Truss Bridge Damage Localization and Severity Estimation Using Influence Lines

The safety of bridges is one of the primary concerns of researchers, engineers, and bridge owners and managers, especially when bridges are approaching the end of their intended service lives. The estimation of bridge condition and remaining service life is critical to prioritize the allocation of available funding for repairs and rehabilitation. Various methods, including both dynamic and static approaches, have been developed to detect and localize bridge damage and estimate its severity. This research presents a methodology for detecting a single damaged member in a truss bridge and estimating the severity of the damage using static vertical deflection influence lines (SDILs). The methodology is capable of making assessments using fewer sensors and measurement locations than other state of the art methodologies, thereby minimizing costs and service interruptions to bridge owners. This work comprises the development of the methodology and a parametric study to determine the sensitivity of the methodology to uncertainties faced in practice. The results show that the proposed methodology is able to identify the damaged member and estimate damage severity; performance results are given for various combination of measurement noise levels, number of simulations, and damage severities

Hegemony and the interest of Egypt's business elite in post-Mubarak press

This article aims at critically analysing the hegemony of Egypt‟s business elite and the private press they own following Mubarak‟s fall. Hegemony requires the exercise of power to maintain consent under changing conditions such as the 2011 uprising and the 2013 military coup. This study answers the question of “why and how Egypt‟s business elite controls the post-Mubarak press?”. Situated within the interdisciplinary domain of “critical political economy of communication”, this article focuses on the two most popular privately-owned newspapers al-Masry al-Youm and al-Watan. Interviews with high-profile sources have been conducted and embedded into the research. Findings show that the Egyptian private press, particularly in the post-Mubarak era, is closely controlled by the business elite in favour of their interests, and indirectly in favour of the political elite – whether civilian or military. The sector‟s hegemonic position was briefly shaken by the 2011 uprising, then quickly maintained and reinforced before the 2013 coup

Urban Streets as an Armature of the Public Open Space

There has already been much written about the streets in many different ways, such as in planning, sociology, traffic engineering and in architecture, which refers at some point to an aspect of the street. The range of material is therefore very wide, but much of this deals with a particular field of comment, such as streetscape, social experience and social behaviour. I want to discuss the streets from an urban design point of view and then see how this might relate to social experience, for a better understanding of our urban environment. Broadly speaking the thesis is divided into 5 chapters. The first chapter deals with the concept of the street; I will be defining the street, explaining its complexity, referring to the "bits" which have to function such as doors providing entry and windows, daylight, but which also combined with other "bits" such as decorations to form the facade and therefore the character of the streetscape. Modern technology has surely added other function to the street, I will be describing the impact of it on the appearance of the street of the built environment. The second chapter is an analysis of the physical relationship between building and space which could be reduced to a basic state of solids and voids. I will discuss the streets as a system of differentiated open spaces which corresponds to the image of the traditional city, and the streets as a system of undifferentiated open spaces which corresponds to any of Le Corbusier's urban proposals. I will then look at those elements which act as the enclosing element of the street. The third chapter is an analysis of the form and spatial composition of two different urban environments, with emphasis on the aspect of the streets and how they determine the town-scape. The two examples are, Edinburgh New Town and Glasgow Merchant City. The first example which has a formal composition has been chosen for a better understanding of the second one which had an incremental development over different periods. This chapter will end by a summary of General Characteristics between the two urban settlements. The fourth chapter deals with the conflict and failure in terms of design and legibility of Glasgow Merchant City and shows why the components of the townscape do not subscribe to a clear and legible structure. By using a request survey on this area, I will analyse how people understand and use this area. The fifth chapter is an attempt to bring a New Order to Glasgow Merchant City, because its townscape and layout seem to be confused in terms of legibility. The New Order is to provide an "ARMATURE" upon which all the main component of the townscape will be connected so as to form a coherent and harmonic townscape where legibility will be understood. A proposed armature for Glasgow Merchant City will be discussed. In the final chapter, conclusions are drawn and the two underlying ideas of the general concept of the armature are explained

A Game Modeling of a Closed-loop Supply Chain in a Water-energy Nexus: Technology Advancement, Market Competition and Capacity Limit

