Search results for: sample average approximation
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 10517

Search results for: sample average approximation

6497 Application and Aspects of Biometeorology in Inland Open Water Fisheries Management in the Context of Changing Climate: Status and Research Needs

Authors: U.K. Sarkar, G. Karnatak, P. Mishal, Lianthuamluaia, S. Kumari, S.K. Das, B.K. Das

Abstract:

Inland open water fisheries provide food, income, livelihood and nutritional security to millions of fishers across the globe. However, the open water ecosystem and fisheries are threatened due to climate change and anthropogenic pressures, which are more visible in the recent six decades, making the resources vulnerable. Understanding the interaction between meteorological parameters and inland fisheries is imperative to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies. As per IPCC 5th assessment report, the earth is warming at a faster rate in recent decades. Global mean surface temperature (GMST) for the decade 2006–2015 (0.87°C) was 6 times higher than the average over the 1850–1900 period. The direct and indirect impacts of climatic parameters on the ecology of fisheries ecosystem have a great bearing on fisheries due to alterations in fish physiology. The impact of meteorological factors on ecosystem health and fish food organisms brings about changes in fish diversity, assemblage, reproduction and natural recruitment. India’s average temperature has risen by around 0.7°C during 1901–2018. The studies show that the mean air temperature in the Ganga basin has increased in the range of 0.20 - 0.47 °C and annual rainfall decreased in the range of 257-580 mm during the last three decades. The studies clearly indicate visible impacts of climatic and environmental factors on inland open water fisheries. Besides, a significant reduction in-depth and area (37.20–57.68% reduction), diversity of natural indigenous fish fauna (ranging from 22.85 to 54%) in wetlands and progression of trophic state from mesotrophic to eutrophic were recorded. In this communication, different applications of biometeorology in inland fisheries management with special reference to the assessment of ecosystem and species vulnerability to climatic variability and change have been discussed. Further, the paper discusses the impact of climate anomaly and extreme climatic events on inland fisheries and emphasizes novel modeling approaches for understanding the impact of climatic and environmental factors on reproductive phenology for identification of climate-sensitive/resilient fish species for the adoption of climate-smart fisheries in the future. Adaptation and mitigation strategies to enhance fish production and the role of culture-based fisheries and enclosure culture in converting sequestered carbon into blue carbon have also been discussed. In general, the type and direction of influence of meteorological parameters on fish biology in open water fisheries ecosystems are not adequately understood. The optimum range of meteorological parameters for sustaining inland open water fisheries is yet to be established. Therefore, the application of biometeorology in inland fisheries offers ample scope for understanding the dynamics in changing climate, which would help to develop a database on such least, addressed research frontier area. This would further help to project fisheries scenarios in changing climate regimes and develop adaptation and mitigation strategies to cope up with adverse meteorological factors to sustain fisheries and to conserve aquatic ecosystem and biodiversity.

Keywords: biometeorology, inland fisheries, aquatic ecosystem, modeling, India

Procedia PDF Downloads 179
6496 Scope of Samarium Content on Microstructural and Structural Properties of Potassium-Sodium Niobate (KNN) Based Ceramics

Authors: Geraldine Giraldo

Abstract:

In the research of advanced materials, ceramics based on KNN are an important topic, especially for multifunctional applications. In this work, the physical, structural, and microstructural properties of the (KNN-CaLi-xSm) system were analyzed by varying the concentration of samarium, which was prepared using the conventional solid-state reaction method by mixing oxides. It was found that the increase in Sm+3 concentration led to higher porosity in the sample and, consequently, a decrease in density, which is attributed to the structural vacancies at the A-sites of the perovskite-type structure of the ceramic system. In the structural analysis, a coexistence of Tetragonal (T) and Orthorhombic (O) phases were observed at different rare-earth ion contents, with a higher content of the T phase at xSm=0.010. Furthermore, the structural changes in the calcined powders at different temperatures were studied using the results of DTA-TG, which allowed for the analysis of the system's composition. It was found that the lowest total decomposition temperature occurred when xSm=0.010 at 770°C.

