Abstract: This paper presents an environmental and technoeconomic
evaluation of light duty vehicles in Iran. A comprehensive
well-to-wheel (WTW) analysis is applied to compare different
automotive fuel chains, conventional internal combustion engines and
innovative vehicle powertrains. The study examines the
competitiveness of 15 various pathways in terms of energy
efficiencies, GHG emissions, and levelized cost of different energy
carriers. The results indicate that electric vehicles including battery
electric vehicles (BEV), fuel cell vehicles (FCV) and plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles (PHEV) increase the WTW energy efficiency by
54%, 51% and 46%, respectively, compared to common internal
combustion engines powered by gasoline. On the other hand,
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per kilometer of FCV and BEV
would be 48% lower than that of gasoline engines. It is concluded
that BEV has the lowest total cost of energy consumption and
external cost of emission, followed by internal combustion engines
(ICE) fueled by CNG. Conventional internal combustion engines
fueled by gasoline, on the other hand, would have the highest costs.
Abstract: The study site was located in Ratchaburi Province,
Thailand. Four experimental plots in dry dipterocarp forest (DDF)
and four plots in mixed deciduous forest (MDF) were set up to
estimate the above-ground biomass of tree, sapling and bamboo. The
allometry equations were used to investigate above-ground biomass
of these vegetation. Seedling and other understory were determined
using direct harvesting method. Carbon storage in above-ground
biomass was calculated based on IPCC 2006.
The results showed that the above-ground biomass of DDF at
20-40% slope,
Abstract: Gas hydrates can agglomerate and block multiphase oil and gas pipelines when water is present at hydrate forming conditions. Using "Cold Flow Technology", the aim is to condition gas hydrates so that they can be transported as a slurry mixture without a risk of agglomeration. During the pipeline shut down however, hydrate particles may settle in bends and build hydrate plugs. An experimental setup has been designed and constructed to study the flow of such plugs at start up operations. Experiments have been performed using model fluid and model hydrate particles. The propagations of initial plugs in a bend were recorded with impedance probes along the pipe. The experimental results show a dispersion of the plug front. A peak in pressure drop was also recorded when the plugs were passing the bend. The evolutions of the plugs have been simulated by numerical integration of the incompressible mass balance equations, with an imposed mixture velocity. The slip between particles and carrier fluid has been calculated using a drag relation together with a particle-fluid force balance.
Abstract: The spin (ms) and orbital (mo) magnetic moment of
the antiferromagnetic NiO and MnO have been studied in the local
spin density approximation (LSDA+U) within full potential linear
muffin-tin orbital (FP-LMTO method with in the coulomb interaction
U varying from 0 to 10eV, exchange interaction J, from 0 to 1.0eV,
and volume compression VC in range of 0 to 80%. Our calculated
results shown that the spin magnetic moments and the orbital
magnetic moments increase linearly with increasing U and J. While
the interesting behaviour appears when volume compression is
greater than 70% for NiO and 50% for MnO at which ms collapses.
Further increase of volume compression to be at 80% leads to the
disappearance of both magnetic moments.
Abstract: Kepsut-Dursunbey volcanic field (KDVF) is located
in NW Turkey and contains various products of the post-collisional
Neogene magmatic activity. Two distinct volcanic suites have been
recognized; the Kepsut volcanic suite (KVS) and the Dursunbey
volcanic suite (DVS). The KVS includes basaltic trachyandesitebasaltic
andesite-andesite lavas and associated pyroclastic rocks. The
DVS consists of dacite-rhyodacite lavas and extensive pumice-ash
fall and flow deposits. Petrographical features (i.e. existence of
xenocrysts, glomerocrysts, and mixing-compatible textures) and
mineral chemistry of phenocryst assemblages of both suites provide
evidence for magma mixing/AFC. Calculated crystallization
pressures and temperatures give values of 5.7–7.0 kbar and 927–982
°C for the KVS and 3.7–5.3 kbar and 783-787°C for the DVS,
indicating separate magma reservoirs and crystallization in magma
chambers at deep and mid crustal levels, respectively. These
observations support the establishment and evolution of KDVF
magma system promoted by episodic basaltic inputs which may
generate and mix with crustal melts.
Abstract: For stricter drinking water regulations in the future, reducing the humic acid and disinfection byproducts in raw water, namely, trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) is worthy for research. To investigate the removal of waterborne organic material using a lab-scale of bio-activated carbon filter under different EBCT, the concentrations of humic acid prepared were 0.01, 0.03, 0.06, 0.12, 0.17, 0.23, and 0.29 mg/L. Then we conducted experiments using a pilot plant with in-field of the serially connected bio-activated carbon filters and hollow fiber membrane processes employed in traditional water purification plants. Results showed under low TOC conditions of humic acid in influent (0.69 to 1.03 mg TOC/L) with an EBCT of 30 min, 40 min, and 50 min, TOC removal rates increases with greater EBCT, attaining about 39 % removal rate. The removal rate of THMs and HAAs by BACF was 54.8 % and 89.0 %, respectively.
