Search results for: transportation networks

Authors: Sara Khan Mohammadi

Abstract:

The world is facing a major challenge of feeding a growing population while ensuring the sustainability of food systems. The United Nations estimates that the global population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050, which means that food production needs to increase by 70% to meet the demand. However, this increase in food production should not come at the cost of environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. Therefore, there is a need for sustainable food systems that can provide healthy and nutritious food while minimizing their impact on the environment. Nutrition and Food Engineering: Nutrition and food engineering play a crucial role in promoting sustainable food system. Nutrition is concerned with the study of nutrients in foods, their absorption, metabolism, and their effects on health. Food engineering involves the application of engineering principles to design, develop, and optimize food processing operations. Together, nutrition and food engineering can help to create sustainable food systems by: 1. Developing Nutritious Foods: Nutritionists and food engineers can work together to develop foods that are rich in nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein. These foods can be designed to meet the nutritional needs of different populations while minimizing waste. 2. Reducing Food Waste: Food waste is a major problem globally as it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and wastes resources such as water and land. Nutritionists and food engineers can work together to develop technologies that reduce waste during processing, storage, transportation, and consumption. 3. Improving Food Safety: Unsafe foods can cause illnesses such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid fever among others which are major public health concerns globally. Nutritionists and food engineers can work together to develop technologies that improve the safety of foods from farm to fork. 4. Enhancing Sustainability: Sustainable agriculture practices such as conservation agriculture can help reduce soil erosion while improving soil fertility. Nutritionists and food engineers can work together to develop technologies that promote sustainable agriculture practices.

Keywords: sustainable food, developing food, reducing food waste, food safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Teresa Azevedo PerdicoúLis, Paulo Lopes Dos Santos

Abstract:

The conceptualisation of the problem of network optimisation as a noncooperative game sets up a holistic interactive approach that brings together different network features (e.g., com-pressor stations, sources, and pipelines, in the gas context) where the optimisation objectives are different, and a single optimisation procedure becomes possible without having to feed results from diverse software packages into each other. A mathematical model of this type, where independent entities take action, offers the ideal modularity and subsequent problem decomposition in view to design a decentralised algorithm to optimise the operation and management of the network. In a game framework, compressor stations and sources are under-stood as players which communicate through network connectivity constraints–the pipeline model. That is, in a scheme similar to tatonnementˆ, the players appoint their best settings and then interact to check for network feasibility. The devolved degree of network unfeasibility informs the players about the ’quality’ of their settings, and this two-phase iterative scheme is repeated until a global optimum is obtained. Due to network transients, its optimisation needs to be assessed at different points of the control interval. For this reason, the proposed approach to optimisation has two stages: (i) the first stage computes along the period of optimisation in order to fulfil the requirement just mentioned; (ii) the second stage is initialised with the solution found by the problem computed at the first stage, and computes in the end of the period of optimisation to rectify the solution found at the first stage. The liability of the proposed scheme is proven correct on an abstract prototype and three example networks.

Keywords: connectivity matrix, gas network optimisation, large-scale, noncooperative game, system decomposition

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Andres Pinilla Palacios, Ricardo Tamayo

Abstract:

Emotional contagion is characterized as an automatic tendency to synchronize behaviors that facilitate emotional convergence among humans. It might thus play a pivotal role to understand the dynamics of key social interactions. However, a few research has investigated its potential mechanisms. We suggest two complementary but independent processes that may underlie emotional contagion. The efficient contagion hypothesis, based on fast and implicit bottom-up processes, modulated by familiarity and spread of activation in the emotional associative networks of memory. Secondly, the emotional contrast hypothesis, based on slow and explicit top-down processes guided by deliberated appraisal and hypothesis-testing. In order to assess these two hypotheses, an experiment with 39 participants was conducted. In the first phase, participants were induced (between-groups) to an emotional state (positive, neutral or negative) using a standardized video taken from the FilmStim database. In the second phase, participants classified and rated (within-subject) the emotional state of 15 faces (5 for each emotional state) taken from the POFA database. In the third phase, all participants were returned to a baseline emotional state using the same neutral video used in the first phase. In a fourth phase, participants classified and rated a new set of 15 faces. The accuracy in the identification and rating of emotions was partially explained by the efficient contagion hypothesis, but the speed with which these judgments were made was partially explained by the emotional contrast hypothesis. However, results are ambiguous, so a follow-up experiment is proposed in which emotional expressions and activation of the sympathetic system will be measured using EMG and EDA respectively.

Keywords: electromyography, emotional contagion, emotional valence, identification of emotions, imitation

Procedia PDF Downloads 308

Authors: Simone Leonardi, Luca Ardito

Abstract:

Micro-influencers are effective elements in the marketing strategies of companies and institutions because of their capability to create an hyper-engaged audience around a specific topic of interest. In recent years, many scientific approaches and commercial tools have handled the task of detecting this type of social media users. These strategies adopt solutions ranging from rule based machine learning models to deep neural networks and graph analysis on text, images, and account information. This work compares the existing solutions and proposes an ensemble method to generalize them with different input data and social media platforms. The deployed solution combines deep learning models on unstructured data with statistical machine learning models on structured data. We retrieve both social media accounts information and multimedia posts on Twitter and Instagram. These data are mapped into feature vectors for an eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) classifier. Sixty different topics have been analyzed to build a rule based gold standard dataset and to compare the performances of our approach against baseline classifiers. We prove the effectiveness of our work by comparing the accuracy, precision, recall, and f1 score of our model with different configurations and architectures. We obtained an accuracy of 0.91 with our best performing model.