Keywords: perovskite, piezoelectric, multifunctional, Structure, ceramic

Procedia PDF Downloads 51
6495 The Improved Biofuel Cell for Electrical Power Generation from Wastewaters

Authors: M. S. Kilic, S. Korkut, B. Hazer

Abstract:

Newly synthesized Polypropylene-g-Polyethylene glycol polymer was first time used for a compartment-less enzymatic fuel cell. Working electrodes based on Polypropylene-g-Polyethylene glycol were operated as unmediated and mediated system (with ferrocene and gold/cobalt oxide nanoparticles). Glucose oxidase and bilirubin oxidase was selected as anodic and cathodic enzyme, respectively. Glucose was used as fuel in a single-compartment and membrane-less cell. Maximum power density was obtained as 0.65 nW cm-2, 65 nW cm-2, and 23500 nW cm-2 from the unmediated, ferrocene and gold/cobalt oxide modified polymeric film, respectively. Power density was calculated to be ~16000 nW cm-2 for undiluted wastewater sample with gold/cobalt oxide nanoparticles including system.

Keywords: bilirubin oxidase, enzymatic fuel cell, glucose oxidase, nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 249
6494 Parental Monitoring of Learners’ Cell Phone Use in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Authors: Melikhaya Skhephe, Robert Mawuli Kwasi Boadzo, Zanoxolo Berington Gobingca

Abstract:

This research study sought to examine parental monitoring of learners’ cell phone use in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. To this end, the researchers employed a quantitative approach. Data were obtained through questionnaires, with a sample of 15 parents having been purposively selected. The findings revealed that parents are unaware that they have to monitor the learner’s cell phone. Another finding was that parents in the 21-century did not support the use of mobile phones in education. The researchers recommend that parent’s discussion forums be created to educate parents on how a cell phone can be used in education. Cellphone companies need to be encouraged to educate parents on how they monitor cell phones used by learners. Another recommendation was that network providers need to restrict access to searching on the internet according to age.

Keywords: parental monitoring, app blocking services, learner’s cell phone use, cell phone

Procedia PDF Downloads 142
6493 Emotional Intelligence: Key to Job Satisfaction - A Case Study

Authors: Arpita Sabath, Jytoika Samuel

Abstract:

Emotional Intelligence is conceptualized as a confluence of learned abilities resulting in wise behavior, high achievement and mental health. This case study is done on IT Sector employees of CAREERNET consultancy at Bangalore. Thus the present study intends to find out the difference in different dimensions of El and Js Scales among male and female employees and the existing relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction for the beginner age group of employees (25 yrs - 40 yrs) in order to enhance the employees productivity level in the present scenario of recession in employment. It is observed that all promotions and increment are achieved at these 25 yrs - 40 yrs age group employees. Therefore, the sample is selected randomly and grouped. Survey method with the administration of Emotional Intelligence Scale and opinionScedule is used. The findings of the study has revealed that there is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and performance excellence. The study is concluded with a remark that the relevance of this study should be followed by the administrative body of IT sectors to motivate them and to get more productive work from their employees

Keywords: emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, organisational behavior, IT sector

Procedia PDF Downloads 600
6492 Numerical Simulation of Kangimi Reservoir Sedimentation, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Authors: Abdurrasheed Sa'id, Abubakar Isma'il, Waheed Alayande

Abstract:

This study focused on carrying out numerical simulations of Kangimi reservoir sedimentation by reviewing different numerical sediment transport models, and GSTARS3 was selected. The model was developed using the 1977 data. It was calibrated by simulating the 2012 profile and sediment deposition and compared with 2012 hydrographic survey results of NWRI. The model was validated by simulating the 2016 deposition and compared the results with NWRI estimates. Also, the performance of the proposed model was tested using statistical parameters such as MSE (Mean Square Error), MAPE (Mean Average Percentage Error) and R2 (Coefficient of determination) with values of 1.32m, 0.17% and 0.914 respectively which shows strong agreement. After the calibration, validation and performance testing the model was used to simulate the 2032 and 2062 profiles and deposition. The results showed that by 2032 the reservoir will be silted by 25.34MCM or 43.3% of the design capacity and 60.7% of the capacity by the year 2062. A number of sedimentation mitigation measures were recommended.

Keywords: NWRI- national water resources institute, sedimentation, GSTARS3, model

Procedia PDF Downloads 207
6491 Fermentable Sugars from Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Biomass for Bioethanol Production

Authors: U. A. Asli, H. Hamid, Z. A. Zakaria, A. N. Sadikin, R. Rasit

Abstract:

This study investigated the effect of a dilute acid, lime and ammonia aqueous pretreatment on the fermentable sugars conversion from empty fruit bunch (EFB) biomass. The dilute acid treatment was carried out in an autoclave, at 121ºC with 4 % of sulphuric acid. In the lime pretreatment, 3 wt % of calcium hydroxide was used, whereas the third method was done by soaking EFB with 28 % ammonia solution. Then the EFB biomass was subjected to a two-stage-acid hydrolysis process. Subsequently, the hydrolysate was fermented by using instant baker’s yeast to produce bioethanol. The highest glucose yield was 890 mg/g of biomass, obtained from the sample which underwent lime pretreatment. The highest bioethanol yield of 6.1mg/g of glucose was achieved from acid pretreatment. This showed that the acid pretreatment gave the most fermentable sugars compared to the other two pretreatments.

