An axle bearing is one of the most important components to guarantee the service life of a rail car. In order to ensure the stable and reliable bearing life, it is essential to estimate the fatigue life of an axle bearing under the loading conditions. The fatigue life of a bearing is affected by many parameters such as material properties, heat treatment, lubrication conditions, operating temperature, loading conditions, bearing geometry, the internal clearance of bearing, and so on. Because these factors are so complicatedly related to each other, it is very important to investigate the effects of these factors on the axle bearing life. This paper presents the process of estimating the fatigue life of a railroad roller bearing, which takes into account geometric parameters of the bearing in the life calculation. The load distributions of the bearing were determined by solving numerically force and moment equilibrium equations with Lundberg’s approximate model. This paper focuses on analyzing the effects of bearing geometric parameters on the fatigue life using Taguchi method.

In this study, we develop an efficient topology optimisation method with the H -matrix method and the boundary element method (BEM). In sensitivity analyses of topology optimisation, we need to solve a set of two algebraic equations whose coefficient matrices are common, particularly in many cases. For such cases, by using a direct solver such as LU decomposition to factorise the coefficient matrix, we can reduce the computational time for the sensitivity analysis. A coefficient matrix derived by the BEM is, however, fully populated, which causes high numerical costs for the LU decomposition. In this research, the LU decomposition is accelerated by using the H -matrix method for the sensitivity analyses of topology optimisation problems. We demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method by a numerical example of a multi-objective optimisation problem for 2D electromagnetic field.

The design and optimisation of a latent heat thermal storage system require knowledge of flow, heat and mass transfer during the melting (charging) and solidification (discharging) processes of high-temperature phase change materials (PCMs). Using fluent, numerical modeling was performed to study the impact of natural convection and turbulence in the melting process of a high- temperature PCM in a latent heat storage system with Ra = 1012. Numerical calculation was conducted, considering a two dimensional symmetric grid of a dual-tube element in a parallel flow shell and tube configuration where the heat transfer fluid passes through the tube and PCM fills the shell. Three melting processes of PCM were considered; pure conduction, conduction and natural convection, and finally the latter with turbulence. The first study showed a one dimensional melt front, evolving parallel to the tube, which results in lower peak temperatures and temperature gradients, higher heat transfer area for a longer period of time, however lower heat transfer rate due to natural convection being ignored. The second study presented a two dimensional melt front which evolves mainly perpendicular to the tube, shrinking downward, resulting in the loss of heat transfer area and higher peak temperatures and temperature gradient, however, the higher rate of heat transfer rate due to the creation of convection cells which facilitate mass and heat transfer. Including turbulence led to a higher mixing effect due to the higher velocity of convection cells, resulting in a more uniform process with lower peak temperature and temperature gradients and higher heat transfer rate. In a melting process with Ra>1011, including convection and turbulence impact provides more realistic data of flow, mass and heat transfer.

Using oil-spill booms as floating barriers must respect environmental conditions, mechanical limitations and operational constraints. Numerical modelling of boom behaviour can be used in order to prepare or validate booming plans, which respect these constraints. We present simulations of boom behaviour during an exercise in Galicia to support existing contingency plans. The main inputs of the modelled simulations are: environmental data on meteorology and oceanography, pollution field data and technical specifications of commercially available booms. The barrier structural analysis uses four-step modelling with an adaptive geometry. Modelled results are used in two ways. Firstly, a pre-paredness approach is conducted with a three-section boom plan to protect a mussel farm near the Puebla del Caramiñal. Secondly, a post-experiment analysis is made with a four-section plan and time- dependant boundary conditions given by the five GPS buoys position records carried out during the experiment. This numerical validation of the boom plan is complementary to the operational training of the boom deployment. The model results reproduce the barriers’ behaviour during the exercise and improve contingency planning for future response. The proposed approach has been generalized to other environments such as estuaries, ports and lakes.

In the 1960s, coinciding with the massive demand for credit cards, financial companies needed a method to know their exposure to risk insolvency. It began applying credit-scoring techniques. In the 1980s credit-scoring techniques were extended to loans due to the increased demand for credit and computational progress. In 2004, new recommendations of the Basel Committee (as called Basel II) on banking supervision appeared. With the ensuing global financial crisis, a new document, Basel III, appeared. It introduced more demanding changes on the control of borrowed capital.

Nowadays, one of the main problems not addressed is the presence of large datasets. This research is focused on calculating probabilities of default in home equity loans, and measuring the computational efficiency of some statistical and data mining methods. In order to do these, some Monte Carlo experiments with known techniques and algorithms have been developed.

These computational experiments reveal that large datasets need BigData techniques and algorithms that yield faster and unbiased estimators.

