Search results for: support vector machine

Authors: Rahmadanih, Sitti Bulkis, A. Amrullah, R. M. Rukka, N. M. Viantika

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Food security is still a global issue, including in Indonesia. In South Sulawesi, this issue also occurs in members of farmer groups/women farmer groups. This study aims to (1) describe the implementation of strengthening institutional model of Women Farmer Groups (WFG) and (2) analyzing the capacity building of WFG members in order to develop food security after the implementations on institutional model. The research was conducted in Bulukumba and Luwu Utara District, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The research was designed with qualitative and quantitative (mixed) method. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interview and Focus Group Discussion (FGD); while quantitative data collected through a household survey of WGF members. Two WGF were selected they are WFG in Bulukumba and WGF in Luwu Utara District. Both WGF has been selected as the case unit, which consisting of 60 households. Institutional strengthening model that been implemented is a combination model of (1) institutional support and (2) capacity development of WGF members. The model of institutional support aim is to develop food security could be achieved through facilitation on produce banana chips (initiate a business group formation) and preparation of institution rule (AD/ART). (2) The developing Model of WFG members capacity building are (a) technical training of banana chips producing process, also food and nutrition counseling as well as the utilization of the yard, (b) processing of food products from their yards. Food and nutrition knowledge of WFG members was increased about 30% - 60% and accompanied by the development of households’ food security by 6.7% - 10.0%.; when compared to last year percentage.

Keywords: food security, institutional strengthening, model implementation, women farmer group

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Authors: Jenny Radeva, Anke-Gundula Roth, Christian Goebbert, Robert Niestroj-Pahl, Lars Daehne, Axel Wolfram, Juergen Wiese

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Ceramic membranes for water purification combine excellent stability with long-life characteristics and high chemical resistance. Layer-by-Layer coating is a well-known technique for customization and optimization of filtration properties of membranes but is mostly used on polymeric membranes. Ceramic membranes comprising a metal oxide filtration layer of Al2O3 or TiO2 are charged and therefore highly suitable for polyelectrolyte adsorption. The high stability of the membrane support allows efficient backwash and chemical cleaning of the membrane. The presented study reports metal oxide/organic composite membrane with an increased rejection of bivalent salts like MgSO4 and the organic micropollutant Diclofenac. A self-build apparatus was used for applying the polyelectrolyte multilayers on the ceramic membrane. The device controls the flow and timing of the polyelectrolytes and washing solutions. As support for the Layer-by-Layer coat, ceramic mono-channel membranes were used with an inner capillary of 8 mm diameter, which is connected to the coating device. The inner wall of the capillary is coated subsequently with polycat- and anions. The filtration experiments were performed with a feed solution of MgSO4 and Diclofenac. The salt content of the permeate was detected conductometrically and Diclofenac was measured with UV-Adsorption. The concluded results show retention values of magnesium sulfate of 70% and diclofenac retention of 60%. Further experimental research studied various parameters of the composite membrane-like Molecular Weight Cut Off and pore size, Zeta potential and its mechanical and chemical robustness.

Keywords: water purification, polyelectrolytes, membrane modification, layer-by-layer coating, ceramic membranes

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Authors: Hyung Jun Ahn

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With the growing importance of social media, it is imperative to analyze it to understand the users. Users share useful information and their experience through social media, where much of what is shared is in the form of texts. This study focused on blogs and aimed to test whether the psycho-linguistic characteristics of blog texts vary with the subject or the type of experience of the texts. For this goal, blog texts about four different types of experience, Go, skiing, reading, and musical were collected through the search API of the Tistory blog service. The analysis of the texts showed that various psycholinguistic characteristics of the texts are different across the four categories of the texts. Moreover, the machine learning experiment using the characteristics for automatic text classification showed significant performance. Specifically, the ensemble method, based on functional tree and bagging appeared to be most effective in classification.

Keywords: blog, social media, text analysis, psycholinguistics

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Authors: Nada Azhar

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The aim of the paper is to investigate the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) CSR on the National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Saudi Arabia. In order to achieve this, a case study was made of the CSR activities of this bank from the perspective of its branch managers. The NCB was chosen as it was one of the first Saudi banks to engage in CSR and currently has a wide range of CSR initiatives. A qualitative research method was used. Open-ended questionnaires were administered to eighty branch managers of the NCB, with fifty-five usable questionnaires returned and twenty managers were interviewed as part of the primary research. Data from both questionnaires and interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Six themes emerged from the questionnaire findings were used to develop the interview questions. These themes are the following: Awareness of employees about CSR in the NCB; CSR activities as a type of investment; Government and media support; Increased employee loyalty in the NCB; Prestige and profit to the NCB; and View of CSR in Islam. This paper makes a theoretical contribution in that it investigates and increases understanding of the effect of CSR on the NCB in Saudi Arabia. In addition, it makes a practical contribution by making recommendations which can support the development of CSR in the NCB. A limitation of the paper is that it is a case study of only one bank. It is therefore recommended that future research could be conducted with other banks in Saudi Arabia, or indeed, with a range of other types of firm within the financial services area in Saudi Arabia. In this way, the same issues could be explored but with a greater potential generalisability of findings of CSR within the Saudi Arabian financial services industry. In addition, this paper takes a qualitative approach and it is suggested that future research be carried out using mixed methods, which could provide a greater depth of analysis.