Keywords: bioethanol, biomass, empty fruit bunch (EFB), fermentable sugars

Procedia PDF Downloads 599
6490 Effectiveness of an Unorthodox Intervention for Work-Family Interaction: A Field Experiment

Authors: Hassan Rasool

Abstract:

There is limited research in the intervention domain of work family interaction. We identified that meditation could be effective in coping work family conflict and nurturing work family facilitation across domains. We conducted pretest posttest control group field experiment on a sample of sixty employees to test the effectiveness of meditation in a financial sector organization. Empirical evidence confirms that the intervention was effective in coping work family conflict & nurturing facilitation across work & home domains. The intervention, also positively affected a known outcome (i.e. satisfaction at work and home) of work family interaction. Future research perspectives on the use of unorthodox interventions in the domain of work family interaction are also discussed.

Keywords: work family interaction, meditation, satisfaction, experiment

Procedia PDF Downloads 444
6489 The Impact of Information Communication Technology on Promoting Travel Trade Industry in a Developing Economy, Case Study Nigeria

Authors: Murtala Mohammed Alamai, Abdullahi Marshal Idris, Adama Idris

Abstract:

Today, marketing does not only involve selecting target markets, but it also involves communicating with the customers through various means to put across your selling point. Modern marketing involves driving new product development based on customer needs by getting feedback from them. Utilizing the latest technology for better communication with the customers is the latest advancement in Marketing in the 21st century. The survey approach was used where a sample of tourist destinations across the six geographical zones of the country at random was done to ascertain the use of information communication systems in promoting their products and or services, the findings revealed that only a few utilize these modern advanced means in marketing and promoting their products and a need to develop effective and up to date online services for marketing was proffered as solutions to the findings observed.

Keywords: information, communication, travel, trade, promotion

Procedia PDF Downloads 308
6488 Thermal Performance Analysis of Nanofluids in a Concetric Heat Exchanger Equipped with Turbulators

Authors: Feyza Eda Akyurek, Bayram Sahin, Kadir Gelis, Eyuphan Manay, Murat Ceylan

Abstract:

Turbulent forced convection heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of Al2O3–water nanofluid flowing through a concentric tube heat exchanger with and without coiled wire turbulators were studied experimentally. The experiments were conducted in the Reynolds number ranging from 4000 to 20000, particle volume concentrations of 0.8 vol.% and 1.6 vol.%. Two turbulators with the pitches of 25 mm and 39 mm were used. The results of nanofluids indicated that average Nusselt number increased much more with increasing Reynolds number compared to that of pure water. Thermal conductivity enhancement by the nanofluids resulted in heat transfer enhancement. Once the pressure drop of the alumina/water nanofluid was analyzed, it was nearly equal to that of pure water at the same Reynolds number range. It was concluded that nanofluids with the volume fractions of 0.8 and 1.6 did not have a significant effect on pressure drop change. However, the use of wire coils in heat exchanger enhanced heat transfer as well as the pressure drop.

Keywords: turbulators, heat exchanger, nanofluids, heat transfer enhancement

Procedia PDF Downloads 387
6487 Total Dissolved Solids and Total Iron in High Rate Activated Sludge System

Authors: M. Y. Saleh, G. M. ELanany, M. H. Elzahar, M. Z. Elshikhipy

Abstract:

Industrial wastewater discharge, which carries high concentrations of dissolved solids and iron, could be treated by high rate activated sludge stage of the multiple-stage sludge treatment plant, a system which is characterized by high treatment efficiency, optimal prices, and small areas compared with conventional activated sludge treatment plants. A pilot plant with an influent industrial discharge flow of 135 L/h was designed following the activated sludge system to simulate between the biological and chemical treatment with the addition of dosages 100, 150, 200 and 250 mg/L alum salt to the aeration tank. The concentrations of total dissolved solids (TDS) and iron (Fe) in industrial discharge flow had an average range of 140000 TDS and 4.5 mg/L iron. The optimization of the chemical-biological process using a dosage of 200 mg/L alum succeeded to improve the removal efficiency of TDS and total iron to 48.15% and 68.11% respectively.

