Search results for: individual characteristics

Authors: Phawin Sangsuvan, Chutimet Srinilta

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This Paper presents the applications of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) Method for Thai optical character recognition (OCR). OCR consists of the pre-processing, character recognition and post-processing. Before enter into recognition process. The Character must be “Prepped” by pre-processing process. The PSO is an optimization method that belongs to the swarm intelligence family based on the imitation of social behavior patterns of animals. Route of each particle is determined by an individual data among neighborhood particles. The interaction of the particles with neighbors is the advantage of Particle Swarm to determine the best solution. So PSO is interested by a lot of researchers in many difficult problems including character recognition. As the previous this research used a Projection Histogram to extract printed digits features and defined the simple Fitness Function for PSO. The results reveal that PSO gives 67.73% for testing dataset. So in the future there can be explored enhancement the better performance of PSO with improve the Fitness Function.

Keywords: character recognition, histogram projection, particle swarm optimization, pattern recognition techniques

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Authors: Sireetorn Kuharat, Anwar Beg

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In this study, multi-mode heat transfer characteristics of spacecraft solar collectors are investigated computationally. Two-dimensional steady-state incompressible laminar Newtonian viscous convection-radiative heat transfer in a rectangular solar collector geometry. The ANSYS FLUENT finite volume code (version 17.2) is employed to simulate the thermo-fluid characteristics. Several radiative transfer models are employed which are available in the ANSYS workbench, including the classical Rosseland flux model and the more elegant P1 flux model. Mesh-independence tests are conducted. Validation of the simulations is conducted with a computational Harlow-Welch MAC (Marker and Cell) finite difference method and excellent correlation. The influence of aspect ratio, Prandtl number (Pr), Rayleigh number (Ra) and radiative flux model on temperature, isotherms, velocity, the pressure is evaluated and visualized in color plots. Additionally, the local convective heat flux is computed and solutions are compared with the MAC solver for various buoyancy effects (e.g. Ra = 10,000,000) achieving excellent agreement. The P1 model is shown to better predict the actual influence of solar radiative flux on thermal fluid behavior compared with the limited Rosseland model. With increasing Rayleigh numbers the hot zone emanating from the base of the collector is found to penetrate deeper into the collector and rises symmetrically dividing into two vortex regions with very high buoyancy effect (Ra >100,000). With increasing Prandtl number (three gas cases are examined respectively hydrogen gas mixture, air and ammonia gas) there is also a progressive incursion of the hot zone at the solar collector base higher into the solar collector space and simultaneously a greater asymmetric behavior of the dual isothermal zones. With increasing aspect ratio (wider base relative to the height of the solar collector geometry) there is a greater thermal convection pattern around the whole geometry, higher temperatures and the elimination of the cold upper zone associated with lower aspect ratio.

Keywords: thermal convection, radiative heat transfer, solar collector, Rayleigh number

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Authors: Dipti Raj, Himanshu Mishra

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Wetting of a solid surface by a liquid is an extremely common yet subtle phenomenon in natural and applied sciences. A clear understanding of both short and long-term wetting behaviors of surfaces is essential for creating robust anti-biofouling coatings, non-wetting textiles, non-fogging mirrors, and preventive linings against dirt and icing. In this study, silica beads (diameter, D ≈ 100 μm) functionalized using different silane reagents were employed to modify the wetting characteristics of smooth polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces. Resulting composite surfaces were found to be super-hydrophobic, i.e. contact angle of water,

Keywords: contact angle, Cassie-Baxter, PDMS, silica, texture, wetting

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Authors: Mustafina-Bredikhina Diana, Kuznetsova Olga

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Corruption as a social phenomenon is obviously a serious barrier to the development of a prosperous society and the economic development of the country as a whole. It is extremely important to analyze the influence of culture on the level of corruption in different countries and assesses the influence of culture, religion, and mentality on corrupt behavior and their perception in society. Corruption should be considered in relation to the public consciousness, which is formed in certain socio-historical conditions and cultural traditions. Often, society, formally condemning corruption, reproduces obvious corrupt behavior at the personal level of its individual members. Based on a brief analysis of the major corruption scandals and the corruption counting system of countries, the authors conclude that culture, mentality, and religion, while playing an important role in the formation of public consciousness of the concept of "corrupt behavior" are not decisive. It is more important to build a dialogue between the authorities and society, creating a uniform rejection of corrupt behavior.

Keywords: corruption, culture, corrupt behavior, perception of corruption, religion

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Authors: Boukais Meriem, B. Dennai, A. Ould-Abbas

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The efficiency of SiGe solar cells might be improved by a wide-band-gap window layer. In this work we were simulated using the one dimensional simulation program called analysis of microelectronic and photonic structures (AMPS-1D). In the simulation, the thickness of silicon window was varied from 80 to 150 nm. The rest of layer’s thicknesses were kept constant, by varying thickness of window layer the simulated device performance was demonstrate in the form of current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and quantum efficiency (QE).

