Feasibility of Starting a Waterjet Fabrication Plant in Amman, Jordan

This project is an attempt to investigate the feasibility of starting a waterjet fabrication plant in Amman, Jordan to precisely cut marble, granite, and ceramics. The frame work of the feasibility study included analyzing the proposed product/service, market size, price and profitability, government regulations, culture and religion, and business infrastructure in Jordan. Based on the findings detailed in this field project, it is feasible to start a waterjet plant operating at full capacity of the waterjet machine to produce and sell tiles that compete in quality and price with the local products. The table below shows the three-year operating statement for this new venture. (OMITTED HERE) Expense growth is based on the 2009 inflation rate (1.7%) for Jordan which is reported by the World Fact Book - managed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. In addition, business growth rate is based on the 2009 GDP growth rate of 3.1% which is reported by the same agency. Rent and operating expenses are based on responses obtained from questionnaires and interviews with local tile experts with a minimum of 25 years of experience and exposure to the customer demands for marble, granite, and ceramics. Sales estimate are done based on the machine capacity of operating at 22 hours a day with two hours used for maintenance. It was not feasible to conduct a sales forecast using standard methods due to lack of historical data. However, during the business planning, a professional sales forecast should be conducted at full range. The size of the market in Jordan and the Middle East at large can support this new venture. According to Jordan Investment Board, there are new projects in the construction field planned for the next five years totaling $1.3 trillion dollars. In addition, Jordan has introduced many laws that protect foreign investments and investors. As a result, many construction projects such as the$6 billion dollar renovation project in Abdali are taking off thereby boosting demands for marble, granite, and ceramics. Moreover, Jordan has signed free trade agreements with the Arab states, the European Union, and the United States of America thereby opening exports to these countries. Local and imported marble, granite, and ceramics tiles are commonly used in the constructions and decorations of buildings in Jordan. Waterjet cutting technology can be used to capitalize on cutting irregular shapes from locally produced marble and granite slabs as well as imported ones. The technology is very precise that it could compete with Spanish and Italian imported tiles especially that the labor rates in Jordan are five to six times less than those in Spain and Italy

Design and optimization under uncertainty of Energy Systems

In many engineering design and optimisation problems, the presence of uncertainty in data and parameters is a central and critical issue. The analysis and design of advanced complex energy systems is generally performed starting from a single operating condition and assuming a series of design and operating parameters as fixed values. However, many of the variables on which the design is based are subject to uncertainty because they are not determinable with an adequate precision and they can affect both performance and cost. Uncertainties stem naturally from our limitations in measurements, predictions and manufacturing, and we can say that any system used in engineering is subject to some degree of uncertainty. Different fields of engineering use different ways to describe this uncertainty and adopt a variety of techniques to approach the problem. The past decade has seen a significant growth of research and development in uncertainty quantification methods to analyse the propagation of uncertain inputs through the systems. One of the main challenges in this field are identifying sources of uncertainty that potentially affect the outcomes and the efficiency in propagating these uncertainties from the sources to the quantities of interest, especially when there are many sources of uncertainties. Hence, the level of rigor in uncertainty analysis depends on the quality of uncertainty quantification method. The main obstacle of this analysis is often the computational effort, because the representative model is typically highly non-linear and complex. Therefore, it is necessary to have a robust tool that can perform the uncertainty propagation through a non-intrusive approach with as few evaluations as possible. The primary goal of this work is to show a robust method for uncertainty quantification applied to energy systems. The first step in this direction was made doing a work on the analysis of uncertainties on a recuperator for micro gas turbines, making use of the Monte Carlo and Response Sensitivity Analysis methodologies to perform this study. However, when considering more complex energy systems, one of the main weaknesses of uncertainty quantification methods arises: the extremely high computational effort needed. For this reason, the application of a so-called metamodel was found necessary and useful. This approach was applied to perform a complete analysis under uncertainty of a solid oxide fuel cell hybrid system, starting from the evaluation of the impact of several uncertainties on the system up to a robust design including a multi-objective optimization. The response surfaces have allowed the authors to consider the uncertainties in the system when performing an acceptable number of simulations. These response were then used to perform a Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the impact of the uncertainties on the monitored outputs, giving an insight on the spread of the resulting probability density functions and so on the outputs which should be considered more carefully during the design phase. Finally, the analysis of a complex combined cycle with a flue gas condesing heat pump subject to market uncertainties was performed. To consider the uncertainties in the electrical price, which would impact directly the revenues of the system, a statistical study on the behaviour of such price along the years was performed. From the data obtained it was possible to create a probability density function for each hour of the day which would represent its behaviour, and then those distributions were used to analyze the variability of the system in terms of revenues and emissions

