Abstract: Simulation and modeling computer programs are
concerned with construction of models for analyzing different
perspectives and possibilities in changing conditions environment.
The paper presents theoretical justification and evaluation of
qualitative e-learning development model in perspective of advancing
modern technologies. There have been analyzed principles of
qualitative e-learning in higher education, productivity of studying
process using modern technologies, different kind of methods and
future perspectives of e-learning in formal education. Theoretically
grounded and practically tested model of developing e-learning
methods using different technologies for different type of classroom,
which can be used in professor-s decision making process to choose
the most effective e-learning methods has been worked out.
Abstract: In order to investigate a PROX microreactor
performance, two-dimensional modeling of the reacting flow
between two parallel plates is performed through a finite volume
method using an improved SIMPLE algorithm. A three-step surface
kinetics including hydrogen oxidation, carbon monoxide oxidation
and water-gas shift reaction is applied for a Pt-Fe/γ-Al2O3 catalyst
and operating temperatures of about 100ºC. Flow pattern, pressure
field, temperature distribution, and mole fractions of species are
found in the whole domain for all cases. Also, the required reactive
length for removing carbon monoxide from about 2% to less than 10
ppm is found. Furthermore, effects of hydraulic diameter, wall
temperature, and inlet mole fraction of air and water are investigated
by considering carbon monoxide selectivity and conversion. It is
found that air and water addition may improve the performance of
the microreactor in carbon monoxide removal in such operating
conditions; this is in agreement with the pervious published results.
Abstract: Truly successful bloggers, navigating the public to know them, often use their blogs as a way to better communicate with customers. Integrating with marketing tools, storytelling can be regarded as one of the most effective ways that businesses can follow to gain competitive edge. Even though the literature on marketing contains much discussion of traditional vehicles, the issue of business blogs applying storytelling has, as yet, received little attention. In the exploration stage, this paper identifies four storytelling disciplines and then presents a road map to business blogging. This paper also provides a two-path framework for blog storytelling and initiates an issue for further study.
Abstract: The effects of upflow liquid velocity (ULV) on
performance of expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) system were
investigated. The EGSB reactor, made from galvanized steel pipe
0.10 m diameter and 5 m height, had been used to treat piggery
wastewater, after passing through acidification tank. It consisted of
39.3 l working volume in reaction zone and 122 l working volume in
sedimentation zone, at the upper part. The reactor was seeded with
anaerobically digested sludge and operated at the ULVs of 4, 8, 12
and 16 m/h, consecutively, corresponding to organic loading rates of
9.6 – 13.0 kg COD/ (m3.d). The average COD concentrations in the
influent were 9,601 – 13,050 mg/l. The COD removal was not
significantly different, i.e. 93.0% - 94.0%, except at ULV 12 m/h where
SS in the influent was exceptionally high so that VSS washout had
occurred, leading to low COD removal. The FCOD and VFA
concentrations in the effluent of all experiments were not much
different, indicating the same range of treatment performance. The
biogas production decreased at higher ULV and ULV of 4 m/h is
suggested as design criterion for EGSB system.
Abstract: This paper presents a systematic approach for
designing Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) based
supplementary damping controllers for damping low frequency
oscillations in a single-machine infinite-bus power system. The
design problem of the proposed controller is formulated as an
optimization problem and RCGA is employed to search for optimal
controller parameters. By minimizing the time-domain based
objective function, in which the deviation in the oscillatory rotor
speed of the generator is involved; stability performance of the
system is improved. Simulation results are presented and compared
with a conventional method of tuning the damping controller
parameters to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed
design approach.