This paper discussed about the consequences of using different filler metal by metal inert gas (MIG) welding process on aluminium alloys Al 7075 sheet metal joint. Nowadays, Al 7075 is widely used in automobile and aviation industry due to its light weight, strong, and high hardness. Fusion welding, such as MIG and TIG were commonly used in joining the aluminium alloys due to its low cost. However, defects usually occurred using fusion welding because of the inaccurate welding parameters and types of filler metal used. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the filler metal with different elements and welding parameters affect the mechanical properties of welded Al 7075. Welding parameters used were current, voltage, welding speed, and Argon (Ar) as shielding gas. Two different types of filler metal were used which is Electrode Rod (ER) 4043 and ER5356 which is from Al-Si and Al-Mg based element, respectively. From microstructure analysis, fusion zone (FZ) of sample welded with ER4043 has a smaller grain size than that of with ER5356. Both filler produced equiaxed dendritic grain at FZ. Both samples welded with ER4043 and ER5356 has lower hardness value than heat affected zone (HAZ) and base metal (BM) due to the differences in their elements where ER4043 from Al-Si and ER5356 from Al-Mg group. The weld efficiency of sample welded using ER5356 was 61% which was higher compared to sample welded using ER4043 which at 43% and both sample was brittle fractured. Sample welded with ER5356 was fractured at HAZ due to porosity while sample welded with ER4043 fractured at FZ due to the oxide inclusion.

The depth of closure of the beach profile, from now on termed as DoC, is a key parameter to perform effective evaluations of beach nourishments or coastal defence works. It is defined for a given time interval, as the closest depth to the shore at which there is no significant change in seabed elevation and no significant net sediment transport between the nearshore and offshore. To obtain this point it is necessary to compare profile surveys at a given period of time, and evaluate them to find the point in the profile where the depth variation is equal to, or less than, a pre-selected criteria. In order to manage all this information, a software application has been developed. On providing the input of the beach profiles, this tool offers the possibility of selecting the dates of the desired period of study, graph the profiles and then obtain, for each XY coordinate, all the required parameters, such as offshore distance, maximum, average and minimum depth, standard deviation and area difference between profiles. By evaluating each point along the profile, the DoC can be obtained at that point that meets the criteria. Moreover, this tool allows to graph not only the initial and final profile of the period, but all the beach profiles recorded, creating its maximum and minimum envelope. In addition, if the user introduces the parameters related to the equilibrium beach profile, this tool also corrects the area difference, taking into account the morphological changes (erosion– accretion) that may have occurred during the period studied. In conclusion, this tool has a friendly interface for obtaining the DoC with accuracy by interactive selection of the period of study. It also stores all the information and exports it to different formats.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a family of biodegradable and biocompatible polyesters that have recently attracted much industrial attention. The most representative PHA is poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), though it presents several shortcomings such as brittleness and poor impact resistance. 3-hydroxy- hexanoate units can be incorporated in PHB to obtain poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx), a copolymer with improved mechanical properties, processability and biodegradability, more suitable for biomedical applications. In this study, chitosan-grafted polycaprolactone (CS-g- PCL)/PHBHHx fiber blends in different compositions were developed by wet electrospinning, and their morphology, biodegradability, mechanical and tribological properties were investigated. A direct correlation was found between the wear rate and the mechanical properties, pointing that fiber breakage is the mechanism responsible for both the abrasive wear and yield. The interactions between the components led to a synergistic effect on tensile and tribological properties at a blend composition of 70/30, resulting in an optimum combination of maximum stiffness, strength, ductility and toughness and minimum coefficient of friction and wear rate, ascribed to the lower porosity and higher crystallinity of this sample. Further, it exhibits the slowest degradation rate. These fiber blends are ideal candidates as scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.

Public participation is a common element in state-of-the-art urban development projects. Tailoring the public participation process to the local context is a popular strategy for ensuring sufficient turnout and meaningful engagement, but this strategy faces several challenges. Through a review of case studies of public participation in urban development projects, we identify ten typical misalignments between the public participation process and the local context, including the lack of policy maker support, adverse personal circumstances of participants, low collaborative capacity, and mistrust, among others. When a public participation process is not aligned to the local context, the process may generate outcomes that compromise public interests, inequitably distribute benefits among stakeholders, or favor powerful private interests. This study offers caution and guidance to planning practitioners and researchers on how to contextualize public participation in urban development projects through the categorization of common misalignments that ought to be avoided.

