Abstract: Proof of controlling crack width is a basic condition
for securing suitable performance in serviceability limit state. The
cracking in concrete can occur at any time from the casting of time to
the years after the concrete has been set in place. Most codes struggle
with offering procedure for crack width calculation. There is lack in
availability of design charts for designers to compute crack width
with ease. The focus of the study is to utilize design charts and
parametric equations in calculating crack width with minimum error.
The paper contains a simplified procedure to calculate crack width
for reinforced concrete (RC) sections subjected to bending with axial
tensile force following the guidelines of Euro code [DS EN-1992-1-1
& DS EN-1992-1-2]. Numerical examples demonstrate the
application of the suggested procedure. Comparison with parallel
analytical tools supports the validity of result and show the
percentage deviation of crack width in both the procedures. The
technique is simple, user friendly and ready to evolve for a greater
spectrum of section sizes and materials.
Abstract: One of the major difficulties introduced with wind
power penetration is the inherent uncertainty in production originating
from uncertain wind conditions. This uncertainty impacts many
different aspects of power system operation, especially the balancing
power requirements. For this reason, in power system development
planing, it is necessary to evaluate the potential uncertainty in future
wind power generation. For this purpose, simulation models are
required, reproducing the performance of wind power forecasts.
This paper presents a wind power forecast error simulation models
which are based on the stochastic process simulation. Proposed
models capture the most important statistical parameters recognized
in wind power forecast error time series. Furthermore, two distinct
models are presented based on data availability. First model uses
wind speed measurements on potential or existing wind power plant
locations, while the seconds model uses statistical distribution of wind
speeds.
Abstract: Factors affecting construction unit cost vary
depending on a country’s political, economic, social and
technological inclinations. Factors affecting construction costs have
been studied from various perspectives. Analysis of cost factors
requires an appreciation of a country’s practices. Identified cost
factors provide an indication of a country’s construction economic
strata. The purpose of this paper is to identify the essential factors
that affect unit cost estimation and their breakdown using artificial
neural networks. Twenty five (25) identified cost factors in road
construction were subjected to a questionnaire survey and employing
SPSS factor analysis the factors were reduced to eight. The 8 factors
were analysed using neural network (NN) to determine the
proportionate breakdown of the cost factors in a given construction
unit rate. NN predicted that political environment accounted 44% of
the unit rate followed by contractor capacity at 22% and financial
delays, project feasibility and overhead & profit each at 11%. Project
location, material availability and corruption perception index had
minimal impact on the unit cost from the training data provided.
Quantified cost factors can be incorporated in unit cost estimation
models (UCEM) to produce more accurate estimates. This can create
improvements in the cost estimation of infrastructure projects and
establish a benchmark standard to assist the process of alignment of
work practises and training of new staff, permitting the on-going
development of best practises in cost estimation to become more
effective.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to reduce patient
waiting times, improve system throughput and improve resources
utilization in radiology department. A discrete event simulation
model was developed using Arena simulation software to investigate
different alternatives to improve the overall system delivery based on
adding resource scenarios due to the linkage between patient waiting
times and resource availability. The study revealed that there is no
addition investment need to procure additional scanner but hospital
management deploy managerial tactics to enhance machine
utilization and reduce the long waiting time in the department.
Abstract: Logistics distributors face the issue of having to
provide increasing service levels while being forced to reduce costs at
the same time. Same-day delivery, quick order processing and rapidly
growing ranges of articles are only some of the prevailing challenges.
One key aspect of the performance of an intra-logistics system is how
often and in which amplitude congestions and dysfunctions affect the
processing operations. By gaining knowledge of the so called
‘performance availability’ of such a system during the planning stage,
oversizing and wasting can be reduced whereas planning
transparency is increased. State of the art for the determination of this
KPI is simulation studies. However, their structure and therefore their
results may vary unforeseeably. This article proposes a concept for
the establishment of ‘certified’ and hence reliable and comparable
simulation models.
