Search results for: reflective framework
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5199

Search results for: reflective framework

2169 Social Technology and Youth Justice: An Exploration of Ethical and Practical Challenges

Authors: Ravinder Barn, Balbir Barn

Abstract:

This paper outlines ethical and practical challenges in the building of social technology for use with socially excluded and marginalised groups. The primary aim of this study was to design, deploy and evaluate social technology that may help to promote better engagement between case workers and young people to help prevent recidivism, and support young people’s transition towards social inclusion in society. A total of 107 practitioners/managers (n=64), and young people (n=43) contributed to the data collection via surveys, focus groups and 1-1 interviews. Through a process of co-design where end-users are involved as key contributors to social technological design, this paper seeks to make an important contribution to the area of participatory methodologies by arguing that whilst giving ‘voice’ to key stakeholders in the research process is crucial, there is a risk that competing voices may lead to tensions and unintended outcomes. The paper is contextualized within a Foucauldian perspective to examine significant concepts including power, authority and surveillance. Implications for youth justice policy and practice are considered. The authors conclude that marginalized youth and over-stretched practitioners are better served when such social technology is perceived and adopted as a tool of empowerment within a framework of child welfare and child rights.

Keywords: youth justice, social technology, marginalization, participatory research, power

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2168 Modeling a Sustainable City in the Twenty-First Century: A Case Study of Ibadan Oyo State Nigeria

Authors: K. J. Jegede, O. O. Odekunle

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The challenges facing government at all levels in the area of urban development are two folds, first is how to provide basic services for urban dwellers especially the urban poor and second, how to make cities and towns as model of good places for economic development. The key ingredients and catalysts for achieving these goals are strong and virile institutional capacity, urban infrastructure and a supportive urban policy framework. The government at all levels have been upgrading and expanding city infrastructure and services in Ibadan, the state capital to support sustainable economic development of the city, particularly in the areas of electricity, neighbourhood, solid waste management, transport, water supply, education, health facilities and markets developments to discourage street trading. This paper attempts to present Ibadan in the millennium as 'a model of a sustainable city'. A planned development strategy that had sustained the growth of the city from a war camp in the 19th century to a cosmopolitan city in the 21st century with the potential to become a megacity. The presentation examines, among others, the physical structure and population density of Ibadan city, the challenges of economic development, the development of urban infrastructure and services in Ibadan metropolitan area. The paper submitted by mapping out a strategy to achieve sustainable development of Ibadan city.

Keywords: megacity, physical structure, sustainable city, urban infrastructure

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2167 Integrating Generic Skills into Disciplinary Curricula

Authors: Sitalakshmi Venkatraman, Fiona Wahr, Anthony de Souza-Daw, Samuel Kaspi

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There is a growing emphasis on generic skills in higher education to match the changing skill-set requirements of the labour market. However, researchers and policy makers have not arrived at a consensus on the generic skills that actually contribute towards workplace employability and performance that complement and/or underpin discipline-specific graduate attributes. In order to strengthen the qualifications framework, a range of ‘generic’ learning outcomes have been considered for students undergoing higher education programs and among them it is necessary to have the fundamental generic skills such as literacy and numeracy at a level appropriate to the qualification type. This warrants for curriculum design approaches to contextualise the form and scope of these fundamental generic skills for supporting both students’ learning engagement in the course, as well as the graduate attributes required for employability and to progress within their chosen profession. Little research is reported in integrating such generic skills into discipline-specific learning outcomes. This paper explores the literature of the generic skills required for graduates from the discipline of Information Technology (IT) in relation to an Australian higher education institution. The paper presents the rationale of a proposed Bachelor of IT curriculum designed to contextualize the learning of these generic skills within the students’ discipline studies.

Keywords: curriculum, employability, generic skills, graduate attributes, higher education, information technology

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2166 Remote Sensing and Gis Use in Trends of Urbanization and Regional Planning

Authors: Sawan Kumar Jangid

Abstract:

The paper attempts to study various facets of urbanization and regional planning in the framework of the present conditions and future needs. Urbanization is a dynamic system in which development and changes are prominent features; which implies population growth and changes in the primary, secondary and tertiary sector in the economy. Urban population is increasing day by day due to a natural increase in population and migration from rural areas, and the impact is bound to have in urban areas in terms of infrastructure, environment, water supply and other vital resources. For the organized way of planning and monitoring the implementation of Physical urban and regional plans high-resolution satellite imagery is the potential solution. Now the Remote Sensing data is widely used in urban as well as regional planning, infrastructure planning mainly telecommunication and transport network planning, highway development, accessibility to market area development in terms of catchment and population built-up area density. With Remote Sensing it is possible to identify urban growth, which falls outside the formal planning control. Remote Sensing and GIS technique combined together facilitate the planners, in making a decision, for general public and investors to have relevant data for their use in minimum time. This paper sketches out the Urbanization modal for the future development of Urban and Regional Planning. The paper suggests, a dynamic approach towards regional development strategy.

