Search results for: building detection
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 7318

Search results for: building detection

3298 The Engineering Properties of Jordanian Marble

Authors: Mousa Bani Baker, Raed Abendeh, Zaidoon Abu Salem, Hesham Ahmad

Abstract:

This research paper was commissioned to discuss the Jordanian marble, which is a non-foliated metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however, stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphised limestone. Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material. The marble has many uses; one of them is using the white marble that has been prized for its use in sculptures since classical times. This preference has to do with its softness, relative isotropy and homogeneity, and a relative resistance to shattering. Another use of it is the construction marble which is “a stone which is composed of calcite, dolomite or serpentine which is capable of taking a polish” Marble Institute of America. This report focuses most about the marble in Jordan and its properties: rock definition, physical properties, the marble occurrences in Jordan, types of Jordanian marble and their prices and test done on this marble.

Keywords: marble, metamorphic, non-foliated, compressive strength, recrystallized, Moh’s hardness, abrasion, absorption, modulus of rupture, porosity

Procedia PDF Downloads 365
3297 Non-Signaling Chemokine Receptor CCRL1 and Its Active Counterpart CCR7 in Prostate Cancer

Authors: Yiding Qu, Svetlana V. Komarova

Abstract:

Chemokines acting through their cognate chemokine receptors guide the directional migration of the cell along the chemokine gradient. Several chemokine receptors were recently identified as non-signaling (decoy), based on their ability to bind the chemokine but produce no measurable signal in the cell. The function of these decoy receptors is not well understood. We examined the expression of a decoy receptor CCRL1 and a signaling receptor that binds to the same ligands, CCR7, in prostate cancer using publically available microarray data (www.oncomine.org). The expression of both CCRL1 and CCR7 increased in an approximately half of prostate carcinoma samples and the majority of metastatic cancer samples compared to normal prostate. Moreover, the expression of CCRL1 positively correlated with the expression of CCR7. These data suggest that CCR7 and CCRL1 can be used as clinical markers for the early detection of transformation from carcinoma to metastatic cancer. In addition, these data support our hypothesis that the non-signaling chemokine receptors actively stimulate cell migration.

Keywords: bioinformatics, cell migration, decoy receptor, meta-analysis, prostate cancer

Procedia PDF Downloads 464
3296 Classification of High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)

Authors: Mohammed Alkiyumi

Abstract:

Educational systems are currently paying special attention to developing learners' higher thinking skills to develop the capabilities of human resources to deal with contemporary challenges. Although psychologists disagree about the concept of higher-order thinking skills and the skills they include, there is unlimited effort in designing them and building strategies for their implementation. The most important factor helping to develop these skills is their classification according to specific criteria, and the most important of these classifications is Bloom's classification, which is dominant in most educational systems at all levels. Previous classifications have many limitations, including the comprehensiveness of the skills they contain, the logical structure of their hierarchy, and classification criteria. Therefore, this article puts another step in this area by providing a new classification of higher-order thinking skills that includes five categories: the first response stage, transformative stage, application, reasoning stage, and the production stage with a logical justification for this classification, with some techniques to developing it among learners.

Keywords: high-order thinking skills, classification, teaching, education

Procedia PDF Downloads 32
3295 Fluid Structure Interaction of Flow and Heat Transfer around a Microcantilever

Authors: Khalil Khanafer

Abstract:

This study emphasizes on analyzing the effect of flow conditions and the geometric variation of the microcantilever’s bluff body on the microcantilever detection capabilities within a fluidic device using a finite element fluid-structure interaction model. Such parameters include inlet velocity, flow direction, and height of the microcantilever’s supporting system within the fluidic cell. The transport equations are solved using a finite element formulation based on the Galerkin method of weighted residuals. For a flexible microcantilever, a fully coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis is utilized and the fluid domain is described by an Arbitrary-Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation that is fully coupled to the structure domain. The results of this study showed a profound effect on the magnitude and direction of the inlet velocity and the height of the bluff body on the deflection of the microcantilever. The vibration characteristics were also investigated in this study. This work paves the road for researchers to design efficient microcantilevers that display least errors in the measurements.

