Search results for: Option%20Pricing
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 196

Search results for: Option%20Pricing

166 Holistic Approach to Assess the Potential of Using Traditional and Advance Insulation Materials for Energy Retrofit of Office Buildings

Authors: Marco Picco, Mahmood Alam

Abstract:

Improving the energy performance of existing buildings can be challenging, particularly when facades cannot be modified, and the only available option is internal insulation. In such cases, the choice of the most suitable material becomes increasingly complex, as in addition to thermal transmittance and capital cost, the designer needs to account for the impact of the intervention on the internal spaces, and in particular the loss of usable space due to the additional layers of materials installed. This paper explores this issue by analyzing a case study of an average office building needing to go through a refurbishment in order to reach the limits imposed by current regulations to achieve energy efficiency in buildings. The building is simulated through dynamic performance simulation under three different climate conditions in order to evaluate its energy needs. The use of Vacuum Insulated Panels as an option for energy refurbishment is compared to traditional insulation materials (XPS, Mineral Wool). For each scenario, energy consumptions are calculated and, in combination with their expected capital costs, used to perform a financial feasibility analysis. A holistic approach is proposed, taking into account the impact of the intervention on internal space by quantifying the value of the lost usable space and used in the financial feasibility analysis. The proposed approach highlights how taking into account different drivers will lead to the choice of different insulation materials, showing how accounting for the economic value of space can make VIPs an attractive solution for energy retrofitting under various climate conditions.

Keywords: Vacuum insulated panels, building performance simulation, payback period, building energy retrofit.

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165 Assessment of Master’s Program in Technology

Authors: Niaz Latif, Joy L. Colwell

Abstract:

Following implementation of a master’s level graduate degree program in technology, a research-based assessment of the program was undertaken to determine how well the program met its goals and objectives, and the impact of the degree program on the objectives and the needs of its graduates. Upon review of the survey data, it was concluded that the program was meeting its goals and objectives, and that the directed project option should be encouraged.

Keywords: Master’s Degree, Graduate Program, Assessment.

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164 Deorbiting Performance of Electrodynamic Tethers to Mitigate Space Debris

Authors: Giulia Sarego, Lorenzo Olivieri, Andrea Valmorbida, Carlo Bettanini, Giacomo Colombatti, Marco Pertile, Enrico C. Lorenzini

Abstract:

International guidelines recommend removing any artificial body in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) within 25 years from mission completion. Among disposal strategies, electrodynamic tethers appear to be a promising option for LEO, thanks to the limited storage mass and the minimum interface requirements to the host spacecraft. In particular, recent technological advances make it feasible to deorbit large objects with tether lengths of a few kilometers or less. To further investigate such an innovative passive system, the European Union is currently funding the project E.T.PACK – Electrodynamic Tether Technology for Passive Consumable-less Deorbit Kit in the framework of the H2020 Future Emerging Technologies (FET) Open program. The project focuses on the design of an end of life disposal kit for LEO satellites. This kit aims to deploy a taped tether that can be activated at the spacecraft end of life to perform autonomous deorbit within the international guidelines. In this paper, the orbital performance of the E.T.PACK deorbiting kit is compared to other disposal methods. Besides, the orbital decay prediction is parametrized as a function of spacecraft mass and tether system performance. Different values of length, width, and thickness of the tether will be evaluated for various scenarios (i.e., different initial orbital parameters). The results will be compared to other end-of-life disposal methods with similar allocated resources. The analysis of the more innovative system’s performance with the tape coated with a thermionic material, which has a low work-function (LWT), for which no active component for the cathode is required, will also be briefly discussed. The results show that the electrodynamic tether option can be a competitive and performant solution for satellite disposal compared to other deorbit technologies.

Keywords: Deorbiting performance, H2020, spacecraft disposal, space electrodynamic tethers.