Keywords: SiGe, AMPS-1D, simulation, conversion, efficiency, quantum efficiency

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Authors: Nazlina Shaari

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Sustainability is economic, social and environmental systems that make up the community in providing a healthy, productive, meaningful life for all community residents, present and future. The environmental profile of goods and services that satisfy our individual and societal needs were shaped by design activities. The integration of environmental aspect of product design, especially in textiles present much confusion surrounds the incorporation of environmental objectives into the design process. This paper explores the effective use of waste materials that can contribute to the development of more environmentally responsible practice in textile sector. It introduces key elements of the ecological approach and innovative ideas from waste to wealth. The paper focuses on the potential methods of utilizing sago residue as a natural colour enhancer in natural dyeing process. It will discover the potential of waste materials to be fully utilized to attempt to make the production of that textile more environmentally friendly.

Keywords: sustainability, textiles, waste materials, environmentally friendly

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Authors: Anna Solovyeva, Ivan Levakin, Nickolai Galaktionov, Olga Podgornaya

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Animals that reproduce asexually were thought to have the same genotypes within generations for a long time. However, some refuting examples were found, and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) or transposons are considered to be the most probable source of genetic instability. Dispersed nature and the ability to change their genomic localization enables MGEs to be efficient mutators. Hence the study of MGEs genomic impact requires an appropriate object which comprehends both representative amounts of various MGEs and options to evaluate the genomic influence of MGEs. Animals that reproduce asexually seem to be a decent model to study MGEs impact in genomic variability. We found a small marine trematode Himasthla elongata (Himasthlidae) to be a good model for such investigation as it has a small genome size, diverse MGEs and parthenogenetic stages in the lifecycle. In the current work, clonal diversity of cercaria was traced with an AFLP (Amplified fragment length polymorphism) method, diverse zones from electrophoretic patterns were cloned, and the nature of the fragments explored. Polymorphic patterns of individual cercariae AFLP-based fingerprints are enriched with retrotransposons of different families. The bulk of those sequences are represented by open reading frames of non-Long Terminal Repeats containing elements(non-LTR) yet Long-Terminal Repeats containing elements (LTR), to a lesser extent in variable figments of AFLP array. The CR1 elements expose both in polymorphic and conservative patterns are remarkably more frequent than the other non-LTR retrotransposons. This data was confirmed with shotgun sequencing-based on Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. Individual cercaria of the same clone (i.e., originated from a single miracidium and inhabiting one host) has a various distribution of MGE families detected in sequenced AFLP patterns. The most numerous are CR1 and RTE-Bov retrotransposons, typical for trematode genomes. Also, we identified LTR-retrotransposons of Pao and Gypsy families among DNA transposons of CMC-EnSpm, Tc1/Mariner, MuLE-MuDR and Merlin families. We detected many of them in H. elongata transcriptome. Such uneven MGEs distribution in AFLP sequences’ sets reflects the different patterns of transposons spreading in cercarial genomes as transposons affect the genome in many ways (ectopic recombination, gene structure interruption, epigenetic silencing). It is considered that they play a key role in the origins of trematode clonal polymorphism. The authors greatly appreciate the help received at the Kartesh White Sea Biological Station of the Russian Academy of Sciences Zoological Institute. This work is funded with RSF 19-74-20102 and RFBR 17-04-02161 grants and the research program of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (project number AAAA-A19-119020690109-2).

Keywords: AFLP, clonal polymorphism, Himasthla elongata, mobile genetic elements, NGS

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Authors: Shakhawan K. Mawlood, Catriona Pickard, Benjamin Pickard

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In summer 2015 the remains of 800 children are among 1,967 bodies were exhumed by archaeologists at St Peter's Burial Ground in Blackburn, Lancashire. One hundred samples from these 19th century ancient bones were selected for DNA analysis. These comprised samples biased for those which prior osteological evidence indicated a potential for microbial infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (causing tuberculosis, TB) or Treponema pallidum (causing Syphilis) species, as well a random selection of other bones for which visual inspection suggested good preservation (and, therefore, likely DNA retrieval).They were subject to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays aimed at detecting traces of DNA from infecting mycobacteria, with the purpose both of confirming the palaeopathological diagnosis of tuberculosis and determining in individual cases whether disease and death was due to M. tuberculosis or other reasons. Our secondary goal was to determine sex determination and age prediction. The results demonstrated that extraction of vast majority ancient bones DNA samples succeeded.

