Search results for: cultural impact

Authors: Syong-Yang Chung, Xin-An Chen

Abstract:

This study aims to explore the less well-known animation “Final Flight of the Osiris”, consisting of an initial exploration of the film color, storyline, and the simulacrum meanings of the roles, which leads to a further exploration of the light-shadow contrast and the psychological images presented by the screen colors and the characters. The research is based on literature review, and all data was compiled for the analysis of the visual vocabulary evolution of the characters. In terms of the structure, the relational study of the animation and the historical background of that time came first, including The Wachowskis’ and Andy Jones’ impact towards the cinematographic version and the animation version of “The Matrix”. Through literature review, the film color, the meaning and the relevant points were clarified. It was found in this research that “Final Flight of the Osiris” separates the realistic and virtual spaces by the changing the color tones; the "self" of the audience gradually dissolves into the "virtual" in the simulacra world, and the "Animatrix" has become a virtual field for the audience to understand itself about "existence" and "self".

Keywords: The Matrix, The Final Flight of Osiris, Wachowski sisters, simulacrum.

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Authors: Ahmet Kivanc Kutluca, Semahat Ozdemir

Abstract:

Urban disaster risks and vulnerabilities are great problems for Turkey. The annual loss of life and property through disaster in the world-s major metropolitan areas is increasing. Urban concentrations of the poor and less-informed in environmentally fragile locations suffer the impact of disaster disproportionately. Gecekondu (squatter) developments will compound the inherent risks associated with high-density environments, in appropriate technologies, and inadequate infrastructure. On the other hand, there are many geological disadvantages such as sitting on top of active tectonic plate boundaries, and why having avalanche, flood, and landslide and drought prone areas in Turkey. However, this natural formation is inevitable; the only way to survive in such a harsh geography is to be aware of importance of these natural events and to take political and physical measures. The main aim of this research is to bring up the magnitude of natural hazard risks in Izmir built-up zone, not being taken into consideration adequately. Because the dimensions of the peril are not taken seriously enough, the natural hazard risks, which are commonly well known, are not considered important or they are being forgotten after some time passes. Within this research, the magnitude of natural hazard risks for Izmir is being presented in the scope of concrete and local researches over Izmir risky areas.

Keywords: Earthquake, Flood, Landslide, Natural Hazard Planning.

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Authors: Kang Chia Yang, Hushairi HJ Zen, Nur Ikhmar@Najemeen Binti Ayob

Abstract:

Power quality is used to describe the degree of consistency of electrical energy expected from generation source to point of use. The term power quality refers to a wide variety of electromagnetic phenomena that characterize the voltage and current at a given time and at a given location on the power system. Power quality problems can be defined as problem that results in failure of customer equipments, which manifests itself as an economic burden to users, or produces negative impacts on the environment. Voltage stability, power factor, harmonics pollution, reactive power and load unbalance are some of the factors that affect the consistency or the quality level. This research proposal proposes to investigate and analyze the causes and effects of power quality to homes and industries in Sarawak. The increasing application of electronics equipment used in the industries and homes has caused a big impact on the power quality. Many electrical devices are now interconnected to the power network and it can be observed that if the power quality of the network is good, then any loads connected to it will run smoothly and efficiently. On the other hand, if the power quality of the network is bad, then loads connected to it will fail or may cause damage to the equipments and reduced its lifetime. The outcome of this research will enable better and novel solutions of poor power quality to small industries and reduce damage of electrical devices and products in the industries.

Keywords: Power quality, power network, voltage dip.

