Abstract: Current building sector is focused on reduction of energy requirements, on renewable energy generation and on regeneration of existing urban areas. These targets need to be solved with a systemic approach, considering several aspects simultaneously such as climate conditions, lighting conditions, solar radiation, PV potential, etc. The solar access analysis is an already known method to analyze the solar potentials, but in current years, simulation tools have provided more effective opportunities to perform this type of analysis, in particular in the early design stage. Nowadays, the study of the solar access is related to the easiness of the use of simulation tools, in rapid and easy way, during the design process. This study presents a comparison of three simulation tools, from the point of view of the user, with the aim to highlight differences in the easy-to-use of these tools. Using a real urban context as case study, three tools; Ecotect, Townscope and Heliodon, are tested, performing models and simulations and examining the capabilities and output results of solar access analysis. The evaluation of the ease-to-use of these tools is based on some detected parameters and features, such as the types of simulation, requirements of input data, types of results, etc. As a result, a framework is provided in which features and capabilities of each tool are shown. This framework shows the differences among these tools about functions, features and capabilities. The aim of this study is to support users and to improve the integration of simulation tools for solar access with the design process.
Abstract: Culture consists of material and spiritual values adopted by the emerging societies during the historical and social processes and continues to exist from past to present by being transferred through generations. Culture and cultural sustainability are interdependent concepts. Cultural sustainability exists when the requirements established cultural expression are added to the social life as lifestyle and habits. However, sustainability renders change inevitable. Changes that take place in the culture of a society also shows the impact in the daily life places. Functional changes occur in the spaces in order to adapt particularly to cultural change that appear in the aftermath of the user change, to modern technology and living standards. In this context, in this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of the time-dependent functional changes that took place in the housing where non-Muslim population who was subject to population exchange and Muslim population lived after the population exchange in the vacated housing in Sille. Therefore, the changed and newly added venues in the house belonging to Ali Oğuz in Hacı Ali Ağa Street were investigated over the generated graphic in order to clearly perceive the cultural exchange on the housing and settlement and the functional changes were demonstrated.
Abstract: This paper deals with a method of learning to solve a real problem in biomedical engineering from a technical study of muscle fatigue. Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles (viewpoint: anatomical and physiological). EMG is used as a diagnostics tool for identifying neuromuscular diseases, assessing low-back pain and muscle fatigue in general. In order to study the EMG signal for detecting fatigue in a muscle, we have taken a real problem which touches the tramway conductor the handle bar. For the study, we have used a typical autonomous platform in order to get signals at real time. In our case study, we were confronted with complex problem to do our experiments in a tram. This type of problem is recurring among students. To teach our students the method to solve this kind of problem, we built a similar system. Through this study, we realized a lot of objectives such as making the equipment for simulation, the study of detection of muscle fatigue and especially how to manage a study of biomedical looking.
Abstract: The present study was carried out to understand the extent of effect of roughness and Reynolds number in open channel flow (OCF). To this extent, four different types of bed surface conditions consisting smooth, distributed roughness, continuous roughness, natural sand bed and two different Reynolds number for each bed surfaces were adopted in this study. Particular attention was given on mean velocity, turbulence intensity, Reynolds shear stress, correlation, higher order moments and quadrant analysis. Further, the extent of influence of roughness and Reynolds number in the depth-wise direction also studied. Increasing Reynolds shear stress near rough beds are noticed due to arrays of discrete roughness elements and flow over these elements generating a series of wakes which contributes to the generation of significantly higher Reynolds shear stress.
Abstract: Per capita energy usage in any country is exponentially increasing with their development. As a result, the country’s dependence on the fossil fuels for energy generation is also increasing tremendously creating economic and environmental concerns. Tropical countries receive considerable amount of solar radiation throughout the year, use of solar energy with different energy storage and conversion methodologies is a viable solution to minimize the ever increasing demand for the depleting fossil fuels. Salinity gradient solar pond is one such solar energy application. This paper reports the characteristics and performance of a thermally insulated, experimental salinity-gradient solar pond, built at the premises of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Particular stress is given to the behavior of the evolution of the three layer structure exist at the stable state of a salinity gradient solar pond over a long period of time, under different environmental conditions. The operational procedures required to maintain the long term thermal stability are also reported in this article.
Abstract: This paper gives an intuition regarding glowworm swarm optimization (GSO) technique to solve dynamic economic dispatch (DED) problems of thermal generating units. The objective of the problem is to schedule optimal power generation of dedicated thermal units over a specific time band. In this study, Glowworm swarm optimization technique enables a swarm of agents to split into subgroup, exhibit simultaneous taxis towards each other and rendezvous at multiple optima (not necessarily equal) of a given multimodal function. The feasibility of the GSO method has been tested on ten-unit-test systems where the power balance constraints, operating limits, valve point effects, and ramp rate limits are taken into account. The results obtained by the proposed technique are compared with other heuristic techniques. The results show that GSO technique is capable of producing better results.
