The implementation of the United Nations security council resolutions on Libya

The situation in Libya in February 2011 turned into a violent civil war between what was viewed at the time as peaceful protestors calling for the Qaddafi regime to step down and the Qaddafi regime forces. This resulted in international condemnation and action by many countries and international organizations such as the League of Arab States, the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The United Nations Security Council adopted resolutions 1970 and 1973 in 2011 to protect the civilian population in Libya from Qaddafi\u27s forces. These resolutions paved the way for an international military intervention in Libya. This project looks into the extent to which the UN mandate was exceeded during the implementation of the resolutions - if at all. The resolutions mandate was the protection of civilians and not regime change, yet the military intervention that took place over Libya through Operation Odyssey Dawn and which later shifted to the NATO-led Operation Unified Protector resulted in regime change in Libya. Countries who participated in the military intervention in Libya, such as USA, UK and France, among many others and later on NATO, as well as non-NATO countries \u27exceeded the UNSC resolutions\u27 mandate because of their resort to direct military intervention, and went to war against Qaddafi\u27s forces as opposed to adhering to an imposition of a NFZ to protect civilians as the resolution stated.The mandate had been stretched beyond neutralizing Gadhafi\u27s aerial capacities. Countries that directly and openly armed the Libyan rebels to fight against the Qaddafi regime also went beyond the letter of the UNSC resolutions

Effect of Series Active Voltage Conditioners on Modernized Grid

Modernized “Smart” grids incorporate renewable energy sources on a widespread scale. Foreseen expansion in integrating more renewables is driven by global CO₂ emission concerns and depletion of fossil fuels. Active elements/devices are added to smart grids to enhance power availability and quality with the aid of advances in power electronics and communication systems. Active Voltage Conditioner (AVC) represents state-of-the-art in the field of voltage regulation and conditioning, however; integrating it into modernized grids has not been the subject of detailed study yet. This thesis details the AVC-Grid interaction mechanism and associated performance parameters. ABB PCS100 AVC computer model based on MATLAB/PLECS platform is used as a basis for the proposed mathematical model. Accordingly, operational V-I characteristics is derived and impact of equivalent grid stiffness is analyzed. In this thesis, the modeling of AVC has been introduced as seen by the grid in light of MATLAB/PLECS simulations. The conditioning ratio to describe the “depth” of load conditioning had been introduced. Modeling of AVC operational characteristics has been developed and dependency on conditioning ratio and equivalent grid stiffness had been investigated. Also, the analysis of grid behavior due to AVC operation during overvoltages and undervoltages has been carried out as well as discussing the envisaged impact on tied WTG/PV systems. The thesis represents an initial attempt to model the AVC and discusses its envisaged impact on smart grids

Physical model study for mitigating local scour downstream of clear over-fall weirs

AbstractLocal scouring action downstream of clear over-fall weirs associated with three-dimensional turbulent flow field is a common morphological problem in mobile channel bed. The objective of this study was to assess and quantify the impact of hydraulic structural measures (double lines water jets) on minimizing the scour-hole dimensions downstream of a Fayoum type weir. Ninety runs were conducted considering flow Froude number, different jet discharges and locations. The experimental program was performed under the clear-water scour conditions for a quasi-equilibrium scour hole. A reference case of flat floor without water jets was included in order to evaluate the influence of using the proposed measure. The experiments’ results confirm the acceptability and the effectiveness of the proposed measure (floor water jets) in enhancing the flow hydraulic conditions and the local scour dimensions downstream of hydraulic structures

Technical Energy Potential Of Floating PV Power Plants (FPV)

Energy demand is significantly expanding worldwide nowadays, as a result the capacity of the electricity generating units come into question. Based on the World Energy Balances Highlights (2020 edition) [19], it was found that the world electricity generation is about 26, 618, 881 GW h from all sources proposed i.e. "Fossil fuels, Nuclear, Renewable Energies". Consequently, there would be too much negative effects on the environment due to the continuous usage of fossil contents which are used later for the electricity generation. The electric sector obsessed about 42 % of the energy demand in 2015 and it is expected to raise to 47 % in the next 20 years. It is remarkable that the non-renewable sources of energy affect the environment negatively and increase the global warming when they are used for the generation of the electricity. Despite the constantly increasing of the electricity demand, the dependency of the non- renewable sources on energy must be reduced in order to lower the amount of the greenhouse gases. In 2018, the renewable energy generation share has became 13.5 % of the total world energy supply including (Solar PV, Solar thermal, Wind, Bio-fuels, Hydro, and Geothermal energies) [19]. The solar photovoltaic power generation has increased by about 22 % in 2019, and namely to 720 T W h. It can be considered by this increase as 3 % of the total world electricity generation share. In the meanwhile, the main challenge of installing normal ground-mounted PV power plants is the space. Large surface areas must be available in order to benefit well from such power plants. In order to tackle this issue, another generation of PV power plants came into question which is; Floating Photovoltaic (FPV). This technology depends on installing the PV modules over the surface of water, in order to profit not only from the extra space where water body is located, but also from the cooling effect, which improves the performance of PV modules and particularly, the performance ratio as well as the electrical efficiency. Furthermore, a tracking model can be easily applied to this kind of PV, since the surface of water offers a smooth medium for changing the modules orientation over the whole day. The floating photovoltaics have a lot of benefits over the ground-mounted type, for example; the land occupancy, as they do not require a land space, since they are installed and erected on the surface of water, except only the needed spaces which are demanded by the electrical equipment, switch gears. Although, FPV plants are considered relatively more expensive than the land-based photovoltaic power plants, but they empower the possibility to avoid competing with the agriculture and green zones. Moreover, to prevent the competing with the agriculture and green lands, some countries encourage the investors to install PV on the water bodies by increasing the rate of incentives. For instance, Japan has boosted the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) for the floating photovoltaic over the FIT of the ground-mounted PV. In particular, the floating PV array in Sanuki, Kagawa prefecture, which has an installed capacity of 1.5 MW and expected to meet the consumption of more than 500 local households, will purchase the electricity at a Feed-In-Tariff of JPY 32 per kWh (0.26 e/kW h)[20]. In this work, two main models are built in order to calculate the PV module temperature and the surface temperature of the ground and water in order to; 1) determine the how the surface temperature of the ground and water affects the module temperature and namely the output power, 2) predict the temperature of both FPV, 3) calculate the to the instantaneous efficiency and power of the FPV and GPV modules, and 4) predict the annual yield of floating PV module

