Structural performance of precast self-compacting concrete beam consisiting banana skin powder and coir fibre under flexural load

In present, environmental pollution is become serious problem. Agricultural products generate waste in huge amount, which creates the disposal and environmental problems such as leachate and odour smell. An initiative is needed to reduce these wastes and utilize the agricultural waste as a construction material like concrete. The agricultural waste widely used as supplementary cementing material, filler and fibre reinforcement. In this research Banana Skin Powder (BSP) and Coir Fibre (CF) utilized as partially cementing material and filler respectively, to reduce the agricultural waste and save the natural recourses which is used in manufacturing of cement and reduces the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) in atmosphere. This research investigated the physical and chemical properties of BSP. The fresh properties (filling ability, passing ability and segregation resistance) and hardened properties such as compressive, tensile, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio of self-compacting concrete (SCC) consisting BSP and CF were studied experimentally. The ultimate load, crack pattern and load deflection profile of Precast Self-Compacting Concrete containing BSP and CF Beam (PSCC-BSP-CF-B) were analysed under flexural load by experimental work. The results were validated by Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using software package Abaqus. The outcomes from XRF test proved that the BSP is the Class F pozzolan which contributes to enhance the strength of SCC. The fresh properties of SCC like filling ability, passing ability and segregation resistance were satisfied the EFNARC SCC specifications. The mechanical properties and ultimate bearing capacity were improved with the BSP and CF incorporation in SCC. The crack pattern predicts the PSCC-B were fail in flexural. The deflection became lower when CF and BSP were added in PSCC-B. The optimum percentage which was found through experimental tests are 0.4%BSP and 0.5% for CF. The crack pattern, ultimate load and deflection in PSCC-B using FEA through ABAQUS have 2% to 8% difference compare to experimental studies

Jiwar: from a right of neighbourliness to a right of neighbourhood for refugees

In this paper I make the case that a closer examination of the tradition of jiwār or neighbourliness can help unsettle the binary of citizen and migrant that forecloses the possibility of accessing rights for the latter. Here, insights from human geography and social anthropology pertaining to understandings and practices of conviviality are mobilised to ask what contemporary readings of jiwār can tell us given that the nation-state dominates modalities and practices of locality production. Mobilising interview and ethnographic research material produced in partnership with Palestinian, Syrian, Sudanese, and Iraqi forced migrants over the past 8 years across multiple sites, this paper draws attention to the significance of creating and maintaining neighbourly relations and spaces as an ethical position contrasted against exclusionary nation-state and sectarian discourses and practices. Here, I draw on the Turkish state response to on-going Syrian displacement and the Syrian state’s response to the earlier displacement of Iraqis (2005-11) to illustrate how the sedentarist logic of the nation-state impedes practices of conviviality that emerge from the lived realities of encounter between those already resident and those who newly arrive

On the Unusually High Temperature of the Cluster of Galaxies 1E 0657-56

A recent X-ray observation of the cluster 1E0657-56 (z=0.296) with ASCA implied an unusually high temperature of ~17 keV. Such a high temperature would make it the hottest known cluster and severely constrain cosmological since, in a Universe with critical density Omega=1 the probability of observing such a cluster is only 4e-5. Here we test the robustness of this observational result since it has such important implications. We analysed the data using a variety of different data analysis methods and spectral analysis assumptions and find a temperature of ~11-12 keV in all cases, except for one class of spectral fits. These are fits in which the absorbing column density is fixed at the Galactic value. We show that a high temperature of ~17 keV is artificially obtained if the true spectrum has a stronger low- energy cut-off than that for Galactic absorption only. The extra absorption may be astrophysical in origin, or it may be a problem with the low-energy CCD efficiency. Although significantly lower than previous measurements, this temperature of kT ~11-12 keV is still relatively high since only a few clusters have been found to have temperatures higher than 10 keV and the data therefore still present some difficulty for an Omega=1 Universe. Our results will also be useful to anyone who wants to estimate the systematic errors involved in different methods of background subtraction of ASCA data for sources with similar S/N to that of the 1E0657-56 data reported here.Comment: 14 pages plus 2 figures. Latex with separate postscript figure files. AASTEX 4.0 macro. Accepted for the Astrophysical Journal Letter

Extreme overvalued beliefs: How violent extremist beliefs become “normalized”

Extreme overvalued beliefs (EOB) are rigidly held, non-deusional beliefs that are the motive behind most acts of terrorism and mass shootings. EOBs are differentiated from delusions and obsessions. The concept of an overvalued idea was first described by Wernicke and later applied to terrorism by McHugh. Our group of forensic psychiatrists (Rahman, Resnick, Harry) refined the definition as an aid in the differential diagnosis seen in acts of violence. The form and content of EOBs is discussed as well as group effects, conformity, and obedience to authority. Religious cults such as The People’s Temple, Heaven’s Gate, Aum Shinrikyo, and Islamic State (ISIS) and conspiracy beliefs such as assassinations, moon-hoax, and vaccine-induced autism beliefs are discussed using this construct. Finally, some concluding thoughts on countering violent extremism, including its online presence is discussed utilizing information learned from online eating disorders and consumer experience

The Act of Fictional Communication in a Hermeneutic Pragmatics

This paper is concerned with fictional communication, as the act of an author in relation to a reader. Fictional discourse exhibits certain complexities that are not observable in other forms of discourse. For example, the author’s act is mediated for the reader by that set of persons called characters. This fact generates a range of relations, firstly the triad of author-reader, author-character, and reader-character. But closer observation reveals that this mediation may be such that it gives way to another, deeper set of relations. At the deepest level one may postulate reader’s relation to author’s self-relating and author’s relation to reader’s self-relating. These questions are explored with view to deriving a revisionist notion of pragmatics that is open to agenc

