Abstract: The Japanese integrative approach to social systems
can be observed in supply chain management as well as in the
relationship between public and private sectors. Both the Lean
Production System and the Developmental State Model are
characterized by efforts towards the achievement of mutual goals,
resulting in initiatives for capacity building which emphasize the
system level. In Brazil, although organizations undertake efforts to
build capabilities at the individual and organizational levels, the
system level is being neglected. Fieldwork data confirmed the findings
of other studies in terms of the lack of integration in supply chain
management in the Brazilian automobile industry. Moreover, due to
the absence of an active role of the Brazilian state in its relationship
with the private sector, automakers are not fully exploiting the
opportunities in the domestic and regional markets. For promoting a
higher level of economic growth as well as to increase the degree of
spill-over of technologies and techniques, a more integrative approach
is needed.
Abstract: How to effectively allocate system resource to process
the Client request by Gateway servers is a challenging problem. In
this paper, we propose an improved scheme for autonomous
performance of Gateway servers under highly dynamic traffic loads.
We devise a methodology to calculate Queue Length and Waiting
Time utilizing Gateway Server information to reduce response time
variance in presence of bursty traffic. The most widespread
contemplation is performance, because Gateway Servers must offer
cost-effective and high-availability services in the elongated period,
thus they have to be scaled to meet the expected load. Performance
measurements can be the base for performance modeling and
prediction. With the help of performance models, the performance
metrics (like buffer estimation, waiting time) can be determined at
the development process. This paper describes the possible queue
models those can be applied in the estimation of queue length to
estimate the final value of the memory size. Both simulation and
experimental studies using synthesized workloads and analysis of
real-world Gateway Servers demonstrate the effectiveness of the
proposed system.
Abstract: Direct conversion of methane to methanol by partial oxidation in a thermal reactor has a poor yield of about 2% which is less than the expected economical yield of about 10%. Conventional thermal catalytic reactors have been proposed to be superseded by plasma reactors as a promising approach, due to strength of the electrical energy which can break C-H bonds of methane. Among the plasma techniques, non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma chemical process is one of the most future promising technologies in synthesizing methanol. The purpose of this paper is presenting a brief review of CH4 oxidation with O2 in DBD plasma reactors based on the recent investigations. For this reason, the effect of various parameters of reactor configuration, feed ratio, applied voltage, residence time (gas flow rate), type of applied catalyst, pressure and reactor wall temperature on methane conversion and methanol selectivity are discussed.
Abstract: Air quality studies were carried out in the towns of
Putrajaya, Petaling Jaya and Nilai in the Malaysian Peninsular. In this
study, the variations of Ozone (O3) concentrations over a four year
period (2008-2011) were investigated using data obtained from the
Malaysian Department of the Environment (DOE). This study aims to
identify and describe the daily and monthly variations of O3
concentrations at the monitoring sites mentioned. The SPPS program
(Statistical Package for the Social Science) was used to analyze this
data in order to obtain the variations of O3 and also to clarify the
relationship between the stations. The findings of the study revealed
that the highest concentration of O3 occurred during the midday and
afternoon (between 13:00-15:00 hrs). The comparison between
stations also showed that highest O3 concentrations were recorded in
Putrajaya. The comparisons of average and maximum concentrations
of O3 for the three stations showed that the strongest significant
correlation was recorded in the Petaling Jaya station with the value
R2= 0.667. Results from this study indicate that in the urban areas of
Peninsular Malaysia, the concentration of O3 depends on the
concentration of NOx. Furthermore, HYSPLIT back trajectories
(-72h) indicated that air-mass transport patterns can also influence the
O3 concentration in the areas studied.
Abstract: Coarse and fine particulate matter were collected at a
residential area at Vashi, Navi Mumbai and the filter samples were
analysed for trace elements using PIXE technique. The trend of
particulate matter showed higher concentrations during winter than
the summer and monsoon concentration levels. High concentrations
of elements related to soil and sea salt were found in PM10 and
PM2.5. Also high levels of zinc and sulphur found in the particulates
of both the size fractions. EF analysis showed enrichment of Cu, Cr
and Mn only in the fine fraction suggesting their origin from
anthropogenic sources. The EF value was observed to be maximum
for As, Pb and Zn in the fine particulates. However, crustal derived
elements showed very low EF values indicating their origin from
soil. The PCA based multivariate studies identified soil, sea salt,
combustion and Se sources as common sources for coarse and
additionally an industrial source has also been identified for fine
particles.