Keywords: fluidic cell, FSI, microcantilever, flow direction

Procedia PDF Downloads 372
3294 A Car Parking Monitoring System Using a Line-Topology Wireless Sensor Network

Authors: Dae Il Kim, Jungho Moon, Tae Yun Chung

Abstract:

This paper presents a car parking monitoring system using a wireless sensor network. The presented sensor network has a line-shaped topology and adopts a TDMA-based protocol for allowing multi-hop communications. Sensor nodes are deployed in the ground of an outdoor parking lot in such a way that a sensor node monitors a parking space. Each sensor node detects the availability of the associated parking space and transmits the detection result to a sink node via intermediate sensor nodes existing between the source sensor node and the sink node. We evaluate the feasibility of the presented sensor network and the TDMA-based communication protocol through experiments using 11 sensor nodes deployed in a real parking lot. The result shows that the presented car parking monitoring system is robust to changes in the communication environments and efficient for monitoring parking spaces of outdoor parking lots.

Keywords: multi-hop communication, parking monitoring system, TDMA, wireless sensor network

Procedia PDF Downloads 298
3293 Achieving Sustainable Rapid Construction Using Lean Principles

Authors: Muhamad Azani Yahya, Vikneswaran Munikanan, Mohammed Alias Yusof

Abstract:

There is the need to take the holistic approach in achieving sustainable construction for a contemporary practice. Sustainable construction is the practice that involved method of human preservation of the environment, whether economically or socially through responsibility, management of resources and maintenance utilizing support. This paper shows the correlation of achieving rapid construction with sustainable concepts using lean principles. Lean principles being used widely in the manufacturing industry, but this research will demonstrate the principles into building construction. Lean principle offers the benefits of stabilizing work flow and elimination of unnecessary work. Therefore, this principle contributes to time and waste reduction. The correlation shows that pulling factor provides the improvement of progress curve and stabilizing the time-quality relation. The finding shows the lean principles offer the elements of rapid construction synchronized with the elements of sustainability.

Keywords: sustainable construction, rapid construction, time reduction, lean construction

Procedia PDF Downloads 232
3292 Observational Study Reveals Inverse Relationship: Rising PM₂.₅ Concentrations Linked to Decreasing Muon Flux

Authors: Yashas Mattur, Jensen Coonradt

Abstract:

Muon flux, the rate of muons reaching Earth from the atmosphere, is impacted by various factors such as air pressure, temperature, and humidity. However, the influence of concentrations of PM₂.₅ (particulate matter with diameters 2.5 mm or smaller) on muon detection rates remains unexplored. During the summer of 2023, smoke from Canadian wildfires (containing significant amounts of particulate matter) blew over regions in the Northern US, introducing huge fluctuations in PM₂.₅ concentrations, thus inspiring our experiment to investigate the correlation of PM₂.₅ concentrations and muon rates. To investigate this correlation, muon collision rates were measured and analyzed alongside PM₂.₅ concentration data over the periods of both light and heavy smoke. Other confounding variables, including temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure, were also considered. The results reveal a statistically significant inverse correlation between muon flux and PM₂.₅ concentrations, indicating that particulate matter has an impact on the rate of muons reaching the earth’s surface.

Keywords: Muon Flux, atmospheric effects on muons, PM₂.₅, airborne particulate matter

Procedia PDF Downloads 69
3291 Big Data Analytics and Data Security in the Cloud via Fully Homomorphic Encryption

Authors: Waziri Victor Onomza, John K. Alhassan, Idris Ismaila, Noel Dogonyaro Moses

Abstract:

This paper describes the problem of building secure computational services for encrypted information in the Cloud Computing without decrypting the encrypted data; therefore, it meets the yearning of computational encryption algorithmic aspiration model that could enhance the security of big data for privacy, confidentiality, availability of the users. The cryptographic model applied for the computational process of the encrypted data is the Fully Homomorphic Encryption Scheme. We contribute theoretical presentations in high-level computational processes that are based on number theory and algebra that can easily be integrated and leveraged in the Cloud computing with detail theoretic mathematical concepts to the fully homomorphic encryption models. This contribution enhances the full implementation of big data analytics based cryptographic security algorithm.

Keywords: big data analytics, security, privacy, bootstrapping, homomorphic, homomorphic encryption scheme

Procedia PDF Downloads 373
3290 Characterizing Compressive Strength of Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks as a Function of Mix Design

Authors: Robert K. Hillyard, Jonathan Thomas, Brett A. Story

Abstract:

Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) are masonry units that combine soil, sand, stabilizer, and water under pressure to form an earth block. These CSEB’s offer a cost-effective building solution for remote construction, using local resources and labor to minimize transportation and material costs. However, CSEB’s, and earthen construction generally have not been widely adopted as standardized construction materials. One shortcoming is the difficulty in standardizing strength values of CSEB units and systems due to the inherent variations in mix design, including production compression. This research presents findings on compressive strengths of full-scale CSEB’s from 60 different mix designs as a function of the amount of cement, sand, soil, and water added to the mixture. The full-scale results are compared with CSEB cylinder cores.

