Abstract: The increase in electric power demand in face of
environmental issues has intensified the participation of renewable
energy sources such as photovoltaics, in the energy matrix of various
countries. Due to their operational characteristics, they can generate
time-varying harmonic and inter-harmonic distortions. For this
reason, the application of methods of measurement based on
traditional Fourier analysis, as proposed by IEC 61000-4-7, can
provide inaccurate results. Considering the aspects mentioned herein,
came the idea of the development of this work which aims to present
the results of a comparative evaluation between a methodology
arising from the combination of the Prony method with the Kalman
filter and another method based on the IEC 61000-4-30 and IEC
61000-4-7 standards. Employed in this study were synthetic signals
and data acquired through measurements in a 50kWp photovoltaic
installation.
Abstract: The quality of concrete is usually defined by compressive strength, but flexural strength is the most important characteristic of concrete in a pavement which control the mix design of concrete instead of compressive strength. Therefore, the aggregates which are selected for the pavements are affected by higher flexural strength. Roller Compacting Concrete Pavement (RCCP) is not a new construction method. The other characteristic of this method is no bleeding and less shrinkage due to the lower amount of water. For this purpose, a roller is needed for placing and compacting. The surface of RCCP is not smooth; therefore, the most common use of this pavement is in an industrial zone with slower traffic speed which requires durable and tough pavement. For preparing a smoother surface, it can be achieved by asphalt paver. RCCP decrease the finishing cost because there are no bars, formwork, and the lesser labor need for placing the concrete. In this paper, different aspect of RCCP such as mix design, flexural, compressive strength and focus on the different part of RCCP on detail have been investigated.
Abstract: Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook
attracts over 500 million users across the world, for those users, their
social life, even their practical life, has become interrelated. Their
interaction with social networking has affected their life forever.
Accordingly, social networking sites have become among the main
channels that are responsible for vast dissemination of different kinds
of information during real time events. This popularity in Social
networking has led to different problems including the possibility of
exposing incorrect information to their users through fake accounts
which results to the spread of malicious content during life events.
This situation can result to a huge damage in the real world to the
society in general including citizens, business entities, and others. In this paper, we present a classification method for detecting the
fake accounts on Twitter. The study determines the minimized set of
the main factors that influence the detection of the fake accounts on
Twitter, and then the determined factors are applied using different
classification techniques. A comparison of the results of these
techniques has been performed and the most accurate algorithm is
selected according to the accuracy of the results. The study has been
compared with different recent researches in the same area; this
comparison has proved the accuracy of the proposed study. We claim
that this study can be continuously applied on Twitter social network
to automatically detect the fake accounts; moreover, the study can be
applied on different social network sites such as Facebook with minor
changes according to the nature of the social network which are
discussed in this paper.
Abstract: Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease endemic in
many countries in the tropics and sub-tropics. The state of Punjab in
India shows cyclical and seasonal variation in dengue cases. The
Case Fatality Rate of Dengue has ranged from 0.6 to 1.0 in the past
years. The department has initiated review of the cases that have died
due to dengue in order to know the exact cause of the death in a case
of dengue. The study has been undertaken to know the other
associated co-morbidities and factors causing death in a case of
dengue. The study used the predesigned proforma on which the
records (medical and Lab) were recorded and reviewed by the expert
committee of the doctors. This study has revealed that cases of
dengue having co-morbidities have longer stay in hospital. Fluid
overload and co-morbidities have been found as major factors leading
to death, however, in a confirmed case of dengue hepatorenal
shutdown was found to be major cause of mortality. The data
obtained will help in sensitizing the treating physicians in order to
decrease the mortality due to dengue in future.
Abstract: A myriad of environmental issues face the Nigerian
industrial region, resulting from; oil and gas production, mining,
manufacturing and domestic wastes. Amidst these, much effort has
been directed by stakeholders in the Nigerian oil producing regions,
because of the impacts of the region on the wider Nigerian economy.
