Search results for: community- based approach

Authors: Wi Sung Yoo, Seung Woo Lee, Youn Kyoung Hur, Sung Hwan Kim

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Large-scale construction projects are continuously increasing, and the need for tools to monitor and evaluate the project success is emphasized. At the construction industry level, there are limitations in deriving performance evaluation factors that reflect the diversity of construction sites and systems that can objectively evaluate and manage performance. Additionally, there are difficulties in integrating structured and unstructured data generated at construction sites and deriving improvements. In this study, we propose the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to enable performance evaluation that reflects the increased diversity of construction sites and the unstructured data generated, and present a model for measuring performance by the derived indicators. The comprehensive performance of a unit construction site is assessed based on 6 areas (Time, Cost, Quality, Safety, Environment, Productivity) and 26 indicators. We collect performance indicator information from 30 construction sites that meet legal standards and have been successfully performed. And We apply data augmentation and optimization techniques into establishing measurement standards for each indicator. In other words, the KPI for construction site performance evaluation presented in this study provides standards for evaluating performance in six areas using institutional requirement data and document data. This can be expanded to establish a performance evaluation system considering the scale and type of construction project. Also, they are expected to be used as a comprehensive indicator of the construction industry and used as basic data for tracking competitiveness at the national level and establishing policies.

Keywords: key performance indicator, performance measurement, structured and unstructured data, data augmentation

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Authors: Thomas Rockstuhl, Kok Yee Ng, Guido Gianasso, Soon Ang

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Two meta-analyses show that intercultural experience is not related to intercultural adaptation or performance in international assignments. These findings have prompted calls for a deeper grounding of research on international experience in the phenomenon of global work. Two issues, in particular, may limit current understanding of the relationship between international experience and global work performance. First, intercultural experience is too broad a construct that may not sufficiently capture the essence of global work, which to a large part involves sensemaking and managing intercultural conflicts. Second, the psychological mechanisms through which intercultural experience affects performance remains under-explored, resulting in a poor understanding of how experience is translated into learning and performance outcomes. Drawing on recognition primed decision-making (RPD) research, the current study advances a cognitive processing model to highlight the importance of intercultural conflict familiarity. Compared to intercultural experience, intercultural conflict familiarity is a more targeted construct that captures individuals’ previous exposure to dealing with intercultural conflicts. Drawing on RPD theory, we argue that individuals’ intercultural conflict familiarity enhances their ability to make accurate judgments and generate effective responses when intercultural conflicts arise. In turn, the ability to make accurate situation judgements and effective situation responses is an important predictor of global work performance. A relocation program within a multinational enterprise provided the context to test these hypotheses using a time-lagged, multi-source field study. Participants were 165 employees (46% female; with an average of 5 years of global work experience) from 42 countries who relocated from country to regional offices as part a global restructuring program. Within the first two weeks of transfer to the regional office, employees completed measures of their familiarity with intercultural conflicts, cultural intelligence, cognitive ability, and demographic information. They also completed an intercultural situational judgment test (iSJT) to assess their situation judgment and situation response. The iSJT comprised four validated multimedia vignettes of challenging intercultural work conflicts and prompted employees to provide protocols of their situation judgment and situation response. Two research assistants, trained in intercultural management but blind to the study hypotheses, coded the quality of employee’s situation judgment and situation response. Three months later, supervisors rated employees’ global work performance. Results using multilevel modeling (vignettes nested within employees) support the hypotheses that greater familiarity with intercultural conflicts is positively associated with better situation judgment, and that situation judgment mediates the effect of intercultural familiarity on situation response quality. Also, aggregated situation judgment and situation response quality both predicted supervisor-rated global work performance. Theoretically, our findings highlight the important but under-explored role of familiarity with intercultural conflicts; a shift in attention from the general nature of international experience assessed in terms of number and length of overseas assignments. Also, our cognitive approach premised on RPD theory offers a new theoretical lens to understand the psychological mechanisms through which intercultural conflict familiarity affects global work performance. Third, and importantly, our study contributes to the global talent identification literature by demonstrating that the cognitive processes engaged in resolving intercultural conflicts predict actual performance in the global workplace.

Keywords: intercultural conflict familiarity, job performance, judgment and decision making, situational judgment test

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Authors: Adriana Martínez-Arias, John Josephraj Selvaraj, Luis Octavio González-Salcedo

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In the Colombian Pacific, Dorado fish (Coryphaena hippurus L.) fisheries is of great commercial interest. However, its habitat and fisheries may be affected by climatic change especially by the actual increase in sea surface temperature. Hence, it is of interest to study the dynamics of these species fishing zones. In this study, we developed Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) models to predict Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) as an indicator of species abundance. The model was based on four oceanographic variables (Chlorophyll a, Sea Surface Temperature, Sea Level Anomaly and Bathymetry) derived from satellite data. CPUE datasets for model training and cross-validation were obtained from logbooks of commercial fishing vessel. Sea surface Temperature for Colombian Pacific were projected under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios 4.5 and 8.5 using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and CPUE maps were created. Our results indicated that an increase in sea surface temperature reduces the potential fishing zones of this species in the Colombian Pacific. We conclude that ANN is a reliable tool for simulation of climate change effects on the potential fishing zones. This research opens a future agenda for other species that have been affected by climate change.

