Search results for: sustainable design criteria of traditional Turkish houses

Authors: Bakhtiar Amen, Abduladim Ali, Joan Lu

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Recently, wireless technologies have made tremendous influences in advanced technology era, precisely on the learning environment through PADs and smart phones to engage learners to collaborate effectively. In fact, the wireless communication technologies are widely adopted in the education sectors within most of the countries to deliver education support electronically. Today, Introducing multilingual Wireless Response System (WRS) application is an enormous challenge and complex. The purpose of this paper is to implementing internationalization testing strategy through WRS application case study and proposed a questionnaire in multilingual speakers like (Arabic, Kurdish, Chines, Malaysian, Turkish, Dutch, Polish, Russian) to measure the internationalization testing results which includes localization and cultural testing results. This paper identifies issues with each language’s specification attributes for instance right to left (RTL) screen direction related languages, Linguistic test or word spaces in Chines and Dutch languages. Finally, this paper attempt to emphasizes many challenges and solutions that associated with globalization testing model.

Keywords: mobile WRS, internationalization, globalization testing

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Authors: Rajesh Chakraborty, Dibyendu Das, Rabindra Nath Barman, Uttam Kumar Mandal

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In the present study, the objective is to find out the most effective zone causing soil erosion in the Gumati river basin located in the state of Tripura, a north eastern state of India using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA).The watershed is segmented into 20 zones based on Area. The watershed is considered by pointing the maximum elevation from sea lever from Google earth. The soil erosion is determined using the universal soil loss equation. The different independent variables of soil loss equation bear different weightage for different soil zones. And therefore, to find the weightage factor for all the variables of soil loss equation like rainfall runoff erosivity index, soil erodibility factor etc, analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used. And thereafter, multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) approach is used to select the most effective zone causing soil erosion. The MCDM technique concludes that the maximum soil erosion is occurring in the zone 14.

Keywords: soil erosion, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), multi criteria decision making (MCDM), universal soil loss equation (USLE), multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA)

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Authors: Saman Namvarrechi, Armin A. Dormeny, Javad Dargahi, Mojtaba Kahrizi

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Since last two decades, minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has grown significantly due to its advantages compared to the traditional open surgery like less physical pain, faster recovery time and better healing condition around incision regions; however, one of the important challenges in MIS is getting an effective sensing feedback within the patient’s body during operations. Therefore, surgeons need efficient tactile sensing like determining the hardness of contact tissue for investigating the patient’s health condition. In such a case, MIS tactile sensors are preferred to be able to provide force/pressure sensing, force position, lump detection, and softness sensing. Among different pressure sensor technologies, the piezoelectric operating principle is the fittest for MIS’s instruments, such as catheters. Using PVDF with its copolymer, TrFE, as a piezoelectric material, is a common method of design and fabrication of a tactile sensor due to its ease of implantation and biocompatibility. In this research, PVDF-TrFE polymer is deposited via spin-coating method and treated with various post-deposition processes to investigate its piezoelectricity and amount of electroactive β phase. These processes include different post thermal annealing, the effect of spin-coating speed, different layer of deposition, and the presence of additional hydrate salt. According to FTIR spectroscopy and SEM images, the amount of the β phase and porosity of each sample is determined. In addition, the optimum experimental study is established by considering every aspect of the fabrication process. This study clearly shows the effective way of deposition and fabrication of a tactile PVDF-TrFE based sensor and an enhancement methodology to have a higher β phase and piezoelectric constant in order to have a better sense of touch at the end effector of biomedical devices.

Keywords: β phase, minimally invasive surgery, piezoelectricity, PVDF-TrFE, tactile sensor

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Authors: Rupu Yang, Cong Toan Tran, Assaad Zoughaib

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The work provides an iterative nonlinear programming method to synthesize a heat exchanger network by manipulating the trade-offs between the heat load of process heat exchangers (HEs) and utilities. We consider for the synthesis problem two cases, the first one without fixed cost for HEs, and the second one with fixed cost. For the no fixed cost problem, the nonlinear programming (NLP) model with all the potential HEs is optimized to obtain the global optimum. For the case with fixed cost, the NLP model is iterated through adding/removing HEs. The method was applied in five case studies and illustrated quite well effectiveness. Among which, the approach reaches the lowest TAC (2,904,026$/year) compared with the best record for the famous Aromatic plants problem. It also locates a slightly better design than records in literature for a 10 streams case without fixed cost with only 1/9 computational time. Moreover, compared to the traditional mixed-integer nonlinear programming approach, the iterative NLP method opens a possibility to consider constraints (such as controllability or dynamic performances) that require knowing the structure of the network to be calculated.

Keywords: heat exchanger network, synthesis, NLP, optimization

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Authors: Masayuki Higashino, Toshiya Kawato, Takao Kawamura

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A monolithic service is based on the N-tier architecture in many cases. In order to divide a monolithic service into microservices, it is necessary to redefine a model as a new microservice by extracting and merging existing models across layers. Refactoring a monolithic service into microservices requires advanced technical capabilities, and it is a difficult way. This paper proposes a design and concept to ease the migration of a monolithic service to microservices using the mobile agent technology. Our proposed approach, mobile agents-based design and concept, enables to ease dividing and merging services.