Abstract: Semiconductor materials with coatings have a wide range of applications in MEMS and NEMS. This work uses transfermatrix method for calculating the radiative properties. Dopped silicon is used and the coherent formulation is applied. The Drude model for the optical constants of doped silicon is employed. Results showed that for the visible wavelengths, more emittance occurs in greater concentrations and the reflectance decreases as the concentration increases. In these wavelengths, transmittance is negligible. Donars and acceptors act similar in visible wavelengths. The effect of wave interference can be understood by plotting the spectral properties such as reflectance or transmittance of a thin dielectric film versus the film thickness and analyzing the oscillations of properties due to constructive and destructive interferences. But this effect has not been shown at visible wavelengths. At room temperature, the scattering process is dominated by lattice scattering for lightly doped silicon, and the impurity scattering becomes important for heavily doped silicon when the dopant concentration exceeds1018cm-3 .
Abstract: Most electrical distribution systems are incurring large
losses as the loads are wide spread, inadequate reactive power
compensation facilities and their improper control. A typical static
VAR compensator consists of capacitor bank in binary sequential
steps operated in conjunction with a thyristor controlled reactor of the
smallest step size. This SVC facilitates stepless control of reactive
power closely matching with load requirements so as to maintain
power factor nearer to unity. This type of SVC-s requiring a
appropriately controlled TCR. This paper deals with an air cored
reactor suitable for distribution transformer of 3phase, 50Hz, Dy11,
11KV/433V, 125 KVA capacity. Air cored reactors are designed,
built, tested and operated in conjunction with capacitor bank in five
binary sequential steps. It is established how the delta connected TCR
minimizes the harmonic components and the operating range for
various electrical quantities as a function of firing angle is
investigated. In particular firing angle v/s line & phase currents, D.C.
components, THD-s, active and reactive powers, odd and even triplen
harmonics, dominant characteristic harmonics are all investigated and
range of firing angle is fixed for satisfactory operation. The harmonic
spectra for phase and line quantities at specified firing angles are
given. In case the TCR is operated within the bound specified in this
paper established through simulation studies are yielding the best
possible operating condition particularly free from all dominant
harmonics.
Abstract: This paper reviews designs of the built environment
from a sustainability perspective, emphasizing their importance in
achieving ecological and sustainable economic objectives. The built
environment has traditionally resulted in loss of biodiversity,
extinction of some species, climate change, excessive water use, land
degradation, space depletion, waste accumulation, energy
consumption and environmental pollution. Materials used like
plastics, metals, bricks, concrete, cement, natural aggregates, glass
and plaster have wreaked havoc on the earth´s resources, since they
have high levels of embodied energy hence not sustainable.
Additional resources are consumed during use and disposal phases.
Proposed designs for sustainability solutions include: ecological
sanitation and eco-efficiency systems that ensure social, economic,
environmental and technical sustainability. Renewable materials and
energy systems, passive cooling and heating systems and material
and energy reduction, reuse and recycling can improve the sector.
These ideas are intended to inform the field of ecological design of
the built environment.
Abstract: With the proliferation of multi-channel retailing, developing a better understanding of the factors that affect customers- purchase behaviors within a multi-channel retail context has become an important topic for practitioners and academics. While many studies have investigated the various customer behaviors associated with brick-and-mortar retailing, online retailing, and brick-and-click retailing, little research has explored how customer shopping value perceptions influence online purchase behaviors within the TV-and-online retail environment. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of TV and online shopping values on online patronage intention. Data collected from 116 respondents in Taiwan are tested against the research model using the partial least squares (PLS) approach. The results indicate that utilitarian and hedonic TV shopping values have indirect, positive influences on online patronage intention through their online counterparts in the TV-and-online retail context. The findings of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications for multi-channel retailing.
Abstract: Deoxygenation of beef fat for the production of hydrogenated biodiesel is investigated in a high pressure continuous flow fixed bed reactor over palladium-supported mesoporous titania catalyst synthesized via a combined single-step sol-gel process with surfactant-assisted templating method (SATM). The catalyst possessed a mesoporous charactheristic with high surface area and narrow pore size distribution. The main products of all Pd/TiO2 catalysts are n-heptadecane (n-C17) and n-pentadecane (n-C15) resulting from decarbonylation reaction. Pd/TiO2 catalyst synthesized via a combined single-step sol-gel process with SATM (SSSG) gave higher activity and selectivity to the desired products when compared to IWI/SG-TiO2 and IWI/P25-TiO2, respectively. SSSG catalyst gave the average conversion up to 80-90 % and 80 % for the selectivity in diesel range hydrocarbons. This result may cause by the higher surface area and the ability in dispersion of palladium ion in mesoporous of TiO2 during sol-gel process.
