Search results for: natuaral language processing

Authors: Tamara Romero, Manuel Romero-Huelva, Jose V. Segarra, Jose Castro, Carlos Fernandez

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Many foods resulting from processing and manufacturing end up as waste, most of which is burned, dumped into landfills or used as compost, which leads to wasted resources, and environmental problems due to unsuitable disposal. Using residues of the crop and food processing industries to feed livestock has the advantage to obviating the need for costly waste management programs. The main residue generated in citrus cultivations and rice crop are pruning waste and rice straw, respectively. Within Spain, the Valencian Community is one of the world's oldest citrus and rice production areas. The objective of this experiment found out the effects of including orange leaves and rice straw as ingredients in the concentrate diets of goats, on milk production and methane (CH₄) emissions. Ten Murciano-Granadina dairy goats (45 kg of body weight, on average) in mid-lactation were selected in a crossover design experiment, where each goat received two treatments in 2 periods. Both groups were fed with 1.7 kg pelleted mixed ration; one group (n= 5) was a control (C) and the other group (n= 5) used orange leaves and rice straw (OR). The forage was alfalfa hay, and it was the same for the two groups (1 kg of alfalfa was offered by goat and day). The diets employed to achieve the requirements during lactation period for caprine livestock. The goats were allocated to individual metabolism cages. After 14 days of adaptation, feed intake and milk yield were recorded daily over a 5 days period. Physico-chemical parameters and somatic cell count in milk samples were determined. Then, gas exchange measurements were recorded individually by an open-circuit indirect calorimetry system using a head box. The data were analyzed by mixed model with diet and digestibility as fixed effect and goat as random effect. No differences were found for dry matter intake (2.23 kg/d, on average). Higher milk yield was found for C diet than OR (2.3 vs. 2.1 kg/goat and day, respectively) and, greater milk fat content was observed for OR than C (6.5 vs. 5.5%, respectively). The cheese extract was also greater in OR than C (10.7 vs. 9.6%). Goats fed OR diet produced significantly fewer CH₄ emissions than C diet (27 vs. 30 g/d, respectively). These preliminary results (LIFE Project LOWCARBON FEED LIFE/CCM/ES/000088) suggested that the use of these waste by-products was effective in reducing CH₄ emission without detrimental effect on milk yield.

Keywords: agricultural waste, goat, milk production, methane emission

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Authors: Maroof Sakhi

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This article studies writing style in A Thousand Splendid Suns. It mainly discusses code-switching and usage of Persian words in the novel. Hosseini mainly writes in English; however, constantly he applies Persian words, phrases and syntax. Code-switching is used for different purposes in A Thousand Splendid Suns. It gives a voice to a character from Afghanistan. It is also used to mark a difference between the American and Afghanistan cultures and languages. Furthermore, representation of Persian language can be interpreted as valorization of the author’s mother tongue. In short, the writing style in A Thousand Splendid Suns represents Hosseini’s identity, culture and linguistic background.

Keywords: code-switching, hybridity, identity, linguistic background, Persian literature

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Authors: Danielle Kim

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This paper analyzes how conceptual metaphors in the lyrics of popular songs can be potentially detrimental by influencing the public’s perception of women. Conceptual metaphors in songs often compare women to objects (objects that are fragile and breakable or primarily of monetary value) and animals. Many common conceptual metaphors in music refer to women as less than sovereign, rational humans, implying that women should be owned, controlled, and used. These comparisons are harmful because music is so influential and has the ability to create and perpetuate stereotypes. By examining the lyrics of the popular songs: Bob Dylan’s “Just like a woman,” Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (written by Marvin Gaye), and Chris Brown’s “Fine China,” we can discern subtle ways in which misogynistic language has become so imbedded into popular culture.

Keywords: conceptual metaphors, women studies, feminism, lyrics

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Authors: Punnoose A. K.

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This paper presents an approach for identifying noisy speech recording using a multi-layer perception (MLP) trained to predict phonemes from acoustic features. Characteristics of the MLP posteriors are explored for clean speech and noisy speech at the frame level. Appropriate density functions are used to fit the softmax probability of the clean and noisy speech. A function that takes into account the ratio of the softmax probability density of noisy speech to clean speech is formulated. These phoneme independent scoring is weighted using a phoneme-specific weightage to make the scoring more robust. Simple thresholding is used to identify the noisy speech recording from the clean speech recordings. The approach is benchmarked on standard databases, with a focus on precision.