Keywords: wastewater, activated sludge, TDS, total iron

Procedia PDF Downloads 285
6486 Plant Leaf Recognition Using Deep Learning

Authors: Aadhya Kaul, Gautam Manocha, Preeti Nagrath

Abstract:

Our environment comprises of a wide variety of plants that are similar to each other and sometimes the similarity between the plants makes the identification process tedious thus increasing the workload of the botanist all over the world. Now all the botanists cannot be accessible all the time for such laborious plant identification; therefore, there is an urge for a quick classification model. Also, along with the identification of the plants, it is also necessary to classify the plant as healthy or not as for a good lifestyle, humans require good food and this food comes from healthy plants. A large number of techniques have been applied to classify the plants as healthy or diseased in order to provide the solution. This paper proposes one such method known as anomaly detection using autoencoders using a set of collections of leaves. In this method, an autoencoder model is built using Keras and then the reconstruction of the original images of the leaves is done and the threshold loss is found in order to classify the plant leaves as healthy or diseased. A dataset of plant leaves is considered to judge the reconstructed performance by convolutional autoencoders and the average accuracy obtained is 71.55% for the purpose.

Keywords: convolutional autoencoder, anomaly detection, web application, FLASK

Procedia PDF Downloads 146
6485 The Traveling Behavior and Needs for Tourist Support Facilities of Inbound Tourists Visiting Ratanakosin Island

Authors: Sakul Jariyachamsit

Abstract:

The objectives of this research were to study the behaviour of inbound tourist who visited Ratanakosin Island and to study their needs concerning support facilities. The independent variables included gender, age, levels of education, occupation, and income while the dependent variables were classified into two groups: tourists’ behaviour variables and tourists’ need of supporting facilities. A simple random sampling method was utilized to get 225 respondents. The majority of respondents were both male and female in the same proportion but most were between 21-30 years old. Most were married with a graduated degree. The average income of the respondents was between $20,000-30,000. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents came to Thailand for the first time and spent about 8 days in Thailand and preferred to travel in small groups. Their decision to come to Thailand was influenced by word of mouth. When they first thought of Thailand, they thought of Thai food. In terms of the needs for tourists around the Ratanakosin Island, and ranked in importance, are as follows: a tourist centre, somebody who can speak English, a trustable agency, police patrol, and the availability of maps and brochures.

Keywords: Rattanakosin Island, tourist, travelling behaviour, media engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 344
6484 Compensation of Power Quality Disturbances Using DVR

Authors: R. Rezaeipour

Abstract:

One of the key aspects of power quality improvement in power system is the mitigation of voltage sags/swells and flicker. Custom power devices have been known as the best tools for voltage disturbances mitigation as well as reactive power compensation. Dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) which is the most efficient and effective modern custom power device can provide the most commercial solution to solve several problems of power quality in distribution networks. This paper deals with analysis and simulation technique of DVR based on instantaneous power theory which is a quick control to detect signals. The main purpose of this work is to remove three important disturbances including voltage sags/swells and flicker. Simulation of the proposed method was carried out on two sample systems by using MATLAB software environment and the results of simulation show that the proposed method is able to provide desirable power quality in the presence of wide range of disturbances.

Keywords: DVR, power quality, voltage sags, voltage swells, flicker

Procedia PDF Downloads 329
6483 Amharic Text News Classification Using Supervised Learning

Authors: Misrak Assefa

Abstract:

The Amharic language is the second most widely spoken Semitic language in the world. There are several new overloaded on the web. Searching some useful documents from the web on a specific topic, which is written in the Amharic language, is a challenging task. Hence, document categorization is required for managing and filtering important information. In the classification of Amharic text news, there is still a gap in the domain of information that needs to be launch. This study attempts to design an automatic Amharic news classification using a supervised learning mechanism on four un-touch classes. To achieve this research, 4,182 news articles were used. Naive Bayes (NB) and Decision tree (j48) algorithms were used to classify the given Amharic dataset. In this paper, k-fold cross-validation is used to estimate the accuracy of the classifier. As a result, it shows those algorithms can be applicable in Amharic news categorization. The best average accuracy result is achieved by j48 decision tree and naïve Bayes is 95.2345 %, and 94.6245 % respectively using three categories. This research indicated that a typical decision tree algorithm is more applicable to Amharic news categorization.

