Abstract: Currently, planners try to have more green travel
options to decrease economic, social and environmental problems.
Therefore, this study tries to find significant urban travel factors to be
used to increase the usage of alternative urban travel modes. This
paper attempts to identify the relationship between prominent urban
mobility indicators and daily trips by public transport in 30 cities
from various parts of the world. Different travel modes,
infrastructures and cost indicators were evaluated in this research as
mobility indicators. The results of multi-linear regression analysis
indicate that there is a significant relationship between mobility
indicators and the daily usage of public transport.
Abstract: Multiphase Induction Machine (IM) is normally
controlled using rotor field oriented vector control. Under phase(s)
loss, the machine currents can be optimally controlled to satisfy
certain optimization criteria. In this paper we discuss the performance
of double manifold sliding mode observer (DM-SMO) in Sensorless
control of multiphase induction machine under unsymmetrical
condition (one phase loss). This observer is developed using the IM
model in the stationary reference frame. DM-SMO is constructed by
adding extra feedback term to conventional single mode sliding mode
observer (SM-SMO) which proposed in many literature. This leads to
a fully convergent observer that also yields an accurate estimate of
the speed and stator currents. It will be shown by the simulation
results that the estimated speed and currents by the method are very
well and error between real and estimated quantities is negligible.
Also parameter sensitivity analysis shows that this method is rather
robust against parameter variation.
Abstract: In this paper we present the design of an optical
device based on a Herriott multi-pass cell fabricated on a small sized
acrylic slab for heat flux measurements using the deflection of a laser
beam propagating inside the cell. The beam deflection is produced by
the heat flux conducted to the acrylic slab due to a gradient in the
refractive index. The use of a long path cell as the sensitive element
in this measurement device, gives the possibility of high sensitivity
within a small size device. We present the optical design as well as
some experimental results in order to validate the device’s operation
principle.
Abstract: The study focused on the analysis of the Adjusted
Rorschach Comprehensive System’s responses. The objective of this
study is to analyse the participants’ response rate of the Adjusted
Rorschach Comprehensive System with regards to critical
psychology approach. The use of critical psychology theory in this
study was crucial because it responds to the current inadequate
western theory or practice in the field of psychology. The study
adopted a qualitative approach and a case study design. The study
was grounded on interpretivist paradigm. The sample size comprised
six learners (three boys and three girls, aged of 14 years) from
historically disadvantaged school in the Western Cape, South Africa.
The Adjusted Rorschach Comprehensive System (ARCS)
administration procedure, biographical information, semi-structured
interviews, and observation were used to collect data. Data was
analysed using thematic framework. The study found out that, factors
that increased the response rates during the administration of ARCS
were, language, seating arrangement, drawing, viewing, and
describing. The study recommended that, psychological test
designers take into consideration the philosophy or worldviews of the
local people for whom the test is designed to minimize low response
rates.
Abstract: The effect of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on the
electrical properties of Poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene)
(P(VdF-HFP)) based gel polymer electrolytes has been investigated
in the present work. The length and diameter ranges of CNFs used in
the present work are 5-50 μm and 200-600 nm respectively. The
nanocomposite gel polymer electrolytes have been synthesized by
solution casting technique with varying CNFs content in terms of
weight percentage. Electrochemical impedance analysis demonstrates
that the reinforcement of carbon nanofibers significantly enhances the
ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolyte. The decrease of
crystallinity of P(VdF-HFP) due the addition of CNFs has been
confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The interaction of CNFs with
various constituents of nanocomposite gel polymer electrolytes has
been assessed by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
Moreover CNFs added gel polymer electrolytes offer superior
thermal stability as compared to that of CNFs free electrolytes as
confirmed by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).
Abstract: At the present time, awareness, education, computer
simulation and information systems protection are very serious and
relevant topics. The article deals with perspectives and possibilities of
implementation of emergence or natural hazard threats into the
system which is developed for communication among members of
crisis management staffs. The Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute
with its System of Integrated Warning Service resents the largest
usable base of information. National information systems are connected to foreign systems,
especially to flooding emergency systems of neighboring countries,
systems of European Union and international organizations where the
Czech Republic is a member. Use of outputs of particular information
systems and computer simulations on a single communication
interface of information system for communication among members
of crisis management staff and setting the site interoperability in the
net will lead to time savings in decision-making processes in solving
extraordinary events and crisis situations. Faster managing of an
extraordinary event or a crisis situation will bring positive effects and
minimize the impact of negative effects on the environment.