Although collaborative environmental management has been noted as
an effective approach in managing environmental issues, little
attention has been given to the roles and practices of stakeholders in
effecting a collaborative environmental management framework for
the Nigerian oil-producing region. This paper produces a framework
to expand and deepen knowledge relating to stakeholders aspects of
collaborative roles in managing environmental issues in the Nigeria
oil-producing region. The knowledge is derived from analysis of
stakeholders’ practices – studied through multiple case studies using
document analysis. Selected documents of key stakeholders –
Nigerian government agencies, multi-national oil companies and host
communities, were analyzed. Open and selective coding was
employed manually during document analysis of data collected from
the offices and websites of the stakeholders. The findings showed
that the stakeholders have a range of roles, practices, interests, drivers
and barriers regarding their collaborative roles in managing
environmental issues. While they have interests for efficient resource
use, compliance to standards, sharing of responsibilities, generating
of new solutions, and shared objectives; there is evidence of major
barriers and these include resource allocation, disjointed policy,
ineffective monitoring, diverse socio- economic interests, lack of
stakeholders’ commitment and limited knowledge sharing. However,
host communities hold deep concerns over the collaborative roles of
stakeholders for economic interests, particularly, where government
agencies and multi-national oil companies are involved. With these
barriers and concerns, a genuine stakeholders’ collaboration is found
to be limited, and as a result, optimal environmental management
practices and policies have not been successfully implemented in the
Nigeria oil-producing region. A framework is produced that describes
practices that characterize collaborative environmental management
might be employed to satisfy the stakeholders’ interests. The
framework recommends critical factors, based on the findings, which
may guide a collaborative environmental management in the oil
producing regions. The recommendations are designed to re-define
the practices of stakeholders in managing environmental issues in the
oil producing regions, not as something wholly new, but as an
approach essential for implementing a sustainable environmental
policy. This research outcome may clarify areas for future research as
well as to contribute to industry guidance in the area of collaborative
environmental management.
Abstract: This paper deals with using of prevailing operation
system MS Office (SmartArt...) for mathematical models, using
DYVELOP (Dynamic Vector Logistics of Processes) method. It
serves for crisis situations investigation and modelling within the
organizations of critical infrastructure. In first part of paper, it will be
introduced entities, operators, and actors of DYVELOP method. It
uses just three operators of Boolean algebra and four types of the
entities: the Environments, the Process Systems, the Cases, and the
Controlling. The Process Systems (PrS) have five “brothers”:
Management PrS, Transformation PrS, Logistic PrS, Event PrS and
Operation PrS. The Cases have three “sisters”: Process Cell Case,
Use Case, and Activity Case. They all need for the controlling of
their functions special Ctrl actors, except ENV – it can do without
Ctrl. Model´s maps are named the Blazons and they are able
mathematically - graphically express the relationships among entities,
actors and processes. In second part of this paper, the rich blazons of
DYVELOP method will be used for the discovering and modelling of
the cycling cases and their phases. The blazons need live PowerPoint
presentation for better comprehension of this paper mission. The
crisis management of energetic crisis infrastructure organization is
obliged to use the cycles for successful coping of crisis situations.
Several times cycling of these cases is necessary condition for the
encompassment for both emergency events and the mitigation of
organization´s damages. Uninterrupted and continuous cycling
process brings for crisis management fruitfulness and it is good
indicator and controlling actor of organizational continuity and its
sustainable development advanced possibilities. The research reliable
rules are derived for the safety and reliable continuity of energetic
critical infrastructure organization in the crisis situation.
Abstract: Bezier curves have useful properties for path
generation problem, for instance, it can generate the reference
trajectory for vehicles to satisfy the path constraints. Both algorithms
join cubic Bezier curve segment smoothly to generate the path. Some
of the useful properties of Bezier are curvature. In mathematics,
curvature is the amount by which a geometric object deviates from
being flat, or straight in the case of a line. Another extrinsic example
of curvature is a circle, where the curvature is equal to the reciprocal
of its radius at any point on the circle. The smaller the radius, the
higher the curvature thus the vehicle needs to bend sharply. In this
study, we use Bezier curve to fit highway-like curve. We use
different approach to find the best approximation for the curve so that
it will resembles highway-like curve. We compute curvature value by
analytical differentiation of the Bezier Curve. We will then compute
the maximum speed for driving using the curvature information
obtained. Our research works on some assumptions; first, the Bezier
curve estimates the real shape of the curve which can be verified
visually. Even though, fitting process of Bezier curve does not
interpolate exactly on the curve of interest, we believe that the
estimation of speed are acceptable. We verified our result with the
manual calculation of the curvature from the map.
