Search results for: mean average precision

Authors: Siwapech Silapaprayoon, Januluk Khanobdee, Sompid Samipak

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Chili peppers are the fruits of Capsicum pepper plants well known for their fiery burning sensation on the tongue after consumption. They are members of the Solanaceae or common nightshade family along with potato, tomato and eggplant. Thai cuisine has gained popularity for its distinct flavors due to usages of various spices and its heat from the addition of chili pepper. Though being used in little quantity for each dish, chili pepper holds a special place in Thai cuisine. There are many varieties of chili peppers in Thailand, and thirty accessions were collected at Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna, Lampang, Thailand. To effectively manage any germplasm it is essential to know the diversity and relationships among members. Thirty-six Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSRs) DNA markers were used to analyze the germplasm. Total of 335 polymorphic bands was obtained giving the average of 9.3 alleles per marker. Unweighted pair-group mean arithmetic method (UPGMA) clustering of data using NTSYS-pc software indicated that the accessions showed varied levels of genetic similarity ranging from 0.57-1.00 similarity coefficient index indicating significant levels of variation. At SM coefficient of 0.81, the germplasm was separated into four groups. Phenotypic variation was discussed in context of phylogenetic tree clustering.

Keywords: diversity, germplasm, Chili pepper, ISSR

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Authors: Mehmet Erdi Korkmaz, Mustafa Günay

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Nowadays, grinding is frequently replaced with hard turning for reducing set up time and higher accuracy. This paper focused on mathematical modeling of average surface roughness (Ra) in hard turning of AISI L2 grade (DIN 1.2210) cold work tool steel with ceramic tools. The steel was hardened to 60±1 HRC after the heat treatment process. Cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut and tool nose radius was chosen as the cutting conditions. The uncoated ceramic cutting tools were used in the machining experiments. The machining experiments were performed according to Taguchi L27 orthogonal array on CNC lathe. Ra values were calculated by averaging three roughness values obtained from three different points of machined surface. The influences of cutting conditions on surface roughness were evaluated as statistical and experimental. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) with 95% confidence level was applied for statistical analysis of experimental results. Finally, mathematical models were developed using the artificial neural networks (ANN). ANOVA results show that feed rate is the dominant factor affecting surface roughness, followed by tool nose radius and cutting speed.

Keywords: ANN, hard turning, DIN 1.2210, surface roughness, Taguchi method

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Authors: Rudy C. Flores, Felicisima E. Tungol, Armando A. Villafuerte, Abraham S. Antonio, Roy N. Oroyo, Henry A. Cruz

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An assessment of the biosecurity strategies of selected fishponds in Bataan was conducted by the researchers from Bataan Peninsula State University Orani Campus to determine the present status of Biosecurity strategies being practice by selected freshwater and brackish water fishpond operators in the province to have an initial data of their system of safeguarding cultured fishes against possible diseases. Likewise, it aims to evaluate the extent of implementation of the following areas of Biosecurity namely; fishpond location, perimeter, entrance, building/ pond structure, shipping, new stocks, feeds, dead stocks, soil and water treatment, disinfection and vaccination program. The results of the assessment revealed that the present average status of the surveyed fish ponds in Bataan based on the data gathered from selected fishpond operators is poor for 44.64% and fair for 12.61%, which means that more than one- half of the surveyed fishpond do not have the first and second line of defense against diseases and there is always a higher risk of infection, contamination and possibility of disease outbreak. This indicates that fishpond operators in Bataan need technological interventions to improve their harvest and prevent heavy losses from fish diseases, although biosecurity is satisfactory for 12.92% and very good for 9.16%, which indicate that 22.08% of the surveyed fishponds have their own strategies to keep their stocks from diseases.

Keywords: biosecurity, fishpond operators, soil and water treatment, filtration system, bird scaring devices

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Authors: Ricardo Andrés Márquez Ortiz

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Objective: The objective of this literature review is to compile updated information from studies that have addressed the association between dental pathologies and agriculture. Materials and method: The research carried out corresponds to a documentary study of ex post facto retrospective, historiographic, and bibliometric design. An exhaustive bibliographic review search was carried out in databases and the Internet, books and articles on dental anthropology, archeology, and dentistry, on the relationship between dental pathologies and agriculture in prehistoric and current populations from different parts of the world. Subsequently, data collection was carried out through the ATLAS.ti computer program. Conclusions: In an influential article by Turner, which addresses the correlation between caries and the way of subsistence of both prehistoric and modern populations (hunting and gathering, mixed and agricultural economies), an average of 1.3% was found in hunter-gatherer societies, and 10.4% in agricultural societies. Sreebny compared global grain supply data (rice, wheat and corn) with DMF (spoiled, lost and blocked) rates. He concluded that rice has no association with dental caries, corn has a negative correlation, and wheat has a positive correlation. Additionally, intensive monoculture agricultural production systems cause an increase in dental pathologies. Meanwhile, polyculture agriculture, which leads to a more varied diet, generates a better state of dental health.

