Abstract: Reduction of CO2 emissions has become a priority for
several countries due to increasing concerns about global warming
and climate change, especially in the developed countries. Residential
sector is considered one of the most important sectors for
considerable reduction of CO2 emissions since it represents a
significant amount of the total consumed energy in those countries. A
significant CO2 reduction cannot be achieved unless some initiatives
have been adopted in the policy of these countries. Introducing micro
combined heat and power (!CHP) systems into residential energy
systems is one of these initiatives, since such a technology offers
several advantages. Moreover, !CHP technology has the opportunity
to be operated not only by natural gas but it could also be operated by
renewable fuels. However, this technology can be operated by
different operation strategies. Each strategy has some advantages and
disadvantages.
This paper provides a review of different operation strategies of
such a technology used for residential energy systems, especially for
single dwellings. The review summarizes key points that outline the
trend of previous research carried out in this field.
Abstract: Calcium phosphate cement (CPC) is one of the most
attractive bioceramics due to its moldable and shape ability to fill
complicated bony cavities or small dental defect positions. In this
study, CPC was produced by using mixture of tetracalcium phosphate
(TTCP, Ca4O(PO4)2) and dicalcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA,
CaHPO4) in equimolar ratio (1/1) with aqueous solutions of acetic
acid (C2H4O2) and disodium hydrogen phosphate dehydrate
(Na2HPO4.2H2O) in combination with sodium alginate in order to
improve theirs moldable characteristic. The concentration of the
aqueous solutions and sodium alginate were varied to investigate the
effect of different aqueous solutions and alginate on properties of the
cements. The cement paste was prepared by mixing cement powder
(P) with aqueous solution (L) in a P/L ratio of 1.0g/0.35ml. X-ray
diffraction (XRD) was used to analyses phase formation of the
cements. Setting time and compressive strength of the set CPCs were
measured using the Gilmore apparatus and Universal testing
machine, respectively.
The results showed that CPCs could be produced by using both
basic (Na2HPO4.2H2O) and acidic (C2H4O2) solutions. XRD results
show the precipitation of hydroxyapatite in all cement samples. No
change in phase formation among cements using difference
concentrations of Na2HPO4.2H2O solutions. With increasing
concentration of acidic solutions, samples obtained less
hydroxyapatite with a high dicalcium phosphate dehydrate leaded to
a shorter setting time. Samples with sodium alginate exhibited higher
crystallization of hydroxyapatite than that of without alginate as a
result of shorten setting time in a basic solution but a longer setting
time in an acidic solution. The stronger cement was attained from
samples using the acidic solution with sodium alginate; however the
strength was lower than that of using the basic solution.
Abstract: Climate change would cause mean sea level to rise +1
m by 2100. To prevent coastal floods resulting from the sea level
rising, different flood control structures have been built, with
acceptable protection levels. Gothenburg with the River Göta älv
located on the southwest coast of Sweden is a vulnerable city to the
accelerated rises in mean sea level. We evaluated using a sea barrage
in the River Göta älv to protect Gothenburg during this century. The
highest sea level was estimated to 2.95 m above the current mean sea
level by 2100. To verify flood protection against such high sea levels,
both barriers have to be closed. To prevent high water level in the
River Göta älv reservoir, the barriers would be open when the sea
level is low. The suggested flood control structures would
successfully protect the city from flooding events during this century.
Abstract: The thermo-mechanical behaviour of concrete energy
pile foundations with different single and double U-tube shapes
incorporated was analysed using the Comsol Multi-physics package.
For the analysis, a 3D numerical model in real scale of the concrete
pile and surrounding soil was simulated regarding actual operation of
ground heat exchangers (GHE) and the surrounding ambient
temperature. Based on initial ground temperature profile measured in
situ, tube inlet temperature was considered to range from 6oC to 0oC
(during the contraction process) over a 30-day period. Extra thermal
stresses and deformations were calculated during the simulations and
differences arising from the use of two different systems (single-tube
and double-tube) were analysed. The results revealed no significant
difference for extra thermal stresses at the centre of the pile in either
system. However, displacements over the pile length were found to
be up to 1.5-fold higher in the double-tube system than the singletube
system.