Abstract: In the cloud computing hierarchy IaaS is the lowest
layer, all other layers are built over it. Thus it is the most important
layer of cloud and requisite more importance. Along with advantages
IaaS faces some serious security related issue. Mainly Security
focuses on Integrity, confidentiality and availability. Cloud
computing facilitate to share the resources inside as well as outside of
the cloud. On the other hand, cloud still not in the state to provide
surety to 100% data security. Cloud provider must ensure that end
user/client get a Quality of Service. In this report we describe
possible aspects of cloud related security.
Abstract: The usage of e-health facilities is seen to be the first
priority by the Libyan government. As such this paper focuses on
how the key factors or elements of working size in terms of
technological availability, structural environment, and other
competence-related matters may affect nurses’ sharing of knowledge
in e-health. Hence, this paper investigates learning readiness
assessment to raise e-health for Libyan regional hospitals by using ehealth
services in nursing education.
Abstract: Mech-Degla, Degla-Beida and Frezza are the date
(Phoenix dactylifera L.) common varieties with a more or less good
availability and feeble trade value. Some morphologic and
physicochemical factors were determined. Results show that the
whole date weight is significantly different (P= 95%) concerning
Mech-Degla and Degla-Beida which are more commercialized than
Frezza whereas the pulp mass proportion in relation to whole fruits is
highest for Frezza (88.28%). Moreover, there is a large variability
concerning the weights and densities of constitutive tissues in each
variety. The white tissue is dominant in Mech-Degla in opposite to
the two other varieties. The variance analyze showed that the
difference in weights between brown and white tissues is significant
(P = 95%) for all studied varieties. Some other morphologic and
chemical proprieties of the whole pulps and their two constitutive
parts (brown or pigmented and white) are also investigated. The
predominance of phenolics in Mech-Degla (4.01g/100g, w.b) and
Frezza (4.96 g/100g, w.b) pulps brown part is the main result
revealed in this study.
Abstract: Ancillary services are support services which are
essential for humanizing and enhancing the reliability and security of
the electric power system. Reactive power ancillary service is one of
the important ancillary services in a restructured electricity market
which determines the cost of supplying ancillary services and finding
of how this cost would change with respect to operating decisions.
This paper presents a new formation that can be used to minimize the
Independent System Operator (ISO)’s total payment for reactive
power ancillary service. The modified power flow tracing algorithm
estimates the availability of reserve reactive power for ancillary
service. In order to find optimum reactive power dispatch,
Biogeography based optimization method (BPO) is proposed. Market
Reactive Clearing Price (MRCP) is then estimated and it encourages
generator companies (GENCOs) to participate in an ancillary service.
Finally, optimal weighting factor and real time utilization factor of
reactive power give the minimum ISO’s total payment. The
effectiveness of proposed design is verified using IEEE 30 bus
system.
Abstract: Health analytics (HA) is used in healthcare systems
for effective decision making, management and planning of
healthcare and related activities. However, user resistances, unique
position of medical data content and structure (including
heterogeneous and unstructured data) and impromptu HA projects
have held up the progress in HA applications. Notably, the accuracy
of outcomes depends on the skills and the domain knowledge of the
data analyst working on the healthcare data. Success of HA depends
on having a sound process model, effective project management and
availability of supporting tools. Thus, to overcome these challenges
through an effective process model, we propose a HA process model
with features from rational unified process (RUP) model and agile
methodology.
Abstract: OEE has been used in many industries as measure of
performance. However due to limitations of original OEE, it has been
modified by various researchers. OEE for mining application is
special version of classic equation, carries these limitation over. In
this paper it has been aimed to modify the OEE for mining
application by introducing the weights to the elements of it and
termed as Mine Production index (MPi). As a special application of
new index MPishovel has been developed by authors. This can be used
for evaluating the shovel effectiveness. Based on analysis, utilization
followed by performance and availability were ranked in this order.
To check the applicability of this index, a case study was done on
four electrical and one hydraulic shovel in a Swedish mine. The
results shows that MPishovel can evaluate production effectiveness of
shovels and can determine effectiveness values in optimistic view
compared to OEE. MPi with calculation not only give the
effectiveness but also can predict which elements should be focused
for improving the productivity.