Keywords: deep learning, gradient boosting, image processing, micro-influencers, NLP, social media

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Sladjana Popovic

Abstract:

The concept of vertical space urbanization, defined in English as "air rights development," can be considered a mechanism for the development of public spaces in urban areas of high density. A chronological overview of the transformation of space within the vertical projection of the existing traffic infrastructure that penetrates through the central areas of a city is given in this paper through the analysis of two illustrative case studies: more advanced and recent - "Plot 13" in Boston, and less well-known European example of structures erected above highways throughout Italy - the "Pavesi auto grill" chain. The backbone of this analysis is the examination of the possibility of yielding air rights within the vertical projection of public structures in the two examples by considering the factors that would enable its potential application in capitals in Southeastern Europe. The cession of air rights in the Southeastern Europe region, as a phenomenon, has not been a recognized practice in urban planning. In a formal sense, legal and physical feasibility can be seen to some extent in local models of structures built above protected historical heritage (i.e., archaeological sites); however, the mechanisms of the legal process of assigning the right to use and develop air rights above public structures is not a recognized concept. The goal of the analysis is to shed light on the influence of institutional participants in the implementation of innovative solutions for vertical urbanization, as well as strategic planning mechanisms in public-private partnership models that would enable the implementation of the concept in the region. The main question is whether the manipulation of the vertical projection of space could provide for innovative urban solutions that overcome the deficit and excessive use of the available construction land, particularly above the dominant public spaces and traffic infrastructure that penetrate central parts of a city. Conclusions reflect upon vertical urbanization that can bridge the spatial separation of the city, reduce noise pollution and contribute to more efficient urban planning along main transportation corridors.

Keywords: air rights development, innovative urbanism, public-private partnership, transport infrastructure, vertical urbanization

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Alexander G. Yushchenko

Abstract:

From a multi-science point of view, we analyze threats to security resulting from globalization of international information space and information and communication aggression of Russia. A definition of Ruschism is formulated as an ideology supporting aggressive actions of modern Russia against the Euro-Atlantic community. Stages of the hybrid war Russia is leading against Ukraine are described, including the elements of subversive activity of the special services, the activation of the military phase and the gradual shift of the focus of confrontation to the realm of information and communication technologies. We reveal an emergence of a threat for democratic states resulting from the destabilizing impact of a target state’s mass media and social networks being exploited by Russian secret services under freedom-of-speech disguise. Thus, we underline the vulnerability of cyber- and information security of the network society in regard of hybrid war. We propose to define the latter a synergetic war. Our analysis is supported with a long-term qualitative monitoring of representation of top state officials on popular TV channels and Facebook. From the memetics point of view, we have detected a destructive psycho-information technology used by the Kremlin, a kind of information catastrophe, the essence of which is explained in detail. In the conclusion, a comprehensive plan for information protection of the public consciousness and mentality of Euro-Atlantic citizens from the aggression of the enemy is proposed.

Keywords: cyber and information security, hybrid war, psycho-information technology, synergetic war, Ruschism

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Devon Brown, Liu Chunmei

Abstract:

This paper will present an analysis as part of the researchers dissertation topic focusing on the intersection of affective and analytical directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) in the context of Decision Support Systems (DSS). The researcher’s work involves analyzing decision theory models like Affective and Bayesian Decision theory models and how they could be implemented under an Affective Computing Framework using Information Fusion and Human-Centered Design. Additionally, the researcher is beginning research on an Affective-Analytic Decision Framework (AADF) model for their dissertation research and are looking to merge logic and analytic models with empathetic insights into affective DAGs. Data-collection efforts begin Fall 2024 and in preparation for the efforts this paper looks to analyze previous research in this area and introduce the AADF framework and propose conceptual models for consideration. For this paper, the research emphasis is placed on analyzing Bayesian networks and Markov models which offer probabilistic techniques during uncertainty in decision-making. Ideally, including affect into analytic models will ensure algorithms can increase user trust with algorithms by including emotional states and the user’s experience with the goal of developing emotionally intelligent A.I. systems that can start to navigate the complex fabric of human emotion during decision-making.

Keywords: decision support systems, explainable AI, HCAI techniques, affective-analytical decision framework

Procedia PDF Downloads 4

Authors: Ahmad Khachan, Ahmet Ozmen

Abstract:

This study aims to introduce a mobile bite-sized learning concept, a mobile application with social networks motivation factors that will encourage students to practice critical thinking, improve analytical skills and learn knowledge sharing. We do not aim to propose another e-learning or distance learning based tool like Moodle and Edmodo; instead, we introduce a mobile learning tool called Interactive M-learning Application. The tool reconstructs and strengthens the bonds between educators and learners and provides a foundation for integrating mobile devices in education. The application allows learners to stay connected all the time, share ideas, ask questions and learn from each other. It is built on Android since the Android has the largest platform share in the world and is dominating the market with 74.45% share in 2018. We have chosen Google-Firebase server for hosting because of flexibility, ease of hosting and real time update capabilities. The proposed m-learning tool was offered to four groups of university students in different majors. An improvement in the relation between the students, the teachers and the academic institution was obvious. Student’s performance got much better added to better analytical and critical skills advancement and moreover a willingness to adopt mobile learning in class. We have also compared our app with another tool in the same class for clarity and reliability of the results. The student’s mobile devices were used in this experimental study for diversity of devices and platform versions.