Abstract: The postharvest quality management of tomatoes is
important to limit the amount of losses that occur due to deterioration
between harvest and consumption. This study was undertaken to
investigate the effects of pre- and postharvest integrated agrotechnologies,
involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest
storage conditions, on the postharvest quality attributes of four
tomato cultivars. Tomato fruit firmness, colour (hue angle (h°) and
L* value), pH and total soluble solids for the cultivars Bona,
Star 9037, Star 9009 and Zeal, grown in a fan-pad evaporativelycooled
and an open-ended naturally-ventilated tunnel, were harvested
at the mature-green stage. The tomatoes were stored for 28 days
under cold storage conditions, with a temperature of 13°C and RH of
85%, and under ambient air conditions, with a temperature of 23±
2°C and RH of 52± 4%. This study has provided information on the
effect of integrated pre-harvest and postharvest agro-technologies,
involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest storage
environment on the postharvest quality attributes of four of the
tomato cultivars in South Africa. NVT-grown tomatoes retained
better textural qualities, but ripened faster by changing from green to
red faster, although these were reduced under cold storage conditions.
FPVT-grown tomatoes had lower firmness, but ripened slowly with
higher colour attributes. With cold storage conditions, the firmness of
FPVT-grown tomatoes was maintained. Cultivar Bona firmness and
colour qualities depreciated the fastest, but it had higher TSS content
and lower pH values. Star 9009 and Star 9037 presented better
quality, by retaining higher firmness and ripening slowly, but they
had the lowest TSS contents and high pH values, especially
Star 9037. Cold storage improved the firmness of tomato cultivars
with poor textural quality and faster colour changes.
Abstract: This paper is drawn from a wider study of the
management of gender, age and disability diversity in the banking
sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which aims to develop
a framework for diversity management (DM) in this sector. The
paper focuses on the management of disability diversity. The purpose
of the paper is to assist in understanding disability DM in the banking
sector in KSA and to make suggestions for its enhancement. Hence, it
contributes to filling a research gap, as there is a dearth of literature
on disability DM, in KSA in general, and in the banking sector
specifically.
Discrimination against people with disabilities is a social issue that
has not been entirely overcome in any society. However, in KSA,
Islam informs almost every aspect of daily life including work, and
Islam is against discrimination. Hence, in KSA, there are regulations
to accommodate people with disabilities; however, employers are still
free not to hire job applicants with disabilities specifically because of
their condition. Indeed, disabled people are almost entirely absent
from the labour market.
There are 12 Saudi-owned or part-Saudi-owned banks in KSA and
two managers from each of these were interviewed, making a total of
24. The interviews aimed to investigate empirically the understanding
of managers in the banking sector in KSA of diversity management,
including disability DM, in the banking sector. The interview data
were analysed using thematic analysis. Two interviewees stated that
banks used the employment of people with disabilities to enhance
their corporate image, while five expressed the opinion that disabled
employees could contribute to the bank provided they did not have to
deal with customers face-to-face. Nine of the interviewees perceived
that disabled employees could be of value to the bank for their own
sake, not only in ‘behind the scenes’ roles. Another two interviewees
mentioned that employing disabled people could be part of the bank’s
community service programme and one thought it would be part of
the bank’s Saudisation efforts. The remaining five interviewees did
not know how disabled people could contribute to the bank.
The findings show that disability DM in the banking sector in
KSA is a relatively new concept, and is not yet well understood. In
the light of the findings, in order to achieve the purpose of the paper,
the following suggestions were made for the enhancement of
disability DM in the banking sector in KSA. A change in attitudes
towards disabled people is necessary. Such a change in the workplace
can only be achieved if a top-down approach is taken to the
integration of disabled people. Hence, it is suggested that
management and employees follow a course in disability awareness.
Further, a diversity officer in the HR department could enhance the
integration of disabled people into the banking workforce. It is also
suggested that greater government support is required through closely
monitored and enforced anti-discrimination legislation. Moreover,
flexible working arrangements such as part-time work would
facilitate the employment of disabled people and benefit other groups
of employees.