Abstract: This paper evaluates the association between
economic environment in the districts of Madrid (Spain) and physical
inactivity, using income per capita as indicator of economic
environment. The analysis included 6,601 individuals aged 16 to 74
years. The measure of association estimated was the prevalence odds
ratio for physical inactivity by income per capita. After adjusting for
sex, age, and individual socioeconomic characteristics, people living
in the districts with the lowest per capita income had an odds ratio for
physical inactivity 1.58 times higher (95% confidence interval 1.35 to
1.85) than those living in districts with the highest per capita income.
Additional adjustment for the availability of sports facilities in each
district did not decrease the magnitude of the association. These
findings show that the widely believed assumption that the
availability of sports and recreational facilities, as a possible
explanation for the relation between economic environment and
physical inactivity, cannot be considered a universal observation.
Abstract: The production of glass, ceramic materials and many non-ferrous metals (Zn, Cu, Pb, etc.), ferrous metals (pig iron) and others is connected with the use of a considerable number of initial solid raw materials. Before carrying out the basic technological processes (oxidized roasting, melting, agglomeration, baking) it is necessary to mix and homogenize the raw materials that have different chemical and phase content, granulometry and humidity. For this purpose zinc sulfide concentrates differing in origin are studied for their more complete characteristics using chemical, X-ray diffraction analyses, DTA and TGA as well as Mössbauer spectroscopy. The phases established in most concentrates are: β-ZnS, mZnS.nFeS, FeS2, CuFeS2, PbS, SiO2 (α-quartz). With the help of the developed by us a Web-based information system for a continued period of time different mix proportions from zinc concentrates are calculated and used in practice (roasting in fluidized bed reactor), which have to conform to the technological requirements of the zinc hydrometallurgical technological scheme.
Abstract: In this paper, a two factor scheme is proposed to
generate cryptographic keys directly from biometric data, which
unlike passwords, are strongly bound to the user. Hash value of the
reference iris code is used as a cryptographic key and its length
depends only on the hash function, being independent of any other
parameter. The entropy of such keys is 94 bits, which is much higher
than any other comparable system. The most important and distinct
feature of this scheme is that it regenerates the reference iris code by
providing a genuine iris sample and the correct user password. Since
iris codes obtained from two images of the same eye are not exactly
the same, error correcting codes (Hadamard code and Reed-Solomon
code) are used to deal with the variability. The scheme proposed here
can be used to provide keys for a cryptographic system and/or for
user authentication. The performance of this system is evaluated on
two publicly available databases for iris biometrics namely CBS and
ICE databases. The operating point of the system (values of False
Acceptance Rate (FAR) and False Rejection Rate (FRR)) can be set
by properly selecting the error correction capacity (ts) of the Reed-
Solomon codes, e.g., on the ICE database, at ts = 15, FAR is 0.096%
and FRR is 0.76%.
Abstract: Recent progress in calculation of the one-loop selfenergy
of the electron bound in the Coulomb field is summarized.
The relativistic multipole expansion is introduced. This expansion
is based on a single assumption: except for the part of the time
component of the electron four-momentum corresponding to the
electron rest mass, the exchange of four-momentum between the
virtual electron and photon can be treated perturbatively. For non Sstates
and normalized difference n3En −E1 of the S-states this
itself yields very accurate results after taking the method to the third
order. For the ground state the perturbation treatment of the electron
virtual states with very high three-momentum is to be avoided. For
these states one can always rearrange the pertinent expression in such
a way that free-particle approximation is allowed. Combination of
the relativistic multipole expansion and free-particle approximation
yields very accurate result after taking the method to the ninth order.
These results are in very good agreement with the previous results
obtained by the partial wave expansion and definitely exclude the
possibility that the uncertainity in determination of the proton radius
comes from the uncertainity in the calculation of the one-loop selfenergy.
Abstract: This hypothesis shows that the induction and the
remanent of magnetic properties govern the mechanism processes of
DNA replication and the shortening of the telomere.
The solenoid–like formation of each parental DNA strand, which
exists at the initial stage of the replication process, enables an electric
charge transformation through the strand to produce a magnetic field.
The magnetic field, in turn, induces the surrounding medium to form
a new (replicated) strand by a remanent magnetisation. Through the
remanent [residual] magnetisation process, the replicated strand
possesses a similar information pattern to that of the parental strand.
In the same process, the remanent amount of magnetisation forms the
medium in which it has less of both repetitive and pattern
magnetisation than that of the parental strand, therefore the replicated
strand shows a shortening in the length of its telomeres.
