Retrofitting technologies have helped to manage energy consumptions in residential, public and industrial buildings. However, understanding of the technical and economic considerations for selection of appropriate retrofitting technology is still evolving and divergent. Thus, this study presents a framework that combines techno-economic requirements as a means for evaluating the important retrofitting criteria and suitable lighting retrofit technologies for building projects. The framework is hinged on the unique features of entropy fuzzy and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methods. The analysis of the lighting technology selection was performed from technical, economic and techno-economic perspectives. During the application of the proposed framework, four lighting technologies (CFL, T5, E-ballast and T8-electronic) and nine techno-economic criteria were considered. The most and least important techno-economic criteria for the case study were net present value and electricity saved, respectively. The least and most suitable retrofitting technologies were T8-electronic and CFL, respectively, from techno-economic perspective. T5 and T8-electronic were identified as the most suitable lighting technologies from an economic and technical perspectives, respectively. This discrepancy in the results justified the need for the techno-economic approach for the retrofitting technologies evaluation.

In this article, a multi-echelon supply chain for growing and deteriorating items, where the grower has a lot of live newborn items (growing) is discussed. The grower transfers the matured inventory to the processor in each shipment. The processor begins to process the stock as a ready-sale product in the market. The processor also delivers the processed inventory to the retailer in each shipment in the non-processing period of his cycle length. Then the processor offers trade credit to the retailer and makes the retailer agree to share a portion of his profit with him. The product’s life cycle when in the hand of the retailer is certain and it expires after some time t. Carbon emission during processing is considered while packing and preserving the livestock for sale. Depending on these assumptions, there are six possibilities to discuss profit values. Sensitivity analysis was also brought to verify the optimal determined values. The profit-sharing sharing method’s outcome benefits the processor and the retailer more.

In this paper, a rapid and simple approach was developed for the preparation of zinc pentacyanonitrosylferrate nanotubes (ZnPCNF NTs) within the cylindrical pores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template by electrochemical method. The AAO was fabricated in two steps anodizing from aluminum foil. The first anodization of aluminum foil was performed in 0.2 mol L-1 H2C2O4 followed by removal of the formed porous oxide film by a solution of 6 wt% of phosphoric acid. The second anodization step was then performed using the same conditions as the previous step. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) method were employed to characterize the resulting highly oriented uniform hollow tube array which its diameter was in the range of 25-75 nm depending on the applied voltage and the length of nanotubes was equal to the thickness of AAO which was about 2 ?m. The growth properties of the ZnPCNF NTs array film can be achieved by controlling the structure of the template and applied potential across the cell.

The paper focuses on the application of TODIM (TOmada de Decisao Interativa Multicriterio), which means in Portuguese ‘interactive and multi-criteria decision making’) method in identify-ing the most attractive and affordable under-construction housing project in the city of Kolkata in India. In this decision making problem, 14 under-construction housing projects spanning in and around Kolkata are evaluated with respect to ten important criteria. The deployment of TODIM method can well be validated with respect to its ability to deal with both qualitative and quantitative criteria in the presence of risk factors. This method is also acknowledged to be a robust tool being almost unaffected by the varying values of the attenuation factor of losses. Using TODIM method, an under-construction housing project at Rajarhat in the eastern fringes of Kolkata city is selected as the optimal choice while meeting the requirements of investors, inhabitants and other stakeholders.

Zirconia/ veneer bi-layered components are extensively used in dental restoration technology to improve resistance of tooth’s surface from decay. The direction of the fracture propagation at the interface of zirconia and veneer is investigated in this paper. Finite element analysis is performed on a bi-material four point bend specimen in different geometries, and the fracture initiation angle is obtained using maximum tangential stress (MTS) criterion. The effect of specimen geometry on the fracture initiation angle is discussed. Because an interface crack may propagate through interface or kink into one of the materials, some comments are given to determine under which condition “interface de-bounding” will be happened.

Regioselective nitration of phenols using Sr(NO3)2 or benzyltriphenylphosphonium nitrate in the presence of H2SO4-silica had been realized under solvent free conditions. The reaction proceeds through the formation of nitronium ion, which attack the phenol ring preferential at ortho position in presence of Sr(NO3)2, forming mono nitrophenol. Para-orientation relative to hydroxyl group and mononitration of phenolic compounds was observed in the case of benzyltriphenylphosphonium nitrate. Some of the major advantages of this method are mild reaction conditions, high efficiency and regioselectivity of nitration and complementarity with other reported methods. In addition, benzyltriphenylphosphonium nitrate as nitrating reagent can be easily recycled.

This paper discusses Islamic financial reporting system as practiced in many Islamic states for economic development. The issue of Islamic accounting among scholars provided evidence of economic benefits among the countries that have Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). The IFIs have been reported to be the fastest-growing sector in the world with a greater contribution of the global total bank assets. Although the Muslim population in Nigeria is large, the contribution or participation of Muslim towards IFIs is low compared to other countries like Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Syria. Furthermore, the accounting reporting in Nigeria is based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for all listed firms in Nigeria, which includes IFIs, even though, IFIs apply dual reporting. Therefore, the need for the mandatory adoption of Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) standards is significant in Nigerian for IFIs to function better. Several countries have made it mandatory for IFIs to adopt AAOIFI instead of IFRS. The need for IFIs firms to report on their accounting system as an alternative to the conventional, will not only enhance transparency, improve reporting disclosures, greater Muslim investors, but will also improve Nigerian stock market. Policy makers, governments, and the regulator should make it mandatory for all IFIs to adopt AAOIFI for financial reporting.

An Eddy current damper uses magnets to suppress vibrations due to external excitations. These dampers also called electromagnetic dampers, have advantages of no mechanical contact, high reliability and stability, but require a relatively large volume and mass to attain a given amount of damping. The magnets respond to an external excitation field. Along with the construction of the damper, COMSOL software is used for analysis of the eddy current damper and got various results like magnetic flux density, eddy current intensity, velocity and acceleration of the moving magnet. For this a standard dimension of an automotive vehicle damper is used so that the prototype could be tested on a damper testing machine. The standard dimension is chosen to increase the adaptability, compatibility and to ease of testing the damper. After this task the response of damper under various loads is observed. Different materials of housing tube are taken to observe the effects of various parameters like flux density, current intensity and, of course, the damping capability of the prototype damper.

Copper oxide nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by mechanochemical reaction, which is a green, low cost, solvent free, rapid method and followed by calcining treatment. Copper acetate monohydrate and urea were used as reagents and the resulted precursor was calcined at 500 ?C for 2h in air. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the formation of nanoparticles with an average size of about 86 nm. The Fourier transform infrared (FT–IR) spectrum and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) pattern of the product confirmed all of reflections can be indexed to pure phase of CuO with a monoclinic crystal system. The diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS) showed a band gap of 1.7 eV.

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is one of the most popular methods used for measuring the relative efficiency of similar units by considering various input/output parameters. This paper implements DEA models to estimate the relative efficiency of selected banks in the United States. The proposed study uses two inputs, total assets and number of employees, and one output, net revenue for measuring the relative efficiency of selected banks. The relative efficiencies of different banks are analyzed. The preliminary results indicate that Santander Bank is the most efficient banks operating in the United States followed by SunTrust Bank and HSBC. Other banks preserve lower efficiency compared with these three banks.