Search results for: brute force feature extraction

Authors: Bong-Su Sin, Jong-Kyu Kim, Se-Il Song, Kwon-Hee Lee

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An automobile ball joint is a pivoting element used to allow rotational motion between the parts of the steering and suspension system. And it plays a role in smooth transmission of steering movement, also reduction in impact from the road surface. A ball joint is under various repeated loadings that may cause cracks and abrasion. This damages lead to safety problems of a car, as well as reducing the comfort of the driver's ride, and raise questions about the ball joint procedure and the whole durability of the suspension system. Accordingly, it is necessary to ensure the high durability and reliability of a ball joint. The structural responses of stiffness and pull-out strength were then calculated to check if the design satisfies the related requirements. The analysis was sequentially performed, following the caulking process. In this process, the deformation and stress results obtained from the analysis were saved. Sequential analysis has a strong advantage, in that it can be analyzed by considering the deformed shape and residual stress. The pull-out strength means the required force to pull the ball stud out from the ball joint assembly. The low pull-out strength can deteriorate the structural stability and safety performances. In this study, two design variables and two noise factors were set up. Two design variables were the diameter of a stud and the angle of a socket. And two noise factors were defined as the uncertainties of Young's modulus and yield stress of a seat. The DOE comprises 81 cases using these conditions. Robust design of a ball joint was performed using the DOE. The pull-out strength was generated from the uncertainties in the design variables and the design parameters. The purpose of robust design is to find the design with target response and smallest variation.

Keywords: ball joint, pull-out strength, robust design, design of experiments

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Authors: Nkatow Mafany Christian

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No other period in human history has offered such great opportunities for grievances not only to last long but also to be manifested across international boundaries. This state of affairs is likely a common feature of the advent of social media. The Anglophone Question in Cameroon has been a problem of poor constitutional arrangements that can be traced to 1961 when the former French Cameroon reunified with former British Southern Cameroons following a plebiscite in which the latter overwhelmingly voted to reunify with the former. Though Southern/Anglophone Cameroons complained of perceived marginalization and an attempt by the majority French section to assimilate them, the manifestation was subtle and took place only through protests, petitions, strikes movements and demonstrations. However, with the advent of social media, a new cream of leaders emerged in the diaspora, including the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, to champion the manifestations leading to violence and conflicts that have bedeviled the region since 2017. The feeling of political subjugation, economic exploitation, social suppression and cultural assimilation among Anglophone Cameroonians united them under diaspora leaders against the government of Cameroon, calling for the creation of a separate state for Anglophones. This paper draws from this lead-up to analyze the current Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon in the light of the Grievance Theory and Transnationalism. The paper makes an appeal to field experience, interviews, official sources, documentation, and the internet to succor its central thesis. From the fertility of its sources, the paper submits that social media is a potent source of conflicts and makes nonsense of the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity by its capacity to promote the transnational manifestation of grievances.

Keywords: grievance, transnationalism, anglophone crisis, Cameroon, crisis and social media

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Authors: Deng Tingting

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The coordinated and integrated development of regions is an inevitable requirement for China to move towards high-quality, sustainable development. As one of the regions with the best economic foundation and the strongest economic strength in western China, it is a typical area with national importance and strong network connection characteristics in terms of the comprehensive effect of linking the inland hinterland and connecting the western and national urban networks. The integrated development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle is of great strategic significance for the rapid and high-quality development of the western region. In the context of new urbanization, this paper takes 16 urban units within the economic circle as the research object, based on the 5-year panel data of population, regional economy, and spatial construction and development from 2016 to 2020, using the entropy method and Theil index to analyze the three target layers, and cause analysis. The research shows that there are temporal and spatial differences in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, and there are significant differences between the core city and the surrounding cities. Therefore, by reforming and innovating the regional coordinated development mechanism, breaking administrative barriers, and strengthening the "polar nucleus" radiation function to release the driving force for economic development, especially in the gully areas of economic development belts, not only promote the coordinated development of internal regions but also promote the coordinated and sustainable development of the western region and take a high-quality development path.

Keywords: Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, new urbanization, coordinated regional development, Theil Index

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Authors: Dongqi Li, Yunjia Huang, Tomo Inoue, Kohei Inoue

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With urbanization, urban cultural heritage is facing the impact and destruction of modernization and urbanization. Many historical areas are losing their historical information and regional cultural characteristics, so it is necessary to carry out systematic color planning for historical areas in conservation. As an early focus on urban color planning, Japan has a systematic approach to urban color planning. Hence, this paper selects five merchant towns from the category of important traditional building preservation areas in Japan as the subject of this study to explore the color structure and emotion of this type of historic area. First, the image semantic segmentation method identifies the buildings, roads, and landscape environments. Their color data were extracted for color composition and emotion analysis to summarize their common features. Second, the obtained Internet evaluations were extracted by natural language processing for keyword extraction. The correlation analysis of the color structure and keywords provides a valuable reference for conservation decisions for this historic area in the town. This paper also combines the color structure and Internet evaluation results with generative adversarial networks to generate predicted images of color structure improvements and color improvement schemes. The methods and conclusions of this paper can provide new ideas for the digital management of environmental colors in historic districts and provide a valuable reference for the inheritance of local traditional culture.