Abstract: This paper utilizes a finite element analysis to study
the bearing capacity of ring footings on a two-layered soil. The upper
layer, that the footing is placed on it, is soft clay and the underneath
layer is a cohesionless sand. For modeling soils, Mohr–Coulomb
plastic yield criterion is employed. The effects of two factors, the
clay layer thickness and the ratio of internal radius of the ring footing
to external radius of the ring, have been analyzed. It is found that the
bearing capacity decreases as the value of ri / ro increases.
Although, as the clay layer thickness increases the bearing capacity
was alleviated gradually.
Abstract: A large quantity of world-s oil reserves exists in
carbonate reservoirs. Carbonate reservoirs are very sensitive to
chemical enhanced oil recovery process because of containing large
amount of calcite, dolomite and calcium sulfate minerals. These
minerals cause major obstacles during alkali-surfactant-polymer
(ASP) flooding. Alkali reacts with these minerals and form undesired
precipitations which plug effective porous openings, reduce
permeability and cause scale occurrence at the wellbore. In this
paper, a new chemical combination consists of acrylic acid and alkali
was used to minimize precipitation problem during ASP flooding. A
series of fluid-fluid compatibility tests were performed using acrylic
acid and different concentrations of alkaline. Two types of alkalis
namely; sodium carbonate and sodium metaborate were screened. As
a result, the combination of acrylic acid and sodium carbonate was
not effective in preventing calcium and magnesium precipitations.
However, acrylic acid and sodium metaborate showed promising
results for keeping all solutions without any precipitations. The ratio
of acrylic acid to sodium metaborate of 0.7:1.0 was found to be
optimum for achieving a compatible solution for 30 days at 80oC.
Abstract: The Niger Delta Region of Nigeria is home to about
20 million people and 40 different ethnic groups. The region has an
area of seventy thousand square kilometers (70,000 KM2) of
wetlands, formed primarily by sediments deposition and makes up
7.5 percent of Nigeria's total landmass. The notable ecological zones
in this region includes: coastal barrier islands; mangrove swamp
forests; fresh water swamps; and lowland rainforests. This incredibly
naturally-endowed ecosystem region, which contains one of the
highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet, in addition to
supporting abundant flora and fauna, is threatened by the inhuman act
known as gas flaring. Gas flaring is the combustion of natural gas
that is associated with crude oil when it is pumped up from the
ground. In petroleum-producing areas such as the Niger Delta region
of Nigeria where insufficient investment was made in infrastructure
to utilize natural gas, flaring is employed to dispose of this associated
gas. This practice has impoverished the communities where it is
practiced, with attendant environmental, economic and health
challenges. This paper discusses the adverse environmental and
health implication associated with the practice, the role of
Government, Policy makers, Oil companies and the Local
communities aimed at bring this inhuman practice to a prompt end.
Abstract: The number of framework conceived for e-learning
constantly increase, unfortunately the creators of learning materials
and educational institutions engaged in e-formation adopt a
“proprietor" approach, where the developed products (courses,
activities, exercises, etc.) can be exploited only in the framework
where they were conceived, their uses in the other learning
environments requires a greedy adaptation in terms of time and
effort. Each one proposes courses whose organization, contents,
modes of interaction and presentations are unique for all learners,
unfortunately the latter are heterogeneous and are not interested by
the same information, but only by services or documents adapted to
their needs. Currently the new tendency for the framework
conceived for e-learning, is the interoperability of learning materials,
several standards exist (DCMI (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative)[2],
LOM (Learning Objects Meta data)[1], SCORM (Shareable Content
Object Reference Model)[6][7][8], ARIADNE (Alliance of Remote
Instructional Authoring and Distribution Networks for Europe)[9],
CANCORE (Canadian Core Learning Resource Metadata
Application Profiles)[3]), they converge all to the idea of learning
objects. They are also interested in the adaptation of the learning
materials according to the learners- profile. This article proposes an
approach for the composition of courses adapted to the various
profiles (knowledge, preferences, objectives) of learners, based on
two ontologies (domain to teach and educational) and the learning
objects.
Abstract: The liberalization and privatization processes have
forced public utility companies to face new competitive challenges,
implementing strategies to gain market share and, at the same time,
keep the old customers. To this end, many companies have carried
out mergers, acquisitions and conglomerations in order to diversify
their business. This paper focuses on companies operating in the free
energy market in Italy. In the last decade, this sector has undergone
profound changes that have radically changed the competitive
scenario and have led companies to implement diversification
strategies of the business. Our work aims to evaluate the economic
and financial performances obtained by energy companies, following
the beginning of the liberalization process, verifying the possible
relationship with the implemented diversification strategies.