Kecelaruan personaliti antisosial di kalangan pelajar politeknik : satu kajian awal

Kajian ini adalah bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti kecelaruan personalis antisosial (KPA) yang berlaku di kalangan remaja atau muda-mudi terutama di Politeknik Malaysia yang mungkin mengakibatkan berlakunya masalah sosial di kalangan mereka. Kajian ini berbentuk kuantitatif. Sampel kajian telah dipilih di empat buah politeknik. Politeknik yang terlibat adalah politeknik zon selatan. Responden kajian ini terdiri daripada 340 orang pelajar pengambilan bam semester satu yang memasuki institusi berkenaan. Responden juga terdiri daripada pelajar peringkat sijil dan diploma daripada pelbagai pengkhususan. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah borang soal selidik. Data yang telah dikumpulkan dianalisis menggunakan Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Statistik yang digunakan adalah statistik deskriptif. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan di antara 10 jenis kecelaruan, kecelaruan avoidant mencatatkan skor min tertinggi iaitu dengan skor min 3.24 (a = 1.055). Selain itu, pengkaji mendapati personaliti antisosial yang berlaku di kalangan pelajar politeknik adalah pada tahap yang sederhana iaitu skor min 2.35 (a =0.933). Hasil daripada kajian juga mendapati faktor sosial mencatatkan skor min tertinggi iaitu 2.07 (a = 0.851). Faktor keluarga pula hanya mencatatkan skor min 2.03 (g = 0.887). Pengkaji juga mendapati responden lebih gemar kepada konsep keagamaan berbanding konsep-konsep yang lain sekiranya mereka menghadapi masalah. Oleh itu diharapkan kajian ini dapat memberikan penjelasan sedikit sebanyak mengenai kecelaruan personaliti antisosial yang berlaku di kalangan pelajar politeknik di masa kini

A comparative analysis of data redundancy and execution time between relational and object oriented schema table

The design of database is one of the important parts in building software, because database is the data storage inside the system. There are some techniques that allow the programmer to improve design of the database. One of the most popular techniques being used for database is the relational technique, which content entity relationship diagram and normalization. The relational technique is easy to use and useful for reducing data redundancy because the normalization technique solves the data redundancy by applying normalization normal forms on the schema tables. The second technique is the object oriented technique, which content class diagram and generate schema table. An advantage of object oriented technique is its closeness to programming languages like C++ or C#. This project is starting with applying relational technique and object oriented technique to define which technique uses less data redundancy during design database. Based on experimental results for total data redundancy in HMS case study was 336 for relational technique and 364 for object oriented technique as well as, course database case study was 186 for relational technique and 204 for object oriented technique. Also, this project is focus on query execution time between relational databases and object oriented database by using user friendly window. The experimental result for query execution time in HMS case study was 107.25 milliseconds for RDBMS and 80.5 milliseconds for OODBMS. In course database case study was 46.75 milliseconds for RDBMS and 31.75 milliseconds for OODBMS. However, the comparative analysis in this project is explaining the result of comparison between relational and object oriented techniques specifically with data redundancy and query execution time

Development of an AC-DC boost power factor correction

With rapid development in power semiconductor devices, the usage of power electronic systems has expanded to new and wide application range that include residential, commercial, aerospace and many others. Power electronic interfaces such as switch mode power supplies have proved to be superior over traditional linear power supplies. However, their non-linear behavior puts a question mark on their high efficiency. The current drawn by the switch mode power supplies from the line is distorted resulting in a high Total Harmonic Distortion and low Power Factor. Power Factor, the ratio between the real or average power and the apparent power forms a very essential parameter in power system. It is indicative of how effectively the real power of the system has been utilized. With the stringent requirements of power quality, power factor correction has been an active research topic in power electronics, and significant efforts have been made on the developments of the power factor correction converters. This project aims to develop a circuit for power factor correction using active filtering approach by implementing boost converters arranged in parallel. It shall be based on an optimized power sharing strategy to improve the current quality and at the same time reduce the switching losses. The simulation result shows that the power factor was improved when the power factor corrector circuit added to the inverter and the power factor corrector circuit switching with proportional-integral-derivative controller shows better power factor then using pulse width modulation switching mode

Introducing Iqbal the Economist

The Iqbal Memorial Lecture was instituted in 1994 when the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) celebrated the completion of a decade of steady progress. A brief announcement stated: “The Iqbal Memorial Lecture attributed to the national poet [Emphasis added], Allama Muhammad Iqbal has been included in the programme for the first time. Professor Ian M. D. Little is delivering that lecture” [Secretary’s Report (1994), p. 1472]. Iqbal, the poet and philosopher par excellence, has made incisive remarks or comments on economic and social issues in his poetry, philosophical writings, and in the course of his discourses as well as some famous letters, particularly those written to the Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. But these do not make Iqbal an economist. The Secretary of the PSDE was, therefore, careful in observing that the lecture commemorates our “national poet”. However, it will be of great interest to this largest national congregation of economists and other scholars concerned with development to know that the very first published book of Iqbal related neither to poetry nor philosophy, but economics. It was written in Urdu. He also taught the subject at undergraduate and Master’s level, even though he had not studied it as a student. At the Government College, Lahore, Iqbal studied English, Philosophy and Arabic for his B.A. and then completed the M.A. in Philosophy.