Abstract: In the present study, feasibility of the selective surface
hydrophilization of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by microwave treatment
was evaluated to facilitate the separation from automotive shredder
residue (ASR), by the froth flotation. The combination of 60 sec
microwave treatment with PAC, a sharp and significant decrease about
16.5° contact angle of PVC was observed in ASR plastic compared
with other plastics. The microwave treatment with the addition of PAC
resulted in a synergetic effect for the froth flotation, which may be a
result of the 90% selective separation of PVC from ASR plastics, with
82% purity. While, simple mixing with a nanometallic Ca/CaO/PO4
dispersion mixture immobilized 95-100% of heavy metals in ASR
soil/residues. The quantity of heavy metals leached from thermal
residues after treatment by nanometallic Ca/CaO/PO4 was lower than
the Korean standard regulatory limit for hazardous waste landfills.
Microwave treatment can be a simple and effective method for PVC
separation from ASR plastics.
Abstract: Customer’ needs, quality, and value creation while
reducing costs through supply chain management provides challenges
and opportunities for companies and researchers. In the light of these
challenges, modern ideas must contribute to counter these challenges
and exploit opportunities. Therefore, this paper discusses the impact
of the quality cost on revenue sharing as a most important incentive
to configure business networks. This paper develops the quality cost approach to align with the
modern era. It develops a model to measure quality costs which
might enable firms to manage revenue sharing in a supply chain. The
developed model includes five categories; besides the well-known
four categories (namely prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal
failure costs, and external failure costs), a new category has been
developed in this research as a new vision of the relationship between
quality costs and innovations in industry. This new category is
Recycle Cost. This paper also examines whether such quality costs in
supply chains influence the revenue sharing between partners. Using the author's quality cost model, the relationship between
quality costs and revenue sharing among partners is examined using a
case study in an Egyptian manufacturing company which is a part of
a supply chain. This paper argues that the revenue-sharing proportion
allocated to supplier increases as the recycle cost of supplier
increases, and the revenue-sharing proportion allocated to
manufacturer increases as the prevention and appraisal costs increase,
as well as the failure costs, the recycle costs of manufacturer, and the
recycle costs of suppliers decrease. However, the results present
surprising findings. The purposes of this study are developing quality cost approach
and understanding the relationships between quality costs and
revenue sharing in supply chains. Therefore, the present study
contributes to theory and practice by explaining how the cost of
recycling can be combined in quality cost model to better
understanding the revenue sharing among partners in supply chains.
Abstract: "Sport Guts" in Japanese anime developed not only to
strengthen mentality but also to challenge for objectives. This paper
helps to understand the development of Japanese girl anime, and its
philosophical concepts of Japanese amine. This paper focuses on girls’ sport anime “Sport Guts,”, which is the
major philosophy of Japanese girl anime and centers on a girl who is
enthusiastic about volleyball and makes an effort to compete in the
World Series by focusing on girl anime by Tezuka Osamu, and using
the methodology of Buddhism. To understand “Sport Guts,” the study of Japanese girl anime is
significant because major findings of the study is to investigate
changes of girl anime, and the philosophy of “Sports Guts,” which
gives encouragement and strength in girls’ lives.
Abstract: Since the advances in digital imaging technologies have led to
development of high quality digital devices, there are a lot of illegal copies
of copyrighted video content on the Internet. Also, unauthorized editing is
occurred frequently. Thus, we propose an editing prevention technique for
high-quality (HQ) video that can prevent these illegally edited copies from
spreading out. The proposed technique is applied spatial and temporal gradient
methods to improve the fidelity and detection performance. Also, the scheme
duplicates the embedding signal temporally to alleviate the signal reduction
caused by geometric and signal-processing distortions. Experimental results
show that the proposed scheme achieves better performance than previously
proposed schemes and it has high fidelity. The proposed scheme can be used
in unauthorized access prevention method of visual communication or traitor
tracking applications which need fast detection process to prevent illegally
edited video content from spreading out.
