Existing code provisions for shear strength prediction of self-compacting concrete (SCC) beams have often fallen short of its degree of predictability in relation to experimental responses. The research study seeks to develop a model that better predicts the shear capacity of self-compacted concrete beams without shear reinforcement. In addition, the critical parameters that influence the shear strength of an SCC beam were also investigated by using varying regression techniques (Linear, Stepwise, Lasso, Ridge and Elastic Net regressions). A pooled database having a total of 179 SCC beams without shear reinforcement was compiled for the analysis. The Lasso regression was the most effective from statistical analysis having the least relative and mean squared errors. In comparison with existing codes: ACI 318-08, AASHTOLRFD Bridge Design Specification-2007, Eurocode 2 and BS8110, the Lasso model performed better with least mean percentage error (12.23%), least average safety factor (1.1012) and the least coefficient of variation (0.159). The Lasso model also showed that compressive strength, height, breadth, depth of beam, shear span to depth ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, maximum aggregate size and fine to coarse aggregate ratio were all relevant parameters in shear strength prediction of SCC beams without stirrups.

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Solar energy is believed to be future source of energy for preventing environmental degradation. Solar collectors are the most important components in a solar thermal heating system. Flat plate collectors are simple in design and construction, quite economical and popular compared to other type of solar collectors. In the present paper, a solar flat plate collector is modified by (i) replacing flat glass cover by trapezoidal glass cover and (ii) placing aluminium foil reflectors on both sides with trapezoidal cover. Experimental analysis has shown significant increment in efficiency as high as 12% for trapezoidal glass cover. Moreover, trapezoidal cover with aluminium foil reflectors have delivered the efficiency increment up to 29% compared to flat cover collector. The maximum outlet and inlet water temperature difference is as high as 14.3 0C compared to 11.4 0C in case of flat cover collector. The maximum top loss co-efficient is reduced by a factor 2.43 times in case of trapezoidal glass cover. Other parameters have also shown significant improvement in the performance of collector.

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Hyper-heuristics solve optimization problems by utilizing a collection of Low-level Heuristic (LLH) to search for optimal solution. The main aim of Hyper-Heuristics is to be a generalize algorithms that can be use in any problem domain. Numerous studies which implement Hyper-Heuristics as the search algorithm mostly focus in discrete optimization. Not much work was done using Hyper-Heuristics in continuous problem domain, especially in expensive real-world problems. Expensive real-world optimization problems refer to optimizations that only permit a short number of evaluations due to the high expenses in resources. Research in expensive optimization problems often focus on tailoring an algorithm to perform well in a specific problem instances. Once the problem instants changes, the algorithm need to be tweak and tailored again to perform at an optimum level, hence more time, budget and expertise needed in order to do so. The main aim of using Hyper-Heuristics is to be able to apply a general yet efficient optimization algorithm to all expensive problem instances with very minor or minimal tweaks. This paper focuses on using Hyper-Heuristics in severely limited evaluation noisy optimizations problems that mimic the real-world expensive optimization problems. Hyper-Heuristics are introduced and compared against few algorithms that are often used in optimization problems, it posted a good average ranking when it is compared against Differential Algorithm (DE), Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Covariance Matrix Adaptation (CMA) and Mean Variance Mapping Optimization (MVMO) in eight different noisy optimization problems.

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The problem of transportation in Indonesia is congestion. Bogor District precisely Cibinong District is the center of government where there is the office the Regent Bogor. Intersection Cibinong City Mall began packed by motor vehicles, especially urban transport and private vehicle transportation. Also supported by the irregular rickshaw and ojeg parking base on the street, as well as for the transportation that began to bloom now is an online vehicle transport. The latter cause the traffic jams of users of public facilities causing congestion. Cibinong T-junction can be illustrated as follows: from the direction of Cimanggis which is the 2nd North Bogor Highway, while from Bogor City, 1st section of South Road and the direction the Regency Tegar Beriman in the West. Based on the above study, the purpose of the study was to assess the performance and capacity of the intersections using the regulation of the signal periodically.