Abstract: Nowadays, offshore's complicated facilities need their
own communications requirements. Nevertheless, developing and
real-world applications of new communications technology are faced
with tremendous problems for new technology users, developers and
implementers. Traditional systems engineering cannot be capable to
develop a new technology effectively because it does not consider
the dynamics of the process. This paper focuses on the design of a
holistic model that represents the dynamics of new communication
technology development within offshore industry. The model shows
the behavior of technology development efforts. Furthermore,
implementing this model, results in new and useful insights about the
policy option analysis for developing a new communications
technology in offshore industry.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify the underlying
causes of late payment from the contractors- perspective in the
Malaysian construction industry and to recommend effective solutions
to mitigate late payment problems. The target groups of respondents in
this study were Grades G3, G5, G6 and G7 contractors with
specialization in building works and civil engineering works registered
with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in
Malaysia. Results from this study were analyzed with Statistical
Package for the Social Science (SPSS 15.0). From this study, it was
found that respondents have highest ranked five significant variables
out of a total of forty-one variables which can caused late payment
problems: a) cash flow problems due to deficiencies in client-s
management capacity (mean = 3.96); b) client-s ineffective utilization
of funds (mean = 3.88); c) scarcity of capital to finance the project
(mean = 3.81); d) clients failure to generate income from bank when
sales of houses do not hit the targeted amount (mean=3.72); and e)
poor cash flow because of lack of proper process implementation,
delay in releasing of the retention monies to contractor and delay in the
evaluation and certification of interim and final payment (mean =
3.66).
Abstract: Clustering is one of an interesting data mining topics
that can be applied in many fields. Recently, the problem of cluster
analysis is formulated as a problem of nonsmooth, nonconvex optimization,
and an algorithm for solving the cluster analysis problem
based on nonsmooth optimization techniques is developed. This
optimization problem has a number of characteristics that make it
challenging: it has many local minimum, the optimization variables
can be either continuous or categorical, and there are no exact
analytical derivatives. In this study we show how to apply a particular
class of optimization methods known as pattern search methods
to address these challenges. These methods do not explicitly use
derivatives, an important feature that has not been addressed in
previous studies. Results of numerical experiments are presented
which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Abstract: Potassium monopersulfate has been decomposed in
aqueous solution in the presence of Co(II). The effect of the main
operating variables has been assessed. Minimum variations in pH
exert a considerable influence on the process kinetics. Thus, when no
pH adjustment is considered, the actual effect of variables like initial
monopersulfate and/or catalyst concentration may be hindered. As
expected, temperature enhances the monopersulfate decomposition
rate by following the Arrhenius law. The activation energy in the
proximity of 85 kJ/mol has been obtained. Amongst the different
solids tested in the monopersulfate decomposition, only the
perovskite LaTi0.15Cu0.85O3 has shown a significant catalytic activity.
Abstract: The machining of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics
has come to constitute a significant challenge for many fields of
industry. The resulting surface finish of machined parts is of primary
concern for several reasons, including contact quality and impact on
the assembly. Therefore, the characterization and prediction of
roughness based on machining parameters are crucial for costeffective
operations. In this study, a PCD tool comprised of two
straight flutes was used to trim 32-ply carbon fiber laminates in a bid
to analyze the effects of the feed rate and the cutting speed on the
surface roughness. The results show that while the speed has but a
slight impact on the surface finish, the feed rate for its part affects it
strongly. A detailed study was also conducted on the effect of fiber
orientation on surface roughness, for quasi-isotropic laminates used
in aerospace. The resulting roughness profiles for the four-ply
orientation lay-up were compared, and it was found that fiber angle is
a critical parameter relating to surface roughness. One of the four
orientations studied led to very poor surface finishes, and
characteristic roughness profiles were identified and found to only
relate to the ply orientations of multilayer carbon fiber laminates.
Abstract: This paper presents a new type of mechanism and trajectory planning strategy for bipedal walking robot. The newly designed mechanism is able to improve the performance of bipedal walking robot in terms of energy efficiency and weight reduction by utilizing minimum number of actuators. The usage of parallelogram mechanism eliminates the needs of having an extra actuator at the knee joint. This mechanism works together with the joint space trajectory planning in order to realize straight legged walking which cannot be achieved by conventional inverse kinematics trajectory planning due to the singularity. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is confirmed by computer simulation results.
