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Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbine Towers with Different Designs by Finite Elements Method
Full text linkIt is known that the use of renewable energy has an increasing trend in whole world. Wind energy is one of the renewable energy types, as well is among the cleanest and most economical energy sources. Nowadays, in order to provide much more energy from wind, turbine towers are being built higher and the turbine blades have begun to be manufactured longer. Due to these applications, tower and turbine weights are continuously increasing. For this reason, it is necessary to optimize the materials used as well as the dimensions of the turbine towers. In the present study, behavior of TLP floating wind turbine towers with three different designs under wave, hydrostatic and static loads were investigated. In order to clarify the effect of these loads, turbine designs were analyzed in the ratio of 1/5 using finite elements method. Steel, reinforced concrete and hybrid (reinforced concrete and steel) wind turbine towers tied to sea floor at a depth of 10 meters rigidly by TLP floating method. In this context, 10-meter-high turbine towers having three different designs which static analyzed previously were used for investigate effects of wave and hydrostatic loads. Turbine structures analyzed with ABAQUS finite elements model. The deformations and stress values of underwater turbine structures were obtained and compared with each other. As it can be seen from analysis results, compared to the reinforced concrete design, the displacement of steel tower design decreased 77.84%. It is seen that the torsion effect was dominant in the steel tower design. However, the decreasing displacement value for steel design was recorded as 44.43% compared to the hybrid tower design
A Study of Three Sectors Employment Effects Resulting from Foreign Direct Investment- Empirical Analysis on the Data from Shanghai
Full text linkWith the development of China's reform policy, China's economy has integrating into the global economy. As a result, more and more foreign capital continues to flow into China. Since 1990, foreign direct investment (FDI) was mainly concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta region, and Shanghai enjoyed strong economic strength, thanks to its abundant human resources and convenient transportation network; as these are excellent qualities for attracting foreign investment, Shanghai became one of the major cities attracting FDI. FDI has had a tremendous impact on many aspects in Shanghai, including employment. Therefore, Shanghai was chosen as the research object of this paper. This paper is organized as follows. Firstly, a theoretical analysis of the employment effects of FDI is presented. Secondly, after combining the actual utilization of FDI and employment in Shanghai, an empirical analysis of the effects of FDI on employment's quantity, employment's distribution and employment quality is carried out by collecting relevant data and establishing regression models. This study finds that while FDI does exert a positive influence on the quantity of employment in Shanghai's tertiary industry, it is not conducive to primary and secondary industries. In addition, FDI has shown positive and negative impacts on the quality of employment. Lastly, some suggestions are proposed to enhance the positive role of FDI on employment
Healthy Checkout and Impulse Purchases
Full text linkThe present work aims to implement and test a ‘healthy checkout’ in a real retailing environment in order to explore the effectiveness of this kind of intervention in terms of helping customers making healthy choices on impulse, contrary to the claim of the extant literature. By developing this research, we want to enrich the extant literature by analyzing the nature of the behaviour in front of the checkout and the effect of in-store stimuli (specifically, assortment and communication) on that nature. For the purpose of the present work, all candies and chocolate at the checkout were replaced by a selection of healthy products. The assortment included a mix of fresh fruit, dried fruit, dried fruit bars, nuts and smoothies. A structured questionnaire was submitted at the end of the shopping trip to the sample considered in different stores in the north of Italy. Participants were asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention (assortment and communication) and the effect of these levers on the nature of the behaviour was assessed. Our findings show that by placing healthy snacks at the checkout and by communicating them at a category level in an easy processable way it is possible to trigger healthy choices on impulse
Co-Movement and Volatility Analysis of Sugar: Spot and Future
Full text linkCo-movement and volatility analysis between variables are an important considerations in investment related decisions. The relationships of spot and two future priced sugar contracts are examined against the currency and main index of Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand. Sugar which is produced in many countries around the world is the world's largest crop by production in metric tons. Co-movement and volatility analysis includes correlation, vector autoregression, Johansen cointegration test, impulse responses, pairwise Granger causality test and three GARCH models. The three GARCH models are the GARCH, GJR-GARCH and EGARCH models. A long run relationships exists between the three sugar variables, the three sugar variables and the Shanghai SE A Share Index; as well as between the tree sugar variables and the Thai Bhat. Co-movement results indicate that unidirectional and bidirectional relationships exist among the variables. A bi-directional relationship exists between sugar spot and CSCE sugar 11 future as well as between sugar spot and Liffe sugar future. Sugar spot and sugar future have a uni-directional relationship with the indices of Bangkok, Indonesia, Philippines, China, and India. Sugar spot and sugar futures Granger causes the currencies of Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and India. The volatility analysis done shows that the AIC and SIC results of the GARCH models which indicates that the original GARCH model fits the data the best for sugar spot and the CSCE sugar 11 future. The EGARCH model fits the data the best for Liffe sugar future
An Overview of Blockchain Technology
Full text linkBlockchain Technology is an emerging technology nowadays. The Blockchain was first used as a Peer-to-Peer ledger for registering Bitcoin transactions. The blockchain is a singly linked list which consists of a number of transactions. The blockchain is a decentralized distributed ledger which consists of a number of blocks organized in the form of a chain. A block in blockchain consists of two parts data and hash pointer. The first block in the blockchain is known as genesis block. The transactions and data in the block are secured by cryptography. The data inside a block in blockchain can be anything like bank transactions, backup data etc., which are recorded chronologically and publicly. The Hash pointer of a block is a unique code generated by a hash function like SHA256, SHA-3 etc., the hash function used in bitcoin blockchain. A block consists of a public key and a private key, using hash function digital signature is generated to the block. This is how the data inside the blockchain is so secured. The blocks are added into the blockchain by verifying the transaction in the block, the transactions are verified by miners. The miners use consensus algorithm to solve the blocks
Why should a Laboratory be required for Linear Circuits I ?