Keywords: ancient bone, DNA, tuberculosis, age prediction

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Authors: İsmail Seçer

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Although depression and anxiety disorders are considered to be adult disorders, the evidence obtained from several studies conducted recently shows that the roots of depression and anxiety disorders go back to childhood years. Thus, it is thought that analyzing depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders observed in the childhood is an important necessity. In the direction of the problem status of the study, the purpose of this study is to adapt anxiety and depression questionnaire for children into Turkish culture and analyze the psychometric characteristics of it on clinical and nonclinical samples separately. The study is a descriptive survey research. The study was conducted on two different sample groups, clinical and nonclinical. The clinical sample is formed of 205 individuals and the nonclinical sample is formed of 630 individuals. Through the study, anxiety and depression questionnaire for children, anxiety sensitivity index and obsessive compulsive disorder questionnaire for children were used. Experts’ opinions were asked to provide language validity of the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis and criterion-related validity to analyze construct validity and internal consistency and split-half reliability analyses were done for reliability. In the direction of experts’ opinions, construct validity of the scale was analyzed with simple confirmatory factor analysis and it was determined that the model fit of the two-factor structure of the scale gives good fit on both the clinical and nonclinical samples after determining that the language validity of the scale is provided. In criterion-related validity, it was determined that there are positive and significant relations between anxiety and depression questionnaire for children and anxiety sensitivity and obsessive compulsive disorder. The results of internal consistency and half-split reliability analyses also show that the scale has adequate reliability value. It can be said that depression and anxiety questionnaire for children which was adapted to determine depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders observed in childhood has adequate reliability and validity values and it can be used in future studies. It can be recommended that the psychometric characteristics of the scale can be analyzed and reported on new samples in the future studies.

Keywords: scale adapting, construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis, childhood depression

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Authors: Sung Hyun Kim

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Introduction: Sleep disturbance is common in children with developmental disorders (D.D.). Sleep disturbance has a variety of negative effects, such as behavior problems, medical problems, and even developmental problems in children with D.D. However, to our best knowledge, there has been no proper treatment for sleep disorders in children with D.D. Therefore, we conduct this study to know the positive effects of intensive rehabilitation therapy in children with D.D. on the degree of sleep disturbance. Method: We prospectively recruited 22 patients with a diagnosis of D.D. during the period of January 2022 through May 2022. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) a patient who would participate in the intensive rehabilitation therapy of our institution; 2) the age participant under 18 years at the time of assessment; 3) a child who has consented to participate in the study by signing the consent form by the legal guardian. We investigated the clinical characteristics of participants by the medical record, including sex, age, underlying diagnosis of D.D., and Gross Motor Function Measures (GMFM). Before starting the intensive rehabilitation therapy, we conducted a Sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC). It contains 26 questions about children’s sleep, and those questions are grouped into six subscales, such as Disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep (DIMS), Sleep Breathing Disorders(SBD), Disorders of arousal(DOA), Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders(SWTD), Disorders of excessive somnolence(DOES) and Sleep Hyperhydrosis(SHY). We used the t-score, which was calculated by comparing the scores of normal children. Twenty two patients received 8 weeks of intensive rehabilitation, including daily physical and occupational therapy. After that, we did follow up with SDSC. The comparison between SDSC before and after intensive rehabilitation was calculated using the paired t-test, and P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Demographic data and clinical characteristics of 22 patients are enrolled. Patients were 4.03 ± 2.91 years old, and of the total 22 patients, 14 (64%) were male, and 8 (36%) were female. Twelve patients(45%) were diagnosed with Cerebral palsy(C.P.), and the mean value of participants’ GMFM was 47.82 ± 20.60. Each mean value of SDSC’s subscales was also calculated. DIMS was 62.36 ± 13.72, SBD was 54.18 ± 8.39, DOA was 49.59 ± 7.01, SWTD was 58.95 ± 9.20, DOES was 53.09 ± 15.15, SHY was 52.14 ± 8.82, and the total was 59.86 ± 13.18. These values suggest that children with D.D. have sleep disorders. After 8 weeks of intensive rehabilitation treatment, the score of DIMS showed improvement(p=0.016), but not the other subscale and total score of SDSC. Conclusion: This result showed that intensive rehabilitation could be helpful to patients of D.D. with sleep disorders. Especially intensive rehabilitation therapy itself can be a meaningful treatment in inducing and maintaining sleep.

Keywords: sleep disorder, developmental delay, intensive rehabilitation therapy, cerebral palsy

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Authors: Giovanni Incerti

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The paper presents a method for a simple and immediate motion planning of a SCARA robot, whose end-effector has to move along a given trajectory; the calculation procedure requires the user to define in analytical form or by points the trajectory to be followed and to assign the curvilinear abscissa as function of the time. On the basis of the geometrical characteristics of the robot, a specifically developed program determines the motion laws of the actuators that enable the robot to generate the required movement; this software can be used in all industrial applications for which a SCARA robot has to be frequently reprogrammed, in order to generate various types of trajectories with different motion times.

