Abstract: Today, the need for water sources is swiftly increasing due to population growth. At the same time, it is known that some regions will face with shortage of water and drought because of the global warming and climate change. In this context, evaluation and analysis of hydrological data such as the observed trends, drought and flood prediction of short term flow has great deal of importance. The most accurate selection probability distribution is important to describe the low flow statistics for the studies related to drought analysis. As in many basins In Turkey, Gediz River basin will be affected enough by the drought and will decrease the amount of used water. The aim of this study is to derive appropriate probability distributions for frequency analysis of annual minimum flows at 6 gauging stations of the Gediz Basin. After applying 10 different probability distributions, six different parameter estimation methods and 3 fitness test, the Pearson 3 distribution and general extreme values distributions were found to give optimal results.
Abstract: This article aims to analyze the situation of Romanian companies from an environmental point of view. Environmental issues are addressed very often nowadays, and they reach and affect every domain, including the economical one. Implementing an environmental management system will not only help the companies to comply with laws and regulations, but, above all, will offer them an important competitive advantage.
Abstract: The paper reports on the subject of recycling and
further use of secondary raw materials obtained from solar panels,
which is becoming a very up to date topic in recent years. Recycling
these panels is very difficult and complex, and the use of resulting
secondary raw materials is still not fully resolved. Within the
research carried out at the Brno University of Technology, new
polymer materials used for industrial floors are being developed.
Secondary raw materials are incorporated into these polymers as
fillers. One of the tested filler materials was glass obtained from solar
panels. The following text describes procedures and results of the
tests that were performed on these materials, confirming the
possibility of the use of solar panel glass in industrial polymer
flooring systems.
Abstract: After the first acquaintance with internet in April 1993, number of internet users increased rapidly in Turkey. Almost half of the population between 16-74 age group use internet in the country. Hospitals are one of the areas where the internet is intensively being used like many other businesses. As a part of public relations application, websites are important tools for hospitals to reach a wide range of target audience within and outside the organization. With their websites, hospitals have opportunities to give information about their organization, strengthen their image, compete with their rivals, interact with shareholders, reflect their transparency and meet with new audiences. This study examines web sites of totally 34 hospitals which are located in Konya. Institutions are categorized as public and private hospitals and then three main research categories are determined: content, visual and technical. Main and sub categories are examined by using content analysis method. Results are interpreted in scope of public and private institutions and as a whole.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the research result of brand Identities of Thai Halal brands which related to the way of life for Thai Muslims. The results will be transforming to Thai Halal Brands packaging and label design. The expected benefit is an alternative of marketing strategy for brand building process for Halal products in Thailand. Four elements of marketing strategies which necessary for the brand identity creation is the research framework: consists of Attributes, Benefits, Values and Personality. The research methodology was applied using qualitative and quantitative; 19 marketing experts with dynamic roles in Thai consumer products were interviewed. In addition, a field survey of 122 Thai Muslims selected from 175 Muslim communities in Bangkok was studied. Data analysis will be according to 5 categories of Thai Halal product: 1) Meat 2) Vegetable and Fruits 3) Instant foods and Garnishing ingredient 4) Beverages, Desserts and Snacks 5) Hygienic daily products.
The results will explain some suitable approach for brand Identities of Thai Halal brands as are: 1) Benefit approach as the characteristics of the product with its benefit. The brand identity created transform to the packaging design should be clear and display a fresh product 2) Value approach as the value of products that affect to consumers’ perception. The brand identity created transform to the packaging design should be simply look and using a trustful image 3) Personality approach as the reflection of consumers thought. The brand identity created transform to the packaging design should be sincere, enjoyable, merry, flamboyant look and using a humoristic image.
Abstract: In an increasingly connected world, where speed of communication attempts to match the speed of thought and thus intentions; conflict gets actioned faster using media like the internet and telecommunication technology. This has led to a new form of aggression: “cyber bullying”. The present paper attempts to integrate existing theory on bullying, and the dark triad personality traits in a work environment and extrapolate it to the cyber context.
Abstract: This paper presents a fault identification, classification and fault location estimation method based on Discrete Wavelet Transform and Adaptive Network Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) for medium voltage cable in the distribution system.
Different faults and locations are simulated by ATP/EMTP, and then certain selected features of the wavelet transformed signals are used as an input for a training process on the ANFIS. Then an accurate fault classifier and locator algorithm was designed, trained and tested using current samples only. The results obtained from ANFIS output were compared with the real output. From the results, it was found that the percentage error between ANFIS output and real output is less than three percent. Hence, it can be concluded that the proposed technique is able to offer high accuracy in both of the fault classification and fault location.
Abstract: A theoretical approach to consider formation of chemical compound layer at the interface between initial substances A and B due to the interfacial interaction and diffusion is developed. It is considered situation when speed of interfacial interaction is large enough and diffusion of A-atoms through AB-layer is much more then diffusion of B-atoms. Atoms from A-layer diffuse toward B-atoms and form AB-atoms on the surface of B-layer. B-atoms are assumed to be immobile. The growth kinetics of the AB-layer is described by two differential equations with non-linear coupling, producing a good fit to the experimental data. It is shown that growth of the thickness of the AB-layer determines by dependence of chemical reaction rate on reactants concentration. In special case the thickness of the AB-layer can grow linearly or parabolically depending on that which of processes (interaction or the diffusion) controls the growth. The thickness of AB-layer as function of time is obtained. The moment of time (transition point) at which the linear growth are changed by parabolic is found.
