Abstract: In this study, the time-dependent behavior of damaged
reinforced concrete shear wall structures strengthened with composite
plates having variable fibers spacing was investigated to analyze their
seismic response. In the analytical formulation, the adherent and the
adhesive layers are all modeled as shear walls, using the mixed Finite
Element Method (FEM). The anisotropic damage model is adopted to
describe the damage extent of the Reinforced Concrete shear walls.
The phenomenon of creep and shrinkage of concrete has been
determined by Eurocode 2. Large earthquakes recorded in Algeria
(El-Asnam and Boumerdes) have been tested to demonstrate the
accuracy of the proposed method. Numerical results are obtained for non-uniform distributions of
carbon fibers in epoxy matrices. The effects of damage extent and the
delay mechanism creep and shrinkage of concrete are highlighted.
Prospects are being studied.
Abstract: In this paper, we have reported birefringence
manipulation in regenerated high birefringent fiber Bragg grating
(RPMG) by using CO2 laser annealing method. The results indicate
that the birefringence of RPMG remains unchanged after CO2 laser
annealing followed by slow cooling process, but reduced after fast
cooling process (~5.6×10-5). After a series of annealing procedures
with different cooling rates, the obtained results show that slower the
cooling rate, higher the birefringence of RPMG. The volume, thermal
expansion coefficient (TEC) and glass transition temperature (Tg)
change of stress applying part in RPMG during cooling process are
responsible for the birefringence change. Therefore, these findings
are important to the RPMG sensor in high and dynamic temperature
environment. The measuring accuracy, range and sensitivity of
RPMG sensor is greatly affected by its birefringence value. This
work also opens up a new application of CO2 laser for fiber annealing
and birefringence modification.
Abstract: Gastric Cancer (GC) has high morbidity and fatality
rate in various countries. It is still one of the most frequent and
deadly diseases. Gastrokine1 (GKN1) and gastrokine2 (GKN2) genes
are highly expressed in the normal stomach epithelium and play
important roles in maintaining the integrity and homeostasis of
stomach mucosal epithelial cells. In this study, 47 paired samples that
were grouped according to the types of gastric cancer and the clinical
characteristics of the patients, including gender and average of age.
They were investigated with gene expression analysis and mutation
screening by monitoring RT-PCR, SSCP and nucleotide sequencing
techniques. Both GKN1 and GKN2 genes were observed significantly
reduced found by (Wilcoxon signed rank test; p
Abstract: Wireless networks are built upon the open shared
medium which makes easy for attackers to conduct malicious
activities. Jamming is one of the most serious security threats to
information economy and it must be dealt efficiently. Jammer
prevents legitimate data to reach the receiver side and also it
seriously degrades the network performance. The objective of this
paper is to provide a general overview of jamming in wireless
network. It covers relevant works, different jamming techniques,
various types of jammers and typical prevention techniques.
Challenges associated with comparing several anti-jamming
techniques are also highlighted.
Abstract: Unsteady flow and heat transfer from a circular
cylinder in cross-flow is studied numerically. The governing
equations are solved by using finite volume method. Reynolds
number varies in range of 50 to 200; in this range flow is considered
to be laminar and unsteady. Al2O3 nanoparticle with volume fraction
in range of 5% to 20% is added to pure water. Effects of adding
nanoparticle to pure water on lift and drag coefficient and Nusselt
number is presented. Addition of Al2O3 has inconsiderable effect on
the value of drags and lift coefficient. However, it has significant
effect on heat transfer; results show that heat transfer of Al2O3
nanofluid is about 9% to 36% higher than pure water.
Abstract: Monitoring the conditions of rotating machinery, such
as bearings, is important in order to improve the stability of work.
Acoustic Emission (AE) and vibration analysis are some of the most
accomplished techniques used for this purpose. Acoustic emission
has the ability to detect the initial phase of component degradation.
Moreover, it has been observed that vibration analysis is not as
successful at low rotational speeds (below 100 rpm). This because the
energy generated within this speed region is not detectable using
conventional vibration. From this perspective, this paper has
presented a brief review of using acoustic emission techniques for
monitoring bearing conditions.
