Facing the growing problem of the electric power consumption in Egyptian residential building using building performance simulation program

Egypt has been experiencing recurrent power cuts especially at the summer, with the problem being made worse by the extra demands placed on the electrical grid by the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. Electricity shortages are now a problem in Cairo, Alexandria, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, and Nubia, as well as in the Nile Delta governorates of Beheira and Qalioubiya. The aim of this study is to develop a model for the Egyptian residential building using Building Performance Simulation Program and make sensitivity analysis on some variables effecting the electric power consumption in order to help faceting the growing problem in Egypt. The model was created using the IES-VE 2012 (Integrated Environmental Solution ). The simulation model was verified against the survey data for the Egyptian apartment and same model simulated using energy Plus simulation tool. The results of the program describing different situations for energy using profile for the air conditions, lighting and equipments in respect to building layout and construction climate and pattern of use. This model can be used in the future to help in reducing the electric power consumption in the residential building

Three-dimensional surface grid generation for calculation of thermal radiation shape factors

A technique is described to generate three dimensional surface grids suitable for calculating shape factors for thermal radiative heat transfer. The surface under consideration is approximated by finite triangular elements generated in a special manner. The grid is generated by dividing the surface into a two dimensional array of nodes. Each node is defined by its coordinates. Each set of four adjacent nodes is used to construct two triangular elements. Each triangular element is characterized by the vector representation of its vertices. Vector algebra is used to calculate all desired geometric properties of grid elements. The properties are used to determine the shape factor between the element and an area element in space. The grid generation can be graphically displayed using any software with three dimensional features. DISSPLA was used to view the grids

Service oriented interactive media (SOIM) engines enabled by optimized resource sharing

In the same way as cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS) and Content Centric Networking (CCN) triggered a new class of software architectures fundamentally different from traditional desktop software, service oriented networking (SON) suggests a new class of media engine technologies, which we call Service Oriented Interactive Media (SOIM) engines. This includes a new approach for game engines and more generally interactive media engines for entertainment, training, educational and dashboard applications. Porting traditional game engines and interactive media engines to the cloud without fundamentally changing the architecture, as done frequently, can enable already various advantages of cloud computing for such kinds of applications, for example simple and transparent upgrading of content and unified user experience on all end-user devices. This paper discusses a new architecture for game engines and interactive media engines fundamentally designed for cloud and SON. Main advantages of SOIM engines are significantly higher resource efficiency, leading to a fraction of cloud hosting costs. SOIM engines achieve these benefits by multilayered data sharing, efficiently handling many input and output channels for video, audio, and 3D world synchronization, and smart user session and session slot management. Architecture and results of a prototype implementation of a SOIM engine are discussed

Some toxicological studies on house crickets in relation to their circadian rhythms

Imperial Users onl

Minimal-memory realization of pearl-necklace encoders of general quantum convolutional codes

Quantum convolutional codes, like their classical counterparts, promise to offer higher error correction performance than block codes of equivalent encoding complexity, and are expected to find important applications in reliable quantum communication where a continuous stream of qubits is transmitted. Grassl and Roetteler devised an algorithm to encode a quantum convolutional code with a "pearl-necklace encoder." Despite their theoretical significance as a neat way of representing quantum convolutional codes, they are not well-suited to practical realization. In fact, there is no straightforward way to implement any given pearl-necklace structure. This paper closes the gap between theoretical representation and practical implementation. In our previous work, we presented an efficient algorithm for finding a minimal-memory realization of a pearl-necklace encoder for Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) convolutional codes. This work extends our previous work and presents an algorithm for turning a pearl-necklace encoder for a general (non-CSS) quantum convolutional code into a realizable quantum convolutional encoder. We show that a minimal-memory realization depends on the commutativity relations between the gate strings in the pearl-necklace encoder. We find a realization by means of a weighted graph which details the non-commutative paths through the pearl-necklace. The weight of the longest path in this graph is equal to the minimal amount of memory needed to implement the encoder. The algorithm has a polynomial-time complexity in the number of gate strings in the pearl-necklace encoder.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures; extends paper arXiv:1004.5179v

Analisis Wacana Kritis atas Transformasi Jihad Abu Hamid Al-Gazali (W. 1111) dari Fikih Menuju Tasawuf

