Search results for: computer terms

Authors: A. Bello-Olusoji, M. O. Sodamola, Y. A. Adejola, D. D Akinbola

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An eight (8) weeks study was carried out on Four hundred and five (405) African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) juveniles to examine the effect of graded levels of egg shell on their growth performance and survival rates. They were acclimatized for two (2) weeks after which they were weighed and allotted into five dietary treatments of three (3) replicates each and 27 fishes per replicate making a total number of eighty-one (81) fishes per treatment. The dietary treatments contained 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100(%) egg shell inclusion from treatment one to treatment five respectively. Parameter on daily feed intake, weekly weight gain, and daily mortalities were recorded. The result of the experiment indicated that treatment four (4) with 75% inclusion of egg shell was the best in terms of weight gain and survival rates and was significantly different (P<0.05) when compared with the other treatments. For Catfish farming to remain viable in the nearest future, lower feed cost and increased profit are required; it is therefore recommended that diets of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) be supplemented with well processed egg shell at 75% level of inclusion to achieve this.

Keywords: African catfish, egg shell, performance, performance, survival rate, weight gain

Procedia PDF Downloads 386

Authors: Ahmed Fathi Mohamed, Nasir Shafiq, Muhd Fadhil Nuruddin, Ali Elheber Ahmed

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Steel fiber adds to Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) to enhance it is properties and achieves the requirement. This research work focus on the using of different percentage of steel fiber in SCC mixture contains fly ash and microwave incinerator rice husk ash (MIRHA) as supplementary material. Fibers affect several characteristics of SCC in the fresh and the hardened state. To optimize fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete (FSCC), The possible fiber content of a given mix composition is an essential input parameter. The aim of the research is to study the properties of fiber reinforced self–compacting (FRSCC) and to develop the expert system/computer program of mix proportion for calculating the steel fiber content and pozzolanic replacement that can be applied to investigate the compressive strength of FSCC mix.

Keywords: self-compacting concrete, silica fume, steel fiber, fresh taste

Procedia PDF Downloads 574

Authors: Hee-Jung Seo, Yunjung Lee, Areum Han, Heeyoung Park, Se-Hyuk Park

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The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between happiness and depression among people with disabilities and to analyze the social phenomenon of leisure activities among them to promote physical and leisure activities for people with disabilities. The research methods included analyzing differences in happiness according to depression classification. A total of 281 people with disabilities were analyzed using SPSS WIN Ver. 29.0. In addition, the SumTrend platform was used to analyze terms related to 'leisure activities for the disabled.' The findings can be summarized into two main points: First, there were significant differences in happiness according to depression classification. Second, there were 20 mentions before COVID-19, 34 mentions after COVID-19, and currently 43 mentions, with high positive rates observed in each period. Based on these results, the following conclusions were drawn: First, measures for people with disabilities include strengthening online resources and services, social distancing response policies, improving accessibility, and providing support and financial assistance. Second, measures for non-disabled individuals emphasize the need for education and information provision, promoting dialogue and interaction, ensuring accessibility, and promoting inclusive cultural awareness and attitude change.

Keywords: leisure activities, individuals with disabilities, COVID-19 pandemic, depression

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: Romina Beqiri

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In the context of the prosecution of those responsible for the commission of the most hideous crimes and the fight against impunity, a fundamental role is played by witnesses of the crimes who contribute to ascertaining the ‘procedural truth’. This article examines recent decisions and legislation of the Hague-based International Criminal Court in terms of the endangerment of the integrity of the criminal proceedings in consequence of witness tampering. The analysis focuses on the new developments in the courtroom and the academia, in particular, on the first-ever sentence confirming the charges of corruptly influencing witnesses, interpretation of presenting false evidence and giving false testimony when under an obligation to tell the truth. Confronted with recent tampering with witnesses and their credibility at stake in the ongoing cases, the research explores different Court’s decisions and scholars’ legal disputes concerning the deterrence approach to punish the authors of offences against the administration of justice when committed intentionally. Therefore, the analysis concludes that the Court cannot tolerate any witness false testimony and should enhance consistency and severity of sanctions for the sake of fair trial and end impunity.