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Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, M. Hamidzadeh

Abstract:

The use of waste rubber chips not only can be of great importance in terms of the environment, but also can be used to increase the shear strength of soils. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the variation of the internal friction angle of liquefiable sandy soil using waste rubber chips. For this purpose, the geotechnical properties of unmodified and modified soil samples by waste lining rubber chips have been evaluated and analyzed by performing the triaxial consolidated drained test. In order to prepare the laboratory specimens, the sandy soil in part of Rudsar shores in Gilan province, north of Iran with high liquefaction potential has been replaced by two percent of waste rubber chips. Samples have been compressed until reaching the two levels of density of 15.5 and 16.7 kN/m³. Also, in order to find the optimal length of chips in sandy soil, the rectangular rubber chips with the widths of 0.5 and 1 cm and the lengths of 0.5, 1, and 2 cm were used. The results showed that the addition of rubber chips to liquefiable sandy soil greatly increases the shear resistance of these soils. Also, it can be seen that decreasing the width and increasing the length-to-width ratio of rubber chips has a direct impact on the shear strength of the modified soil samples with rubber chips.

Keywords: Improvement, shear strength, internal friction angle, sandy soil, rubber chip.

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Authors: Abdulaziz H. El-Sinawi

Abstract:

Some of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the strongest known carcinogens compounds; the majority of them are mostly produced by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels; Motor vehicles are a significant source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) where diesel emission is one of the main sources of such compounds available in the ambient air. There is a big concern about the increasing concentration of PAHs in the environment. Researchers are trying to explore optimal methods to reduce those pollutants and improve the quality of air. Water blended fuel is one of the possible approaches to reduce emission of PAHs from the combustion of diesel in urban and domestic vehicles. In this work a modeling study was conducted using CHEMKIN-PRO software to simulate spray combustion at similar diesel engine conditions. Surrogate fuel of (80 % n-heptane and 20 % toluene) was used due to detailed kinetic and thermodynamic data needed for modeling is available for this kind of fuel but not available for diesel. An emulsified fuel with 3, 5, 8, 10 and 20 % water by volume is used as an engine feed for this study. The modeling results show that water has a significant effect on reducing engine soot and PAHs precursors formation up to certain extent.

Keywords: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), DieselEngine, Emission, Surrogate Fuel, Emulsified Fuel, Soot precursors, Combustion

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Authors: Godwin A. Otogo, Sansanee Wangvoralak, Graham J. Pierce, Lee C. Hastie, Beth Scott

Abstract:

The squid Loligo forbesii is suspected to be an important species in marine food webs, as it can strongly impact its prey and be impacted upon by predation, competition, fishing and/or climate variability. To quantify these impacts in the food web, the measurement of its trophic position and ecological role within well-studied ecosystems is essential. An Ecopath model was balanced and run for the Moray Firth ecosystem and was used to investigate the significance of this squid’s trophic roles. The network analysis routine included in Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) was used to estimate trophic interaction, system indicators (health condition and developmental stage) and food web features. Results indicated that within the Moray Firth squid occupy a top trophic position in the food web and also a major prey item for many other species. Results from Omnivory Index (OI) showed that squid is a generalized feeder transferring energy across wide trophic levels and is more important as a predator than that as a prey in the Moray Firth ecosystem. The results highlight the importance of taking squid into account in the management of Europe’s living marine resources.

Keywords: Ecopath, Loligo forbesii, moray firth, squid, trophic-level.

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Authors: Tomasz L. Nawrocki, Danuta Szwajca

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The growing importance of reputation in building enterprise value and achieving long-term competitive advantage creates the need for its measurement and evaluation for the management purposes (effective reputation and its risk management). The paper presents practical application of self-developed corporate reputation assessment model from the viewpoint of stock market investors. The model has a pioneer character and example analysis performed for selected industry is a form of specific test for this tool. In the proposed solution, three aspects - informational, financial and development, as well as social ones - were considered. It was also assumed that the individual sub-criteria will be based on public sources of information, and as the calculation apparatus, capable of obtaining synthetic final assessment, fuzzy logic will be used. The main reason for developing this model was to fulfill the gap in the scope of synthetic measure of corporate reputation that would provide higher degree of objectivity by relying on "hard" (not from surveys) and publicly available data. It should be also noted that results obtained on the basis of proposed corporate reputation assessment method give possibilities of various internal as well as inter-branch comparisons and analysis of corporate reputation impact.

Keywords: Corporate reputation, fuzzy logic, fuzzy model, stock market investors.