Keywords: development, dynamic, migration, resolution

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2165 Explicit Numerical Approximations for a Pricing Weather Derivatives Model

Authors: Clarinda V. Nhangumbe, Ercília Sousa

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Weather Derivatives are financial instruments used to cover non-catastrophic weather events and can be expressed in the form of standard or plain vanilla products, structured or exotics products. The underlying asset, in this case, is the weather index, such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind, and snowfall. The complexity of the Weather Derivatives structure shows the weakness of the Black Scholes framework. Therefore, under the risk-neutral probability measure, the option price of a weather contract can be given as a unique solution of a two-dimensional partial differential equation (parabolic in one direction and hyperbolic in other directions), with an initial condition and subjected to adequate boundary conditions. To calculate the price of the option, one can use numerical methods such as the Monte Carlo simulations and implicit finite difference schemes conjugated with Semi-Lagrangian methods. This paper is proposed two explicit methods, namely, first-order upwind in the hyperbolic direction combined with Lax-Wendroff in the parabolic direction and first-order upwind in the hyperbolic direction combined with second-order upwind in the parabolic direction. One of the advantages of these methods is the fact that they take into consideration the boundary conditions obtained from the financial interpretation and deal efficiently with the different choices of the convection coefficients.

Keywords: incomplete markets, numerical methods, partial differential equations, stochastic process, weather derivatives

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2164 Field-Programmable Gate Array Based Tester for Protective Relay

Authors: H. Bentarzi, A. Zitouni

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The reliability of the power grid depends on the successful operation of thousands of protective relays. The failure of one relay to operate as intended may lead the entire power grid to blackout. In fact, major power system failures during transient disturbances may be caused by unnecessary protective relay tripping rather than by the failure of a relay to operate. Adequate relay testing provides a first defense against false trips of the relay and hence improves power grid stability and prevents catastrophic bulk power system failures. The goal of this research project is to design and enhance the relay tester using a technology such as Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) card NI 7851. A PC based tester framework has been developed using Simulink power system model for generating signals under different conditions (faults or transient disturbances) and LabVIEW for developing the graphical user interface and configuring the FPGA. Besides, the interface system has been developed for outputting and amplifying the signals without distortion. These signals should be like the generated ones by the real power system and large enough for testing the relay’s functionality. The signals generated that have been displayed on the scope are satisfactory. Furthermore, the proposed testing system can be used for improving the performance of protective relay.

Keywords: amplifier class D, field-programmable gate array (FPGA), protective relay, tester

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2163 Fatigue Tests of New Assembly Bolt Connections for Perspective Temporary Steel Railway Bridges

Authors: Marcela Karmazínová, Michal Štrba, Miln Pilgr

Abstract:

The paper deals with the problems of the actual behavior, failure mechanism and load-carrying capacity of the special bolt connection developed and intended for the assembly connections of truss main girders of perspective railway temporary steel bridges. Within the framework of this problem solution, several types of structural details of assembly joints have been considered as the conceptual structural design. Based on the preliminary evaluation of advantages or disadvantages of these ones, in principle two basic structural configurations so-called “tooth” and “splice-plate” connections have been selected for the subsequent detailed investigation. This investigation is mainly based on the experimental verification of the actual behavior, strain and failure mechanism and corresponding strength of the connection, and on its numerical modeling using FEM. This paper is focused only on the cyclic loading (fatigue) tests results of “splice-plate” connections and their evaluation, which have already been finished. Simultaneously with the fatigue tests, the static loading tests have been realized too, but these ones, as well as FEM numerical modeling, are not the subject of this paper.

Keywords: Bolt assembly connection, cyclic loading, failure mechanisms, fatigue strength, steel structure, structural detail category, temporary railway bridge

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2162 Implementation-Specific Obstacles and Measures for Chatbots in B2B Business

Authors: Daniela Greven, Kathrin Endres, Shugana Sundralingam

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The use of chatbots has hardly been established in B2B companies to date and involves various challenges. The goal of this paper is to identify the biggest obstacles to the successful implementation of chatbots in B2B companies and to develop measures to overcome them. The obstacles are identified by conducting expert interviews within the framework of Eisenhardt's case study research. These are examined through a socio-technical analysis focusing on people, technology, and organization. By means of systematic literature research and in-depth interviews with German chatbot providers and customers of chatbots, measures for overcoming the obstacles are identified. Using interviews with experts from German chatbot providers, the responsible stakeholders of each measure according to the RASCI Responsibility Matrix are identified. The study shows that there are major obstacles in all areas of a socio-technical system that can cause the implementation of a chatbot to fail. A total of 44 implementation obstacles and 58 measures to overcome these obstacles are identified. The study shows that there are major obstacles in the areas of people, technology, and organization of a socio-technical system that can cause the implementation of a chatbot to fail. A holistic view is therefore essential. The results provide firms with a guideline on how to overcome potential obstacles during chatbot implementation in B2B customer service.