Abstract: In this paper, a learning algorithm using neuronal networks to improve the roll stability and prevent the rollover in a single unit heavy vehicle is proposed. First, LQR control to keep balanced normalized rollovers, between front and rear axles, below the unity, then a data collected from this controller is used as a training basis of a neuronal regulator. The ANN controller is thereafter applied for the nonlinear side force model, and gives satisfactory results than the LQR one.
Abstract: The study of implicature which is one of the
discussions of pragmatics is such an interesting and challenging topic
to discuss. Implicature is such a meaning which is implied in such an
utterance which is not the same as its literal meaning. The rapid
development of information technology results social networks as
media to broadcast messages. The broadcast messages may be in the
form of jokes which contain implicature. The research applies the
pragmatic equivalent method to analyze the topics of jokes based on
the implicatures contained in them. Furthermore, the method is also
applied to reveal the purpose of creating implicature in jokes. The
findings include the kinds of implicature found in jokes which are
classified into conventional implicature and conversational
implicature. Then, in detailed analysis, implicature in jokes is divided
into implicature related to gender, culture, and social phenomena.
Furthermore, implicature in jokes may not only be used to give
entertainment but also to soften criticisms or satire so that it does not
sound rude and harsh.
Abstract: This paper presents the development of a mobile
application for students at the Faculty of Information Technology,
Rangsit University (RSU), Thailand. RSU upgrades an enrollment
process by improving its information systems. Students can
download the RSU APP easily in order to access the RSU substantial
information. The reason of having a mobile application is to help
students to access the system regardless of time and place. The objectives of this paper include: 1. To develop an application
on iOS platform for those students at the Faculty of Information
Technology, Rangsit University, Thailand. 2. To obtain the students’
perception towards the new mobile app. The target group is those
from the freshman year till the senior year of the faculty of
Information Technology, Rangsit University. The new mobile application, called as RSU APP, is developed by
the department of Information Technology, Rangsit University. It
contains useful features and various functionalities particularly on
those that can give support to students. The core contents of the app
consist of RSU’s announcement, calendar, events, activities, and ebook.
The mobile app is developed on the iOS platform. The user
satisfaction is analyzed from the interview data from 81 interviewees
as well as a Google application like a Google form which 122
interviewees are involved. The result shows that users are satisfied
with the application as they score it the most satisfaction level at 4.67
SD 0.52. The score for the question if users can learn and use the
application quickly is high which is 4.82 SD 0.71. On the other hand,
the lowest satisfaction rating is in the app’s form, apps lists, with the
satisfaction level as 4.01 SD 0.45.
Abstract: As one of the convenient and noninvasive sensing
approaches, the automatic limb girth measurement has been applied
to detect intention behind human motion from muscle deformation.
The sensing validity has been elaborated by preliminary researches
but still need more fundamental studies, especially on kinetic
contraction modes. Based on the novel fabric strain sensors, a soft
and smart limb girth measurement system was developed by the
authors’ group, which can measure the limb girth in-motion.
Experiments were carried out on elbow isometric flexion and elbow
isokinetic flexion (biceps’ isokinetic contractions) of 90°/s, 60°/s, and
120°/s for 10 subjects (2 canoeists and 8 ordinary people). After
removal of natural circumferential increments due to elbow position,
the joint torque is found not uniformly sensitive to the limb
circumferential strains, but declining as elbow joint angle rises,
regardless of the angular speed. Moreover, the maximum joint torque
was found as an exponential function of the joint’s angular speed.
This research highly contributes to the application of the automatic
limb girth measuring during kinetic contractions, and it is useful to
predict the contraction level of voluntary skeletal muscles.
Abstract: This study focuses on the stress analysis of Mandibular
Advancement Devices (MADs), which are considered as a standard
treatment of snoring that promoted by American Academy of Sleep
Medicine (AASM). Snoring is the most significant feature of
sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). SDB will lead to serious problems
in human health. Oral appliances are ensured in therapeutic effect and
compliance, especially the MADs. This paper proposes a new MAD
design, and the finite element analysis (FEA) is introduced to precede
the stress simulation for this MAD.