Keywords: CSEB, compressive strength, earth construction, mix design

Procedia PDF Downloads 94
3289 Securing Healthcare IoT Devices and Enabling SIEM Integration: Addressing

Authors: Mubarak Saadu Nabunkari, Abdullahi Abdu Ibrahim, Muhammad Ilyas

Abstract:

This study looks at how Internet of Things (IoT) devices are used in healthcare to monitor and treat patients better. However, using these devices in healthcare comes with security problems. The research explores using Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems with healthcare IoT devices to solve these security challenges. Reviewing existing literature shows the current state of IoT security and emphasizes the need for better protection. The main worry is that healthcare IoT devices can be easily hacked, putting patient data and device functionality at risk. To address this, the research suggests a detailed security framework designed for these devices. This framework, based on literature and best practices, includes important security measures like authentication, data encryption, access controls, and anomaly detection. Adding SIEM systems to this framework helps detect threats in real time and respond quickly to incidents, making healthcare IoT devices more secure. The study highlights the importance of this integration and offers guidance for implementing healthcare IoT securely, efficiently, and effectively.

Keywords: cyber security, threat intelligence, forensics, heath care

Procedia PDF Downloads 59
3288 Design of Strain Sensor Based on Cascaded Fiber Bragg Grating for Remote Sensing Monitoring Application

Authors: Arafat A. A. Shabaneh

Abstract:

Harsh environments demand a developed detection of an optical communication system to ensure a high level of security and safety. Fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) are emerging sensing instruments that respond to variations in strain and temperature via varying wavelengths. In this paper, cascaded uniform FBG as a strain sensor for 6 km length at 1550 nm wavelength with 30 oC is designed with analyzing of dynamic strain and wavelength shifts. FBG is placed in a small segment of optical fiber, which reflects light of a specific wavelength and passes the remaining wavelengths. This makes a periodic alteration in the refractive index within the fiber core. The alteration in the modal index of fiber produced due to strain consequences in a Bragg wavelength. When the developed sensor exposure to a strain of cascaded uniform FBG by 0.01, the wavelength is shifted to 0.0000144383 μm. The sensing accuracy of the developed sensor is 0.0012. Simulation results show reliable and effective strain monitoring sensors for remote sensing applications.

Keywords: Cascaded fiber Bragg gratings, Strain sensor, Remote sensing, Wavelength shift

Procedia PDF Downloads 197
3287 The Design of Children’s Picture Book from the Tales of Amphawa Fireflies

Authors: Marut Phichetvit

Abstract:

The research objective aims to search information about storytelling and fable associated with fireflies in Amphawa community, in order to design and create a story book which is appropriate for the interests of children in early childhood. This book should help building the development of learning about the natural environment, imagination, and creativity among children, which then, brings about the promotion of the development, conservation and dissemination of cultural values and uniqueness of the Amphawa community. The population used in this study were 30 students in early childhood aged between 6-8 years-old, grade 1-3 from the Demonstration School of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The method used for this study was purposive sampling and the research conducted by the query and analysis of data from both the document and the narrative field tales and fable associated with the fireflies of Amphawa community. Then, using the results to synthesize and create a conceptual design in a form of 8 visual images which were later applied to 1 illustrated children’s book and presented to the experts to evaluate and test this media.

Keywords: children’s illustrated book, fireflies, Amphawa

Procedia PDF Downloads 200
3286 Detection of Leishmania Mixed Infection from Phlebotomus papatasi in Central Iran

Authors: Nassibeh Hosseini-Vasoukolaei, Amir Ahmad Akhavan, Mahmood Jeddi-Tehrani, Ali Khamesipour, Mohammad Reza Yaghoobi Ershadi, Kamhawi Shaden, Valenzuela Jesus, Hossein Mirhendi, Mohammad Hossein Arandian

Abstract:

Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is an endemic disease in many rural areas of Iran. Sand flies were collected from rural areas of Esfahan province and were identified using valid identification keys. DNA was extracted from sand flies and Nested PCRs were done using specific primers. In this study, 44 out of 152 (28.9 %) sand flies were infected with L. majoralone. Eight sand flies showed mixed infection: four sand flies (2.6 %) were infected with L. major, L. turanicaand L. gerbili, one sand fly (0.7 %) was infected with L. major and L. turanica and three sand flies (2 %) were infected with L. turanicaand L. gerbili. Our results demonstrate the natural infection of P. papatasi sand fly with three species of L. major, L. turanica and L. gerbili which are circulating among R. opimusreservoir host and P. papatasi sand fly vector in central Iran.

