Abstract: World, nowadays, encounters serious water scarcity problem. During the past few years, by advent of Smart Energy and Water Meter (SEWM) and its installation at the electro-pumps of the water wells, one had believed that it could be the golden key to address the groundwater resources over-pumping issue. In fact, implementation of these Smart Meters managed to control the water table drawdown for short; but it was not a sustainable approach. SEWM has been considered as law enforcement facility at first; however, for solving a complex socioeconomic problem like shared groundwater resources management, more than just enforcement is required: participation to conserve common resources. The well owners or farmers, as water consumers, are the main and direct stakeholders of this system and other stakeholders could be government sectors, investors, technology providers, privet sectors or ordinary people. Designing a socio-technical system not only defines the role of each stakeholder but also can lubricate the communication to reach the system goals while benefits of each are considered and provided. Farmers, as the key participators for solving groundwater problem, do not trust governments but they would trust a fair system in which responsibilities, privileges and benefits are clear. Technology could help this system remained impartial and productive. Social aspects provide rules, regulations, social objects and etc. for the system and help it to be more human-centered. As the design methodology, Design Thinking provides probable solutions for the challenging problems and ongoing conflicts; it could enlighten the way in which the final system could be designed. Using Human Centered Design approach of IDEO helps to keep farmers in the center of the solution and provides a vision by which stakeholders’ requirements and needs are addressed effectively. Farmers would be considered to trust the system and participate in their groundwater resources management if they find the rules and tools of the system fair and effective. Besides, implementation of the socio-technical system could change farmers’ behavior in order that they concern more about their valuable shared water resources as well as their farm profit. This socio-technical system contains nine main subsystems: 1) Measurement and Monitoring system, 2) Legislation and Governmental system, 3) Information Sharing system, 4) Knowledge based NGOs, 5) Integrated Farm Management system (using IoT), 6) Water Market and Water Banking system, 7) Gamification, 8) Agribusiness ecosystem, 9) Investment system.
Abstract: Creating cities, objects and spaces that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable and which meet the challenge of social interaction and generation change will be one of the biggest tasks of designers. Social sustainability is about how individuals, communities and societies live with each other and set out to achieve the objectives of development model which they have chosen for themselves. Urban lightning as one of the most important elements of urban furniture that people constantly interact with it in public spaces; can be a significant object for designers. Using intelligence by internet of things for urban lighting makes it more interactive in public environments. It can encourage individuals to carry out appropriate behaviors and provides them the social awareness through new interactions. The greatest strength of this technology is its strong impact on many aspects of everyday life and users' behaviors. The analytical phase of the research is based on a multiple method survey strategy. Smart lighting proposed in this paper is an urban lighting designed on results obtained from a collective point of view about the social sustainability. In this paper, referring to behavioral design methods, the social behaviors of the people has been studied. Data show that people demands for a deeper experience of social participation, safety perception and energy saving with the meaningful use of interactive and colourful lighting effects. By using intelligent technology, some suggestions are provided in the field of future lighting to consider the new forms of social sustainability.
Abstract: Data hiding can be achieved by Steganography or invisible digital watermarking. For digital watermarking, both accurate retrieval of the embedded watermark and the integrity of the cover image are important. Medical image security in Teleradiology is one of the applications where the embedded patient record needs to be extracted with accuracy as well as the medical image integrity verified. In this research paper, the Constant Correlation Spread Spectrum digital watermarking for medical image tamper detection and accurate embedded watermark retrieval is introduced. In the proposed method, a watermark bit from a patient record is spread in a medical image sub-block such that the correlation of all watermarked sub-blocks with a spreading code, W, would have a constant value, p. The constant correlation p, spreading code, W and the size of the sub-blocks constitute the secret key. Tamper detection is achieved by flagging any sub-block whose correlation value deviates by more than a small value, ℇ, from p. The major features of our new scheme include: (1) Improving watermark detection accuracy for high-pixel depth medical images by reducing the Bit Error Rate (BER) to Zero and (2) block-level tamper detection in a single computational process with simultaneous watermark detection, thereby increasing utility with the same computational cost.
Abstract: In this paper, we evaluate the resilience of the smart grid system in the presence of multiple cyber-physical attacks on its distinct functional components. We discuss attack-defense scenarios and their effect on smart grid resilience. Through contingency simulations in the Network and PowerWorld Simulator, we analyze multiple cyber-physical attacks that propagate from the cyber domain to power systems and discuss how such attacks destabilize the underlying power grid. The analysis of such simulations helps system administrators develop more resilient systems and improves the response of the system in the presence of cyber-physical attacks.