Keywords: chatbots, socio-technical analysis, B2B customer service, implementation success factors

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2161 Late Pleistocene Raised Coral Reefs in Rabigh Area, Red Sea: Microfacies and Environmental Interpretation

Authors: Ammar Manaa

Abstract:

The late Pleistocene raised coral reef terraces, 1 to 5 m above present sea level, are distinguished in Rabigh area into two marine terraces at elevations 0.5 m and 3.20 m, in addition to back-reef facies. The lower and upper terraces consist mainly of corals that increased in abundance and distribution in the upper terrace, with a minor occurrence of detrital quartz and feldspar. The back-reef facies consist mainly of coralline algae with a minor occurrence of corals. The upper terrace was interpreted as a reef crest or algal ridge due to the dominance of bindstone facies. The lower terrace indicates an outer reef flat with the occurrence of grainstone and rudstone facies. The coral framework in the upper terrace indicates a low energy environment. Within the back-reef terrace, calcareous mud was dominant, which indicates low energy, lagoon environment. The XRD results for the studied terraces revealed a variable abundance of aragonite, high-Mg calcite, and low-Mg calcite, with a slight increase in calcite and high-Mg calcite in the upper terrace. The dominant diagenetic processes in the terraces are cementation by fibrous and blocky calcite and dissolution that varied slightly between the lower and upper terraces. This study provides a coral reef model relevant to a low energy system in a dry and hot environment.

Keywords: late Pleistocene, Rabigh, reef terraces, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.

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2160 Effect of Spelling on Communicative Competence: A Case Study of Registry Staff of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Authors: Lukman Omobola Adisa

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Spelling is rule bound in a written discourse. It, however, calls into question, when such convention is grossly contravened in a formal setting revered as citadel of learning, despite availability of computer spell-checker, human knowledge, and lexicon. The foregoing reveals the extent of decadence pervading education sector in Nigeria. It is on this premise that this study reviews the effect of spelling on communicative competence of the University of Ibadan Registry Staff. The theoretical framework basically evaluates diverse scholars’ views on communicative competence and how spelling influences the intended meaning of a word/ sentence as a result of undue infringement on grammatical (spelling) rule. Newsletter, bulletin, memo, and letter are four print materials purposively selected while the methodology adopted is content analysis. Similarly, five categories, though not limited to, through which spelling blunders are committed are considered: effect of spelling (omission, addition, and substitution); sound ( homophone); transposition (heading/body: content) and ambiguity (capitalisation, space, and acronym). Subsequently, the analyses, findings, and recommendations are equally looked into. Summarily, the study x-rays effective role(s) plays by spelling in enhancing communicative competence through appropriate usage of linguistic registers.

Keywords: communicative competence, content analysis, effect of spelling, linguistics registers

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2159 The Role of Teaching Assistants for Deaf Pupils in a Mainstream Primary School in England

Authors: Hatice Yildirim

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This study was an investigation into the role of teaching assistants (TAs) for deaf pupils in an English primary school. This study aimed to provide knowledge about how TAs support deaf pupils in mainstream schools in England. It is accepted that TAs have an important role in the inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream schools. However, there has been a lack of attention paid to the role of TAs for deaf pupils in the literature. A qualitative case study approach was used to address the research questions. Twelve semi-structured classroom observations and six semi-structured interviews were carried out with four TAs and two teachers in one English mainstream primary school. The data analysis followed a thematic analysis framework. The results indicated that TAs are utilised based on a one-on-one support model and are deployed under the class teachers in the classroom. The classroom activities are carried out in small groups with the TAs and the class teacher’s agreement, as per the school’s policy. Findings show that TAs carried out seven different roles in the education of deaf pupils in an English mainstream primary school. Supporting the academic and social development of deaf pupils is TA`s main role. Also, they record pupils’ progress, communicate with pupils’ parents, take on a pastoral care role, tutor pupils in additional support lessons and raise awareness of deaf pupils’ issues.

Keywords: deaf, mainstream primary school, teaching assistant, teaching assistant`s roles

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2158 A Condition-Based Maintenance Policy for Multi-Unit Systems Subject to Deterioration

Authors: Nooshin Salari, Viliam Makis

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In this paper, we propose a condition-based maintenance policy for multi-unit systems considering the existence of economic dependency among units. We consider a system composed of N identical units, where each unit deteriorates independently. Deterioration process of each unit is modeled as a three-state continuous time homogeneous Markov chain with two working states and a failure state. The average production rate of units varies in different working states and demand rate of the system is constant. Units are inspected at equidistant time epochs, and decision regarding performing maintenance is determined by the number of units in the failure state. If the total number of units in the failure state exceeds a critical level, maintenance is initiated, where units in failed state are replaced correctively and deteriorated state units are maintained preventively. Our objective is to determine the optimal number of failed units to initiate maintenance minimizing the long run expected average cost per unit time. The problem is formulated and solved in the semi-Markov decision process (SMDP) framework. A numerical example is developed to demonstrate the proposed policy and the comparison with the corrective maintenance policy is presented.