Keywords: dental pathologies, agricultural production systems, extensive agriculture, dental anthropology

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Authors: W. Nataniel, B. Lima, J. Manoel, M. P. Filho, H. Marcos, Oliveira Mauricio, P. Ferreira

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Headed reinforcement bars are increasingly used for anchorage in concrete structures. Applications include connections in composite steel-concrete structures, such as beam-column joints, in several strengthening situations as well as in more traditional uses in cast-in-place and precast structural systems. This paper investigates the reduction in the ultimate tensile capacity of embedded cast-in headed anchors due to concrete cracking. A series of nine laboratory tests are carried out to evaluate the influence of cracking on the concrete breakout strength in tension. The experimental results show that cracking affects both the resistance and load-slip response of the headed bar anchors. The strengths measured in these tests are compared to theoretical resistances calculated following the recommendations presented by fib Bulletin no. 58 (2011), ETAG 001 (2010) and ACI 318 (2014). The influences of parameters such as the effective embedment depth (h_ef), bar diameter (d_s), and the concrete compressive strength (f_c) are analysed and discussed. The theoretical recommendations are shown to be over-conservative for both embedment depths and were, in general, inaccurate in comparison to the experimental trends. The ACI 318 (2014) was the design code which presented the best performance regarding to the predictions of the ultimate load, with an average of 1.42 for the ratio between the experimental and estimated strengths, standard deviation of 0.36, and coefficient of variation equal to 0.25.

Keywords: cast-in headed anchors, concrete cone failure, uncracked concrete, cracked concrete

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Authors: Henriette Hammill

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Background: Safe landing in netball is fundamental. Research on the biomechanics of multidirectional landings is lacking, especially among netball players. Furthermore, few studies reporting the associations between lower extremity injuries and landing kinematics and kinetics in university-level netball players have been undertaken. Objectives: The aim is to determine the relationships between lower extremity injuries and landing kinematics and kinetics in university-level netball players that have been undertaken during a single season. Methods: This cross-sectional repeated measure study consisted of ten university-level female netball players. The injury prevalence data was collected during the 2022 netball season. The kinematic and kinetic data were collected during multidirectional single-leg landing trials and was collected. Results: Generally, the ankle strength of netball players was below average. There was evidence of negative correlations between the ankle range of motion (ROM), and muscle activity amplitudes. A lack of evidence precluded the conclusion that lower extremity dominance was a predisposing factor for injury and that any specific body part was most likely to be injured among netball players. Conclusion: Landing forces and muscle activity are direction-dependent, especially for the dominant extremity. Lower extremity strength and neuromuscular control (NMC) across multiple jump-landing directions should be an area of focus for female netball players.

Keywords: netball players, landing kinetics, landing kinematics, lower extremity

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Authors: Xhaklina Cani, Ilirjan Malollari, Ismet Beqiraj, Lorina Lici

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Oil characterization is an essential step in the design, simulation, and optimization of refining facilities. To achieve optimal crude selection and processing decisions, a refiner must have exact information refer to crude oil quality. This includes crude oil TBP-curve as the main data for correct operation of refinery crude oil atmospheric distillation plants. Crude oil is typically characterized based on a distillation assay. This procedure is reasonably well-defined and is based on the representation of the mixture of actual components that boil within a boiling point interval by hypothetical components that boil at the average boiling temperature of the interval. The crude oil assay typically includes TBP distillation according to ASTM D-2892, which can characterize this part of oil that boils up to 400 C atmospheric equivalent boiling point. To model the yield curves obtained by physical distillation is necessary to compare the differences between the modelling and the experimental data. Most commercial use a different number of components and pseudo-components to represent crude oil. Laboratory tests include distillations, vapor pressures, flash points, pour points, cetane numbers, octane numbers, densities, and viscosities. The aim of the study is the drawing of true boiling curves for different crude oil resources in Albania and to compare the differences between the modeling and the experimental data for optimal characterization of crude oil.

Keywords: TBP distillation curves, crude oil, optimization, simulation

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Authors: D. Courault, L. Hossard, V. Demarez, E. Ndikumana, D. Ho Tong Minh, N. Baghdadi, F. Ruget

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In the global change context, efficient management of the available resources has become one of the most important topics, particularly for sustainable crop development. Timely assessment with high precision is crucial for water resource and pest management. Rice cultivated in Southern France in the Camargue region must face a challenge, reduction of the soil salinity by flooding and at the same time reduce the number of herbicides impacting negatively the environment. This context has lead farmers to diversify crop rotation and their agricultural practices. The objective of this study was to evaluate this crop diversity both in crop systems and in agricultural practices applied to rice paddy in order to quantify the impact on the environment and on the crop production. The proposed method is based on the combined use of crop models and multispectral data acquired from the recent Sentinel 2 satellite sensors launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) within the homework of the Copernicus program. More than 40 images at fine spatial resolution (10m in the optical range) were processed for 2016 and 2017 (with a revisit time of 5 days) to map crop types using random forest method and to estimate biophysical variables (LAI) retrieved by inversion of the PROSAIL canopy radiative transfer model. Thanks to the high revisit time of Sentinel 2 data, it was possible to monitor the soil labor before flooding and the second sowing made by some farmers to better control weeds. The temporal trajectories of remote sensing data were analyzed for various rice cultivars for defining the main parameters describing the phenological stages useful to calibrate two crop models (STICS and SAFY). Results were compared to surveys conducted with 10 farms. A large variability of LAI has been observed at farm scale (up to 2-3m²/m²) which induced a significant variability in the yields simulated (up to 2 ton/ha). Observations on more than 300 fields have also been collected on land use. Various maps were elaborated, land use, LAI, flooding and sowing, and harvest dates. All these maps allow proposing a new typology to classify these paddy crop systems. Key phenological dates can be estimated from inverse procedures and were validated against ground surveys. The proposed approach allowed to compare the years and to detect anomalies. The methods proposed here can be applied at different crops in various contexts and confirm the potential of remote sensing acquired at fine resolution such as the Sentinel2 system for agriculture applications and environment monitoring. This study was supported by the French national center of spatial studies (CNES, funded by the TOSCA).