Keywords: mobile agent, microservice, web service, distributed system

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Authors: Salah Hadjout, Mohamed Zouidi

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In Algeria, several works carried out in recent years have shown the importance of fusarium head blight in durum wheat. Indeed, this disease is caused by a complex of Fusarium genus pathogens. The research carried out reports that F. culmorum is the main species infecting cereals. These informations motivated our interest in the field evaluation of the behavior of some durum wheat genotypes (parental varieties and lines) with regard to fusarium head blight, mainly caused by four F. culmorum isolates. Our research work focused on following the evolution of symptom development throughout the grain filling, after artificial inoculation of ears by Fusarium isolates in order to establish a first image on the differences in genotype behavior to fusarium haed blight. Field disease assessment criteria are: disease assessment using a grading scale, thousand grain weight measurement and AUDPC. The results obtained revealed that the varieties and lines resulting from crosses had a quite different level of sensitivity to F. culmorum species and no genotype showed complete resistance in our culture conditions. Among the material tested, some lines showed higher resistance than their parents. The results also show a slight behavioral variability also linked to the aggressiveness of the Fusarium species studied in this work. Our results open very important research perspectives on fusarium head blight, in particular the search for toxins produced by Fusarium species.

Keywords: fusarium head blight, durum wheat, Fusarium culmorum, field disease assessment criteria, Algeria

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Authors: Taimaz Larimian, Negin Sadeghi

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Very little is known about the impacts of urban security on the level of social sustainability within the cities of developing countries. Urban security is still struggling to find its position in the social sustainability agenda, despite the significant role of safety and security on different aspects of peoples’ lives. This paper argues that urban safety and security should be better integrated within the social sustainability framework. With this aim, this study investigates the hypothesized relationship between social sustainability and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) approach at the neighborhood scale. This study proposes a model of key influential dimensions of CPTED analyzed into localized factors and sub-factors. These factors are then prioritized using pairwise comparison logic and fuzzy group Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method in order to determine the relative importance of each factor on achieving social sustainability. The proposed model then investigates social sustainability in six case study neighborhoods of Isfahan city based on residents’ perceptions of safety within their neighborhood. Mixed method of data collection is used by using a self-administered questionnaire to explore the residents’ perceptions of social sustainability in their area of residency followed by an on-site observation to measure the CPTED construct. In all, 150 respondents from selected neighborhoods were involved in this research. The model indicates that CPTED approach has a significant direct influence on increasing social sustainability in neighborhood scale. According to the findings, among different dimensions of CPTED, ‘activity support’ and ‘image/ management’ have the most influence on people’s feeling of safety within studied areas. This model represents a useful designing tool in achieving urban safety and security during the development of more socially sustainable and user-friendly urban areas.

Keywords: crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), developing countries, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), social sustainability

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Authors: Lung-Lung Hu

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Ronald Dworkin offered a legal theory of ‘chain enterprise’ that all the judges in legal history altogether create a ‘law’ aiming a specific purpose. Those judges are like co-writers of a chain-story who not only create freely but also are constrained by the story made by the judges before them. The law created by Chinese traditional judges is another case, they, compared with the judges mentioned by Ronald Dworkin, have relatively narrower space of making a legal sentence according to their own discretions because the statutes in Chinese traditional law at the very beginning have been designed as panel code that leaves small room to judge’s discretion. Furthermore, because law is a representative of the authority of the government, i.e. the emperor, any misjudges and misuses deviated from the law will be considered as a challenge to the supreme power. However, different from judges as the defenders of law, Chinese litigation masters who want to win legal cases have to be offenders challenging the verdict that does not favor his or his client’s interest. Besides, litigation master as an illegal or non-authorized profession does not belong to any legal system, therefore, they are relatively freer to ‘create’ the law. According to Stanley Fish’s articles that question Ronald Dworkin and Owen Fiss’ ideas about law, he construes that, since law is made of language, law is open to interpretations that cannot be constrained by any rules or any particular legal purposes. Stanley Fish’s idea can also be applied on the analysis about the stories of Chinese litigation masters in traditional Chinese literature. These Chinese litigation masters’ legal opinions in the so-called chain enterprise are like an unexpected episode that tries to revise the fixed story told by law. Although they are not welcome to the officials and also to the society, their existence is still a phenomenon representing another version of justice different from the official’s and can be seen as a de-structural power to the government. Hence, in this present paper the language and strategy applied by Chinese litigation masters in Chinese legal stories will be analysed to see how they refute made legal judgments and challenge the official standard of justice.