Abstract: Smart grid is a term used to describe the next generation
power grid. New challenges such as integration of renewable and
decentralized energy sources, the requirement for continuous grid
estimation and optimization, as well as the use of two-way flows
of energy have been brought to the power gird. In order to achieve
efficient, reliable, sustainable, as well as secure delivery of electric
power more and more information and communication technologies
are used for the monitoring and the control of power grids.
Consequently, the need for cybersecurity is dramatically increased
and has converged into several standards which will be presented
here. These standards for the smart grid must be designed to
satisfy both performance and reliability requirements. An in depth
investigation of the effect of retrospectively embedded security in
existing grids on it’s dynamic behavior is required. Therefore, a
retrofitting plan for existing meters is offered, and it’s performance
in a test low voltage microgrid is investigated. As a result of this,
integration of security measures into measurement architectures of
smart grids at the design phase is strongly recommended.
Abstract: With the increasing demand of bandwidth and data rate,
there is a dire need to implement antenna systems in mobile phones
which are able to fulfill user requirements. A monopole antenna
system with multi-antennas configurations is proposed considering
the feasibility and user demand. The multi-antenna structure is
referred to as multi-input multi-output (MIMO) antenna system. The
multi-antenna system comprises of 4 antennas operating below 6
GHz frequency bands for 4G/LTE and 4 antenna for 5G applications
at 28 GHz and the dimension of board is 120 × 70 × 0.8mm3.
The suggested designs is feasible with a structure of low-profile
planar-antenna and is adaptable to smart cell phones and handheld
devices. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first design
compared to the literature by having integrated antenna system
for two standards, i.e., 4G and 5G. All MIMO antenna systems
are simulated on commercially available software, which is high
frequency structures simulator (HFSS).
Abstract: The purpose of the present research is to equate two
test forms as part of a study to evaluate the educational effectiveness
of the ARTé: Mecenas art history learning game. The researcher
applied Item Response Theory (IRT) procedures to calculate item,
test, and mean-sigma equating parameters. With the sample size
n=134, test parameters indicated “good” model fit but low Test
Information Functions and more acute than expected equating
parameters. Therefore, the researcher applied equipercentile equating
and linear equating to raw scores and compared the equated form
parameters and effect sizes from each method. Item scaling in IRT
enables the researcher to select a subset of well-discriminating items.
The mean-sigma step produces a mean-slope adjustment from the
anchor items, which was used to scale the score on the new form
(Form R) to the reference form (Form Q) scale. In equipercentile
equating, scores are adjusted to align the proportion of scores in each
quintile segment. Linear equating produces a mean-slope adjustment,
which was applied to all core items on the new form. The study
followed a quasi-experimental design with purposeful sampling of
students enrolled in a college level art history course (n=134) and
counterbalancing design to distribute both forms on the pre- and posttests.
The Experimental Group (n=82) was asked to play ARTé:
Mecenas online and complete Level 4 of the game within a two-week
period; 37 participants completed Level 4. Over the same period, the
Control Group (n=52) did not play the game. The researcher
examined between group differences from post-test scores on test
Form Q and Form R by full-factorial Two-Way ANOVA. The raw
score analysis indicated a 1.29% direct effect of form, which was
statistically non-significant but may be practically significant. The
researcher repeated the between group differences analysis with all
three equating methods. For the IRT mean-sigma adjusted scores,
form had a direct effect of 8.39%. Mean-sigma equating with a small
sample may have resulted in inaccurate equating parameters.
Equipercentile equating aligned test means and standard deviations,
but resultant skewness and kurtosis worsened compared to raw score
parameters. Form had a 3.18% direct effect. Linear equating
produced the lowest Form effect, approaching 0%. Using linearly
equated scores, the researcher conducted an ANCOVA to examine
the effect size in terms of prior knowledge. The between group effect
size for the Control Group versus Experimental Group participants
who completed the game was 14.39% with a 4.77% effect size
attributed to pre-test score. Playing and completing the game
increased art history knowledge, and individuals with low prior
knowledge tended to gain more from pre- to post test. Ultimately,
researchers should approach test equating based on their theoretical
stance on Classical Test Theory and IRT and the respective assumptions. Regardless of the approach or method, test equating
requires a representative sample of sufficient size. With small sample
sizes, the application of a range of equating approaches can expose
item and test features for review, inform interpretation, and identify
paths for improving instruments for future study.