Keywords: agricultural practices, remote sensing, rice, yield

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Authors: Muhammad Afzal Malik

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Traditional Learning & Distance based learning are the two systems prevailing in Pakistan. These systems affect the level of education standard. The purpose of this study was to compare the traditional classroom learning and distance learning in Pakistan: (a) To explore the effectiveness of the traditional to Distance learning in Pakistan; (b) To identify the factors that affect traditional and distance learning. This review found that, on average, students in traditional classroom conditions performed better than those receiving education in and distance learning. The difference between student outcomes for traditional Classroom and distance learning classes —measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation— was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. This research was conducted to highlight the impact of distance learning education system on education standard. The education standards were institutional support, course development, learning process, student support, faculty support, evaluation and assessment. A well developed questionnaire was administered and distributed among 26 faculty members of GCET, H-9 and Virtual University of Pakistan from each. Data was analyzed through correlation and regression analysis. Results confirmed that there is a significant relationship and impact of DLE system on education standards. This will also provide baseline for future research. It will add value to the existing body of knowledge.

Keywords: distance learning education, higher education, education standards, student performance

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Authors: Zia Amjad, Salem S. Alghamdi

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This experiment was carried out at student educational farm College of Food and Agriculture, KSU, kingdom of Saudi Arabia; in order to characterize 154 V. faba accessions based on UPOV and IBPGR descriptors. 24 agro-morphological characters including 11 quantitative and 13 qualitative were observed for genetic variation. All the results were analyzed using multivariate analysis i.e. principle component analysis (PCA). First six principle components (PC) had Eigen-value greater than one; accounted for 72% of available V. faba genetic diversity. However first three components revealed more than 10% of genetic diversity each i.e. 22.36%, 15.86% and 10.89% respectively. PCA distributed the V. faba accessions into different groups based on their performance for the characters under observation. PC-1 which represented 22.36% of the genetic diversity was positively associated with stipule spot pigmentation, intensity of streaks, pod degree of curvature and to some extent with 100 seed weight. PC-2 covered 15.86 of the genetic diversity and showed positive association for average seed weight per plant, pod length, number of seeds per plant, 100 seed weight, stipule spot pigmentation, intensity of streaks (same as in PC-1) and to some extent for pod degree of curvature and number of pods per plant. PC-3 revealed 10.89% of genetic diversity and expressed positive association for number of pods per plant and number of leaflets per plant.

Keywords: agro morphological characterization, diversity, vicia faba, PCA

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Authors: Michael Dreyfuss, Yahel Giat

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Limited battery range and long recharging times are the greatest obstacles to the successful adoption of electric cars. One of the suggestions to overcome these problems is that carmakers retain ownership of batteries and provide battery swapping service so that customers exchange their depleted batteries for recharged batteries. Motivated by this example, we consider the problem of optimal spares allocation in an exchangeable-item, multi-location repair system. We generalize the standard service measures of fill rate and average waiting time to reflect the fact that customers penalize the service provider only if they have to wait more than a ‘tolerable’ time window. These measures are denoted as the window fill rate and the truncated waiting time, respectively. We find that the truncated waiting time is convex and therefore a greedy algorithm solves the spares allocation problem efficiently. We show that the window fill rate is generally S-shaped and describe an efficient algorithm to find a near-optimal solution and detail a priori and a posteriori upper bounds to the distance from optimum. The theory is complemented with a large scale numerical example demonstrating the spare battery allocation in battery swapping stations.

Keywords: convex-concave optimization, exchangeable item, M/G/infinity, multiple location, repair system, spares allocation, window fill rate

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Authors: Abbasali Abouei Mehrizi, Hamid Hassanzadeh Afrouzi

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Reducing the drag force increases the efficiency of the aircraft and its better performance. Flow control methods delay the phenomenon of flow separation and consequently reduce the reversed flow phenomenon in the separation region and enhance the performance of the lift force while decreasing the drag force and thus improving the aircraft efficiency. Flow control methods can be divided into active and passive types. The use of synthetic jets actuator (SJA) used in this study for NACA GA (W) -2 airfoil is one of the active flow control methods to prevent stall phenomenon on the airfoil. In this research, the relevant airfoil in different angles of attack with and without jets has been compared by OpenFOAM. Also, after achieving the proper SJA position on the airfoil suction surface, the simultaneous effect of two SJAs has been discussed. It was found to have the best effect at 12% chord (C), close to the airfoil’s leading edge (LE). At 12% chord, SJA decreases the drag significantly with increasing lift, and also, the average lift increase was higher than other situations and was equal to 10.4%. The highest drag reduction was about 5% in SJA=0.25C. Then, due to the positive effects of SJA in the 12% and 25% chord regions, these regions were considered for applying dual jets in two post-stall angles of attack, i.e., 16° and 22°.