Keywords: Chinese legal stories, interdisciplinary, litigation master, post-structuralism

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Authors: Komathy Thiagarajan, Mohd. Azizuddin Mohd. Yussof, Hasnoorina Husin, Noor Azreena Abd Aziz, Faezah Shekh Abdullah, Abdul Wahaf Abdul Wahid

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Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) presents with a plethora of clinical features owing to the multifaceted underlying pathophysiology. This study was conducted to determine the clinical features unique to the sub fertile women attending the Sub fertility Clinic of the National Population and Family Development Board (NPFDB) so that a more holistic approach can be adopted to further enhance the pregnancy outcome in those women. This was a case-control study conducted over a span of three years (from January 2014 until December 2016), whereby women who fulfilled the Rotterdam Criteria 2004 were classified as PCOS (n=79) and women who did not fulfill the Rotterdam Criteria were classified as controls (n=88). The mean age of the women was 30.1 years and the mean duration of marriage was 3.93 years. The majority of women suffered from primary sub fertility (82.6%). The median age was lower among PCOS women (29.0 years) compared to the controls (30.0 years), p<0.05. The majority of PCOS women (43.0%) were obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2) compared to only 19.3% who were obese in the control group, p<0.05. Hypertension was present in 59.5% of PCOS women and only in 36.4% of the control group, p<0.05. There were significantly more women who presented with hirsutism in PCOS group (27.8%) as compared to the control group (5.7%), p<0.05. The findings of this study elucidate that the clinical features of significance among sub fertile women suffering from PCOS, if detected early, are amenable to lifestyle modifications and timely interventions can potentially improve the fertility outcomes in this group of women.

Keywords: clinical features, fertility, lifestyle modification, PCOS

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Authors: Ujwal Kishor Zore, Shankar Balajirao Kausley, Aniruddha Bhalchandra Pandit

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There are some important design parameters of activated sludge process (ASP) for wastewater treatment and they must be optimally defined to have the optimized plant working. To know them, developing a mathematical model is a way out as it is nearly commensurate the real world works. In this study, a mathematical model was developed for ASP, solved under activated sludge model no 1 (ASM 1) conditions and MATLAB tool was used to solve the mathematical equations. For its real-life validation, the developed model was tested for the inputs from the municipal wastewater treatment plant and the results were quite promising. Additionally, the most cardinal assumptions required to design the treatment plant are discussed in this paper. With the need for computerization and digitalization surging in every aspect of engineering, this mathematical model developed might prove to be a boon to many biological wastewater treatment plants as now they can in no time know the design parameters which are required for a particular type of wastewater treatment.

Keywords: waste water treatment, activated sludge process, mathematical modeling, optimization

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Authors: Lina Lukusa, Ulrike Rivett

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Poor water management can increase the extreme pressure already faced by water scarcity. Unless water management is addressed holistically, water quality and quantity will continue to degrade. A holistic approach to water management named Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) has thus been created to facilitate the effective management of water. Traditionally, water management has employed a linear design approach, while WSUD requires a systematic, cyclical approach. In simple terms, WSUD assumes that everything is connected. Hence, it is critical for different stakeholders involved in WSUD to engage and reach a consensus on a solution. However, many stakeholders in WSUD have conflicting interests. Using the soft system methodology (SSM), developed by Peter Checkland, as a problem-solving method, decision-makers can understand this problematic situation from different world views. The SSM addresses ill and complex challenging situations involving human activities in a complex structured scenario. This paper demonstrates how SSM can be applied to understand the complexity of stakeholder engagement in WSUD. The paper concludes that SSM is an adequate solution to understand a complex problem better and then propose efficient solutions.

Keywords: co-design, ICT platform, soft systems methodology, water sensitive urban design

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Authors: Carol C. Opara, Olukemi E. Adetuyi-Olu-Francis

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The need for ICT in Teacher Education due to the nature of 21st-century learners who are computer citizens is essential. The recent increase in the use of Mobile phones has equally revealed the importance of Mobile Applications for learning purposes. However, teacher-trainees and the trainers need to be well-grounded in basic ICT skills for an appropriate outcome. This study seeks to assess the use of Mobile Applications for language learning in Teacher Education teaching-learning process. A 22-item e-questionnaire was used to elicit information from teacher-trainers and teachers-trainees from Faculties of Education in Nigerian Universities. Major findings of this study include: That teacher-education sector is not adequately prepared for manipulative use of ICT and Mobile Applications for teaching and learning process; etc. It was recommended among others that, teacher-trainers should be trained and re-trained on the manipulative use of Mobile devices and the several applications for teaching-learning purpose, especially language education.

Keywords: information and communications technology, ICT, language learning, mobile application, sustainable development, teacher education

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Authors: Akshay Satishrao Kawtikwar

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The effect of blast masses on structures is an essential aspect that need to be considered. This type of assault could be very horrifying, who where we take it into consideration in the course of the design system. While designing a building, now not only the wind and seismic masses however also the consequences of the blast have to be take into consideration. Blast load is the burden implemented to a structure form a blast wave that comes straight away after an explosion. A blast in or close to a constructing can reason catastrophic harm to the interior and exterior of the building, inner structural framework, wall collapsing, and so on. The most important feature of blast resistant construction is the ability to absorb blast energy without causing catastrophic failure of the structure as a whole. Construction materials in blastprotective structures must have ductility as well as strength.