Keywords: education, engineering, interactive software, undergraduate education

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Khaled Hesham Hyari, Amjad Almani

Abstract:

Construction projects in the public sector are commonly awarded through competitive bidding. In the last decade, the Construction projects environment in the Middle East went through many changes. These changes have been caused by different factors including the economic crisis, delays in monthly payments, international competition and reduced number of projects. These factors had a great impact on the bidding behaviors of contractors and their pricing strategies. This paper examines the competition characteristics in public construction projects through an analysis of bidding results of contractors in public construction projects over a period of 6 years (2006-2011) in Jordan. The analyzed projects include all categories of projects such as infrastructure, buildings, transportation and engineering services (design and supervision contracts). Data for the projects were obtained from the General Tender’s Directorate in Jordan and includes 462 projects. The analysis performed in this projects includes, studying the bid spread in all projects as it is an indication of the level of competition in the analyzed bids. The analysis studied the factors that affect bid spread such as number of bidders, Value of the project, Project category and years. It also studying the “Signal to Noise Ratio” in all projects as it is an indication of the accuracy of cost estimating performed by competing bidders and bidder´s evaluation of project risks. The analysis performed includes the relationship between signal to noise ratio and different parameters such as project category, number of bidders and changes over years. Moreover, the analysis includes determining the bidder´s aggressiveness in bidding as it is an indication of competition level in such projects. This was performed by determining the pack price which can be considered as the true value of the project and comparing it with the lowest bid submitted for each project to determine the level of aggressiveness in submitted bids. The analysis performed in this project should prove to be useful to owners in understanding bidding behaviors of contractors and pointing out areas that needs improvement in preparing bidding documents. Also the project should be useful to contractors in understanding the competitive bidding environment and should help them to improve their bidding strategies to maximize the success rate in obtaining contracts.

Keywords: construction projects, competitive bidding, public construction, competition

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Marija Vitanova, Aleksandra Bogdanovic, Kemal Edip, Viktor Hristovski, Vlado Micov

Abstract:

Bridges represent critical structures in lifeline systems. They provide reliable modes of transportation, so their failure can seriously obstruct relief and rehabilitation work. Earthquake ground motions can cause significant damages in bridges, so during the strong earthquakes, they can easily collapse. The base isolation technique has been quite effective in seismic response mitigation of the bridges in reducing the piers base shear. The effect of soil structure interaction on the dynamic responses of seismically isolated three span girder bridge with viscous dampers is investigated. Viscous dampers are installed in the mid span of the bridge to control bearing displacement. The soil surrounding the foundation of piers has been analyzed by applying different soil densities in order to consider the soil stiffness. The soil medium has been assumed as a four layered infill as dense and loose medium. The boundaries in the soil medium are considered as infinite elements in order to absorb the radiating waves. The formulation of infinite elements is the same as for the finite elements in addition to the mapping of the domain. Based on the iso-parametric concept, the infinite element in global coordinate is mapped onto an element in local coordinate system. In the formulation of the infinite element, only the positive direction extends to infinity thus allowing the waves to propagate outside of the soil medium. Dynamic analyses for two levels of earthquake intensity are performed in time domain using direct integration method. In order to specify the effects of the SSI, the responses of the isolated and controlled isolated bridges are compared. It is observed that the soil surrounding the piers has significant effects on the bearing displacement of the isolated RC bridges. In addition, it is observed that the seismic responses of isolated RC bridge reduced significantly with the installation of the viscous dampers.

Keywords: viscous dampers, reinforced concrete girder bridges, seismic response, SSI

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Marinelle El-Khoury, Lina Bouhaya, Nivine Abbas, Hassan Sleiman

Abstract:

The road network in the north of Lebanon is a prime example of the lack of pavement design and execution in Lebanon.  These roads show major distresses and hence, should be tested and evaluated. The aim of this research is to investigate and determine the deficiencies in road surface design in Lebanon, and to propose an environmentally friendly asphalt mix design. This paper consists of several parts: (i) evaluating pavement performance and structural behavior, (ii) identifying the distresses using visual examination followed by laboratory tests, (iii) deciding the optimal solution where rehabilitation or reconstruction is required and finally, (iv) identifying a sustainable method, which uses recycled material in the proposed mix. The asphalt formula contains Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in the base course layer and in the asphalt layer. Visual inspection of the roads in Tripoli shows that these roads face a high level of distress severity. Consequently, the pavement should be reconstructed rather than simply rehabilitated. Coring was done to determine the pavement layer thickness. The results were compared to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) design methodology and showed that the existing asphalt thickness is lower than the required asphalt thickness. Prior to the pavement reconstruction, the road materials were tested according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specification to identify whether the materials are suitable. Accordingly, the ASTM tests that were performed on the base course are Sieve analysis, Atterberg limits, modified proctor, Los Angeles, and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests. Results show a CBR value higher than 70%. Hence, these aggregates could be used as a base course layer. The asphalt layer was also tested and the results of the Marshall flow and stability tests meet the ASTM specifications. In the last section, an environmentally friendly mix was proposed. An optimal RAP percentage of 30%, which produced a well graded base course and asphalt mix, was determined through a series of trials.