Keywords: International Criminal Court, administration of justice, credibility of witness, fair trial, false testimony, witness tampering

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: N. H. Hamid, A. Azmi, M. I. Adiyanto

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This main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the seismic performance of double bay two-storey reinforced concrete frame under in-plane lateral cyclic loading which designed using Eurocode 8 (EC8) by taking into account of seismic loading. The prototype model of reinforced concrete frame was constructed in one-half scale tested under in-plane lateral cyclic loading starts with ±0.2% drift, ±0.25% up to ±3.0% drift with the increment of ±0.25%. The performance of the RC frame is evaluated in terms of the hysteresis loop (load vs. displacement), stiffness, ductility, lateral strength, stress-strain relationship and equivalent viscous damping. Visual observation of the crack pattern after testing were observed where the beam- column joint suffer the most severe damage as it is the critical part in moment resisting frame. Spalling of concrete starts occurred at ±2.0% drift and become worse at ±2.5% drift. The experimental result shows that the maximum lateral strength of specimen is 99.98 kN and ductility of the specimen is µ=4.07 which lies between 3≤µ≤6 in order to withstand moderate to severe earthquakes.

Keywords: ductility, equivalent viscous damping, hysteresis loops, lateral strength, stiffness

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Nikolaos Katsoulas, Ioannis Naounoulis, Sofia Faliagka

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Cascade hydroponic systems have the potential to minimize environmental impact and improve resource efficiency by recycling the nutrient solution drained from a hydroponic (primary-donor) crop to irrigate another (secondary-receiver), less sensitive to salinity crop. However, it remains unclear if the drained solution from the primary crop can fully meet the nutritional requirements of a secondary crop and whether the productivity of the secondary crop is affected. To address this question, a prototype cascade hydroponic system was designed and tested using a cucumber crop as the donor crop and a melon as secondary crop. The performance of the system in terms of productivity and water and nutrient use efficiency was evaluated by measuring plant growth, fresh and dry matter production, nutrients content, and photosynthesis rate in the secondary crop. The amount of water and nutrients used for the primary and secondary crops was also recorded. This work was carried out under the ECONUTRI project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Horizon Europe Grant agreement: 101081858.

Keywords: hydroponics, salinity, water use efficiencu, nutrients use efficiency

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Authors: Yessengeldy Kuanyshpayev

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Now in some countries of the world the cellular market is on the point of saturation, in others - positive dynamics of development kept on. The reasons for it are also different, but there are united by their general susceptibility to innovation changes, if they are really innovative. If to take as an example the cellular market of Kazakhstan it is defined by the low percent of smart phones at consumers, the low population density, undercapacity of the 3G channel, and absence of universal access to the LTE technology that limits dynamical growth of this branch. These moments are aggravated by failures of starting commercial projects by private companies which prevent to be implemented and widely adopted to a new product among consumers. The object of the research is possible integration of wireless and program technologies at which introduction the idea can regenerate in an innovation. The analysis of existing projects in the market and the possible union of the technologies through a prism of theoretical bases of innovative activity shows that efficiency of the company by development and introduction of innovations is possible only thanks to strict observance of all terms and conditions of the innovative process which main term is profit. Despite that fact that on a global scale the innovativeness issue of companies is very popular, there are no research about possibility of innovative breaks in the field of wireless access to the Internet in the cellular market of Kazakhstan.

Keywords: innovation, the effectiveness of company, commercialization, cellular market

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Authors: Ebrahim Tilahun, Erkan Sahinkaya, Bariş Calli̇

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Raw biogas is a valuable renewable energy source however it usually needs removal of the impurities. The presence of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the biogas has detrimental corrosion effects on the cogeneration units. Removal of H2S from the biogas can therefore significantly improve the biogas quality. In this work, a conventional bioscrubber (CBS), and a dense membrane bioscrubber (DMBS) were comparatively evaluated in terms of H2S removal efficiency (RE), CH4 enrichment and alkaline consumption at gas residence times ranging from 5 to 20 min. Both bioscrubbers were fed with a synthetic biogas containing H2S (1%), CO2 (39%) and CH4 (60%). The results show that high RE (98%) was obtained in the DMBS when gas residence time was 20 min, whereas slightly lower CO2 RE was observed. While in CBS system the outlet H2S concentration was always lower than 250 ppmv, and its H2S RE remained higher than 98% regardless of the gas residence time, although the high alkaline consumption and frequent absorbent replacement limited its cost-effectiveness. The result also indicates that in DMBS when the gas residence time increased to 20 min, the CH4 content in the treated biogas enriched upto 80%. However, while operating the CBS unit the CH4 content of the raw biogas (60%) decreased by three fold. The lower CH4 content in CBS was probably caused by extreme dilution of biogas with air (N2 and O2). According to the results obtained here the DMBS system is a robust and effective biotechnology in comparison with CBS. Hence, DMBS has a better potential for real scale applications.