Keywords: text categorization, supervised machine learning, naive Bayes, decision tree

Procedia PDF Downloads 174
6482 Running Head: Psychological Inflexibility and Distress

Authors: Steven M. Sanders, April T. Berry, David W. Hollingsworth

Abstract:

Previous research has shown that veterans have higher rates of mental health concerns compared to non-veteran populations. A potential risk factor for the development of mental health concerns (i.e., depression & anxiety), particularly in Black veterans, is psychological inflexibility. Psychological inflexibility, a component of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), is a process by which behavior is expressed in ways that attempt to control emotional and psychological reactions to uncomfortable stimuli and situations rather than by direct contingencies or personal values. The present study explored the relationship between psychological inflexibility, symptoms of depression, and symptoms of anxiety in a sample of 131 Black veterans. Results demonstrated that Black veterans who endorsed psychological inflexibility also endorsed higher levels of both depression and anxiety symptomology. These findings indicate the deleterious consequences of experiencing psychological inflexibility, which could be treated through ACT.

Keywords: psychological flexibility, veteran, black, psychological distress

Procedia PDF Downloads 109
6481 Investigation of Genetic Diversity of Tilia tomentosa Moench. (Silver Lime) in Duzce-Turkey

Authors: Ibrahim Ilker Ozyigit, Ertugrul Filiz, Seda Birbilener, Semsettin Kulac, Zeki Severoglu

Abstract:

In this study, we have performed genetic diversity analysis of Tilia tomentosa genotypes by using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers. A total of 28 genotypes, including 25 members from the urban ecosystem and 3 genotypes from forest ecosystem as outgroup were used. 8 RAPD primers produced a total of 53 bands, of which 48 (90.6 %) were polymorphic. Percentage of polymorphic loci (P), observed number of alleles (Na), effective number of alleles (Ne), Nei's (1973) gene diversity (h), and Shannon's information index (I) were found as 94.29 %, 1.94, 1.60, 0.34, and 0.50, respectively. The unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA) cluster analysis revealed that two major groups were observed. The genotypes of urban and forest ecosystems showed a high genetic similarity between 28% and 92% and these genotypes did not separate from each other in UPGMA tree. Also, urban and forest genotypes clustered together in principal component analysis (PCA).

Keywords: Tilia tomentosa, genetic diversity, urban ecosystem, RAPD, UPGMA

Procedia PDF Downloads 499
6480 HPA Pre-Distorter Based on Neural Networks for 5G Satellite Communications

Authors: Abdelhamid Louliej, Younes Jabrane

Abstract:

Satellites are becoming indispensable assets to fifth-generation (5G) new radio architecture, complementing wireless and terrestrial communication links. The combination of satellites and 5G architecture allows consumers to access all next-generation services anytime, anywhere, including scenarios, like traveling to remote areas (without coverage). Nevertheless, this solution faces several challenges, such as a significant propagation delay, Doppler frequency shift, and high Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR), causing signal distortion due to the non-linear saturation of the High-Power Amplifier (HPA). To compensate for HPA non-linearity in 5G satellite transmission, an efficient pre-distorter scheme using Neural Networks (NN) is proposed. To assess the proposed NN pre-distorter, two types of HPA were investigated: Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) and Solid-State Power Amplifier (SSPA). The results show that the NN pre-distorter design presents EVM improvement by 95.26%. NMSE and ACPR were reduced by -43,66 dB and 24.56 dBm, respectively. Moreover, the system suffers no degradation of the Bit Error Rate (BER) for TWTA and SSPA amplifiers.

Keywords: satellites, 5G, neural networks, HPA, TWTA, SSPA, EVM, NMSE, ACPR

Procedia PDF Downloads 74
6479 Studies on Corrosion Resistant Composite Coating for Metallic Surfaces

Authors: Navneetinder Singh, Harprabhjot Singh, Harpreet Singh, Supreet Singh

Abstract:

Many materials are known to mankind that is widely used for synthesis of corrosion resistant hydrophobic coatings. In the current work, novel hydrophobic composite was synthesized by mixing polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and 20 weight% ceria particles followed by sintering. This composite had same hydrophobic behavior as PTFE. Moreover, composite showed better scratch resistance than virgin PTFE. Pits of plasma sprayed Ni₃Al coating were exploited to hold PTFE composite on the substrate as Superni-75 alloy surface through sintering process. Plasma sprayed surface showed good adhesion with the composite coating during scratch test. Potentiodynamic corrosion test showed 100 fold decreases in corrosion rate of coated sample this may be attributed to inert and hydrophobic nature of PTFE and ceria.