Abstract: With the increasing dependence of countries on the
critical infrastructure, it increases their vulnerability. Big threat is
primarily in the human factor (personnel of the critical infrastructure)
and in terrorist attacks. It emphasizes the development of
methodology for searching of weak points and their subsequent
elimination. This article discusses methods for the analysis of safety
in the objects of critical infrastructure. It also contains proposal for
methodology for training employees of security services in the
objects of the critical infrastructure and developing scenarios of
attacks on selected objects of the critical infrastructure.
Abstract: This study investigates the influence of low
temperature thermo-chemical pretreatment of organic food waste on
performance of COD solubilisation. Both temperature and alkaline
agent were reported to have effect on solubilizing any possible
biomass including organic food waste. The three independent
variables considered in this pretreatment were temperature (50-90oC),
pretreatment time (30-120 minutes) and alkaline concentration,
sodium hydroxide, NaOH (0.7-15 g/L). The maximal condition
obtained were 90oC, 15 g/L NaOH for 2 hours. Solubilisation has
potential in enhancing methane production by providing high amount
of soluble components at early stage during anaerobic digestion.
Abstract: In this paper, the 2-D unsteady viscous flow around
two cam shaped cylinders in tandem arrangement is numerically
simulated in order to study the characteristics of the flow in turbulent
regimes. The investigation covers the effects of high subcritical and
supercritical Reynolds numbers and L/D ratio on total drag
coefficient. The equivalent diameter of cylinders is 27.6 mm The
space between center to center of two cam shaped cylinders is define
as longitudinal pitch ratio and it varies in range of 1.5< L/D
Abstract: In this paper, we propose the variational EM inference
algorithm for the multi-class Gaussian process classification model
that can be used in the field of human behavior recognition. This
algorithm can drive simultaneously both a posterior distribution of a
latent function and estimators of hyper-parameters in a Gaussian
process classification model with multiclass. Our algorithm is based
on the Laplace approximation (LA) technique and variational EM
framework. This is performed in two steps: called expectation and
maximization steps. First, in the expectation step, using the Bayesian
formula and LA technique, we derive approximately the posterior
distribution of the latent function indicating the possibility that each
observation belongs to a certain class in the Gaussian process
classification model. Second, in the maximization step, using a derived
posterior distribution of latent function, we compute the maximum
likelihood estimator for hyper-parameters of a covariance matrix
necessary to define prior distribution for latent function. These two
steps iteratively repeat until a convergence condition satisfies.
Moreover, we apply the proposed algorithm with human action
classification problem using a public database, namely, the KTH
human action data set. Experimental results reveal that the proposed
algorithm shows good performance on this data set.
Abstract: The report deals with comparison of traffic accidents
in Slovak republic in road and rail transport since 2009 until 2014,
with evaluation of external costs and consequently with the
possibilities of their internalization. The results of road traffic
accidents analysis are realized in line with after-effects they have
caused; in line with main cause, place of origin (within or out of
town) and in accordance to age of accident´s victims and kind of
injuries (easy, hard or fatal). Evaluation of individual after-effects is
carried in terms of probability of traffic accidents occurrence.
Abstract: The present research aimed at studying the awareness
and attitudes of teachers towards inclusive education. The sample
consisted of 60 teachers, teaching in the primary section (1st – 4th) of
regular schools affiliated to the SSC board in Mumbai. Sample was
selected by Multi-stage cluster sampling technique. A semi-structured
self-constructed interview schedule and a self-constructed attitude
scale was used to study the awareness of teachers about disability and
Inclusive education, and their attitudes towards inclusive education
respectively. Themes were extracted from the interview data and
quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS package. Results revealed
that teachers had some amount of awareness but an inadequate
amount of information on disabilities and inclusive education.
Disability to most (37) teachers meant “an inability to do something”.