News Frame Patterns: An Evaluation of Newspaper Coverage of Boko Haram Attacks in Nigeria

This study investigates the newspaper coverage of Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria, with a view to identifying the patterns of frames in the stories published. A total of 120 editions of four selected newspapers were analyzed. Findings show that The Nation newspaper published more than other titles - Daily Trust, The Guardian and ThisDay - across all genres. Straight news was predominant. The ineffective response of the government, in terms of its uncompromising behavior and inability to contain the insurgency, was widely reported. Findings also show that the newspapers dwelt so much inflammatorily on the impact of attacks by the sect and de-emphasized messages that could help end the violence. Nigerian newspapers should do more in terms of investigating and interpreting issues in a crisis instead of straight news reporting that lacks control. If they agree with this recommendation, framing patterns that bring solution to the problem, rather than stoke it, become easier to create

News Frame Patterns: An Evaluation of Newspaper Coverage of Boko Haram Attacks in Nigeria

This study investigates the newspaper coverage of Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria, with a view to identifying the patterns of frames in the stories published. A total of 120 editions of four selected newspapers were analyzed. Findings show that The Nation newspaper published more than other titles - Daily Trust, The Guardian and ThisDay - across all genres. Straight news was predominant. The ineffective response of the government, in terms of its uncompromising behavior and inability to contain the insurgency, was widely reported. Findings also show that the newspapers dwelt so much inflammatorily on the impact of attacks by the sect and de-emphasized messages that could help end the violence. Nigerian newspapers should do more in terms of investigating and interpreting issues in a crisis instead of straight news reporting that lacks control. If they agree with this recommendation, framing patterns that bring solution to the problem, rather than stoke it, become easier to create

Visual pathology: a case study in late nineteenth century clinical photography in Glasgow, Scotland

This thesis analyses the role of clinical photography in late nineteenth-century Glasgow. The photographs for this study occur in five interrelated contexts. Firstly I examine the clinical uses of popularised techniques such as the stereograph, carte-de-visite and the cabinet card. Secondly, I shall discuss a selection of clinical photographs that featured in the context of the Glasgow Medical Journal from the late 1870s onwards. The first published images were the work of professional studio photographers. Over the following two decades, however, one sees an increase in the number of photographs taken by medical men. These published photographs circulated in a number of contexts including M.D. theses, medical society lectures and individuals' collections. Thirdly, clinical photographs began to feature in the context of the surgical ward journals and pathology reports of the Glasgow Western Infirmary and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow from the mid-1880s onwards. These photographs were often the work of House Surgeons and Resident Assistants. During the early 1880s while surgeon to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Sir William Macewen (1848-1924) began to take clinical photographs for inclusion in his Private Journals, our fourth context. Macewen began to mount duplicate prints of some of these cases on to boards, and write brief case notes on the verso. This formed the basis of a collection of clinical photographs, which he used in surgical demonstration classes at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary Medical School. The fifth, and final, part of this study examines Macewen's collection of clinical photographs, which expanded over the next thirty years or so, to contain over eight hundred items. In 1892 Macewen moved from the Glasgow Royal Infirmary to become Regius Professor of Surgery at the University of Glasgow and Visiting Surgeon to the Glasgow Western Infirmary. Macewen used his collection of clinical photographs in conjunction with plaster casts, specimens and lanternslides in surgical demonstration classes held at the University of Glasgow. Many visual sources in the history of medicine are fragmentary by their very nature, disconnected from their origins and contexts of use. In this thesis I take an interdisciplinary and contextualised approach to the study of late nineteenth-century clinical photography. The aim is to understand and interpret photographs within their local contexts of production, circulation and use. Photographs can have intimate connections with other forms of images, texts and artefacts. These inter-relationships have important implications for understanding the role of clinical photography within late nineteenth-century Glasgow medicine. Moreover, I shall explore alternative ways of illustrating the results of this research through means of visual expression