Abstract: Bullet penetration in steel plate is investigated with
the help of three-dimensional, non-linear, transient, dynamic, finite
elements analysis using explicit time integration code LSDYNA. The
effect of large strain, strain-rate and temperature at very high velocity
regime was studied from number of simulations of semi-spherical
nose shape bullet penetration through single layered circular plate
with 2 mm thickness at impact velocities of 500, 1000, and 1500 m/s
with the help of Johnson Cook material model. Mie-Gruneisen
equation of state is used in conjunction with Johnson Cook material
model to determine pressure-volume relationship at various points of
interests. Two material models viz. Plastic-Kinematic and Johnson-
Cook resulted in different deformation patterns in steel plate. It is
observed from the simulation results that the velocity drop and loss of
kinetic energy occurred very quickly up to perforation of plate, after
that the change in velocity and changes in kinetic energy are
negligibly small. The physics behind this kind of behaviour is
presented in the paper.
Abstract: Minimizing the weight in flexible structures means
reducing material and costs as well. However, these structures could
become prone to vibrations. Attenuating these vibrations has become
a pivotal engineering problem that shifted the focus of many research
endeavors. One technique to do that is to design and implement
an active control system. This system is mainly composed of a
vibrating structure, a sensor to perceive the vibrations, an actuator
to counteract the influence of disturbances, and finally a controller to
generate the appropriate control signals. In this work, two different
techniques are explored to create two different mathematical models
of an active control system. The first model is a finite element model
with a reduced number of nodes and it is called a super-element.
The second model is in the form of state-space representation, i.e.
a set of partial differential equations. The damping coefficients are
calculated and incorporated into both models. The effectiveness of
these models is demonstrated when the system is excited by its first
natural frequency and an active control strategy is developed and
implemented to attenuate the resulting vibrations. Results from both
modeling techniques are presented and compared.
Abstract: The objective of this research is to optimize the process of cutting cylindrical workpieces utilizing live tooling on a HAAS ST-20 lathe. Surface roughness (Ra) has been investigated as the indicator of quality characteristics for machining process. Aluminum alloy was used to conduct experiments due to its wide range usages in engineering structures and components where light weight or corrosion resistance is required. In this study, Taguchi methodology is utilized to determine the effects that each of the parameters has on surface roughness (Ra). A total of 18 experiments of each process were designed according to Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array (OA) with four control factors at three levels of each and signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) were computed with Smaller the better equation for minimizing the system. The optimal parameters identified for the surface roughness of the turning operation utilizing live tooling were a feed rate of 3 inches/min(A3); a spindle speed of 1300 rpm(B3); a 2-flute titanium nitrite coated 3/8” endmill (C1); and a depth of cut of 0.025 inches (D2). The mean surface roughness of the confirmation runs in turning operation was 8.22 micro inches. The final results demonstrate that Taguchi methodology is a sufficient way of process improvement in turning process on surface roughness.
Abstract: There is an urgent need nowadays to reduce energy demand and the current level of greenhouse gas emission and use renewable energy sources increase in energy efficiency. On the other hand, the European Union (EU) countries are largely dependent on energy imports and are vulnerable to disruption in energy supply, which may, in turn, threaten the functioning of their current economic structure. Residential buildings represent a significant part of the energy consumption of the building stock. Only a small part of the building stock is exchanged every year, thus it is essential to increase the energy efficiency of the existing buildings. Present paper focuses on the buildings built with industrialized technology only, and their opportunities in the boundaries of nearly zero-energy regulation. Current paper shows the emergence of panel construction method, and past and present of the ‘panel’ problem in Hungary with a short outlook to Europe. The study shows as well as the possibilities for meeting the nearly zero and cost optimized requirements for residential buildings by analyzing the renovation scenarios of an existing residential typology.
Abstract: Replacing of complex solar concentrating unit, this paper designs a solar heat-concentrating medium-temperature steam-generating system. Solar radiation is collected by using a large solar collecting and heat concentrating plate and is converged to the metal evaporating pipe with high efficient heat transfer. In the meantime, the heat loss is reduced by employing a double-glazed cover and other heat insulating structures. Thus, a high temperature is reached in the metal evaporating pipe. The influences of the system's structure parameters on system performance are analyzed. The steam production rate and the steam production under different solar irradiance, solar collecting and heat concentrating plate area, solar collecting and heat concentrating plate temperature and heat loss are obtained. The results show that when solar irradiance is higher than 600 W/m2, the effective heat collecting area is 7.6 m2 and the double-glazing cover is adopted, the system heat loss amount is lower than the solar irradiance value. The stable steam is produced in the metal evaporating pipe at 100 ℃, 110 ℃, and 120 ℃, respectively. When the average solar irradiance is about 896 W/m2, and the steaming cumulative time is about 5 hours, the daily steam production of the system is about 6.174 kg. In a single day, the solar irradiance is larger at noon, thus the steam production rate is large at that time. Before 9:00 and after 16:00, the solar irradiance is smaller, and the steam production rate is almost 0.