Keywords: blast resistant design, blast load, explosion, ETABS

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Authors: Nuo Xu, Kok Hun Goh, Jeyatharan Kumarasamy

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Pile load testing is significant during foundation construction due to its traditional role of design validation and routine quality control of the piling works. In order to verify whether piles can take loadings at specified settlements, piles will have to undergo working load test where the test load should normally up to 150% of the working load of a pile. Selection or sampling of piles for the working load test is done subject to the number specified in Singapore National Annex to Eurocode 7 SS EN 1997-1:2010. This paper presents an innovative way to rationalize the number of pile load test by adopting statistical analysis approach and looking at the coefficient of variance of pile elastic modulus using a case study at Singapore Tuas depot. Results are very promising and have shown that it is possible to reduce the number of working load test without influencing the reliability and confidence on the pile quality. Moving forward, it is suggested that more load test data from other geological formations to be examined to compare with the findings from this paper.

Keywords: elastic modulus of pile under soil interaction, jurong formation, kentledge test, pile load test

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Authors: Deepak Loura

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The most contemporary method of producing horticulture crops both qualitatively and quantitatively is protected cultivation, or greenhouse cultivation, which has gained widespread acceptance in recent decades. Protected farming, commonly referred to as controlled environment agriculture (CEA), is extremely productive, land- and water-wise, as well as environmentally friendly. The technology entails growing horticulture crops in a controlled environment where variables such as temperature, humidity, light, soil, water, fertilizer, etc. are adjusted to achieve optimal output and enable a consistent supply of them even during the off-season. Over the past ten years, protected cultivation of high-value crops and cut flowers has demonstrated remarkable potential. More and more agricultural and horticultural crop production systems are moving to protected environments as a result of the growing demand for high-quality products by global markets. By covering the crop, it is possible to control the macro- and microenvironments, enhancing plant performance and allowing for longer production times, earlier harvests, and higher yields of higher quality. These shielding features alter the environment of the plant while also offering protection from wind, rain, and insects. Protected farming opens up hitherto unexplored opportunities in agriculture as the liberalised economy and improved agricultural technologies advance. Typically, the revenues from fruit, vegetable, and flower crops are 4 to 8 times higher than those from other crops. If any of these high-value crops are cultivated in protected environments like greenhouses, net houses, tunnels, etc., this profit can be multiplied. Vegetable and cut flower post-harvest losses are extremely high (20–0%), however sheltered growing techniques and year-round cropping can greatly minimize post-harvest losses and enhance yield by 5–10 times. Seasonality and weather have a big impact on the production of vegetables and flowers. The variety of their products results in significant price and quality changes for vegetables. For the application of current technology in crop production, achieving a balance between year-round availability of vegetables and flowers with minimal environmental impact and remaining competitive is a significant problem. The future of agriculture will be protected since population growth is reducing the amount of land that may be held. Protected agriculture is a particularly profitable endeavor for tiny landholdings. Small greenhouses, net houses, nurseries, and low tunnel greenhouses can all be built by farmers to increase their income. Protected agriculture is also aided by the rise in biotic and abiotic stress factors. As a result of the greater productivity levels, these technologies are not only opening up opportunities for producers with larger landholdings, but also for those with smaller holdings. Protected cultivation can be thought of as a kind of precise, forward-thinking, parallel agriculture that covers almost all aspects of farming and is rather subject to additional inspection for technical applicability to circumstances, farmer economics, and market economics.

Keywords: protected cultivation, horticulture, greenhouse, vegetable, controlled environment agriculture

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Authors: Petronella Jonck, Martin Chanza, Anna-Marie Pelser

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Ascribed to the global pandemic most higher education institutions responded by relocating content presented by means of contact sessions to an online platform giving rise to digital pedagogy. The purpose of the research reported on was to explore emerging challenges linked to digital pedagogy from a practitioner stance. Digital pedagogy has emerged as a powerful tool to compliment traditional methods. However, stumbling blocks should be identified and addressed for future utilization. A qualitative research design was implemented by means of a semi-structured interview schedule distributed to practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results revealed that institutional type influenced the implementation of digital pedagogy. Other challenges relate to the increased cost of education, decreased access, limited knowledge about digital pedagogy, behavioral intent to adopt a multi-modal approach, lack of ICT infrastructure to mention a few. Higher education institutions should address challenges towards the optimal use of digital pedagogy in future.

Keywords: COVID-19, digital pedagogy, higher education institutions, information communication technology

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Authors: Samuel A. Muyiwa

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Religious chauvinism has attained an alarming status in Contemporary Nigerian society. Arguably, Nigeria is the largest economy and most populous nation in Africa with over 182 million people, the advantages offer by vibrant economy and high population have been sacrificed on the altar of religion. Tolerance, sacrifice, humility, compassion, love, justice, trustworthiness, dedication to the well-being of others, and unity are the universal spiritual principles that lie at the heart of any religion either Christianity or Islam even traditional. Whereas traditional religious practices foreground the beliefs, norms and ritual that are related to the sacred being God because of its quick and immediate consequence of its effect, the new-found religious sentiments have deviated from the norms, thus undermining cosmic harmony in Nigeria because of its long-time consequence of its effect. Religion, which is expected to accelerate growth and motivate people to develop spiritual nuances for the betterment of their communities, has, however occasioned conflict and violence in Nigeria socio-political cosmo. Therefore, this study examines the content of religion in the promotion of peace and unity and its contextual missing link in the promotion of conflict and violence in Nigeria.