Keywords: noisy speech identification, speech pre-processing, noise robustness, feature engineering

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Authors: Kittivate Boonyopakorn

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The purposes of this study were to investigate the method of the English use of the businessmen and to study their behavior of the utilization for the ASEAN economic community. The participants were divided into the three types of the merchants including the construction contractors, the construction material traders, and SME entrepreneurs. Survey questionnaires and interviews were used in this study. The findings showed that in the type of traders, 23 of the participants are construction contractors, 121 are construction material traders, and 206 are SME entrepreneurs. The study of English in language institute is highly 51.4%. The use of Google in translating English into Thai is 41.7%. Learning English themselves is 41.1% respectively. The businessmen study English for readiness for their trade.

Keywords: way of rnglish use, businessmen, ASEAN economic community, Chonburi province

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Authors: Gabriela Steffen

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Learning in a bilingual classroom not only implies learning in two languages or in an L2, it also means learning content subjects through the means of bilingual or plurilingual resources, which is of a qualitatively different nature than ‘monolingual’ learning. These resources form elements of a didactics of plurilingualism, aiming not only at the development of a plurilingual competence, but also at drawing on plurilingual resources for nonlinguistic subject learning. Applying a didactics of plurilingualism allows for taking account of the specificities of bilingual content subject learning in bilingual education classrooms. Bilingual education is used here as an umbrella term for different programs, such as bilingual education, immersion, CLIL, bilingual modules in which one or several non-linguistic subjects are taught partly or completely in an L2. This paper aims at discussing first results of a study on pupil group work in bilingual classrooms in several Swiss primary schools. For instance, it analyses two bilingual classes in two primary schools in a French-speaking region of Switzerland that follows a part of their school program through German in addition to French, the language of instruction in this region. More precisely, it analyses videotaped classroom interaction and in situ classroom practices of pupil group work in a mathematics lessons. The ethnographic observation of pupils’ group work and the analysis of their interaction (analytical tools of conversational analysis, discourse analysis and plurilingual interaction) enhance the description of whole-class interaction done in the same (and several other) classes. While the latter are teacher-student interactions, the former are student-student interactions giving more space to and insight into pupils’ talk. This study aims at the description of the linguistic and multimodal resources (in German L2 and/or French L1) pupils mobilize while carrying out a mathematical task. The analysis shows that the accomplishment of the mathematical task takes place in a bilingual mode, whether the whole-class interactions are conducted rather in a bilingual (German L2-French L1) or a monolingual mode in L2 (German). The pupils make plenty of use of German L2 in a setting that lends itself to use French L1 (peer groups with French as a dominant language, in absence of the teacher and a task with a mathematical aim). They switch from French to German and back ‘naturally’, which is regular for bilingual speakers. Their linguistic resources in German L2 are not sufficient to allow them to (inter-)act well enough to accomplish the task entirely in German L2, despite their efforts to do so. However, this does not stop them from carrying out the task in mathematics adequately, which is the main objective, by drawing on the bilingual resources at hand.

Keywords: bilingual content subject learning, bilingual primary education, bilingual pupil group work, bilingual teaching/learning resources, didactics of plurilingualism

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Authors: Peng Cheng, Liqing Wei, Hongyu Chen, Ruomiao Wang

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This paper discusses a light-weight reinforced thermoplastic (LWRT) composite with superior fire retardancy. This porous LWRT composite is manufactured using polyolefin, fiberglass, and fire retardant additives via a wet-lay process. However, discoloration of the LWRT can be induced by various mechanisms, which may be a concern in the building and construction industry. It is commonly understood that discoloration is strongly associated with the presence of phenolic antioxidant(s) and NO_x. The over-oxidation of phenolic antioxidant(s) is probably the root-cause of the discoloration (pinking/yellowing). Hanwha Azdel, Inc. developed a LWRT with fire-retardant property of ASTM E84-Class A specification, as well as negligible discoloration even under harsh conditions. In addition, this thermoplastic material is suitable for secondary processing (e.g. compression molding) if necessary.