Keywords: historic districts, color planning, semantic segmentation, natural language processing

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Authors: H. M. B. N Jayasinghe

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The water is found almost everywhere on Earth. Water resources contain a lot of pollution. Some diseases can be spread through the water to the living beings. So to be clean water it should undergo a number of treatments necessary to make it drinkable. So it is must to have purification technology for the wastewater. So the waste water treatment plants act a major role in these issues. When considering the procedures taken after the water treatment process was always based on manual calculations and recordings. Water purification plants may interact with lots of manual processes. It means the process taking much time consuming. So the final evaluation and chemical, biological treatment process get delayed. So to prevent those types of drawbacks there are some computerized programmable calculation and analytical techniques going to be introduced to the laboratory staff. To solve this problem automated system will be a solution in which guarantees the rational selection. A decision support system is a way to model data and make quality decisions based upon it. It is widely used in the world for the various kind of process automation. Decision support systems that just collect data and organize it effectively are usually called passive models where they do not suggest a specific decision but only reveal information. This web base system is based on global positioning data adding facility with map location. Most worth feature is SMS and E-mail alert service to inform the appropriate person on a critical issue. The technological influence to the system is HTML, MySQL, PHP, and some other web developing technologies. Current issues in the computerized water chemistry analysis are not much deep in progress. For an example the swimming pool water quality calculator. The validity of the system has been verified by test running and comparison with an existing plant data. Automated system will make the life easier in productively and qualitatively.

Keywords: automated system, wastewater, purification technology, map location

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Authors: Sandhra M. Pillai

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This article examines the relevance, difficulties, and potential applications of DNA analysis in the criminal justice system. A potent tool for connecting suspects to crime sites, clearing the innocent of wrongdoing, and resolving cold cases, DNA analysis has transformed forensic investigations. The scientific foundations of DNA analysis, including DNA extraction, sequencing, and statistical analysis, are covered in the article. To guarantee accurate and trustworthy findings, it also discusses the significance of quality assurance procedures, chain of custody, and DNA sample storage. DNA analysis has significantly advanced science, but it also brings up substantial moral and legal issues. To safeguard individual rights and uphold public confidence, privacy concerns, possible discrimination, and abuse of DNA information must be properly addressed. The paper also emphasises the effects of the criminal justice system on people and communities while highlighting the necessity of equity, openness, and fair access to DNA testing. The essay describes the obstacles and future directions for DNA analysis. It looks at cutting-edge technology like next-generation sequencing, which promises to make DNA analysis quicker and more affordable. To secure the appropriate and informed use of DNA evidence, it also emphasises the significance of multidisciplinary collaboration among scientists, law enforcement organisations, legal experts, and policymakers. In conclusion, DNA analysis has enormous potential for improving the course of criminal justice. We can exploit the potential of DNA technology while respecting the ideals of justice, fairness, and individual rights by navigating the ethical, legal, and societal issues and encouraging discussion and collaboration.

Keywords: DNA analysis, DNA evidence, reliability, validity, legal frame, admissibility, ethical considerations, impact, future direction, challenges

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Authors: Thewodros K. Geberemariam

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The rapid physical expansion of urbanization coupled with aging infrastructure presents a unique decision and management challenges for many big city municipalities. Cities must therefore upgrade and maintain the existing aging urban drainage infrastructure systems to keep up with the demands. Given the overall contribution of assets to municipal revenue and the importance of infrastructure to the success of a livable city, many municipalities are currently looking for a robust and smart urban drainage infrastructure asset management solution that combines management, financial, engineering and technical practices. This robust decision-making shall rely on sound, complete, current and relevant data that enables asset valuation, impairment testing, lifecycle modeling, and forecasting across the multiple asset portfolios. On this paper, predictive computational intelligence (CI) and multi-class machine learning (ML) coupled with online, offline, and historical record data that are collected from an array of multi-parameter sensors are used for the extraction of different operational and non-conforming patterns hidden in structured and unstructured data to determine and produce actionable insight on the current and future states of the network. This paper aims to improve the strategic decision-making process by identifying all possible alternatives; evaluate the risk of each alternative, and choose the alternative most likely to attain the required goal in a cost-effective manner using historical and near real-time urban drainage infrastructure data for urban drainage infrastructures assets that have previously not benefited from computational intelligence and machine learning advancements.

Keywords: computational intelligence, machine learning, urban drainage infrastructure, machine learning, classification, prediction, asset management space

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Authors: Xiaohan Gao, Kai Liu

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As essential components of urban areas, primary and secondary schools are extensively distributed throughout various regions of the city. During times of urban disturbances, these schools become direct carriers of complex disruptions. Therefore, fostering resilient schools becomes a pivotal driving force to promote high-quality urban development and a cornerstone of sustainable school growth. This paper adopts the theory of spatial resilience and focuses on primary and secondary schools in Chinese cities as the research subject. The study first explores the potential disturbance risks faced by schools and delves into the origin and concept of spatial resilience in the educational context. Subsequently, the paper conducts a meta-analysis to characterize the spatial resilience of primary and secondary schools and devises a spatial resilience planning mechanism. Drawing insights from exemplary cases both domestically and internationally, the research formulates spatial and planning resilience strategies for primary and secondary schools to cope with perturbations. These strategies encompass creating an overall layout that integrates harmoniously with nature, promoting organic growth in the planning structure, fostering ecological balance in the landscape system, and enabling dynamic adaptation in architectural spaces. By cultivating the capacity for "resistance-adaptation-transformation," these approaches support sustainable development within the school space. The ultimate goal of this project is to establish a cohesive and harmonious layout that advances the sustainable development of primary and secondary schools while contributing to the overall resilience of urban areas.