Keywords: biogas, bioscrubber, desulfurization, PDMS membrane

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Authors: Bib Paruhum Silalahi, Djihad Wungguli, Sugi Guritman

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Steepest descent method is a simple gradient method for optimization. This method has a slow convergence in heading to the optimal solution, which occurs because of the zigzag form of the steps. Barzilai and Borwein modified this algorithm so that it performs well for problems with large dimensions. Barzilai and Borwein method results have sparked a lot of research on the method of steepest descent, including alternate minimization gradient method and Yuan method. Inspired by previous works, we modified the step size of the steepest descent method. We then compare the modification results against the Barzilai and Borwein method, alternate minimization gradient method and Yuan method for quadratic function cases in terms of the iterations number and the running time. The average results indicate that the steepest descent method with the new step sizes provide good results for small dimensions and able to compete with the results of Barzilai and Borwein method and the alternate minimization gradient method for large dimensions. The new step sizes have faster convergence compared to the other methods, especially for cases with large dimensions.

Keywords: steepest descent, line search, iteration, running time, unconstrained optimization, convergence

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Authors: Fakhrosadat Sajjadian, Ramin Ghasemi Shayan

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The tumor microenvironment plays an fundamental part in tumor start, movement, metastasis, and treatment resistance. It varies from ordinary tissue in terms of its extracellular network, vascular and lymphatic arrange, as well as physiological conditions. The clinical application of atomic cancer imaging is regularly prevented by the tall commercialization costs of focused on imaging operators as well as the constrained clinical applications and little showcase measure of a few operators. . Since numerous cancer types share comparable characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, the capacity to target these biomarkers has the potential to supply clinically translatable atomic imaging advances for numerous types encompassing cancer and broad clinical applications. Noteworthy advance has been made in focusing on the tumor microenvironment for atomic cancer imaging. In this survey, we summarize the standards and methodologies of later progresses in atomic imaging of the tumor microenvironment, utilizing distinctive imaging modalities for early discovery and conclusion of cancer. To conclude, The tumor microenvironment (TME) encompassing tumor cells could be a profoundly energetic and heterogeneous composition of safe cells, fibroblasts, forerunner cells, endothelial cells, flagging atoms and extracellular network (ECM) components.

Keywords: molecular, imaging, TME, medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Charizza D. Montarin, Daryl Jae S. Sigue, Gilford Estores

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Philippines was moderately vulnerable to corrosion and to prevent this problem, surface coating should be applied. The main objective of this research was to develop and optimize a bio-based mixture of Pili Resin and Lime as Coating Materials. There are three (3) factors to be considered in choosing the best coating material such as chemical adhesion, friction, and the bearing/shear against the steel bar-concrete interface. Fortunately, both proportions of the Bio-based coating materials (50:50 and 65:35) do not have red rust formation complying with ASTM B117 but failed in terms of ASTM D 3359. Splitting failures of concrete were observed in the Unconfined Reinforced Concrete Samples. All of the steel bars (uncoated and coated) surpassed the Minimum Bond strength (NSCP 2015) about 203% to 285%. The experiments were about 1% to 3% of the results from the ANSYS Simulations with and without Salt Spray Test. Using the bio-based and epoxy coatings, normal splitting strengths were declined. However, there has no significant difference between the results. Thus, the bio-based coating materials can be used as an alternative for the epoxy coating materials and it was highly recommended for Low – Rise Building only.