Keywords: discoloration, fire-retardant, thermoplastic composites, wet-lay process

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Authors: Maha Al-Soudani, Gilles Klysz, Jean-Paul Balayssac

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The aim of this paper is to use Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) as a non-destructive testing (NDT) method to increase its accuracy in recognizing the geometric reinforced concrete structures and in particular, the position of steel bars. This definition will help the managers to assess the state of their structures on the one hand vis-a-vis security constraints and secondly to quantify the need for maintenance and repair. Several configurations of acquisition and processing of the simulated signal were tested to propose and develop an appropriate imaging algorithm in the propagation medium to locate accurately the rebar. A subsequent experimental validation was used by testing the imaging algorithm on real reinforced concrete structures. The results indicate that, this algorithm is capable of estimating the reinforcing steel bar position to within (0-1) mm.

Keywords: GPR, NDT, Reinforced concrete structures, Rebar location.

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Authors: Hsiao-Lan Wang, Chun-Han Chiang, I-Chen Chen

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In Chinese Mandarin, lexical tones play an important role to provide contrasts in word meaning. They are pitch patterns and can be quantified as the fundamental frequency (F0), expressed in Hertz (Hz). In this study, we aim to investigate the influence of frequency discrimination on Chinese children’s performance of reading abilities. Fifty participants from 3rd to 4th grades, including 24 children with reading difficulties and 26 age-matched children, were examined. A serial of cognitive, language, reading and psychoacoustic tests were administrated. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was also employed to study children’s auditory sensitivity. In the present study, auditory frequency was measured through slide-up pitch, slide-down pitch and frequency-modulated tone. The results showed that children with Chinese reading difficulties were significantly poor at phonological awareness and auditory discrimination for the identification of frequency-modulated tone. Chinese children’s character reading performance was significantly related to lexical tone awareness and auditory perception of frequency-modulated tone. In our MEG measure, we compared the mismatch negativity (MMNm), from 100 to 200 ms, in two groups. There were no significant differences between groups during the perceptual discrimination of standard sounds, fast-up and fast-down frequencies. However, the data revealed significant cluster differences between groups in the slow-up and slow-down frequencies discrimination. In the slow-up stimulus, the cluster demonstrated an upward field map at 106-151 ms (p < .001) with a strong peak time at 127ms. The source analyses of two dipole model and localization resolution model (CLARA) from 100 to 200 ms both indicated a strong source from the left temporal area with 45.845% residual variance. Similar results were found in the slow-down stimulus with a larger upward current at 110-142 ms (p < 0.05) and a peak time at 117 ms in the left temporal area (47.857% residual variance). In short, we found a significant group difference in the MMNm while children processed frequency-modulated tones with slow temporal changes. The findings may imply that perception of sound frequency signals with slower temporal modulations was related to reading and language development in Chinese. Our study may also support the recent hypothesis of underlying non-verbal auditory temporal deficits accounting for the difficulties in literacy development seen developmental dyslexia.

Keywords: Chinese Mandarin, frequency modulation sweeps, magnetoencephalography, mismatch negativity, reading difficulties

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Authors: Cao Xi

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This paper reports a study which used eye-tracking to examine the cognitive validity of TEM 8(Test for English Majors, Band 8). The study investigated test takers' reading patterns on four -item types using eye-tracking, and interviews. Thirty participants completed 22 items on a computer, with the Tobii X2 Eye Tracker recording their eye movements on screen. Eleven students further participated in a recall interview while viewing video footage of their gaze patterns on the test. The findings will indicate that first, different reading item types will employ different cognitive processes; then different reading patterns for stronger and weaker test takers’on each item types. The implication of this study is to provide recommendations for the use of eye tracking technology in language research.

Keywords: eye tracking, reading patterns, test for english majors, cognitive validity

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Authors: G. Zakharov, Z. Aslamazashvili, M. Chikhradze, D. Kvaskhvadze, N. Khidasheli, S. Gvazava