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163 An Economic Analysis of Phu Kradueng National Park

Authors: Chutarat Boontho

Abstract:

The purposes of this study were as follows to evaluate the economic value of Phu Kradueng National Park by the travel cost method (TCM) and the contingent valuation method (CVM) and to estimate the demand for traveling and the willingness to pay. The data for this study were collected by conducting two large scale surveys on users and non-users. A total of 1,016 users and 1,034 non-users were interviewed. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis, logistic regression model and the consumer surplus (CS) was the integral of demand function for trips. The survey found, were as follows: 1)Using the travel cost method which provides an estimate of direct benefits to park users, we found that visitors- total willingness to pay per visit was 2,284.57 bath, of which 958.29 bath was travel cost, 1,129.82 bath was expenditure for accommodation, food, and services, and 166.66 bath was consumer surplus or the visitors -net gain or satisfaction from the visit (the integral of demand function for trips). 2) Thai visitors to Phu Kradueng National Park were further willing to pay an average of 646.84 bath per head per year to ensure the continued existence of Phu Kradueng National Park and to preserve their option to use it in the future. 3) Thai non-visitors, on the other hand, are willing to pay an average of 212.61 bath per head per year for the option and existence value provided by the Park. 4) The total economic value of Phu Kradueng National Park to Thai visitors and non-visitors taken together stands today at 9,249.55 million bath per year. 5) The users- average willingness to pay for access to Phu Kradueng National Park rises from 40 bath to 84.66 bath per head per trip for improved services such as road improvement, increased cleanliness, and upgraded information. This paper was needed to investigate of the potential market demand for bio prospecting in Phu Kradueng national Park and to investigate how a larger share of the economic benefits of tourism could be distributed income to the local residents.

Keywords: Contingent Valuation Method, Travel Cost Method, Consumer surplus.

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162 Challenges and Opportunities in Nuclear Energy: Promising Option in Turkey?

Authors: I. Mahariq, I. Arpacı

Abstract:

Dramatic growth in the population requires a parallel increase in the total installed capacity of electricity. Diversity, independency of resources and global warming call for installing renewable and nuclear energy plants. Several types of energy plants exist in Turkey; however, nuclear energy with its several attractive features is not utilized at all. This study presents the available energy resources in Turkey and reviews major challenges and opportunities in nuclear energy. At the end of this paper, some conclusions are stated.

Keywords: Nuclear, energy resources, challenges, opportunities, Turkey.

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161 Enhancing Self-Assessment and Management Potentials by Modifying Option Selections on Hartman’s Personality Test

Authors: Daniel L. Clinciu, Ikrom Abdulaev, Brian D. Oscar

Abstract:

Various personality profile tests are used to identify personality strengths and limits in individuals, helping both individuals and managers to optimize work and team effort in organizations. One such test, the Hartman’s personality profile, emphasizes four driving "core motives" influenced or affected by both strengths and limitations classified into four colors: Red - motivated by power; Blue - discipline and loyalty; White - peace; and Yellow – fun loving. Two shortcomings of Hartman’s personality test are noted; 1) only one selection for every item / situation allowed and 2) selection of an item / option even if not applicable. A test taker may be as much nurturing as he is opinionated but since “opinionated” seems less attractive the individual would likely select nurturing, causing a misidentification in personality strengths and limits. Since few individuals have a “strong” personality, it is difficult to assess their true personality strengths and limits allowing only one choice or requiring unwanted choices, undermining the potential of the test. We modified Hartman’s personality profile allowing test takers to make either multiple choices for any item / situation or leave them blank if applicable. Sixty-eight participants (38 males and 30 females), 17 - 49 years old, from countries in Asia, Europe, N. America, CIS, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania were included. 58 participants (85.3%) reported the modified test, allowing multiple / no choices better identified their personality strengths and limits, while 10 participants (14.7%) expressed the original (one choice version) was sufficient. The overall results show that our modified test enhanced the identification and balance of core personalities’ strengths and limits, aiding test takers, managers and organizations to better assess individual characteristics, particularly useful in making task-related, teamwork, and management decisions.

Keywords: Organizational behavior, personality tests, personality limitations, personality strengths, task management, team work.

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160 FRC – A New Sustainable Option for Construction to Mitigate Earthquakes

Authors: P. J. Sa sturkar

Abstract:

Ten simply supported grossly underreinforced tapered concrete beams of full size were tested upto complete collapse under flexural effect .Out of 10 beams, 5 beams were nonfibrous and the remaining beams contained fibres. The beams had a variation in the tapered angle as 2°, 4°, 6°, 8° and 10°. The concrete mix, conventional steel and the type of fibre used were held constant. Flat corrugated steel fibres were utilized as secondary reinforcement. The strength and stability parameters were measured. It is established that the fibrous tapered beams can be used economically in earthquake prone areas.