Keywords: reliability, maintenance optimization, semi-Markov decision process, production

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2157 Formulation and Technology of the Composition of Essential Oils as a Feed Additive in Poultry with Antibacterial Action

Authors: S. Barbaqadze, M. Goderdzishvili, E. Mosidze, L. Lomtadze, V. Mshvildadze, L. Bakuridze, D. Berashvili, A. Bakuridze

Abstract:

This paper focuses on the formulation of phytobiotic designated for further implantation in poultry farming. Composition was meant to be water-soluble powder containing antibacterial essential oils. The development process involved Thyme, Monarda and Clary sage essential oils. The antimicrobial activity of essential oils composite was meant to be tested against gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial strains. The results are processed using the statistical program Sigma STAT. To make essential oils composition water soluble surfactants were added to them. At the first stage of the study, nine options for the optimal composition of essential oils and surfactants were developed. The effect of the amount of surfactants on the essential oils composition solubility in water has been investigated. On the basis of biopharmaceutical studies, the formulation of phytobiotic has been determined: Thyme, monarda and clary sage essential oils 2:1:1 - 100 parts; Licorice extract 5.25 parts and inhalation lactose 300 parts. A technology for the preparation of phytobiotic has been developed and a technological scheme for the preparation of phytobiotic has been made up. The research was performed within the framework of the grant project CARYS-19-363 funded be the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia.

Keywords: clary, essential oils, monarda, phytobiotics, poultry, thyme

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2156 Parameter Measurement Systems to Evaluate Performance of Archers

Authors: Muhammad Zikril Hakim Md. Azizi, Norhafizan Ahmad, Raja Ariffin Raja Ghazilla

Abstract:

Postural stability, attention level of the archer and particularly the vibrations of the bow itself plays a prominent role in determining the athletes performance. Many techniques and systems had been developing to monitor the parameters of the archers during training. In Malaysia, archery coaches tend to use non-scientific ways that they are familiar with, to evaluate archer performance. An approach that provides more affordable yet accurate systems to the masses and relatively easy system deployment procedure need to be proposed. Hence, this project will address to fulfil the needs. Three area of the archer parameter were included for data monitoring sensors. Attention level can be measured using EEG sensor, centre of mass linked to the postural stability can be measured by foot pressure sensor, and the bow vibrations in three axis will be relayed by the vibrations sensors placed directly on the bow using wireless sensors. Arduino based microcontroller used to relay all the data back to the interfacing systems. Interface systems will be using Python language and C++ framework for user interface and hardware interfacing systems. All sensor data can be observed in real time using the in-house applications, and each sessions can be saved to common files so that coach and the team can have a further discussion and comparisons.

Keywords: archery, graphical user interface, microcontroller, wireless sensor, monitoring system

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2155 Remote Sensing Approach to Predict the Impacts of Land Use/Land Cover Change on Urban Thermal Comfort Using Machine Learning Algorithms

Authors: Ahmad E. Aldousaria, Abdulla Al Kafy

Abstract:

Urbanization is an incessant process that involves the transformation of land use/land cover (LULC), resulting in a reduction of cool land covers and thermal comfort zones (TCZs). This study explores the directional shrinkage of TCZs in Kuwait using Landsat satellite data from 1991 – 2021 to predict the future LULC and TCZ distribution for 2026 and 2031 using cellular automata (CA) and artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms. Analysis revealed a rapid urban expansion (40 %) in SE, NE, and NW directions and TCZ shrinkage in N – NW and SW directions with 25 % of the very uncomfortable area. The predicted result showed an urban area increase from 44 % in 2021 to 47 % and 52 % in 2026 and 2031, respectively, where uncomfortable zones were found to be concentrated around urban areas and bare lands in N – NE and N – NW directions. This study proposes an effective and sustainable framework to control TCZ shrinkage, including zero soil policies, planned landscape design, manmade water bodies, and rooftop gardens. This study will help urban planners and policymakers to make Kuwait an eco–friendly, functional, and sustainable country.

Keywords: land cover change, thermal environment, green cover loss, machine learning, remote sensing

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2154 Small-Scale Mining Policies in Ghana: Miners' Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices

Authors: Franklin Nantui Mabe, Robert Osei

Abstract:

Activities and operations of artisanal small scale mining (ASM) have recently appealed to the attention of policymakers, researchers, and the general public in Ghana. This stems from the negative impacts of ASM operations on the environment and livelihoods of local inhabitants, as well as the disregard for available ASM mining policies. This study, therefore, investigates whether or not artisanal small-scale miners have enough knowledge of the mining policies and their implementations. The study adopted the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) framework approach to design the research, collect and analyze primary data. The most aware ASM policy provision is the one that mandates the government to reserve demarcated ASM areas for Ghanaians, whilst the least aware provision is the one that admonishes the government to promote co-operative saving among ASM. The awareness index is lower than the attitude index towards the policy provisions. In terms of practices, miners continued to use bad practices with the associated negative impacts on the environment and rural livelihoods. It is therefore important for the government through mineral commission, district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies to intensify the education on the ASM policies. These could be done with the help of ASM associations. The current systems where a cluster of districts have a single Mineral Commission Office should be restructured to make sure that each mining district has an office.

