Abstract: The Platform Screen Doors improve Indoor Air Quality
(IAQ) in the subway station; however, and the air quality is degraded
in the subway tunnel. CO2 concentration and indoor particulate matter
value are high in the tunnel. The IAQ level in subway tunnel degrades
by increasing the train movements. Air-curtain installation reduces
dusts, particles and moving toxic smokes and permits traffic by
generating virtual wall. The ventilation systems of the subway tunnel
need improvements to have better air-quality. Numerical analyses
might be effective tools analyze the flowfield inside the air-curtain
installed subway tunnel. The ANSYS CFX software is used for steady
computations of the airflow inside the tunnel. The single-track subway
tunnel has the natural shaft, the mechanical shaft, and the PSDs
installed stations. The height and width of the tunnel are 6.0 m and 4.0
m respectively. The tunnel is 400 m long and the air-curtain is installed
at the top of the tunnel. The thickness and the width of the air-curtain
are 0.08 m and 4 m respectively. The velocity of the air-curtain
changes between 20 - 30 m/s. Three cases are analyzed depending on
the installing location of the air-curtain. The discharged-air through
the natural shafts increases as the velocity of the air-curtain increases
when the air-curtain is installed between the mechanical and the
natural shafts. The pollutant-air is exhausted by the mechanical and the
natural shafts and remained air is pushed toward tunnel end. The
discharged-air through the natural shaft is low when the air-curtain
installed before the natural shaft. The mass flow rate decreases in the
tunnel after the mechanical shaft as the air-curtain velocity increases.
The computational results of the air-curtain installed tunnel become
basis for the optimum design study. The air-curtain installing location
is chosen between the mechanical and the natural shafts. The velocity
of the air-curtain is fixed as 25 m/s. The thickness and the blowing
angles of the air-curtain are the design variables for the optimum
design study. The object function of the design optimization is
maximizing the discharged air through the natural shaft.
Abstract: Cement stabilization has been widely used for
improving the strength and stiffness of soft clayey soils. Cement
treated soil specimens used to investigate the stress-strain behaviour in
the laboratory study are usually cured for 7 days. This paper examines
the effects of curing time on the strength and stress strain behaviour of
cement treated marine clay under triaxial loading condition.
Laboratory-prepared cement treated Singapore marine clay with
different mix proportion S-C-W (soil solid-cement solid-water) and
curing time (7 days to 180 days) was investigated through conducting
unconfined compressive strength test and triaxial test. The results
show that the curing time has a significant effect on the unconfined
compressive strength u q , isotropic compression behaviour and stress
strain behaviour. Although the primary yield loci of the cement treated
soil specimens with the same mix proportion expand with curing time,
they are very narrowly banded and have nearly the same shape after
being normalized by isotropic compression primary stress '
py p . The
isotropic compression primary yield stress '
py p was shown to be
linearly related to unconfined compressive strength u q for specimens
with different curing time and mix proportion. The effect of curing
time on the hardening behaviour will diminish with consolidation
stress higher than isotropic compression primary yield stress but its
damping rate is dependent on the cement content.
Abstract: The paper presents the results of the European EIE
project “Realising the potential for small scale renewable energy
sources in the home – Kyotointhehome". The project's global aim is
to inform and educate teachers, students and their families so that
they can realise the need and can assess the potential for energy
efficiency (EE) measures and renewable energy sources (RES) in
their homes. The project resources were translated and trialled by 16
partners in 10 European countries.
A web-based methodology which will enable families to assess
how RES can be incorporated into energy efficient homes was
accomplished. The web application “KYOTOINHOME" will help
the citizens to identify what they can do to help their community
meet the Kyoto target for greenhouse gas reductions and prevent
global warming. This application provides useful information on how
the citizens can use renewable energy sources in their home to
provide space heating and cooling, hot water and electricity. A
methodology for assessing heat loss in a dwelling and application of
heat pump system was elaborated and will be implemented this year.
For schools, we developed a set of practical activities concerned with
preventing climate change through using renewable energy sources.
Complementary resources will also developed in the Romanian
research project “Romania Contribution to the European Targets
Regarding the Development of Renewable Energy Sources" -
PROMES.
Abstract: Family structure that is culturally constructed in every
society is the basic unit of social structure. Purpose of the study was
to compare family structure, including marriage, residence, family
size, type, role sharing, authority, and communication patterns
between Muslim and Santal communities in rural Bangladesh. For
this we assumed that family structure with the elements was
significantly different between the two communities in rural
Bangladesh. In so doing, 288 active couples (145 for Muslim and 143
for Santal) selected by cluster random sampling were intensively
interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire method. The results
of Pearson Chi-Squire Test reveal that there were significant
differences in the family structure followed by the two communities
in the study area. Further cross-cultural study should be done on why
family structure varies between the communities in Bangladesh.