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High altitude, airborne, wind-energy extraction-systems have the advantage of larger wind stability and higher power production. The efficiency of these systems is optimal because the nominal speed can be searched by varying altitude. Several airborne generators can be grouped in restricted airspace regions near consumer sites. This second part of the paper deals with the design of the simplest and cheapest autogiro for power generation. A single rotor autogiro with a minimal airframe was conceptually designed for this purpose. The power generated is 800 kW at 13,600ft (4.15 km) as in the first part of this paper. The rotor of a known helicopter, the CH-53E Super stallion, was used for the design. General-purpose equations for helicopters were adapted to evaluate the weight of the system. As in the first part of this paper, the airborne system is tethered to bring the power to the national electric grid. The altitude of 13,600ft (4.15 km) is statistically the best compromise between power available and tether length. On autogiro-generator deployment, the reversible electric generator works as a motor and the autogiro becomes a helicopter. This helicopter hold the tether and climbs up the required altitude. In this phase, the tether supplies the power from the national grid. Once the helicopter reaches an altitude slightly higher than the desired one, the power is turned off and the helicopter begins the autorotation. The electric motor becomes a generator. The autogiro begins to work with the rotor inclined. The control system inclines the autogiro to the required angle of attack into the incoming wind. In this configuration, the rotor produces electric power and provides the necessary lift to the airborne generator. In this configuration, the generator outputs 0.8 MW with a wind velocity of 54 knots (100 km/h). Unfortunately, the cost per kWh is one order of magnitude higher than the carbon produced one. This solution is more convenient than the one of the previous paper in which the cost was an order of magnitude higher. Still, it is not competitive with traditional energy production.

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Concrete is one of the widely used constructional material as it has high structural strength and stability. We do have a problem with cement production. Cement production will release a large amount of carbon-di-oxide which is the major cause of global warming and this will affect the atmosphere heavily. To avoid these problems and to make things efficient, we can go with lightweight concrete which is the expectation of the construction industry. While looking for environmental protection, the main suggestion for construction field is lightweight foamed concrete because it stands as the best thermal insulation material of external walls. When it comes to thermal insulation, another excellent heat resisting material which is used to improve the thermal insulation is Metakaolin and it is one of the effective Pozzolonic materials. In this experiment cement, fly ash, metakaolin, and protein-based foaming agent is used. Where cement is replaced with metakaolin by 5%, 10%, 15%. The specimens were exposed under the heat at 400°C, 500°C, 600°C for 3 hours. Test reports were taken for the compressive strength test (with temperature and without temperature) for the interval of 7, 14 and 28 days of curing. Specimens with different compositions were tested under normal temperature and above-mentioned temperatures for analyzing compressive strength on different time intervals. Compressive strength was taken under normal temperature and at elevated temperature; the results were compared to find the difference in strength. It is found that use of 10% of metakaolin gives high compressive strength and increasing in strength, after heating the specimen.

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This paper presents a new method for the calculation of reactivity through the nuclear power history term in the inverse equation of point kinetics. In this method, the reactivity can be written using Boole´s composite rule, which gives rise to four convolution sum terms between the nuclear power and the impulse response, with special characteristics typical of linear systems. Each convolution sum represents a filter of finite response, FIR. From the cases studied, our results provide better approximations when compared to existing methods in the literature.

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In this paper, the development of a compact circular microstrip patch based Ultra-Wideband (UWB) antenna with the inclusion of a regular Defected Ground Structure has been presented. Firstly, a primary UWB circular patch antenna with resonant frequency of 7.5 GHz is designed with FR4 substrate. DGS has been incorporated to this antenna in multiple levels by varying the shape of DGS. It is observed that the primary antenna with final modified ground plane shows a better performance with reference to operating frequency range. The proposed antenna is designed to operate from 3.1 to 20 GHz frequencies. The proposed circular patch antenna shows enhanced bandwidth, when compared to the basic circular patch antenna with rectangular DGS. The antenna uses low cost laminate of FR4 with thickness of 1.6 mm and dielectric constant of 4.4. The simulations are carried out using 3D EM Simulator. The details of proposed circular patch antenna with partial ground plane design and measured results are presented and discussed. The simulated results are in good agreement with the fabricated UWB antenna.