Keywords: asphalt mix, reclaimed asphalt pavement, California bearing ratio, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Oludare Isaac Abiodun, Esther Omolara Abiodun

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that cyberterrorism is existing and poses a threat to computer security and national security. Nowadays, people have become excitedly dependent upon computers, phones, the Internet, and the Internet of things systems to share information, communicate, conduct a search, etc. However, these network systems are at risk from a different source that is known and unknown. These network systems risk being caused by some malicious individuals, groups, organizations, or governments, they take advantage of vulnerabilities in the computer system to hawk sensitive information from people, organizations, or governments. In doing so, they are engaging themselves in computer threats, crime, and terrorism, thereby making the use of computers insecure for others. The threat of cyberterrorism is of various forms and ranges from one country to another country. These threats include disrupting communications and information, stealing data, destroying data, leaking, and breaching data, interfering with messages and networks, and in some cases, demanding financial rewards for stolen data. Hence, this study identifies many ways that cyberterrorists utilize the Internet as a tool to advance their malicious mission, which negatively affects computer security and safety. One could identify causes for disparate anomaly behaviors and the theoretical, ideological, and current forms of the likelihood of cyberterrorism. Therefore, for a countermeasure, this paper proposes the use of previous and current computer security models as found in the literature to help in countering cyberterrorism

Keywords: cyberterrorism, computer security, information, internet, terrorism, threat, digital forensic solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: RAM PAL SINGH, VIKASH CHAUDHARY, MONIKA VERMA

Abstract:

In this paper, we proposed the implementation of optimization based Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) for watermarking of B-channel of color image in discrete wavelet transform (DWT) domain. ELM, a regularization algorithm, works based on generalized single-hidden-layer feed-forward neural networks (SLFNs). However, hidden layer parameters, generally called feature mapping in context of ELM need not to be tuned every time. This paper shows the embedding and extraction processes of watermark with the help of ELM and results are compared with already used machine learning models for watermarking.Here, a cover image is divide into suitable numbers of non-overlapping blocks of required size and DWT is applied to each block to be transformed in low frequency sub-band domain. Basically, ELM gives a unified leaning platform with a feature mapping, that is, mapping between hidden layer and output layer of SLFNs, is tried for watermark embedding and extraction purpose in a cover image. Although ELM has widespread application right from binary classification, multiclass classification to regression and function estimation etc. Unlike SVM based algorithm which achieve suboptimal solution with high computational complexity, ELM can provide better generalization performance results with very small complexity. Efficacy of optimization method based ELM algorithm is measured by using quantitative and qualitative parameters on a watermarked image even though image is subjected to different types of geometrical and conventional attacks.

Keywords: BER, DWT, extreme leaning machine (ELM), PSNR

Procedia PDF Downloads 306

Authors: R. Chedid, R. Ghajar

Abstract:

Lebanon electricity crisis continues to escalate. Rationing hours still apply across the country but with different rates. The capital Beirut is subjected to 3 hours cut while other cities, town and villages may endure 9 to 14 hours of power shortage. To mitigate this situation, private diesel generators distributed illegally all over the country are being used to bridge the gap in power supply. Almost each building in large cities has its own generator and individual villages may have more than one generator supplying their loads. These generators together with their private networks form incomplete and ill-designed and managed microgrids (MG) but can be further developed to become renewable energy-based MG operating in island- or grid-connected modes. This paper will analyze the potential of introducing MG to help resolve the energy crisis in Lebanon. It will investigate the usefulness of developing MG under the prevailing situation of existing private power supply service providers and in light of the developed national energy policy that supports renewable energy development. A case study on a distribution feeder in a rural area will be analyzed using HOMER software to demonstrate the usefulness of introducing photovoltaic (PV) arrays along the existing diesel generators for all the stakeholders; namely, the developers, the customers, the utility and the community at large. Policy recommendations regarding MG development in Lebanon will be presented on the basis of the accumulated experience in private generation and the privatization and public-private partnership laws.

Keywords: decentralized systems, distributed generation, microgrids, renewable energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Victor Bodell, Lukas Ekstrom, Somayeh Aghanavesi

Abstract:

Fuel consumption (FC) is one of the key factors in determining expenses of operating a heavy-duty vehicle. A customer may therefore request an estimate of the FC of a desired vehicle. The modular design of heavy-duty vehicles allows their construction by specifying the building blocks, such as gear box, engine and chassis type. If the combination of building blocks is unprecedented, it is unfeasible to measure the FC, since this would first r equire the construction of the vehicle. This paper proposes a machine learning approach to predict FC. This study uses around 40,000 vehicles specific and o perational e nvironmental c onditions i nformation, such as road slopes and driver profiles. A ll v ehicles h ave d iesel engines and a mileage of more than 20,000 km. The data is used to investigate the accuracy of machine learning algorithms Linear regression (LR), K-nearest neighbor (KNN) and Artificial n eural n etworks (ANN) in predicting fuel consumption for heavy-duty vehicles. Performance of the algorithms is evaluated by reporting the prediction error on both simulated data and operational measurements. The performance of the algorithms is compared using nested cross-validation and statistical hypothesis testing. The statistical evaluation procedure finds that ANNs have the lowest prediction error compared to LR and KNN in estimating fuel consumption on both simulated and operational data. The models have a mean relative prediction error of 0.3% on simulated data, and 4.2% on operational data.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, fuel consumption, friedman test, machine learning, statistical hypothesis testing

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Shakila Singh

Abstract:

This research was conducted at a selected South African university campus with women students who drink alcohol. The purpose of the study was to examine their perspectives on the role of alcohol in their lives, their understandings about women’s vulnerability to alcohol-related sexual risk and their strategies against these. The study draws on feminist principles and practices to challenge gendered inequalities that legitimate and facilitate violence against women. Recognising the danger of focusing on risk management in ways that place the burden of responsibility entirely on young women to prevent their violation, this article focuses on women students’ agency in managing risk while taking up opportunities for self-discovery. Participation was voluntary, and a student-researcher administered an open-ended questionnaire to 55 participants. The findings suggest that young women position alcohol- use as a common activity at university, and that it gives them much pleasure. They recognise that it is riskier for women and articulate valuable strategies to manage the risk to their sexual safety when drinking. These include drinking within supportive networks, avoiding financial dependence, and managing their alcohol intake. This article argues that alcohol at university is an integral part of expressions of gender and sexuality and that risk-taking is a normal part of university students’ lives. Consequently, arguments about equality need to consider risk-taking as part of young people’s lives and promote ways of managing alcohol-related risks, rather than imagining that alcohol can be avoided entirely.

Keywords: alcohol-related sexual risk, drinking at university, managing risk, women students

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: A. M. Khourshid, A. M. El-Kassas, I. Sabry

Abstract:

The objective of this work was to investigate the mechanical properties in order to demonstrate the feasibility of friction stir welding for joining Al 6061 aluminium alloys. Welding was performed on pipe with different thickness (2, 3 and 4 mm), five rotational speeds (485, 710, 910, 1120 and 1400 rpm) and a traverse speed of 4mm/min. This work focuses on two methods which are artificial neural networks using software and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to predict the tensile strength, the percentage of elongation and hardness of friction stir welded 6061 aluminium alloy. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was developed for the analysis of the friction stir welding parameters of 6061 pipe. Tensile strength, the percentage of elongation and hardness of weld joints were predicted by taking the parameters tool rotation speed, material thickness and axial force as a function. A comparison was made between measured and predicted data. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was also developed and the values obtained for the response tensile strength, the percentage of elongation and hardness are compared with measured values. The effect of FSW process parameters on mechanical properties of 6061 aluminium alloy has been analysed in detail.

Keywords: friction stir welding, aluminium alloy, response surface methodology, artificial neural network

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Nilesh Bandekar, Sumita Dasgupta, Luis Alberto Allcahuaman Huaya, Souvik Manna

Abstract:

Cryptobiosis is a dormant state where all measurable metabolic activities are at a halt, allowing an organism to survive in extreme conditions like low temperature (cryobiosis), extreme drought (anhydrobiosis), etc. This phenomenon is observed especially in tardigrades that can retain this state for decades depending on the abiotic environmental conditions. On returning to favorable conditions, tardigrades re-attain a metabolically active state. In this study, cyanobacteria as a model organism are being chosen to induce cryptobiosis for its effective preservation over a long period of time. Preserving cyanobacteria using this strategy will have multiple space applications because of its ability to produce oxygen. In addition, research has shown the survivability of this organism in space for a certain period of time. Few species of cyanobacterial residents of the soil such as Microcoleus, are able to survive in extreme drought as well. This work specifically focuses on Synechococcus elongatus, an endolith cyanobacteria with multiple benefits. It has the capability to produce 25% oxygen in water bodies. It utilizes carbon dioxide to produce oxygen via photosynthesis and also uses carbon dioxide as an energy source to form glucose via the Calvin cycle. There is a fair possibility of initiating cryptobiosis in such an organism by inducing certain proteins extracted from tardigrades such as Heat Shock Proteins (Hsp27 and Hsp30c) and/or hydrophilic Late Embryogenesis Abundant proteins (LEA). Existing methods like cryopreservation are difficult to execute in space keeping in mind their cost and heavy instrumentation. Also, extensive freezing may cause cellular damage. Therefore, cryptobiosis-induced cyanobacteria for its transportation from Earth to Mars as a part of future terraforming missions on Mars will save resources and increase the effectiveness of preservation. Finally, Cyanobacteria species like Synechococcus elongatus can also produce oxygen and glucose on Mars in favorable conditions and holds the key to terraforming Mars.

Keywords: cryptobiosis, cyanobacteria, glucose, mars, Synechococcus elongatus, tardigrades

Procedia PDF Downloads 204

Authors: Leonard D. Agana, Wendell Ace Dela Cruz, Arjan C. Lingaya, Bonifacio T. Doma Jr.

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to study the predict the fuel performance parameters, which include drivability index (DI), vapor lock index (VLI), and vapor lock potential using distillation curve and Reid vapor pressure (RVP) of dual alcohol-gasoline fuel blends. Distillation curve and Reid vapor pressure were predicted using artificial neural networks (ANN) with macroscopic properties such as boiling points, RVP, and molecular weights as the input layers. The ANN consists of 5 hidden layers and was trained using Bayesian regularization. The training mean square error (MSE) and R-value for the ANN of RVP are 91.4113 and 0.9151, respectively, while the training MSE and R-value for the distillation curve are 33.4867 and 0.9927. Fuel performance analysis of the dual alcohol–gasoline blends indicated that highly volatile gasoline blended with dual alcohols results in non-compliant fuel blends with D4814 standard. Mixtures of low-volatile gasoline and 10% methanol or 10% ethanol can still be blended with up to 10% C3 and C4 alcohols. Intermediate volatile gasoline containing 10% methanol or 10% ethanol can still be blended with C3 and C4 alcohols that have low RVPs, such as 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, and i-butanol. Biography: Graduate School of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering and Sciences, Mapua University, Muralla St., Intramuros, Manila, 1002, Philippines