The difference between disability and handicap was stated by most as
former being cognitive while handicap being physical in nature. With
regard to Inclusive education, a large number (46) stated that they
were unaware of the term and did not know what it meant. Majority
(52) of them perceived maximum challenges for themselves in an
inclusive set up, and emphasized on the role of teacher training
courses in the area of providing knowledge (49) and training in
teaching methodology (53). Although, 83.3% of teachers held a
moderately positive attitude towards inclusive education, a large
percentage (61.6%) of participants felt that being in inclusive set up
would be very challenging for both children with special needs and
without special needs. Though, most (49) of the teachers stated that
children with special needs should be educated in regular classroom
but they further clarified that only those should be in a regular
classroom who have physical impairments of mild or moderate
degree.
Abstract: Selling has changed. Selling has taken on aspects of
relationship marketing and sales force play a critical role in
developing long-term relationships between buyers and sellers which
is seen to serve the company’s targets and create success for a long
run. The purpose of this study was to examine what really matters in
buyer-seller encounters and determine what expectations business
buyers have. We studied 17 business buyers by a qualitative
interview. We found that buyers appreciate encounters where the
salesperson face the buyer as a way he or she is as a person, map the
real needs to improve buyers’ business and build up cooperation for
long-term relationship. This study show that personality matters are a
key elements when satisfying business buyers’ expectations.
Abstract: The Com-Poisson (CMP) model is one of the most
popular discrete generalized linear models (GLMS) that handles
both equi-, over- and under-dispersed data. In longitudinal context,
an integer-valued autoregressive (INAR(1)) process that incorporates
covariate specification has been developed to model longitudinal
CMP counts. However, the joint likelihood CMP function is
difficult to specify and thus restricts the likelihood-based estimating
methodology. The joint generalized quasi-likelihood approach
(GQL-I) was instead considered but is rather computationally
intensive and may not even estimate the regression effects due
to a complex and frequently ill-conditioned covariance structure.
This paper proposes a new GQL approach for estimating the
regression parameters (GQL-III) that is based on a single score vector
representation. The performance of GQL-III is compared with GQL-I
and separate marginal GQLs (GQL-II) through some simulation
experiments and is proved to yield equally efficient estimates as
GQL-I and is far more computationally stable.
Abstract: Despite all the wide research and literature on the
subject, changing and challenging times often present themselves
with new objectives, fluid politics, and everlasting point of views.
Much is said about the subject and the trend nowadays is watching
every European Union (EU) intervention as a form of neo
colonialism or a form of establishing new markets. The paper will try to establish a perspective on EU influences,
policies and impacts analyzed from multidimensional point of view,
not limiting itself on a narrow external dimension, focusing on a
broader understanding of it diverse contribution to global governance
and peace keeping. Tending to be critical, this paper tends to fall out of extremes,
nether holding a Eurocentric position, nor falling for cheap critic to
the whole failures and impact of EU policies. The ambition is to
show EU as a contributing factor while keeping in mind its nature as
a multi layered actor and with not necessarily coinciding interests
among its member states.
Abstract: A theoretical study of a humidification
dehumidification solar desalination unit has been carried out to
increase understanding the effect of weather conditions on the unit
productivity. A humidification-dehumidification (HD) solar
desalination unit has been designed to provide fresh water for
population in remote arid areas. It consists of solar water collector
and air collector; to provide the hot water and air to the desalination
chamber. The desalination chamber is divided into humidification
and dehumidification towers. The circulation of air between the two
towers is maintained by the forced convection. A mathematical
model has been formulated, in which the thermodynamic relations
were used to study the flow, heat and mass transfer inside the
humidifier and dehumidifier. The present technique is performed in
order to increase the unit performance. Heat and mass balance has
been done and a set of governing equations has been solved using the
finite difference technique. The unit productivity has been calculated
along the working day during the summer and winter sessions and
has compared with the available experimental results. The average
accumulative productivity of the system in winter has been ranged
between 2.5 to 4 (kg/m2)/day, while the average summer productivity
has been found between 8 to 12 (kg/m2)/day.