Keywords: religion chauvinism, Nigeria, conflict, conflict resolution

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Authors: M. Y. Ismail, M. Inam

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This paper presents the design and analysis of Liquid Crystal (LC) based tunable reflectarray antenna with slot embedded patch element configurations within X-band frequency range. The slots are shown to modify the surface current distribution on the patch element of reflectarray which causes the resonant patch element to provide different resonant frequencies depending on the slot dimensions. The simulated results are supported and verified by waveguide scattering parameter measurements of different reflectarray unit cells. Different rectangular slots on patch element have been fabricated and a change in resonant frequency from 10.46GHz to 8.78GHz has been demonstrated as the width of the rectangular slot is varied from 0.2W to 0.6W. The rectangular slot in the center of the patch element has also been utilized for the frequency tunable reflectarray antenna design based on K-15 Nematic LC. For the active reflectarray antenna design, a frequency tunability of 1.2% from 10GHz to 9.88GHz has been demonstrated with a dynamic phase range of 103° provided by the measured scattering parameter results. Time consumed by liquid crystals for reconfiguration, which is one of the drawback of LC based design, has also been disused in this paper.

Keywords: liquid crystal, tunable reflectarray, frequency tunability, dynamic phase range

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Authors: Farouk Lawan Gambo

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Data compression shrinks files into fewer bits then their original presentation. It has more advantage on internet because the smaller a file, the faster it can be transferred but learning most of the concepts in data compression are abstract in nature therefore making them difficult to digest by some students (Engineers in particular). To determine the best approach toward learning data compression technique, this paper first study the learning preference of engineering students who tend to have strong active, sensing, visual and sequential learning preferences, the paper also study the advantage that mobility of learning have experienced; Learning at the point of interest, efficiency, connection, and many more. A survey is carried out with some reasonable number of students, through random sampling to see whether considering the learning preference and advantages in mobility of learning will give a promising improvement over the traditional way of learning. Evidence from data analysis using Ms-Excel as a point of concern for error-free findings shows that there is significance different in the students after using learning content provided on smart phone, also the result of the findings presented in, bar charts and pie charts interpret that mobile learning has to be promising feature of learning.

Keywords: data analysis, compression techniques, learning content, traditional learning approach

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Authors: Nicole Harley, Mahmoud Eid, Abdurahman Tarmal, Vishal Dey

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Histological sampling plays an integral role in the diagnostic process of renal diseases. Percutaneous native renal biopsy is typically performed under ultrasound guidance, with this service usually being provided by nephrologists. In some centers, there is a role for radiologists in performing renal biopsies. Previous comparative studies have demonstrated non-inferiority between outcomes of percutaneous native renal biopsies performed by nephrologists compared with radiologists. We sought to compare biopsy adequacy between nephrologists and radiologists in University Hospital Crosshouse. The online system SERPR (Scottish Electronic Renal Patient Record) contains information pertaining to patients who have undergone renal biopsies. An online search was performed to acquire a list of all patients who underwent renal biopsy between 2013 and 2020 in University Hospital Crosshouse. 355 native renal biopsies were performed in total across this 7-year period. A retrospective analysis was performed on these cases, with records and reports being assessed for: the total number of glomeruli obtained per biopsy, whether the number of glomeruli obtained was adequate for diagnosis, as per an internationally agreed standard, and whether a histological diagnosis was achieved. Nephrologists performed 43.9% of native renal biopsies (n=156) and radiologists performed 56.1% (n=199). The mean number of glomeruli obtained by nephrologists was 17.16+/-10.31. The mean number of glomeruli obtained by radiologists was 18.38+/-10.55. T-test demonstrated no statistically significant difference between specialties comparatively (p-value 0.277). Native renal biopsies are required to obtain at least 8 glomeruli to be diagnostic as per internationally agreed criteria. Nephrologists met these criteria in 88.5% of native renal biopsies (n=138) and radiologists met this criteria in 89.5% (n=178). T-test and Chi-squared analysis demonstrate there was no statistically significant difference between the specialties comparatively (p-value 0.663 and 0.922, respectively). Biopsies performed by nephrologists yielded tissue that was diagnostic in 91.0% (n=142) of sampling. Biopsies performed by radiologists yielded tissue that was diagnostic in 92.4% (n=184) of sampling. T-test and Chi-squared analysis demonstrate there was no statistically significant difference between the specialties comparatively (p-value 0.625 and 0.889, respectively). This project demonstrates that at University Hospital Crosshouse, there is no statistical difference between radiologists and nephrologists in terms of glomeruli acquisition or samples achieving a histological diagnosis. Given the non-inferiority between specialties demonstrated by previous studies and this project, this evidence could support the restructuring of services to allow more renal biopsies to be performed by renal services and allow reallocation of radiology department resources.