Water and energy are two scarce and concerning resources interconnected in the water-energy nexus. In the nexus, production of energy needs water, and production of water needs energy. For better management of these resources in the nexus, this research considers a supply chain that consists of water suppliers, power suppliers, and consumers of these commodities. In the chain, water suppliers purchase power from power suppliers, and power suppliers purchase water from water suppliers. Other consumers can also buy these resources at the water and power markets. Each firm tries to maximize its own profit. The suppliers of water and power decide their production quantities. The prices of the commodities depend on the quantities supplied to the market, observing that a firm\u27s profit is dependent not only on its own decision, but also on the decision of the other firms for their production quantities. The interaction of the firms in the supply chain is modeled as a simultaneous game. Four different market structures (i.e., models) are introduced in this research. The first model considers a monopoly power market and and a monopoly water market. In this model, we find the Nash equilibrium and analyse various economic measures. We also investigate the effect of technology efficiency on the same market as well as on the cross market. In the second model, we consider a duopoly in the water market, where the two firms are identical. The purpose of this model is to investigate the effect of market competition on the firms of the same industry and the firms of the cross industry. The third model generalizes the second model by considering oligopoly markets with identical firms. Another assumption of the above models, besides their being identical, is that the firms do not have capacity limits. In the last model, we relax these assumptions and consider that power suppliers may own more than one generating unit (i.e., power plant). A case study is considered with different scenarios to investigate the effect of technology efficiency and capacity limits. In these models, we find the Nash equilibria and derive various economic measures. The analysis shows that there are unique Nash equilibria under some conditions and multiple Nash equilibria under other conditions. When there are multiple equilibria, a government can provide incentives so that the firms can choose a Pareto optimal decision for the benefit of all entities involved. We find that depending on the conditions of the markets, technology improvement does not always lead to better outputs and better economic measures. When there are enough supplies for the firms and consumers to purchase, improvement of production technology for reduced water and power consumption also improves all economic measures of the supply chain, including social welfare. Under the same condition, higher competitions in the water or energy industry also improve all economic measures. However, when either the water or the power supply is solely consumed by the firms in the cross industry, the improvements of technology and higher competition can give negative effects on some measures. When an industry has a new entrant (competitor), the incumbent firms may earn higher profits if the technology inefficiency remains above 60%. While more efficient firms may have a competitive advantage to produce more, a limited capacity may shift this competitive advantage to less efficient firms if they have higher capacity limits when demand is high

Egypt’s private press and inciting for violence against journalists during the 2013 military coup

This article aims at critically analysing the hegemony of Egypt’s business elite and the private press they own during the military coup of 2013. It is a hegemony requiring the exercise of power to maintain consent under changing conditions, which witnessed significant violence against critical voices. This study answers the question of how the demonisation of critical news in Egypt’s controlled media caused chaotic street violence against journalists. Situated within the interdisciplinary domain of Critical Theory, this article discusses the status of freedom of expression and violence against the media. The findings of this study show that the Egyptian private press has become more controlled since the coup period: it initially incited for violence against critical journalists, later on this turned into chaotic street violence. Many journalists, including those from the pro-coup camp, have fallen victim to such chaotic violence