Abstract: In this paper, we calculate the two-photon ionization
(TPI) cross-section for pump-probe scheme in Ag neutral cluster. The
pump photon energy is assumed to be close to the surface plasmon
(SP) energy of cluster in dielectric media. Due to this choice, the
pump wave excites collective oscillations of electrons-SP and the
probe wave causes ionization of the cluster. Since the interband
transition energy in Ag exceeds the SP resonance energy, the main
contribution into the TPI comes from the latter. The advantage of Ag
clusters as compared to the other noble metals is that the SP
resonance in silver cluster is much sharper because of peculiarities of
its dielectric function. The calculations are performed by separating
the coordinates of electrons corresponding to the collective
oscillations and the individual motion that allows taking into account
the resonance contribution of excited SP oscillations. It is shown that
the ionization cross section increases by two orders of magnitude if
the energy of the pump photon matches the surface plasmon energy
in the cluster.
Abstract: Background: Breast milk may impact early brain
development, with potentially important biological, medical and
social implications. There is an important discussion on which is the
adequate breastfeeding extension to the development consolidation
and how the children breastfeeding affects their psychomotor
development, in the first year of life, and in following periods as
well. Some special fats (LC PUFA) contained in breast milk play a
key role in the brain’s maturation and cognitive development or
social skills. These capacities created during breastfeeding time
would be unfolded throughout all lifespan. Aim of the study: In our research, we have studied the effect of
breastfeeding in preschooler's psychomotor assessment.
Method: This study was conducted in a sample of 158 preschool
children in Vlorë, Albania. We have measured the psychometric
parameters of preschoolers with ASQ-3 (Age&Stage Questionnaires-
3). The studied sample was divided in three groups according to their
breastfeeding duration (3, 6 and 12 months). Results: Children breastfed for only 3 months have definitely
lower psychometric scores compared to the ones with 6 or more
months of breastfeeding (respectively 217 to 239 ASQ-3 scores). Six
and twelvemonth breastfed children have progressively more odds to
have high levels of psychomotor development comparing to those
with only 3 months of breastfeeding. The most affected psychometric
domains by shortness of breastfeeding are Communication and
Global motor. Conclusion: This leads to conclusion that to ensure high
psychomotor parameters during childhood is necessary breastfeeding
for at least 6 months.
Abstract: The floor beams of steel buildings, cold-formed steel
floor joists in particular, often require large web openings, which may
affect their shear capacities. A cost effective way to mitigate the
detrimental effects of such openings is to weld/fasten reinforcements.
A difficulty associated with an experimental investigation to establish
suitable reinforcement schemes for openings in shear zone is that
moment always coexists with the shear, and thus, it is impossible to
create pure shear state in experiments, resulting in moment
influenced results. However, Finite Element Method (FEM) based
analysis can be conveniently used to investigate the pure shear
behaviour of webs including webs with reinforced openings. This
paper presents the details associated with the finite element analysis
of thick/thin-plates (representing the web of hot-rolled steel beam,
and the web of a cold-formed steel member) having a large
reinforced opening. The study considered simply-supported
rectangular plates subjected to in-plane shear loadings until failure
(including post-buckling behaviour). The plate was modelled using
geometrically non-linear quadrilateral shell elements, and non-linear
stress-strain relationship based on experiments. Total Langrangian
with large displacement/small strain formulation was used for such
analyses. The model also considered the initial geometric
imperfections. This study considered three reinforcement schemes,
namely, flat, lip, and angle reinforcements. This paper discusses the
modelling considerations and presents the results associated with the
various reinforcement schemes under consideration.
Abstract: For the last decade, researchers have started to focus
their interest on Multicast Group Key Management Framework. The
central research challenge is secure and efficient group key
distribution. The present paper is based on the Bit model based
Secure Multicast Group key distribution scheme using the most
popular absolute encoder output type code named Gray Code. The
focus is of two folds. The first fold deals with the reduction of
computation complexity which is achieved in our scheme by
performing fewer multiplication operations during the key updating
process. To optimize the number of multiplication operations, an
O(1) time algorithm to multiply two N-bit binary numbers which
could be used in an N x N bit-model of reconfigurable mesh is used
in this proposed work. The second fold aims at reducing the amount
of information stored in the Group Center and group members while
performing the update operation in the key content. Comparative
analysis to illustrate the performance of various key distribution
schemes is shown in this paper and it has been observed that this
proposed algorithm reduces the computation and storage complexity
significantly. Our proposed algorithm is suitable for high
performance computing environment.