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Authors: Mohammad Songolzadeh, Maryam Takht Ravanchi, Mansooreh Soleimani

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CO2 is the primary anthropogenic greenhouse gas, accounting for 77% of the human contribution to the greenhouse effect in 2004. In the recent years, global concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing rapidly. CO2 emissions have an impact on global climate change. Anthropogenic CO2 is emitted primarily from fossil fuel combustion. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one option for reducing CO2 emissions. There are three major approaches for CCS: post-combustion capture, pre-combustion capture and oxyfuel process. Post-combustion capture offers some advantages as existing combustion technologies can still be used without radical changes on them. There are several post combustion gas separation and capture technologies being investigated, namely; (a) absorption, (b) cryogenic separation, (c) membrane separation (d) micro algal biofixation and (e) adsorption. Apart from establishing new techniques, the exploration of capture materials with high separation performance and low capital cost are paramount importance. However, the application of adsorption from either technology, require easily regenerable and durable adsorbents with a high CO2 adsorption capacity. It has recently been reported that the cost of the CO2 capture can be reduced by using this technology. In this paper, the research progress (from experimental results) in adsorbents for CO2 adsorption, storage, and separations were reviewed and future research directions were suggested as well.

Keywords: Carbon capture and storage, pre-combustion, postcombustion, adsorption

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Authors: Rosa Nurtazina, Yerkebulan Zhumashov, Maral Tomanova

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Humanity is entering an era when "virtual reality" as the image of the world created by the media with the help of the Internet does not match the reality in many respects, when new communication technologies create a fundamentally different and previously unknown "global space". According to these technologies, the state begins to change the basic technology of political communication of the state and society, the state and the state. Nowadays image of the state becomes the most important tool and technology.

Image is a purposefully created image granting political object (person, organization, country, etc.) certain social and political values and promoting more emotional perception.

Political image of the state plays an important role in international relations. The success of the country's foreign policy, development of trade and economic relations with other countries depends on whether it is positive or negative. Foreign policy image has an impact on political processes taking place in the state: the negative image of the country's can be used by opposition forces as one of the arguments to criticize the government and its policies.

Keywords: Image of the country, country's image classification, function of the country image, country's image components.

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Authors: Yuxuan Huang, Weixin Qian, Hongfang Ma, Haitao Zhang, Weiyong Ying

Abstract:

Light olefins are important building blocks for chemical industry. Direct conversion of syngas to light olefins has been investigated for decades. Meanwhile, the limit for light olefins selectivity described by Anderson-Schulz-Flory (ASF) distribution model is still a great challenge to conventional Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The emerging strategy called oxide-zeolite concept (OX-ZEO) is a promising way to get rid of this limit. ZnCrO_x was prepared by co-precipitation method and (NH₄)₂CO₃ was used as precipitant. SAPO-34 was prepared by hydrothermal synthesis, and Tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) was used as template, while silica sol, pseudo-boehmite, and phosphoric acid were Al, Si and P source, respectively. The bifunctional catalyst was prepared by mechanical mixing of ZnCrO_x and SAPO-34. Catalytic reactions were carried out under H₂/CO=2, 380 ℃, 1 MPa and 6000 mL·g_cat^-1·h^-1 in a fixed-bed reactor with a quartz lining. Catalysts were characterized by XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, NH₃-TPD, H₂-TPR, and CO-TPD. The addition of Al as structure promoter enhances CO conversion and selectivity to light olefins. Zn/Cr ratio, which decides the active component content and chemisorption property of the catalyst, influences CO conversion and selectivity to light olefins at the same time. C_2-4⁼ distribution of 86% among hydrocarbons at CO conversion of 14% was reached when Zn/Cr=1.5.

Keywords: Light olefins, OX-ZEO, syngas, ZnCrOx.