Abstract: Cancer becomes one of the leading cause of death in
many countries over the world. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR)
spectra of human lung cancer cells (A549) treated with PMF (natural
product extracted from PM 701) for different time intervals were
examined. Second derivative and difference method were taken in
comparison studies. Cesium (Cs) and Rubidium (Rb) nanoparticles in
PMF were detected by Energy Dispersive X-ray attached to Scanning
Electron Microscope SEM-EDX. Characteristic changes in protein
secondary structure, lipid profile and changes in the intensities of
DNA bands were identified in treated A549 cells spectra. A
characteristic internucleosomal ladder of DNA fragmentation was
also observed after 30 min of treatment. Moreover, the pH values
were significantly increases upon treatment due to the presence of Cs
and Rb nanoparticles in the PMF fraction. These results support the
previous findings that PMF is selective anticancer agent and can
produce apoptosis to A549 cells.
Abstract: Multi-site damage (MSD) has been a challenge to
aircraft, civil and power plant structures. In real life components are subjected to cracking at many vulnerable locations such as the bolt
holes. However, we do not consider for the presence of multiple cracks. Unlike components with a single crack, these components are
difficult to predict. When two cracks approach one another, their
stress fields influence each other and produce enhancing or shielding effect depending on the position of the cracks. In the present study,
numerical studies on fracture analysis have been conducted by using
the developed code based on the modified virtual crack closure integral (MVCCI) technique and finite element analysis (FEA) software ABAQUS for computing SIF of plates with multiple cracks.
Various parametric studies have been carried out and the results have
been compared with literature where ever available and also with the solution, obtained by using ABAQUS. By conducting extensive
numerical studies expressions for SIF have been obtained for collinear cracks and non-aligned cracks.
Abstract: Contamination of aromatic compounds in water can
cause severe long-lasting effects not only for biotic organism but also
on human health. Several alternative technologies for remediation of
polluted water have been attempted. One of these is adsorption
process of aromatic compounds by using organic modified clay
mineral. Porous structure of clay is potential properties for molecular
adsorptivity and it can be increased by immobilizing hydrophobic
structure to attract organic compounds. In this work natural
montmorillonite were modified with cetyltrimethylammonium
(CTMA+) and was evaluated for use as adsorbents of aromatic
compounds: benzene, toluene, and 2-chloro phenol in its single and
multicomponent solution by ethanol:water solvent. Preparation of
CTMA-montmorillonite was conducted by simple ion exchange
procedure and characterization was conducted by using x-day
diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infra red (FTIR) and gas
sorption analysis. The influence of structural modification of
montmorillonite on its adsorption capacity and adsorption affinity of
organic compound were studied. It was shown that adsorptivity of
montmorillonite was increased by modification associated with
arrangements of CTMA+ in the structure even the specific surface
area of modified montmorillonite was lower than raw
montmorillonite. Adsorption rate indicated that material has affinity
to adsorb compound by following order: benzene> toluene > 2-chloro
phenol. The adsorption isotherms of benzene and toluene showed 1st
order adsorption kinetic indicating a partition phenomenon of
compounds between the aqueous and organophilic CTMAmontmorillonite.
Abstract: The pavement constructions on soft and expansive soils are not durable and unable to sustain heavy traffic loading. As a result, pavement failures and settlement problems will occur very often even under light traffic loading due to cyclic and rolling effects. Geotechnical engineers have dwelled deeply into this matter, and adopt various methods to improve the engineering characteristics of soft fine-grained soils and expansive soils. The problematic soils are either replaced by good and better quality material or treated by using chemical stabilization with various binding materials. Increased the strength and durability are also the part of the sustainability drive to reduce the environment footprint of the built environment by the efficient use of resources and waste recycle materials. This paper presents a series of laboratory tests and evaluates the effect of cement and fly ash on the strength and drainage characteristics of soil in Miri. The tests were performed at different percentages of cement and fly ash by dry weight of soil. Additional tests were also performed on soils treated with the combinations of fly ash with cement and lime. The results of this study indicate an increase in unconfined compression strength and a decrease in hydraulic conductivity of the treated soil.
Abstract: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are increasing in importance everyday, especially since the 90’s (last decade of birth for the Millennials generation). While social interactions involving the Millennials generation have been studied, a lack of investigation remains regarding the use of the ICT by this generation as well as the impact on outcomes in education and professional training. Observing and interviewing students preparing a MSc, we aimed at characterizing the interaction students-ICT during the courses. We found that up to 50% of the students (mainly female) could use ICT during courses at a rate of 0.84 occurrence/minutes for some of them, and they thought this involvement did not disturb learning, even was helpful. As recent researches show that multitasking leads people think they are much better than they actually are, further observations with assessments are needed to conclude whether or not the use ICT by students during the courses is a real strength.