Keywords: active and passive flow control methods, computational fluid dynamics, flow separation, synthetic jet

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Authors: Mahmudur Rahman Khan, Saima Sharif Nilla, Kawser Ahmed, Abdul Aziz

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The marine phyto and zooplankton of the extreme north-eastern part of the Bay of Bengal, off the coast of Bangladesh have been studied. Relative occurrence of phyto and zooplankton and their relationship with physico-chemical conditions (f.e. temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, carbonate, phosphate, and sulphate) of the water and Shannon-Weiber diversity indices were also studied. The phytoplankton communities represented by 25 genera with 69 species of Bacillariophyceae, 5 genera with 12 species of Dinophyceae and 6 genera with 16 species of Chlorophyceae have been found. A total of 24 genera of 25 species belonging to Protozoa, Coelenterata, Chaetognatha, Nematoda, Cladocera, Copepoda, and decapoda have been recorded. In addition, the average phytoplankton was 80% of all collections, whereas the zooplankton was 20%, Z ratio of about 4:1. The total numbers of plankton individuals per liter were generally higher during low tide than those of high one. Shannon-Weiber diversity indices were highest (3.675 for phytoplankton and 3.021 for zooplankton) in the north-east part and lowest (1.516 for phytoplankton and 1.302 for zooplankton) in the south-east part of the study area. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed the relationship between pH and some species of phyto and zooplankton where all diatoms and copepods have showed positive correlation and dinoflagellates showed negative correlation with pH.

Keywords: plankton presence, shannon-weiber diversity index, principal component analysis, Bay of Bengal

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Authors: Azene Tesfaye, Yohannes Petros, Habtamu Zeleke

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To evaluate genetic variation among Ethiopian lentil, laboratory experiment were conducted to screen 12 accessions of lentil (Lens culinaris M.) for salt tolerance. Seeds of 12 Lentil accessions were grown at laboratory (Petri dish) condition with different levels of salinity (0, 2, 4, and 8 dSm-1 NaCl) for 4 weeks. The experimental design was completely randomized design (CRD) in factorial combination with three replications. Data analysis was carried out using SAS software. Average germination time, germination percentage, seedling shoot and root traits, seedling shoot and root weight were evaluated. The two way ANOVA for varieties revealed statistically significant variation among lentil accession, NaCl level and their interactions (p<0.001) with respect to the entire parameters. It was found that salt stress significantly delays germination rate and decreases germination percentage, shoot and root length, seedling shoot and root weight of lentil accessions. The degree of decrement varied with accessions and salinity levels. Accessions 36120, 9235 and 36004 were better salt tolerant than the other accessions. As the result, it is recommended to be used as a genetic resource for the development of lentil accession and other very salt sensitive crop with improved germination under salt stress condition.

Keywords: accession, germination, lentil, NaCl, screening, seedling stage

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Authors: Natia Gavardashvili

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From April through June of 2017, the field-scientific studies to ensure the safety of the population of Tbilisi were accomplished in the water catch basin of the river Vere, in the water catch basin of the river Jakhana dry gully. 5 sensitive sites were identified, and areas, 20x20 m each, were marked around them, with their locations fixed with GPS coordinates. The gained areas were plotted on a digital map, and the state of the surface was explored by considering the evaluation of erosive processes. Aiming at evaluating the soils and grounds of the sensitive areas, the ground samples were taken, and average diameter was identified, with its value changing to D0 = 4,67-15,48 mm, and integral curves of the grain size were drafted. By using the obtained data, the transporting capability of mudflow can be identified at the next stage to use to calculate mudflow peak discharges of different provisions in developing the new designs of mudflow-protection structures with the goal of ensuring the safety of Tbilisi population. The studies were accomplished under the financing of Young Scientists’ Grant of Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation 'The study of erosive-mudflow processes in the water catch basin in the river Vere to ensure the safety of the population of Tbilisi and their consideration in developing new environmental protection plans' (YS15_2.1.5_8)

Keywords: water catch basin, mudflow-protection structures, erosive-mudflow processes, safety

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Authors: Sujata Sethi, Pawan Kumar, Sameer Aggarwal

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Depression and anxiety are of significant concern in youth with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and these are correlated with glycemic control in multiple ways. The extent of depression and anxiety in children with T1DM remains poorly studied in India. The index study aimed to find the prevalence of depression and anxiety and their correlation with HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin) levels in children with T1DM. Material and methods: This study was a cross-sectional study carried out on a purposive sample of 45 children with T1DM. Depressive symptoms were assessed using Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) and anxiety symptoms were assessed using Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS). Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of all the participants were recorded. Results: 43 out of 45 children were analyzed as HbA1c status for two was not known. 48.8% were females. Mean age was 12.95+2.04. The average duration of diabetes was 3.63+1.82. Mean CDRS-R score was 41.6+12.25 and mean SCAS score was 33.07+12.29. Mean recording of HbA1c level was 7.90+1.51. 27 (62.8%) out of 43 participants had abnormal scores on CDRS-R and 24 (55.8%) out of 43 had abnormal scores on SCAS. The correlation coefficient between HbA1c levels and the CDRS-R score came out to be 0.57 and between HbA1c and SCAS, it was 0.53. Both correlations were significant with the p-value of < 0.02. Conclusion: Children with T1DM have high co-morbidity of depression and anxiety which is significantly correlated with the HbA1c levels. Thus, it becomes important to screen the patients for depression and anxiety for better outcomes.

