Exit West (Book Review)

Reviewed Title: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. New York: Riverhead, 2017. 231 pp. ISBN: 9780735212176

Bi-fuel NGVM engine emission results based on non-loaded system operation

Alternative fuels for the internal combustion engines are introduced as an improved fuel over mainstream conventional fuels such as petrol and diesel. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is the most successful and widely used alternative fuels that helps mitigate emission problem caused by vehicles. Mainstream fuelled vehicles are fitted with a conversion kit to enable the operation with CNG, these converted vehicles are called Natural Gas Vehicles. A bi-fuel engine test rig was fabricated using a 1500cc 12 Valve engine fitted with a Landi Renzo conversion kit enabling operations on petrol and natural gas. This test rig was used to conduct experiments to obtain the fuel consumption and the corresponding exhaust emission quality. The results obtained were compared with the actual data of NGV taxi fitted with Tartarini conversion kit for validation purpose. The findings from this experimental rig are used as a comparison between the use of petrol and natural gas as fuel for vehicles. The results clearly prove that the use of natural gas provides improved exhaust emission at lower cos

Comparative analysis of the productivity levels achieved through the use of panelised prefabrication technology with those of traditional building system : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Construction, School of Engineering & Advanced Technology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Several studies have documented benefits of prefabricated building system compared to the traditional approach. Despite the acknowledged benefits of prefabrication, its application is generally low in the New Zealand construction industry. This low uptake is largely attributed to the fact that the documented benefits of prefabrication technology are anecdotal, or based on investigations of isolated case studies. This study aims to contribute to filling this knowledge gap by analysing cost savings, time savings, and productivity improvement achievable by the use of panelised prefabrication in place of the traditional building system. A two-phased mixed method of research was adopted for the study. The first phase involved the use of case study-based archival research to obtain qualitative data from records of 151 completed building projects in three cities of New Zealand – Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. The second phase involved the use of questionnaire survey to obtain feedback from industry stakeholders. Results showed that the use of panelised prefabrication in place of traditional building system contributed to 21 percent cost saving, 47 percent time saving and 10 percent average improvement in the productivity outcomes in the building projects. Results further showed that 17 factors could significantly influence the levels of benefits achievable with the use of prefabrication technology. ‘Building type’ and ‘location’ were the factors having the most significant influence on the benefits achievable by the use of panelised prefabrication in place of the traditional building systems. Other factors that influence the benefits of prefabrication included (in diminishing order of influence): logistics, type of prefabrication, scale/repeatability, standardisation, contractor’s level of innovation, environmental impact, project leadership, type of procurement, whole of life quality, site conditions, site layout and client’s nature

Diet composition and food habits of demersal and pelagic marine fishes from Terengganu waters, east coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Fish stomachs from 18 demersal and pelagic fishes from the coast of Terengganu in Malaysia were examined. The components of the fishes’ diets varied in number, weight, and their frequency of occurrence. The major food items in the stomachs of each species were determined using an Index of Relative Importance. A conceptual food web structure indicates that fish species in the study area can be classified into three predatory groups: (1) predators on largely planktivorous or pelagic species; (2) predators on largely benthophagous or demersal species; and (3) mixed feeders that consume both pelagic and demersal species

Magic graphs and the faces of the Birkhoff polytope

Magic labelings of graphs are studied in great detail by Stanley and Stewart. In this article, we construct and enumerate magic labelings of graphs using Hilbert bases of polyhedral cones and Ehrhart quasi-polynomials of polytopes. We define polytopes of magic labelings of graphs and digraphs. We give a description of the faces of the Birkhoff polytope as polytopes of magic labelings of digraphs.Comment: 9 page