Supervisory control for emission compliance of heavy-duty vehicles

Heavy freight trucks globally contribute to a significant proportion of transport-related air pollution. The dominant air pollutants from heavy freight trucks with diesel engine and exhaust aftertreatment system (EATS) are CO2, hydrocarbons (HC), CO, particulate matter (PM), NOX (NO and NO2), and NH3. The greenhouse gas emission legislation limits the amount of CO2 emission, and Euro VI emission legislation limits the other dominant air pollutants. Emission legislation is gradually becoming more and more stringent to reach the long term goal of near-zero-emission. Several parties are working together to reduce the emissions, keeping both the short and long term goal in mind. Any step which results in ICE downsizing contributes to the reduction of all dominant emissions. But, with size and type of the ICE decided, there is a trade-off between NOX emission and other emissions: reduced NOX emission means reduced fuel efficiency (i.e. increased CO2, PM, and HC emissions). It is a challenge to fulfil the current emission legislation—especially real-driving NOX emission legislation—with existing control functionalities in the engine management system (EMS). However, better control of NOX emission is possible by exploiting predictive driving information and considering the coupling between the engine system and EATS. This work pursues this idea and concludes that fulfilling real-driving NOX emission legislation is possible, considering the coupling between the engine system and EATS while using predictive information. The work provides a mathematical formulation of the concept and then develops, evaluates, and implements an engine-EATS supervisor which optimizes total fuel consumption and fulfils both the world harmonized transient cycle (WHTC) based and real-driving NOX emission legislation. The developed supervisor is a distributed economic nonlinear model predictive controller (E-NMPC). This work develops and analyzes two different versions of the distributed E-NMPC based supervisory control algorithm. The more efficient one of the two is again compared for three variants. Considering the computation time of the three algorithms and processing speed of the existing EMS, one algorithm is selected for implementation. The supervisor performs much better compared to a baseline controller (optimized offline). Simulation results show that the supervisory controller has 1.7% less total fuel consumption and 88.4% less NH3 slip, compared to the baseline controller, to achieve the same real-driving NOX emission

Hypothalamic peptides in the regulation of feeding and peripheral metabolism

The central nervous system is essential to the normal control of metabolic processes. Maintenance of energy balance is an important part of homeostasis and involves the control of food intake (input) and of peripheral metabolism (output). Loss of this homeostatic mechanism can lead to either obesity or cachexia. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36 amino acid peptide that is found in several hypothalamic regions involved in the control of food intake. It potently stimulates feeding following intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection. In addition it has several effects on peripheral metabolism including stimulation of ACTH release from the pituitary gland and an increase in peripheral insulin resistance. Using analogues of NPY with differential binding to the known NPY receptors, I have shown that there are at least two novel central NPY receptors that mediate these effects of NPY. I have shown that a recently discovered NPY receptor antagonist, BIBP 3226 inhibits NPY induced feeding but that it has no effect on NPY mediated stimulation of ACTH release. It has been postulated that foetal malnutrition can program peripheral glucose metabolism in later life. I have studied the effects of early malnutrition on pregnant and weanling rats and have shown that such programming does not occur at the level of hypothalamic neuropeptide Y messenger RNA. I have also shown that glucagon like peptide-1 (CLP-1) is a novel central satiety factor, and that chronic blockade of GLP-1 receptors can lead to an increase in weight of rats. In addition I have shown that the effects of ICV GLP-1 as a satiety factor do not occur by any change in hypothalamic NPY, suggesting that the GLP-1 satiety system works independently of NPY. I have also shown that ICV GLP-1 causes a fall in peripheral plasma glucose and insulin concentrations, suggesting that central GLP-1 may have a role in the modulation of peripheral insulin sensitivity