Keywords: climatic change, artificial neural networks, dorado fish, CPUE

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Authors: Chin-Pin, Chen, Shi-Chi, Shiao, Ting-Hao, Lin

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Current industry is facing the rapid development of new technology in the world and fierce changes of economic environment in the society so that the industry development trend gradually does not focus on labor, but leads the industry and the academic circle with innovation and creativity. The development trend in machinery industry presents the same situation. Based on the aim of Creativity White Paper, Ministry of Education in Taiwan promotes and develops various creativity contests to cope with the industry trend. Domestic students and enterprises have good performance on domestic and international creativity contests in recent years. There must be important creative elements in such creative works to win the award among so many works. Literature review and in-depth interview with five creativity contest awarded instructors are first proceeded to conclude 15 machinery creative elements, which are further compared with the creative elements of machinery awarded creative works in past five years to understand the relationship between awarded works and creative elements. The statistical analysis results show that IDEA (Industrial Design Excellence Award) contains the most creative elements among four major international creativity contests. That is, most creativity review focuses on creative elements that are comparatively stricter. Concerning the groups participating in creativity contests, enterprises consider more creative elements of the creative works than other two elements for contests. From such contest works, creative elements of “replacement or improvement”, “convenience”, and “modeling” present higher significance. It is expected that the above findings could provide domestic colleges and universities with reference for participating in creativity related contests in the future.

Keywords: machinery, creative elements, creativity contest, creativity works

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Authors: Abdool Qaiyum Mohabuth, Syed Munir Ahmad

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Assessment enables students to focus on their learning, assessment. It engages them to work hard and motivates them in devoting time to their studies. Student learning is directly influenced by the type of assessment involved in the programme. Summative Assessment aims at providing measurement of student understanding. In fact, it is argued that summative assessment is used for reporting and reviewing, besides providing an overall judgement of achievement. While summative assessment is a well defined process for learning that takes place in the classroom environment, its application within the practice environment is still being researched. This paper discusses findings from a mixed-method study for exploring the effectiveness of summative assessment in practice learning. A survey questionnaire was designed for exploring the perceptions of mentors and students about summative assessment in practice learning. The questionnaire was administered to the University of Mauritius students and mentors who supervised students for their Work-Based Learning (WBL) practice at the respective placement settings. Some students, having undertaken their WBL practice, were interviewed, for capturing their views and experiences about the application of summative assessment in practice learning. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with three experienced mentors who have assessed students on practice learning. The findings reveal that though learning in the workplace is entirely different from learning at the University, most students had positive experiences about their summative assessments in practice learning. They felt comfortable and confident to be assessed by their mentors in their placement settings and wished that the effort and time that they devoted to their learning be recognised and valued. Mentors on their side confirmed that the summative assessment is valid and reliable, enabling them to better monitor and coach students to achieve the expected learning outcomes.

Keywords: practice learning, judgement, summative assessment, knowledge, skills, workplace

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Authors: Wenjuan Lu

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China and Hungary have risen from a friendly and comprehensive cooperative relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in recent years, and the economic and trade relations between the two countries have developed smoothly. As an important country along the ‘Belt and Road’, Hungary and China have strong economic complementarities and have unique advantages in carrying China's industrial transfer and economic transformation and development. The construction of the China-Hungary Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, which was initiated by the ‘Sino-Hungarian Borsod Industrial Zone’ and the ‘Hungarian Central European Trade and Logistics Cooperation Park’ has promoted infrastructure construction, optimized production capacity, promoted industrial restructuring, and formed brand and agglomeration effects. Enhancing the influence of Chinese companies in the European market has also promoted economic development in Hungary and even in Central and Eastern Europe. However, as the China-Hungary Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is still in its infancy, there are still shortcomings such as small scale, single function, and no prominent platform. In the future, based on the needs of China's cooperation with ‘17+1’ and China-Hungary cooperation, on the basis of appropriately expanding the scale of economic and trade cooperation zones and appropriately increasing the number of economic and trade cooperation zones, it is better to focus on optimizing and adjusting its functions and highlighting different economic and trade cooperation. The differentiated function of the trade zones strengthens the multi-faceted cooperation of economic and trade cooperation zones and highlights its role as a platform for cooperation in information, capital, and services.

Keywords: ‘One Belt, One Road’ Initiative, China-Hungary economic and trade cooperation zone, function optimization, Central and Eastern Europe

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Authors: Nga-Wun Li, Chu-Po Ho, Kit-Lun Yick, Jin-Yun Zhou

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The use of buoyant vests incorporated with swimsuits can develop children’s confidence in the water, particularly for novice swimmers. Consequently, parents intend to purchase buoyant swimming vests for the children to reduce their anxiety to water. Although the conventional buoyant swimming vests can provide the buoyant function to the wearer, their bulkiness and hardness make children feel uncomfortable and not willing to wear. This study aimed to apply inlay knitting technology to design new functional buoyant swimming vests for children. This prototype involved a shell and a buoyant knitted layer, which is the main media to provide buoyancy. Polypropylene yarn and 6.4 mm of Expandable Polyethylene (EPE) foam were fabricated in Full needle stitch with inlay knitting technology and were then linked by sewing to form the buoyant layer. The shell of the knitted buoyant vest was made of Polypropylene circular knitted fabric. The structure of knitted fabrics of the buoyant swimsuit makes them inherently stretchable, and the arrangement of the inlaid material was designed based on the body movement that can improve the ease with which the swimmer moves. Further, the shoulder seam is designed at the back to minimize the irritation of the wearer. Apart from maintaining the buoyant function to them, this prototype shows its contribution in reducing bulkiness and improving softness to the conventional buoyant swimming vest by taking the advantages of a knitted garment. The results in this study are significant to the development of the buoyant swimming vest for both the textile and the fast-growing sportswear industry.