Keywords: biopsy, medical imaging, nephrology, radiology

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Authors: Osama Ahmed Ibrahim Masoud, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Abdelhadi, Ahmed Mohamed Seddik Hassan

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The problem of study focuses on thermal comfort realization in a residential building during hot and dry climate periods consumes a major electrical energy for air conditioning operation. Thermal comfort realization in a residential building during such climate becomes more difficult regarding the phenomena of climate change, and the use of building and construction materials which have the feature of heat conduction as (bricks-reinforced concrete) and the global energy crises. For that, this study aims to how to realize internal thermal comfort through how to make the best use of building services (temporarily used service spaces) for reducing the electrical energy transfer and saving self-shading. In addition, the possibility of reduction traditional energy (fossil fuel) consumed in cooling through the use of building services for reducing the internal thermal comfort and the relationship between them. This study is based on measuring the consumed electrical energy rate in cooling (by using Design-Builder program) for a residential building (the place of study is: Egypt- Suez Canal- Suez City), this design model has lots of alternatives designs for the place of building services (center of building- the eastern front- southeastern front- the southern front- the south-west front, the western front). The building services are placed on the fronts with different rates for determining the best rate on fronts which realizes thermal comfort with the lowest of energy consumption used in cooling. Findings of the study indicate to that the best position for building services is on the west front then the south-west front, and the more the building services increase, the more energy consumption used in cooling of residential building decreases. Recommendations indicate to the need to study the building services positions in the new projects progress to select the best alternatives to realize ‘Energy conservation’ used in cooling or heating into the buildings in general, residential buildings particularly.

Keywords: residential buildings, energy conservation, thermal comfort, building services, temporary used service spaces, DesignBuilder

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Authors: Hakim T. Kadhim, Faris A. Jabbar, Aldo Rona, Audrius Bagdanaviciu

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Computer-based optimization techniques can be employed to improve the efficiency of energy conversions processes, including reducing the aerodynamic loss in a thermal power plant turbomachine. In this paper, towards mitigating secondary flow losses, a design optimization workflow is implemented for the casing geometry of a 1.5 stage axial flow turbine that improves the turbine isentropic efficiency. The improved turbine is used in an open thermodynamic gas cycle with regeneration and cogeneration. Performance estimates are obtained by the commercial software Cycle – Tempo. Design and off design conditions are considered as well as variations in inlet air temperature. Reductions in both the natural gas specific fuel consumption and in CO₂ emissions are predicted by using the gas turbine cycle fitted with the new casing design. These gains are attractive towards enhancing the competitiveness and reducing the environmental impact of thermal power plant.

Keywords: axial flow turbine, computational fluid dynamics, gas turbine power plant, optimization

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Authors: Xiaoli Tian

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The recent growing interest in and use of complementary and alternative medicine is a global phenomenon. In many regions, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), an important type of complementary and alternative medicine, has been formally integrated into the healthcare system. Consequently, today’s doctors face increasing requests and questions from patients regarding TCM. However, studies of TCM focus either on patients’ approaches to TCM and Western medicine (WM) or on the politics involved in the institutionalization of TCM. To our knowledge, sociological studies on doctors’ attitudes toward TCM are rare. This paper compares the receptivity of WM-trained Chinese doctors to TCM in Hong Kong and mainland China, in order to evaluate the interplay between professional training and dominant medical paradigms, on the one hand, and institutional legitimacy and government and client pressures to accept TCM, on the other. Based on survey and in-depth interviews with Western-medicine doctors in Hong Kong and mainland China, this research finds that: there is major difference between Western-medicine doctors’ attitude toward traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Hong Kong and mainland China. Doctors in Hong Kong are still suspicious toward TCM, no matter if they have exposure to TCM or not. Even some doctors who have much knowledge about TCM, such as got a diploma or certificate in TCM or tried TCM themselves, are still suspicious. This is because they hold up to the ideal of 'evidence-based medicine' and emphasize the kind of evidence based on randomized controlled trial (RCT). To Western medicine doctors in Hong Kong, this is the most reliable type of evidence for any medical practice, but it is lacking in TCM. This is the major reason why they do not trust TCM and would not refer patients to TCM in clinical practices. In contrast, western medicine doctors in mainland China also know about randomized controlled trial (RCT) and believe that’s the most reliable evidence, but they tend to think experience-based evidence is also reliable. On this basis, they think TCM also has clinical effectiveness. Research findings reveal that legitimacy based on institutional arrangements is a relevant factor, but how doctors understand their professional boundaries also play an important role. Doctors in Hong Kong are more serious about a strict professional boundary between Western medicine and TCM because they benefited from it, such as a very prestigious status and high income. Doctors in mainland China tend to be flexible about professional boundaries because they never benefited from a well-defined strict professional boundary. This is related to a long history of the lack of professionalism in China but is also aggravated by the increasing state support of TCM.