Keywords: Phlebotomus papatasi, Leishmania major, Leishmania turanica, Leishmania gerbili, mixed infection, Iran

Procedia PDF Downloads 467
3285 Resume Ranking Using Custom Word2vec and Rule-Based Natural Language Processing Techniques

Authors: Subodh Chandra Shakya, Rajendra Sapkota, Aakash Tamang, Shushant Pudasaini, Sujan Adhikari, Sajjan Adhikari

Abstract:

Lots of efforts have been made in order to measure the semantic similarity between the text corpora in the documents. Techniques have been evolved to measure the similarity of two documents. One such state-of-art technique in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) is word to vector models, which converts the words into their word-embedding and measures the similarity between the vectors. We found this to be quite useful for the task of resume ranking. So, this research paper is the implementation of the word2vec model along with other Natural Language Processing techniques in order to rank the resumes for the particular job description so as to automate the process of hiring. The research paper proposes the system and the findings that were made during the process of building the system.

Keywords: chunking, document similarity, information extraction, natural language processing, word2vec, word embedding

Procedia PDF Downloads 152
3284 The Enlightenment of the Ventilation System in Chinese Traditional Residence to Architecture Design

Authors: Wu Xingchun, Chen Xi

Abstract:

Nowadays, China's building energy consumption constitutes 25% of the total energy consumption, half of which was caused by air conditioning in both summer and winter. The ventilation system in Chinese traditional residence, which is totally passive and environmentally friendly, works effectively to create comfortable indoor environment. The research on the ventilation system in Chinese traditional residence can provide advancements to architecture design and energy savings to the society. Through field investigation, case analysis, strategy proposing and other methods, it comes out that the location and layout, the structure system and the design of atrium are the most important elements for a good ventilation system. Taking every factor into consideration, techniques are deployed extensively such as the organization of draught, the design of the thermal pressure ventilation system and the application of modern materials. With the enlightenment of the ventilation system in Chinese traditional residence, we can take effective measures to achieve low energy consumption and sustainable architecture.

Keywords: ventilation system, chinese traditional residence, energy consumption, sustainable architecture

Procedia PDF Downloads 703
3283 Influence of Urban Design on Pain and Disability in Women with Chronic Low Back Pain in Urban Cairo

Authors: Maha E. Ibrahim, Mona Abdel Aziz

Abstract:

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) in urban communities represents a challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. The traditional biomedical approach to back pain has been particularly inadequate. Failure of the biomedical model to explain the poor correlation between pain and disability on the one hand, and biological and physical factors that explain those symptoms on the other has led to the adoption of the biopsychosocial model, to recognize the reciprocal influence of physical, social and psychological factors implicated in CLBP, a condition that shows higher prevalence among women residing in urban areas. Urban design of the built community has been shown to exert a significant influence on physical and psychological health. However, little research has investigated the relationship between elements of the built environment, and the level of pain and disability of women with CLBP. As Egypt embarks on building a new capital city, and new settlements proliferate, better understanding of this relationship could greatly reduce the economic and human costs of this widespread medical problem for women. Methods: This study was designed as an exploratory mixed qualitative and quantitative study. Twenty-Six women with CLBP living in two neighborhoods in Cairo, different in their urban structure, but adjacent in their locations (Old Maadi and New Maadi) were interviewed using semi-structured interviews (8 from Old Maadi and 18 from New Maadi). Located in the South of Cairo, New Maadi is a neighborhood with the characteristic modern urban style (narrow streets and tall, adjacent buildings), while Old Maadi is known for being greener, quieter and more relaxed than the usual urban districts of Cairo. The interviews examined their perceptions of the built environment, including building shapes and colors and street light, as well as their sense of safety and comfort, and how it affects their physical and psychological health in general, and their back condition in particular. In addition, they were asked to rate their level of pain and to fill the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to rate their level of disability and psychological status, respectively. Results: Women in both districts had moderate to severe pain and moderate disability with no significant differences between the two districts. However, those living in New Maadi had significantly worse scores on the GHQ-12 than those living in Old Maadi. Most women did not feel that specific elements of the built environment affected their back pain, however, they expressed distress of the elements that were ugly, distorted or damaged, especially where there were no ways of avoiding or fixing them. Furthermore, most women affirmed that the unsightly and uncomfortable elements of their neighborhoods affected their mood states and were a constant source of stress. Conclusion: This exploratory study concludes that elements of the urban built environment do not exert a direct effect on CLBP. However, the perception of women regarding these elements does affect their mood states, and their levels of stress, making them a possible indirect cause of increased suffering in these women.