Keywords: Canarium luzonicum, calcium oxide, corrosion, finite element simulations

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: J. Hemanth, B. G. Shivaprakash, S. V. Dinesh

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The locally available Lateritic soil in Dakshina Kanadda and Udupi districts are traditionally being used as building blocks for construction purpose but they do not meet the conventional requirements (L L ≤ 25% & P I ≤6%) and desired four days soaked CBR value to be used as a sub-base course material in pavements. In order to improve its properties to satisfy the Atterberg’s Limits, the soil is blended with sand, cement and quarry dust at various percentages and also to meet the CBR strength requirements, individual and combined gradation of various sized aggregates along with Laterite soil and other filler materials has been done for coarse graded granular sub-base materials (Grading II and Grading III). The effect of additives blended with lateritic soil and aggregates are studied in terms of Atterberg’s limits, compaction, California Bearing Ratio (CBR), and permeability. It has been observed that the addition of sand, cement and quarry dust are found to be effective in improving Atterberg’s limits, CBR values, and permeability values. The obtained CBR and permeability values of Grading III, and Grading II materials found to be sufficient to be used as sub-base course for low volume roads and high volume roads respectively.

Keywords: lateritic soil, sand, quarry dust, gradation, sub-base course, permeability

Procedia PDF Downloads 318

Authors: Nashwa Elyamany

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In visual cultures, namely that of the United States, media representations are such influential and pervasive reflections of societal norms and expectations to the extent that they impact the manner in which both genders view themselves. Health and fitness magazines fall within the realm of visual culture. Since the main goal of communication is to ensure proper dissemination of information in order for the target audience to grasp the intended messages, it becomes imperative that magazine publishers, editors, advertisers and image producers use different modes of communication within their reach to convey messages to their readers and viewers. A rapid waxing flow of multimodality floods popular discourse, particularly health and fitness magazine cover pages. The use of well-crafted cover lines and visual images is imbued with agendas, consumerist ideologies and properties capable of effectively conveying implicit and explicit meaning to potential readers and viewers. In essence, the primary goal of this thesis is to interrogate the multi-semiotic operations and manifestations of hegemonic masculinity and femininity in male and female body culture, particularly on the cover pages of the twin American magazines Men's Health and Women's Health using corpora that spanned from 2011 to the mid of 2016. The researcher explores the semiotic resources that contribute to shaping and legitimizing a new form of postmodern, consumerist, gendered discourse that positions the reader-viewer ideologically. Methodologically, the researcher carries out analysis on the macro and micro levels. On the macro level, the researcher takes on a critical stance to illuminate the ideological nature of the multimodal ensemble of the cover pages, and, on the micro level, seeks to put forward new theoretical and methodological routes through which the semiotic choices well invested on the media texts can be more objectively scrutinized. On the macro level, a 'themes' analysis is initially conducted to isolate the overarching themes that dominate the fitness discourse on the cover pages under study. It is argued that variation in terms of frequencies of such themes is indicative, broadly speaking, of which facets of hegemonic masculinity and femininity are infused in the fitness discourse on the cover pages. On the micro level, this research work encompasses three sub-levels of analysis. The researcher follows an SF-MMDA approach, drawing on a trio of analytical frameworks: Halliday's SFG for the verbal analysis; Kress & van Leeuween's VG for the visual analysis; and CMT in relation to Sperber & Wilson's RT for the pragma-cognitive analysis of multimodal metaphors and metonymies. The data is presented in terms of detailed descriptions in conjunction with frequency tables, ANOVA with alpha=0.05 and MANOVA in the multiple phases of analysis. Insights and findings from this multi-faceted, social-semiotic analysis are interpreted in light of Cultivation Theory, Self-objectification Theory and the literature to date. Implications for future research include the implementation of a multi-dimensional approach whereby linguistic and visual analytical models are deployed with special regards to cultural variation.

Keywords: gender, hegemony, magazine cover page, multimodal discourse analysis, multimodal metaphor, multimodal metonymy, systemic functional grammar, visual grammar

Procedia PDF Downloads 349

Authors: Mohammad Amin Mozaheb, Mahnaz Saeidi, Saeideh Ahangari, Saeideh Ahangari

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The present genre-driven study aims at comparing moves and sub-moves deployed by Iranian and English medical writers while writing their research articles in English. To obtain the goals of the study, the researchers randomly selected a number of medical articles and compared them using Nwogu (1997)’s model. The results of relevant statistical tests, Chi-square tests for goodness of fit, used for comparing the two groups of the articles dubbed IrISI (Iranian ISI articles) and EISI (English ISI articles) have shown that no significant difference exists between the two groups of the articles in terms of the moves and sub-moves used in the method and results sections of them. The findings can be beneficial for people interested in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and medical experts. The findings can also increase language awareness and genre awareness among researchers who are interested in publishing their research outcomes in ISI-indexed journals in the Islamic Republic of Iran and some other world countries.