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Traditional technologies for processing iron-containing industrial waste, including steel-rolling production, are associated with significant energy costs, the long duration of processes, and the need to use complex and expensive equipment. Waste generated during the industrial process negatively affects the environment, but at the same time, it is a valuable raw material and can be used to produce new marketable products. The study of the effectiveness of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) methods, which are characterized by the simplicity of the necessary equipment, the purity of the final product, and the high processing speed, is under the wide scientific and practical interest to solve the set problem. The work presents technological aspects of the production of Ferro boron by the method of SHS - metallurgy from iron-containing wastes of rolled production for alloying of cast iron and results of the effect of alloying element on the degree of boron assimilation with liquid cast iron. Features of Fe-B system combustion have been investigated, and the main parameters to control the phase composition of synthesis products have been experimentally established. Effect of overloads on patterns of cast ligatures formation and mechanisms structure formation of SHS products was studied. It has been shown that an increase in the content of hematite Fe₂O₃ in iron-containing waste leads to an increase in the content of phase FeB and, accordingly, the amount of boron in the ligature. Boron content in ligature is within 3-14%, and the phase composition of obtained ligatures consists of Fe₂B and FeB phases. Depending on the initial composition of the wastes, the yield of the end product reaches 91 - 94%, and the extraction of boron is 70 - 88%. Combustion processes of high exothermic mixtures allow to obtain a wide range of boron-containing ligatures from industrial wastes. In view of the relatively low melting point of the obtained SHS-ligature, the positive dynamics of boron absorption by liquid iron is established. According to the obtained data, the degree of absorption of the ligature by alloying gray cast iron at 1450°C is 80-85%. When combined with the treatment of liquid cast iron with magnesium, followed by alloying with the developed ligature, boron losses are reduced by 5-7%. At that, uniform distribution of boron micro-additives in the volume of treated liquid metal is provided. Acknowledgment: This work was supported by Shota Rustaveli Georgian National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRGNSFG) under the GENIE project (grant number № CARYS-19-802).

Keywords: self-propagating high-temperature synthesis, cast iron, industrial waste, ductile iron, structure formation

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Authors: Froogh Shooshtaryzadeh, Pramod Pandey

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The present study investigates place and manner harmony in typically developing (TD) children and children with phonological disorder (PD) who are acquiring Farsi as their first language. Five TD and five PD children are examined regarding their place and manner harmony patterns. Data is collected through a Picture-Naming Task using 132 pictures of different items designed to elicit the production of 132 different words. The examination of the data has indicated some similarities and differences in harmony patterns in PD and TD children. Moreover, the results of this study on the place and manner harmony have illustrated some differences with the results of the preceding studies on languages other than Farsi. The results of this study are discussed and compared with results from other studies. Optimality Theory is employed to explain some of the findings of this study.

Keywords: place harmony, manner harmony, phonological development, Farsi

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Authors: Nay Myo Sandar

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With the growth of technologies and applications, a large amount of data has been producing at increasing rate from various resources such as social media networks, sensor devices, and other information serving devices. This large collection of massive, complex and exponential growth of dataset is called big data. The traditional database systems cannot store and process such data due to large and complexity. Consequently, cloud computing is a potential solution for data storage and processing since it can provide a pool of resources for servers and storage. However, moving large amount of data to and from is a challenging issue since it can encounter a high latency due to large data size. With respect to big data movement problem, this paper reviews the literature of previous works, discusses about research issues, finds out approaches for dealing with big data movement problem.

Keywords: Big Data, Cloud Computing, Big Data Movement, Network Techniques

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Authors: Fathi Kallel, Saida Khachira, Mohamed Ben Slima, Ahmed Ben Hamida

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Speckle noise is a main characteristic of cardiac ultrasound images, it corresponding to grainy appearance that degrades the image quality. For this reason, the ultrasound images are difficult to use automatically in clinical use, then treatments are required for this type of images. Then a filtering procedure of these images is necessary to eliminate the speckle noise and to improve the quality of ultrasound images which will be then segmented to extract the necessary forms that exist. In this paper, we present the importance of the pre-treatment step for segmentation. This work is applied to cardiac ultrasound images. In a first step, a comparative study of speckle filtering method will be presented and then we use a segmentation algorithm to locate and extract cardiac structures.

Keywords: medical image processing, ultrasound images, Speckle noise, image enhancement, speckle filtering, segmentation, snakes

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Authors: Michel Kulhandjian, Dimitris A. Pados

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The objective of this work is to develop a theoretical framework for reliable digital recording system identification from digital audio files alone, for forensic purposes. A digital recording system consists of a microphone and a digital sound processing card. We view the cascade as a system of unknown transfer function. We expect same manufacturer and model microphone-sound card combinations to have very similar/near identical transfer functions, bar any unique manufacturing defect. Input voice (or other) signals are modeled as non-stationary processes. The technical problem under consideration becomes blind deconvolution with non-stationary inputs as it manifests itself in the specific application of digital audio recording equipment classification.