Abstract: Corporate credit rating prediction is one of the most important topics, which has been studied by researchers in the last decade. Over the last decade, researchers are pushing the limit to enhance the exactness of the corporate credit rating prediction model by applying several data-driven tools including statistical and artificial intelligence methods. Among them, multiclass support vector machine (MSVM) has been widely applied due to its good predictability. However, heuristics, for example, parameters of a kernel function, appropriate feature and instance subset, has become the main reason for the critics on MSVM, as they have dictate the MSVM architectural variables. This study presents a hybrid MSVM model that is intended to optimize all the parameter such as feature selection, instance selection, and kernel parameter. Our model adopts genetic algorithm (GA) to simultaneously optimize multiple heterogeneous design factors of MSVM.
Abstract: Solar thermal cooling system was installed on Mechanical Research Center (MRC) Building that is located in Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia. It is the first cooling system in Indonesia that utilizes solar energy as energy input combined with natural gas; therefore, the control system must be appropriated with the climates. In order to stabilize the cooling capacity and also to maximize the use of solar energy, the system applies some controllers. Constant flow rate and on/off controller are applied for the hot water, chilled water and cooling water pumps. The hot water circulated by pump when the solar radiation is over than 400W/m2, and the chilled water is continually circulated by pump and its temperature is kept constant 7 °C by absorption chiller. The cooling water is also continually circulated until the outlet temperature of cooling tower below than 27 oC. Furthermore, the three-way valve is used to control the hot water for generate vapor on absorption chiller. The system performance using that control system is shown in this study results.
Abstract: In the national economy, entrepreneurship plays the role of a buffer between economy and policy for it contributes to improving budget effectiveness and decreasing dependence of economy on the state. Entrepreneurship in industry makes it possible to increase the added value that is formed in production chains and to decrease dependence on import. Under the current circumstances, when sanctions are being imposed, this is especially relevant for Russia and for the realization of projects in the Russian Arctic. However, development of entrepreneurship in industry requires an enlightened state policy. The purpose of the research is elaboration of recommendations for improving economic effectiveness of the realization of the Arctic projects on the basis of conceptual proposals for the development of entrepreneurship in industry. The paper presents the studies of the extractive industry role in the Russian economy and proves its raw material character. The analysis of production chains in industry on the basis of the conception of the added value global chains demonstrated a low added value formed by Russian companies. The study of changes in the structure of economy based on systemic, statistical and comparative analyses revealed no positive changes in the structure of economy over the period under consideration. This is a manifestation of ineffectiveness of the Russian industrial policy in general and within the Arctic region in particular. The authors identified the problems information and implementation of the state industrial policy in the Arctic region and in the development of national entrepreneurship, analyzed the shortcomings of the current state policy in the sphere of the Russian industry. On the basis of the conducted studies, the authors formulated conceptual approaches to change the state policy in the Arctic. The basic idea of the authors is to substantiate the focus of the state regulation on the development of entrepreneurship in industry in the process of the Russian Arctic exploration. At the same time another problem is solved–that of the development of the manufacturing industry in the southern regions of the northwestern part of Russia. The criterion of effectiveness in this case is the economic effectiveness.
Abstract: The seismic responses-based structural health monitoring system has been performed to prevent seismic damage. Structural seismic damage of building is caused by the instantaneous stress concentration which is related with dynamic characteristic of earthquake. Meanwhile, seismic response analysis to estimate the dynamic responses of building demands significantly high computational cost. To prevent the failure of structural members from the characteristic of the earthquake and the significantly high computational cost for seismic response analysis, this paper presents an artificial neural network (ANN) based prediction model for dynamic responses of building considering specific time length. Through the measured dynamic responses, input and output node of the ANN are formed by the length of specific time, and adopted for the training. In the model, evolutionary radial basis function neural network (ERBFNN), that radial basis function network (RBFN) is integrated with evolutionary optimization algorithm to find variables in RBF, is implemented. The effectiveness of the proposed model is verified through an analytical study applying responses from dynamic analysis for multi-degree of freedom system to training data in ERBFNN.