Keywords: branch managers, corporate social responsibility, national commercial bank, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Dorcas Matowe

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Inequality in health care for racial and ethnic minorities continues to be a growing concern for many Americans. Some of the barriers hindering the elimination of health disparities include lack of insurance, socioeconomic status (SES), and racism. This study will specifically focus on the association between some of these factors- health care access, which includes insurance coverage and frequency of doctor visits, race, ethnicity, and health status. The purpose of this study will be to address the following questions: is having health insurance associated with increased doctor visits? Are racial and ethnic minorities with health insurance more or less likely to see a doctor? Is the association between having health insurance moderated by being an ethnic minority? Given the current implications of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, this study will highlight the need to prioritize health care access for minorities and confront institutional racism. Critical Race Theory (CRT) will demonstrate how racism has reinforced these health disparities. This quantitative study design will analyze secondary data from the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) questionnaire, a telephone survey conducted annually in all 50 states and three US territories by state health departments in conjunction with the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Non-identifying health-related data is gathered annually from over 400,000 adults 18 years and above about their health status and use of preventative services. Through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the relationship between the predictor variables of health care access, race, and ethnicity, the criterion variable of health status, and the latent variables of emotional support and life satisfaction will be examined. It is hypothesized that there will be an interaction between certain racial and ethnic minorities who went to see a doctor, had insurance coverage, experienced racism, and the quality of their health status, emotional support, and life satisfaction.

Keywords: ethnic minorities, health disparities, health access, racism

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Authors: Rupan Preet Kaur

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This article reviewed the potential of artificial intelligence in the field of identity and access management (IAM) and identity governance and administration (IGA), the most critical pillars of any organization. The power of leveraging AI in the most complex and huge user base environment was outlined by simplifying and streamlining the user access approvals and re-certifications without any impact on the user productivity and at the same time strengthening the overall compliance of IAM landscape. Certain challenges encountered in the current state were detailed where majority of organizations are still lacking maturity in the data integrity aspect. Finally, this paper concluded that within the realm of possibility, users and application owners can reap the benefits of unified approach provided by AI to improve the user experience, improve overall efficiency, and strengthen the risk posture.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, machine learning, user access review, access approval

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Authors: Hyojin Lim, Cuong Nguyen Khac, Yeongyu Choi, Ho-Youl Jung

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In this paper, we propose a simple moving object detection, which is based on motion vectors obtained from pyramidal Lucas-Kanade optical flow. The proposed method detects moving objects such as pedestrians, the other vehicles and some obstacles at the front-side of the host vehicle, and it can provide the warning to the driver. Motion vectors are obtained by using pyramidal Lucas-Kanade optical flow, and some outliers are eliminated by comparing the amplitude of each vector with the pre-defined threshold value. The background model is obtained by calculating the mean and the variance of the amplitude of recent motion vectors in the rectangular shaped local region called the cell. The model is applied as the reference to classify motion vectors of moving objects and those of background. Motion vectors are clustered to rectangular regions by using the unsupervised clustering K-means algorithm. Labeling method is applied to label groups which is close to each other, using by distance between each center points of rectangular. Through the simulations tested on four kinds of scenarios such as approaching motorbike, vehicle, and pedestrians to host vehicle, we prove that the proposed is simple but efficient for moving object detection in parking lots.

Keywords: moving object detection, dynamic scene, optical flow, pyramidal optical flow

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Authors: Thedy Yogasara, Fredy Agus

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In designing a product, it is currently crucial to focus not only on the product’s usability based on performance measures, but also on user experience (UX) that includes pragmatic and hedonic aspects of product use. These aspects play a significant role in fulfillment of user needs, both functionally and psychologically. Pragmatic quality refers to as product’s perceived ability to support the fulfillment of behavioral goals. It is closely linked to functionality and usability of the product. In contrast, hedonic quality is product’s perceived ability to support the fulfillment of psychological needs. Hedonic quality relates to the pleasure of ownership and use of the product, including stimulation for personal development and communication of user’s identity to others through the product. This study evaluates the pragmatic and hedonic aspects of gaming mice G600 and Razer Krait using AttrakDiff tool to create an improved design that is able to generate positive UX. AttrakDiff is a method that measures pragmatic and hedonic scores of a product with a scale between -3 to +3 through four attributes (i.e. Pragmatic Quality, Hedonic Quality-Identification, Hedonic Quality-Stimulation, and Attractiveness), represented by 28 pairs of opposite words. Based on data gathered from 15 participants, it is identified that gaming mouse G600 needs to be redesigned because of its low grades (pragmatic score: -0.838, hedonic score: 1, attractiveness score: 0.771). The redesign process focuses on the attributes with poor scores and takes into account improvement suggestions collected from interview with the participants. The redesigned mouse G600 is evaluated using the previous method. The result shows higher scores in pragmatic quality (1.929), hedonic quality (1.703), and attractiveness (1.667), indicating that the redesigned mouse is more capable of creating pleasurable experience of product use.