Electrokinetics and soil decontamination: concepts and overview

Electrokinetic decontamination and extraction have been proven to be one of the most viable, cost effective and emerging techniques in removing contaminants, especially heavy metals from soils for about last five decades. Basic concepts and an overview of the electrokinetic extraction processes and their potential applications in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering have been reviewed based on the literature and presented in this paper. Primarily, theoretical and laboratory experimental studies related to electroreclamation of soils are summarised in brief with basic concepts of electrokinetic processes. The paper has been divided into different sections that include history of electrokinetics, background and concepts, modelling, parameter effects, instrumentation, contaminant extraction, field applications, and summary and recommendation. Based on the review it is obvious that the field application of electrokinetic technology to remediate heavy metal contaminated soils /sediments is very limited and site specific. Additional laboratory studies and more pilot- and full-scale information from field applications are critical to the further understanding of the technology and to customize the process in different field conditions

Exploring End User Experience: How Can We Achieve Lifelong Engagement With Physical Activity Tracking Devices?

Activity tracking devices provide biofeedback information and encourage people to be active, however, their long-term usage has been problematic. This study explored the theory of reinforcement techniques and the theory of self- determination to enhance long-term usage of activity tracking devices. A sample of 43 people was surveyed to examine their experience with activity tracking devices. A multi-regression analysis demonstrated significant results(R square=71.6% Sig level=0.012 N=43). The result indicates how individuals with different orientations likely to perceive the supportiveness of their devices and how likely they were to continue using or stop using their devices. Conclusion: understanding the principles of reinforcement techniques and the perceive supportiveness concept of self-determination theory provide insight into the strategies that instigate and maintain long-term usage of the activity tracking devices

RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF PITTING-CORRODED OFFSHORE PIPELINE UNDER UPHEAVAL BUCKLING CONDITION

This research presents a development of a fatigue analysis for different corroded pipeline to estimate the pipeline reliability when subjected to upheaval buckling caused by thermal expansion. This assessment will be used to initialize the stress-strain diagram so that the result will be adaptable to predict the reliability and probability of failure for oil and gas pipelines under buckling. the input of this assessment was the pitting-corroded pipelines and the loads it is subjected to, the inputs are validated through a methodology that includes testing the pipeline for buckling under different rates of pitting-corrosion, the output was the reliability of the pipeline expressed via graphical presentation using MATLAB, the generated graphs indicates that a corrosion ratio of >2.34% is considered crucial for pipes subjected to upheaval buckling. Finite Element Modeling-ANSYS was used in this thesis to give the broadest possible comparison between the obtained results and the theoretical behavior of the pipe, it was used to follow up the stress-strain shape of sub-sea corroded pipelines under upheaval buckling during its propagation

Entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial behaviour:a social psychological perspective

Increasing the supply of entrepreneurs reduces unemployment and accelerates economic growth (Acs, 2006; Audretsch, 2007; Santarelli et el. 2009; Campbell, 1996; Carree & Thurik, 1996). The supply of entrepreneurs depends on the entrepreneurial intention and activity of the people (Kruger & Brazeal, 1994). Existing behavioural theories explain that entrepreneurial activity is an attitude driven process which is mediated by intention and regulated by behavioural control. These theories are: Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991; 2002, 2012); Entrepreneurial Event Model (Shapiro & Shokol, 1982), and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1977; 1986; 2012). Meta-analysis of existing behavioural theories in different fields found that the theories are more effective to analyse behavioural intention and habitual behaviour, but less effective to analyse long-term and risky behaviour (McEachan et al., 2011). The objective of this dissertation is to improve entrepreneurship behaviour theory to advance our understanding of the determinants of the entrepreneurial intention and activity. To achieve this objective we asked three compelling questions in our research. These are: Firstly, why do differences exist in entrepreneurship among age groups. Secondly, how can we improve the theory to analyse entrepreneurial intention and behaviour? And, thirdly, is there any relationship between counterfactual or regretful thinking and entrepreneurial intention? We address these three questions in Chapters 2, 3 and 4 of the dissertation. Earlier studies have identified that there is an inverse U shaped relationship between age and entrepreneurship (Parker, 2004; Hart et al., 2004). In our study, we explain the reasons for this inverse U shape (Chapter 2). To analyse the reasons we use Cognitive Life Cycle theory and Disuse theory. We assume that the stage in the life cycle of an individual moderates the influence of opportunity identification and skill to start a business. In our study, we analyse the moderation effect in early stage entrepreneurship and in serial entrepreneurship. In Chapter 3, the limitations of existing psychological theories are discussed, and a competency value theory of entrepreneurship (CVTE) is proposed to overcome the limitations and extend existing theories. We use a ‘weighted competency’ variable instead of a ‘perceived behavioural control’ variable for the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and self-efficacy variable for social cognitive theory. Weighted competency is the perceived competency ranking assigned by an individual for his total competencies to be an entrepreneur. The proposed theory was tested in a pilot survey in the UK and in a national adult population survey in a South Asian Country. The results show a significant relationship between competencies and entrepreneurial intention, and weighted competencies and entrepreneurial behaviour as per CVTE. To improve the theory further, in Chapter 4, we test the relationship between counterfactual thinking and entrepreneurial intention. Studies in cognitive psychology identify that ‘upward counterfactual thinking’ influences intention and behaviour (Epstude & Rose, 2008; Smallman & Roese, 2009). Upward counterfactual thinking is regretful thinking for missed opportunities of a problem. This study addresses the question of how an individual’s regretful thinking affects his or her future entrepreneurial career intention. To do so, we conducted a study among students in a business school in the UK, and we found that counterfactual thinking modifies the influence of attitude and opportunity identification in entrepreneurial career intention