Keywords: knitting technology, buoyancy, inlay, swimming vest, functional garment

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Authors: Emna Bahri Hammami, Zammouri Mounira, Tarhouni Jamila

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The Nadhour Saouaf Sisseb El Alem (NSSA) system comprises some of the most intensively exploited aquifers in central Tunisia. Since the 1970s, the growth in economic productivity linked to intensive agriculture in this semiarid region has been sustained by increasing pumping rates of the system’s groundwater. Exploitation of these aquifers has increased rapidly, ultimately causing their depletion. With the aim to better understand the behavior of the aquifer system and to predict its evolution, the paper presents a finite difference model of the groundwater flow and solute transport. The model is based on the Groundwater Modeling System (GMS) and was calibrated using data from 1970 to 2010. Groundwater levels observed in 1970 were used for the steady-state calibration. Groundwater levels observed from 1971 to 2010 served to calibrate the transient state. The impact of pumping discharge on the evolution of groundwater levels was studied through three hypothetical pumping scenarios. The first two scenarios replicated the approximate drawdown in the aquifer heads (about 17 m in scenario 1 and 23 m in scenario 2 in the center of NSSA) following an increase in pumping rates by 30% and 50% from their current values, respectively. In addition, pumping was stopped in the third scenario, which could increase groundwater reserves by about 7 Mm3/year. NSSA groundwater reserves could be improved considerably if the pumping rules were taken seriously.

Keywords: pumping, depletion, groundwater modeling system GMS, Nadhour Saouaf

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Authors: Radovan Bures, Madgalena Streckova, Maria Faberova, Pavel Kurek

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Composite material based on Fe3Si micro-particles and Mn-Zn nano-ferrite was prepared using powder metallurgy technology. The sol-gel followed by autocombustion process was used for synthesis of Mn0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 ferrite. 3 wt.% of mechanically milled ferrite was mixed with Fe3Si powder alloy. Mixed micro-nano powder system was homogenized by the Resonant Acoustic Mixing using ResodynLabRAM Mixer. This non-invasive homogenization technique was used to preserve spherical morphology of Fe3Si powder particles. Uniaxial cold pressing in the closed die at pressure 600 MPa was applied to obtain a compact sample. Microwave sintering of green compact was realized at 800°C, 20 minutes, in air. Density of the powders and composite was measured by Hepycnometry. Impulse excitation method was used to measure elastic properties of sintered composite. Mechanical properties were evaluated by measurement of transverse rupture strength (TRS) and Vickers hardness (HV). Resistivity was measured by 4 point probe method. Ferrite phase distribution in volume of the composite was documented by metallographic analysis. It has been found that nano-ferrite particle distributed among micro- particles of Fe3Si powder alloy led to high relative density (~93%) and suitable mechanical properties (TRS >100 MPa, HV ~1GPa, E-modulus ~140 GPa) of the composite. High electric resistivity (R~6.7 ohm.cm) of prepared composite indicate their potential application as soft magnetic material at medium and high frequencies.

Keywords: micro- and nano-composite, soft magnetic materials, microwave sintering, mechanical and electric properties

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Authors: Bilal Wadood, Suleman Khan, Sajjad Ahmed

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The Late Cretaceous strata (Mughal Kot Formation) exposed in Central Indus Basin, Pakistan is evaluated for establishing sequence stratigraphic framework and potential of hydrocarbon accumulation. The petrographic studies and SEM analysis were carried out to infer the hydrocarbon potential of the rock unit. The petrographic details disclosed 4 microfacies including Pelagic Mudstone, OrbitoidalWackestone, Quartz Arenite, and Quartz Wacke. The lowermost part of the rock unit consists of OrbitoidalWackestone which shows deposition in the middle shelf environment. The Quartz Arenite and Quartz Wacke suggest deposition on the deep slope settings while the Pelagic Mudstone microfacies point toward deposition in the distal deep marine settings. Based on the facies stacking patterns and cyclicity in the chronostratigraphic context, the strata is divided into two 3rd order cycles. One complete sequence i.e Transgressive system tract (TST), Highstand system tract (HST) and Lowstand system tract (LST) are again replaced by another Transgressive system tract and Highstant system tract with no markers of sequence boundary. The LST sands are sandwiched between TST and HST shales but no potential porosity/permeability values have been determined. Microfacies and SEM studies revealed very fewer chances for hydrocarbon accumulation and overall reservoir potential is characterized as low.

Keywords: cycle, deposition, microfacies, reservoir

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Authors: Vildan Cırık, Emine Efe

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Complementary health approaches are growing in popularity worldwide and play a substantial role in health care. It is very important for paediatric nurses to have knowledge of practices affecting the medical conditions of patients and to communicate with them through integrative nursing care. The purpose of this study was to determine paediatric nurses’ knowledge and experiences of complementary health approaches (CHA) and their personal and professional attitudes to the use of complementary health approaches. This multicentre study was conducted with 1450 paediatric nurses in 18 hospitals in Turkey. Paediatric nurses included in the study were working in the following clinics: Paediatric Service, Paediatric Intensive Care, Paediatric Haematology/Oncology. Data collection focused on the paediatric nurses’ knowledge and experiences of CHA. A high proportion of our sample of paediatric nurses reported that they had used some form of CHA themselves; the most popular choices of CHA were prayer, massage, and vitamins techniques. Paediatric nurses reported positive experiences (drawing/music/art/dance therapies, prayer, herbs, thermal springs, massage, and reflexology) and negative experiences (herbs, thermal springs, prayer, and massage). This study may contribute to increased awareness of the potentially important role of paediatric nurses in the delivery of CHA. Paediatric nurses play important roles in helping patients to use complementary health approaches safely and accurately. Trainings on CHA should be organised, data collection forms including CHA should be created, and evidence-based studies should be focused towards improving the clinical practice of paediatric nurses.

Keywords: complementary health approaches, paediatric nurses, knowledge, experience, attitude, Turkey

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Authors: Harish Krishnamurthy, Anna Lafontant, Ren Yi

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Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have been an interesting topic for most enthusiasts and hence people all over the United States report such findings online at the National UFO Report Center (NUFORC). Some of these reports are a hoax and among those that seem legitimate, our task is not to establish that these events confirm that they indeed are events related to flying objects from aliens in outer space. Rather, we intend to identify if the report was a hoax as was identified by the UFO database team with their existing curation criterion. However, the database provides a wealth of information that can be exploited to provide various analyses and insights such as social reporting, identifying real-time spatial events and much more. We perform analysis to localize these time-series geospatial events and correlate with known real-time events. This paper does not confirm any legitimacy of alien activity, but rather attempts to gather information from likely legitimate reports of UFOs by studying the online reports. These events happen in geospatial clusters and also are time-based. We look at cluster density and data visualization to search the space of various cluster realizations to decide best probable clusters that provide us information about the proximity of such activity. A random forest classifier is also presented that is used to identify true events and hoax events, using the best possible features available such as region, week, time-period and duration. Lastly, we show the performance of the scheme on various days and correlate with real-time events where one of the UFO reports strongly correlates to a missile test conducted in the United States.