Keywords: built environment, chronic back pain, disability, urban Cairo

Procedia PDF Downloads 142
3282 Evaluation of Biochemical Parameters in the Blood of Dromedary (Camelus Dromedarius)

Authors: M. Titaouine, T. Meziane, K. Deghnouche

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to determine reference serum biochemistry values from dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) in Algeria and to evaluate potential sources of physiological variability such as the sex, age and season on serum data. Usual serum biochemistry values were determined in blood samples from 26 apparently healthy dromedaries, 11 males and 15 females, divided into 3 lots (ender 4years), (between 5 and 10 years), (up 10 years). Parametric reference ranges and physiological variations are determined for calcium (Ca), organic phosphate (P), magnesium (Mg), natrium (Na), potassium (K), iron (Fe), glucose, triglycerides (TG), cholesterol, urea, creatinine, total proteins and albumin. The results demonstrate: * Values which agreed with literature * Significant statistically differences (Anova test, p < 0.05) depending on: -the sex for Na, glucose, TG, cholesterol, urea, creatinine, albumin, -the age for Ca, P, K, Mg, glucose, TG, b and g globulin, -and season for Fe, urea, total proteins, TG, cholesterol and glucose. These reference ranges for serum biochemical analysis can be used for metabolic and nutritional disorders detection in dromedary.

Keywords: age, biochemistry, dromadery, season, sex

Procedia PDF Downloads 368
3281 Investigate and Solving Analytically at Vibrational structures (In Arched Beam to Bridges) by New Method “AGM”

Authors: M. R. Akbari, P. Soleimani, R. Khalili, Sara Akbari

Abstract:

Analyzing and modeling the vibrational behavior of arched bridges during the earthquake in order to decrease the exerted damages to the structure is a very hard task to do. This item has been done analytically in the present paper for the first time. Due to the importance of building arched bridges as a great structure in the human being civilization and its specifications such as transferring vertical loads to its arcs and the lack of bending moments and shearing forces, this case study is devoted to this special issue. Here, the nonlinear vibration of arched bridges has been modeled and simulated by an arched beam with harmonic vertical loads and its behavior has been investigated by analyzing a nonlinear partial differential equation governing the system. It is notable that the procedure has been done analytically by AGM (Akbari, Ganji Method). Furthermore, comparisons have been made between the obtained results by numerical Method (rkf-45) and AGM in order to assess the scientific validity.

Keywords: new method (AGM), arched beam bridges, angular frequency, harmonic loads

Procedia PDF Downloads 293
3280 Mechanisms in Regulating Language Practices in Electronics Engineering: A Program Plan for Outcomes-Based Education

Authors: Analiza Acuña-Villacorte

Abstract:

The underlying principle behind the harmonization in international education does not solely aim for the comparability but also the compatibility of outputs produced. The international standard in the different professions particularly in engineering defines the required graduate attributes to attain suitable qualifications and recognitions. This study described the language practices of the Electronics Engineering students of Bulacan State University, Philippines who will be deployed for their internship program. The purpose of the study was achieved by determining the language proficiency of the students in terms of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and checking the adherence of the University to the commitment of intensifying community building for the Association of Southeast Asian Nation Vision 2020. The analysis of variance of the variables defined the significance between the causal variables and dependent variables. Thus, this study identified the mechanism that would regulate language practices in the Electronics Engineering program.