Keywords: AttrakDiff, hedonic aspect, pragmatic aspect, product design, user experience

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Authors: Farnaz Alborzi, Angelika Schmitz, Rainer Stamminger

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Reducing water temperatures in the wash phase of a washing programme and increasing the overall cycle durations are the latest trends in decreasing energy consumption of washing programmes. Since the implementation of the new energy efficiency classes in 2010, manufacturers seem to apply the aforementioned washing strategy with lower temperatures combined with longer programme durations extensively to realise energy-savings needed to meet the requirements of the highest energy efficiency class possible. A semi-representative on-line survey in eleven European countries (Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) was conducted by Bonn University in 2015 to shed light on consumer opinion and behaviour regarding the effects of the lower washing temperature and longer cycle duration in laundry washing on consumers’ acceptance of the programme. The risk of the long wash cycle is that consumers might not use the energy efficient Standard programmes and will think of this option as inconvenient and therefore switch to shorter, but more energy consuming programmes. Furthermore, washing in a lower temperature may lead to the problem of cross-contamination. Washing behaviour of over 5,000 households was studied in this survey to provide support and guidance for manufacturers and policy designers. Qualified households were chosen following a predefined quota: -Involvement in laundry washing: substantial, -Distribution of gender: more than 50 % female , -Selected age groups: -20–39 years, -40–59 years, -60–74 years, -Household size: 1, 2, 3, 4 and more than 4 people. Furthermore, Eurostat data for each country were used to calculate the population distribution in the respective age class and household size as quotas for the consumer survey distribution in each country. Before starting the analyses, the validity of each dataset was controlled with the aid of control questions. After excluding the outlier data, the number of the panel diminished from 5,100 to 4,843. The primary outcome of the study is European consumers are willing to save water and energy in a laundry washing but reluctant to use long programme cycles since they don’t believe that the long cycles could be energy-saving. However, the results of our survey don’t confirm that there is a relation between frequency of using Standard cotton (Eco) or Energy-saving programmes and the duration of the programmes. It might be explained by the fact that the majority of washing programmes used by consumers do not take so long, perhaps consumers just choose some additional time reduction option when selecting those programmes and this finding might be changed if the Energy-saving programmes take longer. Therefore, it may be assumed that introducing the programme duration as a new measure on a revised energy label would strongly influence the consumer at the point of sale. Furthermore, results of the survey confirm that consumers are more willing to use lower temperature programmes in order to save energy than accepting longer programme cycles and majority of them accept deviation from the nominal temperature of the programme as long as the results are good.

Keywords: duration, energy-saving, standard programmes, washing temperature

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Authors: Sze Yee Lee

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The death of a sibling in childhood leads to significant impacts on both the personal and family development of the surviving siblings. Yet, the effects of sibling loss in Chinese societies such as Hong Kong have been inadequately documented in the literature. In particular, there is a gap in the literature about the long term impacts on surviving siblings. This paper explores the experience of adult siblings encountering siblings’ death during childhood with the use of in-depth interviews. Through thematic analysis and in-depth interviews, the author explores the impacts on surviving siblings’ emotions, coping styles, struggles and challenges, and personal development. Furthermore, the influences on family dynamics are explored thoroughly, including the changes in a family atmosphere, family roles, family relationships, family communication, and parenting styles. More importantly, the author identifies (i) existing continuing bonds, (ii) crying, (iii) adequate social support, (iv) hiding own emotions as a gesture of protecting parents as the crucial elements pertinent to surviving siblings’ successful adaptation in the face of sibling loss. In addition, 'child-centered' and 'family-centered' interventions for families with siblings' death in a Chinese context are discussed. With the use of age-appropriate language and children’s participation in the preparation of death and after-death arrangements, surviving siblings could be assisted in transforming bereavement into opportunities for growth. In addition, the bereaved family could better cope with grief with open communication platforms, adequate social support, and family education resources. Meanwhile, life-and-death education at both school and community levels could enhance the public’s awareness and understanding of the bereaved individuals to prevent creating further harm to them.

Keywords: children and adolescent bereavement, children-centered, family-centered, sibling’s death

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Authors: Sayor Ajfar Aaron, Mushfiqur Rahman, Sajjat Hossain Abir, Ashif Newaz

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This study delves into the development of an artificial intelligence application designed for real-time emotion recognition from human vocal patterns. Utilizing advanced machine learning algorithms, including deep learning and neural networks, the paper highlights both the technical challenges and potential opportunities in accurately interpreting emotional cues from speech. Key findings demonstrate the critical role of diverse training datasets and the impact of ambient noise on recognition accuracy, offering insights into future directions for improving robustness and applicability in real-world scenarios.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, convolutional neural network, emotion recognition, vocal patterns

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Authors: Belkis L. Cabrera

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Contemporary technological innovations have reshaped possibility, interaction, communication, engagement, education, and training. Indeed, today, a high-quality technology enhanced learning experience can be transformative as much for the learner as for the educator-trainer. As innovative technologies continue to facilitate, support, foster, and enhance collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, adaptiveness, multidisciplinarity, and communication, the field of instructional design (ID) also continues to develop and expand. Shifting its focus from media to the systematic design of instruction, or rather from the gadgets and devices themselves to the theories, models, and impact of implementing educational technology, the evolution of ID marks a restructuring of the teaching, learning, and training paradigms. However, with all of its promise, this latter component of ID remains underdeveloped. The majority of ID models are crafted and guided by learning theories and, therefore, most models are constructed around student and educator roles rather than trainer roles. Thus, when these models or systems are employed for training purposes, they usually have to be re-fitted, tweaked, and stretched to meet the training needs. This paper is concerned with the training or professional development (PD) facet of instructional design and how ID models built on teacher-to-teacher interaction and dialogue can support the creation of professional learning communities (PLCs) or communities of practice (CoPs), which can augment learning and PD experiences for all. Just as technology is changing the face of education, so too can it change the face of PD within the educational realm. This paper not only provides a new ID model but using innovative technologies such as Padlet and Thinkbinder, this paper presents a concrete example of how a traditional body-to-body, brick, and mortar learning community can be transferred and transformed into the online context.