Keywords: motion planning, SCARA robot, trajectory tracking, analytical form

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Authors: Vanda Božić, Željko Nikač

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The wars and armed conflicts have often resulted in violations of international humanitarian law, and often commit the most serious international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, aggression and genocide. However, only in the XX century the rule was articulated idea of establishing a body of international criminal justice in order to prosecute these crimes and their perpetrators. The first steps in this field have been made by establishing the International military tribunals for war crimes at Nuremberg and Tokyo, and the formation of ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In the end, The International Criminal Court was established in Rome in 1998 with the aim of justice and in order to give satisfaction the victims of crimes and their families. The aim of the paper was to provide a historical and comparative analysis of the institutions of international criminal justice based on which these institutions de lege lata fulfilled the goals of individual criminal responsibility and justice. Furthermore, the authors suggest de lege ferenda that the Permanent International Criminal Tribunal, in addition to the prospective case, also takes over the current ICTY and ICTR cases.

Keywords: international crimes, international criminal justice, prosecution of crimes, ad hoc tribunal, the international criminal court

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Authors: D. S. Nagesh, G. L. Datta

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In the field of welding, various studies had been made by some of the previous investigators to predict as well as optimize weld bead geometric descriptors. Modeling of weld bead shape is important for predicting the quality of welds. In most of the cases, design of experiments technique to postulate multiple linear regression equations have been used. Nowadays, Genetic Algorithm (GA) an intelligent information treatment system with the characteristics of treating complex relationships as seen in welding processes used as a tool for inverse mapping/optimization of the process is attempted.

Keywords: smaw, genetic algorithm, bead geometry, optimization/inverse mapping

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Authors: D. S. Nagesh, G. L. Datta

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In the field of welding, various studies had been made by some of the previous investigators to predict as well as optimize weld bead geometric descriptors. Modeling of weld bead shape is important for predicting the quality of welds. In most of the cases design of experiments technique to postulate multiple linear regression equations have been used. Nowadays Genetic Algorithm (GA) an intelligent information treatment system with the characteristics of treating complex relationships as seen in welding processes used as a tool for inverse mapping/optimization of the process is attempted.

Keywords: SMAW, genetic algorithm, bead geometry, optimization/inverse mapping

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Authors: Yen Sun, Pariang Siagian

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The aim of this paper is to examine the progress of financial inclusion in Indonesia. The object of this paper is Micro Enterprises (MEs) and methodology used will be qualitative method by using surveys and questionnaires. The results show that there are still 20% MEs have no banking facilities at all and about 78% MEs still use their own capital to run their business. Furthermore, personal characteristics such as gender and education are factors that can explain financial inclusion. It is also said that in general MEs need banking product and services. However, there are still barriers that hinder them to be financially included. The most barriers they have to face are marketing exclusion. It shows that they have lack information about banking product and services since marketing strategy from bank is not disseminated clearly through various media.

Keywords: financial inclusion, financial exclusion, micro enterprises, Indonesia

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Authors: Jesús M. Martín, Francisco Corona, Dolores Hidalgo

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Landfills present long-term threats to soil, air, groundwater and surface water due to the formation of greenhouse gases (methane gas and carbon dioxide) and leachate from decomposing garbage. The composition of leachate differs from site to site and also within the landfill. The leachates alter with time (from weeks to years) since the landfilled waste is biologically highly active and their composition varies. Mainly, the composition of the leachate depends on factors such as characteristics of the waste, the moisture content, climatic conditions, degree of compaction and the age of the landfill. Therefore, the leachate composition cannot be generalized and the traditional treatment models should be adapted in each case. Although leachate composition is highly variable, what different leachates have in common is hazardous constituents and their potential eco-toxicological effects on human health and on terrestrial ecosystems. Since leachate has distinct compositions, each landfill or dumping site would represent a different type of risk on its environment. Nevertheless, leachates consist always of high organic concentration, conductivity, heavy metals and ammonia nitrogen. Leachate could affect the current and future quality of water bodies due to uncontrolled infiltrations. Therefore, control and treatment of leachate is one of the biggest issues in urban solid waste treatment plants and landfills design and management. This work presents a treatment model that will be carried out "in-situ" using a cost-effective novel technology that combines solar evaporation/condensation plus forward osmosis. The plant is powered by renewable energies (solar energy, biomass and residual heat), which will minimize the carbon footprint of the process. The final effluent quality is very high, allowing reuse (preferred) or discharge into watercourses. In the particular case of this work, the final effluents will be reused for cleaning and gardening purposes. A minority semi-solid residual stream is also generated in the process. Due to its special composition (rich in metals and inorganic elements), this stream will be valorized in ceramic industries to improve the final products characteristics.