Keywords: communicative competence, language practices, mechanisms, outcomes-based education

Procedia PDF Downloads 292
3279 Effects of Heat Source Position on Heat Transfer in an Inclined Square Enclosure Filled with Nanofluids

Authors: Khamis Al Kalbani

Abstract:

The effects of a uniform heat source position on the heat transfer flow inside an inclined square enclosure filled with different types of nanofluids having various shapes of the nanoparticles are investigated numerically following one component thermal equilibrium model. The effects of the Brownian diffusion of the nanoparticles, magnetic field intensity and orientation are taken into consideration in nanofluid modeling. The heat source is placed in the middle of a wall of the enclosure while the opposite wall of it is kept at different temperature. The other walls of the enclosure are kept insulated. The results indicate that the heat source position significantly controls the heat transfer rates of the nanofluids. The distributions of the average heat transfer rates varying the position of the heat source with respect to the geometry inclination angle are calculated for the first time. The outcomes of the present research may be helpful for designing solar thermal collectors, radiators, building insulators and advanced cooling of a nuclear system.

Keywords: heat source, inclined, square enclosure, nanofluids

Procedia PDF Downloads 302
3278 The Environmental Conflict over the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Authors: Emiliano Castillo

Abstract:

The aim of this research is to analyze the origins, the development and possible outcomes of the environmental conflict between grassroots organizations, indigenous communities, Kinder Morgan Corporation, and the Canadian government over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Building on the political ecology and the environmental justice theoretical framework, this research examines the impacts and risks of tar sands extraction, production, and transportation on climate change, public health, the environment, and indigenous people´s rights over their lands. This study is relevant to the environmental justice and political ecology literature because it discusses the unequal distribution of environmental costs and economic benefits of tar sands development; and focuses on the competing interests, needs, values, and claims of the actors involved in the conflict. Furthermore, it will shed light on the context, conditions, and processes that lead to the organization and mobilization of a grassroots movement- comprised of indigenous communities, citizens, scientists, and non-governmental organizations- that draw significant media attention by opposing the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Similarly, the research will explain the differences and dynamics within the grassroots movement. This research seeks to address the global context of the conflict by studying the links between the decline of conventional oil production, the rise of unconventional fossil fuels (e.g. tar sands), climate change, and the struggles of low-income, ethnic, and racial minorities over the territorial expansion of extractive industries. Data will be collected from legislative documents, policy and technical reports, scientific journals, newspapers articles, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with representatives and members of the grassroots organizations, indigenous communities, and Burnaby citizens that oppose the Trans Mountain pipeline. These interviews will focus on their perceptions of the risks of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion; the roots of the anti-tar sands movement; the differences and dynamics within the movement; and the strategies to defend the livelihoods of local communities and the environment against tar sands development. This research will contribute to the understanding of the underlying causes of the environmental conflict between the Canadian government, Kinder Morgan, and grassroots organizations over tar sands extraction, production, and transportation in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Moreover, this work will elucidate the transformations of society-nature relationships brought by tar sands development. Research findings will provide scientific information about how the resistance movement in British Columbia can challenge the dominant narrative on tar sands, exert greater influence in environmental politics, and efficiently defend Indigenous people´s rights to lands. Furthermore, this research will shed light into how grassroots movements can contribute towards the building of more inclusive and sustainable societies.

Keywords: environmental conflict, environmental justice, extractive industry, indigenous communities, political ecology, tar sands

Procedia PDF Downloads 275
3277 Vision Aided INS for Soft Landing

Authors: R. Sri Karthi Krishna, A. Saravana Kumar, Kesava Brahmaji, V. S. Vinoj

Abstract:

The lunar surface may contain rough and non-uniform terrain with dips and peaks. Soft-landing is a method of landing the lander on the lunar surface without any damage to the vehicle. This project focuses on finding a safe landing site for the vehicle by developing a method for the lateral velocity determination of the lunar lander. This is done by processing the real time images obtained by means of an on-board vision sensor. The hazard avoidance phase of the soft-landing starts when the vehicle is about 200 m above the lunar surface. Here, the lander has a very low velocity of about 10 cm/s:vertical and 5 m/s:horizontal. On the detection of a hazard the lander is navigated by controlling the vertical and lateral velocity. In order to find an appropriate landing site and to accordingly navigate, the lander image processing is performed continuously. The images are taken continuously until the landing site is determined, and the lander safely lands on the lunar surface. By integrating this vision-based navigation with the INS a better accuracy for the soft-landing of the lunar lander can be obtained.