Keywords: anxiety, depression, HbA1c, T1DM

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Authors: Shahabeddin Sotudian, M. H. Fazel Zarandi, I. B. Turksen

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Hepatitis is one of the most common and dangerous diseases that affects humankind, and exposes millions of people to serious health risks every year. Diagnosis of Hepatitis has always been a challenge for physicians. This paper presents an effective method for diagnosis of hepatitis based on interval Type-II fuzzy. This proposed system includes three steps: pre-processing (feature selection), Type-I and Type-II fuzzy classification, and system evaluation. KNN-FD feature selection is used as the preprocessing step in order to exclude irrelevant features and to improve classification performance and efficiency in generating the classification model. In the fuzzy classification step, an “indirect approach” is used for fuzzy system modeling by implementing the exponential compactness and separation index for determining the number of rules in the fuzzy clustering approach. Therefore, we first proposed a Type-I fuzzy system that had an accuracy of approximately 90.9%. In the proposed system, the process of diagnosis faces vagueness and uncertainty in the final decision. Thus, the imprecise knowledge was managed by using interval Type-II fuzzy logic. The results that were obtained show that interval Type-II fuzzy has the ability to diagnose hepatitis with an average accuracy of 93.94%. The classification accuracy obtained is the highest one reached thus far. The aforementioned rate of accuracy demonstrates that the Type-II fuzzy system has a better performance in comparison to Type-I and indicates a higher capability of Type-II fuzzy system for modeling uncertainty.

Keywords: hepatitis disease, medical diagnosis, type-I fuzzy logic, type-II fuzzy logic, feature selection

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Authors: Dilara Usta, Fatos Korkmaz

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Background: Individuals who utilise health services maintain relationships with health professionals, insurers and institutions. The nature of these relationships requires service receivers to have trust in the service providers because maintaining health services without reciprocal trust is very difficult. Therefore, individual evaluations of trust within the scope of health services have become increasingly important. Objective: To investigate patients’ trust in the health-care system and their relevant socio-demographical characteristics. Methods: This research was conducted using a descriptive design which included 493 literate patients aged 18-65 years who were hospitalised for a minimum of two days at public university and training&research hospitals in Ankara, Turkey. Patients’ trust in health-care professionals, insurers, and institutions were investigated. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the Multidimensional Trust in Health-Care Systems Scale between September 2015 and April 2016. Results: The participants’ mean age was 47.7±13.1; 70% had a moderate income and 69% had a prior hospitalisation and 63.5% of the patients were satisfied with the health-care services. The mean Multidimensional Trust in Health-Care Systems Scale score for the sample was 61.5±8.3; the provider subscale had a mean of 38.1±5, the insurers subscale had a mean of 12.9±3.7, and institutions subscale had a mean of 10.6±1.9. Conclusion: Patients’ level of trust in the health-care system was above average and the trust level of the patients with higher educational and socio-economic levels was lower compared to the other patients. Health-care professionals should raise awareness about the significance of trust in the health-care system.

Keywords: delivery of health care, health care system, nursing, patients, trust

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Authors: Thendiyath Roshni, Stefano Pagliara

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Block ramps (BR) or rock chutes are eco-friendly natural river restoration structures. BR are made of ramp of rocks and flows over BR develop turbulence and helps in the entrainment of ambient air. These act as natural aerators in river flow and therefore leads to oxygenation of water. As many of the hydraulic structures in rivers, hinders the natural path for aquatic habitat. However, flows over BR ascertains a natural rocky flow and ensures safe and natural movement for aquatic habitat. Hence, BR is considered as a better alternative for drop structures. As water quality is concerned, turbulent and aerated flows over BR or macro-roughness conditions improves aeration and thereby oxygenation. Hence, the objective of this paper is to study the oxygenation in the turbulent flows over BR. Experimental data were taken for a slope (S) of 27.5% for three discharges (Q = 9, 15 and 21 lps) conditions. Air concentration were measured with the help of air concentration probe for three different discharges in the uniform flow region. Oxygen concentration is deduced from the air concentration as ambient air is entrained in the flows over BR. Air concentration profiles and oxygen profiles are plotted in the uniform flow region for three discharges and found that air concentration and oxygen concentration does not show any remarkable variation in properties in the longitudinal profile in uniform flow region. An empirical relation is developed for finding the average oxygen concentration (Oₘ) for S = 27.5% in the uniform flow region for 9 < Q < 21 lps. The results show that as the discharge increases over BR, there is a reduction of oxygen concentration in the uniform flow region.