Keywords: writing, ESP, research articles, medical sciences, language, scientific writing

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Tian Luo, Wing Mui Winnie So

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Gaining career awareness in STEM is an important educational outcome in STEM education. While many studies focused on students’ understanding of scientists and engineers, very few studies explore students’ perceptions of technologists as a group of STEM professionals. In this study, 300 valid surveys which include drawing task and follow-up questions about technologist were collected from 4th to 6th grade students. The results showed that 75.1% of the students draw a technologist as a male and 19.3% draw a technologist as a female. Most students believe that technologists use math, science or engineering in their work and can name a few categories of technologists. The drawings also showed that students tend to present technologists as people who work with a computer.

Keywords: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education, elementary students, technologist, STEM careers

Procedia PDF Downloads 255

Authors: Isabela Romanha de Alcantara, Jose Eustaquio Ribeiro Vieira Filho, Jose Garcia Gasques

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Innovation and technology can be determinant factors to ensure agricultural and sustainable growth, as well as productivity gains. Technical change has contributed considerably to supply agricultural expansion in Brazil. This agricultural growth could be achieved by incorporating more land or capital. If capital is the main source of agricultural growth, it is possible to increase production per unit of land. The objective of this paper is to estimate: 1) total factor productivity (TFP), which is measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input; and 2) the land-saving effect (LSE) that is the amount of land required in the case that yield rate is constant over time. According to this study, from 1990 to 2019, it appears that 87 percent of Brazilian agriculture product growth comes from the gains of productivity; the rest of 13 percent comes from input growth. In the same period, the total LSE was roughly 400 Mha, which corresponds to 47 percent of the national territory. These effects reflect the greater efficiency of using productive factors, whose technical change has allowed an increase in agricultural production based on productivity gains.

Keywords: agriculture, land-saving effect, livestock, productivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: Boualem Chetti, Samir Zahaf

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This paper presents the steady-state performance analysis of a four-lobe journal bearing lubricated with a couple stress fluids operating in the turbulent regime, following Constantinescu’s turbulent lubrication theory. The modified Reynolds equation is solved numerically using the finite difference method taking into consideration the effects of the turbulence and the couple stress. In this analysis, the steady-state parameters in terms of the attitude angle, load carrying capacity, side leakage and friction coefficient are determined at various values of eccentricities ratio. The computed results show that the turbulence increases the load carrying capacity, the attitude angle and the friction coefficient for a journal bearing lubricated with a Newtonian or a couple stress fluids. It is found that the turbulence has strongly influence on the steady-state performances of the four-lobe journal bearing lubricated with Newtonian fluids or a couple stress fluids.

Keywords: Four-lobe journal bearings, static characteristics, couple-stress fluids, turbulent flow

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Authors: Mustopa, Nadya R. Susilo, Rhizal D. Nuva

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This study aims to determine the application of animal welfare in Garut sheep fighting contest at West Java. This study conducted by survey and discussion methods with 5 Garut sheep owners in the contest. The animal welfare is going to be proved by observing the condition of the cage, the cleanliness of it, the health of the sheep, feeding and water, also owner treatments for their sheep that will be served as a fighter. Observations made using stable conditions ACRES form with assessment scores ranged from 1 = very poor, 2 = poor, 3 = regular, 4 = good and 5 = very good, animal welfare conditions seen by conducting observations and interviews with garut sheep owners. The result shows that the Garut sheep fighting contest has fulfilled the criteria of animal welfare application. Application of animal welfare principle by the owner of Garut sheep terms of ACRES (Animal Concerns Research and Education Society) below standard, the average score obtained was 1.76 which is mean in a very bad ratings. Besides considering the animal welfare application, sheep owners also do special treatments for their Garut sheep with the purpose to produce fighters that are healthy and strong. So, if the sheep wins in Garut sheep fight contest, it will purchase a high-value prices.