This article reflects on traditional and contemporary gardening movements in Germany. The focus is on forms of gardening, that take place in spaces subject to land lease agreements and similar forms of tenancy or of illegal land take or squatting. The author examines various definitions taking into account the variety of practices, the development of urban gardening over time, and the respective backgrounds or values that users relate to such gardening activities. The examination of definitions led to the drawing up of a timeline of traditional and contemporary gardening movements in Germany and to the tentative approaching of this issue from a semantic perspective. The latter is due to the usage of many different terms mostly as yet undefined in a legal sense. Translation into English or, most likely, to any other language, further blurs the common understanding of the terms used. The author concludes with some considerations on these gardening movements in relation to urban sustainable developments. A presentation at the 5th Rencontres Internationals de Reims on Sustainability Studies, dedicated to Urban Agriculture – Fostering the Urban-Rural Continuum, which took place in October 2015 in Reims/France was the starting point of this article. The basis of this article is a literature review, nourished to a certain extent by observations randomly made over many years and complemented through talks with competent young colleagues. Special thanks go to Martin Sondermann, Leibniz University Hannover, who shared his research experience in various discussions with the author, as well as to Friederike Stelter, internship student at the author’s place of work, who gave highly appreciated support to the preparation of the presentation.

Three winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) composite cross populations (CCPs) that had been maintained in repeated parallel populations under organic and conventional conditions from the F5 to the F10 were compared in a two-year replicated field trial under organic conditions. The populations were compared to each other, to a mixture of the parental varieties used to establish the CCPs, and to three winter wheat varieties currently popular in organic farming. Foot and foliar diseases, straw length, ear length, yield parameters, and baking quality parameters were assessed. The overall performance of the CCPs differed clearly from each other due to differences in their parental genetics and not because of their conventional or organic history. The CCPs with high yielding background (YCCPs) also yielded higher than the CCPs with a high baking quality background (QCCPs; in the absence of extreme winter stress). The QCCPs performed equally well in comparison to the reference varieties, which were also of high baking quality. Compared to the parental mixture the CCPs proved to be highly resilient, recovering much better from winter kill in winter 2011/12. Nevertheless, they were out yielded by the references in that year. No such differences were seen in 2013, indicating that the CCPs are comparable with modern cultivars in yielding ability under organic conditions. We conclude that—especially when focusing on traits that are not directly influenced by natural selection (e.g. quality traits)—the choice of parents to establish a CCP is crucial. In the case of the QCCPs the establishment of a reliable high-quality population worked very well and quality traits were successfully maintained over time. However, in the YCCPs lack of winter hardiness in the YCCP parents also became clearly visible under relevant winter conditions.

Policies for energy efficiency requirements in buildings have become more stringent according to EU2020 goals. Despite policy regulations, requirements for energy efficiency are not met in many new buildings. Some of the reasons for this energy performance gap are related to the building process. The aim with this paper is to describe a purposed method for quality assurance of sustainable buildings according to energy efficiency. The proposed method is called ByggaE, where ‘Bygga’ is the Swedish word for ‘build’ and E is the first letter in ‘energy efficient’. It is a tool intended to lower the energy performance gap related to the building process by guiding the client and providers through the process to fulfill goals. The essence of ByggaE is the formulation of requirements by the client and the working process of identifying, handling and following up critical constructions and key issues. This working process involves all participants in the building project by using appropriate quality guidelines and checklists for documentation, communication and verification. ByggaE is a step forward ensuring that the building fulfills the defined functions and that conscious decisions are taken when goals have to be changed during the building project. The next steps are to ensure the usefulness of the method in practice by more testing and to spread knowledge about the method.

This study analyses and empirically explores the effects of the implementation of Good Corporate Governance (GCG) on the service quality of the state-owned electricity company, PT. PLN of Aceh Regional Office, Indonesia. This study also attempts to evaluate factors supporting and inhibiting the implementation of GCG to improve the quality of service of the company. To collect the data, questionnaires were distributed to all 167 employees of the company, as the study using the census technique. This study uses a mixed method, comprising qualitative and quantitative approaches. The data was analysed descriptively and quantitatively by using the multiple regression model. The study found that the company has well-implemented principles of GCG in providing services to their customers. This study also documented that, with the exception of the GCG’s principle of independency, the implementation of all other principles of GCG, i.e., transparency, accountability, responsibility and fairness were found to positively and significantly affect the service quality of the state-owned electricity company in Indonesia. These findings implied that to continue providing a good service quality for the customers, the company should further enhance the implementation of the principles of GCG in all aspects of company’s activities.