Keywords: aeration, block ramps, oxygenation, turbulent flows

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Authors: Gokcen Ogruk-Maz, Sinan Yildirim

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Introduction: Exchange rate forecasting is pivotal for informed financial decision-making, encompassing risk management, investment strategies, and international trade planning. However, traditional forecasting models often fail to capture the complexity and volatility of currency markets. This study explores the potential of ensemble learning techniques such as Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, and AdaBoost to enhance the accuracy and robustness of exchange rate predictions. Research Objectives The primary objective is to evaluate the performance of ensemble methods in comparison to traditional econometric models such as Uncovered Interest Rate Parity, Purchasing Power Parity, and Monetary Models. By integrating advanced machine learning techniques with fundamental macroeconomic indicators, this research seeks to identify optimal approaches for predicting exchange rate movements across major currency pairs. Methodology: Using historical exchange rate data and economic indicators such as interest rates, inflation, money supply, and GDP, the study develops forecasting models leveraging ensemble techniques. Comparative analysis is performed against traditional models and hybrid approaches incorporating Facebook Prophet, Artificial Neural Networks, and XGBoost. The models are evaluated using statistical metrics like Mean Squared Error, Theil Ratio, and Diebold-Mariano tests across five currency pairs (JPY to USD, AUD to USD, CAD to USD, GBP to USD, and NZD to USD). Preliminary Results: Results indicate that ensemble learning models consistently outperform traditional methods in predictive accuracy. XGBoost shows the strongest performance among the techniques evaluated, achieving significant improvements in forecast precision with consistently low p-values and Theil Ratios. Hybrid models integrating macroeconomic fundamentals into machine learning frameworks further enhance predictive accuracy. Discussion: The findings show the potential of ensemble methods to address the limitations of traditional models by capturing non-linear relationships and complex dynamics in exchange rate movements. While Random Forest and Gradient Boosting are effective, the superior performance of XGBoost suggests that its capacity for handling sparse and irregular data offers a distinct advantage in financial forecasting. Conclusion and Implications: This research demonstrates that ensemble learning techniques, particularly when combined with traditional macroeconomic fundamentals, provide a robust framework for improving exchange rate forecasting. The study offers actionable insights for financial practitioners and policymakers, emphasizing the value of integrating machine learning approaches into predictive modeling for monetary economics.

Keywords: exchange rate forecasting, ensemble learning, financial modeling, machine learning, monetary economics, XGBoost

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Authors: P. L. Cheng, I. N. Umar

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Online discussion forum is a popular e-learning technique that allows participants to interact and construct knowledge. This study aims to examine the levels of participation, categories of participants and the structure of their interactions in a forum. A convenience sampling of one course coordinator and 23 graduate students was selected in this study. The forums’ log file and the Social Network Analysis software were used in this study. The analysis reveals 610 activities (including viewing forum’s topic, viewing discussion thread, posting a new thread, replying to other participants’ post, updating an existing thread and deleting a post) performed by them in this forum, with an average of 3.83 threads posted. Also, this forum consists of five at-risk participants, six bridging participants, four isolated participants and five leaders of information. In addition, the network density value is 0.15 and there exist five reciprocal interactions in this forum. The closeness value varied between 28 and 68 while the eigen vector centrality value varied between 0.008 and 0.39. The finding indicates that the participants tend to listen more rather than express their opinions in the forum. It was also revealed that those who actively provide supports in the discussion forum were not the same people who received the most responses from their peers. This study found that cliques do not exist in the forum and the participants are not selective to whom they response to, rather, it was based on the content of the posts made by their peers. Based upon the findings, further analysis with different method and population, larger sample size and a longer time frame are recommended.

Keywords: e-learning, learning management system, online forum, social network analysis

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Authors: Bouthiba Amina

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The estimation of the statistics bound to the precipitation represents a vast domain, which puts numerous challenges to meteorologists and hydrologists. Sometimes, it is necessary, to approach in value the extreme events for sites where there is little, or no datum, as well as their periods of return. The search for a model of the frequency of the heights of daily rains dresses a big importance in operational hydrology: It establishes a basis for predicting the frequency and intensity of floods by estimating the amount of precipitation in past years. The most known and the most common approach is the statistical approach, It consists in looking for a law of probability that fits best the values observed by the random variable " daily maximal rain " after a comparison of various laws of probability and methods of estimation by means of tests of adequacy. Therefore, a frequent analysis of the annual series of daily maximal rains was realized on the data of 54 pluviometric stations of the pond of high and average. This choice was concerned with five laws usually applied to the study and the analysis of frequent maximal daily rains. The chosen period is from 1970 to 2013. It was of use to the forecast of quantiles. The used laws are the law generalized by extremes to three components, those of the extreme values to two components (Gumbel and log-normal) in two parameters, the law Pearson typifies III and Log-Pearson III in three parameters. In Algeria, Gumbel's law has been used for a long time to estimate the quantiles of maximum flows. However, and we will check and choose the most reliable law.