Abstract: Capacity and efficiency of any refrigerating system
diminish rapidly as the difference between the evaporating and
condensing temperature is increased by reduction in the evaporator
temperature. The single stage vapour compression refrigeration
system is limited to an evaporator temperature of -40 0C. Below
temperature of -40 0C the either cascade refrigeration system or multi
stage vapour compression system is employed. Present work
describes thermal design of main three heat exchangers namely
condenser (HTS), cascade condenser and evaporator (LTS) of
R404A-R508B and R410A-R23 cascade refrigeration system. Heat
transfer area of condenser (HTS), cascade condenser and evaporator
(LTS) for both systems have been compared and the effect of
condensing and evaporating temperature on heat-transfer area for
both systems have been studied under same operating condition. The
results shows that the required heat-transfer area of condenser and
cascade condenser for R410A-R23 cascade system is lower than the
R404A-R508B cascade system but heat transfer area of evaporator is
similar for both the system. The heat transfer area of condenser and
cascade condenser decreases with increase in condensing temperature
(Tc), whereas the heat transfer area of cascade condenser and
evaporator increases with increase in evaporating temperature (Te).
Abstract: The bridge vibration due to traffic loading has been a
subject of extensive research during the last decades. A number of
these studies are concerned with the effects of the unevenness of
roadways on the dynamic responses of highway bridges. The road
unevenness is often described as a random process that constitutes
of different wavelengths. Thus, the study focuses on examining
the effects of the random description of roadways on the dynamic
response and its variance. A new setting of variance based sensitivity
analysis is proposed and used to identify and quantify the
contributions of the roadway-s wavelengths to the variance of the
dynamic response. Furthermore, the effect of the vehicle-s speed on
the dynamic response is studied.
Abstract: The estrus female Etawah cross bred goats were
synchronized estrus by controlled internal drug release (CIDR)
implants for 10 days combined with PGF2α injection, and continued
by artificial insemination (AI) within the hours of 24 period. Vaginal
epithelium was taken to determine estrus cycle of the goats without
estrus synchronization. The estrus responds (the puffy of vulva and
vaginal pH) and percentage of pregnancy were investigated. The data
were analyzed descriptively and Independent Sample T-Test. The
results showed that the puffy of vulva and vaginal pH were
significantly different in synchronized estrus goats and control goats
(2.18 ± 0.33 cm vs. 1.20 ± 0.16 cm and 8.55 ± 0.63 vs. 8.22 ± 0.22).
Percentage of pregnancy was higher in synchronized estrus goats
(73.33%) than in control (53.3%). Estrus synchronization by using
CIDR implants and PGF2, continued by AI was effective to improve
reproduction performance of Etawah cross bred goats.
Abstract: Globalisation is a phenomenon that cannot be avoided.
As globalisation allowed free flow of inputs including labour, it may
affect job opportunities for the locals. Therefore, investigate the
determinants of labour supply is essential in understanding the
structure of labour market in the new era of globalization. The
objective of this article is to examine labour supply by taking into
account the globalisation effect. The study covers 3885 households in
Peninsular Malaysia who are chosen using stratified random
sampling. The labour supply model will be the basis for the analysis.
The basic labour supply determinants are own wage and non-labour
income. However, the extended labour supply model incorporates
other variables like spouse wage，number of children and
individuals characteristics like education level and age. Besides, the
globalization indicator will also be incorporated as another
independent variable.