Keywords: time-series clustering, feature extraction, hoax prediction, geospatial events

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Authors: Bentayeb-Ait Lounis Saïda, Cheref Zahia, Cherifi Thizi, Ri Kahina Bahmed, Kahina Hallali Yasmine Abdellaoui, Kenza Adli

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Algeria is the leading consumer of dairy products in North Africa. This is a fact. However, the nutritional quality of the latter remains unknown. The aim of this study is to characterise the dairy products available on the Algerian market in order to assess whether they constitute a healthy and safe choice. To do this, it collected data on the labelling of 390 dairy products, including cheese, yoghurt, UHT milk and milk drinks, infant formula and dairy creams. We assessed their degree of processing according to the NOVA classification, as well as the proportion of imitation products. The study was carried out between March 2020 and August 2023. The results show that 88% are ultra-processed; 84% for 'cheese', 92% for dairy creams, 92% for 'yoghurt', 100% for infant formula, 92% for margarines and 36% for UHT milk/dairy drinks. As for imitation/analogue dairy products, the study revealed the following proportions: 100% for infant formula, 78% for butter/margarine, 18% for UHT milk/milk-based drinks, 54% for cheese, 2% for camembert and 75% for dairy cream. The harmful effects of consuming ultra-processed products on long-term health are increasingly documented in dozens of publications. The findings of this study sound the alarm about the health risks to which Algerian consumers are exposed. Various scientific, economic and industrial bodies need to be involved in order to safeguard consumer health in both the short and long term. Food awareness and education campaigns should be organised.

Keywords: dairy, UPF, NOVA, yoghurt, cheese

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Authors: Afnan T. Bagasi, Donia M. Bettaieb, Abeer Alsobahi

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The wayfinding system is related to the course of the museum journey for visitors directly and indirectly. The design aspects of this system play an important role, making it an effective and communication system within the museum space. However, translating the concepts that pertain to its design, such as Intelligibility that is based on integration and connectivity in museum space design, needs more customization in the form of specific design considerations with reference to the most important approaches. Those approaches link the organizational and practical aspects to the semiotic and semantic aspects related to the space syntax by targeting the visual and perceived consistency of visitors. In this context, the study aims to identify how to apply the concept of intelligibility and clarity by employing integration and connectivity to design a wayfinding system in museums as a kind of composite interior space. Using the available plans and images to extrapolate the design considerations used to design the wayfinding system in the Saudi National Museum as a case study, a descriptive-analytical method was used to understand the basic organizational and morphological principles of the museum space through four main aspects in space design: morphological, semantic, semiotic, and pragmatic. The study's findings will assist designers, professionals, and researchers in the field of museum design in understanding the significance of the wayfinding system by delving into it through museum spaces by highlighting the essential aspects using a clear analytical method.

Keywords: wayfinding system, museum journey, intelligibility, integration, connectivity

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Authors: Pilar Gamarra Gamarra, Michele Girotto

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In the expanding field of leaders’ ethical behavior research, little attention has been paid to the association between finance leaders’ ethical traits (beyond personality) and ethical leadership, and more importantly, how these ethical characteristics can be predictors of ethical behavior at the leadership level in the financial sector. In this study, we tested a theoretical model based on uponsocial cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) and the cognitive-developmental model (Piaget, 1932) to examine leaders’ moral identity and moral attentiveness as antecedents of ethical leadership. After the 2008 economic crisis, the marketplace has awakened to the potential dangers of unethical behavior. The unethical behavior of the leaders of the financial sector was identified as guilty of this economic catastrophe. For that reason, it seems increasingly prudent for organizations to have leaders who are cognitively inclined toward ethical behavior. This evidence suggests that moral attentiveness and moral identity is perhaps one way of identifying those kinds of leaders. For leaders who are morally attentive and have a high moral identity, themes of ethics interventions are consistent with their way of seeing the word. As a result, these leaders could become critical components of change in organizations and could provide the energy and skills necessary for these efforts to be successful. Ethical behavior of leader from the financial sector and marketing sectors must be joined to manage the change. In this study, a leader’s moral identity, leader’s moral attentiveness, and self-importance of Ethical Leadership are measured for financial and marketing leaders to be compared to determine the relationship between the three variables in each sector. Other conclusion related to gender, educational level or generation are obtained.

Keywords: ethical leadership, moral identity, moral attentiveness, financial leaders, marketing leaders, ethical behavior

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Authors: Stephanie Cheng, Benjamin Poh, Vivyan Tay, Sachin Mathur

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Aim: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a worldwide pandemic affecting 500 million people. It is known to be associated with increased susceptibility to soft tissue infections (STI). Despite being a major public health burden, the literature relating the effects of DM and the presentation, severity and healing of STIs in general surgical patients remain limited. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all patients admitted with STI in a tertiary teaching hospital over a 12-month period. Patient demographics and surgical outcomes were collected and analyzed. Results: During the study period, 1059 patients were admitted for STIs, of which 936 (88%) required surgical intervention. Diabetic patients were presented with a higher body-mass index (BMI) (28 vs 26), larger abscess size (24 vs 14 cm²) and a longer length of stay (LOS)(4.4 days vs 2.9 days). They also underwent a higher proportion of wide debridement as well as application of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) (42% vs 35%). More diabetic patients underwent subsequent re-operation within the same sitting (8 vs 4). There were no differences in re-admission rates within 30 days nor subsequent abscess formation in those followed for 6 months. Conclusion: The incidence of STIs among DM patients represents a significant disease burden; surgeons should consider intensive patient counseling and partnering with primary care providers in order to help reduce the incidence of future STI admissions based on lifestyle modification and glucose control.