Abstract: Inspired by the Formula-1 competition, IMechE
(Institute of Mechanical Engineers) and Formula SAE (Society of
Mechanical Engineers) organize annual competitions for University
and College students worldwide to compete with a single-seat racecar
they have designed and built. Design of the chassis or the frame is a
key component of the competition because the weight and stiffness
properties are directly related with the performance of the car and the
safety of the driver. In addition, a reduced weight of the chassis has
direct influence on the design of other components in the car. Among
others, it improves the power to weight ratio and the aerodynamic
performance. As the power output of the engine or the battery
installed in the car is limited to 80 kW, increasing the power to
weight ratio demands reduction of the weight of the chassis, which
represents the major part of the weight of the car. In order to reduce
the weight of the car, ION Racing team from University of
Stavanger, Norway, opted for a monocoque design. To ensure
fulfilment of the competition requirements of the chassis, the
monocoque design should provide sufficient torsional stiffness and
absorb the impact energy in case of possible collision. The study reported in this article is based on the requirements for
Formula Student competition. As part of this study, diverse
mechanical tests were conducted to determine the mechanical
properties and performances of the monocoque design. Upon a
comprehensive theoretical study of the mechanical properties of
sandwich composite materials and the requirements of monocoque
design in the competition rules, diverse tests were conducted
including 3-point bending test, perimeter shear test and test for
absorbed energy. The test panels were homemade and prepared with
equivalent size of the side impact zone of the monocoque, i.e. 275
mm x 500 mm, so that the obtained results from the tests can be
representative. Different layups of the test panels with identical core
material and the same number of layers of carbon fibre were tested
and compared. Influence of the core material thickness was also
studied. Furthermore, analytical calculations and numerical analysis
were conducted to check compliance to the stated rules for Structural
Equivalency with steel grade SAE/AISI 1010. The test results were
also compared with calculated results with respect to bending and
torsional stiffness, energy absorption, buckling, etc. The obtained results demonstrate that the material composition
and strength of the composite material selected for the monocoque
design has equivalent structural properties as a welded frame and thus
comply with the competition requirements. The developed analytical
calculation algorithms and relations will be useful for future
monocoque designs with different lay-ups and compositions.
Abstract: The study is the way to identify the problems that
occur in organizing short course’s lifelong learning in the information
and communication technology (ICT) education which are faced by
the lecturer and staff at the Mara Skill Institute and Industrial
Training Institute in Pahang Malaysia. The important aspects of these
issues are classified to five which are selecting the courses
administrative. Fifty lecturers and staff were selected as a respondent.
The sample is selected by using the non-random sampling method
purpose sampling. The questionnaire is used as a research instrument
and divided into five main parts. All the data that gain from the
questionnaire are analyzed by using the SPSS in term of mean,
standard deviation and percentage. The findings showed, there are the
problems occur in organizing the short course for lifelong learning in
ICT education.
Abstract: Rivers have transient storage or dead zones where
injected pollutants or solutes are entrapped for considerable period of
time, known as residence time, before being released into the main
flowing zones of rivers. In this study, a new empirical expression for
residence time, implementing genetic programming on published
dispersion data, has been derived. The proposed expression uses few
hydraulic and geometric characteristics of rivers which are normally
known to the authorities. When compared with some reported
expressions, based on various statistical indices, it can be concluded
that the proposed expression predicts the residence time of pollutants
in natural rivers more accurately.
Abstract: During the last decades, a number of food crises such
as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), Mad-Cow disease,
Dioxin in chicken food, Food-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), have
certainly inflected the reliability of the food industry. Consequently,
the trend in applying different scientific methods of risk assessment
in food safety has obtained more attentions in the academic and
practice. However, lack of practical approach considering entire food
supply chain is tangible in the academic literature. In this regard, this
paper aims to apply risk assessment tool (FMEA) with integration of
Human Factor along the entire supply chain of food production and
test the method in a case study of Diary production, and analyze its
results.