Abstract: Typical load-bearing biological materials like bone,
mineralized tendon and shell, are biocomposites made from both
organic (collagen) and inorganic (biomineral) materials. This
amazing class of materials with intrinsic internally designed
hierarchical structures show superior mechanical properties with
regard to their weak components from which they are formed.
Extensive investigations concentrating on static loading conditions
have been done to study the biological materials failure. However,
most of the damage and failure mechanisms in load-bearing
biological materials will occur whenever their structures are exposed
to dynamic loading conditions. The main question needed to be
answered here is: What is the relation between the layout and
architecture of the load-bearing biological materials and their
dynamic behavior? In this work, a staggered model has been
developed based on the structure of natural materials at nanoscale and
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been used to study the dynamic
behavior of the structure of load-bearing biological materials to
answer why the staggered arrangement has been selected by nature to
make the nanocomposite structure of most of the biological materials.
The results showed that the staggered structures will efficiently
attenuate the stress wave rather than the layered structure.
Furthermore, such staggered architecture is effectively in charge of
utilizing the capacity of the biostructure to resist both normal and
shear loads. In this work, the geometrical parameters of the model
like the thickness and aspect ratio of the mineral inclusions selected
from the typical range of the experimentally observed feature sizes
and layout dimensions of the biological materials such as bone and
mineralized tendon. Furthermore, the numerical results validated with
existing theoretical solutions. Findings of the present work emphasize
on the significant effects of dynamic behavior on the natural
evolution of load-bearing biological materials and can help scientists
to design bioinspired materials in the laboratories.
Abstract: Ceramic Waste Aggregates (CWAs) were made from
electric porcelain insulator wastes supplied from an electric power
company, which were crushed and ground to fine aggregate sizes. In
this study, to develop the CWA mortar as an eco–efficient, ground
granulated blast–furnace slag (GGBS) as a Supplementary
Cementitious Material (SCM) was incorporated. The water–to–binder
ratio (W/B) of the CWA mortars was varied at 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6. The
cement of the CWA mortar was replaced by GGBS at 20 and 40% by
volume (at about 18 and 37% by weight). Mechanical properties of
compressive and splitting tensile strengths, and elastic modulus were
evaluated at the age of 7, 28, and 91 days. Moreover, the chloride
ingress test was carried out on the CWA mortars in a 5.0% NaCl
solution for 48 weeks. The chloride diffusion was assessed by using an
electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). To consider the relation of the
apparent chloride diffusion coefficient and the pore size, the pore size
distribution test was also performed using a mercury intrusion
porosimetry at the same time with the EPMA. The compressive
strength of the CWA mortars with the GGBS was higher than that
without the GGBS at the age of 28 and 91 days. The resistance to the
chloride ingress of the CWA mortar was effective in proportion to the
GGBS replacement level.
Abstract: In developing countries, one of the most important
restrictions about the economic growth is the lack of national savings
which are supposed to finance the investments. In order to overcome
this restriction and achieve the higher rate of economic growth by
increasing the level of output, countries choose the external
borrowing. However, there is a dispute in the literature over the
correlation between external debt and economic growth. The aim of
this study is to examine the effects of external debt on Turkish
economic growth by using VAR analysis with the quarterly data over
the period of 2002:01-2014:04. In this respect, Johansen
Cointegration Test, Impulse- Response Function and Variance
Decomposition Tests will be used for analyses. Empirical findings
show that there is no cointegration in the long run.
Abstract: This paper shows the general perceptions of Spanish
university stakeholders in relation to the university’s annual reports
and the adequacy and potential of intellectual capital reporting. To
this end, a questionnaire was designed and sent to every member of
the Social Councils of Spanish public universities. It was thought that
these participants would provide a good example of the attitude of
university stakeholders since they represent the different social
groups connected with universities. From the results of this study we
are in the position of confirming the need for universities to offer
information on intellectual capital in their accounting information
model.
Abstract: Sound processing is one the subjects that newly
attracts a lot of researchers. It is efficient and usually less expensive
than other methods. In this paper the flow generated sound is used to
estimate the flow speed of free flows. Many sound samples are
gathered. After analyzing the data, a parameter named wave power is
chosen. For all samples the wave power is calculated and averaged
for each flow speed. A curve is fitted to the averaged data and a
correlation between the wave power and flow speed is found. Test
data are used to validate the method and errors for all test data were
under 10 percent. The speed of the flow can be estimated by
calculating the wave power of the flow generated sound and using the
proposed correlation.