Keywords: evidence-based decision-making, institutional legitimacy, professional behavior, traditional Chinese medicine

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Authors: Chris Fersterer, Col Fay, Tobias Danielmeier, Kat Achterberg, Scott Willis

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New Zealand, an island nation, has an extensive coastline peppered with small communities of iconic buildings known as Bachs. Post WWII, these modest buildings were constructed by their owners as retreats and generally were small, low cost, often using recycled material and often they fell below current acceptable building standards. In the latter part of the 20^th century, real estate prices in many of these communities remained low and these areas became permanent residences for people attracted to this affordable lifestyle choice. The Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust (BRCT) is an organisation that recognises the vulnerability of communities in low lying settlements as now being prone to increased flood threat brought about by climate change and sea level rise. Some of the inhabitants of Blueskin Bay, Otago, NZ have already found their properties to be un-insurable because of increased frequency of flood events and property values have slumped accordingly. Territorial authorities also acknowledge this increased risk and have created additional compliance measures for new buildings that are less than 2 m above tidal peaks. Community resilience becomes an additional concern where inhabitants are attracted to a lifestyle associated with a specific location and its people when this lifestyle is unable to be met in a suburban or city context. Traditional models of social housing fail to provide the sense of community connectedness and identity enjoyed by the current residents of Blueskin Bay. BRCT have partnered with the Otago Polytechnic Design School to design a new form of community housing that can react to this environmental change. It is a longitudinal project incorporating participatory approaches as a means of getting people ‘on board’, to understand complex systems and co-develop solutions. In the first period, they are seeking industry support and funding to develop a transportable and fully self-contained housing model that exploits current technologies. BRCT also hope that the building will become an educational tool to highlight climate change issues facing us today. This paper uses the Climate Safe House (CSH) as a case study for education in architectural sustainability through experiential learning offered as part of the Otago Polytechnics Bachelor of Design. Students engage with the project with research methodologies, including site surveys, resident interviews, data sourced from government agencies and physical modelling. The process involves collaboration across design disciplines including product and interior design but also includes connections with industry, both within the education institution and stakeholder industries introduced through BRCT. This project offers a rich learning environment where students become engaged through project based learning within a community of practice, including architecture, construction, energy and other related fields. The design outcomes are expressed in a series of public exhibitions and forums where community input is sought in a truly participatory process.

Keywords: community resilience, problem based learning, project based learning, case study

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Authors: Oktia Woro Kasmini Handayani, Sri Ratna Rahayu, Efa Nugroho, Bertakalswa Hermawati

Abstract:

The double burden of nutrition problem must be faced by Indonesia as developing country. The implemented program did not improve the nutritional status, therefore need to consider to utilize local potential. The objective of this research was to find out the effectivity of magnification model of early detect through local potential utilization in urban region, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. The research used an experimental design with the quantitative-qualitative approach. The population was all toddlers under five within the research region, sample determination by purposive sampling, as many as 216 toddlers. Quantitative data analysis used effectively criteria by Sugiono. Qualitative data was analyzed using NVivo. The optimization of local potential in the effort of nutrition status improvement shows number of nutrition case found was increased 225% (very effective), number of cases treated was increased 175% (very effective), number of cases counselled was increased 200% (effective), and number of cases that have improvement increase 75% (effective). The local potential need to be utilized in the effort of nutrition program improvement one of it is through the community empowerment, particularly health care and health high education institution as partner.

Keywords: early detection, nutrition status, local potential, health cadre

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Authors: Maliheh Rezaei

Abstract:

As demand for learning English as the global language remains high, scholars are increasingly encouraged to explore the potential of this medium for creating hegemony and positive changes in human communities. This makes English Language teachers the potential agents of positive change who play a major role in fostering the culture of peace in their classes. The purpose of this literature review was thus evaluating the implementation of peace pedagogies by English language teachers. More specifically, it addressed a) the role and characteristics of English language teachers as peace agents and b) the pedagogies that they used to construct the culture of peace. Literature review was used, and several inclusion criteria were applied. Only papers published in English, which contained the keywords of English language teaching (ELT) and other related terms and acronyms such as teaching English to speakers of other languages, and teaching English as a second/foreign language as well as peace, peace education, and similar derivatives such ‘peacebuilding’ in their title and/or abstract were included in this review. Moreover, only papers that dealt with the actual implementation of peace education theories were investigated. Findings highlighted that most English language teachers relied on pedagogies adopted from social justice, global citizenship, and positive psychology. They specifically aimed to foster positive human traits such as resilience, empathy, and reflection that were also believed to play an important role in peacebuilding efforts. Nevertheless, the role of English language teachers in educating for peace was found to be peripheral. The main challenge to incorporate the tenets of peace education was the shortage of English language teachers who were skilled and qualified enough to incorporate and promote the culture of peace in their classes. This literature review presents the body of research that has linked peace education to ELT; therefore, it informs language teachers about the potential roles they have in creating a peaceful and sustainable future. It also presents them with more effective pedagogies and practices to successfully integrate peace-related activities in their classes.