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The growth rate of vehicles in Indonesia today, especially in Jakarta, is very high, this can be seen from the high value of The Congestion Level in Jakarta recorded in the figure of 58% coupled with the poor mode of public transportation to solve transportation problems by building Light Rapid Train whit system Multi-Span Bridge, the development of this project turned out to have other problems, this was due to the narrow extent of the land owned by the government in Jakarta, which necessitated the construction of this light rail line adjacent to the arterial and toll road lines in the city. The author used the Line of Balance integration method with Critical Path, and the author used SPSS edition 25 to analyze the key success factor to the optimization of time performance then validate with the LOB Method for the liner scheduling process to obtain optimum results from the work duration and summarize the Buffer time while CPM is to get a critical trajectory, The results of this study obtained the most success factors and obtained the optimization of the duration of the project faster by 16.77 % of the initial schedule.

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Investigation on the effect of Concrete Filled Steel Tubular (CFST) column to Girder beam embedded connection under static and cyclic loading conditions. Analytical non-linear 3D element model for exterior and interior connection were modelled and investigated. Connections consisted of rectangular concrete filled tube, girder steel beam and high yield strength deformed bars. Beam is connected to the tube wall of CFST Column by means of weld along with four deformed bars connected to the flanges of girder section acting as a stiffener. Under loading conditions, the forces acting on the flange are effectively transferred to the CFST by means of deformed bars which is welded on both side of flanges of girder beam. Parameters that aids in effective force transfer mechanism are strength ratio of beam and column, CFSTs thickness, diameter and bar embedded length into the column. Rebar stiffener is found to be effective in transferring forces into the concrete core thereby exhibits inelastic characteristic strength properties. The plastic hinge formation is to be restricted to beam rather in connection or all the bars thereby avoiding distortion of tube wall. Three dimensional modelling and analysis is done using finite element software considering non linearity for material and geometry of elements used. Detailed results on hysteresis behaviour, load deformation, energy dissipating capacity, stiffness degradation and are discussed. It was found that embedded connections system were easy to fabricate and effective in terms of seismic performance of the structural system and better stiffness characteristics rather than any other simple connection.

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The study of Enhanced Coalbed Methane Recovery (ECBM) has become the interest of many researchers in many tertiary research institute. Various recovery techniques have been identified and implemented to increase the production of methane from coal bed reservoirs. One of the method is CO2 injection into coal seams where it helps to maximize the displacement of the adsorbed methane from the surface of coal matrix and enhance the methane recovery. A numerical model from Turkish Coal Seam Bed from Amasra Coal Field, Turkey was developed using CMG-GEM software by Computer Modelling Group to simulate the primary methane production and enhance recovery using CO2 injection. The key petrophysical reservoir parameters to drive the CO2 injection in coal bed methane reservoir are cleat permeability, cleat porosity, methane adsorption time, methane Langmuir isotherm and CO2 Langmuir isotherm. Palmer and Mansoori parameters (porosity, compressibility and coal seam pressure) were also applied to model the compaction and dilation process as well. 3 cases were constructed to evaluate the impact of CO2 injection on methane recovery. Case 1 act as the base case where there is no CO2 injection and is used in the first model while Case 2 includes the CO2 injection in the coal beds. On the other hand, Case 3 was constructed to analyse the impact of different injection timing to investigate the final methane recovery. Other than that, the effect of varying parameters such as cleat porosity, cleat permeability and coal density were also assessed. The results show that the amount of methane recovered in the primary production is 28.2 Bscf while 45.4 Bscf of methane gas was recovered by CO2 injection in Case 2. Therefore, it is found that the total recovery of methane from coal seams during enhanced production is more than that of primary recovery during the preliminary simulation model.