Abstract: For the shrimp companies to remain relevant to its local
and international consumers, they must offer new shrimp product and
services. It must work actively not just to create value for the consumer,
but to involve the consumer in co-creating value for shrimp product
innovation in the market. In this theoretical work, we conceptualize the
business concept of value co-creation in the context of shrimp products,
and propose a framework of value co-creation for shrimp product
innovation in shrimp industries. With guidance on value co-creation in
in shrimp industry, and shrimp value chain actors mapped to the
co-creation cycle, companies can use the framework to offer new
shrimp product to consumer communities. Although customer
co-creation is known approach in the world, it is not commonly used
by the companies in Bangladesh. This paper makes an original
contribution by conceptualizing co-creation and set the examples of
best co-creation practices in food sector. The results of the study
provide management with guidelines for successful co-creation
projects with an innovation- and market-oriented approach. The
framework also provides a basis for further research in this area.
Abstract: Tamil handwritten document is taken as a key source
of data to identify the writer. Tamil is a classical language which has
247 characters include compound characters, consonants, vowels and
special character. Most characters of Tamil are multifaceted in
nature. Handwriting is a unique feature of an individual. Writer may
change their handwritings according to their frame of mind and this
place a risky challenge in identifying the writer. A new
discriminative model with pooled features of handwriting is proposed
and implemented using support vector machine. It has been reported
on 100% of prediction accuracy by RBF and polynomial kernel based
classification model.
Abstract: One of the fundamental characteristics of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) has been the ever-changing
nature of continuous release and models of ICTs with its impact on
the academic, social, and psychological benefits of its introduction in
schools. However, there seems to be a growing concern about its
negative impact on students when introduced early in schools for
teaching and learning. This study aims to design a model of child
development factors affecting the early introduction of ICTs in
schools in an attempt to improve the understanding of child
development and introduction of ICTs in schools. The proposed
model is based on a sound theoretical framework. It was designed
following a literature review of child development theories and child
development factors. The child development theoretical framework
that fitted to the best of all child development factors was then chosen
as the basis for the proposed model. This study hence found that the
Jean Piaget cognitive developmental theory is the most adequate
theoretical frameworks for modeling child development factors for
ICT introduction in schools.
Abstract: This paper discusses the general methods to saturation
in the steady-state, two axis (d & q) frame models of synchronous
machines. In particular, the important role of the magnetic coupling
between the d-q axes (cross-magnetizing phenomenon), is
demonstrated. For that purpose, distinct methods of saturation
modeling of dumper synchronous machine with cross-saturation are
identified, and detailed models synthesis in d-q axes. A number of
models are given in the final developed form. The procedure and the
novel models are verified by a critical application to prove the
validity of the method and the equivalence between all developed
models is reported. Advantages of some of the models over the
existing ones and their applicability are discussed.
Abstract: Sweden has succeeded to maintain a high level of
growth and development and has managed to sustain highly ranked
position among the world’s developed countries. In this regard,
Swedish universities are playing a vital role in supporting innovation
and entrepreneurship at all levels and developing Swedish knowledge
economy. This paper is aiming to draw on the experiences of two leading
Swedish universities, addressing their transformation approach to
create entrepreneurial universities and fulfilling their objectives in the
era of knowledge economy. The objectives of the paper include: 1) Introducing the Swedish
higher education and its characteristics. 2) Examining the
infrastructure elements for innovation and Entrepreneurship at two of
the Swedish entrepreneurial universities. 3) Addressing the key
aspects of support systems in the initiatives of both Chalmers and
Gothenburg universities to support innovation and advance
entrepreneurial practices. The paper will contribute to two discourses: 1) Examining the
relationship between support systems for innovation and
entrepreneurship and the Universities’ policies and practices. 2)
Lessons for University leaders to assist the development and
implementation of effective innovation and entrepreneurship policies
and practices.
Abstract: Hollow section for bridge columns has some
advantages. However, current seismic design codes do not provide
design regulations for hollow bridge piers. There have been many
experimental studied for hollow reinforced concrete piers in the world.
