CDF

A Social Audit is a monitoring process through which project information is collected, analyzed and shared publicly in a participatory fashion. Social audits may go beyond the oversight of project finances and procurements to examine all aspects of the project, including level of access to information, accountability, public involvement, project outputs and outcomes. Social audits are typically carried out by community volunteers (social audit teams/committees) and findings are presented at a public forum/hearing

Resumen: Debido a la necesidad de transmitir mayor cantidad de información a velocidades elevadas y sobre grandes distancias es necesario mitigar el fenómeno de la dispersión en una fibra, el cual es un gran problema en sistemas de comunicación óptica. Una solución a este problema es el uso de solitones, los cuales mantienen la forma del pulso después de propagarse por grandes distancias. Los solitones se forman debido al balance entre los efectos dispersivos (GVD, Group Velocity Dispersion) y no lineales (SPM, Self Phase Modulation) en sistemas de comunicación ópticos basados en solitones, estos pueden ser aplicados en distancias de varios miles de kilómetros con una gran capacidad para transportar información con el uso de amplificadores ópticos. En este artículo se estudia y simula en OPTISYSTEM la propagación de los solitones a velocidades de varios Gbps a través de fibras monomodo estándar (SSMF, Single Mode Optical Fiber) y fibras monomodo de dispersión desplazada (DSF, Dispersion Shifted Fiber), en conjunto con fibras compensadoras de dispersión (DCF, Dispersion Compensating Fiber), sobre decenas de miles de kilómetros, con el objetivo de analizar su comportamiento y mejora en el desempeño de la transmisión.

Abstract: Because of the need to transmit as much information at high speeds and long distances is necessary to mitigate the phenomenon of dispersion in a fiber, which is a big problem in optical communication systems. One solution to this problem is the use of solitons, which maintain the shape of the pulse after propagation over long distances. Solitons are formed by the balance between dispersive effects (GVD, Group Velocity Dispersion) and nonlinear (SPM, Self Phase Modulation), in optical communication systems based in solitons, they can be applied in distances of several thousand of kilometers with a large capacity to carry information with use of optical amplifiers. In this article is studied and simulated in OPTISYSTEM the propagating of solitons to rates of Gbps through standard single mode fiber (SSMF, Standard Single Mode Fiber) and dispersion shifted fiber (DSF, Dispersion Shifted Fiber) as well as dispersion compensating fibers (DCF, Dispersion Compensating Fiber) over tens of thousands of kilometers, with the aim of analyzing its behavior and improvement in the performance of the transmission.

For many years now, machineries have been used in industrial processes and detached humans from the direct production process. Modern machines are used for a broad range of tasks, from simple to highly complex. While automation of technical processes used to be exclusively mechanically based in the past, novel machines incorporate the fields of applied mechanics, electronics, and informatics. Due to increasing economic, ecological and safety requirements, a highly reliable operation in conjunction with high availability has become the predominant goal in industry. Novel systems are therefore developed in order to improve the efficiency of the process without compromising for reliability. Based on previous research works, this thesis addresses the long-term vision of operating a system in such a way that the deterioration is reduced, the useful life and availability is increased (maximized), and maintenance actions are only performed if necessary. In order to address these competing ...

This paper is a preliminary report of an indoor pollution case study in a complex of apartments as a part of an Indoor Pollution Management Plan (IPMP). It describes the calculation by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques and presents the predicted air flow, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde contaminant distributions in an apartment comprised of a full-scale kitchen with open access to a living room, ventilated by an exhaust hood. The CFD Code PHOENICS ® , which is based on solving the full 3-D Navier Stokes equations for turbulent flow and scalar conservation equations, was used. Major kitchen indoor pollution sources, VOCs and formaldehyde emitting materials and their emission characteristics were calculated through the use of emission factors. A typical apartment was used under case study and its detailed geometry was applied for the CFD model. To analyze the characteristics of the indoor environment, different mixing ventilation schemes (different locations of the cooker/oven and air inlets) were chosen as the parameters to investigate the indoor environment. The fields of VOCs and formaldehyde for several air inlets window positions, and ventilation parameters were calculated and compared. It was concluded that CFD methods can be used as a useful tool to assist the rational design of indoor spaces.