Abstract: The causality between energy consumption and
economic growth has been an important issue in the economic
literature. This paper studies the causal relationship between
electricity consumption and economic growth in Mexico for the
period of 1971-2011. In so doing, unit root and causality tests are
applied. The results show that energy consumption and economic
growth series are stationary and there is also a causality relationship
running from economic growth to electricity consumption. Therefore,
any energy conservation policy would have little or no impact at all
on economic growth in México.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the English
version and a Malay translation of the 21-item Learner Awareness
Questionnaire for its application to assess student learning in higher
education. The Learner Awareness Questionnaire, originally written
in English, is a quantitative measure of how and why students learn.
The questionnaire gives an indication of the process and motives to
learn using four scales: survival, establishing stability, approval and
loving to learn. Data in the present study came from 680 university
students enrolled in various programmes in Malaysia. The Malay
version of the questionnaire supported a similar four factor structure
and internal consistency to the English version. The four factors of
the Malay version also showed moderate to strong correlations with
those of the English versions. The results suggest that the Malay
version of the questionnaire is similar to the English version.
However, further refinement to the questions is needed to strengthen
the correlations between the two questionnaires.
Abstract: This paper is based on a large questionnaire study. The
paper presents how all participants and subgroups (upper- and
lower-level white-collar workers) answered the question, “Have you
had an ache, pain, or numbness, which you associate with desktop
computer use, in the different body parts during the last 12 months?’
14.6% of participants (19.4% of women and 8.2% of men) reported
that they had often or very often physical symptoms in the neck. Even
if our results cannot prove a causal relation of symptoms with
computer use, show that workers believe that computer use can
influence their wellbeing: this is important when devising treatment
modalities to decrease these physical symptoms.
Abstract: This study utilizes a frequency domain approach over
the period of 1996 to 2013 to examine the causal relationship between
governance and economic growth in ten Asian countries, which have
different levels of democracy; classified as “Free”, “Partly Free”, and
“Not Free” countries. The empirical results show that there is no
Granger causality running from governance to economic growth in
“Not Free” countries and “Partly Free” countries with the exception of
Singapore. As for “Free” countries such as South Korea and Taiwan,
there is a one-way causality running from governance to economic
growth. The findings of this study indicate that policy makers in South
Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore could use governance index to improve
their predictions of the future economic growth.
Abstract: The main parameters affecting the workability are the
water content, particle size, and the total surface of the grains, as long
as the mixing water begins by wetting the surface of the grains and
then fills the voids between the grains to form entrapped water, the
quantity of water remaining is called free water. The aim of this study is to undertake a fractal approach through
the relationship between the concrete formulation parameters and
workability. To develop this approach a series of concrete taken from
the literature was investigated by varying formulation parameters
such as G/S, the quantity of cement C and the quantity of water W. We also call another model as the model of water layer thickness
and model of paste layer thickness to judge their relevance, hence the
following results: the relevance of the water layer thickness model is
considered as a relevant when there is a variation in the water
quantity. The model of the paste layer thickness is only applicable if
we considered that the paste is made with the grain value Dmax =
2.85: value from which we see a stability of the model.
Abstract: This paper describes a new approach which can be
used to interpret the experimental creep deformation data obtained
from miniaturized thin plate bending specimen test to the
corresponding uniaxial data based on an inversed application of the
reference stress method. The geometry of the thin plate is fully
defined by the span of the support, l, the width, b, and the thickness,
d. Firstly, analytical solutions for the steady-state, load-line creep
deformation rate of the thin plates for a Norton’s power law under
plane stress (b→0) and plane strain (b→∞) conditions were obtained,
from which it can be seen that the load-line deformation rate of the
thin plate under plane-stress conditions is much higher than that
under the plane-strain conditions. Since analytical solution is not
available for the plates with random b-values, finite element (FE)
analyses are used to obtain the solutions. Based on the FE results
obtained for various b/l ratios and creep exponent, n, as well as the
analytical solutions under plane stress and plane strain conditions, an
approximate, numerical solutions for the deformation rate are
obtained by curve fitting. Using these solutions, a reference stress
method is utilised to establish the conversion relationships between
the applied load and the equivalent uniaxial stress and between the
creep deformations of thin plate and the equivalent uniaxial creep
strains. Finally, the accuracy of the empirical solution was assessed
by using a set of “theoretical” experimental data.
Abstract: In this study, nuclear magnetic resonance
spectroscopy and nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy
parameters of 14N (Nitrogen in imidazole ring) in N–H…O hydrogen
bonding for Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate were calculated via
density functional theory. We considered a five-molecule model
system of Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate. Also we examined
the trends of environmental effect on hydrogen bonds as well as
cooperativity. The functional used in this research is M06-2X which
is a good functional and the obtained results has shown good
agreement with experimental data. This functional was applied to
calculate the NMR and NQR parameters. Some correlations among
NBO parameters, NMR and NQR parameters have been studied
which have shown the existence of strong correlations among them.