Keywords: animal welfare, contest, garut sheep, sheep fighting

Procedia PDF Downloads 278

Authors: Sanjay Kumar, Saikat Dutta, Devendra S. Rawat, Jitendra K. Pandey, Pankaj Kumar

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Exploding demand for various types of fuels and gradually growing impacts of atmospheric carbon dioxide have forced the researchers to search biofuels in general and algae-based biofuels in particular. However, strain identification in terms of fuel productivity and over all economics of fuel generation remains a debatable challenge. Utilization of marine biomass, especially the ones important in the Indian subcontinent, in forming furanic fuels and specialty chemicals would likely to be a better value-addition pathway. Seaweed species e.g. Ulva, Sarconema, and Gracilaria species have been found more productive than land-based biomass sources due to their higher growth rate. Additionally, non-recalcitrant nature of marine biomass unlike lignocellulosics has attracted much attention in recent years towards producing bioethanol. Here we report the production of renewable, biomass-derived platform molecules such as furfural and 5-(chloromethyl) furfural (CMF) from a seaweed species which are abundant marine biomass. These products have high potential for synthetic upgradation into various classes of value-added compounds such as fuels, fuel-additives, and monomers for polymers, solvents, agrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

Keywords: seaweeds, Ulva, CMF, furan

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Authors: Liu Danping

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Walking space has very important historical and cultural value in ancient and even modern urban development. As far as the footpath itself is concerned, it reflects the spatial organization mode and traditional architectural construction characteristics of mountain cities. In terms of the spatial nature of streets, traditional streets contain the history of urban development and the most primitive urban life. The slow walking speed allows people to carefully perceive the space and scenery along the way. The real city life in the streets often makes people feel the cultural connotation and unique charm of the city. According to the regional characteristics of pedestrian traffic in the main urban area of Chongqing, the charm of chongqing is discussed. Based on the study of chongqing characteristic walking space elements, this paper summarizes the characteristics of Chongqing urban walking traffic, analyzes the existing problems of mountain city walking traffic, and takes Yuzhong Peninsula as an example to analyze the charm promotion strategy of urban walking traffic.

Keywords: mountain city, walking space, urban charm, urban renewal, regional culture

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Authors: Subhadip Biswas, Shivendra Maurya, Satish Chandra, Indrajit Ghosh

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Developing speed model is a challenging task particularly under mixed traffic condition where the traffic composition plays a significant role in determining vehicular speed. The present research has been conducted to model individual vehicular speed in the context of mixed traffic on an urban arterial. Traffic speed and volume data have been collected from three midblock arterial road sections in New Delhi. Using the field data, a volume based speed prediction model has been developed adopting the methodology of Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The model developed in this work is capable of estimating speed for individual vehicle category. Validation results show a great deal of agreement between the observed speeds and the predicted values by the model developed. Also, it has been observed that the ANN based model performs better compared to other existing models in terms of accuracy. Finally, the sensitivity analysis has been performed utilizing the model in order to examine the effects of traffic volume and its composition on individual speeds.

Keywords: speed model, artificial neural network, arterial, mixed traffic

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Philip Tachin

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Despite the positive contributions that religion has impacted human society, religious discrimination and violence also have been growing globally with extreme negative effects on human life and social relationships. Believers in religious extremism are motivated by a sense of exhibiting true religious piety in which case they do not only withhold their practical benevolence from those who do not belong to their faith but they even seek the elimination of other adherents from human existence. This phenomenon has a very high magnitude in Nigeria over the years, which deserves more research for the purpose of finding sustainable solutions to the problem. Calvin believed that true religious piety must, among other things, be categorized in personal and corporate positive social actions that esteem human needs irrespective of ethnic, ideological and belief differences. It is therefore appropriate to pose the following questions: Should true religious piety be seen in terms of how the actions of adherents positively impact human society? Could Calvin’s idea on this issue be very significant and helpful in the context of the Nigerian situation? In answering these questions, this research will limit its investigation to Calvin’s Institutes and some of his Commentaries. The goal of this research is to offer an instructive orientation to the readers that will help in building a more tolerable, peaceful, and a free and virtuous society.

