Abstract: Flanges are widely used for connecting valves, pipes and other industrial devices such as gearboxes. Method of producing a flange has a considerable impact on the manner of their involvement with the industrial engines and gearboxes. By Using die casting instead of sand casting and machining for manufacturing flanges, production speed and dimensional accuracy of the parts increases. Also, in die casting, obtained dimensions are close to final dimensions and hence the need for machining flanges after die casting process decreases which makes a significant savings in raw materials and improves the mechanical properties of flanges. In this paper, a typical die of an industrial helical gearbox flange (size ISO 50) was designed and die casting process for producing this type of flange was simulated using ProCAST software. The results of simulation were used for optimizing die design. Finally, using the results of the analysis, optimized die was built.
Abstract: Tidal power can play a vital role in integrating as new source of renewable energy to the off-grid power connection in isolated areas, namely Sandwip, in Bangladesh. It can reduce the present energy crisis and improve the social, environmental and economic perspective of Bangladesh. Tidal energy is becoming popular around the world due to its own facilities. The development of any country largely depends on energy sector improvement. Lack of energy sector is because of hampering progress of any country development, and the energy sector will be stable by only depend on sustainable energy sources. Renewable energy having environmental friendly is the only sustainable solution of secure energy system. Bangladesh has a huge potential of tidal power at different locations, but effective measures on this issue have not been considered sincerely. This paper summarizes the current energy scenario, and Bangladesh can produce power approximately 53.19 MW across the country to reduce the growing energy demand utilizing tidal energy as well as it is shown that Sandwip is highly potential place to produce tidal power, which is estimated approximately 16.49 MW by investing only US $10.37 million. Besides this, cost management for tidal power plant has been also discussed.
Abstract: Power quality has become a very important issue recently due to the impact on electricity suppliers, equipment manufacturers and customers. Power quality is described as the variation of voltage, current and frequency in a power system. Voltage magnitude is one of the major factors that determine the quality of power. Indeed, custom power technology, the low-voltage counterpart of the more widely known flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) technology, aimed at high-voltage power transmission applications, has emerged as a credible solution to solve many problems relating to power quality problems. There are various power quality problems such as voltage sags, swells, flickers, interruptions and harmonics etc. Active Power Filter (APF) is one of the custom power devices and can mitigate harmonics, reactive power and unbalanced load currents originating from load side. In this study, an extensive review of APF studies, the advantages and disadvantages of each introduced methods are presented. The study also helps the researchers to choose the optimum control techniques and power circuit configuration for APF applications.
Abstract: This study aimed to analyse the application of
sufficiency economy in students’ ways of life on campus at Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University. Data was gathered through 394
questionnaires. The study results found that the majority of students
were confident that “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Overall, the
students applied the sufficiency economy at a great level, along with
being persons who do not exploit others, were satisfied with living
their lives moderately, according to the sufficiency economy.
Importance was also given to kindness and generosity. Importantly,
students were happy with living according to their individual
circumstances and status at the present. They saw the importance of
joint life planning, self-development, and self-dependence, always
learning to be satisfied with “adequate”. As for their practices and
ways of life, socially relational activities rated highly, especially
initiation activities for underclassmen at the university and the
seniority system, which are suitable for activities on campus.
Furthermore, the students knew how to build a career and find
supplemental income, knew how to earnestly work according to
convention to finish work, and preferred to study elective subjects
which directly benefit career-wise. The students’ application of
sufficiency economy philosophy principles depended on their lives in
their hometowns. The students from the provinces regularly applied
sufficiency economy philosophy to their lives, for example, by being
frugal, steadfast, determined, avoiding negligence, and making
economical spending plans; more so than the students from the
capital.
Abstract: Japanese society is experiencing an aging population and declining birth rate along with the popularization of higher education, spread of economic globalization, rapid progress in technical innovation, changes in employment conditions, and emergence of a knowledge-based society. Against this background, interest in career education at Japanese universities has increased in recent years. This paper describes how the government has implemented career education policies in Japan, and introduces the cases of two universities that have successfully linked career education to university education in Japan.