Keywords: blind system identification, audio fingerprinting, blind deconvolution, blind dereverberation

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Authors: Geoffrey A. Wright

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In an attempt to address shortcomings revealed in international assessments and lamented in legislation, many schools are reducing or eliminating elective courses, applying the rationale that replacing "non-essential" subjects with core subjects, such as mathematics and language arts, will better position students in the global market. However, there is evidence that systematically pairing a core subject with another complementary subject may lead to greater overall learning in both subjects. In this paper, we outline the methods and preliminary findings from a study we conducted analyzing the influence learning programming has on student mathematical comprehension and ability. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate in what ways two subjects might complement each other, and to better understand the principles and conditions that encourage what we call lateral transfer, the synergistic effect that occurs when a learner studies two complementary subjects.

Keywords: programming, engineering, technology, complementary subjects

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Authors: Avyarthana Dey, Naren P. Rao, Arpitha Jacob, Chaitra V. Hiremath, Shivarama Varambally, Ganesan Venkatasubramanian, Rose Dawn Bharath, Bangalore N. Gangadhar

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Objective: Impaired facial emotion recognition is widely reported in schizophrenia. Neuropeptide oxytocin is known to modulate brain regions involved in facial emotion recognition, namely amygdala, in healthy volunteers. However, its effect on facial emotion recognition deficits seen in schizophrenia is not well explored. In this study, we examined the effect of intranasal OXT on processing facial emotions and its neural correlates in patients with schizophrenia. Method: 12 male patients (age= 31.08±7.61 years, education= 14.50±2.20 years) participated in this single-blind, counterbalanced functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. All participants underwent three fMRI scans; one at baseline, one each after single dose 24IU intranasal OXT and intranasal placebo. The order of administration of OXT and placebo were counterbalanced and subject was blind to the drug administered. Participants performed a facial emotion recognition task presented in a block design with six alternating blocks of faces and shapes. The faces depicted happy, angry or fearful emotions. The images were preprocessed and analyzed using SPM 12. First level contrasts comparing recognition of emotions and shapes were modelled at individual subject level. A group level analysis was performed using the contrasts generated at the first level to compare the effects of intranasal OXT and placebo. The results were thresholded at uncorrected p < 0.001 with a cluster size of 6 voxels. Neuropeptide oxytocin is known to modulate brain regions involved in facial emotion recognition, namely amygdala, in healthy volunteers. Results: Compared to placebo, intranasal OXT attenuated activity in inferior temporal, fusiform and parahippocampal gyri (BA 20), premotor cortex (BA 6), middle frontal gyrus (BA 10) and anterior cingulate gyrus (BA 24) and enhanced activity in the middle occipital gyrus (BA 18), inferior occipital gyrus (BA 19), and superior temporal gyrus (BA 22). There were no significant differences between the conditions on the accuracy scores of emotion recognition between baseline (77.3±18.38), oxytocin (82.63 ± 10.92) or Placebo (76.62 ± 22.67). Conclusion: Our results provide further evidence to the modulatory effect of oxytocin in patients with schizophrenia. Single dose oxytocin resulted in significant changes in activity of brain regions involved in emotion processing. Future studies need to examine the effectiveness of long-term treatment with OXT for emotion recognition deficits in patients with schizophrenia.

Keywords: recognition, functional connectivity, oxytocin, schizophrenia, social cognition

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Authors: Ahmed Mateen, Zhu Qingsheng, Ahmad Bilal

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In the current age of technology, information is the most precious asset of a company. Today, companies have a large amount of data. As the data become larger, access to data for some particular information is becoming slower day by day. Faster data processing to shape it in the form of information is the biggest issue. The major problems in distributed databases are the efficiency of data distribution and response time of data distribution. The security of data distribution is also a big issue. For these problems, we proposed a strategy that can maximize the efficiency of data distribution and also increase its response time. This technique gives better results for secure data distribution from multiple heterogeneous sources. The newly proposed technique facilitates the companies for secure data sharing efficiently and quickly.