Keywords: complex disruption, primary and secondary schools, spatial resilience, sustainable development

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Authors: Peter Iyobosa Asemota

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This study on solid waste management practices addressed aspects of environmental and health impacts resulting from poor management of solid waste. The study was occasioned by the observed rate and volume of illegal and indiscriminate dumping of solid waste materials especially in informal settlements. The main focus of this study was to establish the impact of waste management practices on human health and the environment. The study, therefore, presents a critical analysis of the state of solid waste management in the study area and the implications for human health and the environment. The study was carried out in Kayamandi informal settlement within Stellenbosch municipality. The sustainable management of solid waste is very important in order to minimize the environmental and public health risks associated with improper solid waste management. There is no denying the fact that the problems of waste management will become critical as time goes on because of improper and inefficient waste management practices. Towns and cities exhibit the burdens of waste management which is a characteristics feature of most African cities. The study critically assess the implementation of waste management practices by the residents of the informal settlement; identify the factors affecting management issues in the operation of solid waste management system by the municipality; identify factors militating against the implementation of waste management policies and legislation. Furthermore, a waste assessment study was carried out to assess the generation; composition of the waste stream and also determine the attitudes and behavior of the residents with regard to waste management practices. Findings from the study revealed that Kayamandi is not different from other informal settlements with regards to waste management. People are of the opinion that solid waste management is the sole responsibility of municipal authorities and as such, the government should be responsible for bearing the cost of solid waste management.

Keywords: environment, waste, waste composition, waste stream, policy, waste categories, sanitary landfill, waste collection, integrated solid waste management

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Authors: Addisu Tadesse Sahile, Mussie Wubshet Teka, Solomon Muluken Ayehu

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Background: Diabetes is one of the common public health problems of the century that was estimated to affect one in a tenth of the world population by the year 2030, where diabetes ketoacidosis is one of its common acute complications. Objectives: The aim of this review was to assess the magnitude of diabetes ketoacidosis among patients with type 1 diabetes in Ethiopia. Methods: A systematic data search was done across Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, and African Online Journals. Two reviewers carried out the selection, reviewing, screening, and extraction of the data independently by using a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet. The Joanna Briggs Institute's prevalence critical appraisal tool was used to assess the quality of evidence. All studies conducted in Ethiopia that reported diabetes ketoacidosis rates among type 1 diabetes were included. The extracted data was imported into the comprehensive meta-analysis version 3.0 for further analysis. Heterogeneity was checked by Higgins’s method, whereas the publication bias was checked by using Beggs and Eggers’s tests. A random-effects meta-analysis model with a 95% confidence interval was computed to estimate the pooled prevalence. Furthermore, subgroup analysis based on the study area (Region) and the sample size was carried out. Result and Conclusion: After review made across a total of 51 articles, of which 12 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of diabetes ketoacidosis among type 1 diabetes in Ethiopia was 53.2% (95%CI: 43.1%-63.1%). The highest prevalence of DKA was reported in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, whereas the lowest was reported in the Southern region of Ethiopia. Concerned bodies were suggested to work on the escalated burden of diabetes ketoacidosis in Ethiopia.

Keywords: DKA, Type 1 diabetes, Ethiopia, systematic review, meta-analysis

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Authors: Qurratulain Safdar

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Drought is a temporary aberration in contrast to aridity, as it is a permanent feature of climate. Virtually, it takes place in all types of climatic regions that range from high to low rainfall areas. Due to the wide latitudinal extent of Pakistan, there is seasonal and annual variability in rainfall. The south-central part of the country is arid and hyper-arid. This study focuses on the spatio-temporal analysis of droughts in arid and hyperarid region of Cholistan using the standardized precipitation index (SPI) approach. This study has assessed the extent of recurrences of drought and its temporal vulnerability to drought in Cholistan region. Initially, the paper described the geographic setup of the study area along with a brief description of the drought conditions that prevail in Pakistan. The study also provides a scientific foundation for preparing literature and theoretical framework in-line with the selected parameters and indicators. Data were collected both from primary and secondary data sources. Rainfall and temperature data were obtained from Pakistan Meteorology Department. By applying geostatistical approach, a standardized precipitation index (SPI) was calculated for the study region, and the value of spatio-temporal variability of drought and its severity was explored. As a result, in-depth spatial analysis of drought conditions in Cholistan area was found. Parallel to this, drought-prone areas with seasonal variation were also identified using Kriging spatial interpolation techniques in a GIS environment. The study revealed that there is temporal variation in droughts' occurrences both in time series and SPI values. The paper is finally concluded, and strategic plan was suggested to minimize the impacts of drought.

Keywords: Cholistan desert, climate anomalies, metrological droughts, standardized precipitation index

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Authors: Muna Slehat

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Jordan is endowed with over 14,500 productive archaeological sites and also a wealth of heritage sites that need to be protected from the pressing threat of destruction and damage. Archaeological sites in Jordan face significant threats, including insensitive development, urbanization, pollution, tourism, and vandalism, therefore an effective management plan is a key element, not only for the conservation of this heritage, but also to address issues such as tourism and sustainable development. This study highlights the obstacles that confront the management of the archaeological and tourism sites in Jordan, prior to and after the launch of the Strategies for Management of Jordan’s Archaeological Heritage by the Department of Antiquities (DoA) 2007-2010 and 2014-2018, as well as the establishment of the Directorate of the Management of Archaeological Sites in 2010, and instructions for the proper use of tourism sites, 2014, by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA). The study has revealed that the management of the archaeological and tourism sites under the pretext of improvement of services for tourists and visitors to Jordan would allow access to so-called polarization tourism and facilitate tourism development that would be sustainable economically and provide attractive returns. The data required have been collected through conducting interviews with 18 specialists. The main findings of the study are that management is new in Jordan, and has become a vital and dynamic force in Jordan after 2000 but that there have also been many mistakes, with sustainability of the sites being ignored and a lack of awareness among local communities surrounding these sites. Management of the sites has also suffered from a lack of organizational vision, with no instructions for practical application and no legislative provisions which cater for the efficient management of the sites. All of this needs to be amended to remove gaps, overlaps and ambiguities, so that the authorities responsible for the rehabilitation and promotion, development and management of these sites can overcome the problems, such as lack of human resources (specialists) and financial resources.