Generalization of Motor and Sensory Changes in Motor Learning

This dissertation examines the generalization of motor and sensory changes in motor learning. Chapter two describes the process of intermanual transfer of reach adaptation and proprioceptive recalibration. We exposed participants to a laterally translated cursor while reaching with one hand to three targets, and then we measured reach aftereffects and changes in felt hand position for the trained and untrained hand. We found reach adaptation transfer from right to left hand and no transfer of proprioceptive recalibration. This suggests that the intermanual transfer for motor adaptation is hand-dependant, and proprioceptive recalibration is specific to the trained hand. Chapter three describes the generalization patterns of reach adaptation and proprioceptive recalibration across different distances. Reach aftereffects and changes in estimates of hand position were measured following reach-training with a rotated visual feedback of the hand to a single target distance. We found that reach adaptation and proprioceptive recalibration transfer across near and far novel distances. However, proprioceptive recalibration generalization was significantly smaller at far novel locations. This suggests that, unlike motor adaptation, the extent of sensory changes generalization is distance-dependent. Chapter four describes the contribution of proprioceptive recalibration and updated efference-based sensory predictions in motor adaptation and changes in hand localization. We exposed our participants to only visual-proprioceptive discrepancy by removing volitional movements and having a robot move their hand passively. Then, we examined changes in hand localization in two hand movement conditions, i.e., active (self-generated) and passive (robot-generated). Results showed no significant difference in hand localization changes between active and passive conditions. This suggests changes in hand localization reflect mainly proprioceptive recalibration of the hand rather than updates in efference-based sensorypredictions, and entirely on proprioceptive recalibration when training does not include any volitional movements. Additionally, in Chapter four, we examined how reach adaptation and proprioceptive recalibration generalized across different directions in the workspace. We found that reach aftereffects generalized to neighboring novel targets in a pattern similar to proprioceptive recalibration generalization pattern. This suggests that some of the reach adaptation reflect proprioceptive changes. Our findings provide insight into the characteristics of proprioceptive recalibration and how this process influences motor learning. This should be taken into consideration when designing motor adaptation/learning paradigms, teaching a motor skill or designing a movement rehabilitation protocol

Reaction Time as a Measure of Neuroplasticity After Aerobic Exercise

Until the 1960s it was commonly-assumed in neuropsychology that the adult human nervous system was hard-wired and had extremely limited capacity to change. Recently research has demonstrated that this earlier assumption was not accurate and that the adult human nervous system indeed is quite plastic and in a state of continuous change. Further, physical exercise has been demonstrated to promote positive effects on the adult human nervous system as a result of increased blood flow and modified neurotransmitters and neutrophins. These effects are hypothesized to improve the synaptic connectivity and promote neurogenesis, both of which are believed to play an important role in neural plasticity. The most commonly-used approaches to monitor neural plasticity have included the use of MRI images and measuring changes in levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. These approaches are expensive and not affordable to most physical activity researchers. The purpose of this study was to determine whether measures of simple and choice reaction time (SRT; CRT) could provide evidence of increased neural plasticity that has been documented to occur following moderate intensity aerobic exercise. I hypothesized that both SRT and CRT would decrease following moderate intensity aerobic exercise which might indicate improvement in neural plasticity compared to a control puzzle group. I assigned male and female volunteers (n=11), ages 18-30 years old, randomly to either an exercise group or a Sudoku puzzle-solving (control) group. I measured SRT using a computer software three times: pre-exercise/puzzle-solving (30 minutes), immediately post-exercise/puzzle-solving, and delayed (3 hours) post exercise/puzzle-solving. The between group independent variable was the intervention (either puzzle-solving or moderate aerobic exercise on a bicycle ergometer) and the within-subject (repeated measures) variable was the time of administration of pre-post-delayed-post reaction times (repeated measures) while the dependent measure was the simple reaction times (SRT) in milliseconds. The statistical analysis method used was a mixed factorial ANOVA. No significant differences in simple reaction time were discovered between the two groups or within the times of testing reaction time and no significant group by time interaction occurred. I concluded that one of four rationale could explain the lack of significant differences and have discussed the rationale in greater detail in the paper. I recommend the future replication of this study with a much larger sample size to increase the statistical power to detect differences as well as improving the consistency of the protocol and methods used in the study plus the addition of using choice reaction times or other valid measures of neural plasticity