NHANES subjects self-identified as "Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, or multiracial" (A/P/N/M) have higher levels of blood organic mercury than other racial/ethnic groups; however, the reasons for this have been unclear. This research uses exposure modeling to determine the reasons for elevated blood methylmercury (MeHg) levels, and also extends previous analyses of observed NHANES blood levels. The probabilistic SHEDS-Dietary model was applied, using MeHg fish residue data from FDA's Total Diet Study (1990-2002) combined with NHANES/WWEIA (1999-2006) fish consumption data, to generate exposure estimates by race/ethnicity, age group, and fish type. Statistical analyses of blood methylmercury levels in the (6 times larger) 1999-2006 NHANES data were compared against previous published results for 1999-2002 data. The A/P/N/M group has higher fish intake, modeled MeHg exposures, and blood levels than the general population and other racial/ethnic groups. Tuna, ot...

Sierra Leone is still recovering from a brutal civil war (1991-2002), fuelled in part by a valuable and easily extractable natural resource (diamonds). Sierra Leone now stands on the verge of an unprecedented period of economic growth, driven primarily by revenues from large-scale iron ore mining. Yet it continues to face many governance and developmental challenges. The rapid rise of the extractives governance agenda in Sierra Leone requires an equally swift, yet strategic response from all stakeholders: the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL), development partners (DPs), civil society organizations (CSOs), communities, and mining companies. This report uses a 'value chain' approach to mining governance which highlights the critical stages through which a resource dependent country is expected to progress as it seeks to transform resource rents into economic growth and sustainable human development. The objective of this study is ultimately to improve the management of the na...

Many algorithms have been developed to find sparse representation over redundant dictionaries or transform. This paper presents a novel method on compressive sensing (CS)-based image compression using sparse basis on CDF9/7 wavelet transform. The measurement matrix is applied to the three levels of wavelet transform coefficients of the input image for compressive sampling. We have used three different measurement matrix as Gaussian matrix, Bernoulli measurement matrix and random orthogonal matrix. The orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) and Basis Pursuit (BP) are applied to reconstruct each level of wavelet transform separately. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method given better quality of compressed image than existing methods in terms of proposed image quality evaluation indexes and other objective (PSNR/UIQI/SSIM) measurements.

In this paper, the effects of using different rib-groove shapes of triangular, square and arc, different geometrical parameters and also different types of nanofluids including and on the thermal and hydraulic behavior of flow in a horizontal rib-grooved channel are numerically investigated. The finite volume method (FVM) is applied to solve the two dimensional governing and energy equations. Constant heat flux was imposed on the channel walls. The effects of nanoparticle diameter in the range of 30-70nm, nanoparticle volume concentration in the range of 1-4%, and also Reynolds numbers varying from 30,000 to 50,000 were examined in this study. The performance of rib-grooved channel was evaluated in terms of average Nusselt number, friction coefficient and performance index. The results revealed that rectangular rib- rectangular groove shows the best performance having the highest performance evaluation criterion (PEC). The results also indicated that using nanofluid flow in grooved channels could provide a significant increase in heat transfer and thermal performance with negligible increase in friction. The SiO2-water nanofluid provides highest Nusselt number among all types studied. It is also observed that increasing the nanoparticles volume fraction and Reynolds number enhanced the Nusselt number while increasing nanoparticles diameter decreased it.

Keywords: rib-groove channel, nanofluids, heat transfer enhancement

The purpose of this report is to review completed and on-going initiatives for simplification, harmonization and program management within the partner agencies of the GEF or externally. It aims to (a) tap into relevant information from other sources; (b) identify opportunities for streamlining GEF approaches in future; or (c) identify lost/seized opportunities for integration in the past. It is expected to provide the future context for providing recommendations.