Full text linkWhen in the fall semester of 2017 at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, a Laboratory was added to Linear Circuits I , it provided an absolute amazing insight into the absence of practical knowledge of students. They could not identify resistors, or capacitors. They had in most cases no idea what a DMM was and how to use it. Setting up fairly simple circuits on a proto-board and making voltage and current measurements had to be shown to each Lab group. A Lab experiment with an Op-Amp meant, that several of the Op-Amps were sacrificed to the smoke god. Students were amazed by what an Oscilloscope could do and how one could see the charge and discharge of a capacitor. At the end of each experiment, MatLab was used to verify the practical results obtained. What was gratifying at the end of the semester that each student group had high praise for the inclusion of a Laboratory into the curriculum. All the frustration and the extra work involved was worth it if one looked at the final result and that a practical component had been added to the students background, which would serve them well in a summer internship or in the Co-op program
Sericin Ameliorates the Properties of Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Hydrogel Prepared by Simple Repeated Freeze-Thaw Process without the Use of Chemical Crosslinking
Full text linkHydrogel of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sericin can be easily produced using a repeated freeze-thaw process. The effects of polymer concentration (4-8 %wt), blending ratio of PVA/sericin (100/0-50/50), and the number of freeze-thawing cycle (4, 8, and 12 cycles) on chemical and physical properties of the hydrogels obtained were studied. We here showed that higher polymer concentration, higher PVA ratio, and more cycles of freeze-thawing produced the hydrogels with high gel (crosslinked) fraction (>90), wall-like structure, and high compressive modulus (100-170 kPa). When the sericin ratio was increased, the hydrogels showed less gel fraction (60-80), more porous structure with highly interconnected pores, and better swelling ability (up to 8-9 times of its original state). The formation of the PVA/sericin hydrogels was occurred by the conformational changes of both PVA and sericin. The secondary structures of PVA and sericin turned to more stable crystalline conformation during the freeze-thawing process, as confirmed by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic results. Furthermore, all hydrogels were not toxic to human skin keratinocytes (HaCaT) cells while the anti-oxidant activity of sericin component in hydrogels was confirmed. We concluded that the freeze-thawing process was a simple and effective technique for fabrication of PVA and sericin, which both are water-soluble, into the stable hydrogels without the use of any chemical solvents or further crosslinking. More importantly, sericin enhances the biological activities of the hydrogels, allowing the use of this hydrogel in various medical applications such as wound dressing
Informing on Best Practices Using Design Builder and RET Screen to Calculate Energetic, Financial, and Environmental Impacts of Energy Systems for Buildings
Full text linkBuildings represent 32% of total final energy consumption. In terms of primary energy consumption, buildings represent around 40% in most IEA countries (International Energy Agency). For such reason, strategies that lead to energy savings and greenhouse gases reduction are needed.
This research aims to provide a methodology able to identify the best system configuration from a technical, economic and environmental point of view by using at the same time two energy software: Design builder, which is able to calculate buildings energy needs under dynamic conditions, and RETScreen, which allows feasibility analysis of clean energy projects.
In order to assess the effectiveness of this operating procedure, a historical building has been modelled and a Combined Cooling, Heat and Power system based on an internal combustion engine has been chosen to ensure environmentally sound way.
In this study it shows the application of the procedure to a case study as an historical building located in Orte City which is near Rome in Italy; the methodology could get a real preliminary analysis for choose the best active or passive system for improve the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of existing buildings, also allowing a cost-benefit analysis useful for the concrete realization of the interventions studied
Influence of Talent Management Practices on Commitment of Non-critical Employees in IT Companies in Chennai
Full text linkThis study examines the influence of Talent Management practices on commitment of non-critical employees in IT industry in Chennai, India. All employees have their own contribution to meet the success in long-term by any organization. HR managers of 60 large IT companies, located in Chennai were interviewed and surveyed to get better insights on Talent management practices and in addition, they provided a sample of their critical and a sample of their non-critical Employees. Commitment questionnaire was administered with 250 non critical employees. The results show that there is a significant difference between socio-economic features of non-critical employees and preference of talent management practices in IT companies. The regression analysis implies that job rotation and shadowing, mentoring and buddying, high potential development schemes, graduate development programmes and development centers are positively and significantly influencing the commitment of non-critical employees in IT companies at one per cent level, while, 360-degree feedback, cross functional project assignments and external secondments are negatively and significantly influencing the commitment of non-critical employees in IT companies at five per cent level. Organizations should thus take into account that Talent Management practices substantially impacts the commitment of workforce considered as non-critical. Further research is needed to conclude upon its impact on Organization performance as a whole
Fast Recovery Architecture by Selecting Surrogate Master Node (FSMN) in Industrial IoT Environment
Full text linkThis paper proposes an architecture that selects a sink node when a CPS is paralyzed. The CPS is a system (master node) with various sensor networks and machine networks that exchanges device information in real-time in the industrial IoT environment. When the CPS cannot perform normally due to internal/external factors, the last log of the master node is analyzed to determine the cause of the paralysis. The CPS select six attributes from the log data and convert them into datasets usable in this architecture. The normal category of the sink node is determined through the K-means clustering algorithm according to the sink node's profiling data. The centroid of the normal category is then determined. The normal category of the sink node is updated in real time until the CPS is paralyzed. When CPS paralysis occurs, the log data of the most recent sink node is applied to the K-means clustering that was formed in advance. We then determine the most available sink node among the sink nodes through the distance using vector value and priority algorithm between the central point and the sink node. Therefore, in the case of a failure of the master node, the high-priority surrogate master node can perform the role of the master node so that the data and the system can be maintained even in unexpected situations