Keywords: communities of practice, e-learning, educational reform, instructional design, professional development, professional learning communities, technology, training

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Authors: Sandeep Santosh, O. P. Sahu

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In this paper, performance comparison of wideband covariance matrix sparse representation (W-CMSR) method with other existing wideband Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimation methods has been made.W-CMSR relies less on a priori information of the incident signal number than the ordinary subspace based methods.Consider the perturbation free covariance matrix of the wideband array output. The diagonal covariance elements are contaminated by unknown noise variance. The covariance matrix of array output is conjugate symmetric i.e its upper right triangular elements can be represented by lower left triangular ones.As the main diagonal elements are contaminated by unknown noise variance,slide over them and align the lower left triangular elements column by column to obtain a measurement vector.Simulation results for W-CMSR are compared with simulation results of other wideband DOA estimation methods like Coherent signal subspace method (CSSM), Capon, l1-SVD, and JLZA-DOA. W-CMSR separate two signals very clearly and CSSM, Capon, L1-SVD and JLZA-DOA fail to separate two signals clearly and an amount of pseudo peaks exist in the spectrum of L1-SVD.

Keywords: W-CMSR, wideband direction of arrival (DOA), covariance matrix, electrical and computer engineering

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Authors: Santhosh Kumat T., Priya E.

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The control of a doubly fed induction generator by fuzzy is described. The active and reactive power can be controlled by rotor and grid side converters with fuzzy controller. The main objective is to maintain constant voltage and frequency at the output of the generator. However the Line Side Converter (LSC) can be controlled to supply up to 50% of the required reactive current. When the crowbar is not activated the DFIG can supply reactive power from the rotor side through the machine as well as through the LSC.

Keywords: Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG), Rotor Side Converter (RSC), Grid Side Converter (GSC), Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS)

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Authors: Arth Bohra, Marwa Mahmoud

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In this paper, we utilize computer vision to develop a tool for youth coaches to formulate set-piece tactics for their players. We used the Soccernet database to extract the ResNet features and camera calibration data for over 3000 corner kick across 500 professional matches in the top 6 European leagues (English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga). Leveraging the provided homography matrix, we construct a feature vector representing the formation of players on these corner kicks. Additionally, labeling the videos manually, we obtained the pass-trajectory of each of the 3000+ corner kicks by segmenting the field into four zones. Next, after determining the localization of the players and ball, we used event data to give the corner kicks a rating on a 1-4 scale. By employing a Convolutional Neural Network, our model managed to predict the success of a corner kick given the formations of players. This suggests that with the right formations, teams can optimize the way they approach corner kicks. By understanding this, we can help coaches formulate set-piece tactics for their own teams in order to maximize the success of their play. The proposed model can be easily extended; our method could be applied to even more game situations, from free kicks to counterattacks. This research project also gives insight into the myriad of possibilities that artificial intelligence possesses in transforming the domain of sports.

Keywords: soccer, corner kicks, AI, computer vision

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Authors: Magdalena Biela, Marta Weber-Siwirska, Edyta Sierka

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The current noticed trend in Central European countries, as in other regions of the world, is for people to migrate to cities. As a result, the urban population is to have reached 70% of the total by 2050. Due to this tendency, as well as taking high real estate prices and limited reserves of city green areas into consideration, the greenery and agricultural soil adjacent to cities is are to be devoted to housing projects, while city centres are expected to undergo partial depopulation. Urban heat islands and phenomena such as torrential rains may cause serious damage. They may even endanger the very life and health of the inhabitants. Due to these tangible effects of climate change, residents expect that local government takes action to develop green infrastructure (GI). The main purpose of our research has been to assess the degree of readiness on the part of the local government in Poland to develop BGI. A questionnaire using the CAWI method was prepared, and a survey was carried out. The target group were town hall employees in all 380 powiat cities and towns (380 county centres) in Poland. The form contained 14 questions covering, among others, actions taken to support the development of GI and ways of motivating residents to take such actions. 224 respondents replied to the questions. The results of the research show that 52% of the cities/towns have taken or intend to take measures to favour the development of green spaces. Currently, the installation of green roofs and living walls is are only carried out by 6 Polish cities, and a few more are at the stage of preparing appropriate regulations. The problem of rainwater retention is much more widespread. Among the municipalities declaring any activities for the benefit of GI, approximately 42% have decided to work on this problem. Over 19% of the respondents are planning an increase in the surface occupied by green areas, 14% - the installation of green roofs, and 12% - redevelopment of city greenery. It is optimistic that 67% of the respondents are willing to acquire knowledge about BGI by means of taking part in educational activities both at the national and international levels. There are many ways to help GI development. The most common type of support in the cities and towns surveyed is co-financing (35%), followed by full financing of projects (11%). About 15% of the cities declare only advisory support. Thus, the problem of GI in Central European cities is at the stage of initial development and requires advanced measures and implementation of both proven solutions applied in other European and world countries using the concept of Nature-based Solutions.