Keywords: return period, extreme flow, statistics laws, Gumbel, estimation

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Authors: Qiangqiang Xu, Xu Ji, Jingyang Han, Changchun Yang, Ming Li

Abstract:

Replacing of complex solar concentrating unit, this paper designs a solar heat-concentrating medium-temperature steam-generating system. Solar radiation is collected by using a large solar collecting and heat concentrating plate and is converged to the metal evaporating pipe with high efficient heat transfer. In the meantime, the heat loss is reduced by employing a double-glazed cover and other heat insulating structures. Thus, a high temperature is reached in the metal evaporating pipe. The influences of the system's structure parameters on system performance are analyzed. The steam production rate and the steam production under different solar irradiance, solar collecting and heat concentrating plate area, solar collecting and heat concentrating plate temperature and heat loss are obtained. The results show that when solar irradiance is higher than 600 W/m², the effective heat collecting area is 7.6 m² and the double-glazing cover is adopted, the system heat loss amount is lower than the solar irradiance value. The stable steam is produced in the metal evaporating pipe at 100 ℃, 110 ℃, and 120 ℃, respectively. When the average solar irradiance is about 896 W/m², and the steaming cumulative time is about 5 hours, the daily steam production of the system is about 6.174 kg. In a single day, the solar irradiance is larger at noon, thus the steam production rate is large at that time. Before 9:00 and after 16:00, the solar irradiance is smaller, and the steam production rate is almost 0.

Keywords: heat concentrating, heat loss, medium temperature, solar steam production

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Authors: Mohammadhossein Moghimi, Robert Stone, Pia Rotshtein

Abstract:

Recording psychological and physiological correlates of human performance within virtual environments and interpreting their impacts on human engagement, ‘immersion’ and related emotional or ‘effective’ states is both academically and technologically challenging. By exposing participants to an effective, real-time (game-like) virtual environment, designed and evaluated in an earlier study, a psychophysiological database containing the EEG, GSR and Heart Rate of 30 male and female gamers, exposed to 10 games, was constructed. Some 174 features were subsequently identified and extracted from a number of windows, with 28 different timing lengths (e.g. 2, 3, 5, etc. seconds). After reducing the number of features to 30, using a feature selection technique, K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) methods were subsequently employed for the classification process. The classifiers categorised the psychophysiological database into four effective clusters (defined based on a 3-dimensional space – valence, arousal and dominance) and eight emotion labels (relaxed, content, happy, excited, angry, afraid, sad, and bored). The KNN and SVM classifiers achieved average cross-validation accuracies of 97.01% (±1.3%) and 92.84% (±3.67%), respectively. However, no significant differences were found in the classification process based on effective clusters or emotion labels.

Keywords: virtual reality, effective computing, effective VR, emotion-based effective physiological database

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Authors: Bamidele Samson Alobalorun, Ifedotun Roseline Idowu

Abstract:

Biometrics technologies apply the human body parts for their unique and reliable identification based on physiological traits. The iris recognition system is a biometric–based method for identification. The human iris has some discriminating characteristics which provide efficiency to the method. In order to achieve this efficiency, there is a need for feature extraction of the distinct features from the human iris in order to generate accurate authentication of persons. In this study, an approach for an iris recognition system using 2D Gabor for feature extraction is applied to iris templates. The 2D Gabor filter formulated the patterns that were used for training and equally sent to the hamming distance matching technique for recognition. A comparison of results is presented using two iris image subjects of different matching indices of 1,2,3,4,5 filter based on the CASIA iris image database. By comparing the two subject results, the actual computational time of the developed models, which is measured in terms of training and average testing time in processing the hamming distance classifier, is found with best recognition accuracy of 96.11% after capturing the iris localization or segmentation using the Daughman’s Integro-differential, the normalization is confined to the Daugman’s rubber sheet model.

Keywords: Daugman rubber sheet, feature extraction, Hamming distance, iris recognition system, 2D Gabor wavelet transform

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Authors: V. Emery David Jr., J. Wenchao, D. Mmereki, Y. John, F. Heriniaina

Abstract:

Healthcare waste management continues to present an array of challenges for developing countries, and Liberia is of no exception. There is insufficient information available regarding the generation, handling, and disposal of health care waste. This face serves as an impediment to healthcare management schemes. The specific objective of this study is to present an evaluation of the current health care management practices in Liberia. It also presented procedures, techniques used, methods of handling, transportation, and disposal methods of wastes as well as the quantity and composition of health care waste. This study was conducted as an investigative case study, covering three different health care facilities; a hospital, a health center, and a clinic in Monrovia, Montserrado County. The average waste generation was found to be 0-7kg per day at the clinic and health center and 8-15kg per/day at the hospital. The composition of the waste includes hazardous and non-hazardous waste i.e. plastic, papers, sharps, and pathological elements etc. Nevertheless, the investigation showed that the healthcare waste generated by the surveyed healthcare facilities were not properly handled because of insufficient guidelines for separate collection, and classification, and adequate methods for storage and proper disposal of generated wastes. This therefore indicates that there is a need for improvement within the healthcare waste management system to improve the existing situation.