Keywords: general surgery, emergency general surgery, acute care surgery, soft tissue infections, diabetes mellitus

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Authors: Marvin Chibuzo Offiah, Susanne Rosenthal, Markus Borschbach

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Certain research projects in Computer Science often involve research on existing signal processing algorithms and developing improvements on them. Research budgets are usually limited, hence there is limited time for implementing the algorithms from scratch. It is therefore common practice, to use implementations provided by other researchers as a template. These are most commonly provided in a rapid development, i.e. 4th generation, programming language, usually Matlab. Rapid development is a common method in Computer Science research for quickly implementing and testing new developed algorithms, which is also a common task within agile project organization. The growing relevance of mobile devices in the computer market also gives rise to the need to demonstrate the successful executability and performance measurement of these algorithms on a mobile device operating system and processor, particularly on a smartphone. Open mobile systems such as Android, are most suitable for this task, which is to be performed most efficiently. Furthermore, efficiently implementing an interaction between the algorithm and a graphical user interface (GUI) that runs exclusively on the mobile device is necessary in cases where the project’s goal statement also includes such a task. This paper examines different proposed solutions for porting computer algorithms obtained through rapid development into a GUI-based smartphone Android app and evaluates their feasibilities. Accordingly, the feasible methods are tested and a short success report is given for each tested method.

Keywords: SMARTNAVI, Smartphone, App, Programming languages, Rapid Development, MATLAB, Octave, C/C++, Java, Android, NDK, SDK, Linux, Ubuntu, Emulation, GUI

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Authors: A. Ameur Ameur, H. Boukherrouba

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In red meat slaughterhouses a significant number of organs and carcasses were seized because of the presence of lesions of various origins. The objective of this study is to characterize and evaluate the frequency of these lesions in the slaughterhouse of the Wilaya of BOUIRA. On cattle slaughtered in 2646 and inspected 72% of these carcasses have been no seizures against 28% who have undergone at least one entry. 325 lung (44%), 164 livers (22%), 149 hearts (21%) are the main saisis.38 kidneys members (5%), 33 breasts (4%) and 16 whole carcasses (2%) are less seizures parties. The main reasons are the input hydatid cyst for most seized organs such as the lungs (64.5%), livers (51.8%), hearts (23.2%), hydronephrosis for the kidneys (39.4%), and chronic mastitis (54%) for the breasts. Then we recorded second-degree pneumonia (16%) to the lungs, chronic fascioliasis (25%) for livers. A significant difference was observed (p < 0.0001) by sex, race, origin and age of all cattle having been saisie.une a specific input patterns and So pathology was recorded based on race. The local breed presented (75.2%) of hydatid cyst, (95%) and chronic fascioliasis (60%) pyelonephritis, for against the improved breed presented the entire respiratory lesions include pneumonia (64%) the chronic tuberculosis (64%) and mastitis (76%). These results are an important step in the implementation of the concept of risk assessment as the scientific basis of food legislation, by the identification and characterization of macroscopic damage leading withdrawals in meat and to establish the level of inclusion of these injuries within the recommended risk assessment systems (HACCP).

Keywords: slaughterhouses, meat safety, seizure patterns, HACCP

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Authors: Ahmed H. Elkholy

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An elastic analysis is developed to obtain the distribution of stresses, strains, bending moment and deformation for a thin hollow, variable thickness cylindrical specimen when subjected to different biaxial loadings. The specimen was subjected to a combination of internal pressure, axial tensile loading and external pressure. Several axial to circumferential stress ratios were investigated in detail. The analytical model was then validated using experimental results obtained from a test rig using several biaxial loadings. Based on the preliminary results obtained, the specimen was then modified geometrically to ensure uniform strain distribution through its wall thickness and along its gauge length. The new design of the specimen has a higher buckling strength and a maximum value of equivalent stress according to the maximum distortion energy theory. A cyclic function generator of the standard servo-controlled, electro-hydraulic testing machine is used to generate a specific signal shape (sine, square,…) at a certain frequency. The two independent controllers of the electronic circuit cause an independent movement to each servo-valve piston. The movement of each piston pressurizes the upper and lower sides of the actuators alternately. So, the specimen will be subjected to axial and diametral loads independent of each other. The hydraulic system has two different pressures: one pressure will be responsible for axial stress produced in the specimen and the other will be responsible for the tangential stress. Changing the two pressure ratios will change the stress ratios accordingly. The only restriction on the maximum stress obtained is the capacity of the testing system and specimen instability due to buckling.

Keywords: biaxial, fatigue, stress, testing

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Authors: Mayank Sharma

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Groundwater has been a matter of great concern in the past years due to the depletion in the water table. This has resulted from the over-exploitation of groundwater resources. Sub-surface exploration of groundwater is a great way to identify the groundwater potential of an area. Thus, in order to meet the water needs for irrigation in the study area, there was a need for a tube well to be installed. Therefore, a Geophysical investigation was carried out to find the most suitable point of drilling and sinking of tube well that encounters an aquifer. Hence, an electrical resistivity survey of geophysical exploration was used to know the aquifer zones of the area. The Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) method was employed to know the subsurface geology of the area. Seven vertical electrical soundings using Schlumberger electrode array were carried out, having the maximum AB electrode separation of 700m at selected points in Ayma, Kharagpur-1 block of Paschim Midnapore district, West Bengal. The VES was done using an IGIS DDR3 Resistivity meter up to an approximate depth of 160-180m. The data was interpreted, processed and analyzed. Based on all the interpretations using the direct method, the geology of the area at the points of sounding was interpreted. It was established that two deeper clay-sand sections exist in the area at a depth of 50-70m (having resistivity range of 40-60ohm-m) and 70-160m (having resistivity range of 25-35ohm-m). These aquifers will provide a high yield of water which would be sufficient for the desired irrigation in the study area.