Keywords: Jordan, management, archaeological sites, tourism, challenges

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Authors: Bruno Coelho Lima, Joao F.A. Martos, Paulo G. P. Toro, Israel S. Rego

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The shock tube is a ground-facility widely used in aerospace and aeronautics science and technology for studies on gas dynamic and chemical-physical processes in gases at high-temperature, explosions and dynamic calibration of pressure sensors. A shock tube in its simplest form is comprised of two separate tubes of equal cross-section by a diaphragm. The diaphragm function is to separate the two reservoirs at different pressures. The reservoir containing high pressure is called the Driver, the low pressure reservoir is called Driven. When the diaphragm is broken by pressure difference, a normal shock wave and non-stationary (named Incident Shock Wave) will be formed in the same place of diaphragm and will get around toward the closed end of Driven. When this shock wave reaches the closer end of the Driven section will be completely reflected. Now, the shock wave will interact with the boundary layer that was created by the induced flow by incident shock wave passage. The interaction between boundary layer and shock wave force the separation of the boundary layer. The aim of this paper is to make an analysis of influences of separation of the boundary layer in the reservoir pressure in the shock tube. A comparison among CDF (Computational Fluids Dynamics), experiments test and analytical analysis were performed. For the analytical analysis, some routines in Python was created, in the numerical simulations (Computational Fluids Dynamics) was used the Ansys Fluent, and the experimental tests were used T1 shock tube located in IEAv (Institute of Advanced Studies).

Keywords: boundary layer separation, moving shock wave, shock tube, transient simulation

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Authors: Richard L. Summers

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The advanced computational analysis of biological systems is becoming increasingly dependent upon an understanding of the information-theoretic structure of the materials, energy and interactive processes that comprise those systems. The stability and survival of these living systems are fundamentally contingent upon their ability to acquire and process the meaning of information concerning the physical state of its biological continuum (biocontinuum). The drive for adaptive system reconciliation of a divergence from steady-state within this biocontinuum can be described by an information metric-based formulation of the process for actionable knowledge acquisition that incorporates the axiomatic inference of Kullback-Leibler information minimization driven by survival replicator dynamics. If the mathematical expression of this process is the Lagrangian integrand for any change within the biocontinuum then it can also be considered as an action functional for the living system. In the direct method of Lyapunov, such a summarizing mathematical formulation of global system behavior based on the driving forces of energy currents and constraints within the system can serve as a platform for the analysis of stability. As the system evolves in time in response to biocontinuum perturbations, the summarizing function then conveys information about its overall stability. This stability information portends survival and therefore has absolute existential meaning for the living system. The first derivative of the Lyapunov energy information function will have a negative trajectory toward a system's steady state if the driving force is dissipating. By contrast, system instability leading to system dissolution will have a positive trajectory. The direction and magnitude of the vector for the trajectory then serves as a quantifiable signature of the meaning associated with the living system’s stability information, homeostasis and survival potential.

Keywords: meaning, information, Lyapunov, living systems

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Authors: Chan Eang Teng, Tang Mui Joo

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In the beginning of the prevalence of social media, it would be an obvious trend that the young adult age group has the highest population among the users on social media. However, apart from the age group of the users are becoming younger and younger, the elderly group has become a new force on social media, and this age group has increased rapidly. On top of that, the influence of social media towards the elderly is becoming more significant and it is even trending among them. This is because basic computer knowledge is not instilled into their life when they were young. This age group tends to be engrossed more than the young as this is something new for them, and they have the mindset that it is a new platform to approach things, and they tend to be more engrossed when they start getting in touch with the social media. Generally, most of the social media has been accepted and accessed by teenagers and young adult, but it is reasonable to believe that the social media is not really accepted among the elderly. Surprisingly, the elderlies are more addicted to the social media than the teenagers. Therefore, this study is to determine and understand the relationship between the elderly and social media, and how they employ social media in their lives. An online survey on 200 elderly aged 45-80 and an interview with a media expert are conducted to answer the main questions in the research paper. Uses and Gratification Approach is employed in theoretical framework. Finding revealed that majority of the respondents use social media to connect with family, friends, and for leisure purposes. The finding concluded that the elderly use social media differently according to their needs and wants which is in par with the highlight of Uses and Gratification theory. Considering the significantly large role social media plays in our culture and daily life today, the finding will shed some light on the effect of social media on the elderly or senior citizens who are usually relegated into a minority group in today’s age where the internet and social media are of great importance to our society and humanity in general. This may also serve to be useful in understanding behavioral patterns and preference in terms of social media usage among the elderly.

Keywords: elderly, Facebook, Malaysia, social media

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Authors: Foad Hassaninejadafarahani, Scott Ormiston

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Reflux condensation occurs in a vertical channels and tubes when there is an upward core flow of vapor (or gas-vapor mixture) and a downward flow of the liquid film. The understanding of this condensation configuration is crucial in the design of reflux condensers, distillation columns, and in loss-of-coolant safety analyses in nuclear power plant steam generators. The unique feature of this flow is the upward flow of the vapor-gas mixture (or pure vapor) that retards the liquid flow via shear at the liquid-mixture interface. The present model solves the full, elliptic governing equations in both the film and the gas-vapor core flow. The computational mesh is non-orthogonal and adapts dynamically the phase interface, thus produces sharp and accurate interface. Shear forces and heat and mass transfer at the interface are accounted for fundamentally. This modeling is a big step ahead of current capabilities by removing the limitations of previous reflux condensation models which inherently cannot account for the detailed local balances of shear, mass, and heat transfer at the interface. Discretisation has been done based on a finite volume method and a co-located variable storage scheme. An in-house computer code was developed to implement the numerical solution scheme. Detailed results are presented for laminar reflux condensation from steam-air mixtures flowing in vertical parallel plate channels. The results include velocity and pressure profiles, as well as axial variations of film thickness, Nusselt number and interface gas mass fraction.