Keywords: vision aided INS, image processing, lateral velocity estimation, materials engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 462
3276 Novel NIR System for Detection of Internal Disorder and Quality of Apple Fruit

Authors: Eid Alharbi, Yaser Miaji

Abstract:

The importance of fruit quality and freshness is potential in today’s life. Most recent studies show and automatic online sorting system according to the internal disorder for fresh apple fruit has developed by using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic technology. The automatic conveyer belts system along with sorting mechanism was constructed. To check the internal quality of the apple fruit, apple was exposed to the NIR radiations in the range 650-1300nm and the data were collected in form of absorption spectra. The collected data were compared to the reference (data of known sample) analyzed and an electronic signal was pass to the sorting system. The sorting system was separate the apple fruit samples according to electronic signal passed to the system. It is found that absorption of NIR radiation in the range 930-950nm was higher in the internally defected samples as compared to healthy samples. On the base of this high absorption of NIR radiation in 930-950nm region the online sorting system was constructed.

Keywords: mechatronics design, NIR, fruit quality, spectroscopic technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 385
3275 Ultrastrong Coupling of CdZnS/ZnS Quantum Dots and Breathing Plasmons in Aluminum Metal-Insulator-Metal Nanocavities in Near-Ultraviolet Spectrum

Authors: Li Li, Lei Wang, Chenglin Du, Mengxin Ren, Xinzheng Zhang, Wei Cai, Jingjun Xu

Abstract:

Strong coupling between excitons of quantum dots and plasmons in nanocavites can be realized at room temperature due to the strong confinement of the plasmon fields, which offers building blocks for quantum information systems or ultralow-power switches and lasers. In this work, by using cathodoluminescence, ultrastrong coupling with Rabi splitting above 1 eV between breathing plasmons in Aluminum metal-insulator-metal (MIM) cavity and excited state of CdZnS/ZnS quantum dots was reported in near-UV spectrum. Analytic analysis and full-wave electromagnetic simulations provide the evidence for the strong coupling and confirm the hybridization of the QDs exciton and LSP breathing mode. This study opens the way for new emerging applications based on strongly coupled light-matter states all over the visible region down to ultra-violet frequencies.

Keywords: breathing mode, plasmonics, quantum dot, strong coupling, ultraviolet

Procedia PDF Downloads 194
3274 Investigation of the Effect of Excavation Step in NATM on Surface Settlement by Finite Element Method

Authors: Seyed Mehrdad Gholami

Abstract:

Nowadays, using rail transport system (Metro) is increased in most cities of The world, so the need for safe and economical way of building tunnels and subway stations is felt more and more. One of the most commonly used methods for constructing underground structures in urban areas is NATM (New Austrian tunneling method). In this method, there are some key parameters such as excavation steps and cross-sectional area that have a significant effect on the surface settlement. Settlement is a very important control factor related to safe excavation. In this paper, Finite Element Method is used by Abaqus. R6 station of Tehran Metro Line 6 is built by NATM and the construction of that is studied and analyzed. Considering the outcomes obtained from numerical modeling and comparison with the results of the instrumentation and monitoring of field, finally, the excavation step of 1 meter and longitudinal distance of 14 meters between side drifts is suggested to achieve safe tunneling with allowable settlement.

Keywords: excavation step, NATM, numerical modeling, settlement.

Procedia PDF Downloads 132
3273 Biodiversity of Pathogenic and Toxigenic Fungi Associated with Maize Grains Sampled across Egypt

Authors: Yasser Shabana, Khaled Ghoneem, Nehal Arafat, Younes Rashad, Dalia Aseel, Bruce Fitt, Aiming Qi, Benjamine Richard

Abstract:

Providing food for more than 100 million people is one of Egypt's main challenges facing development. The overall goal is to formulate strategies to enhance food security in light of population growth. Two hundred samples of maize grains from 25 governates were collected. For the detection of seed-borne fungi, the deep-freezing blotter method (DFB) and washing method (ISTA 1999) were used. A total of 41 fungal species was recovered from maize seed samples. Weather data from 30 stations scattered all over Egypt and covering the major maize growing areas were obtained. Canonical correspondence analysis of data for the obtained fungal genera with temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed, or solar radiation revealed that relative humidity, temperature and wind speed were the most influential weather variables.