Abstract: Hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films have
been synthesized by a radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical
vapor deposition (rf-PECVD) technique with different bias voltage
from 0.0 to -0.5 kV. The Raman spectra displayed the polymer-like
hydrogenated amorphous carbon (PLCH) film with 0.0 to -0.1 and
a-C:H films with -0.2 to -0.5 kV of bias voltages. The surface chemical
information of all films were studied by X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy (XPS) technique, presented to C-C (sp2 and sp3) and C-O
bonds, and relative carbon (C) and oxygen (O) atomics contents. The
O contamination had affected on structure and optical properties. The
true density of PLCH and a-C:H films were characterized by X-ray
refractivity (XRR) method, showed the result as in the range of
1.16-1.73 g/cm3 that depending on an increasing of bias voltage. The
hardness was proportional to the true density of films. In addition, the
optical properties i.e. refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k)
of these films were determined by a spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE)
method that give formation to in 1.62-2.10 (n) and 0.04-0.15 (k)
respectively. These results indicated that the optical properties
confirmed the Raman results as presenting the structure changed with
applied bias voltage increased.
Abstract: Climate change will affect the hydrological cycle in
many different ways such as increase in evaporation and rainfalls.
There have been growing interests among researchers to identify the
nature of trends in historical rainfall data in many different parts of
the world. This paper examines the trends in annual maximum
rainfall data from 30 stations in New South Wales, Australia by using
two non-parametric tests, Mann-Kendall (MK) and Spearman’s Rho
(SR). Rainfall data were analyzed for fifteen different durations
ranging from 6 min to 3 days. It is found that the sub-hourly
durations (6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 48 minutes) show statistically
significant positive (upward) trends whereas longer duration (subdaily
and daily) events generally show a statistically significant
negative (downward) trend. It is also found that the MK test and SR
test provide notably different results for some rainfall event durations
considered in this study. Since shorter duration sub-hourly rainfall
events show positive trends at many stations, the design rainfall data
based on stationary frequency analysis for these durations need to be
adjusted to account for the impact of climate change. These shorter
durations are more relevant to many urban development projects
based on smaller catchments having a much shorter response time.
Abstract: Recently, there have been a lot of earthquakes in Japan.
It is necessary to promote seismic isolation devices for buildings. The
devices have been hardly diffused in attached houses, because the
devices are very expensive. We should develop a low-cost seismic
isolation device for detached houses. We suggested a new seismic
isolation device which uses a two-layer circular tube as a unit. If
hysteresis is produced in the two-layer circular tube under lateral
compression load, we think that the two-layer circular tube can have
energy absorbing capacity. It is necessary to contact the outer layer
and the inner layer to produce hysteresis. We have previously reported
how the inner layer comes in contact with the outer layer from a
perspective of analysis used mechanics of materials. We have clarified
that the inner layer comes in contact with the outer layer under a lateral
compression load. In this paper, we explored contact area between the
outer layer and the inner layer under a lateral compression load by
using FEA. We think that changing the inner layer’s thickness is
effective in increase the contact area. In order to change the inner
layer’s thickness, we changed the shape of the inner layer. As a result,
the contact area changes depending on the inner layer’s thickness.
Additionally, we experimented to check whether hysteresis occurs in
fact. As a consequence, we can reveal hysteresis in the two-layer
circular tube under the condition.
Abstract: Different services based on different switching
techniques in wireless networks leads to drastic changes in the
properties of network traffic. Because of these diversities in services,
network traffic is expected to undergo qualitative and quantitative
variations. Hence, assumption of traffic characteristics and the
prediction of network events become more complex for the wireless
networks. In this paper, the traffic characteristics have been studied
by collecting traces from the mobile switching centre (MSC). The
traces include initiation and termination time, originating node, home
station id, foreign station id. Traffic parameters namely, call interarrival
and holding times were estimated statistically. The results
show that call inter-arrival and distribution time in this wireless
network is heavy-tailed and follow gamma distributions. They are
asymptotically long-range dependent. It is also found that the call
holding times are best fitted with lognormal distribution. Based on
these observations, an analytical model for performance estimation is
also proposed.