Keywords: ER-schema, electronic record, P2P framework, API, query formulation

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Authors: Niharika Kaushal, Minni Singh

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Citrus fruits contain an abundance of phytochemicals that can promote health. A substantial amount of agrowaste is produced from the juice processing industries, primarily peels and seeds. This leftover agrowaste is a reservoir of nutraceuticals, particularly bioflavonoids which render it antioxidant and potentially anticancerous. It is, therefore, favorable to utilize this biomass and contribute towards sustainability in a manner that value-added products may be derived from them, nutraceuticals, in this study. However, the pre-systemic metabolism of flavonoids in the gastric phase limits the effectiveness of these bioflavonoids derived from mandarin biomass. In this study, ‘kinnow’ mandarin (Citrus nobilis X Citrus deliciosa) biomass was explored for its flavonoid profile. This work entails supercritical fluid extraction and identification of bioflavonoids from mandarin biomass. Furthermore, to overcome the limitations of these flavonoids in the gastrointestinal tract, a double-layered vehicular mechanism comprising the fabrication of nanoconjugates and edible hydrogels was adopted. Total flavonoids in the mandarin peel extract were estimated by the aluminum chloride complexation method and were found to be 47.3±1.06 mg/ml rutin equivalents as total flavonoids. Mass spectral analysis revealed the abundance of polymethoxyflavones (PMFs), nobiletin and tangeretin as the major flavonoids in the extract, followed by hesperetin and naringenin. Furthermore, the antioxidant potential was analyzed by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, which showed an IC50 of 0.55μg/ml. Nanoconjugates were fabricated via the solvent evaporation method, which was further impregnated into hydrogels. Additionally, the release characteristics of nanoconjugate-laden hydrogels in a simulated gastrointestinal environment were studied. The PLGA-PMFs nanoconjugates exhibited a particle size between 200-250nm having a smooth and spherical shape as revealed by FE-SEM. The impregnated alginate hydrogels offered a dense network that ensured the holding of PLGA-PMF nanoconjugates, as confirmed by Cryo-SEM images. Rheological studies revealed the shear-thinning behavior of hydrogels and their high resistance to deformation. Gastrointestinal studies showed a negligible 4.0% release of flavonoids in the gastric phase, followed by a sustained release over the next hours in the intestinal environment. Therefore, based on the enormous potential of recovering nutraceuticals from agro-processing wastes, further augmented by nanotechnological interventions for enhancing the bioefficacy of these compounds, lays the foundation for exploring the path towards the development of value-added products, thereby contributing towards the sustainable use of agrowaste.

Keywords: agrowaste, gastrointestinal, hydrogel, nutraceuticals

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Authors: Natalia Efremova, Sergey Tarasenko

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We propose a novel neural network architecture for visual saliency detections, which utilizes neuro physiologically plausible mechanisms for extraction of salient regions. The model has been significantly inspired by recent findings from neuro physiology and aimed to simulate the bottom-up processes of human selective attention. Two types of features were analyzed: color and direction of maximum variance. The mechanism we employ for processing those features is PCA, implemented by means of normalized Hebbian learning and the waves of spikes. To evaluate performance of our model we have conducted psychological experiment. Comparison of simulation results with those of experiment indicates good performance of our model.

Keywords: neural network models, visual saliency detection, normalized Hebbian learning, Oja's rule, psychological experiment

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Authors: Nishant Singh, Christian Huyck, Vaibhav Gandhi, Alexander Jones

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A robotic arm and hand controlled by simulated neurons is presented. The robot makes use of a biological neuron simulator using a point neural model. The neurons and synapses are organised to create a finite state automaton including neural inputs from sensors, and outputs to effectors. The robot performs a simple pick-and-place task. This work is a proof of concept study for a longer term approach. It is hoped that further work will lead to more effective and flexible robots. As another benefit, it is hoped that further work will also lead to a better understanding of human and other animal neural processing, particularly for physical motion. This is a multidisciplinary approach combining cognitive neuroscience, robotics, and psychology.

Keywords: cell assembly, force sensitive resistor, robot, spiking neuron

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Authors: Sunil Tumkur Dakshinamurthy, Mamootil Zachariah Kurian

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Change requirement traceability in object oriented software systems is one of the challenging areas in research. We know that the traces between links of different artifacts are to be automated or semi-automated in the software development life cycle (SDLC). The aim of this paper is discussing and implementing aspects of dynamically linking the artifacts such as requirements, high level design, code and test cases through the Extensible Markup Language (XML) or by dynamically generating Object Oriented (OO) metrics. Also, non-functional requirements (NFR) aspects such as stability, completeness, clarity, validity, feasibility and precision are discussed. We discuss this as a Fifth Taxonomy, which is a system vulnerability concern.