Keywords: Calvin, human good, religious piety, virtuous society

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Authors: Hilda Kundai Chikwanda, Lawrence Thabo Mokhadi

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The study aimed to review the factors that lead the freight railway suppliers base in South Africa (SA) to apply the Lean and Six Sigma (L&SS) methodologies. A thorough review of the factors that lead organisations, in the different industries, to implement these methodologies was done. L&SS applications were found to be prominent in the automotive industry. In particular, the railway industry in SA and the region were reviewed in terms of challenges in capturing the freight logistics market and growing market share. Qualitative methods have been used to collect primary data and descriptive statistics was used to calculate, describe, and summarize collected research data. The results show that external factors have a greater influence on the implementation of L&SS. The study drew inferences between freight railway supplier base and the application of Lean and Six Sigma (L&SS) methodologies in the SA context. It identified challenges that leads the SA freight railway to lose market share to road freight users. It further observes and recommends that L&SS methodologies are the ideal strategy required to implement a turnaround in the trajectory of freight railways as a competitive freight transport solution.

Keywords: production, methodology, manufacturing, lean, six sigma

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Authors: Chen Xiong, Tong Xin, Li Hao, Xu Jin-Sheng

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Experiment and simulation researches on the structural integrity of propellant grain in solid rocket motor (SRM) with high volumetric fraction were conducted. First, by using SRM parametric modeling functions with secondary development tool Python of ABAQUS, the three dimensional parameterized modeling programs of star shaped grain, wheel shaped grain and wing cylindrical grain were accomplished. Then, the mechanical properties under different loads for star shaped grain were obtained with the application of automatically established finite element model in ABAQUS. Next, several optimization algorithms are introduced to optimize the star shaped grain, wheel shaped grain and wing cylindrical grain. After meeting the demands of burning surface changes and volumetric fraction, the optimum three dimensional shapes of grain were obtained. Finally, by means of parametric modeling functions, pressure data of SRM’s cold pressurization test was directly applied to simulation of grain in terms of mechanical performance. The results verify the reliability and practical of parameterized modeling program of SRM.

Keywords: cold pressurization test, ğarametric modeling, structural integrity, propellant grain, SRM

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Authors: S. Anastasiou, C. Nathanailides

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There is considerable evidence to suggest that employees participation in the decision-making process of an organisation, has a positive effect on job satisfaction and work performance of the employees. The purpose of the present work was to examine the HRM practices, demographics and the level of job satisfaction of employees in Greek Aquaculture fish farms. A survey of employees (n=86) in 6 Greek Aquaculture Firms was carried out. The results indicate that HRM practices such as recruitment of the personnel and communication between the departments did not vary between different firms. The most frequent method of recruitment was through the professional network or the personal network of the managers. The preferred method of HRM communication was through the line managers and through group meeting. The level of job satisfaction increased with work experience participation and participation in the decision making process. A high percentage of the employees (81,3%±8.39) felt that they frequently participated in the decision making process. The Aquaculture employees exhibited high level of job satisfaction (88,1±6.95). The level of job satisfaction was related with participation in the decision making process (-0.633, P<0.05) but was not related with as age or gender. In terms of the working conditions, employees were mostly satisfied with their work itself, their colleagues and mostly dissatisfied with working hours, salary issues and low prospects of pay rises.

Keywords: aquaculture, human resources, job satisfaction

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Authors: Boonyalitpun P., Pruckpattranon P., Thonghom A., Rotpenpian N.

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Osteoarthritis is a musculoskeletal and neuromuscular abnormality, masticatory muscle, and other tissue that causes pain and breaks down the articular surface of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The aim of this study is to investigate the change in the mandibular condyle, in terms of thickness and porosity, and osteoclast marker in the mandibular condyle of TMJ induced osteoarthritis mice (TMJ-OA mice). We investigated the bony changes in the TMJ structure of a complete Freund adjuvant (CFA)-injected TMJ in a mice model over 28 days. On day 28, we observed any change in the TMJ by a micro computed tomography scan (micro-CT scan) in the parameters of trabecular microarchitecture. Then we studied the thickness of the condyles by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Moreover, we calculated the area around the TMJ’s condylar head containing the osteoclast expression by TRAP (Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase) immunohistochemistry staining. The result found that the parameter of a micro-CT scan was no different from microarchitecture in the TMJ compared with the control group; however, mandibular condyles of the TMJ-OA group was significantly thinner than the control groups, and the osteoclast expression significantly increased in the TMJ-OA group. Therefore, our findings suggest that CFA-induced TMJ-OA represents an expression of osteoclast mandibular condyle of the TMJ, which is the proposed mechanism for a TMJ-OA model.