Keywords: city/town, blue-green infrastructure, green roofs, climate change adaptation

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Authors: Shiva Abdoli, Daniel T.Semere

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Several researches have been conducted to study consumption of energy in cutting process. Most of these researches are focusing to measure the consumption and propose consumption reduction methods. In this work, the relation between the cutting parameters and the consumption is investigated in order to establish a generalized energy consumption model that can be used for process and production planning in real production lines. Using the generalized model, the process planning will be carried out by taking into account the energy as a function of the selected process parameters. Similarly, the generalized model can be used in production planning to select the right operational parameters like batch sizes, routing, buffer size, etc. in a production line. The description and derivation of the model as well as a case study are given in this paper to illustrate the applicability and validity of the model.

Keywords: process parameters, cutting process, energy efficiency, Material Removal Rate (MRR)

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Authors: Rita U. Onolemhemhen, Saheed L. Bello, Akin P. Iwayemi

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The effectiveness of energy demand policy depends on identifying the key drivers of energy demand both in the short-run and the long-run. This paper examines the influence of regional differences on the link between energy demand and other explanatory variables for Nigeria, China and USA using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) approach. This study employed annual time series data on energy consumption (ED), real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (RGDP), real energy prices (P) and urbanization (N) for a thirty-six-year sample period. The utilized time-series data are sourced from World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI, 2016) and US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Results from the study, shows that all the independent variables (income, urbanization, and price) substantially affect the long-run energy consumption in Nigeria, USA and China, whereas, income has no significant effect on short-run energy demand in USA and Nigeria. In addition, the long-run effect of urbanization is relatively stronger in China. Urbanization is a key factor in energy demand, it therefore recommended that more attention should be given to the development of rural communities to reduce the inflow of migrants into urban communities which causes the increase in energy demand and energy excesses should be penalized while energy management should be incentivized.

Keywords: economic growth, energy demand, income, real GDP, urbanization, VECM

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Authors: Geremew Geidare Kailo, Igor Gáspár, András Koris, Ivana Pajčin, Flóra Vitális, Vanja Vlajkov

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Three-dimension (3D) printing, a very popular additive manufacturing technology, has recently undergone rapid growth and replaced the use of conventional technology from prototyping to producing end-user parts and products. The 3D Printing technology involves a digital manufacturing machine that produces three-dimensional objects according to designs created by the user via 3D modeling or computer-aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) software. The most popular 3D printing system is Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) or also called Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). A 3D-printed object is considered food safe if it can have direct contact with the food without any toxic effects, even after cleaning, storing, and reusing the object. This work analyzes the processing timeline of the filament (material for 3D printing) from unboxing to the extrusion through the nozzle. It is an important task to analyze the growth of bacteria on the 3D printed surface and in gaps between the layers. By default, the 3D-printed object is not food safe after longer usage and direct contact with food (even though they use food-safe filaments), but there are solutions for this problem. The aim of this work was to evaluate the 3D-printed object from different perspectives of food safety. Firstly, testing antimicrobial 3D printing filaments from a food safety aspect since the 3D Printed object in the food industry may have direct contact with the food. Therefore, the main purpose of the work is to reduce the microbial load on the surface of a 3D-printed part. Coating with epoxy resin was investigated, too, to see its effect on mechanical strength, thermal resistance, surface smoothness and food safety (cleanability). Another aim of this study was to test new temperature-resistant filaments and the effect of high temperature on 3D printed materials to see if they can be cleaned with boiling or similar hi-temp treatment. This work proved that all three mentioned methods could improve the food safety of the 3D printed object, but the size of this effect variates. The best result we got was with coating with epoxy resin, and the object was cleanable like any other injection molded plastic object with a smooth surface. Very good results we got by boiling the objects, and it is good to see that nowadays, more and more special filaments have a food-safe certificate and can withstand boiling temperatures too. Using antibacterial filaments reduced bacterial colonies to 1/5, but the biggest advantage of this method is that it doesn’t require any post-processing. The object is ready out of the 3D printer. Acknowledgements: The research was supported by the Hungarian and Serbian bilateral scientific and technological cooperation project funded by the Hungarian National Office for Research, Development and Innovation (NKFI, 2019-2.1.11-TÉT-2020-00249) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. The authors acknowledge the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences’s Doctoral School of Food Science for the support in this study

Keywords: food safety, 3D printing, filaments, microbial, temperature

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Authors: Sawarni Hasibuan, Juliza Hidayati