Materiality is a fundamental auditing concept. The determination and application of materiality in the conduct of an external audit is regulated by International Standards on Auditing. This paper analysed the benefits and drawbacks of materiality disclosures in Maltese statutory auditing from the perspective of Maltese auditors, whilst measuring and explaining their resistance to such disclosures. A mixed-methods research design was adopted whereby data was collected from Maltese auditors first using a self- administered questionnaire, followed by semi-structured interviews. This paper concluded that the drawbacks of disclosing materiality in Maltese statutory audit reports greatly outweighed any potential benefits that might be reaped. Maltese auditors generally resisted disclosing materiality levels mainly due to the drawbacks associated with such disclosures. This paper also concluded that materiality disclosures in the audit report should, at present, be avoided in Malta because the local market is not sufficiently mature and knowledgeable to properly understand such disclosures.

The article considers the ways of increasing the sustainability of the energy sector in an unstable environment and technology modernization that implies radical structural transformations in the configuration of energy systems. The authors show that power engineering should be given a special emphasis in this context because it is the most stable branch of the energy sector in terms of its vulnerability to crisis. The article suggests that the processes of electrification that further technological progress and increase the innovative potential of a region’s economy should be viewed as a driver forging a ‘smart partnership’ of power engineering and manufacturing. The authors analyze positive effects and price risks that emerge in the course of the implementation of electrification programs and use the analysis as a basis for their recommendations for developing regional electric power systems and effective relationships between utilities and consumers.

This study aims to comparatively analyze scope and valuation measures of the financial investment account group in terms of Turkish Accounting Standards (TAS) / Turkish Financial Reporting Standards (TFRS) / Turkish Tax Procedure Law (TTPL). The study covers valuation measures used at the end of the period on the basis of the financial investments account group and does not include valuation measures used at the beginning of the period. It was aimed to reveal valuation differences between the companies applying TAS / TFRS / TTPL in terms of scope and valuation standards. For this reason, an example on evaluation of the financial investments account group with valuation measures included in TAS / TFRS / TTPL was presented. It has been determined that there are significant differences in the context of scope and valuation within the financial investment account group in terms of TAS/TFRS/TTPL.

The objectives of this research are to identify the major areas needing reform in the co-operative regulatory framework of the small state of Malta and to evaluate possible alternatives. Objectives were achieved by the analysis of the legal framework and the conduct of semi- structured interviews. Findings indicate a general yearning for co-operative regulation to be less paternalistic and to allow greater financial and operational autonomy to co-operatives and their institutions. However, results highlight the importance of upholding the distinct co-operative identity encompassed by the co-operative values and principles. The article concludes that it is the areas of co-operative financing, the distribution of returns and the role of co-operative institutions needing most addressing. Recommendations include amending the provisions relating to the redemption of capital upon member exit, removing the asset lock on ploughed-back surpluses, and updating regulations regarding representative co-operative organisations and the Maltese co-operative funding entity, the Central Co-operative Fund.

The objective of this study is to determine the place of commercial documents in accounting education. For this purpose, at first an inventory study was conducted whether there is a lecture about commercial documents within associate’s degree and undergraduate degree programs in state and foundation universities offering accounting education in Turkey. Afterwards, 393 associate’s degree and undergraduate students, who were chosen with convenience sampling method and who are studying in 15 universities were included in the study. An application was used on the students in universities constituting the sample, who at least took and succeeded in fundamental level accounting courses such as general accounting of financial accounting, end of period accounting transactions, inventory balance sheet to measure whether they recognize commercial documents or not and whether they are able to make accounting records based on the commercial documents. In accordance with the results of the research, although the students studying in the universities within the scope of the analysis have knowledge about these documents and know their features, it is determined that they experience difficulties in preparing aforementioned documents and statements and making coverage entries.

construction process to meet H2020 requirements. Indeed, retrofitting current buildings is a major issue to be addressed. An analysis of the composition of the housing stock is needed to develop any sort of improving action in these buildings. New energy policies that may appear in the following years could benefit from detailed information of the current state of existing residential buildings.

The present paper is aimed to show a protocol to increase and implement the knowledge on social housing current state in southern Spain for further passive energy retrofitting interventions, which could allow for an improvement in indoor conditions too. To this aim, a top-down protocol is proposed to improve comfort conditions in social housing. A first phase corresponding to the creation of a GIS database is used to analyse social housing from an urban scale. Typologies and constructive characterization, energy assessment and a statistical approach is developed. This will allow for the acknowledgement of the most representative social dwellings in the city. A second phase, which corresponds to a dwelling scale, is thought to assess energy performance and the evolution of indoor environmental parameters in the previously selected dwellings, by in situ data measures and records, and the energy gradation of the dwellings by means of energy simulation software tools. This analysis will serve to propose integrated passive-energy solutions to retrofit thermal envelopes and to improve comfort conditions in social housing. The mentioned protocol is applied to the social housing stock that was built between 1950 and 1980 in Córdoba, a city from the south of Spain with Mediterranean weather conditions.