Abstract: The growth of wireless devices affects the availability
of limited frequencies or spectrum bands as it has been known that
spectrum bands are a natural resource that cannot be added.
Meanwhile, the licensed frequencies are idle most of the time.
Cognitive radio is one of the solutions to solve those problems.
Cognitive radio is a promising technology that allows the unlicensed
users known as secondary users (SUs) to access licensed bands
without making interference to licensed users or primary users (PUs).
As cloud computing has become popular in recent years, cognitive
radio networks (CRNs) can be integrated with cloud platform. One of
the important issues in CRNs is security. It becomes a problem since
CRNs use radio frequencies as a medium for transmitting and CRNs
share the same issues with wireless communication systems. Another
critical issue in CRNs is performance. Security has adverse effect to
performance and there are trade-offs between them. The goal of this
paper is to investigate the performance related to security trade-off in
CRNs with supporting cloud platforms. Furthermore, Queuing
Network Models with preemptive resume and preemptive repeat
identical priority are applied in this project to measure the impact of
security to performance in CRNs with or without cloud platform. The
generalized exponential (GE) type distribution is used to reflect the
bursty inter-arrival and service times at the servers. The results show
that the best performance is obtained when security is disabled and
cloud platform is enabled.
Abstract: There is an increasing demand for broadband services
in Indonesia. Therefore, the answer is the use of Ka-Band which has
some advantages such as wider bandwidth, the higher transmission
speeds, and smaller size of antenna in the ground. However, rain
attenuation is the primary factor in the degradation of signal at the
Kaband. In this paper, the author will determine whether the Ka-band
frequency can be implemented in Indonesia which has high intensity
of rainfall.
Abstract: Among agricultural residues, sugarcane bagasse is one of the most convincing raw materials for the production of bioethanol due to its availability, and low cost through enzymatic hydrolysis and yeast fermentation. A pretreatment step is needed to enhance the enzymatic step. In this study, sugarcane bagasse (SCB), one of the most abundant agricultural residues in Thailand, was pretreated biologically with various microorganisms of white-rot fungus—Phanerochaete sordid (SK 7), Cellulomonas sp. (TISTR 784), and strain A 002 (Bacillus subtilis isolated from Thai higher termites). All samples with various microbial pretreatments were further hydrolyzed enzymatically by a commercial enzyme obtained from Aspergillus niger. The results showed that the pretreatment with the white-rot fungus gave the highest glucose concentration around two-fold higher when compared with the others.
Abstract: Compost can influence soil fertility and plant health. At the same time compost can play an important role in the nitrogen cycle and it can influence leaching of mineral nitrogen from soil to underground water.
This paper deals with the influence of compost addition and mineral nitrogen fertilizer on leaching of mineral nitrogen, nitrogen availability in microbial biomass and plant biomass production in the lysimetric experiment. Twenty one lysimeters were filed with topsoil and subsoil collected in the area of protection zone of underground source of drinking water - Březová nad Svitavou. The highest leaching of mineral nitrogen was detected in the variant fertilized only mineral nitrogen fertilizer (624.58 mg m-2), the lowest leaching was recorded in the variant with high addition of compost (315.51 mg m-2). On the other hand, losses of mineral nitrogen are not in connection with the losses of available form of nitrogen in microbial biomass. Because lost of mineral nitrogen was detected in variant with the least change in the availability of N in microbial biomass.
The leaching of mineral nitrogen, yields as well as the results concerning nitrogen availability from the first year of long term experiment suggest that compost can positive influence the leaching of nitrogen into underground water.
Abstract: The work presented in this paper was performed for a workstation of an assembly section in a company that manufactures radio modules and air conditioning for cars. After performing a workstation analysis and a questionnaire to the operators it was possible to understand the need to investigate the risk of musculoskeletal disorders originated from both the handling of loads as the incorrect dimensioning of the workstation. Regarding the handling of loads the NIOSH Equation was used and it was verified that there was no risk of musculoskeletal disorders. As the operators expressed their lack of satisfaction regarding back pains due to posture adopted they were established the appropriate dimensions (to satisfy 97.5% of the population and using the table of anthropometric data of the Portuguese population) for the workstation and it was proposed the availability of a chair for the workers.