Keywords: biodiversity, climate change, maize, seed-borne fungi

Procedia PDF Downloads 156
3272 Determining Earthquake Performances of Existing Reinforced Concrete Buildings by Using ANN

Authors: Musa H. Arslan, Murat Ceylan, Tayfun Koyuncu

Abstract:

In this study, an artificial intelligence-based (ANN based) analytical method has been developed for analyzing earthquake performances of the reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. 66 RC buildings with four to ten storeys were subjected to performance analysis according to the parameters which are the existing material, loading and geometrical characteristics of the buildings. The selected parameters have been thought to be effective on the performance of RC buildings. In the performance analyses stage of the study, level of performance possible to be shown by these buildings in case of an earthquake was determined on the basis of the 4-grade performance levels specified in Turkish Earthquake Code- 2007 (TEC-2007). After obtaining the 4-grade performance level, selected 23 parameters of each building have been matched with the performance level. In this stage, ANN-based fast evaluation algorithm mentioned above made an economic and rapid evaluation of four to ten storey RC buildings. According to the study, the prediction accuracy of ANN has been found about 74%.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, earthquake, performance, reinforced concrete

Procedia PDF Downloads 458
3271 Virtual Computing Lab for Phonics Development among Deaf Students

Authors: Ankita R. Bansal, Naren S. Burade

Abstract:

Idea is to create a cloud based virtual lab for Deaf Students, “A language acquisition program using Visual Phonics and Cued Speech” using VMware Virtual Lab. This lab will demonstrate students the sounds of letters associated with the Language, building letter blocks, making words, etc Virtual labs are used for demos, training, for the Lingual development of children in their vernacular language. The main potential benefits are reduced labour and hardware costs, faster response times to users. Virtual Computing Labs allows any of the software as a service solutions, virtualization solutions, and terminal services solutions available today to offer as a service on demand, where a single instance of the software runs on the cloud and services multiple end users. VMWare, XEN, MS Virtual Server, Virtuoso, and Citrix are typical examples.

Keywords: visual phonics, language acquisition, vernacular language, cued speech, virtual lab

Procedia PDF Downloads 593
3270 Towards A Framework for Using Open Data for Accountability: A Case Study of A Program to Reduce Corruption

Authors: Darusalam, Jorish Hulstijn, Marijn Janssen

Abstract:

Media has revealed a variety of corruption cases in the regional and local governments all over the world. Many governments pursued many anti-corruption reforms and have created a system of checks and balances. Three types of corruption are faced by citizens; administrative corruption, collusion and extortion. Accountability is one of the benchmarks for building transparent government. The public sector is required to report the results of the programs that have been implemented so that the citizen can judge whether the institution has been working such as economical, efficient and effective. Open Data is offering solutions for the implementation of good governance in organizations who want to be more transparent. In addition, Open Data can create transparency and accountability to the community. The objective of this paper is to build a framework of open data for accountability to combating corruption. This paper will investigate the relationship between open data, and accountability as part of anti-corruption initiatives. This research will investigate the impact of open data implementation on public organization.

Keywords: open data, accountability, anti-corruption, framework

Procedia PDF Downloads 326
3269 Simple Ecofriendly Cyclodextrine-Surfactant Modified UHPLC Method for Quantification of Multivitamins in Pharmaceutical and Food Samples

Authors: Hassan M. Albishri, Abdullah Almalawi, Deia Abd El-Hady

Abstract:

A simple and ecofriendly cyclodextrine-surfactant modified UHPLC (CDS-UPLC) method for rapid and sensitive simultaneous determination of multi water-soluble vitamins such as ascorbic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride and thiamine hydrochloride in commercial pharmaceuticals and milk samples have been firstly developed. Several chromatographic effective parameters have been changed in a systematic way. Adequate results have been achieved by a mixture of β-cyclodextrine (β-CD) and cationic surfactant under acidic conditions as an eco-friendly isocratic mobile phase at 0.02 mL/min flow rate. The proposed CDS- UHPLC method has been validated for the quantitative determination of multivitamins within 8 min in food and pharmaceutical samples. The method showed excellent linearity for analytes in a wide range of 10-1000 ng/µL. The repeatability and reproducibility of data were about 2.14 and 4.69 RSD%, respectively. The limits of detection (LODs) of analytes ranged between 0.86 and 5.6 ng/µL with a range of 81.8 -115.8% recoveries in tablets and milk samples. The current first CDS- UHPLC method could have vast applications for the precise analysis of multivitamins in complicated matrices.

Keywords: ecofriendly, cyclodextrine-surfactant, multivitamins, UHPLC

Procedia PDF Downloads 266