Keywords: Earthquake, Grossly underreinforced sections, Fibre reinforced concrete, Tapered beams.

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159 An Asymptotic Solution for the Free Boundary Parabolic Equations

Authors: Hsuan-Ku Liu, Ming Long Liu

Abstract:

In this paper, we investigate the solution of a two dimensional parabolic free boundary problem. The free boundary of this problem is modelled as a nonlinear integral equation (IE). For this integral equation, we propose an asymptotic solution as time is near to maturity and develop an integral iterative method. The computational results reveal that our asymptotic solution is very close to the numerical solution as time is near to maturity.

Keywords: Integral equation, asymptotic solution, free boundary problem, American exchange option.

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158 A TISM Model for Structuring the Productivity Elements of Flexible Manufacturing System

Authors: Sandhya Dixit, Tilak Raj

Abstract:

Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) is seen as an option for industries which want to boost productivity as well as respond quickly to an increasingly changing marketplace. FMS produces in mid variety, mid volume range and can meet the changing market demands very quickly. But still the impact of adoption of FMS on the productivity of any industry is not very clear. In this paper an attempt has been made to model the various factors affecting the productivity of FMS installation using Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) Technique.

Keywords: Flexible manufacturing system, productivity, total interpretive structural modelling.

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157 Using the V-Sphere Code for the Passive Scalar in the Wake of a Bluff Body

Authors: Y. Obikane, T. Nemoto , K. Ogura, M. Iwata, K. Ono

Abstract:

The objective of this research was to find the diffusion properties of vehicles on the road by using the V-Sphere Code. The diffusion coefficient and the size of the height of the wake were estimated with the LES option and the third order MUSCL scheme. We evaluated the code with the changes in the moments of Reynolds Stress along the mean streamline. The results show that at the leading part of a bluff body the LES has some advantages over the RNS since the changes in the strain rates are larger for the leading part. We estimated that the diffusion coefficient with the computed Reynolds stress (non-dimensional) was about 0.96 times the mean velocity.

Keywords: Wake , bluff body, V-CAD, turbulence diffusion.

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156 Distribution Centers Reliability Cost in Capacitated Facility Location Problem

Authors: Mehdi Seifbarghy, Sajjad Jalali, Seyed Habib A. Rahmati

Abstract:

Recently studies in area of supply chain network (SCN) have focused on the disruption issues in distribution systems. Also this paper extends the previous literature by providing a new biobjective model for cost minimization of designing a three echelon SCN across normal and failure scenarios with considering multi capacity option for manufacturers and distribution centers. Moreover, in order to solve the problem by means of LINGO software, novel model will be reformulated through a branch of LP-Metric method called Min-Max approach.

Keywords: Scenario programming, Distribution, Multi-echelon supply chain design, Reliable facility

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155 Leveraging xAPI in a Corporate e-Learning Environment to Facilitate the Tracking, Modelling, and Predictive Analysis of Learner Behaviour

Authors: Libor Zachoval, Daire O Broin, Oisin Cawley

Abstract:

E-learning platforms, such as Blackboard have two major shortcomings: limited data capture as a result of the limitations of SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model), and lack of incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms which could lead to better course adaptations. With the recent development of Experience Application Programming Interface (xAPI), a large amount of additional types of data can be captured and that opens a window of possibilities from which online education can benefit. In a corporate setting, where companies invest billions on the learning and development of their employees, some learner behaviours can be troublesome for they can hinder the knowledge development of a learner. Behaviours that hinder the knowledge development also raise ambiguity about learner’s knowledge mastery, specifically those related to gaming the system. Furthermore, a company receives little benefit from their investment if employees are passing courses without possessing the required knowledge and potential compliance risks may arise. Using xAPI and rules derived from a state-of-the-art review, we identified three learner behaviours, primarily related to guessing, in a corporate compliance course. The identified behaviours are: trying each option for a question, specifically for multiple-choice questions; selecting a single option for all the questions on the test; and continuously repeating tests upon failing as opposed to going over the learning material. These behaviours were detected on learners who repeated the test at least 4 times before passing the course. These findings suggest that gauging the mastery of a learner from multiple-choice questions test scores alone is a naive approach. Thus, next steps will consider the incorporation of additional data points, knowledge estimation models to model knowledge mastery of a learner more accurately, and analysis of the data for correlations between knowledge development and identified learner behaviours. Additional work could explore how learner behaviours could be utilised to make changes to a course. For example, course content may require modifications (certain sections of learning material may be shown to not be helpful to many learners to master the learning outcomes aimed at) or course design (such as the type and duration of feedback).