Keywords: forward osmosis, landfills, leachate valorization, solar evaporation

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Authors: Cansu Gülser, Tuğce Ercan

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The construction sector is a key driver of the global economy, contributing significantly to growth and employment through a diverse array of sub-sectors. However, it faces challenges due to its project-based nature, which often hampers long-term collaboration and broader incentives beyond individual projects. These limitations are frequently discussed in scientific literature as obstacles to innovation and industry-wide change. Traditional practices and unwritten rules further hinder the adoption of new processes within the construction industry. The disadvantages of the construction industry’s project-based structure in fostering innovation and long-term relationships include limited continuity, fragmented collaborations, and a focus on short-term goals, which collectively hinder the development of sustained partnerships, inhibit the sharing of knowledge and best practices, and reduce incentives for investing in innovative processes and technologies. This structure typically emphasizes specific projects, which restricts broader collaborations and incentives that extend beyond individual projects, thus impeding innovation and change. The temporal complexities inherent in project-based sectors like construction make it difficult to address societal challenges through collaborative efforts. Traditional management approaches are inadequate for scaling up innovations and adapting to significant changes. For systemic transformation in the construction sector, there is a need for more collaborative relationships and activities beyond traditional supply chains. This study delves into the concept of an innovation ecosystem within the construction sector, highlighting various research findings. It aims to explore key questions about the components that enhance innovation capacity, the relationship between a robust innovation ecosystem and this capacity, and the reasons why innovation is less prevalent and implemented in this sector compared to others. Additionally, it examines the main factors hindering innovation within companies and identifies strategies to improve these efforts, particularly in developing countries. The innovation ecosystem in the construction sector generates various outputs through interactions between business resources and external components. These outputs include innovative value creation, sustainable practices, robust collaborations, knowledge sharing, competitiveness, and advanced project management, all of which contribute significantly to company market performance and competitive advantage. This article offers insights and strategic recommendations for industry professionals, policymakers, and researchers interested in developing and sustaining innovation ecosystems in the construction sector. Future research should focus on broader samples for generalization, comparative sector analysis, and application-focused studies addressing real industry challenges. Additionally, studying the long-term impacts of innovation ecosystems, integrating advanced technologies like AI and machine learning into project management, and developing future application strategies and policies are also important.

Keywords: construction industry, innovation ecosystem, innovation ecosystem components, project management

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Authors: Dorra Gherib

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This article explores in depth the technological innovations by the Top Managements of banks in the Tunisian banking sector. The framework of this research is based on an amalgamation of four theories related to the decision of adopting technological innovations: The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Diffusion of Innovation (DI). The result of our qualitative study highlights four variables which influence the attitude of the Top Managements towards the adoption of internet banking: Relative advantage, Perceived Ease of Use, compatibility and Perceived risk.

Keywords: top management, attitude, internet banking, TRA, TAM, TPB, DI

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Authors: L. Bikulciene, E. Venskaityte, G. Jarusevicius

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Non-stationary and nonlinear signals generated by living complex systems defy traditional mechanistic approaches, which are based on homeostasis. Previous our studies have shown that the evaluation of the interactions of physiological signals by using special analysis methods is suitable for observation of physiological processes. It is demonstrated the possibility of using deep physiological model, based interpretation of the changes of the human body’s functional states combined with an application of the analytical method based on matrix theory for the physiological signals analysis, which was applied on high risk cardiac patients. It is shown that evaluation of cardiac signals interactions show peculiar for each individual functional changes at the onset of hemodynamic restoration procedure. Therefore we suggest that the alterations of functional state of the body, after patients overcome surgery can be complemented by the data received from the suggested approach of the evaluation of functional variables interactions.

Keywords: cardiac diseases, complex systems theory, ECG analysis, matrix analysis

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Authors: Tanu Sharma, Bikramjit Singh Bajwa, Inderpreet Kaur

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Monitoring of groundwater in Tarn-Taran, Bathinda, Faridkot and Mansa districts of Punjab state, India is essential where this freshwater resource is being over-exploited causing quality deterioration, groundwater depletion and posing serious threats to residents. The present integrated study was done to appraise quality and suitability of groundwater for drinking/irrigation purposes, hydro-geochemical characteristics, source identification and associated health risks. In the present study, groundwater of various districts of Punjab state was found to be heavily contaminated with As followed by U, thus posing high cancerous risks to local residents via ingestion, along with minor contamination of Fe, Mn, Pb and F−. Most health concerns in the study region were due to the elevated concentrations of arsenic in groundwater with average values of 130 µg L-1, 176 µg L-1, 272 µg L-1 and 651 µg L-1 in Tarn-Taran, Bathinda, Faridkot and Mansa districts, respectively, which is quite high as compared to the safe limit as recommended by BIS i.e. 10 µg L-1. In Tarn-Taran, Bathinda, Faridkot and Mansa districts, average uranium contents were found to be 37 µg L-1, 88 µg L-1, 61 µg L-1 and 104 µg L-1, with 51 %, 74 %, 61 % and 71 % samples, respectively, being above the WHO limit of 30 µg L-1 in groundwater. Further, the quality indices showed that groundwater of study region is suited for irrigation but not appropriate for drinking purposes. Hydro-geochemical studies revealed that most of the collected groundwater samples belonged to Ca2+ - Mg2+ - HCO3- type showing dominance of MgCO3 type which indicates the presence of temporary hardness in groundwater. Rock-water reactions and reverse ion exchange were the predominant factors for controlling hydro-geochemistry in the study region. Dissolution of silicate minerals caused the dominance of Na+ ions in the aquifers of study region. Multivariate statistics revealed that along with geogenic sources, contribution of anthropogenic activities such as injudicious application of agrochemicals and domestic waste discharge was also very significant. The results obtained abolished the myth that uranium is only root cause for large number of cancer patients in study region as arsenic and mercury were also present in groundwater at levels that were of health concern to groundwater.