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Authors: S. Kulsri, M. Jaroensutasinee, K. Jaroensutasinee

Abstract:

We developed a method based on quasi-molecular modelling to simulate the fall of water drops on horizontally smooth and rough surfaces. Each quasi-molecule was a group of particles that interacted in a fashion entirely analogous to classical Newtonian molecular interactions. When a falling water droplet was simulated at low impact velocity on both smooth and rough surfaces, the droplets moved periodically (i.e. the droplets moved up and down for a certain period, finally they stopped moving and reached a steady state), spreading and recoiling without splash or break-up. Spreading rates of falling water droplets increased rapidly as time increased until the spreading rate reached its steady state at time t ~ 0.25 s for rough surface and t ~ 0.40 s for smooth surface. The droplet height above both surfaces decreased as time increased, remained constant after the droplet diameter attained a maximum value and reached its steady state at time t ~ 0.4 s. However, rough surface had higher spreading rates of falling water droplets and lower height on the surface than smooth one.

Keywords: Quasi-molecular modelling, particle modelling, molecular aggregate approach.

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Authors: H. Abdizadeh, Y. Vahidshad

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The present paper discusses the selection of process parameters for obtaining optimal nanocrystallites size in the CuOZrO2 catalyst. There are some parameters changing the inorganic structure which have an influence on the role of hydrolysis and condensation reaction. A statistical design test method is implemented in order to optimize the experimental conditions of CuO-ZrO2 nanoparticles preparation. This method is applied for the experiments and L16 orthogonal array standard. The crystallites size is considered as an index. This index will be used for the analysis in the condition where the parameters vary. The effect of pH, H2O/ precursor molar ratio (R), time and temperature of calcination, chelating agent and alcohol volume are particularity investigated among all other parameters. In accordance with the results of Taguchi, it is found that temperature has the greatest impact on the particle size. The pH and H2O/ precursor molar ratio have low influences as compared with temperature. The alcohol volume as well as the time has almost no effect as compared with all other parameters. Temperature also has an influence on the morphology and amorphous structure of zirconia. The optimal conditions are determined by using Taguchi method. The nanocatalyst is studied by DTA-TG, XRD, EDS, SEM and TEM. The results of this research indicate that it is possible to vary the structure, morphology and properties of the sol-gel by controlling the above-mentioned parameters.

Keywords: CuO-ZrO2 Nanoparticles, Sol-gel, Taguchi method.

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Authors: Niaz Gharavi, Hexin Zhang

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The shear modulus of a timber beam can be determined using torsion test or shear field test method. The shear field test method is based on shear distortion measurement of the beam at the zone with the constant transverse load in the standardized four-point bending test. The current code of practice advises using two metallic arms act as an instrument to measure the diagonal displacement of the constructing square. The size and the position of the constructing square might influence the shear modulus determination. This study aimed to investigate the size and the position effect of the square in the shear field test method. A binocular stereo vision system has been employed to determine the 3D displacement of a grid of target points. Six glue laminated beams were produced and tested. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed on the acquired data to evaluate the significance of the size effect and the position effect of the square. The results have shown that the size of the square has a noticeable influence on the value of shear modulus, while, the position of the square within the area with the constant shear force does not affect the measured mean shear modulus.

Keywords: Shear field test method, structural-sized test, shear modulus of Glulam beam, photogrammetry approach.

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Authors: Masoud Mahdavi

Abstract:

The use of sloping lands is increasing due to the reduction of suitable lands for the construction of buildings. In the design and construction of buildings on sloping lands, the foundation has special loading conditions that require the designer and executor to use the slopped foundation. The creation of underground cavities, including urban and subway tunnels, sewers, urban facilities, etc., inside the ground, causes the behavior of the foundation to be unknown. In the present study, using Abacus software, a 45-degree stepped foundation on the ground is designed. The foundations are placed on the ground in a cohesive (no-hole) manner with circular cavities that show the effect of increasing the cross-sectional area of ​​the underground cavities on the foundation's performance. The Kobe earthquake struck the foundation and ground for two seconds. The underground cavities have a circular cross-sectional area with a radius of 5 m, which is located at a depth of 22.54 m above the ground. The results showed that as the number of underground cavities increased, von Mises stress (in the vertical direction) increased. With the increase in the number of underground cavities, the plastic strain on the ground has increased. Also, with the increase in the number of underground cavities, the change in location and speed in the foundation has increased.