Keywords: Compliance Course, Corporate Training, Learner Behaviours, xAPI.

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154 The Context-s Influence on the Evolution of Cioran: The Options of an Engaged Philosopher

Authors: Mara Magda Maftei

Abstract:

The article emphasizes the ideological commitment of the philosopher Emil Cioran. It presents firstly Cioran's works on the theme announced by the title, then the European context that determined the political option of Cioran and a brief analysis of his relationship with History during his French period. The anti- Semitism of Cioran was favored by his attachment to a few philosophers, but also by the European extremist and anti-Semitic context. The article seeks to demonstrate that the philosopher Cioran, known more for his pessimism and nihilism, maintained in time an obsessive relationship with History. His political philosophy is as important as his subjective philosophy, better known than the former.

Keywords: Cioran, French writings, History, Iron Guard

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153 Symbolic Model Checking of Interactions in Sequence Diagrams with Combined Fragments by SMV

Authors: Yuka Kawakami, Tomoyuki Yokogawa, Hisashi Miyazaki, Sousuke Amasaki, Yoichiro Sato, Michiyoshi Hayase

Abstract:

In this paper, we proposed a method for detecting consistency violation between state machine diagrams and a sequence diagram defined in UML 2.0 using SMV. We extended a method expressing these diagrams defined in UML 1.0 with boolean formulas so that it can express a sequence diagram with combined fragments introduced in UML 2.0. This extension made it possible to represent three types of combined fragment: alternative, option and parallel. As a result of experiment, we confirmed that the proposed method could detect consistency violation correctly with SMV.

Keywords: UML, model checking, SMV, sequence diagram.

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152 Design and Study of a DC/DC Converter for High Power, 14.4 V and 300 A for Automotive Applications

Authors: Julio Cesar Lopes de Oliveira, Carlos Henrique Gonc¸alves Treviso

Abstract:

The shortage of the automotive market in relation to options for sources of high power car audio systems, led to development of this work. Thus, we developed a source with stabilized voltage with 4320 W effective power. Designed to the voltage of 14.4 V and a choice of two currents: 30 A load option in battery banks and 300 A at full load. This source can also be considered as a source of general use dedicated commercial with a simple control circuit in analog form based on discrete components. The assembly of power circuit uses a methodology for higher power than the initially stipulated.

Keywords: DC-DC power converters, converters, power convertion, pulse width modulation converters.

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151 Resolving a Piping Vibration Problem by Installing Viscous Damper Supports

Authors: Carlos Herrera Sierralta, Husain M. Muslim, Meshal T. Alsaiari, Daniel Fischer

Abstract:

The vast majority of piping vibration problems in the Oil & Gas industry are provoked by the process flow characteristics which are basically related to the fluid properties, the type of service and its different operational scenarios. In general, the corrective actions recommended for flow induced vibration in piping systems can be grouped in two major areas: those which affect the excitation mechanisms typically associated to process variables, and those which affect the response mechanism of the pipework per se. Where possible the first option is to try to solve the flow induced problem from the excitation mechanism perspective. However, in producing facilities the approach of changing process parameters might not always be convenient as it could lead to reduction of production rates or it may require the shutdown of the system. That impediment might lead to a second option, which is to modify the response of the piping system to excitation generated by the process flow. In principle, the action of shifting the natural frequency of the system well above the frequency inherent to the process always favours the elimination, or considerably reduces the level of vibration experienced by the piping system. Tightening up the clearances at the supports (ideally zero gap) and adding new static supports at the system, are typical ways of increasing the natural frequency of the piping system. However, only stiffening the piping system may not be sufficient to resolve the vibration problem, and in some cases, it might not be feasible to implement it at all, as the available piping layout could create limitations on adding supports due to thermal expansion/contraction requirements. In these cases, utilization of viscous damper supports could be recommended as these devices can allow relatively large quasi-static movement of piping while providing sufficient capabilities of dissipating the vibration. Therefore, when correctly selected and installed, viscous damper supports can provide a significant effect on the response of the piping system over a wide range of frequencies. Viscous dampers cannot be used to support sustained, static loads. This paper shows over a real case example, a methodology which allows to determine the selection of the viscous damper supports via a dynamic analysis model. By implementing this methodology, it is possible to resolve piping vibration problems by adding new viscous dampers supports to the system. The methodology applied on this paper can be used to resolve similar vibration issues.