Keywords: polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE, ceria, coating, corrosion

Procedia PDF Downloads 358
6478 Characteristics of Pakistani Business Leaders: A Psychological Perspective

Authors: Hafiz Haseeb Nisar, Maryam Bilal

Abstract:

This qualitative study was conducted to investigate the underlying dynamics, key success factors and characteristics of Pakistani business leaders. The sample included 5 top businessmen from different business sectors. They were approached through the magazine “Manager Today” office in Lahore. Semi-structured interview technique was used to understand their experiences, attitudes, styles of management and key factors in their business success. Grounded theory was employed to analyze data. The following themes emerged as characteristics of business leaders: optimism, assertiveness, professionalism, effective management style, business knowledge/ excellence, supportive family and strong faith in God. It was noted that all these were interlinked, which leads the businessmen to become a successful business tycoon of this country. The importance of this study rests in its eastern contribution to the theoretical framework of the psychology of business leaders and particularly these findings will help to realize the basic key factors of success behind a business leader in Pakistan.

Keywords: business psychology, characteristics, key personality factors, leadership

Procedia PDF Downloads 130
6477 Numerical Simulation of Convective Flow of Nanofluids with an Oriented Magnetic Field in a Half Circular-Annulus

Authors: M. J. Uddin, M. M. Rahman

Abstract:

The unsteady convective heat transfer flow of nanofluids in a half circular-annulus shape enclosure using nonhomogeneous dynamic model has been investigated numerically. The round upper wall of the enclosure is maintained at constant low temperature whereas the bottom wall is heated by three different thermal conditions. The enclosure is permeated by a uniform magnetic field having variable orientation. The Brownian motion and thermophoretic phenomena of the nanoparticles are taken into account in model construction. The governing nonlinear momentum, energy, and concentration equations are solved numerically using Galerkin weighted residual finite element method. To discover the best performer, the average Nusselt number is demonstrated for different types of nanofluids. The heat transfer rate for different flow parameters, positions of the annulus, thicknesses of the half circular-annulus and thermal conditions is also exhibited.

Keywords: nanofluid, convection, semicircular-annulus, nonhomogeneous dynamic model, finite element method

Procedia PDF Downloads 206
6476 Energy Benefits of Urban Platooning with Self-Driving Vehicles

Authors: Eduardo F. Mello, Peter H. Bauer

Abstract:

The primary focus of this paper is the generation of energy-optimal speed trajectories for heterogeneous electric vehicle platoons in urban driving conditions. Optimal speed trajectories are generated for individual vehicles and for an entire platoon under the assumption that they can be executed without errors, as would be the case for self-driving vehicles. It is then shown that the optimization for the “average vehicle in the platoon” generates similar transportation energy savings to optimizing speed trajectories for each vehicle individually. The introduced approach only requires the lead vehicle to run the optimization software while the remaining vehicles are only required to have adaptive cruise control capability. The achieved energy savings are typically between 30% and 50% for stop-to-stop segments in cities. The prime motivation of urban platooning comes from the fact that urban platoons efficiently utilize the available space and the minimization of transportation energy in cities is important for many reasons, i.e., for environmental, power, and range considerations.

Keywords: electric vehicles, energy efficiency, optimization, platooning, self-driving vehicles, urban traffic

Procedia PDF Downloads 170
6475 Parallel among Urinary Tract Infection in Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients: A Case Study

Authors: Khaled Khleifat

Abstract:

This study detects the bacterial species that responsible for UTI in both diabetic patients and non-diabetic patients, Jordan. 116 urine samples were investigated in order to determine UTI-causing bacteria. These samples distributed unequally between diabetic male (12) and diabetic female (25) and also non-diabetic male (13) and non-diabetic female (66). The results represent that E.coli is responsible for UTI in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients (15.5% and 29.3% respectively) with large proportion (44.8%). This study showed that not all bacterial species that isolated from the non-diabetic sample could be isolated from diabetic samples. E. coli (15.5%), P. aeruginosa (4.3%), K. pneumonia (1.7%), P. mirabilis (2.6%), S. marcescens (0.9%), S. aureus (1.7%), S. pyogenes (1.7%), E. faecalis (0.9%), S. epidermidis (1.7%) and S. saprophyticus (0.9%). But E. aerogenes, E. cloacae, C. freundii, A. baumannii and B. subtilis are five bacterial species that can’t isolate from all diabetic samples. This study shows that for the treatment of UTI in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients, Chloramphenicol (30 μg), Ciprofloxacin (5 μg) and Vancomycin (30 μg) are more favorable than other antibiotics. In the same time, Cephalothin (30μg) is not recommended.