Keywords: mining policies, KAP, awareness, artisanal small-scale mining

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2153 Contesting Blind Obedience in Islam within the Malay-Language Media: Case Study of 'I Want to Touch a Dog' Event

Authors: Aisya Zaharin

Abstract:

The reporting of Islam in the Malaysian government-controlled press is complicated and occurs almost daily. This is due to the Islamisation process that has been heavily politicized in recent years. This article analyses media representations of Islam in the Malaysian media through the social responsibility theory. A provocative case study of media reporting on the “I want to touch a dog” event was analysed since dog’s saliva is ritually considered unhygienic by Muslims. This paper will not question the Islamic ruling on the dog’s issue. Instead, it calls for discussions in relation to openness and maturity in religious discourse with respect to the dog’s saliva dialogue in 1937. It applies Hage’s “minor and major reality” to explain the increasing percentage of Muslim who define their own understandings of Islam vs the government’s dogmatic versions. This paper employs Alatas’s method of “sociological investigation in Southeast Asia” by using ethnographic examination on selected mass media. Through Asiacentricity approach, this paper revisited the local framework of Alatas’s New Man encouraging Muslims to engage in knowledge and to appreciate diversities in Islamic jurisprudences. Despite government’s control, findings showed that non-Malay languages and online media are more comprehensive in reporting the news about Islam. Clearly, there has to be a re-conceptualization of Islamic discourses in the Malay-language media.

Keywords: dog, Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence, Malaysian media, New Man, social responsibility

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2152 A Machine Learning Framework Based on Biometric Measurements for Automatic Fetal Head Anomalies Diagnosis in Ultrasound Images

Authors: Hanene Sahli, Aymen Mouelhi, Marwa Hajji, Amine Ben Slama, Mounir Sayadi, Farhat Fnaiech, Radhwane Rachdi

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Fetal abnormality is still a public health problem of interest to both mother and baby. Head defect is one of the most high-risk fetal deformities. Fetal head categorization is a sensitive task that needs a massive attention from neurological experts. In this sense, biometrical measurements can be extracted by gynecologist doctors and compared with ground truth charts to identify normal or abnormal growth. The fetal head biometric measurements such as Biparietal Diameter (BPD), Occipito-Frontal Diameter (OFD) and Head Circumference (HC) needs to be monitored, and expert should carry out its manual delineations. This work proposes a new approach to automatically compute BPD, OFD and HC based on morphological characteristics extracted from head shape. Hence, the studied data selected at the same Gestational Age (GA) from the fetal Ultrasound images (US) are classified into two categories: Normal and abnormal. The abnormal subjects include hydrocephalus, microcephaly and dolichocephaly anomalies. By the use of a support vector machines (SVM) method, this study achieved high classification for automated detection of anomalies. The proposed method is promising although it doesn't need expert interventions.

Keywords: biometric measurements, fetal head malformations, machine learning methods, US images

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2151 Secured Cancer Care and Cloud Services in Internet of Things /Wireless Sensor Network Based Medical Systems

Authors: Adeniyi Onasanya, Maher Elshakankiri

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In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has constituted a driving force of modern technological advancement, and it has become increasingly common as its impacts are seen in a variety of application domains, including healthcare. IoT is characterized by the interconnectivity of smart sensors, objects, devices, data, and applications. With the unprecedented use of IoT in industrial, commercial and domestic, it becomes very imperative to harness the benefits and functionalities associated with the IoT technology in (re)assessing the provision and positioning of healthcare to ensure efficient and improved healthcare delivery. In this research, we are focusing on two important services in healthcare systems, which are cancer care services and business analytics/cloud services. These services incorporate the implementation of an IoT that provides solution and framework for analyzing health data gathered from IoT through various sensor networks and other smart devices in order to improve healthcare delivery and to help health care providers in their decision-making process for enhanced and efficient cancer treatment. In addition, we discuss the wireless sensor network (WSN), WSN routing and data transmission in the healthcare environment. Finally, some operational challenges and security issues with IoT-based healthcare system are discussed.