Structural Thermomechanical Models for Shape Memory Alloy Components

Thermally responsive shape memory alloys (SMA) demonstrate interesting properties like shape memory effect (SME) and superelasticity (SE). SMA components in the form of wires, springs and beams typically exhibit complex, nonlinear hysteretic responses and are subjected to tension, torsion or bending loading conditions. Traditionally, simple strength of materials based models/tools have driven engineering designs for centuries, even as more sophisticated models existed for design with conventional materials. In light of this, an effort to develop strength of materials type modeling approach that can capture complex hysteretic SMA responses under different loading conditions is undertaken. The key idea here is of separating the thermoelastic and the dissipative part of the hysteretic response by using a Gibbs potential and thermodynamic principles. The dissipative part of the response is later accounted for by a discrete Preisach model. The models are constructed using experimentally measurable quantities (like torque–twist, bending moment–curvature etc.), since the SMA components subjected to torsion and bending experience an in-homogeneous non-linear stress distribution across the specimen cross-section. Such an approach enables simulation of complex temperature dependent superelastic responses including those with multiple internal loops. The second aspect of this work deals with the durability of the material which is of critical importance with increasing use of SMA components in different engineering applications. Conventional S-N curves, Goodman diagrams etc. that capture only the mechanical loading aspects are not adequate to capture complex thermomechanical coupling seen in SMAs. Hence, a novel concept of driving force amplitude v/s number of cycles equivalent to thermodynamical driving force for onset of phase transformations is proposed which simultaneously captures both mechanical and thermal loading in a single framework. Recognizing the paucity of experimental data on functional degradation of SMAs (especially SMA springs), a custom designed thermomechanical fatigue test rig is used to perform user defined repeated thermomechanical tests on SMA springs. The data from these tests serve both to calibrate the model and establish thermodynamic driving force and extent of phase transformation relationships for SMA springs. A drop in driving force amplitude would suggest material losing its ability to undergo phase transformations which directly corresponds to a loss in the functionality/smartness of SMA component. This would allow designers to set appropriate driving force thresholds as a guideline for analyzing functional life of SMA components

Shear wave elastography based on noise correlation and time reversal

Shear wave elastography (SWE) relies on the generation and tracking of coherent shear waves to image the tissue's shear elasticity. Recent technological developments have allowed SWE to be implemented in commercial ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging systems, quickly becoming a new imaging modality in medicine and biology. However, coherent shear wave tracking sets a limitation to SWE because it either requires ultrafast frame rates (of up to 20 kHz), or alternatively, a phase-lock synchronization between shear wave-source and imaging device. Moreover, there are many applications where coherent shear wave tracking is not possible because scattered waves from tissue’s inhomogeneities, waves coming from muscular activity, heart beating or external vibrations interfere with the coherent shear wave. To overcome these limitations, several authors developed an alternative approach to extract the shear elasticity of tissues from a complex elastic wavefield. To control the wavefield, this approach relies on the analogy between time reversal and seismic noise cross-correlation. By cross-correlating the elastic field at different positions, which can be interpreted as a time reversal experiment performed in the computer, shear waves are virtually focused on any point of the imaging plane. Then, different independent methods can be used to image the shear elasticity, for example, tracking the coherent shear wave as it focuses, measuring the focus size or simply evaluating the amplitude at the focusing point. The main advantage of this approach is its compatibility with low imaging rates modalities, which has led to innovative developments and new challenges in the field of multi-modality elastography. The goal of this short review is to cover the major developments in wave-physics involving shear elasticity imaging using a complex elastic wavefield and its latest applications including slow imaging rate modalities and passive shear elasticity imaging based on physiological noise correlation

FRAMED: HOW COLIN POWELL'S U.N.SPEECH ON IRAQ SET THE NEWS AGENDA FOR AMERICAN AND BRITISH TELEVISON NEWS

Numerous scholars and press critics have asserted that American news coverage of the run-up to the Iraq war was less skeptical than British coverage. This thesis explores the validity of that claim in the television news coverage of one key event: Colin Powell's February 5, 2003 address to the United Nations in which he made the case for war. How effective was the Bush administration in using Powell's presentation to set the news agenda in America and Great Britain? Contrary to expectations, a qualitative content analysis found British network ITV framed the event in much the same way as did American networks ABC, CBS, and NBC

Public Health in Colonial and Post-Colonial Ghana: Lesson-Drawing for The Twenty-First Century

Public health in twenty-first century Ghana is mired with several issues ranging from the inadequacy of public health facilities, improper settlement planning, insanitary conditions, and the inadequacy of laws and their implementation. This situation compared to the colonial era is a direct contradiction. Development in the pre-colonial era to the colonial era sought to make the prevention of diseases a priority in the colonial administration. This was begun with the establishment of the health branch in 1909 as a response to the bubonic plague that was fast spreading in the colony. From here public health policies and strategies were enacted to help the diseases prevention cause. Various public health boards, the medical research institute or the laboratory branch, the waste management department, the use of preventive medicine and maintenance of good settlement planning and sanitation were public health measures in the colonial era. This research seeks to analyse the public health system in the colonial era so as to draw basic lessons for twenty-first century Ghana. Archival data and other secondary sources are reviewed and analysed to help draw these lessons. Richard Rose’s lesson-drawing approach was used to draw the lessons