Keywords: urinary tract infections, diabetes mellitus, bacterial species, infections

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6474 Generation of Quasi-Measurement Data for On-Line Process Data Analysis

Authors: Hyun-Woo Cho

Abstract:

For ensuring the safety of a manufacturing process one should quickly identify an assignable cause of a fault in an on-line basis. To this end, many statistical techniques including linear and nonlinear methods have been frequently utilized. However, such methods possessed a major problem of small sample size, which is mostly attributed to the characteristics of empirical models used for reference models. This work presents a new method to overcome the insufficiency of measurement data in the monitoring and diagnosis tasks. Some quasi-measurement data are generated from existing data based on the two indices of similarity and importance. The performance of the method is demonstrated using a real data set. The results turn out that the presented methods are able to handle the insufficiency problem successfully. In addition, it is shown to be quite efficient in terms of computational speed and memory usage, and thus on-line implementation of the method is straightforward for monitoring and diagnosis purposes.

Keywords: data analysis, diagnosis, monitoring, process data, quality control

Procedia PDF Downloads 466
6473 Effect of Ultrasonic Vibration on the Dilution, Mechanical, and Metallurgical Properties in Cladding of 308 on Mild Steel

Authors: Sandeep Singh Sandhu, Karanvir Singh Ghuman, Parminder Singh Saini

Abstract:

The aim of the present investigation was to study the effect of ultrasonic vibration on the cladding of the AISI 308 on the mild steel plates using the shielded metal arc welding (SMAW). Ultrasonic vibrations were applied to molten austenitic stainless steel during the welding process. Due to acoustically induced cavitations and streaming there is a complete mixture of the clad metal and the base metal. It was revealed that cladding of AISI 308 over mild steel along with ultrasonic vibrations result in uniform and finer grain structures. The effect of the vibration on the dilution, mechanical properties and metallographic studies were also studied. It was found that the welding done using the ultrasonic vibration has the less dilution and CVN value for the vibrated sample was also high.

Keywords: surfacing, ultrasonic vibrations, mechanical properties, shielded metal arc welding

Procedia PDF Downloads 472
6472 Design of a Laboratory Test for InvestigatingPermanent Deformation of Asphalt

Authors: Esmaeil Ahmadinia, Frank Bullen, Ron Ayers

Abstract:

Many concerns have been raised in recent years about the adequacy of existing creep test methods for evaluating rut-resistance of asphalt mixes. Many researchers believe the main reason for the creep tests being unable to duplicate field results is related to a lack of a realistic confinement for laboratory specimens. In-situ asphalt under axle loads is surrounded by a mass of asphalt, which provides stress-strain generated confinement. However, most existing creep tests are largely unconfined in their nature. It has been hypothesised that by providing a degree of confinement, representative of field conditions, in a creep test, it could be possible to establish a better correlation between the field and laboratory. In this study, a new methodology is explored where confinement for asphalt specimens is provided. The proposed methodology is founded on the current Australian test method, adapted to provide simulated field conditions through the provision of sample confinement.

Keywords: asphalt mixture, creep test, confinements, permanent deformation

Procedia PDF Downloads 308
6471 Pricing the Risk Associated to Weather of Variable Renewable Energy Generation

Authors: Jorge M. Uribe

Abstract:

We propose a methodology for setting the price of an insurance contract targeted to manage the risk associated with weather conditions that affect variable renewable energy generation. The methodology relies on conditional quantile regressions to estimate the weather risk of a solar panel. It is illustrated using real daily radiation and weather data for three cities in Spain (Valencia, Barcelona and Madrid) from February 2/2004 to January 22/2019. We also adapt the concepts of value at risk and expected short fall from finance to this context, to provide a complete panorama of what we label as weather risk. The methodology is easy to implement and can be used by insurance companies to price a contract with the aforementioned characteristics when data about similar projects and accurate cash flow projections are lacking. Our methodology assigns a higher price to an insurance product with the stated characteristics in Madrid, compared to Valencia and Barcelona. This is consistent with Madrid showing the largest interquartile range of operational deficits and it is unrelated to the average value deficit, which illustrates the importance of our proposal.