Abstract: The effect of mass transfer on MHD mixed convective flow along inclined porous plate with thermodiffusion have been analyzed on the basis of boundary layer approximations. The fluid is assumed to be incompressible and dense, and a uniform magnetic field is applied normal to the direction of the flow. A Similarity transformation is used to transform the problem under consideration into coupled nonlinear boundary layer equations which are then solved numerically using the Runge-Kutta sixth-order integration scheme together with Nachtsheim-Swigert shooting iteration technique. The behavior of velocity, temperature, concentration, local skin-friction, local Nusselt number and local Sherwood number for different values of parameters have been computed and the results are presented graphically, and analyzed thereafter. The validity of the numerical methodology and the results are questioned by comparing the findings obtained for some specific cases with those available in the literature, and a comparatively good agreement is reached.
Abstract: The centre of rotation of the hip joint is needed for an
accurate simulation of the joint performance in many applications
such as pre-operative planning simulation, human gait analysis, and
hip joint disorders. In human movement analysis, the hip joint center
can be estimated using a functional method based on the relative
motion of the femur to pelvis measured using reflective markers
attached to the skin surface. The principal source of errors in
estimation of hip joint centre location using functional methods is
soft tissue artefacts due to the relative motion between the markers
and bone. One of the main objectives in human movement analysis is
the assessment of soft tissue artefact as the accuracy of functional
methods depends upon it. Various studies have described the
movement of soft tissue artefact invasively, such as intra-cortical
pins, external fixators, percutaneous skeletal trackers, and Roentgen
photogrammetry. The goal of this study is to present a non-invasive
method to assess the displacements of the markers relative to the
underlying bone using optical motion capture data and tissue
thickness from ultrasound measurements during flexion, extension,
and abduction (all with knee extended) of the hip joint. Results show
that the artefact skin marker displacements are non-linear and larger
in areas closer to the hip joint. Also marker displacements are
dependent on the movement type and relatively larger in abduction
movement. The quantification of soft tissue artefacts can be used as a
basis for a correction procedure for hip joint kinematics.
Abstract: Human face has a fundamental role in the appearance
of individuals. So the importance of facial surgeries is undeniable.
Thus, there is a need for the appropriate and accurate facial skin
segmentation in order to extract different features. Since Fuzzy CMeans
(FCM) clustering algorithm doesn’t work appropriately for
noisy images and outliers, in this paper we exploit Possibilistic CMeans
(PCM) algorithm in order to segment the facial skin. For this
purpose, first, we convert facial images from RGB to YCbCr color
space. To evaluate performance of the proposed algorithm, the
database of Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran was used.
In order to have a better understanding from the proposed algorithm;
FCM and Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithms are also used
for facial skin segmentation. The proposed method shows better
results than the other segmentation methods. Results include
misclassification error (0.032) and the region’s area error (0.045) for
the proposed algorithm.
Abstract: The paper is focused on testing of the poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) layer which had the function of a CO2 insulating protection against concrete and mortar carbonation. The barrier efficiency of PVB was verified by the measurement of diffusion characteristics. Two different types of PVB were tested; original extruded PVB sheet and PVB sheet made from PVB dispersion which was obtained from recycled windshields. The work deals with the testing CO2 diffusion when polymer sheets were exposed to a CO2 atmosphere (10% v/v CO2) with 0% RH. The excellent barrier capability against CO2 permeability of original and also recycled types of PVB layers was observed. This application of PVB waste can bring advantageous use in civil engineering and significant environmental contribution.
Abstract: This paper discusses the performance of critical
trajectory method (CTrj) for power system transient stability analysis
under various loading settings and heavy fault condition. The method
obtains Controlling Unstable Equilibrium Point (CUEP) which is
essential for estimation of power system stability margins. The CUEP
is computed by applying the CTrjto the boundary controlling unstable
equilibrium point (BCU) method. The Proposed method computes a
trajectory on the stability boundary that starts from the exit point and
reaches CUEP under certain assumptions. The robustness and
effectiveness of the method are demonstrated via six power system
models and five loading conditions. As benchmark is used
conventional simulation method whereas the performance is compared
with and BCU Shadowing method.
Abstract: This study presents a new model of the human image quality assessment process: the aim is to highlightthe foundations of the image quality metrics proposed in literature, by identifyingthe cognitive/physiological or mathematical principles of their development and the relation with the actual human quality assessment process. The model allows to createa novel categorization of objective and subjective image quality metrics. Our work includes an overview of the most used or effectiveobjective metrics in literature, and, for each of them, we underline its main characteristics, with reference to the rationale of the proposed model and categorization. From the results of this operation, we underline a problem that affects all the presented metrics: the fact that many aspects of human biasesare not taken in account at all. We then propose a possible methodology to address this issue.