Keywords: Reflux, Condensation, CFD-Two Phase, Nusselt number

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Authors: S. M. Ismail, H-H Yen, C. M. Murray, H. M. S. Davies

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A recent study reported a 33% incidence of complete sacrocaudal fusion in greyhounds compared to a 3% incidence in other dogs. In the dog, the median sacral crest is formed by the fusion of sacral spinous processes. Separation of the 1st spinous process from the median crest of the sacrum in the dog has been reported as a diagnostic tool of type one lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LTV). LTV is a congenital spinal anomaly, which includes either sacralization of the caudal lumbar part or lumbarization of the most cranial sacral segment of the spine. In this study, the absence or reduction of fusion (presence of separation) between the 1st and 2ndspinous processes of the median sacral crest has been identified in association with sacrocaudal fusion in the greyhound, without any feature of LTV. In order to provide quantitative data on the absence or reduction of fusion in the median sacral crest between the 1st and 2nd sacral spinous processes, in association with sacrocaudal fusion. 204 dog sacrums free of any pathological changes (192 greyhound, 9 beagles and 3 labradors) were grouped based on the occurrence and types of fusion and the presence, absence, or reduction in the median sacral crest between the 1st and 2nd sacral spinous processes., Sacrums were described and classified as follows: F: Complete fusion (crest is present), N: Absence (fusion is absent), and R: Short crest (fusion reduced but not absent (reduction). The incidence of sacrocaudal fusion in the 204 sacrums: 57% of the sacrums were standard (3 vertebrae) and 43% were fused (4 vertebrae). Type of sacrum had a significant (p < .05) association with the absence and reduction of fusion between the 1st and 2nd sacral spinous processes of the median sacral crest. In the 108 greyhounds with standard sacrums (3 vertebrae) the percentages of F, N and R were 45% 23% and 23% respectively, while in the 84 fused (4 vertebrae) sacrums, the percentages of F, N and R were 3%, 87% and 10% respectively and these percentages were significantly different between standard (3 vertebrae) and fused (4 vertebrae) sacrums (p < .05). This indicates that absence of spinous process fusion in the median sacral crest was found in a large percentage of the greyhounds in this study and was found to be particularly prevalent in those with sacrocaudal fusion – therefore in this breed, at least, absence of sacral spinous process fusion may be unlikely to be associated with LTV.

Keywords: greyhound, median sacral crest, sacrocaudal fusion, sacral spinous process

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Authors: Kebede Gamo Sebehanie, Olu Emmanuel Femi, Alberto Velázquez Del Rosario, Abubeker Yimam Ali, Gudeta Jafo Muleta

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Water pollution is one of the most serious worldwide issues today. Among water pollution, heavy metals are becoming a concern to the environment and human health due to their non-biodegradability and bioaccumulation. In this study, a magnetite-cellulose nanocomposite derived from renewable resources is employed for hexavalent chromium elimination by adsorption. Magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized directly from iron ore using solvent extraction and co-precipitation technique. Cellulose nanofiber was extracted from sugarcane bagasse using the alkaline treatment and acid hydrolysis method. Before and after the adsorption process, the MNPs-CNF composites were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and Vibrator sample magnetometer (VSM), and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The impacts of several parameters such as pH, contact time, initial pollutant concentration, and adsorbent dose on adsorption efficiency and capacity were examined. The kinetic and isotherm adsorption of Cr (VI) was also studied. The highest removal was obtained at pH 3, and it took 80 minutes to establish adsorption equilibrium. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used, and the experimental data fit well with the Langmuir model, which has a maximum adsorption capacity of 8.27 mg/g. The kinetic study of the adsorption process using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equations revealed that the pseudo-second-order equation was more suited for representing the adsorption kinetic data. Based on the findings, pure MNPs and MNPs-CNF nanocomposites could be used as effective adsorbents for the removal of Cr (VI) from wastewater.

Keywords: magnetite-cellulose nanocomposite, hexavalent chromium, adsorption, sugarcane bagasse

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Authors: Bara' Al-Mistarehi

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Documentation and assessment of conservation state of an archaeological structure is a significant procedure in any management plan. However, it has always been a challenge to apply this with a low coast and safe methodology. It is also a time-demanding procedure. Therefore, a low cost, efficient methodology for documenting the state of a structure is needed. In the scope of this research, this paper will employ digital photogrammetry and laser scanner to one of highly significant structures in Germany, The Old Castle (German: Altes Schloss). The site is well known for its unique features. However, the castle suffers from serious deterioration threats because of the environmental conditions and the absence of continuous monitoring, maintenance and repair plans. Digital photogrammetry is a generally accepted technique for the collection of 3D representations of the environment. For this reason, this image-based technique has been extensively used to produce high quality 3D models of heritage sites and historical buildings for documentation and presentation purposes. Additionally, terrestrial laser scanners are used, which directly measure 3D surface coordinates based on the run-time of reflected light pulses. These systems feature high data acquisition rates, good accuracy and high spatial data density. Despite the potential of each single approach, in this research work maximum benefit is to be expected by a combination of data from both digital cameras and terrestrial laser scanners. Within the paper, the usage, application and advantages of the technique will be investigated in terms of building high realistic 3D textured model for some parts of the old castle. The model will be used as diagnosing tool of the conservation state of the castle and monitoring mean for future changes.

