of panel zone has a very significant effect on the special moment frames. In this paper , meanwhile the relations for modeling of panel zone in frames are expressed , special moment frames with different spans and stories were studied in the way of performance-based design. The frames designed in according with Iranian steel building code. The effect of panel zone is also considered and in the case of non-existence of performance level, by changing in intimacies and parameter of panel zone, performance level is considered.

Keywords: steel moment frame, panel zone, performance based design

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518 Comparative Study of IC and Perturb and Observe Method of MPPT Algorithm for Grid Connected PV Module

Authors: Arvind Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Dattatraya H. Nagaraj, Amanpreet Singh, Jayanthi Prattapati

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to study and compare two maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms in a photovoltaic simulation system and also show a simulation study of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for photovoltaic systems using perturb and observe algorithm and Incremental conductance algorithm. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) plays an important role in photovoltaic systems because it maximize the power output from a PV system for a given set of conditions, and therefore maximize the array efficiency and minimize the overall system cost. Since the maximum power point (MPP) varies, based on the irradiation and cell temperature, appropriate algorithms must be utilized to track the (MPP) and maintain the operation of the system in it. MATLAB/Simulink is used to establish a model of photovoltaic system with (MPPT) function. This system is developed by combining the models established of solar PV module and DC-DC Boost converter. The system is simulated under different climate conditions. Simulation results show that the photovoltaic simulation system can track the maximum power point accurately.

Keywords: Incremental conductance Algorithm, Perturb and Observe Algorithm, Photovoltaic System and Simulation Results.

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517 Investigating the Accessibility of Physically Disabled Individuals in Corporate Offices: A Case of Dhaka City

Authors: Ishrar Tabassum, Jay Andrew Saptok, Khalid Raihan Kabir, Elmee Tabassum

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to bring light to the current state of the working environments in the corporate environment and other such institutions with a particular focus on the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) and its guidelines for accommodating the physically disabled. Data were collected via semi-formal interviews, site visits and focus groups conducted using a preset questionnaire as the guidelines. After conducting surveys at corporate offices of 20 organizations from major commercial sectors in Dhaka city, the auditing showed many inadequacies, as aside from the larger corporate offices, the offices have little to no accessibility for the physically disabled. This study hopes to shed light on the fact that the existing BNBCs lack of emphasis on ensuring the accessibility of the handicapped in corporate buildings in the hope that, in the future, the physically disabled will have greater opportunities at being productive members of the workforce.

Keywords: Person with disability, PWD, corporate buildings, Dhaka City.

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516 A Quantitative Analysis of GSM Air Interface Based on Radiating Columns and Prediction Model

Authors: K. M. Doraiswamy, Lakshminarayana Merugu, B. C. Jinaga

Abstract:

This paper explains the cause of nonlinearity in floor attenuation hither to left unexplained. The performance degradation occurring in air interface for GSM signals is quantitatively analysed using the concept of Radiating Columns of buildings. The signal levels were measured using Wireless Network Optimising Drive Test Tool (E6474A of Agilent Technologies). The measurements were taken in reflected signal environment under usual fading conditions on actual GSM signals radiated from base stations. A mathematical model is derived from the measurements to predict the GSM signal levels in different floors. It was applied on three buildings and found that the predicted signal levels deviated from the measured levels with in +/- 2 dB for all floors. It is more accurate than the prediction models based on Floor Attenuation Factor. It can be used for planning proper indoor coverage in multi storey buildings.

Keywords: GSM air interface, nonlinear attenuation, multistory building, radiating columns, ground conduction and floor attenuation factor.

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