Keywords: uranium, trace elements, multivariate data analysis, risk assessment

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Authors: Weikang Peng

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The innovation corridor is an important spatial carrier to promote regional collaborative innovation, and its development process is the spatial re-organization process of regional innovation resources. This paper takes the Nanjing-Zhenjiang G312 Industrial Innovation Corridor, which involves seven municipal districts in Jiangsu Province, as empirical evidence. Based on multi-source spatial big data in 2010, 2016, and 2022, this paper applies triangulated irregular network (TIN), head/tail breaks, regional innovation ecosystem (RIE) niche fitness evaluation model, and social network analysis to carry out empirical research on the spatial organization and functional structural evolution characteristics of innovation corridors and their correlation with the structural evolution of collaborative innovation network. The results show, first, the development of innovation patches in the corridor has fractal characteristics in time and space and tends to be multi-center and cluster layout along the Nanjing Bypass Highway and National Highway G312. Second, there are large differences in the spatial distribution pattern of niche fitness in the corridor in various dimensions, and the niche fitness of innovation patches along the highway has increased significantly. Third, the scale of the collaborative innovation network in the corridor is expanding fast. The core of the network is shifting from the main urban area to the periphery of the city along the highway, with small-world and hierarchical levels, and the core-edge network structure is highlighted. With the development of the Innovation Corridor, the main collaborative mode in the corridor is changing from collaboration within innovation patches to collaboration between innovation patches, and innovation patches with high ecological suitability tend to be the active areas of collaborative innovation. Overall, polycentric spatial layout, graded functional structure, diversified innovation clusters, and differentiated environmental support play an important role in effectively constructing collaborative innovation linkages and the stable expansion of the scale of collaborative innovation within the innovation corridor.

Keywords: innovation corridor development, spatial structure, niche fitness evaluation model, head/tail breaks, innovation network

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Authors: Nirav Jadav, M. G.Vanza

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Black cotton soils mainly exhibit the property of swelling/shrinkage when they react to moisture variations. This property causes development of cracks in the structures resting on these soils, which poses instability to the structures. Soil stabilization is a technique to enhance the geotechnical characteristics of Black cotton soils by changing their properties. Due to rapid growth in construction industry, a lot of waste material is being generated every day, which poses the problem of its disposal. If the waste material can be utilized for soil stabilization, it will mitigate the problems of its disposal. The tests results evaluate that the strength of the Black cotton soils increased by the use of C&D waste material. This study determines various Index and engineering properties of soil and compare for different proportions of soil and C&D Waste. For finding properties of soil and C&D Waste, various test is carried out like sieve analysis, hydrometer test, specific gravity test, Atterberg’s limit test, Standard proctor test and soil Triaxial unconsolidated undrained test. It also takes into account the characteristics alteration due to addition of C&D Waste in active and passive pressure. This study presents the efficacy for use of C&D Waste as a stabilizing material to be mixed with backfill soil in retaining walls. Standard proctor test was conducted at proportions S1W0 (soil = 100%, Waste = 0%), S7W1 (soil = 87.5%, waste = 12.5%), S3W1, S5W3 and S1W1. From these, S5W3 showed optimum results, so this proportion was considered for Soil Triaxial UU-Test. Also, S1W0 was considered too. When 37.5% of soil is replaced by C&D Waste, the Optimum moisture content (OMC) decrease by 11.48%, further, increase C&D Waste in soil OMC remains constant, and maximum dry density (MDD) were observed to be increased by 9.27%, further increased C&D Waste in soil MDD reduces. Carried out strength test, which shows cohesion decreased by 162% and the internal friction angle increased by 49.4% with compare to virgin soil. The study focuses on the potential use of C&D Waste as a stabilizing material in the retaining wall backfill. The active earth pressure decreases, and the passive earth pressure increases in the S5W3 mixture compared to the S1W0 mixture at the same depth.