Keywords: insurance, weather, vre, risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 131
6470 Linking Market Performance to Exploration and Exploitation in The Pharmaceutical Industry

Authors: Johann Valentowitsch, Wolfgang Burr

Abstract:

In organizational research, strategies of exploration and exploitation are often considered to be contradictory. Building on the tradeoff argument, many authors have assumed that a company's market performance should be positively dependent on its strategic balance between exploration and exploitation over time. In this study, we apply this reasoning to the pharmaceutical industry. Using exploratory regression analysis we show that the long-term market performance of a pharmaceutical company is linked to both its ability to carry out exploratory projects and its ability to develop exploitative competencies. In particular, our findings demonstrate that, on average, the company's annual sales performance is higher the better the strategic alignment between exploration and exploitation is balanced. The contribution of our research is twofold. On the one hand, we provide empirical evidence for the initial tradeoff hypothesis and thus support the theoretical position of those who understand exploration and exploitation as strategic substitutes. On the other hand, our findings show that a balanced relationship between exploration and exploitation is also important in research-intensive industries, which naturally tend to place more emphasis on exploration.

Keywords: exploitation, exploration, market performance, pharmaceutical industry, strategy

Procedia PDF Downloads 200
6469 The Effects of Knowledge Management on Human Capital towards Organizational Innovation

Authors: Wan Norhayate Wan Daud, Fakhrul Anwar Zainol, Maslina Mansor

Abstract:

The study was conducted to produce case studies from the Malaysian public universities stands point East Coast of Malaysia. The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of knowledge management on human capital toward organizational innovation. The focus point of this study is on the management member in the faculties of these three Malaysian Public Universities in the East Coast state of Peninsular Malaysia. In this case, respondents who agreed to further participate in the research will be invited to a one-hour face-to-face semi-structured, in-depth interview. As a result, the sample size for this study was 3 deans of Faculty of Management. Lastly, this study tries to recommend the framework of organizational innovation in Malaysian Public Universities.

Keywords: human capital, knowledge management, organizational innovation, public university

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6468 Spectroscopic Autoradiography of Alpha Particles on Geologic Samples at the Thin Section Scale Using a Parallel Ionization Multiplier Gaseous Detector

Authors: Hugo Lefeuvre, Jerôme Donnard, Michael Descostes, Sophie Billon, Samuel Duval, Tugdual Oger, Herve Toubon, Paul Sardini

Abstract:

Spectroscopic autoradiography is a method of interest for geological sample analysis. Indeed, researchers may face different issues such as radioelement identification and quantification in the field of environmental studies. Imaging gaseous ionization detectors find their place in geosciences for conducting specific measurements of radioactivity to improve the monitoring of natural processes using naturally-occurring radioactive tracers, but also for the nuclear industry linked to the mining sector. In geological samples, the location and identification of the radioactive-bearing minerals at the thin-section scale remains a major challenge as the detection limit of the usual elementary microprobe techniques is far higher than the concentration of most of the natural radioactive decay products. The spatial distribution of each decay product in the case of uranium in a geomaterial is interesting for relating radionuclides concentration to the mineralogy. The present study aims to provide spectroscopic autoradiography analysis method for measuring the initial energy of alpha particles with a parallel ionization multiplier gaseous detector. The analysis method has been developed thanks to Geant4 modelling of the detector. The track of alpha particles recorded in the gas detector allow the simultaneous measurement of the initial point of emission and the reconstruction of the initial particle energy by a selection based on the linear energy distribution. This spectroscopic autoradiography method was successfully used to reproduce the alpha spectra from a 238U decay chain on a geological sample at the thin-section scale. The characteristics of this measurement are an energy spectrum resolution of 17.2% (FWHM) at 4647 keV and a spatial resolution of at least 50 µm. Even if the efficiency of energy spectrum reconstruction is low (4.4%) compared to the efficiency of a simple autoradiograph (50%), this novel measurement approach offers the opportunity to select areas on an autoradiograph to perform an energy spectrum analysis within that area. This opens up possibilities for the detailed analysis of heterogeneous geological samples containing natural alpha emitters such as uranium-238 and radium-226. This measurement will allow the study of the spatial distribution of uranium and its descendants in geo-materials by coupling scanning electron microscope characterizations. The direct application of this dual modality (energy-position) of analysis will be the subject of future developments. The measurement of the radioactive equilibrium state of heterogeneous geological structures, and the quantitative mapping of 226Ra radioactivity are now being actively studied.

Keywords: alpha spectroscopy, digital autoradiography, mining activities, natural decay products

Procedia PDF Downloads 133