Abstract: Amongst the many priorities facing Libya following the 2011 uprising is the provision of a transport infrastructure that will meet the nation’s needs and not undermine its prospects for economic prosperity as with many developing economies non-technical issues such as management, planning and financing are the major barriers to the efficient and effective provision of transport infrastructure. This is particularly true in the case of the effective incorporation of sustainability criteria, and the research upon which this paper is based involves the examination of alternative ways of approaching this problem. It is probably fair to say that criteria that relate to sustainability have not, historically, featured strongly in Libya’s approach to the development of its transport infrastructure. However, the current reappraisal of how best to redevelop the country’s transport infrastructure that has been afforded by recent events may offer the opportunity to alter this. The research examines recent case studies from a number of countries to explore ways in which sustainability has been included as a criterion for planning and procurement decisions. There will also be an in-depth investigation into the Libyan planning and legislative context to examine the feasibility of the introduction of such sustainability criteria into the process of planning and procurement of Libya’s transport infrastructure.
Abstract: Organic cation transporter (OCT) 1could influence an individual’s response to various treatments and increase their susceptibility to diseases.Genotypic and allelic frequencies of nineteen non-synonymous and one intronic Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) from the OCT1 gene were determined in 101 unrelated healthy Zulu participants, using a SNaPshot® multiplex assay. Minor allele frequencies (MAF)were compared to representative populations of Africa, Asia and Europe, from Ensembl. MAFs for S14F, V519F, rs622342 and P341L were 2.0%, 6.0%, 6.0% and 1.0%, respectively. Sixteen of nineteen investigated non-synonymous SNPs were monomorphic. No study participant harbored variant alleles for S189L, G220V, P283L, G401S, M420V, M440I, G465R, I542V, R61C, R287G, C88S, A306T, A413V, I421F, C436F and V501E. Haplotype, CGTCGCCGCGCAAGAGGTGA, was most frequently observed (81.23%).Further investigations are encouraged to evaluate potential roles these SNPs could play in the therapeutic efficacy of clinically important drugs and in the development of various diseases in the Zulu population.
Abstract: The research on the development of speaking using folk tales based on performance activities aimed to (1) study the development of speaking skill for early- childhood students, and (2) evaluate the development of speaking skill before and after speaking activities. Ten students of Kindergarten level 2, who have enrolled in the subject of the research for speaking development of semester 2 in 2013 were purposively selected as the research cohort. The research tools were lesson plans for speaking activities and pre-post test for speaking development that were approved as content validity and reliability (IOC=.66-1.00,α=0.967). The research found that the development of speaking skill of the research samples before using performance activities on folk tales in developing speaking skill was in the normal high level. Additionally, the results appeared that the preschoolers after applying speaking skill on performance activities also imaginatively created their speaking skill.
Abstract: Search is the most obvious application of information
retrieval. The variety of widely obtainable biomedical data is
enormous and is expanding fast. This expansion makes the existing
techniques are not enough to extract the most interesting patterns
from the collection as per the user requirement. Recent researches are
concentrating more on semantic based searching than the traditional
term based searches. Algorithms for semantic searches are
implemented based on the relations exist between the words of the
documents. Ontologies are used as domain knowledge for identifying
the semantic relations as well as to structure the data for effective
information retrieval. Annotation of data with concepts of ontology is
one of the wide-ranging practices for clustering the documents. In
this paper, indexing based on concept and annotation are proposed
for clustering the biomedical documents. Fuzzy c-means (FCM)
clustering algorithm is used to cluster the documents. The
performances of the proposed methods are analyzed with traditional
term based clustering for PubMed articles in five different diseases
communities. The experimental results show that the proposed
methods outperform the term based fuzzy clustering.