Keywords: Digital photogrammetry, Terrestrial laser scanners, 3D textured model, archaeological structure

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Authors: Nadine Abuqtaish

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Females’ participation in athletic sports events has increased in the last decades, and the discovery of eating disorders and menstrual dysfunction has been evident since the early 1980s. The term “Female athlete triad” was initially defined by the Task Force on Women’s Issues of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in 1992. Menstrual irregularities have been prevalent in competitive female athletes, especially in their adolescence and early adulthood age. Nutritional restrictions to maintain a certain physique and lean look are sought to be advantageous in female athletes such as gymnastics, cheerleading, or weight-sensitive sports such as endurance sports (cycling and marathoners). This stress places the female at risk of irregularities in their menstrual cycle which can lead them to lose their circadian estrogen levels. Estrogen is an important female reproductive hormone that plays a role in maintaining bone mass. Bone mineral density peaks by the age 25. Inadequate estrogen due to missed menstrual cycle or amenorrhea has been estimated to cause a yearly loss of 2% of bone mass, increasing the risk of osteoporosis in the postmenopausal phase. This paper is intended to have a better depth understanding of whether female athletes are being monitored by their official entities or coaches. A qualitative research method through online search engines and keywords “females, athletes, triad, amenorrhea, anorexia, osteoporosis” were used to collect the available primary sources from official public library databases. The latest consensus was published in 2014 by the Female Athlete Triad Coalition and the need for further research and emphasis on this issue is still lacking.

Keywords: female, athlete, triad, amenorrhea, anorexia, bone loss

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Authors: Mohammad Aladwan

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a widespread dementing illness with a complex and poorly understood etiology. An important role in improving our understanding of the AD process is the modeling of disease-associated changes in tau protein phosphorylation, a protein known to mediate events essential to the onset and progression of AD. A main feature of AD is the abnormal phosphorylation of tau protein and the presence of neurofibrillary tangles. In order to evaluate the respective roles of the microtubule-binding region (MTBR) and alternatively spliced exons in the N-terminal projection domains in AD, we have constructed SHSY-5Y cell lines that stably overexpress four different species of tau protein (4R2N, 4R0N, N(E-2), N(E+2)). Since the toxicity and spreading of tau lesions in AD depends on the interactions of tau with other proteins, we have performed a proteomic analysis of exosome-fraction interactomes for cell lysates and media samples that were isolated from SHSY-5Y cell lines. Functional analysis of tau interactomes based on gene ontology (GO) terms was performed using the String 10.5 database program. The highest number of exosomes proteomes and tau associated proteins were found with 4R2N isoform (2771 and 159) in cell lysate and they have a high strength of connectivity (78%) between proteins, while N(E-2) isoform in the media proteomes has the highest number of proteins and tau associated protein (1829 and 205). Moreover, known AD markers were significantly enriched in secreted interactomes relative to lysate interactomes in the SHSY-5Y cells of tau isoforms lacking exons 2 and 3 in the N-terminal. The lack of exon 2 (E-2) from tau protein can be mediated by tau secretion and spreading to different cells. Enriched functions in the secreted E-2 interactome include signaling and developmental pathways that have been linked to a) tau misprocessing and lesion development and b) tau secretion and which, therefore, could play novel roles in AD pathogenesis.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, dementia, tau protein, neurodegenration disease

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Authors: Dongseok Cho, Mitchell Driedger, Sera Han, Noman Khan, Mohammed Elmorsy, Mohamad El-Hajj

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Since the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine in late 2020, vaccination rates have varied around the globe. Access to a vaccine supply, mandated vaccination policy, and vaccine hesitancy contribute to these rates. This study used COVID-19 vaccination data from Our World in Data and the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 to create two COVID-19 vaccination indices. The first index is the Vaccine Utilization Index (VUI), which measures how effectively each country has utilized its vaccine supply to doubly vaccinate its population. The second index is the Vaccination Acceleration Index (VAI), which evaluates how efficiently each country vaccinated its population within its first 150 days. Pearson correlations were created between these indices and country indicators obtained from the World Bank. The results of these correlations identify countries with stronger health indicators, such as lower mortality rates, lower age dependency ratios, and higher rates of immunization to other diseases, displaying higher VUI and VAI scores than countries with lesser values. VAI scores are also positively correlated to Governance and Economic indicators, such as regulatory quality, control of corruption, and GDP per capita. As represented by the VUI, proper utilization of the COVID-19 vaccine supply by country is observed in countries that display excellence in health practices. A country’s motivation to accelerate its vaccination rates within the first 150 days of vaccinating, as represented by the VAI, was largely a product of the governing body’s effectiveness and economic status, as well as overall excellence in health practises.

Keywords: data mining, Pearson correlation, COVID-19, vaccination rates and hesitancy

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Authors: Dija Sulekha

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Nowadays, a good percentage of reported cybercrimes involve the usage of the Internet, directly or indirectly for committing the crime. Usually, Web Browsers leave traces of browsing activities on the host computer’s hard disk, which can be used by investigators to identify internet-based activities of the suspect. But criminals, who involve in some organized crimes, disable browser file generation feature to hide the evidence while doing illegal activities through the Internet. In such cases, even though browser files were not generated in the storage media of the system, traces of recent and ongoing activities were generated in the Physical Memory of the system. As a result, the analysis of Physical Memory Dump collected from the suspect's machine retrieves lots of forensically crucial information related to the browsing history of the Suspect. This information enables the cyber forensic investigators to concentrate on a few highly relevant selected artefacts while doing the Offline Forensics analysis of storage media. This paper addresses the reconstruction of web browsing activities by conducting live forensics to identify searched terms, downloaded files, visited sites, email headers, email ids, etc. from the physical memory dump collected from Windows 10 Systems. Well-known entry points are available for retrieving all the above artefacts except searched terms. The paper describes a novel methodology to retrieve the searched terms from Windows 10 Physical Memory. The searched terms retrieved in this way can be used for doing advanced file and keyword search in the storage media files reconstructed from the file system recovery in offline forensics.