The Appropriate Physical Expression of Habitat in the Algerian Context

More than any other country in the "Maghreb" - or even more, in Africa - Algeria is marked by the intense and rapid urban development which derives from the impacts of the huge rural migrant and the sharp increase of the demography. Many urban problems have emerged from this situation and are still far away from resolution and before any of them, is the one of "habitat". Many solutions have been envisaged for housing people during the last twenty five years, but almost non of them seems to be satisfactory. The new structural and physical aspects of housing, especially in cities have left many socio-cultural factors behind and the results are that people do not want to live in this urban environment. In addition to that, there is no continuity with tradition in such environment, and the climatic considerations are not taken into account. Thus, a new form of urban habitat has to be developed in relation to tradition , climate, and to socio-cultural component of the Algerian society. There has already been much research about the Algerian housing in many different ways, such as in planning , sociology, and in architecture, which refer at some point to an aspect of the present situation. The range of material is therefore very wide, but much of this deals with a particular field of comment, such as building techniques, climate and thermal comfort, social experiences and planning policies. The aim of this thesis is to establish a suitable physical expression for the urban habitat developments envisaged in Algeria in the immediate future. In order to produce a comprehensive environment, this expression will recognise the Algerian cultural, as well as economical, sociological, and physical context, and will seek to determine appropriate structural, environmental, and cultural criteria. I will to discuss the problem of the Algerian housing from an urban design point of view. The method envisaged is to examine traditional and contemporary urban layouts, in addition to analysing their building forms. Broadly speaking, the thesis is divided into three parts. Part one deals with the status of the existing problem of housing and is subdivided into two chapters. In chapter 1, a general description of the present Algerian habitat is stated with some particular emphasis on the new attitudes towards modernity in terms of housing. In chapter 2, however, the nature of the state's response is revealed with particular interest on the last experiences and the resent trend. This chapter will be referring to the zoning policy and the prefabricated building process of modern housing, then I will describe some aspects of the real problem that follows and how people respond to it. This should lead us to a more accurate picture of the housing crisis in Algeria. Part two is the core of this thesis and it deals with the analysis . This part is subdivided into three chapters and will examine two different types of environments determined by the traditional and the contemporary urban forms, then it will compare their respective building forms, i.e. the cluster unit and the slab unit. Chapter 1 will analyse the traditional urban form and its environment and look at the principles generating such a pattern. The pattern selected in this study represents the traditional urban settlement of Algiers: the Casbah. In chapter 2, similar analysis will be performed on the contemporary urban form, I will also look at the principles behind such a pattern. However, the pattem representing this contemporary urban form is not a real existing settlement but a typical master plan (Mendes's urban housing model) that symbolises not only most contemporary housing that prevailed during the last two decades but also the latest trend in terms of urban habitat which is strongly favoured by the present policy makers. In chapter 3, in order to do a thorough comparison of both the cluster unit and the slab unit which are generating the two district urban forms. I will first set 10 criteria according to what is found fundamental in determining both traditional and contemporary environments. Second, I will compare both units according to each criterion. Part three is the last stage, and is mainly divided into two chapters. Chapter 1 will be looking at the two selected urban forms, the Casbah and the Mendes's model it will then aim to establish a middle ground of acceptable habitat by adjusting each model against critical criteria. This process will examine the possibilities of upgrading both models which should lead us to a more appropriate housing layouts. Chapter 2 will take the form of a general conclusion that should determine the main important concepts behind the physical expression of an appropriate habitat for future development in Algeria and what measures can be taken by a governmental department in order to select appropriate proposals for future habitat that it would be worth the government investing in

Embedded Machine Learning: Emphasis on Hardware Accelerators and Approximate Computing for Tactile Data Processing

Machine Learning (ML) a subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving the industrial and technological revolution of the present and future. We envision a world with smart devices that are able to mimic human behavior (sense, process, and act) and perform tasks that at one time we thought could only be carried out by humans. The vision is to achieve such a level of intelligence with affordable, power-efficient, and fast hardware platforms. However, embedding machine learning algorithms in many application domains such as the internet of things (IoT), prostheses, robotics, and wearable devices is an ongoing challenge. A challenge that is controlled by the computational complexity of ML algorithms, the performance/availability of hardware platforms, and the application\u2019s budget (power constraint, real-time operation, etc.). In this dissertation, we focus on the design and implementation of efficient ML algorithms to handle the aforementioned challenges. First, we apply Approximate Computing Techniques (ACTs) to reduce the computational complexity of ML algorithms. Then, we design custom Hardware Accelerators to improve the performance of the implementation within a specified budget. Finally, a tactile data processing application is adopted for the validation of the proposed exact and approximate embedded machine learning accelerators. The dissertation starts with the introduction of the various ML algorithms used for tactile data processing. These algorithms are assessed in terms of their computational complexity and the available hardware platforms which could be used for implementation. Afterward, a survey on the existing approximate computing techniques and hardware accelerators design methodologies is presented. Based on the findings of the survey, an approach for applying algorithmic-level ACTs on machine learning algorithms is provided. Then three novel hardware accelerators are proposed: (1) k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) based on a selection-based sorter, (2) Tensorial Support Vector Machine (TSVM) based on Shallow Neural Networks, and (3) Hybrid Precision Binary Convolution Neural Network (BCNN). The three accelerators offer a real-time classification with monumental reductions in the hardware resources and power consumption compared to existing implementations targeting the same tactile data processing application on FPGA. Moreover, the approximate accelerators maintain a high classification accuracy with a loss of at most 5%

Synthesizing New Complexes Using [HPEBH=4-Hydroxy-N'-(1-(Pyridine-2-yl) ethylidene) Benzohydrazide)]