Abstract: In this paper, we have developed a sliding mode
controller for PUMA 600 manipulator robot, to control the remote
robot a teleoperation system was developed. This system includes
two sites, local and remote. The sliding mode controller is installed
at the remote site. The client asks for a position through an interface
and receives the real positions after running of the task by the remote
robot. Both sites are interconnected via the Internet. In order to verify
the effectiveness of the sliding mode controller, that is compared with
a classic PID controller. The developed approach is tested on a virtual
robot. The results confirmed the high performance of this approach.
Abstract: Architecture in Iran has a continuous history from at least 5000 BC to the present, and numerous Iranian pre-Islamic elements have contributed significantly to the formation of Islamic art. At first, decoration was limited to small objects and containers and then progressed in the art of plaster and brickwork. They later applied in architecture as well. The art of gypsum and brickwork, which was prevalent in the form of motifs (animals and plants) in pre-Islam, was used in the aftermath of Islam with the art of calligraphy in decorations. The splendor and beauty of Iranian architecture, especially during the Islamic era, are related to decoration and design. After the invasion of Iran by the Arabs and the introduction of Islam to Iran, the arrival of the Iranian classical architecture significantly changed, and we saw the Arabic calligraphy decoration of the mosques in Iran. The principles of aesthetics in the art of calligraphy in Iran are based precisely on the principles of the beauty of ancient Iranian and Islamic art. On the other hand, after Islam, calligraphy was one of the most important sources of Islamic art in Islam and one of the important features of Islamic culture. First, the calligraphy had no cultural meaning and was only for decoration and beautification, it had the same meaning only in the inscriptions; however, over time, it became meaningful. This article provides a summary of the history of calligraphy in the mosques (from the entrance to Islam until the Safavid period), which cannot ignore the role of the calligraphy in their decorative ideas; and also, the important role that decorative elements play in creating a public space in terms of social and aesthetic performance. This study was conducted using library studies and field studies. The purpose of this study is to show the characteristics of architecture and art of decorations in Iran, especially in the mosque's architecture, which reaches the pinnacle of progress. We will see that religious beliefs and artistic practices are merging and trying to bring a single concept.
Abstract: The integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) system has a series of advantages such as increasing the system power generation, reducing the cost of solar power generation, less pollutant and CO2 emission. In this paper, the parabolic trough collectors with direct steam generation (DSG) technology are considered to replace the heat load of heating surfaces in heat regenerator steam generation (HRSG) of a conventional natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) system containing a PG9351FA gas turbine and a triple pressure HRSG with reheat. The detailed model of the NGCC system is built in ASPEN PLUS software and the parabolic trough collectors with DSG technology is modeled in EBSILON software. ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of single, two, three and four heating surfaces are studied in this paper. Results show that: (1) the ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement heat load of HPB, HPB+LPE, HPE2+HPB+HPS, HPE1+HPE2+ HPB+HPS are the best integration schemes when single, two, three and four stages of heating surfaces are partly replaced by the parabolic trough solar energy collectors with DSG technology. (2) Both the changes of feed water flow and the heat load of the heating surfaces in ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of multi-stage heating surfaces are smaller than those in ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of single heating surface. (3) ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of HPB+LPE heating surfaces can increase the solar power output significantly. (4) The ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of HPB heating surfaces has the highest solar-thermal-to-electricity efficiency (47.45%) and the solar radiation energy-to-electricity efficiency (30.37%), as well as the highest exergy efficiency of solar field (33.61%).