Keywords: Stepped foundation, sloping ground, Kobe earthquake, Abaqus software, underground excavations.

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Authors: Maris Klavins, Valery Rodinov

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to analyze long term changes of surface water quality in Latvia, spatial variability of water chemical composition, possible impacts of different pollution sources as well as to analyze the measures to protect national water resources - river basin management. Within this study, the concentrations of major water ingredients and microelements in major rivers and lakes of Latvia have been determined. Metal concentrations in river and lake waters were compared with water chemical composition. The mean concentrations of trace metals in inland waters of Latvia are appreciably lower than the estimated world averages for river waters and close to or lower than background values, unless regional impacts determined by local geochemistry. This may be explained by a comparatively lower level of anthropogenic load. In the same time in several places, direct anthropogenic impacts are evident, regarding influences of point sources both transboundary transport impacts. Also, different processes related to pollution of surface waters in Latvia have been analyzed. At first the analysis of changes and composition of pollutant emissions in Latvia has been realized, and the obtained results were compared with actual composition of atmospheric precipitation and their changes in time.

Keywords: Water quality, trend analysis, pollution, human impact.

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Authors: Vahid Nademi

Abstract:

In response to widely used wearable medical devices equipped with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and insulin pump, the advanced control methods are still demanding to get the full benefit of these devices. Unlike costly clinical trials, implementing effective insulin-glucose control strategies can provide significant contributions to the patients suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes. This study deals with a key role of two-layer insulin-glucose regulator based on model-predictive-control (MPC) scheme so that the patient’s predicted glucose profile is in compliance with the insulin level injected through insulin pump automatically. It is achieved by iterative optimization algorithm which is called an integrated perturbation analysis and sequential quadratic programming (IPA-SQP) solver for handling uncertainties due to unexpected variations in glucose-insulin values and body’s characteristics. The feasibility evaluation of the discussed control approach is also studied by means of numerical simulations of two case scenarios via measured data. The obtained results are presented to verify the superior and reliable performance of the proposed control scheme with no negative impact on patient safety.

Keywords: Blood glucose monitoring, insulin pump, optimization, predictive control, diabetes disease.

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Authors: S. Shubha, B. N. Meera

Abstract:

Physics Education Research (PER) results have shown that students do not achieve the expected level of competency in understanding the concepts of different domains of Physics learning when taught by the traditional teaching methods, the concepts of Electricity and Magnetism (E&M) being one among them. Simulation being one of the valuable instructional tools renders an opportunity to visualize varied experiences with such concepts. Considering the electric force concept which requires extensive use of vector representations, we report here the outcome of the research results pertaining to the student understanding of this concept and the role of simulation in using vector representation. The simulation platform provides a positive impact on the use of vector representation. The first stage of this study involves eliciting and analyzing student responses to questions that probe their understanding of the concept of electrostatic force and this is followed by four stages of student interviews as they use the interactive simulations of electric force in one dimension. Student responses to the questions are recorded in real time using electronic pad. A validation test interview is conducted to evaluate students' understanding of the electric force concept after using interactive simulation. Results indicate lack of procedural knowledge of the vector representation. The study emphasizes the need for the choice of appropriate simulation and mode of induction for learning.

Keywords: Electric Force, Interactive, Representation, Simulation.

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Authors: Anjali Chatterjee, Nirmal Kumar Roy

Abstract:

Economically transformers constitute one of the largest investments in a Power system. For this reason, transformer condition assessment and management is a high priority task. If a transformer fails, it would have a significant negative impact on revenue and service reliability. Monitoring the state of health of power transformers has traditionally been carried out using laboratory Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) tests performed at periodic intervals on the oil sample, collected from the transformers. DGA of transformer oil is the single best indicator of a transformer-s overall condition and is a universal practice today, which started somewhere in the 1960s. Failure can occur in a transformer due to different reasons. Some failures can be limited or prevented by maintenance. Oil filtration is one of the methods to remove the dissolve gases and prevent the deterioration of the oil. In this paper we analysis the DGA data by regression method and predict the gas concentration in the oil in the future. We bring about a comparative study of different traditional methods of regression and the errors generated out of their predictions. With the help of these data we can deduce the health of the transformer by finding the type of fault if it has occurred or will occur in future. Additional in this paper effect of filtration on the transformer health is highlight by calculating the probability of failure of a transformer with and without oil filtrating.