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Abstract:

The development of technology on internet networks is rapidly continues to grow. This development also had an impact on the server because the server had difficulty in distributing request. To meet internet needs, the technique that can be used is load balancing. Load balancing is a technique to use two or more internet connection lines and balance the request between the two internet connection lines. In this research, the main problem to be discussed is a load balancing simulation using ant colony optimization mechanism. Our experiment show that throughput value by using the ant colony optimization algorithm has a greater throughput value than the round-robin algorithm. Also, we found that ant colony optimization algorithm is more balanced because it has a difference CPU utilization lower than Round-Robin.

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There are increasing demands to substitute plastic produced from the petrochemical industry with bacterial cellulose which were produced from microorganisms as Acetobactor xylinum strain, a gram negative bacterium. A.xylinum metabolizes carbon source in cannery seafood wastewater (CSW) and converts it into bacterial cellulose (BC) which has unique properties including high purity, crystallinity and mechanical strength. These properties are induced by the main components of BC with are cellulose and hemicellulose. The aim of this study was to produce bacterial cellulose from CSW collected from factories in the southern areas of Thailand. The CSW was used as a carbon source for the growth of bacteria. The best conditions for cultivation to obtain the maximum yield (1.14 g) and COD treatment (71.2 %) were carbon source (COD ratio) 11, 971 mg/L, 5 ml of A.xylinum added, cultivation temperature and time of 40 oC and 21 days. BC synthesized from CSW was then undergone though semi-acetylation process to produce cellulose acetate nanofiber (CANF). CANF exhibits desirable mechanical properties, including high tensile strength (90.71 MPa), and young modulus (439.36 MPa) due to its uniform and ultrafine fibrous network structure. It can be sterilized without any changes to its structure and properties. The morphology properties of SEM images of CANF synthesized in the study was approximately 30-100 nm. The physical properties of CANF were studied with ATR-FTIR spectroscopy which shown adsorption spectrum at 3343 cm-1, 2898 cm-1, 1458 cm-1, 1427 cm-1, 1158 cm-1 and 1028 cm-1 which correspond to O-H stretching, C-H stretching, C-H bending, CH2 bending, C-O-C stretching and C-O stretching, respectively. Thermal analysis showed a DTG peak at 430°C, which falls in the range of cellulose degradation peaks (380°C-460°C). The peak confirms that cellulose was the major component of CANF. Thus, the main component of CANF were cellulose and hemicellulose. The synthesized CANF can be used as membrane media and also has its chemical properties like petroleum polymer. Results suggested that the similar property can be observed when compared with petroleum plastic, however with the exception of methyl group (CH3). Methyl group which can be found in plastic synthesized from petrochemical is responsible for the strength of plastic. Thus, CANF, synthesized in this study, is not as strong as petrochemical plastic. But it can be used to produce bio-plastics because of the -CH and -CH2 functional group attached. With the similar physical and chemical properties to those of petrochemical plastic, CANF can be used as biopolymer.

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The quality of Software Requirements Specification (SRS) is critical. A good quality SRS must be clear, correct, consistent, unambiguous, modifiable, verifiable and traceable. Ambiguity is difficult to tackle; therefore, requirements elicitation technique should be effective. Published material related to SRS issues discusses ambiguity as the most conversed problem. In this survey, our focus is on one of the major quality issues i.e. ambiguity. There are many solutions to resolve SRS ambiguity but, there is no prescribed classification of these solutions exists. The survey to provide a summary of the huge research contributions in the form of developments and new techniques, models, and methodologies that have been recommended to control the SRS ambiguity and magnify the benefits of addressing SRS ambiguity in development projects. To organize this enormous work by researchers, we try to provide the main concepts and associations that together represent the field of SRS ambiguity. The study is important for further assessments of possible solutions to SRS ambiguity for the improvement of SRS that helps researchers and experts to compare these techniques for better results.