Keywords: dual alcohol-gasoline blends, distillation curve, machine learning, reid vapor pressure

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: Shreyansh Singh, Afroz Ahmed

Abstract:

Sentiment Analysis intends to naturally reveal the hidden mentality that we hold towards an entity. The total of this assumption over a populace addresses sentiment surveying and has various applications. Current text-based sentiment analysis depends on the development of word embeddings and Machine Learning models that take in conclusion from enormous text corpora. Sentiment Analysis from text is presently generally utilized for consumer loyalty appraisal and brand insight investigation. With the expansion of online media, multimodal assessment investigation is set to carry new freedoms with the appearance of integral information streams for improving and going past text-based feeling examination using the new transforms methods. Since supposition can be distinguished through compelling follows it leaves, like facial and vocal presentations, multimodal opinion investigation offers good roads for examining facial and vocal articulations notwithstanding the record or printed content. These methodologies use the Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) with the LSTM modes to increase their performance. In this study, we characterize feeling and the issue of multimodal assessment investigation and audit ongoing advancements in multimodal notion examination in various spaces, including spoken surveys, pictures, video websites, human-machine, and human-human connections. Difficulties and chances of this arising field are additionally examined, promoting our theory that multimodal feeling investigation holds critical undiscovered potential.

Keywords: sentiment analysis, RNN, LSTM, word embeddings

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Mehmet Balci, Sakir Tasdemir, Mustafa Altin, Ozlem Bozok

Abstract:

Our globalizing world has become almost a small village and everyone can access any information at any time. Everyone lets each other know who does whatever in which place. We can learn which social events occur in which place in the world. From the perspective of education, the course notes that a lecturer use in lessons in a university in any state of America can be examined by a student studying in a city of Africa or the Far East. This dizzying communication we have mentioned happened thanks to fast developments in computer technologies and in parallel with this, internet technology. While these developments in the world, has a very large young population and a rapidly evolving electronic communications infrastructure Turkey has been affected by this situation. Researches has shown that almost all young people in Turkey has an account in a social network. Especially becoming common of mobile devices causes data traffic in social networks to increase. In this study, has been surveyed on students in the different age groups and at the Selcuk University Vocational School of Technical Sciences Department of Computer Technology. Student’s opinions about the use of internet and social media has been gotten. Using the Internet and social media skills, purposes, operating frequency, access facilities and tools, social life and effects on vocational education etc. have been explored. Both internet and use of social media positive and negative effects on this department students results have been obtained by the obtained findings evaluating from various aspects. Relations and differences have been found out with statistic.

Keywords: computer technologies, internet use, social network, higher vocational school

Procedia PDF Downloads 534

Authors: Julius K. Gane, Mohamad N. Nahil, Paul T. Williams

Abstract:

In today’s world of rapid population growth and a changing climate, one way to mitigate various negative effects is via renewable energy solutions. Energy and power as basic requirements in almost all human endeavours are also the banes of the changing climate and the impacts thereof. Thus it is crucial to develop innovative and environmentally friendly energy options to ameliorate various negative repercussions. Upgrading of fast pyrolysis bio-oil via hydro-treatment offers such opportunities, as quality renewable liquid transportation fuels can be produced. The process, however, is typically accompanied by bio-char formation as a by-product. The goal of this work was to study the yield and some properties of bio-chars formed from a hydrotreatment process, with an overall aim to promote the valuable utilization of wastes or by-products from renewable energy technologies. It is assumed that bio-chars that have comparable energy contents with coals will be more desirable as solid energy materials due to renewability and environmental friendliness. Therefore, the analytical work in this study focused mainly on determining the higher heating value (HHV) of the chars. The method involved the reaction of bio-oil in an autoclave supplied by the Parr Instrument Company, IL, USA. Two main parameters (different temperatures and resident times) were investigated. The chars were characterized using a Thermo EA2000 CHNS analyser, then oxygen contents and HHVs computed based on the literature. From the results, these bio-chars can readily serve as feedstocks for the production of renewable solid fuels. Their HHVs ranged between 29.26-39.18 MJ/kg, affected by different temperatures and retention times. There was an inverse relationship between the oxygen content and the HHVs of the chars. It can, therefore, be concluded that it is possible to optimize the process efficiency of the hydrotreatment process used through the production of renewable energy materials from the 'waste’ char by-products. Future work should consider developing a suitable balance between the primary objective of bio-oil upgrading processes (which is to improve the quality of the liquid fuels) and the conversion of its solid wastes into value-added products such as smokeless briquettes.

Keywords: bio-char, renewable solid biofuels, valorisation, waste-to-energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Essam Mansour

Abstract:

The key purpose of this study is to show information-seeking behaviour of Kuwaiti Judges (KJs). Being one of the few studies about the information needs and information-seeking behaviour conducted in Arab and developing countries, this study is a pioneer one among many studies conducted in information seeking, especially with this significant group of information users. The authors tried to investigate this seeking behavior in terms of KJs' thoughts, perceptions, motivations, techniques, preferences, tools and barriers met when seeking information. The authors employed a questionnaire, with a response rate 77.2 percent. This study showed that most of KJs were likely to be older, educated and with a work experience ranged from new to old experience. There is a statistically reliable significant difference between KJs' demographic characteristics and some sources of information, such as books, encyclopedias, references and mass media. KJs were using information moderately to make a decision, to be in line with current events, to collect statistics and to make a specific/general research. The office and home were the most frequent location KJs were accessing information from. KJs' efficiency level of the English language is described to be moderately good, and a little number of them confirmed that their efficiency level of French was not bad. The assistance provided by colleagues, followed by consultants, translators, sectaries and librarians were found to be most strong types of assistance needed when seeking information. Mobile apps, followed by PCs, information networks (the Internet) and information databases were the highest technology tool used by KJs. Printed materials, followed by non-printed and audiovisual materials were the most preferred information formats KJs use. The use of languages, the recency of information and the place of information, the deficit role of the library to deliver information were at least significant barriers to KJs when seeking information.