A Pricing-Based Cooperative Spectrum Sharing Stackelberg Game

We consider the problem of cooperative spectrum sharing among a primary user (PU) and multiple secondary users (SUs) under quality of service (QoS) constraints. The SUs network is controlled by the PU through a relay which gets a revenue for amplifying and forwarding the SUs signals to their respective destinations. The relay charges each SU a different price depending on its received signal-to-interference and-noise ratio (SINR). The relay can control the SUs network and maximize any desired PU utility function. The PU utility function represents its rate, which is affected by the SUs access, and its gained revenue to allow the access of the SUs. The SU network can be formulated as a game in which each SU wants to maximize its utility function; the problem is formulated as a Stackelberg game. Finally, the problem of maximizing the primary utility function is solved through three different approaches, namely, the optimal, the heuristic and the suboptimal algorithms.Comment: 7 pages. IEEE, WiOpt 201

Mediating Role of Brand Image in the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility & Brand Equity: An Investigation on Unilever Bangladesh

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is one of the most discussed topics when it comes to operationalising a unique approach to do marketing and as such, create a competitive advantage for the company. Despite its popularity, CSR is not properly addressed by many Bangladeshi companies. This study sheds light upon the concept of CSR in the perspective of a multinational company, Unilever Bangladesh Limited, which has been active with their CSR initiatives for years now. This research explains the concept of CSR and discusses the dimensions of CSR (economic, social and environmental) and their benefits through the TBL paradigm. Literature has been added based on previous researches defining brand image and brand equity and addressing the relationships between CSR dimensions and brand image and brand equity. Hypotheses were then proposed to reach the research objectives of this study. Data were collected from 124 respondents through convenience sampling technique. An online-based survey was conducted due to lockdown order due to Covid-19 outbreak. The outcomes of this study confirm a significant and positive mediating effect of brand image between the relationships of economic CSR and the social CSR activities with brand equity, while the mediating effect of brand image does not exist in between the relationship of environmental CSR activities and brand equity. Finally, findings of the study may help to create a positive mindset of customers regarding the good intents of Unilever Bangladesh Limited towards Sustainable Living Plan

ANN for Parkinson’s Disease Prediction

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms generally come on slowly over time. Early in the disease, the most obvious are shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement, and difficulty with walking. Doctors do not know what causes it and finds difficulty in early diagnosing the presence of Parkinson’s disease. An artificial neural network system with back propagation algorithm is presented in this paper for helping doctors in identifying PD. Previous research with regards to predict the presence of the PD has shown accuracy rates up to 93% [1]; however, accuracy of prediction for small classes is reduced. The proposed design of the neural network system causes a significant increase of robustness. It is also has shown that networks recognition rates reached 100%