Keywords: black cotton soil, construction demolition waste, compaction test, strength test

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Authors: Rahel Birhanu Kassaye, Ralf Otterpohl, Kumelachew Yeshitila

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Water resource management and land degradation are among the critical issues threatening the suitable livability of many cities in developing countries such as Ethiopia. Rapid expansion of urban areas and fast growing population has increased the pressure on water security. On the other hand, the large transformation of natural green cover and agricultural land loss to settlement and industrial activities such as quarrying is contributing to environmental concerns. Integrated water harvesting is considered to play a crucial role in terms of providing alternative water source to insure water security and helping to improve soil condition, agricultural productivity and regeneration of ecosystem. Moreover, it helps to control stormwater runoff, thus reducing flood risks and pollution, thereby improving the quality of receiving water bodies and the health of inhabitants. The aim of this research was to investigate the potential of applying integrated water harvesting approaches as a provision for water source and enabling land restoration in Jemo river catchment consisting of abandoned quarry site adjacent to a settlement area that is facing serious water shortage in western hilly part of Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia. The abandoned quarry site, apart from its contribution to the loss of aesthetics, has resulted in poor water infiltration and increase in stormwater runoff leading to land degradation and flooding in the downstream. Application of GIS and multi-criteria based analysis are used for the assessment of potential water harvesting technologies considering the technology features and site characteristics of the case study area. Biophysical parameters including precipitation, surrounding land use, surface gradient, soil characteristics and geological aspects are used as site characteristic indicators and water harvesting technologies including retention pond, check dam, agro-forestation employing contour trench system were considered for evaluation with technical and socio-economic factors used as parameters in the assessment. The assessment results indicate the different suitability potential among the analyzed water harvesting and restoration techniques with respect to the abandoned quarry site characteristics. Application of agro-forestation with contour trench system with the revegetation of indigenous plants is found to be the most suitable option for reclamation and restoration of the quarry site. Successful application of the selected technologies and strategies for water harvesting and restoration is considered to play a significant role to provide additional water source, maintain good water quality, increase agricultural productivity at urban peri-urban interface scale and improve biodiversity in the catchment. The results of the study provide guideline for decision makers and contribute to the integration of decentralized water harvesting and restoration techniques in the water management and planning of the case study area.

Keywords: abandoned quarry site, land reclamation and restoration, multi-criteria assessment, water harvesting

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Authors: Azizi Cherifa, O. Benzaoui

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The thermal aspects in the design of power circuits often deserve as much attention as pure electric components aspects as the operating temperature has a direct influence on their static and dynamic characteristics. MOSFET is fundamental in the circuits, it is the most widely used device in the current production of semiconductor components using their honorable performance. The aim of this contribution is devoted to the effect of the temperature on the properties of MOSFETs. The study enables us to calculate the drain current as function of bias in both linear and saturated modes. The effect of temperature is evaluated using a numerical simulation, using the laws of mobility and saturation velocity of carriers as a function of temperature.

Keywords: temperature, MOSFET, mobility, transistor

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Authors: Ashwaq Alsulami, Jianhua Shao

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Various organisations often need to understand discussions on social media, such as what trending topics are and characteristics of the people engaged in the discussion. A number of approaches have been proposed to extract attributes that would characterise a discussion group. However, these approaches are largely based on supervised learning, and as such they require a large amount of labelled data. We propose an approach in this paper that does not require labelled data, but rely on lexical sources to detect meaningful attributes for online discussion groups. Our findings show an acceptable level of accuracy in detecting attributes for Twitter discussion groups.

Keywords: attributed community, attribute detection, community, social network

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: K. Allaw, J. Adjizian Gerard, M. Chehayeb, A. Raad, W. Fahs, A. Badran, A. Fakherdin, H. Madi, N. Badaro Saliba

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Population estimation using Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing faces many obstacles such as the determination of permanent residents. A permanent resident is an individual who stays and works during all four seasons in his village. So, all those who move towards other cities or villages are excluded from this category. The aim of this study is to identify the factors affecting the percentage of permanent residents in a village and to determine the attributed weight to each factor. To do so, six factors have been chosen (slope, precipitation, temperature, number of services, time to Central Business District (CBD) and the proximity to conflict zones) and each one of those factors has been evaluated using one of the following data: the contour lines map of 50 m, the precipitation map, four temperature maps and data collected through surveys. The weighting procedure has been done using decision tree method. As a result of this procedure, temperature (50.8%) and percentage of precipitation (46.5%) are the most influencing factors.

Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, permanent residence, decision tree, Lebanon

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Authors: Ernest Gyan Bediako, Petra Dancova, Tomas Vit

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Flow boiling heat transfer remains an important area of research due to its relevance in thermal management systems and other applications. Despite the enormous work done in the field of flow boiling heat transfer over the years to understand how flow parameters such as mass flux, heat flux, saturation conditions and tube geometries influence the characteristics of flow boiling heat transfer, there are still many contradictions and lack of agreement on the actual mechanisms controlling heat transfer and how flow parameters impact the heat transfer. This work thus seeks to experimentally investigate the heat transfer characteristics and flow patterns at low mass fluxes, low heat fluxes and low saturation pressure conditions which are of less attention in literature but prevalent in refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump applications. In this study, flow boiling experiment was conducted for R134a working fluid in a 5 mm internal diameter stainless steel horizontal smooth tube with mass flux ranging from 80- 100 kg/m2 s, heat fluxes ranging from 3.55kW/m2 - 25.23 kW/m2 and saturation pressure of 460 kPa. Vapor quality ranged from 0 to 1. A well-known flow pattern map created by Wojtan et al. was used to predict the flow patterns noticed during the study. The experimental results were correlated with well-known flow boiling heat transfer correlations in literature. The findings show that, heat transfer coefficient was influenced by both mass flux and heat fluxes. However, for an increasing heat flux, nucleate boiling was observed to be the dominant mechanism controlling the heat transfer especially at low vapor quality region. For an increasing mass flux, convective boiling was the dominant mechanism controlling the heat transfer especially in the high vapor quality region. Also, the study observed an unusual high heat transfer coefficient at low vapor qualities which could be due to periodic wetting of the walls of the tube due to slug flow pattern and stratified wavy flow patterns. The flow patterns predicted by Wojtan et al. flow pattern map were mixture of slug and stratified wavy, purely stratified wavy and dry out. Statistical assessment of the experimental data with various well-known correlations from literature showed that, none of the correlations reported in literature could predicted the experimental data with enough accuracy.

Keywords: flow boiling, heat transfer coefficient, mass flux, heat flux.

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Authors: Nesreen M. Alqaissi

Abstract:

Little is known about the lived experiences of breast cancer among Arab Muslim women. The researcher used a qualitative interpretive phenomenological research design to explore the lived experiences of breast cancer as described by Jordanian Muslim women. A purposive sample of 20 women with breast cancer was recruited. Data were collected utilizing individual semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using Heideggerian Hermeneutical methodology. Results: Five related themes and one constitutive pattern: (a) breast cancer means death; (b) matriarchal family members as important source of support; (c) spirituality as a way to live and survive breast cancer; (d) concealing cancer experiences to protect self and families; (e) physicians as protectors and treatment decision makers; (f) the constitutive pattern: culture influencing Jordanian women experiences with breast cancer. In conclusion, researchers and healthcare providers should consider the influence of culture, spirituality, and families, when caring for women with breast cancer from Jordan.

Keywords: breast cancer, Arab Muslim, Jordan, lived experiences, spirituality, culture

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Authors: Kehinde K. Agbele, Kehinde Daniel Aruleba, Eniafe F. Ayetiran

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When using Information Retrieval Systems (IRS), users often present search queries made of ad-hoc keywords. It is then up to the IRS to obtain a precise representation of the user’s information need and the context of the information. This paper investigates optimization of IRS to individual information needs in order of relevance. The study addressed development of algorithms that optimize the ranking of documents retrieved from IRS. This study discusses and describes a Document Ranking Optimization (DROPT) algorithm for information retrieval (IR) in an Internet-based or designated databases environment. Conversely, as the volume of information available online and in designated databases is growing continuously, ranking algorithms can play a major role in the context of search results. In this paper, a DROPT technique for documents retrieved from a corpus is developed with respect to document index keywords and the query vectors. This is based on calculating the weight (

Keywords: information retrieval, document relevance, performance measures, personalization

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Authors: Ven. Bhikkhu Ananda

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Mind emerged from the quantum field. The practice of mediation can take one to the state of enlightenment. During meditation, the change in the very behaviour of electrons, protons, and photons and their fields, known to be quantum fields, create mental states. This could well be expressed in the mathematical language of quantum mechanics. This paper qualifies and quantifies mental states created during meditation and is explained by quantum mechanics. In meditation, phenomenology can be seen as the process of enlightenment. In this process, the emptiness shown in Buddhist philosophy and the emptiness of quantum fields is compared. The methodologies used here are mindfulness meditation and metta mediation (compassion meditation ). The research findings suggest not only quantumness and change are consciousness, but well-founded behaviour of an individual in the society, which can amplify the positive behaviour caused by mental states, and that emptiness and impermanence of phenomenon are based on dependent arisings. The presence of quantum coherence indicates that quantum mechanics has a role in the evolution of the pure mind and the phenomenology created thereof in mediation.

Keywords: meditation, mental states, quantum mechanics, enlightenment

Procedia PDF Downloads 73