Keywords: browser forensics, digital forensics, live Forensics, physical memory forensics

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Authors: Hilmi Rafet Yüncü

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Today Internet has very important role to promote products and services all over the world. Companies and destinations in tourism industry use Internet to sell and to promote their core products to directly potential tourists. Internet technologies have redefined the relationships between tourists, tourism companies, and travel agents. The new relationship allows for accessing and tapping tourism information and services. Internet technologies ensure new opportunities to available for the tourism industry, including travel accommodation, and tourist destination organizations. Websites are important devices to the marketing of a destination. Most people make a research about the destination before arriving via internet. Governments have a considerable role in the process of marketing tourism destinations. Governments make policies and regulations; furthermore, they help to market destinations to potential tourists. Governments have a comprehensive overview of the sector to see changes in tourism market and design better policies, programs and marketing plans. At the same time, governments support developing of alternative tourism in the country with regulations and marketing tools. The aim of this study is to analyse of an Internet website of governmental tourism portal in Turkey to determine effectiveness about gastronomy tourism. The Turkish government has established a culture portal for foreign and local tourists. The Portal provides local and general information about tourism attractions of cities and Turkey. There are 81 official cities in Turkey and all these cities are conducted to analyse to determine how effective marketing is done by Turkish Government in the manner of gastronomy tourism. A content analysis will be conducted to Internet website of the portal with food content, recipes and gastronomic feature of cities.

Keywords: culture portal, gastronomy tourism, government, Turkey

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Authors: Serdal Sabanci, Mutlu Çevik, Derya Tezcan, Cansu Çelebi, Filiz Içier

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Ultrasound is defined as sound waves having frequencies higher than 20 kHz, which is greater than the limits of the human hearing range. In recent years, ultrasonic treatment is an emerging technology being used increasingly in the food industry. It is applied as an alternative technique for different purposes such as microbial and enzyme inactivation, extraction, drying, filtration, crystallization, degas, cutting etc. Red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) is a root vegetable which is rich in mineral components, folic acid, dietary fiber, anthocyanin pigments. In this study, the application of low frequency high intensity ultrasound to the red beetroot slices and red beetroot juice for different treatment times (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 min) was investigated. Ultrasonicated red beetroot slices were also squeezed immediately. Changes on colour, betanin, pH and titratable acidity properties of red beetroot juices (the ultrasonicated juice (UJ) and the juice from ultrasonicated slices (JUS)) were determined. Although there was no significant difference statistically in the changes of color value of JUS samples due to ultrasound application (p>0.05), the color properties of UJ samples ultrasonicated for low durations were statistically different from raw material (p<0.05). The difference between color values of UJ and raw material disappeared (p>0.05) as the ultrasonication duration increased. The application of ultrasound to red beet root slices adversely affected and decreased the betanin content of JUS samples. On the other hand, the betanin content of UJ samples increased as the ultrasonication duration increased. Ultrasound treatment did not affect pH and titratable acidity of red beetroot juices statistically (p>0.05). The results suggest that ultrasound technology is the simple and economical technique which may successfully be employed for the processing of red beetroot juice with improved color and betanin quality. However, further investigation is still needed to confirm this.

Keywords: red beetroot, ultrasound, color, betanin

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Authors: Jennifer M. Glennon, Hana D'Souza, Luke Mason, Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Michael S. C. Thomas

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Genetic syndrome groups that feature high rates of autism comorbidity, like Down syndrome (DS) and fragile X syndrome (FXS), have been presented as useful models for understanding risk and protective factors involved in the emergence of autistic traits. Yet despite reaching clinical thresholds, these ‘syndromic’ forms of autism appear to differ in important ways from the idiopathic or ‘non-syndromic’ autism phenotype. To uncover the true nature of these comorbidities, it is necessary to extend definitions of autism to include the cognitive characteristics of the disorder and to then apply this broadened conceptualisation to the study of syndromic autism profiles. The current study employs a variety of well-established eye-tracking paradigms to assess visual attentional performance in children with DS and FXS who reach thresholds for autism on the Social Communication Questionnaire. It investigates whether autism profiles in these children are accompanied by visual orienting difficulties (‘sticky attention’), decreased social attention, and enhanced visual search performance, all of which are characteristic of the idiopathic autism phenotype. Data is collected from children with DS and FXS aged between 6 and 10 years, in addition to two control groups matched on age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism and neurotypical controls). Cross-sectional developmental trajectory analyses are conducted to enable visuo-attentional profile comparisons. Significant differences in the visuo-attentional processes underpinning autism presentations in children with FXS and DS are hypothesised, supporting notions of syndrome specificity. The study provides insight into the complex heterogeneity associated with syndromic autism presentations and autism per se, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programmes in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: autism, down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, eye tracking

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Authors: J. Dharmaraj, C. Gunasekaran