Keywords: IoT, smart health care system, business analytics, (wireless) sensor network, cancer care services, cloud services

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2150 Risk Management for Smart Healthcare System: Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) Approach

Authors: Abdullah, Ali, Salamai

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Smart healthcare management systems (SHMS) play a vital role in medical centers. SHMS has various risks and threats that affect patient care. So, risk management is the best choice to identify and mitigate these risks. This study proposed a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework for identifying risks in SHMS and selecting the best project in SHMS to reduce risks. This study used the MCDM method to deal with conflict criteria. There are two MCDM methods: CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) and Additive Ration Assessment (ARAS). The CRITIC approach is used to compute the criteria weights, and the ARAS algorithm is used to select the appropriate projects in SHMS. The neutrosophic set (NS) was applied with MCDM methods to deal with inconsistent data in the evaluation process. The results show the Health Data Informational System project is the best. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to show the stability of the rank. The comparative study was conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. The outcomes demonstrate the rank of projects is stable through all scenarios, and the proposed methodology is effective compared with MCDM methods.

Keywords: risk management, portfolio management, smart healthcare, neutrosophic set, MCDM

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2149 Mass Polarization in Three-Body System with Two Identical Particles

Authors: Igor Filikhin, Vladimir M. Suslov, Roman Ya. Kezerashvili, Branislav Vlahivic

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The mass-polarization term of the three-body kinetic energy operator is evaluated for different systems which include two identical particles: A+A+B. The term has to be taken into account for the analysis of AB- and AA-interactions based on experimental data for two- and three-body ground state energies. In this study, we present three-body calculations within the framework of a potential model for the kaonic clusters K−K−p and ppK−, nucleus 3H and hypernucleus 6 ΛΛHe. The systems are well clustering as A+ (A+B) with a ground state energy E2 for the pair A+B. The calculations are performed using the method of the Faddeev equations in configuration space. The phenomenological pair potentials were used. We show a correlation between the mass ratio mA/mB and the value δB of the mass-polarization term. For bosonic-like systems, this value is defined as δB = 2E2 − E3, where E3 is three-body energy when VAA = 0. For the systems including three particles with spin(isospin), the models with average AB-potentials are used. In this case, the Faddeev equations become a scalar one like for the bosonic-like system αΛΛ. We show that the additional energy conected with the mass-polarization term can be decomposite to a sum of the two parts: exchenge related and reduced mass related. The state of the system can be described as the following: the particle A1 is bound within the A + B pair with the energy E2, and the second particle A2 is bound with the pair with the energy E3 − E2. Due to the identity of A particles, the particles A1 and A2 are interchangeable in the pair A + B. We shown that the mass polarization δB correlates with a type of AB potential using the system αΛΛ as an example.

Keywords: three-body systems, mass polarization, Faddeev equations, nuclear interactions

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2148 Electronic Health Record System: A Perspective to Improve the Value of Services Rendered to Patients in Healthcare Organization in Rwanda, Case of CHUB and Hopital De Nemba

Authors: Mugabe Nzarama Gabriel

Abstract:

In Rwanda, many healthcare organizations are still using a paper based patients’ data record system although it still present weaknesses to share health patients’ information across different services when necessary. In developed countries, the EHR has been put in place to revolutionize the paper based record system but still the EHR has some challenges related to privacy, security, or interoperability. The purpose of this research was to assess the existing patients’ data record system in healthcare sector in Rwanda, see what an EHR can improve to the system in place and assess the acceptance of EHR as system which is interoperable, very secure and interoperable and see whether stakeholders are ready to adopt the system. The case based methodology was used and TAM theoretical framework to design the questionnaire for the survey. A judgmental sample across two cases, CHUB and Hopital de Nemba, has been selected and SPSS has been used for descriptive statistics. After a qualitative analysis, the findings showed that the paper based record is useful, gives complete information about the patient, protects the privacy of patients but it is still less secure and less interoperable. The respondents shown that they are ready to use the proposed EHR System and want it secure, capable of enforcing the privacy but still they are not all ready for the interoperability. A conclusion has been formulated; recommendations and further research have been proposed.

Keywords: EHR system, healthcare service, TAM, privacy, interoperability

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2147 Hot Corrosion Susceptibility of Uncoated Boiler Tubes during High Vanadium Containing Fuel Oil Operation in Boiler Applications

Authors: Nicole Laws, William L. Roberts, Saumitra Saxena, Krishnamurthy Anand, Sreenivasa Gubba, Ziad Dawood, Aiping Chen

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Boiler-fired power plants that operate steam turbines in Saudi Arabia use vanadium-containing fuel oil. In a super- or sub-critical steam cycle, the skin temperature of boiler tube metal can reach close to 600-1000°C depending on the location of the tubes. At high temperatures, corrosion by the sodium-vanadium-oxygen-sulfur eutectic can become a significant risk. The experimental work utilized a state-of-the-art high-temperature, high-pressure burner rig at KAUST, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. To establish corrosion rates of different boiler tubes and materials, SA 213 T12, SA 213 T22, SA 213 T91, and Inconel 600, were used under various corrosive media, including vanadium to sulfur levels and vanadium to sodium ratios. The results obtained from the experiments establish a corrosion rate map for the materials involved and layout an empirical framework to rank the life of boiler tube materials under different operating conditions. Safe windows of operation are proposed for burning liquid fuels under varying vanadium, sodium, and sulfur levels before corrosion rates become a matter of significance under high-temperature conditions