Keywords: Power Transformers, Dissolve gas Analysis, Regression method, Filtration, oil.

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Authors: Rayeheh Khatami, Toktam Hanaei, Mohammad Reza Mansouri Daneshvar

Abstract:

Today, many local and national governments are developing urban agriculture as an effective tool in responding to challenges such as food security, poverty and environmental problems. In fact, urban agriculture plays an important role in food system, which can provide citizens' income and become one of the components of economic, social and environmental systems. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the urban agriculture and urban food systems in order to understand the impact of urban foods production on environmental planning in non-western city region context. To achieve such objective, we carry out a case study in Mashhad city of Iran by using qualitative approaches. A survey on documentary studies and planning tools integrate with face to face interview with experts which explain the role of food system in environmental planning process. The paper extends the use of food in the environmental planning, specifically to examine this role to create agricultural garden as a mean to improve agricultural system in non-western country. The paper is concluded with a set of recommendations for researchers and policymakers who seek to create spaces in order to implement urban agriculture in cities for food justice.

Keywords: Urban agriculture, food system, environmental planning, agricultural garden, Mashhad.

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Authors: S. Umarani, D. Sharmila

Abstract:

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a major threat to cyber security. It originates from the network layer or the application layer of compromised/attacker systems which are connected to the network. The impact of this attack ranges from the simple inconvenience to use a particular service to causing major failures at the targeted server. When there is heavy traffic flow to a target server, it is necessary to classify the legitimate access and attacks. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to detect DDoS attacks from the traces of traffic flow. An access matrix is created from the traces. As the access matrix is multi dimensional, Principle Component Analysis (PCA) is used to reduce the attributes used for detection. Two classifiers Naive Bayes and K-Nearest neighborhood are used to classify the traffic as normal or abnormal. The performance of the classifier with PCA selected attributes and actual attributes of access matrix is compared by the detection rate and False Positive Rate (FPR).

Keywords: Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, Application layer DDoS, DDoS Detection, K- Nearest neighborhood classifier, Naive Bayes Classifier, Principle Component Analysis.

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Authors: Selma Sbit, Mohamed Bechir Dadi, Belgacem Chibani Rhaimi

Abstract:

Incorporating Home eNodeB (HeNB) in cellular networks, e.g. Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), is beneficial for extending coverage and enhancing capacity at low price especially within the non-line-of sight (NLOS) environments such as homes. HeNB or femtocell is a small low powered base station which provides radio coverage to the mobile users in an indoor environment. This deployment results in a heterogeneous network where the available spectrum becomes shared between two layers. Therefore, a problem of Inter Cell Interference (ICI) appears. This issue is the main challenge in LTE-A. To deal with this challenge, various techniques based on frequency, time and power control are proposed. This paper deals with the impact of carrier aggregation and higher order MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) schemes on the LTE-Advanced performance. Simulation results show the advantages of these schemes on the system capacity (4.10⁹ b/s/Hz when bandwidth B=100 MHz and when applying MIMO 8x8 for SINR=30 dB), maximum theoretical peak data rate (more than 4 Gbps for B=100 MHz and when MIMO 8x8 is used) and spectral efficiency (15 b/s/Hz and 30b/s/Hz when MIMO 4x4 and MIMO 8x8 are applying respectively for SINR=30 dB).

Keywords: LTE-Advanced, carrier aggregation, MIMO, capacity, peak data rate, spectral efficiency.