Abstract: It’s an era of high competition, dynamism and
complexities which have forced organizations to change dramatically
due to rising customer expectations. Marketers are under constant
pressure to deliver finest to their customers. With the advent of
technology, marketers have identified latest advertising media
options to reach out to target audience. But the conventional ways of
print advertisements still holds a deeper penetration and coverage.
Various researchers and practitioners have studied the area of print
media advertising and have tried to identify and implement
advertisement effectiveness enablers. The purpose of this paper is to
suggest select enablers for print media in Indian context using an
integrated approach of review of literature and investigative
interviews with academicians and experts from the area of
advertising.
Abstract: Climate change will affect various aspects of
hydrological cycle such as rainfall. A change in rainfall will affect
flood magnitude and frequency in future which will affect the design
and operation of hydraulic structures. In this paper, trends in subhourly,
sub-daily, and daily extreme rainfall events from 18 rainfall
stations located in Tasmania, Australia are examined. Two nonparametric
tests (Mann-Kendall and Spearman’s Rho) are applied to
detect trends at 10%, 5%, and 1% significance levels. Sub-hourly (6,
12, 18, and 30 minutes) annual maximum rainfall events have been
found to experience statistically significant upward trends at 10%
level of significance. However, sub-daily durations (1 hour, 3 and 12
hours) exhibit decreasing trends and no trends exists for longer
duration rainfall events (e.g. 24 and 72 hours). Some of the durations
(e.g. 6 minutes and 6 hours) show similar results (with upward
trends) for both the tests. For 12, 18, 60 minutes and 3 hours
durations both the tests show similar downward trends. This finding
has important implication for Tasmania in the design of urban
infrastructure where shorter duration rainfall events are more relevant
for smaller urban catchments such as parking lots, roof catchments
and smaller sub-divisions.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to propose a novel technique
to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) in a highly dynamic
environment. The MANET changes its topology dynamically as the
nodes are moved frequently. This will cause link failure between
mobile nodes. MANET cannot ensure reliability without delay. The
relay node is selected based on achieving QoS in previous
transmission. It considers one more factor Connection Existence
Period (CEP) to ensure reliability. CEP is to find out the period
during that connection exists between the nodes. The node with
highest CEP becomes a next relay node. The relay node is selected
dynamically to avoid frequent failure. The bandwidth of each link
changed dynamically based on service rate and request rate. This
paper proposes Active bandwidth setting up algorithm to guarantee
the QoS. The series of results obtained by using the Network
Simulator (NS-2) demonstrate the viability of our proposed
techniques.
Abstract: Fuzzy systems have been successfully used for
exchange rate forecasting. However, fuzzy system is very confusing
and complex to be designed by an expert, as there is a large set of
parameters (fuzzy knowledge base) that must be selected, it is not a
simple task to select the appropriate fuzzy knowledge base for an
exchange rate forecasting. The researchers often look the effect of
fuzzy knowledge base on the performances of fuzzy system
forecasting. This paper proposes a genetic fuzzy predictor to forecast
the future value of daily US Dollar/Euro exchange rate time’s series.
A range of methodologies based on a set of fuzzy predictor’s which
allow the forecasting of the same time series, but with a different
fuzzy partition. Each fuzzy predictor is built from two stages, where
each stage is performed by a real genetic algorithm.
Abstract: The phased-array ultrasound transducer types are
utilities for medical ultrasonography as well as optical imaging.
However, their discontinuity characteristic limits the applications due
to the artifacts contaminated into the reconstructed images. Because
of the effects of the ultrasound pressure field pattern to the echo
ultrasonic waves as well as the optical modulated signal, the side
lobes of the focused ultrasound beam induced by discontinuity of the
phased-array ultrasound transducer might the reason of the artifacts.
In this paper, a simple method in approach of numerical simulation
was used to investigate the limitation of discontinuity of the elements
in phased-array ultrasound transducer and their effects to the
ultrasound pressure field. Take into account the change of ultrasound
pressure field patterns in the conditions of variation of the pitches
between elements of the phased-array ultrasound transducer, the
appropriated parameters for phased-array ultrasound transducer
design were asserted quantitatively.