Abstract: This paper deals with the problem of delay-dependent
stability for neural networks with distributed delays. Some new
sufficient condition are derived by constructing a novel
Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional approach. The criteria are
formulated in terms of a set of linear matrix inequalities, this is
convenient for numerically checking the system stability using the
powerful MATLAB LMI Toolbox. Moreover, in order to show the
stability condition in this paper gives much less conservative results
than those in the literature, numerical examples are considered.
Abstract: Effect of 2wt% Cu addition on tensile properties and
fracture behavior of Al-6Si-0.5Mg-2Ni alloy at various strain rates
were studied. The solution treated Al-6Si-0.5Mg-2Ni (-2Cu) alloys,
were aged isochronally for 1 hour at temperatures up to 300oC. The
uniaxial tension test was carried out at strain rate ranging from 10-4s-1
to 10-2s-1 in order to investigate the strain rate dependence of tensile
properties. Tensile strengths were found to increase with ageing
temperature and the maximum being attained ageing for 1 hr at
225oC (peak aged condition). Addition of 2wt% Cu resulted in an
increase in tensile properties at all strain rates. Evaluation of tensile
properties at three different strain rates (10-4, 10-3 and 10-2 s-1)
showed that strain rates affected the tensile properties significantly.
At higher strain rates the strength was better but ductility was poor.
Microstructures of broken specimens showed that both the void
coalescence and the interface debonding affect the fracture behavior
of the alloys
Abstract: Various biomass based resources, which can be used
as an extender, or a complete substitute of diesel fuel may have very
significant role in the development of agriculture, industrial and
transport sectors in the energy crisis. Use of Karanja oil methyl ester
biodiesel in a CI DI engine was found highly compatible with engine
performance along with lower exhaust emission as compared to
diesel fuel but with slightly higher NOx emission and low wear
characteristics. The combustion related properties of vegetable oils
are somewhat similar to diesel oil. Neat vegetable oils or their blends
with diesel, however, pose various long-term problems in
compression ignition engines. These undesirable features of
vegetable oils are because of their inherent properties like high
viscosity, low volatility, and polyunsaturated character. Pongamia
methyl ester (PME) was prepared by transesterification process using
methanol for long term engine operations. The physical and
combustion-related properties of the fuels thus developed were found
to be closer to that of the diesel. A neat biodiesel (PME) was selected
as a fuel for the tribological study of biofuels.
Two similar new engines were completely disassembled and
subjected to dimensioning of various vital moving parts and then
subjected to long-term endurance tests on neat biodiesel and diesel
respectively. After completion of the test, both the engines were
again disassembled for physical inspection and wear measurement of
various vital parts. The lubricating oil samples drawn from both
engines were subjected to atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) for
measurement of various wear metal traces present. The additional
lubricating property of biodiesel fuel due to higher viscosity as
compared to diesel fuel resulted in lower wear of moving parts and
thus improved the engine durability with a bio-diesel fuel. Results
reported from AAS tests confirmed substantially lower wear and thus
improved life for biodiesel operated engines.
Abstract: High temperature is one of the most detrimental
effects that cause important changes in concrete’s mechanical,
physical, and thermo-physical properties. As a result of these
changes, especially high strength concrete (HSC), may exhibit
damages such as cracks and spallings. To overcome this problem,
incorporating polymer fibers such as polypropylene (PP) in concrete
is a very well-known method. In this study, using RRH, as a
sustainable material, instead of PP fiber in HSC to prevent spallings
and improve physical and thermo-physical properties were
investigated. Therefore, seven HSC mixtures with 0.25 water to
binder ratio were prepared incorporating silica fume and blast furnace
slag. PP and RRH were used at 0.2-0.5% and 0.5-3% by weight of
cement, respectively. All specimens were subjected to high
temperatures (20 (control), 300, 600 and 900˚C) with a heating rate
of 2.5˚C/min and after cooling, residual physical and thermo-physical
properties were determined.