Keywords: condyle, osteoarthritis, osteoclast, temporomandibular joint

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Authors: Julio Manuel de Luis Ruiz, Javier Sedano Cibrián, Rubén Pérez Álvarez, Raúl Pereda García, Cristina Diego Soroa

Abstract:

Nowadays, the use of drones has been extended to practically any human activity. One of the main applications is focused on the surveying field. In this regard, software programs that process the images captured by the sensor from the drone in an almost automatic way have been developed and commercialized, but they only allow contrasting the results through control points. This work proposes the contrast of a 3D model obtained from a flight developed by a drone and a non-metric camera (due to its low cost), with a second model that is obtained by means of the historically-endorsed classical methods. In addition to this, the contrast is developed over a certain territory with a significant unevenness, so as to test the model generated with photogrammetry, and considering that photogrammetry with drones finds more difficulties in terms of accuracy in this kind of situations. Distances, heights, surfaces and volumes are measured on the basis of the 3D models generated, and the results are contrasted. The differences are about 0.2% for the measurement of distances and heights, 0.3% for surfaces and 0.6% when measuring volumes. Although they are not important, they do not meet the order of magnitude that is presented by salespeople.

Keywords: accuracy, classical topographic, model tridimensional, photogrammetry, Uav.

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Serkan Kocapinar

Abstract:

Since June 2014, the extremist terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, with its financial resources, as well as the world’s richest in terms of human resources, is a terrorist organization utilizing the most advanced weapons. It has established a state in the occupied region, appointed provincial and district managers, and declared the so-called Caliphate. Despite being a terrorist organization, it is selling the oil which it has seized from the captured regions with low prices. Consequently, it has been achieving great income from these sales. Currently the actual number of terrorists in the area is around from 20,000 to 31,000 according to the CIA assessment. It is estimated that it has extended its domain beyond from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific coast and has had millions of supporters worldwide. In addition, it is claimed that it has several sleeper cells in some countries and could perform very catastrophic attacks to the countries fighting against it by activating its cells when necessary. The sharp rise of ISIS in just a year has also attracted the attention of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram around the world and some groups expressed their allegiance to ISIS. With this growing power and influence, ISIS is becoming more and more effective threat for not only the region but also for the entire world. The purpose of this study is to show what lies under the rising of ISIS terror organization and how it affects the security concerns.

Keywords: ISIS, security, terrorism, threats

Procedia PDF Downloads 293

Authors: Dong Wook Lee

Abstract:

This paper describes a method for analyzing penetration for composite material using an explicit nonlinear Finite Element Analysis (FEA). This method may be used in the early stage of design for the protection of military vehicles, aircraft engines and nuclear power plant structures made of composite materials. This paper deals with simple ballistic penetration tests for composite materials and the FEA modeling method and results. The FEA was performed to interpret the ballistic field test phenomenon regarding the damage propagation in the structure subjected to local foreign object impact.

Keywords: computer aided engineering, finite element analysis, impact analysis, penetration analysis, composite material

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Jamaa Salih, Francis Edum-Fotwe, Andrew Price

Abstract:

One of the most critical aspects of the management of road infrastructure is the type and scale of maintenance systems adopted and the consequences of their inadequacy. The performance of road maintenance systems can be assessed by a number of important indicators such as: cost, safety, environmental impact, and level of complaints by users. A review of practice reveals that insufficient level of expenditure or poor management of the road network often has serious consequences for the economic and social life of a country in terms of vehicle operating costs (VOC), travel time costs, accident costs and environmental impact. Despite an increase in the attention paid by global road agencies to the environmental and the road users’ satisfaction, the overwhelming evidence from the available literature agree on the lack of similar levels of attention for the two factors in many developing countries. While many sources agree that the road maintenance backlog is caused by either the shortage of expenditures or lack of proper management or both, it appears that managing the available assets particularly in the developing countries is the main issue. To address this subject, this paper will concentrate on exposing the various issues related to this field.

Keywords: environmental impact, performance indicators, road maintenance, users’ satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 357