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Upper structure work has a contribution of 21% of the total weight of the project work of a high-rise building construction project. Nearly 70% of high-rise building projects experience delays. Therefore, to overcome this, the application of Critical Chain Project Management and Building Information Modeling (BIM) 4D is the choice of researchers in this study. Critical chain project management improves the construction project scheduling by aggregating uncertainty into buffers at the end of activity paths. BIM 4D simulations are more effective than traditional planning in terms of visualization and scheduling control. The purpose of this study is to improve time performance and effective visualization of the construction schedule. The results of the case study obtained time efficiency of 19% so that the project completion time was faster from the original schedule.

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This Research paper discusses the second analysis of Magnatohydrodynamics (MHD), a dissipative micropolar fluid by the annulus of horizontal internal rotating cylinders in the presence of chemical reactions and cross diffusions. The fluid movement is produced at a steady angular velocity from the inner rotation of the cylinder. The flow of heat and mass transfer equations are solved by RK4 shooting technique. The impact of different geometric parameters on azimuthal velocity, micro-rotation, temperature, concentration, Bejan and entropy generation numbers are shown through graphs. The results show that the entropy generation number decelerates with an increase in the temperature difference near the inner pipe, while it increases as the concentration difference parameter increases. The Brinkmann number increases the profiles of the temperature and reduces the concentration.

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Dynamic routing protocols play an important role in enterprise networks. For example, if there are two universities and they use different protocols. Then, to establish a connection or communication between them we need to use exterior gateway protocols. If we use redistribution technique, the safety is very less and all the routes get redistributed. So in this paper we are implementing border gateway protocol (both IBGP and EBGP) between the interior gateway protocols. There are several different protocols available, with each having its own advantages and limitations. Protocols can be described and compared on the basis of where they operate and how they operate. Routing protocols play an important role in the field of networks today. There are two types of dynamic routing protocols. Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs) and Exterior Gateway Protocols (EGPs). IGPs such as RIP (Routing Information Protocol) and OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) are used for routing within an Autonomous system (AS) whereas EGP is used to exchange the routing information between the autonomous systems. In this paper we have implemented and connected different protocols using BGP (IBGP and EBGP) without using redistribution technique by using GNS3 Software.

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The earlier way to do an image detecting is to use edge image detection. Edge image detection is using some kind of mathematical expression to detect the boundaries between objects between images in real world, with media like camera phone. Many aspects have used edge image detection, one of them is Augmented Reality, especially marker-based Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality used edge image detection for reading and detecting the marker in real world and transfer the data to the database in application. This paper will review how the edge detection works and how it works in Augmented Reality.

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Drought monitoring and prediction of a particular region is primarily meteorological. By far the main challenge to predict and analyze meteorological drought is a) Choice of appropriate method to interpret the drought events b) To identify the nature of meteorological drought c) to establish a perfect dimension to predict drought effectively. The primary objective of this study is to simulate rainfall and meteorological drought (SPI is taken as the indicator as it is one of the most accepted indicators of meteorological drought) up to 2035-36 by using the traditional exponential and Holt-Winter exponential smoothing after analyzing the trends of rainfall and SPI12 of Purulia District, West Bengal. Based on exponential smoothing and Winexpo model it becomes quite evitable that the drought severity will increase in the near future. Based on the performance evaluation Winexpo outperforms the other two models as it obtains minized RMSE, MSE, MAE and MPE. The study demonstrates a unique mwthodology which might be very useful in understanding the drought-proneness of the region.

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The mathematical model of the contact membrane distillation process has such an unknown parameter as the membrane permeability coefficient. The coefficient of permeability of the membrane takes into account not only the transfer of heat with the vapor through the pores of the membrane, but also through the polymer structure. In order to determine the coefficient of permeability, which is represented by variables along the length of the channel and in time, methods of the theory of optimal control were applied. An algorithm for identifying variable length and time permeability coefficient is developed. The application of the initial approximation ensures the convergence of the algorithm in the fourth iteration of the gradient procedure. The refined mathematical model of the contact membrane distillation process can be used in control tasks.

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