Keywords: artifacts, NFRs, OO metrics, SDLC, XML

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Authors: Nazli W. Hardy

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A critical component in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem is the need for secure and appropriate transmission, processing, and storage of the data. Our current forms of authentication, and identity and access management do not suffice because they are not designed to service cohesive, integrated, interconnected devices, and service applications. The seemingly endless opportunities of IoT are in fact circumscribed on multiple levels by concerns such as trust, privacy, security, loss of control, and related issues. This paper considers multi-factor authentication (MFA) mechanisms and cohesive identity relationship management (IRM) standards. It also surveys messaging protocols that are appropriate for the IoT ecosystem.

Keywords: identity relation management, multifactor authentication, protocols, survey of internet of things ecosystem

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Authors: Mesfin Abebe Molla

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This research aims to examine the practices of inclusion of the hard of hearing and deaf students in regular schools. It also focuses on exploring strategies for optimal benefits of students with Hard of Hearing and Deaf (HH-D) from inclusion. Concurrent mixed methods research design was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The instruments used to gather data for this study were questionnaire, semi- structured interview, and observations. A total of 102 HH-D students and 42 primary and High School teachers were selected using simple random sampling technique and used as participants to collect quantitative data. Non-probability sampling technique was also employed to select 14 participants (4-school principals, 6-teachers and 4-parents of HH-D students) and they were interviewed to collect qualitative data. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques (independent sample t-test, one way ANOVA and Multiple regressions) were employed to analyze quantitative data. Qualitative data were also analyzed qualitatively by theme analysis. The findings reported that there were individual principals’, teachers’ and parents’ strong commitment and efforts for practicing inclusion of HH-D students effectively; however, most of the core values of inclusion were missing in both schools. Most of the teachers (78.6 %) and HH-D students (75.5%) had negative attitude and considerable reservations about the feasibility of inclusion of HH-D students in both schools. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant difference of attitude toward to inclusion between the two school’s teachers and the teachers’ who had taken and had not taken additional training on IE and sign language. The study also indicated that there was a statistically significant difference of attitude toward to inclusion between hard of hearing and deaf students. However, the overall contribution of the demographic variables of teachers and HH-D students on their attitude toward inclusion is not statistically significant. The finding also showed that HH-D students did not have access to modified curriculum which would maximize their abilities and help them to learn together with their hearing peers. In addition, there is no clear and adequate direction for the medium of instruction. Poor school organization and management, lack of commitment, financial resources, collaboration and teachers’ inadequate training on Inclusive Education (IE) and sign language, large class size, inappropriate assessment procedure, lack of trained deaf adult personnel who can serve as role model for HH-D students and lack of parents and community members’ involvement were some of the major factors that affect the practicing inclusion of students HH-D. Finally, recommendations are made to improve the practices of inclusion of HH-D students and to make inclusion of HH-D students an integrated part of Ethiopian education based on the findings of the study.

Keywords: deaf, hard of hearing, inclusion, regular schools

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Authors: Pratik Gandhi, Kavitha Chandra, Charles Thompson

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A computational model of the acoustic room impulse response between transmitters and receivers located in an enclosed cavity under the influence of frequency-dependent reflection coefficients of the walls is presented. The characteristic features of the impulse responses that differentiate these results from frequency-independent reflecting surfaces are discussed. The image-source model is derived from the first principle solution to Green's function of the acoustic wave equation. The post-processing of the computed impulse response with a band-pass filter to better represents the response of a loud-speaker is demonstrated.

Keywords: acoustic room impulse response, frequency dependent reflection coefficients, Green's function, image model

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Authors: Mahshid Arabi

Abstract:

In recent years, remarkable advancements in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning have led to the development of facial recognition technologies. These technologies are now employed in a wide range of applications, including security, surveillance, healthcare, and education. In the field of education, the identification of university entrance exam candidates has been one of the fundamental challenges. Traditional methods such as using ID cards and handwritten signatures are not only inefficient and prone to fraud but also susceptible to errors. In this context, utilizing advanced technologies like facial recognition can be an effective and efficient solution to increase the accuracy and reliability of identity verification in entrance exams. This article examines the use of FaceMatch software for recognizing the faces of university entrance exam candidates in Iran. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the efficiency and accuracy of FaceMatch software in identifying university entrance exam candidates to prevent fraud and ensure the authenticity of individuals' identities. Additionally, this research investigates the advantages and challenges of using this technology in Iran's educational systems. This research was conducted using an experimental method and random sampling. In this study, 1000 university entrance exam candidates in Iran were selected as samples. The facial images of these candidates were processed and analyzed using FaceMatch software. The software's accuracy and efficiency were evaluated using various metrics, including accuracy rate, error rate, and processing time. The research results indicated that FaceMatch software could accurately identify candidates with a precision of 98.5%. The software's error rate was less than 1.5%, demonstrating its high efficiency in facial recognition. Additionally, the average processing time for each candidate's image was less than 2 seconds, indicating the software's high efficiency. Statistical evaluation of the results using precise statistical tests, including analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test, showed that the observed differences were significant, and the software's accuracy in identity verification is high. The findings of this research suggest that FaceMatch software can be effectively used as a tool for identifying university entrance exam candidates in Iran. This technology not only enhances security and prevents fraud but also simplifies and streamlines the exam administration process. However, challenges such as preserving candidates' privacy and the costs of implementation must also be considered. The use of facial recognition technology with FaceMatch software in Iran's educational systems can be an effective solution for preventing fraud and ensuring the authenticity of university entrance exam candidates' identities. Given the promising results of this research, it is recommended that this technology be more widely implemented and utilized in the country's educational systems.

Keywords: facial recognition, FaceMatch software, Iran, university entrance exam

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Lubowa Samuel

Abstract:

Health information systems, often known as HIS, are critical components of the healthcare system to improve health policies and promote global health development. In a broader sense, HIS as a system integrates data collecting, processing, reporting, and making use of various types of data to improve healthcare efficacy and efficiency through better management at all levels of healthcare delivery. The aim of this study is to assess the adoption of health information systems (HIS) in a resource-constrained country drawing from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model. The results indicate that the user's perception of the technology and the poor information technology infrastructures contribute a lot to the low adoption of HIS in resource-constrained countries.

Keywords: health information systems, resource-constrained countries, health information systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Fahad K. Alqahtani

Abstract:

Nowadays construction industry is developing means to incorporate waste products in concrete to ensure sustainability. To meet the need of construction industry, a synthetic aggregate was developed using optimized technique called compression moulding press technique. The manufactured aggregate comprises mixture of plastic, waste which acts as binder, together with by-product waste which acts as fillers. The physical properties and microstructures of the inert materials and the manufactured aggregate were examined and compared with the conventional available aggregates. The outcomes suggest that the developed aggregate has potential to be used as substitution of conventional aggregate due to its less weight and water absorption. The microstructure analysis confirmed the efficiency of the manufacturing process where the final product has the same mixture of binder and filler.

Keywords: fly ash, plastic waste, quarry fine, red sand, synthetic aggregate

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Kious Mecheri, Hadjadj Abdechafik, Ameur Aissa

Abstract:

The wear of cutting tool degrades the quality of the product in the manufacturing processes. The online monitoring of the cutting tool wear level is very necessary to prevent the deterioration of the quality of machining. Unfortunately there is not a direct manner to measure the cutting tool wear online. Consequently we must adopt an indirect method where wear will be estimated from the measurement of one or more physical parameters appearing during the machining process such as the cutting force, the vibrations, or the acoustic emission etc. In this work, a neural network system is elaborated in order to estimate the flank wear from the cutting force measurement and the cutting conditions.

Keywords: flank wear, cutting forces, high speed milling, signal processing, neural network

Procedia PDF Downloads 397

Authors: P. Gil, F. Charrua-Santos, A. A. Baptista, S. Azevedo, A. Espirito-Santo, J. Páscoa

Abstract:

Lean manufacturing is a philosophy of industrial management that aims to identify and eliminate any waste that exists in the companies. The augmented reality is a new technology that stills being developed in terms of software and hardware. This technology consists of an image capture device, a device for data processing and an image visualization equipment to visualize collected and processed images. It is characterized by being a technology that merges the reality with the virtual environment, so there is an instantaneous interaction between the two environments. The present work intends to demonstrate that the use of the augmented reality will contribute to improve some tools and methods used in Lean manufacturing philosophy. Through several examples of application in industry it will be demonstrated that the technological impact of the augmented reality on the Lean Manufacturing philosophy contribute to added value improvements.

Keywords: lean manufacturing, augmented reality, case studies, value

Procedia PDF Downloads 629