Keywords: VES method, Schlumberger method, electrical resistivity survey, geophysical exploration

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Authors: Francys Souza, Alberto Ohashi, Dorival Leao

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We present a general solution for finding the ε-optimal controls for non-Markovian stochastic systems as stochastic differential equations driven by Brownian motion, which is a problem recognized as a difficult solution. The contribution appears in the development of mathematical tools to deal with modeling and control of non-Markovian systems, whose applicability in different areas is well known. The methodology used consists to discretize the problem through a random discretization. In this way, we transform an infinite dimensional problem in a finite dimensional, thereafter we use measurable selection arguments, to find a control on an explicit form for the discretized problem. Then, we prove the control found for the discretized problem is a ε-optimal control for the original problem. Our theory provides a concrete description of a rather general class, among the principals, we can highlight financial problems such as portfolio control, hedging, super-hedging, pairs-trading and others. Therefore, our main contribution is the development of a tool to explicitly the ε-optimal control for non-Markovian stochastic systems. The pathwise analysis was made through a random discretization jointly with measurable selection arguments, has provided us with a structure to transform an infinite dimensional problem into a finite dimensional. The theory is applied to stochastic control problems based on path-dependent stochastic differential equations, where both drift and diffusion components are controlled. We are able to explicitly show optimal control with our method.

Keywords: dynamic programming equation, optimal control, stochastic control, stochastic differential equation

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Authors: Claire Harrison, Raajit K. Rampal, Vikas Gupta, Srdan Verstovsek, Moshe Talpaz, Jean-Jacques Kiladjian, Ruben Mesa, Andrew Kuykendall, Alessandro Vannucchi, Francesca Palandri, Sebastian Grosicki, Timothy Devos, Eric Jourdan, Marielle J. Wondergem, Haifa Kathrin Al-Ali, Veronika Buxhofer-Ausch, Alberto Alvarez-Larrán, Sanjay Akhani, Rafael Muñoz-Carerras, Yury Sheykin, Gozde Colak, Morgan Harris, John Mascarenhas

Abstract:

Myelofibrosis (MF) is characterized by bone marrow fibrosis, anemia, splenomegaly and constitutional symptoms. Progressive bone marrow fibrosis results from aberrant megakaryopoeisis and expression of proinflammatory cytokines, both of which are heavily influenced by bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET)-mediated gene regulation and lead to myeloproliferation and cytopenias. Pelabresib (CPI-0610) is an oral small-molecule investigational inhibitor of BET protein bromodomains currently being developed for the treatment of patients with MF. It is designed to downregulate BET target genes and modify nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling. MANIFEST-2 was initiated based on data from Arm 3 of the ongoing Phase 2 MANIFEST study (NCT02158858), which is evaluating the combination of pelabresib and ruxolitinib in Janus kinase inhibitor (JAKi) treatment-naïve patients with MF. Primary endpoint analyses showed splenic and symptom responses in 68% and 56% of 84 enrolled patients, respectively. MANIFEST-2 (NCT04603495) is a global, Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, active-control study of pelabresib and ruxolitinib versus placebo and ruxolitinib in JAKi treatment-naïve patients with primary MF, post-polycythemia vera MF or post-essential thrombocythemia MF. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pelabresib in combination with ruxolitinib. Here we report updates from a recent protocol amendment. The MANIFEST-2 study schema is shown in Figure 1. Key eligibility criteria include a Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System (DIPSS) score of Intermediate-1 or higher, platelet count ≥100 × 10^9/L, spleen volume ≥450 cc by computerized tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, ≥2 symptoms with an average score ≥3 or a Total Symptom Score (TSS) of ≥10 using the Myelofibrosis Symptom Assessment Form v4.0, peripheral blast count <5% and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤2. Patient randomization will be stratified by DIPSS risk category (Intermediate-1 vs Intermediate-2 vs High), platelet count (>200 × 10^9/L vs 100–200 × 10^9/L) and spleen volume (≥1800 cm^3 vs <1800 cm^3). Double-blind treatment (pelabresib or matching placebo) will be administered once daily for 14 consecutive days, followed by a 7 day break, which is considered one cycle of treatment. Ruxolitinib will be administered twice daily for all 21 days of the cycle. The primary endpoint is SVR35 response (≥35% reduction in spleen volume from baseline) at Week 24, and the key secondary endpoint is TSS50 response (≥50% reduction in TSS from baseline) at Week 24. Other secondary endpoints include safety, pharmacokinetics, changes in bone marrow fibrosis, duration of SVR35 response, duration of TSS50 response, progression-free survival, overall survival, conversion from transfusion dependence to independence and rate of red blood cell transfusion for the first 24 weeks. Study recruitment is ongoing; 400 patients (200 per arm) from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia will be enrolled. The study opened for enrollment in November 2020. MANIFEST-2 was initiated based on data from the ongoing Phase 2 MANIFEST study with the aim of assessing the efficacy and safety of pelabresib and ruxolitinib in JAKi treatment-naïve patients with MF. MANIFEST-2 is currently open for enrollment.