Keywords: disposal, healthcare waste, management, Montserrado County, Monrovia

Procedia PDF Downloads 349

Authors: Ming Ma, Zhenyu Cai, Rui Li

Abstract:

People are more vulnerable to health problems than ever before, such as overweight and obesity due to the change of built environment. In the high-rise buildings, the core-tube layout is closely associated with user’s physical activities which will affect human’s health in a long-term. As for the white-collars who spends the amount of time working in the office tower, using staircase seems to provide an opportunity for them to increase the physical activities in the workplaces. This paper is aiming to find out the specific relationship between health and core-tube in the office tower through analyzing the correlation between staircase’s layout and user’s health. The variables of staircase’s layout are consisted of two indicators: plan layout and space design, including nine factors while health variable is applying BIM as the only main factor. 14 office towers in downtown Shanghai are selected as the research samples because of its typical users’ pattern and similar core-tube layout. In the result, it is obvious that the users from these 14 cases have higher BMI than average partly because that the staircases are mainly designed for emergency and fire instead of daily use. After the regression and correlation analysis of the variables of health and staircases, it’s found that users’ BMI is significantly associated with the factors of floor guide-signs and distance from lobby to the staircase. In addition, the factors of comfort level of staircase such as width and daylighting have a certain correlation with users’ BMI.

Keywords: office tower, staircase, design, obesity, physical activity

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: Jiun-De Lin

Abstract:

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the empowerment effect of the older people through a structured reminiscence play therapeutic group program in Changhua county of Taiwan. This program was used Taiwanese traditional culture as the main concept based on the topic of reminiscence. In order to assimilate into the process for older people, thematic group activities were easy to operate. During the reminiscence play activities, they would improve their personal control and competence, the same as empowerment. A counselor who acted as a group leader led 10 elderly people participated in this reminiscence group play therapy. The participants of the study were 10 older people consisting of 7 males and 3 females who lived in a rehabilitation center in Changhua county of Taiwan. The participants’ average age was 72.5 years old. The study adopted the methods of survey research and the instruments in this study included subjects’ demographic information and the empowerment inventory for adults. A one-group pretest-posttest design was adopted by researchers to test the study hypothesis. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and Wilcoxon matched paired signed-ranks test. The main finding of this study was that the reminiscence group play therapy had a significant effect (Z= 2.382, p < .05) to promote the state of empowerment of older people participated in this group play therapy. Based on the conclusion of this study, the suggestions and implications were proposed for the practices and future research.

Keywords: empowerment, group play therapy, older people, reminiscence

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: S. alireza Mirghasemi, Shervin Rashidinia, Mohammadsaleh Sadeghi, Mohsen Talebizadeh, Narges Rahimi Gabaran, S. Shahin Eftekhari, Sara Shahmoradi

Abstract:

Purpose: There are various pin-in-plaster methods for treating distal radius fractures. This study is meant to introduce a modified technique of pin-in-plaster. Materials and methods: Fifty-four patients with distal radius fractures were followed up for one year. Patients were excluded if they had type B fractures according to AO classification, multiple injuries or pathological fractures, and were treated more than 7 days after injury. Range of motion and functional results were evaluated. Radiographic parameters including radial inclination, tilt, and height, were measured preoperatively and postoperatively. Results: The average radial tilt was 10.6° and radial height was 10.2 mm at the sixth month postoperatively. Three cases of pin tract infection were recorded, who were treated totally with oral antibiotics. There was no case of pin loosening. Of total 73 patients underwent surgery, three cases of radial nerve irritation were recorded at the time of cast removal. All of them resolved at the 6th month follow up. No median nerve compression and carpal tunnel syndrome have found. We also had no case of tendon injury. Conclusion: Our modified technique is effective to restore anatomic congruity and maintain reduction.

Keywords: distal radius fracture, percutaneous pinning, pin-in-plaster, modified method of pin-in-plaster, operative treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 513

Authors: Lingxia Li, Frédéric Schnell, Thibault Lachard, Anne-Charlotte Dupont, Shuzhe Ding, Solène Le Douairon Lahaye

Abstract:

Background: Repetitive participation in triathlon training results in significant myocardial changes. However, whether the cardiac remodeling in triathletes is related to the specificities of the sport (consisting of three sports) raises questions. Methods: Elite triathletes and cyclists registered on the French ministerial lists of high-level athletes were involved. The basic information and routine electrocardiogram records were obtained. Electrocardiograms were evaluated according to clinical criteria. Results: Of the 105 athletes included in the study, 42 were from the short-distance triathlon (40%), and 63 were from the road cycling (60%). The average age was 22.1±4.2 years. The P wave amplitude was significantly lower in triathletes than in cyclists (p=0.005), and no significant statistical difference was found in heart rate, RR interval, PR or PQ interval, QRS complex, QRS axe, QT interval, and QTc (p>0.05). All the measured parameters were within normal ranges. The most common electrical manifestations were early repolarization (60.95%) and incomplete right bundle branch block (43.81%); there was no statistical difference between the groups (p>0.05). Conclusions: Prolonged intensive endurance exercise training induces physiological cardiac remodeling in both triathletes and cyclists. The most common electrocardiogram manifestations were early repolarization and incomplete right bundle branch block.

Keywords: cardiac screening, electrocardiogram, triathlon, cycling, elite athletes

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