Abstract: This study compared the mechanical and microstructural properties produced during friction stir welding (FSW) of S275 structural steel in air and underwater. Post weld tests assessed the tensile strength, micro-hardness, distortion, Charpy impact toughness and fatigue performance in each case. The study showed that there was no significant difference in the strength, hardness or fatigue life of the air and underwater specimens. However, Charpy impact toughness was shown to decrease for the underwater specimens and was attributed to a lower degree of recrystallization caused by the higher rate of heat loss experienced when welding underwater. Reduced angular and longitudinal distortion was observed in the underwater welded plate compared to the plate welded in air.
Abstract: Purpose: This E-survey was carried out to facilitate the implementation and Education of VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) in Radiotherapy-RT departments and reasons for not using IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy). VMAT Skills in demand were also identified. Method: E-Survey was distributed to NHS hospitals across UK by email. Thirty NHS and related centres in England, 21 in Scotland, 3 in Ireland and 1 in Wales were contacted. This Survey was intended for those working in RT and Medical Physics and who were responsible for Treatment Planning and training. Results: This E-survey have indicated pathways adopted by staff to acquire VMAT skills, strategies to efficiently implement VMAT in RT departments and for obtaining VMAT Education. Conclusion: Despite poor survey response this survey has managed to highlight requirements for education and implementation of VMAT that are also applicable to IMRT. Other RT centres in world can also find these results useful.
Abstract: Localization of mobile robots are important tasks for
developing autonomous mobile robots. This paper proposes a method
to estimate positions of a mobile robot using a omnidirectional
camera on the robot. Landmarks for points of references are set
up on a field where the robot works. The omnidirectional camera
which can obtain 360 [deg] around images takes photographs of
these landmarks. The positions of the robots are estimated from
directions of these landmarks that are extracted from the images
by image processing. This method can obtain the robot positions
without accumulative position errors. Accuracy of the estimated
robot positions by the proposed method are evaluated through some
experiments. The results show that it can obtain the positions with
small standard deviations. Therefore the method has possibilities of
more accurate localization by tuning of appropriate offset parameters.
Abstract: Background. Food-related allergies and intolerances are frequently occurring in dogs. Diagnosis and monitoring according ‘Golden Standard’ of elimination efficiency is, however, time consuming, expensive, and requires expert clinical setting. In order to facilitate rapid and robust, quantitative testing of intolerance, and determining the individual offending foods, a serological test is implicated for Alimentary Induced Diseases and manifestations. Method. As we developed Medisynx IgG Human Screening Test ELISA before and the dog’ immune system is most similar to humans, we were able to develop Medisynx IgG Dog Screening Test ELISA as well. In this randomized, double-blind, split-sample, retro perspective study 47 dogs suffering from Canine Atopic Dermatitis (CAD) and several secondary induced reactions were included to participate in serological Medisynx IgG Dog Screening Test ELISA (within < 0,02 % SD). Results were expressed as titers relative to the standard OD readings to diagnose alimentary induced diseases and monitoring efficacy of an individual eliminating diet in dogs. Split sample analysis was performed by independently sending 2 times 3 ml serum under two unique codes. Results. The veterinarian monitored these dogs to check dog’ results at least at 3, 7, 21, 49, 70 days and after period of 6 and 12 months on an individual negative diet and a positive challenge (retrospectively) at 6 months. Data of each dog were recorded in a screening form and reported that a complete recovery of all clinical manifestations was observed at or less than 70 days (between 50 and 70 days) in the majority of dogs (44 out of 47 dogs =93.6%). Conclusion. Challenge results showed a significant result of 100% in specificity as well as 100% positive predicted value. On the other hand, sensitivity was 95,7% and negative predictive value was 95,7%. In conclusion, an individual diet based on IgG ELISA in dogs provides a significant improvement of atopic dermatitis and pruritus including all other non-specific defined allergic skin reactions as erythema, itching, biting and gnawing at toes, as well as to several secondary manifestations like chronic diarrhoea, chronic constipation, otitis media, obesity, laziness or inactive behaviour, pain and muscular stiffness causing a movement disorders, excessive lacrimation, hyper behaviour, nervous behaviour and not possible to stay alone at home, anxiety, biting and aggressive behaviour and disobedience behaviour. Furthermore, we conclude that a relatively more severe systemic candidiasis, as shown by relatively higher titer (class 3 and 4 IgG reactions to Candida albicans), influence the duration of recovery from clinical manifestations in affected dogs. These findings are consistent with our preliminary human clinical studies.