Abstract: Reservoirs are being contaminated all around the world with point source and Non-Point Source (NPS) pollution. The most common NPS pollutants are sediments and nutrients. Krishnagiri Reservoir (KR) has been chosen for the present case study, which is located in the tropical semi-arid climatic zone of Tamil Nadu, South India. It is the main source of surface water in Krishnagiri district to meet the freshwater demands. The reservoir has lost about 40% of its water holding capacity due to sedimentation over the period of 50 years. Hence, from the research and management perspective, there is a need for a sound knowledge on the spatial and seasonal variations of KR water quality. The present study encompasses the specific objectives as (i) to investigate the longitudinal heterogeneity and seasonal variations of physicochemical parameters, nutrients and biological characteristics of KR water and (ii) to examine the extent of degradation of water quality in KR. 15 sampling points were identified by uniform stratified method and a systematic monthly sampling strategy was selected due to high dynamic nature in its hydrological characteristics. The physicochemical parameters, major ions, nutrients and Chlorophyll a (Chl a) were analysed. Trophic status of KR was classified by using Carlson's Trophic State Index (TSI). All statistical analyses were performed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences programme, version-16.0. Spatial maps were prepared for Chl a using Arc GIS. Observations in KR pointed out that electrical conductivity and major ions are highly variable factors as it receives inflow from the catchment with different land use activities. The study of major ions in KR exhibited different trends in their values and it could be concluded that as the monsoon progresses the major ions in the water decreases or water quality stabilizes. The inflow point of KR showed comparatively higher concentration of nutrients including nitrate, soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), total phosphors (TP), total suspended phosphorus (TSP) and total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) during monsoon seasons. This evidently showed the input of significant amount of nutrients from the catchment side through agricultural runoff. High concentration of TDP and TSP at the lacustrine zone of the reservoir during summer season evidently revealed that there was a significant release of phosphorus from the bottom sediments. Carlson’s TSI of KR ranged between 81 and 92 during northeast monsoon and summer seasons. High and permanent Cyanobacterial bloom in KR could be mainly due to the internal loading of phosphorus from the bottom sediments. According to Carlson’s TSI classification Krishnagiri reservoir was ranked in the hyper-eutrophic category. This study provides necessary basic data on the spatio-temporal variations of water quality in KR and also proves the impact of point and NPS pollution from the catchment area. High TSI warrants a greater threat for the recovery of internal P loading and hyper-eutrophic condition of KR. Several expensive internal measures for the reduction of internal loading of P were introduced by many scientists. However, the outcome of the present research suggests for the innovative algae harvesting technique for the removal of sediment nutrients.
Abstract: This paper presents a curriculum of the subject small power plants and renewable energy sources, dealing with the concept of distributed generation, renewable energy sources, hydropower, wind farms, geothermal power plants, cogeneration plants, biogas plants of agriculture and animal origin, solar power and fuel cells. The course is taught the manner of connecting small power plants to the grid, the impact of small generators on the distribution system, as well as economic, environmental and legal aspects of operation of distributed generators.
Abstract: The construction of Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves is one of the most common and useful tools in order to design hydraulic structures and to provide a mathematical relationship between rainfall characteristics. IDF curves, especially those in Peninsular Malaysia, are often built using moving windows of rainfalls. However, these windows do not represent the actual rainfall events since the duration of rainfalls is usually prefixed. Hence, instead of using moving windows, this study aims to find regionalized distributions for IDF curves of extreme rainfalls based on storm events. Homogeneity test is performed on annual maximum of storm intensities to identify homogeneous regions of storms in Peninsular Malaysia. The L-moment method is then used to regionalized Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution of these annual maximums and subsequently. IDF curves are constructed using the regional distributions. The differences between the IDF curves obtained and IDF curves found using at-site GEV distributions are observed through the computation of the coefficient of variation of root mean square error, mean percentage difference and the coefficient of determination. The small differences implied that the construction of IDF curves could be simplified by finding a general probability distribution of each region. This will also help in constructing IDF curves for sites with no rainfall station.
Abstract: The main cause of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzhemier, Parkinson and spongiform encephalopathies is formation of amyloid fibrils and plaques in proteins. We have analyzed different sets of proteins and peptides to understand the influence of sequence based features on protein aggregation process. The comparison of 373 pairs of homologous mesophilic and thermophilic proteins showed that aggregation prone regions (APRs) are present in both. But, the thermophilic protein monomers show greater ability to ‘stow away’ the APRs in their hydrophobic cores and protect them from solvent exposure. The comparison of amyloid forming and amorphous b-aggregating hexapeptides suggested distinct preferences for specific residues at the six positions as well as all possible combinations of nine residue pairs. The compositions of residues at different positions and residue pairs have been converted into energy potentials and utilized for distinguishing between amyloid forming and amorphous b-aggregating peptides. Our method could correctly identify the amyloid forming peptides at an accuracy of 95-100% in different datasets of peptides.