Keywords: English language teachers, English language teaching, culture of peace, peace pedagogies

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Authors: Linxin Liu

Abstract:

As system complexity increases, log parsing and anomaly detection become more and more important in ensuring system stability. However, traditional methods often face the problems of insufficient adaptability and decreasing accuracy when dealing with rapidly changing log contents and unknown domains. To this end, this paper proposes a distinct approach, LogRAG, which combines RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) technology with Prompt Engineering for Large Language Models, applied to log analysis tasks to achieve dynamic parsing of logs and intelligent anomaly detection. By combining real-time information retrieval and prompt optimization, this study significantly improves the adaptive capability of log analysis and the interpretability of results. Experimental results show that the method performs well on several public datasets, especially in the absence of training data, and significantly outperforms traditional methods. This paper provides a different technical path for log parsing and anomaly detection, demonstrating significant theoretical value and application potential.

Keywords: log parsing, anomaly detection, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), prompt engineering, LLMs

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Authors: Satam Alotibi, Muhammad J. Al-Zahrani, Fahd K. Al-Naqidan, Turki S. Hussein, Moteb Alotaibi, Mohammed Alyami, Mahdy M. Elmahdy, Abdellah Kaiba, Fatehia S. Alhakami, Talal F. Qahtan

Abstract:

Water pollution is a critical global challenge that demands scalable and effective solutions for water decontamination. In this captivating research, we unveil a groundbreaking strategy for harnessing solar energy to synthesize silver (Ag) clusters on stable titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles dispersed in water, without the need for traditional stabilization agents. These Ag-loaded TiO₂ nanoparticles exhibit exceptional photocatalytic activity, surpassing that of pristine TiO₂ nanoparticles, offering a promising solution for highly efficient water decontamination under sunlight irradiation. To the best knowledge, we have developed a unique method to stabilize TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles in water without the use of stabilization agents. This breakthrough allows us to create an ideal platform for the solar-driven synthesis of Ag clusters. Under sunlight irradiation, the stable dispersion of TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles acts as a highly efficient photocatalyst, generating electron-hole pairs. The photogenerated electrons effectively reduce silver ions derived from a silver precursor, resulting in the formation of Ag clusters. The Ag clusters loaded on TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles exhibit remarkable photocatalytic activity for water decontamination under sunlight irradiation. Acting as active sites, these Ag clusters facilitate the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon exposure to sunlight. These ROS play a pivotal role in rapidly degrading organic pollutants, enabling efficient water decontamination. To confirm the success of our approach, we characterized the synthesized Ag-loaded TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles using cutting-edge analytical techniques, such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and spectroscopic methods. These characterizations unequivocally confirm the successful synthesis of Ag clusters on stable TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles without traditional stabilization agents. Comparative studies were conducted to evaluate the superior photocatalytic performance of Ag-loaded TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles compared to pristine TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles. The Ag clusters loaded on TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles exhibit significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity, benefiting from the synergistic effect between the Ag clusters and TiO₂ nanoparticles, which promotes ROS generation for efficient water decontamination. Our scalable strategy for synthesizing Ag clusters on stable TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles without stabilization agents presents a game-changing solution for highly efficient water decontamination under sunlight irradiation. The use of commercially available TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles streamlines the synthesis process and enables practical scalability. The outstanding photocatalytic performance of Ag-loaded TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles opens up new avenues for their application in large-scale water treatment and remediation processes, addressing the urgent need for sustainable water decontamination solutions.

Keywords: water pollution, solar energy, silver clusters, TiO₂ nanoparticles, photocatalytic activity

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Authors: Yang Yi-Fei, Luo Min-Zhou, Zhang Fu-Chun, He Nai-Bao, Xing Shao-Bang

Abstract:

This paper presents an electromagnetic finite element model of permanent magnet synchronous linear motor and distortion rate of the air gap flux density waveform is analyzed in detail. By designing the sample space of the parameters, nonlinear regression modeling of the orthogonal experimental design is introduced. We put forward for possible air gap flux density waveform sine electromagnetic scheme. Parameters optimization of the permanent magnet synchronous linear motor is also introduced which is based on chaotic search and adaptation function. Simulation results prove that the pole shifting does not affect the motor back electromotive symmetry based on the structural parameters, it provides a novel way for the optimum design of permanent magnet synchronous linear motor and other engineering.

Keywords: permanent magnet synchronous linear motor, finite element analysis, chaotic search, optimization design

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Authors: Jae-Woo Kim, Kyung-Jung Lee, Hyun-Sik Ahn

Abstract:

This paper presents a design methodology for the motor driven automotive subsystems with the consideration of the functional safety. There are many such modules in vehicles which use DC/AC motors for an electronic throttle control system, a motor driven power steering, a motor driven seat belt systems and for HVAC systems. The functional safety for the automotive electrical and electronic parts are standardized as ISO 26262, but the development procedure is very complex to be followed. We focus on the functional safe motor controller design process and show the designed motor controller hardware satisfies the required safety integrity level by using metric calculations with the safety mechanism.

Keywords: AUTOSAR, MDPS, Simulink, software component

Procedia PDF Downloads 407