Keywords: boiler tube life, hot corrosion, steam boilers, vanadium in fuel oil

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2146 Short-Term Incarceration in South Africa and the Shaping of Legal Consciousness

Authors: Thato Masiangoako

Abstract:

While being home to one of the greatest constitutions in the world, South Africa is also notorious for brutal policing practices, endemic corruption, and an overstrained criminal justice system. This apparent gap between the normative conceptions of the law and the actual experiences of being subjected to the criminal justice system forms the crux of this study. This study explores how community activists, student activists, and migrants in Johannesburg, who rely on the law for protection and effective political expression and participation and understand the law through their experiences of arrest and short-term incarceration. This work introduces the concept of legal consciousness to the South African context, whilst also drawing very heavily from South African literature of the law and criminal justice system. This research is grounded in the experiences of arrest and pre-trial and immigration detention shared by these individuals, which are used to develop a rich account of legal consciousness in South Africa. It also sheds light on some of the ways in which the criminal justice system sustains its legitimacy within a post-apartheid framework despite the gaps between what the law ought to be and it actually is. The study argues that the ways in which these groups make sense of their experiences of the criminal justice system and the law, more broadly, are closely bound to their socio-political identities. This calls the core values of equality and dignity that undergird South Africa’s Constitution into question.

Keywords: criminal justice, immigrant detention, legal consciousness, remand detention

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2145 The Influence of Gossip on the Absorption Probabilities in Moran Process

Authors: Jurica Hižak

Abstract:

Getting to know the agents, i.e., identifying the free riders in a population, can be considered one of the main challenges in establishing cooperation. An ordinary memory-one agent such as Tit-for-tat may learn “who is who” in the population through direct interactions. Past experiences serve them as a landmark to know with whom to cooperate and against whom to retaliate in the next encounter. However, this kind of learning is risky and expensive. A cheaper and less painful way to detect free riders may be achieved by gossiping. For this reason, as part of this research, a special type of Tit-for-tat agent was designed – a “Gossip-Tit-for-tat” agent that can share data with other agents of its kind. The performances of both strategies, ordinary Tit-for-tat and Gossip-Tit-for-tat, against Always-defect have been compared in the finite-game framework of the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma via the Moran process. Agents were able to move in a random-walk fashion, and they were programmed to play Prisoner’s Dilemma each time they met. Moreover, at each step, one randomly selected individual was eliminated, and one individual was reproduced in accordance with the Moran process of selection. In this way, the size of the population always remained the same. Agents were selected for reproduction via the roulette wheel rule, i.e., proportionally to the relative fitness of the strategy. The absorption probability was calculated after the population had been absorbed completely by cooperators, which means that all the states have been occupied and all of the transition probabilities have been determined. It was shown that gossip increases absorption probabilities and therefore enhances the evolution of cooperation in the population.

Keywords: cooperation, gossip, indirect reciprocity, Moran process, prisoner’s dilemma, tit-for-tat

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2144 Original and the Translated: A Comparative Evaluation of Native and Non-Native English Translations of Faiz

Authors: Anam Nawaz

Abstract:

The present study is an attempt to compare the translations of Faiz’s poetry made by native and non-native translators, to determine the role of the translator in terms of preserving the cultural ethos of the original text. Peter Newmark and Katharine Reiss’s approaches to translation criticism have been used to provide a theoretical framework for the study. This study also emphasizes those cultural and semantic aspects of the original which are translated more convincingly by a native translator, and contrasting those features which the non-natives can tackle more ably. The research also highlights the linguistic sockets, ignored by the interpreters in the translation process. The analysis showed that both native and non-native translators have made an admirable effort to stay as close to the original as possible. The natives with their advantage of belonging to the same culture have excelled in preserving the original subject matter, whereas the non-native renderings have been presented in a much rhythmic and poetic manner with an excellent choice of words. Though none of the four translators has been successfully able to recreate Faiz’s magic, however V. G. Kiernan and Sarvat Rahman’s translations can be regarded as the closest to the original. Whereas V. G. Kiernan with his outstanding command over English mesmerizes the readers, Sarvat Rahman’s profound understanding of cultural ties helps establish her translations as a brilliant example of faithful re-renderings.