But, Study for hollow section for bridge piers in Korea has been begun
with approximately 2000s. There has been conducted experimental
study for hollow piers of flexural controlled sections by Yeungnam
University, Sung kyunkwan University, Korea Expressway
Corporation in 2009. This study concluded that flexural controlled
sections for hollow piers showed the similar behavior to solid sections.
And there have been conducted experimental study for hollow piers of
compression controlled sections by Yeungnam University, Korea
Institute of Construction Technology in 2012. This study concluded
that compression controlled sections for hollow piers showed
compression fracture of concrete in inside wall face. Samsung
Construction & Trading Corporation has been conducted study with
Yeungnam University for reduce the quantity of reinforcement details
about hollow piers. Reduce the quantity of reinforcement details are
triangular cross tie. This study concluded that triangular reinforcement
details showed the similar behavior as compared with existing
reinforcement details.
Abstract: This paper aims to study the heat transfer and fluid
flow characteristics of nanofluids used in spray cooling systems. The
effect of spray height, type of nanofluids and concentration of
nanofluids are numerically investigated. Five different nanofluids
such as AgH2O, Al2O3, CuO, SiO2 and TiO2 with volume fraction
range of 0.5% to 2.5% are used. The results revealed that the heat
transfer performance decreases as spray height increases. It is found
that TiO2 has the highest transfer coefficient among other nanofluids.
In dilute spray conditions, low concentration of nanofluids is
observed to be more effective in heat removal in a spray cooling
system.
Abstract: In most existing buildings in hot climate, cooling
loads lead to high primary energy consumption and consequently
high CO2 emissions. These can be substantially decreased with
integrated renewable energy systems. Kuwait is characterized by its
dry hot long summer and short warm winter. Kuwait receives annual
total radiation more than 5280 MJ/m2 with approximately 3347 h of
sunshine. Solar energy systems consist of PV modules and parabolic
trough collectors are considered to satisfy electricity consumption,
domestic water heating, and cooling loads of an existing building.
This paper presents the results of an extensive program of energy
conservation and energy generation using integrated photovoltaic
(PV) modules and Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTC). The program
conducted on an existing institutional building intending to convert it
into a Net-Zero Energy Building (NZEB) or near net Zero Energy
Building (nNZEB). The program consists of two phases; the first
phase is concerned with energy auditing and energy conservation
measures at minimum cost and the second phase considers the
installation of photovoltaic modules and parabolic trough collectors.
The 2-storey building under consideration is the Applied Sciences
Department at the College of Technological Studies, Kuwait. Single
effect lithium bromide water absorption chillers are implemented to
provide air conditioning load to the building. A numerical model is
developed to evaluate the performance of parabolic trough collectors
in Kuwait climate. Transient simulation program (TRNSYS) is
adapted to simulate the performance of different solar system
components. In addition, a numerical model is developed to assess
the environmental impacts of building integrated renewable energy
systems. Results indicate that efficient energy conservation can play
an important role in converting the existing buildings into NZEBs as
it saves a significant portion of annual energy consumption of the
building. The first phase results in an energy conservation of about
28% of the building consumption. In the second phase, the integrated
PV completely covers the lighting and equipment loads of the
building. On the other hand, parabolic trough collectors of optimum
area of 765 m2 can satisfy a significant portion of the cooling load,
i.e about73% of the total building cooling load. The annual avoided
CO2 emission is evaluated at the optimum conditions to assess the
environmental impacts of renewable energy systems. The total annual
avoided CO2 emission is about 680 metric ton/year which confirms
the environmental impacts of these systems in Kuwait.
Abstract: This study presents a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm
to obtain optimum designs for steel space buildings. The optimum
design problem of three-dimensional steel frames is mathematically
formulated according to provisions of LRFD-AISC (Load and
Resistance factor design of American Institute of Steel Construction).
Design constraints such as the strength requirements of structural
members, the displacement limitations, the inter-story drift and the
other structural constraints are derived from LRFD-AISC
specification. In this study, a hybrid algorithm by using teachinglearning
based optimization (TLBO) and harmony search (HS)
algorithms is employed to solve the stated optimum design problem.