Keywords: dynamic analysis, flow induced vibration, piping supports, turbulent flow, slug flow, viscous damper

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150 Topology Preservation in SOM

Authors: E. Arsuaga Uriarte, F. Díaz Martín

Abstract:

The SOM has several beneficial features which make it a useful method for data mining. One of the most important features is the ability to preserve the topology in the projection. There are several measures that can be used to quantify the goodness of the map in order to obtain the optimal projection, including the average quantization error and many topological errors. Many researches have studied how the topology preservation should be measured. One option consists of using the topographic error which considers the ratio of data vectors for which the first and second best BMUs are not adjacent. In this work we present a study of the behaviour of the topographic error in different kinds of maps. We have found that this error devaluates the rectangular maps and we have studied the reasons why this happens. Finally, we suggest a new topological error to improve the deficiency of the topographic error.

Keywords: Map lattice, Self-Organizing Map, topographic error, topology preservation.

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149 Investigation of the GFR2400 Reactivity Control System

Authors: Ján Haščík, Štefan Čerba, Jakub Lüley, Branislav Vrban

Abstract:

The presented paper is related to the design methods and neutronic characterization of the reactivity control system in the large power unit of Generation IV Gas cooled Fast Reactor – GFR2400. The reactor core is based on carbide pin fuel type with the application of refractory metallic liners used to enhance the fission product retention of the SiCcladding. The heterogeneous design optimization of control rod is presented and the results of rods worth and their interferences in a core are evaluated. In addition, the idea of reflector removal as an additive reactivity management option is investigated and briefly described.

Keywords: Control rods design, GFR2400, hot spot, movable reflector, reactivity.

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148 Voice Over IP Technology Development in Offshore Industry: System Dynamics Approach

Authors: B. Kiyani, R. H. Amiri, S. H. Hosseini, A. Bourouni, A. Karimi

Abstract:

Nowadays, offshore's complicated facilities need their own communications requirements. Nevertheless, developing and real-world applications of new communications technology are faced with tremendous problems for new technology users, developers and implementers. Traditional systems engineering cannot be capable to develop a new technology effectively because it does not consider the dynamics of the process. This paper focuses on the design of a holistic model that represents the dynamics of new communication technology development within offshore industry. The model shows the behavior of technology development efforts. Furthermore, implementing this model, results in new and useful insights about the policy option analysis for developing a new communications technology in offshore industry.

Keywords: Technology development, Offshore industry, Systemdynamics, Voice Over IP.

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147 The Sustainable Value Model: Comparative Analysis Romania and EU

Authors: Burja C., Burja V.

Abstract:

For Romania, the fulfilment of the obligations undertaken as a member state of the European Union in accordance with the Treaty of Accession requires the effective implementation of sustainable development principles and practices, this being the only reasonable development option, which adequately draws in on the economic, social and environment resources. Achieving this objective is based on a profound analysis of the realities in the Romanian economy, which will reflect the existent situation and the action directions for the future. The paper presents an analysis of the Romanian economic performances compared to the EU economy, based on the sustainable value (SV) model. The analysis highlighted the considerable gap between Romania and the EU regarding the sustainable capitalization of resources, the provided information being useful to justify strategic development decisions at a micro and macro levels.

Keywords: Sustainable value, sustainable development, opportunity cost, economic performance.

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146 Parallel Querying of Distributed Ontologies with Shared Vocabulary

Authors: Sharjeel Aslam, Vassil Vassilev, Karim Ouazzane

Abstract:

Ontologies and various semantic repositories became a convenient approach for implementing model-driven architectures of distributed systems on the Web. SPARQL is the standard query language for querying such. However, although SPARQL is well-established standard for querying semantic repositories in RDF and OWL format and there are commonly used APIs which supports it, like Jena for Java, its parallel option is not incorporated in them. This article presents a complete framework consisting of an object algebra for parallel RDF and an index-based implementation of the parallel query engine capable of dealing with the distributed RDF ontologies which share common vocabulary. It has been implemented in Java, and for validation of the algorithms has been applied to the problem of organizing virtual exhibitions on the Web.