Furthermore, the geometry optimization has been performed using
M062X/6-31++G(d,p) method. In addition, in order to study
cooperativity and changes in structural parameters, along with
increase in cluster size, natural bond orbitals have been employed.
Abstract: This paper investigates the parametric stability of an
axially moving web subjected to non-uniform in-plane edge
excitations on two opposite, simply-supported edges. The web is
modeled as a viscoelastic plate whose constitutive relation obeys the
Kelvin-Voigt model, and the in-plane edge excitations are expressed
as the sum of a static tension and a periodical perturbation. Due to the
in-plane edge excitations, the moving plate may bring about
parametric instability under certain situations. First, the in-plane
stresses of the plate due to the non-uniform edge excitations are
determined by solving the in-plane forced vibration problem. Then,
the dependence on the spatial coordinates in the equation of transverse
motion is eliminated by the generalized Galerkin method, which
results in a set of discretized system equations in time. Finally, the
method of multiple scales is utilized to solve the set of system
equations analytically if the periodical perturbation of the in-plane
edge excitations is much smaller as compared with the static tension of
the plate, from which the stability boundaries of the moving plate are
obtained. Numerical results reveal that only combination resonances
of the summed-type appear under the in-plane edge excitations
considered in this work.
Abstract: Accurate forecasting of fresh produce demand is one
the challenges faced by Small Medium Enterprise (SME)
wholesalers. This paper is an attempt to understand the cause for the
high level of variability such as weather, holidays etc., in demand of
SME wholesalers. Therefore, understanding the significance of
unidentified factors may improve the forecasting accuracy. This
paper presents the current literature on the factors used to predict
demand and the existing forecasting techniques of short shelf life
products. It then investigates a variety of internal and external
possible factors, some of which is not used by other researchers in the
demand prediction process. The results presented in this paper are
further analysed using a number of techniques to minimize noise in
the data. For the analysis past sales data (January 2009 to May 2014)
from a UK based SME wholesaler is used and the results presented
are limited to product ‘Milk’ focused on café’s in derby. The
correlation analysis is done to check the dependencies of variability
factor on the actual demand. Further PCA analysis is done to
understand the significance of factors identified using correlation.
The PCA results suggest that the cloud cover, weather summary and
temperature are the most significant factors that can be used in
forecasting the demand. The correlation of the above three factors
increased relative to monthly and becomes more stable compared to
the weekly and daily demand.
Abstract: In this paper air quality conditions in Makkah and
Leeds are compared. These two cities have totally different climatic
conditions. Makkah climate is characterised as hot and dry (arid)
whereas that of Leeds is characterised as cold and wet (temperate).
This study uses air quality data from 2012 collected in Makkah,
Saudi Arabia and Leeds, UK. The concentrations of all pollutants,
except NO are higher in Makkah. Most notable, the concentrations of
PM10 are much higher in Makkah than in Leeds. This is probably due
to the arid nature of climatic conditions in Makkah and not solely due
to anthropogenic emission sources, otherwise like PM10 some of the
other pollutants, such as CO, NO, and SO2 would have shown much
greater difference between Leeds and Makkah. Correlation analysis is
performed between different pollutants at the same site and the same
pollutants at different sites. In Leeds the correlation between PM10
and other pollutants is significantly stronger than in Makkah. Weaker
correlation in Makkah is probably due to the fact that in Makkah
most of the gaseous pollutants are emitted by combustion processes,
whereas most of the PM10 is generated by other sources, such as
windblown dust, re-suspension, and construction activities. This is in
contrast to Leeds where all pollutants including PM10 are
predominantly emitted by combustions, such as road traffic.
Furthermore, in Leeds frequent rains wash out most of the
atmospheric particulate matter and suppress re-suspension of dust.
Temporal trends of various pollutants are compared and discussed.
This study emphasises the role of climatic conditions in managing air
quality, and hence the need for region-specific controlling strategies
according to the local climatic and meteorological conditions.
Abstract: Residential buildings consume significant amounts of
energy and produce large amount of emissions and waste. However,
there is a substantial potential for energy savings in this sector which
needs to be evaluated over the life cycle of residential buildings. Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology has been employed to study
the primary energy uses and associated environmental impacts of
different phases (i.e., product, construction, use, end of life, and
beyond building life) for residential buildings. Four different
alternatives of residential buildings in Vancouver (BC, Canada) with
a 50-year lifespan have been evaluated, including High Rise
Apartment (HRA), Low Rise Apartment (LRA), Single family
Attached House (SAH), and Single family Detached House (SDH).