Keywords: information users, information-seeking behaviour, information needs, judges, Kuwait

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: Sibnath Sarkar

Abstract:

Developing countries are facing many Social problems. In India, too there are several such problems. The problem of street children is one of them. No country or city anywhere in the world today is without the presence of street children, but the problem is most acute in developing countries. Thousands of street children can be seen in our populous cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Chennai. Most of them are in the age group of 5-15 years. The number of street children is increasing gradually. Poverty, unemployment, rapid urbanization, rural-urban migrations are the root causes of street children. Being deprive from many of their, they have escaped to the street as a safe place for living. Street children always related with the urban spaces in the developing world and it represents a sad outcome of the rapid urbanization process. After coming to the streets, these children have to cope with the new situation every day. They also adopt or develop many complex survival strategies and a variety of different informal or even illegal activities in public space and form supportive social networks in order to survive in street life. Street children use the different suitable urban spaces as their earning, living, entertaining spot. Therefore, the livelihoods of young people on the street should analyze in relation to the spaces they use, as well as their age and length of stay on the streets. This paper tries to explore the livelihood strategies and copping situation of street children in Sealdah station area. One hundred seventy-five street living children are included in the study living in and around the railway station.

Keywords: strategies, street children, survive, urban-space

Procedia PDF Downloads 349

Authors: Ahmed E. Hodaib, Muhammed A. Hashem

Abstract:

High-speed transportation has become a growing concern. To increase high-speed efficiencies and minimize power consumption of a vehicle, we need to eliminate the friction with the ground and minimize the aerodynamic drag acting on the vehicle. Due to the complexity and high power requirements of electromagnetic levitation, we make use of the air in front of the capsule, that produces the majority of the drag, to compress it in two phases and inject a proportion of it through small nozzles to make a high-pressure air cushion to levitate the capsule. The tube is partially-evacuated so that the air pressure is optimized for maximum compressor effectiveness, optimum tube size, and minimum vacuum pump power consumption. The total relative mass flow rate of the tube air is divided into two fractions. One is by-passed to flow over the capsule body, ensuring that no chocked flow takes place. The other fraction is sucked by the compressor where it is diffused to decrease the Mach number (around 0.8) to be suitable for the compressor inlet. The air is then compressed and intercooled, then split. One fraction is expanded through a tail nozzle to contribute to generating thrust. The other is compressed again. Bleed from the two compressors is used to maintain a constant air pressure in an air tank. The air tank is used to supply air for levitation. Dividing the total mass flow rate increases the achievable speed (Kantrowitz limit), and compressing it decreases the blockage of the capsule. As a result, the aerodynamic drag on the capsule decreases. As the tube pressure decreases, the drag decreases and the capsule power requirements decrease, however, the vacuum pump consumes more power. That’s why Design optimization techniques are to be used to get the optimum values for all the design variables given specific design inputs. Aerodynamic shape optimization, Capsule and tube sizing, compressor design, diffuser and nozzle expander design and the effect of the air bearing on the aerodynamics of the capsule are to be considered. The variations of the variables are to be studied for the change of the capsule velocity and air pressure.

Keywords: tube-capsule, hyperloop, aerodynamic design optimization, air compressor, air bearing

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Jennifer Bradley

Abstract:

With opportunities to live and work abroad on the rise, effective preparation and support for international employees needs to be addressed within the work-site. International employees must build new habits, routines and social networks in an unfamiliar culture. Culture shock typically occurs within the first year and can affect both physical and psychological health. Employers have the opportunity to support staff through the adaptation process and foster healthy habits and routines. Cross-cultural training that includes a combination of instructional teaching, cultural experiences, and practice, is shown to increase the international employee adaptation process. However, little evidence demonstrates that organizations provide all of these aspects for international employees. The occupational therapy practitioner (OTP) offers a unique perspective focusing on the employee transactional relationship and engagement of meaningful occupations to enhance and enable participation in roles, habits and routines within new cultural contexts. This paper examines one such program developed and implemented by an OTP at the New England Center for Children, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The effectiveness of the program was assessed via participant feedback and concluded that an international employee support program that focuses on a variety of meaningful experiences and knowledge can empower employees to navigate healthy practices, develop habits and routines, and foster positive inter-cultural relationships in the organization and community.