Abstract: A piston cylinder based high pressure differential
thermal analyzer system is developed to investigate phase
transformations, melting, glass transitions, crystallization behavior of
inorganic materials, glassy systems etc., at ambient to 4 GPa and at
room temperature to 1073 K. The pressure is calibrated by the phase
transition of bismuth and ytterbium and temperature is calibrated
by using thermocouple data chart. The system developed is
calibrated using benzoic acid, ammonium nitrate and it has a
pressure and temperature control of ± 8.9 x 10 -4 GPa , ± 2 K
respectively. The phase transition of Asx Te100-x chalcogenides,
ferrous oxide and strontium boride are studied using the
indigenously developed system.
Abstract: Many well-known interconnection networks, such as kary n-cubes, recursive circulant graphs, generalized recursive circulant graphs, circulant graphs and so on, are shown to belong to the family of cycle composition networks. Recently, various studies about mutually independent hamiltonian cycles, abbreviated as MIHC-s, on interconnection networks are published. In this paper, using an improved construction method, we obtain MIHC-s on cycle composition networks with a much weaker condition than the known result. In fact, we established the existence of MIHC-s in the cycle composition networks and the result is optimal in the sense that the number of MIHC-s we constructed is maximal.
Abstract: The use of bioindicators plants (lichens, bryophytes
and Sphagnum....) in monitoring pollution by heavy metals has been
the subject of several works. However, few studies have addressed
the impact of specific type-s pollutants (fertilizers, pesticides.) on
these organisms.
We propose in this work to make the highlighting effect of NPKs
(NPK: nitrogen-phosphate-potassium-sulfate (NP2O5K2O) (15,15,15),
at concentrations of 10, 20, 30 , 40 and 50mM/L) on the activity of
detoxification enzymes (GSH/GST, CAT, APX and MDA) of plant
bioindicators (mosses and lichens) after treatment for 3 and 7 days.
This study shows the important role of the defense system in the
accumulation and tolerance to chemical pollutants through the
activation of enzymatic (GST (glutathione-S-transferase, APX
(ascorbat peroxidase), CAT (catalase)) and nonenzymatic biomarkers
(GSH (glutathione), MDA (malondialdehyde)) against oxidative
stress generated by the NPKs.
Abstract: Lipases are enzymes particularly amenable for
immobilization by entrapment methods, as they can work equally
well in aqueous or non-conventional media and long-time stability of
enzyme activity and enantioselectivity is needed to elaborate more
efficient bioprocesses. The improvement of Pseudomonas
fluorescens (Amano AK) lipase characteristics was investigated by
optimizing the immobilization procedure in hybrid organic-inorganic
matrices using ionic liquids as additives. Ionic liquids containing a
more hydrophobic alkyl group in the cationic moiety are beneficial
for the activity of immobilized lipase. Silanes with alkyl- or aryl
nonhydrolizable groups used as precursors in combination with
tetramethoxysilane could generate composites with higher
enantioselectivity compared to the native enzyme in acylation
reactions of secondary alcohols. The optimal effect on both activity
and enantioselectivity was achieved for the composite made from
octyltrimethoxysilane and tetramethoxysilane at 1:1 molar ratio (60%
increase of total activity following immobilization and enantiomeric
ratio of 30). Ionic liquids also demonstrated valuable properties as
reaction media for the studied reactions, comparable with the usual
organic solvent, hexane.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the complex
flow structure a novel active-type micromixer that based on concept of
Wankle-type rotor. The characteristics of this micromixer are two
folds; a rapid mixing of reagents in a limited space due to the
generation of multiple vortices and a graduate increment in dynamic
pressure as the mixed reagents is delivered to the output ports.
Present micro-mixer is consisted of a rotor with shape of triangle
column, a blending chamber and several inlet and outlet ports. The
geometry of blending chamber is designed to make the rotor can be
freely internal rotated with a constant eccentricity ratio. When the
shape of the blending chamber and the rotor are fixed, the effects of
rotating speed of rotor and the relative locations of ports on the mixing
efficiency are numerical studied. The governing equations are
unsteady, two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equation
and the working fluid is the water. The species concentration equation
is also solved to reveal the mass transfer process of reagents in various
regions then to evaluate the mixing efficiency.
The dynamic mesh technique was implemented to model the
dynamic volume shrinkage and expansion of three individual
sub-regions of blending chamber when the rotor conducted a complete
rotating cycle. Six types of ports configuration on the mixing
efficiency are considered in a range of Reynolds number from 10 to
300. The rapid mixing process was accomplished with the multiple
vortex structures within a tiny space due to the equilibrium of shear
force, viscous force and inertial force. Results showed that the highest
mixing efficiency could be attained in the following conditions: two
inlet and two outlet ports configuration, that is an included angle of 60
degrees between two inlets and an included angle of 120 degrees
between inlet and outlet ports when Re=10.