Abstract: Saturated hydraulic conductivity of Soil is an
important property in processes involving water and solute flow in
soils. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil is difficult to measure
and can be highly variable, requiring a large number of replicate
samples. In this study, 60 sets of soil samples were collected at
Saqhez region of Kurdistan province-IRAN. The statistics such as
Correlation Coefficient (R), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean
Bias Error (MBE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) were used to
evaluation the multiple linear regression models varied with number
of dataset. In this study the multiple linear regression models were
evaluated when only percentage of sand, silt, and clay content (SSC)
were used as inputs, and when SSC and bulk density, Bd, (SSC+Bd)
were used as inputs. The R, RMSE, MBE and MAE values of the 50
dataset for method (SSC), were calculated 0.925, 15.29, -1.03 and
12.51 and for method (SSC+Bd), were calculated 0.927, 15.28,-1.11
and 12.92, respectively, for relationship obtained from multiple
linear regressions on data. Also the R, RMSE, MBE and MAE values
of the 10 dataset for method (SSC), were calculated 0.725, 19.62, -
9.87 and 18.91 and for method (SSC+Bd), were calculated 0.618,
24.69, -17.37 and 22.16, respectively, which shows when number of
dataset increase, precision of estimated saturated hydraulic
conductivity, increases.
Abstract: Spent Sulfidic Caustic was biologically treated and
regenerated for reusing by Thiobacillus denitrificans bacteria, sulfide
content oxidized and RSNa reduced dramatically.PH in this test was
11.8 and no neutralization has been done on spent caustic, so spent
caustic as the most difficult of industrial wastes to dispose could be
regenerate and reuse instead of disposing to sea or deep wells
Abstract: As wireless sensor networks are energy constraint networks
so energy efficiency of sensor nodes is the main design issue.
Clustering of nodes is an energy efficient approach. It prolongs the
lifetime of wireless sensor networks by avoiding long distance communication.
Clustering algorithms operate in rounds. Performance of
clustering algorithm depends upon the round time. A large round
time consumes more energy of cluster heads while a small round
time causes frequent re-clustering. So existing clustering algorithms
apply a trade off to round time and calculate it from the initial
parameters of networks. But it is not appropriate to use initial
parameters based round time value throughout the network lifetime
because wireless sensor networks are dynamic in nature (nodes can be
added to the network or some nodes go out of energy). In this paper
a variable round time approach is proposed that calculates round
time depending upon the number of active nodes remaining in the
field. The proposed approach makes the clustering algorithm adaptive
to network dynamics. For simulation the approach is implemented
with LEACH in NS-2 and the results show that there is 6% increase
in network lifetime, 7% increase in 50% node death time and 5%
improvement over the data units gathered at the base station.
Abstract: The objective of this research is to study principal
component analysis for classification of 67 soil samples collected from
different agricultural areas in the western part of Thailand. Six soil
properties were measured on the soil samples and are used as original
variables. Principal component analysis is applied to reduce the
number of original variables. A model based on the first two
principal components accounts for 72.24% of total variance. Score
plots of first two principal components were used to map with
agricultural areas divided into horticulture, field crops and wetland.
The results showed some relationships between soil properties and
agricultural areas. PCA was shown to be a useful tool for agricultural
areas classification based on soil properties.
Abstract: The objective of this work is to study the influence of the properties of the substrate on the retrofit (thin repair) of damaged concrete elements, with the SCC. Fluidity, principal characteristic of the SCC, would enable it to cover and adhere to the concrete to be repaired. Two aspects of repair are considered, the bond (Adhesion) and the tensile strength and the cracking. The investigation is experimental; It was conducted over test specimens made up of ordinary concrete prepared and hardened in advance (the material to be repaired) over which a self compacting concrete layer is cast. Three alternatives of SC concrete and one ordinary concrete (comparison) were tested. It appears that the self-compacting concrete constitutes a good material for repairing. It follows perfectly the surfaces- forms to be repaired and allows a perfect bond. Fracture tests made on specimens of self-compacting concrete show a brittle behaviour. However when a small percentage of fibres is added, the resistance to cracking is very much improve.
Abstract: Deprivation indices are widely used in public health
study. These indices are also referred as the index of inequalities or
disadvantage. Even though, there are many indices that have been
built before, it is believed to be less appropriate to use the existing
indices to be applied in other countries or areas which had different
socio-economic conditions and different geographical characteristics.