Abstract: Farmers are in need of regular and relevant information relating to new technologies. Production of extension materials has been found to be useful in facilitating the process. Extension materials help to provide information to reach large numbers of farmers quickly and economically. However, as good as extension materials are, previous materials produced are not used by farmers. The reasons for this include lack of involvement of farmers in the production of the extension materials, most of the extension materials are not relevant to the farmers’ environments, the agricultural extension agents lack capacity to prepare the materials, and many extension agents lack commitment. These problems led to this innovative capacity building of extension agents. This innovative approach involves five stages. The first stage is the diagnostic survey of farmers’ environment to collect useful information. The second stage is the development and production of draft extension materials. The third stage is the field testing and evaluation of draft materials by the same famers that were involved at the diagnostic stage. The fourth stage is the revision of the draft extension materials by incorporating suggestions from farmers. The fifth stage is the action plans. This process improves the capacity of agricultural extension agents in the preparation of extension materials and also promotes engagement of farmers and beneficiaries in the process. The process also makes farmers assume some level of ownership of the exercise and the extension materials.
Abstract: We present results from experimental price-setting oligopolies in which green firms undertake different levels of energy-saving investments motivated by public subsidies and demand-side advantages. We find that consumers reveal higher willingness to pay for greener sellers’ products. This observation in conjunction to the fact that greener sellers set higher prices is compatible with the use and interpretation of energy-saving behaviour as a differentiation strategy. However, sellers do not exploit the resulting advantage through sufficiently high price-cost margins, because they seem trapped into “run to stay still” competition. Regarding the use of public subsidies to energy-saving sellers we uncover an undesirable crowding-out effect of consumers’ intrinsic tendency to support green manufacturers. Namely, consumers may be less willing to support a green seller whose energy-saving strategy entails a direct financial benefit. Finally, we disentangle two alternative motivations for consumer’s attractions to pro-social firms; first, the self-interested recognition of the firm’s contribution to the public and private welfare and, second, the need to compensate a firm for the cost entailed in each pro-social action. Our results show the prevalence of the former over the latter.
Abstract: Outrigger-braced wall systems are commonly used to provide high rise buildings with the required lateral stiffness for wind and earthquake resistance. The existence of outriggers adds to the stiffness and strength of walls as reported by several studies. The effects of different parameters on the elasto-plastic dynamic behavior of outrigger-braced wall systems to earthquakes are investigated in this study. Parameters investigated include outrigger stiffness, concrete strength, and reinforcement arrangement as the main design parameters in wall design. In addition to being significantly affect the wall behavior, such parameters may lead to the change of failure mode and the delay of crack propagation and consequently failure as the wall is excited by earthquakes. Bi-linear stress-strain relation for concrete with limited tensile strength and truss members with bi-linear stress-strain relation for reinforcement were used in the finite element analysis of the problem. The famous earthquake record, El-Centro, 1940 is used in the study. Emphasize was given to the lateral drift, normal stresses and crack pattern as behavior controlling determinants. Results indicated significant effect of the studied parameters such that stiffer outrigger, higher grade concrete and concentrating the reinforcement at wall edges enhance the behavior of the system. Concrete stresses and cracking behavior are too much enhanced while less drift improvements are observed.