Keywords: Distributed ontologies, parallel querying, semantic indexing, shared vocabulary, SPARQL.

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145 Aspects Regarding the Genesis of the City of Suceava, a Medieval Capital of Moldavia

Authors: Denis Câprâroiu

Abstract:

The city of Suceava, one of the most important medieval capital of Moldova, owes its urban genesis to the power center established in its territory at the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Freed from the effective control exercised by the Emir Nogai through Alanians, the local center of power evolved as the main representative of the interests of indigenous people in relation to the Hungarian Angevin dinasty and to their representatives from Maramures. From this perspective, the political and military role of the settlement of Suceava was archeologically proved by the discovery of extensive fortifications, unrivaled in the first half of the XIVth century-s Moldavia. At the end of that century, voivod Peter I decides to move the capital of the state from Siret to Suceava. That option stimulated the development of the settlement on specific urban coordinates.

Keywords: Moldova, Suceava, voivod, capital.

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144 Study of the Sorption of Biosurfactants from l. Pentosus on Sediments

Authors: Devesa-Rey R., Vecino X., Barral M.T., Cruz J.M., Moldes A.B

Abstract:

Losses of surfactant due to sorption need to be considered when selecting surfactant doses for soil bioremediation. The degree of surfactant sorption onto soil depends primarily on the organic carbon fraction of soil and the chemical nature of the surfactant. The use of biosurfactants in the control of the bioavailability of toxicants in soils is an attractive option because of their biodegradability. In this work biosurfactants were produced from a cheap raw material, trimming vine shoots, employing Lactobacillus pentosus. When biosurfactants from L. pentosus was added to sediments the surface tensión of the water containing the sediments rapidly increase, the same behaviour was observed with the chemical surfactant Tween 20; whereas sodyum dodecyl sulphate (SDS) kept the surface tension of the water around 36 mN/m. It means, that the behaviour of biosurfactants from L. pentosus is more similar to non-ionic surfactatns than to anionic surfactants.

Keywords: Biosurfactants, L. pentous, sediments, surface tension

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143 Daily and Seasonal Changes of Air Pollution in Kuwait

Authors: H. Ettouney, A. AL-Haddad, S. Saqer

Abstract:

This paper focuses on assessment of air pollution in Umm-Alhyman, Kuwait, which is located south to oil refineries, power station, oil field, and highways. The measurements were made over a period of four days in March and July in 2001, 2004, and 2008. The measured pollutants included methanated and nonmethanated hydrocarbons (MHC, NMHC), CO, CO2, SO2, NOX, O3, and PM10. Also, meteorological parameters were measured, which includes temperature, wind speed and direction, and solar radiation. Over the study period, data analysis showed increase in measured SO2, NOX and CO by factors of 1.2, 5.5 and 2, respectively. This is explained in terms of increase in industrial activities, motor vehicle density, and power generation. Predictions of the measured data were made by the ISC-AERMOD software package and by using the ISCST3 model option. Finally, comparison was made between measured data against international standards.

Keywords: Air pollution, Emission inventory, ISCST3 model, Modeling

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142 A Note on Significance of Solar Pond Technology for Power Generation

Authors: Donepudi Jagadish

Abstract:

In the view of current requirements of power generation and the increased interest on renewable energy sources, many options are available for generation of clean power. Solar power generation would be one of the best options in this context. The solar pond uses the principle of conversion of solar energy into heat energy, and also has the capability of storing this energy for certain period of time. The solar ponds could be best option for the regions with high solar radiation throughout the day, and also has free land availability. The paper depicts the significance of solar pond for conversion of solar energy into heat energy with a sight towards the parameters like thermal efficiency, working conditions and cost of construction. The simulation of solar pond system has been carried out for understanding the trends of the thermal efficiencies with respect to time.

Keywords: Renewable Energy, Solar Pond, Energy Efficiency, Construction of Solar Pond.