Keywords: CPI-0610, JAKi treatment-naïve, MANIFEST-2, myelofibrosis, pelabresib

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: Nafiseh Noormohammadi, Ahmad Sobhani Najafabadi

Abstract:

Hypericins (hypericin and pseudohypericin) are natural napthodianthrone derivatives produced by Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort), which have many medicinal properties such as antitumor, antineoplastic, antiviral, and antidepressant activities. Production and accumulation of hypericin in the plant are influenced by both genetic and environmental conditions. Despite the existence of different high-throughput data on the plant, genetic dimensions of hypericin biosynthesis have not yet been completely understood. In this research, 21 high-quality RNA-seq data on different parts of the plant were integrated into metabolic data to reconstruct a coexpression network. Results showed that a cluster of 30 transcripts was correlated with total hypericin. The identified transcripts were divided into three main groups based on their functions, including hypericin biosynthesis genes, transporters, detoxification genes, and transcription factors (TFs). In the biosynthetic group, different isoforms of polyketide synthase (PKSs) and phenolic oxidative coupling proteins (POCPs) were identified. Phylogenetic analysis of protein sequences integrated into gene expression analysis showed that some of the POCPs seem to be very important in the biosynthetic pathway of hypericin. In the TFs group, six TFs were correlated with total hypericin. qPCR analysis of these six TFs confirmed that three of them were highly correlated. The identified genes in this research are a rich resource for further studies on the molecular breeding of H. perforatum in order to obtain varieties with high hypericin production.

Keywords: hypericin, St. John’s Wort, data mining, transcription factors, secondary metabolites

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Andres Piña, Amy Meléndez, Pablo Cano, Tomas Cahuich

Abstract:

The purpose of this project is to propose a quick and environmentally friendly alternative to measure the quality of oils used in food industry. There is evidence that repeated and indiscriminate use of oils in food processing cause physicochemical changes with formation of potentially toxic compounds that can affect the health of consumers and cause organoleptic changes. In order to assess the quality of oils, non-destructive optical techniques such as Interferometry offer a rapid alternative to the use of reagents, using only the interaction of light on the oil. Through this project, we used interferograms of samples of oil placed under different heating conditions to establish the changes in their quality. These interferograms were obtained by means of a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer using a beam of light from a HeNe laser of 10mW at 632.8nm. Each interferogram was captured, analyzed and measured full width at half-maximum (FWHM) using the software from Amcap and ImageJ. The total of FWHMs was organized in three groups. It was observed that the average obtained from each of the FWHMs of group A shows a behavior that is almost linear, therefore it is probable that the exposure time is not relevant when the oil is kept under constant temperature. Group B exhibits a slight exponential model when temperature raises between 373 K and 393 K. Results of the t-Student show a probability of 95% (0.05) of the existence of variation in the molecular composition of both samples. Furthermore, we found a correlation between the Iodine Indexes (Physicochemical Analysis) and the Interferograms (Optical Analysis) of group C. Based on these results, this project highlights the importance of the quality of the oils used in food industry and shows how Interferometry can be a useful tool for this purpose.

Keywords: food industry, interferometric, oils, quality control

Procedia PDF Downloads 366

Authors: Simona Ziukaite, Remigijus Ivanauskas, Gintaras Denafas

Abstract:

Market development of electrical and electronic equipment and a short life cycle is driven by the increasing waste streams. Gold Au, copper Cu, silver Ag and palladium Pd can be found on printed circuit board. These metals make up the largest value of printed circuit board. Therefore, the printed circuit boards scrap is valuable as potential raw material for precious metals recovery. A comparison of Cu, Au, Ag, Pd recovery from waste printed circuit techniques was selected metals leaching of chemical reagents. The study was conducted using the selected multistage technique for Au, Cu, Ag, Pd recovery of printed circuit board. In the first and second metals leaching stages, as the elution reagent, 2M H2SO4 and H2O2 (35%) was used. In the third stage, leaching of precious metals used solution of 20 g/l of thiourea and 6 g/l of Fe2 (SO4)3. Verify the efficiency of the method was carried out the metals leaching test with aqua regia. Based on the experimental study, the leaching efficiency, using the preferred methodology, 60 % of Au and 85,5 % of Cu dissolution was achieved. Metals leaching efficiency after waste mechanical crushing and thermal treatment have been increased by 1,7 times (40 %) for copper, 1,6 times (37 %) for gold and 1,8 times (44 %) for silver. It was noticed that, the Au amount in old (> 20 years) waste is 17 times more, Cu amount - 4 times more, and Ag - 2 times more than in the new (< 1 years) waste. Palladium in the new printed circuit board waste has not been found, however, it was established that from 1 t of old printed circuit board waste can be recovered 1,064 g of Pd (leaching with aqua regia). It was found that from 1 t of old printed circuit board waste can be recovered 1,064 g of Ag. Precious metals recovery in Lithuania was estimated in this study. Given the amounts of generated printed circuit board waste, the limits for recovery of precious metals were identified.

Keywords: leaching efficiency, limits for recovery, precious metals recovery, printed circuit board waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 385

Authors: H. T. Le Luong, C. Hénaux, F. Messine, G. Bueno-Mariani, S. Mollov, N. Voyer

Abstract:

This paper presents a comparative study of different modular brushless wound rotor synchronous machine (MB-WRSM). The goal of the study is to highlight the structure which offers the best fault tolerant capability and the highest output performances. The fundamental winding factor is calculated by using the method based on EMF phasors as a significant criterion to select the preferred number of phases, stator slots, and poles. With the limited number of poles for a small machine (3.67kW/7000rpm), 15 different machines for preferred phase/slot/pole combinations are analyzed using two-dimensional (2-D) finite element method and compared according to three criteria: torque density, torque ripple and efficiency. The 7phase/7slot/6pole machine is chosen with the best compromise of high torque density, small torque ripple (3.89%) and high nominal efficiency (95%). This machine is then compared with a reference design surface permanent magnet synchronous machine (SPMSM). In conclusion, this paper provides an electromagnetic analysis of a new brushless wound-rotor synchronous machine using multiphase non-overlapping fractional slot double layer winding. The simulation results are discussed and demonstrate that the MB-WRSM presents interesting performance features, with overall performance closely matching that of an equivalent SPMSM.