Abstract: The aim of this work is to investigate on the internalflow
patterns in a plate heat exchanger channel, which affect the
rate of sedimentation fouling on the heat transfer surface of the
plate heat exchanger. The research methodologies were the
computer simulation using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
and the experimental works. COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS™
Version 3.3 was used to simulate the velocity flow fields to verify
the low and high flow regions. The results from the CFD technique
were then compared with the images obtained from the
experiments in which the fouling test rig was set up with a singlechannel
plate heat exchanger to monitor the fouling of calcium
carbonate. Two parameters were varied i.e., the crossing angle of
the two plate: 55/55, 10/10, and 55/10 degree, and the fluid flow
rate at the inlet: 0.0566, 0.1132 and 0.1698 m/s. The type of plate
“GX-12" (the surface area 0.12 m2, the depth 2.9 mm, the width of
fluid flow 215 mm and the thickness of stainless plate of 0.5 mm)
was used in this study. The results indicated that the velocity
distribution for the case of 55/55 degree seems to be very well
organized when compared with the others. Also, an increase in the
inlet velocity resulted in the reduction of fouling rate on the surface
of plate heat exchangers.
Abstract: The paper presents the service learning project titled
DicDucFac (idea-leadership-product), that was planned and
conducted by the team of information sciences students. It was
planned as a workshop dealing with the application of modern social
media (Facebook, YouTube, Gmail) for the purposes of selfpromotion,
free advertising via social networks and marketing own
ideas and/or products in the virtual world. The workshop was
organized for highly-skilled computer literate unemployed youth.
These youth, as final beneficiaries, will be able to apply what they
learned in this workshop to “the real world“, increasing their chances
for employment and self-employment. The results of the project
reveal that the basic, active-learning principles embodied in our
teaching approach allow students to learn more effectively and gain
essential life skills (from computer applications to teamwork) that
can only be learned by doing. It also shows that our students received
the essentials of professional ethics and citizenship through direct,
personal engagement in professional activities and the life of the
community.
Abstract: Three batches of yogurts were made with soy protein
isolate (SPI) supplemented with 2% (S2), 4% (S4) or 6% (S6) of
skim milk powder (SMP). The fourth batch (control; S0) was
prepared from SPI without SMP supplementation. Lactobacillus
delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus ATCC 11842 (Lb 11842) and
Streptococcus thermophilus ST 1342 (ST 1342) were used as the
starter culture. Biotransformation of the inactive forms, isoflavone
glycosides (IG) to biologically active forms, isoflavone aglycones
(IA), was determined during 28 d storage. The viability of both
microorganisms was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in S2, S4, and S6
than that in S0. The ratio of lactic acid/acetic acid in S0 was in the
range of 15.53 – 22.31 compared to 7.24 – 12.81 in S2, S4 and S6.
The biotransformation of IG to IA in S2, S4 and S6 was also
enhanced by 9.9 -13.3% compared to S0.
Abstract: Larval rearing and seed production of most of tetra fishes (Family: Characidae) is critical due to their small size larvae and limited numbers of spawning attempts. During the present study the effect of different live foods on growth and survival of neon tetra, Paracheirodon innesi larvae (length 3.1 ± 0.012mm, weight 0.048 ± 0.00015mg) and early fry (length = 6.44 ± 0.025mm, weight = 0.64 ± 0.003mg and 13 days old) was determined in two experiments. Experiment I was conducted for rearing the larvae by using mixed green water and Infusoria whereas, in Experiment II, early fry were fed with mixed zooplankton, decapsulated Artemia cyst and Artemia nauplii. The larvae fed on mixed green water showed significant (p
Abstract: Transient Stability is an important issue in power systems planning, operation and extension. The objective of transient stability analysis problem is not satisfied with mere transient instability detection or evaluation and it is most important to complement it by defining fast and efficient control measures in order to ensure system security. This paper presents a new Fuzzy Support Vector Machines (FSVM) to investigate the stability status of power systems and a modified generation rescheduling scheme to bring back the identified unstable cases to a more economical and stable operating point. FSVM improves the traditional SVM (Support Vector Machines) by adding fuzzy membership to each training sample to indicate the degree of membership of this sample to different classes. The preventive control based on economic generator rescheduling avoids the instability of the power systems with minimum change in operating cost under disturbed conditions. Numerical results on the New England 39 bus test system show the effectiveness of the proposed method.