Keywords: comparative translations, linguistic and cultural constraints, native translators, non-native translators, poetry and translation, Faiz Ahmad Faiz

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2143 Distributed Control Strategy for Dispersed Energy Storage Units in the DC Microgrid Based on Discrete Consensus

Authors: Hanqing Yang, Xiang Meng, Qi Li, Weirong Chen

Abstract:

The SOC (state of charge) based droop control has limitations on the load power sharing among different energy storage units, due to the line impedance. In this paper, a distributed control strategy for dispersed energy storage units in the DC microgrid based on discrete consensus is proposed. Firstly, a sparse information communication network is built. Thus, local controllers can communicate with its neighbors using voltage, current and SOC information. An average voltage of grid can be evaluated to compensate voltage offset by droop control, and an objective virtual resistance fulfilling above requirement can be dynamically calculated to distribute load power according to the SOC of the energy storage units. Then, the stability of the whole system and influence of communication delay are analyzed. It can be concluded that this control strategy can improve the robustness and flexibility, because of having no center controller. Finally, a model of DC microgrid with dispersed energy storage units and loads is built, the discrete distributed algorithm is established and communication protocol is developed. The co-simulation between Matlab/Simulink and JADE (Java agent development framework) has verified the effectiveness of proposed control strategy.

Keywords: dispersed energy storage units, discrete consensus algorithm, state of charge, communication delay

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2142 Flood Planning Based on Risk Optimization: A Case Study in Phan-Calo River Basin in Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam

Authors: Nguyen Quang Kim, Nguyen Thu Hien, Nguyen Thien Dung

Abstract:

Flood disasters are increasing worldwide in both frequency and magnitude. Every year in Vietnam, flood causes great damage to people, property, and environmental degradation. The flood risk management policy in Vietnam is currently updated. The planning of flood mitigation strategies is reviewed to make a decision how to reach sustainable flood risk reduction. This paper discusses the basic approach where the measures of flood protection are chosen based on minimizing the present value of expected monetary expenses, total residual risk and costs of flood control measures. This approach will be proposed and demonstrated in a case study for flood risk management in Vinh Phuc province of Vietnam. Research also proposed the framework to find a solution of optimal protection level and optimal measures of the flood. It provides an explicit economic basis for flood risk management plans and interactive effects of options for flood damage reduction. The results of the case study are demonstrated and discussed which would provide the processing of actions helped decision makers to choose flood risk reduction investment options.

Keywords: drainage plan, flood planning, flood risk, residual risk, risk optimization

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2141 Knowledge Diffusion via Automated Organizational Cartography: Autocart

Authors: Mounir Kehal, Adel Al Araifi

Abstract:

The post-globalisation epoch has placed businesses everywhere in new and different competitive situations where knowledgeable, effective and efficient behaviour has come to provide the competitive and comparative edge. Enterprises have turned to explicit- and even conceptualising on tacit- Knowledge Management to elaborate a systematic approach to develop and sustain the Intellectual Capital needed to succeed. To be able to do that, you have to be able to visualize your organization as consisting of nothing but knowledge and knowledge flows, whilst being presented in a graphical and visual framework, referred to as automated organizational cartography. Hence, creating the ability of further actively classifying existing organizational content evolving from and within data feeds, in an algorithmic manner, potentially giving insightful schemes and dynamics by which organizational know-how is visualised. It is discussed and elaborated on most recent and applicable definitions and classifications of knowledge management, representing a wide range of views from mechanistic (systematic, data driven) to a more socially (psychologically, cognitive/metadata driven) orientated. More elaborate continuum models, for knowledge acquisition and reasoning purposes, are being used for effectively representing the domain of information that an end user may contain in their decision making process for utilization of available organizational intellectual resources (i.e. Autocart). In this paper we present likewise an empirical research study conducted previously to try and explore knowledge diffusion in a specialist knowledge domain.

Keywords: knowledge management, knowledge maps, knowledge diffusion, organizational cartography

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2140 Cybernetic Modeling of Growth Dynamics of Debaryomyces nepalensis NCYC 3413 and Xylitol Production in Batch Reactor

Authors: J. Sharon Mano Pappu, Sathyanarayana N. Gummadi

Abstract:

Growth of Debaryomyces nepalensis on mixed substrates in batch culture follows diauxic pattern of completely utilizing glucose during the first exponential growth phase, followed by an intermediate lag phase and a second exponential growth phase consuming xylose. The present study deals with the development of cybernetic mathematical model for prediction of xylitol production and yield. Production of xylitol from xylose in batch fermentation is investigated in the presence of glucose as the co-substrate. Different ratios of glucose and xylose concentrations are assessed to study the impact of multi substrate on production of xylitol in batch reactors. The parameters in the model equations were estimated from experimental observations using integral method. The model equations were solved simultaneously by numerical technique using MATLAB. The developed cybernetic model of xylose fermentation in the presence of a co-substrate can provide answers about how the ratio of glucose to xylose influences the yield and rate of production of xylitol. This model is expected to accurately predict the growth of microorganism on mixed substrate, duration of intermediate lag phase, consumption of substrate, production of xylitol. The model developed based on cybernetic modelling framework can be helpful to simulate the dynamic competition between the metabolic pathways.

Keywords: co-substrate, cybernetic model, diauxic growth, xylose, xylitol

Procedia PDF Downloads 313