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

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

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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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Authors: Andrés Carrión García, Aura López de Murillo, José Jabaloyes Vivas, Angela Grisales del Río

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Some quality control tools use non metric subjective information coming from experts, who qualify the intensity of relations existing inside processes, but without quantifying them. In this paper we have developed a quality control analytic tool, measuring the impact or strength of the relationship between process operations and product characteristics. The tool includes two models: a qualitative model, allowing relationships description and analysis; and a formal quantitative model, by means of which relationship quantification is achieved. In the first one, concepts from the Graphs Theory were applied to identify those process elements which can be sources of variation, that is, those quality characteristics or operations that have some sort of prelacy over the others and that should become control items. Also the most dependent elements can be identified, that is those elements receiving the effects of elements identified as variation sources. If controls are focused in those dependent elements, efficiency of control is compromised by the fact that we are controlling effects, not causes. The second model applied adapts the multivariate statistical technique of Covariance Structural Analysis. This approach allowed us to quantify the relationships. The computer package LISREL was used to obtain statistics and to validate the model.

Keywords: Characteristics matrix, covariance structure analysis, LISREL.

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Authors: Alena Dadova, Katarina Holla, Anna Cidlinova, Linda Makovicka Osvaldova, Jiri Vala, Samuel Kockar

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Occupational health and safety (OHS) is an area in which procedures and applications are constantly evolving and changing through legislation and new directives and guidelines. In this way, the relevant organizations strive to ensure continuous progress and the advantage of up-to-date information to ensure safety and prevent occupational accidents. Three ESENER surveys have been carried out in the European Union, led by the Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). On the basis of surveys, it was determined how European workplaces manage risks and how they manage the field of safety and health protection at work. Thousands of companies and organizations in the European Union were involved in the surveys. Organizations and businesses were presented with a questionnaire that focused on the following topics: the impact of general risks on the field of OSH and the possibility of their management, psychosocial risks and other factors such as stress, harassment and bullying, and employee participation in OSH procedures. The article is dedicated to the fundamental conclusions from these surveys and their subsequent connection with the strategic intent of the Strategic Framework of European Union for the years 2021-2027. In the conclusion, emerging risks are identified and the EU will soon have to deal with them.

Keywords: ESENER, emerging risks, strategic framework in OSH, EU.

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Authors: Zhijun Ren, Zhang Lin, Zhao Ye, Zuo Xiangyu, Mei Dongxing

Abstract:

As a pretreatment process of ballast water treatment, the performance of high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) technology for the removal of particulates and microorganisms was studied. The results showed that HGMS process could effectively remove suspended particles larger than 5 µm and had ability to resist impact load. Microorganism could also be effectively removed by HGMS process, and the removal effect increased with increasing magnetic field strength. The maximum removal rates for Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were 4016.1% and 9675.3% higher, respectively, than without the magnetic field. In addition, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of the microbes decreased by 32.2% when the magnetic field strength was 15.4 mT for 72 min. The microstructure of the stainless steel wool was investigated, and the results showed that particle removal by HGMS has common function by the magnetic force of the high-strength, high-gradient magnetic field on weakly magnetic particles in the water, and on the stainless steel wool.

Keywords: HGMS, particulates, superoxide dismutase activity, steel wool magnetic medium.

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Authors: Golnaz Rezai, Zainalabidin Mohamed, Mad Nasir Shamsudin

Abstract:

The Malaysian government is promoting entrepreneurship development skills amongst farmers through informal courses. These courses will concentrate on teaching managerial skills as inevitable means for small farms to succeed by making farmers more creative and innovative. Therefore it is important to assess the effect of informal agri-entrepreneurial training in developing entrepreneurship among the farmers in Malaysia. Seven hundred and ninety six farmers (796) farmers were interviewed via structured questionnaire to define their opinion on whether the current informal educational and training establishments are sufficient to teach and develop entrepreneurial skills. Factor analysis and logic regression analysis were used to determine the motivating factors and predict their impact on the development of entrepreneurial skills. The result from the factor analysis led us to investigate the association between these factors and farmers- opinions about the development of entrepreneurial skills and traits through participating in informal entrepreneurship training or education. The outcome has shown us that the importance of informal training to promote entrepreneurship among farmers is crucial. The training should be intensified to encourage farmers to not only focus on the modern technologies but also on the fundamental changes in their attitude towards agriculture as a business. DOA: KMO: Kaiser- Meyer- Olkin Test MOA: Ministry of Agriculture NMP: Ninth Malaysia Plan NAP: Third National Agricultural Policy (2000-2010)