The objective of this study is to construct the index based on the
geographical and socio-economic factors in Peninsular Malaysia
which is defined as the weighted household-based deprivation index.
This study has employed the variables based on household items,
household facilities, school attendance and education level obtained
from Malaysia 2000 census report. The factor analysis is used to
extract the latent variables from indicators, or reducing the
observable variable into smaller amount of components or factor.
Based on the factor analysis, two extracted factors were selected,
known as Basic Household Amenities and Middle-Class Household
Item factor. It is observed that the district with a lower index values
are located in the less developed states like Kelantan, Terengganu
and Kedah. Meanwhile, the areas with high index values are located
in developed states such as Pulau Pinang, W.P. Kuala Lumpur and
Selangor.
Abstract: Deep cold rolling (DCR) and low plasticity burnishing (LPB) process are cold working processes, which easily produce a smooth and work-hardened surface by plastic deformation of surface irregularities. The present study focuses on the surface roughness and surface hardness aspects of AISI 4140 work material, using fractional factorial design of experiments. The assessment of the surface integrity aspects on work material was done, in order to identify the predominant factors amongst the selected parameters. They were then categorized in order of significance followed by setting the levels of the factors for minimizing surface roughness and/or maximizing surface hardness. In the present work, the influence of main process parameters (force, feed rate, number of tool passes/overruns, initial roughness of the work piece, ball material, ball diameter and lubricant used) on the surface roughness and the hardness of AISI 4140 steel were studied for both LPB and DCR process and the results are compared. It was observed that by using LPB process surface hardness has been improved by 167% and in DCR process surface hardness has been improved by 442%. It was also found that the force, ball diameter, number of tool passes and initial roughness of the workpiece are the most pronounced parameters, which has a significant effect on the work piece-s surface during deep cold rolling and low plasticity burnishing process.
Abstract: This paper is based on a study conducted in 2006 to assess the impact of computer usage on health of National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) staff. NIMR being a research Institute, most of its staff spend substantial part of their working time on computers. There was notion among NIMR staff on possible prolonged computer usage health hazards. Hence, a study was conducted to establish facts and possible mitigation measures. A total of 144 NIMR staff were involved in the study of whom 63.2% were males and 36.8% females aged between 20 and 59 years. All staff cadres were included in the sample. The functions performed by Institute staff using computers includes; data management, proposal development and report writing, research activities, secretarial duties, accounting and administrative duties, on-line information retrieval and online communication through e-mail services. The interviewed staff had been using computers for 1-8 hours a day and for a period ranging from 1 to 20 years. The study has indicated ergonomic hazards for a significant proportion of interviewees (63%) of various kinds ranging from backache to eyesight related problems. The authors highlighted major issues which are substantially applicable in preventing occurrences of computer related problems and they urged NIMR Management and/or the government of Tanzania opts to adapt their practicability.
Abstract: Gasoline Octane Number is the standard measure of
the anti-knock properties of a motor in platforming processes, that is
one of the important unit operations for oil refineries and can be
determined with online measurement or use CFR (Cooperative Fuel
Research) engines. Online measurements of the Octane number can
be done using direct octane number analyzers, that it is too
expensive, so we have to find feasible analyzer, like ANFIS
estimators.
ANFIS is the systems that neural network incorporated in fuzzy
systems, using data automatically by learning algorithms of NNs.
ANFIS constructs an input-output mapping based both on human
knowledge and on generated input-output data pairs.
In this research, 31 industrial data sets are used (21 data for training
and the rest of the data used for generalization). Results show that,
according to this simulation, hybrid method training algorithm in
ANFIS has good agreements between industrial data and simulated
results.
Abstract: Sedimentation in reservoirs and the corresponding
loss of storage capacity is one of the most serious problems in dam
engineering. Pressurized flushing, a way to remove sediments from the reservoir, is flushing under a pressurized flow condition and
nearly constant water level. Pressurized flushing has only local
effects around the outlet. Sediment in the vicinity of the outlet openings is scoured and a funnel shaped crater is created. In this study, the temporal development of flushing cone under various
hydraulic conditions was studied experimentally. Time variations of
parameters such as maximum length and width of flushing and also
depth of scouring cone was measured. Results indicated that an
increase in flow velocity (and consequently in Froude number)
established new hydraulically conditions for flushing mechanism and
so a sudden growth was observed in the amount of sediment released
and also scouring dimenssions. In addition, a set of nondimensional
relationships were identified for temporal variations of flushing scour
dimenssions, which can eventuallt be used to estimate the development of flushing cone.