Abstract: Biopharmaceuticals manufacturing is one of the major economic activities worldwide. Ninety-three percent of the workforce in a biomanufacturing environment concentrates in production-related areas. As a result, strategic collaborations between industry and academia are crucial to ensure the availability of knowledgeable workforce needed in an economic region to become competitive in biomanufacturing. In the past decade, our institution has been a key strategic partner with multinational biotechnology companies in supplying science and engineering graduates in the field of industrial biotechnology. Initiatives addressing all levels of the educational pipeline, from K-12 to college to continued education for company employees have been established along a ten-year span. The Amgen BioTalents Program was designed to provide undergraduate science and engineering students with training in biomanufacturing. The areas targeted by this educational program enhance their academic development, since these topics are not part of their traditional science and engineering curricula. The educational curriculum involved the process of producing a biomolecule from the genetic engineering of cells to the production of an especially targeted polypeptide, protein expression and purification, to quality control, and validation. This paper will report and describe the implementation details and outcomes of the first sessions of the program.
Abstract: This research paper, based on demographic variables, is aimed to study the behaviour of bookkeeping for household accounts of residents living in urban communities in Dusit District, Bangkok and to investigate factors that affected the behavior of bookkeeping. By use of non proportional stratified sampling technique of probability sampling, the research had a total of 247 samples. The systematic sampling technique was also utilized by selecting one household out of every 3 households. The demographic findings reported female respondents as the majority with an average age between 26-35 years old, having married status and having children. The respondents earn a living by selling, with an average income per month of between 5,001-15,000 Baht. Most of the families rent a house and each family have approximately 3-4 members. Furthermore, most of the household respondents used to be trained to do bookkeeping for household accounts. In addition, the factors in affecting the residents’ behaviour of doing household account bookkeeping included a dislike of numbers, inaccuracy of recording, availability of accounting counselors in the communities, people’s participation in trainings arranged by outside organizations.
Abstract: Celiac disease is a permanent enteropathy caused by the ingestion of gluten, a protein occurring in wheat, rye and barley. The only way of the effective daily treatment is a strict gluten-free diet. From the investigation of products available in the local market, it was found that Latvian producers do not offer gluten-free products. The aim of this research was to study and analyze changes of celiac patient’s attitude to gluten-free product quality and availability in the Latvian market and purchasing habits. The survey was designed using website www.visidati.lv, and a questionnaire was sent to people suffering from celiac disease. The first time the respondents were asked to fill in the questionnaire in 2011, but now repeatedly from the beginning of September 2013 till the end of January 2014. The questionnaire was performed with 75 celiac patients, respondents were from all Latvian regions and they answered 16 questions. One of the most important questions was aimed to find out consumers’ opinion about quality of gluten-free products, consumption patterns of gluten-free products, and, moreover, their interest in products made in Latvia. Respondents were asked to name gluten-free products they mainly buy and give specific purchase locations, evaluate the quality of products and necessity for products produced in Latvia. The results of questionnaire show that the consumers are satisfied with the quality of gluten-free flour, flour blends, sweets and pasta, but are not satisfied with the quality of bread and confectionery available in the Latvian markets.
Abstract: Composting is a controlled technology to enhance the
natural aerobic process of organic wastes degradation. The resulting
product is a humified material that is principally recyclable for
agricultural purpose. The composting process is one of the most
important tools for waste management, by the European Community
legislation. In recent years composting has been increasingly used as
a remediation technology to remove biodegradable contaminants
from soil, and to modulate heavy metals bioavailability in
phytoremediation strategies. An optimization in the recovery of
resources from wastes through composting could enhance soil
fertility and promote its use in the remediation biotechnologies of
contaminated soils.