In this study, a new ligand [HPEBH=4-Hydroxy-N'-(1-(Pyridine-2-yl) ethylidene) Benzohydrazide)], and it's transition metal complexes with [NiII, CoII, and CuII ] were synthesized.The synthesis of ligand (HPEBH) was carried by the condensation of 1-(Pyridine-2-yl)ethan-1-one with 4-HydroxyBenzohydrazone .Then, the reaction of this ligand with Cobalt (II), Nickel (II), Copper (II) ions were carried out using metal chloride salt by the (2:1) molar ratio, fowr new mononuclear. complexes were obtained which have the formula [M(HPEBH)2] ; M= NiII , CoII, CuII The structures of the ligand and it's complexes were elucidated by FT-IR , U.V.–visible . Keywords: hydrazone, azometine, pyridine, metal complexes

Fair Resource Allocation in Macroscopic Evacuation Planning Using Mathematical Programming: Modeling and Optimization

Evacuation is essential in the case of natural and manmade disasters such as hurricanes, nuclear disasters, fire accidents, and terrorism epidemics. Random evacuation plans can increase risks and incur more losses. Hence, numerous simulation and mathematical programming models have been developed over the past few decades to help transportation planners make decisions to reduce costs and protect lives. However, the dynamic transportation process is inherently complex. Thus, modeling this process can be challenging and computationally demanding. The objective of this dissertation is to build a balanced model that reflects the realism of the dynamic transportation process and still be computationally tractable to be implemented in reality by the decision-makers. On the other hand, the users of the transportation network require reasonable travel time within the network to reach their destinations. This dissertation introduces a novel framework in the fields of fairness in network optimization and evacuation to provide better insight into the evacuation process and assist with decision making. The user of the transportation network is a critical element in this research. Thus, fairness and efficiency are the two primary objectives addressed in the work by considering the limited capacity of roads of the transportation network. Specifically, an approximation approach to the max-min fairness (MMF) problem is presented that provides lower computational time and high-quality output compared to the original algorithm. In addition, a new algorithm is developed to find the MMF resource allocation output in nonconvex structure problems. MMF is the fairness policy used in this research since it considers fairness and efficiency and gives priority to fairness. In addition, a new dynamic evacuation modeling approach is introduced that is capable of reporting more information about the evacuees compared to the conventional evacuation models such as their travel time, evacuation time, and departure time. Thus, the contribution of this dissertation is in the two areas of fairness and evacuation. The first part of the contribution of this dissertation is in the field of fairness. The objective in MMF is to allocate resources fairly among multiple demands given limited resources while utilizing the resources for higher efficiency. Fairness and efficiency are contradicting objectives, so they are translated into a bi-objective mathematical programming model and solved using the ϵ-constraint method, introduced by Vira and Haimes (1983). Although the solution is an approximation to the MMF, the model produces quality solutions, when ϵ is properly selected, in less computational time compared to the progressive-filling algorithm (PFA). In addition, a new algorithm is developed in this research called the θ progressive-filling algorithm that finds the MMF in resource allocation for general problems and works on problems with the nonconvex structure problems. The second part of the contribution is in evacuation modeling. The common dynamic evacuation models lack a piece of essential information for achieving fairness, which is the time each evacuee or group of evacuees spend in the network. Most evacuation models compute the total time for all evacuees to move from the endangered zone to the safe destination. Lack of information about the users of the transportation network is the motivation to develop a new optimization model that reports more information about the users of the network. The model finds the travel time, evacuation time, departure time, and the route selected for each group of evacuees. Given that the travel time function is a non-linear convex function of the traffic volume, the function is linearized through a piecewise linear approximation. The developed model is a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model with high complexity. Hence, the model is not capable of solving large scale problems. The complexity of the model was reduced by introducing a linear programming (LP) version of the full model. The complexity is significantly reduced while maintaining the exact output. In addition, the new θ-progressive-filling algorithm was implemented on the evacuation model to find a fair and efficient evacuation plan. The algorithm is also used to identify the optimal routes in the transportation network. Moreover, the robustness of the evacuation model was tested against demand uncertainty to observe the model behavior when the demand is uncertain. Finally, the robustness of the model is tested when the traffic flow is uncontrolled. In this case, the model's only decision is to distribute the evacuees on routes and has no control over the departure time