Life cycle performance of the buildings is evaluated for embodied
energy, embodied environmental impacts, operational energy,
operational environmental impacts, total life-cycle energy, and total
life cycle environmental impacts. Estimation of operational energy
and LCA are performed using DesignBuilder software and Athena
Impact estimator software respectively.
The study results revealed that over the life span of the buildings,
the relationship between the energy use and the environmental
impacts are identical. LRA is found to be the best alternative in terms
of embodied energy use and embodied environmental impacts; while,
HRA showed the best life-cycle performance in terms of minimum
energy use and environmental impacts. Sensitivity analysis has also
been carried out to study the influence of building service lifespan
over 50, 75, and 100 years on the relative significance of embodied
energy and total life cycle energy. The life-cycle energy requirements
for SDH are found to be a significant component among the four
types of residential buildings. The overall disclose that the primary
operations of these buildings accounts for 90% of the total life cycle
energy which far outweighs minor differences in embodied effects
between the buildings.
Abstract: The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the
sustainable development in the Belgrade Metropolitan Region - BMA
(level NUTS 2) preliminary evaluating the three chosen components:
1) economic growth and developmental changes; 2) competitiveness;
and 3) territorial concentration and industrial specialization. First, we
identified the main results of development changes and economic
growth by applying Shift-share analysis on the metropolitan level.
Second, the empirical evaluation of competitiveness in the BMA is
based on the analysis of absolute and relative values of eight
indicators by Spider method. Paper shows that the consideration of
the national share, industrial mix and metropolitan/regional share in
total Shift share of the BMA, as well as economic/functional
specialization of the BMA indicate very strong process of
deindustrialization. Allocative component of the BMA economic
growth has positive value, reflecting the above-average sector
productivity compared to the national average. Third, the important
positive role of metropolitan/regional component in decomposition of
the BMA economic growth is highlighted as one of the key results.
Finally, comparative analysis of the industrial territorial
concentration in the BMA in relation to Serbia is based on location
quotient (LQ) or Balassa index as a valid measure. The results
indicate absolute and relative differences in decrease of industry
territorial concentration as well as inefficiency of utilizing territorial
capital in the BMA. Results are important for the increase of regional
competitiveness and territorial distribution in this area as well as for
improvement of sustainable metropolitan and sector policies,
planning and governance on this level.
Abstract: Based on Business and Consumer Survey (BCS) data,
the European Commission (EC) regularly publishes the monthly
Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for each EU member state. ESI
is conceptualized as a leading indicator, aimed ad tracking the overall
economic activity. In calculating ESI, the EC employs arbitrarily
chosen weights on 15 BCS response balances. This paper raises the
predictive quality of ESI by applying nonlinear programming to find
such weights that maximize the correlation coefficient of ESI and
year-on-year GDP growth. The obtained results show that the highest
weights are assigned to the response balances of industrial sector
questions, followed by questions from the retail trade sector. This
comes as no surprise since the existing literature shows that the
industrial production is a plausible proxy for the overall Croatian
economic activity and since Croatian GDP is largely influenced by
the aggregate personal consumption.
Abstract: Several parameters are established in order to measure
biodiesel quality. One of them is the iodine value, which is an
important parameter that measures the total unsaturation within a
mixture of fatty acids. Limitation of unsaturated fatty acids is
necessary since warming of higher quantity of these ones ends in
either formation of deposits inside the motor or damage of lubricant.
Determination of iodine value by official procedure tends to be very
laborious, with high costs and toxicity of the reagents, this study uses
artificial neural network (ANN) in order to predict the iodine value
property as an alternative to these problems. The methodology of
development of networks used 13 esters of fatty acids in the input
with convergence algorithms of back propagation of back
propagation type were optimized in order to get an architecture of
prediction of iodine value. This study allowed us to demonstrate the
neural networks’ ability to learn the correlation between biodiesel
quality properties, in this caseiodine value, and the molecular
structures that make it up. The model developed in the study reached
a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.99 for both network validation and
network simulation, with Levenberg-Maquardt algorithm.
Abstract: Evidence shows that start-ups success is positively
correlated with the launch of the first product. However, new ventures
are seldom able to acquire abundant resources for new product
development (NPD), which means that entrepreneurs may depend on
personal creativity instead of physical investments to achieve and
accelerate innovation speed. This study accentuates the role of
entrepreneurial bricolage, which defined as making do by applying
combinations of the resources at hand to new problems and
opportunities, in the relations of creative self-efficacy and innovation
speed. This study uses the multiple regression analysis to test the
hypotheses in a sample of 203 start-ups operating in various creative
markets in Taiwan. Results reveal that creative self-efficacy is
positively and directly associated with innovation speed, whereas
entrepreneurial bricolage plays a full mediator. These findings offer
important theoretical and practical implications.