Abstract: The continued interest in the use of distributed generation in recent years is leading to the growth in number of distributed generators connected to distribution networks. Steady state voltage rise resulting from the connection of these generators can be a major obstacle to their connection at lower voltage levels. The present electric distribution network is designed to keep the customer voltage within tolerance limit. This may require a reduction in connectable generation capacity, under utilization of appropriate generation sites. Thus distribution network operators need a proper voltage regulation method to allow the significant integration of distributed generation systems to existing network. In this work a voltage rise problem in a typical distribution system has been studied. A method for voltage regulation of distribution system with multiple DG system by coordinated operation distributed generator, capacitor and OLTC has been developed. A sensitivity based analysis has been carried out to determine the priority for individual generators in multiple DG environment. The effectiveness of the developed method has been evaluated under various cases through simulation results.
Abstract: Fermented beverages have high expression in the
market for beverages in general, is increasingly valued in situations
where the characteristic aroma and flavor of the material that gave
rise to them are kept after processing. This study aimed to develop a
distilled beverage from passion fruit, and assess, by sensory tests and
chromatographic profile, the influence of different treatments (FM1-
spirit with pulp addiction and FM2 – spirit with bigger ratio of pulp
in must) in the setting of volatiles in the fruit drink, and performing
chemical characterization taking into account the main parameters of
quality established by the legislation. The chromatograms and the
first sensorial tests had indicated that sample FM1 possess better
characteristics of aroma, as much of how much quantitative the
qualitative point of view. However, it analyzes it sensorial end
(preference test) disclosed the biggest preference of the cloth provers
for sample FM2-2 (note 7.93), being the attributes of decisive color
and flavor in this reply, confirmed for the observed values lowest of
fixed and total acidity in the samples of treatment FM2.
Abstract: This paper develops driver reaction-time models for
car-following analysis based on human factors. The reaction time
was classified as brake-reaction time (BRT) and
acceleration/deceleration reaction time (ADRT). The BRT occurs
when the lead vehicle is barking and its brake light is on, while the
ADRT occurs when the driver reacts to adjust his/her speed using the
gas pedal only. The study evaluates the effect of driver
characteristics and traffic kinematic conditions on the driver reaction
time in a car-following environment. The kinematic conditions
introduced urgency and expectancy based on the braking behaviour
of the lead vehicle at different speeds and spacing. The kinematic
conditions were used for evaluating the BRT and are classified as
normal, surprised, and stationary. Data were collected on a driving
simulator integrated into a real car and included the BRT and ADRT
(as dependent variables) and driver-s age, gender, driving experience,
driving intensity (driving hours per week), vehicle speed, and
spacing (as independent variables). The results showed that there was
a significant difference in the BRT at normal, surprised, and
stationary scenarios and supported the hypothesis that both urgency
and expectancy had significant effects on BRT. Driver-s age, gender,
speed, and spacing were found to be significant variables for the
BRT in all scenarios. The results also showed that driver-s age and
gender were significant variables for the ADRT. The research
presented in this paper is part of a larger project to develop a driversensitive
in-vehicle rear-end collision warning system.
Abstract: The fuzzy set theory has been applied in many fields,
such as operations research, control theory, and management
sciences, etc. In particular, an application of this theory in decision
making problems is linear programming problems with fuzzy
numbers. In this study, we present a new method for solving fuzzy
number linear programming problems, by use of linear ranking
function. In fact, our method is similar to simplex method that was
used for solving linear programming problems in crisp environment
before.
Abstract: Public administration institutions in cooperation with
politicians are not the sole policy decision makers in full meaning
any longer. Meanwhile, a special role, namely steering the decision
making process, could be delegated to them.
Despite the wide scientific discussion on different aspects what
has direct impact on policy creation, there is a lack of holistic
practical managerial advice, which could integrate infrastructure of
policy decision making with intellectual capital and with
interconnection of partnership. The proposed harmonized decision
making model of process, people and partnership entitled by
acronym HM-3P is analyzed as a framework for implementation of
public administration steering role seeking the coherent social
involvement in policy decision making.
Abstract: Application of wood in rural construction is diffused
all around the world since remote times. However, its inclusion in
structural design deserves strong support from broad knowledge of
material properties. The pertinent literature reveals the application of
optical methods in determining the complete field displacement on
bodies exhibiting regular as well as irregular surfaces. The use of
moiré techniques in experimental mechanics consists in analyzing the
patterns generated on the body surface before and after deformation.
The objective of this research work is to study the qualitative
deformation behavior of wooden testing specimens under specific
loading situations. The experiment setup follows the literature
description of shadow moiré methods. Results indicate strong
anisotropy influence of the generated displacement field. Important
qualitative as well as quantitative stress and strain distribution were
obtained wooden members which are applicable to rural
constructions.