Abstract: Currently, several soft switching topologies have been studied to achieve high power switching efficiency, reduced cost, improved reliability and reduced parasites. It is well known that improvement in power electronics systems always depend on advanced in power devices. The IGBT has been successfully used in a variety of switching applications such as motor drives and appliance control because of its superior characteristics.
The aim of this paper is focuses on simulation and explication of the internal dynamics of IGBTs behaviour under the most popular soft switching schemas that is Zero Current Switching (ZCS) environments.
The main purpose of this paper is to point out some mechanisms relating to current tail during the turn-off and examination of the response at turn-off with variation of temperature, inductance L, snubber capacitors Cs, and bus voltage in order to achieve an improved understanding of internal carrier dynamics. It is shown that the snubber capacitor, the inductance and even the temperature controls the magnitude and extent of the tail current, hence the turn-off time (switching speed of the device).
Moreover, it has also been demonstrated that the ZCS switching can be utilized efficiently to improve and reduce the power losses as well as the turn-off time. Furthermore, the turn-off loss in ZCS was found to depend on the time of switching of the device.
Abstract: In this work, an experimental technique is applied
for the measurements of the vibrations and deformation of a test
transformer core. Since the grid voltage contains some higher
harmonics, in addition to a purely sinusoidal magnetisation of the
core the presence of third harmonic is also studied. The vibrations of
the transformer core for points as well as the surface scan of the leg
show more deformation in the corners of the leg than the middle of
the leg. The influence of the higher harmonic of the magnetisation
on the core deformation is also more significant in the corners of the
leg. The core deformation shape under a sinusoidal magnetisation
with a higher harmonic is more wavy and fluctuating than that under
a purely sinusoidal magnetisation.
Abstract: Membrane distillation is an emerging technology which has been used to produce freshwater and purify different types of aqueous mixtures. Qatar is an arid country where almost 100% of its freshwater demand is supplied through the energy-intensive thermal desalination process. The country’s need for water has reached an all-time high which stipulates finding an alternative way to augment freshwater without adding any drastic affect to the environment. The objective of this paper was to investigate the potential of using the industrial low grade waste heat to produce freshwater using membrane distillation. The main part of this work was conducting a heat audit on selected Qatari chemical industries to estimate the amounts of freshwater produced if such industrial waste heat were to be recovered. By the end of this work, the main objective was met and the heat audit conducted on the Qatari chemical industries enabled us to estimate both the amounts of waste heat which can be potentially recovered in addition to the amounts of freshwater which can be produced if such waste heat were to be recovered.
By the end, the heat audit showed that around 605 Mega Watts of waste heat can be recovered from the studied Qatari chemical industries which resulted in a total daily production of 5078.7 cubic meter of freshwater.
This water can be used in a wide variety of applications such as human consumption or industry. The amount of produced freshwater may look small when compared to that produced through thermal desalination plants; however, one must bear in mind that this water comes from waste and can be used to supply water for small cities or remote areas which are not connected to the water grid. The idea of producing freshwater from the two widely-available wastes (thermal rejected brine and waste heat) seems promising as less environmental and economic impacts will be associated with freshwater production which may in the near future augment the conventional way of producing freshwater currently being thermal desalination. This work has shown that low grade waste heat in the chemical industries in Qatar and perhaps the rest of the world can contribute to additional production of freshwater using membrane distillation without significantly adding to the environmental impact.
Abstract: This paper deals with a stabilization problem for
multi-agent systems, when all agents in a multi-agent system receive
the same broadcasting control signal and the controller can measure
not each agent output but the sum of all agent outputs. It is
analytically shown that when the sum of all agent outputs is bounded
with a certain broadcasting controller for a given reference, each agent
output is separately bounded: stabilization of the sum of agent outputs
always results in the stability of every agent output. A numerical
example is presented to illustrate our theoretic findings in this paper.
Abstract: This paper presents a wireless sensor network protocol for a car parking monitoring system. A wireless sensor network for the purpose is composed of multiple sensor nodes, a sink node, a gateway, and a server. Each of the sensor nodes is equipped with a 3-axis AMR sensor and deployed in the center of a parking space. The sensor node reads its sensor values periodically and transmits the data to the sink node if the current and immediate past sensor values show a difference exceeding a threshold value. The operations of the sink and sensor nodes are described in detail along with flow diagrams. The protocol allows a low-duty cycle operation of the sensor nodes and a flexible adjustment of the threshold value used by the sensor nodes.
Abstract: Tensile specimens of nonflammable AZ91D Mg alloy were fabricated in this study via cold chamber die-casting process. Dimensions of tensile specimens were 25mm in length, 4mm in width, and 0.8 or 3.0mm in thickness. Microstructure observation was conducted before and after tensile tests at room temperature. In the die casting process, various injection distances from 150 to 260mm were employed to obtain optimum process conditions. Distribution of Al12Mg17 phase was the key factor to determine the mechanical properties of die-cast Mg alloy. Specimens with 3mm of thickness showed superior mechanical properties to those with 0.8mm of thickness. Closed networking of Al12Mg17 phase along grain boundary was found to be detrimental to mechanical properties of die-cast Mg alloy.