Sebagian orang menganggap bahwa fikih dan tasawuf adalah dua entitas ilmu yang bertentangan. Jihad yang oleh umat Islam diyakini sebagai cara mencapai kejayaan Islam dimaknai secara berbeda oleh fikih dan tasawuf. Dalam fikih, jihad dimaknai sebagai berperang fisik melwan orang kafir. Sedangkan tasawuf memaknai jihad sebagai perang melawan hawa nafsu. Yang menarik adalah ketika al-Gazali yang ahli dalam bidang fikih tidak pernah terlibat atau meneriakkan perang fisik melawan tentara Salib yang telah mguasai Palestina. Muncul tuduhan bahwa al-Gazali telah tenggelam dalam tasawufnya. Al-Gazali adalah seorang ahli fikih yang kemudian menekuni tasawuf hingga ahir hidupnya. Sikap al-Gazali manarik minat peneliti untuk mengetahui lebih dalam tentang pandangan al-Gazali terhadap makna jihad dan bagaimana pelaksanaannya. Selain itu juga akan diteliti hal-hal yang menyebabkan terjadinya perpindahan al-Gazali dari fikih kepada tasawuf serta bagaimana proses perpindahan tersebut berlangsung. Harapannya, akan dapat diketahui juga penyebab tidak adanya peran aktif al-Gazali dalam perang Salib. Penelitian ini berupa penelitian kepustakaan yang sumber utamanya adalah buku-buku karya al-Gazali dan karya orang lain yang terkait dengan\ud al-Gazali. Untuk menjawab masalah tersebut, penulis menggunakan Analis Wacana Kritis (AWK) sebagai alat analisa. Analisis wacana dipilih karena dalam analisanya tidak hanya bertumpu pada sejarah yang mendahului terjadinya sebuah peristiwa namun juga menggunakan konteks, ideologi yang berkembang dan analisis teks sebagai alat analisa. Dari penelitian diketahui bahwa jihad di mata al-Gazali dimaknai sebagai cara mencapai kejayaan Islam, sebagaimana pandangan fikih pada umumnya. Adapun pelaksanaannya tergantung pada situasi dan kondisi yang sedang dihadapi. Adakalanya jihad fikih yang digunakan dan adakalanya jihad tasawuf yang lebih diperlukan. Namun pelaksanaan jihad tasawuf tetap tidak boleh meninggalkan bentukbentuk fikihnya. Pada masa al-Gazali hidup, musuh terbesar yang dihadapi umat Islam bukanlah musuh yang datang dari luar, tetapi adalah kerusakan moral umat akibat menuruti hawa nafsu. Kedaan ini membuat al-Gazali berpindah dari fikih kepada tasawuf. Perpindahan ini terjadi melalui sebuah proses panjang yakni hampir sebelas tahun. Dari penelitian ini juga dapat diketahui bahwa tidak adanya peran aktif al-Gazali dalam perang Salib karena saat itu perang Salib belum memunculkan sentiment keagamaan di kalangan umata Islam sehingga tidak dimaknai sebagai perang suci melawan orang kafir. Perang yang terjadi diseputar Siria dilihat oleh penguasa Bagdad sebagai perang memperebutkan kekuasaan antar penguasa kecil di sekitar Siria yang melibatkan kelompok Bizantium yang Kristen serta Saljuk yang sunni dan Fhatimiyah yang Syi’i

Damage Characterization of Beam-Column Joints Reinforced with GFRP Under Reversed Cyclic Loading

The use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement in concrete structures has been on the rise due to its advantages over conventional steel reinforcement such as corrosion. Reinforcing steel corrosion has been the primary cause of deterioration of reinforced concrete (RC) structures, resulting in tremendous annual repair costs. One application of FRP reinforcement to be further explored is its use in RC frames. Nonetheless, due to FRP\u27s inherently elastic behavior, FRP-reinforced (FRP-RC) members exhibit low ductility and energy dissipation as well as different damage mechanisms. Furthermore, current design standards for FRP-RC structures do not address seismic design in which the beam-column joint is a key issue. During an earthquake, the safety of beam-column joints is essential to the whole structure integrity. Thus, research is needed to gain better understanding of the behavior of FRP-RC structures and their damage mechanisms under seismic loading. In this study, two full-scale beam-column joint specimens reinforced with steel and GFRP configurations were tested under quasi-static loading. The control steel-reinforced specimen was detailed according to current design code provisions. The GFRP-RC specimen was detailed in a similar scheme. The damage in the two specimens is characterized to compare their performance under simulated seismic loading

Negative Specific Heat of a Magnetically Self-Confined Plasma Torus

It is shown that the thermodynamic maximum entropy principle predicts negative specific heat for a stationary magnetically self-confined current-carrying plasma torus. Implications for the magnetic self-confinement of fusion plasma are considered.Comment: 10p., LaTeX, 2 eps figure file