Keywords: occupational therapy practitioner, cross cultural training, international employee health, international employee support

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Leticia Cervantes, Edith Garcia, Oscar Castillo

Abstract:

At today, there are several control problems where the main objective is to obtain the best control in the study to decrease the error in the application. Many techniques can use to control these problems such as Neural Networks, PID control, Fuzzy Logic, Optimization techniques and many more. In this case, fuzzy logic with fuzzy system and an optimization technique are used to control the case of study. In this case, Ant Lion Optimization is used to optimize a fuzzy system to control the velocity of a simple treadmill. The main objective is to achieve the control of the velocity in the control problem using the ALO optimization. First, a simple fuzzy system was used to control the velocity of the treadmill it has two inputs (error and error change) and one output (desired speed), then results were obtained but to decrease the error the ALO optimization was developed to optimize the fuzzy system of the treadmill. Having the optimization, the simulation was performed, and results can prove that using the ALO optimization the control of the velocity was better than a conventional fuzzy system. This paper describes some basic concepts to help to understand the idea in this work, the methodology of the investigation (control problem, fuzzy system design, optimization), the results are presented and the optimization is used for the fuzzy system. A comparison between the simple fuzzy system and the optimized fuzzy systems are presented where it can be proving the optimization improved the control with good results the major findings of the study is that ALO optimization is a good alternative to improve the control because it helped to decrease the error in control applications even using any control technique to optimized, As a final statement is important to mentioned that the selected methodology was good because the control of the treadmill was improve using the optimization technique.

Keywords: ant lion optimization, control problem, fuzzy control, fuzzy system

Procedia PDF Downloads 392

Authors: Marwa T. Badawy, Alaa F. Bakr, Nesrine Hegazi, Mohamed A. Farag, Ahmed Abdellatif

Abstract:

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease affecting a large population worldwide. Africa is rich in native medicinal plants with myriad health benefits, though less explored towards the development of specific drug therapy as in diabetes. This study aims to determine the in vivo antidiabetic potential of the well-reported and traditionally used fruits of Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) using STZ induced diabetic model. The in-vitro cytotoxic and antioxidant properties were examined using MTT assay on L-929 fibroblast cells and DPPH antioxidant assays, respectively. The extract showed minimal cytotoxicity with an IC50 value of 105.7 µg/mL. Histopathological and immunohistochemical investigations showed the hepatoprotective and the renoprotective effects of A. digitata fruits’ extract, implying its protective effects against diabetes complications. These findings were further supported by biochemical assays, which showed that i.p., injection of a low dose (150 mg/kg) of A. digitata twice a week lowered the fasting blood glucose levels, lipid profile, hepatic and renal markers. For a comprehensive overview of extract metabolites composition, ultrahigh performance (UHPLC) analysis coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HRMS/MS) in synchronization with molecular networks led to the annotation of 77 metabolites, among which 50% are reported for the first time in A. digitata fruits.

Keywords: adansonia digital, diabetes mellitus, metabolomics, streptozotocin, Sprague, dawley rats

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Saimir Heta, Kers Kapaj, Rialda Xhizdari, Ilma Robo

Abstract:

Dealing with emerging cases of dental malpractice with justifications that stem from the clear rules of dental ethics is a phenomenon with an increasing trend in today's dental practice. Dentists should clearly understand how far the limit of malpractice goes, with or without minimal or major consequences, for the affected patient, which can be justified as a complication of dental treatment, in support of the rules of dental ethics in the dental office. Indeed, malpractice can occur in cases of lack of professionalism, but it can also come as a consequence of anatomical and physiological limitations in the implementation of the dental protocols, predetermined and indicated by the patient in the paragraph of the treatment plan in his personal card. This study is of the review type with the aim of the latest findings published in the literature about the problem of dealing with these phenomena. The combination of keywords is done in such a way with the aim to give the necessary space for collecting the right information in the networks of publications about this field, always first from the point of view of the dentist and not from that of the lawyer or jurist. From the findings included in this article, it was noticed the diversity of approaches towards the phenomenon depends on the different countries based on the legal basis that these countries have. There is a lack of or a small number of articles that touch on this topic, and these articles are presented with a limited number of data on the same topic. Conclusions: Dental malpractice should not be hidden under the guise of various dental complications that we justify with the strict rules of ethics for patients treated in the dental chair. The individual experience of dental malpractice must be published with the aim of serving as a source of experience for future generations of dentists.

Keywords: dental ethics, malpractice, professional protocol, random deviation

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Pouya Taraghi, Yong Li, Nader Yoosef-Ghodsi, Muntaseer Kainat, Samer Adeeb

Abstract:

Buried pipelines play a crucial role in the transportation of energy products such as oil, gas, and various chemical fluids, ensuring their efficient and safe distribution. However, these pipelines are often susceptible to ground movements caused by geohazards like landslides, fault movements, lateral spreading, and more. Such ground movements can lead to strain-induced failures in pipes, resulting in leaks or explosions, leading to fires, financial losses, environmental contamination, and even loss of human life. Therefore, it is essential to study how buried pipelines respond when traversing geohazard-prone areas to assess the potential impact of ground movement on pipeline design. As such, this study introduces an approach called the Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) to predict the strain demand in inelastic pipes subjected to permanent ground displacement (PGD). This method uses a deep learning framework that does not require training data and makes it feasible to consider more realistic assumptions regarding existing nonlinearities. It leverages the underlying physics described by differential equations to approximate the solution. The study analyzes various scenarios involving different geohazard types, PGD values, and crossing angles, comparing the predictions with results obtained from finite element methods. The findings demonstrate a good agreement between the results of the proposed method and the finite element method, highlighting its potential as a simulation-free, data-free, and meshless alternative. This study paves the way for further advancements, such as the simulation-free reliability assessment of pipes subjected to PGD, as part of ongoing research that leverages the proposed method.

Keywords: strain demand, inelastic pipe, permanent ground displacement, machine learning, physics-informed neural network

Procedia PDF Downloads 59