Keywords: finite element method (FEM), machine performance, modular wound rotor synchronous machine, non-overlapping concentrated winding

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Md Omar Faruq Howlader, Tariq Pervez Sattar, Sandra Dudley

Abstract:

This paper describes the design process of a 200 MHz Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and a battery powered concrete vertical concrete surface climbing mobile robot. The key design feature is a miniaturized 200 MHz dipole antenna using additional radiating arms and procedure records a reduction of 40% in length compared to a conventional antenna. The antenna set is mounted in front of the robot using a servo mechanism for folding and unfolding purposes. The robot’s adhesion mechanism to climb the reinforced concrete wall is based on neodymium permanent magnets arranged in a unique combination to concentrate and maximize the magnetic flux to provide sufficient adhesion force for GPR installation. The experiments demonstrated the robot’s capability of climbing reinforced concrete wall carrying the attached prototype GPR system and perform floor-to-wall transition and vice versa. The developed GPR’s performance is validated by its capability of detecting and localizing an aluminium sheet and a reinforcement bar (rebar) of 12 mm diameter buried under a test rig built of wood to mimic the concrete structure environment. The present robotic GPR system proves the concept of feasibility of undertaking inspection procedure on large concrete structures in hazardous environments that may not be accessible to human inspectors.

Keywords: climbing robot, dipole antenna, ground penetrating radar (GPR), mobile robots, robotic GPR

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Linung Kresno Adikusumo, Ivan Ramos Sampe Immanuel, Liston Sitanggang

Abstract:

An excellent, well work program in the oil and gas industry can have numerous positive business impacts, contributing to operational efficiency, increased production, enhanced safety, and improved financial performance. In summary, an excellent, well work program not only ensures the immediate success of specific projects but also has a broader positive impact on the overall business performance and reputation of the oil and gas company. It positions the company for long-term success in a competitive and dynamic industry. Nevertheless, a number of challenges were encountered when developing a good work program, such as the poor quality and lack of integration of well documentation, the incompleteness of the well history, and the low accessibility of well documentation. As a result, the well work program was delivered less accurately, plus well damage was managed slowly. Our solution implementing digital technology by developing a web-based database and application not only solves those issues but also provides an easy-to-access report and user-friendly display for management as well as engineers to analyze the report’s content. This application aims to revolutionize the documentation of well history in the field of oil and gas exploration and production. The current lack of a streamlined and comprehensive system for capturing, organizing, and accessing well-related data presents challenges in maintaining accurate and up-to-date records. Our innovative solution introduces a user-friendly and efficient platform designed to capture well history documentation seamlessly.

Keywords: digital, drilling, well work, application

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Kassa Endalamaw Rewnu

Abstract:

The variability properties of a quasar sample, spectroscopically complete to magnitude J = 22.0, are investigated on a time baseline of 2 years using three different photometric bands (U, J and F). The original sample was obtained using a combination of different selection criteria: colors, slitless spectroscopy and variability, based on a time baseline of 1 yr. The main goals of this work are two-fold: first, to derive the percentage of variable quasars on a relatively short time baseline; secondly, to search for new quasar candidates missed by the other selection criteria; and, thus, to estimate the completeness of the spectroscopic sample. In order to achieve these goals, we have extracted all the candidate variable objects from a sample of about 1800 stellar or quasi-stellar objects with limiting magnitude J = 22.50 over an area of about 0.50 deg2. We find that > 65% of all the objects selected as possible variables are either confirmed quasars or quasar candidates on the basis of their colors. This percentage increases even further if we exclude from our lists of variable candidates a number of objects equal to that expected on the basis of `contamination' induced by our photometric errors. The percentage of variable quasars in the spectroscopic sample is also high, reaching about 50%. On the basis of these results, we can estimate that the incompleteness of the original spectroscopic sample is < 12%. We conclude that variability analysis of data with small photometric errors can be successfully used as an efficient and independent (or at least auxiliary) selection method in quasar surveys, even when the time baseline is relatively short. Finally, when corrected for the different intrinsic time lags corresponding to a fixed observed time baseline, our data do not show a statistically significant correlation between variability and either absolute luminosity or redshift.

Keywords: nuclear activity, galaxies, active quasars, variability

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Poonam Chouhan, Rama Thakur, R. J. Mahajan, Kushla Pathania, Mehnaz Kumar

Abstract:

Background: Cesarean sections are associated with short- and long-term risks and affect the health of the woman, her child, and future pregnancies. We conducted a study to compare Maternal, fetal, and neonatal elective versus emergency cesarean deliveries in a tertiary care center. Material & Methods: This was a cross-sectional comparative hospital-based study conducted at Kamla Nehru State Hospital for the mother and Child, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, from June 1, 2020, to May 31ˢᵗ, 2021). A total of 200 consenting participants (100 participants undergoing elective cesarean section & 100 participants undergoing emergency cesarean section) were enrolled. The analysis was performed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21. Results: Antenatal complications were more in women who had an emergency cesarean section (95%) as compared to those who had an elective cesarean section (46%) (p=0.0076). 26.5% of women had fetal complications, and out of them, 92.4% (49/53) underwent emergency cesarean section. IUGR was diagnosed in 8% of women, out of them, 56.2% had elective cesarean section & 43.8% had an emergency cesarean section. Malpresentation other than breech presentation were present in 3.5% (7/200) of women. Six (3%) women had cesarean section for macrosomia. Of these, 66.7% (4/6) had elective cesarean section & 33.3% had emergency cesarean section. 23% (46/200) neonates required NICU admission, and 5% (10/200) had transient tachypnoea of new-born (TTNB). Conclusion: Our study concluded that maternal and fetal Complications of an emergency cesarean are more as compared to a planned elective cesarean. An elective cesarean conducted well in time will prevent an emergency cesarean delivery and its related complications.

Keywords: maternal, fetal, neonatal, complications, cesareans

Procedia PDF Downloads 80