These algorithms are two of the recent additions to metaheuristic
techniques of numerical optimization and have been an efficient tool
for solving discrete programming problems. Using these two
algorithms in collaboration creates a more powerful tool and
mitigates each other’s weaknesses. To demonstrate the powerful
performance of presented hybrid algorithm, the optimum design of a
large scale steel building is presented and the results are compared to
the previously obtained results available in the literature.
Abstract: Although there has been a growing interest in the
hybrid free-space optical link and radio frequency FSO/RF
communication system, the current literature is limited to results
obtained in moderate or cold environment. In this paper, using a soft
switching approach, we investigate the effect of weather
inhomogeneities on the strength of turbulence hence the channel
refractive index under Qatar harsh environment and their influence
on the hybrid FSO/RF availability. In this approach, either FSO/RF
or simultaneous or none of them can be active. Based on soft
switching approach and a finite state Markov Chain (FSMC) process,
we model the channel fading for the two links and derive a
mathematical expression for the outage probability of the hybrid
system. Then, we evaluate the behavior of the hybrid FSO/RF under
hazy and harsh weather. Results show that the FSO/RF soft switching
renders the system outage probability less than that of each link
individually. A soft switching algorithm is being implemented on
FPGAs using Raptor code interfaced to the two terminals of a
1Gbps/100 Mbps FSO/RF hybrid system, the first being implemented
in the region. Experimental results are compared to the above
simulation results.
Abstract: In this paper, we study the optical nonlinearities of
Silver sulfide (Ag2S) nanostructures dispersed in the Dimethyl
sulfoxide (DMSO) under exposure to 532 nm, 15 nanosecond (ns)
pulsed laser irradiation. Ultraviolet–visible absorption spectrometry
(UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron
microscopy (TEM) are used to characterize the obtained nanocrystal
samples. The band gap energy of colloid is determined by analyzing
the UV–Vis absorption spectra of the Ag2S NPs using the band
theory of semiconductors. Z-scan technique is used to characterize
the optical nonlinear properties of the Ag2S nanoparticles (NPs).
Large enhancement of two photon absorption effect is observed with
increase in concentration of the Ag2S nanoparticles using open Zscan
measurements in the ns laser regime. The values of the nonlinear
absorption coefficients are determined based on the local nonlinear
responses including two photon absorption. The observed aperture
dependence of the Ag2S NP limiting performance indicates that the
nonlinear scattering plays an important role in the limiting action of
the sample. The concentration dependence of the optical liming is
also investigated. Our results demonstrate that the optical limiting
threshold decreases with increasing the silver sulfide NPs in DMSO.
Abstract: In many countries, governments have been promoting the involvement of private sector entities to enter into long-term agreements for the development and delivery of large infrastructure projects, with a focus on overcoming the limitations upon public fund of the traditional approach. The involvement of private sector through public private partnerships (PPP) brings in new capital investments, value for money and additional risks to handle. Worldwide research studies have shown that an objective, systematic, reliable and useroriented risk assessment process and an optimal allocation mechanism among different stakeholders is crucial to the successful completion. In this framework, this paper, which is the first stage of a research study, aims to identify the main risks for the delivery of PPP projects. A review of cross-countries research projects and case studies was performed to map the key risks affecting PPP infrastructure delivery. The matrix of mapping offers a summary of the frequency of factors, clustered in eleven categories: construction, design, economic, legal, market, natural, operation, political, project finance, project selection and relationship. Results will highlight the most critical risk factors, and will hopefully assist the project managers in directing the managerial attention in the further stages of risk allocation.
Abstract: Tamil handwritten document is taken as a key source of data to identify the writer. Tamil is a classical language which has 247 characters include compound characters, consonants, vowels and special character. Most characters of Tamil are multifaceted in nature. Handwriting is a unique feature of an individual. Writer may change their handwritings according to their frame of mind and this place a risky challenge in identifying the writer. A new discriminative model with pooled features of handwriting is proposed and implemented using support vector machine. It has been reported on 100% of prediction accuracy by RBF and polynomial kernel based classification model.
Abstract: In this paper we studied sono catalytic oxidative desulfurization of oil and diesel fraction from “Zhanazhol” oil deposits. We have established that the combined effect of the ultrasonic field and oxidant (ozone-air mixture) in the presence of the catalyst on the oil is potentially very effective method of desulfurization of oil and oil products. This method allows increasing the degree of desulfurization of oil by 62%.