Abstract: The aim of present study was to monitor the presence
of Trichodina sp. in Rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss collected
from various fish farms in the western provinces of Iran during
January, 2013- January, 2014. Out of 675 sampled fish 335, (49.16%)
were infested with Trichodina. The highest prevalence was observed
in the spring and winter followed by autumn and summer. In general,
the intensity of infection was low except in cases where outbreaks of
Trichodiniasis endangered the survival of fish in some ponds. In light
infestation Trichodina is usually present on gills, fins and skin of
apparently healthy fish. Clinical signs of Trichodiniasis only appear
on fish with heavy infections and cases of moderate ones that are
usually exposed to one or more stress factors including, rough
handling during transportation from ponds, overcrowdness,
malnutrition, high of free ammonia and low of oxygen concentration.
Clinical signs of Trichodiniasis in sampled fish were sluggish
movement, loss of appetite, black coloration, necrosis and ulcer on
different parts of the body, detached scales and excessive
accumulation of mucous in gill pouches. The most obvious
histopathological changes in diseased fish were sloughing of the
epidermal layer, aggregation of leucocytes and melanine-carrying
cells (between the dermis and hypodermis) and proliferative changes
including hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the epithelial lining cells of
gill filaments which resulted in fusion of secondary lamellae. Control
of Trichodiniasis, has been achieved by formalin bath treatment at a
concentration of 250 ppm for one hour.
Abstract: The objectives of this study is to investigate the
existence of the sticky cost behavior of firms listed in the Indonesia
Stock Exchange (IDX) and to find evidence on the effects of sticky
operating expenses (SG&A expenses) on profitability of firms. For
the first objective, this study finds that the sticky cost behavior does
exist. For the second objective, this study finds that the stickier the
operating expenses the lesser future profitability of the firms. This
study concludes that sticky cost affects negatively to the performance
and, therefore, firms should include flexibility in designing the cost
structure of their firms.
Abstract: The North-eastern part of India, which receives
heavier rainfall than other parts of the subcontinent, is of great
concern now-a-days with regard to climate change. High intensity
rainfall for short duration and longer dry spell, occurring due to
impact of climate change, affects river morphology too. In the present
study, an attempt is made to delineate the North-eastern region of
India into some homogeneous clusters based on the Fuzzy Clustering
concept and to compare the resulting clusters obtained by using
conventional methods and nonconventional methods of clustering.
The concept of clustering is adapted in view of the fact that, impact
of climate change can be studied in a homogeneous region without
much variation, which can be helpful in studies related to water
resources planning and management. 10 IMD (Indian Meteorological
Department) stations, situated in various regions of the North-east,
have been selected for making the clusters. The results of the Fuzzy
C-Means (FCM) analysis show different clustering patterns for
different conditions. From the analysis and comparison it can be
concluded that nonconventional method of using GCM data is
somehow giving better results than the others. However, further
analysis can be done by taking daily data instead of monthly means to
reduce the effect of standardization.
Abstract: Medical imaging technology has experienced a
dramatic change in the last few years. Medical imaging refers to the
techniques and processes used to create images of the human body
(or parts thereof) for various clinical purposes such as medical
procedures and diagnosis or medical science including the study of
normal anatomy and function. With the growth of computers and
image technology, medical imaging has greatly influenced the
medical field. The diagnosis of a health problem is now highly
dependent on the quality and the credibility of the image analysis.
This paper deals with the various aspects and types of medical
imaging.
Abstract: This paper presents a method for the efficient
implementation of a unidirectional or bidirectional DC/DC converter.
The DC/DC converter is used essentially for energy exchange
between the low voltage service battery and a high voltage battery
commonly found in Electric Vehicle applications. In these
applications, apart from cost, efficiency of design is an important
characteristic. A useful way to reduce the size of electronic
equipment in the electric vehicles is proposed in this paper. The
technique simplifies the mechanical complexity and maximizes the
energy usage using the latest converter control techniques. Moreover
a bidirectional battery charger for hybrid electric vehicles is also
implemented in this paper. Several simulations on the test system
have been carried out in Matlab/Simulink environment. The results
exemplify the robustness of the proposed design methodology in case
of a 1.5 KW DC-DC converter.