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Competitiveness and sustainability issues not only put pressure on big companies, but also small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs Batik Bogor is one of the local culture-based creative industries in Bogor city which is also dealing with the issue of sustainability. The purpose of this research is to develop framework of sustainability at SMEs Batik Indonesia case of SMEs Batik Bogor by integrating innovation of cleaner production in its supply chain. The approach used is desk study, field survey, in-depth interviews, and benchmarking best practices of SMEs sustainability. In-depth interviews involve stakeholders to identify the needs and standards of sustainability of SMEs Batik. Data analysis was done by benchmarking method, Multi Dimension Scaling (MDS) method, and Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat (SWOT) analysis. The results recommend the framework of sustainability for SMEs Batik in Indonesia. The sustainability status of SMEs Batik Bogor is classified as Moderate Sustainable. Factors that support the sustainability of SMEs Batik Bogor such is a strong commitment of top management in adopting cleaner production innovation and creativity approach. Successful cleaner production innovations are implemented primarily in the substitution of dye materials from toxic to non-toxic, reducing the intensity of non-renewable energy use, as well as the reuse and recycle of solid waste. “Mosaic Batik” is one of the innovations of solid waste utilization of batik waste produced by company R&D center that gives benefit to three pillars of sustainability, that is financial benefit, environmental benefit, and social benefit. The sustainability of SMEs Batik Bogor cannot be separated from the support of Bogor City Government which proactively facilitates the promotion of sustainable innovation produced by SMEs Batik Bogor.

Keywords: cleaner production innovation, creativity, SMEs Batik, sustainability supply chain

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Authors: Raya Kathreen T. Fuentes, Christian Owen P. Domingo, Kaisha V. Durana, Kristine Chelsea Shynne M. Evangelista, Nicole A. Feliciano, Kathleen Patricia Q. Ferido, Christianna Joy J. Ferrer

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Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a global public health concern. The foot ulcer is one of the most serious and costly complications of DM. Among the components of diabetes self-management (DSM), foot self-care was found to be one of the best preventive measures for foot ulcers yet is seldom performed. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine how adequate foot self-care practices (FSP) are among Filipino adults with DM with the following objectives: 1) determine their DSM, 2) describe their FSP, 3) determine the relationship between FSP and DSM, and 4) determine the relationship of FSP to sociodemographic characteristics, disease-related characteristics, social support, and knowledge. A descriptive correlational design was utilized. 114 respondents aged 19-65 were selected through purposive sampling from diabetes clinics. A self-administered questionnaire regarding FSP, DSM, sociodemographic and disease-related characteristics, social support, and knowledge on diabetes were used. Pearson's correlation was utilized to determine the relationship between FSP and DSM while simple linear regression was used to determine the relationship of FSP to the factors aforementioned. Results showed that majority of the respondents have desirable DSM but inadequate FSP. FSP and DSM were shown to be positively correlated but not statistically significant (p = 0.8). Disparity among the two suggests that there is less emphasis on foot self-care compared to other components of DSM. Findings further revealed that patients diagnosed with DM for < 5 years demonstrated more adequate FSP compared to patients diagnosed for > 5 years which may suggest that newly diagnosed patients are more receptive to new information about DSM. Health education on DSM should place more emphasis on FSP. Reiteration of health education and continuous motivation should be done to all DM patients, not just to newly diagnosed patients, to improve compliance to FSP and enhance patient empowerment regarding self-care.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, diabetes self-management, foot self-care practices, foot ulcer

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Authors: Hennie Boeije, Renate Verkaik, Joke Korevaar

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In Dutch national policy, it is promoted that the elderly remain living at home longer. They are less often admitted to a nursing home or only later in life. While living at home, it is important that they experience a good quality of life. Care providers in primary care support this. In this study, it was investigated what quality of life means for the elderly and which characteristics care should have that supports living at home longer with quality of life. To explore this topic, a qualitative methodology was used. Four focus groups were conducted: two with elderly people who live at home and their family caregivers, one with district nurses employed in-home care services and one with elderly care physicians working in primary care. Next to this individual interviews were employed with general practitioners (GPs). In total 32 participants took part in the study. The data were thematically analysed with MaxQDA software for qualitative analysis and reported. Quality of life is a multi-faceted term for elderly. The essence of their description is that they can still undertake activities that matter to them. Good physical health, mental well-being and social connections enable them to do this. Own control over their life is important for some. They are of opinion that how they experience life and manage old age is related to their resilience and coping. Key terms in the definitions of quality of life by GPs are also physical and mental health and social contacts. These are the three pillars. Next, to this elderly care, physicians mention security and safety and district nurses add control over their own life and meaningful daily activities. They agree that with frail elderly people, the balance is delicate and a change in one of the three pillars can cause it to collapse like a house of cards. When discussing what support is needed, professionals agree on access to care with a low threshold, prevention, and life course planning. When care is provided in a timely manner, a worsening of the situation can be prevented. They agree that hospital care often is not needed since most of the problems with the elderly have to do with care and security rather than with a cure per se. GPs can consult elderly care physicians to lower their workload and to bring in specific knowledge. District nurses often signal changes in the situation of the elderly. According to them, the elderly predominantly need someone to watch over them and provide them with a feeling of security. Life course planning and advance care planning can contribute to uniform treatment in line with older adults’ wishes. In conclusion, all stakeholders, including elderly persons, agree on what entails quality of life and the quality of care that is needed to support that. A future challenge is to shape conditions for the right skill mix of professionals, cooperation between the professions and breaking down differences in financing and supply. For the elderly, the challenge is preparing for aging.

