Engineering

Using solar energy an office is heated from the floor and a thermal comfort analysis is performed for Ankara conditions. Solar energy is collected by flat-plate collectors in a storage tank. The thermal comfort analysis of the office is performed using Fanger's method. In this method the thermal comfort is affected by environmental and individual parameters; air velocity, humidity, temperature, radiation temperature, activity and cloth resistance. Measurements are taken at 0.2 m, 0.6 m, and 1.0 m heights beside floor temperature. The experimental results and the individual data are used to calculate the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD). A computer program is written in FORTRAN to calculate these parameters using the experimental, individual data and the results are presented as PMV diagrams. The results indicate that the thermal comfort can be provided with such a heating system. The PMV values range between -2.00 to 2.00.

This paper present an efficient and reliable technique of optimization which combined fuel cost economic optimization and emission dispatch using the Sigmoid Decreasing Inertia Weight Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm (PSO) to reduce the cost of fuel and pollutants resulting from fuel combustion by keeping the output of generators, bus voltages, shunt capacitors and transformer tap settings within the security boundary. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been demonstrated on IEEE 30-bus system with six generating units. The results clearly show that the proposed algorithm gives better and faster speed convergence then linearly decreasing inertia weight.

The life cycle cost of a system is influenced by its maintainability. Maintainability is a design parameter, whose operational conditions can affect it significantly. Hence, the effects of these operational conditions should be quantified early in the design phase. The proportional repair model (PRM), which is developed based on the proportional hazard model (PHM), can be used to analyze maintainability considering the effects of the operational conditions. In PRM, the effects of the operational conditions are considered to be time-independent. However, this assumption may not be valid for some cases. The aim of this paper is to present an approach for prediction of the maintainability performance of the mining facilities considering the time-dependent influencing factors. The stratified Cox regression method (SCRM) is used to determine maintainability in the presence of time-dependent covariates for fleet vehicles operating in Sungun Copper Mine, Iran.

Frequently encountered in the junior female gymnasts, the affections of the hand can represent the result of multiple micro traumas at which the hand is subjected during the artistic gymnastics training process, where, through the forces exerted at the articulation structure level and through the developed resistance, the joint structures are debased in time, being chronically subjected to this kind of stress. On the course of evolution of these affections the prehensility is compromised, a complex function that is specifically human, and which has transformed the hand in an essential segment of the female gymnasts’ body in making the elements technique at the four apparatus. The compromising of the global functionality of the hand (the prehensility), represents a handicap that is tough to tolerate and compensate by the professional female gymnasts. Starting from these premises, we have developed the research hypothesis that accurate identification of wrist pain cases among junior g...

This research aims to emphasize the improvement of the functional development (fitness) markers by using aerobic gymnastics means. This research tries to improve the female adolescents' fitness and quality of life through the use of aerobic gymnastics means, to motivate them to independently and long term practice physical exercises, both during physical education classes, and during their leisure time. The goal of this research is to increase the quality of life in female adolescents, as a result of the improvement in their physical fitness, through the practice of specific aerobic gymnastics physical exercises. As research methods we used: the bibliographical study, the testing method, the experiment method, the statistical-mathematical method, and the graphical representation method. Methods. The research comprised a number of 40 subjects (20 female adolescents forming the experimental group, and 20 the control group), aged between 18 and 25, and it was conducted at the &quot...

Hydrodynamic forces on a structure are the manifestation of fluid-structure interaction. Since this interaction is nonlinear, these forces consist of various frequencies: fundamental, harmonics, excitation, sum, and difference of these frequencies. To analyze this phenomenon, we perform numerical simulations of the flow past stationary and oscillating cylinders at low Reynolds numbers. We compute the pressure, integrate it over the surface, and obtain the lift and drag coefficients for the two configurations: stationary and transversely oscillating cylinders. Higher-order spectral analysis is performed to investigate the nonlinear interaction between the forces. We confirmed and investigated the quadratic coupling between the lift and drag coefficients and their phase relationship. We identify additional frequencies and their corresponding energy present in the flow field that appear as the manifestation of quadratic nonlinear interaction.

Whiteflies and whitefly-transmitted viruses are major constraints in European tomato production. ENDURE’s Tomato Case Study set out to identify where and why whiteflies are a major limitation, collect information related to whiteflies and associated viruses, establish which management tools are available and identify key knowledge gaps and research priorities. Data from research conducted by case study members, a review of current literature and two questionnaires conducted across several European tomato growing areas allowed members to achieve these objectives.

Automated Machine Learning-based systems’ integration into a wide range of tasks has expanded as a result of their performance and speed. Although there are numerous advantages to employing ML-based systems, if they are not interpretable, they should not be used in critical or high-risk applications. To address this issue, researchers and businesses have been focusing on finding ways to improve the explainability of complex ML systems, and several such methods have been developed. Indeed, there are so many developed techniques that it is difficult for practitioners to choose the best among them for their applications, even when using evaluation metrics. As a result, the demand for a selection tool, a meta-explanation technique based on a high-quality evaluation metric, is apparent. In this paper, we present a local meta-explanation technique which builds on top of the truthfulness metric, which is a faithfulness-based metric. We demonstrate the effectiveness of both the technique an...

As a concept that is somewhat under emergence, the notion of the Metaverse varies across different academic articles. Yet there is a shared view on the benefits to its ongoing implementation, particularly for digital art, where the technology can provide a new metric for artists to showcase and sell their artwork to a global audience with minimal barriers, and for consumers to have an unbounded experience not limited by physical space or museum entry fees. In this article, a contribution is provided to a broader conversation about the future of the digital art and the Metaverse and its role in shaping our online culture. We discuss the concept of the Metaverse, its structure, the role of artificial intelligence and the benefits (and limitations) the technology holds for digital art. For a case study, we develop a 3D art gallery housing an art collection generated using artificial-intelligence-based techniques such as diffusion models. A total of 67 individuals are surveyed from thre...

This article assesses the status ofoperational risk management of banks in developing markets in the context ofBasel II. The aim of the article is to determine the extent to which riskmanagement staff is prepared to implement a risk management framework in linewith international best practice. An African commercial bank was examined usingsurvey data collected in July 2010 from 22 employees. The data were analysedusing descriptive statistics. Results obtained indicate knowledge gaps incollecting risk data and the application of risk models as limitations to theimplementation of the framework. The results support the commitment of moretime and financial resources in up-skilling staff if banks in developing marketsare to comply with regulatory requirements as recommended by the Basel Accord.

This paper gives a review of energy scenario in India and other countries. Today’s demand of the world is to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, during the production of electricity. Henceforth over the world, the production of electrical power is changing by introducing abundantly available renewable energy sources like sun and wind. But, because of the intermittent nature of sustainable power sources, the electrical power network faces many problems, during the transmission and distribution of electricity. For resolving these issues, Electrical Energy Storage (EES) is acknowledged as supporting technology. This paper discusses about the world electrical energy scenario with top renowned developed countries in power generation and consumption. Contribution of traditional power sources changed after the introduction of renewable energy sources like sun and wind. Worldwide Agencies are formed like International Energy Agency (IEA), The Central Intelligence Agency, (CIS) etc. The main ...