Abstract: Determination of state of charge (SOC) in today’s world becomes an increasingly important issue in all the applications that include a battery. In fact, estimation of the SOC is a fundamental need for the battery, which is the most important energy storage in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), smart grid systems, drones, UPS and so on. Regarding those applications, the SOC estimation algorithm is expected to be precise and easy to implement. This paper presents an online method for the estimation of the SOC of Valve-Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries. The proposed method uses the well-known Kalman Filter (KF), and Neural Networks (NNs) and all of the simulations have been done with MATLAB software. The NN is trained offline using the data collected from the battery discharging process. A generic cell model is used, and the underlying dynamic behavior of the model has used two capacitors (bulk and surface) and three resistors (terminal, surface, and end), where the SOC determined from the voltage represents the bulk capacitor. The aim of this work is to compare the performance of conventional integration-based SOC estimation methods with a mixed algorithm. Moreover, by containing the effect of temperature, the final result becomes more accurate.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the study of two dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) steady incompressible viscous Williamson nanofluid with exponential internal heat generation containing gyrotactic microorganism over a stretching sheet. The governing equations and auxiliary conditions are reduced to a set of non-linear coupled differential equations with the appropriate boundary conditions using similarity transformation. The transformed equations are solved numerically through spectral relaxation method. The influences of various parameters such as Williamson parameter γ, power constant λ, Prandtl number Pr, magnetic field parameter M, Peclet number Pe, Lewis number Le, Bioconvection Lewis number Lb, Brownian motion parameter Nb, thermophoresis parameter Nt, and bioconvection constant σ are studied to obtain the momentum, heat, mass and microorganism distributions. Moment, heat, mass and gyrotactic microorganism profiles are explored through graphs and tables. We computed the heat transfer rate, mass flux rate and the density number of the motile microorganism near the surface. Our numerical results are in better agreement in comparison with existing calculations. The Residual error of our obtained solutions is determined in order to see the convergence rate against iteration. Faster convergence is achieved when internal heat generation is absent. The effect of magnetic parameter M decreases the momentum boundary layer thickness but increases the thermal boundary layer thickness. It is apparent that bioconvection Lewis number and bioconvection parameter has a pronounced effect on microorganism boundary. Increasing brownian motion parameter and Lewis number decreases the thermal boundary layer. Furthermore, magnetic field parameter and thermophoresis parameter has an induced effect on concentration profiles.
Abstract: The article presents the development trends of farms, estimates on the optimal scope of farming, as well as the experience of local and foreign countries in this area. As well, the advantages of small and large farms are discussed; herewith, the scales of farms are compared to the local reality. The study analyzes the results of farm operations and the possibilities of diversification of farms. The indicators of an effective use of land resources and land fragmentation are measured; also, a comparative analysis with other countries is presented, in particular, the measurements of agricultural lands for farming, as well as the indicators of population ensuring. The conducted research shows that most of the farms in Georgia are small and their development is at the initial stage, which outlines that the country has a high resource potential to increase the scale of the farming industry and its full integration into market relations. On the basis of the obtained results, according to the research on the scale of farming in Georgia and the identification of hampering factors of farming development, the conclusions are presented and the relevant recommendations are suggested.
Abstract: The hi-tech industries in the Science Park at southern Taiwan were heavily damaged by a strong earthquake early 2016. The financial loss in this event was attributed primarily to the automated stocker system handling fully processed products, and recovery of the automated stocker system from the aftermath proved to contribute major lead time. Therefore, development of effective means for protection of stockers against earthquakes has become the highest priority for risk minimization and business continuity. This study proposes to mitigate the seismic response of the stockers by introducing viscous fluid dampers in between the ceiling and the top of the stockers. The stocker is expected to vibrate less violently with a passive control force on top. Linear damper is considered in this application with an optimal damping coefficient determined from a preliminary parametric study. The damper is small in size in comparison with those adopted for building or bridge applications. Component test of the dampers has been carried out to make sure they meet the design requirement. Shake table tests have been further conducted to verify the proposed scheme under realistic earthquake conditions. Encouraging results have been achieved by effectively reducing the seismic responses of up to 60% and preventing the FOUPs from falling off the shelves that would otherwise be the case if left unprotected. Effectiveness of adopting a viscous fluid damper for seismic control of the stocker on top against the ceiling has been confirmed. This technique has been adopted by Macronix International Co., LTD for seismic retrofit of existing stockers. Demonstrative projects on the application of the proposed technique are planned underway for other companies in the display industry as well.
Abstract: In this paper, we want to determine whether the accurate prediction of nicotine concentration can be obtained by using a network of smart objects and an e-cigarette. The approach consists of, first, the recognition of factors influencing smoking cessation such as physical activity recognition and participant’s behaviors (using both smartphone and smartwatch), then the prediction of the configuration of the e-cigarette (in terms of nicotine concentration, power, and resistance of e-cigarette). The study uses a network of commonly connected objects; a smartwatch, a smartphone, and an e-cigarette transported by the participants during an uncontrolled experiment. The data obtained from sensors carried in the three devices were trained by a Long short-term memory algorithm (LSTM). Results show that our LSTM-based model allows predicting the configuration of the e-cigarette in terms of nicotine concentration, power, and resistance with a root mean square error percentage of 12.9%, 9.15%, and 11.84%, respectively. This study can help to better control consumption of nicotine and offer an intelligent configuration of the e-cigarette to users.