Keywords: elderly living at home, quality of life, quality of care, professional cooperation, life course planning, advance care planning

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Authors: Mariana Anaya Villafana

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The sudden change of a significant percentage of the Latino community in the United States elections towards a Republican political orientation was reflected during the 2016 presidential election. This moment represented a radical change that is happening inside the Latino community in the United States, the support they have given to Trump's campaign only demonstrates their support for new anti-immigration regulations and conservative values, which are causing a division of ideologies inside the Latino community. One of the main goals of the following research is to understand the whole phenomenon 'Why would people join their own oppressor?' Align themselves with the politics that prevent many of their relatives to come to the United States and made the assimilation process difficult for their parents. It is important to prove that a change in the identity has happened, through the use of power relations and the attachment to the desired object. A group of Hispanics/Latinos have decided to vote for Trump in order to belong to a society that hasn’t been able to fully include them within it, an action that can result on the non-intentional harm of the values and aims of the rest of the Latino/Hispanic community. In order to understand their new political beliefs, it is necessary to use the method of discourse analysis to comprehend those comments and interviews that are published on web sites such as: 'Latinos for Trump' and 'GOP Hispanic Division'. Among the results that the research has shown, the notion of the 'American Dream' can be considered as a determinant object for the construction of a new identity that is rooted in hard work and legality. One that is proud of the Latino heritage but still wants to maintain the boundaries between legality and illegality in relation to the immigrants. This discourse results on a contradiction to most of the cases because they mention that their families came to the U.S. as immigrants; the only difference is that they work hard to obtain legal citizenship.

Keywords: populism, identity, Latino Community, migration

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Authors: Hassina Gheribi, Salim Boukebbab

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The measurement of the parts manufactured on CMM (coordinate measuring machine) is based on the association of a surface of perfect geometry to the group of dots palpated via a mathematical calculation of the distances between the palpated points and itself surfaces. Surfaces not being never perfect, they are measured by a number of points higher than the minimal number necessary to define them mathematically. However, the central problems of three-dimensional metrology are the estimate of, the orientation parameters, location and intrinsic of this surface. Including the numerical uncertainties attached to these parameters help the metrologist to make decisions to be able to declare the conformity of the part to specifications fixed on the design drawing. During this paper, we will present a data-processing model in Visual Basic-6 which makes it possible automatically to determine the whole of these parameters, and their uncertainties.

Keywords: coordinate measuring machines (CMM), associated surface, uncertainties of measurement, acquisition and modeling

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Authors: Nathan Reeves

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Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate if there was an impact on student learning when peer role play was substituted for a professional actor in the role of simulated patient in a simulation-based scenario. Method: Third-year exercise science students enrolled in a field project course in 2015 (n=24), and 2016 (n=20) participated in a simulation-based case scenario designed to develop their client-centred exercise prescription skills. During the simulation, students were provided with feedback from the simulated patients. In 2015, three professional actors played the part of the simulated patient, and in 2016 one of the simulated patients was a student from another exercise science cohort (peer role play). The student learning experience, consistency in case fidelity and feedback provided by the simulated patients was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale survey and collecting phenomenological data. Results: Improvements to student pre and post confidence remained constant between the 2015 and 2016 cohorts (1.04 and 0.85). The perceived usefulness and enjoyability also remained high across the two cohorts (4.96 and 4.71). The feedback provided by all three simulated patients in 2016 was seen to strongly support student learning experience (4.82), and was of a consistent level (4.47). Significance of the findings to allied health: Simulation-based education is rapidly expanding in the curricula across the allied health professions. The simulated patient methodology continues to receive support as a pedagogy to develop a range of clinical skills including communication, engagement and client-centeredness. Upskilling students to peer role play can be a reasonable alternative to engaging paid actors.

Keywords: exercise science, simulation-based learning, simulated patient, peer role play

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Authors: Cheyenne Johnson, Samantha Robinson, Christina Chant, Ann M. Mitchell, Carol Price, Carmel Clancy, Adam Searby, Deborah S. Finnell

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Introduction: Substance use along the continuum from at-risk use to a substance use disorder (SUD) contributes substantially to the burden of disease and related harms worldwide. There is a growing body of literature that highlights the lack of substance use related content in nursing curricula. Furthermore, there is also a lack of consensus on key competencies necessary for entry-level nurses. Globally, there is a lack of established nursing competencies related to prevention, health promotion, harm reduction and treatment of at-risk substance use and SUDs. At a critical time in public health, this gap in nursing curricula contributes to a lack of preparation for entry-level nurses to support people along the continuum of substance use. Thus, in practice, early opportunities for screening, support, and interventions may be missed. To address this gap, an international committee was convened to develop international entry-level nursing competencies specifying the knowledge, skills, and abilities that all nurses should possess in order to address the continuum of substance use. Methodology: An international steering committee, including representation from Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and Australia was established to lead this work over a one-year time period. The steering committee conducted a scoping review, undertaken to examine nursing competency frameworks, and to inform a competency structure that would guide this work. The next steps were to outline key competency areas and establish leaders for working groups to develop the competencies. In addition, a larger international committee was gathered to contribute to competency working groups, review the collective work and concur on the final document. Findings: A comprehensive framework was developed with competencies covering a wide spectrum of substance use across the lifespan and in the context of prevention, health promotion, harm reduction and treatment, including special populations. The development of this competency-based framework meets an identified need to provide guidance for universities, health authorities, policy makers, nursing regulators and other organizations that provide and support nursing education which focuses on care for patients and families with at-risk substance use and SUDs. Conclusion: Utilizing these global competencies as expected outcomes of an educational and skill building curricula for entry-level nurses holds great promise for incorporating evidence-informed training in the care and management of people across the continuum of substance use.