Abstract: This study solves a phylogeny problem by using modified wild dog pack optimization. The least squares error is considered as a cost function that needs to be minimized. Therefore, in each iteration, new distance matrices based on the constructed trees are calculated and used to select the alpha dog. To test the suggested algorithm, ten homologous genes are selected and collected from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databanks (i.e., 16S, 18S, 28S, Cox 1, ITS1, ITS2, ETS, ATPB, Hsp90, and STN). The data are divided into three categories: 50 taxa, 100 taxa and 500 taxa. The empirical results show that the proposed algorithm is more reliable and accurate than other implemented methods.
Abstract: This paper presents the flexural response of Reinforced Geopolymer Concrete (RGPC) beams. A commercial finite element (FE) software ABAQUS has been used to perform a structural behavior of RGPC beams. Using parameters such: stress, strain, Young’s modulus, and Poisson’s ratio obtained from experimental results, a beam model has been simulated in ABAQUS. The results from experimental tests and ABAQUS simulation were compared. Due to friction forces at the supports and loading rollers; slip occurring, the actual deflection of RGPC beam from experimental test results were slightly different from the results of ABAQUS. And there is good agreement between the crack patterns of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete generated by FE analysis using ABAQUS, and those in experimental data.
Abstract: Less availability of high quality green forages leads to low productivity of national dairy herd of Sri Lanka. Growing grass and fodder to suit the production system is an efficient and economical solution for this problem. CO-3 is placed in a higher category, especially on tillering capacity, green forage yield, regeneration capacity, leaf to stem ratio, high crude protein content, resistance to pests and diseases and free from adverse factors along with other fodder varieties grown within the country. An experiment was designed to determine the effect of organic sheep manure, inorganic fertilizers and liquid sheep manure on growth, yield and nutritive value of CO-3. The study was consisted with three treatments; sheep manure (T1), recommended inorganic fertilizers (T2) and liquid sheep manure (T3) which was prepared using bucket fermentation method and each treatment was consisted with three replicates and those were assigned randomly. First harvest was obtained after 40 days of plant establishment and number of leaves (NL), leaf area (LA), tillering capacity (TC), fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW) were recorded and second harvest was obtained after 30 days of first harvest and same set of data were recorded. SPSS 16 software was used for data analysis. For proximate analysis AOAC, 2000 standard methods were used. Results revealed that the plants treated with T1 recorded highest NL, LA, TC, FW and DW and were statistically significant at first and second harvest of CO-3 (p˂ 0.05) and it was found that T1 was statistically significant from T2 and T3. Although T3 was recorded higher than the T2 in almost all growth parameters; it was not statistically significant (p ˃0.05). In addition, the crude protein content was recorded highest in T1 with the value of 18.33±1.61 and was lowest in T2 with the value of 10.82±1.14 and was statistically significant (p˂ 0.05). Apart from this, other proximate composition crude fiber, crude fat, ash, moisture content and dry matter were not statistically significant between treatments (p ˃0.05). In accordance with the results, it was found that the organic fertilizer is the best fertilizer for CO-3 in terms of growth parameters and crude protein content.
Abstract: Real Time Video Tracking is a challenging task for computing professionals. The performance of video tracking techniques is greatly affected by background detection and elimination process. Local regions of the image frame contain vital information of background and foreground. However, pixel-level processing of local regions consumes a good amount of computational time and memory space by traditional approaches. In our approach we have explored the concurrent computational ability of General Purpose Graphic Processing Units (GPGPU) to address this problem. The Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) with adaptive weighted kernels is used for detecting the background. The weights of the kernel are influenced by local regions and are updated by inter-frame variations of these corresponding regions. The proposed system has been tested with GPU devices such as GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 280 and Quadro K2000. The results are encouraging with maximum speed up 10X compared to sequential approach.
Abstract: This paper discusses the use of a template-based
approach for documenting high-quality requirements as part of course
projects in an undergraduate Software Engineering course. In order
to ease some of the Requirements Engineering activities that are
performed when defining requirements by using the template, a new
CASE tool, RED:WIRE, was first developed and later tested by
students attending the course. Two questionnaires were conceived
around a study that aims to analyze the new tool’s learnability as
well as other obtained results concerning its usability in particular
and the Requirements Engineering skills developed by the students
in general.
Abstract: This paper presented a technique to solve one of the transportation problems that faces us in real life which is the Bus Scheduling Problem. Most of the countries using buses in schools, companies and traveling offices as an example to transfer multiple passengers from many places to specific place and vice versa. This transferring process can cost time and money, so we build a decision support system that can solve this problem. In this paper, a genetic algorithm with the shortest path technique is used to generate a competitive solution to other well-known techniques. It also presents a comparison between our solution and other solutions for this problem.