Keywords: Entrepreneurial skills, farmers, informal education, Malaysia

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Authors: Ahmed Kiani

Abstract:

The United Arab Emirates is clearly facing a multitude of challenges in curbing its greenhouse gas emissions to meet its pre-allotted framework of Kyoto protocol and COP21 targets due to its hunger for modernization, industrialization, infrastructure growth, soaring population and oil and gas activity. In this work, we focus on the bonafide zero emission electric vehicles market penetration in the country’s transport industry for emission reduction. We study the global electric vehicle market trends, the complementary battery technologies and the trends by manufacturers, emission standards across borders and prioritized advancements which will ultimately dictate the terms of future conditions for the United Arab Emirate transport industry. Based on our findings and analysis at every stage of current viability and state-of-transport-affairs, we postulate policy recommendations to local governmental entities from a supply and demand perspective covering aspects of technology, infrastructure requirements, change in power dynamics, end user incentives program, market regulators behavior and communications amongst key stakeholders. 

Keywords: Electric vehicles, greenhouse gas emission reductions, market analysis, policy recommendations.

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Authors: Hashim Mohammed Alhassan, Johnnie Ben-Edigbe

Abstract:

Traffic flow in adverse weather conditions have been investigated in this study for general traffic, week day and week end traffic. The empirical evidence is strong in support of the view that rainfall affects macroscopic traffic flow parameters. Data generated from a basic highway section along J5 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia was synchronized with 161 rain events over a period of three months. This revealed a 4.90%, 6.60% and 11.32% reduction in speed for light rain, moderate rain and heavy rain conditions respectively. The corresponding capacity reductions in the three rainfall regimes are 1.08% for light rain, 6.27% for moderate rain and 29.25% for heavy rain. In the week day traffic, speed drops of 8.1% and 16.05% were observed for light and heavy conditions. The moderate rain condition speed increased by 12.6%. The capacity drops for week day traffic are 4.40% for light rain, 9.77% for moderate rain and 45.90% for heavy rain. The weekend traffic indicated speed difference between the dry condition and the three rainy conditions as 6.70% for light rain, 8.90% for moderate rain and 13.10% for heavy rain. The capacity changes computed for the weekend traffic were 0.20% in light rain, 13.90% in moderate rain and 16.70% in heavy rain. No traffic instabilities were observed throughout the observation period and the capacities reported for each rain condition were below the norain condition capacity. Rainfall has tremendous impact on traffic flow and this may have implications for shock wave propagation.

Keywords: Highway Capacity, Dry condition, Rainfall Intensity, Rainy condition, Traffic Flow Rate.

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Authors: I. Djefour, M. Saidi, I. Tlemsani, S. Toubal

Abstract:

Lignin is a molecule derived from wood and also generated as waste from the paper industry. With a view to its valorization and protection of the environment, we are interested in its use as a superplasticizer-type adjuvant in mortars and concretes to improve their mechanical strengths. The additives of the concrete have a very strong influence on the properties of the fresh and / or hardened concrete. This study examines the development and use of industrial waste and lignin extracted from a renewable natural source (wood) in cementitious materials. The use of these resources is known at present as a definite resurgence of interest in the development of building materials. Physicomechanical characteristics of mortars are determined by optimization quantity of the natural superplasticizer. The results show that the mechanical strengths of mortars based on natural adjuvant have improved by 20% (64 MPa) for a W/C ratio = 0.4, and the amount of natural adjuvant of dry extract needed is 40 times smaller than commercial adjuvant. This study has a scientific impact (improving the performance of the mortar with an increase in compactness and reduction of the quantity of water), ecological use of the lignin waste generated by the paper industry) and economic reduction of the cost price necessary to elaboration of self-compacting mortars and concretes).

Keywords: Biopolymer, lignin, industrial waste, mechanical resistances, self-compacting mortars.

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