Keywords: addiction nursing, addiction nursing curriculum, competencies, substance use

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Authors: Kholod Khairy Salama, Shabban Hassan Thabet

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In the present study, a comprehensive investigation has been undertaken into an Egyptian mural painting with feet wear slippers approach to choose the most successful restoration methods. The mural painting under examination dates back to the Amarna period; it was detached from a wall of an unknown tomb in Egypt, and currently, it is initially displayed in a showcase at the Egyptian Museum – Tahrir Square – Cairo, Egypt. The main objectives of this research were to (a) reveal the pigment used in the mural painting, (b) reveal the medium used with colours, (c) determine the technique of manufacturing, (e) determine the ground support, and (f) reveal the main deterioration aspects. The analytical techniques used for investigation were Optical Microscopy, Raman, X-ray Florescence, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared coupled with attenuated total reflectance “FTIR-ATR”. The investigation revealed that the vital deterioration factors affecting the object. This research aims to examine and analyze the mural painting to choose the suitable method for the restoration process (a) define the colours through comparative analysis to choose the suitable material for cleaning, (b) define the natural structure of the ground support layer, which appeared as mud layer (c) determine the medium used with colours (d) diagnosis the presence of the white wash layer, and (e) choose the suitable restoration methods according to the results. Conclusion: This study focused mainly on the physical and chemical properties of the mural painting compound and the main changes that happened to the mural painting material, which caused deterioration and fall down of the painting parts, so we can find the best and optimum restoration ways for this object.

Keywords: mural paintings, Tal Al-Amarna, digital microscope, Raman, XRF, XRD, FTIR

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Authors: Alireza Gholami, Amir H. D. Markazi

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In this paper, an observer-based direct adaptive fuzzy sliding mode (OAFSM) algorithm is proposed. In the proposed algorithm, the zero-input dynamics of the plant could be unknown. The input connection matrix is used to combine the sliding surfaces of individual subsystems, and an adaptive fuzzy algorithm is used to estimate an equivalent sliding mode control input directly. The fuzzy membership functions, which were determined by time consuming try and error processes in previous works, are adjusted by adaptive algorithms. The other advantage of the proposed controller is that the input gain matrix is not limited to be diagonal, i.e. the plant could be over/under actuated provided that controllability and observability are preserved. An observer is constructed to directly estimate the state tracking error, and the nonlinear part of the observer is constructed by an adaptive fuzzy algorithm. The main advantage of the proposed observer is that, the measured outputs is not limited to the first entry of a canonical-form state vector. The closed-loop stability of the proposed method is proved using a Lyapunov-based approach. The proposed method is applied numerically on a multi-link robot manipulator, which verifies the performance of the closed-loop control. Moreover, the performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with some conventional control algorithms.

Keywords: adaptive algorithm, fuzzy systems, membership functions, observer

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Authors: Waddah Abdelbagi Talha, Mohammed Abdullah Elmaleeh, John Ojur Dennis

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This paper focuses on the simulation and implementation of a resonator micro-sensor for low magnetic field sensing based on a U-shaped cantilever and piezoresistive configuration, which works based on Lorentz force physical phenomena. The resonance frequency is an important parameter that depends upon the highest response and sensitivity through the frequency domain (frequency response) of any vibrated micro-scale of an electromechanical system (MEMS) device. And it is important to determine the direction of the detected magnetic field. The deflection of the cantilever is considered for vibrated mode with different frequencies in the range of (0 Hz to 7000 Hz); for the purpose of observing the frequency response. A simple electronic circuit-based polysilicon piezoresistors in Wheatstone's bridge configuration are used to transduce the response of the cantilever to electrical measurements at various voltages. Microcontroller-based Arduino program and PROTEUS electronic software are used to analyze the output signals from the sensor. The highest output voltage amplitude of about 4.7 mV is spotted at about 3 kHz of the frequency domain, indicating the highest sensitivity, which can be called resonant sensitivity. Based on the resonant frequency value, the mode of vibration is determined (up-down vibration), and based on that, the vector of the magnetic field is also determined.

Keywords: resonant frequency, sensitivity, Wheatstone bridge, UNO-microcontroller

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Authors: R. Naveen, E. Vanitha, S. Gayathri

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The use of Sandwich composite materials in aerospace and civil infrastructure application has been increasing especially due to their enormously low weight that leads to a reduction in the total weight and fuel consumption, high flexural and transverse shear stiffness, and corrosion resistance. The essential properties of sandwich materials vary according to the application area of the structure. The objectives of this study are to identify the mechanical behaviour and failure mechanisms of sandwich structures made of bamboo, V- board and metal (Aluminium as face sheet and Foam as Core material). The three-point bending test and UTM (Universal testing machine) experimental tests are done for three specimens for each type of sandwich composites. From the experiment results of three sandwich composites, bamboo shows high Young’s modulus of elasticity and low density.

Keywords: bamboo sandwich composite, metal sandwich composite, sandwich composite, v-board sandwich composite

Procedia PDF Downloads 250