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Invertebrates are the reliable ecological indicators of disturbance of the forest ecosystems and they respond to environment changes more quickly than other fauna. Among these the terrestrial invertebrates are vital to functioning ecosystems, contributing to processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling and soil fertility. The natural ecosystems of the forests have been subject to various types of disturbances, which lead to decline of flora and fauna. The comparative diversity of micro-arthropods in natural forest, wattle plantation and eucalyptus plantations were studied in Nilgiris. The study area was divided in to five major sites (Emerald (Site-I), Thalaikundha (Site-II), Kodapmund (Site-III), Aravankad (Site-IV), Kattabettu (Site-V). The research was conducted during period from March 2014 to August 2014. The leaf and soil samples were collected and isolated by using Berlese funnel extraction methods. Specimens were isolated and identified according to their morphology (Balogh 1972). In the present study results clearly showed the variation in soil pH, NPK (Major Nutrients) and organic carbon among the study sites. The chemical components of the leaf litters of the plantation decreased the diversity of micro-arthropods and decomposition rate leads to low amount of carbon and other nutrients present in the soil. Moreover eucalyptus and wattle plantations decreases the availability of the ground water source to other plantations and micro-arthropods and hences affects the soil fertility. Hence, the present study suggests to minimize the growth of wattle and eucalyptus tree plantations in the natural areas which may help to reduce the decline of forests.

Keywords: micro-arthropods, assemblage, berlese funnel, morphology, NPK, nilgiris

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Authors: Nkereke M. Essien

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The intention of this paper is to examine stress in the Educated Nigerian Accent of English (ENAE) with the aim of analyzing stress and rhythmic patterns of Nigerian English. Our aim also is to isolate differences and similarities in the stress patterns studied and also know what forms the accent of these Educated Nigerian English (ENE) which marks them off from other groups or English’s of the world, to ascertain and characterize it and to provide documented evidence for its existence. Nigerian stress and rhythmic patterns are significantly different from the British English stress and rhythmic patterns consequently, the educated Nigerian English (ENE) features more stressed syllables than the native speakers’ varieties. The excessive stressed of syllables causes a contiguous “Ss” in the rhythmic flow of ENE, and this brings about a “jerky rhythm’ which distorts communication. To ascertain this claim, ten (10) Nigerian speakers who are educated in the English Language were selected by a stratified Random Sampling technique from two Federal Universities in Nigeria. This classification belongs to the education to the educated class or standard variety. Their performance was compared to that of a Briton (control). The Metrical system of analysis was used. The respondents were made to read some words and utterance which was recorded and analyzed perceptually, statistically and acoustically using the one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The Turky-Kramer Post Hoc test, the Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks test, and the Praat analysis software were used in the analysis. It was revealed from our findings that the Educated Nigerian English speakers feature more stressed syllables in their productions by spending more time in pronouncing stressed syllables and sometimes lesser time in pronouncing the unstressed syllables. Their overall tempo was faster. The ENE speakers used tone to mark prominence while the native speaker used stress to mark pronounce, typified by the control. We concluded that the stress pattern of the ENE speakers was significantly different from the native speaker’s variety represented by the control’s performance.

Keywords: accent, Nigerian English, rhythm, stress

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Authors: Monika Sogani, Zainab Syed, Adrian C. Fisher

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Pollution of estrogenic compounds has caught the attention of researchers as the slight increase of estrogens in the water bodies has a significant impact on the aquatic system. They belong to a class of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and are able to mimic hormones or interfere with the action of endogenous hormones. The microbial electrochemical remediation system (MERS) is employed here for exploiting an electrophototrophic bacterium for evaluating the capacity of biodegradation of ethinylestradiol hormone (EE2) under anaerobic conditions with power generation. MERS using electro-phototrophic bacterium offers a tailored solution of wastewater treatment in a developing country like India which has a huge solar potential. It is a clean energy generating technology as they require only sunlight, water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide to operate. Its main feature that makes it superior over other technologies is that the main fuel for this MERS is sunlight which is indefinitely present. When grown in light with organic compounds, these photosynthetic bacteria generate ATP by cyclic photophosphorylation and use carbon compounds to make cell biomass (photoheterotrophic growth). These cells showed EE2 degradation and were able to generate hydrogen as part of the process of nitrogen fixation. The two designs of MERS were studied, and a maximum of 88.45% decrease in EE2 was seen in a total period of 14 days in the better design. This research provides a better insight into microbial electricity generation and self-sustaining wastewater treatment facilities. Such new models of waste treatment aiming waste to energy generation needs to be followed and implemented for building a resource efficient and sustainable economy.

Keywords: endocrine disrupting compounds, ethinylestradiol, microbial electrochemical remediation systems, wastewater treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Adebayo A. Abimbola, Anifowose O. Joseph, Olanrewaju S. Taiwo

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Green building (GB) practices have the potential to save energy, save money, and improve the quality of human habitat. They can also contribute to water conservation, more efficient use of raw materials, and ecosystem health around the globe. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) singled out the building sector as having the most cost-effective opportunities for reducing carbon emissions—in fact, many building-related opportunities are cost-neutral, or even cost-positive, to the building owner. These benefits have made green building practices the fastest-growing trend in the building industry, but they still represent only a fraction of new construction, and the enormous stock of existing buildings has barely been touched at all. To effectively deliver the kind of (GB) that can become a force for positive change at global, regional and local scales, all workforce sectors need new skills that are both technical and interpersonal in nature. A prominent bottleneck is seen to be education and training. This paper investigates the major gaps in current GB education and training offerings in Nigeria. A questionnaire survey was developed to capture the perception of construction professionals and academics in relevant professions regarding the significance of the identified gaps as it affects GB education and training. Based on Likert scale ranking, research result shows that perception of training in specific technical fields and financial benefits and evaluation are identified as the top gaps in GB training and education offerings. The paper concludes with suggestions and actions that can enhance capabilities of the GB workforce in Nigeria.

Keywords: education and training, gaps, green building, workforce

Procedia PDF Downloads 294