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141 Categorical Data Modeling: Logistic Regression Software

Authors: Abdellatif Tchantchane

Abstract:

A Matlab based software for logistic regression is developed to enhance the process of teaching quantitative topics and assist researchers with analyzing wide area of applications where categorical data is involved. The software offers an option of performing stepwise logistic regression to select the most significant predictors. The software includes a feature to detect influential observations in data, and investigates the effect of dropping or misclassifying an observation on a predictor variable. The input data may consist either as a set of individual responses (yes/no) with the predictor variables or as grouped records summarizing various categories for each unique set of predictor variables' values. Graphical displays are used to output various statistical results and to assess the goodness of fit of the logistic regression model. The software recognizes possible convergence constraints when present in data, and the user is notified accordingly.

Keywords: Logistic regression, Matlab, Categorical data, Influential observation.

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140 Cannabidiol Treatment Ameliorates Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice

Authors: Amr A. Fouad, Waleed H. Albuali, Iyad Jresat

Abstract:

The possible therapeutic effect of cannabidiol, the major non-psychotropic Cannabis constituent, was investigated against acute hepatotoxicity induced by a single oral dose of acetaminophen (500mg/kg) in mice. Cannabidiol (two intraperitoneal injections, 5mg/kg, each) was given 1 hour and 12 hours following acetaminophen administration. Acetaminophen administration caused significant elevations of serum alanine aminotransferase, and hepatic malondialdehyde, and nitric oxide levels, and a significant decrease in hepatic reduced glutathione. Cannabidiol significantly attenuated the deterioration in the measured biochemical parameters resulted from acetaminophen administration. Also, histopathological examination showed that cannabidiol markedly attenuated ameliorated acetaminophen-induced liver tissue damage. These results emphasize that cannabidiol represents a potential therapeutic option to protect against acetaminophen hepartotoxicity which is a common clinical problem.

Keywords: cannabidiol, acetaminophen, liver, mice.

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139 Aquatic Modeling: An Interplay between Scales

Authors: Christina G. Siontorou

Abstract:

This paper presents an integrated knowledge-based approach to multi-scale modeling of aquatic systems, with a view to enhancing predictive power and aiding environmental management and policy-making. The basic phases of this approach have been exemplified in the case of a bay in Saronicos Gulf (Attiki, Greece). The results showed a significant problem with rising phytoplankton blooms linked to excessive microbial growth, arisen mostly due to increased nitrogen inflows; therefore, the nitrification/denitrification processes of the benthic and water column sub-systems have provided the quality variables to be monitored for assessing environmental status. It is thereby demonstrated that the proposed approach facilitates modeling choices and implementation option decisions, while it provides substantial support for knowledge and experience capitalization in long-term water management.

Keywords: Aquatic ecosystem, integrated modeling, multi-scale modeling, ontological platform.

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138 Modernization of the Economic Price Adjustment Software

Authors: Roger L Goodwin

Abstract:

The US Consumer Price Indices (CPIs) measures hundreds of items in the US economy. Many social programs and government benefits index to the CPIs. The purpose of this project is to modernize an existing process. This paper will show the development of a small, visual, software product that documents the Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) for longterm contracts. The existing workbook does not provide the flexibility to calculate EPAs where the base-month and the option-month are different. Nor does the workbook provide automated error checking. The small, visual, software product provides the additional flexibility and error checking. This paper presents the feedback to project.

Keywords: Consumer Price Index, Economic Price Adjustment, contracts, visualization tools, database, reports, forms, event procedures.

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137 A Review on Natural Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites

Authors: C. W. Nguong, S. N. B. Lee, D. Sujan

Abstract:

Renewable natural fibres such as oil palm, flax, and pineapple leaf can be utilized to obtain new high performance polymer materials. The reuse of waste natural fibres as reinforcement for polymer is a sustainable option to the environment. However, due to its high hydroxyl content of cellulose, natural fibres are susceptible to absorb water that affects the composite mechanical properties adversely. Research found that Nano materials such as Nano Silica Carbide (n-SiC) and Nano Clay can be added into the polymer composite to overcome this problem by enhancing its mechanical properties in wet condition. The addition of Nano material improves the tensile and wear properties, flexural stressstrain behaviour, fracture toughness, and fracture strength of polymer natural composites in wet and dry conditions.

Keywords: Natural fibres, Nano Silica Carbide, Nano Clay, Wet Condition, Polymer Composites.

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